Chapter 8 is HERE!!! Wow, that was lame…umm, ok. There are a lot of dead cat girls. *Looks over all the new graves as a single tear drop rolls down my cheek* If only you all knew what was going on.
I would like to thank my Beta, the blueberry king, with out whom I would be getting hate mail for my horrid spelling and grammar.
Wall of CatGirl killers at the end.
Chapter 8: Soul Searching and Betrayal
"Come on runts, you still have five more laps around the village!" Anko was sitting on a roof, watching her new genin running their laps for the fight that Naruto finished. Anko had pulled her team out of the forest a day and a half early to give them a break, but Anko got bored, so she made them run. She was not getting the reactions she was hoping for. No whining, no threats, and no complaining. She took a good look at her slaves and saw that Naruto was a good deal behind the girls still limping from his injuries, and the girls looked like they were trying to avoid Naruto giving him a glance every now and again.
"Ok, that's enough. Something is bothering you three, so I will save the rest of the laps for another time." Naruto did not answer, but responded by walking off.
Anko walked up to a heavily panting Ino and Sakura to get some answers. "All right you two, I want to know what the hell is going on. You were fine in the forest and in the hospital when I left you."
"He's the Kyuubi, he…" Sakura was cut off.
"You will stop right there. He is Naruto Uzumaki, a human being."
"He told us he houses the demon, and that what he did was him using its power!" Ino said.
"Yes, he houses a demon inside of him. Let me ask you something though. If you were to attack a demon, what would said demon do?"
"Fight back?" Ino questioned.
"Yes, it would stop at nothing until it had its revenge. Now, have you ever seen Naruto attack anyone in the village?"
"No." It was Sakura to answer this time.
"That's right. Even after the village shunned him, he never raised a hand. Hell, HE NEVER EVEN FIGHTS BACK WHEN THEY ATTACK HIM! Tell me, are those the actions of a demon? I think not." Anko turned to leave and said, "Oh, and if you can't see him for who he really is, then I suggest that you go see the Hokage tomorrow to be taken off the team. He will be expecting you." With that, Anko was gone in a puff of smoke.
Both Sakura and Ino stood there for a few minutes without saying a word before they both left going their separate ways.
Xxx
Sakura was the first one to get home, but when she got there she found that every one in the building was running around, as if trying to get something ready. When she arrived at the room she and her mother lived in (The Harunos live in a big condo,) she found her mother franticly filling out paper work. "Mom, what's going on? Why is everyone in such a rush?"
Sakura's mom almost jumped out of her seat. "Sakura, I didn't hear you come in."
"Hello mom, I'm a Ninja," Sakura said in a 'you should know this by now' way. "So, what's going on?"
"We're just getting ready for the festival."
"We've never done anything for it before, so why start now?" Sakura asked, not trusting the woman in front of her.
"Yes, but this year we Harunos have a very special atonement to make," Sakura's mom said, voice dripping with smugness.
The tone of her mother's voice did not go unnoticed by Sakura, but at the same time she didn't care either. She had other things on her mind. "Mom, what can you tell me about the Kyuubi?"
"That thing is a monster. Your father died because of that thing, and it needs to die!" Sakura's mother said with a voice full of anger.
"Didn't the Fourth Hokage kill the Kyuubi?"
"Sakura, stop trying to anger your mother. Now just go and do something," was said as Sakura's mom went back to what ever she was doing.
"Fine, I'll just go to Baa-san's."
"Sakura, you stay away from that woman. She turned her back on the clan."
"That's only because you were trying to get to place yourself on the civilian counsel and forced her out when she said no!" Sakura said in spite as she left.
Xxx
Naruto was walking home, ignoring all the glares and the names that he was being called.
"Seriously, I can't see how you've not killed any of these 'people' yet, and I use that word loosely."
'You can't punish people for being stupid. If you could, then I would be right at the top of the list.'
'What do you mean by that? I mean, I know you're an idiot, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that you're stupid.'
'Thanks, I think. However, I told Sakura-chan and Ino-chan about you, and now they hate me just like the rest of this damned village.'
'They never said that, they're just confused and scared. I mean, they were lied to their whole lives about the fight with me and your father. Just give them time and see where that takes them.'
