Title: The Fox-Demon and the Noble Angel
Chapter: A bitter betrayal
Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from my imagination.
A/N: Another pain-filled chapter… I just wanted to say that I do NOT hate Naruto… nor do I hate anyone else… well maybe Sasuke a little, but no one else! Thank you.
Naruto walked in the direction of the ninja academy with rings around his eyes from lack of sleep. He hadn't slept all night after tearing apart the villager who dared to assault him; he kept tossing and turning from all the nightmares. Just as he took another step, a foot extended outward and he tripped.
"Hey, well if it isn't my favourite piss-pot!" the voice came from a young man who looked to be eighteen.
"Get lost, Daiki… I'll be late for my graduation exam…" Naruto said in a monotone voice as he dusted himself off. As he was about to make another step he felt something hard come into contact with the back of his neck and lost consciousness.
Time passes…
Naruto felt a hot, sticky, foul-tasting liquid being splashed onto his face as he awoke and looked up to see Daiki putting away his equipment. "Ah, so you've woken up, eh? About time; your almost late… ahhh nothing like consecrating the morning piss on the face of a demon!"
Naruto got up, gritting his teeth and made his way out of the dark alley and onward to the academy. 'Damn that Daiki! Always knocking me out and pissing on me! I would tear him apart if I wasn't in a fucking hurry!' Naruto continued walking while people shouted at him and threw pieces of garbage or just plain stones at him. He tried his best to ignore them, but their hateful words towards him made him sob quietly. The academy was only around the next corner he just had to make it…
"Hey, demon!" Naruto always hated that particular insult. It was the lack of understanding as to why they called him that that made him angry.
Naruto slowly turned to face the source of the voice. "Don't call me that again or I'll…" when he was finally facing the voice a large stone came flying and hit him on the head with a sickening crack. He fell to the ground and lost consciousness instantly.
One hour later…
Naruto was lying in a small pool of blood when he finally awoke. "Why? Why? Why can't… I just have one day? One painless day is all I ask…" Naruto began sobbing as he continued onwards toward the academy.
Iruka was pleased. His students had all passed their respective tests with flying colours.
Shino demonstrated mastery over his insects of the the likes Iruka had never seen. Chouji demonstrated a perfect expansion jutsu. Sakura made an amazing henge jutsu. Hinata showed the prowess of her Byakugan. Kiba and Akamaru pulled off some very nice combined jutsus. Shikamaru managed to ensnare several people into his shadow jutsu. Ino had shown her mastery of her mind-manipulating jutsus and Sasuke made a small army of clone illusions. Iruka felt so proud over each and every one of his students except for one…
The door burst open and Mizuki was standing in the doorway. "Iruka, Naruto Uzumaki has arrived!"
"Well tell him that he failed! If he cries about it, tell him he should come on time next time!" Iruka was seething that Naruto had the nerve to come LATE to HIS exam.
"Come now, Iruka… he was attacked outside; he is covered in his own blood… as well as other things… can't you give him a chance?"
"Alright… but just because you asked me, Mizuki. Send him in." There were a lot gasps and grimaces at the sight that walked in before them. Naruto had a scar that was beginning to disappear on his forehead and blood all over his face and mixed into his hair. "God, Naruto… you look like shit!" Iruka got up, pulled a cloth out of his ninja bag on his leg and spat on it. "Hold still…" he wiped away most of the blood and managed to eliminate the stench of urine. "Alright… now that you at least look and smell presentable… I want you to make twenty perfect clones!"
Hinata went wide-eyed "B-but Iruka-sama! The minimum is normally only three!" Hinata could not believe her sensei was giving Naruto an unfair test.
"Yes, but Sasuke did twenty, so he should too!" Iruka said with an evil smirk. 'There is no way he'll do it and even if he does… I have yesterday's discount…'
Naruto just looked to the floor. "Ok…" He made the hand-sign "Bunshin no Jutsu! (clone technique)" after a huge surge of chakra thirty clones appeared, much to the shock of everyone in the room.
Hinata felt so proud of the one she secretly admired and unconsciously whispered "Well done… my Naruto-kun…"
After the shock died down and after a few cheers were given, Naruto felt for the first time in years… proud of his existence. "Alright class, SETTLE DOWN!" the class went deathly silent after Iruka used his big head no jutsu and he turned towards Naruto. "Naruto…" the blonde boy expected to receive a pat on the shoulder and an I'm proud of you from Iruka, but instead his next words hurt him like a kunai to the heart. "You fail…"
"Wh-what!?" Naruto was shocked to the core. He had been spending so much time training for this moment and had put every ounce of his chakra and effort into his bunshin no jutsu. "W-why?"
