Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to Daystar Clarion

I sincerely apologize for spelling or grammar errors in these chapters. Also, this is a two chapter in one deal, so it's a bit longer than any previous one.

Chapter Eleven

The Game

"You didn't wake me up."

The Uchiha was glaring death at his sensei, hair disheveled from what looked like a good night's rest.

"Not now Sasuke. I couldn't take any chances. Not last night anyway…" Kakashi glanced back at Naruto, who was in the same position as he had been all night, eyes trained on the treetops. The color of his eyes had progressed back to that unnatural blue; making the jounin wonder if he had imagined the purple. Natsu's tent flapped open and the genin pulled himself drowsily from the tent. As he stretched and yawned, he smiled and greeted them all.

"Good Morning everyone," he beamed cheerfully at the grouchy Sakura who emerged from her tent scratching at her skin and muttering about baths.

Naruto dropped his frozen gaze from the trees and smiled pleasantly at the two. "Good Afternoon Natsu…Sakura."

While Sakura blushed, Natsu gave a light chuckle.

"Actually Sunny, it's not afternoon yet. Actually, it's only seven in the morning. Noon is some time away…"

"I don't care what time it is," Sakura said wryly. "All I want is a decent bath. Kakashi-sensei, can we stop at that river to wash up a bit? Please?"

Kakashi yawned behind his mask and glanced at the sun. "Sure Sakura, but the Endo river is a day away."

Sakura groaned and rubbed her face while Natsu frowned and squinted his eyes at Naruto.

"Sunny?"

The mysterious child turned to look at him.

"Have you been in that same spot all night?"

Naruto blinked at him and nodded.

"Wow…" Natsu said, seeming overwhelmed for a moment. "You sure weren't kidding when you said you weren't sleepy."

Naruto nodded then stood up fluidly, like he hadn't just spent the night in one spot. Kakashi grimaced at all the signs that were blaring at him, that Naruto was more than just a child, and began to pack up his tent. In the meantime, Natsu offered Naruto part of his rations like last night, and this time the youth accepted a biscuit, munching idly away, making a face of distinct dissatisfaction.

After they had packed up camp and dropped sand over the campfire, the Team began to head out. They noticed the subtle sounds of tentative bird-call, and it seemed forest life was returning, albeit hesitantly. Natsu continued his lecture on the art of Shinobi; Naruto gazing forward, head cocked slightly toward the dirty blond, listening as the youth went through the guidelines. After some time, Sakura pulled out a small handbook, Guideline to the Genin and handed the brown booklet to Naruto, who immediately began to flip through the pages, eyes running over the words quickly.

By mid-afternoon they took a break, Sakura muttering fantasies about the bath she hoped to take when they reached the river. Naruto partook of both Natsu's and Sakura's meals, though he seemed to relish Sakura's a bit more, sending her wistful looks between bites.

It was an hour after the meal when Sasuke made his move. He had been watching Naruto all day, black eyes trained on the blond head for hours on end, like he was trying to pry his way through the other youth's mind.

"So 'Sunny', why don't you show us your use of chakra."

Sakura immediately turned to Sasuke with a smile, Natsu grimaced, and Kakashi sighed, aware of the tone in Sasuke's voice. It was the, 'I'm about to show how much better than you I' am by how poorly your about to do' look. At first it seemed as if Naruto was going to ignore him, for all that he remained staring ahead, but then he stopped and turned to the Uchiha, blue yes sharp and full of secrets. He dug into the pouch at his side and pulled out what looked like small green leaves and stuck them in his mouth, chewing on them like he was chewing on thoughts.

"How would you like me to show you…chakura?"

Sasuke smirked and took a step forward. "A spar."

Natsu waved his hands nervously. "Come on now Sasuke. I don't think he's ready for something like that. Leave-"

Sasuke sent him a look that clearly said 'shut up' and got in a battle stance. Natsu sent a pleading look toward his sensei, but Kakashi's eye was riveted on the two youths. On one hand, he was aware that Naruto was not quite human- the writing was clearly on the wall- and he knew that a fight with one of his students would be dangerous. On the other hand, he needed to know what Naruto was capable of before he brought him within sight of his beloved home.

