I say Kitsune...you say Foxfire...no no, sorry, I did NOT just do that. You know, some people might think my pen-name is a nod to Inu Yasha (Shippo's dubbed attack) but it's not. It's actually an indirect nod to Mercedes Lackey's book seires, "SERRAted Edge" and Japanese legends in general. There was a family of kitsune in SERRAted Edge, one who actually shows up in a few other works of hers... he's really cool in the annoying kind of way, though he's kinda weak (I believe he was only 3 tailed in the first book) so his attacks were more showy, maybe that's why he called himself special effects?
Anyway, "Thanks and Thanks again!" To all my readers, reviewers, favers, alerters, c2rs and basically anyone else who's read it to this point!
Question of the chapter: "Do you read Korean Mawha? Which ones?" Personally, I LOVE them (And recently, Korean Webcomics that have been translated). Rebirth, TAL (Webcomic fun and random at times, you should TOTALLY CHECK IT OUT!), Zippy-Ziggy, Demon Diary, Ares, and Nephilim John, and 1/2prince (wish the novel was translated fully though) are some of my all-time faves. What is with me and gender-bender stories? Anyway, they are all really good stories (and not all of them are GenderBender ones). A lot of people actually DO read them, but don't realize it right away. A hint is if you're reading a 'manga' that you read left to right instead of right to left, it might not be an older one that got 'flipped' to westernize it...it could be Korean!
Speaking of manga/mawha and cross-dressing...Anyone looking for a good funny manga with a great plot needs to go look up "Tripeace" Trust me on this, it's amazingly fun.
_*&*&*_POV Ed_*&*&*_
Ed sighed as he leaned back, sending the chair rocking onto two of its legs. Next to him, his brother was still dutifully studying the simple seals that Kakashi had layed out for them. Idly, he stretched his arms over the back of the chair as he watched Kakashi mull over a map. He'd been a little shocked when the man had shown up early that morning in a swirl of leaves right in the middle of the cafeteria. The man had been obviously cold, but calmly asked for where Olivier was, obviously so he could report. Ed and Al, being the good kids they were naturally escorted him. It had NOTHING to do with the fact that they had wanted to know what the man had found out. Nothing at all. The Elric brothers were impressed, to say the least, that this strange man had found the enemy camp in such a short amount of time in the middle of a blizzard to man reminded him quite a bit of Ling, actually. Hell, if he wasn't from what basically was a whole different world, he'd suspect some political manoeuvring going on. This guy was tricky, nothing like Naruto, who was so openly honest it was funny. Then again, the foxy-brat had managed to pull a fast one more then once on Mustang, which was no small feet.
"Well, I suppose there's nothing more to be done today." The shinobi pulled out his little orange book and flipped it open to a seemingly random page, "If they others are back, I guess we'll start tomorrow. Or, Olivier could have us start without them I suppose. Naruto and Bee would be crushed, of course. Though, knowing Naruto, he'd show up right in the middle of things."
"If you were that worried about his training, you could have gone with them, you know." Al put in, not bothering to look up. His brother always had been better at multitasking then he was.
"I'm sure everything is fine. Besides, I've really got no skills that could help him right now. If Yamato was here...but he's not, so Naruto will have to manage on his own."
"Oh?" Ed grinned, dropping the chair back down to all four feet and leaning forward, "Is that really the reason you decided not to go?" The teen grinned, "Because I could have sworn I saw a look of fear for a second there. Imagine that, a teacher afraid of his student." He laughed, thinking of his own teacher before he caught the look Kakashi levelled at him over his book. It was the same look he had given them all when he had first appeared in that puff of smoke and seen Naruto scuffed and bloody on the ground. The laughter died.
"I have never been afraid of Naruto." Kakashi said, deceptively cheerfully, "I've been afraid for him, of course."
"That wasn't an 'I'm afraid for my student' look. Trust me, I know that look. It's usually followed by a severe ass kicking, damn that woman."
Kakashi just looked at him blankly for a second before smiling, "Ah. I see."
"What the hell does that mean?" He looked over at his brother who just shrugged, obviously just as confused.
"Nothing."
"Pervert." Ed muttered before continuing, "Anyway, the look you had was more of a 'dear god please don't make me go with him'. And it wasn't directed at Bee, or Mustang, for all that you two don't get along. So why didn't you really want to go with your student?"
"When Naruto almost unleashed the ninth tail, he said he saw his father." Kakashi said, putting his book down and sitting.
