Here it is. The rant chapter. It ended up being changed enough that I'm going to leave the other rant story up, and i hope that you all enjoy this one as much as you did the other one.
Storm Ch 20
When they all filed into the Hokage's office, Naruto was talking to Tenten about something, Sakura was trying to get Sasuke to go out with her, Sai was sketching on the end of some scroll, and Anko and Kakashi were quiet.
"Hi Jii-Chan," Naruto said loudly as soon as he got into the office.
"Naruto, you should be more respectful of Hokage-sama!" Sakura immediately yelled out.
"Why? Jii-Chan doesn't care if I call him that," Naruto replied; although Sarutobi's face showed that he seemingly agreed with Sakura.
"Maa, let's not start an argument now. We're here to give our reports," Kakashi interjected, trying to get them back on the topic at hand.
"Thank you," Sarutobi replied once the Genin quieted down. "Now, I know that you described part of the mission in your request for reinforcements, but please elaborate on that."
Kakashi then told the old man about the beginning of the mission, and the encounter with the Demon Brothers. He told him about Tazuna's story, and the fact that Tazuna agreed to pay for an A-ranked mission as soon as he could afford it.
Anko picked up the story once Kakashi got to the part where they met up, and carried it on through the arrival at Tazuna's house, pausing before mentioning that Naruto was injured.
"Naruto, Anko said you were injured, what exactly happened?"
"Well, Jii-Chan, Zabuza was about to attack Ten-Chan, so I pushed her out of the way and tried to block his attack, but he was too powerful, and I wasn't able to block his attack fully. He ended up cutting my hand off." Naruto then pulled his left arm out of the pocket he had been hiding it in, and let the old man see it.
Sarutobi's face fell at the news, since in all likelihood Naruto would have to quit being a ninja. "I'm sorry to hear that, Naruto. I will see if I can find out anything that may be able to help you."
"Ehh, don't worry about it, Jii-Chan. I already got it fixed."
Seeing the look of shock on the old man's face, Anko just continued the story, with occasional additions from each of the rest of them. When it got to the last fight with Zabuza, each person told their part of the tale, ending with Naruto.
"So I threw myself in front of his sword, put my hand up, and shot out my chakra, and it molded into this," he said, channeling chakra to his wrist, and causing the ghostly looking hand to appear. "Its pure chakra and I was able to catch Zabuza's blade with it."
That admission nearly made Sarutobi's eyes fall out, and it made Sasuke glare at Naruto.
"Dobe, tell me how you did that with your chakra," Sasuke requested.
"No way, Teme, I wouldn't tell you how to do that even if I knew how to," Naruto replied.
Sasuke turned to face Naruto, "I need that power much more than you do. Give it to me."
"You deaf Teme, I said no. What do you want it for so bad anyway?"
"I have to kill a certain man, and I need more power to do that."
"You gotta kill someone huh? Well, too bad. Work hard like the rest of us to get power."
"Hn, like you ever work hard. You probably just sit around and eat ramen all day."
For some reason, Sasuke making fun of Naruto apparently not working hard struck a chord in the young blond, for he got very quiet. "You think I don't work hard, Sasuke? Tell me, just what do you think it was like for me growing up? I've been working hard my whole life."
"Psh, yeah right, you never did anything while you were growing up, except for stupid pranks on some villagers," Sasuke scoffed.
Naruto clenched his right hand into a fist, "Tell me then, Sasuke. How was I able to sneak into this very office and steal the Forbidden Scroll, without alerting anybody that I did it, while still a student?"
"Psh, as if, there is no way you got past the Hokage."
"Actually, Sasuke, Naruto is right. He did sneak in here, and successfully stole the Forbidden Scroll. He also assisted in the capture of a Chunin-ranked spy that night."
This made Sasuke livid. "How in the hell is the dobe that strong?" he yelled out, "I need that power, not him!"
"So that's all you care about, then, right Sasuke? I should just bend over backwards and give you everything you want just so that you can kill your older brother?"
