Author's Notes: Chapter twenty-nine! Finally, it's time to meet parallel!Kyuubi and parallel!Naruto! How's that for a two-for-one? I know I told some of you chapter thirty, but I lied.

Door Number Two has received a fan fanfic, regarding portions of the time between chapters fourteen and twenty-two! If you're looking for Naruto to play a few pranks, check out Lizeth's Behind Door Number Two at http//ww w.fanfiction. net/s/3476630 /1/!

To Katie: I don't know if he has the same ability with other animals--I've never tried to experiement beyond birds (talking to animals is rather cliché, so I try to be careful when using it).

To A Reviewer: Thank you for your help. Naruto, in canon, is seventeen here.

To XL, who should please leave an e-mail address so this can be taken to a more appropriate place: I don't recall making any implication about your age. Violence--or battle or whatever you would like to call it--and its offshoots have many fans of varying ages, so your own has no bearing on the matter, whether or not you were saying you wanted to see it (which it seemed at the time that you were because you offered little to the contrary). While I apologize for mistaking the point of your previous review--though again, from the thoughts you offered, it seemed to me to be pointing at battle scenes more than anything else--the sheer level of offense you have taken in response to a response to advice, which is for the receiver to freely accept or turn down as he or she sees fit, is astonishing. I never accused you of being a child, nor did I tell you that you were a twit. I simply said that my intentions are elsewhere.

Though I can appreciate your experience, particularly in a professional context, I don't think nine years of my own writing efforts is a sign that I haven't learned to plan out what I'm going to do with a story. The slowness was something I did on purpose because I wasn't sure I could slow down--I have long been criticized for moving too quickly in my work. You could not possibly have known that, but that doesn't make it any less a bruise to what I am attempting to do. I have no issues with admitting that DNT is over two years old and is only, at this point in the story, getting closer to the skill at which I currently write. It has many errors that have been pointed out in several degrees of politeness and rudeness, including its lack of 'action', and the definition of that one word appears to differ greatly from person to person--generally referring to fighting. It could, without a doubt, do with an intense rewrite.

As for the 'action' you suggested, I have already had plans for including most of what you offered for thought. I have not forgotten about them; they will appear. I have also stated at least twice now that romance and a team would overcomplicate this story and strip the focus from where I intend it to be: on characterizing Naruto and the Fourth. They would also further destroy the pacing that you say is much too slow as it is. They have been previously considered and struck down.

If you are truly that offended by my misunderstanding of your unclarified points, then I shall hold the door for you so that is does not hit you on the way out. I shall also gladly hold it for you if and when you choose to return, and look forward to any thoughts you may feel like sharing on whether my abilities have improved or suffered since DNT first began, and where and how they might be improved. However, I warn you that you will have to nitpick everything that you think is incorrect and explain why you feel that way or else I will never be able to understand what angle you're viewing the problem from, and this debacle will be repeated exactly as it has happened here.

Title: Door Number Two

Author: Reaper Nanashi (Lady Shinigami)

Pairing: None Intended

Word Count: 3,271

Type: Multi-Chapter (Work In Progress)

Rating: T (bad words, sexual innuendos, blood, violence)

Date Submitted: 4/7/07

Disclaimer: No.

Claimer: Genko, Byako, Shakko, Hotaru, Nyoko, Aya, Hitomi, Shinju, Akane, Takako, Tsukiko, Mimi, and anyone or anything relating to them is mine

Summary: Maybe it's a dream, maybe it's real. Naruto doesn't know how he got there, but he's not sure he wants to go home. Perhaps the little decisions aren't so little after all--one choice can change a life forever . . .


Chapter Twenty-Nine - Fox and Child


In ninja terms, he was sleepy.

In civilian terms, he was dead tired.

Naruto yawned for the fifth time in as many minutes. It was already well past morning and he could smell the sea--they were almost there. Gods, I need a nap.

Well take it, fool. You're no good if you're like that.

And leave you in charge of this body? No thanks. Maybe if we were alone, but perhaps you've forgotten that we're trying to not be found out?

