One and the Same

by Anthony1

AU. Naruto just wanted to become a shinobi like the rest of his friends. Training and doing missions didn't seem like too much to ask. However, something happens that changes all that. Only time will tell if he can handle it.

14. Deception

Well, here's the next chapter to my story, "One and the Same". This chapter basically follows up almost right after the previous one and also connected with the one before that. So if you haven't read those yes I suggest that you read them before reading this. It'll make more sense if you do that.

Now, not to waste anymore of your time by reading this author note, I give you this chapter. As for the disclaimer, I don't own Naruto.

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Chapter 14:
Deception

A Week Later…

"I know that it's a corny thing to say but there's no place like home." There on the street was a while haired old man and the creator of the adult book series Icha, Icha Paradise, Jiraiya. Soon after returning back to the village headed for his home that he shared with his young charge. "Hopefully that knucklehead didn't wreck the place too badly while I was gone."

It didn't take long for Jiraiya to get to his apartment and when he got inside what he saw was something that he didn't expect. "What are you doing here?" Sitting within the apartment was Shikamaru Nara, a friend of Naruto's. When the boy saw the man he couldn't help but to be relieved.

"You don't know how glad I am that you're here." informed Shikamaru. "You couldn't have come at a better time."

"What are you going on about? I thought that everything would be fine until I returned." commented Jiraiya. "Even if Naruto is prone to do foolish without thinking of the possible consequence he should be able to handle himself." Jiraiya's words didn't seem to ease the trouble look on the Nara boy's face. "What possible could've happen that would have you bothered. Did something happen to Naruto?"

Shikamaru tried to explain but just couldn't get the words out. "You have to see it for yourself." Following the boy, Jiraiya was led to the closed door that went to the room that belonged to Naruto. "I should probably warn you, Naruto isn't really okay." Opening the door they saw that the room was very dim as there was hardly any light coming in. Though that wouldn't really prove to be a problem there was definitely something wrong with what was going on in the room.

Sitting on the bed was Naruto who had his legs brought up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. The blonde didn't even acknowledge them as his head was pressed against his legs. What made the scene even more troubling was that Naruto was slowly rocking back and forth. It also sounded like he was muttering something but it was too faint to hear.

"He's been like that for most of the week." informed Shikamaru. It wasn't hard to tell that by the look on Jiraiya's face that he didn't like what he was seeing. "During the first few days it wasn't that bad. The only thing that was different was him being a little on edge. But later he became a bundle of nerves. It got so bad that he doesn't leave the room expect to eat something that's not much. It's been a miracle that this has been kept secret all this time. Simply put, this entire situation is very troublesome."

Jiraiya took in all that he heard and was walking over to the troubled boy. As he got closer he was able to finally hear what Naruto was muttering while he kept his head covered by his legs. "He won't forgive me. I had no other choice. I'm not a monster. Why doesn't the voice stop?" Those words continued to be repeated over and over again and there was no sign of him stopping.

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Jiraiya warily asked as he wasn't sure how Naruto would react in his current mental state. When there wasn't any answer he slowly placed a hand on his shoulder. As soon as his hand made contact, Naruto immediate reacted but not in the way that he was hoping.

"Don't touch me!" shouted a frightened Naruto. He would further avoid anymore physical contact by backing away so much that he was actually pressing hard against the wall. "I don't want you to be killed." Not understanding what Naruto was talking about he turned his attention toward Shikamaru to shed some light on the matter.

"While you were gone, Naruto helped to free Kurenai who was framed for stealing a scroll of kinjutsus." the young shadow user explained in a upfront way. "He managed to get the scroll and free Kurenai of the charges. However, in doing so he had no other choice but to take the life of Yori Yakushi, the one responsible for the whole thing." The mentioning of that incident got a reaction from Naruto as returned to the same position that he was in when they showed up. "Apparently it was that incident that was the catalyst to how all of this started."

Jiraiya took in all that was said. He had got an understanding to what may have gone on but felt that there was more to the story than what had been said. Taking a chance he returned his attention toward Naruto. "There's more to this than the guilt of taking someone's life isn't there?" All he got for an answer was Naruto hesitative nod of the head. "Could you say what it was?"

