Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. Here is the next chapter, and, as I promised, it's a little more exciting.

READ THE DISHCLAIMEH: Yaddy-yaddy-yada, I don't own Naruto, k?

Naruto and Hinata made their way slowly to Ichiraku in silence. It seemed that Naruto was too busy thinking about Ramen, and listening to his stomach growl irritably, while Hinata was simply too shy to say anything.

However, the young Hyuuga did lag slightly behind, so she could watch her new team-mate. Every time his stomach rumbled he would pout, and quietly tell it to shut up, which made Hinata giggle. Fortunately, her giggles were drowned out by Naruto's cries for food, and they continued to walk through the Konohagakure without so much as a glance to each other.

Uzumaki was the first to break the silence, as he suddenly stopped, and turned to face Hinata; much to her surprise. She quickly stopped, remaining a few feet away from him. She tried not to look into the cerulean blue eyes, which observed her blushing face for a few seconds.

"Say, Hinata-chan, what do you think of the team?" he asked curiously. Much to her embarrassment, he continued to watch her carefully, causing her to flush a deeper red.

"A-ano, I r-really like it, Naruto-kun." she replied briefly, twiddling her fingers nervously. She opened her mouth again, to elaborate, but found that no more words would come. The blonde haired boy nodded slowly, and carefully looked her face over, trying to determine whether or not she was being truthful.

After a few moments, Naruto realized she wasn't going to continue. "Well, I'm not too sure about it, yet..." he began, but started when he saw the sudden look of disappointment on the Hyuuga girls face. "Ah, don't get me wrong! I like you, Hinata, but I'm just not too sure of Shino-san or Kurenai-sensei!" he continued quickly, grinning sheepishly. He then went on to describe his thoughts on his other team-mate and sensei, but Hinata didn't hear another word.

'Naruto... just said he liked me...' she thought, her head feeling fuzzy.

'Naruto just said he liked me.' came her mind's voice again, louder and clearer this time, though the light-headedness intensified.

"... I mean, I'm sure Shino's great, I just don't think... woah, hey, Hinata-chan, are you ok? You're lookin' a little red again!" Naruto exclaimed anxiously, as he noticed how red the heiress' face had become. Her eyes were stretched wide, and her body had gone rigid, her arms straight by her sides. Uzumaki quickly closed the gap between them, and waved his hand in her face. No reaction.

'NARUTO SAID HE LIKES ME!'

"Hinata-chan, are you okay? You need a doctor or something?" he asked, poking her arm nervously, but Hinata remained still.

'NARUTO, MY NARU-KUN, SAID HE LIKES ME- hey, what is that?'

Hinata came back from her mental screaming when she suddenly felt something cool and soft on her forehead. She blinked, and looked up... to see Naruto's hand resting against her forehead, with her crush's face barely inches away from her own.

"Wow, Hinata-chan, you really are hot..." commented the Jinchuriki, oblivious to how his comment could be taken. Hinata, however, was not so oblivious, and she let out a small squeak and keeled over, flopping onto the dusty road.

Naruto, being the calm and collected individual he was, took a moment to consider this disturbing turn of events.

"Holy shit! I killed Hinata!" he bellowed, bending down to lift Hinata's head from the dirt. He proceeded to shake her violently, watching her hair flop over her deeply blushing, vacant, face. He began to panic.

"I gotta get her to a hospital! Shit!" he cried desperately to no-one in particular, and scooped Hinata up bridal-style, and sprinted off... in the opposite direction to the hospital.

Naruto quickly realised that he didn't know WHERE the hospital was.

He began to curse harshly under his breath, using words that might even make a certain Jashinist blush. He looked down at Hinata's unconscious face, and felt his own cheeks burn a little.

'She's kinda cute when she blushes like that...' he thought to himself, chuckling lightly. However, he mentally scolded himself, realizing this was neither the appropriate time nor place to have such thoughts.

