Title: Innocence From Ashes
Fandom: Naruto
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: SasuNaru
Warnings: Yaoi. Lots of yaoi. And probably more fluff than is healthy.
Note: AU
Summary: From the pain and anguish of being the Slave of Sound, Naruto has been brought back from oblivion through Kyuubi. And this time, a certain Nine Tailed Fox is going to make sure his beloved kit is safe and happy. Even if that means bringing back Sasuke too.
Innocence From Ashes
Sequel to The Slave of Sound
Chapter 1
He was formed, once more, from the maelstrom, and arrived from the north in a streak of fire. The resulting impact formed a crater several feet in diameter, and almost as many deep. The surrounding forest was leveled for miles around, leaving smoking and charred stumps, instantly fried forest denizens, and the sonic boom broke every northern facing window in Konoha, almost a hundred miles distant.
Even as he staggered, fur scorched, ears and tails smoking, from the crater, whining and limping, it almost seemed fitting that as he began and ended, in fire and blood and chaos, so too he began anew. The great fox, now slightly smaller than a pony, sides swollen and quivering, was hard pressed to distance himself from his point of contact with the living world. What he carried was too valuable to be squandered on useless humans. Far too precious to be wasted on the ignorance and fears of mankind. They'd had their chance with his kit once, and had wasted it. They would not get the chance to do so again.
He knew he was diminished; in size as well as in power and destructiveness, but he had not forgotten a single thing, and he was still a force to be reckoned with. And though he mourned that he was no longer the feared Nine Tailed Demon Lord, his twenty two years squirreled away in the most amazing creature ever to grace history had completely changed him. He would live with his new status, his new place in the grand scheme of things, if he could have his kit once more, whole and happy and carefree.
Groaning in pain, driven by forces even he couldn't really understand, the great fox used his cunning and instinct to find that which he needed; a deep cave, narrow of entrance, but dry and sandy and snug. He burrowed deep into his new lair, and fell to the side, swollen sides heaving in agony.
His back legs jerked, kicked out, and his head tossed, keening and yowling in pain. But it would be worth it. He knew it would be. Something precious had been stolen from the world, and he would bring it back. Pain rippled outwards from his quivering belly. His anguished howls bounced back from the walls, and what cunning and knowledge he possessed was slowly eaten away by a force as ancient as time itself, and a miraculous as the heavens above.
He gave one last scream, shuddered, and in a rush of blood and fluid, the light was returned to the world. The light, and the night.
The fox panted, curled tightly around his small litter, and let the pain recede. There were a few more pangs, a last and final rush, and he was done. And never again would he be the demon lord. He'd lost too much life force in this miracle. Lost too much power to bring back that which was stolen. But it was a trade he was willing to make.
Numbly, he licked his two new creatures clean, as well as himself, and the nest. He gave a soft nudge to his golden kit, filled with affection and love. Then he turned to his dark one, sniffed it suspiciously, then nuzzled him as well. His kit needed this darkling. So he would forgive, and nurture. Exhausted from his labors, the fox, no longer lord, no longer great, but still filled with a wealth of cunning, knowledge and a bit of memory, curled about his family and fell into a deep sleep.
He was woken a bit later by an insistent nudging against his furred belly. Sleepily he watched his bright and blonde kit, nuzzling him hungrily. With a nudge of his cold nose, he directed his favorite, chuckling softly to himself. Of course, his kit was always hungry.
Now the other little creature, he wasn't so sure about. He greatly distrusted this dark creation of his, what he could only think of as a black wolf, and wondered once more why he'd done it. But he instinctively knew that as his kit was bright and light and like the sun, this little cub was dark and night and like the moon. That they were two halves of the same whole. As much as he loved his little blonde kit, he knew the youngling needed this dark one to be happy.
And his kit deserved to be happy, and by all the fox held dear, he would make it so.
He laid his muzzle on his tail, which was wrapped securely about his little litter, and regarded his strange family.
They were furless, weak, and directionless, but he knew this would change. He tenderly licked the pink exposed rump of his golden kit, and purred again. Pity humans had no tails. They were magnificent, tails. His kit had tails, he'd always had tails, but they only came out in moments of duress. The fox wondered briefly if this would change, now that he'd left his unmistakable stamp upon the two younglings nuzzling his masculine but nurturing chest. He sleepily pondered the strangeness that was human, and chuckled softly to himself to suddenly find himself with a litter of babies. They were such tiny helpless things, he was amazed humanity had risen to such a position of dominance in the world.
Though he was a little hungry himself, the fox was too tired to hunt, and his litter was still too new, too tender, too vulnerable to be left alone. The time would come, more quickly than anyone could realize, and he would have his fill of meat and sparkling spring water. The forest abounded with game; he could hear them, smell them, even sense them all around. Soon he would be able to assuage his appetite as well as those of his kit and cub, who would far too quickly require more than the strange milk he possessed right now. Yes, soon… soon…
The fox curled more tightly around his litter, buried his nose in his tail, and slipped back into slumber.