Through Fox's Eyes Chapter Fourteen, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any of the characters.
Note: This is based loosely upond Jane Lindskold's series Through Wolf's Eyes. Ya'll should go out and read her series, very good!

Through Fox's Eyes
Chapter Fourteen

Sasuke glared as the blonde idiot returned to normal, inquisitive blue eyes blinking up at him as the fox child held up one of Kakashi's books. "What is?"

"You're too young." He muttered, snatching the book away before the blonde could look at the pictures inside.

"No! Mine." He growled, back legs tensing before he sprung towards the stoic ninja. Sasuke quickly performed a substitution jutsu and Naruto found his arms full with pillows as Sasuke stood smirking on the steps. "Sasuke!" He whined, leaping over the back of the couch and bounding towards his friend. Sasuke quickly stepped out of his way and the blonde shot passed him, nails scrapping up the wooden stairs to turn around, blue eyes narrowing at the challenge. "Teme."

Sasuke smirked and began walking away, Kakashi's book rolled up in his hand. "Dobe." The word barely escaped his mouth before Naruto came barreling down the stairs, his speed increasing to where Sasuke almost had no time to dodge him. Whirling around, he watched as Naruto vaulted off the wall and charged him again. He waited again, watching Naruto's movements, but this time retaliated as the blonde slid past him. He watched as the blonde flipped out of control from a kick to the stomach and land on his side, a whimper escaping his throat.

Moments later, a blubbering wail escaped the blonde's throat and Sasuke could only watch as the blonde sat on his haunches and cried, "Uuuah! Uuee...Ueee..." Tears falling from cerulean eyes, Sasuke stared flabbergasted as Kitsune continued to cry.

"What is going on in here?" Iruka asked, storming in from the kitchen. He quickly took in the scene before him and rounded on Sasuke. "Mind telling me why Kitsune is laying in pain over there?"

"He wouldn't leave me alone." He shrugged, glaring at the blonde.

"That's no reason to use your skills against him." Iruka scolded.

"It is if I want to." Sasuke spat before pushing past the older man and storming up the stairs. He's not my father and he's certainly not family. They are trespassers in house and it should be I demanding answers of them, not the other way around. How dare he question what I do in my own house! Slamming the door shut, Sasuke collapsed on his bed and glared at the ceiling. He didn't want anyone here and if he had to have someone, why did it have to be those three? The worrywart, the lazy bum and the crazy fox child, he would've rather housed Lee and Gai before those three idiots.

A loud knocking came from his door before it opened and the blonde fox stuck his head inside. "Sasuke? Mad Kitsune?"

"Yes, now go away."

"Away?" He whispered, his face crestfallen as he heard the words leave the other's mouth.

"Hai, now go!" He growled, resisting the urge to throw a kunai at the boy. With a squeak, the door shut again and he could hear the blonde's footsteps retreating as he went back downstairs. Closing his eyes, Sasuke tried to relax and let his anger remain dormant again, he knew from experience that he often made mistakes when he became angry and it was best to harness it than let it consume him.

Breathing deeply, Sasuke focused on clearing his mind and releasing his anger all while blocking out the sounds of the house. Finding solace used to be so easy and now—

"Sasuke, have you seen my Paradise?" Kakashi asked, his one visible eye not smiling happily at him for once.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, glaring at the man. Did no one understand privacy? Had these idiots been raised without manners? Sure he lost his family when he was a child, but he still knew some fucking manners! "Get out." He muttered dangerously, glaring at the pouting ninja.

Kakashi quirked his eyebrow, "What has you so sour?" Taking in the raven's appearance, he could see the tense shoulders, the set jaw and the steely eyes but the orange book in his hand seemed out of place for the teenager's normally dark clothes. Wait…orange book? Kakashi focused once more on Sasuke's hand and as he recognized the well used cover, he quickly dashed towards the teen and grabbed the book out of his hands. "I never would've thought you'd take my Paradise, Sasuke." He chided, looking forlornly at the bent and creased pages. "And you've ruined it too…it's no longer is mint condition."

"I told you to get out." Sasuke repeated again, his glare darkening and verging on his patented glare.

"And I asked you—nicely—if you had my book or not. And for damaging it, you'll have to buy me a new one as well as give me six hundred pushups."

"You're not my parent, so do not presume to order me around in my own house." He snapped, pushing himself off the bed and looking up at the silver haired nin.

"But I am your guardian and sensei, Sasuke, and I will order you as such." Kakashi said, his eye serious as he stared down at the young shinobi. "If I order you into battle, you will do as I say and if I order you to give me six hundred pushups, as your sensei, you will do as I say. Is that understood? Or would you rather remain a genin all your life?"

Sasuke glared and waited for Kakashi to crumble beneath it, but he didn't budge and instead returned the glare with one of his own. "You can't do that." He finally spat.

"I can and will. I have to enter you into the Chuunin exam and without my consent, you will never be entered. You showed a remarkable amount of ability during our trip to the Hidden Village of Water and I'd hate to see it go to waste, but if you can't follow orders—no matter what they might be—then you have no reason to remain a shinobi.

"We are men of war and stealth, we are assassins and we follow orders from the Hokage no matter what they might be. If we are told to attack the surrounding villages, we will; if we are told to massacre a city, we will; if we are told to kill our comrades because he or she has become a traitor, we will. Do you understand, Uchiha Sasuke? This is what a ninja does and if I want it to be so, you will never become anything more than a genin, no matter how strong you become."

