AN: Rewrite of "The Ninth Demon Lord".
Summary:As a member of of the Hyuga clan, Hinata has grown up with nothing but the weight of her family's expectations. 'Do well, or we shall feed you to the Demon Lord,' her grandfather teased her. How little did she realize how much those words would mean to her, for as long as she could remember, tales of the monstrous creatures known as the Tailed Beasts, and those that contained them had plagued her nightmares as a little girl...that is until the day she saw one.
1: The Demon with Blue Eyes
Shivering as the cold of the Land of Iron seeped into her body through her thin clothing, Hinata let out a foggy puff of breath when she sighed at the sight of the gathering crowd around her. Beside her, her little sister, Hanabi, shivered just as badly from the cold, being the smaller of the two at the tender age of thirteen.
"Why did we have to come out here just to watch this stupid ceremony?" The little girl whined to her sister, and father, who sat beside the older girl, "It's not like it's important, right?"
Overhearing his daughter's complaints, Hiashi, her father, could only sigh, "The Shogun has called all of the Leaf's clans to witness this, Hanabi," he said, gesturing around them to their fellows from the Leaf Village, "It is not just us that are suffering from the cold."
"Still, why?" Hanabi said, her teeth chattering as she rubbed her arms to warm herself before Hinata put her arms around her.
Again, the man sighed, looking down at the wooden platform below them. It was upon this platform that the 'ceremony' was to take place. In the center of the platform were two large poles sitting side by side, both of which were mounted with chains made from special metals found only in the Land of Iron. In truth, the man wished he could have left both of his daughters at home, but his fears of what may happen to them out weighed his fears of what they were about to witness.
Hinata kept herself quiet as she warmed her sister up, silently contemplating what was going on. It wasn't every day that the Shogun himself called forth the five Daimyo, and the clans of each and every village to the governing body of the continent.
The Shogun, Mifune, had little interest in the lands outside of the Land of Iron unless a grave law had been broken, or if a war was about to break out. He was a hard man to please, and commanded respect of all that served him.
As a shinobi village, the Leaf Village in which she live was one of the five greatest villages in the nations. Each nations was divided up into varying territories, many small and not worth the Shogun's attention, allowing the smaller villages to get away with a few small assaults on larger ones to gain recognition from the Daiymo, and, by extension, the Shogun. Smaller villagers tended to breed and train less than stellar warriors, which meant they brought in far less income than the larger, more powerful villages.
The Daimyo were the ones that governed each of their respective lands, serving as the Shogun's aids. Mifune was, by far, the harshest of the Shogun that had come before him. Many feared him because he surrounded himself with his most powerful samurai warriors. Like shinobi, samurai were the Land of Iron's military forces in place of the shadow warriors. Rather than practice elemental techniques, they preferred bushido to ninjutsu, yet this did not make them any less formidable.
Mifune himself was a deadly swordsman on his own, but the two men that usually stood at his side were almost as dangerous as he himself was. If anyone were to get passed them, then they would have Mifune himself to deal with.
Suddenly, the loud crashing of a gong brought the girl from her musings as the gathered people rose from their seats, herself and her family included, and gave a short bow as the Lord of the Land of Iron and surrounding lands made his way to his own balcony. He was dressed in full armor, and flanked by his two warriors, both of whom carried a black blade made of meteor iron.
To Hinata, Mifune looked to be an old man, well passed his prime, but she knew better than to judge by looks alone.
"People of the Elemental Nations," he intoned, his voice carrying over the area loud and clear, "As you are all aware, our great Nations are home to nine beings of great power. Those beings now lay sealed within nine mortal vessels, and are governed by our five greatest shinobi villages."