'Damn it, why cant things be easy?'
'Then life would be boring. Now go get some ramen or something, it sucks when you're all EMO.'
'I am not emo, fuzz face.'
Before Naruto and Kyuubi could finish their conversation, Naruto heard a "Hey kid! Hold on a sec."
"Oh, Anko-sensei. Did I forget something?"
"I'm just seeing how you are feeling."
"My nose is all healed up and my ribs are almost 100 %," Naruto held up his broken wrist, "and this hurts like hell."
"I meant the other thing," Anko said crossing her arms.
The blond let out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm alright. They were going to find out sooner or later anyway, but it doesn't matter. I'm quitting the team tomorrow," Naruto said in a sad voice.
"What?! Why?" Anko asked.
"It's not right to make Ino and Sakura work with a monster like m…"
*SLAP*
Naruto stood there with a growing red mark on his cheek. "You're not a monster, Orochimaru is a monster. He kills anyone in his path, guilty, innocent, young, the old, women, children, they're all the same to him, and he does it without a second thought. You, on the other hand, care for people even if they treat you like trash. You are a good person, don't you forget that."
"Thank you Anko-sensei."
"Now, its getting late, go and get some sleep and show up for training the day after the festival by five. I need to talk with the Hokage." Anko vanished in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto didn't waste time wandering, he just wanted to go home and sleep. When he got there, he found that someone had been in his room. "What the hell? Someone broke my table, and is that blood on my floor, and why is my bed broken?" Naruto said loudly.
'My guess is one of the stupid villagers came here to mess up the place and hurt himself when he broke the table, the dumb-ass.'
"Well, I guess I'll go sleep on the couch."
Xxx earlier:
Ino walked into the flower shop to see her mom working the front desk, and her dad moving a large flower pot. She was going to her room, but her mom had other plans.
"Ino? What are you doing home, honey? I thought you still had another day left of your test." It was at this time that she got a good look at her daughter's hair. "Ino, what happened to your hair?" Ino's mom asked.
"Oh, there was an accident and Sakura had her hair burned off, so I cut mine to make her feel better," Ino said like it was no big deal.
"So what happened with the test? Don't tell me you failed," her dad added.
"I think we passed, but we won't know if we passed or not 'till tomorrow," Ino said simply.
"Your hair dear, what are we going to do about it?" Ino's mother asked as she ran her hand through her daughter's hair.
Ino just pushed her mom's hands softly away to the side. "I guess I'll just have short hair for a while. Besides, I think it looks good cut short," she said before taking a pose.
"You look like a lesbian though," her mother said in a whiny voice.
"What the hell? That's not something you say to your daughter!" Ino turned to go to the back room and to her room only to be stopped by a question from her dad.
"What about your teammate? When can we expect him for dinner?"
Ino stopped where she was. If it was one thing she did not want to think about, it was Naruto. "I… I need to go for a walk," was the last thing she said before running out the door.
Both Ino's parents looked to one another before going back to whatever it was they were doing.
Ino's thoughts were racing about what to do with Naruto. Her parents seem to be off their rockers. She didn't even know where to start, so she just waked around the village. It wasn't long before she came to the large tree at the end of the park. "So, back where it all started," Ino said out loud.
"You know, I said the same thing when I got here."
Ino looked to the other side of the tree to see Sakura sitting against the base of the tree looking at Ino with a soft smile. "Sakura, what are you doing here? It's almost midnight."
"My mom's a bitch?"
"Umm, ok…?"
"Alright. After I got home from the test, the entire clan was in an uproar. Apparently the Harunos are going to make a big announcement at the festival, and won't tell me what it's about."
"That's why you're out here in the middle of the night?" Ino asked while sitting next to her friend.
"No. If I had to guess, I'm here for the same reason you are. Naruto…. I asked my mom about abut the Kyuubi, and she slipped up. She said that it was a monster and to stay away from it. When I said 'Didn't the fourth Hokage kill the Kyuubi?' she got upset that I tricked her and told me to leave," Sakura said
"What did Kameko-sama have to say?"
"What make's you think I asked Baa-san?"
"Come on, Sakura. I've seen how you are with her. She's more of a mother to you than your real mom."
