Naruto made his way across the rooftops, slower than normal because the old blue backpack would shake and ram against his spine whenever he jumped to the next set of shingles. It wasn't that it hurt, but it was excrutiatingly annoying to have something feel like it was jumping up and down on your back while you ran. Like Konohamaru, thought Naruto. Somehow he's able to do that. I think that's why I can't stand using this bag, but it's the only one I got. It's the only one I can afford.

Not only was it that Naruto didn't like easy C and D rank missions, but the pay was horrible. The lower the level, the less money you're paid to do it. The mission that later involved Zabuza kept Naruto fed and his apartment rent paid off for about five months, but even after twenty or so C and D rank missions, the money was still tight and Naruto had to sometimes go without eating for a few days, which might explain his attempts to have people pay for his food so much. There was nothing worse than having that feeling of emptiness in your stomach, contracting and expanding, eating on itself.

The financial constraints of these missions were starting to wear on Sasuke as well, but he actually already had money to fall back on from his rich family. Naruto didn't know if his family was rich or not; and as far as he knew, he didn't even have relatives outside his mother and father. And they were six feet under, being chewed on by worms. But Naruto was just happy that he got to eat today, a whole cup of ramen and some orange juice. That should tide him over until tomorrow. He had trained himself over time for his body to not need food as much as other people; a half loaf of bread could sustain him for about twenty-eight hours, though this didn't stop his stomach from growling, his mouth parching up, and the convulsing pain that went with it. The hunger was just another facet of this everyday, boring existance that has been sucking on Naruto's soul for the past three months. He even began to miss having his life in danger, the spear-like fear that would overtake him and give him more confidence, more adrenaline, than surely anyone else had ever felt before; and on special occasions, Naruto would succumb to the devil spirit inside of him, where pain would no longer exist, where the hunger subsided and there was only rage, glistening and mighty, a blade cutting air on the battlefield.

Sometimes, the Demon Fox would even speak words to Naruto, though it was very rare and usually short. They were tiny sentences, that would fluster out and enter his mind at oppurtune times. "Kill him", this was the one it said the most, and rightly so. The times it spoke up were the instances where Naruto finally had someone in his grasp, ready to destroy their body, eject the soul from the ties of the flesh. Kabuto, Haku, Neji. Everyone he could think of that had at one time been in his grasp to slice their neck, gut their belly, the voice had spoken up. But Naruto rarely listened to it, for the voice was never strong; it was almost like an after thought, but he knew it was not his own. This made it easier to ignore, but its presence was still understood and noticed.

Kyuubi is a wild spirit, Naruto told himself. It is deadly, vile, disgusting. It would kill me, I know it would, if it weren't for the fact that it loved me. It loved me, because I am its mother, its carrier. I am its father, its protector. I am the holder of the greatest evil anyone has ever seen, and it loves me like it was my own son. That is why it is so loyal, so willing to protect me and give me his power. He knows that my body cannot go under too much harm, or else he will disappear from this universe, fade away along with my soul to wherever I'm bound to end up. Kyuubi needs me.

Naruto stopped at a rooftop near the gates. It was a large office building and, at an angle, you could see the rest of the village, along with the stone monument of the four hokage. Naruto put his palm on his belly, grasped at the clothing. He could feel Kyuubi's soul rumbling quietly in him; not the hunger. Naruto wasn't hungry right now.

I love you, my father...

Naruto looked out over the city, and breathed in deep. In one long, exasperated sigh, he looked down to one of the streets. He could see Sasuke walking, a red backpack slung over his shoulder. It looked to be brand new; or maybe just well taken care of. Naruto could feel that Sasuke knew he was there. But that may have been because Sasuke looked up and saw him. Within moments, Sasuke jumped up and scaled the rooftops until he jumped up from the last hanging and to the roof where Naruto was.

"Got your stuff?" Sasuke asked, and scratched his cheek.

"All I'll need. Do you know if we're going to have a place to stay?"

"I think there's an Inn up there. We can use the village's money to stay at it. It's only for two nights, I think we'll manage."

"I just hope they have something good to eat up there!"

"You hungry or something? Did you eat before you left?"

"I'm not hungry right now, but I will be."

Sasuke turned away from Naruto and looked out over the horizon. He could see that about three miles away, lie the misty form of Stone Mountain. It wasn't a very large mountain by any stretch of the imagination, but it was big enough to have a small snow cap and a few jagged edges. You could barely make out the town on one of its sides, but it was there. Trees covered most of it, and here and there there was a rock or cliff that jutted out.

"I never noticed it before, but that mountain is really ordinary looking," Naruto said. Sasuke was mildly annoyed by this statement but didn't say anything about it. Of course it was ordinary, its name was Stone Mountain. Any mountain named that is going to look pretty plain.

"Where's Kakashi? Wasn't supposed to be here by now?" Naruto complained, looking around and seeing no sign of the grey haired ninja. Sasuke felt bad for Naruto. He kept forgetting that Kakashi is always late, and there was still about ten to fifteen minutes before our 'time' was up.

"Naruto, calm down. We still have a few minutes before he's supposed to be here," Sasuke pointed out. Naruto sat down indian-style, his face scrunched up.

