Hellhound And The Fox

Adrik woke up to the worst headache of his life. It felt like someone used his head as a basketball, blended the rubber, ate the pieces, and spat it back out. He didn't actually know what that felt like, of course, but by God did he find it accurate. He sat up on what he realized was a mattress, even having a blanket to keep him from getting cold, not that his body temperature would ever be a problem. Looking around, he saw three other mattresses, all empty.

Adrik slowly stood up and stretched his arms and legs. He looked down at himself to see he was in a black tee shirt and cargo shorts. His forearm wrappings were unchanged, thankfully. He opened the door to the room and walked down the short hallway, hearing talking from what was apparently the first floor.

X

Kakashi eye-smiled as he heard his fourth student walking down the stairs. He was just in time for breakfast. Everyone else looked at where they heard the footsteps and waved at him to come down. Kakashi waved as well, not even turning his head away from his book.

"Uh...hi... How are you guys doing?"

"We're all doing great. You woke up just in time for breakfast, courtesy of Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami."

The woman, Tsunami, waved with a gentle smile when Kakashi introduced her to the boy.

"You're Adrik, right? Thank you for helping protect my father. I was worried when a bunch of ninja came knocking on my door with an unconscious kid."

"Nice to meet you. Honestly, I think everyone else did a pretty good job, too."

His teammates each nodded in appreciation. Adrik pulled up a chair as everyone said a quick prayer before digging in to their meal.

X

"Alright, team. We have about a week or two before Zabuza shows back up. I think all of you have gotten to a point where you can learn an elemental jutsu or two. Mind you, these won't be groundbreaking Kage killer techniques, but they can be pretty helpful if used correctly. I grabbed two earth jutsu for Sakura since she's only working with one affinity."

Team 7 was sitting on the grounds outside of Tazuna's house in anticipation. Being the early morning, the four genin were still getting into gear. Adrik had changed into his cargo pants and short sleeved black hoodie. Kakashi handed two scrolls to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, Adrik watching his three teammates opening them almost immediately.

"I still don't have enough chakra to safely use shadow clones, so I'll be rotating between the three of you to monitor your progress. Just so you all know, I do not expect you to get all of these jutsu down with such little time, so don't get upset if they don't automatically work perfectly. I recommend focusing on whichever jutsu would seem easier for you to perform, so you can at least add one technique to your arsenal when you need it."

Kakashi nodded and dismissed the three, walking over to Adrik.

"Adrik, we have some things to discuss involving what happened with Zabuza."

Adrik nodded nervously.

X

"So you don't know anything? Nothing at all?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm just as new to this as everyone else. I don't have a clue how to use my element other than how I've been using it. Whatever I did wasn't on purpose."

Kakashi nodded with a sigh, running through every detail in his mind.

"Let's see...that power only appeared when you got enraged by what Zabuza said...you didn't have full control over your actions...a sudden wave of fear and pressure..."

Kakashi's single eye widened as he thought of the implications. He looked at the boy in front of him who innocently stared back.

"Stay here for a second, I need to get Naruto."

Adrik looked confused as he nodded and sat against a tree. Whatever Kakashi had thought of, the boy had no clue how it pertains to his blonde teammate. Just a few seconds later, Kakashi returned to the small clearing followed by Naruto who looked just as confused as Adrik.

"Naruto. I want you to know that no matter what, nothing of what we say will leave this clearing. Anything and everything we say was never heard at any point in time except by us three."

Naruto audibly gulped at how serious Kakashi's tone became.

"Uh, sensei? Why did you want me to come over here? I thought I was supposed to be training with my new jutsu?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly at the boy. He took a deep breath as he knew he was asking something that Naruto wasn't exactly happy to answer.

"For what has become of Adrik's situation, I think it's time you tell him. I don't want to make you do this either, but this situation can't just be ignored."

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Kakashi holding up nine of his fingers. He stared worriedly at his teammate who had come to be something like a brother to him. Little did he know, the feeling was mutual.

"B-But sensei-"

"Naruto. I'm not ordering this as your sensei, not as your superior. I'm asking you to tell him of what you hold. Before you say anything else, just have some faith in your teammate. I have a feeling he will understand."

While the two were talking, Adrik only grew more and more confused. He understood absolutely nothing about what was going on, but he could tell this was something personal for Naruto. The boy in question turned to him with a worried gaze. He unzipped his jumpsuit jacket and pulled his shirt up slightly. He channeled some chakra to his stomach, and to Adrik's amazement, some sort of tattoo appeared as if it were always there.

