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[Current Projects, and current fanfics that I am currently posting]

1. For the Love of my Friends
Rating: Mature
Chapters: To be decided
Finished: No
Current Chapter Length: I have currently writen up to chapter 47
Current Chapter Posts: up to 33 I believe.

yay! lord suhi took my advice!!!! unless of course u were thinking about doing this before then maybe i convinced u to do it. . .either way i still brought it up! lol 3nodding

Ttitle: For the Love of My Friends
Chapter 34: Nightmares and Memories
Rating: Mature

Hinata hummed softly as she made breakfast. It was strange, and even comfortable, to be doing domestic chores in Naruto's humble home, though she had never touched a frying pan or a cleaning rag before that week in her entire life. Naruto protested almost immediately, saying that the last thing he wanted was her to be his maid. He immediately flushed right afterwards, making Hinata wonder what he was thinking about. But she still insisted that it would be her way of payment for staying in his home. Knowing that she still felt guilty about 'taking advantage of him'(he got a real laugh out of that one, especially since he was the one entertaining the idea of Hinata in a french maid uniform), he finally agreed.
But one thing Naruto insisted on was her sleeping in his bed while he slept on the couch. She refused, but when he took her hands in his, telling her that it was a perfect compromise with that almost silent voice he adopted when he was trying to be serious, she finally agreed. How could Hinata not, with those eyes on her?

She turned the heat down, turned around, and walked over to the couch to wake Naruto up. When Hinata had waken up earlier, she had checked on him to see a cute sight of Naruto hugging his pillow and mumbling something about ramen. He looked so innocent and young without a scowl, a grin, or one of those incredibly serious looks she had been catching him having lately.

But now, he frowned, tossed and turned, scrunched his eyes shut, as if he was trying hide from the images flying under his eyelids. His teeth were clenched together, but instead of the growl or snarl she had been expecting, he whimpered. Worried, Hinata stretched a hand out to him, trying to sooth his thrashing.

Sensing someone near him, Naruto lashed out, catching a thin wrist in his grip. His nightmare was blending in with reality. Still half asleep, he reached under his pillow where there should have been a kunai, but there was nothing. Griping silently about losing his katana again, he began to curse at himself.

Why didn't he dodge that first blow? Why hadn't he just taken the little p***k's advice and back out of the battle? Naruto was sure that he would have killed the traitorous medic nin in the long run, after all, that was what he promised the last time he had the displeasure of seeing him. Kabuto's a** was his!

Kabuto planned it all, that b*****d! Knew that she'd die for him, when Naruto didn't even know himself. What had he said, what had he done to make the b*****d realize that Hinata was his greatest weakness? Anger surged forth, pushing back the fresh pain he felt at her death. Who was attempting to attack him now, a accomplice determined to finished the job? Naruto's eyes finally opened, meeting the concerned eyes of the very girl who had died for him.

She was leaning over the arm of the couch awkwardly, as he had nearly yanked her over it on reflex, but still, even though it had hurt her, she still was so worried. All of the rage and the pain that had spilled over from his dream into reality evaporated.

Gently this time, he pulled her over the arm of the couch into his lap, loosely wrapping his arms around her waist and rested his forehead against the back of her neck. Naruto ignored her flustered stuttering, her embarrassment, for the time being. He took comfort in the warmth of her in his arms, her racing heartbeat, and that familiar scent that hung around her, blocking out the horrible memories of his past. How he had lost her because she had refused to lose him.

It wasn't until much later, when, after she learned of his deeper secrets, Hinata realized that the moisture that fell on her neck wasn't sweatcaused by the nightmare, but tears. For her.



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Three hours later, Team Seven glared as a unit at their tardy teacher. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, backing away, for the waves of menace coming from them made him a little nervous.
"I've got a good excuse this time." he said, waving his hands in defense when they gave them disbelieving looks. He handed each one of them a slip of paper as a peace offering. "I've entered you in the Chuunin Exam! You've till the end of the week to decide." He sighed in relief when his students became more occupied with the thoughts of the Chuunin Exam than his usual tardiness. It's wasn't that he was afraid of them, per say. It was just that Sakura and Naruto both had a healthy set of lungs and he already had a headache. No sense adding to it.

"So Iruka-sensei isn't giving you a hard time about it?" Naruto asked, distinctly remembering that his old teacher and his present teacher had gotten into an argument over whether or not the Rookie Nine were strong enough to survive the Chuunin Exam. Of course, Iruka had no real reason to worry, as four of the nine made it all the way to the finals and there were only one serious injury. His eyes clouded over as he remembered exactly who had gotten that injury and that reminded him of that morning. Hinata-chan..

"Nope!" Kakashi said cheerfully, as if he didn't enter them into an exam that could end their lives. Sasuke glared at him. Kakashi could be just a little worried for our sakes.. "He said that, after talking to you, he believed that, even if you all weren't strong enough, you'd at least be mature enough to call it quits if it became too much for you. By the way, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai also entered their students in, so if you want to scope out the competition.."

Sasuke looked down at the small slip of paper, Kakashi's words flowing in one ear and going out the other. He frowned as he recalled the words of the strange sand nin the night before. First Naruto seems to know what's going to happen, smug little b*****d, then someone else had the insight to send Team Gai after us, then that creepy sand thug predicts that we'll be in the Chuunin Exam? There's a connection, I know it!

"Heh, imagine that.." Naruto murmured to himself, gazing at the slip of paper in his hand.

Am I even strong enough to be in this exam? Sakura wondered realistically. Naruto and Sasuke would get pretty far, I know. All I'd do is drag us down. Even with her growing skill in medical jutsus, she was still the weakest and the slowest member of the team. And she could do much to help that. Sakura was training, of course, had even tried the technique that Naruto had taught Sasuke, and the latter had used to save them in Wave Country, but she was still so far behind them. For her team mates, the sky was the limit, their innate skills being enough to soar them through the clouds. But she, other than her knack for healing and her excellent chakra control, had nothing.

Naruto didn't even pause to think, he said what was on his mind. "Ha! We'll sail past this stupid test! Our team is the best!" The others smiled at his confidence. Somehow, his assured statement, though biased, since it was his team, made them feel a lot better. It was strange how such arrogant sounding words could cheer them up. Maybe it wasn't the words, but the person who said them.

"Yeah, we'll get through." Sakura said, grinning at her friends. "As a team!"

"Together!" Naruto said, pumping his fist in the air. "Sasuke as the skill, me as the decoy, and Sakura-chan as the most important component!" He knew her fear, so he attacked it straight on. Sasuke smirked, catching onto his well intentioned ploy.

"How?" Sakura murmured, looking shocked. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks at the mere thought of being the most important part of their strange team.

