Naruto's POV
"Mate?"
"Foolish boy. She's your mate, too." The demon sneered.
I had no idea in hell what this fur ball was talking about. I didn't know much about girls or what they did in their free time. All I knew was that they got crazy once a month and took it out on me. I knew that they spent a lot of time getting ready for the day but doing what, I had no idea. I just knew that they had to look pretty and that they got crazy. I looked at the damned fur ball like he was crazy, scratching my head in confusion. I didn't have a mate. I didn't harbor any feelings for Mina, if that was what he was talking about...
"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded.
"Your teammate, brat. She's our mate."
"How the hell is that even possible? I don't have any feelings for Mina!"
"You don't have to have feelings, you dolt! I felt the mating pull towards her. You should have felt it, too!"
Well, come to think of it, I did feel an odd feeling towards Mina in the beginning when she first got here, but I didn't think of it at the time. Then again, I don't think of anything. I'm the kind of guy who acts now and thinks later...at least that's what the pervy sensei says about me. One thing was for certain, though, Mina needed my help. The Akatsuki could be doing who knows what to her. I growled at the thought. I needed to get out of here before she was harmed anymore. Explanations about this whole mating thing would come later.
"The blonde mortal has dark intentions for our mate, brat." The fox said in a suddenly cool voice. "He needs to be killed."
The Land of Rivers/Kakashi
Naruto came out of his dreamlike state, his eyes blue and serious. His teammate was startled but quickly recovered. The blonde shinobi was about to start off when Kakashi held him back. He advised the young man that they have yet to receive information from his ninja dogs in order to confirm where they had taken their female comrade. Naruto immediately protested and said that he needed to get to the fox's mate as soon as they could. This declaration took Kakashi by surprise but he had no time to question it as Pakkun, one of his ninja dogs, had returned to lead them in the right direction to their capture teammate.
"Let's go!" Naruto shouted.
He leaped into the air, leaving a small dent in the ground, and followed Pakkun. Kakashi immediately followed, concerned that Naruto was still under the influence of the Nine-Tails and curious at the last statement that he had made earlier. When they were well on their way, the Jonin took the opportunity to ask what Naruto had meant. After all, this was news to him. He had never heard of a demon taking on a human mate. It was worth asking about it. There was silence between the two shinobi before an answer came.
"The fox thinks that Mina is his mate." He replied.
"Huh?"
Naruto explained how the fox felt a mating pull towards Mina in the beginning. He had felt it, too, but he had shrugged it off as unimportant and how he didn't understand what that was. He continued that he would get more information later from the fox once this whole retrieval mission was over. For now, they needed to focus on getting to the Akatsuki base. Kakashi advised that he had sent a messenger to the Hidden Leaf Village and that they should be hearing back within a day and a half.
"That's a day and a half too long." Naruto growled.
"It's our only chance at getting back up."
"Did you say back-up?" A familiar voice asked.
