* * *
Above the tree tops, a full moon hangs in the navy blue sky with only stars for company. The moonlight causes the trees to cast shadows about on the ground and on other trees. Fallen leaves rustle as little creatures dart about among the tree roots looking for food and trying to avoid nighttime hunts.
He pauses in the middle of the meadow, his eyes glancing about while his ears turn this way and that, trying to hear sounds of pursue. He snorts as seconds tick by and nothing is thrown at him. A simple push of his arms and he's standing on two legs as he turns his upper body about, his muscles flexing under the silvery blond fur.
With a swish of his tail, he points his slender muzzle up into the sky, sniffing the air as his ears continue to swivel about. With a sigh, he turns in the direction he came, his jaws parting slightly, revealing rows of pointed canine teeth. Cocking his head to either side a few times, he snarls a minor curse as his tail moves savagely through the air as annoyance raises within him.
With a shake of his massive furry head, he points his muzzle up into the air and lets loose a mighty howl to get his pursuers back on his track. After all, he had expected better from ninja from Hidden Sound. As his howl dies, he once more listens and finally after a few minutes, he can hear the soles of footwear scratching on tree bark a few meters away.
With another howl, he twists his body as he once more drops onto all four, giving them a fighting chance to trail after him since he's slower on all fours then when he's running on only two legs, it's more likely due to him needing to practice a bit more. Within two strides, he's once more running full tilt through the meadow, entering into the forest once more.
He already knew how this pursue will end, after all, he did post the list of rules of how this game is played, they had until dawn tomorrow to subdue him before he turns and kills those that hunt him. This wasn't the first time he's taunted a ninja village to try and capture him before the night is done.
True, at first he hadn't enjoyed the freedom this body offered him, after all, one of the worse memories that he processes. It had happened during another night like this, just on the outskirts of his village...
o o o
Five Years Ago . . .
He limps through one of the many training fields about the village, blood clinging to his ruined cloths and in his own short blond hair. He limped because during the beating he received from a group of young teenagers, one of them pulled out a knife and cut deep into the back of his leg. It hadn't been long before said knife had been passed from one person to another, each taking pleasure in stabbing him with it, mostly in the gut.
He had passed out sometime during that period and when he woke, the sun had been slowly descending in the sky, allowing the sky to darken into night. He had heard a distant piercing howl break the nighttime chorus, he just assumed the cry came from one of those ninja hounds he's heard rumors about.
It took a few hours before he felt strong enough to get up and try to head to his apartment in hopes of washing off the dry blood. Although it soon became clear that his leg wasn't fine, but he really, really wanted to get clean and he rather not see if another group or the same group appears to continue the beating.
So he walks as best as he could, glad that the only pain he feels are sharp pains from his gut and his leg whenever it moves through the training fields on his way to his apartment. He hears but disregards the sounds around him, he's more concerned with tracking his progress through the training field this night then paying attention to his surroundings, especially since his vision seems to be swimming and exhaustion builds within him.
Then as he finish resting by leaning on a three trunk, he notices how quiet it has become. He blinks and focuses in on his surroundings, glancing about him as he takes a few steps away from the sturdy trunk. Then, suddenly, he finds himself on the ground with pain registering from his shoulder and something pressing him to the ground.
He wheezes as he tries to regain his breath, staring up into a pair of furious amber eyes starting into his own eyes before the head turns, giving him a look at what sort of monster he's dealing with. Midnight black fur with silver highlights reveal in the light of the full moon.
The monstrous wolf's ears were flat against it's skull, it takes him a few seconds before he realizes that the blood about the beast's muzzle was his own. Suddenly, the monster returns its attention on him. Within seconds, pain racks his body once more as the black beast rips stripes of meat from his chest area, not caring about the ratty shirt that's covering it.
Suddenly, something causes the monster to yelp out in pain and he then notices the injuries the monstrous wolf has. Whatever force has caused his latest tormentor to pause in dealing with him, it pulls the monster away from him, but he doesn't have the strength needed to try and hold his head up to see what's happening.
Something causes him to finally pass out but he awakens to find a strange woman with green hair staring down at him. He notices a slight sad expression in her eyes, it takes him a few seconds to realize that she pities him. "Sleep, child, maybe your passage from this world be painless." The woman says once she kisses him on the forehead, she says once more, "Sleep, child, the monster has been dealt with and he shall not bother you any more."
With that, he can't help but fall asleep.
0 * 0
Three Days Later . . .
The first thing he noticed as he slowly came to was the brightness of the lights over head. After a time, he finds out his mouth is dry and he tries to swallow but to no avail, so he opens his eyes and begins to glance about for something to drink. It takes a few minutes before he can focus his eyes and then he begins to gaze about that side of the room before turning his head to gaze about that side.
On spotting a pitcher filled with water, he tries to sit up only to find he's strapped to the bed. He rests his chin on his chest and glances downwards at his chest. He finds his chest bandaged up under the hospital shirt. Sighs before trying to undo the strap so he can get up to drink from the water pitcher.
Everytime I'm here, I'm either strapped to the bed with the water pitcher sitting there or I'm not and there isn't anything to be had to drink. He thinks to himself as he sticks out his tongue as he crosses his eyes as he concentrates on undoing the belt latch on the strap. It didn't take long before his long experience finally prevails and the strap comes undone, allowing him to sit up and pour himself a drink.
