A Warrior, An archer and a Fox: Rewritten

"Regular speech"

'Regular thought'

"Demon/ Summons/ Inner Speaking"

'Demon/Summons thinking'

A/N: Well, looks like this will be a development chapter. Which means next chapter is where things start following canon. Thank you to the people who voted!

You may want to be prepared, cause this is going to be a wee bit long.

"I'm going to kill you!" roared a male voice, it being heard all throughout the village of a just awoken Konoha. At first the people were alarmed, but frowned and went on with their business when they realized the commotion was coming from the home of the Tsuuro twins and Naruto. Currently, two of the three boys could be heard running around the apartment, one screaming death threats and the other laughing uproariously.

The third one, who was sitting at the kitchen table, completely ignored his brothers, as he was deeply engrossed in a book. "Hmm… Interesting," Yoku mumbled, turning the page and ignoring Naruto and Doku as they continued crashing around the apartment.

"When I catch you, you're dead! Hear me? DEAD!" Doku shouted as he chased the jinchurriki. Naruto merely double backed and jumped over the frustrated brunette, laughing as he did so.

"Aw come on, I think you look better with a little make up!" Naruto called as he leapt over the living room couch with ease, in response, Doku merely growled and redoubled his efforts to catch the foxy blond. Cackling, Naruto dashed back to the bedrooms, Doku hot on his heels.

Yoku sighed as he placed his book down got up from the table. Standing just beside the hallway entrance into the main room, the intelligent nine year old waited and listened to the sounds of his roommates crashing in the other room. Hearing the door open he smirked to himself as the frantic footfalls of running feet crashed against the wooden floor, each one louder than the last. Smirking to himself, the Tsuuro stuck his foot out in front of the hallway entrance.

"Hahahah! You'll never cat- waaa!" Naruto laughed before he found himself tripping and falling to the floor. While Naruto could have easily caught himself, Doku upset his balance by ramming into him, which in turn caused both boys to tumble to the ground.

"Now, what're you two fighting about this time?" Yoku asked, a ghost of a smirk on his face and his eyes closed. However, he cracked one upon when he heard the scuffling of his brothers fighting on the floor. That and they were back to insulting each other.

"Hold still so I can make your face look prettier!" Doku snarled.

"Oh lighten up, I'm giving you a chance to win true love!"

"So am I! Now hold still!"

"Get off me bastard!"

"Die midget!"

"NEVER!"

And so another episode of Doku vs. Naruto occurs. Sighing, Yoku walked down the hall and opened the door to the only bathroom. Grabbing a bucket, the nine year old filled it with water and, once it was full enough for him, carried it back to the two still fighting boys. In one swift movement he dumped the water onto the boys.

"Yaaaa! Jeez that's cold!" shouted the now soaked duo.

"Now what were you two fighting abo-" Yoku began asking, but stopped when he saw the now running make-up that was on Doku's face. "Naruto, why did you put make-up on my brother?" asked the grey-eyed Tsuuro.

The shaggy, spiky haired blond merely grinned in response, showing off his sharp canines. Rolling his eyes, Yoku walked past his brothers and to the door, "In any case, school starts soon so I suggest we get going unless you want to be late," Yoku stated as he slipped on his sandals.

"Bah, like you need to even go to the academy," Doku grumbled, wiping the rest of the make-up off his face and rushing after his brother, tugging on a pair of old leather boots as he ran after him. Naruto merely walked out of the house, no shoes on his feet, but a smile that closed his eyes on his face.

It had been four years since the three boys had met and things had changed in regards to the boys, at least, to their bodies and apparel.

Yoku had become quite the intellectual and marksman. Only one other person in the entire academy could match Yoku's accuracy and she was a year ahead. The boy knew all sorts of things and was easily one of the most intelligent people in the classroom. He'd even be a candidate for rookie of the year if it weren't for the fact that his physical skills were so average. In straight taijutsu and physical strength, Yoku was no better or worse than the average student. True, he was quite formidable when school first started, but as the other students started to learn better fighting skills, the field became more even. His attire had become a simple black shirt with a white wing design on the back along with some white shorts.

Doku had become the opposite of his brother. Whereas Yoku was incredibly intelligent, Doku was on the lower end when it came to academics. He wasn't one for using long-range weapons so his score in that was also a tad below average. He might have been the dead last in his class if it weren't for the simple fact that nobody could beat Doku in taijutsu or anything purely physical. Doku had the best strength, speed, and taijutsu skills in his class and was second in stamina only to Naruto. The red-eyed boy wore a simple red muscle shirt and brown pants along with matching old leather boots he had bought.