"Thirteen years ago, the Leaf Village was attacked by the Nine-Tailed Fox. It went on a rampage, killing tons of people. After some time, the Fourth Hokage appeared to try and defeat it. He couldn't kill the Fox since it's a Tailed Beast, basically a mass of chakra that gained sentience. It would just reappear where it 'died' some years later. There's a ninja art called 'Fuinjutsu', or sealing jutsu. The Fourth Hokage was apparently an expert at it to the point he could seal away something so strong. He couldn't seal it in an item, though, so he chose the only other option. He sealed it in a baby that was born the day of the attack. The seal he made was designed to purify the demonic chakra, adding it to the baby's own reserves as they got older. So here I am, dozens of times more chakra than most Kage ever had or ever will have."

Naruto looked back up at his teammate, who seemed to be waiting for something, oddly enough.

"And...?"

"And nothing. I was used as a sacrifice to keep the most powerful being on the planet contained."

Adrik still looked as if he was waiting for something. It was as if he thought there was more to it.

"Okay...so, big mass of evil, sentient chakra in your gut, so what?"

Kakashi and Naruto just blinked at Adrik as they remembered he still knew so little about their world.

"So, there's a giant demon sealed in me that could break out one day and destroy the entire village if it wanted to!"

Adrik still looked confused.

"Sounds kinda like a big shadow clone to me."

Kakashi and Naruto's eyes widened as their jaws dropped.

"From what you told me about the technique, you create sentient masses of chakra. Granted, you give them the orders, but they still have their own will. They just listen because they all have the same mindset as the original. If the Fox is a big mass of sentient chakra, the only difference between it and a shadow clone would be that it can reform. It's kind of like being the shadow clone but also being the original at the same time. I'd imagine it could regenerate its own chakra, too."

Adrik continued to go on for a little longer about his conclusions, astonishing both Kakashi and Naruto. The two just looked at each other before smiling and turning back to Adrik.

Somewhere, in a cage larger than even the Hokage tower, two red, slitted eyes widened as it listened to the memories of its prison. It couldn't even begin to describe what it was feeling from the words of the smokey brat. One thing was for sure, the creature definitely wasn't mad. Not in the slightest. The creature rested its head on its orange, human-like hands as it began to drift off to sleep once more.

"Interesting... Perhaps my sentence won't be as boring as I first thought..."

"I mean, it has to have a name, right? Nine-Tailed Fox sounds more like a title than an actual name-"

"Adrik."

Kakashi finally managed to get the boy's attention after calling his name a few times. He brought up many points that the jonin would definitely look into later for his blonde student.

"Not that I'm not glad you're accepting of your teammate's situation, but we have strayed pretty far from the original conversation."

Adrik rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Naruto was looking between his sensei and teammate in confusion.

"Adrik, I have a theory as to what that power of yours was. I'm not saying it's a Tailed Beast, but it could be something similar. Seals wouldn't be possible as you have no chakra to affect, so they would vanish the moment they were placed on you. Your old world had no knowledge of anything even close to what us ninja can accomplish. The only thing I can think of that would even somewhat make sense is that it is a manifestation."

Both genin tilted their heads, waiting for Kakashi to continue.

"You are the only one to have this power that we know of, so everything is guesswork. What I mean by manifestation is that it's possible that the thing we saw was a representation of your element. Perhaps others in your world could go through something similar. Either way, this power is more like a stage for your element rather than an outside power source."

Kakashi sighed as his students' faces clearly told him to further explain.

"Okay, think of something like the Sharingan. It's a dojutsu that is passed from Uchiha to Uchiha. The power is inherently the user's own. It can further evolve from one tomoe in each eye to three in each, granting enhancements for each evolutionary stage. On my end, my comrade have me his remaining Sharingan as his last wish. It is a power source, as it is for Uchiha clan members, but it acts as an external one since it is implanted. It is in no way, shape, or form tied to my heritage. That is also why it takes up so much chakra to use. Basically, your power is like a bloodline, not something that was implanted into you. I also have my doubts that it can be taken or implanted like the Sharingan can."

The two genin seemed thoughtful as they nodded, finally understanding what Kakashi was getting at.

"So why is the manifestation of my power a demon hyena with weird tails?"

Kakashi shrugged as he came up with an answer.

"Who knows. It could be that it's a type of animal you have a natural connection with, or it could be pure chance that it took that form. There's still a lot for you to figure out since you are the first of your kind here."

Kakashi put his face back into his little orange book.

"Now, you two have training to do. Naruto has elemental jutsu to learn, and you have some new power to test out. Besides, your fighting style still needs work. It's a wonder you managed to beat two jonin on your own."

