As Squad 8 left the hospital, a large group of kids gathered outside. "Hey, you there!" The leader said. "I hear you've been put into the Chuunin exams. Just give up now, there's no way that you could beat the #1 rookie, Sasuke, or last year's #1 rookie, Neji." Naruto smirked. He made a hand gesture to Hinata and Shikamaru that he did when they should follow his lead. "Really? Then why did you come here? I know it wasn't to stop us from endangering ourselves against them." He said. Shikamaru joined in, because Hinata was too shy to speak to a group this large. "Are you really threatened by us that much? If you really thought that we couldn't win, you'd just let them beat us without your interference!" He taunted. "I know! This is so pathetic! They're afraid because we finished an A-Rank mission, and their precious heroes haven't even been on one!" Naruto said. The entire group looked shocked and angry. "What did you say!" some yelled. "We'll kill you for that!" Others shouted. "Actually," Naruto said, "You're going to run away in terror." Even Shikamaru was confused. "Why would we do something like that!" Someone shouted. "Transform!" Kyuubi yelled, and a house-sized Kyuubi Kitsune appeared before them. "Now to eat every last one of you!" Kyuubi said. As predicted, everyone ran off. Kyuubi returned to Naruto's form, and laughed as he watched the kids scatter. "That was really unnecessary, you know." Shikamaru said. "I know, but I haven't had that much fun in thirteen years!" Kyuubi laughed. "I-It was funny though, Shikamaru." Hinata said, smiling. Shikamaru thought for a second. "You know, Hinata, I don't think I've ever seen you laugh. Smile, but not laugh." Naruto grinned, an something that Shikamaru had never seen either. "See? I can grin, so you should be able to laugh. Come on!" Naruto prompted. Hinata managed a half-chuckle at how odd Naruto looked when he was grinning. "That's okay for now, but you really need to cheer up Hinata. I mean, I'm happy a lot more than you are, but I'm the one who contains a demon, not you. We'll work on the 'Happy' thing later though," Naruto regained his serious expression, "Because we need a mission."
"Man, you're such a drag." Shikamaru complained. "We just got back. Why can't you be happy to just calm down for awhile?" Naruto turned towards him. "Because it's a month 'till the start of the Chuunin exam, and we need practice. If we don't use missions to train, then we won't be ready for it." Hinata nodded, and Shikamaru groaned. 'I see the reason behind that, but does he have to be right about doing more work?' He thought. "But our sensei's wounded. How can we take missions?" Shikamaru said, trying to discourage him. "I don't care how, we will get a mission."
"Okay, today you get your first B-ranked mission." Sarutobi said. "Alright! We're gonna do great!" Choji said. "I guess so." Shino commented. "Hn." Sasuke said. "Okay. We'll set out tomorrow." Kakashi instructed his students. "Meet me at the gate at-" The door opened. "Old man Hokage, we need a mission." Naruto stated, slowly walking into the room. "We must train for the Chuunin exams, and so need A or B-Ranked missions to practice." The Hokage pinched the skin between his eyes. "We only have one mission of that level left." He said. "Good. We'll take it." Naruto said, silently noting that Shikamaru was absent. "I'm sorry Naruto, but Team Kakashi has already taken it." He said, preparing for an outburst of rage. "We'll just go with them. Our sensei is in the hospital anyway." Naruto said. Sarutobi was surprised. He didn't lose his temper over the matter, but found a good alternative. "There is no way that those three freaks are going to come along." Sasuke said. "Wow, that was more than three words!" Naruto teased, although retaining his flat tone. "Shut up loser." Naruto sighed. "And I thought you had changed. Apparently I was wrong, you orphan."
That made Sasuke lose it. "You freak! That was just sick! Do you know how it feels to have your whole family slaughtered? Do you?" Naruto just sat there, with the same emotionless stare. "At least you knew your family. You got years to spend with them, whereas I never had any. While you were celebrating your birthday, I was running through the streets, trying to stop the villagers from beating me up. While you were eating dinner with your family, I was scrounging up food from anywhere I could, for no one would sell me anything. When you were born, your family surrounded you, and cared for you. When I was born-" Sarutobi hit the table with his hand.
"That's enough, Naruto." He said firmly. "No. He needs to hear this. I was cursed from birth, I was shunned by society, I was given this responsibility. My curse resides in a being. Do you know it? The legendary demon? Do you know of the Nine-Tailed Fox?" Sasuke sat there, stunned by Naruto's speech. "Yes, but it was before our time. Very few of us were even born then." Naruto shook his head. "In that case, you're wrong. The Kyuubi is, was, and will always be my time. When I was born, a curse was placed upon me. When I was born, the fox was rampaging through Konoha. When I was born, the Kyuubi Kitsune was sealed into my body! It is my curse, my strength, and my being. Thanks to everyone's favorite Hokage, I live with the constant reminder that I am not wanted. Not in this village, nor the next. I will always live with the fact that no matter how good I become, I will always be seen as a monster. No matter what I do, the village will still think of me as a beast. No matter how hard I try, I will always be a demon in their eyes."
