Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

I am really sorry for taking so long to update, but I am always at school or at work, so I never have any time to type up the next chapter. So I hope you all will forgive me for making you wait. I did get to go over my ideas for this story in my head for the hundredth time and I realized that this is going to be a very long story so I hope you guys are willing to stay and read till the end. I promise I will try my best to make this story exciting and interesting. I do have some surprising twist and ideas up my sleeves that you will have to continue reading to find out. Also I haven't decided to put in any couples yet, but if you have a suggestion, let me know. (No Yaoi please) Read and Review!

Enjoy!

The room was spinning out of control and it just wouldn't stop. Naruto clutched his head to try and ease the pain. His body was numb and it felt like all of his energy was drained out of his body. After blinking his eyes several times, the spinning started to stop. He had just woken up a moment ago to see he was no longer on the cold hard floor next to his burnt down apartment building, but in Sasuke's house in his given bed. Naruto laid on the bed in silence watching the candle on the corner table flicker, causing the shadows to bounce around the room. His body felt so much strain that he could barely move. Something like this usually never happened to him. When he was in pain or injured, it would all be gone after some sleep, but why is this pain still here? The more he thought about it, he realized that there was a strange feeling coursing through his body when he saved Sasuke and the hokage from being squished under the falling debris. Besides the extreme adrenaline rush, it felt like he was a puppet with someone else pulling the strings. His mind wasn't telling his body to move at the last minute, it just moved on it's own. And why did he feel completely exhausted afterwards? Was it something to do with the kyuubi? After that meeting with the demon fox, Naruto noticed some differences with his body. First was his enhanced senses and thanks to them, Naruto was able to spot the fire before it could spread. Second was that his reaction time had improved drastically. He was able to save the hokage and Sasuke before anyone else had the chance to move. Third was the fact that his speed and strength increased as well. Was this the power the fox was talking about? I wonder what else this power is capable of?

His thoughts were cut short when the sliding door to his room slid open and someone walked into the room. Naruto could not move his body to face the visitor, but what he could tell by the aroma filling the room, they were carrying a bowl of ramen with them. The person walked over to the side of the bed and pulled up a chair and sat down. Naruto was able to turn his head slightly to the right to see who was the one who entered the room…Uchiha Sasuke.

"Well, it looks like you've finally woken up. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours. It's midday now. You should eat something, it will help you feel better."

"Can you help me sit up? My body is still in pain." Sasuke placed the bowl of ramen onto the nightstand and stood up. Carefully, he lifted Naruto up into a sitting position and placed the bowl in his lap.

"Can you move your arms because I am not feeding you" Naruto gave a warm smile and chuckled lightly.

"I didn't expect you to, besides I can handle eating on my own." Ignoring the pain in his arms, Naruto carefully lifted his hands to the chopstick in the bowl and placed them in between his fingers. Slowly, he brought up the noodles to his mouth and slurped them down. This continued for a couple of minutes until the bowl was completely dry. Sasuke, who was watching Naruto eat the entire time, took the bowl and placed it back on the night stand.

"Thanks, that was really good"

"No-" Sasuke paused for a moment. For some reason he felt embarrassed about what he was going to say next. "I should be thanking you." Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"For what?"

"For saving me, so…thanks." Naruto smiled again.

"No problem." Sasuke turned away slightly to avoid eye contact with the blonde boy. Even though he was grateful that Naruto had saved his life, he couldn't help but feel ashamed deep down. He was Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of the great Uchiha clan and the best in his class at the academy, and he needed to be rescued by a nobody. The boy who was just beaten senseless the night before had just shown an incredible amount of speed and power that he did not have. There were so many unanswered questions running through Sasuke's head that only frustrated him even more. He was too stubborn to admit it but he sort of felt jealous of the little blonde boy.

"Naruto, can I ask you something?"

"Yea, what?"

"How did you do that? I mean…you moved so fast that I didn't even see it. In fact, since last night, you have been acting really different. You were even able to smell the smoke from across the village." How could he explain his new strength to Sasuke? He couldn't simply say that it was from the Kyuubi. It would sound crazy if he said that the demon fox in his stomach gave him this power, even though it was completely true. Either way, Naruto needed to come up with an explanation because Sasuke was definitely waiting for one.

"I actually don't know. My body just seemed to move on it's own. I can't really explain it." He wasn't completely lying.

"That doesn't explain everything though." Sasuke said trying to pry more answers from Naruto.

"I can't explain how I could smell the smoke either. Maybe I just have a better nose than you do." A grin formed across Naruto's face when a frown formed on Sasuke's.

"Yea right. The only thing you can do better than me is stuff your face with ramen like a pig." Naruto laughed, mostly in embarrassment because he was aware of his bad eating habits. Then Naruto's grin faded completely as he continued his explanation.

