Lethal Shinobi
Chapter 7
Naruto was more nervous than he had ever been in his entire life. Even with his bodyguards surrounding him, he still felt like a vulnerable child. The fact that the sun had just set and he was in the middle of an unknown village did not help with the feeling one bit.
'This is getting boring,' Venom complained as his host made his way to the meeting place, the very top floor of the Kazekage's tower. 'Why don't we ditch this stupid thing and find us something tasty to eat?'
Naruto rolled his eyes at Venom's single-mindedness and continued into the Kazekage's Tower. The building was not as tall as the Hokage's Tower, and it appeared that was the case for all of the other buildings making up the village.
The building was mostly dark and empty with only the lights present being those illuminating the groups path.
The very top floor of the tower was very much like that of a traditional floor; wooden flooring and ceiling with paper doors all along the sides of the corridor. Only one of the rooms was lit though, and the same room had two guards standing right outside the door.
With an audible gulp, Naruto took a solo step forward and made his way to the room. His guards waiting patiently. With the son of the Hokage and the daughter of the Kazekage together in one place; it was too good of an opportunity for anyone with any ill intent to ignore.
Naruto stood at the entrance to the meeting room, the soft glow of candlelight revealing the vague shadow of what was inside.
The guards on either side gave a bow before sliding the door open and allowing Naruto to step inside. The second both of his feet touched the hardwood floor, the door was slide closed.
The inside of the room was very modest. Several dozen candles were placed within the room to give it a gentle and cozy glow. In the middle was a low wooden table surrounded by soft looking cushions. Atop the table sat a complete set of china as well as a steaming pot of tea, clearly having just been brewed.
On the side of the table farthest from where Naruto stood sat an older man. The man had short dark red hair and appeared to have some slight bags under his eyes, not unlike those Naruto's own father was slowly starting to develop. He wore the ceremonial robes of the Kazekage and appeared to have been waiting for Naruto's arrival.
"Please." His voice had the same aura as Minato's; full of authority and power. "Have a seat." He held a hand out to the seat on the other end of the table.
"Yes." Naruto nodded dumbly, for a moment forgetting where he was and what he was there for. "Thank you for your kindness." He stepped forward and sat at the offered cushion. It was just as soft as he had expected it to be.
"I am pleased to see that you have arrived at my village safety, young Namikaze." The Kazekage spoke once Naruto had sat down. "I hear that this is your first time in my village. I would love to hear what you think about it."
Naruto knew he had to choose each of his words very carefully. Just one wrong word had the chance to spell disaster. "From what little I have seen so far, your home appears to be a very vibrant community. The people all go about not unlike those from my own home; filled with a pride for their home and a desire to see it flourish."
'Didn't know you even knew some of those words.'
The Kazekage nodded. "That was what I had hoped you would see." He gave a light sigh while looking hard at the table. "But as you have most likely also noticed, this is a very dry village. We do not get very much rainfall and we must either build very deep and complex wells or travel very far distances just to obtain the most minute amount of water to keep everyone in the village alive." His voice was solemn and pained.
Before Naruto could respond, the Kazekage's head snapped up and looked the boy in the eye. "But my village's woes are not the reason you have come to visit." The man put on a clearly forced smile. "You have come to visit my fine home to meet with my beautiful daughter."
This was it! This was the moment that determined the very future of both Naruto, his family, and the village he called home. "Yes." He replied. "But that does not mean I can ignore the plight of those in need. I am sure that no matter the outcome of my visit here; once I speak to my father, my home will be more than happy to assist your village."
If the older man was pleased with Naruto's words, he did not show it on his face. "As kind as what you say may be, you would do well to remember to not make promises you do not intend to keep."
"I would never go back on my words." Naruto responded quickly, it took all he had not to shout as the feeling of an argument hung over the pair. "If I said that I was going to help, then I am going to help. I may not have the strength and power of a ninja, but that does not mean that I can't do everything I can for those in need."
Once again, the Kazekage did not show any reaction to Naruto's words.
"Either way." The older man decided to drop the subject entirely. The boy was young and clearly had not yet set his foot into the political pool just yet. Starting an argument with him would be pointless.
"I think it is about time for you to finally meet my daughter." He made no motion but glanced over to another sliding door near the pair.
The door slowly slid open to reveal a woman that could not be but a year or so older than Naruto. Her sandy-blond hair was short, just barely reaching the middle of her neck. Her skin was very well tanned, showing that she spent most of her time outdoors training. Her own outfit was one befitting the position of the Kazekage's daughter.
The woman gave a low bow and remained as such for a moment before slowly raising herself up to a sitting position. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal a hard teal gaze.
From first impression alone, Naruto had a feeling that this girl wanted to be here just as much as he did and was probably doing all she could to not yell at her father for how stupid this all was.
"Address yourself." The Kazekage ordered. His tone was an odd mix of fatherly while still holding a hard demanding side.
"My name is Temari." Her voice held a hard tone to it; similar to her father's. "I am the first daughter of the Kazekage of the Village Hidden within the Sand." She did not look at either of the two men as she spoke, her gaze firmly planted on the wooden floor in front of her. "I am a genin of the village and work in a team along with my two brothers and the Kazekage's chief advisor."
She slowly raised her eyes to finally look at the man that she was going to be forced to be with.
Their eyes met.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Namikaze Naruto."
The Kazekage gave a nod of approval at his daughter's words. They had practiced everything for weeks and, just like her ninja training, it was as harsh and demanding as possible with sever punishments for every single mistake that was made.
Naruto could tell just how upset the girl was just by how restrained her voice was. It appeared that the only one who actually wanted to be here was the Kazekage himself.
"Come." The village leader ordered his daughter.
