The Woren of Uzu no Kuni

by Foxcomm

When Naruto turned eight, something began to happen. He changed, growing fur and a tail. 'What do you mean I'm a WOREN' rated T for language.

5. Chapter 5

Day 4

Suzuka-sensei has shown me the a few stances and said that now that I had the positions rights as well as the moves, I was to spar with her. Am I grateful she isn't using her mana right now. Even with her going easy on me, it only took her three moves before she broke through my guard, hitting my stomach, then as I bent over, bringing her bokudo down on my back. By that afternoon, my chakra was working overtime to heal the bruises. Drawing out mana is very different from chakra, it only requires refining the mental energies with your will, not your physical. Suzuka isn't very strong physically, I'm probably stronger, but I have no doubt she could fight my father now. Thankfully, I didn't pass out while meditating today from my wounds. I did yesterday and she threw me in the river. Thankfully, she understands that it takes energy from me to heal and hasn't threatened to drop me as her apprentice if I do it again but I get the feeling if it happens too many times more, she will. After that, she had me feed the sapling with what mana I have left. Easier to work with chakra but mana is stronger, more potent. I can't help but wonder why are there more ninja than magic users in the world? Tired now, can barely write, ja ne.

Day 8

Good news, it took master ten moves to put me on the ground today and said I was getting stronger already. Just before hitting me upside the head for dropping my guard. A reminder that we were still sparring. The main point of this was muscle memory, that I won't even have to think about the move and my body will begin to flow through it, to hone my reflexes to see it coming though my eyes cannot. I don't know if that's happening, the days just seem to blur into one big beating. If nothing else though, Konan won't be able to beat me up after the end of this month.

Day 9

This was not what I had in mind for improvement! She had me performing the katas under the waterfall to help build speed! If I didn't see her do the same thing, I would have called her crazy. On the plus side, I now know for a fact that she doesn't wear her kimono to the water. No, she wears a two piece biki...

Sorry, master just hit me upside the head again. I'm going to stop before the pain starts.

—oo000oo—

Naruto opened his eyes even as Suzuka sat up to wake him up. He climbed out of his sleeping bag and started stretching. "Day seventeen," he muttered before grabbing his daggers and walking into the stream. He raised one as he closed his eyes. He didn't move for several minutes before the dagger raced down into the water, stabbing a fish in the side and pulling it from the water. He licked his lips as it struggled against the knife for a few moments before dying. Going to the campfire, he grabbed a piece of flint and struck it against his free dagger, sparking up another fire. Sticking the fish on a stick and the stick in the ground to hold it near the fire, he jogged off into the forest, sniffing around. Smelling something sweet, he followed it to a berry bush. Trying one, he smirked that they were the right amount of bitter and sweet. Collecting a few, he placed them in a pouch at his side. He hunted around for a few roots and found his favorite, a flower commonly known as King's Blood for the red tipped flowers. The petals were poisonous but the roots made a good flavoring. Sticking it with the berries, he stuck his nose in the air once again. What he heard, not smelled, nearly mad his mouth water. Looking around, he spotted a beehive with plenty of honey. Looking around, he found a Sleep Root. Works best in a tea but it'll make a woren docile if you inhale the smoke from it burning. Cutting off only what he needed, he turned it into a torch and saved the rest. Lighting it, he threw it near the tree hole that the hive was in. The smoke billowed into it and the bees simply fell asleep. Going to it, he broke off some of the honey combs and took the burning root away so they could wake up soon. Getting a few leaves for tea, he headed back. Crushing the berries, the King's Blood root, and mixing some of the honey with it, he glazed the fish over and ate it happily. He saved the rest of the honey for the next fish while finishing this meal with some tea.

Suzuka watch him go about this with a little interest. When she said you eat what you hunt, she expected him to maybe stumble about with traps, try to kill the rabbit he might have caught, and argue with wildlife over the things he did catch. She looked down at her meager looking breakfast in comparison to his and looked away, she was a great fighter, not the best hunter, the dried beef and weak tea said as much. She looked up when she smelled him cooking something else. He pulled hot stone from the fire and placed a bowl full of water with some berry juice, bananas, and a bit of honey on it to slow boil near the fire. The water will turn into something like syrup, going right through the peel, and turning the banana into a kind of candy. And worst, she knew it would taste good because he made it before and it smelled very good, especially when still hot. And he only made enough for himself. She said you eat what you catch and he took it literal. No doubt if she asked, he would offer but not likely until then.

"Shall we begin, master?"

"Once I finish," she said with a very slight sigh. Maybe she should've learned this a while ago.

Naruto shrugged and began going through his forms. He was doing them slow, aiming for perfection first, and then speeding them up. All with his eyes closed so he could rely on the feel and not the sight. He knew his master was watching to spot the holes and if she caught them before he did, she would make him hurt for it. The question was could he catch it before his master? He left a hole in his defense over his right shoulder and, as expected, Suzuka went in to strike him. Except Naruto turned, expecting the attack, knocking the thrust to the side, and reversing his strike to place the blade by her throat. "Assumption is the biggest of all mistakes, is it not, sensei?"

