Lee could barely contain his excitement as his team finally began to approach the titanic tower. It had taken them two days more than they initially expected, but his team had gathered everything they needed to proceed to the next stage.

He was about to turn back and shout for Tenten and Neji to hurry up, but their glares were enough to make him reconsider that course of action.

Dodging Tenten's weapons was good training, but getting hit by them still hurt. He'd have to ask their teacher for some more conditioning training to better handle it, but that could wait until the exams were finished.

"Finally here." She said with a sigh as they stepped into the reception area. It was utterly empty, except for an open scroll that was pinned to a wall. "If I ever so much as step into a forest again, it'll be too soon."

"But Tenten-chan, a forest is one of the best places to train in! Especially with all of those animals! Maybe Guy-sensei will let us come back here after the exams if we ask-"

"Lee, please."

He pretended to zip his mouth close and hurriedly saluted her.

Neji, as always, seemed to be unaffected by his teammates' antics, crossing his arms while staring at the open scroll. "Tenten, what do you make of this?"

The girl hummed before stepping closer to examine it. "If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body, and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever... Sounds like we need to open both scrolls at once, doesn't it?"

"Tenten-chan, you're so wise!" Lee gave her a thumbs-up. "I would've never thought of that if you hadn't said it!"

"Yeah, Lee, that's because you're a..." Tenten sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind."

Neji placed both of their scrolls on the floor and pulled the string that held them together. Lee and Tenten were already getting ready in case something dangerous came out of them.

Their actions ended up being unnecessary, though, and Lee recognized that as soon as he saw the shape emerging from the burst of smoke. "Guy-sensei!" He ran up to their teacher, who greeted him with a jovial smile and a pat to the head.

"You've all arrived quite early, Lee!" He laughed. "Not that I was expecting anything else, of course!"

Neji scoffed. "It wasn't that difficult. No one here can seriously challenge us. They might as well just end this farce now and crown us the winners."

"So, we were the first team to arrive, right?" Tenten asked eagerly before Guy could scold Neji for his remark.

Their teacher's expression dropped for a second before returning to normal. "No, I'm afraid not. It was... a bit of a tricky situation."

That peaked Lee's attention. It wasn't often that Guy-sensei spoke so somberly, and for someone who could destroy a mountain with his hands, a 'tricky' situation could only mean something dangerous.

"Anyway," He said after noticing their unease. "You all don't need to worry about that! We still have three days until the next stage begins, so take the opportunity to relax and prepare yourselves! It's finally time to show the world the product of your hard work, and I'm sure that you'll all do beautifully!"

Just his words were enough to raise Lee's spirits. Guy-sensei had been the only one to believe in him, the only one who decided to seriously train a boy who couldn't perform even the most simple of techniques with his chakra. No matter how many times he heard it, having him reaffirm the validity of his dream would always make him ecstatic.

The Jonin gave them a hand-held map of the tower, told them to get some rest again, and then disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"Hey, Neji, let's spar-!"

"I'm going to our room." The Hyuga said curtly, handing the map over to Tenten. "It'd be good for you to conserve your strength, Lee. You're going to need it. Especially if we're put against each other..." He smirked. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to end your suffering quickly if we do."

"Hey! I'll beat you this time, Neji, you'll see!" He shouted after him, but the boy had already disappeared from their sight.

"Tenten-chan, let's look around! Maybe we can find the others who arrived before us!"

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll go get something to eat and then head straight to bed," She said, handing the map over to him. "The first night in two days without having to worry about some freak giant tiger trying to bite my head off sounds like paradise right now."

"Alright, that's fine! I'll see you two later!" He said with a gleaming smile and a thumbs-up. Tenten waved back at him before walking off to look for Neji, and Lee kept the pose up until he was the only one left.

"Oh, well." He said to himself, picking a random direction to walk toward. "Let's see what's up."

Lee knew that they would have to be careful while at the tower. Even if the 'rules' technically prohibited it, subterfuge and sneak attacks were just another part of ninja life. Anyone would take the opportunity to slit his neck if they knew they could get away with it.

But he didn't really care.

Because Lee knew fully well that he could take on anyone who tried anything funny on him or his teammates.

