Rating: T+ (M Post Act 1)

Pairing(s): Naruto/Nezuko; Tanjiro/Kanao; Sasuke/Sakura; Shikamaru/Temari; Zenitsu/Ino; Inosuke/Aoi; Neji/Tenten; Giyu/Shinobu; Kakashi/Anko.

Genre: Romance; Horror & Gore; Drama & Some Angst; Shonen Jump Action; Humoresque.

Notes:

Hello everyone! Zancrowe here!

Thank you so much everyone for all the responses to the first chapter of "Necronomicon", it has meant the world to me! As someone who is a major fan of both series, I have no words to describe how much I adore writing a "what-if" story merging these two universes; it's just super fun. So please enjoy this latest chapter, and do not hesitate to share your thoughts, either good or bad, to help me make this story as best as I possibly can!

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; or, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.


"That blade will never reach me," the boy turned demon told Tanjiro, with a mocking tone and devilish smile, his eyes nevertheless fully focused on the supposedly holy sword that the young Demon Slayer had unsheathed. For all his bravado in the face of the adversity, Naruto noted, the young-looking demon was completely on guard against Tanjiro, paying the equally competent Nezuko and himself no mind. This irked the Shinobi greatly, as not only had he been strung along like a fool (the nerve!), but he was now being ignored in favor of that hard-headed samurai. So his blade was longer, big deal!

That said, both he and the increasingly animalistic Nezuko were not being completely ignored. Oh no, the very big guy that had gotten up from one of Nezuko's earth-shattering kicks like he had just tripped on a banana peel had his sights… well, his eye-less sights… well, his teeth were aimed their way. And he was drooling, a lot.

Naruto took out his kunai, prepared to deal with the big guy, Yahiko had called him Tenshin, right? But before Naruto even got the chance to think up an opening move, the unsymmetrically-shaped demon charged, but unlike what Naruto had assumed, not at him.

Tanjiro, without missing a beat, had charged at the demon that referred to itself as Yahiko, his aim centered squarely against the beast's short neck. 'I see the thre-what?!'

A smirking Yahiko did nothing, as the gigantic Tenshin had bypassed Naruto and Nezuko entirely and had gotten between the demon and the Slayer, blocking Tanjiro's sword strike with his gigantic arm, and taking aim at him with the other, lankier one.

'Demon's don't usually cooperate unless ordered to by Muzan,' Tanjiro thought, as he tried to readjust himself, despite the difficulty of getting caught off guard in midair. Matters were made worse when he noticed that his blade had gotten stuck midway into the demon's large arm, making it even harder to dodge. 'No choice, better brace myself. Luckily his other arm is not as…'

Then Tenshin's arm shifted, the lanky one becoming gigantic and vice versa. It did allow Tanjiro to free his blade, but… '…This might hurt.'

A massive roar erupted from the toothed opponent, as his punch not only knocked the Demon Slayer away, but erupted the wooden housing both of them had been hovering above of. Yahiko had also bounced away from the area, and onto the street down below, his eyes never leaving the holy blade.

Another roar erupted at that moment, far more muffled but no less frightening, as the clearly pissed off Nezuko launched herself blindly at the larger demon who had just swatted her elder brother away like a fly, digging her sharp claw-like nails into the beast, trying her best to rip the thing apart with just her bare hands, sword or kunai be damned.

Unlike her initial kick to the thing, it seemed that Tenshin was now a little bit more battle ready, as he began to shift its muscle mass to whatever zone Nezuko was aiming at, protecting its body from much harm, and when it managed to peel her off, increasing the size of one of his legs, before it slammed down and pulled all of its weight into the petite girl. The sound of her pained cry mixed with the sound of bones crunching as he did was enough to send a still somewhat dumbfounded Naruto directly to her defense.

Naruto moved fast, throwing several shuriken directly into the creature's morphed leg, which did little more than stick there like Christmas ornaments on a tree. Yahiko was midway into a scoff at the poor display from the misplaced Shinobi in that fight, but both he and Tenshin were caught off guard when the throwing stars seemingly ignited. The explosion was not massive, but certainly enough to cause the larger demon to instinctively move back, away from the crushed demon girl, and right into Naruto's next move.

"Let's try this!" Naruto shouted out as he stabbed the demon right in the center of the throat, causing the thing to cough out some blood from its fang-infested jaws. Tenshin moved to try and catch the blonde, this time turning both his hands lanky, stretching them out against him, but Naruto just smirked. "Big but dumb, just how I like it! Falling for the same stuff twice is outright embarrassing."

Yahiko finally saw through the attack, his eyes widening just ever so slightly. "…The knife has a paper on it, just like the…"

The kunai ignited, propelling itself right though Tenshin's throat, and just like Naruto had planned it, decapitating the demon in the process. Its burning head fell to the dirt, rolling a bit before stopping several feet from its body, which was in the process of landing on the ground with a massive "thud", likewise unmoving.

"And that's…" Naruto began, landing a few feet from Yahiko, as the demon actually turned and faced him properly, his expressions showing little more than annoyance. "…how it's done, ninja style! Who needs some fancy sword when you got all these goodies?! Ain't that right, you demonic twerp? So, what'll be, you surrender or you want to join your body over there for barbecue?"

"…Do you ever shut up?" Yahiko muttered, rubbing his temple softly, his eyes reddening with each word that left Naruto's mouth. "I'm aware how insignificant an opponent you are, I really am, but damn it is it hard to ignore you."

"What was that?!" Naruto barked at the demonic kid, pulling the sleeve of his jacket back and ready to knock the living daylight out of him, but he suddenly felt a very cold gust of wind hit every fiber of his being.

"Naruto! Behind you!" he heard Tanjiro scream, before Tenshin's beheaded body enlarged both of his fists and outright crushed both him and the ground beneath him with a massive pounded strike. Yahiko, unfazed, merely turned his attention back to the recovered Slayer.

