Quote the Speechless: "Well, do you think that we've given them enough time to worry and fret and guess about what is about to happen in my fic?" Sipping tea, smiling an evil little smile.
Ghost Wolf: "Be quiet... You just needed to find another editor because of what happened with Nonsooth."
Quote the Speechless: "Alright, well I'm not going to go into details but I will tell you that, for personal family reasons, Nonsooth will be taking time off. I don't want anybody asking to be my new editor or anything. I've already found one."
Ghost Wolf: "Well I think it's good that you have an editor again, but you've had people in a panic, thinking you had stopped working on the story." Rolls his eyes and pulls out the spoons.
Quote the Speechless: "Hey, no spoons," waves a finger. "I've got the chapter ready, got an editor. Ok, yes, it took a bit of time. But I've got it all. And now the loyal fans can find out what is up with those kitsune."
Ghost Wolf: "Yes. Let's let them get to reading about the Kitsune and see where you take us next"
Quote the Speechless: "Where are we going next?" Grins and finishes off the tea. "Down the Rabbit Hole and into Wonderland!"
Ghost Wolf: whacks him with the spoon. "Enjoy the chapter folks"
Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Twelve - Trust
"Called?" she didn't understand. She was also terrified still, she didn't know what was going to happen she clutched Sasuke tighter to her.
"Yes, girl, called," he sounded a little impatient this time. "The howl, we know it came from here. This place stinks of snakes and battle, now tell us who called us."
Sakura took a moment to respond, she was having a lot of trouble focusing at this point. So she was a little surprised when she found herself pointing to the still unconscious form of Naruto with a shaking hand. "Naruto…" It was the only thing she could think of. After all it was him that howled, right?
"I see," the leader said before turning to look at Naruto. He turned to the other two and yipped and barked at them. The two tailed one stepped forward in protest and got growled at until he submitted. "They will carry you to the den. But each of us can only carry one person at a time. I swear so long as you follow our rules no harm will come to you."
Sakura wondered what made her believe him. Maybe it was how tired she was? Maybe it was something in his tone? Maybe it was the fact that she thought she was dreaming? Whatever the reason Sakura believed the fox and slowly let go of Sasuke.
The two tailed fox stepped forward and lifted the unconscious boy onto his back with his tails. The one tailed fox walked up next to her.
"Sleep," he said, the voice was young and cheerful sounding. Sakura smiled and felt her eye lids drooping. "I'll take care of you," was the last thing she heard before she fell forward and was picked up by the tail and put on his back.
"Keep her asleep," the leader said once he had Naruto on his back. "That other one as well. We will wait until we hear from this one before we wake either of them." The fox then jumped down to the ground and led them off to the den of the Forest of Death Kitsune.
Naruto woke up feeling very warm and weighted down. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but there was a weight on his chest. He lifted his head and looked down. He almost laughed when he saw a small fox curled up on his chest, sleeping. Around him there were other small foxes, one was lying across his legs, and another had an arm under its head. He reached up with his free left hand and scratched the kit on his chest behind its ears. The kit responded by waking up and yawning, nuzzling its head back into his hand.
"You are new to them," Naruto looked and saw that an elderly looking fox, four tails brushed along the floor. "For that matter, you are new to me." The other kit had woken up. "Leave us, we must talk," the kit looked at him and nodded, they ran off down a passage, playing with each other. "Now, explain some things to me, like how you were able to call us. And why you feel… familiar to us."
"That's probably because I have… a relation with Kyuubi." Naruto tried to contact the Great Demon for help explaining this, but he couldn't reach him. "Something is wrong," he tried harder, but still he could not get through to Kyuubi. He tried drawing on the Kyuubi's power, but could not even do that, only the small portion of his essence arose but he still could not contact the Demon inside him. Something was seriously wrong. "I'm cut off, I can't reach Kyuubi."
"How do you normally 'reach' him," the aged Kitsune in front of him asked?
"Well, sometimes I meditate, but I should be able to talk with him whenever I want." Naruto was getting seriously worried now.
"Allow me to see if I can help." The fox stepped closer to Naruto and leaned his head over the boy, touching his furry crest to Naruto's forehead. Naruto felt a slight shock before the fox jerked his head back. "You are indeed connected to him, but I never imagined you to be his container." The demon took a moment to digest this information, Naruto felt like he was under an examination and points were being deducted for his very appearance. "I am guessing that the seal that has trapped our Lord has been altered."
