Deception: Chapter 1

Uzumaki Naruto stumbled towards the gates of Konoha, struggling to carry the unconscious load draped over his shoulders. He had succeeded. He had defeated Sasuke at the Valley of the End and managed to bring him back alive. Of course, Sasuke had done his best to prevent this. The gaping hole through Naruto's chest was proof enough of that. Naruto quickened his pace as he felt his body starting to give out on him. He had lost too much blood. For some reason, the wound in his chest was not healing as fast as it should have been. Usually the Kyuubi would be on top of things like this, healing his wounds within seconds.

Naruto's vision started to blur and the world around him began to spin. His breathing quickened as he started to panic. He was going to die. After all his work, he was going to die before he even completed his promise. Suddenly, he stumbled forward and lost his footing. As the ground came up to meet him, he saw a flash of gray hair before everything went black.

"Kakashi, how is he doing?" The busty blonde Hokage sat behind her desk, her hands gripped together tightly, causing the knuckles to turn white. Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto is stable. They closed up his chest wound, and he is expected to make a full recovery." Tsunade's grip relaxed when she heard of Naruto's improved condition. "However, something is bothering me." Tsunade raised her eyebrow as she studied the masked Jounin in front of her.

"Oh? What is it?" She asked

"It's… It's about the Kyuubi. Whenever Naruto is injured the Kyuubi heals him almost immediately. That was not the case this time. When I found him, he was still losing blood and all his wounds were still fresh."

"I see." Tsunade leaned back in her chair and glanced out the window towards the portraits of her predecessors carved into the mountainside. After a few moments of pondering she returned her gaze to Kakashi.

"Something must have happened during his battle that caused the Kyuubi to stop healing him. We can ask him after he wakes up. Kami knows we won't get any information out of Sasuke about it. How is that traitor anyways?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Well, he's certainly causing a ruckus in his hospital room. We placed chakra suppressor seals on him and have him under constant surveillance. What should we do with him?"

Tsunade sighed. "I wish we could keep him locked up forever. Unfortunately, the council wouldn't like it if their 'precious Uchiha' spends the rest of his days wasting away behind bars. They will override my decision and he will most likely be placed on a short probation before becoming an active ninja once again."

Kakashi nodded. "I see. Once he is released from prison, I'll keep a close eye on him and make sure he stays put in the village."

"Excellent. Keep me informed. If that is all, you're dismissed." Kakashi saluted before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Tsunade sighed as she massaged her temples. She had barely been Hokage for more than a few weeks and she was already dealing with all this shit. "Where the fuck is my sake?"

Haruno Sakura had heard the news. How could she not? It had spread around the village like wildfire. Uchiha Sasuke had returned! He was still in the hospital, so Sakura had decided to visit him there and tell him how happy she was that he had come back.

Sakura approached the reception desk. "Hi, where is Uchiha Sasuke's room?"

The receptionist looked up from her paperwork. "Uchiha Sasuke? He's under ANBU surveillance and isn't allowed to have any visitors."

Sakura frowned. "Are you sure? I'm his teammate and I wanted to see how he was doing. I heard he might be injured."

The receptionist shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you. These are orders from Hokage-sama herself." Sakura sighed and was about to turn around and head home. Suddenly another hospital worker popped her head around the corner.

"Sakagami-san, we need some help back here!" She disappeared just as quickly. The receptionist cursed under her breath and left to go help. Sakura looked around and realized there was no one else in the reception room. As quickly as she could, she searched the desk and found Sasuke's room number. She took off down the hallway before the receptionist could return and catch her red-handed.

She arrived at his room in a dark and obscure section of the hospital. She could tell it was his before she got there from the lone ANBU guard standing outside the door. The ANBU noticed her approaching.

"I'm sorry, but the Uchiha is not allowed visitors at this time." Sakura quickly thought of a plan.

"It's ok, Hokage-sama sent me herself. She asked me to ask him a few questions. She felt that it could be easier for me to do it since I'm his teammate." She gave the ANBU guard a smile. The man studied her for a minute before relenting. He stepped aside and allowed her to enter the room.

"Very well, you have 5 minutes." Sakura nodded and opened the door and stepped inside.

Sasuke was lying in the hospital bed. He was covered in bandages and his left arm was in a sling. Sakura could tell that he had been through a hell of a fight. Sasuke had looked up when he heard the door open. He recognized the face of his teammate. The one he hadn't just fought to the near-death.

"What do you want?" He was not in the mood for any of Sakura's fan girl tendencies. Sakura was shocked to see how much damage had been done to Sasuke in his fight.

"Sa-Sasuke? What happened? Why are you so hurt?" Sakura stared at him with wide eyes. Sasuke snorted. Suddenly, he got an idea. He smirked.

"That blonde piece of shit managed to get the jump on me. He attacked me out of the blue while I was trying to come back to the village." Sakura gasped.

"You mean Naruto? He did that to you?"

"Yeah. I tried to tell him I had changed my mind and wanted to come back, but he didn't want to listen. He tried to kill me! I was weak from escaping from the Sound 4, so it was all I could do to make it back to the village before he got me!" Sasuke smiled inwardly as he watched Sakura become more and more horrified as he continued his tale.

"Where is he now?" She asked quietly.

"That's the worst part! Everyone thinks he brought me back, so they're treating him like a hero! He's staying somewhere in the hospital. I managed to get a few good shots in too." Sakura's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. It wasn't fair. Sasuke had decided to come back and Naruto attacked him. Yet Sasuke was the one under ANBU watch and Naruto was a hero. She had to do something about this. She turned on her heel and dashed out of the room. As she left, she missed the maniacal grin that had slowly appeared on Sasuke's face.

"Take that you dobe. This is what you get for bringing me back to this hellhole. Who do you think people will believe? The orphan with no skill, or the last member of the legendary Uchiha clan?"

