ATTENTION! There is a short scene with a needle in this chapter, if you don't like needles, then please skip the paragraph after the line: She didn't think she'd like this...

Chapter Thirteen: Kitsu'.
Natsuki huffed, knees buckling as she jumped to the ground. Deidara leapt down afterwards, releasing his jutsu on his clay bird. They both savoured a final glare between themselves before stalking inside the base. They ran into Hidan first, who sure as Hell gave them a couple of stupid remarks that only succeeded in pissing the both of them off. Natsuki refrained from punching him, knowing it wouldn't even knock him off his feet, let alone knock him out, so she instead left to find the quiet sanctuary of her room. She hadn't even gotten to the door when Itachi and Chikakon showed up. Chikakon bounded into her arms, nuzzling his face into her cheek affectionately. She had been gone for at least a week, so it was understandable. Itachi looked like he was well-rested and spick-and-span as ever. Natsuki was jealous. She wanted to be well-rested too. "Good, you are back. I'll see you in the arena in ten minutes." No ifs, no buts, no arguing. Natsuki knew she had to go. Ten minutes... I can't even catch a quick nap before then... She wept inwardly at her exhaustion and turned into her room, not daring to flop on the bed for fear of Itachi's wrath when she missed another training session. Instead, she changed out of her dirty clothes and into some clean ones, scrubbed her face and left, Chikakon on her heels.

"Nngh!" Natsuki bit back the gasp, skidding to a halt eight feet away from the Uchiha. Her arm and stomach felt bruised and broken, her head throbbed and her legs shook. Itachi could see how badly she was faring, and yet he refused to let her take a break. Whenever she tried to stop or leave, he came at her with a deadly amount of force. He was testing her willpower and stamina, as if they hadn't already been tested when she battled against Hidan and Kisame when she was first enlisted. "Keep your guard up!" Natsuki's head whipped up, eyes flying wide open at Itachi, plunging towards her with kunai. She legs twitched, as if wanting to move, but she couldn't, he was going to-

Screams laced the air, drenching out the sounds of the blood flying, the fires roaring, They looked on, shaking in the midst of so many dead and dying, so many trying to flee with their lives. "Chikako! Run!" Their heads whipped around, blood suddenly spurted from their neighbour, dying her violet kimono a most hateful red. Her eyes were wide, throat taking in dry air. The sword sifted, then was wrenched from her gut. She fell to the ground. Dead. Dead, Dead DEAD! They couldn't stop shaking, her legs wouldn't move, his body, curled against her chest, was frozen in shock with only tremors wracking it. Run... Her foot slipped back. She ran.

His fur bristled, standing on end as he let out a ferocious roar, shaking rocks from the ceiling.
"AARGH!" Natsuki's eyes shot up.
"ITACHI!"

Chikakon stood, at least seven feet tall, jaws lined with murderous canines clamped around Itachi's arm. His growl resonated throughout the entire arena. Pebbles jumped in their places, the leaves trembled. Natsuki straightenned, eyes so wide in horror that her corneas appeared tiny. "Itachi..." He choked up more blood, the kunai clinking against the ground. "Chikakon, let him go!" Her tail swished in heightened agitation and she stumbled to him, prying at his jaws with her hands. "Chikakon, let him go, it's alright! You're scaring me!" His jaws laxed and he released Itachi's arm. The Uchiha swayed for second, before falling to his knees. "Itachi are you okay?" Natsuki threw herself beside him, trying to get a better look at the wound. He let out an indiscernible grunt, clamping his hand around the wound.

"J- just hold on, I'm going to get help-" Itachi's vision blurred and he grabbed at her wrist before she left. The world lurched, ground rocking to try and touch the sky. He thought he dipped forwards, but couldn't tell.

Black.

Natsuki clamped her mouth shut, muscles throbbing and aching. With the last dregs of her willpower, she hefted the younger man up, struggling to get his good arm over her shoulders. She wrapped her spare arm around his waist and cast a glance at Chikakon, heart pounding. He was a normal fox again. She didn't understand...

