A/N: Hey guys! Sorry again for being so late on my updates! As far as my DNC and personal things went. I am doing better, so thanks for worrying! Anyways, here is the next installment. It will be different as per usual, but hopefully you will like it still!

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Chapter Nine

Tormented I

Last Time:

"Well, let's see, what caused the bad blood between me and the villagers? Oh, I know!..." He let the tension rise before continuing. He hated being blunt like this, but he finally knew he needed to tell them just what he had been through. "I was born!"

Everyone looked shocked to the least. They knew all their lives were about to change, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. Nobody could tell until they learned the whole truth. And they were afraid of finally finding out Naruto's hidden pain.

Of Knowing!

Naruto looked at each person's expression. He was surprised at what he found there. Almost completely all of them were stunned. He knew then what was coming, and he waited.

Neji, with his hand still on Naruto's shoulder, was the first to break the collective silence. "What do you mean Naruto?" He asked the boy next to him. Naruto turned his face and gazed into the white pale eyes. He looked dubiously at him. "You all already know! You all already know! Why do I have to tell you when you all already know?" Naruto blurted angrily.

Neji sighed and confirmed Naruto's suspicion. "Of course we know, it's the Nine Tail's right?" Naruto just nodded his head. He then bowed his head as if in shame and looked at his hands, as if they might have all the answers he needs. Neji sighed again and asked, "Well, then let me rephrase. What did they do? Who?" Naruto went rigid, and for a few minutes that seemed like forever to all others in the room, Naruto finally let them know the extent of his tormentors' sins.

"The villagers have been… I guess you could say, resentful of me ever since I was little, before I even went into the academy. Before I met Iruka Sensei or any of you guys! Except for the 'Old Man'. But at the time I didn't know why they always looked down on me or treated me bad. They kept at it. Then, when my ninth birthday is when the beating started. It was during the festival, one man, who I think was drunk or something caught me while I was walking home, and just out right smacked me. I asked him why he did that, I didn't yell at him or anything, and he punched me the second time around. It scared me so much that all I did was lay there trying not to move, and that made him mad, so he kicked me. Soon other people joined in. By the time they were done I could hardly move at all. I was in a lot of pain, I thought…. I just thought… they were going…. To… to… kill… me!"

At this point Naruto started to breath heavily. He buried his head in his hands, trying to calm down, but it wasn't working. Neji and Shikamaru who were still right next to Naruto, glanced up from Naruto to look at each other. They both looked concerned for their friend. Neji then looked back to Naruto, to see that he was still hyperventilating. He put his hand back on Naruto's shoulder and squeezed gently, saying, "Naruto, it's okay. Take your time. Calm down, slow down. We are all here for you." Naruto, suddenly stopped breathing, and glared up at Neji. Then at each other person in the room. His glare then again looked at Neji, and Neji then had a very bad feeling. Oh no, I think we might have just have lost the calm before the storm! And he was right, because right then, Naruto, suddenly slapped Neji and Shikamaru's hands off of him and stood up suddenly. But before anyone could stop him, he suddenly started talking again, well, more like yelling.

"You're all here for me?" He said angrily. "I don't think so." They looked at him with confusion, which made him even madder. And then, just like that, all of his pain and suffering came up to the forefront of his mind, and it was let loose.

"You were NEVER there for me. Why start now? You were never there when they beat me every birthday I have ever had. You were never there when sometimes the beating turned into something more! I don't even like to remember those nights. They hurt me so bad! But why do you all care? You were never there. I never had anyone. Anytime I almost made a friend, the fucking grown-ups took them away and turned them against me. I almost made friends with Hinata but her escort told her that I wasn't worthy to have any friends, that I was the scourge of the village. Lower than dirt! Time and time again, I tried, and time and time again they were always taken from me. You weren't there when I had to watch as all the kids I saw go home with their parents to a nice loving home, and then I had to go home to this inky dinky shit hole, that gets broken into every other day and trashed by the villagers. You were not there when I had to bury my pet mouse or gerbil or fish when again the villagers broke in and killed them. You weren't there when I suffered on every birthday, when I suffered through the resentment, the hatred, the beatings, the… the… the fucking hell that has been my life. You weren't there when I was told why everyone in the village hated and resented me, because of the stupid fox. You weren't there when Mizuki Sensei told me it was my fault that Iruka Sensei was an orphan. He told me that I killed everyone's loved ones. He told me that was why they hated me. Iruka tried to tell me that wasn't true, but all he wanted to do was ease his own conscious…." He broke off for a minute, to catch his breath, and to slow down. He was feeling really lightheaded by the exertion of his rampage. He took a couple of breaths slowly and exhaled just as slowly.

