Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but if I did I'd...give it to some of the more talented authors on this site. I'm not going to bullshit and say I'm one of them.

Disclaimer:The Inari of Overlay is in no way, shape, or form meant to be an accurate representation of the kami Inari of Shinto. Some Japanese mythology will influence Overlay, but this is not an attempt to be entirely accurate. I believe they call it artistic license. This goes for all mythical figures and items making an appearance in Overlay. To be honest, I should create my own religion for the Narutoverse and use it, but...I'm lazy, and Shinto provides an amazing database of gods, goddesses, heroes, and mythical events and items to draw from.

Author's Notes: Sorry this is so late! See, a black cat crossed my path and I had to perform ritual harakiri suicide penance in order to absolve myself of the bad luck. (Kakashi-style lateness excuses are making a comeback I tell you.)

"Talking"- Mental link talking.

"Talking" - Normal talking

'Talking' - Thoughts (Not used in conjunction with Mental link, as that would just be annoying.)

"For nothing is impossible with God." - Luke 1:37

Overlay

Chapter Four

Kasshoku and Deimos strode along the dirt path through the forest, which Kasshoku swore led to a shrine to Inari. Deimos, arms behind his head, fingers woven together in his orange shock of hair, was beginning to have his doubts, despite the fact that he'd found Kasshoku a perfectly good map to follow. The fact that they were following a path meant that they had to be in disguise, which wasn't helping his mood, but neither of the two kitsune had any interest in being attacked by silly humans as "demons."

Deimos didn't think they would run into anyone on the abandoned path; they'd had to clamber over at least two dead trees in the middle of the road, and the underbrush had begun to grow up in the hard-packed dirt of the path. Obviously the route saw little travel, for obvious reasons. It was a path out to the middle of nowhere, no matter what Kasshoku said. He'd obviously misread the map. Finally, after another hour of walking at the worthless pace of a human, Deimos could stand it no longer.

"We're lost, aren't we?" he snapped, scowling at the brown-haired man beside him. Kasshoku's human form reminded Deimos quite a bit of Kasshoku himself: plain and not that interesting, on the surface at least. Underneath the unassuming exterior, Kasshoku was at least as intelligent as Deimos himself, even if he tried to be serious too often. Deimos had no idea why; they were kitsune, the incarnates of mischief, not monks. Kasshoku could be just as mischievous as Deimos, and had been, but he still insisted on acting "dignified."

Dignity, as far as Deimos was concerned, had never resulted in learning anything or having any fun, and as such was completely worthless.

Kasshoku stubbornly set his jaw. "No, for the fifth time, we're not lost. We're on a path, how could we be lost?"

Crossing his arms, Deimos raised one eyebrow. "Because we have no idea where we are or where we're going? Just because we're following a path doesn't mean we know where it goes."

"I told you, I know where we're going! There's a shrine to Inari further down the path. We should be there by tomorrow."

"You said that two days ago!" Deimos yelled, waving his arms in the air for emphasis.

Kasshoku huffed, "So my distance estimation was a bit off. I'm not exactly familiar with human distances and neither are you, so quit whining. It's the map's fault." Quieter, he muttered, "Stupid metric system."

"I'm the one who found that map so we could actually go along with this idea of trying to cash in on humiliating someone who pissed off a deity," Deimos pointed out, slightly wounded that Kasshoku was insulting his efforts.

"True. So it's not the map's fault, it's yours for finding a shitty map."

"Shitty map? I say you're a shitty pathfinder; we've passed that tree over there," Deimos responded, pointing at a lightning-struck tree, "at least three times."

Kasshoku rolled his eyes. "No we haven't. We've been going almost straight east this entire time; there's no way we could have gone in a circle. You're just bored."

Growling slightly, Deimos lapsed into silence. Kasshoku was just being stubborn. Turning their attention back to the path, the two continued the (incredibly boring) trek.

After another three hours, Deimos was seriously beginning to consider starting the "are we there yet" game when he heard the brush to the left of the path begin to rustle. The two disguised kitsune tensed, but after a moment Deimos relaxed. Meeting Kasshoku's eyes, he slowly shook his head. Too loud and slow to be any serious predator. The other fox was not so easily convinced, and remained wary, chakra tensed to release his human disguise for an easier fight or flight.

Finally the object of the noise made itself visible. Mostly by tumbling gracelessly down the slight incline separating forest and path and rolling for a few feet before coming to a halt in a dusty heap in the middle of the road. Deimos wasn't quite sure what it was, although it did appear to be vaguely human sized.

A moment later what looked like a walking stick tumbled out of the forest as well, rolling along the road before coming to a halt as a hand shot out of the heap and grabbed the stick. Using it as a boost, the thing, now clearly revealed to be a man, rose to his feet.

Deimos studied the man curiously and Kasshoku began slowly edging away, still wary.

The man was clad in tattered, dirty black hakama skirt of the kind worn by most swordsmen and by some travelers. His shirt was an orange, sleeveless affair that was tucked into the hakama, and a black obi sash held the ensemble together. Covering his feet were a pair of black zori sandals that looked more like boots. While obviously the material of his clothing wasn't of poor quality, it had definitely seen better days. Deimos wasn't entirely sure the shirt had come sleeveless; the openings at the shoulder appeared to be a bit ragged.

The man himself looked rather old to be traveling alone. His face had visible wrinkles and he had a beard that, were it a few inches longer, could be tucked into the hakama along with the orange shirt. His hair was shockingly white, and both it and the beard appeared to refuse to be groomed, as they went wildly in every direction. The beard did manage to maintain something of a downward shape as enforced by gravity, but the old man's hair was a hopeless tangle.

When the man bent over to dust himself off, Deimos saw a symbol on the back of his shirt, sewn on in a now-dirty white. It appeared to be ten concentric rings, each one larger than the last. The entire thing took up roughly a third of the back of the shirt.

Muttering something to himself, the man appeared to take notice of the two for the first time. He waved, bright blue eyes shining out behind thick eyebrows.

"Hello there! Sorry about that...attacked by trees. Tricky opponents, trees, always playing possum," he declared, utterly solemn.

Deimos turned to his companion and tightened his lips in an attempt to not laugh. Kasshoku frowned, slightly embarrassed that he'd been frightened of a crazy old man.

Trying to salvage something of his appearance, Kasshoku asked, "Who are you?" Perhaps if the man turned out to be some sort of warrior or chakra wielding priest his fear would have been justified.

The man scratched his beard with the tip if his walking stick, eyes scrunched up in thought. "My name...name name name..."

Deimos couldn't hold back his snicker at Kasshoku. He would never let the other kitsune hear the end of this.

The old man nodded suddenly, causing his messy mop of grey hair to fall down into his eyes. "I'm blind!" he called out, flailing about with the staff.

The snicker turned into outright laughter, and Kasshoku hung his head. After several moments, the old man managed to get his hair out of his eyes.

"Damn trees. Cursed me, you see."

Deimos had long since run out of breath, and was now struggling to remain upright, with minimal success. Kasshoku glared at him, knowing full well that this incident would not be forgotten. The old man, noticing that neither was paying attention, lashed out lightning quick with the staff, rapping each on the head. "Pay attention! Youngsters these days, no respect."

Kasshoku's scowl deepened, and Deimos, after recovering his breath, responded jokingly, "We're older than we look."

The old man nodded slowly. "So am I, youngster, so am I. Time's been kind to me."

