Through Fox's Eyes

by Dhampir

Naruto was 'abandoned' at the age of five and only survived because of Kyuubi's instincts. Eight years later, Sasuke stumbles across him and brings him back to Konoha, but will he be able to cope with society after eight years of solitude? AU

11. Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any of the characters.
Note: This is slightly based upon the series Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold, which everyone should read and the newest installment is absolutely fantatstic.
Second Note: List o' names:

Raven Hair: Sasuke
Kitsune: Naruto
Scar Nose: Iruka
Silver-Moon: Kakashi
Ill One: Sakura
-0- POV change
- Space breaker

Through Fox's Eyes
Chapter Eleven

The people of Konoha had always looked forward to spring; it was the most peaceful season of the year as well as the most beautiful. Out of the twelve months during the year, summer lasted for seven months of it, winter for a month at the most and spring and fall for two. The summer days were long, hot and humid, winter was too cold for the civilian habitants of Konoha most years and fall only gave brief comfort to those who had to battle falling leaves, permafrost, fog and rainstorms. Thus spring with its gentle temperatures, cool breezes and sprouting flowers was one of the most liked seasons of the year.

It was also when the Lunar Festival commenced and younger children who had to be in bed by nine could stay up all night for a night full of games, prizes, dances and candles. Streamers covered the Town's Square with banners, signs and vendors yelling to passing families to buy a trinket or try their luck at a game. The Lunar Festival always began on the last day of winter and ended midday on the first day of spring, thus welcoming in the next season. It was an amazing sight to see as everyone lit candles just a little before midnight and flooded the town to light the torches that lined the streets. It was always left to the older children to light the torches and see who would be the first to find the 'emblem' of their Hokage. Whoever brought back the gold and black necklace was awarded a gift by the Hokage himself and received one day of special training from the elder. As such, the full fledged ninjas always kept an eye on things from the shadows and rooftops because though they were just children, they could still do a lot of damage if a fight broke out.

The Lunar Festival was a week away and the planning committee was hard at work trying to fix any last minute changes or mistakes before setting the Town's Square up. Haruno Sakura had been a long term committee member since she was old enough to read and had quickly become one of the heads once she had turn ten. Usually she loved the turning seasons and couldn't wait to begin setting up for the Lunar Festival, but today she was anything but happy. If anything, the pink haired kinouchi was definitely not enjoying the day as her peers seemed to be doing and instead was fuming as she stormed down the well worn path to the portico.

Of course, her attitude might've had something to do with a certain stubborn blonde fox that had been following her everywhere for the past three days. Everywhere she turned, he was there and watching her with those confused and uncomprehending blue eyes. Even throwing kunai at him seemed to have no affect on the fox as all he did was skitter out of the way and then continue to follow her. And when she yelled at him, he just cocked his head and blinked those big eyes of his until she was finished and then follow behind her once more as if nothing had happened.

At the moment, Sakura was gripping a kunai in one hand with all her might and in the other hand she held the last minute changes for the Lunar Festival she had been sent to collect. Naruto was carefully following behind her by three steps, watching her every move as if that would help him understand the odd creature before him. It had taken him another two weeks before he finally decided that Sakura wasn't sick and wouldn't endanger his family and since then he hadn't left her side for anything except food and sleep. The odd creature intrigued him, it changed skins more often in one day than Sasuke did in a week and the different variations he caught in its voice made him wonder what other noises it could make. Thus starting his long list of pranks, which he was getting quite good at, just to see what noises the humans could make.

And he wasn't disappointed, Kakashi's voice went flat whenever he was the brunt of a prank, Iruka's became shrill and Sakura's varied from dark to high pitched depending on the prank, but it was Sasuke's voice he found the most interesting. The dark boy's voice fall to a deep rumbling that would start in his diaphragm as he glared at Naruto and his voice would drop in temperature as impending death dripped from his words as he told Naruto to go to hell.

