Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Kitsune to Tanuki ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Loads of thanks to my dearest sis Sherabo for betaing this baby. I’d be lost without her help.


“I really hate that guy,” Tsuin muttered as she watched her ‘brother’ make a beeline straight for a certain raven’s home. “What he sees in that brat, I’ll never know.” Over the past year, Naruto had begun to develop a major crush on one Sasuke Uchiha. True, the guy was good looking, but she’d never admit it out loud. He just rubbed her the wrong way with that smug, bratty attitude he’d never gotten out of. “You hurt him Uchiha, you’re so dead, Orochi-sama’s favorite or not,” she muttered again. She shook her blonde head and headed for the Otokage’s office.
She was about to knock when she heard, “Come in Tsuin-chan,” from the other side of the door. Entering the office she was about to bow when she saw a familiar mop of blood red hair and gasped. “G-Gaara!” she cried in shock. Orochimaru smirked. “Um… I can give my report later if you wish Orochi-sama,” she said, unable to look at the Kazekage, “I didn’t know you were busy.”
“That won’t be necessary, Tsuin-chan,” the snake sannin said, “It would seem our esteemed Kazekage’s visit concerns a certain blonde of ours.”
“You mean me, don’t you?” she asked, eyes cast down.
“I have come for my mate,” the redhead said, emotionlessly.
The blonde growled. “You’re a real bastard you know that?! You rape me every damned night, sick that twisted demon of yours on me to have its way with me, then let me go only to show up a year later, thinking I’d be oh so happy to go back with you?! Well, think again teme, did you ever think I’d wait for you?! Did the thought that I might have found someone else ever enter that disgusting head of yours?! Maybe I’ve found someone far better than you; someone who knows how to treat a girl?!”
She then purposefully strode over to the Otokage then kissed him fully on the lips. Orochimaru’s gold eyes widened in surprise at having been caught off guard, but soon began kissing her back, guessing at the blonde’s true intent. It was true that she did care for the snake sannin, but she saw him more as a father figure than anything else. He had been immensely kind to Naruto and her, treating both of them with respect. She only did it so the redhead would back off and forget her; she still hadn’t forgiven him for that night so many months ago.
Gaara growled dangerously as he watched his mate make out with Orochimaru. He heard Shukaku’s taunts from the back of his mind, but pushed them away. He had sworn during the journey to Rice Country, that if Tsuin had found anyone else, he would respect that and give up on her, no matter how much it would hurt. He would stay away as long as Shukaku remained in him.
“I understand,” he said just as emotionlessly as before then walked from the Otokage’s office, “I am… happy for you,” he said as he closed the door. Blue eyes widened in shock at the barest hint of tears in those otherwise hard unfeeling teal depths.
Tsuin immediately jumped back from Orochimaru, blushing profusely, not believing she’d actually gone and done that. “G-Gomen,” she stammered, unable to look at her leader, “I-I don’t know what came over me.”
The snake sannin chuckled before placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright Tsuin-chan. I am quite aware of my appeal,” he said, smirking smugly, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.
“I-I was just so mad,” she said still blushing, “I… had to do something to…”
“Get Gaara-kun to back away?” he finished for her. She nodded, still bright red and unable to look at him. Orochimaru gently cupped her cheek and made her face him. “I’m not angry, little vixen,” he said smiling warmly at the girl he’d come to see as a daughter during the training sessions he had with her, Naruto, and Sasuke, “Anger can make fools of us all, ne? Besides it appears that it worked.” Tsuin nodded, blushing even redder than Gaara’s hair. “Now about that report, hmm?” he prodded, ruffling her sun silk hair.
“R-Right!” she said, after clearing her throat.


“Just what the hell were you thinking?!” the blond shinobi yelled at his twin lying on the hospital bed. “Why did you do it?! Did you forget how worried I was the last time you pulled that shit?!”
“Naruto-kun, please do try to be quiet,” the silver haired shinobi chided, “This is a hospital after all.”
“I won’t be quiet! Not until she tells me why she did what she did!”
Tsuin turned away from them, not wanting to see the anger, disgust and pity in their eyes. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, she just didn’t care. The only thing she regretted was not being able to succeed.
Ever since the day she’d kissed Orochimaru, the guilt had been eating at her until she couldn’t bear it any longer. She knew she had to do it to get Gaara off her case, but the heartbroken tone in his otherwise monotonous voice had pulled at her conscience. True, he may have been a total bastard, but he didn’t deserve to be fooled like that. She could have tried to reason with him; he did seem to be acting more human since she last seen the redhead.
