Kage ni yotte kakusa
(Hidden by Shadow)
(Formerly Hidden in the shadows by Daiyu Amaya)

Disclaimer:Don't own Naruto

A/N:
Daiyu Amaya: Thanks Nightmare-San for taking this up!
NightmarePainter: Thanks to Amaya-San I have taken on her story, I have made minor changes to what she did write those changes were mostly errors or just written diferently, honestly I didn't make very many, so the first 2,600 words are hers... She told me when she handed off this story that due to the fact she has too many stories in which to complete...she felt it wouldn't be fair to write another even though the story by S'TarKan motivated her, she couldn't continue on. Honestly I took this on likeing the work she did but knowing almost nothing about Naruto, it was not an anime/Manga I had had time to get to just yet. Too many other things to read/watch, So Most of the Shinobi related stuff while researched will be either wrongly or strangely used. What can I say? I tried and this is what happened! All translations shall be at the bottom with notes; if this bothers you please review and tell me so or go to my profile and send a message. I will if prompted by a number of people change it so that either A) it is translated at the top B) translated in story or C) written so no translation is needed.

'thinking'

"talk"

'kyuubi/ any kitsune talking through a mind link'

SO with out further ado, on to the story!

She hid in the shadows waiting for the team of shinobi to pass her up, 'five of them that could be a problem for me or a godsend'; she gently moved forward to the trailing shinobi who was small and wore bright orange. Why was he the obvious one? Was it team strategy? Make one noticeable and the rest could sneak up…but that would be too obvious right? She went to hit him with a surge of chakra, while it was small, that surge would paralyze a victim for several moments in which she could harm or stop them. 'I really need to work on Rakurai no sukurōru: Mahi (1), it could be used more efficiently'. The others turned out at the cry of the shortest of their members causing her to dart back into her shadowy nook. She didn't think they knew just what happened but she would have to move and soon, they might sense her at any point.

"What happened Naruto baka?" The pink haired one asked with a sneer on her face, was this a broken team? She had never heard such a tone within a team, only when they really weren't a team did she hear malice and irritation like that.

"I..I don't know, it felt like I was shocked…my hands are still tingling from it." He's words almost sounded like wonderment, and a touch of fear. Who were these people and why had they come to this town? Nishimura-sama isn't going to like this.'

"Hey you there what are you doing?" The new comer was lanky and shrouded by a shinobi shozoko. 'Ah Gorou-san!' The shinobi decided to get into a defensive position, of course that wouldn't help; "You're from the other clan aren't you!" They seemed a little confused by that, but Gorou was a little stupid in the head and went to attack; she couldn't allow him to be killed by stupidity now could she? "Gorou-san stand down, it is true they are shinobi but of what clan is unknown yes?" They gasped and half turned to her, of course being behind them would scare them a bit;

"Kojima-san… are you sure?"

She looked to the shinobi; they wore headbands with strange symbol on it which reminded her of a leaf, hm maybe that was what they called themselves? "We're here because we were sent here, a man named Nishimura, Eiji called for us." She nodded and so did Gorou, so they were the Ha no ichizoku(2) shinobi then; "Ah the head band makes sense now, I then apologize to the young one for striking him." They all looked surprised; 'rather amusing these ones.' "You did that to me? Wow, it felt strange…like I couldn't move." She nodded and gave a shy smile, not often did she hear respect for her Ninjutsu(3); "I could teach you if you'd like." His eye's widened a bit at that comment. She didn't often say that either so it came to a surprise to Gorou too. She then grinned at the orange clan child;

"But you'd have to do me a favor." The child Naruto seemed a little wary of the comment; "Get rid of the Orange, it's driving me nuts. I spotted you a mile away." He grinned sheepishly at her; "I'm Kojima, Ishiyo. If you'll follow me I'll take you to the Nishimura-Sama." They nodded to her and she grinned at Gorou;"Next time Shibata, try to be less noticeable and restrain yourself."

Kojima, Ishiyo's POV

"Ah, Kojima-san I see you've brought our guest." I bowed to Eiji before taking my seat; the others sat as well when Eiji motioned for them to do the same. "You asked us for help, why when you have good shinobi already?" I frowned at the silver haired Shinobi and glanced at Eiji who sent me the barest of nods; "He doesn't, not really. I can sneak up on people but I fail at being able to contain or stop them, the others however are the opposite. " Eiji nodded at my misdirection; I hadn't been sure if he would want them to know most of our ranks had been killed off by the others who threated us. Now only seven of us were uninjured at the time and only twelve injured. That and we lost over eighty so far, what kind of Shinobi we would be if we told them after all?

"Kojima-san speaks the truth; we have been injured but not beat. I wanted help from you to find how they get into our compound and if they should while you are here help assist us to get rid of them. We do not know who they are but they have harmed my clan and I will not allow it any further." Eiji was truly a strong leader, and truly a great man. I had watched him grow up and I loved him for the strength he showed. I did what I could when I could for him, but it was not enough for me.