Tears stained her cheeks, her leg throbbed and ached and she could still smell the rancid blood in her nostrils. Her neighbours, her friends, all like family. Family. Her parents, were they... The tears fled across her face even harder. She pushed herself faster. The trees began to turn to blurs. She still had Chikakon, they would find her parents later. They'd be alright. Right? A little wail escaped her lips, her choked throat.

Natsuki pulled Itachi down the corridor, trying to support his weight. Chikakon slunk along beside her, his face wracked with guilt. She cast him a strained smile.

A group of bandits crashed out of the trees in front of them. Their eyes latched on her and Chikakon. Dull swords, made for brutal hacking, pointing in their direction. Vulgar laughs left their lips. She skidded to a halt, trying to back up. They shot forwards, creaming out choruses of manic laughter. The adrenaline pounded in her ears. She was scared. She was terrified. Her eyes darted to Chikakon, they had to escape before they were- He was trembling. But not in fear. Power exuded off of him, his fur bristled and he let out a low, resonating growl. Their attackers didn't notice. The growl rose, reverberated, it snarled and lurched and so did his form, wavering and growing, the noise erupted into the most terrifying of roars.

He shot forwards, tearing at the bandits limbs, maiming them so they could never harm anyone again.

She knew many were dead. The thought brought bile to her mouth.

"It's alright." Natsuki whispered, smiling at Chikakon, "I understand. You just want to protect me." His eyes lit up at her forgiveness. She faced away, a determined spark in her. "And I promised you, I would protect you too because... you're my only family..."

The door swung open and Natsuki dragged pulled Itachi into his room. She tried to set him on his bed, but he ended up hanging halfway off. Chikakon scampered up to her with a first-aid kit in his mouth from the bathroom. "Thank-you." She took it and quickly cut Itachi's sleeve off, not wanting to move the wound too much. She took the sleeve and ran to the bathroom, soaking it in water before returning and cleaning the wound. The flesh was marred with deep gashes from Chikakon's teeth. Natsuki grimaced and tenderly took out a needle and surgical thread. She licked her lips and gulped. She didn't think she'd like this...

The point pierced his flesh and she cringed, pulling it to the other side of the first laceration. She almost hurled having to watch the fleshy, scarlet skin being pulled back together. Itachi stirred, turning his head away in his unconscious state. "Sorry Itachi..."

Natsuki wiped over the stitches with a clean bit of the wetted sleeve, being carefully not to irritate them. Confident that it wouldn't hurt him now, she took his cloak off with a little difficulty, but left his shirt on, even if it was slightly bloodstained. Gently, she arranged him more comfortably on his bed, propping his head on a pillow and hefting his legs onto the bed, instead of having them hang over the edge like they had been before. His chest heaved suddenly and his head fell to the side, onyx eyes cracking open. "Uurgh..." He let out a thick groan. Natsuki's eyes lit up, he was going to be okay. "You know," She started, attempting to crack a joke. "Between you, Kisame and me, I'm going to be an experienced medic by the end of the week." He chuckled slightly and she smiled, a little shocked with the noise when he had just been mauled by a size-changing fox. "Don't count me in with you two, I'm not such accident-prones." He smiled a little, eyes drooping a little. "Hey..." Natsuki warned, but smiled slightly anyway. He had fallen asleep. "Let's go Chikakon." She and her little red fox quietly left, letting the door click shut behind them. Now she could go and get a shower, sleep and eat food. Not in that order.

Yes! I'm on a roll! A short-chapter roll! Anyways, moving on.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed CH11, I forgot to mention that in CH12. Also, thanks to all of the watches etc. i really appreciate it!

Next time in Weapons Dealer: Chapter 14, If luck would have it.

"What? Another mission?
"What the fuck? You!"

"Well I don't like you either!"

"What the hell happened to your stupid rat?"
"I told you, he's a FOX, or is the gap from rodent to canine to big for your tiny brain to handle?"