A/N: Wow, ok I have got to do this. I can understand that this is only a fanfic, so must of it is just your classical thought up BS that you all love. However in my opinion what makes a good story enjoyable is some real world lore and facts written in, something that people can wrap their minds around and believe, just like how the original storyline was made. Last chapter I mentioned having a bit of a contest, something not only helpful to the story if someone succeeded, but you get to learn something new on your own.
Yet alas, only one person was victorious in having a bit of fun with myths and monsters, one Wolfish Imp, dear friend of mine, we talk over FB, who not only guessed who Mizu and Yuri were (made it easy), they also guessed what Shobo was (Again, made it EASY. Do your research if you don't believe me)! Turns out, bit of a myth nut, who would of thought? XD For those who DIDN'T get it, Shobo is a Japanese sea spirit called, wait for it, a shojo, remade for more modern times and no one but Baba knows who Shobo really is.
On a side note, at the begging of one reviewer I will not be making a harem for the time being, at least not until the policies change so if there is anyone who was reading this solely for the purpose of seeing the Naruto girls get their freak on, you may as well stop. Got to respect the rules on this one above all else.
Ok, I'm done ranting so let's get to the thick of it. Next chapter or so will be about Naruto working his way onto the island and into the prison, so he won't meet up with the others for some time.
Without further ado, let the next installment of Demon Love commence!
Class is in Session Part I
(On the sea, with Naruto)
The high seas were calm and steady as an ayakashi glided over the surface like a great blue mirror, its massive serpentine body carrying three people and leaving quite a spray in its wake. Just behind its head Naruto sat on a large harness rigged up around the head and part of the neck of the beast holding a strap in one hand and Enra's fishing pole with an eel's head on the hook in the other, while another Naruto was sitting with Enra on a hump raised high above the water.
"I didn't believe it at first when Yunika told me to get that thing-you should have seen the guy's face when I told him what I needed. Looked at me like I was asking him where the edge of the world was," Naruto blatantly said. "I never would have guessed I'd be getting to this prison place like this. It almost feels like she knew this was going to happen."
Enra was writing something on a scroll with a diligent hand. "I wouldn't put it past her. You'd never know it, but there was a time when Kyuubi was a mischievous little vixen of a youngling. But that was a long time ago and she has changed quite a bit since then." Naruto opened his mouth to say something and stopped himself. He sensed for the she-demon and felt her sleeping, as far as he could tell.
Seems like a good time to ask. He thought. "Hey Enra, since we probably have a lot of time to kill before we hit land I've been wanting to ask, what was she like back then," Naruto asked. Enra stopped what he was doing and looked at him with a passive face. Naruto suddenly felt embarrassed asking and starting looking everywhere but at Enra. "Well, I'm asking because she asked me if I wondered about what demons really are and where they came from, and since you know her…" His voice trailed off.
"She's sleeping?" Enra guessed and Naruto silence told him he was right. Enra sighed heavily, wrapping up the scroll and putting it in his robe, "It only seems right of your interest in her past, and I should tell you more about our kind anyway. I shall begin with a story that should answer some of your questions, but before I do I have conditions. Beings other than Yunika and I have their fates twisted into this and I will not go about revealing more than I need to for their secrecy. Is that understood?" He said.
Naruto agreed and tried to get as comfortable as possible which was harder than expected when you're trying to sit still on a giant moving serpent. "Where to start…I think it best to begin at the fall of the Onmyoji. As I have told you when the people started to get rid of the Onmyoji, the demons who partnered with them left their side and vanished. The normal people believed that all of them were gone, back to wherever they were summoned from. But what they don't understand is we don't live in this world like your normal summoned creatures do.
"We all have a home of our own; a world mirroring yours, unlike anything you can imagine. Now I know what you are thinking, a demon world? It can't be anything good when you see its inhabitants in our true form, but it really is a magnificent place to see. There are unpleasant sights to be sure, but it has a somewhat eerie beauty to it, like that magic feeling you get when the time of owl-light comes just before night begins in your world."
An entire world of creatures like Enra and Yunika…I guess it's possible. He thought. "Do all demons come from there? I mean what are they exactly?" Naruto asked. Enra rubbed his chin in deep thought. "How to put it in a way you'll understand," And he snapped his fingers and searched his robe. He pulled out a small kameosa bottle with a red wax stopper. He asked for a kunai and pried off the stopper with it, letting it fall in the water. "Imagine this bottle represents you as you are, a living, breathing human and the liquid inside is your soul." Enra said handing the knife back.
