The Only One That Walks Beside Me

by Zeida-and-Maria

Shortly after Naruto goes into the academy, he suffers from a mental breakdown, and makes a deal with Kyuubi, resulting in a completely different world, and a completely different adventure, following a very similar timeline. AU Kaka, Saku, Sasu, Naru,Hin

4. Ch 4: Pass or Fail: Life or Death

NO! I AM SOOOO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! I FEEL BAD, NOW. Bows Please forgive me, and continue reading?

Title: The Only One That Walks Beside Me

By: Zeida and Maria (Zeida)

Rating: T

Summary: Shortly after Naruto goes into the academy, he suffers from a mental breakdown, and makes a deal with Kyuubi, resulting in a completely different world, and a completely different adventure, following a very similar timeline. AU -Possible Yaoi- Kaka, Saku, Sasu, Hina and Naru-centric

Pairings: Nothing definite, but it's likely to be either SasuNaru, or NaruHina for the main. Will most likely also contain InoSaku, and ItaIru (Betcha never seen that before…) This story is not, however, based around romance, so none of these will take an overly important part, and there won't be any of it until at LEAST the Chuunin exams. No, that's just the development. We're not gonna get any real romance until after where the actual series is… and that's a while off.

Main Characters: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, and Hatake Kakashi

Warnings: Possible Yaoi/Shonen ai, Possible Yuri/Shoujo ai, violence, my first attempt at violence, and my first attempt at a dark-ish fic. It's personality manipulation, really… Also, I had no help from Maria on this one at all, because she doesn't like the idea, so if it's bad, I understand, and, well, I won't continue it, if people don't like it.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, or any of the songs that I may put in the beginning of this fic. If I owned it, would this be a fan fiction? Huh? Would it?

Note: Nooo! I think I may have miss-counted the votes... ; it's changing every time I count... and no new reviews have come in...

But, now for official stuff! I'm planning ch. 11, Which is the after-math of the C-rank. I'm typing ch. 5, and I'm writing ch. 9 which is the fight on the bridge scene. Yeah, I'm getting close now, and I need to hurry up and plan/write more, or I'm going to catch up with myself before Haku is introduced...

Current Pairing Status: SasuNaru 8 NaruHina 4

HEY, PEOPLE! I've got an announcement for the Naruto pairings. I've just realized another person who he could go with, although it's a bit different. Who would want Kiba and Naruto? It's just a thought.

Also, if you want, I can start taking side pairings, although NONE are guarantied to appear, even if requested. Just thought I'd see what I could get. Het. Or Yaoi/Yuri are both fine. Just ask away.

The Poll will be open until the Chuunin exam starts, so vote, you have a bit of time :)

WARNING: Un-Betaed(Need a Beta) and un-grammar/spell checked.

-:- -:- -:- -:-

She sings the revolution
The dawning of our lives
She brings this liberation
That I just cant define
Nothing comes to mind

She's a rebel
She's a saint
She's salt of the earth
And she's dangerous

She's a rebel
Vigilante
Missing link on the brink
Of destruction

She's a rebel,
She's a rebel,
She's a rebel,
And she's dangerous
She's a rebel,
She's a rebel,
She's a rebel,
And she's dangerous

-

-Green Day, She's A Rebel

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Chapter 4: Pass or Fail: Life or Death

Sakura looked around in confusion, her eyes flitting from one place to another, person to person- Sasuke-kun- then Naruto- before her eyes settled finally on Kakashi-Sensei. "Er... Kakashi-Sensei?" She asked finally, hesitantly.

The Jounin looked Lazily up from his book. "Yes, Sakura? What is it?" His voice held its trade-mark bored drawl, as he spoke, making it sound as if he care very little about she had to say, and was just humoring her. Grrrrr...

"Er- we... we messed up, right?" She asked, careful not to breach her true intent too quickly. She'd... take her time.

"Hai, Sakura. You did not get the bells, that I specifically ordered to be collected." Kakashi looked back done at his book as he spoke, further irritating her.

She bite her lip, hard. "And... You said, if any of us fail to retrieve the bell, we get tied to a log, right?" She asked. 'Almost there... I just wish he would stop reading the DAMN perverted book!'

"Hai, that is what I said."

"Then... Why is Naruto the only one getting tied up?"

They were currently back in the center clearing of the team seven training ground, by the three up-turned logs. Naruto had, indeed been tied to the center one, Sakura and Sasuke sitting on either side of him, free. The noon bell had rung, and Kakashi-Sensei had come to collect the group, and had brought them back to their starting point. The man, after tying Naruto up, had sat down and started reading. Without a word to any of them, even the silently fuming Naruto, who none-the less was not even trying to escape. She even had a sinking feeling the demon could escape at any time, if he made the effort.

