Author's note: Another chapter here. I hope it's to your liking, I experimented a bit on this one. It should answer the questions from the last chapter. Now read and hopefully enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Naruto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The woman opened her mouth and screamed as the Wind blade nearly cut her in half. Blood flowed from her wound, dying the white flowers on her dress red.

"Momma!" the child of perhaps four years standing next to her cried. "Momma! Momma!" Tears appeared in her eyes. Then they were dried by a blast of wind that slammed into them and blew them away. The child crumpled down next to her mother, both looking like discarded rag dolls.

"You did this."

The boy looked like he had earned his headband last week. But when the attack came, he pulled out two kunai from his pouch and despite the fear clearly written all over his face he stood his ground, determined to protect his home until his last breath. His wish was granted five seconds later when his attempt to block couldn't stop the arms enveloped in whirling Wind chakra. He collapsed to the ground to die slowly and in pain, his wounds too serious to be healed by even the best of medics.

"You did this."

The old woman wanted to get out of the way but her walking stick broke. She collapsed to her hands and knees. She was struggling to make her arthritic joints move and take her into safety when the fire jutsu fanned by a wind jutsu filled the whole street. Her clothes and hair immediately caught fire, leaving her on the ground, unable to even scream, until she died.

"You did this."

"No..."

The ninja was severely wounded. He was probably a chuunin, maybe even jounin in rank, but now he was rendered defenseless and harmless by the wounds littering his body. Yet the boy walked over to him and slit his throat with a stolen kunai.

"You did this."

"No..." It sounded like a plea.

The old man obviously used to be a ninja when he had been younger. It was apparent from the way he stood in front of his grandchildren (or great-grandchildren) and tried to force his swollen, uncooperating fingers to form handseals. He never got the chance to finish them. The blast of slicing wind nearly cut him into ribbons, along with his grandchildren.

"You did this."

"No..." It sounded desperate.

The pair of teenagers was too busy smooching to notice what was going around them. They had only enough time to pull out of their kiss and look around in surprise when the Wind chakra-charged kunai pierced both of their chests in one hit.

"You did this."

"No. No, please." The voice was now crying.

The puppy tried to protect its master and attacked valiantly. It was kicked into the nearest wall so hard it slumped down.

"Shiro!" the boy still holding the empty leash cried in shock. It was all he had the time to do before he too was hit so hard his bones broke.

"You did all of this."This voice was firm.

"No!" All the desperation and denial was concentrated in this one sound.

The woman collapsed when hit with the Wind blade, her shopping bags spilling their contents all around her.

"This is all your work. You cannot deny it, no matter how hard you try."

"No! I didn't... I wouldn't..."

The house collapsed after being hit by the shockwave, burying its inhabitants in its ruins.

"You would and you did."The voice was relishing in the words.

"No..." the other voice broke in a sob.

A baby was crying desperately for a mother who would never come home, her life cut short by a kunai in her heart.

"You know that you can't lie to yourself. This is all your work. Every single one of them and then some more."

There was no answer from the other voice.

A house was burning, its inhabitants trying desperately to salvage what they could before the roof would inevitably collapse. Two were still inside when it gave out.

"You see? You are a monster."The voice was grinning.

The child was picking her doll from the ground, oblivious to the fireball heading for her back.

The first voice said nothing. Only two glowing red eyes observed the small figure in front of them.

The man screamed when the attack tore through his ineffective defenses.

The child looked into the giant eyes.

