Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Dancing Kitsune ❯ the first sign of the nine tailed fox ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I own nothing!!!! WAHAHAH!

If I ever owned anything that is classified as Anime, I would run crazily down the streets screaming for joy. Yet sadly, I own nothing, and therefore you will not see me running down the streets.

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Uzumaki Naruto was never the favourite of hidden leaf village.

No one ran up to him and patted him on the head or gave him a thumb's up if he did anything remarkably wonderful; if this actually had happened to Naruto, he probably would have died to a heart attack.

Other then his teachers, Hatake Kakashi and Iruka-Sensei, no one had ever talked to him as if he were vaguely useful.

Now, at the age of 19, after ages and ages of training, Naruto was read to take on anyone and anything that came to plague him. He was lucky to have survived so long, many of the other villagers had said (he knew all of this by sneaking around the village in search of Ramen his favourite food.)

He had managed to stay in the same group he had been placed in, in his first years of being a ninja, and both Sasuke and Sakura had managed to stay with him as well. All of this went well with Naruto; he trusted both of his friends more then anyone else in the world.

Naruto sighed, resting his chin on his clasped hands.

He was sitting in a small meadow near the outskirts of Leaf Village, waiting as patiently as he could for Sasuke and Sakura to join him.

He carefully examined a fingernail on his right hand, trying to contain the yawns that were bubbling up ever once in a while from his utter boredom at the lateness of his friends.

True, Naruto himself had never been the kind of person to arrive completely on time. He'd always managed to show up a few minutes before Sasuke and Sakura could chide him for lateness, but he somehow managed to find a rather annoyed emotion inside himself when dealing with others who had the impertinence to come later then he did.

He looked around, trying to kill time for the seventeenth time that day, spotting Sasuke out of the corner of his eye.

Sasuke had grown up just as much as Naruto had since their childhood years together. He had grown to tower a little above Naruto, his body lithe and lean, ready to fight at a moments notice with strength hidden by his appearance. His eyes had taken a darkened look from numerous fights with his brother, Itachi, who he had sworn to kill in vengeance for the murder of his parents and the entire Uchiha clan.

He was dressed in clothing that suited his rather grim emotional state; a black trench coat that ended a few inches above the knee, shorts of navy blue and a t-shirt that resembled the shirt he had worn when he had been twelve. The Uchiha family logo, a small fan, was emblazoned on the breast of his shirt just above the heart and every item of clothing on his body appeared to have been starched stiff.

Naruto had to hold in laughter upon sight of the young Uchiha.

He himself was wearing a pair of baggy yet pinned down beige pants with bandages wound around his shins to hold the pant legs to his body, two t-shirts, one with long black sleeves that had a turtleneck neck line and one on top of it that was white and navy blue with short sleeves that ended just above his shoulders.

He looked down at his feet in order to regain self-control at the laughter brimming in his mind and tugged at the straps of his sandals, knocking off a slight haze of brownish grey dust.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

" And just what do you think is so funny?" He growled, taking a seat on the grass beside Naruto.

Naruto smirked, crossing his arms again.

" It's just funny that you're walking around with a pound of starch in your clothing- I'm right, aren't I? It sure looks like it." He chuckled, eyes half closed when Sasuke smacked him lightly on the shoulder, clearly annoyed by Naruto's statement.

Sasuke crossed his arms as well, chuckling to himself.

" It's not my fault. I accidentally knocked over the box when I was cleaning up the mess you made at home. I'm surprised that you actually know what starch is, judging by the gigantic wrinkles that seem to be enlarging on your shirt as we speak."

Naruto stuck out his tongue, running his fingers through his short blond hair.

He and Sasuke had been living together for a few months now, ever since Naruto's apartment building had burned down leaving him homeless. Kakashi had been nice enough to suggest that Sasuke take in the homeless Naruto as a way to "train ones mind against outward annoyances", and Sasuke had been unable to refuse due to the rather grumpy way Naruto had managed to remind him of the many numerous times he had helped to save Sasuke's life. (he had neglected to grumpily retell all the times that Sasuke had saved him to Kakashi's amusement.)

Naruto turned and rolled his eyes in Sasuke's direction, narrowly dodging a Kunai that the Uchiha had thrown at him.

" come on Sasuke, give it a rest. You know I didn't leave that much of a mess lying around the dryer and washing machine. I'm not that messy." He grumbled, leaning forward a little to grab the stray Kunai, tossing it lightly to Sasuke, who pocketed it.

