Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid

by DarkHeroOrion

A true force of nature arises from the lowly roots of Konoha. This child, a scion of noble birthright, is ironically shunned by his deep-seated burden. Follow along as our coming-of-age hero grows through the test of adversity and new challenges.

4. Pillage & Plunder

A/N: Before I begin, I would like to say something. I would like to work with more than just a single review of "update soon," "please update," "interesting" or something along the lines of that. Although I am grateful for the praise, I would like for you to give me an appraisal (that is synonymous with "review" or "assessment," if you didn't get the dry, educated humor).

I will say that I have no beta reader for my story. Personally, I am the alpha and beta reader of my story. I go back and double-check where I made a few mistakes with regards to spelling, grammar and tenses. In short, I'm obsessive-compulsive about the aforementioned. That's what takes it a while for it to get uploaded. And after it is uploaded, I have to go back and give words in-between spaces due to the fact that the uploading process screws up with the spacing in my files.

To WolfLord04, thank you for pointing out that error on my part. It is now Bunshin no Jutsu: Kakashi-ryuu in the third chapter. The Kage has been dropped.

Anyway, on a good note, I had received many, many hits. I didn't know that I would draw this much attention. I hope to have my story be in the same light as Tellemicus Sundance's The Legacy of the Rasengan, although, I think that it may not get there. But that's just the pessimist side of me talking. Just like Naruto, I too "won't give up."

As I regress, this chapter is a bit longer than expected, but what can I say? Most of the stuff in this chapter was necessary for the story to naturally progress.

Well, let's keep it going, ladies and gentlemen…And I apologize that it's taking so long for them to get back to Konoha, but some things need to happen before their return.

Well, let's give it a whirl…

Last time:

"Ah," Hisao realized. "Uzumaki-san, I think that I know of something that will aid you in your future, my good fellow…"

Both Naruto and Kakashi turned their heads to each other and back at the mysterious man with puzzled eyes and blinked.

Chapter Four: Pillage and Plunder: Sacred Scrolls and a Tiny Stowaway

The genin and jounin eyed the eerily happy Wave resident with incredulity. What on earth would a civilian know about shinobi life?

To break the eerie silence, the golden-locked genin spoke up, "Um…What is it that you're referring to, Hisao-san?"

"Well, you are an Uzumaki, right?" the dark-haired man asked the blue-eyed wonder with an eccentric smile. With a nod and a look that read 'Of course I'm a damn Uzumaki, so get to the point,' Hisao continued. "Okay, follow me. We need to talk about this in privacy, Hatake-san included." Warily eyeing the mysterious subordinate of Tazuna, they followed him to a secluded and abandoned dock. Sitting on a few well-placed plank boards, both listened intently at his story.

"Well, rumor has it that your clan used to be a group of wealthy merchants in the former Whirlpool Country in Shiogakure, the Village Hidden in the Tides. The ruins of the country lie in an archipelago which is several miles south of the Land of Waves."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And the point is…?"

"I'm getting to that," the blue-eyed young man responded. "I had also found out that your clan had its own ninja force that had kept several, highly-powerful skill and ninjutsu scrolls in their possession." That portion of information grabbed the attention of the jinchuuriki as well as his jounin-sensei.

"Unfortunately," Hisao sighed as he sat on the pier's edge and looked out at the sea. "Many greedy and power-hungry shinobi wanted to seize control of those scrolls before the Hidden Tide became a truly terrifying force. Numerous attempts at seizing those precious items ended in futility. However, while everything had been running smoothly in that village, mercenaries and other ninja from hidden villages far and wide, in a last-ditch effort, pillaged and ransacked it during the last Great Shinobi War, leaving it in a blazing ruin, in an attempt to maintain those sacred scrolls. There were only a few survivors out of the fray that migrated to the Land of Waves, with the scrolls intact, before a select few trekked to Konoha for sanctuary, while the others who were incapable of going resided here. The group consisted of other Uzumaki, as well as some of the dispersed Haruno clan, and a now-extinct clan of wildcat-summoning shinobi known as the Sakibou…"

Naruto and Kakashi's eyes widened a bit from this tidbit of information. The Uzumaki and Haruno clans came from Shiogakure? Well, a select few of the Haruno clan had thrived from near and far, from Kusa to Kiri, perfecting their own style of techniques.