"I am a monster."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha hospital~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsunade checked the patient's vitals. Finally he didn't look like he could die any moment, which was a huge improvement from the state he was carried to the hospital in. But he was still very far from being alright. She had seen people die from lesser wounds than he currently sported. She wondered what could have put the child into his current state. He was strong, fast and he regenerated fast. Even when he ran into a jounin, he could usually hold his own ground until help arrived. So what kind of monster had he faced on his latest mission? She didn't get any report. She usually didn't get much information on what had happened to the patients shipped into her hospital, she was only supposed to treat them. And usually it was alright. Only in rare cases the injury wasn't self-evident and she needed more information to figure out what was wrong. Naruto wasn't the case. The wound in his side was obvious. But she still wanted to know who had hurt her precious little boy, so she could find them and beat them within an inch of their life, then heal them and beat them up again. She wanted to repeat the whole process for days. But she couldn't do it. Naruto needed her more. Even with his injuries healing quickly, he still wasn't out of danger. Tsunade sighed. Being a medical ninja was tough. Sitting back and treating the wounded when she wanted to fight always took almost all of her self-control. But she knew why she had to stay behind. Without her many would have died, including Naruto. And so she stayed by his bedside, checked on his recovery and made idle plans of revenge on whoever had nearly killed him, knowing that she would never enact them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Naruto's mind~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The demon grinned as he stared through the bars at the young child kneeling on the other side.

"You see? You are just like me." Naruto didn't answer.

The kunai flew through the air, the civilian man could only stare in shock and fear as it neared him, being unable to move a muscle in his terror. It hit him in the neck.

"You killed so many."

The woman lay on the ground, screaming, as she struggled in vain to stop the blood flowing from her thigh in a thick stream.

Naruto just sat there, shivering as the memories from his Shadow Clones played in his mind.

"You're so good at carnage."

A mother was desperately trying to wake her child, lying too still on the cold stones of the street.

Naruto grabbed his head, trying to stop the stream of memories.

A ninja was trying to stuff his guts back into his stomach.

The memories refused to stop.

A dozen dead bodies littering the street, burned and smoldering after being hit by the Firestorm.

"We are both monsters," Kyuubi smiled.

"Stop it," Naruto pleaded.

"I'm not doing anything."

The scream was full of inhumane suffering. He ignored it and dashed forward, ready to deliver harm to the next person in line.

"You enjoyed it, admit it."

"No," Naruto shook his head desperately.

"Don't lie to yourself. You're quite good at dealing damage. Even I was impressed. We can enjoy so much bloody carnage together."

"No!" Naruto screamed desperately.

"Come on!" the kitsune prodded. "You've already admitted that you're a monster. So what's stopping you?"

Naruto didn't answer. He just curled into a ball and cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha hospital~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsunade checked Naruto's condition again. His wounds were all but gone now. His chakra was still low, but not dangerously so. It was almost close to normal. He could wake up any minute now. In fact, he could have woken up yesterday. But he didn't. There was no medical reason for it, as far as Tsunade could tell. And if even she couldn't find it, then it wasn't there. Because Tsunade was a great medic, even if she said so herself.

But if there wasn't a medical reason, then what was preventing Naruto from waking? Before she could investigate the issue deeply, the door to the hospital room opened. She scowled at being disturbed.

"There's a 'Do not disturb' sign on the door," she barked. "Can't you read?"

"I can read quite well," a familiar voice replied with a hint of amusement. Tsunade gasped when she realized who did she just snap at. She whirled around.

"Sensei!"

"At ease, Tsunade," Sarutobi smiled. "So how is he?" His tone turned more serious as he looked at the patient.

"Physically, he's fine," the Slug Sannin replied.

"But?" the Hokage prompted. Tsunade sighed.

"He isn't waking up and I'm not sure why."

"And his wounds have healed," the Sandaime mused aloud.

"I've already said so," the busty woman said a bit offended. She couldn't stand it when somebody doubted her medical abilities, even when that somebody was her sensei and Hokage.

"Hmmmm... if the problem isn't his body then it must be his mind," Sarutobi theorized.

"It occurred to me too," the legendary medic said, "but why now? He was wounded severely before, wasn't he?"

"He was," Hiruzen confirmed, "but I don't think the shock is due to his injury."

"Then what?" the blonde questioned. "Wasn't it just a routine battle?"

"Is any battle ever routine?" the Third Hokage asked philosophically. "And no, this one was different. Weren't you informed?"

"I might have missed the memo," Tsunade replied. "The hospital is so busy I rarely have time to sleep, much less read every slip of paper. Care to explain?"

"This was the first time he attacked in a village."

