Naruto Uzumaki was not having a good day.

Specifically, the man who was holding him upside-down by the ankles, shaking him over and over was making it impossible for Naruto to have a good day. The worst part was that the civilians that kept walking by on the street didn't even look twice at the usually criminal act.

"Put me down, you oversized goon!" Naruto screeched. He was a second year at the academy, goddamnit, and when he graduated after a year and a bit of time, he would not forget this! "I am Naruto Uzumaki, and I will become the Hokage, and I won't forgive you for this!"

The giant, bald man simply kept shaking, and when any form of currency failed to appear, dropped him. "Che. What a waste of time. The Demon Brat doesn't even have a cent on him."

Naruto quickly looked up and glared at the man. "That's because you stole everything I had YESTERDAY!" Upon receiving nothing more than an apathetic shrug, Naruto grabbed the man's shirt. "AndIwantitback!" He shouted, not pausing between words in his haste.

The man just scoffed and turned away, knocking Naruto's hand aside. Naruto felt himself grow angry, but he forced himself to stand still. Anything he did would just validate the villagers' hatred. As long as he didn't actively hurt people, and stuck to pranks instead, he would be fine.

At least, that's what he told himself as he stood there, ten-year-old fists clenched, and seething at the world in general. What had HE ever done to warrant such hatred? Why did everyone despise him so?

And what the hell was up with that nickname? How the hell was he supposed to be a demon?

"I assume they were talking about me, boy." The voice spoke calmly, but with an undertone that told of volumes of hatred and evil.

Naruto spun around, frantically searching. His wild actions got some strange looks from the civilians, and the occasional mutter that questioned his sanity, but it was nothing new.

"I'm in your head, foolish child. Do not embarrass me further by acting like a complete and utter nincompoop in public." Again, the voice. What was it doing? Didn't it know he had enough problems without mysterious voices?

"I am not a nincompoop!" Naruto replied angrily. This actually caused one of the civilians to freeze, make some sort of strangled noise, and walk in the other direction.

"See?" The voice said. "I would imagine that he was saying the exact same thing when you so foolishly answered out loud and frightened him."

Naruto scowled and began walking in the direction of the academy at an accelerated pace. He didn't want to be late. In an undertone, he asked, "Who are you? What right do you have to be in my mind?"

The voice laughed harshly. "The right? More like the displeasure! If I had my way, this whole pathetic settlement you call a village would be flattened, and you would have died at the ripe old age of two hours!"

Naruto paused in mid-step, then continued at a noticeably slower pace. "You want to destroy Konoha?" He asked, suddenly painfully aware of the fact that he was talking to a voice in his head.

But the voice remained silent.

Naruto used all of his brainpower (which wasn't much) to think of who would ever want to destroy the only place he had ever known, but came up short. He knew a lot of people who wanted to hurt HIM, but never the village itself. It would have to take someone with a personal vendetta to hate the village that much-at least that was the only thing that Naruto could think of. No one was that evil.

So Naruto used the rest of the morning walking to school, thinking of all the villains, fictional and nonfictional, he had heard others talk about. Naturally, it was all second-hand. Nobody would allow him into their stores, except for this one weapons dealer who had a daughter that was a third-year at the academy. He had no grudge against Naruto, but he had confided in the young boy that his wife downright despised him, so he couldn't associate with his family outside of his store. Naruto liked that man. He didn't know the daughter at all, though. Maybe he'd one day be able to make a friend out of her.

Naruto was so lost in thought that when he reached the academy and entered the classroom, he almost forgot to say hi to Sakura. Of course, 'almost' is called 'almost' for a reason.

"GOOD MORNING, SAKURA-CHAN!"

Just like Sakura 'almost' missed smacking Naruto's face so hard it turned cherry red at the point of impact. Naruto grinned a bit, despite the stinging pain. "I guess you're turning me down? Ne, Sakura, why you gotta be like that?"

Sakura didn't even respond, instead opting to ignore him and to sit down by that Uchiha kid-another potential friend, seeing as he and Sasuke were both loners. The only difference was that one came from a prestigious clan, while the other came from the streets. Whenever Naruto had tried to be friendly, the Uchiha, who Naruto had dubbed Sasuke-teme, had just snubbed him, apparently happy with his exile from society. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Sasuke could go back from his self-imposed solitude at any time and be welcomed with open arms, while Naruto had to live with it for the rest of his life.

