Crimson Fox Ch: 6

Kurama yawned into the back of his hand, tired and bored. Though at the moment he just wanted some kind of booze, any booze really… Just seeing Naruto so depressed made the fox demon know that he would be in for one hell of a ride in the future so he may as well prepare himself. Even if alcohol didn’t really affect him it made him feel better at the very least.

Walking up to the door, Kurama cursed to himself when he saw there were a lot of people in the bar. Sure, the owner didn’t have a problem with him but a lot of people still did because he was Naruto’s side kick. Sighing softly, he closed his eyes and started to change his appearance a bit. Changing his crimson eyes into a soft brown, removing his tails and fox ears to make him appear more human. Then finally he changed the colour of his hair to a lighter shade of red. He may change his appearance, but there was one thing that he wouldn’t completely change and that was his hair colour.

Running a hand through his long bangs, the demon man made his way into the bar, the owner as usual behind the counter smiled at Kurama and waved at him. “Hey Kurama, how are ya?” asked the owner. The man, named Sai had really pale skin and short black hair. It was rather amazing that this guy was always so carefree and happy that it was almost creepy but Kurama also knew that this was the only bar that wouldn’t kick him out because of who he was.

“Same old Sai. Crimson Fox escaped and like you see, he took over the town. Now he’s depressed because he had no one to fight.” Kurama said with a sigh before taking up a stool at the bar and ordered his drink. His chin resting on his palm as he thought about how Naruto was acting. Sure the guy was headstrong and did what he wanted, but to see him so depressed because he had no one to fight? Well that was a new one, so he had no idea how to help his friend this time.

Sai gave Kurama his drink before saying “so, what do you think will happen now?” Kurama looked up at the bartender before shrugging his shoulders. To be honest he didn’t have a single clue as to what would happen now that Naruto ruled over Konoha. It was rather odd that he would be bored with it in such a short amount of time though Kurama was curious as to what they would end up doing now… So many things could happen though the scientist had no idea what they could end up doing.

“To be honest Sai I don’t know. Crimson Fox doesn’t really have much of anything to do now that Night Hawk is dead. Hell, he doesn’t even think he has a purpose anymore. Sure I’m happy that he won’t go to jail anymore but now… he has nothing to do.” Kurama said with a sigh as he took a drink of his beer. Though the fox demon had to admit, he himself was bored and a bit lonely.

Sure, Naruto felt something for Hinata, but didn’t act upon it though it may be for the best since she was a human and humans have shorter lifespans than both he and Naruto have. Demons could live for thousands of years while human’s, if lucky could live maybe a little over eighty something. Maybe seventy though that was hard to say to be honest… Yet he didn’t know what he really wanted…

“Maybe just have him do something else? After all, I know you and Crimson Fox aren’t really bad people, no matter what he believes.” Sai said with smile before going over to help more customers. Kurama just sighed softly as he listened to all the sounds that surrounded him. There were a few people here with some friends, just having a good time and a few of course were talking about how Naruto had taken over the town. Sighing softly, the young man sank at his seat at the bar as he tried to get himself to think of something else… Maybe thinking about math and science will help him…

Shaking his head, Kurama buried his head against his arms as he tried to get himself to relax. Turning his head over he saw a few guys huddled in the corner, there was something up about them. Kurama didn’t know what they were doing. His ears couldn’t pick up on their words though he wasn’t sure what it was but now the looks on their face was enough to make Kurama a little uneasy. Sighing softly, Kurama turned his gaze away from the men and sat up before taking another slug of his beer.

“So Kurama, ya know what I think you need?” said Sai as he appeared back in front of him. Honestly, the fox demon swore that this guy was some kind of ninja in a past life.

“What is it Sai? What could I possibly need?”

“Well, both you and Crimson Fox could use a woman in your lives. Ya know a girlfriend for both of you.” Sai said with his smile in place.

