Chimera

Chimera
Part 4
By Mieren


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Naruto was napping in the warmth of the afternoon sun when he heard a slight swish of air signaling movement. Ears flipping, he performed a few quick barrel rolls to avoid the incoming vibrations in the air, unknowingly moving out of the way of a few dozen shuriken and kunai that thudded loudly into where he had been snoozing. Annoyed, he looked up at his attackers, expecting more Stone ninja to be attacking him again for no good reason. Amethyst eyes widened when he spotted some of the ninja in the trees, who seemed to think they were aptly hidden. His eyes were glued to a feminine figure that had thrown the weapons at him.

Tenten?

He looked around a bit more intently, spotting more familiar faces. He wanted so much to rush forward and greet them, but his current appearance wouldn’t allow that. He missed his friends and it hurt even more to know that he could do nothing to alleviate that pain. Shoulders hunched a little, he consoled himself that perhaps he could at least have one last friendly spar with the people he once considered his family, in spirit if not in blood. They wouldn’t know not to hurt him, as if they could, but he’d be damned if he hurt them. Humiliate maybe, frustrate certainly, tease definitely, but never hurt.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he missed the next attack thrown at him. Gai and Lee had teamed up to leap onto his back as though he was some wild stallion to be broken and tried their best to restrain him, their arms and legs wrapped around his shoulders and hips in an attempt to immobilize him. Naruto couldn’t help himself. His lips peeled back from his massive fangs in a bizarre version of a grin.

The time to play had come.

Without warning, he launched himself into the air, easily clearing forty feet as he attempted to look as though he was merely bucking. The two green-clad twerps only held on, causing Naruto to grin wider, looking like he was baring his teeth to the others. At the last moment, he spun in the air to land flat on his back, creating Lee and Gai craters in the earth. Rather than continue to squish the two, he considerately rolled off of the pair, leaving them imbedded in the soil.

“Meat tank!” Chouji roared, shooting for the white form.

Naruto watched the enormous bowling ball of a ninja shooting for him, more amused than anything. His grin grew wider as the fat chuunin approached at incredible speeds, threatening to flatten him. ‘Batter up,’ he thought, spinning at the last second to slam his tail into the smaller figure and send him flying straight into Ino and Kurenai, taking all three out of the fight for the moment.

“Kuchiyose…” Jiraiya started.

‘Oh, hell no,’ Naruto growled to himself. He rammed one hand into the ground, the limb reappearing before the sannin could get any further in his summoning. He snagged both of the man’s ankles and yanked him into the earth up to his neck, fairly well messing up his jutsu and taking him out of the fight.

“Get him, Sasuke!” Kiba roared, charging out of the trees in a half transformed state, Akamaru by his side. With his new sense of smell, it was fairly simple to tell who was who, and he watched in amusement when the chuunin tackled his shoulder while his dog latched onto his hip.

Sasuke did as ordered and charged out of nowhere, opening his mouth to unleash an inferno directly towards Naruto’s head. Knowing what was coming, and rather amused about it, Naruto retaliated with an ice jutsu much more powerful, twisting his whiskers into makeshift seals and opening his mouth to unleash a virtual blizzard. The end result was roughly an ice sculpture that had once been an Uchiha. He wasn’t hurt, but he was blinking ice crystals out of his lashes and his hair was standing on end, covered in ice. The remainder of the poor boy was nothing but a mass of frost.

Now about Kiba and Akamaru, Naruto smirked. He promptly performed another barrel roll, squashing the pair and causing them to lose their transformed states. Snagging one in each forearm, he flung them at the nearest people he could see. Sasuke actually crunched when Akamaru slammed into his face. Shino went down among a swarm of bugs when Kiba barreled into him.

