A/N: A/N: Ask and ye shall receive.

Apparently folks were fond of that preview in "Shards of Shattering" so much so that I found myself bombarded with PM's.

So here you go. Hunter!Naruto. Might do Dark Souls!Naruto a few months from now. No promises; this all depends on fan feedback of course.

Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.

Alright then, I think I've kept you long enough.

Hope you're prepared for the surprises in this little ficlet~!

As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes or memes. I'm just a writer.

"Just a dream, eh?

Ain't afraid of dreams.

Its reality ya gotta worry about."

~?

An Endless Hunt

...what fresh hell is this?"

Naruto blinked up into the waning light of the setting sun and scowled.

It truly said something that he'd gotten used to waking up in strange places these days...

.

..

...unfortunately, that did little to cool the cauldron of temper.

Sprawled out on his back amidst a bridge brimming with carriages, he hadn't a clue where he'd landed. A cursory glance only served to confirm his suspicions; he didn't recognize the gothic architecture looming around his body, nor the towering spires beyond the bridge proper. It was, in every way, foreign to him. Yup. Not his village. Not any village he'd seen for that matter. His right eye began to twitch. He tried to suppress it. Really, he did. It wasn't his fault. None of this was.

Inhaling deeply, he climbed to his feet with a long-suffering sigh.

Naruto looked left. Naruto looked right. Not a soul in sight.

...hello? Anyone there?"

Not a sound.

If anything it was a little eerie. As if the world were holding its breath. Waiting.

"You've gotta be joking." he muttered, palming his face with a groan. "Why am I here? Where even is here?!"

"Don't ask me." an irritated growl rose in the back of his mind. "Last thing I remember was that blasted clash...

Clash? What clash? Naruto didn't remember any clash. Still, Kurama was right. No need to panic just yet. Mustn't jump to conclusions. This might be a dream. That was it! Just had to pinch himself. Yes, a good hard pinch and he'd set himself to rights, wake up from this awful nightmare and-ow! He recoiled when a sharp tweak on his arm yielded only a spasm of pain. Huh. Maybe...maybe he just hadn't done it hard enough. Naruto pinched himself once more for good measure. Thrice now.

His surroundings didn't change.

A muscle jumped in his jaw, pounding alongside a vein in his temple. Calm down. It didn't bother him. It didn't bother him...

.

..

...it bothered him alot!

He cast his gaze back, glowering bloody red daggers at the sky. It held no answers for him, of course. Never did. One last desperate pinch came and went, to no avail. Reality reared its ugly head. So, in conclusion. He could feel pain. The setting sunlight was stinging his eyes. Worse, he felt the beginnings of an abominable headache coming on. All things one wouldn't -and shouldn't!- experience in a dream. Which meant, as much as he might loathe the idea...this was real?

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Something screamed back...and crashed down behind him in a plume of dust.

Naruto whirled to meet it with a snarl. Paused.

He looked up. Up. Up some more.

"Oh." he croaked out, jaw agape. "You're a biiiiiig girl."

That was putting it mildly. A massive creature with matted fur and a malnourished figure loomed over him; its hideous, twisted horns even now lowering to charge. Red eyes narrowed upon him. Slavering jaws parted to reveal row upon row of razor sharp teeth. It looked...hungry. No, scratch that. Starving.

And he was a juicy steak.

"Nice beastie." He raised a marked palm to show himself harmless. "Good beastie." One step backward. Two, now. "I don't mean any harm." His back hit a wall and he bit back a curse. "You just go your way and I'll go mine, yeah? No reason for this to get-

"SKREEEE!"

Its answer came in the form of another piercing shriek, a cry of agony so poignant it made him physically flinch. Then the emotions hit.

Pain. Its mind a twisted mess of agony and hate and blood and bythesagesomuchbloodKILLMEKILLKILLMEEEEEE...

"Don't just stand there! Dodge!"

Reality snapped back and he found himself forced to leap aside as the Beast stormed forward. Clawed fingers missed him by a hairsbreadth. Its stench hit him as he skirted its bulk, causing him to gag...then subsequently wince as it charge sent it crashing headlong into the wall with a horrible crack. As its stunned head lolled from side to side past he noted its unnaturally large left arm, a warped limb so twisted it had to physically lean on the latter to support itself.

Naruto knew one shouldn't feel pity for a wild animal. They certainly wouldn't show you any. Even he was aware of such.

And yet he couldn't help himself. This was more than a beast. Or it had once been.

Looking back, he wasn't sure how he knew the truth. Only that he did.

"...your poor thing. You didn't ask for this, did you?"

It was like flicking a switch. The Beast lunged.

Naruto's body blazed gold in response; this time he stood its ground. When it made to grab him again he caught its giant forearm with one hand and yanked it forward, unbalancing it. The Cleric Beast barked in confusion as it found its limbs forced apart. In a fit of pique lashed out the only way it knew how, with the only weapon left unto it.