"Years later, Gatou arrived on the scene," the young man continued with subtle rage emanating from his eyes. "Through the use of his dirty money, that vile snake attracted some of Whirlpool's enemies into the Land of Waves, killing off some of the aforementioned shinobi, which then led to the extinction of the Sakibou clan, along with some of the civilian natives of our country. It was then that Gatou managed to get his filthy hands on the scrolls. Most of the powerful parchments traveled with the other wanderers into the Land of Fire."

He turned around to the shinobi. "You Konoha shinobi came to the right place at the right time. Since Gatou only worked with mercenaries at the time (save for Zabuza), they and he could not properly use the scrolls, so he stashed them for safekeeping on his luxury barge, just in case he had to resort to using more powerful shinobi as a means to put an end to our rebellious efforts. That or he would have sold them on the black market to the highest bidder." He shuddered at that thought.

"Anyway, from my reliable source network, I do believe that those scrolls are on that barge in Nami Sound. But be very careful while on that ship. Who knows what kinds of booby traps are there on that strange luxury liner?" He stood up and dusted off the dirt from his trousers as he finished. "I think that it would be worth it, for you as well as the young Haruno lady. From what I heard from Tazuna while on our lunch break, she could use all the help in the world for her to change her attitude as to the true path of shinobi, meaning that she shouldn't be in it if she were to impress that Uchiha kid, but develop as an individual in her own right."

'Wow…' Naruto thought with a surprised look etched onto his face. 'I didn't know the drunken old man could be that observant…and wise, too…'

'Ah…Who would've thought that Tazuna-san was wise, as well as courageous?' Kakashi mentally asked himself as he smirked. Aside from withholding information from the cyclopean jounin, his respect for the old geezer jumped a peg or two.

XXXXXXXXXX

Relaxing on a sofa in his sea-cottage, aforementioned bridge builder felt a tickle in his nose and sneezed, with his corrective eyewear flying off his face and onto his chest.

'Hmm…' Tazuna mused to himself. 'Looks like someone's talking about me…He-he…'

He put on his glasses and glanced up at the clock. His eyes bugged out.

'Damn! I gotta get back to work!'

He quickly shot up from the sofa, put on his hard-hat and dashed out of the cottage to his impatiently waiting crew of workmen.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Well, I need to get back to work. Knowing Tazuna, he'll probably rip off my head if I were to be caught shirking work again," the brunet young man said jokingly. He was walking onto solid ground from the pier before he paused and looked over his shoulder. "Good luck to you all, and I hope that you will visit us again after you are finished with your mission."

Coming to a realization, he turned around to face the two shinobi. "Oh, and by the way, just let the policemen on guard duty know that you are on shinobi affairs if you want to explore the abandoned ship. I'm sure that they won't hassle you, but you may need to show some identification. There have been a few attempted break-ins into the ship by some of the more desperate townspeople."

Naruto pointed up at his hitai-ate with his right index finger. "Will this be enough proof, Hisao-san?" The forehead protector gleamed in the noontime sunlight.

The blue-eyed young man snickered to himself. "Oh, right. Those hitai-ate are a dead giveaway, so I think that they should suffice. I should've been paying more attention." He rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly, while the blond and silver-haired ninja had a bead of sweat behind their scalps.

"It's around noon, so that means that the lunch break is just about over. See you guys at the opening ceremonies." The odd supporter of Tazuna dashed off to the direction of the bridge.

"So, Naruto," Kakashi said. "What do you say if I assigned you this actual C-ranked sub-mission? I'll come along, just in case anything happens." He re-opened his book of smut, waiting for the blond-headed boy's response.

"Ossu!" Naruto saluted, beaming for joy. Not only would Naruto get pay for an A-ranked mission, but also get a C-rank mission bonus for retrieving some documents, hopefully clan techniques.

"Okay, so here's the mission," started the scarecrow-ninja. "We go in, get the necessary scrolls within a few hours and come right out. It's just as simple as that. Here…catch." A few packaging scrolls were tossed at the blond enigma, who had then caught all of them without any effort. "Pack them into those scrolls. That way, our hands won't be full." The jounin of the squad gave his patented eye-smile to the blue-eyed wonder. "All right, Naruto, let's move out."

XXXXXXXXXX

Within a few minutes, along with some directions from the local townspeople, they arrived at Gatou's luxury vessel. The ship had to be several hundred feet in length and the outside looked as if it received a recent paint job. It appeared to exude a grandiose but barbaric and overwhelming feel to it. To the eyes of the ninja, looks can definitely be deceiving.

Approaching the guards on duty, they asked for entry, but said sentries were a bit hesitant to let them in.

