bednarczykmiki: Hmm... Akagi was the only one dark enough to be the personification of Naruto verse Kyuubi honestly. do you have any other recommendations?
shapeshifter340: not dark enough xD do you have any other recommendation?
RedRazorFlash: hahaha, thanks for the kind words, man!
SPark681: hmmm... I guess that's pretty good *Thinking mode*.
LordDarkFluff: I see. well, both is pretty gorgeous and Gitsune is dark enough i guess, okay, will probably use her unless I met more interesting chara/ Tsurara? a good, nice girl, but if I can be honest, her attitude is very unlike Yuki-onna in general, I'll probably looks for a colder girl.
Naruto-Juubi-Rikudou: First, thanks for the compliment!/Second, hmm... true. but I'll probably make him somewhat adept when it come to chakra manipulation. not that good, but also won't be so noob at it/Third, good choices actually. however, I'm looking for a darker fox for Kyuubi and the candidates except Akagi just lack the 'evil' vibe, you know? and xD a good idea to put esdeath! I guess I will use her unless I met some more interesting chara. as for spider girl, yeah, I already planned to use rachnera unless I met some more interesting woman./Fourth, done xD But it will be a very slow burn.
Kreceir: I guess that is true. albeit loli is not my cup, I guess I can't be hypocrite, consider all of my stories is shota based hahaha! xD Then again, Naruto's height and Koneko isn't that different standing side to side, so I guess it will be fine. Hmmm... yeah, I guess Akitsu can be considered as yukionna with her power over ice, lemme think about this for now/A nice, hot fox xD but going to clash this one with Gitsune for now.
Laplase: Of course, considering this one is older than Naruto in the charming gamer xD already got some idea for local minor deities and oni, but, do you have any suggestion for akaname? this one yokai rarely appear in any kind of anime, after all.
Psudocode Samurai: hahaha, so true, so true. but need to do this one by one.
Guest: she-hulk? and what can I classify her as? my knowledge is a bit limited when it come to the list of yokai. anyone read this know what can I classify she hulk as?
Creus: dude... really nice ideas there. I mean, I do need more yokai slayers. still, one by one, can't rush now xD
eternal nothingness: thanks and yeah, of course she has to. being human and all, naruto will look at her with one eye only.
Davidab931: Yeah, nice ideas man! let's see where are the wave going to take me to for now.
Dregus: hmmm... good idea actually. but, for the hellhound, what should I classify her in japanese folklore? oh wait... Inugami? *deep in thinking*
reader977070: haha, probably not yet. going to wait for the manga to end first at the very least so I won't get any plotholes.
A10riddick: change age at will? hmm... a rather good idea, but I'll scratch this because I will definitely miss the chance to make dramas between her and Kuroka xD
Borello: thanks! and I'm still confused what's strange about them haha xD
Alright guys!
as always, thanks for the compliments and the ideas you all gave me! I won't talk more than that because I'm sleepy hahaha! xD
NIGHT!
Chapter 5, First Day of Journey
Xxx (Start) xxX
Green scenery, fresh air, and the sounds of nature.
Ah, so nice~
" Hum~ hum~"
As Naruto walks down the road, he let out small, haunting hums from his lips.
Have someone heard his hums without seeing him, they probably will start to run away after they thought the sound is a ghost's voice.
That's how haunting his voice is.
Then again, there is a small amount of spiritual energy in his voice. So, most humans would shiver if they hear his hums.
Though, oppositely, Hachishaku that hovering behind him really enjoying his 'beautiful' voice. And that's why he never thinks much about what the other humans thought when he hums.
As long those precious to him enjoying his hums, Naruto will do it.
It simply as that.
"Hachi-chan, you sense anything?"
"Nu uh"
As the ghost behind him shook her head a few times, Naruto let out some more hums that she enjoys, his eyes looking to left and right to search for any spikes of spiritual energy.
Unlike humans, except for some race of yokai, none of them can hide their spiritual energy.
Hell, even yokai of high rank and above aren't able to lower their energy just like that except by using some kind of talisman made by Onmyoji.
Ah… talk about Onmyoji.
