(A/N: Yeah, another Naruto angst fic...so sorry. It's just that I really sympathize with Naruto! Poor guy. Here, the Kyuubi's female. I know I made it male in my other fic/s, but bear with me please. Is it a crime to exercise control over your own fic? No? Ok then, on with the fic!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, or anything else.


Overcast

15-year-old Uzumaki Naruto stepped out of his cramped apartment and sighed. It was another damn day. Of the many things plaguing the ninja, of late was a certain pink haired kunoichi. Haruno Sakura. Lately, his feelings for her have been growing stronger than a simple crush. Unfortunately, that only served to pain him even more. She was still deliberately blind to Naruto's feelings, still pining hopelessly on and on about that damned Uchiha. That bastard. Naruto's face twisted into a scowl as his legs started carrying him to the meeting place of Team 7.

Uchiha Sasuke. Goth wannabe. He acts so angsty and stoic, thinking that he's so cool. He feels that he can go on acting angsty just because of a screwed up past. Well, everyone has had his or her share of bad experiences, but nobody, not even Shino, Neji, or Gaara, can manage to piss off Naruto just by acting all quiet and stoic. His smugness and 'coolness' only serves to piss the blonde shinobi even more. He doesn't even try to care.

Naruto had it worse than Sasuke. No friends, no recognition, no acceptance...it definitely does not help being called names like 'demon', 'failure', and other even more colorful names. All Naruto has faced in life is ridicule. He has to fight and tolerate the knives of disgust, the solid wall of hatred, the glares of disapproval of the village. He never had a family like Sasuke used to, but he doesn't act all 'I hate the world-They are all against me-Nobody loves me.' He doesn't put others down by calling them annoyances, dropouts, or liabilities. And he doesn't act so smug and arrogant, thinking that he's so much better than everyone else. No. This is not the nindo of Uzumaki Naruto. He valued sincerity over aloofness, warmth over coldness, caring over distantness. So why does Sakura, well almost all the girls in Konoha for that matter, fall head over heels for that– that popsicle? How come he was loved? How come he always gets the praises and the attention? Naruto gets the opposite...for caring; well, for trying to care.

Naruto scowled and spit on the ground rather contemptuously. It was never fair. Never. It was always unfair, and never in HIS favor.

As the genin made his way through the streets, he felt the hateful stares cutting into him once again. This always went on; everyday for 15 years. Kami help them when he finally snaps. "When", not "if". Konoha's day of retribution is coming closer. It was all just a matter of time...unless he does something to stop this pressure and poison from seeping into his system. Yes...something can be done. He can disappear for a while...or permanently. That, or he lets the Kyuubi have her way.

Finally coming close to the bridge, Naruto slapped on his mask, the one with a perpetual smile frozen on its face, as he strode towards his teammates. As usual, Sakura was hanging all over Sasuke, trying in vain to gain his affections. Naruto felt tired of seeing this scene over and over. This scenario had been branded into his brain already. And each time he saw it again, the more he felt dispirited. It was becoming a chore forcing his mask to stay on.

"Oi, Saakuraa-chaaaannn! Ohayo!" Naruto loudly called. As expected, Sakura's face changed from that of a love-struck schoolgirl to an annoyed one. He was nothing but an annoyance, a bump in her road to claiming Sasuke as her own. "Hmph. So loud, dobe," came the inevitable smug retort of the trying-hard asshole. If there was another thing Naruto was getting tired of, it was the bastard calling him a dobe. Instead of getting mad and retaliating with a few choice words of his own as usual, he just scowled. Sasuke smirked. Victory again.

Sakura was about to tell Naruto off with a cutting remark and continue to drape herself over the arrogant shinobi when Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke and told them to take the day off, then disappeared immediately.

Needless to say, the genins were overjoyed. Well, with the exception of the one incapable of emotions except those of the death instinct. The conversation that was to follow was typical.

"Sasuke-kun, let's go out for some sushi! My treat!"

"No."

"Some Sukiyaki?"

