Chapter 3.
After they hatched their plan with Killer Bee and the Giant Ox, they resumed their concentration.
They said the same thing over and over, getting the message out to other Jinchuuriki.
They first sought after Utakata and his demon of the Six-tailed slug and afterwards, with Gaara Sabaku the Kazekage and Shukaku the One-Tailed sand demon.
Then there was a problem.
In the form of the Two-Tails monster cat.
'Hey, fox, what's the hold up?' Naruto asked the fox.
'I'm having trouble getting through to the two tails.' The fox replied.
Naruto frowned. Did he just detect worry in the bijuu's voice?
Suddenly the connection crackled to life.
'Damn it tip tail. What do you want?'
'What's got your fur in a tangle, cat?'
'We're being chased. That's what.'
'WHAT! BY WHOM?'
One word suddenly changed everything.
'Akatsuki.'
'WHAT? WHICH ONES? WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES?'
'What's it to you brat?'
'ANSWER HIM.'
'All right fluff ball, hang on, she's fighting.'
'Hurry up.'
There was a silence.
'Aha, Hidan and Kakuzu…? I think. Why? We can handle it.'
'No you can't, the others will be on their way, and you won't stand a chance.'
'Others?'
'Yes, the full extent of the Akatsuki are going to turn up on your doorstep any minute now.'
'Then what the hell am I supposed to do!'
The fox thought for a minute and conversed privately with Naruto.
'Boy, I'm going to need your chakra.'
'WHAT? NO! USE YOUR OWN CHAKRA!'
'Consider it as you paying back your debt. Because I'm taking it anyway.'
'NOOO!'
Naruto suddenly felt drained and extremely tired.
His chakra had been severely depleted, and he now only had enough left to keep him alive.
Listening to the fox, he must have also felt ragged, as he was breathing heavily.
'Get out of…there…you mangy…feline. And head to Konoha…and keep a low profile…secret mission…get here…three days.' The Kyuubi managed to gasp out over the link.
'I owe you and your Jinchuuriki one…fox.' The monster cat replied, breaking off the link quickly.
Kakashi and Yamato were watching him from a distance as Naruto sat with his eyes wide and glassy, oblivious to what was happening to him.
"What do you think he thinks about?"
"Ramen. Or at the moment he's probably plotting our deaths…due to what we've done to him, I can't say he's best pleased with us."
"Kakashi-Senpai, he's not that thick."
"…He's not that clever either."
"True that…but…Hey! Naruto!"
Naruto was unable to stay upright any longer. Exhaustion from lack of chakra made him collapse completely onto his back with a loud thump.
Kakashi scrambled up and ran to the cage.
"Yamato!" He shouted.
"I'm on it." Yamato nodded, allowing the cage to let Kakashi through.
Kakashi knelt cautiously next to Naruto and frowned as he saw Naruto's lips moving slightly. He lifted his Hitate up and activated his Sharingan, as whatever Naruto was saying was inaudible.
"You damn fox…taking all my chakra like that. You're gonna get me in trouble, you know that?"
There was a pause.
Kakashi's frown deepened. What in the name of damnination was going on?
"Yeah well, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this situation."
Another, shorter pause. Suddenly he realised what was transpiring.
"Just because it was my idea, doesn't mean you can blame me you dumbass fuzz ball. N-…No. I can call you what I damn well like…fluffykins…Yeah. I went there. Now shut up."
"Naruto." Kakashi said.
Naruto jerked suddenly and sat up, letting out a groan as his weakened muscles protested.
"Naruto. Were you talking to the Kyuubi?" Kakashi asked him, raising an eyebrow.
"Uhh…Uhh…Y-Y-Yeah…" Naruto admitted haltingly.
"NARUUTOOO!" Kakashi growled out into an angry yell. Naruto winced.
"What? S'not like I've got anyone else to talk to…" He muttered.
