'Got a secret.
Can you keep it?
Swear, this one you'll save.
Better lock it
in your pocket.
Takin' this one to the grave.
If I show you, then I know you
won't tell what I've said.
Cause two can keep a secret...
Narumi was running late, but there was a good reason for that.
See, during Narumi's 4th and 5th visit they ended up discussing foods, and she found out that Muzan had never had mochi before. Now that was sad.
Honestly it just gave Narumi another reason to punch Muzan's father if she ever met him.
So, here she was: in the town in the middle of their 6th night, Henge'd into 'Himitsu' once more, looking for mochi for her sad, princess-no-matter-how-much-he-denies-it friend.
She signed up for this. Willingly. What she didn't sign up for was running into an admittedly creepy ass dude.
She was just paying the vendor when he bumped into her. Literally. Narumi lost her balance and crashed onto the floor. Thankfully the mochi was still fine, otherwise she would've ended up throwing hands with whoever bumped into her.
"Oh, my bad. Here." A hand was thrusted into Narumi's view. She begrudgingly grabbed it and let the man pull her up. Once upright, she looked at him.
Danger!
Now Narumi didn't want to toot her own horn, but she was a pretty good sensor. So much so that she could usually get a read of a person's general personality by passively "scanning" them. It's how she knew to trust Daisuke, Sakura and Muzan when she first met them. She had vague, bad impressions of the people on the bar who... who killed Daisuke, so she knew to trust her instincts. To this day she still regrets not listening to her instincts that night.
"Are you alright?"
This guy was setting off so many alarm bells in her head it was giving her a metaphorical headache. It was so bad that Narumi almost visibly swayed on her feet. The last person to make her head ring like this was...
A sharp, stinging sensation at her neck made Narumi's thoughts return to the present before she spiralled down a very bad memory lane.
"Sorry about that." The man said, slipping one of his hands into his pocket. 'Pocket!' Narumi's mind yelled. 'This man has pockets! Where did he get his outfit? I need pockets.'
Ok, so internally Narumi might not be all that sane anymore, but she's not a serial killer or anything, so it's fine! Besides, a little insanity makes life more interesting.
"You looked quite out of it." The man continued. "Are you alright? I am a healer, so I might be able to help."
Narumi gazed at the man. Her alarm bells were still ringing like no tomorrow, but at least she wasn't caught of guard anymore.
"N-no, I'm alright. Thank you for offering though." Narumi said, slightly stuttering. 'Damn you, sensing ability!' Narumi thought. 'How dare you make me stutter in front of a potential threat.'
The man extended his hand towards Narumi once more, snapping her out of her internal chastising.
"My name is Fuseijitsu Akuyami. I'm a travelling healer. Might I inquire what your name is?" The man, now dubbed Fuseijitsu, asked.
Narumi hesitantly clasped the man's hand and, ignoring the sudden, sharp stinging sensation, responded. "Himitsu. Unfortunately I have no family name. Just a traveler."
"Oh, you poor thing." Fuseijitsu said, pulling her towards him and enveloping her in a hug.
Narumi froze. It wasn't that she didn't like hugs, quite the opposite actually. What bothered her was how unreasonably cold Fuseijitsu's body was. What's more, Narumi felt another sharp sting, this time at the back of her neck. That, and the hug just felt extremely awkward.
After what felt like an eternity, he let go. Narumi repressed a shudder. Fuseijitsu bent down to pick up her forgotten mochi and offered it to her.
"Would you like me to accompany you to your place of residence, Himitsu-chan?"
'Hell no! I would much rather drown myself.' Narumi thought, forcing herself to slowly take her mochi from the man and not bolt towards the forest.
"No thank you, Fuseijitsu-sensei." Narumi replied. She then clutched her mochi to her chest and bowed. "Thank you for assisting me, I must be going now. Sayōnara."
Fuseijitsu hummed, but didn't look like he was going to insist on accompanying her. Thank Kami. "Very well then. I do have an appointment I need to get to. Do be safe now. You never know what kind of monsters lurk in the area."
Narumi's head snapped up, but thankfully Fuseijitsu wasn't looking at her anymore. He was walking away and mumbling to himself, but she still heard him. "Wouldn't want a repeat of what happened in Mizo no machi, now would we. That was a bloody mess. Damn Red Reynard."
