I can't say how sorry I am that I have taken so long to update. I don't have any excuse, other than to say that I am right now in finals in school and rather stressed. So, on that note please don't lynch me *pouts cutely* o.o

In response to your questions:

Are you dead? Are Naruto and Ino is a relashionship? Will Neji and Sasuke fight for Naruto's love? Who is Fudo? Who is Kyuubi? What happened to Tsunade, Iruka and Kin?

In order: No, obviously. NO. Not quite, but sort of. You'll see late, but basically he is sort of another entity inside Naruto. He's basically the fusion of Fudo's mind and Naruto's body. You'll see later; they're all important in their own way. ^^

So, before the chapter starts, I'll say one things:

Tamashii: means soul/spirit. This is what Fudo is. Later on he will be explained further. For now, bare with me. ^^

AND..... this chapter is dedicated to Kiwi-chan and Nithia!! Thanks SO MUCH for those ridiculously long reviews. Lurveee em ^^.

Chapter 10

"I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, you... you complete me."
The Joker

Naruto awoke the next morning with the eerie sensation that he'd forgotten something extremely important. He shook his head and groaned as his neck complained, stiff as it was from having slept on the chair. In the back of his mind he could feel a deep rumbling, which indicated Fudo's currently unconscious state. He grinned lightly at this, then, as if remembering where he was, turned to his right. There he saw Ino, still lying on the bed, but this time her face was not as flushed and her breathing was steady and calm. Naruto breather out a sigh of relief as he extended out his hand and withdrew the last wet cloth he'd placed on her forehead last night. It was dry, but thankfully not warm anymore.

The faux-brunette got up from the chair and stretched, letting out a soft moan as his bones popped and muscles stiffened, then relaxed. He glanced around the room and soon found what he was looking for; a bundle of fresh clothes on top of a dresser and another door, leading - hopefully - to the bathroom. He approached and opened the door slowly while gripping the clothes in his other arm, just in case it connected the room he was in to another chamber. Seeing, however, a small pool of water inside, he let out a small mental cheer and crept inside.

The bathroom wasn't anything too grand, for a palace. As a servant he had seen much better at Ino's, but he supposed that since this was one of the lesser chambers - he nearly growled at that - then it didn't really matter if the bathroom was fancy or not. It was, however, perfect for his purposes.

He quickly stripped off the dirty clothes from yesterday, placing the clean change in a nook in the wall, and came to the edge of the pool, dipping in first his foot and then, finding the water at a wonderful temperature, quickly the rest of his body. Once he was submerged to his shoulders, he reached backwards to the braid and untangled it. He ran his hair through the extension strands, marveling at their softness. If Ino had bought them, then they were most certainly made of real, human hair, and so Naruto had no trouble in washing them along with the rest of him. Once he was thoroughly cleaned, he languidly leaned back against the edges of the pool and dosed his eyes for a moment, allowing his mind to wander. At first he simply wondered about Tsunade and how she was; he knew he hadn't heard the last of her. Naruto was sure the only reason that she hadn't tried to pry further into the issue of his...past...was that there had been people around. Either that or she was in shock. Both were possible. And he was still ignorant of what had happened to her, as well.

But, being the teenage boy that he was, his thoughts soon turned to those of a less innocent nature. However, Naruto had always had a rather unusual way of depicting what he liked.

He didn't have very clear pictures of his physical desires. All he saw were flashed and feelings. Right now, his mind was in a woozy jumble from the heat of the water, and all he saw where jumping images. Dark blue hair and pale, white-ish eyes with a violent tint flashed first. Innocence went with the image, and Naruto grinned as he remembered Hinata. Next were flashes of slim waist and hips, remainders of the few moments Naruto had seen the Pink Bitch without her dress. A slight annoyance, coupled with a stench of sluttiness, was the feeling he got from that. A quick figure of Tenten's legs followed, but the feeling he got was that of friendship.

Then, suddenly, through his mind's eye flashed a pair of midnight-colored irises, flashing with a cold, calm power that had Naruto shivering in the warm waters of the pool. However, it disappeared as soon as Naruto had made sense of it, and the brunette was left with a confused sense of bewilderment that had him frowning. Nevertheless, he shook his head and, placing his ever-present grin on his lips once again, he finished scrubbing the last particles of dirt off his legs and climbed out of the pool. He dried off with a towel he found hanging off a hook on the door and quickly put on the robes he'd brought in with him. He sighed in contentment at the feeling of being clean, and then stepped out of the bathing cavern, quickly getting to the door which led out to the hallways.

