Alright I'm starting my seventh chapter. Really love reading those reviews~

"Kyuubi Speech"

"Midnight Speech"

"Everyone else's speech"

Chapter 7
On with the story

For the next couple of weeks Naruto and Midnight began to grow closer. They started training together, spending every waking moment in each other's presence. They learned each other's likes, dislikes, hobbies, hopes, dreams. Kyuubi trained them as a unit, as two parts of one whole. She trained them to compliment each other in every way. And their demonic link only served to strengthen their bond.

As they grew closer more cracks became visible in Naruto's mask while he attended school. Naruto had an entire year still to be in the academy and already at the beginning of the year the change in his behavior was starting to show, and a few people could see it.

Outside the shinobi academy the children of Naruto's class were doing outdoor training. This generally consisted of projective throwing practice, tree hopping, and a bit of sparring. The very basics. Iruka and Mizuki oversaw the training, though Mizuki was a lot less attentive than Iruka. Mizuki was overseeing a particular fight and drew a hint of concern from Iruka when Iruka noticed Mizuki allowing the fight to go on longer than it probably should have.

"Ok that's enough." Iruka called over to Mizuki, causing the two children to stop their fighting. They were Ino and Sakura, their hands deep in each other's hair. The girls engaging in a fierce cat fight over which one Sasuke liked more.

Sasuke could care less. He was off to the side practicing his kunai throwing. Like always he hit his target dead center, throwing the pieces of metal at a tree with a target painted against it. He had his usual crowd of fangirls around him and couldn't help smirking smugly. The boy looked around and noticed something absent, Naruto.

Typically Naruto would be right next to Sasuke trying to prove himself to be better, but of course Sasuke was always vastly better at each subject. But when looking around Sasuke spotted Naruto across the clearing, just sitting down with his back against tree alone, a subtle smile across the golden haired boy's face. Sasuke shot the boy a small glare. Something was definitely different.

"Wait, so how many fought in the tournament?" Naruto spoke through his mind link to Midnight. LIke usual Midnight was in her baby fox form, her tail wrapped around Naruto's neck to make her look like a scarf. He still had on his baggy orange jumpsuit.

"At least two hundred. It was kind of like a big battle royal. Would you be surprised that there were even some boys fighting there too. I beat them all." Midnight stated in a smut tone. Naruto released a small, sultry chuckle from her words.

"Boys? I wonder what it would be like to have a boy demon as a friend? Are they that much different than girls?" Naruto stated in curiosity. Being referred to just as Naruto's "friend" was a bit upsetting to Midnight but she got over it pretty quickly. She'd work on that.

"They are different in subtle ways. But not by much. It really depends on the person really. Boy's are genuinely more competitive but not as competitive as me clearly." Midnight stated in a proud tone. Naruto let out a sultry bit of laughter.

"Clearly." He replied, a contented smile across his face.

Naruto's eyes held a far off look as he continued his conversation with Midnight inside his head. A little ways away Hinata was practicing her fighting stances alone, but she did so in such a way as to be able to constantly watch Naruto. She was another person who was noticing Naruto's changes recently. He was less loud, less...passionate about being hokage, and just seemed more...happy. Like actually happy. Hinata was one of the few people that saw through Naruto's mask.

While she practiced a kick the girl was suddenly knocked off balance by someone bumping into her. Sasuke was making his way over to Naruto with a narrowed gaze, completely oblivious to Hinata's presence. She rarely even made her presence known in the first place. His shoulder collided roughly with her back and caused her to start to fall to the side at a weird angle. Hinata let out out a small, barely audible shriek as she prepared to roll with her fall.

She was unable to do so because an arm wrapped around her belly, stopping her fall. The lavender eyed girl held a surprised expression in her eyes as she turned her head to notice Sasuke. He'd lunged forward to catch her.

"Sorry." Sasuke stated in a blunt manner, his face emotionless before letting her go. Hinata regained her posture and bowed her head to Sasuke.

"I-it's ok." She said politely. Sasuke tucked his hand in his shorts and nodded before walking off towards Naruto again. Behind her Hinata could feel icy glares against the back of her head. She turned her head to the side to notice a sea of angry faces staring at her. Sasuke's fan club. Hinata went wide eyed before bowing her head and slowly stepping away from the angry girls.

"Sorry...sorry, sorry."

Sasuke continued on his way making very little of that short encounter, his eyes focused on the blonde haired boy sitting alone under that tree. As Sasuke approached Naruto suddenly let out a barely audible giggle. Sasuke watched as Naruto uncharacteristically brought one hand up to gently slip a bit of his shaggy bangs from his hair. "What is going on with him?" Sasuke thought to himself before getting close enough to cast a shadow over Naruto's sitting form.