Sakura let a smile come across her face. "She said that the Kyuubi attacking was a misunderstanding and part of someone's sick plot to destroy the village. She also said that Naruto was dragged into the middle of the whole thing when he was only 2 hours old."
"How does she know all that, and did she give any names?" Ino asked, wanting to know as much as she could learn from this.
"I asked her the same thing, and she responded that she was not allowed to name anything. Not even the one that tried to destroy the village, but she did tell me that she was one of the nurses that helped with the delivery of Naruto at birth."
"So, Naruto never had a say in the matter," Ino said looking up to the sky. "Why is this so hard?"
"What do you mean Ino, what's hard?" Sakura asked looking at Ino.
"This Naruto thing. In the academy, I just saw him as another face, and I even hated him a little. Now, I find out his life is the worse that I have ever heard, and he still finds the time to smile. Now he's going to end up alone again all because we are too dumb to see that he's not a demon."
"What are you talking about Ino?"
"We have to go to the Hokage's office in the morning to see if we are going to stay a team, right?" Sakura gave Ino a nod, seeing where this was going. "We walked out on him in the hospital. We haven't even spoken to him two days. With the way we acted, do you think that he'll let us stay on the team?"
"You are right. We need to show the Hokage that we were wrong and want to stay with Naruto as teammates," Sakura replied as she stood up.
Ino got up as well. "Come on, you can sleep over while we think of how we're going to convince the Hokage."
"Right. Let's go."
Xxx
Somewhere in the massive forest that surrounds the village hidden in the leaf, Sasuke was getting a new respect for his teammates. To the left was Hinata with Byakugan blazing, to the right was Kiba using his beast mimicry and in front was a very large Akamaru ready to bite his head off. Sasuke learned one of the secrets about the Inuzuka clan, and that is their dogs can grow on command. Sasuke knew he was in trouble as his thoughts went to what Itachi had done to Kiba.
Flash Back.
Kiba and Hinata were sparring when Hinata lost her footing, leaving an opening for Kiba. He brought up his fist only to stop at the edge of her nose. "Looks like I win, Hinata." Before Hinata could respond, Kiba was sent flying into a tree from a sudden kick to his face, breaking his nose.
"Never show mercy to an opponent, even if that opponent is an ally," Itachi said with no emotion in his voice.
"We're just sparring right now; I don't have to go for the killing blow every time."
"Is that so? Will you also think that when you are face to face with an opponent on the battle field? That you will not fight back because they are friends of yours?"
"I'll be able to do it when the time comes!" Kiba retorted.
"Then you should also be able to do it now."
"I don't have to prove myself to you, just know that I can."
"We will see about that, dog boy."
End Flash Back.
'I need to think of something and fast! May..." Before Sasuke could finish his thought, Kiba dashed towards Sasuke. Sasuke dodged the swipe by crouching quickly, and swept Kiba's legs out from under him. As Sasuke began to drive his knee up into Kiba's gut, Akamaru came in and tackled Sasuke with a powerful shoulder check that sent him flying straight into Hinata as she gave a cry of Heavenly Spin. Sasuke slammed into the wall of chakra before continuing his journey skidding along the ground.
"I'm sorry Sasuke, but Itachi-Sama knows best," Hinata said knowing this was all for the best.
Sasuke slowly got back to his feet and sent a glare at his teammates that stopped them in their tracks. Itachi jumped down from the tree that he was watching from and grabbed Sasuke roughly by the chin as he stared into his younger brother's eyes to see the first level of the Sharingan. "Necessity is the Key."
Xxx
The next morning:
Naruto woke up still feeling tired. "I guess a good night's sleep is always just out of reach," he said with a loud sigh.
"I guess I'm more upset than I thought about with the girls. If the way they acted yesterday is any clue, then I won't be working with any teammates for a while."
'That's not why you are tired. That fight sped up your change faster than I thought.'
"You said it would still take time though."
"Yes, I thought so too, but if I had to guess, all the healing I have done in the past boosted the changes start time."
"How much time do I have before I start?"
"The changes have already started."
"Great, more reasons for them to hate me."
'You need to have more faith in those vixens… what was it that you called them? Ah yes, Ino and Sakura.'
