xxx 2 Days Later xxx
They had reached the mall settlement, only to find it under attack by infected, normally, Naruko would have charged into the horde and killed them as quickly as possible. However, there were far too many, and she found herself attached to the mother-and-daughter duo that was currently cowardly hiding behind her.
She didn't blame them though, this was the worst case scenario. Deciding their best chance was following what looked like the leader of the settlement, they took off, Naruko blasting their way through the horde while making sure no infected got close to her companions.
Unfortunately, she was only one demi-human against a horde of two, maybe three hundred infected. While she was blasting in one direction, a Runner who had come from a room to their right burst through the door and charged at the young girl.
She let out a horrifying scream and fell on her rear, desperately crawling back in fear, before Naruko could react another more desperate-sounding scream was heard, and the child's mother found herself in front of her daughter, the Runners teeth buried into her shoulder as it tore into her causing her to scream and thrash.
Speeding over, Naruko put a bullet in the Runner's skull and dragged both the mother and daughter into the room it had come from. Barricading the door, she turned to the pair to find the girl crying while clutching her mother's arm, the woman in question was using her free hand to clutch the wound on her shoulder.
Going over to attempt to heal the woman, she found her hand grasped by the hand that the daughter was still clinging to, "It's too late for me…" the woman looked to her daughter, "Sweetie…" she began gaining the sobbing thirteen-year-old girl's attention, "I'm not gonna be able to go with you…" she said in a somber tone and winced while still holding her shoulder.
"But I can't leave you!" The girl protested.
Her mother shook her head, "I wish I could go with you, sweetie, I really do. But I've been bit, you remember what I told you about those who get bit right?"
The girl hesitated, before reluctantly nodding. "Good, now listen to me…" the girl looked into her mother's now bloodshot eyes, "You're a strong girl, I'm so proud of you and I love you." The woman looked at Naruko with a pleading look. Naruko, understanding what the woman was asking, nodded her agreement. Turning back to her daughter, the woman spoke again.
"I want you to stay with Naruko, I know we don't know her too well, but she's the only person I can trust to keep you safe. Now, I don't have long, and you too need to get out of here before they get in."
Sure enough, the entire time this conversation was going on an infected had been bashing itself against the door, the sound causing the girl to begin to panic. "Hey, hey…" the woman said before coughing up some blood, this had only made the girl panic further, "Sweetheart, I need you to be strong!" The woman pleaded, placing her blood-free hand on her daughter's shoulder, waiting for the girl to calm down.
Once she had, the woman continued. "They'll be here in a matter of moments, you too need to go. My final wish for you is for you to live and be happy, to be strong, and find someone to love…" she coughed up more blood and her hand slipped from her daughter's hand, to gesture to get Naruko's attention.
Naruko, who had been using her body to barricade the door as the infected outside had managed to loosen the previous one, looked over at her. "Do you have a spare gun?" The question was simple, but the implication was obvious.
Naruko only nodded, reaching to her wrist and unsealing one of the revolvers she kept from the two men she killed when she met them. She placed the gun on the ground and kicked it towards the woman, who instantly grabbed it. Looking back at her daughter, the woman said what would be her last words to her, "Go to Naruko, because the moment she moves from that door you two are going to have to flee."
The girl seemed like she was about to retort, but a stern glare from her mother made her reluctantly reply. The woman looked at Naruko, "Please keep her safe, I know you're still basically a kid yourself, and this is a massive…" She coughed again, "...favor, but what I said was the truth, you're the only one I can trust."
Naruko just gave the woman a gentle smile, "Don't worry, I'll look after her with my life."
That seemed to put the mother's worries at ease, and a grim smile came to the woman's face, "Thank you, now please go!" She said, before collapsing back onto the wall.
Not needing to be told twice, scooped the girl up into her arms bridal style, told her to close her eyes and ears, and jumped out the already shattered window. She fell down three floors, and landed, creating a small crater as she did. Her sharp ears picked up the sound of the door to the room they had been in being busted down, followed quickly by a single gunshot.
Not wanting to delay any further, and knowing the girl who was quietly sobbing into her chest needed a safe place to mentally recover, she dashed to a nearby hotel, jumped on the wall, and ran up to the rooftop. Upon reaching it, she made note that the access door was shut and there wasn't any infected in sight.
'They're probably all at the mall across the way.' She mused to her father.
'Most likely, but you should still be cautious.' Was his immediate reply.