Naruto was sure that his fangirls were enough to keep him from feeling lonely, and he felt a bubble of jealousy well up inside him as he took his seat, large numbers of kids moving directly and deliberately away from him. His trademark grin nearly faltered, but he caught himself just in time. If he looked sad, the others would make fun of him for it.

Then, Iruka-sensei walked in, and Naruto was instantly paying attention. "Hello, class!"

"Hello, Iruka-sensei," the class chorused

Everyone except Naruto, that is, who causally waved. "Hey Iruka-sensei, how's it going?"

Iruka grinned slightly at Naruto before casually waving back and beginning the lesson. "Today in history class, I thought we would do something different. Instead of just learning the names and deeds of great shinobi, we're going to have some class interaction!"

A small amount of murmuring ran around the classroom; this was new. Iruka had always been so rank-and-file with their lessons before-here's a ninja's name, here's a date, here's what made said ninja a badass. That last part was Naruto's own wording (which Iruka had actually wholeheartedly agreed with), but the point still stood.

Iruka smiled at the interest. "Consider this a gift. If you recall, we only have one more week until the end of school, and then you will be given a slight reprieve of two months before you begin the third and final year of education."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up so far they disappeared into his hairline. He had completely forgotten about that! After next week, he would have a month and a half of nothing to do before returning to the academy. Naruto didn't want that to happen, though. In the academy, he might've been dead last, but it was a place where people actually gave him the time of day-albeit, they were forced to, but the point still stood! The kids might dislike him, but their glares didn't have the same weight or hatred behind them as the adults. Outside of the academy, he was an outcast, a pariah, someone who you would not only not give the time of day to, but deliberately lie about the time of day, just to spite him. Naruto shook his head and cleared it of negative thoughts. He would just ignore them, no matter how angry they made him. And he focused back on Iruka-sensei's lesson.

"Today, everyone who wants to will give their birthday, and I'll tell you about a shinobi who was associated with that date for some reason. Go on, no reason to be shy! We need to fill up an entire class period, so we gotta have a lot of people go!"

The girl on Naruto's right, Hinata Hyuuga, the only one who hadn't rushed away from the boy as soon as he had sat down, timidly and slowly raised her hand. "Um... Well, my birthday is the twenty-seventh of December..." Then, she ducked her head as if she was embarrassed to have gone first.

Naruto liked Hinata; she was the only one who didn't immediately run away when he entered a room, but whenever he tried to talk and make friends with her, she would turn red, make an excuse, and get the hell away from him. He didn't really understand why, and he didn't know her that well, anyways, but she at least wasn't mean to his face, and Naruto appreciated that.

"Heeey, Hinata!" Naruto said rather loudly. "Why're you looking like you did something wrong?"

Naturally, this made Hinata turn red, start mumbling excuses, and turn away from the orange-clad boy.

Iruka laughed a bit at the interaction, which actually made Hinata sink a bit into her seat, trying to stay out of sight. "Don't worry so much, either of you! Anyways..." He put a finger to his chin. "December twenty-seventh... That would be the date of the Battle of Flames from the First Great Ninja War. That was the battle in which the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, died." A grimace formed on his face, but it passed quickly. "He was holding the line against Cloud shinobi, and bought the rest of Konoha troops time to escape, in exchange for his own life. We wouldn't be here today if he didn't manage to beat them off..." And then Iruka spend the next five or so minutes giving a brief summary of the battle, and how it impacted the rest of the war.

And so most students asked about their birthday's, each one receiving a miniature lecture on shinobi, each one greater than the last (except for the Nidaime, of course). Naruto tried to ask multiple times, but was always cut off by someone else who wanted to go before him. Finally, there was no one else to go, and Iruka looked to Naruto. Naruto looked with an expectant grin on his face as he said, "October tenth."

The entire classroom fell deathly silent. It stayed that way for a solid five minutes, and it didn't take Naruto that long to realize he had made some sort of mistake.

Finally, Iruka coughed. "Yes, October tenth. I'm sure most of you know this already, but that was the day of the Kyuubi attack, and the day that the fourth Hokage died. By sacrificing himself, he was able to subdue the Kyuubi and save the village." Naruto's eyes widened. He knew about the attack, obviously—you'd have to have lived under a rock for the past ten years to think otherwise—but he didn't know that it was on his BIRTHDAY! Come to think of it, that would explain why the citizens—especially the shinobi—were doubly mean on his birthday, even if it didn't explain why they were mean to him to begin with.