Naruto… Naruto was a mystery to most people. He constantly did things very few people understood. For example, he'd completely fail physical tests only to be found outrunning ANBU the very next day as if it were the easiest thing in the world. He was, if one were to judge his intelligence by his test scores, the dumbest kid in the academy, yet those who have ever seen the blond plan and pull off a prank knew otherwise.

As far as looks go, Naruto still had the same spiky blond hair, the same dazzling blue eyes, the same tanned skin and the same triple whisker marks on each cheek. However there had been a few changes if one looked closely enough. Like how the whisker marks were darker than they had been, how his pupils had started to become slit like so many predators, even how his hair had become shaggier and fur like. As for clothes, the Uzumaki wore a black T-shirt, an orange jacket and some loose jeans. For some odd reason, he didn't wear shoes, sandals or any kind of footwear for that matter.

Arriving at the school the three boys walked into the building and quickly made it to class just as the bell rang. "Ma, you boys are certainly cutting it close today," teased a male voice. Turning their heads, the trio gave small smiles in return to their teacher.

"Ohayo Mizuki-sensei," they greeted, well, Yoku greeted him, Doku just waved at him with a bored look, one that always appeared when he entered the academy. Naruto merely gave him a foxy grin, one showing off his sharpening teeth and causing his eyes to squint almost shut, "Sorry for being late, but there were some complications this morning,"

"Ah, let me guess." Mizuki said with an amused twinkle in his eye, "Naruto did something to Doku or is it the other way around?"

"It really wouldn't be that different either way," Yoku replied with a smile. Mizuki just laughed in response and waved them to their seats. Splitting up, each boy sat in his preferred seat. While they were friends, they didn't exactly want to be in proximity of each other twenty-four seven. That and none of them could agree on a single seating area as each had their own preference.

Yoku sat in the middle of the class in the middle row for several reasons. It was a good place to see the board, hear the teacher and observe the class. It was also right behind Sasuke Uchiha, thus being the perfect place to observe fan girls in their natural environment.

For some reason, Yoku had become obsessed with studying fan girls.

Doku sat far left and very front of the room. Now why he sat there was for two reasons, one, it was the closest he could get to the door and two, the place was in the teacher's blind spot. So long as he was quiet and didn't outright try and leave class in the middle of the lesson he could pretty much do anything. Sitting next to him was Shino Aburame, and surprisingly, the two got along pretty well.

Naruto sat in the far back row closest to the window because A) he liked to look outside. B) He could chat/learn from Kyuubi and not be bothered by the teacher or other students. C) It was a quick entrance and exit route and lastly…

"Ohayo, N-Naruto-kun," a timid voice greeted the blond. Turning his head away from the window, Naruto grinned happily at the female who stood nervously next to him.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan!" greeted the Uzumaki exuberantly, causing the indigo haired girl to blush violently. Before the two could even begin a conversation, Iruka entered and began class. As the Hyuuga girl quickly took her seat, Naruto merely smiled to himself and turned his attention to the front of the room. However, no sooner had Iruka's beginning words entered his head did the boy hear the mental voice of his tenant and surrogate father.

"Ah such a nice girl," sighed the Kyuubi happily, "Strange though, she is hardly what I expect from a Hyuuga," he mused aloud.

'And what's wrong with that? She's a lot more fun than those other ones' Naruto responded, his cerulean orbs shifting to the right to peek at the girl sitting next to him. 'And nicer too, not mention a hell of a lot cuter' he stated with a slight smile and blush.

"Someone's got a crush~" Kyuubi sang teasingly.

'Do not!' Naruto denied immediately a vulpine scowl making itself present on his face, 'I'm merely pointing out the obvious' he stated simply. There was a pause and one could practically hear the Kyuubi arching his brow at his container's rebuttal. With a mental sigh Naruto asked 'Is it that obvious?'

"Ha! More obvious than the direction this story is heading," laughed Kyuubi.

'Huh?'

"The ability will come in time young one, for now, just roll with it,"

'Riiight… Anyway, Isn't this the part where Danasca writes a flashback scene and explains how me and Hinata met?' Naruto asked.

"And so it begins!" Kyuubi declared with a mad cackle.

Flashback, Academy, one month after its start

It was lunch period for the academy students of Konoha, the time of day where everyone is released from class to eat their lunches and get a respite from the day. It was a time for students to do as they wished without much worry, but for Hinata Hyuuga, lunch that day was just another part of a bad day.

"Aww what's wrong Nata-chan? Are you gonna cry?" mocked a raven haired girl. The group of academy student females laughed at the Hyuuga heiress, fully enjoying their time in tormenting the child.

Hinata merely lowered her head and tried desperately to hold back the flood of tears. 'Could this day be any worse?' she nearly wailed in her mind. Today had not been a good day for Hinata. From the moment she woke up to now her day had been miserable.

