Chapter 6

"What is up with you, Naruto? You've been acting all weird lately! Hell, you haven't asked me out even once these last two weeks, and you used to ask five times a day!"- the pink-haired banshee asked, having nothing better to do than bothering her teammate.- "And what's up with those dark clothes? Where's the "Kill Me" orange you wore? Don't get me wrong, it was ugly as heck but what are you trying to do? To be as cool as Sasuke-kun? 'Cause that'll never happen!"

"Kami, will you shut up for a second? Don't you see I'm busy here?"- he answered, showing her the tape recorder. However, she did not pay attention to it. She was too shocked with the fact that he had actually stood up to her. Rage followed surprise.

"YOU IDIOT! I'LL SHOW YOU TO DISRESPECT A LADY!"- She yelled. He sighed before turning his attention back to the small machine. With the skills he had acquired in those two weeks of practice, dodging her wild punches while reporting would be a walk in the park.

"Chuunin Exams Report number one. Today is when we take on the First Phase, the written exam. It is said to be of an extremely high difficulty-"- that's when Naruto ducked under a wild haymaker, surprising Sakura further before proceeding.- "- but to someone with my abilities, I expect to pass with a remarkable grade. My worry, although, goes to my teammates. I'm afraid they will drag me down in these Exams."

"WHAT? TAKE THAT BACK YOU DEADLAST JERK!"- the fangirl screeched, swinging ridiculously wide hooks that the blond dodged with no apparent effort.

"I apologize to anyone who may be listening to this record in the future for the sudden pauses I take. My kunoichi teammate has decided it was a good time for a one-sided spar. Dodging is not hard, but it is a bother none-the-less."- Naruto excused himself in a voice that expressed uninterest and routine.

"Getting back on topic, if my predictions are correct, this Exam is merely a psychological test to see if we are courageous enough to become shinobi, and as long as my partners refuse to give up, I believe we will be fine. A number of other ninja have already arrived from many different villages. Kumo, Oto, Kiri and even Kusa teams are here."

"STOP MOVING, YOU JACKASS!"- Sakura went so far as to create a Bunshin to help her, but it didn't really help her much as Naruto simply increased his speed, making the clone clash with the original at times.

"I shall test my power against them, and make my decisions then. Finally, I'll be able to show my power. End of report."- he finished before catching Sakura's right fist mid-flight with his right hand. He side-stepped and rose his right leg until his ankle was pushing against the back of her neck. Naruto spun twice before releasing her arm, sending her running into a wall, hitting her head and falling back.

"It's rude to listen in."- he commented before turning his back on her, leaving both Sasuke and her wide-eyed. What the hell happened to him?

The blond walked through the crowd of shinobi, one target on his mind. A certain redhead's hair stood out like a lighthouse in the middle of a sea. Her two partners didn't seem particularly gifted, and were too busy drooling around a couple of Kumogakure kunoichi.

Karin didn't sense him approach. Maybe she was a bit too used to his comforting chakra. Maybe she just liked his presence and didn't really bother considering it a threat. Or maybe, and most probably, she was distracted.

"Worried?"- he asked, keeping his side to her as to not bring any attention to them. She jumped, but quickly went along.

"I'd like to think not, but with those two fools? Who knows..."- she responded, keeping a straight face.- "So, do I know you from anywhere?"

"Drop the act, who wouldn't recognize that hair or those glasses?"- he shut her down, making her sigh and just accept it.- "So, let me guess, you're still acting as a spy here. Those two are cannon fodder who are supposed to aid you in this mission."

"Bullseye. Have you considered my, I mean, Kusagakure's offer? It still stands."- Karin asked him. Naruto let out a sigh before shrugging.

"You do know what you're asking of me? It's not like you want me to change school or something. You want me to get away from everything I've known ever since I was born, and even though most of it is bullshit, it's what defines me."- he told her, lighting a cigarette. He had picken up the habit of smoking in order to kill his stress, something that unnerved most people around him, but not the redhead kunoichi. She was used to it.

