A/N: So, I'm not really a dramatic, angsty writer. I prefer comedy. But I thought I'd give this a go! So I hope you enjoy it. Please, please tell me if you do. Or if you dont, tell me why!

I don't own Naruto...or any of its characters...nor do I own Red Riding Hood or ITS characters...heck, I don't even own a red hood! Sad day :(

Red

She sighed as she turned the rabbit over the spit. It was early enough that no one else was outside; they were still in their beds, clinging to their last few moments of sleep. But her father had to be up before any of the other villagers, so she had to be up as well, to prepare his breakfast. Not only his, of course. It was for herself and her little sister also.

Her morning chores were fairly simple. There was breakfast, then fetching water from the well. And then perhaps she could take a trip to the woods…

"Hinata! We aren't interrupting your trip to the dreamlands, I hope?" Ino stood outside her window, surprisingly free from her throng of admirers. Ino's long blonde hair and light blue eyes were unique, and made her a treasure of sorts, especially among callers. Hinata had taken the attention of a few men, but they were always just as shy as she was, and so never tried to court her…not that she tried back. Hinata stood, breakfast done and plated and her family already eating. "We?"

"Yes, Sakura and-Sakura!" Ino turned her head to the side and called out onto the road. Hinata leaned out the window to look for her.

"Don't lean, Hinata. If you have business outside, then go." Her father's stern voice left her feeling foolish, and she quickly nodded and made her way out the door.

"Well, I can see that Hiashi is in as good a mood as ever."

"I-Ino, I wouldn't be as bold as to make light of the leader of our village's warriors." Ino stared ahead silently. Hinata's father led the men who hunted for and protected the village. They were in the woods constantly and still none had seen the beast that lived there.

Sakura nearly bowled them over as she halted in front of them, panting. Her hands were covered in black ink which meant that she had spent the morning coloring her hair again, hiding the pink strands that would have her branded as a user of witchcraft. "Hello, Hinata!" she turned to Ino, "I asked you to wait while I tried to wash my hands!"

"Why? It's still on mine, see?" she held up her own stained hands and grinned. "Now come on! If we leave now, we can get to the well and back and still have time to visit the fields!"

Hinata sighed quietly, reluctant to return once again to the flower fields that captivated her friends. "Why not the woods today?"

Sakura's eyes grew wide. "Why the woods ever?" at the same time Ino exclaimed "Do you wish to be eaten?"

"Of course not, but-"

"Your own mother and grandmother were victims, not that you need us to tell you that!" Sakura shook her head and began walking, the other girls following suit. "The only two victims ever taken and you had to suffer for both of them! And now you wish to walk right into its territory?" Sakura looked back, and her face softened when she saw Hinata's fallen expression.

Of course, Hinata missed her mother and grandmother dearly. They had been taken at the same time, nearly a decade ago, leaving the seven-year-old Hinata as the caretaker of the house. But despite the danger, there was something about the woods that pulled her… "I suppose the fields would be nice on such a warm day." She acquiesced.

Satisfied, the other two nod and together they trekked to the well, a little ways outside the village. Ino and Sakura kept up steady conversation, and Hinata was left to her own thoughts. She felt as though she was betraying her mother and grandmother by walking into the Devil's Lair, as some called the heavy forest outside the gates. She knew the dangers; even her father was wary of the woods. And yet there was something compelling…not the forest itself, but something in it.

They reached the well and were soon returning to the village, their pace slowed by the additional weight of the full buckets. When they reached the village, they knew that they may have narrowly avoided death. The blood and bodies of chickens and sheep littered the streets, which were covered in splintered crates and straw. A small silo behind a cottage had been slashed by inch long claws, spilling grain that would have been used for bread. The two village healers ran around, shouting "Any injured?"

"Oh, my…" Sakura gasped, and Ino and Hinata both turned to see her staring at the ground, at a paw print the size of a shovel blade. "In broad daylight? This means it could attack…at any time…"

"Hinata!" her father called to her over to where he and a crowd of the village protectors stood anxiously. She walked up to him, and he turned his head. More terrifying than the signs of the beast was the look in her father's eyes.

Guilt.

"Hinata, pack. You'll be living in the Dev-in the woods, with my mother." Hinata nodded, holding the tongue that longed to argue. Her other grandmother was as stern as her son, and wouldn't be quick to allow her back to the village. "Sh-shall I tell Hanabi?"