Narumi's eyes tracked the man's movement until he disappeared into the crowd. Even then, she didn't relax. He knew. That night when she lost control. He knew!
Narumi prayed he didn't recognise her name, and finally turned to head back through the forest to Muzan's, mochi still tightly clasped in her grasp.
Muzan leaned forward and gave the misshapen mochi an experimental poke.
"I don't think it's supposed to look so... smooshed." He commented. Narumi didn't respond. She was looking straight at him, but her eyes were unfocused.
Internally Narumi was very close to having a full blown mental breakdown. 'Is this what a midlife crisis feels like? Damn, now I feel bad for teasing Roshi-jiji.'
That night back in Mizo no machi was something Narumi didn't really know how to feel about. Had it happened before the war she would've felt extremely guilty, horrified even, at the brutal way she killed those men. But now, after everything that's happened to her, she didn't really feel all that bad about what she did.
What was putting her into a panic was that man she met at the market. Fuseijitsu Akuyami. His words might've sounded innocent to any random bystander. But to Narumi, they were filled with implications.
"Hey, you still with me?" Muzan asked. Narumi didn't answer. Just as he was about to ask again she looked him in the eyes.
"Have you... have you ever heard of the Red Reynard?"
Muzan hummed, raising a hand to cup his chin. "I vaguely remember my otou-san mentioning that name a couple of years ago, but beyond that; nothing. Why do you ask?"
Narumi remained quiet. Her head was bowed and her hair was free from its usual ponytail. It freely hung in front of her face, hiding it from view.
Muzan, now worried, reached and gently but insistently poked Narumi in the shoulder until she looked at him.
"Hey." He whispered, worry shining in his eyes. "Whatever it is that's bothering you, you can tell me. I won't judge."
At Narumi's incredulous expression, he blushed slightly and continued, "I personally think that we've bonded quite a bit these last 5 and a half days. And, don't laugh, but I feel... connected to you. For some reason all the scepticism and walls I usually have around other people just don't exist when I'm around you."
Narumi was still quiet, but her head wasn't lowered anymore. Instead, she was curiously gazing at Muzan. "I don't know why, but I trust you. A lot. Sometimes more than I trust myself or the maids. I'm not religious, and I don't believe in superstitions and the like, but I do believe that fate brought us together for a reason."
Narumi was still quiet, so Muzan opened his mouth to continue, when she suddenly let out a loud snort and started giggling.
"I-I said don't laugh!" Muzan yelled, face practically glowing with how read it was. Narumi continued giggling, mirth shining in her eyes as she fondly gazed at the blushing man.
"Look who's a tomato now, Princess-chan." Narumi said, smiling.
"Shut up!" Muzan yelled, burying his face in his hands. Narumi smiled and reached forward. She put two fingers underneath his chin and gently lifted his head.
"Gomen, Muzan. I didn't mean to laugh. I just found what you said funny cause I feel the same way." Narumi said, giving Muzan a close-eyed grin.
"Really?" Muzan asked, wide-eyed and face still flushed.
"Mhmm. Practically verbatim." Narumi hummed, nodding her head. Her smile fell away and she suddenly looked at Muzan, who barely kept himself from reeling back. 'Her eyes! They're red! And her pupils are slitted. What?!'
"About 9 years ago, war broke out where I came from. I was 16 at the time." Narumi said, still gazing at Muzan. He let out a soft gasp, but otherwise didn't react.
"It was... bloody, to say the least. Especially the start. The enemies, the Akatsuki, decided to target one of the large villages, Konohagakure, my birth village, first. The village was one of the largest, and had about 70 000 residents, of which only 13 000 were fighters, or Shinobi. The Akatsuki killed all of them." Narumi said. Throughout her mini-speech her eyes never left Muzan, waiting for a reaction.
And a reaction she got. Muzan audibly gasped, one hand coming up to cover his mouth. "Why?" He whispered. "Why would someone do that? Why start a war?"
Narumi took a deep breath, closed her eyes and hardened her resolve. She opened her eyes and asked, "Have you ever heard of a Jinchūriki?"
It took 7 hours.
It took 7 hours of talking, explaining, crying, cursing, re-explaining and in a couple of cases showing.