"Yea," Naruto said after a moment. "That would explain what happened. Can you do anything about it?" The elderly fox just shook its head.
"No, I have no knowledge of human sealing methods. You will have to find a human with the proper training to remove the seal, if it is even possible."
"Damn it," Naruto cursed, and then something occurred to him. "How did you know I was the Container?" The demon laughed at the question.
"I didn't get this old without learning a few tricks young one." He stood and indicated that Naruto should follow him as he stepped towards the door. Naruto stood as well and found that he had been relieved of his weapons and equipment pouch, but it didn't really bother him that much.
"My friends?" Naruto followed the four tails of the demon out and down a corridor. It was well kept with rough walls of baked earth and packed dirt as the floor with a scattering of leaves that made a pleasant rustling sound as they walked over them. Glowing crystals pushed into the walls kept it well lit.
"Still sleeping," was the reply. "The female is under a light sleeping spell, the other however is requiring the full attention of my second in command to keep him unconscious. A dark seal has been put on him, its taint is undeniable and again, I am incapable of removing it. I wanted to speak with you before I woke either of them." The Great demon stopped in the tunnel that he had led Naruto into and turned to face him. "Before we go any further, I should introduce myself. I am Nushi, and the current leader of this small pack." Naruto looked at the fox and bowed respectfully.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, Genin ninja of Konoha, Container and Apprentice to the Kyuubi."
"Apprentice? Yes that would explain some things," the fox said, leading Naruto to an open door way to a room. "The female is in here, as you can see she is unharmed." Naruto walked in and saw that Sakura did indeed look unharmed. A kit was sleeping curled up on her belly. "The little one is keeping her asleep while I talked with you, do you wish us to wake her?" Naruto bit his lip a little and didn't answer immediately.
"No," he said finally. "Just let her sleep, if she wakes up on her own then we'll just see how things go."
"Hmmm," the old fox watched the sleeping girl for a moment. "Take my advice, don't wait to long to tell them, or you may loose them." Naruto nodded in agreement. Looking at Sakura, Naruto started to wonder about something. The fox nuzzled the kit that was laying on Sakura. It got up and looked at them. It yawned and then curled up by her side.
"Nushi, how long was I asleep?" Naruto started to worry a little.
"Only a day, after we brought you here you healed quite fast," the demon fox looked at him and chuckled. "Are you in a hurry to leave?"
"Oh! No it's not that," Naruto said hurriedly. "We just have a task to accomplish, and with two days gone we are limited on time." The demon walked out in to the hall again, indicating Naruto to follow him, the boy did and continued to explain the task they had been given.
"We did not find any such scrolls in your bags," the demon said and then quickly added. "Understand, we searched them for the safety of this den and my clan." Naruto nodded, but was still frowning.
"Damn it," Naruto punched the wall. "That freak must have taken my scroll during the fight. That means we have to get TWO scrolls, and not just one," he was surprised when the fox ahead of him started to chuckle.
"I have some good news for you," he led Naruto along an upward sloping path. "As one of my sons was making its way back to the den he ran across a group of three humans. They were foolish enough to attack him. After they were… dealt with, he brought their bags back with him." Nushi showed the boy a small room, there were bags lying in one corner, he recognized three of them as belonging to himself Sakura and Sasuke, and there were others that he didn't recognize. "Those three, on the left are yours I believe. The three to the right of them are the ones that were taken off the attackers. The other bags and things are items that we have found or taken off the remains of ninja in the forest. Feel free to take whatever you wish."
"Thank you Nushi," Naruto went to the bags and started to go through them. In the second bag Naruto found a battered, but still recognizable, Heaven Scroll. "Yes!" He took his backpack from the pile and tucked it inside. He stood up and picked up his bag and those of his teammates. He turned to the leader of the Den and smiled. "I think you should hear my story."
"You know," the Kitsune gave him a fox grin. "I was waiting for you to say that. Come this way, I will call the others to listen as well," the elder led Naruto down the corridor and into a large room.
