Author note: It's been chaotic at home and at school. With the deadline for our project coming up faster and faster there are little time left for much else. Lately when I get home I just crash on my bed and fall asleep. My energy has been very low recently and I know I probably sound like an old lady saying this but it's true. But I try to find time to write on my stories. So far I'm really proud of this story so I really don't want to drop it. To think that this story lived so long is wonderful and so much has happened. I know I've said this before but I can't thank everyone enough that has followed this story. It's all thanks to you wonderful readers that I'm happy to write for and will continue to do so. I apologize in advance for the bad grammar and mistakes that you will certainly find in this chapter. I know now that I'm getting better on fighting scenes, I can feel it. I still have a long way to go and I know that to but I'm making big progress.

Ranting: T+

Pairings: None and hopefully you know by now that's final until the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I didn't, I won't and I will never own Naruto.

Please Read, Enjoy and Review. All reviews of encouragement, joy, happiness and constructive criticism are welcome.

Return of a Stranger
Written by Monkan

Chapter 12

Once upon a day there were a boy who loved everything in the world. He loved his family and he loved his friends. He loved the earth and he loved the sky. He was a very nice and good little boy and did whatever his family asked him to. One day the little boy found himself in a strange room.

The little boy looked around in the quiet room, no one else was there and he could see through the dim light that there were no doors nor windows. He could hear voices of people he knew. On one of the walls was a serpent drawn. It was fighting a fierce battle against a dragon who dominated the opposite wall. The floor below him was filled with patterns where the two creatures' realms collided.

Where did everyone go? Why was he alone? Where was this place? He asked himself many times.

As the good boy he was he waited for someone to pick him up but no one came. He waited for days and nights. He neither grew hungry nor thirsty. As the days kept going by he kept waiting for someone to come and pick him up but no one appeared.

During the days he sat silent in the middle of the room where the serpents and dragons realm collided and at nights he began to talk to the two strange voices that he heard. The drawings shifted slightly on the walls but neither the dragon nor serpent came closer to the boy.

The boy started to lose hope that anyone would ever come for him. And one day he finally gave up and he stopped dreaming at nights and stopped hoping for someone to come and save him. The realms at his feet fused together and the beasts moved under him freely. The background behind him grew dark despite the fact that the dim light still lighted up the rest of the room.

Out from the shadows came a slender white hand with long fingers and nails that looked more like claws. With the hand came a long black ripped cape that floated against the floor just like water. The hand stretched out toward him. The dragon and serpent left the boys side and went over to the stranger and a face that was hidden in the shadows appeared.

"Who are you waiting for boy?"

"No one!"

"Do you want to leave, boy?"

"I don't know!"

"Let's make a deal!"

-.-.-.-.-.-

Deep down Naruto couldn't help but feel uneasy when he glanced at his so called team mate. Among everyone that was there in the third exam it had to be this guy. Gaara of the Desert. Frankly, that dude gave him the creeps. He didn't like the look in his eyes, they were cold and cruel.

His thoughts drowned out everything around him, he had no idea how he would be able to survive this. He didn't know what kind of technique his partner used and he didn't like the opponent. And with his current problem with mending chakra he was in deep trouble. He had out of habit observed the enemy.

The girl, TenTen was probably a good fighter and smart. She had gone through a lot of training no doubt.

Yoroi, the guy that covered his face was weird but no doubt he was hiding something. He was probably mostly either gen-jutsu or nin-jutsu user but which one was hard to tell.

Then lastly, there were Kabuto. He had seen him a few times at the Akatsuki and knew he was a follower of Orochimaru. He was strong, extremely so. But he didn't know how strong, Kabuto never let anyone know his true strength. Kabuto was probably his worst enemy out of the three of them right now.

From above the teams was watching quietly as they waited for the second match to begin. Itachi was standing behind the railing with his arms at his side, Haku stood beside him and neither betrayed anything of what they were feeling. They couldn't do anything for Naruto even if they wanted to.

Hikaru was watching from his hidden spot, if possible even more quiet than before. There were few things he was interested in this world, this was one of those things. But what he wanted to see wasn't Naruto pass or fail that he could care less about. What he only wanted to know was one thing and that he would soon know.