It bit him.

Serrated teeth flashed down, taking a chunk of his shoulder and sinking deep. Blood spattered Naruto's face. Dribbled onto the cobblestones. Placid red eyes gazed up into maddened scarlet orbs. Unable to gnaw his arm at such an angle, it could only glare hatefully at him.

"Its alright." he whispered. "This isn't your fault. "None of this is your fault."

For a moment, he thought he glimpsed a hint of something in the Beast's eyes just then.

Another rush of emotion hit him, none of it his own.

Finish me. Please.

In that same instant the wayward warrior shifted his grip on the Beast's arms, planted his feet, clenched his teeth, then...

RAH!"

With a triumphant cry born of equal parts sorrow and outrage, the jinchuuriki flung the abomination over his shoulder.

It performed an ungainly somersault int he air and landed flat on its back with an awful crack. The beast squealed in anger and made to rise, to no avail. In a flash he was upon it, stomping down on what passed for its twisted ribcage. The beast didn't appreciate that. Not one bit; it went absolutely mad beneath him; screaming and thrashing, kicking and squalling like an an enraged child. Twin hands clamped down on its jaw, forcing it shut before it could bite him again. Blood mingled with chakra.

"CALM! DOWN!"

Golden chakra, sage chakra, flared up as he grappled with the beast. His marked palm pulsed.

And the world shifted.

Naruto felt it deep in his chest, a faint sucking sensation as something left his body. Beneath him, the Cleric Beast shrieked a third time, a shriek piquing into a wail as its body convulsed. Its body slammed back, tearing free of his grasp to spasm against the bridge. An awful wail rose into the air. It almost sounded like a sob.

"What did you just do?!"

"Hell if I know!

As he looked on aghast the Cleric's form shuddered and twisted; bones snapping, body twisting, fur receding andcrapcrapcrapthatisaNAKEDperson!

Blue eyes bulged as he beheld pale skin and the the signature swell of a woman's bosom. Nope! Not having that! Heat flooded his face as he averted his gaze. Tearing himself away, he ripped his jacket off and flung it in what he hoped was their general direction. Sure enough tattered jacket landed atop their quivering form; the fabric tenting around them now as their shoulders continued to quiver and shrink. Trembling fingers, human fingers clutched at it. Curled inward, the body within nigh but curling up in a fetal position.

"Make it...stop...!" A low voice filled the air. "Hurts...it hurts...!"

Easier said than done. Naruto could only balk as the last of the tremors subsided.

In the end found himself gazing down a frightened woman with long hair the color of raven's feathers. Her eyes were piercing shade of molten gold, wide with terror and...nope, she'd just passed out on him. He managed to catch her before she dashed her head against the bridge, but that in turn left him with an altogether different problem. Sad problem being the naked, trembling woman in his arms.

Naruto knelt, touching a hand to her neck.

A faint pulse came through, thin, but steady.

Naturally, he had a few choice words to say about that.

"You know, Kurama, this is not how I expected to spend my Tuesday...

A/N: Weeeeeelcome to Yharnam, Naruto. You ain't seen nothing yet.

FYI that wasn't Amelia. We'll see her later. The Cleric Beast will have a name of course, though that, too, depends on you. Probably something that starts with a C. Cecilia, maybe?

And there we have Cleric Beast purified...and returned to her human form. To clarify, his blood was the catalyst mingled with a bit of chakra. Blood's a powerful thing in Bloodborne. Clearly it won't be that easy for everyone, but hey there we are. Might do a Dark Souls tale like this eventually...depending on the reception this receives.

Well? What say you? Do you want this to be a story? Yes? No? Maybe so? Make yourselves heard!

Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this particular story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.

Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly? And have some previews -potential blot bin things- that I'm working on.

(Previews)

Vicar Amelia made a warbling noise, clutching the amulet in her hands.

She mustn't change. Mustn't transform. Human. Stay human...

Her back began to crack as she wept.

"No, no, no, please...


...calm down."

"Calm?!" Naruto bit his tongue until he tasted blood. "How can you be calm about this?! People are turning into beasts or worse! That ain't right!"

"And what do you intend to do, save them all?!

"..."

"Naruto, no."

"Naruto yes!


He stepped in.

"SNAP! OUT! OF IT!"

Each exclamation brought a fresh blow with it; a one-two-three punch folding Gascoigne like wet tissue paper. The mad hunter crashed backward, hit a gravestone, and kept going.

"There's more where that came from! Now are ya done, or do I have to knock you around some more?!"

A snarl answered.


"So that's what you look like without the mask! I knew it! You're a redhead after all!

Annalise sputtered.


...hes goes nothing."

He sat down beside the Orphan of Kos.

"You've had a rough time of it, eh, buddy? Wanna talk?"

R&R~!