You know something... I think I forgot to add Sai in here. :O I feel so bad! Sadly, I have to leave him out since I'm already so far in.
When Kyuubi talks it's going to continue to be in italics and be bold. When the foxes talk, it will just be bold so you know who's who.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just my own characters. ^^
Releasing the Foxes
Temari's POV
"You may stay here for as long as you'd like, all costs taken care of." Tsunade of the Leaf said. She was sitting at her desk in her office, her frame leaning forward a bit with her elbows on the wood and her fingers crossed in the air. She had the look of total exhaustion about her but her eyes shone with relief. Naruto had made it safely out of the village without being detected by the ANBU or the elders. He was free with everyone thinking he was dead.
"Thank you, Hokage." Temari slightly bowed in appreciation. "With all due respect, I think it's best if we head back as soon as –,"
"No," Gaara interrupted his sister who straightened back up and looked over to him, frowning a bit. "We'll take your offer and stay a few more days." Temari looked ready to question her brother about the sudden urge to stay when he continued on with what he was saying, "Thank you for your hospitality and everything you have done." He gave the smallest of bows, showing his true appreciation before spinning on his heel and exited the office without another word.
Kankuro turned his gaze to his sister with a questioning stare before shrugging and walked after his brother. There were just some things he wouldn't understand about his baby brother.
Temari stood in her spot, not moving for a minute or two. She wondered what he was planning now. She shook her head to clear it, knowing that whatever it was, she should just go along with the flow. Never once had she known Gaara to do something without a reason so why was she questioning him now? Quickly, she retreated out of the room to catch up with her brothers.
Rookie Nine's POV
"I can't believe we'll never see him again..." Rock Lee admitted, sitting on the ground with his knees brought up and his chin resting on them. He pick at the grass that grew all around him.
Ino looked around at her friends who she pretty much grew up with. All of their expressions were sad and down by the loss they just witnessed not even an hour ago. She didn't really know the blonde that well, but he was part of their group and he was always hyper and energetic and always had a smile on his face. They were friends.
"Cheer up guys," She said, though she voice lacked the cheerfulness it needed to help the mood lighten up. "Just think, he's in a better place. And..." Tears filled her eyes as she realized that she would never see him again, "Oh forget it." She turned away from the group and sat down on the grass right next to Choji, bringing her knees all the way up to her chest. She buried her face in her faces as silent tears slide down her cheeks.
The Chunins were all in the park towards the edge of the area. The benches closest to where they were sitting were all taken up by them, including the trees. Some stood, some sat and a few paced. No one was in the mood for talking. Hinata was still crying at her lost love, her chest buried in Kiba's chest as they sat on the grass. He stroked her hair, trying to calm her down as he himself looked off in the distance as he remembered all of the times he spent with the blonde. Akamaru was lying by his best friend with his head on his paws as a low whine vibrated from his throat. Hinata was one of the few who was taking it the hardest, but no one blamed her. Tenten and Neji were leaning against the tree together, the female leaning against her old team mate as she tried to find comfort without letting her tears show as the male looked lost in thought. Shino was sitting on Hinata's other side and had his hand on her shoulder to show support. Choji was picking at the grass in front of him, not even in the mood to eat anything. Shikamaru was sitting in the tree, his back against the truck and his head tilted downwards. He didn't say anything as he played with a twig in his hands.
Sakura and Sasuke were more off to the side, watching their friend's deal with the loss of their friend. Sakura wanted to tell them that everything was alright that Naruto was fine, but if she said anything, she could ruin the chances of everyone thinking he was no longer dead. She couldn't do that to him, not after everything he had gone through here. So she stayed quiet and hugged herself. She didn't have to play her sadness as she already was feeling lost that she wouldn't see her blonde comrade again any time soon.
Sasuke was the only one who held a neutral expression on his face. His arms were crossed at his chest and his posture stiff.
"I heard Gaara and his siblings were staying a couple of more days," Sakura whispered only loud enough for her remaining team mate to hear. She didn't look at him, only spoke to him. She needed to talk, even if it was random so she wouldn't let herself dwell in depression.
