Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Elfen Lied.

Chain Eight The Concept about Mating

Listen closely to what I have to say. In order to protect the one you love, your mate, in a safe way.

"Kazuma…."

The blonde man watched as the massacre played before him, held still by an unknown force. How could this happen? He had hid it so well! His wife, his child… Where were they?

"You know you brought it upon yourself, Kazuma." A boy, a mere child, walk up towards him, carrying a severed head in his left hand.

He gagged, recognizing the head of his elderly father. "Wh-where's my wife? Where is she?" he demanded, anger overpowering his fear.

The boy stopped. Though unseen to a human, Kazuma saw clearly the tails that came towards him with such lightning speed. He took the blow, feeling that if he suffered a bit, the monster would not kill any more people.

He crumbled to the floor, trembling with blood spewing from the corner of his mouth. The boy knelt in front of him, still holding his bloody trophy.

"How could you, Kazuma? Betraying us like that. One might think you're actually human," the boy taunted, a sadistic smile on his face.

"I am human," Kazuma spat. "Unlike you, I'm not a BIJU! I'm not a monster."

The boy's green eyes grew cold. "It's a shame. I was actually thinking of forgiving you. Too bad." He stood up, smiling still and throwing the head to the side. "Enjoy your like of Hell, Kazuma. Your wife has already cursed you to it and I plan to make her wish a reality!" Turning, he began to walk away.

"Wait! Kimimaro! Stop! Please stop killing!"

"I shall never stop. You, a Kami in human form, has chosen my path for me. And I will never stop. I hope your wife enjoys the Afterlife better than you."

Kazuma grabbed his hair, pulling it painfully in despair. He screamed, then watched horrified by the flames it brought. No, it couldn't be. Kimimaro was wrong! He wasn't-he couldn't-

"Kazuma-sama!" A young woman with a dark shake of pink hair ran towards him, carrying a bundle. "Kazuma-sama, we cant find the missus! Oh God, you're hurt!"

"Never mind me, Rin!" he snapped, slapping her hand away. "Where is my child? Where is my son?"

"Here." Gently, with care, she gave him the sleeping baby.

Quickly, he felt the boy's head, feeling for any protrusions growing out of his scalp. He smiled in relief, for he felt nothing but tuffs of blonde hair. "Thank God," he whispered and held his baby close. "Rin, go find an extra blanket. And have Kakashi and Obito search for my wife."

"Yes, Kazuma-sama." The woman, Rin, ran to complete her orders.

Alone now, with dying embers behind them, Kazuma held his sleeping child tightly. "Kimimaro was wrong," he whispered strongly, trying to convince himself. "He's wrong. I'm not a-" His eyes widened when he saw through the flap of the blanket covering the babe, a swirl of markings carved into the skin.

"No," he whispered, lightly tracing them. "It couldn't be."

But it wouldn't disappear; it was still there.

The mark of a true BIJU.

Kazuma jumped in his seat, covered in a cold sweat. He calmed as he found himself in his office, not in the hellish mansion that marked the graves for many of his kinsmen. And his own. Now, with no choice but to become a dog with a tight collar around his neck, all because he was a fool to think he knew what was better for a friend.

Kimimaro.

The name brought shivers to his spine as he looked at the old file made on the four-year-old child BIJU. At the time, he seemed to be the most powerful weapon the facility has ever encountered. But he attacked and killed humans without mercy, and forced his way out in a trail full of blood.

By then, his son was already born….

He sighed. If Kimimaro managed to survive this long, the boy would be twenty. Perhaps, it was for the best if he was given charge of the newest BIJU.

Standing, Kazuma walked to a small cabinet where a short row of pictures sat. One had his beloved wife, heavily pregnant with their child. The other showed a pink haired girl, happy and showing off her brand new red dress. Small leaves grew out of the side of her head, forming a slight headband.

