Sasuke: Truth

Sasuke recognised the danger they were in the instant Naruto lost his temper -the scream of pure fury was a clue- and hung back from the mêlée coalescing around his berserk team-mate, picking off stragglers attempting to escape the bloody blond whirlwind with thrown kunai and shuriken. Haku emulated him, launching barrage after barrage of senbon at the fleeing thugs. It wasn't until Naruto's chakra signature exploded into orangey-red malevolence that the Uchiha started started to become concerned for his team-mate's wellbeing. Berserk fury was one thing; abnormal chakra enveloping his body to form a horse-sized quadruped with long ears and a tail was altogether more disturbing. Especially since the chakra felt wrong.

The casual viciousness of the orange beast-thing added to the way its chakra corroded the flesh of the bandits it brushed against did nothing to offset his unease.

Unease, ha! I am afraid. Afraid of my team-mate who is ordinarily so cheerfully honourable and is now floating inside a giant chakra...fox?

A fox made of orange chakra, like Naruto's description of the bijuu less than an hour ago.

I am a moron. Why else would Naruto know so much about jinchuuriki? Nothing he does or learns is random. He is a Sacrifice.

Sasuke ran after the rampaging fox, which thankfully was concentrating its destructive efforts on the fleeing thugs and ignoring both the scattered civilians and the battered buildings. It was considerably larger than a draft ox and had only one tail -almost as long as the beast itself- which Sasuke was profoundly grateful for. If this was indeed a manifestation of the terrible Kyuubi no Yoko, it was a very minor one. Judging by the carnage left in its wake however, even a one-tailed fox was overkill for mere bandit extermination.

The Uchiha rounded a corner into the village square and skidded to a halt, eyes widening and pupils constricting as he almost ran into the chakra construct. The fox's muzzle tilted and Sasuke was transfixed by a single burning orange eye.

Oh dear kami ohDearKamiOhKamiI'mgoingtoDIE...

The world gained a peculiar clarity, slowing around him as the chakra that made up the body of the fox in front of him gained depth and structure. After an excruciatingly long pause the bijuu snorted and looked away, dismissing him as it settled down to sprawl in the dirt like an ordinary animal. Sasuke sagged in relief.

I am not afraid of Naruto; I will never be afraid of Naruto. But this is not Naruto and it is absolutely petrifying. The dobe has this, this THING locked inside his body all the time? Day and Night? How does he stay sane?

"Sasuke!"

The Uchiha shifted sideways just enough to see Hatake Kakashi jump down into the square from a nearby rooftop.

"Here, Sensei," he croaked, heart still pounding madly as he took deep breaths to keep himself from hyperventilating, "I'm not hurt."

"Are you sure?" The copy-nin asked carefully, mismatched eyes never leaving the lounging fox.

"Positive. No blood, no burns and very few bruises. It just...startled me," Sasuke said as firmly as he could, looking up to meet his sensei's eyes so as to convince the jounin of his sincerity.

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly. "Sasuke, you have the sharingan," he said quietly.

"I do?" The fox-thing snorted derisively and rolled its eyes. "Dobe," Sasuke growled automatically then blanched as the bijuu turned its head to stare him down with both eyes.

"Uzumaki Naruto is currently unavailable," it rumbled in surprisingly bland tones, looking down its nose at the two ninja, "The strain of going completely berserk then opening his seal have shut down his mind. He would have collapsed after going berserk anyway, but would have been left vulnerable to attack until he recovered. I will inform you once he is sufficiently aware to reawaken."

"Kyuubi," Sasuke rasped, distantly aware that his Sensei was rooted to the spot.

"Clever little Uchiha," the bijuu agreed. "I mean no harm to the allies of my kit. Or to his foster-mother's mate," it added grudgingly, eyeing Kakashi like the jounin was something smelly on the bottom of its paw, "but I can and will defend us from any who attempt to harm us. We have a deal."

"Naruto made a deal with you?" Kakashi asked faintly, apparently coming to terms with the fact that his death was not actually as imminent as he had feared.

"His foster-mother set the provisional terms, but I will abide by it until Naruto decides against agreeing to it," the Kyuubi calmly informed him. "The bandits are dead; all that remains is to protect the kit's allies until he reawakens."

"Protect?" Kakashi repeated dumbly.

"you are not a fool, little jounin;" the bijuu rumbled drily, "try not to act like one."

A/N: And so Sasuke becomes aware of Kyuubi, meeting it even before Naruto -but after Ame- and Kakashi gets the fright of a lifetime. I kinda enjoy doing this to him; he's too complacent for his own good, you know. Anyway, short chapter and the wave arc will be over in a bit. My plans for the Exams Arc are already in motion, but that's two months away and there will be a lot happening in that time. A special hello to my readers in non-english-speaking countries! I work extra hard on my grammer and spelling so as to be properly comprehensible for you guys.