DISCLAIMER: …….. I do not own Naruto… if I did…

…

I'd use it to get free food from ninjaburger.

VISIT: enlightening ninja-tastic experience!

'never alone' ch.8

Finding himself once more in the dark caverns of his inner mind, Naruto realized he must've been asleep. Considering his options and the fact that he knew he was hidden underneath the old man's desk, he decided to use the opportunity to go see Warai again. After a short walk, he arrived at her cage and slipped through the bars once more, though 'slipped' might not have been the correct term in this text. The fact is, Naruto WALKED in between the bars this time.

'Strange' he thought. 'It looks like the whole thing changed to hold something else…I don't get it. What else could be in here with Warai? AND speaking of her where is she?'

Pausing in a moment of thought, Naruto raised a hand to scratch the back of his head.

'oh well' he thought. 'might as well…'

A second after, the tranquility of the now enormous chamber was shattered as Naruto bellowed his 'greeting' out.

"HEY WARAI! WHERE ARE YOU! I CAME TO SAY HI!"

Hearing a loud 'THUD' just to his left he turned and gasped. Right before him lay a giant, nine-tailed, fox figure…shaking in agony…in the fetal position…with…its paws over its ears?…and… tears coming from its closed eyes?…while making whimpering noises?

Sure it was an odd sight and all but what was Naruto's reaction after his initial gasp?

"AHHHHH, WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM GIANT FOX? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH WARAI?"

The Giant nine-tailed fox visibly cringed and whimpered once more before its eyes suddenly opened to reveal two huge pools of what looked like the very fire of hell itself. Quickly jumping on all fours the fox took an attack stance and unleashed its tails on the area behind while snarling.

"WHERE THE HELL DID I COME FROM?" the titanic demon roared. "WHAT THE HELL? HAVE YOU COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN OUR CONVERSATION? YOU KNOW THE ONE ABOUT ME BEING THE FREAKING KYUBI NO KITSUNE AND BEING SEALED INSIDE OF YOU!"

The towering she-demon paused to hear Naruto's amazing reply.

"Oh."

Demon eyes stared down blankly into their human counterparts

" OH? OH? YOU COME IN HERE BELLOWING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS RIGHT INTO MY FREAKING EARS WHICH BY THE WAY ARE THOUSANDS OF TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN YOUR HUMAN ONES AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS OH!"

"So you are Warai right?"

The Demon's face contorted into an unidentifiable mix of anger, confusion, and hopelessness before all its tails dropped limply down and its head sunk down beneath its shoulders.

'My gods' thought the she-demon. 'Is this what happens when a child is fed solely on ramen? I can guess what the new step to Naruto's 'training' is…' Coming out of her thoughts, the demoness deigned to answer Naruto's inherently stupid question.

"Yes, Naruto it's me…" she let out exasperatedly.

"Oh… hey then!" Naruto said in a normal greeting tone as he waved and smiled up at the nine-tailed fox.

"Hello …Naruto-kun…" replied the twitching giant. "Listen, could you turn around for a moment while I transform into my human form?"

"What? Umm why?" Naruto asked in genuine interest.

"Because I doubt you want to see me naked and that's exactly what I'll be when I first transform. I'll tell you when I've summoned by clothing. Okay?"

The demoness chuckled out in a hearty laugh as Naruto blushed deeply and then flew around with his hands on his face and his head pointed to the ground.

A few seconds later the change was complete.

"It's okay now Naruto-kun." The now human fox-woman stated.

"Are-are you sure?" stuttered out a still beet red Naruto

"I'm sure Naruto-kun." cooed Warai as she came in from behind him and gave him a small hug, thus eliciting an 'Eep!' from the young boy. "So what are you doing down here anyways? Did you make it to the Kage's tower and office yet? I haven't checked your memories or looked through your sight for awhile…"

"Yeah" replied the blonde. "I made it there all right but it was so tiring… I know what you mean now with the weak thing…It's a good thing too that I henged into a drunken bum. It was really hard and some of the chaka illusion messed up and looked like a burn mark on me. If they hadn't thought that I was a dirty homeless person they might have stopped to wonder why I was covered in soot and stuff. I guess I also kinda got lucky that no one found me in my hideaway while I was practicing at first. I think they only saw me when I actually came out…thank goodness. Anyways, by the time I got there I was so tired I almost felt like dropping. I was really worried for a moment when two nin came in. I had to hide under Ji-san's desk till they left.Actually, I'm still a little worried…"

Now weary of the facts at hand the fox woman questioned the boy. "Why?"