---------------

The dark haired human reminded him of Tsorn, the thought made him slightly ill, and it did not help that he was already agitated beyond belief. Though it turned out easy to get information on the 'ninja' kind, the human food that he had reluctantly eaten was sticking to his insides, for some reason refusing to be processed into energy. This left him feeling full, which was better than feeling hungry, but also very unsettled, and for the first time he could justifiably use the word 'queasy' as a description. He now understood what that term meant, and felt like to his chagrin. He wanted to throw it all back up, but knew that he would be even more ravenous and could possibly attack the human female Sakura. That would most likely leave three angry human ninja left. At that point, he was even pondering his chances of getting away with eating her, was sure it was possible to defeat Natsu and the annoying Sasuke, but could he avoid the Leader? He had chewed thoughtfully on it for hours before he had given it up as a lost cause, but still felt miserable. It would come down to hunting for some regular animals if he wanted some proper food.

And now the stupid human boy was obviously challenging him. He knew that this Sasuke boy didn't like him, and he really could care less- one silly pointless existence that this piece of walking food was. But he was posing as a problem though. He was definitely a Tsorn.

Sunny stood across from the Sasuke boy and became still. He was hesitant to reveal his source- er- chakra to them because he was acutely aware that his felt much different from theirs. While their chakra felt calm and rich, like the flow of water in a steady stream, or a gusty wind, his was always malicious and wild, like flames from an inferno. It attracted attention, he was sure of it, and he was unsure how it would be received. The pack had died for his mistakes. Would he too join them? He resolved not to use it, not until he felt like he had to, or wanted to for that matter.

Then the Sasuke boy was moving, coming swiftly up to him with a kick aimed for his head. Sunny grabbed the leg centimeters from his face and spun the boy around by the appendage before releasing him. The human soared through the air and landed niftily on his feet, a flash of wariness running through his dark eyes before he surged forward again. This time he threw three shuriken at him, which he dodged easily, rumbling deep in his chest and missing the round eyes of two of his spectators as he awaited the human boy's next attack.

Sasuke followed through with a swift much, then combined it with a kick that Sunny first dodged, then blocked, snickering at the pure lack of strength in those limbs. Humans were so weak, they really were pathetic. Naruto leaped forward and aimed for the human's chest, hoping to crush the ribs but the boy swerved out of the way and swiped a kunai at his face, cutting some hair from his locks. Sasuke then leaped back, eyeing him before something interesting happened. Sunny felt him use his chakra, felt the surge and watched in slight fascination as black eyes turned a dark bloody red with strange dot like things in them.

Humans were always full of unpleasant surprises.

"Hey Sasuke," came Natsu's distressed voice. "I don't think the Sharingan is necessary!"

The Sasuke boy surged toward him, and he seemed faster than before, managing to land a swift punch squarely on Sunny's jaw, but still it lacked any strength. Sunny's head jerked back, and he made a small guttering noise in his throat, something heavy and dark that made the Sasuke boy's eyes widen, and the momentary scent of fear laced through the air. Agitated, and already wishing for some real food, the scent was savory and sweet, causing Sunny to swipe at the human, hoping to cut open that soft flesh and spill a few delectable droplets of his sweet blood.

But what Sasuke lacked in strength he had gained in speed; he disappeared from before him, only to appear behind him. There was a surge of that cool chakra, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the flash of hands making those strange and foreboding movements.

"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Sunny managed to swivel about, only to be consumed by an intense heat and a burning he had never felt before.

---------------------

Kakashi was apprehensive during the short spar. Naruto seemed unaffected by Sasuke's punch; which would have sent any other flying, had tossed Sasuke like he weighed nothing, and seemed to slowly become excited by the fighting in general. The tell-tell signs were the slight purple of his eyes and the strange and disturbing sounds emitting from his chest and throat area. But when Sasuke had activate his newly acquired sharingan Kakashi had made to step forward, to stop him from using the fire jutsu on the other youth, but had been too slow, and Naruto's arms and chest were engulfed in a large stream of fire.

"Sunny!" Natsu cried and surged forward as an earsplitting scream emerged from the inferno. Kakashi quickly summoned a water jutsu and doused the flailing youth much at the same time as Natsu, destroying the flames that had engulfed Naruto's chest, arms, and neck. The blond youth staggered back with a high pitched whine that grated on their ears and disappeared into the trees.

"For god's sake Sasuke!" Natsu snapped. "Have you no control?! He's not even in the Academy!"

The Uchiha grimaced but made no reply.