Sasuke barely nodded his head without attracting any attention to him.
"I wonder why though." She continued and bit the inside of her cheek in wonderment.
"Has to do with Naruto." Sasuke replied softly, keeping his voice low so only she could hear. From the corner of his eye, he saw the pink hair kunoichi look at him with a curious expression. "Why else would they stay?" He asked. That resulted in her nodding her head in understanding.
Sasuke closed his eyes for maybe a second and then reopened them. He uncrossed his arms as he turned around. "Hn. Whatever happens though, the next time I see that dobe, he'll be getting his ass kicked." Before Sakura had anytime to ask him anything, he walked away.
As Sakura watched the remaining Uchiha disappear out of sight, she bit her lip, knowing how much he was missing their friend. 'Just be careful Naruto. Don't come back here or things might get bad for you...' She thought and closed her eyes. Her heart seemed frozen by what she had spoke, but she was only thinking of his safety. That was all that mattered anyways.
XxxxX
Naruto's POV
Crouching low in a bush with all of the leaves and branches protecting him from the open and un-wanted eyes, Naruto examined his surrounds. He was only a mile away from Orochimaru's hideout and there was no doubt about it that his goons were lurking around, protecting the entrance of their boss's base.
After a minute of examining his surroundings and getting the all clear from Kyuubi (who had been sensing for any chakra nearby but finding none), Naruto bit both of his thumbs and placed them on the tiny clearing before him and said in a soft voice, "Summoning Jutsu." Three black seals in the shapes of triangles appeared on the ground and stretched out before him. Fire appeared in each circle to form objects. When the smoke from the fire cleared away, the objects turned out to be three identical foxes with different colored eyes all sitting with their tails wrapped around their paws, starring at their summoner.
Not a second passed by when the foxes all bowed in unison and the one in the middle purred out, "Fili, Kili, and Tili at your service, Taichou."
Naruto only nodded his head to them in greeting before immediately launching into his explanation, "I'm about to break into Orochimaru's lair and I will need some backup from you three. I can trust you and you're fast to react. Listen up," Each fox straightened up and stared at him with unblinking eyes. "I will need one of you to stay here and the other two will come with me until I place you. Fili," He said to the female fox on the left. At the sound of her name, she twitched her ears. "I want you to remain here. I don't know how long I'll be gone for, but once you sense me coming in this direction, I'll need you to help me get away. This place will be heavily guarded, especially when I try to leave."
Fili nodded her head and in a soft but high pitched voice, she purred, "I will remain here until you come." Her green eyes stayed on his blue ones until he nodded and looked away, satisfied by her calm answer.
Not wasting a second, he informed the other two on where they would be stationed. Tili would stay hidden near the entrance while Kili, the one in the middle, would stay with him, helping him fight his way in and out of the lair.
"This mission sounds dangerous," Kili commented. He swished his tail from side to side in anticipation to get started. "But we wouldn't miss it for the world."
The blonde smirked at their eagerness to start. No matter what, he was able to rely on these foxes to help him with whatever he needed to do, without being challenged or questioned. "Good," he said, "Before we get this show on the road, I need to do one more thing." As if saying something to the foxes, the tricksters backed away to give the blonde some room. And that's when the hand signs started...
The hand signs started out rather slow to where a well experienced ninja could make them out. By the time he reached the seventh sign, they started to go faster. Each one seemed to pick up speed that not even the Sharingan would have been able to pick up which sign was which.
Fifteen hand signs later, the Jinjuriki bit his thumb (again) and, instead of slamming in to the ground, pushed it out in front of him into the air. There, the blood from his thumb seemed to seep out and make a bloody seal in the air, almost like it would if he made a normal summon on the ground.
The three foxes watched on in curiosity, wondering what their captain was about to do.
