A/N: Here is my third story! I've wanted to publish this one a long time, but making it the right length just takes so damn long! Stories I've made before have such short chapters it's pathetic. Anyway, this one starts out at the end of Naruto's match against Neji during the chunnin exams. If you find any mistakes, please tell me. Enjoy!:)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...yet. cackles evily

Neji's head was spinning from the impact of Naruto's last blow. He didn't even hear the jounin instructor announce that the battle was over. He vaguely made out Naruto standing over him.

'He's going to kill me!' Neji thought. In a last desperate attempt, he hit the blond right in the stomach, where the red chakra had come from. Unfortunately, he was only half conscious at the time so his concentration was off. The result changed history for not only Naruto, but Konoha as well.

Immediately, red chakra began to form around the blond, only it was thicker this time. Neji watched in horror as Naruto howled in pain. The chakra was ripping away at his skin! A few of the older people in the arena screamed. 'The Nine Tailed Fox is breaking free!' was the thought running through most of their heads.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed. "What's happening to him?!" Ino could only stare in shock at the blond. Meanwhile, Orochimaru, still disguised as the Kazekage, felt his eyes widen, more from fascination than horror. Then, he smirked. 'Maybe I should postpone the invasion a little longer.' He thought. 'I want to see what comes of this.'

Naruto was in a world of pain. His skin was being ripped away, only to heal again. Something felt wrong with his stomach, or, more accurately, the seal on it. "What the hell's happening!" he screamed mentally to the Kyuubi. "What's happening?! The seal is breaking, that's what's happening!" shouted the Kyuubi gleefully.

"Oh fuck," said Naruto, right before he slipped into unconsciousness.

--

Neji was very confused. He couldn't get the past events to make sense. First of all, what was with that weird chakra Naruto had and why was it attacking it's user? Secondly, he knew it had been pretty unusual, but was it really bad enough for them to postpone the exams? They hadn't even cared when other people had been hospitalized! And why did people keep glaring at him? Was it really that bad he had made a mistake and attacked his opponent after the match was over? His uncle had even told him off for it. 'Maybe this is what it's like to be Hinata,' he mused. Another thing: why did every look so fucking scared?! You'd think a demon was about to attack or something……

All these questions reeled around his head as he walked down the hallway of Konoha's hospital. He was going to see if Naruto was alright. When the Hyuga protégée had last seen him, the chakra burns were pretty serious. And, he secretly felt a little ashamed and guilty of his mistake.

--

Sakura sat in the waiting room of the hospital, fidgeting nervously. Every bad thing she'd ever said or done to Naruto was flying through her head. If he died now, she would never be able to live with the guilt. And she had just started trying to be his friend too…..

"Friends?" a voice within her shrieked. "He's been trying to be you friend ever since he met you! But noooooo! You thought you were too good for him, when the truth is, you are pathetic as a ninja and a person!"

"Shut up!" she told it, but it just cackled at her. "You're always pushing him aside in favor of your precious Sasuke-kun, who doesn't give a damn about either of you!"

"You're wrong," she replied, but only half-heartedly. In truth, she wasn't sure. She was shocked and slightly disgusted at his behavior when he found out about what happened to their blond teammate. Sasuke had shown no concern whatsoever for him. In fact, he had just seemed extremely angry that the exams had been postponed.

The more she looked back at her life, the more she saw just how wrong she was about everything. Her head began to spin with the impact of this realization, and she wasn't sure of any thing anymore. All her beliefs had come crashing down around her. Sasuke wasn't the angel she had always seen him as. He was an arrogant prick who cared for no one (as far as Sakura could see). Naruto wasn't the stupid, weak, annoying baka she had deemed him to be. Instead, he was a strong kind-hearted ninja, who would do anything to protect his precious people. And she……..she herself wasn't the beautiful kunochi who Sasuke had a hidden love for, and just hadn't realized it that she had envisioned. Sakura was a weak, pathetic fan girl, who had only become a ninja in order to become Sasuke's fulltime stalker. She relied on her teammates to save her, and merely sit back and watch as they got hurt.

"Naruto is so strong," she thought. "No matter how mean I was to him, he still wanted to be my friend……." She sniffled a little bit. "No matter what happened, he would still be able to look at me and keep smiling." Her lip trembled, as she tried to hold back the tears. "I am so weak……I am such a horrible person……I…….. I don't deserve to be his friend!" Tears began spilling down her cheeks as she sat there, with her knees against her chest, sobbing. Slowly, her mind began to plunge into despair.

Suddenly, she was saved from her emotional turmoil by the entrance of Neji.

"H...Hyuga-san…." She tried desperately not to hiccup, or look like she had been crying a few seconds before.

Neji stood there awkwardly, not sure exactly what to do. He had walked in on a girl crying, and he wasn't sure what to do. The Hyuga protégé didn't have much experience with girls, except Tenten, who rarely ever cried. Plus, he assumed Sakura was crying because of Naruto's injury, making he-Neji the reason for her distress. In the end, he decided to pretend he hadn't seen her crying. He coughed and started to speak.

"Um…Sakura, have you been in to see Uzumaki?" She stared at her feet.

"No, they haven't let me." 'I hope his condition isn't critical.'

Neji was racking his brain for something else to say, when the door to the waiting room opened and a very tired looking Kakashi walked in. Sakura was by him immediately, pounding him with questions about Naruto.

"Is he alright? Why can't we see him? Has Sasuke come to see him to? What was that weird chakra? Will we-" She was abruptly cut off by Kakashi.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with him, Sakura, or what will happen."

Sakura frowned, disappointed, and was about to say something else when they heard screams down the hallway.

They were Naruto's.

A/N: The dreaded cliff hanger! Hope you enjoyed it! Please, please, please review! I only got TWO FUCKING REVIEWS last time. Thank you to those who actually did reveiw.