"Why are they only two in one team?" Ino asked her team mates.

Shikamaru laid his hands behind his head, "A shinobi's life isn't made of fair scenarios. If the third member gets hurt and can't continue you have to survive and complete the mission with only two people. This is one of those scenarios; see it as the third member of their team is already dead."

"If," came Lee's voice. "that happens you have to keep your calm and face the situation rationally. Even if you stand on the brink of death you have to keep fighting and survive."

"Well that can be one reasons." Kakashi said from behind the group. "But the real reason is something else."

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"The number doesn't add up! They are just two because there aren't enough Genin's to make all teams three member." he said with a smile.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The two teams was facing each other and waiting as Hayate stood between them with his hand raised. He glanced at each team once again to make sure they were ready. He coughed once before without letting anything else disturb him he let his hand fall.

"Begin." he said as he jumped out of the way.

Not waisting any time, Naruto also jumped from where he was standing and it was just as good. The creepy guy Yoroi was coming after him, and fast.

Tenten wasn't far behind as she threw an assult of knives at them both.

"Foolish." mutured Gaara.

All knives that hit Gaara was stopped by a wall of sand. When the sand dissipated he was left standing right where he was unharmed. Sand from his vessel on his back was sliding back inside as if it had a life of it's own. The sand that was still left outside circled around him but never touched him.

Yoroi lunged forward armed with a kunai against Naruto and he blocked it with one of his own. He didn't stay long where he was but for a split second his mind told him be careful for some reason. It wasn't until then that he noticed TenTen futile attack against Gaara. All her attacks was blocked no matter from what angel she threw them at.

Kabuto laid a hand on TenTen's shoulder and whispered to her something. She looked reluctant but she didn't argue back and she came after Naruto too, leaving Kabuto to deal with Gaara.

Naruto was beginning to feel stressed, with two attacking him and without using any chakra he was at a huge disadvantaged. What should he do? What could he do? He had been warned that if he used any chakra in his condition he would only do more damage to himself and threaten his own life.

He jumped aside, threw a couple of shurikens and dodged. He kept on evading the attacks.

While on the platform above him Itachi was beginning to wonder why he wasn't doing any offence. Hikaru was slightly displeased from what he was seeing. To him, this was more humiliating than to seeing old drunks lose against a 5 year old in a game of poker.

Unexpectedly and for some reason Naruto's foot slipped and he lost his balance. Yoroi took this moment and grasped Naruto's arm.

At first didn't he feel anything but then a burning pain shot through his veins. If he could imagine how it felt like to be burned alive, this was probably it. What was happening to him?

A long and pained filled scream filled the battle field and caught everyone's attention. Gaara turned his head just slightly so he could glance at the one screaming. Somehow he had gotten the impression that Naruto was like him, apparently he had been mistaken. Without caring to help he turned back to his opponent. He had showed to be a tricky one but not much of a danger. The feeling of boredom was getting the better of him and he was beginning to lose his patience.

"Is that all you got?" he asked Kabuto.

Kabuto smirked and lowered his posture a little. "Don't underestimate me."

It took Gaara another second before he realized that the sand was moving strangely, as if it was blocking something extremely tiny.

"Don't look away!" Kabuto said before he raised his hand and formed a seal. His fingers began to glow with chakra. "The real fight begins now!"

At the same moment Naruto had somehow gotten away from Yoroi but his body was still in shock. He was staggering a few steps backward and almost didn't see TenTen's attack. A shuriken hit him in the arm.

He pulled out the shuriken right away and choked back on a small sound of pain. He was being weak again; he knew he appeared that way. He hated it. He really hated it but if he...

"Aaahh."

Somehow Yoroi had gotten close to him again and this time he was gripping his shoulder.

Because of his lack or rather restricted amount of chakra, it felt like he was being torn apart. What little chakra he had left was sucked right out of him. He felt tired and delusions played before his eyes. He began to wonder if he was awake or asleep. What was happening around him? How did his temporarily-partner-in-battle do? He didn't know. He couldn't tell. The world of the awake was fleeing from him. Was this fight going to end pathetically also? Was he really weak?

