A/N: Still alive, still in pain, still updating somehow.
In other news, my health and mental state have been...better. Some days are good. Some are bad. This vicious heat wave is not helping. But I live! And with living comes writing, weary though I am. Updating six days out of seven really wears a man down...
Well, it makes people smile, so I suppose that's worth it.
With my fifteen year anniversary on this site finally here, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Feels like everyone's lost their minds sometimes. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
As always, I'll keep the updated list of Naruto's "Demon Lords" up here. Remember, the ranks are fluid. They change constantly.
Remember, the closer to ten you get, the stronger the Demon is:
(1) Daki/Gyutaro~!
(2) Kyogai~!
(3) Not Yet Revealed~!
(4) Mukago~!
(5) Susamaru~!
(6) Not Yet Revealed~! (Pardon the error~!)
(7) Sukuna~!
(8) Akaza~!
(9) Not Yet Revealed~!
(10) Hinted, But Not Yet Revealed~!
Alright, I've kept you waiting long enough.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, memes or themes. Not a one! they're merely tributes to legends far greater than me.
Now, then! I do hope you're ready; because this chapter's downright vicious; such that I hesitated to post it.
Heck, there's even an Overlord reference or two in here. The slayers are not prepared.
Hopefully it doesn't put people off. Here we go~!
We're finally hitting the timeskip!
"Welcome to the family~!"
~A future scene.
Turning a Butterfly
Kanae coughed.
She absolutely coughed, choked on something in her sleep, then lurched upright gasping for air. Whatever it was clogged in her throat and left her to retch, gasping for air that wouldn't come. Her legs kicked against heavy blankets -where had those come from?!- thrusting them away as she thrashed her way into a sitting position. Air! She needed air! Needed...!
And then, quite suddenly, she found she could breathe.
Forcing herself to swallow, she sucked in a ragged breath, clutching at her throat.
It burned, burned like the hottest fire, yet felt eerily cool to the touch. So why did it burn...?
All around her, reality reasserted itself. Bleary violet eyes blinked as she beheld her surroundings. In place of the wilderness where she'd lay what felt like only moments ago, she now found herself in a traditional sort of japanese room, just the sort one might see back at Headquarters, complete with a sliding door and tatami mats. Someone had tucked her down into a cot of sorts, which explained the covers. Was that why her body felt so hot? Surely that was it.
The next thing she felt was hunger, raw and visceral.
Starving. Must eat. Needed to EAT.
Why was she so hungry...?
Whatever it was, it made the burning in her throat all the worse. She rubbed at it with ragged fingers to no avail. It persisted, leaving an awful ringing in her ears that threatened to swallow her whole-
"Hey, you're finally awake."
Kanae's entire body jolted and she absolutely whirled.
Someone sat cross-legged beside her; she'd not noticed him until this very moment, such was his lack of presence
"You...?"
Belatedly she recognized the blond from before. She remembered him well enough; he was the one who'd held her as she was dying...
.
..
...wait.
Had she died? It felt like she'd died. This couldn't be the afterlife, could it?
The whiskered warrior saw her confusion and offered her a small, slight smile. "How are we feeling?"
On a whim, she flexed her right hand, curling her fingers into a fist. Veins jumped just beneath the skin. She felt strong. Powerful. Alive, in a way she simply had not been before. Even now she could hear her heart beating in her chest, feel power pumping through her blood..and hunger. She'd been distracted from it for a moment, but now it returned tenfold. It gnashed and gnawed at her, eating her stomach alive. Belatedly she realized it was this very hunger that had awoken her. She'd choked on it and awoken. Now it tore at her still. Why was she so hungry?
"How long was I...?
"Asleep?" her nameless savior tutted softly. "Only three days."
"Three...?" the word escaped her lips in a raw rasp of sound, leaving her to massage her neck with a wince. "Throat hurts...
"You must be thirsty. Here." He offered her a metal flask. "Drink."
Kanae accepted it warily. "What is it?"
"Does it matter?" He rolled his eyes at her pensive expression. "Come now, I'm hardly gonna poison ya; not after all the trouble I went through to save you."
...who are you?"
"Naruto." he offered her a winning smile. "We can talk more later. Go ahead an' drink."
Kanae drank gingerly. Sips at first, then deeply when no adverse symptoms manifested. Whatever it was, it tasted strangely sweet; enough to slake her thirst but not her hunger. If anything, it sharpened it. Sweet indeed. Very sweet. The awful burning in her throat began to recede and she took some solace in it.
"...!"
