As I made my way back to my apartment, I made sure to avoid people. It was only the sensible thing to do, after all.

I traveled by the rooftops when I could, taking to the shadowy alleyways to prevent any encounters. Overall, I made it back home uninterrupted, to my relief.

If I can even call it home...

I was once again greeted with the ransacked apartment, exactly the same as I left it the night before. The front door was still open and everything, too. 

'Should I bother cleaning?'

"Do what you want. Wake me up if something interesting happens." Kurama yawned and mumbled.

'Lazy...'

"Gaki." was his snide remark before falling asleep. He just had to get the last word in. 

In the end, I decided that I might as well clean. I created about ten shadow clones and got to work.

With the help of the clones, the cleaning was finished quickly. Just in case I really was leaving the village, I packed a small bag with the few things I actually cared about, such as certain scrolls and extra clothes and such. That stupid orange jumpsuit wasn't the only thing I owned, after all, and I sure as hell wouldn't wear that thing now. I was currently in a navy blue t-shirt and zip-up hoodie and black shinobi pants and sandals, just to be prepared.

The little bag I hid in the corner of my closet, since it possessed the only objects I didn't want destroyed. I wouldn't be surprised if people came to trash this place again.

I sighed and sat in the middle of my small bedroom. All that was left was the graffiti.

I figured I wouldn't waste time on that.

Kurama's chakra stirred. "So, you cleaned up after all."

'Yeah. I packed a bag. If we have to leave quickly I just have to grab it and go.'

Kurama sighed, "I really didn't think you'd take the whole 'leave the village' thing so seriously. If anyone even finds out that you communicate with me it'll look like I'm the bad guy here."

'Well, you're not. This is my decision. You just brought up the idea I was too scared to face until now.' I rubbed my forehead, the after-effects of the villagers' cruelty still eating away at me. 'Sure, if I leave, Konoha would've lost a valuable weapon. But all the villagers would be happier without me around, and most importantly, you'd be happier.'

Kurama's eyes widened, "Don't say you're doing this for me..."

'Well, I'm doing it for me, too. I don't know how much I can take. We both need freedom, Kurama. You don't deserve to be some lapdog to this village. And I want to stop burdening this place with my existence. We'd all be happier if I left.' I thought occurred to me, and I giggled slightly, 'Just imagine how powerful this village would be if they were just nicer to the two of us. With you on their side, Konoha would be unstoppable.'

Kurama growled. "All they would've needed to do was ask."

I sweatdropped. 'Uh, Kurama. I don't know, but I get the feeling you wouldn't have given them your power even if they did ask nicely...'

"Well, they didn't need to force me! If I don't want to give away my power, it's my choice!" Kurama snarled, "Although, you're probably right, I don't give a shit about these humans..."

'Except for meee.'

"Shut up, brat."

I laughed. 'Anyways, I guess I'll stay a bit, wrap up my life in Konoha. We'll leave soon.'

Kurama chuckled, "You sound so absolute. If you say so."

I smiled and stood up. Leaving the bag in its little hiding spot, I jumped out the window and went off to...

'Uh, I don't know what to do now.'

"What am I, your mother? Don't look at me every time you need help! Depend on yourself sometimes..."

I rolled my eyes, 'Ugh, fineee. I guess I'll visit Sasuke then.'

Kurama just grunted and...fell asleep again.

I switched directions and made my way to the hospital. Figuring the nurses wouldn't want me around, I decided to just stop by at the window.

It was a good thing Sasuke's room was toward the back. I didn't have to encounter anyone as I headed toward his window.

Oh, shit.

I forgot about the ANBU.

I stopped just in time, staying out of range. Of course, Tsunade had even told me that Sasuke was under guard. Why didn't I think of this? Those ANBU wouldn't let me in, especially since I hadn't checked in at the front desk or, maybe just because...well, it's me.

I sighed. I wouldn't visit then. Not yet anyways.

I guess I'll go see what everyone else is doing, then.

Finding the rest of the genin wasn't hard. After all, they've been getting together at Choji's favorite barbecue place a lot recently. 

The owner of that place also happened to absolutely hate my guts.