Sasuke, Shino, and Choji were reeling. The Kyuubi wasn't dead? Naruto had it sealed into his body? There were so many questions for them to ask, but they couldn't speak a word. Sasuke was taking it the hardest. 'His life has been a living hell thanks to the Kyuubi. Mine has problems, but if he took it the way I did, would I even be here to think this? Would anybody?'
"One day," Naruto continued, "The Kyuubi reached out to me. I could feel it in my mind, as I still do now. He talked to me, he respected me, he was my only friend. He made me realize, that if the villagers didn't like me being his jailer, I shouldn't keep his wrath from them. I was later attacked by a group of townspeople who thought they should beat me up for being the Kyuubi's container. I let Kyuubi take control, and he showed them that they could not mess with me any longer." Sasuke felt the anger in Naruto's voice rising. If what he said was true, it was no wonder that he kept to himself.
"Seven wounded, Four killed, and Two eaten." Naruto said. Sasuke's mouth dropped open in horror. The reports of a rogue ninja attacking a crowd of villagers weren't just an urban legend. But, it was Naruto who did it, not a rogue ninja. "After that, almost daily, the assassination attempts came. Villagers who thought I had become the Kyuubi, and ninja who thought I was out of control. At least once every day I would have to kill an attacker. After the attack on the crowd, people stayed away from me. But after they had learned that I killed every assassin that came after me, they would desert whatever area I was in. Didn't you ever notice that the area around the academy was always deserted? Everything within ten blocks of me becomes a ghost town. I now don't have to worry about people not selling me food, because when I'm hungry, I walk into the nearest house, and eat whatever they have. It's not like anyone's going to stop me. Back to the academy, that was when I met my only real friend, Hinata." At this comment, Hinata blushed, and almost fell over. Naruto walked up to her, and put his arm around her in a protective way. Hinata blushed furiously, and would have collapsed if Naruto wasn't standing next to her.
"On my first day, I stopped a group of bullies from picking on Hinata, and we've been friends ever since. After awhile, she would even follow me around outside of the academy. That was when it began. People thought that I had somehow hypnotized her into staying with me, or that she was a traitor. Hinata had many assassination attempts on her, and I killed every one. She was also kidnapped several times, and those morons were eaten alive." Sasuke shuddered. 'Did Naruto really do all this?' He thought. Shino was listening intently to his story, and remembered that the Hyuugas had complained about an assassination attempt once. "Excuse me, but why didn't the Hyuuga's complain about this?" Shino asked. Naruto turned towards him. "Because the majority of those attempts were from the Hyuuga."
"The Hyuuga don't like Hinata. They consider her weak, because she does not like to fight. The fact that she is my best friend makes her less than worthless in their eyes. In fact, some of those attempts were made so that her younger sister could become the clan leader, instead of her. That would be fine with Hinata, but the only way to do so is for Hinata to die. So naturally, she doesn't want to be killed. In fact, their 'weak' issue couldn't be farther from the truth. Hinata could beat even you, Sasuke. Of course, that would be if she tried." Sasuke humphed, and thought that Naruto was exaggerating. "Oh, I'm not joking, Sasuke. In fact, most of the Non-Hyuuga assassins were killed by Hinata." The Fourth Hokage stared in disbelief. He had noticed that some had not been killed in Naruto's usual way, with teeth and claws, but he never would have imagined that it was Hinata who had done so. Shino too, saw the truth in Naruto's eyes.
"We have been through a lot together, and we leave each other's side as little as possible. Even at sometimes, when I would prefer she not have to see things, she stays. I mean, I don't exactly like my friend watching as Kyuubi eats the assassins' remains, but she doesn't leave me. I may not like that, but I've come to realize that I would hate it if she left." Kakashi stopped reading his book. "That was a great speech and all, but I don't get why you told everyone about Hinata." He said. Shikamaru stuck his head in the door. "Trust me. Just about every sentence that comes out of his mouth is about death or Hinata."
"Ah, Shikamaru. So, are you ready for the mission?" Naruto said. "I'm not coming." Was the reply. "Too bad, you're missing out." Choji stood up. A Kunai suddenly flew past his face, and stuck in the wall behind him. "Sorry. Reflex." Naruto said, by way of explanation. "Going on a mission with him isn't safe." Choji said. "I can't go if I'm going to worry about getting nailed with a Kunai for standing up." Shikamaru nodded. "He has a point. Do you know how many times he nearly got me?" Kakashi smiled. "Fine. Then you two lazy bums can stay here."