Chapter 28
Life as a Fox
NSW
Naruto got up his head throbbing as if someone had used his head as a punching bag. He groaned as he peeled himself off the living room floor, only a few steps away from his nice soft pillow bed. He dragged himself literally across the floor to the kitchen.
He groaned as tried to lap up some water to quench his thirst, "good morning" Kiba said extra loud today. Naruto whimpered and covered his ears, which were super sensitive enough when he didn't have a hang over. Kiba grinned "and how is Naruto today?" he asked loudly getting right down in his ears. Naruto glared up at the brunette "Naruto wants to kill a certain brunette and blame said murder on Akamaru" he answered icily.
Kiba laughed and ruffled his fur, Naruto groaned and tried to snap at him, but was sluggish and slow, and inevitably missed. Hinata came out humming under his breath, Naruto groaned "why do the gods hate me so much?, can't a wolf around here get some peace and quiet after a night of over indulgence of alcohol!".
Hinata chuckled "sorry Naruto, I am just in a good mood right now, here do you want me to get you something to eat?" Naruto nodded slowly, while Hinata got to work making his food. Akamaru suddenly dashed in and was barking at the top of his lungs.
Naruto moaned "oh come on!" he yelled as Akamaru barked at the door, then a loud rapping came from the other side of the door. Naruto buried his head into his paws, he screamed "Akamaru shut-up!" Akamaru did. Naruto glared at the door, "who ever is there come in quietly!" he yelled as well.
Silently entered his students tiptoeing across the floor, "morning you three, don't worry Naruto is just having a hang over right now, so that's why he's being so troublesome" Baru spoke, "he's drunk?" Naruto glared at him "no, a hangover mean's I was drunk last night,...dumb ass" he muttered under his breath.
Hinata however heard this, "Naruto' she warned in a stern voice, Naruto sighed, "okay team, here is your mission, ...go home and prepare for a mission tomorrow, that is your mission, and you get extra credit if you leave as silently as possible".
The three nodded and tip toed out of the house. Naruto sighed as he began to eat food, by afternoon, his hangover was beginning to fade. Naruto left for work, he headed towards the Anbu head quarters.
Naruto walked into the medic ward, "next apply the pressure into these three areas, this will staunch the blood flow and chakra flow in one move" Naruto cleared his throat Gomeg looked down, "ah, Fluffy, what can I do you for?" Naruto grinned up at the old badger, "I need something to clear my head a little more".
Gomeg hopped down, "here let me see" Gomeg placed one gnarled claw on his forehead, "ah, I see, up late indulging in spirits weren't we?" Naruto muttered under his breath, "yes, I drank more Sake then I could manage, thank you Gomeg, now get me something to fix it". Gomeg grinned and scurried over to his medicine cabinet, he started picking out different leaves and berries and began to mash them together.
Gomeg finished with that then returned back to Naruto's side. "here drink" Naruto took one sip and began to choke 'what on the gods green earth is this crap' he thought to himself as he disdainfully tried to get the in-holy mix down his throat. But once he got it down, he felt a lifting on his head, as if someone lifted a veil, he was ten times better.
He smiled, "thank-you Gomeg, it...helped" Gomeg grinned, "Red Rowan berries soaked in elk piss, always works" Naruto began to gag, 'ah! I drank elk piss! ewe ewe ewe! okay note to self never go to Gomog for help again!' The three medic nin in training scrunched their noses. Naruto left instantly after that.
Naruto continued up to Mammoth's office, "morning Mammoth" he said walking into the office, Mammoth acknowledged him with a nod, "have a seat" Naruto did. Mammoth finished his paper he was working on, "so, I hear from the Hokage you now have three students" Naruto nodded "that's good, very good, and I suppose you want time now to train them?" Naruto nodded.
Mammoth sighed heavily, "well...that's a little problem, you see, usually its only Jounin who take on students, we Anbu, don't but, since you already have done the paperwork and everything we will have to let you off, on one condition" Naruto nodded "name it" Mammoth stood up, "about a week ago, a Konoha messenger bird trainer came a cross something rather unusual, and we were wondering if you could help us with it".
Naruto nodded, "of course" Mammoth stood up "follow me". Naruto did so, Mammoth led him down into the belly of Anbu head quarters, down into the basement, past the record files room, past the generator room, past the secret files room, past the confidential files, past all these.
Until finally Mammoth stopped at a good he didn't even know they had, it was a simple blank door, but Mammoth did a weird hand sign and muttered something under his voice so quietly, even Naruto couldn't hear what he said. The door opened to reveal a long flight of stairs leading down into darkness.
Naruto and Mammoth walked down the steps, they were old and squeaked and sagged under their weight. Finally they reached the bottom, with the slight scuffing of Mammoths shoes on the floor, and the clacking of Naruto's claws, they walked down a long corridor to a door that was illuminated with light from behind.
It was a quite eerie a interesting sight to behold. Finally they reached said door. Mammoth opened it with ease the door swung open, and revealed a room, almost as big a s a standard living room. It was bare, the walls painted an off white, the only things that were housed within the room, was a table, a chair then a cart that had an odd arrangement of cut meats.
Naruto sniffed disdainfully, on the table there looked to be some sort of covered object, but from the illumination of light from the ceiling, he could see a shadow moving around underneath the tan cover that covered the object. Naruto glanced up to Mammoth.
Mammoth looked down at him, Naruto stepped foreword, his ears at attention and his nostrils flaring, trying to register, exactly what was underneath the canvas. Mammoth moved forward, and removed the cover with one quick gesture.
Naruto jumped back as a flurry of screeching and snaps was heard. Naruto paused only to see a flurry of feathers smack the sides of the cage like a missile. Then all of the feathers fell down to the floor of the cage, and was still. The only movement was the heaving of its sides up and down.
