Disclaimer: Naruto, no, Suigetsu, yes (what was with that random mermaid-form in ch. 417? And I hope he gets all the swords).

Continue...

Round 5

-.-Neji's POV-.-

"Oh shit," Kankurou and I say at the same time. We both recognize Naruto's look. That's the look from that fight with Gaara.

Lee's trotting over, looking worriedly at Naruto. "Neji, this does not look good," he whispers. "What do you think Uchiha said-?"

And then Naruto snaps.

He starts throwing balls around madly; apparently he's still sufficiently aware to abide by the game's rules, which is something, at least. I was afraid he would completely lose it and attack Uchiha. It's a good thing that there aren't many people left at this point, because balls are flying fast enough to break bones and I don't think an ordinary person could dodge them.

Uchiha clearly is no ordinary person. Somehow, he's keeping up and dodging each one. At least he looks surprised now, and his dodging is more erratic and desperate.

Gai-sensei is finally alerted by the screams and people running off the court. He blows his whistle, trying to get Naruto's attention, but it's no good now.

I look at Lee and he nods; if anyone can stop Naruto now, it will have to be us. We start to edge cautiously nearer. Of course I'm not afraid, why would you suggest that? I just know this is going to be difficult. Dealing with Naruto in an enraged state is five times worse than dealing with a drunken Lee. Curse that Uchiha; it's only his first day here and he managed to say something to set Naruto off.

Oh no, now this doesn't look good. Naruto started running out of balls to throw, naturally, so he crossed the invisible boundary to get more. Now Uchiha's running around in circles, not staying on one side, which means that everyone cringing on the sidelines is suddenly open to attack from a stray ball. Students scream and duck; Gai-sensei tries to get close enough to stop him, but Naruto throws a volley at him to keep him away.

I have to hand it to Uchiha; not only is he dodging, he's actually throwing back. Some of his shots make contact, but Naruto doesn't even seem to notice them. That's just how it is when he's like this, although this isn't nearly as bad as the other times, now that I think about it. Whatever Uchiha said couldn't have been too upsetting, then; which means we might have a chance to get through to Naruto.

"Lee, I'll get close enough to distract Naruto. While he's distracted, you run in and-" A sudden loud noise, as of cheap inflated rubber smacking flesh, echoes through the gym.

I look and see both Naruto and Uchiha fall back, abused-looking balls bouncing away from the general area of their heads. I blink. "What just happened?"

"Oh, man, you missed it?" Kankurou sniggers, sliding up out of nowhere now that the danger's over. "Uchiha and Uzumaki just nailed each other in the face at the same time. It was excellent."

I glare at him, then follow Lee to check on Naruto.

-.-Naruto's POV-.-

I'm way confused for a second. I rub my head, which hurts for some reason, and look up at Lee and Neji (why are they above me?) who are walking over. "Hey guys. What just happened?"

They give each other a Look, a Look I recognize all too well, and I know what's happened even before Lee tells me. I blacked out. I lost control again. Shit.

I can't stand it. Why do I have a temper like this? It's always been my weakness, the source of all the bad things in my life. Even the sight of Uchiha nursing a broken nose, his pretty blue shirt (poor new kid without a P.E. uniform) all covered with blood, doesn't cheer me up.

Gai-sensei looks up from where he's helping Uchiha. I recognize that look, too. Suddenly I just don't want to hear it. I jump up, ignoring Lee asking if I'm okay, and run for the locker room. Gai-sensei calls me but I keep running. The other students scatter. Their faces go by in a blur, but I know how they're looking at me. Fear. Hate. Suspicion. That kid's dangerous. A dangerous freak.

I burst into the locker room, slam my fist against a locker. I flop on a bench and lean back against the lockers with a groan. Now I'm in trouble, Iruka'll yell at me (or worse, give me that disappointed look), and everyone's gonna avoid me and talk behind my back for a week. I hate all the kids at this school, and most of the teachers too. They either pretend I don't exist (ignore him and he'll go away) or they openly can't stand me (stay the hell away freak!).

I sigh, leaning my face in my hands. Why did the jerk annoy me so much anyway? I mean, so he called me a loser. Big deal. I'm not exactly thin-skinned; I've heard worse. Heck, Kiba calls me a loser all the time. But I'm used to him, I guess. The new kid's just got an attitude, like he knows he's better than everyone else. I hate people who are so smug like that. He doesn't even know me! How dare he call me a loser!

I hear the door open and Lee's voice call "Naruto?" So they decided enough time has passed for the little hothead to cool down? Fuck that. I hide quickly in the bathroom and stay there until Lee seems to decide I've left. Once he's given up, I sneak out, change clothes and really do leave. The hallway's being patrolled as usual to make sure no students are skipping class; good luck with that. Everyone in our gang (and the Tanukis too, I gotta admit) is pro at skipping class, with the exception of Neji the brainiac and Lee the goody-two-shoes. I'm out of school before you can say ditch.

I get home and wander around for a while. I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror, do a double take and swear. That Uchiha jerk gave me a black eye. I rub it and wander some more. With luck, he'll never know; I've always been a fast healer.

