Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Missing ❯ Chapter 7 Decisions ( Chapter 7 )

A/N: Hey there people. First of all I'm sorry for the delay. I’ve been to the countryside for a while and there I don't have a connection with the Internet. Anyway now I'm back home to my precious computer and I present chapter 7.Enjoy and don't forget to review *wink*.

Chapter 7 Decisions

The sun was raising slowly when Naruto woke up. He felt something warm next to him and when he looked down he saw Inari.

The boy was sleeping peacefully with his arms wrapped around Naruto. His head was the blond’s chest right above his heart. The teen smiled but then memories from the nightmare that he had last night before came to his mind. Naruto shuddered and his blue eyes watered.

‘I need to get out of here.’

As if Inari heard his thoughts, the boy unwrapped his arms and rolled to the opposite side. Naruto sighed and got up. He put on his clothes quickly and left the house without making any sounds. The teen was about to go to the forest when his stomach growled.

‘Hope there is a shop opened this early in town.’ with that thought Naruto took off towards the town.

He wandered around for a while and just as he was about to give up finding a shop, Naruto spotted a stand that was opened.

“Finally food.” his tummy grumbled again and the blond patted it reassuringly. He went inside and the old woman behind the counter greeted him immediately.

“Ohayo, young man. What can I get you?”

“Ohayo, obaasan. Do you have rice balls?” Naruto greeted back and sat down.

“No, but I can make you some if you have patience.“

“I’ve got enough time and patience…”-he was cut off as his stomach grumbled loudly- “but I guess my tummy is the impatient one.” Naruto finished his thought and smiled, then rubbed the back of his neck.

The old woman laughed and turned away from the blond.

“I’ll start them right away.”

Naruto nodded and leaned on the counter. He tried not to think about the nightmare but every now and then bits of it were flashing across his mind. So instead of trying to forget it the blond pushed the bad dream in the back of his mind and thought about his training.

Soon enough the delicious smell of food cooking reached his sensitive nose and he inhaled it deeply. He ran a hand through his hair but stopped suddenly. He remembered that he hadn’t put his forehead protector on.

‘Why should I put it on? I’m not a Konoha shinobi anymore. Now I’m a missing-nin.’ He thought bitterly and frowned.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t three enough?” the old woman asked a little concerned.

Naruto looked confusedly at her and then saw the plate in front of him. In the plate were three rice balls.

“No! Don’t worry obaasan. Three are fine.” The blond said quickly to reassure her. She smiled at her only customer and said.

“Well come on then. Try them.”

Naruto nodded and took a bite. He ate it and smiled widely.

“It’s delicious, obaasan.” He said while taking another bite.

“I’m glad you like it.”

She sighed and sat down watching the blond boy.

‘I wonder why he is here so early. Something’s wrong with him’ she thought worriedly as Naruto ate the three rice balls.

When he finished his breakfast he just sat there staring at the empty plate.

“Kit, we need to talk.” Kyuubi said suddenly and scared Naruto a little. He jumped slightly in his seat bit then took a deep breath to calm down.

“Alright. I need to go obaasan. I’ll see you some time again and thanks for the breakfast.”

The teen stood up and smiled warmly at her. Before he left the small stand he put enough money on the counter.

“Bye young man. I hope to see you again.” She called after him and waved her hand.

“Something definitely is wrong with that boy.” She mumbled quietly and sighed shaking her head.

As soon as Naruto was sure he was out of sight he sped up towards the forest.

‘Now I need to find somewhere quiet to talk to Kyuubi.’ He thought while looking around the forest. The teen heard water running somewhere close to him and went in the direction of the sound.

The further he walked the louder the sound was becoming. The blond pushed some bushes apart and when he looked up he saw a waterfall.

The waterfall wan’t really big but the sunlight was illuminating it beautifully. He stood there for a moment just gaping at the amazing sight before him.

“It’s so beautiful.” He whispered quietly to himself as he took a step towards the waterfall.

Naruto looked around and found the perfect spot for meditation. He sat on the soft grass indian style and took off his jacket. He put it aside and closed his eyes. The blond sighed softly and relaxed.

The next time he opened his blue eyes Naruto was inside the depths of his mind. The teen started wandering through the endless corridors, searching for Kyuubi’s cell. He idly traced his hand on the wall as he was walking further on.

Suddenly there was an enormous amount of chakra and Naruto knew that Kyuubi was leading him towards her. He started walking in the direction from which was coming the energy.

After a while the teen found him in front of the prison holding the demon inside his body. He looked up and saw the seal.

