A Voice in My Head

By I.K.A. Valian

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Fateful Encounter

"Hey, Sakura-chan!"

"Go away, Naruto!" Sakura turned around after dealing her righteous justice upon the blond idiot's head just as Sasuke disappeared around the corner of a building. Losing sight of him didn't mean much in the long run. She had the five different routes he took home memorized. Nevertheless, her ire was sparked and so she turned back to the blond to revisit upon him righteous fury. "Na-ru-to!"

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, cowering with his hands above his head. The idiot was really pathetic looking like that. For half of a second, she contemplated just ignoring Naruto and rushing to catch up with her target. But then she'd have to deal with this anger inside of her and she might accidentally let off some of that steam around Sasuke, which would just ruin her image. So it was decided, best vent on Naruto first.

"Cha! Why does this idiot keep getting in our way?! Make him pay!"

"You're going to pay for making me lose Sasuke-kun, Naruto," Sakura said, her voice disturbingly calm and quiet in comparison to the loud cracking her knuckles made when she popped them. Naruto blanched and then bolted. That only made the anger inside of her grow louder.

"He's getting away! When we catch him, we're going to kick his ass! Shannaro!"

Sakura roared out her battle cry as she gave chase to the orange blur. The chase that followed came to be known as the Haruno Run among the ANBU watching over the event. It would be noted as remarkable by the Hokage when told how far and fast Uzumaki ran as well as how often and how close Haruno came to catching him. Most notable was that both were still academy students, as several chunin expressed doubt they were capable of the Haruno Run when they were told about it.

It became a warning to shinobi of the village. Never underestimate the power of an enraged kunoichi. Ever.

Thirty Minutes Earlier

"Hey, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata turned from the door to the class room when she heard her name called out to her. A red blush instantly washed over her and she diverted her gaze from the blond heading toward her. She quietly continued to stand that way as an awkward silence fell between them. The memories of the night before only made Hinata blush more. She wished she could disappear right at that moment.

Finally, Naruto said, "I was wondering… would you be able to help me train today? In the park where we met yesterday?"

"I…" Hinata glanced at Naruto and saw him earnestly looking at her, clearly hoping she would say yes. But she was weak and any help training from her would only hold him back. It would be better if he didn't bother. "I'm s-sorry, but… I-I don't th-think it w-would work out. S-sorry." If only she were stronger, like Naruto… but that was a dream that would never be.

"Eh? Why not?!" The surprise in his voice was evident to Hinata. He was so good and saw only the best in everyone, even if it wasn't really there. It was part of what she liked about him.

"B-because… I'm w-weak," she said. The last part she bit out, almost spat out. The tremor in her voice wasn't from embarrassment at that point, but bitterness and self-loathing. "I-I would o-only b-be holding y-you back."

"What?! That's stupid!" Naruto said, quite loudly. If the classroom weren't empty, she would have been mortified from the amount of scrutiny the exclamation would have brought upon them. Naruto, she knew, would have no trouble with it, but she wasn't that strong. Naruto continue on, heedless of her roiling emotions. "You're really strong Hinata-chan. Yesterday, when I walked up to you, you moved so fast and hit me so hard that my eye swelled up. I didn't even see the blow coming. If that doesn't mean you're strong, then I don't know what does."

"N-no, really..." she tried to protest, though her voice was feeble through the effort. "I'm not."

"No way!" Naruto said. "You are strong! Believe it! You just got to believe in yourself! I know I do! Meet me at the park in a bit, okay?"

Before she could respond in any decent manner, Naruto had rushed out of the class room to who knows where. But even if Naruto had stayed, she likely wouldn't have been able to respond fast enough. It took her nearly twenty minutes before she realized she'd been standing still for that long and that she needed to get to that park. The entire time since Naruto left, one thought was continually running through her head.

"Naruto believes in me!"

Eight minutes, Forty-five seconds Before the First Haruno Run

"Oi! Shino-san!"

