Disclaimer: Do not own, it's bad enough I'm horribly pissed at Kishimoto-sensei.
Warnings: Future yaoi, shounen ai, BL, whatever you want to call it. We also abused the old Kitsune tales and myths, we apologize for that. There's ooc-ness, and possibly bad grammar and language.
Since the stupid blond, Naruto, won't forgive me for messing with him in Contrasting Realities, I'll compensate by giving him the spotlight for awhile.
The fox's black-tipped ears twitched, shifting to catch every sound made in the forest. He was still, making sure not to move. His stomach was firmly pressed to the ground, and his tail lay limp beside him. Untrusting, radiant blue eyes scanned the entire area for danger. The tiny whiskers on each side of his muzzle danced jovially as a gentle, cool breeze moved past him.
Shivering, the fox couldn't help but wish his permanent coat came out already. Unfortunately, he was still a young kit; his copper-toned coat was only temporary until he became an adult. Sometimes he wondered what color his coat would be once he was old enough.
He was a red fox; technically, his coat would be the color that the name insinuates. Though, there were cases that a red fox was born with a coat that resembled a dark auburn, hazel, and even rarer, black midnight.
He couldn't wait until he grew his permanent coat; Old Fox Sarutobi had said that his father had shining gold fur that always seemed to glow in the sunlight, which dazzled the other Kitsune. His mother's coat was a burning ginger, reminding other foxes about her equally fiery temper.
It was broad daylight, which meant the fox had to be extra careful and be aware he could easily be seen by any passing human that maybe strolling serenely through the woods. That was the risk of living- or in the fox's case, existing- on a large city like Konoha.
Remorsefully, the fox couldn't exactly remember the city being different when he was born. Though, he did hear from other foxes, that this same city used to be serene and happy. Back when 'gifted' humans worshipped the deities that were living there. The Kyuubi no Kitsune was, and still is, one of those deities that used to be respected yet feared above all the others.
The temples, where the Kitsune were once worshipped, looked nothing like other shrines. They were simple and elegant, with a touch of traditional beauty that inspired everything and everyone, even the most simple-minded fox.
Because of their so many differences, not physical but actually emotional and spiritual, most foxes held a grudge with humans. Only the wiser and older foxes argued that humans had a special purpose in this world and that should be respected just like any other living thing.
The Old Ones pleaded in favor of the bipedal, fur-less things, while the younger generation demanded the destruction of them.
"Why should we allow them life, when they do nothing but destroy it?" a beautiful artic-white fox with two tails asked.
"Why shouldn't we, when it was them who kept us alive many summers ago," one of the Old Ones, an auburn-coated desert fox with six tails, argued in return.
So in the end, the foxes in the area agreed to listen to the human's prayers as well as accept the food they sacrificed to the Kitsune. It was offensive to the foxes though, that the shameful humans thought that they could give their so-called food in exchange of forgiveness and protection from peril. But as it turned out, the food that humans had surrender for them quickly began to be enjoyed by Kitsune of all ages.
"It was quite easy back then," the blue-eyed fox whined, not caring that he said that out loud.
Foxes were given the freedom to roam in the streets whenever they wanted. They were free to explore and even raid human 'dens' without any sort of punishment. The humans would just simply stay out of their way and allowed them to come and go through their open windows and doors. But now it was different. Now, foxes were distrustful of humans, and made sure that their presence was never known to people. As far as these humans knew, they were just common foxes.
The fox's bright blue eyes wandered swiftly over the trees and shrubs, grinning widely when it found the coast clear.
Now to find a good hiding spot.
He opened his jaws and picked up a small marble-sized pearl, which lay innocently in between his dark fore-legs, off the ground. The pearl winked at him as a streak of sunlight reflected back from the smooth surface, almost as if saying 'alright let's go'.
