Okay, so I'm breaking my 'only two fics at a time' rule…

A; I don't own Naruto. Never have, (most likely) never will.

B; I'm horrible at starting fics. The first few paragraphs will probably be shit… Just read past those, and then see if you want to read the rest.

C; If you're going to insult me, actually find something I did wrong first. I don't make spelling errors as I actually USE a spell checker before posting these, and I'm pretty sure my grammar is damn good… Now, as you saw the disclaimer, I can go ahead and say that aside from those two points, this is MY variation of the canon Naruto plot, and there's really nothing for you to complain about… (Notice, I said 'variation'… I don't own this, nor the original)

Kyuubi is not a nice fox… in fact, most would say he was downright evil. And they're right…

One Uzumaki Naruto was about to learn this first hand…

Naruto and Sasuke were battling in the Valley of the End. 'A fitting place' as Sasuke put it… Until Sasuke killed him, that is… "Oi… Gaki…"

"Ehhh… WHAZZAMABIGFOX!!!" Naruto yelled, waking up right in front of the massive cage that held in the Kyuubi. "Oh… right… it's you… what do you want?"

"We're dead, brat…" The fox let this sink in for a moment.

"WHAT!?"

"Your Uchiha friend would have snapped you like a twig if it weren't for me… you should be thankful…" The fox boomed.

"Sasuke… killed me?" Naruto asked halfheartedly.

"I can heal it, of course… but…" The fox started, as red chakra started flowing over Naruto. "In exchange, I want you to… RIP HIM TO SHREDS!!!"

As Sasuke walked over to investigate the strange red glow coming off of Naruto's body, he was greeted by a fist to the face. A firmly one-sided battle ensued, until the fox began laughing maniacally in his head, and Naruto's world went black. When he regained himself, he looked around. Sasuke wasn't there… Weren't we fighting? As the blond took a step, he heard a 'squish' under his feet. He'd stepped into a puddle of blood. Following it with his eyes, he came upon Sasuke… or what was left of him…

Quickly he covered his face, shaking his head violently. Pulling his hands away, he saw the blood covering his arms. Falling backward, he shuffled up into the rocks, and cried. He'd killed his best friend. Unbeknownst to him, the Kyuubi had used the sum of his influence over Naruto to drive him berserk… He couldn't take over control of the body, but he had enough strength to make Naruto's control falter.

---

When Kakashi came upon the scene, he knew from the sight of it he would have thrown up if he hadn't fought in the Iwa wars… what he found here was on par with some of his most disturbing memories of that time… it even took him a few seconds to recognize the body. It was Sasuke. Glancing around, he saw Naruto, huddled against the rock face, shuddering violently. When he walked up to him, the blonde, his hair now a matted red, tried his best to back himself into the very rocks. Sasuke was Kakashi's favorite student. Sasuke was everyone's favorite… Naruto knew he'd be mad… he'd curse, wail, beat him, and leave him for dead… Kakashi then did the last thing Naruto expected; he picked him up.

"It's all going to be okay, Naruto…" His silver-haired sensei said silently, and then turned to his canine companion. "Pakkun… go find the nearest ANBU squad, and lead them here to… take care of Sasuke…"

"Y-yes Kakashi…" Pakkun replied. He'd been averting his eyes and holding his breath. The smell of so much blood in the air was almost overpowering, and the scene was horrific enough Kakashi was sure at least one of the ANBU that would be arriving was going to empty his stomach at the sight of it…

---

Two days later, Kakashi was leaning up against the wall, along with six Genin and a Chuunin… The last member of Team Seven, Team Eight, and Team Ten, both of the other two Jounin were busy trying to calm the persistent mob trying to break into the hospital to finish off the boy who 'wiped out' the Uchiha clan.

When Tsunade finally came out of the room, flanked by Shizune and Jiraiya, she took the clipboard in Ino's hands, looked it over, and frowned. "Only three…?" She asked.

"Tsunade-sama…" Kakashi said. "How is he?"

