I do not own Naruto, or Blue Exorcist. If I did, Sasuke wouldn't change sides sporadically like a freaking ADHD kid on sugar high. I want my super, jumbo, mammoth, mega, uber, ultra fucking awesome/amazing/ dramatic NARUTO VS SASUKE battle, damnit!

"She feels weird."

Rin Okumura was lying in his bed, stewing in the sweltering heat of Japan's summer, occasionally hit by a waft of refreshing air, courtesy of the fan standing in the middle of the room. His face was scrunched up tightly, and if one could have seen his thoughts, they would've seen cogs slowly turning, clanking together mournfully in their sad attempt to produce a logical reasoning. It was a widely known fact that Rin did not use his head often.

His twin brother, Yukio Okumura, looked up from the homework he was doing at his desk and cocked an eyebrow. "Hm? What do you mean, Ni-san? Who feels weird?" he asked.

"I mean, the new girl. Naruko. I get this weird feeling around her," Rin paused, looking for words to describe the sensation he felt whilst standing next to the blonde new girl. "It's like… needles. But very dull, and hot."

Yukio chuckled, and scratched down an answer to a question, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Ohoho, Ni-san! Could you possibly be in love with her?"

Rin choked on his spit, spluttered and finally cried out, "Whaaaaat?! No, you Spotty Four Eyes! I don't love her, I love… Forget it, you wouldn't understand," Rin rolled on his side to face the wall. After a few seconds though, he sighed and started again hesitantly. "… D'you get the feeling she's acting… Fake? Plastic?"

Yukio had by now abandoned his homework totally, and was leaning back into the back of his chair, his arms crossed behind his head. "I don't know about her lying, but she did act strangely. When she saw my face, she looked like she recognized me, but I'm certain I've never met her before…" He trailed off.

"Strange."

Yukio hummed pensively, now frowning. Rin was a demon, and as such, had better instincts than humans. If he thought something was weird with the blonde girl, then he'd definitely keep an eye on Naruko Uzumaki.

Two days ago, during Naruko's tests…

"Hello, and welcome to your first Exam, Uzumaki-san. My name is Tsubaki-sensei and I will be testing your physical form, as I'm sure Okumura-sensei has already mentioned to you."

Naruko and the other students were standing in the bleachers of an arena that looked kind of like the one where the Chunin Exam had taken place, so many years ago in Konoha. Naruko shivered imperceptibly as she remembered what had happened last time she had underwent an official Exam. She shook herself: there was no Orochimaru here, and the worst she could face here was an angry teenager. She focused back on Tsubaki-sensei.

He was strange to say the least; the man exuded an aura of stupidity and his appearance left much to be desired in the realm of credibility. Thick eyebrows eerily similar to a spandex-wearing Beast's, a chin that was way too defined to be normal and thick, bushy side-burns made for an odd portrait, indeed.

But his movements told an entirely different story. The guy was a trained warrior; skilled in hand-to-hand combat, if his fluid movements and guarded countenance were anything to go by. He had also survived quite a few battles – scars crisscrossed under his freshly shaven beard.

"Okay, Tsubaki-sensei! I'm all for it! What's my exam gonna be?" Naruko exclaimed, pumping her fist.

Tsubaki-sensei beamed at her enthusiasm, before sobering and clearing his throat, "You will have to evade the attacks of an increasing amount of demons, trying to stay unharmed for the longest amount of time possible. Retaliation will only be allowed after a set time: that way, we will examine your endurance, your speed and finally your hand-to-hand combat, all at once. Then, you will have to undergo an exam on accuracy, where you will attempt to hit the maximum of targets with your designated long-distance weapon," his serious demeanor faded and he grinned, flashing a thumbs-up. "Good luck!"

From behind Naruko someone whispered, "It's the longest I've ever seen Tsubaki-sensei act serious, ever."

Naruko slowly climbed down the ladder that led into the dusty pit, feeling the gaze of everyone focusing on her, and slightly malicious intent burrowing into the back of her head. Kamiki, obviously, was getting internally ready to see the snot get beaten out of her.