"I wonder… is sensei healthy now?"
Naruto let his mind wander as he thinks about the regal and powerful man that taught him for several years.
Where did the man say he live again?
"Hachi-chan, do you remember where sensei live?"
"Grrrr"
Here, Naruto let out a small amused laugh when instead of answering him, Hachishaku chose to growl at him.
Oh, right.
How can he forget Hachishaku's hatred toward his sensei?
Then again, considering her first meeting with his sensei, Naruto is not that surprised.
She almost got herself sealed away, after all.
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry, let's just continue to search for some ingredient, Hachi-chan"
"Po~"
And thus, Naruto continues his journey to search for the ingredient to create his shikigami.
Well… he could call them servants, but it would be incorrect because Hachishaku is also his shikigami and yet, instead of a servant, she is his lover.
Oh, his sensei talk about this too, didn't he?
There are two types of shikigami.
One is that of a servant, which is created by Onmyoji and must abide by the master's rule and will die the moment the master cut the connection.
While the other one is that of contract.
Simply said, it is not servitude and is more like a mutual friendship between an Onmyoji and a yokai.
"Meh… sensei is bad at explanation I forgot most of his teaching"
Naruto said, shrugging off his shoulders.
The man is powerful.
So powerful that even deities are afraid to get on his bad side.
But nonetheless, he is a bad teacher.
Plus, he won't be all-powerful for that long.
Why?
Because one of Naruto's bucket lists is to defeat the man. Whether it is about spiritual energy's density, knowledge, shikigami amount, and overall power altogether.
Someday, he will defeat his sensei.
.
..
..
"I sense spiritual energy"
"Me too~"
A little bit too low, nonetheless, Naruto decides to turn a little bit to left and walks toward the direction of the spiritual energy he senses.
Probably a yokai, from the fact the energy alone is rather dense and powerful.
But this direction…
Thinking for seconds while tapping his chin, Naruto in the end shrugged his shoulders.
He is pretty sure there's no village or something like that in this direction from the map he saw back in the village.
And yes, the first thing he did before he start this journey of his, was to remember the whole map of fire Nation, knowing it would help.
" Hum~"
And thus, Naruto continues his hum as he walks.
-Later-
"Ah… is this shrine invisible too?"
Naruto said as he wryly smiled at the run-down shrine in front of him.
To his eyes, it is haunting, but at the same time, very real.
He doesn't have any human eyes to see whether this thing could be seen or not by most humans, thank you very much.
"… Touch?"
Why don't you just try to touch it?
That is what Hachishaku suggested to him.
But hearing this, Naruto's smile becomes even wrier.
He also can touch the shrine where Aoi is currently being sealed, after all.
Now, the true question is, should he enter?
Shrine means god.
God means powerful.
And powerful means he can be beaten up by any of them if he is not careful enough.
Beaten up means pain.
And Naruto doesn't like pain.
"…"
Scratching his head for a few minutes, Naruto in the end chose to turn around and not do anything.
Gods love their rest.
He should be able to get away now if he were careful.
He is already lucky enough that Aoi was kind enough to let him enter her shrine.
Not all deities like that though.
So, he better turn around ri-
"Ah… this is stupid"
Barrier.
The sun itself suddenly disappears the moment a large, bloody red moon hovers right above his head.
And inside this barrier, the scenery itself changes.
The shrine becomes much larger, towering even the tallest tree around it.
And right now, the shrine is being covered by a large, cracking doom.
Why cracking?
It is simply because seven or so yokai are currently hitting the barrier, and each of them is sporting a large, evil grin on their face.
Oni.
Naruto's mind concluded, seeing their lone horn atop their head.
Should he help, or run?
Despite thinking like this, Naruto's left waist burn with a crimson fire as a long, sheathed katana appears, humming with an unknown power.
"Oi, oi… what are you guys doing?"
Calmly, Naruto walked to the group of Oni, getting their full attention almost instantly.
And their eyes… don't look that friendly.
Seeing this, Naruto let his right-hand grabs the sword's handle on his right waist.
