A/N: Wow, I just keep getting more and more nice reviews, and I am even on some people's favorite stories list, that makes me happy. Anyway, it appears that some of you really enjoyed my initial ranting and are disappointed that my more recent chapters have been lacking. So I will start throwing in some of my favorite rants at the end of this chapter and the next few. Anyway, enjoy.

Shadow Fox

It was a new day in the hidden sound village, the streets slowly began to fill with the villages residents as the village came to life. Things were going well for the village and it's citizens were happy. However, sitting on a tree stump in a training field, waiting for her team while spinning a senbon needle around in her fingers, there was a black haired girl in camouflage pants and a pale green sleeveless top who was definitely not happy that beautiful morning.

'Zaku and Dosu are getting so much stronger while I am getting left behind. Why am I always so useless? All I can do is make some illusions, and even then I need the time to set some bells up. What can I do to get stronger?' The girl (again, can anybody not guess) thought to herself.

She sat there deep in thought, continuing to spin the senbon needle between her fingers. 'Maybe I should ask sensei if he knows anything I could do… What am I thinking, he doesn't care about me, he just considers me an added burden to his team.'

The girl had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the black haired boy with piercing blue eyes that had been led into the training field. The sound of a young fox yipping playfully brought her out of her thoughts and drew her attention to these new arrivals.

"Who the hell are you, you do realize that my team will be using this field for training today." The girl asked this strange new boy.

The boy merely turned around and gazed at her, apparently sizing her up to see how strong she might be.

The girl found herself captivated by those piercing blue eyes. She had to admit that she found this newcomer rather attractive, especially considering that she spent all of her time around her teammates, one of whom looked like an unkempt hobo while the other was wrapped up like a mummy. This new guy was certainly a treat to her eyes…not that she would let him have any idea of that.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I was brought here to meet some people. What's your name?" Naruto figured that this girl was probably a member of his team, but he decided to hide that fact for a little while.

"Well, if you really want to know so badly, the name is Tsuchi Kin." The girl known as Kin replied "And this is where my team is meeting for practice today, so I don't know why you were brought here."

"It is nice to meet you Kin-san." Naruto replied. As he finished his introduction, his little fox partner ran around his legs. He knelt down and put his hand on the ground, and the fox kit ran up his arm and sat on his shoulder (he is still pretty small right now).

"What's with the fox?" Kin asked, not wanting the silence to return, else she would go back to reminding herself how useless she is.

"You mean this little guy, his name is Kyo, and he is my partner." Naruto answered with a smile.

"And how exactly did you end up with a fox for your partner, a strange pitch black fox no less."

"Well, you see, it all happened like this…"

Naruto then went on into a long tale about how he rescued Kyo from a group of ninja who wanted to capture him for his rare black fur, and followed up with tales of their many adventures and exploits. As he finished, Kin stared at him wide eyed.

"You two really went through all of that?" For someone his age to go through all of those adventures already was remarkable.

Naruto smiled at her as he said "Nope, not a bit." He remembered the way that they really met.

Flashback

"Naruto, this is one of our young shadow fox kit, his name is Kyo. He will be your new partner. He is the strongest of our kit and will fit your personality nicely." The shadow fox leader told him.

"Ok."

End Flashback

"WHAT! Then why did you just waste my time telling me that load of bullshit."

"ummm, well the real story is kind of boring, so I made a better one." Naruto replied as he gave her a sheepish smile.

Kin was about to continue yelling at him when her other two teammates began to appear in the clearing. She gave a sigh of exasperation as she turned back towards Naruto.

"Well, my teammates are here, so am going to go start training, maybe I will see you again sometime."

Naruto laughed for a second as he replied "Oh, I am sure that we will meet each other again soon enough."

As Kin left to go meet up with her teammates, Naruto just laid back on the grass and stared up at the sky. Kyo ran around him in a playful way and Naruto smiled. The shadow fox leader was right, Kyo really did fit well with the remnants of his old personality. Naruto sat up and begin to play with the young fox while he watched what was most likely his new team interact with each other.

Meanwhile, across the field, Dosu and Zaku where wondering who this new arrival was. Neither of them had ever seen him before, and they wondered what he was doing here.

"So whose the new guy over there, he your new boyfriend? Zaku asked with a smirk.

"Pssh, as if, why would I be with some idiot like that." Kin replied 'though he is cute, a lot better then these two.'

"Well why is he here." This time it was Dosu who spoke up.

"He said that he was brought here to meet some people." Kin shrugged as she spoke.

