Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any other ninjas for that matter.
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Sympathy For An Outcast
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"Look how easy these humans take us into their home. Do they not know we could rip them all into shreds before they could even beg for their pitiful lives?!" Naruto was tossing and turning on the futon. "Damn that human for sealing me into this weakling! Soon they will know the mistake that they have made. I only have to bide my time for them to start to trust you and then I can strike out and make them all feel my true rage and power!" Naruto's face was a mix of fear and pain as he twisted and turned. "For now let me remind you that you are never, ever, the one who is truly in control." Naruto bolted up right into a sitting position letting out a yelp of pain as a wave of fiery pain shot through all the nerves of his body. Breathing slowly and deeply he opened his eyes to stare into the mirror on the wall, what he saw there was far more frightening than any of the previous things that had happened. He was greeted with his reflection with glowing, hate filled red eyes. Something Naruto had never felt before washed over him. Barely able to think all Naruto could do was repeat the same phrase over and over in his mind, "I am going to die. I am going to die." Kyuubi's killer intent was overloading Naruto's mind.
Naruto still gasping for breath, watched as slowly the glowing red dissipated from his eyes. The most frightening thing was it was still the beginning of the month. Naruto always was in perfect control until the end of the month when he had his episode and then returned to normal. This was the first time that he had lost control over himself to that extent, even while sleeping. Trying to calm himself down further he went over the events on the day. Going to school had been an interesting experience, but it was way too boring and the kids treated him badly. Iruka was a good teacher, but Naruto felt that he was used to teaching kids that were at very beginner levels and not anyone who was so far above a beginner in skill. By far the best part had been meeting Hiashi and Hinata. Finding out that he was to have a real home had made Naruto happier then he had ever been in his life.
Finally, the pain had faded away, so Naruto lay back down continuing to think about the day's events. Still thinking, Naruto changed his mind about one thing: finding out that Hinata seemed to want to be around him was the high point in his day, possibly his life, right up with being able to live with the Hyuga clan. She was the first person he had ever seen, and as far as he could gather, even though he had hurt her, she had forgiven him completely. The whole week he had been worried that he had made a really bad impression on the first people that he had met, but that did not seem to be the case. Even more of a surprise was coming into the Hyuga estate for the first time. Compared to his cabin it was enormous, stretching out into several large building along with gardens all enclosed by a wall. It was like a castle from the stories he had read when piecing together how to read from the books and scrolls left at the cabin.
Naruto was also shocked to find out that not all the people that lived there were members of the Hyuga family, but all sorts of servants, people who apparently were there to do what ever you wanted them to do. Naruto's head had spun as he was introduced to more people than he could remember. The rest of the evening he had spent alone with Hiashi, who had explained some more of the rules that he was going to be expected to follow. This had taken quite some time, as Naruto had never had anyone tell him he couldn't do something before in his life, which led to many questions. While Hiashi had told Naruto the rules were for his own good, Naruto knew that he was going to feel very restricted by them, at least the ones he could remember. Not being able to come and go as he pleased would make him feel very caged in.
Dinner has also been a very odd experience. Most of the main house and the branch house had been there. Again all sorts of new rules were explained to Naruto, who was not really in much of a mood to listen with all the new kinds of food that he had never had before sitting in front of him. Even after a minor scolding for eating with his hands, his newfound excitement could not stop the feeling that they were all watching him, as if waiting for him to lash out and kill them or something. He could smell the fear mingling with the scent of the delicious food. Along with all of the adults Naruto saw both Hinata and two other children there. He remembered that one was Hanabi, who was apparently the younger sister of Hinata. Naruto could tell that Hanabi was very good at hiding her sadness, something he wished he was better at. The other youth had been rather scary. Meeting Neji had been a bit frightening, as the fifteen-year-old chunin seemed to be constantly leaking smoldering anger.
Looking back over his day Naruto decided that it had been a pretty good day, even if he hadn't really got any training done. "I'm going to pass that test so that I can become a real ninja, no matter what!" With that Naruto drifted off to sleep again.
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"So, Hiashi agreed to put him under Hyuga protection? I don't know how you convinced him Kakashi, but good work," this was very good news to the Hokage, as he did not know what he would have done if the Hyuga clan would not agree to protect Naruto. Kakashi's only answer was to close his one visible eye and smile beneath his mask.
"I hear that Sasuke is getting tired of doing low rank missions. I'll see if I can't find something a bit more exciting for your team to do. I fear your team is going to be a bit crowded soon," the Hokage continued.
