Good afternoon, all! It's me part two! I'm here with the second chapter and I must say, this is quite a lot of attention for a first fic for me!

I'm happy you guys like it so far. Please, tell me how it is and what I'm doing right and wrong. We are all growing together here, and if I get better I can make a better story for you guys!

Enjoy!

Rdyk


Naruto plopped down in his chair. The Academy was never a favorite spot of his, and the seats were by far his least favorite part of it.

They were so damn uncomfortable.

"You spend your days training nonstop in a forest and sleeping on rocks, yet a chair discomforts you?" the voice in his head, the Nine-Tailed Fox, asked. Naruto nodded, though his head was still lying on the table. "You're still a creepy little shit." Naruto nodded again.

As per usual, Naruto was the first to arrive to class, though it was not for any particular reason. After training out in the various Training Grounds located all over the Hidden Leaf, he would fall asleep rather late and wake up rather early. There wasn't much to do other than clean up and head to school.

"Could you at least endeavor yourself to remember their names this time?" the Fox asked. Naruto shook his head.

This was actually Naruto's second year since he met the Fox. He had failed the Academy once more during that time. The Third Hokage had managed to convince the teachers to give him one more try.

Turns out that simply not showing up for class wasn't a good enough reason to bar him entry to being a ninja. The Third Hokage made him promise to show up to class this time. Naruto couldn't bring himself to deny the man.

"You spent all of last year training. You're more than strong enough now to take care of yourself. Maybe you should focus on making friends."

Naruto lifted his head. The classroom was still empty, so the blond boy had no problems with voicing his opinion. "You're a giant beast of pure malevolence. Why do you care if I make friends or not?"

The Fox grunted. "It'd be an interesting change of pace. I'd like to see you squirm as you struggle to do the one thing that has always evaded you: successfully socializing with another human being."

Naruto shrugged. "The kids here are all so boring."

"How do you know that?" The Fox asked. "You haven't even met them yet."

"I met the kids last year," Naruto stated. "They were super boring."

"Well, they might not be as bad this year. Just give them a chance."

"No," Naruto said. He started to pout. "There are only two kinds of people in this world: those who hate you, and those who pretend that they don't." Naruto then hesitated. "And Aiko."

"Every time you say that line, you mention this 'Aiko' person. Who is she?" the Fox asked.

"None of your business," Naruto responded. He put his head down. The Fox scoffed. Whenever the boy got like this, he would stop talking altogether.

"If it makes you feel any better," the Fox started, "I'm only a part of the group that hates you."

Naruto, despite his best efforts, smiled.

XxX

The first student strolled in only a half hour after Naruto did. They were still a half hour early for class. Naruto sat in a corner of the room at the back of the class. He was next to a window, so he could enjoy being as far away from public attention as possible.

The person chose the seat farthest away from him while still being near the back of the class. After choosing their seat, the person immediately followed suit and plopped their head down on the desk. Naruto recognized this person.

Too bad it didn't matter. Shikamaru Nara fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the table.

"I remember the Naras. They're cheeky little shits. In the olden days of the Clan Wars, the Naras were hired almost as much as the Senju and those other people." Naruto knew that the fox meant the 'Uchiha'. He also knew that the Fox hated the Uchiha. "They're smart little bugs. Maybe you should be his friend?"

Immediately after the Nine-Tailed Fox said that, Shikamaru started to snore.

"Or maybe not."

Five minutes or so afterwards the next student strolled in. He was chubbier than most other students that Naruto saw, and thus singled out the only family the kid could have come from.

"An Akimichi. You had one last year. They're a jolly bunch."

True to form, the Akimichi waved at Naruto before sitting down next to Shikamaru. The boy attempted to rouse his sleeping friend to no avail. He then shrugged, opened a bag of chips, and started eating. Apparently, this was the status quo.

"I'll consider it," Naruto whispered. The Fox grunted.

The next person to arrive showed up only minutes after the rotund boy. He had charcoal black hair and—

"No. You are not making friends with that boy."