She nodded, before heading to the access door and opening it, she descended the staircase and looked for a room with a sturdy door. Upon finding one, she entered and cleared the room, making sure there wasn't any infected inside, making note of the closed bathroom door, she decided it was too risky to enter with the girl attached to her like this. Once she was sure they were safe enough, she locked the door and sat down on the bed, readjusting the girl in her arms so she was facing her.
She then wrapped her arms around the girl, pulled her into a tight embrace, and whispered into the girl's ear, "We're safe now, you no longer need to be brave, let out your pain." Once those words left her mouth the dam broke and the girl began to wail her sorrows into her chest, while she rubbed her back with her right hand, and combed her left hand through the girl's blonde hair.
xxx Later That Night xxx
The girl had cried herself to sleep, clinging to Naruko like she'd disappear if she let go. Naruko sighed, because she knew there was no easy way to get the girl off of her, she laid back on the bed, bringing the slumbering girl down with her, who was now lying on top of her sound asleep.
'This is gonna be a long night' She said in her mind, just as Kurama, who had remained in her cloak hood throughout the whole event, was finally forced to move when she laid down.
Looking at his sister, he spoke. "Go to sleep, you haven't slept since we came to this world, I'll keep watch tonight."
"What about you?" She asked, moving her head just enough to look at him without waking the girl.
"I slept while you consoled the girl, you should really learn her name, after all, you're now her caregiver."
'I never really got the chance as I spent the time I was with them keeping them safe and fighting infected." She retorted.
"Yeah, yeah, get some sleep." he said, waving a paw dismissively.
Naruko grumbled a bit but followed her brother's advice and closed her eyes, quickly finding herself out cold, the exhaustion her demonic side had kept at bay hitting her like a truck.
xxx The Following Morning xxx
Ice blue eyes opened to stare at a dirty ceiling, scanning the room she discovered it in the same state it had been when she went to sleep, looking at the foot of the bed she saw Kurama resting with his head on her left foot, his eyes trained on the door to the outside while his ears pointed in the direction of the door that lead to the bathroom.
"Good morning, Kurama." She said, getting a good morning in response. "What's wrong? Is there something in the bathroom?" She asked, curious about why he seemed to take an interest in the bathroom.
"I think so, I've been hearing what sounds like movement in there, but it's odd."
"How so?" She asked, readjusting the girl on her chest so she could be more comfortable.
"It's been making noise randomly throughout the night, but it's made no attempt to exit the room. You'd think that after all the noise the girl made last night when she was crying would have made any normal infected come crashing in."
Naruko pondered for a moment, before deciding. "I'll summon shadow clones to stand guard next to both the door out of the room and the bathroom. Then, when she wakes up I'll check."
"You sure you shouldn't wake her up now? Sleeping this long in a world like this one isn't a good habit."
"Yeah, I know, I'll break her from it in the future. Right now she needs all the rest she could get. Plus, I slept just as long. " Naruko explained.
Kurama had to agree with that, "Yes, however, as I said you hadn't slept for nearly four days, it was reasonable for you to sleep that long."
When the clones had taken up their positions he moved up next to Naruko's head and laid next to her and rested his head on her shoulder. Naruko reached up and scratched him behind the ear, causing a pleased grin to form on his muzzle.
Despite the downsides to being in this world, Naruko was enjoying it way more than her previous one as the only people who cared about her there were Tsunade, Tuechi, Ayame, Anko, and the leaders from Spring and Wave Country along with Gaara and his siblings.
Her own village despised her for containing her brother at the time, and she doubted they would react well to learning that she was literally half demon along with her biological father, who they loved as if he was a God, her Godfather abandoned her when she refused to be trained by a filthy pervert.
Thinking about what she was going to do next she decided she couldn't roam around forever, especially now with a kid to look after. She'd seen graffiti about a group called "The Fireflies" Maybe she could investigate them and see if she could find a place there, although the idea of being mistreated for what she was didn't really sit right with her.
After all, she's immortal now, and a community of people would notice her lack of aging if she stayed there for a few years to a decade. Maybe she could set up her own community, but who would live there? Not to mention, where would she put it? Also, that would solve the issue of people knowing that she doesn't age.
'Wonder if I could contact the God of this world? I'd like to ask a question.' She thought.
'You rang?' The familiar voice of the God of the world spoke in her mind, shocking her and waking the sleeping Dante.
'Wait? I can talk to you like this?' She asked.
'Of course, I'm a God after all, now what is your question?'
'Well, I'm sure you're aware of my new charge.' She said.
'Ah, yes, the girl who lost her mother because of my mistake.' He lamented.
