Warnings: Nothing, really. Unless you count Kyuubi. Cuz, y'know, he's in here. Ergo, talk of blood and violence will likely occur. And also possibly WAFF. Who knows where this thing will go? Not me. Sort of spoiler-y for episode 56ish in the anime, if you look for it.
Notes: Quick note on the Japanese, as I watch the subbed Naruto anime almost exclusively, hearing 'gaki' for brat and 'Kyuubi' for the fox and so on sounds natural, after running through almost 140 episodes. So, keep that in mind.
This was something I wrote for Sintari's 'New Blood' contest. I liked how it came out, so here it is.
The whole Naruto/Kyuubi angle has always interested me (Not like you're probably thinking. I refuse to write homosexual bestiality. Everyone has a line they won't cross, that's mine. Maybe one or the other, but not both at once). So, here's a little one shot on that. Enjoy.
Conversation with a Demon (Or: What's the crappiest title I can come up with in five minutes?)
The full moon always made the Kyuubi kind of… jittery. It gave the boy he resided in the feeling of ghostly fur shifting beneath his skin, which was way creepier than you might think it would be. Naruto wasn't sure why, but he thought it might have been the whole nocturnal predator thing. At least, Naruto thought he'd heard that somewhere, that regular foxes hunted during the nighttime. Maybe that didn't apply to magical, talking, nine-tailed, ninja-killing kitsune foxes. The Kyuubi was something Naruto didn't like to think about at the best of times, so he didn't.
Mostly, nights of the full moon were spent running. Running on two feet, running on all fours, leaping between buildings for the sheer exhilaration of it. It… soothed the fox within him, somehow. Which sort of indicated that the Kyuubi could feel what Naruto could feel, which was also a creepy thought, and so Naruto didn't dwell on it. He just ran. His surroundings blurred as he raced by, as fast as he could, his lungs working like a bellows.
Finally, he came to rest on a roof overlooking a good part of the little Hidden Village of Konoha, only a few doors down from where he was pretty sure the Inuzukas and Sakura-chan lived, breathing heavily. He met up with Kiba and Akamaru sometimes, on nights like these. Apparently, the Inuzukas were as restless as he was when the moon hung in the sky. Probably because they were a lot more dog-like than your average ninja. The fangs, the claws, the eyes - Naruto snickered a bit - if Kiba was any judge, they even tasted like dog. But if Kiba was out and about tonight, he was ranging far from home, since Naruto didn't see him anywhere.
Slowly, his breathing quieted, and he sat back on his haunches to look up into the night sky. On full moon nights, the Kyuubi was so close it almost seemed like he - it? - was looking out of his vessel's - vassal? Medium? What exactly was the terminology for being sort-of possessed by a kind-of-dead-but-not-really fox demon that's really more of a being of pure chakra now and can't really control you much unless you get really pissed off? - eyes.
And then Naruto had a strange thought. Deciding he might as well do it since he wouldn't be getting to sleep any time soon, he closed his eyes and focused. The best definition of what he was doing now was that he was looking inwards, feeling towards the cage in his stomach, where he knew the seal keeping the Kyuubi inside him was. In battle, fighting for his life, it was easier, powered as he was by adrenaline and emotion and need, barreling inwards and demanding chakra from his tenant to get out of the latest mess he'd gotten himself into.
But like everything Naruto did, he persisted, stubbornly trying to find a way inside, probing with invisible fingers for an opening in the seal the Fourth had crafted.
And suddenly, he had a sensation of… not quite falling, but similar, and there was a pull, and he was within. It looked just like it had the last time, like a maze of corridors, all in a state of disrepair, wires dangling and walls peppered with gouges and holes and generally looking old as hell, and water ankle-deep on the floor, everything in an odd monochrome. If this was his mind he was in now, he didn't want to think of what it was trying to say, considering how messed up everything was.
And he wandered along, following the chakra that was both familiar and not-familiar, his and not-his, until he came to the massive, barred door, engraved with swirling lines with an almost-insignificant little ofuda stuck to it, spelling out the kanji for 'seal'.
He paused here, unsure if he was supposed to start yelling 'Kyuubi' at the top of his lungs to get the damned thing to notice him. But a moment later, the red presence that was the Kyuubi appeared out of the darkness beyond the door, all massive eyes and gigantic grin sporting teeth as big as Naruto was tall, and just the faintest outline of a furry face.
The Kyuubi spoke, his voice a bass rumble that was deeper than any human voice could possibly be. Naruto realized he was trembling ever so slightly, and forced himself to stop.
"Again you come here. What do you want, gaki?"
It shivered his bones and reverberated through him, making him want to run or kneel or beg for his life. Being Naruto, of course, he just grinned through his fear, scratched at the back of his head in embarrassment and declared, his voice sounding all too human after the Kyuubi's display: "Well… my plan sounded a lot better when I was outside."
The fox laughed, and hot breath that probably wasn't real ghosted over Naruto's body. The only thought Naruto could come up with was that it wasn't as fetid as he'd figured it would be, considering what the Kyuubi probably ate - had eaten? - on a regular basis.
"I like you, gaki. You have guts, coming in here like this. I could eat you, you know."
