Win Some, Lose Some

by obsidian dreamer

Bits and pieces are sometime the best things in life. Non-related Naruto oneshots, anyone interested in writing them into full stories is welcome to do so. Naruto/Many Anko, Yugito etc

25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – Played to Death.

A/N: Sorry it's been a while but after the last 'chapter' (now its own story and my first cross-over fic – check out Spark of Creation if you're a Magic; the Gathering fan) I took a few review suggestions on and decided to take this chapter back to the fic roots- hope it goes down well and acts as an inspiration for your own creative juices.

Enjoy the show!

XXX

"Minato switch them – don't force him to carry the bijuu's dark half…!"

'Poor Naruto-kun; no matter that the matron has been removed putting him back in the orphanage is simply not feasible, the other children will have seen him missing by now and want to know why. But for him to be alone, watched over only by ANBU from a distance, it's not right – there must be a way to… shelter, if that's the right word, or at least minimise his wanting to go outside. Ah I'm done with sitting behind this desk today, perhaps some fresh air will give me some inspiration…'

"Whoa jiji, what is this?"

"I'm afraid I don't rightly know Naru-kun; the young lady in the store did try to tell me but it went completely over my head. All I know is how to set it up so watch closely, and don't use this for too long or you'll get square-eyes she told me."

"Really, square eyes? Yikes, better be careful then…"

"Kami-damned swindling shop owners; three hundred ryo for milk that smelt funny, he's so getting the egg and roof tile treatment after my next pay-day comes in! Why does that fat… no, more than just him why does everyone hate me, I didn't do anything, jiji tells me off for pranking but they started it! All the looks, the glares, why me…?"

"Not to butt in at all but I believe I may have more than a passing contribution to your misfortunes."

"…!?"

"So, you're the yin or spirit of the fox?"

"Correct."

"And the Fourth split you in two and pulled the rest into the Shin-whatever's stomach?"

"My yang half yes, and I was sealed into you – that is likely the reason you're looked down upon as you are, people see you and see the fox in your shadow. Stupid yes, but I've learned to expect little better from you shaven apes."

"Thanks; so, what now…?"

"Hey fox, I had an idea; yin's to do with the spirit yeah, like those illusions ninja use?"

"If I say yes to that will you stop talking to me?"

"So, because you're so powerful, can you use illusions?"

"My Father, who are't hopefully in the Pure World, hallowed be thy name, get down here and save me! Nothing I've done was enough to deserve this!"

"So, could you make illusions real?"

"Kami, Yami, Izanagi, Izanami, Shinigami, any one of you can step in and get me out this cage, I'll be forever grateful. Even you Jashin, I've done enough of your dirty work to call a favour!"

"They're not listening you know; anyway stop whimpering like that and have a look at this; if you could make it real it'll make me a kick-ass ninja in no time."

"Yes and the Sage might walk the earth again and give candies to small children – go away brat, and stop talking out loud, people will think you're even more of a fool than you are."

"So what do I care, they hate me anyway; now pay attention, see what you can do with this…"

"Did you know that would happen?"

"How could I have known?"

"Because you're an incredible powerful chakra entity several centuries older than Konoha – did you know?"

"I wasn't certain, but I knew it wasn't outside the realms of possibility."

"Were you trying to kill me Kyuubi, or hoping I'd die for real?"

"…"

"Fair enough then, let's go again."

"Wait, what?"

"You want me dead, join the rest of the village; at least this way I get something I want out of it."

"You want – you're sick child, you were nearly, no you were killed…"

"And I got better; sorry about that, I'll try to stay dead next time. Come on, what's the hold-up; either it kills me and you get out or I get stronger and you at least don't have the disgrace of a weak host, what have you got to lose?"

"I, but, at least wait until the other humans teach you how to survive!"

"Teach me; ha, they're more likely to try and grant your wish than tell me anything useful! I'll work it out as I go along, make it as real as you can and you at least get to see me die over and over again. Let's go, time's wasting, I want to get started again."

"This is… very well then – try to stay alive this time, last time was pitiful even for you…"

"What is this?"

"Fresh out the box, Tomomoko's just had a new delivery in."

"I'm surprised he let you within eyeshot of his store."

"He doesn't; what he didn't see won't hurt him."

"You… you truly are a fool, what if the apes with white faces were watching?!"

"They answer direct to jiji, if he's got a problem I'll just say I couldn't buy it like an ordinary person so it was the only way, he'll eat that up – he never asked where I got my training tools did he?"

"…That's both true and remarkably callous."

"What are you now my conscience – last I checked you were doing your best to snuff me and get your own back on Konoha. Well here's your chance, this one's twice as powerful as the one you're used to and the styles used are based off known taijutsu forms, I might learn some actual styles out of this."

"As opposed to your current brawling-monkey fist?"

"It works."

"For now, still, let's see what illusions those with better ape-brains that you have come up with this time…"

"This is too far Sarutobi, the jinchuuriki…"

"Naruto old friend, the boy has a weighty name as well as a weighty legacy."

"Very well, Naruto is becoming a virtual non-entity, and a disruptive one – shop-lifting and theft, and those are just the crimes we know of!"

"Which would suggest his stealth is somewhat more advanced than the agents you have tailing him if he truly is committing other crimes. And I have approached him about this and have to concede to his logic – when given nothing fairly what else is left but to take?"

"True I concede Sarutobi, I think none of us three can close our eyes to the privations that boy is subjected to. However, you must admit that a jinchuuriki, regardless of lineage, must have close ties to his village and, pardon my comment as I know of your fondness for the boy, but I see nothing of the sort from the Uzumaki, in fact he's barely seen at all."

"And why might that be Koharu-chan, what incentive has Konoha ever given him to show his face on her streets, to her people? I have a plan to deal with Naruto-kun's well-deserved reclusiveness, just give me a few more weeks until the time is right…"

"Naruto-kun I have excellent news, the council listened to my petition…"

"First time for everything."

"Well, quite, but in this case the petition was to do with you; you begin the Academy next term. Your chance to take this hat off my wrinkled old head is coming sooner than you thought, if you wish it of course."

"Oh, great – eh, why not…?"

XXX

The celebration was in full swing, as rowdy and raucous as most other things the Inuzuka took part in and for good reason. Though rightly regarded as one of the most feared taijutsu-based clans in the Leaf it had been more than a decade since one of their own had taken back the shield given by the Academy one the last day of the first week of the curriculum year, the prize for the victor of the opening taijutsu tournament. As all ninja tools were banned from this event the Inuzuka were at a disadvantage as their nin-ken couldn't compete alongside their partners but this year it hadn't mattered; one of their own had crawled through exhaustion, battled through blood and scrambled over the beaten forms of the entire Academy student body to grasp the prize that now rested front and centre in the main feasting table of the clan meeting room. It was often said, the wild clansmen were quick to remind each other, that the student who won the prize was usually also crowned shinobi or kunoichi of the year, a title all present agreed their future clan head had a better than decent shot at…

… all present, that was, save the future clan head who'd actually won the trophy.

If I even did win it; glancing away from the embossed wooden plaque Hana resisted the urge to frown; not only would it encourage nosey clan members to ask questions she really didn't want to answer, it pulled on the massive goose-egg currently pulsing in the centre of her cranium. Despite herself she reached up and tenderly tapped the swelling, the exploration resulting in nothing but a shot of pain and a trio of slight whines from her partners, the Haimaru unsettled by the distress of their mistress. Blinking the eyes she'd squeezed shut open the Inuzuka kunoichi, or would-be kunoichi once her final year at the Academy was over, glanced over at the shield again and sighed, wondering if anyone would notice if she sloped off to her room – surely she'd weathered the storm of congratulations by now…

"You look like one of your partners just got neutered the hard way"; no such luck; recognising the speaker by presence as much as scent and voice Hana forced herself to smile up at her mother, Tsume regarding her daughter with a piercing but not unkind eye, "what's up pup?"

"The ceiling; no, really," her aunt had told her that one but seeing the clan leaders' expression harden told the younger Inuzuka this wasn't a laughing matter, "my head hurts."

"You get that from your father, my jounin-sensei always said anyone aiming a kunai higher than my neck was wasting their time," Tsume admitted before sliding into the seat next to her daughter and lowering her voice, "you're thinking about the last round aren't you?"

She couldn't lie; Tsume might have been brash and loud but she was also very insightful and unmerciful to those who tried to twist the truth. Instead Hana nodded, immediately regretted the action as her bump throbbed and, as the pain began to ebb, voiced the concerns that had been plaguing her ever since she'd recovered enough senses to realise she was the Academy champion,

"I, I don't think I won," she admitted in a rush, grateful to finally relieve the burden, "I couldn't see where we ended up but even if he was out I was done, it should have at least been a tie. If Motako-sensei hadn't been holding my arm I'd…"

"Have likely broken your noise pitching onto you face, I know, I was there," Tsume reminded her daughter, recalling that final call with a more critical eye from the stands where she and some of the other clan heads had been spectating; and something tells me Motako-san might be explaining that call to someone a lot higher than me in the pecking order soon – still, Hana doesn't need to know that; "but the other kid was done as well, you made a right mess of his face…"

"But he was still fighting," Hana cut in, remembering the stab of pity that had sunk into her at the beginning of the bout, one that had almost seen her join a long role-call of victims to the most unlikely fighter in the tournament and beaten into second place, "he shouldn't have been, I said it at the start but Motako-sensei didn't listen. I didn't want to fight, no matter what the kid had done before he was staggering, he wasn't all there in his eyes kaa-san; I know I shouldn't show my throat to a weakened enemy but I couldn't, I just couldn't go all out on him and that got me this," she pointed to her war wound half-angrily, half-guiltily as she explained the last of her confusion, "was it wrong to not give it my all, and if not do I really deserve that shield," she spared it a glance, the burnished nameplates embossed upon its surface seeming to wink tauntingly at her as she made her last declaration,

"I don't want to be called a champion because sensei made a mistake."

