Well, folks, thanks for the reviews! I only hope to keep satifying you all with this story, since the first chapter was a little rough. Anway, I'm glad you guys like it so far, and here's Chapter 2.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I've already said it, so just to be clear: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Two: Blood Shed leads to Determination

Naruto growled under his breath, absently pulling the supply cart at a slow pace. His eyes narrowed and he curled his lips, whipping his tails in adgitation. Do you wish to know why he was so grumpy?

Because he was stuck pulling the supply cart... again.

What was worse was the fact that his teammate's hitched him up like some donkey, rendering him to travel on all fours; walking like an animal he had no problems with, it was the cart he was pissed off about.

First of all, it was it was slightly heavy. The fact didn't bother him much, but he didn't want to pull the wagon for the whole trip. The second reason was what mad him mad the most: Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura had put it upon themselves to ride in the cart instead of walking. That's just more weight for him to pull.

And lastly, Kakashi wouldn't stop patting his head like he was some animal; it pissed him off to no end.

"Careful, Naruto. I don't want you to break the wagon." Kakashi warned absently, still reading his book. Naruto snorted, looking over his shoulder to gaze at his sensei.

"Why am I stuck pulling the stupid wagon, anyway?" His teacher looked at him over his little noval before grinning behind his mask, leaning over to pat Naruto's head. The kitsune flattened his ears in annoyance, glaring at the snickering Sasuke and giggling Sakura.

"Because I said so, that's why!" Kakashi informed, sounding a little too happy for the fox's taste. "Besides, I don't feel like saving your ass from danger today." Sasuke said casually, leaning back slightly. Naruto glared at his teammate, oval pupils narrowing into slits. "It's the other way around, bastard. It's me who would be saving your ass from trouble. I've done it once, I can do it again."

That seemed to cut into Sasuke's 'cool' act, the kitsune seeing his dark eyes narrowing. "If we weren't on a mission, I'd beat you into pulp." He growled, crossing his arms; it was rare that Sasuke would say the first thing on his mind, and now was one of those rare times.

It frustrated and thrilled the Demon lord.

"I'd like to see you try, teme."

"Retard."

"Bastard."

"Dobe."

"Pretty boy!"

Sasuke's eye twitched, causing Naruto to smirk. Sakura and Kakashi just watched casually; they learned the most important rule in the book: Don't interrupt Sasuke and Naruto's little verbal fights, or else it may become physical.

"...Pretty boy?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I am NOT a pretty boy." "Yes, you are. It explains why your hair's always like that, and why your eyelashes are relatively longer than most guys. You probably use some kind of hairgel and some eye-liner. I'd go so far to even call you a girl!"

Naruto's smirk grew when he saw Sasuke narrow his eyes and his already dark eyes darken, looking like he was ready to kill his blonde teammate. But, before he had the chance to say anything. Kakashi finally interrupted. "Look, as amusing as this is, I'm growing very tired of you two talking. And, quite frankly, I'm trying to read my book in peace, so shut up."

Both jounin snorted, Sasuke turning his head and Naruto concentrating on his pulling. Kakashi sighed and leaned back against the secured supplies, holding his little noval up to his face.

'Finally, some peace and quiet.'

--

Such silence had carried out from the afternoon to the early evening, and it almost drove the kitsune mad. He hated the silence; it reminded him too much of his painful childhood.

He would do anything to break such a quiet aura, so he didn't complain when his kitsune Advisor appeared to inform him on his kingdom's news. He didn't mind that the little fox demon had jumped on his head to rest while they conversated; she did go a long way just to speak with him. He didn't even mind when the mini-kitsune pawed playfully at his ears.

But he did mind that she was oogling Sasuke.

"I can understand why you get sexually frustrated when you get close to him now. I mean, look at him! He's sexy, even for a human!" The fox, Shinta, remarked, letting her green eyes trail along the Uchiha's relaxed form; the Demon lord thanked the lord that the raven couldn't understand fox.

"And he has such a sweet ass! If I were male, I'd fuck that shit to Kingdom Come! But, since I'm female, I'll just have to settle for being fucked."

Naruto rolled his eyes up, as if trying to look at her, ears twitching with annoyance. "And what makes you think he'll fuck you?" He yipped rather rudely, narrowing his eyes. The female kitsune shrugged. "I don't think he will, and I know he won't. I mean, I'm a fox. But that doesn't stop me from imagining it happening."

The Demon lord got a mental picture of Sasuke pumping into the little fox, and he almost choked on his spit. "You're worse than Jiraiya!" He barked, getting the Uchiha's attention for a brief moment. Sasuke then shook his head, muttered 'dobe,' and went back to lounging with alert; he still had to keep watch for danger.

"Well, he does have a stick up his ass, that's for sure. Anyway, enough about him. Who's the other one?"

