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Entry tags:
(naruto) Naru/Neji, furries AU (need title)
yeah it's weird, kinda parallels the series plot up to a point. i hope the differences become clearer later. XD
Tenten and Lee seemed settled for the night, and Gai-sensei was probably still at Kakashi's bedside; by now, drained of chakra to the brink of complete exhaustion or not, the wolf was probably about to tear off his friend's head. Neji didn't care much, so long as it kept his teacher out of his hair.
He slipped through the unfamiliar stone corridors, tail curved high to avoid sweeping the floor behind him. He could hear gerbils scurrying around in the compound, probably delivering scrolls, and smell desert foxes and jackals guarding the few openings onto the cliff walls. The mix of scents in Suna was different, sharper, drier -- spicier, in a way, than Konoha's. It was almost as bizarre as the halls and classrooms and amphitheaters carved in the ochre rock, as if the whole plateau was one giant, communal burrow.
Following the faint breeze that tickled his long fur, he finally found an exit. The guard's huge fennec fox ears were flat on his head, and he wasn't even looking at Neji. Politely, the cat coughed to warn of his presence, and then swept outside past the guard; he had a feeling he knew what had the desert fox so overwhelmed.
The air was shockingly cool now that the sun was down. The angles of the high walls surrounding the courtyard were smoothed out by wind and sand, and tiny dust devils were lazily stirring toward the middle.
Up on the wall, a three-tailed fox stared at the darkening sky. Neji watched him in silence, and then leaped up to join him, scaling the wall quickly.
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Neji asked coolly, the tip of his tail curling.
It had been so long since the last time he'd seen Naruto. And during the mission, there hadn't been any time to gape at everything that had changed, and at everything that had stayed exactly the same.
Naruto blinked slowly, and then turned his head to grin at him, a quick flash of white fangs in the dark. "Like you can talk, you cat!"
Yes, pretty much the same. Neji gratified him with a disdainful sniff and perched on the parapet, and then started untangling the long white-with-black-rosettes fur of his tail. It was dusty; he disliked that.
"Prissy."
"Some people actually like other people to be able to notice the natural color of their fur," Neji informed the fox.
"It's your fault for having white fur. Though the black rings help a little..."
"Yours is turning golden-red," Neji observed softly.
Naruto's grin fell a little, and he turned away to face the desert again. "Yeah?"
"It was just yellow before."
"... Yeah, I know."
Neji fell silent and started grooming his tail again; his opening gambits didn't seem welcome.
It was strange, he reflected, how he could consider someone one of his most important friends, hold his opinion in such high regard, wonder so often about what he was doing, away from Konoha, and yet didn't actually know him well enough to have a comfortable conversation.
"Do you really think I've changed?" Naruto whispered finally.
Neji considered the question. "...Yes."
Naruto's ears drooped. "Oh."
"You've gotten stronger."
Naruto grinned at that, but it didn't seem entirely sincere. Neji's ear flicked in puzzlement, but he didn't ask; Naruto didn't seem very inclined to reply to anything too personal.
"Yeah... I did get stronger, didn't I."
"You saved Gaara's life," Neji pointed out, wondering if that was his problem. They had been close, very close, to losing the Kami of the Sand.
"I almost didn't."
"But you did," Neji retorted, frowning.
"You don't get it. I've got this problem with the Kyuubi's powers... I almost didn't."
Neji blinked, frowned, tail lashing briefly around his ankles. It always felt weird to be reminded that Naruto -- the silly fox kit who didn't believe in destiny -- was the avatar of a living god. "Wasn't that why you left Konoha? To teach yourself how?"
Naruto grinned at him, and hesitated. "Yeah... and no."
Neji gave him a curious look.
"Promise you won't tell."
The cat scowled, vaguely insulted. "Of course."
"Jiraiya taught me how to stuff ...him down. And how to access his power without accessing him."
Neji stared at the fox for a long minute as he tried to comprehend the enormity of the transgression.
"... But you're His avatar," he retorted without thinking.
Naruto's expression closed off, and he turned away, crouching to jump off the wall.
"Wait!" Neji whispered hurriedly. "Naruto -- wait." He hesitated, stared at the fox's back. Naruto wasn't moving; not leaving, but not turning to face him either. "How do you mean, stuff Him down? I thought... They teach us that you're one and the same."
Naruto sighed, and his shoulders slumped a little. He leaned heavily against the parapet. "Yeah, but no. Not really. We're a little weird like that." He looked up at Neji finally, giving him a tired smile. "Basically... He's here, with his power and his past lives. Kyuubi no Youko, Living God of Fire country, blahblahblah. And I'm there. Naruto the street fox. And we almost never mesh. Sometimes I'll get flashes of memories, and when I'm in deep, deep shit I can tap into his power, but that's about it."
"And you haven't learned...?"
Naruto bristled. "I don't want to learn! I don't care who he was -- he's not me! And all that power -- it's too easy. I'll use it if I need to, but I want to earn things with my own two hands. I don't want everything handed to me because of something I did in a past life or three."