His conviction wasn't born out of some superficial, unfounded sense of superiority, like many accused Neji of having, but years of strenuous training and preparation that had led up to that very moment. Lee grinned. He hoped that Neji's words came to be true - It was about time for him to show the boy what hard work could really do.

Something made him stop in his tracks. It was a faint and familiar sound that brought him back to his childhood, to memories he had long since forced himself to forget. Lee perked his ears, senses aided by his chakra, and tried to follow it to its source. Midway through, he realized what he was hearing.

Someone was crying and trying to hide it.

Lee ventured deeper into corridors he didn't recognize, map momentarily forgotten. He didn't know what was attracting him, but it was intense, pulling on his mind like an anchor.

He had amassed a reputation for being loud and bashful - which, frankly, was accurate - but Lee was training to become not just a warrior, but a ninja as well. He took great care to remove all sound from his steps, pressing his body against a shadow on the wall while peeking out around the corner.

It was a girl, around as old as he was, if not a bit younger, curled up against a metal door with her head tucked between her knees. Lee quickly jumped back into his cover.

He had never been trained to deal with a situation like that. Sure, he had managed to comfort Tenten plenty of times when she was upset, but that was different! Lee had no idea of how he was supposed to talk to normal girls!

That being said, it wasn't as if he could just walk away without trying to help her either. But there was no way to know if she'd even need or want his help too. Maybe she could even take offense to that and begin fight right then and there. 'When did helping someone get this complicated?!'

His thoughts were interrupted by her voice before Lee could decide on what to do. "I can tell you're there," She said. There was no sadness on her voice now, only an unwavering resolve. "Show yourself. Attack me if you want to, but be warned - I won't hold back!"

"Attack you? No!" He shouted, running out from his corner so that they were facing each other. Lee only understood how she had managed to sense his presence when he saw her pupilless white eyes and the accompanying set of veins bulging around them. "I'd never do anything like that! Especially to a comrade!"

He saw her face slacken for a second before hardening again as if they were about to fight right then and there. "Then, why are you here? I saw you earlier; you're from Neji's team!"

"I am," He admitted, somewhat shamefully. "But that doesn't have anything to do with me being here, I swear!"

"Again, if that's the case, then why are you here in the first place?"

"Well, that's-"Lee's embarrassment was quickly overcome when the girl took a step toward him, extending her hand with its palm facing him in a very familiar stance. "I just heard you from downstairs and came here to see what was happening!"

It seemed as if their positions had been shifted. Now Lee was confused while the girl seemed shamed, slightly dropping her hand while looking away from him. "Hey, not that there's anything wrong with crying-"

"God, I'm pathetic," She interrupted. "Crying so loud that even my enemies can hear it."

Lee didn't think about de-escalating the situation in the slightest as he yelled out, "We're not enemies, Hyuga-chan!"

"Not enemies?" Her suspicious gaze returned upon him. "You and your team are participating in these exams. So am I. And I know for a fact Neji wouldn't consider us allies just because we come from the same village."

"Well, yes, that's true," He admitted. Neji had an exceptional talent for alienating people, especially their clients, but he had never thought that would extend to his family as well. "But I don't. There's no reason for us to fight each other unless we absolutely need to, right? As soon as this is over, we'll be on the same side again. Becoming chunnin isn't worth compromising something like that."

The look in her eyes changed, although he couldn't quite tell what she was feeling now. "You don't seem to be lying." She finally said after a few seconds of awkward silence passed between them. "Well, I appreciate your concern, but you should probably return to your team by now," She gave a side-long glance to the door beside her and mumbled, "So should I."

"We all need help sometimes! Guy-sensei always said that 'There is virtue in being capable by yourself, but you should never be ashamed for relying on your comrades' strength as well.' Giving support and taking it from others, that's what it means to belong to a village, Hyuga-chan!"

"Guy-sensei always said..." The girl's words trailed off, and she stared at him for a few seconds with an open mouth before bursting into laughter.

"Hey!" He pointed at her indignantly. "Don't make fun of Guy-sensei's words!"

"I'm not, I swear." She said placatingly after recovering her breath and wiping a tear from her eye. "It's just... are you sure you're really from Neji's team?"