Tsume was quiet about this for a moment before knocking back what was left of her drink and shrugging,

"It is what it is girl; if you spend your life always looking back over what could have been you'll never see what could be. Met a few nin like that over the years, it never ends well Hana-chan, that much I can tell you. All I can tell you is that no-one, least of all me, is going to begrudge you that trophy," and indeed she'd made a pretty ryo or two on the traditional tournament gambling earlier that day, the scent of the barbeque on the currency Chouza had slapped into her palm still not faded from her nose as she revelled in her daughters' triumph, "you and that pipsqueak left it all on the arena floor; neither of you have anything to be ashamed of after a bout like that."

XXX

Hana usually got on well with the majority of her peer group, three years of rubbing shoulders having mostly ground down their once-rough edges and reducing once bitter blood-feuds to little more than laughing matters in all but the most extreme cases. Today, however, was the exception; as the eldest and best-trained students the shinobi Academy of the Leaf could muster the onus was on them to put on the best showings of the tournament and, for one of them at least, eventually lift the prize itself. There was therefore a small but important gap between the fourth years, each one eyeing up the competition and sizing up their likely rivals for this most prestigious of crowns. In this stand-off Hana had an advantage; though they couldn't fight with her few were brave enough to stare down even one Inuzuka nin-ken never mind three; though Akimichi Koujiya was shooting her the occasional glance out the corner of his eye. And well he might; Hana smiled, just enough to reveal a hint of fang as the big-boned boy, one of the likely contenders for the title just for his sheer size, endurance and physical power, glanced away as though he hadn't seen anything; you, me and a few others to get through first, though this is interesting; as Motako-sensei called out the first name all the fourth years seemed to catch their breath as one of their own was called forwards, Daito strolling into the ring with his usual nonchalant gait; not the best of us but certainly top of the middle pack. Wonder who… oh this isn't fair!

The bouts were randomised; indeed, in her second year she'd been quickly rolled over by one of the eldest students; but for a first year to draw a fourth straight up was just plain unlucky, least of all this first year; Hana hadn't caught the blondes' name but as he stepped over the boundary rope she like most of the future kunoichi couldn't help the quiet 'aww' that slipped out. I swear they get titchier every year; surely she'd never been that short in her first week no matter how tall the Academy and senseis had seemed to loom over her in those first few hectic weeks but she'd have wagered good money that the child who barely reached Daito's navel and had to crane to look up at his opponent was by far the tiniest in his year, though at least he'd had the sense to shuck off the jacket of his atrociously-bright jumpsuit, fighting with just a mesh t-shirt to avoid his opponent grabbing onto anything.

Even as she wondered if he was planning to carry weapons in his sleeves Hana watched on Motako-sensei raised his arm and the two made the seal of confrontation, the blonde slightly slower to do so as he copied his opponent; probably not from a ninja clan then, he doesn't know our etiquette. Ah well, he'll pick it up soon enough – good luck kid; most Inuzuka had a soft spot for the underdog and Hana was no exception, though as the chunin dropped his arm and Daito adopted his unorthodox stance she wasn't about to voice her encouragement, though her enhanced hearing did pick out several of the spectators making a surprising amount of noise for such a simple bout and the majority of that support was aimed at Daito. Hana could see the taller boys' lips move but couldn't read or hear what passed between the two sparring students; all she heard was the crowds' roar as Daito lunged into the attack, his first punch a fast right straight out of Academy textbook, heading for the first-years' jaw.

Then she heard them roar as the smaller student whipped to the side, out of range of the straight-line attack, his own hand coming up as a blur and Hana saw her contemporary wince as it latched onto his wrist like a nin-kens' jaw.

When the kid moved again, his arm dragged across and down as though flicking a whip and sending Daito spinning off his feet to land painfully on his side all she heard were gasps, her own included.

When a small, sandaled foot came up and down like a thunderbolt into the exposed floating ribs the wince that rippled around the arena was palpable, as was the second one when the blonde twisted his hips and sent his free hand down out of sight, though as the fourth year shuddered and then went as limp as a battered eel she could guess what had happened as the new student dropped the arm he still held and backed up several paces, letting the chunin in charge of the bout quickly inspect his charge. Like most of the arena Hana was gawking at the victor of the fight, a buzzing of chatter in her ears as she watched him make the seal of confrontation again before walking away, obviously not knowing to remain in the circle until he was announced as the winner. What just happened?; Daito wasn't the sharpest in her class and she scarcely shared words with him but even so that had been… almost unheard of; unless he's from a clan but he can't be. The Yamanaka have paler hair and lighter skin than him and even if they didn't they'd know better manners than that. It wasn't a fluke; the sight of Daito, still in slumberland, being carefully carried off the field by one of the med-nin overseeing the bouts proved that; he knows what he's doing, and he does it well. Next round I'll get his name…

Due to a pair of Nara being drawn against each other and deciding to settle things through a game of shougi the next round didn't come around for an hour, Hana having quickly pinned down her third-year opponent who'd taken his loss with good grace and an enquiry about her plans for the evening. The memory of how white he'd gone when the Inuzuka had causally mentioned her mothers' name was enough to make her chuckle as she carefully stretched off; sometimes it's good to know Konoha's most famous man-eater; but at a sudden shout from the sensei she looked up quickly,

"Uzumaki you're up again." Never heard of an Uzumaki before – clan or first name?; filing the query in the back of her mind Hana watched as his opponent, this time a kunoichi she didn't recognise, was called in as well. Forewarned being forearmed the taller girl; Hana doubted there was anyone shorter than the blonde boy in the village never mind the tournament; dropped into a fighting stance and surveyed her opponent warily as Motako-sensei started the bout, circling her opponent as he too adopted a rough-looking stance and revolved to match her. Breaking it down as she'd been taught Hana found herself slightly confused – he was too narrow, his left hand too low to be any variety of the Academy stance she knew but at the same time he looked comfortable in it; and he's got speed, Daito taught us that – now what?

The Uzumaki's enemy had moved, a wicked roundhouse kick lashing the air towards his lowered guard; had it hit it would have staved his ribs in as well as his stomp had her classmates and hit it did; but he moved, he saw it coming! His feet hadn't shifted an inch but he'd twisted at the waist and leaned back slightly, just enough so that the kunoichi's foot was forced past her knee, instantly killing the technique and dissipating all its power, then the lowered guard hand shot up and her ankle was caught, trapped in his elbow. A feint; even as the pained shriek echoed over the training round and the older student reeled, limping heavily after her opponent sank his fist into the meat of her thigh and then skipped out of range of retaliation, Hana realised exactly what he'd done; he had his guard low to lure her into that kick, then reacted to it. She looks like a kicker; and to be fair a good number of kunoichi were, certainly more than shinobi due to the greater muscle mass men had in their upper body; he planned that as soon as he got up there, no probably before!

"He knows what he's doing," someone muttered nearby and she nodded in agreement, watching the kunoichi hold her hand up and shake her head; Uzumaki had been darting in and out, forcing her to shift her weight onto the leg he'd punched and it was obviously causing her a lot of pain, she could barely move it and must have decided to signal the proctor. Motako immediately blurred between the two students, his sudden appearance nearly bowling Uzumaki over as he raised a hand and, seemingly disbelievingly, announced the result,

"Shousa, Uzumaki Naruto; where are you going boy?" Uzumaki; Naruto, maelstrom; Hana turned the word over in her mind before nodding; good name, prophetic too given what he's done here; "Show your opponent the proper respect!"

"How?"

"How what?"

"How do I show respect; I did the two fingers thing," the younger boy protested, though his strangely flat voice suggested his heart wasn't in the argument as he regarded the proctor expectantly. Motako grit his teeth and seemed about to say something before thinking better of it and explaining quickly,

"That was the seal of confrontation, now make the seal of reconciliation; didn't you read your Academy pack up Uzumaki?"

"Never got one, must have been lost in the post," it might just have been her but Hana could have sworn she heard a bitter undertone in his voice as his former opponent came to his rescue, still moving gingerly with her dead leg as she held her hand out,

"Touch your fingers to mine, that's the seal of reconciliation, it means the spar's over."

