Chapter 18:
The two kitsune went tumbling down the steep hill to the front yard of the palace. Reevo and Ryosuke rolled over each other again and again before finally breaking apart and sprang forward, biting each other with their sharp teeth. When Naruto caught up to them, they were on their hind legs pushing each other and biting the other's face and chest. It looked like Reevo had Ryosuke in a headlock and was trying to snap his neck. He pulled Ryosuke down at an angle, twisting his head.
Still betting on the idea that he couldn't get cursed twice, Naruto rushed in without fear and tackled Reevo from the side. He pinned Reevo down and started biting him. Reevo kicked Naruto off with his hind legs and took a swipe at him with his claws.
"Fox fire!" Naruto conjured up several illusions of himself to confused Reevo. Being a kitsune, Reevo was able to see through the deception and went straight for the real Naruto. Naruto had forgotten that kitsune weren't so easily fooled by fox fire. Reevo bit down on Naruto's shoulder, drawing blood. "Ahh!" Naruto tried to bite him back but Reevo was just out of reach.
Ryosuke grabbed Reevo by one of his tails and pulled him away from Naruto. Reevo released Naruto and went after Ryosuke. Ryosuke remained just out of reach, holding onto Reevo's tail so they were following each other in circles. Reevo deliberately fell over and started to roll across the lawn, taking Ryosuke with him. Ryosuke let go of his tail and Reevo got up and tried to bite him.
Naruto came at Reevo from the side, pushing him with his paws. Reevo shoved him back and bit Naruto's paw. Fighting as a kitsune was a lot harder than he thought it would be. Despite having been a human for so long, Reevo seemed completely unfazed having to fight as a fox again. This was natural for him so it posed no issue. Naruto being used to fighting as a human was having problems landing a blow. More than once he tried to punch Reevo only to fail miserably. Every time he tried to grab onto Reevo with his front paws, he would lose balance and drop back onto all fours. This was a much harder battle than he thought it would be. If Ryosuke wasn't there to help, Naruto may have never stood a chance.
"I have a good thing going here!" Reevo snapped, scratching Naruto across the face. "I won't let you take it away from me! I finally have what I want!"
"Then you should have worked for it!" Naruto shouted back. "Rather than steal it from someone who already has it, you should have made your own life. A life for yourself! If you wanted to be human so badly then you should have become your own human instead on pretending to be someone else!"
"Who are you to lecture me?!" Reevo scratched Naruto again with his claws. "You know that any form I took on would be that of someone else. A kitsune does not get a form of their own until they become a three-tails. I wasn't going to wait around for that!"
"Then why didn't you take on someone else's form, changed the appearance a little bit by getting a tattoo or something? Or use someone's form from another village and say it's a coincidence that the two of you look so much alike? There were other ways! You didn't have to do this."
"You think I wanted to work in the fields, breaking my back and getting covered in mud every day?" Reevo shoved Naruto into the fountain. "I wanted an easy life! The prince was the perfect person to take that life from! I get to rule, I get everything I could ever ask for and never have to lift a finger. Not to mention everyone treating you with respect and sucking up to you and the admiration. I wanted that!"
"You stole it from him!"
"The hell with the prince!" Reevo snapped. "I was going to kill him that night and be done with it but I wanted to test out my curse ability!"
"You intended to kill him?!"
"Of course, I did. I was going to kill those kitsune who found me, too. But I wanted to have some fun and show them how powerful I had become. I cursed them and put them on display for all to see and force them to watch what I was doing as the prince. It didn't really matter to me anyway. Maids can be clumsy. If one of them knocks over a cursed object and breaks it, that person or kitsune dies. You think I care either way? The way I see it, they did the work for me."
Naruto went for Reevo's legs. "You're sick and cruel!" Reevo kicked him and flipped Naruto onto his back and pinned him down.
"You think I care? I was the one who wanted them all dead in the first place. I called the hunters! I stopped the offerings! I made that human in town hate them! And I was going to do the same thing to the rest of them. Don't you get it? I want them all dead! Same thing for any human who gets in my way! I'll kill the prince, the staff, the people in town, Sakura. It doesn't matter to me. I'll do whatever I want!"
