10 Chapter 9: Taking Root

Chapter Nine: Taking Root

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Everyone stared as Shikamaru and Naruto entered the house, simply for the fact that Naruto had found himself a new friend in the form of a small gold-furred fox kit. He held her in his hands, laughing as the kit licked his face affectionately.

"I think I'll keep you," Naruto said fondly, stroking the fox's fur. The kit purred and nestled into Naruto's arms.

"He's so cute, Naruto, where did you find him?" Ino asked as she approached him to admire the young animal.

"She," Naruto corrected the girl.

"He didn't' need to find her," Shikamaru answered Ino's question. "The foxes found him. That one just ended up following him all the way back here."

"It seems like she thinks you're her mother, Naru-chan," Kakashi teased the boy.

Naruto flushed and glared at his teacher as everyone else began to snicker. 'Just for that, I'm going to prank you harder, Sensei…'

"If Naruto's the mother, then who is the father?" Sakura questioned, more than a little amused with the situation at hand.

Much to Shikamaru's misfortune, the fox kit decided she wanted to shower some attention on him and jumped into his arms, serving to be a rather odd coincidence.

"Looks like you got your answer, Billboard Brow," Ino said with a wicked gleam as she wiggled her eyes suggestively at her annoyed teammate. "Shikamaru's a Daddy."

"Tch, troublesome," Shikamaru snorted, his cheeks turning a faint red while he glowered at the affectionate fox kit. "You're troublesome too."

Naruto snatched his kit back and held her protectively. "Don't be mean to Sakuya-chan!" he reprimanded. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Sakuya-chan?" he repeated. Naruto nodded his head.

"I decided to name her Sakuya, a pretty name for a pretty fox," he said affectionately, nuzzling his new familiar.

'He's so much more relaxed like this,' Asuma thought to himself as he observed Naruto. Naruto still acted like the idiot everyone thought he was generally, but there was always that slight tension around him like he was trying to hide something. He couldn't see that right now.

~What's with all the mother jokes anyways?~ Naruto huffed as he sat down for breakfast with Sakuya in his lap. However, when Tsunami brought a small bowl of milk for the baby fox, she leapt down to enjoy her meal alongside everyone else.

~Because of me, kit,~ Kyuubi said. ~Kakashi plays off the fact that foxes are attracted to you because with you being my Jinchuuriki, you're as good as a fox. And as it is… your Sakuya-chan has really decided that you're her mother.~

Naruto spat the milk he'd been drinking all over Sasuke's face as he spluttered in indignation over Kyuubi's declaration and Minato's howls of laughter.

~That's not funny, Kyuu!~ he whined, ignoring Sasuke's exclamation of anger and his fangirls' fretting.

~It's the truth, Naruto,~ Kyuubi said. ~You may be male in human terms, but in the minds of the foxes, you're a vixen.~

~Great…~ Naruto thought balefully. That was a rather humiliating thought. ~Why did Sakuya-chan jump on Shikamaru like that?~

~I think that considering he was the first male Sakuya saw you with, she automatically deduced that he was…~ Kyuubi faltered, realizing what she was about to say would most likely make Naruto blow things out of proportion and that was the last thing they needed.

~He was what, Kyuu?~ Naruto pressed, curious.

~It's nothing,~ Kyuubi denied, only to be faced with a pouting Naruto.

~What?~ Naruto kept pressing. Kyuubi was about as wrapped around Naruto's finger as Minato was so it didn't take long for her to give in.

~Sakuya thinks the shadow nin is your mate,~ Kyuubi finally admitted, wincing at the sudden silence as Minato stopped laughing.

~His WHAT?!~

~My WHAT?!~ Father and son chorused together in disbelief.

~I'm not going to say it again,~ Kyuubi said, knowing that she'd made a mistake even bringing it up amongst her two favorite blonde idiots.

~I'm never going to be able to look at Shikamaru the same way again,~ Naruto moaned, more than a little embarrassed.

~Naruto's too young to have a mate,~ Minato glowered.

~Tell that to Sakuya,~ Kyuubi retorted.

Shikamaru suddenly perked up as he was eating breakfast and looked around.

"What's wrong, Shikamaru?" Asuma asked his student, noting his odd behavior.

"It's nothing… I just thought someone was giving me the evil eye, that's all," Shikamaru shrugged, not knowing that Minato was currently glaring at him as if he wanted to Rasengan his ass all the way back to Konoha.