"I am fully aware of everything that our proposal involves. But you should keep in mind that your life can only get better if you choose to accept it. It is, in my opinion, a win-win situation."

"Yeah, well, I don't know. I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but my whole life has become a maelstrom of chaos ever since you entered it, and I'm not sure I like that. I'll be watching you closely through the Exams. I'll have your answer by the end of the Third Phase."- he declared before walking back to his team, leaving her there.

It was getting harder and harder for Karin to hold herself. Her goals and objectives were pretty much the only thing keeping her from jumping Naruto and beg him to forgive her before having him cry his heart out.

Come on, take a deep breath and focus.

…...

"Are you going to answer us now?"- Sasuke asked him as he approached, still holding his cigarette. Naruto blew out smoke before shaking his head slowly.

"No, thanks. Now, the First Phase is going to start in no time. Just don't fuck up. With your Sharingan, you should be able to copy me or anyone else, Sasuke. And Sakura, theory is pretty much the only thing that you're good at, so just be yourself."

"Who named you the leader?"- the Uchiha asked him.

"Yeah, who named you the leader? Sasuke-kun is so much better than you!"- the banshee screeched, turning the blond's headache into a migraine as he shrugged.

"Whatever. Do as you please. I just don't want to fail these Exams because you two dragged me down."

He left them both there, dumbfounded. When did he change so much?

Naruto grinned as he walked, making people make way for him as he took in more smoke from his cigarette. No more playing dumb, no more being walked over, no more being treated as a retarded goldfish. People could feel the power crackling around him as he passed by, and either responded by taking a step back, keeping their guard up or growling with hostility.

He grinned again. I'm going to enjoy this.

…...

A couple of minutes later found them all sitting inside one, big classroom. The conjoined killing intention of every single shinobi in the chamber formed this invisible fog that made breathing rather difficult. You could literally feel the tension and cut it with a kunai.

That effect only rose when their proctor, Morino Ibiki, entered the room. He wasted no time in calling them maggots and predicting that only a third of them would make it through the first phase. After enough insulting and threatening, he explained the rules.

"You've got exactly ninety minutes to answer the questions. Any and all attempts of cheating or copying will be detected by the Chuunin that are sitting by the classroom's left side, and the culprits will be disqualified. If, for some strike of chance I happen to be the one catching you in the act, I will personally beat the shit out of you and exhibit my handy work by crucifying you naked in front of the Academy. Are we clear? Any questions?"- he shot out at them, making most of them sweat-drop. The only one who rose his hand was Naruto.- "What is it?"

"Yeah, I have a question. Can we start or are you just going to yap for twenty more minutes?"- the jinchuuriki asked, making many of the other shinobi snicker. Ibiki, though, put on his "Mister Angry" face and walked over to him.

"Funny guy, huh? I'll have my eye on you, Kyuubi-brat. One single mistake and I'll put you under a twenty-four hour torture."- he threatened before turning around and walking back to the front of the blackboard.- "Begin."

The Exam was made up of a total of ten problems, each of them about a different subject. Shinobi history, geographics, mathematics, general biology, anathomy, battle strategies, elemental knowledge, yin/yang manipulation, stealth and finally, ethics.

For Naruto, these questions weren't much of a challenge, but he knew that they were, at least, low-Jonin level. There was no way a normal Genin would be able to answer them, and so, he took it upon himself to find out how the other contestants would deal with this.

The Suna team had really interesting ways of acquiring information. The redhead had discretely formed a hovering eyeball above him made of...was it sand?

His brother didn't have the package on his back anymore, which Naruto figured was a puppet, who just happened to be the eleventh Chuunin scanning for cheating. Clever.

In the middle of the exam, the puppeteer, who's name was Kankuro, went to the bathroom, and as he came back, he dropped a very small parcel with a message inside on the blond girl's desk, insuring all of them would pass.

