Heat Rises
The silent scrape of sandals could be heard as Sakura walked the dust-filled streets of Konoha, pink brows furrowed, one hand sitting above her eyes to shield them from the blinding sun. The emerald eyes glittered a soft green as she cast her gaze upwards. The whitish-yellow orb sat proudly in the sky. There were no clouds to adorn it, no gentle breeze, just clear blue sky, and a rising heat.
Frowning, she returned her eyes to the reddish-orange dirt path before her. The afternoon crowds were thickening, but she managed well enough. Keeping her arms tucked in close to her body made it fairly easy to push through them, and her already lithe form was perfect for this type of thing. So with methodical precision, she worked her way through the crowds, eyes forward, jaw tight.
She had just left the library after getting shut down by Ōkina with the big nose and was not currently in the best of moods. He had given her some spiel about not being able to clear access to a book of that magnitude to a genin and, in the nicest way possible, told her no. She had promptly called him a big-nosed jerk (in her mind, of course) and left. Maybe Naruto was rubbing off on her a little too much...
Sighing, she returned her attention to the task at hand. Where she was going, she wasn't sure, but she needed somewhere to think. Somewhere familiar…
A while later, she found herself at Ichiraku's. It was about lunchtime now so stopping to grab a bite to eat had sounded like a good idea. It was a huge improvement from her previous state now that she thought about it.
When she first found out about all this craziness with Naruto and Sasuke, she couldn't stomach anything. Everything tasted so bland back then...sometimes they still did. But fortunately, her lack of appetite seemed to be leaving her. The bowl of ramen sitting in front of her looked fairly inviting, and the smell of hot, brothy goodness was finally appealing to her cravings once more. A small smile crossed her lips as the bowl brought back memories of better times...easier times. Exhaling, she dug in, the succulent taste of pork bringing her taste buds to life once more. The silent slurping of noodles was barely audible against the afternoon rush.
When she was finished, she thanked Teuchi and sat in silence, resting her head on the table atop her folded arms. It wasn't her ideal thinking place (that would be the library), but it was good enough. The quiet sounds of cooking carried from the kitchen to her ears and had an oddly calming effect on her. The subdued bustling of the crowds was also less disturbing than she thought it would be. The red and white drapes of the ramen shop had dulled the swarming of busybodies and turned it into a sort of muffled background noise. Somehow, it soothed her, a sense of calm coming from the fact that she could trust the world to keep on spinning as her mind went to work.
Sighing, she let her eyes fall shut, trying to decide what would be her next move. She had tried the normal channels and, as expected, been shut down, which meant she needed some imagination. At first, she had considered going to Kakashi or Tsunade for help, but she had decided against it due to issues she could see looming on the horizon.
For one, Kakashi may have been their sensei, but he could be extremely secretive when he wanted to be. On numerous occasions, she had seen him cleverly concealing or withholding information. And of course, he would always cover his tracks with a trademark eye smile or a cheery "Ja Ne". At least he thought he did. She had grown so used to seeing him in action that seeing through those fake smiles and Ja Ne's had become second nature.
The second problem was that asking him for help invariably meant letting him know that this plan to find out what jinchuriki meant even existed. If this jinchuriki mystery was all everyone seemed to crack it up to be, there was no way she wanted him knowing she was actually looking into it. Knowing him, he'd probably give her his trademarked eye smile and tell her some lie about jinchuriki being a character in that smut book of his, all the while watching her from a distance and stifling any plans she tried to put into motion.
On top of all that, it was also possible that he had left the village. Rumor was he was being sent after Sasuke. If that was the case, she couldn't even ask him if she wanted to.
Tsunade, on the other hand, posed another problem. Namely, she was a wild card. In the past, they had held fleeting conversations, and sure, they had shared a moment in Naruto's apartment, but was that really enough to bank on when it came to bringing up something of this magnitude? Sakura didn't think so, and she wasn't going to risk finding out if she was right. The last thing she needed was for the Hokage to learn of her snooping as well. No telling what trouble that could cause.
With a sigh, she lifted her head from the table, looking down at her folded arms. She noticed they were ashier than usual. The normally soft and milky complexion sported a thin film of gray, a reminder that lotion wasn't really anywhere near the top of her priorities over the past few days. Rubbing them gently, she looked away, reorienting her thoughts.
