Disclaimer: I am still waiting on the next chapter of The Case Study of Vanitas. I must be a masochist because I want more from Jun Mochizuka! Move aside, Narutard!Me, I crave maor Pandora Hearts Syndrome~!

Warnings: SPOILER ALERT! For those of you who haven't finished Pandora Hearts or haven't reached Chapter 66 yet, I recommend coming back to this on a later note. Despite this being an AU, from this point forward, I'll be taking stuff from future chapters and incorporating it into my story. You have been warned.

XVI. Proof in the Pudding

It was common standard for any shinobi village that all suspicious newcomers must be submitted to the T & I Department for evaluation, willingly or by force. This is where Oz and his friends found themselves to be in. Even though they hold proof that they are who they say they are and made clear on what they want from Konoha, paranoia was still a shinobi's best friend. Besides, the documents could be forged. And so, everyone was separated into separate groups based on their "subdivisions". Inoichi Yamanaka and Ibiki Morino were to handle "Vessalius" group consisting of Oz, Gilbert, and Alice. Anko was quick to snap up Riem, the only one "unaffiliated", simply because "he looked fun to tease" (a sentiment Xerxes wholeheartedly agreed with). Lastly, Xerxes and Sharon, the "Rainsworth" group, would be interviewed by Shikaku Nara. In the end, it took a few hours to get through everyone.

Riem Lunettes was the first to be done. Anko would later report to the Third Hokage that "it got old pretty quick". Riem spent most of the session unconscious as Anko's "tender mercies" proved to be too much for him, causing him faint frequently (they would later learn that the much of the cause was his horror at how scantily clad her outfit was given the women of his culture were more modest than Elemental Nation civilian women). And she didn't even have to be to try too much to get the basics out of him, thus confirmed that he is a "civilian" in the eyes of shinobi. There was nothing much, just an overview on his culture, the importance of Oz and Sharon in their society as nobles. Needless to say, there was no real problem with him other than that he can keep sensitive information and his ability to gather intelligence.*

The "Rainsworth" were the next ones out. Shikaku honestly enjoyed playing mind games with Xerxes, mentally picking him part. Shikaku reported that Xerxes' blindness was a recent ailment and as well as his newfound ability to "see" using the "Mad Hatter" as a medium. One that he had discovered while searching for Jiraiya in Shukuba Town every time he had given them the slip. "Mad Hatter's" actual ability is the capability to destroy the other summons or anything related to them. Shikaku also adds that every sweets shop in Konoha should expect a new regular, given Xerxes' unquenchable sweet tooth. Then there's Sharon herself. She is a typical epitome of a lady of nobility. No real threat other than that she too had a summon like the others but remained tight lip about what it is and what it can do. In addition, she is shown to be emotionally attached to her servant/bodyguard and vice-versa. The real kicker…the girl had permission from her grandmother to pursue the relationship! Judging from the gobsmacked look on Xerxes' face, she hadn't told him of this new development. After the talks ended, the two of them left Shikaku behind looking no less like a newly married couple. How troublesome.

However, it was the last group that caught their attention. The first alarm bell was that the blood tests show there is a distant relation between Oz and Naruto, proving that they were more or less cousins. This means Oz can claim Naruto from the orphanage and out of the hands of the civilian council under the excuse of "clan business". Best of all, it's all legal, and they can't do anything about it. The problem is that they also have diplomatic immunity as foreign nobility, meaning not even the Fire Daimyo himself can touch them without risking all out war with their country, given how important Oz is to them. Riem specifically specified that during his mild interrogation.

The second issue? During the course of the questionings, Inoichi was supposed to discreetly use the Mind Body Switch Technique to read Oz's memories without him or anyone knowing, but that's when everything went wrong. Both Inoichi and Oz suddenly fell unconscious and fell into an immediate coma. Alice's form started to disappear into orbs of light before vanishing altogether. Gilbert, in his rage, took out his run and began attacking Ibiki, only to be quickly subdued by him. He is currently being under ANBU guard in Oz's hospital room, refusing to leave his master alone, after both the boy and Inoichi were admitted to be monitored. The situation is kept under wraps to hopefully prevent the possible political backlash from the group. However, it was only a temporary measure as Riem is patiently waiting for the "Vessalius" group to finish their session. They can only hold off for so long. Luckily, Xerxes and Sharon decided to take advantage of the New Year's Festival and went out on a date together. This way, the upcoming conflict will be minimized. If Hiruzen doesn't want to lose any of the foreigner's trust, he has to tread carefully at this point. He hoped there won't be any new headaches after this.

