Author's note:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Naruto
Information: Before you read this, expecting some evil demon's personality to be tamed by a hot-headed girl, I want to tell you that this is nothing like you think it will be. I, personally, have never thought of Shukaku as a mass of chakra/blood lust. I'm writing this story to prepare me for many more and to bring some closure to myself. I believe that the demons behaved like the Eight tails does.
That morning when Shukaku woke up, his head was pounding. Everything around him was making noise. The birds were screeching, the water was yelling as it hit the rocks, and even the villagers were mocking him with their creaking carts. It had to end. He would kill them.
Shukaku was in his human form, he normally used to scout the village out before he destroyed them. Sometimes he wondered why he had the urge to destroy the villages, but looking back on the last few hundred years he remembered the endless hatred the villagers had for him. Before he started destroying their villages, the villagers weren't afraid of him. They drove Shukaku to his breaking point through their unjustified resentment towards him, so he gave them a reason to hate him.
Shukaku started by destroying the village he lived in. The one that had turned his childhood into a living nightmare. His mother and father were killed by the Samurai and Anthro that watched them. He remembered how he begged them to take his life, how he couldn't live without someone's understanding. He had been pathetic.
Shukaku put on his khaki brown pants, white shirt, and white scarf around his neck before putting his kunai pouch on. His clothes were comfortable and homemade. It matched how some of the desert people dressed, which was his cover story if any ninja decided to ask stupid questions.
On his way to the village he was planning to destroy, he saw a young Anthro girl. She had long white hair with matching eyes and ears. She looked like a lower class wolf breed, judging from her long white tail that seemed to curve down in the middle. She wore a bright smile, unusual for a species that was beginning to take on the hatred the humans had for demons.
"Do you need something?" The girl looked over towards him with a face that showed curiosity.
"No" Shukaku grunted as he ran his hand through his long sandy blonde hair and walked away.
As he walked away from the girl, he felt her eyes glued to his back. It was an uncomfortable feeling, knowing that someone is judging you. He stopped walking and turned around to face the girl. He would not have someone hate him while he was in his human form. Even if it meant killing her on the spot.
"Um" The girl looked around nervously as Shukaku approached her, "Hello?"
"Why do you hate me?" Shukaku growled, getting closer to her
"W-what?" The girl tried to look him in the eyes, but failed
"You were judging me," Shukaku rose to his full height, "I felt it"
"I wasn't" The girl held her hands up
"You were staring at me" Shukaku stated
"I... I thought your tattoos were cool" The girl blushed
"They aren't tattoos" Shukaku growled
"Oh?" The girl questioned
"Oh" Shukaku mocked in a distasteful tone
Shukaku noticed the bag the girl was holding. It was filled with sweet smelling foods that showed slightly through the top. His mouth watered, the last time he ate was the flesh of some nasty ninja. He enjoyed the blood, but when it came down to the small part of his humanity, he preferred normal foods.
"Would you like to share?" The girl's eyes followed Shukaku's to the bag
"No" Shukaku turned away from the girl
"Okay, I don't have a towel to sit on though" Shukaku turned around to glare at the girl, but she was too busy looking around her to notice
"I would rather die than eat with something as disgusting as you" Shukaku spat
"You're dirtier than I am" the girl looked down at herself, then to Shukaku
"Anthro, need I say more?" Shukaku tried to hurt her feelings
The girl glared at Shukaku with every ounce of hate she could muster. Shukaku knew that he was being a hypocrite, but her people killed his mother and father, they were a tainted race in his mind. She has the blood of the Anthro race coursing through her veins regardless of her humanly features.
"I'm only half Anthro, if it means anything to you" The girl turned to walk away
"That's not possible" Shukaku stated
The girl didn't bother to respond. Shukaku could tell that she was crying as she walked away from him. He felt two very strong feelings, one of empathy and one of revenge. He didn't know if he should comfort the girl, or kill her for the self pity she was wallowing in. She had no right to feel that way after her people did the same to him.
Taking some of his sand, he tripped the girl. It was an almost unconscious reaction to a simple thought. He watched the girl sit up and try to gather some of the food that spilled out of her bag. She was still crying, her movements were shaky.
"Let me help" Shukaku's humanity had won
The girl looked up at Shukaku with a pained glance. Shukaku assumed she was just as confused as he was about his actions. He avoided eye contact as he helped her pick up her things.
