The Dark Side of the Forest

It was hot out. Hot and humid. And it was getting to the point where Naruto felt like even his sweat balls had sweat balls. It wasn't anything too different from what he had experienced on his travels with Team 7, but that didn't make it any more enjoyable. The heat had a way of just becoming plain old unbearable, even if you barely had any clothes on. Heck, all he had on was a pair of shorts and he was still melting faster than a popsicle on a hot summer day. And it definitely didn't make the search for food any easier. So far, he hadn't had any luck. No matter how many bushes he rustled through, no matter how many trees he looked on, and no matter how meticulously he searched, he found nothing. No berries, no fruits, no nuts, no anything. If he couldn't find anything soon, he'd have to resort to eating some random insect like they taught him in survival class. Gross…

In the distance, he could hear the faint buzzing of some insects. The continuous droning sound let him know they were bees. His first instinct told him it would be best not to stumble onto them, but another part of him wondered if it was worth running into them if it meant tasting some of that oh so wonderful honey. Before long he was looking out into the distance, fantasizing about yellow gooey goodness. Yellow. Gooey. Tasty. Honey. It almost made his mouth water, that is until he remembered he'd have to endure a world of pain to get it. He had experienced a few run-ins with bees before and they…weren't pleasant. He had learned his lesson, so he shook himself out of it and let out a deflated sigh.

Sadly, he turned his gaze to a bluish, black beetle that he had spotted crawling through a few sticks in the ground. He sighed in disappointment before squatting low to the ground so he and the beetle were only a few inches away from each other. "Looks like it's just you and me."

The beetle stopped in its tracks, slowly turning around to face him. There was some semblance of a staredown, and the beetle fluttered its heavy wings as Naruto squinted. He knew what needed to be done.

"Just want you to know," he began, lifting both hands and wiggling his fingers. "This isn't… PERSONAL!" he finished, lunging at the beetle's perching spot with a crazed shout. The beetle evaded him with a simple flap of its wings and took to the skies, fluttering away from the scene of the attempted murder.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled. "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE-" He reached out to snatch the beetle from the sky and missed poorly, losing his balance in the process. An unsteady "Whoa!" echoed through the forest as he lost his footing, tumbling awkwardly into the ground and whirling a puff of leaves into the air.

"OW!" he said, eventually lifting a hand to massage the back of his head. As the leaves fluttered to the floor, he let out a groan and forced himself upright. After regaining his bearings, he looked to his left, then to his right, then straight out in front of him. It took him less than five seconds to realize the beetle was nowhere to be found. He let out a silent groan, leaning against the tree trunk he had fallen next to. "The great Naruto Uzumaki," he grumbled. "Defeated by a beetle…"

"Maybe you're just not cut out for this," Kurama mumbled.

"Thanks, Kurama. That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Well, I wouldn't lie to you remember."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up." Naruto mumbled as his eyes lazily scanned the environment. Stupid dirt. Stupid rocks. Stupid bushes. Stupid trees. Why were they there anyway? They didn't have any fruits on them. He pulled a face then braced himself to get up. But it was in that moment that he realized his salvation was resting right under his hands. The weird texture under his fingers drew his attention and when he saw what he was sitting next to, he almost did a somersault in joy.

There on the ground was a tiny blackish-purple mushroom. His singular eye zipped over to the mushroom until it was less than an inch from the small sprout. His frantic eye scrutinized it for a few seconds before he quickly popped onto his feet. A quick survey of the area surrounding the tree trunk revealed a whole family of shrooms, all different shapes and sizes.

His eyes sparkled in glee as he threw both fists into the air. "I'm saved!"

"Yippee…"

"I'm not letting you spoil this for me, Kurama!" He quickly knelt down and plucked a particularly big one from the bunch. "Oh, ho ho…" he laughed, eyes turning beady as he brought the shroom up to his gaze. "You're gonna hold me until I can get my ramen."

"You sure that's good to eat?" Kurama echoed from his chamber.

Naruto shrugged like he didn't have a care in the world. "Looks fine to me. It's a little smelly, but I think all mushrooms are like that."

"Well, maybe you should-"

MUNCH!

Naruto gave a cheeky smile and said, "Too late!" chewing happily before swallowing the mushroom in question and simultaneously grabbing for another one.

Kurama sighed. "Suit yourself."

"Chill out, Kurama. It was out in the wild, it was bound to smell a little funky."

"Mhmm."

