Okay everyone, aneitsuki here! Not yet dead, and writing once more! Sorry for the long wait (and the horrible quality of writing). You all are so patient. Cookies to all! hands out cookies So, here is the new, spiffy, nifty version of Prove Them Wrong. Yes, it is somewhat shorter, but trust me, it helps me out in the long run (and therefore you).

All of my reviewers have been awesome (you guys are still reviewing, I feel loved and touched- but not in a molesting gross icky way). College is starting next weeks for me, so I hope to be a writing machine until then. Remember: go to my profile and vote for what you want updated next.

Thanks again!

IMPORTANT: Anyone who has already read this in the past, read it again. It's been edited so that both the reader and myself actually know where the hell they are in the Naruto timeline.

ENJOY!

Knowing that you aren't wanted is a hard thing for any adult to realize and cope with. Realizing and coping with the fact that you're not wanted at the age of 5 or 6 is damaging to yourself, you lose self-confidence and have dark thoughts. It's hard to cope with it, but Naruto survived.

He knew that he wasn't wanted since the moment he finally understood that none of the kids wanted to play with him and treated him like the dirt under their shoes. The adults were even worse.

They gave him that look. That cold, icy stare that made him want to curl up in a ball and hope it went away. But it never did go away. No matter where he went, that stare always followed.

Being depressed at the age of five isn't healthy at all. Naruto wished he'd never been born by the age of six. He didn't know why he was hated and shunned. All he wanted was to have friends and be able to play. Unfortunately, no one wanted to be his friend. Then, he finally found someone who didn't stare at him with that hate-filled look. Iruka-sensei was one of the best things that happened to Naruto. It gave him hope and lifted the majority of his depression. Even though Iruka-sensei was hard on him, Naruto enjoyed the challenge. He knew what people expected of him, so it took him three tries, with him failing on purpose, to become a genin. In reality, he found it easy to control his chakra, learn jutsu, and could even improve or invent jutsu.

When he became a part of Team 7, he thought things might change. Sadly enough, they didn't. He was still treated as if he was the worst ninja ever. Even after he had proved himself to be, at the very least, capable after the Wave mission. So, he kept his secret safe and didn't reveal how much training he actually did and how strong he had actually become. Truthfully, he trained anytime he wasn't eating or with the team. He rarely slept unless he passed out and even then it was only for six or seven hours. But it still wasn't enough. He wanted to be the best, to show everyone that they were wrong about him.

I can help you, kit.

"Wha'? Who's there?" Naruto asked quietly. He had come out in the forest at about 4 a.m. that morning to get in some training. A few hours had passed and the sun was still low in the East, giving Naruto more than enough light to see by. Now he was hearing voices.

I have watched you grow, kit, and I am amazed that you have made it this far. You are strong and deserve to be trained more than the meager training you are receiving.

The voice was right, whoever it was. Naruto and Sakura had been doing grunt work and given simple training exercises while Kakashi taught Sasuke techniques at the chuunin and, rarely, jounin level. Naruto had to keep in sniggers sometimes when he saw Sasuke not be able to do a technique that he did on his first try two or three years ago. Sakura was also becoming tired of their sensei's neglect and Naruto could see that she trained extra too and wanted to become stronger. Over time, Sakura had seemingly become less interested in Sasuke and less annoyed by Naruto. That could also be because Sasuke had turned into an arrogant bastard that made his old self seem like a good samaritan. Naruto had actually done the opposite. As he became stronger, he became quieter, more reserved, and humble. He wasn't very hyper anymore, but that was because he never had energy left from training all the time.

"How do you know so much about me?"

Because I am always there with you. I feel your sadness, your anger, any emotion you have.

"But, who are you?"

I am Kyuubi, the kitsune trapped inside of you, sharing your life with you.

"Kyuubi? But, you don't sound evil."