"Hmm, hmm!" Nezuko mumbled to her brother, both sibling standing several feet from the two demons, Tanjiro crouched down next to his recovering sister, who had managed to pick herself back up. She sounded worried, he noted, and he couldn't blame her.

"Easy Nezuko, if he's strong enough to fight me," Tanjiro assured her, as he glared at the two demons before them. "Then he's not going to get taken out by such an attack."

"Are you so sure ab-" Yahiko began, but was interrupted by a rather obnoxious yell.

"Are you kidding me!" an increasingly angrier Naruto shouted, emerging unharmed from behind Tanjiro and Nezuko, managing to surprise even them, as they had expected him to be alive, not somehow right there with them. Tanjiro looked outright impressed, and Nezuko could be seen trying to smile from behind her bamboo-muzzle. "That thing doesn't even have a head, and it totally took a swing at me! What do I need to do bring it down?"

"Heh, that's pretty awesome Naruto," Tanjiro proudly told the blonde, as he stood back up next to Naruto. "But, like I said, beheading them works, but only if it's with this type of sword," the Slayer said, shifting the stance of his sword just slightly to showcase it to the youth. "Otherwise, they'll just heal."

"For real, well that sucks," a disappointed sounding Naruto whined, as he placed both his hands on the back of his head and closed his eyes, wanting nothing more to get back to facing opponents he could understand properly. Then again, unkillable guys made for excellent training partners, did they not? "Still, Imma pay him back for trying to crush me, good thing you had the perfect object for me to substitute with!"

"Perfect object?" Tanjiro asked, confused.

"Yep!" Naruto replied, smiling. "That weird box you were carrying! Pretty light if I do say so myself!"

Weird. Box…?

Tanjiro looked at the crater next to Tenshin.

His eyes widen like dinner plates. There it was, the majestic carrier box that his Master Sakonji Urokodaki had built specifically for Nezuko's use, absolutely destroyed. The handcrafted last gift from the man that had taught him how to wield a blade, made from the very rare Mist Cloud Fir material perfect to carry Nezuko without having her affected by the sunlight, gone. Broken into pieces in the floor where the ninja had been standing.

Both demons glared at the trio.

Tanjiro uncharacteristically glared at Naruto.

"…What?"

"What do you mean what?!" Tanjiro exclaimed as her grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket and pulled and pushed him so hard Naruto's vision got a bit blurry. "Do you have any idea how important that box was to us?! Our Master made it! And it's the only thing I have to keep Nezuko safe from the sunlight!"

"What?! I'm sorry man, didn't know!" Naruto cried back. "I'll buy you a new one, I swear! How much ryo does it cost anyways?!"

"What the heck is ryo?!"

"What do you mean what-?!"

Had Nezuko not tackled both arguing boys out of the way, they would had probably been too preoccupied to properly counter the massive attack made by a still-headless Tenshin, who once again created a massive crater in the spot they had just been standing at. The three rolled across the dirt for a bit before stopping and getting back into fighting stances, their attention now focused on the demons once more.

"Never mind, we'll work something out. Just stay out of our way from now on Shinobi," Tanjiro said.

"Oh yeah! Why don't you sit back and watch me do this right! And I'll show you I won't need no fancy sword, Samurai!" Naruto barked back.

"I'm a Slayer!"

"Same thing!"

Nezuko grabbed both boys by the ear, pulling them hard enough to cause the two to squirm and stop their arguing, as she offered them a muffled "Hmphm mmm hpmh mph mmp!" to likely boost their morale… or something. She even lifted her fist into the air and stood before both boys triumphantly, as both Naruto and Tanjiro looked on.

"Your sister has a few screw loose…"

"Don't make me cut you," Tanjiro retorted, forcing himself to ignore the dimwit and focus on the fight at hand. Now without his box, he couldn't risk dragging out the fight any longer, as he needed to have Nezuko safe by sunrise. So, without another word, the Slayer launched himself at Tenshin, the familiar droplets of water emerging as he sliced and sliced at the demon, who instinctively turned the area that Tanjiro was aiming at bigger, so that the blade could not cut cleanly through, just like he had done with Nezuko. "That again, huh?"

Following his earlier strategy, Tenshin took the opportunity before him and attempted to crush Tanjiro like he had done with Nezuko, but Tanjiro simply smirked and vanished from his line of sight(?). In his place, appeared Nezuko, who proceeded to kick Tenshin right on the abdomen, sending the demon flying as he had all his muscle mass on his hands.

As he did, both sibling went on the chase, Tanjiro preparing his blade. He then turned towards his sister. "Hold him down," he told her. "He doesn't have his head attached, so I'll aim for that instead, there has to be some neck still left there."

His sister nodded, as she lunged at the still recovering brute.

Tanjiro quickly reached the head, taking quick aim at what was left of the throat after Naruto's explosive tag had blown it off, but his blade was caught by it. Or rather, by its teeth!

Tenshin's head had flipped, the neck veins emerging from the injury and serving as spider-like legs as it took aim at Tanjiro. It was a surprising tactic, Tanjiro noted, forcing the young Slayer to use his leg to kick the now active head away from his sword.

Said head rolled a bit before it began to "crawl" away towards his main body, who was busy fighting off a relentless Nezuko. Tanjiro knew that he probably had the speed necessary to hit the head before it reached its destination, but he figure one whole opponent was easier to take down than two near-neck-less ones.

Nezuko seemed to notice his aim, as without needing a word, she jumped back and allowed Tenshin to become whole again, landing right next to her brother, her claws aimed much in the same way as his sword.

Tenshin roared, the siblings answered in kind, and the three clashed with a thunderous boom.