"It is," she replied before Naruto felt tapping on the inside of his leg. Looking down, he saw her bokudo was there, having just cut him in half had she followed through. In her outstretched hand was a stick. "You corrected that mistake already, Naruto, and you don't make the same mistake twice."

Naruto sighed; he should've seen that coming. "Yes master."

"But not a bad plan though," she said, dropping the stick. "Let us begin." The morning passed quickly and soon enough, Naruto was focusing his mana down to his hands.

"...Master, may I make an assumption?"

"Remember your own statement, Naruto."

"I will. It's about chakra and mana."

"Very well, you may."

"Chakra is in part mana just with physical energy added to it, correct?"

"It is."

"Mana is stronger, faster, and more useful, yes?"

"You're right so far."

"But chakra is more prevalent around the world over mana...because it is easier?"

"And how do you come to that realization?"

"Because I learned how to first control my chakra right from the start with the Hokage, it didn't take two weeks to get it to come forth yet this has taken longer than that but I'm not getting it."

"Well, you're right. Chakra is weaker but it is easier to learn. Most of the world doesn't even remember mana exist." She turned to the lunch she was preparing. "Though, you are progressing remarkably fast. You do have a handle on it already, incredible in my opinion. This month was supposed to be spent introducing you into being a Spell blade, not actually training, you are going very strongly, a natural." She sat down, a frown beginning to crease her features.

"Sensei, something wrong?"

"Something a great man once wrote concerning a new weapon, an arquebus, a rifle."

Naruto blinked, "Don't we have something like those?"

"Something like. This man was a ranger and a weapons master. He knew how to pick up any weapon and fight with it. He commented on the arquebus that it was a thing that should have never been made. Not that it could have possibly replaced him and us, but that it was powerful."

"I don't understand."

"Look at a master swordsman and an arcuebus user. The swordsman has spent years learning not only how to wield his sword but also when to wield his sword. To respect the strength that holding that blade gives to you. He and his sensei spent time together, learning if the student was truly worthy of being the student. Years, by that time, all those that would abuse the power have likely been removed. Then there is the arquebus user. He picks up the weapon that he can buy, learn to use it through a book, and then decides to kill someone, an action that can be done in less than two years. He has no concept of restraint, just his own desires."

"...And I'm going through it too fast, aren't I?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes and no, Naruto. You are putting out the effort; you are learning what each action truly does. You know and respect the power, as well as the responsibility, that comes with this weapon. I have no problem against that."

"Then...what is it?"

"Another spellblade, my sempai. He was a natural, like you. But our sensei decided to pass mastership to me instead of him, and I didn't understand why. So he tried to force me to give it up to him. He attacked me and I responded. He hit me, I hit him, and in the end, I was on the ground."

"You lost?"

"Yes. He beat me mercilessly and when he stood over me, he looked to our sensei and said, 'this is your successor, sensei; this whipped little girl. I should be the one!' I could barely move to see my sensei's face."

"...So you aren't the master of the spellblades?"

"I am, Naruto. My master looked at him in disdain, pure disdain. 'You fool', he said. He actually insulted the one I looked up too, sensei's star pupil. 'You know nothing. Look at yourself.' You see Naruto, I left a bruise on his every vital. But never did I use mana, like he did. I cared for my sempai that much. 'She did that to you in a single pass, the first one. If she wanted, she could have left you a broken pile of meat.' I had worked hard for sensei to acknowledge me, and he did. But Sempai didn't let it go. 'Does it look like she won?' I was heartbroken; I thought he had cared for all of us as we did him. He just cared for the power. Sensei had thought he could change him...he didn't."

"...Who was he?"

"He was my first love, and my first kill. Now, get back to you meditations." Suzuka stood up and walked away, leaving Naruto to continue alone.

—oo000oo—

Konan was lying down on the carpet, hugging a pillow to her chest, rather dejected. Tiga had been no little amount of worried for his charge and adopted daughter. She seemed to have lost all luster for life and in her fur as well. "Alright, kitten, what's wrong?"

"Just...bored."

"Bored? Surely you can find something to do."

"I can, and don't call me Shirley." She sighed again before rolling onto her other side, her tail twitching every now and then.

"Konan, dear, what's wrong," Rinpu asked.

"...My favorite toy is gone."

"A toy?" Tiga shook his head; his adopted daughter was pining for a doll or something? "Uzumaki Konan, I won't have my daughter lying about, pining for some lost toy. Especially when you have enough as is."

"But Tou-san..."

"No buts! If it bothers you so much, I'll buy you a new one, or better yet, you can go out and work for the money to get a new one!"

