Lethal Shinobi
Chapter 8
Naruto and his little group left the Village Hidden within the Sands the day after his and Temari's date. There was no point in him remaining after the agreement of not marrying, and staying any longer could potentially cause some political tension that would just be best avoided.
The trip home was an uneventful, but pleasant one. Without that constant nagging hunger pestering him, Naruto was able to let his mind wander. It allowed him to think so much more clearly and observe everything around him without worry.
The only thing that even really bothered the lad during the entire trip was the bothersome heat of the desert, and the fact that Venom felt the need to remind his host that the pains of hunger would eventually return unless he continued to eat more of his own kind.
Naruto should have found it strange that this information did not bother him. He should have questioned why he did not respond with such horror after eating his first human as he had so many years ago with that small squirrel.
But, he simply did not. After everything was said and done, Naruto really did not feel much of anything towards what he had willingly done. Maybe it was all the previous killing of random animals for food he had done for so many years? Maybe it was the fact that the man he had disemboweled had, in fact, become a meal?
Whatever the reason may be, Naruto did feel any remorse for his actions nor did he fear when he would need to feed again.
'He deserved it.' Venom would whisper in his ear whenever the possibility of doubt came close to the young man's mind. After having the taste of his favorite food after so many years, the creature feared that his host would regret his choice and never properly feed again. Venom had to insure that his second favorite food would still be supplied to him.
'We are so much stronger than before.' His name befit the words he wriggled into Naruto's young mind. 'We can no protect our home without fear. Nobody would ever expect the weak son of the Hokage to host a terrifying monster.' He would occasional whisper. 'Let all who threaten us feel our teeth tear them apart.'
The monster's near constant chatting was really starting to annoy Naruto. He knew all of this already. He was more than ready to protect his family once he was back home.
He understood that, considering the world he lived in, to protect his family and home he would have to resort to some outright gruesome things. If his little stint in the sandy village was anything to go by.
But that still did not stop Naruto from beginning to question Venom's true motives. The creature was always far too excited to help protect Naruto's family, but in the most brutal ways possible. Either that or constantly wanting to be fed.
Even after having been with the monster for so many years, Naruto could never really tell what it actually wanted. Sure, it said it wanted the same things he did, but even the most brain dead of fools could see that was not entirely true.
Naruto truly wanted to know what Venom really wanted and even had the highest hope that it really did just want a safe home and a constant supply of food. But, just the way it would talk, laugh, and whisper to him always made Naruto question the beast by at least a small margin whenever it talked to him.
Hell, Naruto still did not even know what the creature really looked like or what being completely bonded really meant. The thought that he would be potentially consumed by the monster itself did enter his mind a time or two. But the overwhelming fear of no longer being capable of protecting his family and home prevented Naruto from directly confronting the demon. As far as he knew, the monster would simply take control over him if he should ever get too far out of line.
His recent cannibalistic action had really got Naruto thinking about his inside friend and what it really was and wanted. This made him silent. Very silent. Both outside and internally to Venom.
Something that concerned the beast.
'What troubles you?' Venom asked one evening. The group had made a small camp and were eating a simple meal around the campfire. It was a quiet night.
Naruto did not respond to the creature and simply continued to eat his meal in silence. After eating, everyone went to bed while those who were to keep watch remained by the fire.
Naruto entered his tent, changed into his evening wear and sat on top of his sleeping bag.
"We need to talk." He stated in as quiet a tone as possible. He really did not need anybody overhearing his conversation.
'About?' There was the smallest hint of fear in Venom's voice. Having a host that would reject him was a scary thought. He would need to control him completely and constantly try to suppress Naruto's mind if the boy decided he was done with the creature. Venom knew Naruto well enough to be able to mimic his mannerisms perfectly, but having to deal with Naruto constantly trying to override his control would eventually cause his control to break and reveal everything to everyone.
Needless to say, Venom wanted to avoid all of that.
"You." Naruto sighed. "Just, what are you? Why are you helping me? Why do you keep trying to make me kill things?" He tried to keep his voice down despite the urgency and demand it still had.
While he could not see it, Naruto could tell that the monster just gave a shrug. 'I already told you. I am Venom. A demon that was sealed away countless ages ago that was released when you hit my prison. I-'
"I know all that already." Naruto was already getting impatient with the thing. "I'm asking why? Why do you want to do what I want and never ask for anything but food in return? What do you really want?" He had to take a calming breath lest his voice get too loud. "I will refuse to eat until you tell me everything."
