Two Foxes and a Bat

Summary: When the Chidori and the Rasengan clashed for the final time at the Valley of the End, the influx of power sent Naruto deep into the Makai…and coincidently right into Yoko Kurama's lap. Uh-oh…how's he getting out of this one? Warning: Heavy dosages of Yaoi and AU in later chapters (In the case of the Yu Yu Hakusho realm).

Normal: "Talkin' to you Dumbass"

Thinking: 'Oh shit not this prick again...'

Makai: "Ha! Understand this Bitch!"

Telepathy: 'You do realise I can read your mind?'

Kitsune: 'Well I'm fucked, erm...woof?'

Note if something is in italics in the middle of speech or thought it generally means that that particular word is stressed. The same goes in reverse during the Makian speech and telepathy.

Yaoi, don't like it? Then don't read it. Seriously.

Note, not really sure on the pairings any-more, it's been a while and my tastes have...changed over the years, matured you could say. Also be aware that Demons age much slower than humans (unless they are inhabiting a human body -coughkuramacough-).

As a further note, it is stated in the YYH anime that demons don't have heart beats, I'ma gonna fudge this a little and say that they do, only that they beat veeeeeeeeery slowly. Like one beat every few minutes.

Apologies for the incredible lateness. I've been trying for ages to write this chapter and nothing wanted to come out. Three days ago? Bam! Inspiration. Let's hope it keeps...

Chapter 3: Something's Not Quite Right...

"So...I'm confused."

The Thieving duo were currently residing in their tree-house den, a specially grown Makai tree with a strong bark and a decent resistance to fire. Yoko had be exceptionally careful to pick a fairly common breed to avoid other demons deciding to try and brave the forest to chop it down for materials. He had manipulated it to grow widely with a hollow centre and had made it produce holes periodically up the entire length of the main trunk through which he had directed a creeper plant to grow and act as floors for them as it covered the outside of their home.

Obviously it was a highly dangerous plant, very rare and very easily mistaken for it's harmless cousin that usually grew in these parts- a good line of defence should the need ever arise.

The floor they were currently on was covered with a lush green moss with the odd big leafed plant sprouting here and there doubling as tables and chairs as required. It was cool and soft, perfect for burying your bumps and bruises in if you've just been whacked on the head by your partner who can't take a little bit of teasing.

Kuronue...drooped...really it was the only way to describe him. He was sat there looking sorry for himself as he nursed the rather prominent bump on his head, occasionally glancing over at Yoko and the little golden ball of fluff in his lap.

Really it was the darnedest thing, one minute he's got the cutest little fox-boy ever sleeping in his arms, purring at him like no tomorrow and the next poof! Transformation mist erupts from the kid and there's what appears to be a hairball left in his place when it clears.

Balefully rolling his golden eyes Yoko snorted. "You're always confused, be more specific." He shifted a little, leaning back into the foliage that rose to greet him and formed a sort of lounging chair which he settled into as he pulled the kit further up his chest, closer to his heart beat.

Kuronue raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Oh really? You're gonna do the insult game now?' and Yoko scowled back at him. "Spoilsport." He muttered before continuing "But yes, I get it. He's too small like this, barely looks like he could be over ten years old. He definitely looked over fifty before he transformed, the discrepancy is...worrying..."

Removing his hands from his head and leaning forwards, craning his neck to get a better look at the Kit, Kuronue understood. He could see little tufts of grey here and there on the little guy's fur, remnants of Kitten-hood if what he remembered about Kitsune was correct. "Yeah.." he breathed "Kid shouldn't even be away from his mother at this point, I doubt he's even been weaned...will that be a problem do you think? If he gets hungry can we feed him?"

His mind was going a mile a minute, how in the Hell were they gonna raise a kid? He shouldn't be away from his mother at this point, but there was no trace of any other scent, Kitsune, demon or otherwise on him, nothing that screamed 'MOTHER!' anyway. How had he survived this long?

The older Fox tilted his head, considering. After a few moments he nodded "Yes, I do believe I have a plant that produces a nectar of sorts that could feed him, it's not mothers milk but it is highly nutritious and it wouldn't harm him to have it. It's the best we can get for now until he grows older when we can start giving him more solid foods."

Shuffling lower into the seat his sharp eyes trailed over the small form laying on his chest, mind growing distant as he thought back.

"Ironically the plant uses this substance to lure very young demons into it's mouth so it can devour them. A quite frankly gruesome species, it is responsible for the rather high mortality rate of young orphaned demons." Giving himself a small shake he looked over at the bat chimera and gave a slow grin. "On the bright side for us the nectar was designed specially to smell and taste pleasing to the little ones, so we can be sure this one won't kick up a fuss come mealtime."

Kuronue just sat there with a weird look on his face for a few minutes, trying to get the words to make sense in his brain. Considering that most plant life in the Makai was at least partially sentient the thought that this particular type had grown and adapted to that kind of diet, specifically engineering it's self to attract the easiest and most helpless meal...it sent shivers down his spine just thinking about it...speaking of...

"The fact that you know that is creepy on so many levels I don't know even where to begin...oh wait, here's a good place: Why the fuck do you even have something like that in your collection in the first place?!"

Seriously, seriously weirding him out here. How did he even come across one in the first place? Did it try to eat him or so- "It tried to eat you didn't it?" He blurted, blinking stupidly, "Damn thing tried to eat the Plant Master Yoko Kurama so of course you had to keep it."