"You all stay together. I'm going after him," and Kakashi leapt into the trees, following the smell of burnt flesh. Burns were always a nasty ordeal; they scarred heavily, and ached like none other, a pain that always ate up everything else. There was usually nothing but the pain and he imagined that he would find Naruto in a rather ugly state.

Moments later he spotted the blond youth crouching on a branch, rocking back and forth, arms wrapped around his head. Kakashi settled quietly on a nearby branch, eyes warily following the burns that riddled Naruto's arms and no doubt chest and stomach. The flesh was blackened and raw, pieces of skin had been peeled back to show meat. The pain must be excruciating, but Naruto made no noise.

"N-Sunny," he called quietly, "Let's get you fixed up." There wasn't much he would be able to do until they made it to Konoha however, since he had never been much of a medic, but he carried some strong sedatives, some that might be able to put the boy out of his misery for a few hours or so.

Naruto stopped rocking and lifted his head, causing Kakashi to suck in his breath. Those blue eyes were no longer. In their place was bright crimson, vertical pupils ringed in an orange fire and a rage that was literally tangible. Naruto uncurled himself and stood up, eyes trained on the jounin. There was no pain in his eyes, just anger, and that was when he noticed the rapidly healing flesh along his body, the oozing burns turning to blisters, muscles reforming. A groan that was deep and heavy passed through the air and the youth plucked at the damaged bracelets on his wrists. They dropped to the forest floor, along with a majority of his necklaces. His earrings had survived the short inferno, and within moments he noticed that there really were no signs that he had been burned badly.

"Are you alright?"

The boy's head moved forward and cocked to the side in an almost bird-like manner.

"I am fine. Pain is a passing matter. I do not fear pain." His accent was even heavier than before, and he noticed with a chill, that there was a strange hiss of air behind each word that sounded completely sinister.

"What do you fear?" Kakashi asked, knowing that he would get no answer from the child. The lips pulled into a leer, sharp teeth gleaming viciously at him. Then Naruto turned and headed back toward Team Seven, Kakashi quickly following. He did not like this. It was almost like the spar had not happened, like memory along with the burns had vanished.

But he knew better.

When Naruto dropped onto the path where Team Seven remained, Natsu and Sakura ran up to him.

"Sunny, are you all right?!" Their eyes darted over his body, mouths 'oh'ed when they realized he was perfectly fine. "I guess you're alright…" Natsu said faintly, eyes running up and down Naruto's body before squinting at him curiously. "You didn't tell me you had a kekkai genkai. But then, I should have known with the glowing eyes and all."

"What is a kekkai genkai?" Sunny asked, no longer carrying that strange hiss, and eyes back to their brilliant blue.

Natsu held up a finger in pause and pulled the pack off his back, digging into it then pulling out a folded white shirt. "I should have given this to you earlier," he said and shook the shirt open, handing it to the jinchuuriki. Naruto took the shirt, sniffed it once, then began to pull it on, beaming at the genin as he smoothed the shirt to his chest.

"Thank you."

They began to move along, Natsu talking of blood lines and the spar seeming forgotten. Kakashi glanced at Sasuke and noticed the Uchiha heir was studying his knuckles, and noticed that the fist was swollen. He sent Naruto a puzzled and troubled look before dropping the hand and brooding on. Naruto was listening with great interest to the lectures, perfectly whole and comfortable in his brown pants and white shirt.

But he knew better.

-----------------

Of course he hadn't forgotten. It was obvious what the human boy Sasuke had initiated.

The Game.

It was Tsorn and Spayt who had introduced him to the Game, which usually happened over kill times. Tsorn would take Spayt's food- or the two would disagree over something, and one would attack. Whatever it was, one would make the move, and the other would retaliate…later. It was what made the Game so exciting- the wait- the wonder when the other was going to serve out some payback. Some times it was days, other times it was weeks. The tension, the wonder, and it always came as a surprise. No matter if they knew that the other was to make his move, when it actually happened, it was always a shock. And that was what made the Game so fun.

Of course, for years Sunny had been excluded from the Game, not because he had been too young, but because his retaliations had always been quick with rather punishable results. If Tsorn took his food, or hit him, or anything to make him miserable for that matter, Sunny would just cry, and he was good at crying. He would give off such a screech that had the pack gritting its teeth and Krik snapping at Tsorn to give the food back or apologize. Either way, there was no playing the Game with Sunny, not until he understood that it wasn't very demonly to cry in such a manner. After that, he had always been slow in his retaliation, waiting up to months before he would suddenly bite Tsorn or Spayt. It was through the Game that he learned patience, learned that waiting and watching was the best way to surprise and inflict the most damage. And damage he would do to this Sasuke. He wouldn't wait months though- perhaps only a day since he didn't know how long a human's memory lasted. Mayu was always forgetting things when she was alive.