"You know Sasuke, I have been thinking about a lot of things lately, especially after what happened with Mizuki-teme. I could have died that day, but for some reason I didn't…and that reason was you. You saved my life…but you won't always be there to do it again. Do you remember what Iruka-sensei said on our first day at the academy?" Sasuke thought about it for a moment before responding.

"A little bit"

"He told us that the way of the shinobi is a difficult road to face. Konoha shinobi die everyday due to the missions that are given to them by the hokage. But, they are willing to put their lives on the line for this village and because of that, they are able to die the death of an honorable shinobi. The ones who survive this road realize that life is very fragile and could be taken away instantly. They learn that they should not take life for granted and the best thing they can do is become stronger to protect what is precious to them. That is why Konoha is one of the strongest hidden villages in the world. It is because our shinobi fight to protect others just like how the Hokages did before. Each one of them were willing to put their life on the line for this village. That is the truth on how to become strong shinobi, to fight for what is precious to you." Sasuke listened in amazement to what Naruto said. He recited the speech word for word, exactly how Iruka had said it the first time.

"Naruto, how were you able to memorize everything Iruka said?"

"When he said that, It stuck with me. The truth is I want to become hokage, and when I do, I will protect this village and everyone in it with my life. Almost dying made me realize that I need to become stronger…strong enough to the protect myself and the people I care about, just like the old man and the hokages before." The conversation was broken by the sound of clapping. Both boys turned to see the hokage standing in the door way.

"Spoken like a true shinobi. It seems that the will of fire shines bright in you, Naruto."

"Will of fire?" Naruto heard the hokage mention this term before but wasn't aware of what it meant.

"It is the will to fight and protect what is precious to you. It is the foundation that Konoha was built on, created by the First hokage himself. It seems that you already understand what it means." Naruto smiled and nodded in agreement. "Sasuke, I need to speak with Naruto in private for a moment." Sasuke nodded and stood up. Grabbing the empty ramen bowl, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. The hokage walked over to the bed and sat down on the chair.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" The cheerfulness in Naruto's eyes suddenly vanished when a sudden surge of pain coursed through Naruto's body.

"I don't know. I think something is wrong" A frown formed on Sarutobi's face and a set of worry lines creased into his forehead.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Naruto groaned in pain before replying.

"It hurts so much. I don't know why? I-…I just want it to go away." Naruto suddenly clutched his chest and grinded his teeth to try an ease the pain. It felt like his insides were on fire as he screwed his eyes tight with a small trace of tears in the corners. Sarutobi quickly rushed to his side to help the suffering boy. He gently eased the blonde back into the lying position on the bed. Removing the bed covers and lifting the boy's shirt, Sarutobi stared in awe at the very detailed seal that had resurfaced on Naruto's stomach. For some reason it was different, it gave off a red glow as if it were burning the poor boy. Naruto was breathing hard and his heart was racing. Naruto thrashed his arms and legs on the bed and continued to groan in pain. Sarutobi knew the boy needed a medic, but that would take too long and unfortunately, Sarutobi did not know any medical ninjutsu. He had to do something and fast. From the looks of, something was wrong with Naruto's chakra system. Maybe the pain would go away if he was cut off from his chakra, but still, the only ones who were able to close up a person's chakra system were the Hyuugas. Another idea came to him. In one quick motion, Sarutobi jabbed Naruto in certain spots along his body with two fingers. Naruto's body became still and his heart rate slowly dropped to a steady tempo. Sarutobi sighed in relief when Naruto reopened his eyes.

"Everything will be alright, Naruto, I just hit several pressure points so your body could relax." Naruto couldn't move anymore, his body wasn't responding.

" I- I can't move." Naruto said in a faint whisper.

" I'm sorry Naruto, but your body is paralyzed for the moment. You won't be able to move, but don't worry, you will regain the feeling in your body in few minutes." Naruto did not respond, he just listened when the hokage spoke again.

"Naruto, for some reason, a burst of the kyuubi's chakra has entered your chakra system. I think it had to do something with what happened last night. But whatever happened, it is having a bad effect on your body." Naruto struggled to speak again.

"I-I thought you said that the kyuubi's chakra is already merging with mine… Why would it hurt now?" He said in a low whisper.

"They kyuubi's chakra is merging with yours, but the two charkas are merging at a slow rate so it doesn't have any negative effect on your body. But last night, you tapped into a large amount of demon chakra, even if it was only for that one moment. A demon's chakra is a lot stronger than a human's. Matter of fact, during the kyuubi attack, it's chakra had a poisonous effect to anyone who was unfortunate to come across it. I am very surprised that you are able to contain it so well." Naruto did not speak, he just took a moment for his brain to process all of the information given to him. Was this new power supposed to help him or was the kyuubi trying to kill him? Either way, he needed to find a way to talk to the big fuzz ball again so he could get some answers. Naruto wondered if he should tell the hokage about the short conversation he had with the fox and the power given to him. In the end, he decided against it because he did not want the old man to worry about it and if word got out that he was using demon chakra, the villager would surely try to have him exiled from the village. When he thought back to the villagers, he thought back to the pile of ash that was once his home.

