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Silent Observer	By : Cepheus Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1303 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
Note1: someone pointed out a mistake of mine in last
chapter. I am aware that Mizu means
water and not rain, but I messed up. I study Japanese after all, but let�s call
that a typo. Also, I know there are more than just these five villages in
Naruto world, but most of the others are filler�based, and I don�t count them
as originals.

Note2: well, sorry for the delay. I lost track of where I
was going with this fic, and needed to get down some kind of plot� I also
rewrote the previous chapters so� check it back to remember what I wrote
before? XD

Cepheus: � let�s all drop
the subject and smile together, ne?

��

Rating: T

Summary: (ShikaNaru)
(ShinoKiba, KakaIru, Sandcest KankuGaa) Observing, interacting, developing,
caring and healing. When someone you care for is threatened, even the most
troublesome matter turns vital. When Shikamaru is appointed to search for
Naruto, who�s gone training with Jiraiya, to tell him
that Akatsuki is moving for him faster than expected, time is all that matters.
After the Valley
of End.

Warnings: shounen�ai and yaoi. Boy x boy
relationships. Don�t like, don�t read, don�t flame. OC
warning. Important OC but not too much.

Disclaimer: I don�t own this wonderful manga, or the anime. They belong to Masashi
Kishimoto.

�Talking�
�Thinking�
�Dreams,
Flashbacks, memories�

��

Silent Observer

Chapter 04: Expectations

�Are we
directed towards the Tsuchi no Kuni then?�

Four
figures were moving quickly from a tree to another, barely making any noise,
and were not following a particular strategy to check their surroundings. They
were advancing at a good pace, with Kiba in front of them, his huge dog even
more ahead scouting (Akamaru had grown a lot in the last few years, but that
was normal for a inu-nin of the Inuzuka family, at least until the complete
maturity) and Shino in the back, his bugs buzzing around; Neji was the second,
and he was glancing around to prevent any attack with his Byakugan.

�Yes,
because by what I gathered, Naruto is somewhere in there, and he won�t be
moving for at least some months,� Shikamaru replied, staring briefly at his
partners before looking forwards once more. �He stays some months in the same
place, sending a letter to Tsunade�sama, then moves again.�

They
were now at least five hours from Konoha, and during that time none of them
spoke, all too busy thinking about the recent news on Naruto to really want to
start a conversation.

Shikamaru
knew that despite accepting the truth, it was still hard for them to digest
that a creature like Kyuubi was inside someone they�d fought with and against,
and that now was revealed as an almost complete stranger in their eyes.

On his
part, the lazy teen only wished to show Naruto he wanted to be a friend for
real this time, not just faking to be one. Shikamaru also knew the others would
do the same� they just needed some more time� after all, he had a lot more time
to digest the news.

And
still, something was bugging Shikamaru ever since they had left the village. He
didn�t know what, but� something was up. Something important he was not taking
into consideration, and he hated the feeling� he knew it would be important
later on, but for how much he kept on thinking about what could it be, nothing
came.

Shaking
away the feeling, he resumed his previous trail of thoughts regarding where
exactly Naruto could be in the Earth Country, trying to think of a place where
the Sannin would feel secure but at the same time where they would have an onsen �obviously by what the letters
reported this was a somewhat necessity.

Being a
good strategist, he�d spent all night searching through maps of the Tsuchi no
Kuni to see how many onsen there were, and he�d reduced the possibilities up to
four places since the conformation of the country usually prevented the
villages to build a hot spring; fortunately enough rereading the last letter
Shikamaru had been able to further reduce the possibilities to two, thanks to
Naruto�s babbling about the territory.

It
looked like the loudmouth was helping them more than anything else, and
Shikamaru couldn�t wait to see just how much the blond proceeded with his
training.

It
wasn�t like they had all the time in the world to find the blond, mostly
because Tsunade�sama said Akatsuki was on the move, so he couldn�t waste time
going to the wrong place. Any wasted day could mean less
possibilities for them and for Naruto.

Now,
what could be another important thing for Naruto?

�Guys?� Shikamaru attracted the attention of the rest of the
team, everyone wondering why he was smirking now. �Any of you know if in the
Earth Country there are good ramen stands?� he asked with a joking tone.

��

Naruto
sneezed. Of course he couldn�t know someone was thinking about him, so he
wasn�t aware of the extreme clich� of it� but�

Well.