"Ano, Kojima-san, may I speak with you?" Uzumaki looked uncomfortable with being near me; I had to wonder why that was. I nodded to him; "You may, but I have a wish to supper, You may come with me if you wish; I wouldn't mind sharing my Tsukimi Soba with you." He nodded a little shyly, what was this boy? He seemed to lose that light he'd had with the others…could it be his mask? "Do I frighten you Uzumaki-san?" He blinked and scratched the back of his head; "Yes?" I smiled; "I will not harm, I have no wish to since I rather teach you…that and I wish to change your fashion just a bit." He laughed at my comment and pinched a bit of his jumper, it was a painfully bright orange that I wished to no longer see. "I may have something that can fit if you're willing?"

"Where did Naruto go?" Sakura yelped when she came to the breakfast table and found that only Kakashi, Sasuke, and Nishimura were at the table. The latter only smiled secretively; "He might have been caught by our little ghost, ah speaking of said ghost; how was last night?" Sakura turned and was quite surprised; Naruto was not in his orange jumpsuit anymore but in a very different and very much darker outfit. Brown boots, Charcoal grey pants that had several deep looking pockets and a dark green shirt half covered by a charcoal grey jacket. Who the blazes? "Yes, said ghost captured Naru-Kun and gave him the talk of fashion don't and maybe a special treat." Nishimura laughed soundly as Naruto flushed and began to stutter; "Ishi-chan! Don't make fun of me!" Kakashi looked slightly perturbed by their friendliness. But reframing from saying something since the boy was alright;"Hum, I could stop…but it's much better this way, your more relaxed and natural acting; no one wants to see a mask after all." That froze all of team Kakashi, they had no clue at all when it came to Naruto's character if they were surprised by such a logical thing. That or they were just stupid, but that couldn't be since one was Kakashi and well versed in the way of the world.

"Gomen nasai! But would you not be so blunt about it Ishiyo-chan?" A smile could be seen forming on the 'ghost's' lips, before she tackled him soundly; "Aw but your too cute!" Nishimura and Kojima both froze and looked around; "Boss, that's a buildup of chakra." He nodded solemnly and motioned for her to leave; "Yes." And she faded into shadow.

Naruto's POV

I was a little surprised at the fact the Silver haired woman was so loved by Nishimura-san. She wasn't too much taller than I was, she was fair skinned and rather skinny; but her eyes were her best feature, they were a pale golden color, like honey. She had a broad grin that seemed directed only at me and her boss, I really was interested in her technique which she used on me. I wanted to learn it and though I loved to be noticed she was right, I had realized that in this conflict it was best not to be noticed. We talked or rather Kakashi-sensei and Nishimura-san did while we sat rather bored. Using this time for once wisely I thought of how to approach Kojima-san, a direct approach seemed like the best plan; she seemed very forward and friendly but I was nervous about asking her anything. We were allowed to leave at last, servants to each of us to show us to our rooms. I shooed mine off telling them I wanted to talk to Kojima-san. They smiled secretively and left me to buck up and go follow her;

"Ano, Kojima-san, may I speak with you?" She turned lightly a calculating look on her face but nodded to me. I fidgeted and wondered exactly what I was getting myself into. "You may, but I have a wish to supper. You may come with me if you wish; I wouldn't mind sharing my Tsukimi Soba with you." I nodded a little; now that was not what I was expecting at all. But it was late, and if she had been on patrol then she hadn't had time for dinner just yet. But to go to her home, to eat with her…I was befuddled and scared to. It wasn't often people were nice to me, most just wanted to hurt me and since I didn't know her or this place I could be risking the team and my life. "Do I frighten you Uzumaki-san?" Did she? "Yes?" I felt rather foolish about admitting it but it was the truth. "I will not harm, I have no wish to since I rather teach you…that and I wish to change your fashion just a bit." I laughed at the comment and picked at my jumper. She was right after, it was too bright and it was rather annoying now that I thought about it. "I may have something that can fit if you're willing?" Boy was I! If my color was so numbing to look at I might as well change for this conflict, no one had ever told me that about my clothes; "So Naru-kun, are you an only child or a brother?" She asked as we began to walk to her home; I blinked, what did that matter for? If I had had any they were long gone since I grew up with no family, no one really to care about me till iruka sensi. But it wouldn't hurt to tell her; "I don't have any siblings." She nodded; "But you are not coddled by your parents however?" I flinched and she looked curious at the reaction; "Don't have them. They died to protect the village; a. a Akuma kitsune was attacking our village." She nodded lightly;

"You mean Kyuubi perhaps?" I gasped and looked up at her, how had she known his name? "Ah here we are; come in!" She unlocked the door and stepped inside, It was a normal enough looking place. It kind of reminded me of my own place just not as shabby and with wall scrolls everywhere, some of fish or trees with sayings on both. We entered her bedroom by the looks of it above her bed a large scroll taking up most of the wall of a silver fox pouncing at a golden one. The silver fox reminded me of a prettier Kyuubi, the gold one looked more like him. "Kyuubi fought once against one of his own for the one he loved, kyuubi fought a kitsune named Hamura and they fought because of Ishi. Both wanting to lay claim to her, but only Kyuubi loved her…"

