Author's note: Got inspired again for this particular universe, so here I am with a two-shot this time! (Yes, only a two-shot for real this time). This is the direct sequel to One of a Kind (and naturally to Only Human and The One with Many Names as well) so if you haven't read those yet, you might want to do so to familiarise yourself with this universe, especially because references to the previous part are made in this one.

Warnings: Mikoto's pov; Alternate universe; demons; Vampire Uchiha; established slash; mentions of character death in the past; a little bit of world building I guess you could call it

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like this first part!

Part 1

The Uchiha clan kept to themselves. That was a fact widely known to everybody in their world. They had acquaintances for sure but it was no secret that they were very private creatures, preferring to stay within their own territory and not mingle with others. Most other beings respected that and those that didn't never made the same mistake twice. If you didn't bother the Uchiha, they didn't bother you; it was that simple.

Which made it all the more interesting when someone did seek out one of them specifically.

The moon was slowly rising, darkness having descended over the land a few hours ago, when Mikoto began her leisurely walk through the forest. She wasn't hungry, so there was no need to hunt or make use of some of the prey others had caught, but she liked strolling about their territory every once in a while, enjoying the music of the night. With her clan members preferring to hunt in the city, the forest itself was always fairly quiet, save for the rustles of nature and the teeming nightlife.

She stopped to watch some foxes frolicking around, chasing each other through some bushes; the silly sight making the corners of her mouth tug with amusement. It appeared that foxes were finding their way to this forest more regularly nowadays; up until a year ago she would have been hard pressed to spot multiple of them in one month, let alone in one night. Perhaps they found prey in abundance here? That would explain why their presence had seemingly exploded over the year.

It was near the southern border of their territory that she became aware of a stranger's presence. It wasn't a human; its scent was cold, tinted with earth like undertones, and she furrowed her eyebrows, coming to a halt.

"I suggest you show yourself before I decide to give you a personal welcome," she said coolly.

For a couple of seconds nothing moved and right as she was about to step forwards and deal with the intruder personally, the being shuffled forwards. Dark green scales gleaming in the moonlight were the first thing she saw. The Snake Demon was a fairly young one still, judging by the abundance of scales covering his body. The older they became, the more adept they were at hiding this telltale sign of their nature. The demon in question had done his best to cover up most of them with a pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, but clothes did nothing when the scales crept up his neck onto his face and when the back of his hands were fully covered with them.

"I apologise," the Snake Demon said; his forked tongue lingering on the last part of the word. "It appears I travelled further south than I had intended to."

"You should be more aware of boundaries," she said calmly, clasping her hands together in front of her. "I cannot promise that some of my clan members will give you a warning if you end up making the same mistake in the future."

"I am still trying to get a feeling of my surroundings; I only arrived here recently," he said and sounded genuinely apologetic enough that she decided he truly was nothing more than an oblivious fool.

Young demons nowadays were far too reckless with their travelling. It appeared not everyone of them realised that some creatures still preferred to settle somewhere instead of roaming the world ceaselessly.

"I advise you to stay clear of this part of the forest," she said, feeling magnanimous enough to give him a warning.

"I will," he promised but whether he would actually do so remained to be seen.

The bemused look on his face as he tilted his head to the right had her lifting an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I thought I recognised your face from somewhere but – did you attend the Gathering this year?" he asked out of the blue.

"I did not," she replied after a pause, wondering where this came from. "A clan member of mine did, however."

It hadn't really been a secret to anybody why Sasuke had suddenly decided to show his face during the Gathering. He had never shown any interest in attending one before, declaring it a boring and useless affair when they would never bargain with other creatures but this year he had volunteered to go. When questioned why he had suddenly changed his mind, he had given the vague answer that it was his duty as one of the heirs to attend the Gathering at least once.

Perhaps it had been his sense of duty nagging at him – or it had been because for the first time in centuries he had someone who he wanted to spend time with privately. Enamoured as he was with his human lover, it didn't take a genius to conclude that her son had wanted to make use of the hotel after the gathering.

She was pretty certain Itachi was still teasing his little brother about that – the only one who could risk such teasing without fearing his head would be cut off.

"Ah, a family member, I understand," the Snake Demon said. "That explains why you look so familiar.

"You spoke with my clan member?" she asked politely.

Sasuke hadn't had anything of note to report when he had returned from the Gathering. There had been the usual attempts from other demons to convince him to cede some of their territory to them, some futile attempts at flirting with him, but nothing that required any action on their part. Truthfully the only reason why one of them kept attending the Gathering each time was to keep themselves informed about potential threats aimed at them. Not every creature was smart enough to leave them alone after all.

