The Choice

Normal Monologue

Jutsu

Thoughts

Kyuubi's Thoughts

Kyuubi

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"What do you mean you don't want the Kyuubi?", Tsunade asked, a look of complete shock donning her face as she slowly stood up. Naruto sighed, staring at his feet.

"I mean exactly that. I don't want the fox, the Akatsuki can keep him.", Naruto muttered in response. He turned to leave, ignoring the fact that Sakura was watching him, her mouth gaping. Tsuande chuckled dubiously.

"Naruto, I don't think you fully understand. The Akatsuki will not hesitate to demolish the world with their newly achieved demon powers. If we can get just one of the bijuu away from them, their entire plans are vanquished, foiled!", Tsuande explained, confusion heavy in her voice.

"Then make another one of the former jinchuuriki take theirs back.", Naruto replied darkly. Tsunade and Sakura were baffled by his response.

"Naruto, we couldn't do that to them, it'd be cruel.", Sakura said, her voice soft.

"Oh, and it's ok to ruin my life again after I've only just escaped it?!", the shinobi yelled, whipping around to face the pink-haired girl.

"Naruto, you'd be considered a hero. You'd be looked up to, admired.", Tsunade soothed, trying to convince the boy that this would be best for him and the world.

"That's exactly what the Yondaime thought, and look how that turned out!", Naruto shot back.

"Naruto, don't you realized how important this is? This could mean life or death to all the ninja nations, maybe even the rest of the world.", Tsunade screamed, rage and confusion contorting her face into something from horror tales. But Naruto wasn't fazed, not even a little. He was fighting for something vital to him, and he wasn't about to back down.

"I do realize that it's important.", Naruto replied, his voice growing soft and the usual gentle expression returned.

"Then what in seven hells possessed you to refuse?", Tsunade answered, her voice raising with every word. Naruto flinched, and his eyes filled with a sense of longing, a deep sadness that made even the enraged Sannin to calm.

"Because if I don't have the demon anymore, then maybe the villagers will finally accept me.", he muttered, his normally brilliant blue eyes fading into a dull, flat bluish grey. Tsuande was instantly hit with guilt for trying to force the fox back into the blonde's life and sympathy for the boy and his newly acquired goal.

"But if this is the only way to save everyone then…then I'll be at the gate tomorrow morning.", Naruto added before walking out the door. Tsunade gasped and stared at the place where the former jinchuuriki had stood only seconds before.

"He…he accepted. Even after all he said about not wanting the demon, he still agreed to go.", Tsunade whispered to herself, her heart snapping in two. Here she thought she wouldn't be asking much of the blond, but now she knew that this was a decision of a lifetime for the shinobi.

"Sakura, I want you to go talk to him. Tell him I'm sorry. This decision is his and his alone. No one can make it for him.", the Hokage instructed her apprentice. Sakura nodded and jumped stealthily out the nearby window. Tsunade sighed and slumped into her chair.

"I need some sake.", she murmured to no one in particular as she pulled a bottle out of the top drawer in her desk.

Naruto crumpled to his knees in front of the Hero's Monument. He glanced up at one name in particular and sighed a deep, sad, breath.

"Dad, what do you want me to do?", the boy asked, staring at the name scratched into the stone slab. The blond had found out about his heritage only a few weeks ago. At first, he had been angry that his own father had done that to him. But then, after some time and thought, Naruto realized the Yondaime was only trying to protect him and the village. He hadn't expected for his plan that his son would be a hero would backfire, so it technically wasn't his fault.

"Well, for starters, you need to sit down and really think about this.", a soft voice replied. Naruto whipped around and saw Sakura was standing right next to him. She offered him a small smile as she sat down next to him.

"So, you're dad was the greatest Hokage that ever lived.", Sakura breathed, her voice filled with awe. Naruto nodded feebly. "That's amazing.", she added.

"It kinda fills the void, knowing where I came from and who my parents were.", Naruto answered, a small smile lighting across his face. Sakura beamed as well.

"You must be proud. I mean, he defeat the Kyuubi.", Sakura exclaimed, excitement taking hold of her. Naruto smile softened.

"He was a great hero.", he responded, a far-away look in his eye. Sakura sat in silence, waiting to see if the blond would speak again. After a few minutes of no motion or talking, Sakura stood up. Naruto glanced to his side, the sudden movement catching his attention. Sakura smiled down at him.

"Come on, let's go somewhere to eat.", Sakura offered, beginning to walk away. Naruto shrugged; what did he have to lose. He jumped of the ground, running up till his pace was in sync with the crimson-clad girl.

"So, you want to go to the ramen shop?", Sakura asked, although she already knew the response. Naruto thought for a moment.

"Yeah. That'd be great.", Naruto answered, a small smile lighting up his face. Sakura grinned in rejoinder and nodded.

"Ramen it is.", she replied softly.

"Oi! Teuchi!", Naruto said cheerfully as he walked into the shack. The old man turned from the noodles on the stove and smiled kindly.

"Ah, Naruto! Haven't seen you in a while!", he answered, already starting to work on Naruto's first bowl. Naruto and Sakura sat down on the soft red stools and the pink-haired girl ordered a small Miso ramen.

"Yeah, I was in the hospital.", Naruto explained. Teuchi laughed.

"You and your training. You should try not to over-do yourself so often.", the man chuckled. Naruto shrugged. Ayame set a two steaming bowls of ramen in front of the teens. They broke apart their chopsticks and while Naruto dug in, Sakura ate at a normal pace.

