Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Steven Universe.

Chapter 1 – Looking Back

[Valley of the End]

The skies were angry, as thunder and lightning roared and rain came pouring down. Two humongous statues of legendary shinobi were situated on two small islands in the valley separated by the raging water of a waterfall. There was a boy stood on each of the statues, their figures barely seen through the shadow which had been created by the dark clouds covering the sun. One of the boys wore an outfit of dark blue and black which had an odd fan symbol stuck on the back of his shirt, the top half red and the bottom white. His eyes were a vengeful red with spinning tomoes and his pitch-black hair looked oddly like the bottom half of a duck. The child standing opposite him however, wore a bright orange jumpsuit along with blue sandals and had three strange, whisker-like birthmarks on each of his cheeks. His shining, golden hair spiked in all directions and his eyes were a determined cerulean. They both had a hand stuck out, each powering up their respective signature techniques.

"I will return you to Konoha, whether you come willingly or not." The blond one said confidently.

"Tch! The day that happens is the day that an Uchiha like me actually loses to a class dobe like you!" the other boy smirked.

"Heh, cocky as always, eh? We'll see..."

The two tensed and their eyes narrowed in concentration, waiting to see who would move first. None of them spoke a word as lightning suddenly struck in the middle of them both, casting a bright light that showed the injuries the boys had for a split-second. The genin took the lightning as their cue and leaped off their respective statues, their hands at their fronts, pointed at the other boy as they yelled their opponent's name.

"NARUTOOOO!"

"SASUKEEEE!"

A loud explosion could be heard over the valley, drowning out the sounds created by the current weather. A hand covered in lightning met with one that held a powerful, spiralling sphere of blue energy as their figures collided high above the river. A strong gust of wind made by the power clash blew away from the young shinobi, causing even the mightiest trees in the area to bend. A dark-purplish orb consumed the two as their techniques fought for dominance over the other's. Sasuke saw the now red eyes of his ex-teammate and flinched, his concentration paused for a second; his lightning covered hand slipped from where it collided with the other boy's and went straight through his chest. Sasuke momentarily froze in shock and the blonde boy used the opening to gain the upper hand as he pushed the dark-haired boy away.

"RAAAAHHHH!"

With a cry, the orange-wearing genin managed to overpower dark-haired one and pushed him to the bottom of the valley. Sasuke crashed into the earth, creating a rather large crater.

"H-How..." the boy thought, "How did Naruto beat me?"

Not long afterwards, Naruto himself fell to the ground and, though weak and tired from the fight, managed to land on his feet. The hole in his chest no longer bleeding and was momentarily filled with red chakra.

"I told you... I'd beat you... Teme..." the jinchuuriki panted, "Now let's go back, that stupid hickey the snake gave you is… messing you up..."

Naruto limped over to Sasuke and lifted him up and placed one of Sasuke's arms around his neck to support him. He looked towards the direction of Konoha.

"Damn it... We just had to land on the side of the valley that was AWAY from the village..." the boy cursed in his mind. "Well, complaining isn't gonna help us get there faster now is it..."

The young Uzumaki pulled the silent Uchiha up and he slowly made his way to the river as he began the slow and no doubt painful trek back to their birth-place.

"Why..."

Naruto stopped when the "Last" Uchiha broke the silence between them.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you come for me… was it because it was the Hokage's orders? Because Sakura asked you to? Or did someone bribe you with ninjutsu to come after me..." Sasuke asked. He was looking down while the other boy dragged him. Naruto smiled and continued on, slowly limping to the edge of the small land on which the statue of Madara Uchiha stood on.

"Well, me promising to Sakura that I'd get you back is a small part of why, and I guess being ordered by Baa-chan helped by giving me a reason to go after you without having to sneak out of the village," Naruto answered and Sasuke turned his gaze to the now grinning boy. "But it was mostly because of the fact that, while you probably see me as a mere annoyance, I see you as my own brother."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as Naruto continued to speak.

"Out of everyone in our age group, you're the only one who can understand me. Well, at least to a certain degree. You understand the pain of not having anyone close to you. The pain of not having anyone to pick you up when you're down, the pain of being alone. Most of all, you know how it feels to be treated differently because of something that happened to you at a young age." Naruto chuckled, "Plus, you can't deny that ever since the formation of Team 7, it's like the hole created by that pain has been filled up, even by just a little bit. Yeah?"

Naruto looked back down at Sasuke who was gazing at the ground, contemplating on what he had just heard. He reminisced about the memories he had during his childhood as well as his time on Team 7, he remembered the pain he felt when he found out about his older brother killing everyone from his clan, when he lost everyone close to him… But he also remembered feeling happy when Team 7 was first formed, when they trained together, when they did missions together, even when they did ridiculous things together, like when they tried to get Kakashi to take his mask off his face. He grew a smile. Naruto was right... Team 7 did help with the pain of being alone. When he was with them, he felt like... he felt like he had a family again. Naruto stopped moving, causing him to look up only to see the large body of water in front of the two of them.