Once his thirst is quenched, he begins to prob the sites of his bandages to see if they pain him. He sighs as he realizes that not only were his injuries healed but he likely been out for more then a day or else he'd have sore spots. It wouldn't be long before he'll begin to feel hungry, which means he better think of a way to exit out of the hospital before they try and give him a bill that will take what remains of his money, leaving him without anything to purchase food with.
He glances about and is more then a little relieved when he spots a window. He undoes the last strap, the one about his feet before cautiously moving heading to the window, glad that he's put in the bed closest to the window so it wasn't long before he opens the window and climbs out onto the ledge as carefully as he could. Using all of his experience at escaping from said hospital in the past, he finally makes it to the water spout to use to climb down.
Once that's done, he glances about before taking off at full tilt, heading home to change out of his current set of cloths as well as get rid of his bandages since he's confident that his injuries have already healed. As he slows down as he gets within a block or two if his apartment, he muses about what happened that night, his hand resting on the center of his chest before he shivers as he recalls how that black monster wolf-man ripped small stripes of flesh from his chest after biting him on the shoulder.
I can't believe he ate my flesh... He thinks as he swallows as said hand moves from his chest to his throat where it met his other hand. He can already envision the monster feeding from his dead corpse, tearing off a limb and. . .
He gulps and then that strange woman's words echo within his mind, they were reassuring in their own way and they helped banish the image of his dead body and the monster that had began to consume him while he had been still alive. By the time he's within his apartment building, he's thinking about other things, pushing what happened to him the other night out of his mind. As he reaches the floor what his apartment is housed in, his thoughts were on what kind of Ramen he wants to eat.
He soon enters into his apartment and within minutes, he's waiting for the water to boil before adding it into his Ramen cup. While waiting, he collects some cloths before heading for the bathroom to remove his bandages and changing into the cloths he has in his arms. He pauses to study himself in the mirror, moving his bangs so he can see the roots.
"Looks like I need to have a shower." He says out loud before wincing at the sound of his voice. With a sigh, he turns on the water and after splashing his face with some water, he felt a bit better. Grinning into the mirror, he returns to his objectives of removing his bandages and changing out of the hospital cloths and into his own.
Once that's done, he bolts for the kitchen and pours the hot water into the bowl. Taking a pair of chopsticks, he breaks them apart before he stirs the noodles that are floating in the hot water, causing the flavor packet to mix in with the water, creating broth. Once the noodles look soft enough, he digs in, within seconds, the noodles vanish and he drinks the broth.
His hunger stated for now, he heads back into the bathroom to have a quick shower. As he exits out out of the shower, he suddenly feels something from the shoulder he received that bite from and then he begins to feel something within his belly begin to make itself known. Using his free hand, he grips the wall as he begins to feel light headed.
Finally his vision blurs and his other senses suddenly overload with information, like he can smell the Ramen that clings to his apartment, he can hear not just his own heart beat but the quick beating heart of a bird that's resting by his window, and he can feel the gentle wind currents that move about the bathroom as the hot air moves to escape the room while cool air seeks to replace it.
As he balls the hand by the wall into a fist, he can hear something scratch against the surface of the tilled wall. As he recovers from his sudden sense overload, he twitches his ears and swishes his tail. A slight snarl escapes from his throat before he freezes for a few seconds before swishes his tail while his ears lie flat against his skull.
Finally, he opens his eyes and turns to view his new appendage. Bright blond fur covered not just his tail but his whole body with a discolored white about his chest area when he turns to examine himself. He turns to look into the mirror and finds a smaller, blond version of that black monster wolf-man looking back at him. Instead of amber eyes, the wolf-boy staring back at him has his blue eyes.
"That's me?" He growls questioningly and stiffens at hearing his new voice. He then looks down at his hands, staring at his red tinted talon like nails. He moves forward, more out of the shower, not really caring at his towel falls to the ground, he's pretty much covered by his own fur coat that's slightly damp but otherwise, fine.
Then, as suddenly as it occurred, he transforms back into his usual self. He finds himself feeling kind of empty now that he transformed back. "What was that? Why did I transform like that?" He wonders out loud to himself.
In the end, a hand goes to his bitten shoulder as he frowns in the mirror, his mind a whirl with a bunch of different and powerful emotions. "Does this mean I'm the same monster as he was?" He wonders after a few minutes of standing before the bathroom mirror.
Unsurprisingly, nothing answers him.
o o o
Present
He leaps over a trap that consists of paper bombs, the explosion under him doesn't do much damage as he sails up into the air. He reaches out and grab a hold of a branch, using it, he begins to swing swiftly through the ancient forest while his pursuers have trouble navigating through the smoke as the fire catches causing the Sound ninja to cry out in alarm.
Fools, they can't even find the right spot to set up a fire trap. He muses to himself as he comes to pause on a broad branch to glance backwards. His stomach growls softly and he sighs but didn't plan to eat anything at this point of time, not until it's his turn to take the fight to them.
"Which shouldn't be too much longer." He mutters softly as he glancing eastward. It did make him wonder if Orochimaru was preparing a defense or has already fled his lair within this region, leaving these fools to distract him.
He frowns as he realizes that somebody's managed to ensnare him in a genjutsu. He sniffs the air and could taste the chakra floating about in the air. Closing his eyes, he then focuses on what he's hearing, smelling, and feeling.
He smiles inwardly, it's clear that whoever is holding this genjutsu has underestimated his senses. Within seconds, he dodges the incoming ninja, breaking free of the hold the genjutsu. He lands not far from the five ninja and gives them the universal 'bring-it-on' gesture before turning away and swinging once from one tree branch to another.
