Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

Date: 08/19/08

Summary: While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

Reviews: Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox
Chapter 14: Ghosts and an Exam

One month had passed since Naruto returned from the caravan mission, and he was finally feeling well enough to willingly go out and do something. Their job had ended well, Kakashi had rested for another day or so before they moved into Kusa territory and parted from the merchant. Keitaro had taken it upon himself to care for the man who he'd injured, it made things easier for the rest of the caravan to have another guard to replace and look after the jonin. Sakura and Sasuke didn't seem to trust the older teen but that was understandable and Keitaro didn't say anything about it.

When they finally got to the closest village Keiji declared their mission complete and decided to pay them in full. All the genin were surprised by that statement, even though they'd protected the wagons and supplies they'd forced their employer to fight with them, so they expected their pay to be less. When Naruto actually asked about it the old man admitted that he usually had to help with the guard duties in some way. He also said they'd done remarkably well for green rookies and that they'd helped him get a free permanent guard so he wouldn't have to fight as much.

Before they left, Kakashi told the swordsman that when he gave the Hokage their mission report that he'd have to tell the old man about him and his power. He left it unsaid that if the Hokage felt the teen was a threat he'd send ANBU after him, but Keitaro seemed to understand that was the case. They'd left them outside the village and the return trip had been swift, Naruto's illness didn't steam from his mission or an actual disease but from his new power.

It had been tough enough to have the ability when there was just the caravan and his team around, simply feeling that small group had put him on edge. Now that he was back in the village he was feeling things from hundreds of people and it completely overwhelmed him. Kakashi had taken the first three days back to get his wounds treated and recover, and Naruto didn't know what he would have done if he'd actually had to do work during those first few days because he literally couldn't do anything else except lay there and try to get used to all the interference from the towns people.

Nobody realized the true cause for Naruto's inactivity, they all just assumed it was emotional backlash from his first big mission. Iruka and Kazuma had come to see him after they found out he was back, and when they found he'd been ill they'd brought over groceries and ramen to cheer him up. After a week, Naruto felt well enough to invite his friend over so they could talk about their recent missions. Kazu had told him that his own teammates had complained to the Hokage and gotten their own guard mission. They'd gone to the Land of Waves to protect a bridge builder from bandits. He mentioned they'd run into the A-class ninja Zabuza and his underling Haku, but that his team and their jonin sensei had persevered and completed their mission.

His team wasn't made up of anyone special, just civilian born kids who trained their hardest to be ninjas. Kazuma was the second best of their year, a girl named Karin had been one of their midlevel students and another boy called Misaki had been a lower placing one, evening out the team nicely. However, despite how they faired in class, the others didn't seem to have much promise as shinobi. According to Kazu, they'd probably wouldn't advance past chunin level, and they wouldn't make chunin for a long time.

Now after a month of inactivity, Naruto felt stable enough to willingly leave the safety of his apartment and travel around during the day. He'd gone out for missions, his team was back to doing D ranked for a while, but after those were done he'd go back to his apartment to unwind. Naruto found that meditating helped calm his nerves so he was spending more time focusing his mind then his body. Then there were the talismans Yoshi had given him. They only looked like pieces of paper with writing on them, but they held special spirit qualities. He'd gotten five of them total, four were placed in the corners of his home to create a spirit barrier which helped block out the feel of others and warded away ghosts, making his house a safe haven.

Directly after their latest mission(pulling weeds) he'd planned to meet up with Kazuma and go to Ichiraku for dinner. Now all he needed was to talk Sasuke into going and the entire team could have some bonding time. "Come on Sasuke, your probably just going to eat dinner alone and that's never healthy. Eat with us, fresh ramen is always better then the instant stuff"

"Idiot, I'm not going out to eat. I have to train." Sakura squealed at how cool Sasuke looked when he talked.

"So you can kill someone, right?" The Uchiha brat nodded. Naruto got into a thinking pose before asking, "When exactly do you have to kill him?"

"What?" It wasn't what Sasuke was expecting his teammate to say.

