Disclaimer : Naruto and other characters are not mine.

Warning : SasuNaru. Shonen-ai. Some other pairings later on.

"bla bla" spoken

/bla bla/ thoughts

Sunshine After the Rain

By Misaki Sakura

Chapter 7 : In the Eyes of a Fox

"Ne, Kyuubi … what do you think happened to Sasuke?"

Kyuubi looked at his owner and tilted his head. Naruto laughed and picked him up. "You know, I always thought that he was happy, that he bullied people because he had everything. But now … I don't know … he never talks about his family and when anyone brings them up, he'll look angry."

Naruto patted Kyuubi's head. "Tomorrow there'll be a festival at school. I want to take you with me but I don't think they'll allow me."

"But since I've never listened to them, I won't start now."

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Kyuubi decided that being Naruto's pet was hard most of the times. He liked to do things that people called pranks. Well, Naruto said it was to lighten up the situation. He liked to be in the center of everyone attention, but it looked like he changed in Konoha. Kyuubi could see the looks the other students gave them and he didn't like it. Where were Kiba and Shino, Naruto's best friends from junior high? He liked them very much even though they had weird sense in choosing pets.

Kiba had a big doghouse for his dogs, but he liked Akamaru the most out of them. Shino? He loved bugs. He knew any kinds of bugs that existed on earth and it's not exaggerating. He even had bugs behind his clothes. Talk about weird.

"Dobe, what are you doing here?"

"WHAT DOBE! TEME!"

And Uchiha Sasuke walked into the picture. That's the first time Kyuubi saw Sasuke, but he felt that he knew the boy long time ago from what Naruto told him. And he didn't like Sasuke too. Arrogant, cold hearted bastard, Naruto always said.

Sasuke looked at the fox and practically fumed. Said fox was lounging in Naruto's arm and Naruto looked at him with such affection. He hated Kyuubi. And he didn't mind showing it to Naruto and Kyuubi.

"Stop it, Sasuke! You're scaring him." Naruto said when he saw Sasuke gave Kyuubi his best glare.

"Whatever. Lee's looking for you." With another glare at the fox, he left.

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"Really, Sasuke, to get jealous over a fox?"

"Shut up, Itachi. Why are you here anyway!"

Itachi gave him the Uchiha smirk. Hey, Sasuke's not the only Uchiha. He knew Sasuke wouldn't like seeing him in the festival but he had to come. Their parents were the biggest donators after all. Since they were busy so they sent Itachi instead because Sasuke was still a student there. He had to go as a student, not as the Uchiha representative. Sasuke wouldn't like it when he heard it though.

"The usual. Mom and Dad can't come."

Yeah, the usual. They never showed up there. Not on parent's day, not on any school festivals, not when it concerned Sasuke. Sasuke looked at his brother with anger in his eyes. /But they're always there for you. Never for me./

"And I want to see your little dobe-chan."

"What! Who- Wh-?"

"Uzumaki Naruto …"

"Stay away from him!"

Itachi laughed. To Sasuke it sounded very bad, caused him to turn around and left his aniki behind. The truth was Itachi was glad to see his brother held something for the boy. /That would make him the first person who could get his attention in a good way after so long. We have failed long time ago, haven't we, okasan/

"Aren't you Itachi-sama?"

Itachi turned around to the source of the voice. The pink-haired girl squealed in delight when she saw that her guess was right. Itachi gave her his best smile, which caused the girl to drop unconscious due to lack of oxygen. Her face was flushed.

"Stupid forehead girl. We're sorry to bother you, Itachi-sama."

Ino, the other girl, bowed at Itachi before leaving Sakura on the floor, out cold. Ino had realized that she couldn't get Sasuke the way she wanted him to and she also realized that she didn't want it. Naruto had accepted her apology and he also saw her as a friend. The problem was when she decided to quit as a fangirl, the other girls accused here for betraying them. Of course that's true in a way. The one who hated her decision the most was Sakura.

/She should be glad that I won't be her rival anymore. Weird./

And she had a new target anyway so she'd better get going. The janitor would deal with the forehead girl anyway. But seeing Itachi-sama that close was bliss. With an evil grin plastered on her face, she took out a hidden camera she used to take Itachi's picture. The girls would love it!

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Naruto ran into Kiba and Shino on his way to the exhibition hall. Kiba with Akamaru on his shoulder and Shino with his bugs … somewhere.

"Kiba! Shino!"

"Naruto!"

Kiba ruffled Naruto's already messed up hair with big grin on his face. "Hey, you don't look taller!"

"Thanks for your information." He pouted.

Shino smiled, seeing the two loud boys. Naruto smiled back. Shino was a silent type. Not the type Kiba would hang out with but that's what happened. Other than Naruto, Kiba's best friend was the bug boy. That's what they called him in junior high and it seemed that he had no problem with the nickname.