Chuckling, the Plant Master went to reply "Well of course-oh..." He paused, looking at the baby...well their baby now he supposed, as he started to move, tiny paws shifting as cute little snuffing sounds issued from his nose. "Well well well, finally awake I see." Smiling down at the little bundle he reached up and flicked two seeds behind him.

Channelling his power he grew the two plants with barely a thought, one the infamous 'Baby Snatcher' plant, very much resembling the human Pitcher plant and the other a fairly sturdy non lethal flora whose oddly shaped leaves made excellent bowls.

As the kit slowly awakened he instructed the the pitcher plant to produce enough nectar to fill one of the bowl-like leaves and had it tilt so it would pour in automatically. In the meantime, Kuronue had wiggled his way over and was all but surgically attached to his left shoulder, cooing as the ball of fluff woke and stared at him.

He exhaled a soft sigh, there were those eyes, those pretty pretty little blue eyes. If he hadn't smelled like a full Kitsune he would have sworn there was some water demon ancestry in there somewhere.

"Hey there, welcome back to the world of the waking." He kept his voice low and smooth, smiling as he reached up with his right hand and brushed his fingers through the fur on the back of his ears, chuckling low in his throat as they twitched and the kit automatically tried to bat his hand away. He bounced a little and wound up stumbling to the side as he overbalanced himself, nearly slipping off as he tottered too close to the edge...

Kuronue was there though, hand steady and pushing him back to safety still murmuring meaningless words, slowly nudging him back to his previous position over Kurama's heart. Hearts were good, the slow thump every now and again was a comfort to most children, reminiscent of their time in the womb and served to calm them down. Most of the time.

Instead of settling down though the Kit startled; jerking and kicking his paws out yipping and snarling trying to back away from the both of them apparently not caring of the slight drop to the floor that would surely hurt him. Kuronue again used his hand to try and herd him closer except this time the fox snapped at his hand, darting away down Yoko's chest and towards the ground-only to be scooped back up by Yoko himself this time, one hand securely gripping him around the middle.

He yowled. If it hadn't been for the fact that the bat knew that Kurama would never hurt a kit he would have thought for sure that he was in pain the way he struggled and screeched trying to break free, paws scratching a Yoko's pale hands, trying to turn enough in the grip to bite at slender fingers.

There were a few more indignant yelps from the kit and some answering grumbles from Yoko before Kuronue realised with a start that they were communicating. Feeling a little left out he backed away a little to give them some room.

The Older Kitsune growled, sitting up and bringing his captive closer shifting as he sent a bit of power into the squirming youngster, manipulating it to trigger the transformation to change him back into his demon form. It would be a bit more troublesome to control him like this but there was much less chance of him falling and hurting himself.

Seeing as how the little one wasn't listening to him anyway, yelling at him to let go, leave him alone and put me down you ass-hole-! he really wasn't in the mood to compromise. With a final jolt of energy the transformation begun-

'What are you doing!?'

-and ended with pop and burst of white smoke.

Barely a moment later a weight landed on him as he lost his grip on the kit, who had somehow twisted out of his hold and now had a hand on his throat and he could guess-He jerked his head to the side, a small fist embedded in the green plant behind him as the punch aimed at his temple missed, the remaining smoke twisting and slowly dispersing still shielding him from view.

Less than a second later the hand shifted, gripping the leaf as the boy kicked off and flipped over him, the hand on his throat disappearing as he darted away out of the smoke.

Kuronue's startled shout gave him some concern, but at the forefront of his mind all he could think of was that the kit was much lighter than what he had been before when he first encountered him, and he was wondering if maybe...

Turning himself over and leaning on the lip of the plant he watched Kuronue attempt, and fail, at catching the quick child. He was smaller than before, still a bit older than his fox form suggested, but younger looking than when he first fell on them. It was niggling at him, the discrepancy...something was strange and it was on the tip of his tongue.

Kuronue could feel the grin splitting his face. Sure, the kid popping out of the smoke was surprising, he'd have thought Yoko would have had a better grip on him, but this was great!

He felt a laugh bubble up out chest as he darted to the side, barely missing the fist aimed at his sternum. The boy had at first ran around, looking for a way out, before deciding beating him into a pulp was a good idea since all the exits were sealed (thank-you Yoko).

He was quick. Never stopping for more than a moment and practically bouncing off the wall-scratch that, he was bouncing off the walls, using them as platforms to quickly change his momentum so he could attack from odd angles. A leg came flying at his head and he ducked, feeling it brush his hair and nick his left wing. Time to fight back.

"Ha!"

He'd aimed carefully, controlling the force he was putting into his punch, aiming to hit him on side of his temple and daze him a little, only he wasn't there any more.

"Eh...where'd h-!"

For a moment he thought he saw stars, the brat's foot slamming into his jaw throwing him back head-first into the wall. "Ergh...ow...Kurama no laughing~!" He whined gingerly touching his second bump of the night and then checking his jaw that was already starting to swell a little, the other kitsune stifling his snickers in his fist. He looked over at his assailant, pouting a bit. "What'd you do that for? You're not supposed to hit an injured person!"

The boy, crouched on the floor, gave him a sour look, clearly unimpressed with his moaning. A massive frown formed on his face as he finally spoke.

Unknown: Aaaaaand CUT! -claps hands- Good job, good job guys.

Thing: That's a wrap! See you...whenever...

Unknown: Sorry for the cliffhanger, got a bit of the next chappie finished so hopefully It'll be done soonish...within the year hopefully...