"As the healer, of course." Sasuke said, pushing aside all other thoughts. He smiled at her. "Healing our, how did you put it.. Mental and physical wounds?" She blushed even deeper. He had remembered what she said.

Naruto blinked owlishly at the pair of them. Holy crap, did Sasuke-b*****d just smile! The thought of the aloof genin doing something other than scowling, glaring, looking blank, or smirking knocked Naruto on a** with shock.

Kakashi coughed, regaining their attention. "Got more news." he said calmly. "It's about a moody devil and an ice boy." They leaned forward, eager to hear what was to be Haku and Zabuza's fate. Kakashi coughed again, his mask hiding his smirk. "Well, nobody liked them so we fed them to the hungry homeless people." While Sakura and Sasuke looked horrified and surprised at the news, Naruto rolled his eyes. And just when he thought that Naruto would be easiest to fool..

"Dammit, Kakashi-sensei, stop screwing around and tell us what the old farts said about Haku and Zabuza." the blond said impatiently. Kakashi sighed in defeat while Sasuke and Sakura, realizing that they had been fooled, shot him annoyed glares.

"Well, the vote was in favor of them staying." Kakashi said, shrugging. "They both are classified as 'chuunins', but Zabuza is going to be given jonin style missions with half of the pay until he has proven his loyalty. Then he'll be classified as a jonin."

"And Haku-kun?" Sakura persisted, curious about the kind boy who always seemed nervous around her. Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. Naruto, catching the souring of the Uchiha's mood, stuck his tongue out at his friend. Sasuke glared, finding a more useful vent for his annoyance in the blond standing next to him, and stomped on the genin's foot. Reflexive tears of pain sprang up in Naruto's eyes. He growled. Just wait, you b*****d.. I've got a prank with your name on it.

"The crowd took to him more." Kakashi said simply, not bothering to explain. "He's been labeled a chuunin and will be able to advance to jonin by taking the test next month. His community service is help out with the Chuunin Exam." Naruto whooped, high fiving with Sakura. They both looked pleased that the mist duo was now allies, not enemies. Sasuke rolled his eyes, appearing as if he didn't care either way.



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Two days later, Jiraiya hummed lightly, happily going through his mental planner for the day. First, he'd have a hearty breakfast, then he'd mosey on over to the river and watch the ladies play in the water.. here, his face flushed pink and he laughed pervertedly.. then he'd have lunch, go bother Tsunade and see if she had gotten out of her funk.. then he'd mosey on over to the hot springs..
"What are you laughing at, pervert?" he was jolted out of his thoughts at the sharp call of a familiar genin, the very genin who got him in trouble, and was dumb enough to risk Tsunade's temper. Jiraiya was surprised that she hadn't cracked his jaw, much less taken the kid's head off from the force of her punch.

He looked up at the kid, who crouched on one of the lower store roofs. He looked so much like the Fourth but didn't have half of his student's manners. "Nothing a kid should be worrying about." The frog hermit said, crossing his arms over his chest. Naruto hopped off of the roof to land in front of him.

"So you have nothing planned? Good, you're going to train me." he said, grabbing a hold of the older man's shirt and started tugging him in a certain direction. Jiraiya flailed for a moment, then dug his heels in, refusing to move.

"Hey, hey! I do have something important planned, kid!" he protested.

"Peeping isn't important, you decayed pervert." Naruto grumbled, scowling up at the sanin. "Training the future Hokage is." Jiraiya switched modes, from annoyed to serious.

"Hokages get killed, you know." he said, fixing Naruto with a steady stare. The blond held his gaze.

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Naruto murmured cooly. He wasn't in the mood for games. He had to study under Jiraiya, no matter how boring and repetitive it would be. If he suddenly knew all of the sanin's tricks and techniques, it would be very suspicious, as he learned from his mistakes. If he could just get the damn pervert to just teach him one thing, Naruto could tell Kakashi, when the masked nin got around to asking, that he was training under Jiraiya. That would take most of the suspicion off of him, right? "How about a deal. If you teach me one jutsu, and I master it in a day, you have to train me." Of course, the deal was completely unfair to Jiraiya, since Naruto already knew most of the old sanin's techniques, but Naruto wasn't feeling particularly guilty.

Jiraiya frowned down on him. A day? he questioned mentally, rolling his eyes. No one can master one of my techniques in a day. Over confident brat. "Alright, but what do I get in return?"

Naruto thought for a moment, then made several different hand seals, murmuring the jutsu's title under his breath. With a poof of smoke, the short blond boy was replaced with a lithe feminine woman, with the last wisps of smoke strategically placed the only thing she wore. "You get to spend some quality time with me." she said sweetly, lowering her eyes demurely.

It was a good thing that Jiraiya had already been in an alley where there was no one around when Naruto popped up. The sort of look that crossed the old pervert's face at the sight of Naruto's infamous Sexy no Jutsu wasn't the sort of look that should be seen in public. He laughed again, that perverted and creepy laugh, reaching out to touch her. She smacked his hand away.

"No touchie." she said, then with a poof of smoke, she was Naruto again. The frog hermit sighed, missing her already.

"Very well. We have a deal." he jerked his thumb in the direction of the nearest training area. "Shall we?"



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"If you really want to know something, you sometimes have to play dirty." Sasuke said, countering Sakura's protests. He had been spending more and more time with the kunoichi as of late, but he really couldn't give a honest reason why he would rather not. She no longer clung to his arm, talked incessantly, or try to ask him out on dates. Sasuke wasn't sure what had changed between them, but it was big.
He at least expected her to start acting possessive when Ino attached herself to his arm the day before, but all Sakura did is give him a long look, then a wink and a mouthed word: 'revenge'. She had sauntered away, without even looking back, leaving him with a very clingy and annoying blond. It took all of his control to not call after Sakura in hopes she'd feel sympathy for him because of the situation she left him in.

Despite his annoyance that she'd leave him with Ino, he knew that Sakura had a good mind, was very loyal, and most importantly, was as curious about the puzzle Naruto proved to be as she was. That's what the blond was now. He was no longer the idiot, or even the rival that was slowly gaining on Sasuke, but a true mystery that the rest of the team longed to solve. Even Kakashi made a couple of comments suggesting that he was as baffled as the rest of them. And what was most disturbing about that was that both Sakura and Sasuke were positive that the jonin knew more about Naruto than he let on.

Neither Sakura, nor Sasuke were all that interested in the blood limit that Naruto had. Sure, it had been shocking and amazing, but it wasn't the essence of the puzzle. The puzzle wasn't what Naruto(they already knew he was an idiot)was, it was who Naruto was.

