The Things That Don't Match

Chapter 11



Naruto leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and wondered if he should be amused or insulted. He was at Kyuubi’s house, though it was more of a complex, and was listening to a most interesting conversation taking place between two of Kyuubi’s underlings.



“Who, Kyuubi? He’s ruthless, he’s got no weaknesses.” This would be idiot number two because there was no way a smart person who valued their life would be talking in the open like this about Kyuubi, in his own house no less, without at least doing a thorough check of the area- this idiot hadn’t.



“Wow. He’s got no weak points at all? Nothing would piss him off or make him lose control?” And this would be idiot number one, the new guy that had started the line of questioning. He apparently also had no instincts of self-preservation since he too hadn’t bothered to look around before he started to yap.



“Well…” Idiot no. 2 said, “There is one person that Kyuubi would protect with his life.”



“Who’s that?” Idiot no. 1 asked eagerly.



Naruto shook his head, there was no way guy no. 2 was going to say what he thought he was. If Kyuubi found out about this little conversation occurring these two would disappear.



“His heir or at least he’s called that but he doesn’t want to take over after Kyuubi,” Idiot no. 2 said.



“Kyuubi has a son?” Naruto could hear the confusion in the foolish man’s voice.



“No,” Idiot 2 responded, “He’s a kid Kyuubi’s got partial guardianship of.”



“And this kid is his weakness? So if the kid got hurt or was in danger Kyuubi would protect him?”



“Yeah, but he’s not really a weakness,” Idiot 2’s voice was hesitant.



“How so? You’ve just basically said in fewer words that this kid is the only person Kyuubi loves and would protect so how is he not a weakness?”



Naruto’s brow rose, he wanted to hear the answer to this one too.



Idiot 2’s voice sank to a whisper, “Kyuubi’s heir… It’s really weird but his heir is more ruthless than him. The kid is like the perfect weapon, he’s trained in so many things it’s not funny and yet he’s practically perfect at them all: guns, swords, martial arts, bombs, knives, and a ton of other weapons. But what makes the kid so scary is that he’s always smiling and nice even while he’s fighting but sometimes he just switches and there’s only darkness in him. It creeps me out, it’s like it’s still him but it’s not because it’s a completely different attitude. And even though the kid is nice it’s like he really only cares about those close to him and would keep smiling even if you died in front of him.”



Naruto frowned, is that how other people saw him? Because if it was he’d really need to work on that. He’d had enough of this conversation so it was time to show himself.



He walked around the corner and watched the men pale as they saw him.



“Hello,” he smiled at them, “Kyuubi is in the gym right?”



Both men nodded even though he noticed they flinched when he mentioned Kyuubi’s name. He wondered if he should answer their unspoken question of what he’d heard before shrugging mentally and deciding he’d rather let them sweat about it.



“Time to train,” he muttered to himself, he made sure the men heard it though. He strolled past them and waved over one shoulder before heading to the gym.



***



Naruto panted in the hold Kyuubi had him in, sweat dripping down his face.



Kyuubi frowned at him and let him go stepping back, “What’s wrong with you? This is shabby. If your going to spar against me like this then don’t bother wasting my time or yours.”



“I’m sorry. I’m trying.”



The frown on Kyuubi’s face deepened, “No, you’re not. You need to let go of whatever you’re holding on to. Don’t bring your feelings into the match, just let your instincts take over.”



Naruto ran a hand through sweat darkened hair in frustration, “I am and you’re still kicking my ass!”



Kyuubi looked thoughtful for a moment before pulling Naruto against him, making it so Naruto’s back was against his chest.



“Don’t you have any anger to get out? Don’t you just want to let go? Aren’t you angry about how things turned out with Sasuke?” Kyuubi whispered into his ear, “Aren’t you just mad that you put up with him for years?”



Naruto’s hands started trembling with anger and he closed his eyes. Kyuubi brushed some of his loose hair behind his ears, “That’s it,” Kyuubi crooned, “Fighting is in your blood, darkness is in you. Let it go. Give it to me.”



Naruto took a deep breath and stopped thinking, he pushed everything to the back of his mind except the awareness he had of his body and the sparing match. Kyuubi came at him.



Duck. Dodge. Feint left. Hit. Drop. Sweep kick. Jump back. Left hook. Twist. Roundhouse. Absorb. Attack. Roll. Knee. Catch. Punch. Follow-up. Side kick. Side step. Elbow. Drop. Gut punch. Neck chop.



“Give.”



Kyuubi nodded, panting slightly and smirked, “I give.”



They walked it off in silence, occasionally taking sips of the water bottles they had stocked in a fridge in a side room off the gym.



“That’s better. You’ve gotten your focus back. I take it you’re feeling better?”



Naruto nodded, “Yes.”



“I know. It’s why you always come back to me. You need a place to let it out. I see you, everything good and bad, and I don’t judge you for it. As a matter of fact I love you for it. My perfect little heir.”



“I know. I… I don’t want to fight,” Naruto whispered, he half hoped Kyuubi didn’t hear him since he didn’t want to know how the man would react to that.



Kyuubi looked at him for a moment, his eyes sad, “I know but you can’t stop, can you? It’s in your blood, you were practically born it in.”



Naruto felt the words reverberate through him even hours later.



A/N: And 5 days later we have a new chapter, I've now ran out of my reserves. How'd you like this one? It's a bit different since it exposes some of Naruto and will lead to clearing up his past.



Prism0467: He will in a couple of chapters. The question is how will he return?

Jessie: Thank you, it made me really happy to know that someone was enjoying the cooking parts; I'll make a note to add more of them. 5 days, so not quite a week, hmm?

spriggan_d: yes he does. Thank you, I'm happy you could review now. I love all the reviews I get.

Anon: Yeah. I'm sure someone will eventually and you'll get to see Shika's reaction. Got it almost in one, Naruto's free to do whatever right now.

AngelTalion: Thank you.