Sasuke shook his head sadly, concerning himself with a piece of lint on his shoulder.

" It's sad really. You make a bloody mess all over the rest of the house, you just always seem to miss the laundry room." He pulled his forehead protector down a little, rearranging his hair a little.

Naruto scoffed, rolling his eyes again.

" That's unimportant. What's really important is the fact that I actually get up earlier in the morning then you do." He smirked to himself drop forward, lying flat on his stomach with his arms held out before him when another Kunai shot out to where he had once been.

Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes.

" I heard that the mission we're getting today is going to be dangerous- I don't want to have to clean up any more of your mistakes again Naruto. It's enough to have to keep Sakura out of danger, but having to deal with you running around like some hot shot Ninja is enough to make me want to ask Kakashi to send me to another team." He growled.

Naruto frowned, plucking a piece of grass from the ground in front of his face. He touched the paper thin piece of vegetation, running his fingers down the rough blade. He could smell the pungent stench of something rotting nearby suddenly, and he looked up, spotting the rotten corpse of a squirrel in a tree a few feet away.

It stuck him as odd, seeing a squirrel sitting stock still, dead, in a tree.

He eyed it with gruesome curiosity, surprised when Kakashi tapped him lightly on the head.

Kakashi smiled lightly, pulling a book out of a pouch on his belt (come come paradise seventeen and a half), not saying a word.

It was usual for Kakashi to not speak to anyone when he came from whatever he had been doing beforehand. He had taken to standing for hours at times in complete silence; either reading or thinking, thought it was sometimes impossible to tell which at any given time.

This was Orochimaru's doing.

Ever since they had come face to face with the missing-nin for the first major fight, something had changed in Kakashi's mindset. He had taken little chances when dealing with the snake mastermind, having made sure to keep all three of his team mates out of Orochimaru's way but of course Orochimaru had found a way to get Kakashi's footing out from under him.

He had used Naruto as a threat, warning Kakashi of his powers. He had threatened to break the seal on Naruto's stomach; he had threatened to bring the nine tailed demon fox back from it's capture.

Strangely, Kakashi hadn't seemed to concerned by the Snake-nin's move. He had taken it in stride and had done as much damage to the man as he could manage, nearly cutting Orochimaru in half in the process. But as far as Naruto knew, this wasn't the end of the monster…

Kakashi lowered the book a little, glancing at Naruto.

" I'm worried about this next mission. I'm not sure that Naruto's going to be up to par with it… it has to do with assassinating an important member of the village of sound. I'm considering only taking you, Sasuke and Sakura with me when we go." He said, flipping the page with one finger, not making eye contact with Naruto.

Naruto felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. He literally was seeing stars in his vision it was so bad.

Kakashi was worried about him not being able to stand up himself?

An ugly red tint flew to Naruto's cheeks as hot rage boiled its way in his guts, making him clench his hand so hard that the blade of grass was crushed into a rumpled green smush.

" What? You don't think I'm up to par? What the hell- I'm not some sort of looser! I'm good; I train just as much as Sasuke, maybe even more-It's insulting- how dare you-" he shouted angrily, jumping up.

Kakashi continued to look at his book, ignoring Naruto's shouts.

" Sasuke, do you agree?" he asked.

Sasuke cast a grim look at Naruto, sizing him up.

He shrugged, brushing a lock of hair out of his face.

" Your probably right. He won't be able to help us against anything in Sound Village. We should leave him here." The Uchiha said.

Naruto clenched his fists, holding one up to his face.

" Stop talking like I'm not here! I can hear, you two idiots-" he began.

" Good morning Sasuke! Kakashi Sensei!"

Sakura walked over the hill and slid to a halt beside Sasuke, tying up her shoes with a look of satisfaction spread across her lips.

She looked up once, raising an eyebrow at the frazzled looking Naruto and then turned to Kakashi.

" What'd you do to him this time?"

Kakashi looked up from his book and smiled slightly to Sakura.

" I told him I'm only taking you and Sasuke with me on this next mission. He's not ready to assassinate a member of hidden Sound village." He turned to Naruto, expecting to find the young adult still fuming angrily and was surprised to find that Naruto had an expression of utter composure on his face.

" You seem to be taking it well Naruto." The teacher said, eyeing Naruto.

Naruto smiled thinly, crossing his arms.

" I'm leaving."

Naruto stalked off past Kakashi, nearly shoving the startled teacher out his way.

" Naruto?" Sasuke stood up, dusting off his pants. He narrowed his eyes dangerously, staring at Kakashi.

