The Golden Fox
Hello everyone ! I want to say before you begin to read this story that I adopted it from The idiot with no name. You can't imagine my happiness when its autor accepted that I continue this story. I had a lot of ideas of my own, but also wanted to stay as close to the original story as my plot let me. Cause of many busy nights. Hence why I only publish it nearly one year later. That and the fact that this is the first story I write in English as my mother tongue is French. So please don't mind all the grammar and spelling mistakes. I hope you will take as much pleasure to read it that I had to write it.
Link to the original story : s/6492747/1/The-Golden-Fox
Chapitre 1 : Comeback
It was early evening in the forest around Konoha. Everyone was coming back home and children were going to bed. All but a little boy. The little boy was no older than four, and even for that age, he was a bit small. Naruto, as it was his name, was quietly crying beside a small pond.
The last rays of the sun were casting huge shadows on the ground, hiding the small boy from view. He was making almost no noise as the tears were pouring on his cheeks. He had sadly learned long ago that crying in front of the adults would only encourage them to be meaner to him. They would never hurt him physically but their eyes still hurted him. Why did they look at him like that ? Why did they look at him differently than the other children, like he had done something bad ? He didn't remember doing so, and certainly couldn't have to all those people. There was so much of them that he couldn't even know how many didn't like him. There was so much, and he felt so alone ! Sure, he had Jiji, but he hardly ever saw him twice or thrice in a month. Or so Jiji said. He didn't know how many days there was in a month but he was sure there was too much in his opinion.
The rest of the time he was alone. So desesperatly alone.
He only wanted a daddy and a mommy like the other children. Or a friend. Only someone who didn't look at him with meany eyes.
Just anyone ! He didn't like to stay alone like that…
A big tear dropped on the ground as he was trembling with contained sobs. Just as he was wiping his eyes, a branch broke behind him. He started and began to tremble.
"Who here ?" he asked with fear.
ooOOOOOoo
He was hunting when he first heard the sobs. Curious, he dropped the chase and approched near the sounds. He soon smelt something that made his heart beat faster. Human. It was a human scent. But not as strong as usual. Probably a child. A boy, his nose told fox was very surprised to find a child that far from the city, in this very secluded area of the forest. He had chosen this place especially because it was really hard to access for humans, with a lot of trees with thick branches and many brambles. There was at least one hour of fast walking until you reached the outskirt of Konoha.
Just how could have a child reached this place alone ?!
Shaking his head slowly about irresponsible parents, he silently got behind the child. He saw a human little boy crying in front of the pond. After getting a little closer, he saw that the boy had blond hair. Bright blond hair like he had when was human. He froze.
No, he shouldn't think like that ! He was STILL human. Just with the appearance of a fox and no explanation about how he became so. Just a bunch of wild theories.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't pay anymore attention on his surronding and stepped on a small branch, which broke under his weight. His eyes widened before meeting another pair of sky blue eyes.
ooOOOOOoo
When Naruto heard a soft crunching of leaves, he immediately shot up, looking frantically around for anyone. The bushes moved apart to reveal a large blue-eyed golden fox. A huge golden fox. He knew the word for that color was golden because Jiji had once bought him an ice-cream and he had used bright golden coins to pay. After that, he sometimes saw some people with a golden hair pin or necklace and was all happy to recognize the color. But he had never seen a golden fox. His fur was nearly the same color as his own blond hair ! And most importantly, how could a fox be nearly as big as him ?!
They locked eyes and the blond child saw the fox's eyes widening. Could a fox even do that ? He decided to not ponder on that at the moment and rather to flee while he could. He moved back a few steps before hearing a splashing noise. The pond ! The pond was behind him and the fox in front of him. He was trapped. He didn't know how to swim and wouldn't be able to defend himself against the dog-sized fox. He was trapped.
Just as he was beginning to panic, the fox made a surprising move. He laid down on the grass and pointed his muzzle to the space near him. With big friendly eyes.
Naruto felt lost for a few moment. Did the fox want… ?
"I … sit … with you ?" he asked uncertainly.
The fox happily yelped in answer. He then put his muzzle on his forepaw and stopped moving. After a few minutes, Naruto dared to take a few steps near the edge of the forest. Half way there, he turned his head to the fox. He was looking at him without moving. Like he was saying "It's your choice".
Naruto hesitated. No one gave him any choice. And the fox hadn't be mean to him. At least not yet. Even so, except for Jiji, no one had ever looked at him that nicely.
Eventually, his curiosity got the upper hand. He sat near the animal. After a few moment, the fox began to rub his head against his hand. Understanding the message, the boy started to stroke his fur.
They spent a little more than one hour like that, until the blond boy fell asleep across the fox's body, a happy smile on his fox wrapped his tail around the boy's body to keep it warm. Not that it was really needed, as the summer's nights were quite warm. The little child snuggled farther in the fox's fur with a happy sigh.
The golden fox looked at the boy with a determined glint in his eyes. He didn't know why his little boy was alone at this hour in the forest but he would very soon find why. And the reason had better be good, because if it wasn't, there would be hell to pay.
ooOOOOOoo