"You sent him to attack a civilian target?" the Sannin was outraged. "He's ten! What were you thinking, sensei!" The Hokage took an involuntary step back. His old student was scary when she was angry. Right now she was showing how she could scare battalions of enemy shinobi into retreating just by showing up. The Sandaime felt like doing the same. Then he remembered that he was the boss around here and stood his ground valiantly.

"It wasn't exactly a civilian target. It was Kumo."

"Kumo?!" The Slug Sannin could hardly believe her ears. And the Hokage had to concentrate not to take a step back. He couldn't be terrified of his own genin student. "What were you thinking, old man? It's a miracle he's still alive."

"He was the only one who could pull it off," Sarutobi explained. "And Jiraiya was with him."

"Is that supposed to calm me down?" Tsunade growled. "By the way, when was your last medical checkup? I don't recall seeing you in here in quite the time." The Hokage paled. Checkups by an angry Tsunade could reduce even the strongest of men to sobbing wrecks. He decided to change the topic quickly, though he didn't really hope that the Slug Princess would forget about the checkup.

"I think Naruto-kun needs a mind specialist if he indeed is in shock."

"I agree," Tsunade nodded. "I suggest the best from the Yamanaka clan. That's still Inoichi, isn't it?"

"He is," the Sandaime confirmed.

"Good," the healer nodded. "He should be contacted immediately."

"I'll see to it," Sarutobi said, trying to back off from the room while his old student was distracted.

"Oh, and sensei," Tsunade called after him, "your checkup is tomorrow at three AM. Don't you dare to miss it." The Hokage blanched. He should have known that he couldn't get off the hook so easily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Raikage's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How did they get in?" A asked, interrupting the jounin giving report on the damage to the village. The Raikage didn't need to hear it to know that it was bad. Sure, it could have been worse, but any damage larger than none was too bad, because it was damage that had happened to the Village Hidden in the Clouds itself.

"We still don't know," Mabui, his assistant, answered. "We're still going through the gate logs."

"Do we at least know who they were?"

"We don't have a positive identification on them, but one witness reported seeing a frog with one of them. Unfortunately we have been unable to confirm it and the witness was drunk at the time."

"Frogs?" A frowned. "Who has Frog summons? Now if it was Toads, but Frogs?"

"Well," Mabui shrugged, "it could have been Toads. The witness weren't entirely sure on the difference. And as I said, he was drunk, so he might have been seeing things."

"So it was Konoha!" the Raikage thundered. "I'm going to crush them! Raze them to the ground!"

"You already tried that," a new voice interrupted. The Raikage looked up to see the head of the Yotsuki clan standing in the doorway. He grimaced. Yotsuki En was the last person he wanted to see right now.

"Get lost," he barked.

"I'm not going to leave," the Yotsuki clan head stated, "and neither are our problems. Especially not if you continue acting so rashly. Last time it cost us my son and three other elite shinobi. This time it cost us this," he pointed out of the window, where the damage dealt to the village was clearly visible. Especially the crater at the spot of the former armory was jarring. "What's it going to cost us the next time? Do you really want to weaken the defenses of Kumo even more so we're open wide for another attack?"

"So you would stop our offensive now we're advancing?" A questioned. "That's cowardly, En."

"No, that's the sane thing to do," En disagreed. "Our offensive isn't going quite as well as you planned. Even with Bee on the frontlines, our forces are still too far from Konoha and the Leafs are holding their ground valiantly. They won't crumble if we press a little harder. We'd just lose countless ninja there. So be a responsible leader for once and strengthen our defenses!"

"Are you saying I'm not a responsible leader?" the Raikage asked dangerously. En started sweating under his Killing Intent. But he refused to back off. This confrontation was too important for it. He had to see it through no matter what.

"I'm not the only one who thinks so, as you know well. Should I call the Council and let all of them speak?"

The Raikage cursed inwardly. He knew he couldn't prevent a Council gathering, not after this disaster. And then all the scaredy-cats would make him call off the offensive. And just when they were finally getting somewhere. It was bad. And there was nothing he could do about it. If only he had managed to kill at least one of the attackers... but no. He had noticed he had hit the real body among the flood of clones too late. And before he could remedy his mistake and finish off the brat, he had disappeared in front of his eyes. Reverse summon. Bothersome thing. The brat was wounded severely, but A doubted that it was enough to finish him off. He'd be back. A resolved to kill him the next time he met him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Naruto's mindscape~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The small boy lay huddled in front of the demon's cage. The kitsune stood close to the bars, almost leaning over the child.

