For marc(), Writer of my 50th review!

Naruto & Kakashi: Confrontation

Naruto came to his senses with the feeling of cold stone pressed against his cheek. He opened his eyes, rolled into a sitting position and looked up.

And up...

… and up.

"Wow," he whispered, taking in the vast, octagonal, jade-walled chamber he was seated in the centre of.

"Welcome back, kit."

Naruto's head flicked around to stare at one of the distant walls. That particular wall wasn't there; in its place were bars and seals and behind them, not all that far from the shadowed ceiling, were eyes.

Huge, glowing, orange eyes with ovoid pupils.

"Kyuubi no Yoko," Naruto murmured in awe as his eyes adjusted to the dark and he took in the immense yet elegant form of the mightiest of the bijuu.

"Indeed," the bijuu replied calmly. "We have much to discuss, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, born to my previous Sacrifice Uzumaki Kushina the Akashi, princess of Uzu no kuni, and Namikaze Minato, Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou and Yondaime hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. You are very much your parents' child and very much the whirling maelstrom of upheaval they named you for."

The confirmation of his heritage -not to mention the extra details- came as a shock, but Naruto weathered it as stoically as possible. In his kaa-san's lectures on Youkai and Bijuu in general she had stressed that self control was essential in order to gain their respect. The more impassive a façade he maintained the better. He rose to his feet and bowed politely: "What is it you wish to discuss, Kyuubi-dono?"

Teeth flashed as the fox smiled. "The deal, Naruto-dono. What else?"

"To which deal do you refer, Kyuubi-dono?" Naruto wasn't sure if the fox was mocking him or not, so ignored the honorific it had used to address him.

The nine-tailed demon kitsune made a huffing sound suspiciously like a snicker and dropped down to sprawl across the floor of its cage. "You'll do. Amemaihana-sama made a bargain with me on your behalf for access to my chakra in accordance to your physical limits, complete, comprehensible and suitable instruction in its usage and advice on other matters as and when appropriate."

Naruto considered it. It sounded like a good offer. But then again, nothing ever came for free. The blond had learned that lesson early on. "Sounds costly, Kyuubi-dono."

"Call me Yoko-san. She promised me suitable vengeance on the ones responsible for my imprisonment, which she has granted already, and a litter of kits with the parentage of my choice."

Naruto blinked. "Wait a minute Yoko-san; Kaa-san agreed for me to breed?"

The Kyuubi smiled toothily. "Provisionally."

"Yoko-san, just to be completely clear, you want me to get a girl of your choosing pregnant-"

"Iie, my kokitsune. I want a number of men of my choosing to get you pregnant. That way I have complete control over their heritage."

Naruto, for only the third time in his entire life, was shocked completely speechless. He gaped at the Kyuubi for a few seconds then tried to say something -anything- coherent. "I, er, ano, uh," he managed. "Yoko-san?"

The fox huffed in amusement. "There really is no hurry, kit. It will be almost three years before your body will be sufficiently mature to bear young and I am as yet undecided as to who would be a suitable male candidate."

"I don't count as a male candidate?"

The bijuu's eyes narrowed. "I will have no part of the blond moron who fathered you in my offspring. Your mother was quite adequate for a human and both competent and entertaining; your sire however did not know his limits. I will not have my kits partaking in the foolishness he indulged in. He was as insistent in overshooting his capabilities as you are, except you have my chakra and stamina to back you up."

"So they're going to be my mother's grandchildren but not my father's?" Naruto clarified.

"Indeed. And they will be Uzumakis in name as well as in blood. You are your mother's heir after all and that clan has a respectable heritage."

Naruto wondered briefly what, exactly, the Kyuubi would consider respectable. "Will you not consider alternatives, Yoko-san?" he inquired cautiously.

"Kits are a valuable and high-maintenance investment. Slaughtering an entire settlement down to the last infant once a year for nine years would be sufficient I suppose. A major ninja village or similarly sized civilian town, that is."

