I feel like I overuse the above too much this chapter... Anyway, hope you enjoy. Finally getting to drag this away from the cliche it appeared to be. As for the ending of this... All I can ask is for you to trust me XD Also, sorry if it seems too fast for you guys. If so, just tell me.

*~*~*~

"So, who believes they can do this?" Iruka asked, standing with his hands crossed as he stood before his students.

There were six boards scattered across a few trees, each varying in position. The Academy stared wide-eyed at the challenge before them. Whoever took the challenge would have one chance to hit every board with only one throw of shuriken, one between each finger to give them the necessary amount.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Nobody then?"

Just before he gave up and was going to give the true assignment – something much easier, a certain trio's voices carried to him.

"There's no way you can do it!"

"You don't know that," another countered.

"I nearly did something like that with kunai."

"Sasuke, Itachi told me you failed –"

"Shut up, Sasaui!"

"Well, if he fails to do something like this, I have to prove I can do it!" As Iruka had predicted based on their voices, a blond boy shot up. "I'll do it, Iruka-sensei," Naruto announced.

Many of the gathered children sent Naruto a mixture of wary and angry glances. It was obvious most kids didn't like him, and his random outbursts only annoyed them further. Despite this the boy somehow had two friends he had been conversing with only moments before.

"I don't know him," one of his friends, Sasaui Uchiha, murmured as she tried to appear invisible.

The other friend, the girl's twin brother, Sasuke Uchiha simply shrugged. "He's a dobe. What do you expect?"

Iruka sighed, shaking his head at the children's silliness. "Come on up then, Naruto," he said, though dubious of the end results this would produce.

Although he knew Naruto trained by occasionally catching him in the process, he also knew Naruto's aim wasn't the best. For this reason, he made sure to stand behind Naruto while he got ready to throw the shuriken. He also gestured for a few students to shuffled back a few steps.

"I'll show you all what I'm made of," Naruto declared before setting the shuriken free, whizzing through the air with great speed.

The throw itself was good. However, there was too much of an angle from trying to hit the two trees at the side. This sent the shuriken too far either right or left. One went way too high, flying over the wall around the Academy. A shriek could be heard from the other side, as well as some not-so-kind words.

After calling over a quick apology, Iruka turned to face Naruto, who was staring at something in the direction of the trees. Before he could even turn to see what it was, the boy let out a cry of jubilee.

"I got one of the targets right in the middle!"

Sure enough, when Iruka examined all of the target boards, he found that one of the targets farther to the left had a shuriken planted near the bull's-eye mark.

With an impressed chuckle, Iruka nodded. "Yes, you did. Now get back to your spot while I tell all of you what we're going to do next." After Naruto obliged, Iruka once more turned to the gathered students. "Now, class, we're going to practice throwing shuriken at these boards, though unlike the previous show, we're only going to throw one at a time. This will get you used to the feel of throwing the shuriken at different angles," Iruka informed. "So, line up, and we shall each get our chance."

Instructions given, the children instantly set into motion.

*~*~*~

"See! I actually hit one of them," Naruto exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face. His joy flowed off him in waves. "I really am awesome."

Sasuke smirked. "You was just lucky," he argued. "I bet I could hit at least half of them."

The three children were lined up along with everyone else, though Sasaui was more intent on watching than the boys. Kunai and shuriken had never been a strong point for her. Even the smallest hint of how to actually throw them successfully would be beneficial. She had seen everyone's amused expression when Naruto messed up. Since she was an Uchiha, they expected her to succeed though. What would they do if she ended up completely failing?

Before her fear could progress much farther, an annoyingly familiar voice broke through her fearful state.

"That fatso won't be able to do this at all."

More drawn by the curiosity as to who Eiji's next target was than the insult itself, Sasaui glanced over. The boy was in the line to her left with his friends and two other boys. The one with dark hair up in a ponytail had a slight glare on his otherwise bored expression. On the other hand, the brunette with swirls on his cheeks was staring at the ground, his lips quivering. His hands clenched and unclenched at his side as Eiji's friends laughed.

The dark haired boy glanced at the other. "Chouji, did you hear something? I think there's an annoying buzzing," he asked.

At first it didn't appear Chouji would respond, but then he just smiled and nodded. "Must be a lot of pests around."

Sasaui smiled slightly. Through the last six months in the Academy, Eiji had made it a habit to take every chance he could to pick on somebody. In most cases that was Naruto or Sasaui. There were a few other kids, and none but Sasaui and Naruto really seemed to stand up to Eiji. It was nice to see another child doing so.

Noticing her gaze, Eiji glared. "What you looking at, Uchiha?"

Sasaui stuck her tongue out. "A big booger head," she responded.

