DISCLAIMER: No, no I still don't own Naruto…and I still haven't managed to buy my soul back either…..But….I do still own my original concepts..so if I see you use them…I…WILL…FIND…YOU

'peers into depths of your soul'

'never alone'

CHAPTER 3: or rather the real ch.2? Evenatually it'll balance out….maybe

Hearing a voice come from right behind, Naruto reacted in a manner which was quickly becoming a habit for him. "BAAAAAAH!" shooting up quickly (with shock having already lifted him several feet into the air) and moving away from the gate, Naruto turned around to face the source of the voice. Seeing no one there, but certain that voice the came from somewhere behind him in the darkness and spoke, unfortunately, he did so assuming the voice was the person that had placed him in the murky dungeon… "WHO IS THAT? COME ON OUT! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME? FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"

Having made his rambling and shaky statement, Naruto took up a defensive stance and readied himself for what ever attack followed. It was then that a deep, sort of ...purring? voice spoke out. "Really now Naruto-kun, must you always react in such a way when you're surprised?" the voice in the darkness dropped off into light laughter and then settled down. "It's rather obnoxious, especially in such…confining… surroundings…though; I must admit it can be amusing at times." Naruto wasn't sure but he thought he saw the vague outline of the person speaking…though, if it was, it wasn't a person. Afterall, people aren't over three to four stories tall…

Trying to focus his eyes in on the form, Naruto found he couldn't see the vague outline anymore.Hearing steps being made, Naruto brought his focus back down and in front of him just in time to see the "voice" come out of the darkness. What emerged from the inky blackness shocked Naruto. Now standing before him was the single most beautiful woman Naruto had ever seen in his life…period. First and foremost was her face, a face that Naruto could only describe as somehow angelic…though something told him that just wasn't quite right. Crimson red eyes that seemed to glow with an unknown energy gazed into his own cerulean blue and Naruto found himself wanting to lose himself in her …comforting…gaze? Forcing himself to break eye contact, he saw that beneath her glowing orbs lay a foxy grin that promised mischief of sorts. Moving his eyes back up and above her eyes, he found that her hair shared the deep red color of her eyes and reached down to her waist level. Having followed the hair down her waist, he took notice of her dress.

Or rather, of her kimono, a snow white one at that, with what appeared to have ruby red lining and a matching sash of sorts across the middle. Looking closer he found that all around the seams and in certain areas characters and figures were present. Taking time to observe the intricate patterns and designs across her kimono, he saw what looked like a language he couldn't really understand. Among the pictures though, he noticed a nine-tail fox…It also seemed, after more studying, that the kimono was intended for both battle and formal occasions. This conclusion coming from the fact that the kimono came down low near the top and revealed a more than decent degree of cleavage, though Naruto wasn't really taking notice at the time, afterall, he was a seven year old. Near the bottom it reached down only to a small ways below her knees giving, once again, a generous look at her flesh, in this case her legs. Observing her legs, arms, hands, and face once again he found her skin to be a sort of creamy, lightly tanned color… If he had been a little bit more observant, he probably would've noticed the nine red tails swaying to and fro behind and around her as well…What he did notice though was the blade at her side. Once again, the strange characters were present as they were carved on both the hilt and sheath of the blade. 'wow' Naruto thought ' what an awesome looking sword…'

Once having taken in the full measure of her beauty and general appearance, all the words Naruto had formed in the back of his throat to chastise the source of his mockery and surprise caught together and refused to come out. Unknowingly, he sputtered his mix of conscious and subconscious out in the one word his seven year old mind could come up with to her describe her on all fronts. ".. .beautiful…"

Blushing a bit from Naruto's first real response to her, the woman replied in a now normal tone, except for a slight purring that is…. "Why thank you Naruto-kun. " Wondering how the woman knew how to respond to what he had only thought, the reality of the situation sunk in on Naruto and a dark scarlet blush found its way to his cheeks while he stuttered. " ummm I uh …uh ..I..uh.." . "Yes, Naruto-kun?" the woman replied in a half-chuckle. Recovering from his blush, Naruto decided to get down to business. After all, he was stuck in some dungeon he had been walking in for hours and she was his best chance for answers. He didn't even need to bring up the fact that the last time he had been conscious he had been in mortal peril. It was fairly obvious, it seemed to him, that either she or someone with her had been the one responsible for bringing him here. She knew who he was AND she used his name. No one except for the old man had ever called him anything other than monster, demon, or brat… Something was up with this woman and he needed to find what it was before something happened to him. Abruptly changing from a blushing youngster to a cold youth, Naruto addressed the woman. " Who the hell are you and why have you brought me here?"