"Yeah, so?" Ed remembered talking to Naruto about that earlier. Kakashi had been taught by Naruto's father, who had been the fourth leader of their village, or military. He in turn had been taught by Jiraiya, who had also taught Naruto, and was his godfather, who had been taught by the third leader. He personally found it odd that the current (or the one who should be) leader was related to the first leader. It seemed kind of convenient, but some things didn't quite add up. That was a problem for another day, though. Why wouldn't Kakashi want to see his teacher? "Oh wait, were you afraid that his dad was gonna show up again and beat the crap out of you for letting all this stuff happen to his kid?" The silver haired man flinched ever so slightly. "That's it, isn't it? Should have known. After all, you were his student, so you naturally should have taken care of his kid after he passed, right? Man, I bet he's pissed."
"No." The man raised a finger, "Minato-sensei would never have expected me to raise and care for his child. We had just ended a war, and I was a very...well known...teammate of his. Not to mention I was a teen myself. It would have been like holding up a sign to all his enemies if I suddenly had started to take care of a blonde blue-eyed baby."
"He's got a point, Brother." Alphonse put in, "Naruto looks nothing like Kakashi, and if he looks like his dad, then it's kind of obvious, isn't it? Besides, I don't think someone your age could raise a baby alone."
The older Elric brother thought about that for a few moments. Raising a baby was a lot of work, after all. He could easily see the wisdom in not letting a teen take on that kind of responsibility. Looking at Kakashi he got the feeling it was a conversation the man had had with himself more than once after his teacher had passed on. "Then the problem is you don't want to see him?"
"Oh, I'd love to see Sensei...But I doubt that he'd appear before Naruto again." The man shuddered, "It's his wife I'm afraid of."
"His Wife? Wait. Back up...Naruto's MOM? That came out wrong. I know he has a mother! I mean... You think she's going to show up?"
"More then likely."
"Why on earth would she show up? I mean, I kind of figured she was dead, too, but, what's she got to do with learning to control the big fox? She got a leash or something for it?"
"Well, sort of. The Uzumaki clan have unique charka which makes them ideal hosts for the Kyuubi."
"Hosts. As in plural, as in his mother had that giant monster fox-rabbit-cat thing inside her too?" Kakashi nodded, "So then, the night Naruto was born...?" the man nodded again, "Damn. Really?"
"I believe Naruto would say 'you can't make this shit up'. The night Naruto was born, Kushina's seal broke for some reason and the Kyuubi went on a rampage. To stop the beast, Minato sealed it way into his own son using a new sealing technique he'd been working on at the cost of both their lives, on top of the lives that had already been lost."
"Wait, why didn't he pick some other Uzumaki instead of his own baby?" Al asked, "Wouldn't someone more experienced make more sense than a newborn?"
Kakashi sighed, "It's true, most villages use older youths for Jinchuriki, and Kushina had been a teen before she became one herself."
"Then why?"
"I was getting to that," Kakashi lowered his book, "At the time, the only Uzumaki's available were Kushina, who was dying, and little Naruto. The clan was annihilated during the war, and unlike your world's Ishballan's there are very few survivors. Even in Konoha we only had Kushina, and we were Uzushiogakure's closest allies. In all these years, I've only come across maybe half a dozen mix-blooded Uzumaki."
"Does Naruto know?" Ed stared at the man in shock, "Why, how is that even possible?" To him, it was like hearing the story of Xerxes again, an entire people, wiped out, overnight. But this time, it wasn't alchemy, but simple war that had done the deed. Ed couldn't fathom being able to wipe out a people so completely.
"Uzumaki's were seal-masters, on top of having longer lives and unique charka, so they were feared in battle. The village was hit in a joint surprise attack at the start of the war, which is what pulled our village into the war, actually. Unfortunately for surviving Uzumaki, they tended to stand out with their bright red hair, and so they were basically hunted down. As for Naruto knowing...probably not. It's not something covered in the Academy, and very few people in the village would have wanted him to know that he was actually part of a powerful clan growing up. He was, after all, seen as 'the monster-brat'."
"Has he...has he ever seen another Uzumaki?" Al asked.
"Once, that I'm aware of." Kakashi picked his book back up, "Before you even ask, I'm not telling him. Now, back to studying."
Ed stared at the man, thinking hard. Red hair...red hair...weird charka..."It was that Pein guy, wasn't it?" He heard his brother's gasp, though his eyes never left Kakashi. The man acted like he heard nothing, "That's why you don't want him to know, right? Fine, we won't say a word. Damn though, I thought we had a screwed up life, though, Al. How the hell is that idiot so fucking happy all the time?" He pulled the chart back over and once again studied the lines.
