He woke up earlier that day, so much so that when he opened his eyes, not even the sun showed any signs of life. He dressed quickly, and tried to hide his things. Another fateful day was about to begin. Not that all the years of his life were not like that, but of all the 365 days of constant struggle to survive that seemed like a countdown to the time of his death, that the year offered him, this was the worst of them all. And the ironic thing about it is that while he's fighting for his life, people are celebrating.
Not that with every spanking he received, serious wounds, mistreatment in the streets, and even when he stood between life and death, people didn't celebrate as if Rikudou Sennin himself had resurrected and was walking freely through the streets of Konoha. But this day was special, as they had a real reason to celebrate. At least one legalized.
"October 10th." He spoke looking at the barely hanging calendar on the wall. He closed his eyes, sighing. He walked to the fridge and opened the door. The blinking light from the failing bulb barely illuminated the only thing inside: a plain muffin the size of a fist. Inevitably, he remembered the day before.
Flashback
Naruto was walking the streets of Konoha, as usual ignoring the looks of contempt, hatred and other negative emotions the citizens presented him. He stopped in front of a bakery, and took a long sigh, already preparing himself both physically and emotionally for what was going to happen. With his hands in his pockets, he entered the room.
It really was a very beautiful place. Were there many things that just looking at him made him hungry, or was it the fact that he was almost always hungry? Of course, he knew he was welcome whenever he wanted to go to Ichiraku for a good ramem, but after he saw Teuchi's establishment, which was once full, empty completely just because he was standing in front of the ramem station, it saddened him. He liked the old man's food, but he didn't want to bankrupt him. He was taken from his memories when he heard a voice.
"What the hell are you doing here, demon?" a tall, heavyset man was coming toward her, striding quickly and looking unfriendly.
'Here we go again…' Naruto thought, closing his eyes, and only felt himself being grabbed by the arm and being flung out of the room. When he opened his eyes again, he was on the ground.
"Don't you dare come back here, damn you!" The man screamed as employees and even some customers threw food scraps at him. Some food thrown by workers at the site had already expired, while others spoiled when they came into contact with the floor. After they were satisfied, Naruto got up, shook out his clothes to get rid of the dirt, and began to pick up those foods that appeared to be in better condition from the floor. At least now he had lunch, and maybe with luck, dinner too.
'Oh? What's that?" He wondered as he picked up a simple, fist-sized muffin practically intact on the floor. He lifted it to his nose and sniffed it, then flashed a big smile. The muffin was a little dirty, but other than that it was in perfect condition. 'Maybe today is my lucky day!' He thought excitedly as he returned to his apartment with the scraps of food he could enjoy.
Flashback end
Digging through his closet, he found a single, worn candle. Judging by its appearance, it could only light up once or twice more at most. He noticed that there was also only one match left. He couldn't help but feel a bad feeling, as if everything was a sign of foreboding.
It even looked like this would be the last time he would do that.
Shaking his head, he placed the candle carefully on top of the muffin. When he felt it steady enough, he lit it with his last match.
"Happy birthday to me..." He muttered low, a sad smile on his face. He watched the candle burn for a few seconds, and closed his eyes.
'I don't know who listens to my wish, but I want to say that it is the same as every year. If I could do something to change it, I would. So my wish is to be able to change my life in some way... ' That last sentence reminded him that he couldn't stay long in his apartment. Today was the day a festival in memory of the Fourth Hokage's heroism was held in the village. And that for some reason, the 'demon hunts' became more violent, and even his apartment was invaded and destroyed. He opened his eyes sighing, three years ago, hours after he turned eight, people broke into his apartment and beat him while he slept. And the result: he spent a month and a half in hospital. So he knew he should be away from the apartment for at least a couple of days.
'How I wish I could change my life...' He thought sadly and blew out the candle.
At the same time, two red eyes with thin, stretched pupils opened in the darkness. A little sleepy at first, and then they widened and looked glazed over.
"What does that mean...?" A husky voice could be heard in the darkness, asking no one in particular.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
It was already getting dark, and a boy with onyx eyes was walking through the ornate streets of the village. Farther away than ever, there was simply no stand that caught his eye. He couldn't have fun, couldn't smile anymore. But then again, he couldn't stay at home. Every night he spent alone in the neighborhood belonging to his clan, it was always more of the same. Silence, loneliness, and the phantom images of the massacre his brother wrought. He needed to get out, he needed to breathe.
