AN: So, just so everyone knows, the first couple chapters have been updated at a decent speed simply because I want to get past the pre-cannon stuff, and because I simply felt the urge to write. So until I fall into a groove, I have no idea how quick or slow my updating is going to be, so don't get your hopes up just yet.
Also, as far as some character's speech go… *Cough Bee Cough* I think I might have to change it up…
0o0o0
A group had assembled inside of the Hokage's office, a few Leaf Shinobi, a few civilians, and a few Cloud Shinobi. All stood before the Hokage himself who sat behind his desk, taking a drag from his pipe. "Ninja of Kumo… It has come to my attention that you have travelled a great distance… To make peace…" Sarutobi stated simply, smoke escaping his maw as he spoke. The taller dark skinned male stepped forward, "Yo, Yo! Hokag-" Bee was interrupted, by his smaller companion, "Excuse me Lord Hokage, I am Yugito Nii, and this big oaf is Killer Bee… We have come with the ambassador party to ensure everything goes smoothly." She started, and got a groan from Killer Bee. Whenever he would start to talk, he got interrupted.
The now dubbed Yugito continued, "We have come to, as you said, make peace with your village. Lord Raikage sent us along as a great sign of trust. Simply because… We are Jinchuuriki." The statement in and of itself made the aged leader pause with shock. He had nearly choked on the drag of tobacco he was taking in. A questionable looking man stepped forward, "I am the ambassador for Kumo Lord Hokage… I am here to for the actually negotiations my lord. As Miss Yugito has stated, they are here as a sign of good will and trust." He added taking a bow.
Sarutobi only nodded, "Well they are free to explore the village while we start the negotiations… I only ask they keep their status as hosts under wraps." The ambassador nodded, "You heard the man, go about your business. Bee, Yugito and the nameless third shinobi nodded, leaving the office. Bee and Yugito went to explore the village where as the third man had other plans. He smiled when he was outside, previously brown eyes, shifting into yellow slitted eyes, much like that of a snake.
0o0o0
Naruto had spent a few hours with Sasuke and Mikoto after spotting the strangers at the front gate and it was getting dark. He had decided to go home, but not before stopping by Ichiraku's for dinner. It was still his birthday, so he couldn't go without having Ichiraku for every meal, besides, this time Ayame-chan said it would be on the house!
Now when the boy had stopped fantasizing about eating enough ramen to make himself explode, he'd realized that he hadn't a clue where he was. He started to rush a little, walking faster and faster, until he was in a full out run. He didn't like being alone… Least not in the village, at night… On the day of his birth. He could hear grown men and a few women laughing heartily somewhere up ahead, some lights, a few fireworks. 'Great… It's already started…' The blonde toddler thought to himself, deciding to go another way instead of right into the fire.
He turned a corner, seems he'd gone the wrong way, his apartment was in the opposite direction, but if he turned back now, he may have a very unpleasant encounter with a few people who took to the Kyuubi festival a bit too seriously… So he rushed down the road without a second thought.
0o0o0
A pale man with hair that was darker than night skulked through the village, finding his way to a clan compound… Echoes of laughter filled the air, "Kukukukuku…" A throaty laugh emanated from the man, serving to spook any wildlife or witnesses. His eyes, if not for their glow, would have matched the pale yellow shirt he wore. Around his waist was a thick rope like belt tied in an upside down bow. The color matched the purple eye shadow he seemed to wear. In the night, it was hard to tell if he was wearing black or dark gray pants, but it was obvious his shinobi sandals were black, with white bandages covering the gap between his pants and the sandles.
He stopped for a moment, looking up at the wall that was in his path. After a pause, he continued forward, actually stepping through the wall with some sort of Earth Style technique. He found himself on the other side, pale yellow eyes seemed to glow like some sort of specter. The nameless man watched as people with pale lavender eyes entered their homes for the night. 'Hyuuga…' He thought to himself, and images or soldiers with those vary eyes flashed in his mind. He could hardly contain his glee when he thought how this whole mess would be blamed on Kumo. His plan was nearly flawless.
