The Nine Tails of the Heart
( ~ VII ~ )
Chapter Seven: The Haunting Past: Painful Remembrance
When Ino arrived at the training ground the next morning she wasn't surprised to see Naruto, he was usually the first one there, but she was surprised to see him arguing with Kurenai... well... arguing with Kurenai this early in the morning.
"Why are you being so damned stubborn, Naruto?"
"I'm being stubborn, Kurenai-sensei, because I told you that I'm not sick and you're not letting me train!"
She growled at the boy, "Stop trying to fool me Naruto, you look sick, you're running a fever, and you've been pushing yourself too hard for the last several days! I tried warning you, that if you didn't pace yourself properly you'd do more harm then good!" He returned the growl as best he could, but even to him it sounded weak, "Let me train! They're already ahead of me, I can't afford to take days off! I don't want to use some stupid excuse like this to n..."
She slapped him across the back of the head, and then caught him to keep from ending up on the ground, "Shut up, Naruto." She lifted his chin so that he'd see her face, and so that he wouldn't be able to look away so easily, "If you're not going to listen to advice, listen to orders. Go home and get some rest!"
He growled weakly one more time and muttered some pithy comment under his breathe before he finally bowed his head and submitted to being escorted to his apartment by one of Kurenai's shadow clones. Normally he would have fought more, but they all knew that he wasn't feeling well. By the time he got home and locked the door to his apartment, he was miserable. He'd never felt to sick, or so beaten, in his entire life.
( ~ VII ~ )
Kurenai grinned as the two genin, stepping back onto dry land, responded to her signal that she wanted to talk to them and walked up to her. "You've both made a lot of progress, I'm proud of all of you."
Ino was about to ask what she had meant by all, when she and Shino were the only two there, but a moment later she understood, "She's proud of Naruto too... he should of been here... he should have heard that..."
She hadn't realized that she'd been standing there in a daze until Kurenai placed a hand on her shoulder and asked if she was alright. Ino just nodded before looking up into Kurenai's eyes and sighing, "He should of been here to hear that, sensei. He should of heard that you were proud of him... I..." She looked out over the empty lake, "I think he needs to hear it..."
"That's partly why I'm cutting training short today, and giving you all the day off tomorrow. Naruto shouldn't be alone right now, and I have a few things that I need to take care of before I can go check on him. So, I wanted to ask you, if you could go take care of him while I run those errands."
Ino sighed, even though Kurenai had said that she was asking, they both knew that she wasn't, "Sure, Kurenai-sensei. I'll take care of him until you show up."
( ~ VII ~ )
She could hardly believe what she was seeing. The building in front of her looked terrible; more like an abandoned building, that had been vacant for years and that was about to be torn down, than a home. "He lives here! I... don't see how..."
She unlocked the door with the key Kurenai had given her, stepped inside, and stuttered for a moment, "And I thought it looked bad on the outside..."The walls were painted with graffiti. The table in the den had one of its legs lashed back on. The cushions that Naruto probably used for chairs looked slightly empty of their stuffing, and had obviously been sewn back together, quite clumsily, more than once. The refrigerator in his kitchen had a large dent in the door, and looked like the door was about to come off at the hinges. The kitchen table was in no better shape than the table in the den.
She had expected Naruto's home to be a complete mess; and it was, just not the kind of mess she expected. The rooms themselves were, amazingly, clean, considering the condition they were in. "How can you live in a place like this and never complain, Naruto..." She sighed as she remembered the several times that he had given her just a small glimpse of his true personality, instead of the mask that he had always worn at the academy. "You never complain, but all I was doing for the first few days of being on this team was complain. How did I not drive you mad?" She sent a glance in the direction of his bedroom, the door was partially open, and the condition of that room didn't look to be any better than the rest of the building.
She sighed again, set her things down on the kitchen table, then got to work.
