Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. As if that wasn't obvious.

"Talking"

Thinking

"Kyuubi talking"

Chapter 9: Admitting the Truth

"Now then, what do you have to say for yourself?" the woman asked while tapping her foot from impatience.

"Huh?" the figure sitting up on the bed asked, completely unaware of how frustrating the woman's day had been so far. He cracked open an eye and glanced up at the woman. He quickly stuttered and tried to put together a sentence. "I-I-I-I I mean uh…" the blonde searched for words but he wasn't entirely sure of what Tsunade was asking. "What's going on, anyway?" he asked changing the subject quickly after catching sight of his drunken teacher.

"Hm?" the woman turned her head to look and just shrugged. "He got drunk," she explained again. Was it really that weird for a perverted jounin like Kakashi to get drunk? Tsunade instead returned her attention back to the blonde genin. "What I wanted to know was why in the world is your body in such a bad condition? Not to mention the fact that just a few minutes ago you were close to death and not a single diagnosis could be made. Explain yourself," she demanded with a cold glare.

With a nod, the blonde genin defended himself. "I got into a fight," he mumbled since he didn't want to tell Tsunade what was truly wrong with him, "with Sasuke. I let my emotions take control andthenIlettheKyuubitakecontrolagain," he mumbled while gaining speed. His words had jumbled into one long word that Tsunade was having trouble deciphering.

"Talk like a normal person, Naruto!" she finally barked after another moment of the incoherent grumbling.

"G-gomen!" Naruto said while scratching the back of his head. He figure if he was quick enough he could make a run for it out the window, but then again his legs were tied down to the bed. He struggled against them for a while, but Tsunade promised him that he wouldn't be able to get out. A moment of silence had gone by before Naruto realized that he was supposed to be talking. "Oh, uhm, well…" he started to mumble again and before he knew it Kakashi's masked face was in front of his.

Showing his genuine smile through his eye, Kakashi finally spoke after Naruto stared at his teacher. "I can't heeeeeeaaaaarrrrr you!" he giggled. The alcohol still obviously hadn't left his system. Naruto blinked once or twice and started to laugh. However, once Tsunade's glare once again was shot his way, he stopped and took a deep breath.

"Tell us using normal speech," Tsunade threatened and Naruto just pouted.

"Why should I?" he asked turning his head away in a bratty manner from the Hokage. His mind was changed drastically when a chair flew out the window and scattered glass throughout the entire room. With a scared look on his face Naruto finally told his story. "… and that's basically what happened," Naruto finally finished. Of course, he had left out a few details, like how the Kyuubi had talked to him and how he knew that the seal was really quite weak. He didn't think it was too important so he had left it out.

Tsunade's eyes were closed and she was deep in a current thought process. "You're saying that you don't know what's wrong with you?" she asked after finally opening her eyes. Naruto didn't speak for a minute but instead nodded his head. Lying wasn't something he enjoyed doing but it was crucial to him. Tsunade sighed again and shrugged. "Well, with the condition you're in you aren't going anywhere." Naruto gulped and nodded. "However, we'll probably have to do some investigating to see what could possibly be wrong. You're positive it has nothing to do with the seal?"

Naruto tried to come up with a believable lie but it was hard considering his position. She had asked directly the question he wanted to avoid. "Well?" Tsunade pressed the issue and Naruto reached his breaking point.

"The seal's even weaker now…" he admitted without looking either of his elders in the eye. He gripped the blanket tightly in his hands when he realized that it was mostly his fault that Sasuke got away again. I'm too weak… he thought closing his eyes.

"Oh, please. More of your whining? Get over it," the fox chimed in. There was, however, no sympathy in his voice. He was just tired of the kid getting caught up because he couldn't save his so-called friend. "Instead of moping, go and train and get better, baka."

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. This brought some odd looks from the others present in the room. "The seal's weaker?" Tsunade asked looking at Naruto's abdomen. "Let me see," she demanded and Naruto complied. He lifted up the black shirt he was wearing to the bottom of his chest. He didn't look at it, but he heard Tsunade stifle a gasp and absolutely nothing from Kakashi. Because of Tsunade's gasp, Naruto couldn't help but look.

The seal that they saw was fully exposed even when Naruto wasn't concentrating his chakra, which of course wasn't a good thing. However, the area that the seal was touching looked red and raw. Tsunade reached out and touched it, which caused both of the blondes to wince. Tsunade quickly pulled her hand back from the area since it burned to touch and Naruto put his shirt back down.

