Chapter 8

Something was up. The entire way to the Golden Leaf, Naruto was oddly silent. Something was not right here.

I knew for a fact it wasn't the villagers. Even with their scornful looks and hateful comments, Naruto always kept a smile on his face. I wasn't sure if that was admirable… or dangerous.

Now though, he was silent. He had a small smile, easily keeping up with us. The giveaways was his tense posture, and his lack of chatting. Anywhere else Naruto would be running his mouth about ramen, being Hokage, or even his training. Now… not a word was being spoken.

Falling back a bit from Sakura and Kakashi, I begin to walk next to Naruto. I look at him with an ever-so-slightly concerned expression and say "Naruto, something wrong?"

The blond-haired genin looks at me with an odd expression, which disappears as quickly as it appeared. He smiles widely and says "No, nothing is wrong."

I frown at the blatant lie I was just told. "Naruto, you can tell me, remember? I already know."

Naruto's smile falters for just a second. He tries to put it back, but I had already seen it. He notices my look and knew he was busted. He sighs, then says "This restaurant, the 'Golden Leaf' or whatever, they won't let me in. Nowhere will."

Mentally, I was a little surprised. He even wasn't admitted access to places?! Not destroying Konoha is feeling more and more like a mistake. I look at him with a barely concealed expression of anger. "And why not?!"

Naruto looks down at his stomach, and I instantly deduce why. "The Kyuubi?" Naruto nods.

"With that damn fox in there, I can't go anywhere. People think I'm a demon." Naruto turns up to me with another odd look. "I'm not a demon, right Sasuke?"

I was not ready for that. The statement completely caught me off guard. I blink a few times, processing the words. When I do, I chuckle lightly and say "No, of course not! You aren't a demon in any way Naruto!"

What I didn't know at the time was that this was a turning point. That question meant more to him than I had realized, but I had given the right answer. With an expression of pure relief, Naruto grins. And this wasn't a fake grin. This was genuine. "Thanks Sasuke. I needed that."

I grin in response, patting Naruto a little too hard on the back, making the genin stumble forwards with a grunt. Grin growing in response, I say "No problem. And if there is any sort of denial for your entry, I'll let them know what 'Uchiha-sama' can do."

With that, we walk back up to Kakashi and Sakura. Now that Naruto's spirits were bolstered, he was chatting away like normal. Kakashi was viewing him with an eye smile, somehow still navigating the village like it was nothing. Even Sakura, known for being annoyed by the slightest thing related to Naruto, was happy to hear his voice. It was too odd to hear the loud-mouthed knucklehead not speaking.

After a few more minutes of pleasant chatting, we finally reach the Golden Leaf. Kakashi and Sakura stroll right in, but me and Naruto hesitate. I turn to Naruto and say "Ready?" Naruto nods and we walk inside.

The entryway was a very nice design. It had a red carpet up to the stand that held menus, silverware, and other items. A single man, well dressed and smiling, was standing there. Beyond him was the dining room. A couple chandeliers, gold and green carpet, tables for formal occasions and booths for those just coming to eat, like us.

The waiter's smile widens as he recognizes the man that just walked in. "Ah, Kakashi-sama! What an honor to have you come. Will it be the two as usual?"

Kakashi shakes his head and says "No no, I have more than two." Gesturing to us all, he continues. "My newly formed genin team would like to eat in with me."

The waiter looks at us, seeming to examine us. His eyes land on Naruto and my own eyes narrow, waiting for a nasty response. Instead, the waiter's eyes just continue to Sakura.

I blink in surprise, not expecting that at all. I look to Naruto, who is similarly confused. He suddenly grins though and pumps his fist in victory. I smile lightly at that.

The waiter grabs some menus and gestures to the dining room with a smile. "Would you like a table or booth?"

Kakashi gestures to a random booth and says "Booth is fine." The waiter nods and leads us into the dining room.

Within the few moments it took us to arrive at our seats, people had already noticed us. Some were in awe that Kakashi Hatake, the famous copy ninja, was here. Others were once again curious about my new looks. Most, however, looked at Naruto. And these weren't good looks. They were filled with more hatred than I had ever seen.

