Warnings: LIMEY, boys doing naughty things to other boys, move on if you no likey. Also, swearing and a wee bit of violence.

Chapter 4

Naruto awoke slowly. He was warm and comfortable, and perfectly happy to barrow back into the body heat that wrapped snugly around him like a blanket. With a soft exhalation his lids began to slide closed as he nestled back into the warmth. But as soon as his eyes shut, a frown slipped across his otherwise peaceful face.

Wait a minute, body heat?

Eyes blinking sleepily opened, he peered at what was wrapped so comfortably around him. Pervert-fox, he acknowledged drowsily. Somehow the demon had managed to inch his way across the big bed and cuddle the boy during the night. Though at least this time Kyubi wasn't completely naked. Naruto had managed to talk him into wearing a pair of soft pants to bed by simply threatening that the fox would sleep alone if he didn't put something on. Surprisingly, the demon had capitulated.

If Naruto had been more awake, he would probably have yelled and jumped to the far side of the room. As it was, he was comfortable and warm, and for once not willing to start a spat. Carefully, he started to untangle himself, freezing whenever the fox looked like he was going to wake up. Finally, he managed to free himself and began to drowsily scoot away, or at least that was the intention.

Instead, the demon made an unhappy noise and proceeded to roll right on top of his bedmate.

Naruto squeaked and blew strands of soft red hair out of his face. Fortunately, the way the fox was laying on him wasn't crushing him into the mattress. Legs were twined with his, but the body was rolled just slightly on its side, which kept the full weight off. Unfortunately, the only part of the fox's body that was fully against his was the demon's hips, and Naruto could feel that he was having good dreams. This time there was no mistaking exactly what was poking him.

This was a problem. If the fox woke up and found what position he had gotten Naruto in the blond would really be in trouble. Demons didn't exactly have any shame, and this one, he suspected, had even less than most.

Gingerly, Naruto began to attempt to dislodge the dead weight atop him. His hips shifted, and he inadvertently rubbed against the body above him. The fox murmured softly, and Naruto froze, staring up with wide eyes. Please don't wake up, he begged silently, now completely awake himself.

The demon made another soft noise, this one more of a groan, and then sleepily arched his lower body into Naruto's.

The blond barely held back another squeak. The fox paused for a minute, then murmured again before rhythmically grinding his erection into the boy beneath him. Naruto didn't know what to do. He couldn't imagine this being any worse if the demon was awake, but at the same time he couldn't stand to deal with the embarrassment that was sure to result.

Kyubi made another soft sound, and then drowsily lifted his head to nuzzle against Naruto's neck. The blonde's eyes widened in further horror when a particularly sharp thrust made him realize that now he was getting hard. Not really much of a surprise there. After all, he was a sixteen year old boy and it didn't exactly take all that much.

Naruto tried to squirm away, but all that accomplished was to make the fox's movements more enthusiastic. The blond shivered as the Kyubi licked along his neck. It tickled, but somehow managed to coincide pleasantly with the sensation of thrusting hips. There were two layers between them in the form pajama bottoms, but somehow that wasn't doing anything to dampen the friction, if anything it was heightening it as cloth slid pleasantly against skin.

The fox was purring, a funny noise that vibrated against Naruto's jawbone and caused him to shiver harder. The blond was breathing hard now, sparks flying up his spine with each lunge of hips. He was beginning to forget exactly why he had been trying to get away. He was pinned down to the mattress anyway, it wasn't as if he could escape, and there was something about this very helplessness that caused the ache between his legs to increase. A hard thrust that hit all the right places caused the blond to let out an involuntary moan. Too late, the boy realized that the sound had been too loud.

The demon stopped nuzzling his neck and lifted his head, though his hips didn't stop their movement. Slitted red eyes peered down at him, glazed with passion, but otherwise very much awake. Naruto let out a tiny gasp, and then suddenly the friction became too much, his body seized suddenly, teetering on the edge, and then he was coming, hips jerking helplessly under the fox's continued motion.