With the chase once more under way with him at the head of the pack. Come and catch me if you can! He thinks to his pursuers as he drops to the ground and races through the night on two legs, feeling alive as he leads the group of Sound ninjas about the forest surrounding the snake summoner's lair, waiting for the sun to rise to mark the turning point in the game he set in motion when the sun set.
This reminds me of my first full moon, the one after I had been bitten and left for dead . . .
o o o
Five Years Ago . . .
As he watches the sun set, he sighs as he rests his chin on his knees. Other then randomly changing into a younger and different colored version of his attack at least once a day, usually when ever he feels pain coming from the shoulder that was bitten which then is followed by something burning coming from his belly, his life's returned to normal. He's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's just how things were.
Maybe I should tell the old man about my bursts of transformation. . . He thinks to himself as he then thinks about how well that will go over. And then he shivers as he imagines the reaction of pretty much everyone when they find out about it.
No, I won't tell anyone about it, after all, they already think I'm some kind of monster, no need for it to be revealed that I really am a monster. He thinks as he draws his arms tighter about his legs at the mob that would form to get rid of him. His life's already crappy, he doesn't need to make it worst.
I don't want to die. He thinks before something snaps him out of his depressing thoughts. He hums as he feels something seems to causes an odd tingling sensation. He relaxes as that tingling transforms into a comforting feeling, something he reminds him of the few times he's fallen asleep on old man Hokage's lap when he was younger.
And then his cloths rip and he snaps out of that to find that he's once more transformed into a blond wolf-boy. He frowns before looking about for the cause of his sudden transformation. He finally spots the moon in its fullness hanging in the sky.
He slowly gets to his feet and glances about cautiously, hoping that nobody seen him transform. He moves into a shadowy area to hide, hoping that the he'll return to normal soon. But it seems no to be when the time he usual returns to normal comes and goes. Finally, he realizes that the moon might have something to do with him not transforming out of this strange, new body.
With a sigh, he focuses on locating anyone about him before smiling a bit in relief, other then a few birds roosting on the building and other small animals hanging about, there doesn't seem to be any people about his location. He couldn't believe his luck until he recalls he nobody really lives in the apartment building beyond himself and the few mice and rats, not even the landlord of the building lives there either.
He fights off the urge to frown as he begins to move about the roof, taking leaps into the air while punching and kicking at imaginary foes. He continues this for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling that comes from leaping high into the air, higher then he normally does at least. He grew bored with the sights, sounds, and smells of this roof top.
As he glances nervously about, suddenly self conscious about how he should go about heading out of the village so he can race about the training fields. As he judges the distance between the roof he's one to another rooftop. Backing up to the very edge of the opposite side of the roof. Taking a few deep and calming breaths, he then takes off as fast as he can and as he reaches the edge of that roof, he leaps into the air.
As he sails through the air, he prepares for the landing. He ends up doing a rolling landing, he managed to truck in close to his body, he ducks his head into his chest, as the roof touches his fur about his shoulder before long, he's crouching on the roof that's by his apartment building. As he pants, he feels a thrill of excitement about what he just did. "That was so... so... so awesome!" He says as he stands up.
And so, he did it again and again, flushing from the rush he got as he roof leaped about until he heard something. Ducking into the darkest shadow he could find, it takes time but he finally spotted a masked ninja a few houses away, roof hopping to some unknown destination. He flushes as he realizes that there were others out at this time in the evening and he likely had been spotted by people.
In the end, he moves stealthily to the edge and as he glances about, he spots a few more ninja hopping about the rooftops and so, he drops down into the dark alley, careful not to make much noise as he does so. The first thing he did is put a hand over his nose at the stench that hangs about the alley. He rushes into the maze of alleyways as he heads for the closest training field.
He feels his eyes well up with tears in joy at finally smelling fresh air. I never knew how foul smelling the village is. He thinks as he uses a finger to flicker a tear from his eye.
Suddenly, he throws his head back and howls into the night, expressing his joy at being out of the village of his birth. Once the echo of his howl is finished, he charges into deeper into the forest, suppresses the urge to race about on all fours. After all, he might look like a wolf, doesn't mean he has to travel about like one.
o o o
Present
He climbs up a large tree, heading for the top as the ninja chasing him get nervous, it's clear that dawn's approaching and that those squads of ninja were likely milling about in the area he allowed himself to be herded in. As he makes it at a spot by the tip of the tree, he stares at the brightening horizon. "Finally!" He snarls with a grin.
He tosses his head back and howls in anticipation for the battles yet to come during this new day. "My turn!" He shouts as he lets go of the tree trunk, falling into the tree canopy until he lands heavily on a large, board tree limb.
He takes a moment to scan the area before launching himself at the closest squad. He lets loose a snarl as he opens his arms wide, flexing his talon like nails that were now a deep red. The Sound ninjas' eyes widen while on manages to say, "Oh sh#t!"
It was a slaughter, pure and simple, one that lasts under three minutes. As he flickers his tail and his ears perk before moving about until he hears a cry of "Attack!" Within seconds, he's surrounding by the many squads that had taken turns chasing him about the local forests and the few abandon fields that lay within hours travel of Orochimaru's lair.
He grins widely as he evades the first few fists while those among the squads began to cast some kind of genjutsu. He shrugs off the chakra threads as he begins to attack the assembled ninja about him. A few senbon and shuriken manage to embed themselves in his body but he doesn't worry about them, after all, they're just annoyances that were easy to get rid of.