This would be good news for Team Seven, as they needed something to cheer them up a bit after such a bad defeat. "Has there been any word yet from Jiraiya?" Kakashi would feel much better once one of the legendary three ninja was back in the village.
Sighing the Hokage tapped the ash from his pipe and replied in a tired voice, "No, nothing at all."
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Morning came way too soon for Naruto. The sun was just starting to come up, when a knock at his door woke him. The last time he had seen a sunrise was when he had been up all night training. Naruto knew that getting up this early was going to take some getting used to, but at least he would have time to train before he went to school. On the tour of the estate the only two places he really remembered were his room and a training hall. Making his way there silently he was glad that it seemed to be empty, perfect for some pre-breakfast training. Looking around Naruto decided that he did not like this place as much as his own training ground, but it was a start.
Finding some training weights Naruto grabbed a mid-sized one and put it over his shoulder to began his morning squats. Not being used to following any kind of schedule he was surprised when one of the house people came to tell him he was late for breakfast. If he were not so hungry he would have kept training, but just when he was going to tell them to go away his stomach decided to let him know that breakfast was a good thing.
Following the woman into the dinning hall Naruto was again amazed by the number of people there, while not nearly as many as the night before it still felt like a crowd to Naruto. Taking the seat that was offered to him he sat down. He noticed that unlike last night he was now sitting not near the center of the room, but more off by himself in the corner. The people nearest him seem to finish their meals really quickly and left in a hurry. As he ate Naruto was beginning to think that whatever he was blamed for was a bit more important that the old man had let on. True there were people around him now, but this is not what he had been craving for, what he had wanted for so long. Naruto would not have been able to put what he had thought it would be like into words, but he knew this was not it.
Naruto was so intent on his thoughts that his breakfast sat almost untouched getting cold. Unconsciously Naruto was expressing his mood. As the whole room watched him out of the corners of their eyes, they saw a somewhat tired looking boy morph into a hunched mad man. Naruto was slowly clinching his fist around his chopsticks to the point of breaking them in his hand. Even then, he squeezed the wooden shards till a small trickle of blood dripped off the end of one of the sticks. His whole body was tensed up and it seemed like it was building up energy to explode. Hunched over the watchers could not really make out his outward appearance, but the shadow-covered face looked twisted in the light. A slight murmuring sound added to the feeling of dread the people of the room were feeling.
The atmosphere of the room was so tense that several people were even starting to get beads of sweat on their foreheads. All of a sudden the mood was shattered. Hinata stood up from where she had been sitting near her father and sister and picking up her tray moved over to sit across from Naruto. Hiashi seemed immune to the atmosphere, or at least chose to ignore it. After all the decision was made and they would just have to deal with it as he was.
"Naruto, h-here is an-another p-p-pair of chop s-sticks, you s-seem t-t-to have b-broke yours," Hinata somehow barely managed to stutter out. Naruto's head snapped up in surprise; he had been so deep in thought that he had not noticed her moving over to him. Nor did he hear the gasps of surprise from the other people in the room when he silently reached up and took them.
"Th-thank you," Naruto replied. As he took the chop sticks from her he saw the blood on his hand and slowly used his napkin to clean it off the best he could. Again feeling that all the eyes in the room were on him, he gave Hinata a fake smile and started eating his food. He knew that everyone in the room was still watching his every move. Naruto suddenly became extremely self-conscious. He noticed that compared to the steady, delicate bites of Hinata, he must look like some kind of animal shoveling food into his mouth. Even Hinata was watching him, though if she hid it better than the others. This was all too much for Naruto to take, so he got up quickly, without finishing his food, and quickly left the room.
Before he was out of his hearing range he could hear the whispered conversations of the whole room. This only made him feel worse, so quickening his pace he left the estate and headed to the academy, despite being over two hours early.
Naruto was glad that the other people in the village were not as early risers as the Hyuga clan, and thus he met no one on the street. Soon he found himself running toward the large tree with a swing on the academy grounds. Naruto managed to sit down on the swing and hang his head before he lost control of his emotions. He felt the tears drops fall despite his best efforts to hold them in. The only time he ever cried was when he was feeling particularly alone. Now he had gotten what he had always wanted, to be around other people, but the way things were going were not how he had imagined things. In his dreams he lived with a lot of other people and they all got along together and were friends. What he had found were simply people who never wanted him, and now that he was there they only wanted him to go back to where ever he had come from.
