My Neighbor Kyuubi
A bus traveled down the marked dirt road through the beautiful countryside. The people inside the old but crowded bus were amazed at how calm and serene the countryside was in this country. It was surprising that this was the place Naruto moved to after the Elders got their hand in and got rid of the boy. But, when the village was under attack, the Fire Daimyo executed everyone who was in cahoots with the attempted usurping of his capital. Sakura wasn't the same since learning her mother was part of the small group who attempted to take control of the Fire Capital. And since her father died a year later when Konoha was once again attacked (this time by the Akatsuki or what remained of them), Tsunade wasted little effort on wanting to find the boy she sought as a son in her own heart.
The people in the bus were Kakashi and Yamato, along with Anko, Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma. They weren't alone. They had Kiba and Akamaru (who had a bit of trouble being allowed on the bus due to his big size), Hinata, Shino, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru (who was unable to smoke due to the guy driving the bus saying so... which irritated him a bit), and Chouji.
"What do you think Naruto lives?"
"An apartment or something?"
Shikamaru yawned, getting an elbow by Ino for being his usual lazy self.
Twenty minutes passed of nonchalant conversation, before the driver stopped the vehicle. The woman smiled politely.
"Here's the stop," she announces.
The group steps out, allowing other passengers to climb aboard, paying the fee. After Kakashi handed the correct amount and a nice tip for the woman, the driver drives off. The walk was a bit long, however a few people working the rice patty fields in this warm summery afternoon gave them polite greetings. The ninja all wore civilian outfits as to not look suspicious; they weren't even sure if ninjas existed in this part of the world.
"Wow, what a big dog," they heard, as a young girl wanders over, in awe at how big Akamaru was.
"Mei, wait a minute, come back here!" called another girl, who they assumed was the older sister.
"Wow... your dog is huge," said Mei.
Kiba chuckled, petting the girl on the head. "His name is Akamaru. He's been with me since he was a small puppy."
Akamaru barked, and gave Mei a lick to the face, eliciting some giggles from the seven year old.
"I apologize about that," said the older sibling.
"It's no problem. A lot of kids are attracted to Akamaru like this," Kiba told the girl.
"Oh, gomen, my name is Satsuki. This is my imouto, Mei."
Satsuki (13) and Mei (7) bow politely.
"I hate to be a bother but would you know of a young man? His name is Uzumaki Naruto," Kakashi spoke up.
"Naruto-kun? Oh, of course. Naruto built a house next to ours three years ago when he appeared in the village. Can you wait a moment; I must let Nanny know of visitors." She sprinted up the grassy hill, as Mei continues petting Akamaru, who was soaking up the attention.
Satsuki returned shortly with an elderly woman with graying hair and tanned skin.
"Ah. Welcome visitors," Kanta's grandmother greets the group of teenagers and three adults, "what brings you to this area of Japan?"
"We are looking for a lost friend of ours," Kakashi explained politely, as he adjusted his fisherman's cap that he was wearing (with his scarecrow silver hair mutinously trying to escape, "we learned that he had moved into this village three years ago. Uzumaki Naruto, I presume?"
"Oh, that young man? Why yes. He was such a polite gentleman when he showed up on the bus with nothing more than a suitcase of clothes and what he wore on his back. He moved into a small motel that we once had until a wind storm a week since his arrival made it collapse. Satsuki's family housed him despite his disagreement, until he was able to support himself. Come, I'll take you to his residence."
Near the Kusakabe residence, there was a smaller home that was built a bit oddly (like a roundish circle with a jar-shaped second story with a roof-styled patio that led to his bedroom), however it was in livable condition enough. There were several areas with blooming flowers, as well as crop such as tomatoes, potatoes, cucumber, and there was a small watermelon patch. A young man at age sixteen wore an orange tank, and a straw-made hat to help block the sun from his face. He had a large towel draped around his neck, and he was also wearing mud-brown sandals, and a black pair of summer shorts. He was bent down, tending to the flower garden weeding out any weeds that sprung up, and trimming out any dead flowers if needed.
