Sorry! This was supposed to be posted three days ago but I forgot to bring the disk to the library! I was mad for fifteen seconds. Then I got over it.

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to Daystar Clarion

Dancing with Demons

Warning: This chapter may have some moments that may make some uncomfortable

Chapter Eight

Reminder of Rage

The first time Sunny asked about shinobi was the day they came crashing through their haven. Mayu had been in the garden, rummaging around in the plants while Sunny sat in the living room, perched on the window sill and gazing at nothing. She couldn't fathom how he did that- or why he was so inactive; most boys his age spent half their time bouncing off walls. And yet, when he was in her presence, he did nothing but sit, though she was sure he was more active when he wasn't near her.

It had been a full year since the boy had joined her, a year to become acquainted with one another, to become utterly attached… Mayu wiped her brow and stretched her aching back. It seemed as if more pain was felt these days, her breath always seemed short. She glanced at Sunny, smiling wearily as she watched him chew methodically on his cultivated peppermint. He seemed so sweet, with such beautiful features, but she remembered the first time she had seen him eat.

He had been approaching the house after spending the night out in the forest. She had chafed her hands in worry, wondering where he was, or if he was coming back. That gave her the most worry, because it was obvious that Sunny was not as dependent on her as she was on him. But that morning, Sunny appeared into the clearing with a spring in his step she had never seen before. She had risen from the rocking chair, all set to give him a hug, when she noticed his lips were smeared crimson, a flash of red in his eyes. She froze at the red lump in his bloodied hand. He had grinned at her, sharp teeth coated in blood and took a steady bite of the mysterious lump. She had swallowed and tried not to throw up- but she was an old woman and very little of her body functions did what she wanted. Mayu had vomited, Sunny had looked disgusted ( a facial expression she saw often) and had wandered off.

She knew that Sunny was consuming some kind of food, and she suspected it to be meat, and yet somehow she foolishly imagined he would cook it over a fire. She felt embarrassed now, for making the assumption, especially since all signs pointed to how feral Sunny actually was. But Sunny had returned later, and she had given him a pair of earrings to appease him.

Mayu blushed and as she bent to tend to the barley, she completely missed the intense look that passed over the passive face, and how the blue eyes bled to red. There was a rustling in the trees and something shiny flew from one side of the clearing to the other, lodging itself into one of the trees with a solid thunk that shook the leaves.

Mayu straightened, eyes going wide in recognition of the weapon. Moments later a human blur followed the weapon, disappeared into the leaves, and was quickly followed by two others, causing Mayu to drop her basket and head quickly for the porch. She had seen very few shinobi in her lifetime; no one in her family had ever taken up the profession, but she had always been wary of people who were trained to kill as children.

Mayu passed through the screen door and gazed in nervous silence, waiting to see if any more shinobi were going to pass through. She hoped they didn't decide to fight in the clearing where her house was in danger of damage.

A hissing and reverberating groan that rumbled her very bones turned her toward Sunny, and her mouth went dry. Sunny's vacant expression was now replaced with a rage she had never seen on his face before. His once beautiful blue eyes were bloodshot- such a violent crimson, his teeth were bared, seeming sharper and more sinister. His fingers clenched and unclenched as he glared in fury at the clearing.

"Sunny?" she whispered, and that searing gaze fell on her, causing Mayu to back up and swallow harshly. The hate that burned clearly in his eyes was now focused on her. A hiss of air passed through his teeth as he took a fluid step toward her. His teeth parted and a screech split the crackling air. Mayu gasped and shut her eyes as Sunny leapt toward her. There was a gust of wind, a whiff of peppermint, and the bang of the screen door. Mayu's eyes opened as she saw the last of Sunny's feet vanish at the top of the door. Mayu spun towards the window and saw a golden blur leap into the trees.

The clearing adopted the silence of a graveyard. Mayu wiped the sweat from her brow with a shaky hand and slumped into a nearby chair. She had never seen Sunny so angry before- never seen him give her such a look, like if she had made one wrong move he would have torn her heart out. Mayu moaned. She really couldn't take any more of this excitement.

I hope Sunny comes back.

