A/N: Well, before I kick off the next chapter, I would like to mention one important change. Here is the line-up for my trilogy (yeah, I'll be one for not opting for a time-skip—well, maybe there will be a three-month time-skip between Parts II and III).
Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid—the beginning (Part I) before the time-skip
The Fox Druid: Are no Rekidaishi (Annals of the Tempest)—the episode-filled time-skip, itself (Part II, but more so an intermission, if anything)
The Fox Druid: Kyuuten no Sansenku (The Three Sky Heralds)—technically, Part II, but officially, Part III
Reports from the Reviews:
So far, I cannot complain from the reviews…as well as the favorite story and favorite author alerts that I have been getting. I practically have to wipe out about ten to eighteen of aforementioned alerts every time I check my inbox.
As for the hits, I have gotten over 6000, and they're still climbing. I didn't know that I would also get a miniature fan-base.
Well, with that out of the way, let's continue with the latest installment of Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid…
Chapter Five: Identity Crisis: Accepting the Nuke-Nin
"So," Kakashi mused, while Naruto and he were standing at the door of Tazuna's humble abode, "that's how Doshaburi-kun was able to speak?" The blond nodded, cradling the fuzzy vulpine in his arms, who was now asleep because of the jinchuuriki's body heat.
The story was puzzling, and yet, intriguing. He guessed that the Kyuubi wanted to look after his own kind. Foxes acted similar to any other canine; willing to look after their own pack and protect them at all costs. He mused to himself that Dosha-chan should meet Pakkun, as well as the rest of his fang-pursuit tracking team. Shaking himself from his thoughts, the one-eyed jounin turned the doorknob and walked in, with a blond and a tuft of fur in tow.
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The door to Tazuna's sea-cottage opened noiselessly. Tazuna, who sat at the couch reading the newspaper, Tsunami, who had just finished washing dishes, and Inari, who had just come down the stairs to see the commotion, glanced to see the two shinobi return…with a fuzzy bundle in the blond wonder's arms.
"Kawaii!" yelled a very elated Tsunami who ran over to pet Doshaburi, who had just woken up from the noise. Inari jumped from the stairs and ran over to do the same thing.
"Have Naruto and Kakashi-sensei returned yet?"
They heard a faint, feminine voice resonating from upstairs, which meant that she was making her way downstairs to see what was going on. At last, the bubble-gum-haired girl peered from the banister of the stairs. She gave a sigh of relief. "I wondered when you would get back, because Sasuke-kun had just woken up."
The Copy-Ninja gave his patented eye-smile. "Well, that's a relief. Now that everyone's up, we will be starting guard duty pretty soon. We have become a bit…lax in guarding Tazuna at the bridge for quite a while, and even though the threat that loomed over his head is gone, there is no telling who else is out to get him."
"That's no longer necessary."
Everyone in the room turned to the raspy voice of Tazuna. "You've done your job, and I couldn't have asked for anyone better for the task. But, thanks to the extra money that your sensei acquired from Gatou," at that moment, a grin etched onto Sharingan Kakashi's face behind his mask, "I was able to ask a few police officers who were glad to watch over me periodically throughout the day."
After Tazuna finished, the raven-haired prodigy shakily trudged down the stairs to meet up with his team.
"Sakura, perform a diagnostics check on Sasuke, to see if he is able-bodied," the cyclopean Copy-Ninja ordered to his pink-haired charge. With a large, beaming smile, the girl with bubble-gum-colored hair ran over to her one-sided love interest.
"Sasuke-kun, could you take off your shirt, please?" she asked with small hearts in her eyes. Before the Uchiha genius could say anything, his shirt was forced off his person. Then he felt soft, warm hands touching his bare flesh to analyze his heart and pulse rates.
"Sasuke-kun," she said in a melodic fashion. "How's your vision? Is it blurry?"
"It's fine," deadpanned the raven-haired avenger.
The 'monkey-see-monkey-do' jounin rolled his visible eye while watching what was transpiring before said eye.
'Fangirl…' He thought and recalled a similar situation with other girls in his class. He smiled underneath his mask. 'Onceyou'veseenone,you'veseenthemall…'
"He checks out fine, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura told her instructor.