Being home at the festival reminded him of the happy times he and his family walked the streets. They enjoyed the festival, yes, but for some reason, their parents didn't celebrate it the way other civilian residents did. No, they had smiles on their faces, but they were melancholy smiles, accompanied by a serene face and eyes that looked at the horizon, wistful.
He never understood the reason, nor the vague answers they gave him.
He passed one of the restaurants that they always stopped for dinner, and his eyes quickly caught the ghost images of his parents, brother, and himself sitting at their usual table. He watched for a while. For many people, this would be the time to crack a nostalgic smile, just like his parents did all night long. But for him, it was time to be angry. Every hour, every moment, every second that passed, everything always reminded him of what happened, and it haunted him even in dreams. Even the simplest things had some connection to his family, and consequently he always came back to that night.
It was as if he could no longer have memories without being haunted by them.
"Sasuke-kun" He immediately frowned, recognizing those voices that called to him.
'Why demons they don't leave me alone? I've already said they don't interest me, I've insulted them, and I ignore them. God, what do I have to do to make them understand?!' he thought already feeling a growing headache as two girls approached him with smiles on their faces.
"Sasuke-kun, I'm glad you're here!" Said a blonde girl, grabbing him by the arm.
"Let him go you pig!" shouted another in a shrill voice. The blonde grimaced in response. Sasuke was already counting to a thousand so as not to throw a fireball.
"Why don't you leave us alone, marquee forehead?"
"Why don't you disappear, stinking snut? It's obvious that Sasuke-kun prefers a better-behaved lady like me." She said putting his hands on his hips and smiling smugly.
"You called me stinky, you banshee offspring?" The two glared at each other, until Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.
"Where is he?"
"Huh?" Ino then looked to the side, and realized that she was hugging a tree trunk. "Look what you made your pink board!"
"Me?! You're the one offering yourself!"
And so the two went on their way arguing. As for the brunette, he was already halfway back home.
It was enough suffering for one night.
And without any of the three noticing, a pair of pearly eyes watched the scene. She sighed and looked up at the sky, wishing that a certain blonde was present.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
On the other side, a blond boy walked slowly. His clothes were torn, he was dirty, with bruises all over his body, and signs that he had been stabbed in the chest and back twice. He was starting to feel a little cold, as his orange jacket was gone, and only the bottom of his shirt was still there, enough to cover his navel. And his pants were shredded, one leg was totally gone, while the other just covered the back of his leg, and his shin.
'Three spankings in one day… New record.' He let out a laugh, and hugged his ribs regretfully. "Oh, it even hurts to laugh." Apparently, the citizens were trying really hard on hunting him today. Or did they split into groups?
'I wonder if they've created any 'demon hunting' sports…' Lost in thought, he simply froze at the sound of voices.
"Look, there's the devil!" Naruto slowly turned his head, and counted over fifteen people approaching. What scared him the most was that he could see some greenish vests among them.
"Shit, shit, shit…" He grunted as he limped away, but felt something sharp burrow into his shoulder, taking him to the ground.
"Well, well, well… Did you think you could run away?" asked a man when he got close.
"Come on, get him!" Said another, running towards the ninja and the fallen boy. Seconds later, Naruto felt him being kicked, stepped on, punched and thrown at him.
'Please…' Naruto closed his eyes, unable to even try to defend himself. 'Please…kill me.' And when he felt a few things pierce his back again, he was losing consciousness again. 'I don't want to live anymore... God, take me soon. Please... Kill... Me... ' And then, wishing for death, all he saw was darkness taking over as he closed his eyes.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Nee kikoemasu ka (Can you hear me?)"
Naruto opened his eyes slowly after hearing a soft voice sing in his mind. He felt something wet around him, and he sighed in relief. Finally he was dead. He didn't even want to get up, after all he was at peace. And how long had it been since he felt that way? Then, floating in what appeared to be water, he closed his eyes again, letting it guide his body wherever he went. It didn't matter to him, he just wanted to be quiet. After a while, he heard a voice again.
"Sora wa... Hateshinaku aoku sunde ite... (The sky is limitless and blue)"
He opened his eyes again, and still lying down, he could see that he was facing a gate. Or rather, a cage. He looked at her disinterestedly. And then two red eyes opened in the darkness, and stared at him. Naruto was surprised for a moment, so much so that he even sat up, not caring that the water wet his waist.