Sakura huffed and turned on her heel, her hands resting on her hips as she glared at the blonde standing not even two feet from her. "Naruto, go home!" She said hotly, watching as he cocked his head at her.

"Why?" He asked, one of his newest words.

"Because this is private."

"What?"

"Private, you're not allowed in there." She said, pointing at the portico a couple yards away. "So go home."

Standing to his full height, Naruto peeked over her shoulder and stared at the gathering of men and women within the wooden building. "What's that?"

"None of your business. Now go home or…or no ramen for a week!" She knew it was an underhanded move, but the blonde fox had come completely enthralled with ramen and they soon figured out it was their best bargaining chip.

Those blue eyes widened a fraction and his bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "No!" He keened, falling back into a crouch.

"Then go home right now."

Naruto worried over his bottom lip for a minute before snorting and turning around to track his way back to Sasuke's house. "Bye!" He said before making his way down the path to the market, which connected to the road that led straight to Sasuke's house.

Sakura watched the blonde disappear from view before entering the portico. Immediately finding her friend/rival Ino, she sat across from the long haired blonde and turned her thoughts away from annoying foxes to the festival at hand. "Finally, some sanity." She muttered as her mother called everyone to attention.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kitsune paused at the edge of the trail, peering down at the asphalt walkway and comparing it to the soil beneath his covered feet. He wrinkled his nose at the hard black surface and huffed, his lip sticking out in a small pout—which he had become quite good at. He didn't like how those paths felt on his feet and even in…what had the humans called them? Oh right, sandals. Even in sandals, the asphalt made his feet ache in a way they never had before.

Yet he couldn't find his way back to Raven Hair's den without a scent to follow, he still didn't know the area well, and so the only option was to walk on the black rocks. Flexing his toes momentarily, Kitsune stepped onto the path and sniffed the air delicately, picking up the Ill One's scent almost immediately, though she had weakened it since their first meeting. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he began tracking the scent back towards the Town's Square where at least then he could find his way back to the den. Shaking his head at how easy it was to follow Ill One's scent—the key to survival was to cover one's scent to keep enemies away, not make it unmistakable—Kitsune continued down the path with ease.

It wasn't long before the woodlands began to recede and the main park appeared along with the people of Konoha. Though he had been observing the other humans, he was still skittish of them and remained hidden whenever he was alone—which was a rare occasion anyway. Once the first sound of footsteps reached his ears, he quickly disappeared into the brush and began to travel beside the path instead of on it like he had been. He was close enough now to know somewhat where he was and began north-east towards the Town Square.

Kitsune crouched down and peered around the corner of the dark alley he was hidden in. The humans were beyond numerous in this area and were constantly moving from…what did they call it again? Ships? No… Kitsune frowned, shoops…shoaps… shops! Shops, the humans traded metal for food and other things, which he was still confused on.

Even after four moons with the humans, he had only learned enough of their language to get across what he needed usually but not enough to communicate freely with the creatures. They still didn't understand his need to hunt on the full moon, but to be honest with himself, neither did he. But he did understand that there was something that pulled him when the moon called to his soul and he could do nothing but follow. He remembered the one time he refused to answer the moon's call, it had been an ungodly hot day where even the shade gave no relief from the humidity. He had worn himself out during the day in search of food so when the moon rose he had no energy left for the Hunt.

That night had been the most agonizing night of his life. As the sun set and the full moon rose, all he felt was a need to hunt and an uneasiness in his soul. He had paced for hours at the mouth of the cave, only skittering away when pink flashed through the sky accompanied by the rumbling voice of the thunder (1). Yet as the night darkened, the uneasiness he felt grew and he found pacing no longer calmed him. Every bone in his body screamed for the Hunt and his muscles ached to run, but his head told him the smart thing to do was stay inside. And so, pressed into a corner of his cave, he sat shivering and whimpering while the fox demon within him fought with every ounce of strength it had to break free and lose itself within the Hunt. (2)

As the night wore on, the uneasiness turned into pain, sending spastic tremors up the young Kitsune's spine that had him howling in pain. Kyuubi screamed its rage from inside its living cage, lashing out its chakra and trying to overrun the barriers that kept him sealed away. The fox was almost insane with the need to join the Hunt and had forced its potent chakra through the young boy undeveloped chakra ways.