"…So, you wanna fight, or…?" Naruto asked, appearing right next to Yahiko, who was looking strictly at the battle before them.

He gave Naruto no answer.

Naruto felt his blood boil. He took out his kunai, and against such a small demon, he didn't need any explosive tags. One chakra-infused slash and Yahiko was beheaded.

To Naruto's utter disappointment, Yahiko merely caught his falling head with his right hand, completely unfazed but now at least looking at the Shinobi. "…Can you not see I have no business with you?"

"You made it your business when you tried to shoot my face off!" Naruto reprimanded, and he got ready for a fight… but it never came. Yahiko merely plucked his head back onto his body, and kept on focusing on Tanjiro and Nezuko's fight. Naruto had never felt so insulted in his life.

"Rasengan!"

'Rasen-what?' Yahiko caught himself asking, before he felt a massive something strike him on the side, sending the unsuspecting demon flying across the battlefield, right between the clashing foes he had been watching, through an abandoned flower shop, almost hitting a rather large Venus Flytrap on display, crashing right out of the shop, and landing against some rubble in a very violent fashion.

"Was that Naruto?!" Tanjiro asked, still in mid-air, shocked at just how fast he had seen Yahiko fly by.

"Hmm…" Nezuko noted, her eyes shifting from the battlefield towards the Shinobi, who had now split into two in order to properly launch his trademark attack.

The biggest reaction, however, came from Tenshin. It wasn't shock or anger, or anything resembling emotion, but rather, the thing fell onto his knees, his jaw opening to an insane degree as he let out a massive cry of pain, so strong that the sibling duo before it took a step back out of instinct alone.

'Wait…?' Tanjiro noted. 'Was it hurt by…?'

Yahiko, pushing away the rubble around him, tried to stand right back up, fully intent on ending the annoying ninja once and for all, before he felt his body fail him and land right back onto the ground. The demon clenched his side, a massive unknown pain affecting the still unhealed area. "H-How…?" it growled, as a sense of pain not known to demons was traversing his very being. "What did that freak do?! Why does this hurt so damn much?! I'll rip that ninja to pieces! Tenshin!"

Tanjiro pounced at the overgrown demon, taking aim at its wide neck. "Fourth Style: Striking Tide!"

Tenshin caught the blade with its hand, losing several fingers in the process, but re-growing them regardless. It then began to morph again, but this time, its entire body went buff, growing a good two feet larger in the process (a rather impressive feat for a creature already way past eight feet) and turning his blue-ish skin blood red.

It then swung the sword that Tanjiro was holding onto around, tossing both it and Tanjiro to the side with impressive force, causing the Slayer to have to use one of his techniques, the Water Wheel, to try and stabilize himself and avoid being slammed across the pavement. The demon then sensed an approaching threat, and after his latest attack, he could no longer be ignored.

"Hey ugly, eat this!" Naruto growled, pulling out a closed windmill shuriken out of his little bag of tricks, and tossing it at the demon with all his non-tailed beast enhanced strength. Tenshin opened its maw and shattered the clone-turned-shuriken into pieces, the smoke erupting from its throat once the beast had finished. "Ack! …Am I glad I threw the clone."

Then Tenshin vanished, and before Naruto could react, it slammed the blonde against the ground, causing Naruto to spit out blood by how powerful a force he had been hit by, leaving him no room to use his substitution technique again.

No sooner had Tanjiro landed on his feet, than had Tenshin slammed his feet right into his torso, his speed clearly increased with whatever transformation Yahiko had forced onto him, and held the slayer in place. Then, Tanjiro's worst fears came to realize as he realized that Tenshin had Nezuko within his grasps, her neck broken by the beast, holding her by the tattered remains of her kimono. Her eyes were still wide, and Tanjiro couldn't tell if she was still conscious or not. How had he even hit her, Tanjiro never saw it.

Then Tenshin's jaws opened completely, almost down to its chest, and Tanjiro realized its intentions. It was going to swallow Nezuko whole!

"No!" Tanjiro screamed out, but the pressure from the demon prevented him from moving an inch. "Nezuko! Wake up Nezuko! You need to move! To run! Nezuko! Run!"

Tenshin moved to eat her, and to Tanjiro's horror, he swallowed her whole…

…her whole kimono that is.

To the demon's surprise upon eating nothing but fabric, Nezuko had woken up and reduced her body as much as she could, slipping right out of her outer clothing, an dashing like mad away from the hungry demon, following her brother's instructions perfectly, as she would always. The small Nezuko, now covering herself with solely her oversized undergarments, dashed like crazy around the area, as Tenshin gave chase, just like she wanted it to. It meant that her brother could recuperate.

Tanjiro began to stabilize his breathing, focusing on everything he learned from the teachings of Shinobu Kocho and the other girls there, in order to recuperate himself and end this once and for all. 'I'm sorry Nezuko, it's my own fault, and I'm not usually like this. Our enemies are the demons, if I need to work together with Naruto to bring them down, I can't let my pride get in the way of that. I almost lost you, and now you are forced to run around for your life like that! I can't let this go on!' he decided, then shouted, "Naruto! I'll end this once and for all! Please, protect my little sister!"

A still battered Naruto could barely hear the boy, but he understood from the tone of his shout that he needed help. That she needed help. So he opened his eyes…

…and found himself floating in a very familiar water.

"I don't have the time now, you stupid fox," he told the caged monster, not bothering to even sit back up. He didn't have to. He could outright feel that dark gaze burrowing down on him, eager to be let out and continue in its path of destruction. A demon much like the ones he was currently facing, just a little nicer… maybe. He did prefer having the nine-tails inside than any of these two, that was for sure, but not by much.