"How old are you? You don't look a day over a hundred," Deimos snickered. Kasshoku, standing next to him, maintained his scowl while rubbing the back of his head where the staff had hit him. Normally it would have been no task to dodge an old human's "attack," but he'd been a bit distracted. Damn Deimos.

The old man's face brightened. "Younger than a hundred? Really? Must be my healthy diet. Rice, red beans, and pure water. You paying attention? Eat healthy and exercise regularly and you might grow to be as old as me."

Deimos nodded sagely at the advice, although Kasshoku could see that he was clearly biting his cheek. Deciding that letting the old man lead the conversation could only lead to further embarrassment, he decided to speak up.

"Excuse me, but we're in search of a temple of Inari. I believe that this road leads to one, would you happen to know how far away we are?" he asked. The perfect question. Now he would get confirmation that there was indeed a temple and that they were heading towards it. That would give him something to use as a shield against Deimos's taunts.

The old man blinked for a moment. "Temple to Inari? Nearest one is about a week's travel to the southeast," he said, pointing off into the forest. "You'd have to backtrack along the road for about a day and take the fork to the left, then follow it for about five days."

The old man seemed to have lost his senility; perhaps the fall had only momentarily addled his wits.

That thought was ruined when the old man continued, "Or you could spend a month trying to go in a straight line through the forest...it'd be faster, but the trees are hungry this time of year."

Kasshoku closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. The old man was crazy, and Deimos would probably never let him hear the end of how a crazy human could find his way around better than a centuries-old kitsune. Slitting his eyes open, he could see that Deimos had shoved his hand into his mouth, biting down hard to muffle his laughter.

Deimos was having the time of his life. This was even funnier than the time when Kasshoku had mistaken a daimyo's wife for the daimyo's father sixty years ago!

"Kaliergo Ryzi! That's my name!" the old man suddenly declared, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "And a good name it is, too," he muttered, sounding very satisfied with himself.

Deimos widened his eyes in surprise, jaw clenching in sudden fear, biting painfully into the hand that had moments before been muffling laughter. He slowly pulled the hand out of his mouth, but couldn't prevent his jaw from reflexively clamping shut again. 'No way. He's got to be kidding.'

Several problems cropped up with that thought as Deimos looked at the conversation with new eyes. 'But he did manage to hit each of us...and now that I think about it...I can't smell him.' The observation of the man's lack of smell would be a compliment among humans. Among kitsune, who had a highly developed sense of smell, it meant that something was wrong. Everything smelled. 'And why didn't I detect him before he was practically on top of us?' True, he'd sensed no killing intent to give the man away, like he had with the tiger, but a doddering old man shouldn't have been able to sneak up on him like that anyway.

Kasshoku, oblivious to his friend's sudden misgivings, appeared to have resigned himself to being made a fool of by the crazy old man and relaxed. "What are you doing out in the middle of nowhere? We haven't seen anyone else for days."

"Looking for someone," the old man promptly responded.

"Well, like I said, we haven't seen anyone for days. Who are you looking for?" Kasshoku continued, still missing Deimos gesturing for him to shut up.

"Actually, I'm looking for two someones," the man answered. Turning to Deimos, he cocked his head, and a brief glint of mischief appeared in his eyes, just long enough for the kitsune to make sure he hadn't missed it. "You wouldn't happen to have seen them, would you? The two did me a favor a few days ago."

"I just said we hadn't seen anyone for days!" Kasshoku exclaimed. He was ignored by the other two.

Deimos thoughts were racing. 'Shit. Should I answer, or just play along and pretend I have no idea what he's talking about?' A careful study of the old man gave him no answer. Sighing, he thought, 'Hell. Might as well bite the bullet.'

Licking his lips nervously, he opened his mouth and said, "I might have." Ignoring Kasshoku's confused look, he continued. "What favor are you speaking of?" In a movement that he hoped appeared casual he brushed his hand against Kasshoku's, flared his chakra minutely, and passed on one word before severing the link. Kasshoku's face twisted in confusion before taking a moment to study the old man. He returned his attention to Deimos, or most specifically the subtle signs of tension in Deimos's face. The orange kitsune was serious. Kasshoku's amiable appearance became forced, his entire being tensed, ready to flee at a moment's notice. Not that it would do him any good, if it came to that.

"Oh, they humiliated a man who ruined an agent of mine," the old man said offhandedly.

'Fuck. I was right.' Dropping any attempt at pretense, Deimos sighed and said, "If you're referring to Murakami Masaso, that was us."

"What makes you think I'm talking about that fat fool?" the old man questioned, a grin widening on his face.

'He's toying with us.' After a moment of thought, Deimos said, "Because I think you're no old man."

Raising his staff threateningly, the old man yelled, "Are you calling me an old woman?!?! Brat, I ought to give you a beating!"

Deimos almost laughed at the pose. "I don't think I could do anything to stop you, Inari."

Pouting, the old man lowered the staff before poking it into the ground, crossing his arms and leaning on it. "I never get to have fun for long these days. Last bunch I pulled this on never figured it out," he grumbled. When the two said nothing, he scowled. "Oh grow a spine, I'm not going to kill you. Now which one of you pulled that stunt with Masaso?"

"He did," the two said at the same time, pointing at each other. When the deity arched an eyebrow at the answer, Deimos waved a hand to Kasshoku, indicating that he should explain.

Inclining his head respectfully, Kasshoku said, "I was the one who actually cast the illusion, but Deimos planned it."

Raising one arm from the staff Inari snapped his fingers. "Deimos...terror in Greek? That's how you figured it out! Haven't had anyone figure out I was using a Greek translation of my name before. Ine-nari, growing rice, to Kaliergo Ryzi, grow rice. Never properly learned the language, so it's a poor translation at best, but no one's ever called me out on it."

Deimos had a sudden hilarious mental image of somebody telling a deity that it had made a grammatical error, followed instantly by a series of lightning bolts striking the fool. Gods are right, even when they're wrong.

"Now," continued Inari. "You two are...interesting. Kitsune working together when I'm not coercing them is somewhat...rare." His voice was laced with a question, but the two foxes remained silent. "Well, if you don't want to tell me, that's your business. I'm not exactly obsessed with controlling my chosen race...trying to force kitsune to do something they don't want to is rather like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall." Inari pouted childishly when he received only confused looks at the word "Jell-O." Propping his chin back on the staff, Inari studied the two for a moment.

Under the unwavering gaze, shifted nervously before Deimos asking, "What do you want?"

Inari grinned. "What makes you think I want something?"

"Do you always answer a question with a question?" Kasshoku said, scowling, frustration at Inari toying with him overcoming fear.

The grin widened. "Why would you ask something like that?"

Deciding that it would be wise to interrupt before Inari finished baiting Kasshoku into doing something stupid, Deimos interjected, "I think you want something because you're talking to us. You're a god, and I highly doubt that you would take time away from...whatever it is gods do to congratulate the two of us on an admittedly brilliant prank."

Inari slowly shook his head, clucking his tongue. "Silly little kit. Good reasoning, except for the fact that you seem to have failed to have noticed something." Deimos and Kasshoku followed a waved hand at the forest from the god. Their eyes widened - the forest was still. Completely, unnaturally still. Leaves had frozen in their fall to the ground, birds hung in the air mid wing-stroke, and the entire place radiated a complete lack of activity. Continuing, apparently amused at the shock on the two fox's faces, Inari said, "Time is such a fluid concept. You're really not taking up much of it."

"But...what...that's impossible...how..." muttered Kasshoku, eyes wide as saucers.

