I've also had a couple of reviews telling me that Byakko means white tiger. This is true. It does. I don't deny this. But Byakko also means a spiritual white fox, and it is known to bring good fortune. It's said these white foxes are sent by Inari, the goddess of foxes, as a messenger. So I'm not crazy.
---
"Once upon a time there was this amazing fox-lord."
"Fox-lord?"
"Yeah. Fox-lord. He was quite the stud, too. Awesome blonde hair. Really cool blue eyes. Excellent sense of fashion. He had a thing for orange, see, 'cause it's the best color in the world."
"This is starting to sound familiar..."
"Quit interrupting! Anyway, this awesome, really cool, excellent fox-lord ruled the entire world."
"Isn't that exaggerating, Naruto?"
"I said quit!"
The two boys were lying side by side on Naruto's futon, Nanashi curled between them. Both were in identical poses of relaxation, their hands folded behind their heads and their eyes glued to the ceiling. If anything, they were more alert than they ever had been in their lives.
"So this fox-lord, well, everyone respected him, and everyone adored him, and every girl wanted to get married to him."
"Wishful thinking, Uzumaki?"
"Shut up, will you?"
One could tell how tense they were by the sound of their voices; it was late at night and they should have been quiet and reserved, but instead they were loud and boisterous. It seemed they wanted to fill the emptiness with their voices. Naruto's fingers were erratically brushing against the top of Nanashi's head, seeming to draw comfort from the most helpless one there.
"It was pretty obvious that there were other people jealous of the fox-lord, y'know? But what could he do about it? He was just too cool to worry about what other's thought, even the Lord of a neighboring kingdom, the Fan-Head."
"Fan-Head?"
"Pretty apt description, huh?"
"I'm going to kill you, Naruto."
Naruto continued on, undaunted. His eyes were darting around, however, taking in every shadow and every object.
"One day, Lord Fan-Head went to visit the fox-lord, with a lot of really fancy gifts. The fox-lord, he said...he said..."
"What did he say?"
"...thank you."
Chapter Four: Kaijuu
by Clara
Two a.m. rolled by and Naruto jerked into a sitting position. The uneasy feeling that had kept him and Sasuke up most of the night heightened to a ten fold, destroying the blonde's already tentative hold on sleep. Careful not to wake Sasuke or Nanashi, Naruto rolled onto all fours and pushed himself to his feet.
There was someone in his house.
"Oi," Sasuke hissed, startling Naruto. He had been sure that his friend was asleep. "Don't move."
Usually Naruto would have sprung forward in response to the command, but for some reason he was rooted to the spot. It was as if someone tied two hundred tons of lead to the bottom of his feet, and if he tried to move, he would fall on his face. Instead, he trained his eyes across the small room, hands clenched to his sides in shaking fists.
He was terrified.
He was excited.
"He's in the kitchen." Sasuke's eyes were illuminated by the pale moonlight, glowing an eerie sort of red.
Blood...
Naruto bit his lower lip, staring at the wall that separated his room from the kitchen. The man was there, his chakra cloaked with something akin to a sheer veil.
Naruto almost scoffed.
"This is the man who was stalking me?" he hissed at Sasuke, obviously offended. Not only was the man terrible at hiding his presence, but he didn't have much of a presence to speak of. "They couldn't spare anyone better?"
"There could be more. He could be a ploy to lure you into the open."
Naruto hadn't thought of that. His stomach tightened, and he grinned.
"Well, might as well give them what they want, huh?" He said, taking a step towards the kitchen.
"I was thinking the same thing," Sasuke said, interrupting Naruto. The blonde paused, then blinked at the evil little smile that just barely curled the corners of the Uchiha's lips. "Except, I have a plan."
---
Naruto walked into the kitchen.
Actually, he strolled into his kitchen, hands behind his head and sleeping cap cocked jauntily to the side. His pajamas were wrinkled from sleep, and there were lines on one side of his face. He looked casual, comfortable, as if he was just a normal boy getting a midnight snack.
Completely disregarding the huge man standing right smack in the middle of his linoleum floor.
Naruto opened his refrigerator, pulling out a carton of orange juice and carelessly glanced over the expiration date. "Hm. I give it two more days before it goes bad." He startled, suddenly, as if he just noticed the monstrous man that was only a few feet from him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like something to drink?"