"Naruto-kun!"
The whisker-faced teen looked over seeing the teenager Kusakabe Satsuki run up to him from the man-made steps he and a small group of villagers made leading to his small residence.
"Satsuki!" he waves in greeting, before his hand dropped as he spotted whom was following Mei and Nanny. His smile disappeared, but he brings it back as he gets up, and Satsuki tackles him with a friendly hug.
"I thought you were busy at Nanny, helping her with the corn stock?" Naruto asks the thirteen year old.
"We were until Mei saw that large dog with the group," she explained, releasing the older teen, "Naruto, do you know these people? They say you are a lost friend of theirs."
"Oh... well..." he didn't know what to say at first. It's been three years since he left Konoha, and took a boat that sailed out to the ocean itself away from the Elemental Countries. Three years since he left his own home land that appeared to have been hidden behind some sort of fog-like veil, and arrived in Japan. Three years since he traveled Japan, and decided to make a living in this rural area of the country, where he met Satsuki and her family.
"Good afternoon, Naruto. My, oh my, your garden seems so lovely every time I see it."
"Thanks, Nanny," he replied with a sincere smile.
"Naruto, this large group came into the village, looking for you, claiming you as their lost friend."
Naruto smiled albeit with a bittersweet grin. "Yeah... hey, Satsuki, you wouldn't mind brewing up a large batch of jasmine tea, would you?"
"I don't mind," she replied, and headed towards Naruto's home.
"Nanny, would you like some tea?"
"I would be delighted, Naruto."
Naruto continued to smile as Nanny walked past him towards Naruto's home, Mei following the old woman. His smile faltered as he gazed towards his former friends from his former village. He turned his head back facing his house and calmly walked to it.
"It seems to be such a long travel coming from the Ryukyu Islands," Nanny says to Naruto's old friends from Konoha, fifteen minutes later aft the tea was made and cups were served out to the guests.
Naruto sipped his tea, and looked at Satsuki with a happy expression. She stifled her giggle. Naruto did liked it when she brewed jasmine tea.
"I just never thought they would... try and follow me after three years since leaving my old village," Naruto sighed.
He heard a bit of a cat-like whine, and he saw his pet fox, which was about the size of the average adult house cat, wander up to him. The group from Konoha stilled a bit but Naruto and Satsuki called the fox over, and she lazily lolled her tongue, liking the scratches and the petting.
"I was wondering where you disappeared off to, Jiji," Naruto murmured, "You were off seeing Totoro again or something?" The dark-furred fox looked up at Naruto, and then gave a vulpine bark, its odd violet eyes having that rather mischievous twinkle.
"Mei! Satsuki! It's time to come home now," they heard their mother's voice calling from the house.
"Oh, there's your mother, girls," Naruto chuckled, "thanks for brewing the tea again, Satsuki."
"No problem, Naruto." She hugged him before getting up, and heading out the front open living room area, with Mei following her older sister.
"I suppose it's time for me to head home as well," Nanny speaks up, getting up, "give you time to be with your old friends, Naruto."
"Sure. I'll come by tomorrow to help with the fields, again."
"I'm sure, young lad. Have a good night now."
She shuffled away, exiting out the front and down the sidewalk to the dirt road. Now alone, Naruto dropped his smile, as he looked at the Konoha ninja.
"I very much doubt this is a social call," he said, drinking the last of his jasmine tea.
"Hey Naruto," spoke a nasally voice. The ninja's eyes all turned to the dark-furred fox, "what's for dinner tonight?"
"Oh... hm... well I managed to get that delivery from the big city today, as well as some imported foods and cooking oils. I'm thinking about making some chicken fried rice with the poultry I got."
"Ah, I see... mind making some grilled teriyaki-seasoned fish, too?"
"For you, Jiji," he said, ruffling the head a bit. He shakes his head briefly, before padding off to curl up on a hammock that Naruto made, and had tied to two large but sturdy trees outside.
He looked up, and saw that the group were staring at him.
"You got a talking fox," Kiba pointed out.