"well…you see…" he began while grinning and scratching the back of his head. "I kinda got comfortable down there and fell asleep underneath the desk…and…um…I think they're still right outside the door…"

Silence reigned in the chamber.

"WHAT?" shrieked the demoness. "What are you doing here then? Somebody could be there right now ready to kill you or something! Get out! GO! SHOO!" cried out the fox woman as she literally tossed Naruto over her shoulder, ran to the gates, and then lobbed him out…though for all her 'fear' she happened to have a smirk on her face.

As Naruto flew through the air and out of the cage he considered the possibility of Warai being right.

'yeah, right.' He snorted. 'she was just mad about the ear thing'.

Coincidentally, a certain fox-demon was thinking. 'Well, it could be true…they might've found him.'

Naruto hit the ground of far outside the cage and dissipated as he skid to a slow stop.

'Ouch. I guess I misgauged the distance…' thought Warai.

(SCENE CHANGE)

Slowly bringing his senses into focus Naruto realized five things:

One: He was still underneath the old man's desk.

Two: He was still okay.

Three: He now had a pillow

Four: The pillow was actually the end of someone's bunched up robes.

Five: The current 'pillow' was being worn by someone that happened to be sitting right in front of. A person, that he could tell was now aware of his consciousness, and probably was there to kill him.

With this is mind, and no other logic evident to him other than Warai's previous prophesy of doom, he did what came up first in his list of things to do as a last act of defiance. He let loose his battle cry and attacked….

…with his teeth.

(PERSPECTIVE CHANGE)

The old man had been there still smoking his pipe and thinking about the future of Konoha when all of a sudden Naruto began to stir. Laying his pipe down, he adjusted himself to his desk so that when Naruto emerged he would see his face and know it was okay. He remained there waiting for Naruto to gather his wits and come out, but Naruto didn't move. Instead, he just kept still. Realizing that Naruto couldn't tell who he was just by his robes and the fact that he was probably very shaken up, he began to move down to make contact and soothe the child. Naruto, however, apparently had other plans.

"ARRGHHH, YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"

…and with that, he wrapped his little arms around the old man's leg and sunk his nice, big, shiny set of teeth firmly into the lower calf of the third hokage of Konoha, drawing blood…

The old man had his own cry, though it wasn't for battle…more like horror, and let it screech out.

"AHHHHHH! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!"

(PERSPECTIVE CHANGE)

Grinding his teeth into the enemy, Naruto realized he had drawn blood and he smiled. At least he would go down having done that much damage. He was sad though, he'd just met Warai really and it would've been nice to get to know her more…to learn new things…it just wasn't fair… he'd just made his first friend and now?

His thoughts were cut off as the enemy began sweeping his leg back and forth under the desk trying to knock him off on either of the sides that housed cabinets. His head bounced against the sides and made him feel dizzy but then he would only bite back down with renewed vigor.

If the bastard thought he was going to get rid of him that easily he had another think coming all right! Uzumaki Naruto was NOT going to go down THAT easily at all!

"TAKE THIS" he yelled

(PERSPECTIVE CHANGE)

He had tried to cry out against Naruto, to stop him non-violently, but the child just bit down so damn hard and he couldn't even stutter anything out! IT HURT LIKE HELL ON HIS OLD BONES AND FLESH!

'I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I'm sure you'll forgive me later for this…' thought the hokage as he took up a new tactic and began to knock the blonde against one side of the desk and then the other. 'It's working!' thought the thankful hokage. But then something went wrong. The child dug in with even more force than before. 'DAMN IT NARUTO!' screamed the old man inside his head. He then rammed the child even harder but once again it only resulted in increased force on his own body.

