Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any of the characters.
Note: The idea for this story came from Through Wolf's Eyes, a wonderful book (which is actually a series now…) by Jane Lindskold.
Through Fox's Eyes
Chapter Nine
"Uchiha-san! You open this door right now." The nurse demanded from outside Sasuke's room, annoyance prominent in her voice.
"Fuck no." He muttered as he pulled his shirt over his head and slipped his arms inside the sleeves. Two weeks was well beyond the time he needed to recover and there was no fucking way he was going to stay here another night. Having the constant visits from those fan-girls of his, the nurses and doctors fawning over him all day and night and then therapy sessions that barely strengthened his little toe were driving him slowly to insanity—the only difference in his days was Naruto and Kakashi's random visits. Thinking about the blonde, Sasuke wondered why he hadn't seen him lately, when he first awakened, Naruto was there almost everyday even if only for a couple minutes and now a week later he had barely seen him twice.
"If you don't open this door in ten seconds, Uchiha-san, I'll call for a shinobi to do it for me." She threatened—typical civilian.
"Go ahead and send them, I'll be gone by that time." He said before throwing the window open and slipping onto the roof. Breathing deep of the cool evening air, he closed his eyes momentarily before slipping down the shadow of the roof and jumping to the next. Time to go home.
Kakashi held Naruto against his chest, just as he had done months ago when they almost lost Sasuke, and slipped through the bedroom window. He laid Naruto down on Sasuke's bed—the blonde fox refused to sleep elsewhere—and paused as he covered the exhausted boy with a blanket. Brushing back his blonde spikes, Kakashi couldn't believe how attached he had become to the fox in such a short amount of time. He had refused to ever become attached to anyone that could be used against him ever again, but even though he had said that and meant it with all his heart, he now had four people he cared deeply for.
Shaking those thoughts from his head, the silver nin silently slipped from the room and made his way downstairs where Iruka sat on the couch, his face hidden in his hands. Kakashi frowned at the usually flustered chuunin looking so…deep in thought and slowly came to stand before him. "Iruka-san?"
Iruka startled at the soft voice and looked up into a gray eye. "Hatake-kun…"
"Well, don't be too enthusiastic about seeing me." He muttered.
"I'm sorry! I-I just…Hyuuga-san said some things about Naruto a-and…"
"Let me guess, said something insensitive and completely off basis that has you thinking he might be right."
"But he is right Hatake-kun—"
"Kakashi," he interrupted, "Ka-kash-i, not Hatake-kun, but Kakashi, Iruka-san."
Flushing, Iruka nodded and repeated, "He is right Kakashi-kun, the Naruto we have now isn't my Naruto—that…that fox up there is Kitsune, not Naruto."
"He's lived the past couple years completely alone except for maybe the occasional human passing by, but we both know how quietly he walks…even an Anbu would have trouble hearing or even finding him. He blends into the shadows and sneaks away just like a fox, and he may eat like one and act like one, but he's still a boy Iruka-san. He's just a thirteen year old boy who knows nothing else except how to survive."
"But he isn't my little boy anymore!"
"So that makes him unreal? That makes him dead?"
Iruka hid his face in his hands and shook his head vigorously, "No! I love Kitsune, just as much as I loved Naruto, but…when I look at that face and those eyes, I want to believe he is Naruto, my Naruto and that he came back to me."
"He won't come back Iruka-san, he can't." Kakashi whispered before standing up and leaving the compound. The Hokage needed to know about Naruto's sudden change and Kyuubi's slight control, as well as what he learned from Iruka's conversation earlier. He wasn't a retired Anbu for nothing, right?
Kitsune blinked his eyes, slowly sitting up in the bed and quickly scanning his surroundings for any predators. After a moment of silence, he—slightly—relaxed his body and slipped from the soft bed, curious to know when he had climbed into the bed in the first place. He huffed as he tried to recall what had happened, but all he came up with was a sickening feeling in his stomach and that weird human with no eyes. He couldn't understand how they saw without eyes, but he didn't know how to ask that yet.
Standing, the blonde fox glided soundlessly across the floor and into the hall. He once more scanned his surroundings before continuing through the house, frowning as Scar-Nose didn't appear before him. Every time he woke up, Scar-Nose was there within a couple minutes at least, but not this time…this time the entire house was quiet and no one was here.
