I'm still alive! And my life sucks!

Sorry for the wait. My inspiration just disappeared after my last update. Then suddenly it came back, and I finished this within 5 weeks or so.

Enjoy.

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Chapter Six: Needs and Wants

Naruto blearily opened his eyes. He noted his heart was beating rather fast. He was not quite sure why, however. The child did not recall having a nightmare. Then again, he could not recall dreaming about anything last night. If he did, he could not remember.

He felt his forehead was sleek with sweat. Maybe he did have a bad dream. Considering what happened yesterday, hardly unexpected.

Regardless Naruto sighed, his heart still pounding in his ears, but even so, Naruto showed no concern over his increased heart rate. Mainly because he had a faint idea as to why the sense of dread blanketed him and threatened to suffocate him.

It was dawn already. The Kyuubi clone would be coming for him soon. Naruto didn't want that. His body felt heavy; his arms, his legs, his bones, too. Everything felt too hard to move. He didn't want to move, he didn't want another day of the Kyuubi clone's training. Naruto was done.

His eyes fell shut.

And he was still tired. Very tired.

"Naruto."

"No, no, no.'

Naruto peaked an eye open, seeing the fox looking down at him.

'No.'

"Naruto."

'No.'

"Wake up. Now."

'No. Go away. I'm so tired. Tired of all of this...this training.'

The Kyuubi's clone did not receive a response. Its clawed hand nudged the child's motionless body.

"Get up," it commanded, nudging Naruto's body again. Roughly.

Still no response. Naruto just lied there on the ground, not moving, staring at the heavens above him with dull, half lid eyes.

'I'm not moving,' the child thought to himself.

The fox narrowed its eyes.

Something twisted from within the clone's stomach, nothing but ire in its red eyes. An angrily growl rumbled in the back of its throat as it reached for Naruto. Its fingers curled around the fabric of the boy's shirt and proceeded to lift him up until Naruto was five feet off the ground.

Then the clone released its grip on the boy's shirt, dropping him back on the ground with a thud.

Naruto did not visibly react to the fall, not a single grunt or moan. So the clone picked him up and dropped him again. Higher than before.

Naruto's body smacked against the ground for a third time. Even when the back of his head impacted against the ground with an audible thud, he did not cry out. He just blinked.

The Kyuubi clone's eyes were blinded by red haze called rage.

Unacceptable.

"What is this?" it hissed, unable to comprehend that Naruto remained unresponsive to its demands. "What are you doing? I said get up. Move."

The fox nudged Naruto hard enough to move the boy onto his side. It nudged him again, again, harder and harder until Naruto was pretty much being thrashed around on the ground like a rag doll.

Steam filtered out of the fox's clenched teeth. Its body felt as if were aflame due to its rage. Despite its mind quickly becoming cloudy with anger, the fox still tried to comprehend why exactly Naruto was acting like this. The fox understood its words last night were not pleasing for the boy to hear, but even still...this was...this was…

"Unbelievable," the fox said in disbelief, pausing from thrashing Naruto around. "I can't believe you are doing this, Naruto." The fox growled out the child's name.

The fox tried to rill in its anger. It understood well why Naruto was doing this. But it did not care. In the clone's eyes, Naruto did not have the right to undermine it like this. Especially like this.

Such a small action of acting like a doll shouldn't warrant the clone's rage, but at this point and time, and the many stressful situations that have been occurring in such a short amount of time recently, the Kyuubi clone's patience and tolerance were practically nonexistent; the clone was in no mood in anymore waste of time.

It had enough.

The clone lowered its head, staring right into Naruto indifferent eyes.

"You're awake. You hear me," the fox said sharply before continuing. "This...this is bullshit. I do not care how you feel towards me. But you do NOT ignore me." The fox's pupil dilated when it spoke that last sentence.

The fox continued, speaking slower, but anger clearly lining its words, "I expect you to answer. If there is something you have to say, say it. I expect you to voice your grievances. Right now. So we can do your training. Ignoring me and acting like this is ridiculous behavior. You will do what I say: Get up, or SPEAK!" The fox bellowed, patience mere threads now.

They did not have the time for this nonsense.

Ten seconds past.

Thirty seconds past.

Sixty seconds past…

The Kyuubi clone wasn't even fully aware had raised its arm high above and was bring it down to piece Naruto with its claws.

"LITTLE SHIT!"

The fox's hand hit something hard and firm that stopped its attack. But the fox was unable to see past its rage and kept swinging both arms, claws glinting as it roared again.

The fox had tried reasoning. It had tried talking. The clone tried. But Naruto's unresponsiveness enraged the demon.

It couldn't think straight anymore. Now, now it needed to vent.

