Walking into the graveyard, he knew he shouldn't be here. He knew just who was watching him weave in and out of the crowd of tombstones heading for one grave. It wasn't hard to guess which grave, it had been the very same grave the he had visited for years.
Wild golden blonde hair seemed to blow in the breeze as he sank to his knees, tears welled up in eyes so blue they could almost capture the sun from the sky. Tanned fingers traced the name on the tombstone, the name of a boy that had ambitions that drove him to the edge. An edge that one Uzumaki Naruto had driven him off of.
Naruto was just a kid when it happened, a genin in the eyes of the shinobi world. Still, being a shinobi made one an adult in some eyes. Old enough to kill, old enough to smoke or even drink. Naruto's Shinobi career had never been looked at as one of promise, he was a nameless orphan; no great clan he could claim to be a part of. He had scratched and clawed his way to becoming someone worthy of his village's praise.
He had helped another village and became a hero in the eyes of their people, to his own people he was known for stopping the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi one his own. But that meant nothing, he had tarnished any chance of worth he had in the eyes of his village when he killed someone he never meant to.
He had orders from the Hokage, to capture or eliminate one Uchiha Sasuke. The one that held the love of the entire village but threw it all away for the sake of power. Sasuke had been corrupted by a curse mark, given to him by Orochimaru of the Sound village. The promise of power given to him from a Sannin was too much temptation for the boy who swore he would kill his own brother. It was no long wait for Sasuke to make up his mind and leave the Hidden Leaf village to claim the power dangled in front of him.
Tearing his hand away from the tombstone, Naruto ran his hands through his hair. Pulling on the roots as the memories continued.
Naruto and a team lead by Nara Shikamaru was formed for the sole purpose of stopping the Uchiha from leaving. Sasuke hadn't traveled alone however, with him had been the Sound's elite. Calling themselves the Sound Four, they were masters of their chosen art. Even worse was that each of them had their own curse mark.
Naruto had watched one by one as his team mates took on their own foe. It had been agreed upon that Naruto would go after Sasuke, none of the other's had been a part of the team Naruto and Sasuke were. To send out another not knowing just what Sasuke was capable of, was foolish. However none of them knew just what Naruto was capable of either.
By now, Naruto's body was hunched over, his forehead touching the ground as tears ran down his face.
The battle had been long, waring on both mind and body. In the end the winning factor had been Naruto's tenant. The Kyuubi no Kitsune had purposely flooded Naruto's tenkestu with its demonic chakra. The flood of such potent chakra had caused a two-tailed shroud to envelope the blonde.
Sasuke himself had been driven mad by the power of the curse mark given to him by Orochimaru. His body twisted by the cursed chakra, barely considered human with hand-like wings and darkened grey skin. Once raven locks had lengthen and greyed as they splayed out behind him like a furious mane. All trace of the Sasuke that Naruto had known was gone in an instant.
Many would say that was when the line between friend and foe had blurred. Demonic red eyes clashed with golden cursed orbs as they charged, with Rasengan and Chidori in hand. It was a mere stroke of luck that Sasuke's Chidori had missed the mark, hitting Naruto's shoulder.
Sasuke himself had not been so lucky.
Naruto's demonic Rasengan had hit its mark. The orb of violently spinning chakra had forced itself through flesh and bone, tearing a hole into the Uchiha's chest. The moment that Naruto's hand felt the chilled air after heated flesh brought Naruto out of Kyuubi's chakra induced rage. It was ice running through his veins.
The moment Naruto's eyes locked onto the now vacant eyes of his rival's was an eternity. Even as they fell into the water below, Naruto couldn't will his body to move. It was as though his very mind had shut down, locked onto a signal thought.
He killed Uchiha Sasuke. He, Uzumaki Naruto, had killed Uchiha Sasuke.
The impact and rush of water around Naruto roused him. Summoning Kage Bushin he pulled not only himself but the twisted body of his now dead rival. As though a twisted act of karma, death had not reverted Sasuke's body. The creature that lay before him on the bank looked like demon.
No, Naruto thought shaking his head, not a demon. In death Sasuke looked like an angel, twisted by his lust for power and thirst for vengeance. It was Naruto who was the demon, the beast who had ended the Uchiha line of Konoha.