Finally, the spasms stopped, and Naruto lay dazed, only vaguely aware as the Kyubi let out a low growl and came himself. The thrusting slowed, and then stopped. The fox stilled above the blond boy, arms coming up around him as his head flopped back into the crook of Naruto's neck. There, he let out a soft rumbling purr, the sound conveying whole hosts of satisfaction.

Naruto blinked lethargically at the ceiling, trying to recover and feeling a little like he had just slammed into a brick wall. It had all happened so fast, and his satiated and shocked mind could only focus on one thing.

"You were awake the entire time." He said, voice stunned and hoarse.

The demon purred in answer and snuggled further into the crook of his neck.

"What . . . just what the hell was that?"

Kyubi licked his neck.

"Stop that!" It tickled, and Naruto squirmed helplessly. The fox let out a happy purr and squirmed back. The blond was stunned to feel the demon's renewed interest brushing against his thigh. Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh no way in hell!" He violently shoved the fox off of him and rolled right off the bed. Kyubi made a grab for him, but missed, as Naruto dashed across the room. Or at least he attempted to dash, his legs were a little wobbly so he actually ended up stumbling to the wall. There, he turned around and glared, breathing hard, and opened his mouth to scream.

"Pervert-fox!" His mouth worked helplessly, but nothing immediately came out. Then: "I . . . you . . . what the hell were you . . . you stupid perverted-fox!"

Kyubi blinked indolently and lazily rolled over to look at Naruto. His expression was that of the cat who had gotten the cream, or maybe the fox who had caught the ninja. He yawned, and then pointedly looked at the wet spot on Naruto's pajama bottoms. "If I'm a perverted-fox, then does that make you a fox-pervert lover?" His satisfied grin displayed sharp teeth.

Naruto spluttered, and pink spots of color bloomed high in his cheeks. "You're the one who . . . oh come on! That wasn't fair!"

Kyubi's grin just got wider. "Demons aren't fair. Besides, you liked it."

Naruto blushed harder. "That's not the point!"

"It's not? It should be. This is part of your idiotic human upbringing again, isn't it?"

"Yes! And it's not idiotic! You're the one who's idiotic, stupid pervert-fox. Just what the hell were you thinking?"

Kyubi scowled. "Idiotic?" He hissed, in a low dangerous voice.

Naruto was too upset to stop at the warning sign. "Yeah! I mean, who said I wanted to do that with you? You're a demon!"

The fox snarled. "Not as much as I'd like to be! And whose fault is that, little ninja boy?"

"Oh it's my fault now, huh? I knew I couldn't trust you, you stupid pervert-fox!"

"Yeah, it's your fault, you pathetic little weakling! You let those dumb humans push you around, no wonder they hated you. They knew they could get away with it!"

Something very much like hurt flashed across Naruto's face, but the demon was already up and moving to the door. "Where are you going?" The blond asked in a tight voice.

Kyubi snarled. "Away from you! I don't need some spineless little brat who thinks he's human preaching to me!" He slammed the door behind him so hard that the wood around the doorknob splintered.

Naruto stared blankly at the closed and beaten door, than gradually slid down the wall until he was sitting against it with his knees clasped close to his chest. "Oh," he said, voice small against the empty room.

Kyubi stormed through stone corridors, steps quick and agitated. That stupid, stupid brat! He thought, seething. I suppose that's what I get for consorting with an almost human. Any humanity is too much! He conveniently ignored the fact that now he was sort of human himself.

With a sudden snarl, he stepped to the side and punched the wall. The stone crumbled before his fist and for a second the whole corridor shook dangerously. He pulled his hand away, and with vindictive fulfillment inspected the two-foot deep crater in the wall.

"I can't imagine that was very satisfying," a voice suddenly echoed down the hall. "Wouldn't you rather break something that will bleed and scream instead?"

The demon whirled around, sharp teeth barred threateningly. He regarded the small group of creatures that had appeared with hostile contempt. "Yeah maybe, you volunteering?"