But Narumi did it. She told the man who somehow managed to break down all her walls everything.
She was completely transparent and didn't leave anything out.
"...and that's about it." Narumi finished. She looked at Muzan, waiting for a reaction. He'd been relatively quiet throughout the whole story, only ever speaking to ask her to elaborate on something. Narumi's nerves couldn't take his silence much longer.
"Are you..." Narumi started, before cutting herself off. She wasn't quite sure how to proceed now that she's basically given Muzan her whole life story.
She didn't know how he was going to react. Anything could happen at this point. Honestly Narumi expected him to begin yelling obscenities and chase her out. Maybe even call one of the maids or guards.
Safe to say what happened next surprised her. A lot.
Muzan moved and, before Narumi could really comprehend it, hugged her. Suffice to say, her reaction seemed to fit the circumstance.
She froze.
"I'm so sorry." Muzan said, somehow managing to tighten his grip on her. "Your life sounds so terrible. And here I am complaining about mine when it's leaps and bounds better than yours."
Narumi half-raised her arms, but didn't move to hug him back.
"It's ok." Narumi said. "We shouldn't compare our lives. They're both equally bad."
"But yours was terrible." Muzan interjected, lifting his head to look her in the eyes. He still didn't let go.
"Maybe so." Narumi eventually said. "But I'm starting to move on. Do I have my regrets? Yes, but so does everyone else. We all regret something or want to change certain aspects of our lives. Do I want to go back in time and fix everything? Abso-fucking-lutely. But that's not possible. We aren't Kami, nor do we control fate. We can't change the past, but what's important is how we choose to live for the rest of our lives."
'Wow. Ok. That was philosophical as fuck.' Narumi dryly thought.
Muzan sniffed and borrowed his face in the side of Narumi's neck. Narumi panicked and immediately hugged him back because what the heck he was crying oh my gosh I made him cry I'm such a bad friend and-
"I am so happy I met you, Narumi. You're the best friend I could've ever asked for."
Oh. Oh.
Now Narumi was crying as well. She copied Muzan by burying her own face in his shoulder, tightening her hold on him.
They sat like that until Ami, Muzan's maid, knocked on the door to deliver breakfast. They reluctantly pulled away from one another. Both of their faces were tear-stained, and their eyes puffy. Their cheeks were also flushed, slight blushes visible.
Narumi didn't want to leave. Muzan apparently didn't want her leaving either. He grabbed her wrist and pointed towards his ceiling, eyes begging.
Narumi had an iron will. The awful conditions she and Naruto grew up in cultivated it. It was what made her such a good Kunoichi. But looking at Muzan's red-rimmed eyes, the desperation in his face, Narumi felt her resolve crumble to dust within moments. She mutely nodded and jumped up.
Once Muzan was sure she would stay up there and out of sight he turned to the door. "Enter." He said.
Narumi winced. 'His voice doesn't sound good. Then again, if I tried to speak now I'd probably sound the same.'
The bedroom door opened and two figures entered. The first one was Ami carrying a breakfast tray, which she immediately dropped once she spotted Muzan's tear-streaked face. She rushed forward and cupped his cheek, asking what happened.
The second figure entered at a much slower pace. They were wearing a Western-style suit and had a briefcase. 'He looks familiar.' Narumi thought. She squinted, pouring chakra into her eyes to get a better look.
The figure, as if sensing her gaze, turned his head and made eye-contact with Narumi.
Fuseijitsu Akuyami.
Narumi very nearly lost her grip on the ceiling. She scrambled to re-stick herself, staring at the man in thinly veiled horror.
'He's Muzan's doctor?!' She thought, whipping her gaze between the smirking man and her bedridden friend. Fuseijitsu smirked, raising a single finger to his mouth, the universal sign for 'be quiet'.
Narumi growled softly. Her eyes shone with a red hue and her fox-like characteristics, bar the ears and tails, surfaced. But other than that she didn't do anything.
Seemingly satisfied, Fuseijitsu turned and continued walking towards Muzan. Ami had abandoned her position at his side and was instead picking up the tray and food she dropped. She then bowed and left while muttering to herself about replacing the food she dropped.
"Ohayō, Muzan-kun." Fuseijitsu said, sitting down on the bed. "How are you this wonderful morning?"