She must have fallen asleep on the way because the next thing she knew Sakura was waking up on a warm bed of furs. For a moment she thought she was back home and it had all been a dream, but then as she sat up she saw that the illumination was not from her bedroom window, but from a glowing quartz crystal imbedded into the wall of the earthen den. She pulled the top fur tightly against her as she looked around. Unfortunately by her action she unsettled a pup that been asleep on the edge of the bed and sent it rolling down to the floor.
Sakura watched the pup, unsure of what exactly happened before she fell asleep. The pup watched her back for a moment after it righted it's self. It yipped and tilted its head before getting up and walking out of the room. Sakura took that moment to jump out of the bed, very happy to find that she was still dressed. She was looking around for her weapons when a female voice came from the door.
"Ah, I see," a large female fox stood in the doorway. She was smaller than the other three Sakura had seen before, and had two tails. The pup that had fallen out of the bed before followed after, trying to stay hidden behind the legs of the larger female. "I am Kokyuu, I am sorry if my kit woke you. But since you are up the others are waiting for you. Don't bother looking for your weapons, they have been taken for now and will be returned when you leave. But please, follow me now." She turned and left the room, not waiting to see if Sakura followed.
Sakura had no choice but to follow, besides, she was getting worried about Sasuke and Naruto. The den appeared to be under a tree because the walls were covered in roots. It was very comfortable, with lighted crystals every ten feet. Sakura was so occupied looking at the surroundings and other hallways intersected with the one they walked down that she didn't notice the pup watching her.
Kokyuu led her through the passages without speaking with her until they reaches a large room. The fox stepped to the side to let her in. The small fox yipped and charged in tackling a figure by the bright crystal in the middle of the room. Sakura walked in and blinked, trying to figure out what she was seeing. It appeared that Naruto was being mauled by a pack of the small Kitsune.
"NARUTO," she yelled and started to reach for kunai that weren't there, her friend and team mate was under attack. She was surprised when they all just stopped. Naruto looked at her and grinned, he waved a hand at her as he smiled.
"Hey, Sakura, perfect timing," Naruto got up and shook off the small foxes and walked towards her. The foxes continued to jump around his feet. "Welcome to the den of the Kitsune of the Forest of Death."
"Demon foxes?" She had guessed, but knowing made her worry even more.
"Yea," Naruto said while smiling. "Don't worry. They won't harm us unless we start something." But Sakura wasn't listening. She was looking around, a worried crease in her brow.
"Naruto, where's Sasuke?" Naruto blanched a little making her worry about her teammate.
"He's… um…" Naruto scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Here, you better follow me." He turned and walked down one of the passages. Most of the little foxes remained in the room, but one bright red one followed Naruto, staying right behind his heals. "That guy that attacked us, he did something to Sasuke. I've asked the foxes if they can undo it, but they don't have the knowledge of human seals needed."
Sakura started to worry even more. Something had happened to her dear Sasuke? Sakura suddenly stopped when a fox stepped out of an adjoining corridor and blocked them. It looked at Sakura and then Naruto and then bowed to him as it stepped back out of their way.
"Sorry m'lord," he said in a gruff voice. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Sakura was surprised, the fox she had met earlier the one that took her to Naruto had been disinterested in her. This fox however was not ignoring them. It was helpful and treating Naruto of all people with respect. What had happened while she slept?
"We were just going to see my other friend," Naruto said. "And didn't I tell you to knock it off with the 'lord' thing?" The Kitsune just smiled.
"Yes, m'lord, you did," a light chuckle following the statement, but then he became quite serious. "Honoo was looking over your friend when something happened, a dark power surge from the boy. Honoo called me to him to help contain the energy and keep him asleep, it passed a moment ago and I was going to see the Elder." Naruto frowned and bit his lip a little while Sakura worried.
"Yes, go to Nushi, tell him what happened," Naruto said after a moment, the fox listened to him. "Sakura and I will go to Sasuke and Honoo. Also, tell Nushi that we will be ready soon." The fox bowed again and when they were past him he went off down the tunnels to find the Elder.