�Ero�Sennin,
what are we going to do now?� he asked whilst inhaling ramen.

After
having waited for his sensei for half a hour, Naruto
had seen the man limp to him, sporting a black eye and some wounds from the
�meeting� with the women at the onsen.
Jiraiya hadn�t punched Naruto �yet. He was still brooding for the reaction.

Even
though, he had nothing to blame on the blond, since most of the time he ended
crushed by the women by his own fault (usually, because he was too loud in his
observing).

Jiraiya
stared, mourning at the waste of his money that was going down Naruto�s
stomach, and sighed in despair. Years and still, he couldn�t stop the blond
from eating so much.

But he
had to admit, apart his absolute love for ramen, Naruto had changed, and in a
good way. Jiraiya allowed himself to watch him, appreciation and guilt flaring
inside him at the sight of what Naruto had become.

He was
not certain if the training had been good for him, at least not completely.
Naruto felt weak and devoted himself to strict training schedules in order to
become strong, but all the while still remaining himself.

He was
still a loud blond, but he was becoming strong; he was maturing as well. His
appearance had changed in those few years, and Jiraiya couldn�t but feel a pang
of pain each time he looked at his apprentice.

He
looked so much like�

Jiraiya
bit his lower lip hard to stop the trail of thoughts before it started; he
didn�t want to go down the memory lane, because he would end up depressed again,
and he had to keep up his appearance. He didn�t want to have Naruto worry for
him.

Because
indeed, Naruto worried for his sensei, despite their bickering about hot
springs and books.

The
white haired hermit stared at the eating blond, taking in that every day
passing by, the teen grew into a fine young man; blond bangs were longer, and
wilder, reaching his shoulders in a messy mass, his blue eyes were piercing
deep and relaxed, but at the same time hiding a sparkle of mischievousness.

He
didn�t wear much orange anymore, preferring black �but still his shirt had a
line of orange on it. He was tall, almost reaching Jiraiya�s shoulders, and his
baby fat was gone, replaced by a toned frame, not enough to call him built, but
still.

Naruto
was growing into a fine young man (despite the fact that against his toned
frame he still looked rather feminine), but the white haired sannin knew he
felt it was not enough; he could see it in his eyes, the feeling he was weak,
the feeling nothing he could do was enough.

Naruto
had always been staring up at someone, fighting to be accepted and cared for,
and the first and only person that had seen him for what he was� was Sasuke.
Then, even his first friend had betrayed him, and Jiraiya knew Naruto blamed
himself. He�d always blamed himself for things that did not depend from him at
all.

Living
in the village, where people looked down at the blond as a demon and not the
vessel, the hero the Fourth wished him to be seen, Naruto had grown to believe
he was the demon everyone pointed him to be.

No
matter what his friends did, no matter what those who cared could do, Naruto
believed he was the cause of the village�s pain.

Jiraiya
would never give in and say that he could forgive the village and the elders�
fierce opposition on Naruto, but the blond had.

�Start Flashback�

�Oi
Naruto!� Jiraiya stretched his back and scratched his belly, licking his dry
lips as he wished he had more sake. �What are you doing?�

It was
around seven, and by that time of the year, the sun was slowly dripping lower
in the sky, painting it of oranges and rose tints.
Jiraiya had been napping for some time with his back against a tree, and when
he�d opened his eyes, he�d seen the blond standing silently looking at the
sunset.

Despite
knowing the teen was a lot brighter and quieter than what he used to appear in
the village, such display of stillness was unsettling at first, and the man
couldn�t but wish to break it.

He felt
inadequate by staring at him like this. His own brashness was just a cover of
his seriousness, but seeing the same thing on his beloved student� he didn�t
like it. Naruto was still too young for that� and yet�

Naruto
did not turn, but the older shinobi could see his attention was also on him and
not just on the sun.

After a
moment, Naruto spoke, and his voice was so low Jiraiya had to strain his ears
to understand what he was saying.

�I
don�t want to go back,� the blond sighed deeply. He must have realized that his
words were a bit confusing because he then continued, �it�s not that I want to
run away or something like that, but� see, sensei, I like this. Training and
moving around, seeing different things and learning everything I can� but
still, I never found a place that is more beautiful than my village,� Naruto
this time did turn towards his sensei, and his eyes were sparkling with pride,
�if I compare this to Konoha� I feel like I can�t go back yet, I am not worthy
that place� he shook his head and laughed sheepishly.

