Kitsune Rising
Ch. 6: Cloak….and a bandana?
Naruto tugged at his new ears, wincing at every uncomfortable pull. He was still trying to convince himself this was all just a dream. He wasn't a hanyou. He didn't have a big, fluffy red tail and fluffy red ears coming out of his head. He didn't. He couldn't. But he did.
Naren and Sakura had calmed him down enough to get him to sit down on the bed. Now he was curled up at the head of the bed, pulling on his ears and being so unlike himself.
"Naruto…?" said Sakura. Naruto stopped pulling on his ears and looked up at her. Sakura flinched at his deep blue slitted eyes. Unfortunately Naruto saw her and buried his head in his arms. Sakura sighed.
"Naruto-kun," said Sakura more sternly. Naruto shook his head and refused to look up at her.
"Aniki!" barked Naren. Naruto looked up at his sister. She didn't flinch like Sakura did. She understood what was going on with her brother. Naruto's ears drooped at the mean look his twin was giving him. "What the heck do you think you're doing? Crying like a little kid who's spilled all his ramen. Man up, Aniki!"
Naruto stared up at his sister, his strong, confident twin sister. What did she know?
"How would you know, Imouto?" he muttered, averting his eyes. "How would you know what I'm going through?"
Naren glared at him. "I'll tell you how I know." Naren closed her eyes and breathed deep. She put her hands together in a foreign hand sign that neither Naruto nor Sakura had ever seen. She breathed deep again and said, "Kai!"
Naruto and Sakura watched in shock as a long yellow tail grew at the base of Naren's back and two yellow ears grew from the top of her head. But the real shock was when Naren opened her eyes. Both Naruto and Sakura had seen Naren in her demon form, tail and all, and they had expected her eyes to be bright gold with slits for pupils. Instead her eyes were the same blue as Naruto's like normal.
"I know exactly what you're going through," said Naren, her tail swishing behind her.
"Imouto, why aren't your eyes yellow?" asked Naruto. "Normally when you're in demon mode, you're eyes are yellow!"
"I'm not in demon mode Aniki," said Naren, letting out a breath of air in frustration. "I'm a hanyou. I've always been. But, you see, I acquired a jutsu that allowed me to hide my animal features from view. The downside is that it is constantly drawing on my chakra. Okami-san often gives the jutsu her chakra when I'm in battle or something like that. Unless I get angry enough to release her than the jutsu cancels."
Naren stared down at her brother, whose ears flicked up in amazement.
"Will you teach it to me, Imouto?" asked Naruto, hopeful.
"Of course!" said Naren, grinning. "But it's hard. Not until you completely learn the jutsu will you be able to use it. Until then you will be stuck with animal features."
Naruto groaned and pulled his tail around in front of him. Sakura watched him sadly. She knew of the torment and suffering he had once gotten when he was just the container for the kyuubi. Now that her Naruto was half of what the village had assumed him to be, what would they say and do?
"Kyuubi said that Kitsu was doing this to me….," muttered Naruto. He looked up at Sakura. "That Kitsu was his descendant and he being near me made him near kyuubi. It set something off in mine and Kyuubi's chakra……Our chakras merged together. I'm a hanyou now. I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to stay away from me Sakura-chan."
"Really," said Sakura. "Scoot over." Confused, Naruto did as he was told and scooted to the other side of the bed. Sakura sat down beside him. "Naruto look at me."
Naruto did. Sakura stared into his blue eyes for one moment, lifted her hand, and slapped him, hard, on the cheek. Without moving his face, Naruto's eyes met Sakura's, a single tear spilling from his left eye. He wouldn't deny it. That slap hurt….a lot, especially now that his whisker scars were so sensitive. What surprised him most, though, was that Sakura was crying as well.
"S-Sakura-chan," he stammered. Sakura put up a hand to stop him.
"Don't EVER let me hear something like that come out of your mouth again Uzumaki Naruto! I don't care if you have a tail or not! I LOVE YOU and some stupid fox isn't going to change that!" barked Sakura. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. He hesitated at first but wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
"Hey! I'm still here!" Naruto and Sakura stopped kissing but they didn't let go of each other. Naren sighed. "Listen, Aniki, you can't stay hidden forever. You have to leave the hospital sooner or later."
"But everyone will see me!" growled Naruto, his ears laying flat against his head. "I get enough torment from the villagers as it is thank you!"
"If you're that worried about it, then…." Naren looked around the room and spotted the wardrobe that held Naruto's jacket. "Maybe someone left some stuff in here."
Naren rummaged through the wardrobe. Naruto gave Sakura a confused look and both of them got up and stood behind Naren, her tail swishing happily in the air.
"Imouto?" Naruto peaked over her shoulder. Naren pulled out cloth and some clothes that had obviously been left behind. Naren grinned when she found what she was looking for. She held a bandana in one hand and a floor length, white, short-sleeved cloak in the other. Naruto raised an eyebrow, confused. "What are those for?"
Naren rolled her eyes in irritation. "To hide your ears and tail of course...duh!"
"Oh…"
"That's brilliant Naren!" Sakura smiled.
"Of course it is," said Naren cockily. "Here," Naren threw the cloak at Naruto, who caught it. "Put that on. Then put the bandana on over your ears."
Naruto grabbed his jacket and pulled it on, then pulled the white cloak on over it. He turned around, checking the cloak out. It hid his tail easily. "Awesome. That takes care of that problem. Now for the other two." He held out his hand for the bandana. He stared at it for a moment, then flattened his ears against his head and tied the bandana around them. He examined himself in the mirror. He had to admit he looked kinda cool, but the bandana wrapped around his head became increasingly uncomfortable as it held his ears flat. He wouldn't admit it, but he couldn't help but think that he might just deal with people gawking at his ears if he was going to have to wear the bandana for a long time.
"What do you think Sakura-chan?" he asked.
"I don't like the bandana much, but I really think you should wear a cloak like that more often." She smiled. "It suits you. Makes you look even hotter." Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head, grinning his famous fox grin, which looked even more fox-like because of his whisker scars. Not a second later, Naruto gasped in pain and clutched his stomach as the seal on his stomach gave a particularly nasty, painful throb.
"D*** ….fox…," he said weakly, grimacing. Sakura hurried over to him and helped him sit down. He was breathing hard. "Don't worry…Sakura-chan…I'm ok…" he said, giving her a painful grin. "The fox just told me the seal was going to hurt for a while…..well he told me that after we cursed each other out anyway."
"Still making jokes…" Sakura said, giving him a worried giggle. "You could be dying and you'd still try to make me laugh, Baka."
Naruto grinned, but winced. "That's my specialty."
