[A/N: Just wanted to say that I know that this update came very quickly, but it's the weekend and I'm bored :P I probably won't be able to update every day during the week. Also I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, I promise that it won't happen again.]
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, no matter how I hard I wish I did. I only own the story line and OC's.
-The Slyness of the Fox-
Naruto let out a sigh as he eyed his pile of kills. He wasn't the best hunter in his clan, not by a longshot. He'd only managed a deer and three small rabbits in the four hours since he had begun. His tails were his main problem: he just couldn't get them to stop moving. He also didn't have the skill and experience needed to be able to shrink them down. A few Elder members of his clan were able to morph individual body parts at will, while Naruto could only increase or decrease the size of his entire body. Most Demons could do that anyway.
He looked up as he heard his Uncle's deep howl, and quickly responded back with his own. He was being summoned back to his clan's base. Naruto picked up the deer and three rabbits with his tails, and trotted into the trees. His clan consisted of mostly older Demons, at least 800 or 900 years. Of the 10 or 15 Demons that had come together, Naruto was the only one that had nine tails. Most had three or four, but the Eldest Demon, Sarutobi, had seven. Uncle Iruka was the nephew of Sarutobi, and had apparently contacted him prior to the attack on Naruto's home. Minato and Kushina had become increasingly aware of Human presence, and had been planning to leave in a few weeks.
'Yeah, a fat load of good that did.' thought Naruto. He shook his head to clear it of morbid thoughts and quickened his pace. It would do him no good to dwell on the past. He reached a familiar clearing, and turned to his left. His clan was living at the base of Mount Dervan, a particularly barren mountain. Naruto was a few hours walk away, but only about an hour away if he ran. He wasn't feeling particularly energetic at the moment, and decided to walk.
What was he going back to anyways? 'Demons who can't stand the fact that I'm more powerful then them.' He thought cynically. He had been mistreated by the younger Demons almost since the moment he had arrived. Demons were proud creatures to begin with, and having a newcomer who wasn't even a decade old suddenly come into the picture wasn't good for Naruto. Add in the fact that he has almost triple the value at 3 years old than most of the full-grown adults did, and he was a a deer surrounded by hyena. He had learned that to survive in a world where everyone hated you, you had show that you were unaffected. He wished many times a day that he could take out his anger and abuse on the people that had given it to him, but he found himself unable to conjure up the will to do so.
'They're driven by their shallow feelings that come from inexperience. The only way for me to win them over is to gain their trust. To do that I have to-'
*CRACK*
Naruto froze. His tails abruptly stopped swishing back and forth, gently setting their prey on the ground. He was rigid, his eyes darting around him. Now that he was paying attention, his ears were picking up slight unnatural movements in the underbrush. Another crack made his heart jump, and he felt dread spreading throughout his body. A smell had finally reached his sensitive nose, and it was distinct. Human.
He immediately took off, sprinting as fast as his powerful legs could carry him. He heard loud voices bloom from behind him, and he felt the vibrations of feet pounding against the ground. He pushed himself harder. He had to reach the base, and - 'No, I can't lead them towards the base! I can't allow my clan to be discovered.' Pushing away his need for self-preservation, he changed his path so it was to the left of his home. 'I'll lead them towards the Red River and lose them on the other side. Only a Demon can land a jump from riverbank to riverbank.'
Naruto almost missed the sound of an arrow hitting a tree directly to his right, and closer than he expected. He risked a glance over his shoulder, and saw a rather large Hunting Party moving much faster than it should have been. They weren't just keeping up with him; they were gaining on him. He huffed in frustration, and poured all of his remaining strength into his legs. He could hear the river up ahead, but he he didn't know how much longer he could stay evade the Hunters.
A large fallen log suddenly rose up in front of him, and on his last step before he had to jump he bunched his muscles. He sprang up into the air just as he heard the twang of an arrow being released. Time seemed to slow as the whistle of the arrow splitting the air grew closer. A second before it hit, Naruto knew that he couldn't dodge. A sharp pain blossomed in his right hind leg, and he let out a yelp. He hit the ground in a tangle of golden fur, and the air flew out of his lungs.
Naruto desperately scrambled to regain his footing, the entire right side of his body exploding with pain. He had mere seconds until the Hunters caught up to him, and his mind was frantically trying to make his body move. His struggles were suddenly frozen as he felt a heavy weight cover his body, pinning him to the ground. A weighted down net had been thrown over him, and he heard the triumphant yells of the Hunters. They circled around the fallen log, surrounding Naruto in a tight circle. His eyes darted around, hoping to find an escape route.
Finding none, he knew that he was running out of options. He didn't know this part of the forest well enough to know any secrets, and his clan had no idea where he was. Naruto realized that escaping from this net and finding a way to get rid of the Hunters was no longer an actual plan. The only thing that he could possibly do was warn his clan of the danger they were in. The Hunters may not stop with him, and they could find his base. He had gained enough breath back for one final howl, and he sucked in all the air he could.
He howled as loud as he could, putting all of the power he could into his voice. He relayed his fear and pain, and the danger that he was now in. Naruto could hear the echoes of his cries in the mountains and knew that he would be heard. He cut off his howling and lay there panting, completely out of energy and breath. His vision was swimming from the pain in his leg, and he knew that the only thing keeping him conscious was adrenaline.
He looked upwards as a man emerged from the circle on what looked to be a horse. Even from Naruto's partially delirious state he could see that this Human practically pulsed with power. The Human had jet black hair that fell just above his shoulders, and cold red eyes looked at Naruto with a chilling lust. His mouth was moving, but Naruto couldn't understand what was being said. He felt something prick his neck, followed by a sudden drowsiness. His eyes closed, and the last thing he heard before going under was the returned cry of a faraway fox.
[A/N: Well, there you have it! I know that this chapter didn't have much dialogue in it but I promise that that will change very quickly. I'm going on a writing spree at the moment, so hopefully lots of new chapters today! A quick note: for the sake of this story, Demons can understand Humans, and can speak their languages. Please leave a review if you liked this chapter and if you have a critique. :) ]
