I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters herein. The storyline however, is all MINE!

"Hello" character speech
'Hello' character though
HELLO character yelling or emphasizing a statement
Hello Kyubi speech


Chapter 1: Mixing of Souls

"What are you talking about Naruto!? I've told you to stop asking me out on a date. I'm not interested! Can't you get that through your thick skull!? Stop bugging me, you annoying little pain in the ass!" The pink haired young woman glared at the young man, a huff of indignation in her voice. This was the fourth time this week alone he'd asked her on a date, and she'd finally had enough.

"Come on Sakura, why can't you just go out with me one time? Do I annoy you so much you can't even just go get some food together?"

"YES!" she screamed. "Naruto, you have to be the most annoying person I've ever met in my life! I'm not interested, okay! Let me spell it out for you. GO AWAY! Right now I'd like nothing more than to put my fist through your face. If I see you again in the next week, I swear by all that's holy I'll wring your neck! I hate you, now go the FUCK away!" she yelled some more, storming away huffing loudly.

Naruto, the young man in question, stood there watching his crushes' back recede in the distance, tears threatening to pour down his face. 'Does she really hate me?'He slunk away, retreating back to his run down apartment to try to repair his damaged emotions. Sakura had told him off before, but she'd never told him she hated him before, and it stung him on several levels. He left his body on auto-pilot, letting his body take care of itself as he allowed his mind to recede into a turmoil of emotional rejection and self loathing. He never remembered eating dinner, taking a shower, or for that matter even going to sleep.

At some point Naruto woke up, stabbing pain coursing through his mid section like nothing he'd ever felt before. A ragged gasp escaped his lips as he curled into the fetal position. It felt as if a machete had been driven through his stomach and then turned, ripping him open even more. In a haze he lifted his sleep shirt up, seeing the ragged seal placed by his father almost 17 years ago, glowing in an angry red light.

His mind screamed internally. 'KYUBI! What in the blazing blue FUCK are you doing you damn fox!' Naruto could feel the seal weakening, the demon forcing it's way past the bars which made up it's cage for over one and a half decades.

I've told you many times before Kit, I will not be contained! I will tear my way out of you and then wipe this village from the face of the Earth for imprisoning me! I WILL NOT BE CONTAINED!

Naruto felt another stabbing pain, as yet another section of the seal on his stomach was torn away, leaving Naruto whimpering in pain. 'I can't lose to this beast of a demon!' he thought. 'If I do nothing else, I MUST beat Kyubi one way or another.' On shaking limbs, Naruto managed to crawl toward his weapon pack. Before he made it, another wave of excruciating pain erupted from his stomach. He felt as if Hell itself was embedded in his body, trying to consume his body and mind. He picked up a wicked looking kunai, one designed specifically for assassinations, and thrust the blade deeply into his stomach, right in the middle of the seal pattern.

'If Sakura hates me, I'll remove her reason. However, I RUFUSE, to let you get out of me and threaten her and the rest of this world demon! I'll die, and you'll die with me!' Naruto pulled the blade out before he plunged it back into his side, hitting one of his kidneys. Again, the kunai came out, before puncturing a lung. Another stab, another organ hit, until Naruto was beyond feeling pain. One final thrust of the kunai and it would all be over. He looked down at the blade, bright red, dripping with his life blood. He aimed the small knife between a pair of ribs, toward the center of his chest at the last organ he had that wasn't damaged, but which hurt more than any other. "Good bye, Sakura-Chan." he said weakly, and then pulled the blade through his body, one last time.

With the internal injuries his body had sustained, Naruto was beyond his senses. He felt the demon raging within him, and could feel it's fear. Kyubi was fighting to heal Narutos' body, even as the demon struggled to break through the final two layers of the seal holding it in its prison. However, the boys' body was already shutting down, unable to function with almost every vital organ damaged either severely, if not utterly destroyed. 'Heh, the beast can rage all it wants, he can't heal the willing dead' was Narutos' final thought before blackness took him.

