Here's to the Fox

A/N: okay, even though i should be writing a philosophy essay right now, i wrote chapter 6 instead! it's shorter than the rest because it's just a paasage of time. but i didn't want to go from reihi to konoha with no group reaction to naruto, so i wrote this. the story will be at least one chapter longer now. i'm not sure yet if i want anything that happens in chapter 6 to have an affect on a future scene, but anything is possible. so read and enjoy for the time being, and if that does happen, then you all can go "hey! i remember when that was alluded to!"

courtesy warning: i hadn't really thought about it much, but the direction i had this fic going in had a lot of fluff, emotional confusion, and violence. but a review from one of my readers made me realize that there really wasn't any "omg, i'm going to kill the author if she doesn't solve this" angst. so now i am inspired to write a few angst-filled chapters that ought to either put you all in a "god, i love this story" mood or a "jesus, what the hell is wrong with her" mood. think what you will when we get to those chapters, but i personally think it'll make the story that much better. ^_~

OMG, thanks to all my reviewers! your support has, apparently, made me care less about school work, and more about updating. j/k i'm still doing my school work... for the most part. *glares at evil philosophy assignment* keep the love coming, and i promise i won't disappoint! *kisses*


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Here's to the Fox: Chapter 6
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“What do you think is up with the gaki?”

“I have no clue. But he looks like him, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he looks like him alright.”

“He’s wearing a henge. I tried to dispel it, but Sasuke disappeared with him before I could see anything.”

“What kind of connection does Uchiha have with him?”

There was silence in answer to that question. Sasuke could feel their eyes on his back, watching for any kind of reaction to their conversation. But he didn’t move, his breath deep and even as if in sleep. They’d get no answers from him. Let them get answers from the Hokage, because Sasuke was sure he’d have to answer to her.

“Where do you suppose he went?”

“No clue. I tried to follow, but it was like he just vanished. I thought from how quickly he and Sasuke caught up to us, he had some chakra to follow, but there’s nothing.”

“He said his name was Uzumaki. Where do you think he heard that name?”

“Again, anything about this boy obviously can’t be answered by anyone but himself.”

“I asked around Reihi before we left. He’s the blacksmith’s apprentice, has no parents or family, just kind of showed up one day. The villagers praised him, said he was a good kid. But…”

“Problem is, what kind of kid can use henge without chakra and keep up with highly skilled ninja? Since it seems as if the Uchiha is asleep, we’ll question him in the morning.”

Sasuke fumed inwardly. Those cocky bastards… Whatever. But what was that about Naruto being gone? Sasuke wanted to get up and check it out, but he knew the minute he did, one of the older men would follow him and spy, and being a chuunin, there was really nothing he could do. Soon, however, Sasuke’s concern over the blonde won out, so he slid from his bedroll and crept into the trees. He felt Kakashi behind him, the jounin not even trying to mask his presence. They knew he’d been awake. Oh well, time to play the game.

He came to a clearing where the moon shone down on a huge rock, the man he was searching for perched atop it. Making some noise so Naruto wouldn’t be surprised into doing anything shinobi-like, Sasuke walked into the moonlit clearing, gazing at Naruto’s still form. The moonlight glinted off his golden hair, giving him an ethereal appearance that threatened to take Sasuke’s breath away. When blue eyes opened to gaze down at the Uchiha, the moon cast its light upon them as well, making them flash silver for just an instant.

“Sasuke! What brings you out here?”

“I was wondering where you’d gotten to, dobe.”

“Well, teme, you’re not my mother. I don’t have to tell you where I’m at every single minute.”

Sasuke bit back a retort, instead asking, “So what are you doing out here?”

“Ah, well, I couldn’t sleep because I had too much pent up-”

Sasuke glared, trying to warn the idiot about saying too much, but said idiot’s eyes were closed.

“-energy, so I came out here to meditate.” Blue eyes opened with a mischievous smirk, and Sasuke realized that Naruto knew they weren’t alone. Figures. He should have known. Just because the dobe wasn’t shinobi didn’t mean he couldn’t sense them.

“Well, we wouldn’t want Kakashi and Jiraiya thinking some novice wondered into the woods and got eaten. Let’s head back.”

“Sure, but, um… Could you help me down?”

Hm, maybe he should stop calling him dobe. “Well, how the hell did you get up there?” A smile tried to spread across the Uchiha’s face. Naruto hadn’t recklessly jumped down and given Kakashi anything to be suspicious of. There were so many sides to the golden young man.

“How the hell do you think I got rid of enough energy to meditate? I climbed, that’s how. There are not very many rocks where I’m from, you know. It took a while.”

No, there weren’t many rocks in Suna, just shinobi who could raise gigantic sand walls, which he was sure Naruto had to learn how to jump over at a very early age. Seeing that Naruto was about to ask for help again, Sasuke quickly jumped up on the rock. And then he had an urge that he’d never once had in his life; he wanted to tease the blonde man. So when Naruto stood up next to him, Sasuke came up to his side and slid his arms behind the blonde’s knees and shoulders, hoisting him up bride-style.

