Disclaimer: Don't own. NO SUING PLEASE
Ok, sorry for the long update. Had problems with the writings. SO here we are
Chapter 8
Kyuubi quickly sprang from tree branch to tree branch on all fours; the finish tower looming closer and closer with ever leap he took. 'Hokage…once I get out of this blasted forest…old man, you're DEAD!!' Kyuubi's now bright blue eyes narrowed in anger, turning a slight crimson color, and he began to move more quickly, his rage spurring him on, yet also preventing him from noting the two other shinobi hot on his trail.
"What is with Naruto?" Sakura asked, exasperated, struggling to keep up with her fast paced comrade. "We still have two days to get the scrolls and reach the tower. He doesn't need to go so fast!!"
Sasuke made no comment. Something about Naruto was off to him. 'Sharingan!' he thought silently, inducing his clan's bloodline, the Sharingan eye. At first all he saw was a strange red-orange haze floating around Naruto. At first assuming that his eyes were adjusting still, he made no note of it. Then…
"ARGH!!" Sasuke winced and was forced to halt his progress as the first wave of extreme pain swept through his body. Grasping his shoulder, he struggled to keep the cursed seal from spreading.
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, running to him. "What is it? Is it the seal?" Genuine concern shone in her eyes, but Sasuke just snapped at her.
"It's fine," He said, standing. He looked away so she wouldn't see him using his Sharingan; she'd only bug him about why he was using it. Then, something clicked. He had seen Sakura. Her chakra was a normal blue color, gently radiating off of her skin. But Naruto…
Sasuke stiffened. Abnormal amounts of red-orange chakra? 'The fox is back…'
Sasuke was forced to double up in pain once again. 'Argh…There's no way I'm going to be able to keep up with Naruto if he keeps this pace…' Looking up at the sky he said to Sakura, "It's getting late…we should camp now. Drag Naruto back here somehow so he doesn't get lost. I'll hunt down campsite around here."
Sakura nodded, and did as she was told. Running through the trees she finally caught up to her hot headed team mate. "Naruto!" She yelled at him, "Sasuke says we should make camp now! We can continue in the morning!!"
Kyuubi stopped short. "What?!" He exclaimed in false, innocent exasperation. "But we'll be there in no time if we keep going today!!" He argued, waving his arms in protest.
"No! Come on! Sasuke's waiting!!" She said, stubbornly crossing her arms.
'Stupid Uchiha brat…always getting in my way…' Kyuubi thought as his Naruto self sullenly followed Sakura back to where Sasuke was.
Sasuke had found a pretty good spot to make camp: a small glade near a freshwater stream. All three of them worked together to catch fish for their meal, but in the end, Naruto drew the short straw and had to collect firewood.
"W-what?! Me? By myself? In…" Naruto gulped, "…the forest?"
"Yes you!" Sakura said angrily. "You lost the draw, now GET GOING!!" She sent Naruto flying with a powerful kick to the behind.
"FINE!! BUT IF I ALMOST GET EATEN BY A SNAKE AGAIN IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!" Naruto shouted back at her angrily and stormed off deeper into the forest. 'Stupid Naruto, stupid girl…' Kyuubi thought irritated. 'I'm ALWAYS the errand boy…after I finish with that old geezer Hokage, she'll be next…'
Back at the camp, Sakura was busily cleaning the fish they had caught, while Sasuke was sitting moodily off to the side, forbidden to do too much by Sakura. After about 5 minutes of waiting for some menial task to do, Sasuke finally stood and began walking towards the forest, down the same path Naruto had taken.
"Sasuke, where are you go-" Sakura objected.
Sasuke cut her off. "I'm tired of sitting around doing nothing. It's just a bite. I'm going to go make sure Naruto hasn't gotten himself killed…" as an afterthought he added, 'Naruto would be dead by now, but the Nine tailed demon wouldn't.'
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Kyuubi had gathered a sufficient amount of firewood by that time, but was taking his time on the return. He could just go run off and kill the Hokage now. It wasn't like those stupid teammates of his would notice he was gone. They would just assume that the stupid dobe Naruto had gotten himself killed. Kyuubi smirked and was about to go through with his plan when Sasuke dropped from the tree branches above.
The clueless personality of Naruto bubbled to the surface. "Sasuke? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be helping Sakura-chan at the camp?" Kyuubi tried to put on the picture of a stupid idiot, but realized he must be failing horribly at Sasuke's next words.
"Cut the act Nine-Tails, I know who you are," Sasuke growled.
"W-what? Of course you know who I am! I'm Naruto!" Kyuubi defended. 'Something's off with this boy…' Kyuubi thought, sniffing the air, 'I don't like it.'
'He's as bad as Naruto…' Sasuke thought to himself. "Well, if you won't show your true self, I'll FORCE IT OUT OF YOU!" Eyes suddenly alight with Sharingan, Sasuke drew a kunai and made a lunge for "Naruto", but Kyuubi was too quick for him.