Ignoring Kasshoku's wonderful imitation of a fish, mouth opening and closing comically, Inari said, "But...you are right. I do want something from you."

Kasshoku snapped his attention from the forest, mostly due to a swift kick in the shin from Deimos.

"What would that be?" Deimos asked hesitantly. As long as he listened, he didn't have to do anything. If Inari did tell him to do something, he could always try and cop out with "I would like to do that," which was not "I will do that." Lying was...difficult for kitsune, and caused agonizing pain. Saying one thing and meaning another had, as a consequence, risen to an art form amongst the foxes. It was part of the reason humans regarded them as deceptive, despite the fact that there was no more honest race than the kitsune. Well, to the humans' credit, the foxes were intentionally deceptive with their words.

"I'm offering you two positions as my agents in this world. You do things for me, and I reward you suitably," Inari answered, fingers clasped together in a businesslike fashion, staff resting against his beard. "You can accept or refuse any request, no questions asked, although I don't know why you would. Most of the tasks are easy, and the rewards are unparalleled. I am a god after all...it's hard to find a higher patron."

Something sounded off in all of this to Deimos. "If you're a god, why do you need agents? Why can't you just do everything yourself?"

The staff rapped him on the head again, moving so fast he hadn't seen Inari pick it up, much less attack with it. "I'm 'a' god. I'm not omnipotent or omniscient, no matter what people may tell you about my kind. More importantly...I swore a vow when I gained the tenth tail and ascended to the rank of one of the divines. I swore I would never again return to the realm of the mortals." The look of amusement on Inari's face faded for a moment, replaced by something akin to regret, before flickering out of existence.

Kasshoku arched an eyebrow. "Aren't you in the mortal realm now?"

Inari grinned, the almost ever-present sense of mirth returning. "I repeat: silly little kit. What makes you think that this is reality?" For a moment, the forest and Inari's old man form flickered out of existence, revealing an area suspiciously similar to a fork in the road the two kitsune had passed the day before. Then the forest and Inari reappeared.

"...an illusion," Kasshoku whispered in awe. He'd had to focus hard to make that stupid man in Matsuyama think he was clothed, and Inari was casually creating complete alternate realities in their heads at whim. The distance between god and three-tailed kitsune was suddenly thrown into sharp contrast.

"Indeed, although most priests would call it a vision. Now...prospective agents, what say you? All I need you to do is to escort a priest of mine to a town in Ehime by name of Kumakôgen. The town that had a shrine built to me with public funds. The shrine Masaso tore down and sold for scrap." Inari fairly hissed the last sentence, distaste for the human evident. Returning to a more normal tone of voice, he said, "While he's preaching to the villagers, you will take the form of pure white one-tailed foxes, to show that the priest has my favor. Basically your job is to walk to a town, get cooed over by women and small children, and then walk out with the priest."

"What do we get out of this?" Kasshoku asked, having the nerve to ask the question bouncing around the minds of both himself and Deimos.

Inari smirked, amused at the brown kitsune's presumption. "A pragmatist, I see. In this case I'll...reveal a trick about chakra usage. It will help you quite a bit, that I can swear on."

Deimos and Kasshoku glanced at each other, weighing the options. Easy task for something they had always wanted: more knowledge of chakra. Inari was, if you looked at it a certain way, nothing more than a kitsune who's powers had reached the level of nigh incomprehensible. He was still bound by the same rules. He could not violate a sworn oath without having his soul fragmented and burned into oblivion, he had a strong aversion to lying, and when he did lie it came with extreme pain, so they could probably trust him...to a limited extent. Reaching their decision at the same time, the two nodded.

"We accept."

"Good," responded Inari. "The priest...well, you'll recognize him," he said, snickering, before the forest and the deity faded out of existence, revealing that the two were indeed at the fork in the road they'd passed yesterday. In the distance, they could see someone walking in their direction.

Deimos couldn't help but close his eyes and quietly chuckle to himself. "You'll recognize him" indeed. The elderly priest was instantly recognizable; he was the human Inari had disguised himself as, with minor differences. The hair was cut shorter, and not such an impossible mess, the sleeves of the shirt were present, and the rest of his clothes didn't appear to have been dragged through mud like the disguised deity's. He also led a pack mule by a rope, and the animal appeared to be unusually cooperative, stopping only once every few hundred feet to try and wander off. Other than that, right down to the ten concentric circles on the back of the shirt, the priest and the deity were identical.

It was somewhat unnerving, to be talking with a mere human priest when, mere minutes ago, they'd been speaking with an identical figure who happened to be the god of their race.

"You know what we are, right?" Deimos asked the priest. Kasshoku was walking along the path to his right, hands in his pockets, staring off at nothing and frowning. Probably upset about how Inari had carefully herded them into this. Looking back on the conversation, it had been obvious that the deity had led the entire conversation to its conclusion, and offered just the right incentives to get the two kitsune to do the god's bidding. Kasshoku had never liked being controlled. Neither had Deimos, to be honest, but they were going to get something out of this. It was more like contract work than servitude. It still rankled, but he could deal with it.

The old priest frowned and snorted at the question. "Of course I do, kitsune. Our god, Inari, came to me in a vision and revealed to me that he would be sending two of his servants to give emphasis to my words. However, I was under the impression that you would be in the form of pure white foxes..." he trailed off, obviously wanting an answer.

"We'll change into that form before we reach the village," Kasshoku snapped, obviously irked at being referred to as a 'servant' of Inari. "For now, it draws less attention to be human, and it's easier to talk."

The priest shrugged, ignoring the tone. "As you will. Come; the citizens of Kumakôgen await."

The trio began walking back in the direction Deimos and Kasshoku had come from, the priest and his mule on the left side of the road, Kasshoku on the right, and Deimos in the middle...where he would hopefully be able to prevent Kasshoku from placing an illusion on the man as a prank. While humorous, he didn't think Inari would appreciate the gesture.

Never one to remain silent for long, Deimos turned to the priest and asked, "So...what's your name?"

"Takahashi Monto," the now-named priest answered. Deimos almost asked if his given name Monto, "believer," had been given at birth or if he'd changed it, but decided that having the priest talk about himself would be dull. And when speaking with a priest of Inari, there was always a much more entertaining subject than the priest himself.

"So...how long have you been a follower of Inari?"

The priest took on a thoughtful look for a moment, and the group was silent, the only sound their footsteps and the dull thumping of the walking stick. "For...forty seven years now."

"Really? Far longer than the two of us," Deimos commented. The mention of his and Kasshoku's relatively brief service to the deity was by no means an accident; he wanted to know just how much the priest knew. If the man was an actual priest (most likely, considering Inari had dispatched the two kitsune to support the man) and not some overblown fool spouting nonsense, he might know something of the god worth knowing. From the deity's actions, it was quite clear that Deimos hadn't researched him well enough. Working for Inari was not, in fact, being stuck in a temple praying all day, as he'd believed.

Monto looked momentarily surprised at the remark before saying, "Ah. I apologize for my earlier presumption; I thought you more familiar with Inari. So you've only recently ascended to sanbi?"

Deimos and Kasshoku halted in the road, dumbstruck for a moment at the priest's mention of the two acquiring the third tail. After a few steps, the priest halted as well and turned to look on at them curiously.

"How do you know about that?" Kasshoku demanded, turning his glare from the sky to the priest. Deimos narrowed his eyes at Monto, studying the man closely. Apparently he was far better informed than most of his race about the nature of kitsune.

