Hello everyone!

This is my first fanfic, and I hope you like it!

Much thanks to a friend who would like to stay anonymous who helped edit my story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of ITS characters or techniques hint hint, nudge nudge

Texts:

Normal Speech and Narrative or thoughts with stress

Thoughts or stressed words

Demon Speech or Technique/Bloodline Limits when thinking

Techniques or Bloodline Limits

Naruto, the Ninth Tail: Chapter 1

Memories

"WOOHOOO!"

A cry of pure joy could be heard throughout Konoha as a spiky hair blond boy used branches in the forest to swing from tree to tree. He grabbed one, and as gravity caught him, the branch would bend until he almost stopped moving. Then the branch would shoot back up, propelling him to new heights.

"YEAH! This is great!" he screamed, his face contorted into a smile of pure joy.

"Hey, Naruto! We don't have all day here! We're on a mission!" cried a pink-haired Kunoichi. She jumped from branch to branch to keep up with him.

"Geez. We haven't even left the Konoha perimeter, and you're goofing off already. Get serious! You can't be like this all the time." a Jounin scolded Naruto. His silver hair pointing up and left, and his forehead protector covered his left eye. A mask covered his lower half of his face. The girl, Sakura, nodded her head.

"But Kakashi-sensei, we have to have fun sometimes! We aren't even near the Country of Waves." Naruto complained. He stopped swinging from the branches, and jumped off the branches like the others.

"Kakashi is right. You never know where enemy ninja are lurking, even though this is just a D-rank mission. Remember when you had to protect Tazuna? It was really an A-rank mission." An old man with a crazy mane of white hair lectured. He had a different forehead protector, with two little spikes and the kanji character oil on it.

"Arigatou, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi bowed his head and closed his eyes, well at least the one visible, to show respect to the older shinobi.

"You suck erro-sennin!" Naruto shouted in frustration. He pouted and looked the other way.

Unfortunately, it was at that exact moment that a tree trunk was right ahead of him. Without looking in front of him, Naruto had no way to realize he was about to run into the tree. He smashed into the tree, and fell to the ground, totally stunned, with his leg twitching at irregular intervals. The others turn around to see if their team mate was alive or not. They stood around him, not knowing what to-

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed and sat upright.

"BAKA!" Sakura landed a blow on the top of his head, making it swell up. "What was that for? You almost scared me out of my skin!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch … I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I … uh … was dreaming that I was running into trees, and I couldn't stop myself." However, that wasn't even close to what Naruto had just dreamed. He fidgeted with his hands, and looked really nervous. Kakashi noticed this, but didn't say anything.

Jiraiya pulled his pack into a more comfortable position. "Well, now that's settled, let's get back to going to the Country of Waves."

Naruto perked up and started to grin again. "Yeah! I can't wait to see Tazuna and Inari again!"

That was not what he was really feeling at that moment.

A short synopsis of what had happened so far:

Sasuke had left Konoha, Akatsuki had taken the spirit of Shuukaku of the Sand from Gaara, and Naruto saved him. Sasori was killed, and Yamato posed as Sasori while they talked with Orochimaru. He was found out, and Naruto became so angry, he released the Kyubi's chakra. No one could suppress him as he was fighting, and he released the Fourth Tail. Yamato stopped Naruto, and Sai went over to Orochimaru's side. This story is plotted right after that part of the story. If you don't want to keep reading, that's fine with me. But, once you catch up, try to remember this story and read it please.

Oh, andI amspeculating that Sasuke and Saidid not return to Konoha with them after that part.

And now, back to the story at hand.

Kakashi looked around, and pointed towards a small clearing. "That looks like a good place to rest at for the night. Let's get our tents set up.

Everybody got to the clearing, and set up camp. Sakura left to find some kindling, Jiraiya stayed and took a nap, Kakashi leaned on a tree, whittling something, and Naruto went to find some game.