It was harder than she thought it would be – thinking about how to get to the bottom of this jinchuriki mystery. Of course, she never expected it to be easy, but still, she thought she had options. How wrong she was... Upon closer investigation, she didn't have very many of them at all. The hard truth was that there wasn't really anyone she could trust to tell her the truth, not even her parents. In the past, her curiosity was met with feigned ignorance or a still silence that made it clear nothing else was to be said. If she were to go to them today, things would be no different. In their faces, she could see how much it hurt them to lie to her – the grimaces they tried to hide; the way they bent their heads in shame; how they turned their eyes away, content to look at anything but her. Yes, her parents didn't seem to enjoy lying to her all that much – didn't mean they wouldn't do it again though.
Kakashi, Tsunade, Okina with the big nose, all dead ends. And most of the other people she knew were either adults who would be equally tight-lipped or kids who were just as young as she was. It was impossible to expect them to know anything.
As she sat hunched over the ramen bar, her eyes narrowed, one thing becoming crystal clear – whatever she was gonna do, it was going to have to bypass everyone. The thought itself sent a shiver down her spine, her jaw clenching involuntarily. To find a roundabout way of accessing classified information seemed so foreign to her usual self. It was a well-known fact that she prided herself on sticking to the rules – being the good girl. But here she was, more than ready to break them. She turned her hands over and gazed into her upturned palms, a question she had been avoiding for quite some time once again weighing on her mind. Who was she becoming in this string of unfortunate events?
With each passing day, she felt more and more fragmented, like a slab of earth that had been punched with such force that it broke into a million pieces. The cracks rippled outwards, their reach extending to every area of her life. Family, friends, her life as a ninja; nothing was left untouched. The impact, of course, had come from Naruto and Sasuke. When they left, so many pillars of her mental foundation had fallen that she simply lost herself. Heck, she needed to conjure up some fake version of Naruto just to hold herself together. In the end, she felt very much like that broken slab of earth, and slowly but surely, she could feel the innocent part of herself falling through the cracks. Growing in its place was a Sakura that was much more insidious. A Sakura that was willing to break the rules, especially if it meant getting something she wanted. Normally, she'd feel bad about the slippery slope she seemed to be on, but it was becoming more and more obvious to her that it was necessary. Without it, she would never get any of the answers she was looking for. She had to become...this, whatever that ended up looking like in the end. There was no other way.
Maybe that was what being a ninja was about. Learning that sometimes the rules had to be broken to further your interests, whether they were yours personally or those of your superiors. Learning that sometimes the only person who could help you was yourself. It reminded her of their lessons back at the academy. "Just don't get caught." seemed to be the motto back then. Didn't really matter what you were doing, just as long as no one saw.
One eye twitched as the former lesson rolled about in her mind. So long as you don't get caught…
A few moments later, her eyes narrowed, the sounds of kitchenware and bustling crowds fading into nothingness. She sat stock-still, her mind tossing about the various possibilities.
After ruminating on the old academy saying for a bit, one side of her lips turned up into a grin. It was so simple. By chance, she had stumbled onto the solution she was searching for. A solution straight from the basics of her ninja training. It was simple, smart, quick...and just a tad bit dangerous. But if she played her cards right, it just might work...
Kakashi stood arms crossed in front of the Hokage Office window, his single eye looking down at the villagers walking below. As he watched their movements, his eye narrowed. To the untrained eye, it was imperceptible, but to him – well, he could see much more.
People who usually spent the first half-hour of the day talking and laughing with each other now held conversations for less than five minutes. Villagers who usually walked through the village without a care in the world now seemed to be in a rush, each foot nearly tripping over the other. The days of people stopping to smell the roses were gone. Urgency. Apprehension. Fear. The village reeked of them.
News about Sasuke and Naruto was bound to spread, and now that it had, everyone was on edge. Toss in Ryoshi being summoned and the village was officially losing its mind. Ask the average person and they would say they were fine. They wouldn't even notice the change in their usual behavior, but it was there, and every seasoned eye could see it. He couldn't blame them. The village had lost a jinchuriki and an Uchiha all in one night. That was enough to disturb just about anybody, and the implications of losing those two ninja, in particular, was enough to raise very unsettling questions in the minds of all.
Orochimaru had just attacked the village and now it seemed one of the last Uchiha had joined him. If Orochimaru was able to nearly overthrow the village with just his normal abilities, what could he do with an Uchiha on his side? The power of the Sharingan was literally in the palm of his hand. Did snakes have hands?... Kakashi paused to think for a moment then sighed at his wandering mind, the single eye falling shut. Seems he was too tired to even think straight right about now. That's what happens when you come back from a day-long mission and find out your team blew itself up while you were gone. No rest, no sleep – just handling things non-stop. He shook his head lightly and refocused his thoughts.
