Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor will I ever own him
Pairings: SasuNaru and maybe some others
Warnings: Shonen ai, extensive violence and lots of blood.
Summary: When someone takes the Kyubi no Kitsune from Naruto… the weirdest thing happens… he becomes stuck in a female form, similar to his Sexy no Jutsu. Forced to keep it a secret that he's stuck as a female, he takes on a new personality – all the while contemplating the choice that could change his life forever. With the Kitsune gone, and him in a different form – people are nice to him. Does he really want to be 'Naruto' again?
Title: Hybrid Theory
Chapter Four: Points of Authority
The next morning greeted Naruto with a bright blue sky, lazy white clouds and a bright yellow sun. It was the perfect day for a festival. Even if his date was going to be Sasuke of all people.
Now, perhaps this narrator failed to mention something before, but I'll do so now. Naruto is gay. He learned this when he was fourteen and found himself with a crush on Neji of all people. He had quickly moved on from that crush, but Naruto really didn't care about gender. People stared at him anyway, why not give them a good reason to stare? That was what he always though. All right, back to the story.
Although Naruto was sure that his date would be insanely boring, he still promised himself that he would try to have some kind of fun. After all, what else was there to do at a festival? He wasn't going to mope because he had coerced the sexiest guy he knew into going to a Konoha festival with his screwed up feminine body. No sirree.
He had figured that… just for today, he was not going to wear a piece of cloth to cover his whiskers. He had gotten Tsunade, that old hag, to help him with makeup. That had to be one of the worst experiences of his life.
In fact, Naruto would rather face Jiraiya in his current form than have to go through THAT again.
He sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. The old hag had somehow forced him into an orange and red kimono that looked like fire. Naruto was pleased to note that the obi, which was yellow, had dark red foxes on it. He wasn't wearing his forehead protector, so his hair flopped naturally in front of his left eye.
Tsunade had managed to put coverup on the whisker marks so that they appeared to vanish, making him look like a normal human being. Looking out of his cornflower blue eyes, Naruto sighed. He leaned onto the mirror, staring into nothingness.
"What in God's fucking name made me have a crush on Sasuke of all people," he growled to himself. Standing slowly, he picked up his sandals at the door and, without bothering to put them on yet, walked towards where he had earlier agreed to meet Sasuke.
Forfeit the game / Before somebody else
Takes you out of the frame / Puts your name to shame
Cover up your face / You can't run the race
The pace is too fast / You just won't last
Where is she? Sasuke wondered. He glanced at his watch. CHANCE! If she doesn't come within the next ten minutes, I'm off. I waited and la-de-fucking-da to her. It'd be her fault, of course.
Sasuke was so caught up in his mind ranting session that he didn't notice the small girl approach him until she had removed a folded fan from her sleeve and jabbed him hard in the arm.
"Jeez, Sasuke-chan," Kurai said, a broad grin on her face. She latched onto his arm. "You trying to hide from me?"
Sasuke looked away. "No," came his sullen reply.
Kurai just shook her head. Opening the fan, she held it in front of her face. It had the picture of a fox on it. Slowly, she posed in front of the boy. "So, how do I look?" she asked, adding a slight twirl to the affects.
Sasuke's blunt answer came a moment later, without any signs of hesitation. "Like a girl," he muttered. This earned him a smack on the head with the fan, which hurt a lot, as the fan was lined with lead as protection for the bearer. He rubbed the sore spot, blinking tears out of his eyes as the lead hit his skull.
"Mou, you're no fun."
"Then why'd you insist on the date?" Sasuke asked.
Kurai just grinned. Just like yesterday, she put her index finger in front of Sasuke's face. Waving it slowly with each syllable, she said in a happy voice, "Se-cer-ret!"
"What's with you and secrets?" he asked.
"What's with you and secrets?" she countered.
To this, the emotionless boy had no reply. Kurai grinned. She folded her fan and shoved it into her obi. "Come on, boy, let's have some fun!" she said, dragging him by his arm towards the heart of the festival.
You love the way I look at you
While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through
You take away if I give in
My life
My pride is broken
Behind Sasuke and Kurai was none other than the devious Haruno Sakura and her date for the day, Rock Lee. Although Sakura was dressed in the tradition kimono – Rock Lee had refused to budge from his green beast costume that apparently helped his training according to Gai, but we don't trust Gai so let's just leave it at this for now.
"Grrr… that little bitch," Sakura growled to herself.
"Sakura-san?" Lee asked, worried at Sakura's glare. I hope it's not directed at me, I hope it's not directed at me, was the mantra in his head at the moment.
Finally hearing her 'date' for the day, after he was repeatedly calling her name, Sakura turned with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Hai, Lee-kun?" she asked.
"Are you angry at me, for some reason?" Lee asked, unable to hold it back.
"Iie, of course not, Lee-kun," Sakura said in what she perceived to be a sweet enough voice. "It's just, I'm a little worried about Sasuke-kun."
"Why?"
