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Naruto : teamwork
I are teh sorry, Sol, I tried writing on 2knights, but it wouldn't come. Instead I got that. ^^;
The Naruto-POV chapter of Teamwork is so long I think I'll cut it in half. And it won't be only three chapters finally, because the fucking thing mutated on me and now it wants to be six. SIX CHAPTERS.
Plus the sequels. *dies*
Previous part: http://www.livejournal.com/users/askerian/104689.html
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A hour or so later, they had found a place to hide. Not ground level, but on a tree, with wide branches and lots of leaves, practical to hide behind. There was a hollow in the trunk just over a branch, large enough to shelter them and they had filled it with grass to rest on.
Well, for Sasuke to rest on. Except the stubborn bastard had decided he didn't need a rest and was actively keeping an eye on their surroundings while Naruto hunted and Sakura lay traps. And when Naruto had tried to get him to at least sit down, he'd been forced to dodge his fist, because Uchiha was in a "I don't answer to anyone" mood.
Son of a bitch.
/Mmm, but I like him stubborn and macho as hell,/ Kyuubi purred as Naruto tracked his prey. Surprised, the boy almost walked on a dry leave. He wasn't used to the demon fox taking such an active interest in what was happening outside, unless his life was in danger.
'What, you like him all... dominant and stuff?' Naruto grumped back, feeling a weird twinge of jealousy. Ah well, it was better than to have the demon hate Sasuke's guts.
/That's when I want to throw him down on his knees and fuck him the most/ the fox laughed throatily. /Dominating a submissive isn't any fun, any challenge. But making someone like him submit, now.../
Naruto was getting images, feelings -- the memory of threatening, echoing growls and his front paws around a squirming body, and sharp teeth snapping at his muzzle, adding just a hint of threat to his pleasure ...
'Erk, get that shit out of my head. I'm not into bestiality,' he grumbled back, because thinking about the feral pleasure of mounting a clawed, fanged partner who could tear him to pieces if he didn't manage to overwhelm him was making a few rather embarrassing things happen inside his pants, and if he started to think about the feel of fur against him, he was going to be VERY disturbed the next time he was around Kiba and Akamaru.
Kyuubi snorted. /You're making me lust after furless, fangless, clawless, BIPEDAL humans, boy. It's bestiality to me./
Naruto decided to ignore his tenant. Most of the time, the conversations he was dragged in left him confused and disturbed. The damn fox thought in a way that should have been alien to him, but somehow, at gut level, wasn't. Some of the ideas he shared, Naruto couldn't dismiss, even though he knew half of the time it was probably just the bored demon-fox trying his hand at manipulation.
He decided to think about Sakura-chan instead.
Then he got caught up in remembering the softness of her skin and the way he had molded her body to his, and decided not to think at all while he hunted, because he'd just ran face first into a tree.
Inside his head, the Kyuubi was howling with laughter.
----------------------
It was good that they knew how to light a fire without the smoke rising like a beacon signaling their position; Naruto didn't have a problem eating his meat raw, but he knew that he was not the majority there and people tended to look at him weird when he tore into bloody flesh hungrily. It made him self-conscious, like he was revealing to everyone how bestial he was.
That and as tasty as raw meat was, it still wasn't ramen.
They ate quietly, not that hungry. Sasuke tried but then they both saw him wince discretely and 'misplace' his food down the tree, and Sakura spent the meal nibbling and not really swallowing anything, without looking up. In the end he was the only one who had a real meal, even if by his standards, it was barely a snack.
Finally he sighed, abandoning the idea of feeding.
"...So... How come none of us knew ... about ... Kyuubi no Youko? That he wasn't dead I mean," Sakura started.
"The adults knew," Sasuke commented tonelessly. "The ninja at least."
Naruto wound his arms around his knees and stared at his feet. "... Yeah, they all know, all those who were old enough to understand when he attacked the village. But the Third made 'em swear to shut the hell up and not tell their kids, so I could grow up normally..." He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "Except they all hate me 'cause they figured I was the Kyuubi and the Fourth had died because of me. So yeah, didn't work so good."
