The Crimson Angel

Chapter One

Naruto knelt on the water and watched as Sasuke turned and walked away from him. They had just had their most fiercest battle. Naruto had tried to stop Sasuke from going to that snake bastard Orochimaru, but Sasuke had put his chidori through his chest. The gaping hole was still being healed by Kyuubi.

Naruto's eyes never left Sasuke's back, still looking when the raven disappeared. Naruto felt nothing. He felt totally empty. Sasuke was supposed to be his lover, but he had betrayed Konoha, and he had betrayed him. And then he had tried to kill him.

As he knelt there, he felt two people calmly walking towards him. He sighed, he knew who it was. He looked at the two members of Akatsuki as they stood looking down at him. Itachi looking just like Sasuke. Naruto grit his teeth. He never wanted to think of that traitor again. He wanted to kill the teme for betraying and hurting him.

"We've come to take you Naruto. Are you coming quietly or are we going to fight?" The giant fish asked.

To be truthful, Naruto couldn't be bothered either way. He knew it was cowardly to give up, but he felt so drained. He didn't want to go back to Konoha, where the villagers would blame him for failing to retrieve their precious Uchiha and Sakura, that bitch would never leave him alone. She would make him feel worthless, saying that he hadn't been able to keep his promise. He couldn't be bothered to put up with everyone making him feel like a failure.

He looked up at the fish, and then his eyes moved to Itachi. He could faintly sense Kakashi and Gai speeding towards them.

"To be honest, I can't be bothered. If you want me to come with you, you'll have to carry me."

Itachi looked down at the fox vessel, even though no expression showed on his face, he was puzzled, wondering if this was a trick. But he too could feel another presence getting closer. He nodded to Kisame. The fish bent down and picked up the blonde boy, putting him on his back.

"Naruto."

Naruto looked back as Kakashi called to him. Itachi looked at the famous copy-cat nin and smirked. Kakashi couldn't believe what he was seeing. Naruto wasn't even putting up a fight, he just hung off of Kisame's back. He knew he wasn't going to get there on time. The two Akatsuki men, along with Naruto vanished.

He felt Gai standing next to him, the same confused expression on his face. The two men looked at each other and nodded. They needed to get back to Konoha and tell the Hokage. They turned and sped away.

It didn't take them long to return to Konoha, they immediately sped towards the Hokage's office. Sakura was in there, training. She looked up hopefully as her sensei walked into the room. She was glad when Tsunade said she could stay.

"Well?" The Hokage asked.

"Sasuke got away." He paused as Sakura gasped, her eyes filling with tears.

"What about Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

Kakashi looked down. "He allowed Akatsuki to capture him."

"WHAT!" Tsunade screeched. "Why?"

"I don't know. All I saw was Kisame picking Naruto up off the water and putting him on his back. Naruto didn't even fight. I saw Naruto's eyes just before they vanished. They were empty, like he had just lost one of his precious persons. It was like he had no fight left within him."

Tsunade sat down, her face in an unreadable mask. She looked over to the window where Jiraiya was sitting, he had obviously heard what had been said. "We have to get him back." He said. "For his sake, and ours. If the Akatsuki manage to extract the fox, we're all finished."

The Hokage silently agreed. She summoned all available Anbu teams. She dismissed Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi walked out of the office and bowed her head as she walked. Her Sasuke had gone and now Naruto had willingly allowed himself to be captured. And what was this fox they were talking about?

As she walked passed Ino's flower shop, she paused. Maybe she should buy a flower and go and see Lee.

--

Back in the Hokage's office, four Anbu teams stood awaiting orders. The Hokage looked grim, her eyes vacant. "Akatsuki have captured Uzumaki Naruto. Your orders are to retrieve him and bring him back alive." She paused. "Uchiha Itachi and his partner Kisame are the ones who has Naruto, if you engage them in battle, be careful. But I want Naruto back alive."

The Anbu teams bowed and disappeared. She dismissed Kakashi and Gai, who left looking sullen. Jiraiya slid through the window and took a seat on the chair opposite the blonde Hokage. Tsunade took out two glasses and a jar of sake. She poured a large amount of the liquid into two glasses, and offered one to the white haired sannin. She downed half her glass and felt the first tear slide down her cheek.

