Kitsune Rising

Chapter 1: Bruises and Familiars

"Will he be ok, Hana-san?" asked Naruto, sitting down on the exam table beside the fox kit. Inuzuka Hana, Kiba's older sister, was fixing an eye patch onto Kitsu's eye.

"He'll be just fine, Naruto," said Hana. "But you won't be fine unless you get off my table!"

Naruto gave her a glare and gingerly got off the table. He hissed when he put his weight on his leg. Unfortunately, Hana noticed.

"Are you ok?" she asked. Naruto nodded.

"I'm perfectly fine!" he said, grinning. He went to take a step, but his leg had finally had too much. With a grunt, Naruto fell to the floor.

"Naruto!" cried Hana. She went to help him up. With her help, he sat back down on the table. "Let me see your leg!" she barked.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, but nodded. He allowed Hana to roll up his pant leg. She gasped. Naruto's right leg was covered with black and purple bruises from his ankle to his knee. There were bite marks that were doctored badly and his leg was slightly bent, as if it had broken and Naruto had attempted to pop it back into place.

"What the heck happened, Naruto?!" gasped Hana. "And why hasn't it healed yet? It looks a couple days old."

"It's a long story," said Naruto. "You see…"

"Oh my god!" Naruto looked up at the outburst. Kiba had just walked into the office carrying a bag of dog food, Akamaru at his side. "What the heck happened to your leg?!" he yelled.

Naruto gave him an annoyed look. "Why are you so surprised? It's not like I haven't been injured before." Hana nodded and informed the two them that she was going to go find Sakura and Naren.

"Yeah, but usually your injuries don't look half as bad as this," said Kiba, walking closer and bending down to examine Naruto's leg a bit closer. "And they don't stay very long either. This one looks days old," he said, poking a rather nasty purple bruise.

"OWW! Don't poke it Baka!" screamed Naruto, pulling his leg away from Kiba. "If it weren't for that stupid tiger and its poison, it would be healed…"

But a small, squeaky bark interrupted Naruto. He looked over to see Kitsu struggling to stand up. Naruto reached over and picked Kitsu up and held him close, petting him.

"Kitsu! Does your eye still hurt?" asked Naruto. "Are you feeling better?" Kiba laughed when the kit barked in answer and wagged its bushy tail.

"Can you understand him Naruto?" asked Kiba, remembered how he understood Akamaru right off the bat.

"Almost," said Naruto. "I can understand him enough to where I know what he's trying to say. I was thinking about him being my familiar, like you and Akamaru."

"That's good," said Kiba. "If Kitsu is to be your familiar, you must be able to understand him, which you can. You need to register him in the "Ninja Familiars Registry", though. Tsunade-sama should have it in her office."

"Brilliant," said Naruto, lifting the playful fox kit up in the air and grinning widely. "I'll head over there as soon as Sakura-chan fixes me up."

As if on cue, Sakura and Naren, Naruto's twin sister, rushed in the door with Hana running behind them. Sakura immediately began to heal his leg, while making him force down some nasty smelling antidote that tasted much worse than it smelled.

"Are you ok, Aniki? Was it Anzu and her tiger?" asked Naren. Naruto nodded and began petting Kitsu.

"That d*** tiger," she hissed. "If I ever meet it again, I'll kill it," growled Naren. Sakura nodded in agreement. After a few moments, Naruto's leg was healed enough until all he had was a limp.

"There, that ought to do it till I make some antidote," said Sakura, bending Naruto's leg a little to get the circulation back into it.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," said Naruto, leaping down from the table. Sakura reached up and gave him a peck on the lips.

"I'm glad you're back in one piece," said Sakura, giggling as Naruto hugged her close with one arm while the other held Kitsu.

"Me too," said Naruto. "I'm really glad I got this little guy here in one piece though."

Naren gave Kitsu a little scratch on the head. "He's cute Aniki," she said. "What's his name?"

"Kitsu," said Naruto. Sakura and Naren took turns holding the cheerful, one-eyed kit while Naruto and Kiba watched. When they were through, Kitsu was handed back to Naruto. With one arm wrapped around Sakura for support and Naren behind him, Naruto limped out of Kiba's home and they made their way toward Hokage mansion, Kitsu snuggled tight in the crook of Naruto's arm.

This story takes place after Battle Royale, so if you haven't read BR than the NaruSaku relationship will just seem kinda random. Go read it. It will give you something to do until my broken finger heals and I can type without having to look at the keys.

Enjoy! ^_^