"Begone, human. Before I decide to make a feast out of you"
The largest between seven onis said, his face leaning down toward Naruto with a mocking grin on his face.
Unimpressed, Naruto let out his evil grin.
Destruction
Death
Anger
"!"
It was just for a small second, but for that small second, the seven onis felt as if they were dying several times in the hands of the human across from them.
And this makes them tremble in fear.
"… Tell me, before I decide to make a mince meats of you, trash"
Naruto said with a kind smile and a kind tone in his voice.
And seeing such contradiction, the seven onis get even more scared.
"…"
Even so, they still decide to keep silent and hold their clubs, intent to destroy the human in front of them before he can start his attack.
And seeing this, Naruto's smile widen.
Servant shikigami…
He won't get any information out of them.
Click
With his thumb, Naruto unsheathed his lone katana.
"Shadow slashes… Rajomon"
After he said that…
Click
He sheathed back his sword and start his walk toward the seven unmoving onis.
First slash, the hand of the front-most oni got cut off cleanly.
The second slash, said oni's head is no longer on his shoulders.
In the third slash, he split into two perfectly in the middle.
In the fourth slash, he and his six friends got their upper bodies and bottom split, and as this happens, a large, purple eye can be seen closing above the group.
And the fifth slash, the eye above them opened. And their bodies quickly become very tiny pieces from so many slashes that happened. At the same time, on the ground, seven claw-like marks can be seen, destroying the ground and burning any remaining corpses with a terrifying, purple flame.
Of course, unfortunately for Naruto, the final slash was so big that the claw-like marks and their fires reach the barrier of the shrine, destroying it almost instantly.
"… Ouch"
Already reaching where the oni standing just a few seconds ago, Naruto flinched a bit.
Though, he let out a small sigh of relief when the claw-like marks and their fire doesn't reach the shrine itself.
Geez.
And here he thought he had more control over his sword techniques.
Let's just hope the deity inside doesn't notice his presence.
Thinking like this, Naruto let out a small nod and turn around.
As long the deity hasn't noticed his presence, he should be able to get out of this small domain.
He doesn't want to face a deity, no, no.
But…
'In the future, perhaps'
.
..
-Inside the shrine-
"I see… so you've found a new master to serve, Onikiri"
In a single large room made of beautifully carved woods, a lone woman opened her eyes.
All the while, her hands are caressing the inhumanly large sword on her lap.
Onikiri…
The blade that cut all yokai indiscriminately.
To think a young human of all things to get his hands on such a sword.
'Just what are you thinking… Abe no Seimei?'
She can't understand.
Seimei has promised every leader of yokai that he would not give the sword to anyone unworthy.
Hell, he even promised to Onikiri itself.
But…
'Rajomon'
The boy was able to use one of the abilities of Onikiri, which means even Onikiri itself thinks that the boy is worthy to hold it.
Curious, the woman in the end nodded to herself and walks out of her shrine. At the same time, the large sword in her hands disappears into the crimson fires.
.
..
She's going to ask Seimei just what is so special about the boy.
After all, she is bored after several years of sitting in one place.
-With Naruto-
Ah, so annoying.
Walking on a street once again, Naruto let his mind wander as he plays with a single horn that he's able to take from the dead oni before the creature dies.
He has wasted several hours of his time. And yet, he only gets a single horn of oni of all things.
Oni.
Well… they're not the weakest per se.
But they're indeed the dumbest among most yokai.
After all, very few yokai could defeat oni when it comes to stupidities.
Again, he repeats.
So annoying.
Sigh
Thus far, the journey doesn't look good.
"What do you think, Hachi?"
"Me is happy~"
as long I'm with you, I'm happy.
And hearing this, Naruto's lips turn upward a little bit.
So cute, his girlfriend is.
But knowing that they have no time to let the time pass just like that, Naruto fastens his steps.
He must gather as many shikigami as possible.
And also knowing the reason for his drive, Hachishaku merely latches on her arms on his shoulders as usual.
.
..
..
Another spiritual energy was detected, Naruto perk up his head a little bit and turn his attention to his right.
No… not spiritual energy.
Hatred.
A strong one too at that.