The blood came to a still as it stopped coming out of his thumb. This time, red chakra seeped out of his body and went straight to the seal, being absorbed by it in huge amounts. The chakra started to take form but it was still to early to make out what. Five seconds later, on the ground right underneath the seal, the shape of a small fox took form. It was about the size of a month old kitten if you were trying to compare it to anything. But, instead of picturing a kitten, this fox had two tails and was the color of blood with black around it's eyes.
"My King," all three foxes bowed even lower than they did for Naruto when they recognized what fox was before them. The King of all foxes, the most powerful animal on the planet sat before them, her head held up high. Despite the King supposed to be a guy and a Queen a girl, in this role, the highest power was announced King and that just so happened to be Kyuubi. She sat with her two tails wrapped around her paws and the feeling around her was powerful.
It wasn't two months after Naruto had been banished from his village when Kyuubi had summoned the Kitsune Contract scroll and had Naruto sign it. The foxes had been handy in his past and that was why Kyuubi had her kit sign it. Now, Naruto could summon toads and foxes.
'It's good to be out.' She said but then took no time in saying, 'But we don't have time to waste. We have a mission to do and we will do it without wasting time and breath.' Her order was taken in with short and simple nods as the three foxes all straightened up and looked to Naruto for the next order.
Naruto rolled his shoulders back to rid himself of the stiffness and to push back the killing instinct he felt after summoning Kyuubi. His beautiful blue orbs narrowed into thin slits that reminded you of a cat and specks of red appeared into it.
"We've already wasted enough time. Now it's time to save Sana. Let's get this show on the road."
XxxxX
All the way to the entrance of the lair -which was just a hole in the wall but was camouflaged from the eye that you literally had to go up to the wall and touch it to find out that it indeed wasn't a wall but a hole- Naruto and his three companions met no one. There were no ambush, no guards, not even a squirrel running up the trees; no one.
"I don't like this..." Naruto muttered when they reached the entrance. He looked side to side, almost expecting an ambush to jump out right this second.
Kyuubi nodded in agreement as she looked around herself. 'I was expecting some bloodshed before we even reached the entrance.' There was disappointment clearly shown in her voice.
Naruto nodded his head to Tili and the fox ran off to their left in a red blur as he took his hiding place. Then, without further ado, the trio ran into the enemies hideout. Once they entered, still they didn't meet anyone. This place was like a ghost town.
But that didn't stop them. They didn't even pause as they barged in and ran. Kyuubi was in the lead, leading them through the maze of hallways without hesitating in her directions. Naruto was right behind her, having a sense of where he was going, but allowing the lady fox to go in front because he knew this was the first real thing she could do. And a step behind the human, Kili was right on his tail. He didn't exactly know where they were leading him, but he knew better than to ask questions so he kept his jaw closed and followed. And besides, he trusted his King to lead them. And the human too. If Kyuubi, the top fox trusted his vessel, a human, then he trusted him too.
They kept running in zigzags, some times feeling like they were just going in circles. But with Kyuubi picking up her speed just a smug, they all knew they were heading in the right direction.
It had been only a couple of minutes, five at most, when Naruto admitted, "This is getting a bit creepy..." His eyes darted from hallway to hallway as they passed by it. They still hadn't met a single soul that wasn't themselves and he had a suspicion that they were in the wrong hideout.
'This is the right one.' Kyuubi said without bothering to look over her shoulder. She had been reading her kit's thoughts. 'There are people here, I can sense them. They are just far away.'
"Then why are the hiding?" Kili asked out loud, speaking for the first time since Kyuubi had been summoned. He glanced around and barely stuck his nose in the air. He could sense and smell people, but couldn't pin point on where they were. The ninja were hiding themselves. So... they knew they were here.
'Wait!'Kyuubi suddenly put on her brakes and raised her head to the air, sniffing furiously like a tracking dog. Naruto and Kili paused a second after her and kept quiet as they waited. They both looked around, noticing that the hallway they were in had doors. They were right in front of one and it looked like the rest of the others; tan and plain. Kyuubi looked at the door and said with her lip curling back some, 'I smell Sana behind this door.'