"Right, thanks," the seal was made and the shorter boy nodded before abruptly turning away, heading back to his seat in the dirt, slightly away from the other first years Hana noticed; though given most of them were out first round no wonder they're nervous. Could he be a plant?; her mother had mentioned that sometimes the Hokage, or the village council, entered already-graduated genin into the tournament to test both the Academy and the jounin-senseis were serving their students well; if he is he's either a natural-born midget or under a very good henge. Maybe we'll see in the next few rounds – be interesting to see how far this kid goes…

It was certainly interesting for the third round, this being the first one the Uzumaki was actually hit in even if it was a glancing blow that he soaked to land a devastating hook squarely into the solar plexus of his opponent, the third-year all but re-introducing his breakfast to the world as he folded over his antagonists' fist. Into round four then; Hana mused as she glanced along the line; and there he meets Rotai – even if he doesn't win that'll give us some information at least; that knowledge was power was one of the first lessons drilled into you at the Academy and thus a quarter of an hour or so later she along with the majority of the fourth years still in the fight were listening to their classmate, his tone slightly hoarse as he recovered from his near-strangulation,

"He's no fluke," was Rotai's first declaration as he swigged down water provided by one of the other knocked-out fighters, "don't know if he's been briefed on us or what but if he hasn't he can flip his style at the beat of a moths' wing. Worse that that he knows his weaknesses and trust me strength isn't one of them; he's got fists like anvils and a forearm like a bo staff. Shiju-sensei always said a block's as good as a strike and he's the living proof, my forearms and shins are black and blue, look." Hana did, seeing the bruises starting to rise as another of the assembled leant his not-inconsiderable weight to the conversation,

"What weaknesses?" Koujiya rumbled, already thinking three rounds ahead and to her surprise Hana found herself doing the same; if the Uzumaki kept up his winning streak…

"Ones you've got on him in spades Kou, you as well Hana-chan," Rotai spoke quickly, knowing the Akimichi was in the ring next, "kid's strong and quick as a whip for his size but that's it, for his size. Don't give him a shot to a pressure or pain point and I don't think he's got it in him to knock you down Kou, and you've got a foot of reach on him. Hana-chan your best bet's your claws; he hits with clenched fists and he hits hard but stay out of range you can bleed him out; if worst comes to worst and you end up grappling for Kami's sake use them before he gets a good grip. Thing is he knows about his reach problem, don't leave your hands or legs out after a hit, get them back or he'll nail them, he knows where to hit, that's how he got me," rolling up his sleeve Rotai bade them all look at the imprint on his inner forearm, "he caught me there and I couldn't clench my fist, couldn't get his arm off my neck so I had to tap. I've not seen him kick much but I wouldn't put it past him, whoever trained him knew what they were doing; Kou-kun you're up."

Nodding the Akimichi rose to his full height and moved towards the ring, Hana likewise nodding and thanking the other fourth year for his information, though in truth she'd been thinking along the same lines for how to tackle this antagonist should it come to that. There was no denying he was good; hell some of the audience were cheering for him now and the first years certainly were even if he still sat apart from them; but as she watched Koujiya casually weather a flurry of jabbing kicks before catching the last and using it to throw his opponent out of the ring she decided she was relatively safe; Rotai was right, with reach, weight and the ability to soak punishment like a sponge soaked water, the Uzumaki's run would end ploughing into the immoveable Akimichi scion; though I hope he gives a good fight, I could do with him being softened up before we end up butting heads.

For that reason she was carefully cheering under her breath some twenty minutes and three rounds later, the Haimaru with her paying close attention to the match as Naruto, all but lost against the behemoth bulk of his opponent, made the seal of confrontation and set his stance as the arm came down. He'd taken a little more punishment on the way to the semi-finals, the majority of his opponents now fourth-years and comprehensively outclassing him in weight and height, yet for all that he was still there and still undefeated. He'd weathered the worst the Academy could throw at him, including a nasty brace of straight sidekicks he'd taken on both the right forearm and the ribs from his opponent in the previous round, the last third-year still in the competition eliminated after he'd relied on his favoured technique one too many times, Naruto spinning out the way of his straight kick, kicking the calf of his standing leg and grabbing the extended one as the other boy collapsed backward ungainly, immediately surrendering in his prone position once he saw what the Uzumaki's foot was hovering over. Now he looked up at his biggest challenge and, as before, merely set his stance…

Hana gasped, what sounded like the whole Academy following suit as with a streak of orange the Uzumaki broke his tradition, racing towards his much bigger opponent, a tactic that caught everyone, and most crucially Koujiya, off-guard. Before the much bigger boy could get his weight settled Naruto had proven Rotai's suspicions right, he could kick as well as he could punch and he knew where to hit. His jumpsuit trousers cracking like a whip the Uzumaki landed a brutal roundhouse right into the major muscle of the Akimichis' right thigh and even as that came down went in with his left knee, the snapping of his right leg acting like a spring to propel him towards the hip or upper leg of his sparring partner. Had that landed cleanly Hana would have had the fight as, if not over, then heavily in the first-years' favour; Koujiya's advantages would mean nothing if he lacked the base to use them; but the fourth-year wasn't one of his years' top taijutsu prospects for nothing. Realising his right was under attack the Akimichi dropped to a knee, absorbing the Uzumaki's strike this his girth rather than his more tender muscles even as the impact drove a whisper of air from his lungs.

Too close Naruto; his blitz had been a bold move and she commended him for it but it had left him in a bad position being so close to someone who could smother his offense with just one arm, an arm that even now arched around looking to scoop the Uzumaki into a constricting hold. Having been hugged by Koujiya in the past it wasn't a fate Hana would wish on anyone and to her amazement Naruto avoided it; at first she thought he'd slipped, only when he was propelled away from his kneeling opponent did she realise he'd dropped, spun and pushed off the Akimichi's knee with his right foot, shooting out of range like a bar of soap. Nice, very nice; she upgraded her rank as the first year twisted like a corkscrew and span back to his feet just as Koujiya got his hand to his knee and made to push himself to his feet, a motion he quickly abandoned as Naruto darted forwards, forcing him to raise his guard; stalemate. Was this his plan all along?; the thought made her cup her chin in sudden clarity, trying to see the battle before her with a strategists' eye; he broke his normal pattern and used his speed to knock Kou to a knee, taking his size out of the equation. Now the only thing he's got going for him is his reach and as soon as he tries to stand up Naruto will be onto him; indeed, the Uzumaki was right on the range of Koujiya's fist and circling even now, forcing the Akimichi to crab around to follow him and keep his weaker side out of the first-years' sight. It was a pause in the fighting but one that favoured the smaller fighter; long days of both drills and punishments for misbehaviour meant all fourth-years knew how painful it was to hold a kneeling position for too long; it was a race between Koujiya's ingenuity and cramp and, as the Uzumaki kept circling, it wasn't one that seemed to be favouring the rank outsider.

Suddenly Koujiya reared, the movement catching everyone off-guard, or almost everyone; in a flash Naruto was onto him and on the receiving end of a snap punch, the Akimichi dropping back to his knee and lashing out as his opponent fell for his feint. Ouch; though not a devastating technique for most an Akimichi could make a snap punch sting like no-one else and Hana wouldn't have been surprised if it had ended the fight, it certainly should have sent Naruto spinning away like a scalded tanuki; instead he swayed then came on again; no, he didn't come on, he was dragged! You clever little…; her surprise gave way to well-deserved respect as Koujiya was rocked by a kick he saw but could do nothing about; Naruto had grabbed as high up the bigger boys' sleeve as he could reach and as the fourth-year drew his punch back been both pulled and leapt along for the ride. His side-kick snapped Koujiya's head around alarmingly but it lacked the power to put him down; it did, however, disorientate the Akimichi long enough for that short legs' twin to slip around his throat,

"Stuff me sideways," Hana spared the merest glance sideways to see Kitini, still with her hair dyed a garish shade of purple she claimed set off her eyes but everyone else assured her looked ridiculous, pointing at the scene with disbelief echoing in her tone, "he's trying to send him to sleep!"

The audacity alone was worth major points; Akimichi, for obvious reasons, were no-one's idea of an easy target for a hold of any kind; but it seemed Naruto was determined to buck yet another trend during this tournament. His right leg was now locked around Koujiya's neck and was anchored in place by his left, the latter hooked at the knee over his right ankle and trapping the Akimichi's neck in a vice, a vice he was squeezing for all it was worth as his arms, ridiculously thin compared to the fourth years', wrapped around the bicep like a man hugging a barrel,

"Go Naruto!" The shout burst from the crowd as they saw the midget tackling the goliath, a surge of sudden support quickly taken up by most of the Academy students, even those who'd fallen prey to the Uzumaki in earlier rounds. Hana, however, didn't join in much as she wanted to; either of the two boys could be her opponent in the next round, the next fight even as her would-be semi-final opponent had been forced to retire with a broken nose and cracked cheekbone despite winning his bout, so cheering for either for them might have been considered disrespectful to the other. Even as the Haimaru, picking up on the emotion of the other humans, began barking softly Hana forced herself to remain quiet, or at least she did until Koujiya, unable to get any kind of leverage to remove the stranglehold and unable to prize Naruto off his arm, suddenly toppled backwards; is he…? No; as that tree-trunk arm sudden rose and fell like a piston, smashing the small figure clinging onto its underside like a limpet into the dirt floor again and again; and Naruto can't defend himself or he'll lose his hold – this is a test of endurance.

It was more than a test, it was a brutal examination of guts, gristle and outright will to win; more than once the Inuzuka was sure she saw the back of the bright blonde head bounce off the hard-packed dirt even as Koujiya's strength began to fade, the choke on his air exhausting his muscles. It was a slug-fest, a straight out-and-out war and it was one the sensei was forced to step in and end; after examining the two-student knot from a distance Motako quickly raised his hand and spoke as Koujiya weakly raised his arm for another hammer blow,

"Shousa Uzumaki Naruto; drop the hold Uzumaki, now!" I'm not sure he's conscious; and even if he was he'd taken a fearful beating, Hana craning her neck to see as the sensei quickly threw the first-years' choking leg aside and reached down, helping lever Koujiya up to a sitting position as the bigger boy gasped, his face as red as a beetroot. He sat where he was for several seconds but waved away the hovering medical ninja, slowly heaving himself to his feet to building applause from the crowd, massaging his throat as he peered around blearily,

"Can you stand?" Motako's voice was noticeably harder as he addressed the still-prostate boy who had yet to move; for a horrible moment Hana thought him knocked out or worse before with shambling motions that reminded her uncomfortably of a classic zombie film one of her uncles had shown her in her youth the Uzumaki emerged from the shallow grave his opponent had pounded him into. Even from here Hana could see he was a mess, his lip or nose split and flooding blood down his face and he appeared to be swaying as he stood, though before she could ponder this too much Motako-sensei had spoken again,

"Make the seal of reconciliation; Inuzuka Hana stand ready, you're up next."

