How long has it been since I last updated? Six months? Oh man do I fail! Well, I hope you're still enjoying this story even if I haven't updated in a while. I reread it and noticed a lot of word errors. Mostly switching words around that sounded like each other, and it seems I've missed placing in a few honorifics which I have edited (hopefully all). Hope it wasn't an annoyance to deal with!
Anyway.
Thanks for reading!
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
-Sakura-
January 7th, Monday after school.
"So, so, so! Did you and Sasuke-kun get together or not?" Ino demanded from Sakura tugging on her sleeve as they walked to their dormitory. Sakura gave a pouty face and a glare at the same time. Ino grinned then gave her own pouty face. "That's a no, isn't it?"
"Yes, Ino, that is a no." Sakura pulled out her dorm card and opened up the door heading into the warmth of the girls' dormitory. Ino followed quickly inside.
"How come? What's that necklace mean?" Ino asked as she skipped ahead to the stairs.
Sakura sighed pulling her hood down and fluffing her hair out. "It was a Christmas gift. That's all. He didn't ask me out, he didn't say he liked me, or anything!" Ino frowned and gave a light nod as they headed up to the second floor.
They walked in silence until they got to their door room and were inside. Ino turned on Sakura before she even had a chance to take off her jacket. "But getting a necklace like that must mean he means you're special to him in some way! I mean look," Ino pulled up a necklace from around her neck that was a gem made to look like flowers, "Choji gave this to me, and no one else got anything that special! Did anyone get something like that from Sasuke-kun, too?"
Sakura crossed her arms and stared at Ino silently. She does have a point. Sakura thought, but even so it's just a necklace right? I mean Naruto got one from his parents from what he told me on his birthday. Well…That was from his parents, but… "We're just friends. I don't think he's interested in girls too much. I think he just really missed me and wanted to give me a stone that matched my eyes or something."
Sakura watched as several emotions went across Ino's face before they landed on disappointment.
"Aw, I was so hoping you guys would get together." Ino mumbled as she flopped down on her bed. "We'll just have to try harder! And this time you'll tell him your feelings." Ino pointed a finger up at Sakura as she laid there with a determined expression on her face.
Sakura sighed. "Ino, I'll tell him when I'm ready, okay? I don't want things to get awkward if he happens to say no." Shaking her head, she took off her bag and went to change. She could feel Ino's stare, but ignored it. I'm sticking to be realistic; sorry Ino.
-oO0-o)
January 8th, Tuesday 5th period, English.
"Sakura-san?" Sakura looked up from her English book to see Rin hovering over her.
"Huh?" Sakura asked blinking slowly up at her. Rin smiled and waved at her. Sakura sat up straight and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I was concentrating. Is there something you needed, Rin-sensei?"
Rin nodded and placed a pile of papers on Sakura's desk. Sakura stared at them suspiciously. "Can you give these to the Student Council President, Neji Hyuuga?"
Sakura could only stare blankly at Rin as the rest of the class turned to look at them. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it immediately. Rin gave a small laugh and placed a small paper next to the papers.
"Here, special permission to go over to Kitsune High. I need them delivered now, and you have the highest grade so that's why you're chosen. You probably won't be back before the bell rings so take all of your things." Rin turned and went back to the front of the classroom where her desk was. Sakura continued to stare at the papers before shaking her head and getting up.
She went over to the door and grabbed her coat before placing her things in her book bag. After that she picked up the pile of papers, permission slip, and slipped out the door. As she followed the hallways she showed the monitors her permission slip before getting to the main gate outside that led to the boys' school.
The gate master looked up at her giving her a suspicious look before noticing the permission slip. Sakura felt sorry for the woman who had to sit out here in the snow, which seemed to be getting increasingly worse.
Once through the gate she plunged through the snow to hurry inside the school building.
-oO0-o)
"GAH!" Sakura shouted out as she fell backwards onto her butt. She gasped as papers fluttered everywhere. "Noooo!"
"Oh, shoot! I'm so sorry." An all too familiar voice mumbled out pulling her up to her feet. She blinked several times before blushing seeing Sasuke in front of her. His expression mimicked hers. "Sakura! What are you doing over here?"
"I… uh… well…" Sakura began to stutter out then shook her head to get her mind straight. "Rin-sensei asked me to deliver these," Sakura's eye twitched as she looked on the ground at the papers, "to Neji-san in the Student Council room…" A sigh escaped her lips as she dropped down to pick them up.