"Hey! Watch it there! We're still here for you, you know." Yamato called out to him defensively.
"Yeah. Respect your elders." Kakashi agreed.
"Hah! Finally admitted your age, eh old one?" Naruto sniggered.
"Tsk, curb your tongue young'un." Kakashi grinned good-naturedly, cuffing him lightly around the ear.
"Sure thing gramps." Naruto said, grinning back up at him.
"Good to know you haven't lost spirit, Naruto." Kakashi said, ruffling his students hair proudly before standing up and exiting the cage, leaving Naruto to his thoughts once again.
Naruto felt…compressed. He felt like the walls were closing in around him…and not just literally…
He had been abandoned. Seen as…well. Seen as what? A liability? Untrustworthy? A threat? A…A demon?
He couldn't, and didn't want to believe that his friends had done this out of those reasons. But he had a niggling voice in the back of his mind, which whispered that they had…
Naruto pushed the thoughts away. He knew that if he gave in to the voice and the feeling which followed it, he would only create bigger problems, and end up destroying everything he had worked for.
But…To forgive them…It was going to take a long time…
A single tear slid down his face.
Day 1.
He wanted nothing more than to up and attack the bars, to weaken them as much he could. But the Kyuubi kept suppressing such feelings every time, telling him to bide his time…
But it was so wasteful.
They could do something, anything, just to contribute.
"I hate sitting here doing nothing you know." Naruto muttered out loud.
"Well then you shouldn't have gone off like that." Kakashi replied, not realising that it was meant for the fox inside his student.
"Huh? But Sensei!"
"Don't 'But Sensei' me." Kakashi said sternly, entering 'teacher' mode.
"Don't you lecture me too…" Naruto groaned.
"Do you know what could have happened to you?" Kakashi persisted.
"But-" Naruto tried to protest.
"Do you?"
Naruto sighed, there was going to be no reasoning with him now.
"Yes."
"Well you obviously don't."
"Naruto, Kakashi-Sempai is right. You could have been killed. The Akatsuki are criminals Naruto, and they're no joke." Yamato joined in.
"If my death is the worst that can happen, then I'm not afraid." Naruto said stubbornly.
'Well said brat.' The fox chuckled.
Well.
At least SOMEONE was amused.
"AND THAT'S MY POINT. IT IS NOT THE WORST YOU CAN HAPPEN, YOU IMBECILE." Kakashi roared angrily.
Naruto face-palmed mentally. He knew this. He really did. It was what he wanted to stop, but noooooooooooo.
Some people thought that they had to LOCK HIM UP.
AND WHO'S FAULT WAS THAT?
Oh wait…
His.
"THEY COULD TAKE OVER THE WORLD, AND WHAT'S MORE, IN DOING SO, THEY WILL HURT AND KILL FRIENDS AND FAMILY, PEOPLE YOU LOVE. AND YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING, BECAUSE YOU, WILL BE DEAD, AND THE FOX WILL HAVE BEEN CAPTURED!" Kakashi continued furiously.
"AND THAT'S WHY I'M DOING THIS." Naruto yelled mentally.
Kakashi and Yamato stared at him, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.
'Naruto.'
'Eh?'
'We now have a slight problem.'
'What?'
'You just said that out loud.'
'…Oh…Shit…'
"Naruto. What are you doing?" Yamato asked suspiciously, finally regaining his composure.
"N-N-Nothing…"
"Are you lying?"
"N-N-No."
"What was the last thing Kiba Inuzuka said to you?"
"…Hah, I win…"
"Who was it that fell over at the training grounds when Sakura nearly flashed accidentally?"
"Ero-Sennin."
"What is my ANBU name?"
"Tenzou."
"Are you planning something?"
"Y-OWWWWWWW!" Naruto suddenly howled, clutching at his tongue in pain. The fox intervened by activating a pressure point within Naruto's body, making his jaw clamp shut.