Not sure what to do now, but I do know I don't wanna be here when Iruka gets home. I guess I'll go to the Fox Gang meeting place. The others will be out of school soon; P.E. was the last class of the day. There'll definitely be a meeting after what happened today. I wanna see if Shino's found out anything else about the Uchiha jerk. Like he's really the spawn of the devil or something.

-.-.-.-.-

I weave through the streets, slip quietly down a certain alley, and sneak into the abandoned warehouse that we use as our hideout. I sit down on my usual crate, lean back and put my feet up, and wait.

I'm not waiting long before Neji and Lee come in through the secret entrance. "Hey guys. Where's Shikamaru and Shino?"

"They're tailing Uchiha and his friends to see if they can find out more about them," Neji answers.

"That's cool," I say. We lapse into silence. No mention of what happened today; they know I don't want to talk about it, and I'm grateful that they respect that. Eventually I dig into my secret stash of handheld video games and start playing. Lee and Neji get out the homework they've brought. What'd I tell ya; such goody-two-shoes.

We wait for about half an hour before the others finally show up. "What did you find out?" Neji starts right off as soon as they get inside.

"Not much," Shikamaru sighs, taking a seat on an old bench. "They seemed to figure out we were following them pretty quickly. They didn't actually see us, but they were looking around and staying on guard. We figured they wouldn't go anywhere important like that, so we split."

The rest of us sigh. Then Lee speaks up thoughtfully. "Still, that does tell us one thing: they are almost definitely a gang."

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, all six of them stayed together the whole time. I can't imagine they all live together, so the only other reason I can think of for them moving in a group and being alert for pursuers is if they've got something to hide."

"It seems they have a great deal to hide."

We all turn to Shino, who has been working unnoticed on his laptop. "You mean you found something?!" I ask excitedly.

"Uchiha's got quite some history behind him. His gang, or more accurately the gang he is in, is known as the Sound Gang. They're infamous in Otogakure."

"Otogakure? Isn't that a few miles away?" Shikamaru interrupted.

"Yes."

"So what are they doing in Konoha?" Neji followed up.

"I don't know. This information is coming from police reports and secret government documents reporting deals and bribery with the Sound Gang. They're practically an accepted feature of life in Otogakure; they are the only gang there now, having wrested power from the others, and the police don't dare touch them."

"Okay, well, what about Uchiha?" I ask. Let's keep in mind what's important here.

"One moment..." We waited while Shino hit some more keys. Then he stopped and seemed to read something. His eyes widened (it's difficult to tell behind the glasses, but you learn how to read his expressions after a while. Sort of). Then he started typing really fast. I couldn't take it anymore. "What? What is it?!"

"Sasuke Uchiha..." Shino answered slowly, "used to live in Konoha."

We sat stunned for a while, and then I asked the question that was on everyone's mind: "What the hell?"

Okay, maybe just my mind.

"But he is about our age. If he used to live here, would we not have known him as kids?" Lee asked.

"Uchiha...that name sounds familiar, now that I think about it," Neji muttered.

"The Uchihas were one of the founding families of Konoha," Shino read out from whatever secret document he had found. Lee and I went and looked over his shoulder curiously; he was reading from an old newspaper article. "Together with the Senju clan, they formed the Fire Gang, a legend in the early days of Konoha. However, even after their truce, the Uchiha clan harbored resentment against the Senju because they had lesser status than the Senju; the Senju went into politics and got most of the power in the city, while the Uchihas became the basis of the police force. According to this, the Uchihas plotted rebellion, but they realized the damage that would cause to the city and left."

"They left?" I said skeptically. "All of them? What, they just decided they were wrong and went away quietly? Who the heck's gonna believe that?"

"Yes, it does seem suspicious. This," Shino moved to another document, "is a copy of an order given by one Danzo, chief of a rumored secret police force in Konoha, to eliminate the Uchiha clan."

"Eliminate? So they were all killed?" Shikamaru asked.

"I remember now," Neji said suddenly. "I heard my father talking about the sudden disappearance of one of the more powerful gangs in the city. It was a while ago; I was really young at the time. He must have meant the Uchihas."

"Wait, so if all these Uchiha guys were killed, how did Sasuke escape?" I asked, confused.

"I don't know. But there's something else: the leader of the Sound Gang is called Orochimaru. He is also formerly from Konoha."

"Whaaa?" I'm way confused now. Why did all these guys use to be from around here?

"So, perhaps they are here to try to expand their territory back into the town in which they once lived?" Lee suggested.

"I couldn't say. At this point, all we know is their identities. I can't guess at their purpose."

I grinned. "I know how we can find out." Everyone looked at me, surprised. I punched my fist in my hand. "We just have to go...ask them."

Lee and Shikamaru smiled. Neji shook his head, but he was smiling too. Shino adjusted his glasses. "After school tomorrow, then?"

We nodded. As we left the hideout, I couldn't stop grinning. Tomorrow I would get to beat the crap out of Uchiha properly. I've never looked forward to school more.

Next time: the Tanukis' meeting and beating the crap out of Uchiha!