In front of her lay a system of cages, where different demons were trapped, pacing around like caged lions. When she touched the dust of the floor with a light tap, their gazes focused on her with an eerie synchronization. Some let loose pleading whines, but Naruko gritted her teeth and ignored them. They, for now, were the enemy. Maybe, afterwards, she'd free them.

Shiemi, who cheered from her place, broke her musings. "Come on, Naruko-can! You can do it!" Rin and Renzo joined in with the cheering, albeit less actively than their classmate, who was really getting worked up. Hell, where did Shiemi find pom-poms? She was waving the things erratically, looking oddly like an epileptic person during a fit, only Moon-high.

Konekomaru just gave a timid thumbs-up from his place next to Ryuuji, who only nodded in her direction. Kamiki was looking down her nose at her, and smirking.

"Begin!"

Immediately, one of the cages opened up, and a demon jumped out, landing with a massive thump, and kicking up a cloud of dust. Naruko slipped into a battle stance, muscles tense to prepare to avoid the first blow, all the while assessing her opponent. She immediately blanched.

Why did she have to fight frog demons, of all things!? She was the Toad Sage, and weren't frogs somehow related to toads? What if this frog was a distant cousin of Gamakichi's? He'd murder her if he knew she'd beaten up his niece or something!

Oh, well. He'd have to forgive her.

She jumped to the side just in time to evade the Frog demon's tongue that had shot forward in an attempt to wrap around her waist. It/she/he was fast!

Naruko bolted, using the demon's recovery time to get behind it while still monitoring its actions.

Apparently, the Frog could do two things at the same time: its tail shot out to impale Naruko, but Naruko dropped in a crouch, before rolling backwards, out of the demon's reach. The demon's ugly head swiveled around, its tongue still lolling out, and its red eyes caught Naruko's own. It roared angrily, spittle actually flying into her face. Naruko shuddered and wiped it off quickly.

Gross. Frog spit.

The Low Class demon leaped forward towards Naruko, but instead of fleeing, she merely ran towards it. Stopping just before the demon, and ignoring the shouts of the other students, she jumped, landed on the demon's head and using it as a springboard, she front-flipped behind it. Naruko made sure to push hard with her legs, to momentarily stun the oversized frog and give her a momentary rest. When she landed, she retreated a couple more steps, just in case and crouched slightly, slipping in a battle ready position.

A clang and the rattle of chains signaled the entry of another demon into the ring. Naruko appraised it carefully; it was another of those Frog Thingies. This one though, was much larger and a little spark of intelligence glinted in its eyes. Carefully leaping out of the cage, it looked around the arena, and slowly padded over gingerly to join its stunned comrade. The new demon croaked lowly at the one that was slowly getting back up, apparently communicating, as the other soon grunted in what seemed to be agreement. Naruko narrowed her eyes; if they started coordinating, it would make her job that much more difficult.

They separated with a jump, one going behind her back and the other still facing her. So. They had a plan. It was basic and obvious: when she would be occupied with one of the demons, the other would attack her from behind, effectively disabling her. Too bad she was used to multiple opponents.

Froggie Numbah 1 leapt high in the air, intent on landing on her and crushing her with its substantial weight but she cart wheeled to the side. It belly-flopped to the ground with a smack that resonated painfully, making Naruko wince.

Suddenly, she threw herself to the ground. A second later, a slimy tongue swiped the air where her head had just been. Scrambling to her feet, she turned to face the still-standing Froggie Numbah 2, just as its tongue rolled back into its mouth with a disgusting slurp.

Kami, she wanted to fight back so bad! It was so annoying to be on the defensive.

The demon capitalized on Naruko's feigned distraction, and lashed out with an arm. Naruko dropped to the ground, and rolled backwards twice before standing up again.

A cage to the side rattled and clanged and shook, before spitting out another demon.

