Here's to the Fox

A/N: i know, i know. you're all thinking, "what the fuck has taken her soooooooo long?" and i'm truly sorry. inspiration blew me in different directions. but i think i'm totally back on board with this story, and i see the end in sight. so, to celebrate, i bring you a nice and long naruto POV. you might want to go back to the previous chapter to find out what's going on again.

thank you to all my reviewers, and even those who accosted me about an update outside of AFF, especially Rasengan22. this update is for you.

same tags apply

*special note* look out for the famous quote, only slightly modified for this fic ^.~


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Here's to the Fox: Interlude III
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Naruto didn’t know how long he lay there with Sasuke holding him, but the brunette finally let up enough for him to move. There was someone in the room, had been for quite some time, actually, but the person hadn’t done or said anything as Naruto lay by Sasuke. With the grip gone, Naruto silently got out of the bed and walked to the middle of the room. He stared into the shadows, and when a cloud moved to uncover the moon, his visitor stepped into the pale light.

Naruto recognized the silver-haired ninja from Reihi, Kakashi was his name. He was Sasuke’s sensei, so Naruto had no fear or worry, unless the man was here because of the Kyuubi. Then they’d have problems.

“Can I help you?”

“I can’t believe you’re alive.”

Naruto tensed, eyes darting to Sasuke’s still form. He looked back to the masked man and motioned his head to the window. Within the blink of an eye, both men were outside the Uchiha mansion. Naruto stared at the jounin, taking in the bored tilt of the man’s visible eye and his relaxed hands-in-pockets posture. He either didn’t want to fight Naruto or was seriously underestimating the blonde’s power, even after seeing him in action. Though, if Naruto were being honest, that hadn’t even been a show of a fourth of his power. His shadow clones were such a low level skill at this point it was second nature to call on the jutsu.

“Well, sometimes I can’t believe it either, what with Akatsuki on my tail all the time.” Kakashi’s one eye was looking at him in a way Naruto wasn’t quite used to seeing, though he’d seen it in Sasuke’s gaze every now and then.

“Naruto, you can’t possibly know how happy I am that something of my sensei lives on.”

“Your sensei?”

“Your father, Yondaime.”

Naruto blushed a little, not used to the glowing praise of his father. He hadn’t grown up in Konoha, so the love and respect that the people gave to his father, even in death, was new and kind of embarrassing. Naruto snapped his fingers as a thought suddenly occurred to him.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, whatever happened to Sandaime?”

A vague expression of anger passed over the jounin’s face before he answered, “He was killed by Orochimaru.”

Naruto’s finger came to his chin, and he tapped his foot in thought. “Now where have I heard that name?”

“More importantly, you and Gaara were going to use Sasuke.”

“You heard that, ne?” Kakashi leveled a glare at him. “Now, we weren’t going to use Sasuke. We’d heard that the guy after us had family in Konoha, and we were going to use that guy. Then Tsunade-baa-chan told me that Sasuke’s brother was the man after me. When I found that out, my plans to use the man’s family went out the window. I could never use Sasuke like that.”

“And why is that?”

Naruto started. He hadn’t thought anyone would ask why. He wasn’t quite ready to admit why to anyone, though he would have to eventually. But before he could spit out some sort of reply that would appease the masked man, Naruto felt a strange chakra emanating from behind him, and he turned to take in the quiet Uchiha mansion.

“This isn’t good,” he heard from behind him, and that was all it took to have him sprinting for Sasuke’s room to make sure the raven-haired man was okay. He felt that Kakashi was following him, and the two burst into the Uchiha’s room to see a cloaked figure standing above a writhing Sasuke.

“Kakashi is not alone,” came a deep voice that sounded, to Naruto, just a shade off from the Uchiha’s.

“The one with him doesn’t have a chakra signature.” Naruto wasn’t sure, but this second voice, high-pitched and slightly effeminate, seemed to come from the same source as the first.

“Itachi!” Kakashi cried out, forcing a gasp from Naruto. So this was the man after him? Said man turned to a window, and faster than Naruto would’ve given a human, shinobi or not, credit for, Itachi was flying into the night, Kakashi fast on his heels.

Pained moans brought his attention back to Sasuke, and Naruto ran to the bedside, gazing down at a sweating and hurting Uchiha. Itachi was no longer there, and there was no blood to be seen, so Naruto was quite confused as to why the man before him was still in so much pain. That was when he noticed something black and squiggly running over the pale flesh. The strange anomaly originated from something on the Uchiha’s neck, and as Naruto leaned in for a closer look, Sasuke let out a strangled scream and passed out.