Konan looked at him quizzically before saying, "Where am I supposed to buy a new Naruto?" Tiga sputtered incoherently while Rinpu gave a great, shaking laugh. "Nya! Do they make him down the street? Are there just a few couples that spend all night making a new Naruto?" Tiga began to blush as well as sputter while both his wife and daughter enjoyed his embarrassment. "Is it hard to do? What do you do? I bet making a Naruto is lots of fun, nya!" Both girls were almost laughing so hard they would have fallen over if they weren't already on the ground.

"Rinpu, deal with your daughter!"

Tiga rushed from the room while Konan meowed after him, going, "Do they make them by the dozen or does it take a long time for one! Nya, tou-san! Do you assemble the parts or does it just happen, maybe force it in?" She gave a final nya when before the front door slammed behind him.

When finally Konan settled down again, Tiga came back inside. "...So, Naruto is your toy?"

"Nya," Konan confirmed.

"And as your toy, you want to play with him."

"Nya."

"But you can't."

"Nya."

The two adults shared a look. "Konan, you can't just call someone your toy," Rinpu said to her.

"But he is! And now he's gone and I'm lonely. Like it isn't as...alive. There's no challenge, no reason to get up."

"And if he was here," Rinpu asked.

"I'd hug him. Then I'd tug on his tail, making him chase me. Maybe give him the Konan Drop Kick again."

Tiga sighed, shaking his head. "You can't do that, he isn't a toy you can do what you want with." Shaking his head, he looked to his wife, dismissing anything his daughter wanted along those lines. "I just saw Princess Din, she was going to see Deis and Rei to see if Naruto came back yet."

Konan's tail stopped twitching. "No need to ask why," Rinpu stated. "Seen how she's been flaring her feathers when he's around? Remember Din's aunt, she used to do it with Rei before he fell in love with Deis."

"Birdbrains," Konan mumbled.

"A bit," Rinpu agreed. "As if Rei never loved Deis. He was pining for her since before he was your age, Konan. But I think it might be different with Din and Naruto."

"How," Konan asked, suddenly very interested.

"Well, for starters, Din is Naruto's friend," Rinpu replied. "Din's aunt, Mihoshi, just decided she cared for him as far as anyone could tell, right out of the blue. Din knows everything about Naruto and him her. It's all but assured that they'll be married together."

"Eh!"

"Haven't you noticed, Konan," Tiga asked her.

"They've been friends for longer than he has with you," Rinpu told her.

"Eh! No, he's my toy, I won't let him!"

She stood up only to be cuffed by Tiga. "Konan, you will stop this at once! For the last time, Naruto isn't a toy! He is the son of the leader of our clan and your friend. What do you think you are to him, hmm?"

"That's easy! I'm his toy!"

Tiga stared at her blankly while Rinpu began to giggle again. Then he stood up and walked outside, again saying, "Deal with your daughter."

Giggling a bit more, Rinpu looked to her daughter and said, "You have one odd description of friendship."

Konan tilted her head; put on a Cheshire cat smiled, raised a hand like a paw to her cheek, and said, "Nya!"

—oo000oo—

Naruto was walking back to the clan home next to Suzuka, the month over now. He had enjoyed his time out there, reminded him of spending time with the Old Man. In his hands was the practice sword as well as the sapling. It had grown well in the month, feeding on his mana but it would still take a while before both it and he were ready. "Will you be staying with us, sensei?"

"In a guest house," Suzuka told him.

"Good. Oh, sensei, why didn't you ever ask me for help with food?"

"I said you eat what you catch, not someone else. If I didn't hold myself to that rule, how could I expect you to?"

Naruto nodded, understanding what she meant, but also knowing that she was a woman of no little pride and as such, she probably couldn't ask him anyway. They had just entered the Uzumaki home when Naruto suddenly got the distinct impression that they, or more likely he, was in rival territory. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Excuse me sensei." Setting the sapling by the wall, he crouched and crawled into the tall grass, using his striped fur to help him vanish into it. Suzuka stood there a moment while she watched this game of cat and mouse. She noticed something to the side and smirked. "Naruto roundhouse kick!" Naruto shouted, springing into a spinning kick to hit the thing she noticed. What fell was a scarecrow wearing some of Konan's spare clothes. "Uh oh."

"Konan power bomb!" Konan dropped out of the tree, doing an elbow drop right on Naruto, driving him into the ground. "I win again, putty tat! Mroew!" she said, leaning over at the waist, one hand held up in a V, the other on her hips, her eyes closed and Cheshire cat smile once more. Ringing the bell around her neck as she straightened, she clasped her hands behind her back. "Naruto..."

"What," he asked, a bit grumpily at once again losing.

"What do you think of Din?"

"Huh? She's one of my best friends, why?"

"And me?"

"Well, you constantly attack me, beat on me, call me a putty tat when I've told you not to, and..."

"Konan Ichi Nii!" Konan gave him a strong left strike followed by a right hook that left the first in the dust. "You are useless!" She spun around and ran away.

Naruto lay on the ground, his eyes spinning around in their sockets. "This...is why I don't like girls."

Suzuka looked after Konan and then back to Naruto. "Give it time."