Sasuke finally looked away, hands clenched into fists at his side as he bit back a retort. He knew Kakashi was right, shinobi were nothing more than tools for the Hokage to use as he see fits…but still hearing it from his sensei's lips was different. Just as he had always been told he would one day kill a human, maybe even a friend, it was different when he learned firsthand what that truly meant. "Fine." He finally whispered, stalking past the silver haired ninja.

Kakashi sighed, he never should've been left alone after the massacre…but no one wanted a child related to a murderer nor did Sasuke want to be adopted. This town may respect and honor him, but they fear him even more… Following his charge out of the room, he slipped his book into his back pocket and watched silently as Sasuke began the pushups silently. He hadn't been serious at first until Sasuke's sudden lack of respect and refusal to do the punishment appeared. Being a shinobi meant doing some things one didn't like, be it catching a lost cat to the assassination of an innocent that was paid. If the Hokage approved the request and gave it to a ninja, that ninja was expected to either die or succeed no matter what it may be. That's the life of the shinobi.

Iruka appeared a little later and stopped beside the silver jounin. "Aren't you being a bit hard on him, Kakashi-san?"

"No."

"But he's only thirteen and he looks like he'll pass out soon from exhaustion."

"Iruka," he said lowly, turning to face the teacher, "you can't coddle him for the rest of his life. He is a soldier now, my soldier, and if I see fit to punish him for insubordination for refusing an order, then I will."

He huffed, eyes sparking angrily, "Just because that's how you were trained does not mean that is the correct way to train."

"Yondaime-sensei never trained me this way."

"I was talking about your father." He muttered before looking back at Sasuke, his eyes softening as he watched the sweating boy continue his pushups. "Sasuke doesn't need any more resentment in his life, Kakashi-san, what he needs is someone to become his father—his family—and treat him with respect and dignity. That's what he's searching for in the long run."

"Jiraiya left yesterday." Kakashi said, smoothly changing the unpleasant subject. He didn't like thinking of the years he spent with his father and he didn't like answering those questions either.

"Why?"

"Hokage-sama had asked him to become Hokage but he almost ran away from the proposition. He said if he took on the Hokage title he would no longer have the time or freedom to continue his studying he uses in his books. Thank the gods, if he had stopped writing the world would be filled with so many frustrated men." He added seriously, his hands moving back to caress the orange book lovingly.

Iruka ignored the urge to hit the lazy jounin, though just, and prodded, "That doesn't explain why Jiraiya-san left."

"Apparently Hokage-sama's other choice is his third student, Tsunade, so Jiraiya-sama left in search of her. Hokage-sama says she'll make a wonderful Hokage whenever she gets here."

"I thought he would step down eventually, especially after the Kyuubi's attack, but I never thought it would be this soon…"

"One becomes Hokage because he or she is recognized as the strongest ninja of the Leaf, as I'm sure you know." He quirked an eyebrow as Iruka nodded. "We've been living in relatively peaceful times since the Kyuubi attack thirteen years ago and have now turned more towards diplomacy than bloodshed."

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Iruka said flatly.

"I never said there was." He said, watching silently as Sasuke began on his last set of pushups. "But there's no doubt we are unprepared for war if it ever came. Most of our jounin are either training genin or on diplomacy missions for other countries to hold ties with them. We still have dangerous missions and skirmishes with missing nin, but it isn't like true war and our future generations don't understand the meaning of killing someone. Even we have become weaker in this time of peace and Hokage-sama is no different."

"His duties don't allow him time to train anymore, do they?"

"No and because of that, he's stepping down. When he called all the present jounins to his office, we were expecting something like this. He feels inadequate to protect the village and has announced his successor to be his old student Tsunade-san."

"What will he do now?"

"He's stepping down to head of the council and the new Hokage's advisor when she needs one." "At least now we'll have someone on the council that doesn't want Naruto dead, that's something we really need."

"Hmm." Kakashi nodded, eyes trained on the sweating genin struggling to finish his punishment. "As long as the council is in disagreement, it's the Hokage's decision, so all we can do is hope Tsunade-san agrees with the Sandaime about keeping Naruto alive."

"We'll convince her somehow, we have to." He whispered, looking down at his hands. "Naruto is somewhere inside of Kitsune, I know it, and someday we'll get him back. We have to."

Sighing, Kakashi turned his grey eyes to the teacher, "He's the Kyuubi's vessel, Iruka-san, and for most of his life has been living like a fox, Naruto no longer exists. Kitsune is all that's left of the boy you once knew."

"That's not true! He recognizes me and he remembers what he used to call me, Naruto is still there." He snapped, eyes reflecting his hurt while he scowled at the jounin. Clenching his fists, he quickly turned away and disappeared inside the house to find the wayward child they spoke of.

Sighing, Kakashi shook his head and turned back to Sasuke only to find the young man standing before him haggardly. "I assume you've finished?"

"Hn." He responded, somehow finding the energy to glare at him. "I'll be in the shower." He almost growled out as he followed Iruka's footsteps inside and leaving the silver haired man standing in the field alone.

