Disclaimer: As always I don't own anything but this idea. No characters you are even slightly familiar with belong to the genius of my own mind. I'm not that smart.
Freedom to Die
Naruto sat on the rock looking out over the village of his birth. The village was celebrating. It was October tenth and the anniversary of the death of the Yondaime Hokage. The villagers always got together on this day to remember what a great man he was and to commensurate with each other the loss they had all felt in his passing. Of course this always brought to mind the personal friends and family members they'd never see again also and that led to the closing event of every festival celebration. The reminder of who they could blame for their own cowardice that day. The day they had run away and hid from the demon that killed everything in reach. Hopes and dreams lay shattered alongside the broken bodies in the ruins left by the attack of the Demon but these people down below were not of the same caliber as those they mourned. And because they knew they weren't they sought to blame someone else from their weakness. They blamed him. They always blamed him. After all he had been found on the bloody battlefield and what was worse. He was alive and crying when he was found. But all those around him were dead. Beyond dead. Most were barely even recognizable as once having been human.
Naruto had heard the story many times as the Sandaime had fought for his life. Had fought for his right to live free as did everyone else. Even knowing Naruto could never really be free. The Yondaime had tied the boy to the village with a chain much stronger than any physical chain. He could not be allowed to leave in case he fell into hands unfriendly to Konoha and got trained to be a weapon against them. But by the same token he couldn't be trained to fight for Konoha either since who knew how long his own will would suppress the demon inside his naval. No Naruto was anything but free. Sixteen years old and tied to a village he hated and that hated him in return. Untrained to fight or work he relied on the charity of the council for his needs. They barely gave him enough to afford the crappy ramen he lived on and pay his rent but since no villager would hire him what else was he to do. The ninja's that guarded the gate had strict orders to kill him before allowing him outside the walls. He'd never leave. He knew that better than any. But he had no reason to either. There was nothing out there for him that wasn't exactly the same as was here. With no training in anything and no skills to offer he had no place in the world. He was just marking time. Time until he died. He knew it and didn't care. To care one needed a reason. He didn't have one. He had no friends and no pride of possession. There was no reason to get up in the morning and no reason to go to bed at night. There never had been. He'd always been alone but once he'd had someone. Someone that had cared. Someone that gave him more than crappy ramen to eat. Someone that had fought for him. Believed in him. Told him to never give up. Someone that saw him. The boy instead of the Demon he held inside. But that had been long ago. Three years? Four years? He couldn't remember for sure how long he'd been gone. All he knew was he had no one now. He was alone.
Shivering in the evening breeze, Naruto stood and moved into the cave he hid in every year on this particular day. The day meant nothing to him really but he knew if he stayed down in the village what would happen and so he came here to hide and wait it out. He knew the council knew where he was and though some weren't worthy of trust, having little or no honor, he didn't believe they'd tell anyone unless he tried to leave. But he hadn't done that in years. Not since they'd given the order for his death should he try again. Now he didn't even go near the walls. He stayed away from the villagers as much as he could but especially those who dressed in the dark clothes. He knew they'd like a reason to kill him but no matter how much he knew he had no reason for living he just couldn't bring himself to voluntarily die either. And so he was stuck. Stuck in the abyss called life. But was it really life when there was nothing to do all day but think? Was it really life when you did nothing all day long? When every day was exactly the same as the day before and would be exactly the same as tomorrow? When you spoke to no one and no one spoke to you? When the only interaction you had was picking up the crappy ramen boxes left on your doorstep every other week? Was that really life? Well, probably not what most people would consider life but it was the only life he had now so for him yeah it was. And it was better than having no life at all.
He sat inside the cave near the small flames of his cheerful fire and waited for sleep to claim him not really caring if it did. In his dreams he always saw the fox. And the Fox always tried the same thing. The Fox wanted out of jail. He wanted to finish what he had started. He pointed out the people and their cruelty in blaming Naruto for their problems and how ridiculous that blame was since how in the world could he possibly have been to blame for events that led to that day since he hadn't even been born yet. But Naruto held strong and turned a deaf ear. He knew the Fox was right but two wrongs don't make a right and just because the village was full of weak minded idiots didn't mean he needed to join them. He wasn't an idiot or a weakling. He knew from his nightly meetings with the fox that if he truly wanted to there was no one in the whole village who would be able to withstand his ability. Though the Council of Fools didn't want Naruto to receive an education or any kind of formal training, in his mind the Fox had taken care of both issues. Naruto could read and write and knew higher level math than most Jounins did but he hid it all away behind vapid looks that led to suspicion and calculation of whether or not the demon was still contained. Weekly beatings usually solved the issue but sometimes the testing was more personal. Those who were not satisfied from the beatings he took could be placated by having him sent to Ibiki for a torture session and/or a visit to the Yamanaka man. Both sessions were equally repellant to Naruto but he never flinched understanding the villagers fear of having the Fox in charge of his body. They knew all their own treatment of him might have been forgiven and understandable to Naruto but to the Fox. . . well that was a different issue. Naruto didn't forgive them but they thought he did and the Fox wanted to rip them apart for taking out their anger on a small child as they had. It wasn't until the boy had learned to hide himself well that they quit beating him up. It wasn't until the council finally agreed to home delivery of his food and he quit going into the market that he no longer wore the odd bruise or cut. It wasn't until he no longer tried to pay his own rent that he appeared to be forgotten by the village he called home.