"Just what is that pathetic display of yours…?" the demon asked the boy and Naruto just shrugged. "So much pointless training, and once again, you are bloodied on the ground, your allies winning the fights you never could. How many risked their lives for you to bring the Uchiha back, and yet, in the end, you failed?"

"You know something you smelly fox?" Naruto said, this time sitting up because he hated feeling so damn wet. "I'm way past feeling bad for myself. I know how hard they fought. Chouji, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Bushy Brows. Heck, even Akamaru fought like a champ! So don't start with these dumb mind games with me. I'm not letting you out, and I will bring Sasuke back, just you watch. And, I'm going to get right back up, and protect that Slayer and his sister! Because that's my… well, you know the rest!"

Then he was back in reality, the shout from Tanjiro echoing in his ears. A proper team-up was it? Fine by him!

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Yahiko and Tanjiro could only look in shock when Naruto multiplied himself again. But, it wasn't just fifty clones. This time, the blonde Shinobi numbered at the hundreds. He overcrowded the area completely, so much orange that almost no other color could be spotted.

"What even is he?!" a still aching Yahiko growled.

"When we fought earlier he turned into about fifty or so replicas, so I assumed that was his limit," Tanjiro noted, utterly amazed. "But this… this could well be over a thousand! That's almost insulting really, to think you held back against me like that, but am I glad you're helping me out now. Not bad Naruto!"

"Just wait till you see what else I got up my sleeve," Naruto beamed, as he and his clones quickly got in the way of Tenshin and the still small Nezuko, with one of him grabbing the little girl and running away with her as many of the clones began to beat up on the enraged demon. His power was great, however, as it mowed down the clones by the dozen. Creating massive clouds of smoke as he tore through the many Narutos, reaching the one holding Nezuko within seconds, but unfortunately for him, there were still many other clones to spare. He reached one, said clone tossed Nezuko towards another clone, effectively playing a game of hot potato with the ever angrier demon.

As Yahiko looked on, glaring at the back of the many ninjas before him. Then, his vision was obscured by a familiar foe appearing before him. The injured Tanjiro clenched his sword, glaring at the demonic Yahiko without much of a word.

"And here you are, just like the others, looking down at us like it's your right to exterminate us," Yahiko told the Slayer, as Tanjiro merely shrugged.

"You are the ones trying to eat people, so it kinda goes against saying that you should be stopped," Tanjiro replied, taking aim with his blade at the creature's neck. But, as he moved to strike, he felt his body freeze.

"…Did you really think I was defenseless?"

Tanjiro couldn't even speak, as his entire body stopped responding, effectively paralyzed. 'Oh, you've got to be…'

"My Blood Demon Art is one-of-a-kind, you see," Yahiko explained, slowly getting up, his mouth beginning to water at the sight of a helpless Tanjiro. "I can control others to an extent, an ability great for capturing prey, but not one as powerful as to be able to please our Master. So I made a plan, to capture several lower ranking demons and merge them into one powerful beast. My creation? Little Tenshin over there. Magnificent is he not?"

As Yahiko motioned to the beast, the young would-be Demon Slayer struggled to try and move, but he simply could not. It's as if his entire body had been turned to stone.

"I use my powers, and simply suggest an action for him to take, and he follows flawlessly," he heard Yahiko continue to babble on. "But, thanks to you, my plans were squashed! My great creation, a sure-fire candidate for our Master's Lower Moon ranks, now no longer to take such a role because of you! But maybe, if I kill you, he'll reconsider. So… I'll allow you to talk, just so that I can hear you scream."

Then the Slayer felt himself able to move his jaw. He proceeded to frown at the gloating demon. "…And you say I never shut up."

Then, in a "poof" of smoke, Tanjiro became another Naruto.

"What the hell!?" Yahiko cried out, as he took a step back, but then felt his entire body grow cold. A splash of water hit the floor, and the demon began to see his world flip upside down, his eyes widening at the realization of what had just occurred. 'How…?'

"Took you long enough, Tanjiro!" an amused Naruto told him, grinning from ear to ear.

"I was just impressed by your interpretation of me," Tanjiro replied, smiling right back. "Even if you really don't talk like me at all."

"I've known you for what, thirty minutes?! Cut me some slack!"

"Yeah, I guess you have a point, but let's see if my theory is correct," Tanjiro spoke up, as he turned to the rushing clones currently playing keep-Nezuko-away-from-the-scary-guy. As soon as Yahiko was brought down, the demon itself proceeded to fall. No scream, no last attempt at an attack. It just fell. The Narutos and the little Nezuko all paused, blinking in surprise, until Tenshin began to decompose before their eyes.

"Damn it!" Yahiko cried out, as his body began to decay as well. Tanjiro looked on, as the Naruto clone that had passed off as him felt his body shiver at the sight of a talking head currently in the process of breaking apart. Of outright rotting in fast forwards. "He told me my Tenshin was strong enough to defeat you! To reestablish the Lower Moons you humiliated so! He didn't say you were this strong! Nor that there were others outside the ranks of Demon Slayer with such power!"

"Who's he?" Tanjiro asked, then remembered something even more important. "Oh wait, right!" Tanjiro quickly tossed the syringe into the blood pool from the demon, soaking up some so that he could send it to Miss Tamayo for testing. It was the only lead he had to be able to save Nezuko, so he couldn't let that opportunity pass. The carrier in the form of a little cat (called Chachamaru Naruto later learned) quickly appeared, and much to Naruto's utter confusion, Tanjiro gave it the blood and it went on its merry way.

Tanjiro then turned back to Yahiko, to get some more information out of the fallen demon, but realized too late that the demon was long gone. Not a speck left. Tanjiro looked down, sheathing his blade, and taking a deep breath.

"This means we won, right?!" Naruto hopefully asked, and as Tanjiro nodded to him, he began to bounce up out of pure joy. "Yippee!"