"Come on Sakura," Naruto said as he started to run down the tunnel. The girl followed him immediately, worried about her love interest. But other things were rattling around inside her mind. She looked at Naruto's back as he ran. He wasn't wearing his armor, so they weren't in danger, even though they were surrounded by powerful demon foxes. His manner indicated that he knew, or at least, trusted these kitsune. And finally the way that the fox they just met had respected Naruto made Sakura wonder even more what happened. But all thoughts of the blond were brushed aside when she saw Sasuke.
The black haired boy was lying on some furs, he was sweating and twitching a bit as a fox the color of a bright fire watched him intently, its eyes glowing as it maintained the strong sleep spell. Sakura started to rush to his side, but Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.
"Honoo, how is he?" Naruto asked, stepping forward.
"Asleep, if barely," was the strained reply. "The… thing on his neck is very strong. It is making it hard to maintain the sleep spell."
"Why is he asleep," Sakura asked as she knelt down beside him? "Why not just let him wake up?" She was very worried, what had that guy done to her Sasuke?
"Because I will not allow someone with such a dark taint to wonder around this den." They turned and saw the Elder Nushi walk into the room followed by the fox that had bowed to Naruto earlier. He padded over the floor to Honoo, looking down at Sasuke. "Naruto, tomorrow we will take you from the den and back into the forest above, you have your task to accomplish." Naruto nodded and Nushi turned to Sakura. "As for you, I'm afraid that you cannot be allowed back into your world with knowledge of us."
"WHAT," Sakura wined loudly? "Why can't I? Naruto is going back." Why would they do this to her? And what would happen to Sasuke?
"First, you must understand," Nushi said in a calming tone. "Naruto is very special to my people." Sakura didn't understand, Naruto was Naruto, there had been odd times, but why would he be special to a bunch of demons, yes, demons, not people. "And you will be allowed back, but a Memory Jutsu will be used to make you forget what you've seen and heard here. Your friend with the Taint will also be returned to the forest. Because he has been in Forced Sleep he will not need the Memory Jutsu."
"I… I won't remember anything?" Sakura looked around and at Sasuke.
"It will be as a dream," Nushi looked down and saw the kit hiding behind Naruto's leg. "Kasei, why aren't you with the others of your age?" The small fox looked down as he stepped out from behind Naruto. He was too young to speak human, so he made yips and barks instead. Nushi listened and apparently so did Naruto, but Sakura couldn't understand any of it. After a minute Nushi looked up from the kit to Naruto. "Is that alright? Kasei is one of our most promising, but he lacks experience, something that you could give him." Naruto smiled and nodded while Sakura tried to understand.
"I would be honored with your trust," Naruto said and bowed. "I will take charge of him and take care of him to the best of my ability. I will teach him about the human world."
"Good, he will also be a useful messenger between us," Nushi turned to Honoo. "Do you require a replacement?"
"No," was the demon's reply. "I can hold him for another day in the Forced Sleep if there are no more surges of the Taint."
"Alright, I'll leave Shinrin here with you if you need to switch or need help," the fox that followed Nushi in bowed to the Elder and walked over beside Honoo.
"Thank you, Elder," Honoo was grateful to Nushi for realizing how drained he was and leaving a strong replacement.
"Now Naruto, Sakura, let us go, get your equipment and prepare you for tomorrow," Nushi started to walk out of the room, Naruto and Sakura followed him. "If I understand correctly you will have two days to get the remaining scroll and get to the tower."
Sakura glanced at Naruto. He must have told the demon about the test, but what else had Naruto told them? Now she was determined to remember as much of this as possible and fight the memory jutsu when the time came. She was also determined to figure out why they were being treated this way, she was sure Naruto had something to do with it, but she had no idea what had happened between them.
"If you would allow us we could go and get the other scroll you need and provide you with an escort to the tower." Allow? Sakura wondered, it was like the leader of the clan was asking Naruto for permission.
"No," Naruto shook his head. "We have already stayed longer than we should have, we must pass or fail this test on our own merits."
"As you wish, sir." Again one of the demons had addressed Naruto with respect, but this time it was the head of the clan. Why? How was the Dead Last getting the respect of a demon clan? So many questions, more than ever before rattled around her head as she looked at the blond team mate.
"I thought I told you to knock it off," Naruto laughed a bit before he turned to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura, I've got our bags we'll go over them before we go, I want to make sure we've got everything." A glimmer of an idea came to Sakura at the thought of her bag.