—oo000oo—

"Just look at the little cutesy," Bleu said leaning down to look at Gaara before looked to the man that held him. Velve, the Dark Knight, bowed his head to her, a smile on his face. He had caught Bleu at the beach and she was still wearing her bikini. "And look at you." She gave an exaggerated shiver, "Give me a chill, seeing you in all that leather and metal. I think I'll just have to have you for dinner, sometime."

That just made him smile wider. "A pleasure seeing you as well, Bleu-chan. One jinchuuriki, as promised." Cradling the sleeping boy, he walked into her magic room, only to stop when he felt something attack his grieves. Looking down, he saw a blood red, nine tailed menace trying to chew on him.

"No, Kyuubi, bad," Bleu scolded, grabbed a spray bottle and squirting him with water.

"Damn you woman," the little fox yelled, running from the water.

She smiled again and turned back to Velve. "Now, just place him..." Like a buzz saw, Kyuubi jumped on her tail.

"Feel my power!"

"Excuse me a moment. Kyuubi, what did I say about lying off the coffee? You're too high strung."

"Ah, so what if I am!"

"No, no more. This is why I can't take you out with me." Velve really didn't understand where she got the new familiar; just that it was a demon, nine tailed fox, big enough to fit in her bag, and with a collar. "Now you be good. Or I swear," she said in a sing-song voice, "You'll put girl jewelry on your collar."

"NO!"

"Then be nice." She pulled out the bell on a string and dangled it for him to play with. "Who's a cute little demon fox?"

The fox, which had been in the middle of playing with the bell, stopped. "...What happened to my life," he lamented. "It was going so well, I would destroy everything, kill by the thousands; now look at me? Is this some kind of divine punishment?"

"Ladon, the Dragon God, works in mysterious ways," Bleu told him, letting go of the string, it stayed in the twitching this way and that, making him bat at it again. Bleu led Velve to her magic circle. "Where's the seal?"

"No seal that I know of. Haven't seen one."

"Hmm." Gaara floated in the air over to her before all but his small clothes vanished. "You're right, there is no seal." She turned around as a thick tomb came over to her and Gaara floated down to a table. "...Lalilala. Cauldron, come here please." A black cauldron hopped over to her. "Fire please." One lit under the pot. "Water, in." Some of it floated in from the sink. "Ahem. Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble." She giggled as she continued. "Fillet of a fenny snake, in the cauldron boil and bake. Eye of newt and toe of frog." Said items floated from their jars and came over to be dropped in the pot once everything else was gotten. "Wool of bat and tongue of dog. Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting. Lizard's leg and owlet's wing. For a charm of...Hey!" Velve jumped at her suddenly breaking her chant. "Lizard leg first, then owlet wing! Get in the correct order!" The Owlet wing leaned to the side to look up the line in front of it. "Yes, I see you there, get in your spot! Then all of you into the pot!" It hopped back behind the leg. "That's better. Ahem. For a charm of powerful trouble, like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

Velve leaned forward to see what she was making. "What is it?"

"Well, unless I translated this wrong..." She took a sip from it. "Ah, very good. Lunch."

Velve nearly face faulted into the floor. "Then why the worry about which went in first!"

"That'll effect how it's flavored," Bleu told him. "Cauldron, simmer for twenty minutes. Spoon, stir gently." She moved back to Gaara. "...Ooh, just look at those cute eyes! Like a tanuki!" She hugged her arms to her chest and squealed.

"He does look like one, a bit, but he's just a boy. And we both know..." He stepped up behind her and was whispering in her ear, "men are far better than boys."

"That is so true," Bleu agreed. "Play later; let me get a feel for him." Knowing better than to interfere with magic, he stepped back while she picked Gaara up and hugged him to her with his head resting on her shoulder. He moved a bit in his sleep and hugged her back. "...There there," Bleu said, easily telling he was having a bad dream. "It's alright now." He settled down, saying the one word all women understood, he was asking for his mother in his dreams.

Closing her eyes, she began to flow mana into him, testing the resonance. It wasn't as accurate as looking in the seal but it worked as well. When her mana touched the demon's energy, she began to see a picture of it. A vast dessert, sand stretching in all directions, with the wind blowing harshly, all in the shape of a tanuki with a single tail. Easing Gaara back down to the table, she brushed a strand of hair from his face. "I'm kind of surprised he slept this long."

"He's sleep depraved," Velve informed her. "The demon remains locked away but for him, he wakes up every now and then, startled but soon again returns to it."

"Poor dear." Caressing his cheek a moment longer, she turned to her book stand. "Let's see, let's see."

"What are you looking for?"

"Encyclopedia Demonica."

He blinked a few times at that. "Did you just say...?"

"Oh yes. Here it is!" She picked up a heavy, leather bound book and set it on her desk. "Wind demons." The book turned to that section. "Dessert terrain." Book marks appeared on a few that matched. "Shaped like a giant tanuki with a single tail." All but one vanished. The book opened itself to that page. "Here it is, ah, should've recognized him. It's the Ichibi. Kyuubi, found your brother."