Blood seems to fill the air, landing on not just him but on the trunk, leaves, twigs, the ground below him, and of course, the other ninjas that he's battling against. Growling and snarling in an animistic manner as he attack and defenses against his current array of enemy ninja that had chased him during the previous evening. Whenever one of the ninja try to flee, he takes one of the kunai or a few senbon or shuriken from his body and leaps high into the air before throwing them at the fleeing nin, mostly injuring them, causing them to leave a blood trail that he can track once he's done with the main enemy body.
As the sunlight finally begins to filter down through the leaves, it finds him panting with blood, gore, and more then a few weapons embedded in his body. He felt drained and hungry but otherwise, he's fine. It didn't take him long to grip the weapons that were lodge in his body and pull them out, allowing them to drop to the ground as the points of entry are already closing up on their own.
Let's seen, some of them must have packed something to eat and drink. He muses after gives himself a huge shake, allowing some of the still wet blood and gore to fly off of him. It didn't take long to find a few nutrient bars that ninja usual pack as well as a few bottles of water.
Considering his current set of teeth weren't suited to chewing on them, he transform into his birth form. He shrank a foot as his fur retreats which causes a great deal of the gore to drop off of his body. By the time the change finishes, he standing on the grassy floor of the forest butt naked with some stubborn blood clinging to his skin as well as shoulder length blond hair that's a few shades darker then his coat color.
As he opens the packaging of one of the bars, he glances about, studying the battle ground with a bit more interest as he takes a bite out of the foul tasting bar. He takes a sip of water, it helps slightly with the flavor. And so he stood there, eating as many of the bars as he could stomach, making sure to try and wash away the taste with water from the bottles.
Once he's done, he begins to stretch a bit before using what little of the water remains to wash away the blood that's clinging to his body. Feeling better once that was done, he changes shape once more and with a mighty, chakra fueled leap, he sails clear over the dead bodies to land on grass that hasn't been soaked in blood.
With that, he moves about, finding the scent trails of those that fled before him, memorizing them to see if they had made it to the lair of the snake summoner while he had been dealing with their friends. Once that's done, he heads straight as he could to the underground lair of the snake summoner, the ninja named Orochimaru so that he may kill said man.
And if all those that fled headed to warn the guy, all the better, it just saves me time hunting about for them over the next few weeks, two months tops. He thinks as he races through the forest, weaving between tree trunk and leaping over fallen logs. As the surrounding about were pretty much a blur to his sight.
As he leaps into the air to land on a large fallen tree not that far from the hole in the ground that the snake summoner could be found in. As he stares at the group of ninja that had been getting ready to abandon said base. They had stopped and were staring at him with wide eyes, a simple sniff and he found at least four of the six fleeing nin had headed in this direction.
Their reaction calls to mind the deer freezing before a hungry predator, which suited him perfectly since they were his prey and he the hunter come to kill them. Slowly, a few of the ninja put down their cargo and get into fighting stance, their mood changing. It seems that their fear of punishment by Orochimaru's hand is greater then their fear of dying by his hand.
Well then, that won't do. No, no, no, now how will I correct this? He muses and then closes his muzzle as a thought crosses his mind. With a feral grin that caused more then a few to pale and wet themselves, he's hands blur through the hand seals of a jutsu.
Taking in a deep breath, he feels his chakra mix with the air. He lets said breath out and the air he exhales launches right for the group. On hitting one of the ninja, it has enough force to knock said nin off his feet and into the nin behind him.
He follows the ball of air with chakra fueling his muscles, making him seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Within seconds, a third of them were dead before they finally tried to defend themselves. By the time enforcements arrive, he's killing the last Sound nin by ripping the head and spine of said nin from the still living body of the lightly injured nin.
His eyes widen slightly at the sight of a certain teen that he remembered from his childhood in Hidden Leaf. "Well, well, well, what have I here?" He muses as he drops what's in his hands as the Uchiha frowns while taking a fighting stance.
"I remember somebody with those eyes when I was in Hidden Rain. You look a great deal like him, perhaps you know him? I believe his fishy looking partner called him Itachi." He tells the young Uchiha, not bothering to mention the second Uchiha he met that day since it's more then likely Sasuke won't know or care about that one.
"Where is he now?" The young Uchiha before him demands and he grins toothily before patting his stomach. "I ate him. I wonder if your eyes will have the same flavor as his did." He says, lying about it, last he saw of Itachi, the older Uchiha had just finished killing that elderly Uchiha before vanishing into a building that was set ablaze.
The look on the Sound ninjas' faces were more then worth that lie while the young Uchiha's three black tadpoles begin to spin about the center pupil. He can smell the chakra coming from the younger Uchiha's eyes, noting how it moves in almost the same pattern as the other two Uchiha's, the difference were in their eyes though.
With a swish of his tail, he straightens a bit while casually breaking eye contact with the young Uchiha, he had a harder time of it doing the same when he had been staring into the eyes of that elderly Uchiha's face. "I do hope you last longer then these ones did, if only to stall me in hopes of giving your master a chance to escape this lair." He says and the young Uchiha had enough.
The Uchiha seemed to be quick on his feet but not as quick as him. The head of the Uchiha came right off, he didn't want to toy with Sasuke simply because he learnt his lesson when he fought that old elderly Uchiha. There's just something about those ruby eyes that would have allowed the young Uchiha to read his movements if he gave Sasuke the chance to study him in a fight.