He gestured to the platform in the center of the area, "As you are also aware, these nine are bound by five simple rules," He continued, "First; a Demon Lord must never raise his or her hand against their Daimyo, or the Shogun. Secondly; a Demon Lord must obey the wishes of his Kage, Daimyo, and the Shogun whenever he or she is called upon. Thirdly; a Demon Lord may never conquer another land for themselves. Fourthly; Marriages between existing Demon Lords are strictly forbidden. And lastly; a Demon Lord may never leave their home unless called upon by their Kage, Daimyo, or the Shogun."
"Such strict laws," Hinata breathed out under her breath, her father nodding as he tightened his hands into fists.
"Two of these laws have been broke," the Shogun roared angrily, causing the crowd to grow angry themselves, save for a select few that gave the man angry looks, many of them, the young woman noticed, coming from Leaf villagers.
It was then that she saw a young man, his hair a wild mane of yellow, and his back bare, being led up unto the platform in changes. His wrists were then chained to the posts so that he stood, unable to move them while his feet were similarly bound.
"The Demon Lord of Whirlpool Castle, Naruto Uzumaki, Ninth Demon Lord," Mifune announced, "Has broken the Third, and Fifth Laws."
Outragged shouts and cries of anger were heard.
"Lord Uzumaki had not only left his own lands, but moved to conquer the neighboring Land of Waves," Mifune roared, riling the crowd up, "These lands rightfully belong to the Water Daimyo, and his Mizukage. But Lord Uzumaki saw fit to break the laws, and make these lands his own!"
"DEATH TO THE DEMON!"
"TRAITOR!"
"HANG HIM!"
"Silence!" Mifune roared, "As the last of the House of Uzumaki, the only ones capable of housing the Nine Tailed Fox, his punishment, until he sires a suitable heir, cannot be death." The man said, drawing a loud round of disappointed murmurs from the crowd.
Hinata looked at her father, "Father, what's going on?"
Hiashi ground his teeth, his knuckles going bone-white, "They're going to whip him!"
Hinata and Hanabi paled, the elder sister moving to take her little sister from the stands, but found the exit blocked by guards; they were to be forced to watch the whipping.
"As such," Mifune called out, "Lord Uzumaki is to be stripped of his conquered lands, and lashed. Thirty lashes for each transgression."
Hinata looked horrified. 'Sixty lashes?!' She thought as the samurai holing the long bullwhip stepped up, 'That would kill him!'
"As I am a merciful lord, should the Demon Lord apologies for his crimes, and cry for mercy, his torment shall cease after fifteen lashes. Not a moment before." He looked down at the man to carry out the punishment, "Commence."
The whip was uncoiled, and brought back. Hinata took her sister and held her close as they closed their eyes just as the first crack of the whip struck. A moment of silence followed before a second crack. And then a third, but no sound came from the young man. Cracking her eyes open and wincing as the next crack of the whip sounded against his flesh, she saw the the young Demon Lord had a horribly strained look upon his face, but his teeth were clamped so tight to keep himself quiet that his lip was bleeding.
His eyes seemed to glow with ferocity even as the whipping continued, filled with nothing but rage and hate as finally, the fifteenth lash struck his skin, the wood of the platform already soaked with so much blood that he should have already been killed from the loss.
"MERCY!"
Hinata sighed in relief, but it wasn't the young lord that had called out.
"Who dares cry for this pig's mercy!" Mifune roared.
"I do!" Roared an elderly man as he muscled his way through the crowd on the Land of Water's side, "Hear me out, Lord Mifune, Lord Naruto only broke those two laws because he was asked!"
"By whom?" Mifune demanded.
"By my entire village," the old man cried out, "I am Tazuna, a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. For years we've been under the rule of a tyrant by the name of Gato, a shipping magnate who wanted our lands, and attempted to starve out my village when we refused to sell out."
"Why was this not brought before the Mizukaze, or your Daimyo?" The Shogun demanded patiently. "If things were so bad, then why was nothing done?"
