FATE
"That's all you have to say? That conspicuously, the Class VI Grimm, the nine tailed demon, was the cause of it? Is that right?"
The room was sparsely furnished, with just a table and two chairs placed opposite each other. The lighting was cold, with one harsh bulb directed towards Naruto's face. The walls were painted in a sickly pale green which surrounded the whole room.
It was meant to be uncomfortable, and Naruto was feeling just that.
Naruto sat across Morino Ibiki, who was standing with a disdainful expression etched over his scarred face. The scouts had gone to the Town of Wave after hearing multiple commotions from the region only to find a passed out Naruto right at the center of the destroyed villaged.
In a gruesome fashion, they all died. There were no survivors, no live witnesses except the boy right in front of him, and his answers led to just one conclusion.
Naruto looked ahead, with a fierce look, trying to keep his composure in place. If he was honest to himself, he was about to lose it. His mind was unstable, chaotic. Numerous thoughts and emotions kept bubbling through his head and he was trying to will it to be one. He knew how these procedures went, give them one evidence of insincerity and he was done.
The Ruling council weren't ones to mess around, they were stern, and never batted an eyelash to everyone, even the son of two decorated and well known hunters.
He internally smiled grimly at the thought, this would even get a lot more attention than expected.
If he was honest with himself, he never cursed his heritage, until now.
"Yes," said Naruto, his tone unwavering and his stare unmoving. Ibiki Morino looked to him, clearly also not intent on budging. In his mind, it was decided, the boy before him had killed his teammates and destroyed the town of Wave in a bout of rage.
What the cause was, however strange it was, was his job to find out, and he was going to get it. Although, he already knew.
"The Hunter patrol have gone through the wreckage, or in better terms, the ruins, and no evidence so far has been discovered that corroborates with your story."
"That's impossible." Naruto shook his head in the negative, stunned internally at the revelation. He still kept his composure, looking across the table to Ibiki. The lone light between them pierced through the dark room, and made it uncomfortable for Naruto. "That's impossible."
"You may say that, but I don't deal in baseless statements, I deal with facts. And the facts say that you are lying."
Naruto's lips began to tremble at the thought and unconsciously clenched his fist, prompting a cold smirk from the interrogator before him.
"Now let me tell you what my facts say."
Ibiki sat down across Naruto and looked into his eyes. He could tell that he was about to break, and all he needed, was that proof, that sign, that he was guilty.
"The Hunters scanned through the area and they found a specific type of aura spread through the region, responsible for the blast, and surprisingly," Ibiki leaned with a stern expression. "It traces back to you."
Naruto's eyes widened as a sharp exhale escaped from his lungs. "That's-"
"Impossible? No, it is not. It all points at one answer, you were the cause of it all."
Naruto's expression began to change, he was becoming frantic and his breathing became labored.
"You were the one who destroyed the village, and you were the one who killed-"
"Don't say that!"
"I'll say whatever I want!" Ibiki stood up slamming his hands on the cold metallic table. He walked quickly till he was behind Naruto and forced the side of his face down to the table to the Hunter's discomfort. He breathing increased.
"P…Please sto-"
"This has never happened in the entire history of Konoha! And you were the cause of it. Yes," Ibiki moved till his lips was inches away from Naruto's ear. "You killed them, Sasuke and Sakura!"
Naruto grit his teeth. "I did not! I would never hurt them."
"For some reason I disagree with that. Now let me tell you something!" Ibiki pressed his head harder unto the table. "We already know that you did it, all we need is confirmation that you did."
"I would never harm them, it was the Nine Tailed-"
"Demon?!" Ibiki scoffed. "You've said that many times. Do you even know of your nature, the 'hidden power of the Uzumaki Clan'?"
"What are you talking about?! I don't care about some power right now! The Grimm was responsible for Wave's destruction! And all you have been doing is saying that I was the one that did it!"
