For disclaimer, please refer to Chapter I
Summary: Naruto meets a redhead in the Dark Forest. Who is he?
Natsu no Mori
Chapter III: Sayounara --Farewell--
Every summer, I made sure to visit him.
"Kyuu! I'm here again!"
That year, I was sixteen. I had completed my Chuunin examinations and was wearing the vest that distinguished me as one.
He stared at me through that mask of his for a long while before uttering, "...You're a Chuunin."
Under his intense scrutiny, I tried really hard to hide my blush. But the thoughts of those beautiful golden eyes on me made me feel really... weird and self-conscious. But when he uttered those words, I visibly swelled. "Haha... So you noticed." I puffed my chest proudly and gave him a smirk.
--Since when did Kyuubi's opinions matter so much?--
He snickered at my antics and attacked my greatest weakness. "But you still look like a girl!"
"Nani!!" I yelled indignantly and raised my clenched fists at him. "Teme! I'll beat the crap out of you!!"
A whooping laugh from the elder boy and a 'come and catch me if you can!' and our usual game of tag began. Not once did I use any ninjutsu on him. It was as if, if I used those things, all the childhood innocence and fun of it all would disperse into the humid, warm wind.
Compared to humans, Kyuubi grew up very slowly.
Each year, I look differently. But Kyuubi looks almost the same as the first time.
"One day, I'm going to be older than him." ::sweats::
Somewhere inside me, I wished that he was a human too.
Third Point Of View
Winter. The Academy
"Naruto." A raven haired youth with very handsome features called out quietly to an oblivious blonde. "Oi, dobe!"
"Teme, Sasuke-bastard! Don't call me that! ...Nani yo?" Naruto bristled.
"Che! Just wanted to warn you that that spot is frozen."
The blond looked at the frozen puddle that he was about to step on and blinked. Then he smiled sheepishly. "...Oh..."
The brunette, known as Sasuke, held out his hand to the other boy and looked away. "It.. It's slippery and dangerous... hold... hold on."
Naruto looked at the slightly blushing Uchiha with curiousity before shyly taking the offered hand. Suddenly, another boy, a smiling redhead with topaz eyes and a fox mask, holding a branch and saying 'hold on' materialized in the blond's mind.
'Kyuubi... I want to see you... I wish I can touch you... Kyuubi...'
Somewhere in the outskirts of Konohagakure, a boy, with a mask on the crown of his red locks, stared at the gray winter sky wistfully and sighed.
"That's your new vest? Time passes so fast."
I smiled and nodded.
The other boy laid on his back and looked at the endlessly blue sky that reminded him so much of the shorter boy next to him. "Already a Jounin huh?"
"Aa."
"Ne Naruto, recently you never try to jump on me."
I gave a warm smile to my friend and laid down beside him. "Haha. Of course not. You've hit me so many times!"
A comfortable silence passed between us then I remembered my agenda. "Aa! Sou da! Ano sa, I'm going to get a job near the outskirts here so that I can come and visit you during the winter, spring, and fall too! Then we can see each other more frequently right? Haha!" I grinned at my brilliant idea.
"Naruto..." The usually cheery baritone voice suddenly became so solemn."...I will talk about myself."
"Eh...?"
"I'm not a human, but I'm also not a monster. I used to be a monster though... around four centuries ago. That time, I was the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune that ravaged Konohagakure but I was captured and sealed in a vessel. The vessel died not long after but I retained part of his looks and humane side. Actually, I was supposed to die along with my host but the Kitsune God, Inari, took pity on me and gave me another chance. So I stayed here, not able to die, just like a ghost."
Kyuubi looked at me with those pure and clear eyes I loved so much and smiled softly.
"Naruto. You can forget about me." The redhead looked at his hand and whispered. "My body is very fragile. If a human touched me, the spell will dissolve; my existence is not true, so you should forget about me and..."
"Kyuubi!" I interjected before dropping my volume. "Kyuubi is real... Kyuubi is like snow... If I touch you, you are going to disappear." I looked at him and sat closer to him. "I was always thinking about you during winter." 'And fall... and spring.'
I turned my face away from him to hide my tears. "Even if snow melts, its existence is true... So please don't say those things... Don't tell me to..." '...forget you...'
"Kyuubi, please don't forget me. Don't ever forget me." I looked pleadingly into his golden eyes.
A brief silence and a hesitant nod later, we continued talking about the things that we encountered during the times we were not together, as if the previous conversation did not transpired.
--I know that one day, time is going to separate the two of us. But still, until then, let's stay together--
"Ara? Monster festival?" I asked as softly as I could so that the fishes in the waters won't be scared away.
"...No. Monsters' festival." Came an almost inaudible reply.
"What's the difference?" I gave up and pulled the line in. Fishing was never my thing anyway.
"Nuance is different." Kyuubi continued to wait patiently for the fish to take his bait while I sweat-dropped. 'Nuance...?'
"You were too young to ask before." Moments later, he too gave up and drew his line in. "Can you come tonight? I... I've always wanted to go with you."
"Yes! Yes, Yes!! I want to go!!" I exclaimed excitedly as we made our way back. "Haha, but it seems kind of scary."
He stopped walking then he removed his mask and gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. It's exactly like the humans' festival except the monsters pretend to be human... Don't be scared. I'll protect you."
I looked at him with wide eyes. Suddenly, the want to hold him surged through me like tidal waves and I could hardly keep myself that close to him without wanting to touch him. I quickly quelled that feeling and put on my usual 'bratty-look'.
"...If you tell me that kind of thing, I would want to jump on you." I grinned cheekily.
"...That's my wish."
'Kyuubi... it hurts.'