A small wave of panic enveloped him, he had felt this before—
Flashback
"Iruka-nii-san!" Naruto practically yelled as he tumbled into the house. "Iruka-nii-san, guess what? I made a friend!" But only silence answered him. The blonde frowned at the empty house; he had never come home to an empty house, Iruka made certain of that. "Nii-san?" He whispered, blue eyes searching for his only family.
Dropping his books, the five year old boy ran through the house, trying to find the one person who he truly mattered to, but the older nin was no where in sight. "Where are you?" He screamed, tears beginning to track down his face. "Nii-san! Where'd you go?"
Naruto fell to the ground in a crying heap, sobs filled the silent room as the pain in his heart grew. Iruka had left him, just like everyone else, and now he was all alone, completely and utterly alone again. He had spent the first two years of his life alone, not knowing kindness or even love until he met Iruka and when the young chuunin had taken him beneath his wing, he learned what love was. It had taken months to get Naruto to where he was now and to actually trust him and understand why he was being nice. He had thought it was because Iruka cared for him…
Had he just done this so the betrayal would be graver? So it would be more damaging than if he'd never known kindness? But why...Why would his nii-san do this to him after so many years without ever showing him anger or contempt?
Curling into a ball, Naruto hugged his knees and cried harder, barely whispering "Nii-san" again and again. He wanted someone to love him, to want him, to care for him, to worry about him and to be with him. He never wanted to be alone again, never, never, never.
Warm arms scooped Naruto up and pulled him against a hard chest. "Naruto? What's wrong?" Iruka asked, "Did you get hurt? Did someone hurt you? Naru-chan, what happened?"
Blurry-eyed, Naruto looked up at Iruka's concerned expression before wrapping his arms around the older man's neck and holding him tight. "Nii-san!" He cried as Iruka began rubbing his back soothingly.
Carrying him to the couch, Iruka sat down wearily and held the blonde close, silently wondering what had happened. He crooned to the boy and continued to rub his back as he rocked back and forth, Naruto holding onto him as if he were his lifeline. He waited until the tears subsided and Naruto relaxed in his arms before asking, "What happened?"
"I-I thought you left me…" He sniffled, "You weren't here when I got home."
Tightening his grip on him, Iruka kissed his tanned forehead. "I'm never going to leave you, Naru-chan, because we're family and I love you."
Cerulean eyes looked up, full of disconcert, "Really?" He whispered.
"Really."
End of Flashback
He had grown attached to these humans in the past couple months, he didn't want to be alone anymore—at least not all the time, but he liked them and didn't want them to leave him. Kitsune knew he was not fox, but nor was he human, he just was…
Falling into a crouched position, Kitsune let out a terrible yowl, one like a kit would make when his mother went hunting, and cried for someone to come. He wanted someone to come back for him, he didn't want to be left alone again—he'd admit these humans were strange in their ways, but he didn't like this feeling within him. Kitsune didn't understand what it was, but he knew he didn't like it and wanted someone to make it go away.
"Naruto! What's wrong?" Iruka yelled, racing up the walkway and bursting through the door. He had stepped outside with Kakashi for a couple minutes to talk about what Neji and his uncle had said and after the silver nin had left, he found himself just standing there reminiscing. It was true that Naruto had changed, but it didn't change the fact that Kitsune was still Naruto or that he loved him any less, they were both his blonde bundle of energy he looked upon as a son.
The yowling stopped immediately as Kitsune launched himself at Iruka and held on tight, burying his face into Iruka's chest. "Nii-san." He said roughly.
Iruka gasped at the words he hadn't heard in eight years and yearned to hear once more. He wrapped his arms around Kitsune's shoulders and pulled the blonde fox closer. "What's wrong?"
"You gone…no here."
"Oh, Naru-chan, I was outside, that's all."
Those same cerulean eyes looked up at him, uncertainty filling his irises as he gnawed on his bottom lip. The silent question reflecting in those eyes came easily to Iruka.
"I'll never leave you; you'll never have to worry about that."
"Iruka-san?" A cool voice said from behind them and the two turned to look at Sasuke standing in the doorframe.
"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here?" Iruka asked, surprised to see the shinobi standing there.
Kitsune tore away from Iruka and tackled Raven-Hair to the ground, grinning madly down that the stoic boy. "Sasuke!" He then titled his head and said, "Back?"
