Kitsune no Ken: Fist of the Fox

by Neon Majestic

He sought to retire his blood-soaked past. He came to a quiet little town intending to do that. But even as he makes friends and learns to laugh and smile again, fate has its own way of telling him that, sometimes, the past won't let you go so easily. High School AU; no ninja jutsu or tailed beasts included. NEW! Chapter 222, "15 Years Later," uploaded! STORY COMPLETED!

26. Intermission

Kitsune no Ken: Fist of the Fox

Written by Neon Majestic

(DISCLAIMER: The Naruto franchise and the characters therein belong to and were originally created by Masashi Kishimoto.)

OoOoO

CHAPTER 26 - Intermission

Kushina sat at the dining table, eyeing the clock on the wall as it ticked off the time of 8:15 p.m. "All right, seriously, what is taking that boy so long?" she grumbled. "The beef ramen I made is going to get cold if he stays out any later than this…"

OoOoO

"Soda, Shika?"

"Thanks, Choji."

Shikamaru accepted the beverage from Choji, pulled the cap off the bottle, and proceeded to take several deep swigs. "Whew," he said at last after removing the bottle from his mouth. "I needed that."

Choji sat down beside Shikamaru, a frown on his face. "Damn it…to think Ino got so badly beaten up in her fight…"

"Yeah." Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. "This is worse than troublesome, I tell you. Knowing that, even now, he's still in this tournament…and one of us is going to have to face him soon…"

"Oi, Shika, don't tell me you intend to back out now?" Choji gave him a startled look. "He beat Ino bloody, you know! We can't let him get away with that! If I was still in this tournament, I'd have flattened him already just for doing what he did!"

"And I don't want him to get away with it either, Choji," said Shikamaru. "Ino's my friend, too."

"Excuse me, you guys…"

The two boys looked up to see Sakura approach them. "Yes?" Shikamaru said shortly.

"Uh…well…" Sakura fished for the words she wanted. "I, uh, I just want to let you know…I'm sorry about what happened to Ino."

"What's this? No 'Ino-pig' or other pig-related comments?" Shikamaru asked, giving Sakura a look.

"This isn't the time for that," Sakura said firmly. "I might not like Ino, but even she doesn't deserve what Aoi did to her." She looked away. "Nobody deserves what Aoi did to her."

"Well, coming from you, that's…nice, I guess," said Shikamaru.

"Hey! I have a heart, too, you know!" Sakura looked offended.

"Considering how you behave at school, I wonder," Shikamaru grunted.

"Now is not the time for us to be quarrelling," Shino spoke up, standing up from where he'd been sitting and walking over to them. "One of our companions is injured and receiving medical attention; our focus at the moment should be on her. Whatever petty squabbles that exist amongst us can at least wait till later."

"He's got a point, you guys," Choji urged them.

"Hmph. Well, I'll concede that…for now," said Sakura, crossing her arms over her chest.

Not far away, Naruto was sitting down and staring straight ahead, his expression grim. Kiba and Sai sat close by. "Oi, Naruto," Kiba spoke up.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked over at him.

"She's going to be fine. Just leave it to the doctors," said Kiba. "They'll do the best they can do for Ino."

"I honestly hope so, myself," said Sai, leaning back against the wall and exhaling sharply. "Right now, though, I wish I was still in this tournament…so I'd have an excuse to beat the crap out of Aoi."

"Well, I'm still in it," said Naruto. "And so's Shikamaru…one of us might get lucky and face Aoi next round." His expression darkened some more. "He'd just better hope it's not me he gets paired with, or else the only way he'll leave the ring is in a body bag."

"You're taking it pretty strongly, though, Naruto…" Kiba commented.

"Why not? Ino was the first friend I made when I came here to Konoha Town at the start of the year," said Naruto. "She accepted me, warts and all. She told me that who I was in the past didn't matter to her…that made me feel really great. Like I could just be ME. And now for some jerk-wad to hurt her…I won't…"

"Naruto."

