What Changes Chapter 15: Dealing, a naruto fanfic

Recap:

Kakashi's one eye widened briefly, ''So he's had to have been out of the village before then.''

Jiraiya nodded, ''Which means Sasuke and Sakura have probably been out of the village more than once as well, if the three of them are as close as they appear to be right now.'' He gestured to the three genin ahead of them holding onto each other for support. None of them were aware of the conversation being held behind them, too focused on their own thoughts.

''Not to mention,'' Jiraiya continued, ''I saw Naruto sneak a little russet fox into his jacket. Now why would he need to sneak it if it was just any old fox?''

Kakashi froze for a split second, ''You don't think it's...?''

Jiraiya nodded seriously. ''We're going to have to get to the bottom of these three kids. We'll wait until we reach the village. Then we'll confront them.''

What Changes...

Chapter 15: Dealing

The sun had set by the time they made it back to Konoha. Kakashi waved to them cheerfully before leaving to report what happened to the Hokage. Jiraiya left soon after that, leaving the three worn out genin alone.

In unspoken agreement, the three of them made their way to Naruto's house. None of them really wanted to be alone right now.

Once there, they all plopped down onto Naruto's worn out couch. Seconds later, Kyuubi scrambled out from underneath Naruto's jacket. Sakura would have jumped in surprise but she simply didn't have the energy for it. Instead she settled on asking, ''What was the little fox doing in your jacket, Naruto?''

Naruto looked briefly down at the fox, who was shaking out it's fur. It truly resembled a dog more than a fox in behavior if you asked him. Though it looked sort of like a cat.

''That's Kyuubi. He was transformed into a baby by some freak accident. He's the one who sent us back here.''

Sakura nodded tiredly, ''I thought I heard his voice right before we came here...Hey!'' She suddenly perked up, ''So I bottle fed Kyuubi? So cute!''

''Shut up!''

Sakura and Naruto froze and even Sasuke, who had been half asleep in between them, looked up in surprise.

They all stared at Kyuubi, who shifted infront of them uncomfortably.

''What? You all know I can talk!''

Then all three genin -yes, even Sasuke- burst out laughing. Loud and hysterical.

Kyuubi growled at being made fun of, ''What? What is it?''

Gasping, Naruto replied, ''Your voice! It's all high and squeaky! Like a BABY!'' He immediately went into another fit of laughter.

Kyuubi's eyes widened, ''My...voice...?'' Now that he was paying attention to it, his voice was much higher. Embarrassingly higher. He hadn't noticed before because this was the first time he'd spoken aloud.

Their laughter did not die down for several minutes, during which Kyuubi silently fumed and vowed to speak aloud as little as possible until he found a way to get his voice back to normal.

Soon the laughter was replaced with heavy breathing as the genin struggled to catch their breath.

Kyuubi's stomach suddenly grumbled.

All three, having the same thought, 'Bottles!' broke out into heaps of laughter again. Kyuubi turned a bright red and glared at all of them before walking away. He would not sit and be the subject of their jokes.

Still on the couch, each member of team seven was smiling after having had such a good laugh. They'd needed that after all they'd been through lately. But Sakura soon became concerned, seeing that Kyuubi had disappeared.

''Where did Kyuubi go? Maybe we shouldn't have laughed at him.'' Sasuke shrugged and let his head fall onto her shoulder. Now that the hilarity had died down, he was extremely worn out. Naruto also looked ready to crash.

Naruto sighed and stood up from his comfortable seat on the couch. ''He's in the kitchen pacing. Probably trying to figure out how he's going to eat without one of us to help him.''

Sakura nodded and made herself more comfortable on the couch.

''Hey, don't fall asleep there. My bed's big enough for us to fit. That couch is way too old to sleep on. Wake up Teme and drag him over to the bed too. I'll feed the fox.''

Sakura yawned sleepily, ''Okay...''

Naruto strode into the kitchen and found Kyuubi glaring at the refrigerator. He turned back to the living room, ''Hey, Sakura? Do you have anymore of the milk you fed Kyuubi? I don't have any food for animals!''

The pinkette paused in her attempt to get Sasuke to stand up and reached into her pouch. She pulled out a packet and an empty bottle before tossing them to Naruto, ''Mix the stuff with water.'' She turned back to the boy who was leaning on her and smacked him upside the head, ''And you wake up. The bed is not that far away.''

