Chapter 41 News and Rewards
The mood around the table at the hidden sound base under Nysa was almost as low as it could be, everyone was eating left over from the night before which was mostly made up of Smoked brisket and homemade bread.
"What do you mean Hinata is a demon?" inquired a very hung over Kiba Inuzuka, he had been passed out in his room for the entire morning and had only come out of his room around lunch time. He now sat at a long table with a plate of food, which was made from left over smoked brisket from the night before along with other left overs, he had a large glass of water in front of him. Even so he was still clearly hung over and he was using one of his hands to keep his head up.
"Well she tried to kill herself by slitting her wrist and so it was either turn her into a demon or let her die." explained Ino
"Alright, why did she try to kill herself?" inquired Kiba, he words where still coming out slurred.
"We already told you, but since you are still hung over it is because she told Naruto how she felt and…" started Ino as she looked at Naruto and Sakura who were sitting beside each other eating their lunch.
"And I turned her down." answered Naruto as Kiba looked at him and blinked before he slammed his fist down on the table.
"Why did you do that? Why did you turn down Hinata…she loves you like nothing I have ever seen." Stated Kiba as he glared at Naruto. "She is a like a sister to me and you broke her heart tell me why I shouldn't break you?"
"Because you can't." countered Karui as Kiba spun his head around to face the red haired woman, "I admit I haven't seen much of Naruto but from what I have been able to see he is stronger then you."
"Really you think so." stated Kiba as Karui leaned forward placing her hand on the table near his to support herself as she leaned forward.
"I know so, and that is so clear even a drunk dog like you should be able to see it." Stated Karui
"Really drunk dog…" started Kiba before laughing "Yes, I guess that is kind of clear. He is the son of the 4th Hokage after all."
"Good boy." Laughed Karui as the fact that the two of them stayed so close for a couple of seconds more than they had to didn't go unnoticed by Ino. Ino rubbed her chin wondering if there was something between the two of them, but her attention changed as Naruto started talking again.
"To answer your question the reason I turned Hinata down is because I am with Sakura-chan." Answered Naruto "Hinata will just have to come to grips with that I am not going to be with her, maybe her becoming a demon will get her to focus on that for a while."
"That isn't going to happen." Stated Ino as she took a deep breath. "Hinata ta has really gone off the deep end, she believes that since she became a Kitsune that she and you are meant to be together."
"That bitch, still after our Naruto-kun!" screamed inner Sakura
"Anyone can be turned into anything it is random isn't it?" inquired Sai
"No, there is a pattern." Countered Meiko "My parents and I all became Kitsunes, Naruto would almost certainly be one on too."
"Couldn't that be because of your link to the Kyuubi?" inquired Sai "Demon fox after all."
"Yes, but still family members tend to become the same thing or in cases where parents are different demons then their child is almost always the same as one of their parents." Explained Meiko before noticing how gingerly her brother was eating. "Is your tooth hurting you?"
"It takes a while for a new tooth to come in." explained Naruto as he rubbed the spot where the tooth had been knocked out. "This one is coming in better than most, I can already feel it coming in but it will be a while."
"I'll take a look at it after lunch." offered Sakura as Naruto shook his head.
"No, it isn't that big of a deal." explained Naruto "A tooth problem is not worth taking you away from your work on a cure."
"Can we turn back to Hinata, how off unstable is she?" inquired Sai "If she has gone totally off the deep end as Ino puts it is she a threat to us all?"
"No, I don't see Hinata betraying us." answered Ino
"I do." added Tenten who was sitting beside Neji, neither of them had been quiet and solemn the entire lunch. "Naruto is her whole world, it is all she has ever wanted was to be with him, she will do anything to be with him."
"Add to that since she has changed into a demon she has become more sexually aggressive for a little while." Added Meiko "She is at the age that would affect her."
"Samui wasn't hard to deal with, she mostly stays in her room." Offered Sai
"And what do you think she is doing in there." Countered Karui "Her crush is back in our village, Hinata's love is only a few rooms away."