Muzan grimaced. He absolutely hated this man. "Fine, Fuseijitsu-sensei. What's got you in such a good mood?" He asked. Usually his doctor was more stoic, so his sudden change in personality unsettled him.
Fuseijitsu chuckled, opening his briefcase. "Oh, well if you must know I had a major breakthrough with the medication."
The second Fuseijitsu looked away Muzan grimaced. He hated it when he had his so-called 'breakthroughs'. It always meant a day full of pain for him.
Muzan risked a glance up at Narumi, and immediately paled at what he saw.
Narumi, who was usually only ever happy, annoyed or blank-faced, was full on glaring at Fuseijitsu.
'I... I've never seen her that mad before.' Muzan shuddered. Still, he decided to put his trust in Narumi, and looked at Fuseijitsu with more caution than before.
"What does this new form of medication do, Fuseijitsu-sensei?" Muzan asked, moving part of his kimono aside to expose his shoulder for the injection.
"With luck, it should cure your illness completely." Fuseijitsu said, prepping the needle.
"W-what?" Muzan blanched. A cure for his illness? Impossible. "I distinctly remember you saying that my illness was incurable."
"Oh, it is." Fuseijitsu stated. Quite casually, in fact. Like how one would talk about the weather.
Muzan, while Fuseijitsu was still distracted, whipped his head in Narumi's direction. His wide eyes met her equally wide ones. She slowly shook her head. 'Don't trust him.' She mouthed.
Muzan raised a brow and tried to convey a 'You think?!' through his eyes, only to suddenly slam them shut in a wince as a sharp stinging sensation entered his arm.
"Now, now. Don't let yourself be distracted by a meddlesome cockroach, Muzan-kun. I thought your father taught you better than that."
Silence.
"W-what?" Muzan whispered, eyes blown wide. Fuseijitsu gave a cruel smirk, before packing up.
"Yes. Cockroach. You do know what that is, don't you? It's an insect that's notoriously hard to kill. And just when you thought you'd finally gotten rid of it, it crawls back out of its hole." Fuseijitsu said, purposefully ignoring Muzan as he suddenly clutched at his arm and began heavily panting.
"You."
Fuseijitsu and Muzan looked up at Narumi. She was covered in a bubbling red chakra cloak, growling and glaring at Fuseijitsu.
"You killed my ojī-chan." Narumi growled.
"You killed my son." Fuseijitsu shot back.
A cold realisation settled over Narumi. Her eyes widened and her chakra cloak disappeared , taking her fox-like features with it.
"You're Riki's father, aren't you?"
"You have no right to speak his name!" Fuseijitsu exclaimed, rage evident on his face.
Narumi's own face morphed into one of anger. "He broke into my house and killed my ojī-chan!"
Muzan whipped his gaze between to two angry figures. They clearly had history.
Muzan opened his mouth to try and placate them, only to cry out. The burning sensation that started in his arm had spread throughout his body. The pain was agonising. He cried out again and fell off the bed, curling into a ball once on the floor.
"Muzan!" Narumi cried. She leapt from her spot on the roof and landed next to the now shivering man. She reached forward to comfort him, only to hiss and pull back.
'He's shivering, but his skin is boiling hot.' She thought. Abruptly, she whipped her head around to face the doctor.
"What the hell did you do to him, Fuseijitsu?"
"If all goes according to plan? I'll have healed his illness. If it doesn't? Well, then I've ensured his half-brother's status as heir." Fuseijitsu nonchalantly stated. He then waved and swiftly left through the door. "Jaa ne!"
'That... absolute bastard!' Narumi thought, glaring at the door whilst still keeping an eye on Muzan.
Narumi raised her hands and formed a cross sign.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Two clones popped into existence. Narumi faced the clones while pointing towards the room's door. "One of you follow the doctor. The other keep a lookout and keep people from entering."
"Got it, Boss." The clones saluted before leaving to fulfil their tasks. Nodding to herself, Narumi turned to help Muzan.
Bang!
A strong force crashed into Narumi, sending her toppling backwards. Her head hit the floor painfully hard and her vision blurred.
Shinobi instinct made her raise one of her arms to shield her face. Good thing she did, because a sharp pain hit her raised forearm moments later. Narumi pressed her other hand against the object, trying to push it off. She was shocked when the object didn't move.