Venom was silent for a moment.
'My kind believes that we should control our hosts completely.' The creature suddenly stated. 'The moment we bond with a host, we are expected to shove their own personality down and take over their body and mind. We use our host to gorge ourselves before eventually consuming our host completely and moving on to the next.' He paused to allow Naruto to absorb his words before continuing further. 'Sometimes, we will find a host that matches with us in compatibility. A host that we can live inside without needing to consume them. Having a compatible host allows us to use all of our strength without restriction and frees us from the worry of having to find a new home.'
"Is that what you are planning?" Naruto's voice was low. He honestly did not want to believe that Venom was planning on eventually eating him as well as everyone he knew and cared for. But he knew that if that were to be the case, he would need to find out some way of stopping the monster. Even if that meant ending his own life in the process.
'No.' Venom stated. 'I am not like others of my kind. I do not believe that my kind and our hosts should fight. I believe it best for us to work together to meet each other's goals. Yes, compromises must be made, but that is what is required for both us and out hosts to live long and prosperous lives.' His explanation was sound.
"Then what is your goal? You already know mine. All you ever want to do is eat and kill. There must be something else that you have in mind."
'You are right in thinking that there is more that I want than just food. More than just the home I have found in you.' The creature gave an almost annoyed sigh. 'I want to finally rid this world of a mistake that I once made long, long ago.'
"What kind of mistake?" Naruto asked wearily. Anything something like Venom would consider as a mistake must be something really, really bad. Or good, depending on your point of view.
'One that has caused a lot of suffering and death for an untold amount of time. I push you to consume so that we may bond faster. So that we may become stronger faster.' Venom explained quickly. 'I do not know when my mistake my rear it's ugly head again, but I wish for both me and my host to be ready to face it when it appears.'
Naruto did not immediately respond. He was not sure if he could really believe Venom's words. They made since to explain his rash behavior, but it all could just as easily be a ruse to gain Naruto's trust.
"Then why do you feel the need to whisper things to me? To try and make me do what I don't want to?"
'All to make us stronger!' Was Venom's rushed response. It's eagerness to convince it's host of it's intentions was obvious even to Naruto; making the boy even more cautious of the creature. But he had a feeling that pressing the issue any further than it already had been would yield no more than the current results. He would have to find another way to get more factual details from the monster.
For now, Naruto would continue as is. He would be a fool to say that the monster was not useful to him for his own goals, so he saw no need to try and reject it completely just yet.
He did not saying else and decided to finally lay down and go to sleep.
After a little less than a full day of travel, the group finally arrived home. Naruto had to admit, seeing the massive walls he was used to feeling so safe in from the outside was almost daunting the first time. The tall stone walls looming in the distance; representing home for those returning to within them, or an unbreakable fortress for those that wished to invade.
The only thing preventing the village from appearing like an actual fortress were the constantly open massive wooden doors. A friendly greeting to all if nothing else.
Once everyone made it through the gigantic doorway and presented their ID's to the guards, they all went their own separate ways. Of course, not without saying a kind goodbye to one another and hoping that they all might eventually meet again under less serious circumstances.
The ninja all went to go present their report of the mission directly to the Hokage himself. The man having requested immediate knowledge of the events as soon as the party were to arrive back home.
Naruto just went home, happy to finally be back and to no longer have to worry about that stupid marriage thing. Upon arriving back to his home, Naruto was greeted by his loving mother and sister and spent the rest of the day at home either going on about his little trip or just relaxing.
All the way over at the Hokage's Tower, the group of shinobi were giving their oral reports on the mission. Of course, the less experienced Gai's Team went first and were quickly dismissed right after. Of course, Gai was going to give them his own lecture and discuss the events of the mission since there were still many things that his young students could improve upon.
After they had left, it was time for the true bodyguards to give their report. And each member did just that. Each gave their report one at a time and right after, would leave the office to go rest after a successful mission.
Minato, while conflicted about the political impact the lack of a marriage will bring, was pleased that at least neither side appeared to be very upset about the end result. At least in the case of his son and the woman involved.
He was about to get back to the pile of paperwork he had been working on before the mission debriefing when the tired man noticed that the last of the shinobi was still standing at attention in the middle of his office.
