Here's to the Fox

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, and the children's game and chant used in the story is copyright of Disney and the Zorro tv series affiliates.

A/N: this is my naruto pet project. the chant mentioned above was my muse, and this plot bit into me and won't let go. my first two forays were one-shots, but this will be a multi-part fic. i don't know how often i can update, but i won't stop this story until it's done. i appreciate any and all support and reviews.

also, this fic is slight AU. okay, it is AU. but the overall timeline is only slightly tweaked. but all this will be explained in later chapters, so i'll just leave it at, please don't hold the AU against me! *on hands and kness, forehead to floor*

enjoy!

italics=jutsu


_________________________________

Here's to the Fox: Chapter 1
_________________________________


Uchiha Sasuke entered the boundaries of the small village of Reihi. Trees surrounded the village, making it feel so much like the home Sasuke had recently left, but he expected no less from the Fire Country. Everything in this country was beautiful, even though the Uchiha would never have admitted it.

He finally reached the center of town where shops and restaurants displayed themselves proudly up and down the streets, eager to sell their wares to townsfolk and visitors. But Sasuke was tired. He just wanted to find an inn and sleep. He’d been promised sleep, and he wasn’t going to let it go.

The laughter of children stopped him in his forward progress. Sasuke turned his head until he found a small group of kids standing in a circle around two boys who were in the middle of a sword fight. Sasuke was slightly worried, until he ventured nearer. The katana were plastic; the kids were just playing. But it seemed like such a strange game. The two boys stopped after one ‘died,’ and the deceased returned to the circle. All the little boys and girls then held out their swords. The victor then walked around the inside of the circle, clanking his sword against those of the circled children while they sang.

“Here’s to the Fox, whoever he be; may he live long and merrily!”

When the children’s song hit the last note, the little boy clanged his sword against that of a little girl, and the process started all over again. When the little girl lost, she threw her sword on the ground in angry protest.

“That’s not fair Kyo-nii! The Fox doesn’t even use a sword! He uses jutsu like a ninja!”

“No, he uses a katana!” another one shouted.

“He uses his bare hands! He can rip a man in two!” came another voice.

Sasuke turned at the sound of deep laughter coming from a group of older boys and girls heading for the children.

“Hey, children! Playing your little Fox game again?” asked a rather buff young man.

“That Fox is lame! You kids are so pathetic!” shot a girl hanging off his arm. Some of the children shifted uneasily, wondering if it was true, while some of the little girls, including the one that had the outburst, started tearing up and sniffling. Sasuke was too tired to deal with it. They were kids. Let them cry home to their mommies, and they’d be fine tomorrow.

As he turned and walked away, he heard another person join the group, admonishing the older kids, the younger ones cheering for their defender. Ahead of him, Sasuke saw a group of women heading for the children, and as they passed he asked if they knew of an inn close by.

After the blushing and murmuring that he’d gotten so used to back home, they informed him of an inn, and he set off to collapse in a bed. Finding the inn, he checked in. When the woman behind the counter asked him how many days he’d be staying, he gave her a week’s worth of money and told her to tell him when it ran out. He didn’t know how long he’d be there, and he didn’t really care at that moment.

Once he reached the small room, Sasuke threw his things on the floor, but before he felt he could just lie out and drift into a comfortable unconsciousness, he grabbed his bag and placed it in his lap. Opening it, Sasuke reached in and brought out a piece of cloth with a metal plate with a leaf on it attached; his hitai-ate.

Sasuke was a ninja. He was a powerful ninja. But for the next undetermined amount of time, he was a vacationing ninja. His last mission had been a bit rough, and it had taken him two weeks to heal. Sasuke had been more than willing to go back to work, but he’d been pushed out the gates of his home, commanded to “take a break.” And after the first night, he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad about it.

He had been able to walk the roads of the Fire Country like a normal civilian for the first time in a number of years. Sasuke never imagined that one could miss so much beauty while hopping through branches, but he had, and this vacation had let him reconnect with his homeland.