The Otogakure team that most stood out, made up of a black-haired girl, a spiky-haired guy with holes in his palms and a bandage-covered boy with a metal arm also seemed to have their own methods.

The girl was really focused on an obviously disguised Chuunin, who seemed to be in a trance as well. Genjutsu. She was reading his mind.

Her mummy teammate seemed to be funking around with his right metal arm. With a bit of concentration, Naruto discovered he was emiting soundwaves and reading them as they bounced back, like a bat. That way, he could isolate some sounds and focus on any he wanted to copy the pencil's movements by ear alone. Interesting..

The last one had both his palms spread out and was quite obviously reading the air for any disturbances. Ingenious, and quite probably really hard to master, but it was so obvious that Naruto would bet he'd be found out in the next couple of seconds.

Our favorite jinchuuriki then turned his head to examine the team that hadn't left his mind.

Kusagakure's team were an odd bunch. Tsuba, Karin and Shiore. The red-haired spy's teammates still looked unimpressive, and were not doing anything besides playing with their ridiculously long tongues. Their ugly faces and greasy long hair were quickly forgotten, and Naruto soon found himself looking at the one point of interest.

Karin, with her well-treated, but not overly done red hair, glasses and her crimson eyes, looked as innocent as one could be. Cute would be the word to describe her. But even though Naruto liked that, he was too smart to let himself go along with the facade.

She was intelligent, maybe even more so than him, and that was a trait to be feared. He would wager every single penny he had in that she had hidden blades everywhere. Maybe even around the glasses' lenses.

…...

Karin's POV

The Kusagakure spy was bored. Heck, that was an understatement. She had finished the exam in less than twenty minutes and now had nothing else to do but analyze the other's abilities. The Suna team was the most interesting one, since each had a rather unique soul.

Kankuro's was white. But a dim white, as if something was affecting it. His soul was a little smaller than Naruto's, just barely enveloping his body. It had cat-ears like his hood, and purple paintings all over it.

The girl, which she had found out to be Temari, had a red soul. But a lighter red, like her own hair. It had four bushes of "hair" in its back and "Kaze" written on its bottom left section. Her soul was just as big as Kankuro's.

Gaara's was the one that preoccupied her the most. It was just as big as Naruto's, and although it itself was grey, it had a larger soul around it, which was completely dark. Gaara's own soul had lifeless eyes and the kanji for "Love" engraved in red above his left eye. Something that was noteworthy was how he also had "No Future" engraved on it, just like the blond jinchuuriki.

The bigger soul had almost no defining characteristics besides the one tail on its back and star-shaped eyes. Its chakra also felt cold, like Sasuke's, and just outright disgusting.

She shook her head and turned her attention somewhere else, catching Naruto looking back at her. He too seemed like he had finished early.

…...

They stared at eachother for a minute, maintaining eye contact for no particular reason before the blond jinchuuriki sighed and turned his head back to the sheet. There was something about this girl that he just couldn't figure out. Like an unsolvable puzzle. He was about to completely disregard it when an idea crossed his mind.

Naruto turned back to her and used his right hand to discretely send her signals. He pointed at her, then at himself, up at the roof and then at his sheet of paper before doing a cutting gesture, as if signalizing the end or something finishing. She quickly understood and nodded before a grunt came from Ibiki, catching everyone's attention.

"Stop writing, the exam's over."- he ordered, giving most of them shocked expressions.

"Are you kidding? You said it would take ninety minutes, its' barely been thirty!"- one from the Kumo team protested, receiving a grin as response.

"So? I make the rules here, I can break them if I want to. Do you have a problem with that, worm?"- Ibiki spat out with a sadistic smile on his face, as if he was taking pleasure from the mild frustration in the Genin's faces. The boy that had complained gritted his teeth but quickly lowered his head, simply accepting it.