Naruto bit Reevo on the jaw when his head was in reach. He tasted blood. Reevo stomped on Naruto's neck, cutting off his air and forcing him to let go.
"I cursed you as well that night. You were following me. I sometimes change into a fox at night. Sometimes it's for the hell of it, and other times it's to see what else I can do to make the humans hate kitsune. Ryosuke and the others want peace. No doubt by now most if not all of them hate or fear humans. I was trying to start a war with them. I wanted the humans to kill them. If I got the kitsune desperate enough or angry enough, I was sure they would start attacking humans themselves. I don't know what took them so long. I was going to give them another push in hopes it would finally put them over the edge."
Reevo had this all planned out. He wanted to make sure there were no loose ends. If one thing didn't work, then he had a back-up. So far, it had been working. Even his plan to get the kitsune to have bitterness toward humans. Most of them were afraid of humans. Especially Seki after seeing what a human had done to his older brother. Sonar was getting angry at the humans and wanted to do something about it. Reevo was pushing him toward the edge. All his pushing was starting to get to both sides. Human and Kitsune. He wanted them to hate each other and for the humans to kill the kitsune.
It really wasn't their fault. Most of what had happened was his doing, not theirs. He was blaming either side for the things he was doing. He made that old man hate kitsune enough to make him kill when he saw one near his home. He stopped the offerings to force the kitsune to come into town, going against the deal that was made. The kitsune thought it was the humans when it was actually Reevo manipulating the humans and forcing them to stop the offerings. He called the hunters and blamed it on the demands of the people so the kitsune would think it was their doing.
The way Naruto saw it, it was all Reevo's fault. Sure, some things were the fault of the humans and the kitsune, but he simplified it in his mind and was convinced that if it weren't for Reevo, none of this would have happened. There would have been peace. The old man's wife would still be alive and he wouldn't hate kitsune. The offerings would have continued and the two sides would never bother each other.
"You really hate us that much?" Ryosuke asked, standing over Naruto. Seeing him so close made Reevo back away, but not out of fear. Naruto got to his feet and watched Ryosuke closely. He still looked hurt. This was a kitsune he trusted and grew up with, and he betrayed them all. "You hate us so much you would have us all killed? You would pin things on us and have the humans hate us when we've done nothing?"
"I'm sure you would have done something," said Reevo. "The way I saw it, if I blamed some things on you, and the humans then made a move of their own, then you guys would then do something yourselves, thinking it was justified. I just gave everyone a push."
"What were you doing that night you cursed me?" Naruto asked. If Reevo went out to cause trouble for both sides, what was he plotting that night?
Reevo shrugged. "I was just going to wing it a little. Actually, I was going to do something to make the ninja I called see the kitsune as the enemy as well. That was my original thought. Then I saw you following me and I had to curse you. I was going to turn you into an object and then come up with a story about you disappearing and get your friends all worked up." Then Reevo frowned. "But for some reason, things didn't turn out the way I wanted. I wanted to turn you into an object like I did everyone else, but it didn't work that way with you."
Naruto blinked. Reevo didn't mean to curse him the way that he did?
"I can't always control what a person turns into. If I want them to turn into a small statue, they will, but I can't control the shape they take on. Same thing if I wanted to turn them into a lamp. They will become a lamp, but the color and shape are beyond my control. I wanted to turn you into an ornament, but for some reason you turned out like this and I'm not sure why. Once I saw that you weren't an object, I had to rethink my approach. Not to mention how the change is usually pretty quick. But you were still chasing me so I got scared. That had never happened before."
There was a delayed reaction in Naruto Reevo had never seen before. Naruto was different.
"Don't worry. I can just kill you and call it even." Reevo crouched down, ready to spring. "And as for your friends, there's only two left and something tells me they won't leave without their buddies. Maybe I'll just kill them, too. No one will bother looking for any of you. Ninja die on missions all the time. It won't look out of the ordinary."