Trotting, the fox kit passed blurs of vermillion, amber, and maroon from the wide branches above, belonging to the great oaks and with the occasional aspen and maple trees. If was another time, he would've stopped to gape at the natural beauty. But there were two things wrong.
One, he was in a hurry.
Two, it wasn't a forest. It was more like a park, a park that was way too close to human civilization for the fox's comfort. He could already see the bipedals arriving, along with their small kits in their arms, giggling and shouting in excitement.
"Gotta hurry," he said, which sounded more like muffled growls. It was difficult to talk with an object in your mouth after all.
Almost tripping with a rock hidden by a pillow of colorful, dry leaves, the Kitsune let out a deep-throated bark and cursed his lack of concentration and clumsiness.
As a Kyuubi no Kitsune, the little fox had to follow the old Kitsune Protocol, which was a tradition passed down for centuries from elders to kits. This tradition concluded that every fox must hide their pearl or gemstone by their fiftieth birthday in the same place they were born.
"And as always, I have to stick out like a sore thumb, don't I? With both my parents gone, the old vulpine Sarutobi had to freaking sit me down like a kit and explain the damn rule," he complained sorely.
If a human did so much as to pass-by, they would've taken a double turn at the strange fox that just seemed to be pouting while running awkwardly, a priceless white pearl sitting comfortably between his jaws.
When fox kits were born, their first instinct- after taking their first breath- was to cough up a gemstone or jewel. That would be their source of chakra, some type of storage if you will. This pearl or jewel would then be protected by their mother until the newborn was old enough to see. It was precious and valued above everything (except maybe their life mate), and was their life's essential energy. Without it, they wouldn't be able to even call themselves Kyuubi no Kitsune.
It just so happens that today was his birthday. It had been exactly eighteen days since the start of the season of the fallen leaves, or how the humans called it, autumn. So it was finally time for him to follow Kyuubi tradition to hide his pearl.
A fox's jewel was precious but unfortunately tricky to carry around with paws. That's why foxes hid them, because to walk around with a small pebble-sized jewel between your toes or between your lips was much too risky, and not to mention uncomfortable.
Since the pearl was the source of a Kitsunes' chakra, they would die without it. To prevent this, the fox had to repeatedly pay the pearl weekly visits and regenerate the chakra lost during the parting.
The pearl would be permanently retrieved fifty years later, when they reached 100 years of life. Only then would they be strong enough to take a human form, in other words have a new identity and an easier way to carry the fox-fire. If the fox was strong, it would be able to transform at an early age, and with the help of their unlimited chakra, they are able to duplicate the exact autonomy of a human and blend in with the society.
And now, it was his turn.
He was finally in the adequate age to hide his pearl, away from humans' greedy hands and other foxes, until he was sufficiently strong enough to take a human form and carry it with him easily.
The young Kitsune walked briskly through the park, searching with great difficulty for the perfect spot. It had to be away from human sight, and away from scurrying animals such as squirrels and chipmunks. However, the search was so far unsuccessful.
He wasn't pleased with any of the spots, even the good ones. Blue eyes narrowed suspiciously at a crevice next to a few boulders. A snake's hibernating hole was a good place, but the owner or another snake could go into the tiny gap and swallow the beloved pearl. There was also a hollowed tree trunk, but it was much too old and was already peeling and falling apart from termites.
As the fox kept walking to find a better place, the further the vulpine ventured out of the forest and closer to the humans.
The small Kitsune stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air cautiously.
It smelled… like salt.
That only meant one thing…
…humans were near.
In fright, azure eyes widened, letting out a horrified yelp when one of his paws tripped over a tree root. The pearl in his mouth flew out a few feet before bouncing off happily; rolling straight towards the direction he had scented the humans.
"No! Come back you-" The vulpine followed the rolling marble downhill.
As if mocking the frightened fox spirit, the small pearl rolled further away, gaining momentum by the second.
