Fate's Garden

Part 2 - Fox Den

Chapter 1 - Moist

Sasuke groaned. His chest ached and his whole body was filled with a powerful lethargy. He opened his eyes and realized he hadn't crossed over yet. There was a thick blanket laid over him and a comfortable pillow beneath his head. He was lying on one of the enormous leather sofas he'd seen during his last visit. So he was in the living room of the grandfather's house. Sasuke turned his head to the side and saw the old man himself sitting on the floor drinking tea, the Kyuubi in his animal form lying on one of the many colorful area rugs. They were having a serious conversation it seemed. How long had he been there before he woke up?

"What you're asking for, my childe, is something that I have never granted to any of your siblings? You would have me single you out as the only one to have such a privilege?"

"Father that's not what I meant…" Kyuubi sighed, "I was merely making a suggestion as to where you should send them next. It is their second to last lifetime and I think it would benefit them."

"Your suggestion has been heard. Whether I choose to follow it is another matter all together."

"You better not follow it, father." A familiar voice threatened.

"Ah, my daughter, how are you? I was not expecting you."

Sasuke sunk a little bit deeper into the couch when he recognized Shukaku's voice. He had a feeling he would never get along with her. But, wait a minute, that didn't look like her. Maybe he was in luck. A short woman with curves to spare and more than a little meat on her bones had entered the room. Her hair was shoulder length and full, it was a dark golden brown and her yellow eyes were angry. Sasuke figured soon enough that this was Shukaku's human form, just that he'd never seen it before. He sighed and continued in his attempt to hide from her.

"I am fine father. But that is not the reason I am here. I have heard of my baby brother's plans to orchestrate which lives his kit shall experience."

"Shu, stay out of this. This is none of your business." Kyuubi growled.

"None of my business?!" Shukaku rattled.

"Yes! He is my kit, not yours!"

"Well, he's my nephew, and my kit didn't get the privilege of having his mother pick out his lives for him. Why should your son get that luxury?"

"I'm not picking them all out! I'm suggesting which one he should go to next!"

"Oh, as if that's any different. You fox, I know you and your ways, you sly little whelp! Always acting older than your age, as if you have more authority than those who have-"

"Ah, Sasuke, little one, I see that you have finally awakened." The room instantly became silent as the two siblings argument came to a screeching halt.

"Hello, how long have I been here?" Sasuke mumbled weakly. He was so tired; who knew death could be so exhausting?

"Time has no meaning for us, asking such questions would be useless." Shukaku snarled.

"I guess that, due to your mortal biological clock still being in working order you might have spent a few hours in our realm. Though my daughter's statement is correct, we have no sense of time here, for it does not exist for us as it does for you."

"Ah."

"Now what do you think of all of this, little one?" The old man waved his hands towards Shukaku and Kyuubi.

"Father." Shukaku gasped, as though it was entirely blasphemous to ask the opinion of a mortal on immortal affairs.

"What do I think of what, sir?"

"Your father in-law's suggestion? Would you prefer to go to the life he has chosen for you?" The grandfather explained, "If not, then I can send you to whichever your spirits land in. It may or may not be the same as he has in mind however."

Sasuke thought about this for a minute. He propped himself up against the arm of the sofa and turned to face the small old man who was waiting for his answer. Then he turned to look at Kyuubi, this fox whom he'd always known as a demon but now saw in an entirely different light. This fox was just another father trying to look out for his son's best interests. That and he was the only adult besides the old man who didn't glare at him for being a mortal. So, yes, Kyuubi was definitely alright in Sasuke's books. He probably had picked out a nice place for them. If not nice per se, it would at least be helpful. The fox himself had said it would be beneficial for Naruto in particular. Sasuke nodded.

"I'll go with whatever he chose. He's just looking out for his son, so I think that whatever he has in mind will probably be alright."

"Very well, my childe you may have your way." The old man smiled wanly as his daughter stormed off in a huff, turning into her raccoon form mid-step.

Kyuubi bowed to his father and licked his hands and face in thanks. The old man turned to face Sasuke, and as soon as their eyes met he was roughly yanked out of their realm. It was almost as if someone had grabbed him by the neck and wrenched him backwards. Now he found himself in somewhere that was neither clearly his next life nor the gardens. Standing at his side was the rabbit man he'd seen talking to Kyuubi during tea time. He smiled amiably at him.

