A/N: Welcome back everyone to another chapter of Stuck on an Island with a Cute Demon! I hope you enjoyed the last two chapters enough to come into this one with a smile! Naruto and Kyuumiko have already had a few cute moments together but I am sure they will have cuter ones in the future.

For that one person who noticed the constant change in Kyuumiko's personality: it was intentional. Her back and forth was my attempt to make it seem as if she was conflicted between acting like the cruel Nine-Tailed Fox she is accustomed to being and giving into her repressed soft side. She is on an island with no one who will judge her after-all.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of these characters. I wrote this for the cute interactions between Naruto and Kyuumiko

Stuck on an Island with a Cute Demon

By Yangster

Chapter #3: Befriending a Demon

Had he been surprised?

When she had called him by his name, he was definitely surprised. She was too. But for a second after she said it, she had not realized it. When she did though, her face went red, and she immediately excused herself. He did not chase after her. A brief glance at the conflicted expression she had was all he needed to know that she needed some time alone to mull over things. Maybe he needed some time alone as well. Just some time to collect his thoughts and process all the things she had told him

Now, the sun had set, and the moon had risen to take its place in the night sky. Naruto had long since created the fire and ate his dinner. She was currently sitting close to the water with her legs bent so that her knees were pressing against her chest. The waves would roll in gently, occasionally getting far enough that her feet would get wet. It seemed that she did not mind though, as she did not move an inch from her spot. He went about his own things while she sat alone. For several hours they had said nothing to each other.

Naruto tried not to stare, but he could not stop himself from giving her the occasional worried glance. He knew she noticed because her vulpine ears would twitch ever so slightly whenever he did. She did not say anything when he did though. Whether that meant that she did not mind or did not have the mind to tell him off, he did not know.

After having her open up to him so much, he found that he now preferred her company over being alone, and that he now wished to hear her voice instead of this overbearing silence. A sudden change for him for sure, but he was okay with it. They were on their ways to being friends, he thought, even if things right now looked a bit rocky.

Looking back at her again, he decided that he needed an ice-breaker. Something to smooth things over between the two of them.

Since he now knew that her favourite fruit was apples, he decided that perhaps he should go out into the jungle to pick some for her. He had seen some in the morning when he had picked all those longans. He had ignored them though because the idea of eating exotic jungle fruit rather than apples was much more exciting to him. It seemed to him that nearly all the fruits on this island were much more potent than those back home; they were sweeter, crisper, and much juicier. Maybe the apples were the same?

It was dark, but he was sure that he could do it for her.

"Alright..." he said to himself quietly before turning towards her and calling out to her. "I'm going to go spend some time around the jungle!"

She did not say anything back to him, but she did nod. That was enough for him to know that she had at least acknowledged his words. Tying his jacket around his waist, he gave her one last look before walking into the thick jungle brush.

About fifteen minutes into his journey, he noticed something. It seemed to him, as he hacked at some of the obstructing foliage with his kunai, that no matter how many times he had cut paths into the jungle, he always had to do it again. It was like he was in some sacred grove that would regrow every single night as if enchanted with magic or something. He was as scared of it as he was inspired by it.

Eventually all the trees melded into one, but he remained confident that he would be able to get to where he had seen the apple trees. Being from a part of the world full of dense forests helped to ease his mind as he traversed this one.

Still, all that time exploring forests did absolutely nothing to prepare him for when his next step caused the ground to click.

"Huh?" he let out, stopping immediately.

Widening his eyes at the possibilities of what could have caused that click, he then quickly jumped back. He managed to do so just in time to avoid the explosion as the earth where he had stepped erupted in a flurry of dirt, rock, wood, and bits and pieces of metal. While small, the blast was potent enough to send him against a tree. A cloud of soot and other powders sprayed out also, coating parts of his face and arms with it.

"Ugh." Naruto groaned after a moment. "What the hell was that?!"