Iruka launched himself into a speech, but Naruto's thoughts were elsewhere. Specifically, they were back on that voice he had heard earlier today. If I had my way, this whole pathetic settlement you call a village would be flattened, and you would have died at the ripe old age of two hours!

Naruto raised a trembling hand. Iruka paused and motioned for him to ask (something else that no other teacher did). "What happened to the Kyuubi?"

Iruka went deathly pale. He hesitated for just a moment, before saying, with some difficulty, "It died."

And Naruto felt angry.

How DARE Iruka-sensei lie to his face! He had a right to the knowledge, since he was somehow connected to the not-dead-after-all nine-tailed fox! His blood began to boil, and he had to force himself not to mention his interaction earlier in the day. As it was, Naruto visibly grew tense, and even Hinata was shifting away from him in her seat.

"I admire your deduction skills, boy, but you ought to suppress that killing intent, lest you wish for your classmates to kill you outright."

Naruto jerked at the newly identified Kyuubi's voice, and realized with a start that everyone was looking at him. He let a grin spread across his face. "Hehe, I guess that The Fourth really showed that fox who's boss!" He scratched the back of his head, feigning embarrassment. "I'm just angry that it managed to kill him back!"

Iruka-sensei tentatively nodded, accepting the lie. Then, he continued talking about the battle, albeit a little slowly, and Naruto continued to seethe on the inside. The Kyuubi growled. "As if the Demon Lord could ever be killed! I AM chakra. Only a force of nature of equal or greater power could ever destroy me!"

Naruto adopted an undertone for his pending conversation with the Kyuubi. "What really happened?"

"That idiot managed to take half of my power with him when he used a suicide technique. Before he died, he took a child and sealed the rest of me in him." The demon seemed to sound more hateful with every syllable of that sentence."

"And that child was me?"

"Your deductive skills are astounding." This time, the remark was laced with sarcasm.

Naruto felt his anger grow. "Why would they-"

"Um... Naruto-kun?" A quiet voice said from his right-Hinata. "Who are you talking to?"

Naruto froze for just a second before relaxing, fearing that he had gotten caught. "Nobody, Hinata-chan!" His goofy grin never left his face. "I'm just making sure I understand the lesson by repeating it!"

Hinata nodded and ducked away, looking ashamed that she had even asked. Naruto frowned, but didn't have time to question her behaviour. He lowered his voice even more. "What happened?"

"You know you can speak to me through thought, correct?"

Naruto blinked. That was useful. It definitely would've come in handy several minutes ago, or when he was wondering who it was in his head. So why-

"Because I enjoy spiting humans. It's the least I can do for sealing my eternal form into the body of a punk." The Kyuubi said it so matter-of-factly that Naruto couldn't help but feel a little more annoyed. "If you were as smart as I am, you would know that a being made of hatred would do everything it could to make people feel misery. Obviously, you deserve the name Dead Last."

Naruto twitched. That was it. He didn't care if the fox could kill him, he didn't care how powerful or smart it was. He was going to go find it in his mind, and he would kill it! He could understand that his classmates hated him and called him names-it was something he was used to. But to be called useless by someone who lived in his mind was too much. That damn fox, of all people (or demons) should know that being an outcast was detrimental to mental growth!

"I can still hear you, you know. And as for your previous question: They didn't tell you because they thought I WAS you. Who would tell a demon anything? A foolish assumption, maybe, but without knowing the details of the sealing, there was no other logical assumption for them to make. They thought they were doing good."

Naruto felt his anger melt away. So that was it, was it? He could understand, then. More than once he had judged by appearances-Sasuke-teme had appeared as lonely as he had, so Naruto had tried making friends with him, but he had been wrong and the Uchiha had snubbed him. Only later did Naruto learn about the massacre. Even the rest of the kids could be excused-it would be obvious that nobody wanted their child to be near a demon, and the adults... Well, the adults had the same excuse, Naruto supposed. It still didn't remove the sting of pain or the fear of the world that Naruto felt, but it made the impulse to hurt him seem like a nonissue.

And with the absence of anger came silence, as the Kyuubi apparently decided that it wouldn't be able to have fun if Naruto wasn't angry. So, the loudest ninja in the academy began paying attention to the class.