No making friends with Sasuke Uchiha. No problems there.

The next person to enter had arrived with an escort. The escort bowed as the small girl entered the room and watched her like a hawk until the girl had sat down near the back.

Both escort and girl had pale eyes and long, silky hair.

"A Hyuuga. They're… not too bad."

"They're arrogant," Naruto whispered. He had to do so lower than usual. The girl wasn't that far away from him.

"This one doesn't seem so," the Fox responded. "I can feel it. She's kind."

Naruto wasn't sure how the Fox sensed emotion of all things, but he did. He decided not to question it.

"I'll consider it," Naruto whispered. The Fox nodded his head.

The next person to burst through the door was a sight for sore eyes.

"Naruto! You fox smelling bastard! Get over here!"

Naruto immediately climbed onto his desk and darted away.

"Get back here, you mutt!" Kiba Inuzuka yelled. He chased Naruto with a smile on his face.

"I don't know why you associate yourself with dogs," the Fox said with a yawn. "They're so uncultured."

"He reminds me of Kiban."

"Dear gods," the Fox said in mock horror. "There are more of them?"

Eventually other students filed in while Naruto was evading Kiba's good natured chase. The Fox didn't comment on them, so Naruto paid no attention to them. One of such students was a boy called Shino Aburame. Naruto made sure not to disturb him as he fled from Kiba.

They had a moment of eye contact, even through the boy's shades, as he ran from the dog boy. A slight, almost imperceptible nod came from the boy. Naruto nodded back.

That was all there was to say about that.

Eventually, however, the Academy doors burst open one last time and two girls came barreling in at each other's necks. They seemed to be fighting over something.

They were not as strong as either Naruto or Kiba.

"Hey!" the girls yelled. They were on the ground now. Naruto had managed to dodge around them, but Kiba decided to barrel right through them. "Watch where you're going!"

Kiba turned around with a scowl. "I was," he said. "If you can't take the heat, maybe you should be the ones to get out of the way."

One of the two girls, a green eyed one with pink hair, shot to her feet and advanced on Kiba. She looked confrontational, so Naruto was prepared to step in. Kiba wasn't really a friend, but he was fun to mess with. He approached the girl from behind the dog boy and was ready to fight and—

"Stop, boy. Do you think she could survive an interaction with you?"

Naruto decided that he didn't care.

"I said, stop. There is no need."

Once again right, the Fox snickered as the other girl, a platinum blond, laid her hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder.

"Don't waste your energy on these two idiots. They were probably raised with no sense in their heads."

Naruto wasn't raised by anyone at all, so he didn't particularly care what the girl said. Kiba, however, snarled. He growled just like Kiban did.

"You take that back, you damn Yamanaka."

"A blasé answer for a blasé ninja," the platinum blond girl responded. "I shouldn't expect much more from an Inuzuka."

Naruto could hear Kiba's growls escalate, and if he knew anything about an Inuzuka, then that meant that Kiba was preparing to go into a frenzy. Naruto didn't particularly care about the dog boy or the Yamanaka, but not doing anything about this was probably going to cause a headache later on.

Walking forward, Naruto did the same to Kiba that the Yamanaka did to her hot headed friend. He placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder. For some reason Kiba stiffened, then calmed down.

"Naruto, what?" the Inuzuka asked. "What do you want?"

Naruto shook his head. "Calm down."

"Ooh, brat!" the Fox cut in excitedly. Only Naruto could hear it. "Say this!"

Naruto, unsure as to why, repeated what the Fox said.

"They're not worth your time. Their heads are all messed up from messing with other people's heads."

Now that? That elicited a reaction.

"Why, you…" the Yamanaka snarled. She stalked forward, only to be held back by her pink haired friend in a weird role-reversal.

Kiba, on the other hand, was delighted. "You know what, bro? You're absolutely right! You know that my aunt says that all the time?" Kiba then put his arm around the boy. "I knew that Cousin Kiban was right about you! I could just tell you would be a good friend!"