Temari slowly rose to her feet and walked over to the table with such a stiff stance that Naruto would have thought she was floating above the floor with how little her head moved. She silently sat at the table.
Her father gave her a hard look and it took all of Temari's will not to give one back. Holding in the sigh of disappointment she could feel welling up in her throat, the young woman reached out and grabbed the still steaming teapot in front of all three of them. She moved the small porcelain cups so that one was in front of both Naruto and her father before pouring a small amount of tea into each.
Seemingly pleased with his daughter, the Kazekage turned his attention back to Naruto. "As you are aware." He spoke plainly. "I am hoping that you will look towards my lovely daughter as a potential marriage partner." He picked up his cup of tea and looked at Naruto who quickly did the same. He remained silent for a moment before raising an eyebrow at the young man siting across from him.
It took Naruto just a moment before realizing what the man wanted of him. He quickly put the cup of tea right back down on the table and could hear just the smallest bit of a sigh escape the Kazekage's lips.
He turned to better face Temari before bowing low himself. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Temari. I am Naruto Namikaze, the first son of the Hokage of the Village Hidden within the Leaves. I am not a ninja like you; I do not have the ability to mold chakra in any manner, and so I am destined to be a member of the civilian class." He paused for a moment to allow for the girl to absorb everything he had stated.
He spoke a little bit more about himself. Mostly just about his possible future.
As the boy talked, something caught the eye of the Kazekage. He turned his head just a bit to better see what he had witnessed and noticed that it had come from Naruto's cup of tea. He saw something move in the reflection of the brown liquid that matched when Naruto moved. At first, he thought it was just the boy's reflection; but there appeared to be something just not right about it.
The man was about to dismiss the whole thing as nothing more than a trick of the eyes and his mind making up things that were not there. But a flash of white in the reflection forced his attention even further. Especially since Naruto had not even a small silver of white anywhere on his person.
"I am still in school and am still trying to find my own path." Naruto finished.
Temari's face did not show any reaction to what the young man had said. It was clear she had heard him, but it was impossible for him to have any idea on her thoughts.
The Kazekage cleared his throat, alerting the two to his presence once more. "Now that you two have met." He stated. "I have set for you two to spend all of tomorrow together." His eyes instantly landed on Naruto and hardened to a point where his target could practically feel his blood slowly freeze.
A warning was sent without any words from the man to the boy. Despite his attitude and demanding demeanor, the Kazekage did care deeply for his children, but would not hesitate for a moment to sacrifice his entire family if it meant the well being of his village.
'Oooooh.' Venom cooed wickedly. 'We got a protective papa here.' A deep chuckle echoed through Naruto's skull.
"I expect the both of you to use the time to get to know one another." His eyes never left Naruto's. "As well as give you a chance to see more of what my lovely village has to offer." His eyes never blinked or wavered. "You will be free to go anywhere that you two please; as long as the guards all around the village allow for it."
He paused for just a moment.
"Your own guards will also be doing their job I am to assume," His eye finally narrowed. "To insure nothing happens to the either of you."
Naruto could see Temari almost trembling with what he assumed to be rage. He had the feeling she was none too happy about being forced to spend her day with some guy she had just met. At least he appeared to be half-way decent and not much like the usual pompous people her family was used to dealing with.
But as far she she knew, Naruto could really be just as bad, or even possibly worse. A slew of terrible thoughts forced their way into her mind and made her almost look at her possible husband-to-be in horror. She had to get a hold on her imagination before anything more terrifying could enter her mind.
The Kazekage stood, signalling that the other two should as well.
"I shall wish you both a good night. I will not be seeing you tomorrow morning, Naruto Namikaze." He glanced at his daughter. "I expect to see you at home immediately." His tone had become less like the village leader, and more like a strict father.
All three bowed low to each other.
"It was a pleasure to meet you; Lord Kazekage; Temari of the village Hidden within the Sand." Naruto states respectfully.
"And it was a pleasure meeting you, Naruto Namikaze." Both father and daughter replied. All three turned to face the door they had originally entered the room in and walked out in unison. Not because that was how it was meant to be, more just coincidental.
Naruto met with Gai's team the next floor down from where the meeting was held. His other bodyguards were off doing their duty from unknowable locations.
"So, what was the Kazekage like?" Tenten asked as the group walked back to their hotel. She was honestly more concerned about the Kazekage's daughter more than the man himself. Not for any particular reason mind you, she just wanted to know some basics about who else she would be helping protect tomorrow.
Honest. It was most definitely not because she thought that the Hokage's first born son was kind of cute or anything like that. Maybe being around her team too much was starting to have effect on her. She needed to find some other friends to hang out with.
'Pretty pathetic if you ask me.'
"Hmm." Naruto thought for a moment. "He isn't like dad, but also kind of like him in a way." He scratched his chin. "I'm not really sure what exactly to make of him right now. But I don't think I really like him since it looked like his daughter wasn't really into this whole thing."
"I can't really blame her." Gai suddenly spoke up. "To be forced to marry someone you know nothing about; sounds like it would be terrifying from her perspective."
"While I have no doubts that young Naruto here is nothing short of the most upstanding man around." Gai sniffed right after stating such exaggeration. "The Kazekage's daughter does not know that. As far as she may know, Naruto could be just playing up the act of a good person." His expression was dead serious. "You could easily be pretending to act nice and respectful when, in reality, you plan on doing any number of terrible things to her."
He glanced over to the boy. "Be prepared tomorrow. She is going to be on her guard the whole day."
Naruto gave a nod of understanding.
'Please,' Venom bemoaned. 'The worst thing we could ever do to her is eat her alive.' The way the monster just haphazardly stated the fact would have been very unsettling if anyone but Naruto could hear it.
Venom grumbled a little bit more. 'I'm feeling hungry.'
