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Thanks for reading and please enjoy
The Cost of Salvation
-Chapter 3-
-Have a Helluva Christmas-
It was dark, very dark, nothing to be seen in the encompassing darkness aside from a few weak rays of light that gleamed in through small holes.
"I'm still surprised that demons celebrate Christmas too, from what I've been told it's not exactly a… fitting theme for Hell." Being unable to see, all that was left were the sounds, mostly ladies talking along with some nonsensical babbling and occasionally tearing paper.
"Well, it's not exactly the same as what humans or Elementians celebrate," One of the ladies said, sounding an odd mix of upbeat and sheepish. "Sure, there's still gift giving and such but otherwise all it's really about down here is… well..."
"It's an excuse to get completely cara de mierda and be an even bigger jackass than usual," A calmer voice stated in a dry tone. "That and you get more gifts the naughtier you are instead of nice since it's that perra Krampus that delivers them."
"Vaggie…"
"Don't give me that look Charlie, we both know it's true."
"Yeah… but you don't have to be so pessimistic about it."
"It's not pessimism Hon, it's realism, now stop pouting and open your present."
"Ooh! Present!" More sounds of ripping paper, much more energetic this time, before a loud happy gasp rang out. "I love it Vag! It's so cute! I gotta try it on!"
"Ah, ah, ah! Not yet sweetie," That voice was mature, calm, and very familiar, voice of the one who fed and sheltered. And as she spoke, more light flooded in through the small gaps for a moment before going dim as everything shook. "Unless you want to miss your godson opening his first Christmas present ever that is."
"Of course not!" More shaking as the voices got louder. "Oh, wow that's a big box, what did you get him mom? What?"
A melodious laughter filled the air as everything shook yet again and the light returned. "Settle down you, you'll get to find out soon enough. Kushina, do you have the-?"
"Ready and filming," The last voice said confidently before cooing softly. "There's my baby boy, wave to the camera Naru~!"
Soft happy burbling was heard for a moment along with a loud smacking and more shaking as Kushina and Charlie giggled in amusement.
"So, is anyone gonna help him or are we gonna wait till he somehow figures out how to open that by himself?" Vaggie asked sarcastically, although her voice was much more amused sounding than it was before.
"Oh, I've got it." Lilith's voice stated before several taps rang out, one slow three fast and one slow again. That was signal.
"What are you-"
There was a rush and light flared, blindingly bright everywhere before clearing to reveal a large spacious room filled with vibrant decorations. A bright red tree sat in the middle of the room, alight in flaming lights and decorations yet not a single leaf was burned whilst presents were heaped up beneath it. Magic streamers made of an assortment of colors of light stretched across the ceiling to create a lovely aurora of colors
Then there were the room's occupants, a red fox lady with a camera, a blonde pale demon in a Santa costume with a baby human wearing a Santa hat sitting on her lap, a moth like girl dressed like an elf, and another blonde lady sipping eggnog. All of them except the last had their jaws hanging in shock and eyes wide.
Why?
Because of the young Hellhound pup that had just popped out of the large Christmas present sitting in front of little Naruto. Looking no older than four or five, she had thick black and white fur along with messy white hair done up in a ponytail, silverish eyes amidst blood red sclera, and a big fluffy black tail. Her clothes were equally dark colored, a plain grey shirt and black shorts, whilst one of her ears had a shiny red Christmas bow loosely tied onto it.
It also looked like she was supposed to be wearing a Santa hat as well but decided it made a better snack instead as she chewed on the holiday themed clothing, her teeth easily tearing through the red fabric. Pulling out the remnants for a moment, she gave everyone in the room a dull look for a few moments before simply saying. "Bark… bark…"
With her piece said, the hellhound sank back into her box until only her head was peeking out as she went back to eating her hat.
"Ah come on Loona, you can give it more enthusiasm than that." Lilith, the only one not frozen in shock, said with a playful sigh as she got up from her seat and patted the hellhound's shoulder. However, the now named Loona just huffed indignantly and looked away, her cheeks puffing out adorably as she stuffed more hat into her mouth.
"No wanna, look silly." She mumbled between bites, making Lilith shake her head with another sigh.
"Alright, well why don't you at least say hello to your new owner?" The queen of hell suggested as she gently nudged the young hellhound's chin so that she was looking at Charlie and Naruto.
This may have been the wrong thing to say to as Loona's lips curled back into a snarl the moment that she heard the word owner. However, that displeasure almost immediately turned to surprise once she noticed that Lilith was pointing at Naruto, not Charlie.
"…My owner a baby?"
"Yes, yes he is." The horned blonde said with a nod, smirking softly when she saw the confused curiosity already forming in the demonic canine's eyes. Before the wolf girl knew what she was doing, she had climbed out of her box and dropped to the floor in front of Naruto and Charlie.
