Read this to avoid confusion later.

(1) Later in the chapter, Naruto will be doing clothes shopping. I am not a creative person when it comes to clothing, nor do I wish to be with Naruto. Basically his "new" outfit in my story is going to be the one he wears in Shippuden, but instead of orange pants, I changed the color to black. Again I know it's uncreative of me, but why fix it if it ain't broke I say.

For Naruto, sleep always brought good things. It was an escape, from not only the harsh world that shunned him, but from reality in general. It also brought dreams. Of one day becoming the strongest Hokage. To finally get Sakura to be his girlfriend, and have the entire village respect him. Dreams, are meant to be happy.

But, not anymore. Now his dreams made nightmares seem pleasant.

Naruto awoke with a gasp, as he shot straight up in bed, a thick layer of cold sweat covering his body. His sheets clung to him like a second skin. Taking short rasp breaths, he tried his best to banish the lingering images of terror he witnessed. His nightmare was like a macabre mosaic, thousands of different horror's were brought to him, all instant, but seemingly taking an eternity to watch. The worst part was that he hadn't been able to wake up from it.

Finally gaining control of his senses and breathing, he barely noted his heart finally start to return to it's normal rhythm. Pulling the sticky sheets off him, he wondered with an annoyed grumble if the Kyuubi was in anyway responsible for the nightmare and his inability to wake up from it sooner.

The room was dark enough he couldn't tell what time his clock said it was on the opposite wall. But, he had a good guess it was probably early morning, maybe three or four AM. Knowing there would be no way he'd be able to go back to sleep after that, he decided to take a shower to wash the sweat off himself that was already feeling disgusting beyond words.

His eyes being adjusted to the dark, he had little problem navigating his way ten feet to his bathroom door. Flipping the switch, he grunted as the bright light on the ceiling felt like blades pressing into his eyes. To his left, he was greeted by the sight of himself, although it didn't seem that way. The Naruto he remembered was happy and cheerful, always smiling and laughing even if he didn't feel like doing so. Now, a stranger looked back at him.

His frown was long and deep, with eyes that seemed tired depressed. Deep creases lined his face, in both contempt and sorrow. His hair was no longer a controlled spiky mess, rather just a pitiful mess of blonde hair, making him look like he'd been in a fight or thrown through a tumbler.

He looked away from the reflection, not wanting to see himself in the mirror. It brought back the, thankfully, fading memories of the nightmare. As if his conscious was taunting him, it showed him the death's of his teammates over and over again. Each time, he noted it grew more gruesome, warping from fact to his dream trying to draw as much of a response as it could. At one point, he even saw himself playing Zabuza's role, but his eyes were blood red, and a strange bubbling incorporeal liquid looking substance covered him.

He knew what it was. Although he had never seen it, he knew what he looked like transformed. The Kyuubi's words ran through his mind again, taunting him with something worse than death for the young jinchuuriki. Complete possession that would result in him becoming a mass murdering demon vessel.

Teetering between despair and rage at his situation, a tiny spark flashed in the blackness of the maelstrom that was his heart. It was the Third Hokage's words which he had imparted upon the young shinobi the day before. He recalled the conversation in his mind, where the Hokage both thoroughly scolded and comforted him about his self-destructive behavior. And while it may not apply to his situation with the Kyuubi, Naruto could still find strength and reassurance from it.

Looking back into the mirror, another newcomer appeared in the reflection. His jaw was set with purpose, brows knitted together, framing cerulean eyes that conveyed the soul's conviction. He made a promise upon the sword once used to kill the people he called family.

"To never run again, to never let anyone precious to me die again." He spoke out loud to his new reflection. I've always been dead serious about being Hokage, but how serious have I been about the road to get there? I don't think I ever have.

He felt foolish now, thinking back to no more than a week ago. Even after he graduated from the academy, he never practiced taijutsu on his own or tried to learn new ninjutsu. Not to even mention his non-existent genjutsu. All he did was train with his team, then do stupid bullshit that only served to distract him. It was no wonder he was so weak.

"I could be like you, and lose my will to live all together, blaming myself for their death, and dishonoring their very memory. Or, I can be strong, because I know they wouldn't want me to be anything else. It is not only my duty, but my honor to remember those who died for their village, and the tell others of their valor."

The Hokage's words rang in his mind, seeming to agree with him and encourage his new outlook on his life. "I have to be strong, because now I have the lives of three people on my shoulders. Three people who died for me."