“Ah! Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?” Naruto squirmed and fidgeted, trying to get out of the Uchiha’s arms, and Sasuke just had to laugh. A deep and luxurious sound came from his diaphragm, which made Naruto stop moving. “Dammit, teme, it’s not funny! Just get me the hell down!”

Sasuke leaned in to whisper against Naruto’s ear, “As you wish, princess.” While Naruto’s face turned redder than a tomato, Sasuke lithely jumped down and set Naruto to his feet. The blonde stood there for a moment, blinked a few times, and the red slowly left his face. When his skin was golden once more, he threw the Uchiha a glare then huffed out of the clearing. Sasuke stifled a laugh, not wanting to give Kakashi any more to think about if he was still around.

But of course, whether he had been or not, Sasuke knew the jounin would be by the fire by the time he and Naruto returned, and sure enough, he was. Wrapped in his blanket, it was like he’d never even left. Sasuke gave his back a small glare and returned to his own bedroll. At least Kakashi hadn’t seen anything to ask him about come morning.

~*~

“Just why are you traveling with us anyway, Naruto-kun?”

Sakura was giving Naruto an appraising glare, one that had Sasuke dishing out his own to the dirt at his feet. He didn’t want to give any hints to the perverts if he could help it, so he didn’t turn the glare on the pink-haired kunoichi.

“Ah, well, Sasuke has some kunai in Konoha that he wants reforged, and ojiisan can’t make it out there right now. And I didn’t think it made any sense for Sasuke to go home on urgent business then have to return at a much later date with the kunai.”

Apparently Sakura was just as surprised by that answer as Sasuke, because she turned to him and asked, “Is this true Sasuke-kun? But there’s a blacksmith in Konoha. Of course, you could always get new kunai from the armory.”

“These kunai aren’t for battle. They’re heirlooms that need to be handled by the best.” It was easier to pick up the lie than he’d thought it’d be.

“The best?”

“Ah, yes, Haruno-san, didn’t you know? Ojiisan is the best blacksmith in all of Fire Country. He has other skills too, but I really don’t know what they are. He never talks about them. Of course, he’s quite old; maybe he just doesn’t remember!” Naruto started to laugh insanely loud, and if Sasuke hadn’t heard him laugh like that around the children of Reihi, he’d think it was fake.

“Please, don’t call me that, Naruto-kun. My name is Sakura.” She was all smiles, but Sasuke could see the tick in her eyebrow. Sakura didn’t like anything that made her seem old. Maybe she should take a few youth lessons from Tsunade.

“Alright then, Sakura-chan.”

Sasuke felt grateful for Naruto’s quick lie, but now he could feel his sensei gazing at him, burning holes in the back of his skull. It was quite possible for there to be Uchiha heirloom kunai, but whether it was true or not, Kakashi and Jiraiya wouldn’t believe it. If there was such a thing, they would have gone to his brother, and his brother would have…

“Sasuke-teme, pay attention!”

Sasuke heard Sakura gasp, supposedly at the ‘teme’ comment, and looked up. He was at a fork in the road, just starting to take the left when the others were taking the right. Hn, he’d been so deep in thought he’d failed to realize which direction they were headed. Damn it, now Kakashi would be interested in more than just Naruto; he’d be interested in what thoughts could so utterly distract the Uchiha heir, as if he didn’t already know.

Sasuke grunted in reply to Naruto’s outburst and corrected his course. It wouldn’t do to start a fight when time was crucial. Of course, because of Naruto, they were walking instead of taking to the trees. And they walked until nightfall, when Jiraiya was all set to call it a day. Why they played to that pervert’s time schedule was anyone’s guess.

Luckily the campsite was by a river, so the group was able to freshen up. And why was Sasuke not surprised to see Naruto get out a pan and three cartons of instant ramen? He wondered idly if Naruto had eaten ramen every day during his seven years of travel. Wouldn’t that make the dobe not want to still eat it? Though he was sure it had to be better than trail rations. At least that was one more thing that would keep Kakashi and Jiraiya from finding out the blonde’s secret.

“By the way, Kakashi-sensei, where’s Akira?”

“Well, with Neji in the hospital, Hokage-sama needed someone to take his place and help TenTen and Lee with guard duty. Plus, it didn’t make sense to bring the whole team to get one errant shinobi, past experiences aside.”

“Errant my ass, Kakashi-sensei.” The only thing that saved the masked nin right then was that amused twinkle in his eye. Even though Sasuke didn’t like being made fun of, it was infinitely better than being judged… especially for something that wasn’t his fault, not really anyway.

They made idle chitchat for the rest of dinner, then settled in to sleep. They were up with the sun and on their way again, repeating much of what they’d done the day before. It was routine, even with Naruto, and it kept them focused enough to cut down the time it took to get home. But soon enough, the towering gates of Konohagakure were in sight, and Sasuke let out a small breath of relief. Once he’d told Tsunade about Naruto, minus Kyuubi, he’d let her handle the, no doubt, abundant questions from Kakashi and Jiraiya anyway she could with what information he’d give her.

Now, maybe, Naruto was somewhere he could be safe. Sasuke would make sure of it.


TBC


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and next chapter begins the drama. i promise. pray, people, that everyone makes it out alive! fwah haha wah haha hah haha!!!!!