"Of course!" He sat down in the middle of the hallway, hoping that no one passed by anytime soon. "I know that Neji-san can be... difficult, at times, and he's made a lot of people angry, but he's a great ninja too! And I think he wants nothing but what's the best for the village and his comrades, no matter what he says!"

"...What's your name?"

"I'm Rock Lee!" He said, proudly pointing to himself. "The Green Beast of Konoha! And my dream is to prove that even someone who can't use jutsu can become a great ninja!"

He saw it in her eyes. The same detached pity that came whenever he announced his dream and disability to others. It was insulting when he was younger, but he had long since learned to deal with it. He'd only have to prove her wrong - just like all the others.

He forced himself to redirect those thoughts. His personal feelings didn't matter by that point. His mission was to distract Neji's relative from whatever was ailing her, and for the time being, his efforts seemed to have been working.

"That's a good dream," She said, turning away from him to look at one of the colorless walls. "Everyone around me seems to have these great ambitions, and I thought I had mine as well, but well... I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with this."

"You're not bothering me at all!" He was quick to reassure her. "But I don't think you should feel bad about your dream, whatever it is! Every one of us strives for something different, and we'll all achieve it as long as we put enough effort into it! That's what Guy-sensei has always taught me!"

"That's... nice." She finally said with a warm smile that made Lee feel like he had just completed the most arduous task in his life. "Thank you, Lee. I... needed to talk to someone, I think."

"I'm always happy to help!" He shot up to his feet. "If you need me, I'll be in room, uhh..." He checked the map Tenten had given them. "Sixteen! Good luck to you and your friends, uhh..." His face dropped as he scratched his neck. "I'm sorry, I should have asked for your name earlier!"

"That's fine," She bowed to him in the regal and dignified manner that only members of the Hyuga clan could master. Lee wondered if he'd ever see Neji do something similar. "My name's Hinata Hyuga. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lee-san."

They exchanged some more pleasantries before Lee went on his way to find something interesting to do without a second thought to what had just transpired. If Hinata needed his help like he said, he would always be ready to offer it, but chances were he'd forget about their interaction entirely if she didn't.

Helping someone out of goodwill alone and thinking nothing of it afterward was just the sort of person Rock Lee was.

Hinata watched the strange boy walk away until he disappeared from her Byakugan's range, and kept staring in that direction for a few seconds afterward as well. Their conversation, while tense at first, had proven itself to be the perfect distraction for a few minutes, but now she was alone again, and her thoughts found themselves drifting toward the room she was protecting.

The bloodline limit gave her ample view of its inhabitants, Naruto and Kiba, lying down side by side on elaborately prepared hospital beds while Akamaru kept watching over them from the inside.

The shock of finding them in such a decrepit state had been significant enough to almost make her pass out on the spot. After that, it had been a laborious process to carry them toward safety while looking out for whoever had harmed them.

Explaining to Kurenai that she didn't know just who or what had attacked them in the first place, or why she was the only one who seemed to have been unharmed, was just as difficult as making it there in the first place.

The Jonin disappeared soon afterward, promising that it hadn't been Hinata's fault while asking her to get as much rest as possible before the next stage began. She hadn't reappeared since then, and Hinata was starting to believe that she never would.

Naruto's natural healing had done wonders for his complexion. When Hinata had found him by the shore, the boy's eyes had been so swollen that she couldn't even tell if they were opened or not, and the cuts spread around his body, both shallow and deep, had bled out enough to shower him and the area around them with his blood.

Less than a full day had passed, and those wounds were reduced to nothing but bruises and paper cuts. Hinata didn't doubt that he wouldn't even have a scar by the next week.

Kiba's recovery hadn't been as miraculous, but then again, he hadn't been so wounded in the first place. The doctors had told her that they found traces of poison in his system, as they did with hers, and that he would recover naturally from it with enough rest and care. Hinata believed them, but even that did nothing to alleviate the fear and guilt she felt when looking at his motionless body.

She forced herself to stop looking at them and raised a hand, focusing all of her chakra into a single point on the tip of her thumb. Hinata tried to change the energy's shape before moving it to another finger.

