Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, all Naruto characters, places, as well as terminology belong to Masashi Kishimoto! This disclaimer will be for all the chapters of this fic.

A.N.- Hello! Welcome to my first Naruto fic! Anyways, this fic has been dancing around in my head for a while now so I'll try to get it out fast so I can sleep in peace. Please R&R so I know if I should post more!

NOTE: This will be yaoi, as in boyxboy, as in sex between males eventually. SasuNaru. Don't like it? Then why did you click on it when it clearly says it in the summery? Come on son…

WARNING!- This story is rated M for a reason. It will contain violence, swearing, sex, torture, abuse, blood and gore, death, and possibly implied rape.

Special thanks to my hubby who beta'd this chapter for me!

That Time I Went Down Fighting

1. The Fox

The Fire Kingdom, for all intents and purposes, was a generally peaceful kingdom. Its citizens went about their business in the bliss of ignorance, turning a blind eye to the darkness hiding in its shadows.

Konoha was the grand jewel of the Kingdom; a shining capital city, built on a large hill, with a white stone castle in its very center towering over the rest of the stone city that descended the hill around it. The rich lived towards the center of the city, under the shadow of the towering castle, while the less fortunate scattered around the rim farther away from the influence of the nobles. A great Wall encircled the grand city, protecting its citizens and its secrets from the harshness of the outside world.

Just outside the great Wall of Konoha (much to the displeasure of the city's citizens) a large settlement sat, consisting mainly of run-down shacks and poorly constructed houses made of wood, gathered in haste from the large forests surrounding the area. Residents of this settlement dubbed their home 'Bijūgakure' and lived peacefully despite their poor dwellings.

Down one particular street of Bijūgakure is where our story begins…

"GAARA!"

Turquoise eyes looked up just in time to see a streak of black before he was tackled to the ground. Gaara let out a small "ump" as his back and head hit the dirt, an irritated growl rumbled in his chest as he looked down at the thing that had latched itself onto his waist like a koala.

Deep red eyes and a fang-y grin met the red-head's glare.

"Naruto," Gaara breathed the name so quiet that the other boy could barely hear it. "Get. Off," Gaara commanded a little louder through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing threateningly.

Naruto pouted at his friend's grumpiness. "Aw you're no fun," he sighed as he dislodged himself from Gaara and helped him up.

Gaara dusted off his dark red shirt and tan pants and eyed his childhood friend who bounced from one foot to the other in excitement. He sighed, giving in, "What?" he asked in a bored tone.

Naruto's large grin returned and he scratched the back of his neck with a clawed hand. "Ichiraku's having a sale today!" Naruto cheered enthusiastically, causing passersby to look at the pair of teens oddly before giving them a wider berth.

Black encircled eyes just stared blankly and Naruto grew impatient. "It's 50% off miso flavored ramen today!" He once again shouted, expecting this fact to suddenly make his stone faced friend jump for joy along with him. Naruto paused in his childish bouncing to turn his most powerful puppy-dog-eyes on his best friend, biting his lower lip in anticipation.

Without saying a word, Gaara turned and began to walk away. Naruto followed him with a skip in his step, and a beaming smile plastered on his face, as they made their way to the best ramen shop in town.

One hour later Naruto sighed contently while patting his bulging stomach through his navy blue shirt. "That was so good," he smiled happily as he breathed out a little burp. He reclined in his chair and used his claw as a toothpick to remove a green onion from between his teeth.

Gaara eyed the five empty bowls stacked in front of his energetic friend, then back to his single empty bowl. "Where does he put it all?" He questioned no one in particular. He was brought out of his musing by an abrupt yell.

"Hey!" Gaara turned to see Ayame, the shop owner's daughter, pointing an accusing finger towards the entryway of the restaurant. "I don't want any trouble today." She glanced over to Naruto, who was sitting oblivious in the after-glow of ramen bliss.

Turning his gaze to the entryway, Gaara caught a glimpse of red and sighed, "oh no…"

"Kyuubi-sama!" A female voice, tinged with a mixture of awe, ecstasy, and a hint of anger, rang out through the small ramen shop.

Naruto visibly paled as his gaze drifted over to the red-head in the doorway. He quickly glanced around looking for an escape route. Luckily he was saved by an angry roar behind the crazed girl.