With some reluctance Naruto started to explain everything. From killing Yori, the unexplainable attitude changes, Yori unexpected reappearance, the unknown voice, everything. "Do you still have that paper that Naruto gave you Shikamaru?"

Reaching into his pocket, Shikamaru handed the older man the wanted piece of paper. "Naruto asked me to try and find out what that marking meant and my investigation didn't turn up much." reported the young shadow user. "The only thing that I could find that closely matched it was something about sealing. A sealing for what I wasn't able to find out."

Hearing that and looking at the piece of paper, Jiraiya couldn't help but allow a small smile and chuckle to come out. "You're on the right page Shikamaru. This design is for sealing. For what it's supposed to be sealing, it's suppose to keep the nine-tailed fox contained within Naruto." When the two younger men heard that they realize that it did make sense and felt a bit foolish in not figuring it out on their own. "I saw a similar design that was with your father. Apparently when the fox spirit transfers from one generation to the next so does the seal."

"That's all fine and good." said Naruto. Thankfully it appeared as though he was more composed than he was a moment ago. "But how do you explain it burning when it appeared on my stomach?"

"Perhaps the reason is because it's the first time that the seal ever appeared on your body." assumed Jiraiya who wasn't that sure about it himself. "I mean, it hasn't appeared since that one time has it?" A shake of the head from Naruto was all that was needed for confirmation. "So don't worry about it. We'll deal with it if the time comes. As for now, we should concern ourselves about this appearance from the dead. Now, are you sure that you've seen this Yori guy?"

"I'm sure." reinsured Naruto. "When I saw him I was shocked but it was him. Every time I try to go around as Fox he shows up and if I had the chance to go after him he disappears." Bringing his hands up Naruto ran them through his hair. "Maybe the whole thing is just in my head. Perhaps I'm losing my mind."

"You're really are a fool aren't you?" said an unknown but at the same time familiar voice. "You still haven't figured out what's really been going on."

"Did you hear that?" That unexpected question only confused Jiraiya and Shikamaru. "Come on, you had to hear that. It was clear as day."

"Ah, Naruto. We didn't hear anything." established Shikamaru with confusion evident in his voice. "Maybe you should get some rest. You seem to be burned out from everything."

"Maybe you're right you guys." You could practically hear the exhaustion that the blonde was experiencing. Apparently all of the things that have happened were finally getting to Naruto as he was seemingly about to go out at any moment. Soon as blonde haired demon container fell asleep both Jiraiya and Shikamaru exited the room.

"What do you make of it?" asked Shikamaru to the older man. "What could be that voice that Naruto supposedly heard?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Jiraiya truthfully answered. "Neither of heard anything and we were standing beside him. Maybe he just thought that he heard something."

"Is it possible that he could be…losing it? I mean, the recent events have been stressful. Add that to all the troubles that have occurred after he decided to become Fox, perhaps Naruto has reached his breaking point." From the sound of his voice, Shikamaru didn't want to believe what he was saying.

"It's a possibility." Like with the Nara boy, Jiraiya didn't want to believe what they were talking about being true. "That knucklehead no matter how much he wants to deny it he's still a sixteen year old and all the pressure that he has put on himself will get to him sooner or later. Maybe that time has come. For now though I think that you should go home and I'll do further investigating on what's going on."

"All right, I'll leave. Call me if anything new turns up." Agreeing with that decision the two went on their separate destinations. All the whiling Naruto remained sleeping, completely unaware of the world around him.

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"W-What? Where am I?" Getting up to a sitting position, Naruto looked at his current surroundings. No longer was he in his room but in a dank and dreary hallway. It looked to be in disrepair as parts of the wall had broken off and rows of pipes were all about on the tops of the hallways. To add to the strangeness of the situation the entire floor was damp with a little layer of water. "Is this some sort of dream?"

Naruto wouldn't have the time to think about it any further as he heard the faint sound of something. Allowing his curiosity to get the better of him he got up and started to head for where the sound was coming from. After many twist and turns through the broken down hallways it led him to a large double doors that had steel bars going down them. As Naruto got closer it became clear to him that the sounds that he had been hearing were coming from the other side of those doors.

Before he could take another step closer he saw a pair large red staring back down at him from between the bars. Those eyes would be followed by a large grin that showed the fang like teeth. "Step closer boy so I can see you better." Naruto was about to take a hesitative step forward but quickly retreated back as a set of claws came out from between the bars and crash to the ground, mere inches from where he was standing. While the claws were being dragged back they left indentations in the ground.