Sakura started nibbling on her lip. "So that's why... Mom was so unhappy when she learned you were in a team with me. I thought it was just because you had such a bad reputation as a troublemaker..."
"And are you?" Sasuke asked, watching him.
"Am I what?"
"The Kyuubi."
Naruto wanted to bristle, but Sasuke sounded so carefully neutral that he just couldn't.
"No. But he's inside me."
For a few seconds his teammates seemed not to know what to say to that.
"... Have you always known?" Sakura asked softly, still not looking up.
"Nah, actually that came late," he replied in as casual a tone as he could manage. "Sure, sometimes I got pissed as hell at the way people treated me, but that -- I don't know if it was his influence, but I don't think I needed him to get angry at being treated like shit."
Sakura fidgeted, a guilty look on her face. Naruto sent her a little smile to reassure her. Compared to most people, she'd been nice, really.
"I was twelve already when I even learned how I was different. And I didn't even feel him -- as something separate, I mean-- for a few months after that ... The mission with Zabuza. When that moron--" he pointed at Sasuke "--got himself killed. I'd never been so enraged than back then. I wanted to shred Haku to tiny pieces and piss on the remains."
It was hard to say that, because even now, thinking back on the first death he'd ever witnessed -- the first death of someone he knew at least -- he still felt sad and guilty and furious and powerless, wanting to save the boy who had tried to teach him something so important. But he would still have killed Haku to avenge Sasuke. He felt guilty that he was glad Haku had died at Kakashi's hands instead.
"Even then, it was hazy, the feeling that there was something, a -- a wrath, echoing mine, and yet just so much bigger than mine was. It sharpened slowly with time, the feelings I got from it-- from him -- but at the same time, it was becoming more mine. Argh, I'm really not explaining well," he added with a grimace.
"His feelings contaminated you?" Sakura replied, alarmed.
Naruto winced. Erk, that was not going well.
"No-- well, yes, but not like that... It's complicated. At first it was really hazy, and sometimes it had nothing to do with what I was feeling at the time. But now-- well, it's different. Easier. Better."
"Easier what?" she demanded, staring at him with wide, wary eyes.
"Well, before I had to guess what was mine and what was his, and it was hard, because every time I was feeling a thing I didn't want to, I'd tell myself it was his fault. But now I know when it's mine and when it's his. And when we feel the same -- well, I can use it."
/Do you dare make me out to be a useful tool, boy?/
Naruto grimaced briefly. That angry growl was definitely not from his feelings, but he had let the fox's awareness rise during their flight there, to be able to use his power better in case it was needed, and it was hard to just ignore him.
"Naruto?" Sasuke called, frowning.
"Ah, nothing. He's just a bitch as far as tenants go, you know," the blond ninja replied with an embarrassed smirk.
"Wait, he talks to you?"
"Uhh, sometimes. Almost never usually -- sometimes I go months without even feeling a twitch. Hell, sometimes I forget he's even there. But since this morning he's been running a fucking commentary. It's annoying as hell," he grumbled, beating down the sense of annoyed offense from the demon-fox.
Sakura still looked disturbed, and Sasuke was watching him with a hint of weirded-out fascination.
"Only you, moron..." the black-haired boy breathed, shaking his head in amazement.
"Who ya calling a moron, bastard?!"
"You. You have a demon inside your head and you call it 'annoying.' I'd hate to see what you call unbearable."
"Hey, it's not like I've got a choice. And what am I supposed to do, curl up and cry? Hide from people 'cause it's so shameful? Heck no. I didn't choose to house the bastard, but now that he's here, I may as well make the most out of it, and if people decide to bug me because of him, then fuck them."
The conversation died then, as they all stared at nothing trying to find something to talk about.
"... Your chakra, the way you heal... they're due to-- him, right?" Sakura finally asked.
Naruto nodded, wondering where she was going.
"And the -- the heat? It was him too, right?"