"I know you say you have to kill someone, but when do you need to do it? Is it so soon that you don't have any time to relax?" Sasuke didn't know how to respond. He'd never thought the blond idiot would say something like that.

"Naruto, why are you upsetting Sasuke?" It was kinda strange to see the princess come to the rescue of her knight, but the blond found it amusing.

With a small smile on his face, Naruto waved off Sakura's glare. "I'm just asking a simple question, there's no need to get upset." Naruto looked Sasuke straight in the eye and said, "So, is there a deadline for your goal, or is it just free floating?"

Sasuke had begun hating looking at his teammate in the eyes. During their last mission he may have gained his Sharingan, but the blond had developed something else. Now when ever the shorter genin looked him in the eyes it made Sasuke feel like he could see into his mind and soul. "There's no time limit, but…" Suddenly, Sasuke really didn't know how to finish that sentence.

"Then what wrong with taking a few hours off and having dinner with friends? Its good to let your body relax and have fun once in a while. If you become so stressed that you get an ulcer then that'll be counterproductive."

It was only every once in a while, but Naruto had done this a couple of times. He'd ask Sasuke questions which seemed to help make his teammate think more about what he was doing instead of just hating and feeling. When he looked at Sasuke now, he saw someone exactly like Keitaro, someone in so much pain and misery that Naruto couldn't help but try to heal the boy's soul. This time, his words seemed to have the desired effect of both making Sasuke think and cohering him to accept his dinner invitation.

"…Fine. I'll go with you." The brunet really didn't want to have his teammate pestering him all day.

Sakura blushed and asked, "Can I come with you?"

Naruto smiled at the girl and answered "Sure. Once Kazu get here it'll be a group of four."

A familiar voice cut in, but it didn't sound very happy. "Make that six people."

Team 7 looked down the street and saw a few familiar faces. Kazuma was there, but he looked tired and worn out. The cause being his brother who was standing behind him. Hinata as also there, blushing and fidgeting nervously. Naruto's eyes widened when he looked at Hinata, it was the first time he'd seen her since he got back and it was a shock. He never knew that the girl liked him that way, but there was no mistaking what was in her aura.

His shock only registered for a moment before he waved at them. "Hey Kazu! What are Hinata and Haruko doing here?

"It is the most wonderful of tales young Naru-poppy." Haru, being himself, decided to answer the question. "Hinata came to our house and asked Kazu if you had gotten over your recent illness. When he confessed to your dinner date, he invited her to join your group. I, being a shining example of chivalry, could never just watch as a young girl went off to dinner, unescorted, with a couple of young men. Why, I could never allow such a delicate and beautiful young flower be defiled by a couple of rowdy boys."

"I'd never do something like that!" shouted Kazuma.

"Hence my current presence in your party. As you can see, such actions are quite unavoidable." Haruko's words seemed final and absolute.

Sasuke had dubious look about what the older boy was saying, and it looked like he was now regretting his decision to go along. Sakura looked the same, and Hinata didn't seem like she minded Haruko's company at all. Naruto thought having more people come made everything even better. "All right, lets go eat ramen!"

Within a few minutes, they were all at Ichiraku and having various ramen plates. Teuchi was happy to have his favorite customer back, and even more excited that he brought more people with him. Haruko seemed to have been there before and was talking with Ayame, apparently continuing an earlier discussion. Sakura had taken a seat next to Sasuke and was trying to get him to taste some of her ramen while Sasuke did his best to ignore the girl. Naruto had taken up a seat next to Haru, not minding the older boy's presence, with Kazuma sitting next to him and Hinata after the Ryuuza.

After finishing his first bowl (while everyone else was only halfway through their first), Naruto got his second serving and commented to Kazuma, "For someone who said he was going to protect Hinata from us, your brother doesn't seem to be doing his job very well."

They both looked over at Haruko who was still flirting with the server. "Big bro probably just wanted the food and the chance to talk to Ayame." Naruto returned to his noodles, slurping happily, and Kazu looked over at Hinata and saw the girl blushing while looking over both Haruko and Naruto. The black haired boy to smiled and said, "So do you like Naruto and my brother, Hinata?"