"Thought so. Now, since I'm finding it amusing to fuck with the rules and, indirectly, you, I'm going to do it a bit more. This written exam is from now on null and has no meaning. I am going to ask you all a question, and, depending wether you're right or wrong, you'll pass."- he explained, giving them no time to even try to contest his orders. Their faces turned into expressions of frustration and protest.

"But be warned, if you accept to take it and fail, you can never take the Chuunin Exams again, and are doomed to be a Genin for the rest of your life."- he finished, giving off a small smile as shock revealed itself again in the poor ninjas' faces.

"So, think well. Your whole career is at stake. Give up. Try next year, maybe you won't have me as a proctor and will actually be able to pass."- the tokubetsu Jonin persuaded them, giving a sympathetic smile. In the next five minutes, over half of the classroom rose their hands and walked out. Curiously, all of the major village's teams stayed. Even the one from Kusagakure hadn't left, something that deeply annoyed Ibiki.

So, the man tried to seek for sadistic pleasure elsewhere. A certain blond hadn't left either, and was right there, ripe for the picking. Or at least, that's what Ibiki thought, as he approached the jinchuuriki, making him raise his head in curiosity.

"What about you, fox-brat? Are you sure you want to stick around? I've heard from quite a lot of people that intelligence is not really your expertise. Are you sure you want to risk it? Huh? Don't you think your little stupid dream of becoming Hokage will be torn apart if you can't even make it to Chuunin?"

That was the last drop. Naruto had been a big pool for the twelve years he had lived through, each accident or short-coming that came to him being a single drop of water. He had slowly, but surely filled, and then, right there and then, Ibiki had dropped the one that caused it to overflow and spill over. The blond Genin gave off a small smirk before Ibiki suddenly found himself bent over the desk, his collar being held by Naruto's hand. I didn't even see it!

"Now you listen to me, and you listen good. I've put up with the shinobi's and villager's shit for quite a while, and I'm putting a stop to it. Don't call me fox, and more importantly, don't call me brat for I've seen things that would make your dead great grandfather pale and hide under his mother's skirt."- Naruto spoke in a cold voice. A voice that he did not let out regularly. A voice that spoke through every negative emotion that had ever passed through his mind.

"Something else you should watch out for is insulting my intelligence. I'm intelligent enough to perform surgery on open air with no actual tools. And I'm not talking about small surgery, I'm talking about removing iron spikes from someone's head without killing them."

Ibiki's eyes widened, and Sakura shivered. Could he be talking about the incident with her father? But Naruto didn't stop there.

"With that aside, and I'll be ignoring your comment towards the Hokage position, yes, I am sure I want to risk it. The sooner I become a Chuunin, the sooner I leave this pathetic excuse for a village and the sooner I get to hunt each of you down and kill you like the rabid dogs you are."- he finished with a sadistic grin as Ibiki's face turned into an angry frown as he slapped the blond's hand away from his collar and repayed the favor, lifting the Genin up in the air by the jacket's collar.

"Oh really? And where will you go? Do you really think other Hidden Vilages will tolerate you like this one?"- he asked, receiving a chuckle as an answer.- "You think this is funny?"

"I think your concept of toleration is hilarious. If all of these years my existence has been tolerated, I feel sorry for the guy that the civilians don't want here. And besides, you'd be surprised with the ammount of villages that would want a jinchuuriki in their forces. Suna, Kiri, maybe even Kumo."- Naruto replied with a grin on his face before lifting his hand, which had a Chakra Scalpel activated and placing it near Ibiki's jugular.

"Now, take your dirty paws off of me unless you intend to keep your promise of torturing me for twenty-four hours straight. Not that it would matter. I've suffered it all, really."

Ibiki's eyes widened again as he saw no hint of lies or deceit in the boys face. He was speaking the truth. With his mouth open and a look of pure shock on his face he dropped Naruto who gracefully landed on top of the table in a crouching position, arms hanging by his sides and each hand enveloped in a Chakra Scalpel, his face hidden in darkness.