'Yes, I can already tell that I'm going to be with her for a long time and…'
'The realization that you'll outlive anyone you become close to has finally hit you.' The God finished for her.
'Pretty much…' she replied.
'I already thought of that, when I made you immortal I gave you an ability similar to Vampires.'
'What?' She asked, a little shocked.
'It's as I said, all you need is permission from the person in question, then you bite their neck, like a vampire.'
'But what does it turn them into? I'm not a vampire.'
'Indeed, you are not. When you bite them, it'll put demonic power into their bodies at a steady rate, changing them into an immortal demi-human much like yourself.'
'Cool, but why is it like the way vampires do it?'
'Honestly, the fact we had mentioned vampires prior gave me the idea when this issue came to my mind.'
Naruko just mentally sweat-dropped.
'Do you have any further questions?' The God asked.
'Actually yeah, what do I need to do when I save this world and want to go to another?' She asked, before adding, 'Oh, and can I bring those that I change with me?'
'Well, when the time comes that you've saved this world I'll come to you, and I personally have no issues with you bringing those you change to other worlds. However, we'd also need permission from that world's God' the deity explained.
Naruko nodded in her mindscape. 'Well, that's all I wanted to know, thank you.'
With that, she returned her mind to the real world, just as she felt the girl on her chest stir and begin to wake up.
"Hey…" she whispered, gaining the girl's attention, drowsy silver eyes meeting gentle icy blue. "Do you feel better?" She questioned, getting a slow sleepy nod in return.
Naruko smiled at the girl, "That's good, but we're still gonna take the next few days slow. But before that there are two things I need to do, the first is to learn your name, and the second is to check out the bathroom and make sure it's safe."
The girl paused for a moment, probably searching her memory for why the woman she clung to didn't know her name. Eventually, she shrugged and looked into Naruko's eyes, "Tanya… Tanya Watkins."
"Well, It's nice to finally know your name, Tanya." She said with a happy smile, "Now, can I get up?" She asked with mirth-filled eyes.
Tanya blushed in embarrassment and quickly scrambled off of her. Laughing at her actions, Naruko patted the girl on the head as she climbed off the bed to get to her next task.
"Kurama…" she stated, and the red fox poked its head from her hood. "Stay with Tanya so if this goes wrong and we somehow get separated you can lead her back to me." By this time the clones had dispersed, not wanting Tanya to question why she saw three Naruko's in the room.
When he had received his order, the fox leaped from Naruko's shoulders and towards Tanya, who just barely reacted in time to catch the soaring canine.
With that, Naruko approached the bathroom door and reached her hand towards the doorknob, gripping it. There was a tense pause before she twisted it and pushed in the bathroom door, only to be met with a depressing scene.
A young infected girl about nine was chained to the bottom of the sink, her feral eyes gazing at her with the desire to kill. To her left, lying dead in the tub, was a man who seemed to be in his late twenties.
A bullet hole sat neatly in the middle of his forehead, execution style, directly across from the girl was another child although this one seemed to be alive and not infected, much like the other one she was chained to something, this being the broken radiator.
She appeared to be malnourished and had to be on her last legs and would die within the next few days at the most. The scene invoked multiple questions, but no answers. But Naruko knew she didn't have time to ponder, and was just glad the girl was alive by some miracle.
Looking over the girl again, she made note of her appearance, she seemed to be no older than six, she had short shoulder-length midnight blue hair, she wore a tattered red t-shirt, dark blue jean shorts that had multiple rips and tears, dirty brown boots adorned her small feet, the tips of gray socks poking out of the top of them.
Looking back at Tanya and Kurama she says, "Tanya, clover your ears." The girl did as she was told, Naruko pulled her pistol from her holster and aimed at the infected nine-year-old, with a heavy heart, she pulled the trigger and a resounding bang filled the hotel room and possibly the next two blocks.
The sound also had the effect of waking the sleeping six-year-old, who immediately began to whimper in fear while looking at Naruko. Seeing this, Naruko holstered her pistol and crouched down in front of the girl.
She began to make shushing sounds in the hopes of calming the girl before speaking, "It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you." She placed a hand on the trembling girl's cheek, "I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" She asked, hoping the girl understood.
After a moment the girl slowly nodded, and Naruko reached to her belt unhooked the fastener of her combat knife's sheath, and began slowly pulling the knife out. Pausing when she felt the girl tense under her hand, which had remained on the girl's head.