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound of dripping water reached Naruto's ears and he slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He appeared to be in some kind of sewer. There was a large cage directly in front of him. He knew exactly where he was.

"Oi, Kyuubi!" Naruto yelled towards the cage. Suddenly, two demonic yellow eyes appeared out of the darkness.

"What do you want brat? Why are you disturbing me?"

"I want to know why you didn't heal my wounds! What gives? I almost died!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the large demon. The Kyuubi growled in response.

"Foolish boy! I didn't heal you because you are weak! You are pathetic! You are the container of the greatest demon in the world, yet your skills are horrendous! This was proven to me during your fight with the Uchiha boy. You would not have stood a chance if it wasn't for my power!" Naruto grimaced. He knew a lot of what the fox was saying was true. He was weak.

"I know I'm weak, but if I die, you die with me! So it's in your best interest to keep me alive right?" The Kyuubi made a noise that sounded similar to a snort.

"I would rather die than be associated with a weakling such as yourself!" Naruto glared at the large beast.

"If you don't want me to be weak, then train me yourself!" The Kyuubi paused. Meanwhile Naruto continued his rant. "You want to be associated with a strong container to show how powerful you are, right? Well then train me! We can both accomplish our goals this way! I get stronger, and you get to prove that you're the best demon in the world!" Naruto drew a breath after his speech and waited for the Kyuubi's response. After an anxious minute, the Kyuubi finally spoke.

"Surprisingly, you raise a good point. Very well, I will train you. However there is a condition." Naruto couldn't believe the demon fox had agreed.

"Uh ok, what's the condition?"

"You must leave the village during our training."

"WHAT?!"

"It's the only way. You will be using my chakra on a regular basis and that cannot happen while we are in this god-forsaken village. You would be chained and imprisoned by your council without hesitation!" Naruto grimaced. He understood what the Kyuubi was saying.

"How can I just leave my village? It's my home! There are people here that care about me now! I've made friends!" The Kyuubi let out a sigh. It knew of the hardships the boy faced while growing up, and knew that it was responsible for them.

"You will come back when your training is over. Anyways, you don't have to make a decision yet. Think about it and give me your answer."

"Fine. I'll think about it." With that, Naruto was kicked from his mindscape and returned to the real world.

He opened his eyes and saw the blank white ceiling that indicated in he was in a hospital room.

Leave my village? Is the fox crazy? But… If I really want to get stronger, do I have a choice? Naruto mulled over these thoughts in his head.

Suddenly his door burst open. Naruto looked up in surprise.

"Sakura?"

Indeed it was Sakura who stood out of breath in his doorway. Naruto grinned.

"Sakura-chan! I brought him back! It was tough but-"

"Shut up!" Naruto recoiled in shock at the venomous interruption.

"W-what? Sakura-chan what's wrong?" Now that he looked closely, Sakura did not seem very happy. In fact, he had never seen her look at him this way before. Sure, she usually gave him looks of annoyance or exasperation, but this was different. It was a look of pure hatred. Naruto knew that look very well. It was the way all the villagers always looked at him. But for the life of him he could not figure out what he had done to anger her.

"Don't spout that bullshit Naruto! I know the truth! I know how Sasuke tried to return to the village but you attacked him for no reason!" She pointed an accusatory finger in his direction. Naruto's eyes widened in shock. What was she talking about?

"Sakura-chan, I don't know what you're talking about! That's not-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Sakura screamed, interrupting him once again. Before Naruto even realized what had happened, Sakura approached his bed.

WHACK

Naruto recoiled in shock. He reached up to his face and felt the hand-shaped mark appearing on his cheek. She had slapped him. She had hit him before, but never like this. Naruto couldn't believe it. Sakura was not done yet. She prepared herself to launch another verbal assault.

"I can't believe how selfish you are! You were jealous of Sasuke-kun and I, so you tried to kill him before he could come back to the village! Obviously you launched a sneak attack; there is no way you would have won otherwise! The villagers were right about you! You're a demon! You're scum that doesn't deserve the respect of anyone!" Naruto felt something inside of him shatter at her final words. He lowered his head and allowed his bangs to cover his eyes.

Fueled by her rage, Sakura raised her hand and went to strike Naruto again. Suddenly she felt a strong grip around her arm. She turned in shock to see none other then their sensei, Kakashi Hatake.

"That's enough." Kakashi's voiced was filled with a mix between anger and disappointment. Sakura took notice of this.

"But Kakashi-sensei he-"

"I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH HARUNO!" Sakura recoiled at the sudden outburst. She turned quickly and ran out of the room. Kakashi turned his now sympathetic gaze towards the only student he had left that had not disappointed him.

"Naruto… Are you ok? I'm sure she didn't really mean any of it. She just wasn't thinking clearly." Naruto slowly raised his head at Kakashi's words. Kakashi let out a small gasp when he saw his pupil's eyes. They had changed. Gone were the bright and happy cerulean orbs that everyone had come to associate with him. His eyes had become dark and dull. If Kakashi couldn't see Naruto breathing he would have assumed he was dead. The masked Jounin sighed. He laid a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It'll be ok Naruto. You still have people here that love you. Remember that." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves, intent on reporting this little incident to the Hokage immediately.

Naruto sat quietly in his bed, staring at the blank hospital wall across from him. He didn't move for several minutes and the only sound heard was the ticking of the clock.

Kyuubi?

What is it Naruto?The Kyuubi had seen the altercation with the pink-haired girl. It had felt a strange sensation in its gut as it observed how she had treated him. But it couldn't be. There was no way. The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, never showed such worthless emotions such as compassion and sympathy. Especially for the one who kept it caged.

Naruto took a deep breath before he answered.

I want to leave the village. To train and become stronger.