"Na-Naruto," Naruto was so absorbed in his thoughts he had not noticed Hinata's approach and started slightly as she spoke, "Just gi-give them s-some time to get u-used to you, I am s-sure they are j-just not used to having you around yet. If you tr-treat them really nice then they wo-wont have any reason to not be ni-nice back." Hinata lost whatever else she had planned on saying as the still teary eyed Naruto turned to look at her. Seeing someone she thought was so strong crying all alone hurt; it hurt a lot. Tears quickly formed in her eyes, and threatened to roll down her cheeks. Hinata was very empathetic to the pain of others, especially the pain of loneliness.
"Your right, I just have to try harder!" Naruto jumped up off the swing with a smile on his lips. Hinata was still in shock. Just a second ago she had figured out what it was about Naruto that made him seem so familiar to her. It was his eyes. The cold, hopeless look that they had held just now, reminded Hinata of her own when she started to lose hope. Only his eyes really had, at least for that moment. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Hinata noted that this Naruto scared her more then the demonic boy she had met in the woods.
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The day went by much the same as it had yesterday for Naruto. He was still trying his best and was still getting laughed at, but he noticed one major change. Not a single kid would look him in the eye or talk directly to him. Yesterday, he couldn't even keep up with so many people talking at once, but now it was like they all were pretending that he did not exist. When he asked Iruka about it during lunch, his teacher had looked kind of sad, and responded that he didn't know the reason for the classes sudden change of attitude. Naruto decided his teacher was not a very good liar. After lunch Naruto tried even harder to be funnier, louder and more obnoxious then he had before, just to get even a quick glance from his younger classmates, but even this didn't seem to get him the attention he so desired.
Naruto was overjoyed that he would be allowed to take the test in just a few more days. The other students would be taking a mid-term, but for him it was going to be the real thing. Naruto was glad that he wouldn't have to spend more time with the kids that treated him so badly. He would show them all just how great he was. They would have to pay attention to him them. Wouldn't they?
After school that day Hinata was waiting for him outside of the schoolyard. Before she had left in the morning she had offered to show him around the village. Naruto was really excited again, as he would get to meet more people and see more of the town he now called home. As they walked through the streets and talked, well Naruto talked and Hinata listened, Naruto told Hinata how much he wanted to get one of the head protectors that all the ninja seemed to have. As they were walking through the market area Hinata pointed out some goggles that were for sale as a temporary substitute. Making their way into the store neither had any idea that word was now out that the nine tailed fox was back, and that it was spreading like wild fire.
"That's not enough money for those," the shopkeeper told Hinata as she took the goggles that they had looked at up to the counter.
"B-but that is w-what t-the price tag says," Hinata argued softly with the man. Not knowing why he would miss price his own merchandise.
"I know what the tag says, but that is the price for people, not him!" The man pointed an accusing finger at Naruto who was sniffing around the some of the clothing racks in the back of the store. Hinata noticed that the motion had drawn Naruto's attention and not wanting another person to confront him like the children had at school the previous day, dropped the money required by the man on the counter and led Naruto out of the store. Trying to avoid his questions about what the man was talking about.
As the two continued their walk around the village Hinata was starting to notice what Naruto was trying his best to ignore. The group of people that had been watching them was slowing growing in size and voice. She could hear that they were angrily talking about Naruto and his presence in the village. Just before she was going to suggest that they head back to the Hyuga estate it happened.
Naruto, who was used to eating when he felt like it had taken an apple from a stand that they were passing and taken a big bite out of it. Hinata had not noticed this as she was keeping more of an eye on the large group of villagers, who were following them not too far behind. Hearing the angry shout made her spin back around.
"You little thief! What do you think you are doing?!," the fruit merchant had Naruto lifted slightly off the ground by the shirt collar. Naruto, apple still in hand was trying to wiggle out of the hold. "I'll teach you a lesson!" The man threw Naruto into the wall behind him. Before the man could even carry out his threat the crowd beat him to it. They seemed to be waiting for an excuse like this and were already shouting while throwing things in Naruto's direction. Hinata had been shoved aside almost as soon as Naruto was thrown and watched, scared motionless, as the villages threw fruit from the stand in Naruto's direction.
Naruto for his part had not moved much since he hit the wall. He sat perfectly still, as he was hit with the fruit and several heavier objects. The noise from the crowd drowned out the muttering coming from him. His fists slowing tightened as he fought to remain in control, his body slowly changing, becoming more feral.