Naruto paled and swallowed hard. Kits it is then. "I, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, do bind myself to the deal made on my behalf by Amemaihana-sama with the Kyuubi no Yoko. So I pledge myself."

"And I pledge myself also," the Kyuubi rumbled. "Now wake up; your sensei is being difficult and your team-mate's eyes are giving me the creeps."

Kakashi watched the giant, glowing, translucent orange fox curled up in the village square with narrowed and wary mismatched eyes. Next to him Sasuke stared at his team-mate's sentient chakra cocoon with blank red eyes, each iris containing a single black tomoe lazily orbiting the was curled up in a fetal ball within the beast's ribcage where its vital organs should have been And, in a sense, are.

The jinchuuriki stirred and the chakra construct wavered and retreated, shrinking smoothly as it flowed back into the blond's body like water down a plughole. With his sharingan eye Kakashi could see that the complex seal over his student's navel gate was at the centre of the vortex.

It was almost beautiful.

When the viscous orange chakra had receded to an inch-thick layer that rippled and billowed like liquid fire Naruto opened his eyes and made the inarticulate noises common to all those waking from prolonged unconsciousness:

"Uhh... wha?"

Kakashi did his best to ignore his oldest student's sharp black claws, thick whisker-marks, pointed ears, orange irises, slit pupils and mouth full of very sharp teeth but it was not easy. The fact that the blond was acting like a month-old kitten did help though.

"Naruto?"

"Hai, Sensei," the blond mumbled, rolling into a sitting position and staring at his hands, "Just give me a sec'."

The jounin watched as the chakra cloak sank into his student's skin and the claws, fangs and whisker-marks receded back to normal while his eyes faded to blue and his pupils rounded.

"Okay, now we can talk," Naruto said as he gave his formerly-clawed feet a critical once-over. "Is everyone alright, Kakashi-sen -Sasuke?" The blond boy's eyes widened as he noticed his team-mate for the first time.

Sasuke stared at Naruto from his perch next to the jounin. "You're a jinchuuriki, dobe."

The flat statement startled Kakashi; He hadn't realised any of the rookie genin even knew what a jinchuuriki was.

"Ano... aa?" Naruto ventured, looking deeply uncomfortable. "Gomen for not telling you earlier, there's this law-"

"Aa," Sasuke agreed, "there would be. Secret weapons are only secret if nobody knows about them. We're good."

"Oh. Okay then. How did you get your sharingan, teme?"

Sasuke reddened. "Kyuubi scared me."

"Ah." Kakashi watched Naruto successfully squash his mirth until his voice was only slightly wobbly. "Call him Yoko; it's less distinctive and could be a normal ninja nickname."

"Hai. Are you going to tell Sakura?" Sasuke asked. "This isn't something that should be kept from her. It might be life or death one day."

Kakashi watched the extremely surreal interaction between his two male students as he pulled his hitai-ite back over his sharingan eye. What happened there and how did I miss it?

"Um, I can't tell her even if I should. She is part of team seven but, well, she's civilian-born and kinda immature," Naruto said cautiously, "she might not understand even if I did tell her. We could tell her about bijuu and jinchuuriki in general -in case we come across one and have to flee for our lives- and take it as it comes. She's intelligent but not really all that smart."

"Good enough, dobe."

"Great. Now could you switch your eyes off? They make Yoko jumpy."

Sasuke's eyes faded to black. "Jumpy? Why?"

Naruto's eyes went blank and crossed slightly, his attention focused inwards. "Uchiha Madara used Mangekyou sharingan to enslave Yoko to his will and set it on Konoha like an attack dog," the blond said flatly after a short pause, pupils constricting into slits for an instant before returning to normal. "Old bastard's dead now, but the swirly eyes are still a sore spot."

"Noted," Sasuke conceded with a shiver.