"You aren't trying to beat me today. You finally give up?" Sasuke asked in a small cocky manner, a subtle smirk playing across his lips. The raven haired boy stood with both his hands tucked into his pockets, standing in the the careless "cool" way he always stood.

Naruto didn't respond to Sasuke immediately, the boy's bright blue eyes cast off to the side with a far off smile on his face. That response or lack thereof, annoyed Sasuke to no end.

"Well?" Sasuke stated with a hint of frustration in his voice. Finally it seemed Naruto snapped out of his daze to glance up to Sasuke's annoyed expression.

"Hm? Oh that. Yes you win Sasuke." Naruto stated while grinning brightly, that mask returning but not being quite right. And Sasuke noticed it.

"Cut the bullshit. What's gotten into you lately?" Sasuke said while turning his body away from Naruto and looking down at the boy out the corner of his eyes, analysing Naruto closely.

Naruto's eyes widened at Sasuke's reaction.

"I must be acting strange again." Naruto thought to himself with an inward sigh.

"You aren't quite acting the same as you did the first day. It would be quite noticeable to anyone who paid attention. I suppose that's my fault. I've been distracting you." Midnight stated in a concerned tone inside Naruto's head.

"Don't say that Midnight. Always focusing on having that mask up was driving me insane. I welcome our little conversations. Plus I like listening to your voice." Naruto cooed which caused Midnight to emit a small, barely audible purr which Sasuke could hear.

"The hell?" Sasuke stated while looking down at Naruto's scarf suspiciously. Naruto and Midnight both let out a simultaneous gasp before Naruto jumped up on his feet and placed both his hands behind his head, walking past Sasuke.

"Ok Sasuke if you want me to kick your butt that bad then you asked for it." Naruto stated while taking out a few kunai from the pouch on his leg and walking towards the nearest aiming tree. Sasuke smirked triumphantly and followed behind.

Off to the side Iruka glanced away from the sparring session he was currently watching over to see Naruto and Sasuke getting ready to compete again. He smiled warmly. "At least some things haven't changed." Iruka thought to himself. He'd also been watching Naruto closely as the boy changed and was one of the few who really noticed those changes to Naruto's behavior and the cracking of that mask.

Naruto and Sasuke finally made over to two nearby aiming trees with targets painted on them. Sasuke was the first to throw, tossing a single shuriken and hitting the bullseye.

"I'll take it easy on you so you can keep up Dobe." Sasuke stated, regaining his careless demeanor as his fangirls began to gather. When he looked over Naruto was again not paying attention, the boy seemingly holding back laughter. Sasuke couldn't help the annoyed look he got again.

"No but seriously, just like a rooster. I mean just look at it. It looks exactly like in those books Kyuubi showed me." Midnight stated with a snicker. Naruto couldn't help looking over to Sasuke and most notably, to Sasuke's hair. Naruto then gently raised his hand and cupped it in front of his mouth while stifling laughter.

"Midnight come on, I'm trying to concentrate." Naruto pleaded in a jovial manner.

"I don't see how anyone can concentrate when Rooster-head is walking around." Midnight teased again from inside Naruto's mind. As she made that joke more of Naruto's mask began to fall. He wrapped one arm around his belly in a delicate fashion, his entire posture and demeanor shifting. Naruto leaned most of his weight to one side,, that gentle, far-off smile adorning his face again. He stood like his mother and even moved like her as well. Delicate, sensual, but dangerous.

From off to the side Hinata crept into the small crowd of people that gathered to watch Sasuke beat Naruto once again. Mostly his fangirls. But Hinata's eyes were focused solely on Naruto. "He's so different but... in a good way. Just being around him makes me feel so...happy." Hinata thought to herself while seeing the way Naruto smiled. This was a different smile. It seemed...genuine.

Sasuke also watched from the side, a little bit at a loss for words. Was this really the dobe he'd grown to know in the last 2 years. His fangirls mostly had an annoyed expression on their faces that Naruto hadn't thrown his dagger but Sasuke was...fascinated, and curious. Finally Sakura spoke up in annoyance.

"Naruto quite stalling! We know you can't beat Sasuke so you minds well get it over with." The girl screeched. Without looking at her, listening to Midnight speak in his head, Naruto threw all three of the shurikens he'd previously taken from his shuriken pouch.

Sasuke huffed as he watched the shurikens sail through the air before going wide eyed. Those three shurikens hit simultaneously with a loud "thunk." All three tips of those knives hitting the exact same point, dead center of that tree. But not only that, those shurikens sunk in deep in the tree from the sheer power of Naruto's throw. The sight caused a series of gasps to echo around the crowd, snapping Naruto out of his conversation with Midnight. He looked around to noticed everyone staring at him silently in disbelief. Naruto glanced over to the tree to see what he had done.