His hand ran along the remaining necklaces, only three of them and one belonging to the snake man. Mayu's had been burned away along with many of the necklaces that he had collected.

If Sasuke wanted to see what he could do with the source then Sunny would give him more than he could swallow, consequences be damned.

--------------

Before that evening, it was clear that the human food was not going to be digested, and it remained sitting in his stomach, heavy muck that seemed to weigh him down. He felt fortunate that the forest animals were beginning to return; he could hear the rustle of animal life, the piercing cries of bird song. Unlike Mayu's home, which had been a place of lingering death, and the animals would never return, this forest was fresh- with more natural deaths.

The Sasuke boy had returned to staring at him again, which he ignored in favor of some critical thinking. To his chagrin, he was going to have to accept that resting was going to arrive sooner than he had surmised. He had hoped he would have until Konoha before resting approached, but the burns he had received had caused a more extensive healing than he had ever had before, pulling on the last of his reserves, all of which had been low anyway. For some time now, his reserves had been small, something he could only attribute to his appetite-less depression a year before, and even though he had spent that year trying to build it back up, it was becoming increasingly apparent that he had thrown his body off of a very rigid routine, and perhaps it would take years before everything worked at maximum proficiency again. Sunny clenched his fists.

It seemed as if he could only properly function when someone was telling him what to do. Sunny opened his fists and gazed at the small marks of blood that remained after the cuts had healed. He noticed his blood was darker than human blood, a much deeper crimson so that it almost looked black.

"Sunny, was your family shinobi?" Sakura's voice intruded upon his morbid thoughts. Sunny looked up at her and smiled.

"No, they did not like violence," Sunny suppressed the urge to snort; the pack had always enjoyed violence.

The human female nodded. "I know how that is. Only my grandparents were shinobi, and they didn't make it past chuunin, so I want to make it to jounin. No one in Natsu's family are ninja either." Sakura glanced over at the dirty blond. "Which I've always wondered. How come you joined the Academy?"

Natsu, who had been reading a few scrolls, glanced up and smiled.

"Honestly, and don't laugh, I used to watch the ninja run the rooftops when I was very young. I was so enamored that well-'' He sent them a sheepish look. "I joined up." He then turned to Sunny with a puzzled frown. "Are you sure you didn't belong to a shinobi clan? You clearly have some type of kekkai genkai. Have you any affinity towards a certain type of animal? Dog? Cat? Other? How about elements? Water? Fire? Earth?"

"I don't know," he glanced at their leader, who was gazing at their surroundings. "Truly we were…" he paused to think carefully of the pronunciation, "isolated."

"Huh…" was Natsu's mystified reply.

-------------

As night fell and the humans began to make camp again, Sunny decided it was time to rid his body of the human food that sat in his stomach like lead He glanced at the human pack. The Kakashi leader was setting up his tent while Sakura and Natsu gathered fire wood. He was more wary of fire today than he had been the day before, for obvious reasons; he had never been burned before. The Sasuke boy was standing nearby, black eyes trained on him, causing Sunny to leer at him and turn towards the forest.

"Where are you going?" came the boy's voice.

Sunny glanced back at him, his eyes catching the natural light from the night sky and searching for the human words he needed.

"I need to relieve myself," he said with a precarious shrug, bearing slightly sharp teeth as he shrank into the forest. Quickly he put some distance between himself and the humans, then paused to stick his index and middle finger down his throat, bringing up the human food, a thick paste that had never processed. Sunny grumbled in trepidation and climbed into the trees. He settled on a branch, pulled off his white shirt and neatly folded it before sticking it in a corner and becoming completely still. Sunny took a deep breath, drinking in the forest scents and admiring the mammoth trees and their thick canopies. The trees of Fire Country were so large; in fact, he was sure that many forest dwelling packs could live quite well in them.

Not too far off he could hear Natsu ask after him, his voice laced with worry, and Sunny tuned him out as the sound of a predator moved through the thicket. He could tell it was a carnivore even before its scent hit his nose- the way it moved- silently, carefully, perhaps with years of practice and months of invincibility. Sunny grinned, bearing his now fully sharp teeth, eyes bleeding crimson. But he was the ultimate predator; he leaned forward, nostrils flaring at the musky scent of wolf. He was the master of the forest, none could match his prowess.