( ~ VII ~ )
The sky was a light blue, and the two-tailed fox resting in the shade of a large tree yawned, watching the clouds drift lazily overhead as the winds pushed them, gently, from behind. The sky was so relaxing and so few humans ever came to this spot, which made it a perfect place to rest.
"Oi! You're not going to do any work today? Kikoe?" A reddish-brown toad hopped up to the darkly colored fox.
The fox yawned again before turning to the toad, some venom in his voice "Nah, don't feel like it Gamabunta. Why? Did Shuurei send you to find me so she could make me do something for her?"
The toad remained silent for a moment before speaking, "What's going on between you two? You've been fighting with each other a lot lately..."
The fox just turned away from his friend, his jaw clenched tightly shut, trying to keep the snarl from escaping his throat. It was a minute before he could find it in himself to speak, "Gamabunta, I..." He looked back at his friend, his eyes watery, "I think she hates me..."
The toad only chuckled, at which it received a glaring response from the fox, "Kikoe-baka! Can't you tell? She loves you!"
( ~ VII ~ )
He knew the difference between a dream and what wasn't, and what he had just seen wasn't a dream. He had been 'remembering' short flashes, almost like pictures, of two foxes, a toad, and a brown bird, for the last several years but he had never payed them enough mind before to think that they were important. Now he knew that they were important; he just had no idea how. He hadn't even remembered about the 'flashes' since he hadn't had one since Mizuki had told him that he was the human vessel for Kyuubi.
Ino almost felt bad for the boy, over the past hour his fever hadn't gotten any better and the only thing she could think to do was place a wet rag on his forehead to help cool him down.
When he groaned and his face scrunched up she wondered whether he was having a nightmare, of if he was just in that much pain...
( ~ VII ~ )
The four-tailed fox sat in front of the tree and grinned. A few hundred years ago he hadn't even been the size of one of this tree's smallest branches. Now he was quite a bit bigger, though still minuscule when compared to the tree.
"Kikoe-san! Kikoe-san!"
The four-tailed fox turned to look at the large bird and growled when he realized how quickly it was coming in for the landing, "What's wrong? Yakei-san! Is everything alright?"
"It's Shuurei..."
That was all the brown-feathered bird needed to say to get his attention, and switch him from reminiscing about his past to a battlefield mentality. "Is she alright?" Shuurei wasn't his mate, but that didn't mean he didn't care about her.
"She's sick, Kikoe-san."
He was about to growl at the bird, but the thought slammed into him before he could, "There's sick... and then there's sick..." He spared a glance at the bird who was fidgeting nervously, "How sick?"
The bird sputtered for a second before catching exactly what the fox was asking, "The same as last time..."
The fox then sighed, coming down from the battlefield mentality and switching to just being genuinely annoyed, "Yakei... please don't ever scare me like that again..."
( ~ VII ~ )
Ino wasn't even sure if Naruto knew she was there. His fever hadn't gotten any better; if anything it had gotten worse.
She leaned over him and replaced the rag on his forehead, "Please, get better soon..." She hated not being able to do anything; she hated feeling so useless, "Naruto-kun."
( ~ VII ~ )
He absolutely hated this place. He had never liked it, and he was sure that he never would. "I haven't been away long enough..."
The cold and grey landscape stretched to the horizon in every direction. The sunlight, obscured by impermeable clouds of dust and fog, never reached the ground. The stench of fear, death, rot, and blood hang thick in the air. The sky was dim and grey. Just being in the realm would make you feel weary, like your life, and energy, was being drained from you, but no matter how weary, no matter how tired, you would find no rest, or peace, here. This was the demonic plane of war, the realm that most mortals simply called hell.
Almost nothing could survive here, which is exactly why the demon council had chosen this realm as their home.
Hovering far above the battlefields below was the floating mountain of Kagirinai-Kurai. The residence of the demon council. There was something about the mountain that made those that approached it feel small and insignificant, weak and pitiful. Even the demon lords themselves could not stand in the presence of the mountain without feeling the immense weight of the dark stone that towered above them.