"It's okay…" Naruko cooed, before fully sliding the knife out of its sheath, getting ready to break the chains on the girl she placed the knife in a favorable position on the lock that held them together and began to bang on the end of the knife until an audible clang following by the sound of the lock breaking rang out through the bathroom.
During this event, Tanya began to approach the bathroom, only to be stopped when Kurama let a soft growl escape his maw.
After the chain was removed the girl practically threw herself at Naruko and began crying in a way only a six-year-old could. Naruko sighed to herself, 'That's twice in twenty-four hours that I've had someone cry on my chest.' She mused in her thoughts.
Picking up the girl as she stood she exited the bathroom, and heard Tanya gasp, looking she saw her staring at the girl in her arms.
"What happened to her?" She asked, unaware of the fact she had asked an unanswerable question.
"I have no idea, but it's not a pretty sight in that bathroom and we need to go." She said, lowering herself, she told Tanya. "Get on my back, but watch out for the girl."
Tanya looked confused, "You plan to carry me, Kurama, and the girl?"
"Yes, as long as one of my hands is free I'll be able to easily defend us, but if I'm carrying her while looking after you I'll be split between multiple tasks, and it'll be too risky to move quickly." She glanced back towards the bathroom, "Plus that gunshot would have alerted any nearby infected, so we need to go quickly."
Tanya nodded in acceptance and clamored onto Naruko's back, Rebellion being pushed to the side to make room for her. Kurama jumped onto Naruko's shoulders and nuzzled into her neck. "Do me a favor.." Naruko began, looking over her shoulder at Tanya, "If I need to begin to shoot, try your best to console the girl."
Tanya nodded as the four dashed out of the room and back up the stairs to the roof, Naruko made note of the obvious sounds of the infected moving throughout the building, investigating that loud bang from her gunshot.
Looking over the edge of the building she heard the sound of banging on the roof's access door, meaning the infected wanted to get up there to investigate. She glanced across at the roof of a building across the road, then back to the still banging access door, she once again turned her gaze to the opposite rooftop.
She repeated this action a few times, which Tanya had noticed, "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?" She asked, audibly concerned.
"Maybe, I don't see any other options." Naruko replied, continuing her obvious internal debate.
"That's nearly a twenty-foot gap!" Tanya exclaimed now slightly panicked.
Naruko looked into her eyes, "Do you trust me?" She asked completely seriously. Tanya hesitated before nodding, "With your life?" Naruko prodded, once again Tanya nodded, not trusting her words.
"Okay, hold on tight." Naruko said, also tightening her grip on the girl resting on her right arm, she noted Kurama's claws digging into her shoulder, obviously bracing himself for this stupid stunt she had concocted.
Taking multiple steps back from the edge she prepared to make this jump, just as she was about to take off, the door to the roof busted open, revealing a Clicker, followed by a few Runners.
Cursing she sprinted at the edge, the Runners at her heels, and pushed her demonic power into her legs just as she jumped, catapulting her and her passengers over to the road and onto the opposite rooftop.
Looking back, she saw the Runner's corpses five stories down, while the Clicker remained on the roof, clicking audibly, clearly searching in vain for its prey.
Sighing in relief, she glanced at Tanya and noticed she was very pale, her eyes widened considerably. "Sorry…" She apologized to the girl, feeling bad for scaring her.
"How did you…?" Tanya began, but stopped and seemingly decided to stare at her in awe.
"It's a long story, and I'll explain it in detail when we're safe." Naruko told her.
Tanya didn't like that answer as she was curious now, but she reluctantly nodded and went quiet once more.
"Now, where do we go from here?" Naruko asked herself out loud.
"You don't have a home?" Tanya asked.
"Nah, I only arrived here yesterday." Naruko responded.
Naruko's attention was broken from their conversation when the girl in her arms attempted to get free. Lowering Tanya, herself, and the girl to the ground she sat down with Tanya moving to sit next to her.
As Naruko was seated, she looked at the child who had managed to get out of her arms and was sitting in front of her, gazing at her with curiosity.
"What's wrong?" Naruko asked, concerned for the girl. After all, she had been through a traumatic experience and she didn't know how long the girl had been in that bathroom.
"Who are you?" The girl asked, momentarily taking Naruko off guard at the mature way it was delivered, the girl's eyes narrowed slightly, and her posture tensed.
After a moment she responded, "My name is Naruko, what's yours?" She asked.
"Skye…" the girl replied.
"That's a pretty name." Naruko said with a gentle smile.
The girl smiled slightly, before looking at Naruko with pleading eyes, "Can I stay with you?" She asked, obviously scared at the thought of being alone.