He ran after it, not taking his sight away as the pearl kept rolling down. It bounced off of rocks, twigs and tree roots, the small fox winced in fright that it might scratch or break. Of course, he has never seen one's pearl break before. It was just a clear sign that the fox was not strong enough or smart enough to take care of his own life support. It his pearl did break, not only will he become an outcast, but he will probably die as well.
Finally, it crashed against a tree root, but instead of halting in the small cleft, it sprung up and disappeared through a couple of large bushes.
Hesitating, the fox emitted a soft growl. The fur on his back stood up, his tail ruffling until it looked like a puffy paintbrush. The scent of humans was stronger, and the Kitsune knew that if he wasn't careful, he might be spotted by one of them.
It'll be fine, he thought to himself. Just get the pearl and dash back to the safety of the bushes.
Taking a deep breath, the kit slowly poked his head through the bushes, only letting his muzzle and part of his head show as he took a peak.
The park was flooded with humans. And for being cold and windy, they hardly showed discomfort, preferring to suck it up for the sake of their children's fun. Much to his displeasure, the fox couldn't spot the runaway pearl anywhere. However, the Kitsune demon could hear the joyous shrieks of human kits, and could also see how they happily played, the older-looking ones chasing each other, while the younger ones playing in the sandbox nearby.
"Good for nothing humans. No matter how much power you have, no matter how much money, processions, or influence, you keep asking for more," the young fox said distastefully, his cerulean eyes turning red.
It was true though, even the gifted humans, who called themselves Shinobi, put their lives in risk not for the sake of their people, but for a higher rank, higher pay, or for power.
Licking his jaws, the Kitsune dared not to concentrate too much on the delicious smell of soba and rice. For being destructive, cheaters, and liars, these bipedal animals were masters of food. He could remember very well when his father told him stories from a long time when the humans still offered food to the Kitsune. Their delicious meals usually consisted of white, steamed rice with seasoned pork, beef or fish and vegetables. Perhaps after finding his pearl, the fox could steal a few pieces of delicious aburage and satiate those damn cravings.
Snap out of it! Your pearl is missing and all you can think of is food?!
The fox let out an exhausted sigh. It was way too early for this type of morning mayhap, and to top it all the little kit hasn't even found a hiding spot for the mischievous pearl.
Alright, I can do this; just don't get caught. And look carefully, one of these kits might have kicked it or something.
The small fox snapped his jaws and gulped audibly.
Okay, here goes!
With feline-like grace that the vulpine had not known he possessed, he crawled slowly out of the bushes. His nose lead the way, as his legs shook lightly. The small animal stalked slowly, trying with all his might to be inconspicuous and quiet.
Which was one of the hardest things for a fox to do, the perky animals were born to be cunning and loud, it was their nature.
All the fox had to do was follow his pearl's path. After all, the tiny ball was the fox's chakra storage. When a fox uses its chakra, it emitted a powerful, red-orange aura which was visible, even to humans.
Damn, it went this way! the fox thought, defeated.
The Kitsune had already looked behind a large, hollow tube where kits kept popping out from, almost getting caught by a female kit. He also searched under the metal cliff that some kits slid from, it actually looked quite fun.
Eyes peaked from a side of the hollow metal tube and looked around the park. There was a loud yap when he spotted the white orb in one of the sandboxes.
Much to his relief, the sandbox was currently empty of kits, except for one.
It was a male. Though, all humans looked alike and the only way the Kitsune could recognize them was the variation in pheromones. Of course this was just a kit, which made things a little more difficult in finding the difference.
Okay now, he was getting side-tracked, time to push those thoughts behind and concentrated on the situation at hand.
The human kit looked young, much younger than the ones that the fox had seen so far.
In fact, the whelp couldn't even sit up by himself. There was some sort of cushion behind the kit to do the job for him. And by the kit's right side, the pearl waited for its owner to find it, figuratively speaking of course.
The young Kitsune opened his mouth wide in a relieved smile. This would be easier than he thought.
