Ummmmm…I hope you guys didn't think I was dead…school, coupled with terrible, horrible writer's block have left me sprawled in the dust as far as this story is concerned…

I'M SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEEEEEE!

Anyway, I'm hoping to get back to a somewhat acceptable schedule other than the whole 'update once every two years' thingie.

I don't own Naruto, but I do own the obsolete dinosaur called a 1997 Gateway-or rather, I used to own it when it wasn't obsolete and before my dad donated it... I also own this story, so NO STICKY FINGERS!

A/N: I did another time skip of about a year.

Naruto had never been a person to judge somebody right off the bat, not unless he had a really good reason. And the eight-year old had stood back and observed for a long time before he decided to judge, but when he did, he concluded this: Girls. Were. CRAZY.

"Sasuke-kun! Sit next to me!" called Sakura during lunch, waving over at him. Sasuke gave her an awkward look before making his way slowly over.

"No! Sasuke-kun, PLEASE sit next to me!" Ino squealed from a different table. Sasuke's head whipped back and forth, looking unsure of himself. Naruto didn't know why, he couldn't explain why, but over the summer Ino and Sakura, the best of friends, had gone from being best friends to practically hating each other's guts.

So, it was only natural that when Kiba and Naruto invited him to eat lunch with the rest of the guys Sasuke gladly accepted, leaving the two girls and the others at their tables sitting with disappointed looks.

"Hi guys!" Sasuke cheerfully said, sitting down. "Thanks for that. I don't get why all the girls want me to sit with them."

Naruto grinned mischievously. "Oh, Sasuke-kun, it's because they are totally in love with you!"

The other boys laughed as Sasuke's face colored over. Kane had an incredibly bored look on his face that plainly shouted that he though this conversation was stupid.

"Y'know, kit…" Kyuubi called from the mindscape. "That Sakura girl, she thinks you're an idiot."

Naruto kept his smile, but he gritted his teeth. "Well NO DUH. Most people think that because I act like that. And WHY is the great Kyuubi-no-Kitsune telling me this?"

"I bet she really likes you though. You should flirt with her sometime."

Naruto spat out the water he had been sipping and doubled over choking, making a concerned Kiba whack his back. "Hey, Baka! Don't spew your drink, that's nasty!"

Naruto wheezed for a few seconds before giving him a scowl. "Thank you, captain obvious. I didn't do it on purpose!"

Sasuke gave a small grin, but it soon faded into a slightly worried expression. He hadn't touched his food. Naruto gave him a concerned look. "Hey, Sasuke-kun…what's the matter?" The two of them had become good friends over the past years, often spending time with each other after school when one or the other was not training with their family.

Sasuke gave a sigh and stabbed his fish with a chopstick. "It's my Ani…he's been getting really depressed, I think. He never has any time for me, less time than he had before. I get the feeling he doesn't like me."

Naruto could vaguely recall Sasuke saying the same thing the first time the two of them had met. He gave a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure Itachi loves you, Sasuke. But…isn't he in ANBU?" When Sasuke nodded, Naruto continued. "Then he's probably just tired all the time from his missions! I mean, ANBU are the best of the best! It's not like they get sent out to pick daisies!"

Sasuke looked a little happier, but Naruto couldn't help but feel concerned as well. Over the past year, he had been seeing less and less of the older Uchiha—not that he had seen much of him anyway—, and every time, those lines under his eyes made him look sadder and sadder. Maybe he should go talk to him the next time Itachi was home.

Later, in class, Naruto was having an even harder time concentrating. His stomach felt funny, but oddly enough it felt more like the seal on his stomach. Of course, that was utterly ridiculous! Maybe Junko, as distracted as ever, had forgotten to check the expiration date on the milk again. Kane, sitting next to him, had a slightly pained look on his face as if his stomach was bothering him as well. Well, if Naruto's stomach was upset because of bad milk, Kane's probably was too. He had mooched breakfast that morning because he had forgotten to restock his fridge. Naruto tried to ignore the growing pain he felt in his gut and concentrate on the lesson. He wanted to get this down, because Iruka and Mizuki were talking about different weapons and the pros and cons of each one. Naruto was good at fighting with his hands and feet, thanks to the training with Kane, but he knew being skilled with a weapon would further help him. Kyuubi agreed, but he refused, for one reason or another, to tell Naruto anything about them. His eyes narrowed as the feeling in his stomach went from strange to painful. "No, don't you dare vomit!" he told himself.

"…are good for long-range attacks but are weak in aiding defense, which is why—"

Wait…when did Iruka get there? Naruto had blanked out for a portion of the lecture. A whine caught his ear and he looked down. Takeru was curled tightly in on himself, breathing hard.

