In Which:

Sakura makes a point to Sasuke- Naruto dances in the rain- There is a Kyuubi incident.

Sasuke listened in incredulous silence as Naruto and Sakura's story slowly unfolded. Sitting on the floor of his apartment were some of Oto's most elite ninja along with the newly reformed Team Seven, all listening to the story unfold.

Although the jonins along with Kabuto had already heard the whole tale, they too were listening raptly. The joint explanation was much more detailed than what Naruto had told them in Orochimaru's office.

After almost two hours of talking, the story finally wound down. Naruto sighed, leaning back against the wall, and grinned at Sasuke. "Well, there you have it, the whole story. What'cha think?"

"You gave up your friends, your family, and your whole life as Konoha nins to follow someone who knowingly betrayed you." Sasuke's voice was flat. "You're both stupid and crazy."

Sakura looked at Naruto. Naruto looked at Sakura. "Would you like to do the honors, or shall I?" Naruto asked the pink-haired girl courteously. Sakura smiled pleasantly at Naruto, and leaned over.

She smiled at Sasuke and hit him across the face with all the strength she could muster. The boy's head snapped back and he went tumbling over, caught completely off guard. Sakura stood over him, and hauled him upright by his ear.

She leaned down to whisper to him, "Listen up, you arrogant sod. I may like you, I may think you're cute, but you won't be talking like that to me ever again. You think this was for you? Well, for Naruto it was. You're his precious person. My reasons are different. I came to make sure that Naruto would be safe from a traitor's foolish dreams. I missed you, and I still care about you, but some things aren't easy to forgive." She glared at him. "You left us alone. We were a team, Sasuke, and you left us alone."

She releases the reeling boy, and moved to sit down again beside Naruto. "What did you say, Sakura? He's even more white than usual."

She smiled sweetly at him. "I was just reminding him how grateful he should be to have friends like us."

Naruto blinked, slightly suspicious, but accepted her explanation. He sighed, stretched, and looked out the window. "Hey, it's raining!"

He bounced to his feet, completely ignoring both the jonins and his teammates to stick his head out the window. He sighed with pleasure as the rain beat down on his face, washing away the sweat and dirt accumulated during the day. A truly happy grin spread across his face.

"I'm going outside."

"What, in this? Naruto, you'll soak your new clothes!" The jonin on his right, Himoto (or Green-chan) exclaimed.

He peered down at them. Everything she had bought for him had been in varying shades of gray, made of light but resilient material. This morning she had tossed him black shorts, a tight grey shirt, and a charcoal gray sleeveless coat. He smiled at her. "Hey, if they can't stand up to a little rain, why'd you buy them for me? You chose this stuff 'cause it's durable and all. Besides, I like the rain. Who cares about getting wet?"

That said, Naruto bounced to his feet and was out the window and on the street below before any of them could really react.

Naruto launched himself off the windowsill and let himself freefall to the street below. He was very nearly bouncing as he made his way to the very centre of the cobbled road and tipped his head back to let the rain wash over him.

He sighed.

Standing in the rain like this was one of the things Naruto really, truly loved to do. It was strangely revitalizing, filling up parts of his soul he didn't know were empty, washing away his worries and fears and leaving behind only a calm confidence. It never made him feel as though he had made the right choices.

It made him feel confident in the fact that, whatever mistakes he had made, he would never be completely alone.

In his navel, behind the metal bars of a huge cage, he felt the Kyuubi stir.

Nigen.

What do you want, furball?

A growl echoed through Naruto's head, and he grinned. The fox was so easy to get riled up.

It's raining… We have an agreement, nigen.

Yes, I know. Go for it!

There was a rumble of laughter, then the demon's chakra swirled through his body. A soft light surrounded Naruto, and his chakra system opened to the foreign energy. Naruto closed his eyes and reached for the natural, clean chakra of his surroundings: the rain, the stones under his feet, the fire in the hearth of a nearby house.

Each and every raindrop held a tiny burst of fresh, healing chakra, which it fed into all it touched: plants, trees, dirt, stones. The only things it didn't feed into were people. Their chakra systems were too defined; they weren't open to the energy that constantly surrounded them. Without the fox, Naruto would have been the same.

