Hey all! heres the new chapter you've all been waiting for... well whatever hahahah im soooooooo sorry for the delay =X here are the responses for chapter 6 and some of chapter 7

Actually, I got lazy, so hahaha =X. Okay, all I'm going to say is that I'm VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY SORRY to all those who wanted the story not to change... .:sobz:. but many have made the point that the curse didn't make sense.

I'm not going to respond to the reviews for this chapter since it'd be pointless anyways. i hope you guys enjoy the chapter though. Don't expect a lot of writing because I've discovered that I tend to get bored and uninspired when I try to write a lot.

Disclaimer: Naruto is not my property, but this storyline and maybe future OCs are/will be.

Chapter 7 - Poisoned

"One, two, three, four... ugh... too many tiles," Naruto groaned. He had been in the hospital for only a day and discovered the reason behind why many hated the hospital. There were no recreational activities and he was confined to his room because the nurses were afraid he would hurt himself if he was to leave. All there was to do was to count ceiling tiles over and over, stare outside the window through the translucent sheer curtains, and sleep.

He hadn't seen anyone for a while. There weren't any visitors other than Kakashi and the Sandaime, who visited the day before, but had other duties to attend to; Kakashi, to the rest of Team 7; the Third, to Konoha and its residents. Nurses came and went in the white, bleak room, tending to his every need, though many of them would try so hard to force away the looks of discust they would give to the blonde. The nurses would, thus, often look away from the boy as often as they could and tried to ignore his presence, even though he was the only patient residing in the hospital room.

He, of course, would ignore this and try to make light-hearted conversation in vain. The nurses would reply as little as possible and rush out of the room once they were done with whatever they were doing. This only made the stay there worse.

'Good grief, Kami-sama! I want to get out already!' he cried in his head.

"Knock, knock." A man in a white coat stepped in. He was a tall man with black hair and glasses covering his eyes.

"You, Uzumaki Naruto?" he asked.

"Yeah. That's me. Who are you and what do you want?" the blonde asked warily.

The man chuckled and said, "I'm the doctor in charge of your case. I will be giving you your results for the blood test in a moment. We just have to wait for the Hokage to arrive."

His tone then switch to a serious one and he started, "I have some disturbing news about the blood test."

"What? What do you mean by that?" questioned Naruto.

The doctor walked further into the room and sat down on a chair provided in each room for visitors. It was one of the few things that furnished the room, for the room was plain and lacked much decoration.

The doctor didn't answer Naruto's question, going on as if he hadn't heard it at all. Naruto frowned at this and was about to say something when the Hokage walked in.

"Ah! Gomen, gomen. I hope I didn't keep you two waiting too long," said the Third.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak when the doctor interrupted and replied,

"No, no. It is quite alright, Hokage-sama."

The Third smiled and nodded. "Naruto, I assume you know this is your doctor, Dr. Ishi-san."

The doctor pulled off his glasses revealing his sparkling navy blue eyes. He smiled at Naruto, who was quiet, still thinking of what could be wrong with his own health.

"Well, Ishi-san, what are the results?"

The man's smile disappeared as he brought up the clipboard he had been holding to his face. He slipped on his glasses once more before he began speaking.

"I'm afraid Uzumaki has been poisoned by a deadly toxin produced from a dokuja."

[A/N: dokuja: poisonous snake]

"From a snake? But I haven't been bitten by a snake..." the blonde replied in a puzzled tone. He couldn't recall the last time he had even seen a snake. As far as he knew, he had never been bitten.

"Well, many shinobi use the toxin from the dokuja. Some dip their kunai and shurinkan in it, but it is quite strong. Upon contact with your skin, you can be poisoned for a long time. The poison drains all your energy, and often, for ninjas, they also lose chakra."

"Well, that explains a lot, but how do I cure it? I don't want to be stuck here forever you know! I need to get out!!" cried Naruto passionately, dreading the thought of staying at the hospital much longer.

"Is there an antidote, Ishi-san?" the Hokage asked.

"First we need to know where it originated from," commented the doctor. "It isn't a poison found in Fire Country. The snakes are actually bred in Grass Country. Have you perhaps fought with a Grass shinobi?"

Naruto got in his thinking position, with his hand on his chin and his eyes closed. He attempted to recall a Grass ninja whom he had fought against. His eyes lit up and then he exclaimed,

"Yes! I remember! It must've been from my last mission at Hidden Cloud!"

