HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

BIG thanks to MichaelTheFox for helping with this chapter! Seriously, guy's an awesome Co-author!

As the unlikely duo left Gadd's lab, Naruto turned to his companion."Melody?"

"Yes, my Soulmate?"

Naruto sighed, "...Are you...ok with this? Helping me as far as the other ghosts, I mean..."

At that, Melody hugged him again, touched he was concerned with how she felt. "Well...like it or not, I will. I promised, after all. Besides..." she suddenly scowled as she pulled away, "it's really all the fault of the damn Boos...as usual!"

"As usual?" Naruto repeated, confused.

"Boos are all about mayhem. If they can cause trouble, they will, no questions asked. Should have figured they were involved in you and your friends' plight...both the living and the dead, everyone's sick and tired of them giving ghosts in general a bad name." Melody snarled. "Think about it: to save your friends, you have to capture all the Boos. But the Boos only come out in the mansion's rooms when the lights are on, and the lights can only come on when the other non-Boo ghosts have been captured."

"...Boos rigged it so I have to make enemies of whatever other good ghosts are in there for the sake of saving my friends..." the Uzumaki cringed.

She nodded, feeling her mood lighten by a tenth out of a hundred at that. It felt good knowing Naruto saw her as a "good ghost", and from his comment, he wanted to see her fellow portrait ghosts the same way. On the other, she was far too outraged at the Boos for all of this.

"Melody...could you explain that to the other ghosts that are...well...from Gadd's..." he tried finding a way to put what he wanted to say that wouldn't upset her.

"I'll explain things to the other portrait ghosts, my Soulmate. Don't worry...they can't stand the Boos either, so the fact the Boos made it so you had to turn to Gadd for help is bound to get them upset." She sighed, "You want to be fair to us, though. So the fact you do but had to turn to that damned lab coat clad onion means more trouble for the Boos when the others find out. We all HATE Gadd for what he did to us!"

As they made their way up the steps to the mansion, Naruto looked at her, "I get the feeling that you and the others actually want that to happen...give you all an excuse to kick some Boo butt..."

Melody laughed, wrapping her spectral body around his torso like a python, "Be lying if I said otherwise. Like I said, we're all sick and tired of them giving ghosts in general a bad name."

Naruto nodded. The saying about how bad apples spoil the bunch passing through his mind. As they got to the front door, however... "Uh...Melody? Kinda need the use of my arms..."

The ghost, who was resting her head on his shoulder, pouted at him. She liked using her lack of physical form limiting her so she was wrapped around the whiskered teen like this! Then her arm stretched out and she opened it herself. "I'm comfy like this." She explained as she nuzzled her cheek against his.

Naruto sighed and shook his head haplessly. "Ok, but I will need my arms back when I need to unlock a door. Sorry, Melody..."

"...Fine." she huffed, pouting.

Going up to bottom door in the center of the foyer, Naruto lightly cleared his throat and gave Melody a look. Grumbling, she reluctantly unwound herself from him and tsked, crossing her arms and looking away, very much annoyed.

"I said sorry..." Naruto said sheepishly, then put his finger to the keyhole and injected his chakra. But as he tried to apply his "key" again, this time was different. As he poured energy into the lock, it seemed to spit it back out as some kind of black variant of it. Naruto screamed, jerked, thrashed and twitched uncontrollably as he was suddenly electrocuted stupid. The voltage was so high, it was even possible to see the young man's skeleton under his skin and muscle while Naruto's hair turned ashen white, while his skin turned a sickly dull gray color with several black vein-like markings covering his body that looked like it were cracking, and his eyes were now glowing with a eerie, bright, neon-green that contrasted the black energy pouring over and through him.

Finally, with a bang like a shot from a cannon, he was flung away from the door. Impacting the wall behind him and slumped down in a heap at the bottom of it. Utterly unmoving.

"HAH! Take THAT, you cheat!" A ghost's voice (more than likely a Boo) cackled.

"NARUTO!" Melody cried, rushing over to him, only to stop dead and gawk as she watched Naruto's spirit rise up from his body.

Naruto looked the same as he did when alive but now his legs were gone and in their place was a single tail, his eyes were a full glowing blue with no iris or pupil, and his "skin tone" was neon orange in color.