It wasn't a stretch to say that Orochimaru was always going to be a problem. Sasuke just made him more of one because of the new possibilities. Now Orochimaru had the option of training him and turning him into a weapon to do his bidding. Or the even better option of taking the Sharingan for himself. That sounded like a good idea. Or he could go with the classic Orochimaru move and just steal the body that housed it. Troubling thoughts indeed.
And what about Naruto? It was true he didn't seem to be a threat, but his desertion still raised a multitude of problems. For one, it put Konoha in a very awkward position as it related to the surrounding nations. Fortunately, his identity as jinchuriki was secret, but if word were to ever get out that he was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki and that he had left the village...well...enough said. A kid like him had no chance of properly protecting himself out on his own. He wasn't even a teenager and he was out there running around in a very dangerous world. If anyone were to ever find out about him having the Nine-tails, the target would be painted on his back so fast he wouldn't even have time for his head to spin. It'd get taken right off. And if the killer were well enough equipped, they could even capture the Nine-tails and harness its power for themselves. With groups like the Akatsuki out there, those possibilities weren't as far-fetched as one might think.
Sighing, he cracked his neck both ways. He never liked standing here. The panoramic view, the whole village sitting under your eyes, the entire shinobi world looming out in the distance. It was unnerving, all of the different factors combining to give off this sense of being above it all. It was a solemn reminder that the Hokage was responsible to see and deal with all, which seemed far too much to ask of any mere mortal. The Hokage seat was a much more dangerous seat than people knew.
"Any word from Jiraiya?" he finally asked.
"No," Tsunade said, shuffling through various stacks of papers on her desk. "Not yet."
Kakashi's single eye narrowed. "I was hoping to get some news before taking off. Looks like that won't be the case."
Tsunade's jaw clenched, her fingers creating wrinkles in the papers as she turned to him. "I want to hear from him too, Kakashi. More than you do."
"What do you want him to say?" Kakashi asked, not turning to face her.
Tsunade frowned, shrugging lightly. "I want him to say that he found Naruto. That he convinced him to come home. That this whole nightmare is half over and we only have to deal with Sasuke."
Kakashi said nothing, a solemn silence filling the air. Tsunade returned to her paperwork.
"Why can't Jiraiya reverse summon him?"
Tsunade picked up another stack of paper, slamming it on the desk to straighten out the edges. "Naruto has a level one contract with the toads. For them to summon him, he needs a level two."
"But he can still summon them?"
"Unless they've renounced the contract on their end, yeah."
Kakashi fell silent again, eyes moving from the light foot traffic below to the ornamented buildings, then past the village wall, and finally to the world beyond.
"I'm gonna get going," he said. "Knowing Orochimaru, Sasuke's probably out of reach by now but I can't bank on that. I have to see it with my own eyes."
"Think there's any chance the team we sent was successful?"
"I think the odds of that being the case are minimal."
Tsunade looked towards the ground and said nothing.
Turning to her, Kakashi bowed. "Hokage-sama."
Tsunade nodded and returned to her paperwork. The famed copy-nin walked past her desk, opting to leave through the door for once.
A slow creak echoed through the dimly lit tavern as Kurama pushed the door open. Light filtered in illuminating aged wooden walls, wobbly wooden tables, and old wooden chairs. The smell was...unpleasant, to say the least. It was a heavy sort of smell, comprised mainly of whiffs of alcohol and old wood. Chatter also echoed through the small enclosure in varying degrees, each person having their own little conversation. Having heightened senses only made it worse. Great…
It was a few moments ago that he realized he was entering the food district of the strange town. He had finally found a place that he could get some food from but it was some stupid, run-down pub. Waiting to find another place might have been the right call under different circumstances, but he was too hungry to care.
There were people dispersed throughout the little wooden structure, some sitting at circular wooden tables and others at booths. Some alone, some with friends. With a sigh, he walked in, surveying the surroundings. Chakra slowly filtered into his ears as he took in the conversations around him.
"Ah," one man said in a thick accent. The slur in his voice made it obvious he was drunk and the fact that he was talking to the bobblehead island girl on the table was the first indication that he wasn't all there. "You build a town," he started. "They don't call you the town builder. You keep a farm, they don't call you a farmer." He took a quick swig of his bottle and finished, "But you fart out loud one time…"
Kurama could hear Naruto start laughing. Of course he would laugh at that.
