The Pink Fox
Based from the original by: foxhunter45
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable Naruto characters, settings, etc. are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Shueisha Inc. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: foxhunter45 put this story up for adoption and I wanted to give it a try. I did take some artistic license with the first two chapters but the general gist of the story is still intact I hope.
Chapter 1: Lost and Found
Sleeping alone in a secluded cabin atop Mount Sandaime was just another oddity in the long list of strange that described Naruto Namikaze. To most people, Naruto was the textbook example of an extrovert—he took to contact like plants took to sunlight. Few understood why he hiked up a mountain, spent the night, and came back on campus the next day all the better for it. After all, living all the way up in the boonies meant buzzing and biting bugs, colder than normal weather, and the occasional wolf, coyote or bear that also called the area home. Naruto brushed those concerns aside. He had a mean right hook and hiking up and down the mountain, sometimes with supplies that weighed up to seventy pounds, had well-conditioned him to clear any obstacle he may come across.
As for loneliness, Naruto valued interaction with the animals that inhabited Mount Sandaime equally with that of people so there was always something to do or some new animal to meet on the mountain.
Currently he was crouched behind a bush looking down, hearing the telltale snarling of wolves. There were two of them circling a fox, a scene that was not out of the ordinary except for the fox which was an unusual pink color. It was trying to make itself as small as possible cowering on the ground. It seemed that the only thing saving the pink fox was the two wolves who were fixing to fight over the privilege to eat it. The shrill whimpers of the fox didn't seem to bring any of its family members out of hiding so Naruto had to act fast if he wanted to help it.
Putting down his hiking gear, he bent down, picked up a rock the size of his fist and threw it at the two wolves that had started to wrestle each other. The two barked in surprise leaping off each other, heads immediately turning to the direction of their attacker. Naruto was ready with two more rocks that barely missed them. That was on purpose—he didn't want to kill the wolves for doing what was natural to them. "Shoo!" Naruto growled.
The wolves, concluding that the pink fox wasn't worth the threat of getting their heads bashed in, made a hasty retreat. Naruto didn't waste any time leaping down into the shallow ditch where the pink fox was trying to climb out and escape into the bushes. One of the wolves had managed to take a chunk of its front right leg and moving it was causing the fox to shiver in shock. Naruto approached the fox slowly and when it tried to hobble backwards away from another potential predator, he said in a soothing voice, "I'm not gonna hurt you little one, I just want to treat that nasty bite ok?"
He had gotten near enough to the fox that he was able to reach out and rest a hand on its pink flank. The fox hesitantly allowed Naruto to pick her up and hold her in a cradle. Naruto, not trusting the wolves to stay away from such choice prey, quickly retrieved his gear and continued his trek towards the cabin he called home. The trip took less than an hour and as soon as he got there, he placed the fox on the couch and went to find his first aid kit.
Made for humans the first-aid kit wasn't exactly the best and Naruto, while having a soft spot for foxes, wasn't a zoologist so it would have to do. He spread cream on the bandages. When he tried to pick up the bitten leg, the vixen bit him. Unperturbed by the threat of rabies, Naruto managed to get the injured leg off the ground and carefully wrapped it in bandages. "Wow, looks like I saved you in the nick of time, otherwise you'd be a goner huh?"
The fox barked softly and tried to climb onto her feet. She stumbled forward at first but eventually was able to shift her weight off the injured leg and climbed onto Naruto's lap. She pushed her nose onto Naruto's chest. Naruto raised a hand to pet the top of her head, and her tail wagged.
Naruto had never seen a pink fox in his life. He had taken care of a few at Tsunade-baachan's place, but they were mostly red and grey. Except for its fur, the fox didn't look abnormal; he figured that its pigmentation was one of those biological surprises like being albino. "Where did you come from beautiful?"
The fox raised itself on her two hind feet and licked the tip of Naruto's chin. "Hey now, that tickles—hey stop! You're a playful one aren't ya? I bet you need to eat a lot to keep that energy up! Luckily I have some food for you."
Naruto stood from his seat putting the vixen down. There was still some of the food when he had been charged with a family of foxes at Tsunade's. He placed it in a bowl and presented it to the pink fox which hobbled to it and began eating with gusto. Naruto watched the fox go at it with a soft smile. The fox really was beautiful. Even with her awkward gait caused by the injury she was one of the prettiest ones he had ever seen.
The sound of his stomach grumbling snapped him out of his thoughts and he left the fox for the kitchen where he made himself a beef ramen. As he sat down with his meal, he felt the fox circling his left leg before settling down in a curl next to him. "Hey girl, you liked dinner?"
The pink fox raised her head up towards Naruto and something shiny at her neck caught his eye. Naruto pushed his chair backwards and the pink fox seemed to take the hint and rose on her hind legs again placing a paw on his lap. Naruto thumbed over a fabric collar that seemed to have writing embroidered on it:
In search of peace, for a mate that will be forever entwined together till the end of time.
"Weird…" Naruto's thumb traced the circumference of the collar, stopping at a silver medallion in the front center. It was an engraving of a cherry blossom.
Naruto wondered who had found the fox and put such as strange collar on her. Maybe it was some overly romantic designer breeder. In fact, that could explain the fox's odd color. Then there was the blossom engraving on the collar. Maybe it was a name?
"Sakura...it fits don't you think?"
The pink fox barked excitedly.
It was late so Naruto took a shower and got Sakura settled next to his bed before quickly falling to sleep unaware of the glow that over took his vulpine friend when the clock struck midnight.