Naruto didn't care anymore, completely furious at the thought that he was the one responsible for their deaths, it was impossible.
It was impossible… right?
"We went through your memories." Ibiki spoke interrupting Naruto's thoughts. He let go of his head and looked to him. The next words he spoke totally stunned Naruto.
"For how long have you been thinking of destroying the Academy and the Capital?"
"W…What?!"
"You heard me." Ibiki bent his head till his eyes were at the same level with Naruto's, looking into the now scared Uzumaki's eyes. "Inoichi found disturbing memories. One of the Capital being destroyed and another about-"
"There were just dreams?!"
"Were they?"
Naruto couldn't reply, the comment immediately shutting him up.
"What do you know of the Class VI Grimm?"
Naruto let out a soft exhale. "T…There are the last stage of the Grimm's evolution. Completely unstoppable…" Naruto spoke out, looking with fear to the distance. "…and there is the rumor that there are nine of them. All divided across the world."
"Hmm." Ibiki let out a cold smirk.
"You are right about a couple of things, actually, you are almost right about it all, it's just that you omitted a couple of parts."
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember we said that we went through your memories." Naruto nodded, frightened at the information he was about to receive, "We saw that you fought a Class III Grimm."
"I… We did."
"You see Naruto, the Grimm are drawn to negative emotions; that is their basic instinct, and their main drive is to destroy, to conquer, and to dominate."
Naruto nodded.
"What we didn't tell you people is that the classification is based on their skill of possession."
Naruto's body froze up at the information. "The Grimm possesses people?"
"I said it was based on their ability to possess." The Class III possess the land animals, the Class IV the sea animals and Class V the animals of the air.
Naruto's lips trembled. "And the Class VI."
"The final step in evolution."
Naruto exhaled as his expression was twisted into one of complete fear.
"Humans." Ibiki leaned to the wall behind Naruto as the blonde tried to digest the new information. "Fortunately for us, it is a very rare case."
"Y…You're saying-"
"Do you really think your eyes glowing red, and the sudden power boost that comes with it is just aesthetics?"
Naruto looked utterly baffled, trying to form a response. "N…No I-"
"What did you say you were doing when the Grimm attacked?"
"I was…" Naruto's breathing was frantic as his eyes was completely dilated at the ramifications. "I was…"
"Sleeping… right?" Ibiki concluded, and folded his arms. "You were sleeping throughout the destruction by a giant demon. And you only woke up when it was done?"
"Wha…" Naruto shook his head rapidly. "No! W…What are you saying?!"
Ibiki chuckled. "You are the Nine tailed Demon, Naruto. You have been possessed from birth, and…"
Naruto looked forward in stunned silence.
"You killed your friends."
"No…"
"We attempted to see if it was possible for you to live among us, for you to find common ground with the Grimm, but, you see what it caused. Your parents fought hard for you to be left to live, despite the fact that you were a threat to them. They are gone now, and now you know-"
"No!" Naruto yelled out, interrupting Ibiki. The interrogator moved till he was before Naruto again and let out a scoff, after seeing the tears flowing out his perplexed eyes. His will was breaking already. "I would never, never, kill them."
"You don't even believe yourself now, do you?"
Naruto had an expression of complete horror as his hands trembled within the chains that bound him.
Was this true? Was he really the one responsible for all that destruction?
"What happened is simple." Ibiki elaborated. "I think it's all psychological. You see, you concocted false memories regarding the whole event, you made yourself believe that it was all out of your hands, in other words, it was just you, losing control. You now know that… right?"
Naruto looked to his hands as it began to look bloodied. No. He tried to refute what he had just heard, he tried to shoot it down, he tried to come up with proof, he tried to show that he wasn't the one who destroyed the town, but the surprising part was that, he couldn't.
He couldn't muster up any defense anymore.
What did they think of him, Sasuke and Sakura, when he…
He looked down in regret as his breathing increased. It suddenly began to make sense. His power. The way his eyes took a reddened color, and his strength increased exponentially.
