Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Rumours of a shadow fox ❯ Chapter 1

Rumours of a Shadow fox

 

 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, Never have, never will. If I did Sasuke would be dead and Orochimaru wouldn't be a gay paedophile.

 

`Hello' - Normal speech

`Hello' - Thought's

`Hello' - Demon/ Inner persona speech

`Hello' - Demon/ Inner persona Thought's

`Hello' - Flash back/ Mindscape

 

 

Prologue

 

Rumours. The world is full of them. You can go to any village and will always be another rumour. One of the most common of the rumours is the Shadow fox. Although each rumour is different from the last and tend to contradict each other, there are two things that are always constant in the rumour of the Shadow fox. The first is that it has been just over four years since the Shadow fox was first heard of, and the second is that who ever is foolish enough to make him an enemy, always ends up dead soon after.

Even thou there are endless rumours of the Shadow fox, which is what they remain. Rumours. These rumours range from him being nothing more than a bedtime story, to the ridiculous ones of him being an actual fox in human form. In each village his he is known, and in each village he is thought to be nothing more than a rumour.

Even though most people think of him as nothing more than a story, some people have very different ideas, some believe that he will bring them fame, power and wealth if they can tame him, while others wish to offer a home in their village in hopes he will defend its interests. These people include the leaders of the shinobi villages. After all with the Shadow fox their enemy's would think twice before attacking them and business for the village would boom. So naturally the villages have organised many searches for him. However none of these searches have produced any results. After all it is almost impossible to find someone when you have no idea what they look like. One rumour says that he wears nothing but a pair of shorts, while others say he completely hides his appearance. So naturally with all the conflicting rumours it's like finding a needle in a hay stack, a very large hay stack. But still a needle in a hay stack.

With all the different rumours it is impossible for anyone to know what is truth and what is fiction. Well anyone except the Shadow fox himself.

One of the first rumours of him is how he defended wave country from hundreds of bandits. Rumour says time and again the bandits descended upon the prospering village and time and again they were defeated by the Shadow fox. The rumours of his defence of wave country gave way to the rumours of him being the guardian of the wave. So it is only natural that many people have visited the village in hopes of meeting him. Currently a team of Konoha shinobi are approaching the village hoping to find him like so many before them.

 

 

“So were finally here” spoke a figure stepping out of the forest

“Not quite, we've still got to cross the bridge” spoke another figure while standing next to the first.

“What are we waiting for then Kurenai-sensei” replied the first figure

“Lets go then Kiba” Kurenai responded while two more figures appeared beside them.

“Didn't Kakashi's team come here?” Kiba asked while approaching the bridge.

“I believe they aided in building this bridge” Shino stated in his ever present monotone.

Just as they were about to continue over the bridge they turned to the last member of the team who was already at one of the pillars of the bridge reading a plaque of some sorts.

“What you reading Hinata?” Kiba yelled towards the girl, however when the girl didn't answer they started towards the girl. When they arrived they began reading what the plaque

 

`Here lies the Great Naruto Bridge, Named for the boy who showed the heart of a hero and in hopes that like his courage, this bridge will never fail'

 

It has been four years since Naruto Uzumaki died. Upon the return of team 7 after the mission to Wave country, everyone was shocked when found out about his death.

 

Flash back

 

Inside the Hokage's office stood team 8 and 10 waiting for missions to be distributed. Just as they were about to receive their missions team 7 entered, each member of the team seemed defeated.

“Team 7 reporting that the mission was a success” Kakashi said without his nose buried in its usual place, in fact his book could not be seen

“Well then I suppose Congratulations are in order for completion of you first `C' rank mission eh Kakashi?” Asuma said

“Congratulations? We have nothing to celebrate!” Came his reply

“A-ano, Where's N-Naruto-kun?” asked the pale eyed Hinata

“He's……Dead” Kakashi whispered so only the Hokage could hear while a tear rolled down his check

“WHAT” the Hokage shouted

“I said that he's dead Hokage-sama” Kakashi yelled at the old man which had the effect of shocking everyone in the room

“H-how?” Asked a distraught Iruka

“He did it to save me” Sasuke said while staring at the floor

“What do you mean?” The Hokage asked while everyone in the room eyed Sasuke searching for the answer.

However it wasn't Sasuke that answered but Kakashi

“During the mission we came across Momochi Zabuza, a jounin level missing Nin, and his apprentice called Haku. Apparently he had been hired by Gato to kill Tazuna, the man we were guarding. We fought against them on the bridge, Me against Zabuza while Sasuke fought against Haku, and Sakura defended Tazuna.”