The many Naruto clones all vanished at once, hundreds returning to simply one, with Tanjiro now realizing the one that had been helping him was simply another clone, while the real one was currently holding up Nezuko.

"Hey, good work team!" Naruto praised with a smile. "And here's your weird little sis, completely safe and…" Naruto went completely quiet as his eyes went wide and his face turned crimson red. Nezuko had grown back into her usual size, no longer the almost toddler-like version he had been tossing between his clones, but now a proper young girl his own age. She was also wearing very little, not that she seemed bothered in the slightest by her lack of proper clothing. She simply cocked her head to the side, nodded at her brother, then turned to him, nodding as well and patting Naruto on the head for a job well done.

Before Tanjiro could reach the two and quickly cover Nezuko, as he was aiming to do the second he realized the situation at hand, Naruto softly placed the girl down, took off his own jacket, and proceeded to cover the girl with it. Nezuko just looked on, confused, as Naruto simply turned to the side and began to walk away, still completely embarrassed by the whole thing.

Nezuko, puzzled, turned towards her approaching brother, who had no choice but to let it all go.

"Nothing to worry about Nezuko," he told her. "Seems he is a gentleman despite, well, everything indicating otherwise. That aside, we really need to get you some new clothing."

At this Nezuko looked down, at her current state, then back at her brother, then at Naruto's retreading form, then back down.

Then she lightly blushed, still looking down, like hanging her head down in shame.

"Wait!" Tanjiro exclaimed, realizing his sister was showing some very human emotion for what seemed like the longest time. "You're actually embarrassed? That's great!"

She frowned at him.

"I-I mean, in the sense of how you're getting better. More human, I mean," Tanjiro clarified. "This is great, you are getting flustered just like you did back at the village. So cute!"

Big brother proceeded to hug and lift his embarrassed younger sister is a display of affection that made her even more embarrassed, but with a warmth she would be dead before she would motion at him to stop.

Then Naruto returned, a "present" at hand.

"There, fixed it," he announced, and both sibling could only look utterly exasperated.

"Is that supposed to be…?" Tanjiro asked.

"Hmm…?" Nezuko "asked".

"Your box! I fixed it!" Naruto explained, as he pointed to the "box" he had brought to them. It was, in his defense, made with parts of the one that had gotten broken, but it had a bunch of gaps throughout, kunai stuck to it to serve as nails, and the size was twice as small as it had been. Naruto stood there, presenting the box like if it were the greatest thing ever instead of the death machine it resembled.

"…I don't think Nezuko could even shrink herself that much," Tanjiro noted.

"Hm-hm," Nezuko agreed.

"And that would never protect her from the sunlight, at all," Tanjiro noted.

"Hmm," Nezuko agreed.

"And those knives would cut her into ribbons each time she even tried to move…" Tanjiro noted.

"Hnmp!" Nezuko agreed.

Naruto felt himself shrink with every accusation and follow-up "agreement".

"Hey! It's exactly like how it was when I used it!" Naruto argued.

"Are you blind?! It looks nothing like the sort!" Tanjiro countered…

Then blood filled the dirt road…

Neither of them saw it coming. One moment they had been arguing about the box, the next, their bodies fell onto the pavement, blood gushing from the orifices in their faces, their torsos having been cut wide open, organs beginning to spill out. Tanjiro fell first, his body already bruised and not being able to keep his breathing in check without his lungs. Naruto fell moments after, the demon fox chakra attempting to save him, but even with its regeneration, it could not fix wounds to that degree. Nezuko just stood there, one moment the happiest she could remember herself being in a long time, the next, covered in the blood of her brother and their new friend, her eyes wide and… and… her lips craving the taste of the blood rushing down their bodies currently inches from her covered lips.

She bit down hard, her vision blurry, and…

…Nothing had happened. Nezuko looked at the two, still standing, still arguing, no more bloody that they had been moments prior. The girl looked on, her body in cold sweat all the sudden, as she couldn't realize the meaning behind what she had just seen. The bloodlust she had felt… had that been her?

Or…?

She quickly moved to Tanjiro, grasping onto her brothers arm, pressing her body against him. Tanjiro quickly stopped his argument with Naruto. "Nezuko? Are you okay? Is something wrong?" he asked, and was shocked at seeing her like this. She looked outright frightened. Nezuko tried to inform him what she had seen, to say something, but damn her condition. Why couldn't she talk? Why couldn't she actually say something to her brother for once? She begged anyone, any god or deity, to allow her speech for even a second, to just tell him something.

But all she managed was to hold onto him, as sleep overtook her, and she drifted into an undesired slumber thanks to all the energy she had used up.

Tanjiro quickly held onto her, keeping her from falling as he pressed her light frame against his.

Naruto looked on, concerned with the girl before him. 'Is she injured? She looked like she could heal like me, didn't she? Maybe it has a limit like I do? But damn, her eyes, she looked so sad there for a moment… Wonder why?'

"Naruto…" Tanjiro spoke up, his tone softer as to not disturb the sleeping Nezuko. "I'm grateful for the assistance. You helped keep Nezuko safe, and for that, I will forever owe you a debt I can never hope to repay. She means the world to me, if you can't already tell. But, I need to be going. Nezuko needs rest, and I must find a suitable way to transport her before sunrise. Don't worry about the box, I'll manage. You better report back to whoever your higher ups are, as do I."

"Huh? Uh, hey, wait!" Naruto shouted out, then clenched his mouth when he remembered that Nezuko was sleeping. "So, hey, Tanjiro," Naruto whispered. "I'm not about to just let you tend to her by yourself. I ruined your thing, so let me help. I may, occasionally, do some dumb stuff, but I'm good at fixing stuff too. Just tell me what you need…"

"That's…"

"Also," Naruto continued, pouting to Nezuko. "She alright? She looked scared. She's not badly injured, is she?"

