Kitsune no Yomeiri 4

“Hn, I wonder.”

Naruto brought a finger to his lips in a pondering sort of way, his other hand on his hip. His sharp nails had protruded along with his fangs, and the one on his index finger indented his lip slightly; any more pressure and it would surely cut his lip.

‘Well, I guess it’s time to elaborate on my title. I’ll have to tell the Hokage as well, but at least, maybe, they’ll leave me to my task.’

Naruto slowly lowered his hand from his mouth and casually reached into his obi. As his hand searched, he watched the four shinobi before him. They watched him with cautious eyes.

“I do not have two chakra signatures, I’m afraid to inform you.”

“My Byakugan is never fooled.”

“Ah, but has your Byakugan ever faced off against something that is born to fool?”

“Neji has never been deceived, and indeed, Tsunade has hinted that he may well be joining the rank of ANBU captains! His springtime of youth is indeed flowering brightly, and-”

“Shut it, Lee. You said, ‘something’?”

A vulpine grin stretched Naruto’s lips, and the fingers of his left hand finally wrapped around the kunai hilt he’d been fingering for some time. Quick as lightning – no, quicker – Naruto was behind Kakashi, kunai point to the man’s neck.

“I am,” Naruto flipped the kunai and jammed it into Kakashi’s sternum, spinning his body to the left, his right arm taut and hand fisted, “the great lord,” the right arm slammed into Neji’s back, sending him to the ground as Naruto’s right hand unfisted and pushed off of his back into the air, “of the hidden kitsune village,” he arced in the air, his leg coming down hard on the back of the sannin, sending him down next to the Hyuuga, “Kazahaya no Kitsune!” He landed in a crouch on the other side of Jiraiya and, swinging his right leg out, dropped Lee to the ground as well.

All this happened within the blink of an eye, and Naruto watched in amusement as disbelief and slight pain flitted across each of the downed men’s faces.

“The ‘second chakra signature’ you ‘see’ is my illusion. I’m not prepared to show my true form. Now, if you four would please refrain from prying into my business, I have something to do.”

“Wait!” Naruto waited as Jiraiya regained his feet. “You are the great lord of the hidden kitsune village? Only those of lineage…”

“And now you are an expert on the lineage of the kitsune? Tch, my father… died before his time. I have already informed the Hokage, if not who I am, then that I have come to retrieve something I left behind long ago.” He saw the confused looks of the other three as they joined Jiraiya on their feet. “I guess no one in the village ever informed the masses of Konoha that Yondaime sealed away the great lord of the kitsune village.”

‘What are you doing?’

‘I will not give up on Sasuke! I am doing everything I can to see that by the end of my stay here, I will be leaving with the Uchiha in tow!’

“Kyuubi was the great…”

“… And now you’re…”

“… You’re here to retrieve something…”

Naruto gazed at them questioningly, and he saw something quite unfriendly pass over Kakashi’s visible eye.

“You’re here for Naruto.”

Naruto barely contained his squeak of surprise.

“Uzumaki Naruto is dead.”

‘Well, why not?’ Naruto decided to go with that thought.

“Yes, that’s what I’m told. I am also told that due to the fear of my… of Kyuubi and the extreme hate for young Naruto, the people of this very village killed him.”

“Who told you that nonsense?”

“Why, the Uchiha did.”

“Don’t believe anything that traitor tells you.”

Naruto tensed and turned an angry eye to the Hyuuga. “That is the second Uchiha you have accused of treason this day.”

“Accusations pale in comparison to the truth. Uchiha defected as his brother did.”

“Ah, but the younger Uchiha came back. What made him do so? You cannot tell me any of you are strong enough to have done that, not when the man wields such a dangerous bloodline limit.”

“It is true that he came back on his own, after an encounter with his brother…”

‘An encounter with his brother? Could it be the one where he learned about… me?’

“And just why did he defect in the first place?”

“That is not for an outsider to know!” Kakashi glared at him, and Naruto’s temper snapped. His chakra gathered and formed red and murderous around his body. His eyes gained a sharp and ruthless glint, and he bared his fangs to the jounin.

“Your village has committed two great injustices against me, and if I want answers, you are going to give me fucking ANSWERS! Now tell me why the Uchiha defected before I rend you limb from limb and scatter your blood to the four winds!”

He felt a part of his animal spirit purr satisfactorily at the sight of these otherwise fearless shinobi cowering before him. The two chuunin he could understand, but he suspected the other two were remembering darker times when another demon had rampaged upon Konoha.