Jiraiya
frowned.

�I
don�t know how you can say this, after everything the village is putting you
through� you should hate it, but no� you love it. You�re nothing but a
sentimentalist� like�� he stopped. That speech wasn�t meant for this day.

Naruto
didn�t seem to have heard him at all, because the blond merely smiled and
continued.

�I
can�t hate Konoha. They have the right to hate me, after all. I can�t
understand what�s like to have the most precious thing taken away from you� I
never had this kind of pain, everything I hold close is still living and I can
see them and talk to them and know they are fine�� Jiraiya could see the hurt
in the blue eyes, but did not speak, merely allowing the blond to continue. �They
hate Kyuubi, and me, because every time they see me, they are reminded of what
they have lost. I can�t hate them, when I know I would do the same thing�.

He
turned again, and he never saw Jiraiya shook his head, eyes darkened with grief.

�No, you would never do that. You could look at
Sasuke in the eyes and still smile, even though he betrayed you. You would just
smile to those that hurt you, and offer them your hand� just like he would have�.

�End Flashback�

That
was not all of it, though.

Jiraiya
felt guilty since part of Naruto�s feeling of helplessness was his own fault.
If he�d known that by telling Naruto the truth about who his father was would have
caused him to feel even more inadequate, and bring him to deathly training
schedules, he would have kept the secret some more time.

Naruto
had always respected the Hokages before and the thing he wanted the most was to
become one of them, and more exactly like the one and only he respected the
most �the Fourth.

It
didn�t matter Yondaime had been the one to seal Kyuubi in him, condemning him
to a life of hatred� it didn�t matter to him that he was hated and despised
because of him.

He
admired Yondaime, with all his heart, and this feeling
never vanished. Jiraiya was sure he could bet Naruto had felt (in a wrong and
twisted way that couldn�t be explained with rage, misunderstandings and resentment)
privileged in knowing Yondaime chose him above any other baby.

Jiraiya
assumed Naruto wanted to feel just a little important for the burden Yondaime
put on him with the sealing of the demon. Always trying to find the good side
of things� this was Naruto.

Now
Naruto wanted to stay true to his word and at the same time live to the
expectations he felt he owned to his father. Despite Jiraiya telling him he was
his own person and not his father, Naruto still felt he was not enough.

He
wanted to patch things up, but doing this, he was breaking from the inside.
Dying, disappearing in the darkness, not allowing himself to relax and slow
down, and Jiraiya found himself useless� he could not help him.

�Ne, Ero�Sennin, why are you staring longingly at me?� Jiraiya was shaken out of his musings by
Naruto�s curious voice, and had to restrain himself from smiling at the sight
of his fox�like face.

After
all, there was still Naruto there, in front of him. He was not broken.

Yet.

�Ne,
maybe you want some?� Naruto widened his eyes, moving his ramen away from
reach, �no way! This is mine, not yours!� he hugged the bowl protectively.

�Che, Naruto, I won�t eat a bowl of ramen never ever again,
not even if my life depended on it!� the white haired pervert shook his head as
he recalled that dreaded day his hatred for ramen was born.

After
all, no one would be able to look at ramen the same way if he were to see
Naruto eating it after a particularly hard training.

Naruto
scrunched his face in confusion, but the steamy bowl in his hands attracted his
attention again and soon he was eating soundly again, oblivious of Jiraiya and
his strange moods.

Answering
to the question Naruto had previously asked, Jiraiya blocked the teen before he
could order his tenth bowl, �we will be staying around there for some time,
maybe one month, and then move through the Earth Country and reach the Rai no
Kuni� he explained.

Naruto
huffed at being halted in his eating but looked happy to stay some more time in
this place, more so since the ramen they served in the stand was the best he�d
eaten in the whole Tsuchi no Kuni.

�Then
you are going to train me again? You can teach me that cool move you did while
trying to escape from the hot springs at the borders of the Wind Country three
weeks ago!� Naruto looked excited as he stretched his back.

Jiraiya�s
eyes hardened.

�No, I
won�t� he steeled his resolve when Naruto�s eyes flashed with hurt.

He
could not let Naruto overdo himself this way. It was time he put a stop to his
inhuman acting. This path was a deathly one, and the man was aware of that.