'I'm starving.' Venom moaned loudly.
The next day came quickly and Naruto was rudely awakened at the very first sign of sunlight. He was quickly forced to get ready for his date and whenever he tried to slow things down a little, one of the maids would lash out at him with a few harsh words. Even though, all he did was get dressed in the smae kind of clothes he wore when he first arrived to the village.
Naruto met with Gai's team once more and was escorted to the meeting spot; a fountain made entirely out of sand in the middle of the shopping district of the village. No water came from the fountain and it was clearly just something meant to be wither a location marker, or a nice addition to the otherwise bland town center.
"Good luck." Tenten teased with a wink before leaping off to her guard post. Neji just gave Naruto an irritated look before doing the same. The sweat on his brow was enough to tell Naruto that the boy was more upset with being out in the heat of the desert more than anything else.
"She her just how much of a strong man you are!" Lee cheered before giving a thumbs up and leaping away.
"You'll do great." Gai put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Just show her the power of the youth of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
Naruto gave the man an unreadable expression as he too leapt away. He was simply just not looking forward to this date; more so than he did for the original 'mission'.
The boy stood there for a short amount of time. He watched some people that passed by and slightly enjoyed the feeling of not being immediately recognized. While he was not pestered daily by people due to his status, not being immediately recognized as the son of the Hokage and just being another face in the crowd was quiet refreshing.
It was all he could do to distract himself from that all too familiar ache in his gut. Every person that walked by started to look more and more like a source of nourishment for the boy. He really hoped Temari would show up soon before he actually lost control and started eating the villagers.
What made things worse, was that there were absolutely no signs of any other animal in the entire village, from what Naruto could see. Not even the weakest of stray beast could Naruto sniff out in this sandy town.
He tried to focus on more of the details of the things around him in an effort to distract away from the painful ache in his belly. Luckily he did not need to wait that much longer.
Temari had finally shown up to the agreed upon meeting place dressed in her usual attire. Her hair was back to the four pigtails she was so much more used to and she even had her beloved giant fan with her as well. She hated not having the weapon close; especially when her younger brother was near.
Naruto audibly gulped as he saw the girl approaching him. He could feel his throat become very dry and his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth.
"Hey." Temari said once she had reached the boy. Her tone clearly showed signs of not wanting to go along with this whole ordeal. And, to be honest, Naruto could not really blame her. "Did you wait long?"
'Too long!' Venom roared. 'Does she have no clue the number of meals we could have devoured with how long we were waiting!'
"No." Naruto shook his head. "Not at all."
The pair stood in silence for a moment.
"So, uh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head, a thin layer of sweat could already be felt by his warm hand.
"Are you ready to get this over with or not?" Temari asked harshly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Um, lead the way?" Naruto gave the girl the least awkward smile possible, and failed terribly.
Temari rolled her eyes before turning away the boy and walking away. "Come on." She ordered bluntly.
The morning was spent with the pair walking around the village in silence. Temari always walking a few steps in front of Naruto, and the boy content with staying behind just to avoid any more awkward interactions.
It was definitely not because he kind of enjoyed the view of the girl's behind or anything. Even with her usual kunoichi attire, Naruto could tell that the girl's rear looked good. Then again, nearly every girl he had ever met tended to have a shapely posterior.
"We are stopping here." Temari declared as she came to a stop in front of what looked to be a kind of cafe.
It took Naruto a moment to realize what the girl had said and to stop focusing on her bum.
The local kunoichi did not wait for a response and walked right in without saying another word. Naruto decided to just take a seat at one of the outside tables instead of following the girl. He did not want to make the day worse for her by making her wait while he looked at a menu he had never seen before.
'Something doesn't feel right.' Venom grumbled. 'And I am not talking about this stupid heat.' Naruto had learned a long time ago that whenever felt something was off, something usually was a bit off.
"I'll keep my eyes open." Naruto mumbled while holding up a menu to block anyone from seeing his mouth move. It was difficult for Naruto to really detect anyone near him with malicious intent. Part of being a new place for the first time usually put most people a little on edge, and Naruto was no different. This meant that his strange brain radar was triggering all over his head whenever anything even remotely close moved.
"Hey." A voice forced Naruto's attention back to the reason he was even in this village. Temari had returned from within the cafe with a fancy looking frappe in one hand and a simple glass of ice water in the other.
"I didn't know if wanted anything." She mumbled somewhat embarrassed upon taking not of how extravagant her treat was compared to the simple glass of water.
"Thank you." Naruto replied with a kind smile. At least the girl was being considerate despite the situation. Plus, a drink was necessary if Naruto had any hope of staying alive through the entire date.
Temari sat down and not a single other word was spoken between the two. The silence quickly became uncomfortable and Temari did all she could to enjoy her treat while looking anywhere but directly at the boy sitting across from her.
Naruto, for one, could not stand the stale atmosphere and decided to finally say something. The only problem, was what could he talk to her about? He did not want to talk about her family for fear of possibly bringing up a touchy subject. And talking about life in the village would probably be responded to with a simple one or two word answer.
Maybe there was something else.
"So," Naruto finally broke the silence. Him suddenly speaking up startled Temari and caused her to nearly leap out of her chair. "Um," He was committed now, he needed to think of something now!
"Please." Temari quickly interrupted. "Do not try to 'get to know' me or anything." She sounded exasperated. "I honestly want nothing more to do with this whole stupid plan of my father's. I was just told that I was going to be meeting my future husband and to not screw up the meeting. My father never said a word about a public date."
Naruto understood where she was coming from exactly. "I'm with you on that completely." He agreed with a heavy sigh. "Both my mother and father would not let up on how 'important' it was that I agree to marry you." Naruto rested his elbows on the table in front of him. "Oh, but it was still 'my choice' even though it it is so important."