The wolf paused, perhaps realizing how close it actually was to the demon. Sunny did not give him the chance to retreat. He leaped through the trees, grabbing a branch, then angling himself head first as the wolf passed frantically under him. Sunny landed on its sturdy back; the wolf spun around, ready to take a vicious bite at the assailant. Sunny grabbed its jaw and tore it from the muzzle, and as the wolf screamed he quickly twisted the head, snapping the neck. The wolf's body spasmed and slumped to the earth. Sunny shuddered and immediately tore through the thick fur, ripping past skin to get to the meaty parts. He ate quickly and without reservation, blood smearing his face and hands. Immediately the meat began to process and disperse throughout his body, as Sunny quickly devoured heart and liver, and slurped blood where it congealed.

A crack of a twig, and Sunny froze in mid-chew, head snapping up and eyes falling on the Kakashi human. He was in the trees, a dark shadow watching him. Above the aroma of blood and death, the scent of fear was permeating from the leader. It was easy to imagine that he was such a sight, blood had dribbled down his neck, and he had blood up to his elbows.

"Would you join me?" he offered, then immediately realizing his mistake. He had reverted back to demon tongue, completely forgetting himself amongst his feast. The reaction was the same as with all humans: Kakashi stiffened, a hand jerked to his side where he knew a kunai sat, wide eyed. He supposed what frightened them the most was how deep his voice was, though it was completely natural to him, humans tended to have higher or lower octaves of voice according to gender and size. Sakura's was light and high pitched while Natsu's and Sasuke's were lower, but did not carry the weight that the Kakashi leader had. His own was very deep, and he was pleased that it was one of the few things that had been on par with his brothers, for his was just as deep, heavy, and guttural as theirs had been, never mind his size. But his natural voice seemed to put humans on edge.

Sunny swallowed the meat in his mouth and remained crouched, unsure of where this was to go. He knew that the charade had long been up, that the Kakashi leader was more than aware that he was not human. But he had never shown his eating habits to the human before, and he remembered how revolted Mayu had been when she had seen him eat. He had to simply accept that when it came to pretending, he was very poor. With a moment's insight, he knew that his time spent with Mayu had had one major flaw. Though he had learned the language, he had never tried to be human, had not pretended to do the things that humans did. He had not closed his eyes and lay in one place for hours during the night, had not learned to properly process the human food like he knew he should, or any other thing that would have labeled him as a normal human child. Mayu had been too accepting- she had let him be himself, probably awed by how different he was from her. It turned out to be a lasting and probably fatal disservice. He only had himself to blame.

"Sunny."

There was a look of pure determination in the human's eye, like he was about to put himself through some great tribulation. Sunny lifted his head, luminous eyes focused on the human.

"Come along Sunny. The others are asking after you." His eye remained focused on him, then the carcass, the look of determination increasing tenfold. Sunny nodded and quickly began to gobble down all he could, who knew when he would get a decent meal again? then began to wipe his hands and face in the grass, erasing evidence of the blood. With any luck the others would not smell it on him- humans had such a weak sense of smell.

He then followed the human back through the forest, grabbing his shirt as they passed and putting it on.

-------

That night Kakashi decided to place Natsu on second watch so he could get some shut eye, and in the meantime, he continued to watch Naruto watch him. The scene from earlier had shocked him, seeing the blond child devour the wolf raw, red eyes shining and intense- Kakashi had seen very little humanity in those eyes, eyes that had been so foreign, with no compassion beyond ravenous pleasure. He was determined now to get the youth to Konoha, to the Hokage, even though his instincts told him not to. He was positive that the child had eaten more that the occasional animal, judging by the way he stared at Sakura with such longing.

Kakashi eyed the youth who had helped set up camp and was sitting in the crook of a tree's roots, digging into a small pouch, a look of agitation crossing his face.

"What's the matter?" Kakashi asked, and the youth glanced up at him, a frown marring his beautiful features.

"No more peppermint…" he muttered glumly, then dropped the pouch in disgust. He dropped his head in his hands and remained that way for hours, and when Natsu came to take Kakashi's place, the boy still did not move, despite Natsu's inquiries.

As the jounin settled for the rest of the night, he hoped that by morning his team would all remain in one piece.