The blond boy looked up to see Shikamaru walking over to him. "Listen, Naruto," Shikamaru went on. "I've known Ino longer than you have. I know the kind of person she is. She might be a hot-tempered girl, but she's never been one to quit or back down. What she's in right now…she's not going to just give up, not now. So I'm going to let her fight that fight and give my support the best way I know how—by pressing forward with the rest of this tournament. I suggest you do the same."

"Hmm…yeah, I guess," Naruto replied after a moment's thought.

Just then the door opened, and in walked Sasuke. "Ah, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed. "How's Ino-pi—er, Ino?"

Sasuke's face bore a scowl. "She got a pretty brutal beating, from what the doctors are saying," he reported to them. "Two black eyes, a broken nose, bruises and split-wounds on her forehead and cheeks, a cracked tooth…luckily, Aoi's attempt to break her ankle only resulted in a sprain. I guess he must've misjudged how he twisted her foot."

"Then…you're gonna have to call her parents. She can't just go home in that condition," Choji remarked.

"Indeed," said Sasuke. "I've already called them and explained the whole situation. They should be on their way here just now."

"And Aoi?" Naruto managed to keep his tone neutral.

"For now, he's being confined to his room until the next round of the tournament," said Sasuke. "And speaking of that…I want to have the next set of matches tonight, if at all possible, and then the final leg will happen tomorrow."

"Wait…" Sai gave Sasuke a hard look. "You're still continuing with the tournament? Even after what's just happened with Ino?"

"I understand there are still some raw emotions going around right now, but I'd rather get these out of the way as much as I can, as soon as I can," Sasuke said coolly. "If it's any consolation, there's the possibility that Aoi will be knocked out of the competition in his next fight."

"Yeah…only question is, who'll he fight?" Kiba commented.

"I know I'll be gunning for him for sure," and Naruto cracked his knuckles.

"You don't get to decide that," Sasuke said sternly. "As tournament host, I decide how the matches will be organized. For all you know, you could get to fight Shikamaru here instead."

"Hmm…now there's a troublesome thought," Shikamaru grumbled.

Just then a loud buzzing sound filled the room. "Excuse me," said Sasuke, pulling out a cell-phone and flipping it open. "Yes? Ah, I see. Show them in—I'll be down in a minute." Then he shut the phone again. "The Yamanakas are here now. I should go see to them."

"Uh, could Shika and I come with you?" asked Choji. "Our families are longtime friends. I think they'll want the extra support."

"I want to go, too," said Naruto. "I've met Ino's dad before. He'll probably want to talk to me as well."

Sasuke considered the requests. "Fine. You three, walk with me."

OoOoO

Moments later, Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji appeared in the front lobby, where Mr. and Mrs. Yamanaka were seated and waiting. "Ma'am, sir," Sasuke spoke up, drawing their attention.

"Where's my daughter?" Mrs. Yamanaka demanded, jumping up and walking toward the boys. "I want to see her now!"

"She's still being tended to by our doctors right now," Sasuke replied.

"How could you let this happen, you arrogant little bastard?" Mrs. Yamanaka snapped. "You sent Ino an invitation to take part in your little free-for-all, and she wound up getting hurt by an unconscionable fellow! And it happened right under your roof, and you could have prevented it!"

"Dear!" Mr. Yamanaka strode up behind his wife and gently took her by the shoulders. "Please excuse my wife; it's just a big shock for us to hear of something like this happening to our child." He locked eyes with Sasuke. "I'm sure your parents would feel the same way if it was you that got hurt."

"…" Sasuke remained silent at that.

Mr. Yamanaka now took note of the other three boys. "Ah, Shikamaru-kun, Choji-kun, you were here too? And Naruto-kun…"

"Sir…" Shikamaru's brow furrowed and he looked everywhere else but at the older man. "I…don't know what to say."

"Then say that the person who did this to Ino will get what's coming to him. Say that my daughter will be okay," said Mr. Yamanaka.

