The ropes tied around his necks and wrists cut into his tanned skin, slowly, ever so slowly. His body numb with pain, as he helplessly stared at the Yondaime's face on the village walls. It was because of him that the Hokage had died. It was all his fault…
His life's dream of being Hokage had disappeared long back. How could he become something he killed?
He was a demon. And no one would ever see him as anything else.
The villagers had had it with him. They had been burdened with him since his birth. The only thing that kept them from destroyed him was the Hokage.
But all that changed on the night Sasuke left. They all thought it was his fault the Uchiha left. It was all his fault…
And then, even the Hokage's rules didn't stop them.
He could only watch as the salt hit his wounds, eating at him, and soaking itself pink. Pink…
She never liked him. And now with her favorite raven team mate gone, she hated him even more. She had seen him fight with Sasuke on top of the hospital and then, she had witnessed the boy leaving herself. It was all his fault…
And now, here he was, in he middle of a circle of angry villagers. The pungent scent of his blood mixed with salt, sweat and tears hung in the air.
In all this, he had somehow come to know that another person had been killed. Hinata…it seemed that she had loved him, and the villagers killed anyone who liked demons.
Hinata…she was a good girl. But now she was dead. And it was because of him. All his fault…
Konohamaru was spared of death. But he was being taught to hate him. The hard way. He was beaten too, though not as badly as him.
The young boy didn't deserve that. But he received it anyway. And it was all his fault…
The demon inside him was screaming, lusting to kill all the people who harmed him, who harmed it.
It continued screaming as he was hurt even further. As more blood drained from him. As more salt turned pink. As more sorrow filled him inside.
He was tied to a post in front of the whole village, bloody, bruised and beaten. He soon lost count as the number of stones thrown at him. Infact, he was sure that his hair wasn't anywhere close to that happy yellow anymore. His scalp was torn, wetting and dying his hair a deep shade of crimson.
It now matched his equally wet clothes. Well…what was left of his clothes. No one cared. He deserved this. After all, it was all his fault!
And then it ended.
They lit him alight, turning him a bright golden yellow from the mass of sticky red. The flames licked bitterly his skin, scarring it even further and burning it black.
And as the last inch of life ran away from Naruto, a final thought marred his empty mind.
'It's all my fault…'