This one was different, though: it looked like the rotting cadaver of a wolf, and brought with it the stench of decay. Naruko gagged a bit at the overpowering smell as the Cadaver sniffed the air. It let out a triumphant howl when it caught her scent and frothed madly at the mouth. Slowly, the demon turned its blind eyes towards her, and let out a drawn out growl, before leaping at her, sharp teeth bared to bite. Naruko grunted when the ghoul landed on her chest, toppling her over and pinning her to the ground. She quickly braced her forearm against the rotting flesh to prevent it from getting too close to biting her. Its saliva was probably contaminated with bazillions of different diseases.

The demon struggled, scratched at her chest with its claws and tried to snap at her face, its sharp teeth clacking together inches from her nose repeatedly but Naruko merely smirked at it. With a grunt, she pushed it off to the side and got to her feet, but not without having sneaked in a lightning fast kick to its ribs. The wolf landed hard on its side, and started struggling to get up.

Froggie Numbah Two and One decided that Naruko had ignored them long enough, and made their presence known by simultaneously trying to stomp her into the ground.

Two webbed feet smashed as one, but there was no cry of pain. Naruko had already rolled forwards and turned to face all four demons.

Finally, Tsubaki's voice called out, "You're now allowed to fight back!"

Naruko smiled like it was Christmas early.

Payback time!

Froggie Numbah 1 barely had time to blink when two feet smashed into its forehead in a perfectly executed dropkick. Its eyes rolled as it reeled from the blow. She landed on the ground in acrouch, before springing unto the back of Froggie Numbah 2. Immediately, she circled its head and torso (?) with her arms and legs, clinging like a koala clings to its eucalyptus tree. Of course, the demon began to shake like crazy, trying to buck her off, but Naruko held on, having the time of her life.

This was like rodeo, only with a giant frog! Finally, when the demon realized it wasn't going to shake her off, it tried to squash her by lying on its back. Naruko let go and jumped up. Grinning, she dropped an axe-kick straight into its exposed soft tummy. Spit flied from the Toad's mouth as its eyes rolled back into its head. The demon's tummy was squishy, warm and elastic, kind of like a trampoline.

Two down, one to go. Or more. Unless her vision was deceiving her, another decomposing wolf had joined the first one. Yay! A pack of zombie-wolves! They snarled, and saliva dripped from their jaw to the ground, smoke rising where the greenish liquid landed, like it was a powerful acid.

Acid saliva? Nice.

Hmm. I think I'm going to stop now: if I defeat any more demons, they'd consider me a prodigy. And we know what that status brings onto us…

Unwanted spotlight and attention. Naruko, I get it. You said that a thousand times when formulating your plans. Get on with it already.

Increasing her heartbeat and breathing pace was an easy task, and Kurama slowly poured some of his fire-natured chakra into her pathways, to increase her temperature. That way, she'd sweat, and would seem more believable. Naruko smirked mentally; Infiltration missions are fun.

Technically, you aren't on a mission.

Bah. Who cares? The only ones who know are you, me and that Mephisto.

The demons she was facing were unbearably slow and easy to beat compared to what she'd fought in her younger days, and it nearly pained her that she had to stop after this. However, her goal was more important than her pride, and it wasn't as if anyone from the old days would see this and laugh at her for it.

Naruko charged and punched the damn rotting thing in the throat. Or tried to anyways because the wolf had dodged to the side before springing back to her. She ducked and let the wolf sail over her, swaying slightly on purpose before lashing out with a heel kick that caught the wolf that had tried to sneak behind her in the ribs. The rotting bones cracked easily under the hard heel of her solid leather boots and the wolf slumped to the ground. Last one.

Naruko panted in short, deep breaths to make her act more convincing, and faced the last demon in the arena. It looked to its fallen comrade and back to Naruko before growling menacingly. It was angry.

Sorry, Naruko apologized. But I have to knock you out. No hard feelings?

Unsurprisingly, it didn't answer. Naruko figured it wouldn't.

Two minutes later, and the demon was on the ground, unconscious. Before Tsubaki-sensei could release yet another demon, Naruko raised her arm, while bending over in breathlessness.