How many depths were there to the blond? Sasuke had seen the idiot, the hero, the warrior, even a bit of Naruto's darker side when he had been affected by Tessai's genjutsu. Sometimes, the blond seemed completely open to the world, other times, he kept himself as jealously guarded as a secret. What made the blond say those off handed comments? The other day, when Kakashi came late again and started spewing lame excuses, something about a statue and an accident and how he just 'had to help out!', Naruto scowled and said "Yeah, and then you'll be late to your own death because you just had to lug a stone around Konoha for a friend." And, just the day before, Naruto turned to Sasuke, with a serious look darkening his bright eyes, and said "Don't let yourself get bitten by a snake, Sasuke." They were gardening an overgrown flower bed when he said it, so Sasuke didn't take him too seriously, but it was a rather strange comment to make, since snakes were pretty rare to find around Konoha.

To put it simply, Sasuke was annoyed. By the time he could finally understand Naruto and classify him and put him in his own mental box, he'd be pushing eighty. He wasn't about to let his life revolve around the idiot. He proposed to Sakura that they go to Iruka to find out more about Naruto, which she immediately objected, saying it would be like they were sneaking around behind their team mate's back.

"Yeah, but-" she protested again.

"No." Sasuke said shortly. "Naruto will never tell us anything. The only way we can learn about him is through others." They were walking to the Academy, positive that they would find their old teacher there, grading tests.

"Maybe he hasn't told us because he really doesn't want us to know!" Sakura tried in a last ditch effort. Sasuke paused, stopping just in front of the door. Seeing that she got his attention, she continued on with her train of thought. "Maybe he doesn't want to share what makes him tick, or why he says weird things-" So, she noticed that too. "-but he's our friend. We should respect his space."

"But.. But he's just so damn confusing!" Sasuke growled out. "How can we be his friends, how can we even trust him if he doesn't trust us!" Sakura bit her lip.

"Friendship.." she paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Sakura clenched her fists for a moment, then said what was one her mind. "Friendship, trust, love.. these things are all uncertain. It's like taking a shot in the dark. You don't know if you'll hit anything, so you just have to.. follow through." Sasuke gave her a sidelong glance. "We just have to trust him. We have to be there for him. No matter how lost we feel sometimes, or how confused. Of all the things in the world, what Naruto needs most is friends. Someday, he'll let us in. Someday, we'll know him even better than we know ourselves. We just need to wait."

Sasuke snorted. "By that time, we'll be confined to wheel chairs and bald." he said humorously. Sakura laughed. The Uchiha pulled away from the door, staring down at his feet. Sasuke was starting to feel guilty about sneaking around. Yes, that's it. We have to hang in there, and trust Naruto. "How is it.." he murmured. Someday, Naruto would tell us everything, probably even more than we wanted to know. Sasuke turned to Sakura, amazed at her perceptiveness. "How is it that you know.. and say exactly what I need to hear?"

"Sasuke-kun?" she whispered, confused. He took her arm, pulling her away from the Academy.

"Never mind, let's just go." Sasuke said firmly. He looked at her through the corner of his eye. "So, you prepared for the Chuunin Exam?" Sakura smiled merrily, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't turn down a way to prove himself, even if he heard the horrible rumors about it. Knowing that he'd be there, and Naruto was much the same about turning down battles, she felt more confident. Who knew? Team Seven might all be chuunins by the end of the Chuunin Exam. That positive thought made Sakura smile.

"Yep! Ready and prepared to kick some major booty!"



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A little worn out, Naruto jogged back to the place where Jiraiya said to meet. Heh, the pervert had been sure that Naruto would practice and practice away at the summoning jutsu, all afternoon, yet wouldn't be able to harness the power of the frogs. How wrong Jiraiya was.
After he showed Naruto how the jutsu worked, the hermit had rolled out the summoning scroll in front of Naruto and told him to sign the contract. Luckily enough, Jiraiya was too distracted by the sudden appearance of two women to notice the magic that took place right in front of Naruto's eyes. As the genin got ready to bite his finger and sign the contract, the air sudden sizzled with unknown energy and the contract glowed with an unearthly aura that made Naruto's hair stand on end. His signature, in a whirl of otherworldly chakra, bled into the parchment until it appeared as normal as the signatures before. Naruto didn't even have to bite his thumb. If that wasn't a sign from the other realm, he didn't know what was. How creepy.

After that phenomenon occurred, Jiraiya came back, apparently seeing nothing wrong with Naruto's signature, and told the fox host to go practice, then go meet him by the river in seven hours. They parted, Jiraiya humming a light tune under his breath. The hermit must have been confident that he would win the bet, and get to spend some time with Naruto's sexy counterpart. Not if Naruto could help it.

Instead of practicing, Naruto went and found Kiba, and demanded a spar. The canine user was all up for a battle with the fox host, though Naruto didn't know why. Maybe a certain Hyuuga was Kiba's motivation?

He was simply using Kiba as a way to use up chakra. After all, the frog hermit would be pretty suspicious if he came back with a full supply of chakra. Besides, Naruto had better control when he had less chakra. Instead of accidentally summoning a frog that might speak and greet Naruto too familiarly, thus ruining his plan of secrecy, he'd add just the right amount of chakra to get a medium sized frog that hadn't yet developed its vocal cords. There were plenty of those floating around.

Kiba was too slow. That single thought plagued him all throughout their battle. He was used to Sasuke, who darted around swiftly while in battle, making Naruto have to rely on his instincts instead of his eyes. Naruto and Kiba's strength were about equal if Naruto didn't use any chakra(damn his little twelve year old body, weak and pathetic it truly was), but Kiba would have had the advantage in the battle because his dog fought along side him, if Naruto wasn't moving so fast. Truthfully, Naruto wasn't fast at all, being built more for power and strength, but he was quick on his feet compared to the sluggish dog user.

It came to be that Naruto's flung insults started to change into different types of advice("Don't put so much power in your swings, Kiba! It'll slow you down, especially if you miss."), such as better way to spring up and kick, or how Kiba and Akamaru could combine attacks to overwhelm an opponent. It also came to be that Kiba no longer started attacking blindly in his anger and actually starting listening("Like this?" "Yeah, that's the way!") and taking Naruto's advice.

An hour and a half later, they parted, tossing good natured insults over their shoulders. Which brought Naruto back to the present. He was there, a little bit early perhaps, but there was no sanin in sight.

Where was the damn pervert, anyway?

"Boo." Naruto jumped abruptly when the softly whispered word reached his ears. He turned around, meeting the slightly glazed eyes of his beloved Godaime. She straightened, the flush on her face all too noticeable, laughing at the surprised look on the genin's face. "You should be more careful, Nawaki." Tsunade said softly, running a hand through his hair before stumbling off.