Kyubi was fighting the dying body every second, but each time it tried to focus on breaking out of the seal, the body shut down faster than it could have broken out. Kyubi, the great Nine-Tailed Fox demon, for the first time in his existence, was looking death in the face. No, I won't go out like this! Beaten by a mere mortal, and a kit at that!In a snarl of hatred, Kyubi did the one thing he could think of to save his life, and by extension his killer.

With a grunt of effort Kyubi grabbed Naruto's soul, wrenching it away from death itself before pulling the soul toward himself, wrapping his body around the soul of his prisoner/executioner. In a grunt of frustration, rage, hatred, fear, and a drive to live, Kyubi forced all his power into the soul as he drew power from Naruto's soul, mixing his essence with Naruto. Two minds became one as the experiences of both human and demon molded into a single selective consciousness.

The combined power from Kyubi and Naruto fused Naruto's body, forcing the body to heal even as tails of chakra formed on his body. First one, then two more, then a forth, until nine blood red tails trailed behind his body, each twitching in unfelt pain from the bodily transformation. His fingernails and toe nails grew, sharpening and hardening until they could puncture through even the hardest of armor. Naruto's unseen eyes molded away, replaced by ones both deepest red and darkest Cerulean, left eye red on top with blue on bottom, whereas his right eye was an opposite of his left, vertical slits for pupils. His teeth had sharpened, not to the point of fox teeth but sharper than any normal humans'. Small chakra fox ears formed on his head, leaning backward but capable of pointing any direction.

In a blinding flash of power and light, the Chakra appendages that had sprouted around Naruto's body became flesh and blood, as if they had always been a part of him. The sudden drain of energy from the transformation was enough to finally quell the being they had before. Only time would tell if the new being would be like Naruto, or Kyubi.

Naruto slowly woke up, vision slowly coming into focus as his vivid dream cleared away. 'Man, where in the hell did that dream come from?' He stretched out, feeling his joints popping loudly, a yawn escaping his lips. "That was the worst nightmare I've ever had." he said in a feral voice. "What the…? What's wrong with my voice?" He felt an odd sensation coming from somewhere behind him, as if he had many hands writhing behind him in his sudden jolt of emotion. With a gulp, he turned his head to stare behind him, seeing the nine blood red tails waving around. "WHAT!?" he screamed, causing the entire apartment complex to shake.

Naruto bolted upright, suddenly appearing before his mirror to gaze horror-struck at his reflection. 'No, no, noooo! What in the hell happened to me!' 'KYUBI! Damn it you stupid fox, what in the hell did you do to me!?' The demon didn't answer. 'ANSWER ME DAMN YOU!' Still nothing. "I don't believe this. First I get treated like a demon just cause one was sealed in me, now it looks like I've BECOME one. Great, just FUCKING AWESOME!"

Shut up you stupid kit, I'm trying to sleep here!Naruto stopped short, looking around for the voice he'd heard. If you're looking for me kit, all you need to do it look into the mirror.

"Fox, you're NOT being funny right now. What in the hell did you do to me?!" Naruto looked back into the mirror, taking in his eyes, fox ears, fangs, and tails. "Why do I look like a fox human hybrid?"

No kit, you should ask the question, 'why did I try to kill myself last night and force this on myself'. This is what happens when a demon faces it's destruction, we do things we'd normally never even think about. In your case, I merged with you to save both our lives. The demon chuckled in Naruto's mind. How's it feel to become what you were always feared to be Kit? You are now, at least partially, a demon. The fox laughed maniacally.

With a dejected sigh, Naruto looked away from the mirror, as tears formed in his eyes. "I'd have rather died than be mixed with the likes of you. Even now, I can feel the power coursing through my body, yearning to escape. Your anger and rage, hate and despair, it's eating away at me. Your memories, haunting in their sheer vastness, are trying to poison me to humanity." His eyes hardened. "I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU!"