"We'll do what we can, sir," Choji promised. "At least, I know Shikamaru and Naruto will, since they're still in the competition at this point. While they do the active leg-work, I'll do my part and keep an eye on her until she's recovered even a little."

At that moment Sasuke's phone buzzed, and he excused himself and took the call. "Yes?...ah, I see. Good, very good. I'm coming up there, then." He hung up. "The doctors are finished with your daughter now. She's sleeping at the moment, but you can see her."

"I see…thank you," said Mr. Yamanaka.

Sasuke nodded. "Come. I'll take you up to her room."

OoOoO

"Oooohhh…Ino…" Mrs. Yamanaka let out a sob as she saw her daughter from behind the glass-pane.

Ino's face was heavily bandaged, but the purple bruises on her eyes and the dried blood on her mouth were clearly visible. Her sprained ankle was elevated slightly above the foot of the bed, even as Ino herself breathed in and out in the midst of her sleep. "Geez…" Shikamaru whispered.

"Ino…" Choji said softly, his hand resting against the glass as he beheld his friend in her sorry state.

Mr. Yamanaka took a deep breath. "Well…at least she's alive. That's all that matters to me right now…that my daughter lives."

"Yeah…she'll be okay. She's a tough cookie," said Naruto.

Mrs. Yamanaka glanced across at the blond boy. "You're Naruto-kun, right? Ino's always talking about you…she thinks very highly of you, clearly."

"…I see." Naruto's eyes were slightly overshadowed as the words sunk into his ears. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I should have been there…"

"Don't apologize, Naruto-kun." Mr. Yamanaka walked over to him and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sasuke-kun said over the phone that you intervened and saved Ino from being beaten to death. It sounds to me like you were very much there—in time to prevent her injuries from being worse than…this."

"But still…" Naruto frowned, his eyes still overshadowed.

"Young man…might I make a request of you?" asked Mrs. Yamanaka. "For as long as you're here…and as long as you're going to be with us in Konoha Town…please watch over Ino. I know she'd appreciate it if you did."

"Watch over her, huh…" Naruto looked back into the room where Ino was, and then back at her mother. "Yeah…I'll do what I can."

Mr. Yamanaka nodded, and then turned to his wife. "Come, dear. The boys here can take care of things from here on out. We'll only be in the way."

"Yes, Inoichi," Mrs. Yamanaka sighed, moving away with him reluctantly. "Boys, I'm leaving Ino to you." And then the couple headed back to the elevator, and a moment later they were going back downstairs.

"That went well…considering the missus was about to bite my head off earlier," said Sasuke.

"Just make sure your doctors treat her well, that's all," said Shikamaru.

Naruto took another glance into Ino's room. "Oi, Sasuke, you mind if I make a phone call?"

"Hmm?" Sasuke lifted an eyebrow at the request.

OoOoO

The phone rang loudly in the Uzumaki house, but midway through the second ring Kushina was gripping the receiver. "Hello, Uzumaki residence," she said, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

"Hey, Mom," Naruto answered.

"Naruto? Where the hell are you?" Kushina demanded. "It's just after 8:30, I'm sitting here bored all by myself, and dinner's just about gotten cold! And it's beef ramen, Naruto! You do not let ramen get cold, EVER!"

"Sorry about that, Mom," Naruto said solemnly.

Hearing the somber tone in her son's voice checked Kushina's outrage. "Naruto, what's wrong? Are you all right?" she asked.

"I am. Ino…isn't."

Kushina froze. "She's…not dead, is she…?"

"No, Mom," Naruto said with exasperation. "It's just…she and I had gotten an invitation to take part in this little tournament over at the Uchiha Zaibatsu building. She lost her fight…her opponent bashed her face in real bad. Her parents just left here."

Kushina's brow furrowed. "Do you need me to come over there?"

"…yeah. Yeah, Mom. I'd really like that. And…sorry for the trouble, but could you maybe bring that ramen over? Let the guys here get a sample of how great your cooking is."

The red-haired woman gently cradled the phone with both hands. "I'll be there in a few."