Suddenly, Naruto’s movements felt sluggish, almost seized. Violet eyes rolled to the side to see Shikamaru desperately trying to hold him while Kakashi charged in, Chidori fully charged and ready to kill. Annoyed a little, Naruto fought the bonds and raised his head as high as he could manage, looked straight down, and then performed an uppercut, his limbs far too short to reach his head at that angle with his lengthy neck. His own technique turned against him, Shikamaru didn’t even have the time to curse when his own first slammed into his jaw, knocking him senseless. Until then, the shadow user had no idea that if an opponent was exponentially stronger than him, his jutsu could be turned against him. All the poor chuunin could do was swear, attempt to stand up and think of another strategy.

Spinning expertly, Naruto took on Kakashi, lunging forward to engulf the prepared Chidori into his mouth, wrapping his tongue several times around his sensei’s arm to prevent his escape. Purple eyes glinting happily, he flipped back at an unfathomable speed to slam Kakashi right into Asuma, who looked like he was preparing to do something that the former blond didn’t recognize at all, not that he had the chance to now since he was the official landing mat for the airborne, silver-haired jounin.

Glancing around, Naruto found a Hyuuga on his either side, Neji and Hinata. With a loud guffaw, he arched back to his hind legs, grabbing each of them with one of his front legs to slap them together in a body slam with a resounding smack. Disoriented, neither had the wits to do much when they were flung at the two shaky green figures trying to get back up, Hinata at Lee and Neji at Gai. All four went down in a heap.

Another mass of weapons flew towards Naruto. Tenten! He had forgotten about her. This time he didn’t dodge entirely, catching six of the kunai on his whiskers and promptly returning fire. Naturally, she dodged, but didn’t have time to escape when Naruto wound his tail around Jiraiya, who had been trying to dig himself free, and threw the sannin into Blade Girl with enough force to concuss a bull. The two went down.

‘So far, so good,’ Naruto thought, looking around. ‘Who else?’ He spotted movement and prepared to attack, pausing at what he saw.

Sakura was walking towards him, hands to her sides, clearly unarmed and unable to perform a jutsu with her hands in that position. A bit confused, he allowed her to come closer, waiting to see what trick she had planned. The pink-haired girl just slowly extended one hand towards him, allowing him every opportunity to escape or attack. She even went so far as to show him that she wasn’t holding anything hidden in her other palm as she stepped closer, her eyes locked with his own. Now slightly curious, Naruto extended a few of his whiskers towards her fingers, struggling internally to understand what she wanted from him.

“Sakura! Get away from that thing!” Kakashi roared, still attempting to untangle himself from Asuma.

Ignoring him, the girl slipped her hand closer, laying it gently across his cheek. Brain utterly fried by her actions, Naruto allowed her to touch him, not even objecting when she began to stroke his fur as though he was a beloved pet. He couldn’t believe that he actually enjoyed the feeling when she scratched behind his ear gently. It actually felt so nice that he leaned into her dexterous hand, rumbling happily at the pleasant feeling.

“You weren’t trying to hurt us, were you?” she whispered so softly that none of the others would be able to hear her.

“Never,” he answered just as softly, rolling one thick whisker to brush her cheek in a reassuring gesture, earning himself a teary-eyed half-smile. A loud screeching noise interrupted them before they could continue to talk. Kakashi had summoned up everything he still had in his chakra reserves and was charging the pair with a Chidori in hand, death visible in his uncovered eyes.

“Stop!” Sakura screamed, positioning herself between her sensei and the white beast. The jounin managed to disperse his attack before mutilating his student, memories of Haku and his untimely demise hovering in his mind.

“Why are you protecting that *thing*?” Kakashi yelled, still ready to slaughter the demon.

“He won’t hurt us!” Sakura said desperately.

“I’m hurt,” Jiraiya objected weakly, raising one hand into the air.

Naruto sank to the ground, trying to look as harmless as possible. “I was just playing,” he said remorsefully, loud enough for all of the ninja to hear.

“Playing?” Kakashi returned in a harsh voice, silently astonished that the thing could speak and wondering why it hadn’t before.

