Chapter 40 Discoveries
The fires where still burning and the holy priests were busy treating to both the wounded and the dyeing of the demon village. The small hospital which had treated the need of the demons for generations had been burned and so the doctors who had lived through the human attack had gathered behind the walls of the temple, the halls decorated to honor the ancestries where now makeshift wards.
"We need a priest!" yelled a Fire Rhyuu as a group of demons moved a makeshift stretcher made out of pieces of wood tied down with rope.
"What!" yelled a priest his red robes hiding the blood of the wounded, he moved toward the stretcher only to see not another demon but a human with a horrible wound to her head. "What are you doing kill that monster."
"She saved us." Said Mai as the elder priest looked at the young Bakeneko with a mix of surprise and disbelief in his eyes.
"She did, we where going to be executed by the humans and she walked up and killed them." Explained an older demon as the priest placed a hand under his scaly skinned chin. "She cut our bounds and allowed us to escape only to have the other humans do this to her."
"Alright, bring her." Said the Priest as he slithered away on his snake like body, the demons which had carried Moegi into the temple followed behind her. A few demons saw the human lying on the stretcher and called for blood but the sight of a priest stopped them from doing anything. Some of the demons who had brought her in began yelling that she saved them which raised more questions among the demon but it did lower the risk of her being attacked.
Moegi opened her eyes as best as she could, she saw nothing but out of the other she saw a strange blur the only things that stood out was all the demons that surrounded her. She was lowered onto something as a demon came into view, he had a scaly skin and a face that reminded her of a brown and tan snake.
"We need to remove that weapon from her eye before we turn her." explained the demon snake in red robes of some kind. "The Furutsubaki plant will push that deeper into her skull and kill her if we don't remove it."
"Will that kill her?" inquired a female voice
"It is a risk and I am not sure even the healing ability of the furutsubaki will save the eye but she will die if we don't do this." explained the snake demon as he noticed that she was looking at him. "Don't worry human, next time you wake up this will all be over and you will have a new life and a new body."
Moegi tried to say no, to say she wanted to die as a human but her voice was too weak she couldn't find any strength to speak. It became harder when another snake creature with a different scale pattern with what looked to be doctor scrubs on. Then he did something she had never seen a doctor do, he opened his mouth wide his jaws unhinging as two long white fangs snapped down from resting points in the roof of his mouth. She could see a bluish liquid dripping off its mouth.
"Don't worry, he is a nure-onna doctor with sedative venom." Said a female voice as the snake man bit down on her arm, she suddenly felt sleepy as her vision blurred.
"She is out." Said the Doctor as he looked at the wound, and started working on removing the kunia that had gone into the human eye. As he worked he found that the kunai had dug into the bone on the side of the eye socket which had prevented it from going deeper into the back of the skull and to the brain which would have killed her.
Unaware that had happened in the place she was born Meiko Namikaze stood across a makeshift training area from her brother, in truth it was nothing more than one of the prisoner area which Orichimaru had set up to hold the victims of his experiments. The area was a giant cylinder maybe three stories high with tiny cells cut into the wall.
"Should we be doing this?" inquired Meiko "Shouldn't I be with Hinata when she wakes up. Example what it is like to be a demon."
"She just tried to kill herself, she needs to be around her friends and family." explained Naruto with a shake of his head. "I still can't believe she actually tried to do that, as for explaining what she is now, it may be better if explain things to her after she gets over the fact that she is now alive."
"Maybe." admitted Meiko as Naruto tossed her, her weapon's pack.
"Let's start with something simple, weapon training and drop the hedge." ordered Naruto "I can see right through it and no one else is around."
"Aren't you worried that I will try to escape?" inquired Meiko as she turned back into a kitsune, when she did she grew in height maybe an inch and her tail once again appeared. "I could have paper bombs in here."
"You should have paper bombs in there." countered Naruto as he pulled out his chakra blades. "Any ninja with any amount of training should but if you happen to have forgotten we are under a lake and Kitsune's don't have gills."
"True." Laughed Meiko as she unsealed a weapon of her own. It was a long blackened wood staff with silver bands wrapped around it every 18 inches.