~Think of it this way, Minato,~ Kyuubi began, trying to cool the overprotective ex-Hokage's temper. ~At least she didn't think Naruto's mate was the Uchiha.~

Minato calmed down instantly. ~When you put it like that… ~

Naruto groaned as he continued to eat. His parents were so weird...

It was dinner time on their sixth day and everyone was discussing different things: Kakashi, Asuma and Tazuna were discussing the bridge, Chouji and Tsunami were discussing food, Sakura and Ino were arguing over Sasuke, who was ignoring them and Naruto was chatting away with Shikamaru about training. Inari merely sulked.

"I've finally finished with tree climbing! It's a good thing too! I was getting tired of it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It took you long enough to get it, dobe. It's not that big of an achievement," Sasuke snorted.

"This coming from the teme who was having trouble with it too," Naruto shot back with a huff. "So much for the supposed Uchiha property."

Sasuke's onyx eyes flashed with anger. "Watch your mouth, usoratonkachi," he warned.

"Why should I?" Naruto snapped, the wind outside the house beginning to stir. "Sorry but I'm not like those kiss up villagers who worship the ground you walk on. I'll say what I feel like!"

The two temperamental teammates got up into one another's face, glaring and snarling.

"Maa, maa… settle down you two," Kakashi tried to get the two Genin to stop trying to get at each other's throat.

They didn't listen.

"Back off, Naruto-baka!" Sakura yelled, pushing Naruto roughly, causing him to lose his balance and fall… right into Sasuke's lips.

The room fell silent as the two victimized stood frozen, lips still locked.

~I'LL KILL HIM!~ a homicidal Minato roared, out for Sasuke's blood, only to be held back by Kyuubi's tails.

She was both exasperated yet attracted by the Yondaime's rage.

'He'll make a good mate,' she purred to herself.

Sighing, Kakashi stood up and pulled Naruto away from Sasuke, allowing the traumatized blonde to bury his face into his chest to hide the tears of disgust that threatened to leek out.

Kakashi patted Naruto's back comfortingly before fixing Sasuke with a stern look. 'Obito's cousin or not, you have no right to touch my otouto,' he thought to himself before speaking. "We all know that Naruto has a hard time controlling his temper, Sasuke-kun… but I didn't expect that of you," he scolded the Uchiha.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, sitting back in his seat as Kakashi led Naruto to his seat.

Sakura and Ino were glaring at Naruto with feral rage clear on their faces.

Ino took out her anger by hitting Shikamaru upside the head.

"What did I do?" the lazy genius complained, rubbing his head gingerly.

"You didn't control your wife!" Ino reprimanded him. Shikamaru snorted. Ever since the Sakuya incident, Sakura and Ino hadn't relented in teasing him and Naruto about being "meant for one another."

"Tch… Naruto isn't my wife," he declared before ignoring his teammate and going back to his meal.

The dinner continued on in relative silence until Naruto noticed Inari staring at him with an odd look.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why do you guys bother to try so hard? No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gatou's men!" Inari exclaimed, tears streaming down his eyes. "No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, when facing the strong, the weak will always end up getting killed!"

Everyone stared at Inari, surprised the vehemence of his words. They hadn't expected a disruption like this. Naruto snorted in disinterest.

"Whatever you say, kid. I'm not like you," he said simply.

"I'd hate to be like you! You don't know anything about this country and yet you're being so nosy!" Inari screamed out spitefully. "What the hell do you know about me? I'm different from you! You're always clowning around and acting cheerful! You don't know how hard life can be!"

Those were the wrong words to say and it was quite evident to everybody the moment a massive amount of killing intent began to pour off the oddly silent Naruto. His normally expressive eyes were hidden from view.

'This isn't good,' Kakashi thought to himself, preparing himself for whatever may come.

~That's it… that boy's dead!~ this time it was Kyuubi who lost her cool as her potent chakra began to run through her kit's chakra coils. Minato's eyes widened in apprehension before he moved to try to subdue his angry paramour.

"So it's okay for you to act like the star of some tragedy and cry all the time?" Naruto growled, his voice nothing more than a gravelly hiss.

Naruto raised his head, revealing a pair of slitted red eyes, causing Inari to shrink back in fear.

"Just keep on crying, you little wuss!" Naruto roared in anger as he tried to lunge for the shocked ten-year-old.

Minato stopped pinning Kyuubi, materializing to grab Naruto before he could harm Tazuna's grandson. In doing so, he slammed his feet onto the table, spilling food and drink everywhere.