"Great we have a sex crazed mentally unstable newly turned demon Hinata." complained Ino "Anyone else have any wonderful news?"
"Tenten and I got engaged." answered Neji as everyone turned and looked at them, they hadn't expected some actual good news.
"That is wonderful." Said Ino her mood turning around as she tried to force all the trouble Hinata could do out form her mind. "When are you going to get married?"
"Not, sure." admitted Tenten "Tradition requires a priest from the Hyuuga clan temple in the Leaf but…"
"That was sealed off and then later burned down in that fire." Said Sakura as she lied through her teeth, she had been in the room when Tsunade had ordered the temple which had stood almost four hundred years burned. It had become a hotbed of the flu, the sick going in there trying to be healed only to die and those who weren't sick going in to try to rob the jewels, gold, silver and other rare items which had been dominated by the Hyuuga clan over the generations. They would go in and get the items only to bring out the flu, so the Hokage had the ANBU burn it down.
"So since you can't really use a priest from the temple I guess you two are free from that requirement." Said Ino "Might as well just get married and be done with it, you have some of the best stores in the world above us and it is all for the taking.
"Well…the main issue is that that we would need a priest to do it." explained Tenten
"And the odds of finding a priest right now or even a holy monk would be almost impossible." Countered Sai as Sakura and Ino remained quiet, they knew that priests and those who tended to the dead were among the first to die because they were among the group of people who had the closest contact with the sick and the dead.
"Alright." said Tenten as Neji nodded his agreement. "When we go up today we will get some items, we will not have the right paperwork done but that is the last thing we have to worry about now."
"There will be enough things to do paperwork wise once the dust settles." Said Sakura as tried not to remember the moment, the Leaf village medical core told them they were out of body bags and then out of death certificates. In the end they just kept the names on printed sheets of paper and computer files.
"When are we heading out to get more supplies?" inquired Naruto
"A little bit after 1." confirmed Sai "Who is all going?"
"Almost everyone." confirmed Sakura "I am going to set some experiments up beforehand but I have learned a few things about how the transformation process works and with any luck those fake fish oil pills you gave me will allow us to see how they allowed you and your family to make it through the flue with so much ease."
"Alright, we need to get supplies for a wide range of people, we aren't totally sure who is all heading our way and it will soon be too risky to go to the surface." said Naruto as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
Miles to the South East a patrol group of ten demons where busy moving through yet another small farming town. The patrol group goal was doing the dirty work which no one wanted to do but it had to be done. They were not out to find humans and turn them into demons even though they did keep an eye out for them their mission was clean up duty. Groups of demons where going house to house removing the dead bodies and anything else that may be useful. They tore down whole homes, to get pieces of useable lumber, pipes and bricks and whatever they couldn't use they destroyed.
"Sir, why are we doing this?" inquired a former civilian from the Leaf now turned into a Ushi-oni, his long bull horns moved out to the side of his head before going straight up into sharp points. A lot of the crew was made up of Ushi-oni, the bull like demon was naturally the most physically stronger than any of the other demon types. They could lift weights that would crush anyone else, all this strength did come at a cost, they were the largest of the demons with the average height for a man being 6'10 not counting the extra foot that normally came from horns and 6'4 for women however they don't have horns.
"Look at yourself, look at a Joroguma." Said the leader of the group as the former human looked first at himself and then at one of the few none Ushi-Oni in the group, the spider like Joroguma was sealing up multiple scrolls full of items with her eight legs while using her two arms to keep a running tally on another scroll she was holding. "Do you think we could fit through some of the doors in those buildings with ease? What about simply standing in a room? It will take time but everything will be have to be rebuilt for our new world."
"I understand." Said the former Leaf civilian as suddenly the sound of a scream caused both of them to turn toward a group of buildings which hadn't been gone through yet. They rushed over to find a Ushi-oni lying on the ground in a pool of blood with a horn in its chest, his own horn. Kneeing over him was a black fur Bakeneko dressed in very dirty ninja gear.
