Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, bwah, wah… yeah whatever…

Summary: Naruto, after retrieving Sasuke, begins to learn a little bit more about why he's hated, who his friends really are, and why his attitude is beginning to change.

Morgri- Yeah, I know, this chapter took along time and I should be killed. If it's worth anything, I'm very very sorry. But, on other news, be sure to check out my story "Miracle." If you like this one, than I'm sure you will like that one too…

Now… ON WITH THE STORY DARN IT!

When Did You Change?

Morgri

Chapter Nine: Team 9

Never in a million years had I thought that my fight with Tsunade-nee-chan would put as much stress on my body as it did. Waking up in the morning was not the easiest thing in the world, but the pain was well worth it; especially when I turned to see my Konoha head band on the table. Needless to say, with my arms as heavy as they were, it was tough just reaching back for it, and to my dismay I found that I may have needed to rest a little more than I thought. Luckily, with the help of my faaaavorite demon friend, I was sure that I would recuperate quickly. After all, that had been the trademark of my life, to never go down.

One good thing, though, was that after taking a glance at the clock I noticed that it was early in the morning, well for me that is. Today was the earliest day that I had woken up in a while, and though my body was tired, I felt refreshed in both spirit and mind. Don't get me wrong, now, I know that I was no where near the level I should have been to take the Chunin Exam, but with a little extra training, I could probably hold my own in a short fight there. At least I had a new 'friend' to help me. With Ino by my side, I didn't always have to rely on Kakashi-sensei getting to the training field in time. That and I doubted that training with Sasuke was a good idea anyway, while his emotions played him like a stringed guitar. It would have been much too dangerous to stick around with him, that is, until he managed to cool down. Besides, Ino would probably like the idea of getting some training in, with such a lazy team and all.

Don't misunderstand me though, Ino is a very strong person, but just like in the first exam, with so much talent on the field, she probably wouldn't stand a chance. I think anyone would agree that she was lucky to catch Sakura on the field, and not someone like Gaara, Neji, or the Sound Ninja's who wouldn't have cared about the girls well being. Sure, Sakura gave it her all, but no, she wasn't near the level of some of the other competition. Heck, neither was I, the only reason I survived Neji was because I had a little extra training during the extra month of rest. Plus, having the so-called almighty "Kyuubi," was an extreme benefit as well.

I definitely think, though, with a bit of extra training, that Ino could be one of the strongest rookie fighters in Konoha. Granted, her mind control technique isn't the greatest weapon in the world, but I'm sure there is more than one way to manipulate it and turn into a threat. After all, it worked well on Sakura back then, but now that she didn't have that longer hair to act as a trap, she would have come up a new and more surprising way to use the technique, one that could be used over and over again. If she could figure out how to do that, then the possibilities would have been endless.

Plus, now that I think about, if we put so much work into developing her technique, it would make for a great team attack. Back when Shikamaru was on her team, they had managed to use the technique in a fair and efficient manner. The only draw back, was that they hadn't expected the other ninja's to turn on their own teammates. If we could figure out how to use it in a more effective manner, without that hazard, then maybe Ino's team could be more of a threat next time around, assuming they would take the test.

After all, I did care about Ino's well being greatly, she was, in fact, the first person to offer me a true hand in friendship, well, besides Iruka anyway. Atleast she no longer seemed to have that odd fangirl affection for Sasuke anymore, though it was still understood that she like him. But that didn't bother me at all, as long as she continued to at least act like a friend, then I would be happy, without a doubt.

I shifted my body, and in a bit of a painful lunge I managed to push myself off the bed and onto my feet. Shizune-san had left me some slippers near the edge of the bed and I quickly slipped my feet into them to avoid the chills the cold hospital floor would leave on my feet. To my surprise, it was already November (I don't recall mentioning what month it was, but if I did, please remind me so that I can change this), and the cold winds of the winter had begun to sweep Konoha. That meant that there was only one month before the start of the next Chunin exams, and the thought that I had to get into competitive shape (ninja wise) that quickly kind of freaked me out a little. But, I wouldn't be the one to give up that easily. Now that I thought about it, I must of looked mighty weak when I almost instantly gave up on being a ninja. Luckily, Ino was there to get me out of that state of mind, which reminded me, I had to thank her for that.