Temari did not respond and instead just looked away with her spoon in her mouth. She had just told the kid to not be familiar with her and yet the very next thing he does is try to strike up a conversation.
Seeing the girl refuse to respond, Naruto leaned back into his chair and just drank his water in silence. Once again, the air around the two became tense and uncomfortable.
"Look," Temari decided to shatter the silence this time. "It's not that I don't think I could learn to like you." She took a moment to find her words. "I just don't want us to get too friendly and for others to think we are actually becoming something."
Naruto gave a nod. He understood. To be honest, it was the same with him.
"I understand." Naruto said aloud. "I'm only a student right now. I don't even have a career path lined up yet. Marriage is the last thing on my mind."
The two finished their glasses and went right back to randomly walking through the village. Again, Temari leading the way with Naruto trailing behind. The uncomfortable air that had permeated around the two since this morning had gone once both had come to an understanding of one another.
The afternoon sun had begun to beat down on the village with an unforgiving heat. Most people were either indoors or were doing all they could to stay cool. Usual life in the desert and something Naruto did not think he could ever get used to. Even Temari had brought out a small fan to help keep herself from sweating too much.
'Heads up!' Venom shouted in Naruto's mental ear just as that strange tingling feeling alerted the boy to something coming from behind. The sound of someone running behind quickly reached his ears just as he turned his head to see a cloaked figure dashing towards him.
The unknown person quickly pulled out a large knife and attempted to thrust it straight into Naruto's gut. The boy easily sidestepped the attack, causing the cloaked person to continue a little further than they had anticipated.
Temari could sense the incoming attack long before Naruto could and just held her closed battle fan in front of her. The knife clinking off the metal uselessly.
Without skipping a beat, Naruto's arm raised up before slamming down the palm of his hand on to the back of the stranger's head and instantly grabbing on. He pulled the assailant's head back a bit before putting a good amount of strength into his arm and pushing the person's head forward with enough force to send them straight forward to the ground.
The stranger's face met the compacted sandy ground with a hard thud.
No sooner did the stranger show up did several platoons of the village guard suddenly show up around the pair. Naruto's own guards quickly appeared around him along with Team Gai forming a closer circle around the young man. All were armed with a myriad of weapons, all pointed at the downed figure.
The person gave a groan while attempting to get up to at least their knees. It took the individual a moment to recognize all the various sharp objects pointed directly at them before they very slowly began to raise their hands up. They still had both of their hands closed however.
"Open them." One of the Sand shinobi ordered. With the number of them around him and the fact that they all had their mouths' covered, it was impossible for Naruto to determine exactly which one gave the order.
The face of the figure still could not be clearly seen under the hood of the cloak, but Naruto had a sinking feeling that the person was giving a nasty smile. Once the person's hands were open, it was clear to see why Naruto's gut sank.
In the middle of each of their palms was a seal that sparked for just a moment before a massive plume of smoke burst out from both hands and quickly enveloped everyone in an obscuring fog. Almost immediately after, the sounds of clanging steel and shouts of effort filled the darkened street.
A hand quickly grabbed onto the back of Naruto's collar and yanked the boy back and off his feet. He was quickly pulled away to a side alley, away from were most of the noise was coming from.
He lost his footing and fell backwards onto the warm sand. Quickly looking up he saw the familiar faces of both Rock Lee and Tenten looking down at him from within the thick cloud.
"Are you alright?" Lee asked while Tenten turned her attention back to were the fighting was taking place.
Naruto gave a nod before getting back up to his feet.
"Sorry about the quick save." Tenten spoke without looking away from the alley entrance. "We would have noticed that guy sooner if a group of these Sand guys didn't keep trying to get in our way."
"Neji and Gai fighting?" Naruto asked quickly. He wanted to at least know where the people he had come with were.
"Of course!" Lee practically shouted. "Right now they are holding off these assassins while Tenten and I are to protect you." He gave Naruto a thumbs up. "Have no fear for I know that we all will keep you save and that you receive not even the smallest scratch!" He gave a big smile.
"Any idea who these guys might be?" Tenten asked, her eyes constantly flicking back and forth for any signs of anyone approaching the small group.
"Political assassins. Mercenaries for hire." Naruto listed off the possibilities. "Rogue shinobi hunting a bounty." His tone of voice gave off the impression that Tenten should know this already.
She did, and she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the boy's tone. "I meant more specifically than that."
"Oh." Naruto paused for the smallest moment. "Not a clue."
The three remained silent so as to not draw any unnecessary attention; letting the sounds of battle disguise their location.
It did not take long for the sounds of battle to start to bear and ugly fruit.
All it was, was a small little cut on the back of the hand. A cut so shallow that only the smallest possible amount of blood could force it's way out to the surface thanks to the pressure built up in the weapon holding hand.
The scent of the sweet liquid instantly reached Naruto's nostrils and the ache he had in his gut since last night grew ten fold.
He was lucky that neither Lee or Tenten were looking in his direction as a waterfall of saliva was flowing freely from between his lips. His mind was lowly growing hazier and hazier as more of that delicious scent filled his lungs with every breath.
The boy tried everything he could to ignore the desire to feed. He could not risk anyone finding out about his horrible need; least of all those that are from his home village.
More and more sounds of pain began to fill the smoke covered street. The scent of blood becoming stronger and stronger; mixing with the smell of hardened steel and the perspiration of the doubled over in pain as his gut grumbled loudly in protest to its master's refusal to satisfy it.
He needed to hunt.
He needed to feed.
Naruto just needed to hold out for just a little bit longer. There was a market nearby; so there must be livestock of some kind close by. He just needed to keep it together just long enough for him to hunt something down.