Shaking his head, Kurama leaned back a bit though not too far back so he wouldn’t fall over. Of all the things the bartender could suggest it was that of all things?! Placing his hand on his forehead, Kurama slid it down his face as he said “I can’t do that. Crimson Fox and I aren’t human; we would easily out live everyone that we know in this moment by thousands of years. Besides, who would want either myself or Crimson Fox? In case you forgot Sai no one likes us. We’re demons, we’re the bad guys, and we don’t get the girls.”

Sai just chuckled as he said “true, but you guys aren’t really as bad as people think you are. After all, if you were bad I wouldn’t let you in my bar and I would have kicked you out long ago Kurama. But I know you’re a good guy. Here, this ones on the house tonight.” With that said, he gave Kurama another bottle of beer before he went to clean up some tables.

“Let go of me!” shouted a woman’s voice, causing Kurama to lift his head in confusion. Standing by the entrance were those men that he had seen talking across the bar. It seemed that they were trying to torment a poor defenceless woman. OF all the things that men had to do it was to torment a woman? Shaking his head, the young man didn’t want to get himself involved until he heard what the men were saying.

“Come on baby, why don’t you want to party with us? I bet… it’ll be worth your while…” said one of the men with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I bet we could all… have some fun…”

“I don’t want to hang out with you!” shouted the woman.

“You so sure? We could all go back to my friend’s place and have some fun in bed…”

Kurama turned his head and stared at the group, and saw how they suddenly grabbed at the woman as she struggled for freedom. Okay, that was a sure sign that they were gonna sleep with her no matter what. Getting off the bar stool, Kurama made his way over toward the men and growled at them. “Hey, leave her alone.” The men turned and stared at Kurama with a raised eyebrow, it was as if they were trying to figure out what kind of harm this guy could do though at the moment they saw nothing. “If you don’t let go of her, I will have to teach you three a lesson.”

“Look nerd, there is no way that you can take one of us on, let alone all three of us.” Said one of the men with a laugh. Kurama though just narrowed his eyes at them with anger and hatred. Sure, he was a nerd, and he also didn’t like to fight but these were one of those times where he would fight. One of them threw a fist at Kurama, only for the fox demon to easily catch it and bend his wrist backward. “Ah!” cried out the man as he fell to his knees.

“The hell?” Said one of the other men before shaking their head and rushed at Kurama. The man turned his head and stared at the man before moving to the left and smacked the back of the guy’s neck quick, and painless. Though of course hard enough to knock him out with the side of his hand. He still wouldn’t hurt them too bad, maybe hurt their pride but other than that nothing more.

Soon Kurama’s stared sharply at the last man from the corner of his eye as he said “you wanna try me next or you going to be smart and leave with no injuries?” The man gulped before he ran off as fast as he could. Taking a deep breath, Kurama walked over the two fallen men and made his way over toward the woman and when she lifted her head from the shock Kurama could have sworn that his heart stop beating in his chest.

The woman is a tall, slender woman that appears to be in her early thirties. She has green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin.

She wore a simple blue dress that in a way made him think of a blouse with a dress combined if that was even possible. Her legs were covered in stockings and then of course she wore some black heels. He could swear that she had just gotten off of work and it had him curious as to what she did for a living. Hell, Kurama couldn’t help but stare at her eyes… or at least the one that wasn’t covered by her hair. It was as if it was sucking him in like a black hole. Her red lips were held tightly in a straight line as if she was nervous about something.

“Um… are… are you okay miss?” Asked Kurama, feeling his throat be a little dry at the moment. His heart was now starting to pick up in speed and he never knew that would be even possible in the first place. His palms started to feel a little sweaty and he felt a little hot under the collar.

“Yeah I’m okay… thank you. I was starting to think there weren’t any more good men out in the world.” Said the women with a small smile. Kurama’s face went redder than he thought would have been possible. Hell, he even felt his nails start to sharpen into claws from him losing a bit of focus on his transformation. He didn’t know why he felt this way but maybe it was because she was a beautiful woman and… well… he was a nerd to be frank.