Tsunade thought for another moment while Naruto was having a conversation with Kyuubi. They were both interrupted when Kakashi said, "Oi, you're both uncharacteristically quiet." The masked ninja shrank back when they both glared at him for interrupting. "Besides," he said, pointing at Naruto stomach, "why don't you just get Minato-sensei to fix it?" Naruto stared at Kakashi blankly, not entirely sure who this Minato was while Tsunade shot a death glare at Kakashi.

"Baka! He's been dead for nearly sixteen years now! Don't tell me you got drunk enough to forget that," she nearly yelled. Naruto blinked a few times surprised by the ominous growling noise he could hear.

"Eh?! Minato-sensei's dead?" Kakashi asked astonished. Tsunade sighed and nodded. "When'd that happen?!" Tsunade sighed again and decided not to get involved any further. Kakashi pressed further for an answer, but Tsunade was about ready to knock him out so he quit.

"Tsunade-baachan," Naruto spoke up after a minute, "who's this Minato guy?" Kyuubi had been ranting on and on about how he wanted to rip the bastard apart and wasn't listening to Naruto who had already asked the demon who the hell Minato was.

Tsunade drew in a deep breath before starting. "First off, Minato was the Yodaime. You should know everything about that since he's one of your idols."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that explains a lot…" he mumbled which earned him another odd look.

"Explains what?" she asked and Naruto reacted with a shrug.

"I was just wondering," he answered, wishing the Kyuubi would shut up. Stupid fox, shut up already! he yelled at the fox again although it was to no prevail. As the fox grew louder, Naruto gripped his head with one hand to try and stop the upcoming headache. Tsunade noticed and instantly glanced over at the monitors that showed no problems. She shrugged and guessed the act of thinking was a bit too much for him at this point.

He could be suffering from post-traumatic disorder too, she thought but threw it to the back of her mind. "You're saying the seal is causing the damage to your body," she finally said and Naruto shook his head.

"Not the seal, rather the chakra coming out of the seal. It's a large amount, I think he said about a tail," Naruto stopped and realized the mistake he had made. Tsunade raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Who's this 'he'?" she asked Naruto who just smiled and laughed while trying to come up with a lie.

"Ummm, Neji?"

"And how would Neji know how much chakra is in a full tail of the Kyuubi?"

"He's smart?"

"Tell me what's really going on, Naruto," she demanded and Naruto admitted defeat with a sigh. However, the Kyuubi didn't want his little secret to get out.

"What the hell are you thinking, brat?!" he finally burst in from his Minato rant. "Do you really think explaining to her your situation is the best idea?" Naruto supplied a yes to Kyuubi disappointment, but Kyuubi was an expert at manipulating humans. "Really? I'd think you would enjoy having my help during training. If I get sealed back up, that's not going to work. What if they seal me off from you completely, gaki?!" The Kyuubi didn't let any desperation enter his voice. He had finally found a way to communicate with his container that didn't involve Naruto loosing consciousness.

Naruto sighed outwardly, trying to think of what was best to do. Yamato told me to fight with my own power, Naruto countered. This caught the fox off guard.

"Naruto? Is something wrong? You haven't been talking," Tsunade grabbed one of Naruto's shoulders out of worry. When she did that, he finally snapped out of his trance.

"Hehe, sorry Tsunade-baachan. That guy I was talking about before," he said tapping the side of his head, "is the Kyuubi himself!" he said laughing.

"Brat get in here! I'll kill you!" the Kyuubi yelled while ramming against the bars holding him back. He realized that the bars actually moved this time, if only a little bit. The laugh echoed around the chamber and made Naruto shiver.

"WHAT?!" both of the adults in the room were astonished. "How in the world is he talking to you? Did you go to the chambers of your mind again?" Tsunade asked while checking his temperature. It was quite possible he was delirious and was just hearing a voice he knew. Naruto shook his head and laughed.

"Right now he's threatening to kill me if I get near him," he said as proof. "That fox didn't want anybody to know the seal was that weak." Tsunade stared at him as did Kakashi.

"Y-you can't be serious…" Kakashi mumbled. Tsunade shook her head and stared at Naruto still. He just laughed more.

"If that's true then we'll have to seal him up even tighter than the Yodaime had originally planned," Tsunade informed Naruto. This sent Kyuubi into another rampage that Naruto did his best to ignore. She glanced over at Kakashi. "Now you have to come out of your stupor, Kakashi," Tsunade warned him. "I really need to know if you did see Jiraiya in town today."

Kakashi giggled for a minute and nodded his head. "Yup! I saw the infamous author of Icha Icha books out near a bar while I was getting your sake, Tsunade-baachan!" the masked nin smiled.