And then…for a split second…he could feel it… the dull throbbing ache that only THAT organ can produce when prophesizing its own injury…

"TAKE THIS!" roared the child.

'No' he thought in fear. 'He wouldn't…'

His thoughts betrayed him however and he was caught wholly unprepared when Naruto flipped his own lower torso and legs out from underneath the desk and then lauched his heel into the most precious and protected area of a man…and all while sinking his nails and teeth even deeper into his calf's flesh.

(PERSPECTIVE CHANGE)

'SUCCESS' thought Naruto gleefully as his blow landed at the man's 'core' and all his enemy's movement halted to a dead stop. Quickly releasing all of his holds he fell to the floor and hurried to stand and run out of the office in hopes of finding other cover to wait out for the old man. His progress was quickly halted however when he felt an iron grip at the back of his neck…

"I DON'T THINK SO!" yelled the voice of his assailent.

Naruto barely had time to register an 'oh' let alone a 'shit' before he was flung backwards through the air towards the plushy chair at the desk

(PERSPECTIVE CHANGE)

As the blow landed many thoughts passed through the mind of Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha. Among them were KILL, DESTROY, MAIM, and VENGEANCE! The others, the ones that prevented the death of the sealed child, were PROTECT, DUTY, LOVE, COMPASSION, and KILL SOMEONE ELSE LATER! The tug of war had been close, but the mental promise of physical release on another individual had finally won out on the side of life.

The boy however….he was running the hell out of the room already…

'I…I..' stuttered the still furious hokage in thought. 'D-Didn't go t-through all that j-just to have him r-run away…no…NO..'

"I DON'T THINK SO!" he roared as he dashed with his blinding speed and grasped the back of Naruto's jacket only to hurl him up, over, out , and at the chair he had previously been relaxing in.

'ENOUGH!' thought the old man. 'JUST STAY THE HELL DOWN FOR A MOMENT!...please…'

Panting as the full measure of Naruto's attack came to bear, he could already feel the swelling and an urge to puke rise. Out of necessity however, he kept it down. Keeping his distance from Naruto though, he hoped he would come to his senses…he didn't know if he could take another tussle like that with the boy and NOT kill him…

(PERSPECTIVE CHANGE)

"OOOOOMPHHH"

Was the sound that flooded out of young Naruto's lungs and mouth as his small body collided with the chair. A moment later, his small, beaten, and upside down form slid down into the crook of the seat.

'oOoOh' thought the boy as his senses tried to pry each other apart from the swirling sensation that had become his consciousness. When they finally HAD settled down Naruto remained in his slouched form with his eyes closed. 'I guess this is it. Oh well, at least I got him REAL good…' mentally snickered the boy as he listened to the ragged wheezes of his supposed enemy. 'I guess I should at least get a look at who's going to do me in… If…if I'm going out damn it I'm at least going to face it proudly…'

With that, he slowly opened his eyes and observed the figure of his opponent at the opposite end of the room. In a single moment he realized how wrong he had been…and er eh…what he had done…

Tears quickly began to pool in his eyes and drip down his face…

"'J..J..JI-SAN!" cried Naruto as he flung himself out of the chair and at the old man nearly as fast as he himself had been sent to the chair.

The old man felt the impact of a small body against his own reeling form along with the sensation of small arms wrapping tightly around his body. Slowly, the old man knelt down to embrace the child in his arms. The boy quickly moved his arms to latch around the old man's shoulders and it was only a matter of time before the third hokage could feel his robe becoming drenched in tears…

"Naruto…" the old man whispered out, almost cracking up himself at the sight of the boy's fear and tears…

"Ji-san…Ji-san" the little boy cried out over and over again as all the recently events passed through his mind.

All the fear, the hate, the danger, the destruction…

He cried it all out on the old man's shoulder.

Eventually, though, he settled down and actually began to engage in conversation with the old man hokage…

"Are you okay Naruto-kun? Are you injured anywhere?" asked the old man with worry apparent in his voice.

"N-no…I…I am okay…They…they… never even got a-a hold of me. I…I was able to hide while they….." Naruto trailed off as the images of murderous mobs and sharpened weapons danced through his head.