“Are you okay though? You look a little red.” The woman said with a frown.

“I’m fine… um… would you like a drink? I’ll buy…” Kurama said with a smile, wanting to make her feel a little better though prayed that nothing else would happen to her tonight. The look he got from her though, it was one of… distrust? Does she know that he is a villain? Or was it something else? He couldn’t really be sure but it did make him frown a little as he asked “are you okay? What’s the matter?”

“You’re not just trying to be nice to me so you can get something are you?” the woman said with a cross of her arms. Okay, that did hurt a little bit. If there was one thing Kurama knew, it was that he wasn’t going to hurt a woman. The mere thought of it made him sick to his stomach… “You’re not going to be like every other man that I’ve ever met or offered to ‘buy’ me a drink.”

Kurama held up his hands in defence as he said “relax miss… I did not mean to upset you I just thought after that you would like to have a drink. Nothing more, Sai is the one that prepares them I promise you.” The woman just stared at him for a moment, as if trying to think that he was trying to pull something. In a way, Kurama felt his heart clutch at the thought of her distrust in him… then again, the only woman that he’s ever been in contact with was Hinata but that was different. Holding out his hand, he said “I’m Kurama… nice to meet you.”

“I’m Mei… it’s nice to meet you Kurama.” She said with a soft smile on her face.

***

Hinata stood in front of the Night Hawk Museum; she had found it rather odd that Crimson Fox hasn’t made any other moves though she wasn’t going to complain. The city was filled with fear that he would hurt or worse, kill them like he did Night Hawk. Hinata looked ahead at Kabuto as he was rolling, it was the last news report for her shift and she just wanted to get it done and enjoy herself before she made her way home for the night. Taking a deep breath she said “this is Hinata Hyuuga, and here I am standing in front of the Night Hawk Museum.” Hinata had started, her eyes filled with a sadness that she never knew she could feel at a young age.

“We should pray for Night Hawk tonight, for it had been a week or… maybe even longer. Time flies I guess you can say.” Hinata said, her eyes still looking ahead. “Maybe we had taken him for granted while he protected us and now… well… now he’s gone. The saying really is true, you don’t know what you have until it is gone and with Night Hawk gone, so is our peace in this city.” The young woman felt like she was going to fall apart, that she would break down and all onto her knees as she cried into her hands but right now, she had to finish this short news report.

“Night Hawk was always there for us… he never asked for anything in return and now… he cannot do anything for us. The only thing he can do is watch us from the heavens and maybe that is all he can do for us now is to watch us from above.” Hinata sighed softly before running a hand through her bangs as she stared at Kabuto who was giving her a thumbs up. Why was he doing that anyway? “And now… I have a message for Crimson Fox… are you happy? You won Crimson Fox and does that make you happy now? To know that you killed our hero and now rule over this city?”

To be honest, Hinata knew that she wouldn’t get an answer from the demon in the first place. Taking a deep breath, she finished off the news report as she said “well, that is all for tonight, this is Hinata Hyuuga, signing off.” With that, she made a cutting motion with her hand for Kabuto who had shut off the camera.

“That was great Hinata, you should have that news report wrapped up and handed to a snake on Christmas morning!” Hinata flinched at the word ‘snake’ still dealing with the panic attack she felt with when Crimson Fox had kidnapped her a while ago… She never wanted to talk about snakes ever again though she knew that she had to ask him what he meant by giving a present to a snake on Christmas morning… that made NO sense to her… Not at all in the least and in fact, it just down right confused the poor blue haired woman.