Yes, he absolutely hated this place.
The dark chamber in which he found himself, was no less oppressing than the rest of the realm, though most of the unpalatable stenches were seared away by the immense power of the beings in the room. The ceiling and walls, obscured in darkness, were invisible, even to demonic eyes. The tiers of chairs formed an almost complete circle around the room, all facing towards the center and the petitioners circle. The floor was a polished midnight black, just like the rest of the room, completely dark, from which very little light escaped.
A deep and thundering voice fell from the ceiling and filled the room. "Do you understand, Kikoe-san?"
The six-tailed fox, keeping a tight reign on the gentle swishing of his tails, bowed his head, "I understand, and obey."
"Good. You are dismissed."
He bowed again before turning and striding out of the room as calmly as he could. The realm itself was unnerving enough, the mountain more so, and the impenetrable darkness of that room even more. But nothing was quite so unnerving as hearing that omnipresent voice. It made him shiver, and he was sure that it had that effect on everyone. No one knew for sure where that voice came from, or even what it was. Some people believed that the voice was the voice of Kami-sama himself. Others would say that it belonged to a being trapped inside of the mountain, whose home realm was the demonic realm of war. No matter what that voice truly was; very few chose to defy its will, and those that had did not last for long.
When he had received the summons to stand before the demon council, he had been cautiously afraid, and rightfully so. He had expected to hear, at least, that he was being limited access to the mortal realm that he had taken such a liking to over the past several hundred years. Instead, he had been told that he was now a demon lord. That thought alone would take some getting used to. There were, of course, responsibilities, and privileges, that came with the title. He had never expected to become a demon lord, he had never even dreamed of it, but he wasn't about to turn down the opportunity. He wasn't about to defy that thundering voice...
And as he walked away from the dark mountain of Kagirinai-Kurai he couldn't help but chuckle, "Kikoe-sama, demon lord..."
( ~ VII ~ )
After the first few hours, she hadn't even bothered to pay attention to the time of day, all that mattered was taking care of the blonde-haired boy in front of her. His fever had peaked, and hadn't gotten any worse, but it wasn't getting better. She replaced the rag on his forehead and sighed before leaning back in her chair and staring at the blank white ceiling, it reminded her of a song about being alone, and so she started to sing.
( ~ VII ~ )
"Why do you want to go out in the rain, Kikoe-kun?" The five-tailed fox rose to her feet and looked at the seven-tailed demon lord in front of her.
The demon lord turned to look at the three other occupants of the cave and tilted his head. "Does it matter?"
The vixen huffed and narrowed her eyes at the male in front of her, "Yeah, it does matter! If you go out there right now you're going to get sick!"
"You worry too much Shuurei-chan..." He turned his head back towards the cave mouth and suppressed a grin when Yakei and Gamabunta both remained, wisely, silent. He stepped out into the torrential rain and descended down the hill and into the forest. He had been born with his first tail, of course, and the other six had come to him over time as he aged, but his eighth tail had been eluding him for some time - and know he had a feeling that there was something deep in the forest that could help him, and he intended to find it.
The dark haired boy in the clearing, seemingly unaware of the rain as it fell around him and equally unaware of the beast that approached, was caught in an intricate dance with an unseen foe. Strike, block, retreat, strike, feint, kick, strike, spin, block, block, dodge, retreat, strike, strike, kick, strike, block, dodge, block, feint, strike.
Kikoe watched the boy practicing his steps, almost as if by doing them he would gain more power... but wasn't that exactly why he was out in the rain at the moment, because he wanted to achieve his eighth tail? Shifting into his human form he stepped into the clearing and grinned when the boy, finally aware of his presence, span to look at the newcomer.
"You should be careful of how long you spend out in the rain, or in these woods," Kikoe smirked, welcoming the pull of muscles he had not used in a great many years, "It can be dangerous for little kids." He of course wasn't referring to the woods or the rain as being dangerous, though they could be, he was referring to himself, and other such hunters like him.