"Well… it took enough sedatives to kill off an ANBU squad, but we got him to sleep a good five hours last night…" As Tsunade said this, the two ANBU guards at the door flinched. Mostly because these two were on duty last night as well, and knew, sadly, that it was pretty much true…

"Can we…" Kakashi started, as Sakura pushed past him. The guards knew better than to stop her, with the crazed look in her eyes, as well as those of the Godaime Hokage who was intent to chase her down before she could hurt Naruto. He'd killed Sasuke. HER Sasuke… she was intent of returning the favor.

As the pink-haired girl burst into the room, Naruto looked up at her. The room was completely covered in flowers, 'get well soon' cards, and even a few bowls of cold and uneaten ramen… despite the cheery, ungodly happy mood the room was meant to set, the patient inside seemed to suck all the life from it… Her first thought upon seeing the look in his eyes was that he was simply dead inside, until a split second later when he recognized her. For that brief moment, he seemed alive again… "Sa… ku…" He barely choked out the first two Hiragana of her name before he broke down again…

Tears streamed down his cheeks, his shoulders heaving vehemently as he choked down an anguished cry. The first thing he saw of her since Sasuke's death was her showering him with a spiteful glare… "Oh damn it… not again…" Tsunade said as she walked over to the boy. "Shh… it's okay, Naruto…" She cooed, trying to calm him down.

"He's… not doing so well." Shizune said, as she stood next to Sakura in the doorway. "We would appreciate it if you left now… come back tomorrow with the others if you want to talk to him."

Sakura let herself be shuffled out the door, her face now plastered with the same dead look Naruto held before she entered. This did not go unnoticed by the others in the hallway, and the look spread like a plague.

---

"Why do you think… Naruto just fell apart like that?" Ino asked as they waited in the hallway outside Naruto's room the next day. Today, twelve people were standing in what was seemingly becoming Naruto's personal waiting room… Kakashi, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Team Gai and surprisingly, Gaara… He and his sister were still in town after what happened with the Sound Five, and he'd wanted a chance to look in on his friend. Team Gai was lead here by their sensei to 'Rekindle Naruto's Flames of Youth!' or some such thing… Shikamaru convinced himself he was just following Chouji to see Naruto, but both of them wanted to find out just what was wrong with the blonde. Kiba wanted to look in on his friend and make sure Hinata was going to be okay visiting him. Sakura felt bad about yesterday, and Ino was simply curious. Kakashi, of course, was doing his best to be a good Sensei, and make sure Naruto was doing better.

"I… I don't know." Sakura answered.

"Naruto…" Kakashi started, trying to explain what he could without breaking the Sandaime's law. "He had a lot of emotional 'baggage' before this, but he always kept it locked away under that happy face of his… Now that the happy face is gone, he just can't hold it in any longer…"

His words only had a few moments to sink in before Tsunade came back out of Naruto's room again, this time alone. "Hokage-sama..." Ino started. "Why did you have us do that mission yesterday? It didn't make much sense…"

"There… is no simple way to say it…" Tsunade said, sadly. "Naruto is adamant about never letting something like this happen again. Even to the point of swearing never to kill another person…"

"And when you told him being a Shinobi meant killing?" Kakashi asked.

After a moment, Tsunade fished something out of her robes, and tossed it to Kakashi. He was instantly confused… The dents and scratches were all too familiar. It was definitely Naruto's forehead protector… "When I reminded him killing was part of being a shinobi, he threw that at me."

Every one of the Genin was shocked beyond reason. Naruto had always said he was going to be Hokage one day… that he would be the greatest shinobi of all time. Even Gai was visibly shocked. This simply shook their world apart at the seams. If there was one constant in the world, it was that one knucklehead ninja was always cheery and aiming for the top. The sky wasn't nearly the limit to him, but now he just lost all will to better himself. If this could happen to Naruto, what could possibly be next? And this was answered as Kakashi fell to his knees, tears threatening to spill over in his visible eye.