"Hello Sasuke, my name is Yuuta, I will be your uncle soon I guess. It's very nice to get to meet you."

"Um, nice to meet you too?" Sasuke offered feebly.

Gazing at his surroundings in confusion he asked, "Where are we?"

All he saw were doors. They were standing in a hallway that stretched on forever in either direction. The walls were covered in peeling brown wallpaper and the doors were cracked slightly or had chunks missing from them. The brass doorknobs were all a little rusty or stained. In fact the carpet beneath his feet was pretty dingy also.

"This is the universe." Yuuta said.

"The universe? This place?"

"Perhaps not the physical universe that you know, such as the galaxy you live in, with the moon and the sun and the stars." He corrected, "But this is the physical representation of the gathering of all the possible different worlds that might have come about when the world was first created."

"Why is it so disgusting?" Sasuke wondered. When he realized he'd said it out loud he coughed politely and stared at his feet.

Yuuta chuckled at his anxiety, "Do not worry, you have not offended me."

Sasuke sighed in relief. "Well then, why is it like this?"

"This hallway is as I said the physical representation of such a gathering. But as everyone views the universe differently it appears different to all of us." Yuuta explained, "I am not seeing necessarily the same hallway as you are so I do not understand what you mean by disgusting."

"Huh?"

Sasuke made sure to look closely at the walls, the doors. He even got down on his knees and inspected the carpet. It remained the same filthy hall as it had been the last time he examined it. He turned to Yuuta and asked him what he saw.

"I see a corridor that has plain wood floors, a sort of beige paint on the walls and very old doors." Yuuta replied, "All in all it just feels a little boring, but nothing is clearly in disrepair."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

"Very well, I've probably kept you for long enough."

The tall man stepped towards the door directly in front of them. He opened it to reveal…nothing. All Sasuke saw was an inky blackness, as if all that lay beyond the door was a room with the lights turned off. He rose to his feet and came to stand before the door. Yuuta stood aside and encouraged him to 'go on now'. Sasuke gave him a quick look before taking one tentative step into the room. But there was no floor in that sea of shadows and he immediately fell forward. He cried out as he fell through the dark twisting his head around to look up at the door that was growing smaller and smaller, until Yuuta apparently shut it because the light disappeared, and he opened his eyes in a new world.

Naruto shifted wearily. He was exhausted, and a little sore but otherwise fine. He opened his eyes and found himself in a cave. It was very warm in there, and the rock floor beneath him was surprisingly smooth. He stretched his long legs and arms, yawning widely as he did so. As he stretched his head almost touched the ceiling. Alright, not cave, burrow. He shook his head. It was time he figured out exactly what world he'd been dropped into this time. He padded out of the burrow, squeezing his way out and into the…snow? Ah! Snow is cold! He shivered and hopped about from foot to foot until something caught his eye. His foot prints didn't look right. They looked like paw prints. Wait, his hands? Those weren't his hands were they? Those looked like…like…Naruto panicked. He ran, and ran and ran. He had to find something he could use to see his reflection.

The wind around him didn't feel too cold; mostly it was the snow on the sensitive pads of his paws. No, not paws! He shook his head, almost running into a tree on accident. Everything whizzed past him as he loped along through this forest he'd woken up in. He was moving so fast. He kept going, suddenly bursting out of the trees into a clearing where a small pond lay frozen. Tentatively he approached it, scared at what he might find. Leaning over the ice he peered at it hoping to see a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Well, he almost had what he wanted. Staring back at him with narrowed blue eyes was the image of a yellow furred fox. His long ears twitched at the sounds of something moving through the trees. He tensed, instinctively sniffing the air. A familiar scent filled his nose and he relaxed. Now he didn't have to go looking for him.

"Sasuke!" He shouted, whirling around. There he was, standing at the edge of the clearing with eyes wide and with one kunai in his hand. Why was he so small looking? He looked like he might be as tall as his ankle.

"Sasuke, it's me…Naruto…" He tried. But there was something strange about his voice. It didn't sound quite right. He shook his head, Sasuke probably didn't understand him.