"No." her father sounded tired, the first emotion Hinata had heard from him since her mother died. "Hanabi will remain here. Only you are leaving." She nearly lost control of herself then, opening her mouth before quickly closing it. "Yes…yes sir." Hinata trudged towards her cottage, fighting against the stinging tears in her eyes. Why? Why was she the only one leaving? She was in just as much danger as the others, no more. She mechanically packed her few belongings into a bag, only pausing when Ino rapped at her door. She opened it with a forced smile, but her friends' faces were too sad to ignore, and Hinata found herself crying in Ino's arms while Sakura packed for her.

"Hinata, you'll be back!" Ino assured her, but her cracking voice said otherwise. "Even if Sakura and I have to kill the beast ourselves." Hinata took this as her cue to stop crying so she pulled away and wiped her eyes, thanking them for their kindness.

It had only taken a few minutes to get packed, but as she walked outside she felt that she had already left years ago. Hanabi, who was much more like their father than she, looked away as she awkwardly wrapped her arms around Hinata's waist. Hinata returned the embrace, then stepped away and out into the warm day. Two of Father's men and her father himself escorted her to the gate and then stopped.

"Hinata." Hiashi's voice was carefully composed, any emotion completely erased. "I'm…sorry that things turned out this way. I hope you'll understand. The village will always be your home." With that, he turned and left the three of them at the gate. The two men stayed with her, joining her silently on the hike to her grandmother's hut. Once there they turned and left without a word, forcing Hinata to sit in the dark forest alone while she waited at her grandmothers door, hesitating to knock.

"Come in, girl! Don't be so timid." The voice inside was smooth despite her grandmother's age. Hinata walked in, hit by the smell of brewed tea and strong herbs that her grandmother had picked from the woodland.

"H-Hello, Grandmother." Hisoka looked her over with disapproval. If she had been sent to her earlier, perhaps the girl would have learned some courage. But no matter…she wouldn't have to deal with the child's insecurities for long. "Make dinner, Hinata. You'll find plenty of dried meat in the pantry."

Hinata bowed and left, throwing herself into cooking a meal. Even that was barely enough for her to keep herself together. With as focused as she was on dinner, it was done quickly, too much so for Hinata's liking. Hisoka nodded once in appreciation, but otherwise was silent through dinner. Hinata tidied the table just as silently when they were finished. By now, the sky was rosy as the sun fell. Hinata was just about to unpack her bags when Hisoka called her, a basket in one hand and red fabric in the other.

"Hinata, I need more rosemary. Walk north until you reach a waterfall. The best rosemary grows there." She gave the girl no room to protest, merely handing her the basket and what turned out to be a red cloak. "It will be chilly, so wear this." Hinata nodded, not in the mood for arguing.

I really do feel bad for the girl. She doesn't even know I've sent her straight to the beast. Hisoka locked her door, knowing that Hinata would not be coming back.

The horizon was only faintly outlined in pink by the time Hinata found the rosemary, close to where the water was pounding into the churning pond below. As she did with dinner she threw herself into her task, reducing her world to the steady motion of pluck and drop.

But in the woods, this is a bad idea.

A low growl from the bushes snapped her back into the world, and she turned to face the creature that could produce such a chest-rattling sound. At first, all she saw was a wet black nose, sitting close to the ground. As soon as Hinata turned, however, the nose inched forward, revealing an auburn muzzle thick as a hunter's bicep. As Hinata grew more fearful, the creature grew bolder and stood, its head and chest towering over the bushes.

Fox. This one thought rattled through Hinata's mind, became the only string attaching her to her sanity. But still, she knew her sanity was lost. Because this couldn't be a fox. Her father had killed plenty of foxes, and none of them had even reached her knees in height! This…this fox, although it couldn't possibly be so, was easily as tall as a horse with canines as long as her index finger.

The most horrifying were its eyes. A fox had brown eyes, warm and cunning. The eyes on this beast were a horrible burning red, hot as a flame and yet cold as ice. It was the eyes that told Hinata that she was going to die that night, that she would never get the chance to see her sister or father…the thought of her father finally broke her, sending hot tears flowing down her cheeks.

Her father and her grandmother. They'd done this. They sent her here, as a sacrifice to the beast. The fox was about to kill its third victim, the third of a generation…was that it? Was this beast purposely hunting out her own bloodline? But why?

Hinata knew that as fast as she was, she'd never escape the fox. So she just turned her back to the beast, not wanting to watch as it ran towards her with hunger and hatred in its demonic eyes. She heard the crunch of grass, and then a large thud. She could hear it breathing, but the sound never came closer. Slowly, painfully and heart-wrenchingly slow, she turned back and stared at the harbinger of her death. There it lay not ten feet from her, its hellish eyes hidden behind red eyelids. Hinata put her hands to the ground, and attempted to crawl towards the forest. At the first sign of movement, those murderous orbs were revealed as a growl ripped out of its throat.