Slipping off to the side, I put up a henge, transforming into a middle-aged, average looking man, and did something I've never done before. I spied on them.

I walked into the store as normally as I could, despite feeling nervous. I'd never done this before, not for this shop. Others, yeah, to get essentials without being kicked out, but only when I had to. The owner of this restaurant was one of those who seemed to want to fucking murder me.

I slid into a seat close to where the genin were seated so I could hear every word they said. The senseis weren't around. That was good. I ordered water and a small plate of food, just to prevent suspicion, and listened.

Sakura was going on about Sasuke. Of course.

"I went to visit him today." she was saying, "There were so many ANBU, but...it's alright I guess. At least he's back."

"At the cost of getting seriously injured." Ino pointed out. I scoffed at this quietly. I'd hardly call his injuries serious.

"By Naruto." Sakura lowered her head slightly. "I never liked Naruto, and I was pretty mad at him for hurting Sasuke, but he seems to regret it. I mean, he got injured too..."

"He kept his promise to you." Choji said, his mouth full of steak, "Did you even thank him for that?"

Sakura's face reddened. "No..."

"You guys haven't been paying any attention to Naruto, have you? From what I know, Sasuke's punched him in the chest twice with Chidori, while Naruto only broke a few of Sasuke's bones. You should worry about your other teammate sometimes, too, Sakura."

Surprisingly, this remark came from Shikamaru. Sakura sighed, "I guess you're right. I haven't treated him nicely a day of his life and he still kept his promise. Still, he's such a..."

"What?" Kiba filled in, "A loser?"

Sakura shrugged. "Before, that's all I thought he was too. I never understood why people thought he was a monster though. Until I learned about the Nine-tails."

I soured at this. But at least Shikamaru and Choji didn't completely abandon me. I was grateful for that.

"Yeah, it was a shocker. But explains a lot." Kiba shrugged. 

"W-Well. Naruto isn't the fox, though. He's a good person." Hinata said quietly. So quietly I had to strain to hear her.

"True." Shino agreed.

Just as I was internally celebrating at the fact that two more people still didn't see me as a demon, Ino says, "I don't know about that, Hinata. Do any of us know?"

"Yeah." Sakura said, "I want to believe him, but I know the Nine-tails is horrible. The fact that he has it inside him, and seeing how dangerous its power is, I can't help but doubt him. I mean, there's so much we probably don't know about him and the Kyuubi, I can't help but see a demon fox..."

That's it. Sure, some of the genin I could still call my friends, but fucking Sakura just had to go and say it. She called her fucking teammate a demon.

Some friend.

I was triggered by her remark. It just made me angrier thinking about all those times she visited me recently. I could never understand this girl. I was about to leave when I heard Ino speak. My curiosity got the better of me. I just had to know what they were saying about me.

Seriously, I picked this random time to spy on them and they just happened to be speaking about me. Who knows how often I come up in conversation?

"Yeah. He is something of an idiot, though." Ino said, "That just makes him even more suspicious. Honestly, I never knew what to think of Naruto. At first I thought he was just some obnoxious brat who didn't know right from wrong, but when I heard that he had the Kyuubi in him, I saw that there must be more to it than I thought." she shivered, "Who knows what he's planning?"

I wanted to give that bitch a good slap in the head. No, not just a smack, I wanted to punch her fucking senseless. What reason did I ever give to be "suspicious?"

"He is stupid. In fact, from what I know, he seems to enjoy annoying me and making me feel bad. Just makes me wonder if the villagers are right when they call him a monster..." Sakura agreed. I had to force myself to loosen my clench on the glass in my hand. 

Shikamaru spoke up again, to my surprise. Is he more active than usual? Usually he won't talk unnecessarily. Too troublesome.

"Naruto is smarter than he looks, especially under pressure." Shikamaru said, "It's not obvious, but I've noticed how unexpectedly cunning he can be sometimes."

I was taken aback by how observant he was, considering the few times we actually spent together. 

"I don't know about you, but that just makes the whole 'Naruto analogy' more confusing." Kiba complained loudly.

Naruto analogy? They even had a name for it?

"Just more evidence to my theory." Sakura sighed, "He is a demon."