"Hey," Naruto said, grabbing a handful of shrooms and shoving them into his pouch. "Be a stubborn furball if you want but I'm taking some of this stuff back to camp. It's no Ichiraku's, but it's good enough to hold me 'til tonight."

"Yeah, you do that." Kurama murmured.

"Hmph, I will!" Naruto retorted.

Naruto headed back to his campsite with an undeniable pep in his step. He had found the food he was so desperately in need of and now he had the fuel to keep traveling until nightfall. Definitely a win.

As he arrived back at the campsite, he walked over to the branch his clothes were drying on and lifted a hand to check if they were dry. He could still feel some moisture under his fingertips, but he suspected they would be fully dry soon. Until then, he'd just have to wait.

He dropped down to the base of the same tree trunk from earlier and let out a content sigh, safe in the knowledge that he'd be able to cook some of his precious ramen later. The thought itself was enough to make his mouth water, and he could feel his body fall slack as he stared out into space fantasizing about slurpy noodles and tasty pork. His hungry gaze lingered on a random tree until he noticed what he was doing. With a violent shake of his head, he chased the thoughts away and raised an arm to wipe a bit of saliva from his lip. Soon after, he cleared his throat and looked around suspiciously. Out here in the middle of nowhere, there was probably no one watching, but it was just one of those moments where you had to make sure. Nobody wanted to be the weird kid drooling while looking out into the distance.

When he was confident he was alone, he let his body fall more at ease and looked around at the surrounding environment. There wasn't much to do so he tried to find things he thought were interesting, there wasn't much to hold his attention though. Most of the trees looked the same, the rocks were no different, and the stream had lost its appeal a while ago. Overall, the environment just looked boring, or maybe old was a more accurate way of putting it. It was full of life when he first got there, but it had lost some of its luster. He knew he was getting really bored when he had to cover a tired yawn.

"Alright," he exclaimed, accepting the fact that waiting around and doing nothing could never be his style. Time to pop into Kurama's chamber and see what he was up to.

The sound of a singular drip echoed through the chamber as Naruto arrived once again standing in the puddle of water. One look through the iron bars revealed Kurama's calm figure resting with his eyes closed and his head on his paws. His body slowly moved up and down as he took in monstrous breath after monstrous breath, rippling the water beneath his nose. The sight was becoming more and more familiar.

"Laaazy booones." Naruto called from behind the iron bars, gripping two of them and shaking them semi-violently.

A low grumble was heard before one of Kurama's eyes slowly opened.

Naruto plopped down into a seated position opposite the iron bars and asked, "Why are you so quiet all the time?"

Kurama's eye fell closed again. "I'm used to the quiet."

"You're used to it?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.

Kurama sighed as he shifted around in the chamber. "You're not the first person I've lived in, kid. The people before you weren't as chatty."

"Oh," Naruto said, slightly confused. "So, is that a bad thing?"

"I'm starting to think it wasn't."

"Hehe." Naruto laughed. "Come on, Kurama. I'm not that annoying."

"You'd be surprised."

"Ah, phooey," Naruto said, waving a hand dismissively. "You'd probably be annoyed no matter what I did."

"Probably."

Naruto smiled. "Well, you're stuck with me, so get used to it!"

"I'm trying…believe me."

Naruto grinned and tried to think of a way to keep the conversation going. Despite their differences, he had learned that Kurama was at least someone he could talk to. Maybe he hadn't learned that earlier because he had never tried before, but it was a welcome change. And it made running away a whole lot easier since he was never really alone (even if Kurama's replies were lazier than Shikamaru's).

His face scrunched up as he tried to think of something to talk about, but he drew a blank, at least on any small talk. The only thing that came to mind was a question he had been pondering since the day he left. It was one of many questions that he was trying to avoid bringing up until they had put a little more distance between them and Konoha, but with nothing else to do, he abandoned his former plan and decided it couldn't hurt to ask since they had some time to kill. Kurama owed him some answers anyway.

"Hey, Kurama?" he began.

"What?"

"What did you mean when you said you got trapped in me?"

Kurama paused briefly, then opened both eyes as he turned towards Naruto. The movement of his body sent rows of ripples through the water. "Guess it's time for some of those answers, huh?"

"We've got some time to kill," Naruto replied.

"I guess we do."

There was a brief silence before Naruto nodded for Kurama to go ahead.

Kurama once again relaxed his head on his paws as he began. "There was a time when I was free to roam the earth."

"Really?" Naruto said, eyes filling with curiosity.

"Yeah, really."

"Then how'd you become this?"

"Become what?"

Naruto shrugged. "A fox that gets locked up in people I guess."

