Chapter Three
Meeting Your Inner Demon

"Hey, Sasuke?" Naruto ducked under a branch, tentatively following his boss. They were steadily working their way through the forrest now, in the general direction of the flag.

"I don't want to talk about it." Sasuke shoved the foliage out of his way, the deep footprints he made a small proof of his anger.

"But Sasuke—" Sasuke let a spry branch go, smacking Naruto smartly in the face.

"Don't. Want. To talk about it."

"Sasuke, you—"

"DOBE!" Sasuke whirled around, snarling. "There is NOTHING that you could say that would make me feel better about what you INSISTED on seeing, so how about you just SHUT. UP."

Sasuke glared at him, his breathing heavy, and Naruto did his best to look suitably contrite.

And then a deafening roar sounded from behind Sasuke, who whirled around, banging his temple on a branch he hadn't seen. He immediately crouched down with his head between his legs, fighting back the stars behind his eyes.

It would have been hilarious if Naruto hadn't known what was coming.

"We have to move. Now."

Sasuke ignored him, too busy holding his head and cursing to listen.

"SASUKE!"

"WHAT!" He gave Naruto his very best Uchiha glare for making his headache worse, but the blonde wasn't looking at him. Slowly, ever so slowly, Naruto's hand rose, pointing behind him.

It was then that Sasuke noticed the enormous black shadow spreading over the ground, swallowing his own.

With growing dread, he turned to face Naruto's inner demon,

It was an enormous nine-tailed fox, about twelve feet tall with almost furious red-orange fur and bright red eyes. It was in a striking position, with hackles raised and lips curled back into a snarl that revealed gleaming canines.

Sasuke stopped breathing.

"Sasuke." Naruto breathed. "Run."

They flew through the forest, leaping over fallen logs and large stones, ducking under low hanging foliage, desperately trying to put more distance between them and the roaring demon.

"Over there!" Naruto gasped, pointing at a large boulder that stood at least ten feet high and five feet wide. They sprinted behind it and hid there, gasping.

"This," Sasuke choked, "is…all…your…fault."

"Fuck you!" Naruto snarled, still trying to catch his breath. "If you hadn't…opened my letter…this wouldn't have happened!"

"Yeah, well," Sasuke took a deep breath "Isn't that your inner demon chasing us?"

"Well…" Naruto paused, glancing away. "What makes you say that?"

"Because it's a giant orange fox!"

"So?!"

"So?! Damn, you're such a DOBE!"

"IF I'M SUCH A DOBE THEN YOU FUCKING FIGURE A WAY OUT OF THIS MESS!!"

"FINE. I WILL." Sasuke paused a moment, and then grinned at Naruto. "The sanctuary is right behind you."

"Wha—?" Naruto spun on his heel.

And there it was.