Naruto reared back, an over head chop of his fist colliding with the floor causing the entire building to shake, a hole forming from his room all the way to the ground level. It was too much for Naruto, and he howled at the early morning sun. Without bothering to fix the apartment or collecting his things, Naruto flash stepped to the Hokage Tower, entering Tsunades' office to find her still past out on her desk.

"Tsunade!" he rasped, his voice as feral as ever. Her eyes popped open, taking in the appearance of the being before her before she even recognized him. She was in a defensive fighting stance before his voice even fully registered to her. "Tsunade, it's me! Naruto!"

She stopped, peering defensively at the young man before her. "Naruto? What in the name of Kami happened to you!?"

He shook his head sadly. "Long story short, Kyubi made his attempt at freedom last night. I couldn't stop him, so I did the only thing I could think of to stop him. I tried to kill myself." Tsunade gasped at him, eyes wide. He narrated how he'd stabbed himself repeatedly with a kunai, before he finally lost consciousness. "I've talked a little with my Kyubi side since I woke up. I couldn't heal myself, and he wasn't able to break out before I would have died, so he did the only thing he could to survive. He merged his soul and power with mine as I died. It's caused some… changes to me." He grunted in pain, a wave of killing intent from Kyubi escaping before Naruto clamped back down on the demon.

"We merged, I'm as much Kyubi as he is me now. Tsunade, I can't stay here anymore. I can barely hold him back right now, he still wants the destroy this village, and I don't know if I can stop him. I'm leaving, don't try to stop me."

Naruto and Tsunade were both startled by the door opening, a pink haired girl walking in a foot before coming to a sudden stop, her gaze locked onto Naruto. Upon seeing the girl who had broken his heart, on more occasions than the being could remember, the demon side lost it, raging within him to destroy the cause of it's pain. Much like a wounded animal, the boy slunk away from the girl, eyes glaring murderously at her as a vicious growl escaped his lips. "Sakura, get out of here!" yelled Tsunade, but she was too late.

Naruto lunged forward, a hand wrapping around the girls' neck, pinning her to the wall, claws threatening to tear her throat out. "You!" he said, voice deepening with murderous rage dripping from each syllable. "I trusted you, I bled for you, I nearly died for you, and how did you repay me!? You tell me you hate me, threat me, hit me, spit on my feelings!" His hand tightened even more, scarlet blood trickling down her neck from where his claws had broken the skin. "I loved you! I sacrificed my very life for you, my humanity! I tried to kill myself last night so the Kyubi wouldn't escape his sealed prison, and what do I get, but to become that which I was feared as? I'm no longer the container of Kyubi, I'm a mixture of Kyubi and Naruto, a half demon freak!" His hand loosened, allowing her to finally breath.

"Tsunade!" he yelled, his eyes never leaving Sakura's now tear stained ones. "I'm leaving. As long as I'm in control, Kyubi will never harm this village. However, I suggest you prepare for the worst. I might not always be in control." His eyes lost some of their anger, his hand releasing Sakura's neck. "As for you," he said, then turned away from her, not seeing her hand reach out to grab him. "I'm through with you Sakura. Don't follow me, don't look for me. Don't even think about me. You shouldn't have any problems with that, after all you 'hate' me, right?"

He made a punching motion at the far wall, sending a shockwave across the room and through the wall before disappearing through the hole, not even looking back at the two crying females. One cried for the son she was losing, the other for her outburst of anger, which she only now realized how bad a mistake it was. "Naruto, I'm sorry! NARUTOOOOOOOOOO!" The scream of anguish was heard throughout the entire village, but fell on his deaf ears as he ran from the village he called home, Konoha.


1 Year later

A man slunk through the shadows, stalking a man wearing a black robe, red clouds dotting its surface. The mans' breathing was labored from running, his blood loss compounding his predicament. He didn't know what kind of man the person was who had attacked him and his comrades. The man wasn't human, couldn't be human the way he'd fought. Attack after attack from the renegade group hit the man, only to see his wounds regenerate as fast as they would happen. It only seemed to piss the being off.

