Most of the older citizens erupted into the loudest cheers yet while the younger generation looked around, slightly confused but still applauding. Danzo's face, projected onto the large screen behind him for the benefit of those too far to see clearly, shone with righteous self-conviction.
In a poof of smoke, four ANBU appeared and started to perform a set of identical hand seals. Then, with a second poof, a large, hooded shinobi appeared with a mace in one hand and his masked prisoner's shoulder in the other. The four ANBU finished their hand seals at the same time and simultaneously called out Shishienjin no Jutsu. A shimmering, yet semi-transparent purple barrier of flame rose up, separating the crowd from the stage. For the four ANBU maintaining the jutsu, it was rather ironic that the very jutsu that prevented the rescue of the Sandaime during the Sound/Sand invasion was being used as to power Danzo's ideal of a new Konoha.
The executioner smirked. He lived for moments like this. The Sandaime rarely approved of public executions, and the Godaime had outright refused to allow such a practice. As the head executioner of Konoha, he had the privilege of watching countless criminals die by his hands in numerous manners. The moment when the Shinigami claimed his victim's soul, the fleeting terror that flew over the visage of all of the captives gave him an indescribable pleasure. Today, he was going to share this delight with all of Konoha. It was time, he noted, as Danzo gave the signal. He pulled out his knife and got prepared, removing his captive's mask and with a quick slash of his knife, his shirt.
Naruto felt the mask slip off his face, but kept his eyes screwed shut. Then he felt his shirt slide down to the ground as cool metal snaked its way up his body, ending at his throat. On the outside, he stayed silent without moving a muscle, but inside his mind, he was waging a fierce battle with the great fox demon.
'BRAT, THEY'RE GOING TO KILL US! WE STILL HAVE TIME, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TAKE OFF THAT SEAL'
'Again kyuubi, I will not trust your words of deceit. Plus how will I know that you won't target my loved ones. Besides I know I'm going to die for this disgusting village so why not take you with me.
'WHAT PRECIUOS PEOPLE DO YOU POSSIBLE HAVE? THEY DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU; YOUR WHOLE TEAM ABANDONED YOU! THE UCHIHA SENT A CHIDORI THROUGH YOUR CHEST! THE OTHER TWO BASTARDS STABBED YOU IN THE BACK JUST TO SAVE HIS SORRY ASS!'
'Say what you will, but I will not listen. You refused to heal me while I was being tortured in hopes that I would crawl on my knees and beg to you, but I did not. You're scared, Kyuubi, scared that you will die and be dragged to hell while I'm whisked away to meet my family."
'DON'T YOU GET IT, BRAT? AS PARTNERS, NOTHING WOULD STAND IN OUR WAY. YOU COULD DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, DESTROY THE WORLD, SAVE THE WORLD. HELL, YOU COULD CREATE YOUR OWN WORLD. FUCKING THINK ABOUT IT! DON'T DO ANYTHING FOOLISH!'
'I have and I refuse to listen to you anymore. Farewell for now, Kyuubi. I'll see you in hell soon.'
'AAAAARGH'
Resigned to his fate, Naruto raised his head to face for the last time the village that he had fought and bleed for. He couldn't believe they would torture him like this after everything he did for them. It was in this moment that his dream for hokage died along with the hope of regaining the villagers trust. His love for sakura died too as she helped condemned him to the torture he received. Almost everyone to him was now his enemy. The only ones that weren't to him were Tsunade, Iruka, Jiraiya, Shizune, Hinata since she was nice to him, the ramen workers, the konohamaru corps, and anko since she did not show any hate towards him. He did not see the sad looks on the Rookie nine's, Team guy, or their sensei's face so they were considered enemies to him too. He thought about his short list of people who he did not hate.
Kakashi's lone uncovered eye widened at the horror. 'This can't be happening… it wasn't supposed to turn out this way.' Next to him, a pale-faced Sakura was trying to understand the situation.
"K-kakashi-sensei, why is Naruto up there? Why are they going to kill him? What did he do?"
The copy-nin was stunned and couldn't answer. Dimly, the shinobi part of his mind registered the fact that Naruto was at the complete mercy of Danzo and the ANBU locked within the barrier. There was no way to save the blond jinchuriki even if his muscles would obey. He could only hang his head in shame. Then, Naruto lifted his head and Kakashi reluctantly mirrored the action and looked his student in the eyes. Or he would have, if they were still there.
Knowing of Kyuubi's incredible healing powers, Danzo gave his ROOT free rein to inflict whatever torture they wished. The more sadistic shinobi were more than happy to oblige. By the time they were done, even the cruelest ROOT member held a grudging respect for the jinchuriki. The boy, correction, young man had withstood every punishment ROOT had given without complaint. Even when they carved out his eyes, one by one, the only sign that he had felt any pain was the slight twitch in his neck. When they branded him in the forehead, Naruto acted as if he didn't notice. While they were doing this to him, Naruto's hate started to increase. It was through hate that he could ignore the pain he received. The ones torturing sensed it but said nothing as he was unable to do anything and would die soon.
'My God, what did they do to you, Naruto?'
As a battle-hardened kunoichi, there was little that Kurenai hadn't seen already. Watching shinobi kill each other was normal, and with the brutality of battle came shattered limbs, internal organs spilling out of bodies and the pervasive stench of death. The sight before her magnified by the screen set up behind the stage, horrified and sickened her.