"We made two mistakes it seems, sending Naruto away and leaving Sasuke alone…"

Iruka searched the house, starting with Kitsune's room and working his way down, but he still couldn't locate the blonde fox. His face full of worry, he began searching the lower levels, down to the basement and to the surrounding areas outside. But after an hour of searching and calling, he had yet to see even a hair of the child's head. Darting back inside, he called for Kakashi and Sasuke and waiting for the two to descend to the living room.

Hair still slightly damp, Sasuke looked at the chuunin with distain and waited silently as Kakashi just crossed his arms and leaned against the stair pillar. "Have either of you seen Naruto within the last hour or so?" Iruka asked, dinner lying forgotten on the table.

"No." Sasuke answered and turned to go back upstairs but Kakashi put a hand in front of his way.

"I haven't either."

"I've searched the entire house and the yard, but I can't find him anywhere. I can't sense him either." He said, his voice dropping with the last sentence. "What would make him disappear? Who was the last to speak to him?"

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, "Me, I think."

"What did you say?" Kakashi asked, moving towards his charge.

"He asked if I was mad at him and I told him to go away."

"Go where, Sasuke?"

"I don't know. I just told him to go, no where specific."

"Shit." Iruka whispered, running a hand through his hair. "He could be outside of Konoha by now if he's serious, Kakashi."

"I'll contact the Hokage, you two begin looking for him." Kakashi said, pulling his haiete up to reveal both eyes.

"He's most likely just enjoying his Hunt, why worry? He'll return to where his food source is once he gets hungry enough." Sasuke groused, annoyed at his once peaceful life becoming hectic and unpredictable. Between the damned dobe jumping out a window, running into the forest, putting him in a coma—though indirectly—and then killing a handful of ninjas, he sometimes felt it would be better if the dobe was just killed. And yet he couldn't deny the bond he felt with the wild fox-child or how mundane his life would become once the three living in his home left.

"Most of the village wants him dead, Sasuke, and the ninjas that want to avenge their fallen comrades will attack and kill him if we don't find him first." Kakashi explained, "Now, I have to report to Hokage-sama and gather up a few trustworthy ninjas while you two start looking for him." Looking at the two, he quickly made a few hand seals and then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Iruka took a moment to collect himself and then looked at Sasuke. "I want you to get Sakura and Neji, since they already know about Naruto, and start searching the forest around here. I'll see who I can gather up and start a search outside the village, meet back here in three hours, got it?"

"Ha" He muttered, grabbing his kunai holster from beside the door and disappearing out the door. He looked over his shoulder to see Iruka take to the rooftops, covering them at a hurried speed towards the inner city. Strapping his holster to his leg, he took out his hietai from a side pocket and tied it around his forehead while taking the quickest route to Neji's house. The Hyuuga's house was closer than Sakura's and the girl was less likely to hang on him if there were two people glaring at her. Maybe.

Rapping on the door, he waited impatiently as one of the lesser clan members answered the door. The Hyuuga looked Sasuke up and down before taking in the Uchiha's standard trait of black eyes and the large resemblance to Uchiha Itachi. Eyes widening, he quickly invited the younger man in and brought him to Hyuuga Hiashi, the clan head. Slightly bowing his head, Sasuke waited for the older man to recognize him as the Uchiha clan head despite only being thirteen.

After a moment's hesitance, Hiashi also bowed his head, gesturing for the genin to sit down. "What brings you here, Sasuke-kun?"

"I would like to speak with your nephew Neji."

"May I inquire as to why?" The older man asked slowly, eyes focused on Sasuke's emotionless face.

"Iruka-san wishes to speak with him upon something personal." He answered, still not moving from his position near the door. If he accepted the man's invitation to tea, he would be sitting here for hours while the Hyuuga tried to figure out just why Sasuke was there to see Neji when he never had visited before. "I was also hoping to spar against him as I no longer have a strong member on my team." He added, watching as the man's hands stilled.

Yuki Hikari hadn't been the best nor the worst, but she wasn't the smartest ninja and in the end, died from interfering between the youth Haku and Sasuke. Apparently, despite Haku not aiming for anything vital, when Hikari foolishly ripped two of the sanbin needles out she nicked a major artery and before anyone knew what was happening, she was dead. She turned out to be quite strong, though never strong enough to beat Sasuke, but certainly a better sparing partner than Sakura made out to be. Her forte was in genjutsus and tactics, not strength and speed, and so she was never any kind of challenge to Sasuke at all.

"Neji is training at the moment, but he should be in the dojo with Hinata and Hanabi. He's willing to help them learn how to use our bloodlimit to its fullest capacity, those two are highly lacking though Hinata is much farther behind than Hanabi is."

"Hn." He muttered, nodding slightly before taking his leave. Despite Hiashi being the head of the Hyuuga clan, there was no mistaking he had ruined his oldest daughter. Even he could see without his Sharingan that Hinata had a lot of hidden talent that had been snubbed by her father, that talent mainly belonging to the medicinal side, if she were but allowed the chance she would become a strong medic. But that kind of lowly stature wouldn't tolerated for the heir of the dominant clan, she would be shamed beyond death and most likely forgotten as time went on, her name becoming taboo to use or speak. He knew because the same was for his own clan, had he wanted to be anything other than an elite member of the Uchiha police force, he would've been completely forgotten and most likely disinherited.