Hidan had attempted to cut the guys head off with his weapon, foregoing his normal rituals of pain. His weapon had been stopped dead by the beings' open palm! Kakuze had landed a punch right to the guys' face, but it had barely even moved his head and only seemed to amuse the guy! 'Pain, Konan, Zetsu, Kisame; all of them were dead! How could one man take on four of the most powerful ninja alive, much less at the same time? It shouldn't be possible! These men captured Jinchuuriki for sport!' "How could one man possess such power!" Itachi yelled to no one in particular.

"When a man is no longer human." a soft voice spoke. Itachi's blood ran cold as ice, his body locked up in fear. "Farewell Akatsuki, you will not be missed." With that the man struck, driving his hand through Itachi's back before grabbing a section of his spine, ripping the bone and nerve column in his hand out of his back. Beyond pain, Itachi fell to the ground, blood running down from the corner of his mouth. An axe kick to the head later, Itachi lay dead on the ground.

His attacker, a tall blond-haired man, looked up at the sky howling in triumph. He had finally removed the organization that had hunted him since the age of fifteen. About damn time Kit! You should have just finished the guy off hours ago, not run up and down the countryside after him!

The blond chuckled inwardly. "Where's the fun in that? I'd have thought you liked the time out of your cage. Besides, he deserved it anyway." The mans' tails became visible, the genjetsu hiding his fox-like features being dropped for the first time in hours. "Ah that's more like it." One of Naruto's tails wrapped around Itachi's body, ensuring it wouldn't be dropped before Naruto turned south-east. "I'm gonna go collect those rings and headbands. Jiraiya didn't die fighting these guys for nothing. Akatsuki won't ever form again, I'll see to that!" His voice dropped an octave, becoming even more feral than normal.

Kit, there's a ninja following us, about two hundred yards behind us. The fox released a predatory chuckle. Wanna have some fun?

Naruto sent his senses behind him, finally noticing the ninja. 'Wood element, huh so I guess Yamoto finally came.'"Naw, he's no threat to us. He's a Konoha Anbu, no big deal. I'll meet him before we leave the area. First things' first…" Naruto disappeared, appearing behind another ninja two miles away from where he was before. "I thought I'd told you not to follow me." Before the ninja could even turn toward his voice, he was once again gone.

The ninja, a pink haired kunoichi, looked around her, trying to find the owner of the voice she had searched for the last year. 'Naruto, please just stop moving long enough for me to see you!' She hugged herself, the distinct feeling that she was being watched from somewhere imposing itself upon her. "I just want to apologize." she mumbled to herself. "Is that too much to ask for Naruto?' She set back out, wandering in the direction of Yamoto and the rest of her spread out team.

A clone appeared before Yamoto, the familiar blond haired man standing tall and proud, his headband still tied across his forehead. "I take it you noticed we were watching the fight?" Naruto just nodded. "Thought so, I noticed a few times when you seemed to look right at our hiding spot. And to think I call myself an Anbu?!" the man chuckled. "Well Naruto, what are you going to do now? Are you ready to face your past, or are you just going to keep running from it?"

Naruto tilted his head, an amused expression on his face, feral grin aimed at the taller Anbu. "Tsk tsk Yamoto, you should know by now that reverse psychology doesn't work on me. Why is 'she' following me still? Does she want to spit in my face once again, or does she simply have a death wish?" Naruto released a snarl of anger, releasing a small blast of energy at a hundred foot tall tree, reducing it to splinters in a massive explosive blast. If I wanted to see you people, I know where to find you. Stop looking for me."

