A/N: Just moving this over from AO3

Fox Fire

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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

~Chinese Proverb

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Screams…

They were screaming…

Blood, so red, bright in the sunlight, dark in the moon light, painting the ground, their bodies, his hands, too-hot, cooling to a tacky sludge as he kept moving.

Fire.

More screams.

Rage pounded through him.

Dead.

Gone.

Another enemy fell, throat torn out by a swift, clawed hand.

These scum didn't deserve to live when They had died.

When his Everything had Fallen…

Heart pounding in his ears.

Pounding…

Pounding…

Pounding…

Kitsune shot up, abruptly on his feet, torn from the shattered memories of his past/future, to the realization that the pounding in his ears was his door, and the shrieking in his head wasn't just the screams of enemies and allies alike, or the cries of scavengers on the Battlefields, but his Proximity Seals alerting him to his guest. Blinking, the ex-ANBU appeared in front of his door in a blink of the eye, armed and ready. With a light flare of his Chakra, though, his weapons were returned to their proper places and he had the door open, staring down at the small form on the other side with curiosity.

"Heh heh, hiya, Nii-san!" Naruto chirruped with an honestly sheepish grin. Kitsune took in his ragged orange jumpsuit, the strong scent of chemicals, and the frog-shaped backpack on his back. Silently, he opened his door wider and tilted his head in a 'come on in' gesture. Naruto brightened and darted past him, hesitating before he toed off his shoes and left the backpack next to them in the hallway and, with barely a glance for permission, he was disappearing into the depths of the apartment, exploring.

Kitsune shook his head and went to one of his two windows, opening it and gesturing rapidly into the dark. The glint of a white mask, and the sound of rustling leaves, was the only confirmation that his message was received, and that the Hokage would be informed that Naruto was safe with him and staying for an undetermined amount of time. Nodding, satisfied, Kitsune closed the window and absently re-set his Proximity Seal, moving back into the bedroom area, which was technically his living room, but the futon was comfortable so that's where he slept.

"You can have half the futon or I can lend you my Mission pallet for however long you'll be here," Kitsune informed his younger self when he found the twelve-year-old gluttonously ravaging his cabinets; Naruto had the decency to blush and swallow his large bite of sandwich, smiling sheepishly and setting his food down to scratch the bridge of his nose. Kitsune didn't comment, remembering well the echoing ache of hunger from his younger days, barely quenched by copious amounts of his beloved Ramen. Ramen was cheap and delicious, but he knew, even when he ruthlessly defended it all during his younger years, that it was far from filling.

"Eat whatever you want, kit," he told his younger self simply, walking over and ruffling his uncovered hand lightly through those thick, blind spikes, smiling faintly behind his mask even as he grabbed one of his nutrient shakes the Medic-nin had insisted he start drinking. Taking the only other chair at the small table, Kitsune poked the straw through the shakes tinfoil top and carefully slipped the straw into his mouth through his mask slit, and sat, patiently waiting for Naruto to speak while slowly sipping the strawberry-flavored shake. Naruto beamed at him, and rapidly finished his sandwich, before grabbing three cups of Instant Ramen, the kettle sitting on the stove-top being put to better use than making Kitsune's breakfast protein shakes taste closer to hot-chocolate. Silence continued after he'd finished, staring into his empty bowl and fiddling with his chopsticks while Kitsune threw his empty shake bottle in the trash and continued to sit patiently.

"…My landlord decided to fumigate the building without telling me," the twelve-year-old finally muttered, leaning his face on his hand and resting his elbow on the table, eyes locked on his empty bowl, though they occasionally peeked over at the silent Kitsune while he fidgeted.

"Hmm," Kitsune replied, frowning behind his mask slightly. He remembered something similar to this happening several times when he was a child, and even after he became a Genin. It really only stopped happening after Pein, and even then, people still saw him as more of a 'demon brat' than a human being.

"And then there were these drunk assholes who tried to mug me," Naruto continued on, shaking his head. "And then I thought about maybe staying with, like, Kiba or Skikamaru or Choji, but I don't know where any of them live or if their parents would even let me, so I was ready to go to sleep in a place I know in the Red District, but then I remembered you, and asked an ANBU where you lived, and they pointed me here, and that's pretty much what happened." He let out a breath, and Kitsune marveled for a moment, about how much he could talk when he was younger, and ruefully wondered where all that loudness went…

Before remembering the excruciating feel of the heated knife cutting through his back, how the lightning Jutsu made his body convulse for every sound he made, and his Trainers constant reminders of 'A loud Shinobi is a dead Shinobi' and pushed the memories away before his muscles could do more than tense ever-so-slightly, fingers tense on his thighs.

"Stay as long as you want," the ex-AMBU told his younger self quietly, standing and ruffling the boys hair before wandering back into the living room, stripping his battle-ready Shinobi gear off once more, rolling his scarred shoulders as he did so, feeling his many bandages shift and slide.

"Ne, Nii-san?" Naruto asked hesitantly from behind him; Kitsune hummed in reply as he tugged off his black ANBU uniform shirt, leaving him in a dark blue tank-top, ANBU pants and boots, and bandages. "Why do you wear all those bandages?"

"I was horrifically burned while on a mission," Kitsune replied simply, honestly, as he sat on the edge of his sturdy, comfortable futon, unlacing and pulling off his boots one at a time. A dip beside him told him that Naruto had settled in beside him, and he didn't so much as twitch as hesitant, curious fingers tugged at his bandages. Instead, he ducked his head so that the boy could unwrap his head-bandages. Once they reached his neck, however, that particular bandage ended, and Kitsune pulled the mess of it into his lap so that Naruto could explore his scars easier, rolling the bandages as fingers skidded across bumps and trenches and areas that were so dead that it literally felt like the boy had lifted his hand from Kitsune's skin all together, until he reached the more sensitive areas once more.