He made sure to keep his eyes away from his two comrades, lest he loose control and start seeing them as a source of nourishment. Both Lee and Tenten appeared to be nice enough folks and he really, really did not want to be the one to cut their lives short by consuming their innards.
The sudden clashing of steel forced Naruto to focus on the more pressing issue at hand as a shinobi dressed completely in black had found the small group and was currently being held off by Tenten.
Lee, being the kind soul that he was, would not allow for his friend to face a threat alone and came charging in with a solid fist aimed at the enemy's side. He was able to force the enemy away from his teammate.
"Run for it Naruto!" Tenten ordered. "We will hold them off! Just get somewhere that has a lot of people. Hide in the crowds!"
Her words had good merit. With Naruto lacking any kind of chakra signal that could be traced, he could easily lip into a big enough group of people and become practically invisible to anyone trying to find him. It was something he had been doing for years anyway, so the idea was not anything new to him.
'We should stay.' Venom argued. 'Let them come to us and into our waiting jaws.'
Naruto ignored the beast and did as Tenten told him. He turned and ran, quickly vanishing within the did not take him long to get clear from the visually obscuring screen of black and into the bright sunlight streets of the village.
Everything appeared normal outside of the thick cloud, the street was as empty as could be since it was still the middle of the day and the sun's unforgiving heat was still beating down on everything below it.
"I was hoping it would be me that catches up to you." A voice called from within the cloud of smoke.
Naruto turned to see the darkened figure of a grown man come walking out do the smokescreen. His body was completely covered in black clothing, except for his eyes and a few strands of what looked like, silver hair.
Almost immediately, a sense of familiarity came over Naruto, like he had met this person once before in his life. He tried to pretend he was surprised at being found, despite his alien senses telling him long before the man showed up, that he was being followed. No matter how strong his hunger was, Naruto could not let anyone know about his abilities.
The adult shinobi tilted his head slightly. "What's the matter? Don't recognize me?" He chuckled darkly.
Naruto stared at the man, trying to figure out where the strange feeling of familiarity was coming from. There was nothing about the man that Naruto could identify, not even the few stray gray hairs or the brown of his eyes sparked any sort of memory from the boy.
"Not at all." Naruto responded appropriately. "There are a lot of people that don't like my dad. So you'll have to forgive me for not really caring about what they all look like."
The man gave a chuckle while shaking his head. "You were a lot smaller then so I can't really blame you for not remembering." He looked Naruto dead in the eyes. "I'm the guy that tried to kill you when you were a kid."
Naruto just stared blankly at the man. "Again, my dad has a lot of enemies. More than one person has made attempts on my life." He tried to get the message across. "You're going to have to narrow it down a little bit if you want me to remember you."
The man raised an eyebrow at his target's apparent lack of fear. He had nobody to protect him and was about as strong as any other civilian; and yet he stood in front of assassin without even the smallest hint of fear for his own life.
The arrogance of politicians and their families was beyond anything the man could comprehend. But his job was to make sure that the kid did not leave the village alive, and he always did what he was paid to do.
"Let me give you a little hint." The man raised one gloved finger. "There was a long fall involved."
Naruto thought for a moment. "You're going to have to give a few more details." He shrugged.
Now the kid was starting to irritate the man. Was his murder attempt that bad for the kid to so easily forget? Forget it! This was all a waste of time.
The man pulled out a kunai knife and dashed straight for Naruto; weapon prepared to dig into the youth's vulnerable chest and to end him as quickly as possible.
Naruto took a single step to the side and watched with an amused grin as the would be killer sailed right on by harmlessly. While the opportunity to retaliate was clear and open for Naruto to exploit, he still wanted to the guy to continue trying to explain just who he was; and why Naruto should care.
"You trying to do something?" Naruto asked as his assailant quickly tried to turn on his heels and swipe at Naruto's head. The boy ducking the blow easily. This ninja must be taking it easy on Naruto if he was dodging these clearly telegraphed attacks so easily.
The man gave a heavy huff before jumping back just a bit. "I'm going to kill you." He stated with a slightly heated voice.
"Aw, why?" Naruto gave a hurt expression. "I thought we could have a chance to really connect, ya know? Maybe we could forge a true nemesis status with each other and be the bane of each other's existence for years to come?" He dodged another easy to avoid swing; a playful smile stretched across his sweating face. "Come on! It'd be great!" Another blow was easily sidestepped.
Boy, well trained shinobi were actually not that impressive. If this was what he had to look forward to facing to protect his family, then Naruto really had nothing to worry about.
"Look." Naruto continued. "We can start by telling each other our origin stories. You can go first."
The sound of the brat's nearly giddy tone was really starting to rile the man up. He pulled another kunai out with his free hand and started to attack the boy with rapid strikes aimed at specific locations to cause the most pain possible. his employer wanted the boy dead, but did not say anything about making the murder quick or painless.
Naruto dodged and weaved around each stab and swing with the only signs of effort being in relation to the blazing son above. The entire display made the would be assassin appear almost incompetent. Even more so when one noticed that Naruto had not made any attempt at retaliation.
With nearly a roar of anger, the man finally pulled away after a few seconds of useless swinging. He glared daggers at Naruto before slowly taking a deep breath and straightening his posture.
"Fine." He growled. "You wan to play games? Then I'll tell you exactly who I am." He jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "I am Mizuki Touji of the Hidden leave Village! I am also the guy that tried to kill you by dropping you down a fucking cliff!"
Naruto continued to smile while raising an eyebrow at the man. "Wow!" He breathed.
The man could feel his chest swell with pride and the feeling of power course through him as he observed annoying expression on his target's face. Soon it will slowly change to a look of shock and terror, and Mizuki simply could not wait to see the boy's face change. The feeling of completely destroying the hope of a target was always something he relished.
