Happily Insane

No one watched as the blond haired boy spun lazily, white wall after white wall passing before him as he danced to an invisible partner and beat. His eyes were closed so that no one could see the out of focused look in the blue pools to realize that his world was forever warped and twisted. It may have been the fact that he was isolated for almost thirteen years; maybe it was the fact that the soft whispers had slowly twisted his mind beyond belief. Then there was the theory that the whiskered boy let himself go crazy listening to the calls and wails of the demon kitsune in his navel. Whatever the case may be Uzumaki Naruto's mind was no long his own, and only a few had seen it at the best of times.

If one were to study the boy they would notice immediately that he was rather small for his age. Looking almost ten instead of the twelve that he was. Next you might have noticed the almost white hair that spiked in every direction and hung over his forehead and down to his waist. If you saw him standing still long enough to study his face you would look at his eyes and realize that the sky blue irises lost their child like wonder and changed to the cat like slits that made up his pupils. The whiskers on his cheeks stood out greatly on his pasty white complexion, easily showing he had almost never seen the sun. His cloths where simple white garments that might have been given to a prisoner of war or inmate in prison. The soft patter of feet echoed through the room as his uncovered feet moved to a beat that only he could hear. It was all offset however when, with a clank, a door in the side of the cell interrupted him and he gave a rather amusing pout to the old man in red and white robes with the kanji for fire painted on his strange hat stepped inside.

"Hello Naruto-kun," the man started softly, "the council has decided to use you again," he finished with a look that could be compared to someone eating a lemon.

"We get to come out again," the young boy asked.

"I'm afraid so Naruto-kun."

XxXxX

Uzumaki Naruto rushed headlong through the trees in the direction Shikyo-chan had told him were he was supposed to go. The two ANBU trailing behind were there to pinpoint the area for him as well as keeping him from running off.

The boy took a look down at himself to see what the cloths Shikyo-chan had told him to pick looked like on him. His feet had remained free of footwear but the black baggy pants that went down to his ankles kept him slightly warmer. The two, dark blue, kunai pouches on either leg filled with shuriken and kunai. However it was the items above his waist that drew most of his attention. He didn't much like his shirt as it hugged his body and only had the left sleeve. The sleeve was rather baggy and had a large opening at his wrist; Shikyo-chan said it was so the Kasurifundo could be pulled out faster, he supposed that the seven foot chain with a spike on one end and a weight on the other was what she was talking about. He knew how to use it, Shikyo-chan always made sure he knew how to use whatever he took with him. He then looked over at his right arm which was cover in small leather belts from his forearm to just below his shoulder. The belt that wrapped around his torso from his right shoulder to his left hip kept the two foot Ninjato strapped to his back.

"Naruto-san, we have almost reached the destination were we will we transfer to Mizu no Kuni by boat. From there we will meet up with Kakashi-san and his team at the client, Tazuna-san's, house," an ANBU with a dog like mask stated.

"Will I get to kill someone once we reach them," the blue eyed boy asked with a glance back at the two cloaked figures. They were startled to see a look a glee on his face at the mirror thought.

"It is unlikely," the female ANBU with a cat mask stated uncertainly. The boy was down cast for a moment, "but I'm sure you will eventually." She hated the look a happiness that reappeared on his face at the mention but did not voice it. After all, Kekkou Kyuui was the only one who had volunteered for the mission. She felt it was her obligation to the boy, knowing his mother and all, but she also found herself drawn to him as if pulled by some force to learn as much about him as possible.

Nikui Seken on the other hand was forced upon the mission by the Hokage. Apparently in hopes of showing him that it was not the boy that had killed his brother, he had yet to be convinced. The boy seemed blood thirsty and wanting to kill anything in striking distance. That was proved by the fact that he had shredded three squirrels beyond recognition and had eaten two of them. He hated the boy with a passion, a fact he was sure to state as much as possible without making it obvious. However he hated Kyuui even more, she had been on three missions with the demon in the past seven years and every time she was the only one to volunteer. It was common knowledge that she had know the demons mother when she had been alive but had yet to slip out who exactly she was. The father was something even she didn't know, it was said, but there was a rumor that it was the Yondaime himself who was the father but it was discredited when it was learned from Kyuui that the man had never even met his mother, how that was has yet to be explained.

Both ANBU were brought out of their thoughts, and almost their skin, when, with a high pitched squeal, Naruto leapt strait into the path of Kyuui and landed with a thump on her chest and clung there, much like a monkey, while burying his face into the crook of her neck.

"Naru-kun," Kyuui asked, "can you shift please?" While Naruto was rather small for his age the Kasurifundo added quite a bit of weight to him and carrying him like this would be uncomfortable and would leave her with a rather stiff neck in the morning. He gave a pout to the request but shifted so that she was carrying him bridal style. With a curious reach he took hold of the young woman's ANBU mask and pulled it gently off her face. This of course left Kyuui feeling rather exposed, she was used to the mask that would keep others from realizing what emotion was playing threw her mind. At the moment she was rather surprised at what had happened. She had known long ago that Naruto could switch from blood thirsty killer to curios little kid in flashes but this was the most dramatic she had ever seen it happen.

Naruto twisted and turned the mask in his hands while running them over the lacquered wood. With a smile he attached it to the belt on his chest and turned his attention to her face. He had seen it many times before but still he was always fascinated by it.

Kyuui gasped when she felt his clawed hands being placed on her cheeks.

