Gah, if the person who asked me why Naruto suddenly started to use chakra is reading this, my answer is that the jounin won't recognize spirit energy and think it was off. So Naruto went back to using it. If he used spirit energy in front of genin, they would just think it was some weird form of chakra.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inu-Yasha.

(Chapter Begin)

Everyone watched in amazement as the seal markings spread to half of Naruto's body. 'Shit,' Naruto thought. He glanced at Kakashi and saw he looked like he was about to interfere. He sent him a look that said, "Give me a little more time!" Kakashi relaxed, but only a little. It looked like Naruto only had five minutes to end this, tops.

Naruto turned to Kiba and said, "Look, talk is cheap so let's end this quickly. No more messing around, ok, Kiba-san?"

"See, you're acting all tough again!" Kiba growled out. Akamaru, who was still transformed as Kiba, barked in agreement, ever the loyal one. "Once, dead last, always dead last!"

Naruto, before he even got to finish the sentence, attacked. "Fox Fire!" Naruto said in the demon dialect. To everyone else, it only sounded like growling. The whole area looked like it was burning in blue flames.

"Wha-what the hell!?" Kiba yelled. "You're going to kill us all, burning this place down!"

The blond ignored him. The dog boy couldn't see past the flames to where Naruto was. Suddenly, Kiba felt his consciousness fading. Kiba managed to look behind him as he fell. His dog had his usual form and Naruto stood behind him. The blond was looking directly at Kiba and asked, "Do you feel the flames burning?"

Strangely enough, he didn't. Kiba felt nothing afterwards, having lost consciousness. Naruto snapped his fingers, making the flames disperse. Hayate was silently amazed but finally declared Naruto as the winner. The boy momentarily closed his eyes and concentrated. The markings retreated, shocking everyone again. He calmly walked up the stairs to his teacher. "Okay," was what he said.

Kakashi blinked at his calmness, but they walked off.

(Scene Change)

Naruto breathed heavily, hunched on the ground. "I'm surprised you're still conscious," Kakashi said. He was sweating slightly.

Naruto shrugged, still breathing heavily. He asked "Where to?"

"The hospital."

The blonde flinched. He stated, "I don't want to go there. They won't allow me in without a good reason. I'm not bleeding, I'm only tired."

"I see…do they always treat you this way?"

"What do you think?" Naruto said bitterly, but then realize he spoke that out loud. He tried to cover it up by saying, "Hey! Can we go see the rest of the prelims? Ple-e-ease!?"

His sensei looked at him with a little bit of sadness in his eyes. He then said firmly, "You should go home and rest."

"Come on! I'm fine! Really!" Naruto insisted.

The jounin finally gave in and said, "Fine. But straight to bed afterwards."

"Yay!" Naruto picked up his discarded sleeveless shirt and put it on. "Let's go!"

They quickly made their way back to the area. The blonde standing next to his pink haired teammate again. Some were surprised he was back.

"You don't make a good shinobi…forfeit!" Neji told Hinata, his opponent.

'The fuck?' Naruto thought. Hinata looked surprised.

Neji continued, "You are too kind. You wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with others, never resisting…and you have no confidence in yourself, feeling inferior to everyone. But this exam could be only taken by three, you couldn't turn down your teammates and unwillingly entered."

"N-no," Hinata stuttered out. "I…I just wanted t-to…Wanted to…change myself…do it…myself…" She didn't look at anyone.

"Hinata-sama…as I thought. You are a spoiled brat of the main house," Neji said scornfully. "People cannot change themselves! Losers are losers, their personality and strength cannot change. Because people can't change, differences are formed. Expressions like elite and loser are created. Looks, brains, ability, size, personality…All people judge and are judged by theses values. Based on these unchangeable factors, people discriminate and are discriminated against. And they suffer within their own means. Just like how I am from branch and you are from main. I have seen through many things with this Byakugan. So I know you are just acting strong. In reality, you want to run away."

