...

'…Why are you orange?'

The Kyuubi's left ear twitched for what seemed like the hundredth time.

'Is it because you like orange?'

Its closed eyelids started to tremble.

'I love orange, but nobody else does.'

I can see why, if you're the one preaching its virtues.

'Do you like orange because you're orange?'

'What do you think?' The fox snarled abruptly, jamming two of its tails into its ears and curling one of them in front of its eyes.

'I think you like orange.'

'…'

At this rate, the fox was definitely going to blow up from sheer misery and annoyance. Left with no logical solution, It started to bang its head against the ground in a steady, calming rhythm.

Thud… Thud… Thud… Thud…

The boy on the other side of the prison bars had given it another reason to pursue freedom more desperately than ever. Screw 'Operation: Revenge on that Uchiha'. The bijuu would do anything to get away from this torture…

Then the sound of human laughter, the first it'd heard in nearly twenty years, broke through its plugged ears. The fox raised the tails on its face cautiously to see… the brat sitting back against the wall and chuckling.

Naruto had just 'woken up' again.

By the bijuu's estimate, a day had passed since the boy had first appeared in his mindscape. And during that time, He had passed into a delirious state for a few hours once earlier, starting a few minutes after his first encounter with the fox, in fact… and during that time, the boy had acted as if someone had ripped his self-respect from him and replaced it with the urge to babble endlessly about absolutely nothing. It was fine for the first hour or so; the nine-tails had managed to stop the madness with nothing but killing intent, but the source of its misery had slowly grown accustomed to it. Now he barely even flinched while yowling about whatever he was yowling about.

It had been Ramen earlier.

This time, it was 'orange'.

And in between the two times, the boy had just sat there, head sunk into his arms.

But now…

'Hehehe… Ohohooo God…The mighty Kyuubi, curled up like a cat… HAHAHAAA!... Are you scared of me? Huh? Huh?' The brat did an odd little happy dance that made him look like a dying frog.

Oh sweet sage of-

'Alright, Alright, so you don't like orange. No need to start crying about it!'

'Crying? CRYING? You miserable little-'

'Yeah yeah, I've heard it all a million times. Brat, idiot, monster, moron, loser… dobe... Be original.' He was sticking his tongue out at the fox now.

'-wretch!'

'...'

HA! Got ya now!

But the boy just sighed, the mirth slowly draining out of him until he slumped back onto the floor.

The Kyuubi felt relief surge through it on hearing that little whoosh of wind; it'd finally get some peace now… something it'd gotten very used to during the long stays inside other human's bodies.

...But a small part of the fox was glad that the long period of inactivity had finally been broken. The rest of it though, kept berating the fates for sending the 'interruption' that they did.

The demon slowly slid away from Naruto's view, lying down again to savour what little amount of serenity it could before the 'Orangeand Ramen Zombie' returned.

'I feel like I'm in jail, damn it.'

'Really? Hehehe... Welcome to my world, brat.'

Naruto, in the dark depths of the fox's cage, could see the demon's glowing teeth curled into a knowing smile.

Being out of the preliminaries, although sad, had its perks for Sakura. She was able to do so much more that she couldn't do before, especially with her recent reunion with Ino.

For example, She'd spent a whole day at the Yamanaka flower shop doing nothing but talking with her re-instated friend about things they hadn't told each other for two or three years. Of course, their animated chatter had sent nearly every one of the shop's customers out of the doors, huffing in frustration, but it had been worth it in the end.

Their moms were especially happy that they were hanging out with girls for once.

At present though, she was arranging a rose on top of a floating lotus leaf on a bowl of water near Lee's side-table in the Hospital.

Lee was sleeping. With the sunshine streaming through the window and pouring on his face -and his hair reflecting a fair portion of it- he looked considerably better than when he was clad in that jumpsuit of his with his hair bunched in a hemisphere. The wildness suited him.

She gave a final glance to the flowers she'd set for him, then left the ward, heading back home.

At least she was, until she saw something unsightfully orange from the corner of her eye.

That particular shade of that particular colour could only mean one thing.

NARUTO.

Her feet shifted her path automatically, and before she knew it, she was entering the door of a ward and then standing next to the teammate of hers that had tried hugging her yesterday.

She had a fleeting sense of apprehension as she considered that her punch might have landed him here… But then she remembered the other times she'd hit him that hard.

Back during the academy, during their D-rank missions, on their journey to the land of waves, during their stay at Tsunami-san's house, during their exam in the forest of death... Darn near everywhere…

All those punches, no wonder he's turned out to be such a knuckle-head.

Although slightly guilty, she wasn't sorry. He was too annoying to ignore, too persistant to dismiss and too loud to bear. A sucker-punch to the head was the simplest way of dealing with her hyper teammate, so why not use it?

She was curious about why he was here though, and she looked around the ward to find a nurse or a clipboard containing the medic's diagnosis for the only patient in the ward, but she could find neither.

That was weird, since there usually was someone on attendance in a ward at all times.

Turning back, she pulled a chair and sat down next to Naruto's limp form. She crossed her fingers on her lap, looking around at the slightly dusty beds, Naruto's forehead protector lying on a side-table and the crumbly wallpaper before returning her gaze to the blond.

Well… What now?

Sakura looked him over, and Naruto seemed to be okay. No signs of physical injury or of pain and discomfort marred his face. In fact, he looked very bright and wholesome; something that wasn't solely linked to the abundance of sunlight that fell on his prone form.

People are very different when they go to sleep… So vulnerable…

She almost reached forwards to muss Naruto's blonde mess of hair, but stopped herself at the last moment, fingers curling over his unguarded hairline. She didn't know why, but a very fundamental part of her instincts seemed to forbid her to do it. She withdrew her hand, noticing that it felt oddly numb and prickly.

Now why would that happen?

Attributing it to some random freak accident, she left the ward, suddenly remembering that she had an arrangement with Ino at her house later this evening. She was so excited! They were finally gonna show each other their Sasuke scrapbooks! She couldn't wait to flaunt off her special Team 7 access to Ino… Oh, the look on her face was gonna be priceless!

Leaving the hospital for the open roads beyond, she also made a mental note to bring a flower for Naruto every time she came to the hospital. She skipped off towards the Yamanaka compound, not noticing the feeling of heaviness that was slowly building up in her hand.

YaYY! Reviews! Now go make me some. It'll be VERY highly appreciated :P