(A/N) Okay, firstly. I want to say that I think a few of you got the wrong impression of the Koorikage. She's not mean, or evil, or bitchy, she just saw a chance to rid her village of the demon fox that inhabited it and took it. The former demon vessel was Yukifuri, and if anybody wants to know more about her and her life I might do an omake at some point. Also, I want to change the name of this fic. "Cheek Stripes" is starting to really bug me. I think I'll go for Possessed. Or, if you have another idea, review and tell me!
Thank you for all the nice reviews I got! I haven't gotten around to responding to all of them all yet, but I will! I swear! And Soon!
And on a side note, I must respond to a review the old fashioned way, because it was anonymous. Dear You Are An Idiot: Rukobi is a six-tailed weasel? That's nice. But since my character is called Rokubi, that has nothing to with anything. Either you're strongly dyslexic or you're even dumber than me. And if that doesn't shut you up, we'll call it artistic license. Oh, and I never said Ino has the SAME markings as Naruto, is just said she has markings. If anybody wants to know, she has two stripes on each cheek. You could have asked instead of making a fool of yourself. :heart:
(-)
Sakura dragged Ino into the street, out of Hokage tower. Grabbing her rival by her oversized collar, the pink-haired kunoichi pulled Ino into a doorway across the street. "Have you lost your friggin mind?" Sakura hissed into her friend's ear.
Ino shrugged. "I'm not discounting that theory yet."
"If this is just some ploy for attention-"
"Sakura-san, where what makes you think I could come up with a name like Rokubi, Lady of the Snow Clouds?"
You say it with such disdain, kitling. I'm insulted.
Ino shook her head vigorously, as if by doing so she could expel the fox spirit from her mind.
"Come on, Sakura-san, you're going to help me pack."
Ino practically had to drag the other kunoichi by the hair back to the Yamanaka residence.
(-)
Kit.
Naruto groaned and rolled over.
KIT.
Naruto groaned, with a hint of a tone that clearly said 'Five more minutes'.
ROUSE YOURSELF, YOU STINKING WASTE OF SKIN!
A few months after the Akatsuki fiasco, Naruto had discovered that he could talk to the demon with ease. Before that, he had only seen it twice, and it hadn't exactly been the most helpful creature. The first time it established a permanent mental link with the ninja was in the middle of a mission briefing.
Ah, that's better. At least I can see the outside world now.
"AAAH!"
Tsunade peered over the file she had been reading at the startled boy. "Is something wrong, Naruto?" She asked with saccharine sweetness. Her tone was nothing but concern, but her eyebrow was twitching.
"Ano sa, It's nothing Tsunade-baba."
She continued to read the report, but the eyebrow kept twitching.
'What in the world was that?' Naruto thought.
Me, Kit. And Kami am I glad to be out of there.
'WHAT? Is the seal broken?'
I should be so lucky. I merely created a mental link. I now see what you see, hear what you hear.
'Uh, how is that different from normal?'
Before, I had to wait until you were asleep and preoccupied with dreams to review your memories. My apologies, but after twelve years in a cage, you'd get bored too. Did you know your brain smells like ramen?
'Hey, you been watching my- Wait, really? Ramen? Cool!'
"NARUTO!"
"Hwuh?" The blond started.
"Sorry to snap you out of your reverie, but do you have any idea what the mission is going to be?"
Naruto sweatdropped. "Eh…"
Back to the present…
Naruto yelped and sat up, earning a curious glance from Jiraiya, who was tending the fire. Naruto grinned at the old man and tried to make his way over to the edge of the woods. The reds and golds of the leaves rustled in the wind. With a glance back at the field, the blond saw that his teacher was reasonably occupied with eating Naruto's share of the breakfast and judged that he would be able to speak to his tenant with reasonable privacy.
Okay, Kyuubi, what is it?
There is another like myself approaching. Fairly rapidly, too.
Naruto's head swiveled frantically, scanning the forest. What? Where? Who?
Calm yourself, kit. Not another kyuubi. Most definitely weaker than myself, I would judge it to be two or three ranks below myself.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.
Do not celebrate, kit. That is still nothing to sneeze at, as you would say. I am Lord of Foxes. A fox demon's rank is judged by the number of tails they have. Nine is the highest, and only one kyuubi no kitsune can exist in the world at once. Pretty much anything above a five is still very powerful. If my senses do not fail me, we're dealing with at least a five, more likely six or seven.
Is it unsealed? Naruto thought nervously.
No. But it isn't the same kind of kitsune as I am. It's a possession-spirit. Though it has a physical form, it prefers to inhabit a mortal in control them to cause mischief. Naruto almost thought he heard the kitsune sniff with disdain. It's a technique usually used by lower-level demons. That a five-tail or higher is doing it is almost shameful. Naruto had to keep himself from giggling. Shinobi do not giggle.
(-)
Ino trudged through the forest. Any passerby would have thought she was mentally unbalanced, as she was muttering vehemently to herself. In truth, she was talking to her new inhabitant about Konoha, the Rookie Nine, and her team.
Interesting. Tell me more of this fat child.