Naruto's head was ringing from the tortured screams inside his head, "You would let them treat me like this!? How cruel is fate that one as great as I would be trapped inside such a coward? 'Be nice to them and they will have no reason not to be nice back?' What a load of crap! That is what the weak tell themselves so they can keep on living in shit; so scared they cannot even take their own miserable lives! KILL THEM. I WILL KILL THEM ALL! THEN WE WILL SEE WHO IS LAUGHING!" The Kyuubi's rant lost all human comprehension as it howled and smashed into its unnatural cage. Naruto was slowing losing to the voice for the second time in two days. He fought to keep control, but each moment the shouts of the crowd and the things being thrown at him were tipping the scales in the voices favor. Somewhere in his mind Naruto idly wondered if the red covering his vision was from his glowing eyes or the blood that was making them sting.
"Naruto, look out!" Hinata finally managed to gasp out as she saw someone throw a brick right for Naruto's head. Even if she could have moved, she knew she was not fast enough to stop it before it got to Naruto.
Right before the brick hit Naruto in the head a sudden blur appeared in front of him. A large cloud of dust and an explosion stunned the crowd into silence. Standing in front of Naruto was a very angry looking Hyuga Hiashi, his savior's hand out in front, covered in brick dust. "The boy is under my house's protection. If you have a problem with him you will take it up with me. Now, does anyone have a problem with the Hyuga house?" The crowd, which had taken much pleasure in tormenting the boy, did not seem to think that it was such a good idea to do the same to the head of the Hyuga household. Hiashi stood motionless, as the crowd slowly melted away, none having the nerve to try and stand up to him.
Meanwhile Hinata had been shaking Naruto's shoulder trying to get his attention, mistaking Naruto's lack of response for injury and not the inner battle that was going on inside. Finally, he seemed to come to and she helped him get to his feet and clean off some of the garbage that had been thrown at him. Hearing her father's voice startled Hinata as she moved to the side a step and let her head bow down so she would not meet her fathers gaze, a finger nervously supporting her lower lip. Hinata flinched as her father spoke.
"I though you had more sense in you girl. I am very disappointed, but we will talk about that later. Naruto," Naruto started at the sound of his name and looked up somewhat dazed at Hiashi, "follow me. Now." Hiashi turned to escort the youth back to the clan estate, and while passing the fruit cart, smashed it effortlessly, sending fruit and debris all over the street. Both Naruto and Hinata trailed right behind Hiashi as he made his way back to the Hyuga estate, not bothering to meet the somewhat angry eyes of the village that watched them as they made their way through the street.
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Arriving back at the Hyuga estate Hiashi had ordered Hinata to go and wait for him in her room. After that he kept Naruto with him as he made his way to the Hyuga estates bathhouse. After getting cleaned up Hiashi was trying to calm down in the hot spring when Naruto's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Why doesn't anyone want me here? What was it I did to them?" Hiashi opened his eyes to look at the boy sitting in the hot spring water not too far from him. Keeping him in the care of the Hyuga clan was going to be much harder than he thought. Not even the direct order of the Hokage was going to keep the village from taking up arms against Naruto. In addition to that Naruto seemed to have no problem asking Hiashi very touché questions, something no one else dared to do.
"It is not your place to be asking questions. Just do as you are told and nothing will happen to you." Hiashi could tell that the boy was really getting not only more depressed, but more dangerous with the treatment he was receiving. Ignorant villagers and genin like Hinata could not even hope to sense it, but Hiashi had felt it. Sometimes he swore he could feel the hate radiating off Naruto like a blanket of heat, but that thing was indeed there today. Normally, it was barely with in Hiashi's ability to sense, but at breakfast, and again in the street, he had felt it. Even now Hiashi could swear that he had heard voices, dark things not of this world. Whispering. Promising. Demanding. Even the hot spring water couldn't stop the slight shivers. Hiashi could count the number of times he had been scared in his life. Since meeting Naruto the count had doubled.
Naruto's only response was, "Oh, sorry. I wont bug anyone any more." Before turning away to stare out into the steam, zoning out the world.
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A week had passed and Naruto could not wait till the day of his test. After the incident in the market he was under strict orders to go to school and then come straight back to the Hyuga estate. He also noticed that Hinata was never around him anymore. He only saw her at dinner once in the last week, and even then it was a split second. He was starting to think that she was afraid to be around him after seeing what the villagers thought of him. Even with that thought he still wore the goggles she had given him every day, despite the snickers he got from some of the kids at the academy. At least he had some new clothes, although the Hyuga colors seemed to be in constant battle with his wild, yellow hair.