Minato eyes the masked figure for a moment before putting his pen down and leaning forward, placing his elbows on the desk in front of him. He did not say a word. He had dismissed them all, yet one of his most trusted shinobi had directly disobeyed the order and remained.
Obviously, considering the order and what the ninja was doing, this was not a hostile action. But, for one of these elite and loyal warriors to disobey a direct order must mean that this was something of the utmost importance.
Minato's eyes narrowed.
The shinobi took a single step forward before bowing low and remaining in the bowed stance for a good few seconds before straightening up.
"Speak." Minato ordered. His full attention was on the soldier before him. His eyes focused on every single minuscule movement the warrior made. His ears deaf to all but the sounds that left the ninja' mouth. Even the very scent of the room left the Hokage's mind as every single one of his senses became fully dedicated to this most loyal of members of his military force.
"I have sensitive information in regards to the mission..." The shinobi's voice was clearly male, and held as little emotion as possible. This was not because the person in question had none, but it went with the face concealing mask he wore. A lack of full identity allowed the person to feel less personal about whatever mission they were one; especially one that might involve the harm or death of a comrade or loved one.
Minato did not respond and just sat as motionless as a statue, waiting for the man to speak.
"...In regards to your son."
"I still can't believe it." Kiba bemoaned as he dumped the crumbs from his lunch box into the open mouth of his canine companion. He and his friends were hanging out at their regular spot during the lunch period and had just finished listening to Naruto's experience in a different land.
"What?" Naruto asked with his mouth full. "It's not like it was the first time I've ever been attacked before."
"He is clearly not referring to that every day occurrence." Sasuke stated with an eye roll, finishing his own lunch. "Why do I continue to hang out with the two dumbest morons this village has to offer?"
"Because without us, you have no personality." Naruto explained with a smug smile, making the Uchiha just roll his eyes again.
Kiba let out a sharp laugh before continuing with his complaining. "He's right though. I don't mean that same old junk."
Naruto gave his friend a confused glance.
"Ugh," Now Kiba rolled his eyes. "I'm talking about you letting go of such a hotty." He clarified. "I just can't believe that you would just up and say no to marrying someone like her and miss out on that hot bod and all that power too."
"How do you even know if she was attractive or not?" Naruto quickly retorted.
Kiba gave the boy a knowing smirk. "Come on now my dear, sweet, innocent Naruto." Kiba's voice had become like that of an instructor.
Naruto furrowed hos brow at his friends demeaning words. He knew when he was being picked on. It wasn't his fault that he had trouble noticing the obvious.
"Have you ever seen an unattractive kunoichi?" Kiba asked with a raised eyebrow. "Even if they've been scarred in battle, every single kunoichi out there is hotter than Hell."
"You have such a way with words." Naruto groaned. Of course his friend would be more interested in the girl he met than the attempt on his life. Again though, it was not like assassination attempts on him had not happened before in the past.
"Did you at least get a picture of her for us?" Kiba asked, ignoring Naruto's retort. He had hoped here at least some sort of perverted tale, but knew he would be left with nothing considering who his friend was.
"Why would I have a picture of her?" Naruto asked in as honest a tone as any person could make.
"Oh I don't know." Kiba responded sarcastically. "Maybe because she was hot?"
"Do I really need to tell you just how creepy it would be for me to just ask this girl; who isn't even interested by the way, for a picture of herself?" Naruto lectured. "I may not want to marry the girl, but that doesn't mean I want to freak her out and maybe cause a chain reaction that could lead to a a full-out war between our two villages." He crossed his arms. "Did you think about that?"
"Not at all." Kiba responded with a massive grin, Akamaru giving a small yip as well. He leaned back against the large tree and gave a sigh. "Besides, nothing really happened while you were away. It was all just the same either way."
Kiba paused for a moment. "I think they are building another add on to the school though." He stated offhandedly. Not really much news about if that was the most exciting thing Kiba could think to bring up.
"Unfortunately that means 'they' are now looking for a new lunch spot." Sasuke mumbled in an almost worried tone while trying doing his best to avoid looking at a small group of students walking out of the main building.
"Who?" Naruto was quick to ask. Sasuke was normally cool-headed and Naruto had never heard the boy refer to anyone that was not a member of his family with anything but indifference. So for the lad to have a sense of concern in his voice when revering to whomever, instantly caught Naruto's attention.