Naruto took one look at the door and balled his right hand into a fist and brought it back. Without further ado, he swung his fist forward and it slammed into the door.
Wood splinters filled the air, along with dust and wood chippings. Not giving it time to settle down and for the air to clear, Naruto and the two foxes ran into the room. A kunai was in the human's hand while both foxes had their teeth bared and claws out. What they found in the room was not what they were expecting.
"You do realize that the door was unlocked." A voice said. When the smoke cleared, the person who talked was sitting in a chair at the other side of the room, looking comfortable and like he had been sitting there for a while. And that man just so happened to be Orochimaru. Standing right next to him on his right was his most trusted (partner?) who had a calm look about him. Though he did have a smirk on his face. On Orochimaru's other side, his left, was a woman. She looked a bit familiar with her blonde hair pulled back into a bun behind her head. She had no reaction on her face, but she looked a little bored. And all around the walls of the room were more people. They looked like regular shinobi but none of them were wearing any headbands. They never moved but most of them were grinning with lust in their eyes. Every single pair of eyes were on the newcomers.
Naruto glanced around the room, his eyes not stopping on anyone for more than a second before moving on to the next person. He could tell by just looking at them that they were antsy for battle. After doing a three second examination, his eyes returned to Orochimaru with eyes that could kill. "Where is she?" He growled so low that his chest rumbled.
The room was dead silent as nobody moved or said anything. All eyes were on the elder.
Orochimaru didn't even twitch but smiled and said in a calm voice, "Where is who, Naruto?" His voice was as smooth as honey and it made the blonde want to gag. But he didn't have time for that.
"Sana, you bitch! Where is my little sister?"
"Ah, that makes more sense. I didn't know who you were talking about." The snake summoner lifted his hand up off of his arm rest and gave a hand motion before placing his elbow on the rest and relaxed his head on top of his hand.
Both Naruto and the foxes tensed as if something was about to attack them. But that went unnoticed by everyone as Kabuto turned around and walked over to a door that Naruto never noticed when he first came into the room. He opened the door and stood aside. Two figures, one tall and the other shorter, walked into the room. The taller of the two was dressed in a white lab coat with normal clothes on underneath it and the shorter of the two was in her normal ninja attired except for many, many tears and blood stains everywhere on it. And she just so happened to be...
"Sana!" Naruto sighed in relief to see that she was still alive and... well, mostly well. But, his relief was soon replaced by anger as the dry blood caught on to his attention and he noticed what situation she was in.
Sana's eyes were cast downward and she was walking with a limp to her. Her clothes were tattered and torn everywhere and besides the blood stains, dirt was covering her from head to toe. She looked pale to the eye and all over her were scratches and gashes that weren't covered. Instead of her hair being pulled back into a high pony-tail, the band had come out and her beautiful long brown hair was limp and lost some of it's shine. It was dirty and messy. On her right leg in the middle of her calf, fresh blood was oozing down.
"What did you do to her?" Naruto almost screamed, anger radiating off of him in waves. His eyes were a bit widen and he held his breath, almost scared that if he breathed, someone would hit her.
'I wonder why my chakra isn't healing her...' Kyuubi said though only Naruto could hear her. She voice sounded frustrated.
Orochimaru tilted his head a little to look at his prisoner without lifting his head up off of his hand. He took maybe a minute to look at her before returning his gaze back to his guest. "Oh, a little of this and a little of that. We had to break her in."
"For what?"
The person who was in front of Sana, the doctor looking man, was the one who answered, "We had to test her of her abilities, and I am quite proud to say that she is exactly the type of person who we're looking for. She's capable of so much." His eyes gleamed with greed as he thought about Sana and her unique chakra.
After seeing the confusion written all over his face, Kabuto explained, "Like you, she will be joining us. You both will become a nice addition to our army."
Naruto tensed and narrowed his eyes a little more. "We're not joining any army of yours." He declared. "You will release my little sister now or you'll have me to answer to. And I'll warn you now, I'm a lot more powerful than the last time we had met."