"You're fortunate boy." snarled the thing from behind the bars. "Any closer and I would've been able to devour whole." By the way it sounded it seemed like the trapped creature was completely serious with what he had said.

As this 'discussion' was going on, a strong feeling of killing intent and a large amount of chakra could be felt. The chakra was so strong that it seemingly flowed out from between the bars and became like a pool in front of Naruto. It was so overwhelming that it was making Naruto's knees buckle for a bit.

"I-It's you. You're the…the nine-tailed fox." acknowledged Naruto. How he was certain he wasn't certain as it just came to him. "What is this place and how did I get here?"

"This is my domain." informed the fox spirit. "To be more precise, this is the place that resides within the seal that you have in your body. If it wasn't for blasted one that has been placed here I would've broken free of this prison long ago." The demonic fox was of course referring to the seal that appeared on his stomach but he was seemingly also talking about the thing that was on the doors. Attached to them was what seemed like a raggedy piece of paper that had the word 'seal' written in kanji on it.

Mustering more of his courage, Naruto gave a defiant glare to the giant fox demon. "So, you're the son of a bitch that's inside of me. Is there a reason why I'm here or are you just trying to be a pain in the ass for me? If so then I'm out of here." Naruto's sudden outburst was so unexpected that it actually made the nine-tailed fox recoiled back from the shock. He would quickly recover and started to chuckle.

"You're a very amusing human. An amusing but very dim-witted human." The confusion on Naruto's face was all that the demonic creature to realize that his host didn't know. "Haven't you yet to realize that you've been fooled?"

"Wait a minute. I heard something like that before." It suddenly came to Naruto to something that been confusing him. "You're that unknown voice that I've been hearing lately. All this time, I thought that it was just me losing my mind due to everything that has happen."

"Believe me, if I was trying to mess with your mind there wouldn't be nothing left for you to have a coherent thought." The nine-tailed fox was being absolutely serious about what he said. That of course didn't make his reluctant host more uneasy. "I was simply warning you that someone else has been messing with you head."

"Get to the point and tell me what the hell you're talking about. You apparently know what's going on so go and tell me what it is."

"Do you actually believe that you're being hunted by the dead body of Yori Yakushi?" That question put a hold to whatever Naruto was going to say in retaliation. "That poor soul is nothing more than a pawn. Even when he was said to have stole that kinjutsu scroll he was nothing more than someone to take the blame for the one who's really responsible for it all."

"If you know all of this, then you must know who the mastermind is." Naruto concluded. "Mind telling who it is? Or do we have to play a game of twenty questions?"

"Why tell you, when I can show you?" wondered the fox spirit. "Wake up and everything will become clearer." With that a flash of red blinded and consume Naruto. As soon as the flash appeared it disappeared and with it so was the blonde haired demon vessel.

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Opening his eyes Naruto quickly realize that he was back in his room. Getting back to the sitting position he shook his head to get rid of his remaining grogginess. "What the hell was that all about?"

"So you're finally awake." Turning his head, Naruto spotted that sitting in a chair on the other side of the room was Jiraiya. "I was starting to wonder if you'd be waking up anytime soon." Naruto simply looked at the older man in confusion. "You've been out of it for six hours. During that time you were muttering something about 'who was really behind it all' and 'you're that unknown voice that I've been hearing lately'. Mind telling me what that is all about?"

"I'm not sure myself." Naruto answered truthfully. "Is there a reason why you're in my room while I was asleep? Knowing your prevented mind I can only hope that it wasn't something repulsive"

Hearing that, Jiraiya couldn't help but to scoff at the boy. "Very funny, idiot. Remind me to smack you later on." Putting that aside, the white haired man became serious. "I thought that you should know that I discovered something about your 'dead man' problem. I examined the place that you first saw the dead Yori Yakushi and discovered something interesting. It was faint but I found a trace of a lingering genjutsu. Either that means that you've started to practice with genjutsu or…"

"Someone was performing one on me when I thought that I saw Yori." concluded Naruto. "It has to be a pretty good one to make it that convincing. By continually doing this it'll lead me to lose my perception of reality. Whoever is responsibly I'll make sure to make them pay for it."