0o0o0
Naruto, for some reason had been taking his time, it only got darker as he walked. He stopped looking behind him, then he checked either direction for a hidden mob. Last year, a group of particularly wasted individuals had surprised him when he was on his way home from dinner with Jiji. The last thing he could remember was feeling a very blunt, very hard hit to the back of the head…
But in the present, while he was pushing his senses to see, or even hear anything… A faint noise, like leaves rustling… And… Was that screaming? He forgot his fears and rushed off in the direction of the noise. He broke into a nearby tree line behind what he assumed to by those Hyuuga people's home. The walls were intimidating simply to look at and he didn't think that even on a good day that he could scale them.
But back to the task at hand, chasing whatever was making that noise!
0o0o0
"Dogg, D-O double G, it got dark, I told you we shoulda left the park. Fool, ya fool." Bee chanted. This only served to anger the neko. "I'm a CAT, C-A-T, get it right!" She yelled, swatting at Bee like a pest. He caught her hand as his ears twitched, "Hush, child, somethin's goin' wild…" He said, catching the noise of two people rushing through the woods nearby. Bee motioned for her to follow him, and he disappeared in a blur, following the source of the noise.
0o0o0
The man could feel three pursuers, and he cursed, 'Damn this child, she shouldn't be making such noise!' He thought to himself, before giving the sack a good whack. That served to silence her, if only he'd done so earlier. He was approaching a clearing pretty fast. He'd best handle it up ahead, or there would be no escaping with his plan intact.
He lunged into the center of the clearing, motionless sack over his shoulder, and the first to rush out from the forest was a short blonde toddler, no older than five years of age. "Hey! What are you doing? What's in the bag?" He yelled, which angered the pale man. "Silence whelp!" He hissed harshly, much like a snake would. "Or I'll do it for you!"
Naruto got angry, and rushed the creepy stranger, and when he got close enough he made to swing, but the man planted a hand on his forehead, stopping the boys reach. He did indeed swing, but got nothing but air. He threw another punch, and another and yet another, but he wasn't strong enough, and his reach was insignificant. The man kicked the small blonde sending him airborne. He followed up with another swift kick just before the boy could hit the ground, and jumped, appearing above him as he reached the apex of his motion. A swift backhand sent him earthward again.
He hit with a solid crash, cracking the ground with his impact. Or was that a rib? He couldn't tell, all he could tell was that he felt pain all over. It didn't help that the pale stranger was over him, a kunai knife in hand. Well it was in his hand, now it was somewhere between his shoulder and collar bone. It took him a moment to process that he'd been stabbed, but Naruto let out an ear piercing scream of pain. So loud, it spooked birds and other animals in the woods around them. The boy soon fell unconscious…
The man jerked his head just in time to spot two new opponents appeared. Their appearance made his eyes widen, 'Kusa, they weren't supposed to be here!' He raged to himself obviously in his head, but he quickly collected himself. That is until a vile presence was felt just behind him. "I-it can't be…" He said to himself out of shock more than anything else.
0o0o0
The sound of water dropping echoed all around him, he could hear it, he could smell metal and water, hell he was partly submerged in water. But realizing that he was conscious, if you could describe his presence here as a consciousness, he suddenly jerked himself into a sitting position, eyes wide open, and mouth agape, swallowing air like a man with water who had been dying of thirst. Even with his eyes open, it was still… So dark. And it felt like he wasn't alone where ever he may be. It sounded like there was something… Big just a ways down the tunnel, in the direction of the only source of light he could see. He started in that direction, stumbling through the water. He felt as if someone was guiding him through the tunnel though, as if it were safe, just down at the end of it…
Naruto kept trudging through the deep water, the legs of his pants drenched from the knee down, submerged in the deep clear water. As he approached the end of the tunnel, everything started to brighten, it seemed the walls were a dark yellow, and the water was a pale blue. There were also pipes on the top of the tunnel, small ones that seemed to glow blue in color. And large ones that faintly glowed red. But as he reached the end, the pipes went into the walls, no sign of them in the room he now stood dead center in.
The room was pretty spacious, nothing really occupying the ground or walls with the exception of maybe a few lanterns, and an unidentifiable light at the top of the room. Oh and the extremely massive, no, HUMONGOUS cage that had a large paper on it with the kanji 'Seal' on it.
