Ino, Shino, Sasuke - Team 7- Kakashi
Sakura, Choji, Sasuke - Team 8 - Kurenai
Hinata, Shikamaru, Naruto - Team 10 - Asuma
Tenten, Lee, Neji - Team 9? - Gai
KEY:
"KYUUBI TALKING TO NARUTO AND HITOGOROSHI."
"Hitogoroshi talking to Kyuubi and Naruto."
"Naruto talking to Hitogoroshi and Kyuubi."
Naruto Thinking to himself...
"Regular talking."
"Two or More (Hito, Kyu, andor Naruto) talking at once"
:Akamaru, Kuromaru, or a dog/fox speaking:
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:THREE MONTHS AFTER THE "incident":
"Hey, Naru-nii, wake up. Here's Hinata and Shikamaru-kun." Kiba gazed at his pseudo brother and sighed. Naruto had been getting worse and worse since the day he had collapsed at practice a month prior. Kiba, who had been bound to him, felt the immediate effects of it and both of them had been suspended from active duty. Of course, both worked hard with Arashi, bulking up on their genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. Every once in a while, Jiji (the current Saindaime Hokage) would appear at the house to check on Naruto and Kiba, making remarks and talking in low tones with Arashi. Kiba felt nervous for days now but couldn't pin down the reason why...And Naruto was back to sleep again.
Hinata bound over to Kiba and hugged him. She'd taken it upon herself to make him feel like family, and she had succeeded quite well. Kiba now viewed her as his sister...which killed the prospective marriage that his mother had wanted. Well, too bad. He couldn't find it in himself to like Hinata quite that way. Ino, on the other hand, was one hell of a spit fire and a cute blond and--
"Kiba...you're ignoring me," Hinata pouted at him. "Do you not like me anymore? Am I not your sister now?"
Kiba was wet tissue paper in her hands when she did that face. Her eyes, always too big in her tiny face, went even bigger and wet with tears making him feel like a rabid and evil beast. How the hell did she do that!? "Sorry, Nata-nee. I'm just worried for Naru-nii. He's getting worse and even got really sick this week. I think that whatever this is it is about to get much, much worse before it gets any better."
Hinata blinked at Kiba, her face worried. "Seriously?"
"Yeah..." Kiba blinked back at a sudden thought. "What happened to Sasuke?" Hinata giggled and grinned smugly at her almost brother. "Oh, do I want to know?"
"He said something about Naru-nii and I set him straight...with a few wires, three explosive tags and four kunai. If he gets out of that before I let him out, I might forgive him," she grinned in a way that Kiba was faintly reminded on his mother when someone was stupid enough to piss her off. It meant destruction if not actual painful death-like instances. Granted, Hinata was too cute to pull it off (yet) but she was starting to succeed in a scary way to make herself too innocent.
"Actually, I do want to know now. What the hell did he do and what did you do about it?"
Hinata smiled in a dreamy way. "He was shooting off at the mouth that Naruto was a dead last, stupid brat allowed to pass on a default just to get rid of him from the academy. I showed him what Naru-nii had taught me about bad men: I tied his hands to his ankles, hung him from a tree like bait, and set seven different trip wires that either set off a tag bomb or released a kunai. He won't die if he sets them off, that I made sure of, but I did make sure every single one would hurt like hell!"
He frowned. "But won't he be able to get loose? I mean if his hands are touching his ankles and he's even facing his feet, all he has to...OH! You hog-tied him, didn't you?" Kiba shuddered even as he smirked. Sasuke, fortunately, was not his own teammate but he was a total bastard anyway. A good nin, yeah, but a bastard all the same. "So, when do you plan to release him?"
"After we check in with Hokage-jiji. He might let me leave him there for the night. Nothing but another ninja could get him, though unfortunately I couldn't leave him to be eaten by whatever beasts are in the forest. And has Papa-san introduced the fox to the toad?" Hinata was serious with her eyes wide in worry. Of course, she was talking about Naruto talking to Gamabunta (that's what Arashi called him) the Giant Toad. They couldn't say that out loud what they actually meant due to the Law but they could insinuate all they wanted to.
"No," Kiba shook his head then squawked when Akamaru ran up to him and jumped in his face. Kiba grabbed his partner up in a hug and sloppy puppy kisses. "Ah, he said he wanted to wait for you." He snuggled into the puppy's fur and sniffed the small white and brown dog. "Damn, I miss having you with me all the time, Akamaru. Has Ma finally caved?"