The girl looked over sharply at Kazuma and blushed even harder. "N-No, I don't…" If possible, she became redder as she said, "I do like Naruto, but I don't feel that way about your brother. I just admire him."

"Admire?" The boy began eating his noodles again. He knew many people liked his brother, but he didn't think Hinata would admire him.

"Yes, the confidence he displays is breathtaking. I wish I could have even half of that self-assurance. One day, I want to be overflowing with confidence, just like you brother." She had a wistful look on her face while she imagined herself with Haru's confidence.

The younger Ryuuza blew on his noodles and paused to say, "Nah, that's impossible."

The girl looked like Kazu had slapped her in the face, which was true enough, and said "What?! Why? Why can't my dream come true?"

"Haru's confidence is beyond that of mere mortals like you and me. You should set your sights a little lower." The two looked over at the other Ryuuza and watched him for a moment. The way he sat, the way he talked, even the way he ate screamed great confidence.

Hinata seemed to concede the point, "Maybe your right, but I can still dream." She closed her eyes and imagined herself finally asking Naruto on a date, a confident arua surrounding her. Naruto was halfway through his second bowl when he finally asked something completely out of the blue. "Hey, do any of you guys believe in ghosts?"

Everyone, even the works, stopped to look at the blond. It wasn't that it was an offensive question, but it was completely random. Eventually, Haruko asked, "Ghosts? I've personally never seen one, but I can't really say its impossible for a ghost to exist. Why do you ask little Naruto?"

"Lately I've just had some weird feelings, like something's there when there actually isn't. Has anyone else ever felt something like that?" Various no's and head shakes were the only responses the boy got. "Huh, maybe I've got some enemies watching me or something. If it was a ghost, does anyone know how to get rid of one?"

Hinata answered the question, "I haven't read anything concrete, but some sources say that ghosts appear because of some unfinished business, because their souls are restless. If you can calm that soul then, it should move on."

While nodding his head, Kazuma said, "It makes sense to me. If someone is hanging around someplace for a reason, then if they loose that reason then they'll leave."

Sakura asked, "Should we really be talking about stuff like this over dinner? It just seems creepy."

"Why not." To everyone's surprise, Sasuke was adding his two bits. "Its not like ghosts are real, so what's the harm?"

Naruto just smiled and continued eating his ramen while the conversation deteriorated. From ghosts, the conversation shifted to zombies and various other undead creatures. Once everyone was finished, they all went their separate ways to their homes. All except Naruto who made a detour to deal with something. He hadn't just asked everyone about ghosts for nothing, there were actually a ton of them wandering around Konoha and Naruto needed a way to deal with them.

The spirits didn't actually bother Naruto, the boy had a paper talisman that he wore to stop that from happening, but they were still visible. A lot of them seemed to be ghosts of ninja who died in various ways, not surprising for a shinobi village, but not all of them were like that. There was one which Naruto couldn't bring himself to ignore and that one was the ghost of a small child. Even being shinobi trained, the genin couldn't forget about that child, a little boy just sitting in the road apparently waiting for something. Naruto had known about the child for a week, and now he finally felt good enough to try doing something about it.

It was just on a side street, nowhere special but that made the child seem even more lonely. Thankfully, because the spirit was on a side street Naruto was able to talk to it without anyone witnessing the odd behavior.

Naruto arrived on the street and saw the lonely spirit. It looked about Konohamaru's age but that didn't mean it had only been around for that long. It was a boy and had short brown hair, he was sitting on the ground hugging his knees to its body. If it wasn't for the fact that it was transparent, the genin would assume it was just an ordinary child. Naruto spoke first, "Hey kid, what are you waiting around for?"

The spirit child looked up just stared at Naruto for a few seconds, giving the blond a clear look at his hazel colored eyes. Eventually he said, "My mom. She went out on a mission to protect the village. There's suppose to be some huge fox that's going to attack soon so my mom went out with a bunch of other ninja to try to stop it." Naruto had never spoken with a ghost before, it's voice had some faint echo quality that no human could possibly produce. "She always told me that when she went out on a mission that if I waited at home for her she'd be sure to come back." The boy glanced around before saying, "My house isn't here for some reason, but if I know she'll come back if I just wait long enough."