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He was mad…very mad. Seeing those filthy humans come charging through his dwelling, his territory…

Sunny kicked a tree viciously and then dodged out of the way as it toppled to the ground, remembering his last encounter with falling trees. He dug his fingers into the healthy bark and screamed his fury to the forest, his cries causing the birds to burst in flight. Sunny's head snapped up, his eyes darting at the birds as they escaped the trees, the thump of their wings beating reaching his ears. He watched as the last bird disappeared from view before he slumped down on the fallen tree, and dug into his pouch for peppermint. The scent of foreign human still hung in his nostrils; he could taste the acrid fear of the first human that was being chased by the others. He could still feel their blood lust as they had chased the other.

Sunny rocked and chewed, red eyes vacant with thought, ears twitching at the sounds of the crickets in the distance. The sounds of animals always tended to be in the distance, because they always evacuated the area when he came around. Perhaps the human woman Mayu had not noticed the absence of animals near her dwelling. They had come, even with the smell of death permeating the area, but upon his arrival they had all fled. Only a few of the stubborn animals would remain, and they were always the first to be eaten.

Sunny's mind returned to the humans with the source, and he flinched. What made him so angry was that he had felt fear before the initial rage at their approach. For a few moments, he had believed that it was the ones that had killed his pack, coming to search for him and kill him with their superior use of the source. But they had not smelled of them, for he had their scent, the taste of one's blood, packed away in his mind.

Sunny knew he was superior to the human race, it was obvious in every way, shape, and form. It was so obvious, that his defeat was an embarrassment to all that is demon. Surely others of his kind would be ashamed of him, disgusted at his poor performance. Sunny growled and scratched his head roughly in frustration. It was obvious that revenge was in order, slow, painful, drawn out revenge, with as much screaming as possible. Sunny's eyes began to glow, the iris's expanding so that the white's were drowned out. His ears began to elongate, turning red and black at the tips as he began to salivate and drool at the mouth, teeth growing longer, sharper. His breath was short, but deep, his fingernails growing longer. His eyes were focused on a distant corner, but his mind was full of blood, the succulent screams of human pain, their cries for mercy…

He was going to eat them alive, and make them watch every moment of it.

The rage left, though, along with its physical effects as reality returned to him. It was undeniable, that the humans could use the source in ways he could not imagine, and they would make a fool of him until he knew how it was done. But how to learn… Sunny began to rock again, pondering at the problem.

It was many hours later, and blush of embarrassment, when the solution came to him. Sunny jumped to his feet and hopped back to the dwelling. Upon entering the clearing, Sunny pulled the sharp weapon from the tree and headed for the cottage. Inside he could feel Mayu's anxious heart flutter; she was so easy to rattle.

Opening the screen door, Sunny approached the old human female and leered, enjoying the look and scent of terror wafting off of her. Then he mentally smacked himself. Be nice to the human Sunny. She's done you much good. The human pulled herself to her feet and slowly approached him, a weak smile gracing her wrinkled features.

"Sunny! You're back. I was so worried, and you were so upset…" her eyes kept traveling to his eyes, then at the sharp weapon in his grip. He then remembered that he hadn't changed his eyes to blue again, and that they had remained at his natural color. He did not care to change it back, he figured she could handle the change.

Sunny lifted the weapon so that she could see it more clearly.

"Wad dis?"

His Japanese, as she called it, (apparently humans had different ways of speaking depending on the region) was pitiful. He found that only when he thought out each word first, that he actually sounded similar to her. But long pauses during a conversation were awkward, and Mayu often thought that he had lost interest in speaking to her, which was only half true. The human tongue was easy to remember, but hard to pronunciate, and he found that he preferred not to speak it at all. But it was now necessary, and he was pleased that he had taken the time to learn it.

Mayu eyed the weapon nervously before seeming to relax, the fear leaving her scent.

"I think it's called a kunai. I'm not positively sure; I don't know much about ninja."

Sunny's eyes narrowed as he computed her words and their meanings. He clicked in thought and began to gather some words to produce a proper sentence.

"What…is a 'neeennjaa'?"

Mayu sat down in her seat again and rubbed her forehead, her brow crinkling in thought.