Kyuubi may have answered, but Naruto did not hear him because he had skidded to a stop the instant he left the forest. There were other ninja there, and they were not from Konoha. Their headbands showed a series of connected c's.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi nudged him forward. "Wave-nin, Naruto. Allies. Their nation isn't large, but that's no excuse for you to forget such a prosperous country."

"Prosperous?" Not the last thing he remembered. Though I admit, things have been going better for them recently . . .

"Yes. The people of Wave Country were very poor because they had few routes to get to the mainland. However, there was a businessman, Gatou, who built a bridge from their nearest island to the Fire Country. With such a path, they were able to move their goods even when the seas got a little rough."

Sensing Naruto's bewilderment, Kyuubi snickered. Oh, the insanity . . .

Would you keep your mouth shut?

The ranks of Wave-nin ranged all the way from jounin to genin. They welcomed the Leaf-nin graciously and began explaining what they had discovered upon arriving the day before as the Leaf-nin set their packs down. The water level had dropped substantially since the earthquake, they reported, indicating the massive piles of debris around them. The village buildings had been utterly wiped out and while most of the villagers were accounted for, some were still missing; perhaps trapped on the other side of the out-flowing, debris-laden mud-water, perhaps washed out to sea and drowned.

Naruto listened with only half an ear, unable to tear his gaze from the devastation. He had never seen anything like it before. Kyuubi suddenly perked up at something and he mimicked the motion, tilting his head to hear whatever had alerted the demon fox. After a moment, he was able to catch a distant choked sob. His eyes darted around the area and finally came to rest on a tree in the midst of the muddy salt water, where a half-naked girl was clinging to a tree. He hoped she had not been there for long, but she was far enough away that normal humans would not hear her over the rushing of the water and the crash of the waves on shore. For all he knew, she had been there since the tsunami first swept in.

And just where are you going?

I can't wait--she can't wait--for them to stop talking and listen to me and believe me!

He looked down at the yellow-brown water and Kyuubi grimaced. You aren't going to jump in there, are you?

Well I can't fly to the tree. Naruto dove into the water and began to swim blindly. He was buffeted by oncoming debris, but managed to avoid being dragged by it.

The punk says that if you kill us he will stalk you in our afterlife.

Tell him I've been pitched into floodwaters lots of times. The only difference is that this has bigger debris.

Somehow, was the sarcastic reply, he wasn't reassured.

Naruto finally surface for air and found that unless he started paddling, he was going to undershoot the tree and miss it entirely. So he dropped his chin and put his chest into it, finally slamming his side against the trunk. He swung around and heaved himself up and was almost immediately choked to death by the girl, who was not much older than Nyoko. She had been in a cute little sundress, but one of the shoulder straps had torn and the dress had fallen half open. She shivered almost violently, her small body frighteningly cold. Though it was wet, it was warmer than what she was wearing right then, so Naruto peeled off his jacket and put it on the girl. When he had zipped it up she climbed into his lap and huddled against him while he looked around and tried to figure out how he was going to get to land in any direction.

Walking on the water was impossible--with the speed, the constant change in depth, and the variations in surface tension, there was no way for a ninja of any skill level to cross it. Even a second's pause would result in an altered state for the water and an unceremoniously-dunked ninja. I could try jumping from debris mass to debris mass . . .

"Hey, listen up." The girl looked up at him, her expression pathetic. She was cold, wet, and exhausted. He hated to ask it of her, but there was no other way. "I'm going to go back the way I came. You're going to have to hold on to me piggyback, okay? As tight as you can." The girl nodded and he shifted her around until she clung to his shoulders.

He leaped out of the tree onto a passing mass of tangled wood, then onto another farther upstream, then another. His next leap was for a section of thatch roof, but as he came down on it he saw only too late how soggy it was. It caved beneath his weight and dropped him into the icy water. Fortunately, it turned out the house the thatch was attached to was mostly intact and the water inside the house was much more still than what was outside--enough to use his chakra on. He climbed onto the water's surface and draped himself over the nearer edge of broken thatch.

"You okay back there?" he asked, and the girl whimpered.

He let out a long breath and looked around. He knew he should have been pulling himself out, but he could not find the strength to. His muscles quivered with weakness stemming from his previous tiredness and the temperature of the water. I hate this body . . .

"Give her to me."

