Naruto, for once decided to get up early. The streets were empty; the roofs were starting to move with ninjas. The sun had just begun to rise. Today was the day. The day he would finally be paying his tab at Ichiraku Ramen!

Now one might be thinking, "Why is that so important?" Now the reason for this is because his debt is roughly ten years old, adding up to around 112,990 ryo. He finally had enough money after his S-rank mission to take down all of the members of an assassination squad full of missing nin. Shikamaru was the brains behind the plan and managed to dispatch the one that was high jonin level almost by himself. Everyone had worked together and Naruto had used his Rasengan to finish three of them off. Shino had used his bugs to drain the nin's chakra and keep tabs on them. Ino had gotten one of the assassins in the middle to attack the others using her mind techniques, and Sakura had used her skills to support them all.

Shaken out of his thoughts by the wonderful smell of ramen, Naruto was met with the sight that he had come to love. Ichiraku Ramen.

"Hey Old Man! Today's a special day!" Naruto was ecstatic. He felt like he was over the moon.

"What do you want Naruto, I'm busy."

That was odd, Teuchi was always so kind and generous to him. What could be wrong? He voiced this to the Old Man, only to get a cold reply in response.

"What do you care? Just stop Naruto." Teuchi spit the name out like poison on his tongue.

"I-"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I want to be, because you're precious to me, because-"

"Not after what you did to me. To Ayame." Now Naruto was confused, what could he possibly have done to get this reaction from him?

"What?"

"She can't continue her education, Naruto! All because of you! We're in the red! She has to work more so we can earn more money! She quit school for this! All because you won't pay for your meals!" Naruto was horrified. No, this couldn't be happening! This had to be some sick joke. Naruto stumbled back as the consequences of his actions hit him full force. So he dropped his money in the shop's entrance and ran as fast as he could. It didn't matter where, just anywhere away from there, where his worst nightmare came to pass. He had hurt his precious people.

He was running, running, gasping, running, jumping, gasping, and he finally came to a stop. His feet had carried him to team seven's old training grounds. Naruto was hyperventilating and tears were running down his face. Old Man Ichiraku was the first person to treat him with genuine kindness after he had left the orphanage. And now that same person had been hurt by him and his choices. He couldn't help but blame himself for Ayame leaving school. If he hadn't met the Ichiraku's then they would be better off.

Better off… Better off… Better off without meeting him… Better off without him. That's the only conclusion he could reach. He needed to see his other precious people to see how he's affected them before he does anything rash. Surely they would make him feel better, right? Nothing could happen that would make him feel worse than he felt right now.

By this time, Naruto had calmed down and the only evidence of his breakdown was his slightly shaky hands and his red rimmed eyes. As he walked he thought about all the bad things he might have done, indirectly or directly. He came up with so much. What if that bandit he had captured and handed over to the Torture and Interrogation Division last year had only turned to theft and violence to save his wife and children from starvation? Was that why he had that scared look on his face? Had he been worried about getting captured or about an unseen factor? How many families had he broken up that way? What about every other "bad guy" he had faced; had they just been doing it because they were desperate to protect their precious people? There was no way there would be so many truly horrible people as there were bandits and thugs.

Naruto felt sick to his stomach.

Occupied as he was he almost didn't notice the two people in the training ground in front of him, but his shinobi instincts saved him just in time before he was noticed. It was both of his sensei's talking about something that seemed to be annoying them. If they weren't so absorbed in whatever they were discussing, then they would have surely sensed him, making him very lucky indeed.

Naruto strained his ears to hear what they were saying. He had a bad feeling about this.

"… know. He is such an idiot. That baka doesn't know how to do anything right." Jiraiya was the first he heard.

"He's a disgrace as a shinobi. I wish his name had never stained my record for being his sensei." Kakashi had a scowl on his face as he said this, as was obvious even with only one quarter of his face showing.

"Naruto will never earn our respect, no matter what "good" he does. He will always be the monster that took my student and your sensei from us, nothing more."

At this point the tears had begun to run down Naruto's face again. He turned his back and ran. If the people he had closely interacted with didn't respect him, what reason would anyone else have to respect him?

He couldn't take it! First he had caused hurt to his precious people then he had found out that he wasn't respected after all he had done. It was all his fault!

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he sensed Sakura. Quickly wiping his eyes and forcing his mouth into a smile that was too large to be considered normal, Naruto prepared himself for anything that Sakura would throw at him. Be it a harsh insult, or a punch.

"Naruto!" It looked like she was pretty angry.

"Yes Sakura-chan?" His voice was raspy from crying, but Sakura seemed oblivious.

"What did you do Naruto? They call you the demon, so what are you? Don't you trust me? Is it because you were born on the Kyuubi attack? Why would… wait. You- you- you are the Kyuubi, aren't you!? Oh my Kami! I'm on a team with a monster! A demon!" Naruto took a step towards her and she took two steps away. "Back away you monster! Just go die! I don't know why you even made a façade of a human!"

"Sakura-chan-"

"Don't call me that, beast."

"Sakura, I am not the Kyuubi. I am merely the container." She didn't believe him.

"Just don't talk to me, don't look at me. No matter what, we are not friends." Naruto followed what seemed to be a pattern at this point and ran as something else within him broke.