"Eh? Ero-Sennin's here? I thought he left after I went to save Gaara," Naruto exclaimed. Tsunade shook her head.

"He stayed for a while even after that mission. He explained to all of us about the fourth tail. Well, just Yamato, Kakashi, and I were indulged in the information. After that I thought he left too, but apparently he's still busy with his 'research' here in Konoha," Tsunade sighed. "I'll get some ANBU to track him down or something," she shrugged before placing a small pill in front of Naruto. "Take it," she instructed.

Naruto glared down at the pill but finally picked it up. "What does it do?" he asked before sticking it into his mouth and swallowing it.

"Two things. Depletes chakra is the first," she said which got Naruto's attention. "The second is that it also acts as a sleeping pill. I just came up with it a while ago, so I hope there aren't any side effects. All experiments have been a success, but you aren't exactly a normal person," she added. Naruto glared at her for a moment before a glazed look covered her eyes.

"Why'd you give it to.. me… then…?" he asked while he found himself getting sleepier. The fox protested and tried to get him to wake back up but it wasn't getting through his thick skull.

"Well, mostly for the first reason. Without the Kyuubi's chakra, you should have less damage inflicted onto your body if my diagnosis is right. The second reason is an added bonus. This way you won't become a problem like usual. I actually created this medicine for Sakura to use since she had requested it," Tsunade added while watching the genin's eyes close. Soon enough he was happily asleep so she dragged Kakashi out of the room.

"Oi, pervert!" Tsunade yelled out to her fellow Sannin. "What the hell are you doing in Konoha?!" she yelled before punching him into a nearby wall. He deserved it though; he had been peeking into the woman's bath before Tsunade managed to find him.

Jiraiya managed to get up and dust himself off. "Research," he said simply. "Why does it matter exactly?"

Tsunade looked around to see a crowd had gathered. "Not here, once we get into my office I'll tell you," she said before grabbing Jiraiya's wrist. Now she was dragging two white-haired perverts behind her. As she walked furiously along, the two began a conversation and it continued until they reached her office.

The Godaime slung the two men down into chairs, slammed the door shut, and finally sat down at her own desk. "There's a problem," she said seriously.

"Well, that's a little obvious," Jiraiya said while crossing his arms. "But why do I have to be involved? You interrupted my research."

"It's Naruto," Tsunade said which managed to grab Jiraiya's attention. "Well, it's more the seal," Tsunade added because of Jiraiya's scared look. She had seen it before, right before she saw the Sadaime tell Jiraiya that Yodaime had given his life to save the village.

Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to tell me Akatsuki had gotten him," he laughed. "However, I'll need to talk to Naruto myself to see the extent the seal has weakened," he added after abruptly stopping his laughter. Tsunade nodded and told him which room Naruto was in and that he would currently be sleeping. Jiraiya laughed again as he left. "I'm sure I'll be able to find him," Jiraiya said loudly before closing the door behind him. Naruto, what did you do this time?

Naruto refused to open his eyes. Every time he was in the hospital and woke up he was nearly blinded by the bright light. They should really fix that, he thought while the smell of cleanliness filled his nostrils. He didn't mind the smell, but it wasn't as comforting as the smell of ramen. He cracked an eye open and quickly shut it. "Dammit, I knew that would happen too," he admitted and covered his eye with his hand.

A laugh filled the room and Naruto shifted his head to the right. He cracked open his eye to see Jiraiya staring back. "Ero-Sennin?! What are you doing here?!" Naruto demanded while opening both of his eyes. Again he was nearly blinded, but it wasn't something he was worried about.

Jiraiya laughed even louder. "A certain lady told me about your condition. I've come to investigate," Jiraiya informed Naruto. It was obvious what he wanted, but Naruto, as usual, acted as dumb as a rock.

"Huh?" he asked and Jiraiya laughed a little more.

Jiraiya knocked on Naruto's head and sighed. "You don't have much up there, do you?" he asked while laughing. He suddenly grew very serious. "What's wrong with the seal?" he asked suddenly.

Naruto had a much easier time telling Jiraiya things about the seal than with Tsunade. "It's even weaker than before," he said before showing it to his teacher. "See? Kyuubi says there's about a full tail of chakra running rampage through my chakra system. He says it's too much and it's destroying my body," he added before putting his shirt back down.

Jiraiya nodded. "Did he tell you in the sewer like usual?" Naruto shook his head.

"He's yelling at me right now, actually," he added tapping his head. "Somehow he's able to communicate with me using my thoughts or something like that. I wasn't really listening to him," Naruto admitted.