Naruto's spirit rubbed his head, "...Ok...OW!...what the hell was that? It worked before..." he muttered, shaking his head to clear it. As he did, the Uzumaki noticed something seemed... odd...he felt weird. Detached...and why did he feel so light?

Before he could ponder it further, he was tackled by a very happy Melody, knocking him down and wrapping around him in much the same way as before in the when trying to keep him from running from her in the Conservatory. She couldn't help it. To her, he looked absolutely amazing.

"Gah...! Melody, what's gotten int...huh?!" Naruto began, only to see a body in the middle of the room all of a sudden. However, getting a look at the face, Naruto yelped upon realizing it was his own corpse on the floor!

He went stiff and his eyes widened while he started to shake all over. Just because his fear of ghosts was muffled didn't mean much in the face of him BEING ONE!

Screaming bloody murder and starting to hyperventilate, he then unkowningly launched himself back, to flying in a panicked-induced frenzy. Naruto flew up but suddenly found himself flying down fast and he tried to fix himself until went into the floor, somehow crashing into it while only leaving his tail out of it as he struggled to get out, "Rookie...", Melody said to herself while shaking her head, but she figured she could teach Naruto everything he needed to know.

Then before she could help him out, Naruto had finally managed to pull himself free from the floor, but he launched himself like a missile, tumbling as he went, and crashed into a wall, but this time with his waist up showing out of it and Naruto tried to free himself until he finally did and he sent himself flying towards a mirror which he bounced off and was sent into one of the upper floor doors.

Melody rushed after him and dive bombed the "younger" ghost to the floor as he continued to panic, before taking his hands in her own and pulling him up, "Well...you need to learn the "basics" of being a ghost." She told her fellow blond spirit, "Here, I'll help you."

"Help me?! HOW can anyone help me?!"

"Please, my soulmate!" Melody pleaded, "calm down! This is actually more useful than you think."

"USEFUL?!" Naruto shrieked, "Are you NUTS, Melody?! I'm dead! How can I accomplish anything?!"

"Snap out of it!" she cried, her hand zooming up and colliding with his cheek, palm first.

Naruto stared, eyes wide at the slap. He'd actually felt that.

"Better? Sorry, but you need to calm down..." his companion sighed, then looked at him, "Now, as I was saying, this state could be useful to you. Calm down, my soulmate, let me see something." Melody said in hopes of calming him down.

He nodded and she went over, pulling him along as they held hands, and leaned her head against his body's chest and smiled when she heard the sound of his heart slowly, but surely still beating.

"It's okay! You're not really dead, but your just having a "out-of-body" experience. That shock must have done a real number on you to knock your spirit out of your unconscious body. But as long as nothing serious happens to your body, you'll be fine for when you go back into your body." She smiled as she pulled away from Naruto's physical self to smile at his spirit.

Naruto's eyes widened, back into his body?! THAT got his attention. "Say what?!" he cried even as the news got him to relax. Even if he didn't understand everything, he got the underlining message: he wasn't really dead.

"Well, more on explaining this later. But like I was saying, this could be helpful to you if you learn to use it right." Melody soothed him, "you see, ghosts don't bother other ghosts, they tend to leave each other alone; and you did say some of the reasons ghosts made you uneasy was they can turn invisible, go through solid objects, and can possess things...you can do those things now too while you're this way. Think about how much those kinds of abilities will help in finding your friends."

Naruto's eyes widened. He'd been so panicked that he hadn't thought of that...but now...oh, yes, he could see the appeal.

"...Ok, I get it, but...why did this happen? I could do it before without anything like this happening." Naruto wondered, looking himself over.

"The Boos called you a cheater...what was that about?"

"Well...the Boos sounded kind of ticked off when I used this trick I created from back when I was a little kid earlier. Basically, I applied a way to fiddle around inside a lock until it opens whatever door I need to go into..."

"You used a cheat code?!" his companion gawked.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, "A what?"

"You did something that made things easier that they were supposed or even allowed to be." Melody clarified.

"You think I care about or want to follow the Boos' rules when they dragged me and my friends into this in the first place? And would I really have the time needed for that?" Naruto snapped, downright annoyed.

