Hinata didn't know why but she felt something… it was wet and moving over her wounded shoulder. She remembered taking a hit for Naruto, wanting to protect him from that hunter. The thought of him getting hurt because of her scared Hinata more than anything. Sure, she knew that he only wanted to protect her from demons, but she only thought that it would be from demons not humans as well. This was only going to get worse, she knew that much but she just didn't know what more she could do to help him…
Though, she would like to know what was going to happen now… such as what was hitting her shoulder and why it felt so weird… It was rather odd that she couldn't figure out what it was… It felt like a dog licking her but… the tongue was different. Maybe it belonged to another animal that she wasn't aware of, though she couldn't be sure until she opened her eyes… but her body wouldn't let her wake up… It was as if she was in some kind of trance, well, a sleeping trance anyway…
"Ugh, I hate blood…" said a voice, Hinata remembered that voice. That was Naruto talking, but what did he mean by that? Wasn't he a warrior in the past and still is one in fact? How can anyone be a warrior hate the sight of blood while fighting with a sharp weapon like the sword that he carries around with him at all times? It just didn't make a lick of sense to her though Hinata wasn't going to judge him because of something that he had no control over but she would ask since it just didn't make sense to her at the moment.
Soon, she felt that weird wet thing on her shoulder again… just what was that in the first place? Groaning softly, the young woman slowly started to open her eyes and blinked slowly when she saw something yellow in her vision… it was Naruto's hair, but what was he doing that close? Frowning a little, the young woman tried to push herself up but hat noticed that there was a weight on her as well, was Naruto leaning on her? Was he passed out!?
Looking down as well as she could, the young woman blushed darkly at what she saw… Naruto was leaning on her, but mostly for support so he could lick her shoulder! Hinata's face went even redder, she felt like she was going to faint… She squeaked out "Naruto what are you doing?!"
Naruto lifted his head and blinked at Hinata before he gave her a big grin. "I was licking your wounded shoulder. Even though I hated the taste of blood it was best to do that to-don't you dare faint on me Hinata!"
Hinata blinked slowly, she had been close to fainting but how could she not? Naruto had been licking her shoulder for reasons unknown to her and it just didn't make any kind of sense to her at all. He took a deep breath, running a hand through his blonde hair as if he was trying to find the right way to say something. The young woman didn't know what it was that he had to say but she had a feeling that it was something but just wasn't really sure what it was that he wanted to tell her…
"Ya see Hinata, you were badly hurt remember?" Naruto asked with a frown, only to see Hinata nod her still beet red face. "Okay good and I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't get infected or, have your classmates suspect something… so I did the only thing I could do for you and that was to lick it… Don't faint on me yet Hinata!" Hinata had been close to fainting again when the demon had mentioned 'lick it' and that had only caused her to feel even more embarrassed… or at least more so than usual. "My saliva has a healing agent in it, I can easily lick wounds and it'll heal without a scar… plus, I rather not have your dad come after me with a sword and try to kill me or something for not protecting you properly."
Hinata blush had lessened a bit when she realised that he wasn't trying to make any advantages on her, more like he was just trying to heal her because she had tried to protect him. Blinking slowly, she looked away, stuttering a 'thank you' even though she wasn't as embarrassed it was still new to her and it still made her nervous about the whole 'being licked' thing.
Trying to stand up, Naruto pushed himself up only to lift Hinata and place her on his back. "You're not walking Hinata. You're still a little shaky from the blood loss. At least you don't need more so you should be fine…" Chuckling softly, he added "it was a good thing that you watched all those doctor shows before I did that transfer of knowledge when we met." He chuckled to himself a little more before starting to walk on ahead.
Hinata laid her head on Naruto's shoulder, even though he had healed her shoulder, it still hurt by the mere memory of it. The pain had been terrible, though after she had been hit she didn't know what had happened… she didn't remember anything, maybe she had blacked out or she just didn't remember anything that she had done after being stuck down like that. There wasn't any real way of knowing what it was that had caused all of this to have happened but maybe it would be one of those things that would be solved later on down the road but for now, she would deal with the mystery.
Breathing deeply, Hinata looked at the back of Naruto's head as she asked "what are we going to do now that there is a hunter after you?"
"I don't know Hinata, I just don't know…" he answered.