�From
now on, for the next two weeks, I forbid you from training, and I won�t train
you either,� he put up a hand to stop him from complaining. �Naruto, your
health is more important than training, and anyone could tell you�re overdoing
it!�

�I am
not,� Naruto growled out. �Kyuubi heals me at a faster rate, and he�s giving me
more stamina to endure the training sessions� you can�t order me around! I have
to become stronger!�

Jiraiya
felt his heart clench painfully.

He
couldn�t accept watching Naruto�s soul destroying itself.

�Naruto,
I can order you around, because I care for you, and I want you to relax.
Overdoing your training won�t be good for your body at all, especially after the fact, last month�.

Naruto
flinched and fell silent.

He
could still remember what had happened a month before, and guilt started
pooling inside of him; he nodded and looked at the ground, ashamed.

Jiraiya
sighed, he didn�t want to use this fact against him, but Naruto needed to
relax.

�I am
not angry at you, Naruto, but I want you to rest,� he ruffled the blond
affectionately and smiled at him. �Understand?�

Naruto
looked up and his eyes met his sensei�s.

He
understood. But he still felt bad.

�Wakarimasu
yo� he mumbled.

��

Sasuke
stretched his back as he walked slowly� towards his house.

It was
almost ten, and there was a cool breeze flowing around, making his skin tremble
slightly. With a sigh, Sasuke let his eyes trail on the structure that was the
Uchiha compound. He hated that place, and even though he would never admit it
aloud, he dreaded the moment of the day he would have to go back there.

It
reeked of dead and darkness. Not for real, because the stench of the bloody
corpses of his family had been long since gone, but the mental one was still
there.

Sasuke
only lately had started to understand what the Uchiha really were in the
village, and how the Hyuuga took their place in the hierarchy of Konoha.

He had
hated the village, point one of his uneasiness with Naruto that instead loved
it. Sasuke found nothing good in a village that did nothing the day the Uchiha
were exterminated, not even realizing the fact until it was all done and the
responsible was far away already; how could that have been possible? The Uchiha
were loved. And there were ANBU guards that were not of the family that were
patrolling around the compound that night.

But no
one external to the family had been killed that night.

Sasuke�s
hatred towards his brother, taken up to the maximum, was now controlled by his
rational mind as he was determined in not letting petty emotions to ruin his
life anymore. But still, he could do nothing but hate Konoha as well. In his
hatred, something had changed.

Why?

Because he didn�t want to kill Naruto.

It had
taken him a lot to admit Naruto meant something for him, at least as a friend,
the closest one he ever had, and he wasn�t keen to loose that kind of bond only
to be able to revenge his family.

What were the Uchiha?

Underneath
the underneath, for the first time Sasuke questioned himself about that. At
fires he had always despised any thought against his lost clan, because he felt
guilty and dirty for thinking badly of his family� but more time passed and
more his mind berated him for trying to delude himself.

He�d
grown into a fine shinobi, that would take the next jounin exam and surely pass
it, and he�d met death many times already. This was how life was in any ninja
village.

And as
he proceeded further, he�d started seeing the signs of decay.

He
could see them clearly, and they disgusted him. What was the point of such
things to happen?

Closeness, hatred, disinterest, ignorance.

The
villagers worshipped the Hyuuga and the Uchiha. But everyone �excluded the new
generation, that had come to know during their first Chuunin exams� knew about
the curse seal the Hyuuga family put on the branch members, and they were ok
with it.

No one
cared if some died. It could be because of betrayal or treachery.

If this
was the village that loved the Uchiha family so much, what was the truth behind
the fa�ade? If the village acted this way, and one of the two families that
were so worshipped was indeed rotten inside� what about the other family, the
one that disappeared in that fateful night of fourteen years before?

Sasuke
had started to feel distrust towards what he�d always believed. He did
everything he could to ignore and push away the feeling, because he felt like
he was betraying his family by doing so, but he had to admit, he could not push
everything away forever.

He had
to face whatever his family really was (he believed there was much more under
the surface) and by doing so, realize he could not dwell anymore in the fake
world he had created.

Sasuke
passed the main entrance of the Uchiha compound and again was thrown into their
world.

He
could remember the nice woman that always waved her hand at him as he passed.

He
could almost see the man selling fish in his stand across the street, he was always speaking nicely with his father.

He
could remember everything, but every time he cringed away from his memories.

The
dreadful thought he�d tried pushing away was making itself known more and more
often, and despite everything his heart said, his mind told Sasuke that his
brother knew something he did not.