"What do you mean? You were there, and you saw how they looked at me. They were terrified."
'No, they weren't. A little scared, yes, but not terrified.'
Before Naruto could reply, there was a loud knock at the door.
"Who in the hell would come see me this early in the morning?" Naruto asked to no one in particular as he opened the door. "Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here?"
'I never did like him, he always shows up at the right, or wrong, time,' Kyuubi said.
"Hey Naruto, I'm just here to take you for your birthday ramen. I think it will be easier if we go today instead of tomorrow," the middle aged teacher said with a hint of sadness.
Naruto looked at the floor of his home for a minute before give Iruka a half smile. "Thanks Iruka-sensei, just give me a bit to get ready."
"Okay, I'll just wait for you out here," Iruka said with a smile, and with a nod from Naruto, he went to get changed.
XXX
Rays of sun shone through a window right into the face of a certain pink haired girl. Sakura took the pillow from under her head and pressed it tightly to her face, but she soon found out that it was a futile effort. With a groan, she got out of bed and slowly made her way the bathroom, grabbing a towel off the dresser on the way. She absentmindedly proceeded on, entering a steamy bathroom with the water still running. She shut the door and started to strip out of her purple work out shorts and matching tank top, followed by her black silk panties. Once she was naked, she drew back the shower curtain. Then it finally hit her. 'Steam, running water, purple sleep wear, and a closed curtain…Oh shit!' Sakura tried to stop but it was too late the curtain was opened and Sakura was face to face with Ino in all her glory.
Two sets of eyes went wide as they stared at one another. Sakura saw the water gently slashing over Ino chest and over her nipples. Her eyes trailed further down until they reached Ino's moist private place. 'She's so smooth; there is not a single hair anywhere. Why can't I take my eyes off of her?'
Ino was suddenly feeling very self conscious as she watched Sakura eye her up and down and held her breath when Sakura's gaze stopped at her pussy. Soon Ino found herself doing the same thing to Sakura. 'Damn, I thought I was bigger than her, but her breasts are the same size, if not a little bigger, than mine. On top of that, she's hairless. Wait a second, why am I checking out forehead?'
Their eyes met, and they could see the embarrassment with a hint of lust in each other's eyes.
Then, just as suddenly as the peep show had begun, Sakura snapped out of her daze.
'Oh my god! I just saw Ino-pig NAKED!'
'So? She looks hot, and look at those tits!'
"Sakura, what the hell are you doing?! Can't you see I'm in here? Get out!" Ino yelled.
"S-sorry!" Sakura squeaked, turning swiftly on her heel. She'd forgotten that the shower had been running for a long time now, and that that meant that the floor was wet and slippery.
Her hand instinctively shot out to stop Sakura "Wait, don't sl!" Ino never had a chance to finish her sentence. Sakura's foot slipped clear out from under her and sent her falling face first into the wet tile. She put out her arm and used her momentum to twist herself onto her ass, but grabbed Ino's wrist in the process.
Ino's hand was pulled down with Sakura's fall, and that sent her flailing down as well. She tried to pull back, but her wet feet only made a sharp squeaking noise as she crashed on top of Sakura. Her face planted itself securely between Sakura's round breasts. She put out her hands to spring up, but her hands landed on Sakura's hips. Sakura's body was covered in a light mist due to the steam and water droplets from Ino's shower, so Ino's hands slipped downward fast.
Sakura and Ino both gasped when her hand reached the most embarrassing destination possible.
"SORRY!" Ino yelped. She painfully used her knees to push off of Sakura quickly and then turned away using her hands to conceal the little modesty she thought she still had.
Sakura slowly got up from the wet tile and watched with wide eyes as Ino hustled out of the bathroom.
XXX
"Thanks for the ramen Iruka-sensei, but I can't stay too long, I need to see the old man," Naruto said without his normal energy.
"What's wrong Naruto? You are never upset when I bring you here," Iruka asked.
"They know about, well, you know who," Naruto said sadly.
"Excuse me Teuchi, but can you give us a minute?" Iruka asked the ramen chef.
"Yeah, I need to go get more chicken anyways. I'll be back in a bit." Teuchi walked out of the stand leaving the two ninja.
