Quote the Speechless: Sorry that this took so long, the three of us have been moving into our various colleges, and this is the first chance we've gotten to all speak together, and get the 5th chapter ready.

Ghost Wolf: what has been happening while i was away?

Nonsooth: Umm... Naruto fights… and fights some more

Ghost Wolf: smart aleck

Quote the Speechless: that's my job. Now, do you think everything is set for this chapter to be posted?

Nonsooth: well, as soon as this conversation ends, I can finish proofing it and go to sleep

Ghost Wolf: at least you have been on speechless about writing his story while i was away. I congratulate you

Quote the Speechless: HEY! Was that a shot against my ability to continue a story?

Ghost Wolf: ya think!

Nonsooth: I would post a pithy reply if my brain wasn't fried

Quote the Speechless: go to sleep then, but first, THE STORY MUST CONTINUE

Nonsooth: then go away and leave me to my beta-ing

Quote the Speechless: alright, alright, go and do it

Ghost Wolf: let the woman sleep man!

Nonsooth: zzzzz

Quote the Speechless: everyone's a critic

Legal Stuff: Nope, sorry don't own it.

Chapter Five: Essence

A little while later, Naruto found a little shop that looked on the verge of closing down permanently. He walked in under the sign of "Ichiraku Ramen" and found his own little run down paradise. Naruto spent the next hour happily sampling the different Ramen that they had to offer. Luckily, he had been saving up and could pay for it all at the end. With the amount of money that he shelled out to them, the old man and his daughter could stay open for a few more days, and they would, if he promised to come back again, something he did without hesitation.

Naruto walked back to his little apartment, smiling to himself. The old man had been reluctant to sell to him at first, but when he showed that he did indeed have the money to pay he had been served his first Ramen… and then his second… and third. And with each passing bowl the man had come to smile at Naruto and then talk with him, until they were having a happy little conversation between Naruto's mouthfuls of the noodles. Naruto finally got an order from Kyuubi that he was ready and it was time to go home. Naruto paid for the Ramen and bowed to both the old man and his daughter, who both smiled at him. He then left the shop and then he walked home.

He walked into his home, closing and locking the door behind him before walking into the middle of the room and sitting down in a meditative position. Naruto closed his eyes and let his mind withdraw into himself. When he opened his eyes again and looked at his surroundings, he smiled at the change. Whereas before it had been dirty and smelly, now his room was clean with the faint smell of cloths, like the back room of the Wonderland Clothing store. It made him feel comfortable. He walked through the passages until he came to the cage that the held the Great Demon Spirit inside him.

It had been several months since Naruto had found that he could change the appearance of the areas on either side of the cage, if not the cage itself. It was for that reason that the other side of the bars appeared as Kyuubi had requested: a large barren wasteland of dried cracked earth. Kyuubi could be seen sitting up and watching the gateway for Naruto. When he arrived, the Fox stood up and walked over, kneeling down so he could look at Naruto through the gateway.

"Alright Sensei, what have you been planning?" Naruto sat down in a chair that he formed from his thoughts.

"That guy with the silver hair, the teacher, he was going easy on you." Naruto was not surprised by this. After all the man wasn't a Jounin for nothing. "If it was a real battle you and those other two would have been dead before you could take three steps." Naruto nodded a little. He knew he was good after all that training, but there was only so far he could go in two years. From what Keito had told him the last time, he was probably only upper level Genin or lower Chuunin. But when he perfected the Element Styles, and with the Chakra control and techniques that Kyuubi was teaching him, there was no doubt that he could make Jounin level in another couple of years.

"So what are you going to do?" Naruto looked up at the fox, curiosity brushing the other thoughts from his mind.

"What I'm going to do is change your body. Specifically your senses, but there will be some other things as well." Naruto knew that his senses were weak in comparison to the Demon in front of him, but he wondered how the fox was going to change him. Kyuubi smiled as he recognized the look that Naruto was giving him, curiosity with not a little apprehension. "You may as well know, this is going to sting a bit, and your senses will be wild until you learn to control them. And not just your normal human senses, but I'll be giving you some of my own senses as well."

Naruto bit his lip at the mention of pain but he knew that whatever gifts came along with the pain would greatly outweigh a little time's discomfort. So he looked up and met the gold and red eyes of the Fox. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Good," the spirit nodded. "Form a cup or bowl on your side, and follow my directions without question." Kyuubi closed his eyes and concentrated. Naruto got the distinct feeling of seals being made and chakra being channeled as he held out his hands and formed a good sized bowl in his hands, wondering what it was for. It was then that Kyuubi's eyes opened wide, glowing red, focused on Naruto and the bowl that had been formed. Naruto was not expecting what happened next - Kyuubi spat, directly into the bowl, accurately filling it to the rim. The liquid bubbled and swirled of its own accord. It was not clear, but deep red, and glowing, reminding him of flowing lava. "Drink it right now! I'd rather not bite my tongue again. Be sure not to miss a drop," the Demon commanded him.

Naruto hesitated only for an instant before bringing the bowl to his lips and drinking the blood. He felt it burning down his throat, setting his insides on fire, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop, not with those great glowing eyes still directed at him. When the bowl was empty, it fell from his hands and he collapsed to the floor, clutching at his belly as the fire spread outward and filled his entire body. His eyes clenched shut, his teeth grinding together. He missed the changes that were happening to him.