"I told you only to make thirty and just look at these clones! They are mediocre at best! Add this to your punishment from yesterday and you fail!" Iruka hissed.
"B-but... I tried… so hard…" Naruto whispered as tears ran down his face. He fell to his knees in defeat and placed his hands on his face as he let out heart-wrenching sobs.
"Iruka-sama… that's… that's not fair!" Hinata couldn't bear it any longer, seeing the boy who had put a smile on her face every day crying so inconsolably was breaking her heart. "Surely, he deserves to pass! He has worked so hard…"
"Who cares? He's nothing but a loser… our sensei's failure. Let him cry. If he was worthy of being a ninja he would have taken his failure like one…" The onyx-haired boy known as Sasuke announced matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, your so right, Sasuke! And why do you defend him, anyway? He is a creep! Always smelling like he rolled out of a dumpster! If I were you I'd be glad that he'd be out of my life!" Sakura piped in after her long time crush spoke his harsh words.
"Anyway… class is dismissed! I want you all to grab your ninja head bands and go tell your parents who are waiting outside!" Iruka ordered with authority.
Everyone immediately got up and charged to the exit except for Naruto, Iruka, Mizuki and Hinata.
"Iruka-sama… do… do you not care? Do you not care that they call him a failure?" Hinata had never seen Naruto so sad and just wanted him to stop crying.
"No, Hinata, I don't… because that is what he is…" Iruka then turned to the exit.
Hinata was shocked at her sensei's confession and was about to say something before Mizuki beat her to it. "Aww, don't listen to him, Naruto-kun… he just said that because he cares and just wants you to become tougher…"
Hinata relaxed after hearing his words. 'Yes, that makes sense! I just wish that he didn't have to go so hard on Naruto-kun…' Hinata debated whether or not to leave Naruto until a nod from Mizuki relaxed her. "Ok… good bye, Naruto-k… Naruto-san… See… see you tomorrow…" Hinata stammered before leaving.
Mizuki placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You wanna get a bite to eat?"
Naruto looked up toward his only friend with tear-stained cheeks. "Yes… thank you…"
The two of them walked out and continued down the road to Ichiraku Ramen receiving hateful glares from the villagers they passed by. "Aww, don't listen to them, pal! Who needs'em?"
Naruto smiled sadly at his only friend and gave him a hug. "Thanks… Mizuki-sensei!"
Once the duo had reached the ramen shop and stepped through the curtains, the owner threw a hot spoon at Naruto, burning the side of his face. "We don't serve his kind!"
Naruto was seething with fury but a gentle hand on his shoulder from the only man who had ever shown him friendship and kindness apart from that of the Third, calmed him down. "We'll go somewhere else, ok pal?" after a quick nod from Naruto the two of them headed towards a bar that sold dango.
Mizuki tucked into his sweets immediately; winking to the beautiful waitress who served him. Naruto, on the other hand, just stared at his dango; ashamed that, because of him, his friend had to pay double for what they usually cost. "I'm sorry…" he finally managed to mutter.
"What for? I get well paid for my chunin tasks and the money I receive from working at the academy is just gravy!" The silver-haired man let out a small chuckle after his statement and swallowed his shot of sake afterwards.
After they finished they both wandered around Konoha for a while until Mizuki finally stopped. "Hey, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto stopped and turned around. "Yeah, Mizu-kun?"
"You're still feeling bad about not graduating, aren't you?" Mizuki asked with a soft tone.
"Yeah… a little… but I feel better with you around, Mizu-kun! You're my only friend!" Naruto was happy around Mizuki. He seemed to understand him; he seemed to know what it was like to have the world against you… what it's like… to be alone.
"Well… as your friend, I want to let you in on a little secret…" Mizuki said with a sly grin on his face.
"What?" Naruto could trust Mizuki. In fact he could only trust Mizuki. He had been there for him ever since he was dying of hunger on his doorstep, begging for food. He just opened the door and showed him kindness the likes he had never experienced before. So it was only natural that Naruto placed his full trust into his chunin friend.
"Well… I know something that would impress Iruka very much…" He leaned in and began to whisper. "In the Hokage tower… there is a scroll… a scroll that contains all manner of amazing jutsu… take it and go to the forest… I'll meet you there and tell no one! Don't get caught…" with that Mizuki saw Naruto take off in a flash and smirked inwardly. 'My, kid… you are just too stupid!'
