Spider-Fox

Spider-Fox

Story by Nezumimaru

Written by SkippingZombie

Adopted by Aikuchi Shikaku

Chapter 2: "Naruto, the Bounty Hunting Spider"

Disclaimer: SZ-I think it is blatantly obvious that Naruto belongs to somebody else.

N-You'd know if we own it.

AS-Still some minor editing here and there. That's it.

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Tazuna brought in another basket of rolls, which Naruto was eager to devour. The ninja in the room had a hard time explaining where he stored all of the food he was consuming. Sakura had been planning to use the meal as a chance to get the strange boy to explain more about himself. She was having a hard time getting him to talk, however, considering his mouth was already full. But even Sasuke had to admit that Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, was one hell of a cook.

"Ish thish hromade grvy?" Naruto asked while the gravy in question dribbled down his chin, causing Sakura and Sasuke to grimace in disgust. Tsunami smiled, glad to have another person to appreciate her cooking.

"Why, yes, it is. My son, Inari helped make it earlier this morning. He should be around somewhere. I might have to save him a plate for later, though."

"That boy is always running off. But he'll turn up." Tazuna seated himself back down and watched the others eat; mostly Naruto. The spider-like limbs seemed to come in handy at mealtimes.

"So… Naruto." Sakura waited for an opening in the devouring. "Why were you targeting Zabuza?"

"Wasn't it out of your way to come to Wave Country? You don't appear to be from near here." Kakashi added this as he took a roll from the rapidly diminishing basket.

"Well, I was originally after a guy named Rokusho Aoi, a missing-nin from your village, by the way. I'm not too sure of the details, but he stole a sword of some sorts. After I got his head, I decided that since I was in the area, I might see if I could grab Zabuza too. As I mentioned before, he's accumulated quite a tag."

"So how long have you-" Kakashi began before he was cut off by Sakura.

"What did you do with the head? Surely you aren't dragging it along with you?"

Naruto swallowed an enormous bite, and replied, "No, no. I have it sealed in a scroll, of course. Why would I carry a head around?"

Kakashi tried again. "How long have you been a bounty hunter?"

"'Bout two years. Zabuza is the biggest bounty I've ever gone after. Aoi wasn't so easy either. Aren't you going to ask the most obvious question?"

"What's that?" asked Sakura.

"About my appearance of course." Naruto did a wave-like gesture with all six arms. "Aren't you exploding with curiosity?"

"Are you going to tell us, or what?" Sasuke looked uninterested, but inwardly he was eager to find out if Naruto was someone he can 'measure his capacity' to.

"Of course I'm going to tell you! I've practiced this speech! So many people ask me about my arms, I've rehearsed my answer! And it's quite a tale, too."

Naruto pushed his plate back, and began weaving the tale of his birth, and his tragedies.

"I was about two when this happened, so most of this was told to me by my Clan-brother, Kidoumaru."

"There was a clan of nasties that hung around near Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist Village. They were called the Kaguya clan. Nothing but a bunch of savages they were. They killed anyone that was in their way. They mostly hit the surrounding areas, but on one occasion, they went directly after Kirigakure."

"So the shinobi were called in, and they cleaned them all up. They were all exterminated. Every last man, woman, and child"

"But that wasn't enough for those in control; they were worried about corruption in other nearby clans. So they began what they called 'Bloodline Crusades'. They 'purged' the entire country of any threatening clans. My clan, the Kumo-oni was one of those targeted. Fortunately, Kidoumaru, who was 3 or 4 at the time, found a way to save both him and me. He's never told me how, though."

"We stayed in hiding for almost five years, using false names in a faraway place. We silently trained to become ninja. And one day, the Mizukage stopped hunting. He recalled all of the laws pertaining to the bloodline clans. We became normal citizens again."

"We lived normally for a while, but then we got the urge to travel, to see the world. So we set off to anywhere. But one day, Kidoumaru left me. He told me that it was time to part. We came to a crossroads, and we took different paths."

"Wait, you mean that this Kidoumaru, your brother, just abandoned you? How old were you when you split up?!" Sakura looked astonished.

"Why should that matter? All I know is that we haven't seen each other in over three years now. He's getting a rep with the wrong sort of crowd." Naruto replied wearily.

"So you two are the only survivors? That's sickening!" Sakura shook her head. She didn't see why someone would create something as horrible as the line Crusades. She snuck a look at Sasuke; wasn't he the last of his clan as well? She wasn't sure of the details surrounding him either. And Kakashi was as much a mystery as any of them. She began to wonder how she ended up traveling with such mysterious people.

Sasuke didn't respond, he was deep in thought. 'So, his clan was wiped out and was abandoned by the only other survivor, just like me. He even has the same eyes, the eyes of loneliness and pain, despite the façade he puts on.' Sasuke just continued to watch Naruto gorge himself while trying to avoid Sakura's questions about why this Kidoumaru guy left him.

"I don't mean to be rude, Naruto, but we really need a plan to keep Tazuna safe from Gato and Zabuza while he finishes the bridge." Kakashi looked all around at the five others seated around the table.

"Why don't I just kick Gato's ass? I'll get paid for Zabuza's bounty anyway. And if the old ma- I mean, Tazuna, will give me lodging here, I'll do it for free!"

Tazuna growled. "If you expect me to let you hang about, you had better earn your keep with some major ass-whooping."

"Leave it to me! Gato won't see me coming! I'll take care of him once and for all! I'll be your hero!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air. Suddenly, the door leading outside opened, and Tazuna's grandson stepped in. He was quite a bit younger the Naruto, but fire was gleaming in his eyes.

"You can't do it. Gato is unbeatable. You are just going to die. You are all going to die, don't you understand? There is no such thing as heroes. Go home, you can't help us."

"Inari!" Tsunami shouted. But he was already gone. He had fled upstairs to his room.

Naruto looked at the stairs that Inari took for a few seconds, and then turned to Tazuna and Tsunami. "What's got his panties in a twist?" Tazuna just sighed. "He's….dealing with some emotional issues. I'll tell you later, right now we better get some rest. It's late and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I'll show ya to your rooms." Naruto raised his three right hands. "No need, old man. I'll be just fine with this." And with that, he spat out some webbing, and spun a hammock in one of the corners of the living room. "G'Night!" Naruto shouted as his jumped and landed in the hammock, reclining his head on two of his hand, two more together on his stomach and the last two hanging over the sides of the hammock, falling asleep almost instantly.

The others sweat dropped, not believing that one could fall asleep so quickly. Tazuna broke the silence, "Well how 'bout I show the rest of you where you can stay?"

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SkippingZombie-Yay! Chapter two is done! Life can continue. Oh wait, now we have to wait for chapter three! AAAAAAHHHHHH!

Nezumimaru-………Right……Anywho please review, and we like to know how we are doing.

Aikuchi Shikaku: Just some minor editing here as well, folks. On to chapter 3.