It had started with her waking up late, something she rarely did. Due to this, she had been rushed that morning, only being able to take a quick shower of cold water (first come first served was the rule in the compound in regards to hot water, regardless of elder, branch or main member of the Hyuuga) She had then quickly dressed, her hair still wet and not brushed or combed. Dashing out of the compound in a manner much unbefitting a Hyuuga heiress, she had skipped breakfast, yet despite all of that, she had still been late, very late, as she had been behind the trio of boys who were barely on time/late on a regular basis. That had resulted in being lectured by Iruka in front of the entire class on the importance of punctuality, something that had been drilled into her head since birth.

The only thing good about it was that Naruto had spoken out in defense for Hinata. While she wondered why someone would do such a thing for her, it still warmed her heart, if only a little.

Sadly though, her day did not get better, as it seemed it only got worse. As Hinata had sat down in the back row, she could not help but notice some of the stares and whispers sent her way. At first she was confused, but when she heard the question 'what's with her hair' from some unknown person, she immediately understood. Putting delicate fingers to her indigo colored hair, she felt the irregular tufts and loose strands that marked had crafted themselves from her air dried and unkempt hair. Another thunderclap in her already stormy and gloomy day had been when she received her quiz that the class had taken a week ago.

Needless to say it was not a score to tell your parents about. In fact, you'd keep it to yourself for a long time and hope beyond hope that your parents never find out about it.

When lunch finally came around, that time of bliss and relaxation for most, Hinata had felt some relief. However that relief had been dampened by the realization that she had forgotten her lunch in her haste to get to the academy on time. With a slight trudge in her walk, Hinata had followed her classmates outside and made for a tree near the back of the academy. Sitting down on the grass with her back to the trunk, Hinata watched the other students as she mentally reviewed the events that had happened today. Unconsciously, she was wondering what else could go wrong that day.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Little Nata-chan," came a mocking feminine voice. Glancing up, the girl's heart dropped as she beheld a group of girls standing in front of her, a group of girls that were known for being very umm, petty… yes… petty…

At any rate, these girls were bullies, and Sasuke fangirls, but mostly bullies. They took great pride in belittling people like Hinata, that is, people who are different in a noticeable fashion. Like Naruto and his bad grades, Shino with his bugs (though they quickly learned to leave him alone for several reasons) and Hinata because of her crippling shyness. Of course, like with every group, there is one who is worse than any other.

"Aww, poor little Hyuuga princess, what's wrong? Are we hurting your feelings?" asked the lead girl. This girl was easily one of the prettiest girls in the academy. She had the most perfect brown silky hair, incredible eyes of sparkling jade, and so on and so forth. Even though she was just a child, she was already so pretty and there was little doubt that she would grow up to become a beautiful woman.

She was a beautiful flower, a pretty princess and was thus named as such. Her name was Hanahime.

Hinata's shoulders started to shake as she barely held back her sobs. She cursed herself for being so weak, for not being able to stand up for her self. 'Please, someone make them stop!' she mentally wailed.

"HEY! Why don't you pick on someone else?" shouted a voice. Surprised, Hinata looked up to see none other than Naruto shoving his way through the group of girls. Stopping in front of Hinat he turned around and glared at Hanahime, "Where do you get off bullying other people?" demanded the Uzumaki, glaring defiantly up at Hinata's tormentor.

Hanahime frowned, "And just what exactly are you doing freak? Shouldn't you be off playing by yourself somewhere?" she asked snidely. Naruto growled at that which in turn only caused her to smirk and the other girls to giggle, "Well 'grr' right back at you mister no manners! Didn't your parents ever teach you proper etiquette?" she asked mockingly, knowing full well just how low a blow she had struck.

Naruto merely narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't have a comeback to that, but lucky for him, he had an ancient kitsune to supply him with some witty comebacks "At least I came to the right academy, this one is for shinobi, the geisha school is a couple blocks over," the boy fired back, thanking his tenant for the shot at the young girl's make up covered visage.

Needless to say, all the females present were slack jawed at the blonde's comeback. Hinata had covered her mouth in astonishment while the other girls just stared wise eyed at the now grinning jinchuuriki.. Hanahime… well, she was not happy.

"Watch it freak," she spat, "Someone like you has no place saying something like that to someone like me," she stated with a condescending stare.

"Oh then let me apologize!" Naruto said, giving a formal bow, "I did not realize that I, a simple orphan child, had no reason to insult or bother a common village girl," he said standing back up with a foxy grin, "Of course, if I have no business disturbing you, then you have no business bothering the heiress to the Hyuuga clan," he finished with a grin.