'The hell?' She thought, still pushing. 'I'm using my full strength and it's not even budging! What the hell is this?!'
Just as Narumi thought that, her vision finally refocused enough for her to see again. What she saw made her blood run cold.
"...Muzan?" Narumi whispered disbelievingly, voice shaking.
True to her word, the object that collided with her was Muzan, except he looked completely different. His skin appeared to be even more pale than it was before, and veins were visible, bulging and pulsing all over his body. That, and his previously skinny and frail limbs were now very muscular.
Narumi risked a glance up at Muzan's face. The first thing she saw was that he was the source of the pain in her arm. His teeth, which she could see had become larger and sharper, were biting into her arm. His hands were wrapped around her arm to keep it in place. Sharp, blue-tinted nails were digging into her arm to help.
But that didn't bother Narumi. No, what made her tense up was his eyes.
Gone were his kind, lavender eyes. Instead, bright ruby red eyes glowed in the still-dark, early morning. Black, cat-like pupils glared down at her.
Narumi gasped, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. A cold realisation washed over her.
'His eyes. Oh, Kami his eyes! They look just like mine whenever I use my Bijuu chakra.' Narumi's thoughts raced a mile a minute, trying to figure out how Muzan had acquired her corrosive chakra.
...
"Are you alright?"
...
A sharp, stinging sensation at her neck...
...
"Oh, you poor thing." ...enveloping her in a hug.
...
"...sudden, sharp stinging sensation."
...
Fuseijitsu.
Of-fucking-course that bastard would be the cause of this. That explains why he was so touchy-feely earlier. He stole her blood. Her Uzumaki vitality. No wonder Muzan was suddenly built like a body builder on steroids.
"Muzan, snap out of it! This isn't you." Narumi tried to reason. Emphasis on tried, as Muzan's response was a muffled 'food' growled out around her arm.
Narumi blanched. 'F-food?! Fuseijitsu turned him into a cannibal! How the hell do I calm down a cannibal? Wait...'
Narumi had an idea. A really, really stupid idea. But it was better than nothing.
"Gomen'nasai, Princess."
With that, Narumi cocked back her free arm and punched Muzan across the face. He lost his grip on her arm and went flying across the room.
Not wasting any time, Narumi scrambled upright and inspected her arm.
"What the fuck?"
Narumi looked at Muzan, who was crouched in the corner and... glaring at the sun streaming in from the window, effectively creating a barrier between him and Narumi. He moved his gaze to Narumi at the sound of her voice.
"No, seriously. What the fuck, man? You ripped out a chunk of my arm!"
To emphasise her point, Narumi gestured to her forearm, which now had a considerable piece missing. Muzan, in response, licked his lips. "Food."
"No. Bad Muzan. Humans aren't food."
"Food."
"No."
"Food."
"No!"
"..."
"..."
"Food."
Narumi hid her face in her hands and groaned. This wasn't getting her anywhere.
Drip. Drip.
Oh, right. Her arm was still bleeding. Profoundly. It was making a considerably sized puddle on the carpet.
Narumi lifted her arm up to eye-level and glared at it like it offended her. Which, it kind of did.
She briefly raised her other arm to gesture in Muzan's general direction. "I still blame you, by the way."
'Well. Now's as good a time as any to test the limits of my healing factor.' With that thought, Narumi focused on pumping chakra to that one specific area.
Her entire forearm became covered in bubbling red chakra. The wound hissed before muscle and flesh began growing right before Narumi's eyes. She watched, transfixed, as her missing piece of arm completely regrew within a minute.
"Cool." She whispered.
Now, how to deal with Muzan. Fuseijitsu had obviously used her blood in the medicine, which gave Muzan a watered-down version of her vitality as well as remnants of her chakra.
'Hmmmm... chakra. I wonder...' Almost absentmindedly, Narumi activated her sensing ability, and gave Muzan a once over.
'Damn, ok.' Muzan's previously weak and insignificant chakra reserves skyrocketed. His reserves now looked like that of a high-level Jōnin.
"Well no wonder you suddenly gained the muscle mass of a bodybuilder, Princess." Narumi said. Muzan growled at her, but his face still flushed regardless, like any other time Narumi used the nickname.