The result was Kitsune letting out a shrill, pain filled scream as the demon chakra burned through his veins, muscles, bones and very soul. His muscles contorted and Kitsune dropped to his knees, saliva sliding down his chin as the chakra disappeared. Tears trailing down the young boy's face—barely five moons old—Kitsune let his body fall to the ground, his breath heavy and labored as he fought the small tremors that still shook his small frame.

A couple seconds later, another scream was ripped from his throat as another onslaught of chakra was forced through his body. Curling into the fetal position, Kitsune whimpered and closed his eyes tightly shut, uncomprehending to what exactly was wrong or how to stop the pain. It continued throughout the night until Kitsune finally passed out from the pain and thus leaving Kyuubi free to control the child.

When Kitsune finally came to, he was still in his cave, but had a half eaten deer carcass beside him. Though in the back of his mind he wondered how the deer had come to be there, he was not one to question free food and easily gorged himself on the raw meat.

Kitsune only had a minute (3) warning that someone was behind him and he quickly twirled around, snarling and baring his teeth at the newcomer.

"Yo." The flippant wave told him everything he needed to know about Silver-Moon as the older human stood with his arms crossed and his single uncovered eye crinkled in amusement.

The young fox growled deeply and glared at the ninja. "What?" He snapped.

"I see Iruka-san still needs to work on your mannerisms." Silver-Moon answered with a sigh, his hair almost seeming to fall limp with disappointment.

"Kakakashi, what?"

"Kakashi" He said for the hundredth time. "It's Ka-ka-shi, not Ka-ka-ka-shi."

"Kakakashi."

"Kakashi."

"Kakakashi."

"No, Ka-ka-shi!"

Kitsune tilted his head, wasn't that what he was saying. "Kakakashi."

"No!" Silver-Moon huffed, "Ka…"

"Ka…" Kitsune repeated.

"Ka…"

"Ka."

"Shi."

"Shi."

Silver-Moon nodded, "Kakashi."

"Kakakashi."

Groaning, the poor human gave up and just accepted his fate. "Come on, Iruka has dinner ready."

"Ramen?" Kitsune asked brightly.

"No." Turning, he began to walk away, barely keeping an eye on the young fox boy that was following at his heels.

"No…Kitsune want ramen."

"Too bad."

Narrowing those blue eyes of his, Kitsune stomped his foot, "Ramen."

Kakashi turned to look over his shoulder at the glaring boy. This was proving more difficult than it should've been. How hard is it to retrieve a normal teenage boy? Okay, so he wasn't normal, but he was still a teenage boy…fox…er…thing. "Not today." He answered. Ever since he brought ramen home for supper that one night, Naruto had become close to obsessed over it, every time food was mentioned, the blonde would perk up and ask for ramen.

"Ramen." He repeated, his voice almost turning into a growl.

Sighing, Kakashi looked down his 'student'. "You can't live off of ramen, so the answers no. Another time."

"Now."

"No."

Naruto stood up to his full height, which wasn't that menacing anyway since he only came up to Kakashi's chest, and growled deep in his throat. His hands were curled into his fists at his side and those sky blue eyes darkened a shade. "Want. Ramen. Now!" With that said, Naruto launched himself at the jounin, certain if he could make the older man submit to him then he would get his ramen.

Kakashi easily dodged the first punch, expecting it, but barely sidestepped his roundhouse kick in the small alleyway. Cocking an eyebrow, he continued to back up step by step as the little brat bared his frustration at the man. "I said no, Naruto."