"Now imagine that you've died, it doesn't matter how or when. When you die your body becomes a corporeal vessel for your mind and soul." He held the bottle over his other hand and tipped it over, pouring out a sparkling ochroid substance. The thick liquid stopped inches above Enra's hand and began to fill an invisible globe. When he stopped pouring he held out a buoyant golden sphere. "This is your soul when it has left the body. The soul is the most powerful thing in humans; it's what makes up our very being. You are who you are because of it."
Naruto poked the floating bubble, producing ripples and retaining its shape. "What does the soul have to do with demons?" He asked in awe the bubble. "It's understandable that you wouldn't get it at first. Do you know about the prospects of Heaven and Hell?" Naruto closed his eyes scratched his head in thought. "A little bit. People who do good things for the right reasons go to Heaven and those who are corrupt and use others for their selfish reasons go to Hell." He replied.
Enra bobbed his head. "At least you know the basics. When you understand, it becomes simple. When you die your soul goes to either Heaven or Hell. Upon definition, where do you think the demon world is?"
Naruto kept on scratching and scratching and then eyes flying open, he said, "Hell is the demon world?" Enra smiled. "In more than one way, yes, Hell is our home. When humans die, sometimes they go to Hell. When they do, there are rare occasions when they're souls are filled with such hateful emotions they change, and they become demons. Do you remember when I told you demons are spirits of dark emotions manifested in physical form? When a human with so much evil in their heart arrives in Hell they transform into something that matches their personality and everything about their previous lives, what they did, how they lived, all of their memories wiped clean. It is your kind that fills the demon world with its residents."
"You used to be a human? Do you remember anything about your past life?" Naruto questioned. Enra raised the bubble over the bottle and the liquid was poured back in it. "None of us remember our past lives, but there are certain…" He looked at Naruto with a thousand-yard stare, like he was seeing something else. "There are certain memories that aren't washed away completely. There are times where some things can't be forgotten."
Enra stared on into an abyss unseen to Naruto who wondered what he was thinking. It wasn't until Naruto snapped his fingers in his face that Enra came back. "Oh I'm sorry, where was I? Ah yes, memory. When some humans become demons they have what are called Hearts, items sacred to them. From what I've heard, Hearts hold the soul of a demon as they were before they died, and not just their souls but also their memories too."
"I don't get it, what would a demon need something like that for in the afterlife?" Naruto asked. "Even in death, souls and memories still hold power. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but if you can get your hands on one, you can use it to make yourself stronger." Enra told him putting the bottle away.
"Do you have one? Does Yunika?" Water splashed up against the ayakashi's scales. Enra took his time answering the question. He cocked his head from one side to the other in thought and looked up at the sky and down to the water. "I don't have such an item in my possession, but Kyuubi does," He said with a sideways glance. "Or rather, she did. Unfortunately, she lost it many years ago, helping me."
Naruto looked at him detecting some sadness in Enra's words with a trace of regret. "If it isn't wrong to ask, can you tell me what happened?" Naruto said. Enra stared at Naruto with his thousand-yard stare again. When he spoke he had a change in his voice, as though he was about to relief himself of a great burden. "I can't put my finger on it but there is something about you that I like youngling. Since you have asked I will tell you what I can.
"I had gotten myself into an incident that involved powers higher than my own. I was punished for years and when my sentence was soon over, so too was my life soon to end. Before the final note was to be sung, there she was out of nowhere to save my life. She used up all her power to bring us both into your world, but in doing so she left her Heart behind and with it, all of her powers."
Naruto raised his hand in silence and Enra nodded giving him the go-ahead to speak. "You mean to say she was more powerful back then then she is now?" He said skeptic of this claim. "Demons without Hearts are nothing more than a raw power source. While demons are powerful, those with Hearts have true power, abilities that would put the strongest shinobi to shame. Although Kyuubi is young, her powers were feared even then. Yet sadly, not only can she not use her full power, she doesn't remember she ever had a Heart to begin with.
"I cannot say any more than that because it is not my place to unveil other's secrets without their knowledge. I have told you all that is mine to tell and nothing more." Naruto took what Enra said to heart and pondered on it. Could it be possible that she's that powerful? Even I can't believe that.
Enra yawned and stood up. "This story seems to have put a touch of misery in the air. Maybe it's best to change the subject to something more beneficial." His body changed to smoke and rushed at Naruto catching him off guard. The smoke cloud hit Naruto just above the chest and threw Naruto on his back from the force of the impact. Naruto shook his head of the surprise and jumped to his feet. "Enra what the hell was that about?" He shouted and looked around and in his rage he couldn't see him.