That night was the most beautiful one that I ever had in the forest. The lights from the lamps and lanterns were soft and mellow and they blended perfectly well with the atmosphere, making everything seem dream-like and unreal. Little 'children' ran around with their cute masks of different animals --- foxes, raccoons, bears and cats --- and many stalls were filled with all sorts of interesting ornaments and sweets that were not common in the humans' festivals. A band at the corner played a soft melody that was so enchanting, it was out of this world. The mixture of lights and sounds of joy drifted lazily and enveloped us; everything was so surreal.
"Wow... Everything is soooo pretty! And the monsters change almost the same as humans!" I breathed, trying to take in as much as I could. Then I turned to look at my companion, only to blush like a school girl.
Kyuubi looked astounding. The kimono he wore was a white one, with adorable little fox paw prints, and though it may look a tad childish, it accentuated his tall and strong figure. His long, fiery, and normally tousled hair was tied into a pony tail and he had his usual fox mask on the top of his head. As he turned towards me, I quickly looked away before he noticed my blush.
"Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Sometimes, humans get lost in here without knowing it."
"Ah! Oro-chan!" I said, remembering what ero-jii told me a few years back.
"Huh, who?"
"Hahaha... nothing."
Kyuubi shrugged and offered a long piece of cloth to me. "Oi Naruto. Tie this on your wrist; you can get lost around here."
"Uhn." I tied one end of the cloth to my right wrist while he tied the other end to his left wrist. It was as if we were holding hands with the exception that our hands were not touching. It was almost romantic and I suddenly remembered the first time I met Kyuubi when he offered the branch to me while he led me out of the forest.
"Haha... This feels like a date."
"...This is a date."
"!!" I hastily turned my head away so that he won't see a red-faced me and laugh.
Together we walked on in comfortable silence admist the sea of laughter and music.
Later in the night, Kyuubi led me to the hill-top near the festival grounds and we watched the twinkling constellations studded in the dark purple sky.
"Naruto..."
"Hmm?"
"I can't wait for summer any longer..."
I turned my gaze to him and gave him a quizzical look.
Kyuubi's masked head was bowed low. "When you're away, I want to go through the crowd of people just to look for you..." Then he removed his mask, revealing a longing smile and a pair of sorrowful eyes. He donned the mask on me then kissed the lips of the mask.
"This is for you." He smiled that lovely smile of his and I felt incredibly warm yet incredibly painful.
--I think... next summer, he will never come back to this place again. I think this moment is the end of--
Third Point Of View
Summer Night. Dark Forest.
Two boys, one of them masked, with spiky, golden hair and a blue kimono with spirals pattern, and the other taller one with a long red pony tail and a white kimono, walked togerther with hands connected by a piece of cloth. They were strolling under the starry sky down a hill when a young boy suddenly ran behind then alongside them.
"Wa--!!" The little boy yelped as he tripped.
The redhead let out a 'watch out!' and quickly shot out his hand and grabbed the boy before he fell.
The young boy shouted a 'thank you!!' and waved before running off into the lights dotting the tress, signalling the location of the festival grounds. The blonde boy waved back.
The redhead was silent as he looked at his fingers that were becoming lighter and more translucent by the moment.
"Kyuubi?" The blond asked as he stared at his companion. 'Sometimes humans get lost in the forest...'
"!!!... That kid was human?" Naruto yelled.
Kyuubi continued to look at his rapidly disappearing fingers with wide, golden eyes before transferring his wide-eye stare to the other boy.
Naruto cried out worriedly. "Kyuu..."
"Come here Naruto! I can finally touch you!!" Kyuubi laughed as he held out his arms.
Naruto stared at the laughing boy before dashing into his arms. 'Oh Kami-sama, onegai! Don't let this moment end!! Please!!' He thought as he felt the strong but gentle arms envelop him in a tight embrace. 'I never thought that he would feel this warm... Please don't go... Please don't leave me... Please, please, please...!'
The redhead nuzzled his love's head and smiled. He was fast disappearing into atoms of light and soon, all that was left was the white kimono that previously covered his body. The blonde remained crouched on the ground, still hugging the garment. He thought he heard a soft 'I love you' before that was carried away by the chilling wind.
"...Me too." A whisper and then tears finally burst from their restraints and trailed down flushed, whiskered cheeks.
--This place, the place that was called the Dark Forest for all the monsters that were inhabiting here. A shade of green, this place... is where the Kyuubi no Kitsune resided--
"Naruto." A dark shadow called out behind the trees. Naruto recognized it to be Shukaku. "Thank you, Naruto. We wished to stay with Kyuubi longer, but Kyuu, he... he finally got his wish to be touched by a human."
'He was finally able to hug a human...'
The blonde merely waved to the shadow with a smile before burying his face into the mask that his love used to wear to hide the tears that were falling.
I think for this long while, I will not be able to feel excited for a summer to come.
My heart will hurt and these tears will flow.
But the warmth that stayed in my hands and the memories of summer will live with me forever.
'Let's go...' The vision of a smiling redhead holding out his hand slowly dissolved into fragments of light.
'Let's move on.'
::Owari::
A/N:
Well, it's finished. Thanks again to WaterBookLover and Yaoi no Hime for the reviews. And yes, this was adapted from the manga called "Hotaru". A bit of SasuNaru in this one and alot of angst. I kind of stuck to the original ending because I thought its utterly beautiful and it emphazies the theme of loss well. But I'll try and add in an epilogue (that will hopefully lighten the whole mood of this story) if I can manage. Right now, I still have to complete Bizarre Love Triangle and this other fic, also Naruto, called Helloo Nurse! I'll update at a more rapid pace so please support me for the fics to come! (Is this even a good reason..? --") Thank you for reading up to this point and as usual, comments are very much appreciated.
Let's move on.