Monto shrugged. "You aren't the first kitsune I've worked with, and like I said, I've been a follower of Inari for forty seven years. The nature of your kind has been revealed to me over the course of those years, down to the fact that Inari himself is a kitsune who, for actions that have been lost to the sands of time, became a god."

"He mentioned that he'd vowed to never return to the mortal realm after he became a god," Deimos said.

Monto nodded his head in the direction of the red-headed kitsune. "I have heard that before, although no one seems to know why."

The conversation had begun to veer, and Deimos decided to switch back to the thing that had first captivated his interest. "Why did you think that we hadn't possessed the third tail for very long?"

"Because almost all kitsune, soon after they gain the third tail, are approached by Inari. The fact that you had been a 'follower' of Inari for far less than forty seven years meant that you couldn't have been sanbi for long, or you would have been approached by Inari sooner. However, had you for some reason not been approached by Inari after gaining the third tail, you would most likely have lived long enough and seen enough to learn how he works, and wouldn't be asking questions. Hence, you must not have had the third tail for very long."

Deimos was impressed. The priest appeared to be rather intelligent, and not the half mindless devotee he had expected. "We've had the third tail for almost a century now," Deimos responded, eyebrow arched. True, not a long time to them, but to a human...

"A hundred years is merely the blink of an eye to a god," Monto answered. "Even if it seems like an eternity to myself. I've been forced to learn that some of my actions have been part of plans that will only reach their fruition many years after my death. Speaking of actions, we should talk while we walk. Kumakôgen isn't getting any closer, and I'm certainly not getting any younger." With that, Monto resumed his walk towards the town, giving a jerk to the mule's lead rope to get the animal moving. The two kitsune, after a moment, began to follow, walking only slightly faster than the old priest in order to catch up without seeming as if they were running to follow his beck and call.

Lacing his fingers together behind his head and staring up at the sky, bored, Deimos tried to think of another question to ask the priest. Kasshoku beat him to it.

"So...what exactly do you know of Inari?"

Monto smiled to himself, as if he'd been waiting for the question. "Inari is sometimes called 'Desire-Fulfilling Inari,' and he is the god of luck, rice, foxes, and worldly success," he began in a voice that was deeper, more commanding, and more attention-grabbing than his normal voice. "He is a very rewarding deity, and worship of him is returned with his favor and his favor brings bounty." Here Monto paused for a moment. Deimos could see why the priest had been worth Inari sending kitsune to support him on several occasions; the man was an excellent speaker. "His servants" - Monto glanced at the kitsune and shrugged - "are fox spirits called kitsune. They help those faithful to Inari, and punish those who defy him."

"We've done something along those lines before," Deimos interrupted. "Have you heard of Murakami Masaso?"

Monto nodded. "Yes. He's the daimyo of this country, and I was sent to speak with the people of Kumakôgen about how he destroyed the shrine there."

"We 'punished' him by placing an illusion on him. He went to address the lords of Ehime in the nude, and had no idea. Still, we weren't doing it on Inari's orders, we just thought it would be funny."

The old priest blinked owlishly for a moment before howling in laughter. Kasshoku and Deimos smiled to themselves; it was always good to have someone appreciate your work. After the laughter had subsided to the occasional snicker, the old priest wiped a tear from his eye and grinned. "Well, that should certainly help my speech. Somehow I think Inari was involved in your illusion; he is usually quite subtle in the way he works."

"You were speaking of Inari rewarding those who are faithful and punishing those who are not?" Kasshoku prompted.

"Yes. Inari rewards those who serve him, and because he is the god of worldly success, those rewards are great indeed. The daimyo, for instance, are by and large all worshipers of Inari, Masaso being a rare - and most likely brief - exception. The reward is not always, and indeed, is usually not great wealth. Inari grants his followers something rare in this world: success. The worshipers of Inari are well looked after by their deity, and he will do all within his power to protect them, nurture them, and have them flourish."

Deimos had to question this. "You're saying the worshipers of Inari never know hardship? That seems...far-fetched."

Monto shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying. Those who follow Inari follow a hard path, as he can be demanding. I'm seventy three years old and I traipse about the world telling people like you about Inari. It's not always easy." At Deimos's continued skeptical expression, Monto changed tack. "Like any other god, Inari is not omnipotent. He helps those who help themselves, and no amount of sacrifice and prayer will make him fill a fishing net for someone, or convince a customer to buy something. His patronage merely amplifies the results of a person's own labor, for above all else Inari respects two things: hard work and the freedom of choice. Doing things for people is simply not the way he works."

Deimos shrugged. He didn't have to rely on prayer; he and Kasshoku had a deal with the god himself.

Seeing that, for the moment, Deimos was satisfied, Monto continued. "As for punishing those who defy him...as I said, Inari respects free will and hard work. There is nothing more guaranteed to earn his ire than to thwart those who have worked hard on his behalf, as Masaso did by destroying a fully built shrine and selling the wood and precious metals. I have no doubt that his punishment did not end with your trick. However, what did happen is a good example of how Inari responds to those who anger him. Masaso was not killed, his country did not become impoverished, and he did not begin to wither and sicken. Instead he was publicly humiliated, much as Inari was when a human destroyed a shrine to him. Inari does not act directly; the closest he will ever come to doing so is sending intermediaries such as ourselves to work on his behalf, and even that is not always done directly, as you yourselves have proved."

The two kitsune glanced at each other, bemused, before turning their attention back to Monto. "Continue, please," Kasshoku said.

And Monto did so. Deimos couldn't help but notice the look of peace and contentment that flickered over the man's features whenever he spoke of the god. Perhaps this was the success Monto had spoken of? He was obviously not that wealthy, clothes aside, as he was traveling alone with little in the way of supplies or money besides the mule. But something about him simply radiated...peace. As if he had great faith that no matter what happened, as long as he did what he was supposed to, things would turn out for the best, so there was no sense in worrying about it.

Deimos envied him that carefree certainty that things would end well.

Thankfully Kumakôgen was relatively close. After leaving Matsuyama, the two kitsune had headed northeast, towards Tokushima, the country bordering Ehime. They had only been traveling for a few days before encountering Inari, and Kumakôgen was only two days travel south, and a slight bit west. The trio had lapsed into a somewhat comfortable silence after Monto had finished speaking of Inari, and it had continued throughout the rest of the journey, broken only for brief conversations about sleeping arrangements.

Monto had come well prepared. His pack mule contained two tents, one of which he offered to the kitsune. They declined, preferring to sleep in the open, but the gesture had been appreciated. The offer of travel biscuits and jerky was also politely refused, and if Monto noticed that the two had disappeared during the night and returned smelling faintly of blood, he didn't comment.

Kumakôgen was a quiet little logging town in the southeastern part of Ehime. A river to the east of the town contained several saw mills, which converted the lumber into usable planks of all sizes. From those saw mills, the planks were shipped via ox cart to Matsuyama, where the master shipbuilders used the wood to build the trading vessels and fishing fleets that brought the country its prosperity. Since their lumber was so in demand, both because of its quality and the close proximity to the shipbuilders, the town was prosperous enough to have several well maintained, yet still dirt, roads. Two inns, one located at the western entrance and one at the eastern entrance, also marked the town's wealth. A poor village wouldn't be able to maintain two such establishments; they wouldn't received enough traffic and customers.