"She's.. drunk?" Naruto whispered to himself, watching her sway before turning around a corner and disappearing from his sight. The flush on her face was a small clue, but for her to mistake him as her dead brother... she had to be really drunk. "Oh, s**t!" Naruto yelled, realizing the implications. "She's drunk!" He had to go after her and make sure she didn't do something stupid or hurt anyone. But he also had to wait and show the damn pervert that he knew the summoning jutsu. Aw, to hell with his neatly laid down plans.

Snapping his fingers, he got an idea. He bit his thumb and summoned a frog. One of his more often summoned creatures, Gamakichi, blinked up at him.

"Hi! Haven't seen you in a while!" the small frog called out. Naruto knelt in front of the frog, his normally cheerful features contorted in a frown.

"Yeah, missed you too." he said hurriedly. "Look, I need you to stay here and wait for the old pervert. Tell him that I mastered the jutsu, but I went after the old hag 'cause she's in a mood and I want to make sure that she doesn't hurt anyone." Gamakichi nodded, but then hopped forward with a question of his own.

"And I suppose the old pervert is.. Jiraiya and the old hag is Tsunade, right?" Naruto nodded. The summon shuddered. "Good luck and hold on to your head." Naruto snorted and stood.

"I'll try. See you." He took off, following the path that Tsunade took. The summon watched his retreating back, shaking his head sadly.

"Better him than me. It took me fifty years to get back to this size after the last time she took her anger out on me." the frog hopped on top of one of the branches. "Hopefully she won't do too much damage."



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"She's getting worse and worse, sensei!" Jiraiya snapped. The Hokage looked up at his student passively, his fingers folded and his gaze calm. "She's getting drunk every night, and Shizune-chan says that she gets in very late. We have to do something before she ends up hurting herself or others."
"To each's own." Sarutobi said. "That is her way of dealing with the past, to forget it for a few hours. I use the mistakes of the past as a guideline to not make those same mistakes in the future. Even you have a method." Sarutobi reached into his desk and pulled out an orange book. Jiraiya's eyes widened at the sight of his perverted book in his sensei's hand. "Did you think I didn't notice the resemblance that Rumiko and Taka share with the Fourth and his girlfriend? Though I doubt their relationship was as.. X-rated as you make it out to be." Jiraiya's eyes clouded over. The Fourth and his girlfriend had gotten a rotten deal in life. He wanted to make a storyline where the two lived happily ever after, but he didn't expect someone to see and point out the similarities in character. He looked at the innocent looking book for a while before he realized exactly what he was seeing. He snickered.

"You're a pervert too." Jiraiya said proudly. "Read my books, did you?" Sarutobi looked at the book in his hand, then back at his student, a little embarrassed. Jiraiya laughed at his discomfort.

"Ahem." The Hokage coughed, putting the book away. "Back to our original topic-" Both men sobered up. "I will see what I can do about Tsunade, but she can only heal on her own." A stubborn frown on his face, Jiraiya finally nodded, his eyes drifting over to the clock hanging on the wall. His eyes widened when he saw what time it was.

"Aw, crap! I'm late!" he said, jumping up. "See you later, need to go see about a girl and a frog." The hermit disappeared out the window. Sarutobi watched him go, envious that the white haired sanin could go any where as he pleased. A chuunin knocked on the door, hesitatingly opening it as he did.

"Um.. there are some things you need to look at." the chuunin said, holding out a couple of forms.

"For the Chuunin Exam, I know." the old man sighed. "I hate paper work."



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The bottle in front of her swayed, dividing into two before melding back into one. Tsunade sighed, resting her head against her hands. She was very aware that she was drunk. It only made her all that more determined to drink some more. Peace only came in the few hours that she remembered nothing at all, too deep into the cloudy haze of sake, or whatever the bottle in front of her was, to care about what was happening, or what had happened years ago.
She reached out for the bottle in front of her, only to scowl as it was swiped away from her by the bar keep. He gave her a stern look. She reached for it again. "No. You don't have enough money."

Tsunade reached into her pockets, pulling out only lint. "Damn.." she muttered. She must have used it the hour before. Slyly, she looked at the bar keep, frowning lightly as she fingered her necklace. She lifted it up to his gaze. "How about this? It's pretty valuable.." The bar keep reached out for the famous Hokage necklace, greed in his eyes. It wasn't often that he was offered something as valuable as the trinket just for some alcohol. He get more for the necklace than she'd get out of handing it over.

Tsunade took the necklace from around her neck, about to hand it over to the bartender. It didn't matter. The necklace would find itself back to her anyway. She was the only one immune to its curse.

It was swiped out of her hand, but not by the man she had been making the deal with.

"Dammit, you stupid hag! Don't throw the old Hokage's necklace around like that!" Nawaki? she thought, then shook her head. His eyes were too blue and he had three scars on each cheek. He glared at her furiously, the necklace hanging from his clenched fist. The bar keep started to protest, but the kid snapped him back in his place with a "I just saved your life, stupid! Sit down and shut up!"

Tsunade reached out for the necklace, feeling the hated pangs of reality seep back into her mind. "Give it back, kid. That thing's a lot more dangerous than it looks." The kid who had been hanging around Jiraiya glared at her. He slipped the necklace around his neck.

"If you want it so badly, come and get it!" he said, running out of the stand. "I, the future Rokudaime, can't allow for you to mistreat it!" Feeling cold terror grip her heart, Tsunade sobered up and stood. Another child was going to die because of that stupid necklace and an even more foolish dream. The sanin ran after the kid, knocking over the stool that she had been sitting on.

"Get back here, you brat!"



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He found his foolish student on top of the Hokage Monument, silently looking down on the rest of the village. The blond sat with his legs hanging over the First Hokage's forehead, his arms crossed over his chest. For a moment, it wasn't the genin that sat there, it was the Fourth, just as Jiraiya remembered him on the day before Kyuubi was defeated. Same distracted look, same twitching right foot, as well as that old look in their eyes, one that the Fourth had worn because he knew that he was going to die. Then the vision faded, but the similarities stayed.
"Naruto!" Gamakichi called out, waving a webbed limb at the distracted looking genin. Naruto turned around at the call, eyes widening at the sight of the frog hermit and the frog that had made himself comfy on the former's head. His lips twitched upward.

"Don't say a word." Jiraiya growled when Naruto started to snicker. The older man crouched down next to Naruto, sighing as he did. "Good job, by the way. Didn't expect you to be able to summon in one day, but I suppose you know your own limits better than anyone else." He gave Naruto a sidelong glance. "After the Chuunin Exam, I guess I have to teach you."