“The Stone have stopped sending people for me to play with. Then you showed up, so I just wanted to have a little fun,” Naruto said, tracing one claw through the dirt. He knew that there was no way that anyone there would recognize him, but at the same time, he didn’t want to fight seriously.

“And how many have you killed from Stone?” Jiraiya broke in, sounding furious.

“No one! They’re just upset because I keep returning their ANBU naked, hog-tied, and thrown into the city park fountain!” To his surprise, Asuma and Gai staggered off into a cluster of bushes and started laughing hysterically. Jiraiya looked like he wanted to join them. Kakashi’s hateful expression lessened and he appeared as though he wanted to follow his teammates into mad guffaws.

“And why are you doing that?” Kakashi asked, completely serious despite the quirk of a grin trying to form at the edge of his mouth, visible even beneath his mask.

“I’m not doing anything! I don’t know why they’re bothering me. I’m not making a dent on their food sources and I never go into town, except to return their ANBU. They’re just being annoying because I look strange,” he muttered, eyes downcast.

Amazingly, Shikamaru moved in before more could be said. “What if you had a place to stay that respected you?”

“What?” Naruto, Kakashi and Jiraiya asked simultaneously.

“A place to call home,” the lazy shinobi answered. Naruto’s whiskers flicked.

“You’re talking about me following the lot of you to your home. Why would you want something like me to go to your village?”

“And what are you?” Jiraiya asked. Naruto gave him the evil eye.

“What do I look like, jackass?” he growled, pleased that he could openly insult his former teacher in his current form.

“A Chinese dragon,” Sasuke answered, only partially defrosted. His Sharingan had faded away, leaving him with intense black eyes.

Naruto nodded. “The very last,” he said, lying through his fangs.

“And the others?” Kurenai asked, gathering herself up after being flattened. Ino stood beside her, looking quite offended. Chouji had a black eye and looked rather unsteady.

“Clans form and clans die. The same holds true for species,” Naruto answered evasively. He regretted his lie almost instantly when Sasuke looked close to tears, as close as one could come when attempting to display no emotions whatsoever. His eyes had dulled and were aimed anywhere besides him. He tried to redirect the conversation. “Would you really let me live from where you come from? There are very few who are open to non-humans, I’ve noticed.”

“Yes,” Jiraiya answered, catching on to what Shikamaru was thinking. “You can stay with us, but under one condition.”

“And that is?”

“You help to defend our village in this time of war.”

‘War?’ Naruto thought, fighting not to gasp in shock, his ears flicking upwards. “I know a little about the area, but not much. I know you’re from Leaf from your forehead protectors, but who attacks?”

“Sound,” Gai submitted, entering the conversation. He had finally, well mostly, stopped laughing himself sick at the mention of tied-up, naked ANBU being thrown into a fountain.

“Sound,” Naruto growled, his voice escalating to a roar. “What the hell are they doing? I already killed Orochimaru!”

“WHAT???”

Naruto winced at the volume of the combined cries from virtually everyone. “I killed him months ago because he pissed me off with his inhumane experiments.”

Sasuke suddenly grabbed him fiercely by the jaw. “What about Naruto? Did you see a blond there?”

“I killed him because of what he did to… to the blond!” Naruto snapped, feeling a little odd talking about himself in the third person.

“When we arrived, the blood was still fresh!” Kakashi yelled, visible misty-eyed. “Why weren’t you there a day before? An hour before? Naruto would still be alive!”

“I killed the bastard the moment I had the chance!” Naruto cried out, eyes moist from the memory of how he had suffered. The pained look seemed to settle the murderous intention leveled at him. “I tried,” he whispered. “I tried.”

“Then you’ll come back to Kohana with us?” Shikamaru interrupted, recognizing the broken look in the dragon’s eyes. “Fight with us against the Sound?”