Now
that he was old enough to pay attention, he found strange some of the things
his father did with him; he had tried to make him befriend many of his cousins,
always saying Uchiha were better than any other family and that Sasuke were to
stop acting friendly with his classmates.

Because he deserved more.

In his
naivety, Sasuke had accepted it, but not liking any of his cousins and being
always in his brother�s shadow, he�d thrown himself into training.

Now
that he had no one to confront himself with, waiting for Naruto to come back so
he could fix things �when did sparring
and showing off turn into fixing
things?� he could do nothing but observe.

And
what he was starting to see, despite the layers of deceit, was scaring him.

What if
the appearance was just that? What if the Uchiha family was indeed rotten
inside, like their estates were now?

He had
to find answers, but no one was willingly to give them.

Everyone
loved that family. If he were to listen to them, he would never get the truth,
but only the surface. He�d too been one of those, losing himself in praising
his family.

But now
that he�d started to feel nothing was indeed fine and well with it, he�d
forgotten even his hatred.

The
only thing he wanted was the truth.

Sasuke
blinked as he found himself in his house; he hadn�t even realized he was there
until his hands started to mess around the kitchen, preparing a cup of hot tea.

His
hatred was strong. He wanted to avenge his clan. He�d promised that long ago,
and he would never go back to his promise. No matter what, no matter what he
would discover about the Uchiha. They had been his family, and they deserved
his respect� or not?

But the
truth� only one person could tell him the truth. Only one.

The
same person he�d swore to kill.

His older brother. Itachi.

�Before killing him� I want my answers. About the Uchiha. About our village.
About everything�.

��

Sakura
smiled tentatively at Kakashi, unsure about what she was gonna ask him.

The
silver haired man was staring at her with his visible eye glinting, and she
knew she had interrupted something and he would not be nice to her unless she
had something really important and urgent to ask.

�Kakashi�sensei�
I am sorry for interrupting your quality
time with Iruka�sensei, but�� an indignant squeal could be heard in the
room and Iruka appeared, lightly flushed and dishevelled, but with a twitch on
his left eye.

�I
mean, it wasn�t my idea, but Ino was worried since she heard Shikamaru has been
put into another mission so soon and she thought maybe you would know�� she
wasn�t afraid of what Kakashi would do to her (partly because Iruka would hurt
him if he ever tried to hurt one of his students) so she smiled sweetly and
cracked her fist.

Sakura
had been training under Tsunade, Kakashi had to be attentive on how he
addressed her �her strength was slowly but surely becoming alarmingly similar
to her shishou.

Kakashi
growled, he�d been enjoying his teasing with his lover, especially because it
had been a while since their last �meeting�, but now he had to put everything
away to answer his student�s questions, even though he wasn�t even supposed to
know what Shikamaru had been ordered to do.

�I am
sorry, Sakura, but I don�t know what Tsunade�sama ordered Shikamaru to do,� he
mumbled under his breath, eyes darting to look at the delicious frame of his
lover at his side.

Sakura
bit her lip disappointedly, �I see. Sorry, but Ino��

Kakashi
rolled his eyes.

Ino was
bossing again, just like she was used to during the years she�d been in Team
10. He still could hear Asuma�s lamenting tone in his mind for all the times
he�d come to him, bitching about how his team sucked, smoking
one cigarette after the other and drinking sake and beer with him.

Kakashi
knew the woman had her mind fixed on her team mate, no matter how much she
bickered with Sakura for Sasuke�s affection, she knew she would never get the
Uchiha heir to date her, simply because that was a childish crush �sometimes he
wished Sakura would get over it herself, even though lately her acting towards
the Uchiha had changed into a more friendly one� and had moved on what she
thought was an easier prey.

Kakashi
refrained himself from chuckling, it would be weird and suspicious. Ino was
really blind, even after two years.

Realizing
he was spacing out, Kakashi stared hard at her student, waving his hand at her
to shoo her away, �Go, now, can�t you see we are busy?� he flickered his eyes
towards Iruka.

The
brown haired teacher glared at him as the copy�nin closed the door on her face,
�that was not very nice,� he scolded the older man.

Kakashi
smirked under his mask, eyes glinting mischievously, �I am never nice, unless
it�s with someone I like, you should know that��

Iruka
blushed hard and slapped him on the back of the head.

