When Kurenai received the news about Konoha's higher-ups changing her team, at first she wasn't happy about that. She had already made a mental picture of what her team would be, so losing one of her students was quite a stress. But after a few weeks spent training her new student, a certain pink-haired girl, Kurenai came to a conclusion that everything was not as bad as it seemed. Her two other students were still with her, and she trained them just as she had planned, and Sakura turned out a very skillful when it came to learning genjutsu. Kurenai, who was a genjutsu user herself, sometimes, caught herself thinking that she enjoyed teaching the girl the basics of genjutsu even more than training with her other students.

That didn't mean, however, that she paying more attention to Sakura then to Kiba and Hinata. Her other two students were training just as much, but since both of them were members of shinobi clans they already had defined fighting styles of their respective clans, so the black-headed jonin only had to help them refine their skills. Usually it meant overlooking their personal training as well as teaching them basic exercises to increase their chakra control, like tree and water walking. Just as Kurenai expected, all three of them showed exceptional results: Hinata and Kiba were quite proficient with such simple tasks due to their additional training at their clan's compounds, and even Sakura did well due to her unusually high level of chakra control.

Sakura, however, was a girl from a civilian family, so she didn't have either a Bloodline Limit or any specific clan's fighting style, and it meant that it was up to her red-eyed sensei to define the girl's strong sides and teach her how to best utilize them in a fight. Naturally, with her keen mind and proficiency in chakra control, genjutsu was the best option, but Kurenai didn't want to stop at that. Since Sakura was just beginning her training, she was like a clay, waiting to be shaped by her sensei, and Kurenai, knowing that and recognizing Sakura's potential, saw Sakura as the most suitable out of her three students to become her legacy in a shinobi world. That's why she didn't want the girl to focus on genjutsu only, like Kurenai had done, and instead to become something more.

One of possible routes for the girl was studying medical ninjutsu: Sakura had already showed some skill in performing basic healing techniques, but Kurenai believed that that alone wouldn't do much difference: with healing and illusion techniques Sakura would be forever stuck as a support, which would be a waste of her potential. Another option, which appealed to Kurenai much more, were Sealing techniques: masters of that complex art were rare, as it required a lot of wits and determination, but Sakura possessed both of those things: all she needed was a fuinjutsu specialist to teach her. Kurenai herself wasn't very experienced with it, but she believed that she would manage to find someone willing to pass their knowledge to the girl: when it came to teaching genins, it was a common practice to ask for help of other jonins who were more experienced in a certain field of ninjutsu. After all, teaching genins was a high priority in Konoha, as it was directly related to their chances of survival on missions.

Sakura's physical …, however, could be better. Maybe it was so obvious to Kurenai only because her other two students were from clans that heavily relied on hand-to-hand combat, and Sakura didn't look so strong when compared to them, but still, there definitely was a lot of room for improvement for a pink-haired kunoichi. While she was on a team with two taijutsu-strong genins that wasn't an issue, but was a problem for the image of self-sufficient Sakura that Kurenai had in mind.

Another problem with Sakura was her strong obsession with a certain black-haired boy – the survivor of the Uchiha massacre, to be precise. Even though he was never around, Kurenai often caught Sakura day-dreaming, and one look at her … face was enough to tell what was the subject of her dreams. It wasn't a serious issue, but Kurenai would prefer Sakura to be a little more concentrated on more pressing problems – like practicing Hell Vision Technique, one of the most basic genjutsus. That obsession, combined with the fact that one of the genins from her initial team was taken away from her, made the red-eyed woman think of Team 7 with irritation.

And Sakura wasn't the only one who constantly had something on her mind: her two teammates were bothered by something as well. While Hinata's anxiety could be related to her insecure nature, Kiba, who had always been a very light-hearted boy, was getting gloomier with every day. On their first day as a team the boy behaved normally – if the word "behave" could be applied to him. When he found out that he was the only one who was placed on one team with two girls, his and his dog's joy were on top of the world from happiness, and his nasty jokes on that matter had made Hinata pink from embarrassment and Sakura and Kurenai – red from rage. He even tried to flatter Sakura in his childish attempt to flirt with her, but since Sakura's heart and mind completely belonged to another boy, Kiba failed completely.