"Oh…" Naruto whispered.

Sasuke, with a stunned expression, slowly walked towards the tree to get a closer look.

"Ha! See Sasuke! I'm the best. That wasn't luck at all. Nope!" Naruto blurted out, rubbing his nose, Naruto trying to regain his mask. Sasuke didn't respond though, now up close to see just how each dagger was buried very, very deep in that tree. He compared it to his shuriken. His shuriken was good, the tip of it buried in the center of the tree. But all three of Naruto's shurikens were lodged to the hilt into that tree, all on the exact same spot. Sasuke then looked back at Naruto who was still trying to play it off. "He did this with one throw." Sasuke thought to himself in amazement.

From the side Hinata could also see very clearly what Naruto had done. She fidgeted with her hands and bit into her bottom lip, staring at Naruto with an admiring gaze. "I knew it. There is so much more to Naruto. I just wish...I could be closer."

With her tail wrapped around her baby fox form, Midnight closely gauged the crowds reaction. Naruto's performance seemed to have deterred the fan girls from being suspicious but Midnight noticed Sasuke and Hinata's behavior clear as day.

"You may have to talk to them alone Naruto. They aren't buying it." Midnight stated in a concerned voice. Naruto glanced quickly from Hinata to Sasuke with a small nod.

"Yea I will." He spoke through his demonic link before his attention was redirected to a voice off to the side.

"Ok class is dismissed. I'll see you Monday morning bright and early. Enjoy your weekend." Iruka called out, signaling an end to the school day and a start of the weekend.

Most of the kids were happy to rush off but Sasuke stayed for a bit longer to stare at the tree. Hinata hesitated before turning to leave the park with everyone else, not wanting to draw too much attention to the fact that she had been nearly obsessively focused on Naruto. But as she walked Naruto past her quickly, brushing slightly against her arm. Hinata could feel Naruto place something within her pocket, the sensation causing the girl to blush harshly without looking at him. Naruto then whisped quietly so only she could hear.

"Read it when nobody is around to see." Naruto spoke out quietly before stopping suddenly and throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.

"Oh yea! Almost forgot!" Naruto blurted out in his dobey voice while moving to the tree that Sasuke was still silently staring at.

"Almost forgot these." Naruto said grabbing his three shuriken. Naruto then began to pat Sasuke on the shoulder.

"Better luck next time Sasuke. You should think next time you mess with a master shinobi." Naruto said in a over the top taunting voice. Sasuke glanced out the corner of his eyes towards Naruto, a mixed expression on his face, as if seeing Naruto for the first time. "What has he been hiding? Is this really Naruto?"

Sasuke thought to himself with a tentative gaze. Naruto kept that bright grin up before turning around and walking off with his hands behind his head. As Naruto departed, Sasuke felt something fall down the collar of his shirt. He quickly reached to grab it and noticed it to be a small piece of paper. Narrowing his eyes Sasuke glanced around at who may be watching before hopping up into the nearest tree to take off towards his house. If Naruto bothered to leave a hidden note then it was pretty clear to Sasuke that he should read it in secret.

"What could this be about?" Sasuke asked himself, jumping now from tree to tree as he opened up that piece of paper. His eyes then narrowed when he read it.

After receiving that piece of paper Hinata kept walking, taking the road she usually take to walk back home from school. But instead of following the normal path she made a small detour, moving behind a nearby building and making sure she was alone. Hinata then bit into her bottom lip in anticipation before taking the note out of her pocket, opening it up and reading it quietly. Upon reading the note the girl's face flushed that familiar bright red color. Hinata then held the note against her heart with both hands before tucking it into her pocket and returning to her normal path towards her home. But now she had a small smile painted across her lips.

Back at the school Iruka was cleaning up the field that the kids were using for practice. He went to all the areas, gathering the equipment before heading over to the tree he saw Sasuke and Naruto practicing on. He'd caught a glimpse of their little competition but couldn't see close up until now. Iruka paid attention close enough to remember that Sasuke used a separate tree. Iruka moved over to Sasuke's tree to see one gash in the dead center. To be expected.

But when he moved to Naruto's tree Iruka's eyes went wide. He stared at the tree frozen for a moment before dropping his equipment. Naruto did this with just a kunai? That deep? No, no one could...not at this level at least. Not unless…

An audible gasp was heard from Iruka before he suddenly disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

That's the end of the Chapter. Please review.
Author note

So I'm changing the story a little bit since I'm just making Naruto and Midnight friends for now. But this will NOT be a love triangle dammit. I hate love triangles. Just keep reading to see where I take this.