Author: Wow...that's a lot of reviews. Really a lot 0.0 I don't think I've
ever gotten that many for a single chapter. Thank you to everyone who gave
me definitions for the suffixes so I can now use them, I'll give a key of
how I'll be using them to avoid all confusion in a sec. Also, notice that
I'm gonna try to avoid using the Japanese-English hybrid that so many like
to use because to be frank, I don't know Japanese and I don't think it does
full justice to substitute a few English words for the Japanese ones.
The suffixes will be as follows:
San – Used for people of the same rank, kind normal-ish. Using it will mean that whoever is saying it has no beef with the person s/he's talking to. Also for family members talking to one another.
Kun – Used for good friends and teammates that happen to be men.
Chan – Used for good friends and teammates that happen to be women. Also to be used for young children such as toddlers if need arises (hopefully it won't)
Sama – Used for referring to one with utmost respect and humility.
Dono – More respectful than Sama, but probably won't be used in this fic because, well I don't think I'll need to.
Sensei – Used when referring to a teacher.
None – Simply means the person either has a beef with the person their talking to, or doesn't know them at all (like a homeless person you stop by). However, if the person normally got a suffix (like –san) and they are referred to without one, it is taken as an insult.
For now, husbands and wives will use Kun and Chan for each other (though it seems more like a dating term.) If anyone has other suggestions for it, lemme know.
That's how things are gonna work in this fro now on. With the exception of jutsus that appeared in the Manga and a couple key words (genjutsu, kinjutsu, etc) that will be all the Japanese in this fic.
Refused – Sorry about that. The summary will actually have to do with the story in the next chapter, this chapter and the last one are the chain of events that I mentioned. Don't worry, all will become clear soon.
(The anonymous) J – Where did you hear that? Seriously, tell me so I can see. I've never heard that before...I guess it's possible, I never remembered it being mentioned. Please let me know where you found it.
Without further adieu... (Man that was a long note)
Chapter 2:
Panic crowded Naruto's mind at the command. He shot a gaze to the dog behind him in time to see it charging forward, jaws open. His eyes widened as it got closer.
He rolled his shoulder just in time to avoid having it clenched in the jaws that reminded him oddly of a bear trap. A trail of drool streamed away from the dog's mouth, and Naruto pushed himself off the ground with one hand placing some distance between him and the almost burnt brown dog.
Just as he landed, a sudden impact through him skidding off to the side. His body drug across the ground before he came to a stop, now fully aware of the fact that he was now in combat.
He looked up from the dirt to see the second dog standing where he had just been, his now alerted senses allowed him to mark the second dog having slightly more orange tint in it's fur. He stared at the dog for a moment before seeing movement out of the corner of his eye.
He turned to see the first dog that had attacked him flying through the air, jaws open once again, looking for a part of his body to clench. He quickly got to his feet and side-stepped around the beast, his hand reached for his shuriken holster for a kunai.
The sound of paws hitting the ground alerted Naruto that the orange dog was coming again, he abandoned his quest for a kunai, and moved his leg to avoid getting it chewed through. The dog, skidded by, not having the ability to stop completely from the speed.
'An opening!' Naruto mentally exclaimed, reaching again for a kunai.
His arm reached the holster this time, but before he could get it inside, there was a sharp pain on near his shoulder.
He looked took the scene in with a look of shock on his face, the browner dog had clasped itself on his shoulder and was dragging him down to the ground, shooting pain into his veins and preventing his arm from moving. To make things worse, the orange dog had turned around and was coming right back.
He hit the ground hard, and the dog kept it's grip on his arm, struggling against him when he tried to stand back up. The awkward made it almost impossible to stand up, and his right arm was completely numb and paralyzed as the fangs had effectively stopped signals from his brain to his arm.
Orange fur quickly descended upon him, straddling his chest and torso. With his off hand, he grabbed at the jaws of the creature, closing it's mouth weakly. His legs kicked idly through the air, even though the creature was well out of their way.
He screamed for help to those in the crowd, he couldn't hear anything but the deafening growls of the dogs. He was not surprised when no one answered his cries, and even though he had only been shouting for a few seconds, he knew that it fell upon deaf ears.
...stop wasting your energy. If you want to make it out of here alive, I would suggest that you focus and stop idly shouting and squirming...
Kyubi's voice was irritated in Naruto's mind.
'Why should I listen to you? This is all your fault, that kid from earlier was her brother. You're the reason I'm in this mess. Why should I even bother doing what you say?'
...because you don't wanna die...
Naruto quenched his screaming and grunted under his breath. He stopped the squirming of his legs and brought to bend at the knee so that his feet were flat against the ground.
The orange dog tore his head away, causing Naruto's slobber-wet hand to slip completely off it's grip. The creature, using the opportunity, began to thrash wildly at Naruto's sensitive neck and face.
