Dancing with The Angels

Chapter One

A tired Naruto Uzumaki sighed, as he trotted tiredly into the village. Team 7's latest mission was exhausting, but simple. And unlike normal not even one of them had returned with an injury, not even so much as a bruise. Still though, the only thing that Naruto cared about was falling into bed, he felt like he hadn't slept in, in a year at least. He was sure that Lady Tsunade would be grateful that there wouldn't be any injuries for her to heal. The entire mission had been so simple it had made Naruto wonder at what moment that things would go wrong. He was thankful that nothing had happened, and they had made it back to Konoha without any trouble at all. Well, aside from Naruto's aching chest and his absolute exhaustion.

All Naruto wanted to do was go straight to bed and sleep the night away, actually he wanted to sleep for the next hundred years, but he doubted that he would actually be allowed to do that. Sasuke Uchiha, or his other teammate Sakura Haruno would probably find a way to annoy him until he dragged himself to their training. Naruto sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. He wondered if he could get by with letting them turn in the mission report.

"Why so quiet Dobe?" Sasuke Uchiha asked suddenly turning towards his blonde-haired teammate. Sasuke wasn't normally concerned about Naruto, but Naruto had been unnaturally quiet which made Sasuke believe that something was going on with Naruto.

"I'm just tired." Naruto answered, not even feeling like arguing with his dark-haired teammate.

"It's not like we really had to do much." Sasuke said. "It was a super easy mission."

"I know that." Naruto said, not wanting to think about the possibility of there being another reason for his unnatural tiredness. He supposed that it could be his depression was starting to show. Considering everything that Naruto had been put through by his home village for being the Jinchuuriki it wasn't really a surprise that Naruto struggled with depression. Depression that he fought hard on a daily basis to keep hidden from his teammates and his friends. He supposed though that he wouldn't be able to keep it hidden from those that he cared about forever. Especially if Iruka Umino found out, Naruto imagined that Iruka wouldn't leave him alone until Naruto was well on his way to recovery. Naruto knew that nothing would stop Iruka from making sure that Naruto was able to experience true happiness. Naruto loved Iruka for that, and for that reason alone Naruto was determined that he wouldn't burden Iruka with any of his concerns. His old sensei had enough to worry about it as it was, without Naruto adding to his problems.

"Then there is no reason for you to be so exhausted." Sakura pointed out, "I could understand if it was a strenuous mission or something, but a simple escort mission, and one that turned out to be nothing as it was isn't something to expend so much energy on. Are you sure that you aren't having health issues?"

"Last time I checked I was healthy as a horse." Naruto replied tiredly. "besides I don't get sick. Ever."

"Everybody gets sick." Sasuke said. "You're not superman so you're not excluded from that. Knowing you, you probably exhausted yourself from training, that's why you are so tired."

"Probably." Naruto agreed if there was anything that he loved as much as he loved ramen, it was training. The more he trained the happier he tended to be, but he supposed Sakura could be right as well. There was a tiny chance that there was something going on with him, perhaps something that the nine tailed demon that he housed was causing. Naruto would have to find out as soon as he got home. The nine tailed demon normally healed all of his injuries so the fact that Naruto was so damned tired and felt short of breath lead Naruto to belief that he perhaps did have an actual physical sickness. As to whether it was caused by the nine tailed demon or not was a totally different story.

"You know if you get any worse you should probably go see Lady Tsunade." Kakashi said offhand, one eye narrowed on his young student. He could admit that he'd watched Naruto the entire mission, the kid seemed to lack his usual energy, always falling behind and complaining that he was too tired to continue. Kakashi had continued to push on though knowing that they needed to complete the mission. Now that he looked Naruto over, he noticed something that neither Sakura nor Sasuke did. Naruto's complexion was much paler than normal, and his breaths seemed to be coming in uneven pants. Now Kakashi was no idiot, he knew that Naruto contained the nine tails and knew that the nine tails normally healed Naruto's injuries, which meant that this was likely something being caused by the nine tails. Why the demon would do anything to harm his hosts health considering if Naruto died so did he, was beyond Kakashi's comprehension. He really hoped that there wasn't anything wrong with his sensei's son. Kakashi didn't like to think that he wouldn't be able to help Naruto should the need arise. One thing was certain Kakashi would do whatever it took to help protect Naruto if it came down to a battle between the demon and Naruto. They might not win that battle but Kakashi had to try, he would protect Naruto the way Naruto's own father hadn't been able too.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest?" Kakashi suggested. "I think Sasuke and Sakura and I can handle the mission report ourselves just this once." Naruto nodded.