The boy's eyes flashed in anger at the name, he loathed that name, and it always made his head hurt and images pop into his head. Falling into a crouch, Naruto snarled at the man and launched himself at him.

Only to have the silver haired nin sidestep him and catch him by the hem of his pants. "Okay, I do believe you've had enough." Crinkling his eye into a smile, he raised his two forefingers on his right hand and held them before his lips. Naruto barely caught the movements as Kakashi began a one-handed jutsu and before he could protest, he found himself now dangling above wood floors.

Letting out a shriek, Naruto propelled himself away from Kakashi by pushing against the older man's chest with his feet and scrabbled away, eyes frantically looking about Sasuke's house. "W-where?" He asked.

"Sasuke's house."

"Sasuke?"

"Yes dobe, my house." A droll voice filled the room and Naruto looked over to the staircase where the dark shinobi was making his way downstairs. "Kakashi-sensei." He nodded his welcome before leaning against the wall to stare at the frantic boy. "What's wrong with him this time?" His voice was flat and despite his stoic expression, Kakashi could hear the underlying annoyance in his words.

"He didn't want to come and so I transported him here." Kakashi shrugged before strolling into the kitchen to see what Iruka was up to.

Sasuke watched as Naruto began sniffing the air, and the carpet…and the couch and the walls and the curtains and the door and the floors and scrolls and him. Snarling, Sasuke lightly kicked him away, almost as if he were a dog. "Tch, dobe."

"Teme." Naruto responded automatically.

A dark eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but other than that, Sasuke remained calm and collected. "Come on." He finally muttered after a moment's silence.

As they entered the kitchen, Iruka was just finishing setting the table. Looking up, he smiled brightly at the two boys and sat down in his seat across from Kakashi. "You two have perfect timing."

Sasuke 'tisked' but sat down silently, watching as Naruto quickly sat down on the other side, perched in his chair as usual. Everything began well, the rice and chicken were passed and taken as well as the dried fish and tangy sauce in silence, but it was Naruto who ruined the quiet evening.

"Not ramen." He pouted, staring down at his dish.

"Right, it's plain chicken…again." Sasuke muttered. Since they discovered Naruto's dislike for spices—make that revulsion—Iruka had cooked all the meats without spices, even pepper.

"Naruto doesn't understand and so we shouldn't force him to eat seasoned meats if he doesn't like them."

Sasuke snorted, it didn't matter if he didn't like unseasoned foods, so why should it matter if Naruto does? And looking at the blonde boy picking at his food, Sasuke was certain he understood as well.

"Correct Kitsune," Iruka said, "It's not ramen."

"Kitsune want ramen." He whined, his bottom lip forming a pout.

"Not tonight."

"Why?"

"Because you had some last night."

"Kitsune want ramen."

"No, now eat your dinner."

Snarling, Naruto threw the dish against the wall, glaring as the shattered pieces fell to the floor along with the remains of the meal. "No!"

Iruka stood up and glared down at the fox. "Uzumaki Naruto!" He yelled, making the blonde cringe. "If you ever do that again, you'll never have ramen again!"

Perking at the word, Naruto looked up into Iruka's angry gaze. "Ramen?" He asked.

"No ramen." Iruka repeated, "No ramen for many, many moons."

At the threat of his precious ramen being taken away, Naruto began to wail, loudly. His high pitched yipping and howling finally drove Sasuke to take his dinner outside and Iruka to collapse back into his chair wearily.

"Naruto—" He was interrupted by a shake of Kakashi's head. He watched as the silver jounin stood and left, following Sasuke outside.

Glancing from the doorway to Naruto, he finally sighed and left as well, closing the door as Naruto's wails got louder. Letting out a relieved sigh, he joined the other two on a bench and watched as the sun set behind Hokage Mountain.

"About time we got some peace and quiet." Sasuke muttered, staring up at the darkening sky.

"I just don't know what to do about his tantrums." Iruka said, shaking his head slowly. "Every time he learns a new word, he seems to have more of these episodes."