He looked up into the vertical pupil of a red eye. Blinking, he realized a well-groomed, nine-tailed red kitsune about the size of a horse had come to him. Dazed by the cold and confused by the new development, he asked blankly, ". . . Kyuubi?"

"Give her to me!"

He looked back at the girl. "Go with the fox. I can't help you anymore."

The little girl held her arms up, but the fox reached into the house and grabbed her by the back of Naruto's jacket, lifting her away from him and carrying her to safety. The thatch beneath him gave out again and he plunged into the cold water, then flailed onto the edge of the house. That was hardly any better, since the house was made of clay and had been softening for quite some time. It bowed beneath him, but the fox returned and in the next instant he found his head pinned with impossible gentleness between sharp molar teeth. He was dropped onto dry ground, rolled to his back, and pinned by a hand-like paw. Something long and warm ran over his throat and face a few times, but was abruptly stopped and replaced by the sound of furious fox-barking. Then the tongue was back, licking even more vigorously than before.

What is this fox's problem? he wondered. I don't want to be licked.

Maybe it's because you aren't breathing? Kyuubi offered sharply.

Naruto inhaled, but like when he had almost been suffocated, his lungs only collapsed on themselves. His next instinct was to cough, which brought a considerable amount of foul-tasting ocean water up. He gasped and coughed a second time, repeating the process until there was no more water. The fox licked whichever side of his face he presented and the longer it went on the more he came to like the tongue's warmth on his chilled skin--it was energizing.

All good things must end, though, and the care was no exception.

"You are not my kit."

That was kind of the fox, to not tell all. "That's okay," he rasped almost inaudibly. "You aren't my fox. You're a vixen."

"Where is my kit and why have you taken his form?"

"Can't this wait?" he asked. "I promise I'll explain everything later if you'll give me a few hours to warm up."

The nine red tails flicked in annoyance. "Very well. I will be waiting."

Just like that, the fox was gone.

Naruto sat up, his coughs much weaker, and grimaced at the grit in his hair. "Great."

"Naruto, you . . . you abnormality!" Kakashi grabbed his shirt and shook him. "What could have possibly possessed you to do something so stupid?!"

Naruto pushed his hands away. "Time was of the essence, Kakashi-sensei. I could have pointed her out to all of you, but she was practically out of the line of sight. There's no telling how long she'd already been sitting there or what would have happened to her if she'd stayed much longer."

"Maybe it hasn't occurred to you, Naruto, but you are the first and only son of the Fourth Hokage! That means you point out someone who needs saving, I go save them, and you get the credit for the rescue! That's how it works!"

"My bloodline doesn't make me a glass figurine."

A dark towel was suddenly dropped onto his head, obscuring his vision, and his hair was scrubbed dry harshly. "No, it makes you a figurehead! Your safety ranks above the importance of whatever you get involved in!"

"Dad would've done it if he'd been here!" He made a face. Boy, do I sound like a wuss when I yell with a sore throat.

"Yes, he would've, because he would've snuck off like you did! He knows that he's not supposed to do this sort of thing either, but he does it anyway!" There was an annoyed growl. "It must be a specific kind of brain damage passed down genetically in your family, that's all I can say! The Third never pulled insane stunts like that!"

"Yeah? He's also an old geezer! He'd have a heart attack if he tried it!"

A fist slammed down onto his head, not the slightest bit deflected by the towel. "Don't disrespect the Third Hokage, moron!"

They calmed down after that, mainly because Naruto realized he was not going to win. In his world, Kakashi was not nearly as rabid about his safety. Sure, the platinum-haired jounin worried when he did such things, but there was also a trust that he would not forget to make the proper calculations and risk his life unnecessarily. However, he could clearly remember the aftermath of their first fight with Zabuza. When Kakashi had awakened, the instant he felt he had enough energy he called for the team and gave all of them--Naruto particularly--an earful about not following a superior's orders. Naruto did not pay the slightest bit of attention, of course, because he knew that they had saved their teacher's life and he could hear the pride in the jounin's voice at their ingenuity. He had tried to argue his point then as well, but it was akin to arguing with a very thick brick wall.