Akamaru whined. No, then. Naruto slumped up to them, his eyes drooping with exhaustion and his shoulders hunched in on himself. Akamaru barked a greeting and Naruto raised a hand in response startling Kiba and Hinata. The blond ignored that and shuffled up to Hinata, holding out his arms for a hug. Hinata pounced, knocking them both to the dirt street, her smile bright. Naruto responded in kind, his eyes glittering in happiness. He hated worrying about Hinata on missions and wished he himself could have been there.
"Any action?" Naruto asked softly. Hinata shook her head, "Not at all, Naru-nii. It was just a quick patrol around the furthest border with two boys…one that is still stinging from my handy work." She smirked at her brother and helped him back to his feet. "It was the one that you taught me to use for prolonged torture."
Naruto groaned in defeat. "I'll never hear the end of this once Dad finds out. He'll tie me to a tree and leave me for corrupting his little princess. GAH!" Naruto ducked another swat by hiding behind Kiba like a shield. "WHAT?!"
Hinata forced back the smile by virtue of her will. "I am not a blasted princess, squirt. I…am a Queen!" Naruto chuckled before he fell to the dirt on his ass, a black blur snuffling and tickling with his nose. Kuromaru was all but sitting on the small blond, his mouth in a canine smile. Tsume was nowhere to be seen, though.
"Kuromaru?! What the FUCK is wrong with you! Get off of me, you damned dog! Kiba! Get him offa me!" Naruto was wide awake now, his wide cerulean eyes glaring death at the dog sitting comfortably on his stomach and legs.
Kiba snickered, Akamaru barking in laughter on his head. Hinata was trying to keep standing even as she clutched her stomach in almost pain from laughing too hard.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I gotta see Dad in a few minutes, if you don't mind, you giant hunk of dog meat! GET. OFF!" Naruto had Kuromaru's head in his hands, fingers pulling on the fur for emphasis. He growled at the blond but moved anyway, his eyes still glowing.
"Well, pup, I would like for you to come with me for a moment. There's this little one asking for you since she first saw you," Kuromaru barked a sharp laugh. "She's driving me and Aku-kun up the kennel fence with her ceaseless, senseless quiestions. I want you to get her to shut the hell up!" Akamaru barked in agreement, his tail wagging like a white flag. "I just want you to get her out of our fur!" Kiba snickered at the black mutt, his one ear perking to catch the sound. "And you, pup, shut it."
Naruto slumped on his hands and knees and wobbled there trying to keep his mind focused on 'up'. Kuromaru ducked into the tiny space afforded him and lifted Naruto up onto his back making the blond clutch his dark fur hard to stay put. Kiba and Hinata jogged behind them, Akamaru perched comfortably on Kiba's head.
1234567890 : Thirty minutes later : 1234567890
"You have got to be...Kidding ME. Tsume-sama! I am not an Inuzuka! I can't have a braty little mutt following me around like some lost puppy! No way, nononononononononono!" Naruto crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. Kiba was currently trying to keep his jaw from the floor and Akamaru whined in confusion. His cousin had picked a partner, one of the Inuzuka clan or not, and that was that. Why was his human brother's alpha protesting so much?
:Kiba-nii, why is the alpha upset?: the tiny puppy yipped in confusion. Kiba shook his head at the pup with a shrug. He wasn't 100 in tune with his family's history, but this had to be a first since they had started the clan.
"I'm not sure, buddy. He's been sick for a while, too, so his mood ain't th' best in th' whole world. And we gotta hurry, Arashi-tou-san is waitin' for him," he murmured to just his partner. Kuromaru and Tsume heard, of course, but then again, they were ninja warriors seasoned and worthy.
"Yeah, well, this little girl picked you, Uzamaki Naruto. Get over it," she growled as she deposited the red colored pup in his arms with finalty. Naruto looked at the teeny-tiny little female with ill-concealed happiness and aggrivation. "Take care of her, blondie, she's a seventh generation pup, fourth cousin to Akamaru and grandneice of Kuromaru."
Naruto spluttered as he was forcefully pushed from the entry way into the front courtyard. Hinata and Kiba were hustled along with him, Akamaru darting out of the door before it slammed, Tsume talking a hundred miles an hour. "Be good, stay out of too much trouble and try not to get caught! Hinata, keep making all that good food and send me some of those famous cookies. Akamaru, keep an eye on Ichigo-chan, yes? Good, and be careful! BYE!"
The sudden silence seemed to be deafening after the loud "good bye" Tsume had graced them with just seconds ago. Naruto just stared at the puppy in his arms, Hinata stared at the door behind her, and Kiba just shook his head in hilarity. His mother had done it again. "Come on, Naru-nii, Nata-nee, we need ta move our asses if we're gonna get to Arashi-tou-san on time." He jerked Naruto along with him, the puppy jumping from his arms and running with Akamaru as they crossed the town as quickly as they dared without bringing Jounin or ANBU on their heads. Too fast and they were a threat to the village, slow enough and they were over looked by even the best. Hinata eventually transported them from the restroom of a resturant just under the Hokage Tower to meet Hinata's and Naruto's dad.