"No."

"Ice cream?"

"No."

"How about-"

"Hey Sakura-chan, what about me? Let's go for some ramen! My treat!"

"Ugh! As if! You wouldn't even come close so Sasuke!"

Naruto winced every time she said that. This time however, Sakura, fed up with Naruto, added a bit more.

"So quit bothering me! Shut up and leave me alone! You really are a dead last! I hate you!"

What is life without that touch of irony and occasional hypocrisy?

Naruto looked away, willing with all he had for the tears to stop pooling around his eyes. He was victorious for now. Using every inch of his being, he forced the mask to stay on once again. His goofy grin resurfaced quickly as he smothered the hurt that was thrown in his face. He tackled Sasuke, kidding around yet again to hide his hurt. He always clowned around, not because he was a zany and fun person, but it was just his way of handling the tremendous pressure shoved into him by everyone. Unfortunately, his tackle sent the two boys down a ravine, which nobody really noticed until they fell in. The last thing the two heard before they lost consciousness was Sakura's voice calling for Sasuke.


Naruto found himself in the depths of his subconscious yet again. It was damp and cold. The dripping of pipes overhead was monotonous and repetitive, like the abuse he endured for so long. A rank, musty, almost decaying, stench invaded his nostrils. The tunnels were dim, the only source of light being a few blinking bulbs placed at intervals. He wandered around corridors and hallways, ending up in the room containing the Kyuubi. He sat down in the middle of the room, pulling his knees to his chest and facing the demon. The first to speak was the demon. "So, poor lover boy got rejected again, huh?" There were traces of amusement in her voice.

Naruto replied with silence.

"That serious, huh? Well...I wouldn't know what to say to cheer you up..." Their relationship had become less strained over the years, the hatred between container and content lessening. "Kit, come here." Kyuubi beckoned.

When Naruto lifted his moist eyes, the demon was gone. In her place was a beautiful woman dressed in lavish robes of elaborate design. Her eyes were crimson, her long nails were painted red, and a wave of lustrous, red hair crowned her head.

"Wha- ?"

She smirked. "Aren't demons allowed to transform?" Her voice, though a woman's, was still strong and commanding, and her presence was still imposing.

"Kyuubi?"

"Yes. I thought it would be funny to be talking to you like this in my demon form...I saw what happened. I could hear your thoughts and feelings. I'll be honest. I have nothing to say that can comfort you. I am a demon."

Naruto nodded silently as he shuffled closer.

"Kit, what I can say is that it isn't your fault. It never was. I won't apologize for my past actions, and it wasn't my choice to be sealed in you either..."

"Why did you do it?"

"You mean attack the village? I have my reasons. The village did me a great wrong that had to be redressed. They refused to make restitution. Kit, know this: the villagers KNEW that we had no say in what happened, the sealing, I mean. Believe me, had we never met, you would be living a happy life...no, wait. I'd have destroyed the village- butthatsnotmypoint! My point is that despite their knowledge, they still treat you with contempt. Kit, what will you do?"

"Uhm..."

"You teach them, kit. Teach them not to screw with you. They hated you for no reason! They never understood – they chose not to understand! They destroyed your life! So you destroy them!" The room was swirling with her overpowering chakra. Her eyes were starting to glow with an unearthly light. "Uncertain, are you? Well then, let's just see what the villagers have done to thank the one who stopped my destruction of the village," she said as she showed him flashbacks of all the abuse heaped on him, all the insults, the stares, and the injustices done to him. He saw how Sakura ignored him while showering her attention on Sasuke, how everyone laughed at him and his failures, how he was always ridiculed and underestimated, how they hated him with so much hatred possible for humans to possess.

He didn't have anything to say. Yes, why hold back? It wasn't his fault! But Kyuubi wasn't finished yet. There was one more.

"Perhaps you should hear this."

