The trip had been rather uneventful which was good for the ninja that were escorting the bridge builder, Tazuna, to Nami no Kuni, where they would protect him until the bridge could be completed. The three Genin were walking right behind their Jounin Sensei Hatake Kakashi as they made their way to the ferry port to catch a boat to the island nation; Naruto was reading a book and nibbling on a piece of jerky while conversing lightly with Sasuke and Sakura was talking to Tazuna about his family. All in all it was peaceful as far as ninja saw it, no combat, and no dire situations. "Alright guys, we're at the port, let's get on one of these boats and go." Tazuna said, moving to untie the mooring line to a small boat and grabbing a paddle.
Wave was a dump, beggars and those who weren't far off from them milled aimlessly up and down the streets, looking for the tiniest scrap of food. Buildings that were once shops were now boarded up and the words 'No Stock' were painted in bold red letters on the walls. "This is what Gato has done to us. We were once prosperous but that fat bastard's shipping tycoon has sucked us completely dry." Tazuna grunted under his breath.
"All those people…" Sakura said as a woman no older than twenty grabbed the hem of her shirt. "Please, you must help my baby! She's not breathing!" in the woman's arms was a swaddled baby that looked almost skeletal. Kakashi walked over and looked at the baby only to cringe inwardly as he felt how cold the obviously dead infant was. "I'm sorry ma'am…" Kakashi said softly, "She's dead, there's nothing we can do…" This sent the woman into a fit of delirium as she clutched the corpse closer to her. Sakura could only watch on in horror while Sasuke turned away, not wanting to witness the woman further plunge into utter devastation.
When Sasuke turned, he saw Naruto standing there with his nose buried into his book, the glare of the sun catching his thin rimmed glasses, hiding his eyes. But upon further inspection, Sasuke noticed Naruto's hand as it bled slightly. Naruto was digging his nails into his palm, trying to calm himself as every wail from the woman seemed to cause him to tighten up further. He finally snapped the book shut and walked over to the distraught woman, fluidly wrapping her into a tight hug. "What was her name?" he spoke softly as the woman's shoulders shook, "M-Moe…her n-name was..Moe.." Naruto released her from the hug and looked her in the eyes, a fire in his own that seemed to warm her otherwise cold soul, "He will Suffer for what he has done here. Tell everyone you know that no more will have to die because of him. Your daughter will not have died in vain."
The woman couldn't help but let more tears escape as Naruto stood up, the sun just barely breaking through the clouds. Through the woman's delirium, she caught the way that the shinobi were positioned behind the rays of light that were puncturing through the thick barrier of clouds, "Are you Kami's saviors?" The woman asked, her voice still rather shaky. "No ma'am" Naruto answered with the shake of the head, "only Shinobi."
The group hit the trail once again, Naruto buried in his book and the other two Genin glancing over to him every once and a while. Finally, Kakashi walked back over to Naruto, "That was very well said back there, Naruto." Naruto didn't lift his eyes from the book as he flipped the page, "it is an unspoken duty for shinobi to instill hope where it is needed most. the world's foundation would be filled with holes if that wasn't done, and a foundation that is filled with holes is bound to collapse." Kakashi could only smile at the very astute comment, 'Definitely his kid'.
A rustle from the brush on the side of the road put everyone into defensive positions around Tazuna. Everyone collectively let out a breath as a white rabbit hopped from a bush into the road, twitching its nose as it smelled around. "It's just a rabbit.." Sasuke muttered under his breath. "Yeah, one with a winter coat…" Naruto threw Sakura to the ground as a large sword flew right over their heads. Sakura would have been decapitated had Naruto not moved in. "Keh, good observation, blondie." Said a man that sat atop the sword as a platform as it stuck from a tree. "Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist, and one of the Seven Legendary Swordsmen." Kakashi said almost as if reciting a bingo book entry. "I'm honored that you know who I am, Sharingan no Kakashi."
Zabuza flitted through a few hand signs, and mist began to permeate the area, blocking everyone's field of vision. "Now…" Zabuza said as he withdrew his sword from the tree, "Let's do this."