"God, he's always like this! Even if we are a little early, he won't be here for probably another hour! It's so annoying,"

"Like we have any thing else to do but wait. He'll be here in a little bit, just shut up about it," Silence fell over the two. Neither spoke for a long time, and the city sounds overtook any conversation that might've been made afterwards. It took about forty five more minutes for Kakashi to show up, and by then both of the boys had already moved to the front of the gates.

"Hey there guys, you ready?" Kakashi said, smiling and that one eye closed in a happy expression.

"We've been ready for about an hour, sensei," Naruto said, clenching his fists in mock outrage of his teacher's ability to be late all the damn time. Kakashi stretched his back and walked over to a small wooden door to the right of the city gates. He knocked three times, and then two more times, but slower. The door opened and out popped a man that was old and had a massive pot belly, with a large grey beard twirling almost halfway down his body.

"Hello, Mari-san. Could you open the gates for us, we're in a hurry to get to the stone village up on the mountain," For such a strong and intimidating guy, Kakashi sure did know how to act polite, thought Sasuke.

"Sure 'tang, Kakashi. It'll be just a min', I'll git da motors runnin'." The man walked back inside, and a few moments later the sound of rusted metal cracking and turning together rang out from inside the small gatehouse, and the giant metal and oak doors began to swing open, the wood expanding to this new movement, which resulted in many squawks and snappings and cracking noises. The doors opened up to a long pathway that later diverged into eight seperate roadways. Kakashi thanked the man, paid him a small fee, and the three walked out of the village's limits. The doors closed behind them, and a gush of wind and sound hit their backs as they left.

"Which road is it, sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"I believe it's the one of the four on the right side, second to the left," Sasuke blinked in confusion. Did Kakashi actually know the way or was he just guessing? He absolutely couldn't stand it when the teacher was like this, so lost in his own little world. He was probably thinking about that manga he likes to read so much. Wasn't it smut?

"There are signs, remember? We can just use those," Naruto said, just a wee bit behind the other two. He was definitely not in a good mood, Sasuke could tell. The more logically Naruto thought, the more depressed and moody he was. Damn, that's not good. This may be an easy mission, but Sasuke didn't want one of his team members to give him a hard time. Even if they already had a handicap like this.

What may have shook Sasuke up even more is that Naruto actually remembered that there were signs. It had been almost three months since he last left the village, hadn't it? What a long time for him. I am truly surprised he didn't forget. It was such a minor detail when he left, but maybe that's what Naruto always noticed: The minor details, the tiny things that no one else ever really grabbed a hold of. Is that why he was always able to come up with those wild and surprisingly complicated attacks? Is it because he could never see the big picture? Sasuke wondered if Naruto had some kind of mental disease other than ADD that made him tune out to anything besides those tiny little details. No, Sasuke thought to himself. Couldn't be; he would always state the obvious, right? So that must be where I'm wrong. He always points out whatever is the most obvious to everyone else. But that really doesn't disclude his tendency to notice the minor things. Maybe he just doesn't like to point them out as much; perhaps he thinks everyone is much like him. They notice all the small things, but none of the big issues. Naruto, you fool. Only you are like that.

"Oy, there's the signs! See, told you they had them!" Sasuke let himself have a smile of contentment. Right on que, Naruto.

"Yes, we see them, they're right in front of us," Kakashi rubbed his forehead as Naruto read the signs and tried to figure out which one lead to the mountain. He studied one sign for about a second or so then moved on to the next, until he turned around and pointed down a road that was three right from the middle.

"Looks like I was off by one," Kakashi admitted, and shrugged nonchalantly. Naruto had a triumphant smile, a genuine one. He always felt good whenever he could best anyone, especially Kakashi. But of course these feelings would soon subside and this void of emotion would return and soon they'd be at the end of the road, where the trail to the top of the mountain lay. But that soon was going to be a while. Naruto's stomach growled and pinched itself in hunger. Maybe some of the villagers will have some kind of food to eat? Mayhaps even ramen? Naruto hoped it would be good. The ramen he had for breakfast was already old and tasted really off; like mushrooms and elephant testicles. It was supposed to taste like chicken.

"Ugh, how far are we going to have to walk, Kakashi-sensei? I'm starving," Naruto complained, giving his leader puppy dog eyes and a wiggling mouth.

"It's about three miles, not too bad. And don't give me that look, please," Kakashi turned his head away from Naruto and continued to look down the road as they walked.

"Why's that?"

"It makes me think you're going to eat my leg off, honestly." Naruto blinked a bit. The first word that came to mind was 'what' and then 'huh' and again 'what'. Sasuke also had to do a double take on that statement. What the hell was Kakashi saying? Sasuke figured he had better change the subject quickly before any more brain cells were killed mercilessly by his teacher's statement.

"Uhh, Naruto, I thought you said you weren't hungry..." Well, that was bright Sasuke. You always act like this when Sakura-chan isn't around. Sasuke mentally kicked himself for making idle convesation just to pass the time.

"I said I would be later, it's just that I haven't really eaten all that much so I'm kinda always hungry now."