He followed his feet to the Iruka's home, which was closer to the academy than the training ground. Iruka could always reassure him, no matter what. Iruka had even once stayed up all night, neglecting grading papers in favor of keeping him company. And when Naruto had tried to apologize, Iruka had refused to accept it, simply saying that it was his choice and he would gladly do it again anytime Naruto needed it. That memory was one of the most treasured ones because it showed how much he was cared for. Iruka believed in him and thought Naruto could really reach his dreams. Those same dreams would have faded and died without his constant encouragement. In fact, Iruka had comforted him the last time villagers destroyed most of his apartment last week, causing another sleepless night.

When he knocked on the door, he got a slightly muffled, but still distinguishable, "Coming!"

As the door opened, Iruka's face turned from a polite smile to a frown.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" He sounded weary and inpatient.

"I need some support right now." He fully expected to be let in, have Iruka help him calm down and rationalize everything. To hear that they were just lashing out, and that they didn't mean anything they said.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now, Naruto."

"Wh- what do you mean Iruka-sensei?"

"Don't call me that!" His words echoed Sakura's that had been spoken not twenty minutes ago.

"I-I… Why not?" Iruka never yelled like that, except when using his big-head jutsu on the class.

"Because I'm no longer a sensei. They felt I was not taking my job seriously enough and when I did, I got too close. Like I'm close to you." Naruto felt he needed to put on his mask of happiness for a bit to cheer Iruka up a bit

"I'm so sorry. But when I'm Hokage, you'll be the head of education stuff! Believe-"

The sound of skin hitting skin resounded through the area. Iruka's hand was stretched out and he was scowling. Naruto's face was turned to the side. Iruka had hit him! He had been slapped by his most precious person.

"Stop! You will never be Hokage, never! Do you hear me?!"

Naruto spun around and ran, ran, ran. He wanted to go home. He couldn't deal with anymore blows to his mind. So many shattered perceptions, hopes, and dreams all in one hellish day.

The door to his apartment hung off of the hinges, scratched and battered beyond repair. His kitchen cabinets were in similar condition. Counter tops were torn off and cracked, the refrigerator door lying on the ground. The food was dumped on anything and everything, floors, walls, ceilings, and almost every other surface they had found. There was spray paint spelling out various insults, including 'Demon', 'Monster', and 'Murderer'.

Some of the floorboards had been ripped up as if someone had been looking for a hidden compartment. He was worried; he had hidden some souvenirs that Old Man Hokage had given him. If they had found his money he would be fine, but if they destroyed those, he couldn't just get another, it wouldn't be the same. As he walked to check behind his bed, his stomach sank. They found it. The priceless items that had memories attached to them were destroyed and he couldn't do anything. The fish keychain he had been given for his eighth birthday was because had a fascination with their gills and the ability to breathe with them. The carved sandstone turtle from suna for his fifth birthday. All gone. All of those gifts were gone.

Naruto curled on his shredded mattress and let everything out. Screams of rage. Sobs of deep sadness. Desperate, disbelieving laughs. Whines of pain and hurt. Through all of this, he was chanting in his head, "I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon."

A knock on the doorframe alerted him to an ANBU's presence in his home. "No…" Naruto thought. He simply was not in the mood for another belittling experience.

"Hokage-sama wants you in her office immediately, Uzumaki-san." The ANBU's voice was monotone, expressionless. There was no warmth or pity for the state of his apartment. Just cold, detached assessment.

"H-hai, ANBU-san." He body flickered back to his duties. Naruto uncurled and stood up finally. He had had to get to Baa-chan. At this point, he had nothing left to lose.

Walking along the streets, Naruto got more hate filled glares than usual. What had he done to upset them?

"…Monster…"

"…Doesn't deserve…"

"…Horrible demon…"

"…Evil…"

"…Scum…"

Complete hopelessness sat like a boulder on his shoulders. His eyes were near empty orbs that were haunting to look at. But no one seemed to notice the very nearly shattered boy.

Naruto was then walking through the Hokage tower, very quickly getting to Tsunade's office. In fact he would have found it odd that everyone was simply staring at him like the Devil itself, had he not been so out of it. Hesitantly raising his hand, Naruto steeled himself and knocked on Tsunade's door.

"Enter." And so, enter he did.

"You summoned me, Ba- Hokage-sama?" He felt that this wasn't the time for jokes or fooling around.

"I've gotten several reports from your comrades all saying the same thing; that you didn't take this line of work seriously."

"Why would they say that?! I- I work so hard, I just tend to smile through pain, that's all."

"You are insubordinate, going against direct orders at times. You are ignorant of correct shinobi protocol in most situations. Need I continue?" She had a look about her that Naruto could only associate with irate shopkeeper's faces as he ran after pranks.

"I- No Hokage-sama."

"Well then hand over your headband."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because if you have no defense of your actions, I have no choice but to suspend you from active duty indefinitely." Naruto sighed in defeat and walked forward, his dream of becoming Hokage crushed. While Tsunade was busy inspecting his headband he walked over to one of the windows overlooking the village. Tsunade looked up.

"Get out of my office."

"Fine." So he jumped through the window with plans of ending it all, aiming his head towards the impact point. Everything turned black as soon as he hit his head. Everything and everyone ceased to exist.