"Hai, now get off." He growled before shoving the blonde off him. Slowly pushing back to his feet, Sasuke glared at the now cowering fox and finally turned back to Iruka. "I left the hospital."
"Why?" The sudden change in the chuunin's voice took Sasuke by surprise and he found himself staring into angered eyes.
"Because it was useless."
"That's not good enough young man."
"You don't need to know anything else except that I have left." He said vehemently before disappearing from sight.
"Sasuke!" Iruka yelled as he dashed outside, but the young shinobi was already gone without a trace.
Kitsune tilted his head and frowned, uncertain of what exactly transpired between the two humans. He knew from the raised voices and the sudden change of inflections in their voices it was something of a dominance struggle, but why Raven-Hair suddenly fled made no sense. He looked at Scar-Nose for answers, but the man seemed unable to answer them himself.
Turning, Scar-Nose sighed and shook his head. "I have to inform Kakashi-san, okay? I promise I'm not leaving you, but we have to find Sasuke before it gets too dark."
"Sasuke gone?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah…Sasuke's gone." Iruka whispered before disappearing to find Kakashi.
Kitsune jumped back and yelped, teeth bared to attack at Scar-Nose's sudden disappearance, but there was no one to attack. Slowly the blonde fox stood and whirled around, looking around for his guardian, but finding nothing except his scent. "Sasuke gone?" He asked again to the empty house. "Find…Sasuke…"
Slowly the blonde fox crept out of the house, he knew it was against Scar-Nose to leave the den without another with him, but he wanted to help. Raven-Hair was finally back and Kitsune wanted to play with him, he'd been waiting so long for his den mate to awaken and come back. He still didn't understand why Raven-Hair decided to sleep so long though…
Kitsune paused just outside the door, closing his eyes and listening carefully to the sounds around him. His lips twitched slightly as he tilted his head towards the running water of a stream, to his left he could hear the angry screams of a hawk and behind him he heard the noisy drawing of carts and feet padding along the cobble roads of Konoha. Yet none of this helped him find Raven-Hair, all it did was impede his acute sense of hearing.
He crouched low to the ground, fingers hovering just over the grass and sniffed the ground, his nose singling out Raven-Hair's smell within seconds. He slept in the human's bed every night, he had become accustomed to the smell and knew he could recognize it anywhere now. With a burst of speed, Kitsune crossed the distance between him and his den mate, following the scent beyond rock, wood and stream and finally to a clearing several miles away.
He paused just outside of the clearing and tilted his head curiously at the large round clearing before him. No grass, no rock, no tree, no plant and no sign of wildlife were present, and from the smell of it, hadn't been in a long time. Kitsune took a hesitant step into the clearing, crawling on all fours slowly as if expecting a trap, and continued to look around him with wide blue eyes. He didn't like this place, something about this place was…wrong, it didn't feel right and made him uneasy as he continued to slowly make his way through it.
Large black slabs of stone came from the ground, polished so much that the setting sun brightly reflected off of them, blinding whoever looked directly at them. Burned posts of wood barely stood several yards away from him and he could almost see what looked like the floors in Raven-Hair's den. Kitsune shifted to the right, trying to keep his nerve in this place, and spun around at a sound, but there was nothing there. Growling at himself for acting like a newborn kit, Kitsune willed himself to calm down and continued through the stones with avid curiosity and fear.
"What are you doing here?" A rough voice growled and the blonde fox whirled around to look into deep angry ebony eyes.
"Find Sasuke." He answered edgily, uncertain of why Raven-Hair seemed so at peace in such a place.
"Well, go away."
Kitsune narrowed his eyes and stood, "No."
"I don't want you here." Sasuke hissed.
"Sasuke leave and Kitsune leave?"
"No, you leave."
"Sasuke leave." Kitsune said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest as if to illustrate he wasn't leaving without the ebony nin.
"Just…leave me alone."
"Why?"
"I want to be alone."
Kitsune frowned, true as a fox he was a loner, but there were times when he didn't want to be alone—where he wanted a mate, a brother or sister or even a mother. He didn't understand why Raven-Hair wanted to be alone when he had been sleeping for so long. "Why?"