The other Genin's expressions were diverse. Fear, hostility, anxiety, indifference, even sympathy. But one thing remained the same in all of their faces. A hint of surprise.

Surprised that the blond-haired boy every civilian they talked to referred as an idiotic, happy-go-lucky fool, surprised that he would act against the proctor so fear-free, surprised that he would speak about his village and comrades in such a way. Surprise that he apparently had had a life hard enough to take a professional torturer's punishment without fear.

A loud bang took place, accompanied by smoke bombs and flash bangs, clearing their minds of the previous thoughts as Mitarashi Anko made her entrance.

With effect, the clouds of smoke cleared out, revealing a banner spread out through the room's top layer, the words " The Sexy and Single Mitarashi Anko" written on it.

The Tokubetsu Jonin in question was by the front of her notice, smiling, with a finished dango stick sticking out from her mouth.

"Shit, Ibiki. You're getting old! Look at all these kids! Back in the day, not even a third of these would pass."- she commented casually, a surprised look in her face.

"Shut the fuck up and just get these kids out of my face!"- he replied.

"But what about the tenth question?"- an Amegakure student asked. He wore a blindfold over his eyes.

"FUCK THE TENTH QUESTION! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

…...

"Kids, I have no idea which of you did that or how, but whoever it was, I owe you a fucking steak. Haven't seen Ibiki-san like that in years!"- Anko commented, barely containing herself from crying in laughter.

After the interrogator's threat to dissect their very minds, each of the ninja used the Body Flicker technique in order to run away. The ones who couldn't, jumped out of the window.

"Anyway, I'm Mitarashi Anko as you can tell by my big tits."- she introduced herself, grabbing her own breasts and jiggling them before laughing at all the male students that got nosebleeds. She noticed that a certain blond was the only one to not have such a reaction. Should keep an eye out for him.

"I'm your proctor for the Second Phase. That's all I'll tell for now, but you'll find out more soon in two days. By then, I want you to meet me at Training Ground number forty-four at nine am, sharp! Be ready to spend a few days away from home. Now fuck off, I've got dango to eat."- she explained, disregarding them with a hand wave before literally making a dango stick appear out of nowhere.

Most students just shrugged and walked away. Naruto had quite simply disappeared, in another use of the Body Flicker technique, quickly followed by his redhead stalker.

"So, what was it you wanted? Why did you call me to this rooftop?"- she asked, finding him already leaning against one of the A/C machines, his eyes closed.

"Well, I've decided, without a doubt, that I am not going to stay in Konoha. I'm not guaranteeing I'll be going to Kusagakure. I might even join Sunagakure, since I'm pretty sure they'd be interested in another jinchuuriki. But, in the probable case that I will be joining you, I want to know more. I want info."- the blond boy answered, his glasses shining as he rose his head ever so slightly. Her face expression didn't change, as she had predicted he'd need more to go on than just a name before leaving his village.

"Of course. Kusagakure is a rather large village. It's not quite Konoha's size, but-"

"No, no. I don't need the textbook answer. I've got enough info on the village itself. I want data on you. If I go to the Grass, you'll probably be my only friend for a while. Besides, you're family. I should know stuff about you. I think..."- Naruto cut her off, a sheepish smile on his face. She was surprised at first but quickly complied.

"Oh, sure. Well, I'm twelve like you, I live in Kusagakure's Uzumaki Clan Compound and my functions as a shinobi are those of a hacker, a spy and a sensor."- she begun, a light smile on her face.

"A hacker? I've read my share of reports, but never heard about hackers. What do you do?"- Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're experts at operating computers. You get me a computer and I can provide you with almost any top-secret information that any Hidden Village might have. That's what we do. We do surveilance work mostly, but sometimes we're asked to completely shut down some parts of villages or other things."

"Impressive, but doesn't sound easy."