Naruto's hand barely managed to bat the face away from his throat and face each time. A sharp pain surged through his pinned arm causing him to wince. The dog above him rose it's head high for a moment before bringing it down quickly.
...the THROAT boy!!!!...
Naruto reached up and clasped onto the front of the dog's neck, his hand was too small and frail to suffocate the thing with simply one hand, but it was enough to stop the approach. The dog gagged a bit but remained steadfast, pushing against the hand.
Naruto's off hand was starting to ache as the dog pushed against it, it wouldn't be long before it started to shake.
He repositioned his elbow so that it rested against his chest and started squeezing against the dog's throat.
He wasn't able to get the throat to close, but he had stopped the dog from getting any closer.
He dared to let a smirk cross his drool-stained face. He turned his body to the right as quickly and suddenly as possible and slammed the orange dog onto the one that had clenched his arm.
There was a soft whine from both of them and the pressure from his arm disappeared.
He rolled away as quick as possible and got to his feet, the feeling returning to his arm. He skimmed the crowd for the Kiba's sister, he wasn't sure when she was going to strike, but forgetting about her could make this impossible situation even worse.
While looking for her, his eyes happened upon three that he recognized. Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru stood amongst the crowd, eyes on the ground. Naruto's face twitched a little and his mouth opened to ask "why".
Shikamaru looked up, gaze meeting Naruto's from across the widening arena. His black eyes were full of shame and his gaze fell back to the ground. He sighed heavily, his chuunin vest moved up and down with him.
Before the word could come out, he heard movement, and turned to see both dogs getting up, shaking off the attack.
He growled lowly, before raising both of his arms to meet and form his most common seal. Both arms ached, and his right was still rather heavy from the recent paralysis, but he trudged on.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
There were now seven Naruto's in the place of one. The original stepped back and the other six stood between him and the two dogs. All seven drew a kunai in one hand.
'No point in tryin to make them guess which on one is the real me, their noses are probably even better than Kiba's. If I can't fool them, I'll just have to beat them.'
The six clones jumped out, kunai raised screaming a battle cry, all the while the original stood back in a defensive stance.
Both dogs looked at each other for a moment, nodded, then turned to face the copies while tucking into a attacking stance.
At once they both took off towards the clones, and right before they met in mid-air, both dogs started spinning quickly and viciously on their sides.
"...Tsuuga..." Naruto whispered, to himself when he recognized the attack.
The two drills moved quickly through the air, reducing the huddle of clones to nothing more than dust and continued towards their initial target.
Naruto watched them come, he weighted his options and settled. When the two reached him, he jumped to the side, rolling out of the way of the attack.
He skid a bit, and jumped back, drawing another kunai so that he had one in both hands. His concentration wavered a bit as he heard what he thought to be his name.
Puzzled, he turned around to see a shivering Hinata only a few feet from him, tears in her eyes, shaking furiously. Next to her was the ever indifferent Shino.
He sent Hinata a forced smile, happy to see that it seemed that she was at least worried about him. He mouthed her the words "Don't worry" before turning back to the returning dogs.
He ran towards the beasts, making sure that their attack would not land them near the retreating audience. His kunai drug behind him in his strengthening hands as he jumped over them both again. His goal changed from surviving to winning, afterall, everyone would have to acknowledge his strength if he beat an upper-ranked chuunin right?
Both dogs passed by him and then turned in opposite directions making sure to keep the momentum. They traced a half circle around the boy before coming in to attack from both sides.
Naruto stood tall on the ground, a devious smirk crossed his face as he reached back into his pouch for the stink bomb he had planned to use in the boy's bathroom at the academy. He slipped it in between his thumb and forefinger, holding on to the kunai in that hand.
The dogs approached from each side, getting closer by the second. Right before they reached him, Naruto jumped in the air and threw the bomb down. The thin smoke rose just in time for the dogs to pass through it.
They passed each other and emerged from the smoke, falling out of the Tsuuga, and gagging powerfully.
Taking the opportunity, he threw a kunai at each, aiming for the middle of their backs to keep them out of the battle.
The kunai flew through the air, landing halfway into the teary-eyed creatures, and drawing a bit of blood. Then there was a puff of smoke and there were two fresh logs in their places, each with a kunai buried deep within.
Confusion found its way onto Naruto's face. He landed on the ground looking around for his opponents. He turned to see Kiba's sister, scowling, with her dogs at her sides. She made a few quick seals, and Naruto felt a sudden gust of wind whip about, blowing the remainder of the scent away.
Naruto reached for two more kunai and slunk back into defensive stance, eyeing the pounce-ready dogs.
"Stay..."
Naruto tried to look puzzled at the command but didn't get the chance as he found a fist in his stomach before he could.
He had thought that Kiba was pretty fast, but he never stopped to think how fast his sister would be, maybe winning would be harder than he thought.
His face turned to anguish, he dropped the kunai in his hands and was thrown back from the blow. His form skid back for a while before he stopped, and when he did, he made no hurry to get up. He slowed his way to his feet while his vision slowly refocused, he coughed a little, tasting blood come from his throat and it dribbled down to his chin.