'Hell yeah! I touched Sasuke-kun's body! Take that, Ino-pig! Shannaro!' Inner Sakura yelled to the apex of her voice.
"Okay," said the scarecrow jounin, once again pulling out his orange-colored, literary hentai. "We're going to be eating up and restocking today, and we'll be off tomorrow, which just so happens to coincide with the bridge-opening ceremony. Isn't that correct, Tazuna-san?" Turning to the bridge-builder, Tazuna nodded his head in agreement. Facing his charges, he continued. "Well, first things first. Naruto here picked up a stray fox cub while we were investigating Gatou's barge." The elf-eared genin peered around Tsunami and Inari, with Dosha-chan cradled in his arms. The dusty-colored fox yipped.
Seeing the ball of fur made the pink-haired girl squeal in delight. She ran over to Naruto, screaming "kawaii," just like Inari's mother, but with more gusto.
"Oh, Naruto, can I hold it, please?" Sakura asked with a bright sparkle in her green eyes, clasping her hands together.
Looking at his teammate, he wondered if she had a double-identity disorder. The first minute he usually opened his mouth in front of her, he would be eating dirt the next. Now she had been fawning over Dosha-chan. 'I guess this thing is a chick-magnet…Hey, wait…What am I thinking…?'
Breaking off from his musings, along with his tenant giving a perverted giggle, he said unto his teammate, "Yes, Sakura-chan. You can hold him, and his name is Doshaburi. Please don't squeeze him too hard." He handed over his vulpine pet to his brightly beaming crush.
When she looked over to her pointy-eared teammate, something felt a bit off. "Naruto, you've grown…"
"And you've changed, dobe," Sasuke broke into the conversation. The blue-eyed wonder looked at his brooding teammate. The cool-headed bastard really was too predictable, which was the natural flaw of a genius. "Spill it, and tell me why you look different."
Kakashi was the one to save his blond charge from the barrage of questions that were about to be asked. "A few days ago, when you and Naruto were fighting on the bridge, Naruto awakened his 'bloodline,' and there are still a few unanswered abilities that need to be looked over. His 'awakening' had a few…side effects; as you can tell his height is right on par with his team and his facial features look a bit like a cat…"
The tenant in the elf-eared genin's mindscape growled at being categorized to be an inferior feline, but he had to go along with the subterfuge so his host would not have to endure the strangely uncomfortable queries coming from his other teammates, especially the brooding Uchiha that was on his quest for infinite power. Kyuubi made a mental note to watch out for that kid…
'He could go postal any day, just like that Madara character….'
"Well, who knew that the dobe had a kekkei genkai?" Sasuke asked in his prideful demeanor and shrugged his shoulders. "Hn…Whatever…But still, the dobe will always remain the 'dead-last.'"
To Naruto's surprise, along with a mental sigh of relief, the Uchiha genius, the shinjin'ou of the graduated genin, actually bought the cover-story. He beamed inwardly, and he was proud of the fact that he "out-foxed" the supposed prodigy of the nine rookies.
'But, of course,' Naruto thought grimly, 'he would still hound me down if I were to start training non-stop and learn new jutsu…Eh, I'll worry about that later…' The blond reveled in the moment of fooling a genius, especially Sasuke-teme, but he did not want to express it outwardly, since that would blow his cleverly made ruse.
"Furthermore," Kakashi concluded. "Sakura, check on Haku to see how he's doing, okay?" With a nod, she was about to run off with Doshaburi in her arms when a blond flash appeared before her eyes.
"Wait, Sakura," Naruto whispered to her with a serious edge to his intonation. Taken aback by the sudden sense of gravity, he continued. "Follow me, but leave Dosha-chan downstairs." She complied and knelt down to allow Dosha-chan to run around on the floor. The blond and the pink-haired girl dashed upstairs.
The ocher-hued fox ran over to Kakashi and the brooding Uchiha and paused. He blinked and tilted his head to the side while looking at the two humans with his curious, gray eyes.
Sasuke looked down at the furry runt and asked, "Kakashi, why is this thing looking at us?"
Sasuke's normally narrowed eyes widened a bit when he heard a voice coming from the tawny vulpine. "I'm hungry, Kakashi-sensei. W-When's l-lunch?"
