Kyuubi walked towards the bars of the cage. It glanced at the seal. The piece of paper that had appeared on his bars- the seal- and been so formidable now looked a great deal weaker. Experimentally, Kyuubi pushed some of his chakra out to 'feel' the seal. The barrier protecting the seal was very weak- it seemed like most of the strength the seal had was going to keeping Kyuubi in his cage.
'It will last for a while yet.' Kyuubi thought, hackles rising at the prospect. The boy he was sealed in would not likely let Kyuubi take control again, and the fox knew he was not so fortunate that his host would get raped or recieve mental wounds like that again. He would have to rely on his own strength to remove the seal.
Kyuubi studied the seal again. It had once looked unmoveable, and his chakra used to be unable to touch it. Now... he let his chakra flare, burning a small bit of the seal. Kyuubi let out a smaller amount, but concentrated it into a small ball. He nearly cursed when it didn't go through.
'The barrier around that damn piece of paper lets nothing but the widest spread of chakra go through.' he thought. It would take a great deal of chakra to break it. Kyuubi laid down and began his daunting task.
Naruto sat up. He had just woke up, and you could easily tell because his eyelids were still half closed. He yawned, stretching his arms up in the air. He still felt tired, but content at the same time. Maybe it had to do with his dreams...
Naruto suddenly stopped stretching, remembering what most of his dreams had been about. He suddenly felt violated all over again. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them close. He let his neck relax until his forhead touched his knees. Most of his dreams had been about those men... and what they had done to him. Others had been about what his friends would say, how they would react... he shuddered again when he remembered the one about Sasuke's reaction. Sasuke had looked at him as though he were the lowest form of life on the planet and then smirked coldly.
'What else can you expect from a dobe? He was too weak to protect himself from weaklings like that. Assign to someone else's team- I can't babysit when we go on missions.' Sasuke's voice reverberated in his mind. He knew it was just a dream, but it had hurt. Another dream he had had was one where Sasuke had pitied him- Naruto couldn't stand that. He couldn't accept pity from anyone, especially not Sasuke.
"Are you awake, dobe?" a voice asked from the other side of the room. Naruto looked up, putting his legs down quickly. He glared at the speaker, who was now smirking. Sasuke was leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, looking cool as ice except for a large bruise marring his cheek.
"I'm obviously awake!" he said. Sasuke took on a serious expression and straightened up.
"I'm not here to tease you. Your trial is today." Naruto blinked.
"Trial? They're not going to..." Naruto hesitated to say the word 'kill', but Sasuke got his meaning.
"No, you no longer have to worry about being killed. Your sentence is on hold until we see if we can get the order overturned." Naruto blinked stupidly again. Overturned? Was that even possible?
Sasuke caught his dumbfounded look and sighed.
"Have you never heard of the process of overturning an order?" Naruto shook his head. Sasuke explained it to him, somehow making it seem so obvious that it was practically a crime that Naruto didn't remember the process. It had the added bonus of making Naruto feel like a complete idiot. Naruto brightened when he heard about it.
"So I probably won't be killed?" he asked. Sasuke nodded, then raised an eyeborw.
"You do realize that you'll have to tell the other genins about..." he nodded at Naruto. Well, at Naruto's stomach, where the seal was.
Naruto glanced down, almost staring at where the seal was. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words died on his tongue. What was there to say?
A loud knock on the door interrupted Naruto's train of thought. Sasuke left to answer it, returning a moment later with Iruka and Sakura.
"Naruto!" Iruka said, running over to the boy. "How are you feeling?" he asked. Naruto quickly smiled, though his smile had lost a lot of its usual joy.
"I'm fine Iruka-sensei!" Iruka felt like sighing in disappointment. Naruto apparently stil kept quiet about what had happened to him- how could he help Naruto if Naruto wouldn't talk about it?
"Hi Naruto." Sakura said, smiling at him. He grinned back.
"Hi Sakura-chan! What do you have behind your back?" he asked, apparently curious. Sakura slung the backpack off of her shoulders and began digging through it. Various makeup products and brushes came out before Sakura finally found what she was looking for- a few pack sof instant Ramen and Naruto's forhead protecter.
'My forhead protector!' Naruto thought, a small touch of gladness lighting his eyes up. He took it from her outstretched hand and looked at it, smiling.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan." A loud bang and a puff of smoke announced the arrival of a silver-haired jonin.
"Yo, Naruto." Kakashi said in greeting. "Your trail is in about an hour. Get dressed." He tossed something at Naruto, who caught it on reflex.
It was an orange jumpsuit like he usually wore- but it was new. Naruto was touched.
"Thanks guys..." he said. Sasuke sighed with impatience, but -truth be told- he was happy that Naruto was acting more like himself.
"Get dressed already, dobe. It'll be more work for us if you arrive late." Naruto nodded and went to the nearby bathroom to quickly change.
Naruto stared at himself in the mirror. He had gotten dressed in his new clothes, but he hadn't put his head protector on yet. He smiled at himself in the mirror, practicing.
'As long as I act the same as I always do, no one will know the difference!' he assured himself, trying out his grin. It looked the same as always. 'No one has to know.' He finished practicing and stared at his Leaf forehead protector. He picked it gentley up and fastened it when it belonged. He gave himself one last look in the mirror before going out to join his friends so they could walk to the stadium where all of Konoha's most important meetings were held.
Ino paced back and forth, not content to simply sit and think. She had been waiting for a half hour in the room that she and her fellow nins were now in, and was bored beyond belief.
"Ino, just sit down." Shikamaru said, laying on the carpeted floor and staring at the ceiling. "Your pacing is-"
"Is WHAT?" she demanded. He sighed and shut up. It would be too bothersome, getting into a verbal fight with Ino.
"Nothing." he said. She resumed her pacing, not knowing that he was watching her. He sighed again, with longing.
"I'm going to pick up more snacks. Anyone want any?" Choji asked, having run out of potato chips and various other junk food a moment ago. The genin replied with various negative answers.
"When are we going to learn this sercret?" Kiba asked, petting Akamaru. "What's the big deal?"
"It may help up in Naruto-kun's trial." Hinata said softly.
"Doesn't mean I'm not bored." Kiba said. Suddenly, the door opened. In walked Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka, Kakashi, and- most surprising- the Hokage. The nins in the room knew instantly that this was a big secret they were about to get told- why else would the Hokage be there?
"Sakura-chan!" Lee said, grinning hugely at her. He waved enthusiastically until she waved weakly back, a bit embarrassed by Lee's attention. The Hokage cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him. He regarded them with tired eyes.
"It's good to see all of you here, ready to defend your teammate. The trial is in a few minutes, and we have something to tell you before it starts. If you don't want to defend Naruto after this, then you may go."
"What is this 'secret' Hokage-sama?" Neji asked respectfully. By the way the other's were assembled around Naruto, it had to be something horrible. Naruto was staring at the ground, with his sensei's flanking him and Sakura and Sasuke standing nearby with the Hokage. Sakura kept stealing glances at Naruto, not hiding it that well. Sasuke glanced at him less, and those glances were much better hidden.
"Just so you know, this does not leave this room." Kakashi told them. "This is important- give your word as shinobi that you will not speak to anyone about this." The surprised nins all nodded.
"It starts years ago, back when the Fourth was alive." the Hokage said. He took in a deep breath and was about to continue when Naruto interrupted.
"I'll tell them."
Thanks, thankees!
K- next chap. should be out next week. Rundown of things to come in next chap-
Naruto tells the other genins about Kyuubi, the trial starts, and .
Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? You'll find out soon enough.