Brown Fox

Brown Fox

Chapter 2

Growing up Green

A/N I would like to thank creitros for correcting my improper Japanese.

Five years have passed since the Kyuubi no Kitsune fell to the heroic might of the Fourth Hokage. The village had sustained minimal damage due to the sacrifice of the Shinobi and the former Hokage on that faithful day. But the damage the fox did to the ninja populace was immense, many brave warriors fell on that day, and the village had still not forgotten the unreal terror they felt on that fateful day. But there was still a blatant reminder of that cold October night, one small, harmless, innocent child, named Uzumaki Naruto.

"Kaa-san" said the five-year-old child to his adoptive mother, the boy was growing normally, with no hideous mutations or random mood swings from the fox's presence. He is currently wearing a simple black t-shirt with a pair of khaki shorts, both a bit too big for him, bought on the premise that he would grow into them.

"What is it young one?" replied Rin, who was smiling at the young boy, she had decided to adopt the bundle of joy after she learned of his deceased parents, and the less-then-happy attitude the orphanage was giving him, though the treatment was by no means abusive, just neglectful. Rin's decision was not made on a whim, she thought about the responsibility looking after the boy would entail, the changing, the feeding, the constant need of attention, but she just couldn't let him live the rest of his life by the skin of his teeth. So, after, she quit her job as a full time Shinobi. Rin decided to apply for a job as a Nurse at the local hospital. Then she decided to adopt the little ball of energy, and she has never looked back since.

"When are you going to train me to be a Ninja?" Asked the ever-hyperactive blonde five year old, ever since he saw the Third Hokage do a simple substitution technique to avoid his grandson's projectile vomit, he was constantly peppering her with this question. But it was a good thing he was interested in becoming a ninja, after all, the council in its most honorable way would force the child to become one.

"When you are old enough Naruto, right now your charka coils are too underdeveloped to practice anything but kunai throwing and taijutsu." replied the retired chunnin to the blonde child, though her reasoning was correct, Rin also didn't want the boy to be too involved in his ninja skills to not make friends his own age, which was hard enough with the ever vigilante parents keeping there children away from the blonde child.

"Then why don't you teach me those things Kaa-san?" questioned Naruto; Rin had no choice but to answer truthfully to the blonde child.

"Because little one, you need to make friends before you make enemies," Replied the nurse content that the answer would sate the boys lust for ninja knowledge, for now.

"But where can I make friends Kaa-san?" replied Naruto, seemingly unaware of the startled expression on his mothers face. Rin had no idea how to reply to this question, she had been trying to find the answer to that question for a while now, much to her sadness, she had found none, but then it suddenly came to her. The children were not the problem, the parents are, and where are there no parents.

"The orphanage," replied Rin, there were plenty of kids there, all starving for friendship and attention, and the children were usually taken to the park every Wednesday to play. Though today was only Saturday, she would have to wait in till next week to put her evil plan into action. "Hey Naruto, how would you like to go to the park this Wednesday and have a picnic?" asked the now smiling nurse, why did she not think of this before? It was brilliant!

"Will there be Ramen?" asked the now smiling little boy, she had no idea why but the boy had an unnatural addiction to the noodle soup, whenever he could the boy would eat the stuff, and with the speed of a trained ninja too. This did not please the medic nin too much, considering the lack of nutrients in the dish.

"As much ramen as you could possibly eat." Answered Rin, she had to have him in a happy mood so he would be easier to talk with by the orphaned children. If this worked out as planned, he could have a decent childhood and not have to be completely emotionless as a Shinobi. And the later date gave her enough time to request the day off on Wednesday to spend with her child. This reminded her she would have to pay back Kakashi for all those times he looked after her child when she couldn't get Iruka or one of her nurse friends to do it.

