The lights were turned low.
Only the sound of a supply cart with a squeaky wheel could be heard from Naruto's room.
Night shift personnel were at work, and visitor hours were long over. It was the middle of the night, and the small hospital staff didn't notice a fox running through the hallways. A temporary janitor did, however. Immediately thereafter, he walked over to a water fountain and poured out his flask of Sake.
Feeling its tail drag, the Kyuubi avatar realized that it needed to rejoin with the demon, in order to regain any semblance of strength and vitality. Pausing at the crack of the door it nosed open, it listened carefully. The boy seemed to be asleep.
Creeping towards the bed, it flattened its ears, grinning a feral grin. There was another threat it had made. Acting quickly enough, it might be able to give the hated boy a head start towards becoming a eunuch.
One step. Two steps. Three more steps. The fox slowly crept along the cover. As Naruto rolled over, the blanket fell off of him, exposing the target area. Perfect! Just a quick snap of the jaws and some fierce pulling and…
"Got you!" Naruto grabbed the Kyuubi avatar with both hands, intending to wrap its snout up in his blanket. The bite wound he had on his hand still hurt something awful. "I figured that you might try and sneak back in here!"
"No… no… no… nonono…" The fox pushed with all its might. It wasn't going to take the same tack as before. Whipping its tail around, it made contact with Naruto's abdomen, just above the navel. "See you, moron!"
Naruto cursed. It felt as if he had been holding smoke at the end. The damned thing had become incorporeal, merging back with his body.
"Damn!" Naruto struck his bed in frustration. "Stupid bastard motherf-…" He bit his tongue. "That little pest is even worse than the big one." She scratched one armpit. "Well, I guess they're all one in the same." He lay back down. There was something he could try.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Thoughts turned inward, he found himself walking the familiar dingy corridors of his mind, tromping off towards the Nine Tail's enclosure.
"Hey! Bastard fox! Wake up!" Naruto kicked at the massive bars. He looked around. Did the smaller fox join up with the massive demon, too? Or might it be running free inside the hallways. If it was, the little sucker would be smacked around and turned into a hand puppet if Naruto had his way. "Shit!" There was a sharp pain in one ankle.
"Idiot!" The fox form ran between Naruto's legs and disappeared into the darkness of the youma's cell.
"I hate that thing!" Naruto clenched his fists.
"IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE TO SEE YOU SUFFER."
"Oh yeh! That's really big of you!" Naruto pressed his face against the bars, wishing he could get inside and kick the demon fox's ass. "The great Kyuubi. Around longer than people have been. Doing petty shit like this. Boy, you must be so proud!"
"Dumb ass!" The high-pitched squeaky fox voice called out.
"I SAID THAT I WOULD EAT YOU, IF I COULD. STILL UNABLE TO DO SO, I WILL CONSUME YOUR PITIFUL EXISTENCE IN OTHER WAYS."
"So, you're still pissed at me for not letting you get out?" Naruto chuckled, feeling a modicum of control. "What was I thinking? How many chances will I get to have a evil, selfish, lame ass demon get free and chow down on me the way I slurp up noodles?" He snarled. "It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. You can be sure of that, fuzzball!"
"Don't bet on it!" The Kyuubi avatar said. "As long as I can keep leaving and returning, there's a chance that more of me can. Maybe next time I can drag a few more foxes out with me!"
"NOTHING LASTS FOREVER, INSECT. YOUR DAY OF RECKONING WILL COME. I SWEAR THAT TO YOU."
"Crap!" Naruto remarked. "Let me swear something to you both… I mean, to you in two parts… whatever. I'll die before I let that happen. If that little furry skid mark keeps messing with my life… or bites off more than I want him to chew… you take away my reasons to keep going. The next time I face off against someone like Itachi or Orochimaru, I just may go out in a really big bang!"
"Bullshit!" The squeaky fox voice said.
"YOUR WILL TO SUCCEED IS TOO STRONG, PITIFUL ONE. UP UNTIL THE END, YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE HOPE. THAT'S WHAT MAKES YOU WEAK."
"Keep yapping your gums, inmate. It's easy to talk big behind doors. Anything that the little fleabag breaks, I can fix. That's what happens when you have true friends. Don't you have hope yourself? Doesn't that make you weak too? What you're doing is nothing different than my painting graffiti on the Stone Faces. That was childish stuff. But I'm bigger than that now."
"You had fun when you did it, cry baby!" The avatar voice said.
"Yeh, I guess I did." Naruto nodded his head. "You know, if the damn fox comes out of me again, I'm going to catch it. If I do that, I will have all the proof I ever need." He sighed. None of his tricks would work as long as Kyuubi had access to his thoughts, and the fox had access to the large demon's consciousness.
"KEEP MAKING YOUR EMPTY THREATS. YOUR CLAIMS WILL MAKE THINGS ALL THAT MORE SATISFYING WHEN YOU FAIL. YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE FOR THE SINS OF THE YELLOW FLASH."