Walking down the hallway, he sought out Neji's power and opened the door to the dojo while Hinata and Hanabi sparred off. The two immediately stopped at the sudden intrusion and turned to look at the young Uchiha entering the room with a cool collectiveness only he and Neji seemed to carry. Hinata quickly bowed her head in greeting but Hanabi and Neji just stared. "Hyuuga"

"Uchiha." Neji responded back, slowly nearing him. "What brings you here?"

"Kitsune disappeared."

Nodding, Neji turned to the other two Hyuuga's and sighed, "Training's over. Hinata-san, you've improved and so have you, Hanabi-san. Practice longer if you wish, but the Uchiha and I have business." He then turned and followed Sasuke out, quickly following as the other boy rushed out before Hiashi could question them any more. "Have you told Hiashi?" He asked, annoyed Sasuke wasn't giving him any other information.

"Hai. Though about what, no. Kitsune disappeared and Iruka-san has asked me to collect both you and Sakura to search the forest for him. He shouldn't be too hard to find now that he has his own chakra again, he can't mask it yet, but he's not anywhere nearby or we would've sensed him and not needed any help."

"Why Sakura?"

"She knows about the dobe as well and Iruka-san wants as many people as he can trust get to help." He shrugged, landing beside her door and quickly knocking, hands already shoved in his pockets when the door opened.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled brightly, quickly fixing her hair. "What brings you here?"

"Kitsune disappeared and Iruka-sensei ordered us to help."

"Sasuke-kun? Where?" Ino's voice filtered through the open door before she appeared beside Sakura. "Why are you here?"

"To see me, of course!" Sakura snapped, pushing the blonde away.

"Nuh-uh, he knew I was here and came to see me, but he can't see me past your big forehead."

"Ino!"

Sighing, Neji resisted the urge to rub his forehead and stepped, "Both of you move it. We need to find Kitsune before someone else does, so get ready and shut up."

"You're not needed Ino, so just go home, okay?" Sakura snapped, grabbing his holster from beside the door as Ino followed her out.

"If its time with Sasuke-kun, I'm needed." She grinned, closing the door and stretching.

"Let's go." Sasuke said, feeling the headache beginning to start. "Iruka said to check the forest surrounding my house, but no one goes in my house. Understood?"

"Hai!" The two girls grinned, squealing childishly as they followed the two stoic ninjas to the Uchiha grounds. Surveying the land, Sasuke pointed to the right, "I'll take that sector, Neji you take the other half."

Nodding, Neji pulled Ino with him and left the other two genins to tackle that half. "Keep your mind focused, there are large snakes that roam this area."

Pouting at being taken away from Sasuke, but brightening up at the idea of spending time with the next hottest ninja genius, only second to Sasuke, she stuck close to Neji as they entered the forest and said, "What is this Kitsune thing anyway? Sasuke-kun's pet fox?"

Sasuke looked at Sakura and then at the forest, regretting his decision to bring Sakura along. Beyond the forest laid the ruins of his clan, something only Kitsune had seen and he'd rather no one else saw it. Looking at Sakura, he entered the forest and told her to start at the border while he checked the other border and worked forward. It was more dangerous but at least it kept her away from his past. The last thing he ever wanted was someone's pity, especially from Sakura because then she would try to mother him. He got enough of that from Iruka.

Landing silently on the ground, Iruka took a breath and knocked on the door hesitantly, uncertain of what he was going to say. He knew that if he outright told them he was looking for the demon fox vessel that no one would help him unless they wanted him dead and if Neji's uncle found out, he was going to be in big trouble. But he wasn't going to let anyone hurt Naruto, he'd die first. He had lost him once before and that was hard enough knowing he wasn't able to protect the blonde and that he had turned down the chance to leave with Naruto believing that in a few years the rambunctious blonde would return to Konoha. He wasn't going to lose him again, even if Naruto never did return to normal…

"Umino-san, what a surprise!" Inuzuka grinned, his son appearing by his side with Akamaru tucked under one arm. "I haven't seen you since Kiba's graduation…I hope he hasn't gotten in any trouble, has he?"

"Oh, no Inuzuka-sama, none at all. I had stopped by because I'm in need of finding something and I was hoping that Kiba-kun could help me track it with Akamaru, if he were available…"

"Hmm…" The man scratched his chin, looking down at his son who was looking back hopefully. Anything was worth getting out of chores, right? "I guess it would be good practice for both of them and Akamaru could use the training, so okay! He's yours for the duration, Umino-san."

Bowing his head, Iruka smiled as Kiba cheered and grabbed his things, "Thank you Inuzuka-sama."

"What are we tracking, Iruka-sensei?" Kiba asked as his father shut the door behind them. Grinning, he put Akamaru in his hood and followed his ex-sensei through the busy streets towards the outskirts of town.

It wasn't until they were outside the gates that Iruka spoke, his voice strained and quavering. "A fox, Kiba-kun, a blonde fox."

"A…fox?" The young Inuzuka asked, his face scrunching up in confusion. "But aren't they red?"

Iruka smiled, "Yes, Naruto is just a special case. Do you think Akamaru would be able to pick up his trail if he had something to track him by?"

"Of course! He's the best tracking dog out there, he'll find your fox by night fall, I promise it!" Kiba grinned, turning his head to look at his partner, "Right, Akamaru?" The young dog yipped in agreement and Iruka smiled at them as he slowed at the village gate.