He hadn't spoken to anyone since the last time one of the Council of Fools had told him they were arranging to have his rent paid and the delivery of food set up. Since that day he had avoided the people of Konoha with a vengeance. He stayed in his apartment until after sunset and only ventured forth to go through dumpsters for whatever needs the Council of Fools didn't provide him. It was easy to find himself forgotten by the village.
The next morning the sun peeked out to set the sky on fire and Naruto watched it from his spot on the rocky spikes that represented the Yondaime's hair. He'd have to go home soon but he really didn't want to. He wondered if he could get away with just sleeping here in the cave for another day. Probably not without freaking out the Council of Fools, he thought. He sighed and wearily got to his feet. Once he was standing he could see a pillar of black smoke climbing into the air from the poor section of the city where his lonely little studio apartment was. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to determine whether or not it was his place that was burning.
He wasn't surprised. Yesterday had been his birthday after all and he knew how that day always reminded the villagers he was alive even if they couldn't find him or remember the last time they'd seen him. Walking slowly he made his way towards the burning ruin of the complex. Yep, just as he thought. It was his place. He stood n the shadows and watched as the villagers stood waiting to see if he'd come stumbling out of the smoking ruins now that the fire had run out of fuel. When he didn't they grumbled to themselves wondering if they got him or not. Wondering if he was really dead at long last or were they simply gonna have to try again. They were determined. Naruto would give them that much credit. When it came to cowardly acts no one in the world could top his fellow villagers. No one could possibly be as cowardly as his fellow villagers were. No one saw his sneer or heard his snort of disgust. The Council of Fools showed up along with the new Hokage and they disappeared inside the ruins for a few minutes. Thinking quickly Naruto made a badly burned clone appear on his bedding inside the shell of his apartment. The council of Fools would believe it was him but he wasn't so sure about the gullibility of the new Hokage. Sarutobi wouldn't have bought the clone but then he'd actually cared enough to get to know Naruto. This foolish woman only cared about drinking and gambling. She cared nothing about the Demon Boy. Hadn't even asked to meet him. But that didn't mean she was stupid. He faded away to await the outcome. He went back to his cave in the Hokage's head and gathered his supplies just in case. He didn't take everything. He knew if the ruse was believed the Council of Fools would send someone here to gather his things so that his presence would no longer defile their hero. He took only what he thought they wouldn't notice and then using a henge and concealing his chakra as well as the chakra needed to maintain the henge he went to a cave behind the waterfall he'd found while the Old Man had still been alive. The Old Man had allowed Naruto to wander in the woods so long as he was never out of sight of the guards on the walls. But he hadn't been to this cave since the Old Man had died all those years ago. He needed to plan his next step. He wasn't sure what he should do. He had no formal training to call on to help him get a job. He wasn't trained as a ninja. He didn't even know where the border of fire country was but he did know he had to go beyond the land he was born to. The land Kyuubi had protected for so many years before he was even a twinkle in Kami's eye let alone his parents. In the solitude of the waterfall cave he questioned Kyuubi.
"Where do we go, Kyu?" he asked. "We're finally free but free to do what?"
"I don't know Kit. All I ever knew was the Land of Fire. But we can't stay here. If we do they'll find us and you'll die."
"You sound like you care, Kyu. I thought you hated all humans."
"Not you. I don't hate the helpless. Those who never had a choice don't deserve hate. Besides you weren't part of the village. They made sure of that and never let you think for a minute that you belonged there."
"Hn. That's true. I have no one there anymore but it still doesn't solve where we should go now."
"How about we just sleep on it? You were up all night last night and I don't know about you but I'm pretty tired. Come curl up next to me and get some sleep." Kyuubi fanned out it's tails and waited as the tired teen settled down next to the bars of the cage. Kyuubi would never tell the Kit but the truth was she couldn't destroy the boy as he was her only link with life also. She had allowed him to live for too long now if she wanted a life after he died. She had allowed the kit to replace the child the villagers had killed all those years ago.