"So? Trust me, Satsuki, Mei, and Kanta were surprised hearing Jiji the first time, too," Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders. He got up, stretched a bit, before heading towards his kitchen, slipping on his house slippers, "coulda been different though; I could have had a talking black cat and flown on a broomstick, doing deliveries instead of living here in the countryside of Japan."
"Naruto... things are very different back in Konoha, now... three years changed," Kakashi said.
"Yeah well here, outside the Elemental Countries, it's 1961. When I left those lands, the year was 1958. Nobody here in this part of the world has never even heard of Konoha, and I am glad you all kept your mouths shut. When I showed up, I built up a life that the village I left was going down on hard times and that I couldn't take being alone. They all sympathize with me since I don't have any distant family that had survived. My only relative I had died a year before I came here to this part of rural Japan at the age of 97."
He was lighting fires on the brick stove, and starting up the other fire brick oven outside, before preparing some vegetables, prepping the fish, and placing various pans on the stove. First he chopped up some large leaf-like vegetables, cutting off the ends before chopping them up, and pouring the batch into an empty pot. Next he started to wash the rice under cold water from the sink after pumping the handle a few times, before letting it drain on the wore bowl he purchased from Tokyo (with the help from Satsuki's father). Preparing the fish, cutting a long slice along the belly, and then splitting it just to dust it with some salt, pepper, and then a couple drops from the glass bottle of teriyaki sauce. Afterwards he skewered them, and carried them outside and put them in the small brick oven before adding more firewood in the bottom where the roaring fire was.
He walked back in, seeing Sakura, Ino, and Hinata working away on the other foods he was preparing. "And what are you doing?"
"We're helping you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. He raised an eyebrow, since he didn't hear her stutter at all in her sentence.
The sun was setting in the distance, and Naruto swore a bit. "Crap, forgot I volunteered to pick up Kusakabe-san from the bus stop. Jiji, keep an eye on them will you whole I run out!"
"Sure, whatever Naruto!" Jiji called back, as Naruto ran towards the large shed. The older adults followed as the three girls kept the boys back in the kitchen. The adults wondered what kind of contraption Naruto pulled out of the shed. It had a metal wagon with wood interior on the back on two black wheels, but the front looked like the front of a motorcycle with a wide cushioned seat. Starting up the engine, he hopped on before planting his foot down on the pedal, prompting the vehicle to propel forward at decent speed going down the ramp-like hill. Off he goes down the dirt path, driving toward the local bus stop that was a bit aways from the village.
"I wouldn't go through the shed," prompted Jiji, spooking the adults, "Not only does Naruto keep some of his things he collects there, but Tatsuo-san also keeps some of his things stored in the large shed."
"How are you talking, though, fox? Are you the Kyuubi?"
"Kyuubi?" Jiji made a Pfft noise, "do I look like I got nine flickering tails here and ghostly fire surrounding me? No... I do not. Besides, the Kyuubi is nothing more than folklore. You know, a legend, a myth."
"But it's not... the Kyuubi is a demon?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Jiji, "Huli jing (Chinese: 狐狸精; Pinyin: húli jīng; huli means fox, and jing means spirit) in Chinese mythology are fox spirits that are akin to European faeries. Huli jing can be either good spirits or bad spirits. Then there's also the meaning for the Korean fox spirit, and then the Japanese folklore kitsune. I may be a fox or a kitsune, but I am anything but a demon. I'm nothing more than a magical talking Japanese red fox born with black fur instead of the usual red coat. I've been with Naruto ever since. Now, if you wouldn't mind, leaving Naruto's stuff alone?"
He wanders back to the house, leaving the adults standing there. A few minutes later, a light shined as Naruto's vehicle drive back toward the house and stops in front of the shed. The girls had cooked Naruto's dinner he planned, as Tatsuo thanked Naruto before heading to his house to say hello to his daughters and wife. Putting the wagon car back in the shed and closing the door, he walks into his house, where his guests had apparently served themselves their own share off the food.
"I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen," Jiji said when Naruto looked at the fox enjoying his fish.