" Kakashi-Sensei… maybe you went too far with that… I mean, he sort of tries as hard as he can, even if he is sort of stupid." He said, sighing as Naruto disappeared from sight.

Kakashi nodded.

" I know. But he needs to stay away from Orochimaru at all costs… I won't have that fool releasing the nine tailed fox if I can help it."

Sasuke turned and frowned, raising one hand to block the sun as if pealed down the side of the hills in search of something to scorch.

" I hope your right Kakashi-Sensei. I don't think he'll appreciate this if anything happens and he's been left out…"

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Naruto threw open the front door to his shared house and stomped into the hallway, cursing under his breath.

"Shit! Why did he have to say all of that in front of Sasuke! It's like I'm nothing at all."

He slammed a fist into the nearest wall, nearly cracking the glass on a hanging picture.

He banged his head against the smooth surface, hands shaking from the stress of having to hold his anger in check. He could feel the chakra of the demon fox blazing along with is emotions, an overwhelming power that threatened to consume his entire soul.

Letting out a pent up howl, he pounded the wall, denting it.

Why did everyone treat him like he was some sort of weakling, he thought angrily.

Everyone in the entire village treated him like he was dirt. He was sick and tired of ending up as the one that everyone yelled at and the one everyone hit.

Calming himself, he straightened up from the wall, eyes closed.

He would sneak along behind them and would follow them in the mission, that way if they needed his help he would be there to help.

He shook his head, his conscience getting the better of him.

No.

He couldn't just leave.

If Kakashi thought that he should stay behind he would stay behind. He trusted his teacher, despite the fact that he now felt more useless then ever before.

He sighed, stalking into the kitchen where he kicked a chair out from under the table, sitting down with a dejected scowl etched across his face. He banged his head on the smooth white table.

" Why does everything have to go wrong?" he growled into the table.

" It goes wrong because you don't think the same way as they do…" another voice whispered.

Naruto sat up sharply, eyes wide with shock.

There, sitting on the kitchen counter was Gaara, from the hidden village of sand.

" Eh!? How did you get in here!? You tried to destroy this village before!" Naruto shouted, jumping up, pointing one finger accusingly at the intruder who was casually examining a fingernail.

The gourd that was usually hanging from his shoulders was gone, replaced with a two-sided pyramid of glass that was hanging like an hourglass around his neck on a string.

" It wasn't that hard… you're house isn't that hard to break into… I'm here because I think something is going to happen in the hidden village of sand and I need some help to deal with it…" he murmured, eyes narrowed.

Naruto stared blankly at him, blinking occasionally.

" Eh?"

Gaara scowled, slipping from the counter so that he could move forward to seize Naruto by the collar.

" You stupid fool, I said I needed help to deal with something in the hidden village of sand!" he snarled, shaking Naruto so that the blond flailed helplessly.

Once his head had stopped spinning, Naruto pulled free from Gaara's grasp, wobbling back to the kitchen table.

" Why do you need my help? Can't you just have your brother and sister help you?" he asked, shaking his head to stop his brain from pulsating from the shaking he had received.

Gaara scowled bitterly, crossing his arms.

" They were killed by a strange man who seemed like some sort of snake…. A few weeks ago this man came to our village with another man… this other guy looked a lot like that Uchiha kid that's in your group, he had the same eyes… Anyway," he snagged a string from his shirt and pulled it free, flicking it away. " This guy and the snake man attacked us while we were on a mission to kill a leader of one of the surrounding villages. It wasn't even something that troubled the two… they took on all three of us without even batting an eyelash and in a matter of minutes he killed both my sister and my brother before my very eyes… I couldn't stop him. But that isn't what the real problem is. The real problem is the fact that these two men left the village without a second glance after killing my siblings… "

He turned and stared long and hard at Naruto who was staring at him with a look of complete disbelief.

" Are you getting any of this?" Gaara grumbled, shaking his head.

Naruto nodded, but continued to ponder the situation further.

Gaara sighed.

" I need your help to head back to my village so that I can kill those two. I wouldn't be asking you if I had any other choice, but seeing as I don't want that Uchiha to know I was here, I'm going to have to use you instead." He ran his fingers thought his short, cropped hair and eyed Naruto again with a look of suspicion.

" Are you in, or are you out?" He murmured.

Naruto shrugged, sitting back in his chair with his feet on the tabletop.

" I'll need more information before I just walk in there… I'm not going to head off without a clue." He said, putting his hands behind his head.