"They are blinded by knowledge they do not possess." I raise an eyebrow at the sudden statement by Kurama. "What do you mean?"

"The people here, their hate is not genuine. It is a product of misinformation, and a lack of sealing knowledge. They do not understand how sealing works, and as such, believe Naruto IS me, not containing me."

I look around, thinking about the statement. It did seem to make sense, but it doesn't reduce the anger I felt from the people being so quick to judge.

After the short conversation with Kurama, we got to our seat. We all sit down, Kakashi and Sakura on one side, me and Naruto on the other. We get our menus and order drinks. Things seemed to be going well.

"KAKASHI!" That loud, boisterous voice. It couldn't be. One look at Kakashi's face told me otherwise.

A blur of green appears in my vision, and suddenly a man is there. That green onesie, the enormous eyebrows, the bowl cut hair, and the sharp jawline. There was no doubt about it. It was Might Gai, back from the dead.

Gai, gigantic grin in place, wraps an arm around Kakashi's neck in a friendly manner. "My friend, your flame of youth burns brightly today!"

Gai turns to us, and he says "Ah! A few genin, and the magic number of three. Don't tell me Kakashi. You got a team finally, didn't you!"

Kakashi sighs in exasperation. "How observant of you Gai." As this goes on, I notice three more people approaching us.

The first looked practically identical to Gai, except the smaller eyebrows and rounded eyes. The second was a girl with twin buns in her hair. And the third had milk-white eyes and a formal looking kimono. This was team 10, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji Hyuga.

Lee approaches us with that strange frown in place. He suddenly bows deeply and says "I am honored to meet another team of genin. My name is Rock Lee!"

Tenten looks at her teammate with a look of exasperation and says "Lee, no need to be so formal!" Lee looks up at his teammate with a confused expression, then nods. He straightens himself back up, but now with a less tense posture.

Tenten turns to us with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about him, he just gets a little too excited."

I wave her off, noticing that Kakashi was too busy messing with Gai to speak with us. "No problem in it."

Lee suddenly locks eyes with me and I blink in surprise. Lee's gaze hardens, but that is about it. "You are Sasuke Uchiha, correct?"

I look at Lee with an odd look, nodding slowly. "Yes… I am Sasuke Uchiha. Why?" I am getting a bad feeling from this.

Lee seems to breathe out a slight sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was uncertain with those marks on your face, but now I can ask. Would you please fight me?!"

I look at Lee oddly again, then at the restaurant. "Well… maybe now isn't the best time for that…"

Lee looked ready to try again, but Gai suddenly steps in. "Lee, I already told you this. There is a place for our YOUTHFUL ENERGY, and a place to calm down and relax. This place is a place to relax, alright?"

Lee turns to Gai, then bows deeply. "Of course Gai-sensei! I am very sorry for my mistake! As a punishment, I will go around the Golden Leaf one thousand times on my pinkie!"

Gai grins, flashing a thumbs up at the absurd statement. Us? We are all confused and very weirded out. Even me, and I know this would happen. Gai then says "Great choice Lee, but let's do it after we rest our stomachs." Lee nods and straightens up again.

Gai turns to Kakashi with a calmer smile and says "We were just about to leave Kakashi. Nice seeing you." Kakashi nods and waves the team off.

I watched them on their way out, curious if there were any changes. And then, I notice him. Neji Hyuga, prodigy in his own right, was staring right at me. Eyes narrowed and posture tense, I knew this wasn't a friendly look. He was out for me, and I didn't like that one bit.

Fighting a Byakugan user without the Sharingan would be tough. I'll need to see if I have the Sharingan still after this. That would be useful.

Filing the thought to the back of my head for later, I turn back to my companions. At this point, the waiter had come back and asked us for our food. We all say our orders, with Naruto being the most excited. I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

After that, we all turn back to conversation. Me, being who I am, just began to tune it out and look around. They were just talking about Gai, Lee, and their huge eyebrows anyways.

