A/N: I'm back. Finally. I know I probably should write more. Just need about 1000 shadow clones of myself to do everything I need to and want to do in life. Sucks that I can't do that.

Anyway, onto the usual disclaimer stuff. I don't own Naruto. Please support the official series. And please imagine me saying something witty, funny, or silly here.

Chapter 9

In Kunoichi lessons, spring semester

Naruko tried her best to stifle a yawn. The sun was particularly warm today, this early in spring. Very relaxing with the breeze and scent of nearby wildflowers. Their kunoichi arts sensei, had assigned them to do flower arrangements today. She lay down in the grass and closed her eyes, just about to doze off, when...

"And here I thought you liked flowers, Naruko. So bored that you're falling asleep?" Ino said teasingly from nearby. Naruko cracked open one eye and looked at Ino, who had decided to sit next to her, apparently.

"I do... but... the weather is so relaxing that it makes me sleepy..." Naruko responded, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Ino laughed. "It really is nice. I guess that explains why I found you over here snoring through class," Ino answered teasingly. Naruko blushed slightly in embarrassment and exclaimed, "No! No way! I don't snore!" as she slightly glared at Ino for accusing her of doing such a thing.

Ino laughed and said, "Do too. Don't worry, it isn't loud. I didn't notice until I sat down next to you. It was actually kind of cute." Naruko tilted her head slightly in confusion. "I don't really get it. But okay, I guess," Naruko admitted, calming down a little now that she knew her snoring had at least been quiet.

"Anyway, I thought you would be working with Sakura on this," Naruko said idly to Ino as she sat up and started looking at the flowers around her. The kitsune girl wanted to finish the assignment quickly so that she could maybe sneak in a nap in this nice setting before their next class.

Ino huffed, irritated at the topic change. "No. She's being ridiculous," Ino declared.

"Are you two fighting about Sasuke again?" Naruko rolled her eyes. She knew Ino and Sakura were close friends, but their friendship had been strained ever since they both decided that they liked Sasuke.

"No! ...Well actually, yes. But not in that way. I've pretty much given up on my chances with him, even if he is really cute. But I don't know if I want to be her friend anymore if she's going to be so stubborn." Ino tried to explain. This got Naruko's attention.

"What? You're going to let your friendship end just like that?" Naruko asked sharply, staring at Ino seriously and a little angrily at the thought. Ino, a little worried at Naruko's reaction, quickly said, "No, no, it's not like I want to, but if all we do is argue I don't know what else to do!"

Naruko sighed and stood up. "Okay, that's it. We're working out the problems between you two. Now." With that, she grabbed Ino's arm and started walking towards Sakura.

"W-wait! Naruko! Slow down!" Ino complained as she was dragged to her feet and forced to walk behind Naruko towards Sakura. "Nope," Naruko replied stubbornly.

Sakura, seeing the pair approach her, huffed angrily. "What are you doing bringing her into our argument, Ino?" Sakura spat venomously, glaring at Naruko. Seeing this, Naruko's steps faltered somewhat and she averted her gaze downwards. More hateful glares. Directed at her. It really hurt so much.

Ino, upon seeing this, now was the one dragging Naruko forward, marching angrily towards Sakura. "That was uncalled for, Sakura. Naruko wanted us to resolve our issues, nothing more. She didn't do anything to you to deserve that."

"Yeah? And why would she care other than to side with you?" Sakura asked angrily. "Well?" Sakura asked as she turned to face Naruko, glaring at her while waiting for an answer.

"... Because friends are too important to lose so easily..." Naruko replied in a strangely quiet and morose tone for the kitsune girl. She was usually so energetic, that it caught Sakura off guard and peaked her curiosity as to why Naruko was behaving this way.

"...Naruko..? What is it..? What's wrong?" Ino asked, concerned.

"... I guess no one ever told you much about my past, huh..?" Naruko asked quietly, half to Ino and Sakura, and half to herself. "N-no, not really," Ino admitted, surprised by the question. "I guess I'm kind of interested to know..." Sakura said, reluctant to admit how interested she actually was.

Naruko sighed. She didn't really want to get into her personal problems right now with these two, but maybe it would help them settle their differences if they would just understand a little bit.

"I guess it starts with who my father is... or I guess was, since I'm an orphan," Naruko said in her strangely subdued voice. Sakura and Ino felt a chill run up their spines. They each thought to themselves that they were probably in for a not-so-happy story.

"W-well, who was he?" asked Sakura nervously. "Oh, he's very famous, but very misunderstood and hated in the village. Most people don't know that he was forced by a genjutsu to attack the village on the night I was born, you see. He's why I have these." Naruko explained, motioning to her ears and tails.

Although Ino was still confused, Sakura paled, having figured out who Naruko meant. "The Kyūbi," she breathed quietly under her breath, so that only Ino and Naruko would hear her. Ino, upon hearing this, paled. This was a lot of information to take in for the two girls. As kunoichi in training, they understood the manipulative ability of genjutsu. But they realized quickly just how badly normal villagers would react to Naruko if they knew who her father was.

"Of course, because of these, I'm not very well liked in Konoha... bad memories and stereotypes," Naruko continued. She had seemed to have snapped a bit out of her depressed mood and was reciting her past as if she were reading from a textbook. That made it all the worse for Ino and Sakura when they heard what Naruko had to say next.