Kakashi felt a shock of chakra go through him and when he looked again, he paled as he saw the transparent form of his sensei pinning an enraged Naruto to his body, brilliant blue eyes narrowed in concentration. They turned on him for a moment, nodding in acknowledgement before both he and Naruto vanished in a flash of golden light.

"That was so rude of Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed indignantly. "Yelling at poor Inari and then storming off like that!"

'Storming off?' Kakashi frowned, wondering what Sakura meant. Concentrating, he found residual traces of chakra and realized something. 'Genjutsu…'

"Naruto's not at fault," Shikamaru said calmly as he picked up the whimpering Sakuya who hadn't appreciated being left behind. "Inari went too far… without trying to understand Naruto, he hit him where it hurt the most. It's only natural that Naruto would react like that."

Inari gritted his teeth once the shock and fear of Naruto's anger had faded away before running out of the room, overcome with emotion.

Kakashi watched him leave and moved to follow him before turning to look at Shikamaru one last time. 'You may be try to keep a mask, Naruto… but I have a feeling Shikamaru's going to break through it sooner or later,' he thought.

He thought back to the sight of Minato but decided he would confront Naruto about that later. Naruto was in no mood to speak to anyone.

Minato set Naruto down as they arrived in the room Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Chouji all shared, where the Hiraishin kunai currently resided.

The Yondaime frowned at the sulking boy before kneeling down so that they were eye to eye.

"Are you alright?" he asked, running a concerned hand through his son's blonde hair.

~Yeah,~ Naruto finally spoke. ~But what he said…~

~Pissed you off, I know, it pissed Kyuu-chan off too,~ Minato said, rubbing Naruto's back comfortingly. ~Inari-chan didn't know any better though. he doesn't know about your life.~

~I know, but it hurt,~ Naruto admitted. ~If it hadn't been for you and Kyuu-chan, I'm certain my life would have been a whole lot worse.~

~It's because of us that your life has been as harsh as it is,~ Kyuubi remarked sadly. ~You didn't get to be the happy child you deserve to be.~

~It's not your fault,~ Naruto sniffed. ~It's because of that bastard who controlled you.~

~That's true,~ Minato mused, recalling the true culprit behind the Kyuubi attack. ~We'll have to find a way to deal with him.~

~That's not the problem right now,~ Kyuubi reminded the two blondes.

~That's right… we still haven't got a response from Haku or Zabuza yet,~ Naruto commented.

Almost on cue, a kunai shot through the window with a letter tied to the hilt.

Removing the letter, Naruto opened it and grinned.

We're with you.

The letter then proceeded to inform Naruto of their plan to help them lead Gatou to his undoing.

He heard a yip and looked to see Sakuya entering the room. Naruto grinned as he got an idea as he quickly scribbled a note to Haku and Zabuza.

"Sakuya-chan, I've got a little favor to ask of you.." Naruto told his familiar, holding out the letter. The fox sniffed the kunai to get Haku's scent and then looked up as Naruto spoke again. "Can you give this letter to my friend?"

Sakuya yipped in acquiescence before scurrying off with the letter.

~With the proper training, Sakuya will be a fine nin-fox,~ Minato stated with approval.

~That she will,~ Naruto agreed.

So for the rest of the night, Naruto and Haku kept in correspondence, ironing out their plan to rid Nami no Kuni of Gatou and his band of goons.

Meanwhile, Kakashi returned from speaking to Inari to see that Shikamaru and Asuma were playing Shougi, Sakura and Ino were gossiping, Chouji was munching and Sasuke was brooding.

Kakashi wasn't sure he liked the look on the avenger's face…

Shaking his head, he thought back to the dinner scene. He was certain he'd seen his sensei. He may not have had a physical body but the legendary Yellow Flash had been there. Never mind the fact that no one else could see him.

… That sounded completely crazy, even to him, but he couldn't keep denying what he'd seen.

He scanned the room before his eyes fell across the new addition… the Yondaime Hokage.

Minato nodded in acknowledgement before backing away, signaling for Kakashi to follow.

He did.

They walked all the way to the roof of Tazuna's home before the blonde Hokage finally stopped and faced the Copy Nin.

"I'd say it's been a long time, Kakashi, but technically speaking, I've been here the entire time," Minato remarked.

"How are you here?" Kakashi queried. "Are you a ghost?"

"Not quite," Minato said. "I'm not dead… but I'm not alive, either."