"Ahh, yeah, that's what Kakashi-sensei told me."
"But it never happened before?"
"Not that I remember," Naruto replied. He saw her glance at his stomach and her eyes briefly look more scared than before. What the hell--
/She thinks I'm about to escape/ Kyuubi commented, a note of bitter annoyance in his growl. /If only./ Naruto wondered if the fox had meant him to hear the last bit.
"You think the seal is failing, don't you," he commented, trying hard not to look hurt. Sakura wasn't saying she didn't trust HIM. Only that she didn't trust the seal. That was different, right?
"You said yourself you were getting more access to him," she replied, visibly fighting to keep calm.
"Yeah, I am. But the seal still works just fine."
"How do you KNOW?!" she finally erupted, clenching her fists. "You never went into heat before, so WHY NOW?"
He felt a low laugh rising in his throat and blinked, caught by surprise. He was used to blocking Kyuubi's negative emotions, but it was the first time he was subjected to his extreme amusement.
"What's so funny?!"
She was shrieking, now, and he would have ducked by reflex except that she wasn't trying to hit him, and there were tears in her eyes. That was...a lot more serious than her usual temper tantrums.
"KYUUBI finds it funny!! And I don't know-- oh. He says I was too small for my hormones to get influenced by his."
/It did come a few times more recently/ the fox added with relish. /You just happened to be alone on a mission when it hit. I'm surprised you don't remember, though./
Naruto blinked owlishly as he tried to guess when that could have happened, then noticed his teammates staring at him. "Uh, what?"
"He's talking to you now, isn't he?" Sasuke asked softly. He looked weirdly interested.
"Uhh, yeah. He says it happened before, but I was alone so nothing happened." /Except you chafing your dick from wanking all night long, that is./ "Except from-- KYUUBI!!"
'You goddamn bitch,' he thought, blushing madly.
"What did he say?" Sasuke demanded, nudging him with his foot.
"Nothing!" the blond ninja replied, growling. "He's just laughing at me again. Bastard."
Sakura was looking very, very weirded out.
"Is he listening now?" she asked in a whisper.
Naruto sobered up immediately. "Yes. But I can push him down if you want."
"Will you?" she replied, her voice wavering weirdly. "Oh-- but won't he be angry at you? I don't want him to-- to... fight you, or..."
He reached out to caress her cheek gently, feeling the need to reassure her twisting his guts into knots. He was so used to being around legendary ninja masters, mastering chakra-intense techniques and having a demon inside him that sometimes he forgot how scary it could seem for normal people. Concentrating, he closed the window to the outside he had left the demon, ignoring his snarls of protest, then gave her an awkward little smile.
"Sakura-chan... He can't do anything to me, okay? I let him come up sometimes, and sometimes I listen to him, but I don't have to. He can be as pissed at me as he wants, and it won't do anything to me. He can't hurt me, he can't take control, he can't influence me to do something I'd never do otherwise. I just-- well sure he's a monster and all, but sometimes I feel sorry for him. I'd rather be dead than be trapped in someone else, without a body of my own, and not even able to see the outside world. That's why I let him see through my eyes and -- other stuff. But this is my body and I'm the one in control, always."
"... oh."
She looked mildly relieved now. He felt the knot in his guts relax a little.
"Is he really... as bad as they say? You know, when we are taught about that day, we're not told about the details, just that he attacked and-- and, well."
"I doubt anyone got to have a chat with him about his reasons anyway," Sasuke commented sarcastically.
"I never asked. But as far as I know," Naruto replied somberly, "he didn't have any."
He couldn't stand the horror in Sakura's eyes. He looked away.
"He's -- not human. He thinks killing unarmed civilians is a good way to relieve tension and killing high-level ninja is fun. For him, humans are prey. Were prey. Because now, some of them are mates too and-- Well, I think he's a bit confused. But of course centuries-old kitsune can't be confused because they already know everything, so don't tell him I said that," he added with a little, awkward smile.
Sakura shuddered. "You can count on that."
