A/N: I do not own Naruto. I hope you guys enjoy this longer chapter! We have just broke 40,000 words now! What an accomplishment!
Chapter 9
Fox Days Pt. 2
Naruto lasted three days after he turned into a fox before he gave into his more base orientated needs. He was hungry and new instincts that came along with his new body reared their ugly heads. One moment he was just walking along and then the next his nose was flaring and he was following the scent trail of a rabbit.
The next hour was a blurry memory as Naruto tracked the rabbit down. Once he found it Naruto wasted no time or thought in biting into its neck and jerking painfully. The Rabbit was dead instantly and Naruto dug into its flesh with his canines. Slowly tearing it apart and eating it's still warm flesh and flowing blood. The flesh tasted euphoric for Naruto. The blood stained his fur and he felt delight bubble from his heart from the fresh kill.
Naruto stopped suddenly at what he was doing and backed away from the rabbit in a panic. He stared at the Rabbit's wide eyes in death and felt sick. Blood dripped from his muzzle and he could feel it swishing through his mouth. Naruto ran away from the Rabbit and ran until he found a stream. He felt sick, disgusted and angry with himself.
"I am nothing more than a monster now, am I?" He questioned and stated at the same time to no one in particular. For the first time in three days the Kyuubi did not laugh, nor chortle, nor chuckle, or even insult his host. Naruto took a deep drink of water from the stream and washed the blood from his muzzle. "What have I become if I cannot control myself?" Naruto questioned again as he felt like throwing up.
"What do you want from me fox!" Naruto screamed out loud but only a series of yips came from him. Naruto paced the clearing beside the stream in agitation and anger as the Kyuubi didn't respond to him. He thought of the Rabbit and how he killed it so that he could live. He thought of how unfair it was for the Rabbit, and then that how the Rabbit gave his life so that he could continue on.
Naruto dragged himself back to the dead Rabbit and stared at it in disgust. This wasn't the first time he had to kill wildlife and eat them to survive, but he didn't feel so bad about it the other times. Maybe it was the aspect that he cooked the meat and spread it around for other people to eat as well. Naruto didn't know, but he did know one thing. He wouldn't waste the Rabbit's purpose in death. Naruto went about eating the rest of the Rabbit.
-[===]-
Naruto had after the third day found his way back to the village, but he refused to enter it or approach it. He didn't want his friends to see him in such a state of utter dismay and out of control. However, it was difficult to hide in the areas around the village. He often had to run away as one of the villagers saw him, gasped, and drew attention to him. So Naruto settled for wandering away from the village during the day and sleeping until nightfall.
That night Naruto finally approached his friends. Neji and Shizune were still sleeping in the temple, and Naruto used his ears to range whether or not they were truly asleep or not. After several hours of listening Naruto gauged that they were asleep and approached the entrance to the temple silently. There, at the entrance, Naruto sat down on his back legs and looked at his companions.
Shizune had worry written on her face even in sleep. She had black bags underneath her eyes from exhaustion. Naruto knew without a doubt that she was trying to stay up for as long as possible in order to fight off intruders if they should come, but Naruto knew that after four days of that routine that she collapsed and needed sleep.
He felt guilty that he was useless to them now. If only he could talk then he could explain to them what happened and maybe they would understand, but even then Naruto feared what they would think. They knew about the Kyuubi, and they knew about its reputed behavior. Naruto saw his reflection before. He looked just like the Kyuubi with dark spots surrounding his eyes and tall ears.
Naruto wandered away from his companions after half an hour and went hunting for food. He didn't enjoy the act of killing innocent woodland creatures but he needed subsistence in order to survive.
However, once Naruto wandered away one of his companions stirred. Neji opened his eyes and looked towards the general direction of entrance to the temple. He heard something and whatever it was scarred him enough to sit in fear for half an hour, but he was good at masking his bodily reactions. It was a skill that he gained from years of hiding un-desired reactions from his superiors.