"No, I did not personally but I know he was quite the talk of the gathering," the demon replied and something that oddly looked like a mixture between awe and jealousy flickered up briefly in the depths of his golden eyes. "We all thought for centuries that your clan doesn't accept outsiders, so it came as quite a shock to some of us to realise that you have accepted a non-vampire in your midst."

"I know how fast rumours travel, so it can't have still come as a shock to you all to discover that my clan member is dating a human," she said bored. "Who we accept in our circle is only our business."

"A human?" he repeated bewildered. "No, I'm not talking about the human. I'm talking about the demon who was accompanying your clan member."

"Which demon?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

The only one who had accompanied her son had been Naruto, the human Sasuke had started to date a year ago. Had Sasuke met up with somebody of the Akatsuki clan perhaps? But they were also vampires like they were, so why would it have been odd for Sasuke to interact with one of them?

"The demon he was seen with in one of the hotel rooms," he answered to her perplexion. "Granted the few of us who spotted him have a hard time figuring out what kind of nature he has, but after what he did to that succubus, it's clear he was no mere human."

"What exactly did you see?" she asked slowly.

The only one who had shared a room with Sasuke that night had been Naruto. Had another demon somehow managed to make its way into the hotel room before the couple had shown up? Perhaps this demon had arranged a meeting with this succubus in question there and the meeting had gone sideways?

"Not much," the demon admitted. "Some blood spraying through the room, heard some screaming. Nothing really that unusual after a Gathering as you might remember, but I know me and my companion were quite surprised when the window was opened and bits and pieces of the Succubus were thrown outside." He whistled softly. "I admit, it had been quite some time since I last saw such a gruesome spectacle. The bird creatures appreciated the shreds, though."

"Did you get a good look at the demon who killed her?"

The Snake Demon shivered as if the temperature had dropped below zero. "A good look? I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of him! Pitch black eyes still dripping with murder, red orange shadows dancing all around him – even his blond hair couldn't make him look angelic. We stopped looking when he started kissing your clan member, figuring we should leave before that demon decided to set his eyes on us next." He shuddered.

Meanwhile Mikoto's thoughts were caught in a whirlwind. The demon who had killed the Succubus could have been one of the Gathering's participants having walked into a random room – but that didn't explain why Sasuke had been kissing this demon supposedly. If what the Snake Demon said was true, then things weren't adding up here. With how devoted Sasuke was to Naruto, there was no way he would ever think of cheating on him, let alone doing so with a random stranger during the Gathering.

But if he hadn't cheated and the Snake Demon's eyes hadn't betrayed him, this meant that, what? Naruto was some kind of demon? One powerful enough to rip a Succubus to shreds yet portray himself as a regular human? That idea was preposterous! The only demons capable of completely disguising themselves as humans without betraying their true nature at all were –

The Tricksters.

Thinking the word alone sent a shiver down her spine. Trickster. The One With Many Names. Chaos. Manifestation of Trickery and Deceit. Mischief. Darkness. Fox. Nine-tales. Kitsune. Harbinger of Chaos. Many names and they all referred to one species of demon; one which were never meant to be crossed. The type other demons warned each other for, because even the most powerful of vampires was nothing but a bug compared to the sheer power a Trickster wielded. They were everywhere and nowhere at once. They lurked within the darkest, deepest, oldest forests and thrived in the chaos of man-made cities. They delighted in spreading chaos, enjoyed watching demons and humans alike walking to their doom. One flick of their shadow could uproot entire woods. One whisper of their velvety crooning voice could drive even the strongest being insane.

Their fingertips were filled with more pure power than most demons could ever amass in their entire lives. One never even knew a Trickster was around until it was far too late. Because just like they were Master of chaos and deceit, they were also masters in disguise. They could be everything and everyone they wanted to be. From coming across as a pitiful elderly to the most gorgeous being you would ever meet: nothing was out of their reach. They could present themselves as fully human and you would never know until it was far too late.

They could present themselves as fully human.

It had been more than a century since Mikoto had last experienced anything akin to dread, but the heavy feeling was almost overwhelming right now, dropping low into her stomach before spreading through the rest of her body like slow moving tar. She tried to tell herself that the Snake Demon was mistaken. He was misremembering what had happened that evening, must have been looking at the wrong hotel room, because if not …

If not, it meant their clan could be in grave danger.

"Forgive my curiosity, but what kind of demon joined your clan?" the Snake Demon asked eagerly. "We have been trying to figure out what this demon could be, but the species fully eludes us thus far."