"Of course." She said, before turning her mind inward, entering her mindscape. 'Hey Dad, what should I do? I don't have a safe home in this world, and I can't keep fighting infected while carrying these two.'
'Hmm, we'd need a place that's easily accessible, while remaining easily defended. Plus it would need to be hidden so we can avoid getting raided.'
'Wonder if I could make use of one of these hotels?' She questioned.
'Maybe, although they're too large, and there's too much ground to cover, we'd be better off with something smaller.'
Naruko nodded in agreement, 'Good point, should we travel to the outskirts of the City? Set up somewhere out there?'
'No, the majority of the infected are in the City, if you're outside the City and have to make the trek into it every day, lives you could have saved will be lost.'
Naruko winced at that, she wanted to save as many people as she could, and the idea that her choice to move further away could lower those she could save didn't sit right with her.
'What do you suggest?' She asked.
'Honestly, I'd like to say we find a bunker and rebuild it to suit our needs. But the chance of us being overrun by infected if they find us is higher that way.'
'What if we use seals as a barrier?' She suggested.
'Are you suggesting we place barriers at the entrance to a bunker and key it to allow only those we want to access in?' He asked a hint of excitement in his tone.
'Yeah, we'd be safe at night underground while the barrier keeps out the infected and those we don't want in.'
Dante tapped his chin in thought 'What about survivors who find the bunker and are at risk of dying by infected?' He proposed.
'There's not much I can do about that…' she paused and crossed her arms under her impressive bust, '...unless I put a second barrier that blocks out only the infected.'
Dante perked up at that and found himself letting out a chuckle that gained Naruko's attention. 'What?' She asked, with a raised eyebrow.
'Just thinking back to how those in Konoha always called you an idiot, and how wrong they were.' He said, waving his hand dismissively.
A frown found its way onto Naruko's gorgeous face and she sat down across from Dante, who had been sitting in a chair with his right arm resting on the nearby table, his right leg was crossed over his left. Once she sat down, she flung her legs onto the table with an audible thunk.
She leaned back in her chair placed her arms behind her head and looked at Dante, 'Maybe we should see about getting permission to return to my original world for a short time so I can get some closure?'
Dante gave her a skeptical look, 'This world's God said that immortality of any kind was forbidden for humans in that world, do you really think he'll make an exception for you?'
Naruko removed her hands from behind her head and gave a light shrug, 'It never hurts to ask.'
Dante could only shake his head in amusement, before clearing his throat. "Anyway, so we're doing this whole bunker plan?'
Naruko used her feet on the table to balance on the back legs of her chair and audibly hummed, 'Yeah, I just need to find a place to keep the kids safe while I'm clearing one out and reforming it.'
'Why not summon shadow clones and let them build the bunker while you protect the kids?' Dante suggested, finding the girl's tendency to forget about that technique funny.
A loud crash was heard as Naruko momentarily lost her balance and crashed to the floor, shattering the chair she had been sitting on.
This made Dante bend over in laughter, after his laughing fit, he looked at the now-pouting teen in front of him. 'How do you fall off a chair in your own mind?' He joked, causing the girl's pout to deepen.
Naruko huffed, as she stood up and reformed the shattered chair, 'Shut up…' She demanded, as she once again sat down and crossed her legs in a lotus position, she then sent a half-hearted glare to her father figure, which only made Dante chuckle more.
'Wait a second…' Naruko started, 'Are there even any bunkers in the city?' She asked with a panicked look..
Dante just blinked, before shrugging, 'I dunno, we haven't really looked at that map you stole, other than the odd glances.'
'What do we do if there aren't any bunkers?'
Dante shrugged, 'You got those ninja techniques right? Wasn't there one that allows you to terraform?' He inquired.
Naruko snapped her fingers, 'Oh yeah, Earth Release: Terraforming!' She said, before gaining a puzzled look, 'How does that help with the bunker problem?'
'Well, we can just create our own bunker from scratch!' He said with a toothy grin.
Stars sparkled in Naruko's icy blue crystal eyes, as she began bouncing in her seat, 'We can make it however we want!' She cheered.
'Uh huh, that and we can place it in a store's basement, which would allow easy access while remaining under the radar if we make the entrance hidden.'
'We can also make spiderweb paths to other store's which would provide multiple exits and a safe passage around the city for myself and those who are in my care!' She added.
Dante nodded his agreement, 'Well, we've been talking for long enough. It's time to put the plan into action.'