So Naruto was well aware that if he really got Kakashi going, the jounin would harp on him for hours. He decided to retreat from the argument--he knew he was right, and to him that was really all that mattered--and shut up. "Whatever."

The submission benefited him in another way, because it allowed him to go out to speak to the fox faster. He was wrapped up in a blanket and told to walk until he no longer felt cold, so he set off into the trees, following the very obvious scent that had been left behind for him. The fox was sitting primly--definitely a vixen--in a small clearing, her nine long tails curled around her feet. He stopped in front of her and waited.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

He had no reason to lie--and she would smell it if he did--so he said, "Naruto Uzumaki."

"You are not my kit. You are not Arashi's kit."

She knows Dad? Interesting . . . "Not here, no."

"Explain."

So he wiped the running make-up from his cheeks and told her everything, including that he carried Kyuubi, since she could undoubtedly smell him anyway.

". . . I see. If there were a way to fabricate such an elaborate scent I might kill you."

"It's a good thing you won't, then, because I told you, this is the body of the Naruto who should be in control. Killing his body may just send me home, which is something that still might be possible without that kind of sacrifice."

"Hmph."

She was quiet, so he assumed that meant he could ask questions. "You're the Kyuubi of this world?"

"I am."

"But . . . you're a vixen."

"Kind of you to notice."

He supposed that just because he still had yet to come across a person who had switched genders did not mean it did not happen in some capacity. . . . Do not think about self as a girl. Do not--- Sure enough, it brought to mind his oiroke no jutsu. Worse, it made him wonder--for some reason he did not care to learn--how Sasuke would have treated him if he had actually been a girl who did not fawn over him. Fuck! That's sick! He'd probably treat me the same, though, the narcissistic dickhead . . . "Why aren't you evil?"

"How should I know that, aside from choosing to not be evil?"

"I mean, when I was a baby . . ."

Let me talk to her.

Wha . . .? Hey! Don't shove, Fox-bastard! I would've let you!

Naruto found himself in Kyuubi's 'den', which was little more than his prison with the gates flung wide open. It had been a risk to free the fox, but Naruto had taken the seal that bound the gates and kept it safe, just in case Kyuubi got aggressive. The fox had yet to and for a while Naruto had considered getting rid of the gate seal entirely, but he thought that maybe Kyuubi was as safe inside the cage as Naruto was supposed to have been outside the cage. If they were ever attacked, maybe he could protect the fox from the worst of it or keep his power from being used against his will.

Or more against his will, at least, since he didn't exactly consent to lending me his chakra either.

"So you're the one in charge, I take it?"

Startled, Naruto looked around. High above him, relaxing in a golden cage that hung from a ceiling that could not be seen, was his counterpart. So here you are, you little prick. It's about time I had the chance to whip your ass. He gathered himself, then jumped and swung up onto the cage, sticking his legs through the bars and hugging with his arms to keep from falling off. "You're the one who's supposed to be in charge?"

"Yeah."

The other boy was dressed and looked exactly like him, but was missing the whiskers that so blatantly signified Naruto's demonic possession. That's weird. "You've really messed things up, you know."

"Shut the fuck up! I didn't ask you to come here and fix my problems!"

Naruto blinked at the other's vehemence, but quickly shot back, "You shut the fuck up! I didn't ask to come here at all, but the only way I can exist in this place is to repair all the damage you're responsible for!"

"I'm responsible for?! I didn't do any of that! It was all their fault!"

Naruto looked around quickly, then snarled, "Oh, you are so lucky that there's no door on this cage or I'd go in there and beat your face in, you self-absorbed punk!"

"Shut up! You have no idea how rough my life was!"

Naruto bared his teeth in a silent snarl. Those are fighting words, you little chickenshit! As if you would know anything about rough, living your cushy family life and never having to fight for everything you want! Anything is better than nothing! "Rough?!" he barked. "You wanna talk to me about rough?! Rough is not having anything resembling a family until you're twelve years old! Rough is being hated by the village that your father saved from annihilation even though you didn't choose to carry the fox who almost killed everyone! Rough is being considered a good-for-nothing when you haven't even been given a chance to prove yourself! Rough is seeing someone your age die on your first out-of-village assignment that was supposed to be C-rank! That's rough!"

