Still alive, and to you glorious readers I give you a double chapter special!

Disclaimer: Nope.

"I felt my body burning, my very soul wrenching, as I saw the leaves burning, the flowers withering away from the heat and the soot and the ash. And then I ran, lest I share their fate."

Purge

Object in My Eyes

Knock, knock.

Sasuke opened the door to Naruto's hospital room to find the bandaged genin in an unusually serious conversation with the leader of Konoha. He didn't recall ever seeing that look on Naruto's face, one of thoughtfulness, seriousness, and simple urgency all wrapped up in one bow-tied package. And it looked like the Hokage was doing more listening than lecturing. Their moment was broken by the knock; Sarutobi turned to regard the young Uchiha with a careful eye.

"Why hello there, Sasuke-kun. Come to pay your teammate a visit?"

Sasuke nodded. "I came to discuss something with him. If you're busy, I can-"

"No, it's quite alright," the Sandaime spoke, cutting him off, "Naruto and I were just having a small conversation about a certain friend of ours."

"I do not mean to pry, but do I know this person?" Sasuke asked, intrigued.

"You will eventually."

With those peculiar words, Hiruzen stood and walked to the door. "I will see you two later."

"Bye, jii-jii!" Naruto shouted, waving his bandaged arm obnoxiously. Sasuke sighed, and went to the bedside seat. He dropped heavily into the chair and stared at Naruto with the patented Uchiha "tell me everything you know" look.

"Dobe, what were you two talking about?"

"I thought you said you didn't want to pry, teme," Naruto returned smugly, sending his words back at him.

"Hn."

"So what brings you to my humble abode, Sasuke-chan?"

"Don't call me that. And I came here to... ask for your help," Sasuke mentally slapped himself for saying those words. Good of the clan, good of the clan, good of the clan.

Silence, and then:

"Who are you, and what the fuck have you done with Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed. Again.

"I've done some soul-searching, and-"

"Oooooh, you mean you finally pulled that huge stick out of your ass?"

"You're really making this more complicated than it has to be," Sasuke ground out, seriously considering using the Goukakyuu on him.

"My apologies, anal-retentive-kun. Please continue."

"Like I was saying, I need your help."

Naruto snickered.

"Okay, you know what?" Sasuke took a moment to punch Naruto's left arm. Hard.

"OUUUUUUUUUCH!"

"Now, shut up and listen. I recently found out that the immortal founder of the Uchiha was the one to send the Kyuubi to attack Konoha." Now that got Naruto's attention.

"FUCK YOU, MADARA!"

Chill, Kyuubi.

"And in return, that's what got the Uchiha plotting the coup de etat and-"

"Wait, what?"

"I'll explain the details some other time. Like I was saying, that's what made them think about a coup and, in return, what made Itachi kill them all."

"So that's who you wanted to kill?"

"Dammit dobe, I said details later. Now that Itachi's dead and I know the truth-"

"I feel so left out of the loop right now."

"-I realized that Madara-" "MADARA!" "-was really the one that fucked my life over, not Itachi. And since he's so far ahead of me I figured I would ask people for help. You're just one of them," Sasuke finally concluded.

"So, let me get this straight. Madara ruined your life, too?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, pretty mu- what?"

Naruto realized his critical error too late, and paled. "Uh... nothing."

"Dobe."

Naruto sighed depressedly. "Promise you won't tell anyone. Jii-san told me I can tell people if I wanted to, but it's like an S-classed village secret."

"Uh... sure," Sasuke replied, quirking an eyebrow.

"Alright then, here it goes. I am the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko."

Sasuke looked at him blankly. "What's a Jinchuuriki?"

"Basically, I'm the container of the Kyuubi. The Yondaime didn't kill it, because bijuu can't be killed. He just sealed it in me. That's why the villagers shoot me glares and hate me and stuff, because they think I'm the Kyuubi incarnate."

Silence. Sasuke looked at him, a weird tint in his eyes. Naruto shuffled under the sheets nervously, waiting for the obvious rejection.

"Can I see it?"

"Er... what?"

"Can I see the Kyuubi?"

"Sure, I guess," Naruto replied awkwardly. He drew on the fox's chakra, then fixed his gaze on a point on the floor. Remembering what the Kyuubi told him, he imagined the shape the fox took on the bridge when they were fighting Zabuza. Slowly, surely, the vessel formed on the ground, taking the shape of a fox with nine tails. Naruto went into his mind and 'kicked' the Kyuubi's consciousness out of his mind and into the body.

Fully formed, the Kyuubi fell onto its side, and began twitching. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Teme, meet the Kyuubi. Most powerful of all the bijuu, yaddah yaddah."

"Why is he twitching?"

"Huh? Oh. You see, like you said, he was controlled by Madara-" "GAH!" "-to attack the village, and harbors a never-ending hatred for him. So saying his name once triggers a hateful response, but repeating it more than that sends him into a seizure. It's his one true weakness."

Naruto pulled back the sheets of his hospital bed, calmly got up, and walked over to the spazzing chakra fox. He then proceeded to violently kick it in the head until it stopped twitching. His job done, the blonde walked back to the bed and got back under the covers.