"Naruto, Kyu- Yoko said you had a deal with it. What deal?" Kakashi asked, pushing as much authority as he could muster into the question.

"It's not ninja-related Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said quietly. "no homicidal rampages, no stealing from temples; nothing remotely criminal. Kaa-san set it up and I agreed to abide. It's a good bargain. I get lots out of it and Kaa-san's paid for half of it already."

"And the other half?"

"Not your jurisdiction, Sensei, I promise," Naruto said firmly, eyes pleading for the jounin to understand. "talk to Ame-kaa-san if you must, Kakashi-sensei, but it's years away in the future so I have time to prepare and concentrate on my career first. Please?"

"We will resume this conversation at a later date," Kakashi said sternly, "but for now I'll let it drop. You can both help the locals pile up the corpses for disposal. Remember to check them for valuables first."

Sasuke went green but nodded. Disposal meant cremation and the Uchiha was still feeling the aftermath of burning one of the Demon Brothers alive.

Naruto nodded too. "Hai, Sensei." He hurried off at once, leading the queasy Uchiha by the hand. Kakashi had noted with interest that the younger boy had got a little clingy after his first kill. At least Naruto doesn't seem to mind. Then again, he probably sees it as part of 'whatever it takes to do the mission and keep everyone safe'. Watching them get to work gave the jounin a strange feeling in his gut. Seeing the mini-kyuubi had given him terrifying flashbacks to the slaughter the bijuu had comitted almost thirteen years ago. Learning that Uchiha Madara of all people was responsible -wasn't the Shodaime supposed to have killed him at the valley of the end?- made him uncomfortable. It also made him wonder about the Uchiha massacre. Madara was alive then. I wonder...

...and is now dead, probably as part of the Kyuubi's 'deal'. Ame mentioned his demise before we left on this mission, but the Sandaime was surprised by the news.

Does that mean Ame killed him?

While pregnant?

But a bargain with the nine-tailed demon-fox of all things? What does Naruto have that Kyuubi could possibly want that isn't ninja-related? Which reminds me: I need to check on the client. Haku said that Naruto ordered some clones to take Tazuna home and confirmed that he was safely inside the seal perimeter before approaching the village. Sakura and Zabuza were at the house so he's probably safe and sound.

Kakashi had already sent one of his nin-dogs back to Konoha nine days previously with the news of Tazuna's deception. Today's fiasco required a second message. An urgent one directly to the Sandaime rather than a standard one to the missions desk. I'll have to send the fastest ninken.

The copy-nin did however have to admit that Kyuubi had been both efficient and careful in its homicidal rampage: the only fox-related casualties were Gatou's thugs and the infrastructure was undamaged. He had seen civilians with bruises, cuts and the occasional broken bone here and there, but none with even the smallest chakra burn. It was reassuring that the fox was a creature of its word, however personally unpleasant. Of course, the thugs were all somewhere between char-grilled and carbonised, which again brought back unwelcome memories. It was perhaps cruel of me to assign this task to Sasuke but the shinobi lifestyle is not gentle. To be nauseous and weak around burns and fire is a flaw that he must overcome before it kills him.

And then there is Naruto.

Something tells me that part of his bargain with the demon-fox involves instruction in the use of its chakra; Ame-chan would settle for nothing less.

I need to overcome my own fear of the damn bijuu lest I weaken my team and see to it that no-one in Konoha tries to kill him for making use of his burden. He has the potential for being the village's greatest assent in a generation and I will not see it wasted.

Maybe I could recruit some of Ame-koi's 'friends' to run interference'.

That last idea appealed a great deal.

Kokitsune = fox kit

A/N: And we have aftermath, ladies and gentlemen. I integrated Naruto and Kakashi rather than have two short chapters. My computer is being temperamental still but I'm coping. Remember, reviews are what keep me writing!

A/N2: Gah! Finally! I've been trying to upload this for days! Damned error messages!