"N-no," Hinata tried to say.

Neji activated the Byakugan and Hinata began to shake. She had a hand touching her lower lip. Neji spoke again, "You can't fool my eyes. Against my pressure just now, you floated your eyes to the upper left. This is a sign you remember your painful past experiences. After that, you looked to the lower right, that's a sign you are thinking about physical and mental pain. Basically, you are thinking about yourself and from all the past experiences, imagining how this will result. Imagining…that you will lose!" The boy was about to say more but Naruto interrupted.

"What is this crap?" Naruto asked coldly, leaning against the railing. Everyone turned their attention to him. Naruto growled out, "I don't think I've ever met someone who was so infuriating before besides for one other. Do you like to hear yourself talk or what!? I'm getting angry just watching this! Hinata-san, stand up for yourself! Don't let this guy push you around!"

'How annoying,' Neji thought. He noticed with surprise Hinata gaining confidence. 'Her eyes changed…' The pupil less eyed boy stated, "So you won't forfeit. I'm not responsible for what happens."

"I don't want…to run away!" Hinata activated her Byakugan. "Neji-nii-san…fight me…" They both went into the Hyuga style stance.

The fight began and they fought. 'It's like a dance,' Naruto thought. 'It doesn't look really strong…but it's graceful…' Hinata managed to strike Neji. 'That didn't look like it'd hurt much…but he flinched in pain.'

Hinata was in control in the beginning of the fight but then Neji hit her in the chest and shoulder. She coughed out blood. He knocked her to the ground. Neji said, "This is the reality that cannot be changed. At the point you said 'I don't want to run,' you were setting yourself up for regrets. You should be overcome with desperation. Forfeit."

Hinata struggled to get up. She said without hesitation, "I don't go back on my words…that's also my ninja way."

Naruto smiled, proud of her. He yelled out, "Go, Hinata-san!"

'I can…Naruto-kun…I have always watched you…' Hinata thought as she continued to fight. 'Watched you for all these years…why?...I don't know why, but when I look at you…I feel courage. I feel that if I can do my best…I can also do it. That I am worth something. That's how I feel.' She was slammed to the ground again, but she sill got up.

'Hinata…you look so strong right now,' Naruto thought with a smile. 'So different from the shy girl of moments ago. Not bad.' Naruto stopped smiling. 'But you're going to lose.'

'Naruto-kun, in the past….I was the only one looking…but now…you are,' Hinata thought. She was hit in the stomach and the girl collapsed.

"You don't understand," Neji said coldly. "From the beginning, your attacks have done nothing."

"I feel bad for her but she will not get up," Gai said.

Hayate said, "Continuing is impossible thus-"

"Stop!" Naruto yelled out.

Sakura yelled at him, "What are you saying, you idiot! She's at her limit, she's unconscious!"

"Look," Naruto said simply.

Everyone stared at Hinata, amazed she was, again, struggling to her feet. Neji asked, "Why do you stand? If you continue, you'll die."

'He's finally watching me,' was all Hinata could think of. 'In front of the person I admire…I can't look this bad.'

"You can barely stand, I can see that," Neji said coldly. "From the time of your birth responsibility of the Hyuga clan has been forced on you. You have always hated yourself for your weakness…But people cannot change, that is destiny."

'You don't make everyone's destiny, fool,' the former chakra user thought. 'You can only make your own.'

"There is no need to suffer anymore," Neji said. "Let it go."

"That is not true, Neji-nii-san," Hinata said. "Because I can see it…It's not me at all. The person lost and suffering within the destiny of the main house and the branch house…is you…"

Neji became angry and charged. Hayate called out, "Neji-kun! The match is over!"

Neji was stopped by Kakashi, Gai, Hayate, and Kurenai. Gai said, "Give it a rest. You gave me a promise not to lose your head over this main house stuff."

"Why do the other jounin jump in? Oh…more special treatment for the main house," Neji muttered.