"You admitted it yourself," the beast spoke. "You are a monster. So why not embrace your nature? It's fun, you'll see."

Naruto gave him no response, just lay there motionlessly and cried quietly as more memories paraded through his mind.

The man was looking the other way, focused at whatever had caught his attention. His unprotected back presented a perfect target. Naruto wasted no time plunging a kunai into it. A red flower blossomed around the wound as the man fell.

"See how pretty the blood is? Can you taste its delicious smell? Don't you want to lick it?" Kyuubi prodded. "You can have it. As much as you want and then some more." Naruto just whimpered slightly.

The young girl was dressed up for a date. But instead of her beloved she was met by an invading army. She shrieked as they rushed at her. She continued screaming as they trampled her under their feet.

"Wasn't her shrieking the most beautiful music? Don't you want to hear more of it? A whole symphony of terror and suffering?" the Nine-Tails tempted. Naruto shook his head. It looked more as if he just trembled. "Why are you so stubborn? Why not give in to your urges? Why hold back?" Naruto remained silent. "Are you perhaps concerned about the people? Why should you? They never cared for you one bit. Don't tell me you don't mind their glares."

Naruto remembered the glares. They hurt.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten how they tried to kill you."

The drunkard wanted to throw him off the Hokage Monument, 'to teach him to fly.' He had been so scared. His son then threw a kunai into his unprotected back. It hurt.

"Don't tell me it didn't hurt when they blamed you for the war."

The crowd in front of the Hokage Tower started throwing stones. They didn't hurt quite as much as the looks they were shooting him. The words they were shouting. Their demands for his death. Naruto curled more tightly.

"And after all they did to you, they still demand you fight for them."

All the missions he had been ever assigned. All the blood he had ever spilled.

"They only care about your strength."

The attack on Kumo. Naruto shut his eyes tight, but he couldn't keep the memories away.

"No," Kyuubi grinned, "they only care about my strength. You mean nothing to them."

The siege of the Iwa base in River Country. The demand to use the demon's power. The situation he ended up in. He could have easily died there and nobody would have cared as long as he fulfilled his duty.

"Don't you want to punish them for that? Don't you want to give them a real reason to fear and loathe you? Don't you want to show them what you can really do? What we can really do? Just release my power and the revenge shall be ours. It's going to taste so sweet."

Naruto just trembled. He couldn't deny what the Kyuubi said. He wanted revenge on everybody for doing nasty things to him. He wanted revenge on them for making him do nasty things. He wanted revenge for turning him into a monster. But, he thought as he looked at the nine-tailed kitsune, was he a monster this bad? Did he want to be a monster this bad?

"You know you want to do this," the demon prompted. "What are you still waiting for?" Naruto didn't answer. "It's so easy. Just tear off the seal and they won't hurt you anymore. They won't glare anymore. They won't order you around anymore. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Naruto?" A new voice spoke. The boy paid it no attention. It was probably just another memory, though he couldn't place the speaker. The Kyuubi no Kitsune did react. He snarled.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The demon didn't recognize this long-haired blond man. The newcomer gave him a wary look, but no answer. He walked over to Naruto, the water covering the ground splashing around his feet. He knelt over the shivering boy.

"Naruto," he said again, touching his shoulder gently. The child jerked away. "What did you do to him?" the man turned to the Kyuubi. There was a fearful tremble in his demanding voice.

"Me?" Kyuubi somehow managed to look like wounded innocence personified. "How typical of you. Blame everything on the Bijuu."

"What did you do?" Inoichi demanded again. It would have sounded better if he could keep the fear out of his voice. As a seasoned jounin and former head of the Torture and Interrogation Squad he should be able to do it in his sleep. But faced with the angry beast it was an impossible task.

"Nothing," the fox shrugged. "You did this."

"Me?" Inoichi raised an eyebrow.

