Naruto Uzumaki and the Dark Path of Shinobi Chapter 8: Reconciliation, a Harry Potter + Naruto Crossover fanfic

"Blah" : Talking

'Blah': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'Blah' : Thoughts

'Blah' : Harry talking to Naruto

Hey, everyone! We're back! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!

(Now I shall impersonate that voice from ABC Family) And now, an exclusive, new chapter of Naruto Uzumaki and the Dark Path of Shinobi!

Azeroth44: STOP IMPERSONATING COOLER VOICE'S! (Punch)

Kvsyaoran: OW! Okay then, on with the show. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to beat the hell out of my friend here. Enjoy! Get over here, Azeroth44!

(The sounds of multiple screams and punches are heard while Naruto watches, eating popcorn.)

Naruto: I got twenty bucks on Kvsyaoran!

Harry: (Comes in and sits down, eating Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans) I call the same amount, but on Azeroth44!

Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,

Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,

Chapter 8: Reconciliation

Naruto was sitting down upon the same exact chair in the Council Court Chamber he had sat in before his life was thrown completely out of balance . There sat the condescending and curious faces of the people that stood up high above him. The old and evil face of Danzo, paralyzing him to his seat by just starring at him with his lone eye. Danzo's eye had opened and then turned as red as Sharingan. Naruto became frozen to the point where he could no longer move his own eyes. He couldn't move until he felt a harsh and familiar, cold-skinned hand grasp his shoulder. Naruto expected to see a normal-looking Sasuke Uchiha sitting down in his own chair and laughing evilly as he did back in the Council Court Chamber. But when Sasuke forcibly turned Naruto to face him, he was met with a terrifying sight. Sasuke had somehow merged the frightening characteristics of both his demonic curse mark form and his normal form, and created a fusion combination of both faces to create a new, vampiric appearance.

Naruto gaped and blanched at Sasuke's appearance and fell down to the hardwood floor and sprawled away from an advancing Sasuke until he hit his head against the from of the giant desk where Danzo was sitting. He remained still while Sasuke slowly got up from his seat and Naruto took in the appearance of his clothing. He wore an elegant and sleek black-colored Uchiha nobleman outfit, similar to what the old Uchiha heads used to wear. Given his clothes and hideous appearance, Sasuke had turned into a monster fit into a dangerous, cold, and pale humanoid form.

Blood began to drip down from Sasuke's lips as he opened his mouth and appeared right in front of Naruto in the flash of a second and with the sound of a sharp whistle. Naruto then felt the cold, steel blade of a kunai press against the nape of his neck and then it quickly cut the nape and blood began to seep out in a warm stream. Naruto looked up to see that Danzo was the one who had cut him and the teen quickly grasped at his opened nape and pressed down against it with all his might. The ugly old man had not cut the jugular but still he cut in deep enough to cause enough damage to get Sasuke excited. Naruto felt his hand become grasped by Sasuke's cold and clawed hand and he fiercely removed Naruto's hand from his now healed-up neck.

Sasuke's face had now fully turned into his level-two form, his skin now grey, his hair now long, grey, and wild. Fangs protruding and fingernails turned into claws made of glass. Sasuke grasped Naruto's paling neck and dug his nails deep. In response to this, Naruto protested and kicked Sasuke in the gonads. The demon yelped in pain before Naruto reached out to scratch his face and punched every layer of demon skin on Sasuke's face so as to reach his real flesh and attack Sasuke until there was nothing left of his former friend. As Sasuke dug his fingers in deeper into Naruto's neck, the blonde yelled at the top of his lungs and kicked him square in the chest, throwing him all the way to the center of the chamber. Naruto whipped out his wand and created magical restraints that prevented Sasuke from getting back up. There Naruto forced his face still and then started punching every single perfect detail of Sasuke's pretentious face.

"TAKE THIS, YOU TWO-FACED BASTARD!"

Sasuke began to yell and scream in pain as his face quickly reverted back into it's normal form. Once his face was restored, it was instantly robbed of it's beauty and paleness and turned into a disfigured mass of blood and bruised tissue. All the while, Naruto yelled and roared in fury as his fists dug themselves deep into Sasuke's face. Again and again Naruto punched at every part of Sasuke until he awoke himself after he accidentally punched the base of his bed in a recoil.

Naruto yelped in pain and started caressing his newly bruised hand. He tend to it carefully and watched as the bruise upon his knuckles began to dissolve and turn into newly created skin. Once the pain had passed, Naruto went back to sleep, still seeing the nighttime sky just outside his window slowly turn into a dark shade of grey.

The early morning on this particular day started out a light drizzly. The skies were an even darker shade of grey clouds than the day before. The chances of there being a rain or thunder storm today were very likely. Naruto slept as much as he could for the remainder of the night; before he had gone home to his flat, he had played at his favorite music emporium downtown. Hiroki's Music Emporium was one of the few places Naruto would go to whenever he needed to calm his nerves and find some serenity. Whenever he walked in and played the piano, he felt totally at peace. The soothing melodies he created helped him to relax and ready himself for sleep, like a self-conducted lullaby. No one else knew about Naruto's musical talents at all. Except for Iruka, Anko, Harry, the Ichiraku's, the two Sannin, Shizune, and the late Hayate Gekko.

It would be one secret he would keep to himself, until he wanted other people to know about it.

Naruto slept last night without a single pleasant dream coming to mind, unless you would count the sequences of him beating the ever-loving crap out of Sasuke Uchiha. At least it was better than having to wake up screaming in the middle of the night from nightmares of being tied burned to a post and executed publicly. He got up very early that morning, dressed up in his new casual clothes, and Disapparated from his apartment, only to reappear down to the street of Iruka's residence. He wanted to get there early, so he could walk with him to the gates where he would be meeting the teammates Sarutobi had given him.

Just when Naruto was about to knock on his door, Iruka had just opened it. He was geared up and ready to fulfill his mission, he was also wearing a protective a shinobi-style traveling cloak. Probably because of the weather.

Iruka looked happy to see his baby brother come to see him off, and ruffled his hair playfully and said, "Mornin', buddy!"

Naruto laughed a little bit when he buried his face into Iruka's lower chest. Once they separated, Naruto walked close by Iruka once they made their way down the street, helping him with anything he could carry before Iruka would seal it away in a storage scroll. The two brotherly companions walked together side by side, not saying that much to each other and instead simply enjoying one another's company

Naruto and Iruka stopped before the gates, where Iruka's hand-picked teammates were already waiting for him. Iruka kneeled down to Naruto's level and gave him a big hug. Naruto tried taking in as much as he could out of this encounter, afraid that he wouldn't get enough time to hold him off until Iruka would return.

Naruto felt pretty scared by now. Iruka was the person Naruto would go to frequently for help this past month. Without Iruka around, he would have no one else to go to when something was bothering him. It was childish, yes. Like a child crying over their mother for leaving to go to work or something. Only, Naruto didn't whine or cry, knowing Iruka felt the same way as he did, to a degree at least.

The rain began to pour down heavier, causing Naruto to shiver in the cold.

Iruka whispered to him, "Don't be scared, Naruto. Okay...? I'll be back soon. I promise I'll come back in one piece... I just need you to be strong for me here, okay...?"

Naruto nodded reluctantly, but agreed nonetheless.

"Iruka! Mission! We gotta go!" called Genma from the gate.

Iruka irritably yelled back, "I'M COMING! Jeez!"

Iruka smiled back at Naruto and embraced him once more, and pecked the top of his blonde head.

"I-I'll try my best, Iruka-aniki..." he tried to smile back.

Iruka stood up and packed away his scrolls, turning to his teammates. Reluctant to leave Naruto behind in the village, he wondered if this was what Kakashi mildly felt when he left Naruto behind all those months ago. Tossing the thought aside, he vanished with his team to fulfill their mission.

The rain now poured down so hard and fast that Naruto couldn't even see Iruka run off in the distance. He vanished into the wall of water, as apposed to seeing him until he was too far to be seen, what with his bad vision and the weather in the way. Naruto stayed behind where he stood, tears rolling down his face in the rain, as he touched the spot on his head where Iruka pecked him.

