I tried to make this chapter longer, and it was. I'm excited, because we're getting up to the first climatic part! (No, get your minds out of the gutter! No sex, yet!) I hope you guys will like the update, but if not, that's your opinion. Review if you like. I won't get pathetic and plead with you. Uses puppy eyes, laughs and then winks Happy reading!

baka-m3-l33t

Oh, and since I forgot the last two chapters, here's the disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything of the sort. I would love to, but I don't. So instead of writing it (as I would if I owned it), I write fanfics!

The Meaning of Loneliness Ch. 3

Naruto trained until around 6:00 that evening. He was exhausted and just wanted to go home and pass out on his bed. And he would have done just that, but he had to attend a party tonight. Many of his friends were counting on him being there, so he would be. He went straight home, tore off his ripped and bloodied clothes, and went to shower. While he was scrubbing his torn up, aching body, he started to think.

'I wonder what's going to happen tonight at the party. I hope nothing too bad. Last time Kiba got trashed and started singing… shudders I hope there's not a repeat tonight...'

'Kit, I think you should be careful tonight.'

'Yo! And why would that be?'

'I hate to remind you, but remember the way people have been treating you? It might be to a worse degree tonight than you've experienced before.'

'Shit! I didn't even think of that… Well, if it does, then I'll just leave.'

'Just be careful, ok?'

'Yeah, yeah, I will, MOTHER!'

She purred in the back of his mind as he stepped out of the shower, and he laughed at that. He remembered the time he found out that the Nine Tails was a female.

Flashback

He was training with Jiraiya at the time, but this time, he was trying to contact the Nine Tails without being tossed off a cliff. As he sat there, he felt something "awaken" in the back of his mind. Then he heard a gruff voice coming from inside of him.

'What's on your mind, Kit? sighs Why are you bothering me this time?'

'I was supposed to train in able to be able to talk to you whenever I wished/needed to.'

'Well, now that you know that you can, can I get some sleep? I was doing well, until a loudmouth decided to wake me up.'

'Hey! I was told to! I do have one question before I let you go back to sleep. In all the stories, it never told if the Kyuubi was a guy or girl. What are you?'

'I'm female, of course! Damn dense people waking me up…'

'Uhhh, well, I'll let you sleep now. Yeah'

After that he was dazed, but came to terms with it quite easily.

Flashback End

He went to his closet and instead of pulling out his regular orange jumpsuit, he went to the back, got a pair of black cargoes with straps hanging off, and a tight fitting red shirt, and then proceeded to wear his one valuable piece of clothing: his black trench coat. As he walked out of his house, he closed and locked the door, and then silently continued on his way to the party.

When he got there, he noticed that everyone was already there. He walked up the steps, and into the house. Since no one had yet to notice him, he leaned against a wall and watched what was going on. Sakura was hanging all over Sasuke, with Ino not far off talking to Shino. Well, really it was Ino talking at a silent Shino, but what's the difference? Shikamaru was talking to a gorging Couji, Lee was trying to get Sakura to notice him, while Kiba was talking to a stuttering Hinata with Tenten laughing close by. Neji was standing opposite him, watching the whole thing himself. Naruto gave off a low chuckle because everything was quite amusing to him. Even though it was quiet, everyone seemed to hear it, and turned to look at him.

'Hmmm. It seems like everyone has found out and has created their own conclusions.'

Almost everyone in the room was staring at him with scorn. Surprisingly, the only one that looked normal, and didn't seem to care, was Neji. He just shrugged and continued to watch everyone. As Naruto continued to smile in his usual way, Everyone turned away from him, except Sakura and Ino. They came right up to him and started to scorn him.

"What are YOU doing here. I thought I told you what I though of you yesterday. You shouldn't even come out of that hovel you call home to inflict your presence on the world."

"Sakura is actually right this time. GET OUT! WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE!"

As Naruto Stared at them in the eyes, he just nicely said in a polite voice, "Thanks for the awful evening, ladies. I think I actually will take your suggestion and go home. It beats being at this horrible excuse for a party. Bye!"

And before the girls could yell back, he disappeared. The girls didn't know how he did it, but really didn't care. They then turned back to what they had been doing.

Neji had watched this display from across the room, and didn't like it at all. 'He's not the demon itself, so why are they acting like that? They had no reason to yell at my Naruto-kun like that! After I found out the truth, I didn't think any differently about him, because he's him. Not Kyuubi…' He then turned and began walking to the door.

"Where are you going, Neji-niisan?" People again stopped to stare at him this time.

"Home, because I don't feel like staying at a party that excludes someone for something that's not his fault. Everyone was disgraceful and that attitude was horrendous. I don't want to associate with anyone that will let one of their close friends down like that. Ja."

Everyone was left speechless as they watched him walk across the room and out the door, without looking back once. When the talking resumed again, it was a subdued chatter that lacked excitement.

As Naruto walked home, he thought of everything that had happened to him recently. He didn't feel much like sleeping anymore, so he continued on into the forest to his secret training ground.

'Kit, you need to get some rest to keep up your strength…'

'I don't feel much like sleeping. Thanks for caring, though.' After he found out she was female, they started to get along a lot better, and she kind of took him under her wing. Since she had no kids of her own, and wanted them, she made Naruto the kit she would take care of. He hadn't minded one bit.

'You still need rest, no matter if you feel like it or not. Please?'

'I'm sorry. I'm too wound up to sleep. Maybe later, though' After he said this, she started to purr to him in the back of his mind, trying to comfort him in her own way.

'Thanks. At least you won't desert me…' He came to his training spot, and started using justsus that were jounin level. He learned how to do them from the Kyuubi, and was pretty good at most of them. He continued into morning, and only slept for a half an hour between 5:00 and 5:30 in the morning. He didn't stop for break, or to drink water. Just continued training. He kept in mind what he had said to the Kyuubi this morning.

'At least you won't desert me…'

TBC