"State your business." One of the guards said, eyes sweeping over the two ninjas before recognizing Iruka. "Umino-san, you've been approved to leave the village by Hokage-sama. Is the little one with you?"

"Little one!" Kiba shouted, but bit back his reply when Iruka motioned for him to be quiet.

"Yes, he's with me. We should be back before nightfall, but if you don't see us, please inform Hatake-san where we had gone."

"Hai!"

Nodding, Iruka led the genin out of the town and began walking slowly down the dirt path leading away from the village. "Have you ever left the village, Kiba-kun?"

"Un," he nodded, "Twice with my father on business but only once with my team and that was just for the day."

"We shouldn't be going far, but I thought it best to let Akamaru get used to the smells around him before I give you something to track Naruto by."

"It'll probably take him a couple minutes to distinguish the different smells, but do you have something that smells like your pet fox?"

Smiling, Iruka pulled out a piece of Naruto's clothing he had cut before leaving the Uchiha complex and handed it over to the brunette. "Is this sufficient?"

Holding the course fabric out for Akamaru to sniff, he frowned and motioned Iruka over to where he was standing. Grabbing the pale dog by the scruff, he picked him up out of his jacket hood and held him out to Iruka. "There's two scents on the cloth, one is yours and one is your fox's, so he needs to smell you to distinguish the scents." He explained, handing Akamaru to Iruka who held the little dog awkwardly in his arms. He watched as he smelled his arms and vest before jumping onto the ground and sniffing at the ground. Looking up at Kiba, Akamaru barked and shook his head before traveling more towards the side of the woods.

"Akamaru says he can't smell anything like Naruto around here, but if it's a fox then he'll probably head into the woods." He jerked his finger towards the forest and then shrugged, "But you know your little pet better than I do."

"No, he's feral, if anything he'll head into the forest." Iruka said, mentally adding up his reserves of kunai, shirukin, medic supplies and scrolls for more powerful attacks before following the little dog into the woods.

Grinning, Kiba followed him in, listening to his dog zigzag between the trees and roughage of the forest floor and following his scent. Though his senses weren't as trained as Akamaru's, he could still smell and see better than the average person. "Iruka-sensei, why do you care so much about a feral fox? Isn't it better to let them alone anyway?"

"You'll understand when you find him." He said, not wanting to explain that Naruto was a human. He knew eventually Kiba would distinguish the connection between the blonde acting like a fox with the demon attack, but he wanted to find Naruto before that happened.

The high pitched scream brought Sasuke to a halting stop as he rounded around and glared at Sakura screaming and tripping away from the large spider crawling towards her. Rolling his eyes, he didn't even aim as he threw four kunai at the insect, easily pinning it to a nearby tree. "Will you move it?" He growled, annoyed that they had spent almost three hours searching the forest and still had yet to find anything. His search of the charred remains of his clan brought up nothing but painful and violent memories. He had even activated his Sharingan to help track even the slightest movement but there was still no sign of the dobe.

Squashing the slight feeling of worry pooling in his stomach, he glared at his teammate as she got up and wiped the dirt off her clothes. "Keep moving." He snapped, turning back towards the direction his house lie in. He already knew he'd be feeding the three genins and was annoyed at having even more people see his house even though Sakura and Neji had already been inside. He already knew Ino would want a tour and probably try to break into his room while Sakura fought with her and bickered about whose property he was. At least Neji would sit quietly with him…

There was nothing more they could do until Kakashi or Iruka reported their finds and he was tired of being in damp, muddy clothes. He could feel the grime on his face and the sweat that poured down his back from dealing with various creatures that crawled around the surrounding forest, he just hoped that Neji and Ino had fared as well—if not better than—themselves. Maybe they had found the idiot and were just waiting for them to return.

"Come on." He growled as Sakura continued to dally around, shuffling away from anything that moved, a kunai drawn out.

Biting her lip, she nodded and gathered her courage to follow her crush. Following behind him, they reached the field in a few minutes and she could only watch as Sasuke looked around the field before closing his eyes and trying to sense any chakra signature that would belong to the blonde. Yet there was still nothing.

Sasuke looked to his right slightly as Neji and Ino appeared, grim expressions on both of their faces. "Nothing?"

"No." Neji answered, "We ran into a snake though, we were running away from that for almost a half hour."

"It was awesome!" Ino grinned, joining Sakura beside Sasuke. "Neji has some neat talents, Sakura, and he chased that snake as much as it chased us."

"You can clean up inside, but don't track dirt through my house." Sasuke said before trekking inside, not even pausing to see if the other would follow or not. Of course, Sakura and Ino would never pass up the chance to see inside Sasuke's house and possibly see where they might one day live if they could just get the Uchiha's attention long enough.

Neji sighed; he wouldn't leave Sasuke to deal with those two no matter how much he disliked the bastard. He knew first hand how possessive girls could be.

It wasn't until almost sunset that Akamaru picked up a faint trail, his high pitched yip alerting his followers. Kiba perked up and quickly bounded over a fallen log and a bit of brush before stooping beside Akamaru and breathing deep. "Yup, that's it! We got a trail, Iruka-sensei."

"Can you figure out how old?" Iruka asked, landing beside the two.

"I'd guess about four hours old, but what doesn't make sense is he's going straight, no weaving or backtracking. Your fox knows exactly where he's going." Curiosity and confusion was evident in his voice as he looked up at the chuunin for answers, but Iruka remained tightlipped as he looked around the forest.

