Author: heh. Good chapter. Fun to write, this one was. by the way, thanks to all of you who reviewed(and even more to those who put this story on their Story Alert List(!).) Well, on with the show...

Btw, Bagel-san. If I make any stupid mistakes with the characters, feel free to hit me and make me change stuff. Same goes to all other readers, too, though. OOC-ness is evil, and I wish to rectify as best as possible.

Disclaimer: Naruto, in all its forms, does not belong to me. I damn well wish Itachi did though...

Kawao's whole body shuddered, and he leaned heavily on a tree; without that, he would have fallen to the ground.

'Stop it! STOP IT!'

The memories...images...things were haunting him, dogging his every step. He would pause for a moment and he would hear the whisper of a laugh, catch a snippet of conversation, see the briefest flash of a smile. He would see a face he had never come across before, and have an aching sense of recognition that made him want to cry.

'FOX!'

Kawao slumped down onto the ground, shaking, his arms wrapped tightly around him.

Falling...falling...sharp pinpricks of pain down his body, a dazing blow to his torso...a moment of breathlessness, then biting cold...

'Stop it!'

A brief release of chakra, the red swirling around him in a spiral, covering him, but not protecting him from the onslaught from within. With a groan, Kawao stilled, and after a long moment, the chakra dissapeared and he stood.

"Tch. I didn't think it would be that bad," Kyuubi said as he stood, rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "He can't hide from them forever, though. I'll let him rest back there, and do my best to control the unlocking of his memories. After all, what good is a host that is insane?"

Kyuubi closed his eyes, and after he had molded chakra the way he wanted, he let the jutsu go, and twitched as it settled on his like a cloak.

"That should take a month. Good! A month to myself," Kyuubi purred and lept into the trees, and began his journey again, far, far away from Konoha.

---

Kyuubi dropped off the people he had been guiding at the gates of the Cloud Village, and shifted uneasily. Something was wrong with those eyes. He could feel it. The mark on his shoulder was prickling strangely, and he turned away from the gates, having recieved his pay at the beginning of the trip, and began to walk away. Once far enough not to raise the alarm in the village full of ninja, he lightly touched the mark on his shoulder and sent out his senses through it.

He snarled and immediatly teleported to Konoha.

---

He hadn't seen a battle this fierce since his own duel with Konoha.

That didn't matter, though. Where was he? He scanned the village and pinpointed him. Surrounded by quite a few high-level ninja. Fighting alongside others, though...shit.

Ah, well.

Kyuubi closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were bright blue. Around him, red chakra flared, and molded about him. What was left was a fox-like being with seven tales and brilliantly blue eyes. With a roar, he jumped into the fray, and the newest generation of Konoha got to witness what it meant to fight a demon.

---

Sasuke heard the roar and shivered, but didn't allow himself to be distracted. It was only when a fox-like creature landed silently behind their enemies that Sasuke allowed his eyes to widen a little.

The creature was unmerciful; it took it two minutes to removed all the enemies from the district Sasuke was fighting in. It took great care, though, not to harm any Konoha ninja. Once the enemies had either fled or were dead, the creature huffed and looked over at Sasuke.

Sasuke had never seen a fox, or a demon, with blue eyes before.

The fox paced languidly over to Sasuke and twined about him like a large, very dangerous, cat. The pure chakra buzzed against his skin, tickling him a little, and though Sasuke knew very well that he should be afraid, he was never one to show fear, and it felt as if this demon meant no harm to him. Just everyone who would hurt Sasuke.

"There are other parts of the village that need help."

Then I'll come with you, said a voice in Sasuke's head, a weird melding of two different timbres. Sasuke nodded, reluctantly, and then took off, with the fox just a step behind him.

Those who had saught to invade Konoha had a rude awakening when a demon appeared to fight on Konoha's behalf. That was...unexpected. Those smart enough to recognize the immense danger they were in bolted, and those who were trapped, or clung to orders, died painfully and horribly. It seemed the demon was not happy with those who invaded the village, and was even more protective of one specific ninja.

They leanred very, very quickly not to attack Uchiha Sasuke.

Once all the enemy nin had retreated, died, or were captured, the demon finally relaxed enough to sit down next to Sasuke. It then did the very human gesture of cuffing the young man on the head.

Sasuke...teme... the last bit was added with the slightest bit of humor, Next time, ask for me to come, rather than me feeling you're in danger, and not knowing why. Or you could just borrow my chakra.

"What?" Sasuke asked, puzzled, but not showing it.

The demon nudged Sasuke's shoulder, and the cloth fell off it enough to reveal a deep red mark on his shoulder in the shape of a spiral.

Next time, if you need more power, just touch that and ask for chakra. Trust me, you will get it.

"Wait...then you are...?"

Oops. Looks like I've outstayed my welcome. The fox's azure eyes became sad. I'm glad I could help you, Sasuke. But it really does look like I have to give up both my dreams.

The fox nudged Sasuke gently again, the gesture affectionate and playful, though edged with sadness.

I will see you again.

It was a statement, not a question, so Sasuke merely nodded.

In a swirl of deep red chakra, the demon fox that had been there a moment before was now gone.

---

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned in time to catch his girlfriend in his arms, and held her gently to him.

"Sasuke! Are you alright?"

Sasuke nodded slightly and gave her a small smile. "Of course."

"I was so worried!"

Sasuke was waiting in the hospital, wanting to check on Kakashi and Sakura, and he was also requested(ordered) to come to the clinic. Just in case to see if the red chakra that would have most likely seeped into him had any averse effects on his sanity or pysical health.

Sasuke kissed Kumori lightly, to show her he really was okay, and was struck again by how different it felt from kissing...him.

Kumori gave Sasuke a small, unsure smile and hugged him tightly. "I'm just glad all that is over."

Sasuke merely nodded.

He was dragged away from his girlfriend and was shoved into a room to wait for the Hokage. Sasuke sighed softly and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. He closed his eyes, and allowed his mind to wander.

The demon had been interesting. He had never seen a fox with blue eyes before. Maybe it was a peculiarity of demons? Sasuke found himself rubbing his shoulder and pulled back the cloth. There was mark there, one he hadn't seen before it had been pointed out. It was slowly fading from a deep red to his skin color; very ingenious. Wait...Kawao had said he'd marked him. Is this what he had meant? Then, wait...then that fox was Kawao. But...at the same time, it wasn't. Kawao had tawny eyes, eyes like a normal fox, while those were blue. He looked at the mark again, and idly traced it. A spiral. Where had he seen spirals before?

Bright blonde hair. And orange jacket a shade so bright that it hurt to look at it for long. Whisker-marks...a sunny smile...I'm going to be Hokage!

...it really does look like I have to give up both my dreams...

Blue eyes.

Sasuke-teme!

Watching him fall as he slipped out of a desperate hold.

No...

Fucking...

Way...

"NARUTO!" Sasuke whispered.

...it really does look like I have to give up both my dreams...

Sasuke knew that one of the dreams was to be Hokage. But what could the other possibly be?

Sasuke was pulled out of his thoughts as the Hokage entered. He would think more on his discovery later.