Naruto had been pacing around the Hyuga compound looking for something to do. He simply could not train here out of fear of destroying the training facilities. It seemed that his was a style that included much more collateral damage then most. Hearing the sounds of a scuffle, Naruto wandered into one of the courtyards on the estate. Stealthily moving through the cherry trees until he came to the clearing near one of the training halls, Naruto saw one of the elder Hyuga watching Neji and Hinata spar. Naruto had seen glimpses of the Hyuga taijutsu, and it fascinated him. From his hiding spot he watched as Neji plainly toyed with Hinata. Each time she tried, Hinata would be pushed back and eventually receive a sharp hit and be pushed back by the force. Naruto could see the bruises and angry red marks of closed chakra points all over Hinata's arms.
"Enough of this for today. Neji end it," the elder lazily commanded, a cruel smile playing on his lips. Neji fell back into his fighting stance as Hinata struggled to stand back up. Barely waiting for her to get shakily to her feet, Neji aimed at Hinata's chest intending to end it in a single blow. Much to his surprise however his strike was stopped inches from Hinata by a strong hold on his wrist. Hinata, already exhausted didn't need the blow to land to be finished; she simply toppled back to the ground anyway, her eyes slipping back to normal as her Byakugan slipped away. Looking up with shock evident in her expression at her protector, Hinata felt her heart skip a beat. Naruto was standing between her and Neji, looking quite dashing in his new Hyuga robes. This thought caused a blush to quickly form on her cheeks, despite her exhaustion.
"It looks like Hinata has done the best she can for today, huh?" Naruto asked without taking his eyes off Neji's Byakugan enhanced eyes. Neji scowled as his anger found a new target. Naruto now recognized this look; it was the same one that the villagers had when they saw him. It was pure unadulterated hate, although why someone would hate Hinata was well beyond Naruto.
"You have no right to interfere in our training exercise. Hinata's pitiful weakness wont be changed with smiles and sugar coated words. Life is pain and it is our fate to suffer. Only an idiot would not be able to see this." Neji yanked his arm free from Naruto's grip.
The elder felt like he had been given an early birthday. He would be damned if he let Hiashi do as he pleased, especially when it came to dealing with the demon brat. "Neji is right. You are out of line boy. Perhaps you would presume to assume you are superior to Neji and thus have the right to tell him what to do?" His smile was so large that is caused his eyes to squint as he saw his words drive Neji even wilder. "Neji would you be willing to show this boy a bit about how powerful a Hyuga is?" The elder may look down on a branch member like Neji, but this deficiently didn't mean he wouldn't use him. Especially when an opportunity like this presented itself.
Neji didn't even bother to respond as he moved into his taijutsu stance, glaring at Naruto. Neji would never admit it, but he liked hurting people; he just did. It made him feel powerful; it made him feel free. Naruto was slowly circling around Neji, crouched low, his arms spread wide open, fingers slightly apart as if he was going to claw at Neji. Neji simply kept pace with Naruto, turning with small measured steps. Naruto charged forward, in what he thought was a burst of speed, attempting to slash at Neji with his blue hued, chakra infused hands and nails. To Neji's keen senses Naruto may as well have stopped, explained exactly what he was going to do, closes his eyes, spun around till he was dizzy, then flailed his arms at Neji. "Not only are you slow, you're full of openings! I can see your attack before you even know what you are going to do!"
Shock was evident on Naruto's face as a resounding slap on is arm sent him off balance. Neji sidestepped and Naruto felt the sting of another slap on his opposite shoulder. Neji finished by sticking out his foot and letting Naruto trip over it, with a shove on the back to propel him further forward. Naruto stopped his fall with both hands, but as soon as he did he could feel the burning ache of the muscles in his arms. Naruto was very surprised to see his arms shacking with the effort to just hold himself up. Carefully, Naruto stood back up and turned to face Neji again.
"You insult both the Hyuga and myself by even pretending you could fight against the Gentle Fist Style with your pitiful attack." Neji was going to let this be lesson enough, as he knew that Naruto could barely feel his arms already, but the look of determination and resolve in Naruto's eyes changed his mind. Neji stepped forward and cockily waved Naruto to attack, which he did, over and over and over, until Neji had closed nearly all of Naruto's chakra points. Despite wanting to continue the beating, Neji knew that anything more would bring Hiashi's wrath. Glaring Neji turned to leave, "Now you know that one can not go against fate. Weak is weak, and nothing can change that." Having said his peace, Neji left, followed closely by the elder, lavishing Neji with praise for his abilities.