He stopped in the street. He'd been on his way home, on the same route he always took. It was the most efficient way to return to the Aburame Clan compound from the academy and it generally avoided large crowds. This meant his presence in the road was not as intrusive and he wouldn't get in the way of anyone going about, in all likelihood, business more important to the welfare of Konoha than his journey home.

Someone calling out to him was most certainly not normal. In fact, it was very rare outside of his clan. Most villagers were wary of the Aburame and the insects they carried and cultivated within their bodies. Most ninja as well. He knew very few people outside of the clan and very few desired to know him. This worked out well for him, since it meant that he wasn't being intrusive into the workings of Konoha. Intrusions into any colony of his insects always turned out bad and he had no desire to become such a thing for the village.

Slowly, Shino turned and fixed his eyes on the orange wearing boy running toward him, waving, and shouting his name. Shino quickly recognized Naruto as the loud, boisterous, ineffectual dead last ranked student from his class. If there was ever anyone who was an intrusion into the colony that was Konoha, it was Naruto. That said, he had noticed on a few occasions that the villagers held something of a bit of contempt for the boy that didn't seem to stem from the numerous pranks Naruto had carried out. And on top of that, Naruto had consciously not squished one of his beetles that crawled past him. It showed a modicum of mercy for a creature so much weaker than him, a move that, if nothing else, proved Naruto wasn't as bad as his reputation made him out to be. It was a mystery to follow up on later. For now, he had to deal with the intrusion into his own pattern that Naruto was making.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Shino said as Naruto came to a stop before him.

"Hey, Shino, I was wondering if you could help me become a better ninja?"

Shino raised an eyebrow. It was hard to tell what an Aburame was thinking, since almost all of the clan wore sunglasses and a large coat all the time. That Naruto was able to tell he was confused spoke well of his observational skills. Or it could be Naruto was just explaining more on his own. Either way, Naruto continued speaking.

"Ever since that fight with Sasuke, I realized that I got a lot of work to do if I ever want to become Hokage. I can't ask any of the teachers cause they are all busy and the Hokage's got that disease or something he calls paperwork." Naruto let out a single bark of laughter and crossed his arms in front of him. "I have no idea what that disease is but I'm not gonna get it. But I have to become Hokage first. So, can you?"

The request was puzzling. Naruto wanted help becoming stronger, but the teachers were too busy to help? That didn't sound correct because he had asked for assistance on more than one occasion and had received it after classes. And why even bring up the Hokage being busy with paperwork. This just added more things to the list of questions about Naruto.

"Why are you coming to me for help?" Shino asked. "Logically, Uchiha Sasuke is the strongest student in the class, and thus, would make a better training partner."

Naruto's face twisted into a scowl. "Sasuke's a bastard who doesn't care about anyone but himself. He'd just go 'Hnn' and walk away or call me a loser or something." Naruto made a fairly accurate impression of Sasuke sulking and walking away a short distance. Finally, Naruto shook his head and said, "He wouldn't help me."

"Am I to assume then, that out of all the others in the class, you approached me because I would be the most likely to assist you?"

"Oh, it's not just you, I'm just asked Hinata-chan and next I'm going to ask Sakura-chan," Naruto said, bouncing on his feet. Then his eyes widened. "Oh crap, I almost forgot about Sakura. Meet me at the park where that stream meets the tree. Bye."

Shino watched Naruto run off, presumably to find Sakura. He frowned. He had witnessed the interaction of Naruto and Sakura in class before and the results were always negative for the boy in question. Naruto would endlessly ask Sakura for a date or something else, sometimes even minor things, and Sakura would respond with disproportionate violence.

Shino stood on the road for several minutes as he contemplated Naruto's request. He wasn't required to be back home so soon and his parents had requested that he make bonds of friendship with others his age. It had been a most difficult task so far, but perhaps this was the opportunity he needed. And the chance to pick Naruto apart with more exposure sounded appealing as well.

