Naruto ate like he never consumed food before. He shoveled the still steaming rice into his mouth by the handful. Tanjiro kept handing over small dishes one at a time, once one bowl was finished another replaced its space. Both Zenitsu and Inosuke could only watch wide eyed as the boy, Naruto just swallowed mouthful after mouthful without even chewing. The only other person who ever ate like that was Inosuke, but even then he never ate in such a wild manner.

"You can slow down, you know?" Tanjiro gently reminds Naruto, he hands over a small bowl of salted fish. "There is plenty of food and you won't go hungry here."

Naruto's blue eyes glance up at Tanjiro. He narrows his eyes as he considers what the burgundy haired boy said, his next handful of food goes in slower and this time he chews a bit before swallowing.

"See? The food won't go anywhere." Tanjiro smiles softly and Naruto has to look away. It was like looking into the bright morning sun.

"Sorry" Naruto mumbles around his mouthful of food. The voice in his head was yelling about the importance of food, needing energy and that more food would make it easier for them to get stronger.

"It's okay." Tanjiro reaches out slowly, pausing when Naruto flinches harshly away. He retracks his hand and places it back into his lap. "I won't hurt you Naruto, you're safe here."

"We don't believe you," His voice, Tanjiro notices, is layered when Naruto refers to him being multiple. Like there was something darker wrapped around his normal younger voice.

"That's okay. It's hard to trust people whom you've just met. But, trust me when I say no one here will harm you." Tanjiro smiles reassuringly.

Naruto continued to eat, more slowly now and Tanjiro and his friends shared a look. They all seemed to agree that Naruto seemed to have come from a horrible place, based on how he was reacting. His constant flinches and food protection.

"Hey Naruto," Zenitsu calls out, after a few minutes of awkward silence, blue orbs look up into warm golden brown ones. "Do you know where you are?"

Naruto shakes his head, spiky blonde strands shifting over his tanned head. "We…I have no idea."

"We are at the Butterfly Estate,"

Naruto shrugged, grabbing a fist full of cooked pork and began eating it piece by piece. "I have no idea where or what that is."

Zenitsu leaned back against the fall wall with a thoughtful look on his face, though it would make sense for normal people to not know where the Estate was. Naruto was definitely not a normal person. Demons didn't stray close to their walls because of the hanging wisteria that clouded the estates in a sweet protective scent. Yet, it also seemed that Naruto was unphased by the wisteria ropes that were still tied to his limbs. Demons, no matter their level of strength, were still somewhat annoyed by the stinging sensations the plant gave them. Either Naruto wasn't a demon which was impossible given that they've seen or he was so powerful that the plant didn't even bother him. And judging by the way he was eating and curled into himself, Zenitsu doubted he was that powerful. Maybe he was just good at hiding the pain?

Either way, Shinobu-san made it clear that this boy was in their hands.

"So, demon," Inosuke's voice cuts into the awkward stillness that once again took hold. Naruto's shoulders stiffen and he stops chewing. He doesn't look up. "I demand you tell us who you really are and if you are a bad guy or not! I can't get a good reading on you and it's driving me insane." Inosuke slams his closed fist down onto this folded leg. A startlingly dark bruise had bloomed where Naruto had grabbed him not moments before, it made Inosuke's skin crawl looking at the strange reminder of how weak he still was.

"I can't. We can't." the blonde mutters into the dark room.

"Huh? Why not? I know you are hiding something from us! Like, how did you suddenly appear in the middle of the street? Why do you sometimes look like a demon and sometimes not? Also, what's with your strange multiple person answers? We? Us? It doesn't make sense to me!." Inosuke rants. He was grinding his teeth, molars against molars in his angered confusion.

Nothing about this situation made sense to him, why did Gonpachiro go and save this confusing demon boy and why did Shinobu make them take care of it? He could be doing better things like training or more training! He huffs out angry puffs of air from his nose as he fumes.

-

"We don't have to answer your questions, boar." Naruto's head snaps up, and instead of sky blue eyes the trio was looking into molten red. It was like looking into the burning center of the world, the red irises seemed to suck them into the scorching heat within them. "Why would we tell you anything, when you haven't told us anything about you? Like, we could trust you with our secrets, you pathetic fools." Naruto snarled, his already strangely sharp teeth seemed only to get longer and more vicious looking.

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro just about yelled, "you can't just ask people those types of questions. They are very personal, and yes we don't know him that well, but Naruto is also right he doesn't know us at all. So it makes sense why he would feel offensive and guarded." It was sort of depressing to see his friend act in such a way, maybe Inosuke wasn't that great at reading people's body language because Naruto was fully showing a defensive posture.

Inosuke pouted at Tanjiro and crossed his arms in both embarrassment and annoyance, he glowered at his friend. "I'm not sorry, we deserve the right to know who he is"

"I know you're concerned about our safety but we need to do this in the right manner." Tanjiro sighs and rubs at his face. "Let's start from the beginning. My name is Tanjiro Kamado, I have a sister, her name is Nezuko Kamado and she's currently sleeping in her box." He jabs a finger at the small wooden box that has been sitting in the corner of the room for the past few days. "She's a demon but she is very kind and sweet. Oh, yeah. I'm also part of the demon slaying corps"

Naruto stares at Tanjiro with a blank expression of confusion, his eyes slowly faded back into the bright blue. "Alright."

