Manhunter
Author's Note: I'm going to provide a brief legend that applies to all my stories:
Bold: technique, demon/summon speech, Demonized Vessel speech (Naruto when he channels the Nine-Tailed chakra)
Italics: flashback, thought, or special emphasis when speaking.
Underlined: almost never used except in chapter titles.
Well, that's about it. On with the story. Oh, and this chap's rated for cannibalism, FYI. If you're too queasy to handle it, I'll warn you.
Last Heartbeat
Closing his eyes to meditate, Naruto once again allowed himself to drift aimlessly until he found himself in a wide tunnel. His mind had originally manifested as a sewer, but he'd taken the time to clean up a bit, first by starting to dry it out, and then by applying a new layer of paint.
It now resembled a well-lit railroad tunnel (if you can imagine a subway terminal, it's very similar to this).
And, as always, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. However, this was not the white path to Heaven—this was a red portal to the abode of a monster: the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit.
With a calm that bordered on arrogance, Naruto sauntered over to the light, before eventually arriving in a late-20th century hotel room.
Eventually, he sat down on a semi-comfortable chair and asked, "So how have you been this evening?"
He could hear the shower running, and although Naruto knew that she didn't really need to bathe in order to stay clean, it was the concept that mattered.
From behind the door (and presumably a shower curtain), she replied, "Oh, the same as usual, you know? If something special actually had happened, I'd probably wind up bouncing off the walls or something."
Unable to imagine the Kyuubi bouncing off of anything, Naruto merely said, "If you say so. I was wondering if… perhaps you wanted to do something later on tonight?"
The water stopped running, and he heard her ask from behind him, "In here?"
Naruto couldn't see her because his chair was strategically positioned so that both the bathroom and the bedroom doors were behind him. The vixen had repeatedly said that she didn't care what he saw, but still appreciated that he was trying to be a gentleman.
Naruto also knew that by 'in here', she meant 'here inside his mind', and not 'here in her room'. So he told her, "Actually, I was thinking of something… out there, so to speak."
Still dressing herself, the Kyuubi (or as she preferred to be called while in human form, Katya) asked, "When you say 'out there', do you mean 'out of the ordinary', or 'out of the seal'?"
Smirking, Naruto replied, "To a certain extent… both. The possibility of the latter automatically involves the former."
Now fully dressed, Katya joined Naruto in the living room, taking a seat on the couch directly opposite him. She wore a white skirt that went almost down to her knees, and a short-sleeved, light silver top that left her stomach exposed. Her fiery red hair cascaded down to her shoulders, and her green eyes appraised Naruto with a somewhat critical eye. She appeared to be about twelve years old.
"And just how do you propose to get me out of this seal without killing yourself, hm?"
Still smirking, Naruto answered, "You once told me of a demon-type clone jutsu; one that was extremely similar to the Shadow Clone jutsu, except that the clone wasn't an exact duplicate. Instead, the 'clone' was a physical manifestation of whatever the user wanted to create. Using this, I could essentially create for you a true physical body—one that would expire only if I were to dispel it, or if one of us were too badly injured. As I cast the jutsu, I could pour your consciousness into the 'clone'. That is how, in a sense, I get you out of the seal without killing myself."
Shaking her head slightly, Katya said, "You really do amaze me, Naruto. I wouldn't have given myself a second chance for what I did, but you listened to my side of the story, believed me, and for some inexplicable reason seem to be in love with me." Looking at him with sparkling eyes and a dazzling smile, she continued, "You humans really are an amazing species, you know that?"
Getting up and extending his hand, Naruto answered, "You haven't seen anything yet, my dear."
Still smiling, Katya took his hand and allowed him to pull her up.
With that, the room began spinning, and Naruto opened his eyes in the real world. Going through the twenty-seven hand-signs, Naruto calmly stated, "Demon's Art: Psy Clone."
Red chakra swirled around him for a moment, as he reached within himself and dredged up the images he wanted, before transferring Katya's consciousness into the chakra storm as well. After a few seconds, it coalesced into a perfect physical manifestation of what she had looked like within his mind. Of course, she didn't actually have any of her demonic powers—she was, for all intents and purposes, human.
Taking his hand once again, she said, "Come on—you can show me around the town."
Smiling in a way that some would consider deranged, but for Naruto was pleasant, he agreed.
A man clad in black robes wearing a white mask stood atop the building opposite Naruto and Doctor Lecter's abode. Watching Naruto emerge, he realized that the time to strike was near. Whispering into a hidden receiver in his mask, he said, "The demon child's all but alone—now is the time to finish the Fourth's mission.
"Root will not be denied."
Naruto showed Katya around the Village, since she had never really seen it with her own eyes except as the Fox—and back then, she was colorblind.
He treated her to a meal at Hanuman's (a sort of diner where that was popular with the younger generation), and then they went to see a foreign movie called 'Eagle Eye'. And even though the dialogue was subtitled (because it was in a foreign language), it was still a fairly good movie.
Heading back to the Manor, Naruto suddenly detected a number of presences in the vicinity.
The next thing he knew, Katya was bleeding on the ground, before her body dissipated into demonic chakra and seeped back into Naruto's body.
Five men robed in black, their faces hidden by white masks with the symbol for 'Root', circled Naruto; one of them held a bloodied katana.
Each had a different animal symbol that also adorned their masks: Hawk, Lion, Viper, Mantis, and Shark.
Mantis spoke with a dead voice when he stated, "Demon child of the Leaf, tonight you shall have your long overdue death. If you have any last words, now is the time to speak."
A flash of red, and Naruto's body was seemingly engulfed in flames. His irises were now red; the pupils slit. His whisker marks had deepened; his canines and nails had lengthened into fangs and claws.
