YO! Crazy7634 here, with a new addition to "The True Monsters"! Yeah, so I would've been able to get you guys this new chapter earlier, but unfortunately, school decided to be very, VERY annoying. I don't really want to bother you with the details, so let's just say a wave of homework drowned a person named "Free Time". Continuing on, I would like to thank those who followed and favorited this story, you have no idea just how much of an impact your support has to my writing. Also, special thanks to those who reviewed "The True Monsters", your feedback is amazing. Now that that's out the way, I give to you, the second chapter of… The True Monsters.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Undertale.
Chapter 2 – Mother
After a silent trek back to her house, the goat woman quietly opened the door to her cozy home. She walked over to the lone, unused child's bedroom and pushed the door open, her heart aching at the melancholy she felt from the sight of the neat room. She chuckled hollowly in her mind. She had been cleaning this room every day, just as how she always did for the other areas of her home, ever since she decided to move back in. Considering the fact that she had been in here many times before, she had thought that the pain she felt would diminish over time. Yet, she still felt a pang of sadness and guilt in her heart every time she entered, even after all these years. Then again, getting over the loss of late loved ones never was easy. She sighed lightly and made her way over to the single bed placed by one of the room's four walls, gently placing the sleeping child in her arms onto the soft covers of its comfortable mattress. The queen frowned at the sight of his chest injury, but was soon smiling when the boy unconsciously let out a soft purr as his comatose form twitched. She covered her mouth with a hand as she giggled slightly.
"Heheh, you really are too adorable for your own good." She muttered to herself, an amused smirk on her face.
Toriel then went over to the end table right outside the room, pulling the drawer out to take the metal box of medical supplies. She knelt back beside Naruto and opened the container with a click, taking out a roll of bandages, some cotton balls and a bottle filled with some sort of strange, human elixir. She had learnt how to use these years ago, after all, this wasn't the first time she had to patch-up an injured human. She took the boy's bloody rags off, frowning at the sight of his bony stature. Carefully, she poured a small amount of antiseptic fluid into a ball of cotton, tilting the tiny bottle of odd-smelling liquid slowly to make sure that none of it spilled. She placed the object on the floor, her other hand still clutching the now damp ball of cotton. She then dabbed the boy's wound lightly, wincing whenever he flinched. As much as she hated seeing him in obvious pain, she knew that if she didn't do this, the open injury could get infected and make his condition worse than how it was now. Once done, she screwed the bottle's cap back on and reached for the bandages, dressing his wounds as his face scrunched up and ears twitched in his sleep. Toriel looked at her work, checking if she had done it right, before nodding in approval. She went to the wardrobe in the room, ignoring the knife of nostalgia and the flashes of bitter-sweet memories, pulling the doors open. She grabbed a dark blue shirt which bore the Dreemurr Royal Family emblem, the Delta Rune, at the front in white. She delicately put the shirt on the child's torso, making sure that he didn't rouse from his sleep. She noticed that his face carried a slightly-pained expression, her eyes softening at the sight. She kissed his forehead soothingly, smiling when she saw him visibly calm, and pulled the blanket rolled by his feet up to his chin. With her job done, she tip-toed out of the room silently, closing the door shut gently behind her.
[A Few Hours Later]
[With Naruto]
"…orders. Failure… not… option."
"Please… stop… demon!"
"…okay! We'll… treaty… just keep IT away!"
The blonde awoke with a start, his back launching itself up as he inadvertently sat up straight, before his arms instinctually wrapped themselves around his stomach as pain travelled through his chest.
"Ah, damn it!" Naruto hissed. "What the heck was that?!"
He looked down and blinked when he noticed that his old shirt, if he could even call it that, was gone and instead had been replaced by a comfortable blue one. He pulled the collar away from his neck and peered down, his question answered by the sight of the slightly reddened bandages wrapped around his torso. He frowned when he remembered his journey to Mt. Ebott and clicked his tongue when the image of Flowey shooting the exploding bullets at him appeared in his mind. He twisted his body and let his legs fall onto the ground, pushing off of the bed as he stood up with a bit of effort. His head tilted to the side questioningly when he saw the blanket pooled under his feet.