Things would only be worse without Iruka here to cheer him up.

Naruto walked around the village, while it was still a little bit empty. The rain continued to pour down on him mercilessly, but he didn't care if he got wet, right now. He didn't have his iPod with him and he had dried clothes waiting for him at home just in case. He had his frog wallet with him, though, he thought it best to buy a few things. Like an umbrella, another travel cloak maybe (seeing as the last one he last purchased has a powerful Disillusionment Charm placed on it), or something to eat this morning instead of old and dried-out bread.

He first decided to walk off the fact that Iruka was gone. He walked through the park for a bit, where the trees were so thick, they provided him with some relief from the downpour. He sat down on a bench that was still dry and rested his head into his hands, trying to relax. He let out a stressful sob while he buried his face from the rest of the world and the constant downpour. But while he protected his face from the fresh air, raindrops continuously seeped in between his fingers and kept wetting up his nearly whisker mark-less face.

'Harry...' he thought with a failing voice.

Harry asked, 'Naruto...?'

The boy asked him in a voice of desperation, 'Why is this so hard...? Why can't I control how I feel anymore...?'

Harry focused his magical powers to make it feel as if he were hugging Naruto in the real world. To him, it felt as if Harry were sitting right down beside him relieving him of his inner turmoil for just a few blissful moments.

The problem with Naruto was that Harry's comfort wasn't always enough for him. He needed real people to confide in the real world. To Naruto, Harry could never truly be substantial to him. He helped with him emotionally at times, but it wasn't always enough. He needed someone who wasn't in his head to reach out to him. And that's what was so difficult for him, he hardly ever saw the other genin, and now Iruka was gone for the time being. Jiraiya was now being called on missions by Sarutobi, and Tsunade and Shizune were too busy saving lives at the hospital to be there for their favorite blonde. Sakura was non-supportive and cruel to him, while Kakashi was none the wiser.

To him, he was completely and utterly alone again.

Naruto returned home to get a shower and change his clothes. Thankfully, he bought a small umbrella on his way back to keep a little more dry. So that way, he would not develop pneumonia or anything, for even a Jinchuuriki can catch illnesses like any ordinary mortal. Naruto quickly showered and redressed into dryer clothes and found his protective traveling cloak to wear for today. He left his iPod behind and pocketed his wand before heading out without breakfast. He would have to restock on food and soap tomorrow or later tonight, depending on the number of onlookers there would be at the market.

He exited his apartment and locked his door with a tap of his wand. But before he could leave his hallway, Naruto was confronted by three older teenage males. He knew these three people, these were the guys that have picked on Naruto for years. Ever since he was about four, these guys would trip him, push him around, and beat the ever-loving crap out of him on several notable occasions for the past nine years. The last time they ever tried to harm or bother the young wizard was when they tried to kill him with a homemade garbage wrecking ball downtown during the Chunin Exams last year.

The leader of the pack walked up and stood in front of Naruto with a crowbar in his hands and an evil smile on his greasy, pimple-covered face.

"Hey, freak! What's up?" asked the leader casually.

Naruto had taken enough crap from these guys to last a lifetime. Now it was time for payback. Naruto reached into his jacket and grasped hold of his wand and whipped it out in a threatening matter.

"Screw off, now! Or you'll regret it!" Naruto yelled at them, holding his wand at the ready.

The leader of the gang slicked back his black and greasy hair, splattering some disgusting oil out of the wooden floor and cracked the knuckles of his left hand.

He announced, "Come on guys, lets make quick fun of this. LET'S ROCK AND RO-!"

Approximately thirty seconds later, Naruto emerged from his apartment building looking very happy, satisfied, and completely unscratched. Before he pulled the large hood of his cloak over his head, he wiped a large smear of blood from his cheek and cleaned his face over with some falling rain before he pocketed his wand again and departed to his team's mission for the day.

Naruto's temporary happiness was cut short as he approached his team's usual meeting place. This time, he decided to arrive on time, which would mean that Sakura would be appearing momentarily. When Naruto gt there, he frowned once he realized that she was already there, waiting for him and Kakashi to arrive. Sakura turned to his direction and scowled at him before smirking and getting ready to torment or insult her teammate before Kakashi showed up.

"Well, look who it is! The village pariah...!" she called, "Still being your same freakish self, huh?"

Naruto glanced to his side underneath his hood and glared at Sakura with a hidden scowl. To she wore a rain cloak similar to his own, only it was colored bubblegum-pink and had a bright-red stripe design bordering the cape's edge.

"G'morning, Pinky. So you want an enemy to spot you easier today?" Naruto said quietly with his arms crossed beneath his cloak.

Sakura growled at him, irritated at being referred to as Pinky, "What did you say, Uzumaki?"

"You're a real idiot to be wearing a pink rain-cloak if you're going on a mission. Do you want the enemy to kill you?" he dared to ask.

"Are you threatening me, baka?" Sakura rebuked.

Naruto answered, "No. You're the baka, for wearing inappropriate clothing on a mission. Didn't you learn that in the Academy? The enemy will spot you easier with bright colors." Naruto retorted reasonably.

Sakura looked exasperatingly insulted, but then laughed, "What? You honestly think those filthy Suna shinobi out there are going to-"

"-Sunagakure is on our side, dipshit. Before you open your mouth and start blabbering like an old cat woman, get your facts straight. You insufferable know-it-all." Naruto interrupted smartly,

Harry laughed, 'Hahahaha! Nice one, Naruto! Right out of Snape's old book!'

Upon hearing his brother's voice laughing in his ears, Naruto smiled for one of the first times in so many months. For ever since that time of evaluation and testing went on, Naruto found it harder and harder to smile genuinely again. Sakura would've gone on to start another one of her infamous and inflammatory rants of hatred and harsh criticism, but then Kakashi arrived, surprisingly on-time. He had jumped from one of the buildings out in the distance all the way to the tip-top of the same red bridge arch he jumped on top of every day they left for a mission for the past year, ever since Team 7 had been first formed. He hunched on top of the middle of the arch and lazily waved to his two remaining students.

"Well, isn't it rainy today!" Kakashi called down to his students, wearing his own hooded raincoat, only it was forest-green in color and hid him away very well should the opportunity to hide come.

Naruto's previous victory smile vanished beneath an unfriendly frown, for he was finally winning a fight against Sakura, until Kakashi interrupted his moment so inconveniently. Naruto took a mental note to get used to these kind of

"WHAT THE HELL? Kakashi-sensei is on time for once! What's the occasion?" Sakura asked, clearly surprised.

Kakashi leapt down from the top of the tall archway and landed in front of his students gracefully, "Hmmm? I guess I just felt like showing up on time today."

"Well, that's a first." Naruto grumbled to himself quietly.

Kakashi heard the harshness in Naruto's tone when he said that but gave his eye-smile anyway, "I have good news, today..."

Naruto thought, 'Let me guess, one-night stand? Wouldn't be surprised if he got syphilis or something...'

'Naruto Ignotus Uzumaki! You watch your mouth.' Harry scolded Naruto.

"The doppler-radar today promised cleared skies by this afternoon. Which means we won't have to wear these all day," he pointed at his own weather cloak, "And we're guaranteed a perfect night sky on the night of the full moon, which is tonight. Isn't that a perfect way to start off the summer?" Kakashi smiled encouragingly.

Naruto spoke no opinion, while Sakura sighed whimsically, "I bet Sasuke-kun and I would have sat beneath the full-moon's light if he were here with us..."

Naruto rolled his eyes while she went on to her fantasy world, "It would be the most romantic thing imaginable... Kissing beneath the star light and sipping imitation wine out from champagne glasses..." she sighed again, earning rolled eyes from Kakashi and Naruto shooting himself in the head with an imaginary pistol as if he were Kim Pine.