They were all wondering what this new guy was doing here when suddenly their jounin sensei arrived.

"Good morning sensei." Kin greeted her teacher.

The man gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement as his gaze fixed on the new boy lying on the ground. His students wondered what was happening as their sensei approached this new boy.

"Are you the new boy that Orochimaru-sama assigned to us?"

Naruto sat up and gave the jounin a small smile. The man stood about 6 feet tall and had light brown hair that came down to his neck. He wore a typical jounin outfit that didn't really differentiate him from others. Overall, he seemed fairly forgettable.

"I suppose so, Orochimaru-sama just had a ninja bring mere here to meet my new team, so I assume that you guys are my new team."

The jounin gave him a nod as he began giving introductions.

"My name is Izuko, and these are my students, the one with the bandages is Dosu, the other boy is Zaku, and the girl is Kin."

As Naruto looked over at the three students, he almost laughed as he saw the look of shock on Kin's face. He then looked at the others to notice the anger on the faces of both Zaku and Dosu.

'Score, finally some eye candy' Kin thought to herself. After all, she may have been a ninja, but at the same time, she was a teenage girl.

Zaku and Dosu weren't nearly as enthusiastic, Zaku turned to Izuko and started yelling at him.

"What do we need another team member for, are we thought of as that weak. Besides, this new guy doesn't look very strong to me, he's probably even more useless than Kin."

Dosu gave a nod of agreement at this comment, he felt much the same way.

Now Zaku's comment had gotten to Naruto, not only because this boy had assumed so little of him, but also because of the way he had spoken about his other teammate. Naruto knew how it felt to be looked down on by your teammates, and he didn't want to see anyone else go through what he did.

Naruto formed a hand seal and smirked as he began to melt into a shadow on the ground. The other genin's eyes widened in shock. They wondered where this new boy had gone when suddenly Naruto appeared out of another shadow behind Zaku, holding a kunai to his throat. Dosu's eyes widened even more until they took on a look of fear as he saw a spike made of shadows right beneath his throat.

Kin was amazed by this display from the boy that she figured was an idiot. When he was in battle, he seemed like an entirely different person altogether. He seemed almost like part of the shadows, except for his sharp blue eyes which had such a haunting beauty that she felt her breath catch in her throat.

However, as she watched this display, she was reminded of her own weakness and felt slightly depressed again. If she was falling further behind Zaku and Dosu, how far was she behind this guy.

Both Zaku and Dosu were shocked as hell, who was this new guy? One second he was in front of them, the next he was disappearing, and the next they were both in a life threatening position.

"You really shouldn't say something like that about your teammates." Naruto whispered into Zaku's ear "Neither me nor her."

"That will be enough for now, let them both go please." Izuko asked with little emotion in his voice. Orochimaru told him that this boy would be strong. He figured that the easiest way to have the boy fit in with the team was for him to show them how strong he was. Besides, he felt that Zaku and Dosu needed to be knocked down a peg or two for once.

Naruto nodded his head as he removed his kunai from Zaku's throat and the shadow spike below Dosu's throat retracted back towards the ground and took the shape of a fox once more. This is what really surprised the three genin, they had never heard of a fox that could merge with the shadows.

"Who the hell are you?" Zaku asked him, his voice slightly shaky from having been beaten so easily.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and this is my partner Kyo." He said, motioning to his fox partner "And I am your new teammate."

"But that fox….he turned into a shadow…" Kin wondered aloud.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed softly "Yeah, he's kinda special."

The rest of their team meeting was spent with Naruto and his new teammates learning about each others abilities. Naruto learned that all of his teammates used abilities involving sound or pressure. This shouldn't have really surprised him seeing as how this was the hidden sound village. Naruto told his teammates that he specialized in stealth and shadow use, though he still had a lot of training to do.

What had surprised Kin throughout the practice though was that during their whole display of abilities, Zaku hadn't once made any comment about her being "Weak and useless." Dosu saw to it to make those insults every once in a while, but every time he did, Zaku seemed to give Dosu a fearful look. Did something happen after Naruto had threatened him? She saw him whispering to the boy, but had assumed that he was simply telling him not to underestimate him, but could he have said something about her?

'Who the hell does that guy think he is, I don't need him defending me, I can take care of myself just fine. Does he think I am so weak that I can't even stand up for myself.' She thought to herself, although deep down inside, the teenage girl she always tried to hide was giddy that a cute boy had stood up for her. She quickly pushed those giddy thoughts away and focused on her loathing of the boy.