Sasuke was slightly shocked that Naruto knew who he wanted to kill, but he didn't let that stop him from being angry. "I'm not going to explain why I have to kill Itachi. You wouldn't understand what I have gone through anyway. It's not like you had your brother slaughter your entire family."
Naruto just looked away from Sasuke, before continuing in a quiet voice, "You're right, Sasuke. I have no idea what that feels like. I most likely never will. Still, I have my own burdens; ones that make yours seem almost insignificant in comparison."
Everyone was shocked by that statement. Those who knew of it caught the obvious Kyuubi reference, and those that didn't wondered what could possibly trump the slaughter of your whole family.
"I'm not trying to say that what you went through wasn't terrible and completely life-altering, but there are people out there much worse off than you are."
"What the hell do you know? You've been alone your whole life! Who do you think you are to compare whatever pathetic burdens you have to mine?" Sasuke yelled.
"Sasuke, the whole village loves you. All you have to do is ask for something and it will be given to you. The only reason you are still alone is by choice. You at least got to know what it was like to have parents, grand parents, and siblings. I don't even know who my parents are. You know what it feels like to be hugged and worried over. You know what it feels like to be loved. I don't."
All the people in the room were shocked into silence; even Sasuke couldn't reply to that.
"I have been alone since before I can remember. I grew up in an orphanage, and everyone there hated me. I was given the coldest room, the thinnest futon, and the most worthless blanket they could find. I was never given enough food, and always hungry. Whenever something bad happened, it was automatically my fault, even if it was physically impossible for me to have had anything to do with it.
I taught myself how to read, write, walk, talk, and run. I did everything that the good children did, and I was still punished for it. On the days that people looking to adopt children came by, I was locked in my room, so as not to interfere with the other kids.
Jii-Chan got me out of there when I was five, and got me my first apartment. Still, it wasn't much better. When I was seven…" Naruto then trailed off. The adults all knew what he was about to talk about, and were quite surprised that he decided to mention it.
"When I was seven, more specifically on my seventh birthday, I was almost killed. Some villagers broke into my apartment and beat me up. Then they decided to cut me up. Some Chunin then stopped by to investigate the noise, and after discovering that they were beating me up, decided to join in. Still, that wasn't enough for them; no, they decided to light me on fire Sasuke. They lit my apartment on fire while I was passed out on the floor. I somehow managed to crawl over to a window before I got burned too bad, and then jumped out of a fourth story window, so I wouldn't burn to death."
"Naruto…" Sarutobi tried to cut in.
"No, its ok, Jii-Chan, I think it's time they all know. Anyway, the villagers didn't just beat me up and cut me. They carved names into me."
This made Tenten and Sakura gasp, and made Sasuke and Sai's eyes widen.
"It wasn't just a few names either. They carved over seven hundred names into my flesh, all of them belonging to victims of the Kyuubi attack."
That fact made all eyes widen, as not even the Hokage knew that there had been that many.
Sasuke then glared at Naruto some more, "As if, nobody could survive that."
"Naruto isn't lying, Sasuke. Ask your sensei, he found Naruto in the alley after he fell out of his window, and carried him to the hospital."
All the Genin looked at Kakashi, "Ah, I found Naruto that night. He had two broken legs and a broken arm, and was bleeding from….well…..everywhere."
"But….why," Sakura asked.
Naruto went silent for a minute, and Tenten, Kakashi and Anko were all wondering if Naruto was actually going to tell them about the fox.
"I was born at the same time the Kyuubi attacked the village," Naruto eventually said. "Just about the whole village hates me for it, as they only see the fox and the loved ones they lost when they see me. It even killed both of my parents, too.
I don't really understand why they hate me so much," he lied, "But they choose to take their anger out on me."
Sasuke kept glaring at Naruto, who then yelled out, "Fine, Teme, I can tell that you still don't believe me, so I'm going to show you something that I have never shown anyone else in my entire life, you don't believe that I was attacked and tortured when I was seven? Well, look at this!"