�Don�t
ever say things like this again!� he blushed more as Kakashi�s eye sparkled
with amusement. �Or else� he threatened.

Kakashi
shook his head and leaned over to land a kiss over Iruka�s nose, and the he
rolled his eyes, motioning for the academy teacher to follow him; Iruka was pretty
sure he would not be able to sleep that night.

��

Naruto
kicked a rock in his path as he sulked, moving around the village with a bored
expression.

His
blue eyes were fixed on the ground in front of him, his mind deep in thought;
it had been two years since he left Konoha to train, but he hadn�t become as
strong as he wanted, especially since his sensei didn�t want to help him.

Jiraiya
was absurdly making him stall, and for the love of Kami he couldn�t understand
why. He wanted to train, so to be able to withstand the pressure the name of
his father had on him, and the fact that otherwise he would not be able to
protect those he cared for�

So why
didn�t Jiraiya help him?

He had
every right to train and become stronger, because he needed to show to everyone
(and himself) he could do something by himself. He had to get better. He had to.

Even
though, Jiraiya had every right to not want him around for a while. After the
disastrous problems their last hard training had caused, not only to the forest
they had been sparring into, but also to Jiraiya, Naruto knew he had to control
himself.

But
even so, he could not restrain himself for an entire day, let alone two damn weeks.

He would
never grow strong.

Naruto
bit his lip hard, knowing he�d made a promise and he could not break it,
because it was his nindo. Jiraiya would not train him and he�d promised he
would not disobey to his direct orders.

He was
tired. His body ached and felt heavy, but it had been like this for so much he
could not remember a day he felt really rested and healthy anymore. What he
needed was to sleep and rest, but he would never allow himself this, because he
would slack off.

He
couldn�t.

Lifting
his hand to brush against his face, the blond could clearly feel the bags under
his eyes, sign he hadn�t been sleeping well, but he was getting used to this;
after all, Gaara never slept since he would give his demon a chance to control
him.

For
Naruto, the lack of sleep meant more time to train and get strong, and even
though he was tired of that, Kyuubi helped a lot, healing his body and
restoring his chakra reserves and his fatigue even after a few hours of rest.

He
could not allow himself any moment to rest, because he felt it wasn�t enough.

He was
inadequate.

For how
much he could train, and now that he was away from the village everything was
coming easier to him to learn, he couldn�t shake away the feeling that he was
getting nowhere.
�Damn, Ero�sennin!� he cried inwardly. �I need this! I need to get strong! I�ll just stain my father�s reputation, I�ll never protect anyone��

Naruto
was unknowingly breaking under the pressure he was self�imposing on his mind
and body, because he could not see his gains but only his failures.

Everything
was never enough for him.

It was
like a vicious circle, but he was blind to it, and was slowly sinking deep
down, where he couldn�t be reached.

Naruto
lost what little light he had, and was loosing his brightness as well.

He
could not stop.

He
could not falter.

He was weak.

�I am sorry, Ero�sennin�� Naruto felt a tug of displeasure and guilt in
his chest as he straightened more, ignoring his body begging for rest. �I can�t stop. I have to get strong� so I
can make father happy. So I can make you proud of me. So I can protect my
precious people��

Brushing
one hand through his unruly blond hair, Naruto moved through the street, not
really aware of what was around him, in his hurry to get as far from here as he
could so that he would be able to train without Jiraiya sensing his chakra
flares.

Naruto
knew he would be blessed this time because of the onsen of the village, and he
secretly wished he could spend some more time calling the women in the springs
out to beat the shit out of Jiraiya.

He was
so deep in his thoughts that he didn�t even notice someone coming in his
opposite direction, and as supposed, both collided against each other, both
falling backwards on the ground with a startled yelp.

Naruto
blinked, the fall had rattled his body more than he would have thought
possible; his frame was crying in pain for the massive amount of training he
did in the last few days, without rest, his stomach asking for more food
(since, despite his ramen, he didn�t eat nearly enough food), the world
spinning around him.

Lifting
his slightly unfocused eyes, he noticed he�d slammed against a young teen
around his age, seemingly taller than him, with dark blue hair and unsettling
indigo eyes. Much to his surprise, the teen was dressed as a shinobi, which
made Naruto wonder faintly if the guy was in some kind of mission or not.

�Hey, daijobu ka? I am sorry, I didn�t mean to bump on you like this�
his voice was warm and friendly, and had it been in any other moment Naruto
would have smiled back reassuringly.

