More than Power
So, let me get this straight. You're hoping I'm going to listen to you and destroy everyone and everything I care about, go against everything I believe, and get revenge on everyone who's ever wronged me. Then I'm supposed to go out and kill people for fun.
I suspect you already know what the answer will be, but I guess I'll say it anyway.
No way in hell, bastard.
Oh, here comes the bribes and stuff, right? Let's go through them one by one.
Power. I already have plenty, and I can go off to make my own. And accepting you and your terms would mean that everything I'd want power for will be gone, anyway, so there's really no point.
Heh, that defeated most of the rest of your arguments, didn't it? I'm going to take a moment to feel proud of myself now.
Fun. Ah, well, no. Killing isn't all that fun and I can already do a lot of fun stuff already. And how would it be fun if I can't just chill with my friends, anyway? Plus everyone would be after my head, and killing them would be something I have to do.
It would probably be my only purpose to kill. Like… It would be like how Gaara used to be, and I've seen how horrible that is. After I've gone and shown Gaara the light, I can't very well turn around and do what he used to do, now can I? Though you probably wouldn't mind. You want me to be like he was, I bet. But I refuse.
Revenge, which is probably your last point to try to convince me. Er, revenge on whom? The Akatsuki, or Orochimaru? As if I'm going to abandon everything just for that! I'm already going to kill them myself, with all of Konoha and all of my friends watching my back.
Or did you mean revenge on my friends for not being around all the time, or at Kakashi-sensei for favouring Sasuke? Still, no. They're important people to me, so I can accept them and be grateful for them even if they could be a bit better, because they have faults and they're better than nothing. And Sasuke needs someone as badly as I do, you know. Having everyone treat him like they do probably isn't actually very pleasant, because they don't see him for whom he is. I think it's great that Kakashi-sensei is spending some time with him, even though I'm not sure if he's doing it right.
I will definitely not abandon them.
You could mean the villagers, who only hate me because of you. Other than the fact that it's your fault, I know that they should have treated me better. They still could improve the way they treat me. It's not my fault that you're within me, and I shouldn't suffer just because I probably have the side effect of reminding everyone of you.
Yeah, it could be better. But it could be worse, too.
My treatment… It's not that bad, you know? I mean, sure, they might glare at me, or shun me, or something, but it could be worse. I've seen how bad it could get. Some people, they've had it worse than me, and they didn't have anyone to hold them up. So they start destroying themselves too from the inside out. And when they have nothing left to kill on the inside, they move to the outside world.
I, at least, never got that far.
I mean, I hated it. I might've hated them at some point, the villagers, and I sure as hell didn't understand it. But… they tolerated me. They might've made my life miserable, they might've been forced to, but they did. Barely, I guess.
They didn't really beat me up, if that's what you think. They were probably too scared to, maybe from you or maybe because of the law. They never touched me; they avoided me and whispered behind my back, they told everyone to stay away from me, they glared and hated and wanted me dead, but they never hurt me. Not physically, at least. It hurt – it hurt right here, in my chest, it hurt a lot and I even started to question my reason for existence – but that pain made me grow strong. I had just a few, a precious few people that were willing to support me.
That's enough, you know. That's all I could ask for, really, and I was even luckier because… Iruka-sensei and Hokage-jiichan, they were even my friends! It's so special only because I never had friends before, or at least I never had any that stayed. Besides, I was accepted at Ichiraku, even highly valued as a customer. They never looked at me with hatred there, maybe because they never knew about you, but the law really did help. The villagers could never tell them about me, and even if they did, I don't think they could hate me very strongly there. They're too nice, and their hatred wouldn't have strong roots.
And now, with Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan and Sasuke, I have a team. We don't work with each other as well as Kakashi-sensei wants us to, maybe, but we can depend on each other if we really need it. I mean, even Sasuke can be useful sometimes, and Sakura-chan is starting to really accept me. She doesn't seem to be willing to go out with me any time soon, but that's okay, I guess. I can work on it, and I'm sure that she'll – Hey! Why are you laughing? She really will see how handsome and strong and cool I— Gah! You're hopeless. You don't believe in me, do you?
That doesn't matter. Almost nobody believed in me before, but look at them now! I sure showed them, didn't I? Neji, and Gaara, and Kiba and everyone else!
…
Anyway. There's no point in getting all sentimental about them, and I don't like doing something like that anyway. It's kind of dumb and it makes me really uncomfortable.