"A bo staff?" inquired Naruto
"Mom's favorite's, Dad likes his kunai mom always liked some more range in her hand weapons bo staffs, spears and the like." laughed Meiko as she spun the heavy staff around causing the air to whistle from the speed, she snapped it around until it came to a rest behind her back. The moment it did Meiko jumped suddenly yapping a bit in pain.
"What?" inquired Naruto
"I hit my tail with the damn thing." stated Meiko before cursing under her breath from the pain.
"Alright then." Said Naruto as he got into a stance. "Let's see what you can do."
Meiko started her attack coming at her brother by aiming a blow to his head which was easily blocked by her brother's chakra blades. The metal of the blades dug into the metal deeper then Naruto thought it would as he scanned the weapon out of the corner of his eye.
"Solid hard wood for sure, maybe a harden metal rod in the center for extra strength and to channel chakra." thought Naruto as he noticed Meiko trying to get a leg behind his own to do a simple trip. Instead he dropped down suddenly and kicked the leg out from under her. A normal human would have fallen down from that sort of attack, instead she had used her tail so that for a split second it helped support her weight instead of her leg. It made her horribly unbalanced but it kept her upright long enough for her to get her footing back.
"A little trick us demons know." Laughed Meiko as she formed a defensive stance. Naruto moved forward to strike her but using the additional length of the staff she was able to keep him at a distance for most of the time. A few times he would get inside her defensive ring and deliver an elbow to her gut which sent her stumbling backwards.
"You are doing better than I thought." admitted Naruto breathing a little more deeply than normal.
"Thanks, it isn't easy keeping you at a distance." admitted Meiko "Once you get in close the staff losing some of its effectiveness."
"One of the draw backs of that sort of weapon." admitted Naruto "You ready for another go?"
"Anytime." Laughed Meiko "Dad always said one day we would train together as a family, just wish he was here."
Naruto didn't respond instead he scanned his sister with silted blue eyes, she was up to something he knew it. She had taken that same stance two times before and every time he had gotten past her staff and took her down, he had even told her how he did it and yet she took the same stance with the same problems.
"It takes me a while to learn some things, maybe she needs another lesson." thought Naruto as he moved in the same way he had before, he got past the reach of the staff and was about to deliver a blow to his sister's chest that would kill her if he used the blade part of the chakra blade. Only to have his eyes widened as heard a twisting and snapping sound coming from above him. He titled his head up just in time to get a blow from a recently separated staff right in the jaw that sent him stumbling backwards.
He regained his footing, as the taste of blood filled his mouth along with something else. He spat out a tooth which caused his sister who was now standing there with two much shorter staffs in hand eyes to widened.
"Don't worry." explained Naruto as he looked at the tooth. "Ninjas get their teeth knocked out so many times, we actually have a justu that can regrow them. It's painful but it works."
"I see." Said Meiko before spinning the two staffs around. "I bet you thought my weapon was one solid piece, but it separates into two smaller ones."
"I didn't." Admitted Naruto "Is mom's the same?"
"Yes." Confirmed Mieko as Naruto moved to the side and got a drink from a bottle of water to wash the taste of blood out of his mouth. Taking the hint Meiko walked over and picked up her own bottle of water only to pause for a moment before pulling out a small vile from her pack pulling a small orange pill out of it.
"What is it?" inquired Naruto as Meiko grinned as she dropped the pill into the water which instantly turned orange as it dissolved.
"I like some flavor in my water." explained Meiko "Want some?"
"Sure." Said Naruto as he held out a palm and took a pill from his sister, he could see the label on the vile now. It was a brand he knew well, he had seen it on the store shelves whenever he went to the market but it was too costly for him to get beside as a treat. The water turned orange and that is what he tasted as he drank his water.
"So you will regrow a tooth?" inquired Meiko
"In a way, it is a justu all jonnin know, it hurts but that is one of the reasons you don't see a lot of people with missing teeth." explained Naruto "I lost count how many times I have that happen to me, I have been in a few fights."