Hanahime glared at the blond and that glare intensified when she started hearing murmurs of agreement from the other girls, "Mind your own business!" she finally shouted in frustration.

"Kami, what the hell is the screaming all about?" asked a voice familiar only to Naruto. Turning to face this new voice, the people gathered saw none other than the Tsuuro twins standing before them, "Seriously, whats with all the noise?" Doku asked once again, arms crossed over his chest. Yoku merely stood back and observed, his face giving nothing away as his eyes took in the details of the scene before him.

Hanahime saw a chance to get back at Naruto then, to make him regret bothering her and her fun. 'This'll teach that nobody to mess with me!' she thought. Putting on her best pathetic face, the girl rushed over to Doku and began her plan, "That mean boy was picking on poor Hinata-chan and when we came over to make him stop, he started being mean to us!" she lied, her voice filled with false anguish. She clutched onto the front of Doku's shirt and looked up at him with watery eyes, "Please make him go away," she begged to the boy who was a head taller than her.

Behind her, the other girls all nodded in agreement while Hinata and Naruto had looks of disbelief and outrage respectively. Doku looked up from Hanahime to Naruto with a confused expression and then turned his head to Yoku whose face was carefully blank.

"Um… Lemme talk to my bro real quick," Doku stated, gently pushing the girl away. That done he approached Yoku and the two held a quick conversation, well, Yoku spoke really quickly while Doku just nodded along. With that done, Yoku ran off while Doku walked back to Hanahime and her friends. "Alright, where's the jerk whose been bugging you?" he said out loud.

Naruto's jaw nearly hit the ground at that. Just as Naruto was about to scream and cuss out the red-eyed Tsuuro, Doku caught his eyes and gave him a wink and knowing grin, something no one else present noticed.

With Hinata, all she could do was watch in silent disbelief as Doku began a slow walk towards a stubbornly standing Naruto. As she watched, she could only curse at herself for not being able to speak up in defense of the boy who had come to defend her. She wanted to scream at Doku that it was Hanahime who was bugging her, not Naruto! That it was her that should be stopped, not the whisker marked boy! If only she wasn't so damn shy!

Before anything significant could happen though, an average girl about the same age as those gathered around the tree came running and screamed at the top of her lungs, "I JUST SAW SASUKE HOLDING HANDS WITH SOME GIRL!"

Immediately, the group of female bullies converged on the newly arrived girl and began questioning her with rapid fire and angry voices. "They were near the back of the academy! I swear they were holding hands and laughing!" the average girl exclaimed. With a mighty cry of outrage, the group of girls, with Hanahime in the lead, rushed away from the scene, off to see this phenomenon for themselves.

Hinata merely watched in disbelief as the girls left, not entirely sure that what just happened had actually happened. Hearing laughing she snapped out of her daze and watched in confusion as Doku and Naruto laughed together while the average girl approached the two.

"Now that's just too cruel!" Naruto laughed.

"To who, Sasuke or those girls?" Doku asked with a grin.

"Does it matter? Either way someone is going home in a pissy mood," Naruto replied.

"True, but lets not forget who made this all possible,"

"Yup! Nice going Yoku!"

Giving a mock bow, the average girl was consumed by a spontaneous cloud of white smoke. When it vanished, it revealed the slightly smiling form of Yoku Tsuuro. "Please, please, it was nothing," he dismissed; waving off the applause Doku and Naruto were giving him. Walking forward, Yoku stopped until he was standing in front of Hinata, a small smile on his face, "Are you ok Hyuuga-san? Those girls didn't cause you too much trouble I hope?"

"I-I, um…" the girl could only stare and stammer as she tried to figure out just what happened. Shaking her head a bit, she gave a small smile and said, "Th-thank you, all of you"

"Bah, no problem, but we should probably scram before those girls get back," Naruto dismissed, clapping a hand on Hinata's shoulder. The Hyuuga blushed and flinched slightly at the contact, "They're going to be pissed when they find out they were tricked,"

"Pff, how bad could it be?" Doku asked. No sooner had he said it then a terrible sound of feminine fury arose from behind the academy.

"Judging by the pitch of whatever that was and how Naruto grabbed Hinata and ran off, I'd say it would be pretty bad," Yoku answered before he too turned tail and fled from the scene, his face impassive, but there was a light of fear and excitement in his eyes as he ran. 'Time to see just how vicious a species this is' was his single though.

Doku… Well, lets just say that this is an event that Doku would become used to in years to come.

On a side note, many would argue whether the cry heard from the academy that day was one of dismay, challenge or joy.

End Flashback

"And the rest is history then?" asked the fox, seeing as his container stopped reminiscing over that day.

