A Kitsune Story

Chapter 18

Naruto woke from an uneasy sleep. Having tucked himself into a den of roots formed by a fallen tree, he had stayed mostly dry. Daylight streamed through the trees and birds sang as though nothing of note had happened.

All was quiet when Naruto approached the village, but he did not dare venture near enough to see any of its inhabitants. Carefully, he took the long way around the village and the craters created by the blasts of his own star balls.

His stomach growled, empty and impatient. Although he had slept for hours, the very fibers of his being dragged, exhausted. For the first time, the weight of his pregnancy strained the unnatural configuration of this human form.

He wanted to shift, to take the form of a fox and more easily dash through the woods. However, as a fox would spook the villagers if he were seen, he continued with this awkward gait.

Finally, he reached the bridge on the far side of the Uchiha estate. Naruto looked beyond to the whitewashed walls and painted fans, the kamon of the once notorious clan. Smoke rose in many trickles and Naruto couldn't see the roof of the main building. Cradling his belly and hiking the silk, Naruto quickened his steps.

But he only crossed half the bridge. Each step across the wooden planks was like walking into thicker and thicker mud, but over his whole body. Even the skirt of his kimono fell slowly when he dropped it to reach out to press the congealed air.

"No," Naruto did not want to accept it. "Sasuke!" He threw himself against the enchantment, clawing at the air. "Sasuke!" But it wasn't the air that was bewitched. "Sasuke! Call for me! Sasuke!!" His voice pitched to a scream.

Naruto tried to circumvent with trickery as any fox, any capable yokai could and would do. To consider the place of return where Sasuke was standing at the time. To consider the order temporary. To consider Sasuke had not meant to give a binding order at all. But he could not. Because of their deep connection, Naruto could not misinterpret Sasuke's order on purpose.

Naruto curled his hands into fists and slammed them as though he could pound upon the enchantment and force it to give way. "No. No. Call for me. Sasuke. Call for me," he willed it to happen. It must happen. "Sasuke!" he called again, desperate. "Saaaasukeeee!"

It did not. Instead, he saw armored people emerge from the Uchiha estate, summoned by his screams.

"It's the fox!"

"What have you done!?" Naruto screamed, his fists opening into claws that sank into air. Several tails burst forth, one or two of them catching a slight rip in the silk and shredding the bottom of his kimono. His anger and desperation radiated as palpable heat, causing steam to rise from the engorged river below.

The men fled, terrified.

"SASUKEEEE!!!" Naruto bellowed.

There was no answer. Naruto could not feel the yokai essences, only mere echoes, of Saren or Katsuro or even Shiori. He reached out with his heart, but couldn't sense Sasuke, either. He knew his husband was not dead. His death would break the contract, nullifying his order. Instead, he must be unconscious or far away.

What happened? Had the villagers managed to defeat them? Kill them? That seemed impossible, all of them were strong. Had there been more Akatsuki?

The men in black kimonos with red clouds hunted yokai not to exterminate but to capture and steal the power of the strongest. They could be interested in Katsuro or Saren or Shiori. Maybe even Sasuke. They really wanted Naruto. If they were not defeated, they would find him.

Naruto's eyes darted and he sniffed the air, looking for signs of them. Now, when he couldn't fight them, they could succeed where they had failed many times before. What would they do with his and Sasuke's son?

"Miyo-sama?" a voice called from the estate. It was the guard Ino liked, the one with the red bands. "Are you Miyo-sama?" No fear showed.

Which meant he was too quiet for Naruto to register him. With a snarl, Naruto swiftly turned and ran as quickly as his condition allowed to disappear back into the forest.

He would have to go far; he could not rest until he was certain they were not tracking him. Into the mountains where humans could not follow and even some yokai dared not tread. But not his home, not Mount Kurama. That man pierced with metal had known for certain Naruto was not there: someone in their group must have gained access to it. No, he had to go where no one would even look for him.

***

Although he had been very hungry, Naruto shoved the remnants of fish back into the river. Spoiled on human food, the smell of the fresh fish guts made him queasy. The child jostling his stomach did not help. Pulling in his tails to give himself more body had eased the compression of his organs but the child only squirmed with more vigor.

Scrubbing his hands and the taste from his mouth, Naruto sipped the cool water, too. Clumped locks fell across his face and he swept them back. He tried to rub out the old sweat and stress, rinsing his hair and face. It didn't help.

He eased away from the riverbank and, exhausted, lay on his side. Panting, he rubbed the silk swathed mass, a futile attempt to calm the child. His stomach gurgled; a fishy burp escaped. Water trickled down the back of his neck.

Hearing a slithering, Naruto tilted his head and peered into the greenery. A snake eased through the underbrush, flicking its tongue. As it was dusk, the snake was surely hunting for small animals that might be around the river. It ignored Naruto, who was too large to eat, but Naruto watched it until it disappeared.

When he woke, Naruto was disoriented. It was dark; there was only a sliver of moon. Even when he recalled where he was and certainly could tell he was on dirt and not a soft futon, he still reached out for Sasuke.

He should move. Staying here, in the open, was dangerous. Grunting, he pushed himself up to sitting. The unbalanced weight of his belly pulled at his back and settled awkwardly on his hips. Where should he go? There were no caves nearby and he was too big to fit into abandoned dens.

The child was too big for his natural form; his belly would scrape the ground if he could walk at all. But he wondered if he could take a larger fox body with only one tail. Like that, could he carry well enough to maneuver through the forest? Could he maintain that form and not slip into his natural state? If he was unable to recover his strength, if he was stuck like that, could he give birth to a human child through fox hips? Probably not.

Resigned to the awkward human body, Naruto slowly climbed to his feet. Into the mountains.