Hinata handed the microphone to Kabuto as she said “I’m gonna go finish some stuff up in here so… I’ll see you tomorrow okay?” To be honest, she wanted to pay some last respects to Sasuke, he was her friend and she still found it hard to believe that he’s gone. It almost seemed like a dream to be honest, one that she could never wake up from. Yawning softly, she started to make her way up the stairs until she heard a voice…

“Hinata wait up a second!” Kabuto said as he ran up the stairs to catch up to the blue haired reporter. Hinata stared at him for a moment, curious as to what he had to say to her. Was it so important that he had to stop her when she really just wanted to be alone? It was hard to say though she wasn’t one to ignore him to be honest… even if he was really creepy. He smiled a bit as he said “I was wondering if you wanted to come over. I’m throwing a party, it’ll be awesome. Games, music, awesome food it’ll be amazing.”

Hinata frowned a bit; he wanted to invite her to a party? To be honest she’s seen his apartment and knew that it couldn’t hold that many people. Mostly it was full of all his pet snakes. That was the last time she offered to go into his apartment to get him and make sure he was up in time for work. Never… again… “Sorry Kabuto I… I don’t want to be around people right now I have a lot on my plate to be honest.”

“No but that’s the best part Hinata! It’ll be just you and me!” He said that with a big grin on his face. As soon as he had said that she gave him a weirded out smile as he went on by adding “I also hired a wedding photographer so we could remember the party for the rest of our lives ya know?” Okay now it went to a new level of creepy.

“Sorry Kabuto I’ll have to pass… like I said I have too much on my plate.” She gave him a small smile before she started to make her way into the museum. She waved over her shoulder saying “night Kabuto, I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, she kept on walking up the stairs, for she felt that this would be her last chance to say her last respects for Sasuke. After all, she hadn’t had the time to do it before because of all the news reports and this was the last one she had for tonight so now… well, it just felt like it would be the last chance that she would ever have.

Yet, at the same time she just hoped that no one would be around to hear her say what she was saying because they may think that she wasn’t just crazy or nuts but also grieving for her ‘boyfriend’…

Meanwhile Naruto sat on the ring walkway that resided around the giant rotating statue of Night Hawk. The statue was a good likeness of the dead hero, and him holding up a globe of the world on his left hand as he held it straight up. Naruto just stared at the statue as he said “who would have thought I’d miss getting my ass kicked by you… To think, I finally did win, I got Konoha and now I’m bored out of my mind.” He laughed softly to himself, though the laugh was sad and depressed.

Sure, over the years Naruto hated the man, hated Night Hawk with a passion and wanted nothing more than to kill him. Now that he was dead, he finally could take over Konoha but… now he didn’t have anything to do and it made him sad and bored. Made him feel like he had no real purpose in the world anymore. It felt like he had lost that purpose and that gave him nothing more to look forward to. What was he to do now though? He had everything, yet at the same time he had nothing. Hell, seeing part of Hinata’s news report even made him feel more depressed and he didn’t think that was even possible!

Taking a gaze upon the statue, Naruto just sighed all the more as he leaned over the railing and looked up at the blank expression of the masked hero. It was pretty odd that he wore a mask all his life though maybe that was because he wanted to hide his face for when he showed off his power. As for Naruto himself, he didn’t bother with the mask, believing that it would be a crime to hide his handsome face. Now though, he didn’t know if it had been a good thing… sure, people were afraid of him now but now he couldn’t go anywhere without people freaking out unless he changed his appearance…

Tails swaying from side to side in a sad way, Naruto closed his eyes before standing up and looked at the necklace that his parents gave him as he lifted it on his palm. Many things in his life never made sense… such as why his parents had said that this would protect him… so far it hadn’t done anything to keep him safe… then of course why Night Hawk had also been chosen to this realm… or even why he, himself had been chosen to come to this realm… Hell, no one even liked him, the only person that could tolerate him was Kurama and that was because they grew up together…

“Why does this all have to be so complicated?! Does destiny hate me so much that it has to bite me in the ass and kick me to the curb?!” shouted Naruto, just wanting all of this to end though he had no idea how this was all going to go in his favour. Laughing to himself a bit, Naruto looked down as he saw all of the fox cubs setting up the bomb explosions to blow this place up. “At least this will be the only good thing about today! I can blow this shit up!”

“Hello?” said a new voice.

