A/N: Wow it's been a month since I've updated. Oops.

But no worries! I've finally got the events coming up (for at least a good half of the story) plotted out, so writing should be a piece of cake. :) Maybe. But hopefully. As always, thank you if you reviewed! :D

In case you don't remember what happened in the previous chapter: Naruto just passed out from training to become a genin, but the important thing is he actually made it to the genin mark! Yay!

SWW4

Chapter Eight: Resolve

The voices drift through my consciousness slowly, wavering in and out, almost dream-like in their obscurity.

"He's only been under for three hours—"

"—how could you let him train for so long, Sakura—"

"—I'm sorry, Shishou! He wouldn't let me heal him!"

"You should've known better—"

I want to tell the old hag that there's no way Sakura's at fault for something that's completely my doing, and that she should stop yelling at her or else Sakura would cry (because despite her somewhat violent demeanor, Sakura has always cried easily); but when I try to speak, nothing happens. My body is stiff and unconscious, and it takes too much effort to even try and move.

And so I breathe out and let myself slip under again.

The next time the voices wake me, it's not Sakura or Tsunade anymore.

"Why do I have to be here?"

"You're the head of the clan too. It's our duty, Sasuke—"

"You can do it alone! You don't need me!"

"…Don't turn this into something personal. We're here for Naruto."

"It's not like he's dying in reality."

"That doesn't mean anything—Sasuke!"

At first, it pisses me off slightly that Sasuke cares so little about me, or rather, his clan as a whole. Why should he get to be the head if he doesn't even care enough to visit a sick member in the hospital?

But then I begin to hear the undercurrents in Sasuke's voice, the slightest bits of jagged emotion prickling through the normally smooth surface. There's something unresolved between these brothers, and it makes me sad that Sasuke can't even find solace in his family. Maybe that's why he's so cold to others; after all, it's hard to be friendly when you feel like you have nobody you can trust.

(I would know.)

And even though I know that I shouldn't care—not just because Sasuke's personality is rather, well, lacking, but also because caring means getting entangled in his personal problems and history, something highly advised against in VRG games—the urge to befriend him grows stronger each second I lie there, immobile.

Sakura's right. He's too similar to the way I was before I met Sakura; lonely, hurt, and unwilling to show it. The only difference is the way he covers it up: I chose to make a fool out of myself, while he only walls up the feelings and blocks everything else out, his own tiny fortress.

Maybe it's time I return Sakura's favor. She helped me open up, as sappy as it sounds, and despite the few… struggles… Sasuke and I have had in the past, there's always something more to build off of.

Because I've learned that no matter how different you think you are, you are and never will be alone.

I wake up for real the third time. My body feels infinitely lighter and my head is clear. In fact, I almost feel as if I'd just gotten a nice, relaxing nap—which I suppose isn't too far off the mark.

I yawn, and I feel a shift of movement to my left. Then a cool hand is pressing down on my forehead, and Sakura's saying, "Naruto? Are you awake?"

"Mm, yeah," I answer, blinking my eyes open. The room swims into focus slowly: white ceiling, white walls, white floor. Even the bed is white. The only thing with a pop of color is the curtains, oddly enough, and even then they're only a pale shade of washed-out yellow. "How long was I out?"

"About five hours," Sakura says promptly. Her hand falls off my forehead when I sit bolt upright, eyes wide.

"Five hours?" I exclaim before feeling a jolt of vertigo rush to my head. "Ouch."

Sakura crosses her arms, eyebrows raised. She's sitting in the chair next to my bed, which is white as well. So I'm definitely in a hospital. For some reason, VRGs always like making hospitals all white; maybe to give it an old-fashioned feel? Who knew? "You shouldn't have done that."

"Shut up, I just woke up from a five hour coma okay?"

"It wasn't a coma. Being in a coma implies being in a state of prolonged unconsciousness, in which it is impossible to rouse—"

I wave a hand at Sakura, cutting her off. "I get it, I get it! You're a medical genius!"