She was grateful that she never told her ‘brother’ what she had done. He just wouldn’t understand. The man was old enough to be her grandfather for crying out loud! And besides Naruto had his own love to worry about, she didn’t want to burden him with her problems now that the older blond was truly happy for once in his life.
She just couldn’t stop thinking of the redheaded Kazekage, her dreams now constantly haunted by Gaara and that heartbroken tone she swore she heard that day as he left. She had become obsessed with him, barely able to spend a single moment in peace. Tsuin just couldn’t understand what was going on with her mind, she had hated Gaara for what he had done to her and Naruto; didn’t she? So why was he constantly invading her thoughts like this? Tsuin couldn’t bear the guilt any longer, it was slowly eating away at her already fragile sanity.
At first she tried the ‘traditional’ way, but one look at her wrists told that the Kyuubi chakra she had made that way nigh impossible since it kept healing her instantly each time she’d cut into her skin. Since that hadn’t worked, she thought, the she’d have to take more drastic measures. She’d been purposefully exhausting herself in an attempt to weaken the kitsune’s cloned chakra. The blonde hardly slept, hardly ate, kept forcing her body to its limits before being forced to give in and give it what it demanded. She had hope that once her body had weakened enough, it would prevent the Kyuubi chakra from getting in the way of her plans.
Then one day, she snuck into Kabuto’s personal herb storage and grabbed the first thing she could find – a bunch of foxglove. Thanks to her Anbu training, Tsuin knew that particular plant had two purposes; the more popular one being a medicine to help heart patients, the other a deadly poison. She didn’t care that the silver haired spy shinobi had kept it, in fact she didn’t put it past him; he did strike her as the untrustworthy kind.
She snuck the leaves back to their apartment, counting on the fact that her ‘brother’ would yet again be spending the night at the Uchiha’s. Tsuin had eaten a few of the leaves, knowing that they were the most dangerous parts and before she knew it, she was in excruciating pain and vomiting before everything went black.
Fortunately, or unfortunately to her, it was Kabuto who had found her; he followed her after seeing her leave the vicinity of his private stash of medicines. The spy shinobi had barely been able to bring her back for she had become so weak from not taking proper care of herself.
“I don’t want to talk about it nii-chan,” she said bitterly.
“Well tough!” he retorted, grabbing onto his ‘sister’s’ wrists glaring at the faint almost nonexistent scars he saw there. “You’d better tell me why you tried to kill yourself this time, or I’ll make ya tell me!”
‘This time?!’ Kabuto asked, quirking an eyebrow, ‘Just how many times has this girl attempted suicide and why?’ The silver haired shinobi may not have been on the best of terms with the younger of the twins, but he did consider her to be a decent person, one that he had hoped he wouldn’t have to kill if she’d proven to be an obstacle to the Otokage’s plans. He mimicked Naruto’s frown, waiting for her to explain.
The first time may have been a bit of an accident actually – she hadn’t been paying attention to the contents of the vial anyway – she had just wanted the baby gone. This time however… Inwardly, Tsuin gave a bitter chuckle, it was ironic really. Here she was a former Anbu trainee, practically able to handle any situation except for those dealing with her own emotions. It was pathetic really.
“Fine!” she huffed, “I just got tired of it all! Happy?!” she spat.
The blond growled and before either of them knew it, slapped her hard in the face. Tsuin cried out at the pain, eyes wide in shock that her ‘brother’ had actually struck her. Sure, he’d hit her before, but that was during training. Never had he ever hit her out of anger. “N-Naruto-nii,” she said, visibly shaken and holding her now bright red cheek.
The boy’s normally sky blue eyes were now a bright fiery red and slitted, apparently Kyuubi was angry as well. “How could you!” he growled, “Do you think it’s fun?! Do you think nobody would care if you died?! That they’d be happy if you did?! I-I don’t know what I’d do without you!” Tears began to well up in the fiery orbs. He quickly rubbed his eyes furiously, not wanting to cry in front of someone like Kabuto.
“You’ve got the brat,” she said miserably. “It’s not like I matter anyway.”
Naruto let out a growl. She sounded like Haku! The memory of the ice wielding shinobi brought more unwanted tears to his eyes. How dare she think of herself like that! Of course she mattered! Tsuin was his most precious and only sister in the whole world! There was no way Naruto was going to let talk like that. He was about to strike her again when Kabuto grabbed his wrist.