Once that was done, she altered its speed and direction, making all sorts of intricate movements before sighing and giving up. Using chakra control exercises to get her mind off of things seemed almost like a wasted effort by that point.

"...I need to get out of here and do something." She spoke out loud, starting to take a step down the hallway. "Maybe eat something. I'm hungry..."

But images came to the forefront of her mind, stopping her where she stood. Finding Naruto's body again, only he was dead this time, and there was nothing she could do to help him. She saw herself returning to the room after a brief expedition, only to see the two of them splattered all over the walls, just like the corpse she had seen on the compound.

Hinata had decided she would protect them after Yakegake. That she would never let something like that happen again. And now Kiba was wounded, Naruto had almost died, and she had slept throughout all of it.

She would rather tear open her own stomach with a knife than allow them to get hurt because of her negligence again.

"No, I can go for a few more hours before eating something." She said out loud again. It was too suffocating inside of her mind to think.

But all of her conviction did nothing to change the fact that Hinata hadn't slept ever since encountering them like that for the first time. It had almost been a full day already, and her will was sipping.

"I just need to..." She yawned as her eyelids became heavier and heavier. "Stay...here..."

When she woke up again, fragments of a dream involving running through a forest while desperately clutching to a foreign hand lingering on her mind, the first thing Hinata noticed was the smell of freshly cooked food right next to her.

The second thing was that she was no longer sitting in the hallway. Her back was supported on a bed frame, and a coat was put over her body to serve as a blanket.

She turned around to see Naruto sitting cross-legged on his bed, two massive trays sitting in front of him filled with all sorts of food, from sushi rolls to well-grilled slices of meat. Akamaru sat by his bedside, tail wagging while the redhead gave him some scraps every now and again.

Kiba was still asleep, but Hinata noticed that his bedsheets and pillows had been replaced recently as well. She didn't have to guess who had done that.

"No, I already told you the sushi's mine-" Naruto was saying while holding a pair of chopsticks over Akamaru's head as the puppy tried to jump up at his bed, but his words trailed off when he turned and saw that Hinata was awake and staring at him.

"I thought I should let you sleep for a while," He said, fidgeting once Hinata failed to respond. "I didn't know if you were cold or not, and putting you on the bed felt a bit awkward, so I just draped that coat over you. My bad, I should have been more-"

Hinata didn't even allow Naruto to notice herself launch at him before it was too late. She rocked his body with her weight, almost dropping both of them onto the floor, and he had to be quick to spare the food trays from falling prey to Akamaru's hunger.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed as the tears Lee had worked so hard to stop resurfaced again. "I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun. I should have been there, I should have been awake, I could have helped-"

"Hey, now," Naruto said with an enviable calm, allowing the hug to continue for a second before pushing her away so that they were facing each other. "There's nothing to be sorry for. I fell for their trap just as much as you did. As for who beat me up, well..." He smiled. "There was nothing you could have done about in the first place, so like I said, don't worry about it."

There was something odd about his face beyond just his wounds. It was almost enough to make Hinata check for any genjutsu in hopes of finding an impostor. Her teammate had never looked so solemn before. He wasn't sad necessarily, but some of his typical joy and cheer were missing. Almost as if Naruto had resigned himself to something.

"But - Naruto, what happened?"

He took a deep breath. "It's... pretty complicated. Here, do you want to eat something?" She shook her head, but he insisted for her to at least take one of the meat slices. It was hard to stop after she did. "What's the last thing you remember?"

It was finding the near-dead Iwa genin by the tunnel and their subsequent attempt of carrying them out of it. Naruto began his explanation about what had happened after that point, detailing Kiba's injuries, the boy's reasoning behind the poisonous gas, Jack's intervention, and his decision to carry them to the tower, all the way to leaving their bodies by the shore where Hinata had woken up.

"After that, I went down to, well, clear my thoughts a bit, I guess..." He paused to steel himself for what was to come before continuing. "By that point, I saw her. She was there, Hinata. I don't know why or how, but she was."

She didn't have to ask who he was talking about - Naruto could only mean one woman with that tone of voice - but the situation was still ludicrous enough to push the words out;

"You mean, your mother?"

A nod.

