HEY GUYS! I'm starting a new fanfic called Naruto: The Balance of Power

I don't own Naruto!

I've recently started to watch Naruto, and I've been wondering what if Naruto decided to join Akatsuki out of free will? Yea, so this is what this fic gna be about so enjoy!

A cold wind swept through Konoha, rustling dead leaves that were once idle on the ground. The Hokage looked out her office sighing. It had been quite a while since the Sasuke Recovery Team had gone, and no communication had come through. She had sent the three Sand siblings to help them, so hopefully that was enough to bring Sasuke back. In times like these, a village needed good shinobis. Sasuke was definitely a very important asset in the coming war that was brewing slowly.

"Jiraiya. Do you think they can get Sasuke back?" She turned her head to speak to the old pervy man sitting on her couch. He looked quite serious as he pondered the question.

"You see, Tsunade, our dear friend Orochimaru, put that Cursed Seal on him to tempt him with more power. And if I've ever seen anyone hell bent on revenge, it's Sasuke. He witnessed that Uchiha clan massacre so young, it definitely left some scars. So, I'm guessing that he.." Suddenly the bells around the city started going off and a panting ANBU ran in.

"Hokage-sama! The recovery team is approaching the gates!" Tsunade's eyes widened.

"Ok, notify the others. Jiraiya let's go." Jiraiya let go of his sake cup sullenly, feeling that this meeting would result in something bad. They poofed off into the night.

"Sakura! I heard that the recovery team was coming back! Let's hurry to the gate!" Ino yelled through her door. Sakura's eyes brightened. Had they brought her precious Sasuke-kun back?

"Ok! I'm heading downstairs!" She flew down the stairs to greet Ino.

"Let's go welcome Sasuke back." They both smiled and hurried towards the town gate.

Dong! Dong! Dong! The bell sounded three times to indicate a Konoha team was returning. Some townspeople stood there around the gate, but mostly it was ninjas that crowded the area.

"Halt!" A Konoha shinobi yelled. "Identify yourselves!"

A familiar voice rang out. "We are the recovery team coming back." Shikamaru's voice carried no emotion so nobody knew if it was a success or not.

"They've got to have him. Naruto promised me to get Sasuke back." Sakura whispered. Ino nodded furiously. Slowly, the gate creaked open. Everyone craned their necks to look into the darkness outside the gates. Slowly, the young ninjas started shuffling in. Akamaru, Kiba, Shikamaru, Naruto, Chouji, and finally Neji. Where is Sasuke? Was everyone's first thought. Suddenly, all the members dropped onto their knees as soon as the gates closed and uttered the words no one dared dream of.

"Sasuke Recovery Mission. Failure."

There was a deathly silence among the crowd watching. The Hokage broke the silence by asking a question.

"What do you mean a failure?" Shikamaru looked up at her and she was scared at how old his eyes seemed.

"Hokage-sama. It means that we were unable to recover Sasuke Uchiha, and now he has left for Orochimaru." Some gasps sounded. How could the number one student from the academy leave for the Snake Sannin himself willingly? It must be the recovery team's fault.

"We're you guys so mean to him that he left?"

"Yea! He was always so nice! Was it because you guys were jealous of him and got him to do this?"

"Hey! Isn't Naruto in his team? It's got to be him that failed to convince Sasuke to come back."

Naruto looked around helplessly. Tears threaten to come out of his eyes but he kept looking among to sea of faces. Then his eyes met the one pair of eyes he didn't want to see. Sakura. She was crying and looked like she was about to explode.

"Why don't we.." The Hokage began but was cut off violently.

"You son of a bitch! Naruto you liar!" Sakura marched out pointing her finger at Naruto. He looked down at the ground.

"Look at me you liar. You said you would get Sasuke back but you didn't! You were always jealous of Sasuke-kun weren't you? You let him go to Orochimaru on purpose didn't you? Huh? Stop looking at the ground you demon!" She let loose the word demon lightly, but the older generation remembered. Inside this kid was sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox. He was a demon.

"I bet he did out spite, that demon boy." One villager yelled out. Others nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure the others tried their hardest but this demon kid probably let him go on purpose. Tchh. He was always a bad ninja anyways, who even let him wear that forehead protector?" Pretty soon, all the townspeople were grumbling in agreement.

Naruto was absolutely shocked. He was so tuned out he couldn't hear what Sakura was yelling at him, and what the angry mob behind her were yelling. He needed to get out of here now. Despite his heavy injuries, he lifted himself off and jumped away.

Nobody moved for a while. Then they proceed to ask if the other team members were okay and if they needed the hospital. They all nodded dumbly, not believing what just happened.

"I knew this was going to happen." Jiraiya spoke first as the townspeople escorted the young ninjas to medical care. Kakashi looked heartbroken. His Team 7 out of all teams was split the hardest. He prepared to chase after Naruto when Tsunade stopped him.

"We should let Naruto cool down for a bit. He usually isn't in the mood for hearing logical things after a scolding or failure." Kakashi nodded. Yea, maybe Naruto just needs to cool down for a bit.

"But what Sakura did was totally unnecessary. I'm sure she threw out the word 'demon' carelessly, but that did invoke some memories in the older folks." Jiraiya and Kakashi nodded. It was obvious the fact that the boy had a demon sealed in him was freshly reminded.

"We should check out what the other team members think." With that, they went to the hospital.

Naruto couldn't hold his tears back as he got into his room. Sakura hated him. Everyone in the town hated him. Ba-chan, Pervy Hermit, hell not even Kakashi had spoken up for him. I really fucking despise the people here. He grimaced as his right arm started bleeding profusely again. Dammit, I need medical help. Ha, probably no one would help me after that rant. He took a cloth and wrapped it tightly around his entire right arm. Maybe some ramen well help me process this, he thought as he wandered out onto the street towards Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

When he reached there, he was all smiles as he imagined the miso soup and noodles.

"Hey old man! Two bowls of ramen to start with please!" He glanced up from his seat as no one responded. The old man looked down at him harshly.

"Get out. We don't serve demons, boy." Naruto looked confused.

"What you never.."

"Get the hell out of here boy! Before I call the ANBU!" He stumbled out the street half crying. What was going on? Had word spread so fast? He ran blindly away from the shop, eventually tiring out and sat on the street. Naruto tried his best to save his friend, and now he was receiving so much hate? What the hell, it was Sasuke that left for Orochimaru, not him! As he sat there thinking, five ANBU members suddenly appeared.

"Are you Naruto Uzumaki?" He stood up, uncertain what was happening.

"Yes? Do you need something?" The five ANBUs jumped towards him in a swift motion, gagging him and tying his wrists with Chakra absorbing vines.

"You are arrested on account of one case of manslaughter."

Ayeee, you got to the end of that! Help me out by review this fic! Tell me what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, anything is appreciated! Thanks readers!

Until next time!