Naruto should have known better not to answer the question. He should have known better to just ignore the question, or at least dodge around it. But, that wasn't the case.

"Sakura." Shinta knew who that was, since she was the only human female around, and let out a howl. He didn't know if it was of laughter or approval, but he regretted that he got his answer.

"Her?! You want her too?! Man, you are one nasty kitsune! I mean, I'm not into females, personally, but even I'd want to make that bitch scream my name during an orgasm. And-"

Naruto growled at Shinta, using one of his tails to grab her. He then held the she-kitsune infront of him, glaring hard with reddening eyes. "That's enough, Shinta!" He snarled, baring his teeth. The she-kitsune started slightly, but then she smirked.

"Ah, growing possessive over them, eh, Naruto-sama?" She asked, grinning. Naruto faltured and dropped Shinta, but she landed on her paws with ease and began to walk along side him. "I can understand that, seeing that you're their mate and all." She continued, looking up at her lord with another grin. But when Naruto looked away, she furrowed her furry eyebrows. "You.. aren't mated to them?"

Now, feeling embarressed, the male kitsune shook his head, earning a gasp from Shinta. "What the hell, Naruto-sama! How come you haven't mated with them yet!?"

"Because I'm not going to."

"And why the hell not?"

"..."

Shinta growled and jumped infront of Naruto, forcing him to stop. "You may be my lord, but that doesn't mean you can ignore a question I ask. Now, answer me!" The Demon lord snarled and snapped his teeth, glaring at his advisor. "Because I can't! Are you happy now?!"

Shinta faltured and lowered her ears, moving out of the way quick enough to dodge her lord's angry trotting. She shook her head and galloped after him, slowing into a trot when she reached his side. They stayed silent for a moment until Naruto sighed sadly, causing his advisor to look up at him.

"Why can't you?" Shinta asked carefully, not wanting to strike another nerve. She hadn't, and Naruto answered her slowly.

"Because I just can't. They're already my closest friends and... I'm afraid that if I try something, they'll hate me." Shinta rose an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?" Naruto looked at the she-kitsune, furrowing his eyebrows. "We're friends; they don't view me as anything else but that." "And how do you know that?" This time, the kitsune couldn't asnwer; he couldn't because he didn't know if Sasuke and Sakura liked him like that or not.

Shinta smirked. "Well, then that gives you a good reason to find out." She said, wiggling her eyebrows. Naruto snorted, looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "And how am I suppose to do that?" Shinta only winked before smirking again, trotting off to leave Naruto confused.

"Tell me how everything goes when you return, Naruto-sama." She barked over her shoulder; and, with that last comment lingering in Naruto's head, she disappeared into the thick bushes. The kitsune lowered his ears with more annoyance; that last sentence was going to kill him until he found out.

'Oh well, I can't go after her...' He thought, sighing in defeat and closing his eyes. 'Might as well keep mo-'

His train of thought broke and his eyes snapped open, oval-shaped pupils narrowing into slits. He completely stopped from his trot, causing the wagon to jerk and waking Kakashi and Sakura in the process. Sasuke merely glared at the kitsune's head, his displeasure of being startled obvious. "What are you stopping for-"

"Shhhhhh..."

It was Naruto who shushed the Uchiha, ears swivelling like radars and his tails completely still. Sasuke read through the signs of alertness and cursed under his breath, drawing a kunai. Kakashi and Sakura seemed to catch on to Naruto's animal-like movements and got off the wagon, each drawing their own weapon.

Dark eyes blinked when Naruto suddenly tensed up, unhitching himself from the wagon. The kitsune then got down into a low crouch on all four and perked his ears, turning his head over to the left. Sasuke followed his gaze, sensing that something, indeed, was there.

"Shit..." Naruto cursed, catching Sakura off gaurd at the seriousness of his voice. "...Naruto?" She whispered, only to be shushed by Kakashi. "Stay still..." He whispered, still staring at the kitsune's every movement. All three pairs of eyes were trained on the blonde, watching as he slowly crept towards the thicket of trees he was staring at.

Naruto crept closer, and Sasuke felt the tension build with each forward motion the kitsune made; he was getting closer to the trees. He moved forward once more, and again, and again until he was underneath the trees, ears perked forward with cerulean eyes narrowing with concentration.

Silence... nothing happened...

The blonde stared at the trees for a couple more moments before slowly turning around, his back facing the said trees.

A loud roar rang out, and a giant furry arm shot out at Naruto. The blonde dodged it narrowly, letting out a curse as he jumped into a tree. He didn't stay there long, for he jumped away again to dodge the other arm. Sasuke quickly reacted; he lundged forward to dodge the incoming tail, Sakura and Kakashi leaping in the opposite direction. He then whirled around and threw his kunai at whatever was attacking, only to watch as the beast easily deflected it with its claws.