Tazuna growled, "Because another Demon Lord had broken the laws, and become the Mizukaze, sparking a civil war when he decided to start hunting down and slaughtering families with Kekkei Genkai." He said, "The Daimyo was so busy try to manage the lives lost, and damage sustained by the war that he didn't have time for a small fishing village like ours, and Gato took advantage of that. He killed anyone that dared to stand up to him, including my own son!"
"Further more, I've done some digging into some of the old maps," Tazuna went on, reaching into this haori, and producing a old, beat up map, "The Land of Waves, from the time that the Elemental Nations were formed, belonged to the House of Uzumaki, meaning that the young Lord never left his lands, merely defended them!"
"He lies! He must be!" Someone shouted from above the young Hyuga, leaving her to wondering who it could have been, but she felt slight hope for the young Demon Lord.
"Silence," Mifune demanded, gesturing to the bridge builder, "Bring this map to me. We will have the truth, and due compensation given should these transgressions be false."
Tazuna was quickly escorted to the Shogun's side, granting him the map as he examined it thoroughly, "Hmm, this map, while old, is accurate." He said to the man, nodding his head in slight respect, "You must have gone through a great deal to acquire this. You have my thanks."
Tazuna bowed slightly, "No thanks needed, My Lord, but please, let the man that saved my land, and my grandson be. He's done nothing wrong."
Mifune nodded, and turned to address the crowd, "The transgressions against the Demon Lord have been rendered false!" He roared, "Release him, and tend to his wounds, and then bring me the one that demanded his punishment!"
A deep sigh of relief released itself from Hinata's chest as the young man was released, and aided off of the platform. But her relief turned to that of horror when he was turned about, and his back shown to her. She had seen ground meat with more solidity than his own flesh.
Her hand flew to her lips, "Please excuse me, Father, I - "
"Go, and please be quick, or else you may have to witness worse," her father said quickly, looking down at his younger daughter, "You go as well, Hanabi, you're still too young to witness such things."
Hanabi nodded to her father, "We'll meet you at our inn."
"Quickly now!" He urged them as the brushed passed their guard, giving the older girl enough space as he noted her pale, greenish features as they passed by.
Hinata couldn't hold the bile back for long as the sight of the Demon Lord's mutilated back continued to haunt her, and soon found herself hunched over in the snow, losing what little food she had in her stomach.
Hanabi rubbed her back soothingly as she comforted her sister, "We should've stayed home."
Hinata shook her head slowly, wiping her lips with a small handkerchief, "You know why we shouldn't have done that, Hanabi," she said to the girl as she helped her stand, "Grandfather and the other elders are growing more impatient every single day about one of us being branded."
Hanabi huffed, but said nothing as she knew that her sister was right in her assumptions. For generations it had been the tradition of the Hyuga clan to brand members of their family with a mark of servitude and casting them out of the main house and into the branch family, making them little more than slaves. It was an outdated method of keeping their family's Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, out of the grasp of those that would steal it from them. Outdated because all an enemy had to do was to subdue any member of the branch family, and pluck their eyes out while they still lived, as the mark would only activate on the death of the marked.
Though, both young women had to give credit where credit was due. A live Hyuga was a dangerous Hyuga. Subduing even the lesser trained members of the Branch family was downright dangerous given that they were all, in essence, masters of close range combat. A single strike from a trained Hyuga was a death sentence to many outside of the village.
Hinata sat herself on a bench on the streets, catching her breath. The frigid air of the Land of Iron was suddenly very soothing to her as her stomach settled. Hanabi sat beside her kicking her feet in the snow, "You know," she started, "I've always thought of Demon Lords as inhuman monsters...but, that boy out there didn't look any different than you or me..."
Hinata sighed, remembering the look in those...strangely beautiful eyes of his, and thinking that there was, indeed, something inhuman about them. The way they glowed with emotion, angered or not, just seemed...
"He was sure handsome, though," Hanabi blurted out, wiggling her brow at her sister, who squeaked.
"Hanabi!" Hinata blushed crimson as her little sister giggled, "That his hardly appropriate for a young lady, let alone a member of the Hyuga clan!"
