So, for the guest reviewer who reviews every chapter pissing and moaning about every deviation I make from canon, I have one thing to say...
I'm writing it for the people who offer criticism, both positive and negative, about the story and my writing skills, and for those people who genuinely enjoy it. I have actually turned review moderation on, just for you. Doesn't that make you feel special? Rest assured, I will keep every review with an actual point to it, just not the ones that say "That didn't happen! You suck!" or things of the like.
It was just now night time, and Naruto was reading one of the books provided by the Hokage when there was a sharp knock on his door.
He sighed and put the book down before going to the door and opening it to reveal Sasuke.
"Hey, got a minute?" Sasuke asked... rather nicely.
"Ummm, sure?" Naruto asked and opened the door for him.
Sasuke walked in to see the apartment virtually spotless, save for only the most irremovable stains and the one busted floorboard.
"Looks like you finally decided to clean up, eh dobe?" Sasuke said.
"Don't call me dobe. But yes, I decided it was an ample distraction from my boredom." Naruto answered.
"... I came for answers." said Sasuke.
"To what questions?" Naruto asked while sitting back down on his couch.
"I heard that you... might be the real Kyuubi. Now at least. I know that Naruto was not the Kyuubi. I know for a fact. But if you are now, and the Kyuubi wasn't spotted anywhere near that mission area, that means it came with us. I haven't stopped thinking about it since then. I found out your birthday, which happens to coincide with the very day the Kyuubi attacked. I also know that the Yondaime was a master of Fuinjutsu. So I guess my question would be; did the Fourth somehow seal away your power and mind? And if so, why did he leave you alive?" Sasuke asked after sitting down across from Naruto.
"I am the real Kyuubi, but not the same Kyuubi in a sense. I am Naruto as much as Kurama. I guess you could say My mind and power was sealed, but not in the way you think. Naruto was just a normal infant. I was not related to the Kyuubi in any way. The only special thing about me was my birthday. It coincided with the weakening of My seal. I will not tell you what happened that night, as I don't remember most of it, but events forced the Fourth to seal Me into his only son... Kurama into Naruto. I remember impaling my parents on My claw, and then I was sealed in myself." Naruto's expression turned downcast, "I know your past, and maybe you can relate, at least a little bit. Imagine finding out who your parents were, and even seeing how much they love you, after never having any. Your one chance at having a family, and they were murdered. And then imagine... that you were the one to do it."
Naruto took a shuddering breath, and Sasuke didn't know what to say. Naruto wiped the tears that had began to form from his eyes and continued, "The whole thing could have been avoided. That entire clusterfuck is the sole property of one person. I am going to destroy him, and his memory. I want his death, even more than I want to be Hokage."
"You won't do it alone."
Naruto looked at Sasuke. He saw the sympathetic, but not pitying look on his face.
"I can't understand what happened, or how you feel about it. I was put in a position that, even though my family was murdered, at least I had a clear motivation on who to hate. I don't know how I would function if I had been the one to kill them." Sasuke said, "But I'll make you a deal."
"A deal?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah." Sasuke said, "You help me kill Itachi, and I'll help you kill the man you talked about. An even trade, right?"
Naruto stared at him for a long while, before smirking, "Tch, pure madness. A willing alliance between the Nine Tails, and an Uchiha? Impossible. I accept."
Sasuke realized something, "Wait, did you just say the Yondaime was your father?"
"He was my Dad, not my father." Naruto clarified.
"What's the difference?" Sasuke asked.
"They are two separate people." he said.
Sasuke sighed, "This is a lot of information. You'll have to tell me about that later."
"Very well. I am going to go to sleep. I miss my bed." Naruto said.
Sasuke nodded and went to the door, saying his goodbyes as he left. Naruto went into his bedroom and laid down, falling asleep almost instantly.
The next day, Sasuke and Sakura were waiting on the bridge for the rest of their team to gather. Normally Naruto would be there as well, but he wasn't today.
Kakashi appeared on the bridge gate, and was met with Sakura shouting, "You're late!" before immediately calming down and asking, "Sensei, where's Naruto?"
"Naruto is in a meeting with the Hyuga clan head. But that's alright, I'll just give him his later." Kakashi answered.
Sakura cocked her head, "Meeting with the Hyuga clan? What for?"
Suddenly an immense, if distant, chakra pressure made itself known for a moment before disappearing.
"It has to do with that." said Kakashi, "But that's not why we're here. Take these." He handed out a couple of forms to Sakura and Sasuke.
Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw what they were, "Chunin Exams?"
Kakashi eye-smiled, "Well, if you don't think you can handle it, that's fine."
Sasuke glared at him, "Oh please, I was remarking on the fact that we've been Genin for only a couple of months."
"And you would still be Genin for at least another year, but the other Jonin seem to think their teams are ready, and I don't want to look bad." Kakashi spoke carelessly.
The Genin just stared at him, before Sasuke smirked, "Whatever, this'll be interesting either way."