'We both agree that the Hidden bunker through store basements is a better idea than an actual bunker, right?' Naruko asked.
'Yes, now go!' Dante prodded, lazily gesturing for her to leave.
Naruko just chuckled, 'Love you too.' She said before vanishing from her mind, if she'd stayed a second longer she would have heard Dante's quiet, 'You too.'
Naruko refocused, and looked at the girl in front of her, smiling, she opened her arms, and as soon as she did the girl barreled into her and clung tight, quiet sobs began to rack the girl's small form as she let out some of the trauma she'd experienced onto the much older girls chest.
Naruko sighed, before looking at Tanya, "I know I said I would explain about myself when we were safe. But there's been a change of plans and I've decided to build our home…" She paused to gauge the girl's reaction, Tanya seemed to be interested and confused.
"The best way to explain would be to show you…" when she finished a hundred clones of herself appeared on the roof behind her, causing the girl's eyes to widen to the size of dinner plates. "Don't be alarmed, but I'm not entirely human…" She stopped when she noticed that the girl had fainted, sighing as she directed one of her shadow clones, "Take her over there and explain everything she needs to know."
Turning back to the horde of clones, still holding the crying girl, she spoke, "You lot find a store with a suitable basement for our needs and get to work on the home." She got a chorus of "Yes, ma'am!" Before they bolted to accomplish their task.
xxx One Explanation and Construction Montage Later xxx
Naruko was talking with Skye, trying to keep the girl's spirits high, while Tanya was pelting the clone with question after question. She was broken from her efforts when a shadow clone appeared next to her.
"The home is finished, ma'am!" It said, before poofing out of existence.
Nodding, she looked to Skye, "Are you ready to go to our new home?" She asked the little girl, she got an excited nod from the girl, her mood had improved drastically from before. Turning towards Tanya, she called out. "Hey! Tanya! Our home is finished, let's go, you can ask more questions when we get there."
Tanya pouted but nodded and stood up to approach her, Kurama resting around her neck much like he did with Naruko. "I still can't believe your half demon…" the girl muttered under her breath.
"I can make you one if you want, however, I refuse to do it until you're 17. That gives you four years to think about your decision, the only way I'd do it before then is if it's absolutely necessary."
Tanya froze for a second, and the look on her face was priceless, it was blatantly obvious that a million thoughts ran through her head.
Naruko chuckled, "You can think about it on the way, now climb on." She ordered, making room on her back for Tanya, while at the same time scooping Skye into her arms. Kurama took his chance to find a perch on Naruko's head, causing said teen to grumble about "Lazy fox, treating my head like a bed."
With her peace said, she rocketed off towards their new underground complex. Arriving, she entered the store and made her way to the back room, entering, she descended the stairs to the basement, approached the nearby wall, and placed her hand on it. A click was heard as the wall retracted before sliding to the right.
"Cool…" she heard Tanya whisper, as she entered the tunnel and closed the wall behind her with another click. With their home secure she walked down the tunnel into a room
To the left was the living room, which consisted of a slightly worn down black couch, with an equally worn down black loveseat next to it in an L shape, a small gray recliner sat across from the loveseat, and the space in the middle was occupied by a medium-sized gray coffee table, with a black tattered rug under it, a small cracked white vase with clearly fake rose's decorated the table.
To the right sat a kitchen, a gray fridge resting next to the entrance to the room, gray counters with a marble top lined the wall, and a black stove rested three counters away from the fridge, with the black sink in between them. A black dining table took up the center of the room, and six chairs took up residence around the table, all pushed in.
"It's awesome…" Tanya said, awestruck.
"I had my clones study interior design while they were digging this place out. It seems they put it to good use." She said with pride evident in her tone.
Skye glanced around enthralled by the new place she was in. She then looked at Naruko, "This is our home?" She asked, her gaze filled with hope.
Naruko put Tanya down so the girl could explore, after all, this entire complex was safe. She watched as Kurama leaped off her head and landed by a dog bed she had acquired for him, its main use was a place for him to comfortably rest if she wasn't around for him to use her shoulder.
When she was done with her observations, she turned her attention back to Skye and gave a loving smile, "Yes, sweetheart. This is our new home."
The girl's smile threatened to split her face as she asked, excitedly. "Can we look around?"
Naruko chuckled and ruffled the girl's hair, "Yeah, let's go." She said, offering the girl her hand, which she eagerly took as the two explored the complex she had built.
'You're taking this parenting thing seriously.' She heard Dante speak in her mind.
'Maybe…' Naruko thought back with a soft smile.