AN: I cannot for the life of me get lines to show up, and they become more necessary in the next chapter. So I made sarcastic lines. If anyone could tell me how to get the dang lines to appear, I would be grateful. On another note, I think this is obvious, but just in case someone didn't catch on, I don't own Naruto! I will let you know the moment I do, but until then, I don't. Enjoy the story! -demonicnargles

"Speech"

thought / talking in mind

"Demon speech"

Demon thought / talking in mind

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Kakashi watched as the pink-haired girl jumped up to the roof quickly, followed by the two, obviously lazier, boys. If they plan to be that lazy during the bell exercise, they are in for a surprise. Sakura sat down right in front of him, smiling. Sasuke walked over and sat on her right, scowling at some inner thought. Naruto sat behind and to the left of Sakura, and stared at the roof. Naruto doesn't seem very confident in himself. He won't even look me in the eye. We'll have to work on that. Sasuke is no doubt contemplating revenge. Well, as long as he doesn't do anything rash about it, he should be okay.

Kakashi kept these thoughts to himself. "All right, everyone. I am your jounin instructor. Let's take turns telling each other our names, things you like, hobbies, dreams, and stuff like that."

"Why don't you go first, sensei, and show us what you mean?" asked Sakura, wanting to know more about their strangely attired sensei. Sasuke was glad she asked, as he also wanted to know about Kakashi, but didn't want to ask. Of course, he expressed no gratitude to Sakura. Gratitude was for weaklings. He couldn't be weak. He was an avenger. Kyuubi just sat there, and continued staring at the roof.

I bet this human would notice the genjutsu on my eyes if I looked up. Maybe he'll assume Naruto is just depressed or something, and I won't have to look at him, Kyuubi thought.

"Very well. My name, as you probably know, is Hatake Kakashi. My hobbies are... I like certain things... I dream about different stuff... yeah. You go next, Sakura."

"All we really learned was his name," Sakura whispered to her teammates. They both ignored her. A little miffed, Sakura said out loud, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like..." She glanced at Sasuke and blushed. "My hobbies are talking with friends and picking flowers. My dream is to be a great ninja and marry a nice guy, and..." Again, she glanced at Sasuke and blushed.

"You go next, Sasuke," Kakashi said, sounding bored.

"My name is Uchiha sasuke. I like being strong and respected. My hobby is training. My dream... is to kill a certain man..."

Just as I suspected, thought Kakashi. "Naruto, you're up."

Kyuubi continued plumbing the depths of the roofing tile in front of him. He couldn't risk looking up. "My name... is... Uzamaki Naruto." I can't believe I almost told them my actual name! That would be an embarrassing way to be found out... "I like... ramen?" It sounded like a question. I should have paid more attention to the kit before now! "My hobby is... sleeping, I guess... My dream... I dunno..."

And to think this is the kid who used to shout about becoming Hokage... I didn't know the villagers were so mean. Or maybe Iruka's death was hard on him. But I can't go easy on him just because of that. "Good. We'll meet tomorrow at Training Area 7 at 6:00 AM. Don't eat breakfast."

"Why?" asked Sakura.

"Because you'd throw up."

Kakashi vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"So, would you like to eat lunch with me, Sasuke?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm busy."

"Oh..."

Sasuke walked to the edge of the roof and dropped to the ground before continuing towards his house. Sakura followed him.

"Sasuke? Is it okay if I walk with you for a while?"

"Whatever."

Sakura smiled, while Inner Sakura babbled about 'true love' and such things.

Kyuubi waited until they were out of sight. Once he was sure they were gone, he ran to what he now referred to as 'his' training area. He needed to build speed to make up for his lack of power.

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And... he touched the tree at the far east end of the training area, and began sprinting back to the west end. The sun was just beginning to peek from behind the horizon, casting his elongated shadow ahead of him. As he ran, he jumped onto or over the rocks and logs he came across. His muscles should have been burning after sprinting for an hour without stopping except to change directions, but his quick rate of regeneration allowed him to continue.

There's got to be a better way to get faster, Kyuubi thought. I'll have to stop soon. This body is running out of energy. It's a good thing I feed it more than just ramen. Those rabbits were good. But this takes too long. I won't be able to hide my presence forever. But the only way I see of safely using my power is through ninja means, which I need to learn from ninja, which means I have to stay here and do missions and crap. It's fortunate that I do not require sleep. One more length and I'll go find some meat. Maybe a deer, if I can find one...

