Life as A Fox
Chapter 78
NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)
Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.
Naruto awoke groggily the next morning, his body sore and ached from the previous day, be he pushed himself up to his sore paws then walked stiffly around the camp. Warming and loosening up his stiff and sore muscles. It was a bit cooler today it seemed, he flickered his eyes up to the sky. It was pale and cloudy today, no sun shone down upon them, maybe because it didn't want to see any more blood shed either.
He shook himself and freed his bones from the cold that had seeped there. He saw that others around camp were getting up stumbling around. Weary medic's did morning rounds, they had not received adequate break time or rest. Naruto felt sorry for them and hoped their energy could last. He walked up to the battlements. Gaara and Kakashi stood there already both of them were tired as well.
Naruto spoke "How was it last night?" "Silent, not a sound from the enemy camp, they made no move last night." Naruto nodded good, at least most of the men got rest, in some way. He turned back to the now awaking camp "How is our numbers?" he asked them. "Many from the first charge are wounded or shaken, but they still stand to fight."
Naruto nodded good, that was very good. He glanced out over to the enemy camp, it was just beyond his train of sight, but he managed to see some blurred forms moving about. Naruto saw men walking to and from traveling tents, he even saw forms of Lumenion stalking about and moving in their ungainly ways. He noted though, that larger shapes moved about, tall, gaunt creatures, that seemed to have branches upon their heads..was he seeing things?
He growled and bared his teeth slightly "What is it?" Kakashi asked "Something is not right, there is something else to worry about" Kakashi glanced to him "What is it?" "I have no idea" Naruto said flatly.
They lined up once more in their rows, they no longer hid but instead stood shoulder to shoulder next to their human comrades. Some had bandages and wounds from yesterdays battle but they still stood strong and resolute in their positions. Naruto turned his armored head down the line, every demon stood eyes forward, they stared down the enemies before them.
Their eyes held a certain calm, they knew now what they were heading into, they knew know what expect, already their minds and hearts hardened to prepare themselves for the things to come. Some already were building an immunity to the previous days excursions, some already began to want for the blood, they were beginning to love the thrill of battle.
Naruto was not among them, not yet anyway, he knew that after a while, while in the thick of it, he would lose his head, he would give in to the predator, the animal within him, release the beast of battle out on the field, try as he might he would not be able to stop the storm that grew within him at times. He could only release it and hope that it would blow itself out, and he could reclaim himself once more.
The sun was behind them, just starting to rise. The call went out, they would take the advantage. Naruto moved out, with his group, they stalked forward, wordlessly the spanned out into a 'V' formation, Fenrir at his shoulder. Naruto managed to glance down the line aways and saw the Inuzaka branch of the army. Kiba stalked next to Akamaru, it would be their first day on the field.
He hoped no harm would come to Kiba, the man was important in a lot of ways to a lot of people, he had no idea what he would to do console Hinata if they lost Kiba. He shook the thought from mind, it would never happen, he was too stubborn to die. Naruto turned his head and looked down the line he saw someone familiar, Sasuke.
He walked in-between two tigers. Sasuke actually blended in with them, the way he moved his body in a graceful deadliness. Naruto still felt angry at Sasuke but at the moment, he had bigger things to worry about. Naruto heard the second call, it was time to speed up. At a brisk trot they moved, then they broke out into a full on canter, the horses behind them spurring them on.
They moved in a wedge formation against the enemy, their lines thinned to provide concentration in center of the enemy lines, in hopes to crash through and utterly decimate them. They were in full charge, their hearts and feet thundering together in a symphony. When once again the enemy played a trick on them.
The men parted and a wall of white formed, they looked like deer, but much...much taller, they were wide, but only in the haunches. Two tall wide antlers that spanned like tree branches formed on their heavy-set heads. Their faces were long like horses, but ended in an elk looking jaw, but two sharp incisors gleamed from their top jaws.
Their eyes, which had the same oblong pupils as horses glared at them, then one rose on his back withers and let out a long low call. It rose up like an elk but it sounded more like the deep brutal growl of a bear.
The army was headed straight for them, the momentum to much to turn or to slow down. Naruto bared his teeth, there would be fighting to come, lots of it if he wanted to get out alive. The tall creatures moved out, heads down antlers reaching out for them like gnarled hands. Naruto was shoved aside as all the elk and horned demons put themselves in front of the main line, protecting them.
Naruto knew it would be bad, those creatures looked strong, but he had faith. But even his faith could not stop him from yelling out the name of the elk that rose in front of him "Arkill!" he yelled, but his voice was swept away. He could only watch as the two antlered enemies met. There was a crash, a literal one, The elk met their enemies, some elks antlers broke or cracked beneath the strain and force of the blow.