"Well, uh..." Kiba tried to come up with an easy to explain method of telling Naruto the upcoming issue, as he too had noticed the same small group leaving the nearby building.
"A bunch of bothersome delinquents that do whatever they please whenever they please." Sasuke stated bluntly while giving the smallest gesture towards the slowly approaching group. Said group was made up of nothing but girls; all wearing attire that basically stated that they were in the ninja education classes.
"Really?" Naruto gave his friends an accusing look. "The two heirs of two powerful clans of a powerful village are scared of a bunch of punks?"
"It's not as simple as that." Sasuke was quick to say, his voice lower than before. He hoped the group did not hear Naruto's loud voice as they got closer and closer.
"Yeah," Kiba agreed in a whisper. "They are all strong. Really strong. And they are really really good at shinobi techniques. I've seen one take down one of the instructors within just a few minutes." Kiba too, gestured towards the incoming group. He hoped beyond hope that his dense friend would notice them quickly enough to keep his voice down.
"So why hasn't anyone done anything about them?" Naruto asked with his arms crossed. "No matter how bad they are, eventually someone should have put them in their place by now."
Kiba, finally tired of his friend provoking fate, quickly covered the loud-mouth with his hand and responded in the same hushed tone. "Like I said, they are scary strong. I man strong enough that their own families are afraid of them. And a few of them are from some very prominent and powerful families as well."
'What wimps.' Venom mused from within. 'Afraid of a few punks? Such strong and upcoming shinobi we have here.' It said sarcastically with a chuckle.
Before Naruto could tear his friends hand away and tell him off for doing something like that, Kiba instantly pulled his hand away and began to look as busy as possible doing...something with Akamaru.
Sasuke had opened his book once again and was so focused on every single written letter, that Naruto doubted anything less than a blow to the head would be able to tear him away from his reading.
'Humph.' Venom grunted as Naruto finally noticed that strange tingling coming from the back of his skull.
He turned and noticed several slim, yet obviously well muscled legs standing directly behind him. Naruto felt an overwhelming dread suddenly wash over him as he slowly looked up at who the closest pair of legs belonged to.
A tall girl sneered down at the boy. Her hair was an odd very dark blue and her eyes were the familiar pale of the Hyuuga family. Her skin was almost as pale as Sasuke's and the rest of her with lithe with defined muscles. Her eyes held a steely glare that forced the boy to look and stare directly at them. The girl wore a baggy tan jacket with the sleeves visibly torn off, baring her arms to the world.
An odd outfit for sure, but compared to the other things Naruto had seen some ninja wear, it was pretty tame.
"Um," Naruto got to his feet. "Hi." He smiled widely. Looking at the rest of the group, it was composed completely of girls all wearing outfits ranging from the practical to the almost obscene.
The Hyuuga girl gave the boy a once over before an almost sinister smirk graced her lovely face.
"Your the Hokage's kid, aren't you?" She leaned forward a bit. "The kid born from the most famious ninja that can't do a damn thing?"
Naruto's smile instantly faltered. "Hey." His tone offended. "Where did that come from? I haven't done anything to you."
The girl gave a fake shocked expression and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my!" She exaggerated. "You are absolutely right. It's not like as if you and your boyfriends were not just talking about all of us." Her eyes shifted over to both Kiba and Sasuke, who were doing their best to simply vanish away.
"It's not their fault." Naruto said standing in between the girl and his friends. "They were just telling me who you are. I never knew about you all until just now."
"Should we do something?" Sakura whispered into Ino's ear. She and the rest of her little group had watched the scene unfold. Usually, the delinquent group targeted the students from the ninja side of the school.
"Did you hear that girls?" The girl glanced back at her cohorts. "This idiot didn't know who we are." She sounded like she was about to burst out into laughter.
She cracked her knuckles while giving Naruto a very threatening look. "Why don't we give him a good demonstration of who we are."
Naruto put his hands up and began to slowly back away. "That won't be a good idea." Naruto warned, recalling what happened to the last person that threatened his life. He was more than aware that Venom would yank away control if it felt it's host was in danger, and Naruto really did not want the deaths of a few school students on his hands.
"Why?" This time one of the other girls decided to speak up. "Think daddy will come and save you? The worse that we will get is a little scolding and some extra after school work." She chuckled. "And your two losers won't do a damn thing either."
The girls shot the pair a threatening glare. Instead of bulking at the threatening gaze like was expected, both boys stood up and squared up to the group. Even Akamaru got up and faced the girls.