"But if all jonnin know it then how do you know it? You aren't a jonnin right?" inquired Meiko as Naruto shifted a bit, his tongue went to the void in his mouth.
"I had to learn it." admitted Naruto "It was one of the first Justus I actually mastered."
"Why?" inquired Meiko as Naruto took a breath and looked at his sister. Her ears, her demon ears went back as a sense of sadness washed over her face. "It was the villagers, you said they did things to you. They beat you up bad enough to knock out teeth?"
"Yes and much more." Admitted Naruto as he looked away from his sister into the distance past full of memories. "I have had more bones broken then I can remember, hell one of my earliest memories is having my arm set by an ANBU member after breaking it when I fell trying to escape a beating by some villagers. The ANBU did her job and then called me a demon."
"I don't understand, with all that why…why are you so loyal to humans? To the Leaf?" inquired Meiko "I know you don't want to be a demon, but with everything they have done to you wouldn't it better for you to be a demon and get a family. You can't be called a demon when everyone is a demon."
Naruto let out a sigh as he took a drink of the water.
"Maybe on the surface it would make sense for me to be angry and bitter at humanity and…I admit the pull of having a family is tempting but to do it, no." admitted Naruto "The Leaf is my home, I will not betray it to her enemies and the demons are her enemies."
"Naruto…there is no more Leaf village, it has fallen and if you don't become a demon you will die the demon chakra in you will destroy every cell in your body and kill you." Explained Meiko "And the flu will kill everyone else up there that isn't a demon."
"Not when Sakura-chan finds a cure." Countered Naruto
"And what if she doesn't?" inquired Meiko as her brother looked at her as if the idea of Sakura failing was beyond the scope of possibilities. "She is a great medical ninja and I love her but somethings can't be changed and even if she does find a cure for the red flu, it doesn't help you or Fu and there is no way back from becoming a demon."
"I have seen Sakura-chan cure incurable poisons and other things that would be considered impossible, I have faith in her." explained Naruto as Meiko nodded her head.
"Alright, but what will you do when you are on death's door and there is no more time it is either turn or die?" inquired Meiko as her brother crossed his hands over his chest and closed his eyes and thought for a moment.
"I am not sure." admitted Naruto in an honest voice that made Meiko think for a moment she was hearing her father's voice. "Like most sane people I want to live, that is something I will deal with if the situation comes to that. In truth I don't feel like I am dying, I am not sick or anything like that."
"I don't think anyone really thinks that they are dying." countered Meiko "I know that demon chakra is deadly to human cells and while you are human it is killing you."
Naruto closed his eyes and thought as Meiko reached out and placed her hand on his arm.
"Brother…I am begging you become a demon save yourself and then come back in here like Hinata and Samui did." offered Meiko "Give Sakura a chance to find the cure for the red flu without having to worry about saving you from the demon chakra. Let her focus on saving humanity then let her focus on finding a way to turn demons back into humans."
"alright, Meiko." Said Naruto as his sister's heart soared, "I will talk it over with Sakura-chan, I'll see how much it is taking away from her work on finding a cure for the red death and IF it does take a lot of her time I'll ask her to focus on saving humanity first."
"And you will become a demon?" inquired Meiko
"No." answered Naruto "I'll stay human but if I am at death's door without her finding a way to save me yet, I'll strongly consider it then."
"Alright." Said Meiko dishearten by her brother's words, then she realized that he had said more than he had before and unless she wanted to try to turn him by force which she didn't she had just made huge progress.
The sun had risen over the Leaf village as Udon, Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno neared the main gate. The three of them had taken their time in coming back to the village searching for humans as they went mostly for Kizashi and Mebuki's daughter Sakura. It also didn't help that unlike Amaye none of them had wings. As they neared the gate they noticed that smoke was still rising from parts of the Leaf but it wasn't thick black smoke instead it was a grayish white smoke.
"What are they doing?" inquired Kizashi to his wife, Mebuki.