'Don't call him fat.'
But he is.
'But don't call him that.'
So… He is in denial?
'No, just don't call him that.'
But he IS.
'You can't call him that though.'
Humans are weird.
(-)
"Have to get more food…" Naruto mumbled as he ran. Blasted Ero-sannin, sending him off first thing in the morning. It turned out that Naruto's portion of the would-be breakfast was the last of the food. Leaping into a nearby tree, Naruto proceeded to dash towards the village. Konoha had better food, but the civilian village nearby was closer.
Lost in her conversation with the kitsune, Ino failed to really look where she was going. This resulted in her walking into a tree. Said tree was relatively small, and it jiggled just a little bit. Just enough for a fairly skilled ninja to lose his footing and fall directly towards the earth, where unfortunately there waited a certain blond kunoichi.
"Would you watch where you're going?" Yelled Ino. Blinking, she did a double take. The stranger didn't look half bad, in a scruffy, I-need-a-bath sort of way. Irregularly tall, bright blue eyes, hair that had total disdain for gravity. It was somewhere between blond and orange, with rather long bangs and the excess pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of his neck. If her perception of him had not already been tainted by his rough landing, she probably would have admitted that he was cuter than Sasuke, in his own way. The funny thing is, she knew it.
The stranger made no attempt to move, staring at her headband. "Konoha nin? What are you doing out here?"
Ino rolled the stranger off, stood up and dusted herself down. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm looking for Naruto Uzumaki."
The young man blinked. "What? Why are you looking for me?"
Ino stared right back. What? No WAY this was Naruto. Naruto was short. Naruto was loudmouthed and had the finesse of a rock. Naruto was not this cute. Three years couldn't do that much, could it?
The boy's eyes widened slowly in recognition. "Ino-san?" She didn't reply. "Ino-san!' He cried, grinning. "Hey, long time no see, huh? Come on, let's go talk to Ero-sannin! How come you were looking for me, huh?" Ino wouldn't have been able to get a word in if she had wanted to. As it was, she was too busy debating whether the fact that the young man was Naruto changed that fact that he was cute.
(-)
"Baka! I send you to get food and you come back with a woman? Not that I would normally complain, but I'm hungry, dammit!"
"You're hungry? You ate my breakfast! I'm starving here, and you don't give a damn!"
Ino stared at the two Shinobi in heated debate. Were they really teacher and pupil? They acted more like schoolboys. After a few more minutes of argument, the two men sat themselves around the fire. Ino took this as her cue to do the same. 'Ero-sannin', as Naruto called him, glanced at her over steepled fingers. "So, Ino-san, what brings you to our corner of the forest?" Ino swallowed noisily.
"Well, you see, Godaime-sama sent me."
Jiraiya's eyes hardened. "What does she want from me now? Because if it's another favor you can go back right now and tell her the answer is no!"
"Actually, she said to talk to Naruto-san."
Both Naruto and Jiraiya blinked at this. "About what?" Naruto said.
Ino shifted uncomfortably. "She said you know a thing or two about demons."
Now it was Naruto's eyes that hardened. He narrowed his eyes and tensed up. Ino sensed that she was getting into sensitive territory and backed up. "I seem to find myself possessed, Naruto-san. Godaime-sama said you know your way around demons. I had a fox spirit sealed into me on a recent mission, and nobody in the village can help." The blond Shinobi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Interesting… I can read nothing from this boy… Something is wrong.
Jiraiya looked at the girl. Once again, Ino heard a voice in her head.
'So that's why she needs Naruto… Well, the boy must be at least a little homesick by now. Might as well let him.' Out loud, she would hear something along the same lines… In a while.
Naruto grinned. "I'm not sure what I could do, but I'm willing to help, Ino-san!"
"Not so fast, student! I never said you could help the kunoichi! I'm still responsible for training you, remember?"
"EEEEEEEEEH? Jiraiya-sensei, she needs my help!"
Ino tilted her head down and smiled into her collar. She knew the toad-sannin would let him help, he just wanted to put up a good show.
"Nya, I'll get all your food for a week, and I'll never make fun of your pervy books again!"
Ino twitched. Never make fun of his what?
Interesting allies you find yourself, Ino-kitling.
"Chya, if it means that much to you, you can go into Konoha on weekends. But you'd better be back at camp by noon every Monday!"
"Aie, arigato Jiraiya-sensei!" At the last exclamation, Naruto launched himself forwards to glomp his teacher. Ino found herself greatly amused, as Naruto was a good half-foot taller than the white haired man. After a brief scuffle, Jiraiya managed to removed the young man from around his neck. "Hmph. Since it's Friday, I don't see why you shouldn't go into town now."
Ino grabbed her comrade before he could attack his teacher with love again.
Notes: Agh. I want to go to bed. starts to snore Hehe. Were you all appropriately amused by fancy-pants speech from Kyuubi? I always thought he was like that, deep down. I don't know what that flashback scene was about. Weird. Anyways. Don't forget to review! Reviews make me update! Yes they do. And I want to know what to change the name to, if at all.