Everyone watched him cautiously, trying to comprehend just what they were hearing. They were to say the least, shocked at what Naruto has just revealed to them. And they all knew that his rampage ranting was far from over. They waited patiently for him to continue.

Neji tried to take Naruto's shoulder again and try to help him sit. Right as he was about to touch the blonde's shoulder, it was again slapped away. Neji flinched at the sting, but he did not get annoyed or angry at the suffering boy in front of him. Neji saw that Naruto was swaying slightly, so against his better judgement, which he rarely went against, accept when Naruto was involved, he went to steady him.

Naruto knew that Neji was just trying to help him from falling. He knew himself that he was swaying and he knew that he was dizzy. But for the life of him, he didn't want Neji to touch him, let alone anyone else for that matter, and he made himself clear. "Don't touch me!" He yelled at Neji as again he slapped the long black haired man's hand away. This caused him to stumble, but he caught himself.

"Naruto!" He heard someone on his right exclaim. He looked to his left, Shikamaru, had an annoyed look on his face, but his eyes were that of a saddened man. "Naruto," he said again, more gently, "please let us help you. You can't blame us for…"

But before he could finish, Naruto growled. Everyone looked shocked to the say the least at the blonde's growl. Kakashi looked to see if it was the fox that was coming out. But when he saw the blonde's blue eyes, he visibly relaxed, but stiffened again and Naruto finally continued his rant.

"Don't blame you? Don't blame you?" He exclaimed angrily, and bitterly. Most heard the bitter and thought they understood where the boy was coming from, being mad at the lot of them for not being there, but again, they were gravely mistaken as they heard what Naruto had to say next.

"Of course I don't blame any of you! You idiots already know I am to blame. I have always been to blame. It's all my fault that the people of the village look down on me. It's my fault that Iruka is grew up without any parents. It's my fault that I got a beat up almost every day, its my fault that I couldn't make any friends, it's my fault that nobody ever liked me. It's my fault that I have been raped since I was 10 years old…" at this point, he heard gasps and cries of outrage. He stopped his words as they were, thinking that they were mad at him. He started to struggle away from his friends, and out of Gai's arms. He started to panic, when he couldn't get away.

Shikamaru studied Naruto's movements for a split second, and realized what Naruto was thinking. Gently he grabbed Naruto's arm and said, "Naruto, we are not mad at you," He heard a couple of gasps, and he looked up and saw a look of confusion on most everyone's faces. "Oh, what a drag," He said, before continuing to explain why he said that, "Naruto, I don't think meant to tell us that little part, and when some of us cried out like we did, he thought we were mad at him. He is scared right now."

Neji looked back at Naruto after Shikamaru's explanation, and felt sorry for the way he cried out. "Naruto," he called gently to the panicking boy in front of him. Naruto shook his head and kept on breathing hard. "Naruto," Neji said again, "you need to calm down, we are not mad at you, we are mad at the fact of what you said. Please calm down."

All of a sudden Naruto went limp in Gai's lap. Panic shot through Neji and Shikamaru at this, and both reached for Naruto, hitting each other's hands. Both glancing at each other, Shikamaru nodded and backed off. Neji, nodding thanks put his hands on Naruto to lift his head and look. He was just about to sigh in relief, when he noticed that the blonde's chest was not moving.

"Lady Hokage! Naruto isn't breathing!"

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Sorry about the cliffy! I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter. Please RxR!~