"Ah, oh no, don't worry," Tanjiro replied. "She needs a lot of sleep, because of her… powers. It's nothing unusual for her. I was worried too, at first, but it's how she manages. And I don't think she was frightened, rather… she…" Then it hit him, a smell he had not picked up on. Or rather, one that had been there from the start, that he was certain belonged to the demons in the area, but they had been beaten, right? Why was it still there?

Was that what Nezuko had tried to say?

As Tanjiro realized this, several miles from the trio, a lone figure rested his body on a roof, crouching down as his sight, despite how far away he was, could clearly pick up on the three would-be treats.

'It would be so easy,' the Upper Moon Three, the white devil Akaza, thought, his fist clenching in anticipation for the slaughter and insuring feast. 'I could dismember them all so quickly, and feed the girl their remains, to see if she reacts like what He believes she would.'

Akaza took a deep breath, even if demons had no need for it. Some habits are harder to kill than others, he supposed.

'But he's there, and dawn is almost upon us,' Akaza noted, deciding to turn around. 'I'll save killing you for later, Tanjiro… And for your sake, I hope you don't plan on sticking around, Naruto…'

Then he was gone, as if he had never been there at all.

Tanjiro realized the smell had completely vanished, his eyes widening, wondering what had even happened. Also, wondering why it seemed so familiar. 'It's like I've confronted it before…'

"…"rather she" what?" Naruto asked, taking Tanjiro out of his thoughts. "Did you fall asleep as well? Is that a normal things for you guys?"

"Uh, I, well, no, you see," Tanjiro tried, but he didn't know how to fully explain something he didn't fully understand himself. But then, he felt it again, this time a very unfamiliar scent, reeking of… booze? "There's someone else-!"

"Huh?"

"Whoa, easy there champ," Jiraiya appeared right next to Naruto and Tanjiro, effortlessly holding the Slayer's arm in a way that rendered him completely immobile, surprisingly without hurting the injured boy any further or causing him to drop Nezuko. "I'm not the enemy. That guy already left. You two siblings are quite something, managing not only to fight like that, but to somehow force Naruto here to use his brains for once."

"Huh? Who?"

"Where have you been Pervy Sage?!"

"Doing research, like I told you," the Toad Sannin replied, letting go of Tanjiro and standing proudly in front of the boys. "Seemed like some creepy stuff was going down here, but when I found the culprit, you three were already engaging. Would have been disrespectful for me to interrupt that now, would it? …Stop scowling Naruto, you know I'm right," he told the boy. "Besides, I felt that if I jumped in, that other fellow would have as well, and I don't think that would have been for the best."

"…Other?" Naruto said.

"…Fellow?" Tanjiro concluded.

"…" Nezuko softly snored.

-0-

She had been dreaming about the boy from her past. About a much happier time, before tragedy struck them all without warning, again and again, completely unrelenting. In her dreams, no one had died. In her dreams, she didn't need to struggle so much to simply return things to a resemblance of normality. In her dreams, she and her friends did not need to suffer so much in a war that they never wanted to be a part of.

In her dreams, Sakura Haruno was still happy.

"Sakura, dear, I'm afraid I must wake you," Sakura heard someone whisper into her ear, and she jolted awake with a fright, her senses still half asleep.

"W-What's going on?!" she screamed, siting right up with her fists extended, fully expecting an attack to come, for some reason. Not that she could be too careful these days. The pink haired kunoichi felt that she had only gone to sleep maybe two to three hours ago, which would explain why it looked totally dark outside. Regardless, she soon caught sight of her "invader", and managed to relax a bit. "Oh, my apologies Lady Katsuyu."

"Do not worry," the miniature clone of the Fifth Hokage personal summon replied, her tone totally calm and soft, as if she had not just freaked the kunoichi out. "I did not mean to wake you up from your much needed rest my dear, but I'm afraid that Mistress Tsunade requires your assistance at the hospital."

"Huh!? At this hour?" Sakura whined, but mentally slapped herself and shook her head. She had requested this training after all, and medics could not schedule emergencies, so it didn't matter that she had left her shift in the hospital just hours prior. If they needed her, then they needed her. "No, never mind, I understand. I'll be right there."

"Understood," the little slug replied, but she did not vanish immediately. She paused for a bit, as if thinking what to say. "…You can take five minutes if you wish to wash your face, however, I'm sure the Mistress will understand."

"My face?" Sakura muttered, then touched herself with her hand. "Ah! I'm a for real?!" the embarrassed girl got off bed and ran to the bathroom, clearly taken aback by just how much she drooled while she slept. Katsuyu simply gave out a soft chuckle at the child, before she vanished back into her realm, until the next time the Hokage needed her assistance.

Which, if what she had seen was anything to go by, it would be much sooner than expected.

After Katsuyu's clone had vanished, Sakura got ready and raced to meet her Master and the current Hokage of the Leaf Village, the Legendary Slug Sannin Tsunade. Being a trained ninja had its perks, Sakura noted, as she could get dressed a lot faster than she could before, and traveling from one spot to another was child's play, when your legs could move boulders and you could use the walls themselves as roads.

A trip which would have taken Sakura twenty minutes when she was younger now took three, and soon enough Sakura found herself outside of Tsunade's office. Not her main one, back in the Hokage's building, but her formal one in the hospital. The pink haired girl knocked, and was quickly allowed inside, but surprisingly not by Tsunade herself.

"What took you Billboard Brow?" a yawning Ino Yamanaka asked her as she led Sakura inside, covering her mouth with her hand as she instructed her childhood friend to take a seat. "Ah, I don't know what I was thinking following your example of all things. I'm never going to get enough beauty rest working nights like this."

