Kitsune no Yomeiri

A/N: and i'm back! thank you all who reviewed, and here are your promised responses!

Riahna: please don't poke me! i do it to others and they tell me it hurts! *smirks and sharpens nails*

Aurie713: yeah, cliffhangers kill me too. there was this one episode of Walker, Texas Ranger... *rambles* and as for sasuke and sakura... ever see "The Graduate"? *evil smirk*

lo: let's hope i can keep your attention, ne? *smile*

Demonrights: now whoever said sasuke forgot about naruto? *evil smirk*

Anna: Anna, my girl! and sasuke does get married... but to whom?! duhn duhn duuuuuuhn! *gasps*

Tati: thank you! *smile*

narufan: thank you very much! *blushes*

Hello: what's going to happen, indeed! *evil smirk*

Xzanayu: no, it's not right, is it? maybe i'll rectify that... *evil smirk*

mike~: i hope this chapter answers your questions somewhat! *smile*

zetsuai2005: thank you! i like a good child-abused!naruto myself every now and again, but sometimes i just feel like writing something that says "hey, naruto can kick all your asses!" as for how he'll accomplish his task, two words: bachelor party *grins like a maniac*

lilithwolf: thank you!

now on with the story!

same tags apply


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Chapter 3: The Uchiha's story is filled with pain
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Naruto’s eyes were sightless and his body unmoving as Jiraiya walked Sasuke and a clinging Sakura over to where he and the masked man were standing. He was vaguely aware that those ninja watching Sasuke and the masked man fight had gathered near them as well.

“Ah, everyone, you have to meet my companion, here. Everyone, this is-”

Naruto was snapped out of his unresponsiveness. Fifteen years of etiquette training and ego stroking had seared into him the need to introduce himself as his title demanded. He really didn’t want to, but he thought maybe he could get a little information from the gossip-gals of Konoha if he had a little ‘oomph’ behind his name. “Jiraiya-sama, please, I will introduce myself.”

“Oh, well, excuse me, brat. Do what you want!”

“I apologize for my rudeness, and thank you.” He turned to all gathered and bowed low, his purple kimono sleeves brushing the trampled grass. “I am Lord Kazahaya, daimyou of a village deep within the Great Forest. I am pleased to meet you all.” Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie. Naruto would apologize for it later. ‘Maybe…’

Silence greeted his statement, and then the masked man spoke. “What is a lord doing traveling by himself? It’s dangerous, Kazahaya-sama.”

“Being a ninja, don’t you think having an entourage would draw unnecessary attention? Especially when my destination was this village and spies from Oto could be lurking anywhere within the forest.” Naruto thought he saw Sasuke tense out the corner of his eye. Then he saw Sakura give his betrothed a concerned glance, and he wondered what could have happened in the fifteen years he’d been gone. “Besides,” he continued, “I had a legendary sannin at my side. Was I really in any danger? If what Jiraiya told me on the way here is true, he was trained by Sandaime, trained Yondaime, and is old teammates with Godaime. I should think I was perfectly fine.”

‘Where is the loud and obnoxious brat that wreaked havoc in the kitsune village when he was younger?’

‘He died the second she grabbed his arm. If I’m to find out what’s going on and be able to retrieve what was promised to me, Kazahaya no Kitsune-sama needs to be in charge.’

“Kakashi, lay off. The kid was perfectly fine with me. Alright, Kaza-kun, let me introduce everyone else. From left to right we have Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, Chouji, Shino, Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, and TenTen.”

‘I will never remember all of those names.’

‘You already know them.’

‘Oh yeah…’

Naruto resisted raising his hand to rub the back of his neck. He did know them. Well, except for the masked man. He looked like a sensei, and to be training with an Uchiha of all people, he had to be at least jounin. Sasuke had always been strong.

“So what brings you to Konoha, my lord?” Naruto looked to Ino, which he instantly regretted. There was a look in her eye that said she was on the hunt. He glanced at Sakura clinging to Sasuke and figured Ino must want to one-up Sakura in the husband department. What was better than an Uchiha? Why, an available, young lord.

He suddenly remembered he hadn’t answered the question. “Oh, I am here to visit an old friend.”