That, of course was the truth, he had no idea what they would do to prevent a hunter from coming after him… but what he did know, was that he had to ensure Hinata's safety, no matter who would cause her harm. Whether it be hunters, demons or himself… Closing his eyes, Naruto knew that right now he would have to rest and regain his strength… silver was a huge pain in the ass that's for sure…
Though he knew that there was nothing that he could do to change that fact. There was nothing he could do to fight against silver but… the more he thought about it the more he remembered that there was a brief moment where the silver had no effect on him at all… It was as if there was some kind of protective barrier around him that made sure that he didn't get hurt or weakened by the silver that was being used by the hunter… slayer… whatever he was. At the moment, Naruto didn't give a damn about what that guy was but what he wanted to find out was who the hell that guy was…
At least, he thinks it's a guy… if the information was right from when he got it from Hinata's memories there are voice changers people use so no one ever finds out who they are.
"Naruto… when did you change back…?" asked Hinata, her words a little sleepy sounding. Naruto gave a soft smile; he had changed back after he had wounded the slayer, making it impossible for the man to attack him. He couldn't be sure though if anything more would happen but what he did know was that he had to be very careful.
"I changed back after the slayer left. I figured it would look weird for a demon to be with a human teenager even if humans don't really believe in demons like they used to." Naruto calmly said, he closed his eyes as his thoughts went back to the fight. Naruto remembered the rage and the burning desire to kill that flowed through him. He knew that it was a feeling that he hadn't felt in so many long years but knew that it was something that he couldn't allow to happen again, for there would be a chance that he wouldn't be able to revert back to normal… and he didn't want that to happen.
Breathing deeply, Naruto looked up at the sky for a brief moment thinking on the images that flashed through his mind. The image of Hana as a child, her form changing into that of a young adult that could possibly be Hinata… yet, he knew that it wasn't Hinata… it was what Hana would have looked like had she lived her life to the fullest… 'Hana, what would you have looked like had you lived? Would there have been paintings of you or tales of your life before you passed on to the next world?' thought the demon before letting out a soft yet sad sigh.
Hana was only a little girl, someone that, even though he's only known for a few days cared about her… She was a pure and innocent child that had her whole life ahead of her and that had to be ruined because she knew him, and had tried to defend him… Defending a demon though was in a sense a crime. Humans never defended demons, for then humans would believe that the human had been possessed by the demon and thus, killed in order to save their soul.
To him, that was nothing more than he could do than in order to make up for his past sins than by saving Hinata. That would be the only way to save not only Hinata, but his soul as well… He would make sure than if he had been killed in battle, that he would go to where his family had gone for they had gone down with no regrets or sins in their life… Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Naruto felt his heart breaking at the thought of his family… it had been so very long since they had died, and he was most likely the last member of not only his tribe but of his kind… He had to be the last fox demon known to man though perhaps, he would be lucky and find another fox demon… he couldn't be sure.
"I wonder if my family are looking down on me… watching over me or… are they ashamed of me?" whispered Naruto as he tried to get himself to calm down and relax. Shaking his head, the young fox turned his head to stare at Hinata only to chuckle gently when he saw that she was sound asleep. All of this must have worn her out…
Suddenly, Hinata's image changed into Hana, causing him to stop dead in his tracks with his eyes wide. "Hana…?" he whispered in shock, blinking his wide blue eyes Hana's image faded from Hinata and giving her the teen's original appearance. Blinking a few more times, the young man turned his head away, his eyes still wide as he tried to calm down his breathing, to calm down his rapidly beating heart from bursting right out of his chest. It was all in his head, it wasn't really her… Hana has long since been dead even if she had lived her life. He had been sealed away for six hundred years there was no way that she could be here…
If that was the case though, why has he been seeing Hinata changing into Hana…? It had to be all in his head, nothing more and nothing less. Yet, maybe he would just have to try to stop thinking about it. Maybe it was the guilt of letting Hana down that made him start thinking this. Thinking that Hinata was Hana that had to be all in his head and the guilt that consumed him. "Yeah, that's what it had to be… guilt…"
It had been a few days, Hinata had felt better, regained her strength to the point that she hadn't been falling asleep during class anymore. Naruto knew that she was still a little weak but at least she had more strength, though what really bothered Naruto was who that hunter was. There was no way that the hunter could have known that he had been freed unless it was someone that had been in his presents long enough to sense it… It couldn't be someone who had 'just' walked past him in the street; his powers weren't strong enough with his concealing spell in place… It had to be someone who sees him every day…
Crossing his arms, the fox demon leaned in his chair as he tried to think on what it could be… or, who it could be. He didn't know, but Naruto knew that he had to find out who the hunter was or else Hinata could very well be in danger.