'More or less' shrugged Naruto as he followed the rest of his class out the door for some reason he didn't hear. 'So whats the plan for today? I kind of spaced out' Naruto asked the fox.

"Team Navigation Exercise," responded the demon. "Apparently they're going to drop you off somewhere in the forest with a team and you have to get to a certain point on the map they give you,"

Naruto blinked at that. 'That's… that actually seems like a good thing to learn'

"See? School can teach you something useful!"

'Now if only it had more action and less books and lectures'

"Agreed"

Coming back to the real world, Naruto noted he and his class were all standing in the forest and Iruka was dividing the groups into teams. "Alright everyone settle down! Now, I'm going to divide you into teams and in order to pass successfully, your entire tema has to arrive at the designated location together before sundown, understand?" receiving nods from the students, the scar nosed chuunin continued, "Ok, our first time will be made up of Shino, Ino and Sasuke," said female gave a cry of joy while the rest all groaned and cried out in protest or dismay. Sasuke merely flicked his eyes towards the approaching Shino and gave a barely noticeable nod to when the Aburame stopped beside him.

"Next team is Sakura, Chouji and Hinata," declared the teacher. Sakura sighed and trudged over to stand next to the happily eating Akamichi boy. Hinata was hesitant, but a small push from Naruto along with one of his smiles gave her the courage, and a healthy blush, to go and stand next to the other two.

"Naruto, Doku and Yoku will be on a team," the three boys all gave a sign of approval at this as they hooked up. When Iruka had announced the rest of the teams, Mizuki handed everyone a map. Then without warning, the two teachers vanished into twin columns of smoke, leaving the students to fend for themselves.

"All right! Give me the map and lets get going!" Doku proclaimed, snatching the piece of paper from his twin. "Now, with my awesome skills of navigation, we'll pass this test in no time!" he declared. With a shake of the map, Doku stared at the parchment for a bit.

"Uh, Doku? Shouldn't we get moving?" Naruto asked, an impatient frown o his face, but if one looked, they could see the twinkle of amusement in his blue eyes.

Startled, the boy tore his eyes away from the map and glared at the blond, "O-Of Course! Just making sure I have my bearings right is all…" he finished with a mumble. Ignoring the small snicker from the fox jinchuuriki, Doku headed off into a random direction shouting, "Come on! I don't want to fail because of you two!" shouted the brunette. Naruto happily followed after him, hands resting on the back of his head while Yoku brought up the rear.

Two hours later

"That tree looks pretty familiar, we must be getting close to our destination!" Doku declared. "Stick with me fellas, and we'll be there in no time!" he stated confidently.

"The only reason that tree looks familiar is because we've passed it five times now," Yoku muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Giving Doku a map is like giving a Neanderthal a book!" he finished with a small growl.

"Oh come on, doesn't it feel nice being outside in the woods?" Naruto asked. The blond sighed happily as he walked. If there was one thing he loved, it was the outdoors, 'I wonder what Hinata thinks of the woods?' Naruto wondered idly as he kept following Doku and an annoyed Yoku.

While the three continued to walk, none of them noticed the hidden figure in the trees, watching with sadistic glee as the trio moved towards his trap. "Time to earn my keep," chuckled the shadow, jumping away and ahead of the group.

The three boys had wandered into a thick part of the forest and Yoku had had enough of his brother's misdirection.

"GIVE ME THAT MAP YOU HAPLESS BUFOON!" shouted Yoku, snatching the paper from his brother, "You have absolutely no idea where you are going and have been misleading us for the past two hours! I will no longer sit idly by while your ignorance and arrogance leads us in circles around this place!"

"And what the hell makes yo-" Doku started, but stopped when he see the murderous glint in his brother's eye. Holding his tongue, the boy swallowed his anger and settled for mumbling under his breath. Naruto on the other hand was blinking at what just happened.

'Huh, never thought I'd see that happen'

"Everyone has a breaking point Naruto, though be happy this is more annoyance than actual fury," Kyuubi spoke.

'Eh? What do you mean?'

"Fury can make people do things Naruto, and if it's fury that has been repressed for who knows how long, than you could have a very big problem,"

'Good to know' Naruto said, choosing to push off on the lesson for the moment, because an ominous feeling had overcome him. "Umm guys, I think we should run," Naruto spoke up, his eyes franticly scanning the forest as alarm bells triggered by his instincts were going off in his head.

"What for?" Doku asked with a frown.

It was then that some hulking and monstrous thing burst from the foliage right next to the boys. "That's why!" Naruto shouted in fear. Not even thinking, the blond dashed into the underbrush, quickly falling to all fours and running like any quadruped. Doku and Yoku ran as well, the red-eyed boy in the lead with his grey-eyed twin close behind him. The beast gave chase, it's hulking frame smashing through any obstacle in its way.