“Who?” This came from the pale-eyed brunet, ‘What was his name? More importantly, who am I going to tell them? I didn’t have many friends, other than Sasuke and Ita-’

“Uchiha Itachi.” The name came out unbidden, and Naruto hoped to the heavens that he hadn’t made a stupid mistake. In an instant, the masked man – Kakashi, his father reminded him – had a kunai to his throat, his visible eye wide in surprise that Naruto had seen it coming. And indeed, Naruto had seen it coming, his fox eyes faster than any ninja’s could ever hope to be, and had he side-stepped it, it would have been obvious he wasn’t telling them the truth about himself.

Yet, stranger than that was the fact that Kakashi knew he had seen it coming. This one ninja must have had sharper eyes than most. He must have seen Naruto’s minute tensing before the blade had even left the weapons pouch. But it begged the question of how. And then Naruto noticed that Kakashi’s hitai-ate was pushed up ever so slightly, showing just a glimpse of the hidden eye, which Naruto noticed swirled red and black, though not like that of his father’s bloodline. No, what he beheld was a bloodline limit, a trait passed down through generations of a certain clan, and what Naruto was staring into, his father told him, was the terrorizing bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan.

‘There was a man named Uchiha Obito…’

‘Later, father. Right now I have a kunai to my neck and a very unhappy Sharingan user in my face.’

“How do you know that traitor?”

“Traitor?” The last Naruto remembered was Itachi being a nice, if a little creepy, young man. What could have happened to change that? He turned his eyes to Sasuke, who stood rigid and, thankfully, Sakura-free.

“Sasuke, do you know this person?”

‘Yes, you do, koi.’

“No, I don’t.”

‘Sasuke…’

It shouldn’t have hurt. He was using a glamour, after all. But dammit, it hurt like nothing ever had. Tears came unbidden to his eyes, and he recklessly shoved Kakashi’s kunai aside and glared at the ground.

“What did he do?” Silence met his question. He glared up through the fall of his pale red hair, locking eyes with Sasuke, and he repeated, “What. Did. He. Do?”

“He slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan, save Sasuke.” Naruto’s head shot up, and he stared incredulously at Sakura. A few gathered were glaring at her, more than likely upset with the callous way she relayed the information. “And now it’s up to me and Sasuke-kun to revive it.”

‘Oh, Kami-sama, no! Sasuke’s family… Sasuke…’ Naruto looked to the Uchiha to see a blank, expressionless face staring at nothing in particular. ‘No. It’s not possible. It isn’t possible. It’s impossible! The entire clan… No!’

Without thinking, Naruto turned and broke out in a dead run. His kimono impeded his speed, which he would be thankful for later, and tears tried to blur his vision.

‘You must think clearly, Kazahaya.’

‘But Sasuke… he’s marrying her… there’s got to be someone… anyone… at least one more Uchiha… my Sasuke can’t be taken away!’

Naruto’s legs carried him tirelessly to the Uchiha compound, and what he saw terrified him for the second time in his life. Buildings were crumbling. Paint was peeling. Dark stains that had soaked into concrete and wood decorated the scene. He used his demonic senses to trace any signs of life. He eyes couldn’t pick out any recent signs of travel. His ears couldn’t make out any noises or breathing. His nose picked up only the scent of Sasuke and faint traces of dust, rot, and aged blood.

‘No… This can’t be happening. Sasuke’s marrying her to produce heirs…’

But I can produce heirs, too!

“He promised to marry me,” Naruto barely whispered, a lone tear trekking down his cheek.

“My brother killed them all.”

Naruto whipped around, having never heard the Uchiha approach. Sasuke stared at him, unblinking, and his eyes shifted to the trail of the tear that Naruto hadn’t wiped away. He didn’t say anything else, just turned and began to walk. Naruto, not wanting to miss this opportunity to talk to his love alone, followed at a sedate pace in case the Uchiha didn’t want him tagging along. He was led to a clearing that boasted a stone memorial, upon which were names of people Naruto could only assume were deceased.

“Their names aren’t on here. Only those who died during a mission are on here. Those and ones who died fighting Kyuubi.”

Naruto heard a pitiful growl-whine in the back of his mind.