-o-o-o-

"Listen, kid. Being strong doesn't always mean how much chakra you have at the moment but how much more you can use. The more chakra you can find in your system that you can use, the longer you can survive in battle. Even if most chakra users are unaware of it there is always chakra sleeping inside. They just don't realize it and therefore doesn't try to use it."

Little Naruto sat on a rock in the middle of a field with Hikaru in front of him who was educating him in chakra use. The little boy nodded now and then but Hikaru could tell that he wasn't listening at all. Hikaru sighed; this was why he didn't like kids.

"What I mean is this." Hikaru placed his hand on the rock beneath Naruto and suddenly the rock began to get really hot. Naruto flew up from it.

"Ah, it's hot." when he calmed down and his pants too he looked amazed at the man. "How did you do it?"

Hikaru pulled himself up to his full height. "Now listen really carefully, brat."

Naruto nodded and this time he was paying him full attention.

"Finding the sleeping chakra is really hard and only one out of 1000, even less, can really do it! Using it is even harder and takes years of training for those above average level. In most cases those without special traits, such as blood limits, it will be almost impossible."

"But I don't have any blood limit." Little Naruto said first enthusiastic but then hesitantly.

Hikaru knelt down. "Don't worry. You will make it. Since you and I are the same." he stood up again. "Are you ready to go to the brink of death for this training?"

Naruto gave a firm sound as he nodded. Hikaru looked at him without feeling anything remotely to concern or pride. He was still to young to understand that this training would really bring him to the edge of death and the chances of him learning this would still take years of constant training. This would be what most people would call a close relationship with the devil.

-o-o-o-

He opened his eyes again and he was aware that he was being thrown over the floor across the room. There were sand moving under him but it didn't touch him. The memories of Hikaru's training had become fresh in his mind. He wasn't weak. He wasn't perfect but he still wasn't weak. A far away scream tore through the sound of a battle around him and he felt how he connected with the ground before making a loop and landed on his feet. His feet slide on it for a few more seconds before he came to a sudden stop.

His eyes were burning bright blue. Blue flames rose around him but they changed shape to deep purple. The intensity in it grew and grew.

-o-o-o-

"Remember this as a final warning. The stress it will put on your body will be far greater than anything you've felt before. Don't use this recklessly."

-o-o-o-

Haku's words were also going through his mind.

"Your chakra system is sealed, that's why you have so little chakra left and can't create very much. Even then, ones own chakra isn't harmful to its owner, normally. But in your case this is different. Unless we can find someone capable of removing that seal on you, every time you use chakra, even the smallest amount, it will harm your body and in the long run, slowly kill you."

'I'm sorry Haku.' he took a step forward. His opponents hesitated before Yoroi came after him again. 'But this is a fight I can't lose!'

The cloth on his shoulder tore to pieces and revealed a tattoo in a deep red colour. It was pulsing and throbbing in his skin as it took in the breath of the battle.

Hikaru grasped lightly his own shoulder. It was calling out. The tattoo of darkness was crying out of happiness.

Gaara and Kabuto turned to stare at where the intense pressure was coming from. Gaara's eyes narrowed as he looked at the flaming blond. The being inside of him was responding to the pressure with joy.

TenTen and Yoroi stood a bit away from Naruto and they had to shelter their eyes from the wind that was pressed against them. TenTen was beginning to sweat. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the call of her friends to not give up. But she doubted that they could feel the same pressure as the ones on the floor.

'This isn't something you can disregard. What is this power coming from this boy?' TenTen lowered her arm and her eyes snapped fully open when Naruto stood in front of her. 'When..?'

It took her a moment to realize that she was thinking that one word in the air. She connected painfully with the roof. She spat blood through her mouth. Naruto was right behind her even before she had time to fall down and she was hit several times in the back and the roof cracked.

Naruto landed on the floor and Yoroi came after him but even before the masked man was touching him he was sent flying into the statue. A cloud of dust and cracked rock pieces went flying. Both Yoroi and TenTen landed on the ground at the same time. For the time it took for them to stand up Naruto stood still. TenTen wiped away the blood from her mouth.

They all glared at each other. None of them dared to move, at least TenTen and Yoroi that is.

At the same time Gaara watched with mild interest at the other fight when the sand at his feet shot up and blocked an attack of some kind. Gaara slowly turned his head and glared at Kabuto.