The next conversation to reach his ears was that of the small group of ninja in one of the corner booths.
"Yeah," one guy finished. "Just like that time I caught that giant chicken in Iwagakure."
"I've told you a million times," one girl replied. "That was a baby deer...you moron."
"Well, it looked like a chicken," he retorted. "Tasted like one too…"
"Eeehhh," Naruto said. "Weirdo."
"For eating game meat?" Kurama asked.
"No, for saying it tasted like chicken."
"Well...can't argue with that."
As he reached the bar, he sat down on one of the wooden stools, hunching over and massaging his head lightly. It was still throbbing in random intervals, but not anywhere near what it was before. Fortunately, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
Not long after he sat down, the bartender glanced his way. She was already attending to someone else but seemed to be finishing up. Her pencil made a few more jerky movements as she finished with the customer's order, then she turned away and started walking in their direction. She had a fairly normal appearance and it gave off the impression that she was probably the most normal person in the town. Her face was plain and her apron just as dirty as old man Teuchi's. The only thing that really stood out was her hair. It was mostly black and tied up into a messy ponytail, but there were green highlights in random places.
"Aren't you a lil' young to be here," she started, one hand on her hip.
"I didn't ask for alcohol, did I?" Kurama retorted.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "That's some voice you got there."
Kurama's eyes widened before he cleared his throat, turning his voice as normal as he could. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah right." she huffed. "Kids do anything to try to get into places they shouldn't be in nowadays. You're not fooling me with that fake deep voice."
Kurama squinted, then slowly said, "Ok...I guess."
"Don't take it personally," the bartender chirped, turning away and preparing a drink. "I only know all the tricks cause I was a kid too once."
"Tch," he scoffed. "I'm older than you could possibly imagine."
"That's what they all say," she chirped, sliding the drink to him and wiping her hands on her spotted apron.
"What's this?" he grumbled, eyeing the drink lowly.
"Cola. And you're lucky you're getting that," she said, flopping a finger around in his face. "You shouldn't even be in here."
"Whatever," he replied, sipping the drink.
"How'd you do that crazy voice change thing anyway?" she asked. "Is it a jutsu?"
"What?"
"Ah, never mind," she said, waving him off. "What else can I get ya?"
Kurama sighed. "Do you have any food around here?"
"I can grab you the food menu if you like."
"That would be nice."
She reached under the bar with a quick swipe and in her hand emerged a small piece of tattered cardboard. Kurama assumed it was the menu…
"Here you go," she said, simultaneously turning a valve to release what looked like beer into a few mugs behind the counter.
He grabbed the "menu" gingerly, and a few seconds later, his brows furrowed in confusion.
~l~
Pickled Eggs (Cost varies – Eggs don't grow on trees!)
~l~
"This doesn't count as a menu," he squinted. "There's only one option."
The bartender responded with a nonchalant shrug, keeping her attention focused on the frothy yellowish liquid as it poured into the mugs. "Most people come here to get drunk," she said. "No need for a real menu."
"I don't want pickled eggs," Kurama groaned. "I've got enough gas as it is."
"Well, sorry, but that's all the food I'm stocked for."
Kurama sighed deeply, head falling into his hands. "You have got to be kidding me…"
The bartender hummed as the valve shut off with a silent hiss. "Well, if that doesn't tickle your fancy, there's nothing much I can do, kid."
Kurama sighed, still massaging his temples. "Yeah, I got that."
With a silent heave, the bartender lifted four mugs from behind the bar, pressing them against each other for support. "Be right back," she chirped, carrying the mugs off towards the group at the other side of the bar.
Great. He had been traveling for days without food and now he was having to resort to pickled eggs of all things. Maybe taking over the kid's body was a bad idea after all. This was not turning out to be what he thought it would be. At least when Naruto was in control, he was the one having to deal with all of this.
"Well," the bartender said as she made her way back to where she had been standing. "If you're not gonna buy the eggs, you can at least keep me some company. So where you from, kid?"
"Not important."
"Oh, I see," she said, leaning against the backdrop of the bar with her arms crossed. "You're one of those keep to yourself types. Probably tryna to keep a low profile, huh?"
"Something like that."
"So, you're new around here then?"
At that, Kurama sighed, eyes growing more and more tired of this stupid banter.
"What's the big deal?" Naruto asked. "She seems nice enough."
"The big deal is that I've been here for all of two seconds and two people have already noticed I'm new around here."