Bringing his hand up to the mirror, he touched his reflection's hand and repeated the words of the Hokage. "I will never forget, but I will never despair. Not ever again."

Falling to one knee, Naruto breathed heavily, each inhale lighting his lungs on fire, as he let the greatsword fall from his grasp and hit the ground with a soft thud. His opponent was in no better shape, as it hunched over, using it's sword for support.

"Thanks for the workout," Naruto finally managed to wheeze out, "You can disappear now."

The shadow clone across from him simply nodded in understanding as it dispersed in a cloud of smoke, reforming into a small amount of chakra and memories as it joined again with it's master, not aware of the joining.

Looking up at the sky, Naruto guessed it was close to eight AM, judging by the position of the sun. He had never paid too close attention to survival training back at the academy, much to his displeasure. Just another mistake he'd made. He had left his apartment shortly after taking a shower, just around four AM. Running straight for Team Thirteen's training grounds, he decided to work on his kenjutsu since he was going to start using this zweilhander. That was easier said than done.

The first thing he had noticed was that even though his right arm could easily throw around the weight of the sword, his body still strained under the weight. So, he could make simple and awkward strikes if he stood still and only used his arm to move the sword. But, if he tried to move and swing horizontally, it felt not only uncomfortable because of the ease his sword arm moved, but he could throw himself off balance with the weight of the blade.

Which happened once; He tried to attack his clone with a side strike, but it had jumped back in time. As such, he blade continued to go, and his body followed, which allowed the clone to counter attack with an overhead strike to his shoulder, using the blunt end. It had hurt like hell and made his entire body want to give under the weight.

So he used the four hours of the early morning to just get used to simple maneuvers with the sword. He knew until his body was strong enough, he would have to rely on killing his enemy in one swing, especially if his opponent also had a weapon. He wouldn't be able to stand long in a duel.

Replacing the sword in it's simple leather sheathe, he readjusted the weight of it until he felt comfortable with it on his back. Just walking around with it on his back would be a workout on it's own. Now, it was time to enact step two of this morning's plan. While he was in the shower, he had given himself an honest look over on what he lacked. What he finally admitted to himself was almost sad to the genin.

His ninjutsu wasn't bad, if you counted the fact he had an S-rank forbidden jutsu. Besides that, he knew the henge and substitution along with his own shameless variation of the henge, Sexy Jutsu. Which would be completely pointless against someone who wasn't a total closet pervert. Even still, he was a little proud of it.

So his next stop would be the library where they kept D-rank to B-rank ninjutsu scrolls. Even then, he could only gain access to D-rank and 'safe' C-rank jutsu. Until he became a Chunin, he wouldn't gain full access to the library. A-rank and above were kept in a vault inside the Hokage tower, which was guarded by two ANBU. Naruto had to admit with a slight feeling of pride that it was because of his stealing of the forbidden scroll that caused them to install the new safety feature.

The idea had occurred to him that if he had enough chakra to make a thousand shadow clones, a simple D-rank or C-rank jutsu should be no problem. Starting to feel excited at learning a new jutsu, he decided to jog to the library.

He only jogged for about five minutes before he collapsed on a bench. How the hell did Zabuza manage to run around with this thing?

Hinata hummed to herself happily as she replaced a book about medicine back to the shelf. Searching the aisle, she tried to find the right book on a healing balm that disinfected and formed an artificial scab over small cuts. Today was Sunday, the day she got off from not only training but from any clan responsibilities. She had wanted to go visit Naruto, but he hadn't returned home yet from his mission. She felt a little worried, but knew that he was on an important escort mission.

She smiled to herself, as she finally found the book she had wanted. Taking the book along with the Encyclopedia of Known Herbs, she headed towards the front of the library to sit at a table and take notes off the books. She knew her father would disprove of her study of medicine so she couldn't loan them out. Her clan was supposed to be strong, ruthless, and never faltering. The heiress wanted nothing to do with it however, only wanting to help people, through fighting and healing.

Just as she was about to sit down, the silence of the library was was shattered by a loud crash of steel and books. Snapping her view over, startled by the loud sound, she made her trademark 'eep' as she saw Naruto standing, very still, by a knocked over cart of books. She couldn't see his face, but could clearly see the gigantic sword that was attached to him. It also seemed to be the culprit which knocked down the cart.