"What did you do, Naruto? The seal was never supposed to get this weak," Jiraiya interrogated Naruto until he had gotten the information he needed. "To tell you the truth, Naruto, I don't think I can help you out this time," he admitted with a sigh. Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

"Wh-why not?! You've been able to weaken it before, why can't you just do the opposite?" Naruto asked desperately.

Jiraiya sighed and put a hand on Naruto head to ruffle his hair a little bit. He normally didn't do that sort of thing, but he could see so much of Minato in him he had to do it as his Godfather. "First off, don't worry. Tsunade and I will come up with something. I doubt I can do anything because your body has become quite dependant on the Kyuubi's chakra and I don't know how far I could seal it before your body would start to die. Chakra is a life source, remember, not something that can be used sparsely," he said and took his hand out of Naruto's blonde hair.

"But if it keeps on going like this, I'll die, won't I?" Naruto asked while putting a hand gingerly over the raw skin that held the seal. Jiraiya finally sat down in a chair and nodded his head.

"Knowing Tsunade, you'll be stuck in the hospital for quite a while, probably more than just half a year," he added for emphasis. "But yes, at the rate the chakra is leaking out, I'd say you'd die. If not, the Akatsuki will easily be able to trace that chakra signature and capture you. Which will of course mean confinement to the village," Jiraiya explained but he caught sight of Naruto's surprised look and quickly explained. "However, if I can I will find a way to get the seal fixed so it won't have to happen like that."

Naruto nodded and rubbed his head. "Kyuubi's being loud," he explained upon seeing Jiraiya's look.

Jiraiya looked over his student and realized that even though the room was fairly cold and the sheets on the bed were thin Naruto was sweating profusely. "Do you have a fever or something?"

Naruto looked over at his teacher and shook his head. "I don't think so. I feel fine, really. Except for the pain part," he added laughing.

"Hm, well, I'll go talk to Tsunade about an alternative solution. In the meantime, try not to do anything stupid, alright?" Jiraiya joked before sliding the door open. And please don't use anymore of the Kyuubi's chakra, Jiraiya added mentally while stalling in the doorway. "I'll be back," he added and shut the door behind him.

Naruto stared at the doorway for a moment before smiling. 'Don't do anything stupid', huh? Naruto thought smiling. He could hear the Kyuubi laugh in the back of his mind.

"What are you planning, brat?" the Kyuubi asked. Naruto effectively ignored him and looked toward the window. Then he glanced back to the door and laughed. He reached over to the table where his ninja tools were stored and got to work on the rope that was tying him down.

I'm planning on getting out of here, he thought while cutting through the rope. It was thicker and harder to cut through than he thought it would have been. I hate hospitals, he added as he finally sliced though the rope. He jumped from the bed and quickly changed back into his jumpsuit even though it had several holes in it; he had planned to run home before training anyway. Not to mention he was hungry and needed some Ichiraku to gain his energy back.

Naruto glanced around the room again to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Once he deduced he hadn't, he opened the window and easily jumped down to the ground. He was only on the second floor.

"Jiraiya, that's not exactly a rational idea," Tsunade retorted to Jiraiya's plan. Kakashi nodded, finally over his drunken stupor.

"I guess it makes sense, but wouldn't it put Naruto in danger?" Kakashi asked while rubbing the bridge of his nose to kill his hangover headache. "Tsunade-sama, don't you have any pain killers?"

Tsunade glared at Kakashi. "Not for you," she told to Kakashi before turning her attention back to Jiraiya. "He would need to be watched, and what if it didn't work? I doubt he'd agree to your idea, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya sighed and crossed his arms. "There really isn't any other way. He was, after all, a seal master. He would know what he was doing!"

"That doesn't mean it'll work!" Tsunade yelled. "He's your godson and he's nearly a grandson to me. I don't want to do it Jiraiya."

"You and I both know that out of anyone, he's the most likely to bring him back!" Jiraiya retorted.

"Oh, uhm… what are we talking about again?" Kakashi interrupted. Both of the Sannin glared at Kakashi until he backed down. "G-gomen nasai…" he mumbled to himself.

Note: Bwahahaha, I'm so evil. D I left a cliffie. Sorry if any charries were OC, I tried to make them as IC as possible... Anyway, I now have two votes for yes, there should be a pairing. However, this was just to assess what you, the readers, want. I don't really know yet if I will or will not have one. Also! Jiraiya's 'brilliant' plan will be explained next chapter. Well, I hope you enjoyed!

R&R as always. ((yet again, never holding this hostage, but it would be nice to get some more reviews, ya know?))

Elizabet639