Hinata, who had been too frightened to intervene quickly went to Naruto's side. Naruto was still struggling to stand back up; even then he weakly called out after the leaving Hyugas, "I'm not finished yet, come back!" Hinata could see that he was in worse shape then herself. She knew how to lessen the damage that the Gentle Fist inflicted, meager though that mitigation was. She also only had a few closed chakra points, while Naruto had most of his closed off. He had been totally dominated.
"Naruto, p-please, that is e-enough. You didn't h-have to do that, n-not for someone weak like m-me…" Hinata had always wished someone would stand up to her teachers and Neji, but not to the point of getting hurt for her sake.
"I'll never forgive him, not until he admits how strong you are!" Hinata, who was already blushing from the contact of helping Naruto walk over to a bench to rest, turned an even deeper shade of red.
Then it hit her. Naruto had his exam tomorrow; there was no way he would be in any condition to pass it after the beating he had just taken. If he could perform any chakra molding in the next few days it would be a miracle. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that her weakness was going to cost him dearly. "Naruto, I-I-I am so sorry." Sitting on the bench, Hinata's lowered her tearful face into her hands and stuggled not to weep. "Because of m-m-me you're not going to be able to t-take your test tomorrow!"
"Don't worry about it, Hinata. I told you I heal quick! Just help me get to bed so I can rest this off, I am getting really sleepy." Even as he awkwardly patted her on the back, Naruto felt like shit; he could barely even feel his upper body. It was like the morning after a full moon. His whole body ached, even his internal organs. It felt like everything inside him was cramping up. Walking while heavily leaning on Hinata for support, it was everything he could do to not lose his lunch.
-----
After telling Hinata that he was fine for the better part of an hour, Hinata had finally agreed to not tell anyone about what had happened after Naruto agreed to let her apply her ointment to his very sore chakra points, and clean up all his scraps. After much stuttering and blushing Hinata rose and left Naruto to rest. Finally, alone to nap Naruto gingerly tried to mold some chakra and to his dismay he still couldn't. "Good going there hero! Fight a guy who you know closes off chakra points the day before the most important appointment of your life," Naruto growled out. All through the night Naruto laid in fear that he still wouldn't be able to come tomorrow.
Getting desperate as morning approached Naruto tried something he had never dared to do, he called out to the voice, "Hey, you. I know you can hear me. I want you to heal me up so we can pass this test. If I don't pass I am going to be stuck with the mean kids for another six months!" Naruto didn't know if he was just going crazy or was just plain desperate, but not getting a response was disheartening to say the least. Suddenly, he felt something stir in his mind.
"My dear boy, I will surely help my mighty host for a tiny fee," Naruto could almost feel the wickedness in the voice's words, but he needed its help, and resolved to give it whatever it wanted. "I will gladly open up your chakra pathways for you, if you say, break two fingers on each hand!" The voice rolled with animalistic laughter and Naruto could feel its pleasure knowing that he would do it. Closing his eyes Naruto grasped the last two fingers on his left and snapped them back. Even biting his lip till it bled didn't stop his yelp of pain. Wanting to get it over with he quickly repeated the process on his right. The grim deed complete he simply passed out from the pain.
Kyuubi was very pleased. That was more fun then he thought it was going to be! "I hope we can come to many more arrangements in the future," it smiled wickedly while spreading its burning chakra though his host's system. All of the chakra points burst open like a failing dams. "See you soon," Kyuubi smirked and left his unconscious play thing to go back to sleep himself, making sure to cut off it's chakra before it could fully heal Naruto's broken fingers.
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The next day Naruto nervously sat in the classroom waiting his turn. Finally, Naruto's name was called to go into the testing room. He would prove to them that he could be a great ninja, and then they couldn't just ignore him anymore. He would pass as the price he paid last night was far to high for failure! Naruto strode forward full of confidence, until he learned that he would need to do the Bunshin no jutsu, his worse skill. "That's my worst skill, but I'll do it!" Naruto finished his inner monolog and put his full power into making a clone, but the seals were sloppy and he could barely form some of them with his broken fingers. What resulted from the jutsu looked like how Naruto felt, simply sickly.
"I am sorry Naruto, but you fail," Iruka said in a sad, but calm voice, only to be interrupted by the other teacher with him.
"Iruka-sensai, he is technically far ahead of the rest of the students, and he did manage to make a clone; we could let him pass," Naruto looked up in excitement as the other teacher defended him.