Covering his face with his hand, Naruto felt like he had so much going on already. Thinking about Hana's death, why Hinata reminded him of Hana… of the hunter that wanted to kill him because he was a demon, then of course there was the fact that demons were after Hinata. It almost seemed like it was one thing after another and it was really starting to wear him down already and it was starting to irritate him to no end. In fact, he didn't even know if he could handle any more stress that was going on since he was still adjusting to life here in the modern world…
In fact, Naruto didn't think he would ever adjust to the modern world, even if he had someone like Hinata in his life. She was a pure soul indeed, wanting to help him, a demon to adjust to this place… In fact, she almost reminded him of… 'No, don't torment yourself Naruto, you are only going to keep hurting yourself with the guilt of not being able to save Hana…' thought the young demon before taking a deep breath, trying to get his nerves to relax though he just couldn't really be sure if that would be the case.
Looking around the classroom, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what everyone thought of about demons. Did they believe in demons or, were that hunter and Hinata's family the only ones that truly believe in demons still? Though it also had him worried about what would happen for if demons got a hold of Hinata's heart and ruled the world. Would humans be alive, or would they be killed by the demons that would, possibly rule the world… Closing his eyes, the young demon knew that right now he had to focus on protecting Hinata and nothing more and nothing less. There would be nothing in the world that would stop him from protecting Hinata… and no one else.
"Naruto…" said a voice, causing him to look up and stared into the blue eyes of one of the girls that was in his class. She had brown hair pulled back in a short ponytail and of course had a faint blush on her face. In fact, the girl didn't even look him in the eye, as if she was afraid of something that either she or he would say…
"Can I help you?" he asked, confused and yet curious as to what she would say to him. Sniffing the air slightly, Naruto didn't think that she was a demon pretending to be human like he was, in fact she smelled very much human. Unless it was something else that he smelt instead of a human scent. Either way, it had him curious as to what she would want from him but knew that there had to be something wrong here, just wasn't sure what it was as of yet.
She nodded her head, her brown bangs bobbing from the motion before it hid her eyes from his view. "I… I was wondering if… if you'd like to go out with me sometime? Please?" So that's what it was, he may still not know what it is like to date but thanks to those movies he saw with Hinata while she was trying to recover, he knew what it meant. Shaking his head, Naruto knew that he would have to let her down gently; after all, he wasn't going to be an ass to this girl…
"I'm sorry but I can't… I have too much going on in my life that I don't have time for a relationship. I'm sorry." He answered truthfully. To be honest, that was pretty truthful since he did have his hands full with trying to keep Hinata safe and all that jazz. Though he just wasn't sure if he would ever have the time in the first place so long as Hinata lived or had her sacred energy within her body. There had to be some way to remove her energy or else it could be not only the death of Hinata herself but the end of the world as they knew it.
The girl almost looked like she was about to cry, Naruto felt bad for saying that to her but he had tried to say it as nice as he could… He couldn't stand to see a girl cry, it was one of his weaknesses… besides silver anyway. Looking up at her, he calmly said "I am sorry, but I just don't want to neglect anyone with everything that I have going on in my life…" He pushed himself up onto his feet, class hasn't really started yet so he didn't have to stay confined to his seat so that was a plus.
"I'm sorry but I just can't be in a relationship… I am so very sorry-" His eyes widened as he started to shake a little bit, he didn't know why but he suddenly felt weak… his legs couldn't hold him up anymore… Covering his slightly sweaty face, Naruto tried to get himself to calm down and relax… but he didn't know if he could. Bracing himself for a fall, he held onto his desk trying to figure out where this was coming from.
"You okay?" asked the girl.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine, don't worry…" He tried to smile but it must have looked more like a grimace. The girl frowned a little more before she started to walk away without saying another world… even though she had left, the weak feeling refused to leave him. Was someone in possession of pure silver or was it something else? He didn't know but he had to find out…
"Naruto? Is someone… holding silver near you?" asked Hinata, he hadn't even noticed that she came up to him. Hinata had left to the washroom a while ago but he had failed to notice anything else that was going on around him. He must have been very out of it to not have noticed the blue haired teen.