"What happened? Did a human come out of the homes?" inquired the leader of the group as the group came closer to the solo Bakeneko. "And who are you? A messenger?"
"You could say that." Said the Bakeneko
"Sir, it couldn't have been a human he was killed with his own horn." said another member of the crew as she pointed to the horn where it had been ripped off and shoved into the victims' chest.
"Your right." said Lee as he spun around, razor sharp claws extending out from internal shelves in his fingers. The claws where almost 6 inches long and Lee had taken the time to sharpen on a rock. The Claws ripped through the neck of the leader spraying the others with blood, all of them were stunned and that gave Lee his opening he cut open the throats of four others before they turned and ran away. The Ushi-one where slow and Lee, who was a now a Bakeneko was the fastest of all the demons over short distances and he had lots of targets. When it was over the ground was slick with blood and Lee was standing over the last demon he had killed with blood dripping off his claws.
He paused for a moment and took in what he had done, blood was everywhere, one demon was still alive but busy trying to put his guts back inside his body from where Lee had ripped it out of his body with his claws. Lee looked away from the scene to his blood soaked clawed hands, for a moment he just stood their shaking until he heard movement coming from one of the abounded homes, he looked up to see a woman standing there with a bundle in her hands. She was worn and ragged with a look like she hadn't slept in days, she was thin and gault she looked down at the empty can which she had hit. She then looked up, her scared eyes locking on Lee as the bundle in her arms moved.
"I am not going to hurt you, there are demons heading North West from here." stated Lee "You are best off heading to the South West."
"Like I would trust you demon." said the woman as she ran to the North West, straight toward where the demons would soon be gathering.
"I am a human." Said Lee as the woman disappeared into the forest, "I am just trapped inside a demon body."
Miles away from Lee, Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno walked slightly behind the main body of the group, both of them where looking at the two figures which they had learned were the parents of the boy who had a crush on their daughter.
"Can you believe that Naruto was really a Namikaze." Said Kiazahi to his wife who was walking beside him, a cat demon and a bull demon looking for their daughter.
"No, I admit looking at it now he does look like his father but his personality…" said Mebuki, she didn't notice that Kushina and Minato's ears have turned ever so slightly as they listened to the woman talk about their son.
"That woman is talking down our son." Growled Kushina to her husband.
"Well she does have some points if I had caught him painting the Hokage faces I would have been upset with him too." Countered Minato
"Yes, but that is because he didn't have anyone and was trying to get attention." Defended Kushina as her husband nodded her head in agreement. "If we had been there then everything would have be different."
"And we will make it up to our son when we find him." said Minato "However getting upset at the mother of his teammate and possibly girlfriend isn't going to make Naruto accept becoming a demon easier."
"No but if she keeps bad mouthing Naruto I will have to deal with her." Stated Kushina, Minato smiled and chuckled remembering what his late mother had said about Kushina, how she wasn't go enough for him. "What?"
"Nothing." answered Minato "It is just I am sure if we knew Sakura you would be complaining about her."
"Well she did punch me in the face." stated Kushina "How long until we reach this point you want to get to Nysa correct?"
"If we ran right to it just over a day but we need to search the area." Said Minato "If Naruto is the young man I believe he is, he will not leave fire country and you can't go much more west then Nysa."
"Let's hope, I just want our children back even if I do have to deal with my little boy having a girlfriend." Admitted Kushina
At that moment Sakura sneezed causing Naruto to look up at her from the carboard box which he was looking through.
"It must be because of the dust." answered Sakura, both of them where on the surface getting more supplies, they where currently going through the basement level of the hospital searching for any supplies they may have missed the first time around. They had found some items but not anything really useful in a finding a cure.
