Sorry I haven't uploaded a chapter for a while! I've been reaaaally busy over Christmas, I'm sure you understand. And now I have exams coming up so I'm not sure when I can find the time to finish the next bit. Writers block doesn't help much either... xD /excuses

Bonus points to Anitoon3 for noticing the song hidden in the chapter titles ^_^

Have a cookie!

Thank you so much for all your reviews, all feedback is very welcome. Please keep 'em coming! :P

Ok, now to remember where I got to... oh yes!

Chapter 7

The street was littered with the broken remains of buildings and the still life forms of those unlucky enough to have been in them. Sakura tried to avoid seeing them as she helped usher the panic-stricken villagers into the relative safety of underground passages. It had been a long day and it wasn't over yet.

In the distance, a large and terrifying beast was still laying waste to the village. She braced herself as it let out another roar, causing the ground to shake violently. The tremors would continue for a while yet, weakening the buildings more and shifting the debris on the ground into dangerous waves.

A little girl, no more than five or six, lost her footing and stumbled against Sakura's leg. She looked up in surprise before bursting into tears.

"Oh no no, sweetie, don't cry! It's ok."

Sakura crouched down and allowed her to fling her arms around her neck and bury her face in her shoulder. The tears soaked her clothes but it didn't bother her. She stroked her hair softly and waited.

Eventually the little girl sniffed and extracted herself from Sakura's arms, rubbing the back of her hand across her eyes.

"Sorry Onee-san..." she mumbled, sniffing again.

Sakura shushed her and pursed her lips at the trail of snot coming from the little girl's nose. Fishing in her pocket, she retrieved a tissue and proceeded to wipe the tears and snot from her face, producing muffled sounds of complaint.

"Blow," she commanded, holding the tissue over her nose. The girl blew.

'Eww' she thought and discarded the dripping tissue, 'gross! How does one child produce so much of it?!'

Keeping her face as pleasant and friendly as she could, she smiled at the little girl. "Ok now?" A shy nod was all she got as a reply. "Are you going to be a good girl and go underground with everyone else?" The girl's eyes widened in horror and she quickly grasped hold of Sakura's waist in a surprisingly strong grip and refused to let go.

"Ah, c'mon now, you're being silly, what will your parents say?"

No response. Sakura frowned and tried to prise her off, to no avail.

"Wont your mommy be sad that you're not with her?" she tried another tactic, "Poor mommy." The little girl looked up, all wide-eyed and innocent. 'Bwahaha, success!' Inner Sakura punched the air.

She was about to continue the mind game battle with the five-year old when a middle-aged woman came running up, looking around frantically. "Talia!!" she called hysterically, "Talia!"

"Mommy!" the little girl let go of Sakura and ran to her, smiling happily. The woman let out an audible sigh of relief and swept her daughter up in her arms. As she turned to walk back to the underground passages, Talia raised herself over her mother's shoulder and waved. "Bye Onee-san!" she called. Sakura waved back.

And breathed her own sigh of relief as they disappeared from sight. Casting a look around, she searched for any stragglers. Satisfied, she set off to rejoin her friends in the fighting. It seemed the sand village had been planning an attack all along, using their monster as a weapon. Gritting her teeth, she hurtled into a band of sand ninja coming out of a side alley. Taken by surprise, they were easily knocked down, but as a genin she was no match for them.

She was rescued by the appearance of several other ninja. They distracted them long enough for her to escape across the rooftops. Using chakra to power her feet, she weaved quickly between groups of battling ninja, searching for any sign of someone she recognised.

But nobody can run through a battleground unnoticed. Within minutes another sand ninja was on her tail. He held a kunai in both hands and with practised grace threw one at her back.

Sucking in a breath, she dodged just in time and watched it fly straight past and get caught by the same ninja. 'He's fast!' she thought, half impressed... half concerned.

The two of them were alone on this rooftop. Everyone else around occupied by their own fight. There would be no help this time.

Balancing carefully in her most comfortable stance, she prepared herself and took out her own kunai from a back pocket. Glaring in concentration, she kept her eyes on her opponent, every sense on high alert.

He grinned arrogantly and fell into his own stance. Obviously waiting for her to make the first move. It irritated her that he thought her so little of a threat. She would show him. She narrowed her eyes. Just because she hadn't been entered into the chuunin exams didn't mean she wasn't strong. Far from it.

The sand ninja was not expecting the force of the onslaught the pink-haired girl delivered. He had seriously underestimated her. In almost no time at all, he fell unconscious to the ruined ground below.

Without a backwards glance, Sakura continued to make her way closer to the monstrous rodent that blocked out part of the sky. It was incredible that something could be that big. With little effort, it could just step forward and entire buildings would be reduced to rubble.

Instinct told her that her team would be nearest it... him... whatever. Or what was left of her team anyway, which meant Sasuke. Kakashi could be anywhere.

For the hundredth time that day, she wondered where the hell Naruto was. 'Naruto you stupid dimwit, we need you...' Despite the combined efforts of herself and Kakashi, they had been unable to find the blond the day he disappeared. Or the day after. Or the day after that. They had, as depressing and disappointing as it was, been forced to give up.

Kakashi had ensured her that he was still searching in his free time; not to give up hope. But every day she showed up for a mission, expecting him to come running up, his stupid grin plastered across his face. And every day... he never did. Hope was beginning to run dry.