This is all my fault… Kakashi thought. If I'd only paid more attention to Naruto… and saw the way Sasuke was acting… I could have STOPPED this, dammit! Kakashi smashed his fist into the floor, leaving a large crack along the linoleum. "My fault… all of it…"

This was truly a day for unexpected things, as Gai walked over and smashed his knee into Kakashi's jaw. "Kakashi, my eternal rival… You are not the only one to blame for this tragedy." Gai said, holding out his hand to the Jounin now lying dumbfounded on the floor. "Although you may bear some fault for this, it was the boy's own actions that killed him; and ITS fault for Naruto's condition…" When Kakashi refused to be helped up, or stand at all for that matter, Gai assumed the 'Good Guy Pose' and added; "Now, where is that hip attitude of yours? You ARE still my eternal rival, and I can't let what youth you have left waste away under these dark emotions…" Everyone was shocked… not once did Gai scream something about the 'Flames of Youth'… "NOW! LET US GO REKINDLE YOUR PUPIL'S FLAMES OF YOUTH!!!" Yup… spoke too soon…

---

Upon entering, Tenten clasped her hands over Lee's already open mouth before he could scream anything at the depressed blonde. After about two seconds of that ruckus, the group grew quiet once more. The room hadn't changed much, but it was noticeable. There were fewer flowers, a few of them now sitting in the sink to one side of the room. The small stack of letters had grown slightly; there was even a love letter from an anonymous sender haphazardly tossed in with them. Oddly enough, Hinata blushed when she saw it had been opened, but she never said a word about it. The mirror on the far side of the room was also broken for some reason, and an eerie music, cheerful yet dark, emanating from a small open box on the same table as the letters permeated the room…

The most startling changes to the room had to do with the occupant himself… An IV was stuck in his heavily bandaged left arm, a dark red liquid everyone could only assume was blood slowly flowing into his body. His bed had been exchanged for another one sporting leather restraints. His legs were bound at the ankles by what appeared to be hard leather shackles, each complete with its own padlock. This too, wouldn't have been a surprise if there were any reason for it… but Naruto seemed to be lost in his own little world as he stared at the photo album open in his hands, his ankles being the only part of him restrained. "Naruto? Naruto… you have guests…" Tsunade said as she walked up to him, trying to sound as sweet and motherly as she could in the depressing state of the mood.

"What happened to his-" Ino started to ask, only to be 'shushed' from behind by Shizune, who'd just entered the room.

"If you mean his arm…" Shizune muttered silently, watching as her sensei gently shook Naruto's shoulder. "Last night, for a short while, Naruto-kun became… self-destructive." Gasps and looks of shock flowed over the group, save maybe Gaara. "We'd already taken all the weapons and sharp implements out of the room just in case, but Naruto-kun is quite a bit more cunning than most people give him credit for… He started smashing the flower vases until he found a piece that could be used to cause the injury under those bandages."

"So then…" Sakura muttered. "It's my fault he…"

"No…" Shizune said, watching Tsunade as she tried to coax Naruto out of his mental firewall with a bowl of ramen. "He was bound to do it eventually. It's just lucky Tsunade-sama and I were working late… we heard the crashing and were able to subdue him, but…" She looked down, fighting back tears. "The gash on his arm… If he were anyone else, it would've rendered his arm useless even if he didn't die from blood loss…"

"'If he were anyone else'?" Shikamaru asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Shizune paled, only slightly, but just enough to be noticed by the Group. "I… I didn't mean anything, Naruto-kun's just…" She thought for a second. "Lucky! Or… unlucky, depending on how you think about it…"

"Shizune, that's enough!" Tsunade barked from across the room.

"No, what's going on!?" Sakura asked angrily, walking up to Shizune and stretching herself as tall as she could. "What's wrong with Naruto?" She stormed over to Tsunade, again trying to raise herself to eye level with her, and failing. "What's so different about him?" she then walked up to Naruto's bedside, trying to get his attention. "Naruto? Answer me, Naruto! NARUTO!" She yelled, pulling her hand back to knock the photo album out of his hands, only to see him tense slightly. He thinks I'm going to hit him? She thought, and for the first time, got a look at the pictures in the small book. On the first visible page was the 'roster' photo for Team Seven, Kakashi ruffling Naruto and Sasuke's hair while Sakura stood smiling between them. The next page had two photos, both pictures of Team Seven during two of their various D-Rank missions, one of those pictures she took herself…

"Sakura…" Naruto muttered, closing the binder, tears forming in his eyes. "If you're going to hit me, then just do it and get it over with…"

Everyone in the room was shocked speechless. Naruto was practically telling Sakura to hit him… "Naruto…" Sakura muttered, lowering her hand and shifting into a more relaxed stance, trying to make herself seem as harmless as she could. "Why would I hit you?"

