BOLD is Kyuubi speaking.

Italics are Naruto's thoughts.

Enjoy!

…

"Naruto, what is this?" Kakashi's stare seemed to burn a hole through the still Naruto.

"Tch." Naruto gritted his teeth, clenching together his fists. His eyes remained downcast, gaze blurry with heavy judgment filling the air. "I," Naruto started, trying to find his voice. Everyone raised their heads a little more, intently curious of how the blond would explain himself. Naruto let out a shaky sigh.

"I-it's none of your fucking business!" Naruto's words slurred together, yet still kept their acerbic meaning directed at those who deserved them. In Naruto's case, it was all three of his teammates. Who all, in fact, where very taken aback at the blonde's response. Naruto's shoulders slightly shook as he tried to calm himself down, cursing himself for the sudden outburst. Sakura's never seen Naruto so frazzled, angry, or sickly…actually, there were a lot of things she's never seen. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, hiding his rising fear of what exactly was going on with his lively student.

Sasuke just growled at the boy. The only thing that was rising in him, at the moment, was anger. It tore its way through any other present emotions at the time. "What the fuck of a response is that?" Sasuke spat, he too shaking, but out of fury. He whipped his head towards Naruto, eyes burning just like the campfire in front of him. They flickered, licked with hurt and crackled with regret. He grimaced, waiting for somebody to speak. But Kakashi was swallowing back his words, afraid to make a noise. Hell, he was just as stunned as Sakura, both of them sitting there like gaping fish. Sasuke was too enraged to rationally form words. So that narrowed it down to Naruto, who realized no one else dared to speak.

They're all waiting for me to do something, so I will. Naruto contemptuously thought. "I'm going to my tent. No one bother me." He managed to gall enough courage to say his sentences viciously, trying to scare them off so they would listen to him. And with that, he clenched his fists further before walking off to the side, hurried to get to his tent. His privacy. His space.

"Naruto—," Sakura reached out, grazing his arm with her fingers as he passed by. He jerked back as if burned, almost taking a defensive stance. He tried to hide it, but Sakura noticed.

"Don't touch me." Staring right into her eyes, his gaze didn't waver. If it did, they wouldn't take him seriously. So he just had to act tough now, so they'd back off, and maybe not pursue further into the issue. Naruto hoped to god that would be the case. They already knew too much. Tonight was a huge blowup in his face.

"Just leave me alone," he huffed, finally breaking his line of sight from Sakura's scared one. And they let him go—entered the tent without a word.

There was a bit of rustling. Kakashi turned to see that it was the old-man client poking his head out of his tent, which was set up closer by. The silver-haired sensei sighed, turning back towards the fire.

"You heard, huh?" He said, almost exhaustedly.

The client pursed his lips together, giving a somewhat apologetic gaze. One of pity, perhaps.

"Yeah, I did," he said, exiting his tent to join the others at the fire. "The blond brat starves himself, huh? I knew there was a reason as to why I didn't like him." The old man was quite the curmudgeon.

"Shut the fuck up! Don't talk about him that way, you sleazy grandpa!" Sasuke spun on him, exploding with rage. No one should speak that way about Naruto, his blond. Only he could say those things to Naruto! 'On second thought, maybe I shouldn't…' Sasuke noted, but disregarded it for later. Right now, he was busy trying not to rip the old geezer's head off. He took deep breaths, trying to calm his temper. The way it was going, he was taking out all his anger on the ancient poet. He sat down, resting his chin on his hands. He shrugged the client off, focusing on how to handle the situation of Naruto.

"Jeez, kid, didn't mean to make you so upset. I was only putting things into a blunt perspective," the old man backed off, sighing while stroking his beard. He lowered himself down to be seated next to Kakashi. Looking into the flames, he said, "You know, he reminded me a little of my nephew the way he looks. Doesn't act like him at all, though. My nephew is never in low spirits. Always jumpin' around all over the place, damn kid," he finished with a smirk.

"Well, that's the Naruto we all thought we knew...," replied Kakashi, words laced with confusion and self-disapproval. The Jounin felt as though he let Naruto down. After all, he had his suspicious due to Tsunade filling him in with the boy's 'sleep deprivation.' Yet, he had done nothing, hoping the blond would just come to. Fearing that the boy would push him away if he did anything. Kakashi cursed himself. Even if Naruto hated him for it, he decided he would help the Uzumaki in any way he can. He'd fix things, and make them right.

'Time to step up,' thought Kakashi, now determined to help. He wasn't going to let Naruto destroy himself.

As if he could sense it, Kakashi knew that the rest of his team felt the same way. They were all willing to help Naruto, no matter what it takes. In bare truth, they loved him, and cared for him deeply. Now they needed to prove themselves and actually show their emotions. And it wasn't going to be easy. For anybody, for that matter.

TBC

…

Don't worry, I'm going to do my best to post more and more often. I've been rushed to do this lately since school's about to start. Just need to find the time…Damn summer work… ( _ " )

Thank you guys so much for the lovely reviews, follows, and faves! They've been really encouraging, and they make my day. They're my inspiration for faster updates and what not. So thank you so much for the support I've been getting, even though I've been really shitty lately with the quality and updates…

Until next time, じゃあね!