"Romantic, Sakura? Are you kidding me?" Naruto patronized unexpectedly, "Sasuke has absolutely no idea of romance. Given the fact that he knocked you out you, when he left. He's just some chauvinist pig , who fell in love with his cousin."

Sakura looked contorted with rage, "He was not some chauvinist pig!" she shrieked, causing Kakashi to stick his fingers in his ears to soften the noise.

Naruto said smartly in a matter-of-fact tone, "But, I bet he was in love with his cousin."

"Back to reality, Sakura." Kakashi called for her attention, "Today's mission is another D-Rank mission. We will be walking a local dog breeders hounds and prized bull dogs. And we are expected to walk them to near-exhaustion and then wash them clean and properly according to his exact instructions, since they're bound to get wet from walking them in the rain."

Sakura rudely interrupted, "I'm not washing some pack filthy mutts! Why can't their owner take care of them himself?"

Kakashi looked at Sakura and said flatly, "The poor man broke both his legs."

"Oh... Alright." Sakura surrendered.

Kakashi beckoned, "Anyway, we should be going. Let's go then."

Kakashi led the parade, while Sakura followed with her head hung at thinking of cleaning up after dogs while her male counterpart sighed heavily and followed in tow. Both he and Harry dreading the possibility of hearing Sakura's high-pitched, ear-splitting, blood-chortling screams.

Team 7's mission went pretty well, that rainy day. Kakashi was already extremely good with dogs, so walking them on a leash was only so easy for him. It was so easy, in fact, that it was boring for him. He would have thought it best if the dogs he handled didn't have a leash and followed him. But their client was very precise and demanded the leashes to be worn by his dogs at all times.

Naruto did pretty well with the dogs that he walked that day. Unlike the last time they took care of dogs for mission. None of the larger dogs overpowered Naruto in strength or dragged him to a place he didn't wanted to go. They listened to Naruto obediently enough to have a pleasing walk. The last time he had to do this on a mission, it took him more than half of the entire duration of the mission to finally grasp a firm hold over his dog.

The same could not be said about Sakura. She had chosen to walk and clean after the smaller hounds, thinking they would be easier to handle. But they dragged her off the beaten track more than a few times, and they went to do their business more than any of the other dogs combined.

What was worse, was that Sakura had to stop to pick up after them so many times, she ran out of doggie bags and had to resort to using her own weapons pouch. Much to her disdainful disgust for dog-mess. She had squealed and shrieked loudly in disgust almost the entire three-bloody-hour-long walk.

While Naruto and Kakashi were walking at a steady pace up ahead, Kakashi tried planning on how he would confront Naruto and end this pointless conflict between them. He remembered Iruka's words from the previous night, so he had to be careful not to butter Naruto up with random compliments or empty conversations that wouldn't go anywhere. He had to end this feud, and he had to plan it carefully.

Soon, Team 7 finished their walk, after taking an extra hour waiting for Sakura to catch up with them continuously. They soon got to work with cleaning and washing the dogs according to their clients expectations.

Kakashi did the best work, cleaning each dog he walked, thoroughly and playfully. Naruto was only just behind him, having no problem washing the dogs himself, for they didn't struggle or hassle with Naruto. But then of course, Naruto slabbed one or two Confundus Charms under his sleeves so as to make the job a little bit easier for him. Sakura refused to clean her share of dogs unless she were to be wearing latex gloves. The unnecessary complaint forced the dogs' owner threatened to fire the team, unless Sakura would just suck it up and get her job done and over with.

Having no other choice in the matter, she disgustingly gave in and washed her share of dogs in all the dirty places. And I do mean ALL of the places.

By the time Team 7 was finished cleaning their client's hounds, it was already the late afternoon. They received their pay of 50,000 ryo, and left outside to discover that Kakashi's earlier prediction about the weather was correct.

The clouds had cleared up to reveal a bright and overwhelming orange sunlit sky. More beautiful and cloudless than the day before.

Naruto, having been locked and locked himself away in the dark because of all the unwanted and overly-terrorizing attention, he was not as used to being out in the light. Especially with a light as warm and bright as the one he was now presented before. With having been separated by light for so long, he felt as if he were a vampire, having been thrown out of his coffin and into the harsh and unforgiving sun to burn into a pile of ashes. Although it did not actually burn or harm him in any way, the blonde teen still felt as if he were thrown into his one and only weakness or something. He recoiled and squinted as orange rays obscured his vision and burned his eyes a little.

With the sun's powerful rays falling down upon them, the entirety of Team 7 removed their cloaks and soaked in the contagious and warm orange light. Once his eyes adjusted to the almost harsh heat and intensity, Naruto also started to slowly removed his own cloak and let his slightly paled skin begin to absorb a healthy and much-needed dosage of Vitamin D. Naruto's let the rays of sun kiss any and all exposed skin on his body and face as he smiled internally while the heat spread from his skin and sank into the rest of his body. He hadn't felt so warm and comfortable out in the open in such a long time. But then his relief was prematurely ended when Sakura looked over to see her teammate almost delight in the warmth and almost look satisfied or even happy. Sakura felt very insulted and displeased by this gesture from her teammate. So to make herself happier from this supposedly harsh day of hers, Sakura grasped her cloak tightly and whipped it, resulting in Naruto getting hit by all her cloak's entrapped water.

Naruto was struck by a blast of harsh, cold water as if it were a heavy bar of metal hitting him at over a hundred and fifty miles per hour. The warmth and any hope that almost brought about a true smile upon Naruto's joy-depraved face had been swiped away by a girl that was more of a witch than he ever was. And Naruto could actually perform magic. With cold water dripping down his hair, clothing, and nose, he glared at Sakura with one of the sharpest looking eyes that had appeared on his face in a long time. The only time his eyes looked more dangerous and frightening being when he faced off with Sasuke and tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra with excess. At seeing her smirk at him and giggle to herself, Naruto had gotten so angry at Sakura, that the water on his head instantly turned into steam, due to magical influence. Hot, boiling rage bubbling in Naruto's insides more than when he ever overheated a potion. It took almost every little fibber in his being and Harry restraining him magically to not to lash out and wail on the pink-haired banshee. Naruto wanted nothing more than to whip out his wand and throw a nasty jinx that would undoubtedly disfigure Sakura's nearly-flawless, pretty face beyond repair.

Sakura was fully aware of what she did and smirked and giggled to herself evilly until Naruto started glaring at her. Meanwhile, Kakashi was too busy admiring the beautiful weather to realize what had happened.

Kakashi turned around and announced, "Alright you guys, unfortunately our mission today dragged on for a bit too long, like yesterday. So I guess that this was our only job for the day, and this is where we shall part ways."

Sakura looked relived and anxious to leave, because every time she glanced over at Naruto, he would shot death-glare after death-glare at her. He timed it perfectly, sensing everytime Sakura would glance over at him, Naruto would throw a glare at her, making it look as if Naruto hadn't even averted his gaze. Right now, she wanted nothing more in the world (apart from being together with Sasuke) than to just get up and run straight for home and call one of her new friends.

Kakashi continued, "But I also have some interesting news!"

Naruto stopped his occasional glares of death and turned along with Sakura to look up at their tall sensei, both of them curious as to what he had to announce to them.

"I have talked to the other jounin last night and together, we have decided to start a new training and mission program. In which, once or twice a week, Team's 8, 10, Team Guy, and our own team will meet and train together. Seeing as you guys need to have more interaction with your age-mates. You guys seemed to have worked better when you were all together during and after the Chunin Exams last year."

Naruto looked a little anxious about the idea. He still hadn't seen or made any contact with any of his friends since the hospital incident. And he didn't know what they thought of him and his somewhat-recently discovered powers. Sakura looked pretty uninterested, still being passionately disdainful at Ino for betraying her and taking Naruto's side to defend him from her. And she was absolutely livid at Hinata for besting her in front of everyone else. Besides, she had been meeting other girls that she knew from school and that had recently graduated from the Academy. She would rather hang out or cooperate with them over any of the other rookie genin. Sakura crossed her arms and tried to resist the temptation to look over at Naruto. While Naruto himself remained solemnly quiet and to himself.