Adrik looked down in embarrassment at his sensei's words. He shivered as he remembered having to buy the crazy snake lady dango every day once he got a stable income.

X

Dinner was quiet, too quiet for Sakura. Doing her thing, she began to make conversation with the people who bothered to respond, namely Naruto and Tazuna.

Some more time passed as the ninja finished their food, Tsunami going to wash the dishes.

"Hey, mister Tazuna?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"I've been wondering since we got here. I've seen a bunch of family photos here, but there's always someone cut out of them. May I ask what happened?"

Tazuna sighed. Nobody noticed the little kid with a dark expression.

"That...is Inari's dad. Not biological, but his dad all the same. He was a good guy with a pure heart. He was practically a hero to us."

From the kitchen, everyone heard a plate shatter. The kid, Inari, stomped up the stairs to his room with that same dark look on his face.

"Father! You know not to talk like that in front of Inari!"

Tsunami stopped what she was doing and followed her son up to his room, attempting to comfort him. Everyone remaining looked towards Tazuna for answers.

"Inari was the most affected when he died. His dad, who he had for only a few years, was gone and everyone praises him. To him, it's like people are thankful that he died for what he sees as something pointless. He's only a kid. I don't expect him to understand everything fully just yet."

"U-Um...how...did he die?"

Sakura regretted asking as she saw Tazuna gained a haunted expression as if the mere thought could give him a heart attack.

"It was at the start of Gato's reign. Originally, he seemed like a good business man who cared for those working for him. As time passed, his personality completely reversed. The kind business man became a greedy tyrant with a black heart. Inari's dad, Kaiza, opposed his every move as best he could. The people backed him up, too. I began construction of my bridge the day before he died. Gato rounded up Kaiza and some of his friends. The others were hanged in the middle of town, but..."

Tazuna gulped at the memory.

"After learning of my job as the builder of the bridge, he went after us. Kaiza was the one to drop instead of us. He opposed Gato to his dying breath. The day of his death, we were all rounded up to the center of the town. Gato ordered his men to bring him on a platform so we could all see him clearly. That inhuman goblin freak tortured him for nearly half an hour. He got his men to slowly hack away at his arms with dull, rusty axes until we saw the bones. Another of his men walked up in front of him and slowly carved a head sized hole in his midsection. That day, Wave lost hope. We lost a hero, and Inari lost his light. He hasn't smiled once ever since."

Sakura went to the bathroom, from which everyone present could hear her losing her dinner. Naruto was stiff in his chair, not even moving a muscle. Kakashi and Sasuke looked down solemnly, both scowling. Adrik held his head in his hands, cursing his head for visualizing the event so vividly.

"I... I am so sorry, Tazuna. For your family to go through that..."

"Trust me, Kakashi, nobody will forget. We'll just have to do good by his name by freeing wave of Gato's control."

Sakura came back into the room and sat down quietly. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Adrik got up and walked outside, motioning for the jonin to follow him.

"What do you need, Adrik? I'm not exactly the first pick for consoling someone, you know-"

"-Tomorrow before lunch."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, motioning for his student to continue.

"I've been improving my smoke field, as you already know."

Seeing where the conversation was going, Kakashi's eye narrowed. Not once had Adrik looked up from the ground.

"Gato is a cocky bastard who shows off his wealth by hiring the big bad demon for him to use. I know damn well I could find him, and maybe even Zabuza if I take the time."

"Adrik, you can't do what I think you're suggesting. Gato has too many men on his side. We don't know how many of them could be missing ninja, or even if the regular thugs could have ninja training. For all we know, he could have more jonin on the way. I'm not letting you-"

"-I will kill Gato. No. Matter. What. There isn't a damn person in this world who will stop me. Not Zabuza, not the Hokage, and not you."

Kakashi was taken aback by the blazing bronze eyes of his student. He had a feeling that Adrik wouldn't even think twice about the repercussions this could have on not just him, but everyone and everything involved. Even so, Adrik had proven himself an incredibly formidable warrior. He wasn't much of a ninja by their standards, but he was absolutely an elite fighter in the Leaf Village. It didn't even matter at this point whether Adrik was a backup member or a full team member. Kakashi sighed deeply and put a hand on his student's shoulder.

"Are you absolutely sure you'll survive, even if you fail?"

"I've been through a thousand times worse. I'll make sure every enemy I see there will know what hell is like before I send them there myself."

Kakashi shivered from Adrik's murderous tone. How he could be scared of a thirteen year old, he had no clue. Kakashi only knew one thing in that moment.

Gato will be ashes to the wind come noon the next day.