Melody nodded. Point to her soulmate about that. "Understandable. Now...I think needing to learn being a ghost is in order."

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled and nodded.

"First thing's first, need to learn to move on your own." the ghost girl said and Naruto's eyes darted to her hand.

"Melody, please don't let go! I'm not sure I can do this by myself!" Naruto yelped nervously.

The female specter blushed, delighted by her soulmate wanting them to keep hold of one another. "I don't want to, but..." she let go and floated backwards a few feet from him as Naruto windmilled his arms, trying to stay balanced.

"Now, my Soulmate...moving's easy, just think of it as when you're swimming." Melody told him, catching his attention as he flopped around. "Even hovering in place works that way."

"Uhh...do I have to paddle...stroke...whatever?" The new ghost asked.

Melody giggled, amused by the question. "No. Now..." she held her arms out, wide and expectant, "come to me!"

Naruto nodded and tried to go towards Melody, but even as a ghost, apparently gravity was NOT his friend. Naruto struggled in the air as he tried to reach her. It took a while, but Naruto started to get the hang of it as he managed to keep afloat in the air until he flew towards Melody and finally his ghostly hands grabbed onto hers.

"Well done, my Soulmate! I knew that you could do it!", Melody said joyfully, pulling him close and kissing him on the nose before letting him go.

Naruto nodded, "Next lesson?"

"Ok then. Let's try phasing. Phasing through objects could be like...going through a bubble without popping it as you go through it...like nothing can literally stop you from going through anything you want. Basically, tell yourself the solid object isn't really there. Understood, Soulmate?"

Naruto nodded. That would be easy enough.

Melody then pointed at the covered mirror, "Then I want you to phase right through that mirror, sheet and all, completely at least three times, just so you get the hang of it."

Nodding, Naruto began to slowly float toward the mirror, before shutting his eyes and began to think how he could not be stopped and that nothing could block his progress, thinking on his desire to save his friends helped with that. After all, he wouldn't let anything stop him from making sure they were safe. Then went forward and cracked an eye open. Before opening his eyes fully and smirking as he saw that when he made contact with the sheet, he was still going, and then phased his head through both the sheet and the mirror until he completely phased through both the objects one time.

Then from behind the covered mirror, Naruto did it again, only this time a little faster and with the same thought and he saw that he did it again and for the last time he successfully made through the third and final time while hearing Melody clapping for him with a smile on her face.

Smiling at his understanding, Melody continued, "Next is possession. It's the same as going through things, but stopping part way. Like taking a rest inside what you're going through." she looked around the room for something for Naruto to possess, but unfortunately there didn't seem to be anything good for that in the foyer. Turning to Naruto with a disappointment, she sighed, "I'm sorry, my Soulmate, but there's not much in this room for you to possess..."

Feeling a little down, Naruto quickly shook off the disappointment. "That's fine. Can always try it in another room with more stuff in it."

Hearing how upbeat he was made the pianist smile to herself Good point.
That out of the way, she then had an idea as she then looked at Naruto, "I know what you can learn next... Shape Shifting, a ghost's personal favorite trick!"

This caught Naruto's attention as he looked ready and willing to learn this one.

"Now...for shape shifting, all you have to do is simply visualize what you want to be turn into and concentrate. Focus on the form you're trying to take the shape of."

Naruto's jaw dropped at that. No way! The same principle as the transformation jutsu back home, only without needing handsigns or chakra?! Was it THAT simple?!

Closing his mouth, he cleared his throat, "Uh...sure...I can handle that..."

At her skeptical look, Naruto smiled and with a popping sound like a light bulb going out, Melody's jaw dropped as the piano player was suddenly facing herself as if she were looking in a mirror.

"Well? How'd I do, sensei?" The second Melody asked.

Melody gawked. No way...he even sounded just like her! She put her hands on where her hips would be if she had legs, giving him a look, "How did you...? Are you holding out on me?"

Naruto laughed as he resumed his normal form, "Nope, just used to it. Like messing with people...pulling pranks, so I had to get good at looking and sounding like others to keep from getting caught."

Hearing Naruto explain all this to her made Melody understand how Naruto could learn the art of shape shifting so easily, if what he said was true, then he was practically a master of the art by default!