Guilt got the better of Naruto. "You don't have to if you don't want to." Gamakichi jumped off of Jiraiya's head and onto the ground.

"No, I do. Might revive the old feelings of youth!" Jiraiya said, with a silly grin. Naruto scowled at him.

"Nothing short of a kinjutsu can revive that." he said. The sanin looked wounded, hand covering his heart with a dramatic sigh. Naruto grinned. Same stupid pervert.

"Oh, s**t." Gamakichi murmured, looking behind them. They turned as one, wide eyes taking in a very pissed off Tsunade. "I'm out of here." The summon disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Coward. Naruto thought as he stood. "What do you want, granny?" he said, making a valiant attempt at being nonchalant. The withering glare she sent his way didn't help.

"You know very well what I want." she said coldly. She stretched out her hand. "Give it back." Jiraiya straightened and stood in front of Naruto.

"Look-" he started to say.

"Shut up." she hissed. "I don't want to hear a word out of you." Tsunade shifted her gaze to Naruto. "Give it back!" Jiraiya frowned. It was the first time in a while that he had seen her in such a worked up temper. The only thing that would push her over the edge was that one item, the very reason why she lost so much in her life in the first place.

Jiraiya turned to Naruto. "I know what you have. Give it back to her." The old hermit looked very serious. "That innocent looking necklace is more dangerous than it appears." Naruto reached into his vest, pulling out the trinket. He waved it furiously.

"Not a snowball's chance in hell!" he jerked his thumb toward Tsunade. "There is no way I'm letting the Hokage's legacy to be.. man handled by that vain woman! Until she can prove that she's good enough for it, I'm keeping it! May the Hokages be my witnesses!" While Jiraiya paled at the sight of the cursed necklace hanging around his student's neck, Tsunade stomped forward, her anger overcoming her logic for the briefest moment. And in that moment, things went downhill.

Naruto, self preservation instincts kicking it, started backing up hastily away from the enraged woman until the one step back where there was no solid ground to land on. A surprised look crossed his face as he fell back, his teacher lunging forward to grasp a hold on his vest. Jiraiya grasped at air, just missing Naruto by an inch.

Tsunade fell to her knees, frozen as her mind conjured up horrific images. Naruto falling down the Hokage's Monument, coating her dear grandfather's face in his blood. The final crash of genin meeting ground ringing through the air like a pin drop in utter silence, like a gun shot in still air, his bones crushing with the force of gravity. Tsunade was well into one of her fits, ones that tended to bite her in the a** when she wasn't looking, bringing up years of pent up guilt and sorrow. And the most hated questions. If I had been there, would anything would have changed? If I was just a little bit quicker, if I hadn't frozen up.. Oh, Dan, Nawaki. I must shame you two so much. Memories of the dark aura around the cursed necklace when it disapproved of it's wearer and the horrible events that happened quickly afterward haunted her.

Jiraiya leapt into action. "Naruto!" he shouted. "Use the summoning jutsu!" Naruto, only about half way down the First's forehead quickly bit his thumb, crying out the name of the life saving jutsu. A large frog appeared out of nowhere, instinctively clinging to the First's nose. Naruto snagged onto the frog back with his chakra, finally being near a surface to use it on.
Nearly a mile away, the Third happened to glance out the window at his predecessors and his one successor, only to see a reddish blob covering almost a third of one of the Hokages' faces. Sarutobi blinked owlishly at the sight. He was just one of the many who paused in their duties to gaze and scratch their heads in confusion.

Grinning and a bit flushed from the sudden surge of adrenaline, the genin ordered the frog to jump back up the monument. He snickered, dismissing the frog with a small pat on the frog's head. Naruto landed on the ground neatly when the frog disappeared. His grin was wide. "Good thing the First had such a big nose, eh Ero-sanin?" The worried expression on Jiraiya's face shifted to that of an annoyed one. He bopped Naruto on the head, his left eye twitching.

"Dammit, you brat! Don't pull s**t like that!" he grumbled.

"Aw, come on. You know that was so cool!" So they argued, squabbling like two five year olds, while Tsunade just stared at them, emotionally drained.

Why was it, that the idiot of their old three man team, could have turned out to be such a strong ninja? He hadn't frozen, he didn't think of the past. He thought of the future, of Konoha's future, of the future of that stupidly grinning kid. Jiraiya had jumped forward, shouting advice, while she collapsed and started day dreaming.

Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya. The prodigy, the genius, and the idiot. More like, the villain, the coward, and the hero. She should have known that Orochimaru was going bad, she should have noticed Jiraiya and his growing strength, and she shouldn't have taken the path she took. Where was all of that genius when she needed it?

Tsunade barely noticed when their argument ended rather abruptly when both idiots looked at her. "Hey, granny." Naruto murmured. He tugged on the necklace very seriously. Tsunade stared at it. There was no dark aura surrounding it. It looked rather ordinary. Was it content to be with Naruto? "I, as the future Rokudaime and as a ninja, never break my promises. When you prove that you are worthy of this necklace and are no longer in your damn pissy 'tude, I'll consider giving it back to you." his eyes narrowed. "Maybe."

That's what she had to do, she realized as she stood. She had to become better. She had to revert back to the old Tsunade that Dan had admired and her brother had adored. Tired beyond imagination, she reached out and ruffled the kid's hair. "I'll keep you to that, kid."

Naruto blinked rapidly, trying to push back the growing heat and liquid behind his eyes. His granny was back.

Sorry about that I should edit it, It means to give something or someone the finger.
i.e. flipping someone off.

great chapter! i cant wait for the next one!!!

Title: For the Love of My Friends
Chapter 35: The Day Before the Chuunin Exam
Rating: Mature


He gave his team the day off. Very generous of him, if you asked his opinion. They were all nervous, probably scared out of their wits. Even Sasuke was edgy, and it took a lot to make the last Uchiha edgy. It was very kind of him to give them the day before the Chuunin Exam off.
But Kakashi had to admit one thing. He didn't give a rat's a** about the Chuunin Exam, or his students' fears about it. To him, it was simple. They'd either lose or succeed. If they lost, they'd try again in six months. If they succeeded, well.. He would just have to lose that bet with Zabuza, now wouldn't he?

Kakashi had a lot of faith in his team. They were strong, resourceful, gutsy, and most important of them all, very loyal to one another. But he seriously doubted them when compared to the top notch genins coming in all over the world for the exam. Could Sasuke compare to the cold blooded genins from the sand? Could Naruto match the strength of the mysterious sound genins? Could Sakura match the cunning of the genins of the grass?

Zabuza had much more faith in Kakashi's team than Kakashi himself. The copy cat jonin found that small fact to be strangely sad.