Naruto snickered while Sasuke's head fell. "Big booger head?" Sasuke repeated, rubbing his eyes. "Did she really just say big booger head?"

"Yes, she did," Naruto confirmed as he bit back more laughter.

Sadly, despite the lift in her mood, it did nothing to improve her shuriken abilities. Only a third of her throws hit, and they were mostly near the edges.

"Who's the booger brain now?" Eiji shot.

Sasaui seethed and threw her final shuriken. The ninja star clanged off the wall. That settled it. She was getting Itachi to help her with her shuriken.

*~*~*~

It had been such a wonderful day. So Sasaui had never expected her attempt to scare Naruto to go so wrong.

After her failure at school, she'd managed to convince Itachi to help her and Naruto with their shuriken problem. Sasuke had wanted to go, but the day they'd chosen he grew ill. It had been quite a productive training session regardless. Sasaui's aim had increased a nice amount, and Naruto had been right behind her with Itachi's teaching.

While they were walking back, Sasaui randomly sprinted ahead of Itachi and Naruto to hide in an alley. Naruto had been too shocked to chase after her, and Itachi probably had an idea of what she was doing. After making a quick turn to remain out of Naruto's view, she'd jumped into the first alley she'd seen.

Because of her rush, she hadn't seen the large man standing inside of it.

Sasaui had begun by apologizing profusely, but stopped the moment she saw the limp body behind the man.

Now she found herself dangling against the wall, a knife resting over her heart, and the large man's wide green eyes trained on her.

"If you scream, I'm going to kill you."

Sasaui bit down on her lip, salty tears slipping in. Her shoulders trembled and a whimper wanted to squeeze out. However, she made no noise. Instead she glanced down at the knife that threatened her life.

After another moment of studying Sasaui, the man dropped his head and cursed. "A kid. A freaking kid caught me. How am I supposed to kill a little kid?" He glanced up again only to spew more curses. "Guess I'll just have to make it quick."

"Get your hands off Sasaui!"

Neither person had a chance to see who had appeared in the mouth of the alley before a rock slammed into the man's head. The shock made the man release Sasaui's throat. Her legs barely caught her before crumpling beneath her. The trembles coursing through her body left Sasaui an immobile mess as she watched a small figure run up and tackle the man who had been holding her. Already disoriented, the small amount of weight flung against him was enough to take the man down.

Sasaui's eyes widened when she saw Naruto climbing on top the man, slamming his small fists into the other's face. "No hurting my friends!"

Although there wasn't too much power in the punches, the barrage of them was keeping the man temporarily stunned. When it finally seemed to occur to him it was just a weak child, the man slipped his hand forward to grasp Naruto's neck. From there it wasn't hard for him to fling Naruto at a wall.

"All of these stupid brats," the man muttered as he began to sit up. "Killing them doesn't seem so bad now-"

He froze as yet another figure appeared, this one older than the others. As Sasaui recognized Itachi standing over the man, her trembles began to subside. They were safe if he was around.

Itachi said nothing, but his eyes blazed red with the Sharingan. The man stared into his eyes for only a moment before collapsing on the ground.

"Are you two hurt?" Itachi asked.

Sasaui nodded, her eyes drifting to the man's limp form. They remained there until they flickered toward the dead body. All she saw was blood pouring from their chest before she tucked her face into her shoulder.

"I'm fine," Sasaui murmured.

Itachi nodded before turning toward Naruto. "And what about-"

When Itachi's voice came to an abrupt halt, Sasaui finally rose her head to see what was going on. Her eyes widened. Naruto was on one knee, his lips pulled back into a snarl. It was his eyes, though, that made her heart hammer against her chest.

They were red.

Kill.

Sasaui flinched. Her breathing hitched as something pulsed through her. It was a want she'd never felt before, and she couldn't quite place what it was. The only thing she knew for sure was what the word she'd heard hissed in her mind had been.

The want was dark.

The want was... murderous.

"Sasaui, go home. Now."

So lost in her thoughts, Sasaui hadn't noticed Itachi scooping Naruto up. The young boy struggled, but Itachi's grip didn't falter. Itachi sent Sasaui a quick stern look before turning on his heel and shooting into the air.

Sasaui sent a quick glance toward the two forms on the ground before getting to her feet and examining the direction Itachi was going on. Her mind was still befuddled by the odd sensation only moments before, but she knew one thing for sure. There was something going on with her best friend, and she had to know he was okay.

She definitely wasn't going home.

Shoving down the confusion blooming to life, Sasaui took off in the direction she'd seen Itachi going in. The killing extinct thrummed in the back of Sasaui's mind, growing stronger the longer she chased after any blurred image of Itachi she caught. Sasaui refused to acknowledge it, though. As scary as it was, Naruto needed her. She had to get to him.