And this human kit can hardly talk, let alone know that he has a fox demon in front of him.
Feeling his confidence return fully, the vulpine trotted to the sandbox, where the human whelp was softly cooing at nothing in particular.
Then it happened. Apparently, the fox underestimated the human kit and his capability to understand what went on around him. Because the dark-haired kit took one look at the pristine-white pearl, reached for it with a pudgy hand and stuck it in his mouth…
And swallowed.
A human kit swallowed his pearl.
A human whelp ate his Fox-Fire! He was going to die!
And he had the knack to look over at the fox, who was paralyzed with cold dread, and actually smile and giggle.
What the hell was he going to do now?!
The scandalized fox ran with record speeds over to the smiling kit.
"You stupid human! Give me back my pearl!" The fox growled loudly, showing his canines and trying to look as intimidating as possible.
But the human just giggled some more, showing to the aggravated fox that he still had no teeth yet.
Black-tipped ears tilted back and stuck to his head. Now what? the exasperated fox thought. His eyes narrowed, he could always cut the human open and extract the pearl from his stomach.
The fox shuddered, a clear picture of the, what could be, mess appeared in his mind. Not even the demon dared to do that to a kit, maybe to an adult, if he was the type that hunted or hurt other foxes, but not to a child. After all, the fox himself was just as young.
So what could he do? Follow the human whelp around until…
Argh! The fox thought in disgust. As sickening as it was, the vulpine could probably wait until it came out by itself. The things I get into, if the old patriarch Sarutobi could see me now. The humiliated fox mused quietly.
The Kitsune was brought out of his thoughts by a sharp pain on one of his ears.
"Itai!" he jumped, realizing that the human whelp had taken his right ear captive and was trying to pull it into his mouth.
"Arouu!" the baby cooed happily, yanking surprisingly hard at the furry ear.
The fox twisted at first, but halted at the strange noise. I may be mistaken, but that almost sounded like a howl.
So he sat there, letting the dark-furred kit nibble on his ear, wincing as it got more and more damp with drool. As weird as it sounded, the fox could feel the pearl inside the babe's stomach, and sighed. The comforting warmth coming in light vibes, helped his tense muscles to relax, and he even leaned subconsciously towards the infant. This of course, only gave the child more chewing access.
Finally after a few seconds, which felt like hours, of humiliating torture, the fox jerked out of the human spawn's grip and shook his head to get the excess drool off of his fur.
Cerulean orbs narrowed dangerously at the kit. "You freaking better give me my back you hear? Else you and your family will regret it."
The baby ignored the threat and once again reached out at the growling fox, this time with determined glee.
"Sasuke-chan!"
His ears twitched at the sound, it was coming from a very close area and the hurried footsteps were getting louder as they stepped on the gravel surrounding the sandbox. After a couple of seconds of glaring at the human thief, he scurried out of the view.
Barely in time, when a female human, full grown, approached the infant.
"There you are, Sasuke-chan! I can't believe Itachi-kun left you here, I wonder where that boy went off to?" The beautiful woman crouched and picked up the whimpering baby. "What's wrong Sasu-chan? Did one of the older kids hurt you?"
Much to the curiosity of the woman, the baby, apparently called Sasuke-chan, began to cry.
"Now, now Sasu-chan, don't cry. Let's get you home, ok?" She cooed at the tiny infant and rocked him, smiling when the cries turned into soft coos.
Unknowingly to the woman, the baby had kept his dark eyes in contact with the fox as he followed them both home.
---
If separated from longer than two days from his pearl, small tickling sensations- like those of crawling ants- would prickle under the fox's skin. There were madly infuriating, and could last up to ten minutes at a time. Bald spots in his fur, from all the scratching and biting in order to cure the burning itch, became a problem. He could already taste blood in his mouth every time he scratched his fur with his sharp teeth.
The prickling was tolerable at first, but after the fifth or sixth time getting it, the fox was nearly in tears and was often left panting in the effort to scratch both his upper back and the base of his long tail at the same time.