“Where was Naruto?”

“He was still at Tazuna's house. We had been training the day before and he was suffering from slight chakra exhaustion. After a couple of minuets Haku placed what seemed to be mirrors around Sasuke. While inside the mirrors Haku could move at speeds that would rival an elite jounin's. Trapped by the mirrors Sasuke tried to defend himself but the mirrors with stood his attacks. When Haku attempted to attack Sasuke again Naruto arrived and managed to deflect his attack. However by doing so he himself was trapped along with Sasuke by the mirrors. For a short while Naruto and Sasuke managed to hold him off. Sasuke with Katon Justus's and Naruto with the Kage Bunshin. However Sasuke soon ran out of chakra and collapsed. When Haku tried to finish him off, Naruto intercepted him and took the blow for Sasuke. While this meant the Sasuke was safe Naruto was mortally wounded. However Naruto managed to kill Haku before he died.”

“So if Naruto died, where's his body?” The aged Hokage

“He was buried in Wave country Hokage-sama. With the way this village felt about him I doubt he would have gotten that here. And the Wave insisted that the hero of the wave stayed in wave country.”

“Well I suppose that's understandable” came the aged man's response

 

“Everyone of the rookie's have grown so much since then” Kurenai thought “It's just a shame he had to die to show them that they weren't invincible like they all thought they were.”

“Come on we should go. We'll make sure to visit his grave before we leave” Kurenai spoke while moving to the bridge, to which the other three just nodded.

As the group entered the village they saw that in the four years since the wave mission the village had clearly prospered and changed greatly. No longer were children begging for any scraps of food they could get, but instead they were playing like normal children should, laughing and joking. The shops were booming, and there seemed to be a great amount of visitors in the village. Obviously the bridge has done its job and brought wave out of poverty.

“A-ano, where are we staying?” Hinata asked

“We'll be staying with a family that lodged Kakashi's team four years ago, a man called Tazuna, his daughter Tsunami and his grand son Inari. Were suppose to meet him at the village hall.”

“Ok” replied the students

 

 

 

“Are you sure this is where we are suppose to meet him Kurenai-sensei?” Kiba asked while scanning the horizon for any signs of Tazuna

“Yes Kiba, this is where we are to meet him” came his reply

“Well I wish he'd hurry up he's nearly as bad as Kakashi”

“Did someone say Kakashi?” Tazuna asked while approaching the group

“Yes, and who might you be?”

“My names Tazuna, and I'm guessing your, the team I'm suppose to be meeting”

“Hai. I'm Yuuhi Kurenai, and these are my students. This is Hyuuga Hinata...” Kurenai said while pointing out Hinata “...This is Aburame Shino...” she said while gesturing Shino “…And finally this is Inuzuka Kiba and his companion Akamaru.” She finished while pointing out Kiba and Akamaru.

“It's a pleasure to meet you all” Tazuna said with a small smile on his face “Now if you'd follow me I'll show you to where you'll be staying” with this said he started heading back down the road in the direction he had come from.

 

After a short 5 minuet walk through the village they stopped outside a relatively large house. Granted it wasn't as big as the clan houses back in Konoha, but by all accounts it was large for civilians. Seeing the shocked faces on his guests he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, but he still explained to them.

“I'm guessing that you thought we'd still lived where Kakashi's team stayed?” seeing them nod he continued “After the bridge was finished, wave country's economy boomed, as since then me and my family have been quite well off. Now I do believe dinner should be ready, so come on in.” He said while opening the door and stepping inside with the others following closely.

 

They entered into what seemed to be a fairly large hallway. The hallway floor was a deep mahogany wood which looked like it had been recently varnished. There was a medium sized cream rug at the base of the stairs. The walls were painted a pale cream, with pictures hung on them. To the left of the doorway there was a simply mahogany shoe rack.

Walking to the door on the right hand side of the hallway Tazuna motioned for the others to follow him, which they did after removing their sandals of course. The room they entered next was obviously the living room however it appeared to be a conjoined dinning room if the table in the far side of the room was anything to go on. Again the room was large, with deep mahogany floors. And again the walls were painted a pale cream however the wall opposite the door was painted a light mocha colour. This wall also had a large fire place with a fire blazing. There was a small coffee table surrounded by 2 chairs and a large couch.

Tazuna motioned for the group to relax as he headed into a room at the other end of the living room. Akamaru immediately curled up in front of the blazing fire, while the others sat on the chairs and couch.

“We'll start searching first thing in the morning. It's been a long trip so we should rest first.” Kurenai told the others while relaxing into the chair. Her response was a course of `Hai' from her students.