Truly, by the end of that fight with that old Uchiha man, it had been his stamina and healing abilities that had saved him in the end. It had also been during that fight did he finally admitted he might want to study jutsus since he's certain that if he had used a few jutsus during the fight, it might have helped to exhaust the old Uchiha faster, making it so that he would have killed that one instead of Itachi. Many of that guy's comments really irk him, especially the bit about his lack of finest when it comes to hand to hand combat.
His face bunches up as he smells how all of those that had arrived with the young Uchiha all go white with fright and lose their bodily functions. It seems that seeing how quickly he put down the young teenager either frighten them or they're already picturing the kinds of torment their lord and master will do to them. "Lord Orochimaru's going to skin us alive!" One of them murmurs, pretty much answering that question.
"Oh, I don't think you'll have to worry about that one's displeasure any more." He snarls, pissed at how they're not even giving him his due as their soon to be killer. He made sure to give them grave injuries, deciding to allow them to bleed to die a painful death, which was why he made sure to rip the arms and legs off before heading into the base of Orochimaru, traitor of Hidden Leaf and founder of the village Hidden in the Sound.
It didn't take long before he found himself at a three way fork. With a simply shrug, his hands fly through an earth jutsu that's aimed at the section between two of the tunnels. The ground shakes and finally, the supports break and the ceiling collapses in two of the three forks. Not even glancing back at the other two collapsed tunnels, he heads for the remaining tunnel, the one that has the fresher scents coming from it.
Midway through that tunnel, he encounters another group of nin carrying more cargo. It took him about four minutes to kill them all, he did pause to take a look inside of the boxes they had and snarling in disgust, he does a fire jutsu and destroys the crates without too much trouble. After a while, he came to a large chamber with pillars and torch light.
Two hearts were beating behind these large metal doors. As they open, he wastes no time killing the pair of decoy ninja. He heads through the doors, following the decoys' scent trails until he came to a room where his target is. "And so the wolf comes calling." The eye glass wearing ninja muses as he pushes his glasses up in a sinister manner.
"Nice try with the decoys, but in the end, they lasted about as long as that Uchiha did." He tells the pair and the snake summoner's eyes narrow. "Oh, did I just kill someone dear to you? But then, the brat wasn't much of a contender compared to the two Uchiha I encountered in Hidden Rain three months ago. I guess I just finished exterminating the Uchiha with killing that brat, huh?"
Killing intent radiates from the sitting figure while the white haired nin frowns. "It seems that you're earned your reputation well, 'Rage'." Orochimaru says after forcing his body to relax. "And it seems that you're not deserving of yorus, snake." He remarks with a feral grin.
The killing intent from the pastry white man increases while the mednin moves to stand before the snake summoner. He listens as the white haired ninja's heart begins to speed up, signaling that the man's about to rush him. So it didn't come to any surprise when a smoke bomb under the chair activates, allowing for the snake summoner to flee out of the room, leaving him alone with the white haired ninja who's already coming at him.
He blocked the fist with his arm, only for him to feel something slice through his bone. A sniff confirmed that the white haired ninja's has chakra focused his his fist but within two heart beats, the damaged within his arm is repaired and he tries to back hand the nin before him, causing the medic to pull back.
"You formed something out of your chakra, something that didn't even have to break the skin." He muses and as the smoke clears, he gets a clear image of the nin's face. "Chakra scalpel." The young man says and he hums before rushing the white haired, glasses wearing ninja, his arms were blurring as he strikes at the chest of the ninja before kicking the guy in the gut, sending the man flying into the chair where his master had been seated.
As he's about to head off after the snake summoner, he pauses as some smell catches his attention. He can smell chakra coming from the fallen nin. He moves cautiously towards the medic and as he's about to lean in to get a better look at him, he pulls away just as a hand shoots upwards, one that would have hit him in the throat.
He growls as the young man leaps into the air, landing in a crouching position. There is some blood about the corners of the guy's mouth but what really bugs him is the hand that's glowing green that's hovering about the guy's midsection. There's more to it then what I'm seeing. He doesn't need that hand there at all, which means that it's a feint. He thinks as he grins a bit as he finally has a worth while opponent to fight before his main fight with the body stealing serpent in human skin.
Then he felt something, something that didn't have anything to do with chakra. What is this feeling? Why is it that I feel as if something really bad is about to happen? He wonders as the fur on the back of his neck and back spike up as that feeling increases.
Snarling in irritation, he charges at the medic nin, wanting to finish this so he can go stop whatever it is that the snake summoner is doing. The white haired ninja manages to vanish and as the puff of smoke reveals a chair before him, he's already glancing about in search of the man's heart beat. On finding it, he growls as he darts through the column to get at the Sound nin.
As he aims his sharp talon like nail at the man's neck, the guy manages to move quickly to the side, causing his claws to enter into the man's shoulder. Snarling, he shoots his other arm out to grab the guy's neck while jerking his hand out of the shoulder. He can already smell the chakra gathering about the hole.
As he gathers chakra into his fist, the white haired medic strikes quickly, first into the arm gripping the neck and then two quick strikes in his chest. He does fall to the ground and almost blacks out for a few seconds. "Too easy." He hears the medic says and he waits a few seconds, forcing himself not to move, not even blinking his eyes.
Finally as he hears the man move away, he silently gets up and then pumps chakra into his limbs before speeding behind the guy, his nails beheading the white haired medic. He turns the head around as he lets the body fall onto the ground. "Oh yes, too easy." He agrees before slamming both of his hands on the side of the head until the head breaks apart because of that pressure being applied to it, causing bone fragments and gray matter to splatter about.
