Don't take it personally Minato, Fugaku.

Jiraiya watched the three fall, the darkness encasing them the further they fell.

He wouldn't have put them in this situation had it not been necessary; he understood the reason why Sasuke could not reach the Kyuubi. There was nothing driving him; no absolute need for him to meet the Kyuubi. His strength of will was not enough.

Maybe, if he had more time it would be possible to learn in a safe manner. But time was not something Jiraiya could allow him; with danger on the horizon, in less than a month in fact, there was the very real possibility the village would be attacked.

The last thing the village needed was the Kyuubi on the loose again should the seal destabilise. Naruto learning to release the beast in small amounts was all good and well until he gets pushed over the edge.

He folded his arms as he watched Sasayaki try to embed his chains into the wall, to no avail. Naruto and Sasayaki clung to each other and Sasuke caught up with them within moments after diving after them. They formed a triangle, spinning around each other, holding on for dear life.

Sasuke's eye bled into red.

Sasuke and Naruto found themselves in what appeared to be a sewer. The lighting was poor and the sound of dripping could be heard echoing throughout the tunnels. The ground was covered in inch-deep water, and yet strangely it didn't feel as if his feet were getting wet.

Sasuke swallowed.

He had never come this far with his Sharingan before.

Without exchanging words, he and Naruto began to walk. Just… walk, as if drawn by some invisible force.

And then they came to a room that led to a massive gate, with a single seal holding the prison-like doors together.

Behind it was none other than a demon, it's eyes, each one as big as his house, red and slitted. The rest of its features were hidden by shadow, but they didn't need to see to know who – or rather, what it was.

It simply stared at them for a long time.

Naruto had never been in this strange… place before. A metaphorical enclosure that represented the seal of his demon, brought about by a combination of his chakra, mind and the seal.

He had learned to use the Kyuubi's chakra, as much of it as he could manage without being overwhelmed by hatred, but this… this was his answer to gaining full control. If he could get the Fox to willingly give him his chakra…

"Kyuubi," Sasuke stepped forward, braking Naruto from his reverie. "Lend us your strength, or I will take it from you."

His voice was serious, his eyes glowing with the Sharingan.

There was silence, and then the Kyuubi spoke.

"I remember those eyes," its voice deep, booming, riddled with distaste. "For such a puny human to threaten me… I know you know not how to use them. I would rather let you die and have to reform rather than help one of your kind."

If the Kyuubi would not willingly lend his strength, they would die. They both knew it. And it was with cool certainty that Sasuke said his next words;

"Then that is your mistake," and he closed his eyes.

And when he opened them, there were three tomoe in each instead of one, spinning lazily.

Naruto knew Sasuke was a genius, a prodigy who did not get the recognition he deserved. No one paid him any mind because in their eyes he was nothing in the shadow of his brother. Their eyes would pass over him, seeing him only as Itachi's brother, the Uchiha's backup heir, or perhaps the fiend that is friends with the two demon children.

It was times like these that Naruto was reminded just how blind they were.

And he heard the Kyuubi scream and writhe, watched the landscape shatter around him and couldn't help but think;

Fools.

The only evidence of the event that left the three of us almost dead were two claw mark scars that ran directly from my left cheek down to the top of my collar bone.

I didn't know how I was going to explain them to the other teams. I could tell the truth; but that seemed far too complicated.

At least we survived. No thanks to Jiraiya.

In the anime, Naruto had continued with his apprenticeship after the event like nothing had happened after his near-death experience.

But Sasuke and I, understandably in my opinion, found it very hard to forgive. The man had pushed Naruto and I off a cliff. We could have died.

Watching it happen on a show is all well and good; when it happens in real life it's another story. I could not really bring myself to trust him after that, neither could Sasuke, but we really needed the training for the coming chunin exams, so we sucked up our spite and kept on going.

Naruto being Naruto was more enthusiastic than ever.

Sasuke and I couldn't help but ask exactly why he was so damn forgiving.

"He could have killed us!" I'd implored.

Naruto had shrugged nonchalantly, grinning.

"But we didn't! You're too stuck up on the details. He believed in us, and his belief paid off. I mean, look what happened; Sasuke knows how to communicate with the Kyuubi now!"

The details he calls them, I'd grumbled to myself.

In any case, the month up to the exams felt far too short. Although I managed to master most of the basic jutsu, and Naruto finally decided to let some of the Kyuubi's chakra leak into his system so he could summon Gamabunta, and Sasuke experimented with his Sharingan, I still felt like we were unprepared.

In any case, there wasn't much I could do about it apart from the plan I had come up with. Since I knew that Orochimaru would possibly be posing as Kazekage, I would place a clone in the area and have it disguise itself on the rooftop that the Kage's would be sitting on. Then, when Orochimaru's minions erect that purple barrier trapping Orochimaru and Hiruzen in, my clone would be there too.

I remembered a point in the Orochimaru v Hiruzen fight where Orochimaru would be vulnerable; the moment Hiruzen trapped him and tried to seal away his soul with the help of the Shinigami.

That is when I would have my clone strike. It really was a great plan, but I wasn't sure how to tackle the other problem, that being the invasion itself. I would have to leave that up to the Leaf nin; they had fought Sound and Sand off in cannon, I didn't see why that should change now.

Short chapter, but I wanted to start the final exams next chapter.

Also I have decided to leave the after effects of what happened in the ravine up to interpretation. Sorry not sorry XD Also as for whether Sasuke should be able to have the power to control the Kyuubi? Well, I made the decision he probably could if it was only for a few moments by using a well-placed genjutsu that needed only be powered up so it could affect that wonderful mass of chakra that is Kurama.

And let's be honest; stranger things have happened. Sasuke is a prodigy and prodigies seem to be able to pull of anything so long as they are in a traumatising enough situation.