"I hope you haven't forgotten you are my opponent?" Kabuto said in a calm voice.

"Don't get in my way!"

The sand around them was beginning to change and suddenly it attacked Kabuto. The sand was everywhere, controlling the grey haired teen's moves. But even if that was true, Kabuto didn't fall into any traps that could end his life. He was still calm and calculated the situation even though he was at a disadvantage. By mistake the sand came under his feet and he slipped. While he cursed his carelessness the sand formed a hand that grabbed him and threw him away. As soon as he landed Kabuto jumped away and in the same second the sand came and crushed the surface leaving a big crate.

Kabuto used a smoke bomb and bought himself a little time but it wasn't much. Focusing his chakra in his hands he dodged a sand spike and cut it in two. The sand at the top fell to the floor and rejoined the rest before attacking again. Kabuto continued to dodge and cut the sand as it attacked him. He slowly made his way toward Gaara and when he was close enough he attacked the red haired boy. The defence wall of sand blocked the attack but Kabuto's hand cut through it even if it was with some efforts.

Kabuto's hand was just about to touch his face when he jumped back. He stood up again and collected the sand. He had been to careless. There was obviously more to this man that he could see. The skin on Gaara's cheek was cracked and was falling of.

"I don't believe it." said Kankurou from the balcony above the ground. "He hurt Gaara."

"Who is that guy?" was all Temari could ask.

Their Jounin teacher stood behind them and all he hoped for right now was that "the other" Gaara didn't awaken.

The skin that fell was like small pieces of clay that changed into sand when it touched the ground. Gaara's expression wasn't happy but it wasn't angry either. It didn't take long before the crack on his cheek was healed.

"You protected yourself with another layer of sand. I didn't notice it." even in this situation Kabuto smiled cunningly. His glasses reflected the light, making it impossible to see his eyes. "You are a more difficult than I thought but..." he pushed his glasses up a little and one of his eyes became visible, "You are underestimating me too."

Gaara didn't move or showed any new expression but the sand at his feet was clearly agitated.

"With this level you won't be able to defeat me. I know that you are more powerful than this, I can tell from your attacks. It would be better if you attack me more seriously or you will find yourself de..."

"Are you done talking?" said Gaara's cold voice. "If you want so much to die I will give it to you."

Gaara raised his hands in front of him and his fingers bend forward. His eyes narrowed as the sand formed a gigantic hand and...

The whole room was filled with a horrible scream and most of those that hadn't been watching the other fight missed what had happened but what they did see was how he crashed on the ground and held his arm that was burned so the skin was peeling of.

"Damn you, what are you?" he was shouting over his screams of pain.

Naruto watched him neutrally as the chakra around him calmed down and all his emotions were devoured from his face.

TenTen stood at a different point than earlier and she was in deep thought of how to win this battle. She had to admit that she had at one point underestimated her enemy and that had almost been her downfall but not now. She came to the conclusion that she didn't have any choice.

She reached behind her back and grabbed two scrolls that she had hidden there. She put them on the ground and kneeled down and did a series of specific seals. After she had called the name of the attack she was clouded by smoke and two twin dragons rose up from the scrolls. They twined together before changing back to scrolls but now with the paper unfolding. TenTen jumped up and between the scrolls, once she was in the middle she turned and touched the inside of the scrolls where kanji's were written and a weapon appeared. In a rain of different weapons she attacked Naruto who stood calmly and looked as they came closer. At the last moment he jumped away but three of them hit him. Two ripped his clothes and one scratched his arm.

TenTen landed and shouted; "Not yet."

Without hesitating she was in the air again and with threads she summoned all her weapons again and pulled them up in the air. When they had reached sufficient height she released them and over a hundred weapons came at the ground.

Naruto raised his head and for a moment it seemed to him as if time had slowed down. As the deadly rain was about to hit him and TenTen thought she got him something clicked in his mind and his eyes widened and his chakra exploded. The force of the now blue coloured chakra blew all the weapons and TenTen, who was still in the air, away. Just as she landed and got up to her feet Naruto bend his knees and stretched out his arms.