To those around that heard the tawny fox speak, save for the Copy-Ninja, they looked wide-eyed at the fur-ball in surprise.
The Uchiha survivor turned to his teacher and calmly asked, "Are you sure that fox isn't a summoned animal?" With a steady and firm "no" from the Copy-Ninja, Sasuke eyed the critter with mild interest. 'The dobe has a lot of explaining to do…'
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With Naruto leading the way to one of the bedrooms, Sakura was wondering how come Naruto had become so serious. He paused in front of the door where he had stayed for the past several days. He turned to his green-eyed teammate and gave her his insight. "Due to my 'kekkei genkai,' I have acquired enhanced senses, including smell."
He opened the door and saw the still-unconscious Haku. Pointing at the effeminate faux-oinin in the bed, he continued. "Something is off about him. He claims to be a boy, but his scent tells me otherwise. I'm not sure, but can you check it out for me? Let me know what you find out, okay?" She nodded as he walked down the hallway to the stairwell.
Hearing Sasuke say, "Explain to me about this talking fox, dobe," her eyes widened slightly and closed the door.
Her thoughts were somehow fixed onto her blond enigma of a teammate. Sure he was a goofy, awkward and clumsy idiot, but during this mission, he seemed to have…matured slightly, as well as an added bonus of a growth spurt thanks to his 'bloodline ability.' Alongside of the fact that the blond-haired puzzle could have hearing, sight and smell similar to those of an Inuzuka clan member, he had a fox-hound; a canine just like Kiba, their former classmate, but could speak on its own. She would have to ask him about that later. That or try to pry the information that Sasuke-kun had gotten from the knuckleheaded mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto. Knowing the blond's secretive demeanor, Sasuke-kun would be trying to pry the data from Naruto like drawing water from a stone. It just was not going to happen…
Her thoughts had then turned to the effeminate figure in the bed. The green-eyed bookworm went to work by analyzing Haku's vitals. They read normal, from resting pulse rate to heartbeat rate.
It was time for the faux-oinin to have 'his' body checked for anything broken. When Sakura was feeling for any broken ribs, her hands paused on a soft lump on Haku's right side underneath bandages that had not been placed by any of her teammates. Fearing that it may be abnormal swelling of the lungs, she carefully lifted up the estranged figure and began to undo the bandages around the chest region.
Luckily, there had been no swelling, but to the former Ninja Academy wiz-kid's surprise, two round, fleshy orbs expanded from the chest of the unconscious shinobi.
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(Meanwhile…)
Tazuna was out on the bridge, checking on the last-minute fixings, and Tsunami and her son were out on the pier, watching some of the boats sailing by.
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(Sea Cottage, downstairs)
"Well, he learned how to speak before I even met him, teme," said the blond mystery for the umpteenth time in the last few minutes.
"That's bullshit, dobe, and you know it," retorted the Uchiha genius. "Animals of the wild do not know how to speak…let alone, speak human."
"Well, it looks like that you don't know everything that the world contains, ne, Sasuke-teme?" rebutted the elf-eared genin. Sasuke was about to waylay into the numbskull that was his teammate but was interrupted by the arrival of his pink-haired fan girl…er, teammate.
"Naruto," Sakura started, grabbing the elf-eared genin's attention, "you were right about your instincts. Haku is, in fact…a girl. Her breasts were…bounded." She cringed at the mental pain of having one of the female's most sensitive organs held together by tightly woven wrappings.
"Say what?" Naruto yelled. "I knew something didn't add up…but how come she was trying to say that she was a boy from the start?" Asking no one in particular, his raven-haired rival spoke up from hearing the news.
"To hell if I know," Sasuke deadpanned. Suddenly, he heard the elf-eared loser snicker under his breath. "What is it now, dobe?"
"Ha-ha," Naruto laughed. He wiped a tear from his cerulean orbs with slit pupils. "You had your ass handed to you by a girl…"
Both Naruto and Sasuke paused from their conversation when they felt a huge spike of murderous intent emanating from behind them. They turned to look at a raging Sakura with fire in her eyes and muscles tensed. She appeared a bit bigger, anime-style, with her upper body blown up to gargantuan proportions.