XVII. The Looking Glass' Deception

AN: The italicized are quotes from Chapters 66 to 74 of Pandora Hearts.

Glen! This is your doing, isn't it!

He was falling.

Why?! Why are you doing this? Why are you doing such a horrible thing? Answer me… Answer me, Glen!

Deeper and deeper into the memories.

In that case… The answer is simple. I'll just have to…bring the world to you.

These are… These are Jack's? But… but this is all wrong…right?

Hey! Look! Look! Aren't they cute, these little twin rabbits?! One is mine, and the other is for you. They're a matching pair!

Wait a second… No, those aren't Jack's at all. Those are his. He was sure of it. But then how… who is he? Is "Oz" really…?

Oz! Oz! Oz! From now on I'll call you Oz!

His name… that's his name… Everything seems so familiar now, but why couldn't he remember all this before?

Oz. You've been by our side since the beginning. Having you with me…made me extremely happy. Thank you… Don't worry. Alice and I, we are one and the same… But you…are mine. I won't let anyone take away what is mine! I'll protect you with my own hands!

Alice? I see…all this time… She was…

Oz! You're a very good friend. You're a special person to me. So please…promise me that…when I'm in trouble…or if there are people that want to hurt me…you will…come and save me.

Alice… Alice! Alice, I'm so sorry. Alice…

Look, Jack! Blood red rain!

Wait, that song. Who is singing? Lacie!

Really? What a dull name!

Lacie?

"I see... All this time, you've… What were you…? How could you have thought…? Jack. ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO STAY SILENT, JACK?! ANSWER ME, JACK!"

XVIII. A Mother's Feelings

AN: The following has some elements of Chapter 76 of Pandora Hearts.

When Alice woke up, she found herself in the middle of what looks like an empty room. She was alone sitting on a wide couch and wearing a dark dress she didn't remember changing into. Searching through her memories, she recalled that Oz wanted to go find his missing "brother" so they traveled to a land called the Elemental Nations. After that they went to Konoha once they tracked down Michael's adoptive father, but the leader was suspicious of them and asked that they answer some questions to his people. They were separated into groups and interviewed by a different person in another room. That's when things went wrong. Sometime after they stated questioning, the platinum blonde guy with the long ponytail did something and then both he and Oz collapsed. The last thing she remembered was reaching for Oz as he fell before her body started to disappear. And then nothing.

"Don't worry. You're safe. Oz is safe."

Turning around, she was met with a…mirror? No, wait… It's her, but she's all white!

"…I'm…WHITE?!" Alice exclaimed in shock.

The other "her" just giggled at her reaction. "What are you talking about? Are you still sleeping or what?" Alice was really confused now. Then she remembered that Rufus said that she had a twin. So that means, she's the Will of the Abyss! The last time she "met" her sister, it was in a form of a white rabbit doll.

"You've been searching for 'your' damaged memories, right? I guess you've forgotten everything. You've been wrong all this time." The Will of the Abyss said as she smiled sadly.

A bubble of indignation rose from within her. Alice immediately stood up and turned to her sister with fury written across her face. "What do you mean I'm wrong about this?! They're my memories! You think you can tell me that I can't search for them? How dare you-"

"Because they're not really 'your' memories. They were mine…"

Alice stopped dead from her rant. "…W-what? What are you saying?!"

"If you really want to know… let me help you remember." The Will of the Abyss reached her hand out towards Alice to take hold of. Alice looked at the offered hand in wariness. Should she take it? What if it was a trap? But what if it's not?

Mustering up her courage, she reached forward and cautiously touched her sister's hand. A sudden rush of memories rapidly flowed into her.

U(•ㅅ•)U

"So what will you do now? You can't exist outside the Abyss as 'B-Rabbit' now that Oz has taken back his role. And I doubt you'll want to stay here either." The Will of the Abyss asked her twin.

"Well, what do you think I should do? Of course I want out? Oz is still my manservant, B-Rabbit or not!" Now that Alice remembered everything, she needed to get back to Oz. The

"I suppose I'll have to step in and help my sister then. Why don't I do the same thing I did with Kevin Regnard?" In other words, the Will of the Abyss will create a Chain that will be from Alice and for Alice alone and no one else.

