Chapter 5! Wow, this is getting good. After getting reviews to make the chapters longer, I'm going to aim for 7 chapters. Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: Not mine

WARNING: AU, mentions of violence and mental breakdown

Entry 5

Naruto read the next few entries with a deep curiosity. All of them dealt with murders of Shadow's enemies or the ones that wronged him in the past. After killing 14 people, he suddenly stopped. According to the clippings taped in the diary, his sudden stop made the entire media question about it.

"Then again, he might have just wanted to take a break," Naruto thought to himself as he turned to the first page. "Murdering people and then getting away must be tiring." The blonde turned the page in the diary to find another article taped to the page.

12 January 2000

At around 7 pm, a man was found dead in a gutter. His head showed severe damage to the head and his arms were broken in four places. Studies of the bodies indicate that the serial killer, dubbed Shadow by the media, had used a bat to knock him in the head and then break his arms. However, when found, the victim was found holding onto a ripped section of a pair of corduroy jeans. Reports later suggest that 30-year-old man was, perhaps, trying to sexually assault Shadow, but whether that was Shadow's jeans are unknown. Until then, people within the area should stay alert and report any suspicious characters immediately.

Underneath the article was an entry written by Shadow. For the first time since Shadow's first kill, there were bloodstains on the page, and the handwriting was shaky, as if what he did had spooked, or angered, the young serial killer.

That bastard deserved what he got. He never should have done that to me. For the first time since HE did that to me, I feel… inferior. I almost forgot how that felt. That's why I give people like THEM what they deserved.

"He seems to hate what happened to him a while ago," Naruto thought to himself. "I wonder why…" He was about to flip to the next page when his mother yelled at him to get to bed at once before she dumps his ramen in the trash. Not wanting that to happen, the blonde ran out of the attic and into bed leaving the old diary in the attic, open, and where he left off.

-X-

The blonde twisted and turned in his bed trying to get some sleep, but failing miserably. His mind was plagued by the words of the diary. He displayed so much hatred to his parents and everyone he murdered. He had remembered reading about serial killers in history class and most of them were motivated by sexual lust or some kind of hallucination, but Shadow seemed to be motivated for finding and murdering the people that gave him the worst life in Japan.

Not bothering to resist the temptation anymore, Naruto ran quietly to the attic and snatched the diary from its place on the floor. He crept downstairs, remembering to jump over the last creaky step, and into his room, where he turned on a flashlight and started reading where he left off.

15 January 2000

I don't like what people are calling me. Everywhere in the media, I'm called Shadow. THEY only called me "brat" and "boy", and now them! Isn't there anyone who knows me by my real name apart from THEM?

"People would think that after living in conditions like that, he would have stopped," Naruto muttered under his breath as he turned again.

-X-

Naruto's reading continued well into the night. He only got about 3 hours of sleep before he was shaken awake by his mother for breakfast. He couldn't stay up much in class and had to stand in the hall. During lunch, he fell asleep over his bowl of ramen and had to be shaken awake by Sakura. The normally cheerful blonde was feeling grouchy today as school finished.

As he got on the bus home, Naruto opened the diary and flipped to the next page. This time, tearstains were splashed all over the page smearing the ink and crumpling the page. The writing was also shaky. The pages crinkled as Naruto smoothed the page and started reading.

5 May 2000

I didn't want to do that, and yet, I did. I can't believe I did that to that girl. Have I really gone that bad? I only heard a twig snap and suddenly; I flipped out my knife and stabbed her. I got away, but can I keep myself under control?

There was no accompanying article of the murder this time. Naruto has his suspicions that Shadow wanted to forget that incident altogether. How come after killing 24 people, he regretted killing the girl.

"It's because the girl never did anything to him…"

TBC…

Turning point number 2! I hope you enjoyed the (slightly) longer chapter. Review kudasai!