AN: Alas, Naruto is still not for sale, so I cannot buy it... Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing!
-demonicnargles
"Speech"
thought / talking in mind
"Demon speech"
Demon thought / talking in mind
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Kyuubi mentally cursed himself. The kit was probably right. The only reason that Kakashi would have loitered around the Hokage's office would be to talk with the Hokage privately. Most likely about Naruto. Which means me.
Kyuubi had to act normally, like he wasn't worried. So he went back to the most distant training grounds, the ones he normally used, and trained. He ran. His weights did not clang together while he ran, since they were covered in cloth. It was just as well that no one had noticed them on the mission. Kyuubi didn't need to answer any questions, and though he and Naruto practiced switching while allowing the body to rest, they still could not do it without the body going limp for a second or two, so it would be awkward to let Naruto answer.
Kyuubi reached the large tree at the end of the field, turned, and sprinted the other way. The tree was worn smooth in the spot he always tagged it. The bark was gone, and a smooth, light brown wood showed.
Kyuubi ran, occasionally throwing kunai or performing a technique. He followed the dirt path that he had made in what had once been a grassy field. Maybe Kakashi needed to talk about something else, or was waiting for someone, Kyuubi thought. But inwardly, he knew that neither of those were the case.
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Kakashi waited until his team was out of sight. He didn't need them wondering about why he needed to speak to the Hokage in private.
Once they were gone, Kakashi walked back into the office.
Sarutobi looked up. "Did you forget something, Kakashi?" the old man asked. He looked at the jounin over the rims of his glasses, which he had just put on to read some papers.
"No. I need to speak to you in private."
Kakashi shut the door behind him, and sat in the chair in front of the large oak desk.
The Hokage set his glasses on the table and leaned back in his chair. "What do you need to talk about?"
"It's Naruto. He's been acting... strange, given the circumstances."
"He's had a rough life, Kakashi. It can change people. The fourth had wanted Naruto to be remembered as a hero, but that didn't happen. Naruto is going to be a little different."
"It's not that, sir. That might explain why he ran around like a maniac for the entire journey, and why he hardly ever talks. But you recall the fight on the bridge I mentioned in the debriefing?"
Sarutobi nodded.
"Naruto used the Kyuubi's chakra to defeat the ninja he encountered. He was himself almost immediately afterward, but I think he might have done more than just kill the nin. The body was a little too torn to have been just the dogs in the short time they were there."
Sarutobi interupted, "That is the nature of the seal, Kakashi. The Kyuubi no kitsune is a vicious creature, and no doubt it attacked the nin, and then the nin's body, until it stopped moving. The seal also lets the Kyuubi occasionally take control if Naruto becomes emotionally disturbed. So it is only natural that the Kyuubi would have come out when Naruto was in mortal danger."
"I see. Maybe that can be explained. But later, in the fight with Gatou's men, I left Naruto to make sure that Sakura wasn't overwhelmed while trying to protect herself and Sasuke. During the fight, I felt no demonic chakra, which is not something that can be concealed, as you and I know. While I was returning to help Naruto, I saw four men running from where I had left Naruto. They took one look at me and jumped over the edge. I found Naruto among over a dozen bodies. Those four were the only survivors of the men that Naruto faced, and that may be only because they ran away. There was never even a hint of demonic chakra, so I can only conclude that Naruto killed all of them himself. He was covered in blood and gore, and did not seem the least disturbed by it, or by the fact that he had just killed more than a dozen men. On the way back, he acted exactly as he had on the way there, running around and occasionally stopping to see where we were on the road."
Sarutobi pulled his pipe out from inside his robe. He lit it with an ornate, silver lighter and took a long draw. After a moment, he expelled the smoke in a long breath.
"This is news indeed," he said. "It probably has something to do with the Kyuubi. I'll look into it. In the meantime, don't act any differently around Naruto. It was not his fault that he was sealed with the demon fox, and if Naruto did kill all those people like you said, anything out of the ordinary could put him over the edge."
"As you command, Hokage-sama."
Kakashi walked out of the office, feeling that nothing had really been resolved.
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Several months later, Kyuubi was making his way towards the Hokage's office for another mission. It seemed that Kakashi had talked to the Hokage, but had not suspected the truth. Kyuubi remembered that the old man had talked to him a few times about how it was okay to let out his emotion from killing for the first time.
After the first two times, it became obvious that the old man was looking for either a reaction or for a reason for the lack of a reaction. Kyuubi had switched with Naruto shortly before the Hokage showed up one time, and Naruto had weaved a tale about how he had lots of dreams about a large monster killing people, and that this happened so often at one point that he no longer was bothered by death or killing.
The old man had bought this, and visited less and less often until he never came anymore.
Kyuubi came inside, out of the morning sun. As was usually the case, Sakura and Sasuke were laready there. Kyuubi sat down to wait for Kakashi, who, of course, was late. He ignored the enraged screams coming from the pink-haired genin about how it was a disgrace to be so late.
Kyuubi thought about recent events. This was their third mission within two weeks. Granted, one was retreiving a cat, but the other one was an escort mission, which had relatively uneventful. The only disturbance had been a drunken man who tried to rob them, but had passed out after threatening them with a shovel.
Kyuubi was finally up to his third set of weights. He was now wearing enough weights that they weighed more than he did. Kyuubi had, at Naruto suggestion, practiced one day a week without them, and had been exceedingly grateful for that hint. The first day he tried it, which had been over a month since he had taken them off for anything besides washing, he had been unable to stand, because he was so unused to it. Kyuubi had repaid Naruto for this favor by listening to Naruto's rant about how there was no point wearing weights if you couldn't fight without them.
Kyuubi awoke from his reverie when he heard Sakura begin screaming at Kakashi for being late. Kakashi made a pathetic excise about how he had been needed to remove a little girl's kitten from a tree, which made Sakura even angrier.
Kyuubi followed them into the Hokage's office.
Sarutobi coughed slightly, gently reminding Sakura that she needed to be quiet. Once everyone was listening, he began. "Team 7, you are to recover a ring stolen from a local noble by a group of bandits. Bring the bandits back alive, if possible, and be sure to get the ring. It's a gold band with alternating jade and emerald stones set in it. The group was last seen about five miles south-southwest of here. Are there any questions?"
When no one answered, Sarutobi continued, " You are to leave tomorrow morning at 8:00. Good luck!"
As team 7 filed out of the office, the Hokage leaned back in his chair. There had been something odd about Naruto's face. Maybe it was the whisker marks, but he felt as if there was something he had missed.
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Kyuubi walked out of the office, relieved that no one had noticed that his genjutsu had been slipping.
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End of chapter. Please review!