"Dad, where's this Gamabunta guy?" Naruto queried quietly, his voice sounding strained and tired. He sat with a plop where he had landed, his eyes drooping again even as two pups licked and drooled on his face. Hinata hugged him before "poofing" off to the tower at the same resturant and reporting in.
Arashi looked at his son with concern. It was speeding up...what ever it was. Sighing, he bit his thumb, forcing chakra to hold open the wound and slammed his hand down. A cloud of dust rose from the impact as a giant toad at least three stories high formed into existence. He was smoking a pipe like Jiji liked to, a traditional kimono drapped over his rounded shoulders with a wooden staff like thing on his back. All in giant size, of course. "What do I owe this summoning, Kazuma-kun? Certainly, I could have met your whelp at some...other...time. What is wrong?"
Arashi looked at his son with sad eyes before glancing at Gamabunta. "Hito-kun, he said it was the exchange...but he wouldn't tell me what that was. Kyu-chan, she's been upset!" Arashi grabbed his hair in his hands and seemed as if he wanted to pull it out. Kiba was sitting beside Naruto and holding him up in a sitting position, Naruto's head on his shoulder as he dozed quietly. He felt the frustration saturating the air making him tense slightly.
"The Exchange! Good gods and goddesses, Arashi! Your child is taking on the Kyuubi's attributes...much too soon, I might add! He needs to do something, have people he trusts infused with some of the residual demonic power or he will die with poison over-load. Chakra it might be, but it was never meant for a human to handle in such quantities without natural purification." Gamabunta shook his head sadly, "You're going to need to siphon off some of that power, channel it through several different bodies, people or animals that you trust. I cannot do it, for I am not able to take on any of that power. I am much too old to change my chakra flow and I cannot condem one of my own children to do this without their permission." He sighed suddenly, trees bending in the force of the expelled breath.
Arashi growled. "DAMN IT!"
Kiba was quietly conversing with both pups, his voice barely more than a soft sigh. "Can you do it?"
:Yah, yah, Kiba-nii-kun! Aku-nii is right, he's the Alpha and we gotta help him!: murmured Ichigo, the tiny red puppy. She had a strawberry shaped white spot on her right hip giving her name.
:She is right, Kiba-nii. We'll do it! I mean, we're young enough it won't hurt us, but old enough to make our own decisions: he tried to look strong even if he was terrified. To have something like that running through his body...something that didn't belong to him, it was going to hurt a lot.
Kiba looked at his small companion and his cousin. He sighed a bit too hard and Arashi heard. The blond man turned to him, his eyes shadowed with hard grief. "What is it, Kiba-kun?"
"I want to help Naru-nii. I will help Naruto. Let me be one of the people to siphon the power. It's gonna hurt for a few days, yeah, but Naruto is worth it, yah know?" He swallowed. "And before you say it's the bond, it might be, I'm not sure, but I do know that Naruto is worth it." He shrugged.
Arashi sighed again and rubbed him face. "I'll have to talk to your mother Kiba-kun, so that means that, no, I can't have you do this. No one must know I'm alive and no one must know that you know all about the Kyuubi." Kiba bit his lip and tried not to snarl. This might kill his Alpha damn it! He'd do it one way or other.
"Fine," he snarled. "I'll do it on my own!" He gathered Ichigo and Akamaru to him, dumping them on Naruto's still form before he ran, his arms full of bond haired boy and pups. Arashi watched him go without a sound of protest. Naruto was his Alpha now, and no one other than Kiba's mother would be able to talk sense into the boy.
Gamabunta blinked. "That boy was an Inuzuka. I didn't think they had Alphas outside family." Arashi shrugged and explained the situation to the giant toad. "Oh, this is priceless, Arashi-kun. Your boy is turning out to be a box of surprises. Congratulations on one of the most amusing children in existence." Arashi covered his face and groaned in experation.
"Bunta-kun, you are an evil, evil toad. I hope every one of your children is just as terrible as my own," was his snarky reply. Gamabunta nearly swallowed his pipe at that and Arashi laughed. "Ha! You're not nearly as smug as you think you are."
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Naruto came to at Sasuke's house, voices heard clearly arguing down the hall through the closed door. Oooo, that had to be some volume. he slid soundlessly from the bed, tip-toeing to the door so he could hear all of the words. "...-on't give a damn about what you think, Uchiha! He is my Alpha, I have to do something!" Two angry barks followed the voice identified as Kiba.