His mind decided, Shino changed destination for the park and set off. If nothing else, this would give him an excuse to visit one of his favorite places in Konoha outside of the clan compound. There were lots of nice and quiet places in the park where he could commune with the insects in the area. It promised to be calming and peaceful should Naruto not show up, and illuminating if he did. A win-win scenario if there ever was one.

Midway through the Haruno Run

"Holy shit! You almost hit me, Sakura-chan!"

"I'm going to do more than hit you, Uzumaki Naruto!" Sakura screeched back. Naruto cried out a little in terror as he ducked underneath the outstretched arms of a baker holding several loaves of bread without breaking stride. Sakura, somehow, slipped around behind the baker and took a flying leap at Naruto with her leg extended for an ax kick.

Naruto screamed and jumped, just barely avoiding having his ass literally kicked by Sakura into the ground. Clear of danger for the moment, Naruto kicked off of the wall he'd jumped toward and flipped in mid-air as he came down on the roof. He didn't even take time to breath in relief and bolted. Just moments later, Sakura was also on the roof and chasing Naruto once more.

"I don't know what you've done to piss her off this badly today, but seeing as how she's following you, why not lead her to the meeting place."

"Hey! That's a good idea!" Naruto leaped off the edge of the roof and landed on a slanted overhang. He slid down the overhang, bounced off of the top melon in a cart full of melons, and landed on the street. There he spun around and shouted, "Sakura-chan! Can't catch me!"

"I am so going to kick your ass, Uzumaki!" Sakura shouted as she leaped from the roof. Once she was on the road she sprinted at Naruto. Naruto waited until she was just barely close enough to hit him before he bolted toward the park. "Damn it! Stay still!"

Naruto laughed as he ran down the street. He ignored the looks he was getting. They were not important right now anyway. Instead he focused on avoiding carts, people, and animals as he quickly moved through the crowded streets. Sakura, somehow, was right behind him.

"Just wait till I get my hands on you, Uzumaki!" Sakura shouted. She nearly collided with a woman holding a bag of groceries, but managed to spin out of the way and somehow continuing to keep up with Naruto. "I lost Sasuke-kun and now you're going to pay!"

"Shit," Naruto gasped as he narrowly dodged another flying kick aimed at his head.

"Well… It's not like you can say she's not effective when she's motivated."

"Now is seriously not the time to be pointing these things out!" Naruto yelped the last word when Sakura finally managed to trip Naruto, though she overshot her follow through jump. The short pause gave Naruto the time to scramble back to his feet and dash down an alley way with Sakura, now recovered, right on his heels.

The two emerged in a heated sprint toward the now visible park. Naruto slowly started to edge ahead as he poured on the speed. Sakura, though, was undeterred and continue to chase Naruto, while screaming and spitting like a raging demon.

"Just five more seconds, then you can stop. If the other two are here, then they'll likely come to your aid, or at least, watch you get your ass kicked."

Naruto didn't respond. Instead he skid to a stop, kicking up a cloud of dust next to the stream running through the park next to the woods, and spun around. Sakura shouted gleefully as she flew through the air to bury her fist into Naruto's face.

And then Naruto side stepped.

Sakura's scream turned from jubilant to terrified. That was quickly cut off when she landed with a big splash in the stream. It wasn't really that deep, maybe a foot, but the effect was instantaneous.

"Yeah… that wasn't what I had in mind. You realize that you've just made things worse for yourself, right?"

"Hey, Sakura-chan, I wanted to ask you a question," Naruto said as Sakura slowly picked herself up and stood in the middle of the stream. She was soaking wet and her hair hung off her head in clumps instead of smooth and silky like normal. In Naruto's honest opinion, the wet, bedraggled look only made her cuter, but the completely pissed off grimace was totally uncute… maybe. No, the more he looked at her, the cuter her angry-face became. "Can you help me train?"

"Remember what I said. The way to get to Sakura is through Sasuke. You may not like it, but if you really want to become strong enough to protect her, then you'll just have to bite the bullet and manipulate her. Besides, in the long run, it might work out for you since you'll get to spend more time with her."