Kyuubi let her mind wander to just when she had come to realize the Kit in front of her cage had come to be more important then she herself was. He had been five then, running from a mob of angry villagers. The villagers were yelling and cursing the child because they thought he'd beaten up on of the other children. He hadn't and the fact that even the beaten child swore he hadn't made no difference to the angry mob. The Kit had run as fast as he could but he finally ran out of energy and got trapped against and alleyway and a storefront. The Mob beat on the child relentlessly. At first Kyuubi just watched as the child's healing factor kicked in and began to heal his wounds. The healing factor paid no attention to the severity of the injury healing them as they occurred rather than what was life threatening versus what wasn't. She'd watched wide-eyed as a kunai wielder had plunged his rusty blade over and over into the child's beaten body. Puncture wounds appeared and bled the red water of life all over the ground under the pitiful broken child but Naruto did nothing to protect himself. Kyuubi realized he couldn't. Not only did he not know how but he'd get in trouble if he ever hurt someone. More important was the fact he wasn't conscious to fight back. Sighing she had begun to direct the chakra flow to his more serious injuries. It was then that she became aware of just how much chakra the boy held within his small body. For a few years she had plotted turning that to her advantage but it wasn't until the child was raped and mutilated that she realized she couldn't. If she left him alone they'd kill him for sure. He had started trying to kill himself but she'd always direct the chakra to heal the injuries before he could so much as pass out. She knew he didn't want to live but she'd already replaced him with her kit and she wasn't going to lose him like she'd lost her kit. Now she had to get him to a place where he could have a life worth living and then find the Seal Breakers. If she could find the Seal Breakers Clan she could be freed from this prison without dying. Or more importantly without him dying as well.
A twig outside snapped and Naruto was instantly awake. He moved deeper into the shadows. He didn't know who was out there but he didn't want to be found and dragged back. He knew the Council of Fools well enough to know he'd be punished but not until after he was tortured. Holding his breath he closed his eyes thankful for the cloth Kyuubi had insisted he wear over his too bright and noticeable hair. A man shape stepped into the open mouth of the cave.
"Alright Demon Brat. Come on. Let's go. I've got other things to do today."
Naruto stayed quiet hoping the man didn't know where he was and was only guessing.
"Look," said the man. "I don't know where you thought you would go but you leave a pretty broad trail. If you really wanted to leave Konoha you should have learned how not to leave such a wide trail a student at the academy could follow it. Now let's go. The Hokage is waiting for you." He reached down and grabbed Naruto's arm, not in the least bit surprised when Naruto pulled it free and stood on his own. All the man heard was a deep sigh as the teen followed along behind him back to the village. As soon as they entered the village, people picked up rocks and began hurdling them at the Kyuubi Brat, unhappy they had failed once more in ending his life. The Council of Fools were gathered in front of the tower waiting for him and his eyes dropped to the ground he walked across.
One of their number stepped forward halting the man and teen. "Where did you find him?" the spokesman asked.
"Why does it matter? I found him and brought him back. No other village will get him to use against us though I am not so sure we don't deserve just that."
"He knows the rules. Was he outside the walls?" Just then the Hokage yelled out her window.
"Kakashi quit standing there yakking and get that boy up here."
"Yes Ma'am as soon as the Council gets out of the way Ma'am," he yelled back.
"Go around them then. You're a ninja. Use it."
"That's fine for me Ma'am but I thought you wanted me to bring the civilian."
"Oh that is fine. Leave him with us," interrupted the councilman. "You go see the Hokage and we'll handle this civilian." The man was practically smirking as two more of his personal guard stepped forward to latch onto the teenager in front of them. Naruto did not resist knowing that would only make things worse for himself. He allowed himself to be led away to the council chambers on the third floor. He knew what would happen now and resigned himself to his fate. Inside him Kyuubi was pacing but she too knew what would happen now. They'd been through it so many times already neither of them had any illusions.