"It isn't. Only the smartest of our village get to become hackers. The village's policy is an elitist one. If you're good at something, you do that and that's it. I'm not complaining, but sometimes I wish I could do something else other than spying on some stupid Kekkei Genkai user or just another jinchuuriki. No offense."

"Nah, I get it. But still, being one of the smartest in such a data-based village as Kusagakure must come with its privileges, no?"- as he asked, he saw her face turn grim for a second before quickly going back to its expressionless state.

"Well..."

…...

Flashback

A young, five year old Karin ran through the various alleys and narrow streets of Kusagakure's market. She had an expression of pure horror on her face as she sprinted away from the angry men.

"Come back here, you blood-haired bitch!"- one of them shouted as he knocked over some garbage bin in his way towards her. This only drove Karin to run faster.

She hadn't even done anything wrong. She had literally just walked into the market and heard them yell insults at her minutes ago.

Subconsciously, her secret ability activated, letting her see their three chakra identities. All of them were substantially developed, meaning they had had shinobi training. Probably veteran Chuunin.

The pursuit came to a halt as she turned around a corner and came to face a dead end. The poor girl turned around to see the three men grinning, a glint of sadism in their eyes.

The "gang" was about to jump at her when a loud hiss came from behind the little girl, filling the men with terror. She looked over her shoulder to spot a rather unique, strange man. His skin was so pale that if he were to stand naked against a white wall, he'd probably not be noticed for a couple of hours. His eyes were slitted like those of a snake, and he gave off an aura of danger. He was unsettling, to say the least.

"And what do you three think you're doing?"- he asked, an accusing look in his eyes. The men trembled, before the one in the middle spoke.

"N-Nothing, Orochimaru-sama! We were just passing through! I swear!"- the man said, internally begging for any God in existence to help them as the three ran off.

Now that they were undisturbed, Orochimaru went down on one knee, a kind smile on his face as he layed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ok?"- he gently asked.

"Y-Yes, thank you for helping me, sir."- she replied, giving off a slight smile.

"Not a problem at all, but I do recommend you don't show your face too much until you're able to defend yourself. Some people will stop at nothing in order to get revenge."

She lowered her head for a few moments before looking back up, questions ready to be fired from her tongue. But the man was nowhere to be seen. As if he had been a mirage.

Flashback End

"That was the first time. After that, Academy students that later became shinobi started abusing me as well. Girls would insult me, calling me a slut. Boys either followed that line of work or tried to "get lucky with the redhaired bitch" as they used to say. Sometimes both."

"Pathetic, good for nothing apes...Why did they dislike you, anyway? It's not like you have a bjiuu inside you or something."- a frown of anger contorted Naruto's face, but he quickly calmed himself down, knowing it wouldn't help in any way.

"Our clan, the Uzumaki, were known for having a high affinity for fuinjutsu. Fuinjutsu is the only kind of jutsu besides Kekkei Genkai that can't be copied, since you have to understand everything about the seal you're creating in order for it to work."

"Now, Kusagakure is known for copying other village's best techniques in order to teach them to their students and survive. When they heard that Uzushiogakure, the strongest Hidden Village, was filled with powerful ninjutsu they couldn't copy, well, they didn't like it."

"So, Uzushiogakure is the origin of the Uzumaki clan. I'm a member of the Uzumaki clan. A simple two plus two sum is enough for you to understand why."

"I see...I'm sorry for what you've been through. Wish I could help, but I'm pretty sure you want to kill those bastards yourself."

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. But don't worry, it's not your fault. Now, I've satisfied your wish of knowing about me, can I ask you a question?"- she replied, waiting for his nod.- "Why did you treat Uchiha Itachi as a brother? What happened between you two?"

"Oh...yeah, that happened a long time ago..."

Flashback

A small, five year old Naruto whimpered as he struggled to recover from the beatdown he had just received. Why? Why me, what did I do to deserve this? He asked himself, tears falling down his eyes.

He couldn't walk anymore, his legs were a mess after all of the kicks, punches and heavy blows from wooden sticks, so he just sat down against a wall in the middle of Konoha's Clan Compound Sector.