Naruto turned away, walking a few paces before Yamoto stopped him with a question. "Is that why you still watch her? You wish us to stop looking for you, and yet you still watch her. You forget Naruto, I can sense when you're nearby. I know you've been in Konoha in the last year, and I know where you've been. A certain roof top overlooking a certain pink haired woman's apartment if I do say so. You wish to be left alone and yet you watch us when you don't have to. Most people want you back Naruto. Your friends, your comrades, the Hokage, Konohamaru and his team, almost everyone. The few that don't want you back don't even matter, people want you back in Konoha. You brought many people a sense of peace, knowing that someone with your strength and determination watched over them. Come back with us Naruto!"

"Yamoto, if I could then I would. Look at me, I don't believe most of the village would accept me knowing I had become part of what they'd always shunned me for being. I don't just look like a demon, I AM one Yamoto. I'm just as much demon as I am human, with all the same impulses the Kyubi had before he was sealed away." He looked back at Yamoto. "There are times I can almost not control my impulses, urges to kill. Look at what I did to Itachi." He pulled a tail back, revealing the battered and broken body of the Uchiha. "That was a whim killing. I could have let the man go, or simply crushed him so fast he wouldn't have suffered. Instead I let him suffer in pain and fear for hours, HOURS, before I finally killed him." Naruto's eyes meet Yamoto's. "Do you honestly think the village would accept me after they knew I did that on a WHIM!?"

Yamoto gave a heavy sigh. "No one is perfect Naruto. We've all been there at times, wanting to see people suffer for the things they've done to us. Do you control the Kyubi, or do you let it control you? That, is the question here. The fact that you made your argument tells me you're not a demon. You care, Naruto, that's what makes you different." Yamoto looked at the young man steadily. "You might not think yourself human anymore, but we know you better Naruto. You're more human than most of us." Yamoto turned toward an approaching ninja. "Just think about it Naruto. You're not alone, and please talk with her. She's been beating herself up as it is as I'm sure you know." With that, Yamoto left toward the ninja, meeting them away from Naruto to give him time away.

Naruto looked back at the small group of ninja, a sense of homesickness overtaking him. Kiba and Akamaru, Neji, Tenten, Yamoto, and Sakura, all looking for him. He could remember missions with them all, laughter and tears, hardships and trials. Good memories, and bad, like Neji in his self centered faze bitching about fate. Tenten ignoring him, telling him to shut up or threatening to beat him into a bloody pulp during one particular mission into Wave. Yamoto during Team 7's last try to get Sasuke back, having to seal away the Kyubi's power after Naruto's fight with Orochimaru.

Lastly, there was Sakura. The hundreds of times in their early careers as ninja, degrading him as she fan-girled over Sasuke, hitting him over the head when he got exited, or said something she didn't like; each memory drove a nail through his heart, aching for when life was that simple. That time she fell asleep, her head resting on his shoulder after a long day as he tried to not even breath, for fear of it waking her. That time she had agreed to go get some ramen with him, so long as he paid. The one occasion she, Naruto, and Sasuke all laid out on the ground, peering up at the night sky, laughter filling the air. All the memories assaulted his mind, letting him relive both the good and the bad.

I say you just kill them all and be done with it. Let me take over for awhile, I'll solve your, problem. His demonic side chuckled darkly, bloodshed on it's mind.

'Tsk, you can't kill a lamb Kyubi, shut the fuck up and leave me alone.' Kyubi snarled in their head, but said no more. Naruto sighed to himself. 'I just KNOW this is going be bite me in the ass later.'he thought. With that he ran off to ghost behind the ninja team which had already started back toward Konoha.

The group of ninja sulked back, lacking the energy or drive to move at anything faster than a snails' pace compared to their normal travel speeds. They had once again failed to bring Naruto back. The team had even interacted with him, but the blond-haired man was being a stubborn pain in the ass. Kiba and Neji for their parts were more annoyed than anything else. Tenten didn't seem too fazed by the outcome, but those that knew her well could see the signs of disappointment on her face. Yamoto was a blank mask, much like his old Anbu mask.

