Naruto Uzumaki can almost feel the demon in his belly. It's a phantom limb, a faint itch he has been told not to scratch at. He lies on his bed at night and can't sleep because his mind is still busy, still prodding at the part of himself that is not himself.

He raises his hand against the moonlight, eyes tracing fingers and veins. He can almost see the red chakra seething beneath his skin, can almost remember what it feels like to be the nine-tailed fox.

Almost.

Rose Tyler doesn't remember the time she had a wolf running rampant through her mind. The lack of memory bothers her, calling out for her to fill in the blanks with something other than singing and painfully bright light. She lies in her bed in the TARDIS and tries to quiet her mind.

She tightens a hand on her belly and closes her eyes. "Bad Wolf." She says to an empty room and her lips tingle. Her mind buzzes with almost-memories and golden light. Sometimes, she almost remember what it felt like to be the Bad Wolf.

Almost.

.

.

.

When it comes out, there is destruction, there is chaos, but most importantly, there is power.

.

.

.

Naruto isn't himself when he reaches out a clawed hand and strikes down a friend. He's gone from himself, trapped in some place where nothing makes sense and there is more pain than he can stand.

(His life is burning away.)

Rose isn't herself when she raises a hand and destroys an entire race. She's someone different, someone new and everything is golden and burning. It hurts to look at. It hurts more than she can understand.

(Her life is burning away.)

.

.

.

He is Naruto Uzumaki.

(except when he isn't)

She is Rose Tyler.

(except when she's not)

.

.

.

He tightens a hand over the seal on his belly. The fox is inside him, a part of him he will never be truly rid of or gone from. No matter how much he'd like to pretend it isn't there, it is there and there can be no changing it.

Naruto is a prisoner as much as a jailor. He never asked for the beast that growls behind his navel.

She closes her eyes when he head starts to pound. There is still something inside of her, traces left from an energy she did not truly control. No matter how much she'd like to be rid of the faint golden glow, she doesn't think it will ever truly be gone from her mind.

Rose creates herself in shades of pink and yellow. She never asked for any gold to enter the equation.

.

.

.

Across the universes, voices whisper, wolves howl.

"Beware," They say.

"Beware the Burning Ones."

.

.

.

Naruto shuts his eyes tight and pretends he's sleeping. He misses the days he spent in ignorance, not knowing why the villagers looked at him with hatred and fear. Before he knew a seal painted by his father's hand was seared on his skin.

Days before he knew what it was like to be high on something so powerful that seared his soul. His mouth tastes bitter and metallic, like blood.

Rose sucks in a breath and holds it behind clenched teeth. She wants to go back, back to before her head pounded with truths that humans weren't supposed to know. The day and the night, the sun and the moon...they hurt and she hurts along with them.

She longs for the days before she created herself. The heavy song of the universe plays in her ears. Some days, she thinks it might drive her mad.

.

.

.

He is the nine-tailed fox.

She is the Bad Wolf.

Everything is burning.


A/N: Well, I don't know where that came from. Seriously. No idea. I just...never mind. Review and stuff.

Disclaimer: As per usual, I own nothing.