Naruto either sighed or scoffed, he did it with so little energy, no one could tell. He was starting to make Shikamaru look like a brat on a sugar high… "I killed Sasuke…"

Sakura and Ino both winced when he said it. They were probably hit the hardest by his death, aside from Naruto himself… "Naruto, I'm not going to-"

"I'VE BEEN BEATEN ENOUGH TIMES TO KNOW WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN DAMN IT, SO JUST DO IT AND BE DONE WITH IT!!!" Naruto roared, glaring at the girl while tears streamed down his cheeks in waves.

What happened next put all the rest of the day's previous surprises to shame, as Gaara stepped forward, stood in front of Naruto and firmly struck his cheek. "That is for being an idiot. NOT killing the Uchiha." Naruto looked up at his friend with a dumfounded gaze, as did the rest of the crowd in the room when Gaara suddenly turned to walk back outside. "You and I both know you weren't the cause of this." When he passed through the doorway, he stopped and turned back to Naruto. "My sister and I will be in town for a few days… if you need to talk." And with that, he walked down the hall and out of sight.

---

-Later on that same day-

"You did what!?" Temari shrieked. "Hitting him was probably the worst thing you could've done then!" Gaara stood there, listening to his sister rant for the better part of an hour about what he did wrong in that situation… Gaara was still trying to get the hang of this 'caring' nonsense…

---

-Back in the hospital, just after Gaara left-

"I… don't understand." Ino said. "If it wasn't Naruto… I thought he lost control…"

Tsunade barely heard Naruto call her name, he said it so silently she was the only person in the room who heard him. "Naruto… you want me to show them out?" Tsunade asked, and Naruto shook his head. "You… want them to know… the truth?" Naruto nodded halfheartedly. "…Are you sure?" Naruto thought for a moment, his nod barely noticeable from a distance. "Do you want to tell them?" Naruto shook his head once more. "You want me to tell them?" Naruto nodded.

Shizune heard Tsunade sigh heavily at Naruto's response. "Come on, everyone… let's find an empty room." Shizune said, leading everyone out. Everyone in the group couldn't help but stay a moment to look at Naruto before they broke their gaze one by one and followed Shizune out. Even then, Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Tenten stayed back and stared at the boy. As young women, they were privy to the keen feminine ability to empathize with others, and each felt what must have been a shard of the unbearable pain and sadness in Naruto's heart.

Tsunade scrutinized each of the girls in turn as they stared at the blonde boy. Each bore a look of compassion and sadness. They wanted to help the boy, in any way they could… "It's hard to believe sometimes, isn't it?" Tsunade asked, knocking them out of their stupor. "That he and the rest of you are still just little kids…"

Tsunade walked out of the room with the four girls at her heels, heading down the hall to another room, where Kakashi leaned against the doorframe. "Come on in, then…" He muttered lazily, letting them in before following and closing the door behind him. "Now, everyone, we would appreciate it if you didn't interrupt the Godaime after she starts talking…"

"Why not?" Kiba asked, instantly silenced when Tsunade cracked her knuckles in response. Everyone made sure to make as little noise as possible; Chouji even dropped his bag of chips in fear.

"That's why…" Kakashi muttered.

"So shut up and listen, dammit!" Tsunade spat, glaring down the Genin. When she knew she had their undivided attention, she sighed. "That's better… Naruto… apparently he wants me to tell you all what's going on with him, and I'm not going to let you belittle this." She leaned up against the bed on the far side of the room, her right hand firmly clasped over the side of her face, trying to massage away her apparent headache. "This regards the village's highest law, set down by the Sandaime twelve years ago. Even I couldn't say anything without Naruto's permission, so just shut up and let me say what Naruto wants me to say…" Her tone gave no hint of lenience. Either they stayed quiet, or she'd send them through a wall… it was just that simple.

"I… think you've scared them enough, Hokage-sama…" Kakashi muttered.