"I see... Alright. But now you feel bad because you almost couldn't help Gaara?"
Naruto's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. I mean, it's all good for me to say I don't want Kyuubi's power, but what about the people I could save if I let him -- take over."
"... Take over?"
"That's the way it is now, kinda. The priests tell me we should have started meshing when I was just a kit, but..." Naruto shrugged.
"Do they have any idea how to fix it?"
"They don't know jack shit. They don't even know why it's happening, but they sure love their stupid theories about my -- my father and all that."
Naruto looked angry now, and not the overblown kind of anger he had expressed at twelve, with puffed cheeks and a pout firmly affixed to his face. Neji wondered what Naruto thought of his father. From what he understood, Naruto hadn't known him at all, and it had to be hard, being the son of the Godslayer -- but even if his own father had killed a dozen Kamis with his own two hands, Neji would have hated anyone who dared to insult his memory.
"They're the same people who couldn't even find you before you tapped into the Kyuubi's power in the middle of a full stadium; in your place I wouldn't worry too much about their theories," he commented dryly. "I'm not sure they would find their own tail even if someone was stomping on it."
Naruto laughed, a real laugh this time, that rang surprisingly far and clear against the cliffs. "Yeah, you're right."
"Of course," Neji replied primly, and started grooming his tail again. "I'm always right."
Naruto laughed again, and sprawled on the parapet, his three tails swishing happily. Neji resisted the urge to thwap them down.
"Ah, man, it's gonna be weird being back in Konoha. For good, I mean; I only stayed there like one day before we got this mission..."
"Weird how?"
"Well, everyone's gonna start worshipping again," Naruto replied, and grimaced at him. "When I was a kit, before I left, Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei tried to keep me away from the crowds, but -- it's so weird to be adored like that. Before, they threw stones at me on sight, because the guy who fathered me happened to be a criminal or something, and now they're falling over themselves to lick my ass. And for what? Because now they know that I've got some dead guy squatting in the back of my head."
Neji considered him in silence for a few seconds, then leaned on the parapet beside him.
"I'm still the same guy..."
"Unfortunately, yes," Neji retorted smartly.
"Hey!"
"I mean it, though. You haven't changed much."
"Liar. Earlier you said I did."
Neji waved it off. "I just meant that you had grown up; apart from that you're not very different."
Naruto grinned, and flexed his arms suggestively. "Oh yeah, I did grow up. I'm a real--"
"Virile hunk of manflesh?" Neji suggested, managing, he wasn't sure how, to stay perfectly serious.
"I was gonna say stud, but this works too."
+
gotta end here cause sleep omg sleep need sleep like now guuuhh.
Tenten and Lee seemed settled for the night, and Gai-sensei was probably still at Kakashi's bedside; by now, drained of chakra to the brink of complete exhaustion or not, the wolf was probably about to tear off his friend's head. Neji didn't care much, so long as it kept his teacher out of his hair.
He slipped through the unfamiliar stone corridors, tail curved high to avoid sweeping the floor behind him. He could hear gerbils scurrying around in the compound, probably delivering scrolls, and smell desert foxes and jackals guarding the few openings onto the cliff walls. The mix of scents in Suna was different, sharper, drier -- spicier, in a way, than Konoha's. It was almost as bizarre as the halls and classrooms and amphitheaters carved in the ochre rock, as if the whole plateau was one giant, communal burrow.
Following the faint breeze that tickled his long fur, he finally found an exit. The guard's huge fennec fox ears were flat on his head, and he wasn't even looking at Neji. Politely, the cat coughed to warn of his presence, and then swept outside past the guard; he had a feeling he knew what had the desert fox so overwhelmed.
The air was shockingly cool now that the sun was down. The angles of the high walls surrounding the courtyard were smoothed out by wind and sand, and tiny dust devils were lazily stirring toward the middle.
Up on the wall, a three-tailed fox stared at the darkening sky. Neji watched him in silence, and then leaped up to join him, scaling the wall quickly.
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Neji asked coolly, the tip of his tail curling.
It had been so long since the last time he'd seen Naruto. And during the mission, there hadn't been any time to gape at everything that had changed, and at everything that had stayed exactly the same.
Naruto blinked slowly, and then turned his head to grin at him, a quick flash of white fangs in the dark. "Like you can talk, you cat!"
Yes, pretty much the same. Neji gratified him with a disdainful sniff and perched on the parapet, and then started untangling the long white-with-black-rosettes fur of his tail. It was dusty; he disliked that.
"Prissy."
"Some people actually like other people to be able to notice the natural color of their fur," Neji informed the fox.
"It's your fault for having white fur. Though the black rings help a little..."
"Yours is turning golden-red," Neji observed softly.
Naruto's grin fell a little, and he turned away to face the desert again. "Yeah?"
"It was just yellow before."
"... Yeah, I know."
Neji fell silent and started grooming his tail again; his opening gambits didn't seem welcome.
It was strange, he reflected, how he could consider someone one of his most important friends, hold his opinion in such high regard, wonder so often about what he was doing, away from Konoha, and yet didn't actually know him well enough to have a comfortable conversation.