That's because I'm not. I had no control of my actions at the time because I was in a demon rage. My inner beast had taken control and I was helpless to stop it. Otherwise, I would have left your village alone. We kitsune are actually quite peaceful. Oh, and kit, you can just speak in your head, I can hear you thoughts.

What happened to make you so angry?

Someone killed my baby sister for no reason and I may have over reacted just a little bit.

If someone killed a little sister of mine, I would do the same thing. That still doesn't justify killing all those ninja, at least in my eyes.

Well, kit, I'll train you but that'll have to wait until after your group training, which starts in about two minutes.

Why didn't you say something?!

Kyuubi didn't reply as Naruto quickly did a Shunshin no Jutsu and arrived at the training grounds, forgetting to transport himself a little ways away from their training grounds so they wouldn't know that he could use that particular jutsu. Instead, he ended up teleporting himself right next to Sakura, causing her to smack him upside his head for scaring her. Amazingly, their silver-haired sensei was already there. Kakshi and Sasuke looked at Naruto oddly as he flinched slightly, realizing that they now knew he could use the teleportation jutsu.

"Well, it looks like Naruto is out for the rest of the day, seeing as he used all his chakra to perform one jutsu," Sasuke sneered. The last Uchicha never missed a chance to attempt to down Naruto. Kakashi wasn't as sure. Naruto used an more advanced jutsu, which Kakashi thought was currently out of his league, and his chakra reserves weren't even touched. His chakra reserves were bigger than Kakashi's and that wasn't even tapping into the almost unlimited amount of demon chakra that he had because of the kitsune sealed inside of him. Maybe Kakashi would rethink his decision on having Sasuke be his protege. Naruto had untapped potential that was greater than Sasuke's many times over. This boy could become Hokage like he really wanted to. With training, he could be Konoha's greatest asset.

"Naruto," Kakashi said, "I would like to speak with you after training."

Naruto simply nodded his head, not even glancing at Sasuke as he leaned against a tree and closed his eyes.

"Naruto, Sakura, you will be climbing trees today. If either of you makes it to the top, you can have the rest of the day off. Sakura, you will take this tree over here," Kakashi pointed to a medium large tree that seemed easy to climb, to Naruto at least, "and Naruto, you will take this one over here." Kakashi pointed to a tree only a little more difficult than Sakura's.

"If you don't mind Kakashi-sensei, I would like to take this one." Naruto pointed, not opening his eyes, backwards with his thumb to the huge tree he was leaning against. How stupid was his 'sensei'? They had done this exercise last month in Wave. But, no, he insisted.

Before Kakashi could answer, Sasuke did for him. "No way you can climb that tree, I can't even do it perfectly yet. There's no way a loser like you could do it."

That was the final straw for Naruto. He opened his eyes and everyone there could see that the normal blue eyes of Naruto were tinted red. His pride was challenged, which Kyuubi and Naruto both took seriously.

"Well, let's see who can get higher then. You first."

Sasuke looked at him like he was nuts before backing up a ways and running towards the massive tree. It was a few stories tall, the tallest tree on their training ground.. Sasuke made it up about three quarters of the way up, impressing Kakashi and Sakura. Naruto just looked on unimpressed as Sasuke made a rough landing.

Well, Kyuubi, how should I do this: slight humiliation, or completely blowing him away?

Completely blowing him away. The bastard needs to learn his place.

Agreed.

"Well, Na-ru-to, are you too blown away to try now?" Sasuke asked, victory in his eyes.

Naruto looked at him coldly before calmly turning towards the tree.

"Don't be stupid Naruto, we all know that you need a running start to get up higher than me," Sasuke taunted.

Naruto ignored him as he calmly stepped towards the tree and walked up like it was no big deal, which it wasn't for him. He continued walking for a small distance, then paused, turned slightly, and flashed them a half-smile that displayed his larger than normal canines. They looked surprised as he then ran up the tree faster than Kakashi. Next thing they knew, Naruto was at the top of the tree calmly standing there.

