Naruto's alarm blared and finally stirred him from his rest, He rolled over and stared at the small clock on his dresser unhappily, It was his day off and he had forgotten to turn it off, he mentally berated himself for carelessness as he turned the thing off and laid back down on his back, he stared at the white of his ceiling and sighed, It was a day he had come to know as fox hunt day, October 10th, for everybody but him and the set of adults that would be chasing him through the village when happy hour ended. Even with everything that had happened in the village, The Hyuuga incident included he was still hated by a vast majority of the village, It wasn't like he ever thought that would clear all the hatred towards him, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth to think he would be running for his life, again.

"Why not just kill them? It would not be difficult." Kurama suggested, although he knew the idea would get shot down.

"Yes, Give the Ninja population a reason to kill me, That plan seems sound." Naruto retorted sarcastically.

"What about old man third? Can't he give you a place to stay out of a civilians reach?" Kurama offered afterwards.

"The Civilian Council wouldn't allow it, They would call it favoritism." Naruto replied, He had already tried that one year as well.

"So, Sit here and await your impending doom? Well, if you are going to wallow in self-pity I am going back to sleep, I don't have to deal with you." Kurama resigned.

Naruto sighed "Happy birthday to me." He whispered as he got to his feet. He had slept in all but his coat so he retrieved the red and black fabric off of his dresser before leaving his home, He slid the jacket over his shoulders and made his way towards his favorite Ramen stand. A bell rang as he lifted a curtain and sat down.

"Welcome, Naruto, I would have thought you'd be earlier today, Don't you usually spoil yourself on your birthday?" Old man Teuchi smirked as he mirthfully taunted the youth.

"Yeah," Naruto responded dejectedly "Miso ramen with pork please." He ordered without really looking up, He spun a chopstick in his hand and sighed again.

'Maybe I can go to old man Hiashi, He did offer to help me out after all that Hyuuga coup business, But I can't get Hinata involved in that, If the mob disregard the Hyuuga clan too then she might be in danger.' He pinched the bridge of his nose 'I can't have her find me later on either, I doubt seeing my look more like a bloody mass than a human will really sit well with her, I guess I can ask her to stay in, She'd probably listen.'

"Here you go and this one's my gift to you so eat up and enjoy, The glum look doesn't really suit you as much as your black-haired friend." Ayame chirped pleasantly as she hit him on the shoulder, Shaking Naruto form his thoughts and getting a chuckle out of the blonde.

"Thanks for the food." Naruto exclaimed happily, Try as he might depression and Ramen were practically impossible, but after he finished the meal his thoughts returned to his original topic of interest, Keeping Hinata out of the crossfire of the mob and himself and likely Sasuke as well. He scratched his head irritably and let out an exasperated scream.

"Looks like the Demon brat's going insane," An early drinker taunted from his seat "Probably thinking about what's going to happen to him tonight." The other replied menacingly.

Naruto rolled his eyes 'Never too early to be sloshed is it? You damn geezers.' Naruto thought as he walked away.

"Why not just hide where they can't get to you for the day or so?" Kurama suggested again.

"Haven't you been in my head forever? You know exactly why, They just waited until I had to come out for something like food. They are surprisingly relentless when it comes to this one thing. If they were like this in wars we probably wouldn't even need Shinobi." Naruto responded silently.

"Yes, I noticed, But why not just never come out, I mean you could avoid them with your level of stealth mastery so easily it would be a joke, I mean move so the villagers never see you." Kurama explained.

"That would be a temporary solution, When I become a Genin I will have a lot of missions like walking dogs, Grocery runs, Practically children's chores to get a basic understanding of how missions work…"

"And no amount of stealth mastery can hide a man walking down the street in broad daylight." Kurama finished, A little surprised that Naruto had already thought that far ahead.

"It might be easier to take the beating and have you hold off on healing me, Let me fall into unconsciousness faster, They will assume I am almost dead and leave, then you heal me and then it's over." Naruto considered.