"I got bodies." Said Naruto as he looked at two figures one had a needle stabbed into his neck while the other had what looked to be a kitchen knife of some kind in her gut. "They killed each other, what a waste."
The bodies had been dead for so long that they had actually didn't smell anymore, the mold which was growing on the wall actually smelled more then the two dead bodies. He was about to turn and walk away when he noticed a blood stained carboard box, it was semi ripped open to show that actually had multiple smaller boxes inside. He picked it up before walking over toward Sakura who was looking at some dust covered equipment seeing if any of it was of use.
"Sakura-chan, guess what I found." Said Naruto as he opened the box to show rows of flu and cold pills still in their boxes and ready to go on the shelf at a general store. Sakura actually chuckled as she picked up one of the boxes and brushed away the blood on one corner of the plastic wrap.
"If we where back home this would make you one of the richest people in the Leaf in trade." Said Sakura The general medicine, flu and cold pills where hard to find then gold, in the early days of the flu people thought that it was just a bad flu and not a deadly flu. They burned through the pills and in the end it did nothing but cause death.
"I know people used to trade three times it's weight in gold for a single pill." Laughed Naruto before becoming somber. "Not that it really did much good."
"No, but it may help us." Said Sakura "People still get the flu after all."
"Sakura-chan, I have something to ask is looking into how the demons transform people hurting the hunt for a cure for the red flu?" inquired Naruto as Sakura blinked at the question.
"No." stated Sakura "Looking into the transformation process gives us many hints about demon physical make up and since they are immune to the virus, by finding out more about them we are closer to finding what makes them immune. Hopefully once we find that we can make humans immune to the flu."
Naruto nodded his head understanding the point.
"Why do you ask?" inquired Sakura
"Meiko is worried about me dying from the demon chakra inside me." explained Naruto
"She is worried about her brother." Thought Sakura. "So am I but it is true looking into the transformation process gets us closer to finding a cure and find a way to turn people back into a human."
"Will that help Naruto-kun, he is human with demon chakra not a demon." countered Inner Sakura
"Worse case, is that Naruto is turned into a demon and then we turn him back right away." Answered Sakura
"But what if we find a cure for the flu but not a way to turn those already turned into a demon back into human?" inquired Inner Sakura as the thought that Naruto having to become a demon to live and being separated from him. "Would we give up humanity to be the man we love?"
"And she pointed out that you may be focusing on saving me and not the rest of humanity by finding a cure." Explained Naruto as he took a breath "So tell me are you focusing on saving me or humanity."
"I admit, I took up the role of studying a way to turn demons back into humans because it will help you but Karin is looking into the red flu and as much as I hate to admit it she is a very skilled doctor." Admitted Sakura "And all the information I have found on how the demons transform people into demons help her find a cure. I have already figured out how they transform people but not what makes demon immune to the flu once we find that we are on the doorstep of finding a cure for everyone."
"Good." Said Naruto with a smile as he noticed Sakura wasn't.
"Naruto-kun I have to ask you something and I want you to ask me the same question of and we both have to answer truthy." Said Sakura "If I fail and you are dying from demon chakra do you want me to turn you into a demon like we did we Hinata?"
Naruto closed his eyes and thought about it, judging from the look on his face it he wasn't sure himself.
"And what would you want me to do the same if you are dying from the red flu?" inquired Naruto as Sakura and him just looked at each other neither one of them of wanting to say what they thought. "I want you to live Sakura-chan and I want to live too."
"And I want you to live, and so do I." agreed Sakura "So we are stuck between two very bad choices, if we reach that point either we become demons or we die."
"Let's just hope you find a cure." said Naruto
"We need to be realistic, I could fail and we need to decide what we are going to do." said Sakura as Naruto nodded his head. "But we don't have to decide now, we can talk about this once we get all the supplies and back somewhere safe."
"Agreed and it is something everyone has to decide." added Naruto
"Well I don't think we will find anything of importance here all the old medical equipment down here is so out of date it is next to worthless." Said Sakura
"Well I can seal them up anyhow and if we need them we can take them out." Offered Naruto as he looked at the massive amount of dust covered equipment. "A scroll doesn't take much room."