Unfortunately for Naruto, his tongue had foolishly got in the way.
All the better.
'SHUT UP BRAT.' The Kyuubi roared at him, having realised what was going on, and why Naruto was such an idiot for going along with it obliviously.
"…There's something going on…"
"Yeah…He was about to say…But I think the Kyuubi stopped him."
"Hm. We should be extra careful."
"Just a bit."
"Look out for anything…Unusual."
"Hai."
'You insolent brat. Falling for a trick like that…'
'Shut up. I bet if I yelled squirrel, you'd go looking for it.'
'…Shut up.'
Day 2.
By day two, Naruto REALLY wanted to do something…He had slept on and off all night.
He had tried to listen in to Iruka and Asuma's conversation, but every time he caught on to something important, it was as if they knew he was listening, and they had lowered their voices to whispers.
It annoyed Naruto greatly.
But the next day, Naruto wanted to use his pent up energy. To let it loose in blinding force. But he still could not access his own chakra.
The cage, every time he tried to summon something such as his Rasengan, it would splutter out pitifully.
He sat there, annoyed with the fact that his latest Rasengan couldn't even manage more than two sparks.
"Damn it! Damn this cage! This damn wood won't let me have ANY chakra!" Naruto hissed angrily.
Suddenly he stopped.
That was it.
The cage.
'Hey, fox!'
'No.'
'I-What?'
'Whatever it is, no.'
'But-'
'I'm trying to save my strength, as you should be doing. Cut it out and lay still or something.'
'But I thought that-'
The Kyuubi growled at him in annoyance, and Naruto shut up decisively.
Fine. He could do it on his own. He could do it ALL on his own.
He stood up quietly, making sure that Kakashi Sensei and Captain Yamato didn't get suspicious, and walked over to the far side of the cage in the corner.
He held on to two of the bars and slumped on them, letting out a sigh for dramatic effect.
He waited.
And slowly but surely, after a few minutes he felt the intense gaze of his teachers start to lessen as they began to relax again.
Naruto reached up slightly on the outside of the cage and fumbled in the wood.
Then he found one.
He hissed quietly as it burnt him.
It was the chakra suppressing seal which had been cleverly carved into the wood.
Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, he dug his nails into the wood and started to scratch away pieces of wood.
Slowly but surely, etching a hole deep into the first chakra suppression seal.
'Brat. Sit down. It's burning you, and in turn it's burning me.'
'It can help!'
'You've already lessened it. Now sit down and go to sleep.'
'But-'
'That's it. I've had enough.' The Kyuubi snapped.
He forced his way into Naruto, gaining control of his body. He forced Naruto away from the wooden bars and sat him down in the middle of the cage, stretching his body out into a sleeping position.
'You damn fox! No! I have others to do-.'
'No you don't. You can damn well sleep.'
Then Naruto was filled with an image of the fox, and he found himself staring deep into his eyes.
The eyes flared once with a red fire, and Naruto slipped into a deep sleep…
Day 3.
"Hello sir, how can we help you?" Kotetsu said as he leaned forward in his chair slightly as a middle aged man walked through the gates.
"Have you checked in sir?"
"Not yet but I'm all set."
"Ok then, can you sign this slip of paper here please."
"I can, but my handwriting is a language you can't understan'."
"That's fine, we've dealt with worse."
There was a scratching of pen on paper, and seconds later the paper was handed back to them, and the newcomer was off into the heart of the Hidden Leaf Village.
'Oi. Fluff ball. Wake up. Bee needs to know where you are.' The Demon Ox/Octopus said, his voice thundering through Naruto's thoughts.
'Call me fluff ball once more and I'll be the one coming after you, you tentacled squirming fish. Now give me a second, I'll cloak the brat with my chakra, and you can pick up on that. But don't enter until I say so.'
'Fine.'
'WHAT! NO!'
Naruto yelled out in agony as he felt his second chakra system activated on impulse, feeling its fire fly around the network which wound its way throughout his body.