She laughed to herself as he muttered a sorry to anyone within hearing range and picked the cart back up before starting to replace the books. Placing her books down, she walked over with a slight hop in her step, glad to see him alive and well. She was also immensely curious towards the new weapon. She had to admit it looked cool on him. Bending over, she reached out to grab a book, only to bump hands with Naruto. Feeling her face flush with chagrin, she pulled her hand back quickly, and grasped it with her other hand against her chest. The warmth from his touch was fleeting, but it was wonderful.

He had been not only embarrassed, but annoyed at the extra appendage that now was with him. He didn't think about the angle which it jutted out at when he turned the corner, and the blade had caught the cart and pulled it down as he passed. Grumbling, he had squatted down and brought the cart back up and started filling it back up, trying not to acknowledge the inquiring eyes.

That was the last thing he needed, was the stares. He had noticed that on his way over that the villagers had been looking at him even more different than before. Civilians seemed to be unsettled, if not straight scared, of his weapon. That didn't bother him, maybe now they'd at least stop giving him glares now that he had something that could easily destroy them. He knew he shouldn't think like that, but he couldn't help it. The ninja, were the ones that surprised him. While some still had their hateful looks, now he also received looks of pity, and he knew why.

Before he could think any more about it however, he felt a gentle, warm hand meet his own for a brief second before pulling away. Looking over, his face raised into one of honest surprise as he easily recognized the shy kunoichi that was looking away with a shy smile on her face. He almost felt ashamed of himself, all this time he'd been thinking he had lost every precious person to him, when he still had a friend left. "Hinata-chan. . ." he whispered, more to himself than her.

Having gotten over her fainting spells, she still could feel herself overpowered by embarrassment at times, especially when he does things like whisper her name. It sent her teenage mind reeling to romance novels she had read before, and the indications of a man whispering a female's name to her. "Naruto-kun, how are you?" she asked, finding her voice as she reached out and picked up another book.

"Besides letting the whole library know I'm here? Fine." He replied, a sheepish smile on his face.

After picking up the mess, Naruto and Hinata returned to the table where she had placed her books before helping the clumsy boy. Standing awkwardly, Naruto looked around trying to think of something to say or do. To be honest, he felt ashamed of himself for forgetting about her, but at the same time if it was best if she stayed away from him. His nightmare flashed before him briefly, and he shuddered to think of him harming Hinata like that. A strange hurt filled his heart as he thought of her dead, lifeless corpse staring up at him through unseeing lavender eyes. It was unlike the feeling he had when he lost his team, but not too far from it.

"S-So, Naruto-kun, how did your mission go? I-I hope Kenshin-sama didn't pull too many pranks on you." Hinata asked, remembering with a laugh the time Kenshin had replaced Naruto's shampoo with pink hair dye.

Her question broke him from his reverie, but her question wasn't going to be one that was easily answered.

She was instantly alerted by the subtle change in his face. While she may be ashamed by it, she was an expert Naruto watcher, having stalked him for years. She knew whatever he was about to say would be a lie.

"He. . . he's fine!" he exclaimed, a wide grin on his face.

She wasn't fooled, not in the least. The grin not only looked false, but seemed to be an ugly thing on his face. But, she decided that for whatever reason, he didn't seem to want to talk about it. So she wouldn't pry it from him.

"Ne, Hinata-chan, sorry to run like this, but I gotta go get some jutsu scrolls. Maybe we could hang out later?" he asked, trying to distance himself from her. He wasn't sure if he could hold up this facade much longer.

Not registering his attempt to get away, she just nodded and smiled. "Sure Naruto-kun, m-maybe lunch? Ichiraku's?" she asked, knowing he would love to go to his favorite spot.

Naruto shook his head, surprising the kunoichi. "Nah, not Ichiraku's, do you know another place? To be honest, I wanna start eating better, but I don't really know how. I heard if you eat a lot of meat it's good for your muscles though!" It was true, he wanted to eat better. He remembered Kenshin always telling him he'd be an oompa loompa for the rest of his life if he didn't start eating a balanced diet. Ninja had to stay in top shape to survive, and that included a good diet.

Feeling slightly shocked, she nodded her head to answer his question.

Satisfied by her nod, he offered a quick salute before backing up. "Alright, lunch it is, I'll meet you at the park by the clothing emporium at noon! See ya then!" he then turned on his heels and briskly walked towards the scroll section, letting his face drop from it's mask and into it's seemingly normal frown now.