"I better have some leftover just for me," Naruto said with a bit of edge in his voice.
"I left some for you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a light blush. The girl had indeed prepared him some of his dinner he planned on, and accepted it.
"It better not be poisoned or anything... the villagers will find it odd that I died unexpectedly, and you lot disappeared..."
"We didn't poison your food otherwise we wouldn't have eaten it," Sakura said, wanting to bonk the teen over the head.
"Or just poisoned my plate."
Hinata gained a sad look. "But I prepared it just for you, Naruto-kun," she whispered, almost on the verge of tears.
"One can't be too careful when you lived in an abusive village that kept the front of being the most peaceful village in the Elemental Countries, only to abuse and try to multiply kill a small child since his damned birth."
Now Hinata indeed break down into tears and left the dining table in a hurry, prompting a glaring Kurenai to chase after the Chūnin.
"Naruto! What the hell was that for?" Sakura now yelled at Naruto.
"Oh like you don't know. You're just like the rest of Konoha. I bet as soon as I was banished by the damned council for injuring your stupid Uchiha, they told everybody. You're all just only here to try and drag your supposed weapon back to that abusive cesspool of a village."
"Naruto that is enough!" Kakashi barked angrily, "Yes, the Sandaime's law was revoked, but the village is recovering from the Akatsuki attacking us, and the civil war that broke out when your secret was let out."
"Between us kids and our families," Kiba yelled at the blonde whiskered teenager.
"And Sasuke killed three ANBU and almost killed my tousan when he escaped a week after you were unjustly banished from the village."
"Hn... I waste my time and nearly lost my life to save a prick who in the end still abandoned you all. Whatever, he's your problem, anyway."
"But Naruto... you can come back home now," Kakashi said, sighing now, "Danzou and his accomplices were executed publicly when ROOT attempted to usurp the Fire Capital, and your banishment was revoked by the Daimyo."
Naruto arced an eyebrow, still not touching his plate.
"In other words, the entire Shinobi and Civilian Council were killed because Konoha wanted to be the strongest, and failed to do so. Sheesh, you all fucked yourselves good."
SLAP!
Sakura backhanded Naruto across the face.
"Naruto," Kakashi sighed again, "Danzou, the Elder Advisors, and the entire Civilian Council were executed for crimes against humanity and attempted assassination of the Fire Daimyo and his entire family and capital. The Ninja Council did nothing except risk their own lives saving the Fire Daimyo and his family against the ROOT ANBU."
He didn't say it but Naruto understood. Sakura's family were on the Civilian Council, and now they were dead because they were greedy for power, leaving Sakura an orphan despite being an adult in her own right. Naruto felt no sympathy for her, and even wondered why he fell in love with her in the first place despite the abuse she laid upon him when they were in the Academy and working as Genin.
"Whatever. Bottom-line is that you're all not going away until your precious Jinchuuriki weapon returns, now that your village is either in a war with the other countries, or with itself due to fucking themselves over. Well hate to break it to you, but in the following autumn, I'm leaving this village to go to the big city and attend this prestigious school they have there. So sorry, but you'll have to go back home with a Mission Failure."
He got up, and took his untouched plate, and dumped the food on Chouji's plate.
"I'm much happier here than back in that cesspool village you call Konohagakure no Sato."
The phone decided to break the tense atmosphere with its ring. Naruto got up, and headed towards the red telephone, and picked up the receiver.
"Hello? Oh, Mei-ling, hi there honey." A small smile now crossed his face as he chuckles, "really? So your parents are actually going to allow you to come here for the rest of the summer? Oh... yeah sure. I'll attach the larger back wagon to my wagon car and drive down there. It's only what, a six hour drive from there and back here?"
He laughed now, as Jiji shook his head. One can only wonder what Naruto's girlfriend from upstate said.
"Yeah, I can leave at around six thirty in the morning, if only to get Tatsuo-san to catch the morning bus fare to the University. Sure, just get everything packed up, and I'll drive towards the town. Okay... love you too Mei-ling-chan. Bye."