“Yes,” Naruto breathed, silently relieved that he had a home again, even if only for a little while. “But I need a place to stay. Lots of space to move around and plenty to eat.”

Sasuke stared at him for a long time, eyes burning. A single tear slid down either cheek. The attitude, the sense of humor, the lost look, all of which he knew so well, reminded him painfully of Naruto, his best friend who he would never see again. The fact that the odd beast had avenged his teammate’s death only strengthened his resolve to manipulate the white creature into staying with him. Seeing and recognizing the look, Naruto gave up before the question was even asked.

“Stay with me,” Sasuke said roughly, ignoring the shocked looks thrown in his direction. He was the world’s ultimate loner, after all. “I own an entire district in Kohana. I have enough money to give you anything you want. It’s the most logical choice.” He tried to ignore the gaping of the others as the loner offered to share his estates with the creature they had been attempting to kill.

“So what do we tell the village in Stone?” Sakura intervened, trying to prevent her crush from being too embarrassed by his sudden generosity and hospitality. Several glances were exchanged. No one had thought of that. Naruto offered up a solution cheerfully.

“Tell them that you don’t have what it takes to kill me here,” he said happily. “Tie me up, tell them that the seal you need to kill me is in Kohana, collect your fee and drag me off. I’ll even lunge and buck to make it look real.”

“Why would you be willing to do this?” Kurenai asked suspiciously.

“I’m not a fan of Sound,” Naruto said bluntly. The statement earned him several varied looks, ranging from pleased to uncertain to flat out amused. “And I… want a home.”

“Rock Lee,” the green-clad shinobi said as he strode purposefully forward, offering one hand out to shake hands. He realized his mistake when his brain kicked in and he noted that the white beast he had approached had no way to reciprocate. Four legs and no hands left one rather stressed to shake.

Thinking furiously as he turned his side to Lee, Naruto raised one scaly forearm and shook his former comrade’s arm enthusiastically, if a bit awkwardly. “Nakyma,” he offered, grinning widely in an expression that the group now recognized. The name came from three sources, Naruto, Kyuubi and Manda. He was a hybrid of all of them. The first two letters of each name had been spliced into a new name, one that he prayed that no one would understand the significance of. No one did as far as he could tell. One by one, he went through introducing himself to people that he already knew, people that would never again recognize him for who he truly was.

“Here,” Jiraiya called to him, tossing a length of leather straps in his direction. “After meeting the officials at Stone, we’ll take them off, I swear.” Naruto snorted. Like he couldn’t break them if he wanted to, but at the same time, he played nice and helped various hands slip them onto his head, neck and shoulders. He lowered his head and lifted his forelimbs when guiding hands instructed him to move. The muzzle miffed him a bit, but he didn’t protest either it or the leashes they attached to it. He flat out refused to allow them to tie down his whiskers, protesting that they were rather sensitive, though he failed to add that they were only sensitive when he wasn’t using them. Since he had been so docile until then, the ninja capitulated and allowed them to remain free.

“And I can call Kohana home?” Naruto asked, wriggling a bit to get the leather straps to adjust so they didn’t bite. His speech was a little slurred after losing the ability to move his jaw except for his lips.

“Yes,” Jiraiya answered. Naruto lowered his head.

“After the war… do I have to leave?”

“No,” Sasuke said forcefully before anyone could even think of an answer. “You can stay with me as long as you wish.”

“Why?” Naruto asked. “Why would you be willing to help me? I’m a monster.”

There was a moment of silence before the Uchiha answered. “You remind me of someone I used to know.”

Naruto lowered his head, almost in tears. Was it possible that Sasuke suspected? Or that he actually cared? He prayed that wasn’t the case. He didn’t want anyone to know what had happened to him. It was bad enough when he was just a vessel to a demon. Now he was a hybrid of two of the most feared demons in history, and Kohana wouldn’t tolerate his very existence if they knew. “Let’s meet with Stone.”

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To be continued…