Sorry for not updating. Hope you like it :D

Chapter 5.

The small fox yelped as it went tumbling on the ground. It remained down to signal its willing defeat.

"Wooh! Can no one defeat the next Kyuu!" Naruto barked.

He had defeated every fox that had challenged him so far, showing all he was not Cute. It was like the ninja fighting he was use to but with no weapons. He had been on all four plenty of times during missions in his own world, it was as natural as walking.

All the surrounding foxes yipped excitedly as they offered more challenges and were deciding who would have the next round. But before the decision was made the crowd suddenly became quite.

"You're pretty good."

Naruto looked up to see a black fox perched on the ledge of the dirt mound. The fur on his head was spiked, as well as on his ears and tail. He was slightly taller than Naruto, his muzzle would probably sit underneath this foxes, and he had a bigger body mass .Ruby red eyes peered down at the blonde, holding a look of confidence within them.

"And who are you?" Naruto asked huffily.

The black fox hopped into the crowd and they parted to allow him direct access to Naruto. Once he reached Naruto, he looked him over, even circling. Thankfully, Naruto's fur hid his burning cheeks but he did not protest. Fear of offending a demon custom he did not understand holding his tongue.

"I am Shiguri, the reigning Champion of these fights. Your pretty good runt, so how bout it? Wanna try another level?"

Naruto nodded, silently for once, trying to calculate this foxes strength. They began to pace around one another, waiting for an opening.

Shiguri moved lightly, no sound was made as his paws swept across the ground, he seemed to float. His movements were slow and graceful. It seemed that this was a trait many of the fox demons exhibited.

Naruto's form was almost the exact opposite. He let his paw slide along the ground, ready to dig into the dirt for fast action. His head hung low and he moved fluidly, relaxing his muscles to let his chakra flow.

Suddenly the black fox let out a rumbling growl and lunged at Naruto. Naruto was quick however, and jumped into the air before the fox's teeth could grab his fur. As soon as he was directly above the black fox he dropped his weight, opening his jaws to clamp onto his opponents neck. The other fox was also fast unfortunately and made it past Naruto's anticipated landing spot. Shiguri ran right at the dirt mound and used his speed to run along the side of it, rounding back towards the blonde fox. Naruto dodged the swipe aimed at his muzzle and wrapped his tail around the others front paw, causing his opponent to fall. Naruto took his chance and jumped on Shiguri's fallen form before it had even hit the ground. As soon as he touched the black fur however, the fox whirled them around until he was on top and Naruto had his back pressed to the ground. He felt teeth gently resting on the skin of his neck and knew he was beat.

The crowd cheered and rushed close to the two foxes. Shiguri slipped off the smaller fox and transformed into his human form, Naruto took this as a signal and also transformed. Shiguri was at least 4 inches taller the Naruto, his hair was much like his fur, spiky. It laid slightly under his shoulders and spikes flicked out all the way back to his scalp, where they laid flat. His bangs parted on each side of his cheeks; making his memory tug at him oddly. His body was built but no overly. He wore a dark blue kimono with a metal plate on his chest tied on by a black wrap. The look Naruto had gotten from this demon's eyes earlier was easily portrayed on his handsome face. Naruto felt meager in his dusty kimono and short hair, since everyone else seemed to have their grown long! Shiguri offered the blonde on the ground his hand and Naruto accepted, not really sure if he could manage on his own in the long kimono. The demon did not let go of his hand though. Instead, he brought it to his mouth and kissed his fingers and said.

"You would be a great mate."

The other demons all made wolf calls and some seemed angered. Naruto felt his cheeks heat and wished he was still in fox form.

"Eh- ugh- Kyuubi-san is expecting me back now! I must excuse myself!" Naruto said as he turned and fled. Leaving the crowd of foxes snickering behind him.

The sun was past the middle of the sky now; he had spent most of the day fighting with the demons. Once he entered the village, he let out the breath of air he did not realize he was holding. Many foxes were running about now, mainly of the bigger size. They were coming in and out of the clearing in more of a hurry then earlier, most that were emerging form the trees had some sort of kill they had hunted. Naruto's stomach growled and he realized how long it had been since he had eaten. The thought of killing again was out of the question, he would retain as much of his humanity as possible. A young fox, even smaller then himself, walked out of the woods with his kimono filled with berries and other sorts of fruits.

Thanking Kami for this sign, he trotted off towards the woods.

The sun peeked through the leaves and decorated the grass. It was beautiful, the orange and brown making a soft gold. He had to fight the erg to go curl up in one of the sun spots and take a nap.

He had never been allowed to wander in the forest of Konoha and usually got into trouble if he was seen heading in that direction. But, somehow, he had found a way to escape the walls around him. The woods called to him. Running through the trees, the grass tickling his legs, and the sun kissing his skin. He had spent his best days though out the years in the Konoha Forest. Once he had become a certified ninja however, there had been no time to visit his woods.

Naruto tripped mid-thought as his kimono caught on a thorn bush. He growled and jerked his kimono up and tucked it in his wrap until it was slightly above his knees. Satisfied with the newfound mobility, the search for food was ago once again.

Before long Naruto's ear picked up the sound of laughter. He followed the sound and found small children gathered around a black berry bush. Their hands and mouths were stained purple and they tossed berries into the air, catching and stealing them from each other. One, a cute brown haired girl with cropped hair, stuck her nose in the air and sniffed above her head. She turned her blue eyes towards Naruto and her mouth fell open.

"It's Naruto-sama!" she yelled and suddenly all the children were surrounding him.

"Wow such hair! It's like the Sun!"

"How did you get such a color Prince?"

Many similar questions were thrown at him and he began to debate on how fast young foxes could run until one tugged on his kimono.