With one last glance at Ino, just to make sure she was still okay, he left the room, placing a charm to warn him if anyone came to see Ino, and closing the door behind him softly so as to not wake her. Once outside, he contemplated what to do. His stomach groaned, and he sighed at his own thoughtlessness. He'd forgotten to eat lunch and dinner yesterday as he'd been so worried over Ino's well-being, and now he had to make up for it.

Trusting his nose to guide him he attempted to find the kitchen. This, however, turned out to be a very bad idea, as he was soon as lost as he could ever hope to get in the humongous castle. He sniffed the air, trying to get a scent of where the food might be, but now the only thing he could smell was old, dusty air and the disgusting stench of rats.

Well, at least I won't starve to death if worse comes to worst, he thought with a grimace as one of the repugnant rodents ran past him, almost completely hidden by the shadows of the wall.

'Of course you won't, Aiko. You could have just asked me, you know.'

Naruto was startled for a second before a blush formed over his cheeks.

Well, yeah, but you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you!

'Of course, Aiko.'

Fudo's condensing tone, which at one point would have caused Naruto to fume at him and so ignore him for the rest of the day, now only caused him to snort playfully, a fond smile on his lips.

'Well, now that all the pleasantries are past, do you want to know where the kitchen is?'

Naruto's stomach's growl was answer enough. Naruto's blush, which had started to recede, came back full force as Fudo's laughter echoed inside him. Soon, however, the tamashii took pity on the poor boy and directed him to the kitchen. When they arrived, Naruto quickly blended in with all the people running around and was quickly able to, by snatching food here and there, fill up his stomach.

Nobody spared the long-haired brunette a second glance as he wove through the ridiculous amount of cooks and servants, all caught in the usual morning hustle.

Suddenly, Naruto found a plate of roast beef flung under his nose. Almost by reflex he took it off the other person's hands and the cook who had held it to him quickly ushered him out with orders to take it to the Main Diner for the royal family's breakfast. Naruto tried to protest, but the sheer hustle of bodies around him quickly pushed him out of the kitchen and into the corridor. The boy sighed, deciding that it would probably be a good chance to report on Ino's condition as well to the King and...

The boy clenched his jaws tightly as a string of anger tightened inside him. Stupid, emotionless prick of a Prince. Why did Ino have to get stuck with him?

'You.'

Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know that he'd choose me? And, as consequence, Ino?

Even though he wasn't sure if it was even possible for the tamashii, Naruto got the distinct impression Fudo had just sighed condescendingly

'I'm sure it was just temporary insanity on his part.'

Naruto smirked, then let out a tiny yelp as one of the many waiters running around ran into his left arm, and the tray on his right hand swayed. He watched in slow-motion as the pitcher on top of it tipped over slightly...

And was promptly stopped in mid-air. It took a second for Naruto's brain to catch up with the thought that the pitcher hadn't broken, and for the warmth radiating from it to register as magic.

'Need help with that?'

Naruto sighed in relief.

Thanks.

The faux-brunette set out once again, quickening his pace as more and more people rushed around him. He felt slightly disoriented from all the pushing and running around, but within minutes he found himself standing before the entrance to the Main Diner. Plucking at his courage, he entered the room, right after another waiter who was carrying a plate which looked twice as heavy as Naruto's. The other man set the plate down at the first empty space he could find - which, judging by the sheer amount of food and plates and decorations on the table, was a feat all by itself. Naruto, instead, maneuvered for a few seconds until he found an empty space near the Royal Prick...ahem...Prince. There he set down the plate quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Sasuke looked at him sourly for a moment before recognition set in and his expression turned to one of barely hidden surprise and annoyance.

"What are you doing here?" Thankfully, his voice was low and Naruto was sure no one else had heard him. He made a show of cleaning the surrounding plates as he lowered himself near Sasuke so as to speak directly in his ear.

