Disclaimer: I do not own Naurto or anyone else affiliated. This is a one shot request fic. Enjoy, Ja Ne!
"Naruto...Uzumaki...The nine tailed beast! One of the most dangerous jinchurikin in all the lands! He was never meant to been born a shinobi. He was designed to be nothing more than a monster! Naruto delivered nothing except death, devastation and destruction to us all! He must be punished for his crimes!"
Those words echoed over and over again in his head. Every word dripped with loathing for him. He saw the eyes of the people mirrored back the venom of the words which were spoken. The outrage they all felt echoed low and cruel in their own voices as they yelled in concession.
"He lost his restraint over the beast he harbors within him and slaughtered his own team! How can we allow him to live a moment longer!?" The prosecutor whirled around and glared at him, "What do you have to say for yourself Naruto Uzumaki?"
Naruto peered in the direction of the prosecutor. The sadness he borne was a massive weight on him like a stone he carried on his back. No matter how hard he tried, his words never came. What would it amount to anyway? They would only fall upon deaf ears. It didn't matter what Naruto said, nothing changed the fact his team, no his friends were dead and it was his fault.
The prosecutor withdrew from Naruto, "Silence...It's the best admission of guilt. Naruto Uzumaki killed them in cold blood."
"No! It wasn't like that! I would never kill my friends for the sake of killing! They mean everything to me!" Naruto roared as he struggled in his chains.
Startled faces turned, stared at him in fright. The frantic fear pulsed like a living thing among the people. Voices screeched high in the air as they scrambled to move farther from him. Guards activated the protection spells towards the villagers. The Anbu positioned themselves in order to restrain Naruto even more.
With gradual mounting terror, he realized what he had done. Naruto slowed his movements all the way to a standstill. He closed his eyes as he lowered his head. Breathing went back to normal, the guards lowered the protection spells after the Anbu returned to their positions.
"What guarantee do we have Naruto won't turn and massacre us all? Sealing the beast inside of him can last for so long before it breaks free! It has happened before, who says it won't again? We also can't allow the jinchurikin to live on to the next generation! Otherwise, the bloodshed will continue. If we want real peace, then we need to end this here and now! What say you!?"
"Death...Death...Death...Death!" Chanted the crowd as they watched the Anbu readjusted Naruto's shackles and shoved him out of the court room.
Naruto stumbled through the village within the center of the Anbu. He glanced between them as he saw the people watch in hiding when they passed each home and business. The blonde shinobi saw how the children clutched to their parents as they turned their heads away from them. Naruto felt the familiar sting of rejection from when he was a kid even now in this moment. He turned his attention forward once more when they arrived at the entrance. The first two Anbu entered while the other two shoved Naruto through the door and locked it.
The torch lit corridor of the spiral staircase brought a foreboding sensation within Naruto's mind. He narrowed his eyes to try and focus on his location, but all he could see were their shadows. Naruto and the Anbu walked further and further down until they entered a small room. One of the Anbu behind Naruto took out a needle and plunged it behind his neck. The Anbu moved away from Naruto.
The jinchurikin tried to get his bearings, but it did no good, the room spun and the floor rose up to meet him. A few hours later, Naruto started to revive from whatever drug they gave him. His moan was low and quiet as he focused his eyes in the darkness. Despite it, Naruto saw just enough to know he was in trouble.
Naruto was barely able to move. He tried to move his hands and feet, but glanced over and saw he was chained to some sort of metal table. He felt a chill from his feet all the way to the top of his head. Squinting to the side he saw his clothes over a chair along with his boots thrown in random places. A deep frown formed upon his face as he wondered why his clothes were over there and not on his body. Naruto gingerly lifted his head and winced when he noticed the main thing he was clothed in was a fundoshi. No wonder he felt so cold, he was scantily dressed. It wasn't enough they were going to put him to death, but they had to humiliate him too?
He closed his eyes and laid his head back down. A short time after he felt another chill he looked towards the ceiling and noticed it started to open just before the first drops of rain fell. The sky was gloom-gray, wet with bitter rain. The wind moaned in misery. The dismal wind sent a chill up Naruto's spine as it blew through the barren place like a lost child. For the first time, Naruto felt his fear in the breeze, it was the first whiff of his death.
'Naruto...Naruto! Answer me you annoying brat!'
'Huh? Nine tails?'
'Are you going to give into these people? Why don't you fight back?'
'Because, what they said I did was true. I killed my friends in cold blood. I remember. There was no mind control, nothing, I lost control of myself. On account of me, my friends are dead.'
'So, you're just going to give up and die?'
'The world doesn't need someone like me creating any more death and destruction. I have to take responsibility for what I have done.'
'You are impossible! These people will inflict the worst possible death upon you, and you're just going to accept it? What about your dream about becoming Hokage? Are you going to give up on it too?'
'A Hokage doesn't kill their friends in cold blood. A Hokage cherishes those within his or her village and do what they can to protect them. So if this is the main way to do so, then I'll do it.'