"Relax boy, I know it was a bit much but I needed to surprise you." Enra's voice whispered in his thoughts. "Enra? Where are you?" Naruto asked looking around again not getting the hint. "It's it obvious? I'm in your head. Well, actually I think possessing you is more accurate."
"Possessing me?" Naruto's body started to move of its own accord. It stood up and walked over to the clone near the ayakashi's head. "That's right. The moderate way of teaching may not give us enough time to train you properly. I'm going to teach you how demon sages wield their powers, but in a way that's different to what you may be used to. For starters, I'll teach you how the sages obtained their powers from demons and how they used it properly.
"There are three types of demonic beings that exist which can give power to humans: physical, spiritual, and archaic. Physical demons are the weakest of the three and only rely on brute strength to win their battles. Spiritual ones, like me, can possess humans and control them to an extent and are more common than most. Archaic demons are the most powerful of us all and are the rarest to find. We on the other hand are lucky enough to have found one."
"Found one? You mean the ayakashi?" Naruto asked looking down at the serpent. "That right. Ayakashi are classified as archaic for their strength and their scales. Back in the day, if a demon sage was to happen across one, their power would be a great advantage in battle. While acquiring it is one thing, mastering it is another thing entirely." Enra had Naruto's body near the ayakashi's mouth, where he proceeded to take out a kunai and, after a bit of waiting, the ayakashi opened up and the arm in which said kunai was held, was jammed between two teeth.
After some thrashing, and some screaming, Enra had Naruto back on top of its head freaked out. "Was there a point to any of what you just did?" He groaned. "I'm starting to find it difficult to see why she hasn't torn you a new one yet. Look at the kunai." Naruto watched as Enra used his arm to raise the weapon and saw a blue liquid dropping off the blade. "What is this stuff, blood? What do I do with this?" Before he knew what happened, Naruto's mouth opened and wiped the kunai on his tongue, allowing the blood to slide off and swallowed, all Enra's doing.
Naruto began to cough and gag on the blood as it went down his throat. "What the hell! It burns like I swallowed magma." He shouted grabbing his throat. "It is how they gain their powers, by taking in some of the demon's essence and ingesting it into the body. Your body will need time to adapt to it but once it does it will be worth the trouble," Enra explained.
"For the time being I'll explain the next part on their art forms and battling styles. For the most part a demon sage's real power doesn't come from the demons, but from using their strengths to the best potential in any given combat situation. The justu performed by the sages of old were managed by using demonic chakra and their art forms were done by using the demon's powers in tandem with the sage's own body. It's similar to when you used Kyuubi's chakra, but with more technique. By comparing the two chakras in your body we can find training that best suits you." Naruto stopped coughing and rubbed his throat.
"Try seeing it this way: as you already know, Kyuubi's chakra is much more powerful than your own but when you tap into any large amount of it you lose all sense of control. We will call this the force chakra. Then you have your normal chakra, you have great control over it but it doesn't rival Kyuubi's power, though your chakra reserves rival Kyuubi's in quantity. This will be the control chakra. What is your most powerful justu you can use multiple times in your natural state?"
"That one's easy, it's my Rasengan." Naruto exclaimed with pride. "Good, we have a starting point. Now tell me how this justu works, everything you can." Naruto told Enra about it in detail from form to function, how long it took him to master it and the effects it had when used. "Interesting…can you perform it, right now?" Enra said.
Naruto put a hand on the seal on his stomach. "Yunika told me it was best not to take that chance because of the cracking seal inside her cage. She said something like the Rasengan is a last resort move for now. I might be able to use Vampire Judgment first to get the chakra I need, but for that justu I'll need a different source of chakra and I won't bite the ayakashi." He said and shuddered at the memory.
Enra's voice changed from curiosity to disappointment. "Oh, I see. Well, at least I can give you some insight on the control and force chakras. When you use your Rasengan with your normal chakra, you take it and condense it which takes up all of your focus and control over that vast power, similar to when you turn on a hose and stick your thumb over the end you increase the pressure and in turn you increase the power.
"Using Kyuubi's chakra is different in that regard. If your chakra is like water coming out of a hose, then her chakra is like a grand waterfall. It has much more power and is nearly impossible for someone of your skill level to control it. Every time you try, you get the raw power it holds but without proper focus you can't take it to the next level. After all, you can't put an entire waterfall into a hose."