Her own attitude changing somewhat to engage the serious attitude of the child in front of her, the woman responded. "Listen Naruto. First things things first. One, you don't need to worry about me harming you. Two, for right now, at least, you're safe. If I can do anything about it, it'll remain that way. Three, who am I? Well… we'll talk about that a little later… Right now, I need you to calm down and listen to …"

The woman was broken off by Naruto. " DON'T WORRY? SAFE? Are you kidding me? How the hell am I safe? How the hell am I supposed to trust you? I don't even know you and you dragged me down into whatever place this. You expect me to just sit down calmly and listen? You know who I am so you at least must know a little of what I've gone through. How the hell do you expect me to be calm and trust you when you won't even tell me your name and I don't know what's going on! For all I know, you're just buying time for some mob to make its way down here to …"

Naruto found his own speech cut off by a thunderous response from the woman.

" SHUT UP!" the woman looked down and to the side while sighing. " Do you think if I wanted you dead you'd be here and now? You saw the villagers. Do you think they looked like they wanted to wait around for some more "fun"?" the woman looked into his eyes for a sense of understanding. Once she found some and he calmed down noticeably she continued on. " Listen Naruto, the fact of the matter is…I …I didn't bring you down here. You came down here by yourself, by your own choice."

Clearly confused, Naruto interjected, "What are you talking about? The last thing I remember was falling asleep after those assholes torched everything I ever had! I think I would remember getting up and traipsing through an army of villagers out for my head."

"Sure, you would if you had actually moved from under the garbage" the woman mumbled.

"That's my point, I would've remembered moving. So either YOU or someone ELSE brought ME here." Naruto crossed his arms in a smug manner after having made his point.

"Naruto, listen, this is going to sound…er...eh…strange…but…um...you're still there. You just don't know it."

"What are you talking about?" he exclaimed, "If I'm still there how the hell am I here talking to you?"

" Your mind" after having said that and seeing the blank look on the child's face the woman decided to explain further. "We're INSIDEyour mind." Still finding a dumbfounded expression on Naruto's face she decided to just go ahead and give him an example. " Naruto-kun, look at my lips." Naruto nodded and proceeded to stare intently at her lips. The woman went ahead with her example. "Okay, see. We're inside your mind. I don't even have to use my lips." She looked to Naruto once again for understanding. His face seemed to cock to the side for a moment as he processed the information. His answer came out as such:

"AAAAHHHHHH! GET OUT OF MY BRAIN! OUT OUT OUT!"

The woman sweat-dropped as Naruto ran around outside the gates jumping up and down shaking his head and screaming for her to get out of his brain. ' Sure' she thought ' this is funny and all, but how is he going to react when I tell him the rest…Oh well, best get it over with and work from there.' She sighed once again and tried to get Naruto's attention. "Naruto" " AHHHH, GET OUT" "Naruto" "OUT OUT OUT"

"NARUTO" "BLAHHHHHH" "NARUTO!" The woman roared and brought her now burning eyes to bear on the boy as her voice echoed through the chamber loudly. The said boy was now paused in mid-leap with his hands on his head with his wide eyes focused on her. "Do I have your attention?" The boy quickly nodded and then promptly fell down on his face.

After sweat-dropping once again, the woman started up. "Naruto-kun, Please listen to me and come over here." Naruto, after having picked himself up and dusting off the dirt on his clothes, nodded and came to stand just in front of her. Seeing that the boy was now paying her full-attention she began.