"Yea, alright Naruto, lets do that." Sakura started to go over in her mind what she had. Yes, Pen, Paper, and ink. She would leave a note to herself, and then when she woke up, if she failed to keep her memories, she would find it and be able to break the jutsu and get her memories back. Nushi excused himself and walked down another passage, the small fox Kasei stayed however. Naruto led Sakura down a passageway and into a small room with a fur bed. All of their packs lay in the corner.
"Alright, here's your bag." Naruto tossed her the bag. "I'll check mine, and don't worry, I've got the scroll." Naruto held up the Heaven Scroll. He turned to his bag and started to go through it, checking his equipment and making sure he had everything he needed.
Sakura took that time while he was checking his stuff with his back to her to grab her pen and a small scroll she kept for emergencies and scribble down a note to herself, making sure to use a reference so she would know it was from herself.
Sakura,
This is a message from yourself, to prove that this is you; there is the scrap book of Sasuke pictures hidden under your bed at home. If you are reading this then we have failed and a Memory Jutsu has been used on you to block out a period of time of about one day. I am writing this message to myself, you, so you can undo the jutsu and get the memories back. Naruto is hiding more than it seems. If you undo the jutsu you will know what I mean. Whatever you do, do not let Naruto know that you know about the memory jutsu, it could be dangerous.
With that she rolled it up and put it at the bottom of her bag with her few exploding notes. She hoped that she would be able to fight it off, but she was going to fight off a Jutsu from Demon Foxes, she doubted she would be able to keep all her memories if any. Sakura sighed and started checking through the rest of her stuff, finding it was all there she closed it and tied the knots.
"Alright, I'm ready," She turned to Naruto who was playing with the fox. Sakura now took her time to examine it, the colors were just like a normal fox, and its size was that of a normal fox. But it acted like a cub and its tail was odd, just at the end of the white tip of its tail it branched slightly, making the tail look forked.
"Little Kasei here has already finished gathering power for his first tail and started growing his second," Naruto said when he saw her looking at the fox's tail. "That means he's the level of a Genin. He's working on his second tail that would make him a chuunin in the ranks of the Kitsune. Three tails would mean Jounin, I guess four would mean Kage. But then they don't exactly follow our styles of rank. For them, whoever has the most tails is the leader, and he, or she, designates the line of command. And going by tails is a bad indication for most demons, some get bigger with more power, others just gain more abilities." Naruto rolled the little fox onto his back and tickled his belly. "Anyway, Nushi happens to be the leader of this den, and he has four tails."
"How do you know all this, and why are you telling me?" Sakura stared at her teammate in awe. No one that she knew of could tell her that much about demons, but Naruto spoke of it as if it was nothing. But Naruto didn't answer, he lay back and the little fox jumped on his chest. "Naruto, what is going on? These are demons, but you are acting like they are normal people."
"You should sleep. We've got a lot of work tomorrow." He stood up and Kasei rolled off his chest and jumped up onto the bed of furs. "Come on, I'll show you to your room." Naruto headed for the doorway and out into the hall, Sakura scrambled up and after him, keeping her bag with her.
"Naruto, what is going on?" She asked again. Naruto kept walking for a moment, turning down a hallway to her chamber.
"They're friends, that's all you need to know for now," Naruto stopped by her door. He turned around but refused to make eye contact with her.
"Well, I don't trust them," Sakura said as she walked into the room. "They're demons."
"Then maybe you shouldn't trust me," Naruto turned and walked away before she could respond.
Ghost Wolf: "It's all a bout trust then? I should have figured you'd leave us with a cliffhanger again" Nods his head with smirk on his face.
Quote the Speechless: "You're only just picking up on this now?" He laughs a little. "I'm the evil master of cliffhangers."
Ghost Wolf: "I just figured, hoped really that you'd finish up this part of the story. I want to see how you'll finish this test if Iruka isn't the same as in the anime."
Quote the Speechless: "Well you'll just have to wait and see what is going to happen there. Everyone is different from the original manga. And I love just tossing out things that no one expects." He turns to the readers. "You all be ready for the unexpected, because that's what I'm going to be handing out."
Ghost Wolf: "Well then before you say something stupid, I'm going to end this chapter by saying see all you readers later. Hopefully soon..."