"Let me help you out here." Sasuke volunteered as he knelt down picking papers up in the farthest direction.
"No, no that's okay! Don't you have class to get to?" Sakura asked as she eyed Sasuke's school bag. He turned to her and gave a light smile that made her blush again.
"It's my lunch hour right now. I was a little bit late getting out of class, so I was just about to head to the lunchroom."
"Oh, well you should go eat then."
"Nah, I'll help you carry these." Sasuke handed Sakura the last of the papers before taking half of what was in her arms. Sakura pouted out then gave a light nod.
"I don't know where there Student Council room is anyway." She admitted sheepishly. Sasuke smirked and began to walk towards the stares. Sakura quickly followed after with a smile on her face.
This was totally unexpected! Sakura thought feeling happy. Of all the boys to run into, I'm quite pleased it was Sasuke-kun. A soft sigh escaped Sakura's lips as she watched after Sasuke.
Eventually, they made it to the Student Council room and dropped the papers next to Neji. Neji looked up at them with a frown. "What are these for, Sasuke Uchiha, and…?"
"Sakura Haruno!" Sakura announced and rolled her eyes. She placed her hands behind her back and gave a silent giggle. Pretending not to know me, eh? "And these are from Rin-sensei, my English teacher. She told me to deliver them to you immediately."
"Oh, yes of course. Thank you. I had almost forgotten." Neji bowed his head to Sakura before grabbing the pile and looking it over. "It seems out of order…"
"Ah well that's-" Sakura started with a panic.
"My fault." Sasuke interrupted placing his hands in his pockets. "I accidentally ran into Haruno-san. Do you want help organize these? It's my lunch hour."
Neji blinked at Sasuke then shook his head. "No, it's alright. Go have your lunch." Neji gestured with his hands for them to leave. Sasuke and Sakura bowed their heads before heading out of the Student Council room.
Sakura sighed relief as she walked next to Sasuke. "Oh man, the air between Neji at school is totally different than on that trip!"
"Definitely. Naruto told me it's a façade to protect himself and Hinata."
"Really? Heh, he is such a caring cousin…" Sakura smiled to herself as they headed down the stairs. "I should probably head back. I'm guessing 5th period will be up soon."
Sasuke stopped at the edge of the stairs as he looked up at the wall clock. Sakura followed his eyes then looked at him seeing a sad expression cross his face.
"Let me take you to the gate. I'll just text Naruto to sneak me a snack." Sasuke looked at Sakura with a hopeful expression. Sakura blushed and gave a light nod making Sasuke grin and start to walk again. "Which reminds me… I bet all these texts are from him…"
Sakura laughed shaking her head. "Panicking I bet!"
"No doubt. He sometimes over panics and it causes everyone around him to panic." Sasuke sighed mumbling as he flipped through his phone. "I mean… I'm worried about him sometimes… No a lot. After what happened… I can't blame him for wondering where I am when I don't say anything…"
Sakura blinked at Sasuke as his tone went from annoyed, worried, and finally serious. Something seemed to be on his mind. Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't find the right words. What could I possibly say to that? Not wanting this mood to stick, she looked up as they left the school building to think of a topic. The snow wasn't as heavy, but plenty of it was on the ground. Her eyes caught the mascots and she gave a light smile.
"The mascots… are wonderful, aren't they?" Sakura stopped to admire them. Sasuke stopped with her looking up. "They looked as if they belong together, and thinking how Naruto and Hinata-chan got to be them during Halloween makes me smile." Sakura smiled more and glanced to Sasuke to see his expression.
Her mood immediately dropped to see that his eyes had lit up in a small horror, but it quickly faded from his expression as he turned to look at Sakura seriously.
"Sakura… Do you know anything about the Kyuubi?" Sasuke asked.
"I… no, I don't know much about it. I know that the Kyuubi mascot was actually picked first for Konoha High. They changed it when they created the brother school calling it Kitsune High. They thought it would fit better compared to the Nibi." Sakura clenched her arm. "Sasuke-kun… Is there something on your mind?"
For a moment, Sasuke remained silent then bowed his head. "It's just… Minato once told me…" Sasuke shook his head and placed on a half-smirk. "Oh, never mind. I'm way over thinking this. C'mon, let me get you to the gate. It's getting way cold out here." Sasuke turned from Sakura and headed towards the main gate. Sakura stared after Sasuke before slowly following after.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
After school, the same day.
Naruto and Sasuke walked home quickly as they could to get out of the snowy weather. It had gotten worse since lunch.