"Control demolitions of unsafe buildings." explained a new voice as the three of them turned to see a Jorogumo uncurl itself from the trees it had been hiding in. The eight legs of the spider demon allowed it to walk straight down the tree without having to use chakra of any kind. She scanned the three new comers with her demon eyes. She could see what they were under the henge justu which made them appear human. "You three can drop those when you enter the village, no reason why you need to look human in an all demon village."
"Not really because we are going right back out to find our daughter." Stated Mebuki as the spider nodded the head. "We are bring the kid home and getting some supplies."
"Well I know a high-level team is heading out after possible humans, check at the main gate see if you can join them." explained the Joroguma before going back up into the tree.
The three of them headed toward the main gate only to stop when they reached the main gate, a few of the demons stopped and looked at them in a human henge justu but ignored it because they all had their own jobs to do.
The two Harunos scanned the area only to see someone they knew standing by a couple of backpacks.
"Kakashi?" inquired Mebuki as she moved toward the sensei of her daughter.
"Mebuki? Kizashi?" inquired Kakashi as he looked at the parents of his student. "Your demons?"
"Yes, is our daughter in the village? Was Sakura turned and they didn't tell us?" inquired Mebuki
"No, as far as I know she is still human." explained Kakashi "We have a lead that puts her in the North West along with Naruto…"
"We don't care about Naruto, we only want our daughter." countered Kizashi
"And we really want our son back." Came a female voice behind the two Harunos as they turned to see a kitsune with blood red fur, she was about their age with a beautiful form. She was dressed in a ninja jacket with tan pants and a long sleeve shirt.
"Your son?" inquired Mebuki "Who are you?"
"Allow me to introduce you to Naruto's mother Kushina Uzamaki…" started Kakashi
"But Naruto is an orphan both his parents are dead." countered Kizashi before Kakashi could finish what he was saying.
"My husband and I were imprisoned by the demons and turned, now you must be Sakura's parents." said Kushina as she looked at the two Haruno's. "I understand that your daughter and my son are teammates maybe more."
"Well…" started Kizashi as he wondered what to say, he actually liked Naruto but his wife was never a huge fan of the boy. She didn't hate him like most people their age but she didn't think he was right for Sakura but both of them didn't like Sasuke.
"We are going to go after them and everyone who is with them." Said a female voice as a fire kami moved forward along with a Inugami. "My name is Rin, you two are welcomed to come with us."
"Maybe we can talk some sense into our children." stated Kane Inuzuka as the two Haruno's noticed his clan symbol on this fur lined jacket.
"Let us grab some supplies and we will be right with you." stated Kizashi as the head of the Leaf village supply department thought about everything they would need. "We should only need a standard supply case and some extra search tools."
"We have the search tools, but I knew I was right to promote you so early to the head supply department." Said a male voice as the two Harunos turned to see a blonde fur kitsune walking toward them in a green jonnin vest, blue ninja pants and shirt. A white jacket with red flames danced around the bottom.
"The 4th Hokage?" inquired Kizashi as he remembers the last time he saw the 4th Hokage.
Flashback
"Lord Hokage." said Kizashi as he stood at attention before the legendary yellow flash of the Leaf village and the 4th Hokage of the Village hidden in the Leaves.
"Kizashi Haruno." said the 4th with a warm smile as he moved his hand telling the man to take a seat across from him. "I was looking through your recent report about the movement of refugee supplies into areas affective by the war. I am very impressed."
"Thank you sir," said Kizashi with pride in his voice, even though both men where the same age he looked up to the war hero.
"I understand you have a young daughter?" inquired the 4th as Kizashi nodded his head. "I ask this because I would like to promote you and your wife but it may add some strain to your family and family is very important."
"Sir, we can handle anything as long as we are together." explained Kizashi as he wondered what was going on.
"Yes, if parents work together anything can be done." said Minato with a look that caused Kizashi to raise an eyebrow. "Sorry, I was thinking about something else. I want to offer you the head of the Supply division."
"Sir, I am honored but that is a huge promotion I know there are people in front of me. I know two for sure." stated Kizashi as the 4th placed his hand on two pieces of paper. "There may be some more senior people but you are best for the job."
"Sir, can I talk it over with my wife?" inquired Kizashi
"Sure." said Minato as he looked at the calendar on his desk. "Can I have an answer by October 12th?"