-With ?-
"There has been a repeated mysterious death near the Yu village, from the report, they all dies in the river"
That is what she heard from one of the generals when he was talking with another general.
They were taking a break time and eating some Onigiris.
But no…
That's not what she cares about.
'Mysterious death'
That's what she heard from the man.
And Yu village also wasn't that far from the capital.
So why there's no help being sent to the place by her fa- lord Daimyo?
No, optimistically thinking, the Daimyo should have already sent his men to the river to investigate, only to find nothing.
Yokai, then.
She concluded.
And thus, she, Okita Soji, the daughter of the fire Daimyo decide to take arms and went to the village.
.
..
..
*pant*
*pant*
"You're persistence, I'll give you that, Yokai"
Panting, Okita held her sword even tighter and poised it at the female yokai before her.
The woman is beautiful (most yokai do, now that she thinks again) with charming emerald eyes and long, black tresses of hair behind her.
As for her attire, it was simply a simple white kimono that most females wore after taking baths.
The most visible truth, however, is that the woman is wet from head to toe, showing a generous amount of curves and skin from this wetness.
As for status…
Well, the yokai is on her last legs, basically speaking.
Despite this, the glares of hate are still burning heatedly inside those emerald eyes.
Not that she cares, in the first place…
And thinking like this, Okita shorten their distance, eyes ablaze with cold, just fury for the people killed by the yokai in front of her.
"Die"
*clank!*
However, her eyes widen when instead of flesh, her blade meets with another blade.
And behind said blade, a pair of heterochromatic eyes of blue and red dances with pure amusement.
"Now, now, I don't think raising blade against a beauty is a good ethics now, right?"
"She's a yokai!"
Okita hissed hatefully against the boy in front of her.
He must be a normal human if he can only see the beautiful human woman form of the yokai grinning behind him (probably happy that she got a dumb human to fall for her human form).
After all, as Onmyoji, she can easily see behind that illusion. A being of nightmarish apparition made of so many female human fleshes put together forcefully.
The exact appearance?
Okita doesn't want to see into it too much, honestly.
"Now that's rude…"
Okita widen her eyes when she folded and thrown several meters away from the kick sent at her.
Grabbing a hold of her pained stomach, she can only glare at the boy, not missing the mocking grin the yokai behind him sent at her.
"… I mean, yeah, most people would be afraid to see her true form. But it still doesn't give you the right to be racist here"
After he said that, the boy waved his sword and let out some amount of spiritual energy from the tip of the blade.
Not enough to cause any damage except to ruffle some grass, but enough to make Okita looks hopeful and made the yokai behind him change her mocking grin into a frown of dread.
"She's not just bad in appearance, she also have killed several humans that comes to the river! We should just kill her and be done with it, oh Onmyoji"
He is skillful enough to only let out small spiritual energy from the tips of his sword.
One that has such fine control must be an Onmyoji, unlike her that merely use her spiritual energy to let her cut human and yokai alike.
"Ah, that's change a few bit of things"
Okita let out a small sigh of relief when the boy spun his blade skillfully and let it rest inside its sheath.
The sheath… looks familiar.
But ignoring all of this, as she doesn't have time to think about it, Okita nodded and walked to the yokai, intending to kill her before she can recover more of her strength to run away.
And perhaps seeing this, this yokai began to get teary eyes and backed away.
"Wait a bit now…"
Again, the boy walked to her line of sight while giving the yokai his back.
A sign of protection.
And also a sign of trust.
Seeing this, Okita grit her teeth in frustration.
"What now?"
"Tell me please, why did you do it?"
The boy ignored her and decide to turn around to give that question to the yokai. And while she doesn't really know what is the face he is making right now, she could tell that from his tone alone, he must have a kind-looking smile on his face.
He's… trying to understand the yokai?
The yokai that have killed so many people just because they come to the river?
Now, if she can be honest, this would be a good time to simply dash and cut the yokai now and there. After all, with the boy giving her his back, there's no way he could protect the vicious yokai like before.
But…
For the life of it, Okita's instincts are screaming at her that if she were to get close, she will die.
will die.