"Since when do you care about what's appropriate?" Hanabi asked before scooping up a handful of snow and tossing it at her. Hinata yelped as Hanabi laughed and bounced off of the bench before her sister could retaliate. "Come on, Hinata, you used to be more fun than this!"
Hinata brushed the snow off of her face, giving her sister an evil look before she stooped down to pick up a snowball. "Oh, now you're in for it!"
Hanabi squealed as the resulting snowball fight ensued, their worries forgotten for the moment, and Hinata's mind finally taken from the thoughts of the young Demon Lord.
(*)
Mifune throne room of his castle, his two guards standing dutifully at his side. Before him were the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, and the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. Behind them sat the clan heads of the village, including members of the Uchiha, and the Hyuga respectively.
"As you've all obviously seen, your Demon Lord was falsely accused and wrongfully punished of crimes he did not commit," the Shogun said, "Why the young man did not speak out for himself is beyond me, but in light of this situation, I believe due compensation should be given over to him in order to somewhat mend the hostilities he may feel towards the Shogunate and your own lands."
"What's been done with the man that accused him?" Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage, asked.
Mifune frowned, "He happened to be a member of the late Gato, and hoped to take revenge on the young lord, but he had hoped it would result in his death, not a whipping." He said, gesturing to the red-haired man on his left, "Kenshin has seen to his punishment. He foolishly tried to flee."
"Good," the aged Hokage growled, "My village may not have cared for the boy as long as we should have, but the boy is still like a grandson to me. He's just lucky that it wasn't one of my shinobi that caught him, else I believe he would have begged for the whip."
Mifune chuckled at the man's humor, "Indeed, but how do you feel we should compensate our young Naruto?" He asked, "The Daimyo already send a tithe of fine cloth and goods to each Demon Lord, even though many of them are not of their lands, but I highly doubt that the young Lord of Nine would want more of such things."
"What about a woman?" Asked the Samurai to his right, a young man with bright orange hair, and brown eyes. "He's at that age, isn't he?"
"A concubine, eh?" Mifune chuckled again, tapping his chin in thought. "Not a bad idea...but it should be someone from his own village, and perhaps the daughter of a high-ranking clan...Fugaku, Hiashi, do your clans have anyone of note?"
Fugaku Uchiha bowed his head, "My clan does indeed have many young women, but they are...well, not of the same age as the young lord," he sighed, "We have one such young lady, but she is slightly older, and already bonded to my eldest son, Itachi, or else I may have suggested her."
"I see," the Shogun nodded, "Quite a shame as I know the young woman of your clan to be quite beautiful."
"It might not be such a good idea to gift him with an Uchiha, anyway, Lord," the Daimyo, Lord Iroh, spoke up, "You see, the day the boy was born, a rogue shinobi attacked the Leaf Village and caused the Nine Tails to be released through the aid of a Sharingan."
Mifune looked slightly shocked at this, "Indeed, and was this man dealt with?"
"At a great cost," Iroh went on sadly, "Minato, the Fourth Hokage, was killed after sustaining a horrible injury, and sealing the Fox into his newborn son." He said, "You, of course, know this part of the story. But the body of the man responsible for the heinous act was never recovered, so we do not know if he was a rogue from the Uchiha clan, or simply in possession of a stolen Sharingan."
The Shogun nodded, "I see your point, Lord Iroh, a member of the Uchiha clan may not be the best of ideas." He said, looking to Hiashi, who stiffened, "What of your clan, Hiashi?" He asked, taking not of the man's sweat beaded brow, "I understand you have a daughter, do you not?"
Gulping, Hiashi bowed his head and spoke, "Yes, I have...two daughters, one of whom...is of the same age as the young Demon Lord."
"Has she been promised to anyone?" The Shogun asked.