Behind him, he saw Neji and Tenten in the growing audience. Neji was looking on as if interested, while at the same time bored out of his mind. Tenten's expression held the same thing but looked much less hostile. Beside them was Lee, it looked like he was shouting something that Naruto couldn't hear, and from the neck down his hands were at his sides as if in invisible pockets while he slouched abnormally lazily.
'Damn. Not even Lee's gonna help me?'
Now he was getting angry, he could feel Kyubi's chakra welling up within him, the feelings of rage and bloodlust came with them.
Before he had a chance to quell it, Kiba's sister was in front of him, increased canines baring in her mouth. She brought her head down hard spiking the attack with a bit of chakra, smashing it into Naruto's forehead protector, and sending him straight to the ground closely followed by a trail of his own blood that slipped out of the headband. His eyes glazed over for a second, and his pupils rolled into the back of his head before returning with a jolt when he hit the ground.
She raised a clawed hand over her head and Naruto rolled his head over to the side. He saw Sakura had joined Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru, she had tears in her eyes, and Ino looked like she was holding the emerald eyed girl. But from where he was, Sakura looked like she wasn't fighting back very much.
His own teammate...
His head rolled back up to meet the angry woman. His moved from her, to the roof behind her where he saw none other than Sasuke sitting in all his depressed glory. Even from on the ground Naruto could feel the angry aura from him.
'He must still be mad about when I beat him after he had run off. Odd though, I figured that he would want to kill me himself, not watch someone else do it...'
"We never should've let you live you monster."
Naruto's attention went back to the woman above him. She continued through fangs now too large for her to speak too clearly.
"We should have killed you as soon as we gave you the gift of mortality."
Naruto's hearing came back and he heard a murmur of agreement from most the crowd. Lee's shouting seemed to have stopped, if he was indeed shouting at all.
"Instead, we gave you another chance...we let you live among us, thinking that you were capable of more than just death and destruction."
Her fangs fell back to normal size, but the edge of hate in her voice did not recede.
"We even let you around the younger ones, and lied to them about your nature. But we were wrong, you aren't bred for anything else than murder. That's all you've ever been capable of, and that's all you're capable of now."
Naruto began to come to, registering what was happening more fully. Kiba's sister took the time to drop her hand and sit down on Naruto's chest, pinning him with her weight. She put her knees on his arms holding them there.
"And now, you've finally crossed the line. You gave up the forgiveness of the only village who would forgive you for what you've done. The only village with a Kage willing enough to give you another chance."
She fidgeted around in her vest for a kunai and pulled it out slowly, the glint filling Naruto's eyes with fear that he hadn't felt in a long time. He struggled consequently against her weight but it didn't help.
"Well if no one else is going to deliver what you deserve, then I will..."
"Nira-san!" A strong voice bellowed from the crowd. Naruto looked over to see a middle aged looking woman with black hair that spiked downwards almost covering black eyes. She was clothed in a jounin outfit with various shades of grey and black. There were red streaks down hers cheeks, and to her side there was a large wolf with an eye-patch, who's fur matched the jounin's outfit.
"Please Kirara-san..." she said, without turning around, the hate temporarily quelled from her voice "please stay out of this...it has to be done and I don't want you to be involved when punishment is carried out."
"Who ever said it had to be done?"
"It just has to, he must be dealt with...we must finally kill this wretched Ky-"
Naruto's eyes widened.
"You've already said too much Nira-san, don't say anymore" There was a stern tone in her voice. "Even if it must be done, it is not your place or even mine to do so."
"No one else will do it...so I will, Hokage be damned, Fourth be damned."
"I know you better than that Nira-san, do you really want to rob this child of his life? He's just that, a child, not much younger than yourself. Doesn't he deserve to live?"
There was a pause.
"And what about Kiba-san, does it matter that this monster tried to kill your own son, my only brother?"
"Kiba...Kiba-san is a ninja Kirara-san." Her voice became solemn. "He will have to fight tough opponents at times, even tougher than Naruto...that's just the way things are."
"I'm sorry Kirara-san, but I can't accept that..." She turned back to Naruto, scowling again.
"They thought that sealing you would take care of our problem with you...they thought that you could live a normal life...like what you did could be erased from our memories. I was only five at the time, but I'll tell you this Kyubi, we haven't forgotten."
Naruto's heart stopped beating for a second when she said that, the blood faded from his face when he heard gasps of confusion from none other than the genin (and Shikamaru), and he started to feel faint when she brought the kunai above her head.
He shut his eyes and waited.
He heard the kunai traveling on it's way to his chest, he heard Nira breathing hard, he heard the wind whipping off everything in the area...he heard...he heard...
The sound of a book closing.