Lifting one paw and angling it to the side he tried to use his claw to spell out his message in the snow. Sasuke saw his attempts and stayed where he was, but it seemed that his eyes made out the general shape of his words. He hurried forward and looked up at him. Naruto lay down in the snow resting his head down on the ground between his front legs. Now the top of his nose came to Sasuke's waist. The avenger moved around to stand at the side of his muzzle. He rested one hand on the top of it, stroking the stiff fur there absent mindedly.

"Well, I guess I screwed up, dobe. This one's my fault."

Naruto made a grunt that he hoped sounded as confused as he felt.

"I didn't cross over right away like you did, I guess. Though when I showed up I was in the same cave as you, I just didn't know it was you…"

Naruto grunted for him to explain himself. This was going to be frustrating, not being able to talk.

"I was in the gods' place again. Kyuubi was talking with his dad about the next life we were going to. He said that he had one in mind that would be good for us." Naruto grunted again to tell him to continue.

"And then Shukaku came in and started bitching about how Gaara didn't have a choice like that so we shouldn't either or something. She hates me, just so you know. A lot of your aunts and uncles do, cuz I'm a mortal, they say." Naruto growled at the thought of this family of his hating Sasuke. Well if they hated him then that was there problem. "So your grandfather asked me what I thought…"

Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes. His sigh came out like a wheeze, and it came out through his nose. Sasuke understood well enough for he nodded and said, 'yeah, sorry'.

"He asked if I thought Kyuubi's suggestion would be a good idea and I figured, you know, he just as your best interests at heart and it would probably be a good idea…but I hadn't thought it would be anything like this."

Great. Naruto was a giant fox, they were in the middle of nowhere, and it was snowing. At least they were together. They were going to have to find a way to perfect a system of communication. There was no way that Naruto was going to go for years having Sasuke unable to understand him. Suddenly they had a visitor. A fox, a girl fox, a vixen, his vixen entered the clearing. How Naruto knew this he wasn't sure. He just knew. She had a coarse fuchsia coat and dark brown eyes. She was a bit shorter than him but for some reason her hips were quite appealing to him. She was beautiful. Naruto shook his head, unintentionally knocking Sasuke over in the process. Oh yeah, he was small now. He forgot.

"Thanks dobe, watch it would ya?"

"Sorry…" He tried to sound apologetic but it came out as a whine and a short pant.

"Why do you try to speak human with your pet?" His vixen asked. Naruto twitched, startled at being able to understand her. He wasn't sure why this was a shock; he was a fox now after all.

"I'm just tired of him not being able to understand me, it's weird." He said then thoughtfully adding, "And he's not my pet."

"Then what is he? You take him as your demon form almost every day. You do not eat him, nor keep him captive from the humans and he clearly stays here of his own choosing."

Demon form. Naruto's brow furrowed as he tried to summon up the memories of this fox-Naruto's world. Take him…? Vague images were moving about in his mind, actions that were not his own, and nights filled with lust that surely were not…Naruto's eyes widened as the meaning of his mate's words rung true in his head. He snarled at her.

"He is not my pet, he is a friend."

The vixen tucked her tail between her legs and walked with her back hunched, low to the ground. When Naruto snapped his jaw in her direction she yelped as if he'd actually bitten her and darted out of the clearing. He had to figure out roughly from this Naruto's memories how to use this demon form his mate spoke of. Maybe when in that form he could speak in a way Sasuke would understand? As he sifted through the memories he could find Sasuke was trying to get his attention.

"Hey dobe, what was that about? Who was she?"

"My mate, she said…oh never mind." Naruto rolled his eyes. He stood up and moved away from Sasuke so he could write it in the snow.

His message complete Sasuke moved carefully around it so he could read it right side up. "Your mate? How do you know?"

Naruto tried to shrug but it came out weird and somehow made him fall to the ground. He looked around to find Sasuke and saw him fallen over on his rear. The force of him collapsing on the ground must have shaken him. He laughed and heard himself use the laugh that he found so amusing on Kyuubi. Wait. Where was the demon fox anyways? Naruto wished he knew where they were and if it would be wise to go in search of Konoha. Maybe they could find out more from there. He relayed the idea via claw in snow but Sasuke shook his head.