In a flash of movements he formed seal after seal. It was mostly only the best trained that could see glints of what the seals were.

In the fraction of a second everything seem to stand still, that moment that always appear when all your instincts tells you something seriously bad is about to happen.

"Fuuin no Oni." It could have been a whisper or a scream but at the same time no one was sure they had heard the words.

At the same time as the words left Naruto's mouth, the air grew heavy and a fog laid itself around them. The fog was getting thicker and thicker until no one could see anything, they barely felt that their own existence.

Yoroi, who still was in pain, looked around and for a moment saw no signs of life. But then a shadow appeared before him and at first he thought it was his master but as the person got closer he began to see that the person appeared less and less human. A blood piercing scream filled the air and it was almost immediately followed by another, a more female scream.

Everyone above wondered what was happening and most Jounin teachers had a bad feeling about this. Every one of the other Genins tried to see what was happening down below.

The fog cleared and everyone was left to stare at the floor. Gaara and Kabuto seemed unaffected although Kabuto was breathing a little harder than before. Yoroi was on the floor, no one knew if he was dead or alive. TenTen on the other hand was shaking where she lay on the floor. Tears welled up from her eyes and onto the floor as she didn't move. Her body was in so much chock that she had trouble breathing. Naruto who was the last one to appear stood on the exact same spot, his face once again empty of emotions, his eyes blank.

Behind the statue where Hikaru was hiding, he turned around so his back was at the battle area. He was disappointed with Naruto as he hadn't showed more control. 'The results are clear now.'

Hayate jumped forward to Yoroi and checked him. Before moving over to TenTen and checked her too. He rose up and raised his hand. "Yoroi and TenTen are unable to continue, medical teams take them to the medical centre immediately."

Just a few seconds after Hayate finished talking four members of the medical team appeared beside the two disqualified fighters and took them fast from the field. Hayate was now looking at Naruto and began to make his way over to check on him to but just when he was within 3 meters radius Naruto jerked back and made the distance bigger. Hayate backed off too at the same time and made it to a safe distance from the ongoing fight. If anyone had come closer to Hayate they would had realized that he was sweating badly and had a hard time catching his breath.

He too had been caught in the fog and what he had experienced inside was something his mind didn't want to admit. He didn't even know what it was, even though he was a high level shinobi he had almost screamed out of fear. He didn't recognize the jutsu and didn't know what its purpose was supposed to do. Had the jutsu been a success of a failure, he didn't know. All he knew was that he had come face to face with something much more horrible than couldn't possible exists in this world.

'This doesn't look good.' Kabuto thought, 'I thought the others could at least have some chance against that boy but in the end they were almost useless.' he looked at Gaara who was beginning to focus on him again, the sand that had just been about to crush him alive just a few minutes earlier were calmly at its owners feet and didn't show any sign that it ever had been moving around. It took him a few seconds to notice the big crack in the further away wall. A crack that hadn't been there before and sand was dripping down from the hole. 'What in the world...'

He looked over at Naruto and made a fast decision. It was to dangerous to have him around alive!'

One moment he wasn't moving at all but the next he forced his muscles to move and he came after Naruto. The chakra at his hands appeared once again after had disappeared with the fog. When he was within radius Naruto dodged the fatal blow at his heart area and moved aside, Kabuto cut of a few strands of his hair.

Haku was clutching the railing so hard his knuckles were turning white. "Why can't they see it's over?" he whispered so only Itachi heard him.

"I know!" Itachi could say.

Deep down he had known right away when the fog appeared, this had been the end. He had noticed that Hikaru had left, that emotionless jerk didn't want anything else but know the results of his training. Other than that he could care less if his former pupil died today or tomorrow. But he wasn't about to interfere with this battle. It was Naruto's battle, not his.

As the remaining of the Genins below fought each other everyone else watched with suspense. Gaara had too joined the battle and was now ignoring the fact that he could accidentally crush his team mate along with his enemy. Kabuto was doing what looked like his best to keep avoiding Gaara and attacking Naruto. He on the other hand was just defended and evaded every attack that tried to reach him.

The other Jounins also knew what was going on but it wasn't their place to interfere with this. This fight had gone too far to be stopped by them now.