"Do you really think that?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow. He blinked and his once onyx eyes shifted into the infamous red and black Sharingan the Uchiha were so feared for.
"We don't care about what our parents will say about this. We aren't about to let you just pick on our friend like that!" Kiba interjected quickly.
"This is turning into some student drama junk isn't it?" Sakura leaned in to Ino, failing to notice the blond haired girl glued to the scene before her. "Should we do something?"
The other girls all squared up and formed a line to either side of their apparent leader. "It doesn't matter what family you idiots came from or how good your training has been; all of us can easily take down two useless failures and a wimpy rich kid."
"I-I'm not actually rich." Naruto quickly corrected, though no one heard him.
The tension on the air was palpable as both sides stared each other down. It felt like minutes before one of the girls charged forward and slammed into Kiba with a hard shoulder slam, sending him sailing backwards. This was enough to drive the other girls into rushing forward and attacking the boys. Two went straight for Naruto.
Most of the girls went after both Sasuke and Kiba, going two-on-one for each. Both sides went at it as hard as they could without resorting to any techniques that might get them all into much deeper trouble.
Instead of going for any sort of attack, the two girls appeared to be more aimed at grabbing Naruto more than anything else. The boy was able to surprise them by avoiding most of their attempts, but in order for him to keep his secret intact, Naruto had to eventually let the girl's catch him.
The Hyuuga girl gave a smirk as she watched Naruto struggle against her strong friends. She slowly walked towards the boy as she noticed her other friends grab the other two boys.
'We are going to swallow her skull if she dares to touch us.' Venom snarled. 'We will show all who is truly to be feared.'
"Now I," The girl jerked head from side to side to loosen the joints. "...Am going to show you why you should know me. And why you need to be very, very afraid of what I can do."
Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto could see several members of the academy staff running over. Obviously a fight breaking out between ninja-in-training was going to get a lot of attention. The only problem was that he was not sure if they would get here in time to save the girl from a grizzly fate.
Chakra began to visibly form around the girl's hands as she got into the familiar fighting stance of her family. The blue energy began to twist and swirl around until it began to appear like a blue fire.
The moment Naruto's blue eyes saw the signs of fire, something weld up inside him that he had not felt in a very long time.
Fear.
A feeling of absolute terror suddenly overcame Naruto. And he could feel it all stemming from the monster inside him.
Venom was screaming inside Naruto's mind. Roaring for his host to flee as far from the flames as possible. The boy could feel his insides squirm around as the very creature itself began to try and tear itself away from its own host just to possibly escape the fire.
Before Naruto could even fully understand the creature's strange response, the Hyuuga girl thrust a palm forward. The center of the burning hand was heading straight for Naruto's chest when that overwhelming fear quickly shifted into an even stronger rage.
With a surprising amount of force, Naruto was able to push away on of the girls. With his now free arm, Naruto reached forward and was able to grab onto the attacking girl's wrist and stop her dead in her tracks.
Everyone around them came to a sudden halt and stared at what they saw with wide eyes. The Hyuuga girl Naruto had grabbed looked just as shocked if not even more so. Even the instructors that had been running over and frozen in their steps at witnessing the normal Naruto halt this apparently very feared young ninja-in-training.
Naruto glared hard at the girl, whose eyes were now flicking back and forth from Naruto's own steely blue orbs to his hand still gripping her arm. He wanted to yell at the girl or even hit her back for what she had planned to do. Venom was even condoning such action, and was even offering his own ideas on how to properly punish the girl. Most involving eating different parts of her.
Slowly, Naruto began to notice that the girl's skin started to become redder and redder until her entire body was a bright burning red. He could also hear her breathing speed up and could feel her start to shake.
Naruto's anger shifted more into concern almost instantly. Sure, he wanted to scare her and let her know he was not just going to let her hurt him. But the poor girl looked like she was about to pass out.
"A-Are you ok?" The kind-hearted boy asked as he leaned his face in just a little bit closer. Almost forgetting what the girl had just tried to do, he reached up with his other hand, the girl's eyes instantly snapped to it upon it entering her field of view.
She started to shake even more as the boy's hand slowly approached her face. She wanted to close her eyes, or turn her head, or even tear her arm off and run away. But her legs would not listen to her screaming mind.