Sakura, on the other hand, was still hurting inside. The untouched tear tracks running down her face showed her lack of concern. She was getting to the point where she just no longer cared about anything. The one person she could have depended on had turned on her, all because she couldn't keep her dumb ass mouth shut. She thought back to one year ago, thinking about the events that shattered her life.

Flashback

Sakura had been sitting at home, going over some medical jutsu books Tsunade had given her to study most of the day. Her head hurt from the sheer volume of medical data she was trying to absorb. The sweltering heat wasn't helping her mood any either. She got up to stretch, working the kinks out of her back and legs before walking into her kitchen. She had a craving for some sushi but after examining her kitchen stock, found she was out of the needed ingredients. 'Peachy, well I guess I'm heading out for food.' she thought.

A quick change of clothes to make her more presentable, and she departed. Just as she turned to lock the door she remembered she had forgotten her keys. After looking for them for several minutes she finally wrote them off. 'I'll just break in later, no big deal.' When she turned out the light and tried to feel her way to the door she stumbled on the corner of her Japanese style tea table, causing her a break one of her small toes and land awkwardly on her left knee. A savage hiss of pain escaped her lips as she bent to the task of healing the minor, but painful, injuries.

By the time she was done she made her way to her favorite restaurant, only to see it had closed some minutes earlier. "Damn it, are you kidding me!? Just my luck." She turned to walk back to her apartment when she suddenly heard someone shout, "SAKURA-CHAN!", down the street from her. 'Oh God, I'm REALLY not in the mood for this.' She turned to see the blond haired young man run up to her. Before she could get in two words he'd asked her five questions, firing them off so quickly she couldn't even keep track of them.

She finally interrupted him after over a minute, telling him she was just leaving. He didn't seem to take the hint, for he just followed her as she walked away. "Naruto, can you please just… shut up for once? I haven't really had a good day and you're not helping here."

Naruto cocked his head to the side as if contemplating her words. Suddenly a grin split his face, an odd chuckle escaping his mouth. "You know Sakura-Chan, I can get ya some food, we can call it a date! What do you say?"

Without missing a beat Sakura refused. "I'm REALLY not in the mood for this right now Naruto."

"Ahh, come on Sakura-Chan, my treat?" He still persisted, Sakura hunching up her shoulders in frustration.

"No" Her voice was deadly calm, belying her annoyance.

"But Saku…" was as far as he got.

"What are you talking about Naruto!? I've told you to stop asking me out on a date. I'm not interested! Can't you get that through your thick skull!? Stop bugging me, you annoying little pain in the ass!" The pink haired young woman glared at the young man, a huff of indignation in her voice. This was the fourth time this week alone he'd asked her on a date, and she'd finally had enough.

"Come on Sakura, why can't you just go out with me one time? Do I annoy you so much you can't even just go get some food together?"

"YES!" she screamed. "Naruto, you have to be the most annoying person I've ever met in my life! I'm not interested, okay! Let me spell it out for you. GO AWAY! Right now I'd like nothing more than to put my fist through your face. If I see you again in the next week, I swear by all that's holy I'll wring your neck! I hate you, now go the FUCK away!" she yelled some more, storming away huffing loudly.

She didn't see the crushed look on his face, so consumed in her anger at the moment. She regretted yelling at him, and regretted saying she hated him even more, but was too proud to apologize, at least for now. 'I'll apologize tomorrow after we've both slept on it. Ahh, sleep…'

End Flashback

The next time Sakura had seen him was in Tsunade's office, red tails writhing behind him, blue and red eyes enraged. She still remembered the hatred in his eyes as he stared into her jade orbs. That look of utter distrust and hate had haunted her very dreams since then. She rarely went a night without some nightmare waking her up in the throes of anguish.

'I drove away one of the few people that I can say I loved, all because of me being a self-righteous bitch.'Her shoulders slumped, a movement not missed by any of her current team mates. That first month after he'd left, she almost wished for death. She had no parents, both her team mates had left, and her own guilt forcibly consumed her mind. Her one glimmer of hope had been that Naruto would come back, or at least visit her, let her try to explain herself and beg his forgiveness.

