Another slightly shorter chapter.

WARNING: The following content is slightly graphic, and may disturb some younger viewers. Discretion is advised.

ENJOY!

Chapter Seven

Unrequited Brutality and Quadrophenia

The monster known as Tendril caressed the cheek of his hostage. She was young, pretty in the modern sense of the world, feisty, and most importantly foolish.

Tendril had spotted her hugging Haruno Sakura when they had left the Hokage's office. Her attachment to Naruto's girlfriend made her the perfect bait. He made sure to completely destroy her apartment after kidnapping her, and had left a note with nothing written on it but his location. It might take them a while, but someone would find him eventually. And Tendril was certain the Uzumaki would be the one who did.

He had approached her in public, knowing full well how attractive he was to most women. He sized her up in an instant. Here was a young woman, who probably loved bad boys as a child, who probably still did. She probably thought she was somewhat on the wild side. A free spirit. A little crazy, maybe a bit naughty.

He liked that, he liked women who thought they liked bad boys. One thing was for certain, she had never met anyone as near as bad as him.

After a nice lunch she had invited him to her home, where he surprised her by knocking her unconscious. He tied her up, took her into the woods, and there they were now.

"unhhh.." She moaned softly, slowly regaining her wits.

What was her name again?

"W-where am I?" She asked, blindfolded.

Oh yeah, Ino. Tendril reached forward and pulled off her blindfold. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the light, and the horrendous figure who stood before her.

When he had taken her to dinner, Tendril had been in disguise, but now he stood before her in all his malevolent glory. His sinewy figure seemed to wrap around its own frame, his blue eyes lifeless behind a mask.

"Hello." He cackled. She screamed. His gloved hand moved quickly to her mouth, "Now why would you go and do that? I haven't even touched you yet."

He looked down at his hand, clamped firmly over her mouth, and pulled it back.

"Whoops."

"Who are you?!" She asked, her ninja training betraying her. There was no possible way to stay calm in front of Tendril. He had that effect on people, the minute they beheld him, all their courage left them. He could sweep even the bravest off their feet.

He leaned into her face, and pulled off his mask. She gasped.

"You shouldn't talk to strangers Ino. They could very likely be psychopaths." He grabbed her chin with one hand, and pushed his other hand's thumb into her cheekbone. He spread open her mouth, and stuck his tongue inside, running it between her teeth and her lips. He felt her muscles tense as she tried to bite down, but his fingers were stronger than her jaw. She was helpless. He pushed his lips further into hers, and aggressively kissed her as she struggled to pull away.

She was tied up to a tree.

After several minutes she began to cry, and her tears ran down her face, lubricating the space between her cheeks and Tendril's fingers. His hold on her slipped, and she bit down, but he had already pulled out of her mouth.

"Wow." He said, feigning shock, "You do realize that was supposed to be the pleasant part?"

Tendril drew his whale-bone hook from its holster on his back, and repositioned his left hand on Ino's face.

"Now hold still." He was holding back demented laughter.

Taking the tip of the hook, he held it centimeters away from Ino's face. She tried to shy away from the blade, but he pushed her head back into the tree, dazing her.

"I said hold still." He slowly stabbed the finest tip of the hook into the thickest patch of flesh on her cheek, and slowly moved it toward her nose. The blade was dull, and the skin seemed to rip from a seam as he brought the tip along.

Ino was in too much shock to scream, her eyes just stared wide open. Tendril threw his hook to the ground, and starting lapping at the wound, drinking her blood. The pain seared her.

When she started to squirm again, he pushed her head back into the tree and pulled her right eye-lid far apart. He stuck out his blood-stained tongue, and licked her pupil gently.

Her lips were quivering.

He let her close her eye, and she blinked rapidly. He pushed her head back, so that her chin stuck in the air and her pale throat was exposed.

"Now, for the really fun part!"

Ino could do nothing but stare as Tendril picked up his sickly hook and held it high above his head.

"No!" Naruto appeared from the trees, and tackled Tendril, knocking his hook to the ground.

"Uzumaki, I presume." Tendril rolled up, and drew his fore-arm blade from it's holster.

Naruto said nothing, his sword was already drawn.

"Oh, not in the mood to talk are you?" Tendril drew his sword, "It's not every day a close friend get's violated and almost killed is it? Nice armor by the way. Dig the horns."

"Who are you?" Naruto asked. His voice sounded half-dead, but full of anger.

"My name is Tendril, and the demon court recruited me to rip that thing out of your stomach." He pulled his mask on, "But between you and me, I'm just gonna kill you, it'll be more fun that way."

Naruto charged for Tendril, swinging his sword like a mad man, but to Naruto's surprise Tendril disappeared into a purple cloud of smoke.

"Hey pretty boy!" Naruto turned around to see Tendril, twirling his bone hook and sword around in around like a deadly twisted windmill, "Let's have some fun!"

The fight began in an explosion of sparks. Steel clashed with bone as the two twirled around each other, slicing and parrying, slashing and dodging. Then, Tendril began to sing.