Naruto cursed at himself as he leisurely strolled through the clothing store he was meeting Hinata in front of in an hour. He was annoyed with himself on two counts. One being that most store owners wouldn't sell him product, so he had to rely on charities to get the clothes he needed. He was annoyed by this, because it never occurred to him until now to use a henge to slip in as a bland looking male civilian, dressed in a dark blue kimono. His sword was also transformed, to look like a small necklace that hung around his neck with the lion.

Two, he was annoyed by the fact they didn't carry anything in orange. While he wasn't looking for anything like his old jumpsuit, he still wanted something with a hint of orange to it, he liked the color.

This was step three of the day, get new clothing to take on missions. Kenshin always scolded him for wearing something so vivid, but then again always said at least they wouldn't aim for him first.

The clothing store had three floors, all of which had boring music gently playing through overhead speakers. He'd been in here for the better part of an hour, and had completely searched the first two floors for clothes he liked only to come up short. Coming to the third floor via an elevator, he prayed he would find what he wanted.

The doors parted, and Naruto almost felt like jumping for joy as directly in front of the elevator doors was an outfit that resembled his old one, but was mostly black with orange on the chest. There was a pair of pants too, black in color.(1) There were three sets of the clothing left, which he greedily grabbed with a smile as he mentally counted in his head how much money he had left; Enough to spare.

The next week passed quickly for Naruto, spending almost all his time training as hard as he possibly could. From five AM to noon he practiced kenjutsu and taijutsu. He still wasn't used to the weight of the sword, and as such he started thinking of ways to incorporate fighting moves with sword slashes. It was rather effective. Instead of focusing on not throwing himself around, he would let the sword turn him, the sword would bite into the ground, and he would thrust out with his leg, then bring the greatsword over in a one handed swing and bring down on his clone.

His powerful right arm also proved useful in taijutsu as well. He couldn't practice any normal style, for he didn't have a teacher in it. So until he found a teacher to show him an actual style, he kept to his own taijutsu style, but tweaked it. Instead of flailing his arms and legs about, he kept his moves simple and brutal. No wasted punches or kicks.

Fighting his clone, he made a quick jab with left into it's solar plexus when it left it open. He found that if he put enough chakra into his clone, it would be able to stand one or two direct punches. The clone was stunned, just long enough for the real Naruto to follow up with a devastating right hook that turned the clone one-eighty. Then, without wasting any time, he stepped forward and wrapped his right arm around the lower portion of the clone's head. Then, with a quick jerk he made the clone disappear.

After that, he'd get lunch with Hinata if she was free. Much to his relief, she never asked about his team or the failed mission he participated in. If she had looked up what happened, she didn't bring it up either. While he knew he was running from the inevitable, he wanted to keep it from her as long as possible.

Then, he would try to learn new jutsu. The key word being try. The first jutsu he had started to learn was, Doton: Small Earth Wall Jutsu. The scroll explained that the jutsu would make a wall of earth shoot up from the ground roughly a foot from the user, normally being about four feet tall and three feet wide, depending on how much chakra was put into it.

"Usha, Uma, I!" Naruto yelled out, followed by slamming his right hand into the ground. He felt the chakra mold into his hands, as well as it leaving his body as it went into the earth, but still nothing happened. Growling in anger, Naruto formed the signs again and slammed his hand into the ground once more. Still, nothing happened. Starting to feel depressed at the ninjutsu turning out to be just like his bunshin, he fell to the ground with a grunt staring at the sky.

Minutes passed as he watched the slow, fluffy white clouds travel along the blue sky to destinations unknown to even them. Feeling calm, he sat back up and crossed his arms, trying to figure out what he did wrong. Step one, form hand signs to mold chakra. At the same time, move chakra from your center to the area where the jutsu will come from. In my case, my hands. Step two, slam hand onto the ground and let the chakra go. . . wait. Naruto thought, coming to a slight realization at the end.

Jumping back up, he took a deep breath and centered himself, concentrating on the normal flow of his chakra as it traveled through him. "Usha, Uma, I!" Slamming his hand on the ground once more, he felt the chakra move out of his hand and into the ground. Now however, he continued to push his chakra into the earth and concentrated as hard as he could for it to grab onto the earth and pull it up from below. Then, much to his joy, he heard the ground split open and a wall emerged, three feet tall and misshapen, but it came up. Ending the chakra flow, the earth wall lost form and crumbled into a pile at his feet.

