A.N.: This is a Naruto/Yu Yu Hakusho crossover. I only VERY recently became a Naruto fan, so I apologize for any OOC-ness. And, I'm sorry to any Kurama fans who are reading this. I really DO like Kurama, but I couldn't figure out how else to tie these two series together well. Anyway, there are mentions of Kurama/Hiei, and implied Naruto/Hiei. Lastly, I do not own anything here except the plotline.
Naruto walked slowly through the woods surrounding Hidden Leaf village. He looked at the path and surrounding trees, not really seeing them. Normally he would be making trouble with (or on) one of his few friends, but right now he was alone. If anyone had been there to see him, they would have seen a troubled expression on his face.
'Why?" He asked himself, thinking of the mission he had just gotten back from the day before. 'Why am I losing control? What's happening to me? Naruto sighed. Try as he might, he couldn't think of anything. Of course, messing up also meant getting ridiculed by Sasuke and Sakura.
Suddenly, there was someone in Naruto's path. He was shorter than Naruto with spiked black hair and red eyes. He wore black clothes and a white band around his forehead. But, Naruto noticed, it didn't have a metal plate attached declaring him to be a ninja. Kurama. I finally tracked you down." He said. His voice was anger-filled and a lot deeper tan Naruto thought; he'd been expecting a squeak.
Naruto was silent for a moment in shock. "I-I'm not Kurama. I'm Naruto," he finally stammered. E never saw the stranger move. He simply found himself pinned against a tree with a stinging back, the stranger's left hand around this throat, and his right hand holding Naruto to the tree.
"Don't lie to me!" The stranger whispered viciously in Naruto's ear. "I know the feel of your aura anywhere."
Naruto was confused for a moment, but suddenly he understood. After all, wasn't aura just another word for chacra? "You mean the kyuubi's aura..." he rasped.
"What? The stranger snapped. He loosened his grip on Naruto's throat.
"A kyuubi was sealed inside my body the day I was born, Naruto explained, breathing deeply. "Hn," the stranger answered. He reached up with his right hand and pulled the band down around his neck. Naruto's eyes widened in shock when a third eye opened in the stranger's forehead. There was a surge of demonic power stronger than anything Naruto had ever felt before. "Your aura's being overwhelmed by Kurama's. That's why I didn't sense it before." His two main eyes narrowed with suspicion and anger. "You made a pact with him, didn't you?" His hand tightened threateningly around Naruto's throat.
Amidst his panic, Naruto struggled to remember when he started using the kyuubi's power at will. The stranger's third eye wasn't helping; Naruto couldn't stop staring at it. "I-I, uh-I had run out of chacra and I was falling off a cliff," he stammered in a rasp. "I-I told it-him-that he should pay me rent, since it-HE-lived in my body. He's let me use it's-his-chacra ever since."
The strangers two main eyes rolled and his hand relaxed again. "Of course he did, you baka. The more of his power you use, the more leverage he has ever you. Eventually, you'll start losing control." He watched as a look of panicked realization bloomed on Naruto's face. "You already are, aren't you," he drawled.
"T-two days ago. I-I didn't know-"
"Hn," he cut Naruto off. "It won't be long before Kurama breaks loose."
Naruto's eyes widened and he started hyperventilating and shaking. "What-what h-have I-" he started breathlessly stammering. The stranger tightened his grip on Naruto's neck again, forcing Naruto to breathe more slowly. Naruto started sliding down. He leaned heavily against Naruto to support Naruto's weight between himself and the tree. Distracted by the feel of the stranger's toned body and strong grip on his neck, the panic receded from Naruto's mind.
"I'll be watching you, Naruto," the stranger whispered harshly in Naruto's ear. "When Kurama breaks loose...I'll BE there." The stranger probably meant it as a threat, but Naruto found it oddly comforting, and he found himself relaxing.
The stranger closed his third eye. Naruto felt that rush of demonic power again as it receded, and heat flooded his body. He suddenly had the desire to stay just where he was. Realizing the direction his thoughts had taken, he flushed with embarrassment.
The stranger noticed the change. But instead of mocking Naruto as Naruto expected, a look of surprise came over his face. Naruto was even more surprised when it melted into a look of pain and longing. A single tear streaked down his cheek and landed heavily on Naruto's shoulder. Before Naruto could blink, he was gone, and Naruto was headed for the ground. He saw a sudden flash half-way down.
Landing painfully on his hands, he bent to take a closer look. There, on the ground before him, was a small, round crystal. Naruto picked it up. It looked rather like...like a tear. Touching the spot where the stranger's tear had fallen, he found it dry. Was it POSSIBLE for tears to crystallize?
Completely baffled at everything that had just happened, Naruto put the stone in his pocket and headed home. He had a lot of questions buzzing through his head. He couldn't figure out which ones were more puzzling.