All you really need to know is that they made me happy. They gave me people to protect. And none of them would ever betray me.
Yes, I do know for sure. I trust them, and that's all I need. You might not understand trust, but I guess you'll have to take my word for it. You probably don't understand how I could trust after what the villagers did to me, but like I said, it wasn't so bad. If that never happened, I wouldn't really be me, and I wouldn't want to change myself for anything.
And it gave me a purpose.
I'll admit that it's not just enough to have friends like Iruka-sensei, at least not any more. I've felt the pain that isolation causes, and I've got a lot of friends who have felt the same way, and nobody should go through that. Especially kids, but it can hurt adults really badly too.
No, I guess you're right. I'm not strong enough to prevent everyone from feeling that pain. Heh, I guess it's obvious that I'd want to, right? So, no, I'm still not strong enough. You might be, I don't know, but you can't be everywhere either. Even Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu won't help me such a widespread problem.
So I'm not strong enough, not yet.
But I'm going to be the Hokage. I'll make myself strong enough to become Konoha's leader, and I'll be greater than any of the previous ones. I'll use every bit of my power – political influence and my battle prowess and anything else I have – and even if I can't eliminate the problem, I'll do everything possible to beat it down to the ground.
…Yeah, I guess I would like to be known as a hero. It's not necessary, but it'd be really nice, and it would mean I've succeeded. And being a good guy? Well, duh. I am trying to help everyone. And if I'm the hero that destroys all of the strongest bad guys or dies trying, all the better.
Hey, wh-what? It's not that funny, you know. I'm being serious, damn fox.
…
No such thing as good and evil, you say? What are you talking about? They're the basis principles that define all morals, aren't they? And I know they're real, because… because… I can feel it. It's true, I know they exist, the same way I know I can trust Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei with my life.
Though I guess you think all of that is just as foolish anyway.
…
It's just like a demon to think that, huh? I guess everyone has their own ways of justifying everything they do. Don't tell me you don't need to justify your actions, because that's what you're trying to do by denying the existence of morals and good and evil and everything like that. Look, I… I can't really understand you or your motives. And I won't stand for you trying to kill just because. It goes against what I believe, and most of all you're hurting other people. If you had a cause, then maybe that would be a little okay. But you're worse than Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, because they sort of have reasons. Not good reasons, but they're better than yours.
So, I can honestly tell you that you're evil, but I guess you don't care. That's fine, though. You can spend forever locked in that cage over there while I draw on your power at will. And even if you keep your chakra away from where I can access it, that's okay. I would manage to do everything I intend to. It's not like I'm only worth something because of you.
If you won't help me and I can't force you to, I'll just work three times as hard and become as strong as or stronger than what I would be with full access to your chakra.
…
What, you don't believe me? You've been in my head, or stomach, or whatever for almost my entire life, and you don't think I would do that?
You're either really dumb or you just don't know me at all. It doesn't matter. As long as I believe it, I don't need anyone else to, because it'll be even more satisfying to prove their doubts about me wrong. My beliefs are strong enough to make up for the fact that you have no confidence in me, or that a lot of people doubt me. It's gotten me through the villagers' hatred, after all. It's gotten some of them to believe in me, so I bet everyone else will soon follow when they see my greatness.
Even if they don't agree with what I think, they'll see that I have good intentions, and they'll know that I'm going something good. And even if they don't believe in good and evil, like you, they'll understand that I'm helping those people that need help, the ones that are like I used to be, because nobody else will. And they'll know that I'm just trying to do what's right.
Even those with beliefs as strong as mine, like you, in other things… They'll see it too. You will, as well.
I know you don't believe in the same things I do, but it doesn't matter. Even if you're right, it doesn't matter.
So maybe there is no good and evil. So maybe someone just made them up as an excuse for their actions. So what?
To me, they're real. Maybe I'm not strong enough to judge other people's actions, but I can still have opinions on them.
Even if there is no good and evil, I know what feels right and wrong.
And I will fight it. What I think is wrong, that is.
I, Uzumaki Naruto, will become great with or without your power. But I will never rely on it, or on you. I'll become strong through my own efforts, and I won't let you taint me. You won't influence my thoughts, or my morals. Not ever, because I won't let you.
I will become Hokage. I will protect my people, and no one will become a jinchuuriki again.
No one will be blamed for something they're not.
Because that would be wrong.
In my eyes, at least. And that's all that matters.
Only Naruto could argue with a demon fox thousands of year older than him, and come out stronger for it. Sigh.