Naruto’s fox ears stood up straight as he looked over and then started to sniff the air. Crap, it was Hinata! Panicking, he started to make a break for it; he didn’t want her to see that he was here! It was bad enough that he killed the only one that gave him a challenge and to be seen at his museum was a sign that he cared about the guy’s death! He couldn’t be seen like this!

Though luck would have it, Naruto would slip on the floor and groan in pain. Damn it, why did he have to slip on a glass floor?! Looking over his shoulder, he winced a bit, thinking that he would be found out… unless… It was a long shot but since he was wearing different clothes he wouldn’t have to worry about it too much. He could at least transform long enough to get himself and Hinata out of here before the place blew up… not to mention he was also happy that no one else was in the building…

Closing his eyes, Naruto focused on a form for him to take, it would be difficult for him since he didn’t have that much power to maintain a different form for long unlike Kurama who had been gifted with two tails, but had the power of a fox with maybe five… he couldn’t really be sure… Soon, his blonde hair started to turn crimson, and the spikes in his hair started to smooth out until some of his hair hung over his eyes. His whisker marks soon started to fade soon after, as did his fox tails and ears. Though his fox ears had been replaced with human ears.

Rubbing his face, Naruto felt his claws and fangs disappear as he tried to get himself to stand up. Even transforming took some energy out of him though it would be worth it in the long run. “Hello?” came Hinata’s voice, causing Naruto to look up and saw her gasp at him softly. “You alright?” She asked, rushing over to Naruto and helping him to his feet. Gulping a bit, Naruto couldn’t help but blush, it was new for him to see Hinata being nice to him though… it was a pleasant feeling. Now he was really glad he wore a muscle shirt and baggy pants at night before he went to bed. She didn’t know it was him…

“I’m fine… thank you. Um… if I may as miss why are you here?” Naruto was so glad right now that he had picked up from Kurama how to speak to a woman or she’d know who he was…

“I was just here paying my respects… To be honest I was just about to leave, maybe we could go down the elevator together.” Hinata said with a smile before making her way to the elevator. “Oh, I’m Hinata by the way.”

Naruto smiled as he followed Hinata to the elevator and walked in with her. “I’m…” Crap, he had to think of a name and fast! Damn it, why did he have to speak in the first place?! He could have pretended to be mute right? Hm… wait… “I’m Naruto Uzumaki.” Naruto said with a smile as he and Hinata made their way down the elevator. Looking up, he saw the statue getting further and further away as he sighed softly.

“It’s sad isn’t it? That Night Hawk is gone… I never thought it would be possible.”

“Yeah…” whispered Naruto before letting out a sad sigh. The elevator ride wasn’t very long and for that he was thankful, it was weird how close he was to Hinata, or at least for how long he had been close to her, this was longer than on the days he’d kidnap her! Running a hand through his hair, Naruto said “to be honest, I thought he’d do a last minute escape.” He laughed softly only to let out a soft sigh.

“Don’t worry Naruto… I’m sure that there will be a new hero. After all, so long as there is evil there will always be a hero in the making to take it down.” Hinata said with a bright smile on her face.

“A… hero in the making…?” He whispered, his mind starting to go into over drive at the thought. Hm… a hero in the making huh? That was starting to give him an idea; in fact, it may be enough for him to get everything back to the way it was! Grinning, he grabbed Hinata said “come on Hinata, a big day is ahead for everyone!” After that, he managed to get Hinata into a cab, and of course giving her his number and vice versa, and then waved bye to her, everything had seemed like it was nothing more than a blur since she gave him that idea but hey, it would be worth it!

Turning back to the museum, he grinned saying “hear that Night Hawk?!” His form soon changed back as he said “there will be a new hero and nothing will stop me from enjoying my- AH!” He shouted as the building exploded, and the debris from the building started to aim toward him. Jumping out of the way, Naruto shouted “okay now I’m scared!!!” rolling on the ground he started to make a mad dash away from the building… a new idea boiling within his mind.