With that done, he heads off in the direction that he feels the dread in, unsure if he'll make it in time to interrupt whatever it is that the snake summoner has started. He finally arrives in time to find the pale man reading from some kind of scroll. As he charges towards the man, he already knew he's too late, whatever it was that the snake summoner has done is already beginning to take effect.
As he pins the snake summoner to the ground smoke explodes from the center of the room. "Well, I did want a change in scenery." He hears a woman say in a dry tone while something huge and shadowy hovers high in the air.
Then suddenly, that huge, shadowy figure darts at him, he gets a glimpse of the being before the male being tries to back hand him away, it didn't work since he's channeling chakra into his legs to have them stick to the floor. He growls and bares his teeth while his ears flatten against his skull.
The being before him is currently has two sets of horns that were like a rams only differencing in their color and how some of the segments of the horns seem to flare out at the sides, making a V pattern. The guy with the horns tries to choke him within seconds of back handing him, he glances at the woman and can't help but think there's something familiar about her. Likely the hair. He decides before focusing back on the one gripping his throat.
"Get off the human, beast! I am in need of nourishment!" The horned being declares with a strange and thick ascent. "I've been waiting since sun set yesterday to kill this one, so f#ck off!" He snaps and with ease, his claws slice almost right through the arm that's got a firm grip on his throat, causing the strange looking man to yell out in pain.
Within seconds, the man with black skin is nursing the injured arms. His fingers throb for a few seconds before it fades away. He continues growling and before he could kill Orochimaru, something black shoots and wraps itself about his wrist. "Tu, tu, tu. I believe he's challenging your claim for the human, so, in all fairness, you can't kill him until you've dealt with Rath." The woman says as he follows the black cord back to its source.
He glares at her before turning to study the one now known as Rath. "Fine, but I'll warn you once, this one is a very slippery one, so its on your head if he escapes." He tells the woman with bat wings gracing her head. "I think I can manage one little human, wolf-boy." The very familiar woman remarks as the thing griping him lets go.
He waits for her to get within a few feet before he gets off of the pasty looking human who's apparently more feared by his minions then by the world at large. As Orochimaru tries to bolt, that black cord appears once more only it wraps itself about Orochimaru's body. He snickers when smoke appears and there's a lamp within the cord's grip. The woman looks surprised before a slight smile graces her lips.
Within seconds, the woman vanish, likely after the snake summoner. "I'll have your pelt for my mantle, beast!" Rath snarls and he snorts, he highly doubts this guy's ability to kill him, after all, the day Uzumaki Naruto supposedly 'died', he had been gutted and had his chest cavity exposed for all to see and yet he still walks this world.
"Do your worst, Ram-man, I doubt it'll be enough to do any lasting harm." He growls as allows his fur to stand on end. Rath hisses and they began to circle each other, but it seems that the injury on the guy's arm has yet to heal since he can still smell Rath's blood slowly oozing out of the cut.
o o o
Four Years Ago . . .
He couldn't shake the feeling that he's being followed and considering the fact that his senses were so much more keener then they use to be about a year ago, he's fairly sure that if he is getting followed then something bad will be happening soon. Likely to him then anything, something that while he can't help but accept, even though it leaves a very bitter taste in his mouth.
Over the course of the last few months, he's slowly began to feel as if he's a caged beast and he didn't like that feeling one bit. He began to get edgy as a result, in time, he grew snappish. He had even slowly stopped with the pranking simply because he didn't feel in the mood to pull them.
He knew that the people who ran the Ramen stand were concerned about him but there wasn't much they could do without arousing the disapproval of the other villagers. He knew he's alone in this, likely more alone then he's been before as he sometimes did manage to unburden himself to the old man but the image of getting caged for real.
It became clear as days pass that what he needed was to leave this village behind him. His goal use to be something he used to occupy his mind, in many ways it was not only a goal but a defense against the hostility he receives from everybody he's ever met on the street. But now, now that goal didn't help one bit now that he feels like he's cornered like some wild beast with the hunters closing in.
Without really thinking about it, his feet take him out into one of the training fields that surround the village. He blinks as he takes in his surroundings. He frowns as he realizes that he's still got observers trailing after him.
As he glances about him, something hits him in his knee. Looking down after he falls on his butt, he pulls out the kunai that's lodged in his knee. Before he could try and stand, another kunai hits him only in the back of the hand. Within a few seconds later, another three hit him.
He whimpers in pain as he finds he can't take them out because neither of his hands were capable of any kind of movement. As he lies on his back, his tormentors finally show themselves. His heart drops as he notes that one of them is wearing a chuunin vest, it also takes him a few seconds to realize that he's also a teacher at the academy.
They soon begin to kick and punch him for a few minutes before said academy teacher takes one of the kunai and stabs him in the gut. Then the white haired man grins wickedly as the chuunin slices towards his side, using said kunai. As the chuunin then uses the kunai to slice into his other side, he begins to black out.
Then, suddenly, a new sensation causes him to come too. "I can't believe you cut open his chest up! If the Hokage finds out about our part in his pet demon's death, we'll be lucky to escape with our heads still attached to our necks!" One of his six attackers cries out. As he bleeds, he finally blacks out as the six argue about him.
When he came too, he found himself tied to a log. As he blinks, he startles a cow that's resting by his chest before it takes flight, leaving him alone on the log. He had one arm free and as he begins to black out once more, he moves his arm to touch his open chest. In the end, he presses that side closed.