Sounds reverberated through the cavernous room. It was sounds of the outside. He could hear beeping of machines, nurses, and his sensei...and Sakura. "That damned Naruto! He can go rot and die for all I care, as long as he doesn't get my Sasuke-kun involved. That bastard...damn him! I hate him! This is all his fault! He is nothing!" This was immediately followed by her crooning Sasuke's name.

A tear glided down Naruto's face as he lowered his head. Whatever needed to be said all came out in the form of the tear. This is what he gets in exchange of the love, attention, and care he has lavished on her. Something just snapped inside of him. Kyuubi smiled coldly. That was the last thing Naruto saw before being thrown none too politely out his own subconscious and back out into the harsh reality.


He opened his eyes, not too slowly like in a drama, but not too fast like waking up from a nightmare. He opened his eyes just like that, a blurry sketch of images greeting his eyes. Slowly, color started to fill in the gaps between the lines. His body ached with a dull pain resonating throughout his body. No joy came to him like it always used to each day; no enthusiasm greeted him like it used to whenever he woke from slumber. His eyes, now dull and lifeless, scanned the room. Beside his bed was another one, with Sasuke on it. He was still unconscious, wires stuck on him, connecting him to a machine just like his. That was what made the beeping sound. Beside the Uchiha was a distraught Sakura, whose face turned dark and cold when her gaze met his.

"So you're awake now, huh? That's a shame. They should've pulled your plug." Then it came "...you bastard! YOU did this to Sasuke-kun! I hate you!"

Naruto's dead eyes then met her enraged, hateful ones, not a word spoken in reply.

Kakashi then entered the room. "Oi, Sakura. Keep it down- hey! You're awake, Naruto! You hungry?" His visible eye smiled as he held up a take-out package of miso ramen.

Naruto, with a forlorn look on his face, looked down and in a hoarse, bitter voice, said, "I'm sorry. I was responsible for all this. Sakura was right...I could just die and rot for all she cares. Have a nice life with your Sasuke-kun, Sakura. And like you said...I'll never amount to anything. Sorry for ruining your lives..." He no longer used the honorable suffix. He ignored ramen. Free ramen. Free miso ramen.This is bad.

Kakashi glared daggers at the pink-haired kunoichi. "Sakura!" His voice was harsh, like a vicious snarl of a wolf. She stuttered, "But...you were unconscious...how did you...?" "Does it matter, Sakura? Since when did you care? You hate me? Well, everyone else does. Goodbye then." With that, Naruto tore the patches and wires off his body and disappeared in a puff of smoke, ignoring Kakashi calling him.

He transported himself back to his run-down apartment and grabbed a bag. A few tears were silently streaming down his face as he started packing. He just couldn't take it anymore. This was too much. The hate of the villagers...that smug bastard Sasuke...Sakura's abuse...He's leaving. He's human too, dammit! He packed quickly, knowing that his apartment would probably be the first place Kakashi would look if he were chasing him. Wiping away tears from his face, he threw his few worldly possessions into a small nondescript pack and left, torching his apartment as a mark of farewell.

He ran for the gate, not because the guards would stop him – they would gladly see him go – but he didn't want to see his so-called friends; he's had enough.

They would try and stop him...put on a show. Naruto knew they never saw anything in him. If any really befriended him, it was all out of pity. He didn't need pity. Everybody just needed to ease up a bit on him. He is human too.

Naruto, now outside the village, took one last look at the magnificent gate and the sprawling village behind it. One day, he will be back when strong enough to fight their hate. Will he destroy the village? No. It was his choice ultimately, not the Kyuubi's. He will be back to claim their hearts and the title of Hokage. When he comes back, the older generations who lived through the Kyuubi's rampage would probably have died, and Naruto will be strong then, with muscle to back up his words.

He turned and walked, his back to the sun. Oh, yes. He will be strong. He will surpass all. He will be back to claim the village. Then shall everyone recognize him.

Goodbye for now, everyone. Until we meet again.


(A/N: Well? Hope you liked it. Now, I'm not promising anything, but I'm planning on making an epilogue (second chapter) and a sequel (a separate fic)...let the people decide.)