"Alright! That's what I was doing wrong! I need a constant flow of chakra in order to form the wall!" he exclaimed to himself, pumping his fist into the air. Then, looking over at the scroll he gave it a little sneer, wishing it had mentioned that. Now all I have to work on is chakra control, then I'm good! With a newfound motivation to perfect the jutsu, he formed the seals again and brought another malformed wall up.

The two week break from active duty was up, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had thought long and hard about what it was he was to do with Naruto. This type of thing had only happened twice before, with a sole genin being the survivor of his team, and not having another team he could migrate to. If that happened, the genin in question either had to wait until the academy needed another body to form a team, or they could resign from being a shinobi.

He knew Naruto would never quit being a ninja, nor would he particularly enjoy sitting off-duty for another three months until the next graduation. But luckily, time seemed to be on the blonde genin's side.

A light rasp sounded at his door, followed by his assistant opening it with a bow. "Hokage-sama, Naruto is here."

"See him in." Sarutobi replied, watching his assistant disappear behind the corner.

After a moment, the blonde genin whom he'd been thinking about walked through the door and offered a slight bow. "Good morning Hokage-sama, what'd ya call me for?"

I'll never get used to him being formal. . . Sarutobi thought with a mental sigh. "As you should be aware Naruto, your two week break is over. Has it been sufficient enough?" he asked, more than willing to give the rookie ninja more time off if needed.

Naruto nodded his head in response, thinking with a mental smile about the things he'd accomplished in the two weeks. He now had a better grasp on how to use his new weapon, along with better control over his shadow clones, thanks to the constant sparring. His ninjutsu had improved as well. He almost had full control over the small earth wall, able to now make it as tall as himself and about three feet in length. He also started learning a low level Katon jutsu, it was a small scale version of the fireball technique. He knew he could pull off a higher level version, but all fire techniques were sealed away for chunin eyes only. They were considered too dangerous for genin to learn, for there was a chance that if preformed wrong, they could ignite their lungs on fire with the technique. He also noted that he gained a small amount of muscle in his body, much to the teen's delight.

"I'm fine, thank you Hokage-sama. I'm just eager to find out what's going to happen to me now." Naruto was no fool. He knew that without a team he would either be reassigned or benched.

"Well, I'm happy to tell you that you won't be benched – yet."

"Yet?" Naruto asked, not liking what that meant.

Sarutobi laughed, hearing the small quiver of doubt in the young man's voice. "It's nothing too serious, so don't look so nervous. In one months time, the Chunin exams will take place. In that time, you will either have to find a team that will take you. Mind you that they'd have to lose their third member for you. Or, if you can sufficiently prove to me that you can handle it, I'll let you join the exam by yourself. However," Sarutobi quickly said, interrupting any ideas Naruto might get, "that would be highly unethical and dangerous. You would have to be almost Chunin level yourself in order to impress me. So I suggest you focus on getting on a team."

Frowning at the last part, Naruto wondered if he would be able to find anyone willing to replace someone for him.

"I've already handed out the forms for willing participants to sign. I've instructed the jonin sensei's to contact you if one member of their team decides to not participate, but if the other two agree to it."

Naruto brightened up a bit at that, he might have a chance after all.

"You have one month Naruto, good luck."

Walking away from the Hokage Tower, Naruto had his hands stuffed in his pockets, keeping his head down and watched his feet as he walked. Now what? If I want to enter the chunin exams I have to find a team. . . easier said than done. He thought to himself, not noticing the three people standing in the road and leisurely talking amongst each other.

Naruto grunted as he felt himself run into another being, soft and easily knocked over.

"Ow! You asshole watch where you're going!"

Looking up in surprise, he recognized the voice, even if it felt like it was from a different time long ago. "Sakura-chan?" Then, realizing what he did, he rubbed the back of his head and bent over with his arm extended. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

The pink haired kunoichi glared up at the novice swordsman with a glare. Slapping his hand away, she stood up by herself.

Feeling shocked at her refusal to help, he was about to say something to the girl he once had a crush on when he was interrupted by a brash voice. "Oi! Naruto-baka, where the hell do you get off knocking a girl over like that? Huh?"

Looking over towards the voice, he saw Kiba Inazuka a genin that wasn't much more skilled than him, and the emo-king Sasuke Uchiha. Both glaring at him.