Sai and Neji were next on his hit list. Naruto couldn't let that happen. This was turning into an all-out war because of this fox. Reevo had gone too far. Now he was going to kill anyone he pleased, not just the ones who posed a threat or got in his way. Anyone.
"Leave Naruto and his friends out of this!" shouted Ryosuke. "This is between you and me!"
"All of you, actually. It's not just you I hate. It's all of you."
"No," said Ryosuke. "As their leader, everything is on me. If you want to get to them, you'll have to go through me. I will protect them."
Reevo laughed. "You can't protect them. You were always too timid for the job. You never wanted to lead. I did. Now look at me. I'm a freaking prince." Reevo bent his four legs. "And as prince, I hereby command you to die!"
Ryosuke shoved Naruto out of the way and the two clashed in the air, Reevo biting Ryosuke's neck.
"Ryosuke!" Naruto tried to help.
"No! Stay back, Naruto!" Ryosuke took Reevo with him and the two slammed into the side of the fountain. "He's mine! I have to be the one to do this!"
Naruto stopped and watched. He was right. This was something Ryosuke had to do on his own. How could he lead if he had to rely on others to fight for him? Naruto understood. There was a time for a leader to call for aid and a time to do things on his own. Ryosuke had to do this for his friends. He had to be their leader. This was how it was supposed to be.
"I won't let you hurt any more people!" Ryosuke pressed Reevo into the side of the fountain. "Human or kitsune, friend or stranger, I won't let you! Leave them all alone!"
"You do not tell me what to do!" Reevo bit Ryosuke's shoulder and bent over backwards, taking Ryosuke with him into the fountain. Naruto couldn't see them from his low perspective, but he could hear a lot of splashing and growling. "I do what I want! I obey no one! I answer to no one! I will not be bound by consequences. Anyone who tells me otherwise will die!"
"You are hurting the innocent! Forcing hatred on those who only want to live in peace! Why must you start something like this?"
"I want you all dead! I'll kill you! Then I'll kill Naruto and the rest of you filth! You cannot stop me!"
They fell out of the fountain and chased each other across the grass, running into bushes and flowerbeds. Naruto watched them, inhaling the smell of blood on the air. Someone was going to die.
If Ryosuke failed, then Naruto had to be the one to stop Reevo. This couldn't go on.
Reevo threw Ryosuke into the stone steps of the palace. Ryosuke rolled out of the way and threw himself into Reevo's ribs. They chased each other across the pathway to the palace. They ran across the yard and slammed into the gate. Their snarls were getting louder. Blood stained the metal and stone. Ryosuke bit Reevo's shoulder and threw him down onto the grass. Reevo kicked him repeatedly, trying to get him off. He bit Ryosuke's chest and arms. He pushed Ryosuke off of him and before Ryosuke could react, Reevo bit his side.
Naruto heard Ryosuke cry out in pain and saw the attack from where he stood. They chased each other again and disappeared behind a bush. Naruto couldn't stand it anymore and ran down the hill after them. He wanted to help.
Reevo pounced and Ryosuke stepped out of the way. They run up the steps of the palace and Reevo bit Ryosuke's tail, dragging him back. Ryosuke turned around and flipped Reevo over onto his back. He pressed his paws into Reevo's chest, holding him down.
Unable to get up, Reevo could only stare at the kitsune pinning him down. Above them was the palace he called home. The towering walls loomed over them at an angle. The palace he stole from the prince. It was his now. Once he finished with Ryosuke, he would go back inside and ask for something to drink from the many servants he had at his fingertips. He would sit atop his throne and give his many commands and punish anyone who did not obey. This was the life he wanted.
His eyes rolled to the gate. On the other side was a town and beyond that was the mountain. He could see the top of it from where he lay on the steps, cutting into the sky and becoming one with the clouds. The noisy insects, the dark clouds, the wet grass and soft soil. The many animals that lived there, the waterfall that fell into the stream below, and the trees that offered shelter and food. The kitsune that lived there, all banding together and making sure one was never alone. If someone was hurt, they would come. If someone was sad, they would come. If someone was bored, they would come. If someone was hungry, they would come. If someone was happy, they were there, all laughing and smiling together.