What?; surely sensei wasn't going to let someone as badly injured as that fight – though it might have cheapened her victory that she'd not had a final, or even a semi-final match the thought of whaling on an already-injured combatant did not sit right with the Inuzuka scion. It seemed there were a lot of eyes on her suddenly as she slowly stepped over the boundary rope, feeling oddly self-conscious as she nodded at Koujiya, the Akimichi managing to leave the ring under his own steam despite the med-nins nearby keeping an eye on him,

"Softened him up for you," he croaked hoarsely before swallowing with a pained grimace, "good luck." She nodded in thanks at his benediction and again in respect at her sensei, though halfway through making the seal of conflict she dropped her hand and shook her head,

"Sensei…"

"Uzumaki," Motako seemed to have second-guessed her, "are you able to fight?" For a second he didn't answer and Hana felt relief, then with a sniff and a spit of gory phlegm the boy nodded, blood still pouring from his bleeding nose but at least the stream was flowing as he raised his hands shakily,

"I'm not dead yet," he muttered, his voice surprisingly cold as he sniffed again; heart heavy even if her senses were alert Hana made the required symbol and then dropped into her stance, though her hearing was pricked just as Motako's arm rose for the final time that day; just for an instant, before it was drowned out by the sensei declaring the final round, she could have sworn she'd heard him mutter something about having been worse.

She should have turned his trick back on him, taken him out at the start but after meeting his surprisingly blue eyes she just hadn't been able to; they seemed to be drifting in and out of focus, their inattention echoed in his unsteady guard and rather than attacking Hana backed up a pace, recognising the symptoms; he's concussed, he should be getting treatment not sparring. She'd had the condition herself once, a result of sparring Koujiya oddly enough, and remembered the feeling of disjoined nausea well; it had been days before she was back to her old self despite the Akimichis' specially-made recovery bento that he'd provided the day after for her lunch. So she shuffled backwards, eyes alert as the Uzumaki shuffled after her, his arms up but shaking and his former razor reflexes obviously dulled, so much so that her first jabbing fist crashed against his foremost arm without so much as a reaction, making the limb bounce off its owners' chest with a thump.

What to do?; she wanted to end this quickly for a multitude of reasons but respect of Naruto's previous victories had her temper her original strategy – if her first blow had been any indication she could have slashed him to ribbons at range but given how stubborn her seemed to be he'd likely have passed out from blood loss before he surrendered. No, though that was the most sensible option it certainly wasn't the safest, least of all for her reeling opponent; it was likely she'd be a squad leader before the Uzumaki graduated so, by that logic, it was right that she took the lead and looked out for someone who might one day be under her command. Mind made up Hana slowed her back-tracking slightly, realising she was close to the edge of the ring and tensing herself to act, waiting for the exact moment to spring.

It came as she'd expected, though certainly a lot faster; even swaying as though drunk her opponent had a surprising speed about him and she was grateful for her padded clothing taking the sting out of the venomous punch he lanced towards her; but that's the only one I need to take. Riding the blow as best she could and mentally thanking Koujiya the Inuzuka bulled forwards and this time the Uzumaki wasn't quick enough to react; she outweighed him by at least a half again and he had no hope of keeping his feet as she slammed into him squarely, taking them both to the ground but landing in the dominant position. Credit where it was due the first year still managed to get a knee up, stopping her from fully taking advantage of a mount but as one hand brushed both his own aside and the clawed nails of her other raked down onto his forehead she merely growled,

"Stay down," before, fending off his reflexive punches with her free hand, she chanced a glance at her sensei to see if he was ready to call this spar yet.

It was drilled into them from day one that taking your eyes off your enemy was an oft-times terminal error but one Hana had never committed; trained by her mother and others in the clan she'd quickly learned to face not just her opponent but their partners as well, resulting in a degree of awareness not matched by any of her peers. Even here she didn't consider the sideways flick of her eyes the potential game ender it almost turned out to be, in fact she wasn't aware her opponent was still fighting until there was a sudden dampness on the tips of her fingers followed by a searing pain in her wrist, one that made her yell as much in shock as in pain. Her hand spasmed but her claws cut nothing and the pain only increased; looking down as the scent of fresh blood hit her nose she nearly retched as she realised why.

Naruto hadn't stayed still, in fact he'd done the opposite and she found herself looking down into a mask of blood, some of which was now being pumped into her sleeve from the fresh scratches across his brow, the cost of whipping his head from under her threatening grip. The sudden disbelief in what he'd done made her freeze until he shook his head and another pulse of agony raced up her arm and she snarled, shaking her arm as her earlier mercy evaporated. Some might have said there was a certain irony in an Inuzuka being bitten but Hana was too bloody-minded to listen, instead bringing her free hand up to bring the hammer down on the little brat until a sudden fiery stab into her ribs made her gasp and drop her elbow, protecting the ribs he'd just driven his fist into; you bastard, damn it, he's got two hands to my one now. I have to get him off m…ah-ahhh!

She saw a coil of brown snake down from the corner of her eye but before she really registered it someone else had and an ungodly pain was tearing the back of her scalp, dragging her head forwards and spoiling her aim. In the small part of her mind not scrambling desperately for a solution to this problem Hana had to commend her opponent for seizing, both figuratively and literally, on her hair as his advantage even as the claws on her un-gnawed hand lashed out and scissored into the meat of the Uzumaki's arm. She felt the growl through his jaw, the vibrations making her bitten wrist ache as much as the short, sharp jabs his left hand was piling into her ribs; I'm losing. I am losing this fight; the thought ignited the rage of her clan in her mind, more blood oozing down her nails as they flayed both the Uzumakis' forearm and his cheek, her bitten hand lashing out as she went for his neck. It wasn't enough though; blood was less precious than air and the repeated impacts to her chest was robbing her of the latter, and more than that she could feel him trying to worm his legs from under her mount; though neither of them could kick the idea of him managing to make a full grapple-guard didn't bear thinking about.

Racking her brain she tried to come up with a solution over the multiple sources of pain and shortness of breath; much like his previous match the Uzumaki had turned what should have been a bad match-up into an endurance test and he could somehow soak up an unreal amount of punishment, and this time he was dishing out far more damage than his opponent despite Hana's natural armaments slicing deep and flaying flesh with every strike. It's like he can't feel it, or blocks it out too well; like all students Hana's pain tolerance had only increased through the Academy but for a first year to seemingly not care that both his forehead and his arm were sheeting with blood was both admirable and frankly disturbing; ah, wish I could! Only one thing left; this couldn't go on, from her misplaced mercy Naruto had dragged them into a gutter-brawl, one where his shorter stature and more compact build held the advantage and was dealing more damage than it was taking, leaving Hana with one desperate hope and praying she was in a position to use it.

Like a whip her arm snapped forwards, throwing the Uzumaki's bloody limb back to him before snapping down and gouging his stomach; gritting her teeth and fighting to keep gasps of air behind her teeth as her abused ribs screamed against his unrelenting barrage she forced her fist closed and reared up, ignoring the near-blinding pain from the back of her head as she used the hair he was gripping as extra leverage. Against any other fighter in the tournament, hell against even her own little brother it likely wouldn't have been enough as her opponents' weight and the poor positioning prevented her exerting the torque needed but Naruto was so small he was just about liftable. Spine creaking Hana reared up, gritting her teeth and hoping against hope she was right as she tensed her stomach, prepared to unleash everything she had left in her core before to her shock the agonised buzzing in her wrist and scalp suddenly stopped and her hand and hair were free. Reflexively as she felt Naruto squirm upwards against her grip the freed limb shot forwards, snapping against his shoulder to keep him in position as they came to just about a vertical base…

…and then her body stopped obeying her commands.

Hana had heard of out-of-body experiences before; when there were three Yamanaka in your class it was kind of a given; but as she felt herself collapse backwards as though from a very long way away this was her first time ever actually experiencing one. Whether her arms actually obeyed her last command to push her opponent over her head she didn't know, certainly the only reason she'd let go of Naruto was because her hands had gone slack, but as she collapsed into the packed earth of the circle she felt nothing of the impact even as she felt the breath whoosh from her lungs. The sky was impossibly blue and pulsing, a dull, muted buzzing was in her ears and she was aware of nothing else, time leaving her behind as she lay in the dirt and simply existed. All aches and pains had faded somewhat, leaving her to float along in this cocoon of numbness even as the noise around her swelled to a crescendo and someone above her blocked out the bright sunlight. It was someone she recognised but couldn't put a name to, only the dim realisation that his vest marked him as an alpha to be obeyed resonating enough to make her feebly make an effort to rise, her body moving as though it had been submerged in molasses. When she was picked up from the dust everything swayed, including her; her vision didn't want to work properly and showed only a vague smear as she felt one arm lifted over her head and the white noise in her ears peaked into a disorientating roar.

Only when a med-nin had run his green-coated hand over her head did she find out how the match had finally ended and the price she'd paid for it; though she'd been close enough to the ring edge to throw the smaller child over her head and out of the boundaries Naruto had left her a fine going-away present. The swelling rising from her battered cranium was sore, her ribs were in agony and there were puncture marks in her wrist, all of which meant that when her name was announced as the champion the celebrations, at least from her, were definitely muted. As she lifted the shield in her one good arm the Inuzuka nodded at the crowd and then closed her eyes as the pain and dizziness the motion caused; when she opened them, however, she found herself looking at something else, something that suddenly didn't make sense to her. We were there; she read the battles' aftermath with a hunter's eye, seeing the scuffed dirt and tracks of the two-student war she'd been a part of and now with her head clear the tracks didn't make sense; close to the ropes, then I rose, my knees were there, and he must have hit me as I threw him at the last second.