The strange squiggles faded along with the Uchiha’s consciousness, and Naruto was left with a very damp, very out-of-it young man. He had no idea what had just happened, and no idea what to do about it, so he anxiously sat in the chair next to the bed, hoping that Kakashi would come back and with some help.

~*~

“Are you sure you saw black markings covering his body?”

“Hai, Hokage-sama. It seemed as if that was what was causing his pain, and they went away after he fainted.”

Naruto was in Sasuke’s room, still, though now Kakashi and Tsunade were with him. He’d related the strange occurrence to them when asked, and both of them had become very nervous. Apparently, whatever those things were, they were bad news.

It was morning, and the sunlight was pouring into the room from the windows that lined the lavish room. Kakashi had spent all night tracking Itachi, only to come up empty handed. Had he known about the markings, he explained to him, he’d have brought the Hokage sooner.

“So what do those markings mean?”

Tsunade turned a concerned eye his way, as if questioning whether she should tell, but she answered anyway. “It is a curse mark that activates when a certain person’s chakra is nearby.”

“Itachi’s?”

“No, and that’s the confusing part. That mark should stay dormant, as we haven’t had any news of Orochimaru’s whereabouts in years.”

“Hokage-sama, I have a theory.” Naruto and the Hokage both turned their attention to the masked man. “Last night, Itachi spoke to… someone, and that someone answered… from the same body.”

“Gods above…” Tsunade gasped. Naruto caught the grave look in Kakashi’s eye, but he knew better than to say something at the moment. It wasn’t really his business, and if they wanted him to know, they’d tell him. Tsunade looked again at Sasuke’s prone form and moved from the bed. “There’s no way to tell when he’ll wake. Between Tsukiyomi and the curse mark, his mind and body are going to need some time to recuperate. Naruto-kun, please stay here until I can send someone.”

“Sure.” Naruto watched her nod her head, and then she and Kakashi left. So Naruto diligently watched over the Uchiha, who didn’t move an inch, and time ticked by ever slowly. About noon, Naruto felt Gaara enter the Uchiha mansion, and fearing that Sasuke would wake up and hear something he could misconstrue once again, the blonde met Gaara down in the hallway on the first floor.

“The Hokage informed me that Uchiha is unconscious.”

“Yeah, his brother got to him last night.”

“Then there goes our bait.”

“Gaara! I told you we were changing the plan. Besides, now we know that Akatsuki isn’t hesitant about entering the village. They’ll surely attack if it looks as if we’re leaving. Apparently they want both of us and Sasuke.”

“Then why didn’t he take him last night when he had the chance?”

“I think I scared them away.”

“Them?”

“Yeah, it was creepy. There’s was only one body, but there were two voices.”

Gaara looked at him as if he had just claimed he liked to dress in drag and do the hula every Saturday night. But then he brushed it off and stated, “So we’re leaving.”

“No, we’re only going to make it look like we’re leaving.”

“Why would we stay?”

“To fight, of course!”

“And after?”

“After…” Naruto stared blankly before him as he trailed off. He hadn’t really given it much thought, though he had a very strong desire to stay. After what Sasuke had said last night…

Gaara sighed and brought Naruto out of his reverie. “Then I suppose we should inform Tsunade of the new plan.”

“Yeah, we’ll go when my relief gets here.” Gaara nodded and walked away. Naruto figured the redhead had left until he heard the tinkering in the kitchen, which only served to confuse the blonde. It wasn’t that Gaara didn’t eat; it was just…

“Are you going to come get your lunch, Uzumaki?”

A wide grinned stretched his lips. Having a best friend was a very good thing. Almost as good as having a lover…

~*~

It wasn’t a very hard concept to wrap his mind around. He was in love. To tell the truth, he’d been in love the moment he’d seen that beautiful pale skin and those depthless black eyes. Of course, a battle was not the moment that one confessed some sort of romantic attachment.

Though, after that, he’d told himself that the devastatingly handsome man couldn’t possibly like him back. He was a demon, after all. And then said man showed up at his place of employment.

“Of all the blacksmiths, in all the towns, in all the world, he had to walk into mine.” Naruto downed the rest of his orange juice, wishing desperately at that moment that it was something a bit stronger.