------

Endo River was home to several species of bird, mammal, and amphibian life forms that immediately evacuated the area upon their arrival. They quickly set up camp in the remaining trees that surrounded the river and breathed in the fresh water air as they settled down for a few hours. Konoha was less than a few days away, and not many real baths had been taken since Wave, so the opportunity was welcome by all. Sakura grabbed the last of her clothing and began to head towards the river, and was quickly followed by Sunny.

"Whoa there!" Natsu called in surprise as he grabbed Sunny's arm. "Where are you going?"

Sunny glanced at the hand holding his arm then sent him a puzzled look.

"I'm going to take a bath."

Natsu chuckled and sat down in the dirt. "Why don't we wait until Sakura is done okay?"

Sunny frowned and sniffed his arm. "But I'm dirty. Why do I have to wait until after she is done?"

Natsu stared at him. "Because she's a girl."

"So?"

Natsu's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Either you know too much about girls- or too little," he muttered. "Look, you smell fine. Like…tree bark and peppermint. You can wait a few minutes until she's done, then you can take a bath with Sasuke and I."

At this, Sasuke looked over and scowled, eyeing the brilliant blond who turned and leered at him, then sat down next to Natsu.

They waited for some time before Sakura appeared, damp, yet satisfied-though she warned them about the cold water. Natsu smiled when Sunny sniffed the space near her, then made a noise of appreciation, which made Sakura turn the color of a tomato, then began to head towards the river. Natsu glanced back at his sensei, who waved at him in a manner that said he would take a bath after they were done. He wondered if he would ever see his sensei's face.

"I'm going to do a perimeter sweep, so be careful while you take a bath," Kakashi said suddenly, before they could disappear from view. Natsu stopped and sent him a look of surprise.

"In Konoha territory?"

Kakashi shrugged. "One can never be too careful," and he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Natsu nodded in thought and glanced at Sunny, who was staring quite intently at the small leaves that had settled on the forest floor where the jounin once stood.

-----------------

It came to him quite suddenly, what he was going to do to the Sasuke boy, and he had to cover his maniacal laughter under the water. He had gotten so used to the warm baths that Mayu used to draw up for him, that returning to the frigid cold of river water had been an unpleasant experience. He had not been as vocal about it as Natsu, yet had made more noise than the pathetically stoic Sasuke, so when the idea came upon him he simply dunked his head into the water. When he resurfaced, Natsu was beginning to make his exit.

"W-w-water iss t-too c-cold. C-Clean alr-r-ready. M-must escape!" and he walked along the floor until he could leave the water, where he shivered at the bank and hastily covered himself. He then turned to them. "The water's really cold. I think you guys should get out now- lest you catch a cold. The shock of such cold water against this heat will probably make us all sick later."

Sunny glanced at the Sasuke boy, who was shivering, and began to wash his head, challenging the boy rather blatantly, to leave. The Sasuke boy's dark eyes narrowed, and despite his apparent discomfort began to wash his arms. Sunny turned his back on him and meticulously began to pull out the feathers in his hair, eyeing them and dropping them into the water with a sigh. He would have to catch a few birds later to redecorate. The pity was, birds were hard to catch off guard, since they always seemed aware of his presence. If only he could catch another one of those human females again, the old dying ones with all that jewelry. Perhaps in Konoha he could find another one?

He glanced at the corner of his eye as Natsu gave a huff of exasperation and left the two to do their silent battle. Sunny covered his grin with a swipe of a hand and waited till Natsu was far away enough that he might not hear Sasuke's screams. He then turned to the remaining human and smiled, baring his teeth in their natural form, his eyes slowly following suit. The Sasuke boy's eyes widen, hands flew together to make the signs, but Sunny was faster. A chakra hand burst from the ground, wrapping around the startled genin's waist, and pulled him under the water. Pooling chakra to his feet and hands, Sunny calmly pulled himself above the water and stood up, eyes dancing as he watched the human struggle for air. He had not waited too long for the Game; surely the human would understand why he was suffering now. Sunny giggled as again the boy tried to toss his terror aside and make hand signs, but Sunny's crimson eyes narrowed and the chakra hand tightened around the boy's waist and shook him vigorously, causing his arms to flail about.