And it would elude them for quite a while longer, she imagined numbly. Even though the stories about the Tricksters had been passed down throughout the centuries, the tales weren't widespread anymore ever since the Tricksters faded into obscurity. They didn't disappear – how could they when they were the most powerful beings in existence? But the stories were barely told anymore, leaving the younger generations demons hapless and unknowing. Perhaps this was all just a ploy of the Tricksters themselves: letting tales about themselves fade out, become lost in history so that they could spread chaos without anyone being the wiser.

After all it was hard to remain on guard when the Tricksters were so skilful in disguising their true nature. Which demon would ever be afraid of a mere human? Even if that human seemed rather knowledgeable about demons, even if that human appeared rather comfortable around the undead.

No demon would ever suspect a mere human – and that was the Kitsune's greatest trick of all time.

Mikoto left the Snake Demon behind on his part of the woods, asleep underneath some bushes. When he would wake up in the morning, he wouldn't even remember their encounter. At best he would muse why he would have been so foolish as to get so close to another demon's territory but he wouldn't think much of it, deciding to leave lest he would tempt fate even further.

As she sped through the forest, none of the tranquillity she had experienced earlier left, she told herself she was overreacting. With Tricksters having faded into obscurity more than two centuries ago, there was no reason to assume that her son of all beings would have the misfortune of having fallen in love with one. What would the Trickster even want with one of her own when nobody of their clan had ever done something to offend them? They always kept to themselves, never bothering with other demons. Unlike other demons, she and Fugaku had not neglected to tell their sons the stories about the Tricksters, ensuring their children were properly informed and would know better than to ever provoke one should they be unfortunate enough to run across a Trickster. Yes, it was unlikely that her son out of everybody would have chosen to date a Trickster, knowing what they were capable of.

But then she recalled the many foxes in their territory and how they had only started to appear with so many of them after Sasuke had introduced Naruto to them. She thought of how unbothered Naruto appeared to be in a mansion full of vampires, even though the instinct of even the most foolish, most oblivious human would send them fleeing, as unaware as humans were of their existence. The way he was so at ease even when he came across one of their clan members after they had been a bit too enthusiastic during their feeding. How he was so comfortable strolling through the woods at night, even when most humans would prefer to stay in brightly lit places.

The way he would sometimes smirk, looking as if he was enjoying some inside joke none of them were aware of.

He smelt human, however. He had been at their mansion many times already and she had never caught him slipping up. Perhaps she was becoming too paranoid. Demons tried so often to break their clan apart; who said this Snake Demon had been telling the truth? He could have been lying, making things up in order to sow distrust amongst her family.

Zenaku Yasha's face flashed through her mind then and she stopped right next to a creek, breathing out harshly. She hadn't thought about Yasha in such a long time … One of their lower ranking clan members, someone who had mostly gone up in the background. Until he had grown a tad too interested in Naruto. She, her husband and Itachi had all been aware of the way Yasha's gaze had often followed Naruto around their mansion with more interest than had been considered healthy. They had kept an eye on him, as much to keep Naruto safe as to keep Yasha from incurring Sasuke's wrath.

Until one night Yasha had disappeared and hadn't come back again; the link he shared with all of them abruptly disintegrating, showing he hadn't just left the country.

He had been travelling through the city back then, she dimly recalled. At the time she hadn't paid it much heed, remembered thinking he was out hunting like usual. She might have been right; he could have been hunting back then.

Before he had become the hunted.

If she had followed his scent back then, would she have found herself standing in front of Naruto's home? If she had been there, would she have heard the last moments of Yasha before his existence abruptly left the earth?

Was Yasha's death mere coincidence? In light of everything she had heard tonight, that no longer seemed to be the case.

A bush rustled nearby and she held her breath when a fox suddenly darted in front of her. Its beady black eyes which earlier this evening had seemed so cute now looked rather menacingly as the fox seemed to appraise her. She gazed back at it, standing still, and watched its white tipped tail swish slowly back and forth. It sat down, curling its fluffy tail around himself and washed its snout for a couple of seconds before it chirped quietly at her.

"Hello there," she murmured and wondered how the presence of so many foxes in their woods could have passed by them all without setting off any alarm.

If foxes had never been this abundant before, why would they suddenly take over the forest? They wouldn't – unless the demon fond of them was walking amongst them.

She dared to take a step forwards, but the fox merely chirped again, going back to washing its snout. Slowly she walked around it, being careful not to disturb it in any shape or form. A glance over her shoulder showed that the fox had finished washing itself and was now leisurely walking down the path before it seemed to spot something in the distance, causing it to rush away.

Mikoto closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before she crossed the remaining distance to her home. So many suspicions, so many assumptions.

It was time to find out the truth.

AN2: A lot of you were interested in a part where the Uchiha clan finds out what exactly Naruto is. Here you go; hope you'll enjoy it :)

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.