"I'm sorry" Shukaku placed the food he gathered into the bag
"What's your name?" The girl asked, looking up to meet his eyes
"Shu-" Shukaku paused, no one had cared long enough to ask him what his name was before
"It's nice to meet you Shu" The girl gave a light smile, but her eyes were still hurt
"Uh, what's your name?" Shukaku ran his hand through his hair
That was close, he thought to himself
"Hotaru" The girl crossed her legs
"Hotaru..." He tested the name in his mouth
"I think so... Maybe I forgot again" Hotaru teased
Shukaku gave her a confused look before he realized that she was just teasing him. He wasn't used to this kind of attention, he thought that no one would ever find him worthy of a conversation, especially an Anthro. Anthros always regarded themselves as the link between the human and animal world. Back when Shukaku was a child he always saw them in the nicest houses in the nicest neighborhoods. Now that the demon days were dying out, humans had started to focus their hate on the Anthro.
"I forget who I am too, sometimes" Shukaku voiced his thoughts
"Well, that's not good" Hotaru laughed, "We can forget together"
"No thanks" Shukaku ran his hand through his hair again
"Well, Shu-san" Hotaru paused, "I think that it's time for lunch, join me if you're not too busy"
"No" Shukaku got up and walked away
At least I made her feel better, he mentally sighed
A few hours later he saw the girl again, this time next to a taller woman with gray hair and dull gray eyes. The woman she was next to had to be her grandmother, for she was too old to be her mother or sister. They had a similar facial structure, a small round face with big eyes.
"Excuse us" The elderly woman said as she pulled Hotaru through the market place
"Wait..." Shukaku reached out to grab Hotaru and ask her if the woman she was with was a human, but clenched his fist and withdrew it when he realized that he would kill them in a day or two anyway.
"Hey, you!" A ninja shouted
Everyone in the marketplace turned to the ninja who shouted. The town was used to having ninja come and protect them, many small villages were disputed territory due to the recent wars for power. The Leaf village, the primary owner of this piece of land, was made by the first and second Hokages around thirty years ago. The ninja were only trying to protect the land from other ninja.
"Me?" Shukaku asked without turning around, instead he found his eyes wandering to Hotaru who looked scared and defenseless.
"You look like your some punk from the Sand village" The ninja said in a cocky tone, "Where's your forehead protecter?"
"I'm a rogue" Shukaku responded quietly.
"A what?" The ninja almost screamed, bringing Shukaku's forgotten headache back.
Shukaku turned around and ran towards the cocky ninja. He grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up above his own face. Making a low growling sound, Shukaku stared into the terrified eyes he had seen his whole life and threw the ninja boy onto the ground and started to walk away. The boy would get his soon.
"Come back here!" The cocky ninja boy managed to choke out
"Why?" Shukaku said in a melodic voice, "At least tell me a name before I get the pleasure of killing you"
"My name is Sarutobi Asuma" Asuma said while a few other ninja with the same cloth around their hips showed up, "And we're going to force you to leave this town"
"So be it, Sarutobi" Shukaku looked down to the ground before finishing his statement, "You will die today!"
As Shukaku was grinding sand under the surface of the earth to kill the group of teenage ninja, Hotaru ran to him and put her arms around him. She was crying and gripping his shirt tightly. He looked down at her, confused. He barely knew her and she was touching him when he was about to kill the ninja who were trying to protect her.
"Oh, Onii-san!" Hotaru cried, "These people don't want to play with you, you got lucky that they have put up with you this long, please, Nee-san, let's go home now"
Some of the people in the marketplace began to whisper things about not knowing Hotaru had a brother, but thought better of saying anything while the ninja were watching them. Shukaku didn't understand why the girl was trying to protect him, making him look like a fool in the process too. She was being ridiculous.
"Get off of me, Hotaru" Shukaku shoved her to the ground and glared at her.
"Shu-san..." Hotaru eyes looked sad, but turned to anger, "You're being an idiot"
"You don't know me!" Shukaku yelled back.
"You don't even know yourself!" Hotaru snarled
"I know that I could kill every last one of these fools" Shukaku pointed towards the ninja.
Shukaku thought about the argument he was having. Why should he care what Hotaru thinks? She's already dead. No one listens to a dead person, because they're dead, their opinions don't matter anymore.
"Please, Sarutobi-sama, my son's father was killed by ninja" Her voice sang and lifted every ear towards it, "He's having a hard time coping"
"We understand" Asuma bowed towards Hotaru's mother, "Please keep him under control"
As Asuma and his companions walked away, Shukaku felt useless. If people who are already dead are fighting his battles for him, then he would be sure that their death came sooner. All he could see was red, he hated Hotaru, he hated her mother, and most of all, he hated Asuma. He would kill Asuma for is ignorance.
"Shu-san, it's time to come home" Hotaru said reluctantly
"I have no home with you!" Shukaku spat and walked towards his small cave by the village.
They'll die tonight, Shukaku laughed