The memory made her head pound again; according to the med-nin she was lucky not to be walking away with a fractured skull. The Uzumaki, either realising what she was up to or reacting on instinct, had spat her wrist out and pushed up as she lifted him, then at the apex of their ascension brought both elbows down squarely on the point of her undefended skull, a blow that had almost sparked her out and could, she knew, had either killed or paralysed had Naruto been able to get much more force behind it. That the blow had toppled her backwards and she'd pushed upwards as a reflex action was simply luck, though in the last seconds she had to survey the scene before the members of her clan in attendance trampled over it in their rush towards her something stood out starkly in the young Inuzuka's mind. Naruto had been bleeding freely from the forehead and the arm and, according to Motako-sensei, had been declared out of bounds but if that was the case why did the blood-spatter around where he must have fallen not go past the border rope of the arena?

She'd thrown him head-first, she must have, so even if he'd rolled with the fall something should have gone over the rope with him. Though too tired and pain-wracked to think much about it Hana tried to look through the celebrating throng around her, hoping to catch a glimpse of orange or a trail of blood but, in this, she was to be disappointed; the first-years' normal seat was deserted, his jacket was nowhere to be seen and he had likely been dismissed as neither of them were in any fit state to make seals at the end of the bout.

The tournament was over, and Naruto was gone.

XXX

The memory and the fact she couldn't prove her suspicions left a bad taste in Hana's mouth as she looked away from the mocking trophy and flexed her sore hand; little bugger's got sharp teeth – if he weren't such a blonde I'd be asking questions, uncle Rimaru always did have a roving eye. Introspection of her likely-tangled family tree were disrupted by a cuff to her shoulder, her mother's face wearing an expression somewhere between concern and mischief, one that made Hanas' insides both shrivel up and squirm at the same time,

"I reckon you'd not be missed right now," the clan head mentioned conversationally, indicting where the majority of the clan were now engrossed in celebrations for reasons that now eclipsed Hana's triumph, "if anyone asks I'll say you're sleeping off your whacked noggin."

"What?" Generally her mother was the last person in the village to give cryptic advice but this time Hana was left bamboozled, "I have no idea what you're going on about; have you been on the sake again?" Tsumes' eyes narrowed,

"The only reason I'm not boxing your ears right now is because someone beat me to it girl; anyway use what brains you've got left Hana-chan. You've got questions, go find answers – I know your nose isn't messed up, go track that titch down but leave the trio here," even as her daughter made to protest Tsume explained her reasoning, "you didn't have them at the tournament so consider this extra training and he might be scared of dogs, you don't know."

"Right," Hana agreed, recalling that some in her class hadn't been fond of the Haimaru when she'd first joined despite them being puppies at the time; though to be fair they all got over it, even Daraitchi and he's allergic, just has to use an inhaler now; "thanks kaa-san, I'll be back before nightfall." Tsume chuckled,

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That's not a long list," Hana chipped back cheekily, ducking her mother's ill-tempered swipe as the elder growled at her disrespect,

"You want to grow a twin to that bump you've got?"

"Not likely, hopefully it'll have gone down by next week," Hana flinched as she tentatively patted the swelling again before raising her hand and bidding her mother farewell again, the thrill of a new challenge and new hunt beginning to course through her veins as she slipped away from the gathering party and towards the main gates of the Inuzuka compound.

Though it would have been easier with her partners by her side, in truth what she'd set out to do was relatively straightforward. The weather had been kind for the time of year, not even much wind to disturb the lingering scents around the Academy training grounds and, though distasteful, there was enough of her former opponent left under her nails that Hana could easily pick up his scent from the main gates. Following this trail led her around the village a little way and left her somewhat confused; apart from one detour to a small and rather shabby looking ramen shack where Narutos' lingering scent seemed to indicate that he'd spent a good half-hour there, the smaller child had cut through a large number of alleyways and back streets to make his way to the apartment complex Hana was now stood in front of. That makes no sense, unless it's some kind of training maybe?; the route he'd taken added at least an extra forty minutes onto what should have been a straightforward journey, not something she'd have wanted to do sporting the war-wounds he was likely to have despite the attentions of the med-nins; unless he didn't want people asking what happened to get him that bloodied up – he's cute enough.

Despite herself the Inuzuka chuckled as she recalled the first time she'd seen her opponent that day; though he'd won her respect, and likely not just hers, for his in-ring performance that chibi image was going to be something that stuck with him throughout the Academy and likely beyond unless he hit a spectacular growth spurt early. The front door of the complex wasn't locked but as she slipped inside Hana paused, her hackles rising as she took in the scene before her; there was something strange about this building, something out of place. Though it appeared in fine condition it was the dust that tipped her off; this should have been one of the blocks' communal areas but as she glanced around there was a reasonably thick patina of dirt along the skirting boards and the window ledges, clear signs that either no-one lived here who could be bothered to keep the place tidy; and that's assuming anyone lives here at all. No names on the building list, that shouldn't be right; instinctively pressing her back to the nearest wall Hana worried at her lip, wishing the Haimaru were with her as the unsettling feeling in her stomach rose.

One of her duties as potential clan heir, or to be more accurate one of the duties her mother 'delegated' down to her was to ensure the list of Inuzuka within the compound was updated on a weekly basis, the idea being that in the event of a fire or other disaster requiring evacuation from their clan grounds there was a roll-call on hand to quickly determine if anyone was missing. Much as Hana cursed it and Kiba would too when he was old enough for her to slope the responsibility onto his shoulders it was a legal requirement that every multi-occupancy building within Konoha, including the clan homes, had one of these fire boards up to date and displayed at all times, so for this one to be blank indicated either she was in the wrong place or, more worryingly, that the building didn't have multiple occupants. Curiouser and curiouser; the snippet of words repeated in her head as she tracked the scent up the stairs, realising there was no Uzumaki name on the board either – were his parents rich enough to own the whole block? It was the only idea she could come up with but if so why was their son dressed so appallingly for a ninja – a lot didn't make sense, least of all the stink of blood that only grew slightly stronger as she ascended the stairwell to the second floor. Must be from his jacket; the realisation drew a low whistle of relief, if he'd put that on it would have soaked up the drying vitae like a sponge even after the med-nins had healed his lacerations. Satisfied with her logic the Inuzuka came to the door, unmarked and plain as she looked at it, and before nerves could tingle in her belly, knocked on it smartly.

There was no answer.

Very funny; she could smell and even, as she channelled a sliver of chakra, hear there was someone inside so she knocked again, this time louder; get off your arse blondie or parents-of-blondie, I didn't come all this way just to be left on the doorstep like a nin-kens' trophy. Right, that's it; though a lot more civilised than a good deal of her clan Hana had a definite edge to her temper that, in this case, manifested as a bulls' head, one that had her try the door handle and, as there was no resistance, stride inside as though she owned the place, looking around the darkened hallway for an instant before the stink hit her, that of blood and water from very close by. Dismissing what she heard in favour of her nose she quickly darted down the hallway and opened a door, stomach tight with worry as she wrestled down the fear of what she might see and both gasping in relief and recoiling at the sight awaiting her. The shower stall was recently used, the sides of the bath still wet and tinged with a faint rose and his jacket, now soaked, was dribbling drips of red-tinged water into the bath from where it had been hung to dry from the shower head. Where are you?; before it had been curiosity, now concern was rising in her mind and not just from the blood; apart from Naruto she'd not heard or smelt anyone else within this small apartment and because of that she didn't care if the bathroom door banged behind her, cared about little as she ran down the opposite side of the hallway and found her voice at last,

"Naruto-san," her voice was hoarse through a dry throat, her ears picking up odd noises from nearby and homing her in on them, "Naruto answer me, where are…?"

She answered her own question as she opened the door into what must have been the living area; though she couldn't see more than a tuft of blonde over the back of the settee it was enough to confirm her target was in the building. After taking a second to recover the breath she blew out in a huff of relief the Inuzuka stalked towards the settee, taking in the rest of the room with half a glance as she did so; apart from the settee and the television she could see painting the wall behind her with images it seemed Naruto didn't have much in the way of furniture. There was a bowl of what looked like grey gravel resting atop a litter of newspaper and a log propped up against the far wall, a log that looked like it had taken a fair amount of punishment over time as its surface was scuffed and caked in residues of old blood; no wonder the little bugger hits so hard. He must have been toughening up his hands at least, an interesting comparison as Hana clicked her tongue and paced forwards, a little disconcerted by this inattention,

"You know it's rude to ignore people?" There was no way he didn't know she was there - even without ninja senses she wasn't masking her position, "Hey, Naruto, listen I'm not going…"

What she wasn't going to do was forgotten somewhat as she looked over the settee and saw the other child fully for the first time and realised just how small he actually was, and that he was still hurt. Though he'd at least showered and cleaned up the worst of it the haphazard bandages around his arm and forehead showed that not all was as it should be despite medical attention but worse than that was his face, an expression that had Hana's heart leap into her throat and her hands clasp her mouth in panic. His eyes were half-lidded, staring at the screen in front of them both, a screen that Hana realised wasn't showing a programme as she'd expected but was instead, as she followed the small plastic box held loosely in his hands to the larger box it connected to, playing a game of some kind. Kiba had begged their mother to get him one of those for a combined Fire-and-birthday present but thus far Tsume had refused and, going by Naruto's blank expression, Hana was grateful for her stubbornness; curse her brother for being a rambunctious little tyke as she often did, rather that than a half-dead zombie oblivious to all about him. Is he even conscious – oh great; an idea that he might have been suffering after-effects of the meat-grinder they'd both gone through made her suddenly groan and fight down a spike of panic; and I've not got the triplets with me – thanks kaa-san!