OoOoO

Naruto hung up the phone. "Thanks," he said simply, handing the device back to Sasuke.

"Right." Sasuke nodded. "Well…I'll be back in the waiting area in a few more minutes to let you know how the next phase of the tournament will proceed." He turned and walked off. "Get yourselves refreshed so you'll be ready for your next opponents," he called over his shoulder.

In a moment Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji were left by themselves. "I guess there's nothing else we can do for now," said Choji. "You guys sure you're gonna be all right to fight further?"

"It's not like we can stop the competition from going on just because Ino's hurt," said Shikamaru. "As troublesome as it is, all we can do is to get ready to fight."

"Yeah…" Naruto glanced back into Ino's room, and his eyes narrowed deeply. "Yeah."

Shikamaru regarded the blond boy. "By the way, Naruto…my opponent last round was that nutty fighter chick who challenged you the other day. You remember her, right?"

"You mean Tenten? Yeah, I think I heard her name mentioned earlier," said Naruto. "So she was here in this tournament too…"

"First chance you get, try looking for her somewhere up here…she should be recovering after her fight with me," said Shikamaru.

"What? She was your opponent?" Choji looked surprised.

"Eh, she was energetic, but it all worked out, I think," Shikamaru shrugged. "More importantly…Naruto, you and she need to do some serious talking. She wanted to fight you…but I think talking will do both of you better than a fight would."

"Hmm…" Naruto contemplated the idea.

OoOoO

"Say what? Aoi did THAT?" Suigetsu balked at what Jugo had just told him. "No way, dude; that's just going too far."

"Since when did you grow a heart?" Jugo asked, an amused look coming over his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hey, I might not be the nicest guy around, but even I have some standards," Suigetsu countered. "If I'm going to hit a girl, I'm not going to hit one who can't at least fight back, and even then I'm not going to do it without a good enough reason. That chick couldn't even defend herself, and Aoi…gosh, man, that's just whack."

"This coming from a fellow who was willing to knock another guy's head off with a baseball," Jugo chuckled.

"That's different!" Suigetsu argued.

"Why? Because he was able to hit it into your balls?" Jugo sniggered.

"Oi, oi, oi, that's not funny, man!" Suigetsu cried. "Not to mention he managed to hit me in the nuts again in our fight," he muttered.

"Maybe you should consider investing in a metal cup for your crotch," Jugo suggested. "At least then you'd survive long enough to father a kid or two."

"Ha, ha," Suigetsu said sarcastically.

Jugo allowed himself another chuckle; then the smile disappeared from his face. "Anyway…now I have to consider who I might get to fight next round."

"Yeah, well, if you run into that blond bastard, give him a punch or two from me," Suigetsu grumbled. "And…if Aoi's your opponent, don't show him any mercy. After he what did to that chick, he doesn't deserve any."

Jugo regarded his white-haired friend. "You seem to be taking this pretty strongly, and you don't even know the girl."

"So, what, do I have to be a proper law-abiding citizen to not like when a guy mistreats a girl?" Suigetsu queried.

"Hmm…well, what do I know? To each his own." Jugo shrugged and turned to leave the room. "Anyway, I'd better go get ready for my upcoming fight. Try not to jerk off while you're here—with your luck, you might break it off."

"SHUT YOUR FACE, JUGO!" Suigetsu exploded, to which he only got loud laughter from Jugo going down the hallway in response.

OoOoO

Tenten lay in her room, alone, her entire torso bandaged up, and her eyes focused on the ceiling tiles. Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" she called.

"Your friendly neighborhood Kyuushingai. Can I come in?"

At once her gaze darted toward the door. "Naruto…?"

"The one and only." Then the door opened, and in stepped Naruto. "I managed to convince a couple of the suits on this floor to tell me where you were. Shikamaru said you and he fought…"

"Oh…yeah." Tenten gently cradled her midsection with one arm. "I thought he'd broken my rib in that fight…turns out it was only just cracked. Still hurts like a mother, though…I definitely won't be fighting for a while until it mends completely."