But Sasuke was beginning to miss his home, and his… not friends, but acquaintances and sensei. He’d never been an overly open or warm person, but people gravitated to him nonetheless. And whether he acknowledged this or not, he did come to realize that he’d gotten use to everyone being there. After so many years of being alone…

Sasuke shook his head. This vacation was not for wallowing in old memories. It was for relaxation. So with that, he stuffed his hitai-ate back into his bag and fell back onto the bed. Within seconds, he was sound asleep, his dreams taking a darker hue as each minute ticked by.

~*~

Sasuke awoke in a cold sweat. Again his mind had taken him to that hated time, when he’d lost everything. And he didn’t want to think about it. He glanced over to the window, curtains closed, but no light leaked through the sides. He’d been asleep for hours, but he didn’t feel rested at all; would never feel rested with those dreams haunting him.

He slowly rose from the bed and made his way to the bathroom. A nice, hot shower would probably do him wonders. And it did. When he was dry and dressed, Sasuke’s stomach decided to speak up and announce the fact that it was completely empty. He had skipped lunch that day in favor of watching a family of deer interact in the forest. He supposed he should probably never tell anyone about that, but he had no problem admitting to himself that he enjoyed nature.

Sasuke asked the receptionist on night duty where the closest restaurant was once he reached the lobby of the inn. She blushed and stuttered that one could be found a few minutes down the street, and because Sasuke was used to this too, he ignored it. He thanked her and left the inn.

As he walked the short distance, Sasuke looked around the town and could hardly believe it was the same one he’d entered. There were so many people going in and out of buildings that he assumed were clubs or bars. There were lots of lights, and the stands that had lined the street he had walked down earlier that day were still open and thriving on the nightlife.

Sasuke noticed that most of the people out and about were young men and women, and they had an air about them that screamed excitement and tension. Were they possibly waiting for something to happen? Every now and again, Sasuke would see small children peeking out from around buildings as if they shouldn’t be there, which, considering what time it was, they probably shouldn’t. It was all rather strange, but the Uchiha couldn’t bring himself to worry. Whatever it was, it didn’t concern him.

He finally came upon the restaurant he had been directed to and entered. The hostess looked up and blushed, but Sasuke did what he always did; he ignored it. She asked where he’d like to be seated, but he shook his head and answered that he was looking for the bar.

“Of course, sir. Right this way.”

She walked him to the bar, which he didn’t think was customary, and left him with a coy look and a menu. He ignored both. When the bartender came by for his drink order, he asked for sake and onigiri. He didn’t need anything fancy, just nourishment. His order came just shortly after.

“How many more times are those damn ninja going to attack the village?”

Sasuke tensed. The only ninja that would attack a defenseless village were of the criminal variety. He turned his head slightly, not enough to give him away, but enough for him to hear well.

“Probably as many times as it takes for them to get what they want.”

“But what do they want?”

“Who knows? We’re not a very rich village. But we’re far enough away from any hidden villages that they think we’re a bunch of pushovers.”

“Well, aren’t we?”

Sasuke listened to the silence this brought. He was also trying to figure out as well why missing nin would attack such a poor village. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a waitress come to that table.

“Well, who knows what we’d do about those ninja if it weren’t for the Fox. We should be grateful he looks out for us.”

“There’s no way in hell I’ll be grateful for that thing! He’s a fucking ninja! We don’t need their kind here!”

“Apparently we do! What do you think would have happened the first time they attacked if the Fox hadn’t been here? I don’t think any of us would be alive right now.”

“That’s bullshit!”

“No it isn’t!” Sasuke saw someone across the restaurant stand up in anger. “That Fox saved my son’s life that night! He’s a hero, a blessing to this village!”

“Who’s to say that damn ninja isn’t the cause for these attacks?”

Sasuke listened to the silence. Apparently this village was divided on the issue of this ‘Fox.’ Was the Fox a missing nin as well?

“Well, who’s to say that the Fox is a ninja? Have you ever seen him in a fight?”

There was no response.

“Well, I have! I’ve never seen him use any kind of jutsu.”

“Isn’t that strange glowing a jutsu itself? And that fact that he seems to be part animal just screams dangerous.”

A resounding crack made the patrons of the establishment jump. Sasuke just turned in the direction of the sound. Someone was standing from a table in the back and making his way forward. From the cut of the man’s suit and the respect the employees were giving him as he passed them, Sasuke concluded that this man was the owner of the restaurant.