"Didn't you hear me?" Naruto asked, his tone neutral, "I apologized and told her I wasn't looking where I was going."

That didn't serve to calm the rash hormone driven teenager down any. Maybe if I beat Naruto up, Sakura will finally let me take her out! "Yea right, you probably did that just so you could cop a feel while she fell!" Turning towards Sakura, he gave her a concerned look. "Did he do something like that?"

Sakura looked like she actually considered it as she tried to remember it. "I. . .don't remember." She answered honestly, although felt creeped out by the idea of it.

"Now listen –" Naruto started, before being cut off again.

"You really are a sick bastard Naruto-teme! Right now, you and me, our training field's not too far. I'll kick your ass in Sakura's honor!" Kiba shouted, Akamaru barking ontop his head. The little puppy didn't necessarily agree with his master's flawed logic, but felt like a good fight.

"Tch. . ." Naruto replied, his eye twitching for a second as he felt annoyed by the Inazuka's obvious attempt to rile him. "Whatever, I don't have time for you Kiba, get out of my way."

Growling, Kiba grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his collar and glared at him. "You ain't got a choice in the matter. Either fight me, or I'll just wail on you until you're black and blue."

Faster than the feral ninja could comprehend, Naruto's right hand flashed up and tightly clamped down on his. Holding back a grunt of pain, his eyes widened at the ease with which he removed his hand from his collar. "One more time dog breath. I don't have time for you." Throwing his hand to the side roughly, Kiba stumbled aside, more out of shock than anything else. Is this the same Naruto Uzumaki? The dead last?

Walking calmly past Kiba, Naruto rolled his head, feeling his neck pop. "Naruto." He heard from behind him, recognizing the voice that belonged to Sasuke. "Fight me."

Sighing, Naruto turned his head slightly towards the Uchiha, stopping. "Care to give me a good reason why?"

Sasuke smirked, as he walked closer to the blonde ninja. "Fight me, or I tell the Hyuuga girl what happened on your mission."

Naruto's eyes widened as he slowly turned towards the raven haired youth, murder in his eyes. "What was that?" he asked rhetorically, he'd heard him loud and clear.

Sasuke smirked, knowing he'd hit his button perfectly. "I overheard Kakashi talking about it with one of the other Jonin senseis. I also was in the library the day you lied to her about that mission, and the reason why your team's dead." He hoped he had read him right that day, and that the girl meant as much to him as he thought.

Naruto bristled as he felt anger rush into his heart like a tsunami. "Do you have a death wish bastard?" he asked, trying to keep his rage in check as he swore he felt the red chakra start to pour from his center.

Sasuke was just interested in how far Naruto had advanced since the academy, not to mention that he was curious about the new weapon Naruto had. But he knew he had no chance of losing to this third rate shinobi.

"If you don't want me to tell her, just meet me at team seven's training ground in one hour." Sasuke spoke, before turning away with a smile. Sakura just stuck her tongue out at the pissed off shinobi before chasing after the prodigy with compliments and declarations of love. Kiba glared at the boy before running off to follow his team.

Clenching his fist tightly, Naruto felt a low growl escape his throat before he screamed and punched the concrete wall next to him with his right fist. The crater he made did little to calm him however, as he glared daggers into the Uchiha's back. You want a fight that badly? Fine. I'll make sure you regret it!

Running off towards team seven's training ground, the image of Hinata looking at him with hate filled eyes towards him occupied his mind. This, was one battle that he couldn't afford to lose, not if he wanted to keep his only friend.

And another chapter down! Sorry to any Sasuke lover's but I rather dislike the boy. This won't be a Sasuke bashing fic or anything, but it will contain him being a bit of an asshole at times.

I am also aware that Sasuke's knowledge of both Naruto's team's death and his inability to tell Hinata is one of those convenient coincidences but I needed a good reason for him to fight Sasuke and this seemed like a good idea. I wish to portray Naruto as someone who won't fight at the drop of a hat anymore, and this seemed like a good avenue to display that.

And now this is totally off topic, but I hope that maybe someone could inform me as to why there are so many Naruto harems about? I swear I can't look for good fanfiction without bringing up at least five harem stories.

Now, this isn't something I think is bad, for I will never knock another author's creative mind. I'm just curious as to why they've seemed to grow in popularity. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and I can't wait to read the new reviews! ^-^ (Seriously, I check about every two hours. Pathetic isn't it?)

Shinobi no Ryu