He opened his eyes to see none other than Kakashi standing above him, holding Nira's armed hand in one hand, and closed copy of Icha Icha Paradise that he was slipping into his pack.
"Do not touch my subordinates"
"Your gonna fight me over this creature?"
Kakashi used his now free hand to slide his forehead protector away from his eye and up to his forehead, staring at the young woman with his Sharingan eye.
"I mean it Nira"
Kirara growled and grew the claws out on her free hand.
"If that's the way you want it Kakashi"
Before she could strike, she found her other arm bound in a lighter grip.
"This needs to end now Nira-san." Came a calm voice from her other side.
"No! I'm not done yet!" She struggled against the jounin holding her arms, causing a bit of discomfort to Naruto who had begun breathing again.
"We have to kill him! We have to! Sealing him wasn't enough! He'll destroy us all, just like when he tried to all those years ago! Just like when he killed father! Just like when he tried to kill Kiba-san!"
Angry tears began to stream from her eyes.
"He'll kill us! He'll destroy us! He is a monster! That's all he is!"
Naruto cringed under her at the accusations.
...Stupid woman, she had no idea...hehe, too bad no one else is listening...
'Shut up you damn fox. Just shut up.'
Kyubi's evil smile painted itself in his mind.
"Inuzuka Nira" Came yet another voice. Naruto looked around Nira to see a man cloaked in black with a white mask covering his face. "You are to report to the Hokage immediately."
Nira stopped suddenly, her eyes glazed over and she looked, Naruto straight in the eye.
He could see her color vanish after the man spoke, her lips began to quiver and he say the dazed look in her eyes. There was fear. And lot's of it.
She slowly stood to her feet and both Kirara and Kakashi let her go, Kakashi taking the kunai when he let her hand go. He gave it to the ANBU member who proceeded to remove any and all weapons the woman had on her.
He grabbed her by the shoulder, and the two disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Kakashi looked at Kirara, then pulled his headband back over his Sharingan.
"I'm sorry about this Kakashi-san, Kiba-san got put in the hospital after a sparring match with Naruto"
"I know, that's why I'm not too angry"
"You would really have used the Sharingan on her?"
Silence was his reply.
"I'm sorry about that Naruto" Kirara said looking down and offering Naruto a hand. "She's not always like that." There was sincerity in her voice.
Naruto hesitantly stood up and muttered an acceptance of the apology.
Kirara and Kakashi parted ways and all three dogs followed behind Kirara.
Naruto could hear the dissipating crowd murmuring various things like "Never send an Inuzuka to do anything important", "Damn ANBU", and "Too bad she got caught so soon".
To be honest, he had expected that...he looked over to the other genin, who surrounded him, never having left their various spots in the circle...to him, they were all that mattered.
Sasuke jumped down and landed in a spot that no one had been in.
All the adults streamed away, and Naruto was left with 9 either confused or indifferent genin, and one lazily shocked chuunin.
Even Lee was quietly shocked, he was no longer standing lazily, but he was definitely off-guard.
"N-N-N-Na-ru-t-t-t-o" Hinata was the first to try to speak, but by the time she reached the last syllable, she had become so weak from shock and tension, that the "-kun" was completely inaudible.
Naruto's heart sank.
Sakura walked forward, no longer bound by Ino.
"Naruto-kun...i-is, is it..." She couldn't finish
"Is it true?" Came Sasuke's dark continuation of what Sakura tried to ask. Everyone was thinking the same, Sasuke was just the only one who had the gall to ask out loud. There was a razor in his voice.
Naruto looked around at the quiet bunch around him. He could lie...he had done so before. Why should it be any different now, he was in no hurry to push his friends away. He deserved friends just as much as anyone...but then again, friends aren't supposed to lie to one another. Friends were supposed to trust one another with their secrets and hurts, their fears and fallacies, then rejoice together when the faults were overcome. If that was the case...then that meant he never had them as friends.
They weren't friends, they didn't help him. Between the 11 of them, they could've beaten her. He would've easily stick his neck out for any of them...these that he considered his friends. No, they couldn't be friends...none of them.
If they weren't friends, then they didn't deserved with the bliss of ignorance.
Naruto smiled almost evilly, his blue eyes somehow caught with a fire that none of them had ever seen before. It wasn't determination or drive like normal, it wasn't excitement, it was something else, something they couldn't put a finger on.
He shut is eyes and nodded to Sasuke, blood from his head wound streaked down between his eyes and parted at the bridge of his nose. It went around his mouth and met at his chin. Naruto almost looked evil.
He heard a few gasps and a sob or two coming from a direction he didn't care about. He turned and walked in the direction of his house, not even pausing to retrieve his kunai. He only had five altogether, but he didn't care. He wouldn't need them, not his weapons, not his "friends", not Iruka, not Kyubi. He didn't need anyone or anything.
And in a way that reminded everyone very much of Sasuke.
He just walked away.
Author: Wow that was long, almost as long as my first chapter. Don't worry, the next one probably won't be as long, I'm new to angst and that's what the next chapter is about.