'Stop whining and screaming brat. It's only going to be for approximately three minutes.'
'It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!'
Kakashi looked up from where he was talking to Yamato as Naruto yelped, a red chakra starting to leak out of him rapidly, already with two-tails.
Yamato cursed.
"Stop! Naruto! No! Damn it." Yamato yelled at him, reaching into his pouch as he and Kakashi scrambled up from where they were sat on the floor.
Naruto's head whipped around as Yamato entered the cage, and shut it securely behind him. He ran at him with a chakra suppression sticker.
'Oh no you don't.' The fox growled.
Suddenly Naruto's chakra flared dizzyingly, and he entered the second stage, where he became a miniature version of the Kyuubi.
Although, thankfully, he was not covered in the skeletal layer of the fox.
Then Naruto managed to remember Yamato through his agony.
'NO! DON'T HURT HIM! PULL AWAY!' He yelled to the fox.
Somehow, the fox seemed to listen to him, and before Yamato was able to slap the paper onto him, he danced and jumped backwards several times until he hit the cage bars with a loud 'thump'.
Yamato fell forwards in surprise and Kakashi raised his eyebrow.
'Can we stop now…?' Naruto asked pitifully.
'No. We need to go a little more. He can only just sense us. If I can get this to go to the next stage for at least five seconds, then Ox will have a good grip on where we are.' The Kyuubi responded.
Naruto's miniature Kyuubi form suddenly yelped and arched it's back in agony as the skeletal layer started to form.
Kakashi tutted in irritation and he helped to get Yamato out of the cage before he was trampled or was injured beyond healing.
Yamato was staring at the form in shock, having never seen it so close up, and he grimaced as he got a good glance at the size of the canines on the jaw of the skull.
Finally Kakashi managed to drag him out and Yamato slammed the cage bars shut with a burst of chakra, forcing the wood to rejoin.
"Stay here. I'll go and get Iruka." He said as they both turned to face the door.
"Ow, No…need." Came a voice from behind them.
Kakashi and Yamato whipped around incredulously.
Naruto was sat on the floor, his skin already healing as he grinned painfully.
"Naruto, what do you think you're playing at?" Yamato asked in disbelief.
"Eh, Kyuubi wanted out, but I stopped him from harming you and managed to regain possession just now." Naruto explained, rubbing his neck ruefully.
"BRAT! DON'T BLAME IT ON ME!"
"Hmm. I think you're getting delirious." Yamato scoffed.
"I think YOU are Yamato Sensei. Have you had enough Photosynthesis today?" Naruto retorted innocently.
There was a silence.
"LET ME AT HIM!" Yamato yelled as Kakashi's arm held him back.
"Calm down Tenzou." Kakashi sighed in exasperation.
"You can't call me that anymore Kakashi-Senpai!" Yamato protested.
"Oh yeah…Haha…Sorry." Kakashi eye-smiled.
Suddenly the fox spoke up.
"He's here."
Hope you are all liking it so far. =)
I know the days aren't exactly good fillers, but hey. Blame it on Kyuubi. His fault. He's just so FLUFFY!
Uhh...
Hopefully I won't get eaten for that.
Just to make sure, you gotta review! =D That way you'll know if i'm alive, 'cuz I'll be able to update. xD ;)
ALSO. For those who are a bit confused, everything is going to be explained further on in the story.
Now for some sad(ish) news.
School is the best days of your life. Homework isn't.
Lately I've been bombarded with homework. I have a half term coming up in approximately 1-2 weeks, in which I shall be able to update frequently, as I am a fast writer. But I may not be able to update as quickly at the moment.
However, I am halfway through Chapter 4. So you may get that either tomorrow or the day after, depending. ^_^
REVIEWS PLEASE! =D (I don't wanna get eated...=/)
Kaitaru. (But you may all call me Kai. =) )
XxxXxxX