"Who are you?" he asked with a little trepidation. And then, a huge smile that showed several sharp teeth emerged.
"I am Kyuubi."
Moments before
A grunt of irritation echoed in what appeared to be a sewer. A colossal fox was glazed over as several images popped into his mind.
'That's… Memories. So, this is how the future will be... And to think that this one would win my trust. Bah, he still wasn't able to beat that damned Uchiha.' More memories flashed through his mind of such a difference in abilities between his jinchuuriki and the reanimated Uchiha. 'That's because Naruto was always sabotaged, and when he went traveling with Jiraiya, he had to relearn things practically from scratch. That Kakashi also only taught him to walk in trees and nothing else. ' The image of Madara sweeping the floor with several ninjas appeared. 'Well, they harvested what they sowed. '
After some time, the last memory to appear was the mental communication with his father, who asked him to take care of Naruto from an early age, so perhaps to change the course of human history.
"Well father, I'll do what I can." Kurama closed his eyes, and saw how a group of people, among them ninjas, had intentions of attacking the boy for the fourth time. He watched the blows with a bit of anger, and when Naruto asked to die, he decided that was enough, and decided to 'summon him' for a conversation.
Present
Naruto instantly stood up. He took a step back, looking scared.
"What are you doing here? By the way, where is it here? Where are we? What is happening? What place-".
"ENOUGH!" Naruto was interrupted by a roar from the caged beast. "You talk too much, damn you!" A little embarrassed, Naruto turned away.
"Sorry..." muttered the boy. Kyuubi let out an annoyed sigh.
"We are in your subconscious." Naruto widened his eyes and opened his mouth, but the fox was faster. "Yes, I'm trapped inside you. And no, not willingly."
"And... why me?"
"You were the only person available at the time. The Fourth Hokage didn't have much choice." said the fox, shrugging. "Well, since you-".
"You are the reason." Naruto cut the fox. "You are the culprit." He bowed his head, the shadow of his hair hiding his tightly closed eyes.
"Well, yes and no." Kurama sat up while Naruto looked back at him. "What would the strongest beast with tails gain by attacking a village full of hairless apes? Nothing. I didn't do what I did because I felt like it, kid, but because they made me do it. The villagers' hatred of you is their problem, not mine."
"They hate me... Because you're sealed in me!" He shouted.
"Lower your voice kid! They hate you because they think you're me. But anyway, human cruelty and ignorance have always walked side by side inside these hairless apes." Naruto lowered his head again.
"But you... are a being made of hate...".
"I hate humanity, yes. All of you suck, and that's more than proven by the way you've lived all these years. Which is a stupid action on their part, since the more hate you felt, the easier it would be for me to manipulate you and free myself." Kurama looked seriously at the boy with his head down. "Well, I have to have-" The fox was cut off again.
"So, let me get this straight." Kurama snorted annoyed, since he was interrupted for the second time. "The wretched Fourth Hokage used an innocent child to be his receptacle, and the villagers hate me for thinking you're me." Naruto spoke with a serious, cold face. Kurama put himself into a state of alert. "And the third Hokage did nothing to stop it." Naruto's voice turned darker. "And many ninjas know this, and yet they abandoned me on my own luck...".
A red light went on in Kurama's mind. This Naruto had nothing to do with what his memories of the future showed him.
"…And thanks to that, I suffer daily. Beatings, hunger, misery and my life are always hanging between life and death in a different way with each passing minute." Naruto spoke, and Kurama noticed that the lights in the place, which were already dim, were losing their glow even more, and Naruto was slowly enveloping himself in the darkness.
"Boy..."
"Answer, Kyuubi. Did I get it right?"
"Well, in short, yes, that's right." Kurama chose not to lie. After all, he was right.
"Haha... Hahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto began to laugh macabre, and Kurama, for the first time in his life, felt sweat trickle down the corner of his face as he stared in disbelief in the direction he could once see the boy, who was now inside the darkness.
"Boy...?"
"I think... The people in this village are expendable, don't you think?" Naruto asked in a mocking, macabre tone of voice. Kurama widened his eyes, when from the darkness he could see two totally red eyes, staring at him. Naruto then took a few steps forward, and Kurama unconsciously stared at him in surprise and drew back his front paw, sitting up straighter, but not taking his eyes off him. "What was that Kyuubi? Don't you agree with me?" Naruto came out of the shadows, his eyes were completely red, and he tilted his head slightly and wore a sinister smile on his face.