It all changed on the fourth day, however. As usual, Kiba came to his team's training ground, but, instead of starting to brag loudly, the boy just silently started training, putting all of his determination into it. His doggy companion, Akamaru, was also silent, and his barks didn't break the silence as they used to. And while Kurenai was somewhat glad that Kiba finally decided to …, she was also very worried about what made her student so serious.

"So far, Team 7 has caused me only problems" – Kurenai thought one day while observing Kiba practice different combination attacks with his dog – "Although I must admit that Sakura really is a blessing. I can't help but wonder, how is Shino doing out there?"

Unbeknownst to her, right at that moment Shino was clashed against his blonde teammate – just as he and Sasuke had been for a past few weeks. Their fights were getting more and more violent, but their sensei didn't seem to mind, simply observing them from a distance. Shino suspected that there was more to those fights then just training to subdue Naruto, since all this time Naruto was learning how to oppose their techniques, not to mention the fact that he didn't use his Jinchuriki powers at all, but he didn't voice his thoughts. He was sure that their sensei understood that as well, so he simply did what he was told to do.

On that morning, Shino, despite his disciplined behavior and an early hour, was not the first one to arrive to the training ground. When he entered the opening in the forest, he, to his mild surprise, noticed that there already was someone beside Yamato. Coming closer, he noticed that that was Sasuke, and that the boy was listening to something their sensei was telling him with a very serious expression. Shino couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it was obviously the reason the two of them came there so early to discuss it, since when Yamato saw his other student coming, he quickly asked Sasuke one short question, to which the boy grimly nodded in response.

After that, Yamato turned towards Shino and smiled to the boy, welcoming him. As usually, his smile looked fake. Shino didn't ask what they were so secretive about, but when Sasuke passed him, he heard the Uchiha whisper: "Sensei wants us to go all out".

A few hours after that, the training ground was filled with sounds of struggle and fight – just like it had for the past few weeks. Naruto, grinding his teeth in both pain and rage, was facing a combined assault of his two so-called teammates – although the word "tormenters" did a better job describing them. Over the course of weeks, Kurama had many moments when he was on a verge of losing control and breaking free, but he suspected – no, he just knew that – that Yamato was waiting for that. And after the cruelty that that man induced upon him he had no desire whatsoever to play along.

Shino and Sasuke circled around him, Aburame's sunglasses glinting and Uchiha's red eyes spinning. Over the time they had spent fighting, those two had adapted to Kurama's ruthless style: Shino learned to stay out of close proximity, and Sasuke, despite being weaker than his blonde rival, had learned to cope with him in a fist fight. While Kurama had been learning his moves and ways to get around his defenses, Sasuke, in his turn, always found out to counteract that, and with his Sharingan he had always made a faster progress than Kurama.

Those two were always planning ahead, creating new enigmatic combinations to catch Kurama off-guard. That morning, as the fox was feeling, wasn't an exception: his adversary was taking his time to attack, as if waiting for something. But the beast never saw what was coming for him that time.

Raven-haired boy charged at Uzumaki. Kurama threw out a punch. Sasuke fell apart into countless bugs, revealing another Sasuke standing right behind him, weaving seals.

And then he breathed out the name of his technique, along with a large fireball that set Kurama's clothes on fire.

The pain was unbearable, and, despite having decided not to show any sign of weakness, not giving in to that horrible man's plan, Kurama screamed. He could feel the fire burning through the cloth of his orange jacket and licking at his skin, and the unbearable heat that surrounded him, that seemed to be coming from everywhere, made the beast shake inside his cage, feeling the pain of his host's body. But even with all that, even when he was faced with the absolute madness of the situation he was in, even when screaming at the top of his lungs, Kurama was still clinging to his determination not to break free.

That was until Sasuke, still not satisfied with the results, kicked Kurama's smoking body in the gut.

Flying back and falling down, Kurama finally felt something snap inside him. That kick was the last drop, the one that pushed the fox over the edge. With a deep growl, Kurama stood up inside his cage and began pushing the gates.