"KARIN!" A white-haired man with pointed teeth grabbed the red-head from behind. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're mine?"

Karin whirled on the man behind her, red eyes narrowing through matching rimmed glasses, "And how many times do I need to tell you, Suigetsu, that if he wants me," she nodded her head towards the still pale Naruto, "then I would leave you in a heartbeat."

"Well he doesn't," Suigetsu stated matter-of-factly.

Karin frowned, puffing out her cheeks in a sulk.

"And, for that matter, why do you insist in looking human for him?" Suigetsu continued, looking annoyed. "You know I like your tail," he smirked suggestively.

"B-because," Karin couldn't keep the embarrassed blush from creeping onto her cheeks, "because I heard that he's attracted to humans."

"Ha!" Suigetsu laughed out, his purple eyes glistening in amusement. "And who's spreading that rumor? Come on just admit it," he gestured with a webbed hand, "you're just wasting your chakra keeping your features human just because you are self conscious about your-"

He was abruptly cut off by a fist colliding hard against the side of his head (causing some unlucky restaurant patrons to shy away as a clear-ish liquid, that was hopefully water, sprayed from the man's head onto them) and a yell of "YOU STUPID FISH!"

"OUT!" Ayame yelled to the bickering pair. She was pointedly ignored as Suigetsu began to lecture Karin of the difference between a simple 'fish' and the 'fighting bull fish*' that his Jinchūriki blood-line boasted.

Naruto sighed as the pair of lunatics seemed to forget his presence. He and Gaara quickly paid their bill and left the ramen shop, Naruto promising the owner that he would be back the next day.

"HEY!" Naruto turned to the red-head next to him once the two teens were far from the loud fighting that was most likely destroying Ichiraku's from the inside-out. "Want to come over for dinner tonight? It's game night," he smiled mischievously.

The corner of Gaara's lips tilted up at the thought of joining his friends family in what was most likely going to be an interesting 'game night'. "Sure," he accepted casually.

"Sweet!" The bouncing teen threw his fist up in triumph. "We have to spar first though so I can work this off," he laid a palm over the barely visible bulge of his stomach. "I have a sweet new move I wanted to test out." Naruto suck his tongue out in excitement.

On their way out of town to the surrounding forest, the two Jinchūriki were stopped by yet another loud cry.

"Kyuubi-oyabun!" A squirrel Jinchūriki launched himself at Naruto.

Naruto looked down at the 10 year old boy as he ruffled his hair affectionately. "Hey there Konohamaru, what's up?"

Konohamaru's fluffy tail twitched as he frowned and pointed an accusing finger towards two children who had followed him. "Udon doesn't believe me that you can change your eye color!" he complained.

"It can't be done," the snot nosed sloth boy challenged his friend.

Gaara rolled his eyes as the squirrel and sloth started to attack each other, rolling around in the dirt as they argued. This seemed to happen every time Naruto, or 'Kyuubi' as the Jinchūriki knew him, came into town. The kids (and sometimes adults) would vary, but the questions were about the same.

Gaara was the only one (outside of Naruto's family) that knew that Naruto had been born with blue eyes. He could change them to red with elongated pupils, which is the way he kept them while in Bijūgakure. Unlike any other Jinchūriki, Naruto was born looking completely human; he didn't need to exert any chakra to appear human (not that any other Jinchūriki knew this fact). His nine-tailed fox Jinchūriki features only appeared when he used a small amount chakra to change his appearance; giving him the ability to change his features 100%.

Gaara watched Naruto scowl at the two young Jinchūriki wrestling on the ground; he noticed the amusement dancing in the fox's eyes and his lips lightly twitching to hold back a smile. The red-head shuddered as he felt an increase of chakra as Naruto threw his energy towards the arguing children, brushing it against their own chakra to get their attention.

'Show off,' Gaara thought with a smirk and a quiet snort as the children froze in mid roll to gawk at the greatness that was their Kyuubi-sama.

With a grin, Naruto squatted onto his heels and curled a clawed finger in a 'come hither' motion. The two boys sprang to their feet and quickly scurried up to the fox excitedly. They were followed by a small girl who had been watching their fight with an annoyed look. The three youths lined up side by side in front of Naruto and held their breath in anticipation.

