A/N: Shout-out to all my lovely peoples out there! Before I do anything else, a few review responses.

Kisa: No, don't worry, I haven't been updating and you just haven't been alerted, I did three chapters all at once, seeing as I had a lot of time before I managed to connect to the internet. You're good.

Ozzie93: It's not so much that he caved, as much as he just went with her to see what she knew. He's an ANBU, dude. He could slaughter Ino forty-three different ways before her synapses even fired to register he'd moved. He even said it would take more for her to manipulate him. He just noted how good she was at it already.

Kamui5: You know... you've never really given me reason to actually respond to you? But I digress. In answer to your questions, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?

Now then! We're nearly half-way to the announcement of the winner of the Poll! I'm excited! Which lovely lady shall it be? We'll just have to wait and see! I look forward to seeing who all you decide should be Naruto's bi- I mean, girlfriend. XD onward to Shadow!

Chapter 9: Night Terrors

Naruto yawned and stretched, his comforter falling off his torso as he sat up in his bed.

That was a decent nap. I even managed to get several in throughout the night. I should be good for class today.

Yes, Kit. We wouldn't want a repeat of last week, would we?

Naruto grimaced at the reminder of his... unfortunate situation.

Well, I'm absolutely sure Hinata won't say anything. And Ino... she's still a risk, but a significantly smaller one. I'll have to talk to both of them, or get Shika to.

The only response from the Demon Fox was a grunt. Naruto was dressed and heading down the stairs before Kurama spoke again.

Kit, I never truly understood. What caused you to start having night terrors in the first place?

Flashback- Eight years ago, two years before Naruto's adoption

A two-year-old Naruto was sitting on the curb, bawling heavily. He head just been kicked out of the Orphanage. The matron, a cruel, vindictive woman- to him at least- had shouted at him and smacked him a lot, stating that if he was old enough to walk and talk, he was old enough to fend for himself. Nevermind the fact Naruto still fell a good deal, and could only just form coherent sentences.

He sat there for he didn't know how long, before a silver-haired ANBU in a Dog mask walked over to him and sat next to him, placing his arm around the boy's shoulder and stroking his hair softly while humming a tune that sounded extremely familiar, he just couldn't place it.

"I-Inu..." he bawled. "W-whay does e-everyone hate me?!" he cried loudly and buried his face into the side of the very solid man next to him. He heard the ANBU make an unhappy sound, but he kept running his fingers, currently ungloved, through the blond locks.

"Not everyone hates you, Naruto. I don't, the Hokage doesn't, and Miss Snake Lady seems to like you, right?" he got a tearful nod from the boy. "How about this, I'll help you find her, and she can help you feel better. I'm on duty, so technically I'm not even supposed to be talking to you right now, but screw that." he stood and held a hand out to the still crying blonde, who took it gingerly, seriously expecting some kind of trick or being hit, which made Inu's blood boil in rage that this sweet boy, who was supposed to be his little brother, was conditioned to fear and distrust people.

He walked along, casting cold, angry glares from behind his mask at anyone who so much as looked at the boy wrong. To say he was in breach of protocol was an understatement, but he didn't give a damn. They walked for several blocks, before they came to the best place to find one Mitirashi Anko, or Miss Snake Lady, as Naruto called her. Quick Leaf Dango. She was between Inu, at twenty-one, and Naruto, at two, in age. Roughly fifteen or sixteen. And she was already a high-level Chuunin. The girl showed promise. Naruto had stopped crying a block ago, because he'd heard a commotion coming from the Snake Lady's favorite Dango shop. They made it, and were about to enter, when they had to scuttle to the side because two burly men wrapped in small vipers were tossed out the window, shattering it, and subsequently rolled across the street.

"And if I EVER catch you near this shop again, I'll make SURE you don't recover!" came a cry of anger. Naruto began bouncing excitedly, all trace of tears gone. He loved it when other people got beat up instead of him... well, he liked it when mean people got beat up. Those two he recognized as mean people.

"SNAKE LADY!" he cried giddily and ran through the door, leaping at Anko as soon as he saw her. She'd been prepared by his shout though. She caught him and twirled, giggling madly and hugging the boy, causing everyone in the restaurant to sweatdrop at the one-eighty her demeanor had taken.

"Naruto-kun! Oh, I missed you! What's it been? Three, four weeks?"

"You saw me yesterday!" the boy giggled. Inu chose that moment to catch Anko's attention. She sat down the boy in her booth and walked over to him. They didn't get along well, but they had the blond in common, so they stayed cordial.

"Naruto was kicked out of the Orphanage," Inu said quietly, looking at the boy as he drank a soda the shop owner had brought him. Anko's face immediately showed fury. Inu held up a hand.

"I'll take care of that. You need to keep him happy for the rest of the day, let him sleep at your place if you can." she nodded and looked back at the child, her eyes softening.

"I'll ask Yuguo-nee. She'll probably say yes." with a od to each other, Anko went to sit with Naruto, while Inu Shunshin'd to the orphanage and got to work.

"So, Naru-kun. What do you want to do?" Anko asked as she rested her chin in one hand, the other twirling an empty Dango stick.

"I dunno... Every time I go to the park, everyone ignores me, and when I stay at the orphanage, everyone ignores me. The only people who don't are you, Inu, Jiji, and the Icha... Ichiraku's!" the boy took a moment to properly say the name of the Ramen stand owners. Anko almost snickered at the mispronunciation. She loved that book series.

For several hours, Anko led the blonde around the village, doing different activities to keep him happy. When night fell, two ANBU appeared. Sparrow and Eagle. Eagle approached Anko and began a conversation.

"Anko-san, Hokage-sama requests your presence in the Tower. We are going to walk Naruto to his lodging for the night." Anko nodded, gave Naruto a deep hug, then left. When she was gone, Sparrow turned to the blonde and cracked his knuckles with a malicious chuckle.

A loud agonized scream tore through the village, making even the most toughened Shinobi in the village shiver in fear.

I see... Kurama said slowly as Naruto relived the horror of that night. When he'd joined the ANBU, he'd tracked down the two culprits and made their lives a living hell, but even that couldn't make the terrors go away. So he set up the nap schedule. He never slept long enough for them to set in. he never showed anyone the scars, because that would raise questions, and he generally avoided those.

So he remained silent and bore the horror of his past on his own.

He chose the path of suffering, rather than hurt those he loved.