The only way he got Shizune to bunker down and sleep for the night was to agree to take watch for the night, or rather to take listen for the night. Neji didn't know exactly what visited them but it scared him at how silent the being was and how he could only hear it's breathe from the entrance. The being didn't breathe in a humanly manner. No, he knew it was a beast, and that it could've attacked them from where they lay.
The next morning Neji kept their surprise visitor a secret and after he finished training with Ruk for the day he and Shizune went to the village for some grub. "Where's Naruto?" Shizune asked him finally after days of silence other than the initiate small talk.
"I don't know," Neji told her as they held hands. Shizune was guiding him to the town center where most of the day's fresh kills were kept. The village they resided in was unlike one they had ever known. The concept of money here was non-existent and instead a favor system seemed to be prominent. If someone done something for you, such as brings you food, then someone or you will have to repay that favor.
It made everyone in the village friendlier to each other and more likely to help each other out for no reason at all. Shizune sat Neji down on one of the animal pelts and went about getting food and drinks for the both of them. Naruto's absent presence was noticed on the first night he didn't return, and on the second day Lue resumed his patrols. On the fourth night he returned to Shizune and Neji and handed them Naruto's ruined clothes and walking stick.
This only worried the pair even more but Lue assured them that he found no signs of a struggle. What Lue didn't tell them that what he did find he was something could make no sense of, something had happened, but all he knew was that it wasn't a struggle created by human hands. Ever since then Shizune pushed herself to stay awake for as long as possible to keep watch but she was exhausted and failing.
Shizune approached one of the ladies who were dealing out the meat and asked for two portions. The lady brightened up to Shizune. "Hi!" she said as she prepared two plates for them. "Have you heard about the giant fox lurking about?" she asked Shizune. Shizune shook her head in confusion. "Oh it frightens me! I saw it once yesterday down by the river. It was easily the largest beast I have ever seen," the lady continued as she handed Shizune two plates, one for each hand. "Do be careful out near the temple. I know you and your companion are sleeping in the temple, and that the temple has no doors," the lady finished as she smiled at her.
Shizune blinked, nodded, and said her thanks to the lady before moving back to Neji. Neji, on the other hand, was hearing rumors of the fox from villages around him without even talking to them. It seemed the appearance of the fox was the village gossip and it excited everyone. He thought blankly back to the presence that visited them last night and thought, "What if that was the fox?"
Shizune set the plates down in front of him and left again to get drinks. She returned a few minutes later and sat down beside Neji, who was already starting to eat on the meat and vegetables Shizune had brought him. "Thank you," Neji said quietly as he took his drink from her hands and set it in a place he would remember.
"No problem. It seems everyone is talking about this fox that has appeared," Shizune commented.
"It would seem so. Do you think the hunters will hunt the fox?" Neji wondered to Shizune.
"I don't know," Shizune replied, "I wish we knew what happened to Naruto. Do you think Kohona got him?" Shizune was truly worried about her friend, and Neji shared that worry with her.
"I'm not sure. I don't think they did. He's too good at escaping and not being noticed when he doesn't want to be," Neji told her. He worked with Naruto for roughly two years. If the blond didn't want to be found then he wouldn't be found.
"I suppose you are right," Shizune said in relief.
"You are getting some sleep tonight," Neji told her, but she just blew air out of her mouth.
"I got sleep last night. You need sleep tonight," she argued. She slept well last night and didn't want Neji being exhausted during his training. Neji frowned at her.
"How about after we eat we both go back to the temple and I go to sleep, and when I wake up then you go to sleep and I'll take watch?" he proposed. Shizune looked at him curiously and thought about his offer.
"Fine," Shizune said, "but if you are exhausted for your training tomorrow, like you were today, then we are never doing this again." They were mostly silent as they ate other than small chit chat, and when they finished they both done as Neji proposed.
That night Neji remained as he was the previous night, faking sleep, and once again the creature who approached them last night did so again. The creature didn't seem hostile by its actions, so Neji opened his eyes and turned his head towards the entrance.
Naruto froze as his friends non-seeing gaze came to rest on him. He knew he was here. "Should I run? Does he even know I'm here?" Naruto questioned himself as he became as still as a statue and even stopped breathing.