The council barred and shielded the doors to their chambers and then a special chair built just to contain Naruto rose from it's hiding spot under the floor. When it was locked into position Naruto was forcibly seated and locked into the chair. He knew he could not resist anything now but the council obviously didn't believe in the power of their own workmanship because they pumped him full of truth serum anyway and waited the five minute it took the drug to wear away his supposed resistance and began their questioning. He didn't even pay attention to what they asked knowing it really made no difference in the end. He had broken the rules and gone passed the wall intending to leave and never return. He had deliberately allowed them all to believe he was dead when he knew he should have told them he wasn't. For those two things he would be punished more than for anything else he might have done. He knew some of the punishment would be for not being accessible to the villagers last night when they wanted to round out their all day party by beating the shit out of him but he couldn't bring himself to feel any remorse for that. He'd be feeling plenty of pain in a few hours anyway so what did it matter. He let his conscious mind drift away from the Q&A session and just answered whatever was asked. Two hours later the beating began. He was drug off to a holding cell and stripped of his normal street clothes. Left in his underwear and nothing else he was shackled with heavy cuffs to chains that extended from the ceiling and the floor. The ceiling chains pulled his feet off the floor and the floor chains pulled his spine towards the floor but that's how the council liked it. The strain of being pulled in two different directions added to the pain of the brutal beating they gave him and yes the Council of Fools did their own beatings. When it was Naruto anyway. They started with leather gloves that protected soft skinned knuckles. He was so used to this kind of treatment that didn't even get a grunt of pain from him. He just stared with empty eyes straight ahead. The Council got angry and pulled out their brass knuckles fitting them over their leather gloves. They continued to dance around the boy hanging in front of them throwing random seeming punches at him and leaving behind broken skin, bumps and bruises but still they got no response from their victim. Heavy kicks and solid punches made the boy look more like a road map to disaster than a human being but still the council couldn't get a sound of pain or remorse from the boy.
Two hours after they had begun to beat the demon child they took a break and someone got the idea of using the medical field to cause the demon to react. After all, all they really wanted was for the demon to realize their superiority and acknowledge them as being it's master. None of them wanted to hurt the boy the Monster was housed in. It was the Monster they wanted to punish since they were sure it was the Monster that had convinced the boy to break the rules. The boy had been broken long ago.
The Yamanaka man went into Naruto's mindscape while the rest of the Council of Fools took their well-earned break. Inoichi walked the path to the cage where he knew he'd find the boy and the demon together. He'd never told the Council the Demon provided shelter for the child whenever life got too hard for him to handle and he had no intention of doing it today either.
"There you are," he said as he found the pair. "Naruto if you'd just cry out and let them think they beat you they'll quit this attack. They think they are beating Kyuubi down for convincing you to break the rules and they will continue until they get some sound from you acknowledging them as being your master. Please just give them what they want before they kill you."
For the first time in a year, Naruto spoke to another person. "What difference does it make if they kill me or the stupid villagers do it for them? Why does it matter that I live and breathe when I have no life? How does my existence matter when there are no friends to notice I'm here or miss me when I'm not? For what purpose should I desire life? I made my break to have a life. I gambled and I lost. Now all I wish for is the freedom to die. There is nothing else for me."
"That's not true. This council will not always be in charge of you. You do have a chance Naruto. Don't give up now. You're so close. Just a few more years and you'll be an adult." Inoichi hadn't realized just how sad and lonely the boy was but every question had been accompanied by pictures of the daily life of the boy no one noticed except to beat upon.
More images came with his response to Inoichi's plea. "Even should this council not survive much longer, that doesn't mean the next one will be any better. And what difference will being an adult make? I still will be prohibited from leaving this village. I have had no schooling of any kind. I have no home because your friends burnt it down. I have no income except for what the council allows me and the only food I eat is old ramen. My clothes are pulled from dumpsters as is my furniture which I no longer have. So tell me just why should I desire life?"
As Inoichi struggled to find an argument with which to argue for life over death Kyuubi broke in. "Go. Your friends are starting to get their energy back and they are ready for the next round. You don't want to be in here when they use those drugs on us. We will not survive it but if you are still here you will die with us. Neither of us want that. So go. Now."
Yamanaka Inoichi pulled himself from Naruto's mindscape and re-entered his own mind. He found Hiashi Hyuuga waiting for him. Motioning for them to leave the rest of the council to their fun the two walked outside the cell.
"What did you learn?" asked Hiashi.
"That Naruto no longer cares if he lives or dies. Even Kyuubi doesn't seem to care anymore. Both are depressed and from what Naruto asked me and showed me I can see why. Naruto has a life absolutely no one in their right mind would want. His only friend is the demon inside him. No one else has ever acknowledged he exist in the four years since Sarutobi died. The council paid his rent and bought his ramen but we didn't even make sure it was fresh ramen we bought him. Nor did we make sure he had decent clothes and furniture. He pointed out his lack of any kind of schooling which means no job of any kind is available to him even if someone would hire him which they won't. All our rules do is keep him here but they don't give him anything at all to cling to. To live for. He's empty. All he wants is to die and I can't blame him."
