Hey everyone! This is a one-shot that I thought up…

I'm going to but putting out a lot of one-shots and things like that for the next couple of months. These one-shots are meant to try to improve my writing style for the really big fanfic/story that I want to write, so please leave me with a review on how I could improve okay? Thanks! All constructive criticism is appreciated!

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For every reward there is a price

Every price must be paid

And not every price that is paid is made known to the one who was rewarded

As not every sacrifice is known

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The Price of Making Genin

Looking back on that time, he always wondered if he had made the right choice. When Mizuki had approached him, should he have run away? Or should he have gone home from the very start so that Mizuki would never find him? He would never know. If he had returned home, then that night would never have happened. Would it have been better to take another year at the Academy instead? He did make Genin that night… but the price for making Genin was far too high in his opinion.

He had… he had… in a way, become Genin… and the 'payment' for that was to know that…he contained the most horrible of all demons… the demon that had killed so many of Konoha's shinobi and civilians…the nine-tailed demon Fox. It was too much to bear. Too much. He had killed Iruka-sensei's parents. And the Forth Hokage.

Walking down the street, he looked at all the passer-bys and thought: I killed your brother…and your mom. I killed everyone you cared for. I killed your uncle and the little cousin that you never knew. I killed you best friend. I almost killed you.

He now understood all the harsh glares thrown his way. The guilt of killing so many weighed heavily on his heart, even though he knew that he was not the Fox itself, it was still just as bad to him. He was a representation of the Fox, and all that kept him from really becoming the Fox was a little slip of paper on a cage.

Soon, he learned that he could use the Fox's chakra in time of great stress. But even that did not help. In the Chunin Exams, the Fox's chakra grabbed the attention of Orochimaru during their fight, and was disabled because of it. Because he was disabled, he could not prevent Sasuke from getting the cursed seal... and couldn't stop him from defecting.

It was all so messed up. He shouldn't be alive…he was a curse. He sometimes wondered how his parents had died. Had the Fox killed them too? He couldn't help anyone, not even his own teammate… Was it worth it? To know of his 'tenant', to know the truth in return for being Genin? Would it have been better to have had gone back to the Academy? Would it have…
"Naruto! Naruto!"

Naruto was disrupted from his morbid thoughts by his pink haired teammate standing next to him. A little disoriented, he asked

"What?"

"Don't worry! We will find Sasuke for sure! Don't give up, remember what you told me? Everything happens for a reason!"

Everything happens for a reason… Yes… there must have been a reason for everything that had happened.

He looked around to his teammates Sakura and Sai. He smiled and nodded.

Please please review! I love reviews~