When she finally came to a panting halt, Sasaui was standing before the Hokage's building. Sasaui doubled over, looking every way in an attempt to find Itachi. Itachi had disappeared off the edge of the building about fifteen minutes ago, but she'd seen the area he'd dropped from. Now he was nowhere to be seen. It was possible he was in the building itself.

Sasaui tensed. Her worry had kept the murderous urge in check, but her small break had allowed it to make progress. Every moment it grew stronger, the less conscious of her own thoughts she became.

Kill it. Keep the world safe from it.

Without being aware of it, Sasaui began to move. At first it was simply a fast walk, but when Sasaui entered the Hokage building, it became an outright sprint. Every turn was a mystery to Sasaui as she simply fought to control her own body. As it was approaching dinner time the building was relatively empty but she did pass a single man who called out for her to stop before she made a sudden turn and barged into a room.

The man from before grasped her shoulder as she froze. The intent had been driving her in a way she couldn't explain, but when she saw what was in the room, it had shocked her back into control. Naruto was held tightly by an Itachi clone while the other Itachi spoke to the Hokage. They'd all been focused on each other, but with Sasaui's sudden appearance, all eyes were on her.

"What are you doing here?" Itachi demanded just as the Hokage said, "Tenzo, thank you for coming."

The man, who was apparently Tenzo, responded, but his words were lost on Sasaui. Even Itachi's chiding went over her head. When her eyes met Naruto's, everything else vanished. They were still red, slits taking the place of his pupils. His cheek markings were suddenly thicker and darker, almost resembling whiskers. At one point, he snarled, revealing sharper canines than before.

Sasaui was reminded of a feral cat.

"Guardian," Naruto growled.

Sasaui trembled, distantly aware everyone was saying to get her out of there. A mixture of emotions clashed. The sadness and fear were most dominant, but the previous urge was crawling back to life.

Gulping, Sasaui murmured, "Naruto?"

At first, Naruto did nothing but continue to glare at her. After a moment, though, he blinked. Then he began to rapidly blink, and the final time his eyes were blue again.

"Sasaui?" Naruto glanced around. "What's going on?"

The thrill that shot through Sasaui chased away the previous feelings. Grinning from ear to ear, Sasaui jogged forward. The movement caught Tenzo off guard, allowing her to break free. She didn't get why the older people were so worried about what was going on. It was just Naruto after all.

Even as the thought was forming, Sasaui jerked to a halt. A dark pit twisted in her stomach as red energy pulsated around Naruto. The red irises and other features had returned, including the enraged snarl directed her way. The energy destroyed the clone and sent the others skirting back. Rather than feel fear, though, the murderous feeling roared to life within Sasaui even as she was also pushed away. Against her will her hand reached into her kunai pouch, pulling one of the knives from its place.

Kill!

The cry sent Sasaui lunging forward, her kunai drawn to attack. Before she could make it to her target, though, arms wrapped around her and tried pulling her back. It was only because she fought them that Naruto's clawed hand made contact with her chest, dragging half way across it before whoever grabbed her moved. Wood sprouted from the ground, forming multiple roots that captured each of Naruto's limbs before he could follow.

Both children struggled against their restraints. Sasaui nearly stabbed who was holding her. Just as she was about to, his voice finally broke through her frenzied state.

"Sasaui, calm down. I need you to listen to me right now," Itachi pleaded, one arm around her waist while the other applied pressure to the wound.

As the murderous haze lifted, Sasaui began to tremble. The kunai she'd been holding clanged against the floor. She stared open mouthed, unable to believe she'd just tried to stab Naruto.

A throb from her torso reminded her of what her "friend" had just tried to do to her.

Sasaui dragged her eyes from the kunai to the very boy it had been intended for and froze. Even though the man who had tried to stop her was standing before him, Naruto still glowered at her. Red chakra still seeped from him. For a moment Sasaui felt the voice that prodded her to kill returning.

Before it could, though, a new sensation resonated through her. Every fiber of her being suddenly burned. Although she felt the instinct, it was dim, overtaken by the new inferno that spread from her wound into the rest of her body. Sasaui screamed, thrashing against Itachi as if it would allow her to escape the newfound pain.

Itachi screamed something. Someone replied. But it was all miles away from her.

She only heard one last roared, "Guardian!" from Naruto before everything was lost to a pain-filled darkness.

*~*~*~

To anyone who has read the preview, you know this scene has been changed... It worked out different this time. So yeah, I need to go back and change that. But I hope you enjoyed. I am pretty sure I failed this, though. This was seriously all so... Quick... So I hope I managed to do it somewhat justice.

"dM)y,