Chapter 17 out. That's an achievement. To me. :3 So...thank you once again for the faves/follows/reviews! I will keep on saying this as long as it exists~ You guys are AwEsOmE

Xendrax: That was unexpected~ And I do think that Kurama would be loathe to raise false hopes or give incorrect information. I think that he's the sort of character that wouldn't lie. And don't worry - everyone wants Kurama as their sensei ;)

fangirldisaster: Well, I updated :D As for the question, that is an excellent deduction, and roughly accurate. We shall see in the chapter, shan't we?

AUselessMicrofluff: Here's your update! And thank you very much for the compliment! Creepy scenes are my speciality.

Naruto is about to realize just what he's done. Or is he...? It seems as though there's more than one person that knows it all...but what will that one person tell him? Worse yet - what if that one person is him? Wait...what?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own this plot. Giving me right to do as I wish after disclaiming rights to the characters!

That I May Protect

Chapter 17: What Dwelleth Within

Naruto blinked as he was welcomed in a familiar world. A world of pure blackness. He forced his muscles to relax, and shook his head slowly from side to side, before sitting up, and looking around him. He frowned. As expected, he could see nothing.

What had he just gone and done, exactly? He couldn't understand it, although he had done it. That is...whatever it was. He sighed, and pushed himself to his feet – only to find that he couldn't. He winced at the movement, and unintentionally, a cry of pain passed his lips.

He instinctively slapped a hand over his mouth at the noise as if he had just made a deadly mistake, but ended up flinching at the pain that movement induced as well. Sighing, he chose to stay put for the time being, as movement didn't seem to be helping him in his situation.

His eyes trailed around the darkness. Where was he, anyway? The last thing he could remember was pressing his palm to that image he had drawn on the wall...come to think of it, why did he draw that anyway? It was...just instinct, he supposed, but it was doubtless unsettling.

Oh...Kurama had seen him too, hadn't he? Naruto could vaguely sense the demon lord's presence in the room through the haze in his mind. He blinked. And Deidara had been there too, hadn't he? Naruto sighed. He had a feeling he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

The things was, he couldn't explain it. He hadn't the slightest idea where he was in the first place, nor why he was here. He had a small notion of how he had gotten here, but that was it. He didn't even know what here was.

With a small sigh, he closed his eyes, and waited for the initial shock to fade off. He had been a professional assassin for five years. He knew how to deal with difficult situations. The best way to deal with this was to stay calm...

He drew in a soft breath, before opening his eyes and exhaling. Slowly, he slid onto his knees before pushing himself up. He looked down at himself, only to discover that all his clothing was strained with blood.

He glanced at his wrist, to see that it had not yet healed over, but was no longer bleeding. Instead, all that shone visibly was glistening red flesh. He winced at the sight. Had he really done that to himself?...and...did that mean the blood staining his clothing was his?

He blanched slightly at the thought. It had been a long time ever since he'd shed this much of his own blood; it was unnerving to think that the one who would have been the cause of it this time around was none other than he himself.

He turned around slowly to see if he could penetrate the darkness. His purple eyes narrowed, and their pupils attenuated to slits. He frowned, and began to walk, wincing at first, but then growing accustomed to the feeling. It hadn't dispersed permanently, but he could tolerate it.

He lowered his head slightly, glancing at the ground. It was much like the rest of the place. He wasn't walking on ground – he was walking on empty space. Much like his surroundings. He was surrounded completely by nothing but vacant black.

What was this supposed to mean? There had to be a meaning behind this, otherwise he wouldn't be here in the first place. Right? He just wished that someone would tell him where 'here' was. He normally didn't like lowering his own confidence, but he was confused.

With a small sigh, he began to walk forward...if he was walking forward at all. At this rate, he was losing all sense of perceptibility. For all he knew, he could be walking upside-down and wouldn't be aware of it! He groaned, and his palm flew to his forehead. Why was he even bothered about what direction he was walking in in the first place anyway?

He blinked as he felt a warmth near his hand. He pulled ot away, and realized that the warmth was coming from his Hakaigan. He closed his eyes once more. The warmth was beginning to spread through his body, causing his muscles to instinctively relax.