----------Somewhere in the Konoha Forest----------

Five years, five long years, that is how long she has been looking after the child. The baby had grown up fine, even though he was raised in the forest, he could talk well enough so other humans could understand him, which was one of the many requirements the elders had for the boy. The lady of the forest had to learn the human's savage language, so she could teach it to the child. For whatever the elders wanted with the boy, they would not tell her, but they went out of there way to make sure she wouldn't talk ill of his own species around him. But even with these limitations, she could not help but like the child, he was quiet, receptive, respective, and most of all, intelligent, the boy, even at his young age of five, did almost nothing without thinking it through, the boy had his moments of weakness, but irregardless it was astonishing. Even her own kind was headstrong at his age, but the raising of the child was not all peace and quiet, the boy had the weirdest sense of humor, picking up sarcasm from Kami knows where, it seemed whenever he would speak, he would have some sarcastic remark, not aimed at anyone to be hurtful, but just enough so you couldn't help but notice. But, getting back to the limitations that the elders set forth for the boy, he needed friends, not just of her species, which he had plenty of, but of his own kind, being a lady of the forest, she had no idea how to go about with doing this, her only interaction with his kind was to steal milk from the traders carts, the boy needed the calcium and Vitamin D to grow up healthy, and those few times she went into town, disguised as a normal human, to steal clothes for the weed that is her constantly growing charge. But she was brought out of thinking by the voice of said child.

"Kaa-san" said Kasshoku no Kitsune, he had grown quite a bit since his birth, which was to be expected since that's what children do, he was wearing a brown heavy cloak, needed to protect him from the cool nights in the Konoha forest, and underneath the cloak was a brown t-shirt and a pair of navy blue pants, bought 2 sizes too large, too minimize the amount of stealing she would have to do for the boy, since there species used species (1). The boy also wore a half mask to cover up his bottom half of his face along with his whisker marks, the lady of the forest new of her charges "Tenant" and told him flat out the very second he was capable of understanding, he took it surprisingly well for a three year old. It also saved her an explanation of why he would always have to wear the mask, "Kaa-san" the boy repeated again, hoping this time to get his mothers attention.

"What is it sapling?" replied the now listening mother,

"You've been standing there looking at me for about 5 minutes, are you thinking about something Kaa-san?" asked the now curious boy, who had been looking at his mother wondering what she could of possibly been doing staring at him.

"Yes, Yes I have been sapling, im trying to find a way for you to make some more friends" replied the now slightly embarrassed mother; she had yet to tell him that he was of a different species then her, though she had no idea why, but whenever she thought about revealing the truth it her heart pained a little bit, so she just never told him. But that is not the problem right now; the dilemma that was stuck on her plate now was trying to get this kid friends of his own kind, not of hers, she was running through a list of possible candidates for potential comrades, this time she made sure to not stare at the child, clan members? No, too protective, civilians? No, too weak, and frivolous, Ninja Families? He might be tempted to join up with the humans, so that was another no. But as she continued to run down the list of possible bonds, she camp across one that made perfect sense. "Orphans!" she said out loud, startling the boy next to her,

"Random word is random" said the still startled boy to the left of her with just a hint of sarcasm, angering his mother a bit, but it was well deserved on her part. Recovering from the rightful rebuttal, she went on to ask.

"Sapling, would like to make new friends?" asked the mother while looking at the boy, hoping he would be as eager as usual when it came to new people, he was always excited about meeting all the children of the forest, she was just hoping that excitement would stay for his own kind.

"Sure, can nee-san come along?" questioned the brown themed boy, 'nee-san' was one of her species being of the same year as he was, and they became friends over there short life times, granted the relationship was somewhat abusive to the human child. But that was a thought for another day.

"Sorry sapling, nee-san can not come with you today, she has to stay home with her parents." as she looked at the boy he looked a bit crestfallen but quickly perked up, after all no one likes a downer.

"So, Kaa-san, when are we going to meet these new friends?" Question the boy with renewed vigor.

