Hey people.

I'm starting to run out of time. I have pretty much everything planned out, but I just have too many projects, assignments, tests, and whatnot to do much. I'll try to get the chapters up as soon as possible.

Oh, and I won't put up more quotes. I'll just put them up on my profile or maybe not put up any more at all.

Naruto: The Ninth Tail Chapter 9

Changes

Naruto and company had finally returned to Konoha, exhausted. Sakura returned home, Kakashi and Jiraiya went to report to Tsunade, and Naruto went to his favourite Ramen stop, Ichiraku.

He was walking down the street, hands behind his head, legs straight. As he neared the restaurant, there was another figure sitting at the table. He ducked, brushed the banner away from his head, and said, "One BBQ pork Ramen for here please!"

The girl sitting down jumped in surprise, making some noodles fall into her wind pipe. She turned blue, and thumped the front of her black and white hoodie, trying to get the noodles out. Naruto saw the girl in distress, and smacked her on the back. The noodles flew out, and the girl leaned on the table and coughed. Naruto bent down. "Hey, are you all right?"

The girl's long, black hair obscured her face, but as her coughing fit subsided, she brushed it aside and looked at her helper. Her white eyes met blue ones, and she noticed that their faces were inches away. She couldn't help but stare and blush profusely.

"Oh, it's you, Hinata. I didn't know you liked Ichiraku also." Naruto sat down beside her, and grabbed a set of chopsticks.

"N-Naruto-kun… I sometimes c-come here." She stopped eating and pushed her fingers together, still blushing a bit.

"Well, I don't see you very often. What time do you come?" Naruto kept looking at her, but every time she glanced in his direction, she instantly looked away.

"M…midnight."

"What? Why do you come at midnight?"

"It's b-because my f-father doesn't approve of this k-kind of a meal. He thinks i-it is not a kind of f-food that a Hyuuga s-should eat. My f-father is out on a m-mission today, so I can get a bowl b-before he returns and c-checks up on me."

"Wow, Hinata. I didn't know you were so rebellious." He was smiling, closed-eyed. Hinata blushed even more at the compliment.

"Here you go!" The old man gave Naruto his bowl of Ramen. (I've never figured out his name!)

"Yeah! I haven't had Ramen in a long time!" He pulled at his chopsticks, splitting them apart. "Itadakimasu!" He stuck his chopsticks into the ramen, and pulled out a lot of it. He started slurping it in, but he had to stop and spit it out. "Hot, hot, hot, hot!"

Hinata giggled at the foolishness of Naruto. She kept looking at him while he was eating, just admiring him. His eyes, his smile, his hair, his body. Naruto stopped eating, looked at her, and talked with his mouth full. "Hey, Hinata, aren't you gonna eat?"

"Oh, yes." She returned to her bowl, and pulled out some of the ramen. She blew it cooler, and ate. She didn't slurp as loud as Naruto, but enough to show that she enjoyed it. Naruto looked at her once again, and knew that she was enjoying it. Smiling, he returned to his bowl.

Meanwhile…

A raven haired boy had his hands in his khaki pants pockets. He was walking coolly down a dimly lit hallway. His eyes were blood red, with three dots at the edge of the cornea. They were cold, showing his resolve. He would kill to get to what he wanted. As he walked, he heard two voices. He neared the doorway, and kept to the side. He looked in, and saw a long haired man with a white face and purple marks around his eyes going down the sides of his nose. The other was a man with glasses and white hair. Another boy had black hair and an expressionless face. The boy was the only one who had a Konoha forehead protector on. The other two had Sound forehead protectors.

"Sai," The long haired man looked at the boy, smiling. "This list of Anbu members has been checked and found to be real. I thank you for this information. It will help us in our next attack on Konoha."

The boy nodded while the white haired man with glasses turned to the doorway the red-eyed boy was hiding behind. "Sasuke-kun, you don't have to hide from us. We know your style, due to you training under us."

"Us?" The long haired man turned. "Kabuto, you didn't train him at all. Show some respect."

"I'm sorry, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto, the white haired boy, bowed deeply in respect to his master.

Sasuke stepped out of the shadows. "Tch. When will you train me?"

Orochimaru smiled. "Actually, I think it is about time."

Sasuke glared at his mentor. "Time for what?"

"Time that I take over your body, that is."

Orochimaru suddenly bent down, and something started to bulge out from his back. It ripped through, revealing something monstrous.

End of Chapter 9