Shaking off her shock, Melody then thought of Naruto's final lesson, at least for now, then her eyes widened, and she looked at Naruto. "Very good, Soulmate!" Melody clapped, delighted. "You're a quick study at this!" then she looked somewhat confused, "What did you call me earlier?"

"Hm? Oh. Sensei. Where I'm from, it means 'teacher'." Naruto explained, "Seeing as you're helping me learn this ghost gig..."

She beamed, feeling flattered her soulmate viewed and valued her aid that highly. It made her feel good almost to the point of Crossing Over!

"Alright then, my Soulmate, for your final lesson, at least for now... is to learn how to turn invisible at will..."

Hearing this, Naruto was VERY interested into learning this ability, as this would help him immensely in looking for all of his friends without being seen. "Ready, Melody!"

Smiling, she nodded, "Good. As for turning invisible, you just need to visualize yourself disappearing from sight and holding it, until you want to be seen. Try it."

Nodding, Naruto closed his eyes and began to concentrate on the simple thought of just fading into the scenery as if he was part of it...his form growing fainter every second until he was eventually gone completely.

"My Soulmate? I think you already did it..." Melody said as she started looking around the room for any hint of where Naruto actually was. She floated in the air looking for Naruto, but what she didn't know that Naruto was right behind her. Seeing this was his chance, Naruto revealed himself and shouted from behind Melody.

"BOOOOOOOOOO!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Melody screamed from the scare as she whipped around, her face instantly turned from scared to outrage as she saw Naruto now floating and laughing his lungs out. If he still had lungs in his present state, anyway.

"I-I'm so sorry, Melody... But I just couldn't resist... And you should've seen the look on your face! Priceless! Hahahaha!"

He was so busy laughing, he failed to see her scowling, but his laughing stopped when she slapped Naruto so hard the Uzumaki ghost was literally sent flying upward towards the upstairs hallway and phased through it. When he got there, Naruto was apparently doing a ghost's impression of a pinball bouncing around until he finally crashed against a wall and his head got stuck in the keyhole of a door.

Groaning, he shook his head. "Why did Melody have to slap me so hard for?"

Then, all of a sudden, he heard a voice he knew. And it sounded like it was sobbing.

INO!

Looking around for where exactly it was coming from, Naruto found himself in a woman's bedroom and with a bit of strained grunting, squeezed his body through the keyhole the rest of the way, only to gasp as he saw an oil painting hung on the wall, one that featured Ino!

His gasp drawing attention, the Ino in the portrait surprised him by moving. She looked up, laid her eyes on him, and she let out a shocked, muffled scream at the sight of Naruto's ghostly form.

"N-n-n-n-Nah-Naruto?!" the trapped girl shrieked, "You're one of THEM?!"

"Ino!" Naruto sighed, relieved at finding one of his friends, then looked down at himself and back up at her, realizing what she had yelled about, "Long story short, sort of an out of body experience thing. Tell you later...just remind me to thank Melody, afterwards." Naruto told his fellow blond, "first, let's get you out of here." his words getting an eager nod of agreement from the kunoichi. Reaching to remove the painting from the wall, he tried to grab it, only for his eyes to widen as his ghostly fingers phased through it.

"What?!"

He tried again with the same ineffectiveness. Growing more frantic and desperate with each failure, "No, no, no! Stupid ghost hands!" The Uzumaki cursed, glaring at said hands as if to intimidate them into solid matter.

Oh, come on...this was just perfect! He'd found one of his friends, but couldn't do anything! DAMN THE BOOS!

Frustrated, Naruto floated around the room, trying to see how he could help Ino get out of the portrait, until the two blonds heard the door handle jiggle.

Panicked, Naruto thought back to the one lesson Melody hadn't been able to have him do, then flew into the nearest thing to hide in that he saw; then gaped as he realized it was a powder puff jar just before a female ghost entered the room and floated towards the mirror, sat down, looking at her reflection.

Frowning slightly, the woman's spirit opened the powder puff jar and then pulled out the pink powder puff that was now possessed by Naruto.