"Good, I wanted someone new to torment. The mice are all afraid now!"

Bleu waved her hand back to the shelf, making the book return, and said, "Anyway Velve, why are you so shocked? Those books there are Encyclopedia Magica. A list of some of the most powerful magic items in the world." She motioned to three books bound in blue, red, and green, with invisible scribes still penning information. He walked over to the blue book and saw it writing down a name for another item. Cutter. A bokken formed from a tree fed mana and the remaining energy of a demon. Its blade is unnaturally strong and sharp at will. Carved into the hilt by its own will is a demon fox with nine tails. At will the edge is sharp or dull, capable of cutting right through mithril armor. It is a blade with its own intelligence, able to speak through telepathy to the wielder.

He let out a whistle at that. "Does it list where they are? I might try to find Cutter myself."

"Cutter, eh?" She came over to him and took a peek. "Sorry, it's still being penned."

"So?"

"So, that means it's just being made. This is all that is known about it now."

He looked to the books again and saw it had stopped cutter, working on the item behind it, with Cutter moving down as it wrote. "Who's writing?"

"The spirits of the dead. They have little else to do so they decided to pool their knowledge on magic. Shift your sight to the shadow realm, you'll see them." Velve did, only to see the room begin to change. Figures stood all around him, objects cleared away, and voices came into focus.

"More information on Aegis'fang!"

I need to find Khazed'hea!"

"A man in Nami no Kuni is starting construction on a bridge! The first bricks are magical!" People were running around everywhere, taking notes, shouting, running memos; it looked like the stock market. It actually made Velve sweat drop when he saw a board on the wall with percentages, numbers, and names.

He returned his vision to normal, looked to Bleu, and said, "You know for dead people, they're in a bit of a hurry. How do they know all this?"

"They're dead; they see things that we never could. A single spirit could hold as much or even more knowledge than me about anything that catches their interest."

"So your house just happens to be the broker room for all this knowledge."

She gave him a fox like grin, "Why do you think I chose it, besides the beach? This is a leyline and important place for those that are dead. When I moved in, they were already using the shadow realm building for their own usage."

"But why are they doing it?"

"To actually affect something substantial. They're ghost, spirits, from hell and heaven, where nothing changes, only earth does. They watch it and wish they could be part of it again. But they can't, it's not their place. But those books," she looked to the red one which had opened again and information began being penned while green closed, "to affect them in one is to affect them in the other. It is real, it can be held, it can be touched, it can be loved, and it can be destroyed. The rush it gives them, the excitement, is more than they've had since they were alive. That is why they are so busy, because they all want a chance to touch the living world." She moved back to Gaara and began casting a spell. After several minutes, she stopped and frowned. "Nothing but children pretending to be a mage," she growled as she moved to her circle.

"What?"

"The fools sealed the Ichibi inside Gaara while he was still inside the womb, partially combining their souls. Moreover, this isn't the first time its happen to Ichibi, it's happen twice before. And it is corrupting him and them. The only way to halt the damage is to remove him from the host, thus killing the human. Most of the human soul is stripped away, leaving a sliver of insanity and pain behind. They are little more than children, the ones that did this. It won't be easy to undo the damage of this."

"So...the boy will die?"

"Not if I can help it. After all, I am Deis!" She moved to her circle, chanting words so powerful, they slipped from the minds of all that heard them. It sounded just like singing a wordless tune. Bleu could carry a note real well. The circle began to spin and shift, and then layers were added to it, followed by rings. He had to look away because it was overloading his magic sight. The first time in a while, he opened his flight lenses, a protective lens in the eyes of all Sora to protect their eyes during flight. They were often enchanted to allow the sight of mana and magic. Looking now without it, he saw the most beautiful display of lights and shimmering colors. To be able to see the flow of magic without his lenses, he would have gone blind if he kept them up. A mirror circle appeared on the ceiling as well as the walls. He could feel the magic resonating with his armor and weapons. After fifteen minutes, the longest he had ever seen her take to change a single rune circle, she picked Gaara up again and took him to the circle. "Sorry little one," she said before she began chanting once more. When the first pit of felmagic came from Gaara, Velve felt his senses like they were on fire. A demon, pure and powerful, was coming here. He readied a sword and ax, should he need to defend Bleu from it.

—oo000oo—

Gaara opened his eyes to see a woman, holding her arm out, bracing it with the other, chanting while a raccoon-dog was suspended in the air, lights holding it in place, binding it against its will, while shadow began to gather behind it. It took form and Gaara screamed in fear, scrambling to get away from it, tripping on something furry that hurt when he stepped on it. Above him, the dark armored man that summoned the dead to fight him stood at the ready, sword and ax held between the raccoon-dog and Gaara and the woman. The shadow figure was a robed figure with long, thin hands meant for reaching inside something and taking from it. It wore what looked like a horned mask but was really its face and in its teeth was a dagger. The figure was Death. "I banish you from this world! Be gone spirits, leave not in anger!" the woman shouted. Death took its dagger from its mouth and slashed it across the raccoon-dog, drawing two things from it that was then sent away in a flash of light. Death vanished and the raccoon-dog fell to the ground.