"Ok...and?"
"And you're on the run, Naruto. The last place you want to be is in someone's brain."
"Oh, yeah." Naruto mused innocently. "You're probably right..."
Kurama sighed, returning to massaging his temples. The throbbing had increased once more and he suspected it was because of the conversation he was having with a certain black and green-haired bimbo. He hated talking to people. They could be so annoying. And sometimes they seemed to miss simple, easy-to-spot truths. For example, his little overly curious bartender friend was missing the fact that he came here to grab a bite to eat, not start a conversation.
"Hellooooo," the bartender said, snapping her fingers a distance from his face. "Anybody in there?"
Kurama's eyelids fell shut. "Can you please leave me alone…"
"What's up with your eyes?" she pried. "And your teeth?"
"You know what," he said, slapping the table. "I'm gonna get outta here."
"Hey!" Naruto whined. "We didn't get any food!"
"Trust me. No amount of food is worth having someone that far in your business. And pickled eggs doesn't sound all that great anyway."
Naruto grumbled lowly, then said, "Fine..."
"Good."
"Thanks for the drink," Kurama said, turning his attention back to the bartender as he braced himself to get up from the bar.
"Thanks?" she said, one eyebrow raised. "That wasn't free."
"What?"
"That's going to run you 50 Ryo."
"Are you insane?!" he snapped. "Fifty Ryo for a drink?!"
She pulled a face then motioned to a small wooden menu propped up on the bar. "It says it right there." she snorted, nose turned upwards. "On the drink menu."
Kurama's head snapped over to the wooden slab and his brows furrowed once more.
~l~
Beer: 100 Ryo
Cola: 50 Ryo
Kimyona Special: 500 Ryo
~l~
Kurama nearly fell out of his chair. "Are you freaking kidding me?!"
At the bottom of the menu was a handwritten inscription: Nun-paying drinkurs wheel be prawsecuted.
"This is so bogus! Even the spelling is wrong!"
"That's...irrelevant." she muttered. "The law still stands, so pay up, kid."
"Look, you little extortionist!" Kurama snarled. "I didn't ask for it, so I'm not paying for it!"
"Then you better get ready to wash some dishes." she retorted.
"In your dreams! You're not gonna sucker me into doing your job because you slid me a 50 Ryo drink without my knowledge."
Her face formed a pout before she replied. "If you didn't want it, you shouldn't have drank it."
"Tch. You know, at first I thought you were normal, but you're just as nuts as everyone else in this crazy town. 50 Ryo for a drink..." he mumbled.
By now, the entire bar was watching the spectacle.
As the bartender droned on with some reply Kurama didn't give two flying squirrels about, he sensed someone rising to their feet. Immediately, his eyes floated to the right, picking up on a man walking up to the bar. A quick assessment revealed that he was a fairly slender man and that he also had ninja gear on. By the looks of it, he was coming from that same table of ninja from earlier. Great. Probably some moron who thought his status as a ninja meant he had to "step in" in situations like these. Kurama rolled his eyes. Looks like everyone in this town had one defining trait – they were all professional pains in the rear.
The man's voice was strangely high pitched, but firm nonetheless. "Hey," he said. "Uh, is everything alright, Su?"
"Yeah," Kurama mocked in a high pitched voice. "Is everything alright, Su?"
Naruto chuckled. "Totally something I would say."
The man frowned then spoke again, his tone much more severe than before. "Is there a problem here?"
"Yeah," Kurama said. "I was already having a relatively crappy day, then Suey here forced a drink down my throat and tried to make me pay an obnoxious 50 Ryo for it."
"If you didn't want it, why'd you drink it?"
"Because she slid it to me without asking! I thought it was from one decent human being to another, not from a seasoned hustler!"
"Alright," the man said, one arm grabbing under Kurama's armpit. "Let's go kid. You shouldn't even be in here."
"Take your hand off me." Kurama snapped.
"Come on," the man said, not removing his hand. "Let's not make this any harder than it has to be."
Kurama turned more towards him, voice nearly a snarl. "I said remove it."
The man tightened his grip. "And I said you're leaving."
"Hey, Kurama." Naruto soothed, chuckling nervously. "Maybe we should just-"
In an instant, Kurama grabbed the man's hand and looped it over his shoulder. With an angry grunt, he lurched forward, tossing the man into the old wooden paneling. The resulting crash shook the tiny bar and sent wooden boards crumbling to the ground with a clatter. Murmurs flitted among the crowd as clouds of soot slowly rose from the caved in wall.