They bodies were halted instantly, Naruto and the rest of the army who were trying to slow down ended up crashing into their flanks, however this was actually a good thing, the force of them hitting the back of the elks pushed the elk forward, this caused the enemy Lumenion to slide backwards, their heads being pushed down into the earth.
Naruto righted himself and took the chance he had, he dived inbetween the vicious spokes of antlers and leaped onto the back of one of the enemy, he buried his fangs into the shoulders, digging for the place where the spine met with them. The Lumenion could only buck and leap back and forth sideways as he tried to release his antlers.
Naruto ripped and tore faster, remembering not to swallow blood. He was not the only one though to take advantage of this, many followed his lead and attacked while they had the chance. Naruto heard whizzing above his head, it was the sounds of Kunai and shuriken being thrown by the ninja's of either side, they would soon be in the mix.
Naruto dug deeper, Fenrir who had a cut on his leg joined him and helped bring him down. Naruto and Fenrir nodded to each other and they separated, each going about to help whoever the could. The battle was thicker and more violent than before. Dust rose up and swirled in the air, Naruto choked on it and the blood.
He could barely see anything clearly, all he saw was an ocean of colors, mostly white, because of the Lumenion or many other shades of the demons pelts. Naruto moved in and out, he received a nick here or a cut there, sometime he almost got crushed by the hooves of his fellow demons, another time he got knocked over and buried in a pile of fighting wolves and Lumenion.
He broke through that pile, fighting with all his strength. He gave his comrades only a nod before they moved onto the others. Naruto went down the line, he managed to fight off the Lumenion who were trying to bring down a deer. Three against one the odds did not look good. Naruto rushed in, and fought, biting and tearing in, but even after everything, he could save the fellow demon.
He died, his throat ripped open, he looked to Naruto "Thank-you my brother...but the...afterlife...calls" Naruto bowed his head he stood surrounded by the bodies of the fallen, Lumenion blood, human blood and demons blood saturated the ground. Naruto stood, his sense completely over come, he couldn't think of what to do next, to him it seemed all too much, the enemies seemed to never cease, and it seemed as though less and less of them stood to fight.
He heard howls as an Inuzaka and his companion formed together to create their greatest jutsu, 'human beast combination transformation-double headed wolf' But he knew it wasn't Kiba do to the fact that his transformation was a tan color. This however did help push the tide of enemies back some. Naruto turned his head when he heard the sound of two tigers, roaring and spitting as the fought back to back with a single ninja, Naruto couldn't see who but he had to help them, they were surrounded by twenty or so Lumenion, and the tigers were bleeding already from several wounds.
Naruto made several clones then rushed in. He hit the unaware Lumenion, knocking several aside, they turned to him and attacked. Naruto attacked back with even more ferocity. He was tired of this! he was tired of this battle and tired of these Lumenion! He hated them with a passion! Why won't they just die! He roared and snapped the neck of the one he was fighting, his clones in turn ripped and slashed at the others, by sheer ferocity Naruto pushed them back.
The Lumenion actually fell back, they feared this wolf that fought like many, they were no match for him, he was the strongest demon they had ever met. They retreated. Naruto stood panting, his anger and his strength gone for the moment.
He turned though when he heard the sound of a tiger whimpering in pain. Naruto looked to see an interesting sight. One he did not think to see. Uchiha Sasuke trying to staunch the blood of a demon in pain. Naruto trotted over, he glanced to Sasuke. Sasuke looked to him, several emotions filtered through him, pain for what had been done to him so long ago, but then again, a new though came to Naruto.
If Sasuke hadn't done what he had, Naruto would not have gotten to receive the life he had lived, he would not have met Yume or had the chance to love her or experience the love she had. He would not have three beautiful pups waiting for him, he would not have met Gomeg, or would have changed os many people's views on demons, he would not have gotten to done a lot of things, and all of it, in a way, was thanks to Sasuke.
It was there at that moment, in the thick of battle, in thick of loss, did Naruto finally forgive Sasuke. That was when a calm fell over Naruto, he turned "Do not worry my brother, we will get you to safety." The tiger nodded weakly. Naruto turned to the other "Can you carry him on your back?" The other tiger nodded "of course, he is my brother!"
Naruto nodded "Sasuke help me drag him onto his back" Sasuke nodded "easy he's in a lot of pain" Sasuke added. Naruto nodded "I know, but we have to do it quickly before we are attacked." Sasuke nodded. Together they helped push the tiger unto his brothers back. "Do you need escort to the medics?" Naruto asked, the tiger shook his head "no, I will get my brother there safely, you can count on it."