Kyuubi watched with interest as Naruto's hair turned red for an instant, and red fur sprouted down over his face and the rest of his body. His features became more fox-like, his ears got longer, teeth sharper. When his eyes opened for an instant, they were the same red and gold that looked down at him. Claws formed on his hands as the fur reached it. Most surprisingly, a red tail lashed out from between his pants and jacket, definitely a fox's tail. But then as it had come it went as well. The hair turned back to that striking blonde and the fur on his face receded. Along the rest of his body, the claws on his hands retreated and the fangs shrunk away. The tail was the last change to disappear. The fox was amused to see that Naruto's ears ALMOST returned to normal, but they remained just a little pointed at the tops. As the last of the features disappeared, Naruto slumped, breathing hard. The pain ebbed away, leaving him as he was before. Well, almost as he was before.

"STING A BIT?" Naruto yelled at the fox as soon as he got his voice back. He glared up at the great beast with his, once again, sky blue eyes. "I thought I was on FIRE! This had better be worth all that." Naruto paused and sat back, not bothering with the chair this time, then looked up at Kyuubi. "Uh… What was that anyway? I mean, it wasn't blood, right? You don't have a real body here."

"Half right." Kyuubi settled down, his eyes no longer glowing. "I've told you before, in this place we are only spirit and energy. I don't have blood, but then what did you just drink? What it was is a little bit of my essence. Because of the seal, you would have gotten it eventually, I just sped up the process a little."

"Does that mean you're going to disappear? Because you gave me part of yourself?" Emotions ran fleeting over Naruto's face. But what he got was a barking laugh.

"HA! That little bit? No, I'll be with you till the end of your days, kid. At the rate that I was being absorbed by the seal and put into you, you would have to live several HUNDRED years." Kyuubi paused for a moment to think. "Come to think of it, because of your body absorbing me, you might actually live that long. But that's a long way away." Naruto was shocked, he had never thought about living hundreds of years, and in truth, would rather not at the moment.

"But anyway, you now have demon essence running through you, and not just when you call on my energy. This means several things. One: you will be able to draw on more of my power with fewer ill effects. Two: You will be able to use more than just the human techniques that I've been teaching you. Three: you will be able to activate demon seals and artifacts that you may find. There are several floating around the human world. I'll show you where I've hidden one or two when you're ready. And finally: you will be able to transform to some degree. That ability will increase as you absorb more of my essence."

"Transform? Into what?" Naruto asked, both fear and excitement audible in his voice.

"A Demon Fox. Don't worry, you'll still be you no matter what form you're in. And as of right now, you can only transform into a furry looking human, really, with a tail." The Fox Yawned. "We will talk about that some other time, but for now get up and walk around your apartment, get used to your new senses. When you sleep, I will instruct you on how to transform and use the additional demon senses that you have. Now go away, I want to take a nap." He turned away and walked out over the barren fields. Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back in his apartment, lying on his back, covered in now-cold sweat and a fading headache.

Naruto was almost flooded by he intensity of… well… everything! He could feel every ounce of the weights on his shoulders, the smallest breeze from the crack under the window. The buzz of a fly sounded like a swarm of bees. Though it was well after sunset and he had not turned on the lights, he could see perfectly, beyond perfectly. He could read the title of a discarded scroll in a dark corner as if it was in his hands. He could smell the sweat on his body, as well as several other distinct scents.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried focusing on a single smell. He found himself thinking of Kibou. Another scent reminded him of Keito. He found that he could pick out the aroma of just about anyone he had met in the past few days. Including Sakura, Sasuke, and all of team Eight. Both the teachers, Kurenai and Kakashi were harder to identify, though. He tried focusing on other things. He could smell the Ramen droplets on his shirt as if there was a steaming bowl in front of him. The taste of every flavor at the same time almost overwhelmed him.

Naruto realized that he was very tired when he tried to stand up and almost fell over. He made his way to his bed and lay down, not bothering to get under the covers. The bed creaked in protest at the added weight. He gritted his teeth against the sound but relaxed as it stopped. Naruto closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but the assault on his senses kept him awake for a long while until exhaustion finally claimed him.

As Naruto slept, Kyuubi instructed him on how to control the intensity of each of his normal senses, as well as the few demon senses he had been given. Some of the demon senses were harder to get used to. He could sense the spirits of other living things, from trees and grass to animals and birds. He could even sense other ninja. It was especially useful against ninja because very few knew how to hide their spirits like they could hide their chakra, something else Naruto could sense. Naruto was really surprised when Kyuubi told him he could see auras if he focused chakra into his eyes. Kyuubi was unsure if it would work, but he instructed Naruto to try to focus on an animal, to see if he could understand what they were trying to say.

As things were right then, each of the demon senses would drain chakra from him, but as he used them more and got used to them, they would drain less and do more. Also, he would not need to focus on them so much to keep them active. Another effect was that whenever he drew on one of Kyuubi's senses, he would change a little of himself until he had learned to control the senses completely. His eyes would turn red if he looked for the Auras of others, his ears would change to look more like the fox's if he tried to understand the languages of the animals, and his hair would turn red if he tried to sense the spirits.

As for transformation, Naruto would have to focus on fully transforming his body. When he did that, each of the demon's senses would come into full action, slowly draining his Chakra. But while he was transformed he would be faster, stronger, and more agile. Kyuubi also warned that if he got angry he may start to change involuntarily, so it was best if he kept control of his emotions.

By the time they were done, it was almost morning and time for Naruto to wake up.

Ghost Wolf: Well, all I can say is painful. You might be the quiet type but you are extremely cruel at times.

Quote the Speechless: Hey, it's not like I put him through unnecessary pain. The transformation was a good thing.

Ghost Wolf: Yes, but it was pain nonetheless. At least you gave him ramen.

Quote the Speechless: Yea well, someone would have hurt me if I didn't. Anyway, I think this is a good stopping point for now.

Ghost Wolf: Good Night All, sleep beckons.

Quote the Speechless: Yes, yes, but remember folks. This is where the story starts to get interesting. MWHAHAHAHAHA!