Demon Hunters

It was dark, but not cold, as one might suspect. Naruto felt that he was laying on a hard, level surface. When he tried to move his hands he found them to be bound tightly to the edges of the surface he lay on.

He tried to remember what had happened before, well, this. The last thing Naruto remembered was being at the park. That was it; he had been at the park, and then he had sensed an aura, but the aura didn’t have a ki. Naruto vaguely remembered a conversation with the self-proclaimed demon, but the specifics were sketchy. It didn’t matter, his plan had worked; he had gotten the demon to take him to his lair. But somewhere his plans had become a little skewed; he could have sworn that his initial plans didn’t include him bound and captive in the demon’s lair. Finally, daring to open his eyes, Naruto took in an array of colors.

Well, that’s not something I was expecting, thought Naruto.

The ceiling was the first thing Naruto noticed; it was bright orange and had flecks of red smattered across it in interesting patterns. When Naruto rolled his head to the right, he noticed the wall was a bright, puke green color. Slowly turning his head to the other wall on his left, he saw a blue wall covered in yellow painted stars

Finding it all very un-demon like Naruto decided it’d be better not to look at the wall to his left.

Then a voice, coming from down by his feet, alerted him to someone’s presence.

“Glad to see you’re up, Kit,” the demon cooed.

Naruto was rendered speechless. The demon before him was beautiful. It had long, fiery red hair, and a slender frame, and the most beautiful amber eyes Naruto had ever seen. Upon closer inspection Naruto noticed that the demon had tails; they swished back and forth behind it as it sat watching Naruto take in its appearance.

“Who are you? Where am I? What are you going to do to me?” Naruto couldn’t hold to one question without another popping into his head.

Deciding it would be a lot less painful for his brain; Naruto left those questions out there and didn’t ask any more. The beautiful demon laughed.

“I guess I will answer your questions. To the first; I am Kyuubi no Kitsune the nine-tailed fox demon,” announced Kyuubi, almost gleefully.

Kyuubi no Kitsune? But Naruto could have sworn that that was the demon of legend; the kind grown-ups told to kids before they went to sleep. If he remembered correctly, the Kyuubi had a nickname as well; the village destroyer. It was said that back in the old times, the legendary demon wreaked havoc on many unsuspecting villages; leveling them in seconds and then consuming the bodies of the now-homeless people. Naruto felt a twinge of worry overtake him. After all, he was strapped to a slab with the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune hovering over him.

“To the second;” Kyuubi continued, “You are in my den, safely and conveniently located underneath your apartment complex.”

This disturbed Naruto a little. How was it possible that this demon could have been that close, and neither he or Haku sensed its aura? There was something seriously wrong with that.

“Well, Kit, I’m gonna have to dispose of you now,” said Kyuubi, interrupting Naruto’s train of thought.

“What?” Naruto exclaimed, really hoping that this was some weird nightmare that he would wake up from soon.

Kyuubi just smiled deviously, edging away from Naruto’s feet towards his abdomen. This was not good; Naruto gulped.

…

“Zabuza,” Haku called.

Zabuza had been leaning up against a wall, waiting patiently for Haku. When he heard his name being called, he pushed off the wall and walked over to meet his current infatuation.

“Hey, Haku. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice,” said Zabuza putting his arm around Haku’s shoulders.

“It’s fine,” Haku said softly.

The demon hunter was unused to physical contact. Growing up at the Academy, Haku had been alone. There was no one that he could run to for comfort; if he injured himself while training it was expected that he would take care of himself. He had spent the better part of his childhood alone; his only purpose was to become stronger. Emotions and feelings would only hinder his progress. Or so he’d thought, anyway.

Naruto’s appearance at the Academy soon changed Haku’s way of thinking. The blond, who had spent most of his childhood outside of the Academy, was exceedingly different than any of the demon hunters that grew up within the walls of the Academy. Naruto had been exposed to love and touch; these things were an essential part of his being.