Sensing the tension amongst his students, Kakashi sweat-dropped, "But, uh, we'll talk about this next time we meet, kay?"

Feeling awkward enough as he did, Kakashi coughed and pulled out his Icha-Icha Paradise, just trying to appear nonchalant as usual, "I guess we should talk about this Monday, okay? Enjoy your Saturday and Sunday off, you guys."

Sakura immediately ran away for home so she could plan on what to do for when she would have to re-encounter her old classmates. She also ran away so as to gain as much distance possible away from Naruto. Naruto simply watched as Sakura ran away from him so cowardly and scowled at the shrinking sight of her long, bubblegum-pink hair (A/N: Sakura never cut her hair during the Chunin Exams). He frowned and furrowed his eyebrows even deeper once she had vanished and joined the safety of the crowds of villagers out in the streets that Naruto would hardly dare to walk down again by himself. Kakashi soon put away his Icha-Icha Paradise back in his weapons pouch and sighed deeply before recollecting himself. Naruto noticed Kakashi's movements and immediately realized that he had stayed here alone with his sensei for way too long. Still feeling he could kill someone with the rage that Sakura helped bring out, Naruto ran through the three D's and focused on summoning his magical power to get out of here.

Kakashi suddenly spoke out, "Naruto, we have to talk-"

Suddenly, Kakashi was interrupted by a loud crack in the air. He had looked up just in time to see Naruto's physical figure become suddenly sucked up into a tiny fixated spot no bigger than the point of a ball-point pen. Naruto whisked out of existence and appeared somewhere else, far away from his sensei or anybody else for that matter. Naruto had Disapparated away before Kakashi even had a chance to talk to him.

Kakashi sighed sadly, "This is not going to be easy..."

Naruto reappeared at Training Ground Three, where the Memorial Stone was held. And he ran up to one of the three wood posts, the one where Sakura sat in front of when Team 7 was officially formed. He quickly imagined seeing Sakura tied onto the post as she deserved to be back when they originally took the bell-test and ran over to it, with chakra blazing invisibly in his clenched fists. Naruto then punched it ferociously, over and over again with his bare hands. He tried imagining if the part of the post was Sakura's face, as he tried to vent out his frustration and anger towards her. He continuously punched at it, causing his knuckles to start bruising darkly. He didn't stop for a solid ten minutes, just punching at the post infuriatingly.

Eventually, Naruto slumped down to the ground and tried to calm himself down, taking slowly paced breaths as Harry started instructed him, 'Breath... Breath, Little one... Calm down...'

"I hate her, Harry! THERE! I said it! I HATE HER!" he suddenly yelled out, confessing how he now truly felt about his only remaining teammate.

Naruto forced himself to pass out and re-enter Harry's chamber. Sitting down at the bed in Harry's room, Harry hugged Naruto as he buried his face into his robes. Harry rubbed Naruto's back and patted him on his head.

"It's okay to admit it now. I was afraid you'd never give up your feelings for her." Harry said with both pity and satisfaction in his voice.

Naruto said into Harry's chest, "A month and a half did the trick, I guess."

Harry sighed.

Naruto had tried not to give into hating Sakura, for he still held strong feelings for her. Even after he humiliated him in front of everyone else. Since then, Harry had tried to convince Naruto to just let her go and forget about her. He fulfilled his promise to her, bringing Sasuke back, so what did he owe her?

Nothing.

She did not return any kind feelings back to him, no matter how nice Naruto was to her. As time went on this past month, Naruto steadily grew more and more impatient and irritable towards her. But at long last, he now gave in and changed his feeling of love for her, into feelings of mutual disdain and resentment. She was now the Pansy Parkinson of Naruto's life.

Harry stopped soothing Naruto and forced him to face him and thankfully Naruto had no waterworks activated from his confession.

Harry smiled and said, "I think it wise to rush and restock on those groceries you need. Wouldn't you think?" Harry asked, to change the subject.

Naruto looked up to Harry and slowly nodded his head, "Yeah... But after that, could I make one more stop before turning in?"

Knowing exactly what Naruto meant, Harry smiled and closed his eyes before saying, "Yes."

About 3 Hours Later... At around 9 o'clock

Kakashi finally finished filing his mission report to the Hokage as quickly and neatly as he could manage. He soon bid the busy old man farewell and left to search for Naruto, wherever he may be. He decided that it had to be done tonight. Kakashi had to talk to him tonight. No excuses and no second thoughts about anything. If he didn't talk to him now, and reconcile after what had happened between them, then Naruto would forever remain out of his reach and remain in the exact same darkness Kakashi plundered into after his father had committed suicide. Kakashi would rather die than have to watch Naruto become what he once was.

He started his search at Ichiraku's where Naruto would commonly be seen. But no Naruto to be found. He asked Teuchi and Ayame if they had seen him anywhere, both of them said that he hadn't come in for ramen since last night. Kakashi thanked them nonetheless and set off for his next location, any location that meant to some significance to Naruto.

He checked Training Ground Three, and didn't see him anywhere near it. His next stop was the Ninja Academy, where he search the playgrounds, the old swing set, and even Iruka's former classroom and office. But he found no sign or scent of him. He even resorted to summoning one of his trusted and loyal nin-kin to search out and track down Naruto's scent, in case he couldn't find him on his own, just to make sure Naruto was not in any trouble or danger.

The final place he had left to look was the blonde's apartment. He soon Shushined to the apartment building and walked up the wood and metal stairs, noting how much more resorted the old apartment building was beginning to look. It seemed that the landlord, Toshi, started earning money by charging local onlookers the chance to get to see the famous wizard of the village. He must have decided to put the money in repairing and restoring the entire building, making it stand out more and look more up-to-date with the rest of the village. Kakashi soon climbed up the stairs and turned to the hallway where Naruto's room was on the top floor and saw something he was NOT expecting to see;

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MISTER! GET US DOWN FROM HERE!"

Kakashi's eyes became as round as saucers, including his Sharingan eye. Because there were three local, greasy-haired teenagers hanging upside down from their ankles by some invisible force right outside of Naruto's door that had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. All three of their faces were purple and red, after being held upside down for God knew how long. One of them had appeared to have already passed out with blood drooping out from his mouth and nose while the other two somehow managed to hold out and remain conscious to yell for Kakashi's help.

"Say, did a boy named Naruto do this to you guys?" Kakashi asked flatly.

"YES!" the leader yelled.

Kakashi asked sternly, "Why?"

"WE WERE GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA HIM, 'CAUSE WE WERE BORED! WE HAVEN'T SEEN HIM SINCE THIS MORNING!" one of the goons confessed, wishing nothing more than to get down.

Kakashi looked uninterested in helping them and turned around and started walking away, "Right. See ya!"

Kakashi waved them goodbye, ignoring their calls of, "BUT WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR NINE HOURS!" and he went and jogged on.

Upon exiting the building, Kakashi quickly summoned Pakkun and ordered him to cancel his search for Naruto to get the Hokage to undo the jinx on those three delinquent boys. Incidentally, Sarutobi was the only person in the entire village that was powerful enough to reverse a jinx Naruto did, only using powerful chakra techniques to channel out magical effects. Once sure that Pakkun would fulfill his mission to the Hokage, Kakashi walked on to search for Naruto himself.

Kakashi's options to Naruto's location had quickly run dry after the next half-hour. He searched every place he thought possible, he even searched the music emporium, and yet failed to find him.

Feeling defeated and depressed, Kakashi started taking a walk around town. Thinking of anywhere else he could think to find him and what he would end up saying to Naruto. He walked down the brightly lit streets of Konoha, his Icha-Icha Paradise tucked away into his back pouch. He wasn't in any mood to read up on his dirty book.

The passing footsteps and voices of fellow shinobi and civilians drifted past him as if they didn't even exist. The bright lights of the town cast no light upon the man, as he walked down the streets in a perpetual shadow. How he wished to be free of this familiar looming isolation. The same loneliness he dreaded to have again since the moment Minato-sensei had died, thirteen years ago.