It was into this town that Monto walked, and after stopping at one of the two inns to stable his donkey, he continued towards the center of the village, a pure white fox the size of a large wolf flanking him on each side. The two disguised kitsune played the role of heavenly foxes with ease, striding regally, heads held high, tails swishing dramatically, and catching the eye of more than one surprised villager. Deimos had to admit that it was extremely...gratifying, to have all of that attention directed at him. Monto lead the two foxes to the town square before seating himself on the edge of an ornamental fountain, saying nothing.

The trio slowly attracted a crowd, at first composed of small children eager to touch the "pretty kitties" and anxious mothers watching tensely, ready to snatch up their children at a moment's notice, but the kitsune made no threatening moves towards the children and the mothers slowly relaxed. Kasshoku had bristled at being referred to as a "kitty" - foxes were more closely related to dogs than cats! - but had relaxed under the clumsy petting of the children. Deimos almost laughed at his friend's expression; it was like he was trying hard (and failing) to maintain a scowl. Not that the humans could tell what a scowl looked like on a fox. Distracted from his musings when one of the girls scratched a sensitive spot behind his ear, he let out a low, pleased growl, leaning into the touch. The girl giggled and continued to scratch the ear. He wasn't quite sure how Monto was going to get his message across by setting up a petting zoo, but he wasn't complaining.

The crowd quickly grew in size, and the women were soon joined by men intrigued by the gathering. Being a logging town of somewhat middling importance meant that Kumakôgen saw visitors with a fairly regular basis, but strange sights such as two apparently domesticated, pure white foxes following an old man were far from the norm. Besides that, it was a decent excuse to not man shop counters, do home repairs, or cook. Distractions were always welcome in the life of most villagers.

Finally, one of the men watching, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, called out, "Who are you?"

Monto smiled an inclined his head in the man's direction. "My name is Takahashi Monto, and I am a priest of Inari." He said no more, and turned his attention back to the children surrounding the kitsune, as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Unsatisfied with the answer, the man walked a bit closer, carefully avoiding tripping over any children. "Why are you here, sir? We don't normally attract priestly visitors."

Monto shifted his attention away from the children after quietly admonishing them to not pull on the fur or tails. This of course only planted the idea in the children's minds, who seemed to find being thwapped in the face by a furry white tail after yanking it highly amusing.

Deimos silently told himself that he would bite the priest for this. Turning, he gently butted head into the chest of the child who had pulled on his tail. The little boy fell to the ground with a squeal of delight before jumping up and grabbing the fox around the neck in a clumsy hug. Despite the fact that his very name meant terror, Deimos was having a hard time maintaining any irritation at the children. They were just...innocent.

"I am here to speak to you of my god, and his anger at the destruction of his shrine," declared Monto loudly, gaining the attention of the villagers. He then launched into a speech bearing a striking resemblance to his earlier one to the kitsune, changed slightly for his more human audience and excluding certain irrelevant details, such as Inari being an ascended kitsune.

When Monto began to speak of the kitsune, the fox spirit messengers of Inari, one of the children cocked his head to the side before pointing at Deimos and Kasshoku. "You!" he squealed, before resuming his previous activity of hugging Deimos. Monto continued, ignoring the small scale chaos of delighted children surrounding him. The mothers, momentarily disturbed at the implication that their children were playing with spirits, relaxed when the foxes' behavior remained unchanged. If the foxes were indeed kitsune, they appeared to be quite benevolent, and their subtle actions to prevent children from tripping over each other with flicks of their tails were not missed.

Once Monto had finished his speech about Inari, he began to speak of the destruction of the shrine, but was interrupted.

"We had nothing to do with that!" exclaimed the man who had prompted the entire conversation. Licking his lips nervously, he clarified, "I should know. My name is Watanabe Nobu, and I used to be the governor of Kumakôgen. We know of Inari, and wished to show our respect. I had the shrine built, but Masaso tore it down! And we can't do anything about it, because Masaso replaced me with - "

"Me," came a new voice. Monto turned to study the new arrival; the kitsune had already noticed the man's approach. It had been hard to miss.

The man was tall and bulky, towering over most of the villagers. He had a broad, flat face, and his nose was crooked, as if it had been broken on several different occasions. His shoulder length hair was contained in a tight ponytail, and it was cut closely in the front, preventing his hair from falling into his eyes and giving him a somewhat military appearance. He was clad in a cloth kimono in the dark green of the Murakami clan, a legless black hakama skirt that gave him freedom of movement, and expensive sandals that still appeared to be quite functional. More importantly however, was the fact that he was flanked by four men wearing sword belts, hands on their weapons. The man himself had a katana strapped to his sash, and like his sandals, it appeared expensive but far from ceremonial.

The children, distracted by the appearance of men with weapons, put up little protest as their mothers, sensing trouble, gathered them up. Most of the children, having relatively short attention spans, decided to stare at the strong looking guards, and the boys began to argue with each other over who would make a better soldier. Only a few clung tenaciously to the kitsunes' fur, and they were easily distracted by promises of sweets. Throughout the entire event, Monto had only looked sadly at the fearful mothers, though he couldn't blame them for being concerned for their children. The arrival of armed authorities at crowds usually meant trouble.

"Now," continued the man who was apparently the governor of Kumakôgen. "Why are you here?"

Turning to the governor, Monto answered, "I am here to speak for my god, Inari." If he was intimidated by the guards' threatening posture, he didn't show it.

The governor's lips quirked upwards and his lips thinned, as if he were trying to contain his smile. "Your god? Masaso-sama would appear to be the greater of the two. Masaso's house is still standing, but Inari's temple? Not so."

Monto smiled, closing his eyes in bemusement. "The mind is sometimes referred to as a temple. If recent events are any indication, that particular temple of Masaso's has collapsed. Or have you not heard of his decision to address the lords and ladies of Ehime in the buff?"

Deimos opened his mouth, baring his teeth in the kitsune version of a grin. The guards tightened their grip on their swords, but neither they nor the kitsune made any other movements. The tension ratcheted up another notch, and the crowd began to simultaneously part around the two groups and grow in size, eager to see the new addition to the spectacle of the kitsune and the priest.

The governor's jaw tightened, and he glared at Monto. "Are you claiming responsibility for that event, priest?"

In a gesture seemingly designed to infuriate the man, Monto shrugged. "I have never been to Matsuyama, and was in fact headed in the direction of Tokushima when Inari called me to come here. However, I think it no coincidence that the bout of madness occurred so shortly after the destruction of the shrine."

"You seem well-informed for a priest wandering the countryside at the behest of your 'god,'" the governor snapped. "Word of that incident only reached me two days ago, and then by private messenger." His words were met with silence. Narrowing his eyes, the governor turned to his guards. "Detain this man for questioning. I believe he somehow poisoned our lord and befuddled his mind."

Two of the guards stepped forward while the other two remained with the governor. Before they'd come within arms reach of Monto, the two kitsune swivelled their gaze from the governor to the approaching guards. Ice blue eyes stared into the suddenly nervous eyes of the guards, and Deimos and Kasshoku growled intimidatingly. They had no real desire to get into a fight with humans, but Inari had specifically told them to "walk out with the priest." That wouldn't be happening if Monto got himself thrown in jail.

When the guards stopped, the governor snorted in disgust. "Fools! They're just foxes. Probably little more than trained animals; they certainly didn't do anything to those kids." To prove his words, the governor put on a false smile, which looked rather disturbing next to his squashed nose, and reached out. Cooing out in a voice similar to the one a person would use on a baby or a pet, he sing-sung, "Good fox. You want to come over here? I have a treat for you." He cupped his hand so that the foxes couldn't see his palm, as if concealing a choice bit of meat.