However, a while ago, he had struck a deal with the nine-tailed demon: in return for allowing the fox to feel and see through his body, Kyuubi opened him to the only source of power that would literally never run out.

Water. More specifically, rainwater.

Chakra in every drop…Naruto's eyes flew open. Of course! He could sense every single drop. It only took about a minute for the rainwater to completely fill his huge chakra capacity; the rest of the energy just went sliding off. So he didn't need to be hit by the rain anymore.

And what better dodging practice was there than dancing between raindrops?

Sasuke sighed, sitting in the single chair by the table. From the window, Kabuto, Sakura, and the jonins watched Naruto stand with his head tipped upwards for just over a minute. Then, to their surprise, he began to move. It wasn't the movement that had them staring, it was the way he was moving.

Eyes closed, face a mask of concentration, Naruto was moving in a smooth, fast pattern, arms and legs moving, his whole body swaying as though he was dodging thousands of projectiles at once.

Slowly, a pattern became visible to the experienced ninja. It was impossible complicated and absolutely beautiful to watch. Naruto was a small figure of gray and gold, flowing from move to move in the most complicated kata possible.

"What's he doing? How is he doing that?" Kabuto's voice held something approaching awe as he addressed Sakura. Unable to tear their eyes from the boy dancing below them, the jonins nodded but didn't turn towards her.

"I have no idea, but it's beautiful!" Sakura watched her teammate with wide eyes. How was he doing that?!

Behind them, Sasuke stood, curious, and peered over their shoulders, and stared. The blond was…was something not quite a part of the normal world, dancing like that. He looked…ethereal. Something unreal.

Then, as they watched, Naruto's hair began to lengthen, his fingernails turning to claws, his canine teeth lengthening slightly, his ears developing points. Somehow, the daunting changes that were no doubt due to what he contained, only made him fit into this strange scene even more.

Nigen, what are you doing?

I'm dancing between raindrops! Now be quiet, you're distracting me!

A rumbling laugh from the Kyuubi, and its chakra began moving through Naruto's inner coils again.

You'll never be fast enough the way you are…so you're just going to have to change a bit. It's about time you became a proper vessel anyways, even if you are just another nigen fool.

What? What're you doing, furball? I feel…

Naruto didn't finish. He felt…stronger. Faster. More alert. The strange sense that allowed him to feel and accept the rain's chakra wasn't fading as it usually did. He didn't feel any less in control of him self, he just felt more.

It was exhilarating.

Naruto threw back his head and laughed. He would worry about consequences later. For now, he was going to enjoy this grudging gift from his tenant, and dance. He roared with the thunder, struck with the lightning, danced with the rain, and took no notice of the awed and frightened faces peering out of every window as he rose up into the air effortlessly.

And the Kyuubi roared and struck and danced with him.

In a hut on the side of a mountain, an old man with a seal on his face turned, frowning, from his work to stare down towards the village of Sound.

In the middle of a forest, a jonin lifted her Mist headband away from her face, ignoring her team, to peer towards the village of Sound.

In the middle of the ocean, a huge eye opened slowly, and heavy waves rolled over the surface of the water as a huge head turned towards the shore and the village of Sound.

In a cage covered with sutras, a pale boy with scales running down his bare back stopped snarling at his captors to look towards the village of Sound.

In Lightning country, a girl of five leapt out of her bed and raced to her window to stare intently towards the village of Sound.

In a cave in the side of a mountain, a boy lifted his face from a wolf's fur to peer out into the night, staring in the direction of the village of Sound.

In a cell deep below the village of Snow, sightless eyes turned slowly in the direction of the village of Sound.

In Suna, a redhead in Kage's robes felt a jolt of energy, and turned his face away from his advisors to look towards the village of Sound.

In the village of Sound, Naruto dance with his demon as sliver chakra dripped off his floating form. And the village watched a jinchurikki release his power.

Well, it's kind of late, and I'm not really sure about the way Sakura acted, but I think it turned out pretty well. This chapter just didn't want to get written. -Heliotropic