Slowly padding closer to the duo, Loona gave the older blonde a distrustful look until she held her hands up in peace without a word before focusing back on the infant on her lap. She tilted her head to the side cutely while sinking into a crouch with her hands resting against the ground, unknowingly making her look just like a sitting dog, and leaning her head in till her face was barely an inch away from Naruto's.
The baby looked right back with wide eyes as she started sniffing him, giggling when her nose lightly poked against his whiskered cheek. Grabbing at her snout, he smiled brightly as his fingers sank into her soft fur before imitating her sniffing as if he were smelling her too.
"Aww~ would you look at that? They're getting along already." Lilith said with a giggle as she sat back down beside Kushina, who still looked completely flabbergasted much to the demoness's amusement. Raising one of her hands up to the foxy lady's jaw, she gave it a gentle flick that caused it to shut whilst also snapping her out of her daze.
"Huh? What?" She muttered, blinking a few times as her brain caught back up to the present and turned to her fellow mother with an unsure expression. "Uh, not to sound unappreciative Lilith-san but is this really an appropriate… gift for a baby?"
"Oh, relax my dear, I know this may seem odd since you're still getting used to how things work down here but Hellpups make wonderful companions for children. As long as they're properly handled and trained at least," Lilith stated confidently, aside from the last bit which she muttered extremely fast, making Kushina deadpan at her. "It'll be fine, trust me, I personally made sure that Loona here is acclimated to her new home, helped her tone down her more violent tendencies, and taught her how to speak a bit better."
As she spoke, the blonde demoness gestured to the pair in question, who were still sniffing each-other, only now Loona had started to walk circles around Naruto and Charlie. While her face didn't show any emotion aside from curiosity and no small amount of caution, her tail betrayed her hidden excitement as it slowly wagged back and forth behind her.
"…Wait, what was that part about violent tendencies?"
"Well Hellhounds are natural fighters and excellent protectors which is part of why I got one for my adorable grandson. Figured it'd be best that he had a little extra protection since he's not exactly native to Hell," Lilith explained, getting Kushina to nod in understanding. "So, when I sent an order for one, I made sure to specify that I wanted the toughest, fiercest, roughest pup they could find. And boy I can tell you they did not disappoint. I can't count how many times I almost lost fingers before I got her to trust me."
"Oh yeah, that totally makes it sound like a wonderful idea to have her around a defenseless infant." Vaggie chipped in sarcastically with an eyeroll as she shook her head in disbelief, although those who looked closer could see that her eye was now focused on the Hellpup in question.
As if sensing her stare, Loona stopped her 'investigation' of Naruto to look at Vaggie, her fur standing on end as she bared her teeth defensively. However, her attention was soon brought back to the baby when he crawled off Charlie's lap and bumped against the pup's side. The baffled look on her face was quite adorable as he buried his face in her fur with a loud sniffing sound.
"Your concerns are understandable but unwarranted Vagatha, Loona is actually quite sweet once you get to know her," Lilith said with a smile, watching Loona nudged Naruto away and getting down on all fours so she was face-to-face with him again. Her tail was wagging even faster than ever as she tilted her head side to side, which the blonde tot mimicked almost perfectly. "I mean just look at her, does that look dangerous to you?"
"Whatever." The sinner demoness muttered, still not letting the hound out of her sight as she sipped at a large frothy beverage.
"Ah ease up Vag, I'm sure mom knows what she's doing," Charlie told her girlfriend reassuringly, then clearing her throat to get the wolf girl's attention while holding out a hand with a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you Loona, I'm Charlie."
"…Whatever bitch." Was all the Hellpup said before going back to playing with Naruto, or whatever it was she was doing with him exactly, completely ignoring the offered hand.
This made the demon princess pout while her mother scratched her cheek with a sheepish smile when both Vaggie and Kushina deadpanned at her. "Okay so we're still working on her cursing habit."
Without a word, Kushina tossed her camera to Vaggie as she got up to her feet and walked up to the pair, getting the young hound's attention. Seeing her coming straight at her, Loona was on the defensive again almost instantly, taking a few steps back with a soft warning growl.
Yet this didn't even deter Kushina in the slightest and the foxy lady kept approaching, eventually sinking into a crouch right in front of the snarling pup as their gazes locked. Then the redhead slowly reached out and, after waiting a second when Loona flinched away, gently cupped the Hellpup's chin in the palm of her hand. "And what do you have to say about all of this, little one?"
Now that got Loona to stop snarling right away, her eyes widening in surprise as her hackles lowered. "You… ask me?"
