NARUTO CATEGORY! does the dance of glee Er, ahem.

Why did I write this? I can't say I'm very much like Naruto--not at all--but I empathize with him. I'm on his side even while I laugh at him. That's probably a good deal of the reason I like the series, so I'll indulge myself.
This is dedicated to the 90-some people who voted for the nine tails as their favorite character. As well as to the thousands of porn-reading dog owners who voted for Kakashi, because it amuses me.

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He prowled the area silently, his presence known but not felt. A ghost, he left all untouched, merely observing, not correcting, for the moment. Most things happened perfectly well without his interference; it was not his constant protection that was really needed, but his momentary feats of boundless strength. Between these moments were endless years. He had played all the games he knew how to play, once, twice, thrice. He had played all the tricks he knew how to play, and they only got easier and less enjoyable each time. He had tricked both the good and the evil, bringing some to their downfall and others to gain. He was a force of karma or a force of nature; more and more, though, he fell back into the kitsune's natural role, that of protector. That was fine for between centuries, but he was old. A mere hundred years and he would ascend to the next plane; away from this world of colored lights and warm dead birds.

Warm dead birds? Squeaks and the smell of blood, the taste of fleshed fibers, damp moss under his paw pads. The beautiful, tactile world was slipping from him, and here he was, ghosting through trees and brush, the lovely scratches of shoots and the rub of leaves lost on him.

He continued on quicker, restlessly. He had felt this in his third and fifth centuries. But not like this; he needed, for once, to be involved. He needed some unsurpassable test, some unpullable prank, some iron chicken coop. Ha. How beneath him that was. He prowled faster, encompassing the wide ranges of his territory with short bounds. What could he steal, besides the moon and the stars? He was feeling tempted to feed off the energy of the sun, although he had seen reckless foxes blind themselves before. He could not risk that, not when he was so close to ascending to heaven.

He was so preoccupied he almost missed it. A human settlement, here in his perfect lands. It seemed stable, too stable. How long had it been here? It was nestled between valleys, nondescript, unassuming, but he should have noticed. He paced straight through it, pale haired old men and brats looking up at his absent form. Along the path, no, no, the road, a road in his territory, carrying carts and human settlement... at the other end he found a bustling town, a city almost.

That was the beginning of the end, he knew. His land was completely untouched, a rare thing. A precious thing, his purpose to protect.

Well, the very least he could do was put the fear of god in them. After all, he was a servant of Inari, and could hardly be faulted.

The pale-haired ones were joined by the rest of the populace in craning their necks as the giant furred figure appeared in the air as if it had parted for his passing. One scream was heard; that was all it took for the people to run in panic. Others immediately flocked to consult their elders--making them vulnerable targets to the playfully flailing tails, which scattered them across the hills. Some attacked first and seemed to be swallowed by his fur. All this within the first few moments--then formations were made and attacks calculated in a way that made the kitsune blink.

These people... he sniffed, sucking many a potential hero into his lungs... these people, they were standing their ground like a mother over its young.

He raised his head in disbelief. After the first moment, the people were united. This village--he thought, even as the attack formations failed and the sealing formations grew--this village was full of protectors?!

This was his thought as he faded into the belly of a newly orphaned child. That and...

I am among my own already. This will be fun.