Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

This was too much.

'He's going to die if he doesn't slow down.' Nia thought as she sat next to Naruto, in her cat form, on top of a second pillow. She looked at his bruises and cuts, and though they would heal soon enough, Naruto went to bed every single night with injuries. Then the next day he would get new injuries before the old ones were finished healing, he always had two days of injuries on his body, because the cycle just kept repeating itself.

Naruto had not willingly gone to bed in 3 weeks.

He only went to bed when he passed out from his injuries, and somebody dragged him into bed. Usually it would be Kukuri or herself who did it, but sometimes Kiriha would do it. Naruto's tutor, Kanaka, was completely ruthless when it came to training Naruto to try and awaken the Guardian power that he had the ability to use.

"Nia..."

Nia looked and saw Kukuri was gesturing for her to leave the room and have a talk with her, but she ignored the goddess in favor of staying by Naruto's side. His hand had reached up and grabbed, gently at least, onto her tail. The most she could do right now was stay by his side and give him the comfort of her being there.

"Nia, I need to talk with you."

Nia could see that she wasn't going to leave them alone, so she got up and slinked out of Naruto's grasp. She jumped across the room and landed on Kukuri's head, before jumping off of her head and into the middle of the next room over. All in the span of a second, with Kukuri closing the door behind them.

"What?"

'Such a disrespectful way to speak to a goddess...' Kukuri thought for a brief moment, before she walked over and took her place. She stared down at Nia, and she sighed to herself. "Nia, how do you feel about Naruto?" Kukuri asked Nia with her face graced by a smile. "Can you put your intentions into words, the feelings he inspires in you?" Kukuri asked.

Nia had to stop and think about it.

"Why?"

"When the Possessed-Children attacked, you didn't run away and save yourself. You stuck by Naruto's side and tried to protect him... that is against your nature. You were terrified, and wanted to run away without him." Kukuri knew from observing Nia that her first instinct would have been to save herself. "You hold no love for humans after all."

Nia was given pause.

"I hold no love for humanity."

"There is a difference to you."

"Suzunari Nia was the name given to me by my previous owner, when I was a normal cat, a long time ago. I loved her very much, those were the happiest times of my life. Being with Naruto, at first, reminded me of her so I stayed by his side, and then I realized the ways they were different. He makes me feel happy, and I would break if I lost somebody else precious to me." Nia stated her words in a way that Kukuri couldn't quite tell what kind of love Nia was referring to. Nia's eyes were sharp and yellow, but they had a surprisingly kind light to them.

She was relaxed.

"Do you know how a Wielder and Tsugumogami work together?" Kukuri asked as she raised her fist up, and she made a spear of ice. "A Tsugumogami takes their true form, the wielder provides them with energy and wields their powers. They wield their body, but with exceedingly powerful energy like Naruto's power, this isn't possible without fine control." Kukuri stated as she shattered the ice in her hand.

Nia narrowed her eyes at the explanation, but said nothing. Kukuri had her exorcist Kanaka training Naruto to become stronger, so he would not lose to the Tamamo inside of him. Still, without a partner Naruto had a severe disadvantage when trying to grow stronger.

"What does this have to do with... go on." Nia stopped her question when Kukuri raised a hand.

"Guardian power works when special people work together with youkai. A youkai can allow their spirit to leave their body, and fuse together with the spirit of the wielder." Kukuri allowed water to form over her hand, and it transformed into a gauntlet of ice with the word "youkai" on it. "Their body stays behind, so the energy can't overwhelm them the same as a Tsugumogami. Their bodies don't break, and their soul's power gets fueled by the wielder's power, and manifested as powerful equipment." Kukuri explained it with her false example being her gauntlet. She allowed the ice to shatter.

Nia frowned.

'... When Naruto was afraid, I felt like my soul was getting sucked out... was her trying to wield me by instinct?' Nia could remember it happening, but she fought back against it back then. She didn't know what was happening, and without meaning to she rejected it.

Kukuri looked at her.

"You've felt it."

"... Something like that."

"Usually, special blood jewels are needed to do this. But those with the blood of Dai-Youkai in them, like Tamamo, can do this with their own blood or souls. Naruto doesn't just contain Tamamo's soul, he is her direct descendant. Her blood runs through his veins, and because of it he can bond well with youkai." Kukuri placed a small red jewel on the ground in front of Nia. She had gotten her hands on one of them, and she was going to return it to the rightful owner when she got the chance.

Nia stared into it.

Kukuri lowered her head, bowing to Nia to her shock.

"Please, protect Naruto, be his partner! Allow him to wield you, those Possessed-Children will attack again, and if they awaken Naruto, that will be it! Naruto needs somebody who can protect his soul from Tamamo! You're the only youkai I know I can trust with this task!" Kukuri pleaded with Nia.