"Yes, this affects you more than anyone so you should have a say in what happens," Kushina said, smiling softly as she stroked the wolf girl's cheek with her thumb. "So, tell me, are you okay with this? With staying with us?"
"I…" Loona trailed off as her gaze drifted to Lilith for a moment, only for Kushina to gently turn her head so she was looking back at her again.
"Don't look at her, I'm not asking her," The transformed redhead stated, making sure to keep the Hellpup's attention on her. "I'm asking you, are you alright with this?"
Staring into her violet eyes, Loona was still a bit hesitant but eventually slowly nodded her head. "It okay, gooder than before… I… I like it here."
"Then welcome to the family Loona." Kushina said with a soft smile before surprising the girl yet again by scooping her up in her arms for a hug. Eyes wide, Loona didn't know what to do as she dangled in the redhead's grasp.
Normally when someone tried to grab her like this she'd start clawing, biting, and if necessary, violently disemboweling the poor bastard or bastards responsible. It was just trained instinct, a survival mechanism for dealing with the unending danger and despair that was Hell's foster care system. Not even Lilith had been able to totally curb her innate reflex of bite first ask questions never.
Yet here she was, buried in the warm fluffy embrace of this lady she just met, and she felt…safe? Happy? She didn't know what it was, but she liked it. So, she stayed silent and kept enjoying it, even as Kushina carried her back over to the tree with Naruto and Charlie, the former having moved on to sniffing the latter instead much to everyone's amusement.
"Alright, who's opening the next one?" The fox lady asked once she took a seat next besides the blondes, setting Loona down on her lap.
"Oh! That's you!" Charlie exclaimed excitedly, grabbing a small box near the top of the heap, and handing it to Kushina. "This one is from me. I hope you like it."
"Knowing you, I'm sure I will Charlie," The transformed redhead said with a giggle before turning to full blown laughter when she ripped the wrapping off to reveal an ornate picture frame in the shape of a heart. It was what was in the frame itself that made her laugh though, a photo of herself, Naruto, Charlie, and Vaggie, all four of them dressed in cheesy onesie animal pajamas, a cat, fox, husky, and wolf respectively. The first three looked like they were having the time of their life whilst the latter looked blandly resigned to her fate. "Oh man, I can't believe it, I thought Vaggie deleted all the pictures from that night."
"Wait what?" Said sinner asked with a raised brow, leaning up from her seat to get a peek, before groaning as her cheeks turned red when she saw the picture. "Satan dammit Charlie, you told me you deleted that."
"I did… after it was already backed up on my Smog account," The blonde princess admitted sheepishly, making her girlfriend palm her face, before pulling out her Hellphone and sidling up to Kushina. "Speaking of pics, say Merry Christmas!"
""Merry Christmas/Merry Bitchmas.""
*Flash*
A picture is seen of Kushina, Charlie, and Naruto smiling while a grumpy Loona pushed Charlie's chest out of her face.
*Flash*
Naruto was smiling happily as he and Loona ripped the wrapping off a large box for a baby play seat.
*Flash*
Kushina held Loona by the waist as Lilith tried, and failed, to pull the wrapping the little Hellhound had been trying to eat out of her mouth.
*Flash*
Vaggie had an unamused look on her face as she held up a set of very sexy Christmas themed lingerie. Meanwhile Kushina was doubled over laughing and a red-faced Charlie was covering Naruto and Loona's eyes.
*Flash*
An amused Lilith rolled her eyes while she held up a classic 'Hell's Greatest Grandmother' coffee cup with a bow on top in one hand and Naruto in her free arm. The baby was staring straight at the mug curiously, one of his little hands trying to grasp for it despite it being far out of his reach.
*Flash*
Vaggie had an exasperated smile on her lips as Charlie lifted her off her feet in a hug, the pair of them dressed in new festive sweaters.
Off to the side, Lilith was struggling to fit a squirming Loona into her own sweater while an already sweater clad Naruto stared at the camera with his head tilted in confusion.
*Flash*
Kushina had both Loona and Naruto on her lap, the former still grumpy as she chewed on the sleeve of her sweater and the latter waving around a brand-new imp themed baby rattle.
*Flash*
Everyone was gathered around a large table that was loaded to the brim with various different foods and drinks. Lilith was guiding some imp servants on where to put a massive turkey while Loona was staring at said turkey with drool pouring from her lips.
Meanwhile, Charlie was setting Naruto into a highchair while Kushina was prepping a bottle of breast milk for him. And lastly Vaggie was right in front of the camera fiddling with something that couldn't be seen.
*Flash*
Everyone was turned to see Loona jumping onto the turkey, her jaw already buried into the tender flesh.