The Kyuubi, in the mean time, had recovered from his near heart attack and was calmly sitting on his haunches. He regarded his vessel with an evil eye.

"I'll eat you."

"You're welcome, fuzzy!"

The Kyuubi turned towards Sasuke next. "Greetings, Uchiha. I see you have never seen a bijuu before. Are you afraid?"

Sasuke sniffed indignantly. "No, not really." This thing was the feared Kyuubi no Yoko? Didn't seem so tough.

Another awkward silence enveloped the room. It bothered Naruto.

"So... yeah. Kyuubi, Sasuke. Sasuke, Kyuubi."

"Whatever."

"Hn."

Naruto sweatdropped. Why had he just tried to introduce two of the most antisocial people in the world?

"Well, I can see how much time this wasted. Excuse me while I go sleep," the fox snarked, promptly dissipating.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was looking incredibly broody. "So, I assume by 'helping' you, I'm supposed to get stronger with you. How can I do that when I'm in the hospital?"

"Well, aren't you the impatient one," Sasuke replied, "We're not going after him now. I'm thinking... ten years? I think that's enough time."

"You mean if you don't get killed before then?" Naruto jabbed.

Sasuke 'pfft'ed. "If anyone's gonna die first, it's gonna be you."

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

Their bickering was conveniently interrupted by the opening of the door. Kakashi and Sakura walked in, the latter's hair noticeably shorter.

"Sakura-chan!" a cry rang out, "What happened to your beautiful hair!"

She shrugged apathetically, further horrifying the blonde. "It got in the way. Hello, Sasuke-kun," she added.

Sasuke nearly had a conniption. Where was the excessive hugging? What happened to the banshee cries? The molesting of his arm? The excessive hugging?

Kami does care... he thought dreamily, staring up to the ceiling.

"I'd hate to interrupt this wonderful bonding moment," Kakashi spoke up, his eye-smile in place, "but I've got some great news!"

The team listened eagerly, Naruto already imagining the heaping amounts of ram-

"I've judged you all worthy to enter the Chuunin Exams!"

Naruto's dream disappeared in an instant, and he was left with a certain feeling of longing. In moments, though, it was replaced by elation.

"Woohoo!"

Kakashi gave him an eye-smile. He had expected that reaction.

"Now," he continued, "the exam is in two months. The jounin haven't even convened for recommendations yet, but in light of Naruto's... predicament, I thought it would be worth telling you three in advance. That being said, while our favorite blonde is recovering," he turned towards Sasuke and Sakura, who had taken up position next two her sitting teammate, "we will be working on chakra control. Naruto, I'll see if I can dig something up for you that doesn't focus on your arms, so you can practice while you recover. Once we're all fit for duty again, we'll start learning some jutsu and do some more teamwork exercises. Sound good?"

A trio of nods was his answer. "Good. I'm going to go visit Yoshirou-san quickly. Naruto, get better. The sooner you're out of here, the sooner we can start the full training."

"Hai, sensei!"

"Hn. I might as well go with you, I guess. I've finished paying my respects anyway."

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

"Alright, alright. Let's go, Sasuke," Kakashi interrupted. The two exited the room after giving waves – or in Sasuke's case, a barely noticeable nod – to the room's other occupants.

As the door closed behind them, the room fell into a tense, awkward silence. Naruto didn't really know what to talk about, and Sakura's staring was bothering him a little. Of course, he was happy she was even looking in his direction, but still! It was weird!

"Er, Sakura-ch-"

His voice was cut off when she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. The air left his lungs, but for a very different reason. Where had this come from?

"You're such an idiot!" she spoke thickly. The hug lasted for only a couple of seconds before she returned to his side, sitting in Sasuke's vacated seat. Naruto just looked at her in confusion.

"I was so worried," she continued, clenching her fists on her knees. Her eyes were screwed shut. "You were lying there in your own blood, Naruto! Why the hell would you do something like that? And all I could do stand there and look at you; I had seriously thought you were dead. I mean, we may not have gotten along that well in the past, but I don't want you to die! I didn't know what to do – what if you couldn't breathe? What if you couldn't be a shinobi anymore? What if-"

"Sakura-chan!"

His voice brought her back from her rambling, and it was only then that she noticed the liquid fogging her eyes. She wiped her face quickly; now wasn't the time for tears. She met his eyes for the first time since she started speaking. He was looking at her with a small smile on his face. His eyes were bright, if a tad confused.

She sighed and collected herself. "I'm going to change, Naruto. That's my promise to you. I've found out what I want to do with myself. After I leave, I'm going to go find a shinobi doctor and ask him or her to teach me medical ninjutsu. If that doesn't work, I'm going to head to the library and find all the scrolls I can on the subject. I won't slow either of you down – you or Sasuke."

She had been walked towards the door as she spoke, and was reaching for the door. Naruto was still reeling a little from the changes that had overcome both of his teammates. He had half a mind to let her go, seeing as the conversation was pretty much over. But the other half of his mind told him to call out to her one last time.

"Sakura-chan."

She paused, but didn't turn around.

"You look really good with short hair."

She left the room, keeping her back to him so he didn't see her smile.