When the hand finally placed itself gently against her forehead, the girl's expression turned to one of complete terror and she finally got enough of her senses back to yank her arm away from Naruto's grasp.
She slowly backed away from the now concerned looking boy. Her breathing had turned into a steady pant as she looked from Naruto's face to the place his hand had once been holding, her skin growing an even darker shade of red, if that was even possible.
Without saying another word, the odd girl turned and ran back towards the school's main building. Seeing their supposed leader flee, the other girls dropped the rest of the boys and ran after her, all shouting words of concern.
Something like this had never happened before, and the shocked faces all staring at Naruto were proof enough of that. Even the instructors were not really sure about what to do, besides taking both Kiba and Sasuke to the infirmary for the cuts and bruises they got from their little scuffle.
It was only when the teachers finally reached the boys and began to escort them away did all three boys realize the trouble they were going to in back at their respective homes.
"What was that all about?" Kiba whispered as the academy nurse placed a bandage over a nasty cut on the back of his hand.
"No clue." Was Naruto's only response as he too was being looked over by a medical professional. "Who was that anyway?"
"Hinata of the Hyuuga clan." Sasuke responded right before suddenly sucking in air through his gritted teeth as another nurse applied a cotton ball soaked in disinfectant to one of his few cuts.
"Any idea why she is like that?" Naruto inquired as doctor requested Naruto take off his shirt for a closer examination. Not really thinking about it, Naruto went along with the doctor's request.
"I heard that she was picked on a lot when she was little cuz of her eyes and family." Kiba explained. "I also heard that she wasn't treated so well at home either."
"I knew her in back then." Sasuke interjected. "She was a pretty shy girl, would hardly talk to anyone and would kind of just stand off to the side and try to draw as little attention as possible."
"I guess this is what happens when push comes to shove." Naruto mused. Whatever bullying that the girl must have gone through as a child but have been really terrible for her to apparently change personalities so drastically.
Having finally ran to the point she no longer could anymore, Hinata slammed her back against the nearest wall and slid all the way down to the floor. She was still panting heavily when her friends finally showed up, all shouting words of concern.
Not a single one of their words reached Hinata's ears however, as she was much too focused on remembering the feel of that boy's strong grip on her arm. And the feeling of his soft hand on her forehead. And the sound of her heart beat loudly in her ears. It was like her chest was in pain, but in a strange and fluttery way.
The last time she had touched a boy without it being a fist was back when she was a little girl, and even then it had been her stern and unforgiving father. Never before had any boy touched her in two separate fashions like that so quickly. Let alone actually touch her at all.
Even worse, the way he had held her there had forced Hinata to look at the boy's face for a lot longer than she ever had planed to. She was able to see every detail of that boy's face, from how hard his serious expression was, to the sudden shift into earnest concern.
Just remembering how his hard blue eyes almost instantly softened made Hinata's face bright up once again. Without thinking, the girl covered her red face with her hands to shield whatever embarrassing expression she was making from her friends.
"Just what did he do to you?!" Finally one of the girls' words reached Hinata's red ears. Said girl looked up at her surrounding friends, her face still beat red and a completely humiliating expression etched all over her pretty face.
"I-I..." She looked back down at her hands. "I don't know." The longer Hinata looked at her concerned friends faces, slowly, the angrier she started to become. This rich brat comes out of the blue, questions who she was and then does something strange to her? There was no way on heaven or Earth that she was just going to let that kid go without a serious beat-down.
She shook her head before jumping up to her feet, anger etched over her lovely face. "Whatever that guy did to me," She paused to re-think her words. "I'm going to make him tell me what trick he used on me. Then I'm going to beat him so bad that he will never remember how he did it as well as beat him a second time to teach him to never embarrass me like that again."
The other girls all cheered at their boss's returned fervor and quickly began to fill her in on what happened the moment she ran away. They also decided to tell her whatever other personal information they could about the boy to her, just in case she ever wanted to give him a good ass kicking when not in the middle of school.
She was going to make sure that Naruto knew exactly who she was.
Naruto and his friends were able to go back to class and finish the school day without any other hassle. They all received a good scolding from the teachers after their little trip to the infirmary. All three boys knew that it was only the start of their worries, as they still had to deal with their parents scolding them once they got home.
They thought they were prepared for it, but none of them were truly ready for the verbal beat down each of their respective parents had to offer them. Needless to say, that evening was not a very quiet one for any of them.