_*&*&*_POV NARUTO_*&*&*_
The story his mother had told him while feeding him cookies had seemed so fantastically-far-fetched he knew it could be nothing but the truth. Mandara Uchiha was a crazy son-of-a-bitch that had cost him his family (and Sasuke his family, too, go figure) and was the real reason for the Kyuubi going crazy that night. Kush...Mom didn't even seem to hold any grudge against Kyuubi at all, though she was quite adamant about Naruto learning how to use its power.
"I still think if you offered him some of these awesome cookies, he'd see the light and join our side."
"Really? You really think some cookies are going to change centuries of hate and suddenly the Kyuubi's going to fight for the good-guys?" Kushina asked, full of sarcasm, which Naruto chose to ignore.
"Well, no, actually." The teen grinned, "More like fighting for revenge, the chance to break things without getting in trouble, and sweet chocolaty goodness. Seriously though, if anyone's got a right to be pissed off about all this, it's the fur ball, don't you agree? I think he'd help."
"And I say no! As your mother, I'm not letting you take the risk. Maybe one day, when you have time, you can have a nice long chat about anger management with that stupid fleabag, but right now, you're going to have to do it my way." She hugged her son close to her, and her could feel her love and worry for him. Hesitantly at first, he hugged her back. So this is what a mother's love is like, huh? He squeezed a little harder, his only regret being he was basically the same height at his mom. Finally Kushina sighed, "I'm sorry, Naruto," she told him, not bothering to pull away, "I know it seems mean and unfair, but really, we don't have the time to come to an understanding. You need to be able to access the power to keep you both safe now, so you can understand each other better later. Now, open your eyes, and let's finish this."
Of course, that was easier said than done. Opening his 'eyes' showed a tail whistling towards his head, promising to flatten him into a pancake, after all. It's amazing what little details one forgot when given warm baked cookies. "YEEEE!" With a shout the blonde quickly leapt to the side, just barely avoiding ending up a smear on the wall. Just as quickly, a clawed hand came at him, only to be halted by chains that seemed to burst out of the ground. "Well, that's new. Thanks, mom!"
"KUSHINA!" The fox roared, tugging on it's paw, pulling many of the chains free, "YOU BITCH!"
"HEY! That's my mother you're talking about!"
"Naruto, now! While I've got him pinned, pull his charka out and make it yours!" his mother's voice reverberated through the chamber.
"I've got it, Dattebayo!" Naruto grinned, chanelling his charka and once again engaging in the tug of war. As the two battled for charka-supremacy, his mother's chains lashed down the Kyuubi's tails and another leg, effectively pinning it in place. The fox, however, was not going to go down without a fight. With a sharp tug on it's charka, it yanked Naruto up onto it's snout. The boy yanked back, pulling the charka free of the beast. He stared down at the fox, smirking.
"You bastard!" Kyuubi snarled, "You think you've won?"
Naruto frowned, "No, Kyuubi. It's not about winning or losing right now. But you know that, right? Mom told me about what happened...and I know you've been listening when Kakashi-sensei was talking about the war brewing back home."
"...It doesn't concern me, brat."
"But it does. Right? That guy, he's trying to get you and Hachibi to bring Juubi back to life. He wants to end everything! You can't expect me to believe you want that." Naruto crouched down, "Do you hate everything that much, Kyuubi?"
"YES!" The fox snarled, "I hate that village, I hate being stuck in you! I hate it all!"
Naruto winced. For all that life being a Jinchuriki was hard, he found that really, he didn't hate it. He'd always thought that maybe the Kyuubi actually cared in his corrosive mean-spirited way. The beasts words hurt, but still, he felt that the fox was lashing out, meaning it, but not at the same time, much like when Naruto himself had been a kid. "...More then you hate that man?" The fox growled, "That's what I thought." Naruto smirked, "How about a truce, then? We put all that hate for each other to the side for now, and focus on beating the crap out of that asshole?"
"Naruto...Fine. you've got yourself a deal." The fox growled out. "For now.."
"Good! Then, you mind if I borrow some of this?" Naruto gestured to the charka he was still holding.
"Do what you want. You never listen anyway."
"That's because I'm Konoha's number one unpredictable shinobi!" The teen laughed as he absorbed the energy.
"You did it, Naruto! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, mom...I'll miss you."
"Know that your father and I will always be there for you, and we're both really proud of you."
"If you've got what you've come for, GET THE FUCK OUT!" Snarled the fox.
"Fine, fine, I'm going, Mr. grumpy-pants. I'll see you at that stupid gate, I guess..." The blond closed his eyes, a content grin on his face as he prepared to leave his mind-scape and tell Bee that the first phase was a success, "Oh, and by the way, Kyuubi. You know, I don't actually hate you. Yeah, you piss me off a lot sometimes, but you're kind of like the annoying live-in-uncle who never leaves." As he left, he could actually feel the fox gape at him.