"Well, from what I know, Ninja, or Shinobi, are warriors. They live in hidden villages and go on missions of all types," she frowned, obviously racking her brain for information. "and protect their villages..." Her eyes fell on him again, and she shrugged. "I really don't know much about them. No one in my family ever entered that career."

Sunny had his head bowed so his chin was touching his bare chest, ears pricked and listening to her words while his mind feverishly worked in translating her them. If none of her kin entered the career, it must mean that if they wanted to, they could have. That must mean that anyone could be this 'ninja', and that what he needed was to find these 'hidden villages'.

He took a deep breath and waited for the words to form in his head, the things he needed to say in the human tongue that he wanted her to understand completely. He wasn't keen on giving her anymore information about himself, and yet, even though she was nothing more than a pitiful human, she had given much to him without asking for anything in return. He could respect that, despite her species.

"Dese…These…niinja…have killed my kin…my pack. I must," she watched as his eyes darted here and there, searching for words that he needed her to hear. "I must avenge what was mine. Must find d-these niinja."

He looked up to her brown eyes clouded with tears, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes and gloat at the same time. These were over taken by the urge to scowl when she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, muttering pointless reassurances in his ear, something that made him want to howl. She had no idea how well he could hear. When she finally let him go, and got her emotions under control, a sadness came into her eyes.

"Alright love. Tomorrow we'll head to the village and find out what we can about a hidden village, and maybe we can get you enrolled into an Academy okay?"

Sunny nodded and jumped to his feet, heading toward the small hard box Mayu called a radio, and turned it on. He liked music, one of the only things he admired about humans…besides the way they tasted. Any and all demons of refined tastes would agree that human was the best tasting meat, and if one disagreed, it was simply because they had never tasted one before. The human blood was richer, full of zest and life, and the meat was just between strong and soft. Offspring were the sweetest, adult males were the spiciest, and the females were stuck right in the middle. Females were the hardest to Lure, especially when they were with offspring, for they tended to be more wary, protective, and often enough, down right psychotic when it came to protecting their young. Younglings and adult males were the easiest, because for some reason, they tended to be most curious, and adult males seemed so sure of their existence, that danger was often the last thing on their puny brains.

Sunny began to rock back and forth. All these thoughts about human flesh was making him yearn for the taste of their blood on his lips. His eyes darted to the human female occupying the room; she was wiping down surfaces, still looking as if someone had died. Sunny grimaced. If he had eaten her, she would unlikely settle nastily inside him, and then there would be the guilt, and no doubt, she would taste bad to begin with.

Sunny shut his eyes and enjoyed the sound of the music, and vaguely realized that resting was coming in a few hours- he must have been so agitated that he hadn't noticed. He wondered how many centuries he would have to live before he could throw off resting like Krik and Tkaa could. A lump appeared in his throat and he immediately surged to his feet, ignoring Mayu's inquiries and left the dwelling.

He'd rest in the forest like he used to. And tomorrow, the road to revenge would begin.

-----------

He was aware of her distress, but he couldn't move from his bedding in the canopy. He could hear her muffled cries and the sound of her old heart pounding like a rabbit, quick…flighty. But he could not move- resting wasn't finished yet and his mind wasn't allowing him to feel the urge to come to her rescue. Sunny lay in the tree, mind sluggish and weak, his most vulnerable time. But he could sniff, and he took deep breaths through his nose trying to catch the scent of blood in the air. Perhaps she had fallen- apparently Mayu was afraid of that, 'brittle bones' she had said. If that was so, she would have to wait for him, though he couldn't imagine what he would do if that were the case- he was no healer.

He'd eaten a healer once, Spayt had told him of a time when he was changing, and they hadn't known that was happening. They had gotten a human female to look after him until he was well, and then she had accidentally fallen and killed herself. He had laughed at the time, it was an amusing story, but now it didn't seem that funny. Humans die when they fall.

But why should he care about some stupid human? Sunny's body twitched. But then, Mayu wasn't just any human. She was his human. She was part of his new pack, and she was in pain. Sunny's head lifted from the leaves. A sound reached his ears, completely slurred, but sounding eerily like his name. Mayu was calling him, and she didn't sound too good.

