Prologue:

Shattered Soul

Uzumaki Naruto trudged wearily onto Konoha. He had abandoned Jiraiya during their return to Konoha. Jiraiya went south, to Konoha, after realizing that Naruto had gone north, towards the Sound. Now, with Uchiha Sasuke on his back and alive, Naruto could return home. He walked on, despite several injuries that would have killed a lesser man. He couldn't move his left arm, and his had to limp on his left leg. His body felt numb. His head was bleeding… a lot. It didn't matter to Naruto if he died getting Sasuke there, he would do it for her.

The Uchiha had put a small fight. Kyuubi had helped, although Naruto couldn't begin to fathom why the demon was being so helpful all of a sudden. He appreciated it though. He neared the gates of Konoha. A trail of blood followed him. As he passed into the gates, the guards started calling people over, both because the Uchiha was back, and because the Demon had returned and the villagers didn't want him back.

The throngs of angry people gathered quickly. Naruto was unable to defend himself, every muscle being nearly burnt out from the intensity of Kyuubi's power. The crowd took Sasuke from him, and as he began asking for someone to help him to the hospital, he got a fist to the gut instead. Unfortunately for him, it didn't knock him out. The villagers beat on him for a good twenty minutes before ANBU could sort out the riot. By that point, Uzumaki Naruto was dead. Only 23 people mourned his passing, and some did so only in passing.

Those 15 were the rest of the Rookie 8(nobody called them 9 since Sasuke left); team Gai, their respective sensei, the sand siblings, Umino Iruka, Tsunade, Shizune, and the owner of Naruto's favorite ramen stand, as well as his daughter, Ayame. Of all of them, none were more affected then Sakura. She simply broke. No tears, no screaming, she simply shut down, as if reality had broken. Naruto had died fulfilling a promise to her, had died to make her happy. It didn't make sense to her why he would do that. This wasn't what broke her, however. She had been the one on call when the body came in. She collapsed at the sight.

Hinata didn't fare much better, but Kiba helped her. Kiba was there to pick up the pieces. She and Kiba would end up together within the year. Sasuke, on the other hand, just shattered everyone all over again. Without someone there to stop him, he was able to escape Konoha again. Worse, his twisted mind managed to claim responsibility for the death of his best friend, and he gained the Mangekyou. What hope there was of salvaging him disappeared with his insanity.

Naruto was buried in a dingy part of the graveyard, since the council wouldn't permit one in a more fitting spot. Naruto was surrounded by the graves of the worst kinds of people in his death. Traitors, murderers, rapists, criminals of every kind were laid to rest here, and him, a boy of 16 who had done everything he could to just gain something that ought to have been granted at birth. Simple recognition. The funeral was short. Nobody said anything. Tsunade became even more of a hope less drunk. She had buried her necklace with Naruto.

There wasn't a single person out of the 23 who didn't feel partly responsible for his death. It was because of these 23 that Naruto refused to go. Even through the veil of death, he heard them. Their crying, the drinking, the quiet, passing laughter that came when they remembered one stupid thing or another that he had done. He heard what happened to Sakura, what happened to Sasuke, and all the rest. And so Uzumaki Naruto, though already dead and interred, refused his passing. The Kyuubi kept his soul alive within his body, and the fox wasn't going to accept death either.

What it was that truly brought him back is the great mystery of this. But he called it, through sheer will and determination, Uzumaki Naruto called down the power to break through the veil of the spirit world, and back into the world of the living. He came back a year after his death. He had changed in every way. His hair, once a vibrant gold, was now black. His eyes were no longer vibrant and alive; they had become cold, and dead. Until he had his revenge, anyway. He felt no pain. He understood only two things: vengeance against his enemies, and return to the 20 people who cried for him, even if only once.

This is how the Shatterer of Souls was born, how Uzumaki Naruto and with him the Kyuubi no Kitsune escaped death itself to live forever as the ultimate judge of the dark, and cruel.

POST NOTES:

So, dark angel motif here. What do you think?