"Because I fucking want to be!" He raged, making the fox scurry away in surprise and fear. Kitsune sunk to his knees before his superior and tried to appeal to the raven haired boy, hoping his show of respect would quell the older boy's anger.
"Want to stay…w-with Sasuke." The fox said quietly, keeping his eyes bent to the ground. While spending time with the humans, Kitsune had learned many things about them and one was the importance of eye contact, something in his world was only made when trying to establish dominance. Eye contact with humans was just…courteous, Scar-Nose hated it when he dropped his gaze or looked elsewhere. But now was not a time to test Raven-Hair's patience and submission was the best way to stay alive unless there was no other alternative.
"Fine. Stay" Sasuke snapped, "See what I care." Yet deep in his heart, he was silently thankful the blonde didn't want to leave him, that someone was willing to stand beside him despite his demeanor.
Kitsune happily followed Raven-Hair through the odd looking stones, his earlier uneasiness forgotten, and finally fell to his haunches at a stream's edge. Seeing the cool water, the fox licked his chapped lips thirstily and began to dip down to drink his fill, but stopped. His expression turned from simple bliss to confusion as his eyes scanned the water, nothing grew in this steam and no fish were visible—what stream held no life?
"You've noticed then," Raven-Hair said coolly, staring at his reflection in the innocently looking water. "It's poisoned, cursed…deadly."
"What?" Kitsune asked, he knew none of these words.
He sighed and simplified it, "Bad, the water's bad."
This he understood and at hearing the words, the blonde fox scurried away from the stream's edge and kept his distance. He had known from the first step he had taken into this place that there was something wrong with it and the water only confirmed it, yet he still didn't understand exactly what it was that made him so uneasy.
"Do you know what this place is Naruto?" Raven-Hair asked quietly, his voice smooth and yet somehow holding a serious tone he had never heard before.
He pondered the words, taking the time to sort out the words and finally said, "No…"
Obsidian eyes fell on cerulean, "Can you not see them? Can you not hear their screams in the dead of night? Their voices calling for you? Their faces pale and bloody haunting your dreams? Can you not smell their blood? Can you not see it smeared on your hands and seeping into your skin? Can you see it Naruto?"
Kitsune suddenly hissed, every hair on his body upright and every muscle tense and waiting. He didn't understand everything Raven-Hair had said, but he did know why this place was so unnerving. It reeked of death, and not just the death of prey or even the death that comes with old age—this was death that hung deep in the air, lingering and poisoning the land. He couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine and looked up into haunted eyes.
Raven-Hair stared palm up at his hands, his breathing slightly quicker than it was a moment ago. "Five years ago…almost five years ago to this day that he did this. I swore I'd kill him, avenge my family and clan by killing he who betrayed us all—Itachi." He said the name with such loathing that Kitsune looked away from those hateful eyes. "He killed all of them, all of them except me, making me the avenger…a mission that if I fail then my family shall never know vengeance and this place will never bear life.
"This is my clan." He said, turning around to look at the numerous tombstones, each with their names and family emblem engraved into the black stone. "This is where they died…"
Kitsune didn't know what to do, death was not something one lingered on in the animal world. Avoiding it, yes, mourning it, yes, but to remember it past four moons? It didn't affect him in such a way as it did Raven-Hair. Human emotions were weird…
"Not many people know where this place is…the Uchiha compound is so isolated from the town that only a couple people actually knew that the mansion standing today is not the one I spent my life in. We burned the house, along with everyone in it, and then I placed these markers up—a reminder to what my life is and why."
"Not know…" Kitsune said, frowning deeply. "No un…ders-stand."
"I know," he smirked, "that's why I'm telling you this."
With that statement, the blonde fox confirmed humans made absolutely no sense.
"Come on, let's head back." Raven-Hair whispered before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking away, his head tipped towards the ground and his eyes focused on the soot sprinkled sand.
Happy to get away from the deep aura of death, Kitsune quickly followed and stayed close to Raven-Hair all the way back to the den.
Sasuke sat on the couch with Naruto beside him, acting as if two extremely pissed off shinobi weren't glaring at them. The dark genin crossed his arms over his chest and slouched into his seat, glaring a hole through the floor.
"What the hell did you two think you were doing?" Iruka finally said after a ten minute silence. "First, you Sasuke, leave the hospital against doctor's orders and then you disappear for two hours! I leave for five fucking minutes and come back to find Naruto gone as well!"