Grabbing Sasuke by his collar, Kyuubi slammed the boy into the nearest tree. "So you caught me," Kyuubi grinned, "Good job. Now let's see who I've caught…" Naruto's voice was no longer imbecilic sounding and cheery, a deep, growling voice replaced the old. His eyes, once bright blue, were now glowing, red, cat-like eyes.
Adjusting his grip, Kyuubi pulled back Sasuke's collar and examined the seal on his neck. Coming closer, he sniffed it, and quickly withdrew. 'This scent…I know it…It's demon…possibly…hmm…maybe that half-breed snake creep…' Kyuubi reexamined the seal. 'I remember reading about these seals once…What did they do again? Lessee…uhh…'
"Let go of me, or I'll have to kill you." Sasuke demanded menacingly, although struggling to breathe. Wincing in pain, Sasuke willingly unleashed the seal, letting the power flow through his chakra, spreading visibly as marks traveled down his arm and onto his face.
"What the-?!" Kyuubi snapped out of his thoughts long enough to slam Sasuke into the tree again, this time harder. "I'M TRYING TO THINK HERE, COULD YOU AT LEAST GIVE ME A MINUTE?!" Kyuubi snarled. After pinning the struggling Sasuke to the tree for a moment, Kyuubi finally let go, letting Sasuke fall to the ground.
'Well, it's the only thing that comes to mind…' He said, grinning inwardly.
Doing a series of quick, complicated hand symbols, Kyuubi bit his thumb, drawing blood, drew a strange symbol over Sasuke's seal mark, then slammed his hand on top of it.
Sasuke didn't have time to draw breath to scream. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. A sharp pain doubled the already raw, intense pain on his neck, and he could feel a foreign chakra burning its way down the chakra coils in his arm. All he could do was watch as nine red, burning fox tails coiled around his arm. He desperately tried to grab Kyuubi's arm, to pry his hand off of him, but Kyuubi removed it before he got the chance.
"There, feel better now?" Kyuubi taunted smugly, taking a step back and surveying his work.
Sasuke doubled over on the ground and grabbed his neck with his non-hurting arm, hoping that putting pressure on the seal would dull the pain. Wincing and breathing heavily, Sasuke watched as the nine tails slowly retreated up his arm. Inhaling sharply, he withdrew his hand. Nine tails, swirled together in a circle, were barely visible as a score on his hand. Now feeling as though he had just flirted with death and lived, a sense of thrill rushed through him. "Heh, now that you're done thinking, I guess it's my turn."
Standing, Sasuke drew kunai and stared down Kyuubi, who, in Naruto form, happened to be shorter than him.
Kyuubi's eyes narrowed as he saw this height difference, and he drew his own kunai. "I wouldn't try using "it" if I were you." He growled, smirking.
Sasuke grinned. "Watch me," he sneered. Lunging for Kyuubi, Sasuke activated the seal, as well as his sharingan ability.
Kyuubi sighed. Drawing another kunai, he threw both of them, snagging the collar and bottom of Sasuke's shirt and effectively sending him slamming back into the tree from earlier and pinning him there.
"ANGH!" Sasuke grunted, spitting blood. His seal painfully retracted, making him wince. He looked haughtily into Kyuubi's eyes and spat on the ground in front of the Demon lord in loathing. The seal…it never retracts this quickly… Sasuke mused inwardly. "What have you done to me?" He demanded.
Kyuubi grinned, showing sharp canines. "Oh? So you noticed the slight change? Very good Uchiha…" Kyuubi applauded mockingly. Enraged, Sasuke struggled to pull out the kunai pinning him to the tree. "Oy, oy! Let's not be so hasty to start another battle, do you want the Uchiha line to die?" Kyuubi's grin widened. "Or have you forgotten the last time you watched me fight?"
Recalling the memory, Sasuke involuntarily shuddered. The maddening level of killing intent, the horrible memory of almost being run through by Kyuubi… Sasuke looked at Kyuubi with a new hatred. "What have you done to me?" Sasuke repeated.
Kyuubi's smile quickly faded. "To be honest with you… I don't know."
"WHAT?!"
Kyuubi shrugged. "I suppressed whatever that seal does as well as your Sharingan ability, and…" A sadistic smile spread across his face, "you are now my property."
Sasuke's eyes widened. The property of the Nine-Tailed Fox? He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel insulted or afraid. Summoning up whatever was left of him, he asked, "A-and this is supposed to be beneficial to me, WHY?"
Frowning, Kyuubi sighed and withdrew the shuriken from the tree, unpinning Sasuke, who fell to the ground for the second time that day. Towering over him, Kyuubi explained his actions.
"I'm not sure who placed the seal on you or why, but whoever it was, was rather knowledgeable in demon seals, even I don't know that much about them. However, I know enough about these seals to know that you will never gain from it.