"Because, Sakura," Kakashi had finally put his book away, but he was still not looking at her, instead looking at Naruto. His voice had a false sense of cheer to it, that did not fit the monotone he was still managed to use. "He cheat-"

"I DID NOT!"

"-ed." She could almost hear the heart at the end of his words, but any reply she may have had was drown out by the outraged snarl from the blonde to her right.

Sakura was not the only one to wince at the voice, but no one spoke for a long moment while Kakashi gave Naruto a long calculating look, well, as calculating as you can be, when only your right eye is visible on your face...

"Yes you did." He said simply. Sakura stared. Sasuke snorted. Naruto Growled dangerously, and was likely about to start yelling again, when Sakura asked;

"How?" The group looked at her. Sasuke-kun was giving her a strange look. "Er- I mean, how did Naruto cheat?"

Kakashi 'Hmmmed' and nodded, pleased, it seemed. "He used information from an outside source to give him an unfair advantage during a test, without actually learning anything." Kakashi said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sakura sighed in defeat, and Naruto glared. "I. DID. NOT. CHEAT. I used my knowledge to my advantage, it's not cheating!"

"Yes, it is, and because Naruto cheated, along with all three of you not getting the bells, you shouldn't have to worry about going back to the academy." Sakura looked up at her Sensei with a look of dawning happiness. Sasuke blinked, then smirked, Naruto however narrowed his eyes, un able to believe this man's speech would have any good news to tell.

"R-really, Sensei, we… we don't?!" She practically squealed, hands clasped together in a happy prayer.

"Nope. The three of you are so pitiful, that I am not going to let you go back to the academy. You don't deserve to be ninja at all." Sakura went pale, turning to her team mates to gouge their reactions. The smirk slipped off of Sasuke's face in an instant, being replaced by a furious, hateful scowl that made the girl shudder. She turned to Naruto when-

A scream pierced the clearing, causing birds took flight from the trees, as Naruto fell to the ground. Ropes ripped easily from him as he held his head in pain. A glowing light had surrounded him, a soft powdery purple color, and his body shuddered violently, his breath rate had accelerated, and uneven pants escaped him as he tried to curl in upon himself.

Sakura gulped. What was going on now?

In the confusion, Kakashi stepped forward, and quickly snatched something off from around the pained blonde's neck. It was the necklace He had shown them the day before. A glow of the same kind that surrounded Naruto stuck to the gem of the thing, causing Sakura a bit more confusion. What was Kakashi doing, anyway?! Shouldn't he be trying to help Naruto?! Why steal some stupid necklace when a life was on the line- Wait. Why did she care? Naruto was a demon, anyway. She shouldn't CARE if he died or not. In fact, the sooner the better, right? A question Kiba had asked her the day before prodded her. 'Oh, shut up, I don't want to think of that now!' She mentally screeched, and watched as The blonde slowly looked up at their Sensei, eyes no longer like Ice, but a bluish fog, clouded over and empty. 'what the-'

"Yes?" Naruto asked, his voice strained from the pain, but somehow, calm, blank. It made her shudder.

"Sit up." Kakashi commanded. What was the man thinking! Naruto wouldn't just follow an order so easily, especially not when in such pain. But to her surprise, he did so, his body trembling at the effort it took. The light had not grown any dimmer, and Naruto was starting to go pale. Kakashi nodded in satisfaction, and took a step back from the boy. "Alright, now, stand, and let me tie you up again." The blonde did so without a single complaint, in fact he didn't speak, concentrating all energy he had towards following whatever orders spouted from Kakashi's mouth 'What the hell is going on?' She asked herself, and Kakashi tied the fresh piece of rope around the boy. "Alright, now listen, I wasn't done." A pause while the demon nodded obediently, still staring at the silver haired Jounin, his pain still there and viable. "Good, I'll give this back after I've finished."

"Sensei, what's-" Sakura started, but was cut off.

"As I was saying, you shouldn't even go back to the academy. But. But, if you can pass one more test that I will give you, I will let you pass." The glowing seemed to subside considerably, and Naruto stopped shaking. But he still stared blankly at Kakashi, as he continued. "However, because you failed the first test, the second will be ten times more difficult. Your goal is Teamwork, as I hope you all figured out. You must Work Together. Alright?"