"Yes sir." confirmed Kizashi unaware that the Kyuubi would attack on the 10th and the hero of the Leaf would be gone.
End Flashback
"Please call me Minato, I understand that my son is on the team with your daughter." Said Minato
"Son?" inquired Kizashi
"Naruto Uzamaki?" inquired Mebuki
"Namikaze." Corrected Kushina as she kissed her husband "You ready to leave?"
"Yes, I got everything arranged." Confirmed Minato "You two can drop your henge, Naruto can see through it and so you will not be able to lie to your daughter about being human."
The two haruno's shared a look before breaking the illusion henge, Mebuki was the first to change. Her face pushed out a bit into a cat like muzzle with whiskers growing from the side, her dark blonde hair moved over her body as a long tail appeared behind her, darker orange strips appeared in a random pattern over her arms and likely the rest of her body.
Her husband changed as well but instead of becoming a bakeneko his face pushed out into a short muzzle, he grew in size until he towered over all of them. Horns grew out of the side of his head just above his ears as his feet turned into hooves.
"A Ushi-oni and a Bakeneko?" inquired Rin "I had expected two kitsunes, if Sakura has spent as much time around Naruto as she likely did then there is a good chance she is a kitsune and she would have affected what you were."
"Do you want to go change into the same demon?" inquired Kane Inuzuka "I know there are priests doing that near the center of the village."
"No not until we find our daughter, we all want to be the same race." Explained Mebuki "If Sakura is the same as one of us then only one of us will change and if she is something else we will go from there."
"A wise move, we are luckily all three of us are Kitsunes and with the Kyuubi Naruto would all but for sure be a kitsune as well." Said Minto "Now go get your supplies we leave as soon as you return."
In former sound, base Ino Yamanaka had put on rubber medical gloves and a face mask as she ran her hands through the raven colored fur which now covered almost all of Hinata's body. She was still out to the world and aside from two blankets covering her private areas she was nude. Ino was working through the fur with comb parting the fur to see the flesh under it. It only took her a few minutes to find the first puncture mark, it looked like a needle mark only there was a lot of them. More than she could count and they were healing fast. Before her eyes, they closed up and began to vanish leaving no trace in the skin. After see that a few times and taking a couple of photos before they disappeared she moved on to carry out an examination of Hinata. She started by looking at spot she had cut herself, maybe it was a sign but the fur there was white and was a straight band across the area she had cut.
"Maybe it is just me but she seems taller." Thought Ino as she opened a blank scroll and ran through hand signs. It was a simple medical scan justu, that measured a person's height weight blood pressure and other basic items. The numbers appeared on the scroll as Ino compared it to Hinata's on record. "You're an inch and a half taller now and five pounds heavier than your last check up and given that everyone has been without steady meals say something. I have dropped a lot of weight over the past couple of weeks."
"The change must change everything in the body but how?" said Ino outload as Hinata's hand moved.
"Hinata?" inquired Ino as her friend moved her hand up to her head.
"Ino…what?" inquired Hinata in a weak voice only to stop speaking when she saw the fur on her hand.
"To save you we had to turn you into a demon." explained Ino "Why…why Hinata why kill yourself over a boy?"
"Naruto is a man." Countered Hinata before blinking
"A demon…what kind of demon?" inquired Hinata
"A kitsune, now why did you do it?" inquired Ino
"A Kitsune…a kitsune like Mieko and Naruto-kun's parents…this is fate we are meant to be together." Said Hinata with a smile across her face showing her new sharp teeth. "It is a sign."
"Hinata, you are speaking nonsense, do you really think you being a demon maters to Naruto?" Inquired Ino "He is in love with Sakura and she loves him, nothing you can do get in the way of that."
"But don't you see this is a sign." Said Hinata as Ino looked at her friend with the eyes of a doctor seeing someone who needed the help of a psychologist. "I am a kitsune and so is his family and so he is too."