The place really was nice, and quite fancy too. There was a lot of people, so it was definitely a popular restaurant. The people were interesting. I could see some ninja around, eating and chatting away without a care in the world. And then there were the civilians. They were eyeing us from time to time, but never out right speaking. I could see their scorn for Naruto, but also their restraint. I could at least thank them for that, if thanks was even the right word.

I eventually got bored of just looking around and tried activating my Sharingan. I stare at the table, my vision going blurry as I concentrate on the chakra within my brain. It retained my memories, so I should have kept the physical changes too, right?

Searching very carefully within the chakra running through my head, I try to find the special Uchiha chakra that activates my Sharingan. I frown in frustration as I can't seem to find it anywhere.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" My search is suddenly halted as I hear Naruto speak. I blink, then look up. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were all looking at me oddly.

I blink again, then say "I was looking for my Sharingan." Naruto and Sakura look at me with confused looks, but Kakashi looks at me with understanding within seconds.

Naruto was the first to voice the question though. "What is a Sharingan?"

Kakashi turns to Naruto and says "It's a dojutsu, a very special one at that."

Naruto turns to Kakashi with a slightly disgusted look. "Dojutsu? Eye techniques?!"

Kakashi scratches his head, looking upwards in thought. "Well… yes, but… actually no. It is a little more than that."

He turns himself slightly so he can view all three of us at the same time. "The Sharingan is a special kekkei genkai that appears within the Uchiha clan. It is a red eye with one, two, or three tomoe in its irises. It can be turned on and off, and as such, you never really know when an Uchiha has the Sharingan or not."

Kakashi then begins listing the abilities of my clan's eye. "The Sharingan has two main abilities. The eye of insight, and the eye of hypnotism. The eye of insight lets the user copy ninjutsu on sight if physically capable, and predict future attacks from enemies based on muscle movement. The eye of hypnotism lets the user put the enemy into subtle genjutsus, letting them somewhat control the enemy's perception of things around them with eye contact alone."

Sakura was staring at Kakashi intensely, absorbing the lesson like a sponge. Naruto just seemed to be in awe at what he just heard. Kakashi turns to me and eye smiles. "But you already know that, right Sasuke?" I nod my head.

Kakashi reopens his eye, then says "Ah! Our food is coming." We all turn and see the waiter coming back with some trays of food. He places our orders all in front of us, then departs. Each of us tired and eager to eat after the test, we all instantly dig in.

At first, things were fine. We would stop eating at points to talk to each other, some of us continuing to eat while listening. It all seemed fine.

Then, suddenly, Naruto gasps loudly. He grits his teeth, eyes shut tight, and grips his stomach tightly. I instantly stop eating and look at him in concern. "Naruto?"

Naruto doesn't respond, just groaning in pain. And then he falls off his seat. Sakura's eyes widen and Kakashi instantly goes tense. Rushing to Naruto, the jonin tries to help him.

I… I am still. Speechless. Naruto is on the ground, writhing in pain. Why. Why why why why! What is this?! WHO did this?!

Seeing Naruto in pain is enough to just shut off all my brain functions. I must have some PTSD or something, but I couldn't move. I could only see Naruto in pain.

Kakashi must've gotten everything in control because next thing I know Naruto is standing up just fine. Kakashi is observing him like a hawk, will I am still there just starring.

Kakashi turns around, tilting his head at me. I notice the look, then blink. I shake my head, gritting my teeth tightly. I could see the look, what it meant. Why are you just staring?

Damn it! I am a professional ninja for Kami's sake! Why did I just freeze up. It had to have been my Naruto's death. It's still fresh in my mind, burning me up inside.

I look back up and notice Kakashi examining Naruto's food. I raise an eyebrow at that, wondering what he was doing, when Kakashi suddenly says "It's poisoned."

Everyone nearby just goes silent. The ninja instantly get up and look around, seeing if there was an intruder. The civilians all looked worried, wondering if they were going to be next.

Kakashi turns to a nearby worker and says "Please bring me the cook that prepared our food and the waiter who served us." The waiter nods and quickly runs off.

I… didn't know what to think. Poison? In Naruto's food? This can't be good, and I am already drawing conclusions. Some… DAMN bastard tried to POISON Naruto!