"What…did…you…say…Naruto…?" Sakura asked between animalistic growls and snarls.
Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, he already knew when and when not to push the buttons of his pink-haired, dual-persona crush. He calmly stated, "Nothing, Sakura-chan. I meant nothing by it." This brought down the ki to a comfortable level; however, Sakura still bopped him on the side of the head, leaving a rather large lump.
"Well," Sasuke started. "How did you beat her?"
The question brought Naruto's musing to a grinding halt and sweat started to pool beneath his face and threatened to fall.
Immediately remembering the faux-story, he answered, "That was when my 'bloodline' kicked in." He calmed down and continued. "I had my chakra coils refilled and my speed and stamina peaked. She tried to run away, but I caught her by the arm and gave her one swift punch to the face, knocking her out cold. Then the power retreated and I felt exhausted. I carried both you and Haku over to Sakura-chan, where I collapsed from fatigue."
The raven-haired teenager slightly widened his eyes. There was absolutely no way for a ninja—a genin, at that—to refill his or her chakra coils in a last-ditch effort, save for the Eight Inner Gates, which had just been crackpot theory that he had read in a local magazine. He mused to himself that he could take that power from the dobe and use it to defeat his brother, Itachi. "Teach me, then." He swallowed his pride before he had even asked the question.
"Sorry, Sasuke, but no can do," Naruto said, deflating the black-eyed Uchiha's hope in one fell swoop. "It's a 'kekkei genkai,' and it can never be taught…orcopied." He placed emphasis on the last word, seeing that the Uchiha, to him, were a bunch of copy-cat ninja with crazy-colored eyes that could read people's movements. However, he had slight respect to the former Konoha Police Corps, who helped him out with being harassed by some of the villagers, before they were wiped out.
"Well," Sakura interrupted, "her vitals read out fine, but she still has a slight concussion from the blow to her head. I think that it's about time that we should wake her up. Kakashi-sensei," she turned toward her jounin-sensei, who was nose-deep in his book, on the couch, with Doshaburi nestled on the green-patterned rug beneath his feet, "do you, by any chance, have any smelling-salts that I can use to wake up Haku?"
Without looking up, Sharingan Kakashi lazily pointed over to his backpack. "They're in the third pocket, near the straps, Sakura." She walked over and rummaged through the Copy-Ninja's personal things to find a scroll. She opened it slightly and rubbed her fingers on a bit of the ink, which caused the awakening aids to pop out of the scroll with a puff of smoke.
"Well, before you wake…her up," Kakashi said, standing up, carefully avoiding the sleeping Doshaburi on the green rug, who was full from the scraps given to him a while earlier. "I suggest that we all go in, just in case she does decide to attack in defense." In a single-file line, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto walked up the stairs and into the room of the soon-to-be-awakened nuke-nin.
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Smelling a pungent aroma that was wafting in front of her nostrils, Haku's face winced slightly as her face moved away from the horrible stench. She sensed several chakra signatures and fluttered open her eyes. Her brown eyes met with one hazel, two emerald, two black and two crystal-blue ones with slit pupils.
Her sleepy eyes shot open in fear and she cowered back to the head of the bedpost. To the faux-oinin, it felt reminiscent from the time that her father and his mob had cornered her and eyed her with disdain before she inadvertently activated her bloodline ability to defend herself from certain demise.
Fortunately, the deadened, heavy silence was pierced through like a knife through thick fabric, but the words emanated from the raven-haired warrior were as cold as the ice-mirrors that she could form.
"All right…Talk, woman…"
'Have they discovered my secret…?' Haku frantically thought. She was defensively nervous when she said, "I-I told you already…I'm a boy."
Looking on in mild wonder at the young kunoichi, Sakura lightened the atmosphere when she calmly asked, "Then how come your chest was bounded, Haku-san? We know that you're a girl, so there's no point in hiding it." She gave the confused ninja a sincere smile. Sakura wished that she could soar to that great a length to be strong.
Haku, on the other hand, had her mouth slightly agape, flabbergasted that her secret was revealed. Now she felt even more weak and pitiful and feared for what they were about to do to her. She felt helpless and unable to protect herself.