Back in the cell the medic had injected the experimental drug into Naruto's system. The burning trail of fire that was the drug worked it's way through his veins and into his muscles and organs turning them all to jelly as it flowed along. Naruto held in his groans of discomfort and pain as best he could. Only Kyuubi heard his whimpers as the drug burned him from the inside out. Trails of red began appearing on his skin where the drug was flowing along. Soon the red trails burst open revealing the tender tissue inside his skin. Bone showed through the flesh as the drug ate it's way to it.
The medic prepared another syringe and injected Naruto again. This time the injection went into the solid bone of his upper arm. The medic was taking notes as the council waited for the acknowledgment they'd never get. The sixteen year old world-weary boy hung from his chains not caring what they were doing anymore. Blood began to leak from his mouth which hung open in the effort of pulling oxygen into his battered and ruptured lungs. Multiple cuts had formed on the tender white skin as the first drug had invaded his body and now his bones became soft and malleable, turning to mush as soon as they were touched. The two drugs caused explosions of tissue and bone whenever they came into contact with each other.
It didn't take long before the last breath rattled out of his chest and the blue eyes lost their final bit of shine. Uzumaki Naruto had died. The council took awhile longer to notice the boy was no longer living but most of them felt no remorse at his passing. Slowly they left the cell not seeing the golden glow surrounding their victim as the spirit of the boy left it's mortal shell behind. Right after the golden form of the boy came the reddish gold form of the fox who had been his prisoner and only friend. They passed through the walls of the holding cells seeing the people rushing in to intercept the Council of Fools but did not stop their progress. Something was beckoning them outside and they wanted to go to whatever it was.
Outside standing tall in the fading sunshine believing that he could not be seen Naruto allowed himself to smile for the first time in a long time. Standing there waiting for him was his father, the Yondaime Hokage and his mother Uzumaki Kushina. Kami stood with her six arms intertwined waiting along with her compatriots the Shinigami and the Timewalker and the unnamed God of the Universe. Behind Minato and Kushina a fox kit and male stood waiting also. Kyuubi sat down and yipped a greeting. The male fox and kit walked over to her and sat in front of her as she turned to Naruto.
"Go Boy. They've been waiting for you for a long time now. It's time we both went home," she told Naruto. He hesitated and she understood. "I've only been standing in for her. Don't you think she would have liked to be the one who held you as you cried? Just as she has stood in for me with my kit I stood in for her with you. Go to her and let her show you a real mother's love." She gave him a gentle push with her nose and he started moving but every few steps he'd turn back to look at Kyuubi with uncertainty.
As soon as the fox family was complete as well as the human family the God's linked their hands together. As one they showed themselves to the villagers. The shimmering light of their presence filled the area and drew all eyes towards them. Slowly people came from buildings all over town and made their way to the square where the Gods patiently waited for them all. Only when everyone was gathered together in their presence did they speak. And they spoke as one with four separate voices.
"Sixteen years ago this village was chosen as the best of all villages. You were blessed with a wise and noble leader who had a kind heart and a pure love for you all. He gave you everything he had when another sent a curse against you intending your destruction. But I sent you my blessing in the form of this man and his wife and son. I sent them to you because I did not wish to see this village destroyed but yet you destroyed yourselves. In spite of the gift I gave you, you turned your backs and let your hearts grow cold. I gave you a child strong enough to contain the threat. I gave you a man who knew how to seal the threat away and did so in his own child. His only child born that day. His only son he never even got to know but you could have. You could have honored his request and loved the boy. You could have shown why this was the greatest of villages and forgiven the demon for behavior outside her control but not only did you not ask you did not care. You did not forgive. You did not love. You grew cold and heartless and now this village will stand as a lesson to all of what happens when you spurn the gifts of the Gods."
The golden glow surrounding the party of Gods and the dead began to spin and swell. It grew to encompass the square until the whole crowd felt the chill of the golden light. They had expected it to be warm to be filled with love but it wasn't it was cold and hard and felt more like metal than anything else. The people cringed and huddled together. Only a few felt love and only the young children felt nothing as the ring of light passed over them. The ring of light spread into every corner of Konoha and into the lands surrounding the village. Every town in the land of fire felt the passage of the ring as it spread it's influence everywhere it went. Even the Daimyo himself felt the metallic touch of the golden ring.
When it was over and the people could move again a very angry Hokage had the council arrested and tried for murder as well as the medic who had used the drugs on Naruto. Outside the prison she whispered, "I'm sorry Naruto. I should have known before last night that you were still alive." She hung her head never noticing the tears that dotted the dusty ground she walked over as she made her way back to her office and the mountain of paperwork the Trial of the Council would create for her. It would be worth it though just to get rid of them for what they had done to Minato's son.