The source surged through his body, and to his own shock, he jumped to his feet. Sunny stood there for a moment, complete disbelief shrouding him, for he had shook off resting, but tossed it aside for later examination as he leaped from the tree to the next, heading for the dwelling. With a rather powerful jump, using some of the source to propel him farther, he cleared the clearing and landed with barely a sound on the porch, then charged into the room, senses on full alert as his red eyes took in the scene.

Mayu was in her night gown sprawled on the kitchen floor, face down, legs splayed. Sunny sniffed the air for intruders, but could smell none. His ears twitched as he rushed to the human female's side and turned her over, scanning her body for wounds. But he could see none.

Then he looked at her face and jerked his head back in shock. The right side of Mayu's face seemed slightly twisted, yet slack, while the other was clearly etched in misery, her brown eyes swollen with despair, tears streaking down her face.

"Wud 'appen?" Sunny asked incredulously, staring in a horrified fascination as the left side of her mouth began to move while the right remained slackened and…dead. A gurgle passed her lips, but the only thing he could understand at the moment was his name.

Sunny growled and stood to his feet, grabbing her arm and pulling her up, perhaps in a hope that she would gain her bearings and return to her feet. But her body lay slack and she gave a small cry of pain as he wrenched her arm. Sunny dropped her back on the floor in frustration and stamped his foot in anger.

"Wud's madder wi' you?!" he hissed angrily, and knew that most of his human speech was deteriorating and he was returning to his native tongue. This seemed to distress Mayu more and she began to weep openly, small animal-like sounds coming from her mouth. Sunny kicked a chair violently, and watched as it soared across the room and shattered against the far wall, her wails increasing in volume at his display of violence. He clawed angrily at the couch, tearing into the fabric with ease.

"SHUT UP!!" Sunny screamed, aware that he had abandoned the human tongue all together. The sound of his natural voice was now pulling her into hysterics. "STOP CRYING!! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?! GET UP!" Sunny viscously grabbed her arm and yanked it, causing a scream of pain to erupt through her throat. Sunny dropped the arm and ran from the cottage to the other side of the clearing, where her cries did not hurt his ears so much. He sat down under a tree and covered his ears, waiting for her to shut up. He grit his teeth. If this were any other human, he would have torn out its throat long ago. But he couldn't, because this was Mayu, and…and…he was fond of her.

There. He had admitted it. He was fond of a human. Oh the others must be turning in their graves. Or he hoped they had graves.

An hour later, he cautiously removed his hands from his ears, and was relieved to hear that the woman had stopped crying. But she was now calling out to him, sounding so pathetic, like a newborn calling for its mother. Sunny slowly got to his feet and walked up to the porch, and entered the house. He could almost feel her relief when she heard the bang of the screen door. Sunny entered the living room and saw that she was exactly where he had left her, and that she had soiled herself, judging by the stench. Sunny kept the grimace of disgust from his face as he moved to her side.

Her face was swollen from crying, but the right side was still slack, the skin seeming stuck, and the eyelid hanging over the eye. Her good eye focused on him and it brimmed with tears, and for a moment he thought she was going to start crying all over again, but instead she managed a half smile with the remaining side of her face. The arm that he had yanked lifted and settled in his hair.

"Sssoorry, Sunny. Can't take you to the 'illage…" her words were slurred and wet, and it seemed hard for her to form a sentence. Sunny ground his teeth together.

"Wud da madder wi' you?" Then he controlled his speech. "Why won't you get up?"

A tear escaped her eye, but she still smiled.

"Smile 'or me Sunny? Just once?"

Sunny blinked and sat back on his heels as her hand dropped from his hair and to the floor. He knew a last request when he heard one, and his heart sank. She was leaving him, just like the pack had. Was this his fault too? Had he done something to bring this strange…ailment upon her? She had been sad when he had mentioned the ninja but…

Sunny looked into her face. Well, if she wanted a smile, hell, he'd give her one and more. Changing his eyes to the bluest color he could imagine, he beamed softly at her, imaging that she was Spayt or Tkaa. He opened his mouth and began to sing the Lure, something she had never heard, but made it the softest he could. He stroked her gray hair as her eye widened, focused on his face, her hand lifted again and she stroked his cheek.