"Now, how are we supposed to cross this amount of water...?" Naruto thought out loud.

"Well, you're the only one out of the two of us that can actually walk... otouto..." Naruto's head quickly snapped towards Sasuke. It was now his eyes that widened in shock. After a few seconds of processing, a face-splitting grin appeared on his face.

"Well, you're the one who usually thinks of the plans when Kakashi-sensei or Sakura-chan can't. Any bright ideas, nii-san?"

Now Sasuke had a grin of his own too. Before he could respond, a rustle in the trees got their attention as their lazy sensei appeared with one of his summons, Pakkun. His usually calm posture was replaced by a panicking and alert one. He frantically looked around and slightly relaxed as he spotted them but quickly became tense again once he saw the state they were in. He ran toward them and easily jumped the river and landed in front of the two.

"Naruto! Sasuke!"

"Heheh... 'bout time you got here sensei. Hey, do me a favour and... Get Sasuke... to the hospital..." The blonde laughed weakly before passing out, the twin cries of his name from his teacher and brother were the last things he heard before everything went black.

[Konoha Hospital]

"Gaaah!"

Naruto sprung up from his bed before falling back down, his hand clutching his chest as burning pain erupted from the area.

"W-What happened?" he looked around the room he was currently in, studying the porcelain-white walls.

"Grr... You nearly died that's what!", a deep, loud, growling voice resonated in his head, "Damn it, every time I either take a nap or you take ONE step outside of this Kami forsaken village, you nearly lose your life, otouto!"

"Uhh... Heheh, sorry Kurama-nii. I just can't help the fact that near-death situations always find me." The injured boy laughed nervously. A few silent minutes passed, making Naruto even more nervous than he already was.

"Damn right you're sorry..." The bijuu finally grumbled before returning to his interrupted nap.

Naruto let out the breath he didn't know he was holding in relief. He looked around the room once more, recognizing it as a hospital room. He slowly slid off the bed, hissing in pain as he stood up, he then turned to the full-body mirror beside his bed and looked over his heavily bandaged form. He was dressed in a hospital gown and bandages framed his face and wrapped around his arms. He looked down at his chest which was bleeding, if the bloody bandages were any indication. He absentmindedly felt the wrapping around his chest, he flinched when a chakra signature suddenly appeared inside the room he was in. He quickly spun to face the figure only to wince as his injuries felt as if they were burning. He managed to stay on his feet and saw the black-haired, turtle-masked ANBU who had shunshined into his room and was holding a clean set of his orange jumpsuit. The ANBU threw the jumpsuit at Naruto who caught it with slight difficulty as a distinctly female voice was heard clearly through the turtle mask.

"Uzumaki-san, you have been called to a meeting." Naruto just blinked silently at this for a few seconds before replying.

"Alright… Let me just get changed out of this annoying gown first-" the room suddenly blurred and spiralled into a small hole, as if it was being sucked in by some sort of powerful force. The hospital patient brought his arms up to cover his face as chairs and IVs flew past his face and into the miniature black hole in front of him. Once the whole area was sucked in, the odd abnormality in space-time suddenly spat out Konoha's council room and the blonde found himself facing the Civilian Council along with the three Konoha Elders, dressed in the jumpsuit he was just holding a few seconds ago before the hole transported him. The senseis of his graduating class's genin teams were standing off to the side, along with the other eight genin themselves and Team Gai.

"Uzumaki Naruto, the council has decided your fate. Due to you harming a fellow leaf ninja and the disturbing amount of times you have used the demon Kyuubi's chakra, the council has chosen to punish you. To prevent any danger befalling unto Konoha from the possibility of the fox's release, you have been sentenced to death, by public execution!" said Danzo, one of the three Konoha Elders. He was an old, black-haired man who was supporting himself with a cane and had an X-like scar on his chin and bandages wrapped around his left eye and left arm.

Naruto hung his head, he was expecting something like this from the moment he was told of the meeting. After all, even though they stopped attacking him in mobs when he graduated from the academy because of the rules against civilians attacking leaf shinobi, the village still treated him with hatred and disdain. The Jōnin had narrowed their eyes and had suspicious looks on their faces, knowing that the "punishment" was mostly because of their animosity towards the Kyuubi being directed at the young blond. The eleven genin standing with them gasped and started crying out objections towards their "decision", even the usually stoic Shino and Neji started to yell. They had been informed beforehand about Naruto's connection with the demon fox who had attacked their birthplace years ago and, unlike the ignorant adults that the Civilian Council was comprised of, they understood that Naruto was not the Kyuubi himself. Only it's jailer.