I don't know if I can take this anymore. The poor Kitsune never imaged how troublesome it would be to be separated from his pearl. But after two whole miserable days, and waiting for that blasted human to 'give' back his pearl with no success, the fox was starting to feel the side effects.
How long can that process possibly take? It's just a freaking whelp! Is the mother starving him or something? The vulpine whined, lying down on the roof of the house, where the current container of his pearl resided.
The term 'house' was just an exaggeration; the place was a freaking mansion in an even bigger neighborhood. It certainly seemed like a happy community, with growing kits, vendors, bakers, merchants, and 'gifted humans', all of them wearing similar clothes with a strange red and white symbol resembling a fan on their backs or shoulders.
After the incident in the park, the one-tailed fox followed the kit and his mother to this mansion. The first thing the dark-haired woman did was feed the small baby with what looked like a white, milky concoction in a small bottle. Then the kit, known as Sasuke-chan, ate vigorously.
The fox watched quite impressed at the gluttonous kit, just a few hours later he drank another bottle until his stomach resembled a small grapefruit.
Anyone could have guessed that such a small baby wouldn't be able to hold in so much content in his stomach. So the fox watched with both disgust and amazement, from the bedroom window, as the beautiful woman changed that babe's plastic undergarments.
There wasn't a shocked expression on her face, not even a surprised pause as she replaced the soiled undergarments with a new one from the plastic bag with pictures of little bears and cats dancing merrily. That could only mean one thing…
The fox groaned. He guessed that the pearl wouldn't come out until next time.
It was both horrifying and disgraceful.
Chasing the thoughts out of his mind, the fox watched through the large, clear glass of the window into the bedroom where the menace "Sasuke-chan" was sleeping on a wooden cot with a fluffy blanket hugging his tiny body.
Two full days passed since the little evil human consumed his pearl. Not even miserable could describe how the fox felt. The tickling pricks eventually evolved into painful shocks that almost gave the fox the feel as if being burned by a lighting bolt every hour. His muscles felt like they were ripping and stretching beyond their limits, and his stomach did nasty flip-flops during the short breaks between shocks.
But still, the fox stubbornly refused to go inside the human abode and be within a three foot radius of the pearl.
After the fourth day, however, the fox couldn't take it anymore. The pearl had yet to leave the abhorring human's stomach, as if it was happily nested in a safe heaven. The once precious coppery-brown coat was now a dull maroon with large bald spots all over from the scratching, trying to soothe the wrenching pains.
But finally, the kit decided he was going to get his pearl no matter what. It didn't matter if he got caught by a human; at least death was better than this living hell. He didn't care if he had to turn the human infant upside down to take out his pearl or rip him into pieces. He was going to get his pearl now.
Sneaking was the only choice at the moment. The Kitsune slipped with no trouble through the basement of the mansion-like house. Though, moving past the hidden traps could have gone a lot better.
Though the place was darker than the moonlit outdoors, the pained fox, with his enhanced vision, could see past the shadows and at the furnace decorating the room.
Stopping near the kitchen, the cunning kit thought of a plan. The pearl would be forced out of the human child stomach, without either hurting the human or disrupting the natural process. He grabbed a small square of tofu, sitting on a plate on the table, with the very tip of his tail. And with that, the search of the human kit continued.
Confused by the odd place, but not giving up, the Kitsune grinned at the small pulses it felt in his soul.
The fox-fire was calling its owner.
The elated vulpine followed the callings up to the wooden staircase where he hesitated at the forked path, only to let out a soft yap when the pulses grew stronger and more frequent.
He was obviously getting closer.
Eventually, the animal had to stop at the closed door. Using, a simple jutsu, which left the Kitsune absolutely exhausted afterwards, he opened the door. Fixing his blue gaze on the cradle satiated in the center of the room.
