Still With You In Your Heart

Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews and encouragement. I hope the story is progressing well for ya guys, don't worry though, it's about to get MUCH more exciting


Chapter 4

Something Strange


Naruto hugged the earth as he crouched among the tall grass in Anbu Training Grounds #51 (1), cursing for showering that morning and using the scented soaps Sakura gave him for his birthday. To the predator, he was wearing a large neon sign that said 'I'm right here'.

How the hell do tigers get this BIG? What psychotic idiot grew the tigers this big?! Naruto ranted as he kept both eyes on the tiger in front of him, and both ears on the one behind him to his right.

Brat they are NATURALLY this big, just as I was naturally the size of a mountain

You a demon, these are not

Good point. Kyuubi managed to say before Naruto was occupied with dodging the slashes and pounces and trying to escape into the dense forest and find a safe place to hide.

Yipes that was close! Naruto exclaimed as he barely dodged one of the female's jaws. The tigers were getting more clever as time passed and they learned of how their prey tended to act and move. Naruto would have to think of something fast.

Brat, you'd better get out quick. I am NOT using so much chakra like last time just because you can't seem to keep from getting injured! Kyuubi was getting frustrated.

Naruto growled at his captive but understood how dire the situation was becoming; the activities were drawing in other tigers that had been napping not too far off, and from the looks of things, it turned out he'd been 'playing' with the cubs. Forming the seals so familiar he could do them in his sleep, he created several dozen clones in order to distract the tigers.

It worked, and the cubs began to chase after the Naruto copies. Naruto hightailed out of there as quickly and discreetly as he could. He was getting tired from the amount of chakra he had to use just to dodge the tigers, and the clones weren't going to last too long. Already he could feel the chakra of a little more than a third return to him.

"AHH!" Naruto yelled in surprised and sent chakra to his legs to quickly dodge away from a giant snake that had been coiled in the grass. Pointless since apparently the snake had just eaten and was looking for a peaceful and dark place to sleep it off. All it did was flick its tongue at Naruto in curiosity.

Unfortunately his yell had gotten the attention of the now confused tiger cubs that had just finished off the last of his clones. They were quickly bounding toward him and the snake.

"Shit" Naruto cursed and ran up the nearest tree as quickly as he could. He heard yowls and a hiss beneath him and stopped at the first branch to see what was going on. The cubs had found the snake and were deciding whether or not it was a threat.

Well at least they're not after me Naruto thought before making his way deeper into the forest, searching for water and shelter to rest in safety.

Although, knowing the reputation of the Anbu and their training grounds, safety is likely short lived.

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Naruto did manage to find some shelter in a sort of cave made by a tree's roots. It was even near a creek where he managed to catch an eel and found wild edible plants and mushrooms. He rubbed his hands together and grinned proudly at himself for finding such excellent food. He was only slightly worried about what the scent of cooked food would attract. Kyuubi was keeping a lookout for him while he rested and ate.

It had been four months since Naruto was put on Guard Duty. He had made friends with a few Anbu who gave advice and once in a while sparred with him. They told which training grounds were ideal for increasing which shinobi aspects. Of course, they advised him to NOT go into Training ground #51, but of course Naruto ignored them and went anyway. He knew that if he got hurt bad Tsunade would forbid him to use the Anbu training grounds, but Guard Duty was so boring and lacking in physical activity.

Naruto was happy to be allowed to use the Anbu training grounds. Not many non-Anbu shinobi were allowed the privilege considering how dangerous the forests were.

And I think that privilege should be taken away Kyuubi growled.

Naruto only rolled his eyes.

At first Kyuubi thought the training grounds would be cake. Cake moistened with blood-flavored frosting and topped by whipped flesh and the heads of freshly decapitated animals.

Except Kyuubi forgot to input the most vital factor into the recipe for his cake of death – Naruto. Naruto never fought properly against animals, only shinobi. Even shinobi who had blood limits and jutsus that gave them animal-like traits and abilities and their animal companions hadn't provided as much problems as say-

the giant hornets,

the giant fish,

the giant snakes,

the giant centipedes,

the carnivorous vines that COULD have been animals,

and the giant tigers.