"You are dead, Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura rasped. If Naruto didn't know better, he'd have sworn her eyes were glowing red and sparks were shooting out of them. If looks could kill, he'd be a pile of orange ash right about now. "I don't know what in your pathetic mind made you think I'd help you of all peop-"

"Sasuke," Naruto said.

"W-what?" The rage slowly drained from Sakura's face, replaced by confusion and regular anger. An improvement over the demonic anger, for sure. "What does Sasuke have to do with this?!"

"I assume that Uzumaki-san is saying that if Sasuke notices that the Dead Last ranking student of the class suddenly improves, that he'll ask how it's possible." Both Sakura and Naruto turned to see Shino standing a short distance away. Hinata stood behind him, looking sad almost to the point of tears, despite the blush on her cheeks. Addressing Naruto, Shino asked, "Is that not correct, Uzumaki-san?"

"Uhh… Yeah! That's exactly right!" Naruto nodded. "I need to get stronger so I can become Hokage. And none of the teachers in the academy want to help me. Iruka-sensei is always busy grading stuff, except when he's taking me out to ramen. But I followed him back to the academy after we ate once and saw he had to stay even later than normal just to get all the grading done. And Old Man Hokage has some sickness called paperwork, which doesn't let him get out much. There's no one that can help, so I wanted to ask you guys to help."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata mumbled.

"You idiot!" Sakura said. She'd since stomped out of the stream and started wringing out her long pink hair. "Why the hell can't you just wait until you graduate? It's only three months away!"

"Because I can't-"

"Naruto! Don't shout. Shouting makes you sound unreasonable and immature. They might not accept your request that way. Speak calmly and evenly."

Naruto took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It almost felt like all the frustration in him slowly left with the air in his lungs. Then he calmly said, "I can't graduate if I can't perform the three basic jutsu or pass the written and physical test. I already tried twice and I always have trouble on the clone jutsu. I just can't make it work, no matter how hard I try, or how long I go at it, it just never come out right. So I thought, maybe I can get some of my classmates who can do the clone jutsu to help me since no one else will."

Naruto looked back and forth between the three in front of him. Sakura looked annoyed with her arms crossed, though the whole image was undone by how bedraggled and rumpled she looked all damp from her romp in the stream. Okay, she definitely looked quite cute that way. Shino looked… non committal, or at least, as much as Shino looked like he was feeling anything. Hinata was blushing and had her hand in front of her face, so it was hard to see what she was thinking.

Finally, Sakura sighed. "Look, I don't get why you can't just ask one of the teachers to help. It's not like they can't put aside their work to help people after class lets out. Heck, I've done that a whole lot of times and they always are willing to help out."

"N-not for N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said before Naruto say anything. "T-they always t-tell him n-no. O-only Iruka-s-sensei does, and o-only sometimes."

"That can't be right," Sakura said, frowning. "There's no way that can be right."

"I must confess to having similar feelings to Haruno-san," Shino said. "I have asked for assistance outside of class from any number of teachers before and have freely received it. That they would not extend the same to Naruto does not conform to my own experiences, and apparently, not to Haruno-san's as well. Uzumaki-san, do all of the teachers truly refuse to assist you?"

"I…" Naruto paused. Then he nodded and said, "Yes. Just Iruka-sensei helps, but not all the time. He's busy, so it's not like he can help it. But that's why I asked you guys to help me."

"That's another thing, Naruto," Sakura said. "Why us? What makes you think we can help you, or should help you? As far as I can see, there's nothing in this for us. And that future promise of help with Sasuke-kun sounds kind of flimsy if you ask me."

"It's because you're super smart, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. "Hinata's really strong and fast and Shino-san is pretty cool and knows a lot too. And plus, you wouldn't just be helping me. Cause I'd be helping you too!"

"There is nothing you can give me that I'd want, Naruto," Sakura said.

"I tricked you into chasing me through Konoha to this meeting spot and dumped you into a stream without breaking a sweat," Naruto said. He grinned cheekily at Sakura, who flushed red and then glared at him. "I'd say that's something you could learn, no?"

