Fox Magic : Chapter 8 (Interference) Part I
F o x M a g i c
By
akaitsume
~~~------------------------------------------~~~
Genre: AU-ish/Drama/Romance/Mystery
Pairings: NaruSasuNaru
Rating: R (for now)
Summary: A decision made in the heat of the moment leaves Sasuke questioning his past, his future, and his convictions, all while dealing with an ancient, all-powerful fox demon whose grudge transcends both time and space. NaruSasuNaru, canonish AU
Warnings: Fantasy-esque, Zoomorphism, a liberal dose of Japanese Mythology, violence, mentions of abuse/torture in later chapters, strong language, and---in later chapters---limes and lemons.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto, but I make them do things they'd never do in the manga.
Archived: Fanfiction.net; Livejournal; Crimson Claws
A/N: Don't have a heart attack, keep breathing, and no, you're not dreaming. This is an honest-to-god update. See what happens when I decide that I actually like the stories I'm writing? I had so much fun with this chapter that I actually said, "This is so cool!" while I was writing it. I want feedback on this chapter, because I loved reading your guesses last time!
Seven points to ihearttoast for getting the meanings of the names and one of the two gags for Temae's name, Seven to Emikokitsune for the same reason (the other half of the Temae joke), Five to DreamTimeTails for half of the Temae gags, and Five to Queenphoenix for the other half of the Temae gags. The answer is that Koe means voice, and his skill was screaming; Kuchi means mouth, so his skill was making mouthes; and Temae in kanji is "hand + before," hence the extra hands, but it can also be pronounced "Teme," the vulgar "you." In all of that, I'm making fun of Kishimoto's ability to give his characters some of the dumbest names I've ever seen: spiral fishcake, springtime cherry blossom (Sakura), Deerboy (from) Nara (Shikamaru, and Nara is famous for deer), etc etc. Love you all!
This chapter is dedicated to the vunderbar Shinigami-lashae, with thanks for her lovely fanart. :-) She did the first fanart ever for Fox Magic. Wuvs!!
http://shinigami-lashae.deviantart.com/art/F-O-X-M-A-G-I-C-naruto-41425066
Enjoy.
Sasuke paused in the open doorway to his darkening bedroom, one hand reaching towards the light switch on the wall. With a gentle flick, the yellow light spilled over the room and banished the early evening darkness. As he’d suspected, Kyuubi lay curled up on his bed, face buried in his multitudinous tails. Sighing in a put-upon manner, Sasuke strode to the side of the bed, folded his arms over his chest, and glared down at the fox.
“Kyuubi, you mind telling me what the hell that was about?”
The fox didn’t move a muscle. He was so still that Sasuke found himself staring at the fox’s side, just to make sure that it was expanding and contracting with the demon’s breath. Frowning, Sasuke unfolded his arms and gingerly sat on the bed.
“Kyuubi?” When he still received no reply, Sasuke reached out and placed a hand upon Kyuubi’s back. The fox flinched, but still said nothing. Huffing, Sasuke folded his arms over his chest again and thought. Memories of their time spent in his head began to filter back to him, up until the moment when Naruto had tried to heal that giant scar cloud in his mind.
…Oh.
“That cloud,” Sasuke began slowly. “That had to do with my family dying, didn’t it?”
Kyuubi curled into a tighter ball. Sasuke frowned down at him. “Then why are you so upset? You were still trapped in your box, right?” Kyuubi nodded beneath his tails, causing them to bob and slide apart. “Then you shouldn’t be apologizing to me. Itachi’s the one who ruined my life, not you.”
Silence settled upon the room as Kyuubi rearranged his tails, covering his head more thoroughly.
“…Feels like it’s my fault,” the fox finally muttered. Surprised, Sasuke blinked and raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, well, it isn’t. So stop acting like a sopping wet baby.”
“ ‘M not acting like a baby,” Kyuubi grumbled.
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke once again placed his hand on Kyuubi’s back, rubbing his flank gently with his thumb. Kyuubi twitched.
“You are acting like a baby, Mr. Couple-of-Centuries-Old. Now stop hiding in your tails. You look ridiculous.”
When the fox stubbornly refused to withdraw his head, Sasuke glowered down at him. “Don’t make me do something drastic, Kyuubi.”
In response, Kyuubi defiantly curled up into a tighter ball, until all that could be seen of him was his tails. Sasuke shook his head.
“Alright. You asked for it.”