"I'm surprised Lady Katsuyu could even manage to wake your sorry ass up," Sakura mocked back, as Ino tried to glare at her but ended up yawning again, deciding she was too tired for their little game.

"I wish," Ino replied. "I never made it home. I got called back right on the street next to this one."

"Huh? Why?" Sakura asked, realizing that Katsuyu never quite told her why she was needed. "What happened? What are we supposed to be doing?"

"Beats me!"

"Huh?"

"I wasn't told," Ino explained, and Sakura felt even more confused. "I was told to wait here, and that you had been called also, nothing more. Whatever it is, it's probably big, or at least I hope it is, otherwise it should have waited for tomorrow."

"Big is one way to describe it," a young woman spoke up as she entered the office, with both Sakura and Ino being slightly embarrassed at the fact that they never noticed her approaching. There should be a limit to how much the lack of sleep can dull the senses of a Shinobi.

"Lady Shizune!" both girls called out to their superior, who offered the kunoichi a soft smile.

"I know it's troublesome," the Hokage's personal aide said. "But, please, follow me for a moment. We've… never quite seen this before."

Shizune led Sakura and Ino all the way down to the morgue, saying nothing as the girls' minds raced regarding the meaning behind the former's words. Sakura, specially, observed everything that was going on, trying her very best to keep her emotions in check. 'Something unprecedented? How bad could it be? It… wouldn't be Sasuke, right? We are heading to the morgue, oh please, not him… Or… Naruto, no, no way. He's with Master Jiraiya, he'll be kept safe… Damn it, you are no longer a child Sakura, keep calm. Focus so you can do your job properly.

Then Shizune stopped and pointed to what it was the girls needed to see…

…and their resolve was instantly shattered.

The morgue had an area outright sealed off, Ninjustu and all, in order to keep everyone away… or safe. Several Shinobi stood guard, at almost every angle. Her Master, deep in thought, stood in the middle of it all, her eyes hovering the "patient" laying before her. It was a young boy, no older than Sakura herself.

No. That was not right. It had once been a boy, Sakura imagined, but he had been broken so much, left leg missing, all the fingers missing, everything looking like it had been bitten off. Sakura couldn't help but flinch in indirect pain, as she could see that even the poor boy's genitalia had been severed.

"What is this?! What kind of animal would…?" Ino blurted out, before she caught herself and covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes still conveying the shock that she forbid her lips from saying any more.

"Lady Tsunade…?" Sakura asked softly.

"This young boy was eleven," Tsunade explained, her back still to the girls. "…The viciousness of the attack, of his murder, is not the reason I called you both in here. We have dealt with animal attacks before, be the summons or otherwise. But…" the Hokage gave pause, as she turned to her nurses in-training, "All evidence found within his little body point to it being human teeth that did this damage to him."

Sakura could hear Ino gulp at the information given, and Sakura could not blame her. Cannibalism? Within their village even? But the pink haired girl steadied herself. She didn't come all this way to get squeamish now. So she took a step towards the body, and, sensing this, Ino followed suit, not to be outdone. But, even with a steely resolve, Sakura could not help but be unable to shake a nagging little voice in the back of her head regarding the boy's sorry state.

'Why does he look…' she wondered, a small shiver hitting her body as she began to examine the man. 'So… juicy…?' she asked, even if it wasn't the right word. The boy's body should already be in rigor mortis, unless he had just been killed in this very room.

"When was he found, Ma'am?" Ino asked what Sakura herself was pondering.

"…About three hours ago," Tsunade noted, her eyes still glued to the boy's body. Something in her stare worried the girls. "Squad 8 found him, like this, and brought him over. But, there was something in their report that was… worrisome, hence, why I called you two over."

'Oh my God!' Ino thought, shivering at the thought of finding such a sad scene after returning home from a mission. 'Poor Hinata. Girl must have fainted on sight.'

"…To think someone would mutilate him to such an extent," Sakura voiced, her eyes scanning the body for any clues she may have missed. Hard to do when there was hardly a body to begin with. "He's missing so much of his body…" Sakura noted, as she pressed her gloved index finger down the poor boy's torso. She felt awful for him. So young. She only hoped once they examined him properly, that at least most of the damage had been done post-mortem. "…But, what was in the report-?"

Then the boy slowly took hold of Sakura's finger, gently.

"What the f-hmph?!" Ino swallowed her curse as she motioned back, beyond frightened at the scene.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. It had been just as Hinata had claimed. In the young Hyuga's own words, despite how he looked, the boy, through the eyes of the Byakugan, looked like he was still alive. Brain activity still active, some chakra movement still evident.

Sakura just stared, hand shaking, as she slowly, softly took hold of the boy's hand. A boy who was missing too much of his body to still be alive. A boy who's heart was no longer beating. A boy who's lungs were no longer breathing and yet… he held onto her.

And he was smiling.

-0-

"Don't kill me I have three kids!" he shouted, arms covering his face before the killing blow hit. Then he felt nothing hit him. In fact, he could no longer even hear his opponent. So, confused and still oh so very frightened, Zenitsu Agatsuma slowly opened his eyes, and found himself laying in a very comfortable bed, in a nice, quiet, room. He had no idea what was going on. "Huh!? How?! Where?! Why?! What's going on?! I was on my mission, about to die, and everything went black! I'm I dead?! Is this heaven?! Why does heaven look so much like the Pillar's main quarters?!"

"Because that's where you are!" came another shout, which made Zenitsu squirm and shrink into the bed, before he realized the menacing voice came not from the bloodthirsty demon that had surely killed him, but rather from a familiar very attractive (his description) young lady. "And can you stop screaming, it's late, and we have other patients. Some who actually fight, you know?"

"Oh! My precious Aoi! How I've missed thee!" Zenitsu squealed at the sight of his adored female… friend? Partner? Acquaintance? Yeah, probably that. As he moved to glomp her, she quickly planted the sole of her foot on his face, which in turn he enjoyed way more than she wanted him too.