"I'm still going to kick your ass for that, Naruto!" Sakura growled.

"Considering that Uzumaki-san is the Dead Last rank of the class, and he was capable of doing as he did to Haruno-san, then there is a high probability that he is hiding his true abilities in class," Shino said. "I know this because if he were truly the Dead Last, then he would not have been able to do such things as lead the top Kunoichi in the class on a chase and then trick her into falling into a stream. Based on this information, I believe it is logical to assume that Uzumaki-san has some strengths that he can use to barter skills with the three of us."

"N-Naruto-kun is s-stronger than h-he l-looks."

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she studied Naruto. Naruto nervously swallowed under the piercing gaze of the girl he considered the prettiest. Finally, Sakura snorted loudly and grumbled under her breath.

"I do believe that you have succeeded, Naruto."

"So…" Naruto looked between his three classmates, maybe friends. "Does this mean… that you'll help me?"

"I must admit, your offer and the display of your skills have piqued my curiosity," Shino said. "I will assist in what way I am capable."

"I-I don't kn-know how I'll h-help, b-but I will t-try."

"Grr… If you so much as ask for one date, this is off! And I swear, if Sasuke doesn't look at me once before we graduate then I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born." Sakura finished her threat off with a glare of promised pain and torture before a long and drawn out death. Death, if she was feeling merciful enough to grant it.

Naruto swallowed loudly and grinned. Then that grin widened as he realized that they'd all accepted. "Awesome! Thank you for your help! You have my word that I'll help you get stronger too. And I never go back on my word!"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata mumbled, turning away as her whole face and neck flushed red.

Shino tilted his head, but otherwise did not show any reaction.

Sakura huffed loudly and crossed her arms in front of her.

"We should all go get ramen to celebrate the formation of Team Awesome!" Naruto crowed.

"No dates!" Sakura shouted, pounding Naruto on top of the head. And then she swung her foot and punted the orange clad boy into the stream. "That's for before, idiot!"

Splash! "Blurblblbl-Sakura-chaaan!"

Ten minutes later…

Sakura was talked into going to the ramen stand anyway, despite her desire not to. The only reason she agreed to go was because Naruto insisted that they were all going, and it wasn't a date. It was only because Shino and Hinata were there that she was convinced that Naruto wasn't trying to trick her again.

At the ramen stand, things only got worse. It smelled absolutely divine. Being on a diet, she had been starving herself, so she was already hungry. The chase to catch Naruto earlier in the day had only served to make her even hungrier.

Now she was sitting next to her three… teammates? Whatever! They were each eating a bowl of ramen; Naruto had four and was now on his fifth. Sakura was the only one not eating, politely refusing when the chef offered. It was torture of the worst kind.

Each slurp grated on her nerves. Every hum of contentment made her yearn for the same. It was like a yawning, bottomless pit had opened up in her stomach and was eating the rest of her body, but also demanding more. If this didn't end soon, she was going to lose her mind and scream.

"Sakura-san?" Sakura turned to Hinata. She was looking at her with a concerned look. Great, now even Hinata was concerned about her. "Are y-you alright? Y-you look ill."

"N-no," Sakura said. She smiled and waved Hinata's concern away with a light laugh. "I'm fine. I'm just finding my diet harder to uphold than I thought I would. Nothing to worry about."

"A diet is the sum total of what a person or animal eats," Shino said. "Many call not eating, or light eating, a diet when it is in fact self-imposed starvation. Such an act can stunt growth, weaken the body through muscle degeneration, and the mind through delirium. If you are truly that hungry, Haruno-san, I suggest you eat something."

"B-but I can't!" Sakura shouted. "I'll get fat! Huge, like a balloon! Then Sasuke-kun would never look at me; I wouldn't want him to look at me. I'd be hideous."

"Um… Sakura-san," Hinata said. "I th-think the ef-ffects of s-starvation are j-just as b-bad as eating t-too much."