Once again, I'm not too confident about this chapter, it seemed to almost drone on.
Oh well, I'll update again after I update my Inuyasha fic, so it'll probably be about a week or so.
The suffixes will be as follows:
San – Used for people of the same rank, kind normal-ish. Using it will mean that whoever is saying it has no beef with the person s/he's talking to. Also for family members talking to one another.
Kun – Used for good friends and teammates that happen to be men.
Chan – Used for good friends and teammates that happen to be women. Also to be used for young children such as toddlers if need arises (hopefully it won't)
Sama – Used for referring to one with utmost respect and humility.
Dono – More respectful than Sama, but probably won't be used in this fic because, well I don't think I'll need to.
Sensei – Used when referring to a teacher.
None – Simply means the person either has a beef with the person their talking to, or doesn't know them at all (like a homeless person you stop by). However, if the person normally got a suffix (like –san) and they are referred to without one, it is taken as an insult.
For now, husbands and wives will use Kun and Chan for each other (though it seems more like a dating term.) If anyone has other suggestions for it, lemme know.
That's how things are gonna work in this fro now on. With the exception of jutsus that appeared in the Manga and a couple key words (genjutsu, kinjutsu, etc) that will be all the Japanese in this fic.
Refused – Sorry about that. The summary will actually have to do with the story in the next chapter, this chapter and the last one are the chain of events that I mentioned. Don't worry, all will become clear soon.
(The anonymous) J – Where did you hear that? Seriously, tell me so I can see. I've never heard that before...I guess it's possible, I never remembered it being mentioned. Please let me know where you found it.
Without further adieu... (Man that was a long note)
Chapter 2:
Panic crowded Naruto's mind at the command. He shot a gaze to the dog behind him in time to see it charging forward, jaws open. His eyes widened as it got closer.
He rolled his shoulder just in time to avoid having it clenched in the jaws that reminded him oddly of a bear trap. A trail of drool streamed away from the dog's mouth, and Naruto pushed himself off the ground with one hand placing some distance between him and the almost burnt brown dog.
Just as he landed, a sudden impact through him skidding off to the side. His body drug across the ground before he came to a stop, now fully aware of the fact that he was now in combat.
He looked up from the dirt to see the second dog standing where he had just been, his now alerted senses allowed him to mark the second dog having slightly more orange tint in it's fur. He stared at the dog for a moment before seeing movement out of the corner of his eye.
He turned to see the first dog that had attacked him flying through the air, jaws open once again, looking for a part of his body to clench. He quickly got to his feet and side-stepped around the beast, his hand reached for his shuriken holster for a kunai.
The sound of paws hitting the ground alerted Naruto that the orange dog was coming again, he abandoned his quest for a kunai, and moved his leg to avoid getting it chewed through. The dog, skidded by, not having the ability to stop completely from the speed.
'An opening!' Naruto mentally exclaimed, reaching again for a kunai.
His arm reached the holster this time, but before he could get it inside, there was a sharp pain on near his shoulder.
He looked took the scene in with a look of shock on his face, the browner dog had clasped itself on his shoulder and was dragging him down to the ground, shooting pain into his veins and preventing his arm from moving. To make things worse, the orange dog had turned around and was coming right back.
He hit the ground hard, and the dog kept it's grip on his arm, struggling against him when he tried to stand back up. The awkward made it almost impossible to stand up, and his right arm was completely numb and paralyzed as the fangs had effectively stopped signals from his brain to his arm.
Orange fur quickly descended upon him, straddling his chest and torso. With his off hand, he grabbed at the jaws of the creature, closing it's mouth weakly. His legs kicked idly through the air, even though the creature was well out of their way.
He screamed for help to those in the crowd, he couldn't hear anything but the deafening growls of the dogs. He was not surprised when no one answered his cries, and even though he had only been shouting for a few seconds, he knew that it fell upon deaf ears.
...stop wasting your energy. If you want to make it out of here alive, I would suggest that you focus and stop idly shouting and squirming...
Kyubi's voice was irritated in Naruto's mind.
'Why should I listen to you? This is all your fault, that kid from earlier was her brother. You're the reason I'm in this mess. Why should I even bother doing what you say?'
...because you don't wanna die...
Naruto quenched his screaming and grunted under his breath. He stopped the squirming of his legs and brought to bend at the knee so that his feet were flat against the ground.
The orange dog tore his head away, causing Naruto's slobber-wet hand to slip completely off it's grip. The creature, using the opportunity, began to thrash wildly at Naruto's sensitive neck and face.
Naruto's hand barely managed to bat the face away from his throat and face each time. A sharp pain surged through his pinned arm causing him to wince. The dog above him rose it's head high for a moment before bringing it down quickly.
...the THROAT boy!!!!...