Lessons on basic first aid had always stuck in her mind and ones she was good at, mostly because her partners could easily act as extra hands or messengers as the situation called for them. Without the Haimaru she was a little more restricted but at the same time Naruto didn't seemed to be in any serious danger; his breathing was even and his seated positon minimised the risk of him choking on his tongue – if anything it looked like he was in a meditative trance rather than shock. Mulling all this over in her mind and realising she didn't have a clue where to even look for help anyway as it appeared the building was deserted apart from them Hana instead blew out a breath and looked at her seemingly-comatose host,

"You're really something Uzumaki, you know that? Budge up," luckily she didn't need to move him, though as he was dressed in only a fresh white t-shirt she could see as she sat down that while he wasn't starving, he certainly wasn't tubby either – if she had to put a word to it she'd have likely put him as just the wrong side of lean. Still there didn't seem to be anything else for it but to wait until he snapped out of whatever trance he was in; glancing around and realising with disquiet the lack of pictures around the place Hana eventually found herself watching the game, or more precisely the opening scenes of the game in front of her, Naruto having not even pushed start before falling into whatever dreams were now occupying his mind.

Fortunately it wasn't that much longer before she felt a movement to the side of her, a small twitch, nothing more, though as the smaller child drew in a much deeper breath than she'd heard so far the Inuzuka just couldn't help herself,

"Morning Na-aahh!" Her ribs exploded, excruciating agony all but folding her in half as a fire-edged knife slammed right into the heart of the bruising they'd already taken. Fighting to keep her celebratory meal below her oesophagus Hana crumpled over, tears making her vision blur as she fought for air and a sudden harsh demand met her ears,

"Why are you here?"

"I," she began, forcing down the pain of his unexpected elbow and looking up with teeth bared at where he now stood in his loose stance, fists clenched and eyes hard with no trace of his earlier disability, "I'm here to check on you."

"Why?" Good question; part of her mind, the part dealing with his battered ribs, sniped unkindly before she mastered both it and her pain and sat upright again,

"Because you vanished after the last match and no-one saw where you went," she explained, pointing to his bandages, "did you even let the medics get a look at you?"

"Don't like med-nin."

"Not many people do; you're an idiot," the Inuzuka declared, "you just showered and bandaged yourself didn't you?" At his nod she slapped a hand to her forehead, "Take those bandages off; if you don't wash cuts out properly you can get very sick."

"I don't get sick," the smaller child argued but on this point Hana was not to be moved, folding her arms and aping her mothers' most formidable glare as best she could until, at length, Naruto shuffled forwards and presented his arm, though he didn't drop out of his fighting stance. Slowly and carefully Hana unwound the white ribbon, wrinkling her nose against the smell of blood as spots of red began to dot the material though to her surprise and relief the cuts she saw were smaller than she'd imagined and looked clean enough; she certainly couldn't smell any infection but it was early days yet,

"Well, looks like you were lucky," she admitted as the wrapped the wounds again, Naruto not flinching as she gently bound his arm once more, "but if you start feeling hot or feverish at all, at any time, you got either to the Academy nurse or the hospital. I mean it Naruto-san," she caught the flash of truculence that darkened his expression, "I've had a cut go bad before, it's really nasty when they have to squeeze all the gunk out and it took me a fortnight to heal it up right."

The smaller boy nodded once, straight up and down with no movement wasted; Hana got the impression he didn't talk much if he could help it, and now she thought about it the voice she had heard was rusty; a nasty suspicion was tingling the back of her mind that she wanted exercised, for good or ill,

"So," she could only hope her tone was level as she glanced around the room as though taking it in for the first time, "this place all yours?"

"Yes." Damn kid, you're not making this easy;

"You live on your own?"

"Orphan," Naruto replied as though that explained everything, and to some degree it did as Hana let out a low whistle, thinking how best to fish for more information from this strange, wary child,

"Nice, you must be really grown-up to strike out on your own at your age; I wouldn't trust most first years with a hamster cage never mind an apartment of their own," she commented, relieved to see perhaps a flicker of warmth in Naruto's previously cold blue eyes, "so, I just wanted to talk about our last match…"

"Oh," realisation flashed across his face and before the Inuzuka knew it there were two fingers extended from the fist of the arm she'd just bandaged, "sorry, you were celebrating after the bout, didn't want to get in the way." Smiling gently Hana pressed her fingers to his in reconciliation, realising as she did so how rough his fingertips were,

"You wouldn't have been in the way, hell I probably wouldn't have even recognised you; look at this," she tilted her head forwards to show off her bump, "I was seeing stars for hours afterwards, you hit like an Akimichi."

"A who?"

"Akimichi, you know like the boy you choked out before me?" So he doesn't know the clans and doesn't talk much, does he just stay in all day?; "If you'd caught me any sweeter I'd still be snoring now, and despite what sensei said I never saw if I threw you far enough to get you out the ring, you're a bit heavier than you look." Her chuckle at the lame joke died as Naruto scrutinised her unblinkingly for a long second before shrugging,

"Doesn't matter, what he says goes."

"Very true; keep that up and you'll have no trouble with the Academy," Hana told him, remembering how much of an ache in the tail she'd been during her first few years in the Academy, especially on classes such as hunting and tracking; even if I was right sometimes, not everyone's got my nose or clan training with traps and snares; "and anyway you did really well, I mean really well – no first-year's ever gotten to even the quarter-finals before, heck even Uchiha Itachi got caught out in the second round when he went through, though he only stayed one year. Those moves you pulled out were something else, where the hell did you learn to fight like that?"

Here it was, the crux of the matter and if Naruto didn't want to tell her she'd leave it at that; everyone, even a small Academy student, was entitled to their secrets. However as she watched on expectantly she suddenly found herself first dumbfounded, then snarling as the smaller child, having regarded her with suspicion, instead suddenly cocked his head like a nin-ken heeding a whistle. Before she could ask he'd merely closed his eyes, seeming to slip into his trance again and paying her no further mind for the moment. Rude brat; though even-tempered for her clan Hana still had to force down the part of her mind that pointed out such manners deserved a clip around the ears; just be grateful my mothers' not here, if you thought my claws were sharp you'd be a mess of scars after she was done with you. Still Tsume wasn't here and she was alone with this strange, almost silent child as he did… whatever it was he was doing – meditating, communing with the Sage of Six Paths, she had no idea. Luckily his trance didn't last as long as the previous one had and no more than a minute later she was seeing him eye to eye again as he glanced her up and down, the nodded,

"Fine," he said shortly, striding past her to a small door in the wall of the apartment wall, one that likely led to a linen closet of some kind, "you can play."

Hana would have asked 'play what' but looking over his shoulder the question shrivelled on her lips as she realised she was looking into a place Kiba would likely have given his eye-teeth for. The small cupboard was piled high with a selection of neatly-stacked small cases, each one arranged neatly to show the label on the spines, and each pile was clustered around two larger boxes on the floor of the small cupboard, one of which Naruto was carefully levering into the open,

"Oh, uh," the Inuzuka began, eyeing the small system she'd heard a lot about but never actually seen before, "I've not really gamed before."

Naruto didn't answer, instead switching off the other system still playing sprites all over the screen and unplugging it, manipulating small wires like glossy black worms as he plugged in the smaller and, from what little Hana knew of the subject, older console in in its place. Watching him work Hana tried to puzzle out how this gaming could relate to training; did he somehow learn his unorthodox fighting from watching or playing these fantasy games? If so considering how effective they'd been (her bump was still pinging away merrily whenever she moved her head too fast) she might have to add her voice to her little brothers next time he went whining to their kaa-san, but for now she held her peace and watched as the Uzumaki got the old system ready with quick, practised motions. In the span of a minute it seemed to be ready and Naruto flicked the power switch on, the screen of the small, compact television crackling to life with a tinny tune as Naruto stood and made to move back to the settee. Hana budged over to make room for him only to see the blonde pause and look back before shaking his head with a grunt of annoyance,

"Something wrong?" He didn't answer immediately, instead going back to his games cupboard and rooting around for a minute before returning with something else in his hand; one of the controllers;

"Never played two-player before," he said by way of explanation, plugging it in and handing it to her as Hana regarded him, still mystified about what he was hoping to achieve,

"Uhh, thanks", she managed, wiping the dust off the unused gamepad before looking at the screen before her, "so what happens now? Do we select characters or something, and what kind of game…?"

As a small but warm hand landed on her shoulder Hana was cut off but even as she tried to ask what the idea of him putting his hand on her was a strange sensation began flowing over her, like a gossamer blanket being laid down over her senses. The residual aches and pains seemed to drift away and everything else slowed down, a lot like falling asleep; even as she tried to remember how to dispel a genjutsu properly she found her eyelids fluttering, the attack struck too deeply and, unable to resist, Hana dropped onto oblivion…

…Then her eyes opened and with a jolt she realised she wasn't in Konoha anymore.

In fact, she wasn't anywhere she'd even read or heard about!

She was in a street surrounded by grey, grainy buildings, one that seemed to continue into the distance as far as she could see; there was no wind, no other weather and no identifying marks of any kind that she could see; for all she knew she could have been anywhere from Kumo to Kiri. Her surroundings were spared only a glance however, as at the sight of the trio of figures approaching her from a selection of alleyways she immediately stepped back and dropped into a fighting stance, grateful she wasn't in pain any longer,

"Get ready," her stance vanished as she leapt in fight at the voice to the side of her, a steely growl as Naruto was at her side with eyes fixed on their opponents,

"You baka," Hana gasped, trying to calm her thundering heart, "where are we, and how do we get back home?" Naruto glanced up to look at her and in those chilling sapphire eyes she lost her courage as he smiled grimly,

"Only one way out; until then we fight."