Hinata coughed and more blood spilled on the ground. Naruto rushed down. He thought, 'I guess it was partly my fault, for making her try so hard…' He was at Hinata's side when she began closing her eyes.

'Naruto-kun…was I…able to change…a little…?' was Hinata's last conscious thought.

"Hey, the loser over there," Neji said. Naruto turned to look at him, impassive. "I'd like to tell you two things. If you're a shinobi, then cut out the pathetic cheering of others. And one more…In the end, a loser is a loser, they cannot change."

Naruto finally glared. He bared his teeth, fangs showing. This surprised a few. Naruto took in a deep breath and calmed down. Hinata began to cough again, spilling a little more blood. The medic-nin quickly got her out on a stretcher. Naruto kneeled down, putting his finger on the blood. People stared at him. He stood up, bangs shading his eyes. He held out his fist, blood dripping off.

Naruto looked up and said with a hint of anger, "I don't like people like you. If we fight…by my honor, you're going down!"

Neji only snorted. Naruto relaxed and made his way up. 'I didn't have to go as far as to make a demon's ritual of a promise…but that guy…pathetic,' Naruto thought angrily. He was brought out of his thoughts when someone called out to him. "Hey. You're a funny guy, I like you," Kankuro said.

Naruto stared at him impassively before smiling brightly. "Hey, didn't I meet you before the Chuunin Exams?"

"Yeah," Kankuro said, a little confuse. 'How can this guy change personalities so fast?'

They walked up together. "So…why aren't you with your teammates?"

"Don't feel like it."

Naruto shrugged. He saw the next match. '…Shit.'

Gaara made his way down and so did Lee. The dark haired boy said, "To face you this early…I couldn't be happier."

Kankuro said to the blonde, "I don't know what kind of attacks bowl head has but there's no way he can beat Gaara."

Naruto didn't comment.

When the fight began, sand poured out of Gaara's gourd and flung itself at Lee. Lee easily dodged, he was too fast for it. When he tried to attack, though, he never managed to get in a hit. The sand was offensive -and- defensive.

"Lee, take them off!" Gai called out.

"That didn't sound right," Naruto muttered. Kankuro grinned at the joke.

Lee looked surprised and said, "But Gai-sensei! That's only when I have to protect many precious people, right!?"

"It's alright! I'll allow it!"

Lee looked excited. He took off the orange leg warmers or something. Once they were taken off, it revealed weights. He dropped them on the ground and they crashed. They left two hug craters in the area. This surprised many people. 'Whoa,' Naruto thought.

This wasn't going to be an easy fight.

(Scene Change)

SLAM!

"Is that all you got!?"

Smack!

"Fuck! This is only a spar! Ease up a little!"

Thwack!

"OW! STOP THE FIGHT!"

Inu-Yasha stood over Kouga and glared. "This is the best you can do?" Inu-Yasha asked angrily.

"Shut up! Did you have to go all out!?" Kouga yelled at the dog demon.

Inu-Yasha quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Who's going all out? This is only a spar! It's not my fault if you can't keep up!"

"Rusty my ass," Kouga mumbled. "Spar with Sesshomaru, then!" He got up and sat against a tree, licking his bleeding arm.

"And I'm not even using Tetsusaiga," Inu-Yasha sneered, rolling his eyes.

Sesshomaru stood up and said, "Let's fight."

"Whatever." Inu-Yasha went into a loose stance. "Ready?"

"Always," Sesshomaru said calmly. They charged at each other.

They left craters, slash marks everywhere, and fallen trees in their wake. The servants standing to the sides stared in awe. Kouga called out to one of them, "Oi! Get me some water!" The servant scrambled away to obey.

A bat like creature flew towards Kouga. It looked like a cross between a human and a bat, but it was the size of two fists. In its claw like feet was a scroll. It dropped it in front of Kouga and landed on a branch near the wolf lord. Kouga picked it up and opened it cautiously. He sighed at what was in it. He stood up and called out to the dog siblings, "I'm off! Some of my advisers are nagging at me again!"