Leaning over, Sasuke buried his hands in the thick bundle of tails, ignoring the little yelp from Kyuubi. Managing to slide his hands underneath the fox’s front legs, he hauled Kyuubi up into the air. The fox’s tails dropped down by default, leaving a bewildered vulpine face in their wake. Still holding the limp fox aloft, Sasuke awkwardly climbed the rest of the way onto the bed, leaned against the headboard, and pulled the fox into his chest, arms folded under Kyuubi’s front legs. Kyuubi’s tails dangled between Sasuke’s raised knees.
Kyuubi’s confusion practically radiated throughout the room. Sasuke smirked.
“You’re the one who wanted to be my pet so badly,” he stated imperiously. “I’m sure you can deal with the indignity of being ‘cuddled.’”
“Wha- You- Put me down!!” Kyuubi squirmed in his grasp, but Sasuke’s position under his forelegs kept him from getting very far. “This is so… Argh! You’re an Uchiha! You’re not supposed to want to cuddle with me!”
“Who said I wanted to?” Sasuke challenged. “I can’t punish you through normal means, because I almost killed you the last time. Humiliating you seems to be fair enough.”
“Nyaaaaaargh! Dammit!” Tails batted ineffectually at Sasuke’s legs as the fox demon tried to wriggle away, but Sasuke wasn’t a ninja for nothing. With a large huff, Kyuubi eventually gave up, hanging limply from Sasuke’s grip. “You really are a bastard, you know that?”
Sasuke snorted, shifting to find a more comfortable position with the fox on his chest. Kyuubi’s back was astonishingly warm, almost like Sasuke was cuddling a hot water bottle wrapped in fur. Kyuubi muttered something under his breath, but he didn’t try to get away again. Sighing, Sasuke leaned his head back against the headboard and closed his eyes.
“Kyuubi?”
“Ngh.”
The Uchiha heir smirked at the disgruntled noise that he got for a reply. “Why were you locked away for so long? With power like yours under our control, I’d think that the Uchiha family would be fighting each other just for the chance to be with you. Why the hell would you end up sealed away long enough for everyone to forget about you?”
Kyuubi didn’t reply, shifting uncomfortably. Sasuke squeezed him in warning.
“Well?” Sasuke questioned, eyebrows furrowing. “One hundred and fifty years, as you’ve said, is a long time. Knowing my family, that’s absurd.”
After a long moment of tense silence, Kyuubi finally replied. “It is absurd. But imagine, if you will, an entire family of powerful, power-hungry morons. Then toss me into the mix. Whatever Uchiha became my master would undoubtedly become the strongest in the family, right?”
“Right…”
“So imagine someone was chosen to become my master, and it wasn’t you. You thought you were better fit to run the family. What would you do?”
Comprehension dawned. “Fight for you. The whole family could dissolve into civil war, just over you.”
Kyuubi simply gave a short nod, refraining from commenting further. Sasuke frowned. “Is that what happened? The family broke out into war?”
“Not exactly. The truth of it is, to avoid these…conflicts, the heads of the Uchiha family decided to make the position of ‘genie’s master’ a bit less …desirable.”
“How?” Sasuke replied incredulously. “I mean, yeah, you’re a pain in the ass, but any Uchiha worth his mettle could deal with that. And your master would be able to just wish himself out of whatever trouble the heads of the family chose. How could they make it ‘less desirable’?”
Kyuubi paused, then craned his head back to look at Sasuke. His eyes burned red.
“By promising them complete and utter isolation from everything and everyone they held dear.”
Thunder rumbled through the dark valley, lightning screaming across the sky. Rain pounded down in blankets rather than sheets, soaking Itachi to the bone. The normally expressionless man scowled, fighting his cloak as it tried to run off with the wind racing by. Itachi was no fool-if he’d had any warning that this storm was going to appear, he would have gone for shelter. Instead, this storm has cropped up out of a perfectly clear evening sky, almost as though it had appeared purely for Itachi’s sake. The next clap of thunder caused even the stones beneath his feet to vibrate.
Gasping for air in the biting wind, Itachi raced for the sloping rock face beside the valley trail. Several dark patches marred the cliff’s face, possibly indicating caves that he could hide in. As soon as he touched the rock wall, the wind changed direction. Pain lanced through him as he was thrown against the jagged surface, the wind howling in his ears.