“Lemme go Yakushi!” he snarled, struggling violently against the older shinobi’s firm grasp.
“Leave her be Naruto-kun. It’d be no use using anger to get her to snap out of it the way she is now,” he said.
Naruto growled again, but backed off. Kabuto was a lot smarter than him, especially when it came to psychology. “Fine,” he spat venomously, “Go ahead and kill yourself if you want to! Just don’t expect me to pick up the pieces!” He then stormed out of the room.
‘Naruto-nii…’ she said, crying silent tears of her own.
“He’s right, Tsuin-chan,” the silver haired spy shinobi said sternly, “You should know better than to throw your life away like that. Think of your brother, think of Orochimaru-sama. He is rather found of you, you know.” She said nothing, turning away from him, not wanting to deal with anything or anyone right now. “Don’t think you’ll be able to try anything like this again,” he said coldly, “I’ll be moving my private supplies and I’ll be making doubly sure you stay alive, whether you like it or not.”
“Whatever,” she grumbled.

‘Gaara...’ she thought, unable to shake the uneasy feeling.
It had only been a year ago since the redheaded Kazekage had come to Otokagure to take his ‘mate’ back; since she had yet again attempted to end her life.
Ever since his sudden and somewhat surprising retreat, Tsuin had been unable to stop thinking of him. The look he had on his face as he left Orochimaru’s office still haunting her. She was still feeling guilty for doing what she had done, but at the time it felt like the right thing to do.
She had been so angry at him. She was so certain that she hated him, he did rape her, let Shukaku have her as well. But she couldn’t help starting feeling sorry for him, especially after what Temari had told her about his childhood. It was just like hers, just like Naruto’s. They were all the same. Feared, hated, unwanted and unloved. She and her ‘brother’ had found happiness and love in Oto. A tiny smile drifted on her face; grateful that her beloved ‘Naruto-nii’ had eventually patched things up with her after her yet again botched suicide.
But what made her happiest, when she wasn’t able to think of Gaara and what she’d done, was that they had now gotten a family of sorts. A few months after Gaara’s ‘visit’ the snake sannin had declared the twins to be the heirs of Otogakure no Sato if anything were to happen to him – much to Sasuke’s surprise and chagrin.
Actually the Uchiha brat could care less, but for someone else other than him to be singled out irked him something fierce and she loved to push his buttons constantly reminding him about it. It was a trait he’d never grown out of. It took weeks before the lovers were on speaking terms again. She smiled at the memory. She had enjoyed spending time with her Naruto-nii then, ever since he and Sasuke had hooked up she’d been seeing less and less of the older Uzumaki.
“Worried?” Orochimaru asked, catching her looking out the window towards Suna.
Word had reached the smaller village that the Otokage’s former ‘associates’, the Akatsuki, were about to make their move on Sunagakure with the intent of capturing a certain red haired jinchuuriki. Of course, being one unable to resist helping a kindred spirit, no matter how badly they had treated him or his kin, Naruto had demanded he be sent to Suna to help. Tsuin had been utterly shocked at that, not that her ‘brother’ would tell Orochimaru what to do, but to actually want to rush to the rescue of someone who practically treated his sister as a bed slave. His answer, when she asked had been, ‘So what if he’s a bastard? He’s still a jinchuuriki, like me. It wasn’t his fault he turned out the way he did.’
She had been surprised to hear those words coming from his mouth. She was darned sure he’d hated Gaara as much as she had. But now…
“Don’t worry. Naruto is one of, if not, the best shinobi we have. If anyone can pull this off it’s him,” Orochimaru said, placing a shoulder on her shoulder.
“It’s not Naruto-nii I’m worried about, Orochi-sama. I just can help feeling something’s going to happen to Gaara, something horrible.”
The snake sannin nodded understandingly. He knew just how dangerous his ‘friends’ could be, but he did have faith that his ‘son’ would stop them, or at least delay their plans a bit longer. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?” he said, pushing her gently toward the office door, “I doubt you’d be of much help today, ne?”
“B-But Orochi-sama, what about those papers?” she asked indicating the pile of papers and scrolls on the desk that needed to be gone over and sorted.
“I think I can handle this mess by myself for one day,” he said smirking, “Go on Tsuin-chan and get some rest.”