"I… I don't know… I just feel so light headed…" he whispered softly. He didn't know what was going on but he knew this… he had to sit down before anything else happened… Like him falling over flat on his face. Taking a deep breath, the young man carefully sat down on his chair and took a few deep breaths, hoping that it would help him relax, to fight the weird weak feeling that would wash over him.
"Hey Hinata, how are you!" said a new voice, causing Hinata and Naruto to look up. Standing there was a pink haired girl with bright green eyes. She wore the same uniform as Hinata though unlike Hinata, she wasn't as… curvy. "Hey, you okay? You seem really pale…" said the pink haired girl.
"He… he didn't sleep well, he's just really tired." Hinata lied, Naruto was surprised that the blue haired girl could even lie in the first place though he wasn't going to ruin that in the first place. She tilted her head at Naruto for a moment as if trying to see if he was lying or not when the blonde haired teen nodded his head, agreeing with what Hinata had said. It seemed that she was having some kind of trouble believing what the both of them were saying but she let it slide for now… at least for now anyway.
Inhaling deeply, Naruto looked up at the pink haired girl and then his gaze fell onto her wrist… it was a silver bracelet… Damn it, someone was wearing silver but how can that bother him so much?
"Hey Hinata, like the bracelet huh?" said a new voice, coming from a tall black haired teen. His hair was spiky in the back with two locks framing his face. His black eyes were bright yet they were dark, as if hiding some kind of secret. Naruto didn't know what it was, but what he did know was that he felt even weaker than before. Looking back down, he saw that this guy was wearing a bunch of silver… Silver rings, bracelets, earrings… even a silver necklace. This must be the main source for silver but just where did this guy get all of this silver?!
"Naruto, are you okay?" asked Hinata, noticing that Naruto's face went even paler than before. His breathing was becoming laboured and it felt as if his heart would burst from his chest. Naruto knew that this was only going to get worse the longer he remained this close to silver. Carefully pushing himself up, the fox demon tried to walk away, his legs shaking uncontrollably but he knew that he just couldn't get away in time… Before he knew it, everything started to spin in his line of vision… Hinata calling out to him but her words were muffled for some strange reason though he wasn't sure what was going on anymore…
In fact, he didn't even notice that he was looking at the floor, or the screams of panic that was flooding the classroom. He felt something wrong, he felt someone grabbing him and pulling him up a bit while turning his body over. "Naruto, can you hear me?!" Hinata cried out, tears starting to fall from her eyes. His only answer was blinking, trying to process everything that was happening. Though, as his vision had started to darken, Naruto could have sworn that he saw someone standing over him along with Hinata and the rest of the students.
He couldn't make out this person's face, but the only thing he could make out was a smile, what kind of smile he wasn't sure but he had a feeling that it was a sinister one at that. Breathing deeply, Naruto turned his gaze onto a slightly blurred out Hinata as he tried to tell her that he had to get out of here, that he had to get away from the silver before it completely drained him and, of course knocked him out cold like this. Naruto couldn't stand this anymore; he felt everything was fuzzy and that he was slowly starting to fade away…
Naruto was fading more and more into the darkness from his weakened state; he can't allow this to happen… he wouldn't allow his strength of will to waver… Grabbing Hinata's shoulder, he tried to pull himself back up but his hand couldn't get a solid grip on her… Let alone give him enough leverage to pull himself up for that matter. He felt like a fool, he should have added 'silver' to his list of allergies but he had been too ashamed to even do that. Naruto didn't know what more he could do… he just felt like he was going to pass out now…
"You have to relax Naruto, a nurse is coming…" Hinata said, that was when Naruto's eyes widened a bit. No, he couldn't allow a nurse to check him over. What if she found something odd about him, didn't Hinata realize the problem with that?! Shaking his head, he tried to whisper to her, to tell her that it would be a bad idea to get a nurse to check him over but had a feeling that it wouldn't matter anyway for he couldn't even speak in the first place.