"Regardless, it isn't a coma. It's just the game's way of letting you recover from your injuries enough to function again without logging you out. Since it was your first time experiencing that kind of toll on the body, your recovery time was five hours. The more you experience it, however, the easier it'll be to get accustomed to it, and you'll be able to bear it better. Keep in mind that the game does actually log you out if you're unconscious for over ten hours. It's a safety hazard, I think. Wait, why am I telling you all this? You can just look in your information panel, jeez." Sakura sighs.

I make a pouty face at her. "But it's so much easier to understand when you explain!"

"Only because you're incredibly dense," Sakura shoots back, but she's smiling. Then something shifts in her expression, and her eyes turn serious. "Hey, I have a question, Naruto."

I look at her expectantly. "Shoot away."

"Do you know—well, uh, did you have any special customization choices when you went through the create-a-character process? Like physically or chakra-wise—"

My mind goes terrifyingly blank for a minute, and all I can think is, 'Does Sakura know?!'

It's not that I wouldn't tell her about the jinchuuriki thing if she asked me or that I don't trust her enough—definitely not the latter. It's just so hard to explain something that even I don't know anything about; in fact, the only one with answers seems to be Tsunade, and she's a little too violent for me to question her.

Unfortunately, I've never been very good at hiding my emotions either, and during that one excruciating moment when I'm floundering between one answer and the next, Sakura has already read my eyes. She knows I'm hiding something from her, and her lips tighten.

"It doesn't matter. I… It's only that during your genin training, your eyes flickered red for a while, and I was wondering if it was a glitch or something else. You don't need to tell me."

"No—it's not that I don't want to tell you—"

"It's fine, Naruto. This is a game, after all." Sakura smirks, and something in me sinks. I didn't want it to turn out this way. "Now that you're fully recovered, why don't we go to Tsunade for your official promotion? Then you can finally say you're a ninja of SWW4!"

I cheer for her sake and make a show of being excited, jumping up too fast from the bed again and almost losing my balance to vertigo. She giggles and plays along with me, talking idly as we leave the hospital, but I can tell things aren't back to normal yet between us. She's my best friend, for god's sake, how could I not tell when she's unhappy?

And yet, a tiny voice in my head is whispering, 'At least she doesn't know about the jinchuurikis…'

I swat the voice away. I will tell Sakura. Eventually. When the time is right. But for now, I have to figure out what exactly is going on, and even before that, I have to officially become a genin—whatever that means.

So I smile and laugh and put the hospital scene—Sasuke, Sakura, and all—behind me. There'll be time for that in the future.

I've always lived in the present, after all.

Tsunade barely glances up when we enter. She's immersed in her paperwork, bent over the thick stacks with a scowl on her face and a pen tapping irritably in her hand. Does a Hokage really have paperwork too? What paperwork would you need in a game?

I don't have a chance to ask, because Sakura is already stepping up to Tsunade's desk and saying, "Please grant Naruto permission to become a genin, Shishou."

Tsunade pauses for a second, head still bowed, before carefully placing her pen down and looking up, one eyebrow raised. "It's only been two game days, Sakura. There's no way the brat has—"

"I'm right here, you know," I complain loudly, drawing Tsunade's attention.

She smirks. "I know. But that doesn't mean you're important enough for me to talk to. Learn your place."

"Even if it doesn't seem possible, Shishou," Sakura says hastily, trying to avoid the argument Tsunade's thinly veiled insult would've started, "Trust me. I was with him in the training fields and it only took six hours! He had a long way to go, too. Naruto is dedicated if nothing else."

"Hey—!"

"Beginner's luck," Tsunade scoffs. She beckons to me with a finger. "Come here, brat." Unwillingly, I step closer, and she stares intently at me for a second before sighing. "Don't think you're going to get this lucky next time. Becoming a chunin is far more difficult than achieving a measly genin rank."

"I'm not arrogant!" My voice is indignant. Save the cockiness for Sasuke, not me.

"I didn't say that. I only said not to let it get to your head." Tsunade looks at me for another long moment, and it finally sinks in. Once again, it loops back to the fact that I'm a jinchuuriki; obviously, even with the information she already gave me, she still knows more. I frown. Is it really that important to the game? Meanwhile, Tsunade is saying, "But to be fair, you've earned the rank with your own hard work."