After about fifteen minutes of running around the village in circles, attempting to find someone that might point him in the right direction, he was almost on the verge of pulling his hair out in panic. Hinata still lay unconscious in his arms, and people simply leered or told him to shove off when he asked them about the hospitals location. He was really starting to feel how ignorant and stupid the villagers could be when it came to him.

Naruto skidded to a halt in front of a small, wooden bench, in the middle of a quiet area which he recognized to be just south of the Ninja Academy. He lay Hinata down on the bench, and leaned over her, gently shaking her shoulders.

"Come on, Hinata, wakey wakey...!" the Jinchuriki sang, his voice starting to crack in desperation. It seemed to have no effect, however, and Hinata simply continued to lay there, completely still except for the rise and fall of her chest with every breath.

Naruto shook his head, and flopped onto the bench next to her. He put his head in his hands, trying to ignore the discomfort the bench was causing his rear and his legs. Though he was a ninja, Hinata was roughly the same size and weight of him, and he was starting to feel a little worn-out.

However, he wasn't called a stamina freak for nothing, and he was quickly back on his feet, Hinata now slung over his shoulder. He tried to ignore the fact that the Hyuuga's butt was pressed against his cheek, which made him feel extremely embarrassed, and thought about what to do. He turned slightly, and looked at the Ninja academy roughly a kilo-metre away from him.

He was just thinking that he should maybe take Hinata to see Iruka (he always knew what to do), when he heard a loud, screeching voice to his right, only a few metres away.

"Kiba-san, keep that MUTT away from Sasuke-kun!" the voice yelped.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto quickly recognized her high-pitched, angry tones, and excitedly ran towards the source of the voice, apparently forgetting the events earlier that morning.

Sakura was wagging her finger in Kiba's annoyed face, as Akamaru tried to jump up at Sasuke's face. The young Uchiha was unsuccessfully trying to push the dog away, and Sakura was telling Kiba off for not controlling his partner.

"I told you, Akamaru thinks that Sasuke-san's hair looks like the ass of a duck, and he's really freakin' hungry!" explained an impatient Kiba, but Sakura continued to screech at him.

"Don't say that about my Sasuke-kun! His hair is awesome!" complained the pink-haired Kunoichi loudly, glancing towards her crush, hoping he would suddenly declare his love for her and marry her. Kiba simply rolled his eyes, but refused to call Akamaru off. Secretly, he was enjoying the show.

Sasuke, however, showed only increasing irritation as the little pup attempted to scamper up his leg, making longing whines as he drooled over the Uchiha's shoes. "Jeez, why'd I have to be stuck in a team of morons?" he muttered to himself quietly, but Sakura heard him, and squealed. It was at this point that the young Uzumaki reached the trees by the edge of the training ground, but stopped as he started to laugh at the sight of his enemy in such distress.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, don't say that! At least we're not stuck with the baka, Naruto!" she simpered, her expression becoming cold as she said Naruto's name.

The blonde-haired ninja felt a stab of sadness as his long-time friend and crush regarded him in such a cruel way, but he continued to listen in, unnoticed.

"Hey, Naruto isn't that bad! I mean, sure, he's kinda dumb, and he can be a jerk sometimes, but he's kinda funny, too!" came Kiba's angry retort, and Akamaru barked in agreement, wagging his tail.

"Shut up, dog boy! You know why I think Naruto's such a baka, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, her voice dripping with sycophancy, but her cold expression remained.

"Hn," came Sasuke's deeply interested reply, as he straightened his shorts out, wiping the drool from his knees. Kiba said nothing, but listened with a slight snarl on his face, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Naruto, who was just as interested as he was miserable to hear his faults, remained silent and unseen. Offhandedly, it was impressive how even Akamaru, with such a sensitive nose, was able to pick up his scent.

"It's because he has no parents! No-one to teach him right from wrong! He's selfish and bratty, and he's all alone." proclaimed Sakura, her arms crossed, a hateful sneer across her face.