Neji knew he just made the creature nervous but he couldn't take his actions back. His curiosity was too strong to roll back over and pretend to go back to sleep. After a minute the creature fled and Neji was left with more questions than answers. "What is the creature doing? Why is it visiting us? Is it the same creature that the townsfolk are talking about?" Neji wondered before he shut his eyes and got comfortable again.
The trio fell into a routine. Neji would sleep in the afternoon and wake up in the evening while Shizune slept from the evening until morning, and then Neji would go train with Ruk and Shizune would go about making their lives easier and gossip with the villagers, collect favors, or fetch food and drink for Ruk and Neji. At night while Shizune slept Naruto would appear to Neji and watch his companions sleep for an hour or two.
After a week of the routine Neji expected the creature to appear nightly, and by this point his curiosity was too great to contain. It was the tenth day of being a fox for Naruto and his companions were worried for his wellbeing. Naruto was now lonely and at an all-time low from his newest base instincts to survive. He felt like a monster and struggled to keep his mind positive from the change. It was the nightly visits to his friends that kept him from losing his cool.
Naruto wandered up to the temple visit and sat down on his back legs once again, just like the previous nights, and just like the previous nights Neji sat up in his cot and leaned against the wall. Naruto watched Neji curiously and was shocked that their nightly routine changed. "Why do you visit us so creature? If not to kill us, then why come at all?" Neji asked the fox.
Neji wasn't expecting an answer from the fox. Perhaps it was a summoned creature, but Neji had never heard of the fox summoning contract. Maybe the fox was attracted to the temple. Maybe the fox was hungry and was just waiting for a night when Neji wasn't awake to kill them. Neji didn't know. The fox just stared at him in calmness, but what happened next shocked both of them.
Shizune stirred from her sleep and sat up. Naruto was gone from the entrance in an instant and Neji watched his departure curiously. "Why run when Shizune woke up?" Neji wondered internally as Shizune asked him what was wrong. "Nothing, I was just talking to myself," Neji replied.
After that night the fox didn't return for almost an entire week, but Neji knew it returned when he felt its familiar presence around the village. The fox was sticking close to the village now and thanks to Neji's training he was able to pick up the auras of people with the use of his chakra. It became second nature to him to ping out a wave of his chakra in order to find an aura and to read the aura.
Neji knew it was the fox because it stayed well hidden in the brush surrounding the village and that he felt the presence many times before. Neji wondered what the fox was doing and thought to the well beings of the villagers. "Would the fox hurt the villagers? Is it so mindless?" Neji thought to himself and then thought to tell the villagers of the fox, but then he decided against it. "The fox has had ample opportunities to attack by now. If it hasn't yet then I see not why it would now," he reasoned.
Naruto on the other hand was more of a wreck. He spent the week trying his hardest to change forms but he couldn't do it. The Kyuubi was the one who held that key and Naruto realized that, so he tried to persuade the Kyuubi to change him back, but he refused. Naruto had begged and pleaded with the Kyuubi and even took back what he said, but even then the Kyuubi wouldn't change him back. "Not until you have learned your lesson, flea," Kyuubi would say said.
That night Naruto was depressed, lonely, and feeling worthless. He had no success in his recent attempts to court the Kyuubi, he felt disgusted with what he had become and with every passing day Naruto felt these feelings more and more strongly. He couldn't feel angry at the Kyuubi for doing what it did. Naruto was disrespectful to it and showed no concern for its well-being or feelings. Two weeks ago Naruto would've laughed at anyone who said the Kyuubi had feelings, but now Naruto knew better.
The fox inside of him wouldn't talk to him a lot, but from the quips he got from it he learned some of the nature the Kyuubi kept well hidden. Naruto lay in a clearing near the temple as he waited for Shizune to fall asleep and tried to talk to the fox again. Normally Naruto would never try to initiate contact with the demonic presence inside him. Even when Naruto stayed out in the valleys surrounding Kohona for an entire year did he try and not talk to the fox, but his loneliness was painful and he couldn't distract himself from it any longer.