"The hell is that thing!" Doku shouted, jumping over a shrub.

"Humanoid and bestial at the same time," Yoku huffed, glancing back at the beast, his widened eyes the only indication his fear for the creature, "Posibly some kind of hybrid,"

"Whatever the hell it is just keep running!" Naruto shouted back.

So the three boys ran. Crashing through the forest, trampling plants and dodging trees the three students ran from the monster, the only one to ever look back being Yoku. For whatever reason, the intelligent Tsuuro wanted to know what exactly was chasing him, but he only ever got bits and pieces of the beast at a time. A clawed hand or leg. A black eye burning with bloodlust. The flash of razor sharp teeth. These were some of the things seen by the boy and he would not forget them anytime soon.

They soon broke out of the forest only to come to a sudden stop as the particular part of forest they had exited ended almost right on the edge of a cliff. To their right was a small waterfall that cascaded into a large lake. Hearing the beast, the boys scrambled towards the waterfall, for whatever reason is unknown, maybe because they believed the sound of a waterfall would make the beast go back, maybe because they thought if they dodged at just the right moment, the beast would plummet to it's death. However, the best reason was that it was a completely arbitrary decision based off of fear.

Whatever reason, Naruto, Doku, and Yoku were now trapped. On their left, a drop of about fifteen feet, on their right the dense forest. In front of them was a river to wide to jump or wade and right behind them, the beast!

Hearing a snarl, the three whirled around to behold the beast in mid-leap towards them. Time seemed to slow down for the boys and each one had a different reaction.

Naruto was nothing but surprised and confused. 'What the hell is that thing? Where the hell did it come from?' were the only things going on his head while his more animalistic instincts only told him it was something unnatural yet familiar. 'Who or what is that thing?'

For Yoku, his eyes were scanning every inch of the beast that he could see, the world seemingly slowed to barely even a crawl while his mind worked a million miles a minute. 'Hybrid. Feline qualities. Large. Clawed hands and feet. Shredded ninja outfit. Trajectory of leap aimed directly at of overpowering beast: zero. Escape and Evasion options. Leap into river, fatal. Jump from cliff to lake, fatal. Duck under beast and run, slim. Best option, head back into the woods.' Yet before he could implement any of these actions, his brother's reaction shocked everyone.

Doku's reaction was completely instinctual or irrational. The red-eyed boy leapt forward, smashing into the beast and sending them both careening over the edge of the cliff, one with a primal roar, and the other with a war cry. Doku had not thought, had not hesitated when his mind had registered one thing.

'Yoku will die if I don't do something'

Naruto and Yoku could only watch in shock as their friend and brother plummeted into the lake. They were silent, even after the splash of the bodies hitting the water had echoed and reverberated off the cliff walls. Neither boy could believe what just happened. Yoku merely watched, watched as the water where Doku and the beast had fallen was slowly dyed red. Watched as the figure of the beast walked onto the lakeshore and dashed off to lick its wounds. Simply watched and memorized every detail with his steely gaze.

Yoku showed no emotion, felt nothing as he was too shocked by what happened. His silence and apathy was shattered however, by an explosion of raw, malevolent energy from Naruto.

With a roar, the blond leapt from the cliff top and dove into the lake, the water making an sound that was a mixture between a splash and hiss. Steam rose from Naruto's entry point.

Yoku merely watched in shock at what happened. He did not stay long however as his body finally forced him back into action. Without even thinking, Yoku began to run along the cliff face, looking for a way down. It did not take him long to find a route down.

As Yoku climbed down the cliff, Naruto was in the water, searching for Doku or his body. It didn't take long time to find him.

There Doku was, blood painting the water red. Where on his body the blood was coming from Naruto didn't know, but all he cared about was getting his friend out of the water.

Using the newfound energy and strength given to him by his tenet, Naruto swam forward and grabbed Doku. Then, kicking hard, the blond made for the lake surface. His lungs were screaming for air, but that did nothing, but to make Naruto kick harder and faster.

With a gasp, the two broke the surface. Naruto stopped to catch his breath for a moment before swimming towards shore, ignoring the trail of red he was leaving behind, though it made him wonder just how much Doku had and would.

Finally getting to the shore, the Uzumaki paused just long enough to catch his breath. He was still throbbing with the Kyuubi's power and when he saw that Doku wasn't moving, another pulse of power erupted from him.

He was angry, absolutely furious that out of nowhere one of his only friends was now dead because of some damn monster! "Kuso! I'm going to kill that thing!" Naruto growled to himself, his blue eyes slowly bleeding into a blazing crimson.

"Kit wait!" the Kyuubi shouted.