With that thought the contents of Naruto's stomach emptied, turning to the water Naruto froze. His chin was caked in blood, his blood ran colder still as he saw the shroud around him. As scared as he was, Naruto looked like a demon. What was worse, he looked like a fox.
"Naruto…What have you done…"
Shame crushed Naruto's body as he recalled the face of his Sensei.
Hatake Kakashi stood at the edge of the forest, a kunai in hand as the shroud around Naruto vanished. One visible gray eye looked between Naruto and the body of Sasuke between them.
That body would forever act as a line between the two.
After that moment, Kakashi himself had told many all he saw when he saw Naruto was the Kyuubi's shroud and Sasuke's blood on the blonde. It was something that tortured the young blonde. It was no rare sight to see Naruto kneeling at the grave of Sasuke. Begging the departed raven for the forgiveness he would never receive from Kakashi.
The Council of Konoha was divided on what to do. Though the civilian half of the Council wanted Naruto executed, the Shinobi half over-ruled the execution order. The issue of the Uchiha's defection was a Shinobi matter, as a military village the civilians had no choice but to bite their tongues. This however did nothing to stop their rage.
Naruto shifted and slowly rolled onto his knees, his head hung lowly.
Despite the kill order, many in Konoha shunned the blonde further. The word murder followed him every day, even in a village filled with killers. Naruto's relationship with the rest of the Rookie 9 had been altered all together. Those whom had been on the team to bring Sasuke back gave him comfort, even taking him into shops that would otherwise throw him out. Then there were those like his team mate Haruno Sakura.
The moment Naruto had brought back the body of Sasuke, the young rosette has declared Naruto her enemy. The killer of her dreams of becoming Sasuke's wife and being known for more than just another civilian born Kunoichi. Sea foam green eyes glared at the blonde with such hate, he couldn't help but to back away. Yaminaka Ino had a very similar reaction until she took the time to look at Naruto's own state of condition.
Naruto couldn't help but hug his shoulders as he hunched forward.
His clothing was torn, his blood had managed to trail from the valley of ends to Konoha. It was hard to tell whose blood covered him more, Sasuke's or his own. His hair was matted down with blood and sweat, his sides and back riddled with cuts and bruises that were healing. Naruto's body shook with shame and pain when he set down the body of Sasuke, the reaction from the crowd had been of horror. At first from the state of both boys, then the realization that the Uchiha line was purged from Konoha completely.
The sudden shift from concern to burning hate had brought Naruto back to the time when he was just a small child. The whispers of "demon" had spread through the crowd like wild fire, growing until the word was being shouted. The word had taken Naruto aback, it had been months since he had heard that word. Now it was being thrown at him with venomous hate, all for his loyalty to his Hokage. Looking around the faces of the crowd, Naruto could see those who refused to fall into the blind hate.
Those who refused to throw out the word had instead come to his aid, shielding him from the anger of the villagers. Of those who had come to his defense had been Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba. To his surprise, even Yaminaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata ran from the crowd to his side. Shikamaru had been prepared from such an end and produced the original document of the mission. Signed and sealed by the very Hokage, the scroll had been passed throughout the angered crowd. The kill order was at the very bottom, written in a bold red ink, sanctioned by the Hokage if the Uchiha heir had indeed turned on Konoha.
A bitter laugh tore through his throat. His eyes tightly closed as tears continued to fall.
"Sasuke…Forgive me." Naruto whispered, his broken voice almost lost on the wind.
He had enough, he had lost everything but his will to wait and forgive. The village had all broken him in its rage. He was their Jinchuuriki, their weapon to do the impossible. He didn't hate them, he knew this was his punishment for killing Sasuke.
Senju Tsunade had never wished for Naruto to be used as a weapon. It was the will of the council that he be forced to undergo the training to control the Bijuu Chakra as many other Jinchuuriki had. It was painful, the evil that flooded his coils every time he used it was addictive. It was easy for him to lose himself in the will of the Kyuubi, eager to kill all those who would try to kill its host. Naruto himself had finally given in, he could no longer fight the fact that he was a demon.
Falling to his side, Naruto listened to his own sobs as a small voice seemed to whisper on the wind. Naruto's eyes widened before his eyes dulled as more tears fell to the ground, his answer had never changed. In all of his pleading for forgiveness, only one word greeted him.
"Never…"