A/N: Yeah, I rewrote it. Not much to say, other than it'll be better. I promise.

I: Ashura Festival

No… He thought in despair as he stared at the lifeless body of his teammate. Sasuke was the person he'd envied and despised. Sasuke was the embodiment of everything he had to work for. If that's true, then why do I feel this pain in my eyes?

"Sasuke…" Naruto choked out, blood leaking from his eyes. "You were the one with power. You were the one with a chance… and you still saved me? Why?" Naruto gripped Sasuke's hand as memories and emotions flooded his mind.

"This headband symbolizes a matured shinobi, Naruto. It isn't just a cool accessory."

"Those who break the rules are trash; all the same, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

"Don't be so reckless, baka. You'll hit your head and die."

"He isn't the fox anymore… he's Uzumaki Naruto, a loyal shinobi of the Hidden Leaf!"

"I… I hated you… just like my brother said I needed to. He said it was enough to keep me alive until I was stronger. I was wrong." Naruto's eye burned more than any other pain he'd ever felt before, but he could do nothing except stare at the peaceful expression on Sasuke's face. He felt as if there was something whispering in the back of his head, attempting to tell him something vital. But all he could hear were the things said to him that truly mattered. The words from the people who'd believed in him, even if they didn't always show it. "Don't you dare die before you become Hokage."

Naruto looked up at the Hunter-nin that had trapped him in the dome of ice. "You… bastard…" he groaned, half in anger and half from the pain pulsing in his temples. He laid Sasuke down gently and stood to his full height. "You'd kill him, and Tazuna-oji, and anyone else… you'd doom an entire nation to poverty… all just for a paycheck…?"

He couldn't tell, but Naruto thought he'd seen a hint of a flinch from his opponent, who chose then to answer him. "Just as you all fight for your own prosperity? He, who was stronger than you, who held higher convictions, and who was talented enough to forcefully awaken an eye technique… He sacrificed himself for someone like you. That was his choice, just as I choose to sacrifice my own morals to serve my own goals. It is the life of a shinobi, to be used as tools… He fought bravely, but it was his time. Just as it is yours."

The pain in Naruto's head stopped. The voice in the back of his mind became louder and louder, but still remained jumbled and distorted. He stepped forward. The cuts on his body began healing, and the needles fell out of the wounds. He stared forward, a fierce scowl on his face. He held out his hand through some sick compulsion he couldn't fend off. "I'm weak, I'm pathetic, and I'm low. But the lowest you can get… is when you choose order over kindness." The voice was suddenly clear to him.

"Universal…"

"Pull." Naruto's voice boomed, and the Hunter-nin came flying at him at amazing speeds. It was nothing he couldn't handle, because everything had become some clear. The world had seemed so damn bland before, but now it looked as brilliant as a precious jewel. Even the blood on the ground had a macabre sort of style to it. Naruto's fist clenched powerfully, his blood pumping hot in his veins. It swung forward and collided with the Hunter-nin's stomach, making said masked ninja retch and drop to the ground. Naruto backhanded the mask off of the man's face, and instantly froze. "Haku…" he whispered in disbelief.

Haku stared at him blankly. "Your eyes… I thought that Sasuke was from a higher pedigree than mine, but you… you're above even him, aren't you? Is that why he saved you? Did he see his anguish would awaken something that beautiful?" Naruto looked into a puddle on the ground. His eyes were the same blue he was used to, but instead of having proper sclera, the prior color of his irides had replaced it totally. His pupils had decreased to tiny points surrounded by thin rings. As he looked at himself in disbelief, the rings expanded to reflect his shock.

"The Sage lives on…" came the same voice from before. Naruto looked at Haku once again.

"So was your questioning just a psychological tactic? Do you even believe that protecting what you care about is the right thing to do? — No, of course you do…" Naruto muttered at the end, looking at the fight with Zabuza and Kakashi coming to a close. "It's that man that you want to protect. That monster that you hold so highly. If he is the extent of what you hold precious, then you're better off dead, because you aren't even human to something like that. You're a parasite that wouldn't even be on the walls of an insect museum."

Haku laughed a little. "There's a story behind that, if you care to hear it, Naruto-san."

Naruto turned back to Haku. "If it could explain how you became this pathetic, maybe I can learn from it."

"In the Hidden Mist, Zabuza wasn't alone in being a demon. There were many, many others; some lesser, and some greater. My father was among the lesser, who ridiculed anyone who held bloodline traits. The blood of the purest pedigree lies within some ninja, which allows them to call upon powers passed down from higher generations. These powers are restricted to DNA. In that village, we are abominations— instruments of war and suffering. My mother passed her gift onto me, and my father did not appreciate it. I was forced to kill him simply to survive, and that broke me. Zabuza-sama was the one to pick up the pieces. He is the oe I'd go so far to protect… but you were right. Now that I've been broken, he'll see no use in me. You've taken away my reason to live."

Naruto growled. "I'm not going to kill you just because you failed to serve a murderous freak like that eyebrowless hooligan! Why would I impart suffering on someone else, after all I've been through!? That isn't the way to help people!"