"A glorious fight, with swords clashing left and right!"

Naruto thrusted, and his sword was batted aside. He dodged as Tendril swung his hook.

"Soon, you'll be dead, and I'll paint your village red!"

Naruto leapt up and flipped, landing on the other side of Tendril. The bone of Tendril's hook's pommel hit the Uzumaki square in the back of the head, knocking him into a roll.

"With blood, of course."

Naruto teleported himself at Tendril's feet, and swung his legs, knocking the demon over. Tendril landed hard on his back, then kicked Naruto hard in the ribs, breaking several.

"Gah!" The Namikaze groaned in intense pain.

"Ouch, that kinda looked like it hurt a lot." Tendril thrust his sword downward as he stood up, stabbing Naruto in the back, "Does this make it any worse?"

Naruto's eyes and mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, such an intense feeling of pain he had not felt in years. He could feel the battle drawing to a close, his energy failing him, if he didn't do something now, he would die.

Happy thought, his mind filled with images of Sakura, she spoke,

"You can do this. I love you."

Summoning all his courage and strength, Naruto spun up from the ground. As he rolled, it tore Tendril's blade from his body. He thrust the Namikaze Ninjato into the demon's chest.

"Huh." Tendril said. Before he died, he grabbed the Namikaze by the arms, and kissed him on the lips. Naruto pulled away, spitting and cussing as the man fell to the ground. Suddenly, he started to feel faint, and fell along side his opponent. Four ninja dropped down around them.

"Naruto!" Naruto's vision grew hazy, he was slipping, soon he would die and leave his Sakura forever, he only wished that she was hear with him. Whatever it was Kakashi had to say wasn't important.

"Naruto..." He felt Tsunade lift him up with her strong arms, he just wanted to fall down, let death overtake him...

"Please!" Shizune, always caring. He doesn't want help, he doesn't need help, he just needs to...

'Goodbye kit... it's been fun.'

Suddenly a flooding of hope filled Naruto's soul. Sakura was nearby, and her heart was pounding with love. Love that could keep Naruto alive. She dropped down beside him, and punched him in the shoulder.

"Wake up you idiot! If you fall asleep, you'll die!"

Oh, but no he wouldn't. With Sakura's passion fueling his soul, he could live for another thousand years. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was no longer with his friends.

Naruto stood in his vast open mindscape. He looked down at his hands, and realized his armor was gone, then he looked back up. The view had changed, where once stood a large cage to hold back the Kyubi, now stood a small familiar tree, with a swing hanging from it's strongest limb. Naruto walked slowly toward the tree, but he never seemed to get any closer... It was then that he realized he was not alone.

In the distance stood a man in Anbu uniform, a black fox mask covered his face.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" The man's voice was cool and calm, but it rang with a sense of monotone humor, "Haruno Sakura will be pleased to know that I have located you."

"Sakura? Where is she?" Naruto walked over to the masked man, but as he did the familiarity of the man finally hit him, "Wait... you're Tatsumaki!"

"Yes Uzumaki Naruto, I am the anbu assigned with the task of finding you... a task which has proved most difficult." Tatsumaki gestured toward the tree and began to walk in its direction.

"No..." Naruto followed Tatsumaki, finding that now he could walk to the tree without resistance, "Tatsumaki isn't real. You were an identity I created."

Something very strange is going on.

"I... I believe you are mistaken Uzumaki Naruto." Tatsumaki sat on the swing, "I am the anbu assigned with the task of finding you..."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but then sensed a presence behind him. He turned and saw himself, with a metal face plate covering his whisker marks, wearing his beautiful samurai armor.

"You-but-I-" Naruto was more confused than he had ever been before in his life.

"Uzumaki Naruto? My name is Namikaze Jubei... I do believe we are related." Jubei walked forward and extended his hand, only to have Naruto bat it away.

"Impossible, the Namikaze clan was wiped out with the fourth Hokage, everyone knows that... right Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto looked back and forth from Jubei to Tatsumaki, his mind racing. Seeking desperately to solve the puzzle that seemed to grow every second he failed to solve it.

"Kurama!? What is this!?" Naruto didn't receive an answer, but as he repeated the question, Tatsumaki began to fade from Naruto's mind.

"What... what is happening to me? Uzumaki Naruto... I need yo-" Before Tatsumaki could finish, he had vanished completely.

Tatsumaki awoke in a hospital bed. Surrounding him on all sides were the former members of his temporary team, the fifth hokage, Hatake Kakashi, and a woman he didn't recognize.

"What..." Tatsumaki sat up in his bed, but found his body crippled with intense pain, "Why... why am I in pain?"

Sakura placed her hand on his shoulder and pushed him slowly back down on the bed.

"Shhh... you need to rest." She smiled at him, a warm and calming smile, and for some reason, Tatsumaki felt his heart fill with happiness. He nodded slowly, then a recent memory popped into his head.