How he hated them.
Content in their simplicity. Never wanting more than what they had, satisfied with just getting by. Happy just being together and never wanting to cause harm to others. Putting a limit on the pranks they performed and never being envious of humans or the lives they led. Reevo could never have that. He never wanted that. He always wanted more. He wanted a life without limits, without consequences. He would do anything to get what he wanted. Even kill.
Reevo turned back to the kitsune holding him down, his green eyes pleading for mercy. Reevo's yellow eyes challenged his and he snarled. "I will never stop." He meant it with every ounce of his being.
Ryosuke knew that. He didn't care who it was, Reevo was going to kill them. With reason or on a whim, he was going to kill them.
Seeing his chance, Reevo kicked Ryosuke off of him and went in for another attack. His teeth closed around Ryosuke's paw as he blocked his throat from the attack. Ryosuke didn't pull away. He forced his paw further into Reevo's mouth, pushing his head and the rest of him back. Once Reevo was on the ground again, Ryosuke moved in for his final attack. He bit down on Reevo's neck and a warm gush of blood came pouring forth. Reevo gurgled and Ryosuke twisted his throat until there was a loud snap, ending the fight.
The painting on the wall began to rattle and shake. The canvas stretched as if someone were pushing on it from the other side. The image started to move. A human fell from the painting and landed on the carpet in the hallway. The real Prince Akio lifted his head and pushed himself up on his hands. He looked around. The rattling continued. A statue bounced on the wooden table and suddenly transformed into a human. His weight was too much for the small table and he and the table went tumbling down. The prince knew this man. It was one of his servants.
Further down the hall, another object began to rattle and suddenly change shape, transforming into a fox. The fox landed on the ground and another fox fell from the shelf above him and joined him on the floor. The bookcase broke as another object changed back into a maid and took the shelves with her. Another object shook and changed back into the assassin. The assassin jumped back as three foxes came running from another hallway.
The prince sat back and watched as a pack of foxes ran down the hall in a furry stampede moving quickly toward the exit.
"My lord!"
The prince looked up. The maid and servant came from down the hall and rushed to his side. The prince was too weak to stand. His legs weren't working properly. His body felt so stiff and weak.
"What is going on?"
"What happened?"
Before anyone could think of an answer, more servants were starting to flood the halls, hearing a strange ruckus. When they saw the prince on the floor, they all rushed to his aid.
Sai appeared at the end of the hall wondering what all the noise was about. He felt something brush against his leg and looked down. Two small foxes scampered by him, running to catch up with the rest of their friends. "Foxes? What is going on here?"
In the prince's bedroom, the glass flower started to shake and Sakura appeared on the overturned chair, landing on her tailbone. She quickly got to her feet and ran toward the window. She looked from left to right. Her hand touched something wet and sticky. There was blood on the windowsill. She quickly climbed over the broken glass and ran outside.
Out in the yard, Naruto stumbled as his body suddenly changed back into that of a human. Since he was still running at the time of the change, Naruto continued to run on all fours until he finally tripped and rolled down the hill and onto the stone walkway. He rolled into a sitting position and looked down at his hands and feet. He wasn't a fox anymore. He looked up at the sky. It was still nighttime. He looked behind him. No tail. He was human again.
Which must have meant...
"Ryosuke!" Naruto stood on his human legs and ran to the palace steps, following the trail of blood. "Ryosuke! I'm human again. The curse was lifted. I'm back to..."
Naruto stood where he was, looking at Ryosuke leaning over the corpse on the steps. Reevo was dead.
Ryosuke lifted his head and gave Naruto a sad look. His muzzle was dripping in blood.
"Ryosuke..."
The green-eyed fox didn't turn away when Naruto said his name. When Naruto said nothing, he looked down at Reevo's body.
"He wasn't going to stop," Naruto tried to comfort him. "You... had to do it."
Though Ryosuke knew it was the truth, he still didn't look any less bothered by what he had done. "I've never had to kill one of my own before." They hunted animals but never their own kind. Ryosuke never had to kill a kitsune before. This was his first. "I don't like it."
