Kani-chan: MWAHAHAHAHA.
Naruto: Hoo boy...
`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`^`
"Shinzu-san-?" Kyote swung into his older brother's room.
The black haired teenager looked up from his homework at his desk. "Yes, Kyote?"
"Eh…shouldn't you get some sleep? Free sparring practice is tomorrow," Kyote reminded his twin softly.
"I don't need any sleep!" the teenager said abruptly. There was a long silence. Shinzuko threw down his pencil and got to his feet. When he spoke, his voice was dangerously low.
"That damn fox Naruto is the reason that I'm who I am," he said quietly. "If Father was still alive, I would have been on my way to being the most renowned shinobi in all of the Ryuuchi clan!"
Kyote clenched his fists. "It wasn't Naruto's fault that Father died! It was the demon fox's!"
"And Naruto is that fox."
Gray-blue eyes narrowed. "No, he's not!"
Shinzuko grabbed his younger twin by the shoulders, squeezing his strong hands until the other boy winced. "Not another word, Kyote."
Kyote slapped his brother's hands away. He was used to the teenager's violent moods, and was well-aware that they came as a result of their father's death. The younger twin put his hands on the black haired teenager's shoulders and spoke quietly, conscious to the fact that yelling back would not calm the teenager any. "I know you're still bitter about Father, Shinzu-san, but hurting Naruto will not help things."
"But this was all his fault! Because of the fox, we're now one of the poorest families in the Ryuuchi clan! At least when Father was alive, we had a chance to become great! Now, Father's dead, our stepfather doesn't admit our existence, and we're stuck tutoring a bunch of twelve year olds!" Shinzuko reminded him.
"At least it brings in plenty of yen," Kyote said after a moment. "Maybe now you won't complain about money anymore."
"I know, but…" The older twin lowered his head. Neither boy spoke for some time.
"Shinzu-san…?" Kyote looked over his brother carefully. He was shaking.
He was crying.
"Shinzu…gomen…" the younger boy murmured, embracing his brother lightly. "I'm sorry…"
"I miss otosan," Shinzuko whispered. "I miss him so much."
****
It was one week before the tournament.
"Today," Kakashi told the others, "we're going to review free sparring; the part of the tournament for which the most points will be earned. This will also tell if you've been practicing or not." He frowned. "There are five of you so…Naruto on Sasuke, Sakura on Kyote, and Shinzuko on me. And remember, no shuriken, illusions, doppelgangers—Naruto—or any otherwise magical or physical armaments this time." The man stepped back. "Start at your own pace."
Naruto made a face as he confronted Sasuke. "Ready?"
The black haired boy inclined his head. "You start."
Naruto didn't know what happened next. Maybe the sun was in his eyes, or maybe his throwing arm was tired, or maybe…
Half an hour later, Naruto was flat on his back. "What the hell just happened?!" he demanded.
Sasuke smirked. "You're too easy…dunce."
"You ass! I-"
"Yameru, Naruto," Kakashi interrupted. "And everyone, get a different partner. This time, all weapons and magic are allowed."
The blond haired boy found himself with Kyote.
"Starting position," the older boy reminded him as he slung his ninja-to onto his back.
Naruto balanced his stance.
Kyote drew back halfway and put a hand on his sword. "Begin."
"Ha!" Naruto drew three shuriken, throwing them with a deft hand. Kyote deflected them with his sword, and came on hard and fast.
The blond haired shinobi sprang to avoid the blade, and threw another barrage of throwing stars. This time, though, while they ricocheted off Kyote's sword, Naruto swung behind him.
"Ne?" Kyote glanced around. The blond boy sprang at his unprotected back.
"Here I am, Kyote!!"
The teenager's eyes narrowed. "Heh." He brought his sword up, just enough to catch Naruto on the flat of the blade. "If I had used the blade, you would have been dead, Naruto," he reminded the boy as he let him fall to the ground.
"Hmph!" Naruto leaped to his feet and took out another shuriken, this one a double-bladed knife. Kyote smirked as he watched the boy run towards him.
Is this all you got, Naru-chan? With a deft hand, he struck the blade from Naruto's grasp. It went spinning and landed point-first in the trunk of a nearby tree. Kyote was on top of the boy in an instant.
"You're down," he said simply, resting his sword against Naruto's neck. "If this had been real combat, you'd be dead. Looks like I win."