"Kevin Regnard? Who's tha- oh, right… The clown. So now, how will we do this then? You're not going to rip out my eye and turn it into a Chain, are you?" Even though having such a Chain would be a huge power-up once she got out of the Abyss, she'd rather keep both her eyes, thank you very much… And all of her body parts intact.

"No, no." The pale twin shook her head. "What I'm about to do… What we are about to do…is very special. Your Chain will be much different compared to all others… After all, the Core did save it just for us."

"It? Special? For us?"

"…Lacie…our mother…when she was cast into the Abyss, everything about her was supposed to be destroyed. However, the Core and I were able to save her memories and feelings. I…I gave them to Oz so that Jack can see how Mother felt about him… Of course that was a mistake…" "One that nearly destroyed the world in the process. All thanks to one man's obsession." The two girls thought bitterly.

"Where are you going with this?"

"When I gave Oz Mother's fragments, he took it inside his being. Being shared between two bodies, the Abyss couldn't find all of her and destroy her completely so it only targeted what it could. Despite losing one of his bodies in the process, he was able to keep the remaining fragments in his being. So when you became 'Alice the B-Rabbit'…"

"…the fragments went inside me!?" This was a shock. All this time Alice had been carrying their mother inside of her without her ever knowing. She felt one part awkward having bits of someone else inside her very being but two parts overjoyed that Lacie wasn't completely gone.

"The Core and I will use those as a basis for your Chain. Don't worry. After being integrated inside another being for so long, the Abyss doesn't recognize the fragments as 'Lacie'. So now sister dear. Are you ready?" Despite her serene appearance, she can't help but feel a wave of excitement ready to burst out and ruin her composure. Maybe it's the Core's eagerness bleeding into her, but she was looking forward to seeing what kind of Chain the fragments of their mother would become.

Alice looked at her sister, her whole posture screamed confidence and her eyes alight with a familiar fiery determination. "I…No…We were born ready." This Chain will be glorious!

AN: This… was a difficult chapter for me. Though I did have fun playing around with the PH canon. About Lacie, I really wanted this sort of thing to happen in the manga. Sadly it's Pandora Hurts and not Pandora Happy. Imagine this happening:

Jack was in the middle of destroying the world going "IT WAS ME ALL ALONG!" or whatever and all of a sudden, Chain!Lacie comes in all "LEEEERRROOOY JENKINS!" Jack gets overjoyed and says "Mai Waifu!" Everyone is shocked and was "who dat fuk is dat hoe?" Alice, Alyss, and Oz were in the sidelines going "Mommy?!" Glen in the background be all "Mai Imouto Can't Be This Cute!" The Core was like "FINISH HIM!" Then she goes up to Jack and bitchslaps the dude some sense back into his head and goes "Ain't Nobody Got Time Fo Dat!" Jack was crying on the ground in a dogeza position at her feet begging "NOTICE ME SEMPAI!" She goes "Try me Bitch!" with her foot on his back cackling like a dominatrix. And everyone be like "Jus Fuk Alredy!" The End. Sadly that scene will only exist in my crackiest of fantasies.

*In canon, Riem can hold his alcohol and is the best drinker out of everyone in the Pandora Organization. Pros: He uses this opportunity to get information from the wasted. Cons: As the only one sober in the room, he's often the only one capable for the clean-up afterwards.

*This is a headcanon of mine. Since the Abyss has the ability to warp and distort random objects into Chains, like toys and even people, it would make sense for Mad Hatter to once have been Xerxes' left eye or at least a shadow of it since Cheshire's pretty much using it as well. The Will of the Abyss made Mad Hatter specifically for Xerxes in order to help him fulfill her wish so she took something of his already existing and made it into a Chain for him. However, the whole "being able to see through Mad Hatter" was obviously made up. Now that I think about it, the mechanics are a lot like Gaara's Third Eye Technique. I thought it would be cool if he could do that in this fic as an edge against his opponents in future battles.

Spring Break is ending and I'm feeling sad. I think there's only one more chapter in me before I turn my attention to my education. I probably won't be working on this more until summer so I hope you've enjoyed what I have so far until then. Also I really need your feedback and votes on how to improve N:CBS. So please review and go to my profile page to for the poll I set up if you haven't already. Mai plot bunny needs to grow up maor!

But anyways, thanks for reading this, and please leave behind constructive criticism. (ヘ･_･)ヘ┳━┳