"…Does it still hurt?" Naruto asked quietly; Kitsune shook his head gently, tossing the roll of bandages on his nearby clothes and turning to flop down on the bed, not minding a bit when Naruto continued to touch his damaged skin with the sad fascination of a boy who had never been properly training in social propriety.

"Did you complete the mission?" was the next question, and Kitsune hummed lowly.

"The mission was to kill someone," he informed his younger self simply, watching his eyes go wide and horrified. "The man in question committed a Suicide Jutsu, a lava-based one, and that's what burned me. So, as I am alive and he is dead, then yes, the mission was completed." Naruto fell silent, nibbling his lips uncertainly, and Kitsune made a mental note of the tick. Best get rid of that now, Gaki-chan, he thought to himself as closed his eyes. The enemy will eat you alive and spit out your bloody corpse if you show them such a weakness.

"I don't want to kill people," Naruto mumbled; Kitsune reached over and tugged the boy down to lie against his side, tucking the boy's head onto his chest and letting his curious fingers skate over and slip under the bandages there randomly, feeling more of the scars.

"I didn't either, at your age, Gaki-chan," Kitsune informed him simply, stroking that blond hair and opening his eyes to stare blankly at his ceiling, wondering if he should put something up there for him to stare at when he couldn't sleep at night.

"Then why did you start?!" Naruto snapped, fingers clenching in Kitsune's bandages; the man sighed softly.

"Because when the enemy is more than willing to torture your Precious People and see you alone and broken and lost in the world," he intoned seriously, not looking at his younger self. "Then killing them first is the only option." I'm sorry I hesitated before, he said silently to his dead comrades, and curled his arm a little more firmly around Naruto, who was still and silent against him.

This time, it'll be different, he vowed silently as minutes passed, and Naruto's body slowly relaxed into slumber.

Kitsune didn't sleep at all that night, lost in memories and fragments of a time that he'd make sure didn't repeat itself.

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"The Past may not be your fault, but the Future is your responsibility alone." ~Gene Cruz

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Uzumaki Naruto had only a few people he considered truly precious to him. The Hokage, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, and he even liked Iruka-Sensei when the man wasn't yelling at him. A few other Shinobi were alright, most of them either his classmates or ANBU, but, otherwise, his Precious People were few and cherished more than anything in the world, even more than Ramen!

And then, one day, he got scooped up off the street from a dead-run by this weird-yet-awesome ANBU guy who let him call him Nii-san and didn't mind when he touched his scars and told him he could reach his dream, he just had to work hard! No one else ever told him that. Jiji laughed and agreed that he might take the hat one day. Teuchi and Ayame laughed and told him that, if he became Hokage one day, that he had to still stop by and see them and eat ramen. Iruka scolded him and told him to get back to work, and everyone else either laughed or made fun of him or rolled their eyes when they thought he wouldn't notice.

Not Kitsune-nii-san.

He met Naruto's eyes through his awesome, messed up fox-mask, and told him exactly what he had to look forward to as Hokage, but not like he expected Naruto to give up. He expected Naruto to work for it, to fight for his dream, and that, more than how awesome and no-doubt strong the Shinobi was, was what made him one of Naruto's Precious People.

Now, though, now something was different. Not with Kitsune-nii-san, but with Naruto. Before, being a Shinobi was something awesome. He'd get to do all sorts of kick-ass Jutsu, and fight bad guys and save princesses and protect Konoha, and one day he'd be Hokage and everyone would smile at him and wave instead of ignoring him or spitting at him and sneering. Now though…

Now he realized the full responsibility of a Shinobi. Shinobi killed to protect the Village. They killed and died and were maimed beyond anything he'd ever seen before. They got tortured and they watched their teammates and comrades die and get hurt or tortured too. And they went on missions where any of that could happen, for the good of the Village.

He'd been so angry for a little while. So angry that Jiji, who had always been so nice and warm and kind to him, could send people to their deaths and torture and to kill people. But then he remembered how Kitsune had told him that Hokages were kept inside so much, doing things they hated and paperwork and too many meetings to believe. And he wasn't angry anymore, but, instead, Naruto found himself skipping Academy to sit on top of the Fourth Hokage's head and think about it all.

Hokage's killed and died for their Village. The First, Second, and Fourth had all done so, and the Third definitely would. They had all seen war, watched their Shinobi, friends and family and strangers that were their responsibility, go out to their deaths or worse, leaving broken and angry hearts behind. And still, the Hokage's stood and looked out on the Village, and they loved it, protected it and died for it and killed for it.

Nodding slowly, Naruto returned to Kitsune's apartment, and asked the man for a favor, which was approved and granted after barely any surprise.

He wasn't angry or scared anymore.

The next day, Naruto entered the Academy with hard, determined eyes and a small, serious frown, wearing dark grays, blacks, and browns, and didn't cause any big fuss, ignoring the jeers and mocking of his classmates better than he ever has before. He worked on his assignments and worked hard, because he knew the truth now, and he was determined to reach his dream.

Being a Shinobi wasn't a game, and even the most boring thing ever that came out of Iruka-Sensei's mouth might mean the difference between life and death for the Village and his Precious People.

…

Though, he'd probably get Kitsune-nii-san to explain it better to him later, just so he knew he understood it.

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Difficulty attracts the man of character

because it is in embracing it that he realizes himself. ~Charles de Gaulle

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