Hello all! -using Rachel as an angry wall of meat-

Now I know some of you are sharpening pitchforks and knives, as well as other pointy objects, and I just what to say that the wrath is well deserved. I am aware that I have been woefully absent in the update area, and I apologize.

I have decided to make my pathetic excuses optional and just let the interested parties check my profile for them.

ONTO THE STORY!!

~.~.~.~.~

The sky above Team 7's training grounds was stormy and overcast, but Naruto gazed up at the sky all the same, a sad look upon his face. The training grounds had turned a bland shade of gray, with few leaves remaining green.

"I'll have to go soon." He told Sasuke quietly. "I can't stay here any longer."

"What!? No!" Sasuke cried, somehow knowing that he may never see the boy again, even though he did not truly believe that the boy was real.

"Your soul casts me out. You are overwhelmed with guilt, and your soul can no longer hold my own. But don't worry, I'll always watch over you." Naruto turned his eyes to Sasuke's and smiled a sad, sad, smile.

And for a moment, it was like the sun had shone through the gloomy clouds. (But you're not real.)

"Tell me one thing." Sasuke said, trying to hold back the urge to hold the blonde and to never let him go.

"Anything." The blonde promised, trying to redeem himself for failing the Raven.

"What was that strange power you used back then? The red chakra." (Back with silence.)

"I'll tell you a tale," Naruto said, once more smiling that sad smile. "a tale of a Man, a Village, and a Demon." The world around them warped. The two boys were standing over a gory scene. Faceless Shinobi were laying on the ground, dead or on their way there.

A massive crimson monster towered above the forest, its nine tails swinging, bringing destruction in their wake.

A giant toad stood in its path, blocking it's way to the village behind it. Atop the toad stood a man. The two (once, maybe still?) friends seemed to fly until they stood in front of the man.

"The Fourth!" Sasuke said, surprised.

"Yes. The Fourth." There was something in Naruto's voice. Bitterness, perhaps? Admiration, maybe? Who knows.

In the Fourth's arms was a blanket wrapped bundle. The Fourth hitched it a little higher, carefully, gently.

"The Fourth knew that the Kyuubi could not be killed by any mortal, so he did the only thing he could. He sealed the Demon, into the body of a child, born less than an hour before. Then the Fourth died, as such a technique was never without consequences." Naruto's voice steadily more melancholy. "His wish was for the boy, to be treated as a Hero, as a Savior, but things rarely go as planned." Naruto sighed, turning away from the scene, as it dissolved into the training grounds once again.

"So you mean you're…" Sasuke began, realizing the implications. Naruto nodded.

"And so I grew, hated by the village, never knowing what lay inside my stomach. Until the academy graduation came around."

Lightning flared in the grounds, thunder boomed, as the last green leaf fell, turning gray as it touched the ground.

"Goodbye, Sasuke. Take care of yourself." Lighting flashed again, and by the time the thunder crashed, Naruto was gone.

And Sasuke was more alone than ever.

~.~.~.~.~

This was a night of firsts.

For the first time in months he dreamed.

And for the first time in years, his dreams were not nightmares.

And for the first time he dreamed of the blonde boy.

He opened his eyes to find himself leaning against a training post in the old Uchiha compound.

"Your plan won't work you know." A voice said to his left. He turned and there was the Kyuubi boy, staring at him.

"What plan?" Itachi asked.

"Whatever plan you need the nine Tailed Demons for." The blonde said, laying back against the grass and crossing his arms beneath his head.

"Oh? And why is that?" Itachi decided to humor his consciousness, wondering when the dream would turn to chaos, like dreams were supposed to be.

"Because I'm dead." The once-Jinchuuriki said simply. "And your 'Foolish little brother' killed me." The world dissolved and as Itachi woke, the dream slipped from his memory and he was left feeling uneasy; like he had forgotten something important.

And, in fact he had.

~.~.~.~.~

Tsunade stopped reading after that passage, her hands gone white she was gripping the little book so hard. Shizune made to relieve her teacher of the precious memento before Tusnade lost control. The Fifth Hokage released the book quick enough, and seemed to calm. Then her anger re-emerging she put her fist through her desk, splitting it in half and sending paperwork flying.

"If we had known-" Neji began, then stopped himself, feeling horrible for the things he had said to Naruto, during their first fateful fight. Calling him a loser, a weakling, saying he had no idea what Neji had been through.

Neji was wrong.

He knew now that Naruto had been the strongest person Neji had met, and he never even knew.

Iruka had taken the book, his eyes suspiciously bright, and began to read again.

~.~.~.~.~.~

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I know it's short, don't hate me. I'll get back to the pre-written materail next chapter, so hopefully things should move faster.

I hope I haven't lost all my readers....

I love you guys, really.

Author out.