From Naruto's point of view, he felt her ghostly fingers touch his vessel, fingers lightly digging into his back, and his...for lack of a better term, stomach...lurched as he was lifted up to her face and exposing the bottom of the puff, where his eyes were located due to his rushed possession of the object, to a spirit with blue "skin" and bright, yellow eyes, similar to Melody's own. She had an oval face and short, blond hair that frilled up at the ends. She was dressed very simply, only wearing a pink bath robe with a white lining at the sleeves and the bottom.

The ghost then used him in her face, rapidly pounding him against her face and she even used Naruto on her lips as well.

To Naruto, he was suddenly, lightly jabbed forward. Making contact with her face and he sneezed to himself within the puff as clouds of powder spread and made his eyes water.

As the female phantom continued powdering herself with Naruto, she stopped suddenly as she heard the crying of a baby. Setting the puff down, she floated to go check on what was most likely her child.

Once the she-specter was gone, Naruto exited the puff, dizzy. "...Ugh..." he groaned, "Suffering spooks, that wasn't fun..."

"Suffering spooks?! Where did you get that from, a cartoon show?!" Ino demanded, "Hurry and get me out already!"

"I can't touch...oh!" Naruto said, then made for the door.

"Wait! Don't leave me here!" Ino yelped, eyes wide and started to bang on her painting's frame.

Turning back to her, Naruto sighed before giving the Yamanaka a reassuring look, "I just need to go get my body! Ino, I'll be back, I promise. Once I do, I'll be able to get you out of that painting. Please, just wait for me, ok?"

At that, Ino started taking deep breaths; knowing how Naruto was with his promises. And what he was saying made sense. He knew where to find her, now. But couldn't physically interact with her prison while he was like this. He NEEDED his body if he was going to get her out. "...Ok...but you better be back."

"Don't go anywhere." the whiskered teen instructed.

"Haha, very funny, Naruto..." the mind-walker said flatly, tone sarcastic.

Naruto only shot her a grin and dived down through the floor.

Panting, it took Melody a few seconds to realized what she'd just done. "...GAH! I STRUCK MY SOULMATE!"

Idiot woman! Most ghosts had a penchant for mischief, and he'd said he was a prankster already! WHAT HAD SHE DONE?! Scrambling upwards and through the floor, arriving in the second level of the mansion, she started looking around frantically, a way to make amends being forefront in her thoughts as she zoomed through the walls.

From the crying and then the silence she heard a few moments into her search for Naruto, she guessed Lydia had been up and about, tending to Chauncey.

After getting her baby to settle down, Lydia made her way back to her room to continue her beautification, but stopped dead (no pun intended) in her tracks at who she saw zipping around, seemingly looking for something.

"Melody?!" Lydia gaped, then she smiled, "Well...this is a rare sight. You're out of the Conservatory!"

Turning to the other she-specter, Melody smiled slightly and nodded. She knew it was rare for her to leave the instrument-filled room. "Well...some things came up and here I am."

That instantly caught the mother's attention. "Oh? What could have happened to pry you away from your music?"

"Well...I..." Melody trailed off, blushing as she muttered something under her figurative breath.

"Hm? Didn't catch that, dear." Lydia prompted.

"...I said I met someone." The pianist repeated with a sigh.

Oh-ho! Now THIS was interesting! "Do tell, Melody!" Lydia gushed, "What are they like? Must be something special to get you away from your keyboard!"

Melody smiled with pure affection, "He's clear as a music note, sincere as a melody. In short, he's my Soulmate."

Lydia's jaw dropped. WHAT?! Did she hear that right?! Did Melody know what those words meant when a spirit uttered them? It meant much more than just wanting to be with someone. By declaring that, Melody sworn that she would love no other until her dying day...and as a ghost, she was already dead, and couldn't die again!

"NNNNOOOOOO!"

At the agonized wail, both ladies sighed. Knowing it was Shivers, the Wandering Butler. He was smitten with Melody, but she didn't return his affections.

"My enemy...damn you! How dare you steal the affections of the beautiful Melody Pianissima from me...! You shall pay, enemy! I swear it!" Shivers snarled through his tears.

Exiting through the floor, Naruto quickly found himself back to the foyer. Only to freeze upon seeing what was missing. The newly-spectral ninja paled until he was stark while all over.

"What the...?! HEY! WHERE THE HELL'S MY BODY?!" Naruto shouted.