A/N: Here's chapter 7. I'm not too sure what people want out of this story so if you have any ideas, let me know.
Naruto: The Mishap
Chapter 7
I continued moving at speed away from Konoha. I didn't want to take any chances in case I was still being followed. If Kakashi could appear anywhere like he did before, others may also be able to do so.
After what seemed to be an hour I decided I was safe enough to take a short rest from running. I may be fast, but my stamina seemed to be similar to how it usually was. I found a quiet river to rest by and to finally take in my visual appearance. Needless to say I was fairly surprised at what I saw.
Simply put I looked like a bipedal fox. Ears, tail, the whole lot. My claws were crimson in colour. My hair was a charcoal grey before, that hadn't changed. What had though was the way my hair was gone. Instead, I was completely covered in fur of the same colour. Fur is different to hair, trust me. A single crimson streak of fur ran from my nose all the way along my muzzle and back to the tip of my tail. My ears also had a crimson streak running at the back from the tip to the base. Two crimson slitted eyes gazed back from my reflection.
All in all I had to admire myself a little. If you're going to lose your humanity, what better way to do so than this?
Curiosity overcame me as I searched for my previous form. Now I knew where to look inside me it didn't take long. I shifted back to my near human state, noticing the ears and tail matched my anthro form. Same colour and size. Even the streaks were there, joined by a streak in my hair in the same place. I also looked like my mental age, twenty-something.
Oh, and something not so good. I was completely unclothed.
I had only just noticed that and very quickly shifted back to my anthro form. Luckily Kyuubi's attention was elsewhere and didn't notice my little mishap. Speaking of Kyuubi...
'Kyuubi? You've been quiet. What's up?'
"Nothing child, I'm simply checking to see if I missed anything different with you and your abilities. We do need to awaken your bloodline though."
'Why?'
"The village now knows of you and what you are. Your life is still in danger even though you left Konoha, they won't simply leave you alone. You need to be ready to defend yourself by any means necessary. Not just from the villagers, there are others here that wouldn't hesitate to kill you."
'How do I do that? I'm not a fighter.'
"Not yet, but you will more than likely need to take lives to preserve your own. It might not be something you really want to do at the moment, but I am afraid it is necessary for your survival."
'I understand. Um, one question if I may. What's this third form I have?'
"That's your beast form, similar to how you first saw me. You won't have more than one tail yet though."
The thought of having more tails seemed daunting yet exciting. 'What do you mean yet? I'll get more?'
"Your body is now steadily producing youki as all demons do. It will continue to build up until a predetermined point that even I cannot see yet. As your youki increases you will gain more tails to contain it in all three forms."
'Wait, do you have the same forms as me?'
"Yes and no. I only have two forms. The one you have seen me in and one similar to how you look now. Your more human like form is a trait of a half demon. I am a full demon and do not have a human like shape to shift into. Not that I'd want to either."
'I don't blame you, I already feel far more comfortable as I am now.' I flexed my form a few times for emphasis. 'So what's next?'
"From what my memory serves we are on the north side of Konoha. I know of a fairly safe place for you to the south but we need to circle around the village to get there. Either direction will take the same amount of time so pick one and let us be on our way."
I decided this was as good a time as any to test my third form as I located it within myself. Again I shifted but into a four legged version of what I was, more akin to a large charcoal grey fox with crimson streaks in the same places as before. I immediately liked my beast form as I took off running west around Konoha, heading under Kyuubi's instructions to find this safe haven.
Kakashi paced the room impatiently. Anko and Kurenai tried to calm him whilst attempting to keep calm themselves. Their adopted son had just ran off looking far too similar to Kyuubi for anyone not to notice. The village screamed for his head and tail to be brought before them as final proof of his death. Only a few people within the village saw through the demon container title to the child within, those were gathered within their home to discuss what they could do to rectify the situation.
The famous Konoha nine were also present, Naruto having more right than any since he was accused of being the demon container for the first years of his life. Now they were willing to do what they could to fix the issues caused by the Karani boy's departure.
"And I keep saying it won't work! If we march out of here in full force we will attract people who will say they want to help, only for them to murder the boy once they get close." Iruka stated, clearly not willing to risk a possible confrontation.
"How can you be so sure? There must be those who believe the same as we do." Kurenai pleaded.
Sarutobi gestured around them. "There are, and we are all in this room! Everyone else is blinded by the past to see the truth." He pinched his brow, the headache from the mobs still present. "It is up to us to bring him back, only we can be trusted."