"Not a bad idea but if any demon ever comes down here they will notice that a much of medical tools are gone." explained Sakura "Sooner or later demons will reach this place and if they see signs that people aside from salvagers picking up food supplies will draw a lot of attention to this area."
"And if they see a bunch of medical supplies gone then they will know someone other than some group trying to survive has been here." confirmed Naruto "Alright, then shall we head back to the main area and see if we…"
Naruto suddenly stopped as he reached up to his ear where a small radio hearing bud was in place.
"Alright, we are at the hospital we will make contact." Said Naruto before looking at Sakura. "Karin says she senses a ten human chakra signatures heading our way."
"Yoshino Nara and her group?" inquired Sakura "I wouldn't expect them so soon."
"Well Guy is in the group." added Naruto as they headed out to meet up with the group which was heading their way.
Bells where ringing filling the air with their sad song as the civilians of the demon village which had made it through the attack which had claimed so many of their friends and families slowly moved out into the remains of their village. Buildings where burned down to ash, some buildings where still burning away and dead bodies filled the streets. The solemn work of cleanup had begun but for a group of four priests a holy act needed to be carried out. They moved into the room where the human which had saved the lives of captured demons from execution lied pass out on a cot with a handful of demons which she had saved around her. The demons where there to both protect her and so that she would have someone around.
"We are ready." Said the main priest "Since she is so weak, she can't walk into the holy garden she will have to be carried…who will do this?"
"We will." answered the demons as they moved to pick up the cot/stretcher where Moegi lied, her face was covered with a thick bandage with dried blood over her one eye. Slowly they carried her through the temple, past some of the wounded from the attack and through the massive double doors which led to the holy garden where the priest and priestess of the demon tended to the plants which turned their kind into other demons. They moved to the oldest of the plants located in the center of the holy garden.
"Now, we need to prepare her." Said the head priest as two fellow priest prayed and another one moved down either spraying her with oil. If this person had been awake, then the process would have been much simpler but since she was out and so close to death's door a special process was required to both ensure her mentally stability and to cleans her if she would die in the process of turning. With that done the priest nod as they stretcher carriers moved forward and placed her before the plant, before backing off. It didn't take long as the plant's neck snapped down and lifted her up before swallowing her.
"Will she be ok?" inquired Mai as she stood beside the main priest.
"She should but her wound was bad, I wouldn't expect her eye to work again but she will be honored for what she did to save you and so many others." said the Priest not adding that he hopped that she could lead them to where the people who had done this were hiding. For them there would be no mercy and no turning they will die to pay for what they did. The priest like everyone else as the human was spun around inside the body of the plant. Finally she began to come forth in a reborn body, it wasn't a pretty process but it was done as the plant threw her up onto the ground. A priestess walked forward and draped a towel over her nude body before checking.
"She is alive." said the Priestess as she and another priestess picked her up and carried her out from the shadow of the plant. Mai and the other demons who owed their lives to her walked forward to see, her body had changed, she was thinner and her orange red hair had taken on a bright almost neon orange in color, two insect like wings had grown from her back.
"A Yosei." said the Priest as he moved forward and moved some of the hair away from her wounded eye allowing him to see. A large scar coved it and when he lifted the eyelid he saw that the eye didn't react to light. "Just as I though the eye is there but she will be blind in that eye for the rest of her life. Now take her to the holy bathhouse, have her cleaned and place her in a recovery room."
"Sir, all of them are filled." Said the Priestess
"She is a special case, move someone out who isn't in desperate need and have her rest make sure someone is always with her waking up after being so close to death and being changed is asking for trouble." ordered the Priest
"It shall be done." confirmed the Priestess as Moegi was taken away to recover.
The group of ten refugees from the Leaf village was nearing the resort town of Nysa.