Naruto reached up and clasped onto the front of the dog's neck, his hand was too small and frail to suffocate the thing with simply one hand, but it was enough to stop the approach. The dog gagged a bit but remained steadfast, pushing against the hand.
Naruto's off hand was starting to ache as the dog pushed against it, it wouldn't be long before it started to shake.
He repositioned his elbow so that it rested against his chest and started squeezing against the dog's throat.
He wasn't able to get the throat to close, but he had stopped the dog from getting any closer.
He dared to let a smirk cross his drool-stained face. He turned his body to the right as quickly and suddenly as possible and slammed the orange dog onto the one that had clenched his arm.
There was a soft whine from both of them and the pressure from his arm disappeared.
He rolled away as quick as possible and got to his feet, the feeling returning to his arm. He skimmed the crowd for the Kiba's sister, he wasn't sure when she was going to strike, but forgetting about her could make this impossible situation even worse.
While looking for her, his eyes happened upon three that he recognized. Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru stood amongst the crowd, eyes on the ground. Naruto's face twitched a little and his mouth opened to ask "why".
Shikamaru looked up, gaze meeting Naruto's from across the widening arena. His black eyes were full of shame and his gaze fell back to the ground. He sighed heavily, his chuunin vest moved up and down with him.
Before the word could come out, he heard movement, and turned to see both dogs getting up, shaking off the attack.
He growled lowly, before raising both of his arms to meet and form his most common seal. Both arms ached, and his right was still rather heavy from the recent paralysis, but he trudged on.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
There were now seven Naruto's in the place of one. The original stepped back and the other six stood between him and the two dogs. All seven drew a kunai in one hand.
'No point in tryin to make them guess which on one is the real me, their noses are probably even better than Kiba's. If I can't fool them, I'll just have to beat them.'
The six clones jumped out, kunai raised screaming a battle cry, all the while the original stood back in a defensive stance.
Both dogs looked at each other for a moment, nodded, then turned to face the copies while tucking into a attacking stance.
At once they both took off towards the clones, and right before they met in mid-air, both dogs started spinning quickly and viciously on their sides.
"...Tsuuga..." Naruto whispered, to himself when he recognized the attack.
The two drills moved quickly through the air, reducing the huddle of clones to nothing more than dust and continued towards their initial target.
Naruto watched them come, he weighted his options and settled. When the two reached him, he jumped to the side, rolling out of the way of the attack.
He skid a bit, and jumped back, drawing another kunai so that he had one in both hands. His concentration wavered a bit as he heard what he thought to be his name.
Puzzled, he turned around to see a shivering Hinata only a few feet from him, tears in her eyes, shaking furiously. Next to her was the ever indifferent Shino.
He sent Hinata a forced smile, happy to see that it seemed that she was at least worried about him. He mouthed her the words "Don't worry" before turning back to the returning dogs.
He ran towards the beasts, making sure that their attack would not land them near the retreating audience. His kunai drug behind him in his strengthening hands as he jumped over them both again. His goal changed from surviving to winning, afterall, everyone would have to acknowledge his strength if he beat an upper-ranked chuunin right?
Both dogs passed by him and then turned in opposite directions making sure to keep the momentum. They traced a half circle around the boy before coming in to attack from both sides.
Naruto stood tall on the ground, a devious smirk crossed his face as he reached back into his pouch for the stink bomb he had planned to use in the boy's bathroom at the academy. He slipped it in between his thumb and forefinger, holding on to the kunai in that hand.
The dogs approached from each side, getting closer by the second. Right before they reached him, Naruto jumped in the air and threw the bomb down. The thin smoke rose just in time for the dogs to pass through it.
They passed each other and emerged from the smoke, falling out of the Tsuuga, and gagging powerfully.
Taking the opportunity, he threw a kunai at each, aiming for the middle of their backs to keep them out of the battle.
The kunai flew through the air, landing halfway into the teary-eyed creatures, and drawing a bit of blood. Then there was a puff of smoke and there were two fresh logs in their places, each with a kunai buried deep within.
Confusion found its way onto Naruto's face. He landed on the ground looking around for his opponents. He turned to see Kiba's sister, scowling, with her dogs at her sides. She made a few quick seals, and Naruto felt a sudden gust of wind whip about, blowing the remainder of the scent away.
Naruto reached for two more kunai and slunk back into defensive stance, eyeing the pounce-ready dogs.
"Stay..."
Naruto tried to look puzzled at the command but didn't get the chance as he found a fist in his stomach before he could.
He had thought that Kiba was pretty fast, but he never stopped to think how fast his sister would be, maybe winning would be harder than he thought.
His face turned to anguish, he dropped the kunai in his hands and was thrown back from the blow. His form skid back for a while before he stopped, and when he did, he made no hurry to get up. He slowed his way to his feet while his vision slowly refocused, he coughed a little, tasting blood come from his throat and it dribbled down to his chin.