Naruto made sure that all three were looking into his eyes before he gently increased his chakra in his eyes. The three children gasped as Naruto's eyes shifted from red to gold and then back again.

"WOW!" Udon and the girl yelled in unison as Konohamaru crossed his arms and smiled smugly.

"See?" the young squirrel announced proudly, as if he were the one who was receiving his friends' praise. His demeanor quickly changed as he threw his hands into the air and started jumping around with his friends. "Kyuubi-oyabun is so awesome!" they cheered as they ran off, disappearing around the corner of wooden house in serious need of repair.

Naruto chuckled as he stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. He looked over at his quiet friend as they continued on their way out of town. "What?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Gaara shrugged, "Don't you get bored of it?"

Naruto returned the shrug with one of his own, "It makes them happy… Besides, showing off a little once in a while doesn't hurt anyone. It's not like I started throwing Rasengan around or something."

Gaara just raised a hairless eyebrow and Naruto let out a long sigh, "At least the marriage proposals have mostly stopped." The fox frowned at Gaara's unconvinced look, "Karin doesn't count, she's crazy," he huffed in annoyance and returned his gaze back to the road.

Gaara watched his childhood friend closely as they continued their walk. He thought back to the first time Naruto had come out of the human city to make himself known to the rest of the Jinchūriki population.

Naruto had been pissed that day because his guardian had made him cover his bright blond hair with black and grey ash claiming that Naruto's hair was a dead giveaway of who he was. If the humans got word of a new Jinchūriki with hair as abnormal as his, then it was only a matter of time until they made the connection between 'human' Naruto and the mysterious new fox.

Naruto was also forced to use a small amount of his chakra to make himself actually look like a Jinchūriki. His eyes had bled to red as he grew out his claws and fangs, and made the thin lines on his cheeks deepen and darken until they resembled harsh whiskers. twelve year old Gaara had held back a laugh as he watched his friend grumble to himself about "annoying wolf pervs."

"Ok, now listen up squirt," the wolf smiled down to his grumbling adopted son. "You need to keep your chakra cloaked until I tell you… and you can't tell anyone your name, so just accept whatever they call you."

Gaara watched as Naruto opened his mouth to protest, only to snap his jaws closed with a stern look from his guardian. The young fox looked down at his feet and continued grumbling to himself as he sulked.

Leading the two children through a trap door hidden in the wall of the fox's house, the trio emerged on the outside of the great Wall in the Jinchūriki village (the door cleverly hidden behind some thick bushes).

Naruto couldn't hide his excitement, his eyes darting everywhere, as he was lead into the center of the unfamiliar town.

"Alright bud," the silver haired wolf smiled down at the boy who was rubbing a piece of ash covered hair between his fingers, "I want you to release as much chakra as you can. Push it out far and wide so that it touches everyone."

The young Jinchūriki nodded and closed his eyes in concentration. Gaara had to take a step back as a powerful wave of chakra washed over him, gently mingling with his own. He placed a hand over his racing heart as a warmth spread through him.

It took less than a minute before Jinchūriki started to flood into the courtyard. Naruto's eyes snapped open as the frantic calls of "Kyuubi-sama" reached his ears. He watched as some Jinchūriki dropped to their knees and cried.

The young fox turned curious eyes up to his guardian, who smiled back, "They know who you are. You are their Alpha and they will follow you."

A.N.- There you go! End of chapter one. I hope you liked it!

I know it's probably a little confusing since the Jinchuriki that we all know is not exactly the same in the fic. It will all make sense eventually. I actually originally included everything you would need to know to not make this confusing in my original version, but my husband said "you need to leave some mystery and not tell everything right off the bat," so I took his advice (which ended up shortening this by about 1000 words…) and now all that fun info wont be included for a long, long time, but you'll figure it out I'm sure.

*I got the "fighting bull fish" from One Piece. I was reading the manga and thought 'that seems like a good animal to make Suigetsu'.

Please R&R! Since my husband is the only person that has read this he isn't exactly going to tell me that it sucks so please let me know what you think! Until next time where we will get to have a fun time at 'game night'!