Steam rose from the water due to the heat of the chakra, yet the only sign that the genin was fighting for his life were the bubbles and ripples that his underwater struggle was creating. Sunny began to grind his teeth together to keep from salivating heavily, his ears twitching at the sound of the human's gurgling cries. He had never tortured someone before, never knew how wonderful the sounds of the cries could be, or the intoxicating smell of terror-

His presence came like a sharp angry wind and the tang of metal came to his nostrils. Sunny stiffened as the sharp kunai began to press angrily against his throat.

The Kakashi leader had arrived.

-------------------

He had returned to the site where they had left their things, satisfied that his team was safe for the time being, when he noticed that only Sakura and Natsu were in the immediate area.

"Where are Sasuke and Sunny?" he demanded quickly, startling the two genin, who were in the process of packing things up. Natsu scowled

"Oh they're still in the water, trying to out-do each other in the stupidity department-OW!" he exclaimed when Sakura smacked his head. Kakashi was already headed toward the river, heart pounding in dread at what he was about to find.

Upon reaching the clearing, he froze to take in the scene. Naruto was standing on the water, a display of great chakra control, arms dangling at his sides as he stared down at the water. The expression upon his face was chilling, a wide grin baring sharp dagger like teeth, and red eyes that seemed to be glowing. There was cruelty in that gaze, and extreme pleasure, his face almost flushed with excitement. Kakashi's eyes followed Naruto's eyes and his heart almost stopped. Before he even felt himself move, he was standing behind the blond haired youth, kunai drawn and at his throat. He let his killing intent fall over the boy like a veil and whispered in his most deadly voice, "Let him go."

The youth stiffened and tilted his head back, eyes connecting with his own. Kakashi had fought many battles, had seen many men and women quail under him when he was ready to kill, but this crazy child merely narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils, clearly challenging him. He would have been more appalled if not for the fact that Sasuke had stopped moving. Kakashi pressed the kunai so that it drew blood, blood that he noticed seemed much darker than average, and got ready to do what he had to keep Sasuke alive. Did he want to kill Naruto? No, but his team came first, they were his precious people, and he would let no one harm them. No one.

Within one second and the next, in which the boys' eyes seemed to search his, the angry chakra faded, and the youth's eyes changed back to the startling blue before averting themselves in what was a clear display of submission. Kakashi pushed him aside and reached into the water, grabbing the Uchiha and pulling him out. The boy's face was turning grey, his lips already blue, and his whole midriff was covered in angry second degree burns, no doubt the water had leeched some of the heat from the chakra, judging by all the steam. Wrapping his arms around Sasuke's burnt waist he heaved and pushed the water out of his student's lungs until Sasuke coughed and gurgled, eyes opening wide as consciousness returned to him. Then wild black eyes darted around, no doubt searching for the blond that was no longer there. Naruto had snuck off- but he knew that he would be seeing the youth again.

He helped Sasuke to the bank, examined his wounds, which had also burned his palms and parts of his arms. Sasuke tried not to let the pain show, but the burns surely could have been worse, and as he put on a simple salve, he thanked the stars that he had arrived in time to stop his student's murder.

Yes. Murder. He had seen the same look on opponents and comrade's faces, and was equally sure that Naruto had killed other people. Sandaime was going to be very disappointed.

When they returned to the others, Natsu took one look at Sasuke's face in knew who the loser had been, but Kakashi was sure he didn't know to what extent, Sasuke burns being covered up by his clothing and the usual bandages that cover his arms.

"Where's Sunny?" Sakura asked, and his reply was that the boy had gone off to search for something and that he would catch up later, which he was sure he would. But Natsu sent Sasuke a sidelong glance that clearly said that he didn't believe that was the case, but they continued on anyways.

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Sunny curled up in a ball and let resting take over, silently cursing it for coming at the time it had. He had almost not gotten away when it had descended upon him, but he had managed to make some distance between them while the Kakashi leader revived his poor pitiful human. Sunny managed a lazy smile as his eyes strayed lazily over the surrounding trees. Fire Country did have the best trees.

He'd catch up to them later- the Kakashi leader was unlikely to kill him if he kept his distance. And he would, and no doubt the Sasuke boy would avoid him, never to play the Game again, which was a real pity. He had felt so alive today.

Nonetheless, Konoha was sure to be interesting.

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Sunny had popped up hours later, unscathed with several very bright feathers decorating his hair. He was all smiles and laughs, asking questions and making Sakura blush every time his eyes fell on her. He stayed clear of Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, but whenever their eyes met, Natsu saw a steely glint enter his sensei's eyes, one that seemed to cow the blond, though this was only displayed by the quick averting of his impossibly blue eyes.

