I hate you.

The grotesque, pale-fleshed wings ripped free from his back, the muscles there spasming madly as they were torn apart and reshaped. The black hair that had turned a shocking charcoal gray was hanging freely past his shoulders, swaying wildly in the wind bursts rising from the waterfall. His black eyes had spiraled into deep pools of nothingness that led to his own darkness within. He was…

You are everything I am not, and everything I have come to despise. You are what I stand against, you are my extreme opposite, you are beneath me. And for this, I will always be the stronger.

He watched the blood red chakra flare up around his once-teammate's body, a large tongue of it flaring out, almost like a tail. His eyes were no longer the blue of the sky that had hidden itself from view, but the color of rage, of fire, of pain and passion and death. The color of blood, just like his aura. The demon glared at him from across the valley, and its rumbling growl reverberated over the roaring falls.

I'm leaving you behind; leaving this existence. This is the last I'll see of you. I'm moving on, I'm going to another place where I won't be just another sad and pathetic face in the crowd. I am different. I am not like you.

The white tendrils of chakra he focused into his clawed hand flared up and turned black, reflecting the color of his heart. Silver strands of unknown power leaked into the fierce chidori; he had lost count of how many times it had come into play in this never-ending battle. For some reason, this was the final move: this was all he had, all he could give would be in this last strike. He would obliterate the last obstacle in his path to freedom.

You think everything is so easy. You laugh without a care in the world. But I know pain and suffering--I stand alone, I carry this sin on my shoulders. Leftover sin from my past. You wouldn't understand because you're nothing like me; even if I tried explaining it to someone like you.

His opponent lunged, with something that looked condensed and deadly. Overwhelming confidence raced through him, however. He would win. He would come out of this fight with only a few scratches. Even in the end, this nothing-boy would be a waste of his time. He met the attack anyway: blue and orange chakra engulfed them, black silver and red gold collided in an instant of deadly stillness. The power congealed, swirled, then broke again. His claws and the demon's fist both punctured the others defenses.

I hate you, because…

It was over. He stood above the collapsed body as the last beam of visible light narrowed to a pinpoint on his former friend's face. Then it disappeared. His headband--the only thing he had been aiming for the entire fight--slipped its knot and fell from his head, clanking hollowly on the floor beside an outstretched hand. And then, the pain came.

I love you.

He stared at a face that he could finally understand. There was no laughter, no over-dramatic expression to hide the truth that had been there all along. He could not wear his mask while he was far gone in sleep. Because he had not killed him after all. Something…had changed his mind. His humanity, his sanity, had returned, redirected his attack, made him miss the throat and the heart completely. He saw the pain. He saw the suffering of a thousand mocking voices and faces, the loneliness of an empty apartment and no one to trust, no one to cling to. Except each other.

And that is why I have to go. No more sorrow; the end of heartache. I hate to love you--

He stopped. Nothing but sheer will kept him on his feet. He had to keep moving, had to keep going, but this… Blackness swirled in his vision. He had to say it, or else he could never begin to forgive himself. So many convictions in such a short time. Trying to kill the person closest to you for power, only to realize futilely in the last few seconds that not everything could be avoided, but not everything could go the way it was laid out to be. Things changed, people changed, and with that change came understanding. He didn't know if he was too late.

--my dear friend. Don't die… Just like I asked you selfishly before, and I'll ask it again: don't die. I'll live with my pain and you live with yours, and maybe when the scars begin to fade, I can face you again. I…will come back home, someday.

"Naruto…" And then he turned and disappeared into the darkness.