Secrets of the Kitsune

Chapter 8

"Why do we still have a team meeting? I thought we were taking a break." Naruto grumbled under her breath as she waited at the meeting spot the next day. Sasuke hasn't shown up yet, which is very unlike him to be any later than Naruto was. "How could you?! How could you lie to us, you freak?!" A voice screeched and Naruto felt a fist connect with her face. Naruto fell to the ground, in pain. Some of her so-called friends were all there, looking at her accusingly. "Such an unyouthful thing indeed!" Lee commented.
"We trusted you and you betrayed our trust. Were we not good enough friends to you?" Choji asked. Naruto felt anger boiling up in her, they never treated her the way friends treat each other. "You're such a freak, no one will ever love you." Ino yelled. Kiba kicked her. "I knew there was something strange about you. Why were you disguising as a boy? Are you a pervert?!"
Naruto shook her head, no no no. "Don't deny it. I bet you are!"
"But I never said I was a boy!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to get up.
"But you never corrected us either!" Ino screeched, the other nodding in agreement. Naruto looked at them, unsure what to do. "You guys never bothered checking." Naruto muttered.
"I never did like you and never will. It's no wonder the village hate you. Let's go guys. Let's not waste time on this piece of trash." Sakura sneered. That was the last thing Naruto heard before a kick was sent towards her head and she was knocked out cold. They left her on the ground, out in the open.
"LOOK! It's the demon. Hehehee. Today is our lucky day. The demon is weak! Let's go!" A man said, brandishing a knife along with the other villagers that were with him. They dragged the unconscious Naruto into the alley and began their assault on her. Punching and kicking and stabbing the blond.
Come on kit. Wake up. Get to your body. Fight. Defend!!!! Kurama boomed, whipping his tail to flick Naruto's face. The blond just laid there, staring at the ground. Kurama jumped around Naruto, trying to get the blond to get up. It's fine Kurama. Let them have their fun. It is my fault after all that everything happened.
NOO. Let me at them. Let me take over your body. Kurama begged, he didn't want to see Naruto like this. He didn't want this kind of things to happen to Naruto. No, Kurama. You can't. They'll probably banish me for 'using the Kyuubi'.
Let them! We can then leave this stupid village. Naruto looked at the nine tailed fox. What about Sasuke? I... I'll miss him.
Awwww. Kit and Sasuke are in loveeeee.
Stop it. Sasuke will never love me. Kurama stopped jumping around and stared at Naruto. Are you kidding me? Sasuke is clearly in love with you. He even wanted to marry you.
Nahhh. I'm pretty sure it was just a slip of tongue. He probably didn't mean it. He probably was thinking about someone else. Hinata seems like a good choice. Wait. But he never speaks to Hinata... Tenten is with Neji, so Tenten isn't it. Maybe-
Stopppp. Stop talking yourself down and you'll never know. Maybe he actually is talking about you. Naruto sighed, there's no convincing Kurama otherwise. Naruto waited until the villagers were tired and done with their beatings before she slowly tried to get up. Kurama started the slow process of healing all the wounds as she sat there waiting for the dizziness to disappear before she tried to get up again. You should go look for someone. You shouldn't be alone right now. Kurama said, not wanting his kit to be alone when she is so badly injured. I'll be fine. Naruto gritted out as she managed to get on her feet. Naruto shuffled towards her cave in the forest, avoiding crowded places and taking smaller alleyways. Even though that might take a longer time, she wouldn't need to suffer another beating.

Sasuke went around looking for Naruto for a spar, their mission was the day before so Naruto should be well rested. But she was nowhere to be found. He checked at Ichiraku but Ayame and Teuchi both said that Naruto hasn't been to the shop yet. He saw Neji and Shikamaru walking together, chatting. "Have you guys seen Naruto?"
"We are looking for her too. Sakura said something about Naruto being a girl yesterday and-" Sasuke was grabbing onto their collars the next second. Sasuke glared at them. "Why? So you can be like that little pink bitch, and shun Naruto and make Naruto upset?" Sasuke challenged, his Sharingan flaring to life.
"You got it all wrong, Sasuke. We are looking for Naruto for barbecue. We know she might be upset at Sakura so we thought she might need some cheering up. She is our friend after all." Neji said and Sasuke looked at them a little longer before releasing their collars.
"I'm sorry. I just... Naruto's been pretty upset lately and I don't want her to get hurt." Sasuke muttered. Shikamaru clapped him on his shoulder a few times. "Your girlfriend is a strong person. She will get through this." Sasuke's head shot up, a deny ready on his lips. But Neji and Shikamaru smirked at him. "We know, Uchiha. We can see you like her."
"You better make a move before anyone else does." Neji warned and Sasuke raised an eyebrow, challenging him. Neji raised his hands, "I already have Tenten and Shikamaru has Temari, so don't look at us like that." The trio started walking towards Naruto's apartment to see if the blond was sleeping in. "What the." Shikamaru muttered, his posture straightening as he took in the sight. The apartment that Naruto occupied was taped off and the room was all black, exactly like someone had set the apartment on fire. "Why didn't Naruto tell us about this?" Neji muttered quietly, as he assessed the damage. Does Naruto not trust them?