Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

SUMMARY: Duty, honour and love clash with a thirst for vengeance when a decade old lie is finally revealed. How far would YOU go for love? NaruIta, one-sided SasuNaru, YAOI!

Naruto Fanfiction

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All Fanfics created by Sandlewood (me) were written for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: which Naruto displays fox-like deviousness.

~Sacrifice~
By: Sandlewood996

Chapter 7

was becoming irritated. He was expending vast amount of energy on a daily basis just to keep his human jailer alive and the now familiar routine was swiftly growing old. The human body, he'd long since discovered much to his growing frustration, was far too fragile for his peace of mind. The continuous beatings and torture sessions were becoming a growing concern for the fox demon. He didn't like to admit to it, but he was beginning to fear that if it kept up like this the brat was going to either suffer permanent psychological damage or die. Neither outcome was appealing in the least, though the latter was the most disturbing. If the brat died, then by default, so would he.

The other growing concern was, obviously, Naruto's steadily deteriorating state of mind. Simply put, Kyuubi wasn't certain if the brat's sanity was still intact. Their recent conversations had left him in a state of confusion, something he wasn't entirely comfortable with. Though he was loath to admit it, he rather liked the young man, even if he could be annoying with his brash demands and arrogant belief that he could control a centuries-old tailed-demon. But still...there was something almost endearing about the kit that made Kyuubi far more tolerant than he would normally be.

Though Kyuubi could heal the broken bones and other immediately life-threatening injuries, there was precious little that he could do to help with Naruto's damaged psyche. Despite his reassurances that the rats weren't orchestrating a conspiracy to take over the world and that there was no such thing as purple dragonflies, the brat remained adamant that they were out to get him. Kyuubi wasn't a patient creature to begin with, and having to share the same body and mind of a paranoid lunatic was quickly straining what little patience he possessed. If only Naruto would release him...then he could take control of the situation and put a stop to the cause of the young man's torment. But of course his human jailer retained just enough of his faculties to remember that releasing the nine-tailed fox demon he carried within him was a 'Bad Thing'. "Stupid brat." He muttered under his breath with equal parts affection and irritation.

Kyuubi had been noticing that Naruto's 'visits' had become much more frequent as of late and seemed to be lasting for longer durations than usual. He could only surmise that it was caused by the young man's desperate desire to escape the harsh reality surrounding his captivity. The fox demon found it rather ironic that his jailer was hiding in the inner prison contained within himself to escape the physical prison of the outside world. By nature Kyuubi wasn't a compassionate being...far from it, really...but even he felt that Naruto had endured more than he deserved. He almost missed the brash confidence the young man had possessed before his capture and subsequent imprisonment.

He turned his attention to the young man in question currently crouched before his hated cage. Red eyes gleamed in the semi-darkness as he slowly approached the monolithic bars. He stared down at the blond for several long moments, confusion warring with irritation in the crimson gaze before he finally lowered his head to sniff disdainfully at the crouched figure. "What are you doing now, brat?"

Naruto didn't look up as he responded distractedly. "Remembering." Before Kyuubi could put voice to the next obvious question, his unwilling host continued. "They don't want me to remember, so I'm making sure I don't forget."

The fox demon snorted with amusement. "You do realize that rather than drawing crude pictures on the floor you should be trying to escape?"

"Can't." He shifted and groaned. "Look what you made me do!" Angry blue eyes glared accusingly at the nine-tailed fox through the bars as he pointed at the smudged designs beneath him. "I have to start over now!"

Kyuubi ignored the irritated mutters and focused on the first part of Naruto's statement. "What do you mean you can't? Are you stupid or something? Want to die here?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and sat back to regard the monstrous fox with unconcealed annoyance. "They need two more days, stupid fox. In two days I can get out. Not before."

"In two days you'll be dead." The blond shook his head with what the nine-tailed demon fox considered an overly cocky grin. He snorted and rolled his eyes. "You don't honestly expect me to keep healing you."

The grin widened as Naruto stood, lacing his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose. "Yup." He announced cheerfully.

Kyuubi heaved his bulky weight up, anger flaring in his crimson eyes. "What arrogance!" He bellowed, lips pulling back to reveal glistening fangs in a snarl. "You think to dictate my actions? Just who do you think you're dealing with, brat?" All forming thoughts of pity fled in the face of affronted pride and anger.