After a few moments, he began to feel better. Glancing down at his chest, he finds that his one side had healed but the other side is still open. It takes all of his strength to close the other side of his ribcage. As the injury to his chest heals, he then moves to stuff his guts back into his midsection.
Once that's done, he began working on the wire that's holding him to the log. In the end, it only gives out when he grows so frustrated that he transforms into his monstrous body. As the wire that's holding him vanishes, he slips into the river. He begins kicking his legs and flaying his arms about until he breaks the surface of the water to latch onto the log with his arms.
As he floats down the river, he can't help but wonder, What do I do now?
o o o
Present
Suddenly, Rath shoots his hand forward and some kind of energy erupts from the palm of the hand. He switches out with the one of the lamps to attack from behind the guy with ram horns growing out of his head. He manages to tackle Rath and then as his opponent turns about to defend his back, he switches out with another lamp and hangs upside down on the stone ceiling, using his chakra to cause him to stick to the ceiling.
He watches as Rath cries out before blasting all around him using that energy that wasn't chakra. Luckily for him, Rath never looked up or else the guy would have had a clear shot of him. Rath hisses out in pain and clutches that cut, he can't help but notice how different smelling that blood was compared to the blood he's shed during these pass few years in defending his right to live.
He waits for the prefect moment to drop down on Rath and as Rath glances about, moving about, the black skinned man with horns unwittingly began to get into the right spot for him to attack, right under him. As Rath once more brings his hand up and begins blasting all about him, the man finally moves right under him and he drops without a sound.
Something causes Rath to pause and to glance upwards. Before Rath could move his uninjured arm up to defend himself, his nails rack the man's face and as he does a hand stand, he lashes out with his feet, kicking the strange man in the body which sends him flying backwards. He then goes from a crouch into a standing position.
"Idiot Werewolf! I'll have your head for this! Do you know have any idea of who I am?!" Rath screams as the man stands up and tries to glare at him while still holding a hand to his face, trying to stop the bleeding.
"She said your name is Rath, not that I care or anything. I've met plenty of poppas asses before and I doubt you'll be the last." He remarks as he slowly walks towards the man. His body tense, ready to weave about in order to evade those energy blasts, after all, he really didn't know just how many Rath has left before he's in capable of using said attack.
Rath growls and finally removes the hand covering his face, giving him a good look at the guy's face. It didn't surprise him to see a look of total loathing and hatred, after all, he grew up with pretty much everyone giving him said looks. The guy tries to snarl but the lines of broken skin caused Rath to wince after a few seconds.
"I am Rath Ary Narith! Heir of the wealthy and ancient Narith family! And you, you loathsome runt of a wolfspawn, should be honored to die by my great and powerful hand!" Rath states and he snickers.
"I've got first blood, horn head. Besides, you've yet to claim any of my blood, so you're not the warrior you make yourself out to be, you blue blood son of a ewe. You're a pathetic piece of ram sh#t!" He snarls and Rath's eyes go red as this guy's anger gets the best of him.
As he charges at the guy, that energy swirls about Rath and has he leaps into the air, Rath's body undergoes a change. As he focuses chakra into his claws, Rath's brings his hand to swat him. His claws enter into the middle of Rath's chest and as he's backhanded away, the claws slice through the guy's flesh like a hot knife through butter.
He manages to roll into a crouch while Rath falls face forward, dead. He snorts before moving to kick the body onto its back. A few seconds later, he finds that his chakra had sliced into the heart and the lungs.
"Interesting." He hears that woman's voice say a bit by his shoulder. Startled, he moves in the opposite direction of the hovering woman who's sporting bat wings. It takes him a second to realize something.
"You killed the snake summoner, didn't you?" He asks and the woman just sighs. "I say it evens out, after all, I didn't want Rath dead, just humbled." The green haired woman says and he frowns until he finally realizes where he's seen her before.
"I remember you! You kissed me on the forehead and told me to go to sleep after I was attacked by that black furred wolf-man!" He shouts out in astonishment as he points a index finger at her. The woman's brow wrinkles for a few seconds before her eyes widen slightly and then giving him a calculating look.
"So, you didn't die, despite your injuries." The woman muses. "I've always been a fast healer, though that's been speed up since I got bitten." He says as he gets to his feet, it seems that she's not going to attack him, even though he killed Rath.
The woman hums and then says, "I am Morrigan Aensland, current ruler of Makai." Morrigan then gives him a look and he sighs.
"Uzumaki Naruto, once of Hidden Leaf, although in the Bingo book I'm call the Wandering Rage." He says, not sure what's going to happen now. After all, the last time they were together, she left him 'dying' and he had been in shock of somebody trying to eat him.
"Bingo book?" Morrigan asks and he explains, "It's a book ninjas around here use to list who to watch out for as well as listing rewards for either capturing or killing who's written within its pages. Each hidden village has its own Bingo book since they often list non-missing nin from other villages in it."
"I take it you use to work for Hidden Leaf?" Morrigan asks and he snorts.
"I was forced to leave when I was about nine years old. I had been attack by a group of six, one of whom had been a chuunin who worked at the ninja academy. He cut into my gut, causing my entrails to spill out and then opened up my chest cavity. They thought I was dead and I've been avoiding Hidden Leaf since, after all, who could survive such injuries?" He admits in a bitter tone, he hadn't much say in how he left the village but at least in that way, they thought he's dead and he's never told anybody his name until now.
"You survived that?" Morrigan asks, her eyes wide and he gives her a puzzled look. "Are you saying I should have?" He asks.