"I," she gulped air greedily, "Can't go on.. I don't think I-I can defeat another one… Tsu-Tsubaki-sensei. I forfeit!"

No answer. Naruko looked upwards. Tsubaki-sensei was... gone.

"What the hell?! Where did he go?"

Renzo rubbed his head sheepishly. "Ahahahaha… He went away in the middle of your fight. He does that a lot." That guy may act like ai but he's a really bad sensei.! Who leaves their students in the middle of a potentially dangerous fight? "Speaking of, you're a really good fighter! You looked like a ninja!"

That's 'cause I am one… Though you don't know that.

"Ahaha, thanks Renzo-kun," Naruko grinned up at him, before climbing the ladder again, and slumping on the seats of the bleachers.

"Kami, I'm tired. Does anyone have water?"

Naruko caught the bottle of water Rin threw her gratefully, uncapped it and gulped it down greedily. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gave the water gourd back to Rin, eyes closed in bliss.

"Thanks, Rin-kun. "

Rin squawked as he shook the gourd and didn't hear any water sloshing inside of it. "You drank all of it!"

"Sorry."

"You're not sorry at all! What about me? There's none left for me to drink!" He shook his gourd mournfully, "What if I get thirsty?"

Ryuuji growled viciously and shook his fist, "Stop shouting, moron! Can't you see she's tired? She needs to rest, you idiot! Plus, your bitching is giving me a headache!"

Rin rounded on Ryuji quicker than the eye could see. "What'd you say, chicken-head?"

"I said, you're a head-ache giving moron!"

"You're the moron!"

"You're the one shouting!"

"You're shouting, too, genius!"

Rin and Ryuuji butted heads, growling as they glared fiery death at one another.

Naruko smiled as she gradually caught her breath, and as her heartbeat slowed down.

Kurama chuckled mirthlessly. Feeling melancholic, Naruko?

You gotta admit, Kurama: they're just like Sasuke and me.

They're as stupid as you and that Uchiha were, Kyuubi grumbled.

Naruko mock cried in indignation, We were twelve! And we weren't dumb. She added petulantly afterwards.

Fine; you were naïve. And so are they.

"That was really impressive, Naruko-chan…" Opening her eyes Naruko noticed Shiemi next to her. The girl was twisting her sleeves and Naruko smiled fondly.

"Thanks, Shiemi-chan. But it wasn't that impressive," Naruko said. "See, I'm all tired already!"

Shiemi laughed but her eyes were grim. "I wouldn't have lasted as long as you, Naruko-chan," she whispered, head and shoulders drooped.

The whiskered blond lost her easy-going smile immediately and nudged Shiemi with her leg to get her attention, "Hey Shiemi-chan. We're still Pages. Don't be so hard on yourself, okay? You know what they say: the littlest of acorns can grow into a mighty oak. Right now, we're still saplings, but one day, we're going to tower over the forest!"

I already do.

Shiemi brightened up considerably, and the grim look vanished from her eyes a bit. She opened her mouth and -

"Hello, my darling students! I'm back! My kitten didn't need me any more, so it's time to test your aiming skills, Naruko-chan!" Tsubaki-sensei leaped into the room and spun once on his feet before striking a Sailor-Moon-worthy pose.

"Where did you go, you bastard!? I could have been killed!" Naruko cried angrily as she stood up to face him and speared him with a patented KuramaGlare™.

Tsubaki-sensei remained impervious to her anger and death-glare though, and pink hearts popped into existence and fluttered around him like butterflies. He puckered his lips into a kissy-kissy pout.

"To see my adorable sweet kitten, of course!" The hearts faded out, and Tsubaki–sensei cleared his throat. "Now, on to the shooting grounds! Come along, students!"

Grabbing Naruko's arm, he turned around and marched out the arena, without waiting for the other students.