"Now it decides to snow super hard when we're back in school!" Naruto shouted over the snow before slipping on ice and landing on his butt.
Sasuke reached down and helped him to his feet with a sigh. "It definitely isn't getting any better. We're not going to make it home at this point."
"Ugh, that's for sure!" Naruto groaned as he rubbed his back. "Is there any cover around here?"
Both boys looked left and right to see nothing of the sort except for a small cover where buses picked up people. Quickly, but safely, they jogged over and stood under the cover. It wasn't much, but it did keep out most of the storm.
Naruto shivered as he pulled his hood over his face more. "This is ridiculous weather…"
"That's for sure." Sasuke agreed throwing his hands into his jacket pockets. "It's fun until it gets like this." Naruto mumbled quietly in response.
They stood there hoping the storm would let up, but with no hope. Quickly, the sun's light faded and street lamps had turned on. Getting irritated with sitting, they cleared off the bench and sat curled up.
"I tried texting my Dad, but there doesn't seem to be any service." Naruto groaned as he stared at his cell phone. Sasuke nodded keeping his hands in his pockets. "There's no way we're going to get out of this…" Naruto stared off into the distance stopping his sentence mid-way. Sasuke glanced at him with a confused expression then followed his stare.
His eyes widened.
There, curled under a lamp, was a bright, orange coat of an animal. It was hard to tell what it was from here, but Sasuke assumed it was a cat of some sort. Snow was half-way covering the creature by now making him wonder if it was dead or not.
Naruto suddenly stood up and trudged out into the snow in its general direction.
"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted over the storm, but frowned when Naruto didn't answer. Sighing, Sasuke got up and followed after him.
When they approached the creature, Naruto kneeled down and dusted the snow off of it. Quickly, he took off his glove and pressed his hand to its body. "It's still warm! Sasuke, this fox is alive."
"We had better get it out of this… wait, fox?" Sasuke blinked slowly as he finally noticed the snout of the creature. It was very much indeed the shape of a fox. "Wait a minute, Naruto, we shouldn't touch this. It could be rabid."
"What?" Naruto glared up at Sasuke as he lifted the creature from the ground and held it close to his body. "That's ridiculous. If it was, it would try and attack us. I know what rabid animals do, Sasuke."
"I… guess." Sasuke groaned as he watched Naruto head back to their cover. There was no arguing with him as he had already made up his mind. Sasuke went to follow him, but stopped when he saw Shikamaru and Kankuro staring at him. "Shikamaru? Kankuro?" Naruto quickly headed back over to Sasuke when he heard him call their names.
Shikamaru stood there for a moment before waving and coming up to them. He had a shovel in his hands. "Sasuke! Naruto! What are you two doing out in this storm?"
"Trying to wait it out… We got blocked off from home." Sasuke responded. Naruto nodded as he unzipped his coat placing the fox inside his jacket.
"Eh, that's no good. Follow me. My house is near here." Shikamaru turned around and began to trudge back to Kankuro. Sasuke and Naruto took once glance at each other before following after.
-oO0-o)
"You sure it was safe to pick this up?" Shikamaru asked as he tossed Naruto and Sasuke dry clothes.
"That's what I asked him…" Sasuke mumbled.
"It's fine! I know it is." Naruto glared as he began to change into the dry clothes. The expression on Naruto's face made Sasuke think he was hard in thought.
After a few phone calls to Itachi and Minato, Naruto and Sasuke were forced to stay over at the Nara's house as the storm didn't seem to be letting up. They were placed in a small room as the Sabaku children had the only spare one. Fortunately, there were enough futons to use. However…
"You're joking, right?" Sasuke groaned as he pulled the blankets over his face.
"No, I'm sure this is the fox I saw at the vacation home." Naruto was leaning against the wall with the fox in his lap. He was going to let it sleep with them. Sasuke mumbled lightly. "Look, I know it's not dangerous. I'll watch after it, I promise!" Naruto pleaded. He leaned over Sasuke with puppy dog eyes. Sasuke slowly pulled the blanket down and sighed.
"Fine, but still be careful!" Sasuke turned on his side and curled up. "I doubt there will be school in the morning, so tomorrow we'll decide what to do, okay?"
"Okay, thanks Sasuke." Naruto sighed relief and stared down at the fox in his lap. A serious expression crossed his face.
"What happened to your other three tails?" Naruto softly said under his breath as he lightly rubbed the fox's body.
-oO0-o)
Naruto looked left.