"Calm down, would ya, bastard? I just came to tell you that Princess Ino is now fine and sleeping soundly in the same quarters as yesterday. God, please don't think I came here to - of all things - see you."

Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction before narrowing again. Naruto vaguely felt his magic burn with anger before the sensation was gone.

"Obviously, idiot. And if I'd wanted you to tell my about Princess Yamanaka, I would have asked."

Naruto scoffed. "No worries. That's the last time I do any favors for you," he spat. With that, he straightened and drew away with the dirty plates. Once he got to the kitchen, he placed them inside the sink and quickly left the place, afraid that is he didn't go someplace desolate and alone, he'd explode right there and then and someone might get hurt.

More likely, someone would get killed.

Sasuke was growing bored quickly with the talk at the table. His father was talking about his childhood for the 50th time, and frankly, Sasuke hadn't been very interested the first time. By now, he was rather ready to finish the job his father's incurable disease had started, in very creative and rather unusual ways.

The Prince sighed as his father started telling them about the unicorn he'd caught a glimpse of two years ago - Sasuke was sure that had just been someone's idea of a prank, - when suddenly he felt the presence of one of the servants near him. He turned to tell the boy off, actually feeling rather happy for the distraction, when suddenly he was faced with a shade of blue that he'd recognize anywhere. His eyes narrowed almost involuntarily.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled. He hadn't actually meant it to come out that harshly, but this morning, combined with yesterday and the day before that's disasters had him irritable. Kyuubi's response didn't really help either.

"Calm down, would ya, bastard? I just came to tell you that Princess Ino is now fine and sleeping soundly in the same quarters as yesterday. God, please don't think I came here to - of all things - see you."

Sasuke was surprised to feel a flash of pain at the words, but it was gone so quickly that he wondered if it had just been the food. Then, as the other words that Kyuubi had said registered, he once again felt his anger rearing up. He wasn't sure why, either. It just annoyed him, for some reason he hadn't really pin-pointed yet, when the servant talked about Princess Ino as if they both had the same claim to her. They didn't, and the boy better remember that.

"Obviously, idiot. And if I'd wanted you to tell my about Princess Yamanaka, I would have asked."

Once again, he nearly winced at his tone. Then, he wondered why he would. He was feeling angry at the braided brunette, so why should he feel guilty? He'd yelled at hundreds of servants before; what made Kyuubi any different?

His magic, obviously.

Happy with his logic - even though it didn't really explain much -, he nearly missed the blonde's spiteful response.

"No worries. That's the last time I do any favors for you," he spat, before he twirled, a bunch of plates held in his hands, and walked out of the room. For a few seconds, Sasuke just sat in his chair, the irrational feeling that he should be following the brunette twirling inside him. Also, something which he hadn't noticed before seemed to have clicked in his mind, and it left him feeling confused, and, if his assumptions were correct, rather more than just a bit edgy. He stood almost without realizing it and, completely ignoring his father's voice behind him asking him what was wrong, walked out of the room rapidly in search of the fuming boy.

'He's following you.'

Naruto stopped running, catching his breath in rapid succession.

Who?

'The Royal Prick.'

Naruto's eyes widened.

What? Why!?

'I'm not sure. I think that he noticed something was off. Or maybe he's just feeling angry enough to want to teach a few lessons in the old-fashioned way.'

I don't think so; he didn't look angry enough to just come after me back then. He frowned in concentration, trying to think up a rational reason for why the Prince would be looking for him. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

Fudo...!

'What is it, Aiko?'

Can you tell when my eyes change color? I mean, I've noticed that when I'm angry, I unconsciously tap into your power out of reflex, and that causes them to change color briefly.

'Your point?'

My point is...! I think he noticed that my eyes changed color when I got mad back there! In fact, I'm sure he did. We were too close for him not to.

Naruto felt the first vestiges of understanding blossoming from the tamashii. Suddenly, he felt Fudo go quiet inside his head, and he turned in surprise as he felt another magical presence appear behind him. He snarled before he could think about why he was doing it.

"Kyuubi. What are you doing here?"

Sasuke was feeling very annoyed by now. The stupid idiot was nowhere to be found.

Seriously. Where could he have gone to? As long as he's in the castle, I should be able to tell where he is simply by the feel of his magic!