"Not again." one man groaned.
Another simply chuckled, taking a swig of his beer.
The man with the accent promptly rose to his feet and left, mumbling something about having seen enough of these to last a lifetime.
"There," Kurama said. "I did it for you."
Su ran to the man's side, eyes wide with panic. "Hokori!" she shouted. "Are you alright?!"
After a few seconds, Hokori got up with a groan, nodding slowly. In the silence and soot, Kurama couldn't resist a smirk. How wounded his pride must be. Tossed around like a feather by a kid less than half his size.
"Alright," Hokori said. "I gave you a chance to take the easy way out of this, but if that's how you want to play it, then that's how we'll play it. Yowamushi!" he called.
All at once, the group of ninja who were talking before stood up readying themselves for battle.
Kurama looked around at the group for a while before grinning lowly. He always did like a challenge, sometimes a little too much... Slowly, his grin widened, something akin to mania growing in his eyes. Chakra began leaking from his body in pulsating waves, eyes flushing a deeper and deeper red, grin growing more and more unnatural.
...
In an instant, the chamber Naruto was in fell pitch black, darkness surrounding him on every side. Immediately, he jolted up to a sitting position, head snapping to attention, blue eyes beyond alert as he tried to assess the situation, senses screaming something was wrong. The reddish-orange chakra bars would have been a source of light but the darkness was so overpowering, so thick, so...overwhelming – it rendered the cage's light useless. In the pool of darkness, the cage flickered like a singular candle on the verge of going out. Naruto could feel a distinct chill run down his spine as the darkness encroached from every corner, like a smothering fog rising from an abyss.
"Kurama?" he asked tentatively. No reply. Slowly, he rose to his feet, eyes struggling to look past the reddish orange bars of his prison. All he could see was darkness. In the silence, his breathing quickened and his jaw tightened, one part of him trying to figure out what in the world was going on, another part of him not sure he really wanted to.
His first clue came when he spotted something moving about in the darkness. It was fairly far away, but he could see...something. A large mass. It moved back and forth in a gentle swaying motion. He could also hear the silent ripples it caused in the water as its weight shifted from side to side. Squinting, he tried to focus on the dark and unknown, an unsettling feeling resting in his stomach. Despite the darkness, he could make out a foggy shape. It looked like...a tail? The gentle curves on both sides, the way they met to create a pointed tip...that had to be it. And there wasn't only one, there were multitudes of them... His eyes widened when he realized he was looking at the darkened silhouette of Kurama, the surrounding darkness painting the usually orange fur in dim greyscale. Slowly, more and more of his body came into view, from the excessively arched back to the piercing red eyes.
In a mad flurry, the fox's emotions rushed through his mind. Excitement. Rage. Bloodlust. The fox laughed a demented laugh. Hunger...
Naruto could feel his breath catch as the wave of emotions hit him all at once, each one pulling him deeper into a pit he wanted no part of. Shaking his head, he steeled himself, determined to resist them, determined to keep his mind separate from the chaotic path that lie just beyond his will.
Like the gentle plucking of a stringed instrument, the emotions tugged at him, enticing him towards chaos. Come. Surrender. Go under. His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists and shut his eyes, a singular bead of sweat trailing down the side of his face. For the first time, he could feel the immense danger that came from the fox being the one in control. In the past, even when he was under the fox's influence, he still had some sense of being the one in charge and at the forefront of things. With Kurama taking the reins, it felt like at any moment, he could lose himself, like he could spiral into a black hole and never find his way out again. Like Naruto Uzumaki could simply cease to exist. That thought made his blood curdle, to think he could lose himself like that. The only comfort he could find came from the fact that Kurama was an evil he knew.
In that solace, he found strength, an iron will forming as he focused on a singular truth. This was Kurama, which meant this was not new to him, at least not completely. He had dealt with the Nine-tailed fox before, bursts of rage and all. There was no doubt in his mind he could do it again.
He stood repeating that simple truth for as long as it took to build the strength he needed, and at last, he could feel the tumult of emotions subsiding, the flurry of madness waning in its potent ebb. Sighing deeply, he opened his eyes.
Kurama was closer now, the curled up body only a few feet away from the cage. His face was still turned away, but his scowl was much apparent. His breathing was labored as well, the arched back moving up and down in quick intervals. In the darkness, his eyes shone a vibrant red and there was no missing the dim yellow of his teeth.