"Like an angel..." she whispered, and Sunny placed both hands on the sides of her face, smiling and singing as he quickly twisted her head, breaking her neck with a quick, painless snap. He watched as the light faded from her eye, as her body became still. He held her head as he allowed his words to fade, having wanted his singing to be the last thing she heard. He then rocked back on his heels and wondered. Now what?

Which way to a hidden village? Did he know? Who did he ask?

Sunny scratched his head and looked away from the body. Mustn't look at it. Mustn't acknowledge what it had been. He wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked back and forth. Mayu must have known who to ask, what questions to ask. She had said they would got to the village and ask about a hidden village, but which way was the village, what human would he ask? Mayu had known. Mayu had gone to a village to pick up supplies for herself, or more of the bath soap that he had liked, but he had never gone with her. Sunny's eyes turned to the body. Actually, Mayu would still know. Sunny reached out and touched her head. It was still kind of warm- the brain and its information still useful.

Sunny did not like to eat brains. Brains were mushy, no matter what type of animal it came from, and it was messy, and gleaning information from most brains was pointless. It had never occurred to him to eat the brains of humans, because at the time there was no need to know what they knew. But now he needed some information, and Mayu had it, or…a little of it.

Reaching out, he deftly cracked her skull open and scooped out the brain matter, quickly downing the matter before the taste made him ill. Immediately upon swallowing, images flashed through his mind.

A small human playing with another.

Flash

A human woman looking similar to Mayu holding hands with a human male.

Hisoka...

Flash

Then there was a Mayu bent over a mound of dirt, sobbing miserably.

Flash

There was the dwelling as he knew it, and a sense of loneliness.

Flash

And then there was him, and he was staring at himself, or more like her, with an annoyed expression on his face, but something swelled within him-her, something happy and content-

Sunny screeched and stuck his fingers down his throatforcing the brain matter to leave his system, throwing it up on the wooden floor. He backed away from the body and groaned. He knew that emotion she had felt, understood it, and it distressed him, because he knew that he did not deserve it. Sunny left the dwelling and stood at the bottom of the porch, gazing at the house. He had not been a good demon, as a matter of fact, he had done poorly, but he would make it up. He would avenge the pack, and he had at least given Mayu something to smile about. She had seen him as some kind of savior, from what he did not know, because he could not save anything.

Sunny gurgled as he forced bile from his stomach and vomited onto the wooden porch, and it immediately caught flame. He watched as the flame burned, then slowly begin to spread along the porch. He couldn't bare the thought of some human coming along and inhabiting the place, her place…his place…

An hour later, the cabin burned, his red eyes glowed. He had things to do now, a purpose, a reason for being. And they would pay. He would find a hidden village, and all ninja with the source will burn. And he would enjoy it, learning their secrets, fooling them into feeling safe. And he would be much more careful this time- with his emotions. He didn't need another Mayu to come along. No, not again.

He then turned his back on the inferno, the light seeming to make him glow like a golden apparition and gave a wan smile.

Goodbye Mayu… TBC

If you were wondering, Mayu suffered from a stroke, and of course, knowing nothing about humans, Sunny/Naruto threw a tantrum from frustration and helplessness. The stroke damaged the right side of her face, paralyzing nerves. There was no way he would be able to take care of her.

Sorry this took long to update- I just wasn't in the mood to type. Also, sorry the ending was rushed, but if I wanted to get it out today, I had to finish now. Sunny/Naruto can get info from eating brains, but it was never a technique that was needed.

Sunny/Naruto is around eleven and a half now, being ten and a half when he was with the pack, and then spent a year with Mayu.

THERE WILL BE NO WAVE COUNTRY RENDITION. HE WILL MEET TEAM SEVEN DIRECTLY AFTER THE ORDEAL, MAINLY BECAUSE I'M SO TIRED OF READING THE EVENTS OF WAVE COUNTRY, AND WILL NOT TORMENT MYSELF BY WRITING IT!