"I see." Naruto looked around the room. "Hmm…nice room you've got here."

"Not any different from all the others on this wing," said Tenten. "Anyway, let's cut to the chase. When he and I fought, he said that…during our fight, you were holding back. Is that true?"

Naruto didn't blink. "I held back."

"Why?" asked Tenten.

"Because if I didn't…you'd be dead," said Naruto. "Just like Aoi would've been dead today if Sasuke hadn't gotten in between me and him."

"…huh?" Tenten stared at him.

"Short version—he brutalized Ino and twisted her ankle for spite. I heard about it, ripped off one of the iron bars on their arena, and was going to slap his head off with it. Sasuke interfered." Naruto's face was grim. "You want the truth? If you and I had fought back then and I was looking to kill you, you'd have been dead before you could even think to counterattack."

Tenten gripped her bed-sheets as she continued to stare at Naruto. "Then…" She turned her gaze downward, gritting her teeth. "So that means…even after all my training, I…"

Naruto looked sharply at her. "If you couldn't even beat a lazy bum like Shikamaru, there's no way you could beat me. And if you couldn't beat me when I was actively holding back, there's no way you'd be able to win against any other Kyuushingai member who wasn't."

"Then why?" Tenten demanded, swiveling her eyes back up to Naruto's face. "If you're still as dangerous now as you were back during the 365 days, why act like you're not? Why dumb down your strength when you could clearly take over this town with a snap of your finger?"

"Because I don't WANT to take over this town!" Naruto yelled. "I don't want to be a warlord. I don't want to be a terrorist. I never asked to be part of mass-murder. I never…" His voice volume dropped a few levels. "…wanted to live after having so much blood on my hands…"

Tenten blinked.

"Surprised that a guy who was with the Kyuushingai is saying these kinds of things to your face? Well, listen to this." Naruto stepped forward and put one hand on Tenten's bed-post, leaning forward so his face was two feet away from hers. "Do you know how often I wonder what the best way is to fix everything? Do you know how many nights I'd go to bed hating that I was still alive while people I'd never met and would never get to know were dead because of what I helped to do? It would be such an easy thing to put a noose around my neck, or cut myself in the bathtub, or just jump off the nearest cliff. It would be so easy to have let you cave my head in with your clubs, that day when we fought. At least then the world would have one less Kyuushingai to worry about. So why am I still alive? Because allowing any of that to happen would be the easy way—but it would be the COWARDLY way. If I allowed that, how would I get to make it up for all the sins I've committed against so many people, including you and your parents? If I allowed that, how would I know whether I'd have been able to take one step toward redemption?"

His grip on the bed-post tightened. "I want to atone so badly for all the horror I helped cause…but I'll never be able to do it in one lifetime, or maybe even ever. You know why? Because every time I think about those days, or every time I see some reminder of what I did, all that comes to my mind is how, no matter how long or many times I scrub my hands, that blood will never go away! You think you've suffered all this time? How do you think I feel, knowing that nothing about that time was how I wanted any of it to happen—knowing that because of one stupid twist of fate, I had to kill people I wasn't supposed to—knowing that hundreds of people died or were put at risk of dying because I screwed up? You're angry because of your parents dying due to our actions. Well, guess what? I can't bring them back. But I want to live the rest of my life so that nobody else has to suffer what we all suffered. WHAT MORE WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO?"

The silence that followed Naruto's tirade was so heavy that Tenten could almost swear that she could feel it pressing on her chest. "I…" She looked away from him. "What do you want me to say, Naruto? That I forgive you? I can't…I can't just act like my parents' deaths weren't caused by the Nine Terrors. I can't just pretend that I can behave as though everything's cool, knowing what I know about you."

Naruto's eyes bored into her face. "What the hell do you even KNOW about me?" Then he turned and stormed out before Tenten could respond.

Tenten stared for a while at the empty doorway. Her thoughts were as a whirlwind.

"Why would he hug you when you were crying? Would a heartless person do that?" Shikamaru's question seemed to ring in her ears.