"Kurama?" he asked cautiously. "You ok?"
The only reply was a guttural growl.
"Hey," Naruto asked, voice a bit more firm. "Aren't we trying to keep a low profile? You know, rogue status or whatever?"
"I don't care," Kurama snarled. As he turned his head, Naruto could see the twisted grin stretching across his face. "I'm gonna teach them some manners..."
Naruto's eyes widened. "What?!" he nearly yelled. "We're supposed to be avoiding fights, remember?" Confusion took over his features as he continued, "I've got a bum leg!"
"Doesn't matter," Kurama grinned, turning away. "This won't take long."
Naruto stood where he was, incredulous. "Have you lost your mind?!"
A deep growl resonated through the chamber as Kurama turned his head. Naruto shrunk back slightly, the low rumble sending a chill down his spine. "The only thing I'm about to lose is my temper if you don't sit down and shut up!"
The dark tone he spoke in warned of the dangers of trying to make him see reason, and Naruto simply stood where he was, bewildered. What the heck was going on? It was like he had lost all sense. Not only was he getting ready to do something monumentally stupid, he was leaking out chakra like a madman while they were supposed to be under the radar. "Who are you?" Naruto finally whispered.
Kurama's head turned slowly, water rippling as a low growl shook the chamber.
The cage Naruto was in immediately shrunk down to half its size, crushing his body. "Hey!" he shouted. "You're hurting me!"
The pained cries rang off the walls of the chamber to no avail and it was only as his bones ached from the contorted position they were in that he realized the Kurama he knew was nowhere to be found. In his place was left a bone-chilling shell of what he used to be, his eyes pulsating a vibrant red, fangs so long that they now reached past his bottom lip, chakra leaking out of him in droves, drool stretching from the blackened lips to the floor as the yellow teeth moved against each other slowly.
...
"Hey," one of the ninjas asked apprehensively. "What is this kid?"
Hokori said nothing, attention fully captured by the scene playing out before his eyes.
...
In the silence, Kurama grinned, blood lust so close to being satisfied, instinct taking over as he sat at the brink of unleashing his power. The dark chakra bubbled at the surface, oh so close to overflowing and taking over. Yes… But there was a voice, a voice that somehow gave him pause, the pained cries pressing into his mind with ever-increasing force.
"Kurama, you're hurting me!"
"Kurama, you're hurting me!"
"Kurama, you're hurting me!"
What was that voice? It sounded familiar. A friend? Impossible... He growled silently and shook his head, instincts held back by...something. The pit of limitless rage was only a step away, but for some reason, he couldn't fall into it; couldn't unleash that feral side that was so close to breaking free. What is this? he thought, blinking a few times as he looked around in confusion. The crisis of conscience continued until his eyes widened, the realization of what was happening hitting him with full force. In an instant, his eyes turned a lighter shade of red. "Naruto…" he whispered.
The cage expanded back to its normal size with Naruto gasping for air as he fell to his knees.
The large body turned swiftly, water rippling and sloshing under its weight. "You ok?" Kurama asked, eyes frantic as he looked past the cage to the body he had so nearly crushed.
"The heck was that?!" Naruto gasped, still breathing hard.
Kurama frowned deeply, eyes confused as he looked down towards the cage. "I'm sorry." he finally said, immediately disappearing from the landscape and leaving Naruto alone.
Naruto paused then let out a sigh as he rubbed at his throat. "Jeez..."
...
In the real world, Kurama opened his eyes to find the entire bar looking at him. Taking a deep breath, he controlled his chakra until it was back down to being barely perceptible. What was he thinking? Now he had broadcasted their location...again.
"That chakra is fading." one of the ninja whispered. "Maybe now's our chance."
Kurama squinted, ears picking up on the barely audible whisper. Now that he had lost control, he had really limited his options. No sensible ninja would just ignore the fact that a threat like him was in the village, which meant he only had two options – run or fight. Fighting was obviously out of the question. He had already made enough of a scene as it was. Which meant his path was clear...
A flicker of orange flitted past Hokori, breaking through the wall he had fallen into with a crash. Wooden planks and concrete shards flew everywhere as Kurama emerged on the other side covered in soot.
"After him!" Hokori cried.
The group of ninja flew into the alleyway and looked up only to see the orange of Naruto's jumpsuit disappear over the top of the adjacent building.