So Kiban really did send his cousin to look after him. That was nice, Naruto guessed.

The Yamanaka, after visibly forcing herself to calm down, pushed her pink haired friend off of her. "Whatever," she grunted. "Subpar boys like you can have each other. I'm going to hang out with someone cool." She then stalked off, her pink haired friend in tow. They claimed seats on either side of the Uchiha, much to said boy's annoyance.

Kiba, instead, dragged Naruto back to his seat in the back of the class. Naruto, not one to be confrontational, simply nodded.

He looked down to the suffering Uchiha however. The boy seemed to be distressed. He was trying his best to ignore the two girls squealing in his ears, but to apparently no avail.

"Kid, no. I know what you're thinking."

"I can't leave him alone," Naruto said. Kiba, with his impressive hearing, heard the boy. He followed Naruto's gaze.

"The kid? Why not? He's a stuck up Uchiha."

"The insufferable dog is right!" the Fox howled. "He's a useless, stupid, annoying, manipulative, Uchiha!"

Naruto shrugged off their concerns, as well as Kiba's arm, and made his way down to where the girls were squabbling. The Yamanaka immediately glared at him. Naruto ignored it.

Now, Naruto didn't particularly care about anyone. Besides Tenten, who graduated last year, and the Ramen shop people, there wasn't anyone in his life anymore that could garner his attention.

That didn't mean that the boy didn't feel sympathy, though. He knew about what happened to the Uchiha boy's entire family. He knew that the boy was an orphan like himself.

He knew that the boy just wanted to be left alone sometimes. From the way that Sasuke looked at him, Sasuke knew that Naruto knew that pain as well. With pleading eyes the Uchiha begged for an escape, of any kind, from the rabid fangirls around him.

And so Naruto obliged.

Sasuke wished that he hadn't.

The Uchiha's charcoal black eyes widened as he felt the Uzumaki's lips crash into his own. To say it was a kiss would be a gross exaggeration. This was the blonde boy attacking his lips with his own. It was terrible on every account.

And yet the two girls were shocked into silence. Their shock allowed Naruto to drag the Uchiha away from his seat and to where Kiba and he were sitting in the back of the room.

And that's how Sasuke Uchiha ended up sitting in the back of the room with the delinquent boys.

Even as the entire room watched in shock along with Sasuke, Kiba would not stop laughing.

Naruto just kept his head down and went back to sleep.

XxX

"You know, kid," the Fox started.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine…"

"I wasn't serious when I said that we'd start off with one hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and kilometers to run. I figured that we'd go slow. Start at maybe ten. Work our way up to one hundred every day."

"One hundred," Naruto chanted. Pushing up from his one hundredth push-up, Naruto started to limber up for his run.

"You can stop this. You didn't have to do it literally every day."

Naruto took off for a run.

"Fucking humans."

XxX

"Why is the bastard still sitting back here with us?" Kiba asked. He sat in the third seat in the row, the one next to the isle. Sasuke was sitting in the seat in the middle, and currently trying to get Naruto to switch with for the window seat. He wasn't making any progress.

"For once, I agree with the dog," Ino grunted. She sat in the row directly in front of them, looking exactly as disgruntled as she sounded.

"For once," the Kyuubi growled. "I agree with the humans. Why is the bastard still sitting back here with us?"

Naruto, who was trying his best to ignore everyone around him, finally lifted his head from the desk. Sasuke took this moment to pounce on him.

"Finally, you're up. Let's switch seats."

Naruto stared at the boy. A full minute passed without the boy either saying anything or blinking. Most were unnerved. Sasuke was not.

"I am an Uchiha. We invented that look. So you can either pay me back for that kiss you stole or we can have an Impassive Stare Off."

Naruto didn't respond. He just kept staring. Sasuke, used to such things, impassively stared back.

No one interrupted them. Not even Iruka.

They continued for the whole day.

XxX

"Brat," Kyuubi groaned. "That's a rock."

Naruto nodded. Up, down.