When Tsunade had first assigned Naruto to him as his partner-in-training, Haku had been resentful. He scoffed at the way Naruto was so emotional; he would lash out when he was angry, he would cry when he was sad, and he would laugh boisterously if he found something humorous. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Haku soon found himself drawn to the lively blond and his odd displays of emotion. In the months after Naruto’s appearance, Haku found himself changing – not drastically, but he was now okay with small amounts of physical contact, and he began to express what he was feeling. Though, not to the extent that Naruto did, of course.

Zabuza smiled at Haku, his arm still around the brunette’s shoulder. Haku looked up at Zabuza and he felt many things at once, but at the forefront of his emotions was happiness, and so he returned the smile, brightly.

Zabuza had been with many people before, but he had never felt anything even remotely close to what he was feeling with Haku. There was something so familiar about the boy, and every time he thought of him his chest would constrict, and he found it hard to breathe. These feelings were completely foreign to Zabuza, and he realized that he had no idea how to act around the brunette. Under normal circumstances, he would simply sweet-talk the boy into his bed and be done with him. But that thought didn’t feel right to him. Being with Haku, like this; that felt right. And, for now, Zabuza wasn’t going to fight those feelings.

…

“What are you doing?” Naruto yelled, his voice relaying the panic he felt.

Kyuubi just smirked, and continued to paint some strange design on Naruto’s stomach, right around his navel.

“Just shut up, Kit. This’ll be over in a minute,” said the demon, as she put the finishing touches on the design.

Naruto could only imagine all the gruesome ways he was about to die. This was not how the blond had envisioned himself dying. He’d always been under the impression that he would simply die of old age (being invincible and all). He supposed that was too much to ask considering what he did for a living. Naruto sighed in irritation. He didn’t want to have to think of his impending demise too much longer – it was liable to drive him insane; which was really a much less pressing matter.

“Okay Kit, are you ready?” not waiting for a response, Kyuubi continued cheerfully, “This might be painful, but bare with it.”

“Let’s just get it over with,” groaned Naruto, bracing himself for immense pain.

There was a bright flash of light as Kyuubi began to chant an incantation, the seal – Naruto now realized – that Kyuubi had made on his stomach began to sear with pain. Naruto cringed, clenching his teeth at the unwanted pain. As Kyuubi continued to chant, the seal on Naruto’s stomach began to burn intensely. Naruto was sure that his insides were being ripped out through his navel. Naruto was on the verge of blacking out from the pain, and then it stopped.

Naruto was breathing harshly now; he could feel the pain slowly easing away but the seal tingled. The chanting had stopped. Naruto was about to ask the demon if she was going to continue to torture him, when Naruto heard something that disturbed him.

“Hm… I made it,” Kyuubi said.

But it wasn’t Kyuubi speaking that disturbed Naruto; it was the fact that those words seemed to be coming from inside his head. Opening his eyes, Naruto found no traces of the demon in the room. Shit.

“Kyuubi?” Naruto asked cautiously.

“Yes, Kit?” Kyuubi answered innocently.

“I hate to ask, but why does it sound like you’re in my head?” asked Naruto.

“Because I am,” Kyuubi replied.

“Okay. That makes perfect--What?”

Kyuubi giggled at the blonde’s reaction.

“How the hell did you get in there? More importantly how do I get you out? Wait! Why are you in there in the first place?” Naruto questioned; head swimming with unanswered questions.

“Well first off, the incantation coupled with the seal, granted me access to your body - that’s how I got in. Secondly you can’t get me out, even if you wanted to; you’re stuck with me now, Kit. And thirdly I’m in here because I want, and need to be.”

“I’m not sure I follow. Why do you need to be in my body?”

“Because mine was dying. You came along; it was merely convenient. Besides, who’d think to look for a demon in a demon hunter?” stated Kyuubi, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Naruto remained quiet as he digested that bit of information for a moment, and then noticed that the ties binding him to the slab were gone. Sitting up carefully he inspected his body. There were no physical signs of his new guest, except the new tattoo he was sporting around his navel.

“Oh dear god. Please tell me that comes off,” Naruto pleaded, poking at the seal around his navel.

“Afraid not. Sorry Kit,” Kyuubi laughed.

“Great,” Naruto grumbled rubbing his sore arms, “Wait a minute, Kyuubi. What happened to you killing me?”