" It's time you learned about why those people are after you Naruto-kun." Seeing him tense up, she took a deep breath and continued on. "Naruto-kun, haven't you ever wondered why you're treated the way you are? Haven't you wondered why everyone either ignores you completely or treats you like sub-human trash? Don't you wonder why you have no family, why you were kicked out of the orphanage, why the only person who seems to care if you're even alive or dead is the Hokage?" Naruto was now looking at the floor avoiding her eyes. It was obvious to her that the subject pained him and she was wary of what was to come, but it was necessary… She waited patiently for any kind of response, but received none. She was about to speak again when the small boy in front of her beat her to the chase.

"every moment…of everyday." The answer was honest and to the point. The sheer bluntness of the statement hurt, but she knew it was true. She wondered if he would say anything else. He did. "I've wondered why it's like this every day of my life for as long as I could remember. I knew this wasn't how it was supposed to be for a long time, ever since the orphanage. I was the only one they treated the way they did." Naruto's hand raised up to his face and the woman knew he was wiping away tears.

"They hugged all the other kids, tucked them in, even gave them kisses. They told them that they were good, that they loved them, that …someday they'd have a family too...but…for me, they…they never wanted to touch me. I…I remember when I was younger they used the hose to wash me then they'd throw me some rags and yell at me to get to "bed". They told me I was a demon, that I didn't deserve love, that I was a bastard mistake, and…an abomination…"

Naruto was openly sobbing at this point. "The only attention I ever got was when they beat me…when they punished me… There…were no kisses and hugs for me… Eventually, I began to crave the punishment. It…I… I saw some of the other kids get punished every now and then when it was obvious they'd do something wrong. Too obvious for the mto blame it on me When I was punished…it...made me feel like at least I shared something with them. It was sick, I know it, but it was the closest thing to "affection" I got… Do I ever wonder? You're damn right I do. Even after I was kicked out it was the same if not worse! Those god damn mobs …and …the torture… Wonder? I've PLEADED, I've BEGGED for someone to tell me …….why…"

Naruto stopped his small rant and cold, steel blue met burning, crimson red.

" And YOU are going to tell me why? YOU are going to tell me what no one else in this whole damn village is willing to. What even the old man won't tell me? Someone I've never even seen before… Someone who's apparently in MY mind? Just…just who the hell are you? How would you know? TELL ME!"

Feeling her control slipping somewhat, but knowing the moment of truth was at hand, the woman in the white kimono spoke…

"Because…because…I… I am why they hate you Naruto-kun…Because I am the source of your suffering…Because in you, the villagers see me."

Silence reigned for a moment while both stared into each other's eyes for some sense of the passing emotions. In Naruto's eyes, the woman could see confusion, anger, and disbelief for some reason? In the woman's eyes Naruto could see sadness, regret, and…something he wasn't quite sure about…something he'd never seen before. He'd seen something…like it… before in the eyes of the old man, but this…this was different…he'd only seen it in…but that was impossible…wasn't it?

Time passed and Naruto was the first to speak…

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't even know YOU. This is the first time I've ever even met you. How could you be the reason? It doesn't make any sense. You're not around me and plus, you don't look like the type to do something bad enough to anger that many people. How…how could you be the reason?" He looked into her eyes for some sense o further understanding and explanation. He was not disappointed.

"Naruto-kun…" She paused and took a deep breath as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Naruto… tell me…tell me what you know about the attack of the Kyubi seven years ago…"

Well there goes ch.3 . I know, I know, we're still not to the meat, but hey, I'm trying to do this right and with college test and al lthat I have to take time to stud yand have a life and all that jazz. …whoops. Guess I better make an amendment to my profile and add the bit about college student. Oh well… Anyways, I hope I get some good reviews. Flames are once again equally appreciated. Though, I'm not receiving any surprisingly… The reason it's taking so long is because I'm trying to build up the NaruKyubi connection. I'm also taking the time to do a lot of technique research and planning out the rest of the fic. I swear, eventually it'll progress faster….maybe. 'cough' 'cough'. Anyways, I went back into the couple 'a few reviews I had and realized I skipped arelevant question. Sorry.

DRAGONMAN180- The relation will expand outside of 'mind only relations'. I won't go into further details than that.

Alright then, till next time.