A god pleading to a youkai.

"Can you make an item that will protect Naruto's scent from those demon children?" Nia asked Kukuri.

"They already know he is here, protecting his scent won't change... no... you're not serious."

"This training isn't working, and with me being with him, and your item to protect his scent he can live a happy life away from here. They won't find him, and he won't have to torture himself to get stronger." Nia stated what she wanted. "He won't get stronger here." Nia pointed out, and she turned her head to look directly at Kukuri. "You already know why, don't you?" Nia knew the answer to her question.

Kukuri knew too, because she bit her lip.

"... he can-"

"No matter how much Kanaka beats him up, he knows she won't kill him. Kanaka fights with Kiriha as her partner, and Naruto can't learn from that. Sparring with somebody stronger than you, who doesn't know how to train you, can only do so much." Nia stated with a look, a sharp and piercing look, that frightened Kukuri.

Not for her life, but for her future with Naruto.

"He might fall in love with another woman if he leaves."

"You said that part out loud."

"I can't protect him if he leaves."

"You already said the other part out loud." Nia deadpanned since Kukuri wasn't even trying to properly hide her reason. She raised that boy to want to marry her when he grew up, so she really feared him interacting with non-approved women. It could seriously derail her plans for the perfect husband. "He can't become your husband if Tamamo takes over, which will happen if he doesn't get stronger, and a lot of people will die." Nia reminded Kukuri of that little fact.

Now it was a matter of duty.

Personal interest vs godly duties.

Kukuri ripped one of the gems off of her crown and put a hole through it, before she turned it into a necklace. She held it gently with both hands, and her entire body glowed before she transferred her power into the gem. Nia just silently watched as she did this, and then all of the sudden she could no longer sense Kukuri at all, despite her being in front of her. Then she could sense her again when Kukuri looked her in the eye.

"... This necklace will guard Naruto's scent, but only from Sasuke and Sakura. Any other youkai can sense him, but they won't be able to sense Tamamo inside of him. Just that he has a very powerful spiritual energy." Kukuri had broken a sweat. "I put 5 years of power into it, it can block his scent for exactly that long." Kukuri would recover her power in a couple of days, but that was the most that she could put into the gem without shattering it with her power.

Nia took her human form in front of Kukuri, accepting the necklace from her when it was offered.

Kukuri looked at Nia's naked form, and Nia covered herself with her hands.

"I don't wear clothes as a cat, and they don't transform with me okay!? It's just easier to be naked as a cat after all!"

"Is that why-"

"Yes!"

Nia didn't turn into a human form around Naruto because she didn't want to flash him, she felt that she would be fine with him seeing her to some extent, but she didn't want to risk the possibility of feeling awkward. She didn't mind staying her cat form most of the time either, since she WAS born a cat after all. She didn't want Naruto's first impression of her to be made awkward by her nudity.

"You're very pretty."

"Just get me something to wear, Naruto won't leave willingly, so I'm going to carry him out of the city while he can't fight back! I can't be running around naked!"

-20 Minutes Later-

'I like these clothes.' Nia thought as she looked herself over. She had tight fitting jeans that were ripped for style around the thighs and knees, a black shirt with yellow cat eyes printed over her breasts, and a second unbuttoned shirt over that shirt. She gave off the aura of a cool beauty with the clothes that she was wearing. She looked to be about college student age with her body and clothes, that or a girl in her last year of high school. 'Definitely going to make a better impression in these clothes than naked.'

Kukuri just nodded her head.

'She's very beautiful, and has a seductive charm... but I've got bigger boobs.' Kukuri felt her adult body's charm over Nia's charm. Nia was an extremely attractive woman, but her boobs were on the smaller side in comparison. Not itty bitty or flat chested, but a healthy medium, still smaller than Kukuri's breast size. 'She's either a B or C... more likely a C though.' Kukuri judged Nia, knowing that she would win.

"Quit staring."

"I'm just wondering what bra size to get for you."

"This is wasting time, I'm going to grab Naruto and go... I'll make sure we can contact you when we're out of town." Nia nodded her head to Kukuri.

"Don't let any girls seduce my Naruto!"

...

"You're ruining the dramatic moment where I leave." Nia had no intention of stopping Naruto from developing feelings for others. She was going to be in for a challenging road ahead of her just getting Naruto used to human society, since he had never been able to interact with humans other than Kanaka before.

Kanaka did not count as a human in her eyes either, so she knew that Naruto was going to have a very hard time adjusting to regular people.

"I'm serious though, don't let him accidentally walk in on girls naked, and then let other lewd stuff happen."

"What is this, an Ecchi manga?"

"No, but just make sure it doesn't happen."

"I'm leaving now."

Nia left the room once she had enough of Kukuri's needless worries.

Chapter End!
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