Yes, even Kyuubi made a miscalculation, and as a result was spending more time healing his container and making sure he stayed alive than he had originally anticipated. He of course still made progress on his project, but wasn't allowed the liberty of using as much chakra as he pleased. Otherwise, Naruto would die, and then all the time and energy used would have been wasted. What a joy.

Kyuubi observed Naruto absentmindedly as the blue-eyed kid munched on his eel. He had grown somewhat fond of the blonde over the years. He had been extremely annoyed and enraged at being trapped within a HUMAN. It was degrading for the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of the youkai kings to be trapped within such a weak and lowly life form. But after a while that loathing softened – though he still didn't like being trapped inside Naruto.

Kyuubi wondered quietly if his plan would kill his host, and if even He would survive, when he suddenly became aware that while he had been spacing out, the worst possible giant creatures they could have encountered found Naruto.

SHIT, BRAT!!! Kyuubi yelled, in panic.

This panicked Naruto, for the Kyuubi did NOT panic unless it was really really bad and the possibility of him surviving equated to a miracle.

Naruto saw what had decided to block his only way out. Giant rats. Normal sized rats were scary enough; these rats were the size of German Shepherds and were terrifying (2). There was one large rat at the entrance, but Naruto could see many more behind it, and could hear others scurrying outside on the tree. There were a few random squeaks as they communicated but for the most part they were silent, and they were staring at Naruto. As if Naruto looked like a juicy piece of meat.

"Shit" Naruto cursed under his breath. This was bad, very very bad. They had them surrounded, and unlike the hornets, which had also attacked in numbers, these guys wouldn't be tricked by simple illusions and distractions. Kage Bunshin wouldn't work either – there were too many of them. He had to think of something fast and quick – As Kyuubi helped him pour chakra into his system to heighten his senses, he could hear them burying underground and chewing through the tree. No, things were definitely not good.

Naruto, when I say go, latch yourself to the left side of the ceiling and then use the demon wind shuriken to slice off a few heads, including the rat at the entrance.

Naruto nodded slightly in understanding, not wanting to make obvious movements and provoke the rats into attacking before Kyuubi gave the signal.

GO!

Just as Naruto leapt, four rats burst out of the ground and snapped at him.

As planned, Naruto leapt to the left, sending chakra to his feet and hands to hold onto to the ceiling while he used one hand to extend the shuriken and send it whirling around the wooden cavern.

The shuriken sliced off the head of the first four rats and then several more as it came back around before impaling the wood. Naruto used several kunai to pierce the spinal chord and arteries of the entrance rat before he made a move to leap onto it and escape outside where he would have more of a chance.

Too bad the plan stopped working at this point.

The rats had been smart enough to know their prey would plan something, and the moment the entrance rat was immobile others leapt onto it, cornering Naruto into the cavern.

"SHIT!" Naruto yelled as he barely dodged a rat that had tried to bite off his arm. As soon as he landed he had to leap again as a rat tried to pounce on him, and again as another came out of the ground. The cavern was large for a tree-cavern, but he was going to run out of room fast.

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT. I need to do something! Naruto was doing nothing but dodging and could barely think of anything else. He automatically made two-dozen clones so the attention was not focused just on him so he could have a second longer to think of something. But the second that Naruto used to perform the jutsu gave one of the rats the opening needed to clamp onto Naruto's leg, dispensing the newly formed clones.

"ARRGH!" Naruto yelled in pain as the rat's large teeth sunk in deep.

NARUTO! Kyuubi sent a surge of chakra through Naruto's system and engulfed him in red burning chakra. The rats scampered away from the unexpected change in their prey, but they didn't leave. They stared in calculation of what to do next. There were still many more of them, too many for an injured prey to defend against.

Shit Kyuubi growled. Naruto was unconscious from blood loss. Kyuubi was going to have to heal and defend against Naruto at the same time. He already had used up so much chakra on his project and recovering Naruto from his encounter with the tigers. Not only that, but he couldn't be in control of Naruto's body very long – granted the time allotted was a lot longer than four years ago, but Kyuubi feared that unless he powered to one tail, he wouldn't be able to escape the army in good condition – certainly no condition to leave the forest. Unfortunately Naruto could not handle one tail in his condition, he was still too tired.

