Disclaimer: Copyrights are in place, and they are followed by the author of this fic, who makes no money from the written work at any time.
Iruka Umino had never run faster in his entire life. The ground below him flew like a blue, but from his angle of vision, all he saw was what was ahead of him. Thankfully, the scenery was beautiful, and the sun wasn't directly in his vision. Streaks of sunlight mixed with patches of plantlife marked the sides of the road the four ninja were traveling.
It had been fourteen hours since they had left Konoha, and while the group had stopped on a few occasions to answer the call of nature, Iruka had been quite convinced that the group shouldn't make camp until they'd reached the fire country's borders. At the time, Kakashi Hatake had agreed with his younger coworker, but he had his doubts as to how long the Umino himself could hold out.
Schoolteachers of even a shinobi academy were considered pansies; one of the reasons Mizuki hadn't been suspected of being a vagabond in any way was this common reputation. As a teacher, your training schedules were relaxed, and all you had to worry about were the basics. All-in-all, it had seemed like a nice fit for Iruka, who had screwed around instead of taking his assignment as a shinobi seriously. Therefore, it was with mild surprise that Kakashi could look behind him and see Iruka keeping up as well as any fellow jonin.
Further behind the two adults, the two genin were keeping a pace as fast as they could manage, Sasuke leading by an arm's length. It wasn't a competition, however, and every now and then the Uchiha would allow is female teammate to catch up and even pass him, if only to ensure that the group wasn't separated; for some reason, he just didn't trust Kakashi with that task.
Every now and then, Sakura would pull her water canteen hanging from her waist to take a quick swig while her legs were still going. She could feel her chest burn with the effort, and her legs strained, but instead of a whining protest, Sakura would just focus on the fact it was good for her body. The natural ouncing of her backpack kept her from feeling any excess wriggling of the living being stowed away inside it.She made a mental note to run more when she returned to Konoha, unaware that one of her morning rounds around the city would catch the attention of a very passionate green-clad male named Rock Lee, who would from that moment on attempt to join her on her morning escapades, spurring her to run faster.
Time went by, as it had a tendency to do in life whether you counting the seconds or not. The group of four managed to make at least one time and a fraction of the pace that Team 7 had managed on their last trip down the same road(partially due to the fact that they weren't constantly needing to be wary of enemy attacks), and by the next nightfall, the ninja found themselves within a few kilometers of the Land of Waves. It was around then that Sakura Haruno finally voiced her inability to keep up any longer, and though Iruka would have protested, the fact that the kunoichi collapsed flat on her face in a deep slumber discouraged him from doing so(and left the chuunin with a small amount of guilt for is impatience).
Kakashi hadn't been very concerned for her after deducing that it was just from the exhaustion, but he did force everyone to stop for the night. Sasuke had kept his stamina up long enough to help lay out the bedrolls from their baggage before joining Sakura in keeling over into sleep. Kakashi and Iruka actually had enough gusto to enjoy a nice dinner of the supplies the Hatake had thoughtfully crammed into one of his pockets befoe settlin down also. If they had enough rest, perhaps they could make great time the next day as well.
Naruto woke up of his own accord at dawn, feeling numb in areas where the chords had cut off the better part of his circulation. When the events of the night before refreshed in his memory, Naruto spat out another curse, all too aware of the fact Zabuza was standing nearby, penciling something out on a map that Naruto hadn't realized the man had.
Although the dangerous missing-nin had obviously heard him, he paid no heed to the stream of angry words that proceeded to fall from the Uzumaki's mouth while the boy again attempted to break free of the ropes constricting him.
After utilizing an entire lungful of air on words, and another five on flailing, Naruto looked around for Haku, who didn't appear anywhere in sight. This irked him even further, as Haku would have at least attempted to defuse the situation somehow.
"Gragh!"
Frustrated, but refusing to give up, Naruto began to use his only free appendage to knock backwards against the tree. His head throbbed with the impact to the bark, but he continued his movements anyway. He didn't know what he was trying to accomplish, but anything was better than just taking things sitting down. He'd done that for too long, and if he ddn't get back to Konoha soon, the Chuunin Exams would occur without him, and Gaara… Gaara would not only be thieved of his chance at redemption, but would be assigned to the role of destroying all of Konoha.