Sasuke moved, stretching his legs in front of him casually. "Stop stalling, Sakura. There are other things you want to ask."
She jumped, startled, and gave him a hurt look. "I'm not stalling! This is important!"
The black-haired teenager snorted.
"We can ask him why he destroyed Konoha later. It's not going to change anything to our current situation. Naruto... Can the Kyuubi slip free of you and possess Sakura's child?"
Sakura cringed and bit her lip, hard enough that Naruto worried that she would start to bleed. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he doubted she'd accept his touch and that hurt.
"No... No way in hell," he replied wearily. "I don't know what those shitheads of the Council told ya, Sakura-chan, but it shows that they never got to look at my seal up close. It's just... Not possible."
"Why?" she replied in a whisper. "What makes it impossible?"
"Well... 'cause basically, he's living on my lifeforce. We're sharing the same chakra pathways. He doesn't have a body of his own, so the seal anchored him into mine. The old pervert-sennin babbled at me about that once, and I guess you'd have to ask him for the arcane details, 'cause I didn't get any of it, but when he dumbed it down he explained it like that: a soul has these kinda hooks on it, that permits it to connect to a body. And the seal made it so his hooks became my hooks and so he's only connected through me. Meaning even if he manages to get past the seal that keeps him caged and unable to do anything, and rips himself out of me, he leaves his hooks behind and he can't get into anything else. And he dies. For good, this time."
He neglected to add that the loss of the Kyuubi would most likely, if not kill him too, then at least turn him into a drooling vegetable. He didn't want to taint the pure relief in her green eyes.
"So he... He can't leave you."
"Nope," he replied in a cheerful, carefree tone.
"He'll die with you, then?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto blinked; he'd almost forgotten that the other guy was there. "... yeah. He'll die with me."
"Bet he doesn't like that," Sasuke commented in a noncommittal tone. Naruto believed that tone from him about as well as he believed Kakashi-sensei's daily excuses.
The blond shinobi shrugged. "Makes it easier to force chakra out of him when I'm in deep shit."
Sakura wasn't listening to them. She was rubbing her stomach slowly, eyes lost staring at nothing.
"So he can't possess my-- the baby," she whispered. She looked slightly relieved, but not as much as Naruto would have wished.
"No, he can't," he repeated slowly, patiently.
"So what else is wrong?" Sasuke sniped, frowning. Naruto scowled at him; what had crawled up his butt and -- ACK bad comparison -- what made him so cranky? He could be nicer, he wasn't the pregnant one...
God, Sakura was pregnant. From him.
Sakura gave the black-haired man a hurt look. "Naruto was a normal human before the Kyuubi was shoved inside him, and now -- he has claws and fangs sometimes, and his chakra-- is the baby going to be -- to be-- normal?"
She had whispered the last word, knowing that it would hurt, but Naruto barely flinched. He knew he was abnormal, had known for a while.
"What if the effect is even worse on it? What if --"
/She looks like she thinks she'll give birth to a fox cub/ Kyuubi mused. Naruto blinked.
'Already back?' He thought he'd pushed the fox deeper than that. 'Well, she's not going to, right?' He asked his tenant, vaguely unsure.
A disdainful snort. /Idiot. It's your body she slept with./ There were flashes of memory with the retort, but he forced himself to ignore them.
"Nah, won't be. My body's human, so the baby should be human too. Though, the chakra... well, maybe that will get passed down, but I don't know. We'll have to ask old hag Tsunade what she thinks."
"But it can have CLAWS and FANGS..."
"Sakura."
They both blinked at Sasuke's weary and annoyed tone, and turned to look at him.
"Inuzuka Kiba has claws and fangs. Is he human?"
The kunoichi sighed. "... yes... okay, I see your point."
"So the baby won't be weirder than an Inuzuka at the most. At least it's not going to be an Aburame."
Sakura looked guilty for laughing at that, but Sasuke's dry comment had managed to lift the tense atmosphere. Naruto chuckled, as much from the quip as from sheer relief.