“Kit.” Kyuubi whispered softly.

Naruto looked towards the cell and saw the fox standing close to the bars. She was in her human form and was looking like a young woman with long red hair and beautiful black kimono. She had fox ears, which were red-orange with black on the tips. The nine tails around her were long and bushy, the same color as her ears but white tipped.

The blond teen smiled and came closer to her.

“Hey Kyuu. You look amazing.’ He said smiling and hugging the fox through the bars.

“Thank you, kit.” Kyuubi said as she hugged him back and wrapped her tails around the boy.

Naruto sighed yet again in her embrace and closed his eyes. He felt so safe and secure in her embrace.

“Kit, we need to talk.” The kitsune’s voice was serious and she pulled away from the boy.

“Alright.” He said with equal seriousness in his voice and sat down on the ground.

Through out the years he had learned how to make the vision in him mind better. Now there wan’t water on the ground like years ago but soft green grass. The kitsune sat down on the ground as well and took a deep breath. She looked in Naruto’s cerulean eyes with her crimson ones.

“Kit, we are merging slowly.” She said without breaking eye contact with Naruto.

His eyes widened in surprise and his breath hitched.

“Wha…what do you mean, Kyuubi?” he asked with confusion in his voice.

“Since your sixteenth birthday our chakras started mixing. They are becoming one. We are becoming one whole.”

Naruto shook his head still not understanding it.

“But, but. How Kyuubi? How are we merging?”

“The seal is weak. It has been weakened since your first encounter with that snake bastard. During those exams he had put another cursed seal on you and after that when you met the toad hermit he removed the second seal. That’s when the seal holding me became weak.” Kyuubi explained.

“So it’s the snake’s fault?” Naruto asked glaring at the ground.

“Not exactly. Even before that incident, I noticed that when you used my chakra after that it didn’t separate completely from yours.” The kitsune said looking to the side.

“What are going to be the consequences for us, Kyuu?” Naruto asked suddenly after the brief moment of silence.

“Kit, if you don’t want to this to happen, we’ll find a way to stop the merging.” She said quietly while staring in his eyes.

“The process has already started. I don’t think we’ll be able to stop it in time.” The blond boy said while shifting in more comfortable position on the ground.

“When we merge completely, you will be different. Your body will become different. You won’t be the same.” Kyuubi raised her voice a little and then continued in soft almost whispering tone.

“I don’t want you to suffer anymore.” and she didn’t hide her concern for the boy.

Naruto smiled gently and came closer to the kitsune. He reached his hand through the bars and cupped her face tenderly.

“I’ve been different all my life, Kyuu.”

“Because of me.” She said and looked away from the teen. Naruto tilted her face back to stare in her eyes.

“It’s not your fault. You’re not responsible for the actions you did years ago. If something so precious was taken away from me and I were you, I would have done the same thing.” He said softly.

Naruto was slightly surprised when he saw a tear fall from Kyuubi’s crimson eyes but he brushed it away with his thumb and smiled again.

“You’ve suffered so much because of me, kit.”

“It’s true that I’ve been hurt but you’re the one that has always been next to me my whole life. You helped me become the person I am today.” He whispered.

Kyuubi smiled sadly and brushed away the other tears that were threatening to fall.

“Gods, I’ve become so sentimental. I blame you!” she said jokingly and chuckled a little.

“It’s my fault? How come it’s my fault?” Naruto asked faking annoyance.

“It’s your fault because you make people express their true feelings. Even that Uchiha kid can’t hide his feelings from you.” She reasoned while nodding with her arms crossed.

“Well sorry if you don’t like it. You don’t have a choice but to put up with me.” The blond huffed and turned his head to the left.

Kyuubi laughed at him and he pouted some more with a small smile on his lips. He knew that they were just joking with each other.

When the kitsune stopped laughing and calmed down Naruto turned back to her with a serious expression.

“So what are going to be the consequences for us?”

Kyuubi cleared her throat and looked in his blue eyes.

“Like I said earlier your body will change. Your sense of hearing, smelling, tasting and vision will become sharper. And there are going to be other changes too.” She paused to think about them.

Naruto was curious about the other changes but tried to wait patiently for Kyuubi to continue. However in the end his curiosity won.

“What are going to be the other changes?”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure, kit. You will become taller, I think. Also more flexible and faster.” She said and smirked.

‘I wonder whether he’ll ask about his ears and a tail.’ She thought to herself.

Naruto was satisfied with that answer. The boy closed his eyes for a moment but then a though hit him hard and the cerulean orbs opened. He leaned closer to the kitsune and asked in a whispering voice.