Gaara nodded.

" I understand your hesitation but I believe that I don't have anything more to tell you about the situation. All I want is revenge for the death of my siblings…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

" You really think that such a little amount of information is going to sway me into helping you? Sure, I want to get at Orochimaru and Itachi as much as you do, but I'm not going to just head off to some other village with no information. This could be some trap to lure me away so you can attack the Hokage or something." He said.

Again, Gaara smiled, only this time a slightly sadistic smile seemed to feather his lips.

" Again, I understand your hesitation, but your fears are not warranted. No one in the hidden village of sand is going to try to hurt you because if they dared to lay a finger on you, I would kill them. I give you my word that nothing will happen - but what concerns me most is the fact that you seem to have some knowledge of these two. You say they're called Itachi and Orochimaru? Well then, you can help me more." He reached out with one hand and grabbed Naruto's elbow, almost overturning him in his chair.

" Who are these two?" Gaara growled, putting his face so close to Naruto's so that Naruto could see the veins pulsating in his forehead.

Pulling back, Naruto cleared his throat nervously, tugging on the collar of his shirt.

" Eh… well, I only know a little about the two… Orochimaru is a missing-nin, a ninja who was trained by the third Hokage of hidden leaf village… he was the strongest one and hoped to become the Hokage but the present day Hokage, the fourth one, took over and Orochimaru got angry and left the village. He set up the hidden village of sound and is sort of using Itachi, who is actually Sasuke Uchiha's older brother. Itachi killed the entire Uchiha's family…"

Gaara looked shell shocked. He gripped Naruto's shoulder painfully, digging his fingers in.

" You actually know about those two? How did you get to know about it?" He asked.

Naruto shrugged. " The details are a little hazy, but I think I remember being told a little by Sasuke and a little by the Hokage a few years ago… we sort of had a few run-ins with Orochimaru a months ago so I guess I didn't really think about it." He said calmly.

Gaara scowled, shaking his head.

" It's just my luck that you would happen to know more about those two then I do." Gaara crossed his arms once, staring down his nose at Naruto who blinked at him.

The red head sighed and shook his head slowly, closing his eyes until his mind was filled with darkness.

" Alright. I'll tell you what; I'll pay you money if you help me fight Orochimaru and Itachi."

Naruto perked up a little, eyes opening into wide blue saucers.

" Pay me in Ramen and I'll do it, no questions asked." He said, holding out one hand so that they could shake on it.

Gaara stared at him in confusion, unable to understand the rapid fire change in Naruto's attitude.

" What?"

Naruto grinned at him, hand still held outstretched.

" I said I'll do it if you pay me in Ramen. That's all I really want… but if you want to do something more for my help, you can teach me a few tricks to do with sand." He said.

Gaara smiled lightly, taking Naruto's hand, shaking it firmly.

" Alright Uzumaki Naruto. I agree. And tell you what, I'll teach you how to do a few tricks as, you call them, with sand."

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When Naruto reached the deserts of the sand village, he realized that he had never felt fear so dominating in his heart.

There were strange whirlwinds of sand that constantly swept along the roads and plains, blinding him from their sheer volume and grittiness. Gaara didn't seem to be too worried about the sand at all; he plodded along as if walking on water, the sand merely sliding gracefully from his limbs, afraid to cling to his body for too long. The entire place was sweltering hot; Naruto could feel sweat dripping ceaselessly down his body as they progressed deeper into the territory of the hidden village of sand.

Gaara had led them to a long pathway sheltered with a few scraggly dusty cliffs that seemed to loom endlessly out of the frequent whirlwinds like tombstones in a graveyard. The path itself was fairly rocky, hard terrain that was almost impossible to navigate in the light level, as there was very little light that could make it thorough the sand; darkness was beginning to fall as day turned to night.

It was then that the cold of the desert swelled up, first at ankle level then soon seizing control up over shoulder level, nipping and clawing at any exposed skin with its icy grasp. Soon, Naruto was shivering ceaselessly, clinging to the loose parts of his coat, one that he had taken from his home when he had left on the journey.

His backpack, slung over one shoulder, was pulling taunt against the skin of his neck. He could feel the sensation of needles pricking his toes as he walked, only able to hear the sound of sand and rocks being crushed beneath his feet. At last, after a few more hours of walking, Gaara stopped, ducking Naruto a small hollowed out section of the cliffs where they would be sheltered a little from the harsh conditions of the night.