"As soon as I find them my sapling, you will meet them," mumbled the lady of the forest, as she began to walk off into the forest. Wondering how to pull this off without losing her child.

XxXxXx Later that week XxXxXx

A blonde haired, blue eyed, five year old was excited more excited then ever before, today was the big day, the day he had a whole day to spend with his Kaa-san. No nurses to try and make him eat healthy today, just a day with him, his Kaa-san and a lot of ramen. But the problem was, it was still too early to go to the park, and his mother would not let him leave early. So he had to sit and wait, which for him, was like sculpting a statue, without any working materials. But, with threats from his Kaa-san of lessened ramen, he attempted to still himself for another 15 minutes. When the torture he called, patience was finally over, he bolted out the door with his mother in tow and they were off to the park to enjoy the day together.

A similar yet different event was happening near the edge of the forest of Konoha, the sight was of a seemingly normal human mother, with bright green hair, dark green eyes, and bark covering her most private areas, with moss to cover any skin that could be seen as undignified. Along with a small five-year-old child that looked to be more of a tree then a kid, the only thing that made him separate from the forest backdrop was his arm sticking out of his cloak. Though these two looked to be nothing alike in the genetics department, if you could hear what one of them was saying to the youngest of the group. They would quickly rethink their first impression.

"Remember Sapling, if someone asks who you're parents are say that they left to go get something to eat," waiting for the boy to nod, she then continued on her laundry list of does and don'ts "Also, if they ask about the mask, say "it's a family tradition" hopefully that would be enough of an explanation for him or her." this time not even waiting for the boy to nod, she rushed on to say "also, do not leave the park, if you do, there will be no saving you from my wrath." waiting for the boys response of acceptance, she left him with her closing statement "make plenty of friends, and don't get into trouble, and be sure not to talk to the other children about anyone you know in the forest" with that being said she hugged him quickly and went off to do whatever mothers do when there children are playing.

But as this one-sided conversation was happening in the trees, another was happening in the park itself, but this one, instead of being between a green haired woman, and a brown haired child, this one was between a brown haired nurse, and a blonde haired child. "Alright Naruto, I want you to play nice," said the retired chunnin, waiting for the conformation sign from her adoptive child, "be sure to be outgoing, and don't get too dirty, I just washed these clothes." with these few warnings out of the way, she only had one more word of advice to give, "be nice and make lots of friends Naruto," with her last words said, she kissed him on the forehead, and sat down to prepare there afternoon meal.

Kasshoku no Kitsune had a problem, and whenever he had a problem he always thought about it, but this course of action did not seem to help him too much. The brown themed forest boy was looking around the park seeing all kinds of children laughing, running and playing, but he had no idea how to approach this. All he saw was chaos and confusion, much different then the tranquility of the forest, everything here was loud and flamboyant, while as in the forest, there was quiet, the craziest it ever got was when a bear would walk by harmlessly. But this place here was no forest, no, not in the least bit; it was a jungle, a jungle gym. He nervously approached the chaotic metal death trap and watched as all the other kids frolicked about the shining behemoth, he gulped as he walked closer to the chaos, resisting the urge to go back to the forest of normalcy, but no, he would not be defeated by the likes of this. And with this reawakened courage he put his hand in the air and yelled "CHARGE" and attacked the crazed distortion we call a playground.

Meanwhile, a certain lady of the forest developed a large sweat drop on her forehead as she watched the antics of her charge. As he lead an attack upon the unsuspecting play equipment.

But another five-year-old child by the name of Naruto was having a similar dilemma with approaching the playground. But he did not think of the jungle gym as the deathtrap that it was, no, he looked upon it and saw only adults glaring at him, and children being whisked away by said adults. But he looked around and saw another boy, who looked to be experiencing the same level of nervousness as he was. What he then saw made him laugh at weird kid, he put up his arm as if he was leading a group of ninja, and yelled 'Charge!' and ran right towards the playground. But then he saw him run into an older boy, seeming to be around the age of seven, he was fat, and often times picked on the little kids. Naruto walked in closer to hear the conversation the obese punk was having with the oddly dressed kid.