"Ok Naruto, tell me what's going on." It was more of a statement than a request.
"During our genin test, a ninja from cloud showed up. He was making his escape after kidnapping Konohamaru and a Hyuuga named Hanabi. He found us in the forest and attacked us. When I saw Ino and Sakura in danger, I snapped and used Kyuubi's power. After I killed the guy, they asked some questions and I told them every thing. So now they're afraid of me and I don't want to force them to be on my team and put them in any unnecessary danger. I'm going to ask the old man to take me off the team." Iruka looked at Naruto with a grin.
'You talk too much kit. Why would you tell him that?' Kyuubi asked with an irritated voice.
"You know, Naruto, there is an easier way to get you off the team." Naruto looked to Iruka only to get an elbow to the face, before falling down with a look of pure shock. "What's with that look, Naruto? You look like your world came crashing down around you. Like I said, there is an easier way to get them off of your team, and that way is," Iruka reached down ripping Naruto's head band form his head, "with your death," He said in a low voice as he snapped the head band in half and dropped it at Naruto's feet.
"Ir-Iruka-sensei, why are you d-doing this? I thought you…" Naruto was interrupted before he could finish, but everyone could hear the hurt in his voice.
"Cared about you? Come on, I thought demons were smarter than that." Naruto turned to see where the voice was coming from only to see Mizuki as he closed the large steel door of the Ramen stand.
"You killed my parents you damned demon! That's why I will kill you now," Iruka said pulling out a kunai as he slowly walked towards the still shocked Naruto.
'Listen to me kit. I know you are hurting and feeling betrayed, but you need to move now or they're going to kill us!' Kyuubi yelled.
The kunai was coming down, and right before it made contact with Naruto's head he rolled back before springing up into a fighting position.
As soon as Naruto was in his stance, Mizuki sent a kick to Naruto's face, but Naruto grabbed his foot pushing it up, causing Mizuki to back flip as Naruto dodged a right hook from Iruka. He instead took a knee to the head from Mizuki. Naruto stumbled back before Mizuki tried to follow up his attack with a leg sweep, but Naruto jumped over it and gave a knee back to Mizuki hitting him in the eye. He then charged at Iruka, driving his shoulder into the older man's gut, but Iruka would not let the opportunity pass him, and brought the kunai down into Naruto's back as they both went flying over the counter and into the empty kitchen.
"Looks like that little demon is giving you some trouble Iruka," Mizuki said as he laughed.
"Shut up, I'm not stupid enough to underestimate the brat like you did, and I already stabbed him," Iruka spat out as he got up from the floor.
*CLANG* the arguing Chuunin looked over to see a bloodied kunai lying on the counter and Naruto was on his feet. "Are you two going to fight each other, or are you going to kill the demon brat?" Naruto asked with venom dripping from every syllable he spoke.
Naruto took up his stance, and Iruka charged landing a thunderous right hook to Naruto's face. As he stumbled back, Naruto glared at the scar faced man before slamming his hand on a handle of a pot of boiling noodles sending them flying into Iruka's face. The boiling water and noodles burned Iruka's face as he dropped to the ground screaming in pain as his face began to blister. Naruto turned his attention to Mizuki to see him finishing a hand sign and slamming his hands to the ground. As he did, the main counter of the ramen stand exploded in a hail of splinters as three parts of the foundation went flying at Naruto. Naruto managed to dodge the first two, but the third hit him in the stomach sending him slamming into the back wall.
Naruto struggled to get up this time. 'I can't breath right,' he thought as he coughed up blood.
'Kit, the last attack broke some of your ribs again. One more good shot and they can pierce a lung.'
Naruto looked to see Iruka starting to get up and Mizuki spinning a large shuriken. Naruto leaped over the counter to tackle the white haired ninja, but Mizuki swung the still spinning shuriken at Naruto. Naruto grabbed a frying pan from the counter and used it to block the attack. His plan worked, but the shuriken hit the pan with such force that Naruto slammed back into the wall again where the fight had started.
Naruto was about to stand when a boot to the stomach made him cough up even more blood. Naruto looked up and saw a face he could not recognize, even though he was looking at his own handy work.