But then he heard something, that caused him to stop in his tracks. What was interesting was that no one else had apparently heard what he heard. He heard a familiar voice singing. A lone, young male voice that was barely audible unless you had the acute sense of hearing as Kakashi had. A few people had heard of this supposed urban legend, called Konoha's Singer of the Night. Where on several occasional nights, a soft, lone voice could be heard across the village. Many civilians didn't believe the tale, for many people didn't/couldn't hear the voice, without the heighten senses that shinobi have.

Several shinobi, who believed the tale was real, could hear the voice fairly well. Most people would be irritated to hear a voice singing in the middle of the night, but no one ever stood up to yell the voice to shut up. Not once. The voice was so enchanting to the ears it fell upon, those who heard had no will to yell at it or stop it.

Kakashi first heard this voice almost six years ago. He was still in the ANBU at the time, and his life was still very difficult for him. He remembered how miserable he felt everyday since Minato-sensei and Rin had perished. Since then, he constantly left the village on missions to either hunt down a criminal or assassinate some weak-willed traitor to the village. All of his assignments, he carried out without hesitation nor mercy. All in an attempt to vent out the pain of losing those whom he considered and loved as his family. He would return to his lonely apartment, collapse onto his bed, and free himself of the nightmare of being the nightmare for somebody else.

He was so utterly alone.

Until one fateful night, when he retired to his bed and stared at his picture of Team Minato, was when he heard it for the first time. He heard the faint sound of a young child's voice singing a song that was completely unfamiliar. The lyrics echoed across the village with the even fainter sound of an orchestra following the playful voice.

Double, double toil and trouble,

Fire burn and cauldron bubble,

Double, double toil and trouble,

Something wicked this way comes

(A/N: The child singing, you already know who it is, but this isn't intended to be creepy. It's just a little kid singing to have fun)

This caused Kakashi to rise from his bed and gravitate towards the source of the song.

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting

Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing

Kakashi left his apartment and set out to find the source of the singing and hear it more clearly. Since that night, everytime he would hear the Singer, he would set out and try to find whoever it was.

But in all of the times he tried to find them, he had failed miserably. But it also gave him hope of some kind. Hope that maybe things would one day become right and happy again.

And as the years passed, the songs began change and mature. They turned from playful tunes, to more complicated songs that had a variety of feelings and sounds. Some were sad, happy, or even exciting and meaningful. The persons voice also grew deeper and more mature-sounding while the songs changed as well.

Kakashi now heard this mystery voice for the first time in several years, but now, whoever it was, now sung a different song than the others that came before:

I dreamed I was missing

You were so scared,

But no one would listen

Cause no one else cared,

Kakashi wasn't really sure why he wanted to set out to find the voice once again, when he should have been thinking about how to reconnect his bond with Naruto.

But something about the voice this time, reeled him in like a fish on a hook. He broke off from the street and into an alleyway nearby. He leaped up and ricocheted off the walls to get to the rooftops, and broke away from the noisy streets of the city and tried to get a better view over the whole village in the hopes of finding the siren easier. Kakashi closed his eyes and focused on searching for the source of the voice, using sound alone.

After my dreaming

I woke with this fear,

What am I leaving

When I'm done here,

Kakashi soon opened his eye and scanned his lone eye across the whole village, gazing upon every tall tower and building around him. Just like he did in the many of his past searches.

So if you're asking me

I want you to know,

He ended his search, looking towards the Hokage Monument. He then closed his eyes after he gazed up into the face of his deceased mentor and sighed and laughed to himself while slapping his hand to his head.

"At long last, I have found you..."

Naruto leaned against the railing of the newly installed viewing platform atop the Yondiame Hokage's head. He was still pretty upset when he found out upon his return to the village with Shizune, Jiraiya, and Tsunade about the construction done to the treasured monument. It was made so the village could attract more publicity and earn more money by creating a safe viewing platform for civilians and tourists to look down upon the entire village. The village needed any and all financial needs to restore it to it's former glory that Orochimaru and his failed invasion left behind.

(A/N: Oh my god! I just David Yates-ed my own setting! It's the Half-Blood Prince Lightning-Struck Tower all over again! LOL!)

But now, when Naruto looked over the whole thing, the platform really wasn't as bad or damaging as he originally thought. It was actually a very pleasing and pleasant change, there was even a water fountain installed into the center of each platform built on top of each of the four Hokage's. As the years would pass by and a new Hokage face was added to the mountain, another platform could be constructed along with another water fountain to boot. Naruto could help but giggle at the idea of his future face being carved out on the mountain and a water fall installed on top of his head. He couldn't help but laugh internally at the idea of that happening when he became Hokage.

The view itself, being up so high above the ground, was now much more safe with this construction done. If one wished to witness the truly beautiful view of the village from this point, they could do it without the risk of falling. Naruto looked down at the village and sighed sadly before he continued to sing handsomely as the cool wind brushed his messy hair out of his closed eyes,

When my time comes

Forget the wrong that I've done

Help me leave behind some

Reasons to be missed

If there was one thing Harry and the few others knew about Naruto, was that he loved to sing. He didn't do it that often, but when he did, he was amazing at it.

He first discovered his talent and passion for music, when Hayate Gekko introduced him to rock n' roll when he took care of him during his toddler years. And then again when Harry would try humming to Naruto, and help him fall asleep if he ever had any nightmares. One day, when Naruto was no older than seven years old, Harry created a spell that could enhance the user's voice, making the voice sound more beautiful, it even created a sound of background music that sounded like a full and live orchestra when the user sang.

And don't resent me

And when you're feeling empty

Keep me in your memory

With this currently unnamed spell, Harry would sing the Hogwarts School Anthem to Naruto, and would let him sing along until he grew tired and fell asleep. It also gave Naruto a taste of the real Wizarding World he wouldn't be able to experience.

Leave out all the rest

Eventually, this led Harry into a greater interest into the musical arts and began studying orchestra and the benefits of magical orchestra. While his little brother discovered a newborn talent and passion for music and singing. He would sing, with the help of that spell, to vent out his emotions, just as he was right now, atop the Yondiame's head. While Naruto sang this particular song, he couldn't help but think of his team right now. Only he wondered how he would ever manage to endure any more of this agonizing bull crap they put him through. Everyday, Sakura had been insulting him non-stop, and would compare him to Sasuke on almost every subject matter, when it came most appropriate to mention.

'Sasuke-kun can could pull out those weeds better than you are, Naruto-baka!' or 'You're doing it wrong, loser! Sasuke-kun is more swift!'

It was always Sasuke-kun this and Sasuke-kun that. Naruto was honestly about to explode with irritance one of these days.

This was the problem when it came to Sakura. Harry never approved, nor did he ever like Sakura from the moment Naruto first met her at the Ninja Academy. Harry knew who her parents were and how they treated Naruto. Sakura was always self-centered and obnoxiously rude to Naruto then and now to this day. Harry assumed Naruto only liked her for her pretty pink hair and intelligence, but Naruto never took her personality into account to back up her looks and talent.

After everything that had happened since they became partners, Naruto still stuck close behind her despite her faults. He defended her, complimented her, and even cared for her when she was troubled or worried. And then she rejected him in front of all those people at the hospital. Naruto from that point on, slowly but very surely began to hate Sakura while the months passed by and he began to unveil how ugly of a person she truly was. He soon felt uncomfortable and even threatened for even being nearby her in the same place. He didn't need all of the crap she threw at him now like some ape, all of the constant remarks and the destructive criticism was just hurting him.

Forgetting

All the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well

It wasn't hard for Naruto to quickly sum up his feelings for her now. After she humiliated him and rejected him after all this time, causing him to spiral into this whirlpool of depression. Now she holds nothing but blind contempt and hatred for him, and Naruto now hated her back almost just as much.