When Naruto was alone for a year he had shadow clones wandering into Kohona and spying for him. He wrote letters to friends and had his clones deliver the letters. He kept himself busy socially and physically, but now he couldn't do any of that. He couldn't communicate with anyone except the being inside of him. He couldn't even distract himself physically all that much because he didn't have hands. He couldn't build a house like he did the first time. He could only hunt, eat, drink, and groom himself and that stuff got boring quickly.
"Kyuubi, what is your true name?" Naruto asked the fox inside of his head while he lay on the lush grass.
The Kyuubi was quiet for a long time until he replied, "Why would you like to know?" There was no malice behind the question. No hint of oncoming violence or evil. No booming voice or hint of laughter. It was a simple question.
"I don't know," Naruto admitted. He still didn't understand just exactly what the fox was but he knew it was intelligent and more caring than it let on. "I guess I would like to know because you have been inside of me my whole life and during that entire time we have never had a civil conversation. We are bound together, you and I, forever," Naruto told the fox. The fox fell silent for a long time until Naruto heard a single word.
"Kurama," Kyuubi replied before he fell completely silent again. What Kurama didn't tell Naruto was that no one had asked for his name in several thousand years. The last person to ask his name was the first shinobi ever to live. Kurama truly didn't know what to think of Naruto and it only confused him that he would ask for his name. He had went without a name for so long that he truly had to think for a few minutes just to remember his name.
"Kurama," Naruto said aloud as he dedicated it to memory, "It is nice to meet you." They both fell silent but for different reasons. Naruto didn't want to push Kurama too much because then the fox would clam up and refuse to talk to him again, and Naruto couldn't have that. He was so lonely that all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep all day. Kurama didn't want to share anymore. He was confused and for once in a long time he felt something other than rage and anger.
After a few more hours Naruto approached the temple to get the first good look of his friends in a week to find Neji sitting on the steps at the entrance. Naruto froze as Neji's head turned to face him and Naruto panicked. He wanted to run away. He didn't want his friends to see him in such a state. He felt ashamed of what he's become and what he's done in the past two and a half weeks, but his loneliness was too great for him to run away from his friend. Naruto felt desperate for someone else's touch and attention. He wanted to hear that he wasn't a monster and that all the innocent woodland creatures he's killed was so that he could continue on living, and that it was okay to kill them.
He wanted someone to not fear him. Not to scream out in terror as they saw him, or to not clench up in fear and throw rocks in his direction. Naruto remembered the many nights that he and Neji just stared at each other in the temple, and he wanted at least that. To be looked upon without fear.
Neji took the creature in with his new senses. His training was coming along nicely and for the first time since he gained this ability he was able to get a good read on the creature that visited them so frequently. The creature's aura was violent and chaotic, but at the same time calming and warm. The aura drew him to the creature but Neji didn't dare move from the steps of the temple. The aura held no foul intentions for Neji but Neji had no training in detecting that type of intentions. He just felt that the creature meant him no harm, and that the creature hadn't hurt him in the past.
Neji was afraid to speak. The only other time he spoke to the creature it fled and stayed away for a week. He didn't want to admit it but he liked the creature. He enjoyed the times it came and sat in companionable silence in the temple with him while Shizune slept. Its presence was one he could feel without trying so much and now that he was better tune to auras its aura only made him want to get closer to the creature.
Naruto was still panicking. He didn't know what to do now even though he often day dreamed many times about his eventual encounter with Neji again. He dreamed of running up to the man and knocking him over only to lay on him and rub his muzzle into his face. He dreamed of Neji's hands on his fur and Neji talking aimlessly to him. Naruto's heart panged painfully with the loneliness of the past eighteen days.
Naruto decided then that he didn't care if his friend killed him right then and there. He didn't want to live in the world any longer if he couldn't be touched by others or talked to. Naruto took a step forward only to hesitate and watch Neji's reaction, or lack of reaction. He took a few more steps forward in fear and tried to quell his hammering heart and head.