"Simple," Kurama replied. "People are afraid of me."

"Oh," Naruto said, eyes dropping a bit. "That sucks."

There was a slight pause as Kurama's single visible eye focused on Naruto. Soon after, something of a huff was heard as he spoke from behind the bars. "Don't say that like I need your pity. They should be afraid of me."

Naruto looked at Kurama contemplatively then shrugged again. "Well, you don't seem that bad to me…"

Kurama scoffed. "We've been on speaking terms for less than a day, kid, so don't act like you know me. And don't act like you know what I've done. You can't know, you can only guess. And don't mistake my helping you for anything more than it is."

"Well, what is it?" Naruto asked, voice barely audible.

"I'm in this because I'll be able to get back at Konoha and have some fun along the way. That's it."

Naruto paused then let out a silent, "Oh." scratching his head as he looked towards the ground. A few moments later, he lifted his head, asking, "Well, we're still friends, right?"

A low sigh escaped Kurama's throat as his eyes fell shut. "I don't have friends, kid."

Naruto paused briefly then looked away with a somewhat sad smile. "Yeah," he whispered, falling back on one of those fake smiles he had mastered so well. "I guess you're right..."

Kurama's single visible eye opened slightly, watching the boy through the familiar darkness. An annoyed groan could be heard shortly after, followed by some uncomfortable shifting around, and finally a voice lower than a whisper. "We're acquaintances."

There was a short pause as Naruto registered what Kurama had said, but when he did, his pearly whites came into full view. A real smile this time. "Well, that's not too bad." he chirped back, rubbing one finger under his nose. "Think we'll become friends one day?"

"Who knows," Kurama mumbled. "It's the wrong question anyway."

"Huh?"

"Weren't you asking about how you became a jinchuriki?"

"Oh, yeah." Naruto mused, lowering his hand to his chin. "What about that?"

"Well, the man who sealed me away," Kurama said, pausing briefly. "Was your father."

An awkward silence echoed through the chamber for an inordinate amount of time, and when Naruto finally found it in himself to speak again his voice was barely audible. "What?"

"Yeah," Kurama replied. "Same day you were born actually."

Naruto's lip hung precariously from his mouth as he felt his body turn to lead. In the background, he heard faint echoes of Kurama explaining further but the words no longer registered. The world was spinning too fast for them to. His whole life he'd crafted this perfect picture of his parents in his mind. No one had ever told him about them, so he had simply gone with his imagination. He told himself they had a good reason for not being around and he even imagined he knew what they were like.

His mother was loving and caring and kind. Strict when she needed to be but loving through it all. She would berate him about his poor appetite but also make him a hearty breakfast and kiss him goodnight. His father was all of that and more. Brave. Strong. Powerful. An S-rank ninja with cool hair like Kakashi's, and definitely an awesome father. There was no question that was what he was – what they were. They had to be...

"You're lying," he said, cutting off Kurama midsentence.

Kurama paused then squinted. "Why would I do that?"

"My father would never do that to me."

"Oh…I see," Kurama replied, staring at the small boy with slight intrigue. After a while, he simply cracked his neck and continued. "Sorry, kid, but you don't know what type of man your father was."

"Well, I like to think that I did!" Naruto said, his voice coming out much louder than intended.

Kurama stared at him for a moment longer, then shut both eyes with a snort. "Whatever, kid."

Silence consumed the chamber after that, so much so that the only sounds heard were those of Naruto's quickened breaths floating through the air. After composing himself somewhat, Naruto let out a sniffle and said, "He wouldn't do that to me."

Kurama remained silent, lying down in his usual position with his head turned away from the bars.

Naruto could feel himself gulp involuntarily as he continued. "Fine, why would he do that to me?"

Kurama didn't turn to face him, he simply gave a shrug of his broad shoulders.

Naruto looked at him for what felt like an eternity as he fought the tears beginning to rest at the bottom of his eyes. When the eternity had passed, he looked away, firmly whispering, "I don't believe you."

Kurama sighed, forcing himself to get up and turn towards Naruto. A single paw lifted to cover the bored yawn escaping his blackened lips as he replied. "You don't have to."

Naruto's response nearly came out as a growl. "You told me you had answers but all you have are lies."

"Watch your tone," Kurama said, red eyes narrowing in the dark. "I have answers, you just don't like them."