And I'm still writing. Hoping to finish the monster chapter tonight.
The Naruto-POV chapter of Teamwork is so long I think I'll cut it in half. And it won't be only three chapters finally, because the fucking thing mutated on me and now it wants to be six. SIX CHAPTERS.
Plus the sequels. *dies*
Previous part: http://www.livejournal.com/users/askerian/104689.html
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A hour or so later, they had found a place to hide. Not ground level, but on a tree, with wide branches and lots of leaves, practical to hide behind. There was a hollow in the trunk just over a branch, large enough to shelter them and they had filled it with grass to rest on.
Well, for Sasuke to rest on. Except the stubborn bastard had decided he didn't need a rest and was actively keeping an eye on their surroundings while Naruto hunted and Sakura lay traps. And when Naruto had tried to get him to at least sit down, he'd been forced to dodge his fist, because Uchiha was in a "I don't answer to anyone" mood.
Son of a bitch.
/Mmm, but I like him stubborn and macho as hell,/ Kyuubi purred as Naruto tracked his prey. Surprised, the boy almost walked on a dry leave. He wasn't used to the demon fox taking such an active interest in what was happening outside, unless his life was in danger.
'What, you like him all... dominant and stuff?' Naruto grumped back, feeling a weird twinge of jealousy. Ah well, it was better than to have the demon hate Sasuke's guts.
/That's when I want to throw him down on his knees and fuck him the most/ the fox laughed throatily. /Dominating a submissive isn't any fun, any challenge. But making someone like him submit, now.../
Naruto was getting images, feelings -- the memory of threatening, echoing growls and his front paws around a squirming body, and sharp teeth snapping at his muzzle, adding just a hint of threat to his pleasure ...
'Erk, get that shit out of my head. I'm not into bestiality,' he grumbled back, because thinking about the feral pleasure of mounting a clawed, fanged partner who could tear him to pieces if he didn't manage to overwhelm him was making a few rather embarrassing things happen inside his pants, and if he started to think about the feel of fur against him, he was going to be VERY disturbed the next time he was around Kiba and Akamaru.
Kyuubi snorted. /You're making me lust after furless, fangless, clawless, BIPEDAL humans, boy. It's bestiality to me./
Naruto decided to ignore his tenant. Most of the time, the conversations he was dragged in left him confused and disturbed. The damn fox thought in a way that should have been alien to him, but somehow, at gut level, wasn't. Some of the ideas he shared, Naruto couldn't dismiss, even though he knew half of the time it was probably just the bored demon-fox trying his hand at manipulation.
He decided to think about Sakura-chan instead.
Then he got caught up in remembering the softness of her skin and the way he had molded her body to his, and decided not to think at all while he hunted, because he'd just ran face first into a tree.
Inside his head, the Kyuubi was howling with laughter.
----------------------
It was good that they knew how to light a fire without the smoke rising like a beacon signaling their position; Naruto didn't have a problem eating his meat raw, but he knew that he was not the majority there and people tended to look at him weird when he tore into bloody flesh hungrily. It made him self-conscious, like he was revealing to everyone how bestial he was.
That and as tasty as raw meat was, it still wasn't ramen.
They ate quietly, not that hungry. Sasuke tried but then they both saw him wince discretely and 'misplace' his food down the tree, and Sakura spent the meal nibbling and not really swallowing anything, without looking up. In the end he was the only one who had a real meal, even if by his standards, it was barely a snack.
Finally he sighed, abandoning the idea of feeding.
"...So... How come none of us knew ... about ... Kyuubi no Youko? That he wasn't dead I mean," Sakura started.
"The adults knew," Sasuke commented tonelessly. "The ninja at least."
Naruto wound his arms around his knees and stared at his feet. "... Yeah, they all know, all those who were old enough to understand when he attacked the village. But the Third made 'em swear to shut the hell up and not tell their kids, so I could grow up normally..." He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "Except they all hate me 'cause they figured I was the Kyuubi and the Fourth had died because of me. So yeah, didn't work so good."