This
was not another time.

Naruto
groaned in pain and tried to stand, waving his hand at the other as he pulled
himself on his feet, wavering slightly now that his balance, as well as his
concentration to avoid the tiredness, had weakened.

Quickly
he recomposed himself and watched the other teen, who
was a little taller than him, blinking as he checked out if he could possibly
be an enemy. It didn�t look like it.

�I�m
fine,� he replied and smiled at the guy�s concern. �What about you? I wasn�t
really looking so it�s my fault� he laughed sheepishly, one of his hands
rubbing the back of his neck.

The
guy�s eyes widened and for a moment Naruto wondered why he was looking at him
this way; even after two years wandering around without anyone to point at him
calling him a demon, he was still sensitive about how people stared at him.

But in
the eyes of the teen there was no hared or distaste, just plain shock, so he
assumed it was fine, after all.

�You
look like shit,� the guy commented, raising one eyebrow at him. Naruto felt his
temper rise. Who did this guy think he was?!

�Well,
I don�t think this is any of your business,� he growled, moving out of the way
with the very intent of walking away and start training.

�Wait!�
the teen stared at him with what Naruto recalled as concern, and was surprised;
why would someone he just met be concerned about with him?

�What?�
he tried to glare at the blue haired teen but by the look he received back,
this guy wasn�t impressed.

�You��

Both
were interrupted by a very loud and distinct sound coming from Naruto�s belly. Looked like his stomach wanted to be fed again.

Naruto
felt a light blush rise up on his cheeks and looked away in embarrassment,
whilst the other just blinked in shock.

Caught
in such absurd situation, both teens stared at each other for a second before starting
to laugh out, neither sure as to why they were laughing in the first place.

The
tension in the air disappeared and Naruto breathed deeply.

Maybe
he was really overdoing it. Not eating would hinder him more, so he could just
take a bit to put something in his stomach and use it as strength for his
training.

�My
name is Michiko,� the blue haired teen grabbed his hand and shook it, eyes
glinting amusedly. �What about you? Should I call you �Growling�stomach� then?�

Naruto
pouted and mentally slapped himself on the face. That was just one of his
usually stupid actions he thought he�d left in the past.

�Naruto,
my name is Naruto,� he shook his head in defeat. �This guy is a baka� he mentally added.

A
sparkle of interest kicking in, wondering whether that guy could be a worthy
opponent for a spar, Naruto stared at the teen, �are you a ninja?�

Michiko
smiled brightly, �of course I am!�

Naruto�s
stomach protested again, and Michiko smirked.

�Come
on, I know of a very good place where to eat!�

The
blond wondered if he could just sneak away without being noticed and do a quick
trip to the ramen stand he�d visited before, and them
go train, but his hopes were crushed when the taller shinobi grabbed him by the
wrist and started pulling him along.

�Hey!
Let me go!� he wailed, but Michiko merely tightened his hold and dragged him
away.

��

�So
you�re just wandering around for training with your sensei?� Michiko stared at
the blond in front of him with evident surprise. �How is it like to be trained?
Is he a good teacher?�

Naruto
let out a small growl as he unconsciously put more food in his plate; he�d been
dragged into a restaurant, and as he and the other
teen spoke, he lost track of everything else and only thought about his extreme
hunger.

�He�s a
good teacher, I think, if you forget his perversion
and his stupid twisted morals! But he trained the sensei of my previous sensei,
and he�s really strong�.

�Perver�sion?�

Naruto
nodded eagerly, gulping down a bit of water.

�He
goes peering in the hot springs we meet on our way, all because he has to take
info for his perverted books!� he waved his hands around, for a moment feeling
a little melancholic at the sense of d�j� vu, before collecting himself again.

Michiko
snorted.

�Sounds
like a pervert to me, alright� he stared with amusement as the blond ate,
before turning to his own unattended meal.

�He
said I have to take a break for two weeks� Naruto muttered, finally stopping.
�But I can�t. I have to continue training and get strong, to protect all the
people I care for�.

�But�
you really look like you need to rest,� Michiko said. �Who do you think you
will be able to protect if you die for exhaustion?�

Naruto
shook his head stubbornly.

�What
about you? Are you here for a mission? You look like a ninja to me�.

Michiko
smiled and nodded.