The nine tails growled a bit and then grew quiet as he withdrew back into his cage. He didn't want to admit it, but in this moment he did feel some emotional connection to the boy.
Naruto waited to see if the nine tails would say anything more, but he didn't. So he did the main thing he could think of and it was to fall asleep.
The next morning Naruto woke to the sounds above, he had no idea of what was happening, but what he did know it wasn't good for him. His body shivered from the chilling rain of last night. Naruto squinted from the light of the sun when he opened his eyes. At least he could see the sun one more time before he died.
Naruto closed his eyes once more time as he enjoyed what little heat he received from up top. Eyes snapped open when he felt a semi familiar sensation. He saw three Anbu, two were on either side of him with their hands on the center of his core, and the third stood in the background. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"
"We are reinforcing the seal you had placed on your body a few years ago in order to keep the beast inside where it belongs. We are not going to take any chances of you breaking free and going berserk."
"Now wait a minute..." Naruto didn't get to finish when he felt their reinforcement of the seal for the nine tails was completed. The two Anbu stepped away once they finished. They stuck around a bit longer just in case. Once they knew the seal was going to stay, two of the three Anbu disappeared.
Not too long after the two Anbu left, Naruto frowned when he stared at the one who remained. Signs were being weaved for the Anbu's genjutsu as he kept deep eye contact with Naruto. His ears picked up something heavy rolling towards the opened ceiling of his cell. The jinchurikin was not able to break contact with the Anbu's gaze, but he could hear the familiar sound of swishing metal.
Swish...Swish...Swish...The blade swung in time as it edged closer to its target. The vibration of the swishing of the blades rung clear in his ears. Which made the fear beat in him even louder than his heart. He knew everything he worked for, his honor, dream of becoming hokagae, and acceptance from those who thought of him as nothing more than a pest, all of it would be gone forever.
Naruto yelled out when he felt the blade make contact and started to slice through him. The extreme pain was excruciating. 'This...Can't be...Real...' The blonde shinobi thought to himself as he felt the pendulum slice deeper into his body. Naruto screamed even louder his throat felt like it was on fire. His voice became raw and weak as darkness claimed his vision once again.
The Anbu broke the genjutsu and checked the prisoner over, satisfied in his work he left Naruto chained and unconscious.
'Naruto...You ungrateful brat...Answer me!'
'Nine tails...Just leave me alone...'
'This confirms what I thought of you ever since we first met.'
'Oh really.'
'Yes...You are weak, not even close to be worthy of having me connected to your worthless carcass...'
Naruto growled internally at the nine tails. His fists clenched as he held his head down in shame as his spirit faced the nine tails cage. 'Why don't you tell me how you really feel?'
The nine tails smirked, 'Your parents made the worse mistake in their lives when they transferred me from your mother to you. You'll be remembered not only as a monster, and a killer, but also a coward from now to eternity. Is that what you want? It must be because it seems to me you have given up the fight to live.'
Naruto raised his head and glowered at the nine tails. 'You can believe what you want about me. But once I'm dead, there won't be anyone around to transfer you to anyone else. You'll die too. This is the sacrifice I'm willing to make, one less monster in the world.'
The nine tails stared down into Naruto's eyes and saw the fight in them he had deep inside. He backed away from the gate and curled up in peace.
Naruto studied the gate for a bit longer as he knew this would be the very last time he'd see him. 'Thanks for everything.' The blonde shinobi gave a nod and vanished.
When he woke up Naruto noticed he was moved to a different location. From what he could see it was a steel room with a few torches perched on the far wall. Above was the same pendulum he experienced in the genjutsu he went through earlier. His body was chained down on a stainless steel slab as tight as they could go.
Haunted by horror of what he experienced in the genjutsu, all he could do was watch helplessly as the pendulum started its swing. Swish...Swish...Swish...The rhythmic swinging of the giant blade made its slow and antagonizing descent. Naruto felt his heart hammered in his chest as the fear of dying for real this time choked the scream from his throat.
Terror shone from his eyes like twin candles of fright. He felt the narled, twisted fingers of fear clawing at his guts as he watched the hypnotic swing of the pendulum move down inch by excruciating inch. The fear of the pendulum tearing into his body ate away at his sanity, reducing him to a gibberish wreck.
The shocking horror slammed into him at full force when he felt the first slash across his body from the pendulum. His mix of fear and agony made his screams of pain inhuman. A second slash dug deeper into Naruto's body, his blood poured out of his body like wine onto the cold steel floor. His guts steamed and withered like snakes in a sauna. With the third and final slash, the pendulum was put to rest once it went through the rest of the shinobi's body.
The jinchurikin was wrapped in the black cloak of death as he drew his last breath, he felt the last moments of his life came around soon enough. His final thoughts were not to curse the village who put him to death. But to the people he cared for, his family, friends, village and to the tailed beast he housed inside of him. 'Goodbye...'
With a final breath, Naruto left this world the same way he came...Alone...
The End...