"Calm yourself Uchiha. You are dangerously close to releasing my chakra." I blink again, regaining my senses. I look down and realized I had my fists clenched tightly to the point of drawing blood.

I suddenly hear a gasp and look up. The cook is standing there, looking shocked, while the waiter seems similarly confused. Confusion and shock isn't good for their cases.

The cook and waiter walk forwards slowly, as if afraid of us. The other worker doesn't even stick around and instantly walks away.

Kakashi narrows his eyes at the two workers and says "One plate of food was poisoned. Do you know who did it?"

The cook gulps slightly, sweating bullets. "I-I-I-I have no idea K-K-Kakashi-sama."

Kakashi narrows his eyes at the cook. I could tell why. The lie just told was so obvious, a civilian could tell it wasn't true.

I for one just glare at the man. He turns to me and flinches back. A glare from an angry Uchiha is no joke.

Kakashi turns to the waiter and says "So, do you know who poisoned the food?"

The waiter shakes his head rapidly, then says "I have no idea who poisoned the blond kid's food."

That was it, I knew it. Kakashi's eyes steel dangerously as he says "I never once mentioned who's food it was."

The waiter and cook look at Kakashi in complete and utter shock. The waiter went pale, realizing he had been caught not only committing a crime, but lying to a famous jonin.

The man just begins stuttering like crazy, trying and failing to regain some sense. He looks at Naruto, then says the worst possible thing he could've said. "B-B-But, it was f-for the demon brat!"

At that, something snapped in me. My cool feel away, revealing the burning anger I had. This man had the AUDACITY to try and HURT Naruto, and then calls him a DEMON BRAT?!

I spring over the table with ease, not even thinking about my actions. My gaze cold and hard, I glare right into the man's eyes, had gripped tightly on his wrist. He shivers in fear, right as I speak. "If you ever call Naruto a demon brat, demon child, or anything of the sort again, I will PERSONALLY make your life a living hell. Got it, bastard?"

The man looked like he was ready to shit himself, which was what I wanted. If he had any brains, he'd stay away from Naruto.

I notice Kakashi stepping up and step back from the man. My sensei glares at the two and say "Poisoning of Konoha ninja. This could be seen as an act of treason. As such, you two are going to be detained as a proper punishment is sorted out."

The two workers can only look at Kakashi with complete and utter disbelief. They were so shocked that Kakashi had no resistance in getting the cuffs on them. He turns to us with an apologetic look and says "Sorry guys, but this needs to be dealt with. You are dismissed." With that, Kakashi body flickers away with the two criminals.

With them out of sight, the rage burning in me seemed to simmer down somewhat. I breathe out deeply, unclenching my fists. I know I may not have said it much, but I was PISSED with how the guy spoke to Naruto. Sent back in time, spent only two days here, and already someone is trying to kill him. This is going to go over badly at some point, I just know it.

With Kakashi gone, we were kind of stuck with what to do. At least he paid the bill on his way out, so that doesn't fall on me. I really was a bit stumped as to what to do know.

I suddenly remember what Sakura had asked from me before the test. Deciding now is the best time, I turn to her and say "Hey Sakura."

She looks at me with a curious expression and I say "You asked for me to train you after the test, right?"

Sakura's eyes widen, and she nods eagerly. I smile slightly and say "Why don't we go do that?" Her eager smile turns into a gigawatt Naruto grin so suddenly that it made me laugh a little.

I look over to Naruto and say "Want to join us Naruto?" The blond haired genin's own eyes widen, and then he nods. With that, the three of us get up and leave the restaurant to go train.

-Author Notes-

Well THIS was a chapter in the making! Also, the story isn't dead! YAY! I am in no way quitting this story. It just... may take a little longer than my first two because of the first person view. I didn't expect Sasuke to be so difficult to write in first person...

Either way, I am still writing Sasuke. And sorry if the chapter sounded a bit iffy on details. I lost some of my writing 'mojo', in a sense, from my break. Hopefully it will improve as I begin writing again. Thanks for reading!