The old man knew it would be hard for Naruto to recount the recent events. He knew they were now probably some of the most traumatic yet…but…he had to know, as someone that cared AND as the hokage….

"Naruto-kun" the old man began gently. "What happened while I was gone?" As soon as the question was out he could feel boy shudder. "Please, Naruto… I know it's hard but I have to know…"

Naruto remained still in thought for a moment before he answered.

'Yeah…a lot has happened… I wonder though… should I tell him the truth about Warai and the Kyubi no Kitsune? Would he even listen or would he wig out… He never bothered to tell me before…and…he let all that crap happen to me… BUT I know for a fact he felt bad about it and all…I just don't know…maybe…maybe later I'll tell him…but for now…he gets the 'amended' version…'

Forcing his spirits to raise to the point where he could at least speak normally, Naruto answered.

"A lot has happened…Ji-san…" Naruto stopped momentarily to break the embrace with the old man and move back some. Turning his back to the old man, he brought his arms up and used them to hug himself while in thought. "When you left…you told me to stay in…but …I…didn't."

'Naruto…this is why I didn't want you outside… I knew seeing you out alone without me in the village would be a bad thing…They were just waiting for such an opportunity…' thought the wizened old man.

"It's a good thing too…" Naruto added right before he turned around to make eye contact with the Hokage. "If I hadn't, I'd be dead right now."

"What?" gasped the Hokage. 'I don't understand…'

"I went out into Konoha… roaming the back alleys and all…you know I can't go out into the main throughways without…well…unpleasant things happening to me…" the third grimaced for a moment before Naruto continued.

"Anyways, I happened to pass by a certain shop when I was… detained…anyways, I woke up a little while later and tried to get home to my complex…" A flash of visible anger rushed out over Naruto's features and the old man had a siking feeling in his gut. "When I got there… they were waiting for me. I think they were expecting me to already be there when they rushed in…"

'Damn…I was right…I thought there might've been a leak in my office chunin, I guess I'll just have to have Kakashi look into that later as well.' Thought the enraged Hoakge.

"…so…" went on Naruto. " I hid behind some garbage and stuff before they knew I was there…I…I had to sit there and watch as they burned it all Ji-san…everything…they wanted to kill me…and destroy everything I've ever touched…everything I ever was…please Ji-san…" Naruto once again broke down into tears as he stared into the old man's eyes. " Please…help me…I… I don't want to …I… I'm afraid…Please…"

Naruto couldn't even stutter out his plea but the old man knew what he wanted.

He wanted to know that he was safe for once…

That he wouldn't be sent out into that alone again…

That it wouldn't ever happen again…

The old man moved towards the scared child and hugged him once more.

"I swear to you Naruto… As long as I breathe, I will not allow anything like this to ever happen to you again…"

"So…so…they…they aren't coming back again?" Asked a hopeful Naruto.

"No…Naruto-kun… they aren't coming back…ever…trust me." He continued in thought in his head. ' and as for the others in the village…I'm going to make damn well sure that this time the point gets across.'

They remained that way in each other's embrace as Naruto slowly began to fall asleep once again, though this time, he wasn't afraid. He was, in fact, just about to drift off completely when a loud 'POOF'sound erupted into the air and a figure emerged from the smoke. Naruto tensed at first but seeing that the old man wasn't afraid he began to relax some. Upon further inspection he saw that the new individual was none other than the Wolf-masked ANBU he'd been thinking about sometime earlier.He also noticed there was no small amount of blood on his person. His thought were broken though by the voice of the Sandaime Hokage.

"Is it done Kakashi?"

"yes…hokage-same." Replied the man in a wolf mask.

"How many were there and of what status were they?" asked the old man in a now grave tone.

"I'd say about fifty to sixty. Among them were several elder Genin, some mid level Chunin, and one Jounin."

"Resistance?"

"Some. The nin put up a fight, but were easily put down. The villagers though…they ran quite a bit once they realized what was happening. For the most part though, it wasn't difficult. They happened to be regrouping near the initial site…and…" Kakashi slowed down to a halt in speech as he realized what he was about to debrief in front of an already traumatized child.

"Hmmm, do you wish for me to …continue…this debriefing later Hokage-sama?"