"So where do we start looking?" Kiba asked. "The sooner we get moving the faster we can catch up before anyone else has a chance to beat us to him."
"He left the village via the north wall, jumped clean over the top of it! I haven't ever seen anything like it. He was using a form that resembled a fox standing on two legs covered in dark grey fur, but if he can manipulate his appearance like he did on the roof then he could look like anything. He could even be in this room now and we wouldn't be able to identify him." Kakashi stated, unnerving everyone with the complexity of the task at hand. "Although, chances are he has left that area already. With the man power we have here we can cover more ground if we go separate ways. I will take my team south, just in case while Kurenai should head north. Kiba should be able to pick up some sort of trail to follow. Everyone else should group up and take an area around the village and look for signs to where he has gone. Once anything is seen, send clones to gather the others. We don't have a lot of time if others are searching with malicious intent."
They all agreed and split up, heading off to their delegated areas. Time was short, they had to find him first.
I stopped for a breather by a small lake, I had ran for the whole morning. My body simply wasn't used to this level of endurance. Kyuubi kept watch with my boosted senses in case anyone came our way while I regained my breath and a quick drink from the lake. The water was pure and soothing.
I had just dipped my forepaws into the refreshingly cold liquid when I heard voices near to my position. Without thinking I slid silently into the lake and drafted towards its centre, keeping just below the surface to be hidden but still see the banks.
A group of four people wearing Konoha headbands entered the clearing the lake was in and looked around. I couldn't hear their words due to the water drowning out the noise. I stuck my nose just above the water so I could breathe.
The instant I did that one of the four pointed towards me, shouting frantically. I had been discovered. I dived back under water and swam for the opposite shore, pulling myself up the damp bank. A quick burst of youki as Kyuubi had shown me before dried my fur instantly before I bounded off back into the trees.
The four were now chasing me, shouting to each other to keep track of me. I recalled what Kyuubi had done on the roof last time I faced eminent capture and sent a strong flare of my youki radiating out. I successfully knocked the four out as I plowed deeper into the cover of the trees.
More shouts were heard moving towards the group I left behind but none were in my path so I continued on. I would not be captured so long as I had breath in my lungs and blood in my veins.
Kurenai reached the group first with her team close behind. The four ninja seemed to be unconscious although no marks were on their body. Kiba still had the scent fresh as he joined her.
"What happened to these four?"
Kurenai shrugged. "Looks like moderate exposure to a strong pulse of youki, demonic chakra with a greater potency."
Ino went wide eyed. "Is that what he has now? Do we have to fight against demonic chakra as well?"
Kurenai tried to reassure her team. "I would hope not, as long as he doesn't see us as a threat we should be okay. But something made him feel that these four were a danger to him for him to act like this." She turned to Kiba. "Do you still have his trail?"
"Yes, that way." He pointed to were the boy had gone.
"Then let's go. The others can attend to these four if they wish, they'll be back to normal soon enough. Come on."
I kept running. Even after I stopped the first group chasing me, a second one had appeared. They followed my path with an accuracy that unnerved me.
"Child, one of them can read your scent. They are tracking you with precision."
'How do I stop them?'
"Short of killing them? You can't. You just have to run faster and hope they don't catch you. There is a river you'll encounter soon, put distance between you and them and enter the river. Once in, swim down stream a distance and leave on the opposite bank. As long as no one sees you leave the river you can't be tracked. The water will drown your scent and scatter it within its depths. That's your only option short of killing them."
'That will have to do. If I start killing Konoha residents then I simply give them a valid reason to hunt me. The river is my only option.'
"I will lend you some of my youki to increase your speed and alleviate some of your tiredness. It won't be much as your body won't be able to take too much of it without exploding violently, which will result in obvious and painful death as you can imagine."
'Thanks for the direct approach, I feel better already.'
"Sarcasm doesn't work on me. Just get to that river, I'll do the rest."
I felt the effects of Kyuubi's youki instantly, boosting my speed and allowing me to increase the gap while I searched for the river. As soon as it came into view I angled towards it and dived straight in, allowing the current to drift me downstream as I pushed towards the opposite shore.
I remained in the river for a few minutes before leaving, having drifted far enough so I couldn't see the point I entered from. Another small flare of youki dried me before I raced away once more, eager to see the back of Konoha and its inhabitants.