�Yeah,
I travel around with my team for a scouting mission. We have to protect this
village and the neighbours from a band of bandits that are terrorizing around
here� he explained, and moving a bit he showed his bag to Naruto, who could
finally see the hitai�ate tied on its string.

It was
a Tsuchi hitai�ate.

�So,
are you strong?� Naruto leaned over a bit, waiting for the answer.

�Well,
I am a Chuunin, I tried out with my group two years ago and managed to pass the
exam� Michiko nodded proudly.

Naruto�s
face scrunched up in thought.

�Hmm�
two years ago� was it held in Rai no Kuni then?� at the other�s nod he smiled.
�Ero�sennin wanted me to compete as well, but I declined. I wasn�t ready to get
into it��

�I
heard that the exams held in the Hi no Kuni are harder anyway. My brother was
into one, and he couldn�t get over the second part� but then again, he isn�t
that good ninja,� Michiko laughed teasingly, waving his arm around.

�My
first try I didn�t pass either� but that�s because the exam was interrupted by
someone attacking our Hokage�.

Michiko
frowned then his face lit up.

�I
heard of the commotion, for a while the rumours of the death of your Hokage
travelled around as the day�s news�.

Naruto�s
face darkened a bit, but he knew it was the truth.

�Our
new Hokage is one of the three Sannin, she�s really strong, even if she has
this obsession with gambling and sake,� Naruto laughed a bit, feeling a pang of
nostalgia for the woman.
�Did
you compete in another Chuunin exam after that one?� Michiko asked.

Naruto
shook away the sadness and nodded.

�Yes, I
took up the exam held in the Kaze no Kuni,� he grimaced, remembering just how
easy that one had been in opposite to his first one. He was still thinking he
wasn�t worthy the promotion, because it had been just too easy for his liking.
�Since they didn�t require the three�person formation the Hi no Kuni one
required, I was allowed in as a single. There was only a bunch of other
Konoha�nin that time, but I knew no one of them� I think my friends just took
the ones after that�.

Naruto
hadn�t known before that the various shinobi villages held the Chuunin exams in
a row, and that the requirements for each country were different every time.
Konohagakure required a three�man team to enter, whilst Sunagakure wanted single
shinobi. There hadn�t been a written part, much to Naruto�s glee, and the
fighting had been rather easy. There had been only one worthy opponent, and
only four genin had been promoted that time.

The
blond teen had asked Tsunade to keep quiet to his friends about his promotion,
because he felt it was unmerited from him. He had never thought, not even for a
moment, that his desperate and rigorous training could have been the cause of
his victories and promotion, instead he thought the Kaze no Kuni Chuunin exams
had been far too nice on them, and felt disappointed.

His
promotion hadn�t been celebrated either. Jiraiya went spying on women and then
drunk himself to oblivion, and Naruto continued his training.

�So you
passed? That�s great!� Michiko stood up. �If you really need to train, you
could join my team for the day! I think it would be good to have a different type
of sparring partner once in a while, and our sensei won�t mind, I am sure of
that!�

Naruto�s
face brightened up.

�Thanks!�
he yelled, standing up as well. �That�s exactly what I need!�

Jiraiya
and his promise were completely forgotten as he followed his new friend out the
restaurant.

��

Cepheus: SO SORRY IF IT�S SO SHORT! I JUST COULDN�T ADD
ANYTHING ELSE� next chapter I�ll do better. And as for the OC� please, allow
him to reign for a bit. He�ll disappear soon enough. And he won�t be involved
in any romantic relationship until you deem it amusing for me to do so. XD

Review!

��

Glossary of Japanese words (that
someone requested� how troublesome):

Wakarimasu: I understand.

Kami: spirits of the nature, usually translated with
the word �gods�. They are the centre of the Shinto religion. Contrariwise to
other manga and anime, Naruto was major references with Shinto than with
Buddhism, as it becomes clear searching for the dynamics of the villages, the
various hints at legends and history, and even when you search with the
characters and the techniques. An example could be �kuchiyose no jutsu�, the
summoning technique. In Shinto religion the Kuchiyose was a way to call a
spirit of some sort and have it enter a person�s body, making it so that the
spirit could communicate with the medium. There were three types, one of which
was the Kamikuchi, or the possession
from a spirit of a Kami. The others were possession from the spirit of a dead,
and possession from the sprit of a living.

Daijobu
ka: is everything alright? Are
you ok? Around that meaning, it can be twisted around like this.
- 3
- 4
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