Then Kyuubi heard a voice. "... and if I cannot complete all 500 laps around Konoha, I shall do 500 pushups!"

What on Earth? Kyuubi went to see who was so vibrantly enthusiastic. He stopped at the edge of the forest. He saw an older man and a boy he recognized as one of the graduates from last year, both dressed in what appeared to be green leotards. Kyuubi rolled his eyes. 500 laps? They are either crazy, or dead serious about training...

"Can you tell the difference the weights have made in your training, Lee? You burn brightly with the flames of youth! Of course you have! And once we increase them for the third time, I will teach you an awesome technique!"

"Thank you, Gai-sensei! What is this technique you speak of! I must know!"

"I will tell you when..." The two ran out of Kyuubi's hearing. Weights! That's it! If I train with weights, I can improve in less time. But what could I use as weights? Kyuubi thought about different things he could do for weights while he hunted for food. I'll eat anything other than ramen...

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Kyuubi returned to Naruto's house just before sunset. He knew that even if he didn't sleep, this body needed at least short periods of inactivity. He watched the sun go down, slowly sinking below the horizon.

In the end, the only way Kyuubi had thought he could get something small enough and heavy enough to use would be to get weights designed for training purposes. But Naruto was poor, and there was no way he could afford to buy them. And I need better clothes than this flourescent orange outfit. And I don't want to ask for things; I can't take a chance of being caught. Who'd have thought, Kyuubi no Kitsune, hiding from mere mortals. But then, since my life is tied to this body by that accursed seal, that makes me mortal as well. I guess I'll have to steal. But I can't exactly steal clothing and wear it in broad daylight. I'm going to have to steal money and buy clothing. And the weights, I can't have questions asked about them if anyone notices them. This could be difficult in a village of ninja. And I don't know of any nearby towns. Kuso!

Kyuubi dressed in the only dark clothing Naruto had ever owned: navy sweat pants and a black t-shirt. He used a ninjutsu made specifically for hiding in the dark. It was the third and last technique Naruto had learned from the forbidden scroll. Though it was meant for hiding, it would serve to camouflage him for his night-time raid. He formed the seals and molded his chakra. Light Absorption Technique, Kyuubi remembered. His skin, hair, nails, and every part of his body turned black. Despite the seemingly illusory effect, it was indeed classified as ninjutsu. Kyuubi knew why. It requires hand seals, unlike genjutsu. And it causes the body to absorb light, thus turning this body black. Because it isn't genjutsu, it isn't easily detected. No one would you be looking for ninjutsu, because those aren't normally used for stealth. It was dark enough now. Kyuubi opened the only functioning window in Naruto's house, and was about to jump out, when he realized something. He didn't know where he should steal from. He needed to steal money. A bank would have money, but would be heavily guarded. I guess I'll just rob several stores. Kyuubi mentally reviewed the neaby stores. Which ones would he have time to hit?

An grin spread across Kyuubi's face. He formed a seal. Shadow Replication Technique. Five clones came into being. Kyuubi used the Light Absorption Technique on each of them, and outlined his plan. The clones nodded, then jumped out the window. Kyuubi followed suit.

Although he could hear the clones leaping towards their targets, he was unable to see them. They would be invisible, or nearly so, as long as they stayed away from lights. Kyuubi ran to his own destination, which would be slightly harder to rob than where any of the clones were bound. They were going to rob a grocery store, two convenience stores, and two clothing stores. He would be robbing a jewelers.

He landed on the ground beside a toy store. On the other side of the store was the jewelers. He couldn't risk making too much noise by jumping around over there. He snuck around back, and saw two chuunin standing guard at the back door. Of course they would have ninja guarding it! This is a ninja village! I thought my only problem would be patrolling ninja, but what can I do now? Is there anyone guarding the front door? Kyuubi slunk back around the toy store, and peeked around the front corner. A single chuunin stood under a street light. That won't work. I can't get caught in any light. Guess I'll have to work around the two in the back. Kyuubi crept back around the toy store. He heard the chuunin talking in low voices. He couldn't fight them. Without any of his powers. He be outmatched in seconds. With the fraction of his powers he had available, he would glow and be recognized. Besides, a fight of any length would almost certainly be loud, and the chuunin could call for backup. If he could get them away for just a minute or two, he might be able to pick the lock on the back door or something. But how could he get them to move? They weren't chuunin for nothing. Kyuubi thought for a moment. Then, he had an idea...

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End of chapter. Please review!