The shooting test went pretty well, once she'd explained she used shuriken and kunai, not guns and bullets. The proctor merely raised one thick eyebrow, before allowing her to use them. She made sure to miss out at least once every three times, sometimes sending a kunai awry randomly to prevent anyone catching on to her pattern. Her prowess still impressed the students, and Ryuuji, who had looked a bit condescending before, looked at her with a bit more respect. Kamiki merely sniffed disdainfully, and turned up her nose.

The physical exams were over. Now she had Summoning Class.

Kurama? She probed in her mind for the familiar feeling of her lover.

In her mind, Kurama stretched lazily like a cat before opening a single eye. What? You woke me up from my nap, woman.

Naruko pouted mentally, That's all you ever do these days! Anyway, I have Summoning Class: what should I do? Should I summon Toads? Or not at all?

I'd go for summoning Toads, but a medium-sized one. You need to impress them, not crush them.

I could do it without the summons. It could be so easy, you know? Just… a Tailed Beast Bomb. And they'd be ashes…So easy to kill them all. Naruko sighed in her mind.

Naruko! You're having a bloodlust fit. Stop now! Kurama snapped sharply, which startled Naruko from her haze.

Naruko's sanity had not escaped unscathed from the Genocide and her subsequent exile. Frequently, she'd get urges to maim and kill and destroy… They would only get worse the longer she bottled them, so she usually gave in. That was also one of the reasons why she kept away from civilization. She couldn't fully trust herself, not even after all these years. And she couldn't quite give in, now, with everyone surrounding her.

Naruko grunted, and with difficulty and trembling limbs, she slowly forced the urge down, deep into her belly where it pooled like liquid fire and spat burning flames into her limbs. She shivered half in delight, half in dread, as one particularly big tongue of fire licked her spine, before gnashing her teeth and forcing it down. With a deep mental breath of concentration, she took the pool of fire, and slowly compressed it into a sphere, that rested in the pit of her stomach heavily. The orb of bubbling magma thrummed and vibrated with near stellar intensity but didn't object much more.

I've got it under control. For now.

Good, Kurama said silkily. You'll get the opportunity to work it out… later.

Naruko decided immediately, she didn't like Neuhaus-sensei. He probably had his picture in the dictionary next to the word "untrustworthy".

She didn't know if it was the soul-piercing glare he shot Rin whenever he thought no one was watching, or his general 'I-am-a-Ranked-Exorcist-therefore-you-are-

the-scum-beneath-my-Ranked-Exorcist-shoe' attitude that she hated the most.

"Hello, Uzumaki-san. I will be your proctor in the Great Art of Summoning," Neuhaus-sensei crossed his arms, and looked disdainfully at her with his one good eye. "The Art of Summoning is not a skill that can be learnt, I hope you know. You either have it, or you don't."

Not waiting for her introduction he strode forwards and shoved a little paper and a needle her hands. "Here is the Summoning Sigil. If you are a Summoner, you will eventually learn to draw your own. For now, you'll just have to use this."

He turned and stood a good few meters away. "Now, the process is simple: you prick your finger, let a drop of blood fall on the Sigil and say the first words that come to your mind."

Naruko did as he instructed, and carefully hid her already healed over prick wound.

Summoning Techinque:….

"Descendant of Swamp, golden eyes. Sage and wise, come forth!"

Gamakichi!

Poof!

A massive plume of smoke suddenly exploded outwards. Naruko coughed as she inhaled a bit of it, and waved a hand frantically to disperse the smoke.

"Eh?"

A confused voice piped up from the fog, and Naruko smiled. Gamakichi was in the house.

"Where am I?"

Naruko made to answer but someone beat her to it. Unfortunately, it was Neuhaus-sensei. His voice made Naruko frown just by hearing it.

"Demon, you are in the renowned True Cross Academy. A student of mine has just summoned you. The fact that you are sentient speaks for her talent."

Of course, Gamakichi picked up only on the beginning of the detestable sensei's sentence.

"What are ya yapping about? I ain't a demon!"

By now the smoke had cleared enough so that Gamakichi could see Naruko clearly, but still was shrouded from the others. His face stretched into a toady grin.