His voice was only slightly deeper as he replied, "Phantoms of the Root—if you want to kill me, perhaps you'll succeed. But long before you do…"
He disappeared and lunged at Viper with a switchblade knife as he finished, "I'll see you in pieces!"
Viper leapt out of the way, and Lion made a number of hand-signs before saying, "Fire-Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
The massive inferno completely enveloped Naruto, who emerged a split-second later and tackled Lion, before slitting his throat with the switchblade.
"You didn't do your research, did you? The Kyuubi was a creature born of fire; and since I contain it, no fire-elemental technique can harm me." Then, he summoned a trio of Shadow Clones, each of whom were also channeling the Kyuubi's chakra, and also had a switchblade knife.
The original shouted, "Bring them down!" as the Shadow Clones each began fighting defensively with a different Root ANBU.
Mantis repeatedly attacked with mid-ranged Earth-style; Shark used AOE (Area of Effect) Water-Style; Viper assaulted his target with close-range Lightning-style jutsu; and Hawk hit the original Naruto with a number of Wind-style techniques.
Naruto briefly wondered if Lion had been their Fire specialist.
The Clones defeated, it was one against four now, and Naruto wasn't in the greatest condition. But neither were the Root.
Viper was sporting a broken arm, Mantis was severely bleeding from a nasty cut on his forehead, and Shark had a number of broken ribs. Only Hawk was still unscathed.
He spoke once again: "Abandon this useless resistance, and we will grant you a painless death, Nine-Tails."
Naruto got a crazed look in his eye as he asked, "You want a demon, fool? Then by all means…."
He hunched over as the flames covering him pulsed violently before growing a tail was added.
"LET ME GIVE YOU ONE!!!"
With his newfound speed, Naruto mercilessly barraged the Root, repeatedly stabbing them, and was about to behead Mantis when the flaming chakra suddenly vanished.
'Naruto, you don't want to do this.'
'Like hell I don't. They—for all practical purposes—killed you. I'll make them scream apologies.'
He tried to forcibly channel the Nine-Tailed chakra again, but failed—this time, she was trying to keep him as human as possible.
In a sudden burst of blue fire, Naruto changed.
He stood a few inches taller, and his sky-blue eyes had now turned a shade of reddish purple.
Thus transformed, he continued his attack, killing Mantis, Viper, and Shark.
He had Hawk lying on the ground, too wounded to get up.
"If you plan to kill me, Demon, then do it now."
Naruto summoned a few Shadow Clones and had them restrain Hawk, just in case, before pulling out a surgical scalpel.
"Oh, I'm just as human as you are—more so, in fact. I, at least, have emotions. And I'm not insane, either. Evil, however… that's debatable."
Cutting away the robe and clothes underneath, Naruto also removed Hawk's mask, revealing a twenty year-old man with white hair and yellow eyes (the iris, not the whites).
With an expression of confusion, Hawk asked, "What are you doing?"
His face a mix of a smirk and a sneer, Naruto told him, "Your ribs are so thoroughly fractured that you'll need an operation to live. Too bad you won't be getting it, though."
Very perplexed, but with an inkling of what was about to happen, Hawk asked, "Then what the hell are you doing?!" His calm was all but gone now.
(The following section has graphic depictions of surgery, internal organs, and cannibalism. If you feel you are unable to read this without losing your lunch, skip to the next note like this one. And remember: viewer discretion is advised.)
Not answering directly, Naruto made a vertical incision that cut through the sternum, before making a number of other cuts that allowed him to peel away the man's chest and ribs, exposing his thoracic cavity.
Naruto could see the lungs expanding and contracting along with the diaphragm, as well as a number of other bodily functions, but observed only the man's rapidly beating heart.
Reaching in with his scalpel, Naruto calmly said, in a mocking tone, "Doctor Lecter won't be too pleased with me once he finds out I've spoiled my dinner."
At that moment, the entire truth hit the soon-to-die ANBU like a wrecking ball: this kid was going to devour his heart.
In one smooth motion, Naruto cut out Hawk's still-beating heart, and after staring at it for an instant, took a bite out of it.
Hawk was too badly injured to be able to cry out in pain, horror, or disgust, but his eyes still widened with terror as he watched Naruto literally eat his heart right in front of him.
Naruto, however, marveled at the unique taste of the cardiac muscle as he sank his teeth into it. It was hard, and yet soft at once. There was also a lot of blood—he wound up drinking some of it, and found that despite the taste of iron and copper, it was actually quite pleasant.
Once he had finished eating the heart, he noticed that Hawk was dead, and considered eating more of the dead man's body, but decided that somebody was bound to notice sooner or later.
Licking his hands free of the gore, he turned and resumed his journey home.
(Okay, now you squeamish people can get back to reading again.)
Ten minutes later, Doctor Lecter returned from his day-long rounds at the hospital. Noting the change in Naruto's eyes, he asked, "I take it you had some adventures with the vixen?"
With a straight face, Naruto recounted the entirety of the day's events—his 'date' with Katya, the attack of the Root, and finally…
"I devoured the fool's heart before his very eyes, Doctor Lecter. His Last Heartbeat was mine."
Hannibal's face was fully devoid of expression, before he smiled.
Seeing that he wouldn't be in trouble, Naruto began chuckling, before laughing.
Lecter joined in, and the neighbors who heard that laughing (but not the story behind it) were unable to sleep for fear of nightmares.
A/N: this is, without a doubt, the longest chapter for Manhunter so far—and possibly the longest chapter for any of my stories, period. I'm considering pairing up Doctor Lecter with Anko in the future; vote on whether or not you think I should. Oh, and I was going to post this last night, but I ran out of time, so here it is. Oh, and I'll move the old Chap 3 into its own story as a one-shot until I can properly put it in here.