He let the kids off for the day for something a bit more personal. Like the letter than was burning a hole in his desk. It was about time he answered it.

In only a pair of sweats, Kakashi grabbed a mug and filled it with some tea. His apartment was dark, though the sun beat furiously against the other side of his closed curtains. Sighing, he ran a hand through his wild hair and slowly walked over to his desk. There, sitting innocently, was a scroll, a letter from his only surviving team mate. And it had sat there, for the last month, touched only by Kakashi's occasional glances in its direction.

It was the routine. Though the messenger birds could get their letters back from the northern mountain ranges to Konoha in less than two days, neither of them sent a reply back rapidly. If he knew Rin, he knew that she hated the reminders of the past almost as much as he did. But, where he lived with the reminders just because he hated them, she had fled, seeking shelter from it and using the excuse of training in the ancient way of the healers, in the only place where the traditions were still kept, in northern Fire Country, a hundred miles from anything resembling civilization.

Did the silence help any? Or did it only serve to bring her more pain? Those were questions he didn't dare ask, lest she cut off her one connection with Konoha.

He sat down heavily, putting down his tea as his other hand reached out for the scroll. Kakashi considered for a moment, when the texture of the paper registered in his palm, putting it off for a few days. His sharingan suddenly throbbed with intensity.

Alright, alright. Today it is.. he thought to himself, grimacing slightly. He opened the scroll, unconsciously frowning when he saw how short it was. Rin was the sort of person who wrote epic length letters, no matter what was the situation at home. Was she already withdrawing from them?

Hey, Kakashi. How are things in Konoha? Just great, I can imagine. He replaced his own mental voice with the memory of hers. Sorry I took so long answering the last time. Things came up. Things always came up. But Kakashi understood, so he never said a word. She then gave him a brief description of what was happening in her training. They were apparently coming up with a type of instant heal sutra that, with a brief surge of chakra and with the application on the injured person, could instantly heal them. It's one of the best things we thought of so far, don't you think? It makes me wonder though. If we had one of them, would Obito have lived?

It was strange. So many things, brutal and gory scenes, terrifying sights of a demon, even crueler humans killing their fellow man.. none of that shaped him more than Obito's death. It was the same with Rin. Though it had been a bit more than a decade, still, they both silently debated: If I had done this, or had said that.. Maybe if I had just been a bit quicker... But the fact of the matter was that they were just three kids stuck in the middle of a war. There was nothing they could have done.

I have a confession to make. I am seriously considering leaving Konoha for good. The mug, only a scant inch away from Kakashi's lips, slipped from his grasp, hitting and shattering against the table. The tea quickly spread and made the words on the letter smudged and illegible.


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She woke up to the sounds of knocking. The loud knocks pounded on the door frame. From her position on the couch, tangled up in blankets and a warm body, she could see the door shake under the force.
"Dammit Naruto!" Hinata's eyes widened, recognizing Sakura's voice. "If you don't open the door right now, I'll beat your stupid head in!" Hinata started to get nervous. Half up out of the comfortable cocoon of blankets(and Naruto) and half trying to hide, her hands started flapping in a anxious state. There were consequences in opening the door for Naruto's team mate, but even more if she kept the door closed. There was no believable excuse for Hinata to be over Naruto's house so early in the morning. Not to mention that they had slept together! Sakura was a big gossip. Would Hiashi refuse to let her see Naruto if he heard?

She chanced a look down at Naruto. He was awake, a faint smile on his face, clearly amused at her nervousness. They, in celebration of the next day being completely to themselves, had stayed up until midnight, watching an anime marathon, and had ended up falling asleep next to each other. Continuation of the knocks jolted her out of her thoughts and she started spazzing again, looking between the door and Naruto. He lazily reached out and tugged her back on the couch. Hinata didn't resist.

"I'll take care of it." he assured her, tugging so she'd lie back down. "You just go back to sleep"

"B-but.." she stuttered nervously, hands fiddling with one of the blankets. Naruto smiled easily, shushing her with one finger. The knocking started again.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, about to threaten her team mate again.

Naruto lifted his upper body off of the couch. "GO TO HELL!" he bellowed. Hinata squeaked. This is his idea of handling things! With a loud bang, Sakura kicked in the door, effectively breaking off a part of the wall and the lock. Miraculously, the hinges held. Squeaking again, Hinata tried to get up and hide but the light pressure of Naruto's hand on her stomach kept her in place. Sakura stomped over, anger all too clear in her green eyes.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan." Naruto said pleasantly, as if he hadn't been the one to provoke the kunoichi into nearly breaking down his door. "Must you go to such extremes? The door didn't do anything to you.."

"Why the hell didn't you open the door, you damn fool?" she sputtered, her hands clenched in fists. Hinata bit her lip, waiting for the pink haired kunoichi to notice her there.

"I was sleeping." Naruto said, with a hint of a smirk. "Most people sleep, you know. It's a fairly common habit of humans. I'm sure you've heard of it.." Sakura growled.

"You.."she hissed, advancing on him. In midstep, she seemed to remember herself."Ugh, never mind, it's too early for your wise a** remarks." she crossed her arms over her chest, sighing and looking very annoyed. "Do you have those extra clothes? We're exchanging them, Tenten and I, so we can give them back to the right people. Here's your stuff that I had, by the way." She tossed him a pair of shorts and his forehead protector. Naruto was quick to keep them from falling on Hinata.

"Sweet! I was wondering where this was.." he said. Hinata, in horror, watched as Sakura looked over at her.. past her.. through her? Naruto seemed to remember her question. "Oh, yeah, they're by the door, on the ground."

While Sakura grumbled and picked the carelessly tossed clothes off of the ground, Naruto glanced at Hinata and grinned. The Hyuuga was confused. Was Sakura blind?

"Ugh. No respect for other people's things.." Sakura grumbled under her breath. She opened the door, quick to leave.

"Don't let the door hit you on the a**!" Naruto called out cheerfully. Sakura slammed the door shut violently. More plaster fell. Snickering, he gazed down at the small girl trying to meld with the couch. "See? Was that so bad?"

"I.. she.. I.." Hinata was at a loss for words. Then she happened to glance down. Where there was supposed to be her body, somewhat tangled up in the blankets, there was nothing. "N-Naruto-kun!" Naruto looked, first confused then understanding.

"Ah, right, sorry." his hand retreated from her stomach. Her body reappeared. There was a silence between the two. "I don't.. understand." she said softly, breaking the pause. Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Henge no Jutsu. Made you look like the couch and the blankets." he said with a grin. "An extremely bastardized version of it. No hand seals or anything. Cool huh? 'Course, if Sasuke-b*****d was here, he'd probably be able to see through it.. it's not too strong, you know.. kinda need the hand seals to make it strong..." and he continued to babble, for some reason, embarrassed by the admiring look in Hinata's eyes.