Kakashi knelt to one knee as he felt the chakra exhaustion wash over him, his breath ragged and his muscles shaking from over-exertion. "Let's face it, Hatake, you were no match for the demon of the mist, your time to die is now!" Zabuza lifted the massive cleaver over his head and swung down hard, however, instead of Kakashi, the blade dug deeply into Naruto's body from the neck down into his chest cavity diagonally. He had pushed his teacher out of the way. "Naruto!" Sakura screamed out as she fell to her knees, Sasuke was speechless as his eyes widened, "Shit! Dobe!" Kakashi was nearing a blackout but caught a glimpse of the blood.
Endless…endless waves of blood
Zabuza tilted his head to the side in confusion but proceeded to guffaw uncontrollably as he held the sword there. "Too bad for blondie here, throwing his life away like this. It was rather pointless though, because I'm still going to come after you, Hatake!" Zabuza had his eyes transfixed on the silver haired Jounin but as he tried to lift the blade from Naruto's body, it wouldn't budge. He looked back to see that a hand was holding the blade in place as Naruto's head lifted to show two ferocious red slitted eyes staring right back at Zabuza, "That hurt…." A pulse of superheated chakra ran up the blade and right to the mist-demon's hand, causing him to relinquish his grip on the blade with a grunt. "Saa…You call yourself a demon, yes?"
Zabuza could barely contain his shock as Naruto pulled the massive sword from his body and flung it off to the side where Zabuza couldn't reach it. "Well, you have the right idea…" sickening sounds of popping and gushing filled the atmosphere as Naruto's wound began to mend, muscle could be seen re-attaching as bones joined together, finally being wrapped up in a fresh layer of pink skin where the mortal wound had been. "But let me teach you what a real demon is." The last few words escaped Naruto's lips in a detuned fashion as he felt the raw power course through his veins.
Naruto dashed forward, leaving a small crater where he stood, and slashed out at Zabuza, slicing the Jounin's arm open. This opened the man's defense up which allowed Naruto to go to town, ripping this way and that as he began to tear Zabuza up. Before Naruto could kill him though, three senbon made their way to Zabuza's neck, rendering him unconscious. Naruto ceased in his attacks and the power circulating him receded slowly, dropping him to a knee as he felt his own body begin to give in. "Thank you for disposing of Zabuza for us, I will now dispose of his body for you." Naruto looked up and recognized the masked intruder as a Kiri Oi-nin. The Oi-nin picked up Zabuza's body and his sword before disappearing.
Naruto of course didn't care, losing consciousness before his head even hit the dirt.
"He's waking up!" Sakura whispered excitedly, bringing both Kakashi and Sasuke over to Naruto's bed-side. Naruto felt like he was on fire, mainly the area that was hit by Zabuza. "W-where am I?" He said as he slowly sat up. "We're in Tazuna's home, and by what I heard, you did quite a number on Zabuza." Naruto blinked as he recalled the events leading up to his blackout, "Yeah, an Oi-Nin came by and scooped him up." Kakashi went from smiling to worry in only a few seconds, "Then that wasn't an Oi-Nin, they're supposed to dispose of the body on-sight. We could be seeing more of them soon." The room was silent before they all heard a knock on the door. "Dinner is ready you guys, and if Naruto-kun is feeling up to it, he can join us?" the group looked over to Naruto who was already up, slipping a black shirt over his torso. "Yeah, lets go."
The group sat at the table as food was being placed on small trays, "I know it's not much, but to be honest, it's all there is." The woman said as she joined the rest who were already eating. "It's very good Tsunami-san, thank you!" Sakura said as she savored the taste of the eel, wondering if she could garner a recipe from the woman. Naruto quickly ate and dismissed himself from the table to the bathroom where he promptly wretched the food back up. "God damn fox, you could've at least made it to where I could eat normal food for once." He muttered under his breath as another heave wracked his body. "You already know that Its unhealthy for demons to eat human food, you acknowledged this when I imparted my instincts to you." Kurama was right, the fox demon had given Naruto everything, from a heightened sense of smell, hearing, and sight, to enhanced flexibility. There was one catch to the deal however, one that caused instances such as this to occur. Naruto could eat only one thing and that one thing was a bit more…unorthodox
Humans.