"C'mon," Naruto whined. "We're here for shinobi-related business. Can't you see that the forehead protector proves that we're ninja?" Pointing at the glistening hitai-ate on his forehead, the lookouts scrutinized the headband.

"Listen, kid," a blonde-haired female guard started. "This is the fourth time that someone gave us that kind of excuse, and they turned out to be phonies. What makes you think that you're a true ninja, huh?"

Holding back his rage for a bit (with a lot of whatever self-control he possessed), he put his hands in a cross-shaped hand seal and formed two shadow clones. "Is this good enough for you? This is the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, a technique forbidden to a genin, but I'm an exception." He gave a satisfying smirk while crossing his arms. His clones mirrored the original's posture.

With eyes wide, the guard-woman turned to her partner and whispered, "I think that they're the real deal." The other guard nodded silently as she turned to the blond ninja. "And just what is your name, kid?"

"Uzumaki Naruto is the name," Naruto answered flatly and then one of his clones pointed behind him with his thumb. "And this is my jounin-sensei, Hatake Kakashi-san."

The visible eye of the aforementioned jounin widened, wondering where Naruto learned how to conduct himself in a professional manner, let alone showing some shred of respect for his instructor. "We were sent from Konoha," pointing to his hitai-ate, and once again, it pinged in the afternoon sunlight, "to protect and guard Tazuna-san, the bridge-builder who is trying to pull you out of the rut that Gatou forced upon you."

'This kid is serious,' thought the guard-woman. "All right, we'll let you in to investigate. We'll only give you until two-thirty to investigate and no later. Do you understand?"

Mentally jumping for joy, the blond dispelled the clones and climbed up the ladder, with jounin-sensei in tow.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Five copies of Naruto and Kakashi appeared from the smoke caused by the abovementioned technique. With a silent nod of communication, four groups consisting of one blond-haired and one silver-haired ninja split up to traverse through the narrow corridors of the ship's dark interior, while leaving a fifth group at the main entryway, in case some individuals were to get through the sentinels and into the ferry.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Clone Pair One, Location: underneath Starboard Deck)

"Be sure to watch your step," commanded the Kakashi clone. "Like Hisao-san mentioned, there could be potential traps lying in wait…"

"Oh, c'mon, Kakashi-sensei," the Naruto clone replied. "It's not like there are going to be booby traps…" Without looking, the blond clone's foot pressed down a tile. Feeling as if the ground caved in, he looked down. "What…?"

A faint glimmer came from a distance down the murky hall, and suddenly, the glimmer became a kunai that whizzed to where the blue-eyed replica stood.

Picking up on the threat immediately, the Naruto clone was heaved back by the Kakashi clone with a push to the opposite side of the wall as the sharp knife zoomed by harmlessly and lodged itself two inches into the other end of the wall.

"Care to reconsider that thought about traps, Naruto?" the Kakashi bunshin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Remember, in the shinobi world, you have to—"

"—look underneath the underneath," finished the Naruto-copy, who was rubbing his back from the unexpected force against the iron wall. "I know that already…"

"I'm telling you this because you still don't get it, Naruto," retorted the slightly irritated jounin replication. "Now, I'm going to say this one more time. Be cautious, and don't touch anything."

XXXXXXXXXX

(Clone Pair Two, Location: Ship's Hull, Level 4)

Deep in the hull of the ship, a one-eyed jounin smacked his head against his open palm in utter frustration. After telling his Naruto clone to watch out and pay attention, said clone fell through a trap door and dissipated into nothingness with a wispy "poof" sound. The Kakashi clone shook his head and traveled onward, all alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Clone Pair Three, Location: Ship, Level 3)

The two clones faced off with their hands behind their back. A bead of sweat ran down their brow in uneasiness. Both reared back their hands and shoved them forward to one another…

"Janken!!" both had yelled at the same time.

The Kakashi replica held out his hand, which was flat and palm-down. Paper.

The Naruto duplicate, however, held out his hand, which had two fingers open with the rest of his fingers balled into a fist. Scissors.

"It looks like I win," announced the blond-copy. "And that means we'll take my route." Strutting in confidence with his eyes closed, the Naruto-bunshin failed to realize that he had just walked past a motion-sensor seal with the kanji for "fire" inked onto it.

Said seal was pulsating, emanating a reddish hue before blasting a superheated burst of flame at the blue-eyed replica.

"AAAAHHH!!!" the poor charred blond ran around, ablaze and panicking.