Pretending

Someone else can come and save me from myself

I can't be who you are

Letting her go was difficult for awhile, but soon his new resolve for her now was not arguable to him.

When my time comes

Forget the wrong that I've done

Help me leave behind some

Reasons to be missed

Kakashi on the other hand was a little bit different for Naruto to deal with.

He kept asking himself, how could he just relax and pretend that everything is alright after Sasuke betrayed them? Naruto couldn't stand seeing Kakashi now. How he would give his usual eye-smile and act like the Chunin Exam or the court hearing didn't happen. Naruto didn't care if ever hurt Kakashi by ditching him on his offers or ignore Kakashi like he did now. That man had left Naruto behind without even telling him that he was going to leave to train Sasuke for an entire month. Naruto found out about that detail soon after he was arranged to meet with Jiraiya, thanks to Anko and Hayate.

After he convinced the Sannin into training him, he sought to find Sasuke and get Jiraiya to teach them both. But after searching for both Sasuke and Kakashi for almost twelve hours, fearing something had happened to them, he found out at breakfast the next morning from Anko Mitarashi, that Kakashi had completely blown Naruto off and abandoned him to train Sasuke instead for the Final Rounds of the Chunin Exams.

Don't resent me

And when you're feeling empty

Keep me in your memory

Naruto felt broken and hurt after he had trusted Kakashi like he did and then have that trust be stomped and spat on by him.

It was because Naruto was a frequent victim of abandonment throughout his entire life, he really began to hate Kakashi for always favoring Sasuke. Kakashi could have all the time in the world for Sasuke and yet not a single second to talk to Naruto, let alone teach him. Naruto had to resort to turning to Iruka, Hayate, or even Anko once or twice along the road.

Leave out all the rest

It didn't stop there, Naruto had to deal with the death of his friend Hayate without Kakashi even knowing his connection to him. He even denied that Naruto had any relations with Hayate just so that he could drag him along to be thrown off to the side again like a lifeless doll. Kakashi was never there for him after the battle against his new friend Gaara and wasn't there after Hayate had died. With Kakashi being an insensitive bastard to Naruto, he found going to Jiraiya for training an extremely easy decision for him. Naruto had decided to not tell Kakashi of this arrangement and have him know how it felt from his end to be left behind with worry over your teammate. Naruto also thought that going to Jiraiya and becoming more powerful than Sasuke, he could then rub it in Kakashi's face when he returned with Tsunade and say, 'I did all that, WITHOUT YOUR HELP!' and in a way, fully get back at Kakashi for hurting his feelings and ditching him after all that had happened after and during the Chunin Exams.

Forgetting

All the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well

But he didn't really get exactly what he wanted from the whole experience. Instead, he formed a pretty damn strong bond with Jiraiya in the time they had spent on the run from village to village. All of it starting when Jiraiya saved Naruto's life from a dementor attack. He could never forget how Jiraiya would check up on him and truly worry about Naruto's well-being and how they started to have fun while they traveled to search for Tsunade while also training to learn the Rasengan. He now saw Jiraiya as the mentor that he always wanted, a person whom he could enjoy being in the presence of while also working his butt off to please. Unlike Kakashi, he was actually reliable for most of the time and together they had several wacky adventures. One of them including an incident at an opium den.

Pretending

Someone else can come and save me from myself

Naruto never got an exciting adventure or epic battles with Kakashi, he only got ignored and thought of as less important when it came to Sasuke. Nowadays, Kakashi acts as if nothing had even happened. He even ignored the fact that Naruto had almost died as the result of him training Sasuke exclusively in the first place. And the fact that his secret having now been made known to the country, and to extension, probably the whole world by now. Naruto's life was now crumbling before his very eyes, and Kakashi was standing behind Naruto with a smile on his face.

I can't be who you are

'How could he do that to me? Leave and not care who he hurts in the process?' Naruto thought to himself painfully.

I can't be who you are

Kakashi landed noiselessly in at the end of the smooth and highly polished white stone steps of the viewing platform. He made his way silently towards the end of the platform, careful not to disturb Naruto while he sang. He steadily made his presence known to him after he was sure he had finished and reapplied the sound of his natural steps. Kakashi saw as Naruto slumped down to lean on the railing and looked down at the glowing city beneath him, determinedly ignoring Kakashi who sat down on the bench nearby Naruto and looked at him calmly and with a smile on his masked face. Naruto shivered slightly when a particularly cold breeze swept over him.

Kakashi said, "I never imagined that Konoha's Siren was you, Naruto... Then again, I shouldn't be so surprised with what I found out about you from that meeting so long ago..."

Naruto remained silent and unmoving.

"...I... really have unfairly underestimated you, Naruto... But how about we just forget about the past and move on with our lives...? Go back to the way things were before... What do you say?" Kakashi started reasoning.

Naruto said nothing back to him.

"Naruto," Kakashi beckoned out to his student, "please, stop doing this."

Naruto dared to question, "Why the bloody hell should I?"

Kakashi sighed and said, "... Naruto, I understand that you're still mad at me, but I don't see why you should keep holding this grudge against me."

Naruto's body finally moved again from being frozen. Naruto had lowered his head and curled into himself slightly while Kakashi could feel a radiated power pulse out from him in the form of killer-intent along with a mixture of magic. None of it was aimed at anywhere in particular and instead of making it's way to harming Kakashi as many would imagine, it just pulsed out of Naruto and evaporated before it could target itself anywhere.

"Those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. Does that sound familiar?" Naruto quoted with his voiced raised higher.

Kakashi flinched at Naruto's words as well as the power he let come out with that statement, and looked up at the beautiful night sky that was predicted to show up, regardless of the village lights just below them both. He couldn't deny that the sky looked so beautiful and thought back to the times when Minato-sensei would have his team remain out in the training fields long after dark, just so that they could be with each other and take in mother nature's beauties together. The reason he brought this up earlier this morning was because he was hoping that maybe his students would want to do the same thing and be friends again.

"... Naruto... I understand that you are angry at me for what I did. But can't you just let it go? It's the past now, and holding onto it is only causing you more pain."

Naruto said firmly, raising his voice even higher, "Just because it's the past now, doesn't mean it never happened!"

Kakashi started desperately, "Naruto, please..."

"NARUTO PLEASE, WHAT?" he yelled unexpectedly, spinning around and grasping his wand firmly in his right hand.

Kakashi noticed that several gold and scarlet sparks emitted from the tip of his magical instrument, as Naruto faced him with a contorted and livid expression on his slightly paler faced.

"Why should I have to care about anything you've got to say?" he yelled at his sensei.

Kakashi remained calm and answered, "Because I'm trying to help you, Naruto."

"OH! So you're trying to help me, huh?" Naruto said sarcastically, "Shall I riff a list of how you've helped me these past months?"

Naruto didn't bother waiting for him to say anything and went ahead and got started, "For months, you've either ignored me or you disregarded anything I said as unimportant due to your busy schedule of Sasuke training. You abandoned me to fend for myself in those Exam Finals without any help from anyone! At least I had Hayate and Jiraiya to prepare me and help me against Neji and Gaara! You never bothered visiting me in the hospital when I had my arm broken and mangled, but had plenty of time in the world for Sasuke bloody Uchiha! You forgot about my birthday when everyone else in the world remembered! I got both my arms nearly ripped out by Sasuke and a Chidori shoved through my freaking chest! Oh, did I forget to mention... YOU LET ME THE WHOLE WORLD KNOW THAT I'M A WIZARD AND HAD ME EXPOSED TO THE VILLAGE, LIKE SOME GODDAMN MUSEUM EXHIBIT!" Naruto yelled to the point where he thought his throat would tear open clean.

Sparks then flew out of the tip of his wand madly like fireworks. Kakashi looked at him in his eyes in his usual detached and tired look, hiding the overwhelming guilt that quickly built up inside his chest.

"Now everyone in the village thinks I'm a some freak, Sakura hates me, and I don't have any friends anymore!"