"Fine!" Inu-Yasha yelled as an answer. He parried an attack and made a counter.

Kouga shrugged and ran off in his tornado like way. At this rate, he'll get there in three days.

(Scene Change)

"Is it done?" Naraku asked.

Kagura bowed and answered, "Yes, Master Naraku."

Naraku smiled evilly. "Good. Prepare. If this fails…" He snapped his fingers and Kagura writhed on the floor. She screamed out in pain. If she didn't, it would only get worse.

After a moment, the screams died down to whimpers.

Another figure slithered into the room. "I am at your disposal, Naraku-sama," she hissed out. Her eyes were glazed as if she was in a trance.

"Mistress Serpent, send a message to this Sound Village," Naraku handed her a green colored scroll.

The snake demon bowed and left.

Kagura slowly sat up, afraid to make any sudden moves. Naraku turned to her and asked with glee, "Now why can't you be like that, Kagura? Obedient. You are a waste of my time and resources." He held out her heart.

"No, please, Master! Please-" her begging was cut off when a scream issued from her lips.

Naraku smirked.

(Scene Change)

Naruto ran down the stairs. 'Another one injured,' he thought. He ran past Gaara. They shared a look but didn't say anything. The look was enough. Gaara's said, "Pathetic" while Naruto's said, "You won't get away with this."

When he got there, he over heard them saying that Lee would never be a shinobi again. "Lee-san…" Naruto muttered. He made up his mind. Before they took Lee away, Naruto placed his finger tips over Lee's forehead for a brief moment. 'That should be enough…' No one noticed the glowing of the finger tips when they touched.

Gai stared at Naruto and asked, "What was that?"

Naruto looked at him impassively, then his face broke out in a grin. "Oh…You'll see!" Naruto limped up the stairs.

'Why is he limping?' Kakashi thought. 'What did he do?'

'Ow. Ow. Ow. Maybe I should have taken the arm…but then again, Lee depends on speed. Ow. Ow,' Naruto thought but didn't say. He tried not to limp but couldn't help it.

"Naruto, why are you limping?" Sakura asked him when he got back.

"It's nothing," Naruto said.

She stared at his leg. "Your leg is bleeding!"

"It is?" Naruto glanced down. "Kakashi-sensei, do you have a roll of bandages?"

Kakashi handed him one roll but stared as Naruto lifted his pant leg. It looked horrible! When did he get that wound? "Naruto, what happened? What did you do?" Kakashi asked, amazed.

"Umm…You know Lee-san's leg was crushed?" Naruto asked nervously.

"We all saw that," Sakura said.

"I kind of…transferred half of the wound to me," Naruto said as he wrapped the bandages around his leg.

They stared wide eyed at him. The jounin said shakily, "You…You did WHAT!?"

"What? They said he couldn't be a shinobi anymore! I -had- to do something. But…I wish I could have transferred more but that was my limit, I'm not too good at healing so that was pretty much the only jutsu I knew for it," Naruto explained. "Hopefully that'll be enough to help him."

"Naruto, you're going to the hospital right now!" Kakashi said.

Sakura nodded. "That was dangerous!"

"But…there's only one match left!" Naruto complained.

"Na-ru-to," Kakashi gritted out.

Naruto sighed. He tried again. "It's not a big deal. Really!"

"No, you're going. Now." Kakashi dragged the blonde off. The boy didn't resist but he didn't assist.

(Scene Change)

"One month to myself," Naruto said out loud. He was on crutches, walking down a random Konoha street. 'I need to find Inu-Yasha…I can't feel Kyubi and I'm not healing like I normally do…'

"Hey brat," someone said behind him.

Naruto turned his head. "Hey, Ebisu-san, what's up?"

