A Kitsune Story

Chapter 3

A massive snake shook the forest, its undulating body smacking the trees. Something best left unto itself. Except – except, there was a human voice. Naruto leapt through the trees at top speed, springing branch to branch.

Because he could not repay his debt to those he owed, Naruto lived to help and protect all humans. Other yokai called him foolish. Humans that recognized his power showed deference out of fear and were glad when he left. Humans that did not tried to kill him for stealing a chicken or wanted his fur, like that bridge repairman years ago.

The battle was farther away than Naruto had guessed due to the noise. He stopped on a limb well away from the enormous viper. It was bigger than any monster Naruto had seen outside the scared groves and yokai realms. Its thrashing body had cracked trees.

Tiny by comparison, the human fought valiantly. His shuriken hit their mark but were ineffective. Even the scales over the snake's eyes were armor.

Either he ran out or realized the futility: the human backed away. His haori bore the red and white fan displayed all over that estate. A glimpse of the side of his face as he surveyed his position and Naruto knew. Though over a decade had passed and the little boy had grown tall and keen, Naruto's heart knew.

Sasuke.

Stunned, he almost forgot about the giant snake. Sasuke, of course, was focused on it. He drew a chokuto from the back of his belt. Not an ordinary blade. Ki surged through the metal and spiked the air with a scent like lightning. Screaming like a thousand angry birds, the energy gave the blade an unnatural sheen.

It wasn't enough. Even with a high level of honed ki and a heavenly sword, Sasuke was human. He could not win against this Ryuchi Cave terror. Not without a similarly powerful yokai on his side.

Which he had. Sasuke had given offerings to this fox; he and his father had saved this fox's life. This fox would be their family guardian if not turned away.

Naruto leapt. In the air, his body grew to monstrous size like the snake. His hind claws ripped into the ground as he landed, hips shifting to accommodate upright posture. He caught the snake's head with hand-like paws.

A bass growl tumbled from his throat and his tails fanned, a barrier to protect Sasuke. Back and forth, fox and snake shoved and pushed, bit and scratched, coiled and thrashed. Finally, finally he was able to catch his claws in the side of the snake's mouth and tear down its side, splitting it open.

Naruto slammed the snake's head into the ground several times just to be sure it was dead. Excising his claws from the mangled flesh, he flicked the gore across a destroyed tree. Panting through a fixed snarl, he surveyed his kill. And then dropped, exhausted.

As he collapsed, his form diminished back to the normal. An overlarge fox hit the ground, limbs and tails splayed.

Blade on guard, Sasuke approached slowly.

Head lolling to look, Naruto meant to roll over and greet him as the old friends they were. Instead, his insides froze. Sasuke's eyes. He hadn't noticed them before. Red with black tomoe markings.

With an alarmed bark, Naruto swiftly rolled to his feet, amber fur on end. Nine tails fanned threateningly as he backed away.

Sasuke stopped the second Naruto moved. Now, observing the fox, his cautious glare gained suspicion. He lifted his free hand to show his palm. "This person is not your enemy, Nine Tails-sama." Slowly, he sheathed the sword and then showed both palms. "I suppose you have no reason to trust me even if I say that. Maybe you didn't mean to help me: I just happened to be here," he considered.

Though Naruto stopped retreating, his body remained tense and poised.

"Are you hurt, Nine Tails-sama?" Sasuke asked starting toward him again, "That snake bit you several times."

Naruto took as many steps back as he advanced, so he stopped. He wanted to trust his childhood friend but those eyes caused visceral unease. What did it mean that Sasuke had those eyes?

Releasing a heavy breath, Sasuke eased down and put his hands on his thighs. The red of his eyes finally slipped away leaving only guarded black. "Please forgive me for the presumption, Nine Tails-sama. I will rest here for a while. If I may show my gratitude in some way, please tell me."

For almost a full minute nothing happened. Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed deeply; his ki quieted as the chaos and fervor of battle slipped away.

Eventually, Naruto crept closer. Sasuke's eyes opened but he remained still even when Naruto sat in front of him. Naruto's blue eyes met his and, for a prolonged moment, they were locked.

Wariness remained toward the red eyes but other emotions pushed it aside. The hole in his heart reached for what belonged there. Naruto leaned in and greeted his friend with a soft trill and lick on his cheek.

"But... you can't be," Sasuke murmured, staring wide-eyed. "Naruto's dead. That bastard carpenter-" he cut himself off before anger tumbled free. "Naruto is dead. And he only had one tail."

Slowly, Naruto turned his head right and then left and then back again.

"No, you can't be," Sasuke repeated. He leaned back as though to better view the situation.

A firm, canted nod corrected him. Naruto opened his mouth to give a happy bark, but it faltered into a cough. Blood leaked from his mouth. The fox collapsed sideways with a whimper.

"Naruto!" Sasuke roused from his knees, putting one hand on the ground and the other on the side of Naruto's head.

Naruto looked at him from under heavy lids, body trembling and vision blurring. Even so, he trilled feebly.

"Naruto. No, please be well," Sasuke begged and started to touch the fox's body, trying to find injuries in the blood-matted fur. There were none: shifting forms healed physical wounds. "Chikusho, the venom," Sasuke realized.

"Naruto, Naruto, you can't pass out yet," he implored. "Naruto, you need... Can you make your tails one again? I can't get help for you if you have nine tails. I may not be able to take a giant fox into the village at all," he glanced in that direction. "No, I'll force someone to help if I have to."

Taking a breath, Naruto pushed his remaining energy through his body. His fur rippled and prickled as it vanished and he grimaced against the reshaping of his bones. A transformation that maintained his mass only took energy to create, not to maintain. Thus, unconscious, he retained human shape. A blond man around Sasuke's age.