"Look what you did to me you fucking demon!" yelled the man just before he back handed Naruto with a closed fist cutting him above the eye. "Mizuki, open that damned door, I'm going to throw his corpse into the street so the whole village can see it."
Naruto may not have known the face, but he knew that voice. He took a good look at the face; it was burned so badly that no one could see the man's scar across his nose through the blisters.
Iruka picked Naruto up by the collar of his jacket and held him in the air. He held a kunai in the other. "This is goodbye, you hell spawn!"
"Yes it is," Naruto grunted out as he slammed his cast on Iruka's forehead. When Naruto was on the ground, he grabbed and jammed a part of his broken headband into Iruka's skull with an eerie red glow surrounding his hand, killing Iruka instantly.
Mizuki, seeing his partner die by a glowing red hand, considered that it was time to make a run for it. As he turned to make his escape, he came face to face with the one woman he did not want to at the moment.
Anko and Hana saw the man and were on him in an instant. He tried to turn and run another way, but was dropped by a solid hit to the gut from Hana.
"What are you doing here you traitor?!" Anko yelled, hate in her voice as she picked Mizuki up by the collar. As she looked him in the eyes, Mizuki's eyes widened and blood started flowing from his tear ducts.
"What the hell?" Anko turned to Hana and saw her staring wide eyed at the back the dead ninjas head. As she looked to see what Hana was looking at, she saw half of a Konoha head band imbedded in the back of the man's skull.
It was at this point that Hana saw a bloodied and beaten Naruto standing in front of the same ramen stand that Mizuki had run out of a moment before. "Anko, it's Naruto!"
Anko went over to Naruto to find out what the hell was going on. After a short explanation, Naruto passed out. "Hana, you are on damage control. I'm going to take him to the Hokage."
XXX
Anko burst through the Hokage's door with the unconscious blond and set him down on the couch to the far left of the room.
"Anko, what in the hell happened to him?!" yelled the old man.
Anko let out a long sigh. "He was betrayed by the only other man to treat him like a person. From what I can tell, it was Iruka that helped Mizuki escape from prison, and then they went after him. He'll be alright though, his injuries are already healing, and the cut above his eye has already sealed itself up."
"Where are they now?" Sarutobi asked in a voice that said 'I will kill them myself if that's a fact' which Anko picked up on.
"If you want to kill them yourself, you're a little late. Naruto already killed them both." The Hokage looked at Anko with a look that demanded to know how. "It seems that some where in the fight his headband broke in half and he jabbed one end into Iruka's forehead and he threw the other into the back of Mizuki's skull as he tried to run off."
Anko was about to continue when there was a loud knock at the door interrupting their conversation. "One moment Anko, stay here while I see who's at the door." Anko nodded before casting a genjutsu on Naruto and herself. The Hokage saw this and went back to his desk. "Come in."Sarutobi watched as Sakura and Ino made their way to the two chairs that stood in front of his desk. "What may I do for you two today?" He said, knowing full well why they were here.
"Lord Hokage, we wish to talk about Naruto," Sakura said in a soft and nervous voice. Naruto opened his eyes and looked over to his teammates.
"Is that so?" asked the disappointed leader of the leaf.
"Yes, and after Sakura and I talked about Naruto's secret we…" Ino was cut off by the Hokage.
"So you want to quit the team and request to be placed somewhere else? Well, Anko came by yesterday and told m…" It was a rarity when someone interrupted the Hokage, but a one Ino Yamanaka did just that.
"No! We don't want to be pulled off his team, we want to help him," Ino said in a firm voice.
"Yesterday you and Ino were avoiding Naruto like the plague during your run, and now you want be on his team? Why is that ladies?" Anko asked from behind them.
"Anko-Sensei? What are you doing here?" Ino asked.
"The Hokage and I were having a discussion about the team, so you came at the right time," Anko said in a voice that said she was serious.
"So, we ask you both then. Why do you want to be on Naruto's team?"
Ino and Sakura looked to one another and then at their Hokage with a sad expression. "We were never really nice or fair to Naruto back in the academy," Ino said looking down.
"Despite all of that, he always had a smile on his face and he treated us like we mattered and always helped us," Sakura said.