His mother's shield began to make sense. It suppressed the demon within him but that day he wasn't wearing it; that day, he killed them all. Men, women and children, all of them who had stood with him in the Forest, from Gari, to Sora, to Shinzu, to each and every one of them.
He was the one behind it all.
"You now know what you did. And you know that it is a capital crime." Ibiki spoke and looked to him. "Now, what do you think is your fate?"
Naruto faced forward as the room began to look a bit bleak, he was completely rooted to his position, as he muttered unconsciously.
"Death."
Ibiki looked to him with an affirmed expression.
His work was done.
…
The cell was nothing to write home about. It was barely six feet by four. The walls were made of thick grey stone that composed of all sides except the entrance. There, a mean barred opening was seen with thick metal bars. The bed was a plank of wood on legs, there was no mattress, no cushioning and only one thin blanket.
It was either unnervingly quiet or pierced with the screams of tortured inmates. The lone fire before the cell gave the only lighting to the entire room.
Naruto looked forward in silence. He didn't have an idea of how much time had passed of even if it was night or day. It was totally disorienting by design. Given enough time, a person could forget their own name in there. The isolation was total and stimulation was zero. All he could do was feel the cool walls, but even they were smooth.
Every time a guard's footsteps approached the door, it seemed like it was time for him to die, but they either just walked past him, or they were there to give him a meal.
It was hell, and even he began to crave the noose, hoping that it was going to be over soon.
Footsteps began to approach and Naruto looked on with a broken expression. His eyes lost the glimmer that once held him upright, he never looked to the rising of the sun anymore, whenever it happened.
He still looked ahead to note the person, and his heart felt like a fist was clenched around it.
He knew who it was, it was Sakura's father, and deep within his eyes Naruto knew that if the prison was open, the man would have attempted to beat him to death.
"Why?" he asked.
Why was that the question, a question even he never had the answer to?
Naruto could see from his expression that it must have taken a high degree of will to stand before him and look him straight in the eye. When Naruto imagined this moment, he thought that he was not going to be able to look him in the eye. He was surprised if he was to be honest with himself, of what he felt, regarding his presence.
He was sympathetic sure, but another feeling began to emerge from within him, a feeling of apathy, Sakura and Sasuke seemed to be his beacon to the world, with them gone, he seemingly lost all resolve.
For some reason, Naruto wondered, if he wanted that deep down, if all he ever wanted, was to be free of it all. The bonds that he managed to form all these years.
And so he looked down to the stone cold floor, not bothering to answer the man before him.
"You look so different. I wonder if this is who you were from the start, or who you became. When they told me that you did this, I didn't believe it," he said, looking on with restrained anger. "I wanted to come down here, I wanted to know if it was true. And now I look into your eyes, and all I see is…"
Naruto didn't look up to him; an expression of regret over his eyes.
"She loved you, you know,"
Naruto let out a labored exhale as his hand clenched painfully into a fist.
Kizashi smiled wistfully. "I overheard her talking one time with her mother, and she kept talking about how incredible and kind you were. Sure she never admitted it, but I could hear it in her voice, and Mebuki could see it in her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes that you shut off."
Naruto's eyes flickered red.
"I want you to know, that even though you die, you will never find peace, you will forever be haunted by all this, and nothing, nothing will ever save you."
Naruto didn't say anything. His mouth tried to move, to tell him that he was sorry, but he didn't, he couldn't.
"You can't even say anything to me, can you?" He smirked mirthlessly. "Have any of them come to see you, your so called friends?"
Naruto didn't say anything, just absorbing the words.
"They cannot even look at you in the face, all they can do is try and live out the void you have left in their hearts. I came to say goodbye, because you will die tomorrow."
As Kizashi was about to leave, Naruto interrupted him.
"What time is it?"
Kizashi stopped and turned to him, he closed his eyes and let out an exhale. "Your end."