She stands suddenly, hands braced on her hips. "Congratulations, Uzumaki Naruto! From this moment onwards, you are officially a ranked member of the Konohagakure Shinobi Force. You have a duty to uphold toward your village, including accepting missions and assisting its villagers in times of need. Do you accept this rank of genin?"

"Say 'I do'," Sakura hisses, jabbing me in the ribs with her elbow when I remain silent.

I wince, rubbing my side while answering in a rather undignified manner, "I-I do?"

"Your promise has been noted by the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure. Your rank should be updated promptly, and Sakura can assist you with any questions you may have. Understood?"

"Ah—yes." I'm distracted when my menu pops up, pulsing blue where the XP Points panel is. I press it and navigate to the Current Rank panel.

I can't help but grin when I see that the options aren't grayed-out anymore—instead, 'Genin', the first in the list, has a little swirly symbol next to it; the symbol found on Sakura's hitai-ate.

"That's the Konoha Leaf symbol," Sakura explains, pointing at the screen. "Each time you achieve a new rank, a new symbol will be added. By the way, don't you need to give Naruto his hitai-ate?" She looks at Tsunade, who flaps her hand, looking irritated.

"I'm getting there. Why do you think I hate doing these processes? It always takes forever." Tsunade bends over to a drawer on her side of the desk and pulls up a menu. She makes a few quick motions and then the open drawer glows blue for a second; when the glow fades, she reaches her hand in and takes out a brand new hitai-ate.

She hands it to me, and I marvel at the softness of the cloth and the shininess of the metal. My thumb doesn't even leave an imprint behind when I brush it over the metal—it must have some sort of present-day technology imbued in it, to prevent damage and sweat stains and the like.

"Tie it on your forehead, brat," Tsunade says when I take a little too long for her liking. I scowl at her but I do as she says. The metal seems to mold to the shape of my forehead as I put it on, and I tie a tight knot at the back of my head to keep it in place.

"So how handsome do I look?" I tease Sakura, who rolls her eyes and swats my hand away.

"Fabulous," she deadpans, before looking at Tsunade. "Do you want me to teach him chakra manipulation as well?"

Tsunade looks thoughtful. "Hm… Not to be harsh, Sakura, but your chakra manipulation isn't the best. There's a reason you're a medic, after all. We should probably find him someone with experience; a jounin, at least. Speaking of jounins, weren't you interested in forming a team once Naruto joined? Now that he's an official ranked member, you can form a team with him if you wish."

"Already?" Sakura exclaims, voicing my thoughts exactly. "It hasn't even been ten minutes!"

"Well I'm giving you a chance, so do you want to wait a whole day or take the opportunity now?" growls Tsunade, placing a hand on her hip and tapping her foot impatiently. "I'm a busy Hokage, you know."

"Besides, like you said, don't we need a jounin? And another member for our team? We can't have a two member team!"

"There are plenty of people without a team who are seeking one. Don't worry about that. Besides, I've got several candidates in mind who can teach a brat like Naruto. Actually… now that I think about it, aren't you two both in the Uchiha clan?" Sakura nods, and Tsunade looks strangely pleased with herself. "That would work out quite well… Okay! It's decided!"

There's something suspicious growing in the pit of my stomach—the second she said 'Uchiha', I knew this was going downhill. Fast. "What's decided exactly?"

Tsunade grins, and it looks downright evil. "Your team, of course! It will be composed of Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi, and last but certainly not least… Uchiha Sasuke!"

…Well, shit.

"You know, it does make sense… Since you're a genin, we need at least another chunin to compensate—granted, I didn't know that Sasuke was still a chunin, but I guess what Tsunade said was true. He isn't very into the whole 'team' thing. And of course, Kakashi-sensei! I've heard about him from so many other players! He has quite the reputation, you know. I've never met him personally, so it's really cool that we're going to be on the same team! I heard he taught Sasuke when Sasuke just started as well. Hey, do you think he and the Uchihas are friends in reality? Maybe?" Sakura's talking a mile a minute, and it's starting to give me a massive headache.