Sasuke was worried: even though he had done everything as Yamato had asked him to, the thought that he had just set his teammate on fire concerned him. He knew what the point of doing so was, but still, he didn't like the way his sensei achieved his goals. Plus, no matter what was the cause, he would never manage to convince Naruto that it was worth it. He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't even notice when Shino came up to him.

"Do you think we have overdone it?" – Shino asked.

Sasuke looked at Yamato: the man didn't move an inch after one of his students was almost scorched, instead continuing to observe the situation with his unblinking stare.

"I don't think so" – Sasuke answered – "from the day one all we were doing was beating Naruto up. I guess that man wanted us to go beyond that" – he finished.

"Do you think we should…" – Shino never finished his question: he suddenly froze, as if listening to something very faint. A moment later Sasuke understood the reason behind that: some cold, horrifying feeling suddenly engulfed him, squeezing his lungs and throat and making his knees tremble, as if an icy wave rolled across the training ground, catching genins by surprise. Birds stopped singing in an instant, and the boy noticed a flock of them flying away hurriedly.

The feeling that paralyzed boys was completely primal, and it left Sasuke puzzled as to what caused it. He felt genuine fear, a fear of something that couldn't be seen or heard. The cause of his fear could only be felt at some instinctive level, and he didn't need to be a sensory type to do so, since whatever that was, it predated all chakra. Sasuke's racing mind suddenly remembered when and where he had felt it before, and, gasping, Sasuke realized what the cause of his shock was.

It was a killing intent.

And it was coming from Naruto.

When he turned towards him, the blond wasn't lying on the ground anymore. He hunched forward so much that his dangling arms were almost touching the ground, and his hair obscured his eyes completely. His clothes had smoking holes here and there through which burns on his skin were visible. However, wounds didn't stay there: Sasuke thought that he was imagining things when suddenly a red, bubbling chakra appeared over them and healed them so quickly that it almost seemed as if they evaporated. Yamato's words from their morning conversation rung in his head:

"Training to oppose Naruto is important, but there's another reason for you to fight him, Sasuke. In order to get the Kyuubi under our control we have to first lure it out, and his host's anger is a gateway. However, you can see that we have failed to do it so far, so we have to raise the stakes. It may be hard for you to hear this, but I need you to seriously injure Naruto – today. And then, if the beast comes out to protect itself, we'll counter-attack… and it will be all up to you then".

"It's here" – Sasuke whispered, to shocked to move. He had thought he was ready to face the bijuu, knowing that Shino and Yamato would be nearby, but he hadn't imagined that its mere presence would leave him completely powerless.

Naruto raised his head, and now everyone could see his eyes. Usually blue and cold, they were now red and slit, full of such inhuman, burning rage, that it left no doubts as to who was in control of his body now.

And then, with an animalistic roar, the boy leaped forward.

Shino jumped with all the speed he could muster. Sasuke just stood there, unable to move even a muscle. He had angered the most powerful being on the planet, and now its wrath was upon him. "So this is how Mizuki died" – was Sasuke's only thought.

But the blond boy never made it to his Uchiha teammate: as he was in mid-air, with his hands stretched towards his paralyzed prey, a wooden column suddenly burst from the ground right beneath him and smashed him in his guts: it seemed that Yamato finally made a move.

Naruto's body arched in pain, and his now long and claw-like nails scratched the wood of a column, as his roar of pain shook the forest. But before he could get off the column and continue his assault, more wooden branches grew beneath him and instantly immobilized him, binding his arms and body.

The demon didn't seem to give up so easily, as the red bubbling chakra that previously had healed his wounds started surrounding his whole body, obviously trying to do something about his wooden restraints. However, whenever it came into contact with the wood, it immediately vanished, seemingly being absorbed into wood. And although Jinchuriki's body was producing more and more chakra, it was all in vain, since the strange wooden construction seemed to be only getting stronger from that. Small branches with leaves on them already started to sprout from it.