"My healing doesn't work that way, You can't turn it off and on at will. You will being healed constantly." Kurama shut down.

"Damnit." Naruto cursed angrily and jumped to the rooftops, hopping along them towards training ground 7, landing with a light thud he walked over the large wooden post embedded into the ground, Channeled Chakra into his leg and booted it as hard as he could, the thing splintered instantly and he glared at the spot where it had been "Why can't they just leave me alone? Huh? What would be so fucking bad about that?! Maybe just one time they could not stab a child to near death!"He vented angrily.

"Talking to yourself now, Dobe?" Naruto recognized the voice before he had to turn around, the dejected cold tone of, Sasuke Uchiha, was hard to misplace.

"Of course, you're here." Naruto complained, Annunciating the you're.

"What would you prefer? Tinkerbell?" Sasuke huffed in response "So, Why are you smashing logs and yelling at a forest."

"You didn't hear me before? I'm trying to figure out a way to avoid being the hunted fox and keep my friends and the people hunting me out of danger." Naruto responded a little less angry than he was before as he fell on his back and stared at the clouds rolling in the sky.

"Speaking of which, You are one of those friend's I am trying to keep out of trouble, So if you wouldn't mind going home, that'd be helpful.

"Why not just come stay at the Uchiha compound?" Sasuke offered, as if it was the most natural thing for the Uchiha to ever say to anyone.

Naruto stared at the black haired youth as if he had grown a second head, The look irritated Sasuke, he could be kind too, Granted it was more uncommon than a solar eclipse, but he could be kind too.

"Stay, With you…At your home…With people attempting to murder me?" Naruto reiterated his problem slowly, making sure the Uchiha got the message.

"Yes, People are even more afraid of the Uchiha Compound than they are of you, They say the spirits of my clan lurk around, If I ever saw one I'd enjoy asking it a few questions. But unfortunately it doesn't seem like they exist." Sasuke replied calmly.

"You get enjoyment out of word things, Teme." Naruto replied playfully

Sasuke hit him lightly atop the head with his fist "Oi, You coming or not?"

"Well, if it's really haunted I guess it would work out." Naruto replied "But if they burn something down it's on you."

"If they burn something down we have cause to arrest them, That would be breaking a law." Sasuke hinted.

"You are the most deceptive human being I have ever met in my life," Naruto taunted "Although I like it, I'm not sure I do."

"That doesn't make sense." Sasuke responded.

"Sure it does, You just don't get it." Naruto replied as if enlightened.

"Screw you." Sasuke retorted

Naruto snickered.

Hinata walked slowly down the street enjoying the freedom of being outside the Hyuuga compound without a bodyguard for once in her life, Her father finally agreed that she was strong enough to look out for herself, although she still couldn't beat Neji in a spar she had come close a number of times. She hadn't seen her blonde headed boyfriend, well they weren't official, but it was easier to say that than explain that their first date had effectively been interrupted by an attempted Coup d'état by her clan that he had stopped. But her thoughts returned to the fact that she hadn't seen him, even if it was his day off, he usually found and excuse to do some Ninja related activity or just come to see her because he could. She knew he had gained a certain number of followers since he had saved her from being kidnapped, Her cheeks colored slightly as she remembered kissing him that night and she unconsciously brushed her lips with her fingers, said follower's had increased when people learned about the attempted coup and how the blonde had stopped yet another threat to the village and as much as Naruto tried to hide, she could see he enjoyed being in the spotlight for something other than the hateful remarks he usually got, so he let it slide, without letting it get to his head of course.

As if on cue, she spotted the bright expanse of gold hair a small distance from her, he seemed to be bantering with Sasuke normally, but something about his movements seemed off, she could tell, it was kind of like he was on guard and attempting to watch every direction at once. Sasuke seemed non-concerned, but the boy, as far as she knew, never showed concern for anything bar the pink haired girl in class and training. Naruto caught sight of her and stumbled, the trip up almost went unnoticed by the girl, almost, it was like he was searching for exactly how he wanted to say his next sentence without arousing suspicion, which for Naruto, immediately aroused suspicion.