He was there simply to explore, just like the curious little boy he was, when a bunch of civilians and some individuals from the Yamanaka and Haruno clans ambushed him.

It hadn't been his first beating, but it sure had been the worse up until then. He was even feeling a little light-headed, though he wasn't sure that was from the brain shutting down due to the pain or simply a concussion from all of the blunt force trauma.

Either way, he knew the sweet embrace of unconsciousness was near, and simply let himself go, only making out a teenage boy's arms reaching from him before fading to black.

…...

A few hours later, little Naruto woke up, his body not aching anymore.

He knew something was wrong. Even with his regenerating abilities, he normally would still feel pain when he woke up. As he tried to sit up from wherever he was, a jolt of pain was sent from his back, making him fall down on the pillow again.

"Oh no, don't try to sit up. I've managed to cure most of your wounds, but cracked ribs don't go away just like that."- a voice came to him. He turned to the side to see a young teenager with onix eyes, jet-black hair tied back into a ponytail and really pronounced tear-troughs, smiling at him.

Just the sight of someone smiling at him was already worthy of note, but the fact that the boy healed him in his sleep was too much of a shock. Naruto's mouth opened into an "o".

"I'm sorry, but I had to remove your clothes in order to heal your body properly. I couldn't really tell anymore which parts were broken and which weren't, so..."- he continued, looking at Naruto just staring at himself in surprise.- "You're a quiet one, aren't you?"

"T-Thank you..."- the young jinchuuriki muttered, lowering his head in gratitude, receiving yet another kind smile and a poke on the forehead by the teenager.

"Nonsense. My name is Itachi Uchiha, I am sixteen and a ninja. Who are you?"- Itachi asked, sitting by Naruto with an interested look.

"M-My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I am five years old and want to be a ninja..."- the blond responded shyly.

"That's a really cool name, Naruto. So tell me, why do you want to become a ninja?"

"Because if I become a ninja, people will think I'm good and will become my friends, and nobody will ever try to hit me again because I'll be strong!"

"Don't you have friends right now? Don't you go to the Academy where they teach you how to fight?"

"No...No other kids play with me. Some used to, but their parents told them not to. And the Academy didn't accept me."

"I see. Well, that's ok, because from now on, you have both a friend and a teacher."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I'll teach you everything I know about fighting. Believe me, no villager will ever try to get their hands on you again. I'll be your big brother! Now, I bet you're hungry. What do you say to a nice hot plate of pork? I'll pay!"

"YAY! Thank you...Itachi nii-san!"

Flashback End

"Wow, so you're telling me he was the only one to actually care about you for all these years?"- Karin asked, laying against the wall by his side. He nodded.

"Well, I thought it was him and Sarutobi, but after what you told me, yeah. I was lucky to have Itachi by my side, but of course, he wasn't always there, and with time, he changed. Became more mature, just like I did."

"I see."- she responded, before a loud beep came from her ninja weapon pouch. She removed a small, black object and looked at it for a moment.- "Shit, I need to go now or my team will suspect something. But it was good to talk with you, Naruto-kun. Gave me a whole new perspective on things. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, we should. See you around."

…...

From behind the A/C machine sat a certain Sunagakure kunoichi, using a chakra-supressing technique to hide herself until both the redhead and the blond were gone. A smirk came to her face.

"This is just too good. Another jinchuuriki who has connections with Itachi Uchiha, plans to leave and harm Konoha and maybe even go to Sunagakure? I have to report this to Baki right away! Kazekage-sama will be pleased."

(And there you have it, mates. Chapter 6. Now, I hope this one came out well to you guys, since I faced a bit of an author's block throughout this one, especially since it's in the First Phase, where i can't really change much. Anyway and as always Follow/Favorite and Review any suggestions you may have, and if you want to clear any doubts towards anything from this fic, feel free to PM. See ya!)