Deimos turned a lazy gaze in Kasshoku's direction, who appeared to be containing the desire to charge the man with effort. Kasshoku had never appreciated being patronized. Deimos, on the other hand...enjoyed attention, even of the mocking sort. He always managed to return such attention in various satisfying and entertaining ways.

Lazily rising from his haunches, Deimos stretched, cat-like, before slowly walking in the direction of the governor. He raised his head and sniffed the air, as if curious. To all who looked on he appeared to be nothing more than a hungry, stupid animal. The governor smirked in triumph as Deimos neared, passing the two remaining guards, before reaching out and grabbing Deimos by the scruff of his neck. Deimos relaxed into the gesture, offering no resistance.

"I would let him go if I were you," Monto called out calmly. Next to him, Kasshoku shifted his attention from the governor's face, and away from thoughts of how much better it would look with claw marks going over the eyes, to the hand grabbing Deimos. He tried not to blink. He didn't want to miss whatever Deimos was planning to do.

The governor laughed. "Some kitsune. I am a 'messenger' for Masaso-sama, who has triumphed over your god; I believe that would make me more powerful than this little fox messenger, wouldn't it?"

Monto shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Guards, detain this man. I tire of listening to his nonsen - " the governor was abruptly cut off as Deimos, with a burst of movement, twisted his neck free of the man's hand and took two steps forward.

The governor lived up to his swordsman appearance. His hand instantly shifted to his katana, and the blade was halfway out of the sheath before Deimos had finished moving. The guards echoed the gesture, but the governor abruptly froze, sword still not fully unsheathed, as he felt a prickling bit of pressure. The two closest guards, noticing something was wrong, approached slowly, swords drawn.

The problem was four wickedly sharp fox talons placed right on the governor's unarmored crotch. Deimos stood on hind legs, left forepaw on the governor's right thigh to balance himself. The governor shifted his stance minutely, but a slight twitch of Deimos's paw and the sound of cloth ripping froze him again. The guards, almost within striking distance of Deimos, halted when the governor began to furiously shake his head.

"Hmmm. Now it's the fox who has the human in his grasp, and not the other way around, isn't it?" Monto mused aloud. Kasshoku, who could see what was happening quite clearly from his lower viewpoint, sighed. Trust Deimos to find the most underhanded, dirty, cheap, and humiliating tactic.

It was a large part of why Kasshoku liked the other fox.

Kasshoku watched idly as one of the two guards sent to arrest Monto lunged forward and tried to grab the priest. Tried being the operative word, as he missed the priest by a wide margin and tripped over the edge of the fountain, crashing into the statue in the middle. The man fell into the water, unmoving, and his companion leaped towards him, trying to drag the man up onto solid ground before he drowned himself. Kasshoku turned his attention back to Deimos; the guards would have little success in reaching the priest. Illusions regarding depth perception had always been Kasshoku's favorites. Very little effort was required, just a small refraction of light, and they were extremely effective.

Unfortunately, all the commotion near the priest had distracted Deimos for one fateful second. The governor, sensing the kitsune's momentary lapse, had shoved out with his left hand and twisted his hips, jerking his katana the rest of the way out of its sheath and removing the immediate threat to his manhood. Deimos stumbled backwards, off balance while standing on two legs.

One of the guards behind Deimos lashed out with his sword, aiming to cut the kitsune in two.

Deimos saw the sword arcing downwards through the corner of one widening blue eye. The world seemed to slow down. He could see, with perfect clarity, the descent of the sword towards his back. It was, at once, both unbearably slow and impossibly swift.

Kasshoku didn't have time to react, and even if he did have time no illusion could stop an attack already in motion. The priest, shooting to his feet, would never make it.

'So this is how it ends? One human, one slip, and it's over?' Deimos thought, oddly detached. The sword continued to make its unavoidable approach. 'I'm...going to die? I'm going...to die. I'm going to die.'

Something inside Deimos snapped. 'No.'

Adrenaline surged through his brain, shutting down everything not immediately essential to survival. Acting on pure instinct and adrenaline-filled impulse, Deimos channeled every bit of chakra he could muster into his tail. A slightly detached part of his brain noted the ease with which it happened, the way his tail focused and refined the chakra as he channeled it.

He expelled it in an unstoppable torrent, thinking only, 'Burn.'

The world, still in slow motion, seemed to slow even further as a column of blue flame erupted from the tip of Deimos's tail, rocketing with explosive force into the attacking guard ever so slowly. Deimos saw, with perfect clarity, the way the slash was halted, then blown backwards, the way the man's clothes began to slowly char before erupting into flame.

The way his eyes melted before he'd finished reflexively blinking. The way his skin began to blacken, the way that every single exposed hair was burned out of existence, the way that the palms of his hands, momentarily protected from the brunt of the fire by the sword hilt, were abruptly subjected to the pain of burning as the cloth wrappings of the hilt caught on fire.

The guard's lower body was free from the instantaneous, searing agony that surged through the man prior to his almost as instantaneous death. The column of fire had been directed upwards from Deimos's tail, and soared a dozen feet into the air behind the man before ending as abruptly as it had begun.

There was utter silence as the world resumed its normal time flow, and the guard fell backwards, very dead, ruined sword thumping to the ground next to him. The guard near the fountain, who had finally managed to pull his friend from the water, slowly edged backwards until he bumped into the fountain. He appeared to be seriously considering jumping in the water as a preemptive defense against any more flames.

Monto's eyes had widened, and his lips silently formed one word. Foxfire. He'd only seen Yonbi perform it, and even then it drained them.

The governor, the surviving guard next to the governor, and the crowd stared at Deimos with mixed expressions of shock, awe, and a trace of fear.

Deimos, chest heaving, turned his attention back to the governor. He growled and let out a short bark before taking a step forward. The governor and his guard took a step backwards. Another. Another, until the governor caught sight of Deimos's eyes. In his exhaustion, the shapeshift had begun to crack, and the first thing to go had been the minor details, things that only looked wrong if you'd seen the way he was supposed to look. His red eyes shone through the fading blue illusion, and the tips of his ears and paws had begun to turn his natural orange color. To the governor's frightened eyes, the fox appeared to be turning from a white, angelic creature into a bloody, demonic one.

Kasshoku recognized the signs. Deimos called himself Cain and Abel partly as a self-deprecating joke about his bent for melodrama, but it was also accurate. When Deimos took the name of Cain, it was like he was letting go of any restraint. It was a sign, when he invoked that name, both to himself and those around him, that blood would be spilled. The humans may not have heard anything to that effect, but the growl and the distinctive bark were all he needed to know. Deimos would not stop until the threat was gone.

Breaking free of his momentary paralysis, Kasshoku bounded in Deimos direction before coming to a halt at the orange kitsune's side. Kasshoku appeared to be glaring at the governor, who quailed under the added attention, but in reality all of his focus was on Deimos. Subtly brushing his tail against Deimos's, which had begun to slowly split at the end into three distinct appendages, he flared his chakra, forcing the mental link.

As expected, he met only chaos. Deimos was still running on instinct from his brush with death, and the last thing on his mind was rational thought. Giving his chakra a twist that had always given Deimos a splitting headache when performed during the mental link, he grabbed the other kitsune's attention, snapping him out of his primal state. Kasshoku let out a sigh of relief; every time he did that he was afraid that it would be the one time it wouldn't work. The one time Deimos got himself killed with his unrelenting determination.