The man quirked an eyebrow, bemused. "This is who I'm supposed to catch?" He sneered. "And they thought I couldn't do it."
"No?" It was like Naruto completely ignored everything the man said. Which he did. He shrugged and pulled the tab, drinking straight from the carton. "Something to eat, then?"
"Skip the pleasantries, kid," the man sneered, straightening.
Naruto let out a low whistle, reclining against the refrigerator. "Wow, you really are big. Ugly, too. Kinda stinky. I've got some deodorant, if you want. Does a great job of hiding the fact that you haven't showered for the past couple of days..."
A huge, gorilla like hand darted forward and grabbed Naruto by the collar. Surprised, the boy dropped the orange juice. It exploded against his floor. "Be quiet, kid." The man grinned, evilly.
Naruto walked into the kitchen.
Actually, he sauntered in, looking as if he ruled the world. He had his sleeping cap in one hand, and was flipping a coin with the other. His nightwear was completely smooth, as if he hadn't slept at all.
The man stared at him. He looked back at the other Naruto, some of his confidence leaking away into confusion. The Naruto pinned against the refrigerator was checking his nails.
The new Naruto spun a chair around and sat casually on it, leaning his arms against the top of the back rest. "Hi!" he greeted cheerfully. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Twins?" the man asked, quickly masking his bewilderment. He grinned widely, revealing a mouthful of pointy teeth. "No matter, I'll just crush you both."
The first Naruto raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something that was undoubtedly cocky, but a glance at the new Naruto froze the words in his mouth. Instead, he widened his eyes in innocence and said nothing.
Still holding the first Naruto in one massive hand, the man advanced towards the new Naruto.
Naruto walked into the kitchen.
Actually, it was a sluggish sort of movement. His pajamas were a disaster, as if he had been tossing and turning the entire night, and his sleeping cap was drooping dangerously towards his already half closed eyes. He yawned widely, stretching his arms way above his head.
The man halted in midstep.
"Hi," this Naruto managed around the yawn. He scratched his stomach groggily. "Would you like something to drink?"
The first Naruto was still picking at his nails. The second was scuffing boredly at the ground with his bare feet.
"...Three of you?" The man was starting to sound slightly nervous, despite his massive size and his incredible amount of hair, on both his head and his body. He certainly did resemble a gorilla with dreadlocks.
It seemed as if the man didn't know which way to go now, and was still in his bemusement.
"Well, if you're not thirsty, would you mind if I got something to drink? I wonder if I've still got anything caffeinated..."
"I checked," the first Naruto said, glancing up from his nails. "We've still got a can of fizzy."
"Oh, good."
"You little brat!" The confusion was replaced by annoyance, then sloppy anger, and the man lunged towards the third Naruto, still holding the first.
Naruto walked into the kitchen.
Actually, he stomped into the kitchen. His pajamas were a mess, as if he had just gotten into a rough sort of fight, and his eyes were narrowed dangerously. There was a dark sort of energy throbbing around him, the kind of energy you might find on a cat if you accidentally stepped on its tail.
"Hi," this Naruto growled out. His lips were pulled back in a dangerous, soundless snarl. "Would you like something to drink?"
The man jumped and released the first Naruto, staggering back a couple of steps. It was the combination of several emotions that sent him cowering; the annoyance, the confusion, the determination, the confidence—but most of all, the sudden fear of the new Naruto, hell, of all the Narutos.
Was this what they were warning him about?
Was this the great kyubi?
All the emotions balled together, becoming one massive lump of doubt somewhere in his solar plexus. He looked at each Naruto quickly, just long enough to take in all their appearances, eyes only lingering on the newest Naruto, the one that had the pulsing, undulating energy sliding across his skin.
The Narutos were surrounding him now, all smiling identically. No, they couldn't be siblings, the man realized, they were all the same. Carbon copies of one another.
"Get...get away from me!" the man yelped, stumbling further back. He was so intent on the Naruto's before him that he completely missed Sasuke, who had been behind him all along. The black haired boy brought his fists heavily down on the man's head, quickly and totally knocking him out.
All the Naruto's disappeared, save the first one. He straightened his cap and grinned.
"You were right. That was fun."