"B-but!"

"She's right, you know." The three turned to Ayame, who was just putting down Naruto's sixth bowl. He happily dug in, somehow oblivious to everything around him. "I once went on a diet and not only did I not lose weight, when I ended the diet, I put on even more weight. It turned out I had gone about it all wrong. The ninja doctor at the hospital told me that I should have increased my metabolism instead of decreasing my calorie intake. Basically, he told me I should have exercised more and that as long as I did, I could eat as much as I normally did."

"Really?" Sakura asked. She was in awe. This kind of info wasn't in any of the books or magazines she'd read about dieting.

"Yeah," Ayame said. "Turns out those silly magazines I'd read were written by idiots who only cared about making money from selling the story and diet pills."

Sakura blinked once. Then, just as Naruto's seventh bowl was set down in front of him by Teuchi, it vanished. Naruto let out an intelligent grunt, looked about for his bowl, and then found it. Empty. In front of Sakura.

"Can I have another one, please," Sakura said demurely as she patted her mouth with a napkin.

Shino was pleasantly surprised, and quite satisfied, by the events that had transpired over the past few hours. Now that he was finished with the day's activities and was just entering his clan's compound, he finally had the time to contemplate everything that had happened.

He had made quite a few comrades today. He wouldn't go so far as to call them friends. Even he knew that a bond of friendship would take longer to form, but today was a good start. He'd also made headway on the mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto.

The boy was indeed not the monster that everyone in the village appeared to view him as. In fact, from his own observations, the young blond seemed to be doing everything in his power to get anyone to pay attention to him. Even if that attention was the result of a prank. This revelation, along with the fact that no one outside of the Hokage and one teacher, Umino Iruka, wanted to spend any time around the boy, only raised many more questions.

Why does Uzumaki Naruto know the Hokage well enough to know how busy he is? Why don't the teachers wish to assist him? Why exactly do the villagers view Naruto like they do? Why does Naruto ignore those looks, which Shino had observed readily enough while walking with the blond enigma, and instead put on a mask of happiness? Surely, Naruto wasn't blind to the looks or the cold emotion behind them.

None of these things made any logical sense and it only drove Shino to figure it out all the more. So wrapped up in his thoughts was he, that Shino barely stopped before he walked into someone. He looked up and found his father standing in front of him.

"Father."

"Shino." His father tilted his head as he looked back the way Shino had walked. They were both standing on the front porch of their house. "You arrived approximately five hours later than your regular arrival time. Your delay might have been caused by harm to your person, however I observe that your colonies are at peak capacity and you are physically unharmed. My conclusion, you were distracted by an event that was of greater importance than arriving home. This event must have been of personal nature otherwise I would have been informed of an event larger than that due to my rank and status. My conclusion, you are late because you were in the company of others."

"You are correct father," Shino said. He bowed a little. "Your logic is impeccable."

"Indeed, however, I also have one of my beetles upon your person at all times," Shibi said. He held up a finger as said beetle buzzed and flitted about before it landed on the outstretched digit. "He just told me everything."

Shino choked a little on his surprise. Of course, he knew that his father had a tracking insect upon him. He had one on his parents too. And now Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata had tracking insects on their person as well. What surprised him was that his father had concluded his activity based on two lines of inquiry at the same time, within seconds of his arrival. He'd not thought of that approach before and did not think he would be capable of such quick minded logical deduction at this point in his life. His father was truly a capable shinobi.

"Come," Shibi said. There was a noticeable tone of satisfaction laced into his voice. "Your mother would undoubtedly desire to learn of your new friends."

Shino silently followed his equally stoic father into their home. In his mind, he contemplated how he could go about applying this new information gathering technique to the problems that were confronting him now. Specifically, the problem of Uzumaki Naruto.

Hinata settled under the covers on her bed and closed her eyes. Arriving back at the Hyuuga clan compound was as underwhelming as it always was. The whole place was just a little too quiet and everyone stared or avoided staring at her a little too conspicuously. Her father had, thankfully, not inquired as to her whereabouts and had allowed her to retire for the evening.