"I would appreciate it." Naruto murmured, and turned to head down a side street.

After parting ways with his team members, Naruto turned and headed back towards his apartment, relieved that they were allowing him to go home and get some rest. Shoving his hands into his pockets he ignored the shouts of demon as he passed by. It didn't matter how old Naruto got, just knowing that the villagers still saw him as a demon hurt. He didn't know how to change that opinion if all that he was currently doing for the village wasn't enough to change anything. Naruto sighed and ignored them, trying to pretend that the hurtful words didn't send a sharp sting on pain through his heart. Why couldn't people just leave him be? He wasn't the demon they feared him to be. He was just the host, and besides it wasn't like he had anything to do with what had happened 15 nearly 16 years ago, after all he had just been born. He was as innocent as they come as far attacking the village went. Naruto supposed that he understood the way they felt, hating for their loss of their loved ones, not that Naruto really ever understood loss. No one had ever really loved him and then left him. There was Iruka of course, but Iruka would always be there for Naruto and he knew that. Iruka would do anything for him, especially if Iruka knew the thoughts that occasionally went through Naruto's head. Thoughts like how everyone would be better off without him because he only brought his team down. He was the less talented member of team 7. Everyone loved the moody Uchiha, and who couldn't love Sakura? Even though she could be ill tempered, Sakura had her nice moments, even if she was obsessed with the Uchiha. Naruto sometimes wondered what it would be like to feel just an ounce of that affection from someone. Wondered if it would ever be possible for anyone to love him because he was host of the nine tailed demon.

Shaking his head, Naruto looked down at the ground and continued to ignore the painful name calling going on around him. Nothing would ever change, Naruto thought as he finally reached his apartment building. Entering the complex building, Naruto started up the stairs, and down the hall, heading towards his apartment.

Upon entering the apartment, Naruto winced as his heart gave a painful throb, bringing his hand up Naruto massaged his chest. He didn't know what was going on, but his heart had been hurting a lot lately and he wasn't talking about emotional pain either, the pains had been physical, sharp and nearly blinding. Naruto had had a hard time hiding them from his teammates, he knew they would have likely made him return to Konoha and go to the hospital where he would be refused treatment until Lady Tsunade showed up. Naruto didn't want to do that, he didn't want to be forced to live with that humiliation of knowing that people would rather let Naruto suffer than to help him with whatever injury he was dealing with. Of course, they weren't supposed to do that, Lady Tsunade had threatened them with the loss of their medical license if she heard of them doing such again. But even that wasn't enough to stop them from refusing to help him when Lady Tsunade wasn't around.

Glancing around and noticing the piles of clothes and garbage on the floor, Naruto wondered if he should go on and start picking up in case his teammates decided to come for a visit. Knowing Kakashi, his team leader would stop by to check on Naruto, because his team leader wasn't stupid, he would have known that something was going on with him. Naruto didn't want anyone to worry, he figured that the nine tails was somehow causing his issues, and if that was the case then the nine tailed demon could go on and fix it.

Wincing as his heart gave another painful thump, Naruto decided that perhaps cleaning his apartment could wait, he wanted to have a talk with Kurama about what was happening. Stepping over a pile of clothes Naruto made his way into the bedroom, where he flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Entering his mind scape, Naruto made his way over to the giant cage that kept the nine tailed demon locked up.

"I assume there is a reason for this visit?" Kurama asked, staring at Naruto.

"Something is going on with my heart." Naruto said. "And I was wondering if you knew what was going on?" Kurama heaved a sigh.

"I do know what's going on." Kurama said. "And I suppose you were ever told that being a Jinchuuriki will affect your health." Naruto shook his head.

"Considering you were sealed in me when I was baby, no one told me anything." Naruto replied.