"No, better yet, that's a boulder. You realize you're lifting a boulder?"

Naruto nodded again. Up, down.

"Brat, that's not even part of your training routine. Why are you lifting a boulder?"

Naruto nodded. It didn't answer the Nine Tails' question. The Fox pretended that it did.

"At least find a bigger one."

Naruto nodded. He threw the boulder off him and jumped up in search of a bigger one. The rock went up, up, up.

When it finally came back down it created a crater.

XxX

"Seriously," Kiba grunted. It was physical fitness day and Iruka was forcing them through some vigorous drills. They were currently on sit ups. It wasn't Kiba's strong suit. "Why is the bastard still hanging with us?"

Naruto didn't answer. He was belting through sit ups several times faster than everyone else. In truth, he was done a while ago, but Iruka couldn't find it in himself to stop the boy.

"I find it…" Ino said around gasps of breath. She was still on the push up portion of the exercise and didn't seem to be finishing anytime soon. "… disturbing that we agree so often, Inuzuka."

Sakura was even further behind than Ino. She was still on her stretches. Iruka wondered how that was possible.

Sasuke, who was desperately trying to keep up with Naruto, was panting as well. "The blonde bastard needs to pay me back." Sasuke then collapsed back onto the ground. He wasn't near completing even half of what Naruto had. "Until he does he's going to ward off the fangirls. Well, you are going to ward off fangirls, mutt. You keep hanging out with him, though, so he's paying me back through you."

Kiba bristled and glared at Sasuke at the end of every sit up. "Then how is he going to pay me back for hanging out with you?"

"Through me," Ino panted. She switched over to sit ups, but then considered the effort and decided to take a break. "The instant he stops hanging out with you and Sasuke, I'm taking that third spot."

"I thought you hated me," Kiba asked.

"I do," Ino responded, "but Sasuke's coolness outweighs how much you suck."

The three ninja fell into a silence. They were in awe of the rock-paper-scissors dynamic that they had somehow naturally fallen into.

The silence was broken only by Naruto's now jackhammer speed as he started his squats, and Shikamaru's snoring as he slept just out of view of the teachers.

He was behind even Sakura.

XxX

Naruto had completed his thirty seventh run around the Hidden Leaf Village. It was five in the morning. Not a bad start to the day.

"Yosh!" a youthful voice called out behind him. Naruto ignored it. "Your youthful spirit is invigorating, young Naruto!"

The Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf ran up to Naruto and lifted him in the air. The man was wearing an all green jumpsuit that hugged every perfectly sculpted muscle in his body.

Naruto thought he looked cool. The Nine Tails gagged.

"I did not invest so much time and effort into you just for you to disappoint me like this. You are not wearing that monstrosity."

Naruto considered asking for a leotard.

"Damn it boy, you are NOT wearing that!"

Naruto snickered.

"Insufferable human."

"I have seen you baring your youth around the outskirts of the village and I am impressed, young Naruto!" the Green Beat, Might Gai, yelled.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure why, but that sentence seemed dirty.

"If I cannot match your youth, then I will do a thousand pushups with boulders attached to my legs!"

Naruto gasped. That actually didn't sound like too bad of an idea.

"Human, no."

XxX

Sasuke smirked. It was a wicked smile, borne of literally months of trying to prove himself.

"Finally. Finally, I have something that I can beat you in."

In the Uchiha's hand was a throwing knife. The boy tossed it in the air, letting it flip blade over handle, before catching it and doing it again.

Naruto shrugged. He picked up the dull throwing knife that was placed before him and looked at the target dummy. It was a crude straw man with a target over its torso. With a shrug, Naruto flicked his wrist. His knife fell short halfway to the dummy.

Sasuke's smirk widened. "Ha. You throw it like this." Sasuke then flicked his wrist much harder. The knife flew straight and true, before embedding itself dead center of the target.

Sasuke turned, wide eyed and victorious, to his blond rival. "See? Impressed?"

Naruto shrugged. After months of hanging out with the boy, Sasuke translated the action as a resounding "yes". Sasuke was understandably ecstatic.