'Huh… I guess I moved quite a lot while I was sleeping.'
He rolled his shoulders and neck, smirking in satisfaction when he heard the joints pop, before he grabbed the blanket and folded it neatly, placing it under the pillow he had been using.
"Where am I? Wait, scratch that. How am I here?" He muttered, his cerulean eyes scanning the unfamiliar room intently. His eyes then widened, his hand clutching his head in a flash when the hazy memory of him meeting a furred woman and gaining a new mother showed in his mind. He immediately ran to the door, his feet making the polished wood floor creak at every step. When he opened it, he was surprised when a heavenly scent wafted into his nose. He sniffed the air to his right and spotted the table a couple meters away. 'Hm… must be the dining room, then.'
Quietly, he moved down the hallway, following the smell of food that made his empty stomach grumble. As he made his way to the table, he briefly glanced at the door to his left, before he saw the set of stairs to his right. He walked up to the railing, leaning over the fence to stare curiously into the shadows with a raised eyebrow.
'I wonder where this leads…'
After that thought, he shook his head and put his focus back to his destination. He hid behind the thick wall, his head poking around the corner as he examined the new room with interest, his curiosity only growing when he heard someone humming a tune happily. As he was about to step into the room, he flinched back when he spotted someone exiting what he guessed was the kitchen, holding an unbelievably huge pie. His breath hitched in his throat when he saw that the person was Toriel, the goat woman who had saved him earlier and… and…
Naruto held back tears and clenched his fists, watching the woman smile widely as she placed the pie gently on the table. Everything just seemed so unbelievable. Days ago, when he had made up his mind to… end it, he hadn't expected to find himself in a position like this. Back at Leaf, he was only known as "The Kid Everyone Hates For No Reason". Or at least, that's how it was in his eyes. Since the beginning, even before he was kicked out of the orphanage, everyone always gave him hateful stares. He could only observe with envy as the caretakers acted so nice to the other kids, while he was just ignored most of the time. They'd get over-filled plates, and he'd be lucky to be given a small amount at least once in a few days. They stepped in when the older orphans would pick on the others, but when it came to him, they couldn't care less. In fact, they actually encouraged the others to push him around, even if the child was younger than him! After he had been kicked out, around about a month or so later, he had assumed that the glares sent at him from those outside was because the people saw him as just some ragged kid who kept stealing from people, although he did so in order to survive. His still childish mentality thought that they hated him for the simple reason that he was some sort of well-known thief that wasn't behind bars. But after a while, his young yet quickly maturing mind caught on to something. He realized that he was being treated the same way as he had been when he was still living in the orphanage. Ever since he had gotten out of the orphanage walls, the citizens always glared at him, hatred and animosity clearly visible in their eyes. Even though he hadn't even met a single one of them before, and whether he knew of their existence or not, he would always receive the same look from those who hailed from the Leaf. He wasn't heavily disliked because he stole or anything of the sort, they resented him for a different reason. One that was known to everyone but him and those his age. Yes, he was skeptical of this theory that he had conjured in his mind, but few stray, yet equally unusual, activity in the village seemed to back the idea up. The first proof he had was found during one of his escapes from daily mob encounters…
[Flashback]
The village's afternoon sun made him sweat, his azure orbs gazing at the bustling liveliness of Leaf's large marketplace. He stared silently from his seat at the entrance of an alleyway, hungrily ogling the sight of the food being exchanged by the customers and merchants. He hugged his stomach as it gurgled in desire, letting out a groan.
