Author's Note : Sorry for being gone so long. A lot of personal things came up. I will update my other stories soon. But for now enjoy this one-shot. I do not own Naruto.
Hara-Kiri
He slowly opened his eyes only to quickly shut them again. Too white. He opened them again and let his eyes adjust to the bright room. He was laying a white bed with crisp white sheets. He looked around the room and he slumped his shoulders. 'Where is everyone? What happened to Sasuke? Did I beat him? Was our mission a success?' he wondered. His door suddenly opened and his sensei walked into the room. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. Kakashi quietly grabbed a chair and dragged it near Naruto's bed. His sensei sighed a bit and looked at him. "Naruto. . . I'm sorry I haven't visited you in a while. Lord Hokage needed me to go on some missions. Everyone is ok. Neji and Choji were hurt the most. But they'll make it. And if your wondering about Sasuke, well you didn't beat him. He got away. I'm sorry Naruto." With that last comment Kakashi bowed and left the room.
Naruto opened his eyes quietly. He was glad that everyone was ok, but angry at himself for not saving his best friend. He slowly got dressed in his torn clothes and leapt out the window. He slowly made his way towards his house. He was in a dazed state. The only thing that he really saw was the glares. How he hated those glares. He heard whispers of how he was the one responsible for Sasuke leaving. His mind changed and he started thinking. 'If only I was stronger. This would have never had happened.' Naruto had let down his friends and especially Sakura.
As he kept thinking about his failure his appearance started to change. His usually bright eyes became dull and lifeless, his hair began to flatten and dull, his bright face melted into sadness and regret. Even his clothes became darker, and his walk no longer had the happy bounce to it.
He passed a few of his friends and they were shocked at his change. They tried to cheer him up but it had no effect. They couldn't believe the change Naruto went through. They stood frozen in the street staring at his retreating form. But one person did follow him at a distance.
Hinata was walking down the street heading toward Konoha hospital. She was going to visit Kiba, Neji, and especially Naruto. At the time of the mission she was still injured from the fight with Neji in the Chunin exams so she couldn't help. However she began to work on a new medical balm to help heal her friends. She felt that Naruto would need the most healing though. When he wakes he would certainly need comfort from someone after losing Sasuke and breaking a promise. She sighed and silently wished she had the courage to be there for him.
As she turned the corner she froze. Naruto was solemnly walking towards her. She gaped at him as he walked passed her. His clothes were torn and his coat had a gaping hole in it along with blood stains surrounding it. But this wasn't the only thing that shocked Hinata. His entire expression was hollow. He looked as if his soul shattered and he was just a shell of himself walking down the street. He was no longer Naruto. He was a sad, lost, and forsaken soul who lost a friend, no a brother. "Naruto-kun." she whispered. But he didn't hear her he just kept walking, and she followed.
He finally got to his apartment but was surprised to see it full of graffiti, along with broken furniture and scorch marks. He sighed and began to walk to the woods. At least there he was welcome.
Hinata was puzzled as to why Naruto's apartment door was missing and why all his windows were busted. She activated her Byakugan and looked at his apartment. She was appalled by the graffiti, which had lots of references to demon and murder including a picture of Naruto drawn with nine distinctive tails with various weapons being used to injure him. She deactivated the Byakugan and continued following Naruto.
Voices kept ringing through his head and images from the past flashed through his mind. 'You ok scaredy cat?' 'Naruto, you're annoying!' 'Miserable whelp.' 'Do you have any precious people?' 'You hokage? You can't even beat me!' 'Once a failure, always a failure!' 'There's no way a wee little midget like you could have summoned the likes of me!' 'I exist to kill every human besides myself.' 'Hokage! Ha! Who would ever want to be hokage?' 'Die dobe!' Naruto collapsed to his knees sobbing. He unconsciously ripped grass from its roots with his hands and began to dig his nails into his palm. Blood dripped from his hand and mixed with the grass. He lifted his head and stared at the now darkened sky. Naruto closed his eyes and screamed. He screamed in rage, for the injustice of his treatment. He screamed in sadness for Sasuke, for the broken promise to Sakura, and for himself. He screamed in hatred, at the glares, at the whispers, at Orochimaru, and at Itachi.
Meanwhile, in Konoha a scream echoed throughout the entire city. Many broke down crying and shivering as if they were being forsaken by the gods. Ninjas began to assemble incase of an attack. Uneasiness and dread spread throughout Konoha. Even those who weren't in hearing distances, but had strong sixth senses shivered and whimpered at the emotions they felt from far away.
Hinata continued to follow Naruto into the woods. When he finally stopped he began to speak. "You ok scaredy cat? Naruto, you're annoying! Miserable whelp! Do you have any precious people? You hokage? You can't even beat me! Once a failure always a failure! There is no way a wee little midget like you could have summoned the likes of me! I exist to kill every human besides myself. Hokage! Ha! Who would ever want to be hokage? Die dobe!" Naruto said as if in a trance. Hinata remembered some of the things he said from Sakura, Sasuke, Kiba, and Neji. The others she didn't know. He suddenly collapsed to the ground sobbing. She was about to reveal herself and comfort Naruto when he lifted his head and screamed into the night sky. She gasped and fell backwards in shock. Then she felt his emotions like they were apparitions going though her body. She shivered and whimpered a bit as she tried to look at Naruto. She gasped at the change his body went through. His hair was spikier, his whiskers were thicker, his canines lengthened and his nails got longer. He opened his eyes and instead of his blue innocent eyes, there were blood red slitted eyes. Suddenly a red outline appeared around him in the shape of a nine-tailed fox but as soon as it appeared it vanished without a trace.
Naruto quieted down and stared at his hands. He absent mindedly noticed that he accessed Kyuubi's chakra. He didn't care. Not anymore. He whispered the words that Mizuki had said to him that changed his life. "Naruto, You are the nine-tailed fox! Now die!" He pulled a kuni knife out and was about to stab himself in the heart when he heard. "Naruto-kun! Stop!"
Hinata was felt like the breath was knocked out of her. She was scared out of her mind after she saw Naruto's change. Not to mention that red outline of the nine-tailed fox. She turned and looked behind the tree she was hiding from. He was staring dejectedly at his hands. Then he said something that shocked Hinata to the core. "Naruto, you are the nine-tailed fox!" He paused, then said "now die!" and pulled a out a kuni knife to stab himself with. With all the speed she could muster she rushed out of her hiding spot and shouted "Naruto-kun! Stop!" He froze. And slowly turned around. She was surprised when he turned around he was his normal-self. His eyes were full of tears. Nervousness caught up to Hinata at that moment.
"You . . . you heard everything?" He asked quietly. She nodded not trusting her voice. He turned around again, hiding his face. "You're not afraid of me? Even if I have Kyuubi sealed inside me?" He asked in a small shaky voice. "N-no Naruto-kun. I'm not afraid," she replied. "Why?" He asked. His voice almost in a whisper. "Be-because I-I lo-love you Naruto-kun. An-And even if you do have Kyuubi sealed in you, I-I still love you." She said. He froze in shock. All this time and he never noticed. He stood up. And turned around to look at her. She had a concerned look in her eye, and a light blush on her cheeks. He walked up to her. She began to poke her fingers together. He gently pulled her into a embrace, and buried his face into her shoulder. "Thank you, Hinata-chan. I'm sorry for not noticing it before. I love you too." he mumbled into her shoulder. A few tears escaped both of their eyes. But these were not tears of sadness but of happiness of finding true love for the first time.