Naruto didn't mind terribly, he even enjoyed killing for sustenance, being sure to only eat those who deserved It, and he began to enjoy the scent of blood greatly. "I could just eat that Gato fucker, by what I hear, he sounds nice and juicy." Naruto licked his lips as his mouth began to water slightly, "I also got a few drops of blood in my mouth from Zabuza, amazing if you ask me. His flesh might have been slightly more chewy, but still…" a knock on the door of the bathroom snapped Naruto from his hushed dialogue with the fox. With a flush of the toilet, he opened the door to find Kakashi standing there. "Are you alright? I heard retching when I came up here." Naruto nodded, "Yeah, something just wasn't sitting in my stomach right, I think I should just rest more." Kakashi nodded before walking back to his room, "Oh yeah, Naruto." Naruto turned his head to look up to the Jounin. "We start training tomorrow, and I've already told the team. We have about a week or so before we have to deal with Zabuza again, we need to be prepared." Naruto nodded before making his way into the room he was sharing with Sasuke, the Uchiha was sitting against the wall while sharpening one of his kunai.
"You feeling alright?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the blade. "Yeah, just something I ate probably." Naruto replied as he sat on his futon. The blond then whipped out a small yellow book with "The World's most famous orations" written in bold black letters along with a few sticks of beef jerky, at least…that's what everyone else thought it was. "yeah, I don't think my body was agreeing with that Unagi as well, I never really liked eel to begin with." Naruto simply chuckled as he munched on the 'beef' stick.
A solid week and a half had passed and as to be expected, Zabuza turned up on the bridge alongside his accomplice, labeled 'Haku', and had wrung out more of a fight than anyone would have garnered. Kakashi was locked in battle with Zabuza, and Sasuke and Naruto were both caught in a massive ice mirror technique with Haku. Sakura, being the least-heaviest hitter, was tasked with guarding Tazuna.
"There is no point in trying to escape, Shinobi-San, I will grant you a quick death, as I do not take pleasure in killing." Haku stated flatly as he now occupied every mirror. "Sasuke!" Naruto caught the Uchiha before he could hit the ground, senbon needles sticking out of him every which way. "D-don't lose focus…Dobe.." he said before unconsciousness took him. Naruto checked for a pulse and found a weak one, telling him that he needed to get out of there quickly. "you will befall the same fate, your life is forfeit!" Haku threw a myriad of senbon at the young blond but gasped as none of them successfully connected, in fact, they all froze mid-air before firing back, cracking every mirror before the entire jutsu broke altogether.
Haku was lying on the ground trying to sit up when he felt a weight slam him back down to the ground. "No, I believe it is the other way around…" Naruto said as a truly frightening grin creased his features, "I like cold cuts, the cold makes the meal that much more…refreshing….Itadakimasu!" Naruto opened his salivating maw wide before viciously biting into the imposter Oi-nin's shoulder with a horrid crunching noise. As Kakashi was too ensnared in his current fight with Zabuza, that left Tazuna and Sakura to watch on in horror as Naruto ripped sizeable chunks of flesh from Haku's neck and chest area, swallowing and slurping up stray strands of muscle. "Simply Divine, Ningen, a swell kill." Kurama admired as he was able to taste what Naruto was tasting. "I concur, not too chewy, but very firm." The boy muttered in between bites.
Looking at the sizable chunk that was taken out of the now dead ninja, Naruto eyeballed the heart that was still twitching in his chest. "How do you feel about dessert, Kurama?" he heard a snicker from the old fox, "I thought you'd never ask." Naruto took the slippery organ into his palm and quite literally ripped it from its fixed position, sending blood all across the ninja's and Naruto's face. Naruto once again bit down as he took in the flavor of the warm muscle, shuddering euphorically at the taste. "Please tell me you're tasting this, Kurama!" He shouted out, finally garnering the attention of the two fighting nin. "Every…last…bite!" Kurama replied earnestly.