Darkness.
Naruto looked right.
More darkness.
He began to panic not seeing the light anywhere.
Where am I? Where is everyone? He clenched his arms swallowing hard as he dropped to his knees. He opened his mouth to shout out, but no words came forth. A hand flew to his throat to see if it was damaged. It was not. Panic began to rise even more in his stomach. Mom, Dad, Itachi, Hinata, Sakura-chan, Sasuke! Anyone! Help me!
Naruto
Naruto's panic stopped. He looked around noticing light beginning to flood in. Slowly, he stood up and looked around.
Naruto!
His head turned to look down to see something fluffy and orange. It moved and blinked up at him. Red eyes glimmered in the light brightly at him.
"Naruto, wake up!"
"WAAAH!" Naruto screamed as he flew to stand up. Something else flew across the room in an orange flash. Sasuke fell on his butt staring up at Naruto with worry. Naruto gripped his head for a moment before he slowly began to realize he was in the waking world. He plopped back down and stared at the ground.
"Naruto…?" A concerned voice of Sasuke's flooded Naruto's ears. Sasuke reached over and gently touched his arm. Naruto looked at Sasuke and instantly relaxed.
"S-Sorry… I had a bad dream…" Naruto tried smiling, but it didn't last long.
Sasuke gave a sigh of relief before punching Naruto's arm. "You scared the hell out of me…"
Suddenly, the sliding doors flew open with Shikamaru, Gaara, and Kankuro standing on the other side. They stared over at Sasuke and Naruto with concerned looks.
Shikamaru spook first, "what's going on here?"
"N-Nothing!" Naruto replied. "I didn't mean to scream like that. I had a really bad dream. Ehehe…" All three at the door relaxed and stood up straight.
"Must have been one hell of a dream if you could wake us all up." Kankuro mumbled as he walked away with Shikamaru following after. Gaara entered the room sitting on the floor next to Sasuke and Naruto.
Sasuke turned to Naruto gave a small smile. "What was the dream about?"
"Just… darkness… and…" Naruto stood up suddenly looking around with panic. "Where'd the fox go?" Sasuke instantly got on his feet and did the same.
"Fox?" Gaara asked as Naruto and Sasuke frankly began looking around the room.
"Yeah! I found it in the snow last night." Naruto replied as he looked into the closet.
"That's odd for a fox to be out during this weather…" Gaara frowned then blinked seeing something orange. "Is that it?" He pointed to a corner of the room. Naruto quickly looked in the direction Gaara was pointing then went over to it.
A small hiss was produced as Naruto got close making him stop. Sasuke came up behind him making it hiss again before he stood away. "Now be careful, Idiot…"
"I know, I know…" Naruto got down on his knees and began to slowly creep towards the fox. The hissing continued. Naruto stopped and gave a frown. "Shoot, why is it all upset?"
"I don't know… perhaps being flown through the air could have done something." Sasuke mumbled sarcastically. "Or it could have been your screaming." Naruto gave a glare in Sasuke's direction before looking back at the fox.
It stared with bright red eyes in their direction with its shackles raised. Its tail was fluffed five times its normal size while its ears laid flat on its head. Naruto stared at it thinking back to his dream right before he screamed. He gave a sigh not knowing what to do now.
"Naruto," it was Gaara, "perhaps you could back off to a far corner and let it come to you on its own?" Naruto glanced at Gaara then looked back to the fox.
"What good will that do?"
"Make you less threatening."
Naruto slowly backed away until he was far away as he could get from the fox. Sasuke joined him punching his arm in anger mumbling something about how this was a bad idea. Gaara remained where he was at to not alarm the creature anymore.
After a few moments, the hissing died down. Naruto didn't dare look over incase it frightened the creature again. Soon, it was completely silent in the room with the only noise coming from the sounds of cooking in another room.
Minutes past and eventually Naruto felt something soft come into his lap and curl up. He looked down at the fox giving a light smile. He continued to remain still. He grinned at Sasuke who only rolled his eyes at him. All three boys decided to remain still until they would think it would be safe.
It took almost five minutes, but Naruto was able to move the fox without it going into a violent fit.
"That… took more effort than I cared to give this morning." Sasuke groaned as he stood up stretching his stiff legs.
"At least it's settled down!" Naruto muttered as he placed the fox down to stand up. Naruto stretched out his arms, but stopped in-mid stretch as he saw Gaara staring at the fox. Naruto lifted up an eyebrow, but remained quiet.