"YOU...CANNOT...DO THIS! YOU CANNOT...IGNORE ME! YOU CANNOT...DEFY ME!"

The demon's strikes impacted loudly against the barrier surrounding Naruto.

"YOU STILL CONTINUE TO MAKE THIS HARD?!"

The fox rammed its shoulder against the barrier again, and again, and against, before going back to swinging.

"HOW DARE YOU! I THOUGHT I MADE THINGS CLEAR WITH YOU, NARUTO! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND! I THOUGHT-"

The fox stopped its rant and jerked its head back, roaring into the heavens, all of the anger and frustration it felt that that moment. The roar conjured a small shockwave that sent dirt and small plants flying away from them. The air was visibly distorted for a moment.

With a loud snapping noise the fox's jaws closed like a mouse-trap. A deep growl, sourcing from deep within its gut, filled the silence of the area.

It began to whisper to itself, talking fast, almost dementedly, "I hate this. I hate it all. Why are things like this? Why did they become like this? They shouldn't have become like this. I shouldn't be here. This was not how it was supposed to go. This was not the plan. I hate this. Hate this. I hate the Fourth Hokage. I hate the Uchiha. I hate the Monkey. I hate the bitch. I hate this island. I hate the trees. I hate not knowing what to do.

"Why can't I do this right? Why is this so hard? What am I doing wrong? Is it him? It is him. Me too. I hate this. I hate it all. Damn them all. Damn the seal. Damn the Fourth Hokage. Damn the Uchiha."

The fox paused its rant, snarling, and that snarl formed into another growl.

"They both did this to me. I'm trapped because of them. They ruined everything. It's them. It's them. Fuck it. Fuck it. I'll kill them all. I'll kill everyone. It's hopeless. I've had it. I've been doing this for far too long. I'll destroy everything. I'll...I'll…I need...I will..."

The fox bristled, blinking rapidly as if realizing something. Then a low rumbling growl escaped its throat.

The fox looked at Naruto, scowling hatefully. "This is the last straw. I can no longer rely on you to do your part, whenever you want to or not. You...I do not know what to do with you anymore. Relying on you was a mistake from the very beginning.'

The Kyuubi clone began to stomp away. "Maybe I've set the bar too high for you. If so, that is my only fault. There cannot be anything less, however. I shall take care of things myself. Just lie there all you like, day after day, night after night, until you waste away, and die. If nothing else, do that for me, Naruto. Do that for me, if nothing else. I have had it. I've had enough of you disappointing me."

The demon had stayed on this course long enough, it had realized. It was time for change. And the clone just thought of an idea how to keep its creator out of Konoha's hands.

An idea the demon should've thought of much, much earlier.

Once the canine beast had completely left the area the barrier flickered out of existence. Then Naruto slowly sat up, eyes wide in light wonder, and a multitude of emotions which include a dosage of shock and fear.

He gulped audibly and whispered, "You can't kill me. Why?" Naruto look at his hands, which were trembling ever so slightly. "Why is that? What was that?"

It was the same as last night. A barrier. Naruto had read about them in a book. He knew what a barrier was, and what barriers were used for. What he didn't know was how did it appear? And why?

Naruto's eyes saddened. No. He knew why. The fox had tried...to kill him. Despite the very thought of it made Naruto feel sickened, it was hardly that surprising.

The Kyuubi clone was always mean and snappy for as long as Naruto could remember. He shouldn't have expected anything less by defying the fox. Especially now, when it was angrier than ever.

Naruto buried his palms into his eyes. "I'm so sick of this. I'm so tired of feeling like this. I want things to change."

He dragged his hands down his face before looking at the center of his palms. "What should I do?" he asked helplessly.

Naruto frowned as he thought hard, but was disheartened and frustrated that his mind drew a blank. He did not know what to do, he did not even know what he wanted now.

Should he beg for the clone's forgiveness? That option looked more and more appealing to the child as the seconds ticked by.

Surrendering to the fox might put Naruto back in the demon's good graces. Never complain, crying, or disobeying the fox ever again would make the fox happy with Naruto, or at the least, pleased and content.

It was much more appealing than having the fox yell at him all the time and treating him like dirt. Well...the demon was always hard on Naruto, but at least before the dempon wasn't as mean, and didn't yell at him as much, and treated Naruto more fairly in comparison to lately.

Naruto felt that he did not deserve the ill treatment by the clone. Naruto wanted it to stop, he felt it was time that it did. The question now...was how. Another question: was even possible now? The Kyuubi clone changing its ways. It was easier said…

Naruto bit his tongue when a thought occurred to him. He could leave. He could leave the island, leave all of this.

For some reason or another Naruto felt his heartbeat increase.