Narumi looked closer. Muzan's chakra seemed almost... aggressive. Kinda like what using Kurama's chakra for the first time was like. There was a distinct lack of...
"Control."
Suddenly, it hit her. Muzan had gotten a sudden influx of chakra. But because he'd never had that much before in his life he had no clue how to control it. That, and he'd never been taught how to. It was like giving a toddler a kunai and expecting them to hit a bullseye on their first throw.
Narumi let out a puff of air. She knew what she needed to do, but she wasn't looking forward to it.
"Alright, then. Let's dance, Princess."
Narumi leapt across the room and tackled Muzan. The two tussled on the floor.
Narumi, while she still had the upper hand, took another swing at Muzan's head. Her fist made contact with his temple and a steady trail of blood flowed down the side of his head. Muzan's pupils narrowed and he growled at her.
Narumi let out a weak chuckle. "Oops."
Within seconds Muzan had her pinned down in a similar fashion to earlier, except this time he lunged and bit down on the junction between her neck and shoulder. Hard.
"Son of a-!"
Narumi groaned. 'Fuck, that hurts.'
Not wasting any time, Narumi planted both hands on the back of Muzan's head, keeping him in place. 'I bet this'll hurt him more, though.'
Just as Narumi was about to pump chakra to her hands, blood from Muzan's head wound dropped down from his chin and landed in the bite wound on Narumi's shoulder.
Almost immediately a strong sense of malice filled her. Narumi felt herself get pulled into her headspace. She came face-to-face with a large, writhing black mass of hate.
"...yo." Narumi greeted, giving the mass a two-fingered salute.
"Blood."
"Wow, ok. You are loud." Narumi winced, digging in her ear with a finger to try and stop the ringing. "No wonder Muzan can't hear me."
"Blood. Flesh. FEED."
"Once again, I reiterate. Humans aren't food."
"You DARE try to defy me?! Foolish mortal."
Narumi's eyes narrowed. "What even are you? Also, not mortal. Not anymore, I think. I can't exactly die of old age, so not mortal."
"~Eat him!"
Narumi's headspace violently shook. She remained calm and used chakra to keep from falling over.
"Nah, don't really feel like it."
"You cannot ignore me forever!"
"Pretty sure I can, bud. You aren't nearly as compelling nor as loud as the last voice in my head. So how about you get lost!"
Narumi yelled out the last word while swinging her arms forward. A wave of corrosive, red chakra enveloped the black mass and began eating away at it. The mass shrieked and tried to get away, but this was Narumi's mindscape. In here, she made the rules.
The chakra grabbed the mass and kept it in place. Within moments, the mass was gone, and Narumi's mindscape was empty once more.
Sighing, she turned to one of the corners of her mindscape, where a cave was situated near a grassy hill and stream.
"Miss you, Kurama."
Narumi's consciousness returned to the physical world, where she found that she was still pinning Muzan against her. 'Wasn't gone that long then. Whatever happened was weird as fuck though, no matter how much sense it made.'
Because what happened when Muzan's blood got into her system did make sense. It made a scary amount of sense. Muzan was literally the nicest person Narumi's ever met. Well, as nice as he can be, considering his childhood.
Fuseijitsu's medicine created a kind of voice in his head that was telling him he needed to eat humans.
'Wait... does that mean I've got whatever that medicine gave Muzan now?' Narumi did a quick scan of her chakra coils and... yep. Her chakra's as aggressive as his now. Her only consolation was that it was far more controlled.
Speaking of control, Narumi should probably calm Muzan down now.
Refocusing on her task, Narumi pumped her chakra to her hands. Her hands became covered in red chakra and, as expected, Muzan began thrashing and trying to get out of Narumi's grip.
Narumi grunted and swing her legs up and around Muzan's, effectively pinning him against her. She then guided the chakra on her hands into Muzan's chakra system. She made her chakra encompass his, calming it down and getting it under control.
Muzan's thrashing abruptly stopped. He collapsed onto Narumi, who let out a wheeze at the sudden weight. She smiled and gently patted his head, calling her chakra back. "I'm so happy that worked."
Muzan groaned and slowly pushed himself upright. "Ow, my head."
He took in the situation, and jumped off of Narumi with a shriek, eyes blown wide.
"What happened?!"
