Okay, I MAY skip the end of the Land of Waves arc because it's boring me now T.T You guys should know what happens anyway :P. I prefer being original and writing my own fillers rather than going by the story line, but at least it's more interesting than constant arguing and picking weeds and shiz with team 8.

Also, thanks for the reviews guys! I'm not used to yet (as I said in an earlier chapter I uploaded this to a different site originally) so I don't really know how to use the site much and the reply stuff is confusing haha so I'm just saying thanks here :')

"The man and Inari met about three years ago..." Tazuna began his story. He went on to explain how there were three young boys, older than Inari, ganging up on him. Two held him by the arms, holding him back, as the third taunted him, holding his little puppy, Pochi. The boy was telling Inari that the dog belonged to him now and was called Shooting Star.

"Wait," I interrupted. "You say they were older than Inari? Fucking wimps, could they not pick on someone their own size?"

"Language," Kakashi warned. I didn't know why that got me so worked up. I just got irritated when people thought they could pick on someone because they were bigger and supposedly better.

"Yes, I know," Tazuna sighed. "Anyway..."

He then went on to explain how Inari was shouting and trying to get Pochi back, but to no avail; the boy threw Pochi in the sea, saying he didn't want him anymore because Inari wouldn't give the puppy up without a fight. He then commanded the other two to let Inari go and taunted Inari, saying if he cared for him so much, why didn't he go and save him? Inari didn't know how to swim, but the boy kicked him in and he was flailing about in the water.

"This isn't very important but Pochi learned how to doggy paddle then," Tazuna stated. We all stared at him increduously.

"Whoop de doop, Pochi magically learned how to swim right after Inari was pushed in, but didn't manage it when the kid was standing panicking," I muttered scornfully. Eriko barked in agreement, turning up her nose in disgust. Neither of us had ever liked dogs who abandoned their owners during a crisis, and stupid Pochi had done just that. Eriko nuzzled my hand and licked my cheek to show that she'd never do anything like that to me, earning a cuddle from myself. The only thing I was affectionate towards was Eriko.

Tazuna and the others watched our little exchange, none really understanding what we meant except for Kakashi. Then Tazuna explained the magical story of how the boys ran after Ponchi, Inari nearly drowned, some dude came and saved him, blah blah freaking blah. I had lost my interest after hearing about Pochi's wonderful faithfulness.

I averted my gaze to stare intently at Sasuke until he looked uncomfortable and turned around to meet my gaze.

"What?" he asked, sounding more confused than annoyed.

"Did you ever notice that your hair looks like a chicken's ass?"

"...What?"

"Is that all you can say?" I asked, exasperated.

"Wh-"

"Oh my fucking-"

"Language," Kakashi cut me off. I scowled and turned away as Tazuna continued his oh-so-interesting story.

"I need to get you a doggie coat or something... Maybe a fluffy pink one," I murmured, running my fingers through Eriko's soft fur. She shot me an indignant look as if to say, 'No way in hell!'

"I'm joking, calm down," I assured her, smirking. She settled down again and I soon heard her slow, deep breathing, informing me that she was sleeping.

I began listening to Tazuna again when he explained how Inari's new 'father' was beaten and hung on a cross by Gato's men. Gato claimed that he had went against Gato Corporation using force, and disturbed the order of his country, when really Gato was just afraid that Kaiza, Inari's father, would be able to stop Gato from taking over their country. Therefore, Gato's men executed him. Inari felt betrayed, as Kaiza had promised to protect him and the people of their country, but he had allowed himself to die.

"Inari has changed ever since that time. Tsunami and the people of this town as well."

Now I understood. Why Inari had scoffed and told Naruto there was no such thing as a hero. Why he had been crying his eyes out in his room...

Suddenly Naruto keeled over and collapsed face-down on the floor.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" I asked, as everyone turned to stare at him.

"If you're trying to train, don't," Kakashi told him. "You've used too much chakra. If you move any more, you're going to die."

Naruto determinedly struggled to get up, but managed to use his hands to shakily raise his head and chest, shaking all over.

"I'm going to prove to him..." he stated. He seemed to be struggling to form his sentence and fell silent.

"Prove what?" Sakura questioned as we watched, both expectantly and confused.

"That there are heroes in this world." Naruto laborously managed to climb to his feet, fists clenched, a determined grin etched on his face. "I'm going to prove it to him!"

"Good morning," Sakura mumbled lethargically, yawning loudly. Kakashi, Inari, Tazuna, Sasuke and I were all sat around the little wooden table drinking tea.

"Here you go," Tsunami handed Sakura her breakfast as she sat down. Sakura thanked her as Tsunami walked away to finish washing our dishes.

"Naruto didn't come back last night again?" Tazuna asked.

"He's stupid, so he's been climbing trees by himself every night," Sakura sighed.