"Eh…you get…used to it.", Naruto replied in-between slurps. Teuchi laughed, returning his attention back to the stove-top. Sakura waited until the shinobi had slowed down to begin talking.

"Naruto, Tsunade wanted me to tell you that she's sorry. She didn't mean to push this whole thing on you like it's your duty. You raised a good point, your opinion does matter on this subject.", Sakura started, opening up the conversation as she ate her meal. Naruto stopped; a mouthful of noodles half-way to his mouth. He slowly set them back down in the warm broth and turned to face the girl. "And she says it's your decision to go on this mission, not anyone else's.", Sakura added. Naruto sighed.

"Not much of a choice. Mass destruction and world chaos against a boy and his emotions.", Naruto muttered.

"Your emotions do matter, but you need to decide what you think matters most. Besides, if you choose not to accept, we'd find a way to stop the Akatsuki.", Sakura replied. "At least I hope we'd be able to.", Sakura added mentally. Naruto hesitantly began to eat again, a small smile dancing across his face. Sakura studied the blond carefully out of the corner of her eye. His face was cautiously masked, leaving any signs of uncertainty or distress out. Only a smirk and that didn't tell her much.

Naruto swallowed the last pool of broth from the bottom of the bowl and slid some Ryo across the counter to Ayame.

"Thanks Teuchi, Ayame.", Naruto said kindly, the same tiny grin still plastered on his face. Teuchi nodded in reply, turning back to the orders of ramen he still had to fill.

That take care of, Sakura and Naruto left. The medic was shocked. The boy had finished only his third bowl, not to mention he had left on his own will, instead of having to be dragged out like he sometimes had been. The two reached a road that split off into two different ways, one leading to a row of neatly lined rows, and the other heading off to some apartment complexes. This was usually the place were Naruto and Sakura would separate when they walked together. But instead going to the right, Naruto followed by the kunochi's side down her road. Naruto glanced over and noticed her look of confusion.

"I thought I'd walk you home.", Naruto said with a grin, answered her unspoken question.

"No, you can stay if you want to. I don't mind.", Sakura replied, a small smile dancing across her lips. Silence filled the air again, both of them buried in their own thoughts. When they were three doors down from Sakura's house, Naruto stopped in his tracks. Sakura paused along with him, glancing around to see what had caused the blond to hesitate. Just as she was about to pull out a kunai, Naruto spoke, making her jump in surprise.

"It'd be best if I left here.", he whispered. Sakura was about to question in confusion, but the answer quickly sprang into her mind. Her heart sank, realizing the reason the boy didn't want to stay was because he was afraid of her mom's reaction.

"Oh she won't mind.", she said. Naruto just shook his head in disagreement.

"It'd be better if I played it safe. Who knows what your mom would say.", the blond muttered, disappearing in a snap. Sakura sighed; she knew the reason the boy had left her. But she didn't believe her mother would be that cold to him because of something he had no choice over. So the kunochi continued on her walk to her house, but she had that nagging feeling that she had forgotten something.

Naruto fell back on his bed, sending millions of specks of dust flying into the air. They danced in the moonlight that streamed from his open window, and Naruto stared at them, eyes narrowed, deep in thought. He had a lot to think about, but he didn't know where to start.

He knew he didn't want to go on the mission Tsunade had given him. He believed that if Kyuubi was gone, then maybe the villagers would see him as a normal human being, they might even accept him now. He could live the life he'd always dreamt of, he could finally find peace. He deserved it, after all the cruelty he'd received over the past 15 years. Feeling alone, hated, unwanted. And it was all the damn fox's fault. Naruto's blood boiled as he recalled all the events that had occurred thanks to the demon he contained. Serves the bastard right he was captured. They can have him, he's their burden now.

But then a thought dawned on the blond, one that made the anger and fury from his body evaporate. He realized all that he was and is, was because of the Kyuubi. His dream to become Hokage, his always burning passion to protect the people he cared about, his newly acquired skills from Ero-sennin. He now understood that if the Kyuubi hadn't been sealed inside him, he'd have no goal in life, he'd be an emotionless avenger, just like Sasuke had been.

A pang of sadness shot through the boy as he remembered the dark Uchiha prodigy. The boy he had thought of as a brother, the one that he had seen as a great rival. The one that had betrayed him, the team, and everyone else in the village, for power. The one that had plunged a Chidori through his chest, almost killing him. The Kyuubi had saved him in that battle by forcing all his remaining chakra to the place where the jutsu would impact, right about the heart. In fact, if the Kyuubi hadn't been sealed inside him, he would have been dead the day he graduated the academy, or maybe even sooner.

Naruto rose from his bed and hopped out the window. He broke in a run, dashing across the rooftops towards the Hokage's Tower.

"Enter.", Tsunade shouted, not glancing up from her paperwork. She heard the door bang shut and footsteps approaching the desk. But before Tsuande had the chance to speak, or even look up for that matter, her visitor spoke with a firm and decided voice.

"I fully agree and accept to go on the mission, Baa-chan.", Naruto stated, a confident smirk lighting his face.

A/N: A day late…my bad. Next update will be on time, promise.

Kyubbi-Kitsune

Next Chapter: First Steps

You're not planning to kill yourself out there, are you?", Iruka asked, his voice barely a whisper. Naruto avoided thier gaze, staring only at the ground.

"If that's what gets the job done.", Naruto answered.