She knew what the odds were of Anbu being able to rescue Naruto. She knew Akatsuki would most likely kill the Anbu, but she was hoping that maybe one of them would be able to accomplish the mission.

She sighed. She hated being Hokage at times like this.

--

Itachi and Kisame had been travelling for an hour when they felt many presences behind them. They knew it would be ninja from Konoha, coming to try and rescue the fox vessel. Kisame placed Naruto on the ground and got in to position. Itachi too.

Naruto just knelt on the ground, his eyes downcast. He could hear fighting in the background, but none of it registered. He also thought he could hear his name being called, but that too didn't seem to penetrate his brain. He felt splashes of liquid hit him.

The fox growled in his mind, he could sense a presence creeping up on his host. But the stupid human didn't seem to be doing anything. He would not allow his vessel to be killed. He did not want to die, being imprisoned in a human body was not something he liked, but he didn't want to die.

When the presence was close, the fox took control of his unresponsive host and with a burst of chakra, used the body like a puppet. Naruto lost control of his body and felt himself moving against his will. His hands turned into claws and he watched as he slashed through one Anbu member after another. He saw blood flying everywhere.

The fox was chuckling manically as he killed. He loved to kill, but he could feel the human's body nearly at its limit. As the last body hit the ground, the fox retreated back into its cage and Naruto fell to his knees, not even breathing heavily.

He finally looked around to see what he had done. He felt numb as he saw each the ninja's he had killed. And to be truthful, he felt nothing. He knew they had come to kill him. He glared at the dead Anbu, knowing that the Hokage had ordered his death. He couldn't say he liked the killing, but he felt something.

He now had another goal, he would destroy Konoha. They had given up on him easily, now he would give up on them. He finally looked up at the two Akatsuki members, and smirked. They would be the first he killed.

Kisame just looked at the brat in shock. He had been about to intercept the Anbu who was creeping up on the boy, when the vessel began radiating a killing intent that was thick enough to choke on. He had just stood there with Itachi as the vessel ripped apart the ninja without breaking a sweat. And now the vessel was looking at them with a strange look on his face.

Itachi poked him. He finally moved over to the boy and picked him up, once again putting him on his back. They took off, faster. They had to get back to headquarters. Itachi knew the leader would be happy. They could finally extract the fox.

Kyuubi once again growled in his hosts mind. He knew what the men in capes wanted, and he knew it would be impossible to extract him without killing his host. Not that he liked his host, but he would not allow these people to kill his vessel. The fox did not want to be used, he knew the men in capes just wanted his power for themselves. He wasn't about to let that happen. He did not want to be used as a puppet. He didn't like it, but he would protect his human vessel at all costs.

--

In the clearing where they had fought the Anbu, one of the bodies stirred. He knew he didn't have much time left, but he needed to get a message back to the Hokage. He summoned one of his messenger birds, and pulled a scroll from his pouch. With a shaky hand he wrote a message, it wasn't a very coherent message, but it was the best he could do with his broken hand. Haphazardly tying the message to the bird's leg, he watched as it flew away.

He looked around at his teammates and comrades. Saying a silent prayer, his head dropped to the ground and he took his last breath.

--

The messenger bird made it back to Konoha quickly and stood on the windowsill, his beak tapping on the window. Tsunade leapt to her feet and opened the widow. Untying the message, she opened it.

'Mission failed, all dead. Fox…'

The Hokage tried to make out the last few words, but they were illegible. The Anbu who had wrote this must have died shortly afterwards. She sighed. Sixteen Anbu killed. She wondered what to do now. If she sent more Anbu, they would just meet the same fate, but she could not allow Akatsuki to extract the fox.

She wondered whether hunters would have a chance. Sitting back down, she decided it would be best to call an emergency meeting. She didn't know how long it took to extract a demon, but she hoped she had a little time.

Calling to the guard at the door, she told him to summon all Anbu captains and hunters, also all council members. The man bowed and went off to take care of the task. Tsunade looked back to the window where Jiraiya slid back into the room. She gave him the scroll. He read it, and looked grim. He now knew all was doomed.

A/N: this story is originally by Tenshi of destiny I did absolutely nothing to it, not even a spell and grammar check. I'm only posting it because she deleted it because someone really pissed her off.