Naruto stood in the vast expanse of water trying his best to hold back tears. At the moment, he was failing, and it only got worse when he realized he had no reply to what the fox had said. He wasn't there when it all happened, so how could he? He was simply stuck standing there with no reply, no way of defending his imagined reality. With a grunt, he cut the connection he had been maintaining and returned to the real world unapologetically. Stupid fox…

"There are no answers that way, Naruto."

Naruto crossed his arms and gazed out into the forest, determined to block out the noise.

"You know I'm right."

"Shut up." he finally said.

"No."

Naruto could feel his teeth grinding against each other as he replied. "You shut up or I swear I'll-"

"Or you'll do what? Pout, throw a fit, and run away? Newsflash, I'm living inside you. You can't run from me…"

Naruto let out an angry growl then jumped up from his seated position, yanking his clothes from the branch they had been resting on. The little drops of water sent flying to the ground showed they were still a little wet, but he didn't care. It was about time he got moving again anyway. His jacket quickly found its way across his shoulders, and it wasn't long before he was ready to set out again. He didn't need that overgrown orange furball anyhow.

He reached into his ninja pouch, pulling out the map he had packed and started looking it over. His visage grew more frustrated when he realized he had no idea which direction to go. He knew he was supposed to be headed towards the Hot Water village, but now that he had stopped at random, he had no idea what direction that was, and where was he on the map anyway? An annoyed squint showed his frustration and it wasn't long before his fingers were creating unnaturally large wrinkles in the thin paper. He just couldn't think straight anymore. That stupid fox had said so many stupid things that his focus was completely gone. Now, whenever he tried to think about anything else his mind would come back to that stupid lie. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

"Having trouble reading?" a familiar voice purred.

"No," Naruto said through gritted teeth. A moment later, he silently added, "The little blue lines are streams…"

A small snort was heard. "Well, what about all the other little lines?"

"They're…figureoutable, now leave me alone."

"Hehe," the fox chuckled. "You're hopeless, kid."

"I am not hopeless," Naruto said, staring at the map and trying to will it into showing him what he needed to know. His stubborn leer was interrupted when he heard a very distinct sound come from a nearby brush.

Snap.

Naruto's head spun towards the brush the sound had come from and he could feel his heart skip a beat in the process. The sound was followed by nothing but silence and the dark green leaves looked as if they had never been disturbed. They simply swayed back and forth in the gentle breeze.

He had been in situations like this before with Team 7, so hearing random sounds wasn't completely uncharted territory, but he did have to admit it was a lot more nerve-wracking since he was alone. Sometimes they would just be minding their own business and out of nowhere, a twig would snap, or a tree branch would creak, or some other random sound would be heard. All tell-tale signs that something might be up. Most times it was nothing, just a stray hare running through a brush, or a bird perching in its nest, but there were other times when the nothing was most definitely something…

Naruto's eyes flitted through his surroundings as he tried to sense out any lurking dangers. Nothing so far. The forest seemed darker now as opposed to the vibrance it exhibited earlier. Greens appeared muted and could be mistaken for light browns at first glance, the light of the sun barely broke through the trees overhead, and the breeze that was so refreshing in the heat was nothing short of bone-chilling now.

Naruto turned back towards the mess of leaves then decided that whatever threat may be out there was probably worth overlooking his disagreements with the fox...at least for now. His thoughts were simple and brief. "You heard that too, right?"

"Louder than you did."

Naruto squinted towards the brush, placing the map back in his pouch and pulling out a kunai. The mess of dark green leaves grew more ominous with each passing second and he could feel his breaths getting shakier and shakier. "I'm starting to feel a lot like that beetle from earlier." he finally mused, trying to relieve some of the tension.

"Don't panic," Kurama said. "Just stop and listen."

"Ok."

"What do you hear?"

"Nothing…"

"Hm..."

"What? Is that a good thing?"

"Not even close," Kurama replied. "Where are the birds? The leaves?"

Naruto listened harder as his eyes once again scanned the surroundings flittingly. He soon discovered that Kurama was right. The sounds of the forest were all but gone. No birds chirping, no leaves rustling...no life.

He sensed it just a split second too late, but that was all the enemy needed to make their move. In one fell swoop, he felt as if his throat had been cut in two. Something of a choked yell escaped his throat as he felt every ounce of air leave his body. He tried to use his hands to relieve the pressure but ended up losing his grip on his kunai instead, sending it spiraling into the ground.

The weight crushing his windpipe was heavy, so heavy that he was starting to feel a little out of it. His eyes turned towards the sky as the lack of oxygen sent the world into a spin. Soon after, the darkness started to set in, slowly creeping in from the corners. It wasn't long before it completely covered him.

Author's Note

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