As soon as he finished his thought, he mentally kicked himself in his stupidity. Of course, he could feel him as long as he was in the castle. So if he couldn't...

Then obviously he isn't inside the castle.

Growling at himself, he quickly turned around. He was presently on the 4th floor, but using one of the castle's secret passageways, he'd be down on level ground before too long. He started walking towards the bewitched painting which the passageway was hidden behind, when suddenly he felt a flash of magical anger slam into him, before it was gone again.

He recognized the magic signature well enough; he'd come into contact with it only a few times, but each one had been memorable. And for him to have felt it so overpoweringly...

That brunette must be one seriously powerful, seriously pissed off magician.

Naruto shivered unconsciously as a wave of rather... friendly magic met with his. Almost as if they knew each other. However, as his own magic reached out, the boy's tendrils reared up, as if sensing something wrong with Naruto. The brunette was surprised but didn't react too much. The boy didn't seem to hostile at any rate.

'That means nothing, and you should know that better than anyone.'

I know. I'm just trying to remember if I've met him before...

Indeed, the white-eyed boy's tone of voice suggested they had met before, something which Naruto couldn't quite place as being true or not. He tried to remember when suddenly he was startled as a tendril of Fudo's magic reached out and, after a brief hesitation, intertwined with the boy's. The feeling Naruto got from the bond was so peaceful, so serene, so...amicable, that almost immediately, a strange fury that was recently becoming more and more familiar reared its ugly head in him.

'We've met before. You weren't conscious, though, so you won't remember.'

What? Naruto was almost beside himself with anger, and was vaguely thankful that Fudo was keeping both their magic leashed, so as to not alert the other boy. And you didn't even tell me? You've met the third most powerful magician in this castle, traded, intertwined magic with him, and didn't even deem it necessary to tell me? Why not? Where you ever going to tell me? Or were you just going to keep it as a little secre-

'Naruto.'

Fudo's sharp voice inside his head made Naruto shut up quickly. The tamashii rarely used his name, and only when he was either extremely serious...or extremely angry. He couldn't let go of his fury so suddenly, however, and so he sent a large wave of annoyance and resentment towards Fudo.

'Naruto. Calm down. I was going to tell you as soon as it became important. He didn't do anything, and at the moment I wasn't quite sure who he was anyways.'

All the more reason to tell me! And he knows you! He could recognize your magic! You know as well as I do that intertwining magic with someone who you don't know, especially with someone you don't trust, is extremely dangerous! What were you thinking!?

'I was thinking of you!'

At the words, Naruto's anger seeped away almost immediately. His eyes narrowed on the white-eyed boy, who was looking at him curiously, but oddly patient as well.

What do you mean?

'What I mean, is that his magic attacked you. I did the only thing I could and, searching for a rather less destructive path of action than simply attacking him, especially with Tsunade there, intertwined.'

Naruto's anger ebbed away as he heard Fudo's story, and in its place a blossoming of guilt took its place. He turned his head quickly towards the other boy, a slight amount of anger coming back as he realized that this boy had attacked him.

"Excuse me, could you tell me your name? I seem to have forgotten it," Naruto said, his tone as polite as it could be. In front of him, the boy raised an eye-brow.

"Hyuuga Neji."

Naruto felt as if he had just run against a brick wall. There was no way, no way at all that he'd just completely forgotten about Hyuuga Neji, one of the most talked about, most respected magicians in the land. Maybe he'd hit his head harder than he'd thought when he'd fallen down at the party. A whole rather lot harder.

As he realized that Hyuuga was waiting for a response, he quickly leaned forwards in a rather less formal gesture of salute.

"I am very sorry for having forgotten you. I just...I don't know. Something seems to be wrong with me today."

He watched in amazement as the Hyuuga shook his head.

"It's not your fault. You were not in a good state when we met."

Naruto's eyes widened. He'd thought, surely, that the other boy had realized the presence of another magical embodiment inside him, but apparently, he'd been wrong.

'I told you I wouldn't get caught.'

Rather than feel annoyance or guilt, Naruto felt only relief at the tamashii's interference. He sent a tendril of regret and affection towards Fudo, asking for the forgiveness he knew that the other would always give to him. At the acceptance, a small smile stretched across his visage, and he turned to Hyuuga once again.