"Follow it." He whispered, waiting for the pair to begin again.

Eyes narrowing, Kiba hesitated to argue with the man, but he was higher ranking as well as his old teacher and so he fell under the man's command…but… "Is this going to endanger Akamaru, Iruka-san?"

Iruka turned in surprise, he didn't say sensei, "No, it shouldn't, but I can't guarantee it. There are a lot of people after Naruto, Kiba-kun, and if I don't get to him first, they might kill him. Please, I need to find him before someone else does."

"We'll follow the trail a little longer, but I won't put Akamaru in danger." He said, turning back to his dog. "Are you okay, Akamaru? Do you need to rest?"

Iruka watched as the dog actually looked indignant at the remark. Ears flattening, it barked and then turned around, nose to the ground, and began following the trail once more. "I won't put you in danger, Kiba-kun, I promise you." He said as he passed the boy to follow his dog.

"Don't worry about me." Kiba huffed, running to catch up to his dog, but he kept one hand on his holster and his senses open for danger despite Iruka's words. His own mind was abuzz with what he had gathered so far and he began to wonder if it were possible Iruka was insane, but Akamaru had found the scent. Maybe he was leading Iruka towards someone who was placed under protection and he wanted to kill him…but Iruka was a teacher, he used to teach him! Surely he wouldn't try to go against the Hokage's orders, but he was acting so strange and they were out here alone. What if he's going to kill me and Akamaru too?! What if he's having us track someone or something that he wants and then he's going to kill witnesses? What do I do now! We're out here miles away from Konoha and without backup…

"Kiba!" Iruka yelled, grabbing the young genin by the arm and pulling him back from the path. "You have to watch where you're going, you almost hit a trip wire!" Iruka scolded, eyes darting around the forest to see if there was anyone watching him. Once he was certain nothing was happening, he carefully stepped through the throng of wires, ducking and hopping through them with ease as Kiba followed him—less gracefully. "We have to hurry, someone set that up recently."

Nodding, Kiba armed himself with kunai and called for Akamaru with a shrill whistle that Iruka barely picked up. Seconds later the yellow dog appeared beside his master, "Did you see anyone?" He asked, listening intently as the dog growled and yipped lowly. Frowning, he looked at Iruka, "Akamaru says there's four people up there, three of them are surrounding a cave while the fourth is inside and won't come out."

"Naruto." He whispered, "You two go back, now, find Hatake-san and show him back as fast as you can." He ordered, snapping, "Now!" when they didn't move.

"I thought you said it was a fox!" Kiba retorted.

"I'll explain later, just find Hatake-san." Iruka said before disappearing into the forest and arriving at the small clearing, kunai in hand as he took in the three ninjas before him. "Get away from the cave, now!"

Turning, the three ninjas backed away out of reflex and left a space large enough for Iruka to slide into so he was now between them and Naruto. "Iruka-nii?" A voice asked, timid and small from somewhere inside the cave.

"Hai, Kitsune, it's Iruka." He said, refusing to take his eyes off the ninjas. "What's your business here?" He demanded of them.

"Hokage-sama ordered us to kill that monster." One answered.

"Really, for what reasons?" Iruka asked, shirukin in hand. His eyes swept over the three, taking in their chuunin vests and leaf insignias. He didn't recognize for the first two, their brown eyes and short hair cuts causing the two to look like twins, but the silver haired man caught him by surprise. "Mizuki? You're in on this too?"

"We've come to kill the monster, Iruka-san. Hokage-sama sent us to find him and kill him for all those he murdered."

"That wasn't Naruto! That was the Kyuubi and Naruto has it under control now. There's no reason to kill him and Hokage-sama would've told me if that were the truth. He hasn't ordered his death yet."

"There is no reason for that child to live, it's a demon's spawn and should be sent back to hell from which it was born." One of the shinobi said, arming himself.

"Iruka-sensei, don't let us fight, just move away from the Kyuubi vessel and we won't harm you. As long as none of us speak of this again, we can be rid of that creature. So please, don't do anything stupid." Mizuki said, slowly slipping into an offensive stance.

"I won't let you do this." Iruka whispered, focusing chakra into his feet and propelling himself towards the three ninja's. His move took them by surprise and he was able to strike the closest one in the neck with a kunai, the man not moving fast enough away to avoid the attack, but the other two jumped away unscathed. But Iruka didn't slow down, sliding across the dirt and leaves, he jumped and pushed off a tree trunk. Hands slipping into his holster to draw out more weapons, he spun to dodge the shirukin coming towards him and slashed at the second ninja, only the edge cutting through his shirt.

A well placed fist had his jump short lived and Iruka fell to the ground, a powerful kick to his ribs following his movements. Coughing, Iruka quickly pushed away but he couldn't stop fast enough to avoid hitting the cave wall. Glaring, he picked himself up and armed himself once more, ignoring the whimpering coming from inside the cave. Throwing a handful of kunai, Iruka attacked the unknown chuunin first, the other lying dead on the ground from his jugular being cut open. Sliding close to the ground, Iruka swept his leg across the ground and kicked the other man off his feet. Two of his kunai had struck his chest and he quickly brought his fist into the man's stomach, causing him to cough and gasp for air.