Naruto leaned forward with a smirk that rivaled the demon's own malicious deviousness. "You'll keep me alive." He stated confidently, seemingly unfazed by the monstrous fox's growing rage. "If I die..." He jerked his thumb towards his chest, smirk dissolving into a scowl. "You die, too." He dropped to a crouch again and resumed tracing what appeared to be random patterns on the floor. "I think we both know how you feel about that."

For a moment Kyuubi was silent as he stared down at the crouched figure in disgust. It galled him to admit that Naruto was correct in his assumption. There was very little that could actually frighten the fox demon, but the mere thought of his existence being snuffed out in the blink of an eye because he'd been sealed within a mortal's body terrified him beyond reason. "One of these days you're going to go to far, brat." He growled as he slowly lowered his body to the floor of his cell. "There's only so much abuse the human body can withstand and even I have limits as to what I can heal."

Naruto shrugged, seemingly unconcerned by the nine-tailed fox's dire prediction. "It it happens, it happens. There's no point in worrying about it." He shifted again until he was sitting comfortably, legs stretched out and leaning back on his hands in a relaxed pose. "I'm not gonna die until I've achieved my dream."

Kyuubi snorted with dark amusement. "Do you honestly believe your bigoted council members are going to appoint you as the next Hokage, brat?" He chuckled, a low rumbling sound that seemed to vibrate off the cavernous walls and ceiling of the inner prison when Naruto's blue eyes narrowed with growing anger. "As long as I'm here as a part of you, they aren't going to take the chance that I'll get loose." His lips pulled back into a cruel, malicious parody of a smile, red eyes gleaming in the semi-darkness of the sealed cage. "Every time they look at you, they'll see me...and they'll remember." He promised with grim satisfaction.

The blond jumped to his feet, hands clenched into fists at his sides as he glared passed the glowing bars of the cage to the nine-tailed fox demon. "Like I'd ever let that happen again!"

"When they look at you, they see their precious Yondaime Hokage and remember that it was because of me that he's dead." He continued relentlessly. Kyuubi lowered his massive head to rest on his forepaws. "In their minds it was you who killed him, brat. Never forget that. This is the legacy you have to overcome." He feigned a yawn of boredom. "Getting yourself killed on a fake diplomatic mission would solve all their problems."

Naruto bowed his head, blond hair falling over his eyes as he stared at the designs he'd drawn on the floor before the massive cage. "I'm not gonna let that happen. I'm not gonna die here." He drew in a deep breath, passionate conviction echoing in his voice as he continued. "I'm gonna finish my mission and go back to Konoha..." He lifted his head and glared with fierce determination through the bars at Kyuubi. "And I will prove to everyone that I'm not the fox demon that attacked them. I will be Hokage, you stupid fox! That is my dream and I will achieve it. Nothing you say will ever change that. Got it?"

A/N: Can't say as I like this chapter all that much. -_-; But...it's a chapter all the same. If there are an overabundance of typos revolving around words containing the letter "R" I apologize in advance. My keyboard is acting up and the "R" key is sticking something awful. I tried to fix them (the typos, that is), but I'm not sure if I caught them all. Also attempted to fix the keyboard problem myself...something I don't recommend, by the way. -_-; I think I may have matters worse. **coughs** The keys aren't supposed to come off on their own, are they? Probably going to have to send my laptop in for some warranty work to get this little problem fixed before to long (don't want the warranty running out before I can get it done!). Have also concluded that I really hate my word processor. The format isn't supported by MM.org or FFn or AFFn. Really quite annoying. I have to resort to RTF format and for some odd reason, whenever I upload to MM.org it doesn't look right when I view the chapter afterwards...things are missing or formatting is messed up. I think I need to invest in a new word processor. O.o

RaiMidori: is quite possibly one of my very favourite characters from I think his character is both complex and needs to be explored much more thoroughly. Though I don't begin to try to lay claim to fully understanding Itachi, it's sooooo much fun to try to get inside his head.

rua kitsune: Awww, thankies! I'm glad you're enjoying. Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a review for me. =^_^=