Yes, he’d been so very stunned to see the Uchiha that next afternoon. And the days that followed only intensified those fledgling feelings within him, solidifying into something unbreakable when he’d told his past to the Uchiha and Sasuke hadn’t rejected him. And then for Sasuke to have said that!

But Naruto wasn’t one to get his hopes up. He was, first and foremost, a demon. And then he was a male. And then there was the fact that he’d never truly gotten anything he’d ever wanted, and so knew the cruel reality that some things weren’t meant to be had.

A nurse had come the previous night to relieve Naruto from Sasuke-watch, and he and Gaara had gone to tell Tsunade their plan. She hadn’t readily agreed, but faced with the alternative of having Akatsuki sneak in and wreck their havoc in the cover of night, she really hadn’t a choice.

Now it was morning of day two of Sasuke’s unconsciousness, and the nurse had encouraged him to go out and stretch his legs today. Okay, not a problem, but what the hell could he possibly do in a village that scared the living shit out of him? He wouldn’t be able to pass a stall on the main road without wondering if the merchant knew who he really was.

So when he had politely declined, the nurse had made this stern face and told him, in no uncertain terms, that if she came downstairs and found him still in the house… Naruto shivered just recalling her threat. So he’d reluctantly finished his breakfast, and now that he’d stretched his orange juice as far as it could go, he needed to leave.

Dressed in black form fitting slacks and a muscle shirt, courtesy of Sasuke, who had expressed his extreme dislike of Naruto’s color scheme, he finally left the Uchiha district and strolled through Konoha. He’d activated his henge the moment the nurse had come yesterday, so he was whisker free at the moment, which gave him some confidence to actually take in the wares provided by the vendors up and down the main street.

Gaara was spending the day in conference, fine tuning their plan with Tsunade. He hadn’t seen Temari or Kankuro since they’d arrived the other day, but Naruto really didn’t feel like seeking them out. They could be busy, and Temari was kind of feisty when she was interrupted from something.

Hours flew by as Naruto just watched the people of Konoha. At one point he’d found himself standing before a monument that he could only assume was for ninja who’d died in action. Then he saw his father’s name, and Naruto knew that the Kyuubi victims were on there as well. It really didn’t do anything to assuage his guilt that he shouldn’t be in Konoha, that he didn’t belong where so many people had suffered because of the thing inside him, the thing he now was.

Then he’d passed by the Ninja Academy. The little children were out for recess, and Naruto spotted Iruka watching the kids with a smile on his face. Iruka turned and waved him in. He liked Iruka. The chuunin hadn’t judged him that night he’d told everyone in Hokage Tower what he was, and Naruto was sure the man must have lost someone during the Kyuubi battle.

“Good day, Naruto. What are you doing out and about? Is Sasuke awake?”

“No, but his nurse threatened to emasculate me if I didn’t get out of the mansion today.”

Iruka laughed, and Naruto found himself laughing as well. They turned to watch the children some more, and Naruto noticed that some of them were playing with kunai.

“Is it safe for them to be playing with those, Iruka-sensei?”

“That’s why I’m out here instead of inside. They need to learn to handle them, but they’re at a stage where they still need supervision.”

Naruto watched as a small girl tried to twirl her kunai, but dropped it before it could slice her hand open. He spotted two boys using them to battle, as if the small missiles were swords. He supposed they could be used as such, in close combat fighting, which was what the boys were trying to participate in. Then an idea smacked him in the face.

“I have a little game that will help them, if you’d like, Iruka-sensei.”

“A game?” Naruto nodded, and Iruka put his finger to his chin in thought. Then he nodded and called the children to gather around them. “Children, this is Naruto-kun, and he’s going to teach you a game that will help with your kunai skills.”

The children looked at him, and he smiled. “Okay, I’m going to go over the basics, and then the first time, Iruka-sensei and I will show you how it’s supposed to work. First, make a circle around me, with plenty of space to fight with. Good, now everyone hold out your kunai, like this.”

The children did, and he continued. “Okay, there’s a little song that goes along with this. I am the Fox, a good guy.”

“Like a ninja?” a little girl asked.

“Yeah, I guess. Now, as I sing the song, I’m going to tap my kunai against all of yours, and whenever the song ends, the last person whose kunai I tapped jumps into the circle with me and fights as the bad guy. Whoever loses has to go back into the circle, and the game starts again. Now, let me teach you the song really quick before we start.”

Naruto sang the song, having the children repeat it a few times to make sure they had it. Then he asked Iruka to step into the circle and spar with him. Without a katana, he had to modify how he attacked, but he and Iruka illustrated the basic points of hand-to-hand with a kunai so that the kids could actually get better by playing the game.