"Okay, then…" Tsunade mumbled, taking in a deep breath before speaking again. "About twelve years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Ever since then, we've altered history texts and records so that none of your generation would know what really happened that day…" Lee and Kiba both looked like they were about to ask a question, and both of them were instantly silenced by Gai and Kakashi's hands over their respective mouths. "What you've been taught is that the Yondaime killed Kyuubi. Simple, and partially true… Kyuubi's physical form was destroyed, but his spiritual form, along with all his power, the part of it no human can destroy, needed to be sealed away. The only container pliable enough being a human, he sealed Kyuubi into a newborn child, namely his…" Tsunade caught herself before continuing, entranced by her own tale to the extent that she nearly gave out information Naruto himself didn't know yet… "Anyway, the reason Naruto breaks down so easily is because he's had to endure the torment of the villagers and shinobi… a good eighty percent of the populace hates him for it, and at least twenty have tried to physically harm him over the last decade…" Tsunade could see tears welling up in the eyes of each of the girls, especially Sakura and Ino, who unknowingly contributed to his monumental abuse. Noticing the looks of disbelief and regret on the boys as well… She barely managed to hold back her own tears when she saw Shizune start to sniffle and dab her eyes with a handkerchief. "All of that, he hid behind a mask that I'm not sure even he knew he'd put up… and when this happened… he just couldn't keep it up, and everything he held back behind that happy facade…"

"Tsunade-sama…" Kakashi muttered, earning him a glare from the Sannin, before he pointed over to the corner, where Gai and Lee stood, openly crying in each other's arms.

…Maybe we should wrap this up… She thought. "We… I… would like everyone to help him as much as they can. Although he might not understand…" Tsunade muttered.

"W-why not?" Hinata asked, finally making her presence known to the group.

Oddly, Shizune was the one to answer. "Well, as you can imagine, he hasn't gotten much positive attention over the years…" Wiping away the tears cascading down her cheeks, she continued; "Forced to endure a demon's torture simply because he contains one sealed inside of him…" She muttered, quite audibly. "What has this world come to, that our poor Naruto need endure such monsters?"

"So, Naruto contains the Kyuubi… that explains a few things." Shikamaru muttered. "Such a troublesome predicament this has turned out to be…"

"So then… when you sent us…" Ino started, before Tsunade continued.

"Naruto has chosen to resign his commission as a shinobi. In his current condition, coupled with the village's views on him, Naruto most likely would be unable to support himself financially. That is why I had Genin squads Eight and Ten research possible occupations for him." Tsunade said, trying to make such a simple explanation sound as intelligent and thought-out as possible.

"You had us running around town looking for jobs he could do." Kiba snapped sarcastically. "I don't see why the hell we had to do his dirty work…"

At the sight of Tsunade tensing up, every facet of her body screaming for a rampage starting with the Inuzuka boy, Kakashi and Shizune readied themselves to physically restrain her if need be, although they both knew they wouldn't be enough to do more than give the Genin a few seconds to run. Slowly, she seemed to calm down, her rage was still easily noted in her tone as she spoke again, however. "You have no idea what he would have to go through, do you?"

"K-Kiba-kun…" Hinata muttered, catching the attention of the room. "You saw the l-looks everyone g-gave us when we asked f-for him… A-and out of all the sh-shops we ch-checked, only three would g-give him work…"

"If it were Naruto…" Ino said, taking up Hinata's point. "They would have run him out… chased him down… who knows what all they'd do to him. I don't think he'd be able to take it the way he is now."

"And that is exactly why I had you do that…" Tsunade added.

"Wait…" Tenten started, causing everyone to turn their attention to her. "I'm sure my…"

"Yes, we know. We've already checked into that…" Tsunade muttered.

"You have?" Tenten asked.

"Yup!" Ino answered, trying to lighten the mood by acting more cheerful than she felt.

"Alright, Kakashi…" Tsunade said, prompting the man to walk over to her before being handed a small scroll. "You take this, and these brats, and go talk to Naruto about his daily schedule from now on."

"Okay, then… you heard the Hokage… Let's go…" Kakashi muttered, leading the group out into the halls. The girls lagged behind again, however, especially Sakura, who remained just inside the room.

"Shizune, I'll need you to dig up some paperwork…" Tsunade muttered, her head lowered to the floor, apparently examining her feet. "You know we can't leave Naruto alone right now, so I-"

Shizune spoke up before Tsunade could bring herself to tears. "I know what you're going to say, Tsunade-sama… and I'd-"

"Sakura, come on…" Kakashi muttered, breaking her and the other girls in the hallway from their reverie.