The three nodded, and Kakashi seemed Satisfied. "Now, Naruto, you will answer all questions asked to you until I give you back your necklace, alright?" Or not. He nodded anyway. It was another I-have-to-follow-it order, she supposed. Perhaps he really had no choice? Did that necklace really hold that sort of power over the blonde? She got the feeling she may have just stumbled upon the Demon of Konoha's biggest weakness. "I was a bit curious…" The blonde stared at him. "You planned on team work from the start, correct?" He nodded. Sakura saw a flash of guilt run across Sasuke-kun's face. So…. He regretted starting an argument? "…What would you have done if you had more time?"

The Demon paused for a short moment, before replying. "I would have beat Uchiha into a bloody pulp for contradicting me." The response was so blunt, even Kakashi-sensei winced.

"Aaaand, what if you didn't get that far? What were you planning to do to them, if they did not cooperate?" The Jounin asked. That was a very good question. A VERY good question. Why hadn't she thought of that?

The silence stretched on a bit longer this time, the blonde's eyebrows furrowed, as digging up long forgotten details of a plan from long ago. "…I would have placed the two of them under a Genjutsu that allows me to control their movements." The boy answered finally, making Sakura's blood run cold.

W-was there a Genjutsu like that? Was it- was it legal?! What if she had been trapped under that… that Jutsu? Would she have survived the aftermath? Would he have killed them once their use had run dry? Or would they simply stay trapped under the power of him for all eternity? The possibility of it not being dangerous did not cross the terrified girl' mind. All she could think of were those books about beautiful girls being possessed by evil demons, and how the prince would always come and save the girl, somehow destroying the demon with no harm to the girl. She looked over at Sasuke-kun, seeing small traces of her thoughts(Well, not the last one) lingering in his expression. Who would have saved them?

Kakashi, seemingly oblivious to his two other student turmoil continued to question the blonde. "What would have happened, if one were to break free?" He asked pleasantly, noting he look of contemplation on his captive's face.

"They would not have the ability to counter it. They are fresh Genin, and it would not be possible." He stated. Kakashi cocked his head in mock-thoughtfulness.

"Maa, you can't count them out just like that!" Kakashi scolded. "Sakura has excellent Chakra control! She has a chance of breaking it, at least." Naruto frowned. "Now, what happens if they DID manage to break free?"

A shake of the head and Naruto said, "I did not think that far ahead." His face had re-established his blank mask, giving the pink haired Kunoichi the distinct impression he was waiting for the next question.

"Ha. That's all, I suppose…" he said. Sakura felt relief. No more oddities today, thank you! 'I kind of WANT a bit of an oddity to take place.' Whispered a long repressed voice in the back of her mind. The voice that Sasuke-kun would not approve of, as it was un-lady like. She tried to force it back down. And failed. 'And, if theirs is finished, why not start our own? It would be fun, just imagine the look on Sasuke-'kun''s face….'

Kakashi stepped back up the Naruto, and placed the necklace carefully over Naruto's head, and looked down at him as his face cleared of its blankness, which was replaced by an angry scowl aimed at the tall man. "Are you alright now, Naruto?" He asked sweetly.

A growl escaped the blondes throat. "Fuck you." Sakura felt inclined to say something similar to the voice, rather bolder than her own, that had started making up plans about how to publicly humiliate her crush. Completely against her will, of course.

Kakashi let out a perverted giggle that disturbed the Kunoichi and replied, "Oh, maybe later, but after the test." He paused, before saying, "I will let you eat lunch before the second test, but… don't give anything to Naruto, alright?" Another growl from mentioned (And quite disturbed) blonde. "Good, I'll be back."

And the Jounin puffed into a cloud of smoke and was gone. Sakura looked down at the bento before them, and sighed. "Itadakimasu…" She muttered, breaking the chopsticks that were included in the box. 'Just shut up you... you bitch.'

'Right back at 'cha, coward.'

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Naruto did not have a lot patience when tied to a log after having what he decided was a demon's equivalent of a heart attack. And damn, did it hurt. It also used HIS energy to create, sapping him of breath, and nutrients that he may previously have had. And now he was hungry. Really hungry. Like collapse from starvation hungry. And it was killing him, to watch the two people who called themselves his teammates eating so casually, when he was tied there, right beside them, hungry. Not that he would ever asked for-

Something large and square was shoved beneath his nose, and he immediately picked up the scent of rice with his sensitive nose. Not that a normal person wouldn't have been able to smell the food, when it was shoved into his face- hey, wait a moment…

"What?" He asked, looking down at the Uchiha who had done the questionable deed.