"So we need to enter this town and then what?" inquired Anko as they moved through the outskirts of the village, here the homes where simple and spread apart. Small gardens used to grow in the back but they had been picked over so much that nothing was left. A few homes had been burned down and even more had been broken into but the streets where lifeless.
"If we have too." Said Yoshino Nara as her husband and his best friend Inoichi Yamanaka nodded their heads in agreement.
"Our children said they would meet us here and that is what we will do." said Shikaku Nara "We will wait as long as we have too."
"Well we will not have to wait long." said Hanabi Hyuugi "Naruto and Sakura are heading our way."
"What?" inquired Iruka as he spotted Naruto and Sakura turn the corner in the road up head. Both groups stopped a little bit apart and looked at each other.
"Are you human?" inquired Hana
"For the most part." yelled Naruto back as he looked at Sakura to explain.
"It is complex but most of our group is still human, we have three demons we are holding and when the Kyuubi died in Naruto-kun he gained some demon ability while remaining human." explained Sakura as she walked forward. "Do you have any bronze?"
"Yes." said Guy as he pulled his short sword as Sakura walked toward him. She stopped a few feet away and raised her hand and touched the blade which didn't burn her hand showing that she was human.
"The others are near the center of the village gathering more supplies, others are guarding our…demon guests." Said Sakura "Now let's head to the center and get you some supplies before we head to our hiding spot, we have no idea when demons will show up."
"Is our son ok?" inquired Yoshino Nara as Naruto walked up and stood beside Sakura.
"He is ok, a little sleep deprived waiting for both of you plus Temari." Explained Sakura before looking at Inoichi and Hana. "Kiba and Ino are also fine."
"What about Hinata?" inquired Hanabi as Naruto and Sakura shared a look between each other.
"About that." Said Sakura "Something happened."
Hinata stood before a mirror dressed only in a white bra and panty set, it was designed for a human which she was no longer, she was a kitsune. Her pale skin had been replaced with raven color fur which matched her formally human hair, it was slightly longer around where her human hair had once been but it was mostly uniform length. Snow white fur ran down her neck starting in the middle of her neck before running between her breasts which where straining against the bra, they had grown in size along with her height. The white fur stopped just below her belly button, her left hand the one she had cut was also covered with white fur but all the others stayed raven color. Each figure was tipped with short claws, not long but they were pointed. Her ears where larger then Meiko's along with her tail but her muzzle was shorter.
"Naruto-kun and I will make wonderful kids together." said Hinata outboard to herself. "Wait, I am a fox so would it be pups…no there is some special name for fox babies."
She tried to think of the name but decided it didn't matter, her dreams where reforming in her mind. No longer was she and Naruto going to have human children with blonde or raven hair, but little kitsunes with blonde or raven fur. For a moment she remembered that Sakura was standing in her way but she forced that out of her mind.
"She only got him by shoving herself in front of him." growled Hinata showing her new razor sharp teeth which lined her mouth. She looked at her cloths, they had been hers as a human long sleeve jackets and modest cloths, she picked one up and ripped it apart. "I have been too sky…too covered…too modest, I am better than her and I will finally show it and when Naruto-kun picks me I will never let him go. Sakura may have taken his virginity but I am his soul mate."
The sound of footsteps coming toward her door caused one of her ears to move first toward the sound before her whole head did. The knock didn't come as a surprise what came as a surprise was that it was Samui standing there in her doorway, she wasn't even attempting to look human instead she was in her new ice rhyuu form.
"Hinata…welcome to demon hood now we need to talk." said Samui with a voice which was kind but with eyes that said she had a plan.
Well I hope you liked this chapter, I am closing the poll on which stories you would like me to write. I have decided for the most part which stories I plan to do, I am going to write a Stargate/Mass Effect story with maybe a short Stargate/World War series. Since I like to write two stories at a time I plan to write a Naruto story but I haven't decided which one I will write yet. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.