Naruto then whipped his shirt off, and flipped through some hand signs, muttering the name of some technique under his breath.
Scars began to spread across his skin, crossing and re-crossing all over his body until his chest and back were nothing but scar tissue.
"If I didn't heal really fast, this is what I would look like. This is what I looked like once I stopped bleeding all over the ground. It gets worse, though," Naruto said, as he slightly adjusted his chakra flow, causing the scars to change, and a good portion of them disappeared, revealing those left to be names. He didn't stop with just a few names either. He let his chakra fluctuate, so that all the names were visible for short periods of time. "All of these names were carved into my skin with my own kunai, and every time I was about to pass out from the pain, they stopped and waited for me to recover a little. I was tortured like this for THREE WHOLE HOURS! And then, some passing Chunin interrupted the villagers. The villagers told the Chunin what they were doing, and the Chunin LIT ME ON FIRE!"
Naruto tried to reign in his temper, and succeeded after a few deep breaths. Putting his shirt back on, he turned to the door, "Sasuke, you need to understand. I get it that you hate your brother for killing your family. I probably would too. You just have to understand that you aren't the only one who has lived a hard life. Yeah, your brother killed your family, but at least you had one. I've been alone my whole life. You have no idea what that's like, and I hope to Kami that you never do."
Naruto then turned and left the office, leaving the rest of those present in stunned silence. Well, except for Sasuke. He was stunned, but mostly pissed. He got up to leave, and when asked where he was going, he just grunted out "home" and left.
"But why would those people do that to him?" Sakura asked eventually.
"That isn't even the extent of the burdens that Naruto carries. I can't tell you anything about them, since it isn't my place, but Naruto has lived a life harder than all of ours combined."
"Huh?"
"Naruto has even greater burdens than what he has just shown you. Before you ask, though, I can't tell you anything else about them, and I'm probably telling you too much just by informing you that they exist."
"But why though? Why would the villagers try to kill him like that?"
Sarutobi just sighed. "Their hate is misguided. Like Naruto said, he was born during the Kyuubi attack, and even though he lost both of his parents then, the village still hates him for the fact that he lived and their loved ones didn't. I know it doesn't really make any sense, considering that he was just born, but they still hate him for it."
The room then lapsed into silence, each of the remaining people there digesting what had just been revealed to them. After a few minutes, Sarutobi continued, "Before you all leave, I would like to ask you not to pester Naruto with questions about his past. If you must ask him about it, do it politely, and if he says he doesn't want to talk about it, let it go. If that happens, go about your business, and if he feels like telling you, he will tell you in his own way. You will not force the information out of him. If he does decide to tell you, it is for your ears alone. Do not discuss it with others. If you have questions, either ask him when he is alone, or come here and ask me. If he tells someone else, don't pester them about it either. Are we clear?"
Sakura and Sai both nodded slowly, while Anko, Kakashi, and Tenten just looked at him.
"Alright then, if you want to know more about Naruto's past, start by gaining his trust. The more he trusts you, the more likely he is to tell you about himself. However, should you take what he tells you and try to hurt him with that information in any way whatsoever, you will have to answer to me, understand?"
Kakashi's Genin again nodded their heads, and then Kakashi asked, "What about Sasuke?"
Sarutobi sighed, "He lets his pride run wild. He is so set in his belief that he is better than everyone just because of his family name that he is losing himself to it. I will schedule him to meet with some therapists to see if that will help him, since he apparently has not gotten over what happened to his family."
"Ahh, I'll inform him of what you have in mind then."
"No, Kakashi, don't. I'll do it myself. I just think it will all go smoother that way."
"Alright, is there anything else you wanted us for then, Hokage-sama?"
"No, you're dismissed. Oh, if you run in to Naruto could you tell him that I would like to talk to him some more? I am rather interested in his new hand."
AN: i know, its been over a month, but I HAVE FINISHED CHAPTER 21! i will post it as soon as i get it back from my beta (if she still is beta-ing for me, im not sure) or by this time next week. so yeah, by 10-19, chapter 21 will be posted.