"Why! That thing needs to pay! Doku's dead because of that… that… that thing!" Naruto spoke aloud, uncaring if anyone heard him.

"Because you've still got a chance to save him!" shouted the fox demon. That made Naruto stop and listen, "Kit, it's a long shot, but we can try and see if we can use some of my chakra to heal Doku,"

"How?" Naruto demanded, already going over to Doku's body. Unknown to him, Yoku had already arrived and was rushing over to the two. What he saw confused and amazed him.

Red chakra slowly formed around Naruto's hands, which surprised Yoku as he had always known that chakra was invisible, only visible when in large quantity. The fact that it was red only further surprised Yoku. Walking up behind his roommate, Yoku watched as Naruto did something that amazed him.

While Naruto hadn't seen because of the blood and his own raging emotions, Yoku could see the puncture wounds on his brother's neck. 'That thing must have bitten him' He could easily see the gashes scored across his twin's chest and shoulders as well. 'Those claws did less damage than I thought they would' Yoku thought grimly.

Yet he watched in fascination as the red chakra from Naruto's hands snaked across Doku's body and formed around the bleeding wounds. Slowly, they seemed to seep into the openings and slowly knit the skin back together. The skin reformed, bit by bit, cell by cell, layer by layer. By this time, Yoku had walked up and was watching with rapt attention as the red chakra healed his brother. When Doku was whole once more, the two remained in silence as they watched Doku's unconscious form. After a time, the boys looked up and their eyes met, vibrant blue meeting with intense grey. Yoku broke the silence first, "Arigatou, Naruto,"

Naruto blinked before simply nodding. There was a moment of silence then…

"What exactly did you do just now?" Yoku asked.

"Yes Naruto, what exactly just happened?" spoke up another voice, an old wizened one that the two easily recognized. Except it wasn't filled with the usual warmth and amusement as usual. It was serious in a way they had never heard before.

Looking towards it, the two beheld no one other than the Sandaime Hokage himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

And they had never seen his face as serious as it was in that moment.

"I think we should get Doku to a hospital, and Naruto, I need to speak with you, privately,"

The next day

"Has anyone seen Naruto Uzumaki, Doku Tsuuro, or Yoku Tsuuro?" Iruka asked the class. To his growing worry, the teacher was met with a corus of no's and shaken heads. The three boys had not been seen since yesterday and Iruka was worried that they might still be in the woods. The two had never come back and Mizuki couldn't find a trace of them. Iruka had gone to check as well, but they were still gone!

What worried him more was that pulse of energy he'd felt. That chakra… There was no mistaking it for the fox's. Yet, for something like that to happen must have meant something happened to Naruto, something bad.

"Iruka-sensei, do YOU know what happened to them?" Ino asked her teacher, eager to know why her fellow classmates weren't here, "I never saw them at the meeting place on the map? Did they ever make it?"

That opened the floodgates for a whole slew of questions. None of which were easy for Iruka to begin answering, Soon it just became pandemonium, with rumors, reasons and what not flying through the air!

That all stopped when the door opened however.

Silence claimed the room as a familiar spiky headed blond entered the class. The class watched as Naruto, and only Naruto, slowly trudged over to Iruka and handed him a piece of paper. Like a kicked puppy, the young man walked to his seat and sat down barely lifting his head enough to send Hinata a pathetic attempt of a smile.

Iruka read the note, his eyes widening before becoming sad. "Right, time to start class," Iruka announced. Thus class was started, but the other students would keep glancing back at the depressed form of Naruto and the two empty seats.

As for Naruto, he just sat there, staring at the grain of the wood of his desk. He'd told the old man what had happened, right after they had taken Doku to the hospital. Yoku had gone back home and when Naruto got back, he walked in to Yoku's room to see him furiously reading books and making notes in a journal of sorts. Yoku had refused to go come to the academy and Naruto suspected that his friend had stayed up all night.

His problem now however was this. Yoku had seen Naruto use the fox's chakra. The hokage had told him that Doku could probably just as easily die from the chakra that had healed his wounds. So now Naruto had to wait and hope that he hadn't killed one of his only friends.

They would want to know just what Naruto had done. How could he tell them that the demon that nearly slaughtered their village was sealed in his gut? He didn't know how they'd react to their friend having a demon in his gut. A demon that was a thousand times more powerful than the thing that attacked them in the forest.

They were his only friends in the worls! Now one was in the hospital with a chance of dying and the other had seemingly snapped from the shock of what happened! The mere thought of losing the two people that had shown him the joys of having friends was just…

"N-Naruto-kun? A-A-Are you ok?" a delicate voice asked while a petite hand touched his shoulder. Looking up, Naruto came face to face with a very worried Hinata, "Naruto-kun what wrong? You're crying," she asked quietly, her stutter overcome by her worry.