---
When the man came to, he couldn't move. He was sitting on the chair previously occupied by one of the Narutos, bound securely with a very thin string around his neck, his upper torso, his wrists, his stomach, and his ankles. Did they think they could keep him there with just a string?
"Don't move," Sasuke said, quietly. He was sitting on a chair across from the man, feet a shoulder width apart and elbows resting on his knees. The man froze. "If you move, the string will slice you into many different pieces. I filled it with charka, you see. If you so much as inhale too deeply, you will be breathing out of your throat."
Immediately, the man froze.
"What is your name?"
"...Kaijuu." Kaijuu fixated what he hoped was a piercing glare on the teenaged brat. It would have sent any other man quailing, but Sasuke didn't even bat an eyelash.
"Who sent you?"
Kaijuu pursed his lips together.
"Oi, Sasuke, maybe we should call Kakashi-sensei or Iruka-sensei to deal with this..." Naruto, previously unseen by Kaijuu, shifted from foot to foot. He didn't seem comfortable with the whole interrogation process.
To Kaijuu's relief, however, there was only one of him. He grinned inwardly—the kid seemed soft hearted. Maybe he could con the brat into letting him go.
"After all, Kakashi knows tons more about torturing than either of us do, and I'm tired."
Maybe he would be safer with the one called Sasuke.
"Maybe you're right," Sasuke admitted, giving Kaijuu a cursory glance. The calculating gleam hadn't left his eyes, though. "I'll go call them. See if you can get more answers out of him." The black haired boy stood and made his way to the living room, leaving Kaijuu and Naruto alone.
Kaijuu gulped and Naruto pushed himself towards the large man. He was smiling.
"Kaijuu, was it?" He sniffed the air around him, momentarily looking like a dog.
Or a fox.
"I was right. You do stink." The grin widened. "It's a familiar smell, I think. Smelled it before on a couple of foxes."
Kaijuu exhaled heavily, breaking out in a sweat on the back of his neck. That energy he felt around the angry version of Naruto was dusting the skin of this Naruto, barely leashed.
Naruto circled around the broad man, observing him like a piece of art. He reached over and dusted Kaijuu's shoulder, letting out an amused sound at the way the huge man tensed up.
"You're really dirty. Not just normal dirty, though. Were you rolling around in my garden?"
Kaijuu glared and said nothing.
"No, I know what you did." The blonde's eyes lit up in an epiphany. "You buried yourself in my backyard. Cunning. I did that once. Learned it from a friend. I'm going to kill you."
It was such an abrupt change of topics that the man nearly fell backwards. There was an irrational sort of fury that filled Naruto's eyes, and his lips pulled back into an angry scowl. He looked like an extremely pissed off fox.
"You killed my friend's parents. You taunted me with their corpses. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you!"
"Not yet." Sasuke placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, startling the blonde out of his blinding fury. Naruto subsided, but the blue to his eyes were still nearly black.
"He was the one who killed all the foxes, Sasuke!"
"I realize, stupid, but it's obvious someone employed him."
"How do you figure?"
"There's no way an idiot like him could summon Hoshirou and Hojirou and somehow convince them to follow his orders. He doesn't have enough chakra for them to even glance at him."
"So there's someone else killing the foxes?"
"We have more important things to worry about than the foxes, Naruto."
"But they're my friends!"
Sasuke sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. He sometimes wondered if the idiot had any sense of self-preservation whatsoever.
He was saved from having to answer, however, by a knock on Naruto's door and a face at the kitchen window. Naruto scurried to the door, flung it open, and was immediately attacked by a worried Iruka.
"Are you okay?! Gods, Naruto, you are in no position to fight. I knew I should have just had you stay at my place?"
"Calm down, Iruka-sensei! I didn't even fight! I just psychotically toyed with him."
"Psychologically," Sasuke corrected and opened the window, stepping aside to allow Kakashi in. The silver haired man glanced over the kitchen, eye coming to rest on Kaijuu.
"And how did you do that?"
As Naruto explained the situation to his old teacher, Kakashi swaggered towards Kaijuu. He put his hands behind his back and leaned forward, tilting his head just so. Kaijuu tried not to shift, obviously not wanting to get his head sliced off.
"He's not much."
The burly man stiffened. "Look who's talking, twiggy," he spat back, offended.