The rats had decided they've done enough staring. With a screeching battle cry they leapt at the red engulfed Naruto, and others burrowed under ground once again to come from underneath.

SHIT SHIT SHIT. Naruto wake up! If you try to escape while I attack we'll make it out! Wake up!!! This was not good, Kyuubi concluded, not good at all. They needed a miracle, they needed another fighter, they needed-

Kuso, It's too early but I have no choice! Kyuubi decided, and sent a wave of chakra into a hidden room where his project lay.

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Eyes opened to a dark room and door leading to a lit hallway. Kyuubi was now seeing both inside the labyrinth and outside where the battle was happening. Quickly he raced down the halls, the body still attached to his main form, but separate none the less. He came face to face with a door to the outside world, and with pale human hands pushed the doors opened and stepped outside.

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A separate body covered by opaque red chakra emerged from the boiling mass surrounding Naruto. Kyuubi was currently holding the thousands of rats that had poured within the tree at bay – no small feat considering they were coming from every direction – they had chewed through the ceiling.

The separate body began to attack, kicking and throwing around the rats and then reached out to Naruto's kunai and shuriken holster and thus began slicing the rats and killing numerous at once. It eventually fought its way to the demon wind shuriken, and then it was all over.

Although not all the rats died- less than a hundred- it was enough to distract the starving rats and tempt them into focusing and feasted upon their injured and fallen brethren. As they ripped hunks of meat from their once-brothers, the separate body hoisted Naruto onto its shoulders and then leapt up one of the holes the rats had chewed through the ceiling. Rats did follow, but Kyuubi sent them flying with a blast of chakra as they raced out of the forrest as fast as human legs would go.

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Naruto felt something moving underneath him – a rat? No, there was no pain, whatever it was wasn't attacking. In fact, it seemed to be running.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see the forest speed by him as his chakra enhanced carrier made its way out of the forest.

Someone must have came and saved me…but who… Naruto wondered. One of the Anbu? It is their training ground, they're probably used to all these animals…

Naruto suddenly felt very light-weighted as the person who was carrying him leapt off a tree and over the fence surrounding the forest. It settled him down onto the ground and stood there, staring at Naruto.

Naruto looked up at his savior, only to be met with red. The person who saved him was covered in chakra he recognized as Kyuubi's, but there was something familiar about the figure – something he couldn't quite place…

"Hn" The figure said before it began to dissolve. It was then that Naruto noticed that it had been attached to his navel like a sort of chakra umbilical chord. He watched as the chakra swept into his belly and the curse seal remained visible for a few more seconds before fading away as well.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto asked allowed, confused. Since when was Kyuubi able to manifest his chakra like that? As far as Naruto knew Kyuubi couldn't do anything more than use Naruto's body as a mediator. He never did anything like make another body…

Closing his eyes Naruto meditated, and then opened them again only to see the labyrinth that housed his demon captive. He walked over to the sealed bars.

Kyuubi? Naruto inquired, but Kyuubi curled into the darkest corner within his cell, and Naruto was unable to reach past the bars. He called to Kyuubi again but to no avail, Kyuubi wasn't answering.

Naruto frowned. Something was going on and Kyuubi was ignoring him to avoid explaining.

Suddenly Naruto felt exhausted from Kyuubi's chakra use. His eyes drooped dulled. His body slumped to the ground as he slipped into unconsciousness.


(1) Area 51, for those who don't live in America, Area 51 is a famous military station in a desert where legend says they test aliens and experiment with alien technology. They have signs miles away from the base warning people that trespassers will be shot on sight, no exceptions. People of course still test out these warning and walk on the line, just like Naruto does. Just my little joke…

(2) I've actually seen a rat eat another mouse and it was pretty gruesome and scary. Rats are omnivorous – so they are able to feast on raw meat and anything else non-meat, and in numbers they can be fearless, even against large animals. Their teeth are also powerful – given time, they can chew through steel pipes. That, and they're a lot smarter than many people give them credit for. The rats in pet stores are petty harmless, but dealing with a group of wild city rats is as bad as dealing with a large smart, rabid and angry dog.