“When did I ever say I’d kill you? Oh! You mean when I said I’d dispose of you? Yeah, that was just a joke. A bit of demon humor, if you will,” Kyuubi laughed.

Naruto cradled his face in his hand and groaned: “This can’t be happening. This demon’s gonna be the death of me.”

Naruto was unable to see it, but the demon’s face turned serious as she heard the blonde’s words. She sincerely hoped that that would not be the case; for the sake of herself, as well as her new host.

…

“Sasuke, I have a mission for you.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the dark-haired boy appeared before the one who had summoned him.

“What is it that you require of me?” the young raven-haired boy asked tonelessly.

“There is a boy I need you to get close to. He has recently acquired a power that does not belong to him. I want that power.”

“Hn,” Sasuke intoned placidly.

“You will await further instructions, but until then you are to get as close to the target as you can, using whatever means necessary. He has to trust you. Until then, we can’t make our move.”

“Fine, what’s my target’s name?”

“His name is--”

…

“Naruto, I’m home,” Haku yelled excitedly.

There was no response.

“Naruto?” Haku tried again.

After checking the bedroom and living room, Haku deduced that he must still be at the park. Figuring that there wasn’t anything else to do, Haku began to prepare dinner; he had a feeling the blond would be hungry upon his return.

…

“Okay, so let me get this straight. I’m not allowed to tell anyone that you’re inside me?”

That probably wouldn’t be too hard; he didn’t exactly feel like going global with the fact that he now shared his body with a demon. His pride as a demon hunter was wounded; not only was he caught by a demon, but he now housed it as well.

“That’s correct,” Kyuubi answered.

“Not even, Haku?” Naruto asked.

“Who’s Haku?”

“Haku’s my partner and best friend.”

Kyuubi seemed to think about this for a moment.

“You can’t tell him.”

“Why?” Naruto asked, irritated.

“Because, Kit, Your friend--”

“Haku,” Naruto interrupted.

“Haku,” Kyuubi started again, gritting her teeth, “is a demon hunter, right?”

“Yes,” Naruto said cautiously, not sure where Kyuubi was going with this.

Kyuubi sighed.

“Put two and two together! I am a demon, and you are my host, which means that part of you is now demon. Your friend is a demon hunter; therefore obligated to slay any demon he finds – you can stop me anytime if I’ve made a false statement. Nothing? Good. Now, don’t worry about other demon hunters coming after you, my aura has no ki, so, to them you will appear to be a human with two auras.”

“Two auras; like the kind you find in people with split personalities, right?”

“Right,” Kyuubi affirmed, smiling.

“Hey, Kyuubi,” Naruto asked.

“Yes?”

“You won’t try and take over my body will you?”

There was a slight pause on Kyuubi’s part.

“No, I promise. That’s the one thing I will not do.”

“Okay,” Naruto said, satisfied with Kyuubi’s answer.

It wasn’t that Naruto was freaking out; he was. Inside, his thoughts were as turbulent as the waters of the sea in a storm. He continually replayed the events of the past few hours in his mind. He wondered if he had made some rookie mistake, or if there had been a moment when he could have avoided the fate that he now had to live with. His mind ran in circles, back peddling every now and again, but the answer remained the same: this situation had been out of his control. Naruto felt a dull throbbing begin behind his eyes; the beginnings of a headache. He supposed that this was just his luck. Naruto swore that he had been born unlucky – like it was a chronic illness that he just couldn’t shake over the years. First his parents, and now this.

It was a quiet walk from Kyuubi’s lair to the front door of Naruto’s apartment, but the silence wasn’t at all unpleasant.

“Haku, are you home?” the blonde boy asked as he opened the door.

“Yeah, Naruto. I’m in the kitchen,” Haku replied.

After taking off his shoes, Naruto made his way down the hall towards the kitchen.

“It smells good, Haku,” Naruto commented, opening the refrigerator to get a soda.

“Thanks, Naru; go ahead and sit on the couch. I’ll call you when the food’s ready,” Haku said.

The brunette was scurrying around the kitchen in a floral apron; his hair tied back into a high ponytail. It was times like these that Haku reminded Naruto of a girl.

“Did you find anything interesting in the park?” the brunette asked casually.


-----TBC-----
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