“What the fuck is this??” he ground out, forcing himself away from the rocks enough to begin to climb. His arms trembled with the strain, alternately clinging to and pushing away from the rocks as the wind tried to batter him against them, then tried to rip him away. If he didn’t know better, he’d say that the storm was honestly trying to kill him.
Finally, Itachi managed to drag himself into a small hollow in the cliff face. The cave was barely big enough for him, but the wind was muted and the rain couldn’t get in, so he called it a win. Gasping for air, he tucked his legs up against his chest to conserve warmth.
Lightning struck the cliff, momentarily blinding him.
Arms up to shield his face, Itachi found himself praying that the shuddering cliff side wouldn’t cause his little hideout to cave in. As much as he wanted to die, this really wasn’t the way he wanted to go. When the rocks stopped trembling, he lowered his arms.
The cave had grown larger, stretching out from him on all sides. Mother could have thrown a dinner party, it had grown so big. Itachi found shivers racing down his spine. He hadn’t been this afraid since-
“Good evening, Uchiha Itachi.”
The man in question froze, his heart skipping a beat. He turned slowly to the cave opening.
A tall man stood there, illuminated by the crazed lightning show behind him. His long black hair was tousled by the wind, but his immaculate, grey kimono jacket and pants appeared impervious to the elements. With a slow smirk, the man lifted a hand to his long, thin black beard, stroking it gently.
“I have a favor to ask of you,” he stated, his deep, cultured voice filling the cavern. That voice reverberated off the walls and into Itachi’s ears, pounding in his head like a god-given decree.
Breathing heavily, Itachi stumbled backwards. His heart was pounding in his chest, pounding so hard that he feared it would soon burst. The edges of his vision turned black.
The man took a step forward, bringing the storm’s wind with him. It raced throughout the cavern, howling in Itachi’s ears. When the wind departed, it left the cavern with the faint scent of the sea. Itachi fell back against the cave wall, staring up at the strange man with inexplicable fear. The man continued forward, pausing before the elder Uchiha brother.
The man smiled.
Itachi passed out.
Continue to Part II
Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1: In The Beginning
Chapter 2: Useless
Chapter 3: Adjustments
Chapter 4: What's In A Name
Chapter 5: Pain
Chapter 6: Idiocy
Chapter 7: The Spotless Mind
By
akaitsume
~~~------------------------------------------~~~
Genre: AU-ish/Drama/Romance/Mystery
Pairings: NaruSasuNaru
Rating: R (for now)
Summary: A decision made in the heat of the moment leaves Sasuke questioning his past, his future, and his convictions, all while dealing with an ancient, all-powerful fox demon whose grudge transcends both time and space. NaruSasuNaru, canonish AU
Warnings: Fantasy-esque, Zoomorphism, a liberal dose of Japanese Mythology, violence, mentions of abuse/torture in later chapters, strong language, and---in later chapters---limes and lemons.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto, but I make them do things they'd never do in the manga.
Archived: Fanfiction.net; Livejournal; Crimson Claws
A/N: Don't have a heart attack, keep breathing, and no, you're not dreaming. This is an honest-to-god update. See what happens when I decide that I actually like the stories I'm writing? I had so much fun with this chapter that I actually said, "This is so cool!" while I was writing it. I want feedback on this chapter, because I loved reading your guesses last time!
Seven points to ihearttoast for getting the meanings of the names and one of the two gags for Temae's name, Seven to Emikokitsune for the same reason (the other half of the Temae joke), Five to DreamTimeTails for half of the Temae gags, and Five to Queenphoenix for the other half of the Temae gags. The answer is that Koe means voice, and his skill was screaming; Kuchi means mouth, so his skill was making mouthes; and Temae in kanji is "hand + before," hence the extra hands, but it can also be pronounced "Teme," the vulgar "you." In all of that, I'm making fun of Kishimoto's ability to give his characters some of the dumbest names I've ever seen: spiral fishcake, springtime cherry blossom (Sakura), Deerboy (from) Nara (Shikamaru, and Nara is famous for deer), etc etc. Love you all!
This chapter is dedicated to the vunderbar Shinigami-lashae, with thanks for her lovely fanart. :-) She did the first fanart ever for Fox Magic. Wuvs!!
http://shinigami-lashae.deviantart.com/art/F-O-X-M-A-G-I-C-naruto-41425066
Enjoy.