The boy… he is dangerous.
"I… I… those humans keep dirtying my river. At first, I merely spook them out by showing them my true form… but they kept coming… So, I had to kill them… I'm s-sorry, please don't kill me"
The yokai.
She is… crying.
And from her standing place, Okita could see the emotions passing through the yokai's eyes.
Happiness.
Nervousness.
Desperation to be believed by them.
No.
Not by them.
By him.
Just what kind of face he is making that the man-killing yokai literally begging to be believed?
A ruthless one?
No… from the happiness in the yokai's eyes, Okita believes it must be a face full of kindness… of acceptance.
"Alright, I trust you… and ma'am, you heard the woman, please go back to the capital, as for her, I'll make her my shikigami, she will no longer kill humans from now on"
The second sentence is pointed at her. And from the fact the boy knows of her allegiance with the capital, he must know her identity.
The sole daughter of the Fire Daimyo.
"I do not accept, no matter what she said, she still have killed several humans just because they have dirtied her wa-"
"Don't you dare use 'just because' now, ma'am. Why don't I go to capital and dump a whole house of trash on top of your white, Daimyo building? You have no right to value someone's property just because it has no value to you"
That shut her.
Then again, she can see where he's coming from.
After all, were someone dare to do what he said, anyone that watched would have the culprit's head almost immediately.
If they are using this fact as a reference, the yokai who spooks humans at first before she goes for kills would look kind compared to the militant the Daimyo has.
"But…"
"There's no but. However, if you still want to clash your belief with me, I shall comply… though, don't fault me if you somehow die in a second"
He doesn't touch the hilt of his sheathed sword, no…
But by the end of him finishing his words, Okita feels it, and she is sure that the yokai behind the boy could feel it too.
The pressure of deity.
"Po… Po~"
Tall, a ghost of a woman in white appears behind the boy, her long arms resting on his two shoulders.
Face?
Under the large wide, white hat, the woman has no face like that of a human.
Both of her eyes sockets and mouth are opening, showing nothing but the dark abyss hidden inside the three holes.
!
And it is rightfully frightening for Okita that immediately become sweaty and panting from the pressure of the aura and the horrifying sight.
"You're giving a bad first impression, Hachishaku"
And just like that, the pressure and the horrifying face are gone, as if never there in the first place.
Now, instead of a face of nightmare-inducing, the woman has the face of a loving lover, with beautiful eyes and supply lips that currently pouting at the boy several feet shorter than her.
*Gulp*
She is scared.
Her, Okita Soji, the sole daughter of the fire Daimyo is scared as hell, more so after he heard the name said by the boy.
Hachishaku.
The guardian deity that's revered by some people of rural villages.
Why is she giving her full protection to this boy, Okita doesn't know.
And honestly, she doesn't want to find out, not when the ghostly deity is currently giving her the most stink glare she could do without making her face horrifying.
"Alright… it seems you're pretty capable, Onmyoji. Then I shall put the yokai in your care. However, if I ever heard of her killing another innocent, I will cut her where she stand"
"Fuahahaha! I understand, ma'am. If she indeed dares to create another problem, do please call me. Anyway, my name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, the student of Abe no Seimei, its a pleasure to make your acquaintance"
Okita took notice of his lack of agreement with her killing his newly gained shikigami and put it in the back of her mind.
But, Abe no Seimei, huh?
She never heard of any rumor or fact of the legendary Onmoji having a student.
Hell, from what she knows, the man doesn't even have one apprentice!
"Its pleasure to meet you too, Naruto-san. I am Okita Soji, the sole daughter of Ryuji Soji, the fire Daimyo and one of the generals of the capital"
And thus, the day she meets with the strange, yet kind Onmyoji.
-Later-
As Naruto walks through the street to another village, he hums happily.
Behind him, his new shikigami stares at his back with confusion plastering on her beautiful face.
And of course, she is still soaking wet from the head to her feet.
That's just what she is, so Naruto won't try to make her change her clothes.
Eh, wait…
Turning around, Naruto let a kind smile on his face appear as he want to ask the woman something a little bit private.