Narumi chuckled before propping her upper body up with her elbows. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Princess. Mind helping me up, I used more chakra that I probably should've. I'm pooped."
"R-right." Muzan grabbed Narumi's wrist and pulled.
Only to immediately brace and stumble back as he pulled her into his chest. Narumi faceplanted into his chest with a muffled 'oof'.
She looked up and met Muzan's wide eyes with amused, but still concerned, ones.
"That would be one of the side-effects of Fuseijitsu-teme's new medicine." Narumi commented.
"What happened?" Muzan asked. "All I remember is getting the injection, then it's a blur."
Narumi quirked her head to the side and hummed. "You sure you wanna know? You might not like it."
"Tell me."
All things considered, Muzan took the news relatively well.
Sure, he hugged Narumi for practically the entire retelling once he heard what he did to her arm. But other than that, he took it quite well.
"Your eyes are red now." Muzan commented, gently poking Narumi's cheek. "They are?"
"Mhmm. Are you doing it or is it just like that now?"
Narumi narrowed her eyes and focused. After a short while she turned back to Muzan, who shook his head.
Narumi's shoulders dropped and she sighed. "Guess they're like that now."
"They don't look that bad to be honest. Anyways, what do we do now?" Muzan asked.
Narumi hummed. "I'm not sure. We can't go outside, which sucks, and I used up more chakra that I probably should've when I stabilised yours."
Narumi had noticed that Muzan avoided the sun like it was poison, and there was a constant nagging in the back of her mind telling her to not go in it, so she wanted to see what would happen if they did. So, she stuck her arm into it.
The result was a very crispy arm that just kinda... fell off and turned to dust. Muzan, of course, panicked, but Narumi just focused and willed her arm back. A new arm immediately grew to replace the old one with a disturbing pop.
Muzan still wasn't very happy with her recklessness, but at least they now knew they could regrow limbs if they needed too.
"We could wait for Sakura-chan to come back. Then we fill her in and she could leave one of those markers you mentioned in the forest. That way we could travel without touching the sun." Muzan said.
"That's not a bad idea." Narumi commented, grinning. Her grin turned teasing. "When'd you get so good at making plans, Mr. Book Smart?"
Muzan deadpanned. "From all the books I've read, Miss Knucklehead."
Narumi smacked him on the shoulder. "Oi! I can be book smart if I wanna be."
"Mhmm. Whatever you say."
"I so can!"
"Where's your proof?"
"The mass amount of scrolls I own, the theory scroll I gave you, where is that by the way? And my awesome Fūinjutsu skills."
"...Ok you make a good point. But I still firmly believe that you learned most of your skills, bar the Fūinjutsu, out on the field."
"..."
"..."
"...shut up."
"Heh, knew it. Scroll's under the bed, by the way."
"Thanks. I'm gonna go get it." Narumi said, heading for the bed.
She knelt down and began searching, letting out a victorious 'aha!' when she found the scroll. Just as she was storing it in the storage seal on her arm the door opened with a loud bang.
Startled, she fumbled and dropped the scroll. It rolled and hit the foot of the person standing in the doorway. Said person bent down and picked the scroll up. Narumi's eyes followed the scroll until she saw the person's face, and startled again.
In the doorway was a tall man. He was wearing a fancy, embroidered kimono. He had curly black hair and menacing green eyes.
"Otou-sama?"
...if one of them is dead.'
~Secret
The Pierces
My word this chapter took longer than it should've. But I was in the middle of exams, so it is kinda to be expected. This is also one of the longest chapters I've ever written. I hope it was worth the unneeded wait.
Henge = Transformation
Sayōnara = Goodbye
Otou-san = Father
Gomen = Sorry
Konohagakure = Village Hidden in The Leaves
Shinobi = Ninja (Male)
Jinchūriki = (Power of) Human Sacrifice
Kunoichi = Female Ninja
Ohayō = Good Morning
Ojī-chan = Grandpa
Jaa ne = See You
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique
Bijuu = Tailed Beast
Gomen'nasai = My Sincerest Apologies
Jōnin = High/Elite Ninja
Fūinjutsu = Sealing Techniques
Otou-sama = Father (a VERY formal way of saying dad. Srsly how dare this man make his own son address him as practically royalty)