"No offense but what does this have to do with training?" Naruto asked impatiently. "You will understand soon enough. For now while we have the time given to us, I'm going to teach you how to use demonic art forms using my power. Enter your mindscape and have your clone notify us of anything going on in the real world." He told Naruto and went quiet. Naruto groaned again and did as he was told. Naruto found Enra standing in front of the cage doors, looking in on his old friend. Yunika had reverted back to her bestial form and was sleeping peacefully.
Enra placed a hand on the cell in a sympathetic manner, "Ah my dear friend, how the years have passed and here you are. Time has not been kind to you, not since you saved me…" He whispered. Her giant vulpine form stirred a little but continued to slumber. He removed his hand and turned to Naruto with a look of grievance. "Are you going to be okay?" Naruto asked concerned with Enra seeing his savoir behind bars.
Yunika slowly opened one vermillion eye to see what they were talking about already knowing who it was that woke her from her sleep. "Yes, I'll be fine. It's just seeing her like this…I wish I could free her from this imprisonment. I know what she did to your home but even she doesn't deserve this." He replied quietly. Yunika's eye moved from Enra to Naruto and saw him stretch and rub the back of his head again.
"Look, I know it isn't my place to say but the past is the past. We can't change it no matter how hard we try. I can't vouch for her kindness in the time I've known her or her "trusting" nature, the way she beats around the whole damn forest to get anything done, and on top of that a good amount of my memories are locked away behind that seal she made. So far all I can say about her is she's manipulative, has a dark sense of humor, cares only about herself, AND hates every human in the world. Add that to everything I've learned about her, it seems that she was meant to stay locked up." He said blatantly.
Yunika lowered her gaze with a feeling of loathing and she took a breath to speak her thoughts. "But,"
She stopped and her eye looked back up in surprise at Naruto who spoke. He was looking over at the seal on the cage, not seeing she was awake. "There were moments where she showed a more human side. Each time she did she surprised me with something new. What amazed me most was when she transformed into her human form." Enra gave him his head-cocked-to-the-side look. "Oh? And how did she look?" He asked.
Naruto walked slowly towards the doors, his eyes fixed on her, unaware that she was awake. "There's no other way to say it, she was beautiful. When she was harassing me, she had a certain style that made it work. I can't put it into words really but, it feels like we work well with each other." He said softly. Yunika didn't move a muscle, not to continue the ruse but out of shock. She never heard someone speak of her in such kind regard.
Enra laughed, "That's the Kyuubi I remember. Even if she wears a mask she hasn't changed. But enough of nostalgia," He walked up to Naruto and put a hand on his shoulder. "Before we start there are two cardinal rules the demon sages must always obey: do not fight a demon you cannot conquer and do not use a demon's power if you don't carry a demon's spirit."
He put his other hand up to stop Naruto when he opened his mouth. "If you fight a demon too strong you will lose your life in the attempt. Those who use their power without a demonic host will become a demon themselves. If Yunika somehow ever gets taken away from you, should it come to pass, do not try to use any power Hell-forged in nature."
Enra removed his hand and bowed. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, shall we get started?" He said with a snarky grin looking up. Naruto grinned in return, "Finally, yes." Enra leaped back and took a stance, placing his left leg forward and both arms out palms facing Naruto like he was pushing a heavy object. "In my experience, I find the best way to learn is in the field and this way we can do it in secret. I'm going to teach you how to learn on the fly, to be aware of everything around you and understand it and react accordingly. This is where we will begin. You will fight me and you will learn." His words had a stern tone that made Naruto excited in the anticipation of battle.
Naruto pulled out a kunai and readied himself, a wild grin spreading over his face. "Alright, you're on. I've done nothing but run around like a dog without its master. It's about damn time I got some real training in!" And with a yell he charged at Enra with all he had as Yunika watched in silence.
A/N: So what'd you all think of this one?
I borrowed the mirror world idea from one of my favorite games and I planned on using the memory and souls as tangible objects of power, anyone who knows the classical version of the kitsune might know where I'm going with the sacred Hearts idea. I didn't have much of a theory for how to place demons as a form of rank so I went with a simpler option and decided to go for an umbrella term rather than attempt to specify absolutely everything.
I plan on using some the force and control chakra ideas to get inventive with some old and new justu, so if anyone cares to give their two cents I say get creative. Due credit will be given as always if used in the story.
Next chapter, Naruto works past island security, meets two interesting kids along the way, a 'relative' comes into play, and we'll get to see the first good fight scene of the story. Until then, you know what to do. R&R folks!
P.S. By the time this chapter is up the next one will have been done so I will wait for the reviews to roll in before I upload it.