Haku smiled slightly once more. "I can see it in your eyes— they're beautiful, but far from flawless. Their original form hides what you really feel, but these show the truth of what you went through. I acknowledge you've suffered… but playing the hero? Preaching about saving lives? It isn't the truth of this world. Sparing your enemies after you've stripped them of their purposes is a fate even crueler than death. And you know it better than anyone."

Naruto let out a smile. It wasn't one he usually used. It was truer to himself— cynical in nature, desperate for camaraderie, and spoke of years of isolation. "You're right, Haku. I don't want to be the one to cause you to suffer." He pulled out a kunai. Haku looked at his master once more, to see Kakashi was charging up an incredibly powerful technique. Naruto noticed the look. "... If that's how you want to die, then go. It's the most I can offer you at this point."

Haku gave a small nod in thanks and rushed away. Kakashi shouted, "Lightning Cutter!" as his hand pierced Haku's heart in place of Zabuza's. Kakashi pulled his hand free and stared at the young man. Then he looked back at Zabuza. "Is this how it should've ended…?"

Zabuza slumped slightly. "He wasn't weak. He wasn't useless, and he didn't have to prove himself so much. It started out as that, yeah. But I raised that boy. And seeing him like that…"

Gatou chose this moment to bring his forces to the bridge. Naruto narrowed his eyes. It was here that everything would be decided. "Good job, Konoha ninja. Momochi was getting too expensive. Now we'll just kill the lot of you ninja and the bridge builder. Two birds with one stone, as they say." He started laughing. "And Zabuza… how pitiful can you get, 'Demon of the Mist-sama?' — A more appropriate title is kitten. Meow, motherfucker! — Get them!"

Naruto rushed forward immediately, pulling out a kunai. Perhaps if it were shinobi, he'd have felt a need to use his Shadow Clones. But against failed samurai? With the new clarity in his vision, it would be simple to just…

"Guah~?! What the Hell is this kid?! He's a monster!"

… Break them…? Naruto stood in the middle of a corpse pile, blood dripping from his hands and clothing. The ichor of humans was everywhere around him. Kakashi, Sakura, and Tazuna stared at him as if he wasn't the same person as he was ten minutes ago. Kakashi released his dogs' holds on Zabuza and said, "It's fine if you get the finishing blow. You have a bigger bone with him than us."

Zabuza smirked a kicked a knife into the air, clenching the handle with his teeth. He rushed forward, killing even more rogue samurai than Naruto had, before finally impaling his blade into Gatou's neckline. Blood sprayed from the headless corpse like rain. Then Zabuza knelt to the ground. "Hey, Copy Ninja… that brat of yours? The blonde with the freaky eyes? I want him to have my Executioner's Blade. His eyes are the same… as mine… and as Haku's. The one who should make heads roll… is the one who has seen his own separated from his shoulders… in his dreams." Zabuza collapsed completely. Naruto grabbed the weapon without a word, grunting as he heaved it with both arms.

"Naruto… where's Sasuke?" Kakashi asked lightly, covering his overused eye. Naruto looked at his Sensei, his bright, ringed, dead eyes making Kakashi's heart falter slightly. Just by looking into his eyes… the ki he releases is unreal! What are those?!

"Sasuke died."

Sakura fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. "No… no, that isn't true…!" she wailed. Naruto wouldn't meet her eyes. "You're lying, Naruto!" Naruto looked at his hands. They were clenched his fists, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks. "Naruto… tell me you're lying…"

Naruto looked at her, and she froze. "Look me in the eye and tell me I'm lying, Sakura-chan!" He looked at the crumbled ice and blood on one end, and the corpses and weapons littering the other. He turned to his sensei. "I'm done playing the fool. I'm done making excuses. I'm going to become Hokage, because that's what my dream is. Sasuke died for my dream… and he couldn't complete his own! I'll make up for it. I swear it on the blood that's pooling from my eyes…"

Kakashi clasped his shoulder. "Let's get his body."

Naruto looked down at Sasuke in disbelief as the previously dead boy opened his eyes. "Sasu..ke…" he muttered as Sasuke sat up. Sasuke looked at Naruto, and his eyes widened.

"Your eyes… Naruto, did I mean that much to you?" Sasuke whispered, smiling lightly. "You idiot… as if I'd died from some half-cocked missing-nin."

Sakura whimpered and launched herself at her crush. "I'm so glad you're safe, Sasuke-kun…" Naruto stared at the interaction, before looking at the gigantic sword in his hand.

I got off easy this time, but I doubt it'll be so simple from now on. I'll be a real shinobi. I'll stand up against a world that could let people like Haku wish for death. I won't fail in it, either, no matter what anyone else says.

"Hmph. Good luck with that, human. As noble as your kind can preach, you always fail to see what matters most in the end." — It was the voice who'd helped him realize his power. Naruto stopped channeling chakra to his eyes, and he saw that they returned to normal. "I've never seen a human wield those eyes before, but just like that cursed Sharingan, the Rinnegan is certainly no blessing. If you ask me, you'll be no different than that hypocritical father of yours— the one who holds my ire more than most."