A kunai pierced Iruka's shoulder, another following in quick succession to bury itself into his upper arm. Hissing with pain, Iruka jumped away and turned to face Mizuki. "You won't win, even if you kill me, you won't kill him. I won't let you."

"You don't have a choice, Iruka-sensei." Mizuki smiled, too calm for Iruka's liking, his eyes dancing with mirth as he advanced on the older chuunin. Reaching over his shoulder, Mizuki aimed the large four bladed weapon at Iruka, grinning widely as he threw it towards him.

Dodging the attack, Iruka ducked beneath the array of kunai whistling over his head. He reached for his own holster, but was thwarted by a well placed kunai sinking into his wrist. Turning, he gasped and tried to protect himself as the large weapon sunk into his side, slicing through his vest and opening his side. Gasping, he fell to his knees and tried to feebly get up as blood began to drip to the ground.

"Iruka?" Kitsune asked, creeping out of the cave, the smell of Iruka's blood permeated the air. He looked from the silver haired man to Iruka and whimpered, uncertain of what to do. Mizuki calmly picked up his weapon and turned towards the blonde fox, grinning as he aimed and threw.

"No!" Iruka yelled, intercepting their paths and yelling as the blade sunk into his back. Gasping, he fell to his knees and shakily reached behind to rip the weapon out. Looking up, he locked gazes with Kitsune's terrified irises. "Run away, Naruto, please."

Kicking Iruka in the back, Mizuki picked up his weapon once more and snorted. "I told you, nothing is going to stop me from killing him. Not even you." He turned to kill the blonde only to find he was no longer by the cave entrance. Neither could he be seen inside the cave, and Mizuki didn't even hear him move. "Shit, where is he?"

A low growling emitted from behind him and Mizuki spun around to be met with teeth and claws as Kitsune attacked him. Raising his arms to protect his face, Kitsune swiped his claws across the man's stomach and sunk his teeth into the man's arm. Spinning on his left foot, he used the chance to gather momentum to deliver a solid kick to Mizuki's side, sending the man flying across the small clearing. Slamming into a tree, the chuunin dropped his weapon as his back cracked against the sturdy wood.

Slowly picking himself up, he looked up at the child standing in the clearing, his eyes flickering between blue and red as his nails grew into claws and his whisker marks darkened. He growled, showing off his elongated canines and the pattern on his stomach swirled to life. "What the hell?" He whispered, slowly picking up the four bladed weapon again and positioning himself in a defensive stance. He watched as Kitsune dropped to all fours and rushed him, eyes focused solely on the silver haired man who attacked Iruka. Readying himself, he waited until the blonde leapt into the air to attack him to strike. Slicing his weapon through the air, he listened for it to connect and watched as the outer most blade pierced his stomach and cut a clean line through the glowing seal around his navel.

Screaming, Kitsune fell to the ground but refused to acknowledge the pain and jumped through the man's defenses, sinking his teeth into Mizuki's jugular. Biting down as hard as he could, he ignored the kunai and fists hitting him and hung on, eyes closing as he refused to let go. Even as blood filled his mouth and ran down his chin, he refused until Mizuki finally threw him off, thus killing himself as Kitsune tore out his jugular.

"Iruka! Kitsune." Another voice called out, Kakashi appearing as Naruto fell to the ground in a bloody mess. He looked around the bloodied ground and saw Iruka slowly standing. "Iruka…are you okay?"

"Yes, but check on Kitsune." He panted, holding his side painfully as Kiba rushed to his side to help him.

Kakashi knelt beside the blonde fox curled into the fetal position. "Kitsune, let me see what's wrong." He whispered, carefully touching the blonde's shoulder. He quickly drew away as teeth snapped at the contact, eyes flashing before Kitsune grabbed his head and screamed. The noise pierced the dark and suddenly all life left those hazy red eyes and Kitsune slumped on the ground, unconscious.

Kitsune let out a scream as pain ripped his body asunder, raw chakra pumped through his veins like liquid fire as it tried to correct the damage the Kyuubi was causing the small boy. Another burst of chakra swept through his body and he felt ribs crack and just as quickly as the pain came, the same chakra fixed it, desperately trying to keep the blonde vessel alive. In rage, the Kyuubi attacked its 'cage' again, vicious chakra bursting veins and breaking bones as Kitsune could do no more than cry in pain.

But pain was okay, because no matter how much agony he was in, it was something familiar and that was, in some twisted way, comforting to the blonde kit. The pain of hunger, of wounds, of cold nights and loneliness was all he knew before Sasuke found him the forest. His life had revolved around the Hunt and gathering whatever food to stay alive while avoiding fights with larger predators. Though he was a formidable foe, there were still creatures that were stronger and more deadly than he and he learned early on to avoid them.

Letting out a keening wail, Kitsune opened his eyes and fought against the bonds holding him to the bed. Twisting his body, he screamed his rage and pain as he pulled against the leather cuffs holding his wrists and ankles captive. He could feel the Other growing, its hatred consuming his mind as he lashed against it's cage once more, causing another blood curdling scream to slip between red lips. The Other, the Kyuubi, paced its cage, red eyes full of malice watching as its hosts body began to crumble beneath its power. Eyes narrowing, the Kyuubi smiled as it sent out another burst of pain all while reveling in the pain it was causing.