“H-Hai.” She gave the pile one last look then reluctantly went to her apartment. ‘Please be all right, Gaara,’ she silently prayed.

The report had left her shaken. She was relieved that the redheaded Kazekage was alive, thanks to a forbidden jutsu performed by his great-grandmother, but the fact that he had died while having the demon forcibly pulled from him had made Tsuin almost pass out in the Otokage’s office. Naruto had rushed to his sister’s aid, not caring he was in the middle of giving a report, and it would seem that Orochimaru didn’t either. He just waited calmly until the blond had calmed his ‘daughter’ as she wept uncontrollably. It wasn’t until after he had told her that he had ‘taken care’ of those ‘scum’, with the unexpected help from Konoha of course, that Tsuin began to feel a bit better.
That was then that she realized that not only did she miss Gaara, but had actually fallen in love with him. She didn’t know how or even when she did, but it had to have been some time while he had kept them at Sunagakure. Why did she even love him? Tsuin had asked herself many times since then. The answer…? She did like how he catered to her every desire back then. Well every desire except two. All those gifts and talks, his constant making sure she was well taken care of and comfortable had made her feel like she was special, wanted or dare she even dream, loved?
All her life she had never felt love, not until meeting Naruto and it left her wanting more; it was like a drug to her. During their trial period, she did everything and anything to please the Otokage to get him to accept her. Seeing her desperate need, Orochimaru had gone out of his way to praise her whenever she had done well on a mission or succeeded in a training exercise. But it wasn’t enough; the snake sannin would also do the same with her ‘brother.’
She had felt even emptier when Naruto and Sasuke had gotten together. She couldn’t help feel something was missing. It drove her nuts not knowing what it was, but now she knew. What had been missing these past two years was her mate – Gaara.
She was itching to run back to Suna, tell the Kazekage she was ready to forgive him then beg him for forgiveness for not truly listening, for not seeing him for what he really was, a lost lonely boy who didn’t know any better – he too had never been loved, never felt the loving touch of another human. But she was an Uzumaki, and that meant, she had her pride. There was no way she was going to degrade herself by actually crawling back to him in spite of the constant pulling from her heart.
So she had steeled herself for a possibly long life of solitude and loneliness and continued to serve her ‘father’ as best she could.
She didn’t bother looking up from the scroll she was currently looking over when a knock came on the door. She could tell it was Kabuto from the feel of the chakra, but ignored it. It seemed to her that Orochimaru was doing the same, currently busy going over a current request for more funds for the village’s academy.
“Pardon me, Orochimaru-sama,” came the silver haired boy’s voice from outside, “But there is someone who insists on speaking with you.”
“It can’t be!” Tsuin whispered, recognizing the chakra of the other person with Kabuto.
“What is it Tsuin-chan?” the snake sannin asked, having heard her.
“I-It’s Gaara. He’s here,” she said, hard pressed to suppress her excitement.
“Is that so?” he said, “Now why the Kazekage would be paying our tiny little village a visit, hmm? It’s all right Kabuto,” he called, “Let him in.”
The door swung open and the redhead strode in, teal eyes never leaving the Otokage.
“Gaara! Thank Kyuubi you’re all right!” Tsuin found herself crying as she leapt from her seat and glomped him, shocking the Kazekage.
Orochimaru gave the pair a knowing look. The blonde had been so obvious to him by the way she had been trying to hide her moping about, but chose not to press it. He’d rather have her tell him when she was ready. Seeing that they would need some privacy to talk, the Otokage silently left. Neither of them noticed, and that was how he wanted it. He’d only distract them from what needed to be said.
“You…” Gaara said, blushing slightly unable to look at her, “are well?”
Tsuin nodded. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, looking away. Gaara looked at her confusedly. “For not understanding… back then. I should have seen the real Sabaku no Gaara, not the bastard who did those things to me.”
“I… too am sorry,” Gaara said, eyes downcast, “I can never repent enough for what I have done.”
The blonde kunoichi surprised him again by wrapping her arms around him and placing her head on his chest. “It wasn’t your fault. It was because of that damned demon. Shukaku warped your mind.”
“That still doesn’t…”
She silenced him with a finger to his lips. “I know, but hear me out will you?” Gaara nodded, waiting for her to go on. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened these past years. And I thought, what if… What if it had been Naruto-nii that turned out that way, or me? It almost did too. Naruto-nii and I are not so different from you. We too were never loved. Those around us only saw us as either monsters or tools, or both. If Naruto-nii hadn’t been put with those shinobi back a Konohagakure, if he hadn’t found someone to love him, then he might have gone down the same path as you. I might have too, if I didn’t have Naruto-nii.”