"Na-ru-to…"

"Oooh…the prank thing, right?" Naruto said. "You wouldn't hit a crippled person, would you?"

Ebisu's eye twitched. He said stiffly, "I'm supposed to be helping you train."

"Huh!?" Naruto said. "Since when!?"

"Kakashi-san has asked me to help you."

"Sure did," Kakashi said. He had appeared out of no where.

Naruto said, "I don't think that's such a good idea…no offense, but he's a closet pervert!"

"Ebisu-sensei's a closet pervert?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah! One time with my Harem no Jutsu-"

Ebisu clamped his hand over Naruto's mouth. Ebisu said in his ear, "I'll treat you to anything you wish later on, just don't mention it!"

"Harem no Jutsu?" Kakashi asked.

"Hahahaha! It's nothing!" Ebisu said to him.

"Wow. Who'd have thought you two know each other," Kakashi said.

'Who'd forget that humiliation,' Ebisu thought. He said, "Yes, we go way back! Right?"

"Yep!" Naruto grinned. "I met him when I met Konohamaru-san."

"Ok, I'll go check up on Sasuke," Kakashi said. He left.

"So…about that treat thing…" Naruto grinned up at him.

(Scene Change)

"Ramen!" Chouji yelled happily.

Naruto had convinced Ebisu to treat them to lunch since he did tell the others he owed them. Ino said, "It's so fattening, though! Sasuke-kun won't like me if I'm all fat!"

Shikamaru said, "How troublesome."

"Too bad I couldn't get Lee-san down here," Naruto said. "He isn't allowed out of the hospital yet."

"Shouldn't you be too? You're still limping," Chouji stated.

Naruto shrugged, "Yeah, but they said I was ok. It's not serious."

They sat in the stall. Naruto called out for some miso ramen and the others also called out their orders. "Hey, who's that guy next to you, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto grinned and said, "Oh, this guy is supposed to help me out training for the third test. After lunch, I'm going to train."

Ino turned to Shikamaru and scolded, "See!? Naruto's training, why don't you!?"

Shikamaru sighed and ignored her as she complained to him.

After the lunch, Naruto waved to them before leaving. "So where are we going?"

"To the bath house," Ebisu answered.

"The bath house?"

(Scene Change)

"The bath house?" Naruto repeated.

"We will be training here at the hot springs," Ebisu said sneakily. "Walk atop the hot spring water."

"Walk on water?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'Didn't Zabuza do that?"

"I've already heard from Kakashi-sensei that you already did the tree climbing exercises. This is a variation of that," Ebisu explained. "In order to float on water, you must constantly expel the appropriate amount of chakra into the water from your feet and you must make it match to the mount necessary to float. This training will be more difficult than the tree climbing one."

Ebisu made a hand seal and began to walk on the water. Naruto was visibly impressed. He made the same seal and took a tentative step onto the water. His foot sunk and he took it out. 'At least I didn't put my whole weight,' Naruto thought.

"Just as I thought," Ebisu said.

"Thanks for the encouragement," Naruto said sarcastically.

Naruto tried a few more times, never putting his whole weight. When the foot finally managed to somewhat float, he took another step. He carefully walked ankle deep around the spring. "Hot," Naruto said without emotion. He glanced around and then said, "Who's that old guy?" He pointed.

Ebisu turned around and saw the person Naruto was looking at. "I don't know who are you…but I will not forgive such a shameless act!"

He charged. The man turned around and summoned a frog. The frog whipped out his long tongue. The tongue slammed the jounin to the ground.

"Man, keep it quiet," the old man said, sitting on the frog. "Whacha gonna do if I got caught?"

Naruto walked up to Ebisu and kneeled down. He poked the jounin's forehead. "Knocked out," Naruto pronounced. "Hey, who are you?"

"Alright, hold on!" The man yelled, moving into a stance. "Thanks for asking! Mt. Myobokugama's holy master Sennin, also known as the toad Sennin, remember it! Jiraiya!"

