A/N: So people don't get confuzzled and dumbfounded here's the layout of this fic:

"Naruto" - Speech

'Naruto' – Thoughts

"Naruto" - Demonic

'Naruto' – Demonic Thoughts

Naruto - Jutsu

With that out of the way I'm pleased to announce an official Redux of my first fic, Lone Fox. I didn't like how my story was in the beginning so I kind of disowned it. Now I'm taking it back and remolding it into something better. It's still a NaruIno crack pairing, so that hasn't changed. So without further ado—let's get started!

I don't own Naruto

"Alright, where is he?"

"I see him, there!"

A young boy can be seen on this particular dark day in Konohagakure. The young boy was running away from the villagers with expertise, he had just stolen some food from them and was on his way home. He ignored the shouts from the people and kept running— His wild blond hair was matted to his face, his eyes held a look of hurt and betrayal. Naruto Uzumaki was just back stabbed by the person who taught him everything he knew about surviving alone, and being a ninja.

'Aka... Why? Why did you tell them?' Just as he was about to steal the food, 'Aka' had told the villagers where he was, and they gave chase. Naruto reached his home in time, the villagers were long gone— his distractions paid off. His home was simply an abandoned building. He went inside and broke down, Naruto punched the floor with his fist. Angered that Aka betrayed him. Aka was the name of the woman who took the blond boy under her wing, Naruto idolized her, because she was the first person he let someone to truly know him. Naruto was always alone, he raised himself after getting kicked out of the orphanage, as such he taught himself how to read, write, and even increased his vocabulary.

The blond got up and wiped his eyes, he got by on his own—and that's how he liked it; but to have someone enter his inner circle only to do something so...

"It doesn't matter, I need to get some rest for the graduation exams." Naruto climbed the rickety ladder up to his bedroom. It was there he removed an orange sheet on the wall to reveal a gaping hole. He smirked as the memories of his Shadow Clones flowed into his mind. They put up quite the chase—they were key in his daring escape from the clutches of the villagers; unfortunately they got caught. The loner put the sheet back over the hole and went to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Outta the way Ino-pig!!"

"You move, Forehead!!"

Naruto sighed from his seat in the back of the class, He watched in mild amusement at Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka's race to the seat next to Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto resented Sasuke, a lot. Naruto hated the way people flocked to him, and his stuck up attitude. He thinks that being an Uchiha meant everyone has to kiss your behind. It made the blond's skin crawl.

"Hah! I win! Chew on that, Ino-pig!" Sakura looked up at Ino in triumph in the seat next to Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't notice, or rather he did his very best to not yell at the girls. Their behavior irritated him to no end; they just don't get him at all.

Ino sighed in defeat and looked around for available seats, almost everyone had a seat next to somebody—save for the other blond in her class. With a shrug, she moved to sit next to him, maybe she could get to know him more. Naruto knew she was coming, but paid her no mind; that was until he picked up the scent of flowers. He looked up to see the blond girl looking at him in front of his desk.

Ino looked away when their eyes met. "H-hey Naruto, I lost my seat to forehead—I-I was hoping you could let me sit next to you." Naruto leaned back on his chair and put his hands behind his head. He might've been a loner, but he wasn't a total prick.

The blond boy grinned. "Sure, no one's stopping you." Ino nodded dumbly and quickly sat down. Iruka came into the classroom via poof of smoke.

The scarred instructor cleared his throat. "Alright class, today is the final day of the academy for some, we will be taking the graduation exams in the following order..." Iruka proceeded to write the graduation exam tests on the board, Naruto cringed when he saw that the written test was first. Ino took note of Naruto's displeasure. The boy was a treasure trove of secrets and mysteries—from what the flower girl knew about him, Naruto was homeless, and an orphan. Also for reasons that escape her, he was hated by the villagers. This confused the platinum blond, surely he might've stole some food or clothing... but that doesn't justify their hatred. But there's her dad's warning:

You should be careful around him, don't do things to make him hate you.

Before the blond knew it, Iruka had already erased the board, and was passing out tests. Ino gasped, She didn't know what they were doing! Maybe Naruto knew?

"Psst... Naruto..." Ino nudged his elbow a bit.

Naruto looked over to her. "You called?"

"Er, what did Iruka-sensei say? I wasn't really listening."

Naruto shook his head. "He said the written exam is on the Hokage History, and on the 3rd Shinobi War. The next portion is on the transformation justsu. Lastly—we must make a clone, easy right?" Ino blused in embarrassment. 'I need to pay attention' The written exam went off without a hitch, Ino was the second done next to Forehead. The flower girl took the time to further scrutinize the boy next to her. His hair was the deepest shade of blond she's ever seen, even amongst her own clan. Plus he has those whisker-like marks on his face, it kind of gives him an exotic, feral, and mysterious appearance. Then there's his eyes. They are the kind of blue that can see your true character by looking into your soul. Ino noticed he was done, the boy prompted to put his head down. 'You're a mystery Naruto... what are you really like?'

