A cold wind blew in a grey sky today. It seemed that everyone in the village was in their homes snuggling with their families. Naruto had no family. So he could not snuggle with them. So today, he trained.

It was kind of boring in the village. True, there was work to be done, but no good missions had come in for a while. And besides, today was a holiday. Naruto wasn't exactly sure why it was a holiday, but he knew it was.

At about seven in the morning, he had gone into a dense forest, his packs full of kunai and shuriken at his sides. There he had practiced his throwing skills on the trees. After a while, he gathered up his weapons and started to use his taijutsu. He gave each tree a good hit, knocking large chunks out of many.

One tree stood strong, however. No matter how hard he hit it, it didn't even show. He started to punch harder and harder, but to no avail. After enough kicks and punches to knock down many other trees, he decided he would permanently end the tree's life. He held out is hand and focused the chakra in his hand into a ball.

As he was forming said chakra, he remembered an incident about a week ago. He was running low on chakra, so he decided to see if he could open up his other chakra source to train for a while more. After all, he needed to practice controlling the Fox Spirit's power.

So he did. He used the Kyuubi's chakra. Suddenly, he felt a stinging sensation in his chest. He knew immediately it was the Nine Tails. He stopped and took a rest. He hadn't trained since that day.

"Rasengan!" he yelled as he blew the once sturdy tree into a million pieces. He looked at the destruction he caused and laughed to himself. He then returned home to rest for a while.

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As the day went on, he stared from his window at the village. A strong wind came by, and it blew several leaves around. They silently fell to the ground. Funny, this Leaf Village was so strong, yet a simple wind could blow millions away.

He stared to the sky. It was getting darker. Rain was coming. It hadn't rained in a long time, about two weeks of drought. He was glad it was coming. It would water the plants and give the people water to drink. That was good.

Naruto decided after a while there was no point in staying inside. He gave the cat food and drink, and then headed out. He was kind of hungry, so he headed to the ramen shop. Along the way, he was greeted by Hinata, walking down the street.

"Um… Hello Naruto-kun…"

Her face turned red. Naruto wondered why she was always red. He guessed she just got fevers a lot.

"Hello."

"It's going to rain, Naruto. Aren't you heading inside?"

"No. It's boring inside. There's nothing to do."

"Yes, but don't you want to stay dry?"

"I guess. I'm heading to the ramen shop. It's got a covered roof. I won't be wet. Well, I'll see you around."

"Um…Bye, Naruto."

She then waved goodbye and kept walking. Naruto went on his way. Soon he got to the ramen shop. He sat down on the stool and called to the man at the counter.

"Hello, Naruto. I guess you're in luck, seeing as we're open on a holiday."

"Yeah, I'm in the mood for the good stuff. Give me the usual."

He grinned in anticipation. He then took out his pouch of coins. As the ramen was getting prepared, he handed him the money. The ramen finished and was handed to Naruto. Just before he was about to dig in, however, his stomach started to hurt.

"Ow! What the…"

Then he was hit with a sharp jab of pain from his stomach. He grabbed his stomach and moaned.

"Ow!"

"What's wrong, Naruto?" asked the man, his daughter wearing an expression of concern.

"Old man! Give me some water, please!"

The old man fetched a cup. He filled it with water. Just as he handed it to the blond boy, Naruto yelled again in pain. He took the cup and brought it to his lips. He gulped it down. He placed the cup down.

"You okay, Naruto?"

Naruto would have answered him, but he couldn't hear him. He lost consciousness and fell off the stool to the ground.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

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More to come in the next chapter: Knowledge Gained