"Gotcha teme," he whispered gleefully, a huge grin appeared, revealing a set of sharpened teeth.
Like the gentle, calm winds in a warm day, the demon suddenly dashed towards the sleeping human baby, his nose breathing deeply the scent of honey and milk. The fox could guess it was the pearl that was making the disgusting human smell appealing. Because in no mind did a human ever smell as marvelous as the way this whelp did.
Or, it could be that the Kitsune felt in better spirits due to being near his pearl once more. It felt like he was alive again and able to take deep breaths of fresh spring air.
But the delicious scent was the last thing on the fox's mind, or at least it should be. While the fox demon was pondering how to extract the pearl, he never noticed that the small human stirred, probably since the fox had been breathing warm puffs of air on the baby's forehead, ruffling the tiny trusses of feathery midnight.
O-kay, how exactly do these things work again? The Kitsune pondered. He sniffed at the child's belly softly. "Ah! Right! They eat, and then they eject the unneeded parts. I guess I need to feed the kit until he-"
"Arouuu." The Kitsune, always a slow learner, didn't have the time to scamper back before his ears suffered from the same torture as a few days ago.
"Damn!" the poor demon cried out. "What's your obsession with my precious ears? Let go!"
The blue-eyed Kitsune reached for something with his tail. "Kay, open up!"
Ripping a piece of the white, rubbery square of food, the fox quickly placed it inside the baby's mouth when he giggled.
That proved to be a dumb decision.
"I guess you don't like tofu," the Kitsune shook his head to shake off the small white pieces that somehow the human kit had spitted out right back at his face.
"Odd, I'm particularly fond of sliced tofu."
"Arouu?" And the stupid human had the gall to smile while wasting delicious food. He even gave a small attempt to reach for the fox's dark nose.
"Heh, that's it! You don't eat solids yet, ne?"
How stupid could he be? He was a growing nine-tailed fox! Sure, he so far had only one tail, but the others will eventually grow!
"What you need is the white liquid I saw you drinking! You eat, I wait, and my pearl will come out!" Ew, let's not go that way; the fox was planning to eat afterwards.
"N'aroouuu!" the whelp howled cutely, not understanding.
"Yeah, yeah, arou to you too. Wait here."
With that, the fox jumped down the bed and scurried downstairs to the kitchen for the second time that night.
Now then, where did the human female kept the milk? The fox sniffed the air carefully.
By the time he found the carton of the liquid, the human babe had nearly fallen asleep. His black eyes closed droopingly while he let out a yawn every once in a while.
"Hey! Hey! Don't go to sleep yet, I brought you food, okay? No, don't!"
The human kit looked startled as the fox jumped on the bed and shook the carton in his mouth roughly. The sloshing sounds from inside the cardboard container easily caught the baby's attention. He stared right back at the fox as if asking 'What are you going to do with that?'
Smiling wide, the fox cunningly placed his long tail on the kit's soft stomach, tickling the child and making him smile and giggle.
"There!"
The vulpine grabbed the carton and tilted his head to make the liquid come out and fall on the humans open mouth, making sure to do so slowly.
At first the Kitsune ignored the startled coughs, thinking that the kit needed to adjust, he tilted his head more.
"N'ah!" the small human kit gagged and hiccupped, not knowing what to do as it tried to swallow the cold liquid.
By now the fox was confused. The kit was emitting soft cries and was coughing hard. What did that mean? Did he want more? But then again, why was he gasping and balling his fists? Did that mean he didn't like the taste?
It was then that the fox noticed that the human was quiet.
"Eh?" the fox dropped the now empty carton on the soft cushion and sniffed the silent kit.
Something was wrong.
The kit was still and though the fox didn't know much about humans, he knew the infant couldn't have gone to sleep already. Maybe he was full?
Bewildered, the Kitsune sniffed the baby's stomach. Something was off about the stillness of it.