"No way Mizuki. Every one else divided into at least three, but Naruto only created one clone, and it was a useless one. I can't let him pass," Iruka really didn't want to fail Naruto, but he had agreed that if Naruto was to pass it was because he was up to standard.
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Naruto again sat on the lone swing in the academy yard watching as parents of the kids praised them for finishing their midterms. Not only did that make him feel more alone, but also the snippets of people talking about him made him wish he could disappear. Slowly he reached up and pulled the goggles he was wearing down over his eyes, so they couldn't see how hurt he was or the tears soon to follow. After he could take no more, he ignored Hiashi's orders and started walking off down the street only to be stopped by Mizuki, who offered to go and talk with him.
About an hour later, just as it was getting dark, Naruto was feeling much better. Not only had Mizuki told him why Iruka had not let him pass, but also how he could get his hands on a scroll that would teach him the skill he would need to pass.
Leaving Mizuki, Naruto prowled off into the village to get the scroll that Mizuki had told him about. Getting it was way easier than he thought it would be, so Naruto soon found himself heading out into the woods to train the skill he needed to pass the exam. Unknown to Naruto, Mizuki watched him leave town with an evil smirk on his face.
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Hinata was awoken from her nightmare of Naruto failing his test, by the uproar going on outside her room. Moving to the widow she could make out her father, the Hokage, and a large group of ninja all conversing in loud tones. "Naruto has taken the scroll of forbidden seals and has a half night head start. He must be found and the scroll returned. Go!" the Hokage commanded.
Hinata gasped. With the way the villagers felt about Naruto when they found him they would not be too worried about what condition they brought him back to the village in. Moving across the room she got dressed as quickly as she could and snuck out of the estate. Hinata knew that Naruto still didn't have a good idea about the layout of the village, so if he was going to try and hide, he would go straight for the woods.
"Oh, Naruto, what have you done?" Hinata felt bad for not spending more time with him since the market incident, especially after what had happened yesterday during her training session, but her father had strictly forbidden her to even talk to him anymore. Hinata could not figure out why her father did not want her spending time with Naruto, but now she just didn't care what he said. Naruto was in big trouble if anyone but her got to him first.
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Naruto was sitting in a clearing trying to catch his breath back after working all evening to learn a skill from the scroll. "Figures it starts with the one I am so bad at," Naruto quietly chuckled to himself as he sensed someone approaching. Not too long after that Iruka came out of the woods looking somewhat angry.
"Naruto, do you have any idea how much trouble you have caused?" Iruka was glad that he had found Naruto first. At his question Naruto just smiled and scratched the back of his head.
"Eh, sorry, but let me show you the technique so I can pass!" Naruto said jumping up. "Mizuki told me the secret and said if I could learn a skill from here, you would let me pass and be a real ninja!"
Iruka looked at Naruto with a funny expression, before lunging at him, pushing him to the ground. Several knives and throwing stars flew over Naruto, most finding a home in Iruka. Staggering back Iruka looked up at the smirking face of Mizuki. "Naruto, did you ever wonder why you live all alone in the middle of the woods with no one around?" Mizuki asked in a teasing tone.
Naruto was scared, not only was Iruka really injured, but Mizuki was talking about something that no one wanted to talk to him about. Mizuki continued, "It is because you are the demon fox that attacked the village fourteen years ago. Nobody here wants you, but if you give me that scroll we can get powerful together and show them who is boss!"
"Naruto," Iruka shouted out, "don't listen to him. Run as fast as you can and don't let him get his hinds on that scroll, no matter what!" Naruto who was hurt and confused turned on his heels and ran into the woods as fast as he could with the scroll.
"Not like he can get away from me. I'll deal with you later," Mizuki smirked down at the injured Iruka.
Naruto was trying to run as fast as he could, but the tear filled vision of the unfamiliar woods was slowing him down quiet a bit. Finally, Naruto was too tired to run any more. Mizuki smiled down on his unknowing accomplice. Slowly, Mizuki approached only to stop dead in his tracks as Hinata burst into the clearing, not far from where he was standing. Hinata stared at Mizuki trying to figure out what was going on. Before she had time to even gasp out in surprise Hinata found herself in an arm lock from behind, with a dagger at her throat.
"I really didn't expect you to be this resilient, but the chase is over Naruto. Hand over the scroll or I will slit her throat," Mizuki gasped at what happened next. Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke to leave a tired and very injured Iruka in his place.