He blinked then touched a hand to his face; sure enough his fingers were wet with his own tears. Naruto stared at Hinatsa, and in that instant, he was overcome with such a profound feeling of sadness. Flinging his arms around her, the blond wrapped Hinata up in a tight embrace and proceeded to weep into her shoulder.

"Ah! Uh," Hinata was surprised by the normally happy boy's sudden outbreak into tears. Her confusion didn't last long however, soon she returned the hug and comforted the distraught boy. The bothe of them ignored the stares they received from their fellow classmates.

The hospital at the same time

Doku stared at the white wall across from his bed, his red eyes simmering with frustration. He was stuck in the hospital with nothing to do, and he had been forbidden from leaving the confines of his bed.

While that would be enough to make anyone frustrated, there was another reason to his foul mood.

That monster had nearly killed him. That thing could have taken his life and it was only by luck that he was still alive. He had nearly drowned.

He shuddered slightly at that. He could still remember the water that rushed down his throat and into his nostrils. He could still remember the sensation of the water filling his ears, making him deaf to everything around him. He could still feel the water pushing down on him, the light of the surface growing faintewr and fainter as the water dragged him slowly deeper and deeper into its depths. He remembered the world slowly turning black, the last thing he saw being the inky red tendrils created by his own blood as it snaked its way to the surface.

He shook away the memories and squashed the fear that was rising inside of him. Growling to himself, Doku slammed his fist into the bed, angry at what had happened to him.

That monster and then nearly drowning had shown him just how weak he really was. He was furious that he wasn't strong enough to take on that monster. That he wasn't strong enough to escape the grip of the water.

He shuddered again. "Damn it!" he swore under his breath. Just thinking about it made him fearful. "Stupid water," he muttered. His stomach growled at that moment.

Looking on the table next to his bed, Doku saw some hospital food( he didn't have a clue what it was) and a single glass of water. Automatically, he grabbed the plate and glass and began to eat. After a few chews he brought the glass to his lips and began to drink.

No sooner had the water entered his mouth then did he spit it right back out and fling the glass at the wall, a frenzied and terrified look in his eyes. He watched as the glass shattered and tried to calm himself. "Kuso!" he swore loudly. He couldn't even drink a glass of water without the memory of nearly drowning in it popping into his head!

"Is this what I've been reduced to?" he asked himself, "My career hasn't even begun and I'm already being haunted by traumatic memories!" he growledangrily. The image of the beast entered his head again, but this time it was laughing at him.

"Stupid monster," he muttered, "If I had just been stronger than that thing…" he muttered. Shaking his head angrily, Doku dispelled the negative thoughts. He wasn't going to brood over this. "I'm not going to let that thing lor anything like it ever beat me again!" he swore to himself.

"As soon as I'm out of here, I'm going to train to be the strongest! Stronger than Naruto, stronger than the hokage and stronger than that damn monster!"

His plan now set, the red-eyed boy impatiently awaited his release from his white walled prison.

Meanwhile, at the apartment of all three boys

Yoku pored over the anatomy book in front of him, his grey eyes rimmed with dark circles from a night of no sleep. The lack of sleep did not seem to bother him in the least. The boy had been up all night, only leaving the house once, to the library to check out a large supply of books that now surrounded him at his desk.

Stopping his reading, Yoku grabbed a pencil and began writing something down in a notebook. The note book was already filled with a dozen other notes and a couple pages were detailed drawings of the beast that had attacked him the day before.

The books that surrounded Yoku were books on the human body, the body of a tiger, some works on chakra and there was even a book on interrogation techniques. The reason why he had these books was simple.

Yoku wanted vengeance.

That beast was still out there, and it had nearly killed his brother. Such a thing could not go unpunished, not for Yoku at least. Yoku wanted to find that creature, and he would make it pay. He knew he'd find it again, knew that the thing in the forest was no mere abomination.

How he knew was still a mystery to him, but something in his gut told him so. Even if it wasn't, Yoku still wanted to kill that creature. Yoku also knew that one day, he would meet that creature again, and this time, he would be ready for it.

Stopping his reading for a moment, Yoku looked up at the picture of the beast he had drawn and pinned to the wall in front of his desk. The young Tsuuro didn't know if he should thank or curse his artistic abilities and photographic memory, but he knew what he was looking for.

His cold grey eyes met the pitch black of the beast's and he said, "We will meet again monster," he whispered.

"And this time, I'll be ready,"

A/N: And done! Wow, longer than I initially thought, but hey, not bad. Anyway, next chapter we start kicking things off so stay tuned and remember to leave me some reviews!

Ja ne