I hope to get more reviews for this. I now can take anonymous reviews, since I figured that out. I really enjoyed and was happy with the one review I have gotten so far! I agree, and will prolly add a little SasuNaru on the side for jealousy's sake. laughs and winks I hope you enjoy the second chapter! Ja!

The Meaning of Loneliness Ch. 2

Naruto woke up again around 12:30 and got up, grabbed some clothes and took a shower. Once he was done, he grabbed his weapons holster, and left for his own training spot. On the way he met up with Ino.

"What are you doing out here! How can you show your face in the village! You piece of shit!" Ino said scathingly as she glared at him through a scowl.

"Uhmmm… Ino? What's wrong" Naruto replied innocently, even though he was having a hard time hiding his hurt, for he knew of what she was talking about.

"Don't give me that. You know what I'm talking about. You're a demon! And not just that! To add insult to injury, you have to be the WORST possible kind, too! You're the fucking KYUUBI!"

Naruto winced. 'So it's gotten around what's inside me. And again, they think I'm it, and not myself. God Damn it! I'm getting tired of all this. No one can se that I'm me. I'm always the damned Kyuubi.'

"Don't believe everything you hear, for not all of it is truth. But since my presence is so undesirable, I'll just be on my way. I wasn't planning on talking to you anyway."

"DON'T YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON ME! YOU DAMN DEMON" Ino yelled, but in vain, for Naruto was gone.

"Do you know how disgraceful your conduct was there? And you say that he's loud. You should take a look at yourself before you condemn others." A quiet voice came from behind her.

Ino whirled and started. "Neji! You scared me!"

Neji just stared her down, and then coldly turned on his heal and left to go train, his hair fluttering behind him as he left.

'What was that all about? And how DARE he say that to me! I had every right! It's not like he can feel anything, anyways. He's just a demon.' Ino thought as she turned to go to her team meeting place.

Naruto took a quick detour to check in on his team. When he came upon them, they were in the middle of the training field. Sasuke was practicing with Kakashi with his sheringan activated, while Sakura was hitting a tree with kicks and punches, trying to get stronger. When he saw that they were doing fine and were happy without him, he quickly left, trying not to cry. The tears were embarrassingly close to the surface. He started berating himself for his stupidity in thinking that they might have forgotten or forgiven him. It hurt that they were just fine without him there. He knew that he should be strong and not cry, but he was hurting so much, that he couldn't stop them from coming in torrents down his cheeks. He quickly turned away and fled. He had trained himself in many areas, and he was able to go undetected.

The only thing that caught all three people's attention down on the field was the air thickening with defeat for a few seconds. It was as if some jutsu was cast to make them feel like crap, all at the same time. They all halted, but after checking to make sure everything was fine, they continued training. Sasuke's mind flickered to Naruto for a few seconds, but he pushed the thought aside and kept training. He could take care of himself.

Naruto found his training spot quite quickly and began to beat the post he had put up, and got into his regular workout.

At the same moment, Neji was walking down the street towards his meeting place, with his hands in his pockets, and his eyes looking straight ahead. 'I wonder how Naruto's doing. He didn't seem to be having such a great week. I also wonder what Ino meant by his being a demon. I didn't think his pranks were that bad anymore. I'll have to ask Gai-sensei today before training. Maybe I'll visit Naruto later, too. He seems to need to be cheered up. Since when did I care about how Naruto felt? Oh, yeah. Since I admitted that he changed my life at the chuunin exams, and that I fell in love with him.' He rolled his eyes at that last thought, and proceeded to meet with his team.