“The Uchiha defected in the search for power, the power to kill his brother. What made him come back, we’ll never know. That was something Ibiki never got from him.”

All five of them turned at the sound of the Hokage’s stern voice. Naruto glared openly at her, all the while his brain turning over the new information.

‘He defected for power to kill his brother, which is understandable. When did Itachi kill them? How long was Sasuke away from Konoha? And when he faced his brother and learned Akatsuki didn’t have me, he came back? Without killing Itachi? So does that mean he didn’t want power just to kill his brother?’

“-sama? Kazahaya-sama?”

The Hokage brought Naruto out of his thoughts. “Yes?”

“I was saying, I never knew Uzumaki Naruto, but Sandaime proclaimed him dead fifteen years ago. You have no business here, and I ask that you leave.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“Uzumaki Naruto is not the reason I am here. I will not take my leave until I have retrieved what is rightfully mine!”

“And what would that be?”

Red eyes and chakra still visible, Naruto straightened his back and hissed, “I am here for my husband!” And he disappeared from the clearing.

~*~

‘What insane thing are you doing? You know if you die, I die as well!’

‘Honestly, father, this is no time to be worried about yourself. The seal on my stomach forbids your release, meanwhile your son is trying to obtain his happily ever after!’

Naruto’s stomach had gotten the better of him after his expenditure of chakra in the clearing, and so now he sat in a stall named ‘Ichiraku’s’ with a bowl of some suspicious looking noodle with an assortment of meats and vegetables before him.

‘People really eat this stuff?’

Cautiously, Naruto picked up his chopsticks and broke them apart, mumbling a prayer of thanks to the gods. He hesitantly picked up some noodles and took a bite.

‘It’s… good!’

Someone sat down beside him, and without looking he knew it was Jiraiya.

“Tsunade didn’t realize your… mate was in the village. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“My… mate doesn’t exactly know. We promised to marry some fifteen years ago, and I have come to collect.”

“It’s the Uchiha, isn’t it?”

Naruto said nothing.

“And he’s marrying the Haruno girl. I don’t envy the battle you’ll have with that one. But,” Naruto turned to look at him, “He doesn’t love her. I don’t like that she’ll be hurt, but she’ll be hurt either way. Uchiha isn’t one to put up with things he can’t stand. He’ll get his heirs, and then more than likely leave her. It’s better that she be hurt now, in her youth, so that she’ll be able to get over it.”

Naruto didn’t know what Jiraiya got out of helping him, so he did nothing. He just sat and stared at the old man.

“Don’t think I’m going to help you more than give you some advice. Get to know the Uchiha. Make him remember you and your promise. Then, at his bachelor party, that will be your last chance to get him.”

“I wouldn’t think Sasuke would go for a bachelor party.”

“Who said the Uchiha knew about it, eh, Naruto?”

‘Heh. Looks like someone can put two and two together.’

“Be grateful, human, that I do not take offense to you not calling me by my rightful name.”

“Oh, and who named you Naruto?”

“Yondaime. He told Sandaime to name me after him, hoping that would stem the wrath of the villagers. He was a damned fool.”

“One could argue.” He sighed. “What will you do if the Uchiha doesn’t want to marry you?”

“I’ll show him what pain really means. I will not mate with some simpering vixen when my best friend promised I’d be his bride.”

“Whoa! You’ll be the bride?”

“Well, last I checked, Sasuke couldn’t give birth. Has that changed in the past fifteen years?”

“You never know with that Kabuto character.”

“Who?”

Jiraiya sighed again. “The Uchiha joined Orochimaru…”

“Oto?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s best you know if you’re going to get to know him. He went to Oto and joined Orochimaru, who swore he’d kill Itachi in exchange for Uchiha’s body. Kabuto was a medic nin that did unspeakable experimentations on Orochimaru’s prisoners. Uchiha could have easily been one of them.”

Naruto could only stare blankly when Jiraiya trailed off. Sickening thoughts of what horrors Sasuke could have been victim to whirled in his head. When Jiraiya opened his mouth to go on, Naruto stopped him.

“No, if Sasuke wants me to know, he’ll tell me himself. I thank you for your advice and information. Now, how about this room you told me of earlier?”

“Under the circumstances, Tsunade wants you staying in Hokage Tower. We don’t need the villagers knowing another fox is here.”

A shocking presence came upon them, and Naruto spun around to stare into the pain-filled eyes of his love.

“You’re a kitsune?”


TBC