A strange emotion seized her then, overpowering her. She ripped the flask from her host's hands with a snarl. Tilted it back now, drinking deeper still, all but guzzling the contents within. A bit of fluid splashed forth on her lips and ran down her chin. It was red. What was it? Sake? Wine? Was wine that red? She didn't know. Something told her she didn't want to; a pang of dread that curdled deep within her as her thirst ebbed. The flask fell from her fingers, dripping one last crimson drop upon the floor.
Kanae refused to look at it.
All around her the walls seemed to press in, making the room feel small.
'Alright.' she marshaled her flagging resolve. 'Calm. Calm down. Deep breaths, now.
Sure, she could do that. She could be calm...
.
..
...she wasn't calm at all!
What's the last thing you remember?"
The question damned her and he didn't even realize it.
Her mind worked sluggishly to reassess the situation, trying to piece the puzzle together. She was alive, out of danger, yet strangely hungry. Her wounds were healed and she had slept for some time. What did that mean? Prevaricating was pointless. She knew what it meant. What she'd done. What she was. What she had become.
Because, you see, Kanae remembered.
"Wanna live?"
His bloody wrist offered to her.
Her lips latching on. Drinking deeply, supping of that sweet poison.
Hunger snared in her stomach anew and shattered the memory. Kanae clutched at herself, trying to smother it.
A hand touched her forehead, knuckles brushing her brow. "Bit of a fever, but that's to be expected, given what you went through."
She turned horrified eyes on him. "You're a demon."
"I am."
"And drank your blood...?"
His head bobbed. "Yes, you did. Which means...
She wilted, shrinking inward on herself. "I've become a demon, haven't I...?"
"You have. Here. This might help." As she looked on aghast, Naruto tugged back his robe, exposing his neck to her wanting eyes. She felt her pulse quicken at the sight of flesh. She could see his jugular vein, hear the pulse pounding in his neck. Her mouth salivated, her tongue flitted out to lick lips that were suddenly terribly, horribly dry.
It made her wanted to bite him. To sink her teeth into his flesh, rip and tear and FEED-
"Hrngh?!" No use, though she slapped a hand to her face in a vain attempt to curb it, her craving persisted. "What is this...?!"
"You're a demon. And newborn demons," Naruto's voice rang in her ears with an almost paternal quality. "That is to say, humans freshly turned by me, are usually a starving, insensate mess. They lose themselves to hunger or lust. Sometimes it takes them weeks, if not months to recover their wits.
"But every few hundred years we get someone like you, who not only retains their wits, but manages to resist." a hand came up under her chin, lifting her head even as the other peeled her palm away from her face. "You're a very rare breed of demon, Kanae." she glimpsed his fangs as he smiled at her, soulful red eyes staring into her violet orbs. "You're going to be...exceptional."
She slapped his hand away. "I don't want this! Turn me back!"
He didn't take offense, damn him. "There is no way back. The only way out is through."
"I never asked you to turn me!"
"No?" he tilted his head and she found herself thinking of an inquisitive fox. "If you didn't want this, you wouldn't have drank my blood when you were on death's door." he held up his wrist, now fully healed. "I didn't do anything. I offered, and you bit me to the bone.
She had.
She knew she had.
She knew it, and that made it worse!
A pitiful sound pushed past her lips. "I'm a monster...!"
"You are not." Naruto flicked her forehead, drawing a startled squeak from her. "As I said, you're not one of Muzan's. You still have your sense of self. Your memories. Your identity. You're just starving. It'll pass once you feed as all things do, and you'll feel much better."
Kanae looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze. "And if I refuse...?"
"You'll grow weaker and weaker, until you finally snap and pounce on someone." he shrugged a shoulder. "I've seen it happen before. Its not pretty." when she didn't answer, his smile faded away at last. "Would you rather I left you there to die? You'd be leaving Shinobu behind...
He burning blood ran cold. "How do you know her...?! What have you done?!"
"Nothing at all." A hand waved her down. "I didn't read your mind, if that's what you're worried about. No, the truth is simpler than fiction. You talk in your sleep. From there, I made an educated guess.
Kanae gnashed her teeth. "I'm not a demon!
"You are." He patted her head as a bemused father might their wayward daughter. "Don't worry. We'll get your sorted."
"And then...?"
She expected demands of fealty, loyalty a the least.
Instead, that winning smile flashed forth once more, disarming her doubt..
"You're quite welcome to go back to your sister if you want, but I'd ask you not to breathe a word about this to anyone. If that's too much for you," he held up a finger to still the words already forming on her lips, "I can either make you forget about me. That, or kill you, and frankly I'd prefer not to do either."
"Why...?"
"Did I save you?" He read her question before she could. "I've already dealt with three Hashira. Might as well go for four. Besides, you have potential. It would be a shame to wast that, don't you think?"
Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach, clinging to one word above all. "Three...?
"You'll forgive me if I don't name them." he winked her way.
She felt her throat close, and not from hunger this time. he couldn't have turned Hashira, spies or otherwise. Surely they would have noticed by now. Surely..?
"Why should I trust you?"
Here at last, Naruto stopped smiling.
Kanae dearly wished he hadn't. She liked it better when he smiled.
He did not scowl. Did not shout at her. Nor did he demean her with insults. He just...stared at her, as though she'd said something incredibly stupid. Perhaps she had. But she needed to know all the same. She had to.
"Do you have any idea, any idea at all, what I could do?" he held up a hand and she glimpsed a sphere of eldritch light cradled within, keening like a small storm. "I could salt the earth and rule Japan a king-no, an Emperor. From there, I could spread out and conquer the entire world. No one would be able to stop me."
His fist closed around the sphere, extinguishing it.
"But I don't want that."
She gulped. "What do you want?"
"Coexistence. Understanding. If not that, then acceptance. None of which is possible with you "Hashira" trying to slaughter me and mine.
He knew. Of course he knew. Why had she ever thought otherwise.
"Go ahead." he opened his arms. "Eat. This won't kill me."
Go on.
She resisted. She fought it. She tried. She really, truly did. But it was just so hard... everything burned and he was right there, offering himself to her.
"Lets say I agree." she hated herself for asking, hated the gleam of triumph in his eyes. "What would...such an alliance entail?"
"Your interests would be my interests, and vice versa. I swear never to harm your sister or those you hold dear."
"That includes Kanao!"
He blinked at her. "I have no idea who that is."
Kanae described the girl to him at length. By the end he almost looked sympathetic. "Poor girl."
"Swear you won't hurt her."
He held up a hand. I do so solemnly swear.
"Don't mock me!"
"I'm not. I keep my word to my Family. You're family, now."
...he had a point. She supposed she was, like it or not. What do I have to do?
"Nothing at all." he spread his arms wide. "Just...let go. Trust me. You'll feel much better once you've fed for the first time."
Reluctantly, she did.
Hunger crashed to the forefront of her mind once more.
This time, Kanae didn't resist.
A red haze shimmered over her vision.
She gave into it and pounced on Naruto.
Her teeth sank deep into his neck as she dragged him down, all but mounting him. He grabbed her by the waist and drew her into his lap. Something sparked in her.
"Harder~!" She tilted her head back with a gasp. "Yes, yes, yes! That's the spot!
Naruto palmed his face. "Well, that sounds all kinds of lewd...
(.0.0.0.)
Hours later Kanae was sated and spent, sound asleep once more.
Naruto gave her a bemused glance as he dressed himself.
Voracious girl. She'd been insatiable...
Still, she had spirit. Tamayo and Susamaru would adore her. Daki...might take umbrage with her, but they'd get along in due time. After all, time was the one thing they had plenty of now, didn't they? He crouched down and delivered a quick peck to her forehead, drawing a pleased little noise from her lips. Adorable. It made him want to protect her.
A knock at the door.
He glanced toward it. "Enter."
It swept open even as he finished speaking.
"Sir." One of his men knelt before him, fist pressing to the floor, head bowed. "You told me to bring any news on the...matter we discussed. The family in the mountains."
He perked up. Oh, them! "Any word? How many are there? Are they related to our friend?"
The man gazed studiously at the floor.
"I'm not one to shoot the messenger. Out with it."
Said messenger grimaced, took a deep breath, and barreled on.
...there's been an incident."
(.0.0.0.)
He'd always like the snow.
So ephemeral, so soft, so transient, a reminder of the past and a promise of the future both.
Right now, Naruto found himself reluctantly tending toward the latter.
His spy's report, rather the information had been good.
He dearly wished it hadn't been.
It had led him to death.
To four tombs.
Graves.
He took them all in slowly, and made his assessment. It proved a grim one. A family had been slaughtered here, a large one, judging by what he found within their home. Butchered in coldest blood. Red still stained the snow. There were footprints near their graves. Two pairs, one smaller than the other. Someone had buried them, bid their goodbyes, and walked away. He knelt before the snowy graves, placed his hands together, and bowed his head.
"I'm sorry. If I'd just been a bit faster, you might still be alive...
A hand burst out the snow and grabbed his ankle.
He quirked a brow down at it. "Ho...?"
Someone -a girl?!- burst out the grave and tackled him down, snapping and biting at his throat. She was wild. Strong. Starving...
...and reckless.
He pulled her into his arms.
They yowled at him, wailing and crying.
Pity kicked at his chest. Sometimes one became a demon quickly. Within minutes. But not always. Sometimes it took hours.