It was not until the next morning did Naruto's mom finally calm down a little. The amount of anger that woman produced after hearing that her son had been in a fight at school was enough to make Venom stay silent for the entirety of the night. Naruto was even able to garner a sympathetic look from his sister before she too quickly escaped lest her mother's wrath be turned to her.
The next morning was a very quiet one for the family. All were afraid that Kushina might still be upset about the whole affair. Everyone, including her beloved husband had to basically walk on eggshells before leaving at the first available opportunity.
The happy and calm demeanor the woman exude the whole morning did nothing to ease anyone's worries.
Naruto had to let out a breath he did not know he had been holding once he was safely outside of his home. He quickly met up with Kiba and Sasuke before all three started heading to the academy. There were only a few months left before graduation and both Sasuke and Kiba were more than ready to finally get out into the world and show just what they were capable of.
Of course Naruto, being in the civilian side of the academy, still had about a year or two of schooling left before his graduation. So while his friends already knew what they were going to do with their lives, he still had no real idea. But, he was had some time to figure that out.
The rest of the morning went about as normal. Lessons went by until lunch and the day continued without issue right after.
The same for the next few days.
Every day was as boring and normal as possible, for the next few weeks.
It was right in the middle of the last class of the day did that cycle finally break. And it could not have been in any more worse of a way.
Right in the middle of taking down notes, Naruto almost let out a cry of pain as his entire body was suddenly wracked with the worst hunger he had ever experienced.
He knew he had been slacking off his feedings since returning from his trip, but he had never been hit with such an intense hunger like this so far out of nowhere. He had not even felt the slightest tingle of needing to feed before this pain tore itself through him.
Naruto doubled over his desk and barely stopped himself from smacking his face right into his half-written notebook. He grit his teeth loudly as the saliva started to build up in his mouth. He had to stare hard at the paper in front of him lest he decide one of his classmates looked like a decent snack.
"Why is this happening now?" Naruto whispered through grit teeth. He hoped no one could hear him. Luckily, since he sat in the back of the class, so no one was able to see just what the kid was doing.
'Eating something good satisfies our hunger longer,' Venom explained. 'But that also means that it comes back even worse than before.'
"I really wish you had told me that a lot sooner." Naruto tried to straighten his posture and act like nothing was bothering him. The large amount of sweat starting to drip down his face, however, told a completely different story.
He just needed to hold out for just a few more minutes. If he could, then he could find some stray cat or something and sate at least a small part of his hunger.
If only there was some way he could just find some terrible person to eat instead. To be honest, he knew a few people that were in desperate need of a good disemboweling, but he simply was not able to get to them without raising some unnecessary attention.
The rest of the class went by in a blur to the young man as all of his attention went to trying to restrain the urge to sink his teeth into the neck of the student sitting in front of him.
Naruto quickly packed his things and rushed out of the school in a stumbled daze. He needed to find food, and he needed to find some now!
He wandered around the village for any signs of something to chow down on, but nothing showed up. Not even the smallest songbird was willing to be anywhere near wherever Naruto was.
The boy's vision began to blur as he started to stumble about. Saliva began to drip uncontrollably down his chin and his face began to pale.
The more he continued onward, the more and more people around him began to appear more like cattle than actual humans. He could not afford to eat anyone here in his home town, but it appeared that he would not really have much of a choice in the matter.
He was about to just simply give in, when a small movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was the swish of a fluffy tail ducking away into one of the nearby streets.
Naruto only saw a potential meal and quickly hobbled over to it. Once on the street, Naruto caught sight of the same tail and what it belonged to; a large fluffy white cat. The small animal was walking along the top of a fence and was paying Naruto no mind at all.
Finally! A meal.
It would not be a lot, but it was at least something he could use to ease the pain. Without thinking, Naruto lunged for the creature only for it to jump down from the fence and bolt away as fast as it's little legs could carry it.
Naruto slammed into the fence and pushed himself away almost instantly before hobbling in the direction the cat had ran. He followed until a certain scent grabbed his immediate attention.
Instantly, the thought of the cat vanished form his mind as the scent invaded his nostrils and forced him to veer off into an unknown direction. The scent was one Naruto could not really describe beyond being almost bitter to the nose.
The more he inhaled the scent, the clearer Naruto's mind felt. His vision returned and even the hyper salivating he was doing had slowed down drastically. He had finally found something that he could eat, he just had to locate exactly where it was. And his nose was leading him right to it.
