A Fox and His Wagtails

Chapter 1

Midnight Lost – Alright, as you can see, I adopted this lovely story from pain17ification as I just couldn't bare the thought of this wonderful tale being cast to the void, never to be seen again.

Okay, maybe a bit too dramatic there.

Anyways, I will be continuing on from where pain17ification had left off. So on that note, the first three chapters are written by pain17ification, not me. So all credit goes to them for not only the first three chapters of this, but also for the very concept of this story.

Be sure to swing by their profile on FanFiction and check out their other works as well!

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Within the borders of the Land of Fire sat a blonde teen in a bright orange jumpsuit. He was sitting on a bed inside of a hotel room, back leant against the headboard and gaze towards the ceiling. His deep, cerulean orbs were dulled as he laid in thought, thinking over the past and recent events in his life.

About a year ago, someone that he had considered a brother had tried to defect from the Hidden Leaf and didn't hesitate to try and kill him to do so. He still had the scar from their clash at the Valley of the End, caused by a jutsu tainted with twisted, dark chakra; chakra that was able to contend with that of the Bijuu he carried. A sigh escaped his lips as he recalled the ultimate result being his loss of the fight and the failure of stopping his wayward friend from leaving.

"Dammit, Sasuke," he muttered with frustration lacing his tone. "Was our bond really so meaningless to you?"

He sighed again and closed his eyes, putting thoughts of the Uchiha into the back of his mental processing. Coming to the forefront were thoughts concerning his tenant; a being made of chakra and possessing immense power and nine tails. The Kyuubi had surprisingly helped him in that fight, saving him from death not once, but three times. A part of him knew it was just the fox trying to preserve its own life, but another part felt grateful towards the chakra beast.

With nothing else but a whim, he relaxed his body and slowly entered the representation of his mind and the seal holding back the fox. The sensations of the hotel room faded away, replaced by the atmosphere of the seal and the feeling of water reaching slightly above his ankles. Opening his eyes, he saw the cage and seal holding back the fox, and said beast's gleaming crimson eyes poking out of the darkness it resided in.

"Kyuubi," he greeted, surprising himself at how calm he had sounded. How strange it was for one so normally hyperactive to be so...collected.

"Whelp," returned the Bijuu, resting its head on its forelimbs. "Why are you here?"

The blonde shrugged, hands in his pockets as he stepped up to the bars of the cage. "Nothing important. I just wanted to thank you for helping me back then against Sasuke. I..." He took a breath before looking the beast in the eye. "I really appreciate it. Thank you."

A furry brow was risen at the statement. "What brought this on?"

"The realization that I would've died many times if you didn't step in and give me some of your chakra. I used to think that I was strong and could take on anyone..." He sighed, eyes closing in resignation. "But that fight with Sasuke was a real eye-opener. On my own, I'm not much, and most of my victories have been won either by dumb luck, or with your chakra helping me." He started to raise fingers as he continued, "Haku, Orochimaru, Neji, Gaara, Dotou, that bone-using guy who worked for Orochimaru, and now Sasuke... Those were all of the times your chakra saved my ass and gave me the strength I needed to survive."