“Well it seems dinner will be ready in about half an hour” Tazuna said while remerging in from the door he left from, followed by a young woman

“This is my daughter, Tsunami. She'll show you to your rooms”

While following the young woman up the stairs they came across a young boy, who must have been about 12 years old, while he was coming out of what must have been his room.

“Inari, these are the shinobi that'll be staying with us” Tsunami said toward Inari

“Eh? Oh hi mum, pleasure to meet you” Inari said with a small bow to the group “I'm off to go train now mum but I'll be back for dinner”

“Ok but dinners in half an hour” replied Tsunami

Inari nodded and headed down the stairs

“Training? What's he training for?” Kiba asked

“Well Inari saw Naruto as an older brother and ever since then he's been training to go to the academy. He knows he's older than most of the students but he promised Naruto and himself that he would, and he always says that keeping his word is his nindo.” Tsunami said while continuing up the stairs. “We only have 2 spare rooms, so you'll have to share. There are two beds in each, you should settle in and I'll get you when tea is ready” she said while stopping in front of two doors

“Right Kiba and Shino will share and I and Hinata will share”

 

 

 

*************Couple of miles from Wave**************

 

“When do we strike?”

“We'll attack after dark”

“Why can't we just strike now?”

“Because they'll be able to see us. After dark we'll be able to easily deal with the militia.”

“Fine, at least we'll get a good amount of money and women”

 

 

After having dinner the group had settled in the front room talking amongst them selves.

“What exactly are you doing here? Not that we want to get rid of you or anything but why would you come to wave?” Tazuna asked to team 8

“A-ano, we were sent to look for the Shadow fox” came Hinata's shy response

“So why would that bring you to wave? Unless because of the rumours of him being Waves guardian” Tsunami said

“Well since the only thing know of him is that he has been sighted in wave a couple of times, we believed here to be a good place to start searching.” Kurenai said

“Why do you want to find him?” Tsunami asked

“We have a scroll from Hokage-sama to deliver to him” Kurenai said

After another 20 minuets of idle chit chat, Inari stood up and headed to the door.

“I'm off out mum” he said

“Ok but try to be back soon, it's getting dark out” she replied and to which Inari nodded

“Where are you going?” Kiba asked

“To visit Nii-san” he replied while closing the door

“Nii-san?” Kiba said obviously confused

Tazuna saw his confusion and decided to enlighten the boy “He mean's Naruto”

“WHAT? Naruto's dead” Kiba yelled

“Don't you think we KNOW that” Tazuna yelled back “He's going to pay his respect”

After hearing that he meant Naruto Hinata was suddenly interested in the conversation, after all no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't forget about Naruto. “Maybe if I had just said something sooner then I could have at least been with him for a short while.”

Hinata stood up and followed after Inari after telling Kurenai where she was going. She soon caught up to Inari.

“What are you doing here?” He asked

“I'd like to pay my respects to Naruto-kun if you don't mind” Hinata replied

“I thought everyone from Konoha hated Naruto-nii-san”

“No I could never hate Naruto-kun. Why would you think that anyway?”

“Well nii-san said that everyone from Konoha hated him, although he never said why”

Hinata knew why he was hated; after all since Naruto died then there was no longer any need for the 3rd's law, so soon after the council told everyone that Naruto was the container of the nine tailed fox. But even after finding out, the rookie nine never held it against him; after all he was just its container not the fox itself.

“Not every one hated him.” Hinata responded in a voice barely above a whisper “I can tell you right now that I never hated him. He was someone very special to me”

After a short silence between the two they found them selves in a small clearing. On the other side of the clearing was a single headstone. As Hinata approached it she could see the headstone was marble; clearly the villagers had spared no expense for Naruto On the headstone there was two lines engraved upon it, which read;

 

`Here lies Uzumaki Naruto. Resting in the lands he gave his life for.'

 

For about 20 minuets there was silence in the clearing as they paid their respects. When Inari chose to leave to go home Hinata had said she was going to stay a bit longer, but would come back soon, to which Inari nodded and left her alone.

When she was alone Hinata finally released her tears and gently place a hand on the stone

“There was so much I wanted to tell you Naruto-kun, but I was afraid. Afraid that you wouldn't feel the same. I thought that if I was patient then I could finally work up the courage to tell you…but I guess I left it too late.” Hinata spoke softly in an almost unheard whisper “I wanted to tell you that I loved you…that I always loved you. I'm so sorry Naruto-kun…If only I had said something sooner, we could have been together”

After another couple of minuets she stood and left the clearing with one last look over the stone.