"That power… I recognize it. It's the power of Konoha's first tyrant, Hashirama Senju's Mokuton! But how? That man lived decades ago, and his power was unique! How can it still exist?!" – Kurama raged. Just when he thought that Sharingan and Aburame's bugs weren't much of an issue, a new force capable of defeating him had appeared from his past. Konoha would not let him have his freedom.

"Shino! I need your assistance!" – Yamato shouted to his student. Before he even finished his sentence, the boy had already raised his hands, sending a black swarm of bugs at the raging blond. As soon as bugs came into contact with the red chakra, they backed away, and those who were the first ones to touch it fell to the ground lifeless: bijuu's chakra proved to be too extreme for them to handle. The swarm swayed around Naruto's body, looking for an opening in blobs of bestial chakra that surrounded him, and whenever they found it, a vast amount of bugs separated from the main swarm and flew towards genin's body. Majority of them still died from exposure to Kyuubi's power, but some managed to survive and started spreading throughout the body of a screaming boy.

"Sasuke! It's your turn now! Get the Kyuubi under your control!" – jonin shouted, but the Uchiha remained where he was, still too shocked from the Kyuubi's assault to even move. Just looking at Naruto, who roared and tried to break free, was enough to make his knees shake: the boy still didn't get over his fear.

Two new branches grew, wrapping around Naruto's neck and making him look up, straight at Sasuke. The raven-haired boy was now looking Kurama straight in the eye, feeling the beast's hateful gaze burn him from inside out.

"Sasuke!" – Yamato shouted desperately: red chakra was already receding, and their only chance to take over the beast was slipping away.

"You are too weak" – Sasuke suddenly heard a voice inside his head. A voice that he hadn't heard since one fateful night six years before. On that night, he had also been looked down on by two red eyes, only back then he could see no rage in them, only disgust. "Hate me. Resent me. Get stronger. And when you have the same eyes as me, come and challenge me".

He was being tested. And he was failing the test. How could he ever face that monster if he couldn't face the one in front of him?

Something swirled inside of him, just like Sharingan swirled in his eyes, and with a new-found strength and determination he looked the demon in the eye. He wasn't scared anymore; he knew that the fate gave him a chance to prove himself. He was ready to stand up to the challenge; he was ready to subdue the beast. His Sharingan was spinning as fast as it could, trying to get him inside the beast's head. He only had to push a little bit more…

His surroundings changed.

He wasn't in the forest anymore. If fact, it looked like he wasn't even outdoors. Yamato, Shino, Naruto – they all vanished. All that surrounded him was a vast, dark space, that stretched as far as he could see. A moment later Sasuke realized that he was standing in the water, and it reached his ankles. And, a few moments after that, when his eyes accustomed to the darkness, he noticed that he wasn't alone in there.

In front of him towered a humongous, gigantic anthropomorphic fox. It's nine tails waved lazily behind it, each one thicker than any tree. Even though the beast was sitting, it was taller than any building in Konoha, which made Sasuke feel like a small ant. That impression only became stronger when the beast looked down on him with the same red eyes that Sasuke had already looked into before. Only then it seemed a thousand times easier.

"Uchiha Sasuke" – the fox growled. "So you've done it. You have doomed Konoha… and yourself".

"Where's Naruto?" – Sasuke asked nervously, looking around. This was supposed to be his subconciousness, but the blond boy was nowhere to be found. How was that possible? And why there were no restraints on the beast? How could it roam freely in Naruto's mind without killing him?

"I wouldn't worry about him right now" – the bijuu mused, leaning closer to the Uchiha and showing him his teeth. While Kurama had been ready to kill Sasuke – and everyone in the village – just minutes ago, he was still shocked on the inside: the boy had actually managed to get inside Naruto's head, and any moment now he would understand how the things were, and Kurama's cover would be blown to smithereens, along with his plan to carry out his revenge.

"Did you kill him?' – the boy seemed to be getting more and more nervous: stuck in an unknown location, faced with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, he lost all the bravery and determination he had had.

Kurama didn't respond, instead he just kept on looking at the boy. "Any moment now… Should I kill him before he realizes? No… That mindless approach has never got me anywhere. They'll just seal me again. I must think of something!"