"What does that mean?" Kakashi frowned in confusion.

"I'm sealed within Naruto alongside the Kyuubi," the Namikaze informed his student. "The Shinigami believed I still have a purpose to fulfill here on Earth versus being trapped in his stomach."

"Sealed inside Naruto?" Kakashi repeated before thinking about it. It all made sense. Naruto's strange wind and the strange bell test incident all pointed to it. "You've been protecting him," he realized. The Yondaime crossed his arms.

"Of course I have. I'm his father, I'm not going to sit around when he's in danger," he said matter-of-factly.

"You've been training him too. It would explain how he's been learning everything that I and the Academy teachers haven't taught him," Kakashi mused. "It would have been nice to know beforehand."

"What was he supposed to say? 'I'm being trained by the deceased Yondaime Hokage?'" Minato snorted. "We realized that we'd need to inform you of our situation if Naruto was to get any useful training from you and not something I've already taught him, such as tree climbing."

"Have we been wasting his time?" Kakashi wondered in horror.

"I wouldn't have allowed for that," Minato said. "I trained him in sealing, the family Taijutsu, Fuuton and Suiton jutsu and getting him used to Kyuubi's chakra."

"Kyuubi's chakra?!" Kakashi exclaimed in shock. "Isn't that dangerous? It could corrupt him!" Minato fixed Kakashi with a reprimanding glare.

"Not if done carefully," he said. "I think it's time I started to explain things to you… starting with the truth behind the Kyuubi attack…"

The Yellow Flash began to fill Kakashi in on everything and as he did so, Kakashi's eyes widened in disbelief.

In the end, they were left in silence before the masked Jounin finally spoke.

"So let me get this straight… Kyuubi is a girl and not evil. She attacked under the control of Uchiha Madara, who isn't dead like we all believed him to be. Not only that, she has accepted you as her mate and Naruto as her son…" Kakashi began, smirking a little at Minato's blush at being called Kyuubi's mate. "Lastly, Naruto succeeded in making Zabuza and his ally defect against Gatou and now we're planning to draw Gatou out by a ruse of a fight?"

"Pretty much," Minato stated with a sheepish grin at the exasperated look on Kakashi's face.

"You've dumped a lot on me at the last minute, sensei," the silver haired Jounin said. "You hate me, don't you?"

"The exact opposite, really," the blonde man shot back with a bright smile.

Kakashi flashed a sly look at his sensei. "Why Minato-sensei, I didn't know you felt that way about me," he teased.

Minato flushed indignantly. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he spluttered before giving Kakashi an evil look. "Besides… I could always tell Iruka-sensei about some of your more embarrassing moments while on my team."

"You wouldn't," Kakashi stated, eye wide in horror at the thought of being humiliated in front of his love interest. "It's not like you could, anyway."

"I'd find a way," Minato said stubbornly. "Who do you think pranked you the day of Team assignments?"

"That was you?" Kakashi gaped. The Yellow Flash smirked.

"Damn straight. Who else do you think could pull a fast one on you so effectively?" the ex-Hokage declared with a smug smile.

"I'll get you for this, one way or another," Kakashi promised his companion, wanting retribution.

"I'd like to see you try," Minato challenged arrogantly.

'Oh don't worry, sensei, I will,' Kakashi thought sadistically.

Sasuke was thinking about only one thing… or rather, one person.

Naruto.

As annoying as his teammate was, Sasuke knew that Naruto was the greatest mystery he'd come across in his life outside of the reasons behind Itachi murdering their clan.

It was eating away at him just as much as the fact that Naruto defied him so much when Sasuke was so clearly superior to him.

Sasuke wanted to rip the blonde off his high horse and teach him what his rightful place was: beneath him.

That thought made him think of their impromptu kiss, producing an interesting perverted image in the avenger's eyes of Naruto lying beneath him, vivid blue eyes filled with a mixture of fear, pain, and unwanted pleasure as Sasuke used the blonde's way the way he believed it was meant to be used.

A dark smirk appeared on Sasuke's face as an idea began to form in his head about how he would deal with the defiant Jinchuuriki.

He would own him and break him, taking Naruto's secrets and whatever abilities for his own. It was the perfect way to handle feisty blonde.

Feeling eyes on him, he turned to see Shikamaru staring at him suspiciously. The Uchiha glared at him, trying to intimidate him but, to his fury, the shadow nin just rolled his eyes.

Looks like Naruto wasn't the only problem he'd have to deal with…

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