Scrunching up his face when the pain finally hit him, he raised a hand to clutch his bruised chest, and let out another groan. That was where he had gotten hurt the most by the explosion. Giving himself a pat down, he was happy to find out that none of the shrapnel had gotten inside of him and that nothing was broken. A clean wound would have healed well enough with his healing factor. An infected one though... Then again, his body might just end up healing the wound before any bacteria set in.

He let out a relieved sigh. "Whew. That could have gone a lot worse."

If he had been any slower on that jump, his legs would have been blown right off. He would have ended up a double amputee! No amount of his superior healing factor was going to fix that.

Getting up, he brushed off the front of his shirt, and walked over to the crater to inspect what remained of the trap. There was not much left—just some bits of metal.

Just what was that? He had not noticed any chakra signatures that would have alerted him of explosive seals, so that meant that the bomb he had stepped on was purely mechanical. Was this island just filled with random explosive traps or something? If it was, just how many more would he have to worry about? To think that he would have to deal with this on a trip just to find some apple trees! He was definitely going to have to investigate all of this later.

Deciding that the ground was too risky, he decided to get around by jumping from tree to tree, just like he would back in the forests surrounding Konoha.

Eventually, he found the cluster of apple trees that he was looking for. "Finally!"

Gingerly sliding himself down from the branch he was on, he made sure not to walk over another explosive trap as he made his way to the apple tree closest to him.

The apples were wonderfully large and marvellously crisp in his hands as he picked them. They were this reddish-pink colour that was so vibrant that they glowed in the darkness like round, little red lanterns. Just looking at them was delicious, he thought just before biting into one of them. The skin was somewhat thicker than he had expected, but he thought that it worked amazingly with the actual fruit. The fruit itself was superbly sweet, slightly sour, and terrifically crunchy. If he loved them, when he did not even like apples that much, then she was going to love them too for sure.

Picking about half a dozen of them, he carried them by turning his jacket into a sack. Satisfied with the number of apples he had gotten, he then rushed back to the beach.

It took him a lot less time to get back to the beach than it took for him to find the apple trees as all he had to do was find the trail he had created and follow it back.

When he got finally arrived back at the beach, he saw that the Nine-Tailed Fox was still sitting by the water. Unlike before, she had her legs extended towards the water, and she was leaning back with her hands behind her on the sand to support her. It seemed that she had resigned herself to something.

"I heard an explosion," she said quietly when he stepped towards her, keeping her eyes on the water as she spoke. "If you hadn't come back, I would have eventually looked for you."

He walked up to her with the apples slung on his shoulder. "Eventually?"

"Eventually," she began softly, finally turning her head to look at him. "I would have gotten worried."

"That's a relief," he said, offering her a smile as he made his way next to her, and sat down. "I was worried that you didn't care about me.

She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow.

"Don't joke about that..."

Naruto widened his eyes slight in surprise. "Oh?"

"I... Hm... I did some thinking when you were out," she said slowly, pursing her lips as she pulled her legs back, and looked at him.

"What were you thinking about?"

"About... Us," she answered, hesitating slightly. "I have been through a lot of things during my long life, but I had yet to end up on an island with an endearing monkey brat until I met you. I had nothing to prepare me for ending up in a situation like this."

He let out a quiet gasp when she called him endearing. "Is that a bad thing?"

She shook her head.

"Yes. Well... No, not anymore, I guess. At first, I wanted to get away, but after the conversation we had..."

"What changed?" he asked softly.

"You know, I use to not be able to understand how you were able to make friends so easily. You somehow even managed to occasionally befriend your enemies..." She began, changing the topic slightly, trailing off slowly to take a breath before finishing. "But now I do."

"What do you mean?"

"You are so bad for me... Like too many apples, you are sweet now, but you will leave me hurting in the future," she said, avoiding the question, letting out a soft sigh between a pause in her speech. "Speaking of apples, I can smell them on you. Please hand me one."

Naruto blinked in confusion at her words, but eventually reached into his jacket, and pulled out an apple for her. "Here."

"Thank you."