"Which, I suppose, explains why the only person who was nice to me in the orphanage was murdered, and I was abducted and dumped deep in the forest, bound up in an old sack with ropes, when I was five years old. Of course, not before I was kicked repeatedly," Naruko said flatly, much to the horror of the other two. "That's..." Ino started to say something, but Naruko continued with a distant expression, lost in her memories.

"Of course, after I managed to get out, I didn't really know how to survive well on my own. A lone kit, without parents to teach her how to survive? I wasn't very good at finding food and water at first. Even though I got a bit better, it was still very hard. I was too afraid to go near the village unless I was close to starving to death, you see. I would honestly do much better now if I were in that situation, though. Hokage-jiji made sure to teach me those things before I joined the academy..."

"But back to what I was saying before..." Naruko continued. Ino and Sakura listened in shock to Naruko relay her perspective of her first meeting with Hinata. How important that single apple had been to Naruko. How it had been a couple days worth of food to her. Then her later encounter with Chōji and Shikamaru. Her fear of the village being slightly alleviated by the kindness shown to her, and that wonderful feast of ramen she had desperately needed. Finally, to the relief of the other two girls, she seemed to be done with her story. They both moved in to hug Naruko, tears running down their faces.

"That... I can't even imagine..." Sakura started to say.

"... But being alone and unwanted. The pain of feeling like you should just die because everyone around you would be happier if you did... That's what I'm most thankful that my friends save me from. Every day." Naruko added, her eyes closed, trembling from remembering all the harsh words and glares she received from those who hate her.

Sakura and Ino stood speechless, not really knowing what to say. It was clear to both of them that the usually cheerful kitsune had been through much more than she let on. And probably was still going through some of it.

"So... what were you two upset about anyway?" asked Naruko casually, as if she hadn't just been talking about such a distressing topic.

"You can't seriously expect me to care about that right now!" Ino said, shocked. "Yeah, after hearing about all that..." added Sakura.

Naruko crossed her arms and waited, flicking her tails back and forth with an impatient expression. "Yes, I can," Naruko declared stubbornly.

Ino gulped nervously, "Well... I said that continuing chasing after Sasuke would just be a waste of my time because... well.. you're the only girl he even pays attention to."

"...Eh?" Naruko responded, a bit confused.

"How could you call Sasuke a waste of time! He's so cool and handsome and..." complained Sakura.

"Because he isn't interested in me! And probably never will be! I might as well just focus on becoming a good kunoichi until I find a good guy that does like me!" Ino replied, frustrated.

"So he's a waste of time because he doesn't fawn over you like other guys do? Don't make me laugh!" Sakura argued.

"Uhh... you mean for yourself, right Ino? Not in general?" asked Naruko, confused.

"Yes! I'd be wasting my time pursuing someone who doesn't like me when there's a chance I'll find another good guy who does like me!" Ino said in a half shout.

"Wait, that's what you meant?" Sakura asked, confused. "I thought you meant in general."

"Of course not! He's already an awesome ninja. And... I'm sure if Naruko wanted him she could easily get him..." Ino said, slightly begrudgingly on the last part.

"...Eh? I'm not interested in that type of thing, really," said Naruko plainly.

"...What?" asked Sakura and Ino, dumbfounded. Pretty much every girl their age was starting to think about these kinds of things. At least a little bit.

"Shannaro! Now I just need to figure out what it is about Naruko that interests Sasuke and it'll be a flawless victory!" Sakura cheered happily. "Maybe he has a thing for redheads? Or maybe he likes her fox features?" Ino suggested.

"... Well it's kind of hard for him to ignore me when I beat the crap out of him every time we spar. I guess," Naruko suggested, thinking that was the most likely answer.

"That's it!" Sakura exclaimed. "He has never paid any attention to any other girl before, and barely any attention to any of the guys. But he focuses so much on Naruko because she's the only person our age that can beat him! Naruko, please teach me how to fight like you!" Sakura begged.

"Not so fast, Sakura! If she's teaching anyone it's going to be me! I want to be a serious kunoichi, not just get strong to impress a guy!" Ino declared.

"...EHH?!" Naruko exclaimed, confused by this turn of events.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm doing it for both reasons, so that means she definitely is teaching me instead!" Sakura countered.

"Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you get ahead of me! I was her friend before you so I get first dibs on being taught by her!" Ino declared.

Naruko, meanwhile, just stood there confused, wondering if this was better or worse than having them argue over Sasuke.

A/N: Guess I decided for this chapter to be the friendship drama chapter.

Well, I think my main problem with writing is not coming up with too few ideas, but coming up with too many conflicting ideas and being indecisive about which I like better. Any advice on how to deal with that from fellow writers? Because I really, really need to finalize the teams. As much as I enjoy writing academy stuff, I don't want it to go on forever. Yikes.

Responses to reviews:

PinkiePieParty122894: True enough. That's very important to her.

ThunderClaw03: Well... not quite anyone. Not yet, anyway. But for the average or mundane person, yes. But there ARE exceptional ninja out there.

Otaku of Anime: Eh, It's hard to give you an exact estimate, because strength at various ranks vary greatly. I will say that I think Rock Lee at the start of the chunin exams, with his weights on, would surely force her to use her full strength right now (and that they both rely on taijutsu for the moment). Though I'm not sure who would win that. Remember, she's still just an academy student, so that's pretty drastically powerful. She would lose against Lee either taking his weights off or opening his Chakra Gates, though.

fanficreader71: I'm glad you enjoyed. Hopefully you enjoy this one too.

night-fang223: Eh? Who is? The writer is confused. ;-;