disclaimer: emo fox ATTACK does NOT own Naruto
He was screaming, screaming, and there was no one there to hear him. He doubled over in pain, stomach churning, teeth grinding, cutting and bleeding.
They murdered her. Guilty, they were all guilty, all of-
'Son of a bitch, I'm so fucking hungry!'
Are you, now?
Sakura…Sakura…
He was pale and drawn these days, floating about the village in an impenetrable haze of distraction, eyes dark with insomnia and red with sickness. Sakura was the first to notice [no, that's a lie, everyone noticed, but no one spoke anymore, he was hard to approach, ever since Tsu-] Sakura cornered him at the gates, decked out in ANBU black. He had another mission. Solo.
'Naruto, before you go, I-'
She could not speak with his eyes on her. They were clear and black and blue blue blue-
'Sakura?' Were those fangs she saw? Of course not, she needed more sleep, her eyes were black rimmed too, weren't they?
'Oh, Naruto, be careful, alright?'
He smiled slow.
'I'm always careful.' No he wasn't. 'And besides, it's just a recon mission. I'm to observe, nothing more nothing less.'
He flitted away, leaving her squinting in the wake of his dust, and returned three days later covered in blood that was not his own.
It started, before Tsuna- well, it started a while ago in any case. The changes. He was changing. He had changed.
The smiles were full of something nowadays, full of nothing and everything. They weren't the same, like they were when he was younger. Pure-like and glittering, warm and full of-
He was warm now, really really warm, and his cheeks seemed perpetually rosy. But he didn't smile too much anymore. No one thought on it too much, except for when they did.
He started doing more solo missions around that time.
'Yo, Fox Boy, pass the sake! It isn't a party 'till everyone's drunk!' Roars of approval met Kiba's pronouncement.
'Yeah yeah, I guess that's why you're always smashed, huh, Dog Breath?'
'Fuck you too Blondie!'
Everyone winced as Naruto and Ino both screamed their displeasure, but they were all friends, and all was well.
It was a celebration of sorts. Naruto had finally caught up with Sasuke, and the Uchiha was dead. His body had been utterly destroyed, but Naruto brought home a bloody trophy as token of his triumph; a battered katana, rust red [dried blood red] and reeking of sinister chakra. His face had been glowing, as he swayed in the wind before the village gates, ripped open and bruised, his delicate fingers broken and twitching in their lax grip on the sword hilt. It was proof enough, and merit enough for Naruto to be promoted to the ranks of ANBU post-haste.
'What jutsu'd you sue to blow that fucker to bits, Naruto?!' Good Kiba, ask the question on the tip of everyone's tongue.
Naruto smiled, and his eyes looked red, but all their eyes were red really so-
'Wouldn't you like to know?' he teased.
Keeping secrets: he was always good at that, wasn't he?
It slumbered no longer, awakened by the rank stench of power and the slick omnipresence of foreign blood and fear. It clawed and howled its awareness, screaming vengeance.
'Filthy, Filthy, worthless maggots! Suffer the Pit for your abominations! To dust you shall return, condemned for eternity!'
It screamed now, all day and all night.
They disappeared, one by one. First Ten Ten, then Lee. Then Neji, and Hinata too, the Hyuuga's disappeared together. The rest of the Rookie 9 soon followed (did that name still apply? They were all seasoned ninja, yeah, but they all fell one by one like rookies)-
Sakura was the last one. And Naruto.
Oh Kami-sama, dear fucking Kami-sama.
She was running, not the precise measured gait of a ninja, but she was running like a civilian, uncoordinated, terrified, like prey.
She tripped and a bit of metal caught her arm, and there was another cut in her skin, she was being torn to ribbons, and she couldn't fight back.
'Idon'tknowwhattodo,Idon'tknowwhattodo,I-'
She screamed, and she kept on screaming even though her throat was being torn out, literally, those were her vocal chords dangling before her eyes and she felt no pain as he slurped them up like bloody ramen with his nailclaws glinting like bloody chopsticks and-
'I tried, you know, to hold out. For Tsunade. But you smelled so damn good, and I've been hungry for so so long. That's why it attacked, you know. Dinner time.'
And she collapsed, and his eyes glowed blue, red, purple as he followed her down, licking his grinning chops.
Was she dying? Yeah, she stank of death, she was dying. He was at her chest now, licking from her butterflied neck past her breasts to her chest where he was ripping, digging, and he shoved his face into it, into her chest, lapping at her exposed ribs.
'You're so damn good.'
And she was screaming inside, 'cause she wasn't dying fast enough and this was the Naruto she remembered doing this to her. He was happy.
'When'd you go crazy?' she mouthed, not trying to fight back, because really, there wasn't anything worth saving. He smiled, and those were fangs she saw, definitely fangs.
'M'not crazy. Just hungry.'
And she was still tired, so tired, but she was dying, so why was she tired. She reckoned it was all the same, really.
A/N: And I just made lunch, how about that?
~emo fox ATTACK