"Just leave him be. Let him have his tantrum and when he sees it has no affect on us, he'll stop." Kakashi shrugged.

"Oh really?"

"Hm."

As if to prove his point, the door opened and Naruto emerged meekly, his shoulders hunched and his face pointed towards the ground.

"Kitsune?" Iruka asked slowly.

Teary blue eyes looked up through blonde spikes, "Kitsune hungry." He whined pitifully.

"No ramen."

Sighing, Naruto seemed to accept it for now and cocked his head. "Food?"

"All right. Come on then." Standing, Iruka led Naruto back inside with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Let's get you something to eat." He smiled over his shoulder at Kakashi, looked like the lazy ninja finally showed he had a brain after all.

"When do our missions resume, Kakashi-sensei?"

Said jounin flopped back onto the grass, his hands behind his head and a completely relaxed look on his face. "We can do some minor ones, but it'll just be the three of us, Naruto can't join until Iruka finishes teaching him the basics of ninjitsu and who knows how long that might take."

Sighing, Sasuke stood, how do I get stronger if all I can do is train and not gain any experience? Shoving his hands into his pockets, he muttered a quiet 'good night' and headed into the house. All the blonde dobe was, at least in his mind, was a hindrance and, glancing at the sulking boy, that's all he'd ever be.

Kakashi stood silently, watching as his pupil disappeared into the house. The stress of living with three others had finally gotten to him; he had been living alone for so long that anything resembling a family upset the stoic boy. Breathing deep of the night air, he spent a few minutes in silence before humming a quiet tone as he walked into the house.

He glanced at the dining room as Iruka sat beside Naruto and stopped momentarily to watch the blonde struggle with the chopsticks. Watching the young fox boy handling the wooden utensils was almost as hilarious as watching Sasuke trying to give him a bath. The look of concentration on that tanned face as he bit his tongue lightly was too cute for words and this was one of the times he wished he had a camera. The boy was so innocent, so naive and young that it surprised him sometimes that that kind of innocence was still alive.

But…

Kakashi was forced to remember that beneath the innocent boy was a caged demon, whose powers were inconceivable and evilness was beyond boundaries. When he had tracked down the two wayward boys in the forest, his first concern was for Sasuke since he was lying prone on the ground, but when he saw Naruto—no Kitsune—covered in blood and his eyes too old for his twelve years, he almost forgot about Sasuke. The boy that stood before him that night was no boy, no, that young man was a cold blooded killer and craved for the blood of a kill.

Naruto was truly an innocent boy whose grasp upon the world of shinobi was slowly increasing, but Kitsune was a killer, a wild and dangerous creature that would be untamable, no matter how tame others thought he was. He could hunt and kill without hesitation and Kakashi had no doubt that there were no qualms within the little fox's mind about taking the life of a human being, be it enemy or friend. In his world, it was truly kill or be killed and Kakashi was certain that he had faced much more pain than anyone his age, even more so than Sasuke.

As if sensing eyes upon him, Naruto suddenly stopped eating and turned to stare directly at him. Those blue eyes hardened to ice as they stared back at him and the set of his jaw made Kakashi believe there was much more to this boy than anyone had yet to surmise. Then just as quickly it appeared, the ice melted and shrugging, Naruto returned to his meal.

Iruka looked over his shoulder, giving Kakashi a quizzical look, but the silver nin could only raise his eyebrows in answer. What exactly just transpired was as enigmatic as Naruto himself and Kakashi had no doubt that it'd take him a while to figure out the mystery of Uzumaki Naruto.

-0-

Deep red eyes flicked around the dark cell, taking in the dampness and loneliness that had caged it for twelve years. Flicking its tails back and forth, Kyuubi stood and walked the boundary of its small cage, only large enough to allow it to turn around and lay down. Oh how it yearned to stretch its muscles, breath cool air and finally be in charge of its own destiny once more. It was tied to the weakling of a boy and despite its efforts, the boy always forced it back into its small cell for eternity…however long that was. When the boy died, so did it and that was one thought Kyuubi didn't want to entertain. It wanted to taste the blood on its lips once more, the warmth of raw meat and the joy of destruction and death.