"Erm… yes, Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura replied.

Moments later, they were all gathered in Naruto's room once more, Naruto now a few pages further along in his photo album. "Naruto… I…" Sakura muttered. As the boy in question glanced up at her, she saw deep red marks just under his eyes. He was crying? "I'm sorry… for everything…" Naruto's eyes widened almost immeasurably before he nodded and turned his attention back to the book in his lap.

"Naruto, Tsunade-sama asked me to relay some information to you…" Kakashi muttered, waiting until Naruto nodded, even without looking up, to continue. Opening the scroll and looking it over for a moment, Kakashi then passed it to Naruto, who set it atop his album. "Mondays and Tuesdays; working at Yamanaka Flowers, Wednesdays at Higurashi Weapons, Thursdays and Fridays at Ichiraku Ramen, and Saturdays here at the hospital with Sunday as a 'free day'. Specific times are specified in the scroll."

"What is this?" Naruto asked, his voice low and slightly grating.

"Your new work schedule…" Kakashi answered, pulling an orange book from one of his pockets and flipping it open with one hand.

Ino and Tenten turned to each other excitedly. "We get to work with Naruto!" Ino muttered.

"I know!" Tenten said. "There's no way he can stay gloomy with us around to cheer him up!"

"Yeah!" Ino cheered as she high-fived Tenten comically.

Sakura sighed. He had someone to support him everywhere but where he needed it most; here at the hospital. He'd have Ino at her parent's shop, Tenten at her parent's, and the only two people who worked at the small ramen stand both cared about him… but here? Thinking for a moment, she resigned herself to her decision, knowing she had to ask Tsunade the next time she saw her.

Just then, Tsunade and Shizune walked into the room, the younger of the two walked over and wrapped her arms around an unsuspecting Naruto. "Come on…" She muttered, turning Naruto's head towards hers and wiping away what semblance of tears were left on his cheeks. "Let's clean you up and get you home… you've got a big day ahead of you…"

Naruto looked at the odd woman in confusion for a moment before Tsunade spoke up, resisting the urge to ruffle the blonde ex-shinobi's hair with all her being. "Tch… you'd better listen to your mother, brat…"

"M-mo-mother?" Naruto asked, looking back to Shizune with a look of shock, fear, hope, and just a hint of excitement.

Shizune chuckled, wiping away her own tears of joy. "If you'll have me, Naruto-kun…"

---

(Earlier-)

"Shizune, I'll need you to dig up some paperwork…" Tsunade muttered, her head lowered to the floor, apparently examining her feet. "You know we can't leave Naruto alone right now, so I-"

Shizune spoke up before Tsunade could bring herself to tears. "I know what you're going to say, Tsunade-sama… and I'd like… to adopt Naruto myself…"

"Sh-Shizune…" Tsunade muttered in disbelief.

"I've thought about it, Tsunade-sama… and that's what I've decided." Shizune said, nodding her conviction. "Unless… I know you were going to adopt him yourself, and I understand, but…"

"You know I gave up having kids of my own years ago, Shizune… With my position, you'd be a better mother for him anyway. You can give him the time and attention he needs when I'd be stuck in that damned office all day…" She chuckled.

"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune muttered, new tears forming in her eyes.

"Well, we'd better go talk to your son about having a new mom then, eh?" Tsunade said, chuckling again as she walked out into the hall.

---

(Present-)

"Mother!" Naruto yelled, burying his face into Shizune's chest, wrapping his arms around his new mother and holding her as tightly as he could while his tears soaked into her clothing. "I have a mother… my mother…"

After a few moments, Naruto fell asleep in his mother's arms, and she set him back down on his bed. "W-what happened?" Sakura asked.

"I think he got a little over-excited, and passed out." Tsunade explained. "It wouldn't be hard to over-stimulate him in his condition."

"Tsunade-sama…" Sakura started, drawing all eyes to her. "I… I'd like to train at the hospital… So that I can be near Naruto if he needs me, and so that no one I care about will ever die again…"

"Sakura…" Tsunade muttered.