Naruto stopped five steps away from Neji and lay down on the ground with his ears tucked low and his tail in between his legs. He couldn't bring himself to take the last five steps. He didn't want to face the rejection his friend may give to him. Naruto laid his head down onto his paws and looked up at Neji's reactionless face in utter fear.
Neji was in shock as the creature approached him. He panicked but remained still. It was no good to show fear in front of a creature. It only spurred them into action and Neji didn't want to have his first night with the creature back as the last night the creature returned. He felt and heard the creature slowly crawl towards him until it stopped roughly five steps away from him. Neji was unsure what to do.
It was then that Shizune walked clumsily and tiredly out of the temple rubbing her eyes. "Neji, what's going on?" she asked as her eyes focused onto the docile fox. She gasped and the fox turned and fled. "Neji! That was that fox! The one we heard about!" she said excitedly as she ran up to his side. At first she broke out into a run to help Neji protect himself should the need arise, but the fox simply noticed her presence and fled in fear.
Neji sighed in relief and anger. He didn't realize until the fox left that he wanted anything to happen except for the fox to leave. Neji got up and blindly grouped back into the temple ignoring Shizune the whole while, but that didn't stop her from talking to him excitedly. "Did you see him? Oh wait! Sorry, I didn't mean it that way! He was huge! He was easily bigger than any of the nin-dogs we have back home!" Shizune chittered in excitement, but then she stopped. "Wait, why didn't he attack you?" Shizune questioned him.
Neji stopped at his cot and sent a glare towards her direction. He was utterly pissed at this point. He waited an entire week for the fox's return to maybe glean answers off of its behavior but it was scared of Shizune. Neji tried to calm himself down but he couldn't as he thought of the fox's magnificent aura and how calming it had been even when Neji was in a panic. Neji wanted more time with the fox like how they normally used to be when the fox visited him in the temple while Shizune slept.
Shizune shut up almost immediately as she noticed the glare. "Go back to sleep," Neji told her as he got comfy on his cot and leaned against the wall. She noticed that Neji was in the foulest mood he has been in since Naruto disappeared. She lay back down quietly and sighed.
"Good night," she said dejectedly. She didn't receive a reply as the night fell back to silence once more.
-[===]-
Naruto wasn't sure what to do anymore. He was so close to Neji yet his friend didn't respond nor react to his presence except with his directionless stare. Was Neji afraid of him? "I'd be afraid of me," Naruto reasoned as he hunted for the day's meal. Naruto tried to understand just what happened last night but he was unable to really make sense of Neji's behavior. He reasoned that his lack of reaction was at least a positive thing. Neji didn't want to kill him, yet.
Naruto spent the rest of the day stalking his friends covertly, but occasionally Neji's gaze would point straight towards him. Naruto didn't dare stalk his friends while they were around Ruk. Ruk was scary with his abilities to feel you out and just know what you were about. So Naruto took a wide birth around Ruk's cabin and Ruk himself.
That night he talked to Kurama again as he lay in his meadow and waited for Shizune to fall asleep. Naruto discovered that even if Kurama wouldn't reply that he would listen. He came upon this discovery when the fox denied him something days ago when he was in his weeklong isolation. "Kurama?" Naruto called out to his mind to see if the fox felt like talking.
"What is it Flea?" Kurama replied in the same monotone rage-less voice he used before. This confused Naruto, but he didn't let it bother him.
"Do you ever feel lonely in there?" Naruto asked. Kurama fell silent after Naruto's question and Naruto thought that perhaps he pushed the conversation too far. He did push the conversation too far. Kurama never understood the concept of loneliness but he felt its affects. This was a conversation he thought he would never have because of what he was. He was too strong to succumb to something as petty as loneliness.
"Foolish mortal! I am the great Kyuubi no Kitsune! Loneliness is a concept created by mankind!" Kyuubi bellowed out and Naruto had the picture in his mind of the fox shuffling in his cage and curling up. Naruto smirked at Kurama's reaction. It meant one of two things: Kurama was lonely, or Kurama truly didn't believe in loneliness.