Naruto walked closer and bent down, putting an arm around Ryosuke. "He said he wasn't going to stop. He saw nothing wrong with what he was doing. He was going to kill kitsune and humans. That couldn't happen."
"I know..."
Naruto wasn't sure if this was the right time to bring it up, but he said, "You could have just cursed him. I mean, you can do it now, can't you? Being a two-tails and all."
Ryosuke shook his head. "No. I will never use a curse on someone. I will not do what he did. Ever."
There was no way Ryosuke was going to do anything Reevo did, which included placing a curse on someone. He wasn't going to stoop to his level. Ryosuke knew what it meant. For him to use the same method as Reevo...
Naruto understood his reasoning without him having to explain it.
Naruto stroked Ryosuke's matted and bloody fur. "It's ok. It's ok."
Ryosuke cried, his tears dropping onto Reevo's dead body. "How do you do it?" he asked softly. "Ninja fight in battle all the time. They see death a lot. You even have to kill a person, a fellow human. How do you manage it?"
Ryosuke wasn't asking how to kill a person. He was asking how one dealt with the pain of having to do it.
"Well..." Naruto spoken gently to him as he rubbed his fur. "We were taught that people die all the time doing what we do. Even during our exams, we were told not to die. We were kids at the time. The adults told us that people die during the exams all the time and it was just to see if we were able to survive and see real combat. If we couldn't survive that then we couldn't survive out there on real missions. During the exams we could quit and get out of there. It was safer. I told them that I wasn't going to back down from a fight. That if I couldn't do this, then I would never get stronger."
"So, you have to kill to become strong?" Ryosuke asked. "That's the ninja way?"
"No." Naruto stopped rubbing his fur but kept his hand on Ryosuke's back. "It was to show us how hard life could be. That these were the things ninja had to face. And there are some ninja who stray from the path and become rouge ninja. Those ones we have to stop. Reevo was a lot like a rouge ninja. He had to be stopped. The things he did and said were a lot like the rouge ninja I told you about."
Ryosuke continued to cry, sniffling softly which made his shoulder move up and down under Naruto's hand.
"But you know what?" Naruto said to him. "Kakashi-sensei told me that no matter what, we have to protect our friends. Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. He said he would gladly give his life to protect us. That we have to be willing to fight for the sake of our friends and those who rely on us. The ones who believe in us. You have to be willing to do anything to save them."
Ryosuke lifted his head to look at him.
"You didn't want to do it. I know you didn't. He didn't give you a choice. It had to be done. He was never going to stop. He was going to kill everyone, human or kitsune. It didn't matter to him." Naruto held Ryosuke tightly, giving him a one-armed hug. "You did it for the sake of your friends. Just like I would. I would do anything to protect my friends. Even if it means doing something that's very, very hard."
Ryosuke dried his tears and placed his chin on Naruto's knee.
"You're nothing like Reevo. If you were, it wouldn't bother you as much as it is. He was just killing for no real reason other than he could. You did what you did to protect your friends." Naruto scratched Ryosuke behind the ear. "I'm not worried about you at all."
"You spoke before about being the leader of you own village, Naruto," he said. "You even told Reevo that the only way to do that is through hard work. Not taking it from someone else."
"That's right. I did say that. And I meant it."
"But if it's such a heavy burden, why do you want to do it?" he asked. "Why do you want to be the leader? Why are you willing to do such difficult things? Even the things that cause you pain and heartache? Why would you do it?"
Naruto stroked Ryosuke's back. "Because it's all for them. It's for my friends. It's to protect the people that matter to you. Even if it sometimes means doing difficult things. And the people who trust you to watch over them. It's to make the world safe for them." Naruto took his hand off Ryosuke. "Isn't that why you became a two-tails? For them?"
Ryosuke lifted his head and sat up straight. "Yes. I did it to protect them. I did it for them."
Naruto smiled. "See? Your heart's in the right place. All for the sake of your friends. As hard as it was for you, you did it for them."
Ryosuke seemed comforted by Naruto's words. He no longer looked sad. His ears twitched and his head turned toward the gate.