'Another teammate who was given something to make him stronger. Zaku has his air holes (don't really know of a better way to phrase that), Dosu has his Melody Arm, and now Naruto has this fox of his. And what do I have? Some stupid bells that make people see things. I need to find a way to get stronger.'

After the four had finished explaining and demonstrating their abilities to one another, Izuko told them that they were finished with their team practice for the day, and that they should go and work on their individual skills for a while.

Naruto bid this teammates farewell, ignoring the slight look of fear on Zaku and Dosu's faces, and anger on Kin's face.

After a short search for a secluded training spot, he managed to find one and began to work on his new taijutsu form. He knew that he needed to continue to get stronger so that he would not hold anyone back ever again. As it stood right now, his shadow powers were strong, but somewhat slow, and were most effective with the element of surprise on your side, as Zaku and Dosu found out that morning. However, once the opponent knew what he could do, his shadow skills were less effective. In addition, if his enemy happened to by particularly fast, that was also a problem as they could easily dodge his shadow skills, possibly even when he had the element of surprise. He needed to improve not only his shadow skills, but his other fighting skills as well. He felt that he could be much more effective if he and Kyo did not use the exact same style.

He slipped into his taijutsu stance and began to go through some basic katas for his new style, the shadow style. Sure the name wasn't very original, but he felt that the name was a good description for the style of fighting. The style did not focus on speed or power like most taijutsu styles, this style focused on flexibility, flow and versatility. The style worked to "bend" around the opponents attacks in order to look for an opening and exploit it. It was a far more defensive style but fairly effective style. Still he felt that after he grew more proficient in the shadow style, he would need to learn a second, more offensive style to mix with it. He continued for a while with these katas, but he didn't spend too long on his taijutsu because the style couldn't truly be worked on without a sparring partner. He hadn't been able to do that in his time with the shadow fox, but he figured that having a team now, he would soon know them well enough to spar with them…although he kinda scared the shit out of Zaku and Dosu. Naruto sighed to himself, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

He then began to work some more on his shadow training. He called Kyo over to him, and he then explained to Kyo what they would do first for practice. He started off by having Kyo envelop him in shadows and they soon melted into the shadows on the ground. A second later, Naruto reappeared behind a training dummy to deliver a swift kick, only to disappear into the ground once again. He appeared again to the side and delivered a sharp punch to the dummy. This routine continued for about 30 minutes before he began training on some of his own shadow skills and using them in conjunction with Kyo. At the moment, he was still unable to manipulate the shadows without two hand seals. The shadow fox clan had told him that some of these skills could be performed with only one hand seals, and others with no hand seals at all. He needed to keep working to try to manage the jutsu with one or no hand seal.

After a couple of hours of various training, he decided to go and visit a weapon shop. While he was training, he had thought about the problem that his shadow skills had against fast opponents and decided on a way to partially handle this problem, as well as become more effective as a team member. He looked around the shop at the various weapons and found what he was looking for. He looked in his wallet at the amount of money that Orochimaru had given him to get started until he began to get missions with his team. He had more than enough to get his weapon and not be completely broke. He smiled as he took the weapon up to the cashier and paid for his new weapon and a scroll on how to use it.

He then looked around for a place to eat before going to train a little while longer with his new weapon. He was disappointed that he didn't find a ramen stand, he hadn't had ramen in over two and a half months. He doubted that he would have the same obsession with ramen that he held once before, but he still enjoyed the stuff and wanted to enjoy it on this one occasion. He settled for the sushi restaurant that he found and got a quick meal. He really wanted to return to his training, so he ate quickly and paid the bill, leaving quite a nice tip, and headed back to the field he had been training in earlier.

As he arrived at the field, he pulled out his new weapon, a chain whip. He figured that with the element of surprise that his shadows gave him, he might be able to tie up one of his opponent's limbs, leaving them more vulnerable to attack from himself or his teammates. However, he knew that he it would be a few months before he was that proficient with it, so he began his training in the basics of the chain whip. He practiced for a few more hours before he decided that it was time to go back to his apartment and rest for his team meeting tomorrow.

He awoke the next day and began towards the training field where he met his team yesterday. He watched around him as the people smiled at him, there were no looks of hatred from these people. For once, he finally felt at peace, like he might have found a home. As he arrived at the training field, he found his team waiting there for their sensei arrived. Not long after he arrived, Izuko appeared at the edge of the field.

"Naruto, here is your forehead protector for the sound, you are now officially one of our ninja."