The next portion of the exams was to do a transformation jutsu. Iruka gave out instructions, "Class, line up. You will each do one transformation of me, now who's first?" Everyone went down the line, Iruka passed and failed the genin hopeful; finally it was Naruto's turn. The blond loner walked up to Iruka-sensei with an indifferent expression, the kids of the class threw jeeers and whispered insults at him. Ino heard them all but it looked like Naruto didn't notice, or rather he could care less, Iruka nodded to him, "Okay Naruto, just transform good enough to pass." The sensei said kindly.

Naruto faced the class and transformed. What he transformed into made everyone gasp—He wasn't Iruka, but a blond man wearing a white trench coat with red flames licking the bottom. He had a jonin outfit underneath, and an icy blue glare that promised death.

Iruka had to slap himself. "Th-the Fourth Hokage? Is that you?" The Fourth turned to Iruka and in a poof of smoke, Naruto stood back where Konoha's greatest Hokage was.

"I think I did great, considering the shock value."

Iruka was beyond impressed. "Well done, Naruto! You've come a long way from your old trouble making days." He said with a lot of pride in his voice. Naruto nodded, unsure of what to say and took his seat.

For some strange reason, Ino felt compelled to shout "In your face!!" to those who mocked Naruto. She felt compelled to run up and congradulate him, but she didn't know why. Maybe Naruto has this effect on people, but still... "Good job Sasuke, you may take your seat." She heard Iruka say. The platinum blond didn't know what to think, she noticed Sasuke walk by.

Ino flipped her hair trying to look prettier. "Congrats Sasuke-kun." The young Uchiha grunted and stalked off.

Finally, it was time for the clone test. The test in itself, was simple on paper—just make a clone. It was easy for some, but difficult for others, and it was their last chance to get enough credit to pass. They were called in ascending order, when it came to Naruto, the blond got up and calmly walked down.

"Uh... Do your best!" Ino called to him. The students gasped and looked at her funny. "Aww, what are you busy bodies looking at!?"

Naruto chuckled a bit. 'Thanks' he thought. He entered the other room to see Iruka-sensei with some other chunin. Iruka shuffled his papers. "Naruto, you know what to do. Just make a clone, and you pass."

Naruto nodded and started concentrating his chakra. 'I've always been bad at clones... well, here goes...'

Iruka's eyes widened when the loner made five clones. Naruto decided to explain himself:

"I'm awful at normal clones because I have such a massive chakra reservoir. I was about to do it, but I got nervous, so I made Shadow Clones."

Iruka went up and poked on in the forehead. "Wow, they're solid! I'm impressed. You could be rookie of the year with this level of improvement! I mean, you ace the written test, blow my mind with the transformation, and now this!"

That's when Naruto frowned. "Not. Interested."

Iruka took note of the blond's comment. "Well, let's not sour the mood. Take your headband, Naruto."

Meanwhile the other blond was anxiously waiting for her turn, that's when the door opened, revealing Naruto with his headband displayed on his forehead. For some reason, Ino was glad and relieved he passed. She had no idea why.

"Good job, Naruto!" Ino congradulated. Naruto's face flushed when he saw her smile, the blond shook his head and sat down.

Naruto looked at the front of the class. "Hm... make sure you pass, too." His fellow blond smiled and nodded.

...At the end of the day, it was finally Ino's turn. The platinum blond headed down with a skip in her step, Sakura couldn't help herself, "Hey Ino-pig! You better not fail too badly!!"

Ino snorted. "I don't plan on it! I'm gonna pass and make Sasuke-kun mine!!"

Sakura grinned. "Oh really? And the reason why your talking to that Naruto guy is...?" Ino stammered and darted her eyes between Naruto and Sakura. "Th-that's—"

"INO HURRY UP!!" Iruka shouted, effectively ending the little spat. Ino emerged later with her headband around her waist, she stuck her toung out at Sakura who looked away with a huff—and with a satisfied smile, Ino took her seat next to Naruto.

Soon after, Iruka stepped back into the classroom. "I am pleased to announced that the pass/fail rate is a whopping 82% This year! That's the highest ever for a starting instructor like myself, and you all made it happen. Those who passed, I'll see you all next week after you take your photo I.D. and register—for those who failed... there's always next year. You are dismissed."

The passing students cheered and left the failing students in the dust, meanwhile Naruto had to know something—

"Ino!" He called at the door.

Ino turned around. "You called?" She said jokingly.