"I don't think so; I'm getting the feeling that if we went back there it wouldn't turn out so well."

"Why?" Naruto asked, unable to help himself.

"I don't know, just like you know that chick was your mate, I just know we can't go back."

"Wait, did you just understand me?"

"Naruto, just quit it already I don't speak fox."

Nope, just his tone had carried over. Damnit.

Sasuke sighed. This was going to be nearly impossible. Naruto kept trying to talk to him; clearly he was making his best efforts. But all that came out was a strange mixture of panting, barking, whining and snorting. The snow writing was working pretty well but Sasuke doubted he could learn how to speak fox. It wasn't just another language; it was another set of vocal chords. When he awakened in a cave probably as tall as the hokage's tower, curled up at the side of a giant fox Sasuke had felt like an idiot. Why did he trust that idiotic god again? But now here he was thinking the same thing, just not as strongly. It made sense now. Naruto was learning how to function in his animal form. He couldn't talk like the gods could in theirs, but it was a start. Being around the dobe while he was a fox like this would also help prepare Sasuke for dealing with it when they got to the garden. It would be a learning experience. A very frustrating one, but nonetheless it was a practical and effective one. Sasuke tried to 

explain this thought to Naruto. The dobe snorted sarcastically and shook his giant fox head. Well great he probably said.

"Hey, it's a good idea."

The dobe ignored him, instead standing up and in two steps reaching the edge of the clearing. He inclined his head in the direction of the cave and disappeared into the trees. C'mon, let's go talk about this where it's warm, my feet are getting cold. Probably a direct translation. Sasuke sighed. He was getting cold too. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke didn't have a thick coat of fur to keep him warm in the middle of the freezing cold winter. So he followed the paw prints back to the cave where Naruto was lying down quite comfortably…on top of his mate. Or at least Sasuke thought it was the same vixen from earlier, he couldn't be quite sure. The female fox was squished down against the cave floor, her head thrown back as she yowled and panted, occasionally grunting and barking. Naruto was bearing down on her his fore legs clenching tightly around her ribcage. Every once in a while he would nip at her neck. Sasuke opened his mouth to demand why it was that Naruto felt the need to smother her like this. But then as he took notice of Naruto's hips moving in quick succession he closed his mouth and felt slightly sick to his stomach.

After a few more minutes he stopped, panting shallowly and barking, he lifted himself out of her and off and she darted to the mouth of the cave. She turned back yipping and whining, and then she smiled in that odd fox way that Kyuubi had in their last life. She glanced at Sasuke once before leaving as if she was merely noting his presence. Then she pushed herself through the entrance that was massive to Sasuke yet barely big enough for Naruto and his mate.

There was a sudden bark and then whining that caught Sasuke's attention. Naruto was staring at him with widened eyes, he was shuffling away from him, low to the ground with his tail tucked between his legs and his back arched. So it was that Sasuke remembered why he felt nauseous.

"What was that?! Huh?" Sasuke snapped, "Have you forgotten that you're actually a person? As in a human, not a fox?"

No, no, no! He hadn't forgotten! Naruto couldn't bear to look at Sasuke. He felt sick, he felt disgusting. He hadn't known what he was doing. It was weird and gross but at the same time amazing. It felt perfectly normal at the time. He had no idea what was wrong with him. But as soon as he'd found Sasuke and started talking with him he grew used to the body, it didn't even feel that weird to him after the initial shock. Maybe it was because he'd always sort of been part fox before? So the thought of really being one wasn't that horrifying? He didn't really know. All he did know was he came in to the cave to get out of the cold and to talk it out with Sasuke and there she was. His mate was lying there grooming her beautiful fur, the taut firm muscles in her hips flexing, taunting him. Then she'd looked at him, her eyes gleaming and he'd just…lost it. That was the only way to describe it. He'd stopped thinking like a human after that and just let go. It was exhilarating and yet frightening in hind sight. Sasuke said that sending them to this life had all been his dad's idea. Well, as soon as they got to the garden, Naruto decided that he was going to have some words with him.

TBC…