His lips curved up into a small smile as his eyes briefly cracked open, his gaze fixed on whatever it was he was standing on. He couldn't help but feel a reassurance within him. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why, but it made him feel as if this was where he was meant to be at the moment – wherever 'this' was.

He opened his eyes fully, and stared around in the darkness. Surely he couldn't have been sent here for merely the sake of it. There had to be something behind all this. He looked around once more, before closing his eyes once again, and drawing in a quiet breath.

"If anyone here wishes to speak to me, then speak now or I will take my leave...somehow." To be honest, he hadn't the slightest idea of how he could get out of this place, but he wasn't about to waste his time staying here either. He had a meeting with the Akatsuki tomorrow that he needed to go to.

He could hear laughter that sounded almost warm and in a way familiar, but he could not pinpoint where it was coming from. He slowly turned, but saw nothing behind him, nor around him. He frowned. Did whoever was behind this simply intend to laugh the entire time?

He blinked as the blackness around him began to melt away, falling to his feet like peeling rice paper or something similar. He blinked as the veritable darkness was replaced with something he would have never thought would be in a place like this.

He frowned. Something still wasn't right. He glanced around at the ethereal scene around him. He seemed to be in some sort of exquisite garden pavilion fashioned from white marble. Or at least it seemed like white marble...It was rather wide – almost the size of the Gedo Statue cave – and just as tall.

Sunlight flowed in through the roof of the pavilion, carved elaborately by someone with immense skill, and hit the floor of the pavilion casting intricate shadows on the ground. Naruto almost couldn't believe this was what had been hiding behind all that black.

His took in his surroundings, and would definitely be lying if he didn't admit it was one of the most beautiful sights he'd ever set his eyes on. He wasn't a botanist like Ino or anything, but he was sure not even the Yamanaka herself would be able to name all the flowers gathered in this place.

There were some he himself had never seen before. He could almost count them as otherworldly. He'd travelled across the shinobi world while he trained, and had seen his share of the vegetation, but sitting here, he felt as though he hadn't seen half of what was here. More than that, even.

He felt almost unworthy to have the privilege of seeing such a beautiful place, much less stand within it. It was no place for he, who had shed so much blood with his own hands, and had taken more lives than anyone would ever care to count.

"Lift up your head, Naruto-kun," the voice called once again. It held that same warmth that came from the laughter. Naruto compulsively did has he was told, and his eyes widened. He blinked, and lowered his head, shaking it slowly, before looking up once more to see.

Pillars were supporting the entire pavilion, but closest to the one parallel from him, was a sort of wall. It was fashioned from the same white marble and was as tall as...Naruto could only describe it as being about a head taller than Kurama.

But that wasn't the least of his concerns – he could see walls anywhere. What did catch his attention, was the person that was seemingly tied to the wall with what seemed like extremely flexible and thorny rose branches.

He blinked. He didn't know what exactly to make of this. The person who had dragged him into this was some person who was tied to a marble wall with roses? He almost sweatdropped. Once he phrased it like that in his mind, it seemed rather foolish.

Indeed, before him was a rather pale man about his age. The branches that secured him to the wall suspended his arms outstretched to either side of him, and his legs together in a standing position. The thorns had already cut into his skin if the trails of red spoke of anything.

His face seemed strangely similar, and his long hair was something that could only be described as platinum white. It was straight, but in no way limp. As it floated about him like feathery wisps. It fell to almost his knees in length.

What caught Naruto the most, however, were the colour of his eyes, framed by long white lashes. That warm amber seemed so familiar...it was deep and mellow, but he could have sworn he'd seen them somewhere else before...he bit his lip.

"Have you figured it out yet, Naruto-kun?" the man questioned once again with a smile. Naruto noted that his voice was a rich, resonant tenor that held a familiar since of regal authority, and yet, at the same time sounded kind.

He took in the rest of the man's appearance. He leaned more to the slender side, yet didn't seem weak despite the fact that he was currently held fast by those roses. He was dressed in a white kimono embroidered in yet another familiar gold thread.

Naruto noted that the gold thread created foxes on his white attire, and the kimono was held together with a once again familiar gold obi. His eyes narrowed. It couldn't be...could it? It...just wasn't possible. Was it?