"The old hag did this on purpose," I mutter, rubbing my temples as we walk out of Hokage Tower.

"Like she knows about your personal vendetta with Sasuke," Sakura snorts, and I can hear the mild disapproval tingeing her voice. I want to correct her—'previous' personal vendetta, thank you very much—but I don't have the energy to deal with her chatter.

Instead, I say, "You're secretly overjoyed about this, aren't you? Personal team-time with Sasuke every day. Yay."

"He has to agree to being a part of Team Seven, you know," Sakura reminds me, but she doesn't deny it.

I snort. "Like he won't obey the Hokage. Even Sasuke isn't that stupid. Plus according to the rules, don't you need to be a part of a team before you can become a jounin? That's probably the only reason why he would do this at all. God knows he doesn't care about people." The last part slips out before I can stop it, and even I know that I just crossed a line. Hadn't I just been thinking this so many hours ago, lying immobile in the hospital? Sasuke is arrogant and aloof and generally a bastard because he can't help it—he needs to be saved, as corny as it sounds. And right now, I have to admit I'm not trying very hard to make a good impression.

Sakura doesn't answer me, and I know I haven't made her mad; just disappointed. She always goes silent when she's disappointed with something I've done, and a sense of guilt lingers heavy in my chest. Maybe I've just gamed too much for the past three days. I need a rest.

We make it back to the compound with the heavy silence dragging between us. She still hasn't said anything by the time we make it to the road we split ways on, and I'm wavering between speaking or just leaving when she finally says, "Remember, we're meeting at Hokage Tower tomorrow at nine o'clock A.M., okay? Don't be late for our first Team Seven meeting." Sakura doesn't look at me. "I guess it's bye for now, then."

"Wait—!" I reach out to grab her arm. How have we misunderstood each other so many times today? First over the jinchuuriki thing, and now over Sasuke? It was drawing a line between us, slowly but steadily, and I didn't like it. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean it."

"I know." (But do you actually know?) "It's been a long day. You should log out and eat a meal with your family for once. I'm sure Minato and Kushina are missing you." She finally looks at me and smiles, and I know I'm forgiven—slightly. There's still something dark in her eyes, but she looks away before I can fully interpret it. "See you tomorrow, Naruto!"

She leaps onto a nearby rooftop and vanishes faster than my eyes can follow. I frown, discontented, and turn toward my own apartment. It really has been a long day, though. My eyelids are even beginning to droop a little.

As I pass the dock, I can't help but take a glance downwards toward the river again. It's as empty as this morning, and it seems almost lonely without Sasuke. Another strange sense of hollowness overwhelms me, and I have to look away and keep walking.

Don't get dragged into this too deep, I remind myself. After all, demons will always come out if you go looking for them, and sometimes, it's better to let them remain hidden.

It's at that exact moment that, suddenly, I hear a deep, hollow laugh, somehow menacing and mocking all at once. I clap my hands to my ears, jumping a little and whirling around. There's nobody behind me or even near me, for that matter. The laugh fades away just as quickly as it came, and I shake my head to clear out the rest of the echoes.

I'm probably just hearing things because I'm tired, I tell myself. Sleep. I need to sleep. Then, unbidden, Sakura's words from earlier flow back into my mind: 'It's only that during your genin training, your eyes flickered red for a while…' I shake my head violently again. I'm just tired. That's it. Nothing to do with jinchuuriki or creepy voices or red eyes. Nope.

As I leave, I don't notice the figure lurking in the shadows or the eye that glows crimson for a brief second. And I definitely don't notice when he whispers in a voice too quiet to hear:

"So that's how it is."

A/N: Oh hohoho, so who could that mysterious figure be...?!

All attempts at suspense aside, that's the end of chapter eight. Yay. :D (And in case you didn't figure it out, the laugh was... well, cough Kyuubi cough.) The semester should be winding down for me soon, in a month or so... but since I'm going to China during winter break I don't know if I can bring my laptop. If I can, rest assured all I'll be doing is writing, cuz wifi sucks over there xD

Next chapter: Team Seven meets for the first time! And Naruto gets a talk from Kakashi, dun dun dun...

Feedback is much appreciated :)