The last and third photo was a standard photo, one taken with the bowels of the lab. It showed a solemn faced blonde youth with dead blue eyes. There was no protrusions growing out of his head, but the mark had faded into a faint set of scars. He touched this photo, tracing the features. Then looking at the other, he smiled.

'At least I managed to free the two of you. Even if it did take a coincidence.'

"Director?" A black haired woman with distinctive red eyes appeared at the door. She wore the standard uniform for a Secretary, a suit shirt with a modest length skirt.

"Yes?" he called out, turning slightly from the pictures.

"Prototype Henbi is ready for transport.," she reported.

"Good. Sate, I'm entrusting the mission to you, Ms. Yuuhi," Kazuma told her. "Don't let me down."

The woman bowed, eyes blazing with determination. "Hai, Director. I wont let you down."

………………………………...

"What do you know about out kind, Naruto?" The pale man stopped as soon they hit the beach.

It was nighttime, with the full moon lighting the sky like a beacon. The waves crashed onto the sand in a never ending cycle. The wind blew harder here, whipping the man's kimono and Naruto's shirt like a whip.

The boy looked around, but saw no passerby, no one to see what will transpire here on this beach. Yet, there was a nagging suspicion that there was someone out there, someone watching.

"Not much," he answered. "Just that we were the result of a nuclear experiment gone wrong."

The man laughed at the that. "Well, they kept me ignorant as well so I don't blame you." He walked towards the sea and waded within. "Our people were born a few years ago, it's true. But it wasn't from a nuclear experiment."

"Then, how did we come to be?" Naruto came forward carefully to the edge of the beach, the water barely touching the toes of his shoes.

"I'm not sure. But we were here longer than War World II. Our kind has lived among humans all this time; however, our people made the mistake of letting an outsider within their ranks, and thus brought upon our persecution."

"An outsider?"

The man nodded. "There is two families with this condition, this BIJU virus. The Kyougas and the Kazamas. I am Kyouga Kimimaro."

"Then, I am a Kazuma?" Naruto asked.

"Perhaps. You do look like that Director, though I could tell you take after your mother," the man said. He sighed. "A long time ago, when love was pure and beautiful, our people took their mates from the outside world. At first, we took mates from those humans already knowledgeable of us. These were the Uchihas and the Hyuugas."

"Hyuuga!" the boy gasped out loud. Then, is that why I saved Hinata? It makes a lot more sense now, this feeling inside me.

Hai, hai. So that's why we want to be far away from her. Well, you, gaki, cause I would do anything to be close as possible.

Hentai.

Freedom of speech and thought, gaki.

"I understand that you found one of the last two survivors. You're a lucky man, Naruto," the man continued, watching closely at his reactions. "I have not been so gifted. I still haven't found my own mate."

"My mate? What are you talking about?" Naruto demanded.

"The BIJU virus can only be passed on through one's true mate. That is why the Prototypes they continue to send are merely replicas. They captured some of our people and forced them to mate with those they deemed worthy. They forced them, then killed them, taking the children born from the unions and placing them into the experimental facility that you were placed in. That is why you are so special to them."

"Because I'm a Prototype?"

"No. You are true BIJU, but…" Kimimaro stopped and turned to the ocean. "But like me, you have the ability to mate with anyone you want, and create the ultimate being. That is why you must protect your mate, and any child you have. At all costs."

Naruto laughed, unbelieving at the absurdity of it all. "Who says I will mate? Who says that I would willingly damn the one I love to this fate? No, I could never do. I suppose there's still some human left in me."

"Love is different than rational thinking. It can make you do things you don't wish to do," Kimimaro warned.

"Like I could love," he spat.

"True," the man admitted. "I do not know what they have done to you. Hell, I escaped as soon as possible, once I realized it wasn't the paradise that one person promised me." He looked beyond the boy and smiled. "Looks like you have a visitor, Naruto."

He turned to see a small figure hiding behind a dune. She peeked out from the edge and gave an "eep!" when she saw that she had been discovered.