I felt Kyuubi's chakra flare at her comments and wondered how she knew the tale. 'Kit look out for her, I think she's a kitsune.' She was a…but how? She looked human enough and yet… could he be right? "Ah, found it! Here I'll be in the kitchen when you put this on. I'm starved." And she walked out of the room; I sighed and began to pull my clothes off. I didn't understand anymore, why was she worried about me at all? I belonged to a different village and yet. And yet she seemed to care about me more than they did. 'I think I know who she is too Kit, she feels familiar to me. She might be part of my clan or of Hamura's.' What was the story behind that? Fighting over a woman hadn't seemed too smart to me; 'Smart no, but I loved Ishi and Hamura just wanted to use her.' Kyuubi…why are you telling me this? I thought you hated me? 'I use to Kit, but I've begun to see what those pathetic humans have done to you. Don't you think that you should have been trained differently? I noticed certain areas in which you could be trained up in and yet, yet they have not seen it or turn a blind eye to it. If this Ishiyo wants to train you let her.' Well that was good advice, and the clothes fit too. I walked out to the kitchen before it hit me suddenly, her first name was Ishiyo, what if she had just added the yo to it? 'Kit?' I decided I had to know;

"You're Ishi?" She blinked at me and burst into laughter; "Aw darn kit a little more perceptive then I thought, yes your right I was Ishi. Here let me get Kyuubi out for a second to talk to us about it…It won't really be freeing him of the seal but you'll be able to see him and I would be able to hear him." I nodded and sat at the table when she motioned me to;

"Hōshutsu: Seishin shīru!" (4)

As a human Kyuubi was actually very handsome if not a little ghostly due to the technique, he had short silver hair that was near his shoulders and The eyes were no longer the blood red I knew, instead they were golden like Ishiyo's . His skin glowed softly and was pale as snow; he smirked lightly. "Thank you Ishi, but why are you in human form? Working as a shinobi no less?" Even his voice was different, still comanding but not as scary sounding. I noticed the smiled she sent back at him;

"Because of you silly, I knew you went to attack a shinobi village and yet you didn't return to your clan; they counted you dead and I knew better than that." I blushed at the look he gave her; I had only seen it when I saw couples who hadn't seen me just yet. Mostly people just glared at me after all. Ishi grabbed some bowls and came to the table, handing me one with chopsticks she sat down and looked at Kyuubi; "Koi I would love to help your container, but you're in his way. What kind of seal did they use to get you in him?"

(This is where I Nightmare painter took on the story!)

He sat in a chair too, only I wasn't sure if he really was sitting or floating above it.

"Shiki Fuujin." (5)

She nodded at that;

"Well, using Kitsuneodori: Hi shīru should give you back your own body and let him live... only you'll still be bound in some ways...you'll be able to talk telepathically still...and share chakra." (6)

That wouldn't be so bad really; he could have his life and I mine...but what if he attacked Konoha again?

"Kit, if you let her do this you could be free of me."

Did I really want to be free of him? He had been a part of me for as long as I had been alive. If I lost him...if I was freed from him what would my life be like?

"B..but I."

Kyuubi seemed a little surprised that I was hesitant. Wouldn't he have been hesitant if he'd been in my place? Kyuubi offered me power, true. But it wasn't the power that kept me; he in his own way had cared about me. Well more like the fact that for him to stay alive I would have to. Even if it was petty he had wanted me to stay alive...no one else really had wanted that.

Random notes for explaining some of the words that Amaya-san and my self used:

Shinobi Shōzoku: During Japanese feudal times, for night attacks shinobi shōzoku clothing (as dictated by the situation, preference or availability) could be black, dark green, dark blue or dark red, depending on which offered better night camouflage with its surroundings. I found the above to be pretty intresting and congratulate Amaya-San for looking this up. I found the information from wiki only beacuse Amaya's link didn't work.

Translation:

(1) Scroll of lighntning:Paralysis
(2)clan of leaf (lol I tried leaf clan but got 葉一族 which translates to family leaves)
(3) We all know Ninjutsu, Amaya-san chose to go for Kekkai Genkai From Naruto actually, it is translated as such; ("bloodline limit") are abilities passed down genetically in ordinary clans. Amaya-san ignored this due to the fact that Ishiyo was a Kitsune which I kept, it is intresting to add in things like that I think so I kept it, But I changed it to Ninjutsu since she was going to teach Naruto it.
(4)Release: Spirit Seal I wasn't very creative on this, didn't need to I guess.
(5)Demonic Soul Seal
(6) Kitsuneodori: Hi shīru (Dancing Fox: fire seal)