Kane's eyes widened and Naruto felt a painful stab in his stomach. At the same time, he could feel his chakra spike to an immense level. "Naruto!" Kane hissed. "We have to get you out of here. Now!"

Naruto looked up from Takeru and nodded before jumping up with a pained grunt, holding the fox. "Iruka-sensei! My fox looks sick! I need to take him home!"

Everybody looked at the little fox, who, getting the idea, whined louder. Iruka looked at Takeru, seeming to believe Naruto, and nodded. "Okay, you're excused." Mizuki scowled at Naruto and Takeru before pointedly ignoring them.

Kiba started to stand up as Naruto passed him, looking concerned. "My family works with dogs. Maybe I could help—"

Naruto brushed passed him, not worrying that he might have offended the Inuzuka. As he ran from the room he felt a larger, more painful spike in his chakra. He couldn't hold back a pained groan.

"Wait a second! Where do YOU think you're going, Kane?" Naruto heard Iruka snap. "You're staying here."

Kane allowed a pained whiny look to enter his face and clutched his stomach. "But Iruka sensei- my stomach hurts! I think I got food poisoning!" He ran out of the room before Iruka could reply, catching up with Naruto in the academy yard. "Run faster, Naruto! Deep into the trees, where nobody can see you!"

Naruto started to pump chakra into his legs, but Kane stopped him. "No! Don't use your chakra! It'll speed up the transformation!"

They finally reached a secluded, tiny clearing in the woods before Naruto dropped Takeru, who curled up in pain. Naruto's insides were on fire; his head was splitting in agony. Kane finally allowed himself to feel the pain as well, and fell to the ground. Naruto fell to his knees panting, the seal burning, his chakra spiraling out of control. "K-kane! Is this-? Am I-?"

Kane managed to answer through gritted teeth. "I think so…your Hanyou form is manifesting! But, oh, Juubi, I had no idea it would be this painful! It hurts!" he finished with a howl. Suddenly, both he and Takeru vanished in a swirl of red chakra.

Naruto was in too much pain to notice that his companions had disappeared. He curled up in a fetal position, alone in the tiny clearing. Tears were leaking out of his eyes as his chakra, his body, his very soul, burned. He tried to enter the mindscape but was unable to, and in it he could hear Kyuubi howling and shrieking in pain. A blast of chakra erupted around Naruto, and he finally let himself scream. He screamed long and loud as the chakra spun around him, burning his flesh, searing his bones. Halfway through the scream, it turned into a howling snarl as the pain shrank. He could feel his spine lengthening, his teeth cracking, his fingernails gouging the earth. He felt something happen with his face and eyes, but he couldn't pinpoint where the feeling was located. Then, as long and painful as the change had been, it was over. He let his head hang, staring at the ground, panting. His hands caught his eye. Where his fingernails had been, there where vicious looking claws. He realized that the clearing looked different as well, and sat up to look around. His hair was at least two inches longer, and fell across his face as he assessed the clearing more closely. It wasn't so much that the surrounding area had changed, but it looked a lot different to the boy. His silver eyes caught the light streaming through the trees and reflected it, causing his eyes to glow. He could make out every little detail of his surroundings, the individual leaves on the tree, the tiniest pattern on the farthest trees. He focused on one tree and observed a tiny line of soldier ants making their way down with the dead body of a grasshopper. It wasn't just his eyesight, either. He could hear the ant's footsteps, the dragging sound the grasshopper's body made as it was carried to the ant's nest. He could smell the leaves, thick and lush. If he concentrated, he could smell the familiar scent of the academy's hallways, just a short ways away. He tried to stand up and lost his balance, something in the back weighing him down. He twisted around and his eyes fell on a rusty red colored tail, fading into a black tip, poking out from his pants. His hair hung from his face and he realized that it had changed color as well. He plucked a strand and looked at it. It was now bright red, almost like fresh blood, and it made Naruto shudder. As he did this his ears twitched, and he reached up to feel them. They weren't on the top of his head like he had expected, but instead they had grown larger and to the shape of a fox's. They also weren't furry like he had thought they might be.

Naruto crawled over to a puddle of water and looked at his face. He looked feral, his sharp canine teeth jutting over his bottom lip and his slanted eyes hidden in shadows. He couldn't tell what color his eyes were. The three whisker-lines on each side of his face had become more defined and had conjoined at the ends, forming a triangle-like shape on each cheek. He stood up again and turned around a couple of times, maneuvering his tail.

"You look like you are trying to chase your tail in slow-motion, Kit."

Naruto jumped, and for the first time realized that he was alone in the clearing. "Kyuubi! When did you vanish?" He thought.

"It would seem that whenever my physical bodies experience great pain, the chakra composing them can't maintain their shape, and I disappear." Naruto heard Kyuubi chuckle weakly. "Now, can you bring me back into the physical world?"