Naruto sighed. This was going to be a problem if she continued to follow him. But…

He had to admit. It felt nice being worried about.

"Hinata. Come here where I can see you," he ordered softly.

Shivering, but not with the cold, Hinata came forward as he asked. She wore her work uniform, that shirt and skirt with the frills that had him wondering about. Her blue purse was draped over her shoulder, looking slightly heavy.

She looks rather pretty like this.

Cowering in fear? Boy do you have weird tastes, gaki. I prefer to have her cowering in pleasure.

Shut the fuck up!

"N-Naruto-san?" Hinata whispered, as she inched forward.

When she was closer, he held her arm and pulled her gently to his side. "This is Kimimaro," he introduced. "My cousin."

"It is nice to meet you at last, Hinata-san," Kimimaro bowed politely.

"C-cousin?" she repeated.

"Hai. Recently found. Or rather, he found me."

"You could barely see the resemblance but yes, we come from the same family." Kimimaro walked out of the ocean, looking dry and with no sign of his ever going into the water.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Show off.

We could do something special too if you want to impress her. Like being on fire without burning.

And you are insane.

"N-nice to meet you, Kimimaro-san," Hinata replied meekly at the gracious man. She recognized him as the man from the café.

"It's getting late. The two of you should go to your respective homes. I'll see you again, Naruto." With that, Kimimaro walked past them and out to the night, seeming to have disappeared in the night.

"Ja," Naruto replied to the wind.

Hinata stared at the sight where the man disappeared. 'He seemed so sad,' she thought quietly. She then turned her gaze to Naruto, who stared out to the ocean with a severe expression. 'Naruto…'

"Why were you following us?"

She jumped. "N-nani?" she gasped.

He glanced at her from a corner of his eyes, his eyes steel blue. "It's not nice to follow people," he told her.

"Ah, gomenasai," she bowed. "I was just worried that… that…"

"That I might kill him?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"No!" she snapped, suddenly feeling angry. "I was just worried that he might kill you!"

He looked at her fully, then began to laugh.

"I-I-it-it's not f-f-funny!" Hinata stuttered. "I-I r-r-really th-thought-"

He closed her lips with a finger, lowering his laugh to a chuckle. "You're strange, you know?" he told her. He moved his hand to cup her cheek. "Don't you know that no one can kill me? That is, until I let down my guard and them to do it. So you have nothing to worry about."

"Uh!" She blushed at the sudden caress he gave her. She backed away slightly in embarrassment. Luckily, Naruto didn't notice and continued to look at the ocean.

"It's amazing, how stupid some people can be," he whispered.

"H-huh?" Hinata blinked in confusion.

"Nothing. Come. I shall take you home." Leading her, Naruto took her hand and brought them back to the pavement. Taking them away from the beach. Taking her away from the cruel reality that was his life.

………………………………...

The Secretary looked at the files written on Subject 9.

'Hmm.. It said that he was at first a docile and obedient experimentation. But then, an incident occurred that caused the death of a employee, a Yumiko Tamaki. And led him on to a rampage that resulted in the deaths of eight police squads, killing them within five minutes. Such a feat has never been done before, with the exception of Subject 4. This may be problematic if we're not careful.'

"You know your orders, Prototype Henbi. Catch Subject 9 without attracting the attentions of civilians. Understand? If you cause any disturbance, we will-"

"Hai, Hai," said the figure on the table. "I know already so stop being such a hard ass. Capture the brat and be quick and quiet about it. Got it. Thought, I have a favor to ask you, Miss Secretary Kiss Ass."

"What is it?"

From the table, the woman strapped to it sneered behind the mask. "Can we go out for dango when I'm done?"

A/N: A sort of short chapter this time. But it's just a taste for what is to come next. Of course, most of you might already figured out who's Prototype Henbi is. And who is the Secretary. As always, reviews and questions are welcomed.

Japanese used in this chapter: Sate-then, Gomenasai-I'm sorry