Naruto stood his feet as he finished the heart with a gulp of finality before wiping his mouth with a clean bit of his sleeve, "Gochisosamadeshita" he muttered under his breath as he glared at the wide-eyes missing-nin. "Oh don't worry…I left room for you." Zabuza could do nothing as Naruto was already right in front of him, slashing out with sharpened claws, this time he would actually kill the missing nin. Zabuza screamed horrendously as a large chunk of muscle was completely ripped out from his core, in which Naruto began to munch on, "Better than I expected, still just a bit tough." Zabuza fell to one knee and was breathing raggedly, "W-what the fuck are you!?" he barked out, squinting under the pain of having a portion of himself unceremoniously ripped away.
"Oooooh, that's a good question, Momo-Kun!" Naruto said jovially as he approached the downed Jounin, leaning to eye level. "I'm a hunter, and you, my precious little morsel." Naruto grasped Zabuza's neck and began to tighten his grip, "are the prey." The infamous 'Demon of the Mist' met his end in the same fashion as his subordinate…a hole the size of someone's head in his chest. "What a buffet it has been, don't you agree, Kurama?"
"A buffet indeed, Ningen, a buffet indeed!" Naruto then turned heel before briskly walking back over to Sasuke, "Sasuke-Kun, are you still with me here?" he placed a hand on the unconscious Uchiha's neck and sighed with relief as the weak pulse was still there, "Sakura-Chan, go get Tsunami-San. Sasuke-Kun is still alive, but he needs immediate medical attention." The aforementioned pinkette had just recovered from spilling the contents of her lunch from watching the horrid display of cannibalism, looking at Naruto with widened eyes, "What? Do I have something on my face or in my teeth? Go get Tsunami-San, hurry!" Sakura nodded dumbly and ran off as Kakashi approached him "N-Naruto-Kun…." Naruto held a hand up to stop him before he could ask anything, "I'll explain soon, but in the mean-time, I believe we have a teammate to attend to.
"Oh thank Kami, I don't have to actually pay him!" The two remaining Shinobi tensed as a new voice filled the silence, "It looks like you really did a number on him though, I must commend your handiwork." Gato said as he nudged the corpse next to him with his cane. "You're Gato? Well I take back what I said about eating you, you look absolutely putrid!" Naruto said as he stood to face the bulbous old man and his entourage. "What did you just say, brat?" Naruto rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the man, crossing his arms, "I said you look unappetizing, It's a good thing I ate out of both of them though, they were rather filling."
Gato's group all went wide in the eyes as they looked back down to the corpse, noticing how there were a few bite marks lining its flesh around the wound. "A cannibal? Keh! I've dealt with worse, kill them!" the men rushed in before they abruptly halted, looking at the entry way of the bridge. A large group of citizens with cleavers and pitchforks were standing just before the archways, chanting death threats and obscenities to the opposing side, "We've had enough, Gato! We're ready to cut you down if it means we can be at peace once again!" Naruto's ears perked up at the ever familiar voice of the woman they had encountered when they had first entered wave. He turned and smiled as he saw her at the front of the group, clutching a woodcutters axe tightly.
Naruto took this opportunity to kick back and effectively break one of Gato's legs at the kneecap, disabling him indefinitely. "Good people of Nami no Kuni!" Naruto said loudly as he stepped out of the way, "He's all yours!" the crowd charged in at full strength, effectively scaring the piss out of the few offending thugs that gato had brought with him.
Oh this conflict was definitely over.
The trip back to Konoha took much less time, but it was silent. Sakura gave a few nervous glances to Naruto every once and a great while, and Kakashi opted to read silently, trying to keep the gore from his mind. "What's got them so on edge?" Sasuke asked quietly as they ran. Naruto simply sighed, "I'll tell all of you when we get back to the village."
They came up to the gates where Kakashi zipped off to the Hokage Tower immediately after checking them in, leaving the three behind to stew in each others' presence, "I believe we should go there as well, We'll be much safer in discussing things." Naruto said. Sakura and Sasuke nervously nodded their heads as they followed suit in high-tailing it to the office of the Hokage.