“The Fox has done a great service for this village. He saved my wife in that first attack as well. I will not have him trashed in my restaurant, let alone my presence. If you feel the need to bad mouth the savior of this village, take it to some seedy dive.”

There was some grumbling, but the instigator settled down, and the patrons went about their own conversations, though most just talked about how ungrateful the man at the table next to Sasuke was.

Finishing off his last rice ball and one more cup of sake, Sasuke paid his tab and left. The night was still loud and crowded, but Sasuke was distracted by the night sky. The stars were so bright. He found himself just walking until he came to a secluded park in the village. No one was there, and he didn’t want to go back to the inn, so Sasuke sat down on a nearby bench.

He lifted his gaze to the stars again. He looked about for the constellation that was shaped as a fox, wondering about the mysterious vigilante of the village of Reihi. The calm of the night and the sounds of the forest around the park soon lulled Sasuke into closing his eyes, and he slipped into a light doze.

~*~

Something disturbed Sasuke’s ninja senses as he sat on the bench. He was immediately more alert than he had been, cursing himself for letting his guard down even a small bit. He concentrated on the trees around him and felt the suppressed chakra of four ninja. They were watching him. Sasuke’s fingers itched to grab a kunai, but he wasn’t armed. He hadn’t wanted any village he’d traveled through to know he was a ninja, so his weapons were stashed in his bag back at the inn.

He slowly stood up, trying not to let on that he knew he was surrounded, and waited for them to strike. No one from the village was around, so he felt confident he could use a few small-scale jutsu to take care of them. He tried to act surprised as they slipped from the trees, but he was pretty sure he didn’t succeed. He’d never been good at showing his emotions, as his teammate always said.

“Well, look what we have here. You must be new to the village. Everyone else knows not to go out alone at this time of night.”

Sasuke just watched them steadily get closer. He was running through jutsu in his head, wondering what would be most efficient in this situation. He had just decided on the freezing jutsu when one of them began to shout.

“Do you think you’re too good to pay attention? You’re going to regret ignoring me, kid!”

Sasuke looked up from his thoughts as one of the ninja started to charge. But one of his comrades shot a hand out and caught him before he could do anything.

“Wait… Don’t you think he looks kinda like…?”

The ninja’s question was cut short as something burst into the clearing between Sasuke and the missing nin. There was a bright flare that had Sasuke shielding his eyes, but soon he was able to bring his hand down to look upon the new arrival.

It was a young man, tall, but perhaps not as tall as Sasuke. His hair was white-blonde with red streaks scattered throughout. It stood up in spikes, making for a very menacing effect. Of course, as Sasuke continued to look at the man, he added that the menacing effect could be from the claws that were protruding from the man’s hands.

The man was indeed glowing, but Sasuke knew it for what it was: chakra. It was actual, visual chakra. Chakra wasn’t supposed to be seen. Sasuke was in the presence of a very powerful being. Before he could blink, the man turned into a red blur, and the four missing nin fell dead to the ground. Sasuke just stared at the blood soaking into the dirt.

“Are you alright?”

Sasuke looked up at the sound of such a deep voice and had to fight the gasp that wanted to escape his throat. He was looking into red eyes, slit at the pupils like an animal; like a fox. The man’s canines were long and sharp, and three wide whisker-like scars adorned each of the man’s cheeks.

Sasuke realized he was standing face to face with the Fox.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. Please return to the village now.”

Sasuke still hadn’t stopped staring at the man before him, but the dismissal had his temper bristling. When he would have said something, the Fox gave him a smirk and leapt from the clearing. Sasuke would have given chase, but as he tried to determine the direction of the strange chakra, it changed and disappeared. Sasuke had never come across a chakra that could change its ‘flavor,’ but that was most assuredly what had happened, and Sasuke was sure that anyone who looked could probably see the confusion written on his face.

He then looked back to the dead ninja. He couldn’t leave them there. And there were no hunter nin nearby. So Sasuke did the only thing he could think of. His fingers set off in a blur of motion for a jutsu.

