Secrets of the Kitsune

Chapter 37

"Sasuke, Let's go check on her," Mikoto muttered, shoving the bento boxes into her son's arms before gathering more boxes. Fugaku stood along with Itachi, both ready to follow. Sasuke had told Naruto that they were going on a picnic together with her but Sasuke had come home unsure whether Naruto had heard what he said. He said that Naruto kept staring into space and getting distracted, the blond kept forcing herself to smile and nod at Sasuke but he could tell that she wasn't feeling it. It had been more than a week since Naruto had stopped coming over. Every time Sasuke asked her to come over, she comes up with some lame excuse saying that she couldn't make it to the meal. Sasuke respected that and backed off a little from making her go every day. When Sasuke checks on her, she was always in the Forest of Death patting the dangerous animals. The animals would always growl at him angrily until Naruto tells them to back off.
"Sasuke-sama, Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru are looking for you." A servant had informed them as they were about to leave. Sasuke frowned, why would they be looking for him? The family made their way to the entrance of the compound, seeing an impatient looking Nara and Hyuuga. When they spotted the approaching Uchiha family, they have begun making their way to them. "There are reports of villagers heading towards the Forest of Death." Sasuke and Itachi froze.
"Why are you guys acting like that?" Mikoto asked, confused about why everyone was so tense.
"Why would they go there? It is too dangerous there for civilians." Fugaku asked, deep in thought. The others swallowed, they have been trying to keep it quiet from the adults to ensure that fewer people knew where Naruto was staying and where she has been spending her most time. Mikoto nudged Itachi again, repeating her question.
"Mother, Father... The Forest of Death is where Naruto is living right now, she spends most of her time there." Itachi said quietly before he quickly turned and sprinted for the forest. Mikoto and Fugaku stared in shock. Why was Naruto living in the forest?
Animals of the forest, please... please protect Naruto until we get there.

"Why is Naruto living in the forest?" Fugaku asked, anger slipping into his tone. Itachi looked at his father, then at his mother. Her mouth was set into a thin line, her eyes were no longer the soft ebony colour - it looked red and angry. "With all due respect, Fugaku-sama now is not the time for that. We need to find Naruto right now." Neji said, his Byakugan activated looking around for any signs of Naruto on their way to the forest of death. A part of him praying that he spots Naruto in the training grounds instead of being in the Forest of Death.
Shikamaru knew that Fugaku and Mikoto were not satisfied with leaving it at that. "Naruto hasn't been... happy. She has been staying in the Forest of Death for the most of her days, she just sits there either doing nothing or is patting the animals." Shikamaru started, making the two Uchiha heads look at him. "She had gone training once in a while but she just ends up sitting in the middle of the training ground staring into space, she never even moved when it rained. We had to carry her out of the rain because she wouldn't respond to us... she seemed so distant, she looked so sad." Mikoto looked at Sasuke, he was looking quite miserable as well.

"Where are you, demon?!" a villager yelled into the forest, hacking at the trees to make a lot of noise to scare Naruto to come out. "You have been poisoning the minds of the clan heirs! We must help them be free. You demon!" Another villager screeched.
Naruto took a quiet breath, sitting as still as she could in the tree she had been sitting on when they had arrived. She cursed at herself for not noticing them before they had gotten too close for her to escape without being noticed. They had highly trained shinobis with them, the shinobis are already on her tail, following her chakra signature which Kurama is desperately trying to hide for her. She felt like giving up right here right now, she was really frustrated with herself. Everything was so overwhelming for her.