"He's my brother, too, and I won't let this kill him! I'm doing this reguardless of what Tou-san says!" Ah, Hinata was in a mood, too.
"I am not going to let you two kill your selves over this! Kiba and Naruto might not be my favorite people, but you Hinata are smarter than this!" Sasuke? Wow, he really could bellow if he tried.
"I think this might jepordize the entire villiage if it is done incorrectly. Perhaps we should involve someone with more knowledge on this type of sealing?" SHINO?? What the funk, dude?
"If we give Shikamaru three days, he'll have up something to work with. And Naruto is a naural Seal Master. He'll put something together quickly, keep himself alive, and keep us alive. Tou-san did Naruto's seal with no side effects, Naruto will do one without worry." What are you going on about, Hinata?
"But the...exchange, as you called it, is happening. Why is that? Why is it early?" Shino, I could almost kiss you. Thank you for asking!
"The Exchange is where Naruto is supposed to gain Kyu-chan's powers slowly and after he had stabalized in power and strenth. Unfortunately, something sped it up...we think it was because Hito-kun was taken along with Kyu-chan into the cell and sealed. It suppposedly halved the time Naruto has until he is forced to take more of Kyuubi's power on," Kiba rumbled softly, "and since we know we're not having an actual being sealed into our soul, we can assume any seal devised will work correctly this time." Since when did Kiba become a genius? Naruto focused chakra to his feet and started up the wall until he was hanging from the ceiling. Taking his time, he snuck down the hall and hid in the shadows from the kitchen light as he observed the mess his friends and family were.
Hinata and Kiba were tired, their eyes bloodshot and their skin pale. Sasuke and Shino were seemingly as "perky" as ever, Shino sitting on the floor with the puppies sniffing his kakai nervously. Sasuke was at the sink making a pot of tea carefully, slowly as if he were thinking on something else entirely. "We'll bring in Nara, have him look it over and tell us what he thinks." AKA...you want him to say that this etire thing is suicidle. That and you would never want to look weak in another's eyes. "If he can help come up with something, I'll do it, but until then, I refuse point blank to become some purifying power vessel."
What the FUCK?! Purifying vessel? "KYUUBI!"
"What is it, kit?"
"Why are they going on and on about a purifying vessel for power?" Naruto was mentally tapping his foot in annoyance and fear. "They are not talking about what I think, are they?"
Kyuubi gulped. Oh, she needed Hito-kun here...now! "Well...I think they might be. But I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
"But...but why are they so scared?" His voice sounded small and scared in his head and he tried to keep the thought of Hinata or Kiba doing something stupid for him out of his mind.
"It's because you might die...or they will in your stead. My power...it's trying to consume you from the inside out. The exchange wasn't supposed to happen for another twelve years or so."
"Fan-fucking-tastic!"
"I noticed this too, ya know," she growled at the blond. Hito-kun appeared next to her, his eyes crusty with sleep and pain.
"I think it will work. I mean, Kyuubi is a demon, yeah, but she is proficient in all things chakra related. And I have been a nin for YEARS..." he shrugged before slumping against the wet wall. "And can you PLEASE change the scenery? Seriously, a sewer is disgusting!"
Naruto looked at Kyuubi who peered worriedly at Hitogoroshi like a motherly figure...or even as a lover...? His eyes crossed at the thought as he focused back in on the conversation below him. He was not going there. Ever.
"Well...you could just ask me. I'm going to say hell fucking no, no one is going to sacrifice for me like that. Then again, I have voices in my head that more or less demand that I actually let this happen. One of the joys of being a fucking demon vessel," he murmured just loud enough to be heard. "So...get Nara here, I need to hash this idea out with him and Hinata. But first - " he dropped to the floor almost gracefully before he had to sit down " - I've got to burn some of this chakra before I burn to a crispy kritter." He tried to push up but fell back with a disgusted huff. "At least, I would if my muscles worked!"
He eventually crawled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support. "This shit is getting old..." He waved Hinata and Kiba away and stumbled outside to the open training grounds that littered the Uchiha Compound. He tried desperately to think of anyhting that would take on large amounts of chakra except Bunshin. He growled and gathered the chakra, balling it up inside his body before forcing it out in a wave of power that coated everything. He thought of protection, safety, a place to be unafraid and comforted. As suddenly as it started, it stopped. Naruto was sitting now in the dirt and breathing heavily.Kami, that hurt like a sonnavvabitch. He closed his eyes and fell back, darkness framing his sight. Oh, yeah, so gonna regret doing that later.