"Mizuki don't do anything foolish. We can work something out. I am sure you had a very good reason to trick Naruto into stealing the scroll for you. Lets all go back to the village and explain it to the Hokage. I am sure he will understand as long as you don't do something drastic here," Iruka had no idea that anyone else would search this way so soon, much less one of the genin. It seemed that his plan to trick Mizuki had backfired, as Naruto would be far away now with the scroll and he had nothing but words to try and barter with.
"Get the scroll now! If you don't, I really will kill her," whatever else Mizuki had left to say was cut off as the real Naruto stepped out from behind a nearby tree. Mizuki let out a mad chuckle thinking that he had won. Naruto stood his ground, feet planted apart leaning slightly on the large scroll.
"You already hurt one of the three people who accept me, for that you will not be forgiven, but if you so much as harm a hair on Hinata you will die. You will die slowly and you will die painfully," Naruto's voice was still his own, but it had taken on an edge, it was very reminiscent, to Hinata, of the voice she had first heard him use when she had fought him. Even his accent had shifted to the harsher, deeper tones that seemed to hint of pains unknown. Mizuki was not so sure that his plan had been a good one after all. It was time now to bluff his way out of this and escape.
"If you try anything your little girl is as good as dead!" Mizuki knew that Naruto was dangerous, but he hoped he was right in his assumption that Naruto was rational enough not to do anything to put the girl in any real danger of him hurting her. Unfortunately for him this was not the case. When he had made his last threat Hinata had finally given into the stress and fainted. When she did, his sharp dagger had made a paper cut sized cut on her cheek. Having to steady himself with the additional weight of the unconscious girl, Mizuki made the mistake of looking down for just a second. When he looked up again Naruto was making the last of a set of seals so fast he couldn't even see them. All of a sudden Naruto bit his thumb hard enough to make it bleed and with three strokes made a crude symbol of an eye on his forehead.
In a voice not his own, Naruto shouted out, "Shadow-Soul-Cage no Jutsu!" Mizuki looked startled for a second before he went limp, dropping Hinata, the dagger and himself to the ground.
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Mizuki started awake. The first thing he did was look for Naruto, but not seeing him, Miuki looked around to get his bearings. He seemed to be in some kind of underground passageway system, the floor of which had almost a half-foot of stale water covering it. Standing up Mizuki started to carefully make his way though the passages. What Mizuki saw in there he would never speak of for as long as he lived, but would sometimes get a very hollow look on his face when asked about it as he murmured something about gate way to hell.
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Iruka had briefly passed out from a combination of pain and blood loss just after Naruto had performed his jutsu. Waking up, Iruka could not tell how much time had passed, but no one in the clearing had moved. Struggling to sit up in a better position, Iruka heard the sounds of Mizuki starting awake. Soon the sound of Naruto pushing him self to a standing position could also be heard. What happened next Iruka did not understand. Mizuki on seeing Naruto awake and well, let out a blood-curtailing scream and began to try and push himself away from Naruto along the ground. "Get away from me you monster! Get away! Go back to the hell that spawned you," Mizuki lost his voice after his last plea, but continued to hastily push himself along the ground.
"I warned you not to hurt her. I told you to leave her alone. You had your warning," as Naruto spoke he slowly walked towards Mizuki, lifting his hands up into another seal. Suddenly there were three copies of Naruto walking towards Mizuki. The number of Naruto copies kept increasing till a whole army of Naruto clones surrounded Mizuki. Even as Mizuki kept pleading, one Naruto stepped forward out of the crowd to face the terrified Mizuki. What happened next Iruka would only be able to guess as several Naruto clones moved to block his view. Later, Iruka was told that it took a whole team of ANBUs to pry Naruto's clawed death grip from Mizuki's throat. What was left of Mizuki was the battered and maimed body of a broken man.
Iruka very much believed that if the Hokage had not been able to find their location by sensing the massive amount of chakra Naruto had used, and ordered the ANBU squad to stop Naruto from killing Mizuki, Naruto would have continued until there was nothing left of Mizuki. Even after they got Naruto off of Mizuki, it was not until Iruka told one of the ANBUs to show Naruto that Hinata was okay that he finally stopped struggling like a wild animal to get free and attack Mizuki again. His limit reached, Naruto stopped to stare at the slowly awakening Hinata. "Oh, I'm glad your okay Hinata," was all he said as he fell to the ground completely exhausted. The clones disappeared in a large puff of smoke, leaving the clearing in silence.
Iruka limped over to the unconscious blonde and taking off Naruto's goggles, replaced them with his own headband. "Naruto, you truly understand what it means to have precious people."
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End Chapter Three.
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