Sasuke on the other hand, seemed to be constantly in pain, back stiff and face pinched. Whenever his eyes fell upon Sunny, a look of burning hate, and surprisingly fear, would pass through them. But Sunny seemed oblivious to his hate, and he listened when they lectured about ninja protocol and things of that nature.

And so the next few nights went on in peace, with very few surprising or daunting moments, and no one challenged them, or one another.

"We must be near the village," Sunny said suddenly, startling the group out of their thoughts. They had just started walking that morning, all of them seeming to suffer from the same bug called grouchiness. Natsu turned to him in curiosity.

"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?"

Sunny's head tilted in a birdlike manner, ear to the wind. "I can hear them…and smell them," a look of distaste passed through the sharp eyes.

Before he could reply, Kakashi's voice cut through the air. "Konoha is a few miles away. We'll be there before nightfall."

Sakura turned round eyes toward Sunny, who seemed to have lost interest and his face had gone blank.

The day passed, they stopped at check points where guards stood and greeted them, eyes running over Sunny in a curious manner, for he was a sight, such a beautiful child he was, but they were not accosted, and it was only a matter of time that they were pulled into the stream of human and animal that entered and exited the village. Natsu sighed in relief at the familiar gates, at the towering buildings and at the smells of human life, missing how the cattle shuddered when they passed or how the birds scrambled away as they approached. He missed the growing agitation that began to grace Sunny's face, or how his purple eyes darted here and there, nostrils flaring, and a low hum coming from deep in his chest.

It was good to be home.

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He burst forth from the earth with a howl like a new born babe from its mother's womb, but the forest shuddered at the rage that poured forth from his body. The demon staggered to its feet and blinked yellow eyes at the blaring sun, and was greeted by a world gone quiet by his presence. The rage remained and he screamed and stumbled, legs unused to movement and body weak with hunger and extensive healing. A year and some of resting and recuperating and still he felt like a mess, inside and out. The human he had eaten had only served well for a few hours before his reserves had to be used, and now that he was down to nothing, he had to find food fast.

Tsorn moved as fast as his weakened body would allow, digging small rodents from their hiding places in the earth and devouring whole colonies. Whatever he could get went into his mouth and was processed the moment it hit his stomach. For days he went on his single minded eating frenzy, ate anything that moved until his body felt strong enough to hold thoughts and heart strong enough to bare the truth.

His brothers were dead.

He had barely escaped the madness that hung at the edge of his mind, threatening to engulf him at every moment, whenever his mind strayed to his loss. His brothers were dead. There was no long winded battle, no excitement, and no human bodies littering the forest floor. The terror had been theirs, and theirs alone, and death had come quickly for them all. All except him. Tsorn's shoulders slumped where he sat under a particularly depressing willow tree and let the misery wash over him. No Krik to boss him around, no Tkaa to make him feel like a demon-ling whenever he opened his mouth, no Spayt to mess with, or Sunny to-

Tsorn's head snapped up, eyes flaring yellow at the thought of the last member of the pack. He searched all his bonds, the ones with his brothers were no longer existing, a vast emptiness, but when he searched for Sun's, he felt it like some vague shock.

Sunny was still alive.

Tsorn jumped to his feet, his muscles vibrating with excitement. He wasn't alone! He turned in the direction he sensed Sunny in, and made to leap for the trees when full understanding hit him. Sunny was alive. The cause of all his pain was off somewhere, most likely not paying for his own pack's destruction. Tsorn growled and grit his teeth, leaping into the trees.

He was going to find that little wretch, and when he did…

TBC

Sunny/Naruto will meet Sandaime in the next chapter, though many of you imagined it would be this chapter. I'm sorry. Also, I have not abandoned this fic, nor have it on hiatus, it's simply that I've developed joint problems in my fingers and can't type as much as I'd like to. As one can imagine, I'm in a lot of pain right now.

On a slightly different note, I've decided that there will be a chuunin exam in this fic, but will be told in small segments and will not be an in-depth experience, simply because Sunny/ Naruto will certainly not be a participant. That would be silly. However, that does not mean it will go strictly to canon.

I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE FOR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR ERRORS, AS I DO TRY MY UTMOST BEST TO ERASE THEM. HOWEVER, I MAY HAVE TO FIND A BETA READER IF THIS KEEPS UP. SORRY!!!!