"Stop, drop and roll, Naruto!" yelled the worried Kakashi-clone. Unfortunately, the Naruto clone went critical and dispelled into a puff of smoke. The Kakashi-replica sighed heavily as he continued onward, coming to a dead end.

'It's like a maze with death-traps in here…' he thought as he backtracked to where he started.

XXXXXXXXXX
(Clone Pair Four, Main Deck)

The blond clone managed to stifle a yawn and covered his mouth. It was boring to keep a watchful eye, acting as sentries watching over the guards who were guarding the ship. It felt rather redundant. All he could do to entertain himself was to count the number of floorboards on their side of the ship. He passed off that idea and turned to his perverted sensei and read the cover of the book.

'Make-Out Paradise, eh?' The Naruto clone mentally noted. 'I really should get a book of my own, but I absolutely despise reading…OH, I know…'

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei," the blond-copy said, breaking the golden silence. "Can you teach me some cool jutsu that I can use?"

"Sorry Naruto," Kakashi said without looking up. "I'm kind of…busy for the moment…"

That comment riled up the blond enigma. "Oh yeah, so what's so important in that book of yours?"

"Well," Kakashi started. "I'm at the point where Natsuki is about to seduce two guys at once. She just removed the belt buckles from both men with her just two feet…and no hands." He gave a perverted chuckle.

Naruto recognized the signs immediately by scent alone. His teacher was giving off a lot of testosterone and his face was getting a little flush. The perverted giggle and that little excerpt pieced it all together…

He was getting aroused…by a book of…erotica. Perverted Trash Central.

The clone narrowed his eyes, balled his cracking knuckles and secretly vowed to burn whatever copies of that literary garbage that he would find and castrate the author…or whoever was named Jiraiya.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Konoha, same time, Public Bath House)

Currently visiting Konoha for a little 'research,' a lecherous old man with long, spiky-white hair and red tattoos that lined under the corners of his eyes and cheeks was glancing with his portable telescope toward the women's section of the public bath house. His red geta were glued with chakra on the rooftop on the men's side of the public bath.

He giggled inwardly. 'This is grand, perfect for my research. The women here are oh-so lovely…'

His musings were cut short when a tickle hit the inside of his nasal cavities. He endeavored to subdue it, but it was inevitable. He sneezed pretty loudly, which alerted the now-screaming women that had been his "topic of study" for the past few minutes. A small wooden pail was launched his way, which promptly conked him on his cranium and knocked him back.

As he slid off the roof and thumped onto the ground, he heard a faint rumbling that grew in intensity. Looking up, out of his bird-clouded daze, he saw the stampede of angry, toweled women with fists clenched and waving, screaming for his untimely demise. And before he could get up to make his getaway, he was soundly pummeled with slaps and backhands, along with a few kicks to the nether-regions.

With vengeance paid and anger vented, the contented women trudged off, leaving a heaping mess that was the legendary Gama-Sennin, the 'gallant' Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin, with birds chirping "baka" wildly about his head.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Real Naruto and Kakashi, Captain's Quarters)

While he was trying to stash a few scrolls inside the storage scroll in the fancily decorated captain's quarters (that was presumably Gatou's office), Naruto's eyes twitched constantly when his clones were being dispelled. He had then taken note of that he could see what his clones had seen before they had gone critical.

"Ano, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he turned to his jounin-sensei. "How is that I can see what my clones have done before they go critical?"

The cyclopean jounin turned to his blond-haired charge. "I thought that you should've known by now."

"…Know about what, Kakashi-sensei?" The blue-eyed wonder was confused as to where his instructor was directing the conversation.

Giving his patented eye-smile, the jounin answered the befuddled enigma that was his pupil. "A shadow clone is not an ordinary clone. It is just like an ordinary body. Any experience or knowledge the clones gain during their existence is transferred to the user once they are dispersed but causes mental fatigue when they are fully dispelled at one time. My suggestion would be to dispel a few of the clones at a time to ease with the mental fatigue."

The gray-haired adult continued. "Also, it helps out greatly while training. For example, if two of your clones go through the exact same training, then you get twice the benefit from it."

Seeing a slightly befuddled Naruto, he continued to clarify. "In other words, Naruto is that if you have two clones doing the same training, then you would accomplish the same amount in half the time…and with a third, in one-third of the time…and a thousand in one-thousandth, if you can make that many. Are you with me so far, Naruto?"

The blond ninja-in-training nodded. "Now I get it…So, if I were to learn something that would normally take two days by myself, then can I use a clone to help me learn it in a day?"