"No WAY! Council, must rethink this decision!" Shikamaru shouted.

"WHAT?! Naruto doesn't deserve execution. All those times he used the Kyuubi's chakra was only when his fellow leaf shinobi were in danger!" Sakura added.

"Yes, Uzumaki-san does not deserve death. During our match in the Chūnin Exams, he could have used the demon's power the disable me instantly at the beginning. Instead, he only started to use the chakra once I had blocked his tenketsu and was nearly unable to move." Neji exclaimed.

"Naruto only used the demonic chakra when my mind and body was under the control of Orochimaru's curse mark! The vile power that the seal had used to corrupt my mind was too strong for Naruto to fight against without the Kyuubi's help. It was because of his usage of the chakra that I am even here in the first place! It is true that if it were not for him using the chakra, I would not be as injured as I am, but it is also a fact that without the Kyuubi's help during our fight, I would not have been able to clear my mind from the curse mark's influence in time and would have been in Orochimaru's clutches right now." Sasuke retorted to the council's charges, while the rest of the genin cried out in agreement. The Civilian Council look scandalized, their faces showed horror as the young children, especially the "last" Uchiha, were yelling in the "demon child"'s defence.

"No… The demon has corrupted the village's young! How could we have not been able to see this sooner?!" a fat, balding, male merchant bellowed.

"I am afraid they may be too far gone… as much as it pains me to say this, we must execute them as well. It is the least we can do for the poor, innocent children who have fallen into the demon's influence. May they rest in peace." A rich, lanky, man who looked as if he was just skin and bones said in dismay.

When the Civilian Council member said this, it was now Naruto and the Jōnin that yelled out in anger.

"This trial was supposed to be just about MY punishment, why are you intending to harm them as well?!" Naruto yelled in anger, his eyes starting to turn into a slightly purplish colour.

"Who do you think you are to order the execution of these twelve genin?!" Kurenai cried out, she stretched her arm to the side, gesturing to the rookie shinobi standing beside her.

"Especially when seven of which are CLAN HEIRS?" Asuma added, emphasizing the last two words.

"I find the missing presences of the Hokage and the Shinobi half of the Konoha Council very disturbing, as well as VERY suspicious. Making decisions such as these and then carrying them out without their consent is considered treason. And is an instant sentence to death." Kakashi growled, lowering himself into a fighting stance. His lone, visible eye narrowing even more in suspicion and he moved to reveal his sharingan eye when he saw that the Civilian Council was starting to sweat nervously. Fortunately for them, Danzo had come to their rescue.

"Because of the infiltration of Orochimaru's four best ninja when they came to communicate with Uchiha Sasuke, the Hokage and Shinobi Council are out busy with both checking and upgrading every single defence this village has. We have taken it upon ourselves to deal with small matters such as these as they are busy with more important problems. With the current actions that you are doing right now, I find you three a threat to the safety of the council members present. However much of an asset you may be, we cannot have any loose cannons at this point in time.", the half-blind, elder said calmly, "No matter. Uzumaki Naruto will not get a public execution…"

The eyes of the shinobi, the Council Members and the two other Elders widened at this, and the genin started to smile.

"…instead, you Jōnin and all you traitorous genin will be executed HERE AND NOW! ANBU!"

Before the shinobi could even say anything, everyone but Naruto had a tantō shoved straight through their chests which were wielded by white-masked ANBU. The blonde could not do anything as chains wrapped around his hands and ankles, keeping him from moving. The room once again spun into a small black hole and he saw the pained expressions on the faces of his friends before they disappeared along with the Elders and Civilian Council. He was now alone, still bound in the Council Room, but there was an ANBU member in front of him who was a blue-haired male wearing a pure white mask and was kneeling with his head down.

"What the heck is going o-" but before he could finish his sentence, the walls of the room the two were in turned from white to pitch black, and red light illuminated the area. Confused, Naruto tried to take a few steps back, but the chains prevented him from doing so.

"What the f-" Naruto stopped speaking once again when he turned to the only other occupant in the room, who suddenly grew 30 feet tall, breaking the whole room except for a small piece of the floor which Naruto was standing on. The eyeholes of the ANBU mask shone an ominous yellow colour and the older shinobi's visible skin turned into a scaly and reptilian red. The bottom half of his mask broke and showed a mouth filled with sharp, jagged teeth as the transformed male gave the injured boy a menacing grin.