"Naruto... What do you want to do?" Kurama asked already recovered from the initial shock.
"Hehehehe... How about we give them what they deserve?" Kurama arched his eyebrows "If they think I'm a demon, then... Why don't we show them what a real demon is?"
Kurama was silent for a few seconds. Certainly, this Naruto succumbed to hatred, and it would be extremely easy for her to break her seal on him in that state. However, he saw how things would be in the future, and he promised that he would change the final destination.
But that doesn't mean I don't agree with his actions, after all, apart from Naruto and his father, the rest of the humans could explode if it were up to him.
And so, Kurama smiled, willing to see how far Naruto would go from the path he chose.
"And what do you have in mind?" Naruto's macabre laugh echoed again.
"We can start with the bastards out there." And a sadistic and insane smile was present on the boy's face.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Outside his mind, the blonde's body was lying on the ground, being kicked and pierced by kunais, shurikens and even katanas. A chunin smiled as he prepared for another blow. He thrust his katana into the boy's back, at lung level, and smirked. If he were to deliver the final blow to the devil, he would be seen as a hero to the people. He removed the katana, deciding to end the lying boy's life once and for all, cutting off his head. But when he removed his katana from the boy's back, he saw something that made his eyes widen.
Along with blood, a vapor also came out, and the wound quickly closed.
"What is it...?" He muttered to himself. The rest of the men stopped what they were doing, impressed. The wounds they had made on Naruto's body began to close as steam came out of his back. Everyone took a step back, and then suddenly the boy's body was enveloped in red chakra. Perhaps out of fear or surprise, no one moved a muscle as Naruto's body reared up, crookedly and awkwardly. With his back turned to the crowd that had previously hit him, Naruto looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers and feeling the power flowing.
"Hehehe... heheheheehe... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Naruto's laughter froze everyone present. Bringing a hand to his face, Naruto turned slowly, and his red eyes stared at the fear-paralyzed men.
"Welcome… To Hell." He grinned macabre, and began to attack the villagers. The screams of pain, fear and agony that everyone let out, as well as a last scream from Naruto that was more like a roar, were drowned out by the sound of fireworks, announcing the maximum peak of the festival.
And then the clouds covered the stars, bringing out the darkness. And a light rain began to fall, sweeping the blood of the victims of the massacre that took place there, with only the glazed eyes and open mouths of the corpses as a clue, as if they had seen something frightening before they died.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Hiruzen Sarutobi was calmly smoking his pipe, until, in a burst of one of the fires, he looked away from his papers to his window. He smiled, the festivities went well this year. But then he felt a bad feeling, as if something bad was happening.
And then he felt a spike of evil chakra. One he knew very well.
"ANBUS!" He called, and an ANBU squad appeared out of nowhere. "I want you to go towards the chakra we felt just now, as quickly as possible."
"Yes sir!" And they all disappeared. But like them, the spike in chakra has also disappeared. Ten minutes later, an ANBU reappeared in front of him.
"Lord Hokage" He said kneeling down. "Whatever happened, we're too late. There were around fifteen mutilated people, among chunins and civilians. From the state of their bodies, they seem to have been attacked by a pack of bears, as several were dismembered or with internal organs strewn across the grass." Hiruzen widened his eyes.
"Please collect them from the scene and have the medical team investigate their bodies so we can find out what happened."
"Yes sir!" the ANBU vanished in a cloud of smoke. Hiruzen smoked some of his pipe, before exhaling the smoke into the air with a worried sigh.
"Mutilated like that way, it was so…Merciless. And there's more, what is that evil chakra I felt? Will it be...?"
"Yes old man, it was me." A familiar voice answered from the window.
"Naru-" Hiruzen stopped when he saw the boy's appearance. In addition to his clothes being ripped and his body completely covered in blood, his blond hair was spikier, his claws longer and his whisker marks stronger and more noticeable. But what scared him most were the boy's red eyes, ruthless and lacking in any emotion other than…hate. His eyes widened as the boy began to laugh maniacally.
"What is it old man? It seems you've never seen me..."
"Naruto-kun... What happened to you...?" Hiruzen asked, and Naruto stopped laughing instantly.