"I guess I was not. I think I'd taken a rather large blow to the head, and I was feeling...out of it. As you already know apparently, I'm Kyuubi. It's nice to meet you. Again," he added hastily, seeing the curious expression on the other boy's face.

"Likewise," Hyuuga responded, taking a step towards the faux-brunette. Naruto felt the Hyuuga extend a tendril of magic towards him subtly, and he allowed Fudo to form a small layer of magic above his, so that the magician's magic would come in contact with the tamashii's magic first.

However, just before their magic met, a sudden, eerily familiar chill settled around the air. Naruto shivered and the Hyuuga seemed suddenly uncomfortable, even though he tried to hide it. His magic returned to his body quickly and he took a step backwards from Naruto, scanning the area around them to try to see where the feeling was coming from. Naruto already knew, and he turned sharply to his left, his expression stiff and unreadable, his eyes flashing with repressed fury as he took in the person standing arrogantly in from of him, glaring back with just as much vengeance.

"Your majesty," Naruto grounded out. He would rather not call the Royal Prick, as he was now officially dubbed in his mind, majesty, but Hyuuga was there, and he wasn't about to show their level of ...familiarity with each other with the brunette.

The Prince's eyes swept over Hyuuga and went to rest right on top of Naruto. With the flash of anger, he was suddenly right up in Naruto's personal space, grabbing him by his arms tightly. Naruto shifted uncomfortably under the searching gaze which raked his eyes, as if searching for something. He tugged on his left arm sharply, but the bastard's grip was too strong and he flinched as it tightened further.

A few moments later, which felt like a few hours to Naruto, the Prince let go roughly and stepped back. So did Naruto, rubbing his abused arms. Something was wrong here, and he wasn't about to make it much easier for the Prince by getting trully angry. God only knew how that would turn out. Instead he glared heatedly at the monarch.

"Anything you want, Prince Uchiha?"

"Yes."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected that answer.

"...and what might that be?"

Sasuke hadn't thought much, apart from the fact that he had to see if it was true.

He very nearly flew down the stairs, coming to the backyard of the castle grounds. Nothing was happening around him, but he thought he could feel magic somewhere to his left.

Again he rushed off in that direction, disregarding the warning bells inside his head.

As the brunette came into sight, Sasuke's vision abruptly turned red. Without hesitation, and with complete disregard for anything the brunette had to say, he went right up to him and, grasping his arms, leaned close into his eyes.

That flicker. That haunting, disappearing flicker of red that he'd seen at breakfast was still there; dim, but alive.

He followed it as it blinked in and out of existence, each time seemingly appearing once again in a different place, and still moving around shakily. He watched, fascinated by the flicker, for few moments before he was suddenly once again aware of himself and his surroundings. He forcefully pushed the boy away from him, regretting it as soon as the boy winced and held his arms, which were starting to show some purple marks which seem to be his finger-marks. An unusual flow of guilt passed through him, and he barely heard Kyuubi's next words.

"Anything you want, Prince Uchiha?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation. He watched in vague amusement as the blonde looked at him in surprise. Obviously, he'd meant it as a subtle dismissal, but Sasuke was not ready yet to accept the fate of the brunettes.

"...and what might that be?"

In the future, Sasuke would probably look back at this point in his past and laugh, but at this particular moment all that he could think about were Kyuubi's eyes, and how they did seem to shine with that haunting red light that had flashed so brilliantly. And so, in the most impressive lack of forethought, he blurted out the first thing to come to his mind.

"You."

All of you are probably thinking right now, "WOW SHE'S ALIVE!!!!"

Indeed, I am alive. And if I'm not, then be thankful I'm still writing this from beyond the grave. ^^

Hopefully (and I can't promise anything) I'll never take quite as long as I just did to update. I'm so sorry to everyone who waited!! *bows*

Note:
Well, no one guessed what I was talking about last chapter, about the jealousy. Sure, the first was Sasuke, but what about the second, hmm? No one guessed!!

And the answer is........... I can't tell you. Aparently, I've made it subtler than I thought it would be, and I've decided I'll keep it like that until someone figures out the other choice. Good luck, peoples!!^^

- Gabriel