"Kasshoku?" Deimos's mind was still foggy with bloodlust.

"Deimos, calm down! You're about to collapse."

"I feel..tired..." Deimos answered blearily.

Giving up any attempt to get sense out of his friend when he was that exhausted, Kasshoku began to feed chakra into Deimos, bringing the other fox's reserves up enough to take the edge of the exhaustion and wake him up enough to think. He couldn't do more without draining himself; the transfer had never been efficient.

The governor and the remaining guards had taken the opportunity to execute a strategic retreat. Or, as the villagers would later tell it, had fled with the fear of god in them. The villagers themselves appeared like they were about to follow.

Monto defused any nervousness in the crowd by clucking his tongue, ignoring the scent of charred flesh that wafted through the air and drawing the crowd's attention back to him. "I told him to let the fox go. I told him that Inari was more powerful than the Murakami, more powerful than any human. He should have listened," he finished mournfully. Turning to the crowd, he gestured towards the fallen guard and asked quietly, "Who will carry him?"

A half dozen men and one woman stepped forth from the crowd. Together they lifted the guard, each trying to ignore the cracked, blackened skin and the way the body was still hot to the touch. They carried the body in the direction of the guard house, where the guard's body would remain until his family claimed it. Then, depending on their beliefs, he would be cremated or buried. Monto remained at the fountain, eyes closed, chanting a prayer to the departed while Kasshoku lead Deimos back to the fountain.

The crowd began to slowly disperse, some to help with the impromptu funeral procession, more to spread the story. Murakami Kenji, governor of Kumakôgen, close cousin to the head of the royal clan and daimyo of Ehime, Murakami Masaso, had fought against the forces of Inari. Human weapons and might had stood no chance against the divine fire of one of Inari's messengers, and the governor had fled.

A week later, Deimos had recovered from the chakra exhaustion. He and Kasshoku left with Monto, villagers bowing their heads to the trio as they passed the gates. Monto told the story of what had happened while Deimos lay semi-comatose.

The governor, Kenji, had left his small remaining complement of guards behind as he went to Matsuyama to personally relay events to his cousin, most likely in hopes that he would receive some sort of aid.

What argument he would have made for sending troops to assist him in dealing with an old priest and two foxes would never be known, as he arrived in the middle of a revolt. The Watanabe, a clan distantly related to the Murakami and counted amongst the nobility, had risen up against Masaso. They cited his insanity, specifically in the instance where he address the governors of his lands in the nude as if nothing were wrong. A thin pretext, but they had long sought to replace the Murakami. When Watanabi Nobu, former governor of Kumakôgen, arrived, bringing word of the "Battle of Kumakôgen," his clan was quick to seize on the rumor, spreading and distorting the event until it was eventually told as an all-out war between Inari himself and a regiment of Masaso's soldiers.

With the royal family apparently the enemy of a powerful god, the Watanabe quickly but bloodily replaced the Murakami with the help of the populace and several pious officers of the guardsmen. Kenji never made it to the palace. Within three days of the event, the Murakami were no more. The small children were adopted into the Watanabe, while any males above the age of six were executed. Some managed to flee, but most were dead. The women were quietly encouraged to join isolated shrines to Inari as penance for their family offending the deity.

If rumor was to be believed, the new daimyo of Ehime, Watanabe Seiji, would be rebuilding the shrine at Kumakôgen and expanding it into a full scale temple with a complement of ten priests, along with restoring Nobu to his former governorship. He had also redesigned the royal symbol to include ten concentric rings, symbolically located above the old symbol. Seiji appeared to be making pains to be seen as a very devout follower of Inari, with good reason. Whether his faith was real, and he thanked Inari for making him the daimyo, or feigned, and used only as a tool to give himself an air of divinely chosen daimyo was irrelevant. Inari had come to Ehime, and it was doubtful anything could ever remove his presence.

The trio split when Monto disappeared one night. The kitsune had been out hunting, and when they returned the campfire had burned low, and the man and his donkey were gone. The tracks lead in the direction of Matsuyama, but the two didn't follow. If Monto wanted to go off on his own, that was his choice. Or perhaps it was Inari's.

Idly poking the fire with a stick, still in human form, Kasshoku frowned, as if something had just occurred to him. "We were supposed to be told something about the way chakra works for this," he muttered, half to himself.

Deimos, staring up at the stars, answered idly, "I think I figured it out."

"What?"

"Remember how the priest said Inari helps those who help themselves?" When Kasshoku slowly nodded, Deimos continued. "He said he would 'reveal' something about chakra, not that he would tell it to us."

Kasshoku snorted. "So we got nothing out of that? You almost died!"

"Exactly. And in that moment where I was about to die, where there was nothing I could do, I did something I never would have thought of."

"What was that?" Kasshoku asked curiously, half his attention on the sparks that flew every time he poked the fire.

"Something ridiculously simple. I channelled chakra through my tail. It's easier," Deimos answered. At a puzzled look, he expanded on his answer. "Normally we just focus on something, and shove chakra out of whatever's closest, usually our mouths or eyes, right? Well, except when we're doing the mental link. That would be...awkward."

"Get to the point, Deimos."

"I don't know how to explain it. It's just easier to push chakra through your tail, instead of trying to do it with your eyes and concentrating. It's like...a funnel. You have something to direct the flow with. I bet if we tried to do the mental link with our paws, we couldn't keep it up for an hour."

Kasshoku appeared to mull this over for a moment. "If you're right, and all of the 'rewards' Inari gives us come in a similar, 'must almost die in order to learn for yourself' fashion, then this job sucks."

Laughing, Deimos asked, "Got any better ideas for what we can do? Life's boring without a little excitement."

Kasshoku put on fake scowl. "No." Turning the scowl into a grin, he said, "That was fun."

"You can have the fun next time while I stay back and play with the water fountain."

Lazily turning, the unburned edge of the stick he'd been toying with in hand, Kasshoku took aim for a moment before chucking it in the general direction of Deimos. He missed, but the flaming end of the stick still came within an inch of his friend's nose.

Deimos merely closed his eyes and yawned. "Find something else to practice your aim on, something you can hit. Like a house."

A slightly sleepy, "You've got a big enough head," was his only answer. Content to let Kasshoku have the last word this once, Deimos drifted into sleep.

Kakashi blushed over his orange book as he walked out of the hospital, leaving a disgruntled Sasuke behind to stay overnight. Medical jutsu had healed the puncture wound well enough, but it was standard practice to give the patient at least one day and night in the hospital, a large portion of which was given over to physical therapy. Making sure that tendons and ligaments had reconnected properly, that nerves would respond in a normal fashion, and other basics of ensuring proper healing.

Such niceties were not always observed of course. In a field situation where combat could occur at any moment, one took whatever healing one could get and hoped for the best. If muscles had misaligned, and the ninja lived to make it back to the hospital, they could always endure a long - and excruciatingly painful - process of having the affected area slowly torn apart, centimeter by centimeter, and put back together properly.

Most ninjas preferred to walk with a slight limp and take administrative duties as opposed to going through the process.

Flipping the page, Kakashi effortlessly walked through the busy streets of Konoha, avoiding any and all obstacles while remaining completely engrossed in his book. Night was approaching, shifts were changing, and the streets were packed as people got in that last minute of shopping before heading home. It was quite a feat.