"Not to be rude or something, but how many attire do you have?"
"L-Like what I am wearing right now? About ten if I can remember right, master"
"Ah, don't need to call me master or something like that, just call me Naruto, okay~?"
She looks somewhat confident and even gains a small blush of happiness after Naruto said this, and seeing this, Naruto let out his own smile get even wider.
His new shikigami is happy, that makes him happy!
For all intent, Naruto is a simple guy.
And thus, Naruto told the woman the reason for him exploring the fire nation outside his village, the great Konoha.
Her face was neutral when he said Konoha, thus, Naruto deducts that he won't need to have some headache when he brings her there a week from now on.
That's good.
"So, you want my wet kimonos to create some mid-rank shikigami?"
The kimono themselves won't have any spiritual energy, being of normal clothes and all, but if they were saturated with the natural sticky water that comes out of her body for half a day, they will have enough spiritual energy to be an ingredient.
"Yes. Of course, I won't ask for free, when we reach Konoha, I'll ask whether madam Kejurou whether she has some nice kimonos around your size"
"A-Alright, then I don't mind, Naruto-kun"
Ah…
Suffix already?
Oh well, he doesn't mind about such a thing.
If nothing else, he is happy that she accepted him as a partner despite she just knew him today.
-With ?-
She hates them.
Humans.
Living beings.
Or whatever beings that could breathe and smiles while she is rotting and decaying under this river.
Then again, she is made by clumps of the hatred of the women that died because of the river's stream.
So of course she would hate the breathing, beautiful beings while she is rotting, ugly and deformed, alone and unloved under the water.
But still…
She knows that she is a yokai and can't hurt humans too much if she wants to keep on living.
Onmyoji
The bane of all yokai.
The people who can end her life with ease.
And thus, she decided to resist any urge to attack humans and keeps her happiness by taking a bath every single minute, hour, and day.
As a woman, and as a water-based yokai, taking a bath is one of the joys of her life.
Yet…
Despite her best attempt to ignore humans.
They keep coming to the river, dumping their trash all over it and basically at her face.
She hates them.
And each day made her hate even stronger.
Onmyoji.
She still remembers the damned humans.
And fearing those people, she chose to chase off any humans that dare to come to her river.
But humans are vicious.
Not being able to dump their trash in the river, they choose to dump it on the nearby ground.
And when the rain appeared, the piled-up trashes would arrive on the river within minutes.
It angers her.
It angers her so much!
From the harmless spooking, she decides to kill them one by one, no matter what was their intention to come to the river, she chose to kill the humans all the same.
She used illusion to lure humans with an illusion of a woman taking a bath, and men came near to assault her while women came to berate her.
She dragged them under and ate them all the same.
Though of course, instead of 'ate', she actually merged the bodies of the dead women into her own, so that she can be more beautiful.
And in no time, humans had become a simple nutrient to her.
Stronger and stronger.
Each time she killed a human, her essence become even stronger, and from a simple water-yokai, she gain a new ability, flesh manipulation.
She can defeat Onmyoji with this ability!
Or at least, that's what she thought…
Pride broken and body tired, she can't do anything except glare at her enemy, daring her to do the final strike at her.
It may take hundreds of years, but when the hatred in the air is enough for her resurrection, she will have her revenge!
She will kill all humans until there's noth-
*Clank!*
"Now, now, I don't think raising blade against a beauty is a good ethics now, right?"
.
..
Oho.
a few cans of truth was opened in this chapter.
Naruto has a teacher? Okita is the daughter of the fire daimyo?
hahaha!
bet none of you ever thought on that, right? XD
Anyway, I didn't place any chara sheet in this chapter because I met the words limit for this story's chapter, which is around 5k words.
probably in the next chapter, which will be the chara sheet for our beloved Hachishaku!
anyway!
I was planning to use Renamon as Naruto kitsune summon. and yes, I'm thinking that it would be nice if he have a harem of a few Renamons. should I do it? or not? considering it would enter a furry tag, which I never wrote if I can be honest.
still...
hate it?
love it?
as always, tell me in the review section, I will be grateful if you do!
Ciao~z