"It was all your fault demon… because of you, because of your WEAKNESS and lack of defiance… they died. They all had such great futures ahead of them too, especially the young genin. But their lives were taken from them at a time too soon. All because of you… I received a mission neither from the Hokage nor the Council. At first I was reluctant, but after knowing about all your wrongdoings, I am all too happy to finish it." The monster pounced on him, the last thing he saw were the evil yellow eyes and the jagged-teeth-filled mouth of the monster before-

[Unknown Area]

"*GASP* Da- *pant*… Damn it… *pant*", a male hooded figure sprung up from their perch up on a tree inside a forest, nearly slipping off the branch they were lying on, he panted for a few minutes, his heart pounding in his chest before it finally calmed down. "*Sigh*… No sleep for this night either huh…"

The moon shone in the night sky, its light glowing bright enough to show the hooded man's appearance. The figure wore a brown, hooded cloak which was torn at the edges over an outfit comprised of an orange, short-sleeved hoodie with a black long-sleeved undershirt along with dark-blue cargo pants and red sneakers along with a face mask that cover the bottom half of his face. Covering the whole of his right arm was a tattoo of a nine-tailed fox and there were two dog tags attached to the thin chain wrapped around the male's neck. One had the kanji for "nine" engraved on one side and the kanji for "bijuu" on the other, the second tag had the Uzumaki clan symbol engraved on the front and the kanji for "Banished Demon" on the back. The figure pulled their cloak's hood off; showing spiky, yellow hair that shined in the moonlight and piercing crimson eyes that spun back into a calm cerulean. The young man sighed and laid his back to the tree once more, intending to stay awake for the rest of the night. On the branch across where the blue-eyed man was sitting on, was a blood-red, multi-tailed fox. Its eyes open and alert, staring at the mysterious character before it.

"Again, kit? After all these years, you still can't get a single wink of sleep in peace…" it muttered, laying down on the branch and laid its head on its paws. Yawning, it said "At least don't do anything strenuous before dawn, we can't stay in one spot for too long so we have to conserve energy. We've overstayed our welcome here for too long already."

The young man across the fox sighed in agreement, his tense body relaxing slightly. "Yeah, Beach City is quite far away. It's also the only place we can go to right now with him breathing down our necks…"

The spiky-haired figure just looked up at the sky, studying the stars and moon.

'This is just great… we get a chance to live in peace, and then that annoying guy shows up and keeps us from going wherever we want without having to look behind our backs…' the blue-eyed male thought to himself before muttering, "Well, it's night watch for me again. As always…"

He closed his eyes as he relaxed and closed his eyes. Enhancing his sensing ability, he started his usual watch on whether someone had followed them to their location or not. He absentmindedly brought a hand to above his heart when the scar upon it started to ache slightly, feeling the bump that was the strange item imbedded into his flesh. The young man, whose eyes were still closed, didn't notice the crimson eye that was studying him for a moment before closing.

'*sigh*This was supposed to be another chance of a normal life for you… but another stupid human is making it his goal in life to make yours miserable once more…' The fox thought in his mind sadly. 'You're starting to bottle up your emotions again and are starting to build up another mask, otouto. If only we could find the others that are similar to you on this planet, you would be able to talk to them without being thought of differently. And maybe, just maybe, you can create new bonds similar to the ones you once had and will start feeling the happiness you were denied in the past… Naruto.'

IMPORTANT

Crazy7634: Hey, guys! If you've read up to here, then I'd like to thank you for giving this story some of your time. If you liked it, then please do read more. If not, then I am fine with that. Everyone has their likes and dislikes, and more often than not, they vary from person to person.

Now, I've received a few messages about how the ANBU managed to kill skilled Jonins whose guards up easily. The thing is, they can't do that. It's impossible. Well, not impossible, but maybe a bit on the highly unlikely side. Remember, most of the happenings when Naruto was in Konoha, in case you are one of the people who haven't realized it yet even with the repeated appearances of "black holes", are merely warped memories of that time. Sure, they still hold a bit of the truth, but they aren't completely accurate; far from it. Why? Because he was having a nightmare.

There was also a message about the fact that the Civilian Council is not canon and is overused. Yes, I know that it isn't canon. ANY Naruto fan would know that. As far as we know, the only council that Konoha had was the one made up of Homura Mitokado, Danzo Shimura and Koharu Utatane. As for it being overused, well considering the size of the village, I'm pretty sure there's gotta be at least one representative for the non-shinobi faction of the village. You know, to reassure them that the trained assassins living in the same area as them won't slit their throats as they sleep. Also, no, the shinobi clans' representatives and the Hokage did not just sit back and let the civilians have their way. The civilian council's involvement in Naruto's banishment and how they managed to be able to do so will be explained in a later chapter.

I hope that this message has cleared things up, and I hope to see you readers in either the future chapters of this story, or maybe in a review in my other stories. Have a good day! :)