The boy eventually found himself in front of a closed shop; the sign above the display window clearly identifying it as some sort of bakery or sweets shop. There was a small sign on the door with an explanation for why the store was closed early as well as an apology for the inconvenience.
Naruto did not read either and was focused completely on the scent coming from within the store; his mouth dripping with a need to taste whatever was making that engrossing scent.
He had to get in!
If whatever the store held was enough that the scent was able to control his hunger even just a little bit, then there was no telling what actually eating it would do for him.
Without thinking, Naruto walked around to the back of the store and found the rear entrance with ease. Seeing that not a soul was around, he reached for the door handle to find it was unsurprisingly locked tight. Not a problem for the demon host as with a simple jerk of his hand, he broke the simple lock and had walked into the back room of the shop.
Naruto made his way through the small shop, following the scent as it grew stronger and stronger. He made his way to the main section of the shop and quickly spotted what had been making the delectable scent.
It was an entire wall of shelves lined with an enormous variety of chocolates. Ranging from cakes to candies with multiple different fillings, almost every kind of chocolate imaginable was present before our young protagonist.
Naruto stared at the wall of delicacies for just a moment before charging forward with both arms outstretched. The instant his hands touched something, his fingers would close around it and his hands would bring it up to shove it directly into his mouth.
The sudden explosion of flavor was almost as overwhelming as his previous meal and he could instantly feel the pains of hunger ebbing away. After swallowing a mouthful of the many chocolates, Naruto would reach out again and grab more. He did not care how or why this simple treat was able to sedate his need, but neither Naruto nor Venom were going to complain.
Hell, the monster was even making obscene sounds of approval as it's host shoved more and more of the delicious mess into his stomach. Not even the decorative wrappings containing the treats were safe from Naruto's hunger as he ate all he could.
The floor quickly became covered in discarded wrappings and saliva as Naruto's ravenous hunger drained the contents of the shelves. It was only when he could no longer find any more to grab onto did Naruto finally stop stuffing his face and take a breath.
That unbearable pain had finally been mitigated enough to be nothing more than a minor annoyance in the back of his mind. Looking at what was left on the shelves and the mess on the floor, it required more feeding than any previous meal had before. Not much was left on the shelves besides a few scant pieces that had slipped through Naruto's fingers.
'Much better.' Venom sighed happily. 'Not as good as our last meal, but it should do for now. We need to find a way to sate our hunger much more readily now that you have tasted a true meal. This will only hold us for so long'
"I know, I know." Naruto grumbled as he wiped the mix of saliva and melted chocolate from his face using some paper towels he found behind the shop's front counter. Taking a peek outside, Naruto silently thanked whatever god was watching over him since it appeared that nobody had witnessed his ravenous actions.
He cleaned up his mess as best he could and even put as much money as he had to hopefully cover as much of sweets he had consumed as possible. The few bills and coins he did have were clearly not enough to cover everything unfortunately.
Naruto did his best to sneak back out the back and tried to make it look like the place had not been broken into. There wasn't any doubt that the owner was going to be upset whenever they returned. But hopefully the money he left would lessen the sting, at least a little bit.
At least he discovered something to sate his endless appetite with whenever something living was not around. Naruto was going to have to get a job to cover at least a portion of the cost of his new food, if how much he ate today was anything to go by.
Naruto checked around to make sure the coast was clear before easing his way back into the crowded streets and making his way back home. He could no longer hold in the sigh of relief he had been holding while inside that store.
It felt good to finally sedate his hunger without having to resort to killing. Sadly, Naruto knew that even with a job and his measly allowance his parents gave him, substituting living flesh for chocolate was not going to be cheap or easy.
Trying to stay on the positive side of things, Naruto tried to think of ways he could obtain a nearly constant supply of chocolate as he walked home. His dad did know a lot of important traders, so there was a chance he could weasel out a deal with someone if he dropped his father's name and tittle.
Before reaching his home, the sound of a small songbird reached Naruto's ears. A black tentacle shot out of his shoulder, snagging the flying animal and quickly brought to Naruto's open mouth. He shoved the struggling animal into his gaping maw and swallowed it in one massive bite.
He did all of that without a moment of thought. It was only when he had finally gotten up to his room and was in the middle of changing his clothes did Naruto realize that he, in fact, did end up eating another living thing once again.