"Do you really think I've changed?" Naruto whispered finally.
Neji considered the question. "...Yes."
Naruto's ears drooped. "Oh."
"You've gotten stronger."
Naruto grinned at that, but it didn't seem entirely sincere. Neji's ear flicked in puzzlement, but he didn't ask; Naruto didn't seem very inclined to reply to anything too personal.
"Yeah... I did get stronger, didn't I."
"You saved Gaara's life," Neji pointed out, wondering if that was his problem. They had been close, very close, to losing the Kami of the Sand.
"I almost didn't."
"But you did," Neji retorted, frowning.
"You don't get it. I've got this problem with the Kyuubi's powers... I almost didn't."
Neji blinked, frowned, tail lashing briefly around his ankles. It always felt weird to be reminded that Naruto -- the silly fox kit who didn't believe in destiny -- was the avatar of a living god. "Wasn't that why you left Konoha? To teach yourself how?"
Naruto grinned at him, and hesitated. "Yeah... and no."
Neji gave him a curious look.
"Promise you won't tell."
The cat scowled, vaguely insulted. "Of course."
"Jiraiya taught me how to stuff ...him down. And how to access his power without accessing him."
Neji stared at the fox for a long minute as he tried to comprehend the enormity of the transgression.
"... But you're His avatar," he retorted without thinking.
Naruto's expression closed off, and he turned away, crouching to jump off the wall.
"Wait!" Neji whispered hurriedly. "Naruto -- wait." He hesitated, stared at the fox's back. Naruto wasn't moving; not leaving, but not turning to face him either. "How do you mean, stuff Him down? I thought... They teach us that you're one and the same."
Naruto sighed, and his shoulders slumped a little. He leaned heavily against the parapet. "Yeah, but no. Not really. We're a little weird like that." He looked up at Neji finally, giving him a tired smile. "Basically... He's here, with his power and his past lives. Kyuubi no Youko, Living God of Fire country, blahblahblah. And I'm there. Naruto the street fox. And we almost never mesh. Sometimes I'll get flashes of memories, and when I'm in deep, deep shit I can tap into his power, but that's about it."
"And you haven't learned...?"
Naruto bristled. "I don't want to learn! I don't care who he was -- he's not me! And all that power -- it's too easy. I'll use it if I need to, but I want to earn things with my own two hands. I don't want everything handed to me because of something I did in a past life or three."
"I see... Alright. But now you feel bad because you almost couldn't help Gaara?"
Naruto's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. I mean, it's all good for me to say I don't want Kyuubi's power, but what about the people I could save if I let him -- take over."
"... Take over?"
"That's the way it is now, kinda. The priests tell me we should have started meshing when I was just a kit, but..." Naruto shrugged.
"Do they have any idea how to fix it?"
"They don't know jack shit. They don't even know why it's happening, but they sure love their stupid theories about my -- my father and all that."
Naruto looked angry now, and not the overblown kind of anger he had expressed at twelve, with puffed cheeks and a pout firmly affixed to his face. Neji wondered what Naruto thought of his father. From what he understood, Naruto hadn't known him at all, and it had to be hard, being the son of the Godslayer -- but even if his own father had killed a dozen Kamis with his own two hands, Neji would have hated anyone who dared to insult his memory.
"They're the same people who couldn't even find you before you tapped into the Kyuubi's power in the middle of a full stadium; in your place I wouldn't worry too much about their theories," he commented dryly. "I'm not sure they would find their own tail even if someone was stomping on it."
Naruto laughed, a real laugh this time, that rang surprisingly far and clear against the cliffs. "Yeah, you're right."
"Of course," Neji replied primly, and started grooming his tail again. "I'm always right."
Naruto laughed again, and sprawled on the parapet, his three tails swishing happily. Neji resisted the urge to thwap them down.
"Ah, man, it's gonna be weird being back in Konoha. For good, I mean; I only stayed there like one day before we got this mission..."
"Weird how?"
"Well, everyone's gonna start worshipping again," Naruto replied, and grimaced at him. "When I was a kit, before I left, Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei tried to keep me away from the crowds, but -- it's so weird to be adored like that. Before, they threw stones at me on sight, because the guy who fathered me happened to be a criminal or something, and now they're falling over themselves to lick my ass. And for what? Because now they know that I've got some dead guy squatting in the back of my head."
Neji considered him in silence for a few seconds, then leaned on the parapet beside him.
"I'm still the same guy..."
"Unfortunately, yes," Neji retorted smartly.
"Hey!"
"I mean it, though. You haven't changed much."
"Liar. Earlier you said I did."
Neji waved it off. "I just meant that you had grown up; apart from that you're not very different."
Naruto grinned, and flexed his arms suggestively. "Oh yeah, I did grow up. I'm a real--"
"Virile hunk of manflesh?" Neji suggested, managing, he wasn't sure how, to stay perfectly serious.
"I was gonna say stud, but this works too."
+
gotta end here cause sleep omg sleep need sleep like now guuuhh.