This kid's been waiting here since the Kyuubi attack? And this part of the village got destroyed by the fox, so I guess they reconstructed it differently. I guess if I want this kid to move on that I'll have to make him realize he's already dead. With a deep breath Naruto prepared a long list of questions for the child. "Kid, how long have you been waiting here?"

"For awhile." It was a valid reply, but Naruto pressed for details.

"Can you tell me specifically how long? Like how many hours?" The child looked like he wanted to answer, but had just realized he didn't know how to respond. "How about food? When's the last time you ate something?"

"The last time I ate? I…" But the words wouldn't come. The child couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten something.

"What about sleep? How often have you slept since waiting here?" The child was trembling at this point. Naruto was asking simple questions, but the boy just didn't know the answers. It scared him, not knowing the answers. "Kid, the demon fox attacked Konoha about 12 years ago. The chances are that you're home was destroyed and you died when that happened."

The child grabbed his head and began shaking it back and forth. "It can't be true, it can't be! I wana see mom again, she said that if I waited for her that she'd come back. She always comes back because I'm waiting for her. Dad's gone, but she has a reason to come home because I'm waiting for her." It looked like the child was crying, Naruto couldn't help but bend down and try to hold the boy.

"Listen, I don't know if your mom is still alive, but she won't be coming back here. There's somewhere else you need to wait for her, someplace where you belong now. Once you go there you'll be with your dad and your mom will show up there eventually. Then you'll all be happy together."

"Am I really dead?" The child looked at Naruto, hoping that he was just lying.

While nodding his head, the blond answered, "Yes. You're just a ghost now. You need to move on so you can be happy. You're mom won't find you here, but she will find you there." The boy smiled and closed his eyes, then he slowly faded away. When he was completely gone Naruto got up and looked to the sky. He didn't have any training in with exorcisms or spirit guidance, so all he could hope for was that the child had moved on properly.

Sarutobi was having one of those days again. The paperwork was mounting and he was distracted from his work. Even after a month, the discoveries of Team 7's last mission still plagued the council. The group taking on an A class missing nin wasn't so bad, but discovering a new Kekkei Genkai was something the Hokage had never expected to happen during their mission. Half the council wanted to capture the teen and see if they could use the ability in the village, the other half wanted to kill him outright before he could "breed and eventually kill them all". Luckily, neither half would give in, so Sarutobi got the final say. And that was to just leave the boy in the care of the retired shinobi and wait to see what happened. If nothing else, Sarutobi trusted Kakashi's judgment, that man had left the Keitaro alive so he was safe.

Then there was the problem with Naruto himself. The genin had appeared to be sick, except the medic who'd looked at the boy said there was nothing wrong with him. He hadn't been ill, nor was his problem mental. If the Hokage hadn't know any better, he would've said the blond was faking an illness for some reason. However, Naruto had never tried something like that, even during school when it would have mattered. He seemed to be recuperating, so it would probably stay a mystery for a while longer. Besides, he needed to focus on the newest headache and paperwork.

The next day, Kakashi surprised them all with something completely new and unexpected. He'd handed them an application form and told them what it was for. "The chunin exams?" The three children asked the question in unison.

Smiling his one-eyed smile, Kakashi simply replied, "Yep. It's the exam you'll need to complete in order to officially increase your rank and become chunin. With everything you've experienced in your various missions, I think you'll be able to survive the test, if not pass."

For a moment the genin were too stunned to say anything, but that didn't last long. The jonin found himself tackled by a blond ball of energy continuously saying "thank you". It was rather fun to try and predict Naruto's reactions, he could be childish and happy-go-lucky one minute then switch to being serious and adult when the need arouse, or just complete at random.

Sakura's reaction was less comical, she didn't even seem happy about the whole ordeal. She looked worried and nervous, probably proving herself to be the sanest of their group. "Sensei, do you really think we're ready to take the chunin exam? I've heard that people die during the test, it can be very dangerous."