"…Riiight," Naruto muttered. "Look, that jounin you just knocked out was supposed to train me! What am I supposed to do now? Why'd you knock him out?"

"Because he got in the way of my work," the Sennin said, holding out a book that read "Come Come Paradise."

"-You- wrote that?" Naruto asked, amazed.

"You heard of it?" the man asked. 'Hehe…it's getting pretty famous…'

"My sensei reads that porn," Naruto said. He glared at the Sennin. "But you peak at women for 'research?' You're a super pervert!" Naruto grinned. "But since you knocked out this guy here…mind helping me out with my training, friend?"

"I don't like men," Jaraiya said.

Naruto's eyes grew wide and he said quickly, "I didn't say anything about that, you pervert! Look, you gotta help me out in my training!"

"No."

"I can tell all the women over there that you were sneaking a look."

(Five Minutes Later)

Naruto slowly tread across the water. 'Why am I having so much trouble!?' Naruto took off his shirt and threw it on the ground, frustrated.

'Stupid kid weaseling me into this!' Jaraiya thought. He noticed something and said, "Hey, kid. Pull out your chakra again." At Naruto's confused look, the Sennin yelled, "Just do it!"

Naruto did as he was told. Jaraiya examined him until declaring, "Five Part Unseal!" He slammed his hands, finger tips first, into Naruto's stomach.

Naruto clutched his stomach and kneeled on the ground. "Could have given a warning…Five Part Unseal?" Naruto looked down at his stomach. "I see." Naruto got up and tried to walk on the water again. He grinned when he was able to. "Hey, Jaraiya-san, looked like it worked!"

Jaraiya blinked at the boy's odd behavior. He yelled out, "Alright kid, I'm going to teach you a special technique! First, there's something I need to tell you. You have two types of chakra. Have you ever felt a special chakra?"

Naruto looked at him suspiciously then asked, "Are you from the Leaf?" After Jaraiya slowly nodded, Naruto answered, "The Kyubi's, right?"

The man looked at the child in shock before saying, "So you know."

"Of course, it's kind of hard to miss," Naruto grinned at him slyly. "So what was it about this special technique?"

"Meet me here tomorrow," Jaraiya said.

Naruto shrugged. 'Got nothing else to do.'

Miss me?

'…Kyubi!?'

No, I'm the boogie man.

'You're not very funny.'

And you're not very smart. What's your point?

Naruto let his grin appear in the real world. 'Missed ya, man.'

Yeah, you're so lost without me.

Naruto walked home, smiling at everyone he passed by, even the ones who spat in front of him.

(Scene Change)

Naruto strolled down a street. He had half lidded eyes and a glazed look. 'I should start drinking coffee.'

You'll be even shorter.

Naruto mentally rolled his eyes. When he met up with Jaraiya, the Sennin asked, "Can you use the fox's chakra?"

Naruto shook is head. No need for him to know.

"I see…try right now."

"Why?"

"The technique I'm going to teach you requires a lot of chakra. You won't be able to do it other wise."

Naruto sighed. 'This whole thing with people underestimating me is getting old.' Naruto looked at Jaraiya, semi serious. "Maybe I should try without the fox's chakra first."

"Whatever." He man bit his finger and smeared the blood on his hand. He slammed the hand with the smeared blood on the ground. A huge frog appeared underneath him. The frog had a large scroll in its mouth and it offered it to Naruto. The blonde took it and opened the scroll.

The Sennin explained the scroll was the summoning contract. He also explained how to sign it.

'Should I do it?' Naruto asked the kitsune.

These may help you out in battle but won't be anything more then a nuisance with Naraku. That bastard would be able to brainwash these frogs for sure, turning them against you. These frogs are from another plane, relying on the humans of this world. You can still sign it, but I don't suggest you use them against high level demons.

Naruto bit his thumb and signed the contract. "Okay…now what?"

"Try it out!"