(Hopefully one of the only few interruptions I'll make but just a reminder, in the series, only half of the nine tails was sealed in Naruto so imagine a fox twice as powerful, or well twice as big.)
Naruto let out a childish sound of fascination, and placed a hand on one of the bars. But nearly the same instant, an eye on the other side of the cage shot open.
Red… That was what Naruto's vision was filled with, everything about the eye was red, the iris, was so deep, he was almost lost in the undertones of hatred and malice. But it softened when it realized who it was looking at. "So child… We finally meet." The great fox said in a low, rumbling voice. "It seems you've gotten yourself into some trouble… If only we'd met under better circumstances." Naruto had fallen over after initially seeing the being behind the cage. He could only get out, "Wh-who are you?" He asked a little shaken.
It sounded like all the water in the room, in the cage had something moving in it. A glimmer of light exposed the fox's face, and part of its upper body. And to say Naruto was astonished, well it was like saying the ocean was vast.
"I am what your kind calls… The Kyuubi no Kitsune, but my name… My name is…" He paused for a moment, unsure if he should share that with this human yet. Unsure if he could trust him yet. "Come on… Out with it, what's your name? Everyone has one! If you're nice enough to talk to me, then you're nice enough to be my friend right?"
This drew a shocked expression from the behemoth of a canine. "Y-yes, I have a name. That name is Kurama! The strongest of the bijuu, the wisest of the foxes, and the one that's going to help you survive!" He exclaimed, rocking the room with the boom of his voice. If it had been a moment earlier, Naruto may have stumbled in fear. But he'd gathered his courage and he wasn't going to back down.
Before he could get a word of thanks out, Kurama started, "If I left you as you were now, you might die against that snake. I'm going to lend you my power!" He said puffing out his chest. Living in a child for five years would rub off on anyone, especially when all one was able to do was watch that child's life.
Though Naruto had to pause, "W-wait, how are you going to do that? And I'm fine now, I thought I just woke up after getting knocked out." This made the fox shake his head. "Naruto… I'm sealed inside of you. I can't explain now because our time is running out, but I've always been with you." Naruto's shock was beyond words, and for the first time, he'd stumbled from the weight of Kurama's words. But Kurama would have none of that. "The sack that man was carrying, it had a girl in it. If you don't get it together, she might be in some serious trouble, now get it together and save her!" That seemed to do the trick because Naruto had gotten to his feet again, and pumped his fist in the air. "Yosh, then let's do it Kurama!"
Said fox only nodded and the last thing Naruto saw was an ocean of read circling him.
0o0o0
The pale man had eyed the pair that had just arrived, still kicking himself about not being more careful. But his cursing was rudely interrupted by a displacement in wind and that vile energy that seemed to bubble up behind him.
"Wha-what is that?" He asked himself, turning around and spotting the source of the disturbance. The blone child from before was standing, not only that, but the wounds he'd gathered were healing. The Kunai that was buried handle deep in his shoulder was wrenched from its place and the skin and tissues closed incredibly fast. The blue eyes the boy held before were long gone. Replaced with deep red eyes, that hardly looked human. His nails had grown into claws, and his canines had gotten a point to them.
All the while, burning red chakra circled Naruto, taking the shape of a fox head that let out a roar. He lunged forward, before disappearing. He appeared just in front of Bee and Yugito who looked on at him in astonishment.
Naruto smiled in accomplishment before falling over, all the effects of that amazing power had disappeared and he found himself faint…
All the while, the man started yelling in agony, it seems Naruto had cut open the bag he was holding, as well as severing the wrist of the arm that had been holding it. Blood poored from the stump freely, like a water hose.
That was the last thing Naruto could remember.
0o0o0
The first things he realized was that it reeked of antibacterial… Junk! All he could say was that whatever it was, it stunk, and that tipped him off. He sat up opening his eyes, "Yeah… A hospital."
0o0o0
AN: And that's where I'm leaving off, tell me how you like it. And if you all haven't noticed, I posted a poll, it's probably going to be a harem, but I'm going to go about it in my own way. You'll see. But as usual, Read and review!
Ja Ne!
SageKyuubi