“Katon Housenka no Jutsu!”

Sasuke blew four fireballs at the ninja bodies, and they exploded into flame. He watched as the flames consumed the bodies, the acrid stench nothing to his accustomed nose. When nothing was left of the bodies to be recognized as such, Sasuke left to return to his room and whatever sleep would visit him.

~*~

When the sun was well on its way to its zenith, Sasuke set out to find what he could about the Fox. He wanted to know if it had been, in fact, another ninja. Though he had sensed and seen the chakra, no jutsu of any kind had been used. It was quite perplexing to the Uchiha, though he would never admit to being curious.

He had asked around the inn during breakfast about the Fox and received many different accounts of the Fox’s bravery and kindness. But what really got his attention was the story of how there had been an enormous explosion on the outskirts of Reihi the day before the Fox showed up in the village. Sasuke asked if there was anyone who could tell him more details about this, and he was directed to a blacksmith in the middle of town.

It didn’t take him long to find his destination. The billowing smoke and smell of molten metal was like a beacon. Entering the building, Sasuke saw a rather large and muscled man in the process of flattening a piece of steel. Sparks were flying, and even Sasuke didn’t deign to test the extent of his dodging abilities in such a way. He stayed well away from the fired metal and cleared his throat.

“Be right with ya, lad.” The blacksmith hammered the steel for a few minutes more then slipped it into a bucket of water near the anvil. “What can I do for ya?”

“I was informed that you have knowledge of the explosion site from the day before the Fox appeared in Reihi.”

“And what would ya be wanting with that kinda information?”

“I’m just curious.” Sasuke felt he could at least say that to a complete stranger.

“Well, I’d be curious about something a little less dangerous, lad, if I was you.”

“I am a ninja of Konohagakure, Uchiha Sasuke. I have come to this village for no particular reason, but in my short stay, I have run into renegade ninja and a mysterious man that emits strange and dangerous levels of chakra. I would rather not have to bring the Godaime Hokage into this matter, but I will if you do not cooperate.” Sasuke hadn’t intended to tell anyone who he was, but he wanted to know what was going on, and his temper had let it slip before he could reel it in.

“So you’re from Konoha, are ya?” Sasuke tensed slightly. “Don’t worry, lad. I won’t tell anyone who ya are, but I guess I should tell ya what ya want to know. I don’t want trouble for that young man.”

Sasuke raised his eyebrow in question. Did this man know the Fox personally?

“I was returning to the village from a trade in the Water Country some years back, when I came upon a young man sitting in the road. He was trying to figure out where he was in regards to a map he had, and I informed him that his map was a few years outdated.

“Before he could say anything back to me, a barrage of kunai was flung in our direction. I didn’t know it at the time, though. He jumped and pulled me out of harm’s way. But when they landed where we had been, I saw that these kunai had some kinda tags on them. And then I remember the sound of explosions all around us. I saw a wall of red come up around us, and then nothing.

“When I woke up, the lad was unconscious, and we were alive and in one piece at the bottom of a huge crater. I brought the young man here, but when I came to check on him the next morning, he was gone.”

Sasuke thought for a moment after the blacksmith was finished with his tale. Then he looked at him. “I’d like to see this crater.”

The blacksmith just stared at him. But then he started to laugh. “Sure thing, lad. When my apprentice returns from lunch, I’ll have him take ya to the site. What in the world do ya think you’re going to find there?”

“I don’t know. But my sensei always said to look underneath the underneath. Maybe there’s something there that others have missed.”

“Well, no one here’s a ninja, lad. We just call an explosion an explosion.”

Sasuke would have replied, but the large wooden door opening cut him off. He turned around to find a young man, about his age, walking in. He wasn’t as tall as Sasuke, but he was nowhere near short. Golden blonde hair spiked above eyes the color of the clearest ocean. Tanned skinned glowed from the sunlight filtering in through the still open door, muscles straining against the tightness of his clothes.

“Ah, Naruto, you’re just in time.”


_________________________________

jutsu: Sasuke's Phoenix Fire jutsu

A/N the second: how was it? i already have chapter 2-4 mapped out, and hope to start tomorrow. you guys tell me... should i bother? ^.~