"Maybe I will," Naruto said, frowning. It was bad enough being hated by the villagers because of what the Fourth had done. Getting grief from Kyuubi just made things worse. He wished there was some way to make things a two-way street with that blasted demon. "Of course, from where I stand, it looks like you are the sinner. You didn't get put behind bars because you're a nice little doggie." He grinned. "Although the small little fellow is kind of cute."
"I'll show you cute!" The fox form sounded angry and insulted. "Doggie!"
"THIS IS POINTLESS. YOU ARE INTERRUPTING MY SLUMBER. THE LONGER YOU STAY, THE WEAKER YOUR BODY WILL BECOME. THE WEAKER YOU BECOME, THE SOONER YOU WILL FALL ASLEEP."
"Shit!" Naruto rubbed his neck. The stupid demon was right. And, if he fell asleep, know knows what the little son of a bitch might do to him? "You're right! Thanks for showing me your cards, loser. I guess I will have to take drastic measures, as soon as I'm strong enough." He smiled. "The little bastard needs to join up with you every once in a while, huh? Well, when I'm strong enough, I'll try that jutsu again, seeing if I can lock him in there with you. Maybe I can make another cage in my mind, one with a little hamster wheel in it."
"You… you… you…" The avatar began barking in anger. "Just you wait…"
Things became very foggy. Naruto didn't need to walk to some figurative exit. He slowly transitioned back to his normal consciousness. Now, it was a waiting game. The longer the fox waited to leave again, the stronger Naruto would be thanks to Kyuubi's own healing powers. But, the longer things took, the more tired he would be, and there would be a greater chance of him dozing off.
"I've got to get proof. That way, Granny will assign people to catch the damn thing." Naruto punched his pillow. "She's got to believe me. If things can get worse, and more of the demon can get out…" It was a scary thought.
The yawning ninja did everything he could to stay awake. But, more and more, his eyelid fluttered or grew heavy. He risked using up some of his chakra, creating clones to baby sit him during quick catnaps. But, they never knew when they might disappear, so there was a risk involved. The last thing he wanted to do was wake up singing soprano.
"See you, loser!" The fox exited his body like a small orange whisp of chakra before taking form. It gave up ideas of physical retribution, choosing to do more mischief.
"Who's the loser!" Naruto had managed to shield his thoughts from Kyuubi for a bit, making the great demon think he was asleep. "Get him!" A clone stepped out from behind a drawn curtain, grabbing the fox by the tail. In a swift motion, too fast for Naruto to follow, it brought a knife around and cut of the avatar's tail. "There's my proof! Now wring the little jerk's neck."
The fox may have looked like a common fox. But, it was anything but. It was still a demon, even if it was only part of the Nine Tails. It began gathering up its strength, needing to escape before it was too late.
"Hey!" Naruto laughed. "I got Nine Tails in here…" He rubbed his belly. "You got No Tails there…" He gave his clone a thumbs up.
"Wrong!" The avatar squirted out of the Naruto clone's grasp. Speeding like a furry missile, it leaped and broke through the window, tumbling unharmed to the street below.
"Damn!" Naruto thought about sending more clones after the fox, but couldn't spare the energy. "Hah! But at least we still have the tail." He spoke to soon.
No longer attached to the avatar, the furry little pennant faded away into nothing. A few moments later, Shizune ran into the room. "What happened?" She looked over at the broken window. "How…"
"It was a fox demon," Naruto said, feeling sheepish and angry at the same time. Tsunade's assistant probably wouldn't believe him either. "Kyuubi can split out some of his essence now, running around to cause trouble. The Old Lady won't believe me. No one will take a message to Jiraiya."
"I see," Shizune said. "That mysterious fox. I've been told about that." She sighed. "Naruto, if you keep this up, I'm going to have to sedate you. One more 'fox,' and I put you to sleep."
"But…" Naruto gripped his hospital gown tightly, wanting to shout. "Ask him…" Before the clone could say anything, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He was screwed and tattooed. If he didn't convince anyone to help him with the fox, he was so dead! But, if he so much as said the word 'fox', they would put him under, and the damn furry bastard could do whatever it wanted to him.
It would be up to him. Somehow, he needed to come up with a plan, while keeping Kyuubi ignorant of the details. It wouldn't be easy. But, he had no other choice. The damn demon was probably withholding some of its chakra, prolonging the healing process. He had no idea when he might get discharged. If they thought he was acting strangely, the medical staff would hold him longer for observation.
"I'll be good," Naruto said. "Will you tuck me in?" That was more like his usual self.
"No, I think not." Shizune shook a finger at him. "Not after some of the things that you've said to Tsunade."
"But…" Naruto bit his lip. There was no way he could convince Shizune that he was telling the truth. "I wasn't myself, I guess…"
"Oh… but it looks like you'll have some company anyway…" Shizune was looking out in the hallway.
"Really?" Naruto's eyes widened. Who would visit him in the early morning? Maybe Kakashi was bringing him some special reading material. No, probably not. He was one of the people angry at him. Might it be Sakura or one of the other girls, bringing him some kind of snacks before going on duty? Well, maybe not, if word had gotten around.
Ton Ton waddled into the room. "Bwee Bwee-e-e-e…" The pig jumped up into a chair, settled in, and started watching TV.
"Swell," Naruto said.