She was a tiny girl who was barely as tall as his knees. She had snow-white hair and yellow eyes; she was the cutest thing he had ever seen.

"Yes?" Naruto said as he bent down to pick the small child up.

"Where is your mom?" she asked with huge innocent eyes.

"Ugh… she is back at my home village." Naruto answered.

"How did Kyuubi-sama meet her?" she continued.

Naruto paused for a second, then noticed the other young demons were also listening. He smiled and sat down in the middle of the group, gently maneuvering the girl in his arm to his lap, and he began his story.

He told of a beautiful white fox, with hair falling past her knees and eyes that shown as blue as his own. She had beauty that was well known all over the land of snow and it was said that nothing could compare. But such a gift also caused the ice king, as he was known, to want this creature for himself. She denied all of his offers however, she wanted true love and not the cold king. This angered the demon and he exiled the white fox from his land, sending her to wander the snow. Food was scarce in those lands and a fox on her own did not make for good hunting. Soon the beautiful women wilted and became to weak to move and the ice cavern she hid in became her prison. One day however, the red blazing sun entered hair lair. She had reached for it, wanting its warmth, and it had answered her cry. The next morning when she woke a blazing red fox was curled around her. When the new fox opened his eyes, she knew it was love. Kyuubi stayed with her until she was healthy enough to travel, and he promised to avenge her. Kyuubi stormed the ice village and challenged the evil ruler and it was a fierce duel, both the foxes being 9 tails. But the red fox was fighting for a reason, and this was enough for him to outdo his opponent. After his promise was fulfilled, he asked the white fox to come back to his own lands and be his mate. She accepted, but could not return to his land yet. Now that he had proclaimed her as his, she had joint ruling of the ice land. One day Kyuubi suddenly had to return to his land, but swore he would return for her once she found a suitable replacement.

As his words stopped flowing Naruto took in his audience. All the little ones were lying on their stomachs with wide eyes, some had their heads resting on his lap. Naruto nibbled on another blackberries as he let his tale sink in. He had always been good at stories.

"Wow, Kyuubi-sama is sooooo cool!"

"How romantic!"

He was pleased with the reactions, watching as they began reenacting the fight between the two foxes. Also glad they did not ask about his mother, he had not come up with that part yet. Out of the corner of Naruto's eye, he noticed another had joined the group. The fox was much too large to be a child, probably bigger then his own fox form. The fox had two tails and was as dark as the night. Its eyes were a piercing violet.

Naruto's train of thought abruptly halted and he felt his mouth hanging open. The black fox realized he had been seen and jumped up, running deeper into the forest. Naruto softly growled and took chase, reverting to a fox easily. The children squealed and giggled as Naruto ran through them, shouting for him to come play again.

He followed the scent blindly, relying only on his senses this time. His natural speed soon allowed him to spot his prey but it was still a ways away. This fox was obviously use to running in the forest, dodging obstacles easily. The chase did not last long; they appeared in an open field and the other fox disappeared in the tall grass and Naruto was forced to slow down. There were many wildflowers growing in the field, and it was diluting the scent of the black fox. The grass was too tall and thick for him to see so he transformed back into human.

He peered over the grass and searched for movement. A flash of black passed over his wandering vision and he lunged, landing right on top of another human.

"Oof!" Naruto's breath rushed out of his lungs as he hit a solid chest, letting him know the other fox was male.

"Are you mad?! You could have jumped on a snake!" The other male's voice was calm and left the expression of an echo. It had a pleasant affect.

Naruto looked straight at the fox and glared, "You stole my prey, prepare to die."

The other male paused, blinked twice, the chuckled, "A dramatic aren't you? Well forgive me young Prince, I was also hungry." he said and smiled softly.

Naruto stilled, all plans for revenge suddenly failing. He rolled off the other male and sat silently. Hunger was not a fun thing.

A hand blocked the grass Naruto was staring at and he was thankfully forced from his thoughts, "I am Sukuriyu, young Prince."

Naruto blinked then took the offered hand and shook it slowly, "Naruto. Don't call me young Prince."

Now he was able to get a good look at this new demon. He was tall and broad shouldered, but slim like a runner. His hair was ebony black and straight, held up in a ponytail that ended slightly past his shoulders. His eyes blazed with intelligence in their violet depths, very different from his calm expression. Sukuriyu waited calmly as Naruto practically looked him over, noticing this, he immediately dropped his gaze.

"Was it true?"

Naruto peeked back up and saw Sukuriyu staring at him, "Is what true?"

The other male paused for a moment, running his eyes across Naruto features. As if searching for permission.

"The story about you mother." he finally said.

"Ah…no."

For some reason that was the answer that slipped from his lips, not the story of the ice princess. Naruto vaguely wondered if those violet eyes had some sort of power as something else tugged at his mind.

"They… died… a long time ago." Naruto covered his mouth shocked. For some reason his mouth had become to big for its own good.

"I-I mean, Kyuubi-san's not! I just find it hard to believe that I still have a Father." he could feel his face slowly heating up.

Sukuriyu sat for a minute and looked out towards the open field, the sun gently sinking down the sky altering the skies colors. His eyes showed another battle raging in his mind as he processed this information.

"I understand. My Father is also dead."

"W-what happened?" Naruto's curiosity, getting the better of his common sense on such a matter, forced him to ask the question.

The other fox wiggled the two tails he possessed, one swiping to touch Naruto's face.

"I earned my second tail when he tried to kill my mother out of blind rage… I was probably your age."

Suddenly Sukuriyu looked puzzled and reached out to wipe a tear off the blondes cheek.

"Prince?"

Naruto cried. Cried for the child who never got to have a father. And cried for the child who never got to know either of his parents.

R&R :D