The thought of leaving got Naruto's mind whirling. Where would he go? That mattered none, just not here. Somewhere...with people. Lots of them.

Naruto had never interacted with a single living thing other than the clone. Nor had he been to alot of places. He only known two: that cavern, and this island. To be able to do both, unhindered, seemed like a dream.

To be to meet and talk to actual, real, living people, traveling to a whole lot of places, interact with even more people. Experience things he read in book, see things he read in books, do everything he read in books.

All without the monster fox breathing down his neck.

Naruto's eyes widened. Now that...sounded like freedom.

Naruto jumped to his feet and started to sprint.

After a few minutes Naruto finally stopped, hunched over and breathing heavily after running as fast as he could without a second in slowing down. He lungs burned and felt heavy for each breath he heaved into the organs.

When his breathing slowed and his lungs stopped burning Naruto straighten up. Before him was sand, and the vast gray ocean. Naruto had ran all the way to the edge of the island. He stared far out, beyond the edge of the sea in the far, far distance.

He looked down and took a step. The light waves inches shy from touching the tip of his black sandals

Naruto looked up. It would be simple. All he had to do was start walking.

"...just waste away, and die."

Naruto's face fell. The fox did not care what he did anymore, right? Then, the demon shouldn't stop him if he took...one step.

Two steps.

Threes steps.

Fours steps.

Five steps.

Six steps.

He paused, looking to his right, then do his left, seeing nothing but dark blue, almost black ocean water. He looked over his shoulder and saw the shore, a little after that were trees, hiding what lied further.

Naruto frowned and looked up. Even though it was day the skies were dark. Gray clouds hid away the blue the blond was used to seeing. He couldn't even find the sun.

He looked back ahead and stared hard. As far as his vision could go, he could see only faint darkness beyond the dark ocean. Nothing beyond that. And the image made Naruto...uncertain.

He timidly pursed his lips, a frown on his face. His thoughts took a turn.

The Kyuubi's clone had told him, many, many times what would happen...if other humans found out what he housed within his body. Despite knowing their relationship would never be the same again(or Naruto's pretension of it, which had been false to begin with) what the fox had told him, everything it had told Naruto about humans, about Konoha, they weren't all lies...right?

Naruto briefly imagined a scenario where the moment he'd step foot into a town, a village, or anyplace with human civilization, he'd be pounced by men in black, tied up, and thrown into a dark cage, never seeing the sun again.

A fate far worse than his current situation.

Even if some of that were true, that alone scared him enough to walk backwards, until his feet once again touch sand.

His gaze fell. "What should I do?" he asked himself softly.

There was no way any other person would know he housed the real Kyuubi no Yoko, right? Not by sight alone, right? It's not as if anyone knew what he looked like. Did they? Or…

Naruto didn't want to stay here anymore. And he didn't want the clone's warnings to become his fate.

Naruto's eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. If the rest were lies, Naruto found this to make the most sense: If he was the strongest, he'd never have to worry about such a fate.

Naruto turned and slowly walked away from the shore and back into the interior of the island.

It took Naruto nearly two hours to find the fox. Whatever method the fox used to be able to find Naruto in a far less amount of time, anywhere, anytime, he possessed no such thing.

He had spotted the fox by accident. Naruto had climbed a small rock structure that was about 30 feet high with the intent to have a better view point. When he made it to the top it hadn't taken him long to spot the fox, who was sitting on the other side of the rock from where Naruto had climbed up.

Naruto watched the Kyuubi clone in silence; confusion adoring his features. The fox was sitting, but in a different way Naruto had seen before. The fox was sitting with its legs crossed, just like a human being would. Not other that, but Naruto would see it had its arms resting on its lap, clawed hands posed in a strange gester; palms facing toward the sky, knuckles resting against each other with the thumbs touching at the top.

Naruto had never seen the clone do this sort of thing, and the sight him confused; forgetting his objective as well in favor in watching and attempting to figure out the fox's actions.

Naruto felt the word on his tongue; the position the clone was taking.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked. Wisps of red chakra suddenly appeared before the fox's body. Then vanished one moment, as if never there, then reappeared around random part of the clone's body, mainly around its torso and stomach.

The sight made Naruto hesitant. The Kyuubi clone was obviously doing something. And it was obvious what type of outcome to expect if he dared interrupt the beast.

Even so, there were things he needed to ask the clone. There were things he had to know for sure; nothing assumed. Before Naruto did anything, he needed to make sure what he knew, what he had been taught and learned from the Kyuubi clone was true or false.

It was the only way for him to be sure of what he wanted.

And all that he wanted was to be free.

So, he needed to know everything.

"Hey," Naruto called, having jumped down and stood a few feet from the fox; facing the left side of the demon's body.