"Sakura-san! I found him, I found Uzumaki Naruto." The people at the end of his bed stared at him in confused shock.

"Wh-what did you say?" The Hokage's chuckled through the question, hoping that Naruto was only joking.

"I found Uzumaki Naruto... he's still alive after all."

Sakura's eyes flashed from Tsunade to Tatsumaki, then back to Tsunade.

"What... what is he talking about!?"

Tsunade shushed Sakura, then leaned forward, her face inches from Tatsumaki's.

"Tatsumaki?"

"Yes hokage-sama?"

Everyone in the room groaned in disappointment. Tsunade cleared her throat, and stared Tatsumaki hard in the eyes.

"You... are Naruto Uzumaki."

Tatsumaki looked at Tsunade for several moments, then looked away, then looked back. He tried to laugh, but the smile quickly vanished from his face.

"What?"

Tsunade turned to look at Sakura, her face frozen with fear.

"Don't you remember? It was all a ploy... you were hiding from the Demon Court."

"The what? I was sent to find Naruto-"

"You are Naruto."

"No I'm not!"

Tatsumaki's voice was shaky with anger, he looked toward Sakura, she was beginning to cry.

"Tell her, tell her I'm not Naruto!" His tears began to flow with hers. He turned back to Tsunade who was shaking her head.

"Tatsumaki... what is your name?" The Hokage asked.

Tatsumaki stared at her, confused.

"Tatsumaki is a randomized code-name... what is your real name!"

Tatsumaki stared down at his hands and shook his head. After several moments, he spoke.

"I... I don't know!" Tatsumaki's voice was cracking with emotion, "I... I don't know who I am."

Tsunade reached over the bed to a table and pulled off a mirror.

"I do." Tsunade held the mirror up to Tatsumaki's face.

"Uzumaki Naruto..." Tatsumaki's anger flared, and a wave of chakra shattered the mirror, and broke all the windows in the room.

Tsunade and Sakura were currently staring at several charts and graphs littering the ground of the Hokage's office. They had been working for hours, trying to give Naruto a diagnosis. They had left the confused Namikaze in the care of his former teammates, and Ringo. Hopefully they would be able to keep him under check.

"I-I think I figured it out Sakura..." Sakura walked over to Tsunade, freshly cried tears wet on her cheeks, "Now... I believe that this all stems from the injuries that Naruto sustained from his battle with that masked man."

Tsunade handed Sakura a piece of paper, it had several detailed notes and diagrams scattered across the page.

"The wounds he received would kill an ordinary man... and they almost killed Naruto. The trauma was too much for anybody, or any normal person. But we both know that Naruto is far from normal."

Sakura swallowed, her sorrow was radiating like waves from her body.

"If I'm correct, when Naruto saw you... he began to fight against death. In order to stay alive, he needed to stop the pain." Sakura nodded and Tsunade continued, "Over the past few years, Naruto has established many identities to help him fulfill his goals. Tatsumaki and Jubei are the ones we know of. Now, in order to survive, Naruto needed to block out the pain... and in order to do this, he subconsciously split his mind into fragments."

Sakura gasped softly.

"While Naruto retreated into his mind-scape to heal his wounds, his other personalities took over. Hiding his pain deep in his mind, he was able to survive. Unfortunately, now his other personalities are keeping him alive while he remains submerged..."

Sakura nodded very slowly.

"...Sakura, he may stay this way for a long time... and if his wounds never fully heal, he mind may be split forever."

Tatsumaki sat alone on his plain hospital bed. He was desperately searching his mind for memories of his early life, but nothing was there. He hadn't looked in the mirror since Tsunade had shown him his face.

No, Uzumaki Naruto's face.

He dropped his head in his hands, pulling slowly at his face, hoping with every pull and tug Uzumaki's face would loosen and eventually fall off revealing a face he would recognize as his own.

But the more he thought about the harder it was to recall his face, in fact he couldn't even remember knowing what it looked like. As Tatsumaki fell deeper and deeper into his dark mood, he failed to notice Uchiha Sasuke enter the room.

"Naruto?"

Tatsumaki groaned.

"Please, god, please don't call me that."

Sasuke scoffed at his friend. He had always respected Naruto, but Tatsumaki made him sick.

"Shut up." Sasuke said, "Just snap out of this shit!"

The poor boy, he had no clue that Naruto's condition was the only thing keeping him alive.

Tatsumaki glared at the Uchiha

"You have no idea what it's like to have your life stolen from you!" The anbu choked out.

Sasuke shook his head.

"You still have your life, you are Naruto!"

Tatsumaki shook his head slowly, gritting his teeth he spoke.

"I could never be Naruto... he killed my father."

Sasuke stared at Tatsumaki in shock.

"He's nothing but a demon, the nine tailed fox!" Tatsumaki's words were filled with pure hatred, he was clearly not Naruto at all at the moment.

Sasuke could take it no longer, leaping at Tatsumaki, he drove the still healing warrior through the wall.

MORE TO COME.