She sat still again, realizing that he was going to save her for later. She had to wait for her death, and that was even more agonizing than thinking she would die in a minute. It left her time to think, to regret, to reflect, remember. Each memory, sweet and bitter, stabbed her like a knife. Ino, whose commanding presence was welcome in Hinata's world of uncertainty. Sakura, who looked at everything with a pessimistic gaze acquired by hiding herself from the world behind ink. Little Hanabi suffered probably even more than Hinata at the loss of their mother, as a seven-year old is no substitute for a parent.

Her father did not count as a parent. Not anymore.

She woke with heavy eyes to a thud. A rabbit lie just out of arm's reach, its neck soaked with its own blood.

A wild dog was batted away by a ferocious red paw as it lunged at Hinata; that paw that had protected her from many wild creatures.

He had only been gone an hour. Clothes dangled from his muzzle before he dropped them into Hinata's lap. She looked up at him, surprised, and then gave him a small smile as she sorted through the fabric, some articles too big, others too impractical, all of it fraught with holes made by his jaws.

"The entire summer has passed. That means I've been here for three months, Kitsune-sama!" Hinata realized as she watched the first leaf of autumn fall into the churning pond. The fox looked at her, exasperated as he always was when she called him that. Those eyes that had been foremost in her nightmares for weeks were now a great comfort to her. They were warm, and Hinata could swear she could see human emotions in them. By the end of that first full day with him, she realized that the animal wasn't going to kill her.

That didn't mean she came to trust him right away, though. It wasn't until he had pulled her sputtering and gasping out of the waterfall basin, that she realized he was going to keep her from harm.

A nudge on her shoulder brought the fox into her attention as he trotted towards the water. She followed quietly, copying his movements as he sat at the pool's edge. His head hung low, his muzzle just an inch above the water. His breath made ripples, marring his reflection. But sitting on top of the water, barely there enough for Hinata to see was a red mist. The Kitsune's reflection was more than just rippling; it was changing.

Where a fox's face once reflected was the image of a boy around Hinata's age of sixteen. The image took Hinata's breath away, not just because of the magic it took but because of the boy himself. His hair was golden and practically radiated from his head. If his hair was the sun his eyes were the sky, deep blue and free. They were hardened, but also light as if he'd seen all the darkness this world had to offer and still wasn't phased.

The strangest part was that the reflection was repeating every move the fox made. They blinked simultaneously, tilted their heads in the same way, and gazed at each other longingly.

"That's…" eyes of fire and sky turned to her "that's you?" her whisper would have never been detected by human ears, but he just stared at her sadly, confirming her fears. The fox placed his paw into the water, banishing the face that Hinata could have stared at for hours, years even.

As his paw touched the bottom, the slick rocks betrayed him and sent his giant frame tumbling into the blue water with a surprised and painful bark. Scarlet streaked the water like clouds at sunset as Kitsune limped onto the bank. Hinata covered her face as he shook himself of the heavy drops, leaving only his paw dripping crimson.

Hinata quickly ran to the pile of rags ripped from her rejected clothing and chose one long enough to bandage the canine's thick pad, then hurried over to where her hulking protector lie licking his paw. Hinata took it gently, but as she grabbed it her nail prodded the wound. An instinctual need to harm that which harmed him caused the fox to scrape his teeth over her forearm before he could stop himself. They both watched as two red drops grew in size before falling onto the forest floor. Hinata disregarded it and set to wrapping his paw while he gazed away from her.

"So you were a boy…" she knelt back, her job done. "Do you remember your name?" Not that you could tell me… The shake of his large head still dashed her hopes. He licked his lips repeatedly, as if there was a bad taste in his mouth. "Are you hungry? Is something wrong?" he shook his head again at both questions, and Hinata chuckled breathily. "How could I have not realized you used to be human?" the fox stared at her questioningly. "What true fox would know to shake his head in reply?" The fox blinked, just now comprehending that himself. Indeed, there were plenty of non-animalistic behaviors that could have given his past away. No true beast would know of a human's need for clothing, or be able to show emotions in its gaze as her fox did.

As the sun dropped so did the temperature, bringing forth the first cold night since she'd been with Kitsune. As she quivered under a sliced moon, a mass of heat surrounded her. Warm fur pressed against her face and lulled her into slumber, her dreams centered on a blue-eyed boy that still lived, but no longer existed.

Hinata awoke still surrounded by warmth, her breath ruffling the golden fur pressed against her.

Gold?