"Unfortunately, Haku-san," Kakashi said with his book placed at his side with his finger as a placeholder, "Zabuza is dead, and we were wondering what we should do with you…either to have you sent back to your home in Kiri or…"
"Wait."
The jounin and the others in the room looked to see that the elf-eared genin spoke up. "Please, let me talk with her one on one…in privacy…alone. Look at her…she's flat-out terrified from seeing the four of us loom over her like that. If you were in her position, then wouldn't you feel the same way?"
The scarecrow Copy-Ninja, the green-eyed bookworm and the raven-haired Uchiha thought for a moment. They could not help feeling as if the hyperactive knucklehead was right. Each one gave a swift nod and before filing out to go downstairs to the living room, Naruto called to Kakashi-sensei, "Hey sensei, could you…?"
"I'm on it, Naruto…" Looking at his two confused charges, he ordered them to meet him downstairs. They unwillingly complied, wondering what was it that they were about to say. Flashing through a few hand seals, the Copy-Ninja called out, "Musei Shouheki no Jutsu!"
The room was filled with noiseless silence as Kakashi left the room and shut the door, leaving the elf-eared whisker-marks and the ice-wielding kunoichi to discuss amongst themselves.
The silence was a bit uncomfortable as Haku slightly squirmed under the slit pupils of the standing fox-boy before he asked, "Why do you hide what you truly are, Haku?"
"…" Silence. The dark-haired young lady looked down at the white sheets and her hands clung onto them.
"Answer me, Haku. Why did you hide your true identity?" His voice, albeit slightly deeper, was smooth and soft as silk, which was very soothing to the black-haired ice-user.
"…" Silence consumed the bedroom. Tears threatened to fall from her rich-brown eyes as her icy wall began to crack.
"Look at me, Haku." His voice was nothing more than a relaxing whisper. "Why do you hide from the world? Hide from yourself? Why do you lie to yourself?"
Water droplets pooled onto the sheets. Haku's tears lined her cream-colored cheeks as she looked up at the eyes of the maelstrom. It was then that her cold wall of emotionless being shattered from the torrent of questions, repeated and reformed, from the elf-eared fox-boy. "It's because I'm weak and pathetic. If I thought to myself that I was a boy, then I would become strong. I also did it to hide who I truly had been…You see I was hated for what was in my blood when I grew up…"
Naruto was taken slightly aback by her response and sat beside her, with his blue orbs looking on with intense interest. 'She's…justlikeme…'
With tears in her eyes, Haku continued. "I was born to a farming couple in a village not too far from here. I was raised with love and care for the first eight years of my life, until that day…" More of the saline fluid from her tear-ducts emerged and cascaded down her face, forming a new trail.
She lowered her head, with her dark tresses obscuring her face from the blond's view, as she continued. "I was playing in the snow with my mother watching over me. With innocent curiosity, I played with a puddle of melted snow. I was able to pick up and contort the water at will. My mother, who was looking onward, scolded me to never do that again and slapped me on the cheek with brute force.
"It was not until later that I had found out that, before I was born, there was a civil war that had erupted within the Land of Water. It had been some of the villagers against those who possessed a kekkei genkai…people like me." Naruto placed a hand on her back and rubbed it in a vain attempt to squelch her running tears that continued to pool on the white bed sheet.
"Before I was brought into this world, the in-fighting was quelled, but there were still unspoken tensions between 'normal' and 'bloodline.' Those who possessed the hidden trait blended in with the crowd, never to use their inherited power again…"
She looked up at the ceiling with nostalgia etched onto her face. "That time, six years ago, my father found out that my mother carried the bloodline trait that I possessed. He, along with a group of villagers that mobbed together, killed my mother in cold blood, just due to the fact of what she carried within her blood."
She paused to wipe her eyes and continued with a look of subtle hatred directed at no one. "Then, he tried to come for me and cornered me in a wooden shed. They tried to kill me, but my kekkei genkai unconsciously activated and slit the throats of everyone that had banded together to kill me, with my father included."