Naruto took the forehead protector and pulled out a black cloth he had bought the night before, having figured he would be given one eventually. He tied the cloth to the forehead protector and put it on. (I really don't care where it is, I already told you to imagine his clothes however you want, just add the forehead protector wherever you want also.)

"Well everyone, today we all have a C-class mission."

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A/N: Well, this one was another filler chapter.Inever really knowwhat others will think of these fillerchapters, so sorry if you think it's bad.I really want to move on to the Chuunin exams because that is what I have the most thought out for, however I can't really just rush straight to it, so I have to keep up with these filler chapters. Also, I am sorry to all of those who voted on things, but after I told everyone they could vote, I kind of changed my mind about the whole issue. Regarding the fire and ice, I want to use one more then the other, but once you find out what it was for, you can decide whether you want to stick with one, or take both. As for the weapons, the weapon that I was planning on having voted on, I remembered something I wanted to do, so that is what I will do, however, I will be using other suggestions for other purposes. (and no, Naruto's chain whip is not what was being voted on.) As for other points to cover, I tried to explain how Naruto will not be super-powered in this fic, he is powerful, but weakens significantly should he lose the element of surprise. Well anyway, next chapter will be Naruto's first mission, other things, etc…

And now, on to the ranting for those who have demanded it.

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I almost hate to do this since I may end up insulting some of my nice reviewers inadvertently, but then again….I enjoy ranting, so tough luck, and remember, you all asked for it.

My rants are just that, rants. No one get too upset over this.

Today's rant will be on the Naru/Hina pairing.

Why are there so many Naru/Hina stories nowadays, it wouldn't be so bad if there were fewer of them and more well-written stories, so how did we end up with this overflowing sea of crap.

The answer is simple…..The pathetic loser fangirls.

Now to start, let's get one point straight. Any girls who are reading this story and are beginning to think me a sexist bastard, understand that when I say fangirls, I am not referring to all girl fans. I am in fact referring to the 90 or so who happen to be really annoying and stupid and write crap. There are plenty of girls out there who can write a good story and not be the excessive fangirl type. I am not referring to you, but to that other 90. (plus, I am kind of biased because the only fangirl that I ever know was a complete nutcase.)

Anyway, to continue the rant.

The reason that we have such an overflow of Naru/Hina stories is because the fangirls feel that they sympathize with Hinata. To put it rather bluntly and in an uncouth manner, most fangirls are unpopular nerds (well, actually pretty much all fanfiction readers and writers in general, including me…but I digress.). The fangirls either are in or remember their teenage years, and remember what it was like to be the unpopular girl with a crush on a boy. They know that in real life, they never got up the courage to attempt to tell the boy, and so they put all of those feelings into a Naru/Hina story. The problem is…they can't write worth shit.

And on that note, I will now proceed to write 75-80 of all Naru/Hina stories out there. Enjoy.

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Hinata was walking through the park one day as she saw Naruto, the object of her affection (or obsession as the case may be) and her breath caught as she turned beat red.

'Naruto-kun, today I will tell you how I really feel about you.'

Mustering up all her courage, Hinata walked over to where Naruto was as she began her confession.

"Naruto-kun, I h-h-have s-s-something to t-t-tell y-y-you."

"And what would that bee Hinata-chan."

"Well, y-y-y-you see, all of these y-y-y-years since the academy, I h-have admired you, and y-y-you s-s-see. I…um..w-w-well."

"What is it Hinata."

"I l-l-love you N-N-Naruto-kun."

"…….. Oh Hinata, I am so sorry, I never knew that you felt that way about me, but now that you have told me, I realize that all of those years obsessing over Sakura was a lie, I love you too Hinata, you have always been there for me all those years when you were hiding in the shadows and barely ever said a word to me all of those lonely childhood years you say you loved me during. I love you so much Hinata-chan."

"You love me too! Oh my , I am so happy that my stuttering has magically disappeared forever, I love you Naruto-kun."

"I love you too, let's go get some ramen."

And so, Naruto and Hinata walk into the sunset, ignoring the fact that he was a clanless demon vessel and she is the heir to a tradition-obsessed clan that would never let her go out with Naruto. None of those things occur because true love conquers everything and everything must end happily for the pair.

THE END

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Yes, maybe I am a mean spiteful bastard, but so what, that's just how I feel. Deal with it.

Next chapter: The Sasu/Saku rant – since when did the meaning of "thank you" change to "I have really secretly loved you in return all of these years and would like nothing more than to be with you, however I must push you away so that you will not be harmed by my crazy psycho brother."

Bye for now.