He hangs the receiver up.
"So, your girlfriend from upstate going to spend more time with her lovable fox boy, huh?" asked Jiji, with a grin on his face.
"Shut up you," Naruto said, trying to keep from blushing.
"You still look like a fox in human form, because of your strange birthmarks on your cheeks," Jiji pointed out.
"Yeah, but I'm not a woman," Naruto points out.
"True," Jiji concedes.
"But Naruto... what about the Kyuubi sealed inside you?"
"What seal? Ever since I left those lands and fell asleep on the boat that sailed out to the oceans, I haven't heard shit from that fox ever since. And quite frankly, I'm glad too. I don't want my life to get fucked up again, not sine you lot reappeared in my new life."
He grabbed a banana that he had stored away, and bit into the flesh of the fruit rather quickly. He still did not want to eat any of the good food now that his appetite was slightly in ruin. He left telling the group to leave him alone and to never darken his life again. Jiji left the house to go sleep in his favorite hammock again. Up on the largest tree on the hill, a certain spirit eyed the house of Uzumaki Naruto, as the teenager himself headed to the Kusakabe residence.
=0=0=
The birds sang their morning songs as Naruto's alarm went off. He slammed his hand, silencing the ringing bells on the European-styled bell clock. He yawned, stretching out his tired muscles, before stifling a yawn. He got up, glancing at the clock. It was six in the morning. "Got a busy day ahead of me," he yawned again.
Naruto's wasn't much of a morning person, but brewing some hot tea would help him wake up. First off, to take that shower. As he strips out of his pyjamas, Naruto never knew what they did to him, or that Ino under Kakashi's order, searched his mind. Ever since he left the Elemental Countries, sleeping halfway on the journey to another landmass, the fog that the boat sailed through refused to allow Kyuubi to stay, and the seal unraveled itself through mystifying means, freeing the fox spirit and sending it on its way, thus was also the explanation to Naruto having no chakra at all upon reaching Japan.
The ninjas had indeed taken his word and left him, never returning. That he was glad for it; he expected them to ignore him and remain in his house until he left with them, or they abducted him. After a quick shower, and breakfast, he went to see if Tatsuo was awake. Eventually, Naruto took him to the bus stop and then started his drive upstate towards a large town that was a six hour drive from the village to fetch his girlfriend Mei-ling. Naruto never did see his old friends again. Of course Satsuki wondered why; he merely told her that they were hoping he would return home but he was better staying where he settled down... especially with Mei-ling in his life.
One night as Naruto stepped outside onto the roof patio to gaze up at the stars, he heard a hoot-like call. Naruto's sensitive hearing pointed him towards the camphora tree. He may be crossing the threshold into adulthood at his age; however, he was certain he saw the keeper of the forest standing there on the tree. A smile crossed his face, as Totoro stood there playing with the owl call of his.
"Naruto, you coming to bed sweetie?"
"Sure, hon," he responds, before gazing back to the tree. Only now, the shadow was completely gone. He mused to himself, with a thought in his mind, before moving away from the patio fence and returned back inside.
In the Elemental Countries, a group of shinobi returned back to the village of Konoha, which was finalizing the build of the devastated Hokage Mountain during the Akatsuki attack two years ago. When the Akatsuki's spy, Zetsu, discovered they kicked the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki out of the village, Akatsuki decided to launch a full-scale attack against the village in the hopes that it would lure the banished boy back. Because he was a heroic person, his sense of justice would not allow him to walk away.
However, the plan failed when over forty percent of the village's forces was eliminated and no more than thirty percent of the civilian population was murdered in cold blood, and no Naruto was in sight. They left after Pein unleashed a devastating attack that left most of Konoha in a crater, which also obliterated part of the Hokage Monument (the hidden ANBU facility deep in the mountain and the civilian war-safe bunkers).
Anyway, they returned to a rebuilt Konohagakure, where the teenagers simply broke off. Neji, Lee, and the other Jōnin returned to the newly rebuilt Hokage Tower to report the mission a failure.