Naruto proceeded to make Kyuubi's food, somewhat disgusted that you could get milk from a powder by adding water to it. Kyuubi glared up at him.

'I'm not eating that.'

Naruto didn't even glance at him, ''Why not? You're hungry.''

'I'm not going to let you feed me.'

''You let Sakura feed you. Why can't I?''

Kyuubi bristled in embarrassment, 'I didn't let her! She force fed me!'

Naruto shook his head and screwed the top on the bottle and shook it up. He then turned to Kyuubi, who was looking stubbornly at the wall. Naruto snatched him up, much to the demon fox's surprise, and took him back to the couch and held him down on his lap.

''So what's to stop me from force feeding you?''

'You wouldn't! Let me go!'

Naruto held the bottle menacingly over the fox's mouth, ''Open up, Kyuu!''

'Kyuu' immediately clamped his mouth shut and shook his head wildly, 'Don't you dare, you brat!'

Naruto snorted, ''Who are you calling brat? You're the baby who can't eat solid foods.''

Kyuubi glared at him, ''You little! I'll-'' He was cut off when Naruto shoved the bottle into his mouth and in between his teeth. He started squeezing the milk into the fox's mouth. Not too fast that he would choke, but too fast to comfortably swallow.

After nearly suffocating, Kyuubi relented and started to pull from the bottle, glaring at the grinning Naruto all the while.

When nobody spoke, Sasuke impatiently broke the silence, ''For what reason did you have us come here if you're not going to say anything?''

''We're waiting for Jiraiya,'' Kakashi replied as he flipped to the next page in his book. It was a limited addition.

Sasuke crossed his arms and grunted silently where he lay in between his teammates on the ground, underneath the tree Kakashi was perched in.

All three of them were currently on edge. Or four, if you counted the dozing Kyuubi in Naruto's jacket.

Kakashi never called meetings like this, and he was definitely never on time for them. Next to him, Naruto was twitching anxiously as he leaned against the tree. He didn't remember this happening in their previous time line, so it must have been something they influenced by their actions.

Naruto figured there were a few specific possibilities.

His best guess was that this was about Itachi. They did just escape the Mangekyou Sharingan without much of a scratch yesterday.

'What if it's about the Akatsuki in general? Perhaps they want to warn us of the danger of the organization since we're all officially involved now. Jiraiya is spying on them at this time,' Sakura suggested.

Naruto gave a barely perceptible nod, 'Possible. But not incredibly likely. Under normal circumstances they wouldn't discuss S-class criminals with rookie genin. They would only tell me, if they were going to say anything at all, because they're after me. Plus, unless Ero-sannin told him about it, Kakashi-sensei wouldn't know anything about the Akatsuki.'

Sakura nodded and started thinking about other possibilities.

'What about you, teme? Any theories.'

From his spot in between them on his back, Sasuke glared up at their sensei, who either didn't notice or was pretending not to. 'We've been stepping on egg shells with Kakashi-sensei since day one. He's not stupid; he must know something's up.'

Naruto turned to him, 'You think he's going to confront us about what's going on.' It wasn't a question, but Sasuke answered anyway.

'Yes.'

Sakura looked uncomfortably around the suddenly tense area before looking back to her teammates.

'I purpose we tell him then.'

Sakura and Sasuke whipped their heads at Naruto incredulously.

Kakashi glanced down at the sudden movement.

'I think we should. Ero-sannin too. The old pervert would be a big help in this, along with Kakashi-sensei. I'm tired of of lying to him, but it's your decision. I won't say anything unless we all agree.'

Sasuke and Sakura glanced warily in each others direction. Sakura's look hardened, 'Alright. I don't want to lie anymore either. On the tactical side, it will be much easier to operate with Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya's help covering our tracks.'

They turned to Sasuke, who furrowed his brow and looked away. He knew they were right, but if they told them, they'd have to tell them everything. He just wasn't sure he'd still be welcome here once they knew the truth, 'Fine. Go ahead.'

Naruto ans Sakura shared a concerned glance, 'You sure, Teme? if you don't want us to say something, we won't.'

He knew that, but that was because they were good friends. The best there ever were. But he also knew they hated lying to Kakashi -he did too- so he wouldn't hold them back any longer.

