Immortal Phoenix

Author: The Phoenix is Immortal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor am I making any profit from this work.

Chapter 15: The Kyuubi

What did that Mizuki human say? Naruto was the Kyuubi? What?

Impossible. That was impossible! Kyuubi was the nine-tailed fox. Naruto was without any doubt…a human. Naruto could not be the Kyuubi.

So what was that Mizuki human saying? Or rather…why was he saying that?

I was confused. But Naruto was shocked. "What do you mean?" He yelled this…Did he really believe that? Yes…he did. It would explain many things about why the villagers hated Naruto so much.

Mizuki human spoke, "It means that you are the demon that attacked the village and killed Iruka's parents!"

No…Naruto would not do that. The Kyuubi might have…but Naruto? No. My decision was final. Naruto was not the Kyuubi. I do not know what happened to Kyuubi…but Naruto was not the fox. It was obvious. But to none but me, apparently. Still...I would talk to the wrinkly human about this.

"Naruto! Naruto!" I think I managed to get past his shocked state. "You are not the Kyuubi! I have been with you for almost five years…and you are certainly not the Kyuubi!" That was most definite.

"I'm not?" He was still shocked…dazed. "But…but…what he said…"

"Do you think you are the Kyuubi? You have never acted like you were. You do not act like a demon. You are Naruto…who else could you be?"

He just looked confused. Please, use the brain I am sure you have somewhere Naruto. He needed to understand.

That Mizuki human, who I had decided that I hated, continued. "You have been sealed up by the Hokage you admired and you have been lied to by everyone! Everyone hates you! Iruka is the same! Nobody will ever love you!" Mizuki human was so engrossed in his hatred for Naruto…but he had not heard me talking to Naruto. Naruto had a chance to get out of this.

And at his words, I bristled and puffed up in anger. No one saw Naruto at all. Those stupid humans.

"Naruto…I care. Wrinkly human cares. And if Iruka hated you…he would never have bought you ramen. There are those who do love you, so you better remember that!"

Mizuki had been talking while I had been talking. But Naruto had been listening to me. Then I could see the large shuriken that Mizuki had thrown at us. It was rushing toward us. "Naruto! The shuriken!" If Naruto could not react in time…then I would have to do something.

Then the Iruka human appeared…and took the shuriken. To his back. Naruto was surprised. I was too. Iruka human was indeed something else. He cared.

"Why?" Really, Naruto? You need to ask? Iruka human explained. He knew what Naruto felt like. He understood.

"You're not the demon fox. You're a member of Konoha. You're Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka human, when he said that…did he guess what effect it would have on Naruto? Naruto had needed to hear that. He needed someone to care.

I flew close to Naruto's ear. "You see, Iruka human cares. I care. Now…why not show your new skills to Mizuki human, to repay the Iruka human?"

Naruto got a determined look on his face. My words had an effect after all. "Yeah, I will!" He stood up and turned to Mizuki human. "If you touch Iruka-sensei, I'll kill you!"

"As if you could even touch me!" Poor Mizuki human. He did not know what he just landed himself into.

He put together his hands in the seal that he had been practicing. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hundreds of Narutos appeared. Hundreds! Impressive. And they were solid.

"Poor Mizuki human will not survive." Naruto heard me. And then he spoke again.

"What's wrong? I thought you said I wouldn't be able to touch you? Well, I'll start then."

All the clones ran at Mizuki human. That was what Naruto had been practicing. He could not do the Clone Jutsu, but the Shadow Clone Jutsu was so much better. Physical clones…could do damage.

I had not needed to help Naruto at all. He had not needed it. He had handled the battle himself just fine. Still…I wanted to do something. So I flew to Mizuki human…who was not looking to good. I landed next to his head. Since Naruto had…so effectively…beaten him up, as humans put it, I just decided to light his hair on fire.

I actually liked to do that. Just a little. It was fun to watch. And the Mizuki human deserved it. So I did. His hair made a nice bonfire. All the nice colors…

Then Naruto dispersed all his clones. Iruka human looked at the beaten and…now bald, slightly burned Mizuki human. I think he had a proud look on his face. Though I think he was also wondering where did all Mizuki human's hair went and why he was slightly burned.

I landed back onto Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto…I think you went too far." I said this quietly; so as to not draw Iruka human's attention to myself.

