Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because if I did, I would have dressed Orochimaru in drag a long time ago. Or at least have bought him better shampoo and conditioner so that his hair wouldn't look so greasy.

What's up with this? Three reviews for a chapter with over 50 hits? What? What?

I think I overdid it with the evilness in the last chapter. What Shizune and Tsunade were feeling was an emotion that SOMEONE in the room was broadcasting. What emotion is icier than fear? Hee hee, tell me if you figure it out!

…I think I abandoned the humor in favour of plot development…

I would personally love to know who said the quote below.

--

Quis hic locus?

Quae regio?

Quae mundi plaga?

(Translation)

"What world is this?

What kingdom?

What shores of what worlds?"

--

Lilith led the girls and Tobi through the hallways of the base, getting the kunoichi thoroughly lost again. They really wouldn't be able to navigate this place without someone's help.

They had a sneaking suspicion that Lilith was doing that on purpose, too. Just for laughs.

Suddenly, the corridor that they were in ended. A rather solid-looking wooden door with a large padlock stood in their way. After Lilith carelessly brushed a hand against it, it unlocked and fell to the floor with a heavy thump. The girls came to the conclusion that it was a chakra-activated lock.

Undoing the chain revealed a hidden doorknob. Turning it, Lilith led the way into the large, dark room beyond. Relocking the door from the current side, she flicked a switch, illuminating the new space from several unseen sources.

It was freaking huge! Seemingly large enough to fit their old training grounds comfortably, it was strewn with boulders large and small. Some of them were the same colour as the walls, but others were obviously taken from somewhere else.

Lilith carefully messed with a small machine in a corner while the other girls gaped soundlessly. Tobi, having seen the place before, just watched the others' reactions. He thought that they were kind of funny.

"Tobi thinks that a fly will fly into your mouths if they stay open like that!" he chirped, a smile hidden by his mask.

Closing their jaws with audible snaps, Sakura and Ino glared at him while Hinata looked on nervously.

"What?" he asked, slightly confused. "What did Tobi do wrong?"

Shaking their heads at him, they all turned to Lilith, waiting for her to explain.

Grinning, she gestured broadly at her surroundings. "This is my personal training room! Since I don't use it often, it's in near perfect condition. Plus, no one is allowed to disturb us once we are inside, unless I let them in!"

Then her smile turned distinctly evil and everyone, including Tobi, got a very bad feeling…

"Also, it's soundproof! So no one can hear your screams! Welcome to your Training from Hell!"

--

Konoha…

Cean, having finished plotting, had returned to watching Naruto as he talked about ramen. It wasn't so much that she was interested in the topic, but how animated he was when he was describing something important to him. He seemed to use his hands and arms to demonstrate his points quite often. She had to be careful in order to not accidently get smacked upside the head.

Allowing a small smile onto her face, she reflected on what she knew about the kid. She hadn't lied in her first report. She found him absolutely fascinating—not to mention amazing, as well. His positive outlook in life was something that she didn't encounter nearly often enough.

It was refreshing.

Winding down his speech, Naruto realized that he might have bored his new friend. After all, didn't everyone else usually tell him to shut up? And that he was being annoying? A sheepish smile appeared on his face, and he rubbed the back of his head in an apologetic manner.

Cean raised an eyebrow at this. His nervous chuckle was sort of creeping her out.

Although she doubted that anything could be worse than the green spandex-clad duo that she had met earlier.

"I'm really sorry for babbling on and on, and probably annoying you," Naruto apologized, as sincere as he could possibly be. "I bet that you don't care all that much about ramen…"

The older woman's eyes softened a little. "You're right; I don't really care about ramen other than in the context of it being my meal." The blonde boy looked downcast. "But," she continued, propping her head up using an elbow, and placing her cheek in her hand, "don't get me wrong."

Naruto looked up, bristling with curiosity.

"I think that it's rather admirable that you have something you love so much that you can talk about for such a long time. I can tell that it's something you're really passionate about. If it brings you joy, then I personally have no problem with listening to you." She smiled genuinely at him. "We're friends, right?"

He grinned brightly at her. "Yup!"

She felt truly blessed by meeting this person. She didn't understand why, though. Something in her just reached out to the kid, like a mother protecting her child.

However, he didn't seem aware of the effect that his easy friendship had on her. It was like he was trying to share a little of his sunshine with the dark monster she—and others—considered herself to be. Was it truly possible to be this nice to everyone?

Watching as he greeted other people as they walked by, it was obvious to her that the answer was most definitely yes. Even his enemies would be granted this very favour. He likely didn't realize the effect he had on other people in general.

"I admire you."

Naruto blinked and turned around, staring at Cean like she was an alien being. A remark like that—especially so out-of-the-blue—was shocking to him. Someone, who was likely much stronger and wiser than himself, admired him?

She chuckled. "Your attitude. I've met a couple of jinchuuriki before, and none of them were nearly as strong of mind and disposition as you. Your outlook on life is so different from my own, even. You are a shinobi, you see death regularly. It is your job to be delivers of death in this world. Such a bright person becomes strange to encounter."

Naruto was still befuddled. How could this stranger say something like that so matter-of-factly? And, if he had judged her correctly, she meant every word of it? So strange…

Suddenly jolting out of his stupor, he realized something important. He needed to get to the training grounds soon! "Ahh! I forgot! I need to train with Kakashi-sensei right now!" Quickly throwing some money on the counter, he grabbed Cean's hand and started to drag her away.

"Come on, Akiko-chan! Join me! It'll be fun, I promise!"

Hiding a smile, she let herself be pulled away.

--

Sorry this chapter took so long for me to get out! A lot had to be tweaked from its original version. Plus, my parents dragged me and my younger sister off to Las Vegas for four days. I had fun, though. And I got to write some for my other stories as well.

Review, please! I need them in order to give fast updates! Especially since I effectively killed my summer, since I have to work and willingly signed up to work in a Renaissance Faire as well.

Yeah, I'm screwed…