Naruto allowed the conversation to lull as he napped in the meadow. That night Naruto left his meadow and went to the temple to find Neji once again sitting on the steps waiting for him. Neji's sightless gaze came to rest in Naruto's general direction and Naruto felt his heart flutter in excitement. He one again crept forward until he was five steps away and laid down, but this time he didn't put his head on his paws and his ears weren't tweaked downwards.
"You came back," Neji said quietly as to not wake Shizune. "I can only wonder why you come to me, a blind man. Are you here to kill me or do you have no fear?" Neji asked the beast.
Naruto looked at him in confusion. Neji thought he was here to kill him? Why would he kill him if he's visited him over a dozen times? Naruto looked at Neji's hands to see them fidgeting together in his lap. Neji hardly ever fidgeted. Naruto felt an almost uncontrollably urge to take the five steps and crash into Neji like he often dreamed. His heart fluttered lightly and in excitement at just being this close to him.
Neji was happy for the first time for a last time. The fox creature returned to him and seemed to want to be around him. The calming aura of the fox made him fidget as he felt desires spring up from his soul to welcome the fox to come closer, but he was scared. The fox was a creature of the night. Creatures were often violent and vicious without reason. Could he trust the fox to not hurt him if he welcomed it?
Naruto was in a losing battle with his desires and urges. He wanted nothing more than to take those five steps and lay on Neji. The pain his chest panged painfully as he fought the urges and continued to pang more painfully every time he beat it down. Naruto took a step forward as the urge came back and he saw Neji's hands freeze in panic, but Naruto couldn't control the urge anymore.
It was the same as the first time he was hunting. He needed this. He needed to be close to Neji and to feel Neji's welcoming embrace, but the fear in his heart made him hesitate. Naruto no longer cared if he died or lived by Neji's hands. Naruto took the last four steps slowly and laid down beside Neji on the steps and laid his head on Neji's lap.
Neji flinched almost violently as he felt the furry muzzle lay into his lap and then the rest of the creature's body curl up against his side. The creature was warm against the oncoming winter. Neji felt relief and joy flow through his veins as the creature's head remained on his lap. Slowly, but steadily, Neji allowed one of his hands to come down to the top of the creature's head. He stroked gently and the creature seemingly purred against him. It scared him at first but once he realized it wasn't a growl he continued his ministrations.
Naruto was euphoric. He felt the painful pangs go away as Neji petted his head and felt Neji's other hand come to rest on his neck. Happiness bubbled up from his stomach and a rumbling escaped his chest. This was a first for Naruto but he didn't care any longer. He was happy.
Neji was shocked as the creature's aura changed slightly and Neji felt euphoric once the calm and warm aura enveloped him. He remembered something similar a long time ago when his father would hold him as he cried, or when Naruto carried him during their flight from danger seemingly forever ago. Neji's hands froze as his mind started to truly connect the dots.
"Naruto?" Neji asked as he looked down at the fox. Neji felt the fox's head shift as it looked up at him and suddenly he felt a tongue swipe across his cheek.
Naruto couldn't help himself any longer. Once he licked Neji on the cheek he pushed against him which made Neji fall over. Naruto lay on top of Neji and rubbed his muzzle against his face, head, and chest in pure joy. Neji figured out who he was! "Naruto!" Neji all but blurted out as fur encased him. Neji was grinning at Naruto's antics. "Why are you a fox?" Neji asked as he gave up on persuading Naruto off him.
Suddenly Shizune appeared from the temple once more half asleep. "Naruto?" Shizune called out in exhaustion. Naruto froze from his spot above Neji and Shizune seemed to focus after a few seconds at the compromising position. "Get away from him you monster!" Shizune screamed as she pulled out a few needles to throw at the fox.
"No!" Neji screamed and he dug his fingers into the fur on Naruto's chest. Shizune froze from Neji's scream. "No!" Neji screamed again as he pulled himself from Naruto's frozen form and scooted until his back was against Naruto's muzzle and he was shielding the giant fox with his body. "This is Naruto!" Neji told her to which she dropped the needles from her hands.