Sasuke paused in the open doorway to his darkening bedroom, one hand reaching towards the light switch on the wall. With a gentle flick, the yellow light spilled over the room and banished the early evening darkness. As he’d suspected, Kyuubi lay curled up on his bed, face buried in his multitudinous tails. Sighing in a put-upon manner, Sasuke strode to the side of the bed, folded his arms over his chest, and glared down at the fox.
“Kyuubi, you mind telling me what the hell that was about?”
The fox didn’t move a muscle. He was so still that Sasuke found himself staring at the fox’s side, just to make sure that it was expanding and contracting with the demon’s breath. Frowning, Sasuke unfolded his arms and gingerly sat on the bed.
“Kyuubi?” When he still received no reply, Sasuke reached out and placed a hand upon Kyuubi’s back. The fox flinched, but still said nothing. Huffing, Sasuke folded his arms over his chest again and thought. Memories of their time spent in his head began to filter back to him, up until the moment when Naruto had tried to heal that giant scar cloud in his mind.
…Oh.
“That cloud,” Sasuke began slowly. “That had to do with my family dying, didn’t it?”
Kyuubi curled into a tighter ball. Sasuke frowned down at him. “Then why are you so upset? You were still trapped in your box, right?” Kyuubi nodded beneath his tails, causing them to bob and slide apart. “Then you shouldn’t be apologizing to me. Itachi’s the one who ruined my life, not you.”
Silence settled upon the room as Kyuubi rearranged his tails, covering his head more thoroughly.
“…Feels like it’s my fault,” the fox finally muttered. Surprised, Sasuke blinked and raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, well, it isn’t. So stop acting like a sopping wet baby.”
“ ‘M not acting like a baby,” Kyuubi grumbled.
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke once again placed his hand on Kyuubi’s back, rubbing his flank gently with his thumb. Kyuubi twitched.
“You are acting like a baby, Mr. Couple-of-Centuries-Old. Now stop hiding in your tails. You look ridiculous.”
When the fox stubbornly refused to withdraw his head, Sasuke glowered down at him. “Don’t make me do something drastic, Kyuubi.”
In response, Kyuubi defiantly curled up into a tighter ball, until all that could be seen of him was his tails. Sasuke shook his head.
“Alright. You asked for it.”
Leaning over, Sasuke buried his hands in the thick bundle of tails, ignoring the little yelp from Kyuubi. Managing to slide his hands underneath the fox’s front legs, he hauled Kyuubi up into the air. The fox’s tails dropped down by default, leaving a bewildered vulpine face in their wake. Still holding the limp fox aloft, Sasuke awkwardly climbed the rest of the way onto the bed, leaned against the headboard, and pulled the fox into his chest, arms folded under Kyuubi’s front legs. Kyuubi’s tails dangled between Sasuke’s raised knees.
Kyuubi’s confusion practically radiated throughout the room. Sasuke smirked.
“You’re the one who wanted to be my pet so badly,” he stated imperiously. “I’m sure you can deal with the indignity of being ‘cuddled.’”
“Wha- You- Put me down!!” Kyuubi squirmed in his grasp, but Sasuke’s position under his forelegs kept him from getting very far. “This is so… Argh! You’re an Uchiha! You’re not supposed to want to cuddle with me!”
“Who said I wanted to?” Sasuke challenged. “I can’t punish you through normal means, because I almost killed you the last time. Humiliating you seems to be fair enough.”
“Nyaaaaaargh! Dammit!” Tails batted ineffectually at Sasuke’s legs as the fox demon tried to wriggle away, but Sasuke wasn’t a ninja for nothing. With a large huff, Kyuubi eventually gave up, hanging limply from Sasuke’s grip. “You really are a bastard, you know that?”
Sasuke snorted, shifting to find a more comfortable position with the fox on his chest. Kyuubi’s back was astonishingly warm, almost like Sasuke was cuddling a hot water bottle wrapped in fur. Kyuubi muttered something under his breath, but he didn’t try to get away again. Sighing, Sasuke leaned his head back against the headboard and closed his eyes.
“Kyuubi?”
“Ngh.”
The Uchiha heir smirked at the disgruntled noise that he got for a reply. “Why were you locked away for so long? With power like yours under our control, I’d think that the Uchiha family would be fighting each other just for the chance to be with you. Why the hell would you end up sealed away long enough for everyone to forget about you?”
Kyuubi didn’t reply, shifting uncomfortably. Sasuke squeezed him in warning.