"What was that!" Velve demanded.

"That was exactly as it looked like. Death came here and he took the soul slivers away." She sighed before she picked up the raccoon-dog. "Wake up, Shukaku," she whispered, invoking its real name.

Shukaku opened its eyes, tired, and hurting. "What mortal summons me?"

"My name is Deis, demon, and I am no mortal," she replied.

The Ichibi looked to her and smirked. "Well, well, it's you. A pleasure to meet you. I am yours to command. I think I'll take a nap now."

Bleu placed the tuckered out raccoon-dog on the table before looking to Gaara. "And there you are, cutesy." She moved over to him, where he realized she was part snake. She reached to the side of his head and rubbed his ears, calming him down immensely. "Feeling okay?"

"I...do," Gaara told her, relaxed for some reason.

"That little tanuki is the Ichibi that was sealed within you, Gaara."

"...How did..."

"Because I am the best," Bleu told him. "You survived because I wanted you to. The person that sealed Ichibi inside you bound its soul to yours. I couldn't free it without either cutting off a sliver of your soul or his. And as he is a demon, he will recover, you would not. So I left a bit of him inside you and purged it from your soul, by binding it to your body. There are a few differences in you now. But nothing horrible."

"What's different?"

She conjured a mirror before him, showing him that a good portion of his body was now covered in dark fur, though his hair remained red. His ears had changed, now were pointed and covered in fur the colored of his hair. His cheeks had red lines much like whiskers leading from his nose to ears and an actual mask surrounded his eyes. His belly was bare but his back was covered in red fur as was his legs with a ringed tail coming from the end of his tail bone. On his toes and the ball of his feet was a pad. Inspection of his arms showed them without fur but he had a pad in his palm and on the tips of his fingers. "The difference is that you are going to drive the girls wild now," Bleu replied before hugging the confused boy to her chest. "Ooh! He's too cute!"

—oo000oo—

Deis and Naruto walked into Bleu's home, looking around. "Hey, a tanuki!" He knelt down in front of the sleeping raccoon-dog and scratched his ears.

The raccoon-dog growled in content and said, "Right...there... Ooh, left ear now."

Naruto blinked and said, "Are you like Kyuubi?"

"I'm Ichibi. Right ear now, boy." Naruto started scratching that one.

"So, you know why we're here, mister Ichibi?"

"Might have to do with the boy in the next room," Ichibi replied before rolling onto his back. "Belly now." Naruto smirked as he found this one spot that made the demon tanuki start kicking one of his paws.

"YOU! DIE!" came the squeaky voice of Kyuubi as he lunged for Naruto's face.

"Kyuubi, sit," Bleu called. Kyuubi went from flying through the air to slamming down into the floor with all the force of a sledge hammer. Naruto, smiling like a child, scooped up both demons and began petting them. Ichibi took it far better, letting the boy smooth out his fur. Kyuubi, on the other hand, tried to scratch Naruto until he started rubbing the spot under his jaw and the front of his neck.

Moaning, Kyuubi said, "One day, ooh, I'll get my, ah, right there, revenge."

"Glad to see you three so happy," Bleu said, moving over to him. "I'd let you pet my third one but he's a bit water logged." She motioned to a large fish tank with an alligator snapping turtle larger than a dinner plate with three tails in it. "Just look at Ichibi, so well behaved. Such a nice little guy."

Kyuubi slapped a paw to the back of Ichibi's head. "Have you no pride?"

"As long as I'm fat and happy, none in the least." He turned over in Naruto's arms, slapping Kyuubi in the face with his tail. "So what if we spend a few centuries as her pets? There are worst fates, I know. Here, we don't have to worry about being sealed inside something, we can go outside and play, so long as we don't go too far, we can eat as we wish. Plus, if you just accept it, Bleu will probably pet you like she does me."

"NEVER," Kyuubi squeaked in outrage.

"Sanbi," Ichibi called. "Is this better or worse?"

"Easy for you to say, you aren't in a fish tank," the turtle replied. "But better, much better." He swam to the side of his tank where a magic button was, pressed it, and ate the fish that was dropped in. "Ooh, sea bass!"

Ichibi looked back to Kyuubi and said, "See?" Only to get Kyuubi to slap him again.

"As cute as your collection of greater demons is," Deis said to her friend, "didn't you ask me here for a reason?"

"I did, and the reason is still eating breakfast. Gaara-kun, we have guest."

A boy practically bounced into the room. He was wearing a wide brimmed straw hat, the same ones you would see on a tanuki statue, currently lowered to his back, shorts, and a tee shirt, walking barefoot into the room. "Who are they, kaasan?" he said happily.