As Naruto was searching around, he found a small river, and caught some fish. Grinning, he started walking back, but he sensed something watching him. He turned around, and saw a tall, white thing in the corner of his eye. As he turned around, it had disappeared. He shrugged, and returned to camp, where Sakura was stoking the fire, and everyone was gathered around the fire.

As they ate, Naruto remembered the last time they had travelled to the Country of Waves. Sasuke was with them, and they had a great time fighting, training, and having fun, as brothers would do.

He put his fish on his lap, and stared at the ground, thinking about how Sasuke had left, and it felt as a part of Naruto's soul had left with Sasuke.

Sakura noticed this, inched over to Naruto's side, and placed her hand on the back of his hand. Naruto looked up, at this rare show of affection from the Kunoichi. "It's going to be alright." She soothed. "We'll find a way to bring Sasuke-kun back." She closed her eyes and smiled at him.

Naruto lightened up. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!" He finished his fish, and went out in the forest to train.

Naruto had the same dream that night.

He was in that maze-like place that was his body. He heard the sounds of the Kyubi inside him, and walked down that path. As he walked, the doorway of light grew larger and larger. He entered, and as his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he saw the great cage that was the seal on his stomach. As the Kyubi laughed, it sent a chill up Naruto's spine. He could never get used to that.

"Listen, boy, and listen well." The Kyubi growled. "I can smell my brethren near, and they know exactly what I want. I want freedom, and they can grant that. There is nothing that you can do. You're going to die, and there is no way you can stop that. Once you die, I will be free to destroy anything I want."

The Kyubi sent out its chakra again, but this time, it was not to help Naruto. It wanted to kill him.

Naruto turned, and ran for his life. He kept running, turning this way and that, trying to lose the Kyubi inside his maze of a body. As he turned a corner and ran down the corridor, there was a dead end.

That wasn't all that was there.

A picture was stuck to the wall, and as Naruto closed up on it, he could see Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and himself in it. He remembered all the happy times he had with them, and just stood there, looking at the picture for who knows how long.

As he looked at himself once again, his eyes in the picture had changed red. His pupils had become slits, and his teeth grew sharp.

Suddenly, he wasn't looking at a picture of Team 7. He was looking at the grinningKyubi.

"I found you." The Kyubi opened its mouth, and a needle of chakra stabbed Naruto through the heart.

Naruto gasped, and found himself sitting up in his bed, sweating profusively. He cradled his head in his hands, and wept.

After many hours jumping towards the Country of Waves, they finally reached the great Naruto Bridge built more than 2 years ago.

It was a sight to see.

The bridge spanned the whole channel, connecting an offshore island to the mainland. This bridge was created for the people to get better jobs. The Country of Waves' economy was going downhill, and without the bridge, the citizens would probably be all dead by now.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Aaaaaahhhh! It's great to be back again!"

"Don't be too happy." Kakashi warned. "Look near the middle of the bridge."

At the middle of the bridge, people were being thrown into the air for no apparent reason, leaving the vicinity blood-stained. Naruto balled his fists and started running at the source of the commotion. He had totally forgotten about what happened earlier. "Who the hell is doing that? I don't believe this! Those bastards. I'm gonna beat them to a pulp!"

And with that last statement, our four heroes ran towards the fighting, ready to get rid of the enemy.

End of Chapter 1

Hey, how did it go?

I hoped you all like it! Please read and review!

Any questions will be answered in the next chapter!

Until next time!

PS. A little saying of mine.

Anything lasts forever unless you don't polish it.

Meaning: Look back at your life, and do the things you used to do, or you may not remember any of it. That would be sad. If they were bad memories, use your present life to make up the happiness you missed.

I might add like a saying or two like this every chapter just for fun!

PPS: I would like at least five reviews before I put up the next chapter. If I don't get that many, the next chapter may not be that good due to lack of encouragement. I'm not making a living off of this, so think of reviews as payment.

Thank You