Zenitsu sighs "I suppose I should introduce myself too. My name is Zenitsu Agatsuma, I am also a demon slayer."

"HMPH! I'm only telling you my name because Kanpanchiro said I should. My name is Inosuke. And I kill demons" Scowling Inosuke thumps his fist against his chest "And if you dare hurt any of my companions I will slice you to pieces before you can even blink."

Naruto had stopped eating while the trio made their introductions, he sat there hands propped on his linen pants staring hard at the three friends around him. "Our…my name is Naruto…I don't know anything else." He absentmindedly scratches at his face as he speaks. "We…I believe I am young. Maybe 12 years old, it's hard. My memories are swirling around in my head like a whirlpool."

"Nothing else?" Zenitsu asks, his head tilted.

-Only 12?- Tanjiro mouths to himself. It would make sense given how small Naruto seems. Judging by his leg length Naruto might even be shorter than him.

Naruto squints his eyes as he thinks. "That's it. Most of our memories seem to be absent."

"What about the plural thing you've been doing?" Zenitsu questions, his messy brows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know? It's always been just us." Naruto taps one of his fingers against his head. "We are one person and it's hard to ever think of us being separated." He chews on his bottom lip, whiskered scars wrinkling.

"So, are you a demon then?" Leaning forward Zenitsu waves around his hand, he points his index and middle finger at Naruo as he continues talking. "It just doesn't make sense. One moment you look human and the next your eyes are all red and it looks like you could steal our souls."

Naruto shrugs. "Would you kill us?"

"No!

"YES!"

Naruto grins, his eyes bleeding back into that frightening bloody red. "Then you'll have to figure out on your own what we are."

"THAT'S TOTALLY UNCOOL!"

Tanjiro laughs softly to himself. Even if Naruto was somewhat an unaccounted and unknown person to them, he had a feeling they would get along just fine.

-

The rest of the night passed with all of them somewhat falling asleep. They keep opening their eyes from time to time to find Naruto slumped over on his futon curled up in a tight ball. When morning came again, Tanjiro woke to find Naruto covered not only in his green checkered yukata but Zenitsu's yellow patterned one as well. He smiles softly, under that extra warmth Naruto seemed to have stretched out more and was even drooling on his arm. Inosuke even was still sleeping, soft sounds of snoring rolled from his boar mask.

Two sharp knocks rap against their wooden door. It wakes the rest of the sleeping members in the room. Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke both jump up towards the door; while Naruto jumps into a crouched position. His fingers spread out into claws, and teeth bared. The door opens to reveal Shinobu, her purple eyes scanning the room barely lasting a few seconds on the crouched form of Naruto before smiling at the four of them. "It's so nice to see everyone getting along. It's been two days now, and since…" She looks at Naruto and raises an eyebrow.

Naruto relaxes his body and falls back into his crossed leg sitting position with ease. "Naruto" he supplies to the insect Hashira. He also sheepishly smiles at her in an apologetic way.

"And since Naruto woke up, it's time he gets judged by the others. We will decide if he is deemed safe enough to leave this space and walk around with guided assurance. Meaning that Kamado-san, Agatsuma-san and Inosuke-kun, you all will have to keep an eye on him. Naruto won't be able to be left alone or out of eyesight." Once more her purple eyes landed on Naruto, though her words might have seemed harsh, her gaze was kind and concerned.

"I might have acted too harshly when I first found you. You have yet tried to kill any of the young slayers and besides your small moment of startled fear, you haven't tried to hurt them. The Kakushi have been reporting to me every hour since you've woken. Any questions you have about the Butterfly Estate, me or my friends please don't be afraid to ask."

She steps aside to reveal two Kakushi, between them they carried a large thick woolen sheet. "Because it's morning now we will have to cover you before you leave the room."

"Why?"

Shinobu blinks in confusion. "So that the sun won't harm you."

It's Naruto's turn to look confused. "But the sun doesn't hurt us. Watch." With a strange ease he rips the ropes that have been tied to him, they tear into shreds underneath his hands. It shocks the boys, the fact that he could have broken free at any moment but decided not too. Why, though?

Naruto then stands for the first time in days. Tanjiro was right about his height, Naruto's spiky blonde head is barely a few centimeters below his. Naruto's first couple steps are shaky, like his legs have gone numb or muscles aren't used to walking on two legs. Either way he steps out of the dark storage room into the sunlight hallway. Big glass paneled windows stream in the warm sun's rays, casting small specks of color to dance on the wooden floors. And there standing under the sun's power was Naruto, completely unphased by the glowing ball of gas in the sky. In fact the sun only made his blue eyes brighter.

-A demon unaffected by the sun- Shinobu stares, flabbergasted by the sight. "Well, that's going to change some of today's events, that's for sure."

Naruto grins widely and crossed his arms behind his head. "Believe it"