"Yes, come in!" Naruto stepped into the office, followed by Sasuke and Sakura as Kakashi sat back down into his seat, "Ah, we were just talking about you three, come in, I believe there is something Naruto needed to say to you all?" Hiruzen said as calmly as possible. The three nodded and took there places before the Sandaime cast a privacy barrier about them. "Alright, what Naruto is about to tell you is an S class secret to everyone born after the Kyuubi's attack that aren't old enough remember it. This secret IS punishable by death so it is in your best interest to keep these things in this room, am I clear?" Everyone except Kakashi and Naruto nodded before Hiruzen gestured to Naruto who piped up. "Well any and all rumors people have about me being the demon child are true, I am the holder of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." Sasuke and Sakura were in shock, unbelieving of the young boy's status of Jinchuuriki, "Before you go hating me or spitting on me, I will tell you now that I merely hold it and I am not the demon itself."
Sakura couldn't handle it, she shot up out of her chair and pointed an accusatory finger at the blond, "I fucking knew it! That's why my parents always told me to stay away from you!" Naruto could only blanch; this was the last reaction he wanted from her. "S-Sakura-Chan, please…." He was harshly interjected by the pinkette, "No! Don't fucking talk to me, you…you demon! I don't want you to turn and eat me too!" Sakura dropped her arm and opened the door to the office, slamming it behind her as she booked it. "Don't worry, I have ANBU following her right now. If she decides to talk to anyone about it, they will be detained."
Naruto pushed his glasses back up and looked down, "I prepared for that reaction, I just never thought…." Naruto jolted slightly when Sasuke put a hand on the blond's shoulder, "She just can't comprehend much at the moment. She watched you do whatever it was that you did to those two ninja which spooked her, on top of her being fatigued from the mission. Give it time, Naruto-Kun." Naruto simply nodded, thankful that Sasuke was able to remain calm. Kakashi looked over at the Hokage and nodded before turning back to Naruto. "Naruto-Kun, we prepared a contingency in the event that the team wouldn't work out after finding out about your…'tenant'" Naruto looked up at Kakashi with widened eyes before Hiruzen chipped in. "There is only one other person that carries a similar burden to you. Not in the sense that she has a demon within her, but that the actions of another garnered the villages hatred of her."
Hiruzen held up a hand as if giving a signal and the door opened, revealing a woman who looked no older than about seventeen. She wore a tan trench coat over a fishnet top and shorts a that ran to just above her knees, and her shapely legs were armored with two shin guards and shinobi sandals that cut off a the middle of the calf. "Naruto, meet your new Jounin Sensei, Mitarashi Anko." This solicited a gasp from both Naruto and Sasuke as Anko dashed over to Naruto and leaned over the couch to wrap her arms over his shoulders; in turn squishing Naruto's head into her supple chest, "Isn't this going to be fuuuun. Naruto-Kun? We get to do all sorts of fun shit; like train, train, and train some more!" she nuzzled her face into his neck and inhaled deeply, "Oh yes! I could get used to this scent!"
Kakashi and Sasuke were for the lack of a better term, speechless. Sasuke put as much distance as he could between the crazy woman and himself without actually leaving the couch, and Kakashi couldn't help but sigh with longing, wishing he could be in Naruto's shoes right now with a very beautiful Kunoichi pressed against him. "Anko-San, the boy is only thirteen, don't get any funny ideas." Hiruzen said flatly. Anko seemed to pout at this an crossed her arms, "Oh, don't be like that Saru-Chan, I was only fucking around is all."
If everyone was shocked, they were absolutely floored by the young Genin's reaction. "Oh, your smell is just as enticing Anko-Sensei." He vanished from the couch and reappeared right in front of the Kunoichi, his cerulean blue meeting her coffee brown, "But the taste would simply be…riveting." He said as he licked his lips gingerly. Anko was also just as floored, having expected the Genin to piss himself, but here he was, returning the jests in full. "Oh we're going to get along just fine, you and me." A few more words were passed about as a contract was signed, handing Naruto from team seven to Anko.
Oh what a change this would bring in our blond hero.
If Kakashi was even considered harsh in his training regiments, Anko was a complete masochist. She sat upon Naruto's back and carved slight nicks on the bare flesh only to watch them heal instantly as he did pushups for hours on end, and she would whip him up and down with a scourge if he didn't run fast enough. Naruto even went as far as to begin enjoying the pain, but kept his act up, as not to lead Anko on to his developing pain fetish.