“Okay, are we ready to play?” A chorus of ‘yeah’ answered the question, and Iruka left the circle. “Alright, kids, sing!”

“Here’s to the Fox, whoever he be. May he live long and merrily!”

Naruto’s kunai tapped the one belonging to a small boy, and the boy jumped eagerly into the circle. Naruto grinned at the boy’s enthusiasm, but he was still a pre-genin. So Naruto, much as Sasuke had done those weeks ago in Reihi, graciously lost so that the kids could play with each other. Defeated, he stepped out of the circle and joined Iruka in watching.

“You have a way with children.”

Naruto grinned. “Some argue I still am one.”

As the children continued to play, Naruto took his leave and wandered Konoha once again until the hours brought him to sunset. Now he was just idly standing by a tree, leaning against a fence, and keeping an eye on a certain… someone who was trying to camouflage himself with the fence. Naruto had to admit that whoever it was, they were good enough for an average ninja, but he wasn’t fooled. What was puzzling him was the reason this someone was trying to fool him.

“Hey, kid.” It didn’t move. “Kid, what are you doing?” It still didn’t move. “Kid, I’m not your average civilian. I know you’re there. Just drop it.”

The person sighed then dropped the shroud. “How did you know I was there?”

“I felt your chakra. What’s your name, kid?”

“I’m Konohamaru! Sorry, it’s just that you’re new in town, and everyone is talking about you, though some of them speak in whispers.”

Naruto tensed, but he kept his outward calm. “Is that so? What kinds of things are they saying?”

“Well, I don’t know about the whispers, but all the girls are talking about ‘the cutie with the hottie,’ and I can only suppose they mean you since you’re the only one Sasuke’s let that close to him in a while. He’s been distant from people, really, ever since he was seven, not that I’d know; I wasn’t alive then. But they say that around the village, and it just got worse after they dragged him back from Oto.”

The boy – Konohamaru – stopped for breath, and Naruto was quietly processing the information. Maybe if he hung out with the people who knew Sasuke, he could learn a little something about the brooding shinobi.

“Konohamaru!” Naruto looked with the boy over to some girl yelling down the street.

“Oh, that’s my teammate. I have to go. It was nice to meet you, um…”

“Naruto.”

“Okay! Well, goodbye, Naruto!”

Naruto lifted an arm from his chest and waved. Once Konohamaru was out of sight, he let it fall back to his chest, and he said calmly, “You can come out now.”

Someone landed to his right. “So you are the ‘Fox,’ Kyuubi holder.”

“And your wounds have healed, Hyuuga-san.”

“Your name is quite ingenious, isn’t it?”

“Are we being insulting to someone who can kill you faster than you can know what’s happening? Besides, I’m not the one who came up with it. Of course, if you’d rather, you can call me ‘El Zorro.’”

Neji looked at him in confusion, or what Naruto took for confusion, as those pale eyes were just a bit too creepy to look into directly. “Is that even a real word?”

“It’s a Western term that means ‘fox.’”

“And you picked this up where?”

“Is this a frickin’ interrogation or something?”

“I just wanted to see what Uchiha saw in you to make him come out of his shell.”

Naruto glared at the Hyuuga, not liking the implication that he wasn’t anything special. He wasn’t wearing anything that told Naruto the pale-eyed man was on duty, so he supposed this was a social call.

“What do you really want, Hyuuga-san?”

“There are some things that I think you should know about Uchiha.”

“Let me guess. You have a thing for him and want me out of the picture.” Naruto chuckled, consumed with amusement that the Hyuuga actually thought Naruto meant anything to anyone aside from Gaara.

“I would never want anything to do with that traitor.”

Naruto’s chuckles died in his throat. “What do you mean ‘traitor’?”

“His clan was destroyed by his own brother, and he swore revenge. In order to accomplish this, he betrayed this village to train under Orochimaru, who had attacked our village and killed the Hokage.”

“But he came back.” Naruto was confused. Sasuke had come back. What was the problem?

“Kakashi had to drag him back kicking and screaming.”

“And how long ago was this?”

“He came back about seven years ago.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that he left to gain training to kill his brother, which he apparently wasn’t getting here – maybe no one cared about his revenge, who knows? Then after some – what, years? – he comes back and doesn’t try to leave again; he stays in this village for seven years, while his brother is still out there, breathing. If you ask me, I would think Sasuke’d have left by now if he was a true traitor. And then there’s the fact that he could have just disappeared on his little vacation, but he came back when called for. What do you make of that, Hyuuga-san?”