"Now you're catching on, Naruto," Kakashi stated as he placed another scroll in one of his storage scrolls. "And if you were to train with up to one thousand clones, should you have the chakra capacity, then what would normally take twenty years by yourself would be completed in one week."

Naruto was flabbergasted by what he could do with his technique. "However, physical training, in and of itself, cannot be gained through the use of shadow clones. Only you can do that, since your muscle memory only takes note of how you condition your body." Naruto's smile faded a bit. "But luckily, chakra control exercises and scroll-reading for you will be a thing in the past. Just have some of your clones read up on ninjutsu theory and climb trees while you do physical training. You can achieve wonders in only a week's time." After hearing this, Naruto grinned at the possibilities. Now he, the proclaimed "dead last" of this year's academy genin could finally catch up or surpass his class.

Their musings were cut short when they smelled a scent akin to a wild animal. The tiny tuft of tawny fur that they had smelled passed by the cabin in a blur. Naruto summoned one his clones and told him to keep packing while he ran off to catch the little mysterious fur-ball. He had a feeling that the aura of the little ball of fuzz had felt…a bit familiar.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Gatou's barge, whereabouts unknown)

'Now where could that thing have run off to?' Naruto pondered when he felt a tug in the back of his mind. 'What's up, Kyuubi-sama? You've been awfully quiet lately…'

He heard the faint echo of Kyuubi's voice resounding through the recesses of his sub-consciousness. 'It just so happens that you are chasing down one of my vulpine brethren, kid.'

'Wait…how did a fox get on this ship?'

Kyuubi appeared to be shrugging his shoulders…that is, if they were shoulders. 'I haven't the slightest idea, boy. I'm not up-to-date with current events, you know. But, I can conjecture that he stowed away here for shelter before we showed up. I can detect the oldest scent to be roughly eighteen to twenty hours prior to our arrival.'

As the demon vessel rounded the corner, he was knocked off his feet by a flying tackle from the tiny ball of fur. As the jinchuuriki gazed at the now-stationary fox standing on his chest, it had an ocher-colored coat, with a hint of red in it. It had an acute muzzle and a bushy tail that looked like a paintbrush with white dye at the tip and appeared to be no more than twenty inches in length, including the tail, and thirteen inches in height. The fur around its paws was very dark and close to a black hue. What had caught the blue-eyed demon container's eye was the small dabble of white fur on its right side, near the ribs. Said dabble of white fur looked like a cloud-shaped birthmark.

"It must be alone; separated from its family," the blond said to the ocher-hued canine. The vulpine runt barked in three long syllables that sounded like "wow-wow-wow."

'I can't understand this thing, Kyuubi-sama…' He thought in his mind. 'What's it saying?'

'Unfortunately, I can't comprehend him as well, however,' Kyuubi thought for a moment before continuing, 'I need for you to channel some of my chakra to establish a link with him. That includes you as well.'

'How can you tell that it's a "he"…?' He was puzzled but looked under the hind legs of the fox. 'Oh…'

'Hurry up kit,' rushed the youkai kitsune. 'We don't have all day. We need to get back to the captain's quarters. Time is almost winding down for us to be on this ship.'

'Tch…fine… '

Focusing intently for a minute, he felt a tug at the seal on his stomach and a small bit of youki poured from the fingers of the jinchuuriki into the mind of the little fox cub. The fox felt a bit subdued by the "strange-yet-familiar" energy that came from the whisker-marked kid.

'Now we play the waiting game to see if it worked…'

"Hey there, buddy. Are you okay?" asked the blue-eyed demon vessel.

"I'm…I'm…I'm lost," the fox mumbled incoherently.

"Yeah, I'm kind of lost too. What's your name? My name's Naruto. Remember it."

"Wh…Wh…Where am I…N-Naru-Naruto?" the no-named cub asked with mumbles.

"You are on a ship in a harbor. I take it that you live in the woods in Wave Country, right?"

"I…I don't know…I h-have no home." The blond jinchuuriki had an eyebrow raised as the nameless fox continued with stutters, getting accustomed to human speech. "M-My p-parents were being h-hunted, s-so I r-ran to s-s-safety."

"So you're all alone in this world, too, huh?" asked the blue-eyed wonder. "I'll tell you what. How about I take you in? That way we won't have to be alone again. I hope that Kakashi-sensei is okay with the idea…"

The fox yipped in accordance with the blue-eyed whisker-marks. "Great…now…to give you a name…" Naruto looked long and hard at the innocent face of the fox cub and then glanced over at his cloud-shaped birthmark on his right side.