"No, My Lord, she has not, but - "
"Excellent," the Shogun smiled, "It shall be your daughter that weds the Demon Lord Naruto Uzumaki."
Hiashi Hyuga's world began to crumble around him. Beside him, Fugaku gave him a sympathetic look. It was lucky that none in his own clan were of age to be wed, or had already been spoken for. No one dared to say no to the Shogun.
(*)
Giggling madly, Hinata brushed the snow off of herself as she followed slowly behind her sister while the two of them made their way back to the inn they were staying at. The little war between them had been fun, and had thoroughly eased the elder sister's mind.
"Hurry up, slow poke!" Hanabi called back to her as she skipped on ahead of her, "I'm dying for a hot bath after that!"
Hinata giggled and waved her on, "You go on ahead, I'll catch up to you in a few minutes." She called out as the younger girl shrugged, and raced back to the inn, intent of taking a hot bath. Hinata paced herself slowly, however, taking in the sights of the capital of Iron. The village was much different than her own, but then again, so were the people. Those that practiced bushido were much more reserved than those that practiced the art of ninjutsu.
Though both samurai and shinobi used chakra, shinobi were far shorter-lived than samurai were in the fact that they were always putting themselves in danger against bandits, and other shinobi, whom were far more ruthless then samurai were. If put against each other, it would be a hard fight, but a shinobi could best a samurai in combat.
Given that the shinobi had no inkling of how long they would live once they started venturing out of the safety of their respective village, they tended to value life more so than most, and lived for the moment. As such, Hinata was happy seeing the new village, even though it felt as stifling as her own home did at times.
"Aren't you cold?"
Startled, Hinata yelped and dropped into her clan's fighting stance, whirling around to face whoever had spoken.
The one who had spoken, a man, stood behind her. He was tall, towering well over a foot and a half over her, and was wrapped in a ragged cloak. His face was obscured from view by a hood, and face mask that covered the lower half of his face. He was also a big man, with broad shoulders that looked like they had the strength to crush stone.
But what held her attention were his eyes. She could barely make them out beneath the hood, but she could swear that those eyes were glowing a bright, silvery-blue in color. A color she was familiar with.
Seeing the girl in front of him ready to fight him, the man gave out a chuckle that sent a warm shiver running down her spine. "Feisty, aren't you?" He asked, "The cold must not bother all that much if you're ready to fight in a kimono." He said, his eyes looking the girl up and down, making her blush, "Careful not to trip."
"W-what do you want?" Hinata found herself asking.
Those eyes of his turned up slightly, making her think that he was smiling behind his mask, "Nothing at all." He said, and walked right passed her, his cloak fluttering as a slight breeze kicked up. Hinata watched him go, straightening up as she did, her hands shaking.
She looked down at the ground for a moment, feeling slightly foolish as he retreated, and gasped a moment later as she saw a patch of red in the snow. She looked toward the man's retreating form, "Wait!"
He stopped, casting a small glance over his shoulder as the girl came running toward him. "What is it?"
Panting, she pointed toward the blood-stained snow, "You're hurt." She said, shaking her head, "I can't let you go in good conscience when I know I can help."
The man snorted, "You shouldn't waste your time on someone like me," he said, turning to leave again, "Besides, I'm used to the cruelty of humans."
Hinata wanted to reach for him, but she couldn't, simply standing there as he left her. Clasping her hands together, she sighed, "Not all humans are so cruel, Lord Naruto."
He paused for a moment.
The girl blushed, 'Did he hear me?' She wondered, having spoken so softly that not even a shinobi hound might have heard her. But after the small moment, he continued walking on.
It's been four years since I wrote "The Ninth Demon Lord", and believe me, I've been trying to get myself back into it, but with the Harem thing, I wrote myself into a corner. So, I decided to recreate it with a single pairing of Naru/Hina (Haters can suck it), and make a few drastic changes.
Anyway, hope you guys like this new take. If not, oh well.
Leave if a review if you like it, if not then sayonara!