The boy froze when he saw the man in front of him. He knew, instantly, that the man was not a human but merely something in human form. Its skin was a flushed red, it's hair a bloody brown, its eyes red feline slits, and its ears a pointed crown. "You should take your own advice, before giving it to others, makes you seem like a hypocrite."
Kikoe laughed, amazed that the boy was so defiant, or strong. Most mortals couldn't do more than cower while in the presence of a demon lord, let alone stand and fight back. Not to say the boy wasn't scared, Kikoe could smell that he was. "What's your name boy?"
The dark haired child narrowed his eyes at the creature in front of him and snarled, "It's impolite to ask someone's name without offering your own."
"It's also impolite to be rude to your elders," Kikoe smirked as the boy hurriedly mumbled his name, a sort of appeasement, perhaps, for the unspoken threat, "Well, since you seem so dedicated to your craft and obtaining power, let me help you."
The dark haired boy narrowed his eyes again, "How do you intend to do that? Mortals and demons do not use the same methods to..." He had blinked, and that was all the time it took. He would choke on his own blood if he couldn't get free of the hand around his throat.
This child's snappy and defiant attitude was mildly amusing, but he was growing tired of it. He was fifteen arms' lengths away from the boy, and in a solitary second he had closed the distance, nearly gutted the boy with his knee, and slammed him into a nearby tree, his hand around his throat.
When the boy reached up to pry away the hand that circled his throat so that he could slip out of the stranglehold the demon only squeezed harder, pushing his nails into the boy's neck.
"Go ahead and pull yourself free, but know that if you do your throat is staying with me."
Kikoe removed his nails from the boy's throat, as soon as he stopped struggling, setting him, none too gently, on the ground at the base of the tree. He chuckled as the boy reflexively brought his hand to his throat, to feel how bad the wound was and to protect it from further harm.
"You said you wanted to help me! This isn't helping me any, so please, just leave me alone..." The kid had guts to defy a demon lord so openly, especially one that had almost killed him a moment before.
"True," Kikoe shrugged, then squatted down in front of the child, "And so teach you I shall."
Several hours later, back with his three companions
"Oh! Kikoe! I told you that you'd get sick!"
"And I told you, you worry too..." A great mountain-shaking cough ripped through the cave, "...much."
She just stared at him flatly, a silent signal that he should stop arguing and just, as he put it, let her fuss.
Sometime on his trip back to the cavern he had achieved his eighth tail, and if being sick was the price he had to pay, then it was worth it.
And as he laid his head down to rest, he closed his eyes and let his mind clear; except for one thought, what he would be willing to pay for his ninth tail, to become the next Kyuubi. The first Kyuubi to walk the realms in such a very long time. When sleep finally took him one final thought crossed his mind, "I'd be willing to pay... anything..."
( ~ VII ~ )
Ino stepped out of the shower and sighed as she dried herself off. She was glad to be clean again, and more than glad that she didn't smell like vomit anymore, but had she been paying attention, and not dozing off, Naruto wouldn't have vomited on her. Not that it was his fault, he was sick after all. His fever wasn't all that much better, though it was a little, and he was still in that semi-conscious state.
She grabbed the plain grey shirt she had taken from Naruto's dresser and put it on. She didn't know why he had something that big, but she wasn't going to complain that it was more the size of a nightgown than a normal shirt. It was just what she needed at the moment.
After washing the taint off of her body and her clothes she took a deep breathe and returned to Naruto's side to clean up the floor, and to tend to the boy she'd promised to watch over.