"His chakra control's amazing," Kakashi muttered. Naruto started walking down the tree as calmly as when he went up it. He got to the ground and resumed his former position of leaning against the tree with his eyes closed. Kakashi checked his chakra reserves again and found that there was still no deficit in them.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, am I done for the day?" Naruto asked with his eye still closed.

"Yes, but before you go, I would like to train you extra so you can get stronger."

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, opening his eyes to look at Kakashi, "I'm already being trained and, frankly, I just don't have time, I'm booked."

Kakashi was now frustrated. Couldn't Naruto see that he was trying to help him? "Who is training you, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes flashed red for a second and Kakashi saw it. Naruto smirked. "He's always been around, just not seen. He knows me better than any of you."

The group was amazed. They didn't know that Naruto was intelligent enough to speak in riddles and daring enough to not answer their sensei directly.

Naruto calmly walked away into the forest, not bothering to look back at the dumbfounded group. They noticed that he wasn't heading back into town, but into the forest.

"Naruto, where are you going?" Sakura called. Naruto just kept walking, but Sakura knew that he heard her because he held his hand up as if to say 'see you later.' Sakura was determined to find out what Naruto was up to. He had gradually been changing over the past two years and Sakura finally saw what she and others put him through. They had turned him first into a hyperactive, trouble-

making boy, then to a teen with more maturity than most adults. She suddenly respected Naruto for all he had been through and his hidden strength. She had discovered that she had a sort of empathy with people and could tell that Naruto held back in class. She had also given up on Sasuke when she finally saw how much of an arrogant bastard he was to everyone, especially Naruto.

"Okay, Sakura, I guess it's just you climbing trees while I train Sasuke." Kakashi and Sasuke then left a fuming Sakura to climb her tree. She was sick and tired of her training being neglected while Sasuke was given special treatment. Without realizing, Sakura was walking up the tree much like Naruto did. She also didn't see that her normal blue chakra was laced with a light pink. She snapped out of trance and realized that she was at the top of the tree. She didn't question it, but instead called down to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, may I leave now?" Kakashi looked up and saw Sakura at the top of her assigned tree. He was puzzled. The two students he didn't work with constantly were close to surpassing the one he did. He nodded to Sakura and she walked down the tree. Kakashi turned back to training with Sasuke. Sakura snorted, her sensei was blind and paid no attention to her training. She was supposed to be working on expanding her reserves, which meant multiple times up and down the tree. Neither of them noticed that Sakura left in the same direction as Naruto.

She walked in the woods a little bit before coming upon a clearing. It was beautiful. She stood there for a second thinking about which way Naruto would have went. The girl was startled when she heard a voice coming from behind her.

"Ahh…what have we here? A pretty kunoichi from Konoha. You'll make a good kill, won't you?" Sakura screamed as loud as she could. Her mind raced. What would she do? She had never killed anyone before.

"Shut up right now, where's the fun in someone coming to save you?"

The next thing Sakura saw was two shruiken hitting the missing-nin and a familiar voice saying something she couldn't hear.

oOo

(with Naruto)

After leaving the group, Naruto headed to his secret training area. He found one day while exploring the woods. The only problem was that he would occasionally have to confront a missing-nin from other villages. Lately the number of missing-nins coming to infiltrate Konoha were increasing. They did provide good fights though. Most of them Naruto had to kill so that they didn't get all the way to the village and cause trouble.

After a good 20 minutes of slowly walking, Naruto came upon his personal training grounds. It was just a medium sized clearing with hidden targets set up everywhere. He had also built a tree house in one of the taller trees in case he was staying out late training and felt like sleeping in the woods.Soon, he would begin living there permenantly, as it would take him away from the general populace AND he could thwart missing-nin attempting to infiltrate Konoha's only weak spot: the huge forest he currently resided in.

Are you going to start, kit?

What's first?