*Flash*
Kushina was once more laughing on the floor as Lilith and Charlie pulled Loona off the half-eaten turkey. The little Hellpup's face was covered in stuffing and half chewed meat as she hugged her comically bloated stomach.
*Flash*
All of them were now gathered in front of a fireplace, drinking hot coco or eggnog from large festive themed cups.
*Flash*
Loona had a light blush on her face that she tried to hide with her mug as a drowsy Naruto clung to her tail.
*Flash*
Vaggie had a confused look on her face as Charlie grabbed her arm for some reason.
*Flash*
Her look turned to amusement when she and Charlie looked up to see a bushel of mistletoe hanging above them.
*Flash*
The two were leaned in real close, their lips puckered, and eyes closed.
*Flash*
Both of them had surprised looks on their faces as they opened their eyes to find they were kissing Naruto's cheeks instead of each-other. The reason for this being Lilith, who was holding the baby up between them with her lips curled into a mischievous smile.
-Later-
Kushina had a smile on her lips as she tucked Naruto into bed, gently rubbing the top of his head as she made sure everything was nice and secure.
"Goodnight my little maelstrom." She whispered once she was done, giving the slumbering infant one last kiss on the forehead before turning to leave.
However, instead of heading for the door though, the foxified redhead headed for the far corner of the room where Loona was sitting. The wolf girl had just finished pulling off her sweater, or at least what was left of it, and tossed to the side before flopping onto a large plush dog bed.
Kushina couldn't help but frown a little at that since, while it was possibly the most luxurious looking dog bed she'd ever seen, it was still a dog bed. She understood that by all means Loona was her son's 'pet' and personal bodyguard, hence why she agreed that she could share a room with him, but it just didn't sit right with her to just act like the poor girl was an actual dog.
Thankfully, Lilith had agreed to get her a real bed to sleep on soon; but it'd take a couple of days at the least.
Putting these thoughts aside for the time being, Kushina knelt beside Loona and offered a supportive smile. "How ya doing, sweetie? All settled in okay?"
"Yeeeeesss ma'am." She mumbled with a sleepy nod, drawing out the 'yes' as she yawned deeply and rubbed one of her eyes.
"That's good," Grabbing the blanket, Kushina laid it over Loona as the tired little hellhound buried her face into a pillow. After making sure that she was tucked in nice and comfy too, the human turned hellfox gently combed her fingers through the pup's hair to get some turkey bits still stuck in the locks. "But if you need anything don't be afraid to ask me, okay? I'll be just in the other room."
"Yef maff." Was the muffled reply she got as Loona nodded her head against the pillow.
"Alright, sleep tight Loona." Kushina said, ruffling the girl's hair again as she was getting back up and started heading for her own bed in the conjoined room. Stopping at the doorway, she looked back one more time to make sure everything was alright before turning off the lights and closing the door.
…
…
"Hm…?" One of Loona's eyes cracked open tiredly when she felt a weight shifting on her bed. Assuming it was Kushina again at first, the Hellpup grumbled to herself as she lifted her head to tell the nice lady she was fine for the umpteenth time.
However, as her vision came back into focus, she was surprised to not see the redheaded fox at all, or anyone else for that matter. Blinking in confusion, her head swiveled back and forth across the darkened room, the only light being the soft red glow of the moon shining through the windows, to find that there was not a soul to be found.
But then Loona felt the weight move again along with something pressing against her side, causing her to look down this time and see… "Owner?"
Indeed, little Naru was laid out on the dog bed right beside her somehow, hugging onto her waist as he nuzzled against her side.
'How is he… he was in… huh?' One could practically see the question marks floating around the Hellpup's head as her gaze went from the infant snuggling her to his crib all the way on the other side of the room and back again. She couldn't see anyone else, nor did she smell any new scents, so as far as she could tell nobody else had come in the room since the nice lady left. However, that was impossible, there had to have been someone, it's not like the baby crawled out of his crib, across the floor, and into her bed all by himself.
…Right?
"…Fuck it." Loona grumbled to herself as she laid back down, wrapping Naruto up in a hug as she went back to sleep. She was too tired to care how it happened, she could worry about it in the morning.
Had she stayed awake just a few seconds longer though, she might have seen the Hellphone peek in through the doorway to snap a picture with a soft click.
-End Chapter-
Pain: Aww… What a lovely Xmas chapter! Happy Holidays to everyone! *hands Kit a present* This is for you, bro. Got you those matching statuettes you wanted.
Kit: Thanks! *Hands an envelope to Pain* And I got those photos of your new favorite poke gal and a certain owl.
Pain: Really?! *Peeks inside envelope… before his face turns red and he falls over with steam rising from his head* …perfection…
Kit: Well he's gonna be out of it for a while *Shakes head* I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, happy holidays, and have a Merry Christmas