Naruto nodded and watched as the tiger scurried off, his brothers lie on his shoulders. Naruto had a flashback to a time when young Gin was on his back, how he ran while her life blood flowed from her. He shook himself from the thought. He turned to Sasuke. "How do you fare oh great Uchiha?" Sasuke looked to him sadly "could we not fight at the moment, we have bigger things to worry about then the past."
Naruto was silent "I know...I wanted to say that...maybe...maybe I was a little...harsh on you, I mean I usually am not one for carrying grudges...but you can well imagine." Sasuke nodded "yeah I know, I killed you, and I regret it now like I regret it back then, and nothing I can do will make up for it, but I am willing to try."
Naruto nodded "I know, I know, but you are doing good, which is what I always wanted from you, I always wanted you to realize that the path you walked was not a right one, I guess...I was just blinded by my emotions to see you truly have changed, you are...okay Sasuke, but like you said, we have bigger things to worry about."
Sasuke turned his sword flashing as he stabbed a leaping Lumenion through the chest. He turned back to Naruto, a small smile on his face. "That's one down" he said. Naruto growled, he liked the challenge. He turned and together, side by side, he and Sasuke fought together, they helped each other and looked out for each other, Naruto for a moment was almost transported back in time, back to a time when they were just genin on a team, working together for the same thing.
He was happy, it was how it was supposed to be. They together, carved a path into the enemy line, Naruto brought down Lumenion while Sasuke handled the ninja who dared to meet him in battle. There was a lull where they were at so they took the chance to rest. Both saw to cuts and wounds that they just noticed they had.
Naruto grimaced at the bite mark on his back leg, he turned to lick it. Sasuke spoke "do you need me to wrap it?" Naruto nodded "please" he said. Sasuke grabbed some bandages from his pocket and began to wrap it quickly. There was a silence between them. "Where did you get this scar?" Sasuke asked motioning to the one he received on that fateful mission where he lost his students.
He sighed "it's a long...sad story, let's just say that I like Kakashi lost my students and my team, however, I do not have the choice of getting them back" Sasuke was silent "I'm..sorry, for your loss, it must have been hard." Naruto nodded "the heavies blow I received in my life, it crippled me, I can tell you that, but I pulled through it, it took awhile..and a lot of convincing from other parties, but I managed."
Sasuke nodded he finished bandaging he grunted as he looked to his side, he had a cut there, wide but not too deep. Naruto spoke "bandage yourself, I will take watch" Sasuke nodded and began to do so, Naruto stood in front of him watching for attacks or enemies. "I guess you and me both were both in the same boat, both of us was slowly drowning, but we were dead set in accepting our fates, but for some reason, people saw fit to save us, they saw something inside us that was good."
Naruto nodded Sasuke spoke truthfully. "Yes, it was..something like that." There was another silence. Sasuke spoke up after a bit "You know, if we make it through this war and stuff, I would like for you to come and meet my family." Naruto nodded "Same here."
Sasuke nodded and turned "Okay, let's get through this then." Naruto grinned "What's the matter? Are you scared?" Naruto said and ran off towards distant fighting. Sasuke fell in place beside him. "It's been a long time since the forest of death, I think we both know that...right...Fluffy."
Naruto growled "When this war is over I am going to hurt you." Sasuke laughed and pushed ahead. Naruto growled and sped up, the Uchiha would not beat him. They both were back to their old ways, they were now friendly rivals, trying to out compete the other, while still watching out for each other.
Naruto put up his shield as another jutsu hit him. Sasuke protected himself as well. He groaned and activated his sharingan, this was the first time Naruto saw him do this. "These guys are insane" Naruto commented. Sasuke nodded, his normal sharingan spinning, he could if he wanted to activate his mengekyou, but he did not want to harm his eye-sight anymore then necessary.
Naruto made several clones and charged the two ninja who gave them problems, they were strong, they had killed already maybe a squadron of ninja by themselves. Naruto tried to get in close, but they were insanely fast and Naruto could not get a handle on them.
He grunted as one appeared from nowhere and blind side punched him. It was times at this he wished he took after his fathers blood-trait the yellow flash, but he never could get access to such power unless he was in sage mode, and that was a long forgotten ability unto itself as well.
He gritted his teeth, he had always meant to go back and relearn that, but he always was side-tracked. He thudded into the earth. He groaned as he staggered up, his wounded leg starting to give out from beneath him. Sasuke leaped in front of him and protected Naruto from another blow.