I walked over towards the small hospital closet. Tsunade-nee-chan had told me that she had left some clothes in there to wear. When I opened it, I was briefly pissed off that there wasn't a swig of orange anywhere on the clothes. I'm justified for that though, after all, orange was my color, and I had worn ever since I was a kid. I'm sure she knew it wouldn't be easy for me to give it up, and it annoyed me to no end that I would have to live these clothes anyway. I had absolutely no money to go out and buy another jump suit; so at the moment I was basically forced to live off whatever and wherever Tsunade-nee-chan desired.

I quickly put on the tee-shirt and heavy sweater that were hanging up. Tsunade-nee-chan had also left me with a set of light, but thick black cargo pants which were obviously good enough to keep me warm, but also easy enough to move in thoroughly should I be put in a battle situation. I didn't really want to admit it, but these clothes were a lot more comfortable than my previous jump suit, and I would secretly thank Tsunade-nee-chan later. After all, it wasn't very common for me to get something for free everyday; normally I would have probably paid twice what it was worth, so that just happened to brighten my day.

I walked to the door and paused a bit before sliding it open. As protective as Tsuande-nee-chan had been lately, I didn't know if I wanted to risk actually leaving the hospital room. I was bored, however, and the idea of having a walk around even something as small as the hospital seemed more exciting than staying in the room. If I were lucky, maybe I would get the chance to see Iruka-sensei, or Ino-chan, besides I needed to talk to her anyway. It was already decided that I would be taking the Chunin exam later on, but I doubted they would have allowed Sasuke to participate this time, especially with the stunt he had pulled last time. And if I knew Sakura, she would have been much more pre-occupied with Sasuke to even think about taking the exam.

Ino too needed an extra teammate since Shikamaru had been promoted during the last exams. It wouldn't bother me at all to join her team for the exams, especially with the way things were going on team 7. Even so, I knew it wouldn't be easy convincing Tsunade-nee-chan to put me on her team, and adding to the problem would be Kakashi-sensei. I was almost sure he could come up with a scheme to allow Sasuke to participate, or try to anyway. That and it was clear already that he had a 'soft spot' for the Uchiha. I couldn't blame Kakashi-sensei for that though because it seemed that he had had some kind of tie to a different Uchiha in the past, thus explaining the Sharingan Eye. Maybe he was just trying to repent for his own past, but in a different way than Sasuke. Who knows though, its nothing I should be dwelling on, after all, his business is his business and mine business is mine.

Though, that glutton Chouji got on my nerves. I would have much rather enjoyed having Hinata on the team. Yes, perhaps two girls – different from the standard two male one female teams they usually had. Though, I wouldn't want Sakura, not that I don't like her or anything, cause I do – I mean, I risked my life for her countless times, so that's a good large display of emotion, right? – But I was tired of Sasuke. Tired of the stupid rivalry we had before. I wasn't his friend and I new I would never become one. Besides, why would anyone want to be in company that didn't encourage you?

Don't tell me you like being around people that put you down all the time? That's not smart, because you will become like me, kind of obnoxious and loud, yearning for attention and then searching for a goal that will someday collapse right in front of your eyes. Is that to say that I can't become Hokage? Not at all, I'm on my way, but with such recent problems, it just seems like an idea to way out there. Do you ever wonder why I help people? You think I'd avoid them right? To tell you the truth, I want to be away from them.

What can I do though? How would I ever become Hokage if I avoid these people? No, I don't hate them, but they do hate me. Every single one of them, save for maybe one or two, but, I really wonder. It's kind of funny, though, these few people interact, they say hello, they say goodbye, they wish me good luck, they cheer for me, and tell me I did a good job, but do they really mean it? Or is it their standard Be-nice-for-today-comment that everyone tries to do at least once – save if you're a pessimist.

