Ascension of the Kitsune by Wandering Maverick

Chapter 15: Meeting the Neko

Later That Night,

It was night time in the village of Konoha where three Kumo shinobi could be seen walking the streets.

"Damn bastards...they said it was all you could drink but they threw us out at closing time! What is up with that!?" A teenage boy with tan skin white hair and brown eyes yelled out, while grumbling in a slur.

The shortest kuniochi amongst him with deep brown hair just rolled her brown eyes at his antics. The boy only seventeen years old, and a third year Genin already addicted to 'the creature'...how embarrassing. When on missions this girl had to be his second mother, to keep him from acting stupid or rubbing the people the wrong way.

"Dammit Rei, can't you go one night without drinking your ass off!?" The sixteen year old girl scolded him, who then just flipped her the bird as they walked.

Rei then turned to the last member of their group. "Oi! Buki-hime! Why didn't you drink anything!? Don't tell me you're scared to get drunk cause of that 'thing' inside you!?" He asked rather hatefully, with her ignoring the boy's taunts and just kept walking. "Tsh...bitch! Just cause you are older then us don't make you superior! Don't forget you're nothing more then a weapon for us to pass the exams! So don't get all high and mighty cause you're more powerful then us...because we know someone more powerful then you...got it Buki-hime!?" Rei sneered.

"Hai" The older woman's surprisingly melodious voice rung through the chilly air of the night.

"Why do you take that from him Kitten?" A feminine voice inside the woman's mind called out.

"And have Raikage-sama punish me just for acting out against his only sochi? I'd rather take the boy's taunts then deal with that kind of punishment Izanami-chan." The woman thought, only getting an agreeable hiss in response.

The Kumo team soon came to their hotel they had rented rooms in for the Chuunin exams. They got to their floor, and said their good nights to each other before entering their separate but adjacent rooms to get some rest for the second part of the exam. The blond closed her door and let out an aggravated sigh while pressing her back against the door. She felt exhausted, which was surprising for her, considering what she was, but nonetheless was so. She turned on the light to her room, and plopped herself down on the bed with a contented sigh at the softness against her back.

"So much after just one day of exams..." She whispered to herself. "...and I still don't understand why that boy Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto feels so...familiar, and calming...its frustrating!" She admitted.

Ever since seeing Naruto for the first time in the exam waiting room she had wracked her brain for any inkling on how she felt she knew him...or who he was. Unfortunately when she learned his name and heritage even more questions were brought up on her mind about the boy. She had concluded that she had never met him before, and even asked her 'tenant' if she knew the relation the boy was to her...but got no real help in that department after hearing snoring inside her mind.

She utterly hated this feeling of uncertainty...her life had been an uncertainty ever since she was born, she never knew what the next day would bring and it infuriated her and made her feel helpless and completely alone all at the same time. But this feeling she had when she saw Naruto...this feeling she hated more then any other, because it completely pierced her emotional defenses she had spent years strengthening. When the boy looked at her, she left his gaze pierce her completely and look into her very soul, she felt naked and wanted so badly to look away but nothing she did allowed her to, as if they were the only ones in existence at that moment. Although that gaze she feared because it made her feel vulnerable...more so then she had ever felt in her entire life. She also feared is because when he looked at her, it also felt like a warm silk blanket had been wrapped around her naked fragile form...it made her feel happy, safe, and most importantly accepted...beyond anything she could ever wish for.