'Man… I gonna have to take food again, aren't I?' Naruto grumbled in his mind. He didn't like to steal, contrary to popular belief, which was why he tried to do it as least as possible. But other than scrounging around through garbage bags, it was the only thing he could do in order to get at least a little bit of nourishment. He was about to push himself off of the ground when he saw a boy around about a year or so older than him walking his way. It was one of the kids from the orphanage he had stayed at. 'Ah, damn it…'
It only took a minute for the other child to appear in front of him. The kid was wearing a new red shirt along with a pair of blue pants and sandals, a stark contrast to his torn outfit comprised of a grey shirt, black shorts and broken sandals. Naruto sighed in his mind when he saw the guy's cocky smirk and stared down at the ground as he waited for the taller male to begin his monologue.
"Well, if it ain't the stupid fish cake. How's life on the streets, loser?" Naruto rolled his eyes and remained silent, calmly leaning against the building wall behind him. The older child's smirk grew, taking the blonde's silence as submission. "Hey, why aren't ya talking? Someone cut out your tongue? Tch, if they did, I'd be rewarding them a hundred bucks for doing us all in Leaf a favour!"
A few minutes of silence passed, the boy's arrogant smirk morphing into a frown of annoyance at the lack of reaction, unknowingly making Naruto grin internally in satisfaction.
"Oi! I'm talking to you, idiot! What, have you forgotten how to use your mouth to talk slow-learner? Did eating garbage really take away what little smarts you had? Here's an idea, why don't you go to the healers for help with your stupidinty? And while you're at it, go steal some diapers in case you accidentally fart your brain out on the way there, ya little baby!"
Naruto rolled his head up, and gave his aggressor a deadpan look. "Okay, first, it's stupidity. Second, let me just ask you these four questions. One, you're an orphan like me, and you don't have a job. So how are you going to even get that much money without parents or work? Two, which one of us learnt how to talk first, even though the caretakers didn't actually help him? Three, who had to be taken to the healers for getting sick because he had been eating glue? And finally, four. Who was it that took the longest to get potty trained out of ALL the children in the orphanage?"
The other male's face flushed in embarrassment. He gritted his teeth, his hands curling into fists in his anger. His rage only grew when he spotted the tiny, amused grin on the blonde's face. "You cheeky little brat!"
His loud outburst made Naruto tense. He saw the other male lean down to strike him and immediately rolled forward, effectively dodging his attempt to attack. He giggled slightly when the boy let out a loud wail. The older boy had tripped on his own feet and dived into the trash bags that had been beside him when he was still sitting down. The whiskered outcast heard an aggressive growl behind him and turned around, wincing when he noticed that most of the people had stopped all their movements in favour of glaring at him. His assailant saw the adults' reactions to his fall as well as the look on Naruto's face, growing an evil sneer when his mind thought of a plan. After all, it was quite a known fact among the younger generation that grown-ups didn't exactly like the blue-eyed blonde. He grabbed his knee and began to cry exaggeratedly, putting eve more attention on him and the malnourished boy. A man, who seemed to be around his mid-thirties, slowly walked towards them, a menacing look on his face.
"You DARE to harm our innocent children, freak?!" He growled, cracking his knuckles as he came closer and closer to the scared child. "We thought that we told you to keep away from this village's future, lest you infect them with your… monster genes."
Naruto could only watch with fear-filled eyes as more adults began to yell and join the man in stalking towards him. Without a second thought, he bolted to the other side of the alley, not wanting to be caught by the villagers again. He kept his sapphire irises to his front, not bothering to try reason with the mob behind him. Trying to talk them down would only anger them even more, he learnt that the hard way. Jumping over a group of black bags, he turned sharply to the left, weaving through the many residents of Leaf. He turned his gaze to the ground as he ran, not wanting to trip during a situation such as this. He was surprised when he saw shadows moving at the top of the surrounding buildings' shade. He looked up, gulping when he saw dark figures moving across the rooftops. When the shouts from behind him got louder, he flinched back into attention and quickened his pace. After many twists, turns and shortcuts, his eyes slid back to the rooftops, the blonde's breath hitched in his throat again when he saw that his second set of pursuers were still there. Why were they there?! HOW were they there?! Unfortunately, while he had been distracted, he didn't notice that one of the civilians on his trail had caught up, only finding out when the man pulled him back by the collar. His hands instantly flew to his neck, his fingers desperately clawing at the adult's hands in an attempt to get himself free. His eyes once again went to the rooftops, cobalt irises silently calling for the shadows to help. But they never did...