"She... said some things. I didn't understand most of it, still don't, to be honest, but at one point, she... she threatened to hurt you and Kiba. Said that she'd... kill you two to make me stronger. I tried to fight her after that, but, well... you saw what happened."

"Oh, Naruto." She whispered, pulling him into another hug. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" She could see his eyes peering down at her. "Sorry for what? Hinata, I'm the one who should be sorry here. Just being there was enough to put you and Kiba in danger. I couldn't stop her, no matter what I did. If she had decided to... God, I could have done nothing to stop it."

"Have you told Kurenai-sensei yet? Or the Third Hokage? Naruto, they need to know-!"

"Well, not yet." He grabbed another slice of food and took a moment to savor it. "I just woke up, like I said. Thought it'd be better to sneak in some food from the kitchens and relax with you two before doing that."

"But she could attack-" She meant to say 'us' but thought better of it. "This place any time now!"

"Trust me, Hinata, if she was going to do anything like that, she'd already be here by now. My mother is a lot of things, but a coward isn't one of them. She'd stroll through those gates, destroying everything in her path, and there's not a goddamn thing anyone here could do to stop her."

She didn't know how to respond to that. There was something Naruto wasn't saying, a slight hesitance behind his words that would have been untraceable to anyone who didn't already know him. And worst of all, she felt as if there was nothing she could do about it.

It seemed as if he noticed her reluctance because he was quick to comfort her. "Hey, like I said, there's no use thinking about these things. I'm pretty full right now, and I don't think Kiba's waking up any time soon." He nudged toward their companion's bed. "What do you say you and me go look around this place a bit, huh? I'm sure there's gotta be something to do here until everyone else arrives."

"I don't think-" She began to protest. Still, Naruto was already pulling them out of the room, pausing to give a small salute to Akamaru, who returned the gesture with a bark.

"Come on, I'm sure there's got to be a garden here or something."

She felt like cursing at herself. There was no moment in her life where Hinata had hated herself as much as she did then. Because she was too afraid to question him about what he was hiding from her. Because she couldn't even look at her teammate without feeling the scars on her arms burn. Because, for the first time since she had met him, something about Naruto Uzumaki terrified her.

Nothing went through Naruto's mind while pulling Hinata along besides stretching out his sensory abilities to avoid coming across anyone else.

It was odd. Despite everything that had happened, he had never been so calm before. It didn't even occur to him while stopping by to appreciate the view outside of a glass window that the odd voices putting malicious thoughts in his head hadn't spoken a single word since he had awakened.

What did he want to do? Naruto didn't know. He needed to get away from the room with Kiba, and more importantly, to get Hinata's mind away from the conversation they had been having. But what could they really see in the tower? The other teams they'd have to deal with soon enough? No, Naruto didn't want to think about them, not then.

'I'll go to the gardens,' He decided. 'Just like I said we would.'

The task was still easier said than done. The two of them half-ran across countless identical hallways, in and out of rooms, narrowly avoided coming into contact with the other ninja manning the edifice, all without a single sign of their objective. He could tell that Hinata wanted to speak up and say something to him but couldn't gather the courage needed for it.

'Good, the less I have to think about that, the better.'

Miraculously, they both came across their target shortly after he had that thought. A pair of doors by the first floor led to an expansive enclosure, filled with all sorts of different flowers and plants, many of which he had never seen before.

Judging by Hinata's reaction, much of it was new to her as well.

He looked back at her and smiled, pleased to see that she did the same.

"It's so beautiful..." She said, stepping closer to a small gathering of different pots and smelling the flowers assembled there. Naruto nodded and crouched down by her side, looking down at all of its colors. Purple, white, red, blue, a mixture between all of them. He was confident most of them didn't even grow in the land of fire, let alone Konoha.

"What's this one's name?" He asked, pointing at the plant Hinata was looking at. She blinked at him, confused. He only understood why a moment later. They had gone to the botanic gardens before, back in the village, but he always used the opportunity to spend more time with her. This was the first time he showed any actual interest in the activity.

"Oh, this one's a P-plumeria," She said, raising it so that Naruto could get a better look.