"How do you propose you do that? Neither of us knows where they could be. And even if you knew where to go how you expect to get pass the genjutsu since it's most likely that they'll do it again to get to you again."

"That's not exactly true." When he heard that, Jiraiya looked at the young blonde in puzzlement. "I don't know how to explain it but I know where they're going to be." Quickly Naruto explained what he meant without saying everything. "Just find a way to break through the genjutsu and I'll take care of the rest of it."

Before Jiraiya had the chance to argue his case, Naruto went out the window and as he was doing so he turned into Fox. Rushing over the window ledge, Jiraiya saw that the young demon host had landed on a neighboring rooftop and was already heading for the specific destination. "That damn idiot! Does even understand what he's getting himself into?"

Slamming his fist on the ledge to relieve himself some of his anger, Jiraiya left the room to do what he was asked to do. "I need to find a way to get through the genjutsu? I know of a way but I'm not sure if the solution for this problem would lead to even more problems in the long run."

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"Okay, this is the place." Arriving at a place that Fox was familiar with he was in the area that he fought with Yori and it was that place he took the person's life. Nothing appeared to be different from how it was the last time that he was there. Even though it appeared to be a tranquil place Fox knew from previous experience that appearances can be deceiving. "All right, come out. I know that you're here…Yori."

For a while there wasn't any sign of a response being returned as there was nothing more than silence. That would change however when the sound of something coming his way. Moving quickly to the side he narrowly avoided a set of shurikens hitting the ground where he just stood. "Is this really how you plan to fight? Even for you this is low. I guess I was wrong in thinking that you were actually a man."

Fox's taunting proved to be affective as it wasn't long until Yori finally appeared. "Well, isn't this a surprise. To actually think that it was you that would instigate this encounter. Have to wonder though if you're in the right set of mind. I mean, are you sure that I'm not just something that was created in your mind? Perhaps subconsciously you're still feeling guilty for you so willing in killing me."

"Nice try. But that's not going to work this time." informed Fox with complete confidence. "Admittedly you appearing like you did was a shocker. But thanks to some advice; both expected and unexpected, I understand what's going on. More importantly, the one who is really the brains behind all of this truly is." Becoming even more confident, Fox started to pace back and forth before the man before him.

"I should've noticed it sooner but the shock of seeing you made me lose my composure. If I was levelheaded I would've figure something out and the same is happening right now." Fox would then tap a finger to the side of his nose. "I would've realized that you don't have any scent. And seeing as how it wasn't that long ago since I went up against eh real Yori I remember what his scent was." This information apparently was one that he wasn't something that he wanted as his right eye twitch lightly as what was said struck a nerve with 'Yori'.

"But now that I have the opportunity to do so, I'm getting the scent of someone here. It's the scent of someone that I've met not so long ago. It's that same someone that appeared as though they were just an innocent victim during the whole kinjutsu scroll incident." Stopping his pacing, Fox looked directly in a direction that was at the side of Yoir. "That someone is you, Kabuto Yakushi."

The long haired boy's conclusion would be proven correct as the sound of maniacal laughter was heard. "A very clever deduction that you had, Fox wasn't it?" The sound of that voice was all the confirmation that it was the younger Yakushi sibling was the one who was behind it all. "Apparently I took you more lightly than I should have."

Though his identity had been revealed Kabuto remained hidden behind the genjutsu. "Obviously there's more to you than meets the eye. Perhaps Lord Orochimaru was right to have an interest in you as well." Hearing that bit of information caught Fox's attention but kept it to himself for the time being as his unseen adversary continued to talk. "Maybe that's why he wanted me to do such a thing to you. Think about it. Mess with your mind to the point that you weren't enabled to form a coherent thought and making you mentally weak enough to persuade you to join our side. Or mess with your head so much that you no longer were a threat. Either way it would've been a win-win situation for us."

"Well, unfortunately for you neither one of those things happen." Once again, Fox turned his sights directly toward where Kabuto was hiding himself. "Now it is time to make up for a mistake that I reluctantly had to make." That said, Fox headed straight for where he believed that traitorous was. Striking forward he had seemingly had hit nothing but air. Shortly after his strike though the area started to distort and a moment later that distortion took a physical form of Kabuto.