"I'm not surprised you two took him down so easily, truthfully. I doubt you even needed to trick him, Sasuke, you could have easily taken him down by yourself."
"Hey!" Naruto yelped, interrupting his story. Iruka's eyes were faintly wider than they were before. "What about me?"
"You," Kakashi said, not even looking at him, "are not supposed to be fighting, anyway."
Naruto pouted and turned back to Iruka, continuing his story. The teacher continued to stare at him, nonplussed.
"What has he told you so far?" Kakashi asked, turning to Sasuke.
"That his name is Kaijuu. That's it."
"Unsurprising." Kakashi sighed and focused his attention back to Kaijuu. He pulled the cloth that covered his eye down, studying the ape man with his sharingan. "It looks as if...hm."
"What?"
"He has his own chakra, but I can feel someone else's chakra in him. It's almost as if..."
"That's right." The mere fact that Kaijuu spoke caused every character in the room to turn and look at him in varying degrees of surprise. His tone was resigned, and he was smiling slightly. "No matter what you do, she will get him."
He didn't slump forward because he couldn't, but the life leaked from the corner of his eyes in the form of bloody tears. Blood seeped into the threads of his shirt, starting from a little left on the center of his chest and spreading outward.
"Shit!" Naruto yelped, and instinctively Iruka smacked the back of his head. "Ow!"
"What the hell happened?!" Sasuke looked as appalled as Naruto, but in his own way. "Was that a—"
"Is he dead?!" Naruto lunged forward and grabbed Kaijuu's shoulders, careful not to shake him. He didn't want the man's limbs on his kitchen floor. "Wake up! Wake up, you stupid asshole or I'll kill you!"
"He's dead." Kakashi carefully pulled Naruto from the man, holding him in place by firm grips on his shoulder. "There was a chakra shell around his heart, left by the woman who sent him."
"A shell?" Iruka repeated, frowning. "For security or punishment?"
"I believe both."
"Wait, wait, wait," Naruto growled, struggling from Kakashi's grip. "That's all fine and well, but what are you talking about?"
It was Sasuke who answered him. "Kaijuu failed. In the demon world, if you can't even take down a mere human, then there's no point in coming back. Demons usually wrap a chakra shell around their minion's heart to ensure that if they fail, they won't come back, and they won't be able to reveal anything about their master."
"Whatever, I still don't get it! How did it work? He didn't say anything about his master!"
"Actually, he did," Sasuke continued. "A number of things, actually. The first two things—he let it slip that the person that is after you is not only a female, but it also a demon. Only a demon would be able to encase a heart like that. Another thing is, it was obvious he was working under someone willingly—the only way a demon can put a shell around someone's heart is if that person allows he or she to."
"How the hell do you know all this?" Naruto asked, bemused.
"It was in that book I lent you, stupid. Haven't you read any of it?"
"Don't call me stupid!"
Iruka frowned pensively and grabbed one of Naruto's dish towels, crouching down to clean up the orange juice. "How did he get into the house? I didn't see any broken windows, and your doors looked fine..."
Naruto coughed. "I...er, well, I think he had my keys..."
"He WHAT?!"
Kakashi and Sasuke grimaced, and Naruto looked sheepish. Then rather like nothing, since Iruka threw the towel on his face.
"You let him get your keys?!" Iruka grabbed Naruto by the shoulders.
"I didn't let him!" Naruto growled back, snapping the towel from his face. "They were stolen from me!"
"How can you call yourself a ninja if you let your keys get stolen from you?!"
The other two turned to each other, obviously tuning them out. Kakashi disinterestedly checked Kaijuu's body for any leads, but came up with nothing.
"We can only assume that whoever is after Naruto still has his keys," Kakashi said, interrupting the promising looking squabble between ex-student and teacher. "I'll have a chakra specialist look over this body, in case there are any shell remnants. If we're lucky, we'll be able to locate her with the chakra. If not..."
"Then it's back to stage one," Naruto finished, sighing.
---
Outside, a cricket chirped.
It was stepped on by a red shoe.
.end chapter four.
A/N: I made a site. :D
Go there (it's on my profile, links don't seem to work on this thing anymore) and toot my horn.
P.S. If you want to submit fics or have your fics hosted on a page, e-mail me.