*laughs somewhat evily like* Sorry Yoko, but my reviewers for the first few chappies requested Sasu/Naru and that was my original plan for this story anyway. I must say this IS my first yaoi and hope to do well. I will turn Naruto back to human sooner or later but his fox form is important to the plot, okays? One thing that may be confusing others, Naruto is in control of this form, but Kyuubi is somewhat forcing him to act how he really feels so that is why or favorite fox is acting that way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sasuke was still a bit confused on what Naruto had been so nervous about. It couldn't have been anything too dangerous, because the fox just kept on going after confirming to itself that there was nothing to worry about. Then again, the fox was ecstatic that he was alive and could have mistaken an innocent sound for something of complete danger. Yet again, Naruto, in this form, had enchanced senses way beyond that of a normal human's comprehension.

Sasuke resided in just trusting the dobe.

He was still mounted on the pony-sized fox-baka anyway.

Which brought him around to the fact Naruto was indeed the Ninetails. For some odd reason, Sasuke wasn't bothered by this little fact about the blonde-haired ninja. In fact, he had suspected that the dobe was out of the ordinary.

Running over the facts, he counted that the boy healed much faster than any other living creature. He put weeks of healing into a matter of seconds. In addition, Naruto always seemed to be left out of everything going on in the village. Nobody liked the boy. To tell the complete truth, the people of the Hidden Leaf Village seemed to view Naruto as a monster. Iruka was the only one who could stand to be around him, yet the fox sealed inside Naruto had killed his parents.

Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, Team 7 could stand to be around Naruto. HE could stand to be around Naruto. He almost panicked at the realization.

Sasuke shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.

By now they had made it to the town (I believe it is Wave Country, thats what the Naruto Anime Guide says....) and many of the villagers were openly staring at the navy-haired ninja mounted right behind the shoulders of a pony-sized five-tailed fox demon in the company of Tazuna, the builder of the bridge, and two other ninjas. Many villagers had dropped whatever they had been holding to make the sign against evil.

Others still just stared, gossiping amongst their friends. It wasn't every day that the legendary fox demon, young though it looked, walked on the dirt streets of their Hidden Village and the entire vicinity soon emptied to a ghost town.

Naruto was beginning to feel like his usual self and was debating on why he was being so nice to the asshole. Not only had he avenged his death, but he had been happy when it was discovered that Sasuke wasn't dead afterall! Now the fox was wondering why he didn't have the heart to buck Sasuke off his back. There was no reason for it besides that the boy couldn't walk. Letting out a sound that was as close to a sigh as a fox could get it, Naruto continued his prolling walk.

Pretty soon he was even with Kakashi. The fox's shoulders reached up to the man's chest, though Naruto was highly pleased that the gray-haired ninja didn't seem at all nervous around him, even though he could kill him in one swipe or could crush him with a paw. Kakashi, though, spared Sasuke a look, as if to check and make sure he was fairing all right.

Sakura, however, was far more nervous then Tazuna, who had taken to spacing a good ten feet between him and the huge beastly fox. She would shoot a high-strung glance at the fox, watching warily, as if he would suddenly swipe out one of his massive paws and kill her. The fox's shoulders surpassed hers, nearly taller that her head. Her eyes could see over his shoulder, but only barely.

She surpressed an urge to gulp and resolved to running her hands through her hair. Sweat rolled down her face in little droplets and she was almost panting from nervousness. Naruto almost wanted to whimper from the looks she kept giving him.

Sasuke happened to notice this and wanted to say something. He weighed his chances but before he actually did anything about it, Kakashi saved him the trouble.

"Something wrong, Sakura?" his one visible eye gleaming at her.

Sakura couldn't help but squeak, surprised, having been so tense.

"No-nothing Kakashi-sensei...." her voice quivered a bit.

Naruto visibly cringed before putting a little more space between the two of them. Unconciously, Sasuke patted him on the neck before mentaly slapping himself for it. Why the hell should he care if Naruto was upset?

This caused a little arguement to erupt into his head.

But he is the one providing a mode of transportation for you, obviously he feels something.... his inner voice seemed to shout at him.

Sasuke disagreed, he never asked for it.

You know that you feel deeper- Now Sasuke was getting angry and stopped the voice in mid-sentence. He didn't have to listen to the ramblings of his inner voice, what was he? Was he going a bit crazy? Well, it seemed to be heading that way, he WAS mounted on a demon fox that had slayed thousands who was really his teammate AND that he, Sasuke, would have to make sure that old instincts didn't resurface.

I feel the coming of a major head ache....