“Tsuin…” he said, timidly returning the hug. “I… still need you. I won’t let Orochimaru have you any longer.”
The blonde looked away in shame. “Gaara, I… have a confession to make.” The redhead looked at her, perplexed. What could she possibly have to confess? “O-Orochi-sama and I… we… we were never really…”
“I should have known,” he said smiling slightly, “But why?”
“I… I was still angry at you then. I still thought, no believed I hated you. I wanted you to go away, to leave me alone. What a fool I’ve been.”
“You… don’t hate me?” he asked surprised.
“I don’t think I ever really did. I… was just too used to not trusting others to see the real you under that act of yours. Can you… ever forgive me?”
The Kazekage cupped her cheek, gently turning her head so they were eye-to-eye. “Only if you forgive me,” he said.
“Gaara…” she said, tears starting to fall from crystal sapphire pools. She could no longer resist and pulled him into a desperate kiss. She let all she had felt for him up to until then pour into that kiss, letting him know just how much she needed him back.
The former jinchuuriki stood stock still for about ten seconds before it dawned on him what was going on – his mate was kissing him! And quite willingly, he might add. Smiling to himself, he pressed her as close to him as possible then began to dominate the kiss, overjoyed that he’d been forgiven at last. Neither of them had noticed the gaping blond at the door, they were so wrapped up in that kiss.
Naruto had dashed over Orochimaru’s office, ready to rip the Kazekage a new one for daring to try and take his ‘sister’ away again when Kabuto had let slip that Gaara had come to Oto. However, he had stopped in his tracks upon catching sight of said Kazekage and his beloved baby ‘sister’ kissing each other passionately. His eyes bugged out and his jaw laid upon the floor in mid shout. He just couldn’t believe that Tsuin was actually kissing the man she had once hated with so much vehemence.
Sasuke, who had been dragged along reluctantly, smirked at his dobe’s flabbergasted look. He may not have cared much for Naruto’s ‘sister’ but did feel a tiny bit of pity for her, for not having a lover of her own. He smiled; glad she had finally come to terms with her feelings for the redhead. It may have seemed that the raven haired Uchiha had eyes only for Naruto, but it wasn’t exactly the case. Sasuke was well aware of his future ‘sister-in-law’s’ changed mood after the Akatsuki incident. He hadn’t said anything for it had nothing to do with him nor was he experienced enough in manners of a woman’s heart so he just let her be, silently wishing that whatever it was that was bothering her would work out somehow.
“Come on, dobe,” he whispered, pulling the still gaping blond back into the hall. Naruto couldn’t help but let the taller shinobi lead him from the two lovers.
A few more minutes later, Gaara had broken the kiss, but not the tight embrace. “Does that mean you forgive me?” he asked. Tsuin laid her head against his chest, unable to speak, and not just from the kiss. She nodded. “I already said I did,” she replied when she found her voice.
“You’ll come back to me?” the Kazekage asked, trembling slightly with a warmth he’d never felt before that seemed to stem from his heart and spread throughout the rest of his body.
Another nod. Tsuin hadn’t noticed the taller man’s trembling due to the butterflies in the stomach feeling she had at the moment. She refused to move, suddenly finding herself doubting the stability of her legs and continued to lay her head on the redhead’s chest, content to let the heat of Gaara’s body wash over her.
Gaara smiled, for the first time in his tragic life, truly happy. “My mate,” he purred before pulling her into another fierce kiss.
“Hai, yours,” she moaned back, just as happy. She had finally found where she belonged, with this redheaded tanuki, her mate.

Sakura: Finally got this sucker done!
Sasuke: Ch. Took you long enough.
Sakura: Shut it Uchiha.
Zelos: Does this mean I’ll finally get you all to myself now Sakura hunny?
Sakura: Maaaaaayyyybe. If L-sama sends me any good ideas.
Zelos: ^_^
Sakura: But don’t count it Zel-hunny. I’ve still got the .hack stuff to finish and the other Naruto fic I’m still working on.
Zelos: I feel so loved. T_T
Sakura: There, there. Be happy that they put you in the Symphonia sequel. I am. Anyhoo, lemme know what you think minna. Hope it wasn’t too much of aSue for you.