"No way," Shizune said as her mouth fell open in surprise and shock. She couldn't believe it. "Naruto is a giant fox now? How could this of even happened?" Shizune asked aloud to which Neji shook his head.
"I don't know but he has been trying to tell me for two weeks now. Don't chase him off!" Neji all but growled. He remembered he previous times that Shizune chased Naruto off and he wanted nothing but to bask in his radiant aura.
"O, Okay," Shizune stuttered before she rubbed her eyes. "Can I sit down with you guys?" she asked curiously. Neji was strangely protective over Naruto at the moment and she didn't want to interrupt anything. Neji thought about it for a moment but when Naruto nudged his back suggestively he sighed and nodded. Shizune came to sit down on the stairs with them and Naruto came to lay down at the top of the stairs against their backs. His tail lay down in Shizune's lap while his head lay in Neji's lap. He was large enough to lay in this manner comfortably around both his friends.
"Can he talk?" Shizune asked curiously. Lue had updated her on the information Naruto requested and even the toad that she sent to Tsunade with a letter had returned.
"I don't think he can," Neji said. Naruto shook his head in confirmation. Shizune sighed before she leaned tiredly against both Neji and Naruto.
"Lue said that there are agents from the Hyuuga still trying to find us. They stopped sending out actual members and are now trying to utilize Jiriaya's spy network for help. Fortunately for us the only agent in this village part of that network is on our side," Shizune updated him on their situation. She felt a flick of fur slide across her face and she smiled lightly before she grabbed the tail in both hands and hugged it.
"I've missed you," Shizune said. She wouldn't tell him that she worried for him every day since he left. It would only embarrass herself. She was also slightly mad at Naruto for not presenting himself to her sooner and that she had to find out by catching Neji and Naruto in the act of reuniting. "How long have you known this was Naruto, Neji?" she asked a bit angrily.
"I only found out a few seconds before you came out," Neji said. Shizune was surprised.
"Really? How so?" Shizune asked.
"I asked if it was him, and he promptly jumped on me and started rubbing on me," Neji said. Shizune laughed and started to pet Naruto's tail.
Naruto was on cloud nine right now. He didn't care that he couldn't talk to his friends. He just cared that he was here with them now and not out in the meadow spending his nights alone. A low rumbling purr wouldn't stop coming from his chest and a foxy grin wouldn't go away from his muzzle. Naruto let out a deep breath as his friends talked and he tried to listen, but he was too absorbed in the simple sensations to pay much attention.
After a while Shizune and Neji fell silent. Naruto looked up to find that Shizune's head was lying against his side with a slight drool stream coming from her mouth. She was truly exhausted and needed sleep. Neji on the other hand silently stroked Naruto's head and neck. He was content enough to lean against Naruto as well and relax.
Naruto shut his eyes and let him fall back to the simple sensations of his friends breathing against him and Neji's hands. He didn't know when it happened but he drifted off into sleep and when he awoke Ruk and Lue was standing in front of them.
"Ah, reunions are sweet are they not Lue?" Ruk said as he stood steadily in front of them with his cane.
"Yes they are old man, but all I'm seeing is a giant fox keeping our friends hostage," Lue said as he pulled a sword out of its holster. Naruto tensed and got ready to run, but Ruk's hand came to rest on Lue's wrist and he shook his head.
"No old friend. This fox is a friendly one," Ruk said as Shizune and Neji were stirred awake by Naruto's back and sides tensing. "Naruto, my lad, I see you have finally come out of hiding. I was wondering when you were going to show yourself to me. I was beginning to lose hope," Ruk told the giant fox. Naruto smiled back in response and a yip came out of his mouth.
It shocked Shizune into full awareness and Neji felt a smile come to his face. "That's Naruto?" Lue asked in shock. He knew that shinobi was in their own class of strength but they could shape shift? Really?