[Flashback End]
So, after the encounter with the oh so kind citizens, he limped back to his usual alley. He had been dressing his wounds as best he could with the limited resources he had when he felt a chill up his spine. He was being watched. Remembering the enigmatic roof-top jumpers from earlier, he discretely glanced at the rooves to his left and right. Sure enough, there they were; their steely gazes locked on him as they stood as still as statues. From that day on, he learnt that wherever he was in the village, they wouldn't be far behind. Always watching and waiting, but never striking. The only question in his mind though, was why were they there?
The second set of proof that he had of there being more to his situation than he thought, was the actions the villagers took every time a tourist took pity on him whenever the yearly Fox Festival took place at Leaf. Whenever they came up to him, whether it was to ask a question or to give him food, there would always be someone nearby who pulled them away before muttering something in their ears. At the end of their conversation, the person who had tried to help him would give him a weird look as they quickly got away from him as fast as possible. It hurt. The sight of the people who had been so willing to assist him looking at him with so much fear or disgust always made his heart break. One day, his curiosity had gotten a hold of him, and this time, he listened in on whatever they said.
[Flashback]
Naruto sneaked behind one of the many trash cans brought out for this event. He slumped against it, his ears straining to hear the words the adults spoke behind him, silently praying that they never notice his presence.
"…kid is bad news. Trust me, you don't want to go near him."
The visitor, who was a woman looked to be in her early-twenties, looked outraged. "What? Is this because he's an orphan or something? I just want to help that kid. Didn't you see how skinny he was?"
Naruto smiled. She was worried about him. He saw the man sigh exasperatedly before he ran a hand through his hair. "Look, it's not because he's an orphan. If you want to go frolic with them, go to the orphanage located at Fire's End, adopt one if you're up for it. But that kid, he's the devil. A monster. His family is nothing but a line of half-demon freaks!"
"W-what?" The woman was taken aback by his claim, it was evident in her voice. Naruto was shocked as well. What was he talking about?
"You know the reason why we have these festivals, don't you?"
"To… commemorate the victory your last leader had against a fox?"
"Exactly. Since the very start of this village's creation, the things like that fox have been used in wars between our five villages. In fact, it's because we had all possessed creatures like it that the other cities and countries have left us to our own devices after we did their dirty work and locked the other monsters up in that mountain when they begged us to."
She looked confused. "What does this have anything to do with the kid?"
Naruto was asking himself the same question. The man narrowed his eyes and snarled. "EVERYTHING. That brat's family line traces back to the earliest stages of humanity, known for many things. Longevity, intelligence, strength, that sort of stuff. But the thing they're most known for, is their ability to be able to contain these beasts inside them."
"Wait!" The woman gasped. "A… are you saying that the kid…"
"Yeah. That little fiend is the one with the behemoth. Sure, scholars and those of the sort always say that they "contain" the monstrosities, but ya know what most of us here in Leaf think? Those "containers" are actually the beasts in human form." Naruto heard the woman gasp again. "I mean, they keep saying they gotta seal the thing in a kid or everything is gonna end up being worthless since an adult's just gonna die afterwards. But we think that it's just too much of a coincidence that every time the fox is defeated, a kid with its powers appear and the fox just comes out once the person "containing" it reaches adulthood. That cycle's repeated so many times now!"
"…why haven't you put that thing in a cell?!"