Kiba was actually knocked speechless, though he could still feel the anger burn within his stomach. 'How could somebody actually be this stupid!?' he though furiously, his hands curling into fists, yet he was still too shocked to say anything.

Sasuke, though not visibly, had been stung by this comment. His mind was racing with thoughts of the crushing loneliness he had endured throughout his life, the nights he had spent on his own in the huge Uchiha complex, crying. He thought of his mother, his father, his other clan members, and last of all, he thought of his brother. The one man who had caused him such grief, and his own anger grew.

"Sakura..." he growled, barely managing to keep his voice level.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" she replied sweetly, starting to smile at him, but stopped as she saw the malice in his deep, onyx eyes.

"What do you know about being alone?"

All four team members whipped their heads around in surprise, and saw Naruto standing a few metres away, his fists clenched tightly, his mouth twisted into a vicious snarl. His bangs cast a shadow over his eyes, but Sasuke could feel them glaring at Sakura.

"Oh, it's just you, baka." snorted Sakura, her previously surprised expression quickly replaced with another hateful sneer. Kiba was tempted to hit her to shut her up, but was cut off as Naruto spoke again.

"I said, what do YOU know about being alone!?" repeated the blonde ninja.

Sakura and Kiba flinched as they heard his voice louder this time, and noticed that it had changed.

His usual light-hearted, jolly voice had been twisted into a deep, rumbling and hateful growling tone. Sasuke could actually feel the rage in Naruto's voice... and it scared him a little.

Naruto's head lifted, and Sakura had to stifle a scream as she saw his face. The usually light blue eyes were now a deep blood-red, with a thin black slit in the middle of each. They were practically screaming with fury and evil as they glared hatefully at the pinkette. His teeth had grown longer, and pointed, and the whisker marks on his cheeks were now deep, bloody slashes.

'What the hell happened to the dobe?' Sasuke thought fearfully.

Sakura said nothing , merely standing rigid, trembling. Naruto raised his arm to point at her, and she saw that his fingers were now tipped with wicked-sharp claws.

"You have NO idea what it's like to lose something so precious! But... I think I can change that!" snarled Naruto evilly, and took a single, menacing step towards her. Akamaru began to whine fearfully, as a bubbling red chakra began to ooze from Naruto's skin. It twisted and churned around his form, and everyone felt the demonic power emanating from the young ninja.

Sasuke and Kiba gasped, and Sakura screeched, as the Jinchuriki suddenly disappeared in a flash of red chakra, and re-appeared beside the young kunoichi. She flinched as a clawed hand slapped forcefully to her shoulder, while the other dug it's fingers into her forearm, causing blood to leak from her wrists.

"Let's start with your arm!" proclaimed Naruto triumphantly, and gave a hard yank on Sakura's shoulder, causing her to scream in pain. Blood spurted over the blonde ninja's grinning face as he tore her arm clean off.

"Holy shit! Naruto tore her fucking arm off!" bellowed Kiba fearfully, as he felt his stomach churn from the gruesome sight before him. Sasuke said nothing, and could only stand there, trembling, his eyes stretched wide open in terror.

Sakura continued to scream for a few seconds, before slumping forward, unconscious. Naruto let her fall to the ground, and threw her dismembered, bloody arm to the floor, the red liquid flowing onto the grass.

'Oh my god... he's coming for me next,' was the young Uchiha's only thought as he stared at the Jinchuriki, unable to move.

'I can't die yet! I need to avenge my clan! I need to kill Itachi! I can't die yet! Not now!' he screamed in his head.

Naruto's hateful glare finally turned to Sasuke, and the only survivor of the great Uchiha clan felt a warm liquid run down his leg. He had wet his pants.

Shit.

Ooh! What will happen next...? Oh, and by the way, if you have any suggestions, thoughts, or criticism, please review. I love 'dem reviews.