"I'm not your precious anything," she told him. "And pipe down. I'm serious! There are sick Slayers all around, you were only admitted because, frankly, we had no idea if you were well enough, and considering it was the first time a person sleepwalked over here."

"Sleepwalked?" Zenitsu repeated, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "Wait, but… wasn't I?"

"Your mission was successful, somehow," Aoi explained, likely just as baffled at his success as he was. "Not sure of the specifics, but I really don't care. If you feel as fine as your girly screams suggest, then get out, you probably have another mission ready."

"Wait! No! I'm still… uh, aching, like all over!" Zenitsu defended, not really wanting to be tossed into that hellhole again after he somehow miraculously escaped. A few more days of being taken care off by these girls would do a soon-to-be-dead man some good.

"Oh really?" a sarcastic Aoi replied, having had enough of this guy's attitude to last her several lifetimes. How she hated guys like him. "Perhaps we may need to do more checkups then, maybe something more invasive in nature. So, drop your clothes."

The phrase got him instantly excited, but the moment he turned to his precious Aoi, with stars in his eyes, he saw that she was putting on a pair of very thick gloves, alongside several injections that she had pulled out of thin air. Then he understood what invasive meant to her.

"Eep!" he squealed again. "No, no need for that! I-I feel like I, hey, wouldn't you know? I feel so much better all the sudden! You sure are a great nurse! How can I ever repay you?!"

"Get out!" she warned, completely annoyed by his antics as she turned around and shut the door, leaving the sweating boy alone to his thoughts.

"…She's got quite a character…" he muttered. "Hopefully, when I get married, it'll be to someone much, much warmer and nicer. Like my dearest Nezuko, oh, how I long to be with her again!"

"Who's Nezuko?"

"Tanjiro's little sister, don't you remember?"

"Ah… who's Tanjiro?"

"What do you mean, can't you-wait…?" Zenitsu stopped, his eyes fully wide as his head slowly turned to the other side, opposite the door that Aoi had excited from, to whoever it was had just been speaking to him. He was seconds away from crying.

"Are you talking about Kankuro?" the Beast Slayer Inosuke Hashibira asked, his tone just as carefree as ever, his expressions camouflaged by the boar mask he almost always wore. "It think you are. Tangerine is the one with the sister."

"Who the hell is Tangerine?!" Zenitsu screamed at the beast man. "But, more importantly, why are you sleeping right next to me?!"

"They forced me to get a checkup," Inosuke explained. "I told them I was fine, but for some reason they say the body shouldn't lose… what was it… five or six gallons of blood? I'm not sure what it was they said."

'You should be deader than me,' Zenitsu thought, before he shook his head and decided to simply humor the boar. "That aside, isn't it funny how we ended up in the same room again? Kinda makes me miss Tanjiro, so the whole party is together again."

"…I just saw you running back here, so I raced you," Inosuke explained, as Zenitsu felt like he had no idea what he was talking about. "I totally won, by the way."

"I'm sure you did," Zenitsu replied, wondering what the hell had he missed when that demon had knocked him out cold. Had Inosuke not been the one to save him then?

"Chip! Chip! Chip!"

"Your bird is ringing," Inosuke informed.

"Bird's don't ring!" Zenitsu argued, before he turned towards his little birdie, who had just flown in through the window, just as eager as she usually was. "What now? Sending me off to die again?"

"Chip!"

"Another mission huh? So soon too…" Zenitsu lamented. "They never give me a break. Where to now?"

"Chip!"

"Huh?" Zenitsu asked, cocking his head to the side. His bird was pointing her wing towards the boar. "Inosuke's coming with me?"

The boar began to pay attention.

"Chip!"

"And Tanjiro too?!" Zenitsu asked again, this time actually sounding happy. 'Which means… Nezuko!'

The boar understood that.

"Chip!"

"And Naruto too?!" Zenitsu asked yet again, still very happy, until… "Wait… who the hell is Naruto?"

The boar had no idea.

-0-

The pile of bodies was usually not something he purposely tried to create. He would simply allow the humans to attack him, to attempt to defend and protect themselves. In the end, it was all fruitless, for them. He slaughtered them once he realized they couldn't offer him a challenge, and he would devour them right afterwards. He needed to. He had told him to do so. And he would never betray His orders, not especially after his latest blunder. The Pillar had been one thing, but the boy? The boy with the mark and the earrings and the little demoness on his back, why couldn't he get him out of his head. He never liked killing children, but for him, for this damn kid, he'd happily made an exception.

So, as Akaza fed a top a mountain of corpses from the latest batch that had been unfortunate enough to cross his path, way up in a moist cave in the mountains away from the coming sunlight, he felt at peace, for once, his plans and goals now finally having a face. The best way to earn His good graces, and to pay the brat back for that humiliation.

The Upper Moon Three took another bite, but then he sensed something. Another human? How sad… He had been fed enough already, so to have to kill again, was almost annoying.

"My, my," the human spoke up, a reaction that Akaza had not expected from his would-be prey. Could it perhaps be a Slayer? A Pillar? "You seem like a busy one. And quite the hard man to reach to boot. Do you have some minutes to spare?"

"…I'm not in the best mood," Akaza spoke, his tone drenching with venom. "I've had my fill, but what is one more? Would you care to try and fight? Or will you run? I'll give you to the count of five."

"My, how very generous," Kabuto Yakushi replied, using his middle finger to fix the positions of his glasses. "However, I feel that there would be some merit to hearing me out, after all…"

The Upper Moon Three stared down at the Snake's Right Hand Man, as both killers began what would in history be called "The Most Horrifying Alliance in History".

"…it seems my Master wishes to meet your Master."


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