After all, it took a lot of raw skill to mold chakra into a jutsu without the hand seals. Hinata knew that, and knowing that only made her more proud of Naruto. "Eh.. well.." he mumbled, staring into her eyes. This time, it was she who shushed him with a finger.

"Let's go back to sleep, Naruto-kun." she whispered with a faint blush. Naruto glanced at her, then at the door, naturally aware of the broken lock as much as a streaker would be of his or her own nakedness.

Aw what the hell.. he thought, settling back into the couch. I can worry about that later...


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With a sense of urgency, Kakashi whipped out some paper and a pen. He didn't bother with the polite formalities. Hey, Rin. he wrote quickly, don't be so hasty. Before you make your final decision, come back to us. See your family. Exchange tips with Konoha's finest medic nins,not thatthey couldn't hold a candle to you. Visit us- here, he crossed out us and put me. The strange duality of his existence that was brought up in Tessai's genjutsu still had a lingering effect on him.
You have to meet my team. They're really something else. One's aloof, one's a prankster, and the other is in love. You can just imagine how much they get on each other's nerves. I entered them in the Chuunin Exam and plan to nab them seats for the Chuunin Final Exam. He paused, wondering if they would get mad at his assumption that they wouldn't make it all the way through. Oh well, they'd thank him later for the seats.

Come watch it with us, and we can relive old memories. Then, if you really want to, we'll go up to the Hokage's office and request that you be permanently suspended of your ninja license. He bit the end of his pen, reading it over. It would just have to do. He signed his name and rolled up the piece of paper. He planned on going to the post office and sending it out later. But for now, Kakashi sighed heavily, resting his forehead in his palm. He wondered if the Fourth or Obito could have handled it better.


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Shikamaru blinked, the involuntary motion doing nothing to ease the intensity of his stare. Many had fallen, yet there was still a great number of the enemy left. They surrounded his group, blocking every avenue of escape with one of their men. Dark eyes took in the situation, assessed it, tried to find a way out of it, then found a simple solution in all of the chaos.
He moved his queen forward three spaces. "Checkmate." he said blandly, indifferent to the curses that spewed out of his teacher's mouth.

"Aw, this is so boring.." Ino muttered, attention shifting from Chouji's frantic eating to Asuma and Shikamaru's game. The four of them had met up in the street, all in varying degrees of boredom. Although Asuma, like all of the other jonins, gave his team the day off, they ended up eating at Chouji's favorite barbeque restaurant, just like every week's end.

"I would play you," Shikamaru said slowly, mocking her, "but you'd lose faster than he would." She gave him the look of death, one that made him feel grateful that she was sitting on the other side of the table. His shin felt her wrath, though.

Ignoring Shikamaru's wince when her foot made her opinion of his crappy attitude perfectly clear, Ino looked out the window. The Chuunin Exam was tomorrow. She felt conflicted, both nervous and excited. She couldn't wait to show everyone why she was the best kunoichi of their year! But, then again, what if her best wasn't good enough?

Chouji stopped eating, the vulnerable look on his face nearly identical to Ino's. Shikamaru stopped fiddling with the pawn piece in his hand and stared at the table, a frown contorting his face.

Asuma was suddenly aware of the mood change in his team. Each were probably thinking of the next day. He couldn't blame them. His first Chuunin Exam had ended horribly. His two team mates had been mauled by the vicious liger that they were supposed to be taming and had barely survived. Asuma, though he had escaped mauling, had been dragged a half of a mile by his broken arm by the hybrid before he was rescued by a fellow leaf nin. Needless to say, he was always very edgy when he was in hidden grass territory, unsure if a tiger or something of the sort would jump out at him and maul him to death.

Asuma decided to leave his story for a rainy day. No sense in making them more jittery than they already were.

"Hey.. isn't that one of Hinata's relatives?" Ino said suddenly, drawing them all away from their own thoughts. They all looked out of the window. Neji stood there, arms crossed over his chest. He was speaking to Kiba, who looked pissed off. Obviously, their conversation wasn't pleasant.

"The eyes kinda give it away.." Shikamaru muttered, without his usual biting tone.

Wanting to see the action up close, Ino pushed Asuma out of the way and ran out of the restaurant. Shikamaru and Chouji slowly followed, leaving Asuma with the hefty bill.

"..don't know where she is, you arrogant b*****d." Kiba was growling out when Ino caught up to them. "Is there something wrong?" she asked hesitatingly. She had heard rumors about the boy in front of her. Strong, ruthless, and one of the most promising genins of the Hyuuga clan. What would he want with one of the Rookie Nine? Kiba shot her a grateful look.

Neji glanced over, barely noticing her flinch when his cold eyes met hers. "I am merely following orders." he shot a venom filled glare at Kiba. "That is no reason to get mouthy with me."

Akamaru growled. "Like hell, you a**. Why do you wanna know where Hinata is? It's not like you've ever cared before." Kiba said, hackles rising.Shikamaru and Chouji caught up to them, both standing behind Kiba.

Neji sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're so dense.. or maybe she didn't mention it?" he murmured to himself. He closed his eyes. "Hanabi-sama and Hinata-sama.. got into a bit of a disagreement. Hinata-sama left home and hasn't been back for the last couple of weeks."

"Hinata's gone!" Ino cried out, her hands covering her mouth. "That's horrible." Kiba started to shake his head.

"I dunno what the hell you're blabbering about but Hinata-chan only missed one practice in the last couple of weeks." he said doggedly. "She seems just fine." Better, actually.

"Then she must be over someone's house." Shikamaru said, sighing as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Case closed."

Neji shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Hiashi-sama- that is, Hinata-sama's father- wishes to speak with her."

"Have you asked Sakura if Hinata is staying over?" Chouji added in, thinking of the few
people he saw Hinata with that were outside of her team. "Or.. Naruto."

Ino started coughing, a misplaced gasp and a laugh choking her up. "N-Naruto!" she said, shaking her head. "They may be good friends, but Hinata's too shy to ask if she could stay over." Which was very logical, and what would have happened if Naruto hadn't practically forced the girl to stay over, after he learned of her plight.

"Hm.." Neji murmured, loathing to ask for help but knowing it was necessary. "Where does Sakura usually... 'hang out'?"


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Several hours later, Naruto cornered a very irritated shadow user in one of the training areas during his cloud watching. He stretched out on the grass next to him and waited for the other to say something first. He didn't have to wait long. In a rare ranting mood, Shikamaru told him about the encounter between Kiba and Neji. Naruto gulped nervously and tugged on the collar of his vest.
Neji's looking for Hinata?That can't bevery good..