"You were… you were in control all this time, haven't you? They were right, the villagers!" – Sasuke finally managed to get all the pieces together and now looked more horrified than ever before: all that time he had been right next to a violent demon, and he personally had spent a month fighting him every day. He could only imagine what rage he was about to face.

"…Yes." – Kurama responded calmly. He lowered his head so that his slitted eye was on one level with the boy: "It's true. I was in control of that brat's body all along".

"What are you going to do to me?" – Sasuke whispered, seemingly accepting his fate: he had failed to defeat a monster. His life lost its meaning.

"It depends. You have two options, Uchiha. First one: you get out of my head and tell Yamato the truth, and thus you leave me no choice but to kill you and everyone in the village." – he paused there to let that idea sink in. That worked: Sasuke's eyes widened and his breathing quickened. "And the other option is?.." – he asked desperately.

Or…" – the beast squinted his eye – "You can keep it a secret, and in return, I'll grant you the power you, mortals, have always dreamed of… My power" – Kurama finished and raised his head, observing how the boy was going to react to his offer. Before Kurama would've found such a deal to be completely embarrassing for him: his power was not to be used by humans, yet alone a snot-nosed Uchiha who was afraid of him. But times had changed, and he had to buy the boys silence. Threats alone would not suffice: Sasuke could eventually change his mind and tell someone about Kurama's true identity when he wasn't around.

The demon's offer was quite unexpected for Sasuke: his eyes widened, and his lower jaw hung down. Kurama could almost see the struggle and shock the boy was going through: not only did he get a chance to live, but he was also offered a greatest power along with it. All in return for a small betrayal. Sasuke's fists clenched, and he hung his head down, so that the hair was covering his eyes.

"It's not only about you, Uchiha" – Kurama reminded him – "If you keep your mouth shut you'll be saving your village from my wrath". Kurama's eyes narrowed as he bared his fangs in displeasure: "I recommend you to remember that and stop testing my patience".

"I don't care about the village…" – Sasuke whispered, as his fists started to shake. Raising his head and glaring at the demon with his spinning red eyes, he shouted: "All I care about is power!"

Kurama could help but burst into an ominous laugh: "You Uchihas are all the same! You could never resist a temptation of my might. We have a deal, Uchiha. Keep your mouths shut and tell that man that operation was a success, and when the time comes… you can have a taste of my strength".

Sasuke simply nodded, his eyes burning, and then started to dissipate, becoming transparent as he seemingly was leaving Kurama's chamber, but before he disappeared completely, Kurama could hear him mutter one word: "vengeance".

As the boy vanished, Kurama remembered his words: "I don't care about the village… All I care about is power!" Kurama rolled those words on his tongue, as if tasting them, and then once again burst into a mad cackle.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! How did it go?" – Yamato was shaking his raven-haired student, holding him by shoulders. Sasuke looked around: he was back at the forest, sitting on the grass, while his sensei kneeled before him and was looking him in the eye, trying to get answers. No more demons, only his teammates and sensei. Speaking of teammates…

Naruto was getting up, back to his normal self, wooden constructs not restricting him anymore. He stretched his muscles, as if he wasn't trying to kill his squad just minutes before, but Sasuke noticed that the blond boy was looking at him attentively, waiting for him to answer Yamato's question.

"I-It was alright. The mission is a success, Yamato-sensei. Kyuubi is under our… Naruto's control" – Sasuke responded, turning towards jonin. Yamato, however, didn't seem to be satisfied with just that: "And while you were there, did you notice anything strange?"

"…No. Nothing at all" – Sasuke responded after a small pause. Yamato's facial expression didn't change, but to Sasuke it seemed that he hesitated for a moment before saying: "I see".

He then got and turned towards Naruto, putting on his fake smile again: "Do you see now what that was for, Naruto? I know you've endured a lot, but that was all-"

"-For the sake of the village. I know, sensei. And I feel great now that it's all over" – the whiskered boy said overly cheerfully, as red, bubbling chakra was spreading over his hands.

A/N

Hope that wasn't too messy.

Do tell me in case it was – I might consider looking for a beta then.

Not much to add – read the story, eat your vegetables, Rate and Review.

Scandalist, off.