She seemed very pensive. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, he did not know. He also did not know where she was going with what she said, but he did notice that she had asked for an apple instead of just taking one, and she had even thanked him for it.

Watching her bite into the apple, he did the same with the half-finished one he was eating earlier. She ate quietly, but he could tell that she enjoyed the apple because of the way the corners of her lips curved upwards to form a smile between every single one of her bites. If he focused solely on her, he could pick up the subtle vibrations of her purring as she got close to finishing her apple. She ate a lot faster than him. By the time he was half-way done, the only thing left of her apple was its core. She waited for him to finish first before she tossed the core into the water.

"That was tasty," she commented, licking her fingers. "There are good apples on this island."

He nodded his head. "Yeah."

For a moment, they basked in the view in front of them. The moon was casting its silvery reflection on the water as the gentle waves ebbed and flowed onto the beach. The view was beautiful at day and at night. One could lose themselves in it easily. He found that he was looking more at her than at the ocean though. Even at night, her orange hair was just bright enough that it was able to stand out. The dark blue top she had chosen faded with the darkness her surroundings and the white shorts she wore seemed to blend in with the white sand. This caused her face to stand out above all else.

"You know... If you keep looking at me like that, you might make me blush," she confessed, turning her head to look at him, flashing him a smirk as she did so.

He smiled, feeling not an ounce of embarrassment for having been caught staring. "I wouldn't mind. You look cute when you're blushing.

She let out a snort.

"As if."

"I think you're really cute when you blush," he said, his words causing her cheeks to flush, which then prompted him to point at her face. "Like that. You look really adorable."

"From beautiful to cute to adorable... Is that an evolution or degeneration?" she asked, her blush intensifying as he lavished her with praise.

He canted his head to the side. "Why can't you be all three?"

"Mm... All three then. I guess I am now the beautiful, cute, and adorable Nine-Tailed Fox." As she spoke, the corners of her lips curved upwards more and more with each word until she eventually smiled.

Naruto smiled back at her. While he liked it when she would blush or scrunch up her face whenever she patted her on the head, he liked her smile the best.

"So, I've a question," he began after a brief pause, causing her to quirk a brow. "What was all that about?"

She pursed her lips. Just looking at her, Naruto knew that what had been on her mind earlier weighed quite heavily on her. So, while he waited for her to build up the nerve to answer his question, he stayed utterly silent.

"I have never had a friend... Naruto..." she confessed eventually, hesitating as she said his name again. "When I came to be, I was already mature enough to know that becoming friends with a mortal when I was immortal would only result in my own suffering. So, I never tried with them. I tried with my fellow tailed beasts, but we could never get along. I grew to hate them, so I avoided them. It is too late for me to avoid you now though. That feeling of worry when I heard that explosion cemented that notion. I... Against my better judgement, I seem to care for you now."

His eyes widened once again at the implications of her words. Before he knew it, he was grinning like crazy, his enthusiasm springing out into his aura, causing her to smile as well despite just pouring out her feelings to him. Gosh, he really was just impossible to be sad or mad around, she thought as she looked at him. Maybe that was why she had grown to like him so much in just a few days.

"Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?"

She let out an amused snort. "Making me say it, huh?"

"For the record, please?" He smirked teasingly.

She raised a hand to punch his shoulder but stopped before doing so. Instead, she smiled at him.

"I want to be your friend, Naruto."

He let out a contented sigh and smiled back at her. "I'd like to be your friend also..."

"I hope you don't expect me to give you my name yet," she replied, causing him to pout. "We've been here for less than a week. I'd hate to give you my name now and then regret it later if you happen to anger me... Or disappoint me."

"Fair enough. I won't push you."

"Good." She offered a smile to him.

She then licked her lips.

"Do you have any more of those apples with you?" she asked.

He let out a soft chuckle before reaching into his jacket and pulling out another apple for her. "Of course. I knew you'd want more. I doubt a single apple would be able to satisfy you."

"Mm... Thank you," she replied, accepting the apple. "You'd be right. Whole orchards are just enough to satisfy me when I am in my fox form. This... Lesser form though can fit less food in it."