"You're use of my chakra is starting to wear on you." Kurama replied. "My chakra is like a virus, it's leaking out and attacking your heart. Eventually it's going to damage your heart to the point that you need a transplant to survive." Naruto frowned. He supposed what Kurama said made sense, but he also knew the likelihood of another heart being found.

"Is there any way to reverse the damage?" Naruto asked.

"No, but if you stop relying on my chakra as much you will slow down the amount of damage being done." Kurama replied. "It won't completely stop it, but you might extend your life a little longer." Naruto nodded. He usually only used Kurama's chakra when his teammates were facing someone incredibly strong. Naruto would rather put his own life in danger than to see his friends get hurt.

After Sasuke had been kidnapped from the village, Naruto and several others had gone after the kidnappers, Neij and Choji had nearly given their lives to bring Sasuke back, and Naruto was determined that none of his other friends would have to go through that again. The Sound Four had been defeated but at great cost, and Naruto had become even more determined to be able to control the nine tails chakra in situations like that. But now it looked like that choice to protect his friends came with a heavy price. One that Naruto wasn't sure wouldn't end up taking his life as payment.

"What should I do?" Naruto wondered, staring blankly at the ground.

"Seek medical treatment immediately." Kurama replied. "Tsunade might be able to perform surgery which would extend your time a great deal."

"That's not an option right now." Naruto said. "What if my team gets called out on a mission."

"If that's not an option then I would suggest stop using my chakra so much, that will only speed up the process. You really should go to Tsunade though, she is a damn good doctor."

"She'll take me off the mission roster." Naruto protested. "How can I keep my teammates safe if that happens."

"You can't protect them if you are dead either." Kurama said. "But I suppose that you are going to do whatever it is that you want to do anyways." Naruto shrugged. Kurama was right, Naruto always done what he wanted despite the demon's opinion.

"By the way you might want to go back. You're Mother Henning Sensei is trying to wake you and sounds like he's about to have a heart attack." Kurama stated. Naruto chuckled at Kurama's description of Iruka.

"I guess I'll talk to you later." Naruto murmured before disappearing.

Naruto came back to himself to find a worried Iruka staring down at him.

"Sensei?" Naruto asked sleepily as he opened his eyes. "What's wrong."

"Kakashi was worried about you." Iruka admitted. "And he wanted me to check up on you, I was worried when you weren't waking up."

"I'm fine." Naruto said, "Just unusually tired." Naruto said. "There isn't anything to worry about right now."

"Kakashi seems to think there is." Iruka said sitting down on the edge of Naruto's bed, and reaching out and brushing Naruto's sweaty hair out of his face. "And I think that he is right. You don't look like you are feeling very well."

"I think something is wrong with Naruto." Kakashi said as he approached the teacher who was attempting to work on grading papers.

"Why is that?" Iruka asked. "Maybe he's just having a bad day everyone is entitled to those."

"I don't think that's it." Kakashi said, frowning down at the other man. "He's unusually tired. He looked like he was downright exhausted by the time we returned from our mission."

"Perhaps the mission was what wore him out." Iruka replied. "missions are often tiring."

"Not this one." Kakashi replied. "We didn't have to expend that much energy and Naruto was exhausted."

"I guess I can go check in on him when I'm done." Iruka said. "although Naruto probably won't like it."

"Naruto will have to get over it." Kakashi replied. "If the seal is somehow malfunctioning, he could be putting the entire village at risk by not getting checked out. You know what will happen to him if that's the case, and that's if he even survives the nine tails breaking free."

"I know, he'll be executed." Iruka murmured not liking the idea of the teen being put to death over something that was completely out of his control.

"I wouldn't want to see that happen, I might actually go on and talk to the Hokage about Naruto and see what she wants to do." Iruka nodded, he didn't like it but he could agree that he wouldn't want anything to happen to Naruto. Although if it came down to Naruto being executed, Iruka would leave the village with him. He wanted to make sure that Naruto was able to live a long happy life before dying of old age.

Shaking his head, Iruka returned his mind to the present and looked down at Naruto.

"It's just a cold or something." Naruto promised. "I'll be back to normal here shortly."

"I hope that you are right." Iruka murmured. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"You worry too much Sensei." Naruto said chuckling though knowing that someone worried about him warmed his heart.