"You humans," the demon elaborated.

"What do you mean?"

"You should know well." The kitsune was obviously in the mood for riddles. Inoichi wasn't, so he ignored him and focused on Naruto. The boy still didn't make a sound other than quiet whimpering. He also didn't move from his fetal position.

"Naruto?" the Yamanaka asked, touching his shoulder again. And once again the child jerked away as if burned. He didn't want anybody to touch him. He didn't want anybody to be here. (He didn't even wonder how did somebody get here.) He didn't want to be around people. He didn't know what he might do to them. He was a monster. He would hurt them if they stayed around too long. He wished this man would just go away. But the intruder showed no such intention. He addressed Naruto again.

"Naruto? It's time to go home." The boy shook his head. He didn't want to go anywhere. He couldn't hurt anyone while he was here, well, once this man will finally give up and leave.

"He won't go with you," Kyuubi spoke. The water on the ground started splashing slightly, even though there was no wind.

"Nobody asked you," Inoichi retorted. Then he turned back to Naruto, glancing at the rising waves worriedly. "Do you really want to stay here with him? He seems like terrible company." The fox growled. The waves become faster. Naruto hung his head, but he didn't speak a word.

"You don't like listening to him, do you?" Inoichi questioned. "Then why don't you come with me? You won't hear him anymore." Kyuubi growled again. A thin trickle of red seeped into the water outside the cage.

"I can't." It was so quiet that Inoichi wasn't sure if he wasn't imagining it. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was the first thing Naruto spoke. It was a beginning.

"Why not?" Inoichi inquired.

"I am a monster. I can't live among people. I'd just hurt them." The boy was staring at the ground as he spoke.

"You aren't a monster," Inoichi disagreed. "He is," he pointed at Kyuubi. "You are not."

"How typical," the kitsune snorted.

"I am," Naruto insisted. "I hurt people. Killed people. Go away or I'll hurt you too." The boy was a sorry sight to behold. He didn't look capable to harm a fly. Still curled into a ball and trembling, he refused to look straight at Inoichi.

"He was feeding you his bloodlust," Inoichi reasoned. "It wasn't really you."

"So it's 'Blame the Bijuu' again," the fox scoffed. "Honestly, can't you come up with something original? This is getting old."

"It was all me," Naruto said. "I wasn't using his power at all."

"They were enemies," Inoichi pointed out.

"They were just people," Naruto countered. "Civilians. Not warriors. And I killed them. Old people, men, women, children. All dead. I slaughtered them all. I am a monster."

Inoichi sighed. This wasn't going as he wanted it to. Not by a long shot. But what could he expect in the mind of a traumatized ten-year-old killer who happens to have the most powerful demon living inside him? He should be glad he didn't end up dead yet. And considering how much red had seeped into the water around them while he wasn't looking, it might yet happen. He had to finish his task and return soon. Though he knew that such matters couldn't be rushed, he'd have to take the chance.

"Please, Naruto, come back. We need you," he spoke in his most persuasive voice.

"You see?" Kyuubi smirked victoriously. "They want you to fight for them again."

"Your friends miss you. Tsunade-sama is beside herself with worry." Now Naruto looked at him finally. It was another step towards success. Hopefully.

"I can't," the boy shook his head. "I'd just hurt them."

"So you want to lie here and listen to his drivel until you give in?" Inoichi questioned. Naruto jerked. Inoichi spotted his chance. "He can be quite persuasive. If you stay here, he'll make you hurt somebody again." The water around his feet flapped around wildly. So he hit a sensitive spot with the kitsune.

"Baseless accusations, you mortal worm," Kyuubi growled. Inoichi paid him no attention.

"Once you can't hear him anymore, things won't look so bleak any longer. Everything seems much brighter when bathed in the sunlight. So please leave this darkness and come with me and everything will be alright again." He offered Naruto a hand. The boy didn't seem convinced and eyed his outstretched hand warily.

"Don't go with him!" the demon snarled angrily. Naruto's eyes shot to the cage. The demon suddenly looked so very scary. Naruto feared him and wanted to get as far away from him as possible. All other concerns were forgotten for the moment. He took Inoichi's hand and clung to it. The Yamanaka smiled. The fox howled angrily.