( ~ VII ~ )
The eight-tailed fox paced nervously at the mouth of the cave. Sending frequent glances in to the cave, as if expecting an attack to come from that direction at any moment. He hadn't seen Gamabunta or Yakei in just over seventeen years, which was nothing in the total span of a demon's life, but that wasn't what was worrying him, or setting him on edge. The provinces which he ruled in the demon realms were surviving, and even prospering, under his rule. But the concerns and troubles of being a demon lord wasn't what was worrying him. What was making him so jittery, and anxious, and nervous, and stressed, and sending him tumbling through a thousand other emotions he couldn't define, was just inside of the cave. His mate.
Shuurei was pregnant, and expecting any moment now.
What would he do with his children? Would they grow up to be like their mother, or would they grow up to be like him? His parents had died, or abandoned him, shortly after birth, so he had never known them. He had never felt a desire to know his parents, but he did feel a desire, an intense desire, to know, to know and protect, his children.
He had been pacing nervously inside of the cave until Shuurei had just gotten so frustrated with him that she told him, in not so nice of a way, to go outside, get some fresh air, and calm down. She was giving birth, that was all, it wasn't the end of the world.
She had said that it wasn't the end of the world, but for some reason he felt that it was.
The following morning
He had been alive for thousands of human generations, and throughout all of those years he always had dreams and goals. Becoming a father had never been among those dreams and goals. He didn't regret being a father. He couldn't regret it, not without regretting all the time he had spent with his friend, his mate, his love, and the time he would spend with his children. The time he would spend teaching them, loving them, protecting and guiding them. No, he would not regret that. He couldn't regret it.
With the carcass of a monster nearly the size of himself hanging from his jaws he scaled the cliff-face to the cave where he had left his mate and sixteen kits. The size of the litter was unusually large, but it didn't concern him. Very little concerned him anymore. He wasn't concerned about being a demon lord, he wasn't concerned about the voice in the mountain, he wasn't concerned about becoming the next Kyuubi to walk the realms. No, all he cared about now was his mate and his kits.
The wind was still, but even without a breeze he could smell, and taste, it. Blood. It took him just a moment to realize that it wasn't coming from the meat he was carrying, it was coming from the cave. As he neared the cave, fear and despair gripped him... and inside was not what he had ever wanted to see... Sixteen bodies were lying on the floor, drowning in a sea of blood, and it was more than just the blood of his mate.
An ice began to grip his heart, as he nudged Shuurei trying to sense if their was any life left in her body that he could grab a hold of - there was nothing, and as he turned to each of the other fifteen bodies he couldn't help but cry. There wasn't a spark of life in any of them. That was his mate, his friend, his love... they were his children... there was no doubt, no concern, no pity, no sorrow, nothing. All of his emotions and logic had been burnt away by the cold fire of rage that seared his soul. There was nothing on this green earth that could stop him from taking his revenge, from scorching the earth and razing it all to ashes before he would settle and mourn. As his rage flooded the cavern, and expanded in ever widening circles, he felt his ninth tail arrive...
When he was much younger he had promised the night that he would be willing to pay anything to become the next Kyuubi... he was not... he could not be willing to pay this.
As he turned to leave the cave, unable to bear the sight before him any longer, he saw it. A headband, just like the one he had seen over a decade prior on the head of a dark-haired boy.
If they were the villains that had slain his mate, and his kits, then they would pay dearly. If they were the ones that took the lives of his family, then they would pay with their lives, and the lives of their family, and the loss of everything that they have ever cared about. He would destroy them... all of them...
Chapter End
Alright! Chapter 7 is finished (October 9th, 2010) edited and reposted (October 15th, 2010)
Enjoy!
Author's Notes:
I re-read chapters 1-6 and fixed a few grammar/spelling mistakes that I've noticed, like changing nee-chan to neechan.
Sorry that this chapter took so long, but it's getting closer to midterms for me so... (yes, I know that's an excuse)
I hope you all enjoy!
(Edit Oct.15) Changed a few things to account for some information I learned about the canon story recently (will not change the planned story a great deal, and fits a more canon timeline/event-line)
This story does not (currently) have a beta reader.
As always, I'm open to criticism and advice.
~ The Arms of Blood