"Mission?" asked the Hokage, confused. "I was not aware you did missions with Jiraiya."

The blonde smiled and began,

[A/N: OKAY! PEOPLE WHO READ CHAPTER 6 BEFORE THE EDIT CAN SKIP THIS! Hahaha I got lazy so I'm using one of the same flashbacks.]

"Jiraiya and I were mostly wanderers most the time I was with him. We rarely actually stayed for more than a month in a city, always traveling. But we had to get money and we did it by doing jobs for Hidden Villages. Jiraiya was pretty famous, not just for his book series, as much as I hate to admit it. At that time we were staying in Lightning Country, we needed some money, so as usual we went to the Kage of the village for a job. We wound up at the Raikage's palace looking for work..."

::Flashback::

Naruto frowned. The lavishly clad Raikage grinned widely at the spectacle. The blonde and his sensei were requesting for a mission from Hidden Cloud, even though they weren't Cloud shinobi.

'I bet that baka of a Kage is going to make us do an A-ranked mission and pay us from what'd we get from a C-rank mission in Hidden Mist. That cheap old—"

"Ah! I've got it! I know the perfect mission for you two!" cried the giddy Raikage. He stood up and put a serious expression on his face. "I'm afraid it will be an A-ranked mission though."

Naruto sweatdropped.

"What's the compensation?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'm afraid our country is a little on the poor side right now," lied the Raikage, in his silk robes and glittering jewelery.

Naruto turned to Jiraiya and gave him a glowering look. Jiraiya smiled nervously in response and shrugged, as if saying that there was no other way, causing the blonde to sigh in defeat.

"What are the details, Raikage-sama?"

"Hidden Cloud asks for you to assassinate an S-class missing-nin for us. Her name is Akimomo Miyu of Hidden Grass."

::End of Flashback::

"But that doesn't explain how you got poisoned," stated the doctor.

"I was getting there!"

[A/N: you guys could skip this part too]

::Flashback::

A short, blonde boy nodded to the white-haired man. They were careful not to make a sound. If caught, they're lives could be at stake. The halls had white walls and wooden floors so the two shinobis had to be careful not to make the wood creak. On the white walls, there were intricate paintings of the scenery from the different countries. The two walked down the hall and reached a door where steam came from the bottom. A few women's voices could be heard through the wooden door.

The two were in the famous Seinji Mountain Hot Springs Bathhouse. It was high up in the mountains right next to the Village of Cloud in Lightning Country. The bathhouse was the favorite of many women, having the best view and the most comfortable baths. The bathhouse had everything a bathhouse should offer.

And here were two male ninja, the sneakiest of their kind. Suspicious, ne?

Drool started dripping out of Jiraiya's mouth. He was sooo close. He had needed research for his next book in the Icha Icha series. Naruto shook his head at the sight of this.

'Even I act more cool than he does in situations like this...' he thought and sighed. Then he suddenly heard footsteps coming from around the corner.

"And he told me that he was going to ..." said feminine voice that was coming down the hall.

Naruto and Jiraiya's eyes widened with fear.

Naruto quickly did some hand signs.

"Henge!" he said quietly.

Jiraiya stared at the sight in front of him.

"Stop staring! Do something!" Naruto hissed. But it was unfortunate that Jiraiya was drooling like an idiot and giggling as he moved closer to Naruto in his Sexy no Jutsu form. Naruto sighed. He had always had a plan for back up in case this would ever happen. Sexy no jutsu came in handy a lot.

Jiraiya stared at the sight in front of him.

"Stop staring! Do something!" Naruto hissed. But it was unfortunate that Jiraiya was drooling like an idiot and giggling as he moved closer to Naruto in his Sexy no Jutsu form. Naruto sighed.

'Jiraiya's going to kill me but it's the only way.'

He took a deep breath and then,

"PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERT!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock.

"What are you doing?!" he yelped, but not before long, the women coming down the hall had screamed as well, as soon as they saw the old white- haired man.

Soon, all the women ran out screaming and they all chased Jiraiya out of the building while a few consoled Naruto in his sexy no jutsu form.

"Y-y-yea! I-I'm fine!" Naruto insisted, while nodding quickly.

His eyes caught a wandering figure of a slender 20-ish woman walking out with dark brown hair and green eyes.

Instantly, he jumped behind her and held a kunai to her throat while twisting her arm behind her back, thus making her unable to make a run for it or make any hand signs.