She fought the urge to throw up as she tried to tear her eyes away from the grizzly spectacle. Subconsciously, her medical training kicked in as she looked over his injuries. It looked as if both eyes had been dug out by a kunai. There was a large burn that started along his right cheek and trailed all the way down his body. His left arm looked as if it had been broken multiple times. She counted three, maybe four broken ribs. There was a stab wound in his stomach that had left a visible scar, which was almost as large as the fist-sized scar over his sternum. Finally, branded across his forehead were the words, "DEMON OF KONOHA."
Kurenai once again warded off the wave of nausea that had risen in her throat as she ended her brief medical diagnosis. Nearby, Ino was not as lucky as she emptied her lunch all over the ground. Kiba was about to launch into action to break through the barrier, but was stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Shikamaru shaking his head.
"SHIKAMARU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? WE CAN'T JUST LET HIM DIE LIKE THIS!"
"Kiba calm down, an assault on the barrier is suicide itself. Even if we manage the impossible and disrupt the jutsu, our actions would qualify as treason and we would be declared missing-nin to be killed on sight. Is that what Naruto wants?"
"Shikamaru is right," confirmed Asuma while Shino nodded his assent.
"A-a-ano, Na-Naruto-kun…"
The group turned towards the Hyuuga Heiress, wondering what she would say.
"His hands are clenched in anger.…" The others looked up to see his hands were indeed clenched in rage. They knew this didn't mean a good thing as Naruto had never showed his hate before.
And with that final thought, the execution of Uzumaki Naruto began to rousing cheers.
The executioner hit Naruto in the stomach with the mace, which sent him tumbling to the ground. A muffled scream pierced through the cheers of the crowd. Using his foot, he then flipped the blond over onto his back, face up. A swift swipe of his knife opened up a slit in his throat. 'Now, it's time to see how you die.' He lifted his foot and stomped down on the boy's chest; the increased pressure sent jets of blood spurting out of his throat. The executioner continued to pump on the boy's chest with his foot to the increased cheers and shouts of the crowd. 'Show me your face, the terror that grips man and demon alike in their last moments.'
Tsunade rushed through the gates, anxiously clutching her necklace. What was this feeling of dread that was overtaking her senses? The village looked normal enough, so it didn't look like there had been an attack by a hostile village, but the deserted streets were somewhat unnerving. Where were all of the villagers? Fingering her necklace, her mind wandered to her last meeting with Naruto before she left on her trip.
Flashback
"Nani? Kaachan, you're going on a mission? Ne, ne can I come with you?"
Tsunade resisted the tempting urge to punch Naruto through the wall and instead smirked.
"Sorry brat, but this is a super-important Hokage-level mission that only Jiraiya and I can do, although Shizune is probably going to tag around."
"That's why I'm going to come along; I've got to get the experience if I'm going to become the next Hokage-dattebayo! Plus, you haven't been on a real mission in decades, so I should go with you to make sure you're safe."
"You think I'm weak, brat?" Tsunade brandished a glowing fist, causing Naruto to back up a few steps in caution. Insinuating that the Hokage was weak was almost as deadly as calling her old.
"No, it's just that you're one of my precious people, and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you while you were gone."
Tsunade softened. She knew she was close to Naruto, but to hear his say it warmed her heart. She got up from her desk, walked over to Naruto and gave him a big hug, unwittingly sticking his face between her large breasts.
"Mmmrph"
She blushed and released the hug when she noticed the struggling Naruto. Naruto pouted for a while, but then suddenly brightened.
"Hey, kaachan, close your eyes for a second."
"Huh?" Tsunade warily complied.
She heard a light click and felt a light weight hanging from her neck. She opened her eyes and looked down, seeing her grandfather's necklace.
"Naruto…"
"This way, you'll be safe, ne? It's worked for me, so it will work for you, Tsunade-chan"
Naruto stood up on his tiptoes and planted a chaste kiss on her forehead before leaping out the window into the streets. Tsunade stood there, dumbstruck with a slight blush creeping onto her face.
End flashback
Tsunade could hear a loud roar in the distance, in the direction of the village plaza. Something big was happening, and she didn't like it one bit. She gave a signal to Jiraiya and Shizune and they rushed forward with greater haste.
'Something is definitely wrong here'
For Naruto, everything was quiet for once. The incessant whispering for blood and gore was silenced, as the demon fox had likely retreated to some dark recess to contemplate its final moments of existence. Indeed, his mind was clearer than ever before. Was he alive? Was he dead? Pretty soon it would be all over. He barely registered the blow to the stomach and simply allowed gravity to pull him to the ground, reveling in the absence of the demonic presence that had plagued his entire life.
'So this is how things are going to end. At least I know the people of the village won't accept me so now I don't have to work to gain their respect.'
He continued to smile, enjoying his final moments of peace and allowed the light of death to chase away the darkness of his life.
Outside the containment barrier, smiles and nods of approval could be seen on many of the onlookers' faces, but interspersed through the crowd were various ashen faces. The sheer brutality of his incarceration and subsequent execution was something only seen within the deepest bowels of the Interrogation and Torture Department. The mere thought that something to this degree could be carried out in public and on a fellow leaf-nin was shocking.
It was sickening how the shinobi could monitor Naruto's passing life by the amount of blood that spurted out of his throat after each stomp. After what seemed like an eternity, the jet of blood started to die down, and with that, the life of the blond jinchuriki came to an end. The executioner lifted the blond by the back of his neck and presented the still body to the crowd.
This was it, the culmination of Konoha's redemption. The shouts of joy from the audience continued to rise in volume, only to be shattered by the heart-rending cry.
"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOO!"