Looking at the two students who seemed eager to take part in the exam, and also the one who didn't, Kakashi smiled and replied, "If you don't feel capable of completing the exam, then there's no need to enter. You each need to choose what to do for yourself, it won't affect the others, so don't worry."

Sasuke just nodded his understanding, but Naruto looked at the man suspiciously like he knew their teacher was lying through his teeth. Suddenly, the boy grew a mischievous smile and said, "You know, Kakashi-sensei, this test will be difficult. Perhaps you should teach us some new jutsu to help us survive." Sasuke seemed intrigued by the idea, while Sakura looked slightly reassured.

Under the silent pleading of his three students, Kakashi wilted and pulled out three scrolls from his back pocket. First he handed on to their number-one rookie. "Sasuke, you seem to have a number of destructive fire jutsu, but this is a low level thunder jutsu which is designed to only knockout your opponent. Its perfect for capture and interrogation." The raven haired boy took the scroll. He seemed slightly disappointed but also eager.

When he gave the scroll to Sakura, he said, "Since your test scores said you'd have an aptitude for it, I'm giving you a genjutsu. Its the same one I used on you during your genin exam, it'll show whoever you use it on a vision of their loved one being tortured. You shouldn't have much trouble learning, but try practicing it on someone to be sure." After listening, Sakura looked over Naruto like he was suppose to be her guinea pig.

Kakashi turned to his blond haired mystery. Pannku had told his master about Naruto's sealing technique, as well as his words to Keitaro, the boy seemed far more intelligent then he let on. "That one is an earth technique. It'll create a square of earth to make a defense for yourself. You already seem to have a couple of attacks at your disposal, this one will give you a defense." The boy seemed slightly disappointed, but still ready to learn. After giving them their jutsu to learn, their instructor told them, "Take the rest of the day to prepare yourselves. The exam starts at noon tomorrow, third floor of the old school building. If your late then you'll have to wait till the next exam."

As the man disappeared, his students thought, He's the last person to tell us not to be late. Sasuke walked off to practice his new jutsu, but Naruto stayed behind to consol Sakura. She still seemed nervous about the exam so the blond decided to give her a few words of wisdom. "Sakrua, if you really don't think you'll make it through the exam then just say so. Kakashi said it wouldn't have any affect on the rest of us so just do what you feel your able to do."

The girl looked over at her team mate and asked, "Do you not care whether or not we do this together?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto actually looked offended by the woman's statement. "We're a team and we should take this exam as a team, but I don't want to force someone to enter if they don't feel up to the challenge." Smiling at the girl, Naruto said, "Just do what you feel like you can do, Sakura. Its good to push yourself, but not to the point where you think you'll die. Just try learning that genjutsu first and see how you feel then." He patted Sakura on the shoulder then began walking off.

As she watched Naruto walking away, Sakura realized she wasn't feeling as nervous. She wondered if it was from her new genjutsu or just her teammate's words. "… Naruto!" The boy turned back to his friend. "Thanks for the encouragement." With that she turned to walk away, but became distracted by another voice calling out to her teammate.

"Boss!" Sakura turned back to find three academy students accosting her teammate. "Come on, Boss! Didn't you say you'd play ninja with us today?"

Seeing Sakura's confused look, Naruto decided to introduce the kids. "Sakura, these guys are Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. They're academy students that I play with sometimes. Konohamaru, I'd like to, but I just found out about this exam I'm taking tomorrow. If I pass, then I'll get to move up to chunin level. Can I skip our play date?" Unfortunately, that sparked a huge incident.

The children all got teary eyed at the same time. "You… you mean you don't want to play with us?" Naruto's resolve began weakening from the onslaught of children's tears.

Sakura decided to add in her two bits as well. "Naruto!" She winked at the children while the blond's back was turned to her. When the boy turned to face his teammate, the academy students flashed mischievous smiles at her. "How could make children cry like that?! What kind of a cruel and twisted man are you?"

As the genin tried to talk to his pink-haired friend, the little girl of the group began her loud wailing and she yelled, "Big brother doesn't want to play with us! Big brother hates us! Waaaaah!" The other children began crying too and Sakura began glaring at her friend, even random people on the street started glaring at the blond.