Sakura started nibbling on her lip. "So that's why... Mom was so unhappy when she learned you were in a team with me. I thought it was just because you had such a bad reputation as a troublemaker..."
"And are you?" Sasuke asked, watching him.
"Am I what?"
"The Kyuubi."
Naruto wanted to bristle, but Sasuke sounded so carefully neutral that he just couldn't.
"No. But he's inside me."
For a few seconds his teammates seemed not to know what to say to that.
"... Have you always known?" Sakura asked softly, still not looking up.
"Nah, actually that came late," he replied in as casual a tone as he could manage. "Sure, sometimes I got pissed as hell at the way people treated me, but that -- I don't know if it was his influence, but I don't think I needed him to get angry at being treated like shit."
Sakura fidgeted, a guilty look on her face. Naruto sent her a little smile to reassure her. Compared to most people, she'd been nice, really.
"I was twelve already when I even learned how I was different. And I didn't even feel him -- as something separate, I mean-- for a few months after that ... The mission with Zabuza. When that moron--" he pointed at Sasuke "--got himself killed. I'd never been so enraged than back then. I wanted to shred Haku to tiny pieces and piss on the remains."
It was hard to say that, because even now, thinking back on the first death he'd ever witnessed -- the first death of someone he knew at least -- he still felt sad and guilty and furious and powerless, wanting to save the boy who had tried to teach him something so important. But he would still have killed Haku to avenge Sasuke. He felt guilty that he was glad Haku had died at Kakashi's hands instead.
"Even then, it was hazy, the feeling that there was something, a -- a wrath, echoing mine, and yet just so much bigger than mine was. It sharpened slowly with time, the feelings I got from it-- from him -- but at the same time, it was becoming more mine. Argh, I'm really not explaining well," he added with a grimace.
"His feelings contaminated you?" Sakura replied, alarmed.
Naruto winced. Erk, that was not going well.
"No-- well, yes, but not like that... It's complicated. At first it was really hazy, and sometimes it had nothing to do with what I was feeling at the time. But now-- well, it's different. Easier. Better."
"Easier what?" she demanded, staring at him with wide, wary eyes.
"Well, before I had to guess what was mine and what was his, and it was hard, because every time I was feeling a thing I didn't want to, I'd tell myself it was his fault. But now I know when it's mine and when it's his. And when we feel the same -- well, I can use it."
/Do you dare make me out to be a useful tool, boy?/
Naruto grimaced briefly. That angry growl was definitely not from his feelings, but he had let the fox's awareness rise during their flight there, to be able to use his power better in case it was needed, and it was hard to just ignore him.
"Naruto?" Sasuke called, frowning.
"Ah, nothing. He's just a bitch as far as tenants go, you know," the blond ninja replied with an embarrassed smirk.
"Wait, he talks to you?"
"Uhh, sometimes. Almost never usually -- sometimes I go months without even feeling a twitch. Hell, sometimes I forget he's even there. But since this morning he's been running a fucking commentary. It's annoying as hell," he grumbled, beating down the sense of annoyed offense from the demon-fox.
Sakura still looked disturbed, and Sasuke was watching him with a hint of weirded-out fascination.
"Only you, moron..." the black-haired boy breathed, shaking his head in amazement.
"Who ya calling a moron, bastard?!"
"You. You have a demon inside your head and you call it 'annoying.' I'd hate to see what you call unbearable."
"Hey, it's not like I've got a choice. And what am I supposed to do, curl up and cry? Hide from people 'cause it's so shameful? Heck no. I didn't choose to house the bastard, but now that he's here, I may as well make the most out of it, and if people decide to bug me because of him, then fuck them."
The conversation died then, as they all stared at nothing trying to find something to talk about.
"... Your chakra, the way you heal... they're due to-- him, right?" Sakura finally asked.
Naruto nodded, wondering where she was going.
"And the -- the heat? It was him too, right?"
"Ahh, yeah, that's what Kakashi-sensei told me."