"W-Who did it?" Sarutobi was completely lost by Naruto's question.

"Did what?"

"My home" When Sarutobi finally realized what he was taking about, he let out a sigh.

"My boy, who said that it was done intentionally?"

"Old man, I saw the writing on the wall. I know someone had tried to kill me" Naruto said in a unusual cold tone. Sarutobi could only feel sorry for the boy. There has been so many assignation attempts on his life that he was now used to them. It was awful that instead of playing with other eight-year olds, this boy worried about when will someone try to kill him again. His rough childhood had hardened his heart and Sarutobi needed to help the poor blonde boy before the effects became permanent.

"I do not know. I have several anbu searching the debris for any clues on who could of done it as we speak." Naruto nodded, accepting the man's answer. Slowly and carefully he tried to move his arms and legs. Using a lot of concentration and will power, he was able to wiggle his fingers, then his hands, then his arms, and eventually he was able to regain mobility of his entire body. With the help of the third hokage, he was able to sit back up on the bed.

"Some fresh air will help you recover." Naruto nodded and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Using his arms to push off the bed, he slowly lifted himself off the bed. When he was finally standing, his legs began to shake so much that he nearly collapsed on the floor if the hokage hadn't caught. Wrapping one arm around the boy's hip and placing the boy's arm around his neck, Sarutobi helped Naruto stand and walk out the room. Taking one step at a time, they walked down the hallway to the living room, where Sasuke and Iruka were waiting for them.

Sasuke was sitting on the couch deep in his thoughts while Iruka paced around the room. Iruka had spent all morning nervously waiting for Naruto to wake up. He was always so worried for the young blonde. Sometimes he was tough on him in the academy, but he was only trying to help Naruto pass the academy so he could one day become a genin. Even though, Iruka would usually be the target for one of Naruto's ridiculous pranks, he could never find it in his heart to truly hate the boy. Everyone would think that Iruka would hold the biggest grudge over the demon vessel since both of his parents were killed during the kyuubi attack eight years ago, but every time Iruka looked at Naruto he would see a part of him looking back. He was one of the very few people who saw Naruto as Naruto and not a reincarnated form of the kyuubi. Iruka had promised himself that he would help Naruto become a great ninja and he intends to keep that promise, no matter what.

Iruka's pacing back and forth would usually irritate Sasuke, but he was too lost in his thoughts to care. He was thinking about what Naruto had told him and the will of fire the third hokage spoke of.

The truth is I want to become hokage, and when I do, I will protect this village and everyone in it with my life. Almost dying made me realize that I need to become stronger…strong enough to the protect myself and the people I care about, just like the old man and the hokages before.

It seems that the will of fire shines bright in you, Naruto. It is the will to fight and protect what is precious to you.

Could fighting for others really help someone become stronger? Sasuke couldn't help to wonder if he had the will of fire. Did he have someone important to fight for? His thoughts were disrupted by Iruka's voice.

"Naruto! It is good to see you up and about!" Sasuke looked up to see a groggy looking Naruto hanging on to the third's side. Iruka rushed over by Naruto's other side to help him walk over to the chair. Iruka made sure that Naruto was comfortable on the couch before turning to the hokage. " How's he doing?"

"He'll be just fine, Iruka. I wouldn't be surprised if he was jumping around again by the end of the day. In fact, I think you should start training the boys right after their academy class tomorrow." Both boys had a look of surprise on their faces while there was a look of complete shock on Iruka's.

"B-But Hokage-sama, are you sure that would be okay? After all, we should wait a day or two until Naruto is completely healed."

"Naruto won't need a day or two to heal. Besides, he doesn't have much time left in the village before he has to leave with his new sensei." Sasuke's ears perked up when he heard the last part. Sarutobi glanced over to Naruto and Sasuke. "As soon as class is over tomorrow, prepare yourselves to start training. As for location, you can use training ground six." Sarutobi said as he looked back towards Iruka. "Alright, I still have some work to finish back at my office. I will check in once in awhile to see how you all are doing." The hokage looked over to Naruto. "Work hard and try your best, Naruto." Sarutobi said as he ruffled the boy's golden spiky mane. He looked over to were Sasuke was sitting. "I also see great potential in you too, Sasuke. Train hard as well." Sarutobi walked out of the room leaving a wide foxy grin on Naruto's face and a small smirk on Sasuke's. Iruka decided that now was a good time to kill the mood.

"Listen up! Be prepared because tomorrow…your in for the hardest training of your lives." Iruka could only snicker behind his tough front when frowns appeared on the eight-year olds' faces. Yes, tomorrow he was going to have fun running these boys into the ground with a little payback in store for Naruto. Next time, Naruto will think twice before pulling another cruel prank on Umino Iruka, the toughest academy teacher in all of Konoha.

End of Chapter Nine

I hope you liked this chapter and there will be plenty more coming as soon as possible. Please Review!!