Hiashi's eyebrow twitched as he took the chakra sealing orb from Naruto, "Was that much power really necessary?"
"No, but i wanted to make sure you got enough." said Naruto calmly.
That's an understatement, Hiashi thought. The orb was glowing bright purple, and looked to be barely containing the chakra Naruto had placed within. He would have to relocate it to a stronger orb before it broke. Hiashi didn't want the archive exploding because he didn't take proper precautions.
He looked back at Naruto, "I will send a messenger to find you after we've analyzed it and compared it with the original Kyuubi's chakra."
"Very well, I need to meet with my team." Naruto said before leaving.
He remembered the way out of the compound, and walked through the maze of hallways before turning a corner and running into someone.
Or rather, they ran into him and fell when he didn't budge.
"Gomen nasai." the person groaned, and Naruto realized who it was.
"I apologize, Hinata. I should have been watching where I was going." Naruto said.
Hinata froze and looked at him. It was deeper, but that was definitely Naruto's voice. He looked like Naruto as well, but his hair and eyes were different.
She activated her Byakugan and was almost blinded by the amount of chakra leaking off of him, "Naruto-kun?"
"Yes?" Naruto asked.
She stood up, "Are you really Naruto-kun?"
"Yes, I have gone through some changes, but I'm still me." Naruto said calmly. This was becoming a common response, and it was annoying.
Hinata blushed as she looked him over, somehow she knew that he was telling the truth, but still, "What are you doing here?"
"Hiashi asked me to archive my chakra. I was here to do that." Naruto said.
Hinata's eyes widened, the clan only archived chakra that was particularly special or impressive. Was it that red chakra she saw in him sometimes when she was... observing him? She blushed at that thought, then looked at him again. She noticed he had become more muscular, and his face seemed to have lost it's roundness. Her face turned scarlet as her mind wandered. She stopped her train of thought when she saw him looking at her strangely.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked. Did he have a blush? No way!
"I apologize, but I must be going now." Naruto said quickly before walking briskly around her and past the exit before he realized and turned around to leave.
Hinata just stood there dumbfounded. She knew how he was acting just now, and although she wasn't sure why he did that then, she still ran into her room with a happy smile.
Naruto was several blocks away, hopping across rooftops and breaking some of them with the force he exerted. After a while he stopped and sat against a water tower.
"What the hell just happened?" Naruto asked himself, "Well I know what happened, but why? Her smell..." he trailed off as he remembered it. Kurama's memories told him the smell was pheromones.
"And her emotions, what were those?" he wondered, "They seemed happy, but it was different. Overwhelming."
He searched Kurama's memories for an answer, and he found it. His jaw actually dropped when he realized what all that meant.
"Impossible. Nobody cares about me. She's the Hyuga heir, she of all people should hate me more than others. I killed so many of her clan. Why?" he asked.
He was going to keep pondering it when there was a pop of smoke in front of him. It revealed Kakashi, who was looking at Naruto with that annoying eye-smile of his.
"What do you want Scarecrow? I am thinking." Naruto stated, irritated.
Kakashi chuckled, "I can see that. Girl troubles?"
Naruto's eyes shot at him. His gaze tried to bore a hole in Kakashi's smug face, but only succeeded in making him smile wider.
Naruto sighed, "That's a cheap trick, using my distraction to listen in. "
"Well, I actually saw your warpath of pubescent fear and decided to follow you in case you needed help. Imagine my amusement when I find you talking to yourself about a girl. So who is it?" Kakashi prodded.
"No."
"No? That's an odd name." Kakashi grinned.
"No, I am not telling the likes of you. You will become an even bigger annoyance should I divulge anything else." Naruto said while still glaring.
Kakashi laughed again before calming down, "Well I was looking for you anyway. Here."
Naruto took the form from him, "The Chunin Exams huh? How convenient."
"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi.
"It's convenient that an opportunity to increase the strength of my opponents presents itself as soon as I fused. I would get rather irritable if I had to remain a Genin for any length of time." Naruto explained.
Kakashi nodded. He knew how much it sucked to be stronger than most everyone else, unlike what most would think.
"Well, you've got the day off, not that we've actually done anything since we got back." Kakashi said.
"You maybe. I've been in a pissing contest with my little brother, gone to a council meeting, spilled my guts to someone unexpected, gave my chakra to the Hyuga, then had another unexpected revelation. Kami, it's only been two days!" Naruto whined.
"... You done yet?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto sighed, "Yeah, but I'm still annoyed"
"Well don't frown too much, I'm sure Hinata would prefer you without the wrinkles." said Kakashi before he replaced himself with a log that exploded into splinters.
Naruto stood there panting before taking a deep breath, "Whew, need to calm down."
Naruto looked at the pulverized log, "Shouldn't have said anything about the Hyuga."
Alright, I know this chapter was short, but I watched The Last just now and then the chapter wrote itself. I'm already working on the next chapter.
That movie was awesome, though. I really enjoyed it.