Naruto ran through the streets in direction of the Hokage's tower. 'I won't let you down… I can't wait to see all those cool new Jutsus!' Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts by Daiki who called out to him.
"Hey, demon brat! Thank god you came… I needed to take a piss and there I thought it was gonna go to waste!" The repulsive young man let out an evil laugh.
"Oh, yes… I haven't had time to thank you… for all the… yummy piss you've been making me drink for the past two years…" Naruto grinned ear to ear and approached his prey slowly.
"Wait, man… what… what is with that grin? What is… no, NO STAY BACK! NOOOO!"
Seconds later the street was painted red in blood; guts scattered around the gruesome scene. Naruto unzipped his pants and released his bladder of its contents while rolling his eyes to the back of his skull. "You were right, Daiki… it feels good to consecrate your piss on someone…" Naruto placed his male anatomy back into his pants and wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve. "Mmm… yummy…" Naruto then continued on his way to the Hokage's residence.
A clanging sound resonated through the halls of the Hokages residence as an old chunin teacher made his way out after a meeting with the Hokage. 'Damned brat! He rips my balls off with a kunai and still I get told off by the old geezer… I swear if I see him again… I'll slit his throat even deeper than before! Wait, someone is coming!' The ex-sensei tilted his head to the side, trying to see who was approaching. "IT'S YOU! I am glad to see you, Naruto… now I can pay you back for my manhood!" he exclaimed while pulling out a kunai as he hobbled quickly to the blonde-haired boy.
"Ahh… didn't I tell you that if you looked at me again, I would kill you? You worthless piece of shit? And, you know what my nindo is? It is to never go back on my word…" Naruto glared at him, full of bloodlust. He smiled as he made his way to the old, crippled teacher.
The man dropped his kunai and started stumbling backwards. "You… stay back, I said get back you demon! No, no, NOOO-AHHH!" Blood spattered and smeared all over the walls, as sickening popping sounds resonated throughout the area.
"Thanks for the snack…" Naruto said as he gazed into the lifeless eyes of the old teacher he had never cared to even learn the name of. He continued onwards down the hall until he reached the scroll room. "There it is… come to papa!" he wiped the blood off his hands onto his clothes and took the scroll from its place, and then he ran to the place where he was told to meet Mizuki. Little did he know that a certain old man was watching him through his crystal ball.
"Hmm… what manner of trouble have you found now, young one?" the old man asked no one in particular as he smoked his pipe.
Iruka was walking home after a long day and talk with the Hokage, his hands in his pockets and his head in the clouds. 'Hmmm… maybe I have been a little hard on Naruto… I mean… it's not like it is his fault that he has that… that thing in him… maybe I am letting my private feelings cloud my judgment…' He was instantly snapped out of his thoughts after hearing his best friend's voice.
"IIIRRUUUUKAAAA!" Mizuki screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran after his friend.
"What is it, Mizuki?" Iruka feared the answer.
"The… the Hokage has called all available chunin to his residence! It… its Naruto, he… he has stolen the forbidden scroll!" Mizuki managed to get out before Iruka set off for the Hokage's residence.
'To think I was about to change my opinion of him! I'll make that little bastard pay!' His fists clenched and his heart racing, Iruka was eager to see blood.
The Third Hokage stood outside his residence with his hands behind his back. "Alright everyone… I want you all to track down and capture Naruto Uzumaki and bring him here… this is to be a locate and capture mission! I do not want the target harmed in any way!"
"But he has the demon! Surely we are allowed to…" just then a scream of pain came from the young chunin as a ninja wearing an animal mask appeared behind him and stuck a kunai in his throat.
"Anyone else want to go against the decree?" The old man gave each one of his men, save the ANBU, a quizzical look. After several no sirs the Third raised his hand. "Right then, scatter! Find the boy!" everyone disappeared in a cloud of dust and the old man took an intake of smoke from his pipe. 'Hmmm… how did he know about the secret scrolls…? I wander…' he took the pipe out of his mouth. "ANBU assemble!" A squad of ninja wearing different animal masks all appeared in front of the elderly Hokage.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" one with a cat mask asked.
"I need you to investigate something for me…" the Hokage's gaze shifted to the crystal ball he had taken out of his pocket.
Naruto had been training really hard to master the first Jutsu in the scroll he took. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. 'I… will make… Mizu-kun… proud!' he said as he channelled more chakra. Just then a kunai hit him in the back. "Huh? So they are sending ninja now, huh? Did the old man send you!? I can't think of Hokage-sama agreeing to having me terminated…" Naruto said calmly as he took the kunai out and licked it. The bloodlust he had experienced that night making him more beast than boy.