"The seal basically takes control of your body. Although it seems to bring out latent ability, it slowly burns the body out, shortening your life span by one-half its original length. Over time, you will be turned into a half-breed, neither fully human or fully demon. Your seal is a new one, meaning its side effects are unknown. I'll need more time to research these seals, as well as catch up with some … old friends," Kyuubi cocked his head and grinned down at Sasuke, "Lucky for you, the seal I put on you is only temporary. It won't stop all of the side-effects, but you DO need to have the will-power to keep the seal under control. Once I find enough data, I'll replace the old one with a more…permanent one. Heh heh heh…" Kyuubi cackled.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. A possession of Kyuubi's? But… "Heh…heheheheheheheh…" Sasuke began laughing darkly, much to the anger of Kyuubi, who had been also laughing to himself.
"What's so funny, brat?" Kyuubi spat.
"Heheheh…the seal that you put on me? It's visible to everyone. I can simply go back to the village and everyone will know you're not really Naruto. Except this time, you won't just be attacked by Konoha, but by shinobi from every hidden village," Sasuke smirked defiantly up at Kyuubi.
Kyuubi growled in anger, then snapped his fingers. "Oh! That's right, thanks for the reminder!" Doing a short series of complicated hand symbols, Kyuubi chanted, "Rin, tou, kai, sha, retsu, jin, sai, zen, akuryou, pyou, taisan, SEAL!" Kyuubi ended with two fingers up and his fist clenched. Sasuke suddenly felt a burning sensation his shoulder. He winced and clutched it with his opposite arm, but the pain was quickly gone. "There…" said Kyuubi smugly. "Now no mortal being will ever know I tampered with you. Only a demon would be able to smell my scent, and any intelligent demon wouldn't dare touch you when they do."
Sasuke cursed under his breath and stood up from where he had been on the ground. 'This wasn't supposed to happen…' Sasuke thought to himself. 'Well…what else can go wrong…let's just get my main point over with…'
Kyuubi smirked and cocked an eyebrow as Sasuke stood. "Bold move boy…" Kyuubi commented,"what are you going to do? Fight me?" He was surprised when the boy looked him straight in the eye.
"No, I want you to TRAIN me."
An eerie silence fell over the forest. Trembling, Sasuke force himself to keep eye contact with the demon-fox. Even when Kyuubi's hand shot for his throat and once again pinned him to a tree, Sasuke forced himself to defiantly stare back into the horrible blood red eyes.
Choking and struggling to breath, Sasuke managed a spiteful, "What's this Kyuubi? Too afraid to train me because you know someday I'll be powerful enough to defeat you? Or are you just too weak?"
A massive amount of angry chakra compressed everything around them. The energy was so great that dirt and dead leaves began to rise off of the ground, swirled around as though by the wind. Sasuke found his already limited supply of air getting harder and harder to breathe.
"INSOLENT MORTAL!!" Kyuubi roared. "YOU DARE ASK ME TO TRAIN AN ANNOYING BRAT LIKE YOU? WHAT WOULD I GAIN FROM TRAINING THE LIKES OF YOU?!?!?"
"…r-recognition…from…your demon…council…" Sasuke gasped.
The snap of a twig seemed to turn a switch off. Kyuubi immediately dropped Sasuke and the suffocating chakra disappeared. Naruto's innocent blue eyes returned and a split second later, Naruto was gathering firewood, with a gasping Sasuke leaning against a tree.
"NARUTO!!" An angry Sakura stormed up to the blue-eyed boy. "What's taking you so long?!? And what was all the yelling? Were you and Sasuke fighting again?"
"Sa-Sakura-Chan…" Naruto faltered under her glare.
Sakura turned her attention away from Naruto, and she went over to Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you OK? You look tired… you don't have to overexert yourself, OK? You should take a break."
Sasuke was surprised. Did she not just feel that enormous amount of chakra? Hiding his astonishment, Sasuke stood and brushed himself off. "Don't worry about it. Just go back to camp. Naruto and I can handle the firewood."
Sakura looked doubtful. "Ok…but if you ever feel like you need a break…" She then turned and headed back to camp.
"H-hey!! Wait for me Sakura-chan!!" Naruto, laden with firewood, hurried after Sakura.
"Kyuubi!" Sasuke barked. "You haven't given me your decision: will you train me, or not?"
Naruto stopped and turned half-way. 'This boy has great potential, I give him that…' he thought. In answer, Naruto growled, "One word of my existence…I will KILL you," with that he turned and once again headed back to camp.
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Inside Naruto's Mind
"YONDAIME!!!" Kyuubi bellowed. "GET OVER HERE!!"
Stretching and yawning, a very sleepy Yondaime shuffled over to where Kyuubi was sitting in "Naruto's" control room. "Wh-Whaaat is it now?" the blond yawned sleepily.
Standing, Kyuubi grabbed Yondaime by the scruff of his neck and threw him into the control room, tossing him the controller. "I can't stand these mortals anymore. Go have fun playing the idiot, idiot…"
Yondaime scrached the back of his head. "Geez…a 'Please' every now and then would be nice…"
But Kyuubi wasn't listening. He had turned into his big fuzzy fox form and curled up into a ball to sleep.
end end end end end end end edn end end end end end end end
Yeah…The "rin, tora, blah blah blah" thing is made up. They're real Japanese words, so let's just hope that no one who can read Japanese well take offence to the fic. This chapter was really long….
Also, anyone who can read Japanese should know the words were really random.