Gaara motioned to a large log stationed beside the cliff wall, a log that appeared to have served as a resting place for many a traveler. He pulled his own jacket close around his body, eyes on the entrance to the small area, ignoring Naruto's presence completely.

Grumbling to himself, Naruto sat down against the far wall; he pulled out a sandwich, unwrapping the small squashed hunk of bread and cheese and wrapped it in half, popping half in his mouth.

He held up the second half in Gaara's direction, chewing slowly.

" Oi, you hungry?"

Gaara didn't respond, still facing the opening to the shelter with a glare that could have frozen the sand before him.

Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes.

" Oi, did you hear me-" he began.

" I heard you…" Gaara murmured softly, eyes trained on the entrance with his arms crossed sternly.

" Then respond when some one talks to you-" Naruto snapped in annoyance.

Gaara waved a hand at Naruto, motioning him to silence; Naruto complied, curious by the red head judgement call.

After a few moments Gaara relaxed, turning away from the opening with a look of satisfaction on his face. He moved, sitting down on the other side of the log with arms still crossed strictly, ignoring Naruto until the blond practically stood up and tried to stuff the second half of the sandwich down his throat.

(Thought one quick glare from Gaara sent Naruto back to his corner.)

With a sigh, Gaara shook his head at Naruto, closing his eyes as he leaned backwards against the walls.

" We're lucky… no one followed us from Leaf Village. It surprises that they would just let me take their little fox demon boy away from their attentive care…" he murmured.

Naruto scowled, pulling out a bottle of water, taking a sip of the crisp cold liquid.

" Yeah well, they're probably happy to see me go. It's not like they try to make my life any bloody easier." He growled, tucking his hands deeper into the folds of his jacket, ducking his head down into the collar of the warm black fabric.

Gaara opened one eye, looking at Naruto with a blank expressionless look on his face.

" You say that now… but in a few years you'll be speaking differently…" he said calmly, not bothering to pull himself any further into his jacket, as if immune to the cold.

Naruto frowned, shuffling in his place. He dropped to the sandy earth, burrowing into the sand in an attempt to get a more comfortable position. He let out a sigh, shaking his head.

What had he been thinking, going off on some strange journey with Gaara? It had been a mistake. It felt like a set up. Kakashi would kick him if he made it back alive.

With this in mind, he hunched forward, making a tent out of his jacket by pulling it over his lap.

Why did the desert have to be so damned cold, he wondered.

Couldn't it have just been enough to be boiling hot during the day? Why did it need the nearly frosty temperature anyway?

He shuffled again and noticed that Gaara had closed his eyes again, leaning lightly against the wall with his limbs splayed out across his chest in an almost casual manner.

Rubbing his hands together, Naruto let out another needless sigh.

He was crazy, he supposed.

He was asking to be killed.

" I suppose you're used to this tempterature then…" Naruto growled suspiciously.

Gaara opened one eye again.

" Of course."

Scowling, Naruto turned his back to the red head, feeling betrayed.

If Gaara had known it was going to be cold, why hadn't he said anything? Naruto wondered if the sand ninja even felt the cold, seeing as Gaara didn't even seem to be bothered with the cold.

" I suppose I overestimated you, Fox demon. I thought you'd taken basic survival courses in school. Silly me…" Gaara muttered to himself.

The hair on Naruto's head bristled with rage. He turned his head slowly, left eye twitching sporadically, fists clenched underneath his jacket.

" Say that again when it's warm and I'll kick your ass." He threatened murderously.

Gaara simply smirked, closing his eyes again.

" If I had known that you didn't know anything about basic training, I wouldn't have asked you for your help. I don't need a stupid baby to molly coddle all the way to my village. Maybe you should go back if you can't take the cold?" He said smoothly, feeding on Naruto's anger.

In an instant, Naruto sprung up, eyes burning with passion.

He pointed one half unthawed finger at Gaara, lips curling back from his teeth in his rage and was about to start shouting when he relaxed, striding past the sand ninja out into the cold for a split second before sliding back into the safety of the sanctuary, stalking back to his vacated space.

Gaara raised an eyebrow.

" Forget something?" he asked.

Naruto flopped down in the soft sand, pulling his jacket around himself with a shiver.

" I'll leave on my own terms. I don't need to listen to your smart ass remarks." Naruto retorted.

Gaara smiled lightly, the first smile he'd made in Naruto's presence that hadn't ended with a murder.

" You just don't want to walk around in the cold."

Naruto fumed bitterly.