"You are a member of this team." The freak (more than ever, now) said, as if it explained everything. He gave the guy a questioning look. "And, as a member of MY team, I want you at top form, meaning you need to eat." Naruto glared, but the Uchiha continued before he could snap back. "Because If you do NOT eat, you will be weak, making you venerable, and unlikely to be a help. More like a hindrance." The blonde's hackles were raised in an instant. "And I will not let a hindrance be on my team, are you a hindrance?"

A growl escaped him, but before he could do more than open his mouth to defend his honor(ego) a rice ball was shoved into it. He choked. He then spat the offending snack out of his mouth, and coughed a few times to rid of the rice in his lungs.

"WHAT do you think that would have accomplished baka?!" Snarled the blonde once his breath was coming in easily. The Uchiha just smirked.

"To keep you from arguing? I think it worked rather well, Dobe." The Uchiha's smirk irked him to no end, the triumphant look in his eyes almost distracting him from the problem at hand. Almost-

"Don't call me that, you Bastard!" He growled a tint of red coming into his eyes. The chakra around him started to feel… different.

"What is there to stop me? You are the dead last of the year, after all, a true Dobe in every way."

The area seemed to drop a few degrees from the glare he fired at the Uchiha, but, to his credit, the Freak didn't flinch. "I. AM. NOT." He snarled. His voice sounded even more demonic then it had on that day... Odd.

The corners of his vision began to blur.

Freak raised a delicate eyebrow. "Really now. Then prove it, eat the food."

The anger did not recede, but it took a back seat. He looked down at the Uchiha-freak with a genuine 'Holier-than-thou' Hyuuga stare, deadpanned. "If you expect me to eat the food, Uchiha-san, I will have to be untied." He kept his voice even and polite, despite the anger festering within him. Hw was not quite ready to be taken by the darkness anger brought just yet.

The boy stared at him for a long, silent moment, before nodding slowly, and getting cautiously to his feet. He approached tentatively, as f expecting to be attacked the moment he got too close.

At this time, it should be made clear that Naruto could have easily broken the ropes himself. However, he is lazy, and interested in the determination level of the Freak.

The Kunai was out, and inches from the ropes, when the last member of the team spoke.

"Wait!" She cried, holding the Freaks wrist. They both stared at her. She was going through some sort of internal war, as she coughed and asked, "Err- if Naruto eats your food, what will you eat, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke glared at the Kunoichi in annoyance. "I don't need to eat. I am a Shinobi, and as such, must be able to go long periods of time without nourishment." He replied easily. Naruto could tell he wanted to add 'And I don't feel like being fan-girled right now.' But he refrained.

Despite his speculation, Naruto felt Annoyance win over his anger. He was such a Hypocrite!

He obviously wasn't the only one who thought so. Naruto noticed, at this moment, the girl's eyes seemed to change considerably. They were harder, more there they were moments before.

Ten or so years from now, if you asked Uchiha Sasuke about this event, he would tell you quite plainly to Fuck off. However, if you were on his good side, had known him for years, and he owed you a dozen or so favors which would be invalidated if he spoke, he would tell you, that this was the moment that he began to think of Sakura as more than a fangirl. He would learn a few months later, that the girl deserved respect, as well.

If you asked Sakura, she would promptly denied it ever took place, and cause traumatic amnesia if you persisted.

"This is a not a two man team." She pointed out. "When Kakashi-Sensei said 'Teamwork' He didn't mean 'Sasuke-kun and Naruto do their thing, and ignore any and all suggestions from their final teammate. He wanted us to work together. Now, this may be a hard concept to grasp, however, and I'm not just talking to Sasuke-kun, Naruto. But I. AM. A. KUNOICHI. A living, breathing member of this team, and I don't care how hard it is, with the two planet sized ego's you both possess, but I demand I be shown some respect!" Sasuke stood in shock beside the wooden pole. His grip slackened on the Kunai, allowing it to escape, and fall soundlessly to the ground. Naruto stared blankly a few feet behind the two quarrelling teammates. He should probably tell them... He would have warned them. He really would have. But Sakura wasn't finished yet.

Sasuke-kun did however, have a very good point. Though he missed a few key details. One, this isn't just your team. a team is a group. we are all a part of this team, alright?" She did not wait for response, before continuing. " Second, Yes. Naruto needs to eat, but so do you. Unlike Naruto we haven't eaten breakfast, and need the food just as much, if not more than Naruto. How would you like it, if Naruto after your food, and then you became the liability? And before you try and use it as an excuse again, yes. You are a Shinobi. So are we. And yes, we will, at times need to go long periods of time without food. However, in the Shinobi code of conduct, what is rule 39? Quote it!"

The sharpness of the voice seemed to snap him out of his shock. "A Shinobi must take all available food, during missions, because he will never know when the next meal will come." He quoted automatically.

