Dancing In The Dusk

Disclaimer- Shinigami's Sister owns neither Naruto, Teen Titans, nor this laptop. What she does own is $2.82, a large Alaskan Malamute with arthritis, two black cats, the soundtrack to Wicked, and two tickets to the Homecoming Dance.

Rating: M

Summary: People heal in different ways. Sometimes finding a friend and learning the truth is the best medicine.

CHAPTER 2: OLD SOULS

The forest was incredibly silent. Later on, she would tell him that was when she realized that she wanted to be with him forever.

The air between them was thick with tension. Neither of them said anything, neither could say anything. It would be impossible for them to put into words the emotions each felt coursing through their veins. Confusion, fear, giddiness, sorrow, acceptance, all had reached the extreme point. They couldn't speak, wouldn't speak, for fear of rejection and abandonment. The conversation was that of body language, tacit consternation on one part, mollification on the other.

Naruto sat in front of Raven, shoulders hunched and head bowed, looking like he was expecting a reprimand. You shouldn't know what I am. You'll hate me, like the others.

No. I could never hate you. Raven sat up and put a hand under his chin. She smiled at him.

Why? How did you know what I was? Naruto lifted his head, the anguish in his eyes revealed. Raven scooted to straddle his lap, and wrapped comforting arms around his strong shoulders.

You're eyes.

What?

They're violet. Like mine.

You're a half-demon?

Sadly. My mother was raped by one. He needs a mortal vessel, so that he can destroy Earth. I'm his vessel.

That sucks. The story that everyone hears is that eighteen years ago, the Kyuubi no Kisune, went on a rampage and tried to destroy Konoha. The hokage at the time, Yondaime, gave his life defeat the kitsune by sealing it inside a newborn babe. Me.

Raven was confused; demons— normal demons, her sire might be the exception— rarely dealt with humans, let alone went out of their way to destroy an entire village.

The tension had dissipated, it was okay for them to talk now. "According to

Kyuubi, a mob of the villagers killed her mate and cubs while they slept," Naruto said softly, somehow knowing what was on her mind. "She did what she did out of grief, and rage. These are her lands. She was, still is the Taiyoukai of the South."

Raven leaned back to look at Naruto's face. "What is her name?" she asked softly. Naruto looked introspective for a moment. When he finally answered, it was not his voice that spoke.

"Konohi," the high, sweet voice replied. It reminded Raven slightly of a figure that she couldn't remember, one with long red hair, and green eyes. "My name is Konohi. And you must be Trigon's whelp."

Raven blanched. "How did you know..." she whispered. Konohi snorted, and Raven could see a superimposition of a woman with red eyes and long black hair above Naruto's form.

"For one thing, you drip with power similar to his. You have the potential to be something great, and you were his downfall. Another thing, it was the Taiyoukai of all the lands who banished him to the bowels of the earth," she stated loftily.

"What do you mean, I was his downfall?" Raven demanded to know. Konohi looked surprised.

"Child, don't you remember?" Raven shook her head emphatically. "You destroyed him, something not even we could do." Raven's eyes grew round, and she grasped Naruto's body to keep from fainting. This couldn't be possible! Had she averted the prophecy? Or...

She had the strangest memory of a masked boy, with spiky hair, a cape, and green tights. Her heart twisted at the sight of him, but she couldn't put a name to him. Then she knew what was wrong, and was no longer distressed. Short term amnesia, it was the only thing that made sense.

Konohi watched Trigon's whelp speculatively. She could smell the emotional turmoil the child was going through, then, abruptly, acceptance. Konohi approved; Naruto hadn't laughed since he turned thirteen. This girl would save him. She would make her kit laugh again.

Raven beamed. "Thank you, Konohi, that had been worrying me for as long as I can remember." Konohi nodded, and the superimposition faded away.

Naruto blinked. "Well, that was informative," he declared with a smirk. Then his stomach growled and his smirk twisted into a wry smile. It became a full-blown smile when Raven's stomach echoed his own. "You're all healed."

Raven looked down at her legs. Her accelerated healing had started without her notice during their silent conversation, and had left no trace of scarring. She looked up into those kind violet eyes, so similar to her own, and cautiously allotted a portion of happiness to escape. Nothing exploded, no tree fell in half, no great geyser of water erupted from the ground. Excitement rushed through her, and she felt a large smile cover her face. Somehow, she had managed to control her demon! "No, Naruto, I'm more than healed. I'm in control of my demon!" she laughed giddily. She wondered if the emotions in Nevermore had become a part of her, no longer separate personalities in her mind, but feelings in her heart. It was a heady thought, and for some reason, she couldn't stop laughing.