Naruto followed his gaze to the kitsune running up the path toward the palace. Everyone was there. Sonar, Lunabell, Aurora, Sammi, Egao, Superu, Ishi, and Seki, all squeezing through the front gate, calling his name.
"Ryosuke! Are you alright? How's Naruto? Is everything ok?"
Naruto stood and walked with Ryosuke over to the group of kitsune. They were surprised to see Naruto as a human but weren't fearful of him.
"Ryosuke asked where you had run off to and I told him that you were saying something about the palace and the prince," Seki told him. "He ran off and when he didn't come back, we got worried."
"We all decided to come and see if he was in any danger," said Sammi.
"We were worried for nothing," chirped Lunabell. "Look! He has two tails now!"
"Well, well, well," chuckled Sonar. "Look who is no longer resisting a change for the better."
Superu looked Ryosuke up and down. "He must have been in one hell of a scuffle. He's all bloody. Ryosuke, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"What the hell happened?"
"Naruto's bloody, too. Were you two guys fighting again?"
"Nothing like that."
Naruto looked away from the group to look at the dead fox on the steps. Reevo was still there. Naruto wondered what would become of him now. He was an enemy but he was still a part of their group. Should he let the staff take care of the body or should he do something about it? Did the other kitsune notice him yet? Maybe he should point it out to them and have them decide what needed to be done next.
Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted movement. He turned and saw another group of foxes running from around the side of the palace and stand by the fountain. They saw Naruto looking at them and seemed unwilling to move. Naruto wanted to wave to them and let them know he meant no harm. That was when he noticed how quiet it had gotten. The kitsune had stopped chatting.
He looked down and saw the shocked look on Seki's face. He was staring into the crowd of foxes in the yard, his eyes widening looking at one fox in particular. His lower lip trembled. He took two steps forward slowly, then stopped. His eyes were filling with tears.
One of the foxes broke away from the group and bounded toward Seki.
"Reki!" Seki ran forward, wailing. The two met in the middle of the yard and collided in a tearful embrace. "Oh, Reki! Reki! My brother!" They rolled over each other, laughing and crying. Seki licked his younger brother's face and Reki licked him back. They whimpered like ecstatic puppies, their tails swishing back and forth in joy.
Naruto smiled at the happy reunion. "If that's Seki's brother, then those other foxes must be..."
The kitsune reunited with each other, tails wagging and chattering away. Tears were shed, faces were licked. Everyone was so happy to see each other.
The lights in the palace started to flick on, casting square lights in the yard. The kitsune looked frightened and gathered around Ryosuke, recognizing him as their true leader. He had to keep them safe. "Let's go home," Ryosuke told them. The group ran for the gate and squeezed through the bars.
Before following the rest of the group, Seki ran back to Naruto and nuzzled his leg. "Thank you for keeping your promise." Before Naruto could respond, Seki ran alongside his brother and the two left the palace yard.
Around the corner of the palace, Sakura watched as over a dozen foxes fled the grounds through the front gate. Naruto watched them go, the only human in the yard. Glad to see him, Sakura hurried over, calling his name. "Hey, Naruto! Naru..." She slowed her steps, seeing him have a conversation with a fox with two tails. It was the same fox she had seen in the prince's bedroom. She wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying. As she moved closer, the fox took notice of her and stopped speaking. Sakura halted, wondering if she had scared it.
Its green eyes looked straight at her. She wasn't afraid. The look in its eyes was strangely comforting, as if she were staring into the eyes of a guardian spirit. The fox looked back at Naruto, nodded once, then turned away and ran through the bars of the front gate and was off. It moved so quickly. It was out of sight in a matter of seconds.
Sakura stood beside Naruto who was still staring out in the direction the fox had left. "Naruto?"
He turned away and looked her up and down. He smiled. "Sakura. You're ok."
"Yeah." Sakura seemed surprised to see that herself. "So, what exactly has been going on? Who was that fox?"
Naruto looked off in the direction of the mountain. "Just a friend."
There are two chapters left.
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