"Again?" I asked, my brow furrowing. "Poor little guy..." I murmured, mostly to myself.

"He might be dead from excessive chakra overuse," Sakura continued.

"Uh.. I'm gonna go look for him.." I told them, getting to my feet.

"Don't tell me you care for that idiot?" Sasuke asked, obviously having caught on to my don't-care attitude.

"Shut it. Of course I don't, stupid. I'm just bored, stuck in this house."

"What did you call me?" Sasuke asked in annoyance.

"I called you stupid."

"Don't call Sasuke stupid!" Sakura raged angrily.

"Sorry, I'll leave cutie-pie, darling Sasuke alone then," I jeered, pinching Sasuke's cheek like he was a baby. Sasuke growled as I walked out, and just to aggravate him further I turned around and blew him a kiss; then I was gone.

I heard Sasuke follow out of the door but I didn't turn round. My sharp ears had heard a part of their conversation, catching his explanation for leaving. He had told the others that he was going for a walk, but it was fairly obvious he was just worried about Naruto surpassing him.

(A/N: From here I'm simply using my memory of what happens so sorry if I get anything wrong, I haven't watched the episode for a very very long time)

I was deep into the forest by now, and I could see the little figure of Naruto in a small clearing not far away. I climbed - well, walked - up a tree and stole through the foliage until I reached a tree overlooking Naruto. The poor kid had tired himself out from the overuse of chakra and was lying spread-eagled on the ground, asleep.

Suddenly I noticed, not far off, a figure crouching at the herb patch. I stared intently at the person, examining him or her. The person looked feminine, with long black hair and a pink kimono, but I noticed the person had something masculine about them, added to the fact that they were completely flat chested, despite being slightly older than us, fourteen or fifteen maybe. Drag queen, maybe?

Naruto suddenly snored loudly, catching the attention of the... I'll just say it was a girl. She turned her head sharply to look at the sleeping Naruto. I watched intently as the girl made her way over to Naruto, and crouched down beside him. Her hand reached towards Naruto and I tensed, ready to leap to Naruto's aid if necessary, despite the girl looking fairly harmless; but then the girl spoke.

"You'll catch a cold sleeping out here," she murmured, taking Naruto's shoulder and shaking it gently.

"Huh, wha? Who are you?" Naruto asked drowsily, opening his eyes lethargically. The girl simply smiled at him before standing up and walking back over to his basket. Naruto followed the girl over to the herb patch where he'd been standing before and began to help her pick them.

"Is this the plant you need?" Naruto asked and the girl nodded, continuing to pick the herbs.

"Thank you for helping me," the girl smiled sweetly, standing up. I was really confused; because the girl definitely sounded and looked feminine, but as I said, there was still a hint of masculinity about her.

"You're sure working early, lady," Naruto commented conversationally. So I wasn't the only one who had chosen to assume she was female.

"So are you; what are you doing in the forest so early in the morning?" the girl asked. Oh, so she was a girl then. She hadn't objected when he called her lady, at least.

"Arf!" Eriko barked quietly, so only I could hear.

"I know she does... I've come to the conclusion that she's a drag queen. Or just underdeveloped," I replied, still confused. You can probably guess what Eriko asked.

"I'm training!" Naruto replied proudly.

"Your forehead protector... Are you a ninja?" the girl asked. I stared at her suspiciously; she sounded way too innocent.

"Hell yeah, I'm a ninja!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Wow, you're impressive!" again with the innocent sincerity. There was something off about this kid, I just couldn't put my finger on it though, and I couldn't detect any hint of sarcasm in her tone. Naruto giggled and continued to pick herbs.

"Why are you training?" the girl asked eventually.

"Because I want to be a strong ninja!" Naruto grinned determinedly. He was acting really strangely; he sure trusted people quickly. Or maybe he just thought the girl was cute or something. Boys...

I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"But you already look very strong."

"No, I mean; I want to become even stronger than I already am!"

"Why is that?"

Naruto grinned widely, before stating, "So I can become the greatest ninja in my village! I want to make everyone acknowledge my strength and I want to surpass my rival!"

"Is this for someone else, or for yourself?" the girl questioned. Naruto didn't seem to understand and stared at the her dumbly, whilst I resisted the urge to facepalm. The girl giggled suddenly.

"What's so funny?" Naruto pouted.

"Is there someone who is important to you?" she asked gently. Naruto looked completely dumbfounded.

"When someone has something important to protect, that's when they become truly strong," the girl explained. Naruto's eyes grew wide as he processed this information, then softened.

"Yeah, I understand that," he beamed at the young girl, before she stood up and picked up her basket.

"You will be strong. Why don't we meet again somewhere?" she suggested.

"Uh.. Sure!" Naruto replied. As the girl walked away, she suddenly turned around.

"Oh, by the way... I'm a boy."