Naruto looked at the sky. So you know my dad, huh…? You must be the fox, then, since my parents died the day you were sealed inside of me. You probably killed him, too. But you know what? I don't have time to deal with that. I just want to be something besides a nine-tailed fox demon. I don't know how I can hear you all of a sudden… but you aren't going to change me.

Naruto looked out at the crashing waves. He smiled. "Thank you… Haku."

Two weeks passed. The team dynamic returned to normal, but there was an odd, new cohesion to them all. That experience changed Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke. But Naruto felt a bigger difference than ever before in his life. And then he threw himself into his training— of course, so did Sasuke.

"Okay, you two. Tell me everything. How did Naruto awaken such a powerful tool?" Kakashi asked.

"I was nearly dead, Kakashi. How could I have seen it?" Sasuke countered.

Kakashi turned his attention to Naruto, who was picking his ear. "Naruto? What happened?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi. "After Haku fake-killed Sasuke, I lost it. My dojutsu activated, and I used a doujutsu called Universal Pull."

"How does it work, exactly?" Kakashi said.

Naruto smirked and held out his right palm. "Universal Pull!" Kakashi was immediately pulled towards Naruto, all the while screaming in terror.

"STOP IT!" Naruto snickered and cancelled the jutsu, causing Kakashi to fall on his face.

When Kakashi stood up, he glared at Naruto. "Never do that again. Anything else?"

"I haven't tried anything else out… but I'm certain that there's more to it."

Sasuke smirked. "A dojutsu like that still doesn't compare to my Sharingan, dobe." Naruto scowled.

"Well, that was the only thing I could do technique-wise, but there are still some passive buffs! I can see chakra, the world seems slower, and my body seems even more in-sync than ever before. Oh, and my control seems a lot better— Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Without the aid of hand seals, and without the cover of smoke, a Naruto clone shimmered into existence. "I don't think your lingering pink eye can say that you're better than me anymore, bastard."

The duo galred at each other. It's nice to be back to how things used to…

Kakashi wanted to wait until they were back in the Hidden Leaf before fooling around with Naruto's doujutsu, but there were still other things that could be taught while the bridge was being completed. "What the Hell are we supposed to do with these?" Sasuke deadpanned, holding up a small piece of paper. Sakura wracked her brain for an answer.

"I know what these are!" she said, "These are chakra-conductive papers. If you channel your chakra into them, it shows you what your elemental affinity is."

Naruto was completely lost, as evidenced by the look on his face. "Ele-what now?" was his intelligent response. Everyone else face-palmed.

"Naruto, your elemental affinity shows what chakra nature you can work with best." Naruto's face held onto it's blank look. Kakashi sighed. "Okay, you do know what nature transformation is, right?"

"Umm… yes?" Naruto said, is a vain attempt to save face.

"You have no clue, do you, Naruto?" Sakura asked. Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

"You got me…"

Kakashi rubbed his temples. "Okay, Naruto, listen for Kami's sake. Nature transformation is the changing of chakra into an element. The five basic elements, one of which you have an affinity to, are water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth. Each element has another element that it is strong against and susceptible to. If you channel your chakra into the paper, you'll know your affinity. If it gets wet, it's water; if it ignites, fire; if it splits in half, wind; if it crumples into a ball, lightning; and if it dissolves into dust, earth. Go ahead, give it a try."

Naruto looked as if he understood at least part of what Kakashi said. He nodded and channeled chakra. Amazingly, the paper split into 4 parts. Then, each part did it's own thing: one ignited, one soaked, one crumpled, and the final piece turned to dust.

Each member of the team stared at the paper in silence. "Nani…? NANI?!" Naruto yelled.

"Th-this is unheard of…" Kakashi stuttered in shock. "

SEE! SEE! I TOLD YOU I'M A SUPER NINJA, DATTEBAYO! I TOLD YOU!" Naruto yelled.

Sakura smacked him over the head. "Quiet, baka! My turn…" Sakura's paper burned up.

"Fire. That's common in Hi no Kuni," Kakashi commented. "Sasuke, if you would…" Kakashi prompted.

Sasuke's paper crumpled into a ball. "What the…? Lightning?" he said, confused.

"Weird; I was expecting it to be fire, you being an Uchiha and all…." Kakashi said. "Oh well. I have an arsenal of very powerful raiton ninjutsu. It's a good thing you have the Sharingan, because my most powerful raiton jutsu requires it." Sasuke smirked at the thought of learning an elite Jounin's most powerful jutsu.

"Ano… since I have the Rinnegan, do you think I'll be able to learn that raiton jutsu? Since I have an affinity for all the elements, and all of this chakra, I can be a jutsu powerhouse, right?!" Naruto asked.

Kakashi chuckled. "Naruto, with eyes like those, anything is possible."

The Kyuubi chuckled at his sensei's words. "The foolish begets the foolish begets the foolish… your father said the same words under different context, and he himself is dead. This one will lead you down the same path, human."

Naruto pointedly ignored the fox's words. I'm better than that. I'll become even better soon enough. He smirked at his team. Things were changing. But the Kyuubi left a lingering doubt. Were his eyes worth whatever price there was to pay for them?