It lowered its hand from its face, giving everyone a good look of its appearance; it made everyone but Naruto falture.

This creature had black fur, its burning gold eyes contrasting fiercely with the dark color. It's body, lithe and lean, was packing with muscles, powerful limbs qwuivering at its movements. It fangs were easily longer tha Sasuke's forearms, the canines bared and dripping with drool. It resembled a cat, a panther, possibally, whiskers twitching with fierce rage and thick tail lashing behind it. Its paws took on the form of hands, unsheathed long claws tipping the ends. Worst of all, it was rather large, probably bigger than a cabin.

Sakura took a step back and let out a small gasp of shock, while Kakashi only seemed to get tense. Sasuke tensed up himself, but what made him frustrated was the fact that Naruto didn't tense.

He wasn't afraid of the beast.

In fact, Naruto was an all fours, baring his fangs and snarling at the feline creature; Sasuke had never seen such an animalistic display from his teammate. The panther snarled back, fur bristling and golden eyes shining angrily. They circled until the animal had its back to the rest of Team Seven, and suddenly, Sasuke understood what Naruto was doing.

He was distracting the creature for them to strike. The Uchiha looked over at Kakashi, who nodded. Sakura seemed to get the hint and pulled out several shurikan, positioning herself in the trees. Then, without further hesitation, Sasuke and Kakashi lunged, each throwing many kunai knives and shurikan stars. The bearst realed and screeched in agony, snapping its head around to glare at the incoming ninjas.

But, when it tried to turn to attack, it realed up again, roaring as Naruto lashed out with his claws. The attack left several gashes in its back, causing the creature to whirl again to try and pounce the kitsune. It was futile.

Sasuke made handsigns and took in a deep breath. 'Fire Style: Pheonix Fire Jutsu!' He summoned, bucking forward and letting out a large stream of fire. The flames hit it's mark squarely, burning the wounds on its back. This caused it to snarl in agony, shaking its head to clear its mind from the pain. Snapping it's eyes open angrily, it lashed out with its thick tail, catching the surprised Kakashi and Sasuke with the blow and sending them crashing into the trees. Sakura then made her move, throwing her shurikan at the unsespecting animal.

The weapons hit the creature in both eyes, blinding it, and causing it to scream in more agony. "Blasted human!" It roared as it shook its head, blood flying as it did so.

'So, it can speak.' Sasuke thought, still wincing as he pulled himself up from the ground. Kakashi was already up and running full speed, not caring if the animal could talk or not. He himself made handsigns and summond the Chidori, the energy licking at his fingers as he ran. He lowered his hand to the ground to allow friction, keeping the jutsu going until he reached the animal.

"Come here!" Naruto called out, sinking his claws into the creature's front leg and struggling to hold it still. Sasuke and Sakura oblidged, rushing forward and grabbing hold of its other front leg and attempting to hold down. They didn't last as long as Naruto, getting lifted when the panther raised its paw to attempt to shake them off.

It was enough time, though.

Being now blinded, the animal could see Kakashi leap high into the air, only to bring his Chidori wielding and down on its cranium at full force. It's body bucked and it screamed, flailing its legs at it tried to escape; but it was futile. Kakashi grunted and he pushed harder, forcing his hand through its skull and impaling its brain.

The feline's movements stilled and it collasped in a heap, blood pooling around it from its wounds. Kakashi yanked his hand free from the corpse and sighed in relief, cracking his neck. "Well, that was eventful." He said, shaking his blood-covered hand to rid it from the crimson liquid.

"Everyone okay?" Sakura nodded, and Sasuke simply 'Hn'ed, while Naruto grunted in answer. The Uchiha gazed at him from the corner of his eye and, to his surprise, saw the kitsune grasp at his side, blood trailing from between his fingers; it was obvious that the kitsune was injured. But what frustrated Sasuke more was the fact that he didn't say anything about it.

Before he could even comment about the matter, Kakashi let out a loud sigh. "Let's go a little farther and set up camp for the night. After this little battle, there might be more of those things out there." Naruto nodded and walked past his teammates, completely ignoring them; it made Sasuke rather mad for some odd reason.

His weird behavior... the Uchiha wanted to know what the reason behind the odd behavior Naruto was showing, and he swore to find out about it by night, in one way or another.

--

There's Chapter Two! And it looks like Sasuke's about to take matters into his own hands... hehehe. Hopefully, Sakura may tag along to help our favorite Uchiha in his quest.

Anyhoo, for those who reads my other fanfics, my Labor to Love fic is DISCONTINUED. I'm terribly sorry, but the ideas for this fic has ran completely dry after all these newer ideas came rushing to me. So, don't look forward for any posting in that fic. Although, there may be a high possibility that I will start posting in it after I get myself situated here.

Well, with that said and done, I thank you for your audience and Chapter three is in progress.

Happy Hunting!