"Heya, Naruko! It's been a long time! How's it-"

He interrupted himself when he saw her thunderous face and her frantic motions to stay quiet. She exaggerated her lip motions so he could read them:

Play along.

"You're clearly stupid if you think you can fool us, demon. A toad that can speak is not natural, and obviously a demon," she dramatically sneered, eyes apologizing silently. "Plus, I summoned you, which confirms what your true nature is!"

Gamakichi roared angrily, but a grin threatened to break out on his face. "Damn! You humans have gotten smarter! No matter, I'll eat you all the same!"

"No, you won't! I summoned you and so, you shall obey me! Stand down, now, or face going back to Gehenna! "

The smoke had dispersed completely, and revealed Gamakichi's size entirely to the others. Several gasps rang from the other students as they gazed at the towering Toad. Over the years, the small bratty Toad had grown much, both in terms of personality and size. He now easily dwarfed Naruko, being over four times her size and had started training to be the next Leader of the Mount Mobyoku Toads, which had greatly improved his personality.

It didn't stop the playful Toad from acting like a three year old on a sugar-rush at times.

Gamakichi growled and snapped and thrashed but finally lay down in a submissive position. "Damn you, human!" he grunted, "I'll make you pay! One day, when your will isn't as strong as now, I'll kill you and enjoy it!"

Neuhaus-sensei walked from his position to kneel next to Gamakichi's eye. "Interesting," he hummed pensively, whilst poking and prodding Gamakichi's skin. "You seem to know this demon. Care to explain why?"

Naruko frowned. "My mentor summoned it once, and if it was cordial with him, it wasn't with me. I'm surprised I called forth Gamakichi, or a Toad at all: they were my master's signature summons, and this particular demon was his strongest."

A half-lie, technically. Gamakichi hadn't liked her at first, yes, but he sure as hell wasn't the strongest Toad in Mobyoku.

"Ah, I see. Who was your mentor, exactly? I have never heard of an Exorcist summoning High Level Leapers in all my years here." Neuhauss-sensei probed with all the finesse of a fifteen-ton slab of concrete.

"His name was Jiraiya. He wasn't an Exorcist, or at least, not one registered in records."

Neuhaus-sensei did not look convinced, but neither did he press the matter further. After one last baleful glance at Gamakichi, he slapped a Banishing Sigil on Gamakichi, who writhed and screeched dramatically before breaking the Summon Link. The giant Toad disappeared with a pop and a last curse word that hung in the air long after he left.

Naruko smiled internally at his antics; over the years, Gamakichi had become like a brother to her, and had always stayed by her side. She was especially grateful for the lending of a shoulder to cry on during her grieving period for the Genocide. The little Toad (that wasn't so little now!) had showed unsuspected treasures of patience and tolerance while she raged and bargained alternatively.

And while he was anything a girl could ask for in a surrogate-sibling, he hadn't know much about human psychology. Thus, when Naruko didn't go through the depression phase, instead 'somehow' immediately going to the acceptance one, he didn't question it; too relieved to notice anything was wrong. Sometimes, when Naruko lay awake, too plagued by nightmares to sleep, she'd curse him. Yell at him in her mind-

Why can't you see something's still wrong?!

Then, she'd quiet her thoughts down, lest she'd wake Kyuubi up, and had to face an awkward conversation on grief.

Fortunately, Kurama was no stranger on anguish, and helped her- by force- when he finally noticed she still hadn't moved on after two hundred years. He helped her move on, but it was too late.

By then, an unhealthy amount of anger had already formed in her subconscious as an incurable taint. It surfaced occasionally as urges, that mostly were played out and indulged in.

"Hmm. That Toad was easily Higher-Middle class. Your talent is raw, and untapped into: you could barely control him. At least, you show promise. Here," he sniffed as he gave her a stack of Sigils, before turning back to his desk, "Those are for your future Summonings. Have a care how you use them, for I will only give you one packet every two months. Also, memorize the first eighteen chapters of this book." He picked up a dusty, tattered tome from his desk and dumped it into her arms. "You will have a test on them, tomorrow. Do you understand?"