Naruto grinned as she shrieked happily when he lifted her from their sitting position into a standing position with her in his arms. He spun around, delighting in her joy, and knew that he had found someone special. He stopped a moment to let her catch her breath, and said, "Let's go get some food. What do you want to eat?" Raven considered this for a moment, her lips quirked into a thoughtful frown. There was a whole lot to consider, like the whole tofu deal. She couldn't stand tofu!

"Can we have tonkatsu?" she asked hopefully. "Oh! Oh! Do you have a grill?" Naruto nodded an affirmative. "Then let's have hamburgers!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "What are hamburgers?" Raven looked shocked. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he whined.

"We're having hamburgers," she said stubbornly, "I don't care what you say, but you need to have a hamburger."

"That doesn't tell me what a hamburger is," he pointed out. Then he realized something. "Before you make these hamburgers of yours, you need to meet the Hokage, so that she knows you aren't a spy from Otogakure come to kill us all."

"Where's Otogakure?"

"Good! Then we need to get you a place to stay."

Raven smiled and said, "I'll just stay with you, if that's okay." Naruto smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Of course you'll stay with me," he exclaimed. "Besides," he added, "my teammates will have a heart attack when they see you. They were sure you were dead, and left me here to grieve when you moaned." Raven's mouth formed an 'o' of recognition.

"Is one of them...Sasuke-kun?" Naruto seemed surprised, so she clarified for him. "When I first woke up, I thought I heard a girl call someone Sasuke-kun." Naruto nodded.

"That was Sakura. You know, for someone who wants to be a healer, she's really unobservant whenever Sasuke says something," he snickered. "He said you were dead, ergo, he was right, and I was wrong in Sakura's mind." Raven shook her head.

"What morons. Come on," she declared with a mischievous smirk, "take me to your leader."

Naruto groaned, much to her amusement. He hoisted her so that her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist, her butt nestled comfortably in his hands, and her arms draped across his neck. "Hold on," he ordered, then started to run.

They lapsed into silence once more, but without the tension this time. Raven enjoyed the way the wind brushed the back of her neck, and the blur of colors as Naruto ran. She enjoyed his warmth, his scent of the sun and old forests, his nearness, him. She had only known him for...six hours? Had it only been that long? It felt like they had known each other since the beginning of time. She felt warm around him, and being around him felt right. His was an old and dear soul.

Naruto was ecstatic. Here was a person who was like him— Gaara really didn't count. The boy had changed, but he was still an intensely creepy person. But Raven...Raven had known what he was, and wanted nothing. She didn't want to fight him, didn't want to use him, didn't want anything except his friendship. In a village where he was hated, where he had been attacked as a child, where the only person who truly cared for him was Iruka, her friendship was most welcomed.

All to soon, they came to Konoha's wall. Naruto slowed, and looked to see who was on guard duty. Today, it was Shikamaru, which was definitely good for Naruto. Other guards had taken to keeping him out when he was alone, sometimes for days.

"Name, village, purpose," came a bored voice from above them. Raven looked up to see a boy with a ponytail at the crown of his head reading.

"Uzumaki, Konoha, none of you're business!" he called up in retaliation. The boy above them snorted.

"Ch! You're so troublesome, Naruto. Alright, go through."

Naruto grinned, and as the gates to Konoha opened, he whispered into Raven's ear,

"Welcome to Konoha."

END CHAPTER 2

REVIEW RESPONSES

Dan Inverse- Thanks for the review, and as first reviewer, you get a Konohi plushy:holds out the doll to Dan:

the DragonBard- I'm not sure whether to treat this as constructive criticism or a flame so, okay! Will do.

kittyblah- Do you mean will Raven be the only Titan? Because she's not, the others will show up, but not until later.

Shinigami's Sister/Notes- Wow.

Athena- You readers don't realize it, but this story is completely deviating from what was originally written.

Kali- We're talking serious deviations here:looks over the original chapter: Hey! Shikamaru's not supposed to be in here! Neither is Konohi! And Raven wasn't supposed to heal like that.

Raven- What was supposed to happen?

Kali- You were supposed to have a broken foot, and Tsunade and Jiraiya were supposed to be fu— :mouth is covered by SS:

SS- OKAAAAYYY, we're so not giving away anything from the next chapter:grins nervously at Sasuke: What's wrong, Sasuke-san?

Sasuke- She :points at Raven: is hogging Naruto! And she called me a moron!

Raven- :rolls her eyes: Methinks the lady doth protest too much! You insult him on a daily basis for the last seven years, and you're complaining about me?

Athena- :pushes Sasuke and Raven to the background: Guess what everybody? SS is going to her first Californian school dance!

SS- Hopefully it won't be as lame as the Homecoming in Virginia. O.o;

Kali- Anyhow, the important thing is that we're going to put up another chapter really soon, so please...

Athena- Read and review!

All- Bai-bai-buu!