After an hour, all Naruto could produce was a tadpole. '…This is harder than it looks.'

Excuses, excuses.

'Fine! If this is so easy, why don't -you- do it!?'

What about the ningen over there? He'll see.

'Damn.'

Just concentrate. Slowly push your chakra into your hand and imagine the frog.

Naruto followed the instructions, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he was pleased to see a frog. The frog said to him, "Hey, I'll play with you if you get me some snacks!"

"…Um…I don't have any food with me right now," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

The frog "hmph"-ed and disappeared.

That was strange.

'Agreed.'

"I told you." Naruto turned to Jaraiya. The Sennin said, "You should use the Kyubi's chakra."

Naruto sighed, ignoring the pervert.

The man got up, saying, "I'll show you a trick. But first…"

(Scene Change)

"Why are we at the edge of this canyon?" The question remained unanswered by the Sennin.

Why do I have a bad feeling…?

'Same goes here.'

Naruto felt a shove before realizing he was falling.

'The Gods damn that man!' Naruto cursed.

Inari-sama curse him with the life of a rodent's!

'What do I do!?'

Naruto felt like he had a light bulb light up in his head and he quickly bit his thumb and preformed the hand seals for the summoning. "Summoning no Jutsu!"

Naruto closed his eyes, hoping that it worked. He felt himself land on something soft and opened his eyes. H had landed on a giant toad with a pipe. 'Oh boy…'

"You little punk! What are you doing on my head!?" the toad yelled in a booming voice.

"Umm…It was that white haired guy! Jaraiya!" Naruto tried to place the blame on the Sennin.

"That perverted geezer!" the toad yelled. "Summoning me and even putting a weird kid on my head."

"Er- actually, I summoned you," Naruto corrected.

"Hahahaha! You shouldn't lie, kid! No way in hell could someone like you summon me!"

"I'm not lying, toad-friend." Naruto grinned nervously. 'This could turn out bad…'

"Get off my head!" the toad yelled. "Then I'll make you my underling!"

"Underling!?" the blonde yelled out indignantly. "Someone like -me- -your- underling!? You gotta be kidding me!"

The toad wrapped his tongue around the boy and jumped up, landing on ground. When things stilled, Naruto was dropped. Naruto landed on all fours.

"Whoa…what's with the spinning…?" Naruto asked. He fell on his side. "Ow…" Naruto slowly closed his eyes, chakra and spirit energy exhausted. "ZzzzZzzz…"

The giant toad, Gamabunta, glanced at the ground, noticing a large scroll next to the blond. He read the names. 'So…what this kid said…was true…hehe…damn you, Jaraiya. No has ridden on my head since the Fourth. Looks like the kid is spent. Best to send him to that place…'

(Scene Change)

"Hn…" Naruto groaned out as he slowly regained conciousness.

"Hey, finally awake."

Naruto grunted out without opening his eyes, "Where the fuck am I?"

"Hospital," Shikamaru's voice rang out. "Said you've been asleep for three days."

"What!?" Naruto shot up, then realizing his muscles were sore. He winced. "Hey…why are you here?"

"I went to see Chouji and they said you were sleeping here so I came over. He's only at the hospital because he ate so much meat after the fight that he injured his stomach."

Naruto gave a half smile at this. He slowly laid back down. He felt something. "Hey, is Lee-san here?"

(Scene Change)

"What are you doing?"

Gaara turned around, staring at the person who asked him a question. Naruto stepped out of the doorway, into the room. Shikamaru cautiously followed the blonde. Blue eyes met green.

"I was trying to kill him," the red head calmly replied.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And that is because…?"

"There is no need to do that!" Shikamaru said. "You won the fight. Do you have some personal grudge against him?"

"I do not." Gaara had this creepy look in his eyes. "I'm going to kill him because I want to kill him."

Naruto said in the demon tongue, "Spoken like a true demon."