His eyes drifted back to the man's face, and he blinked as he caught the eight pointed star, which had before been covered by his bangs, on the man's forehead. It too was a warm gold in colour, and stretched from his hairline to a point directly in between his eyes.

Naruto noted that these marks were also on his hands, and now that he bothered to observe, his bare feet as well. There was something about this man that seemed awfully familiar, and Naruto had a feeling he knew what it was. He just wasn't sure whether he should believe it or not.

"...are you...?" The man smiled at him once more, and Naruto blinked.

"Ah...you have pieced the clues together, I presume? I commend you – now do you choose to believe it, or deny it?" the man questioned. Naruto shook his head rapidly from side to side, before pausing, his eyes dropping to the ground.

"I...I don't understand...what's your name? Why am I here? Where is here? Why are you here like this? Why are you even here in the first place?" he blurted out, taking a step closer to the man, who seemed to be light itself personified.

"Stop." Naruto, who was about to take another step forward, paused and set his foot back down. It was then that he took true notice of his bloody attire, and immediately felt ashamed for having to approach such a person like this. He glanced over at said person.

"I...I apologize." There was that smile again. Naruto was beginning to wonder how a person could smile so much when in that situation anyway. He was still bleeding, for goodness sake! Wasn't he worried about himself?

"There is no need. I understand that you have many questions. I wish I could provide something more comfortable for you, but..." He glanced forlornly at his suspended arms and body, before shaking his head, his smile still on his face. "As you can see, I am in no state to do so."

"Let me help you!" Naruto immediately offered, making to move forward. The sharp glance of those amber eyes stopped him in his tracks, before softening at him.

"I can understand your heart, Naruto-kun, but I'm afraid I cannot allow you to do that. That wouldn't do at all. Please bear with me – I will try to answer your questions as well as I can." He closed his eyes in another smile. "As you can see, there is no need to fear me, so you may ask whatever you wish. One at a time." Naruto frowned, and his gaze lowered.

"I know this seems imprudent of me, but how old are you anyway?" he questioned. The man chuckled, the movement causing the thorns to scrape his moon-pale skin, causing contrasting red to spill over him.

"I am the same age as you exactly, Naruto-kun. Born at the exactly same moment as you were. I am precisely how old you are." Naruto glanced up at him. Same age he may be, but he seemed older than that. Perhaps it was his maturity level. As a matter of fact...

"Do you have any family?" Naruto almost winced as the question passed his lips. It was a painful question for him, so if the man was anything like him, it would be painful to answer as well.

"As a matter of fact, I do," the white-haired man replied easily. He did, however, refuse to elaborate further on what he could possibly mean. Naruto nodded slowly before another thought came to him. Another question he probably should have asked first.

"How do you know me?" The smile disappeared into a more serious expression on the man's face. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he waited for a reply. It seemed as though the man was hesitant to answer this question. Finally, he heard a sigh.

"I will answer that...later. Ask whatever else you wish to know first," he responded. Naruto sighed. He should have known from the hesitation that something like this would occur. He nodded anyway.

"Where am I?" he questioned. The man's lips curved up into that now familiar smile. For some reason, all those smiles seemed warm and fond – like this man was a close family member or something similar.

Family...that reminded Naruto of his own family, not related in any way, but still family. He had to finish this soon, or before he'd know it, morning would come and he'd still be here. He was curious about this place and this person, but he had his own duties to attend to.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, you are within the depths of your own self," he stated. "From this, I can see we have both come of age." Naruto blinked. What?

"Come...of...age..?" he questioned. The man nodded his head slightly. Naruto supposed he would have done more, but those thorns really did look painful. Naruto would have to ask why he was trapped like that anyway, and why he couldn't receive help.

"Indeed. We are both old enough to deal with this, so at the moment, we are," he replied. Naruto blinked slowly. This was only growing more disorienting.

"What is...'this?" he asked. The pale man raised his gaze to the roof of the pavilion in thought.

"Ah. I believe it is called the Rite of Acceptance," he responded. Before Naruto could speak, he cut in. "You want to know what the Rite of Acceptance is, I know," he stated. "It is an important ritual in any demon's life." Naruto opened his mouth almost immediately after the statement had been uttered.

"But I'm not a demon!" The man closed his eyes briefly, pale lashes fluttering.

"I am."