And okay, he was just a demon and a Kitsune, but that didn't mean he didn't know a few things about humans, he has been living for about fifty years after all. The demon had learned from the past experiences that humans were fragile. They died after living for short periods with just a few lucky ones living past their eighties; they bled from just a few cuts and took days to recuperate from sickness. But never had the fox expected to see one die, specially a young kit.
"Oh no," he realized. "What do I do?"
The human kit stopped breathing, and quickly turning an unhealthy blue color. What now? Should he let nature take its course, after all, humans died eventually only for their souls to come back like persistent cockroaches. At least that's what his guardian had told him a long time ago.
Furthermore, if he allowed the kit die, that would be mean that it could extract the pearl without the guilt.
The fox's instinct pushed out his heart, arguing that the human put the Kitsune through so much torture and pain and he was only fair to let him die.
But his heart told the demon otherwise. It was just a baby with a family. He could grow up to be a good human with the proper teaching. Besides the fox didn't exactly hate the human, it was just that he swallowed his fox-fire causing dangerous and embarrassing side-effects to surface and if there wasn't a close distance between them the Kitsune could die.
And shit, the whelp was losing warmth.
Mind made up, the fox gathered his chakra from the pearl. Granted, the Kitsune was a wind type not a water type, he'll reach that affinity when his third tail grows. But since air was what the kit needed, it was a better choice.
"Here goes, then." The Kitsune hurriedly summoned his chakra and focused it on the baby's chest. Exhaling chakra-enhanced air, the warm spiraling wind moved into the whelp's nose inside the nasal passage.
The results were immediate.
The cadaverous blue color turned into a healthy alabaster, the baby's cheeks blossomed rosily, probably from the warmth of his chakra. It wasn't called fox-fire for nothing after all. Finally the human kit let out a startling cough, spewing out the excess liquid inside his lungs.
"Good to have you back… Sasuke, wasn't it?" The fox wearily beamed at the coal-black eyes staring at his own blue.
"N'ah! N'aarooouuuu!" he cooed in greeting. His face and tuffs of ebon hair wet.
Chuckling, the Kitsune nosed the boy's side, smiling at the fit of giggles the human kit chucked. "Scooch a little will ya, Sasuke-teme? I'm tired." Not really expecting the whelp to move, the demon fox laid down next to the kit, who was now talking gibberish and cooing.
"N'ah!"
The fox curled his tail around the energized human and closed his ocean eyes, sighing in relief at the closeness with his fox-fire.
There are a few things I would like to say before I burst.
1) We are, or at least I am, pissed at Kishimoto. How dare he allow the producers, or whatever, take the SasukexSai part off in the anime? I don't really like this pairing, but it's the biggest fanservice the creator has ever done. And what about the new chapter in the manga? WTF?
2) The reason the fox doesn't have a name is because he doesn't need one. Foxes don't need minor things like names, they recognize each other by the number of tails, coloring, personality, and yeah… Sarutobi, and few other foxes, do require names since they constantly take on human forms. Please, we all know who the fox is anyway.
3) Yes, we are aware there's not much going on between Sasuke and Naruto. But did you know that the word Kitsune in classical Japaneseliterally means 'always returns'? Correct me if I'm wrong.
4) The entire chapter was meant to be written in third person neutral. That means our fox was an it not a he. Mystical foxes have no gender, but still manage to reproduce (again, correct me if I'm wrong). But my dear sister, Iemitsu, bitch-slapped me and told me to rewrite the entire thing.
5) I was extremely high on both sugar and caffeine when I wrote this. We all know what kind of consequences that brings.
6) I'm not sure if this will turn NaruSasu or SasuNaru. I honestly don't care who tops, but apparently many of you do. I'm sort of leaning towards NaruSasuNaru.
Despite that, we hope you enjoyed the chapter and are willing to support it! Yes, there will be more. Go ahead and ask questions if you have any. I may be a little cynical, but I do love reviews, especially nice ones! Flattery will get you everywhere.