Chapter 4
This chappie is dedicated to jgirl1984 who is a constant reader and reviewer of my Shadow and Naruto stories. Thanks! X3
I own nothing 'cept Shadow.
When Kyuubi woke later that morning, he felt a strange but familiar presence in the house. Rubbing his eyes as he entered the living room, he looked around for the owner of the chakra he sensed, but saw nothing. He let out a startled yell as something landed on his back, making him fall to the floor. Kyuubi rolled over, what ever was on his back moving onto his stomach. It took him a second for his tired brain to process that Shadow, his only brother—who was presumed dead until he met him in the woods the day before—sitting quite comfotably on him.
"Get off will you?" he grunted. Shadow complied and pranced into the kitchen. Kyuubi was skeptical. "Alright, who are you and what did you do with my brother?" Shadow peeked out the damaged doorway, smirking.
"Oh, I just lured him to a deserted alley way and killed him, disposing of his body somewhere in the middle of the forest. I am your brother you dolt! Now shut up and deal." the black fox rolled his eyes and padded out of the kitchen into the living room once again, sitting comfortably on a crimson colored arm chair.
Kyuubi chuckled and got a glass of water, settling down on the couch. "So, how did you get in here?" Shadow shuddered, flicking his still sore tail dismissivly.
"Naruto's brat decided to play tug of war, and my tail was the rope." he said with a snort.
"Ah, Atsuko got a hold of you did he? He did the same thing to me when he was four. He's seven now, and I can only emagine how much power he's gained by then. Years ago, he almost took my tail off, so, I can feel some sympathy."
'Finaly! We have a name.' thought the black kitsune. "I'm pretty sure that my tail has been dislocated permanently." he growled. Most multy tailed kitsune prefered to keep only one tail showing at a time, that way, no one is intimidated by them, or scared. That is what Shadow and Kyuubi did, as did Naruto and Hinata. Kyuubi shook his head in sympathy for his brother. "So, how's Cyrus been?"
"Oh, he has a daughter now, his mate died in childbirth. They live here too, though Cyrus is always busy with problems in the Kitsune Clan. Ever since your... er... death, things have gone down hill. Every one got so used to your leadership that when we announced that you were gone, the village was in turmoil. That is, until Cyrus took over for a while. He soon passed leadership onto Gatsu, and things have been a little better. But Gatsu constantly calls on Cyrus to help him with leadership and things like that." Gatsu was a pale crimson eleven tailed fox, trustworthy, and a natural leader. Though, Shadow was always wary around him, for an unknown reason.
"A daughter you say? Well, I can't wait to meet her. What about you? Have you gotten a girlfriend finaly or are you still single?" he asked with a glint in his blood red eyes.
"Erm... well, there was one girl that I liked, but she moved away. Enough of that, why did you ask me not to tell Naruto that you had come back yesterday?" Shadow flicked his tail, a look of indignaty on his face—meaning his jaw was jutted out to one side, an eyebrow raised, and an ear cocked.
"You know Naruto. He would have sent out a search party, or laughed in your face! Let's say that I wanted to avoid aformentioned acts." there were footsteps from hallway, and Shadow peered over the top of the chair to see his only son, Cyrus, with a small kit who's pelt was a complete reverse of his own—pale red on top and pale orange on bottom with red eyes instead green—on his back. When Cyrus looked up, his eyes met with his father's and he nearly fell over. He had not taken Shadow's untimely death well, so you can imagine his surprise when said fox was staring right at him.
"What... how..." Cyrus shook his head sharply and straightened up. "Dad, how in Kami's name are you still alive?" he asked padding to his father.
"Another story for another time." deadpanned the fox. He loved teasing his son, especialy when he got a childish pout out of it. Success. "Heh, I'll tell you later. Now, who is this lovely little lady?" 'Yeash, try saying that three times fast.'
"This is Rai, my daughter. Rai, this is your grandfather, Shadow." the little kitling stared with huge eyes at the massive fox that was her grandpa.
"Gran'pa?" she asked innocently. Cyrus nodded, and Rai's eyes brightened up more than Naruto's used to when he was treated to ramen—not that they didn't now. She squealed—nearly busting everyone's eardrums—and exclaimed, "Gran'pa! You're home!" Shadow shot Cyrus a questioning look, and aformentioned fox mouthed: 'Its all I could tell her, live with it!' Snorting lightly, Shadow picked Rai up with his tail—making quite an effort might I add, his tail was still sore—and set her down next to him. The kitling then proceeded to clamber onto Shadow's back, yanking out a good amout of fur in the process, and making her newly discovered grandfater yelp in a way that you couldn't help but laugh at.
'Is it me, or is the world bent on causing me pain? First the tourture in the firey pits of Hell, then Naruto attacks me, after that, that cat that just won't die, then Kyuubi and his team! Then after that I get attacked by a seven year old, nearly losing my tail, and now Cyrus's kid is yanking out my fur! My. Life. Sucks.' Shadow raved mentaly.
While he was, er, reminicing, Rai had made it to his head, and was peering down at him, her head cocked to the side. Shadow raised his eyes to look back at her and smiled. Then, he was almost blinded by a flash of light, and glared at Kyuubi as he put down a camera—one of the instant ones—and showed him the picture. The black fox sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head a little. Cyrus meanwhile was rolling on the floor clutching his sides at his father's expression in the picture. It was an image of innocence that he thought Shadow incapable of. But he also though Sasuke incapable of yelling and ranting at his loudest tone, but he was promptly proven wrong on that one too.
"Alright that's enough! You had your laugh." rebuked the fox. Cyrus stuck his tounge out at his father, Shadow doing the same, and Kyuubi rolled his eyes at their antics.
"What's going on down here?" asked a tired voice. Everyone turned to see Naruto rubbing his eyes in the door way—Hinata has yet to wake up—staring at them questioningly. Kyuubi threw him the picture before Shadow could stop him, and the blonde couldn't help but laugh.
"Just meeting the family. And getting ready to pound Kyuubi into the ground then cut him into tiny pieces and feeding them to the griffens back home for humiliating me like that." Shadow replied sourly. Kitsune's prefer to keep griffens as pets.
"Come on, what about brotherly love?" Kyuubi asked nervously.
"You can take that brotherly love and..." he was going to say 'shove it up your ass!'
"Ehem. We have a young child in earshot." Cyrus interupted hotly. Naruto started laughing again, while Shadow and Kyuubi glared at each other.
There you go! Hope you enjoyed family time, because its gonna be gone for a while. Review!