Naruto wasn't amused. He looked off to see that her folks aren't here yet. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

The platinum blond tilted her head to the side playfully. "Whaddya mean? It's in my nature!"

Naruto felt like someone punched him in the gut. "In your nature? Don't make me laugh. You used to be one of the very kids who picked on me growing up! And know you're being nice to me... what is it? Needed a fall guy from losing your seat next to 'Sasuke-kun'? You felt sorry for me? Or was it a plan to make yourself look uninterested in Sasuke to only swoop in and take him." When Ino put her head down, Naruto frowned. "Which is it? Hey, Ino—I'm talking to you!"

"Shut up, Uzumaki!!" Naruto flinched. Ino was angry, her cheeks were rosy and... she was close to tears? "You think I wanted to pick on you? NO! Ever hear of peer pressure? And I decided to sit next to you because I wanted to know you! And you seemed like a nice boy who has been through a lot! I was cheering you on because I wanted you to succeed, not to make myself look like I was losing interest in Sasuke! Darn it Naruto—why do you have to be a jerk!"

Naruto was stunned silent. He couldn't close his slightly ajar mouth he was so shocked. When Ino was about to run away in tears, Naruto grabbed her arm. "I-Ino, wait. I'm sorry, I... never thought someone sincere could offer me such kindness, I just couldn't accept it. I've been alone for so long I can't tell kidness from false affection anymore. Forgive me, please."

Ino turned to him a bit. "...How do you know I'm not lying?"

Naruto grinned. "People smell a little like metal when they lie. You still smell like flowers."

The girl blushed as she wiped some tears away. "That's good to know. Sorry for blowing up at you."

Naruto shook his head. "No, no. I'm sorry for what I said. What you did was a natural response."

Ino smiled. "Okay... well can you let me go? I gotta get home, too y'know."

Naruto quickly let go and tried to suppress a blush. "Sorry. I'll be seeing you Ino."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, Naruto still couldn't get this warm feeling out of his gut. It felt so familiar, but foreign at the same time. He hasn't fellt this since—

"--Aka, why did you do it?" He looked out of the hole in the wall into the night sky. "Well, no thanks to you, I have a friend now. I hope we can go on missions together."

Meanwhile in the Yamanaka house, Ino was enjoying a celebratory dinner in honor of her graduating. Since this was a celebration, the platinum blond let her diet slip. "So anyways, we became friends. I think I'm Naruto's first friend!" Ino proclaimed after telling today's events. Inoichi, Ino's father and jonin, congratulated her with praise, but Ino's mom however was strangely silent.

"It's about time you show some interest in another boy than Sasuke..." He joked.

Ino slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "Daaddy!! Stop kidding around!" She shouted with a blush.

"Yes... let's not joke too much...." Her mother replied quietly.

Inoichi caught what she said. "Huh? What was that?"

His wife's eyes narrowed at her their daughter. "Ino, I forbid you from seeing that boy!"

The platinum blond was shocked. "Whoa, h-hey—Mom! You can't do that!"

"I just did!" She snapped back. Ino was taken aback by her mother's sudden outburst. With a huff, Ino ran upstairs and slammed the door shut.

Inoichi stood up and faced his wife. "You and I need to talk."

Upstairs under some pillows, Ino could hear her parents arguing, but the sounds were muffled. She punched a pillow off the bed in frustration. 'It ain't fair! Mom always wants to control me!' Ino's mother was a civilian who didn't know squat about ninjas, she made her daughter go on a diet, chase after Sasuke, and before that—tried to take young Ino out of Ninja Academy. She just doesn't get it at all. The platinum blond looked up when she heard the door open.

"Ino? Are you awake sweetheart?"

Ino sat up on her bed. "Yeah, daddy."

Inoichi walked in with a lofty smile. He sat on his daughter's bed and put his arm around her. "You okay? You knda left your celebration..."

Ino sighed. "It was a celebration 'til mom ruined it."

Then, it was Inoichi's turn to sigh. "Ino, you have to forgive your mom. She's like the rest of the villagers who hate Naruto."

His daughter looked up at him. "I don't get that, why do people hate him?"

Inoichi looked down. "I can't say."

Ino didn't believe him, but she didn't press it. Inoichi got up. "Now, get some sleep. You don't have to worry about what your mom says anymore. You're a ninja now, and that headband proves it. You have to make your own adult decisions now."

Ino smiled as her father left, closing her door. Ino later went to bed with what her dad said. 'You're a ninja now.'

A/N: Done and done! How do you like this newer version? Like it? Hate it? Don't care either way as long as I update? Now that Naruto passed, what's in store for him? Will he head down a road of fame and fortune, or will he fall down an ill fated road of death and dread. Who knows? I know! See you next time!

-Dzero9, out.