'Even if he doesn't come back, I still want, no, NEED his forgiveness!' Tears once again ran down her face, remembering the words he'd spoken to her out in the wilderness just days ago.

'I thought I told you not to follow me.' he'd said, voice as cold as a mountain stream in winter. Sakura was so caught up in her mental anguish she almost ran past her team, whom had all stopped on the road. If not for Neji, she would have. "What is it Yamoto-Taichou?"

The Jonin looked ahead, uncertainty in his eyes. "We seem to have a visitor." he motioned forward on the road, where everyone saw a tall man garbed in a black cloak, hood covering his head and masking his face. The man walked forward, emitting waves of killer intent. All five ninja went on guard, ready in case an attack came. The man stopped twenty yards away, laughing loudly enough for the group to hear him.

"If I wanted you all dead, you'd have been dead before you knew I was here." His head came up, displaying red and blue eyes to the group. Everyone went into full guard mode, except Sakura. Those eyes were… strangely familiar, but she could not place them for some reason. A bag appeared in his hand, which he tossed toward Yamoto, it's contents jingling as metal struck metal. "That's my final gift to Konoha, I suggest you take them to Tsunade and have them destroyed." The man turned to face Konoha, the main gate only a few miles distance away.

"Everyone leave, except you Pinky." An anger vein immediately formed on her forehead, eyes shown in anger.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!? WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ASSHOLE!" The man just stood there, seemingly unaffected by her rant. "HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" She stomped toward the taller man, heedless of her team mates' warning calls. When she was within ten feet of the man, he turned toward her aloofly, releasing his entire range of murderous killing intent upon the girl. She froze, completely knocked senseless by the sudden change in the man.

Speaking softly, the man said, "Don't think for one minute I can't or won't kill you Sakura. You've given me more than enough reasons to want too." The man pulled his hood back, revealing a shock a wild blond hair, streaked with red. Speaking louder, he said to the other ninja, "I'm here to talk with her, not you guys. Get outta here, she'll be following you shortly." His eyes had never left hers, even when his killing intent caused her knees to give out, making her drop to the ground on her backside.

The other ninja made to try and speak, but he broke eye contact with the girl before him long enough to stare at them all, daring them to go against his wishes. None of them managed to hold his stare for more than a couple seconds before breaking eye contact. One by one, they shuffled past him and continued down the road toward the village. Yamoto was the last to go, eying Naruto for a brief minute. Guessing his unspoken request, Naruto said, "I promise, I won't kill her or unduly harm her." Naruto had since locked eyes with the girl before him, and his words caused her to swallow convulsively. With that, Yamoto left the pair alone.

She didn't know what to do, where to start, or even how to act. Naruto, the boy that used to follow her around, always asking her out and seeking her approval, had become a man standing before her. The only thing she could feel from him now was anger and pain; both had been forced there because of her. She buried her face in her hands, sobs wracking her body as her mind traveled a mile a minute. "You must really h-hate me n-now, huh?"

His head cocked to the side, examining her more but still saying nothing. He took off his cloak, dropping the genjutsu hiding his appearance from her. When she took in his transformation, she shuddered once more. "I guess that's a-a yes." She finally stood up, eyes averted from him. "For what it's worth, I don't hate you. I never did. My anger got the best of me and, I just lost it." She turned away from him, feeling his eyes bore into her back. "I know it doesn't change anything, but I'm, I'm sorry." Her head hung, arms loose by her side as tears flooded her eyes.

A warm feeling seemed to surround her, conforming to her back. Something was wrapped around her waist. Her eyes opened. 'Arms? Wha, what are arms around me for?' She finally noticed the hands, long razor sharp claws visible. A shudder ran through her back. 'So this is how it ends huh? Murdered by my own ex-team mate, miles from home, with no family and only a few friends that would miss me. A fitting end for a life as messed up as mine.' Sakura counted the seconds, hoping he'd end it quickly. After a minute she was getting confused. By the second minute she was down right concerned.