"Hey! Akarui, you lit his hair on fire!" Well…yes. I did. I just chirped happily in reply.

The Iruka human spoke. "Naruto, come over here. There's something I want to give you."

He made Naruto close his eyes. "Now you can open them." He had put the ninja headband on Naruto. So…Naruto was now a ninja. See, I knew he would pass.

Iruka human continued. "Congratulations on graduating! Let's celebrate, I'll buy you ramen!" Now Naruto had gotten his congratulations. I would congratulate him also. Naruto was really happy, I was sure of that.

After Iruka human said this, Naruto jumped at Iruka human. Normally, this would not be a problem, except that I was still on his shoulder. So I got crushed between Naruto and the Iruka human. My feathers! My poor feathers…I lost some…

"Naruto! Get off me…Now!" I shrieked this. I also figured it would be fine if Iruka human knew about me. I decided that I liked the human…and I wanted to talk to him and thank him.

"Oh…Sorry Akarui!" Naruto scrambled off of me. I puffed up in indignation. Stupid little human midget…even if he was not as midget-y as he was before.

"Naruto…your bird can talk?" Iruka human was surprised. His mouth was open.

"I am not just a bird…so stop calling me that! I have a name." Seriously, I did not like it when people knew my name…and ignored it. "Oh, and also…congratulations on passing! I told you that you would. Now…it seems you are ready." That was directed to Naruto.

"Thanks Akarui! And yeah, I'm ready! Believe it!" There was a pause. "But why did you reveal yourself to Iruka-sensei?"

I continued. "Oh, and Iruka human…thank you for believing in Naruto. It is nice to see some redeeming humans. They make up for the bad ones." I turned to Naruto. "For that. I wanted to talk to him." Then I turned back to Iruka human. "Oh, and also do not tell anyone about me. Your Hokage already knows about me."

Iruka human just nodded. He was in shock, I supposed. "Now, did you not say something to Naruto about a food called ramen? I will come also."

The next day was the registration day for Naruto. I just decided to go with Naruto for the registration. He had to get a picture taken of him. He wanted to be in a very…strange (ridiculous) pose…but I refused to take it with him if he did that. So in the end, he took an acceptable picture. But after the pictures, I left for home again.

Today, I wanted to talk to the wrinkly human. He had something to explain to me…in regards to a certain midget human and a demon fox.

I waited until I knew that Naruto would not be at wrinkly human's place. Then I flew over to the Hokage tower and went through the window.

Wrinkly human was doing paperwork. Did he do nothing else? Anyway, I needed to talk to him. "Wrinkly human."

"Akarui-san? What is it that you want?"

"You need to explain something. About Naruto…and a demon fox." I wanted the answers. And I would get them.

The wrinkly human looked at me. Then he sighed. "You heard from Mizuki?"

"Yes…now explain."

"Why do you want to know?" Annoying wrinkly human. He wanted to know why I was concerned?

"It concerns Naruto, who I am quite…attached to by now." That was part of the reason…not the whole thing, but part of it.

"What do you want to know then?" asked wrinkly human.

"Why did Mizuki human call Naruto the Kyuubi?" I needed the answers. They were quite important.

And I received them.

Apparently, the day Naruto was born, the Kyuubi had attacked the village. The reason for the attack was not known. The Fourth Hokage had not killed the Kyuubi. Since he could not kill the demon, he had sealed the fox instead. Inside Naruto. I was not allowed to tell any other humans about that. Well, the adults knew…but the children did not. Of course, I would not tell them. That was Naruto's job.

I did not know what to think. Wrinkly human had told me that Naruto was not the Kyuubi, merely the container. So Naruto was just Naruto.

I was relieved to know that. I liked Naruto the way he was.

And now…I knew what had happened to the Kyuubi. Not death…but sealed. Sealed. So humans had a way to defeat the demons…

Since I had not felt the presence of any of the other tailed demons…I could only guess that they had been sealed also. So these humans had a way to defeat us. A way to defeat me if it was necessary. I would have to be more careful from now on. Humans were more dangerous than they let on.

But still, I would not mind staying with Naruto.

And tomorrow…Naruto would be assigned to his team. This…should indeed be interesting.

Author's note: Sorry if this is really short…this just seemed to be the best place to end this chapter.