Behind him, he saw Neji and Tenten in the growing audience. Neji was looking on as if interested, while at the same time bored out of his mind. Tenten's expression held the same thing but looked much less hostile. Beside them was Lee, it looked like he was shouting something that Naruto couldn't hear, and from the neck down his hands were at his sides as if in invisible pockets while he slouched abnormally lazily.
'Damn. Not even Lee's gonna help me?'
Now he was getting angry, he could feel Kyubi's chakra welling up within him, the feelings of rage and bloodlust came with them.
Before he had a chance to quell it, Kiba's sister was in front of him, increased canines baring in her mouth. She brought her head down hard spiking the attack with a bit of chakra, smashing it into Naruto's forehead protector, and sending him straight to the ground closely followed by a trail of his own blood that slipped out of the headband. His eyes glazed over for a second, and his pupils rolled into the back of his head before returning with a jolt when he hit the ground.
She raised a clawed hand over her head and Naruto rolled his head over to the side. He saw Sakura had joined Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru, she had tears in her eyes, and Ino looked like she was holding the emerald eyed girl. But from where he was, Sakura looked like she wasn't fighting back very much.
His own teammate...
His head rolled back up to meet the angry woman. His moved from her, to the roof behind her where he saw none other than Sasuke sitting in all his depressed glory. Even from on the ground Naruto could feel the angry aura from him.
'He must still be mad about when I beat him after he had run off. Odd though, I figured that he would want to kill me himself, not watch someone else do it...'
"We never should've let you live you monster."
Naruto's attention went back to the woman above him. She continued through fangs now too large for her to speak too clearly.
"We should have killed you as soon as we gave you the gift of mortality."
Naruto's hearing came back and he heard a murmur of agreement from most the crowd. Lee's shouting seemed to have stopped, if he was indeed shouting at all.
"Instead, we gave you another chance...we let you live among us, thinking that you were capable of more than just death and destruction."
Her fangs fell back to normal size, but the edge of hate in her voice did not recede.
"We even let you around the younger ones, and lied to them about your nature. But we were wrong, you aren't bred for anything else than murder. That's all you've ever been capable of, and that's all you're capable of now."
Naruto began to come to, registering what was happening more fully. Kiba's sister took the time to drop her hand and sit down on Naruto's chest, pinning him with her weight. She put her knees on his arms holding them there.
"And now, you've finally crossed the line. You gave up the forgiveness of the only village who would forgive you for what you've done. The only village with a Kage willing enough to give you another chance."
She fidgeted around in her vest for a kunai and pulled it out slowly, the glint filling Naruto's eyes with fear that he hadn't felt in a long time. He struggled consequently against her weight but it didn't help.
"Well if no one else is going to deliver what you deserve, then I will..."
"Nira-san!" A strong voice bellowed from the crowd. Naruto looked over to see a middle aged looking woman with black hair that spiked downwards almost covering black eyes. She was clothed in a jounin outfit with various shades of grey and black. There were red streaks down hers cheeks, and to her side there was a large wolf with an eye-patch, who's fur matched the jounin's outfit.
"Please Kirara-san..." she said, without turning around, the hate temporarily quelled from her voice "please stay out of this...it has to be done and I don't want you to be involved when punishment is carried out."
"Who ever said it had to be done?"
"It just has to, he must be dealt with...we must finally kill this wretched Ky-"
Naruto's eyes widened.
"You've already said too much Nira-san, don't say anymore" There was a stern tone in her voice. "Even if it must be done, it is not your place or even mine to do so."
"No one else will do it...so I will, Hokage be damned, Fourth be damned."
"I know you better than that Nira-san, do you really want to rob this child of his life? He's just that, a child, not much younger than yourself. Doesn't he deserve to live?"
There was a pause.
"And what about Kiba-san, does it matter that this monster tried to kill your own son, my only brother?"
"Kiba...Kiba-san is a ninja Kirara-san." Her voice became solemn. "He will have to fight tough opponents at times, even tougher than Naruto...that's just the way things are."
"I'm sorry Kirara-san, but I can't accept that..." She turned back to Naruto, scowling again.
"They thought that sealing you would take care of our problem with you...they thought that you could live a normal life...like what you did could be erased from our memories. I was only five at the time, but I'll tell you this Kyubi, we haven't forgotten."
Naruto's heart stopped beating for a second when she said that, the blood faded from his face when he heard gasps of confusion from none other than the genin (and Shikamaru), and he started to feel faint when she brought the kunai above her head.
He shut his eyes and waited.
He heard the kunai traveling on it's way to his chest, he heard Nira breathing hard, he heard the wind whipping off everything in the area...he heard...he heard...
The sound of a book closing.
He opened his eyes to see none other than Kakashi standing above him, holding Nira's armed hand in one hand, and closed copy of Icha Icha Paradise that he was slipping into his pack.
"Do not touch my subordinates"
"Your gonna fight me over this creature?"
Kakashi used his now free hand to slide his forehead protector away from his eye and up to his forehead, staring at the young woman with his Sharingan eye.