"Hey," Shikamaru motioned as he opened the door, "it's time to eat."
"Okay!"
-oO0-o)
Naruto twitched as he helped Sasuke and Shikamaru clean off the fur from a young reindeer in the Nara's backyard. He was staring down at the fox that wouldn't stop following him all day. Sasuke grumbled noticing it as well. He found it annoying.
Naruto gave a sigh and knelt down pulling out a small snack tossing it to the fox. The fox dived for it and began to nibble on it greedily.
"You know, Naruto…" Sasuke began as he kicked Naruto over, "you really should do something about this fox. It seems attached to you and that has me concerned."
Naruto frowned. "I know, but… there's just something about the fox that's bothering me. I'll take care of it soon, I promise."
"You better." Shikamaru grumbled from behind the reindeer. "The calf is getting skittish, so could you move inside?"
"Yeah…" Naruto began to feel useless. All day people had told him to stay out of the way because of the fox that had been following him around. Not being able to do much about it, Naruto headed inside and went into his sleeping room. The fox, of course, followed after him.
He grabbed his book bag and took out his homework hoping he could accomplish something.
Hours passed and soon it was lunch, but once it was over Naruto was again asked to stay out of the way. Frustrated, Naruto grabbed his coat and left the Nara's residence. The storm had let up and by this time the roads were beginning to be cleared. He glanced back and down at the fox almost tempted to just let it walk through the snow, but thought better of it and picked it up placing it on his shoulders.
"C'mon… um… Fox-san, let's get out of here." Naruto sweat dropped when he couldn't think of a better name. Adjusting his shoulders, he trudged out into the snow.
After a few minutes, Naruto could hear someone else behind him. Glancing back, he assumed it would be Sasuke, but was surprised when he saw it was Gaara. Stopping, he waited for Gaara to catch up with him.
"Naruto… I need to talk to you about something. It… has been on my mind since I've seen this fox following you around." Gaara had his book bag on his shoulder, but it looked empty.
"Uh, okay. What is it, Gaara?" Naruto fidgeted some feeling the cold creep on him.
"Can we head towards the library?" Gaara suggested indicating to move forward. Naruto was glad to move again.
"Sure, but I don't know where it is at all."
"Do you know someone that might?"
"Hmm…" Naruto pulled out his cell phone and glanced through his contacts. He gave a smile when he found someone that would know. Not wanting to text, he quickly pressed send and waited as the phone ringed.
After a moment, a shy voice answered the phone.
"Hey, Hinata! It's Naruto. I need a favor…"
-oO0-o)
Naruto, Gaara, Hinata, and Neji stared at the library doors blankly seeing a closed sign hanging from the inside. Naruto banged his head against the doors sighing greatly.
"Now what…?" He mumbled.
"Why did you want to come here? Is it about this fox?" Neji asked glancing to the fox on Naruto's shoulders. Naruto glanced at Gaara whom gave a nod. "Well, we have some mythical books at the Hyuuga household. Let's try there."
"Okay." Naruto gave a half-smile and followed after the Hyuugas.
Neji and Hinata had been surprised when Naruto showed them the fox, but quickly accepted it. That had eased Naruto's worries by a little bit. Gaara seemed relaxed as well.
Naruto glanced at Gaara as they walked wondering what exactly he needed to talk to him about. It was a little bit frustrating, but Naruto would be patient as much as he could tolerate it.
Before long, they arrived at the Hyuuga house and were taken to the small library on the property. Neji and Hinata left Gaara and Naruto alone only indicating where the books could be found. And with that they dug into the books looking for any information on the fox.
After an hour or so of searching, Naruto fell back and sighed greatly in frustration.
"Maybe they don't have anything here." Naruto grumbled.
"Perhaps…" Gaara agreed.
"What did you need to talk to me about anyway?"
"I… I remembered something from when I was a child looking at that fox." Gaara glanced down at the fox as well did Naruto. "I'm not sure if it was something I made up or if it was real, but I once had a tanuki, a raccoon dog, follow me around. It was young, but seemed tamed much like this fox. It was odd seeing such a thing native to the desert, yet the coloration of its fur was much like sand. It eventually stopped coming around when I was older, and after that it slipped from my memory."
Naruto slowly began to analyze what Gaara was talking about and frowned. "You know… I actually recall something like that happening to me as well."
"Truly?"
"Yeah!" Naruto sat up and crossed his arms. "It was an orange fox like this one, but whether or not it's the same I couldn't tell you."