"At least you have freedom!"

"At least you have parents!" They glared at each other momentarily before Naruto went on. "What, you think having parents is some kind of emotional bane? Okay, maybe when your sister was born everybody paid attention to her instead of you and it hurt. Yeah, that sucks and it wasn't fair to you. That doesn't make it okay for you to take it out on everybody else! Dad may have been spending all his free time with Nyoko, but you could have involved yourself! I know you know he wouldn't have been upset, especially if you acted mature about it! But no, you had to have your little four-year-old's pity parade and make him worry about you when you know he frets like a woman and has a guilt complex the size of the Monument!"

He snorted. "'Freedom'. Puh. You're so soft you wouldn't last a week living in my so-called 'freedom'. It takes balls to live where I do and you don't have them."

"Yeah right!"

"So you say," Naruto hissed, and unbidden memories resurfaced; hatred, fear, rejection, death, pain . . . pain of both body and mind. He saw his counterpart flinch. "Here, Wave Country is being helped by Gatou instead of being destroyed by it. Here, all the villages seem to be genuine friends instead of back-stabbing allies. Here, Itachi Uchiha didn't murder his own clan. Here, Sasuke Uchiha never turned his back and ran to some sick fuck murderer just because he thought he had to kill his brother. Here, the people of the village like Naruto Uzumaki. Here, Naruto Uzumaki has parents and a sister. Here, Naruto Uzumaki has family." He sneered. "You may think all of that is inconsequential and nothing you couldn't do without if it would get you your 'freedom', but you'd be dead wrong."

The other Naruto glared, but his gaze was less confident and his eyes looked a little glassy. "My fox could kick your fox's ass!"

Why the subject change? Realize I'm right? "Ha! My fox could kill your fox without blinking!"

"Kitsune don't kill other kitsune!"

Naruto pressed his face against the bars and grinned. "Mine does."

"All right, all right," Kyuubi rumbled, grabbing Naruto by the back of his shirt and lifting him away. "No more kit-fighting, amusing as it is."

"You've killed other kitsune, haven't you?!" Naruto demanded, crossing his arms.

Kyuubi blinked, as it was probably a false assumption, but decided to play and turned a grin full of fangs on the other Naruto. Licking his chops, the fox laughed harshly. "They tasted good, too."


To Be Continued . . .


Answers To Questions You Didn't Even Know You Wanted To Ask:

Please, never jump into floodwaters--you will either drown from the force of the water rushing over you or get pinned by debris and drown.

---

I realize that Naruto characters have been seen standing and running on rough water, but I have serious doubts that such a thing would be possible. The whole point of water-walking is to exert a constant flow of chakra from the feet to push off of the water and, in essence, hover above it. However, for that to work the water molecules, which are elastic by their very nature, would have to be in a consistent state of calm so that the molecules weren't always stretching and contracting, which would create slight variations in surface tension. The chakra that would have to be exerted for lower surface tension would be greater than the chakra that would need to be exerted for higher surface tension to maintain balance. As a result, different strengths of chakra would have to be exerted at the exact same time at multiple points with split-second changes, in rough water, to properly support a shinobi's body. If it is possible, it would require years and years of special training, to the exclusion of all other skills.

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Parallel!Kyuubi's primness lives in my queen. Whenever she's sitting, she always tucks all four of her feet together and curls her tail beside her or over her feet. Always.

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Though it's been said that if the seal is broken (under any definition of the word, no doubt) Kyuubi will run free, this is under the assumption that Kyuubi will always intend to take over Naruto's consciousness and cause harm as well as that Naruto will never be able to develop the strength of will to fight Kyuubi's chakra and personality back on his own (whether he actually tries to or not isn't the point). In this case, Kyuubi and Naruto have an agreement that no one else is currently privy to, and kitsune do not break their promises--especially not a word of honor. If they do so they become self-destructive, and Kyuubi has already shown that he has a vested interest in self-preservation.

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I won't say that kitsune never kill other kitsune, but it seems that they prefer not to. Apparently, even good Celestial kitsune prefer to drive off bad Void kitsune rather than kill them outright.

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Reviews are very much appreciated, thank you.

--RN (LS)