He has a cloud-shaped birthmark…and he runs fast, as if he had a burst of speed…Ah, that's it!

He looked into the gray eyes of the fox and said, "From now on, how about that I call you Doshaburi?" With what appeared to be a nod from the newly named Doshaburi, Naruto continued as he stood up, placing Doshaburi on the floor. "Okay Doshaburi-chan, let's go back and find that perverted sensei of ours."

"N-Naruto…w-w-what's a s-s-sensei?" the cloud-marked fox asked.

"A sensei is an instructor, of sorts," Naruto answered, "but more importantly, he's a teacher of ninja basics and techniques, as well as survival tactics. A ninja is my profession as well as his, obviously. As shinobi, we take missions that are worth a certain amount, depending on the level of difficulty and the time limit, if there is any, and execute them to the best of our ability. Failure usually isn't an option. The business can be a bit risky on account of more dangerous missions, but I wanted to become a ninja so I can become Hokage, so everyone will have to look up to me and acknowledge my existence."

"H-Hokage? What's that, Naruto?"

"A Kage, or 'Shadow,' is the top-ranking shinobi within their respective hidden villages. Basically, in tandem with the head council and the daimyo, the Kage can set laws, creeds and ordinances to maintain the peace. Also, the Kage is one with his or her people. That is why I want to become Hokage, so I can protect those that I care about with my life on the line. I love the village, although most of the population shuns me…"

His face fell with a sad smile but quickly replaced his mask. "But, anyway, we need to get back to Kakashi-sensei. Come on Dosha-chan, so we can leave. We only have twenty minutes left to be on this boat." With a new companion in tow, fox-boy and foxy companion retraced their steps via sense of smell, while chatting along the way.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Captain's Quarters)

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said in his 'normal' tone, which was a bit brash and loud. "I have something to ask you before we leave this ship."

The one-eyed scarecrow turned from his handiwork, threw on his backpack of scrolls and glanced at the beaming blond with his hands behind his back. "Okay, Naruto…I'm all ears…What is it?"

"Ano…I was wondering…" He revealed the small ocher-hued blur from before, which was a small fox. "Can I keep him?"

Kakashi looked wide-eyed at the furry little rascal in the blond's cradled arms. It was certain that after the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago, most of the villagers either had an absolute disdain or an absolute fear of foxes. To Kakashi, he was indifferent to them. In fact, he had a reverence for any class of canines. "You do know how some of the villagers will look at you if you do bring a fox into Konoha, right?"

His eye widened twofold when he heard the tiny, stuttering voice of Doshaburi. "I-It's o-okay, Kakashi-sensei. I p-promise t-to stay out of the w-way. P-Plus, N-Naruto said that he would protect his p-p-precious p-people, m-me inc-included."

Kakashi's visible eye rolled in the back of his head and promptly fainted. Sure he had seen summoned nin-ken that have spoken (along with many other bizarre things in his lifetime), but never had he seen a naturally occurring fox speak that way.

"I guess that he couldn't take to you talking, ne Dosha-chan?" The blond jinchuuriki was answered by a lick to his face. "This, Dosha-chan, is the beginning of a new life for the both of us." He smiled as he stroked behind the head of his little, furry cloudburst.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The new addition to Squad Seven is an ocher-colored canine that can speak. How will the rest of his team cope with his physical changes, along with the talking, vulpine critter?

Jikai… (Next time…) on Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid…

Identity Crisis: Accepting the Nuke-Nin

Naruto: Nani!? I knew something didn't add up…

I hope that you enjoyed it. One major thing though, and read this carefully…PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW THAT IS WORTH SOME INSIGHT TO ME!

Please avoid stuff like "interesting," "I like it," "keep up the good work," "update soon" and the like. Those kinds of comments are A) not necessary to the review; and B) need to be put in a private message if you want to give me your commendations.

Anyway, tell me what you liked or did not like. I want you to look for flaws, if you can find any.

Here is the Romaji guide for this chapter:

Sakibou: cat's-paw

Ossu: Japanese slang for "Yes sir!"

Janken: rock-scissors-paper game

Geta: traditional Japanese footwear that resembles both clogs and flip-flops

Gama-Sennin: Toad-Sage

Baka: idiot

Youkai: demon

Youki: even though it translates to "vessel," it means demonic essence or demonic chakra emanating from the demon vessel in the Naruto universe

Doshaburi: cloudburst; name of Naruto's fox-hound (will be highly important later on)

Daimyo: feudal lord (I take it that most people know this term already from World History.)