"Please Naruto, don't drag this out. If you're going to do it, please grant me this one request and end it swiftly."

His chest pressed into her back, giving her body his warmth. He leaned his head low, lips an inch away from her ear. "End what? I'm just getting comfortable Forehead."

At the nickname, she froze. 'Did, did he just call me Forehead? Oh HELL no!' She spun in his arms, her right arm reared back and ready to strike him with all her strength, only for her fist to meet his open palm, and he held firm.

"Better, that's the Sakura-Chan I remember." She continued to struggle with him, trying to land a blow on his body but could not despite their closeness. Finally she gave up, letting her arms fall back to their sides. "Now, are you ready to talk or do you want to keep pouting like a five year old?" he asked her.

'I don't know, I might not mind wrestling with you some more.' she thought, before shaking her head. "I don't believe you called me Forehead like that, you big jerk." She pulled her arm back, elbowing him in the gut.

"Meh, you needed a good slap or two to get you outta that depression, and I'm not going to slap you around for something like that."

She paused at his words, thinking them through. 'Does that mean he'd slap me around for something else? What the hell!?' "Jerk!" she called him. Her tone mellowed out somewhat. "I really am sorry I told you all that stuff. I wish I could go back and do it differently." Her head came forward, resting on his wide chest as she took in his scent. He smelled like pine trees, fresh rainfall, and a light hint of coppery blood.

She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his for once without finding any killing intent behind them. "Can you forgive me?

Naruto sighed, his eyes turned away from the girl in his arms. "I forgave you, at least in my head, long ago. My heart however, still doesn't know what to think.' His eyes closed, shut tightly. "I didn't come here to tell you I'm coming back to Konoha. I don't know if I ever will, and I might come back next week." His eyes went back to Sakura's, seeing moisture form once again in her eyes. "I want you to know that I do forgive you Sakura. You don't need to worry about that anymore."

Her eyes shut, her unshed tears threatening to fall down her face. "Thank you Naruto-kun. I wish there was some way I could make my mistakes up to you." Sakura rested her head upon his chest, taking in his comforting scent as she sighed in contentment, her mind totally at ease for the first time in over a year.

A comfortable silence descended on the pair. Minutes dragged on, until they had been standing there for nearly an hour, simply enjoying each others' company. Naruto inhaled her scent one last time, before his arms loosened from Sakura's body. "I'm sorry Sakura, but I need to go." Her arms only tightened around him, her answer obvious.

"I don't want to let go!" she said, quite conviction in her voice. "I spent a year without even seeing you. I don't want to experience that again Naruto!" Her eyes came up to meet his, piercing green eyes meeting his blue/red eyes with their sadness. "Don't make me experience that again, please!" Her arms tightened even more, squeezing him so much he had trouble breathing.

"Sakura!" he wheezed. "Loosen up woman! I can't breath!" Her arms let up on their pressure somewhat, but not letting go by much. "I won't promise you I'll be back too soon. I've learned to not make promises as much as I used to. However," he said, holding a finger up for her to see, "I will be back, if for nothing else than to see you." His eyes bored into hers. "You have always been one of my reasons to live on. You might not recognize it, but you're still VERY special to me. I'll come back, if only because you give me the strength to withstand my demonic side." He bent over her, his lips brushing her cheek. "I love you."

With that, he disappeared, leaving a suddenly chilled Sakura alone upon the road. His words struck a cord in her, forcing her to look into her heart. 'He loves me… after all this time, he still loves me!' she thought to herself. She walked toward the main gate to Konoha, missing Naruto already. 'Hurry back Naruto, I'll be waiting.' Her lips formed into a gentle smile for the first time in months.

"I love you Naruto-kun. Come back to me soon!" she whispered.