She felt the painful sensation of being stretched in every direction. She tried to let out a cry of pain but was unable to make a sound. Her eyes still seemed to work and tears were falling down her cheeks, which had less hair than usual. Her body felt little pricks of itchiness as pink hair receded into light pink skin. Finally everything stopped and Sakura sniffed trying to collect her bearings and realized her sense of smell was almost gone.
"Wha—" the sound of her voice shocked her into silence.
What was going on? She stood up, wincing as she put weight on her right arm which was still wrapped with bandages and began to feel her body. She felt curves, the swell of breasts, pink fur—no hair—that fell just past her shoulders. This body was familiar to her, but at the same time not. But the longer she thought on it, the more she seemed to make sense of it all. "Human," she whispered. "I'm human, just like…"
She turned to her left where her savior was sleeping. The human male was asleep in his bed, covers knocked aside by restless feet to reveal a toned torso. Her gaze trailed upwards to his face. His mouth was open and with each breath his unruly blond hair shifted. She suddenly remembered how the human had held her carefully in his arms away from the wolves and her feet moved her closer.
She stopped and bent down, inches away from his face. Taking a sniff with her weakened sense of smell gave her no insight. Suddenly, her legs felt like rubber and she found herself toppling over, the world turning to black.
Naruto was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. There could be no other explanation for waking up to find a girl kissing him. A naked girl. Kissing him. Sure, said naked girl wasn't actually doing anything besides laying there, her lips on his, as if she had fallen asleep in that very position. He could feel her soft breaths tickling his nose. Naruto closed his eyes. "Wake up Naruto come on…aw jeez not that."
Naruto took the mysterious girls shoulders and gently moved her aside and stood up. The woman's body was picturesque and while her pink hair was conveniently covering up her boobs Naruto was shocked. He took a step forward and almost tripped over the pillow he set down for Sakura. "What the he—wait, Sakura?"
The pink fox did not seem to be in the room. "Sakura?" He ran out of his bedroom into the living room cabin looking around for the fox. He checked the kitchen and the bathrooms and found nothing. He went back into his room took an appreciative glance at naked girl sleeping obliviously and crouched looking underneath the bed skirt. "Sakura, Sakura-chan?"
There was a groan from above him. Naruto pushed himself away from the bottom of the bed and stared upwards. It was a particularly advantageous view of her boobs and Naruto could feel the blood rushing southwards. "Man Naruto, seriously. Tsunade naked. Tsunade and Professor Orochimaru naked."
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, dazed.
"Me…I am Sakura."
She said the words as if unfamiliar with forming the sounds, savoring each consonant. "Who are you?" She responded haltingly.
"N-namikaze." He said before reconsidering it, "Naruto, I mean, you can call me Naruto!"
"Namikaze…Naruto."
Without warning she pitched herself into Naruto's arms. "Namikaze Naruto! I need your help!"
Naruto held Sakura in an awkward embrace, trying not to pay too much attention to how their bodies fit against each other. "Woah, easy there Sakura."
Sakura glanced at her legs, and Naruto realized that her right leg was wrapped in a bandage. "Does it hurt?"
Sakura nodded. "Okay, I've got a plan," Naruto said carefully extracting himself from under the naked girl and standing up. "L-let's get you some clothes and I'll replace the bandages…then we'll figure out the rest as we go along."
Naruto took Sakura's nonplussed expression as agreement and rushed towards the drawer where he found an old soccer club jersey and shorts. Getting them on Sakura was an ordeal as she seemed clueless about clothing in general and Naruto had to help her into them. But once she was sitting on the bed in his clothes Naruto found he could focus some more. Of course, seeing the girl's slight figure almost swallowed up by his clothes was really tempting.
He also got a roll of bandage and propped her leg on his lap. "Okay, I've got questions," he said, slowly peeling off her old bandages. "You are Sakura Sakura? Pink fox Sakura?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"I…I can't say."
Naruto's furrowed his eyebrows as he began to wrap the new bandages around her wound, which seemed to be healing nicely. "You don't know?"
"No."
"Wait, so you do know?"
"I can't say it...I was—" Sakura's voice abruptly cut off as if an invisible hand had grabbed her by the throat.
Naruto's eyes widened. "If you can't say, can I ask you questions? You don't have to say anything, just nod or shake your head."
Sakura nodded.
"Am I dreaming?" It was a stupid question but Naruto still couldn't believe anything that was happening right now.
Sakura shook her head.
"Well there goes my theory," Naruto muttered.
He started slightly at Sakura's hand grabbing his. She raised it and placed it on her head. Then she repeated the motion. Naruto frowned, he sucked at charades. "You want me to pet you?"
Sakura shook her head again. She repeated the gesture and then pointed…
"Someone did something…a human?"
Sakura nodded furiously. "Who?"
Sakura shook her head. She pointed at her neck tracing a finger around it, before pulling at air. Naruto remembered the strange collar fox Sakura wore. "Collar, the person who put the collar on you."
"I need to find my mate."
Naruto nodded ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach that felt a little like disappointment. "Man I'm so hungry! Do you want breakfast?"
Sakura nodded enthusiastically.
Naruto got up and went into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and pulling out eggs, vegetables and ham for an omelet. As he had one going in the skillet his mind ran through everything Sakura had just told him. He knew one thing for sure; he was going to help break whatever curse was on Sakura.
As he finished the second omelet he noticed the pale rays of light peeking in through the kitchen window, signaling that dawn had arrived. It was around six o' clock in the morning; Naruto figured that he could still manage to stop at the mall to get Sakura some clothes and make it to lectures on time. His plans set, he held both plates in his hands and walked back out to the living room…
Only to find a pink fox waddling through his t-shirt.
"S-sakura?"