"Hey!" he called louder when the fox didn't respond.

Naruto jumped a bit when the clone's tails bristled and the found of a hissing-growl reaching his ears.

The clone turned and looked at Naruto with a snarl on its lips, eye twitching.

"Now? Now you want to talk? I am now convinced more than ever that something is wrong with you, brat; and that the only reason you exist is to cause me grievance."

The clone glared darkly at Naruto. "What do you want?"

Naruto thought carefully. He had to say the right words to not anger the clone, and to get what he came here for.

But when he opened his mouth he found that he was unable to say a single word.

The clone hissed fiercely at him. "Leave. Don't interrupt me again. If you dare break my concentration again I will make you sorry, Naruto. I can still hurt you. You remember that."

Naruto thoughts once again took a detour, and he found himself blurting out words before he even realized it.

"You can't kill me."

The clone was eerily silent.

Naruto blinked his wide eyes. "Why is that?" he asked lowly. He gulped. "Is it...to keep me safe from...you?"

Memories of what happened earlier on this day and of last night resurfaced in the blond's mind. He wanted an answer for it.

The clone blinked its eyes, slowly. Twice.

Naruto expected the demon to lash out again; be it verbally or physically.

Instead the clone sighed.

"That is something you don't need to worry about," the fox said coldly as it got up to walk away.

"I'm talking to you!" Naruto snapped suddenly.

The fox stopped walking.

Naruto gulped nervously. Now that it had settle in his head Naruto couldn't stop thinking about it now. That bright new energy that surrounded him in a sphere from all sides. It was a barrier, he knew that. What Naruto did not know, was why it appeared, and how it appeared.

Naruto knew for sure he didn't do it. And of course the fox didn't. Given that information, it made sense to the child that the barrier was automatic.

Naruto felt his heart leap when the clone turned around. He could see the demon's eyes were glowing.

Naruto had to think fast. Think of the right things to say. He swallowed again. "Y-You said for me to speak. I'm speaking. What was that just now?"

Huh. This was unexpected. The clone frowned. It briefly thought of answering Naruto; gauge his reaction. Then it remembered it had other things to do now.

"Why should I tell you? Give me reasons."

Naruto actually glared at the clone. "Things need to be different. And I want to know."

The Kyuubi clone couldn't stop the short laugh that escaped. "You are right...partially. There needs to be change, but not this kind. You don't need to know anything."

"I asked you a question," Naruto said, hoping his voice sounded demanding and firm like he hoped it did.

The fox shook its head and resumed walking. 'Stupid human', it thought.

Naruto yelled, "I'm talking to you!" Yet he was ignored.

He gritted his teeth and dashed after the fox. Once he caught up with the beast Naruto pulled his leg back and kicked the back of the clone heel with all of his might.

The fox immediately rounded with a furious hiss. "Little-"

The Kyuubi's clone towered over the small child menacingly.

Naruto felt himself shrink impulsively but forced himself to straighten his back.

"I said I'm talking to you."

The fox's eye twitched in irritation and growled, "You still continue not to listen to me."

"You don't listen you me either!" Naruto quickly retorted.

"I don't find any reason why I should. Then or now. Especially now."

Naruto's voice suddenly soften, "Why did you try to kill me? I know were aren't friends...or family. But for a long time...it's just been you and me. Do you hate me that much?"

The boy was really asking that?

The fox blinked. There was no reason, no benefit to offer any clarity; yet it answered anyway.

"Everything about you makes me angry. You've been a disappointment since the start. And I am tired of it."

For a brief moment the fox dipped its head and slouched its shoulder, and for a brief moment, Naruto caught the pure exhaustion in its red eyes.

"Even now...you hinder me. I am tired," the demon muttered under its breath. "I realize my approach led me to this. I was unable to turn you into a strong warrior like I had planned. I expected too much from you and that...is my fault."

The fox straighten up and looked at Naruto, its eyes now resignation. Naruto's mouth parted when he realized he saw something else in the demon's gaze. Disappointment.

"D-"

"I," the fox interrupted the boy, "want you to leave me alone now. Find something to entertain yourself, just leave me being. You are distracting me."

"What? No wait! I'm not-"

The demon fox swiftly gave Naruto a hard shove. The force was strong enough to send Naruto flying to the nearest tree.

His back hit the trunk hard for Naruto to almost lose his wind.

When he looked up where he had been a moment ago, the fox was nowhere to be seen.

"No," Naruto croaked before inhaling, then shouted at the top of his lungs. "NO!"

Naruto rose to his feet and began running. "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!"

I have an idea where to pick up after this, so hopefully the next chapter won't take as long.

Hope you enjoyed.

Leave a review. See ya~~~~