Naruto concentrated chakra into the seal—it was almost as hard as the first time he tried it; his chakra felt so foreign!—and Takeru appeared with a subdued whimper. Naruto faltered; he had put a lot of effort into concentrating this chakra, and he could only procure enough to summon Takeru? He dismissed the thought and tried to concentrate more chakra. This time it was harder than the first time he tried it, but a after a few minutes Kane appeared in a swirl of reddish chakra. He winced and drew a deep breath before stepping forward to study Naruto's new appearance.

"Well, I have to say, Kit, that if I didn't know it was you, I would have thought some other demon was passing through." Said Kane in a slightly strained voice. His eyes met Naruto and widened, Kane's mouth dropping slightly.

Naruto, who was feeling very irritable at this time, growled. "What? Why are you staring?" his voice sounded more feral.

Kane stepped closer to Naruto's face to stare at his eyes. "I can feel incredibly different chakra flowing from you than normal. I can't pinpoint how it feels different, though."

"So?" Naruto growled again. "I'm a Hanyou. I would think that it would be common sense to have different chakra, don't you?"

Kane frowned at Naruto's rudeness but continued his thought. " Yes, Naruto-kun. I knew you would have different chakra. I meant that I could feel a different chakra type. As in, an element besides wind and fire. Don't ask me which, because I don't know." Kane looked at Naruto thoughtfully. "You know, Shuukaku, the Ichibi, can use multiple chakra types as well. The Bijuu, except for one or two, are limited to mastery over one elemental type only. As a matter of fact, most demons only have one chakra type." Kane looked at Naruto proudly. "To have a third chakra type is something special indeed. Jonins are required to master multiple elements, but they struggle because they only have one element-or in rare cases, two-they are compatible with. With your multiple chakras, you could easily become a Jonin."

Naruto nodded, his irritation evaporating at the prospect of gaining a third chakra element. "What is Shuukaku's second element? Kyuubi-sama." asked Naruto, adding the honorific at the last moment.

"Shuukaku can control wind. His second element is earth." Kane took a second look at Naruto's eyes. "Although…I wonder why your eyes are that color…?"

"What color?" Naruto was getting annoyed at having to ask Kane to explain everything.

Kane's scowl deepened as Naruto's tone of voice became more irritated, but answered anyway. "They are silver, but there is a gold ring on the inside, around the pupil."

"Really?" Naruto's anger disappeared again as he pondered this. He had thought his Hanyou eyes would be red because of Kyuubi, but he couldn't begin to explain the silver and gold.

Kane nodded. "Yes. It's very strange." A strange look was occupying his face, as if something was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't remember what. He finally shook his head and looked back at Naruto.

"Hey, Kyuubi-sama." Naruto said, suddenly reminded of something Kane had said earlier. "When I was turning into a Hanyou, you yelled something about Juubi. What were you talking about? Ten-tails? Is there another Bijuu besides the nine you told me about?"

"What?" Kane asked, dumbfounded. "When did I say that? No, there's only the nine of us on the Tailed Council."

Naruto stared at Kane disbelievingly. "You…don't remember saying that?"

"No, not at all." Kane replied, looking totally sincere.

Naruto was intrigued. He'd never heard of the 'Tailed Council' before, and he was certain that he'd heard Kane say 'Juubi' but he decided to let the matter lie. A grin spread across his face. "Hey, Kane…I don't think the academy is expecting us to be back today; do you want to run around the village with me? I want to see what this Hanyou form can do."

Kane grinned back. "Excellent. I could use the exercise. I'll give you a head start." He waited until Naruto had dashed off with Takeru before he let his smile fade. "Juubi? When did I say that?" He thought to himself. "There is no Juubi. I mean, I don't think there is…" Kane gripped his head as if doing so would jog his memory. "Why can't I remember anything?" Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kane leaped after Naruto, leaving his troubled memories in the clearing.

A/N: Yeah baby! Hanyou Naruto is HERE! (Dances)

I was really looking forward to this part of the story, but then when I got to it, I had a really hard time typing it…I hope it sounds believable. After this it really speeds up.

Translations? Only one for this chapter, others are in previous chapters!

Juubi- Ten-tails. What? What? There is no such thing! Absolutely absurd!

Anyway, like I said, I'm hoping to be more consistent in the future, so please don't be super angry.

*SPOILER*

For anyone who reads the manga, you might have heard of the Juubi already, or whatever they call it there, I don't remember. I swear Masashi Kishimoto was copying me, 'cause I had that idea way before I started this story! Except my Juubi has nothing to do with the other Bijuus 'merging' like some weird Power Rangers mecha-thing.