And she needed her sleep. Tomorrow was a free day from the academy and "Team Awesome" was going to be doing their first training exercises. She really, really doubted her abilities, but… Naruto believed in her. He really, truly did. So, she was going to try her hardest not to disappoint him. Even if deep down in the depths of her heart, she knew that she'd inevitably fail.

Sakura, so very full and so very happy, slumped into her bed and drifted away on clouds of fancy almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Naruto couldn't help but grin as he lay in bed, waiting for sleep to take him. The plan had actually worked. And he'd come up with it on his own too! This day would go down in history as the most awesome day ever!

"Now comes the hard part. Actually keeping your promise is going to be more difficult than just saying you can do it. You've only got three months and two weeks left before you graduate."

"I know that!" Naruto scowled. Leave it to the voice in his head to pour cold water on his parade. "I know what I'm doing! I just gotta get really strong. It can't be that hard."

"…"

"Can it?"

"You're starting on a path that contains many pitfalls. Rule two says I can't tell you what you don't already know, but I think you can at least sense that this road is going to be easier to say you'll follow than to actually walk it. And it isn't just you that has to get stronger now. You've effectively tied your new friends to your own destiny and now they must grow stronger faster too. Fortunately, there are more of you now."

"Wait… what? What do you mean they have to get super strong now? I thought only I was going to be that strong! How is it a good thing if there are more of us? Before it was just me getting stronger, but now we all do? That doesn't seem fair!"

"Don't be so selfish. A Hokage is only as strong as the people he leads. If you only want to get stronger by yourself, then you'll never get very strong at all. The only way to become stronger faster, to become super strong, like I told you before, is if others help you. You don't live in a vacuum. And by getting help from others, you in turn must help them become stronger too. It's not just physical strength I'm talking about here."

"Wait…" Naruto yawned. All this thinking was hurting his head. "Why isn't it just physical strength? I train to become super strong and then I beat up all the bad guys. Isn't that what I've been doing the entire time I've been in the academy?"

"Do you really think being a ninja means that you run around beating people up? If so, then you don't want to be a ninja, but a common thug who robs people and kills for fun."

"What!?" Naruto nearly jumped out of his bed. "I would never rob anyone or kill for fun! I'm not a monster! I'm not!"

"That's good, because I wouldn't have been assigned to help you if you were. You want to become a ninja of Konohagakure. A ninja is not someone who runs around and beats people up. A ninja is more than a fighter. A ninja is a warrior who fights for his village and protects those precious to him. But he uses his fists and his head to do it."

"Oh yeah! Like the Fourth Hokage! He saved the village by killing the demon fox!" Naruto's exuberance burst forth in a wide grin. "So that means he's an awesome ninja! The best ever!"

"The Fourth Hokage was known for being extremely intelligent. He used his head in that fight, not just his ability to fight the demon. From your memories, I see that the Fourth Hokage isn't the only one. The First and Second both did the same thing."

"They did?"

"You should have paid attention in class more. You may not remember it while you're awake, but your subconscious seems to have recorded it. Iruka talked about it on the fifth day of classes in your first year. Anyway, I have no doubt that any ninja who becomes Hokage got there not because they could beat people up, or because they were super strong, but because they were the best at protecting people with their power. They used their knowledge to apply power where it was most needed. Super strong people who only go around beating people up don't have that knowledge. When you're a ninja, knowledge is power. Remember that."

"Then… Then…" Naruto yawned again. "Then I gotta get super strong so that I can protect everyone! And smart too! And then I will… Protect everyone. With my own two hands, I'll… protect… everyone."

"Sleep well, young Uzumaki. For a Kage's strength is two-fold. His own power and the power of those that serve him. There's a lot of work to do."

A/N: Already, Naruto's pool of friends grows. But how will he make them stronger alongside himself? Find out next chapter!

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~I.K.A. Valian