"If I don't who will?" Iruka said. "You deserve to be worried over and as you put it mother henned to death." Naruto shrugged.

"You do tend to worry too much." Naruto said. "I think I've just run myself down, I'll be back on the mend again shortly."

"How would you run yourself down?" Iruka wondered. "and you've never had a cold a day in your life so why now? Perhaps the nine tailed demon is causing it somehow."

"I have been doing a lot of missions lately." Naruto said. "it's only natural that I get tired after a while. I am only human after all."

"Yes, but you seem to have a never-ending supply of energy." Iruka said chuckling, as Naruto sat up in his bed suddenly, his face flushing bright red.

"What's wrong now?" Iruka asked.

"My apartment is kind of filthy I didn't feel like cleaning before I went to bed." Naruto said flushing.

"You don't think I've seen a dirty apartment before?" Iruka asked teasingly. "I've known you for a long time, I'm well aware of your cleaning or rather not cleaning habits."

"Still," Naruto muttered still embarrassed. "I should have done something to make it look a little better."

"Since you're not feeling well, it's okay to leave it and get the rest that you clearly need." Said the brown-haired teacher. Iruka really didn't like how pale his former student was, sure the kid was nearly 16 years old, but he still needed someone to check up on him. Iruka wondered if he should go get Tsunade and have her look him over. Iruka knew that Naruto wasn't very likely to go the hospital under his own steam. Iruka also knew that the villagers still didn't treat Naruto very well. Iruka truly wished that he could change that, but unfortunately one couldn't change the hatred in someone else's hearts. If he could Iruka would make everyone realize how wrong they were about Naruto, but as it was Iruka could only watch Naruto suffer through the depression that he struggled so hard to hide from the world. Naruto might have thought that he had Iruka fooled but he could the pain in Naruto's eyes whenever someone called him a demon for what he housed within him. It wasn't fair, but Iruka was determined that Naruto was going to get through it. Iruka would not allow the student that had come to mean so much to him to do something that would take him away from those that loved him.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to Tsunade?" Iruka asked, still feeling concerned for the teen. Naruto's forehead was still covered in sweat, and he looked more than a little exhausted.

"I'm sure." Naruto said nodding vigorously, "I don't want to bother the old hag right now."

"You wouldn't be bothering her." Iruka protested. "You know as well as I do that she would do anything for you."

"Still she has her Hokage's duties to perform, as well as her work at the hospital. That's too much for anyone to deal with without adding my problems to them." Naruto replied.

"Then do you want to come home with me so that I can keep an eye on you?" Iruka asked, even though he wasn't sure he would even be able to keep an eye on the hyperactive teenager, he had his own work at the academy to keep up with.

"No thanks." Naruto said offering Iruka a genuine smile. "I'm good with staying here, I'll probably just sleep the rest of the night."

"If you insist." Iruka murmured, and Naruto chuckled. He loved that Iruka worried about him so much. Next to a few others on one else cared about whether Naruto lived or died.

"I do. I promise all I am going to do is go to sleep." Naruto said. "And probably sleep for the next three days."

"That's what I'm worried about." Iruka said gently, his voice still filled with concern. Sleeping for three days straight wasn't anywhere near normal for Naruto. It really did concern Iruka to see Naruto so exhausted.

"Quit mother Henning me." Naruto said. "I'll be okay. Like I said, I just need some time to recharge."

"If Kurama tells you to go the doctor you will, won't you?" Iruka asked, even though I know that you don't like going."

"I will." Naruto grumbled as he slid back down into his bed, pulling his covers up to his chin. Just this little bit of conversation with Iruka had drained him of the small amount of energy that he'd been able to recharge with his small nap.

"I guess I should let you get back to sleep then," Iruka murmured. Standing up, Iruka started towards the door, he glanced back at Naruto who was already asleep again. Iruka couldn't help but feel like something was going to happen. Like maybe something was already happening, and Naruto was trying to hide it. Whatever that was Iruka seriously hoped that it wasn't anything major.

So, this story is already completely written. I'm going to try and do that more instead of constantly just coming up with different stories. I hope you guys enjoy this story. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Liz