"No, the old geezer never said a thing… he even ordered us not to kill you…" A muffled voice rung out. "I'm just doing justice, demon boy!" a figure wearing a black mask came out of the woods wielding a massive shuriken.
"Yeah? Well, I won't kill you till you give me some answers! Why do people always call me demon!?" Naruto said while moving into a battle stance.
"Ha! It's because…" the masked man then threw the shuriken, sending it flying at blinding speeds. "You are the one the nine-tails was sealed in twelve years ago!"
Naruto's eyes went wide. "No, that's a lie!" he ducked just before the shuriken could decapitate him. "The nine-tails was destroyed back then! That's what made the Fourth so legendary!" Naruto threw the kunai at his adversary who dodged it skilfully.
"No, that was a lie used to glorify that arrogant prick! The truth is that you are the kyuubi no kitsune!" the man said with a smirk under his mask. "Did you really think that the way you rip people apart and devour their flesh was normal!? It was always the beast that was mistakenly preserved within you!" the attacker mused as he threw a volley of kunai and shuriken at the shocked, blonde boy.
"Why… why was I never told…?" Naruto fell to his knees after the wall of steel hit him. "I… all my life… people have hated me…" the ninja began walking over to the bleeding boy and took out a kunai. "Why? Why did he do it? Why did the Fourth do it!?"
"To protect the village…" the ninja was now thoroughly enjoying the boy's misery and torment.
"To… protect… THE VALLAGE!?" Naruto roared as he got up and shook off all the weapons. The masked ninja got thrown off balance at this sudden shockwave of chakra. "You mean that I have gone through hell all my life at the hand of the village… TO PROTECT IT!?"
The masked ninja quivered in fear as Naruto showed his face to the moonlight. His canine teeth had become flesh rendering fangs and his fingernails had become steel-shredding claws, his whisker marks were more pronounced and his eyes turned red as blood with his pupils forming into slits. "d-don't…" the mysterious ninja begged before claws came down and tore his throat out.
"So, this is what you wanted, huh? THE DEMON!" Naruto kept clawing the long-dead body as he drained his fury and bloodlust. Finally, after an hour, the blond-haired boy stopped. "Who the hell are you anyway!?" he asked as he pulled the mask off. He went completely white when he saw Mizuki's bloodied face staring back at him. "M-Mizuki…? No… no,no,NO!" Naruto's eyes filled with tears and he began to sob and wail loudly into the night.
It was then that Iruka found them. "Naruto, you bastard!" he then caught a glimpse at what Naruto was clutching in his arms. "M-Mizuki…?" seeing the body of his best friend mutilated almost beyond recognition snapped something in his brain. "YOU MOTHERFUCKING SON OF A BITCH!" he then punched Naruto so hard that he flew through a tree. "I might not be able to kill you… and the Third told us not to harm you… but you heal quickly and you are not going to mention a word to the Hokage, are you?" silence is all he received as a reply. "Good… it is good that you're silent… BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOUR SCREAMS WOULD ATTRACT SOMEONE!" the rest of the night would be filled with silent screams of pain as Naruto was bound to a tree and beaten all night long.
The next day
The Hospital of Konoha
Azure eyes slowly slid open as Naruto begun to take in his surroundings. 'th-this is… the hospital?' His eyes finally shot open as he looked around the room.
"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata didn't care that she had used her secret suffix out loud; all she cared about was the boy in that hospital bed.
Naruto investigated and saw two pearl-colored eyes gazing into his. "H… Hinata…? What are you…" he was enveloped in a hug from said Hyuga before she passed out. "What the… are you ok?"
"Ahh, I see that you are awake, young one!" the voice came from Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage. "You gave us quite a scare!"
"Hokage-sama… yes umm… this girl…" Naruto tilted his head at said girl. "Is she alright?"
"Ohh…" the old man let loose a chuckle. "By what I can tell, she is better than alright!" the old man said while taking the dark-haired beauty and placing her on the chair next to the bed. "She has been here since early morning…"
"Really? Why would she do that?" The boy mused as he gave her a quizzical look. She was indeed quite beautiful in his eyes, more beautiful than any other girl.
"I'm sure she will tell you herself when the time comes… now, about last night…" the old man got serious.
Naruto winced as the painful memories of last night came back. The killings, the scroll, the training, the fight, the revelation, the unmasking and the beating… it all flooded his mind like a tsunami. "Why…? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me that I am the kyuubi?" Naruto asked sadly.
"Mizuki told you, huh?" the old man's expression was that of a father looking at his injured son.