The first eighteen chapters easily made up half of the very heavy book she had in her arms.

Naruko bowed her head in consent, but Neuhaus-sensei didn't look pleased. In fact, he had this rather hilarious affronted expression on.

"When I ask you a question, you answer me. Is that clear, Uzumaki-san?" he snapped waspishly, lone eye blazing.

Naruko looked him in the eye, defiantly holding his gaze for the longest time possible without causing him to bust a blood vessel.

"Yes, Sensei." She replied with a disobedient lilt in her voice. She very nearly threw in a military salute, just to hear him choke on his spittle, but decided against it at the last minute. No one wanted to see Neuhaus-sensei choke: his mug was already ugly enough without the grotesque facial expressions of a suffocating man twisting it even further.

Neuahsu-sensei narrowed his eye before announcing loudly to the rest of the students,

"Class dismissed. I will see you next time, and anyone late will immediately fail tomorrow's test."

Naruko was crowded by Rin the second she left the class.

"Wow! That was so awesome, Naruko! That demon was ginormous! " Rin crowed excitedly.

"Pretty impressive," Ryuuji allowed before continuing on to the next class with Konekomaru and Shima and tow, who both gazed at her in newfound respect.

Naruko forced a blush to come to her cheeks, and scuffed the ground with her foot shyly. "It wasn't that impressive… I mean, the Summoning Sigil did most of the work, and really, the only thing I did was yell at it…"

Rin shook his head, vigorously disagreeing with her "Nuh-uh! It was awesome. I can't even summon!"

Naruko forced more blood to warm up her cheeks. "Thanks, Rin. I need to hold onto to that thought: I'm probably going to flunk the Verse Test. Badly."

Naruko had read the Bible once, and she hadn't touched the book since then. Unless she had an epiphany, she'd probably have an extremely low grade.

" Nah, I'm sure you'll be fine! It's just memorizing, you know. I'm crap at it, so I have bad grades. It's not my fault I learn more on the fly than with stupid books!" Rin stretched his arms, and glowered at the books he held like they had murdered puppies.

Naruko sighed in despair, "I hear you, man. Theory is useful only so far in life. Now, experience, that's what it's all about!"

Shiemi, who had stayed silent the whole time, patted her arm comfortingly. "It's going to be fine," she chirped. "Besides, even if you fail the Verse Test, your other grades will make up for it!"

Naruko just shook her head. If he were here, Neji would scoff that it was her fate to fail the upcoming Exam astronomically.

And indeed, the Verse Exam was an utter disaster. Naruko managed to answer two questions passably, and even then, the teacher looked at her like she thought a brain dead chimpanzee had sneaked into her class, disguised as Naruko.

The teacher's eyes were widened in disbelief. "W-well, Mademoiselle Uzumaki," she stuttered. " You certainly—"

Naruko cut her off. "Suck at this?"

"I was going to say you had 'difficulties' concerning the learning and reciting of Verses. Your scores are—"

"Deplorable? Awful?"

"-less than adequate, and you should—"

"Drop out? Give up?"

The teacher's eyebrows bunched together as she frowned disapprovingly. "Mademoiselle Uzumaki, will you please stop interrupting me and putting words in my mouth? It is tres disrespectful. I meant to say that you should ask for tutoring," she trilled, ruffled by Naruko's insolence. " Mademoiselle Izumo is very proficient at Verses, and should probably be able to make you catch up the rest of the students en un rien de temps!"

Twin voices objected in unison. "No way!"

The sensei's face scrunched up even more in fury. "You are behaving like children! Mademoiselle Izumo, you will teach everything mademoiselle Uzumaki has to know. Tu n'as pas le choix. Understood?» She asked, pointedly staring at the pig-tailed girl, who sighed in defeat before nodding reluctantly.''And Mademoiselle Uzumaki, you will do your best to memorize everything your tutor will teach you, yes?''