In truth, Naruto knew it was all an act, with his Spirit Sight he could see nobody was actually angry or sad except the random watchers. He could have just kept calm, but they were doing such a good acting job that he played along anyways. Looking back and forth from the children to Sakura, Naruto finally gave in "Fine, I'll play. But only for a few minutes. You'll play too, won't you Sakura?"

"Huh?" The girl hadn't thought she'd get roped into the mess too, but Naruto figured she deserved it after helping the kids.

"Yah, big sis!" Said Konohamaru. "You've gotta play ninja too."

"I've got a better idea then playing ninja." The children looked over at Naruto like he was completely insane for saying something was better then playing ninja. "Lets play house. You guys get to be the children, I'm the papa, and Sakura gets to be my beautiful and dutiful wi-" A blow to the head, courtesy of Sakura, knocked the boy to the ground and cut off what he was saying.

As he was getting up he found Sakura standing over him radiating as much killer intent as possible. "Finish that sentence and you die!" The look in the girl's eye truly sent shivers up Naruto's back. All of the children were cowering together, and even the normal citizens were hurrying away.

While standing up, Naruto decided take back what he said. "Ok, lets not play house. Playing ninja is a hundred times better. What's today's mission guys?" With Sakura calming down, the children started to get back in a playing mood.

Udon began with the mission specs. "We just found out that Konohamaru has turned traitor and leaked village secrets to an enemy."

"It's our job to capture him and bring him back for questioning." Finished Moegi.

Naruto stood up and pointed at the third child. "Traitorous Konohamaru, I hereby place you under arrest."

The boy smirked and shouted, "You'll never take me alive" then bolted down the street. Naruto and his group gave chase, but just as Konoha turned the corner he ran into someone. He stumbled back a step and looked up at looked up to find a guy dressed in black wearing a lot of makeup and held a large pack on his back. Giving a slight bow, the boy apologized and tried to leave but then the teen grabbed the boy and lifted him off the ground.

"You call that an apology, brat? Give me a proper one."

Instead of requesting forgiveness, Konohamaru began struggling and shouted, "Let go of me you makeup wearing cat freak!"

Kankuro brought his fist back and tried to hit the boy, but found himself punched in the gut by Naruto who'd also taken Konohamaru from his grasp. A second ninja, a female carrying a large fan, simply watched everything unfold. Naruto set his friend on the ground while Sakura and the academy students stood behind him. Kankuro got up and shouted, "What do you think you're doing? Don't interfere!"

Naruto just looked over at the boy and said, "Dude, you need to settle down. He only bumped into you and he already apologized for it. You're throwing a temper tantrum over nothing. Are you a baby or a ninja?" From those headbands they're wearing, they're from Hidden Sand. They must be here for the Chunin Exam as well.

The teen's anger want deterred, "He did more then that! He called me a makeup wearing cat freak!"

"You are a makeup wearing cat freak, Kankuro." That voice wasn't from the girl next to him, but from someone behind him. Kankuro and Tenmari both became slightly afraid. The Leaf Nin looked beyond the bundle toting shinobi to find another Sand ninja. This one with red hair and a gourd on his back. Everyone was surprised by the ring's around his eyes indicating he didn't sleep much, but Naruto saw something else with his Spirit Sight. He has a demon in him, just like me!

(TBC)

A/N: Hello all. Everyone's back to Konoha and ready for the chunin exam. Naruto has met Garra and can see he's a Jinchuriki with his Spirit Sight.

The bit with Hinata and Kazuma in the ramen bar is something taken from Fruits Basket. In the manga there's a character named Ritsu who, like Hinata, has very little confidence in himself. At one point, he states he wishes to one day "overflow with confidence like Ayame" but is told "that's impossible… Aaya's confidence if far beyond that of mortal men". I thought it would be fun to throw that in.

Next time, we'll see more of Garra. He'll be less bloodthirsty and psychopathic from the beginning and I'll there'll be a reason for it. Later.