"Naruto-kun eh... Don't call me that way anymore old man, or I'll release the kyuubi here and now." He threatened, putting a hand to his stomach. Hiruzen rose in alarm, but didn't risk taking another step. He knew that Naruto probably wouldn't know how to do that. But on the other hand, he was clearly being manipulated by the fox's chakra, and he knew the kyuubi was sealed inside him. Anyway, Hiruzen didn't want to risk it.
"Calm down Naruto, you are being dominated by the fox's chakra."
"Shut up, old man. The fox has nothing to do with what I do. What are you seeing...? It's really me."
"What are you saying, Naruto?"
"The truth, nothing more than that. I killed those people." He spoke slowly. "And I enjoyed every. Single. Moment. While I did it." It ended with a sinister smile.
"Why Naruto? Why you did it?"
"Why?" he asked, and then burst out laughing. A dry, psychotic laugh. "Because I wanted to, old man. And because this is just a warning. A warning to all those who cross my path." Naruto then became serious. "Because they beat me every day. Because I starved for days at a time. Because my clothes were found in the trash. Because my food was always spoiled or poisoned. Because the money you gave me couldn't last a week since my apartment was invaded and broken and I had to spend it to rebuild. Because you, like everyone else in this damn village, never cared about me. And above all, because they called me a devil."
"Naruto..." Hiruzen said, in a sad tone.
"Well, are you going to tell me now that you really did care about me?"
"I did everything I could, I-"
"SHUT UP OLD ASS! When I was left starving for days at the orphanage, where were you? When they gave me a bath of boiling water that left me with severe burns, where were you? When they kicked me out of there, where were you? WHILE I SUFFERED FOR ELEVEN LONG YEARS, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?! TODAY WHILE THEY WERE CUTTING KUNAIS, SHURIKENS AND KATANAS INTO MY BACK, WHERE WERE YOU? TODAY WHEN I ROUGHT THE GODS TO KILL ME, TODAY WHEN I ASKED, EXHAUSTED FROM SO MUCH FIGHTING TO SURVIVE, FOR MY DEATH, WHERE. WERE. YOU?!"
"I did not know-"
"Of course you didn't know! For you, giving a small allowance was enough. You never asked how I was. You are an imbecile, Hiruzen. Leaving a child unprotected, at the mercy of the citizens' hatred, being able to free the demon that almost destroyed the village either out of hatred for these filthy people or because they finally killed me in some way just shows how useless as a Hokage you are. You are a disgrace, the worst Hokage in the history of this hole of a village!" Naruto spat out each word laden with venom. Hiruzen could only bow his head in shame. Naruto was right. He knew someone had spread that the boy contained the kyuubi, and yet he took no action, either to find the culprit for spreading the S-rank secret or to protect the boy from civilians and ninjas who hated him.
"I'm sorry, Naruto"
"Hah! Apologies won't erase eleven years of suffering, that's not how it works, old man. And I didn't come here for that." Hiruzen lifted his head, watching as Naruto backed up to the window, his hand still on his stomach. Jumping on the rail, he faced the man. "I came here to show you my goal." And smiled maniacally.
"What goal?"
"Send someone after me, and I'll release the Kyuubi earlier than I want."
"Earlier?" Hiruzen asked, swallowing saliva.
"Yes old ass. My goal is simple: one day, I will destroy Konoha. And I will kill anyone who crosses my path. So…" He shoves his free hand into his pocket, and pulls a bloody kunai out of it and hurls it at Hiruzen's feet. "If you want to stop me, do it while it's still early, old man."
Hiruzen opened his mouth, startled, dropping his pipe. Definitely, that wasn't the Naruto he knew anymore. But he couldn't do that, after all it was his failures as a Hokage that led Naruto off the right path.
"Kill me. I'm the one to blame for everything, Naruto. Kill me, but spare the village." Naruto smiled.
"That's what I thought. Keep defending this bunch of worms. One day, I'll kill you old man. And I hope it's a good fight." And when he said that, he jumped through the window and disappeared into the darkness of the night. Hiruzen dropped to his knees, tears streaming freely from his eyes.
'What did we do...? Minato, Kushina, forgive us. ' He thought while staring at the rain outside, looking at the darkness in which Naruto disappeared.
Outside, Naruto ran through the darkness towards the woods smiling satisfied, already thinking about how to reach his objective as quickly as possible.
'Nee Kikoemasu ka(Can you hear me?)'
Naruto stopped abruptly and put a hand to his head. After the voice stopped, he shook his head side to side and continued on his way.