How long had she laid their under the snow...?
"You poor thing." he patted her head, uncaring as the poor wretch thrashed like a hellcat in his arms. "You suffered all this time." the newborn demon screamed and bit his shoulder. He let her, clamped a hand down on her head to hold her in place. "It was hard, wasn't it?" She screamed and tried to eat him still, thinking he was a human, utterly ignorant of the blood flooding her mouth. "It hurt, didn't it?" a grunt of pain escaped him as she twisted from side to side, savaging his neck. "Losing every one like that...I can't imagine the kind of pain you're in. But it's alright now."
The change came quickly.
He felt the nameless demon girl stiffen in his arms, having drunk too much of his blood. In a matter of moments, she was one of his.
"Why, you ask?" she hadn't asked at all, but he kept talking, if only to keep her calm. "Because...I am here. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise.
Bright slitted eyes shone with tears, pouring down her face now. Her voice was a pained rasp. "It...hurts...kill me...
Naruto tutted softly and held her close. "I will not, dear girl.
She slapped at him, claws tearing into his chest.
"KILL ME!"
"No." He held her tighter, preventing her from hurting herself or him. "What's your name? Do you remember it?"
Names always helped, after a human turned. It helped them cling to their identity. It wasn't like turning one of Muzan's ilk; with them at least, he had a template to use. But humans were ever fragile creatures and prone to breaking. Sometimes they forgot who they were after they changed. Sometimes they repressed it, and the horror that had first led them to change. Really, it was like flipping a coin. One had know way of knowing how it would land until it did.
When this one looked up at him blankly, he feared the words. "I...
"I?" he tilted his head just so, and gave her a nudge, trying to prod her along.
"I...don't know." Horror dawned in her eyes. She grasped at her face. "Who am I...?"
A/N: Who is this girl indeed?, Is it Tanjiro's mother (Kie) or his other sister (Hanako)?
One possibility is correct. The other is not. Feel free to guess.
Next chapter title: By Three They Come.
If you're a Diablo Fan, you'll get the reference. If not...you'll be surprised. Someone shoved Diablo 4 at me. Never really heard of the Diablo series before. At all. Now...its giving me ideas. Ideas I'm trying to resist...
Well? Are you not entertained? Should this remain a story? Yay or nay! Gotta let me know for the update schedule, ya know. As ever, the Embers Rule Persists; if folks don't like this tale, then... I'll not continue it. I can't bear to write something folks don't like, and working two jobs on a near back-to-back basis leaves my energy at an all time low. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard!
Reviews are the fuel that sustain me and my team in these darkened times.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...Review, Would You Kindly?
No previews. I haven't the heart for them.
I'm so very tried these days...
...no, I'll still try.
I HAVE to try.
(PREVIEWS!)
EDIT: Really, we all know who this is...
"You're soft on them."
"Perhaps." Naruto ran a palm over one of her many horns. "But tough love isn't always the best. Sometimes you have to let the chicks leave the nest.
She scowled at him, wings twitching at her side. "You doubt my methods? After all I've done? All I have given you?"
"Not so much the methods as the...lets say intent. What do you hope to gain from this?"
She turned stern eyes on him. "You know full well. I want that which was denied me."
"And you'll have it." he took her hand a kiss on her knuckles. "I keep my word."
Her expression softened. Just a touch. "You have so far."
"Oh ye of little faith...
B-B-But that's cheating! You said you'd keep your word!"
"And I did. I honored our agreement to the letter."
"But not the spirit of it!"
"How so?
"THIS! How is this what I wanted?!"
"No? I did everything you asked and more...
"I...never asked for this!"
"Yes. You. Did."
"You think to warn me? You dare...?"
"This ain't a warning." he tossed the torch over his shoulder.
It struck the tarp and burned it away. Sunlight snarled through. "This is a war."
Mukago blinked. "A slayer...?"
Zennitsu blinked back. "A d-d-demon?!"
An ominous silence stretched between the two cowards.
And then the screaming began.
Zennitsu screamed. "A DEEEEEMOOOOOON?!"
Mukago screamed right back. "A HUUUMAAAAAN?!"
"You must be Tanjiro. Its so nice to finally meet you. There's someone here who dearly wants to meet you...
"Hey, old man! I have a pet!"
"Daki, that is a human. Not a pet.
"Nah, she's mine. I saved her, she swore herself to me. Makes her mine. You gonna make her a demon or what?"
EDIT: Hey, you made it!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this little tale. Sad to say, but if folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, I'll lose the drive to continue it! I'm working two jobs these days so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me.
Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that.
Looking forward to chatting with you all later~!
R&R~!