"M-me too!" Hinata yelled, raising her hand. "I w-want to h-help N-Naruto-kun too…"

"Hn… looks like we've got us a couple new apprentices Shizune…" Tsunade muttered. "Fine… You'll both be here at the hospital every day you don't have a mission, Sundays off, and work under Shizune here." Tsunade indicated her apprentice as she spoke. "I'll stop by and train you two myself from time to time, but otherwise, you do as Shizune tells you, you got it?"

"Yes Tsunade-sama!" Sakura and Hinata both said eagerly.

"You'll start the same day as Naruto, coming in by eight just like him." Tsunade stated. "Although he might just come to work with his mother at five…"

"F-five? AM?" Sakura muttered.

"Yes." Tsunade said. "Shizune shows up early and takes care of managing the whole place… How she can handle the stress of that alongside finding and filing all my papers, I don't think I'll ever understand…"

"I work morning shifts at the hospital so that I have the rest of the day to help you, remember Tsunade-sama?" Shizune muttered.

"Ah, yeah… that's right." The Slug Sannin said. "Well, if you need to rearrange your schedule for your son, don't hesitate to say so."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama…" Shizune replied with a polite bow.

"Now all of you, shoo. His boy needs his sleep, and the grown-ups need to talk." Tsunade said, turning to the group.

"HEY! We're not kids y'know!" Kiba yelled. "I don't care how old you are, ya' hag!"

All were surprised when instead of going ballistic, the Hokage simply turned to the boy calmly. "As soon as your balls drop, brat, THEN I'll think about treating you like an adult." Tsunade said, matching the Inuzuka boy's vulgarity easily, leaving everyone in earshot thoroughly flabbergasted.

After a few moments, Gai spoke up. "Come now, all! It would be highly unyouthful to disobey a direct order!" He said as he ushered the Genin and one lazy Chuunin out of the room.

"Gai-sensei… you're simply saying that because you're afraid of Hokage-sama, aren't you?" Neji asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Gai replied with a long rant about 'youth' and 'vitality' and such that everyone knew equated to 'damn right I'm scared of her…'

When the only others left in the room were Kakashi and Shizune, Tsunade sighed and started again. "Okay… now, Shizune, I know your apartment is great for a single woman, or maybe even a couple, but it's not quite big enough for a family."

"I… I know Tsunade-sama…" Shizune said, her head hanging slightly. "I can pay for a bigger apartment if need be, and Naruto would be working as well… we should be able to manage easily on our own…"

"Why not use his father's house?" Kakashi asked lazily, his nose still in his little orange book. "I doubt Sandaime-sama would let anyone else move in there, and I believe it was part of his inheritance anyway…"

"Naruto isn't supposed to get anything until he's at least fifteen…" Tsunade replied. "It says so in the papers we found…"

"You know… he needn't know it's rightfully his…" Kakashi muttered before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"…He… is right, Tsunade-sama… and taxes should be cheaper than rent anyway…" Shizune muttered.

"Yeah… Let's go, Shizune… we've got paperwork to fill out…"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama…"

If you won't really understand it, 'the sum of Kyuubi's influence' is best summed up in computer terms… Think of Kyuubi like a hacker, Naruto's will as a computer, and the seal as a firewall between them. There are holes in the firewall and Naruto's mind, and once Kyuubi finds them and makes use of them to influence Naruto for an instant, Naruto's mind subconsciously blocks out those holes and makes it so Kyuubi can't use those same weak points again. Kyuubi found all sorts of holes in Naruto's mind, and saved them all up for one monumental push on Naruto's actions, which he used to kill Sasuke and cause Naruto to break down.

Just so y'know, 'unyouthful' isn't a word according to my computer's dictionary, but I'm using it anyway.

And come on… you know Shizune's 'mom' material. I mean, honestly, have you seen that woman? She even LOOKS like a mom! I've talked it over with my Beta, PK, and we've agreed Shizune is the best mom Naruto could have in this fic. You might also be wondering why she lives in an apartment rather than wherever Tsunade lives… have you ever thought she might like some time to herself after spending the last decade or two with Tsunade? Yeah.

Next chapter should be out relatively quickly, after all, I am on a roll. Apologies to the fans of my other fics, it may be a while before I get around to updating those…