"He's not the kind of person you had him pegged as. What other reason could he need?" Shikamaru's voice in her head caught her again.

"But don't talk to him as the guy you imagined him as…talk to him as the guy he really is—Uzumaki Naruto," Shikamaru seemed to speak to her once more. "What's the worst that idiot could do, right?"

Then, in the silence of her room, as Naruto's very recent explosion replayed in her mind, the answer to the blond boy's parting question finally came.

"I…know…nothing."

OoOoO

Naruto walked down the corridor and toward the elevator, his face a rush of emotions. Then, just as he reached the elevator doors, a voice over the building's intercom system spoke his name. "Uzumaki Naruto, your mother is in the lobby on the ground floor; please go and meet her at once," said the voice.

Eyes narrowing, Naruto entered the elevator and punched in the number for the ground floor. Moments later, the doors opened again, and as he stepped out, there was Kushina herself, with a big steaming pot sitting on the floor next to her.

Kushina looked up and saw her son. "Ah, there you are," she remarked. "I just spoke to the security guards out at the front, and they phoned inside here for them to tell you I've arrived—and like you asked, I brought the ramen, reheated and in the pot…" She trailed off as she beheld his expression. "Naruto?"

He didn't say anything for a long moment. Then he strode forward and grabbed Kushina, hugging her fiercely. "Mom…thank you for coming."

Initially startled at the sudden physical contact, Kushina slowly changed her expression when she heard his tone. Quietly, she reached one hand up to ruffle his hair and the other to lightly press his back in an embrace of her own, and only then did she respond with the only answer she felt was appropriate.

"What else is a mother for?"

OoOoO

Aoi sat in his room, on his bed, arms folded over his chest and his face devoid of emotion. Then suddenly the door to the room opened, and in walked Sasuke.

"Oh, hey," Aoi greeted him casually. "Thanks for the save back there."

"Don't. Do NOT. I will not hear of it." Sasuke glared at him. "I just came up here to let you know that in a little while from this, I'll be sorting the match selections for the next round of fights. So you'll soon know who you'll get to battle next…or brutalize, if you prefer."

"Hey, same difference as far as I'm concerned," Aoi shrugged.

"I see. Well, that's up to you to think." Sasuke scowled. "But you'd better start praying that your next opponent isn't Naruto…because if he tries to kill you again, I won't come swooping in to save you. As a matter of fact, if I didn't want to avoid the police crawling all over this place, I probably wouldn't have the first time. Try that kind of stunt again, and I guarantee you'll be digging your own grave." With that, he turned and walked back out.

"Pfft. What you think about how I handle punks like those doesn't matter to me," Aoi grunted indifferently. "And if that Naruto does become my next opponent…he won't get the drop on me next time." A smirk came over his face. "Now…who'll be next to fall at my hand, hmm…?"

OoOoO

END CHAPTER 26

00000

NEON MAJESTIC: Another chapter down!

I must say, I'm quite pleased with the positive feedback this story's been getting up to this point. So, how about I address a few little things that have been commented on in said reviews…

Concerning the fight scenes, I did note that—especially for the fights in the currently-ongoing Uchiha tournament—those fights were supposed to be going on simultaneously, or at the same time as each other, which is why I wrote them the way I did. If they appear forced, then I apologize for that…but I will promise, the final fight in this tournament arc will be as smooth-flowing and uninterrupted (except as the plot dictates) as I can write it. As for character development, I want it to be something that flows naturally in the story and makes itself evident over time. Comic relief…it'll be done according to the characters' canon personalities, as has been done with Ino's more comical interactions with the others, for instance.

Regarding Naruto's raw power and whether the other tournament participants would be able to manage against him…because of his past as a Kyuushingai, he's holding back so he doesn't go overboard. What if he were to go all-out? Well…that remains to be seen, shall we say.

As for what exactly caused the 365 days and what exactly happened during that time…all I'll say for the moment is that that back-story will become the focus of a later arc in the story.

Now…the tournament continues next chapter! Chapter 27 is coming up!