The two were now sitting at an ice cream parlor, eating ice cream (duh) and talking whilst Sakura kept a watchful eye on Sasuke.
"It's just that… there's this new girl in our group… and she just seems to be… using him," Sakura muttered. "As though there's some ulterior motive. She was even able to beat Sasuke-kun."
Lee flashed her one of his infamous grins. "Don't worry about it!" he told her, giving her a thumbs up sign. "Everything will sort itself out in the end."
Sakura just nodded, wondering why the boy was being so… nice? To her.
You like to think you're never wrong
(You live what you've learned)
You have to act like you're someone
(You live what you've learned)
You want someone to hurt like you
(You live what you've learned)
You want to share what you've been through
(You live what you've learned)
"Ne, Sasuke-kun, can you catch goldfish?" Kurai asked, as she pulled him over to the stand.
Sasuke shrugged indifferently.
"Aww, come on, Sasuke-kun," Kurai grumbled. "This is no fun with you! And I even got the Hokage to help me dress up so I'd look nice!" Her voice dropped and a look of sadness passed over her eyes. Sasuke felt his chest tighten unexpectedly. "Pfft… this is the last date I'm going on, if this is what all guys are like!"
"How do you know Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes. Tsunade was a nice person – generally – but only a few people were on close terms with her. And this sounded like close terms.
"Hellooooo," Kurai said. She rapped her knuckles on Sasuke's forehead. "Weren't you listening yesterday? My gramps is Jiraiya… how could I NOT know Tsunade."
"Hn," was Sasuke's reply.
"AARGH!" the blonde girl screamed in frustration.
"Aww… Uchiha-san," someone said. It was the vender of the goldfish game. "You're making your girlfriend angry."
Sasuke blushed. "She's not my girlfriend," he grunted.
"Bah… like I would ever chose you for a boyfriend!" Kurai yelled. "BAKA!"
She turned around and tried to storm off. Her foot, unfortunately, caught on the hem of her kimono. Too late she realized she was losing her balance. Giving out a startled yelp, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact with the ground.
But she never reached the ground.
After a few moments, she opened her eyes. Sasuke had caught her before she had fallen. Blushing furiously, Kurai pulled out her fan. She pushed off Sasuke, trying to walk around him.
"Uhh… thanks," she said, hiding her face behind her fan. Dear God… if you exist, kill me now because of this humiliation, Amen, she silently prayed in her head.
"Are you all right?" Sasuke found himself asking without really knowing the reason why.
"I'm fine, asshole," Kurai hissed back.
She tried to get around Sasuke only to find him blocking her. Moving to his other side, she tried to pass, but he blocked her again.
"What are you doing?" she asked, exasperated.
"I don't know," Sasuke replied softly. Kurai shook her head.
"Look, I get the fact that you don't want to be here, so just leave," Kurai accused in an angry voice (as most accusations are said in angry voices, I suppose this one was no different. In a quieter voice, that Sasuke had to strain his ears to hear, she muttered, "I just wanted to have one day of fun, but I guess I'm not entitled to that, am I?"
Sighing to herself, she waved goodbye to Sasuke as she made her way to the pond that was for catching fireflies at night. She sat on the bridge that spanned the tiny water source, looking into the waters, deep in thought.
"Jeez, why's he always have a stick up his ass or something," She wondered, leaning back and looking up at the sky. "It fucking pisses me off." She sighed to herself. "Aa, where's Kyubi when I need her?" she wondered to the skies.
"Who's Kyubi?" a voice asked. Startled, Kurai jumped, nearly falling into the waters. Sasuke caught her just in time. "So… who's Kyubi?"
"An old friend of mine," Kurai said. "She's in a different village."
It wasn't entirely a lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth. Sasuke walked off the bridge and Kurai soon joined him, sitting next to him. She didn't care what state her kimono would be in at the end of this, she would probably have to burn it whenever she became Naruto again anyway.
"What were you talking about before?" Sasuke wanted to know.
"When, apparently, I've been talking a lot today," Kurai said bitterly. "How the hell should I remember one measly line?"
"The one about how you just wanted one day of happiness."
Kurai blushed. "Oh… well… see…" he stuttered, trying to figure out what to say. Might as well go for a strange version of the truth. Sighing, she looked at Sasuke, a gentle smile gracing her features. "Both of my parents died when I was little… so I've been with Jiraiya a lot. Well, all that I do with him is train, run or pick him out of dumpsters. It's not exactly fun. I figured that… well… since I was going to be here for a while, that maybe I could make friends for once… and then I could have fun… like I see all of the other kids have." She looked a little lost and Sasuke found himself staring at her calm beauty. Her eyes showed so much pain and sadness, but there was acceptance in that pain. It was as though the blonde had decided that she wouldn't let the past bring her down too much. "I'm sorry. You barely know me, and I barely know you… I shouldn't be talking about my troubles."
Kurai grimaced as she realized how true her last sentence had been. Even though Naruto and Sasuke had been teammates for years, they barely knew anything about each other, except for how the other fights.