"First Naruto is a human but let's put that aside, you need some sleep." ordered Ino as Hinata nodded her head before closing her eyes falling asleep almost at once. Ino waited just long enough to make sure she was asleep before leaving Hinata and moving as fast as she could to the medical lab where Sakura was looking into a microscope.
"You find the teeth marks from the plant?" inquired Sakura
"Yes, and Hinata is going off the deep end." added Ino "When we find a way to turn her back to human she will still be off the deep end."
"Well that is another problem to add to the list but we can cross off one of our questions. I think I know how that plant thing turns people into demons at least how it starts." Stated Sakura as Ino's eyes widened. "Come take a look."
Ino walked forward and looked down into the microscope. There was a single cell centered in the image it took Ino a moment to realize what it was.
"A stem cell?" inquired Ino
"That was a cell I took from myself about ten minutes before you came here. I then injected it with a sample of that liquid that the plant split out." explained Sakura "Within seconds of injection it my cell turned from a normal blood cell to a stem cell that could be changed into anything."
"Wait…your theory is that that plant injects its victim with a liquid which turns cells into stem cells and then it somehow molds those stem cells into a new demon body for the person?" inquired Ino as Sakura nodded.
"Yes, my working theory is that the plant uses demon chakra to change the person into a demon but I need Naruto-kun down here to confirm that." explained Sakura "I tried to pump human chakra into a demon stem cell and all the chakra was repelled, so it stayed demon. It actually isn't that big of a surprise, demon chakra is stronger than human chakra."
"Then just pump more human chakra into the cell and force the demon chakra out." stated Ino
"And the cell would be too damaged from the battle between human and demon chakra." Explained Sakura as she placed her hand under the chin. "No, that will not work however we have taken an important first step toward finding a way to turn everyone back to being a human and that something to be proud of."
"I guess but we don't have a lot of time do we?" inquired Ino as Sakura let out a sigh.
"Not as much time as I would like." Confirmed Sakura "The computer is still breaking down the chemical breakdown of those fish oil pills, maybe it will tell me something that will help."
"How long will that take?" inquired Ino as Sakura let out a sigh.
"A while actually, Karin is using a lot of the computer power on her work for a cure for the flu." explained Sakura as she looked at the clock hanging over the door. "Not until after lunch maybe not until after dinner."
"Damn what is she even working on? She doesn't share information." stated Ino as Sakura nodded her head in agreement.
"I have seen some of it, she is mostly focusing on building up human white cell count to fight off the infection and finding a way to make a vaccine of some kind." Explained Sakura, "So far no real luck same as it was in the Leaf, have you found anything?"
"No, I have gone through almost all of the data from the Leaf and it looks like Shizune didn't attempt to hide anything that could lead to a cure." explained Ino "The only thing she appeared to have hid is some of the patterns infection which would have shown that it was man made or should I say demon made attack."
"I expected that." Admitted Sakura "We all thought it was a nature virus which was killing us, not an attack. Have you seen Shikamaru?"
"No not lately, why?" inquired Ino
"It is just I know he was talking about going out to get some more supplies and I wouldn't mind going out to grab a few…personal things." Explained Sakura as her best friend laughed.
"Things that you and Naruto will enjoy a lot for sure." Laughed Ino "Why don't you go chase him down I will stay right here and get some more work done, just bring me back something to drink we are out of coffee down here."
"Alright." Confirmed Sakura
Far away from the hidden base, Moegi was lying on a cot in the middle a demon temple. She was still human and was under what passed for guards, both to keep her from doing anything and from anyone from doing anything to her.
"I don't understand, why can't we turn her now and be done with it?" inquired Mai "She saved us, we should save her from her wounds and from the flu."
"We will child, however we have been using the plant to heal the wounded and it needs time to recover." explained the Priest "Give it a few hours, her life is in no real danger now and the wound needs to heal a bit putting someone through the change so close to death will affect them mentally. I have seen it and it is never good. We want her to go through the change smoothly so she can lead us to whose who did this and so that we can bring them to justice."
Well I hope you liked this chapter, if you haven't I hope you go to my profile and vote on what story you will like to see, I am going to decide for sure in the next two weeks so please vote if you haven't. Until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.