Seeing this brought an instant smile on Fox's face. It would soon went away however as Kabuto exploded in a puff of smoke. "So you can do a shadow clone jutsu. Boy, aren't you just full of surprises." Again Fox tried to pin down where Kabuto was at but this time he wasn't haven't that much success.

"What's the matter? Having trouble finding where I am?" taunted Kabuto. Unfortunately there was no way to find the bastard by where his voice was coming from as it sounded like it was coming from all over the place. "I've concealed my scent to the point that it's vertically impossible to track. So basically you're not able to find out where I am, no matter how hard you try."

Suddenly a shooting pain was felt on Fox's right leg. Looking down he saw that there were senbon needles embedded in his calf. Cursing lightly the long haired demon host pulled out the needles and dropped them to the ground. "You cheap shot son a bitch. I'll make you pay for that." He was about to try and go on the offensive but suddenly a dizzy spell came over Fox. "What the hell? What's wrong with me?"

"You're starting to feel it don't you?" Kabuto again taunted. "Those weren't your ordinary senbon needles. They were dipped in chemical that dulls the body to the point that it's nearly impossible to react properly. Even now, you must be feeling the affects coursing through your body. You're probably unable to defend yourself as you should but just to be on the safe side." Once more several senbon needles became stuck in the body of Fox.

"It's only a matter of time until you can even move your body an inch. Lord Orochimaru will probably be a bit upset with eliminating you but in the end he'll get over it. Besides, he still has the person that he was interested in since the beginning so he shouldn't be upset for long."

Though he couldn't see him, Fox knew that Kabuto was positioning himself so that he could deliver the finishing blow. Although he knew this there was nothing that the demon holder couldn't doing anything as his body was unable to do what he wanted it to do. "Damn it. Move body, move." Despite his attempts all he could do was make his body slightly twitch and that wasn't going to do him any good.

Before anything could be done a transparent wave of what appeared to be chakra swept over the area. As it overcame the area it completely destroyed the appearance of Yori and when that happened it was replaced by a person that Fox was familiar with. It was nothing than the cloaked individual that was in charge of the assault against Konoha in the hopes of obtaining the Forbidden Scroll.

Apparently this unexpected incident was something that cloaked individual wanted as he made a quick get away. Fox instantly wanted to go after him and it was that drive that it allowed him to at least take a step towards where the adversary fled. But the strain of trying to move and all of the chemicals that were pierced into his body became too much for Fox as he started to lose consciousness.

Losing his footing he started to fall to the ground but was caught by someone before he hit the ground. "I mustn't pass out. I mustn't pass out." Those words continued to repeat in the head of Fox he finally gave into unconsciousness.

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"He's starting to come to." Slowly opening his eyes, the young demon host saw that he was back at home. Sitting up he saw that he was on the living room couch. Regaining more of his bearings he saw that he had returned to being Naruto. "Good to see that you're finally awake." Looking across the room he saw Jiraiya sitting in a chair.

"You were out of it for a few hours. Shortly after passing out you changed back." the man answered some of the questions that his blonde haired charge wanted to ask. "I was starting to wonder if you needed to be checked out by a medical specialist."

"Was probably a good idea that you didn't. Most likely it would've lead to unwanted suspicion about me. That is of course if they happen to find out what's inside of me." Stretching out a nasty kink that was in his neck, Naruto decided to get back to business. "By the way, thanks for saving me back there. If you didn't break that genjutsu I surely would've been dead now. How did you do it by the way?"

In what came as a surprise, Jiraiya actually seem reluctant to say anything. That only made the young man to get a little uneasy as it was accustom for him to go right ahead and say it without the slightest bit of hesitation. "To be honest, it wasn't me who did it. It was someone else."

Not liking what it was leading to, Naruto took a moment to calm down before he said something that he may regret later. "Mind telling who that person was?"

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"I was starting to wonder when you would show up." Standing at the open doorway was a very composed Naruto. Immediately after Jiraiya told who was the person who helped him stopping that genjutsu he went to the person's house to talk to them personally. "My as well come inside. What you want to discuss with me is something that you don't want to be heard by any unwanted eavesdropper."

Giving no sign of hesitation Naruto walked inside the person's home. Once inside he didn't take his eyes off the person and continued to follow the person's movements until they sat themselves down in a chair. "So, should we get the reason why you're here?"