"It's… it's okay…" Sasuke murmured softly, as though if he raised his voice even a little bit, he would find out that this was all just one fucked up dream. "Y'know, we have something in common, then."
"What's that?"
"My parents died a long time ago too."
You love the things I say I'll do
The way I'll hurt myself again just to get back at you
You take away when I give in / my life
My pride is broken
Forfeit the game / Before somebody else
Takes you out of the frame / Puts your name to shame
Cover up your face / You can't run the race
The pace is too fast / You just won't last
Sakura looked around frantically for any search of her beloved Sasuke. She was still with Lee, who was as exuberant as ever, but she didn't partake in his joyful attitude. Something told her that Sasuke was in trouble. She didn't think it was physical, either.
It was just a hunch, but Sakura really wanted to find Sasuke and make sure that he was okay.
((Back where Kurai and Sasuke are))
"So," Sasuke asked after another ten minutes of silence. "Do you really want a goldfish?" He asked with the tiniest of smiles on his face.
Kurai's eyes widened in surprise. "You… smiled…" she said, shocked.
Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. "What of it?" he had returned to his normal stoic tone and expression.
"You should do it more often. You look cute when you smile."
Sasuke stood up, blushing just a little bit. He reached down and helped Kurai to her feet. "Arigato," the blonde murmured as they made there way arm-in-arm to the goldfish stand. ((KAWAII!))
"Isn't that nice," the man said. "You two got through yer lover's spat."
This made both teenagers blush. "I-it wasn't anything like that," Kurai insisted. The man just laughed, but it wasn't a mocking laugh. It was teasing them, in a gently way.
"By the way, young lady," the man said. "I haven't seen you around here. What's your name."
"Shiozu Kurai," the blonde said, bowing.
"I'm Fisherman Joe," he replied, bowing back. Kurai couldn't help giggling at the name.
"Allright, Sasuke-chan!" Kurai yelled. "Catch that one." She pointed to a rather large goldfish with black fins. "It's pretty."
"Fine," Sasuke replied. He kneeled down and picked up one of the flimsy paper net thingys (Kyuubi-chan doesn't know what they're called.) and concentrated on the fish that the blonde had pointed out. He got it on the paper net and was lifting it out when… the net broke.
"Dammit!" he yelled. He paid for another net. His eyes gleamed angrily at the fish, who seemed completely unaware that the boy was staring at it.
You like to think you're never wrong
(You live what you've learned)
You want to act like you're someone
(You live what you've learned)
You want someone to hurt like you
(You live what you've learned)
You want to share what you've been through
(You live what you've learned)
Forty-seven paper nets and three temper tantrums later, along with a lot of cheering by a certain blonde, Sasuke finally caught the damn fish. Fisherman Joe put it in a plastic bag, looking at what had been affectionately dubbed "Sharingan" or "Fishy-chan" for short. Sasuke slumped against a tree, tired after his fish catching adventures.
Kurai walked shyly over to him, holding Fishy-chan in her hand. She seemed to be trying to decide whether she should do something or not. Slowly, hesitantly, Kurai lifted herself up the extra three inches and softly kissed Sasuke on the mouth.
"Arigatou!" she said happily. She could feel tears welling in her eyes. But unlike normal these were tears of happiness. Sasuke looked at her in shock, unable to speak. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke-chan." Then she disappeared.
"Hai…" Sasuke murmured softly. He touched his lips with his fingers for a moment, still feeling the phantom touch of Kurai's lips against his. He didn't realize he was blushing bright red as he walked off.
It wasn't like it was his first kiss. His stomach dropped as he remember THAT particular memory. Of course it couldn't be his first kiss. His first kiss was with a guy. His first kiss had been with Naruto.
((Where Sakura and Lee are))
Sakura growled when she saw the light kiss that her temporary teammate gave her long-time love. Inner Sakura was having a field day exploding. Saying goodbye to Lee, she walked home, thinking up many different revenges that she could get back on the poor, unsuspecting blonde.
You like to think you're never wrong / forfeit the game
(You live what you've learned)
You want to act like you're someone / forfeit the game
(You live what you've learned)
You want someone to hurt like you / forfeit the game
(You live what you've learned)
You want to share what you've been through / forfeit the game
(You live what you've learned)
Well, minna-san, what do you think? Kyubi will appear in the next chapter or so. Also, I finally figured out why Naruto turns into a girl, which will be explained soon. And its actually plausible ((is very proud of herself))
WHEEEEE Four chapters out.
I'm leaving for camp on Sunday, so I hope to have the next seven chapters out by then. If I work my ass off, I think I'll be able to. If not… you're gonna have to wait three weeks before I can update again. Sorry minna-san, its just the way things go, but I'm trying to update. Which is why you've had four chapters in two days.
I'm most definitely on a roll here. And the chapters from here on out are going to be much easier now that I'm finished introducing Kurai. Now the cast has to cope with her.
And don't worry, there will be some NaruSasuNaru goodness on the way. And I don't mean f/m… I mean shonen ai. So stay tuned everybody!