Only, the change never came. Naruto's expression never changed. Or, at least not into the one Mizuki had expected.
Naruto put both of his hands on his hips and leaned in slightly while gazing at the masked man with a raised eyebrow. "I honestly can not believe it."
Now it was Mizuki's turn to look confused. Just what could he have said or done that would have caused this sort of response instead of the one he had so desperately desired?
"I honestly can't believe just how easy it was for you to give me your full name like that." Naruto chuckled. "Not much of a 'secret' assassin if all it takes is someone asking your name." Naruto began to laugh. He thought he would at least feel a slight bit of anger towards the man who just admitted to trying to murder him as a small child, instead Naruto simply felt amused.
This man who could not even kill a chakra-less child was now trying to kill a young man with a monster inside. Just the idea itself was too humorous for Naruto to not laugh at.
Naruto's laughter halted suddenly when an enormous amount of pain tore itself through his gut. His hunger reaching a point he could no longer pretend to ignore.
Mizuki saw red! He tore off one of his gloves to reveal a seal on his palm. Using the knife in his hand, the man stabbed the middle of his palm. The instant the blood came flowing free, the seal glowed and a large puff of smoke erupted from the seal. The smoke cleared quickly and in its place was a massive shurikan easily as big as the grown man's torso. The razor sharp edges of the weapon where covered in, just as sharp, triangular metal teeth.
He placed the hollow center of the large weapon on his fist while forming a handsign with his free hand. Almost instantly, the weapon began to rotate rapidly enough to make an audible spinning sound that nearly caused a distortion of the surrounding air.
This brat had mocked him for long enough! He was going to enjoy cutting the kid up into such tiny pieces and letting the vultures of the desert feed on whatever he decided to leave behind.
Naruto quickly stopped laughing. His eyes glazed over and fluttered for a moment before blinking back open. His smile had shrunken down to a small smirk as he held up his hands and appeared to look at them as if he had never known he had them in the first place.
"It's been a while." Naruto mumbled as he clenched his hands into fists. "Since I could feel."
Now, Mizuki was very confused. This kid was beyond strange, even for this odd world they all lived in. Putting him down was probably more of a mercy than he had originally though.
Without saying a word, Mizuki dashed to the side, almost vanishing from sight before suddenly reappearing behind Naruto with his weapon poised to hack the kid in two. The speed of the spinning blade turning the very air around it into a tiny ripping hurricane.
Just before metal could meet flesh, the back of Naruto's right hand came around and slammed itself into the side of his attacker's head. There was enough force behind the hit to send the man flying to the ground and send the giant shurikan off his arm and off into the distance.
"Now that was rude." Naruto chided as he turned in an unnatural way to face the downed man. The way he moved was almost like how a cloth puppet would move, very limply. "We haven't even properly introduced ourselves."
Mizuki rubbed at his aching jaw and stared up at the oddly moving boy with a mix of shock and confusion. This kid was supposed to be just another weak civilian. Yet one haphazard backhand just sent this seasoned warrior sprawling to the ground.
Naruto placed a hand against his chest. "I am Venom." A massively wicked grin spread across the boy's face. "And I just wanted to personally thank you for bringing me and Naruto together in an unholy monstrosity of a relationship." He chuckled.
The boy hobbled closer to the man who was now slowly getting back to his feet; his eyes never leaving Naruto for a moment. He wanted to reach for another of his weapons, but did not know what would happen if he should try to do so.
"When you dropped this kid own that ravine so many years ago; you gave us both the gift of each other. And for that, I thank you. But, you also put my host in danger. And that is something I simply can not allow." Naruto's body leaned down as his grin grew wider and wider until it eventually started to get too big even for his own face. The edge of his lips continued to curl back further and further until eventually reaching the sides of his eyes.
As disturbing as that image was, what made it even worse was how Naruto's mouth was filled to the brim with an uncountable number of misshaped, sharpened fangs. The look in the boy's eye was enough to make the experienced assassin hesitate for just a moment on how poor of a decision it was to agree to this mission.
"My Naruto has not yet fully embraced what he has become." The monster controlling said boy chuckled, all color completely missing now from the eyes. "He still refuses to feed properly and just get by with the bare minimum." He stalked forward even closer. "I do not have such an issue."
Naruto's head reared back as a long, sharp red tongue wriggled it's way out from between his large jaws. The appendage dripped a nearly constant stream of saliva.
Mizuki made an attempt to stand up and flee. But as he turned to try and crawl away, Naruto's arm stretched out much longer than normal and snagged the young man's leg before violently dragging him back until he was right in front of Naruto's feet.
The adult tried to quickly get away from the offending hand to no success and before he knew it, Naruto's fang-filled face was mere inches away from his own. The boy's twisted face grinned even wider as the hand holding Mizuki in place suddenly twisting around and a terrible cracking sound came from the man's pinned leg.
"Now, it would be a real shame if I took away my hosts first true kill. So I shall say my good-bye while giving you one gift in return as a thanks for introducing us." He leaned in even closer until the tip of his nose almost touched his food's. The long slurping tongue wriggling back and forth underneath his chin.
"Your mission was a success." The monster whispered with it's grin growing even wider. "When you dropped little Naruto down that ravine; he died. He slammed into the wall before hitting the ground and his skull was busted open like an egg. His spine was all but dust as well."
A sudden explosion of vile laughter tore itself from the possessed Naruto's throat. "And if you had just been an inch or two from where you threw him off, he would still be there as nothing more than a skeleton and a memory. It was only by me wriggling into his brain and restarting everything that I even have this host." He chuckled again.
"Naruto, is dead." The voice no longer was that of the young adult. "Without me, his body would rot. His heart would stop and his brain would die."
