Chapter 24: Naruto's Forbidden Jutsu

"Naruto!"

The beast looked around, searching for the origin of the scream. Finally it saw her. The creature that had been screaming for so long. She would die. There was no forgiveness for her pathetic screaming. The beast bared its fangs at the girl, but she didn't move. There was determination in those green eyes, and the beast hated it. The girl had a kunai in her hand, but she didn't move. She held it in a defensive position at her waist.

The beast reared onto its hind legs and swiped at the girl. She was thrown into a nearby building, unable to move.

"That's enough, Naruto!"

Another pathetic human dared to speak. The beast turned to find the source. This one had spiky silver hair. It also had that despicable Sharingan in one eye. For just carrying that foul disease it should die. The beast swiped its red claw at him, but a wall of wood sprang up to defend him. The beast's claw sliced through the wood, but the man was still alive. Another joined him now, and this one smelled faintly of the First Hokage, that cursed fool. The beast flicked one of its tails at the two, but both dodged out of the way. The beast was furious now. How dare they try to oppose him!

"Naruto, listen to me! You would never hurt Sakura! Never!"

Something bubbled inside the beast. What was this feeling? It was like immense anger and sorrow. Was this the boy? Suddenly, the beast felt its grip slipping away, and it knew that it was too late to hold on.

Naruto regained consciousness. He was in Sakura's arms. She was bleeding pretty bad from a gash on her head, but she was still healing him. Kakashi was standing over them.

"W-What happened?" Naruto asked.

"You lost control. That jutsu is way too much for you," said Kakashi.

"I did this to you?" asked Naruto to Sakura.

"Yeah, but I'll be okay."

Naruto held back tears. "Never again. I will never use that jutsu again!"

End flashback

Vallen stared into the eyes of the beast. It seemed full of nothing but hate. Had this been the same boy that had faced him only moments ago?

The fox jumped into the air, landing above Vallen. It swiped its massive claw at him, knocking him away like a pebble. Then the beast sent all nine of its tails after Vallen. They wrapped around him and threw him into another building. Vallen had never fought something so massive.

The beast fired a blast of chakra at Vallen, who narrowly avoided it. He fired his own air bullet back, but the fox wasn't even fazed. It jumped directly above him and roared. The sound was terrible. In all his years, Vallen had never heard something so evil. It was the sound of every person he'd ever tortured screaming, times a thousand. There was no one who could defeat this. The fox swiped its claw again, knocking Vallen into a pile of rubble.

The beast roared again as two of its tails flew out to grab Vallen. Vallen was paralyzed by fear as the tails wrapped around him. The fox brought him close, a massive beam of chakra already forming in its mouth. The fox was ready to let loose the blast, but stopped, and dropped Vallen.

Vallen was shocked as the red chakra that covered the beast began to recede. After a few minutes, all that remained was Naruto, but something was different about him. He wasn't the same as before. Naruto landed on the ground, sending cracks in all directions as if he weighed a ton. Vallen now realized that there was only one way to win. He looked to left, and noticed a young kunoichi lying on the ground. She was in pain, but she was still breathing. Vallen ran over and picked her up, holding her with a knife to her throat. The girl moaned in pain.

Vallen motioned at the girl's throat. "I will kill her."

Naruto stood motionless, unsure of what to do. Finally, he came to a decision. He charged a Rasengan and disappeared, reappearing behind Vallen. Vallen expected this, however, and immediately slit the girl's throat. Naruto slammed the attack into Vallen, who was thrown nearly eighty yards away.

Naruto looked at the girl, and realized that his reckless move had just killed someone. He had just killed Tenten. Naruto wanted to make Vallen pay. He wanted to slaughter Vallen. He wanted that man to weep before him. But he couldn't move. His body was completely frozen. Something in his mind wasn't allowing him to move away from this scene. His actions had just resulted in the death of one of the Leaf Eleven. How many more would he kill?

Vallen, seizing this moment of opportunity, called in reinforcements to help him. Naruto saw the massive army coming toward him and realized that the Leaf was lost. He had tried to protect it, but he had failed. This army was massive. Even with his help, there was no way that what was left of his own army would be able to drive them out. Naruto did the only thing he could. He ran.

Vallen got to his feet and laughed as the Orange Hokage disappeared. He now had the Leaf Village. He had repaid Hashirama for the cruel act he had committed, and now, he would rule the world.

Naruto ran into the forest on the west side of the Leaf. He was crying. He couldn't believe what had happened. It was all his fault. He was an idiot. He never should have used that jutsu. He couldn't believe that he had even managed to rein it back in when he did. He promised that he would never let that power out again, but he had. Why? Why was he so stupid?

Naruto continued to run. He sensed the presence of a few ANBU, but they said nothing. Naruto didn't want to say anything. There was nothing to say. He had lost. Vallen had won. As the group headed for the Stone Village, one thing dominated Naruto's mind. Next time he fought, Vallen would die. Regardless of whether or not Naruto lived, Vallen would die.