"Hinata-Hime," He led with as the trio stopped, Sasuke huffed and continued walking, he seemed to realize the blonde had some explaining to do without much indication, Hinata suppressed a smirk at how close the two had gotten, even if they appeared to be the worst of enemies in public "Finally got a little freedom, huh?"

Hinata nodded, the smile from the blonde seemed force, as if he was trying to hide worry, she studied his face a little more intently than she would normally allow herself, his eyes were different, they weren't glowing like the usually do, he actually seemed afraid.

"Naruto-kun, What's wrong?" Hinata asked immediately.

He sighed, a sound he was making more often as of late, it kind of irritated him. "Can't get anything passed you, can I?" He chuckled, at any other time that remark may have made the girl blush, but she was more worried about the boy in front of her to pay it any mind.

"Naruto-kun, What's going on?" She pressed, taking another step forward.

"It's not that big a deal," He lied "I am just over thinking something's, I know you just got let out on your own, But do you think you could stay in tonight? It's kind of…important." Naruto attempted to be subtle, but worry was clear in his voice and Hinata concern only increased, she had a feeling this came under the 'wants to tell but can't' set of information she is after.

"If it will calm you down, I will." Hinata replied, stepping back.

Naruto could have been blind and sensed the fact she wanted more information, she was only backing off because she knew he wanted to tell her, but couldn't. He grimaced at his own situation "I am going to go to the old man tomorrow, He is going to let me tell you everything if it's the last thing he ever does for me."

Hinata shook her head "Don't demand things of the Hokage, if you can't people there must be a good reason for it."

Naruto nodded, he wasn't sure the reason was that great "Please, Just promise to stay in tonight, No matter what, don't come out."

The somber tone he had scared her more, she had a hard time suppressing the urge to grab him and drag him into the Hyuuga compound and make her father look after him "I promise." The way she said it may as well have been a threat, Naruto could see the sheer amount of effort she was putting into not asking questions he couldn't answer.

Naruto nodded, opting to end the conversation there he walked passed her "Thank you." Was all he whispered to her as he did, She turned and watched him round the corner and took a deep breath, Whatever may be going on, it was still Naruto, The number one most surprising Ninja in the world, He wouldn't die until he became Hokage. That much she was certain of.

"He's not lying, The thing he can't tell you is a village S-class secret," Sasuke surprised the Hyuuga heiress by dropping down behind her "I only know because I am too be a clan-head the second I become of age, I have to know." Sasuke effectively cut off her follow up question with that.

"I just don't want you to think badly of him, He has been negotiating with the Hokage for days trying to get the right to talk about it, I don't know how the progress is going." Sasuke continued watching after the blonde.

"But you have my word as an Uchiha, He will be kept safe, Even if I have to kill someone to keep him that way." Sasuke finished.

Hinata watched the serious expression on the Black-haired boy's face, there was no hint of hesitation, he was fully prepared to kill for Naruto's well being. Hinata only nodded.

Sasuke inclined his head as he moved to get in front of the blonde, as he had been originally. He made it to the gate of the Uchiha compound just before Naruto rounded the corner, He gave the blond a wave and waited for the boy to jog up to him.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a long night." Sasuke said flatly.

Naruto nodded as he turned to look at the sun, just starting to fall behind the horizon "I hope you were right about people being more scared of this place, than they are of me."

Sasuke nodded.

A/N: So, lot's happened, I got dumped, got another girlfriend, got engaged, found out she was cheating and broke up, got sick as well as a number of other inconveniences with deciding how I wanted to take the story forward from where I was, It took a while but I will be updating this story again relatively soon, Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I Thank each and every one of you for your patience! Peace!