The monster's laughter died down as Naruto's features slowly returned to normal. The boy reeled back for a moment while clutching his eyes with his hands, almost like he was caught off guard by a sudden light.
He had only been vaguely aware of Venom taking partial control over his body as his hunger had basically overridden all other thinking for a moment. But now he was back and staring down the man that had threatened him not once, but twice now.
The agony in his gut had finally reached far beyond the point of what the boy could handle. Everything that was not him, was now food. Including the man laying before him.
He didn't want to. This was all wrong. This was another human being for crying out loud. But, Naruto could not deny the pain in his stomach any longer and could not hold back the torrent of drool that began to seep from between his lips.
Once again, Mizuki tried to get away only for Naruto to tackle him back to the ground once the man started to crawl away. He easily pinned the man down on the hot sand.
He could not do this. It was so wrong.
But, this man did try to kill him. Who knows what he would do after. Maybe go after his sister next? What if he did more than just kill her?
He could not allow that! He had to make sure this man would never become a threat to his family.
There was only one way he could make sure; and it just so happened to be the same solution to his other problem.
He could no longer hold back. All of his reservations were gone.
With tears streaming down his face, Naruto let out an inhuman howl before slamming his head forward with his mouth wide open. The second his tongue touched the cloth covered neck of the man he had tackled; Naruto's teeth clamped down with enough force to instantly draw blood out in a nasty spray.
Naruto's eyes opened in shock. He had expected the taste to be disgusting, like iron and vile. Instead, the flavor that danced along his taste buds was pure bliss.
Mizuki let out a scream of pure pain as he felt each individual tooth break his skin and gouge into hard muscle and tendon. His every cell screamed as the mouthful of flesh was slowly pulled away from his body in a long stringy mass. He could hear the blood pumping into his ears as it poured out onto the hot sand.
Naruto pulled back the mouthful of flesh, tearing out more and more as he held his prey down. With a mighty rip, the meat was finally free and Naruto quickly swallowed all he could without even the thought of chewing.
The taste was beyond what he had expected. A part of him had been afraid that he would like it should he eventually give in to his base need. And he was right to be.
The closest thing he could compare the taste to was back to when he ate his first live meal. But even that paled in comparison to the bountiful flavor filling every corner of his young mouth.
The tears of regret had become those of joy as he savored every last drop of blood that touched his lips.
More. He needed more.
Naruto leapt to his feet, flipped Mizuki onto his back, easily ripped apart the cloth and chain mail the man wore, and began tearing fistfuls of flesh out of the man's abdomen. Every handful of meat vanished within his hungry maw until the man's insides were exposed.
After, just like with all of the other animals he had devoured in the past, Naruto began reaching about inside the man's open insides. He would tear out and toss aside the parts he did not like while quickly consuming the more flavorful portions of his meal.
Inhuman screams of agony tore themselves from Mizuki's throat as he could see his literal insides be yanked out and shoved into the gnashing teeth of his target. He tried to beat the kid with his fists, but every strike he made was completely ignored; as if he was doing nothing at all. Eventually, his screaming began to fade as blood started seeping into his lungs and his vision eventually blurred away to darkness.
Mizuki had long passed due to a combination of shock and blood loss; but he had screamed and shouted the entire time. Luckily for Naruto, his wails of despair blended in perfectly with the still ongoing sounds of combat. Not a soul came to see what had made a man make such horrific sounds.
After eating his fill of the man's innards, Naruto finally made his way back to the man's head. He sniffed loudly. The delicious scent of the ultimate price filled his nostrils and enticed him to snatched the dead man's head with both of his hands.
With a mix of blood and saliva dripping from his mouth, Naruto gave a snarl as he swiftly yanked the head of the carcass in half. Leaving the juicy brain perfectly intact.
He tore his favorite food out and quickly went to work devouring all he could, leaving not even the faintest hint of flavor behind. Even going to so far as to lick the inside of the corpse's skull clean of any remaining brain fluids.
Once Naruto had finally licked his fingers and chin clean, he looked down at his hands in silent contemplation.
He finally did it. He finally gave in and threw away the last thing that separated him from a real monster. But, he did not feel as regretful for his actions as he had expected. Maybe it was because of his inner demon, or that his meal had threatened him. Whatever the case may be, Naruto felt surprisingly good after finishing his meal.
He felt, normal.
The nearly constant pain of hunger that he had dealt with for so many years had gone completely. He no longer felt the need to gorge himself on anything he could lay his hands upon. Naruto almost wanted to cry at finally no longer feeling that constant pain.
'This is how it was always meant to be.' Venom's demented voice cooed in Naruto's ear. 'We are now more as one than we had ever been before.' His words did their job in distracting Naruto from thinking too much about what he had done. 'Feels good right? Feels normal. Like it was always meant to be this way. Remember, we are so much more than human now. They are just food to us.'
The sounds of continued conflict suddenly reminded Naruto that he was not alone.
"I need to hide this." His tone was blank and held no sign of fear or anxiety one would expect a newly made murderer to have.
'Leave it be.' Venom suggested. 'Let the world know what we can do and what we are!'
Naruto ignored the monster and began to look around. The smoke had finally begun to clear away and it would not be long before the blood soaked Naruto and his meal would be noticed by all.
In a panic, Naruto grabbed as much of the remains as possible in both of his arms. With a mighty throw, he tossed the corpse onto a nearby rooftop, smashing it into the wall a few times before finally making it over the edge. There was no way he would be able to clean up the blood splatter on the wall, so Naruto just hoped nobody would notice for at least as long as he was in the village.
Naruto quickly shifted around the sand to hide the blood and bits of gore that he refused to eat before licking at his clothes to clean up as much of the stuff as possible. Since that clearly not going to work, Naruto turned his clothes inside out and was distraught to find that the thick blood stains had soaked through the fabric.