"Yes," Shizune replied as she petted Naruto's tail. She got up then and yawned. She had stuff she needed to do. "Naruto, please don't run off again. We really did miss you," Shizune replied before petting him lightly and walking back into the temple.
Ruk laughed before he stamped his cane a little forcefully. "Neji, my pupil, it is time for training! Go have breakfast and meet me in the field," Ruk said before he turned around and walked away. Naruto smiled as a new routine dominated the next week.
Naruto would sleep from when the sun came up until sometime in the afternoon. Then he would go hunting for himself and return after he groomed himself clean of any blood. Neji would train in the mornings until Naruto woke up, and then whine until Naruto came back from hunting. Shizune and Neji would enjoy Naruto's company from sundown until sunup because Naruto took over the night shift of look out duty.
It wasn't until the fourth night of this routine that they dragged Naruto into the village. Everyone gasped and gave them a lot of leeway to walk as the three of them walked to the village center and sat down. Naruto sat alert as the villagers each looked at them and spoke in hushed tones. Eventually the lady who Shizune talked to before approached them and sat down next to Shizune.
"Say, whose your new friend?" she asked quietly. Shizune smiled at how nervous she seemed to be by Naruto.
"This is Naruto. He's going through a growth spurt of sorts," Shizune said to which the girl gasped and her eyes widened.
"This is that cutie from the first night? Oh my god!" she all but yelled out and the whole village looked at her in confusion. Shizune laughed and Neji smirked at her shock and all the confusion he felt from that statement around him. Neji had grown comfortable with the village after retiring so many nights to it for food and drink.
Shizune stroked Naruto's head to which he purred back affectionately. The village lady blushed and squirmed on the animal pelt. "I am so sorry I threw rocks at you! If I only knew who you were!" the lady apologized before she bowed and ran off. She was only the first to approach them and apologize once she spread the word through the village.
Naruto felt elated and happy. The village seemingly accepted him as one of their own once they knew who he was and that he held no vile intent towards them. Eventually Naruto laid his head into Shizune's lap and shut his eyes a little tiredly. The sights and sounds of the village was a bit too much to take in when he was so used to silence and bugs buzzing.
The routine continued to go much of this same way until a week later when Naruto was cleaning himself from a successful hunt that he talked to Kurama. "I think I understand now Kurama," Naruto said as he licked his back paw.
"Oh? What do you think you understand now flea?" Kurama asked curiously.
"That you are lonely and angry about it. That you have had very little control over any choices you've been given in the past century, and that makes you angry," Naruto said as he continued cleaning himself.
"Loneliness is a human concept flea," Kurama replied once more and Naruto heard a yawn echo through his mind. "You are right about the control part though. When I attacked your puny village I was enraged by a man with the sharigan," Kurama shared with him. Naruto froze from his duty for a few seconds before he continued. He knew better than to press the knowledge that Kurama shared with him.
"Want to be friends?" Naruto asked him. Kurama became silent for several minutes before responding.
"Friendship is another human concept. It is pointless," Kurama told him. Kurama had lived centuries before hand and he had only held one friendship before, and that was to the first container he ever had: The first shinobi.
"Friendship is a worthy concept to partake in. If you do not believe in it then it will not be. Loneliness is much of the opposite. It exists whether we want it to or not but in order for us to understand it and cure it we have to call it something. I know that you are lonely and angry about it Kurama. I would like to be your friend and chase away your loneliness," Naruto told the demon fox.
Kurama smiled from his cage at the change in Naruto. This wasn't exactly what he wanted from the blond man. All he really wanted from him was respect and perhaps a bit of control, but the more Kurama thought about the friendship thing the more he felt that Naruto learned his lesson. Naruto did respect Kurama more, and Naruto wanted to make Kurama feel better as a result.
"Very well Naruto. I think we understand each other a bit better now," Kyuubi told his host before chakra shot out from around Naruto in large spirals. Naruto knew what was happening and he just smiled as it happened despite the large amounts of pain he was feeling. It was nothing compared to the joy of accomplishment he felt inside of his heart.
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