Naruto tensed. Now that he noticed, the man's eyes seemed even more similar to someone else's...his pupils were not round like a human's, but instead narrow – almost slits.

"Then why am I pulled into your rite?" he questioned softly. The man tugged his arm forward, causing the thorns to dig into him, and cut his skin further. Naruto noted that although he was bleeding slightly in more than one place, there were no scars marring his skin.

"Because, Naruto-kun..." he paused, before shaking his head slowly to himself. "Ah...forgive me. I've been discourteous. I never introduced myself, did I?" he questioned. Naruto slowly shook his head, feeling like he should give a response anyway to the rhetorical question.

The man chuckled softly. "My apologies. Allow me to introduce myself, although I cannot do so properly because of obvious reasons..." he tugged slightly at his restraints again. Naruto was beginning to wonder if that hurt at all. "My name is Shigure."

"Shigure..." Naruto couldn't help but feel that the name the man had been given stretched deeper than simply appearance. It signified his emotions – his inner self. A slight smile curved onto Naruto's lips at the thought. As a matter of fact, the name suited him perfectly.

"There's more to anyone than ever meets the eye, both you and I know that," the man – Shigure, stated, after a short glance at him. Naruto nodded slowly, before glancing around.

"Why are you here within the depths of me, then?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that just a little unsettling?"

"Not at all. For you, perhaps. For me, no," Shigure responded, his face growing serious. "You see, I am..." he drifted off. Naruto nodded for him to go on, a vaguely curious expression on his face directed at the man. "Wait a moment."

"For what?" Naruto asked. Shigure shook his head, his eyes downcast.

"Perhaps first I should explain this before I explain who and what I am," he stated. Naruto frowned.

"If you think that's the best way to take this, then I have no complaints," he stated. Shigure nodded slowly.

"Indeed. Now to begin. The Rite of Acceptance is what one can call a ritual of balance, for one to truly be one with oneself." He chuckled. "When worded like that, it may be rather confusing, I understand, but allow me to explain.

"The Rite of Acceptance is an important ceremony, you could say, in a demon's life. During this, it is possible that the participants of the ritual could die, in forewarning." Naruto frowned.

"Wait-"

"Hold the questions for now," Shigure broke in before he could continue. Naruto frowned. Shigure really did remind him of someone else, and he was sure of it now. "I can assure you that the majority have not died throughout this ritual.

"Anyway, to continue, the difference between a demon and a human is that a human's soul is forced and set in unconsciousness to the day that person dies. In other words, while the person is alive, their soul is out of commission, and unable to do anything, but when they die, their body is out of commission and their soul lives on.

"Demons on the other hand, are fully conscious is both body and soul. This is actually a rather delicate affair, as the body is conventionally the one making all the decisions and other things without being aware of the soul's desires. When this happens, the soul grows dissatisfied and restless within the body, and tends to attempt to take over the body. It is only natural.

"A certain age is when this event is accounted to happen. Instinct has been born into all demons, even if it has never been spoken of to them, to perform this rite in order to either force their soul into submission or make peace with them and develop an agreement.

"This has, for many years, been dubbed as the Rite of Acceptance. Conventionally, all demons perform a certain ritual out of their own instinct before falling unconscious in the real world. Their conscious then travels to the deepest recesses of themselves where they are to meet their souls.

"Usually, there is some form of combat between the body and the soul if both sides are disagreeable. If the body wins, then the soul is forced into submission and will remain in a state of subconsciousness within the body. If the soul wins, it will possess the body. Souls that do this are normally evil, and must be obliterated immediately, as distressing as it may be.

"If not combat, then the soul and the body will merely speak with each other to form a sort of agreement with each other. This is normally the safest form of dealing with the ceremony, and will most likely be the safest as well.

"You see, I say ritual of balance in this case, because none of us are inclined to fight each other. We maintain a balance in each other, rather than fighting for the dominance of one or the other, or even forming a contract that may cause the dominance of one anyway.

"In other words, since you are here merely by normalcy and not for battle nor diplomatic speaking, this is merely for you to meet me and I you as well as for us to become acquainted with each other. This is another difference between demon and human.

"A human is destined to never meet its soul while it is alive. It is only when the human is dead that the soul begins to move. A demon on the other hand, can easily be categorized as having a multiple personality, as body and soul are conscious at the same time, and either can be seen at any time depending on how they act.