"This place is nice." Shino said.

"I know. I'm glad to be here."

Naruto gave them his famous grin before saying, "I have to go now. Have fun, guys!"

Kiba looked at the retreating boy then at Shino. "Hey, have you seen Iruka and Gaara yet?"

"No."

"I wonder where they are."

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Surprisingly, Gaara was with Lee. Naruto nearly had a heart attack when he saw Gaara smiled at Lee when he talked about the power of youth. Gaara was not known for his smile. There were so few people had seen the smile that Naruto almost thought he couldn't. But he smiled on some occasions. At him. At Iruka. And now, at Lee.

"Oh, hello Naruto."

"Hi. This is the painting. Where should I put it?"

"Wow. It's beautiful. Full of spirits!"

Naruto sweatdropped. "Er, Gai-sensei?"

"Oh, Gai-sensei is arranging the paintings there." Lee pointed at the other corner of the room. "Give the painting to him."

"Okay."

Naruto ran to Gai-sensei to see that he was talking to someone. The painting fell onto the carpet soundlessly.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke who were walking into the hall saw Naruto shivering uncontrollably. "Are you okay?"

"I-"

His tear made its way down Naruto's cheeks. Silently, Sasuke picked the painting up and handed it to Naruto. The boy took it with trembling hands. "Let's go out, okay?"

Naruto nodded.

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After leaving the painting in Lee's hands, Sasuke took Naruto outside for fresh air. He had calmed down a bit, but still crying. When Sasuke asked him why he was crying, he couldn't put his fingers to it. He didn't know. The tears flown out by itself. As to what triggered it, that would be the man he saw talking to Gai-sensei. Or to be precise, the man who was beside the man talking to Gai-sensei.

Pale skin, long hair … so many people fitted the characteristics. Who was it? He didn't know. He didn't remember.

"Sasuke, I'm okay now."

"Just stay here a little bit longer. Your eyes are still red."

Sasuke never spoke to him that gentle. He didn't talk much, but he sat with him and stay with him. That's enough.

"What happened?"

"I don't know either. I saw the man and all hell breaks loose. I don't even remember where I've seen him before."

They stayed together there for some time before Naruto asked, "Where's Kyuubi?"

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The fox was walking down the hall with caution. So many feet … he had to be careful or else he'd get stomped by one of the people there. Where's Naruto? He wanted to call his owner, but he's only a fox. What could he do? And in a large place like that …

"A fox! Kawaiiiiiii!"

"So cute!"

"So tiny!"

Ugh, girls. Naruto had told him about what the girls in Konoha did to him. Please, let anyone above hear his plea. Don't let any of the girls catch him. With that, he ran.

"Don't run, foxy."

"We won't hurt you."

/Like hell you won't/ Kyuubi ran as fast as he could. He didn't know how far he ran until a man picked him up. He struggled, he did, but he was a fox. What could he do?

"What are you doing here, little fox?"

The man with a covered eye and mask. Weird. He struggled once more to no avail.

"Naughty, aren't you? Where did you come from?"

"Kyuubi!"

The masked man turned his head to Iruka, who ran at him. He snatched Kyuubi out of Kakashi's hand and patted his head. "What are you doing here alone? Did you lose Naruto?"

Kyuubi nodded his head vigorously. The relief of seeing Iruka was too much. He nearly cried in sheer happiness. But he hadn't escaped yet. The weird man was still there. In the hands of a person he knew, he felt a little bit confident so he sent Kakashi his version of death glare. The white haired man only stared at him.

"Naruto's pet, huh, Iruka?"

The shorter man sighed. "Yes."

"Pets aren't allowed here, you know."

"I know and I believe Naruto knows this too. But this is his first exhibition in high school and he wants to share it with Kyuubi …"

"Kyuubi?" Kakashi believed he had heard the name before.

Iruka nodded his head. "Well, it's time to look for Naruto. Bye, Kakashi."

Without hearing Kakashi's words, he left as fast as he came.

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Orochimaru stared at the painting in front of him in disbelief. There stood in the middle of the painting was a nine-tailed fox. Its tails held up high, the fire behind it caused it to stand out even more. What stunned him was the way it was drawn, the style the painter used to make it.

"He's supposed to be dead." Orochimaru clenched his fist tightly. "Kabuto."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto bowed at him.

"Find out who made this painting."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru turned to leave. The frown on his face was clear for everyone to see. He chanted over and over in his head /He's dead! Kyuubi is dead! I've killed him/

TBC

A/N : Ha ha ha! More Orochimaru and Sakura bashing! My apology to all Sakura's fans. I don't hate her, but I can't say that I like her. Next chapter will show Naruto's weakness and more NejiHina. Read and review!