"That's probably a wise decision." Naruto calmly replied. "Do you mind telling me what you plan on doing now that you know my secret?" Though he didn't show it, he was worried about what the answer could end up being.

"You mean that you're in fact you have a demon fox spirit sealed inside you and that you've become Konoha self proclaimed protector, Fox?" It was almost unsettling at how the person said such a thing so casually. "You don't need to worry. I don't plan to divulge any of your secrets."

Unable to stop himself, Naruto let out a small sigh of relief. "Not to sound ungrateful or anything but why not? What reason would you not expose me?"

"Have you forgotten already? It was thanks to Fox, or to be more accurate you, who proved that it wasn't me who stole that scroll of kinjutsus." It was clear that the identity of the person was Kurenai Yuhi. "If it wasn't for you I certainly would've been deemed guilty and be rotting in a cell. Basically I'm returning the favor. Also, you're a close friend to someone that I hold dear to my heart."

"You're of course referring to Hinata Hyuga." There wasn't any question in the boy's words as it was clear that was the answer. "We both care for Hinata deeply and I wasn't going to stand back and let her become upset when you were wrongfully being charged for a crime that anyone knowing you would know that you wouldn't such a thing."

"It's still surprises me that the whole legend about the nine-tailed fox is real and that it currently resides within you."

"Just because I'm the container for the demon, it doesn't mean that I am the demon." Naruto was even more serious about that touchy topic. "I've just decided to use this inconvenience to my advantage. That of course doesn't mean that I don't use it to have unfair help in my training and missions." Having said all that he wanted to say, Naruto headed for the door to leave.

"That's pretty much all that I wanted to say. Well, that and thanks again for helping me earlier. I don't know why but I believe that I don't need to worry about you keeping what you know about me a secret. Who knows, you may prove to be a useful ally down the road." With that said Naruto opened the door and took his leave, knowing that there was another person who he knew that he could trust.

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Right after leaving Kurenai's home, Naruto returned home and was prepared to go straight to bed. "So, how did things go?" It was clear at what Jiraiya was asking him by that question.

"As good as to be expected." Naruto simply answered. "Kurenai understands what's going on. I don't expect her betraying us anytime. In a way you could consider the two of us even in the saving department. Now, if you excuse me, it's late and I want to get some sleep."

Turning around, Naruto started to head for his room but that all changed when he heard what Jiraiya said next. "Before you do that though, there's something that I want to say. Are you planning on telling me what really happen there today?" That put an instant stop to the blonde's plans of getting any sleep. "Did you actually think that you would be able to hide whatever completely happened today a secret? Remember, I was there shortly before the genjutsu was broken. So you may as well tell me why I found you at the Yakushi home and why that cloaked individual was there as well."

Sighing to let out the bit of stress that had built up in him, Naruto decided to go ahead and tell him. "I was there to deal with the person who was trying to make me lose my mind and who was really responsible for the kinjutsu scroll theft not long ago." Noticing the confusion in Jiraiya's face he went ahead and further explained.

"It wasn't the older Yakushi brother, Yori who stole the scroll. It was the younger brother, Kabuto. That means that he's also the one who was trying to make me think that I was losing my sanity. What's more, he's the man behind the cloak and the one in charge of that invasion that happened during the Konoha celebration."

Gratefully Jiraiya didn't attempt to make light of the situation as there was a serious expression that was on his face. "If you know this then we should go ahead and alert the ANBU about this. I mean, that's something that they're supposed to deal with after all."

"And how do you think that we do that?" Naruto wondered. "If either of us say what we know without any solid proof two things could happen. One, they'll think that we're making the whole thing up. The other being that they'll wonder how we know such things. That'll just lead to some unwanted suspicion in our direction." Those words thankfully got it desired reaction as it prevented any argument being made. "It sucks but we have to keep this to ourselves for the time being. However, I've got to wonder what he meant by doing it all for someone named Orochimaru."

Unseen by Naruto was that Jiraiya's body stiffening up. "Orochimaru you say? Was there anything else said that was related to that name?"

Not noticing the white haired man's importance that he had in his voice, Naruto merely shrug his shoulders. "Nothing else was really said. Except that apparently that whomever this Orochimaru had gotten interested in me, actually Fox, and someone else. For what reason, I don't know. Do you have any idea what that all means old man?" When there wasn't any answer given he looked up and saw that his guardian was being more silent then usual. "Hey, is everything all right with you?"