With that he was gone, haring towards their supposed opponents, Hana left in his dust trail mute and overwhelmed by the slow realisation trickling up her backbone; it was impossible, it was insane to even give the theory credence but at the same time the buildings around them, they were too uniform and monochrome to have been built by human hands and their opponents, their outlines were mannish but they were blocky and disjointed, moving a little awkwardly as Naruto came into range and the fight began.

Actually fight was the wrong word and for the third time in as many minutes Hana felt her guts churn as the smaller child flew into the attack; this was not the boy she'd seen and faced at the Academy, this was a whole different animal, one going for the throat and devoid of mercy as he went into his, she hoped, unliving opponents. The fist of the trio gave a clumsy kick that he slipped around like water, then he retaliated and Hana cursed her superior hearing as she heard the snap of a knee joint giving way, Naruto having rifled a vicious side kick into the vulnerable joint. The man; or, or virtual man if I'm… no, no I can't be right, this is all just a trick or a genjutsu, human beings do not just enter games like this!; collapsed with a vaguely human shriek tinged with tinny music effects but his friends seemed not to notice, pushing around their comrade with somewhat jerky motions as Naruto rushed into the middle of them and, a few seconds later, Hana's dislocation and disbelief morphed into cold terror.

This was not the boy she'd seen or fought, this was someone, something else – no normal boy knew how to kill so easily with their bare hands. Kiba might have talked big but she'd seen him sniffle over a dead rabbit the nin-ken brought back, there was no way he would know how to double a man over with a punch to the gut then stave his throat in with a chop in the same motion, how to trip a man to the floor and punch his face so hard his nose pierced his brain, or snap the neck of his prone first assailant. But Naruto knew, he knew and he executed this knowledge with a precision that bordered on the artistic; as she saw their first three opponents in this supposed-virtual world lying on the street dead she buckled, dry-heaving as there was nothing in her gut to expel. Her vision blurred and then fractured, the reality of death so stark and immediate she lost focus on all else, never saw her murderous companion slip ahead, failed to register the appearance of more foes triggered by his forward movement and never heard the metronomic footsteps behind her until it was too late.

Torture rippled along her scalp for the second time as she was jerked by her hair, a crushing weight closing around her throat as her unseen enemy hauled her into a choke, Hana scrabbling at his arm in a desperation borne of panic. Her vision wasn't clearing, her heart pounding fit to burst as she saw other figures step past her captor to try and block off any potential rescue; fury suddenly ignited in her veins and she scratched and mauled at the arm pinning her down, fighting for her freedom and more than that her life until a voice came to her, a voice that cut through her panic by dint of its overwhelming presence,

"Child, child stop, listen to me," the arm shifted, Hana's throat in the crook of the elbow rather than being crushed by the forearm, loosening the choke and letting the frantic Inuzuka reply,

"Wha' what?"

"Listen," the voice came again as Hana belatedly realised who was talking,

"You, you're a…"

"I'm the one who makes these… games real; now listen to me, I don't have long, I have to end this before Naruto breaks through to us. Stop," a shake that make her breath hitch brought the Inuzuka's renewed struggles to a halt, "he can't know we've had this conversation."

"Who, Naruto?" Trapped as she was Hana had no idea who was holding her but they at least felt human, or at least as human as anything got here, "Why, who are you?" Her captor was silent for a second before they spoke again, their tone more sombre and remorseful,

"A guilty conscience; now pay attention and don't interrupt. You asked to know how Naruto became as good as he is, this is how – the games your kind have made act as a medium for my technique, a very realistic illusion. Here everything is real, sight, sound and pain, especially pain and Naruto has been playing these games for years now, years of fighting and… worse within these damned realities."

"Years?" the Inuzuka parroted dumbly before realisation dawned and her skin began to crawl as though alive, "Every time he…?"

"Every time, by his own volition," the voice seemed pained as it went on, thick with self-loathing as the Inuzuka listened, "I should never have allowed it to continue but I did; because of that I've seen how strong, and how hollow, he already is and is likely to become. Listen to me human; I asked him to bring you here so I could talk to you and ask you this; I delivered him to this hell and he's becoming wedded to it, I need you to pull him free."

"Free? Away from the games…?"

"Yes, all of them; you have to understand," the voice was more than just urgent now, it was outright pleading as Hana had no choice but to listen, "he has never had anyone or anything else; this whole illusion began as a guess from him and I went along with it to, to try and get rid of him for good but he saw that when the first game was over; he realised I'd tried to kill him but didn't care. Do you know what that means human; he prefers this, these places where everything is trying to kill him to life within your mortal village – he believes he is utterly alone, that he will never have anyone or anything to love, honour or cherish! You're the first human to join him here, the first I've been able to speak to; now for the love of all and every Kami please try and make him see that's not the case – give him something to look forwards to other than this constant hell!"

Despite terror still clawing at her mind and extreme confusion that several things didn't make sense still the Inuzuka thought she understood, thought she knew at least the gist of what this stranger was saying though she had no idea who he even was or how his technique worked; actually…;

"Why can't you do it, it's your illusion! Just stop using it…"

"I tried, he… didn't take it well; this is all he has to live for, the only reason he wakes up every sunrise, to come back to this. You have to give him more, give him anything and you have to do it soon – already it's a struggle to convince him to go outside and breathe fresh air; almost all he does is fight in here and train outside with those damned tools of his. It can't go on, it just can't," the voice was quavering as though holding back rough emotion though despite that it managed to finish without breaking, "do something to help him or contact those that can, anything so I don't have to destroy him more than I already have."

Swallowing as much as she was able to Hana tapped against the arm holding her, giving her oath as she tried to look up and see the thing that held her immobile in this choking hold,

"I, I'll try," and she meant it; she didn't know half of what was truly going on but she was going to find out; what she knew of it was sick and had to stop, "let me go, I'll talk to him."

"It is pointless to talk here child, you have to lose the illusion and there's only one way; you'll go to sleep first, you won't feel it," even before the noose tightened Hana was in action, clawing at the arm even as she saw flashes of orange in front of her, Naruto trying to fight his way through a press before her as she heard her pulse ring in her temples. Her face was flushed, the blood caught in her head starving her brain of oxygen as redness tinged her vision, the voice in her ears low and echoing oddly,

"You die only once here child", her struggles stopped, her arms swinging limply as pendulum weights as she felt herself collapsing back against her captor and soon to be worse, his last words barely registering as her consciousness began to fade,

"He has been dying for years…"

XXX

There was a crick in her neck.

She hated not sleeping right, it annoyed her for the rest of the whole day and everyone else around her knew when it happened; levering herself upright before opening her eyes Hana was alarmed to feel herself suddenly swaying forwards, catching herself with a gasp of alarm as adrenaline flooded through her; this wasn't her room, in fact it didn't smell like her house! She looked around wildly, the images confusing as something hit the floor in front of her with a dull thud as she recalled in a rush the fading memories, a flicker of brightness to her left giving them all a sudden, horrible clarity,

…a touch on her shoulder…

…lulled to sleep…

…a strange, terrifying world and a dreadful realisation…

…Naruto fighting, killing with a predators' grace…

…A remorseful puppet-master…

…"He has been dying for years…"

"Naruto!"

The boy in question leapt backwards off the settee at her shout, landing with near-perfect poise as she flailed on the seat, regarding him with choked horror as her delirious brain finally managed to sort itself into some kind of order and organise the most important truths before her. Feeling her neck as the last words of the mysterious figure rolled over her ears again Hana felt reality sway before her; I died, whatever that was I died there, I just didn't feel it because I was already unconscious! How long…?;

"Sorry," the grunt broke her dolorous thoughts, "got too far ahead, forgot they come up from behind sometimes and couldn't get back in time."

"Come back?" She parroted blankly before a spear of ice lanced her heart, "You, how did you get here; were you…?" His nod only twisted the frigid knife,

"Saw you were gone, let them finish me quick," he explained, somehow making being bludgeoned to death sound as boring as a trip through the Konoha main street, "I take it you don't want to play again."

"No," Hana said vehemently, swallowing still difficult as she tried to blot out the memory of her death and rebirth, focussing on other matters, "Naruto you do that… all the time?"

"Yeah, hard way's the best way," he said non-committedly before flashing a glance at the other implements around the room, "learn what I need to in-game, then toughen myself up with the log or iron." Hana spare those objects a glance, no more, nausea rising in her stomach as she tried to envisage not just killing and dying to learn hard-taught lessons in a virtual reality but then beating yourself bloody in actual reality to make sure you could apply those lessons; his hands are like anvils, too right, he forged them on oak and in iron filings!

"So," she managed, gripping the arm of the settee and preparing to come to her feet, "so all those things you know – Kami you could have taken us all apart at the tournament! Why didn't you win, you could have without breaking a sweat?" He folded his arms, snorting as he glanced away dismissively,

"I'm not stupid, if I did beat you all up I'd have been kicked out before my first week was over. I do what I have to, no point doing more and giving them a reason to get rid of me."

"Right," the Inuzuka managed, following his twisted logic and realising the truth in the guilty conscience that had spoken to her; he believes he is utterly alone – oh spirits of the pack beyond he honestly thinks he's got and will never have anyone; "Naruto listen, I know, actually I don't know how you do what you do but I do know it's made you… lethal, for want of a better word. But trust me," somehow she dredged up a smile for somewhere, hoping to break through to the child, if one was left, underneath the veneer of death she could see before her, "there's more to life than being a ninja and there's more to being a ninja than taijutsu. You're good, better than good, but the Academy's going to be a whole different bag of kunai to," she pointed at the screen but couldn't look at it, "and you'll have a chance to learn a whole lot more than fighting. Have you ever thought about any of the other ninja skills, or about not being a ninja at all; I always wanted to be a vet you know, still do really – clan tradition says I have to be at least a chunin though, all clan heirs do before they hang up the headband. Don't you ever think of being something else?"