"...and that concludes the final lesson for today," Iruka said. Damnit, he missed it! Well, at least he learned a lot about the Kyuubi. And, Naruto decided, he would somehow convince the villagers that he wasn't the fox reborn. And he WAS going to do something about that fox. It had hurt the village, so he would find some way to hurt it, even if it was the last thing he did!

With that thought in mind, Naruto headed to his next class.

The rest of the day passed without incident, and Naruto could feel the hostility from the rest of the students lessen just a bit, but not much. It was a small blessing that nobody tried to beat him up today, so Naruto was happy when he returned to his run-down, beat-up apartment. A day where he only got mugged once was a day where Naruto couldn't help but feel grateful. Naruto changed out of his jumpsuit into his pajamas, and got as warm as he could under his thin, moth-chewed blanket.

There was still the problem of that damn fox, though. He needed to both find a way to deal with it, definitely. It wouldn't do to have it speaking up to him. Although, why now? If the thing had been in his gut for ten whole years, what could have triggered the link?

Ah, well, that was a question for tomorrow. Naruto snored loudly as he drifted off to sleep.

When Naruto next opened his eyes, he was in what looked like a giant sewer. He frowned. He had been dumped into the Konoha sewers many times before, and they looked nothing like this.

"Hello?" He called. "Is anyone there?"

At first, nothing, but then, a small growl came from off to his left. So Naruto turned that way. As he walked through the sewers, occasionally calling out for another response, he couldn't help but feel at home here, despite the obvious, and despite its maze-like feel.

After what seemed like hours of walking, Naruto turned a corner to see a giant wall with what looked like prison bars behind it. Whatever was behind the bars was obscured by darkness, no matter how hard Naruto tried to squint.

"Hello?" He asked. This time, there was nothing but silence. In the absence of anything else to do, Naruto slowly walked towards the gate. His echoing footsteps sounded like thunder, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he was the only one there. As he got closer, he could make out a piece of paper with a kanji on it, attached to the gate. He couldn't see what it was from this distance, though, so he got closer and closer until he could see it clearly, when he was right in front of the bars. Then, he noticed the slitted pupil in the eye that was watching him from the darkness, and he jumped back, scared out of his wits. As if dispelling a genjutsu, the darkness behind the bars seemed to recede a little to reveal an animal so vast, it defied comprehension.

It grinned at him. "Hello there, little boy." The voice struck a chord in Naruto's memory and he immediately dropped into his approximation of a fighting stance.

"You!" He shouted, accusingly. "Where are we?"

The Kyuubi shrugged, as best as a quadruped could. "Your mind. Where else would I be able to manifest a physical body?"

And then Naruto caught the sight of the nine tails behind the fox, seven of them raised in the air slightly, with two more of them drooping behind him. The demon fox caught Naruto's eyes moving and growled. "I see you've found my tails." It was a statement, but it seemed loaded.

Naruto frowned. "What's wrong with those two?" He asked.

The Kyuubi snarled. "That damn Hokage. Didn't I tell you he was able to destroy half of my power? Demons measure their power in terms of two things: tails and size. Well, it's slowly returning to me, but my power isn't what it was."

Naruto frowned. If it took eleven years to recover two and a half tails worth of power, how long would it take for the last two? He voiced the question, and the demon shrugged again. "Probably less. Five years at most, three years at least. Every time you get stronger, some of that power is siphoned off to me. I don't think that was part of the seal's design, but it benefits me, so I am content to remain sealed for now."

Naruto felt a little uneasy at the 'for now' part. "What would you do if you were free today?"

Without hesitation, the Kyuubi replied, "I'd get revenge."

Naruto felt his stomach sink. It still wanted to destroy Konoha? When he had all nine tails back, would the seal hold him back? Would Naruto be able to do it? The Kyuubi seemed to read his face and understand what he was thinking, because it laughed.

"Will you be able to contain nine tail's worth of demon power? That's twice as strong as the Hokage was! I'm sure I'll be able to influence your actions more than just a little."

Naruto clenched his fists. That was a threat! And NOBODY threatened Naruto Uzumaki and got away with it! The villagers would all be punished when he became Hokage, so he would let it slide for now. But this fox!

"Why did you bring me here, stupid fox?"

The Kyuubi shrugged once more. "Why indeed? This is your subconscious. You brought yourself here."

Naruto frowned. "So... This is a dream?"

The Kyuubi let out a harsh laugh. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But why does that matter? If two beings share the same dream, who's to say it isn't real?"