Raising a hand to his mouth to cover his giggle, Kakashi reread the passage. He had, of course, read Icha Icha Paradise enough times to be able to recite the book from memory, including the ad in the back for the upcoming Icha Icha Violence. November 20th, exactly forty-two days, five hours, seventeen minutes, and eleven seconds from today. Not that he was counting. The thought of waiting so long for the sequel brought a momentary sigh from the laid-back jounin. It was currently a quarter hour till seven on October 8th; such a long time from the second book in the masterfully written Icha Icha series.

Sensing a sudden obstacle in his path, Kakashi looked up from his book, only to have his entire field of vision blocked by a hand in a distinctive "thumbs-up" pose. He supposed he should be thankful; with the hand in the way the ping on Gai's teeth could only be heard, not seen. Suddenly the hand was withdrawn and thrown into yet another dramatic gesture. Unfortunately, the new pose did not block Kakashi's view of "Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast."

"Rival Kakashi! I sense that you are depressed; perhaps you have realized that this smut dampens your fiery spirit?" came the enthusiastic yell. Kakashi rolled his Sharingan eye behind his hitai-ate; his visible eye remained unmoving. A handy talent for expressing frustration without actually expressing it.

"Hm?" Kakashi asked, as if he had missed the exclamation. As if anyone within a hundred yards could have missed it.

As always, the dramatic backdrop of sunset and wave-beaten clifftops appeared from nowhere while Gai howled something about how "hip" his "Eternal Rival" was. If Kakashi was lucky, Gai would promise to go turn a dozen trees into toothpicks, and then build an exact replica of Konoha in it's entirety, to scale, with the toothpicks in order to somehow beat Kakashi.

It would be the third time he'd seen that particular event, and he really should be due for a streak of good luck right now; he hadn't gotten a break in days. First the incident at Wave, then Sasuke failing to understand the first lesson, teamwork, and Sakura traumatized, most likely trying to deal with it with a yelling contest with Ino. Alas, his luck appeared to have abandoned him for good. Not that he'd ever had any good luck, now that he thought about it...

"I have heard that your genin team has been struck down in the prime of their youth!"

Carefully weighing his options, Kakashi determined that brushing Gai off would take longer and require more effort than actually telling him what he so obviously wanted to hear about. He still refused to be distracted from his book, and returned his gaze to it.

"A bit of an exaggeration, Gai. You make it sound like they've died," Kakashi said, flipping a page he hadn't read. It didn't matter; he could pick the story up anywhere with ease.

"Their innocence may have," responded Gai, uncharacteristically somber.

Kakashi closed his eyes momentarily, grimacing behind his mask. "It happens to us all sooner or later. I don't like it either, but it's part of being a ninja."

"You disappoint me, Eternal Rival!" yelled Gai, fire back in his voice. "You have left them on their own in such a turbulent river of sorrow, instead of guiding them to peaceful waters!"

Kakashi idly wondered where Gai had bought the massive collection of cheap poetry to quote before answering, "I'm their commander, not their mother. If I start intruding on their personal lives..."

"The spark of compassion could be kindled in you, oh cold one! Your flame of youth has burned low!" came the response. Kakashi nearly dropped his book, one eye widening in surprise at the accusation. Covering the slip by snapping the book shut and tucking it into his kunai pouch, Kakashi glared at Gai's suddenly forbidding visage.

"If I intrude on their personal lives," he repeated, making sure he wouldn't be interrupted this time, "I wouldn't be able to help. I learned to deal with death when I was something they should never have to be - a true ninja."

Gai's expression softened slightly. "You would be surprised, Kakashi. Sometimes, it's just the knowledge that you care what happens to them that can help your students."

Kakashi rocked back on his heels, trying to consider an appropriate response. By the time he'd realized he had nothing, Gai had disappeared. Strange, how the huge man in green could do that so quickly.

Kakashi reached for his kunai pouch, intent on momentarily distracting himself with Icha Icha, but his hand froze on the flap. Making an impulse call, a rare decision for the jounin, Kakashi turned in the direction of Naruto's house. The boy was probably drowning himself in ramen, and the least he could do was drag Naruto out to get something healthy to eat.

Bull cursed his poor luck. He'd made it to the first floor, where he knew the triplets were. They had probably been given a temporary leave from missions; it was a bad idea to send out dog nin when their dogs were not at peak performance.

However, this section of the first floor looked to have been designed to be confusing. The walls and rooms were all composed of shifting screens that could be moved at any time. Given Bull's current need for stealth, and the fact that the building was in use, and the way the Inuzuka kept shifting the rooms and paths while he hid and waited for them to pass by, it would take him no small effort to get to the stone-walled kennel in the southeast of the building. Normally he could find his way through any maze with the use of his nose, but the screens were shifted often enough that there was no distinctive smell path to follow.

Never one to give up, Bull tried sticking to the outskirts of the room, keeping the stone wall in view as long as possible. It was a good reference point.

As with all good things, the guiding presence of the wall came to end. Well, the wall didn't end, but Bull's contact with it did, as he was forced to follow a turn to the right, then another, with no possible opportunities to get back to the wall.

He was heading south, or maybe southwest now, he really couldn't tell. The screens weren't always completely straight.

Pausing for a moment, Bull closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. Scents rushed in, and he slowly filtered through them. Not that one...that was too sweet...that smelled of earth and flowers, close but no...fire? What was burning? But that wasn't what he was looking for...ah! Bull had caught a whiff of that elusive trail. The earthy, musky, yet slightly sweet smell of the triplets.

Focusing with every bit of concentration, relying solely on instinct and trained reaction to save him if anyone happened upon him, Bull followed the scent.

He turned left and went down the hall, before an involuntary reaction had him duck into a room, letting a distracted old man pass by, oblivious to his presence. Bull scrunched up his nose and shook his head; the old man really needed to lay off the cologne.

He snuck back out of the room and resumed his search. Another left, followed by an immediate right turn, followed by another brief trip down a screen-littered hall. Another right turn; he was getting close.

Bull turned right one more time, and saw the stone wall. He was almost there!

Another short series of turns got him to the wall and he was out of the maze of screens. Bull looked out the slit of a window to his left, into the setting sun, head held high in triumph.

...wait a second.

The sun was setting, meaning the window was to the west, and that he was facing...north. He'd been trying to get to the southeast.

Fuck. He was right back where he started.

Turning back to the maze, Bull sighed. Well, it wasn't like he could go outside again. The patrols would have changed by now, and he would never make it without being detected. Setting his jaw, Bull trudged back into the labyrinth.

Nothing was more stubborn than a bulldog, not even a damned wall.

Author's Notes: The "Things You Might Not Have Noticed" section of closing Author's Notes in the previous chapters have been removed in order to get a more accurate word count. I won't be using it in the future for the same reason, sorry. If you have a question about anything, feel free to ask in a review. If you're new to Overlay, and have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. Also, still waiting on someone to guess what book inspired this. Your only hints are that yes, it is a book, and there is no fanfiction for it on this website. There's also a brief plot summary in the Announcements.

The disclaimer about Inari was made bold on purpose. Overlay's Inari shares superficial similarities with the actual Inari, but other than that is my own creation and is not truly worthy of the name. To give you an example, Inari actually usually appears as a woman. However, in my little world (they know me here) Inari's kitsune form was male, so despite the fact that he can appear as anything he wants, man, woman, fox, three headed fish, whatever, he is still male.

Sorry if the cute mental image of pure white foxes being mobbed by children overwhelmed you. But I had to do it! The thought of a chibi Kyuubi being loved by children just amuses me to no end.