"But it never happened before?"
"Not that I remember," Naruto replied. He saw her glance at his stomach and her eyes briefly look more scared than before. What the hell--
/She thinks I'm about to escape/ Kyuubi commented, a note of bitter annoyance in his growl. /If only./ Naruto wondered if the fox had meant him to hear the last bit.
"You think the seal is failing, don't you," he commented, trying hard not to look hurt. Sakura wasn't saying she didn't trust HIM. Only that she didn't trust the seal. That was different, right?
"You said yourself you were getting more access to him," she replied, visibly fighting to keep calm.
"Yeah, I am. But the seal still works just fine."
"How do you KNOW?!" she finally erupted, clenching her fists. "You never went into heat before, so WHY NOW?"
He felt a low laugh rising in his throat and blinked, caught by surprise. He was used to blocking Kyuubi's negative emotions, but it was the first time he was subjected to his extreme amusement.
"What's so funny?!"
She was shrieking, now, and he would have ducked by reflex except that she wasn't trying to hit him, and there were tears in her eyes. That was...a lot more serious than her usual temper tantrums.
"KYUUBI finds it funny!! And I don't know-- oh. He says I was too small for my hormones to get influenced by his."
/It did come a few times more recently/ the fox added with relish. /You just happened to be alone on a mission when it hit. I'm surprised you don't remember, though./
Naruto blinked owlishly as he tried to guess when that could have happened, then noticed his teammates staring at him. "Uh, what?"
"He's talking to you now, isn't he?" Sasuke asked softly. He looked weirdly interested.
"Uhh, yeah. He says it happened before, but I was alone so nothing happened." /Except you chafing your dick from wanking all night long, that is./ "Except from-- KYUUBI!!"
'You goddamn bitch,' he thought, blushing madly.
"What did he say?" Sasuke demanded, nudging him with his foot.
"Nothing!" the blond ninja replied, growling. "He's just laughing at me again. Bastard."
Sakura was looking very, very weirded out.
"Is he listening now?" she asked in a whisper.
Naruto sobered up immediately. "Yes. But I can push him down if you want."
"Will you?" she replied, her voice wavering weirdly. "Oh-- but won't he be angry at you? I don't want him to-- to... fight you, or..."
He reached out to caress her cheek gently, feeling the need to reassure her twisting his guts into knots. He was so used to being around legendary ninja masters, mastering chakra-intense techniques and having a demon inside him that sometimes he forgot how scary it could seem for normal people. Concentrating, he closed the window to the outside he had left the demon, ignoring his snarls of protest, then gave her an awkward little smile.
"Sakura-chan... He can't do anything to me, okay? I let him come up sometimes, and sometimes I listen to him, but I don't have to. He can be as pissed at me as he wants, and it won't do anything to me. He can't hurt me, he can't take control, he can't influence me to do something I'd never do otherwise. I just-- well sure he's a monster and all, but sometimes I feel sorry for him. I'd rather be dead than be trapped in someone else, without a body of my own, and not even able to see the outside world. That's why I let him see through my eyes and -- other stuff. But this is my body and I'm the one in control, always."
"... oh."
She looked mildly relieved now. He felt the knot in his guts relax a little.
"Is he really... as bad as they say? You know, when we are taught about that day, we're not told about the details, just that he attacked and-- and, well."
"I doubt anyone got to have a chat with him about his reasons anyway," Sasuke commented sarcastically.
"I never asked. But as far as I know," Naruto replied somberly, "he didn't have any."
He couldn't stand the horror in Sakura's eyes. He looked away.
"He's -- not human. He thinks killing unarmed civilians is a good way to relieve tension and killing high-level ninja is fun. For him, humans are prey. Were prey. Because now, some of them are mates too and-- Well, I think he's a bit confused. But of course centuries-old kitsune can't be confused because they already know everything, so don't tell him I said that," he added with a little, awkward smile.
Sakura shuddered. "You can count on that."
Sasuke moved, stretching his legs in front of him casually. "Stop stalling, Sakura. There are other things you want to ask."