A chuckle was met to his threat and the blonde turned to the woman standing right next to Orochimaru. The back of her hand was covering her mouth and she shook his head. She told him, "That's so not how you communicate with us."
The Jinjuriki glared daggers at her and demanded, "And just who the hell are you?" Then quietly to himself, he wondered why she looked so familiar.
"Antigone is my name." She answered and gave him a small bow. "We met a few days previous and had a battle together." She looked back up and smirked at him.
The blonde haired man didn't say anything, but now he clearly remembered why she looked so familiar. Back when he was leaving the Leaf village with Sana and she was being kidnapped, he fought with a woman who made one of his attacks vanish from thin air. So this was her...
"Naruto..." A soft voice whispered. The room got quiet as everyone turned to Sana.
Said name quickly removed his eyes from the blonde haired woman and sought out his sister. His expression relaxed a bit when she had looked up and met his eyes.
Instead of talking in English, she switched to French so she could say anything she wanted to without anyone knowing what it was she was saying. She said, "Quel est votre plan?" (("What is your plan?"))
He had to ignore the way his sister's voice sounded dull and a little hoarse. He answered her in the same tongue, "Vous sortir d'ici. Ecoutez, quand je dis maintenant, je veux que vous et Kyuubi pour se teleporter hors d'ici et de retourner a le Village de Konoha." ((Getting you out of here. Listen, when I say now, I want you and Kyuubi to teleport out of here and to go back to the Leaf Village.")) On his way here, he figured that if he knew his step-brother as well as he did, then the Sand siblings would stay in the Leaf for a couple of more days just in case.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow but didn't question what they were talking about. For once, he was actually clueless on what was being said and didn't feel like knowing what they were talking about. He had never heard the language before and found it a bit entertaining.
However, Kabuto narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. He has heard of this language before but he didn't understand it. It was something from his past. But, that was besides the point. What were they talking about? Was it something important? He looked over to his master (A/N if that's what you wanna call it), seeing if he was going to do anything about it like stop it. What he got slightly confused him.
Kyuubi, who also understood the language perfectly, nodded her head to herself. Using one of her many skills, she shrank backwards, using her chakra to blend herself in with the shadows. No one noticed just like she planned. As she was completely hidden, she went straight over to Sana and jumped onto her shoulder without causing her any disturbance. She hid behind some of the teen's hair.
Sana didn't show any emotion as she said, "Que ferez-vous? Je ne peux pas vous laisser ici!" (("What will you do? I can't leave you here!"))
"Je vais devoir les tenir occupes, mais ne vous inquietez pas, je serai juste derriere vous, d'accord?" (("I'll have to keep them occupied, but don't worry, I'll be right behind you."))
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Antigone blurted out, getting highly annoyed that she couldn't understand what was being said. Her eyebrow twitched and she glared at the only other girl in the room before turning her eyes to Naruto.
Ignoring her, Sana barely nodded her head, her eyes looking more and more tired by the minute. "Mais, Je... Je ne me souviens pas ce que le village ressemble. Comment vais-je trouver le bon endroit?" (("But, I... I don't remember what the village looks like. How will I find the right place?")) Her bottom lip quivered a bit.
Before Naruto could answer, Kyuubi whispered in her ear in French, "Je vais vous guider la-bas." (("I will guide you there."))
Naruto nodded and continued on, "Rappelez-vous simplement Tsunade, la dame qui vous a gueri. Elle a les cheveux blonds et un bijou au miliee de son front." (("Just remember Tsunade, the lady who healed you. She has the blonde hair and a jewel in the middle of her forehead."))
Sana looked away for a second so her brother wouldn't see her tears. "Je... Je ne me souviens d'elle..." (("I... I don't remember her..."))
"Je vais vous aider." Kyuubi purred and placed a paw on the teens neck for comfort. Nobody still couldn't see her.