Neji glared at him. “Why would you stick up for him like this?”

Naruto turned from the Hyuuga and walked away as he returned, “Maybe because I just can’t side with a village that would kill or exile a newborn baby because of something it didn’t do. Tell me, who would you rather trust?”

Naruto jumped onto a nearby roof and headed for the Uchiha mansion. The Hyuuga had managed to upset him completely, and he didn’t feel like being out anymore. Once he entered the quiet house, he moved to Sasuke’s room to see the nurse seated by the window reading a book. She smiled when she saw him.

“Did you have a nice outing, Uzumaki-san?”

“Not really. Did he wake up at all?”

“I’m sorry, he’s still out. Tsunade-sama was here earlier to check on him, but she still doesn’t know what’s wrong.”

“That’s fine. Why don’t you go ahead and take a break? I’ll watch him.”

“Thank you, Uzumaki-san.”

The nurse left, and Naruto moved to take the seat next to Sasuke’s bed. He looked at the pale man’s face, wondering how they could tell that he wasn’t just sleeping. He looked so peaceful in his unconsciousness. He guessed the fact that nothing seemed to wake the Uchiha up was what they were basing their assumptions on.

What had Itachi done? The Hokage had said something about a Tsukiyomi, but Naruto had no idea what that was. It was more than likely a jutsu, but that didn’t help him much. But when he put that together with the fact that Itachi was a male Uchiha, it was probably a jutsu that could only be used with the Sharingan. Not that Naruto knew a whole lot about that other than it was an Uchiha bloodline limit.

Naruto grabbed his head in exasperation and decided not to dwell on it any longer. Sasuke would wake up when he wanted to.

But… what if he didn’t wake up at all?

~*~

Naruto spent the third morning of Sasuke’s unconsciousness exploring the mansion. Every room except the living room and kitchen was covered in several layers of dust, and Naruto was sure a family of cats had taken up residence in the attic.

In what he could only assume was the master bedroom, Naruto came across the remnants of a shrine, pitiful in its disuse. It appeared to be for his parents, but incense hadn’t been lit in many years. Perhaps he found it too painful after so many years have passed and Itachi was still alive?

As Naruto looked around and took in the place where Sasuke’s parents had lived their lives, he wondered just what had happened to have Itachi do what he did. And just why had he left Sasuke alive? Was that why he wanted Sasuke now? To kill him? But that brought up Gaara’s point. Why hadn’t Itachi just taken or killed Sasuke last night? Was that what that strange jutsu was doing right now? Was it killing Sasuke, and Naruto was just standing there, idle, while it happened?

He felt a familiar chakra enter the mansion, and he went to meet his friend. Gaara was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs. Naruto smiled. It seemed Gaara didn’t want to be anywhere near the Uchiha if he could help it, even if Sasuke was unconscious.

“Naruto, the Hokage and I have completed the plans. But she asked me what you plan on doing if this works and everything ends in our favor.”

Naruto didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look at Gaara, instead keeping his eyes on the hard wood floors. He didn’t have an answer for that.

“I told her that more than likely, you were returning to Suna with us.”

Naruto’s hand tightened into a fist. “You shouldn’t…”

“Then what should I have said, Naruto?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know!”

“Why would you even think of staying here?”

“Because I can’t leave Sasuke!”

“Why?”

“Because I love him!”

Naruto fell silent, not quite sure he should have said that to Gaara. Gaara, for his part, didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he shrugged to seemingly adjust his gourd and grunted.

“I would make sure he feels the same if I were you.” And Gaara left.

After that, Naruto didn’t have the heart or energy to do more than sit by Sasuke’s bedside, and even when the nurse came back he stayed there. Temari stopped by to bring him some ramen, which he suspected was actually from Gaara, a sort of “I’m sorry/I forgive you” offering.

He thanked her, and she left after inquiring about Sasuke. He ate in silence, and then found himself drifting off in the chair. He took one last look at Sasuke before the strain of the day carried him into sleep.


TBC


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Tsukiyomi - i think we all know this one

so, after so long, how did i do? i'll try to wrap this story up, as i've started a new one or two and still have two more ideas that i need to write out.

also, for anyone who's interested in an e-mail alert, leave your e-mail address in a review, and i'll add you!!

thanks for reading and remaining loyal guys, even after i took so long in updating!