Iruka, however, was not. "Naruto, I know that you have never been particularly good at aiming, but you need to at least put a little bit of effort into this." Iruka then walked up to Naruto. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "From your physical reports alone, I know that you at least make it to the dummy. Can you do that for me, Naruto? I believe that you can."

Naruto looked at Iruka. His gaze, impassive and long, showed nothing of what the boy was thinking. Regardless, he took the knife that his teacher was handing him and inspected it. It was dull, just like every other knife they had. Slowly, Naruto stepped up to the starting line.

"Boy," the fox grumbled. "Think very carefully about what you're about to do."

Naruto shrugged. How bad could it be?

Taking aim, Naruto tried his second chance at throwing the knife. He put minimal effort into it, and the knife flew on a straight path.

It missed the target completely, instead hitting the edge of the dummy's head.

Sasuke laughed. "Is that the be-"

The knife had kept going. It pierced the stone wall behind the dummy that circled the school. The wall was obliterated as the knife just kept going, eventually going on to pierce through the trees surrounding the schoolyard and then leaving line of sight.

The students in attendance gaped. "What?"

"We gotta go,"the fox yelped.

"I gotta go," Naruto yelled. Actually putting effort into his stride, the boy disappeared from the schoolyard.

The ground where he was standing was cracked.

XxX

Naruto kicked his legs. They dangled over the edge of the branch he was currently sitting on. He looked downwards, towards the ground, as he contemplated things.

"I told you to be careful," the Fox said. Naruto nodded.

"Mm."

For a while, silence reigned. Naruto swung his feet, and the leaves were blown on the wind.

"You have gotten stronger. Much, much stronger than you used to be. You know that?" the Fox asked. Naruto once more nodded.

"Mmm."

"So," the Fox started. He hesitated on his words. "You know what happened today, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"You are strong, Naruto. Far stronger than you were."

"Mmm."

"And you're stronger than they are, too. Well, most of them, anyway."

Naruto nodded.

"You don't like that, do you?"

Naruto shook his head.

"I'm not apologizing. You needed to get stronger in order to handle my power. You needed to get stronger in order to handle what's coming for you."

Naruto grunted. "What."

The Fox's ears twitched, not that Naruto could tell. "Hmm?"

"What do you need that for? To get stronger? Why do you want me stronger?"

The Fox grumbled. "I told you, so that you could handle my power. Or did you forget about this?"

A tendril of red chakra snaked out of Naruto's belly. Naruto stared at it for a bit, before reaching out with his left hand and grabbing it. The tendril froze in his hands, as if cowed, and Naruto squeezed it tight.

"I am strong," Naruto said. His voice was low, like he wasn't used to using it. "I was strong a year ago. Still you want stronger. Why?"

The Fox was quiet for a moment. He waited a moment longer before answering. "Because you need to be. There are things out there that are stronger than you could possibly imagine. You need my power if you want to handle it."

"I have your powe-"

"You need more of it. Lots more of it. If you want to use it properly, then you need to be a lot stronger than you are now. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded.

"Good. Now, next on the li-"

"What."

"Pardon?"

"What is it that you want me to handle?"

"Mmm," the Fox mused. "That is a question for another time."

"No," Naruto said. There was force behind it. "No other time. Now. I didn't ask questions for two years. I just want the answer now."

The Fox was quiet once more. Several minutes passed while the two sat in the same tree that Naruto at under those two years ago. Seeing nothing else to do, Naruto started kicking his legs once more.

"Brat."

"Hmm?"

"To the ground, for me."

Naruto nodded. He jumped down to the ground and made his way over to the soft dirt. The tendril in his hand burst out and started drawing in the dirt.

"Do you remember your history class, brat?"

Naruto shook his head. The Fox snorted.

"Well, remember this one. Tell me…"

In the dirt the tendril had drawn a wide circle. Inside of it were two more concentric circles centered by a dot.

"What do you know of a 'Madara Uchiha'?"