Her cold, indifferent face returned as she turned to the whisker-marks. "After that incident, I wandered around, scrounging for a meager existence. I kept my true gender a secret, because I wouldn't have known what would have happened to me while in Water Country's streets." Naruto had then grimaced. He had a vague notion, but did not know exactly to what she referred. "I was down on my luck until I met Zabuza-san on a cold winter's day. It was then that I found my true purpose…to serve as a tool for one's own bidding." From a hidden pocket in her battle kimono, she pulled out a senbon needle and shoved it into the blond's available hand. "I have outlived my usefulness, for my wielder is no more, and I want you to…kill me, Naruto-kun. I am not worthy to live anymore."
He paused rubbing her back and looked at the sharp weapon that was thrust into the palm of his hand. It gleamed, desiring to end someone's life then and there.
He looked away from Haku and at the curtained window. Even though Haku did not see it, he lightly shook his head and calmly said, "I refuse…I won't do it…I can't do it…"
Suddenly, he felt the metal fiber gone from his hand and looked to see Haku place the senbon away from her heart, with her eyes shut. His eyes widened tremendously when, in a slow motion, the senbon was on its way to make contact with her chest cavity. However, the movement was faster than the normal eye can track.
Haku felt in heavenly bliss as the senbon was about to end her life…but she felt a firm hand grip her two hands that prolonged her attempted suicide. Her brown eyes opened and transfixed onto blond locks in confusion and disbelief.
"I won't let you take your own life, either," the elf-eared genin resolutely spoke, with his head down while holding both of her hands with a set of his own.
"You and I are a lot alike." His voice wavered a bit. The golden-haired boy was debating whether or not she would take such a highly kept secret of his village. It was kind of strange for the fox-boy to trust a complete stranger who understands him more so than his teammates could ever try.
'She needs to hear this…otherwise; I won't be able to convince her…Forgive me, fox, for having another one to bear my burden…'
"Go ahead and tell her, Naruto," the King of Demons said within the fox-boy's mind. "She needs to hear this, and maybe that ought to knock some sense into the poor child."
"We both suffer from what we carry, Haku," Naruto continued as he looked into her confused, rich-brown eyes. "Remember what you felt before I knocked you out?" With a shocking nod, he pressed onward. "Well, you see…unbeknownst to me for the first twelve years of my life, I was hated for just being born. Some of the commoners in my village looked at me with hate-filled looks, like I was the local neighborhood pariah." He paused as he expressed a saddened smile. "It was not until a while before I came here that I had found out from a traitor to the village that I was a demon. As I recollect on it, it made perfect sense, from the disgusted looks to the cold gazes of apathy. But, on the other hand, it didn't make much sense, since the villagers see me as a reminder of the past, which was the demon sealed inside of me. That was something far beyond my control. I'm doing my home a favor, by the Yondaime, to hold back the demon from unleashing mere anarchy upon the village.
"And when I met my team, sure, we didn't get along at first, but we managed to look past our differences, and they accepted me. Unfortunately, they know nothing of the beast locked away in a seal engraved around my stomach, and I hope that remains that way…for now. In fact, none of the children of my age group know. They were told that the Kyuubi died by the hands of the Yondaime Hokage. The attitudes from the adults from the Kyuubi attack, however, seeped into some of the kids in my generation and they shun me as equally, if not, worse than the adults."
Haku's eyes threatened to bulge out in awe and disbelief. She had only thought that the bijuu were beasts of legend, but now, at this very moment, she was talking with a jinchuuriki…a demon container…a power of human sacrifice…a martyr for the sake of the security of their hidden village, and somehow, he managed to keep sane this entire time.
His eyes watered a bit before he finished up. "It was by chance that you are still alive. I'm glad that you are, for we both don't have to suffer, anymore. You and I are the same, and we can still be friends, even though you and I have fought with clashing beliefs."
He smiled a bit before adding, "And just because you're a girl doesn't mean that you're weak. I mean, c'mon, you practically held off both Sasuke and me at the same time…and gave us a solid ass-whooping at that." He paused and stroked his chin. "Well…maybe Sasuke, but you gave me a run for my money, anyway." Haku giggled from his odd sense of humor as he chuckled as well. "That should already measure your capability as a kunoichi…Haku-chan…" Naruto gave her a warm, genuine smile.