"No. Everything's all right. I just I must've spaced out for a moment." It somewhat sounded like Jiraiya was just came up with an excuse for why he had acted like he did a moment ago. "That's enough for now. You've had a very tough few days and you should get some deserving rest."

For a brief moment Naruto was going to argue against the suggestion but that was stopped as a loud yawn escaped him. "I guess you're right." he conceded. "I don't know what tomorrow holds but it can't be as bad as it has been in the last few days." Letting another yawn to come out the exhausted blonde headed for bed. Naruto was so worn out that he didn't even notice the somewhat concern look that Jiraiya was showing.

"I hope so to Naruto." Jiraiya thought to himself to prevent Naruto from somehow hearing him. "Unfortunately I have a bad feeling that what has happen recently is only a prelude to what's to come."

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"Oh no, not this again." groaned Naruto. The reason for his grievance was what was before him. As soon as he fell asleep he arrived back to a place that he recently became familiar with. That place being the realm that the nine-tailed fox had for himself inside of Naruto's mind. "Is there a reason why I'm here or are you just trying to annoy me?"

"I'd choose your words wisely human." howled the fox spirit. "Do not forget that it was because of me that you discovered who was behind the scheme against you. A little gratitude should be given I believe." How it was said it sounded like the fox was demanding such a thing instead of just suggesting.

"If that's what you're waiting to here then you'll be waiting for a long time." Naruto snapped back without a moment of hesitation. "Yeah, you did help but you didn't do it for me. You did it because whatever danger that I'm in it affects you as well. Let's also not forget the times that you affected my emotions to the point that I almost killed someone because of it."

Of all the reactions that Naruto could've been expecting the one that he did get caught a bit off guard as the giant fox actually started to laugh. "Who are you trying to kind? I wasn't the one who brought those the emotions to the open. I may have added the flue to the fire but you're the one who allowed it to come out. So before you try to pass blame, look toward yourself."

Naruto wanted to argue against such a idea but he just couldn't. Perhaps the reason is because deep down there was a hint of truth in those words. "Is that all you have to say? If so I'll be leaving now."

"I suggest that we make somewhat of a truce." Such a suggestion was so unexpected that Naruto was unable to hold back the shock that he was showing. "That doesn't mean that I'll completely cooperate with you. It's just as you said earlier. If you were to die then so would I by association. All I want to do is make sure that I live long enough so that one day I can find a way to free myself of the cursed seal that has been placed on me." Peering down with his red eyes and with a large toothy grin presenting itself, the fox stare at his host. "What do you say? Does the idea of a truce between Naruto Uzumaki and the fox spirit, Kyuubi sound appealing?"

There wasn't any response from the boy in question and for a moment there may not be one given. "Perhaps you're right. A truce would be beneficial for the both of us." Walking off Naruto was about to leave but stopped to say something else. "That doesn't mean that we'll be friends anytime soon. Basically we make sure that the one other doesn't die. But know this…Kyuubi. If you were ever to be freed, I would kill myself to prevent such a thing from happening."

Nothing more was said as Naruto took his leave of Kyuubi's realm but still managed to hear the nine-tailed fox's parting words. "Brave words, boy. When the day comes it'll be interesting to see if you'll be able to follow up those words."

---

Well, were you readers surprise by what I did in this chapter? I bet that most of you didn't expect that I would have Kyuubi agree to help Naruto, if only to make sure that the fox's survival is more likely. I'll try to touch on that 'partnership' as the story progresses. Just to clarify something, when Naruto is talking to Kyuubi 'face to face' what he says won't be in italic form. Only when he responds mentally will that happen.

Now, as for the decision to have Kurenai to know about Naruto being Fox, it helped to further connect the two previous chapters and also give the boy another ally. I also took a chance in having Naruto learning about what Kabuto is really like but I have my reasons. Now he won't be fooled by Orochimaru's right hand man. However, Naruto won't know know that those two have a connection with one another for awhile.

A little spoiler about the next chapter, which I hope to have on around the same time next month, will revert back to the actual series storyline but with some changes of course. But that means that the appearances of Fox will be far and in-between for awhile which I hope that you can understand why that is.