Well, since you have displayed supreme chakra control over your own chakra from your previous training, you should start climbing trees using only my chakra.

So, how should I access your chakra?

First, meditate and focus on my red chakra hidden inside of you.

Got it.

Naruto took off his bright orange jacket and plopped down onto the ground and closed his eyes. He did as Kyuubi said and focused on the red chakra inside of him. It took Naruto a good five minutes before he saw red wisps of chakra in his mind. Just as he was about to delve further and access the chakra, he heard a scream nearby.

"Kuso," he said. Naruto grabbed his jacket, putting it on as he ran. He reached a clearing close to his and found Sakura being threatened by a missing-nin. He grabbed two shruiken and tossed them at the intruder, making sure he didn't hit Sakura by mistake. He watched as they hit, but were off by a fraction.

"Kuso, they slipped," he said quietly. He used the intruder's surprise to run out as fast as he could to save his teammate. He couldn't hide is power, not when it was life or death for one of his teammates. Naruto seemed like a speeding orange blur to the naked eye as he dove in, kunai in hand, and stopped behind the intruder.

"Don't mess with my teammate," he said in an icy voice that made his opponent shiver.

"You're the one, aren't you? The one they all talk about."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Sakura, cover your eyes."

Sakura quickly did as she was told, but she still didn't know who it was talking to her, she couldn't recognize the voice though it sounded slightly familiar.

Naruto quickly put a hand over the man's mouth and dragged him into the next clearing, never showing the man his face.

"Who do you work for?"

"You'll have to kill me before I tell you," the man spat out. He could feel Naruto shrug behind him.

"It's your decision then." With that he cut the man's throat, killing him instantly. Using a Katon jutsu, he burnt the man's body, leaving no trace behind and not getting a speck of the man's blood on himself. He headed back to Sakura, who still had her eyes closed.

"You can open your eyes now, Sakura."

She quickly opened them and saw Naruto standing there.

"Did you do all that, Naruto?"she asked in amazement.

"All what?"he asked confused, but on guard.

Sakura quickly got annoyed.

"Scare that man off."

Naruto's eyes darkened for a second and Sakura noticed. "Yeah, he was a real wimp."

"Oh, you're really strong. You've improved a lot."

"Thanks. Now, what the hell are you doing out here? It's dangerous and you could've been attacked by much worse than one C-rank missing-nin. You should be training still!"

"I climbed to the top of my tree and Kakashi-sensei said that I could go so I came out here!"

"Well, what possessed you to do something stupid like that?"

"I was following you," Sakura argued back, "and what are you doing out here if it's so dangerous."

Naruto gave her a slight glare before answering, "That's my own business."

Maybe we should train her, kit.

Why? She's never liked me before.

She will make a strong ally if trained properly. We can help her with that.

"Whatever, Naruto."

"Look, Sakura, do you want to get stronger?"Naruto asked quietly.

"Of course I do. It's just hard when Kakashi-sensei is constantly focusing on Sasuke and giving us easy stuff."

"Why do you want to be stronger?"

"To prove someone wrong."

"Who?"

"My family."

"Why?"

"Why should I tell you all this?"

"I'm testing you to see if you have the potential to get stronger than even Sasuke and Kakashi-senesei."

"You can do that."

"Just answer."

Sakura sat down. "It's quite a story."

"I have some time."

Sakura sighed. "I wasn't strong enough. About a month ago the elders of the Haruno clan decided that I would either quit being a ninja and marry someone of their choosing, or I would be excommunicated from the clan. I 'disgraced' the Haruno name by not obtaining Sasuke's affection, so they kicked me out. I am no longer a Haruno, but a Nanashi (1)."

"You're parents didn't do anything?"

"No. I obviously wasn't important enough to them, they chose the rest of the family over me, their only child. I want to prove them wrong. I want to be stronger and show them the mistake they've made." Sakura clenched her fists. The subject was still sore with her, but she would emerge from the situation much, much stronger.