He sat and watched the destruction of Konoha from his vantage point in the uppermost branches of a tree, chewing a cheek in consternation. It was a little known fact that foxes could climb trees. Actually they couldn't, but he wasn't your average fox. One tail was looped over the branch he was sat on and the other two slowly waved in graceful arcs, evidence of his inner turmoil.

It was a problem. He shouldn't care what happened to the village. After all, it was they who treated him so badly his entire life... entire life? He frowned. No, just the past few years since he'd been sealed, which was their fault too. He should feel angry and hate them all! But he didn't. What was wrong with him?

He growled at himself and grabbed his hair with both hands in frustration. He was mixing his two selves up! 'This can't be good'. Releasing his head, he looked down at his hands. They curled into claws, but were otherwise still human-ish.

'Who am I?'

'You're you stupid kid!'

He jumped and almost lost his place on the branch had his tail not locked him in place.

'Who... what was that?' He blinked and looked around.

The voice sighed. It came from inside his head. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on it. It was the presence he'd felt at the back of his mind all this time! He prodded it with his mind.

'Oi' it said, annoyed.

'Who are you?' he repeated. Clearer this time.

'You know who I am,' it replied smugly.

'No... I don't... really'

'You know... sometimes your stupidity really gets to me. I'm the all mighty, great and powerful Kyuubi no Kitsune!'

'No you're not'

'Am too'

'Not.'

'AM!'

'You can't be'

'Why not?'

'Because IM Kyuubi'

The voice broke into fits of laughter. 'You..?!' It seemed unable to continue, it was laughing too much.

Naruto waited impatiently for it to stop. He tapped one long fingernail against the bark of the tree and flicked a tail in irritation.

Finally it managed to calm down long enough to get words out. 'You... are not kyuubi.'

'But the Hokage...'

'Forget what that old geezer said, although he wasn't completely wrong.'

'Eh?'

'Basically. You are you, and I am me.'

'..............'

Kyuubi realised he was going to have to spell this out in very simple terms to make him understand.

'Alright. To put it as simply as possible, you are Uzumaki Naruto. You were created the instant I was sealed; as my human persona. Are you following?'

The boy nodded.

'Good. Now, since that incident a while back...'

Naruto nodded again. He knew what he was referring to.

'...we are sharing our memories. You believe you are me because you remember being me, even though you're not.'

'........... you've lost me.'

If it had been possible, kyuubi would have batted the boy over the head with his paw. But the main message had got through.

'I'm... not you. I'm my own person. I'm Naruto...' He clambered to his feet. A grin pulled at his features. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" he yelled to the forest at large.

'Well I'm glad that's all cleared up then' kyuubi said grumpily.

Naruto was ecstatic. He finally knew who he was. He looked over at the village. 'And Uzumaki Naruto doesn't abandon his friends.' His face was set in a determined expression as he unwound his tail from the branch and sprang to the next tree. Suddenly he had a thought. 'Why haven't you spoken to me before?'

'Hmph. Because you weren't listening, brat!'

Naruto did not enjoy being called a brat, but chose not to argue back.

'Wise decision. Well, up until quite recently I was trapped behind the seal, so you wouldn't have been able to hear me even if I had roared at you. Not unless you actually went looking for me.'

He couldn't think of any reason he would ever want to actively seek out the demon. What a stupid idea.

'Watch it brat. Anyway, since the seal was weakened somewhat, my consciousness was able to escape the confines of the seal and settle inside yours. Effectively opening a passage for my own chakra to leak into our body and make it my own again.' The demon fell into a smug silence.

A few minutes later, Naruto caught up. 'Wait, what?! Make it your own? No way, stupid fox. You're not having my body!'

'It was mine first brat! And I want it back.'

'You can't have it. It's mine.'

'It's mine too. Don't be so selfish'

'Who's being selfish!?'

'There's no point arguing. Things will happen whether you want them to or not... watch out for that tree!!'

Naruto skilfully avoided hitting the tree by inches; he hadn't been paying any attention to where he was going at all. His instincts were all that kept him unscratched, his tails seeking out branch after branch and swinging him through the forest like some bizarre monkey. Soon he reached the edge of the trees and peered out through the leaves at the main road leading into Konoha.

Bodies littered the area and cracks pierced the road in jagged lines. Nothing moved, but his sharp ears picked up the sound of fighting from further in. Careful not to draw attention to himself, he crawled down the trunk of the tree and kept his stomach near the ground as he made his way through the grass.

As he neared the first human form he sniffed cautiously. 'Always best to be sure' he mused. It was cold... lifeless. There was nothing alive in the area; he was safe. He registered the unfamiliar design on the forehead protector. 'Another village attacked then.'

'Obviously.'

'Are you going to annoy me the whole time?'

'Maybe.' Naruto was sure it was grinning when it said that. He snorted. 'Careful now kid, you don't know how strong these people are.'

'Oh? Are you worried about me, fox?'

'No, stupid brat, I'm worried about my body. Don't lose any limbs alright? I'm going want to use them later.'

Naruto smirked inwardly as he continued on all fours through the broken gate. Ears and nose on high alert, ready for anything. Shukaku roared again, causing shards of debris to rain down. Protecting himself from the worst of it with his tails, he looked over in the direction of the monstrous racoon.

'Better deal with that first,' he decided.