“Am I going to have fox ears and tails?”

Kyuubi was about to start laughing at the way he asked but coughed a few times to calm herself.

“I don’t know, kit. Maybe during a certain period of time you will have. I’m not sure about that.” She answered honestly.

“Certain period of time?” he asked with confusion in his voice.

“Yes. The ears and tails will pop out most likely during the heat period.” She said and waited to see his reaction.

“Heat period?” he mumbled quietly to himself and crossed his arms.

‘Heat. What could that be?’ he thought and frowned in concentration. After a little more wondering he figured it out.

“Oh my God. Heat is the period when you…” he trailed off in embarrassment and blushed.

The kitsune chuckled and the tails behind her were wiggling playfully.

“Yep, it’s that period, kit.”

Naruto’s eyes widened slightly at the confirmation and he freaked out a little.

“And I’ll have to go through that thing?” he asked with panic in his voice.

“Yes, but…” she started saying but was cut off as Naruto stood up and started pacing around.

“No, no, no. I’m too young to do that.” He mumbled.

“You won’t…” she tried again but didn’t finish her sentence.

“What am I going to do?”

Naruto continued pacing around and mumbling to himself while ignoring Kyuubi. The kitsune’s tails started twitching nervously. She was beginning to lose her temper and in the end she snapped. With an angry growl she stood up and yelled out.

“Damn it, brat! Will you just shut up and listen to me? I’m not done yet!”

The teen stopped immediately stunned by the outburst. He hung his head low and sat down quietly.

“Sorry.” He murmured.

The kitsune took a deep breath to calm herself and sat on the ground again.

“As I was saying you will have to go through the heat, BUT you won’t need a mate until we merge completely. At first you will be only slightly bothered, understood?” she explained finally and still glared slightly at Naruto.

“Yes. Now that you mentioned it. How long will it take to merge completely?”

“I’m not 100% sure but I think it will take about 2 years.”

“Two years? Why so long?” he asked again.

“Because I’ll try to slow it down.”

“Why would you try to slow it down?” he asked with a frown on his face.

Kyuubi sighed quietly and answered.

“If the merging happens suddenly your body won’t take the changes and you will die.”

The cerulean eyes widened in horror and Kyuubi decided to finish quickly before he freaked out again.

“That’s why you need to train hard to make your body strong enough to take the merging.”

The boy sighed as a wave of relief washed over him but it was gone soon.

“So I’ll have to leave Inari and find Ero-sennin to train me.”

He didn’t want to leave yet. He wanted to spend some time with Inari and his family but now he didn’t have a choice. Kyuubi coughed once and when she had Naruto’s attention she just smirked at him.

“What?”

“No need to leave just yet. I can train you for a while.” Her smirk grew bigger, her fangs showing a little.

“How? You’re inside me, remember? I need to train my body, not my mind.”

“True.” She said now grinning mischievously and Naruto eyed her suspiciously.

‘She is up to something. I can see it in her eyes.’ He thought frowning slightly.

“What are you up to?” he asked when the kitsune didn’t say anything.

Kyuubi’s grin slowly disappeared and she became serious.

“I will show you some extra hand seals that you will perform along with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. When you use them half of my spirit will be summoned in the replication’s body. ” she explained and stopped for a moment to let the information sink in.

“So that way you’ll be able to teach me, right?”

“Yes also there is a special seal that will make the replication disappear.” She said.

“So what are you going to teach me, Kyuu?” the boy asked with curiosity and eagerness in his voice. The kitsune chuckled a little but answered him.

“We’ll perfect your fire jutsu and I’ll show you some water jutsu, along with other techniques. Also we’ll concentrate on genjutsu and taijutsu. ”

Naruto groaned slightly and mumbled under his nose.

“Man I’m not good at genjutsu at all.”

“That is going to change, kit. Trust me.”

“I trust you.” He said smiling and looking directly in her eyes.

“So when will you show me the extra seals?”

“After you rest a little.”

“Rest? But I’m not tired.” He complained even though he fought back a yawn.

The kitsune smiled and motioned for him to come to her. When the teen was close enough she hugged him and wrapped her bushy tails around his body. Naruto returned the embrace and relaxed. He sighed softly and snuggled as close as the metal bars allowed him to. His eyes closed slowly and soon he fell asleep in the kitsune’s arms feeling safe and calm.

She smiled softly and began stroking his hair.

“You will never be hurt again, kit. I’ll make sure of it.” She whispered quietly and closed her own eyes to take a short nap.

TBC