Naruto didn't pause to ponder that statement. "So why could my subconscious possibly want me to see you?" He put emphasis on the word 'you,' making it as much of an insult as possible.

The Kyuubi grinned, baring its fangs. "Maybe your body wants power. It's scared, and it feels the need to protect itself. Until now, you were unaware of my existence, and so you didn't know to look to me for help. But now, I-"

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Naruto glared at the beast.

The ninetails seemed taken aback, but then it sneered at him. "Oh? And what does your conscious mind know about your subconscious, fool? I have been festering here for eleven long years, so I'd say I know a little more about your subconscious thoughts than you do!"

Naruto didn't know where this bravery was coming from, but he didn't question it. It wasn't every day that he would be able to face down a tailed beast and come away unscathed (He didn't really think about the fact that said tailed beast was behind bars in his mind, so he could, in fact, face it down every day). "Just because I want power doesn't mean I want YOUR help to get it! You're nothing but a giant stupid-head!"

The Kyuubi snorted, obviously displeased. "Your name-calling skills are as amazing as your detective skills." Then, its face took on an arrogant guise. "But you admit yourself that you want power. I am your fastest and easiest route to becoming Hokage and giving you the power to take revenge on the village. All you need to do is release me, and I'll-"

"NO!" Naruto was angry again. Was he seriously expected to believe that releasing a monster on his hometown was a good idea? Even if he DID hold a grudge against the people-which-he didn't-he still needed a place to live. It was neither smart nor productive to listen the the fox. And he didn't WANT to take the easy way out, anyways. The definition of being a badass was to be able to do whatever you felt like, and if Naruto had to rely on the Kyuubi, then he wouldn't be able to do anything that the Kyuubi didn't want to do.

The bars of the cage rattled a bit, and the Kyuubi smirked as best he could, given the shape of his face. "And yet here you stand before me. You cannot be so arrogant, so blind, so naive to think that you can achieve power any other way! You MUST let me free in exchange for learning the demon arts! You know that you hate the villagers! You despise them for how they've treated you! I know you do!"

Naruto fought to keep himself still. Rationale and instinct told him to stand down, while his mind and emotions told him to charge at the beast, try to slip between the bars and kill it before it could hurt him. "Maybe, but revenge isn't the best answer!" Naruto was trembling with anger. "The job of a ninja is to protect, and anything else just isn't right! I'll find a way to get the power to become Hokage! You just watch!"

The Kyuubi eyed him curiously. "Aren't you interesting, hmm? Most would have either given in to greed or foolishly tried to overcome me. One of them even undid his seal, long ago, to fight me in one-on-one combat, and immediately paid the price... But you, the more recent Uzumakis, you're a strange bunch."

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. Uzumakis? As in, more than one? "What do you know about my family?"

The Kyuubi looked positively terrifying for just a second as it grinned. "Let's just say, you could call me your inheritance."

Well, now that changed things. Naruto mulled it over in his mind. On the one hand, here was a beast, a monster, a demon that had tried to kill him, tried to destroy the only home he had ever known. It was literally a bundle of hate tied together with chakra strings. It was malevolent and horrifying, a force of nature that could not die. There were no other beings in he universe so powerful or deadly as to match the Kyuubi in raw power or chakra, and it would not hesitate to kill him if the thought even crossed its mind.

On the other hand... It knew his family.

"Alright, Kyuubi. I've got a deal for you: you tell me about my family, and I'll let you train me."

The demon fox looked absolutely disgusted. "LET me train you? What, do I look like some sort of human teacher to you?"

"But you just said you wanted me to grow strong, so that you could recover faster," Naruto argued. "If you train me, you might be back to full strength before I even become a genin."

The Demon Lord looked almost interested. "And after? Those two tails of power, I would regain anyways. You would need to release me as soon as I get them back. Would you be willing?"

Naruto frowned. "Well, no, but-"

"Then I'm not interested!" The fox said with finality. "I would rather spite you; it amuses me so much when pain is inflicted on those I hate-namely, everyone alive, but especially you."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "I was GOING to say, if I die before you're released, you pretty much die also, right? I mean, I know you're technically immortal, but you'd be reduced to no tails? You'd take a while to reform, right?"

Naruto took the beast's silence as a yes.