"Watch where you're going, you, you, you" he repeated as he searched through his mind for a decent insult. "Runner into person!" said the fat child with a sense of confidence, as he heard the chuckles of his equally fat friends behind him.

Not being one to let that bad an insult get by him, Kasshoku quickly rebutted with, "Runner into person, wow that's a great insult, I couldn't come up with a better one if I tried, oh wait, I can! Go eat some chicken you deep fried fatty!" He then looked at the bullies face now laced with anger after being insulted about his weight.

"Oh you little, you little, you little," as the still stunned bully repeated again searching his small wit for another insult "Never mind! Im just going to beat some respect into" he said with a hint of anger. Now here is where the blonde hero decided to come and even up the odds up to help the forest boy with the bullies. While the blonde boy was running to the rescue of Kasshoku no Kitsune, the fat bully began to wind up his punch, and was about to launch the sluggish assault upon the five-year-old frame that is Kasshoku, Naruto then crashed into the bully using all 45 pounds of force his small body could muster, needless to say this toppled the unbalanced bully. "Get off shrimp!" protested the currently pinned playground tyrant. With that empty order, two of his 'henchmen' picked up the blonde child and continued to restrain him. "Im going to show you you're place you twerp." said the grammatically incorrect child. But Kasshoku, not being one to be outdone, quickly jumped on the back of the bully and proceeded to wrestle him down to the ground. Naruto seizing the opportunity that his new found partner in crime presented, proceeded to step on the foot of one bully, and elbow the other in the gut, quickly tapping the brown themed child on the back, insinuating that they should get out of here. They began to run away from the bullies as the yelled terribly thought out insults at them. When the two children had a safe distance between them and the bullies, they fell down in exhaustion. After resting up a bit, Naruto started with a simple question.

"Hey, Kasshoku-san, what is your name?" asked the unaware blonde child of his accurate nickname for the boy.

"Just that, Kasshoku no Kitsune, now what's yours whisker boy?" replied the somewhat winded child.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Future Ninja of the leaf village!" Replied Naruto, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Thanks for helping me out back there, I probably would be tasting dirt back there if you didn't come by and tackle the mighty fat one." said the gracious forest boy.

"No problem, you probably would of beaten im down anyway, you brought him down really well." praised the blonde with a smile on his face. Then remembering what his Kaa-san asked him to do, "Hey, Kasshoku, do you want to play?" Questioned the blonde child,

"Sure, what do you want to play?" Asked the boy in brown,

"Ninja!" loudly proclaimed the Blonde haired child, as he dragged off his new friend to start there day of fun.

XxXxXx later that day XxXxXx

After three hours of fun and games, it was time to go home for the two children, Naruto had to find his Kaa-san, and then proceed to bug her about ninja training since, after all, he had found a friend in the oddly named 'Kasshoku no Kitsune'. When he came across his aforementioned mother, he proceeded to tell his mother about his newfound companion. Sighing with defeat, Rin decided she had no choice but to teach the little one the utmost basics of being a Ninja. Hopefully he would be at the very least a good student. With training ideas in her head and a tired Naruto in his bed, she began to daydream about what kind of man her blonde baby would become.

Meanwhile, in the forest, with the two forest dwellers, a content mother was smiling at the story her charge was telling her, and how he found a friend through beating up other children. Though she could not encourage such acts of bravado, the lady of the forest could not argue with the results, and now she could begin the training with her sapling and make him into a fine young man of the forest. With images of grandeur for the boy, and the tired child himself tucked into his moss bed gingerly, she began to daydream about what kind of man her brunette baby would become.

(1) Species has two meanings, one of them being race, the other for being a type of currency, go connotative meanings!

At the end, there was an underlying message, its kind of obvious, but I felt the need to point it out.

-The old Yankee