"I mean it Nira"
Kirara growled and grew the claws out on her free hand.
"If that's the way you want it Kakashi"
Before she could strike, she found her other arm bound in a lighter grip.
"This needs to end now Nira-san." Came a calm voice from her other side.
"No! I'm not done yet!" She struggled against the jounin holding her arms, causing a bit of discomfort to Naruto who had begun breathing again.
"We have to kill him! We have to! Sealing him wasn't enough! He'll destroy us all, just like when he tried to all those years ago! Just like when he killed father! Just like when he tried to kill Kiba-san!"
Angry tears began to stream from her eyes.
"He'll kill us! He'll destroy us! He is a monster! That's all he is!"
Naruto cringed under her at the accusations.
...Stupid woman, she had no idea...hehe, too bad no one else is listening...
'Shut up you damn fox. Just shut up.'
Kyubi's evil smile painted itself in his mind.
"Inuzuka Nira" Came yet another voice. Naruto looked around Nira to see a man cloaked in black with a white mask covering his face. "You are to report to the Hokage immediately."
Nira stopped suddenly, her eyes glazed over and she looked, Naruto straight in the eye.
He could see her color vanish after the man spoke, her lips began to quiver and he say the dazed look in her eyes. There was fear. And lot's of it.
She slowly stood to her feet and both Kirara and Kakashi let her go, Kakashi taking the kunai when he let her hand go. He gave it to the ANBU member who proceeded to remove any and all weapons the woman had on her.
He grabbed her by the shoulder, and the two disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Kakashi looked at Kirara, then pulled his headband back over his Sharingan.
"I'm sorry about this Kakashi-san, Kiba-san got put in the hospital after a sparring match with Naruto"
"I know, that's why I'm not too angry"
"You would really have used the Sharingan on her?"
Silence was his reply.
"I'm sorry about that Naruto" Kirara said looking down and offering Naruto a hand. "She's not always like that." There was sincerity in her voice.
Naruto hesitantly stood up and muttered an acceptance of the apology.
Kirara and Kakashi parted ways and all three dogs followed behind Kirara.
Naruto could hear the dissipating crowd murmuring various things like "Never send an Inuzuka to do anything important", "Damn ANBU", and "Too bad she got caught so soon".
To be honest, he had expected that...he looked over to the other genin, who surrounded him, never having left their various spots in the circle...to him, they were all that mattered.
Sasuke jumped down and landed in a spot that no one had been in.
All the adults streamed away, and Naruto was left with 9 either confused or indifferent genin, and one lazily shocked chuunin.
Even Lee was quietly shocked, he was no longer standing lazily, but he was definitely off-guard.
"N-N-N-Na-ru-t-t-t-o" Hinata was the first to try to speak, but by the time she reached the last syllable, she had become so weak from shock and tension, that the "-kun" was completely inaudible.
Naruto's heart sank.
Sakura walked forward, no longer bound by Ino.
"Naruto-kun...i-is, is it..." She couldn't finish
"Is it true?" Came Sasuke's dark continuation of what Sakura tried to ask. Everyone was thinking the same, Sasuke was just the only one who had the gall to ask out loud. There was a razor in his voice.
Naruto looked around at the quiet bunch around him. He could lie...he had done so before. Why should it be any different now, he was in no hurry to push his friends away. He deserved friends just as much as anyone...but then again, friends aren't supposed to lie to one another. Friends were supposed to trust one another with their secrets and hurts, their fears and fallacies, then rejoice together when the faults were overcome. If that was the case...then that meant he never had them as friends.
They weren't friends, they didn't help him. Between the 11 of them, they could've beaten her. He would've easily stick his neck out for any of them...these that he considered his friends. No, they couldn't be friends...none of them.
If they weren't friends, then they didn't deserved with the bliss of ignorance.
Naruto smiled almost evilly, his blue eyes somehow caught with a fire that none of them had ever seen before. It wasn't determination or drive like normal, it wasn't excitement, it was something else, something they couldn't put a finger on.
He shut is eyes and nodded to Sasuke, blood from his head wound streaked down between his eyes and parted at the bridge of his nose. It went around his mouth and met at his chin. Naruto almost looked evil.
He heard a few gasps and a sob or two coming from a direction he didn't care about. He turned and walked in the direction of his house, not even pausing to retrieve his kunai. He only had five altogether, but he didn't care. He wouldn't need them, not his weapons, not his "friends", not Iruka, not Kyubi. He didn't need anyone or anything.
And in a way that reminded everyone very much of Sasuke.
He just walked away.
Author: Wow that was long, almost as long as my first chapter. Don't worry, the next one probably won't be as long, I'm new to angst and that's what the next chapter is about.
Once again, I'm not too confident about this chapter, it seemed to almost drone on.
Oh well, I'll update again after I update my Inuyasha fic, so it'll probably be about a week or so.