Screaming, Kitsune struggled as tears fell down his scarred face, blue eyes wide with fear and pain all while the chakra began to process again and again, the pain never ending and his mind crumbling.

Sarutobi shook his head, "What is Kyuubi up to?" He whispered as Naruto fell once more into a fitful sleep. They had sewed up the wound, but Kyuubi had taken over from there and healed the rest, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something had changed with the seal ever since it had been cut while active.

"I had thought Jiraiya-sama had changed the seal so the Kyuubi couldn't gain control again." Kakashi said, his second eye revealed as he searched the boy's body. Yet he couldn't see exactly what the Kyuubi was doing though they could both sense the fox's chakra.

"He had, but Mizuki damaged the seal when he cut through it while it was activated and the Kyuubi is fighting against the weakened seal. Naruto's body immediately uses the demon's chakra to reverse the injuries the demon is causing in the first place."

"But why?"

"The seal was altered so that Naruto's chakra would be dominant, but his body relies upon the Kyuubi's, by forcing its chakra through his system, the Kyuubi will eventually regain control as its forcing Naruto's chakra to become subservient to its own. It would only be a matter of time before the Kyuubi 's chakra will completely destroy Naruto's own thus making his body live upon the demon's."

"And because the Kyuubi's chakra is immeasurable, it will eventually win."

"And Naruto will die."

Kakashi looked up, "Die? But how would that benefit the Kyuubi? Wouldn't it die along with Naruto?"

Sarutobi's face was grim as he continued to look at the blonde child. "As you know, if your chakra is completely drained, you will die, it is as much our life as it is our power and the same will happen if every chakra well within our bodies are destroyed. I think the demon is destroying those points in Naruto's body and slowly killing him, but because of the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto's body will continue to live. Naruto will die with the destruction of his chakra, but that will allow the Kyuubi to take over in his place.

"And there would be no bringing him back." He whispered, his hands tightening around the cane he carried.

Ah, me, this was a long chapter and a very long gap between reviews. And would you all like to know why? Because of this!

"One becomes Hokage because he or she is recognized as the strongest ninja of the Leaf, as I'm sure you know." He quirked an eyebrow as Iruka nodded. "We've been living in relatively peaceful times since the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago and have now turned more towards diplomacy than bloodshed."

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Iruka said flatly.

That stupid paragraph right there caused me over a month's agony. Every way I wrote it sounded horrible and I couldn't stand it and so I finally said "Screw it!" and decided it worked well enough. I've had this chapter written for almost a full two months and I just couldn't stand that ONE paragraph. So…sorry.

Anyway! Reviews:

Hyperthermophile Jiraiya was originally aware of the Kyuubi-Naruto situation but as everyone thought he was dead, that kind of gets rid of the whole situation. As such, pretty much, no one could find him to inform him.

HADmatter Honestly, I don't know myself if they're going to kill Naruto, hehe.

DreamTimeTails I like "Kakakashi" too, I'm thinking about keeping it anyway just to annoy Kakashi.

Neko Kate-chan: Any information you have about the linguistics about feral children, I will gladly accept. I love other perspectives on this story and so give me whatever you go. (that sounded kind of dirty…sorry.)

Cheza'flower'silver'wolf That's a long name! Sorry for the long time, I'm trying, just got a lot on my plate at the moment. And I explained why up above too, don't worry about being shy, your review was fine.

Utena-Puchiko-nyu Hmmm…I don't know if Orichimaru will steal Sasuke away or not, though he'll be making an appearance in the next chapter or two. I finally brought other characters into the story! Finally…

HughesHanajimaHilariaHypocr…: Your name it too long for it to appear so that's the best I can do. And you're welcome for the long chapters, I hope you enjoyed this one as well!

xREWIND Yes, most feral children often die and this will probably follow it though I'm not certain how much. It depends how long the child is in the wild and when the child was lost is what decides their life expectancy. They say if they were lost at the age of two or younger and ferally raised, they are more likely to die by their teens, but there are cases where they live to be thirty. Though they are rare. But the children who are lost at an older age have a better chance of living as well as being reintroduced into society. Sorry to disappoint you by continuing the story though…

Hink I think I will keep romance out of it for the most part, I really can't think of who to pair them with, hehe. If anything, Naruto will NEVER be paired with anyone, it just won't work but Sasuke…I don't know.

Mistress-Starfire Wow, it's nice when people actually read what I write at the bottom of my chapters. But no, no yaoi, at least for the main characters. Kakashi and Iruka…maybe. Naruto will never be able to love in the full sense, he'll most likely be able to feel respect, honor and a dominance tie to people, but that's about it. He'll care but he'll never understand 'love'. And no, he's always going to have his quirky talking though he'll get better for the most part.

LoliConArtist That is a major compliment to my writing and I thank you. Though I do understand, I've actually gotten to the point where I only read stories that have a certain amount of reviews for the chapters it has. It's childish but it's the only way to find the REALLY good stories. I've read too many stories that have 'fallow' instead of 'follow' for me to go out and kill someone. I hate that mistake… But thank you for the compliment, and I hope this wasn't a let down.

Crazy-Little-Neko As long as you aren't addicted to the point of forgetting homework, work or sleep, then it's fine! But thank you.

Okay, it's 2:30 in the morning. Good night! (I have to be up in two hours but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer...so enjoy!)