Sasuke shook his head briskly, 'I'll deal with it. It will make everything easier if they know. I can handle being hated.' He actually hadn't meant to say that last part to them. They wouldn't take that well.

Naruto stared at him angrily while Sakura bit her lip, afraid they were about to fight and wondering if she should interfere. Naruto stood up and glared down at his best friend -Kyuubi clutched onto the inside of his jacket for dear life. Sasuke sat up and glared right back at him.

'So you think so little of Kakashi-sensei?' Sasuke winced as if struck. That was a low blow. Naruto knew how much he looked up to the jonin.

'Kakashi-sensei is not that judgmental. He never hated you for your choices. He was only disappointed in you.'

Sasuke chewed on his lip and looked away. To him that was just as bad.

After hearing that last thought, Naruto's look softened, 'Kakashi-sensei will understand.'

Sasuke didn't reply.

Sakura breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Sometimes boys just needed to yell at each other. She was still learning this.

It was when Naruto sat back down that they all suddenly became hyper aware of Jiraiya's presence, just before the sage appeared in the tree they surrounded next to Kakashi, who lazily waved a hand in greeting before putting his book away.

''Let's get right down to business, ''Jiraiya said, jumping down from his perch and landing in front of them. Kakashi opted to stay where he was for now.

The three genin sat alert infront of the sannin.

'They don't pay this much attention to me when I speak,' Kakashi thought dejectedly.

''Why is there a miniature version of the Kyuubi hiding in your jacket?'' Jiraiya stared directly at his blonde pupil. Naruto blanched. Sasuke, Sakura, and Kyuubi froze.

Kakashi frowned, 'He sure doesn't like to beat around the bush.' The genin were silent; probably more out of shock than refusal to answer.

Jiraiya's form loomed over Naruto as he raised an eyebrow at the boy's now vibrating jacket.

''What do you plan to do with him?'' Sasuke was actually the one who asked the question, but the inquiry was clearly reflected in Naruto's wary sapphire orbs.

Kakashi wondered why they would be protective of the Kyuubi. Not only did the fox attempt to destroy the village, it was a demon. It should be able to take care of itself. Or was that the reason? The fox was defenseless? In which case, why would they care?

Jiraiya's face was blank when he answered, ''Nothing unless necessary. I just want to see it. I also want to check Naruto's seal.''

Trusting the sannin, Naruto nodded and unzipped his jacket to reveal a twitching baby fox. It's little claws were firmly attached to the boy's shirt as it glared at the older man.

Naruto pried the fox from his person -earning several growls and quite a few holes in said shirt- before handing him to Jiraiya.

The Toad Sage stood observing the desperately struggling fox he had at an arms length to keep from being scratched. He looked back to the uncomfortable genin who were all watching Kyuubi with concern, ''So, who wants to explain to me why the Kyuubi no Kitsune seems to have lost several years of life and is not sealed inside of Naruto? Not to mention he's clearly powerless?'' As an after thought he added, ''Otherwise I'm sure he would've mauled me by now.''

Kyuubi huffed and went still, clearly offended.

Naruto grinned in a way that could only be described as fox-like, ''Kyuu wouldn't hurt anybody. He's a big softy nowadays.''

Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Kyuubi himself all raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him. Sakura chose to stay silent. She herself had witnessed the few times Kyuubi had saved the day. However, Kyuubi could also be vindictive and malevolent, so she wouldn't go so far as to call him a softy.

Naruto frowned at their skepticism, ''No really! You wouldn't believe how many times he's saved my life in the past.''

Jiraiya stared intently at the diminutive kitsune. The fox squirmed uncomfortably in his grip at being studied.

''Can Kyuubi speak?'' Kakashi suddenly implored. Jiraiya noticed that he'd said Kyuubi instead of the Kyuubi. He hoped the jonin wasn't completely buying into this.

''Yes,'' Sakura answered this time. ''But he's embarrassed of his new voice, so he tries not to.''

After some brief contemplation, Jiraiya sighed, tossing the little fox to Sasuke (he was closer), who fumbled to catch the writhing animal. Kyuubi hissed angrily at the Toad Sage for tossing him around.

As Jiraiya bent down to look at Naruto's seal, Sakura turned to Sasuke and asked telepathically, 'Should we tell him now? They may be more inclined to believe us now, since it would help explain Kyuubi's current size deficiency.'