Naruto plopped himself down in a cross-legged position, muttering as he did so, "Great. Just what I always wanted, for the monster fox to like me. And no you can't, you're on that side of the big seal door thing, and I'm on this side." The Kyuubi replied, sounding… piqued.
"True. If I ever find the human who did this to me, I will eat him. And his family. And his friends. And any pets he might have had. And that damn toad of his, too."
Naruto laid down, hands crossed behind his head. Sure, he was having a conversation with the demon who had almost demolished his village a decade past, but that was no reason to be uncomfortable while he was doing it. "I don't know how you'd do that, Fox, since you're stuck inside me."
The Kyuubi considered.
"Also true. I'll have you eat him."
Naruto snorted. "Not gonna happen." He mumbled the next line in a quieter voice, "I hope," before returning to his normal speaking voice. "And you won't have to. The Fourth died, thirteen years ago."
"Ah! Even better. Once I find a way past this seal, I probably won't even eat you, in thanks."
Naruto scratched his head. Honestly, once you got past the horrifying power and atrocious eating habits, the Kyuubi wasn't so bad.
"So… why're you so twitchy on the full moon. Ne? Ne? And don't talk bad about the Fourth!"
"Or else what, gaki? I'm sealed inside a brat who fails to show me even a hint of the respect that is my due. Me! The demon who was hailed as a natural disaster! I was destroying villages millennia before your little Konoha was founded! I defeated any who dared to face me in battle, demon or human, and devoured them, heart and marrow, blood and bone, body and soul! What could you possibly do that would be worse than my present situation?"
"Eh." Naruto idly tapped out a rhythm with his heels against the floor, no longer even remotely scared of the horrific creature that lived within him. The Kyuubi just sounded too much like a whiny human to be scared of. "How would you like to be sealed inside a brat to fails to show you respect, etcetera etcetera… and also surrounded by some pretty flowers? Or maybe a few nice ribbons? Or I could paint some funny graffiti on the outside of your cage…"
"Brat. I should eat your liver for that display of insolence."
"Yeah, yeah. So, what's up with the full moon?"
"Mmm, so you feel it too? There is just something about the moon that… excites me. Makes me want to eat someone, or fuck something. Hmm, now there's an idea. What do you say to paying your little Sakura-chan a visit?"
Naruto glared at him. "Hell no, damned Fox. If you hurt Sakura-chan, I WILL find a way to destroy you." He sounded deadly serious, for once. He got the impression that Kyuubi was laughing at him again, though the kitsune only widened his grin.
"Ah, gaki, it wouldn't have to be painful… ha ha! Well then, if not her, perhaps the little mousy one that fancies you?"
Naruto looked baffled. "Who? Hinata? You gotta be joking, dumb Fox. She's nice, but she hardly ever says anything. What makes you think she likes me that way?" Again with the silent laughter.
"Well, if you can't figure it out, I won't tell you. All right then. If not fucking, then surely fighting is to your taste. Go pick a fight with the dark-furred one, or the Kiba gaki. Make them bleed. It will be glorious."
Now that, honestly, didn't sound like a bad idea to Naruto. He could go pick a fight with somebody, he was sure Kiba or Sasuke-bastard would oblige him. They could pound on each other for a while, and he could go home and get some sleep. That sort of thing made sense. Staying and continuing this conversation with his tenant didn't. But he was still curious.
"Hey Fox… why'd you pick Konoha, anyway?"
Somehow, the demon behind the gate gave the impression of a shrug, even though all Naruto could see of him was his face. It was all in the tone.
"Because it was there. There was no great reason, gaki. I wanted a challenge. Killing high-level ninja is FUN. There is beauty in destruction, for my kind, at least. Yours too, I imagine. A battle to make my blood sing, greater than any I had ever known. That was what I wanted. It would be magnificent. And it was. Until that man, your Hokage, arrived on his toad. And now here I am, gaki, stuck inside a human child. Not one of my better moments, I suppose."
Naruto wrinkled his nose. That was quite a speech. He'd always wondered what the Fox's purpose had been, attacking his home. The answer was 'nothing,' apparently. It figured. Not just a demon fox inside him, oh no, but a malevolent, at least semi-psychotic demon fox. To quote Shikamaru… how troublesome.
"Yeah, well, it's been fun and all, Fox, but I need to go. I'll come again some time, you know, next time I'm about to die and need some chakra to pull my ass out of the fire."
"Anytime, gaki. Though of course, the next time you show up, I will eat you."
"Sure, sure. Ja ne, demon fox."
---
When Naruto came to himself again, he found that he was smiling. And that he was facing the now-rising sun. Which was awfully strange, considering the last time he had encountered the Kyuubi an entire conversation had lasted mere seconds in the outside world, whereas this time their conversation had lasted several hours, but Naruto filed it away for another time.
He wasn't sure what time it was, but he knew he needed to hurry to Team 7's meeting place, since once again Kakashi-sensei had set the time for their meeting early in the morning, though their sensei himself wouldn't show up for several hours afterwards with some lame excuse. And if he actually showed up later than lazy-Kakashi-sensei, his team would never let him hear the end of it.
Naruto leaped away from his perch, running towards the bridge that was their usual meeting place, demon chakra powering his steps.