"Don't you buy food or anything?"

"I can't afford it sometimes," Naruto gave a matter-of-fact expression on his face. He wasn't kidding, but he wasn't looking for anyone's sympathy either. Sasuke guessed at how many times a day Naruto ate. Once? Twice? How much did he eat? Damnit, he couldn't have a starving, not to mention blundering, dumb-ass on his team. Sasuke thought okay of Naruto as a person, but as a ninja he just didn't perform that well that often. But then, those times... was he starving then, too? No, I shouldn't use the term starving. He looks completely healthy.

"How many times a day do you eat, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, glancing at the blonde-haired boy.

"Maybe once every two days. Why's that?" Damn, Kakashi thought. He was amazingly fit and had no signs of muscle deterioration or bone lines... He must have a very good metabolism, or there's something else he does to not get incredibly sick over not eating..maybe he was doing this intentionally?

"You're not doing it on purpose, just to clarify," Said Kakashi.

"No, I'd kill for a sandwich any day of the week. I just don't have any money, so I had to train myself to be able to go without eating for a few days and still be able to function as a ninja." He had a slight tinge of arrogance in his voice, like he was happy for his accomplishment. But under that lay the sound of a deep, deathly tone that almost took Kakashi's breath away.

"Well, we'll just see if there's some food we can have at the Inn we're staying at." That's all Kakashi could offer him. If there was one thing Kakashi could never stand to see, was someone who couldn't afford to eat, even when they had a job. The C and D rank missions continued to deteriorate financially, and if the council raised their price range, they wouldn't have any buyers; but if they lowered it, then a lot of the genin would be on less than a few dollars a day, depending on the kind of mission and how long it lasts. He could remember back to the time when he was a genin. How old was he? Six years old? Yes, he still lived with his parents then. Kakashi had never known such an extreme hunger as this. He had known pain, suffering. But he had never felt the searing, deathly grip Naruto was in. Kakashi could not afford himself to be lenient on Naruto for his lack of funds, and thusly his lack of food. He wanted to push Naruto as hard as possible, because the boy deserved nothing less. Kakashi had watched the child from birth, at least since Kyuubi was put into his body. It was his orders, in fact; he could never have contact with him, until the time that he became a Gennin. So he would sit back and in the shadows he would observe Naruto's movements and behaviors and the foster parents that tended to him when he was little. The parents despised Naruto not because of who he was, but because of the beast inside of him. They knew it was sealed deep into his soul. They knew it couldn't get out. But they still hated him, and left him alone. The first foster parents taught him how to speak and walk, and fed him; all other things that normal children got- love, attention, affection, he was not given. The necessities were there, but nothing else. His next temp-parents were even worse; they didn't want him to go to the Ninja Academy, detested it. Kakashi remembered the old 3rd hokage telling them that he had every right to go. Their argument was something that he was dangerous to the community, he had no right to be a soldier for the village. He would destroy it, just how he did those five years ago. The hokage refused to listen to them, and funded Naruto's schooling. No one ever told the boy that, though. He always thought it was the two foster parents that had provided the money for him to go to school. The next few years of Naruto's life was quite hectic, as Kakashi rememberd. He was popped around from parent to parent, like a hot potato in a child's game. None of them ever kept Naruto for more than about two months; his hijinks and other desperate grabs for attention became too much for them and they would pass him down and down and down, until Naruto finally got the hint and got his own place with the little known money his parents had left in the banking account. The people that used to live in the apartments next to his caught wind of his arrival and moved out. Naruto had been almost completely cut off from any kind of social interactivity for most of his life; Kakashi began to believe this was the reason for his hyper-activity. That was his plea for attention, the one thing that Naruto believed would gain him at least some kind of recognition in the village. The only problem was that it had become habituary, and he had lost the conscious decision to act this way or not.

The three reached the trail to the village in the mountain about two hours later. There was little conversation, and most of it was spent thinking about how Naruto's weekend was completely ruined by this ungodly annoying assignment. How could Tsuande do this to him? Had he not proven his worth to her many times before? She was a cold bitch, and Naruto wasn't happy about this. She never let him do anything she thought for one single second he wasn't capable of. Tsuande-sama knew damn well that Naruto was more than qualified to take on a B or A rank mission. She was treating him like he was her own son. At one level, Naruto was happy that someone considered him to be their son, but at the same time he was against it, nervous and frightened about it. Hokage or not, having a mother is dangerous business. This might be why I'm so hostile towards her...Am I really that hard to get along with?

There was a beaten path, covered in gravel, dirt and dead leaves, that zig-zagged itself up and up and up to the top of the mountain, but broke off to a platform where the small town was.

"Well boys, who's up for a hike?" Kakashi said, smiling and laughing and trying his absolute best to keep a cheery mood going.

"Well, we have to, don't we?" said Sasuke.

"It's part of the job, so yes. You do." Kakashi smiled at Sasuke.

"The faster we get up there, the faster we can eat something. So please, can we GO?" Naruto rolled his eyes in irritation, and walked ahead of the other two ninja.

"He's being an asshole today." Sasuke said, and walked up behind Naruto.