Looking down the child in his arms the old man answered.

"Yes, yes, very well Kakashi-san. We will continue this at a later date…for now though… I have to ask two more things of you. The first is to exe…er…'interrogate' any suspicious chunin that work here in the tower and could've possibly revealed my leave to the masses… as you know., that information was supposed to have been kept in secret… After that though…I was wondering if you could take care of Naruto-kun here for awhile…until… things settle down. I've arranged for another apartment for him. Here are the keys and information."

As Kakashi simply nodded his head with a "Hai Hokage-sama" the keys and information were handed over by the old man.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun." Said Kakashi. " Things have been dealt with. Things might be rough for awhile, but then things will smooth down and they'll be better than ever for you." 'though that's not saying much' thought Kakshi.

Warai's words of warning flashed through Naruto's mind. 'bad blood' 'danger' 'protection'

Standing up, the Hokage brought Naruto with him and began to make his way towards the door as Kakashi followed. The old man had just opened the door and was turning around to reassure Naruto and thank Kakashi when a voice cut him off.

"You're wrong…both of you."

Turning around, both were shocked to find the normally vibrant blue pools of Naruto's eyes turned into frigid lakes of ice.

'no...' thought the old man. ' I was too late… He is changed… I'm sorry Naruto…'

'I was right…' thought Kakashi. 'He is changed. Even his heart couldn't take on all of this and not be changed… I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did.'

"Even if you killed or arrested everyone that attacked me…" he began, not noticing the look of surprise at his assumed awareness on the faces of the two older men. " Things will never smooth out… they aren't ever going to be that great. The best I can look forward to in the short run is them just ignoring me or just the stares." The others were about to say something about his prior statement regarding the executions when he continued. "I honestly don't know what you've really done to them…I doubt anything much at all…but there's only going to be one way I'm ever really going to feel safe in this place from now on ." 'time to tweak it' thought Naruto. "There's only one way I can keep this palce as home in my heart… and that" he stopped momentarily as the two others held their breath. "Is for me to become stronger…to learn how to defend myself. I.. I know I'm just a kid…I'm seven… but they're out there…and they want to hurt me. I don't know why…" 'Well, actually, Warai told me…'he thought. "…but I only feel it's going to get worse down the road …what's ahead of me. I need to become stronger now for then… I need to learn how to protect myself. So…please… Hokage-sama…"

'He's dead serious' the other two thought at the same time knowing the boy.

"…please help me to become stronger. I know you're busy… I know you don't have time to train me yourself but please help with this… Just help me find someone to train me at least… I don't expect them to train me to be at your level or anything insane like that…I just want to learn the basics… to take my first steps on the road to my dream…to be able to stand up for MYSELF without having to worry about having protection around me always…"

The old man and the ANBU were silent for a few moments considering their own personal thoughts. Both came to the conclusion that they had been unfortunately correct in their assumption that Naruto's affection for Konoha would be tenuous at best. The Hokage, however, in considering Naruto's request, also realized the truth in the boy's argument. Indeed his life would be one filled with pain and struggle… It was also his own personal opportunity to atone somewhat for his past deeds…or rather, lack thereof.

He agreed.

"Okay Naruto-kun. If this is what it takes to give you the confidence and security you seek…I shall find instruction for you. "

Naruto was now grinning from ear to ear, happy that Warai's plan had been put into place and that the beginning of his trip to the Hokage's seat had begun. The old man, however, only knew that the child was rejoicing. Seeing the brilliance return to Naruto's eyes assured him of his judgment's correctness. Now as for Kakashi…he had already seen twice what advanced training had done to other children. Himself the wolf, and the other the weasel… He was … to say the least… not as enthused. The Hokage could tell as much from where he stood.

"Hokage-sa-" Kakashi began to argue.

"Silence Kakashi-san." The old man interrupted with a stern voice and motioned for him to come near so that Naruto wouldn't hear.. "It's true Naruto-kun here is very young, but he has valid points. There's no point in denying the truth about people's treatment of him any longer OR what his destiny is likely to hold. Also, giving him basic nin training will only raise him to the level that many of the clan youth are at prior to entrance into the Academy. More importantly, it will boost his confidence. I'm sure this is the right choice."