Naruto smirked. "No, you haven't!" He kicked upward, catching Kyote in the groin. The teenager fell with a groan. Spinning around quickly, the blond haired boy grabbed the sword from limp hands and got to his feet.
But he paused.
And when he paused, Kyote was on him again. This time, the older boy held him in an almost painful clutch. He smirked.
"I oughta pay you back for kicking me where you did," Kyote said almost playfully. "But I won't." Abruptly, he released the boy, and Naruto sank back, rubbing his sore arms.
****
During lunch, Naruto crept away from the others to his favorite spot. It was clearing in the midst of a circle of pine trees on a hill overlooking Konohagakure.
He sighed as he threw himself down on a stump directly in the circle's center. The boy took a few minutes just visually exploring the quiet place.
The pine trees grew close together, and the only way in was to climb. When Naruto had first found the place, he had looked at it wordlessly from his perch on a nearby tree. It reminded him of a sanctuary; like the home he never had.
Naruto found himself thinking of his parents as he unwrapped his sandwich. He suddenly realized that he wasn't hungry.
I wonder what they were like…
Probably not like Taharka Reed's parents. They're waaaay too strict.
And not like Shamatzu Jokin. His parents are hardly ever home.
A rustle in the pine needles on the ground broke off his train of thought. Glancing down, the boy was surprised to find a little auburn fox staring up at him with a pair of almost-red eyes.
Naruto set his sandwich on the rock beside him and glared back. Whadda you want? The little fox moved closer. The boy smiled in spite of himself.
"Hey, little guy," he said softly.
The fox didn't seem frightened at all by the shinobi's voice. It slipped even closer, its gaze now fixed on the sandwich. Naruto noticed it.
"So you're hungry, ne?" The boy threw the little creature his lunch. "You take it. I'm not hungry."
With a low yelp, the fox pounced hungrily on the sandwich, seemingly forgetting that Naruto was there.
There was a snap in the woods as someone…or something else approached.
The fox lifted its head, looking in every direction. In one smooth motion, it snatched up the remains of Naruto's lunch and tore back into the forest.
Naruto sighed under his breath. What was that fox doing here? And who, or what, was that?!
"Uzumaki?" It was Kyote, for sure. "What are you doing way back…here?"
The boy made a face. "Eating lunch," he muttered. "What does it look like I'm doing? And why're you following me?"
Kyote leaped down nimbly from one of the taller pine trees. He stuck his hands into his pockets as he came nearer. "Didn't mean to follow you," the teenager said quietly. "I just went for a walk." The shinobi glanced up. "Kami…"
"What?" Naruto followed his gaze. He also gasped at what he saw.
The tops of the pine trees formed an open dome. The sky shone brightly through it.
Naruto slid onto his back to see it more comfortably. Kyote slipped beside him.
"I never really thought of looking up before," the boy admitted as several birds flew overhead.
"Hn." The black haired shinobi clasped his hands behind his head.
"Kyote?" Naruto asked after a moment.
"Hai."
The boy scowled. "How come you and Shinzuko know about me being the fox? 'Cause, you know, in Konohagakure, the kids aren't supposed to know."
Kyote shifted positions slightly. "There's no law against telling your children among the Ryuuchi. So nearly everyone there knows."
Naruto glanced at the teenager alongside him. "What do they think of me?"
The older shinobi adjusted his headband with one hand. "Hm…" He frowned, thinking hard. "Never really noticed that. I didn't even know that the fox's human form was still in Konohagakure until we were assigned to your cell."
In spite of himself, Naruto had to ask one more question.
"What do…you think of me, Kyote?"
The teenager rolled onto his stomach, tipping his head to the side. "You really want to know, Naruto?"
"Yeah!" The boy sat up eagerly. "Tell me!"
In reply, Kyote's lips met Naruto's gently. Naruto froze.
"Understand now?" the older boy asked quietly as he drew back. He noticed the troubled expression on the younger shinobi's face. "What is it, Naruto? Don't like this?"
The blond haired boy scrambled backwards to his feet, shaking his head. "N-no."
Kyote got to his feet. "Well, I'm not going to force anything on you," he said as he left the clearing. "See you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
The black haired shinobi glanced back. "Yeah. We only have a half-day today. Iruka-sensei said to go home and rest. Because tomorrow, the real serious stuff begins."
Before Naruto could reply, the Ryuuchi boy was gone.
Vanished in the network of branches and leaves.