Letting out a short gasping breath, Naruto leaned his head back, his eyes tightly shut as if he was in a great amount of pain. Or even worse, having trouble breathing… he didn't know what was going on but what he did know was that all of this pain was only making it worse for him to breathe properly… Before he had blacked out, Naruto could have sworn he heard a voice saying "I won't let you live… I'll make sure that when you least expect it, I will end your life and I shall protect Hinata from those demons. You would only kill her and take her power for yourself when the time was right… there are no such thing, as good demons…" After that… Naruto lost consciousness…
After a few hours, Naruto had awoken, it made him feel so tired and weakened, his skin still pale but after Hinata had explained to the nurse that Naruto had a terrible allergy to 'silver' the nurse filed it in his files before telling the teacher to have all students remove silver… Only to ask Naruto, if he was allergic to silver why didn't he remove his rings and earrings. He just told them that they were metal, not silver.
Naruto didn't think that it could be possible for them to have bought it but hey, he wasn't complaining at the least so that made him at least a little happy… though it still irritated what had been said about what had happened in the classroom. Passing out like that was terrible, but at least he kept his strength of will over the darkness within him. He couldn't allow it to happen again. After the whole ordeal, Naruto was still tired but not enough to pass out again. Breathing deeply, he looked up and listened to the teacher going on and on about another new student.
It confused Naruto, thinking that maybe it was a demon wanting to get close to Hinata, by pretending to be a student, but he didn't sense any demonic energy nearby other than his own. So that couldn't be the case but still, he had a feeling that there was something going on, something that he didn't know if it was good or bad, but what he did know was that it was a weird feeling…
Narrowing his eyes for a brief moment, Naruto turned to stare at Hinata as he tried to ask her if she felt something, anything that would indicate any kind of danger that would cause them any kind of harm. She of course, only shook her head, not sensing anything wrong, so did that mean that the new student was only a human?
"Class, allow me to introduce our new student." Said the teacher as the door opened. Revealing a slightly short teenaged boy. He was only maybe an inch or so shorter than Naruto, he had green eyes, crimson coloured hair and a weird tattoo on his forehead that was the symbol for love. He wore the same uniform as the other boys, but for some reason it almost made his pale skin seem paler for some reason, or it could be the black lines that surrounded his eyes. He couldn't really be sure as of yet.
"My name is Gaara Sabaku, nice to meet all of you." Though, as he spoke, Naruto could hear everyone whispering, and they weren't nice things either that was being said. "My family owns a shrine; it's been in the family for thousands of years. " Okay, Naruto won't deny, that was pretty interesting, he must be one of the few family's with historical locations like shrines or dojo's. It must be nice to own a shrine though he couldn't be sure what it was that this guy would have a shrine about that had lasted all this time. It was puzzling but Naruto knew that he had to find out at some point, may as well be today right?
Raising his hand, Naruto asked "if I may ask, can I know what your shrine is about?" Naruto didn't think that he would really get an answer but what he did know was that it never hurt to ask right? After all, it was how he could learn more about this world if he knew more about the world that was around him…
Taking a deep breath, Naruto lowered his hand, thinking that he wasn't going to answer him at all. To be honest, he half expected that to happen, but what he didn't expect was the way Gaara was staring at him. It was the stare of awe, as if he was looking at some kind of legend of some sort, (at least it wasn't the other kind of staring) though it did have him a little confused as to why he was being stared at like that. Did Gaara know something about him or was it something entirely different? He didn't know… hell, he just wanted to know what the reason was for all of this but had a feeling that he wouldn't.
Gaara just stared at him, it was making Naruto feel a little uncomfortable, it felt a little odd to be stared at like that and of course people whispering didn't help either. In fact, it made him feel a little weird because people were acting like Gaara was gay, and had a thing for the blonde haired teen and that only made him all the more nervous. Gulping, Naruto sank in his seat a little, his face burning from everyone staring at him like that but damn it, he could have sworn that he saw girls gasp and almost fall over dramatically though he wasn't sure if that was the case nor if that was what was really going through their minds was that they thought they had competition.
Gaara could only smile; it was a smile that he never thought he'd see on anyone's face though it was a smile none the less. "My family has guarded secrets, stories, tales, and even sacred objects over the years that are all connected to the great demon that had done nothing but to protect the innocent, no matter what the history books say, my family knows the truth about this demon that had lived a long, long time ago and we know that he was a good demon no matter what anyone else says."
Okay, that felt a little weird to be an answer. Though he didn't know what demon it was since for all he knew, there could be another good demon. Though Gaara's smile widened a bit more as he said "the demon is known as The Crimson Fox, a demon that had risked his life to save the life of my ancestor a thousand years ago." As soon as he got that answer, Naruto's eyes widened in shock… it couldn't be right?