"My, my, you really are mad if you're cussing Iruka-san."
"And you!" The chuunin said, pointing at Kakashi, "Where the fuck were you? I've been here for two hours trying to get a hold of you to tell you that our were gone and you decide to finally show up ten minutes before they get here!"
"If we're done here—" Sasuke said, starting to stand up.
"WE ARE NOT DONE!" Iruka raged, effectively making Naruto sink down into the couch and Sasuke sit once more. "Now, we are going to set some rules and Sasuke, I expect you to help Naruto understand what he can't."
"Hn."
"Now then, curfew is at nine p.m., if you're not in the house by then, you'll be punished accordingly. I expect both of you up by six a.m. and your beds made and rooms clean before you come down for breakfast—Sasuke, you'll be helping Naruto with that. Supper will be served at seven unless otherwise said and we will eat as a family despite our differences.
"Kakashi, you are to abide by these rules as well, you had better start answering your cell phone from now or I will drag you home from wherever you are."
"But six is so early!" The silver jounin whined.
"Do I look like I care? Naruto, no leaving the house without one of us." The blonde fox pouted and crossed his arms, but didn't say anything. "Now then, chores will be given out as well, a new chore list will be made every week by me and I expect you all to help out with them. I understand that there'll be missions and such, but when there are no missions, I expect the household to be run by this."
"This is my house—" Sasuke began again.
"And you are my responsibility Sasuke and you now have people who need to know where you are in case something happens. This is what families do for each other," he sighed, "I want to know where you are so I'm not worrying about what happened to you."
"I have no family." He whispered angrily before running up the stairs to his room and slamming the door. It had been so long since he had shown any emotion at all, though anger was the one he felt the most now, but still…he never showed emotion, so why was he now?
Naruto jumped up to follow his 'friend', but Iruka laid a hand on his shoulder. "No Naruto, let him be."
"Why?"
"Because Sasuke needs to think about some things. He needs to be alone." The chuunin smiled down at the blonde and then let his frame fall wearily. "I'll go get dinner ready…" He said, moving towards the kitchen.
"Rest Iruka-san, I'll get something from order out." Kakashi said before disappearing and making Naruto yelp again in surprise. Wide blue eyes looked around for the silver nin and he even looked under the couch before stalking through the house for Kakashi.
Iruka smirked at Naruto's innocent antics and fell back on the couch, sighing as he closed his eyes. Yet his rest was cut short by a knock on the door—well, more like a bang on the door. Standing, Iruka crossed the room with Naruto right on his heels and opened the large white door.
"Iruka-sensei! Sasuke-kun's gone from the hospital, is he here? Is he okay? What happened? Why isn't he there? Did something happen that I should know about?" A pink haired girl asked, her green eyes full of worry.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, he's here and in his room. He decided to come back home…"
Naruto looked underneath Iruka's arm—still dressed in nothing except his lounge pants—and up at the human before him. Sniffing the air, he wrinkled his nose at the strong smell coming from…it.
Blinking, Sakura looked at the blonde boy and pointed down at him, "And who's he?"
Dhampir
07/28/05
Page 9
Ah yes, I'm quite cruel to just leave it off there. But hopefully it'll keep you interested, that is the point of ending a chapter, right? Anyway, if you want to know why I took so long to update…:
1. I've been sick
2. My computer refused to turn on
3. I somehow lost half this document and had to rewrite it
4. Was trying to learn more about feral children—you know, they are real.
Well, hope you enjoyed this installment and until next time…hopefully a sooner next time.
Note: Thanks to everyone who corrected me on the Hyuuga spelling as well as Bakuggen… I thought I had spelled those wrong, but I had no way to check, so thanks a lot.
Gatogirl11: Thanks, I can't believe I didn't catch that…
Foxcat: Thank you, I'll keep that in mind, as you can see I really didn't proofread that chapter before posting it…
Koril Dragonic: Hehe, so that was cool huh? Yeah, I was trying to find a way to make the seal a little different from the normal.
Fallingstar: Sasuke's better! Or at least physically…
As you can see…I'm answering reviews again, sorry that I haven't gotten to before. Also, in all honesty, I can't remember if the Uchiha Massacre happened six years ago or seven yeas ago or five, but I thought six...so that's what I went with.