With his sharingan Sasuke could now read and follow the two enemies, Naruto had to give in and let Sasuke take control of the fight, Naruto could not do much. If only he wasn't so wore out and weakened from the fight, along with all the poisonous blood that managed to trickle down his throat, even though he tried to evade it.
The blood weakens demons power, so the more you fought, the more you killed, the weaker you became, which is why the battle was shifting once more, only against them, there just wasn't a lot they could do. The Lumenion were like weeds they grew and became stronger it seemed only in a course of a few hours.
Naruto was snapped from his thoughts as two bodies thudded to the ground in bloody sheets. Sasuke stood over them, his sword crimson and his body and clothes covered in red. Both of them were dirty from head to toe, both of them weary but they pressed on.
Naruto staggered up he felt useless, but Sasuke said nothing he only nodded to Naruto then they jogged slowly to the next section of fighting. Naruto ran for a bit, he glanced to the sun that finally showed itself. It was almost three by the looks of it, they had fought for hours, both sides would probably take a break soon enough, he hoped.
But then Naruto caught eye of something that made his blood go cold, and he forgot his entire world all together, the one-eyed man, the one who had killed and taken his students from him. He growled ruthlessly. Sasuke shied away he had never heard a growl like that before, the look on Naruto's face was of absolute hatred.
His eyes had gone blank and feral, Sasuke wondered for a bit, was that the way his eyes once were? Was that the way he viewed the world and saw it for the longest time? Empty and void of compassion and feeling? He shuddered he was glad he came to see the error in his ways, glad to know that he saved himself from such a life.
He spoke "Naruto? What's wrong?" he asked fearing the answer. "It's him" Naruto spat coldly, stalking forward, he could feel Naruto's chakra levels rise as he called on his last bit of strength, he could feel the killer intent and blood lust crackle through the air.
"Naruto, who? What are you talking about! You can't go into all those enemies! It's suicide!" Naruto snapped to him "I will not let him escape a second time! He will perish for what he did to my students! For what he took from me! I swore to kill him and avenge their wrongful deaths!"
A cold fear trickled through Sasuke's spine, their roles had been reversed, it was now Sasuke who was standing stuck, trapped as water poured in around him, submerging him and dragging him down to icy depths as he watched his friend turn and walk down a path of shadows and darkness. He knew what Naruto had felt all those years.
He knew the pain that he had caused, and what his actions and words could do. He know knew that words could stab and jar just as bad a knife blade. He spoke pleading "Don't! Naruto please! Don't go in there! Don't go for revenge! I know what it is like to go for blood! Don't do this! You will only regret it!"
Naruto turned and snapped to him "That didn't stop you now did it!? Don't tell what to do Tenge! You are in no position to speak to me about these things!" Then Naruto ran into the battle, where it was still at its thickest, all around Naruto men and demons fell but still Sasuke could see his figure.
Bloodied, dirt covered and ragged dodging and slipping through all that was in his path, he did not turn to help any, he was on his own agenda. Sasuke swore "Shit!" he said as he ran after Naruto "Shit, shit, shit shit!" he yelled over and over as he sliced and diced his way through, following Naruto and hoping with every fiber of his being he could make it to him in time.
Naruto leaped and ripped through the jugular of the hoofed Lumenion, it fell screeching from a bloodied and torn wind-pipe, blood splattering about, he stalked past the dying creature without a second glance. He growled as his life long enemy turned to see him.
The man grinned "Well well well, if it isn't the white demon of Konoha, not so white now? No, your fur is stained with the blood of humans and demons you lead into this slaughter, you should have died and saved them all from having to."
Naruto growled "The only deaths I care about are those of my students you murderer!" Naruto leaped, anger clouding his thoughts. The man shook his head, and with a flick of his wrists Naruto was chained and captured, kneeling before the feet of his enemy.
The man grinned, "So Suki did not lie, she had promised me that by the end of the war, you would be kneeling here before me, it looks like she was correct..." Then the man reached into his vest and pulled out the accursed demonsbane blade.
Naruto tried to struggle but it was too late, he was captured, every move made the thorns dig deeper into him, they pulled and tore his flesh easily. He for the first time felt the cold chill of death on his neck once more. He whimpered, no! He could not die again! If he did he would be lost forever! Cursed to wander the land as a ghost! He had his family! His mate! His dream!
But all of them would not be his worries no more, because he looked, only to see the stroke of a shining blade coming down upon him. It was as if the gods themselves were guiding that deadly, but beautiful blade to end the flickering candle that was his life.
NSW