But those are just my random thoughts; however, thinking is something that's not for me. Deep thought always returns to the same subject, "Why does everyone hate me?" and sometimes leads me to do some things… well, that I'm not so proud of. So when I do think, it's bad. When I'm in a battle and it doesn't seem like I'm thinking – well I'm not. Strategies can be made at the spur of the moment, but if you think to much you'll be distracted.

Finally, after making up my mind, I opened the door and walked quietly down the halls. A quick trip to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand wouldn't hurt, and the idea of having ramen, for the first time since I was put into the hospital, made me very happy. Besides, I was hungry, I had no money, and the old man was always a sap, this meant he would let me put my bill on tab. Ugh, that's sadly how I live my life, in debt.

It was just a matter of time before I made it to the Ichiraku Ramen place. I had managed to sneak by the hospital attendant and Shizune-san and Tsunade-baa-chan were no where to be found. That made things much simpler. The transformation jutsu was a stroke of genius, and whoever had invented it was a powerful and all knowing man. It was second best only to my own original Sexy no Jutsu, which was guaranteed to work on all men who weren't gay, or that was the theory. So far it had work some 99 of the time.

"Ah! Naruto, come in, come in!" A man shouted.

I was surprised by the quick greeting the man gave me, and I proceeded to greet the man as well. Beside him stood his Beautiful and enchanting daughter Ayame merely waved at me with a smile on her face. Needless to say, the joy ended there because not two seconds later the voice of…

"Naruto…"

"Oh no…"

Tsunade-nee-chan sighed, "Naruto, what is it going to take for me to keep you in the hospital?" She spoke, seemingly defeated.

Shizune sat next to her with the same defeated frown and motioned for me to walk over to her. I hesitated a bit before walking over and sitting in the chair with the two women.

"What would you like," Tsunade-nee-chan asked me.

"You're paying for me?"

"Do you have any money?"

"Eh…" I laughed nervously and turned to give my order. Miso-ramen was my usual meal here, but I was surprised when Tsunade-nee-chan barked over me and ordered the most expensive meal on the lot.

"Give him the Deluxe Meal," She said while turning to face me, "You need a real meal, at least, not that Miso crap."

"But that's…"

"Shut up and enjoy it."

I smiled happily. Tsunade-nee-chan really was a kind person when it came down to it. Even despite the several knock punches, kicks, and slaps I received every once in a while. But it was a small price to pay for the extra umph she brought into my life. She was one of my precious persons; one of those that I would have gladly given my life for, if it came down to that one day.

"But after this, it's back to your room! I told you specifically that you weren't to leave until next week."

"Aww, but I lose a whole week of training!"

"Recovery is always more important then training."

"Fine…"

Ino POV
"Gaaahhh!"

I had to be on the most boneheaded team ever! The fact that they would do close too or absolutely no training at all pissed me of to no end. I swear, one day it was going to drive me crazy! Here we are, one month away from the Chunin exams, which we all pretty much failed miserably last time (minus Shikamaru, his lazy ass got lucky), and they, yes not I, but THEY, were just moping around eating or playing chess! There had to be some kind of solution to this problem. Some one to train with…

But nooooo, not even dad was around to help. He was sent off on some; yeah you guessed it, one friekin month mission only two days ago. My mom wasn't much of a ninja either; she had abandoned that post after I was born and lost most of her skills as a decent ninja. I didn't blame her for that though; twelve years with out practice would probably do that to anyone.

Sigh I needed a change, I need a change. I needed someone who would bring more excitement to the team, some one who would encourage training and hard work. At this point, even Lee and the annoying Kiba intrigued me more than what I had. To my dismay, however, they all still had their full teams, and would be taking their exams together again. The same held true with Naruto's team, somehow I figured he would be taking his exam with his own teammates as well.