"Kid, calm down," Zabuza Momochi growled, getting to his feet to approach the child who was more than he seemed. Though outwardly calm, the man was being cautious; he had heard rumors of the bijuu being sealed into human bodies, but he had never given any stock to those topics. He still didn't know what to believe about the incredible chakra the foreign brat had been saturated with, but as the Momochi had learned the night before, provoking the blonde probably wasn't the best of ideas.
Naruto trained his cobalt-blue eyes on his captor with a delirious glare before continuing to bash his own skull into his prison, screaming like a beast. The wood behind him was beginning to splinter, which was alarming to Zabuza because the tree was still very much alive. Wick wood didn't often respond to such blunt impacts, but the kid was ruthless.
I can't TAKE this anymore! KYUUBI! Make this STOP!
The Uzumaki attempted to draw on the fox's chakra for the first time he had intentionally done so in eons, only to find it avoided him. In his subconscious, Kyuubi made a slight warning growl.
Why are you doing this?! Naruto inwardly screamed at the creature, which again ignored his pleas as much as everyone else in the world. Beginning to lose consciousness from his own self-torture, Naruto could see himself falling into that familiar place. Inside his own brain, the spiritual avatar of himself approached Kyuubi's bars.
"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY YOU ARE NOT HELPING ME!" he ordered, all fear of the creature before him shoved aside in his confused rage. The Kyuubi looked at him, now, and prepared his answer.
Afraid to halt the boy physically, Zabuza continued his observation of the lad's frantic and self-destructive actions until blood trickled down the tree bark, and Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head. While the physical Naruto lost consciousness, the one within his own mind gained material form.
"It's simple, really," the bijuu said, shrouded in darkness, "I didn't feel like it."
Naruto clenched his fists and pressed his face against one of the bars. "Didn't feel like it?" he echoed, incredulous.
"Don't sound so surprised, Kid. Even if you die, the cycle begins again."
"I noticed that; I JUST HAVE A HARD TIME COMING TO GRIPS WITH THE FACT THAT THE DEMON IN SEALED IN MY SOUL ACTS ON IMPULSE!" the human shrieked, once again sharply glancing at the eyes of the demon. This time, he regretted it as a stinging sensation coursed through his frame.
"Impulse is fate's communication. The workings of the universe are surprisingly ruled by it." the demon communicated with booming authority, causing some of Naruto's brash attitude to make way for logical thought.
The boy placed his fingers to his forehead and lowered his voice to a hiss, "Are you saying everything you have done thus far and called 'fate' has been on a whim? You KILLED HALF A VILLAGE! That kind of action is not created by an IMPULSE!"
"Is that what you think, or is that what your festering humanity believes? Humans have predictable impulses stemmed from greed. You desire to own, to obtain, to consume, to enjoy. Entities such as myself move as we are instructed by sudden moments of compulsion. We gain NOTHING, we want NOTHING; that is what separates us from the divine."
The indamine's son sputtered and attempted to wrap his mind around the concept. As anyone would be, the young shinobi was quite disturbed to be having such a conversation with a deity that destroyed his childhood. Still, be that as it were, the words were beginning to at least make sense for what they were.
"Then define divinity," Naruto urged, crossing his arms with reluctant tolerance.
"Divinity controls; divinity is balance. It creates, regulates, and corrects until there is no more change to be made, and the soul uncorruptable."
"The gods?" Naruto asked quietly, baffled but at least making an effort to comprehend the whole discussion.
"That's what you would call them, yes." The Kyuubi's eyes regarded the human with interest as he began to pace.
"What do these things have to do with me?" the aspiring hokage suddenly retorted.
"Nothing." the Kyuubi laughed, causing Naruto's hairs to stand on end, "-or everything, depending on how you think on it."
Naruto's face curled into concentration as he attempted to figure the riddle out. However, being Naruto, he failed.
The nine-tailed bijuu was content to just recline in the seal's prison during the instants that followed. Its rumbling breathes echoed through the surreal chamber while the boy in the center of it stewed.
"I don't get it." the blonde finally conceded, looking back to the chaotic entity with distaste.
"Of course you don't. That's the point. It is not my responsibility to enlighten you."
"Why not?!" Naruto demanded, beginning to feel his ephemeral form fade.
"I don't feel like it." the Kyuubi answered, irritating his host to no end before the dream vanished completely.
Author's note: Confused? You should be.