"Where does that food go anyways?" asked Naruto. "It's not like you go to the bathroom or anything."

"I don't know," she answered, shrugging her shoulders as she sunk her teeth into the apple. "It just all disappears eventually."

"That must be convenient," he replied, watching her as she ate.

She nodded her head. "I imagine it is."

"You know... It's getting very late," he remarked, turning his head back to look up at the moon. "I wonder what time it is back home..."

"I wouldn't know. My sense of time has been completely obliterated from all the time I spent inside of seals," she said in response, letting out a quiet sigh. "I miss the early days. Back when you monkeys were still weak and docile. Back when I could roam around and enjoy myself."

He looked back at her. "Oh?"

"Nowadays... I have to live in fear because I'm worried that some ambitious fool will seal me inside of something." She let out a low, predatory growl. "I don't want any part of your stupid wars. I just want to live in peace. Every single encounter your kind has had with me, Naruto, happened because they wouldn't leave me alone."

Sensing the budding of rage deep within her, Naruto pursed her lips, and place a tentative hand onto her shoulder. She tensed up at first, but then slowly she began to relax, prompting him to give her shoulder a soft squeeze. Placing her half-finished apple down onto her lap, she rolled the shoulder he had his hand on, and then turned her head to look at him. There was a vulnerability in those red eyes of hers. It made him want to protect her. Not like a sibling or a friend though. While he was unsure of what this feeling was inside of him, he knew that he had to say something.

"I won't let them seal you again."

She let out a quiet snort. "As if they would listen to a dumb brat like you."

"Yeah, but—"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Naruto," she said, interrupting him, offering him a warm smile as she slowly placed her hand atop his on her shoulder.

She continued speaking. "I really do. I can tell that you are not lying to me whenever we speak with each other. Knowing that makes everything you say... More precious to me."

"I'm glad," he replied, returning her smile with one of his own. "You know, I never thought that I'd become friends with you."

"Same." Her smile widened. "I'm glad that I was wrong though. Maybe it is just this island. Maybe this thing we have between us will fade after we find a way out... But I am going to hold onto these memories that I have made with you for a long time, Naruto."

He unknowingly began leaning closer to her. "I will too. For as long as I live."

"You'd better," she said with a smirk. "I didn't just say all that mush just for you to forget me."

"I'd never forget you."

She let out a contented sigh. "It is getting late. You're trying to hide it, but I can tell that you are tired. I imagine wandering around the forest all night looking for apples must have exhausted you."

"Plus, there was the bomb," he pointed out.

"Yes, the bomb... Hmph..." Grunting quietly, she then picked up her half-finished apple, and slowly stood up. "We can worry about the bomb later. Right now, you need some sleep."

"I can stay up for a bit longer," he said in protest, standing up as well. "It's not like I gotta wake up for anything."

She pouted. "You monkeys need your sleep, you know? You're still... Growing, I assume. Don't monkey offspring need at least eight hours of sleep every night or something?"

"They do, but I can get eight hours of sleep any time I want on this island."

"Well... I want to watch the sun rise with you, Naruto..." she said softly, biting down on her bottom lip afterwards.

Naruto widened his eyes. "Oh! Oh, alright. I guess I can sleep now then... Hey, do you ever sleep?"

"Not often. I haven't slept since I woke up a couple of days ago. Sleep is unnecessary for me since I'm made of nothing but chakra," she answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I do enjoy taking the occasional nap though."

"Do you want to sleep tonight?" he asked. "There is more than enough room in the shelter."

She took a big bite from her apple before shrugging her shoulders. "I wouldn't mind."

"Toss the core after you're done eating," he said, prompting her to nod, before walking over towards his jungle hut. "I'd hate for insects to get in... This hut is like my last bastion on this island."

She let out a quiet snicker at his words. Finishing the rest of her apple, she tossed the core into the sea before skipping towards him.

"I'm sure with me here, insects are the least of your worries."