Naruto, however, appreciated the comforting gesture before he also mentaly slapped himself. He was NOT going to give in to whatever the heck his heart was telling him, nope. Shaking his head, Naruto focused on where they were going and was surprised to find that they had arrived at Tazuna's home and Tsunami at the door, staring down at him. Inari clutched his mother's leg. The mere sight made Naruto want to whine at the fear that showed in their eyes.

Kakashi cleared his throat and motioned to Tazuna.

"He can safely continue his work on the bridge and our mission is complete," Tsunami didn't seem to listen as she continued to stare, horrified, at the fox standing on her porch.

The only thing that could cause anyone to recognize him was the forehead protecter Iruka had given him when he passed his test, wrapped in the same way it had been before he had gone to his fox form (I thought that would be a cute addition.....). The metal part of it rested on the left side of the fox's head, almost dangling. Naruto's fox ears kept the protected in place and no one had seemed to notice that it was still there.

Kakashi seemed to notice her shock and explained the situation lightly.

"Naruto seemed to have lost his seal and is now what you see in front of you, however he is still Naruto," Tsunami didn't seem convinced but thanked them anyway.

What did seem to sadden the fox was when she did not invite them to stay the night and promptly shut the door after Tazuna walked in.

Flattenning his ears against his head, Naruto carefully turned around, so as not to knock anyone over and hopped down from the porch. Sasuke only barely managed to hang on after readjusting his grip on the ruff of fur he used to stay in place. Kakashi and Sakura followed after, Sakura a little farther behind. Sasuke unconciously patted Naruto on the neck.

After walking for a few minutes, Sasuke attempted to get down off the fox without Naruto noticing. Slowly, slowly.... He wouldn't walk/ride into the Hidden Leaf Village mounted on the Ninetails like some weakling!

He swung one leg over the fox's neck carefully, for Kakashi and Sakura walked a bit ahead. Unfortuantely for him, the fox took that exact moment to trot a bit to catch up, causing Sasuke to loose his balance. Cursing, Sasuke prepared for the impact, trying to make it so he wouldn't land on his face. It never came.

Sasuke irritadedly noticed that he was now swinging back and forth, hanging from a certain idiot's jaws. Growling Sasuke twisted in Naruto's grip, trying to forcefully make the fox let go. Stubborn as ever, Naruto only lifted his head a bit higher so that Sasuke's feet couldn't reach the ground. Sasuke, now getting more angry, gave a nice swipe at the fox's nose.

Naruto gave a yelp and dropped the boy, rubbing his nose a bit with his front paw. Sasuke landed ungracefully on his but. Lifting his head high in the air, Naruto trotted up to catch up to the rest of the group, offended and deciding that it was not worth it. Though, he did swing his head around to shoot Sasuke a look that said plainly 'Do it yourself, I'll be glad to watch you struggle.'

Sasuke only growled and took several seconds to stand up and several more to start walking shakily. He would stop to rest every few minutes, thus causing him to fall back ever farther.

I'm starting to regret getting off...... Sasuke panted to himself, then quickly shook his head and walked on, determined, he didn't need anyone's help, especially dead-last's!

Naruto, by now, had forgotten his little grudge against Sasuke and sneaked a look back to see how he was fairing. The fox almost sweatdropped when he saw the boy struggling up the small hill they were climbing at the time. Dropping back, he paced himself with the navy-haired ninja. Sasuke didn't even look over.

Patiently, Naruto walked closer and closer to the boy, eventually so that Sasuke's hand would brush against his fur every time he would swing it. The fox couldn't help a triumphant smirk when Sasuke grabbed hold of ruff on his neck to use to walk faster. Leaf Village was approaching, Naruto could make out the outcropping of the village topping the rise.

Sasuke didn't much care for his appearance anymore. He was dead tired and ready to go home to his bed. All that had happened was too much for him and a good nights sleep would clear out his cluttered mind.

Kakashi and Sakura were the first to walk through the gate and into the village, Naruto and a weary Sasuke following soon after. The time being late in the afternoon, few people roamed the streets, most heading home to make dinner. However, the few people that were out and about stopped and stared, emotions running across there faces in flashes.

Kakashi knew that the people of Konoha wouldn't be happy to see the reincarnation of the Ninetails prancing through the village but he wasn't prepared when people began jeering and yelling rude comments in the fox's direction.

What really surprised Kakashi though, was when a few of the angry villagers picked up stones off the dirt road and began throwing them at Naruto, yelling at the top of their lungs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know, I didn't really like that last part...It just sort of came to me....It wasn't described well but it will go good with the next chapter, angsty stuff for our favorite fox! Possibly a bit of Sasuke/Naruto stuff. Ain't much of that is there? Sorry, I'm new at this and I'm trying! ^-^

Alaska over and out.