Sasuke grunted quickly in assent, to busy trying to keep a grip on the writhing fox, who was hissing and clawing angrily in the Sannin's direction to form a worded answer.

As for mentioned Sannin stood back up to his full height and took a step back from Naruto, eying the blonde contemplatively.

''Is there something wrong with his seal?'' Kakashi asked when Jiraiya kept silent for a few minutes.

''Yes and no,'' he replied slowly, ''The seal is weakened but it's still intact and active. For all intents and purposes it's working fine. So what I want to know is why, exactly, Kyuubi isn't sealed.''

Naruto zipped his jacket back up, smiling sheepishly, ''We're going to tell you now, right?'' He looked to his teammates. Sasuke nodded and Sakura smiled. ''Okay, first things first. Can anyone overhear us?''

''No. I had a feeling this would be top secret information and made sure we were out of anyone's earshot.'' Kakashi replied immediately, surprising the genin with his thoroughness.

Naruto grinned, ''Good! This is a triple S-class secret. You can't tell anyone without consulting us. Do you agree to this?''

''Sure,'' Kakashi agreed without hesitation.

Jiraiya nodded, regarding them suspiciously. ''As long as it won't bring any danger to the village.''

Sasuke flinched notably, glancing at Naruto. The blonde didn't look at him, sending him a thumbs up instead.

Sakura decided she would start, ''How about we start with what you would like to know?''

''Wow about...who are you?'' It was meant to be a general question. What about themselves were they hiding.

'I'll explain it.'

Neither of them objected, so Naruto took a deep breath and began, ''My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm your apprentice and have traveled around with you for years. Before this happened I was in training to be the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure. Sakura Haruno is Tsunade's apprentice and has surpassed her in medical prowess and physical strength. She's Konoha's top medic and probably the top kunoichi in our village. Sasuke Uchiha was the former apprentice of Orochimaru before killing the snake some months ago. His position is hard to explain.''

Kakashi stared contemplatively, while Jiraiya snorted in disbelief.

''You expect me to believe that? There's no way a rookie genin could take down Orochimaru. Tsunade hasn't set foot in this village for years. You and I have only traveled to one town. And there's no way the Third could possibly be considering you for Hokage. And Rokudaime? We haven't even gotten the Godaime yet. Tell me how any of this could be possible.''

''We're from the future,'' Naruto replied simply. Kakashi nodded, as if expecting it. Jiraiya's mouth fell open.

A/N: This one felt like a filler. The original chapter fifteen was going to be much longer, but i split it into two so I could get this out today (I was already pretty late)

I must admit, I've lost a bit of interest in this story, but I'm going to keep writing it. I'm determined to get this one to the end, which may be soon. There may be another ten chapters or so until the end. But because of my lack of interest there may be no sequel like I planned.

Someone pointed out that I forgot to put my favorite part last chapter. It was when they were walking back to the village and Naruto, Sasuke, and Kyuubi were bickering.

For this chapter my favorite part was when Naruto fed Kyuu-chan! There's going to be alot of Kyuubi being babied in this story. ^_^U

Subaki's Fav. Part:

'I'm not eating that.'

Naruto didn't even glance at him, ''Why not? You're hungry.''

'I'm not going to let you feed me.'

''You let Sakura feed you. Why can't I?''

Kyuubi bristled in embarrassment, 'I didn't let her! She force fed me!'

''So what's to stop me from force feeding you?''

'You wouldn't! Let me go!'

Naruto held the bottle menacingly over the fox's mouth, ''Open up, Kyuu!''

'Kyuu' immediately clamped his mouth shut and shook his head wildly, 'Don't you dare, you brat!'

Naruto snorted, ''Who are you calling brat? You're the baby who can't eat solid foods.''

After nearly suffocating, Kyuubi relented and started to pull from the bottle, glaring at the grinning Naruto all the while.

Er...I think I may have left it on a bit of a cliffhanger. Sorry guys. But anyway, the secrets out! What happens now? Catch all the action and more in Chapter 16 of...!

'WHAT CHANGES!'

Review plz! I needs mah daily dose of moh-tee-vay-shun! ^_^

Arigatou!

Ja ne!

Subaki no Yumo

Sasuke clenched his eyes shut and turned away. He didn't want to hear Kakashi say he was disappointed in him.