"He always gave up his seat in class. He saved us from a severe injury in a fight. He's a real gentleman. He even gave us his clothes in the forest." No one noticed the blush on Naruto's face.
"He saved both of us and those kids during the test. Even if he has a demon inside of him, he is still the same Naruto," both Sakura and Ino said.
"How do we know that you two aren't trying to get close to him just to hurt him later?" Anko asked in a stern voice.
'Kit, I don't think they are lying. Unlike that man you called a father, I can trust them," Kyuubi said.
"Who would do something so cruel?!" Sakura yelled.
"Iruka." All eyes went to where the voice had come from. Both Ino and Sakura gasped to see blood all over Naruto who was leaning to the left and holding his side.
Both Ino and Sakura were by his side in a heartbeat. "Naruto what happened?" Ino asked helping Naruto stand.
"He was attacked by Touji Mizuki and Umino Iruka," Sarutobi said with sadness in his old voice.
Sakura and Ino were shocked that their teachers had tried to kill him over something that he had no control of. That's when they knew that Naruto's life was worse than they thought.
"Naruto, I'm sorry for the way I've treated you in the past," Sakura said sadly.
"Is there anyway you can forgive us?" Ino asked with hope in her voice.
"I keep telling you guys that there's nothing to be sorry for, but how about you two each buy me a bowl of ramen and we'll call it a fair trade?" Naruto asked with a smile.
'Oh come on, you could have gotten them to do anything you wanted, and you pick ramen? What are you, gay?'
'Oh shut up, you know damn well I'm not gay. Plus, I know you love ramen as much as I do.'
'Okay, so I like ramen, no biggie, and if you were gay this would do nothing to you.'
Naruto was suddenly back in the forest of death and Sakura and Ino just finished their fight. Instead of passing out, they looked at Naruto and started walking towards him. "Hey Naru-Kun, do you like having us almost naked?" Ino asked in an oh-so sweet voice.
"Oh come on Ino, you know he does, and you know he loves it when we do this." Sakura brought Ino into a passionate kiss, but right before there lips met… "Naruto? Naruto!" Naruto looked around and saw he was in the Kage tower with Sakura not too far from his face. "Are you ok Naruto? You look flushed and you zoned out for a few minutes."
"Oh, yeah Sakura-chan, I'm fine," Naruto said a little too quickly.
"Well anyway, thank you Naruto," Sakura said softly.
"We'll train hard so that next time Sakura and I will be able to help you in a fight," Ino chimed in.
"Anytime. Well, I want to get this blood washed off. Hey old man, can I get the shower key?"
The old Hokage let out a chuckle before throwing the key to the young blond. Naruto shot his hand out to grab the keys only to bring it back to his broken ribs. "AHH! Well, I guess it will take a bit more time for those to heal," he said picking up the keys and going out the door.
"Now girls, the Kyuubi is considered a SS-class secret, and telling anyone about it is punishable by death. Do you understand?" Sarutobi asked the two younger ninja.
"Yes lord Hokage, we understand," Sakura said with a bow.
"We will not break your trust or his," Ino added in.
After ten minutes of waiting, Naruto came back in wearing blue sweatpants and a white tank top that showed just how big he was. It left Ino and Sakura with a light blush on their face, which did not go unnoticed by their Sensei and Leader. It was about this time, however, when everyone saw the red tips in Naruto's hair.
"Naruto, why did you dye your hair?" Ino asked
"What are you talking about? I didn't die my hair," Naruto said in confusion.
Both Ino and Sakura pulled out a small pocket mirror and showed Naruto that his blond hair was now tipped with red.
"What the hell!" Naruto said falling down.
"Naruto, calm down. It is possible that the red hair is a side affect from using the Kyuubi's chakra," Sarutobi said.
Before Naruto could answer, the whole room was engulfed in a bright red light. When the light faded, Anko, Ino, Sakura, and Sarutobi found themselves in a large dark room with a giant cage in it.
"Where the hell are we?" Anko asked with a kunai in hand.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say we are in someone's mind," Ino said knowing something was off.
"What do you mean Ino?" Sakura asked in a soft voice as she got closer to Ino out of fear.