"Tch. Million-dollar question to ask the village leader right there. I'm guessing it's because the leader just wants to showcase him to possible guests from the other four villages. Besides, that stuck-up family with the creepy eyes could just make the thing back down with one look if things come to that. We can't just kill the brat though, since the kid's not only the last of his family and his kind, he's the only thing that's keeping the peace that's on the elemental nations."
"How?"
"The beasts were used in the wars, as weapons. They're over-powered game changers. For example, if one of the villages got another one or lost theirs, the power scale would change considerably and the one without a monster would have no choice but to surrender because it doesn't have a demon to protect it anymore. Now with the other eight mutants having disappeared into thin air when the other villages tried to put them back into "hosts", Leaf's the top dog since we've still got one of those bastards in our belt, and it's the strongest one to boot!"
"At least he's actually useful for something…"
Naruto stopped listening at this point. He was too shocked at the amount of information he had just discovered and ran off without the other two noticing.
[Flashback End]
Then last, but certainly the most bizarre, were the lapses he had in memory. He could remember the times where he would wake up in the morning with a mind-melting headache, unable to recall what had happened the night before, only to find himself having nightmares at the end of the day. He shivered when he remembered the "dream" he just had before waking up. He hated the recollections.
With all that said, it wasn't hard to believe that he truly did think that his position at this point in time was as astonishing as he found it. The whole situation was just so far-fetched, so inconceivable, so… unreal. While he knew that he was indeed currently in reality, to him, it felt more like he was living an impossible dream. A wish that could never come true, a feat that he felt that he could never achieve… and yet, here he was. There was someone who actually cared about him. Someone who didn't think of him differently. Someone, who he could call his...
"...Mother." Naruto whispered the word lowly. He never thought that he would actually get the chance to call someone that word. He really couldn't believe it. Toriel blinked when she heard the near-inaudible murmur. She turned to her left, her smile widening when she saw Naruto peering at her meekly from behind the wall.
"Ah, you are awake my child." She stepped away from the table and faced Naruto, kneeling down and opening her arms out wide. She saw that he didn't move and inch and giggled slightly. "Well? Are you just going leave your mother hanging?"
At that sentence, he shot off in a burst of speed and wrapped his arms tightly around the monster, tears rolling down his cheeks. Despite being surprised by the sudden reaction, she immediately returned the hold. Seeing his tears, she gave him a sympathetic look and ran a hand through his hair soothingly as he sobbed into her shoulder.
"Hey now, what's all this about?" She asked gently, trying to soothe the boy as best she could.
He mumbled a sentence out incoherently, Toriel was only able to decipher a few words. "I… this… dream!"
"Shhh… okay, let's just calm down first, alright? Everything's fine." They stayed there for a few minutes, Toriel waiting for him to quieten down. When his sobs were now mere sniffles, she asked him the question again. "So, what was that all about?"
Naruto pulled back and stared guiltily at the ground. "I… I thought that it all had been a dream. Just a stupid lie my brain made up while I slept…"
Toriel gave him a soft smile, her hands on his shoulders. "Well, I can certainly tell you that this is no dream, nor is anything a lie."
"So… you really are going to be my mother?" The orphan looked up, staring into the goat woman's red-tinted irises. It made Toriel's heart twinge at the sheer amount of hopefulness and pleading in his eyes.
"Yes, of course."
Naruto beamed. He was about to give the woman a hug once again, when his stomach gave a loud rumble. He chuckled embarrassedly and scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner. The boy blushed when he heard his new mother giggle and observed as she stood up and disappeared into the room she had come out of earlier. He heard a few clattering sounds and saw her walk out with two plates, two forks and a knife.
"Let's fill up that empty stomach now with a late lunch, shall we?"
The blonde grinned and made his way to Toriel. Whether his past will come to haunt him back or not, or whether that flower will sneak in to finish the job tonight, he didn't care. Right now, all he cared about was spending time with his new-found mother. Naruto's grin widened. Man, it felt good to be able to call someone that!
Happy Mother's Day, readers! :P