"Hello Miss Akimomo Miyu. So we meet alas."

The brunette snarled at Naruto.

"Who are you? How do you know who I am?"

"How could I not know who you are? You're only one of the youngest most wanted S-class criminals around. Who I am doesn't matter."

The other girls were shocked at the scene and began to run away.

"Oh. That." Miyu smirked deviously. "Well I was wondering when I'd be caught. Congratulations."

"Why thank you. Now if you don't mind," Naruto said. Quickly, he drew the knife across her throat. Miyu then reached up and placed a kiss on Naruto's lips. Her body went limp and she died instantly. A small trickle of blood came dripped out of her mouth.

"...?"

'Wonder what that was about...' Naruto thought. His eyes suddenly saw a flash of red before his vision cleared up. But he shrugged it off as his recent inability to sleep the night before.

"These missions are getting tiresome," he mumbled to himself. He deactivated the sexy no jutsu and threw the body of the S-class criminal over his shoulders and started to head out of the bathhouse.

::End Flashback::

The two older men nodded and were silent. Then the doctor began to speak.

"Uzumaki, I believe you may have to travel to Grass Country to find medication. For now, I can prescribe some temporary medicine that will be able to counter the symptoms of your poisoning, but you must go to Hidden Grass for the medicine."

Naruto nodded and then turned to the Hokage.

"Sooooooo, can I go? Please?" he asked sincerely.

Sandaime remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"Naruto-kun," he said, "are you sure you would not prefer for me to send a messenger? If I were to do so, you would be able to remain in the comforts of the Konoha Hospital. This way, you will be able to remain under supervision. Were you to travel to Grass, I am not sure if you would stay safe."

The blonde burst aloud, lauging.

"Hahahaha. Silly old man! I'll be fine. I'm used to traveling."

"But not alone," the Hokage responded. He then sighed before saying, "But I doubt you would want to stay here. Perhaps I should send the rest of Team Seven with you. There is also a mission I would like for you and your teammates to do. I shall give you the details in my office as soon as we get you your medication and check you out. I shall also have to summon the rest of your team."

Naruto nodded as he took in what the Hokage had told him. He was getting out!

"Yahoo!!!"

Overjoyed, he jumped up and stood on his bed, fist in the air grinning like a maniac. The two watching just sweatdropped.

"Uhmm.. I mean, cough, cough." Naruto went back under his covers.

"You should be able to leave tomorrow. Hopefully, it will only take a week to travel to Hidden Grass. Come Ishi-san. Shall we get the medicine?"

"Ah, yes. Right away, Hokage-sama."

The two left the room as Naruto began to think of Team 7's first mission.

Meanwhile...

Jiraiya walked through the large wooden doors of the village. On the doors was the symbol for Grass. He walked in slowly, hoping not to attract attention from the guards. It had been a long journey, and all he wanted to do was to find an inn where he'd be able to stay for a while.

As he walked a small breeze blew by and a flier flew and smacked him right on the face.

"MMMmPh!" he cried when it hit him. He pulled the paper off his face vehemently and looked at its contents.

'Hmmm... Interesting... The Annual Hidden Grass Village's Most Dangerous and Beautiful Kunoichi Pageant,' he read. 'Come join us to see which of these gorgeous women are the most beautiful kunoichi in the countries. Pageant includes a talent show, interview, evening attire that hides the most weapons, and SWIMSUIT CONTEST!' His eyes bulged out of his head as he blushed and read faster, bringer the flier closer to his face to find the location and date.

'Contest will be in two weeks in Hidden Grass's Village Square. Join us!' he read. He began to chuckle, drawing attention from other passing villagers and shinobi.

"I must go! When this paper flew into my face, it was destiny telling me that I was fated to see these beautiful women!" he shouted, passionately. He wiped the drool off his face and grinned.

'Too bad Naruto isn't here to see this,' thought the sannin.

TBC...

A/N: Yes, yes, I know. Terrible chapter. Hahahah, but at least I got one up? =X don't hate me please! T-T... I was just trying to get an explanation in and stuff... I think I have a pretty good idea where this ficcie will be going and hopefully, I'll get another chapter up before school starts

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I hope the edits, which are up now, aren't too bad... they're a lot weirder because it was originally for a curse but I changed it around... and yea that's kyuubi's growl he hears in his head in the earlier chapters

please R&R!!!