Deis raised an eyebrow at the tanuki boy and then Bleu as she gave a slight groan. "Gaara, you know I asked you not to call me that. Thus the problem," Bleu told Deis. "The boy was a host, like Naruto, he's attention starved and used to think of the Ichibi as his mother. Now he thinks I am."

"Kaasan is the one that protects you," Gaara said, smiling as he hugged her.

"Help," Bleu said softly. "He knows I'm not his Kaasan but he won't stop."

Deis nodded and smiled. "Naruto, how about you and Gaara go outside and play for a bit."

"Sure, Kaasan. Gaara, let's go!" Naruto took his hand and led him outside.

Dies smiled and said, "Watch the magic, Bleu."

—oo000oo—

Naruto and Gaara were running along the beach, kicking up sand as they did. Naruto wasn't sure why Gaara was so happy but much like his own happiness, it was infectious. He couldn't stop smiling with him. "Hey Gaara, you ever build a sand castle?"

"No…but isn't just something children do?"

"Nya! Look around, Gaara!" He did and saw adults everywhere with their family and a bunch of children, even some older than they were, making sand castles. "Being an adult means you are taller than three foot nothing! So," he picked up a handful of wet sand and threw it at him.

"Agh! Oh, now you're going to get it!" He raised his hands and several hands of sand came up from the rest and began throwing handfuls at him.

"Yikes!" Naruto jumped, ducked, anything and everything to dodge until he rolled along the ground and came up with a sick that he held like a sword. "Yah!" He ran for the ocean, knocking aside the sand balls as he went. Digging his claws in, he slid along the water a moment until he was halfway up his knees in water. Then he pulled the stick back and slashed it down into the water and then back up, throwing a large wave on Gaara just before Naruto was pelted with several handfuls of sand. They both lay in the water a moment before they began to laugh hysterically.

When they sat up, Naruto began making the castle, still laughing every now and then. "That was awesome!"

"I was," Gaara agreed as he joined him.

"Hey, Gaara, you have any brothers or sisters?"

"One of both," Gaara replied.

"I just got one sister," Naruto replied. "Her name is Carol. She's only a few years old and she looks to me like I'm the greatest person on earth. Next to Tousan and Kaasan."

"I'm the youngest but my siblings don't get along to well with me," he said sadly.

"Why not? Is it because of the Ichibi?"

"Yes. Used to be I couldn't be touched but now…" Gaara smiled as he grabbed Naruto. "Anyone can touch me if I want them to!" He sighed.

"So, are you going to go back and show you're siblings? Be near them and hug them?"

"…I don't know if I should. My village was really afraid of me. And now I look like it. But here…" He looked to where a princess of the Rand clan stood in the surf, holding up several men on her outstretched arms before suddenly laughing and throwing them all out into the water. "I'm normal."

Naruto frowned, he understood that but Gaara had a brother and sister. "…Not me. If I had Carol in Konoha, I would've stayed there even looking like this because she was there."

"But you could've taken with you."

"She's only a few years old, she couldn't make it." Naruto sighed. "So what if you aren't liked by other people, if the care for you than that is enough."

Gaara thought of how much Temari always tried to be nice to him and the few times Kankuro tired. "…I miss them," Gaara muttered then perked up. "Maybe we can bring them here!"

"And if they won't leave?"

"…Then…I'll have to stay there."

"Right." Naruto pat him on the shoulder, "Because home is where the heart is."

Gaara nodded, "…But can I still call Bleu-san kaasan?"

Naruto chuckled, "I'm sure she won't mind."

It was almost an hour later when they came back in. "…Kaasan, how do I get back home?"

Bleu looked to him just a little sad. "…I can send you home, cutesy." She nodded her thanks to Deis before placing her hand on his shoulder.

"…Maybe he should stay here," Naruto said after a moment.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Naruto," Deis said to him before turning around. "Let's go home."

—oo000oo—

Gaara and Deis appeared just within the walls of Suna. "Okay, where do you live at Gaara?"

"Down this road, kaasan." He led the way and like he expected people nearly ran away in a panic. He began to feel sad until Bleu squeezed his shoulder.

"Hey, no tears. So the idiots don't like the new you. You're still a sweet little boy."

Several men in animal mask suddenly encircled them along with a red haired man. "Well, well, if it isn't two of the Uzu. Lost are we," Sabaku asked.

"Father," Gaara said, getting his attention.

"Gaara? How did you… Did you merge with the Ichibi?"

"No, father… Bleu-san took it from me and saved me."

"She…took it from you," he asked, the set of his jaw growing tighter. "She took our village's bijuu from you!"

"Hey, calm down," Bleu nearly growled.

"Where is it, woman! What have you…?"

"Windele," Bleu shouted, throwing her hand out, summoning several wind elementals to her. Each of the ninja was imprisoned inside one. "I said calm down and when I say for someone to do something, they have best do it!" Sabaku began to choke as the air was pulled from his lungs and body. "Do I make myself clear! Nod if I do!" Sabaku nodded as fast as he could and the air came crashing back.