Kurama landed atop the two-story building with a grunt, eyes immediately lifting to scan the environment. Rooftops, rooftops everywhere. Falling into a run, he jumped to the next building, crashing onto the rooftop and sending a few nearby crates flying down to the town below with a resounding crash. He could hear the alarmed screech of a cat as crates upon crates fell to the alley below.
Trash and assorted items clattered as he jumped to the next building, barely sticking the landing. A quick glance behind him revealed Hokori and his gang vaulting onto the building he had just jumped from. With a grunt, he focused forward, arms trailing behind him as he picked up the pace.
There had to be some way to disappear, to simply vanish from sight. He surveyed the surrounding rooftops, eyes searching for any method of concealment. At last, he spotted a rooftop with a multitude of clotheslines, various different colored clothes flapping in the wind. With a squint, he darted towards them, focus unbreakable.
Before he reached the edge of the building he was on, he fell into a slide, a few shuriken whizzing past where his head had been. Immediately after, he popped onto his feet, lurching for the building full of clothes with everything he had. As he landed, his foot nearly slipped, sending a broken brick tumbling below. Nevertheless, he made it, scrambling through the clothes in a mad flurry. As he emerged on the other side of the laundry, he saw an escape route that had been concealed before. Farther along the building was some kind of pipe curving out of the roof at about 90 degrees. Where it led, he had no idea, but he was sure enough about to find out.
With a quick hand sign, a shadow clone appeared at his side. It turned to Kurama with a nod then ran ahead, jumping to the next building.
Kurama turned his attention back to the pipe and sped up, charging towards the open hole at blazing speed. With a controlled jump, he folded his arms over his chest and straightened out his body, flying through the air with his body looking much like a mummy's. The rigid body disappeared into the hole with a shaky rattle and then it was gone, on its way down into the unknown.
As Hokori and his team emerged from the multitudes of hanging clothes, they looked around at the surrounding rooftops, spotting the shadow clone a few rooftops ahead.
"There he is!" Hokori shouted.
The clone smirked, jumping down from the rooftop and leading them further down their wild goose chase.
...
Meanwhile, Kurama slid down the metal chute, darkness covering him. All he could do was grunt and groan as the endless fall continued, each second traveled adding another scrape or gash to his body. Thunks and thuds sounded through the pipe as he sped downwards, every sharp turn sending him careening into the coarse metal. Without warning, his tumble came to an end.
THUD!
All of his breath left his body as his back connected with hard metal at blazing speed, the cramped space contorting his body into a crooked U shape. With an agonized wheeze, he rolled sideways, groaning from the pain. His unscheduled appointment with the bottom of the chute had sent a painful jolt through his body and his spine felt like it may have taken the brunt of it. With a pained grunt, he propped himself up against the side of the tubing, one hand still rubbing at his back. "Oh," he groaned. "That's gonna leave a mark..."
Soon after, he shook his head to clear the fog, exhaling as he lifted his eyes to examine the new surroundings. All he could see was darkness. Sighing, he shut his eyes, chakra bubbling a faint red around them. When he opened them, the chakra disappeared, eyes themselves glowing a dim red. Slowly, but surely, the surroundings blurred into view.
Looking up, he saw the dark hole he had come from just inches from his face. A glance to both sides revealed square ducts flanking him both ways, the three directions meeting like an upside-down T. In the darkness, he squinted. So he had fallen into some type of air duct?
After a few seconds of thought, he sighed tiredly, ragged breaths leaving his lips in mixed intervals. Brilliant. This was supposed to be a quick stop to get food and now he found himself in some random building stuck in some dank air duct with absolutely no idea of where he was. And on top of that, it was dark, cold, and smelled mustier than Akamaru. Great, just great. He started standing up only to bonk his head on the top of the structure. "Ow!" he groaned. With a growl, he lowered himself back to the bottom of the vent, mumbling to himself angrily. "Nine-tailed fox crawling in air ducts. Never thought I'd see the day..."
With a glance in both directions, he started crawling towards the right. The left seemed to stretch on forever but the right looked like it turned after a few feet. Hopefully, he could find a vent and, along with it, a way out of this stupid situation he had gotten himself into.
Author's Note:
I hope you all enjoyed that! This chapter was serious for the most part, but there was a bit of tomfoolery going on as well. The serious parts were more about development while the comical parts served as a form of comedic relief to balance out how serious things are about to get in the coming chapters. Stay tuned for that! And please do leave a review if you enjoyed this update! It's very encouraging and makes me want to write even more than I usually do. :D Thanks in advance to those of you who will. In any case, things are just gonna keep picking up from here, so buckle up!