"NO!" He attacked the bars futilely. Inoichi was already carrying Naruto away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha Hospital~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wait was endless, every minute of it torturous. Tsunade tried to make it feel shorter by pacing around the room and taking the patient's vitals every minute, but it wasn't helping. Neither Naruto nor Inoichi had stirred for... how long was it anyway? Not yet half an hour? That couldn't be right. That clock must be broken. She'd have to send somebody to get a new one. She paced some more and checked the vitals several more times. She glanced at the wall clock again, despite knowing that it was broken. It claimed that merely three minutes had passed. It really was going too slow.

When she was about to check the vitals again, she noticed some movement. Naruto's eyelids twitched. She leaned close, unsure whether she wasn't imagining things. She wasn't. Naruto's eyes twitched again. He was stirring. Soon he opened his eyes. His wide blues stared into her concerned browns for a few seconds. Then they closed again and Naruto curled up on the bed.

"Naruto?" she called him gently. He gave no response, but she knew that he was awake. "Naruto," she called him again. Still nothing. "What's wrong?"

"He's still in shock," Inoichi said. "He doesn't want to talk to anybody. He doesn't want to be around people. He thinks he is a monster because of what happened in Kumo."

Tsunade leaned over the curled-up boy and caressed his head gently. "Naruto? Can you hear me? You are not a monster." The boy just trembled. The woman realized that he was sobbing quietly.

"What is it about?" she asked quietly. Inoichi briefly hesitated whether he should answer in front of the patient. Then he decided that it wasn't going to make the situation any worse.

"He thinks he's a monster because he killed people on his last mission."

"But he's been in many battles, so why now?" Tsunade scrunched her brow. She didn't know much about the mission Naruto had been wounded on, just that it was a high-ranked one and took place in Kumo.

"They weren't shinobi," Inoichi explained.

"What?" Tsunade blinked. "Sensei sent a kid on an assassination mission?" She mentally amended the list of procedures she was going to perform during the Hokage's scheduled physical.

"I think it was worse than that," the Yamanaka clan head replied.

"Worse? Just what can be worse?" Now the Sannin was leaking Killing Intent.

"I'm not sure," Inoichi answered, inching away from her. But Tsunade didn't pay him attention anymore. She walked over to Naruto's bed and ruffled his hair.

"You aren't a monster, Naruto. Never believe that," she tried to reassure him, but the Killing Intent ruined the effect. "Now rest well, I'm going to have a few words with sensei about this." Then she strode out of the room purposefully. Inoichi felt a stab of pity for the Hokage. When the Slug Princess was in this mood, nobody was safe from her.

That left him alone with Naruto. He knew he should do something for the boy, but he wasn't sure what. He didn't know enough about the problem and taking a guess always carried the risk of getting it wrong. And considering how fragile Naruto's mental state currently was, a single ill-chosen word might break him completely. As Konoha's foremost expert on human psychology Inoichi knew it well. And silence could be just as devastating. He truly wished he didn't have to be in this situation, but he was glad that when it happened, he was there. Anybody else might make an even bigger mess of things.

He laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder reassuringly. The boy jerked away.

"I won't hurt you," Inoichi said, keeping his voice low and warm. His only response was a sob from Naruto. "And don't worry about hurting me," he added. Now the boy stiffened. "I can take care of myself. I'm a jounin after all." Naruto didn't reply to this one. Inoichi pondered what else could he say. "Whatever you're going through, you aren't in it alone," was what he settled on in the end. Naruto still didn't answer. When Inoichi looked closely, he realized that the boy had drifted asleep. Perhaps that was for the best, even if his sleep was going to be plagued by nightmares. The Yamanaka considered whether he should watch over him and wake him as soon as the bad dreams would hit, but he couldn't afford to stay for so long. He had a lot of important things to do, just as every high-ranked ninja in Konoha. And so with a sigh he left the room and closed the door behind him silently. Naruto slept on.

And that's it for today.

Next time: Will Naruto get over his mental breakdown?