Naruto screamed, his voice carrying loud and long echoes that could be made out just barely in the village below him. He then threw his arms in a violent swing, as if he meant to punch something with all his might which caused his wand to slip out of his grip and fly out of his hand and loudly clatter all the way next to the base of the fountain. He tried holding himself up on the railing, and looked down at his tennis shoes, seething while he did so.

"One of the worst things of all is that I lost someone I thought was close to me... Or I could be close to..." Naruto said with nothing but hurt laced in his voice, "... I lost my one of my best friends, only to find out that he wasn't even my friend at all... How could I fall for such a fake friendship...? I trusted that son of a bitch... I confided in him, offered him everything I could possibly give him to keep his mouth shut, and what does he do? He sells me out to save his own worthless skin and he laughed in my face... In front of all of those people... He effing sold me out like a snitch..."

Naruto held onto the railing with one hand, while he clenched a tight, pale-white fist with his other hand, digging his fingernails deep into his palm.

"... I hate him... I hate him so much, that I wish he were dead..." Naruto, at last, quietly admitted with unimaginable hatred radiating off of him.

Naruto just wanted to leave right now, but felt so weighed down with the lump welling up in his throat and the churning in his stomach made him feel too nauseous to Apparate away. So he decided to just run away like last time. He tried sprinting away from Kakashi, but he was way too fast for Naruto to have a chance to leave and he tackled Naruto before he could get away. The student and teacher both fell to the ground, Kakashi wrapped his strong arms around Naruto, as the blond tried to free himself and get away by writhing and throwing out his arms and legs.

"Stop it! STOP IT, I'M SUPPOSE TO HATE YOU!" Naruto yelled at his sensei, as he began to punch Kakashi's chest weakly in a half-hearted attempt to escape from his grasp. He began to whimper, trying his absolute best not to release all of his inner turmoil.

"Then don't hate me anymore... Please stop trying to, Naruto... Just let it out... Just let it out, Naruto..." Kakashi spoke with such a soothing, fatherly voice that was undeniably alien to both him and Naruto.

The blonde felt shaken when he heard it. And with no more self-control left in him, he finally gave in... and he sobbed and cried like a small child.

He held onto Kakashi's jounin vest and sobbed into the masked crevice in his neck and shoulder. While Kakashi held him close to him in a warming hug, resting his one hand on top of Naruto's blond mop and rubbed soothing circles onto his back with his other. Kakashi sighed noiselessly, as Naruto continued to cry. He had finally accepted that he now hated Sasuke, as he should. He finally gave up his stubbornness and retreated to Kakashi to lean on for support.

Fifteen minutes of crying later, Naruto finally calmed down and spoke up again.

"I'm a pathetic excuse for a ninja... I should've-I should've just died at the Valley of the End... Then I wouldn't t-to-"

"No, Naruto." Kakashi held Naruto tighter, scared that Naruto would ever think himself better dead, instead of what he faced now. He held his student close to him, actually afraid that if he let go he could disappear.

"That wouldn't make anything better for you at all." he said sadly, he then pulled away Naruto to look at him and lifted his chin up with his finger, "And you are not pathetic at all, not in the least bit, Naruto. Understand that... I understand how hurt you are right now, and I am so so sorry. I made a stupid, stupid mistake to hurt you like that. And you have every right to be furious at me for everything bad that's happened to you these past months. I'm the one at fault here, not you. But there are some details and important factors of this story that you don't know that you should have been told to begin with..."

Naruto looked up at his sensei with tears still flowing down his face, with a confused expression, "What?"

Kakashi sighed tiredly, "Get ready. This is a very long story."

Naruto and Kakashi sat down at the bench nearby the water fountain and Naruto started to calm down and stop pouring out tears. There, Kakashi explained why he ignored Naruto in the first place, just as he told Iruka the night before. Kakashi told him everything beginning with Jiraiya telling him to neglect his student while he focused on Sasuke, told him of Jiraiya's good intentions all th way to the point when he lectured Sasuke on what he was doing wrong all the way down to the point where he confronted him again in the hospital and backhanded him for his crimes (As well as the details of the hearing that led to Naruto's unforgettable dilemma with the Council).

When he was finished, Naruto stared at Kakashi for several long minutes, completely unresponsive, until he finally said, "... You're aware that that was an incredibly stupid idea, right?"

Kakashi snorted humorously at the fact that Naruto and Iruka practically said the exact same thing all the way down to the same tone of voice.

He soon turned serious again and answered, "Yes. I thought, at the time (since Jiraiya is supposed to be this powerful and all-knowing Sannin and all) that he knew what he was doing and did what would be best for you and Sasuke when it came down to the Akatsuki threat... But please don't hate Jiraiya for doing this. He already likes you a whole lot, and hating him won't change anything."

Naruto sniffed away a few tears and said, "... He can be nice now and again... He's a real good guy at heart once you get to know him... But I bet you and Sasuke must've had a real blast for a while without me around, huh?"

Kakashi turned wide-eyed and snorted again.

"PFFT! No! To be honest, Sasuke was an incredibly boring student to teach. That month away from the village left me with a migraine like no other in my life. Ugh, I was still so irritated when we got back..." Kakashi told his student.

"What d'you mean?" Naruto asked curiously.

Kakashi explained, "Sasuke learns everything too easily and unfairly with his Sharingan. He puts no real effort into everything he does or learns, therefore he is boring and incredibly dull. Even if he is a genius. Plus, I hate it when someone like Sasuke acts so exceedingly arrogant all the time. I had to start giving him exclusive training as part of my bargain... To convince Sasuke to stop using his curse-mark from Orochimaru, I applied a sealing jutsu on it that could only suppress the mark based on his willingness to resist using it. To help motivate, I mean bargain with him to keep from using the mark, I promised to teach him how to use the Chidori..."

Naruto mumbled to himself, "That arrogant and ungrateful bastard..."

"You're telling me. Do you remember that unnecessarily flashy entrance we made at the Exam Finals?"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that was his idea. He refused to go back and cooperate with the curse-mark suppressant unless he made an impressive entrance for all to see. Kami help me, I wanted to shoot myself more than half the time I was with him."

At hearing his sensei say that, Naruto slowly laughed slightly, with a small and genuine smile on his face, "Hehehehe! That makes two of us, sensei."

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask at seeing his student finally smile in front of him for the first time in what seemed like ages to him. It was first positive and genuine emotion Naruto let out in front of anyone other than those closest to him in months. In the mindscape, Harry smiled in satisfaction and reached out with a magical touch to pat Naruto on the back, but oddly enough, Kakashi beat him there to it and shook Naruto playfully like a father would do to a son.

"Your different from him Naruto. Much different."

Naruto questioned, "Why? 'Cause I have phenomenal magical powers and I don't strut around the village like an arrogant-arse (like Sasuke) because of it?"

"Nah, its because you're a geek. And I always liked that about you... I always did..." he smiled.

"I'm a nerd, not a geek, Kaka-sensei." Naruto smirked a little bit.

Kakashi laughed a little, "See Naruto? This is why we should have been spending more time together! Catch me up on these things, will ya?"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh a little bit himself, finding it contagious. It was then, that Naruto realized why he was so miserable. He refused to let himself forgive. If just this one time. Naruto felt as if the hole in his chest from when Hayate died and when his sensei left him out of the loop had suddenly been filled and restored almost back to the way it was before. Kakashi firmly put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and had him face him again.

"All joking aside, I am truly and utterly sorry for everything that happened to you... You are going through experiences a person your age should not have to deal with... And you are not a pathetic ninja, Naruto... Unlike many other ninja I've met before, you are by far one of the most brave and strong. With defeating Neji, Gaara, Kabuto, and Sasuke, you've blown away any and all expectations I've held for you before... And I am very, very proud that you've made it this far."

'...And yet, you still take it this tough...' he thought to himself sadly.

Naruto sniffed once more and rubbed a tear away with his sleeve. He then moved forward and wrapped his arms around his sensei and hugged Kakashi, finally saying at last, "... You're forgiven..."

Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair playfully and let him stay in the embrace for a few more moments before separating, "All in a good day's work, Naruto."

He got up from the bench and looked up at the full moon, listened to the splashing fountain behind him and said, "It's really getting late, Naruto. I'll take you home, okay?"

Kakashi didn't hear a response from the teen and turned around, after hearing a soft thud coming from behind him. He saw Naruto having apparently collapsed on the bench, totally asleep.

Kakashi laughed and said, "From all that crying and yelling, it's no wonder he's so tired. Poor little guy."

He picked Naruto up and hunched him over his shoulder. He noticed the boy's wand still laying down next to the water fountain he threw it at. He knelt down and picked it up warily and carefully placed it in Naruto's hand once he placed him in his arms, bridal-style. Kakashi, now satisfied, disappeared with his student in his arms with a swirl of leafs and wind, Naruto safely secure and asleep in his arms during the entire trip.

Kakashi reappeared outside of Naruto's apartment, noticing that the Hokage had gotten rid of those greasy-haired teenagers from earlier. He looked over to see Naruto's door not yet there in existence and waited for a few minutes patiently, concentrating on the location he had memorized a few months ago. No sooner after remembering the location of Naruto's apartment, a missing door slowly emerged out from nowhere in between the two numbers of the neighboring apartments. This followed swiftly by a newly-born beige wall followed by a recently installed window that was made of black glass. From the distance, Kakashi observed the new window and noticed that the glass was too thick to possible see through, unless you were on the other side of it. While this all happened, the lights of the other newly occupied apartments did not switch on by the obvious event unfolding before Kakashi's eyes. While it all happened, the entire building grumbled like an animal and shook as if it were alive. For reasons left to be explained by magic, the muggles and civilians that now lived in the rest of the building remain oblivious to what Kakashi was seeing right now. Before the evaluation exams even began but right after Naruto returned home from the hospital, he (with Harry's help) placed the Fidelius Charm on his own home and made himself the Secret-Keeper. He had the Sandaime Hokage and several others whom the Hokage personally trusted to read the message of the apartments location before destroying the message. One of these people the Hokage decided to trust was Kakashi.

Soon, the action stopped once Naruto's apartment had appeared. Kakashi then opened Naruto's apartment door with his copy of Naruto's room key, which was given to him by the Sandiame over a year ago upon becoming Naruto's sensei.

When he entered the apartment, he was very surprised to see that the apartment itself was a lot longer and much bigger on the inside than it looked outside, to the point where it seemed physically and geometrically impossible to be. Standing there before him was a long, narrow, and darkly lit hallway with no visible ceiling. This scenery actually looked very eerie and creepy-looking being in the dark, almost giving the 'house' an aged and abandoned feeling to it. But then Kakashi looked back towards the door, below the now crystal clear-window and saw a switch with an adjustable brightness setting. He set it on to low, so as not to wake up his student and was surprised to see that the walls were royally decorated with colors of red, orange, and even traces of gold. Kakashi looked up at the now-visible ceiling and saw that it wasn't endless and that it was color beige. At the end of the long hallway, there was a door, that Kakashi could see from the distance that read the golden word,"Bathroom". There was also a door directly to his left and right respectively labeled, "Kitchen" and "Naruto's Room".

He stepped forward towards "Naruto's Room" and looked down to see to his amazement that there was a built-in English-styled carpeting laid out throughout the whole hallway. Kakashi was absolutely bewildered by what he saw tonight in the home of his only remaining male student. He soon summed up that Naruto must have done this to the apartment using some kind of magic spell some time in between his search for him when Naruto left to find Tsunade with Jiraiya and now. But he had no idea that magic could possibly do something as fast and immensely incredible as refurbishing and internally expanding the space of any entire living quarters.

"Incredible..." Kakashi breathed.

He soon entered Naruto's room, taking in the site of his room as well. Instead of being plain, boring, and undecorated except for a ramen poster and a calender on the wall, Kakashi found this room to be dramatically changed and altered as well. Naruto's room was painted with orange walls and posters decorated all over the entire room, including the ceiling. Some of the most recent-looking posters were that of dark gothic themes including vampires, werewolves, and gothic cryptic symbols. Other posters had spectacular and artistic designs of Spider-Man, Thor, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other Marvel comic book heroes. Several other posters were concert posters featuring Linkin Park, AC-DC, Aerosmith, Asia, Utada Hikaru, ayumi hamasaki, Beck, Muse, and The Killers. One or two posters were that of a shinobi recruitment and another showing the four Hokage in an impressively decorated design of them hovering over the village in person instead of as stone faces. The remaining posters posted all over the walls were that of strange-looking foreign athletes wearing colorful robes, armor, goggles, and riding on flying broomsticks like stereotype witches and throwing, catching, and evading various gaming balls.

Kakashi tried his best to shake off the urge to just stay here and observe the rest of Naruto's surrounding environment and focused back on getting Naruto to bed. He carefully stepped his way over to Naruto's bed in the middle of the room and placed Naruto's wand on his bedside table with care. He then rested Naruto to sit on his bed and carefully removed Naruto's sporting jacket for him, and then laid him down on his bed to finally rest. He threw a blanket over his skinny body and pulled up a chair to watch his student sleep for a while. He noticed Naruto's expression as the young teenager slept, and Kakashi smiled behind his mask, content.

Naruto looked so... at peace.

Kakashi saw many different expressions on Naruto before, but not one like this. He never saw him look so content before, as if something that should have happened a long time ago, had finally come and happened. Despite this tender and emotional moment, Kakashi was a little fearful for Naruto's future. Not because of the villagers, enemy ninja, or the Akatsuki threat. He was afraid that if something like this were to happen again, next time, Naruto could find coming back into the light would be more difficult than it was for him this time. What if next time, he might not find his way back to the light at all? Kakashi shook the thought aside, convinced himself that he was probably catching mother-hens from Iruka or something silly like that.

He ruffled Naruto's hair again (lightly this time), accidentally revealing Naruto's lightning bolt shaped scar and said to his precious student, "G'night, Naruto."

He then got up and left the apartment silently, turning off all of the lights and followed in the same footsteps he took when coming in. Kakashi closed the door to the apartment and heard the door sink back into the wall again as before and he walked back home with little people traffic in his way. He looked up at the moon and determined by it's position that it was about midnight and walked on home, truly happy that he had finally reached out and reconnected to his only sane student left. When he returned to his own home late that night, he stormed right into his room and collapsed down upon his own bed that night without so much as taking off his jounin uniform and placing a blanket over himself. He soon rolled lazily to his side and looked over at his bedside table and started staring at his picture of Team Minato with a smile for the first time in a long while.

He then said in a voice of sweet satisfaction, "Obito, I think I found you through somebody else now... I feel now, that I can smile when I see you in both memory and picture... I thank you..."

To Be Continued...

Kvsyaoran: You're gonna get it, Azeroth44!

(Several minutes of punches and Kung-Fu kicks later)

Azeroth44: HIYA! UPPER-CUT!

(Kvsyaoran is launched sky high straight into the ceiling, his head fully buried)

Kvsyaoran:(muffled)Okay you win, this time.

Naruto: DAMMIT! I lost twenty bucks!

Harry: Thank you! (Snatching away Naruto's money from him and counting)

Kvsyaoran: That's it for today. I'll get him next time, I promise. (dusting debris off of his head and shoulders)

Reviews are most helpful! Keep them nice, please! Thank you! And Happy 4th of July to everyone!

(Plays the song 'Fireworks')

The song Naruto sang as a child was Double Trouble by John Williams

The song sung in the present day was Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park

Spider-Man, Thor, X-Men, and Fantastic Four all belong to Marvel Comics and Stan "The Man" Lee respectively

Linkin Park, AC-DC, Aerosmith, Asia, Utada Hikaru, ayumi hamasaki, Beck, Muse, and The Killers all belong to their respected owners

Preview:

"I-I, uh... I wanted to give you these, Hinata."

Next Time: A Gathering of Friends