Knowing my luck, another pointless and uninteresting ninja would be placed on my team, and the whole cycle would start over again. I would get no where. Yes I know, searching and asking other teachers to help seemed like a good idea in theory, but they were all too focused on their own teams to really pay attention to me. I had tried to get help with Kurenai, Team 8's sensei, but she had refused telling me she was too busy preparing her other students for the exam.

At this point, I felt like I was out of luck and that I would inevitably fail the Chunin exams again. I don't even think I had a reason to take it. But knowing my own lazy sensei, he wouldn't pass of the chance to 'show off' his amazing students in the battlefield. Hopefully, with how things had been playing out lately, I would have last years luck and end up fighting a ninja at my level, instead of some crazy maniac like Gaara or Neji.

True, I had heard they had improved a certain extent, but who knew what other crazy maniacs would enter this years exam. I shivered at the thought. I didn't want to die because my own sensei refused to help me better my ninja skills. If it came down to it, I would just forfeit and leave the field. Sure, this sounds like a coward's thing to do, but there a difference between being smart and afraid; and throwing my life away by being 'brave' and fighting someone I know I can't beat doesn't seem like a great idea to me. That's something an idiot would do.

Worse off, Shikamaru, the brains of our operation (and yes I know, I admitted it, Shikamaru was the person that kept us alive the first time) had gone off to live the life of a Chunin. That didn't really help raise my spirits. The two people I knew I could really count on in a fight were either gone or recovering by eating bags and bags of potato chips. Now I was left to pray that some decent ninja seeking to take the exam would be placed on my team… How many of those are left?

"Sheesh," I wondered if it could get any worse.

'I need to stop thinking about these things; it's only going to make the situation more troublesome.' Dang, now I was beginning to sound more like Shikamaru, that wasn't good at all. I needed to find some place to relieve my self of my predicament. Maybe some comic relief or something like that might do the trick. I left to the hospital, maybe Naruto could help me out, he was always good at cheering up people, or so it seemed. Besides, there were better things to do than to hang out here.

Naruto POV
"Naruto," Tsunade-nee-chan gained my attention. She looked serious, so I turned all my attention to her, "I've put a lot of thought into this, and I've decided it's best that."

"That what?" I asked curiously. She wasn't going to deny me of the Chunin exams was she? She had demoted me last time, so I figured that anything could happen this time around. However, I was prepared this time around, hopefully I wouldn't have to make a ruckus.

"That you will be placed on Team 9 consisting of Akamachi (sp?) Chouji and Yamanaka Ino. For now, you will be under the care of Asuma."

Wow, now that wasn't one I was expecting…

"Wha… What?"

"Under his current circumstances the Uchiha will be barred from taking the exam. Ms. Haruno has also expressed that she would not take the exam with out him," See… I told you so, "With the promotion of Nara Shikamaru, Team 9 also lacks a one member to participate in the exams. That and it's the only option I'm giving you." She said, as she began to glare at me. I gulped.

"I've already told Asuma, and he will inform his teammates of your arrival tomorrow morning."

Well one thing was for sure, I didn't have to worry about asking her to switch teams. I don't think it could have turned out better for me. In just short period of time, I had gone from being in a dysfunctional Team that was already torn apart, to a team that I might have been able to start a new beginning. What made it better was that Ino was on the team and I didn't have to worry anymore about not being able to protect her. There was no way I would let her go to the Chunin as unprepared as she did last time. Even I could see she wasn't ready… but this time, I would make sure she was.

I had learned that being selfish on the battlefield was the worst mistake you could make. The number one priority was not the mission; it was the safety of your team. This time I would make sure we had that.

I didn't want us to be another Team 7.

Morgri: Alright so, after a long time waiting, I give you chapter nine. Not much to this one, all of thoughts and stuff. But you'll find that some things did happen. Since it's summer, I'll have a lot more time to write, so you can probably expect updates a lot sooner than before.

I checked for mistakes 4 times, so it should be relatively clean… if not, let me know about it with all your hatred.

Ja Ne