She jumped, startled, and gave him a hurt look. "I'm not stalling! This is important!"
The black-haired teenager snorted.
"We can ask him why he destroyed Konoha later. It's not going to change anything to our current situation. Naruto... Can the Kyuubi slip free of you and possess Sakura's child?"
Sakura cringed and bit her lip, hard enough that Naruto worried that she would start to bleed. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he doubted she'd accept his touch and that hurt.
"No... No way in hell," he replied wearily. "I don't know what those shitheads of the Council told ya, Sakura-chan, but it shows that they never got to look at my seal up close. It's just... Not possible."
"Why?" she replied in a whisper. "What makes it impossible?"
"Well... 'cause basically, he's living on my lifeforce. We're sharing the same chakra pathways. He doesn't have a body of his own, so the seal anchored him into mine. The old pervert-sennin babbled at me about that once, and I guess you'd have to ask him for the arcane details, 'cause I didn't get any of it, but when he dumbed it down he explained it like that: a soul has these kinda hooks on it, that permits it to connect to a body. And the seal made it so his hooks became my hooks and so he's only connected through me. Meaning even if he manages to get past the seal that keeps him caged and unable to do anything, and rips himself out of me, he leaves his hooks behind and he can't get into anything else. And he dies. For good, this time."
He neglected to add that the loss of the Kyuubi would most likely, if not kill him too, then at least turn him into a drooling vegetable. He didn't want to taint the pure relief in her green eyes.
"So he... He can't leave you."
"Nope," he replied in a cheerful, carefree tone.
"He'll die with you, then?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto blinked; he'd almost forgotten that the other guy was there. "... yeah. He'll die with me."
"Bet he doesn't like that," Sasuke commented in a noncommittal tone. Naruto believed that tone from him about as well as he believed Kakashi-sensei's daily excuses.
The blond shinobi shrugged. "Makes it easier to force chakra out of him when I'm in deep shit."
Sakura wasn't listening to them. She was rubbing her stomach slowly, eyes lost staring at nothing.
"So he can't possess my-- the baby," she whispered. She looked slightly relieved, but not as much as Naruto would have wished.
"No, he can't," he repeated slowly, patiently.
"So what else is wrong?" Sasuke sniped, frowning. Naruto scowled at him; what had crawled up his butt and -- ACK bad comparison -- what made him so cranky? He could be nicer, he wasn't the pregnant one...
God, Sakura was pregnant. From him.
Sakura gave the black-haired man a hurt look. "Naruto was a normal human before the Kyuubi was shoved inside him, and now -- he has claws and fangs sometimes, and his chakra-- is the baby going to be -- to be-- normal?"
She had whispered the last word, knowing that it would hurt, but Naruto barely flinched. He knew he was abnormal, had known for a while.
"What if the effect is even worse on it? What if --"
/She looks like she thinks she'll give birth to a fox cub/ Kyuubi mused. Naruto blinked.
'Already back?' He thought he'd pushed the fox deeper than that. 'Well, she's not going to, right?' He asked his tenant, vaguely unsure.
A disdainful snort. /Idiot. It's your body she slept with./ There were flashes of memory with the retort, but he forced himself to ignore them.
"Nah, won't be. My body's human, so the baby should be human too. Though, the chakra... well, maybe that will get passed down, but I don't know. We'll have to ask old hag Tsunade what she thinks."
"But it can have CLAWS and FANGS..."
"Sakura."
They both blinked at Sasuke's weary and annoyed tone, and turned to look at him.
"Inuzuka Kiba has claws and fangs. Is he human?"
The kunoichi sighed. "... yes... okay, I see your point."
"So the baby won't be weirder than an Inuzuka at the most. At least it's not going to be an Aburame."
Sakura looked guilty for laughing at that, but Sasuke's dry comment had managed to lift the tense atmosphere. Naruto chuckled, as much from the quip as from sheer relief.
And I'm still writing. Hoping to finish the monster chapter tonight.