"This is very strange… I wish there was an explanation." Gaara sighed looking crushed that this was all the information they could come up with.
Naruto rolled onto his side nodding in agreement. He went to pet the fox but noticed it wasn't there anymore. He sat up and looked around frantically hoping it hadn't left the room. His eyes caught orange fur crawling on the top shelves.
"Gah!" Naruto shouted as he quickly got up to get the fox down. He climbed up the shelves and reached out grabbing the fox only to come falling down onto a pile of books.
"Naruto!" Gaara shouted coming over to him quickly. Naruto was in a mess with the fox squeaking in his lap. He groaned and mumbled shaking his head as he turned to glare at the fox.
"What were you trying to do now you…?" Naruto stopped when he noticed the fox had an old book in its mouth. Carefully, he grabbed the book and the fox dropped it. Naruto glanced up at Gaara before opening it up to read its contents out loud.
"The tale of the great nine-tailed beasts:
"Long ago, there existed nine great beasts that roamed in the main nine areas of the land. Each one was sought to be a god and worshipped because they brought prosperity to the land and gave the people a place of living. For a long while, peace was within the lands, and there was harmony between the beasts and the people.
"But that was not to last…
"The people of the land began to be able to take care of things on their own without the aid of the great beasts. It created a strife and people started to believe their power and wisdom weren't needed any longer.
"Many of the beasts were angered by this, and tried to persuade the people that without them the land could die.
"They were ignored.
"Eventually, all the beasts were chased out of the lands and became nothing but small shells of themselves. With their power taken away from them by the land they sought out a new purpose, but to no prevail.
"They disappeared from the land…
"Only a few amount of people still held them to their hearts…
"All the nine-tailed beasts had a certain amount of tails and a name: One they had themselves, and the other that was given by the people of the land:
"Shukaku, the one tailed beast Ichibi. He was a legendary tanuki, raccoon dog, with sandy-brown fur with black markings all over his face, body, and tail. He was believed to have a great power over the elements of sand.
"Matatabi, the two tailed beast Nibi. She was a lovely bakeneko, monster cat, with blue fur that almost seemed on fire. She was believed to have supernatural powers.
"Isobu, the three tailed beast Sanbi. He was a large, grey turtle that was mixed with having a shell of a crab. He was believed to be able to control the coral that resided in the oceans.
"Son Gokū, the four tailed beast Yonbi. He was a prideful gorilla with red fur and green skin. He was believed to have the power over the elements of lava.
"Kokuō, the five tailed beast Gobi. He was a magnificent horse with the head of a dolphin with fur as white as snow. He was believed to have the power to control steam throughout the air.
"Saiken, the six tailed beast Rokubi. He was a smooth bipedal slug with oozing white skin. He was believed to be able to have control of corrosive substances that could be formed as a gas or a liquid.
"Chōmei, the seven tailed beast Nanabi. She was a glorious armored kabutomushi, horned beetle, with green skin. Her tails were odd as six of the seven were yellow/orange insect wings. She was believed to have amazing ability to control light and the ability to fly.
"Gyūki, the eight tailed beast Hachibi. He was a massive ushi-oni, ox demon, of maroon color and having his body as an ox and his tails of an octopus. He was believed to have massive amounts of energy.
"Kurama, the nine tailed beast Kyuubi. He was a strong kitsune, fox, of beautiful bright orange fur. He was believed to have great amounts of stamina and control of over the elements of wind.
"The names of the tailed beasts were long forgotten, and were only remembered by how many tails they had.
"It is unknown if they are still in existence and if they were what kind of form they have taken…"
Naruto closed the book and glanced up at Gaara seeing his feelings reflected on Gaara's face. It was a look of great awe, and appreciation. Both of the boys looked down at the fox that was blinking curiously at them with red eyes.
"Your name… it's Kurama, huh?" Naruto asked.
The fox jumped up and down squeaking loudly.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
I'm not too satisfied with this how this chapter started, but I'll deal with it. Sasuke's worries about the Kyuubi and the fox will come in. There was a purpose of not explaining it in this chapter! I will say that it does deal with Sakura.
The book telling of the nine-tailed beasts is based loosely around an old story about a goddess that took care of a crop of wheat, and how eventually the people forgot about her making her eventually powerless. I wanted it to be more original, but still have the same concept in a way, and also to keep the names and what the tailed-beasts were from Kishimoto, of course.
Also, their genders are based on the last jinchūriki that the tailed-beast inhabited from the manga.