He had to think of something fast. No, faster than fast, right now.
'Calm down,' Venom chuckled. 'Watch.' A mass of black tentacles suddenly erupted out from Naruto's back and quickly yanked and pulled at his clothes until they were nothing more than shreds of fabric on the sandy ground.
Naruto quickly used his hands to cover his man parts as the tentacles scattered the cloth pieces and buried them under the sand. Once that job was done, Naruto's extra limbs started to gently wrap themselves around thin frame. Once each tentacle was tightly bound to their host, they began to flatten and spread out until they covered the same amount of skin his clothes once had.
The tentacles quickly began to move and shift until they had the exact same breathing room and texture as his past clothes. And just a moment later, the fake clothes had even become the same color as his shredded clothes.
Naruto looked down in amazement right before a thought entered his head.
"Could you always do that?"
'We are now one.' Venom quickly replied. 'There are now so many things that we can do that we never could do before.'
"Then how did you know we could do this if we were never one before?" Naruto's squinted into the empty air in front of him. He must have looked silly, standing in the middle of an empty street, arguing at nothing.
'Be silent.' Venom warned hastily as the smoke had finally cleared. Naruto quickly dodged around the side of one of the nearby buildings to avoid been immediately seen.
Naruto stood around for a bit before suddenly hearing his name being shouted out. The boy quickly rounded the corner to see everyone still alive and well, but with a few cuts and bruises they did not have earlier.
"You all did great!" Gai praised his team while the small group stood by the side. He complimented each of his students while also letting them know that there was always room for improvement.
Naruto's three other guards walked around him in a tight circle; each scanning every visible inch of the boy for any signs of injury or trauma. Through the gaps in between the soldiers, Naruto could see perpetrators of this whole event all tied up and unconscious.
Or, they at least looked unconscious and Naruto could not smell yet smell if any where actually dead or not.
"Looks like you made it out just fine." Temari finally spoke up after watching her date be looked over like an antique in a shop. It was somewhat amusing seeing the boy pay no attention to the three trained assassins looking him over and simply not caring.
She could not help looking him over for just a moment as well. The boy did not have even the tiniest scratch on him or even a single hair out of place. A small part of her started to get a little angry. She was covered in sand and got a few cuts and bruises from the fight; nothing serious, and here was this little helpless civilian that didn't even have a speck of dirt on his collar
"Yeah," Naruto looked away with an ashamed expression. He had a good idea what such a battle-hardened warrior like her might be thinking about a scrawny little guy like him. Why did she have to be so much taller than him too?
"Looks like our date is over." Naruto said while as his body guards finally decided to leave the kid alone and go about identifying those that had attacked them. It looked like a combination of both ninja from Naruto's own home village and Temari's working together.
Just another thing to expect in the world of politics.
Temari gave a short nod. "I feel that the time we have spent together has been enough for me to come to a conclusion on the matter of you becoming a possible marriage candidate." Her tone had shifted to that of a political figure.
It took Naruto just a moment to see what the woman was doing. She was turning her obvious rejection into a clearly political statement. Having Naruto's bodyguards around as well as Gai's team gave the pair a number of witnesses that would be able to give accurate statements to prevent any political upheaval the pairs unwillingness to marry might cause.
The girl stared at Naruto for a moment with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh!" Naruto quickly realized that it was his turn to continue the act. He quickly strained his posture before giving Temari a low bow. "I too feel that our time spent together was very educational." Naruto spoke as if he had rehearsed these very words just moments ago. "But I must unfortunately refuse you as a possible candidate for marriage. I do hope that my harsh decision does not create any further tension between our two villages."
A smirk graced Temari's pretty face before she too bowed towards the boy. "I understand and respect your decision. I will confer with the Kazekage of the village and inform him that there is to be no marriage between the two of us. I will also do my part to insure that our two villages remain allies."
The two stood straight and looked into each others' eyes before reaching out a hand towards the other. They gripped the other's hand tightly before giving a single hard shake. The pair did not break eye contact until their hands were back to their sides.
"Ok," Naruto finally broke the strained eye contact and looked over to everyone else. "You all saw and heard that, right?"
Gai's team, sans Neji, nodded while Naruto's guards just stared at the boy.
Naruto gave a curt nod. "Good. I don't want dad or any of the council getting all uppity about this whole thing." He mumbled.
Temari quickly parted to go speak to her father and left the Konoha crowd to do whatever they pleased. Naruto was just happy that this whole thing was over as well as no longer having that awful pain in his gut.
At least for a while.
The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully. Naruto and Gai's team decided to make the most out of what time they had left to explore the village, shop around, and generally enjoy themselves in that way only young adults can.
Naruto got to really know the young ninja and was even able to get Neji to say a few words. The blond remembered to quietly ask what the Hyuuga boy's problem was, but was only told that there were issues at home by Tenten.
The girls was always the most level headed of the group and was able to not only keep the always excited and energetic Rock Lee under some semblance of control, but also force Neji outside of his stoic and bland personality on occasion.
Naruto had nothing but admiration for the entire team. Each member complimented the others in both combat and in personality. He could see why he heard so many of the older shinobi speak so softly about their old teams as if they were family.
Because they were just that. A family.
The young civilian could clearly see the familial bonds between the the teammates that were not unlike those he had with his own family. And Naruto could not be happier about that.
To him, nothing was more important. So, forming such a bond with teammates just meant that there was a level of dedication, protection, and efficiency that could not be replicated by any haphazardly put together group of shinobi.
It was just one of many examples of what the Village Hidden in the Leaves did to elevate itself above the others in terms of military might and population happiness.
Made Naruto proud of his home, and of the man that ran it.