"A demon's soul will remain unheeded until they are dragged into the Rite of Acceptance. It is only then that the body is aware of the souls existence. But that doesn't mean the soul isn't aware of the body's existence. Because the soul resides within the body, we are able to know you as well as you know yourselves because we are, basically, a part of you.

"In other words, you have undertaken something that is completely normal, so you needn't have any apprehension about being here. As a matter of fact, I've been wanting to meet you for so long now. I wish I can greet you properly, but..." he tugged softly at his restraints. "I can't."

Naruto lowered his eyes and frowned. There were plenty of things that had been explained to him, but there were still many that he didn't understand. He wasn't sure whether he should ask or not, as he wasn't sure he wanted to know, but if he was here to meet Shigure, he might as well, he supposed...

"There's something I don't understand," he stated. Shigure hummed in acknowledgement, urging him to go on. "If you are me, then aren't you supposed to look similar to me or something? Aren't you my soul?" he questioned. It was one of the many he wanted to ask, but he thought it would be a decent start.

"I never said I was you, Naruto-kun. I merely said that I was a part of you." Shigure sighed, and hung his head slightly, a bitter smile curving onto the corners of his lips. Naruto's frown deepened. This was only growing more confusing.

"But aren't you my soul? If I'm supposedly meeting my soul in this place..." He cast another glance around at his ethereal surroundings.

"Indeed I am," the pale man replied simply. Naruto's brow furrowed. He shook his head slowly, before stepping closer to the restrained man that was supposedly his own soul but looked, acted, and sounded nothing like him.

"But...why am I partaking in a demon ritual if I'm a human?" he questioned. Shigure lifted his head and stared directly into Naruto's still purple eyes with his own amber before sighing.

"I told you before. You may not be a demon, but I am." Naruto blinked.

"But...how can my soul be a demon if I'm a human?" he questioned. Shigure stared at him. "Does this mean I've been a demon this entire time? My parents were human, not demon!" He shook his head rapidly to clear his mind.

This information was only serving to confuse him further. He knew for a fact that his parents were Uzumki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. Had not Kurama said so himself? Never before had the demon fox lied to him, and he knew that Kurama wasn't about to stoop that low any time soon either.

He looked at Shigure, hoping that he would receive an answer, but all he saw was a sad smile and forlorn eyes. He noted that Shigure's gaze was not upon his face, but upon his forehead. He could sense nostalgia rolling off in waves from the demon.

"So it would have been me..." the pale demon murmured softly. "I never knew...I'm honoured." Naruto wondered what on earth the man was murmuring about. The situation was beginning to irk him, because this man seemed to know the inside out of this entire situation, while he knew next to nothing.

"Please tell me everything," he stated. "Who you are, what you are, what you are doing inside of me, how you got inside of me, why you are inside of me – please tell me everything. You are, after all a part of me, and know everything about me. It's only fair if I am the same with you."

Shigure dipped his head in acknowledgement, thorns scraping his collarbone at the movement. Naruto stepped closer to the bleeding demon, and held up a hand, moving it closer, but stopping a few inches away from touching the white garments that clothed him.

"And please stop forcing yourself to move if it will hurt you," he added. "I hope you'll explain why you're restrained like this as well..." he gazed at the structure that held the demon fast, only allowing him loose movement. "I have a feeling that this is not normal in the slightest, am I not right?"

"Indeed." Shigure smiled in assent, but otherwise didn't move. He didn't speak for a small while, but then arched his neck back slightly, his gaze eyeing the blue sky above them, and his long hair swaying as wind blew through the silent pavilion.

The only disruption around the beautiful but at the same time morbid sight due to the fact that an equally beautiful demon was being held to a wall of marble by the thorn-infested vines of white roses that so perfectly matched the colour of his hair and garments. Shigure opened his mouth.

"My name is Shigure. I am the third and youngest of three triplets. My mother's name was Akane, and my father, who I am certain you know very well, is named Kurama."

Oh my, what have I done now. I have no idea. Let's see...I shall confuse Naruto/readers even more before making sense of this. Shall I? Shan't I? Ooooh look~ Chapter 18 next! Reviews are greatly appreciated!