The Jinjuriki could tell that the all powerful fox transferred the image of Tsunade to his sister because she looked back to him with remembrance. She barely nodded her head but before she could say anything, Naruto beat her to it, "Quand vous y arrivez, je veux que vous trouviez Gaara et rester avec lui. Ne laissez pas la vue. Je vais essayer d'etre la des que possible. Quand je ne vous y rendre, nous irons dans un endroit loin, un endroit ou on peut se detendre, Juste les deus... trois d'entre nous." (("When you get there, I want you to find Gaara and stay with him. Don't leave his sight. I will try to be there as soon as possible. When I do get there, we'll go some place far, some place where we can relax. Just the two... three of us.")) He added, remembering about the fox (even though she wouldn't be out like she was now.) "Nous ne ferons pas toutes les missions. Il va juste etre un temps pour s'amuser et faire n'importe quoi. Est-ce que ca te va?" (("We won't do any missions. It'll just be a time to have fun and do whatever. Is that alright with you?")) He saw his sister nod her head once more and felt a little relieved. After that moment passed, he turned his attention away from her and he glared at Orochimaru.
"Release her!" He growled in English. Next to him, Kili tensed and arched his back, ready for the signal to attack.
"And why would I do that?" Orochimaru asked in a calm voice that just caused Naruto to grow annoyed. Around the room, the ninja lining the walls all shifted their weight, all of them already sensing a battle. They became restless and wish some action would already take place instead of all of this boring talk. They weren't here to talk, they were here to fight!
"Because," he said, his expression changing a bit to where he wasn't being so hostile anymore. "I'll make you a deal." He could tell from the snake man's expression that he was slightly interested, but still on his guard even if it didn't look it. Naruto cleared his throat and declared, "Release her and I'll remain."
Sana's eyes widened in horror as she heard the news. Her head spun as she managed to squeak out, "No!"
Naruto ignored her as his eyes remained on the other, his eyes unwavering. "What say you?" He asked.
The boss in the room thought for a minute and watched the Jinjuriki just stand there, not fidgeting or showing any sort of nervous habit that could be used as a lying movement. After about a tense moment on both sides, he said, "Why why would I do that when I can just have my way and have two powerful ninja on my side?" He raised an eyebrow in questioning.
Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto could see the enemy ninja start to move to form a circle around him. Both he and they knew what was about to take place in just a couple of minutes. He flickered his eyes over to the hiding fox and gave a small nod of the head that wouldn't have been caught by anyone before turning his glaring gaze back to Orochimaru.
"I don't know," he said, "I just thought it sounded good." He smirked and then yelled in French, "Aller! Je serai juste derriere vous!" ((Go! I'll be right behind you!")) In one movement, his hand reached deep down inside his pouch and pulled out two kunai in which he flickered them both towards the doctor that was standing to close to his sister. Both of them hit their marks and landed deep into the doc's neck, killing him instantly. As soon as he had thrown his kunai, Kabuto had done the same thing.
Naruto managed to dodge the kunai hurled at him and only had time to watch both his sister and his fox disappear in a firer flash. The last thing the blonde heard from them was Kyuubi growling out, 'Be careful, Kit.'
XxxxX Until next time!
Some of the french might not be correct because of the computer I'm on won't let me do the accents. Sorry about that. :/ I tried.
Meaning:
Taichou: (Captain)
DRAGON: Aww, thank you! :3 And trust me, my brothers would do the same thing. I have more of redneck brothers so when I bring home a guy, they'll be cleaning their guns. (Makes me think of the country song by Rodney Atkins) And to answer your question, no, I'm not a multi- linguial. I only know English. The French is courtesy of my cousin who lives in France and the Japanese is from the Google Translator. :) And yeah... no one likes Keo. Everyone wants him dead. Lol. Don't worry, I'm planning a gruesome death for him. ^^ And I love responding to my readers. Gives me a chance to talk to them and for their input. (And you made me blush for the genius comment! No lie!) Thanks for reading and reviewing! And sorry it took me so long to update! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