After the second month of training together, they had been sent on their first mission which put them near an encampment of bandits of Hi no Kuni. A simple C-rank clearing mission that would be a guaranteed success given both team members' skillsets. "You ready, Gaki? I haven't really seen you in action yet and I feel like this would be a good chance to observe, I'll of course step in if shit gets thick." Naruto's face went from a neutral bored look, to that of sickening elation and his eyes closed to allow room for the massive grin that nearly split his face, "Waaakaaariii-yo, Anko-Sensei!" Naruto said, mocking a salute. "You ready, Kurama?"
"On with the feast, boy!" Naruto let out a low cackle that permeated the forest all around, scaring off birds and other fauna, and also causing the sentries posted around the encampment to shudder; even Anko felt a tinge of fear in the form of a pulse down her spine. "Saa.." Naruto said as he crouched, ready to pounce, "I-ta-da-ki…" He jumped to the ground right in front of a sentry no older than fifteen before reaching up and tearing into the boy's larynx with his maw before he could scream, "masu!" he swallowed the flesh he had bitten off and moved to the now alert guards. "Did you fucking see that, he just tore straight into Kaito's neck and ate that shit!" one of the bandits said as he thrusted his pitchfork tauntingly. "Don't be discouraged, it's just a kid!" Naruto wiped the blood from his mouth with a sleeve. "There's one thing all of you should remember…" Naruto disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind one of the bandits before biting into his neck, eating the chunks he ripped off as the man fell to the ground screaming.
"Never!" Naruto jumped to the next bandit with just as much force and plunged his hand into the frightened man's chest with sharpened claws, pulling a still-beating heart out before mawing down on it, "Interrupt a demon." He used the downed bandit as a spring board and caught the leader's sword with his hand, "during a meal!" Naruto squeezed the blade and it snapped in two only for Naruto to shove the broken piece into the taller man's skull, instantly ending his life. Naruto crouched down and began chowing down on the bandit leader's shoulder. Naruto had no Idea why, but he always loved to start there, it felt practical.
"G-Gaki?" The squelching and crunching stopped as Naruto looked over to Anko, a piece of lung still in his mouth. He promptly swallowed it and stood up, wiping his mouth "Gochisosamadeshita!" he said jovially as he approached his sensei. "Hiruzen never said anything about you being a fucking cannibal!" Naruto's jovial features ceased and turned into a look of pain as he pushed his glasses up and looked down, "So you're just gonna see me as a demon like the rest, huh?" Anko approached her blond charge and placed a hand on his bloody cheek, prompting him to look up. "I just wanted to say…" she slowly bent down and the tip of her soft tongue up Naruto's exposed cheek, licking some of the blood away. "That you are probably one of the best students that I have ever fucking worked with." Anko wrapped a single arm around Naruto's shoulder as she pulled him in to her side, standing really only about a half a foot under her.
"Oh we're going to make a great team, Naruto-Kun!"
AAAAAAANNNND NaruAnko! This is definitely a change in scenery from TWTCB, yeah? (I felt that I needed a bit of a break from that story anyway, I'm trying to actually write ahead and brainstorm for the next chapter.) What it do, B? It's KingKaze here and WELCOME to the twisted little fantasy in my head known as, "Fox in the flesh!" I wanted to do a NaruAnko but had absolutely no Idea how to go about it. And after watching more than a few episodes of Tokyo Ghoul, I found inspiration by making Naruto a sick cannibal through the influence of his furry friend, Kurama!. I always did enjoy the "Normal on the outside, batshit crazy on the inside" approach to Naruto so I went with just that!
Please review and tell me what you think, any criticism is welcome, let's just keep it reasonable, straight up flame is a waste of time for me personally, as to where I could be spending my time reading reviews that actually HELP me.
(also, just imagine Ichimaru Gin's smile for the smile that Naruto gives Anko when she asks him to kill the bandits.)
Kaze out!
Translations:
Itadakimasu: 'I gratefully accept' said before a meal in Japanese culture
Gochisosamadeshita: 'Thank you for the meal/feast' said after a meal in Japanese culture.
Wakaruyo: A playful form of 'Wakarimasu' meaning, "I understand"
Jinchuuriki: 'The power of human sacrifice' a label given to those who hold one of the nine 'Bijuu' (or tailed beast) in their souls.