The spokesman stepped forward with an amused sneer. Kyubi took one look at him and grinned sharply. "Your head's on fire. Did you know?"

The flame creature's smile got even more unpleasant. "Amazingly astute of you," he said, expression irritated. "But we didn't come to listen to your amusing observations."

"Really? Hell, then why are you here?"

"We have a proposition for you."

The fox smirked. "Sorry, but I think I could find a sexier group than you bunch."

The fire-headed man sneered. "Fortunately, I'm not talking about that kind of proposition. Surely you don't want to be stuck in this stone rat hill while the humans have the run of the rest of the world?"

"Alright, I'm listening, just don't waste my time."

"Wouldn't dream of it. The Lady thinks we should hide from humans; that we should run in fear from them. Not all of us agree. We're stronger than they are. They should be hiding in fear from us." He smirked and glanced back at the other creatures. There were nods of agreement all around. "You must agree. They locked you away inside a pathetic human child. Surely you want revenge?"

The fox raised a red eyebrow. "So this is a coup? The natives are restless, is that it?"

"We like to refer to it as a little change in leadership."

"And you'll be the leader of this new regime, I take it?"

The man smiled wider. "Within reason, of course."

"I don't see the mistress taking this lying down."

"No, probably not. But we are prepared for her."

The demon guffawed. "You're prepared for her? How the hell do you plan to kill something like the Lady? She'll eat you up and spit you out."

The man shook his head. "No, you misunderstand. We realize that we can't kill her. She is an immortal being. But we can contain her." He gestured behind him, and one of the creatures stepped forward with something held gingerly in his hand.

It was wrapped in think cloth, and the demon couldn't help but notice that it's holder was very careful not to touch it. Kyubi took one look at it and whistled, suddenly impressed. It was a length of chain, made of a strange shiny black metal. The whole length of it was inscribed deeply with obscure symbols. To the fox-demon's senses it was a black hole of energy suckage, the wards powerful enough to hold a kami. Or in this case, a half kami. "How the hell did you get something like that?"

"With a lot of hard work. I take it you're satisfied then?"

The demon shrugged. "If you can manage to get that on her."

"That's why we need you."

"Ah, of course. Afraid to handle the bitch yourself then?"

The fire-creature's nostrils flared with sudden rage, but then he seemed to get himself under control. "You're well suited for the task."

"What's in it for me?"

"Plenty. Freedom-real freedom- and power, and of course, the chance to get your revenge against that ninja village that trapped you. We'll even help you with that human-raised brat of yours."

The demon's eyes suddenly burned red, and he snarled. "You don't touch him, or I'll rip you all apart. He's mine."

The creatures seemed taken aback. Their spokesman made a quick, mollifying gesture. "Of course. He's all yours to do with as you please. Do we have a deal then?"

Kyubi calmed down as quickly as he had blown up. "Yeah, why the hell not? I'm always up for blood-soaked mayhem. I'm sure you'll supply me with lots of entertainment."

"Believe me, we plan to."

"Great. And so who can I say is so generously helping me out?"

The fire-creature bowed mockingly. "You can call me Mai."

Sasuke crouched in front of the prisoner and studied her intently. She stared back at him, rough, bark covered face wooden in expression, though her eyes showed fear. She did have human eyes, contrary to his first impression of her on the dark night Naruto had been taken. But they were so deep set that unless you looked closely they appeared virtually non-existent.

She had been difficult to capture, and only Shikamaru's brilliant plan had let them succeed in the end. And now Sasuke planned to get some answers. "What did you do with Naruto?"

She just looked at him silently, not even twitching in her bindings.

There was a snort from behind Sasuke, and then suddenly a thrown kunai sliced inches away from green hair before slamming into the tree behind her. The threat was obvious. "You know," Shikamaru drawled lazily, "it wouldn't take much for us to turn you into firewood." He started forward threateningly, but was stopped when Sasuke gestured sharply for him to stand down. Shikamaru glanced with surprise at the dark-eyed ninja.