Haku looked into the eyes of the blue-eyed jinchuuriki with shock and a bit of embarrassment. Never has anyone, aside from her late parents, given her an affectionate honorific of familiarity. An indiscernible shade of pink coloring lined her cheeks.
On instinct, she did the unthinkable. She unashamedly gave the fox-boy a warm hug, with a few new tears of joy and understanding that fell from her closed eyes. Feeling her soft orbs on his chest, Naruto blushed a bit, returned the hug immediately and mentally kicked himself from the perverted thoughts that were creeping into his mind. 'Damn it, where the hell did that come from…?'
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The thoughts of the blond did not go by unnoticed by the spirit-fox. With his photographic memory, he recorded said images and stashed them away for safekeeping.
'Consider it blackmail, kid, if you try anything to piss me off…' He chuckled to himself. 'Hin-hin-hin…That or I should play matchmaker, seeing that the pink-haired banshee won't treat him properly…or give him the time of day.'
He displayed his foxy grin as he began to clean his fur.
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"I'm sure that Konoha will accept you in open arms, like I did, but finding you a place will be kind of a problem," said the blue-eyed wonder, breaking the hug as he held onto her soft arms. "That is, if you are willing to come along with us. It won't hurt to have our party grow by one more."
"One more…?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, wiping away some tears.
"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei and I saw a stray fox cub onboard Gatou's impounded ship and I gave chase to him. He bumped into me, became familiar with one another and I called him Doshaburi. And with Kyuubi-sama's help, he can now speak like a human." That elicited a peculiar look from Haku to Naruto, almost as if he grew another head on his shoulder.
"Well, that's beside the point. We need to get you something to eat, since you've been out for many days." As if on cue, Haku's belly lurched in ravenous hunger. Both had looked down at the gurgling stomach as her blush deepened from pink to an instantaneous dark-crimson. Naruto, on the other hand, laughed, and almost immediately, his stomach did the same thing. The tide turned; the ice-mistress was now laughing while the elf-eared genin held down his head in embarrassment, with a blush lining his cheeks.
He rebounded and gave a foxy grin. "C'mon, Haku-chan, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving." Standing up, Naruto offered his hand to the ice-princess as she took it and stood up. Since she felt a bit weak in the knees, Naruto aided as her crutch to walk down the stairs to his awaiting teammates, wondering what was the pointy-eared enigma doing…alone…with a girl…in the bedroom…
Their thoughts were going wild and unimaginable…
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Kakashi perversely chuckled to himself while reading his book of smut. 'He may be growing up a bit too fast…'
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Sakura was stricken with horror. 'He wouldn't take advantage of a girl…Well, would he…?'
'Damn it! Why won't Sasuke-kun do that with me…! Shannaro!' Inner Sakura screeched.
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Sasuke maintained his indifferent facial expression, but was jealously fuming on the inside.
'I want details, dobe…'
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Well, there you have it. That's another one down. Please tell me what you think. Was it short? Was it too brief of an encounter? Was there anything out of place? I'm dying to know.
The reviews for me stand as is…Please try to leave something other than two or three words. That means any of the following:
"I enjoyed it."
"I like it. Please update soon."
"Interesting."
The list can go on and on and on…
As for the descriptions of characters, they are called 'epithets,' descriptive words or phrases accompanying or occurring in place of the names of people or things. I'm sure that most of you are familiar with TheOdyssey or TheAeneid. You have seen them there, as well as with most epic tales. This implies that this story will be epic length in nature. I also decided to further incorporate them because using their names constantly would be a bit dull. Of course, that is my own opinion.
Jikai… (Next time…) on Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid…
Bridges of Hope and Family Ties
Naruto: All right, let's check to see what are in the scrolls…
Romaji/Jutsu Guide:
Kawaii: cute
Dobe: idiot; Sasuke's doting term for Naruto
Teme: slighted form of you; Naruto's doting term for Sasuke
Kekkei genkai: bloodline limit
Shinjin'ou: "rookie-of-the-year"
Musei Shouheki no Jutsu: Silent Barrier Technique (alternative name can be Noiseless Barrier Technique); D-rank supplementary fuuinjutsu; user creates a noise-free zone to disclose important information or vital secrets (created a name for it)
Bijuu: tailed beasts