Naruto nodded his head. "Alright. Come with me."

"You're going to train me?"

"Of course. You have potential. Plus, my sensei likes you."

"Will I get to meet this sensei?"

"Well, umm…later. I'll mainly be teaching you for now." He let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. Some nervous habits never disappeared.

Sakura looked at him strangely. "Well, where do we train?"

"Follow me."

Naruto lead a slightly hesitant, but enthusiastic Sakura to his training grounds. She looked in awe as they came to a secluded, beautiful clearing.

"This place is amazing." She sighed contentedly.

"Yeah, you get used to it after a while."

"So what do I do first?"

"Practice climbing the trees using chakra, but you have to learn to not waste any chakra, so once you can walk straight up a tree without wasting any chakra, tell me."

"But that's what we do in training!" Sakura whined. The blonde jinchuuriki rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, so? It's also a necessary basic which I started out on too. Plus, once you're done, there's a surprise I want to show you."

"A surprise? Cool!"

"Well, get started. And keep it down, 'cause I'm going to be meditating for awhile."

"Okay." Sakura took out a kunai and went over to a tree. She focused her chakra into her feet, trying her hardest not too waste any. Then, she started to walk up the tree. She made it up about a third of the way up and felt herself start to fall. She marked her place with the kunai and fell to the ground. Sakura stood up and turned around and saw Naruto sitting on the ground in a lotus position with one eye open looking on in amusement. She settled for glaring at him and started climbing the tree again.

Naruto had quickly sat down in lotus position and left an eye open to watch Sakura.

She will be a good student.

Yes. I never knew she went through so much. She acts so happy.

You were the same way for a while, until you found out that they weren't worth it.

You're right.

Why didn't you let her see you kill that missing-nin?

I didn't want her to see me kill something.

Naruto watched as Sakura fell, stood up, and glared at him. He quickly shut his eye and started meditating, but heard her try again.

She's tenacious and persistent, like you.

Yup. Now, shush and let me concentrate.

Yeash. Go ahead. Who's stopping you?

Naruto mentally rolled his eyes at the fox's statement. He let it go and started concentrating on finding the red chakra again. The sounds of Sakura and the forest slowly faded away as Naruto fell deeper into his meditation. He found the wisps of red chakra again and this time followed them deeper into his mind. Soon he found himself face-to-face with Kyuubi himself.

The kitsune had shiny golden hair and flaming red eyes. He was about six feet tall and had on baggy grey pants with a matching sleevless top. He looked at Naruto in amusement from beyond the bars that held him in his own part of Naruto's mind.

'So, you're Kyuubi?'

'Yes.'

'But I thought that you were a huge monster fox that could destroy villages with the swipe of a paw.'

The kitsune snorted. 'That's the form I go into when I'm in a demon rage.'

'Oh. Well, how do I access your chakra?'

'I give it to you. Come here.' Naruto moved closer to Kyuubi until the fox put a clawed hand on top of his head. 'Get ready.'

Naruto felt a rush of power and energy as Kyuubi linked their chakra together. When it was over, Kyuubi removed his hand from Naruto's head.

'Now, kit, when you wake up tomorrow, you will find a few minor changes in appearances. Don't be alarmed.'

'Alright.'

'Now, you might want to go. Sakura wants your attention.

Naruto was shaken out of his trance. "Huh?"

"Finally! Training starts in a few minutes."

"What! It's morning? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Yes it's morning, you meditated all night and had a weird barrier thing up around you, so I slept out here too after I got some food. Now, training starts soon, let's go!" She shoved a piece of fruit at Naruto that he woofed down. They quickly ran off to training.

oOo

(a month later)

"Have I mastered it yet. Naruto-sensei?"

"Almost, now try again." Sakura huffed and quickly started climbing the tree again. She was an eighth of the way from the top of the tree last time she tried, and she was determined to make it to the top this time.