He turned his head just in time to see her flash a smirk. "I'd take you over insects any day of the week."

"Pshhhhh," she let out, waving a dismissive hand at him as she walked over towards the shelter.

"Honest!" he exclaimed.

"I know, Naruto. You don't need to tell me that. I can tell when you're lying to me," she replied, offering him a smile as she stepped into the shelter. "This thing always looks a lot bigger from the outside..."

Naruto let out a snort. "Yeah, well, maybe we can work on improving it in the future. This is the best I can do at the moment."

"I know." She flashed him another smirk.

"Eesh. You know, this is my first time welcoming a girl into my home to stay the night... Even if my home at the moment is a tent made of leaves and sticks."

"This must be quite the occasion for you then," she replied, sitting down onto the leaf mat. "This is my first time spending the night with a monkey."

"Ah. So, I guess we're both first-timers here."

She gave him a look. "Huh... Anyways... This will do. Not the best surface that I have ever slept on, but I'd take this over the sand."

"Maybe tomorrow I can go out and find more leaves to make the floor a bit thicker," he said as he took the apples out from his jacket.

"I'll come with you," she replied, letting out a quiet grunt as she laid her head onto the floor.

"How is it?" asked Naruto as he folded his jacket to make a mediocre pillow.

"Hard."

He held up his jacket. "You could have this. It's not a pillow, but it's the only alternative I have."

"Hmm... Lie down, Naruto. I have a better idea," she replied, prompting him to quirk a brow.

"Oh?" Unsure of what she had planned, he decided to go along with it anyways, and lied down onto the floor with his jacket placed under his head. "So, what now?"

While the moon had provided them with enough light that they were able to see each other's faces, within the darkness of their hut, the only things they could pick up from each other was her orange and his blonde hair. With him lying down, he could literally see nothing, meaning that he had no idea what she was doing. He heard some shuffling, along with a few quiet breaths as she made her way closer to him. Then, he felt something warm press against his stomach. His first instinct was to immediately shoot up, but he managed to hold back from doing so.

"Mmm... Much better..."

She was laying her head down on his stomach. Feeling the heat from her cheek against him made him blush.

"So, this was your idea?" he asked after a moment.

"Mhm," she hummed in response. "Kills two birds with one stone does it not? I get a pillow and you get to say that you slept with a girl."

"That... Isn't really what that means, but alright."

She blinked. "Then what does it mean, Naruto?"

"I don't think you want to know," he replied quickly.

"Well I do now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He pursed his lips.

"It's just a euphemism," began Naruto, pausing for a moment as he tried to phrase his answer in a way that would not cause her to slap him. "When boys say they want to sleep with a girl, it means that they want to have sex with them."

He immediately closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable smack or a slap. It did not come though. Instead, his answer was met with silence. Blinking, he tilted his head forward to look down at her. With how dark it was, all he could see was the faint orange of her hair and the silhouette of her head. What he could not see was the mad blush on her cheeks as she tried her best not to squeak or squeal. Sex was not something that had really interested her, but for some reason hearing the topic from him made her feel very embarrassed.

Heck, a lot of things he said made her feel embarrassed. She could list the number of people who had ever made her blush on one hand. Just one. That one being Naruto. There was also something besides embarrassment that she felt. Something that she could not put a word to or a finger on. It was like a soft, soothing heat that was building up inside of her right below where her navel was. Just what was it?

It was unlikely that he would know, so she decided not to ask him. Instead, she took a deep breath, and parted her lips to give him her response.

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

"Well then."

"Mhm..."

"I think I'm just going to sleep now, Naruto... Good night."

He placed his head back down onto his jacket. "Yeah... Good night."

"Mhm... Sleep well..."

With that said, nothing else was for the night as they both soon fell asleep.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed chapter three! You know, looking back, my writing has really changed. I have no idea whether it has improved or gotten worse. I hope the former. I do know that my style has become much more unique though. I'm proud of that. Anyways, please do favourite, follow, and review! I really appreciate those who put in the time to write something in response! Take care, y'all!