Feeling the stirrings within its chakra, Kyuubi chuckled deep in its throat and smirked as the demon fox's unknowing host was soon to have one of the most terrifying nights of his life. Oh, it would certainly enjoy watching its host suffer and maybe this time, Kyuubi could finally take control.

Dhampir
Page 8
08-20-06

(1): If anyone's wondering about the lightning and thunder, it's heat lightening, not to be mixed up with a thunder storm.

(2): Usually I refer to Kyuubi as he, but for this fic I've decided to call him 'it' as to make it easier to distinguish between Kyuubi and Naruto/Kitsune.

(3): It's pronounced my-noot not min-nut, it's quite a bit shorter than sixty seconds.

Den: A two sided hole beneath the ground that foxes tend to live in.

Moon Cycle: A moon cycle takes about 29.5 days and so about a month, it's Kitsune's way of telling how much time has passed.

End Note: To anyone who hasn't seen my profile, I had hand surgery about two months ago. The cast has just been removed and thus, my wpm dropped from 83 to less than 20. So it takes quite a while for me to type now, and the fact that I'm not supposed to be typing anyway. For more info, e-mail me or look at my profile!

Reviews: Wow, I have 460 reviews! Thanks guys.

Again, I only answer those reviews with questions, ideas or that I see I truly must comment on.

mangekyou kakashi: Hehe, that wasn't my real address, I promise! But you're right, it is quite dangerous to put info out on the web.

Gonrie: When I had started this fic, I was deciding, but the more I read on feral children and such, the more I believe this won't be a sasu-naru fic, it just doesn't seem to fit correctly. Sorry...

StromIV: I truly love Jane Lindskold, I do wish I could write like her, but here's wishing, right? Anyway, I have never been able to see Naruto and Hinata together despite what most people think, she's just too timid and I agree that in this story, Naruto is just too wild for there to be any serious relationship. Thank you as well for the compliments, that's what keeps me going.

Flaming Beauty: What will I come up with next? That's the same question I ask myself, though I do have the next chapter in the makings...sorta. It's in my head, but because I can't write at all and can't type very much, it'll take me a while. But thank you anyway for your kind words and I hope this wasn't a let down.

Kitsune Shinigami: Yes, Naruto will become a genin, but as in all my stories, I like to take things slow and so as I said in this chapter, there's still a lot Naruto has to learn before becoming a genin. One is using chakra.

faux nostalgia: Well, hopefully you had a happy birthday and everything! I'm glad I got it out in time for your b-day!

Itallia: I do agree with you. The more I write this story, the less I see Naruto being gay. I thought maybe Kakashi and Iruka still, but again, I believe Kakashi would be too uncommitted for it to work, so I'm not certain. Also, from what I've learned of most feral children, they never really commit anyway to a relationship, if they have one at all.

star-eml: No, I do not believe it'll become yaoi, so rest your mind, hehe.

crowkeeper990: No, I haven't abandoned this story, I've just had two hand operations, two casts and now three months of physical therapy. I'm not even supposed to be typing yet, but I just want to really get this out to you guys.

NeverRightNeverPerfect: I just wanted to write you a little something for all the reviews you have recently done. Thank you very much and your reviews are quite uplifting, I hope this chapter was not a disappointment.

FallingStAr: I'm sorry for the long updates in between, but again, as I said to crowkeeper990, I've been in a cast and I'll tell you that typing one handed is a slow, tedious and greatly annoying task. One that I usually gave up on because of all the spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Anyway, sorry for the long update and I hope you still like the story.

Everyone else, thanks for your reviews and I hope you liked the chapter!

-Dhampir