It had been a month since Naruto started training Sakura and they both were improving greatly. Naruto was climbing trees with only Kyuubi's chakra now, so he could control it when in battle. When he had woken up after linking his chakra with Kyuubi's, he found that his canine's were even longer and more prominent, his fingernails were more similar to claws, he was a bit taller, and his eyes had red flecks in them. Kakashi was still pestering him with extra training, but Naruto kept turning him down. Sakura was also improving. She was close to mastering her chakra and her stamina and strength wee improving. When he made her do weapons drills, he saw that her aim was close to perfect with most of her weapons. Her power level was escalating quickly and Naruto was proud. He watched as she made it to the top of the tree using minimum chakra and only walking. He could start on jutsu now.

"Good job, Sakura. Now, come back down and we can work on jutsu and more weapons."

"Alright." Sakura quickly walked down the tree to where Naruto was waiting.

Now the first one is one of Sasuke's favorites: the Great Fireball Jutsu. Repeat these handsigns," Naruto quickly showed her, "and do the technique."

The rest of the day, Sakura was perfecting her Fireball Jutsu as Naruto corrected her. Soon though, nightfall came and Naruto called an end to their training.

"Good job, Sakura. You're improving greatly. Remember one thing though, unless you're life or the lives of your teammates are in danger, don't show them all of your strength. Try to keep it to a minumum. Okay?"

"Ummm…alright. But, if I may ask, why not?"

"They would ask why you are improving so rapidly and they might find out about all of this. I just don't want to stop training like this. Plus what does Kakashi always say? 'Look underneath the underneath.'"

You can tell her the real reason, kit. She won't tell.

Naruto sighed. He hated when Kyuubi was right.

"There's another reason too. But, to tell you, I need to know that you're trustworthy and you won't tell a soul."

"I swear." Sakura looked serious, so Naruto started.

"You remember the time about 12 years ago when the Kyuubi no Youko was destroying the village?" Sakura nodded. "Well, the Fourth Hokage sealed the kitsune inside of a newborn, as even he couldn't kill it. That newborn happened to be me." Sakura gasped. "That's why the villagers despise me and hate me and why I want the respect of everyone. Because I want to prove them wrong. The fox wasn't trying to destroy the village on purpose, he was in a demon rage. Kitsune are naturally peaceful and don't usually destroy things. Kyuubi, the fox, was in a rage because someone killed his little sister for no reason. I for one can kind of sympathize with the poor guy. Well-"

"Naruto," Sakura interrupted, "How do you know all of this?"

"I was getting to that. About a month ago, Kyuubi contacted me mentally and offered to train me. He's also the reason that I release red chakra in times of great emotion, like on the bridge in Wave. Now, I can tap into the red chakra and use it. Kyuubi was also friends with a few shinobi once and knows a lot of older jutsu and has observed newer ones. He teaches them to me and I, in turn, teach them to you."

"But, Naruto, if that's true, then why were you so powerful before a month ago?"

Naruto got a slightly grim look in his eyes. "That was pure training on my own. Training every minute of the day that I didn't sleep, eat on occasion, or train with you guys. And before that, I would train whenever I wasn'ta t the Academy, Ichiraku Ramen or my apartment."

Sakura looked in awe. "Oh wow. You were that dedicated? I once thought that it was all talk, but I can tell now that you are focused and determined. I'm also sorry for all the hard times I gave you. I had no idea," she said somewhat awkwardly. After all, what were you supposed to say to someone you were cruel to for no good reason?

She sounded sincere to the bone, so Naruto forgave her.

"It's alright, there's nothing to forgive. Now, about that surprise I told you about a month ago."

Arigatou gozaimasu for all your support (and patience)! I really believe that this version of my story is more developed and pleasing to read. Tell me if there are any more gaping plotholes that need to be fix. Chapter 2 should be out soon. Don't forget to vote on my profile for what should be updated next!

Kat (aneitsuki)