It was small, five petals circling its center like a white-and-yellow spiral. Naruto had been around some good-smelling flowers before, but nothing ever quite came close to it.

There was a brief moment of hesitation when Hinata made to hand it over to him, but Naruto gently reached out and grabbed it out of her hand, astonished at just how small it really was.

"What is it used for?" He whispered, almost as if too strong of a breeze would have been enough to destroy it.

"P-perfumes, mostly. But I've read that some doctors can use it to make medicine in Kumo."

"Kumo, huh?" Naruto was too invested in their conversation to notice he had unintentionally reduced his radar to only cover the two of them. "Isn't that crazy to think about?"

"What is?"

"This thing came all the way over from Kumo; I mean, that must have been what, hundreds of thousands of miles? Someone carried it, a merchant, probably, through all sorts of different places, meeting all kinds of different people, and it all ended up here. Isn't that funny? This thing can't even speak or think, but it probably has seen more of the world than we ever will. And it didn't hurt a single being in the process." He sighed. "I wonder if I could say the same about us if we tried to do the same."

"...Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"Huh?" He reluctantly turned away from the flower to face her. Hinata's face was covered with concern, and seeing that look in her white eyes hurt him more than any blow could have. "Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

"It's just... I don't know, but you can tell me if something's on your mind."

"It's nothing," He tried to give her an easy-going smile. "I just have a new outlook on things, I guess. Hey, when we get back home, do you want to-"

"Naruto-kun."

Both of them turned around with haste, although each of them had their own reasons for why.

Naruto was sure that to Hinata, hearing their leader's voice was more than enough of an incentive to act as courteous as possible.

Suffice it to say, seeing Sarutobi standing by the garden's entrance in the middle of their moment had a different effect. They spoke at the same time. "Hokage-sama!" "Old man, what are you doing here?"

"I've... been called to supervise the second stage of the exams. But the truth of the matter is, I think we should talk, Naruto-kun."

Naruto took a few moments to respond before finally deciding to tap Hinata on the shoulder. The girl was so focused on Sarutobi that she almost jumped at the contact. "Hey, Hinata, I'm sorry, but do you mind giving us some time to talk to each other? I'll come to see you later.'

Now it was her turn to take a few seconds before responding. She nodded after gathering herself before shakily standing from Naruto's side. "I'll go check on Kiba-kun."

She stopped by Sarutobi's side before leaving, turning back to him as if to say something else. She seemed to change her mind halfway through the motion, though, and simply went in silence.

"...You've managed to get some good friends, my boy."

"Yeah, Hinata's great." He put the flower down and turned to face the man, not standing from where he was. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Do you mind walking with me for a bit? There's a bench not far from here, and I'm quite tired after the-"

"Oh, please. You and I are both well aware of what you're capable of, old man; standing there isn't going to kill you."

Sarutobi sighed and took off his hat. "Very well. Naruto, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did when you came to visit me. I know that must have hurt you, and that's the last thing I wanted to do."

Naruto forced his face to remain unchanging while they looked at each other. He focused his vision on Sarutobi's eyes. Kurenai had told them that it was the best way to know if someone was lying. One could train all of their visual features to be perfectly deceptive, except for their eyes.

They were wavering. Brown, just as he remembered, holding decades of experience behind them. Just how much had Sarutobi seen in his life? How many battlefields and corpses had he walked by, and from those, how many were his friends and comrades?

Naruto had never thought about the mountain of bodies necessary to take the old man's place before, and he was sure Kiba hadn't either.

"Fine."

The wavering gave place to shock.

"What?"

"I said fine. I don't know why you reacted like that, but we all do things we shouldn't have in retrospect. You seem to be feeling pretty bad about it, and that's enough as far as I'm concerned." He shrugged. "I accept your apology. It's cool."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"But- I- You must understand, your words that day reminded me of-"

"I saw my mother yesterday."

The shock he had seen before seemed almost negligible compared to the sheer surprise adorning Sarutobi's face. The man's mouth opened and closed a few times, and Naruto could see that his hands were trembling.

"Yeah, I was making my way here. Kiba and Hinata had passed out, and she just showed up when I cleaning myself." He laughed. "I honestly thought she was a vision or something at first, can you believe that? But it was the real deal. Or at least someone who looked a lot like her, I guess. She kicked my ass, I mean, I had some unfavorable fights before, don't get me wrong, but I've never been so trashed before in my entire life."