She saw his answer before he gave it and as his shoulders rolled up and then down, his perennial gesture it seemed, her heart broke a little for his sake,

"Nothing else I can be, they hate me out there," he glanced out the window contemptuously, an ugly expression that had no place on a face as young as his, "got no-one to teach me a craft or a skill so I taught myself how to fight. Better I get at it the longer I'll live, simple as that."

"It shouldn't be," Hana managed, her voice thick and curdled with a mix of dolorous emotions, "and it won't be, not any more. I'm still at the Academy, one year left," she explained quickly as Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously, "so you're not going to be on your own with me and the three there."

"Three?"

"My nin-ken, the Haimaru triplets; I'll introduce you on Monday," she promised, recognising the boy had likely never seen a friendly animal of any description, "that's a promise, look out for me at the gates okay?"

"Fine," the first-year agreed after a tense, pregnant pause before looking past her to the door beyond, "you'd best go."

"Yeah, yeah I think so," Hana agreed, forgiving his lamentable manners with the reasoning he'd had no-one to teach him any before his next words brought her up short,

"Don't tell anyone about the games."

"I…"; can't; she wasn't the sharpest fang in the maw when it came to the psychological side of things but Hana knew that breaking whatever trust Naruto's conscience had convinced him to share with her now would likely shatter it forever; even though I want to; "…I won't Naruto-san but," she quailed as that cobalt gaze snapped onto her, hands she'd seen snap phantom necks and crush virtual throats balling into deceptively-small fists, her last words spilling out in a rush, "but I think someone should know. It's not, healthy; too much training is bad for you, they'll tell you that at the Academy."

The boy was silent at this for a time, his gaze falling to the floor; staying seated Hana remained where she was, frozen as though before a predator and as alert as a spooked rabbit as he mulled her words over before facing her again,

"If I tell them," despite herself Hana felt her heart burst and shatter simultaneously; those stone eyes had chipped slightly at her words and the hint of visceral fear that shone through that unfeeling front was sharper than any talon of her mothers, "they will take my games from me and I will have nothing; I will not have nothing again."

She said nothing, even if she could have thought of something to say there was no way she could have forced speech past the lump that had leapt into her throat; somehow she managed to bow and turn away, hoping against hope he hadn't seen the tears blurring her vision as she reeled clumsily towards the door. She couldn't hear him following and for once she blessed his lack of breeding; he wasn't showing her out his apartment and she fumbled the door open at the second attempt, snatching for breath as she stumbled down the hallway, the door banging shut behind her and cutting off the noise of her grief for a stranger finally breaking down her walls and spilling over.

XXX

Strange; Naruto tracked his guests' sudden departure with his eyes and tried to think both why she'd left so suddenly and, more perturbingly, why she'd even visited in the first place; maybe I should ask her Monday? He could count the number of visitors he'd received on one hand since he'd moved in and all of them had been the masked ninja who worked for jiji, usually checking up on accounts of theft and reporting their findings to the man in the big hat himself. Not that anything ever came of it; as Naruto had pointed out one swiped game every six months or so for going virtually unseen around the village was a fair trade, though oddly enough the old man always looked saddened when he said it.

Thinking back through the, for him, very unusual past half-hour or so he made a note to ask the fox why he'd been so adamant for the girl to join him as he reached for the older system he had plugged in, ready to swap it over for the next generation console; once insurmountable, the older games now lacked the killing edge Kyuubi could put into those on the newer systems. There the opponents were sharper, their moves more fluid, their punches more powerful and painful and deaths came thick and fast, each one a lesson learned and remembered, his skills burned into his muscle-memory by his dreaming mind, honed by pain and his continually-repeated demise but as his finger reached for the power button he paused, looking into the screen impassively as it played the opening credits. Not even past the first screen; seldom given to insult or provocation, the Uzumaki remembered the sight of the wild-looking girl going limp in the arms of their opponents, his forgetting all about her proving fatal to both of them as once she faded from the game he quickly let the remaining enemies finish him off in case she had as bad a reaction to her first death as he did his; that won't stand. Teamwork's a lot of being a shinobi, jiji said so; mind made up he moved back onto the seat his former guest had just vacated and picked up her controller; maybe if she come over again we can play two-player properly. Until then though I'll hammer this one tonight – not as tough but they hurt…; only then did he realise he'd never actually asked the girl her name; …find out Monday. Still they hurt her and she was on my team – this one fox… yes, now, I know it won't kill me but I'll make it up to you tomorrow.

As the world began to fade Naruto prepared himself for the forthcoming fight, preparing to get as far as he could before, as always, fatigue and agony accumulated enough to for his enemies to pull him down or one of them got in a lucky hit and it all faded to painful black. He'd never completed even the simplest game in his collection, always upgrading to the latest system as soon as he could to keep the challenge impossible – he learned more that way. Opening his eyes in familiar territory he saw the same trio as before and without conscious thought rushed forwards to meet them, his guard high as he tried to judge how they'd attack him this time.

And if, as he dodged past the first punch and snapped the offending wrist like a twig, he heard a soft, almost inaudible whine of animalistic grief, he paid it no mind.

XXX

She got to the base of the stairs and no further, a pain shooting up her tail-bone as her legs went from under her and she ground her palms into her eyes as though to force her tears, the sheer enormity of what she'd just seen and experienced hitting her worse and a haymaker form Koujiya. Above me, in this block where no-one else lives; even as she tried not to think about it her mind turned traitor, forcing the whole scenario to parade before her; is a nine-year old boy who honestly believes Konoha and everyone in it is out to get him. To the point he'd rather use some kind of technique that results in him experiencing death; her throat clenched, swallowing painful for a moment as she gritted her teeth; multiple times in order to get stronger by learning how to fight. He's younger than me and he knows how to kill, how to maim and how to hurt, and the only reason I know about it is because his conscience, I think, asked him to let me play as well and then all but pleaded with me to try and stop him before he sinks too far.

Hana knew what that meant; though she'd been too young to really remember the attack the dread Kyuubi seven years ago she remembered several of the pack going fully feral even years afterwards, exposure to killing intent that potent worrying at the minds until some other event pushed them over the edge and they snapped, going fully feral and having to be hunted down by the rest of the pack before they escaped the Inuzuka grounds. Though she didn't truly understand how that technique worked surely Naruto must have been under the same risk, a paranoia complex and the mental strain of repeatedly dying multiple times a night would snap even the strongest or most apathetic and for all his strength Naruto was only a child, a lonely child cast adrift on the whims of fate and his fate, it seemed, had been only unkind. Why though, why would someone that young leave the orphanage so early, and I can't tell anyone; the sudden realisation made a bubble of hysterical laughter burst from her lips before she clapped her hands over them to stifle it; they would never believe me.

Even she didn't believe a lot of it and she'd lived through it; much as she didn't want to admit it Naruto's secrets were safe simply because if she tried explaining it to anyone she'd have been strapped down in a Yamanaka's chair before she could say rope-escape technique. I'm in this on my own; for an instant she understood the edge, the barest edge of what the tiny blonde must live through every day and the enormity of it threatened to smother her hope as she massaged her tired, aching forehead, rested her elbows on her knees and breathed raggedly in the face of the last, most important question of all; so what the hell do I do now?

A/N: Good question my readers – how would you answer it?

No omakes or glimpses of the future this time; as some of my reviewers have bene pointing out the recent chapters of this fic have been full stories rather than story plants – as the last supposed 'chapter' was later republished as a story in its own right I can see their point!

So then, how this goes is up to your imagination but the basic premise is this:

Due to Kushinas' urging, Minato seals the yin of Kurama into Naruto rather than his yang.

Ashamed of Narutos' poor treatment within the village, the Sandaime buys him a first video game console to make up for his isolation, unaware that Naruto is already forming strong opinions that the village doesn't like him and he's better off alone.

Kurama's yin half, subtler than his destructive yang, introduces itself to the boy at an early age, hoping to win his trust and be let out that way. However, Naruto tells him about these games and Kurama, realising a chance to kill his host off, agrees with his training idea, using a technique similar to Tsukuyomi (which, as yin chakra, he can use) to make the game real, hoping that when Naruto's mind died in the illusion his body would die for real.

Naruto didn't die and actually realised what Kurama had planned; however to the fox's' shock he simply accepted that Kurama wanted to kill him, pointing out nothing else was new and that at least the fox was helping him train. Since then he's been using the fox's technique to enter video games and learn to fight from bitter experience, becoming a shut-in in the process and driving even Kurama to question what he'd done.

Realising Naruto has been stealing more up to date video game consoles as they become available and looking to try and integrate the 'shy' jinchuuriki into Konoha as a whole, Sarutobi enrols him in the Academy two years early.

Naruto, having been trained in taijutsu for many years due to his technique, causes massive upsets in the Academy tournament, losing only the last bout to Inuzuka Hana in a match the scion of the nin-ken clan isn't sure was called cleanly.

Curious about the boy who almost beat her, Hana tracks him down after the tournament, finds out about his brutal training methods and, after a talk with his 'conscience' and her first virtual death after Naruto invites her into a two-player game, is left pondering how to help Naruto see there's more to life than his self-imposed, agonising exile and training regime.

So there's your story premise; go for it, make hay and let me know what you come up with!

Until next time, this is the obsidian dreamer signing out!