The pink haired girl nodded. "Good. That is correct, now, I do hope you realize, because of the code, A Shinobi's bible, the excuse you have tried to get past me, not a few minutes before now, has no validity, and is completely unacceptable. Do you realize this, Sasuke-kun?"

The usually stoic boy nodded awkwardly.

"Right then! You do realize a new plan for how to divide the food is in order, then, correct?"

Another nod.

Sakura smiled now. "Then we should get working on that, shouldn't w-"

"I believe, personally, that something else should be done before the two of you split up lunch..."

Sakura turned to him. "And what would that be?" She asked, eyes trailing down to the ground, where the second rope lay, as tattered as the first, after Naruto became impatient in his wait for his stunned teammate to cut him free.

Naruto nodded to behind the two idiots. "Kakashi-sensei arrived about halfway through the conversation, Haruno-san."

"Oh." The two turned to face behind them.

And, indeed he had.

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Amusement would be the best way to describe what he was feeling at the moment. He would have giggled, but that would seem odd, as he wasn't reading his book. He instead forced all of his positive energy into the curve of his eye, to convey his glee. He was radiating happy-happy. His three ingenious students stood before him. They had managed to prove they knew what they were doing, without even breaking a rule.

They hadn't fed Naruto. They had, instead, realized the meaning of being a team. That was more than he had expected from them, actually. Much more.

"S-Sensei!" Sakura squeaked. Her confidence seemed to have left her the moment her eyes landed on him. "I- well, you see, we can explain, really, we..."

"There is no need Sakura." Kakashi said cheerfully. "I give you all full marks."

It took a moment for it to register in the children's minds what he had said. Then Sakura squealed.

"YEEEEESSSS!" She yelled, throwing her fist into the air. " We did it! We did it!" She jumped up and down a few times in happiness, before turning to her teammates. "Why aren't you celebrating?! We passed! We DID it!"

The boys stared at her. Sasuke spoke.

"...Do you have a split personality?" He asked, finally.

Sakura blinked at him in confusion. "...What do you mean?" She asked, cocking her head t the side, slightly.

The Uchiha protégée stared at her for a long moment, before he shrugged. "It doesn't matter, anyway." He said.

Naruto stared up at the tall, thin man with the droopy eye, and blinked. Both of his teammates looked at him.

Sakura seemed afraid to ask. Sasuke seemed to be pretending he didn't care. Naruto seemed to be fighting the urge to tack Kakashi to the ground and revert back to his six-year-old self, from before everything changed.

However, Kakashi interrupted the scene before anything actually happened. "We will meet tomorrow, for our first mission!" He gave the group a thumbs up, before turning his back on them all, and walking away. The three quickly ran to catch up to him.

"Are you sure you're a Jounin?"

"Maa... what kind of question is that to ask the person that just passed you?"

"Exactly the point."

"Oh shut up, both of you."

"And why should I?"

"Gerrrrrr..."

"Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"What interesting students I have..."

"Do you want some of this?!"

"Maa... No, I'm fine, thank you, Sakura."

"..."

"..."

"..."

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Hear the sound of the falling rain
Coming down like an Armageddon flame (Hey!)
The shame, the ones who died without a name

Hear the dogs howling out of key
To a hymn called 'Faith and Misery' (Hey!)
And bleed, the company lost the war today

-----Some has been taken out------

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives

This is our lives on holiday

-Green Day Holiday

-:- -:- -:- -:-

And they walked off into the sunset. Yeah. I don't like the ending, and some bits in the middle, and I've been debating about inner Sakura's part in the story, but oh well. Now, on to other things.

This is the Semi-official end of the first arc. There is a filler, then the Wave arc begins. Exciting, huh?

We get to see Haku, and Zabuza, and even a bit of a surprise Character! Can anyone guess who shows up during the wave arc? I'll... write a one-shot for the first person who guesses it? Anything (Well, almost anything) they want. But try to keep it in the Naruto fandom. Or, at least keep it in one of the fandoms posted on the account.

This chapter took bloody too long to write. My word program died, so I don't have spell check, and after I spent a full DAY writing this, the internet died, and I lost all my stuff! I'm looking for a nice Beta. Someone who will be nice, and badger me to write, and who I can bounce ideas off of.(Along with the corrections, and stuff)

Anyway! Review! I would appreciate reviews! Very much.

And, I can't express how sorry I am on how long this took to come out. My only comfort is, that I DID manage to get this out in less than 6 months. (It HAS been less than 6 months, hasn't it?) Please review so I know people are still reading this!

Zeida