Sasuke looked at her silently, than began to speak quietly. "You and your friends could have killed all of us earlier. We were badly outnumbered, yet you only incapacitated. Why?"

The rough chin lifted, and when she spoke, her voice was soft and melodious. "We don't go around killing humans unless they threaten us first. We just want to be left alone."

Sasuke snorted. "Then you shouldn't have taken Naruto."

Her head ducked, and vines fell forward to shield her eyes from view. "We didn't hurt him."

"Why did you take him?"

She didn't look up. "Because he's like us."

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to snort, but Sasuke frowned. He was suddenly remembering a pair of red eyes peering at him from Orchimaru's giant snake, and there had been other instances of unexplainable strength that hadn't made sense at the time. He opened his mouth, planning to finally solve the mystery of Naruto, when Shikamaru suddenly hissed a warning. "We have company!"

Sasuke lunged forward and put a sharp edge to the girl's throat just as a group of four monsters appeared from the trees. The tallest one was spindly with unnaturally long, blade-like fingers. Next to him was a small creature with knobby blue skin and needle sharp teeth, and the last two resembled nothing but oversized turtles with wicked spikes protruding from their shells. Their faces all held varying degrees of contempt and hatred for the humans.

Sasuke tightened his arm around the tree-girl, and the blade dug into the bark around her neck. "Don't come any closer unless you want her to die," he warned.

The blue monster laughed, the sound shrill and inhuman. "Go ahead, it'll save us some trouble!"

The girl stiffened in shock. "What? Chin, what's going on?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Sorry Kameko, anyone who's as loyal to the Lady as you are won't be allowed to survive the next few days. It's revolution time, we're sick of that sanctimonious bitch making us hide from humans. We're taking control."

Kameko stared for a second in disbelief, then her eyes narrowed in sudden understanding. "Mai started this, didn't he? Look Chin, don't listen to him, he'll destroy us all!"

The little blue creature sighed. "No, the only ones who will be destroyed are those who go against us. The strongest of us are on his side. Sorry Kameko, but you'll have to die." A knobby arm lifted, and suddenly a chunk of dagger-sharp ice appeared in the air. The arm waved, and the piece of deadly white was abruptly speeding towards her.

Using his amazing speed, Sasuke barely managed to get them both out of the way. Instead of slicing them to pieces, the ice hit the tree behind where they had been. There was a loud cracking sound, and suddenly the tree was flash-froze from the inside out.

Sasuke cursed at the narrow escape.

Shikamaru was already moving, throwing kunai with exploding tags in the hopes of stopping the monsters where they stood. He was apparently only having limited success, so far all he had managed to do was injure one of the turtle-creatures a little.

Meanwhile Sasuke quickly cut through the bindings of his prisoner. "It looks like we have a common enemy."

"It seems so," she replied, as they barely managed to dodge another ice attack. "Look, these are some of the strongest people in Sanctuary, fighting them head on is not a good idea." They rolled to the side as another ice blade split the air.

"So what do you suggest?"

"Cover your mouth and follow my lead," she said urgently, and was suddenly throwing black powder at the ground. (Where it came from, Sasuke couldn't tell). From there, the powder billowed up and enclosed the clearing in a black acidic cloud. For the next couple of minutes all that could be heard was violent coughing, and then the gust of wind from another huge ice missile cleared the area.

The two ninjas and their ex-prisoner where gone.

The knobby blue creature hissed, displaying his needle teeth. "Kameko! Damn that bitch." He looked at his still coughing allies. "Come on, they'll be heading towards Sanctuary."

"Why would they go back there?" One of the others managed to gasp out.

"You think Kameko would abandon the Lady? And I bet those pretty little humans will follow her in order to find their lost friend."

"So what are we going to do?"

The little monster laughed. "What do you think, you big idiot? We'll wait, and then we'll kill them all."