Can't he go get his own girl? Kyuubi grumbled. Naruto completely missed the fact that the demon seemed truly annoyed instead of just being his sarcastic and mocking self as usual.

Feeling much more relaxed, now that he had vented his annoyances on Naruto's listening ear, Shikamaru glanced at the blond. "What was it you said you wanted again?"

Naruto fiddled with a blade of grass, his eyes focused on the seemingly endless stretch of blue sky. "I didn't." What did he want? Comfort. Confidence. Hell, even an order would be accepted with open arms. But the Shikamaru he wanted to hear an order from was ten years in the future. And dead, for that matter.

The war's origin point was the Chuunin Exam. From Orochimaru fighting and killing Sarutobi, to Sasuke getting bitten and having his mind warped and corrupted by tainted chakra, to Kabuto betraying them all.. It all had something to do with the Chuunin Exam. And, directly and indirectly, Sasuke himself.

If Naruto could just, somehow, prevent Sasuke from getting bitten, he just knew, even if it wouldn't prevent a war, it would definitely make things easier in the long run. But that wasn't his only reason for wanting to protect Sasuke. He was naturally possessive of his friends, the few and far between. No way in hell he'd allow Orochimaru to steal Sasuke for the second time.

He considered not accepting the invitation, thus disqualifying his team, but two things stopped him. One, Hinata was entered in the Chuunin Exam and he wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her just because he ducked out, and two, his other natural personality trait: competitiveness. He hated losing, retreating, and any other path that had something to do with him not winning.

Besides general feelings of anxiety, annoyance, and anticipation.. Naruto was really scared. He didn't want to relive his bloody and gory life over again. Nor did he want his friends to suffer the same fate.

"..If I told you that I was really twenty-two years old, and had come from the future to save all of your sorry asses, what would you say?" he asked Shikamaru on a whim. Shikamaru glanced at him through the corner of his eye, pulling out of his trance. He considered for a moment, then answered evasively.

"If that's supposed to be some kind of deep and meaningful question in the same league as 'how was the universe created?' or 'why do girls like Sasuke?', then you're wasting it on the wrong person." Naruto quirked a smile at Shikamaru's escape, but patiently waited for the shadow user to realize that he really had to answer the question. Shikamaru grimaced. "Ah, crap. You're not going to let go of this are you?" Naruto shook his head. "Okay then.. I'd say 'that's a pretty elaborate prank'. Or something along those lines."

"And if it wasn't a prank?" Naruto prodded. The other boy sighed.

"Then it would be one hell of a story." Shikamaru said truthfully. He waited for a moment, very aware of the almost unnoticeable signs of nervousness pouring off of Naruto. He sighed again. "Go ahead. I'll listen, but I probably won't believe"

Naruto launched into his story, leaving out the Kyuubi and any personal parts of the ten year period of time. He focused instead on the enemies, their names, and the cold hard statistics. Even though Shikamaru told himself not to believe, he was sickened at the idea that Konoha could fall, that so many powerful people could die in such a short time. And curious too, dammit. He wanted to know what happened to him. Where the hell was he when all of that happened!

Just a story, he reminded himself when his temper spiked. It cooled down a little. "So.. hypothetically.. If you were a time traveler, and you came back to prevent a war, wouldn't that screw just about every scientific theory man has ever made about time and space?"

Naruto looked at him blankly, but not in ignorance. He smiled. Trust Shika to be the only one who thinks of it that way.

Shikamaru continued, misinterpreting the look on Naruto's face. "There's a bunch of problems with the time travel theory. Paradoxes, especially. Such as the grandfather paradox. If you went back in time, met and killed your grandfather, how could you have ever existed if your father wasn't born?" Naruto sat up, fascinated with the turn in the conversation. "Of course, there's the theory that every event, every choice(since humans have free will) creates a parallel universe, and there's an infinite number of universes to begin with. It could be something as simple as whether or not you wore your underwear. So if time travel was possible, you'd be creating a parallel universe to your future, and if you tried to get back, you might just accidentally go to a different universe. Ever seen Planet of the Apes?" Shikamaru continued, not expecting an answer. "But, all of that aside, time is one of three things: fixed, flexible, or fluid. Meaning that time cannot be changed, it could only be changed a little, or it could be changed a lot. Don't even let me start on religious views of it.." he said, a bit of a groan at the last part.

Naruto flipped on his stomach. "Hmph. Ninja theories are better than scientists."

"A bit biased, aren't you?" the other said with a half smirk. Naruto shrugged.

"Anyway, smart a**, back to what I was saying before.." he trailed off for a moment, trying to think of the best way to say what he thought. "Look, I don't expect you to believe me, all I ask is that you listen to a few things I have to say, and treat them as if they weren't just a fairy tale you plan to wipe from your mind the second I leave." Shikamaru winced. Damn, Naruto had caught on to him. "Just a couple of warnings. Stay away from the sound trio, Dosu, Zaku, and.. Kin, I think the girl's name was. And Kabuto, though he's a leaf nin. He's a damn back stabber, trying to get information for his leader, Orochimaru. Stay away from the sand trio, but if they fight you, go for Temari or Kankurou. Do not, by any means, go after Gaara. He's a demon host, he'll kill you faster than you can say 'Chuunin Exam'." Naruto stood, shoving his hands in his pockets. "When.. not if, when.. you realize that I'm telling you the truth, come to me, and I'll tell you more." He started to walk away.

His mind full of jumbled questions, Shikamaru sat up, throwing out the first thing on his mind at the blond's retreating back. "Why are you telling me this?" Naruto paused in mid step, then turned slightly.

"I really.. need help." Naruto admitted in a quiet voice. "I don't.. know s**t about anything other than fighting. And in this body, I can't even take on Kakashi without getting my a** kicked, let alone Orochimaru. I need a sharp mind, I need your mind, Shika." he laughed quietly. "You may be ten years younger than the Shika I remember but at least he always steered me in the right direction. Can you do the same?" he waved. "Talk to you after the first test."

Shikamaru stood, watching Naruto walk away. "What makes you think your secret is safe with me?" he murmured to himself, surprised at Naruto's strange sense of logic. Naruto, to Shikamaru's great surprise, just laughed. How could he have heard! He's out of ear shot! A normal human's ear shot, that is.. he was suddenly remembering the dark red eyes he saw in Ino's vision, the one she showed the Hokage in his orb.

"Really, Shika... Who would believe you?"

[I forgot to comment before]

Another Amazing Chapter By: Suhi-Sama!