He mindlessly plucked another flower from behind him, looking it over before speaking again.

"But she saved my life. Right after almost killing me, she pulled me off of the stream so that I wouldn't drown. I've been thinking about that ever since I woke up again, and I just can't figure out why the hell she would do something like that." He began to spin the flower's stem from side to side with his fingers.

"I suppose she just wanted me to stick around after all. She wasn't angry at me while we were 'fighting,' mind you, just... disappointed. As if I had failed on an academy test, or broke something expensive, you know?" Another laugh. This one had no mirth behind it. Sarutobi was still struggling to form a response to his rant, but Naruto wasn't finished.

"Kiba showed me a movie once. It was right before we left for Yakegake. We thought it'd be an action movie because of the poster, but it ended up being more of a drama sort of thing—a civilian's wife dies of some terminal illness, and the main character decides to end his own life because of it. At the very end, he changes his mind because he had to take care of his mom, who was too old to look after herself. Kiba thought I was crying because the movie was sad. I thought that too, but recently I've been thinking, maybe it was something else. Something that I had been feeling for a long time but failed to realize, you know? What if that was me? What do I have to lose, really? And what could keep me around if I did? If Kiba and Hinata died right now, what would I do? Just keep throwing myself at my mom until I managed to beat her? How long would that take, five, ten years? And what would I do after that, just keel over and die too? That's a pretty sad way to live, isn't it?"

"Yes," The word almost came out as a whisper, and Naruto could see that tears were beginning to form around Sarutobi's wrinkled eyes. "Yes, you're right."

"It's funny," He threw the flower aside and lied on the ground, looking up at the ceiling's artificial lights. "The first time we met, I decided to dedicate the rest of my life to beat her. Now that we saw each other again, I'm having second thoughts about the entire thing. I suppose that makes me a coward."

"You're not a-!"

"I don't mind at all." He interjected, silencing Sarutobi yet again. Naruto grinned and began to walk over to him, talking as he did. "Being a coward, I mean. This isn't something someone else said to me - I've decided on it all by myself. I never liked fighting. Getting hit, hitting others, being wounded, almost dying, it's horrible, always has been. But I managed to push myself through all of it because of two reasons. One, I was good at it. I was damn good at it. Sure, there were a few missteps in the way, but after a while, no one in the arena could even touch me anymore. But recently, I've realized I might have just been lying to myself about that. There's a whole world of people stronger than me out there, people who've been training for as long as I've been alive, people who wouldn't take five seconds to kill me if they really wanted to. My mom's a good example of someone like that."

"Naruto-kun, maybe you're going too fast, you should-"

"The other reason was that I thought I had some great goal at the end of it all, something that justified all of the pain I went through. I guess it just took me this long to realize that was a lie too."

Naruto pulled the shocked Sarutobi into a hug, preventing him from protesting again.

"I'm not going to do it right now; Kiba and Hinata still need me. But as soon as these exams are over and they become full-blown chunnin, they won't need a team anymore. They won't need someone like me around to push them down either. When that happens, I'm quitting for good. Maybe I'll try to look for a job as a cook, or do some traveling, learn more about the world. But fighting, being a ninja? That life isn't for me. It never was."

He broke their hug. "I'll see you around old man."

"Wait, Naruto-kun, don't go-!"

But he was already gone. Naruto didn't have a plan, but just stretching his legs and looking around did wonders for his mood. Absent mindedly, the boy began to whistle, sounds haunting the empty hallways behind him.

A/N: Another relatively short one. Sorry, I know that I promised the preliminaries would begin in this chapter, but plans have changed a bit. Oops. (I had already written up to the first fight in this chapter but decided this was a better cut-off point. Since so much of Chapter 15 has already been written, I expect it to be out a whole lot sooner than this one was. Feel free to hold me to that.)

Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows, as always. In fact, at the time I'm writing this, we're almost past 100 followers! I can promise you now, I never expected something like this when I began writing this story, and I can't express just how grateful I am for it.

See you all next time!