And with that Kizashi Haruno left, and Naruto didn't lift his gaze up anymore. The darkness swallowed him, and a red hue was seen emerging from his shadowed expression.
Finally… It all ends.
…
Does it have to be, the end, that is?
Naruto widened his eyes, hearing a voice that he had only heard once. He looked around the prison cell in alarm. What the- For a second he wondered if he was only hearing things. He wondered if-
I'm not out there.
Naruto's expression slowly became cold. It's you isn't it. The Nine Tailed Demon.
You seem to be much more welcoming than the false memories you implanted so as to ignore me. Oh well, what happened happened. I feel lonely, you know. I try and try to reach you all this while through my vivid illusions but you never seem to accept. Rather, I blame your mother for that. That shield of hers.
You killed them.
We killed them, mostly in your part of course. The question is, did they matter? Or weren't they just a cog in the ever spinning wheel. I think you lost focus, and now you are haunted by regret, It chuckled in amusement. Such a funny thing a human experiences, regret. You will experience more and more losses. Then you will accept me.
You should go.
When things are getting interesting? Oh no, now Naruto, I'm here to stay. Besides you have a huge destiny ahead of you. It chuckled even deeper. Complete… domination.
Naruto's eyes widened as a guard dropped down right in front the door to the cell. He was unconscious, and to the prisoner's surprise, a masked man with grey hair stopped right before the cell.
"Naruto."
Naruto looked stunned. K…Kakashi.
Kakashi Hatake was like an uncle to him, someone who trained under the Minato 'The Yellow Flash' Namikaze. Ever since he was small, he always saw Kakashi watching over him, never letting him stray away.
Naruto watched as Kakashi fished out the keys from the fallen guard and used it to open the barred door. Naruto didn't move from his bed looking stunned to Kakashi.
"You came."
Kakashi nodded. "Sure thing. We need to get out of here, I don't think we have much time."
Naruto looked to the floor as Kakashi unlocked his chains. "I don't deserve it. Maybe that's what I deserve, for what I did, maybe I-"
"We all fall into assumptions when things become bleary or when we fail or make mistakes. You'll get over this Naruto. The world still needs you."
"For what? Haven't you heard? I'm sure you know already. Mom and Dad knew, why wouldn't you? I'm the Nine-Tailed-"
"I refuse to believe that's who you are." Kakashi helped him up, looking into the lost eyes of Naruto. "You are Uzumaki Naruto. And you have a lot to give. Now, let's get you out of here."
Naruto didn't reply and didn't protest as Kakashi pulled him into the long tunnel, armed hunters in pursuit.
…
Naruto stared forward to the ever expanding mass of water that never seemed to end. A man was seen rowing the boat and they were the only two occupants in it.
Naruto turned back, looking to the Continent of Fire in the distance. Kakashi had sacrificed his life for him and here he was, heading to an unknown land.
"You know," The man muttered. "The faster you say something, the better this journey will be for the both of us."
Naruto looked to him. He had almost forgotten about him. His name, was Tazuna if he remembered, one of Kakashi's contacts. "Where are we going to?"
"Right now, out of here. The world is a big place, you one big life ahead of you."
Naruto looked to the distant moon which looked shattered completely. It was one of the puzzles of the human race, what was the cause of that?
I told you that it wasn't the end.
Who are you really?
Introductions already? I'm liking the fact that we will be on a first name basis. My name's Kurama.
Huh.
You'll have to kill him, you know that right? We do not need witnesses tattling off to the people as to our status. Kakashi's dead, this one needs to die.
He doesn't know anything.
First lesson, never trust anyone on the go. It never ends well. Everyone you knew is past history and what you are heading into now, is world that is ignorant of our true power.
Our?
Kurama chuckled. We are just getting started.
The boat continued to travel along the seas, with the moon glinting off a kunai that emerged from Naruto's sleeve.
…