"Then train me! If I live to be a really old man, I'll set you free on my deathbed, with all nine tails intact. If I die before then, you lose everything. You already told me that it took eleven years of draining my chakra to get back just two and a half tails. Imagine how long it would take to gain back even one tail, without someone to latch on to. If you train me, then my odds of survival go up."

The beast eyed Naruto. Then, after a pregnant pause, it said, "For someone who gets no marks on every test, this is a well-thought out trade."

Naruto shrugged, somewhere between surprised and pleased at being complemented by a demon, and not sure whether to be angry at the half-veiled insult or not. "All that knowing stuff and crap isn't badass, so it's not important. And I guess having a family isn't badass either, but..." Naruto cast his eyes downward. "It's something that's always held special meaning to me. I've always wanted family, and you know about at least one of my parents. Having something you care about, something you'd risk your life for, and then finding a way to get the job done, and not going back on your word... I've just decided that that'll be my own, personal Nindou!" Naruto raised his head, eyes shining. "If you train me and tell me about my parents, then when I'm about to die, I'll find somewhere far away from Konoha, rip off that seal" (Naruto jerked his thumb at the piece of paper binding the prison gates shut) "and set you free, all your power included." Naruto grinned a decidedly fox-like grin, and gave the nine-tailed beast a thumbs-up. "That's a promise!"

Another pause. The Kyuubi crossed its paws and laid its head down, eyes closed in thought. Was he really considering this? He, the strongest of all the tailed beasts and The Lord of lesser demons, reduced to a schoolteacher? The boy's argument made sense, but just looking at the runt made him feel anger boiling in his stomach. Neither side would be able to get over their hatred, even if it were to be for a greater cause.

The Kyuubi opened its mouth, and Naruto felt his stomach fill with butterflies in anticipation. "I'll think about it. If you show me you have the ability to learn by doing well during the time period of human instruction, then I might-MIGHT-be willing to consider your offer. Until then, I'm staying out if your life completely and utterly." The beast walked backwards a bit and was shrouded in darkness once again, leaving Naruto to stare, disappointed, at a seemingly empty prison cell. "Farewell for now, Runt."

And then Naruto woke up.

END OF CHAPTER

I got the idea for this story from reading other Kyuubi-Naruto friendship fictions (Like "Soul of the Seal," by Mr Dust-it's a dead story, sadly, but what's written already is amazing), and while those are all well and good, something just doesn't sit right with me. Every one of them involves Time Travel, misunderstood Kyuubi, and/or a Naruto with a drastically different personality. Personally, while I do love AU fictions, I am overall a fan of the snowball effect-some people know it as the butterfly effect. Change one event in canon, and how does it affect the rest of the story? It's not a drastic change, either, it's a small one. Anyways, this is that story: It will stay true to canon as much as possible, although I do admit I may bend events a little to what I think personally ought to have happened, and I also make the concession that if it's not specifically prevented by canon, it's fair game.

No pairings-not only do I suck at romance, but it's just really not my style. I don't know the first thing about writing romance, and I don't intend to try, beyond some one-sided Naruto/Hinata (guess which side), which is the only pairing I openly and officially support at the moment I'm writing this note. Plus, there aren't very many openings for romance, unless I take a jackhammer to canon, or at least go waaaaay down the road to when Naruto isn't an outcast, Sasuke isn't a total dick, and side-characters actually matter.

Also, I have several chapters pre-written for this story already, and I'll upload them one at a time, once every two weeks. But, once I run out, though, no promises about anything. As you'd be able to tell from my OTHER story (a Bleach story about Ichigo's inner hollow), I don't update much, and when I lose interest in a topic, the story goes dead. Don't start reading this expecting it to run to completion; I may not have interest in this topic for much longer. However, I may decide it's worth it, especially if this story picks up a following (my other story went dead when I got zero reviews for my latest chapter, and the only two for the previous chapter were questions about clarifying what I had written). Reviews matter, guys, even if you think that a favorite or an alert is enough to sustain the author, it's not. S/he's either writing for himself, in which case a review is crucial to let the author know of flaws in his or her writing style, or s/the author's writing for you, in which case reviews are a godsend.

Oh yeah, here's a disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Big whoop. I don't know why this is even a necessary thing. If Kishimoto was writing fanfiction, it would just be fiction. Ergo the NAME OF THIS WEBSITE.

...Yeah, I won't be writing any more disclaimers. They're just so redundant. Just assume that this one right here applies to all chapters in this story.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!