Morrigan sighs before frowning. Then slowly, Morrigan moves towards him, he felt a bit uncomfortable as her left hand moves through the pale white fur on his chest. The hand presses a bit into his ribs, he's surprised at how hard said hand presses into his chest. Then slowly, her hand moves down to pass his ribs but pauses to press against his lower midsection, where his guts were.
He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about her touching him, he feels his face heat up until she pulls her hand away. He feels his shoulders and muscles relax, it seems that he tensed up when she touched his chest. "Interesting, you're in perfect health. You don't even have scarring from having those stripes cut from your chest." Morrigan muses and he frowns as he wonder how it was she could tell all of that from simply touching his chest and midsection.
"You know, I think I know somebody who might be willing to take you on as an apprentice." Morrigan says after a few minutes of silence. "Oh?" He asks, a bit surprised by the gesture although he's suddenly wary about the offer as well.
After all, he really didn't have a good track record when it comes to anybody other then old man Hokage, the owner of that Ramen stand, and that man's daughter. The few times strangers had been nice to him, it usually resulted in him getting laughed at and then beaten.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he asks, "And what's in it for you? I'm not stupid enough to believe you'd hook me up with this guy for my own good." Morrigan smiles approvingly.
"Let's just say with your around, I might have a decent sparing partner in a few years. I've yet to encounter a being that doesn't rely on an outside source to speed up their healing. You not only survived having your lungs and intestines showing for all to see but massive amounts of trauma from receiving said injuries. You have great potential as a fighter despite your age." Morrigan replies as she reaches out to touch his lower jaw.
"..." He didn't know what to say to that. "Should I got find something to wear before we leave or should I come as I am?" He asks after thinking about the offer, in the end, he wouldn't mind meeting others like himself, after all, neither Morrigan or Rath were human.
"It doesn't matter to me." Morrigan says and with a sigh, he turns away from her, reverting to his birth form as he moves towards Rath to scavenge the guy's pants, after all, they weren't that dirty or bloody.
"You can control it?" Morrigan asks once he's tighten the belt before moving down to roll up the leg sleeves. "You mean going from one form to the other? Most of the time, at the beginning, from the day I first woke up to my first full moon, I use to transform once a day for a few seconds before it would fade."
He pauses, wondering if he should continue with this bit of information as he moves to work on the other pant sleeve. "Before I would change, the bite area would ache and then something in my stomach would begin to release something into my body. Then I would change, the two areas would stop aching once I transformed." He tells her and then he stands up to face her, trying to gag her reaction to this tidbit of info.
Morrigan hums before turning to regard the dead body of Rath, the one that arrived with her. "I guess we should take back his body." Morrigan muses, changing the subject and he shrugs. "I won't know, I never knew my parents, not at all." He admits with a shrug as he turns his head to regard the body once more.
With a snap of her fingers, Morrigan uses that energy to make the body hover in the air. He sniffs the air but he couldn't make out the details while not in his wolf-boy. "What kind of energy are you using? It's not chakra." He admits causing Morrigan to give him a startled look.
"You can smell magic?" Morrigan asks, likely startled by his question that she muttered that thought out loud. "That energy is called magic?" He asks, blinking as he recalls the energy blasts that Rath had been tossing about.
"I wonder if you can smell Ki. . ." The woman with bat wings gracing her back and head. He doesn't say anything since its likely that he'll find out soon enough what Ki.
He feels tension in the air and a glance in Morrigan's direction reveals that she's summoning a lot of magic for some reason. As his skin tingles, the tension in the air seems to threaten to suffocate him, something finally happens in the space before Morrigan. He watches as lightning begins to dance in the air before them.
The thin bit of lightning begins to grow until a rift large enough to them to walk into, leaving Orochimaru's lair. Freaky looking architect. He muses as he glances about the new room as the portal vanishes, leaving him at the mercy of Morrigan.
"It's good to see you back, Lady Morrigan." A man with a horn growing out of his forehead says before sighing at the sight of Rath and then raising an eyebrow to stare at him. "Mugen, please arrange for young Rath's body to be returned to his family. I fear that Rath didn't have what it took to be my bodyguard." Morrigan says and the man bows before waving his hand to have the dead body to follow a servant waiting in the shadows.
"And what shall I do for your... guest?" Mugen asks, giving him a sideways glance that causes him to tense up slightly. "I would like to introduce to you my heir apparent, Naruto Uzumaki, he's a Werewolf, the first to survive being mauled by Hau."
He feels stunned and gives Morrigan a surprised look while she moves to speak with a newly arrived elderly looking man with a pair of slender horns growing out of his forehead. "..." He switches to gazing at Mugen.
The man sighs and motions for him to follow him. As they head down a hall, he muses, "You didn't seem shocked about that."
Mugen replies, "Lady Morrigan is currently under pressure to find someone to settle down with so that she might produce an heir. Rath's 'appointment' as her 'bodyguard' was made so that he might, along with other suitors from outside of the Aensland family, court her in hopes of becoming her husband and co-head of the illustriousness Aensland family."
"Further, by announcing you as her appointed heir, she's bought herself time to find someone to marry before somebody manages to kill you." Mugen adds and he shrugs. "It seems that where ever I go, I got people out for my head." He mutters with a shrug as he adds, "They have yet to success yet."
With that, silence hangs between them as he trusts Mugen to lead him through this place, after all, it sounds like Mugen didn't seem to be too worried about his newly appointed position at the top of the current social ladder.