"Hai…Hokage-sama." Kakashi resigned dejectedly as he moved back to collect the child. "Come on Naruto. Let's go get you settled in, I'm sure the Hokage here has things to do… another of which is now to find you a suitable instructor. Let's go."

With that Kakshi stepped out of the office.

"Okay." The young boy chirped back, somewhat glad to be leaving the confines of the office. Turning around before exiting Naruto called back to the old man. " Hey Ji-san?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" the old man replied back.

"I would really, really like to have someone good teach me the basics of swordsmanship. Preferably, someone well versed in the katana and its 'applications'…soooooo, if you could do that I'd be ultra-thankful!"

"Okay, Naruto-kun… I'll see what I can do… but if you're trying to get some special training like that it might only be for a short time. Skilled weapon masters are hard to come by and are usually rather busy…but I promise you I'll do my best…"

"Okay, as long as they're strong and can teach me well! THANKS AGAIN OLD MAN!" Naruto spoke and then yelled as he ran out

'Naruto…' the old man thought as he chuckled. ' Okay…now as to whom I have who can teach you what you'd like… Hmmm, I know I said just the basics, but to be perfectly honest I'd like you to have the BEST basics…something tells me you'll need it… Now that leads me to the best of Konoha's blade masters…'

The old man stopped to reach down and pull some files out from a drawer in his desk.

'Hmmm, I guess we better update these files…I know for a fact that my student isn't coming back anytime soon and that's been confirmed for years…I guess some Chunin data specialists have been slacking off. Maybe I'll have Kakashi deal with that too? No…no, can't go to the absolute option EVERY time, can we? Oh well…Now as to the other two possibilities… I don't know… one's relatively young, but highly skilled. The other is older and more experienced with nearly equal skill…hmmm… I guess it comes down to who's on a mission and who's not. Let's see…'

The Sandaime Hokage pulled yet another set of files from his desk.

'So… Hayate is out on a long term surveillance mission is Wind country….rough… the winds there can tear your lungs up what with all the sand and if you don't know how to protect yourself…I guess that leaves…him…'

"So" the Hokage announced to himself. " Ikegata Tomo it is…"

'Hmmm, doesn't he have a child?' pondered the old man. 'Oh yes,yes, I remember now, a nice little girl…but what was her name again….hmmmm.'

'Ah I have it now!' elated the hokage.

"It's Tenten, her name is Tenten."

(END CHAPTER) /

WOOHOO, another chapter bites the dust! Well, I can honestly say that I feel kinda saddened with myself in this chapter. I tried to include a humorous scene intermixed with the serious stuff but I don' think it flew off too well. Jeez, you know something has occurred to me? I am way too damn descriptive in my mind. If I keep this up I'll be updating at the same speed as the manga progresses and even then I'll be behind by like ….oh ..lets see…. 278 chapters or so! Which means I ought to finish my fic ….about three or four years after the manga ends!

O-O'

BAH! I HAVE TO REFINE MY WRITING PROCESS OR MY FIC IS DOOMED!

WOE IS ME! WOE IS ME! WOE IS ME!

…

okay enough of that. Anyways, Get a load of my T or H thing guys and gals! If you couldn't figure it out before, the T or H actually stood for Ikegata Tomo or Gekkou Hayate. Now, now, listen. As far as Tenten's surname goes… I don't know where this came from. It's somewhere in the back of my subconscious and I FRIGGIN KNOW I got it from somewhere, but for the life of me I can't remember…'hits self with spatula' damn it. Anyways…thanks for all the support and reviews. It's a real kick to reach the 100+ mark with reviews. I'm hoping someday to top a 1,000. Oh well… dreams..

And now, for some speculation…

I'm just curious what you guys think I'm going to do with this little character interaction? Granted, I've already got the whole thing planned out… but for those of you who remember how they got along in ch.1 …..I think things will prove to be interesting… 'Thunder and lightning in background' BWA HA HA HAH ! BWA HA HA HA HAH!

Yeah.

I guess this is the madnarutofan signing off.

PEACE!