“Well?” Sasuke questioned, eyebrows furrowing. “One hundred and fifty years, as you’ve said, is a long time. Knowing my family, that’s absurd.”
After a long moment of tense silence, Kyuubi finally replied. “It is absurd. But imagine, if you will, an entire family of powerful, power-hungry morons. Then toss me into the mix. Whatever Uchiha became my master would undoubtedly become the strongest in the family, right?”
“Right…”
“So imagine someone was chosen to become my master, and it wasn’t you. You thought you were better fit to run the family. What would you do?”
Comprehension dawned. “Fight for you. The whole family could dissolve into civil war, just over you.”
Kyuubi simply gave a short nod, refraining from commenting further. Sasuke frowned. “Is that what happened? The family broke out into war?”
“Not exactly. The truth of it is, to avoid these…conflicts, the heads of the Uchiha family decided to make the position of ‘genie’s master’ a bit less …desirable.”
“How?” Sasuke replied incredulously. “I mean, yeah, you’re a pain in the ass, but any Uchiha worth his mettle could deal with that. And your master would be able to just wish himself out of whatever trouble the heads of the family chose. How could they make it ‘less desirable’?”
Kyuubi paused, then craned his head back to look at Sasuke. His eyes burned red.
“By promising them complete and utter isolation from everything and everyone they held dear.”
Thunder rumbled through the dark valley, lightning screaming across the sky. Rain pounded down in blankets rather than sheets, soaking Itachi to the bone. The normally expressionless man scowled, fighting his cloak as it tried to run off with the wind racing by. Itachi was no fool-if he’d had any warning that this storm was going to appear, he would have gone for shelter. Instead, this storm has cropped up out of a perfectly clear evening sky, almost as though it had appeared purely for Itachi’s sake. The next clap of thunder caused even the stones beneath his feet to vibrate.
Gasping for air in the biting wind, Itachi raced for the sloping rock face beside the valley trail. Several dark patches marred the cliff’s face, possibly indicating caves that he could hide in. As soon as he touched the rock wall, the wind changed direction. Pain lanced through him as he was thrown against the jagged surface, the wind howling in his ears.
“What the fuck is this??” he ground out, forcing himself away from the rocks enough to begin to climb. His arms trembled with the strain, alternately clinging to and pushing away from the rocks as the wind tried to batter him against them, then tried to rip him away. If he didn’t know better, he’d say that the storm was honestly trying to kill him.
Finally, Itachi managed to drag himself into a small hollow in the cliff face. The cave was barely big enough for him, but the wind was muted and the rain couldn’t get in, so he called it a win. Gasping for air, he tucked his legs up against his chest to conserve warmth.
Lightning struck the cliff, momentarily blinding him.
Arms up to shield his face, Itachi found himself praying that the shuddering cliff side wouldn’t cause his little hideout to cave in. As much as he wanted to die, this really wasn’t the way he wanted to go. When the rocks stopped trembling, he lowered his arms.
The cave had grown larger, stretching out from him on all sides. Mother could have thrown a dinner party, it had grown so big. Itachi found shivers racing down his spine. He hadn’t been this afraid since-
“Good evening, Uchiha Itachi.”
The man in question froze, his heart skipping a beat. He turned slowly to the cave opening.
A tall man stood there, illuminated by the crazed lightning show behind him. His long black hair was tousled by the wind, but his immaculate, grey kimono jacket and pants appeared impervious to the elements. With a slow smirk, the man lifted a hand to his long, thin black beard, stroking it gently.
“I have a favor to ask of you,” he stated, his deep, cultured voice filling the cavern. That voice reverberated off the walls and into Itachi’s ears, pounding in his head like a god-given decree.
Breathing heavily, Itachi stumbled backwards. His heart was pounding in his chest, pounding so hard that he feared it would soon burst. The edges of his vision turned black.
The man took a step forward, bringing the storm’s wind with him. It raced throughout the cavern, howling in Itachi’s ears. When the wind departed, it left the cavern with the faint scent of the sea. Itachi fell back against the cave wall, staring up at the strange man with inexplicable fear. The man continued forward, pausing before the elder Uchiha brother.
The man smiled.
Itachi passed out.
Continue to Part II
Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1: In The Beginning
Chapter 2: Useless
Chapter 3: Adjustments
Chapter 4: What's In A Name
Chapter 5: Pain
Chapter 6: Idiocy
Chapter 7: The Spotless Mind