Not Alone

Chapter 4

At exactly 4:30 am, Naruto was awoken to a wet
tongue licking his face. "Mhm, wait for Kurama, 5 more minutes," Naruto whined, attempting to push the fox off of him. The fox barked at him. Naruto sighed and got up. He looked over and smiled at the little fox.

"Okay, okay, you happy now?" He asked, with a slight laugh. Kurama jumped up and down, barking like mad. Naruto laughed, patting the fox's head and walked over to the bathroom. He got ready and was about to make his ramen when he remembered he couldn't eat beforehand. But Kakashi-sensei never said Kurama couldn't eat.

     Naruto filled up Kurama's bowl and waited for his best friend to finish eating. Once he was done, the two walked over to the training grounds. "Oi, Kurama. Remember when you were so tiny you could fit in my jacket? Now look at you, you're so big you can reach up to my height if you stand on your hind legs. You really grew, huh?" Naruto rambled on the way to the training grounds.

     Kurama barked in response when he stopped walking. "Eh? What's wrong? Kurama?" Naruto asked, stopping with his companion. Kurama bit Naruto's sleeve and started running at full speed towards the training grounds.

     "Oi, Kurama! What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled, running with his companion. He couldn't stop a little giggle from erupting out of his mouth. It reminded him of when he was younger when the fox was still little. Suddenly they stopped at the training grounds, Naruto leaning on the wooden stool and Kurama in a defensive stance in front of him.

     "Kurama? What's wrong, boy? You okay?" Naruto asked, now growing a bit worried. Suddenly, Sasuke landed in front of them, scowling at the fox. "So he is good for something?" He laughed, as he walked forward.

     "Oi, what are you doing?! What happened?" Naruto asked although he felt as though he knew the answer. "I've been following you since you were at the bridge, dobe. You're like a neon target after all. But your mutt clearly sensed me." Sasuke admitted.

     "What's with you and him, anyway? You didn't have him before. One day you just showed up to school with this fox with you. It was weird." Sasuke asked. Naruto sat down, Kurama laying next to him with his head on his lap.

     "Why do I need to tell you? You didn't care before, no one did." Naruto replied, scratching Kurama's ear. Sasuke scoffed, "I'm just curious, is that so wrong?" He said, sitting down in front of Naruto. Kurama got up, and walked behind Naruto, going on his hind legs and putting his two front legs on Naruto's head. "Well, he's my best friend!" Naruto laughed, holding onto to Kurama's front legs.

     Sasuke laughed, making Naruto Mad. "That mutts you're best friend?! Now that is sad!" He laughed. Naruto felt his anger grow. He put Kurama on the floor, the fox growled at Sasuke.

     He stood up and walked off into the distance, Kurama following behind him, growling at the raven-haired boy. He looked at Kurama and smiled, "don't listen to him! You're always my best friend." Naruto laughed, and Kurama jumped and barked. Naruto stepped back and started to run in circles, Kurama chasing after him.

     Naruto jumped into a tree, Kurama jumping after him. Sasuke watched, surprised. Is that, really his best friend? He thought, looking as the two jump in the air. Naruto running as the fox tried to catch him. Finally, the fox jumped on top of him, knocking the two of them out of the trees and onto the ground.

     Sasuke's eyes widened. He got up to run over to Naruto when he got up and started laughing at his fox. The fox jumping up and down and barking. "Sasuke-Kun~" the two heard a high-pitched squeal. Naruto ignored it and kept playing with Kurama.

Meanwhile, Sasuke wanted to die where he stood. He felt an arm clamp onto his. He immediately snatched it away from the pink-haired girl. "Hmph! So mean Sasuke-Kun." Sakura whined. She looked over to see what Sasuke was looking at.

She saw Naruto jumping around with his fox of a companion, the two laughings, and barking. "Those two, why does Naruto always have that stupid menace of a fox with him?" She asked, an annoyed tone in her voice. Sasuke just shrugged and continued to watch the two play around until Kakashi got there. Once Kakashi had gotten there, he was shocked to see the big fox on top of Naruto on the floor, licking and barking at him. He watched the two for a while before throwing a ninja star close to Naruto's head.

Not close enough to hit him, but close enough to give that illusion. Instantly, the fox perked up and grabbed onto Naruto's collar. Then he yanked him upwards. "Kurama-" Naruto started, but then saw the ninja star that looked like it would've hit him where he laid. The fox instantly turned around and started growling at Kakashi.

"Oi, Kakashi-Sensei! What was that for?!" Naruto yelled, holding Kurama's collar to keep him from attacking the silver-haired ninja. "Just to let you know I was here." He said, in a monotone voice. "Kurama, it's okay, boy. It's alright" Naruto said in a hushed voice, holding the fox close to his chest in a hug. The fox instantly calmed down and rested its head on Naruto's shoulders.

Sakura and Sasuke watched in awe at how well Naruto could control the fox. "Okay, let's get started with the rules of this test, yeah?" Kakashi asked. The three nodded. He explained the rules. "Okay, do you three understand?" He asked.

All three nodded. Sakura and Sasuke hid, Naruto was about to charge at Kakashi, when Kurama pulled him into a hiding spot. After a few minutes, Sasuke made his move. While Sasuke was in the middle of his attack, Naruto and Kurama came out and attacked for the bells, Naruto shot a Kunai kife at Kakashi's face. While Kakashi was occupied with the two of the Kurama was able to grab the bells.

When Kakashi heard the slight jingle, he whipped his head around, along with Sasuke. The two of them were shocked. Naruto cheered and hugged Kurama. The fox looked at the two and almost seemed to glare at them before licking Naruto's face. Sakura stumbled over, covered in dirt with a few leaves in her hair.

"Oh, I see you ran into one of my shadow clones, Sakura," Kakashi said, noticing the pink-haired girl. Sakura nodded, once she caught sight of Naruto with the bells, she looked enraged. She ran over and snatched the bells out of his hand. "Oh, hi Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, grinning up at the girl. She glared at him before giving a bell to her and Sasuke.

Kurama growled, but Naruto scratches his ear. "It's alright, boy. Nothing we haven't seen before! Plus, we still know that we caught them, right!" Naruto laughed. Sasuke was shocked.

Both at Sakura's selfish actions and the way Naruto just brushed them off. He got up and handed his bell, glaring at Sakura. "He caught them himself. He gets to keep at least one." He said sternly, watching the tears well up in the girls' eyes. Kakashi smiled. Maybe this won't be so bad. He thought and looked over at Naruto.

     Naruto just stared at the bells and then at Sasuke. He looked confused, then smiled slightly before looking up at Sasuke, the big toothy grin showing again. "Thanks" was all he said before jumping up and slapping his shoulder. He turned to play with Kurama when Kakashi saw a pink color make its way to Sasuke's cheeks. Oh, that'll be interesting... he thought, grinning to himself.

     "Very Interesting"