Haku bit down on his lip to keep quiet. Through out all the fight he hadn't said anything despite the fact that he was the only one that knew the whole truth. He blamed himself for this outcome, he wanted to scream, he wanted to cry but he couldn't do either. He was a shinobi on a mission and for a shinobi his mission came first, no matter how much of a bastard it made him.

He couldn't help the gasp when he saw how the sand grabbed Naruto's leg and threw him against the wall. Naruto landed on his front before getting up. He took a step forward and made a few summer salutes to avoid the sand once again. He landed in between Gaara and Kabuto but he didn't seem to notice. There he stopped moving.

Gaara narrowed his eyes and glared at the blond.

"Someone that has lost consciousness should stay down." said Gaara to Naruto.

All of the Genins above gasped slightly in surprise.

"What does he mean?" Lee asked his teacher.

"That boy..." Gai started, "... has long since lost consciousness."

"Most likely..." Kurenai continued, "even before the fog cleared up. It's his instincts that are keeping him moving to prevent more damage to the body now. He's no longer aware of the world around him."

Neither Gaara nor Kabuto moved but as the seconds passed a string of blood left Naruto's mouth. Haku's eyes widen and he threw himself over the railing. "NARUTO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He landed a far bit away from Naruto and as he ran closer he could see how the boys knees gave out and he fell toward the ground. Haku made it in time to keep him from hitting the ground completely. From the uncomfortable angel Naruto's body was held his mouth fell open more and more blood came spilling out. Even the adults in the room were surprised now for none of them knew of the true extent of the damage his body had taken.

Without wasting any time Haku pulled out a long needle and stuck it through Naruto's throat, slowing the blood flow from his mouth down. At the same moment Itachi landed next to them and a medical team was coming closer to them.

Silence except for the commands from the medical team could now be heard through the room. When they finally carried Naruto out on a stretcher Itachi and Haku followed.

With that, Haku gave up his chance to be in the Chuunin exam. He was giving the medical team some information on what had caused Naruto's condition.

Naruto didn't open his eyes once when he was taken to the medical centre.

The condition Naruto was in was worse than they had first thought. His internal system had been burned, the signal system that was connected his body to the brain had been severed, his bones had been broken in several places, and that was some of his injuries.

Outside the room Naruto was taken to Itachi was left standing alone. He slammed his fist against the wall and cursed. He knew he shouldn't regret letting Naruto fight but he couldn't stop the feelings of guilt from coming closer. It was so similar to that time. To the time he had been betrayed and his clan was killed because of his weak self. It was coming back now. Everything was coming back now. That night when he lost close to everything, was it going to happen again? This time he wouldn't have anything left and it was happening on a mission now.

Should he choose the mission over personal matters? With Naruto in the care of Konoha's medical team it was only a matter of time before they find out who they really was.

In his confused mind Itachi didn't notice Orochimaru who was standing outside the building with a smirk upon his lips. Everything was getting more interesting now.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Once upon a day there was a little boy who lost all hopes in solitude. The devil made a deal with him, a devil who neither had a face or a name. But when the boy came back to his old home it was burning to the ground and everyone was dead. As he looked among the dead and soiled his body with their blood, outsiders came and when they tried to take him away from his family he called out.

Upon feeling something hot on his cheek the boy opened his eyes and the outsiders lay dead before him. The only survivor looked in fear in his eyes at the little boy. A massive shadow stood behind the little boy, a being who was neither human nor an animal.

Words that weren't supposed to be heard by the human ears were spoken.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Hikaru."

After that the devil had a face and a name.

To be continued!

Author Note: I finished! It took so much longer than I thought it would but I managed to get in a lot about Hikaru in this chapter. Is this character making things interesting or just plain boring? He's a really complicated person to express and there are so much more behind him and I know this chapter was kind of complicated. I'm really proud of the fight in this chapter. I don't know why but somehow it feels like I've promised so much with this chapter. I have so much that I want to write at the moment but I don't know where to begin. Well, most likely will the next chapter be about that fateful night for Uchiha Itachi, I know that many of you have wondered what really happened that night. Keep on reading this fiction and keep on sending me feedbacks. I will do my best with the next chapter and I'm looking forward to it too. Please be nice to me until then.