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Morning came in a shower of rain and sunlight.

The sand had bogged down into a thick paste of brown slime, which clung to everything that was either alive or dead.

Naruto yawned, rolling over in his sandy bed.

He blinked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

Sitting up, he looked around the area, finding Gaara snoozing lightly against the far wall. The sand in his hourglass necklace was whirling lightly, as if dozing itself.

Naruto ran his fingers through his hair, feeling a light slime covering the strands of gold.

He frowned, pulling his hand back down to eye level, seeing a long string of mud that was similar to runny syrup. He shook his hand, knocking the goo off, glaring hatefully at it.

He eyed Gaara once, noticing that not a single drop of the muddy goo had dared to touch the sleeping ninja of the sand.

" Shit." He growled, trying to touch his hair again.

Gaara opened one eye, sending Naruto an annoyed look that bordered on vicious, before opening the other eye.

" What's your problem now…" he grumbled, sitting up straight on the log.

Naruto clenched one fist, glaring heatedly at the sand ninja.

" OI! You're my problem! I'm leaving!" He snapped, stomping out of the small door way.

He found himself standing face to face with a wall of mud; the entire thing was taller then the cliffs themselves, a dancing, sliming wave of mush. It began to move forward, lowering down to the ground toward him like a wobbling tower of jelly.

Naruto backed up, eyes wide with horror, looking around from side to side for a way to escape when Gaara grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him backwards.

Shocked, Naruto watched as Gaara glared fiercely at the wall of mud, making it fall back down to the floor where it frothed and went silent.

" W…What was that thing?" Naruto shouted, pointing at the ground.

Gaara smiled thinly.

" It's my sand shield… apparently it doesn't want you to wander off all by your lonesome… I suppose that means that you'll have to just stay with me… " He sniffed disdainfully in Naruto's direction, crossing his arms.

" Not that I see a reason to keep you around now that I know you're poorly trained in the basics. I wouldn't entrust you with a dead dog." He said smoothly.

Naruto's left eye began to twitch again; he crossed his arms firmly and turned, starting to walk back the way he had come when the sand reared up again, snagging him by the foot with a wet snapping noise.

At once, Naruto found himself dangled upside down by a tentacle of slime; it shook him viciously, tossing him backwards to Gaara's side where he handed with a wet sploosh, face down in the muck.

Gaara frowned, watching the mud with a look of vague curiosity etched across his face.

Naruto struggled up, wobbling slightly from the impact of landing. He held his head in shock, eyes rolling in his head.

He wobbled away from Gaara's side and was immediately hurled back to the sand ninja's feet.

" Oi! What the hell's going on?" he snarled, standing up for the second time.

He dug his feet into the soggy ground and started to run, flying across the ground for a few measly inches before being thrown bodily back to Gaara.

Naruto sat up, shaking his fists at the sand.

" WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR SAND!? Make it to stop throwing me back!" he shouted, glaring angrily at the sand.

Gaara chuckled darkly.

" Unfortunately, it doesn't always obey my instructions and will… so I'm afraid your stuck with me until it decides it doesn't want you around any more…" he turned his back to Naruto, starting on back down the path that led to hidden sand village.

Naruto glared hatefully at him, clenching his fists harder then before.

" You can't control me! I'm leaving!"

Gaara laughed harder, shaking his head.

" Leave if you want, but I doubt that my sand will let you get very far."

Naruto gritted his teeth, preparing to take another run at the sand when he saw a strange mirage reflection in the surface of the wet mush. He squinted; trying to make out the image imprisoned in its watery surface and instantly made out an image of a fox with nine tails.

A small yellow fox that had to be no more then a few inches high, coming out of the sand itself.

He stared at it, mesmerized by its unseemly beauty, memorizing its swaying nine tails….

He watched it, transfixed as it gestured with its nose toward Gaara, blinking innocently, trying to tell him something…

It walked forward through the sand, stopping inches from his feet and reared up on its back feet, resting its front paws on his shins, looking to him for some sign of recognition.

He bent down, kneeling so that the small creature could crawl into his lap and suddenly it turned to sand, falling into a million separate grains that scattered into the mud puddle.

" What the…" he murmured, scratching his head.

" if your going to come with me, get off your ass and start moving." Gaara growled from further ahead.

Naruto stood up, strangely sure that he had a new job to do. He nodded his head.

He would go with Gaara…

Though he had no reason why…

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What will Naruto do when he reaches the hidden village of sand? Why did the fox appear in the sand?

T.B.C.