Naruto winced again after hearing the name of the man he considered his best friend… almost a father.
"Look, I wanted to protect you, so I… I passed a decree that no one was to tell you or anyone else who didn't know about what you keep locked away in your body…" The old Hokage gave Naruto an apologetic look before continuing. "It would seem that Mizuki committed treason three times over… my ANBU discovered that he murdered one of his comrades and then had dealings with a SS-rank rogue ninja… He planned on framing you to get the forbidden scroll and give it to a rival village… and last but certainly not least he broke my decree!" The white-haired man got more and more angry the more atrocities he revealed.
Naruto felt sick. He slaughtered his best friend, learned what he really was and received an excruciating beating from his sensei all in one night. Now he had only one question on his mind. "Why did you order the decree? To make me think I had done something wrong? To trick me into obediently loving this fucking village!?"
The kind hearted Hokage just looked at the blonde boy. 'Oh, Minato… he is so much like you… and like his mother…' He placed a hand on his young ward's shoulder. "No, young one… I made the decree so that your generation would come to love and admire you… not get driven away like the narrow-minded fools their parents have become…" the Third looked deeply with his grey eyes into Naruto's azure ones. "So that you would find love and happiness…"
"Umm… Hokage-sama?" Naruto looked curiously at his guardian.
"Yes, young one?"
"What is love?" Naruto asked, his voice laced with confusion.
"Ahh, well… love is…" he gave the young Hyuga a glance as she slept peacefully in her chair. "Love is something warm and pleasant that binds two people… a bond of trust and understanding"
"You mean like how I felt about Mizuki?" Naruto felt a sharp pain in his heart, he couldn't explain it; he just felt like someone had thrust a red-hot kunai into his chest.
"No, Naruto… Mizuki never felt that way about you… true love is a bond that two people share between each other." The old man embraced Naruto warmly. "I am sure somebody will allow you into their heart someday…" as the white-haired man finished his sentence two pearl-colored eyes sleepily opened.
"What about Iruka?" Naruto finally asked. He didn't know why but he felt guilty about leaving the girl in the seat next to him without a teacher. "Is he in trouble?"
"He had a panic attack and I believe he hurt you… but apart from that he is ok…" The old man wanted to hear Naruto's verdict before sentencing the man who had beaten the boy so badly. "What do you wish be done to him?"
Naruto was in turmoil. On one hand he wanted to rip Iruka apart for what he had put him through last night and the past year, however, he understood now why he did it and he didn't want to leave the girl he had come to feel… pleasant around without a teacher. "Let him go… as if it never happened…"
"As you wish…" the old man smiled. 'So… he has learned of compassion…'
"Naruto-k… Naruto-san?" a soft, quiet voice came from behind the Third who then looked over to see the pale-eyed girl slowly rise from her chair.
"Oh… hello… Hinata…" Naruto, once again, was in turmoil. The feelings within him were so warm and pleasant, similar to Mizuki, but different… he felt… happy from hearing her voice and his cheeks became warm for no reason. This made him confused… not that he wanted the feeling to go away, but he did want to know what they were and what caused them.
"Come on, young Hyuga… let the boy rest…" the Hokage placed a hand on her shoulder and began to lead her out. Just as he reached for the door handle he heard a voice call out to him.
"Please, allow me… Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (shadow-clone jutsu)" a physical clone manifested in a puff of smoke and opened the door.
"Get healed up soon boy… or you'll be late for the ceremony…" the old man said trying to mask his glee.
"What ceremony?" Naruto didn't remember any ceremonies being held recently.
"Your graduation ceremony, of course!" The old man stated with glee as he grinned from ear to ear.
"You mean…?" Naruto was in shock.
"Mmm-hmm…" the Third nodded his head.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata, unable to suppress her happiness, ran over to Naruto and gave him a hug and, once again, passed out in his arms.
"Well… I'll take her to the academy now…" the old man picked her up and left with her in his arms.
Naruto was beside himself. He had passed thanks to the third Hokage and yet… that wasn't the reason for his happiness… it was the fact the girl had embraced him that made his heart soar. 'Is… is this love?'
A/N: well I am bushed… this chapter was difficult to write, oddly enough… I just wanted to make Hinata jump onto him and kiss him and that was the problem… I promise… in a later chapter… I'm just gonna say this once; no Naruto is NOT gonna permanently be this beast that eats people, but he will be occasionally due to bloodlust. A bit like Gaara, really. Also his relationship was a bit like Gaara and his uncle in this fic so… you understand how impacting it is supposed to be.
Anyway review and criticize, plz, Thank u!