A/N Sorry about the late update. I know, I broke my promise. Please forgive me. Don't worry, though; it's odd, but as soon as school starts back up I feel like I have even less to do than in the summer. Therefore I can write more. Does anyone else have this issue?

Naruto stared at the ceiling. Sasuke had re-chained him, of course. The 24 hour wait was up, but the Jinchuuriki was still waiting for a drink… After an entire 24 hours of dehydration, this was torture.

Finally, Karin came down with a bowl of water. Not once since he had been captured had he had the privilege of drinking out of a cup. Kyuubi was quieter now, and on the few times he spoke he said, "I'm trying to sleep. It passes the time. That's what I did in the many years I was trapped in this hellhole before you learned I even existed. Even us demons get bored."

Naruto was confused when she also gave him a book. "I thought you might get bored, sitting here doing nothing. Sasuke said I should bring you this," she explained, though it was pretty obvious that the Uchiha was the one that had suggested that he might get bored. She WAS like Sakura in a way. She would do practically anything for Sasuke.

"I hate reading books," Naruto responded simply, looking at the title. "You wasted your time." The cover read The One for Me.

"I'll see about getting you something different," Karin replied sincerely. She was sort of nice… Better than Suigetsu and Juugo, anyway. She did seem to care for his well being, if only a little bit. 1

"Doomo arrigato, Karin-sama," Naruto sighed, using the honorific to stay away from the bad sides all his captors possessed.

"Just call me Karin," the red-headed teenager said. "Not in front of Sasuke-kun, of course. But when it's just me, you don't have to use honorifics."

"Nande?" 2

"It makes the situation seem like a dominatrix-type thing. It makes me uncomfortable, alright?" Karin explained, smirking slightly. "Friends?"

"Eh?" Now Naruto was REALLY confused. Did she just say the F word?

"I asked if you wanted to be friends."

"Ah-hai?" 3

"Great. See you soon."

With that she left.

"snooooooooore."

"Kyuubi, you missed everything!"

"WAH? HUH? Oh, it's you. How many times have I told you not to wake me up?"

"Karin asked to be friends… What's up with that?"

"She's a human, you're all simple-minded like that."

"I give up with you."

"What? What did I say?"

After figuring out that Naruto was pissed off, Kyuubi went back to sleep, still clueless as to what he said wrong.

Naruto drank his water, savoring every cool drop. I hate dehydration SO much…

He scratched his head. Now what?

The blonde picked up the book. The title was a bright, golden color standing out against the starry sky scene behind it. Well, I've got nothing to lose.

Sighing, he began reading.

I walked down a lonely street. It was quiet. A street with no people.

"What a stupid beginning," Naruto mumbled, continuing on.

So quiet. And so lonely. Everyone else was inside, happy to have their special person. But not me. I was alone.

There was a dead weight in the Jinchuuriki's chest. "Out of all the possible books, it had to be something I could relate to… Well, crap…"

It hurt to be alone. Everyone had friends except me. Everyone was inside, having fun and playing games like hide and go seek. But nobody ever stopped to talk to me. When they came outside they avoided me, for I was a symbol of bad luck. It was this way because my parents were long deceased, among other things. And while I could understand their fear, it was so lonely.

"This is why I hate books," Naruto muttered under his breath, but he couldn't help but read on.

It wasn't fair. Everyone was always interested in him. The boy who was perfect in every which way. But I could tell that he was lonely, too. The love and admiration was his birthright, not true friendship. And I could tell that he was alone, too.

Because we were both alone, I was attracted to him. But I knew it could never work, because I was also a him, and people don't like two hims.

Besides, even if I was a her, it would never work out. For I am bad luck, and he is the opposite. So I thought we must both remain alone, forever. And I accepted it. I convinced myself that I hated him, and did everything in my power to make myself believe it.

And I knew in return he hated me. And I was lonely. And it hurt. It hurt so much that when the pain in my heart became too much to bear, I wanted to end it all. But I knew that nobody would remember me, the lonely boy who fought for attention. And so I walk down these lonely streets, knowing that he is a special person.

But I can't have my special person. The only one for me is the most impossible one to get to love me. And it hurts. It still does. My heart aches to be with him, but nobody will allow it.

Later on, I was able to become friends with him. But being close to him only hurt me more, because it gave me false hopes that we could be together. I rejected these hopes to get rid of the pain.

And it worked. For a time. It worked, and I believed I hated him.

And I thought for sure he hated me.

I made so many friends, and I was happy. Or so I thought.

"Stupid picture book," Naruto sighed, "over already."

And Naruto wiped the tears from his face, because he knew that he could relate to the story. Every single word. 4

A/N Things you may need to know.

1- No, it isn't NaruKarin. Eww. (Don't get me wrong, I'm a Karin fan, I just don't like the pairing. XD)

2- Nandewhy?

3- For those of you who don't get it (I wouldn't, I'm just that dumb XD) he's still sort of confused, and is basically saying, "Umm, yes?"

I got the book idea from Chobits. Don't ask. Watch the anime on veoh dot com or something. Or mydeo dot com, because I think it got deleted off veoh… And yes, the story is getting a tad bit more serious now. There will still be humor, but I'm starting to get down to business here.