Panting so hard, he pressed against the elemental, trying to escape. "…I see Sarutobi wasn't lying. You must be the Deis that attacked Konoha…"

"I am not," Bleu interrupted a snarl on her lips. "You boys sit tight, I need to take little Gaara home. Come along, Gaara-kun." She held out her hand for him to take.

"…Yes, Kaasan!" He took it and nearly skipped home. "Here, in here!" Gaara threw open the door and called out, "Temari-niichan, Kankuro-neesan!"

Temari was the first to come to the door. "Gaara, is that you?"

"It's me, niichan!" Gaara ran and jumped on her, giving her a strong hug. "I missed you niichan!"

Temari gaped at the change in her brother but for a moment. Then she smiled and hugged him back. "I missed you, Gaara."

"Gaara?" Kankuro had come over and stood frozen a few feet away. "…What happened to you?"

"Bleu-kaasan took Ichibi away but had to make me look like this to do it. Isn't it cool! I can finally hug niichan!"

"Bleu-kaasan," Kankuro questioned, looking at the door to stare at the snake lady there.

"Hello," Bleu said to them. "You two know a rather unpleasant man with red hair leading a good number of ninja?"

"Yeah," Kankuro replied. "He's our father."

"You're father! How could a father let what happen to Gaara happen!"

"…Because he ordered it," Temari said sadly. "…It killed our mother for it to happen."

"…Oh hell no." She turned around and gave a whistle. Moments later, the elemental holding Sabaku came up to her. "What's this I hear about you putting the Ichibi inside Gaara, killing his mother to do it?"

"…Private matter. I don't interfere with Uzu no Kuni, don't interfere with my village."

"…Ah, you must be the Kazekage. The most powerful ninja in this village, correct? Well, Kazekage-sama, I am Bleu. The most powerful woman, naga, creature, living or nonliving, mortal or immortal, on this planet," she leaned in close to him, "and I'm pissed." Sabaku gulped, fearing what she would say next. "More importantly to you though, I'm pissed at you."

"…I'm the Kazekage; I refuse to be manhandled by some subhuman!"

Gaara suddenly felt like he needed to get away. His ears lay against his head and his tail curled up around his waist. "Sister, brother, we should go."

"What, but what about father," Kankuro said before the most palpable anger and hatred covered the village. He felt nothing like it before and thought he was going to die underneath it before Gaara grabbed both and pulled them into the deepest, darkest place and curled into a ball to hide.

"What did you call me," Bleu growled. "I believe I heard you call me a subhuman."

Sabaku swallowed but refused to back down, despite all his instincts screaming for him to do just that. "You, all of your worthless little island, and that little monster you brought here." It grew heavier in the air but Bleu said nothing else. She spread her arms, making Sabaku do the same before mana began to float off her with how much she was concentrating on. "Well, what are you going to…?"

—oo000oo—

"Gaara, Temari, Kankuro," Bleu said, opening the door to the cupboard under the stairs that they hid in.

"…Kaasan," Gaara asked, his ears standing up again.

"You did very good protecting them, Gaara-kun." She leaned in and picked him up. "…I decided I changed my mind, you can call me kaasan as much as you want, because you and your siblings are coming with me. Your father and I had a long discussion and he realized that he was a horrible father. So, I convinced him to let you come with me." Temari knew she was lying through her teeth on some of those but she was right. He was a horrible father.

Gaara stayed crouched for a little bit longer before his tail straightened and he looked up again. "Thank you, Kaasan." Gaara reached out for a hug and Bleu didn't hesitate in taking him in her arms.

"Come on you two, don't think you're not getting one," Bleu said, grabbing them as well. "I'm taking you all home and you can really be a family, and I'll be your kaasan." She gave them all a kiss on the forehead.

Even Kankuro looked happy about that. "Cool… Are we going to say good bye to father?"

"I'm afraid he's tied up at the moment but he did tell me to give you his fondest wishes."

Kankuro nodded, knowing his father would do that, not say goodbye in person. Temari narrowed her eyes but nodded as well. "Can we go home then, Kaasan," Gaara asked.

"Yeah, right now." They all teleported away, the children never seeing Sabaku was tied to the walls by his arms, his skin missing and his body held on the edge of death to feel the pain until it failed. Blood covered the walls and pieces of flesh were here and there. She had skinned him, healed it, and skinned him again and not in a swipe of a knife motion either. Magic pulled his skin off his body, destroying his mind in doing so. All he would feel for what little life he had left was the pain. Bleu was one of the kindest people on Earth but call her and her people 'subhuman' and there was no mercy, especially when they specifically add a boy she was growing more and more fond of.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. Got distracted by all the different story ideas. Right now, my favorite is this story where Naruto meets a Yuki-onna and when she passes on to the afterlife, she leaves him a child. But that doesn't matter here. Hope you like this latest chapter of the Woren of Uzu no Kuni.