"Well, look up at the ceiling. It's covered in a fog, and there are portraits everywhere of different memories. Depending on the memory, the frames are different. For example, in my dad's mind his good and happy memories are behind brightly colored doors, and the not so happy ones are behind darker doors. I've never felt a mind as dark and unhappy as this one though," Ino explained.
"Very good little one. You are just as smart as the Kit thinks."
All heads turned to the large cage to see a fox of a colossal size looking at them through the bars.
"Kyuubi!" Sarutobi whispered, but the girls heard him as clear as a bell.
Anko stiffened a little. She knew all about the great fox and why it had attacked, but being in its presents was still a little unnerving. Sakura and Ino were never so scared in their life.
"Why did you bring us here?" asked the Third.
"I just want to talk about the kit. That, and to tell you that you were right about the hair. He has started down the path in becoming a Demon. An..." For the first time in his long life, the great Kyuubi was interrupted. (Well by some one other than Naruto anyway.)
"You bastard! You are the reason Naruto is treated so badly!" Ino screamed.
Sakura was next to scream at the fox. "Why can't you just die and leave him alone!"
"Indeed you two are something," Kyuubi grinned
Anko and Sarutobi told the younger Kunoichi all they knew about the fox and Kyuubi told them about how Naruto will one day be a demon. The whole conversation seemed to take hours, but when Kyuubi sent them back, only a few minutes had passed. They also saw a very sad looking Naruto.
"You all saw him didn't you?" His question was calm and collected, but his voice was sad and scared.
Ino and Sakura nodded. "He told you what was happing to me," Naruto said, and before anyone could say a word, Naruto looked Ino and Sakura in the eye. "So, do you still want to be on the same team as a fucking demon?" he asked full of hate and sorrow.
Sakura looked to Ino and she gave her friend an evil look that Ino understood.
"First Naruto, if you ever refer to your self being a Demon in a negative way again, I will personally make sure you don't get any ramen for a week," Sakura said crossing her arms.
"Second, Sakura and I think it's unfair that you didn't get your hair cut in the forest. So…" Ino paused and held up a pair of hair clippers with Sakura now holding some scissors.
"What!" Naruto yelled in shock that they went from they don't care if he's a demon, but intended to try and cut his hair.
Naruto was about to move when a shout from Sakura threw him for a loop. "Now Kyuubi!"
Naruto was down and could not move an inch. "What the hell did you do to me, you furry bastard!" he shouted not caring who heard him.
'The girls asked to make sure you didn't run away, and I thought this would be funny. Good thing that I'm not disappointed.'
"I'll kill you, you asshole! You hear me? You are fucking dead!!" Naruto yelled at the top of his voice and Sakura and Ino went to work.
Twenty minutes and many curses later, Naruto was sitting in a chair running a hand through the peach fuzz that was his hair, which was still red tipped.
"Oh, come on Naruto. Your look is more rugged now," Sakura said from his left.
"More dangerous," Ino added in from the right.
"Kid, you look like a bad ass," Anko said with a smile. "Ok boss man, have that photographer of yours here at five so they can take the pictures for the profile and team picture as well."
"Why five?" asked a curious Hokage.
"If you think I'm training them looking like that, you are dead wrong. You know how much credit I already lost because of the way they look? I'm going to get them the proper gear, and no more of that kid stuff," Anko said pointing to Naruto. "I'm going to sexify and kick-assify them," she responded, already on her way out of the door, dragging Ino in one hand and Sakura in the other.
"Before we go, there is one thing you five need to know." All eyes were on the dead serious Naruto. "I will get my revenge on you all; Sakura and Ino for cutting my hair, and psycho-sensei, along with the old man, for not stopping it. The fuzzy bastard for helping as well," Naruto said calmly and walked out of the room leaving four very scared people.
XXX
That is Chapter 8!!! Wow, I am on a roll. So people you know the drill. Every time you don't review, God kills a Cat-Girl! For every one that does not review. And for those that don't.
THE WALL.
the blueberry king(My own Beta).The Final Strike, aacob, kyril2303, romani-ite-domum, Omegaknight08, Paul Namikaze, loneknight1012, Chaspol, Trak The Cat, BravoContingency, gamer85,
Adotomel