Naruto stepped forward, "what is it?" he asked Mammoth, the creature suddenly tried to attack him, it managed to get one of its clawed hands through the cage bars, it nicked Naruto across the nose. Naruto backed away in annoyance.
He growled a warning. It was then Naruto could see what it was, it was a bird of some sort, a large one, most likely a hawk or even a golden eagle. Naruto looked closer, no...it was a hawk but a hawk he had never really seen before it was white, but had grayish black streaking and barring throughout the plumage.
Naruto looked at the wings, long and broad, and ended in a point. It had quite large eyes in comparison with its head. and a short, but wickedly curved beak. "It's a gryfalcon" Mammoth said, Naruto looked to him, "a gyrfalcon?, how come I never heard of it?"
Mammoth nodded "maybe because it only lives in colder regions, it prefers to pray on other birds" Naruto nodded "why is it here?" "kje sem!" the hawk screamed, at first Naruto was confused, but then something clicked in his head, it was speaking demon, it had just said 'where am I?'.
Naruto cleared his throat, he wasn't sure if he could speak demon fluently enough, it was just basic instinct embedded in his D.N.A. "varnosti v mon vaj" Naruto said to the Gyrfalcon, the falcon suddenly relaxed and trained his eyes on him.
There was a silence, Naruto and the Gyrfalcon studied each other for a long time, then he spoke again (if the words are Italicized then they are speaking in demon, if not its plain, English, I am doing this because I am tired of translating everything)
"who are you"?
"I am Fluffy, the Wolf Demon"
"I am Sokol, Gyrfalcon of the north"
Naruto nodded to him "how did you get here?" The bird shrugged "I don't know, I got caught in a very big wind, it carried me far, I am lost". Naruto nodded "you are in a village where humans live Sokol" Sokol snapped his beak at Mammoth "I don't like Human's they find me, then trap me, me hate humans".
Naruto sighed "they did it for your own protection, they are very sorry" Sokol looked at Naruto, "why do you side with them?" he asked "because humans are my friends" Sokol stared at him, "you are a weird Demon, you know that?"
Naruto grinned, "you should meet Gomeg" Sokol cocked his head to the side, "there are more Demons among humans?" Nodded, "yes me and Gomeg, we are the first of many, Konoha wishes to create a place where humans and Demons can live together and peace".
Sokol shook his head "such things could never happen, peace cannot be achieved between humans and Demons" Naruto shook his head "no, you are mistaken Brother, peace can always be achieved as long as there is someone left to fight for it".
Sokol clacked his beak as he thought about what Naruto said, "why should I believe you? I mean look what humans have done to me already, here I am in a cage away form the sky and all I love". Naruto turned to Mammoth "release him" Mammoth nodded and leaned forward and did so.
Sokol came out of the cage he stretched his wings, in sheer happiness. He looked at Mammoth, "you speak so freely with them, how?" Naruto shrugged "easy I trust them" Sokol ruffled his feathers "I don't know how...where exactly am I?" Naruto smirked as he watched the bird look around confused "in a room of the Anbu head quarters".
Sokol looked at him confused "yes well, I don't like it, I can't feel the wind" Naruto nodded agreeing, "come let's take a walk." Sokol leaped down from the table and walked alongside Naruto since his wingspan was to large for the hallways.
While they walked up, and up and up, Naruto and Sokol talked, Sokol as it turned out, was actually on a scouting hunt when he ran into a hurricane like storm, somehow he had managed to survive the storm, but it left his extremely weakened.
He spoke of how pray was few and how his family slowly starved to death, females were not getting nutrients to lay good strong eggs instead they laid eggs that had shells so weakened they cracked and broke easily. So hatchlings were few as well, and even if they did have hatchlings the adults could barely feed themselves let alone hatchlings.
Naruto nodded understanding his troubles. "so how do you plan to get back?" Sokol shrugged "fly I guess, It will take a long while". Naruto nodded agreeing, who knew exactly how far north this bird was from.
Naruto and Sokol finally made it to the outside world, with a shrill cry of happiness Sokol took off into the air and began to fly around in wide circles dipping and diving out of the sky, feigning attacks at Naruto. Naruto laughed and dodged away form his new friends playful attacks, then Sokol screeched and suddenly there was a burst of feathers, Naruto watched in avid interest as Sokol feasted on a large fat pigeon that had no idea what had hit him.
Sokol snapped his beak greedily, "the prey here, is fat and stupid, and so much of it"! He screeched chasing at other birds, flying past them then winging around to fly at them again. Naruto laughed at his antics. Sokol nodded "I see why you like this place, plenty of food to eat, even for you wolves."
Sokol preened his feathers, "this place is quite nice, I would love to show my mate this" Naruto was surprised "you have a mate?" Sokol nodded "the most beautiful Gryfalcon of the north, she is like no other, and having her is like no other feeling in the world".
Naruto listened to him in avid interest "what is it like?" Sokol looked at him "you mean a handsome,powerful wolf like you hasn't found yourself a mate? that is quite suprising, but it's like the moment you see her truly, it's like everything else form the world vanishes, as if she is your only thing, she is your sun, your moon, your day and night, everything, and you would do anything to protect her and make her yours".
Naruto nodded that did sound like something out of a dream, but would he ever really find aomething like that? I mena it was hard enough to find other demons let alone females of his species. Sokol looked up at him "I have an idea my finely furred friend".
Naruto looked at Sokol and at the perticular light in his eyes, 'what the heck does this bird have up his wing?' Naruto asked himself.
Well I hope you enjoyed.
NSW
