The Kyuubi was many things, and easily surprised was not among them. For the child he had been watching for years to suddenly do just that left a bad taste in his mouth. He had, of course, noticed the change that occurred in the forest. He just assumed it was small and left it at that.

Being a construct made entirely of energy, he had the ability to see energy itself. He could tell what something was from this sight alone. However, he had never seen anything like Naruto. When he looked at the boy, he saw the energies of the world all amassing in a giant puzzle not yet solved. It was as if the world itself did not know who or what Naruto was. This surprised him. And worried him. He had never seen anyone like this, not even his father.

This made him cautious. He had no idea what this being could do, and no idea what rules applied to him. The Kyuubi had no idea whether or not this being was a threat, and decided to err on the side of caution. He wouldn't normally do this as his pride in his own power tended to override his sense of self-preservation. However, he found his instincts for survival screaming at him to simply remain calm and cautious. This being, was not something to challenge.

"Hello, Kyuubi. I can safely say it is nice to meet you." His voice was calm, far to calm. Normally, a being facing something as large as him would be instinctively afraid, and that subtle fear would leak slightly into their voice, no matter what they did to prevent it. None of that fear was there.

"Ningen. What reason could you have for coming to see little old me?"

"Little? Surely you jest! You are hardly little. A being with your level of power never is." His voice seemed jovial, happy even. But it held something deep within it. The Kyuubi's eyes narrowed and his tails twitched in anticipation.

"I would assume that a human would think itself above me, given that one was able to seal me away."

"I do not think like a normal human, and you will learn that in time. Of that, I am sure. I do not view you as my equal, nor do I view myself as your superior. We each possess our own strengths and weaknesses. Neither one of us is stronger than the other." This made the Kyuubi stop for only a split second. He had heard those words before. From another. From his father. And from a monk that was in the village his father died in. That monk had been off too, though not to this severity. What was happening here? And that voice, there was something there, but what? The Kyuubi could not place it! And this irritated him.

"Wise words, for a mere brat. What makes you think them true?"

"I do not need to think them true to believe them. I know them deep within my soul for what they are." There it was, pronounced loudly. None of the teasing or joking was in the boy's voice now. No, now there was nothing but that thing that the Kyuubi could not previously place. Danger. Threat. His instincts screamed at him that this man was dangerous, and that he should not anger him. He decided to simply end this quickly. He doubted killing the boy would work, which left the Kyuubi with only one option.

"What do you want?"

"That is not the question I am here to answer. I am here to see what it is that you want, and what you are willing to pay for it." Of course it wasn't going to be simple. Of course the boy wasn't going to make this easy.

"There is nothing that I want that you could possibly give me."

"Nothing? You seem so sure of yourself. In time then, you will see the power I now wield. Your father had but a fraction of the power, and only a tiny shard of that as knowledge. Had he been immortal, he would have truly reached his prime sometime around now. Perhaps, if that route had been taken, you would understand better. For now though, simply sit back and watch. You will come to understand only when you are ready to do so." And he left, vanishing as if he had never been there to begin with. Within a blink of an eye. The Kyuubi gave a small grunt and went back to sleep. Even in sleep though, the great fox was unable to escape seeing reality from the boy's eyes. What the fox saw, the fox could barely comprehend.

Outside though, in reality, the next match was just being called. Tenten and Temari, two kunoichi. Both serious ones too, this would prove interesting. As he watched them arrive in the arena, he noticed something strange. Where as before, he would see like everyone else, now he could simply see more. He could see the chakra both girls held, the affinities they wielded and how they wielded them. His mind told him he could see more, if he merely wished too. He chose not too.

As the match began, he was amazed to note that he could see how each girl was moving, and what they were doing to move that way. He was mesmerized as he watched the two kunoichi fight. They moved with some form of grace, though something within him told him that they were still rather ungraceful. They had much yet to learn. But he could also see what Temari was doing, and he knew that would win her the battle.

Tenten was a weapon mistress. She used her weapons by simply flinging them at her opponent. But when none of those weapons could land a hit, she was left vulnerable. At the end of the fight, Naruto was confused. Why did she not simply pick up one of her heavier weapons and use it in melee? It was obvious that Temari was a ranged fighter, and that ranged attacks would prove ineffective against her.

He chose to simply press on however. He hoped that her crushing and brutal defeat her would teach her to use more than one style of combat. He saw the next match, and admitted he was interested in seeing how well Kin would fare. He somehow knew she would not win this fight, but wanted her to try anyway. He wanted her to try and fight, and learn. Experience was the only thing that would teach her well.

Kin being placed against Shikamaru proved to be a good test for her. When her bell genjutsu failed to work, she stepped back and thought her plan out. She knew this guy was smart, he had rather dumbly pointed that out. She also knew he used Shadows, being from the Nara clan. Orochimaru had informed all of sound about Konoha and what it had available to it in terms of clans. She eyed the shadows carefully as he tried to snare her in them. When she noticed he was concentrating a little to much on them, with his eyes closed no less, she took a chance. A simply shuriken to the arm solved the problem of his shadows, at least, momentarily. Momentarily was all she needed as she charged at him for taijutsu, knocking him down and out with a rather vicious punch to the skull. Somehow, she had come out the victor. Naruto could not be prouder, and he made that clear to his spoil when she rejoined him on the balcony.

Waffles. That is all.

Nevermind, no it isn't. Crap, lost what I was gonna say... oh yeah! So, I was dragging this update out, mostly cause I completely forgot I was writing it to begin with. I caught a cold too, and that didn't help my sense of time. I did remember I was writing it, but I forgot that I hadn't worked on the chapter five minutes ago, like my brain kept telling me.

I still have the cold, and it's likely to be around for another couple days. I can tell cause I'm sleeping a lot more. And when I sleep for 24 hours straight, then I know the cold is losing fast. Now, if only I didn't wake up so sore.

Believe it or not, I have no idea what I'm doing with this story right now, so updates are on pause until I can figure that out. The story isn't dropped, I just need to remember what the fuck I was doing. I ad a huge idea for this too, which is the entire reason I started writing it to begin with. So, give me a week or so. Once I get this cold over and done with, I can start writing again. Who knows, maybe I'll also finally put in the time to learn java so that way I can stop saying it was programmed by an idiot. Have a good day all!