Naruto ran his claws carefully over her skin, watching in amusement as he left small red trails on her skin. He frowned when the disappeared soon after. Once more he ran his claws over her cheeks only to frown deeper when the disappeared once more. He dug his claws in harder and smiled when they stayed longer than they had before. His smile turned into a growl when seconds later they began to fade, he dug his claws deep into her flesh, blood quickly beginning to fall.

Kyuui screamed at the pain and missed the tree branch she had been aiming for and the two of them began to plummet to the ground. Naruto's eye's focused and he quickly twisted around her body so that he was the one holding her now. The sixty foot drop was nothing for his enhanced body as he landed lightly on the ground with hardly a sound. He quickly propped Kyuui's body against a tree and was about to proceed with his usual treatment whenever he hurt her but had to jump out of the when four shuriken slammed into the ground where he had once sat hunched next to her.

Seken dropped down opposite Naruto, two shuriken held in his right hand as he examined Kyuui while keeping him in the corner of his vision. While he despised the woman for befriending the demon he couldn't help but admit that she was extremely attractive with her shoulder length, midnight black hair. Her violet eyes were shut tight from the pain and the blood on her face looked horrible on her cream colored face.

"Kyuui-san, are you alright," Seken asked.

"Hai," she stated while opening her eyes slightly. They opened wider once she had seen him and began to search the area franticly. When she finally Naruto, who had slowly been inching towards her once more became calm. Seken followed her gaze and sent a shuriken at the 'demon' who back flipped out of the way. Naruto growled at the man a made a mad dash at him. Seken's eyes widened when he realized that in his position he would never be able to move fast enough, fortunately or unfortunately, Kyuui quickly pushed the man out of the way only for Naruto's claws and teeth to come crashing down on her right arm. She screamed once again and Naruto's once again focused and he let go of Kyuui's arm. He leaned his head forward again, intent on beginning his treatment when her left hand came out and touched him lightly on the cheek.

"Not right now Naru-kun. On the boat," she said through grit teeth. Naruto gave a sad nod and reached behind her and into the pack for the medical supplies he knew she carried. He applied bandages to her cheeks and arm before standing her up. Seken had finally gotten over the shock that he wasn't dead and looked over to see the 'demon' helping Kyuui to her feet.

"We should get moving again Seken-san," Kyuui stated weakly. Seken only glared at her, he couldn't believe that she was still trusting and caring to the demon that had injured her. Fine, he thought, if that's how she wants it. He gave a grunt and jumped into the trees intent on putting as much distance between them as possible.

XxXxX

The boat was only ten feet long at the most so Seken resigned to sitting next to the driver instead of up at the front where Kyuui and that damned demon boy where. Still he could not help but watch as Kyuui slumped down and allowed the demon to sit in her lap.

Naruto gazed at Kyuui's bandaged cheek and arm with sorrow. She had removed her cloak so that it would be easier for him to get at her arm but he wanted to start with her cheeks.

Kyuui was the only thing that Shikyo-chan and him disagreed on. He loved her, that much he knew; he loved her almost as much as Shikyo-chan. But Shikyo-chan didn't want him to love her; she wanted him to kill her, to make sure that she never got the chance to betray him. He knew, however, that she never would, no, she was just to nice for that.

Kyuui relaxed more when she felt Naruto's soft hands peel away the bandage on her left cheek. It was something he did whenever he hurt her, medical jutsu did almost nothing for the wounds inflicted by Naruto so you either had to let it heal on it's own, highly unlikely, or let him treat it. All of the wounds he inflicted that ever drew blood scarred, she had learned that after the first few cuts she had gained from him. She didn't blame him; he didn't really know what he did most of the time. She sighed when she finally felt his tongue slide over the cuts on her cheek, his saliva numbing and healing the wound.

Naruto quickly moved on to the other cheek and applied the same treatment as the other. He heard her sigh once more and gave another sad smile before he gently unwrapped the gaze on her arm. He cringed at what he saw. There were puncture marks in her arm indicating where his claws had entered. He pushed his saliva into each of them before looking at where he had bitten into her. He had almost taken a chunk out of her arm, he realized as he placed his mouth over the lower portion of the wound first and then the upper. He wrapped her arm back up with new gaze and was about to do the same for her cheeks when Kyuui took hold of his hands.

"They're fine Naru-kun," she said sweetly. He gave her one last sad smile before laying his head on her chest and whispered apology after apology. Kyuui sighed and resigned herself to running her hands through his soft, almost furry hair. His apologies grew fainter and fainter until they finally stopped when he dropped off to sleep. She looked sadly down at the boy; he was at his most sane whenever he hurt her. While not entirely the best thing, Kyuui saw it as something good, she saw it as humanity and sanity still inside the boy. He gave a purr in his sleep and she couldn't help but giggle. She grabbed up her cloak and wrapped it around Naruto and herself before placing her head on top of his.

"Please Naruto," she spoke softly, a whimper creeping into her voice, "stay with me this time."

XxXxX

A/N: Well here we are. Please someone tell me you liked it. I have to say this is one of the best I've ever written and I have high hopes for where it may go. If you've read any of my other stuff then you know that this will be both dark and funny, an odd combination, but doable all the same. To all those wondering about Guidance of a Raven, I think I have a more defined idea about what I should do, mind you there will still be little fighting and for all of you hoping to read the fights I have set up might be disappointed. I'll ask you about the exams at the end of the next chapter for it so you might still be able to read about them. Until then, may the blessings of Rei Ayanami be upon you.