“I am shocked that Itachi-san would do something like this, and I am sorry for your loss.”

“I got over it.”

Naruto stared incredulously at his old friend.

“I wanted revenge, still do, but it isn’t such a high priority anymore. Over the years, that loss paled in comparison to… I made a foolish mistake, and I paid for it. Now I must fulfill my duty as the last Uchiha.”

‘He got over it? Was I as easy to forget, Sasuke?’

“So you are marrying that Sakura girl to continue your bloodline?”

“We’re not discussing my love life. I brought you here so I could tell you about Itachi. You’re his friend, and if you can find him, I applaud you. He joined the Akatsuki some time ago.” Sasuke turned his head away from Naruto and stared at the memorial. His eyes seemed to lose focus, and only Naruto’s demonic hearing could have heard him whisper, “If only he’d been there…”

Naruto watched as Sasuke glided to the stone and placed his fingers upon one of the carved names. His eyes went to it to see Uchiha Obito in the stone. But it was the name underneath it that really pulled Naruto’s attention. Uzumaki Naruto was carved into the memorial.

With a shaking voice and wide, disbelieving eyes, Naruto quietly asked, “Who is Uzumaki Naruto?”

He saw Sasuke’s body tense. “What?”

“That name, there’s no Uzumaki clan in Konoha. Who is he?”

“What does it matter? He’s dead.”

Naruto felt as if his heart was being ripped from his chest. Sasuke was being so callous about his best friend, his promised bride, being ‘dead.’

“Well, obviously, but how did it happen? Do you know?”

‘Well, if ruling the kitsune doesn’t work out, maybe I can be an actor.’

“Yes, I know. Everyone knows.”

‘What?’

“Fifteen years ago, a group of unidentified men trespassed into Konoha and kidnapped him. Every ninja was positive it was Akatsuki after Kyuubi, as he was the one used to seal the demon. Thinking about it, only ninja of Konoha knew that about Naruto, and so for Akatsuki to know means there must have been a spy.”

‘Itachi…’

“Do you believe that?” Naruto whispered.

“I found out about Naruto when I confronted my brother some years back, when I went head to head with Akatsuki. They didn’t have Kyuubi or him. They’d never had him. And all I could figure was that my own village… this village… they’d killed… my best… my best…”

Naruto started as a kunai was hurled from the Uchiha’s hand and through a tree clear across the clearing, embedding itself in the tree behind it. He turned shocked eyes back to the Uchiha, and it was for the first time that Naruto noticed just how pale and fragile Sasuke truly looked. And that hole in the tree was just like the hole in Naruto’s heart, whose twin he now knew lay hidden in Sasuke’s.

‘He thinks I’m dead, and he’s suffering because of it.’

“I’ve got to go.” Before Naruto could stop him, Sasuke was gone, and he was standing alone before a memorial stone that bore his name. Looking back at the stone, Naruto suddenly found himself surrounded by familiar chakra signatures, and they were closing in.

‘What in the world do they want?’

‘Do not run when they confront you.’

‘Confront me? What does that mean?’

‘The pale-eyed ones are from the Hyuuga clan, some of who I fought all those years ago. Their bloodline limit is the annoying Byakugan, which grants them the ability to see a person’s chakra flow.’

‘Shit.’

“A word, Kazahaya-sama.”

Naruto turned from the stone to see Jiraiya, Kakashi, Neji, and Lee in a semi-circle around him, muscles tensed for any sign of attack.

“What can I do for you, Kakashi-san?”

“How about you tell us why a simple lord from a forest village has two chakra signatures within one body?”

And Naruto, being a kitsune under scrutiny and threat of attack, couldn’t help himself. His lips pulled back in a mischievous smile, showing off his dangerous fangs, and his dull, gray eyes began to bleed red. The four men were staring at him with looks that swung back and forth between surprise and fear, and he clicked his tongue.

“Hn, I wonder.”


TBC


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okay, chapter 3 is out of the way. chapter 4 should be the bachelor party for sasu-chan if i don't come up with something else, and chapter 5 should be the ending. i'll do an epilogue to where some time has passed at the tail end of that one. so yeah, i got nothing to do tomorrow, so it might just get completed. until then, thank you for reading!