I was uncomfortable for the rest of the task. On my toes. My teammates had come to after I had carried them away from Naruto. I had a surprising amount of strength. Of course, I barely had any chakra left after having to take down the pillars that surrounded the Naruto and my battlefield. I felt weak yet alert at the same time. I couldn't relax.

We were lucky, my group and I. After that event, Sasano and Mosco let me help. We didn't even have to fight to get a Heaven Scroll. We stumbled across a squad that had been taken down my some giant leach-like things. I would rather forget about that. The bodies were shriveled up. It was like there was nothing left but the skin.

We were among the few who made it out of the forest alive. I soon learned that Gaara wasn't actually there to become a Chunnin. He had a squad of his own and he had come for support. It was a weird thing for me. Gaara had ended up with a better life than Naruto than vice versa. It was both a good thing and a bad thing. Naruto had been screwed, but Gaara…Gaara was better than ever. He was smiling for God's sake!

Moving on from that I looked around to see how many squads had made it. There weren't many of us. Some kids had come in by themselves or with only one of their other team members. The Forest had taken many lives this time around, more than usual. I felt a surge of empathy for these other people, the ones who had made it and the ones who hadn't. The Forest of Death left its mark, may it be visible or not. It truly was torture to be sent in there. I hated it. I was lucky. I had come out of there with only a few scratches and a bruise or two. My teammates were being treated to some medical attention. I was receiving resentful glares from those who hadn't been as lucky. They were stupid to think that I liked being well. I would have preferred to have been injured, somehow. I needed pain.

I pushed away from the wall, done brooding. I strolled around the circular room. I was surrounded by hushed conversations and gauze. Where was Sumara?

"Out of the way!" called an urgent voice. I whipped around just in time to see someone being rolled in on a gurney, medical ninja hurrying alongside it. "Move it! This girl is in critical condition!" I caught site of the raven black hair. Sumara. I leapt over a pair of ninja talking and pushed through all the people. I needed to be by her side. She was my friend. I was about there, just about to touch the cool metal and ask a medical ninja what I could do when I was stopped. I was stopped by Sumara's real life boyfriend. Yikes.

"Where do you think you're going?" He didn't sound like he was being confrontational nor did he sound like he thought I was up to anything. He just sounded curious.

"The girl there," I pointed at the shrinking form of the gurney and medical ninja, "she's my friend. I have to make sure she's okay." I saw empathy flash through Gaara's eyes. And then it was replaced by concern.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Hurry before someone catches you." I looked him in the eye and saw a mischievous glint there. This was so weird. I grinned though, and speed-walked down the hall after the gurney.

I caught up with a woman who was at the end of the gurney closest to me. "What happened?" I asked.

She looked at me for a moment before sighing. "I have no idea, honey. She just stopped. There is no sign of trauma at all. It's perplexing to say the least."

"She'll be alright though, right?" I asked, almost pleaded.

The exact expression that had just been on Gaara's face a few moments prior crossed this woman's face. "Honey, we'll do the best we can to help your friend." Then she left me with a squeeze of my shoulder as goodbye. The door to the ER whooshed behind her. The red light above the door lit up.

I backed away slowly, the world around me going in and out of focus. This was all my fault. If I hadn't taken that dumb task Sumara wouldn't be faced with death. I felt like the wall were closing in on me. I stumbled back. I gasped for air. My chest constricted. My stomach rolled with a wave of nausea. I could feel my knees give out. I fell to the floor. No doubt that tomorrow there would be big blue bruises as marks of this. That didn't matter though. I felt sick in my body and my soul. I clutched at my stomach and heaved. I felt cool hands pull back my long hair from my face. The knee of this person pressed into my back. When I was done I tried to turn my face away from this mystery person but they still had a grip on my hair. They tugged my head back. I was pulled like a puppet to face the mystery person. I was expecting some random person who had thought helping me out would be a good karma. The person I saw was someone I would never have expected to come to my rescue, at least not in this world.

Naruto.

I felt my face burn with shame. I tapped his hand that was still wrapped in my hair. He let go, letting the white strands fall through his fingers. He looked like it was the best sensation in the world. We were both scrunched down. One of his legs pressed against my back while his arm blocked me from moving away in the front. Was this his plan: trap me when I was weakest? I was about to lash out when I heard a sharp intake of breath come from him.

"I-um, are you okay?"

I froze. "Why would you care?"

"I was once told that the people who hate you actually care the most about you. Looks like we care a lot about each other."

I stared at him with stern eyes. "I don't hate you."

This caught him off guard. "You don't?"

I shrugged. "Why would I?"

He sat down then and scooted up against the wall. I followed suit. "I'm a demon. That's why you should hate me."

I took a good long look at him, making sure he noticed. "You look human to me. Let me check your soul, though." I stared into his eyes. He looked so vulnerable. "Well, I see nothing corrupt there. You're a Jinchurriki which means you're someone who carries a demon inside. It does not mean that you are a demon in human form."

I leaned away from him, got comfortable, and stared into space. "You're the first person to ever tell me that," he whispered.

I stayed quiet. I knew that this was just the beginning to what was about to come out.

"When I was a kid, I thought that I was some sort of alien because I had no parents. I was taken care of, sometimes. When I was maybe five years old I had to take care of myself. It was always just me. I would go to the store and buy all the food I needed. I got money from people who felt bad for a little kid who had no family to speak of. I hated their pity. Then, when I would try and play with the other kids, their parents would usher them away with a fearful expression on their faces. I never understood why until I heard two Jounin talking. They talked about an attack that had occurred many years ago. It had been the Nine Tailed Fox that had attacked; the Fourth defeated him. Then the Fox was sealed within me.

"I broke into one of the secret areas that held the scrolls telling of the attack. It mentioned that many children were killed, including a child named Iruka. I'm still not sure why that name is stuck with me. I felt responsible for the lives the Kyuubi had taken. I also felt guilty. After that I became hermit. I hid away, only leaving my home for the bare essentials. Then, one day I decided I could use this hate that I had and put it to good use. That was when I decided to join the Ninja Academy." He glanced over at me, a pained expression marring his beautiful face. Then he slammed his head back into the wall. "Why am I telling you this?"

"I don't know," I whispered.

He slammed his fist into the ground. "Well neither do I! I just…ugh!" Then he stood and stalked off. I slumped over, holding my head in my hands. My head throbbed from post-vomit sickness. I wanted nothing more than to sink into nothingness. I wanted to give up on this task. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. It just didn't make sense!

"Meseru!" I yelled. "Meseru, why are you doing this?" My outburst was answered by nothing but silence. If only I had the luxury of ignorance. But no, I had to go through this.

The main problem was that I had no idea what I was meant to do. I mean, understood that Meseru had given me the life that I had always wanted, but then that screwed up everyone else. I didn't understand how. Was that the point? That I wouldn't understand? No, that didn't make sense. No one ever really understands life. A person may get a basic idea, but never really know what was going on. You could try and live in the ignorant bliss, claiming you know it all, but you don't. No one can never know it all. If someone did, their head might explode.