Shikamaru stared at the blonde strangely. It sounded like he grunted and growled. Gaara, on the other hand, had his eyes nearly popping out of the eye sockets. Gaara growled out, "Who are you?"

Naruto gave him a winning smile. Nothing looked more fake. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto," was the reply in Japanese.

"If you get in my way…I'll kill you."

Naruto dropped the smile and gave him a -look-. The look made him seem old, very old. Someone who had seen much more than he could handle. "You're human…so why?"

"I live to kill everyone besides myself. When I was born, a sand demon was sealed inside me by my father. Shukaku, that was its name."

The shadow user smiled grimly. "Heh. That's something a parent does? What a strange expression of love."

"Love?" Gaara had a hard look. "Don't judge me with your measuring stick. Family…you want to know what kind of connection that is to me? It's simply pieces of meat connected to me with murderous intent and hatred. My father, the Kazekage, made me the village's greatest master piece. My father taught me the shinobi arts…I was spoiled and allowed to do as I pleased. I thought that was love." He looked at them, as if to see if they were listening. "That was then that incident occurred."

"That incident?" Naruto pressed.

The red head looked at them, blood thirsty. "The last six years since I was six years old, my father tried countless times to assassinate me! They think I'm too strong, too dangerous. I am an object that they wish disappeared. Why do I exist? Why am I alive? When I thought about, I could find no answer. Then I came to this conclusion. 'I exist to kill every human besides myself.'

"Fight for only yourself, living while only loving yourself. If you think everyone else exists just so you can experience that feeling, nothing is better than the world. As long as there are people in the world for me to kill and to feel that joy of living…my existence will not vanish." Gaara smiled eerily.

Naruto closed his eyes, feeling an onrush of emotions. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He opened his eyes and took a step towards Gaara. This surprised everyone conscious in the room. Naruto walked forward until he was only a foot away. Naruto gave him hopeful smile. "You talked." He turned away and walked.

Shikamaru gave him a surprised look and yelled, "What are you doing!?"

Naruto grinned at him as he walked out the door. "He talked."

Gaara narrowed his eyes but left in a swirl of sand. Shikamaru was the only one left in the room besides Lee. He rushed to catch up to Naruto. When he did, Shikamaru asked the blonde, "I don't get it."

"Gaara-san lived a life of pain. No one to acknowledge his existence, no one to care if he was sad or happy. No one to kiss his small scratches or to take care of him if he was sick. He didn't have a single person to depend on." Naruto became silent, saying no more.

The dark haired shinobi stopped and let the blonde walk past him. The shadow user watched the blonde go, amazed, stunned. Realization came across his features. 'It was a cry for help…"He talked." He wanted someone to know…someone to listen.....Naruto, when did you become so insightful?'

(Scene Change)

Naruto left the hospital. He silently strode down the street, watching things past by. He watched a small child beg for a piece of candy from his mother. He watched a couple walk hand in hand, smiling happily at each other. He watched as a little girl started crying when she lost her doll, the older sister desperately trying to calm her. He watched this all silently. 'What pain he must feel.'

I feel somewhat bad for him.

'Help him?'

Yep.

Naruto walked in his lonely apartment and thought, 'Three more weeks until the third test…' Naruto reached inside his pocket, searching for a kunai or shuriken. When he found one, he threw it at the person silently sitting on his sofa. The person didn't flinch in his elegant black silk robes and cloak as the kunai landed next to his head.

"How did you get in here?" Naruto asked. "You're either a demon, Jaraiya, or the Hokage. The last two are unlikely since I doubt they know how to break the wards I made around this place."

"I'm the first one," The person lifted a black gloved hand and pulled back his cloak. Naruto's jaw slacked. "I leave you for three weeks and this is how you greet me?" Amusement tinged the words.

Naruto regained his composure and smiled brightly, eyes sparkling. He said in greeting, "Inu-Yasha."

(End Chapter)

Tired…must…rest…

Review…Ugh…(slightly ill).