Naruko gritted her teeth. "Yes, sensei."

Izumo came up to her as soon as they left class and shoved two books into her arms. "You need to learn all this." She said simply, before turning around and leaving.

"H-hey!", Naruko cried out. "I really need your help on this! Can we at least arrange sessions, or something?"

The other trainee exorcist simply gave a dismissive wave of the hand. "You'll manage. After all, you're so good at everything else: summoning, fighting… Making friends."

The last part was murmured under the bitter girl's breath, and had Naruko been an ordinary human being, she wouldn't have heard it.

Therein lies the root of the problem.

Naruko ran to catch up with the leaving purple-haired teen and grabbed her shoulder. "Stop, please. I'm good with physical stuff, but memorizing? I suck at this. If you want, I'll help you train in exchange or something. Please?"

Kamiki slowly looked over her shoulder. "Get. Lost." She enunciated clearly. "Figure this out on your own, because I don't care if you fail."

After shaking off Naruko's grip on her shoulder, the other girl walked regally and disappeared around the corner.

Damn, Dr. Kurama. I think we've got another severe case of Sasukeitis. What do you recommend?

How about: a dose of AnnoyingFriendlyClinging™ every day, coupled with a few pills of BondingBattle™? It worked with the previous patient. For a while, anyway.

Naruko ignored the last part of the demon's answer, and slowly trudged back to where Shiemi was waiting.

"Why doesn't she like me?" she asked to the other blonde, mood low.

Shiemi shrugged helplessly. "I tried joining her, but Rin told me she was only pretending to be my friend, and using me. When Paku, her friend, left the class afterbeing attacked, she became even colder and started picking fights with everyone over anything," the usually–clueless girl sighed deeply. "She even insulted me. It's like she's scared that if she gets close to someone again, she'll get hurt."

Naruko blinked. Thinking this deep was utterly unusual for Shiemi, whom she'd gathered was quite the bubbly and oblivious girl

"Reminds me of a friend of mine," the last shinobi murmured, thinking of a certain redhead. Of course, Kamiki Izumo's case was far less extreme then Gaara of the Sands': Naruko was pretty certain Izumo wouldn't be going full homicidal any time soon, but you never knew.

"Really? What was his name?"Shiemi inquired, eyes wide and curious.

"Gaara."

Shiemi gasped. "You mean someone named their child 'self-loving carnage', willingly?"

"Uuuh, I don't know about that. I think it was his uncle that named him, after his sister, and Gaara's mother, died in childbirth."

Shiemi looked ready to cry. "But that's awful!"

Scratching the back of her head sheepishly, Naruko chuckled. "I don't think Gaara's name bothered him that much…"

"But-but why?" Shiemi stuttered, trying to wrap her head around the idea of someone giving a child such a gruesome name. "I'd be horrified if I was named like that!"

"Yeah? Well, his name wasn't the nastiest thing in his life…"

And they continued chatting till they parted ways, at the dorm rooms.

"You have decent knowledge of Pharmaceuticals, even though you don't know their practical uses against demons, Uzumaki-san. I'd give you around 70 out of a 100," Okumura sensei declared with an easy smile then next morning. "You've caught up with the other students and so will partake in the final exam with them, one week from now."

Naruko took the liberty to slump down with a sigh of relief. The test had been nearly too easy, and Naruko had forgotten halfway she was supposed to lay low. Had she aced it, she'd probably have attracted the oh-so-dreaded limelight.

Okumura-sensei didn't notice the sigh or didn't care, and turned to face the rest of the class. He quickly drew a rough sketch of a comfrey root on the blackboard and started teaching class to a room full of bored teenagers.

"Symphytum Uplandicum; or the Russian Comfrey. Very common, it is a powerful disinfectant they can treat demon wounds and normal ones alike…."

Naruko took out one of the notebooks she'd brought with her, and reluctantly started taking notes.

Okay, the fourth chapters done now! I had trouble writing it, especially the fight scene. It may seem forced... :(

New question: Which Naruto charatcer do you hate the most?

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