Chapter 2

Here in a little black world lay a golden haired boy of 10. The world around him had cracks and though it might not show through to the outside world this was where all of Naruto's emotions went. It was bottled up waiting to be released onto the outside world where everything was corrupt and hatred ruled the lives of people. The little boy inside the world slowly opened his eyes showing dull blue eyes.

"Where are we?" asked Naruto.

A flash and a blurry image appeared before Naruto. The image was of Naruto and his teammates on a mission to the Mist Village. The mission, to deliver a man home to his family.

"Are we there yet! I'm hungry!" yelled Naruto.

"Shut-up Naruto! Can't you be cool like Sasuke and keep your mind on the mission?" answered Sakura with annoyance.

Another crack.

"Sasuke's a bastard! Why would I want to be like him! Che!" Naruto answered then turned his head away.

"Don't call Sasuke a bastard Naruto! Apologize!"

"Hell no! Why should I! He should apologize for being an ass!"

"Ok. That's enough Naruto, Sakura. We are still on a mission. Pay attention to your surroundings not to each other." said Kakashi-sensei.

"Hai, gomen sensei." answered Naruto and Sakura.

The man they were escorting laughed and shook his head. "This is the team that's suppose to protect me? I'm dead." he said.

"What's that suppose to mean old man?" snapped Naruto.

"How are you suppose to protect me if you guys can't even get along?" answered the old man.

"I can protect you just fine all by myself you old fart, so don't worry." answered Naruto arrogantly.

"And when the Dobe fails we'll be there to clean things up." spoke Sasuke.

Another crack appeared in the black world.

"Shut-up Bastard! Don't call me Dobe! And what do you know!" yelled Naruto in a rage.

"Naruto." Kakashi-sensei said in warning.

Another crack and the black world collapsed just as a ninja appeared from a nearby puddle.

Piece by piece the world fell apart as Naruto watched. "It was nice in here. We had each other and no one else to bother us." said Naruto. The world finally collapsed as Naruto faded.
Naruto gave a strangled yell as he fell to his knees. Kakashi fought off the ninja as the rest of team seven protected the old man and watched Naruto.

"What's wrong with Naruto!" yelled a panicked Sakura.

They watched as Naruto struggled on the ground clutching at his head and yelling for whatever was happening to stop. They looked up just as the enemy ninja sliced Kakashi in half.

"Kakashi-sensei!" yelled both Sasuke and Sakura.

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared behind the ninja and slit his throat open.

"Genjutsu", Sakura whispered with relief.

Kakashi appeared beside Naruto soon after the battle was over trying to calm Naruto down enough to find out what was wrong.

"Naruto! Naruto, what's wrong with you! Calm down I'm trying to help you!" yelled Kakashi.

Kakashi reached over to Naruto trying to find a wound of some sort but Naruto scrambled away from his reach starring at him in distrust. His eyes were glazed over seemingly looking at Kakashi but not really looking at him.

"Killer. Killer! Murderer! How could you! It's all your fault! He was all I had. All I could ever have all to myself! How could you take him away from me!" screamed out Naruto.

Tears glazed his eyes but never fell, they wouldn't fall in front of these killers.

"Who Naruto! Your not making sense! Snap out of it!" yelled a confused Sakura.

"He was all I had. The one that kept me company when everyone stayed clear of me. He kept me happy when everyone else made me sad. We would always talk in the dark, where we would play together. Even though I couldn't really touch him, I felt at peace when I was with him. He was my only real and true friend, unlike you people. You took him away! You took him away from me! All I ever had you had to take away from me. Why couldn't you just leave me alone!" yelled Naruto as the tears couldn't hold anymore and slid down his face making tracks down his scarred cheeks.

He dropped to the ground curling up into a ball as he spoke to himself. "We had such fun together Naruto-nii. Can't you come back and play with me? Like before where everything was black except for the few cracks on the wall? Come back, please? I promise to not cry anymore even when I'm by myself. I promise! Just come back, I don't want to be alone." whispered Naruto on the ground.

"Naruto-nii? But you're Naruto… Aren't you?" questioned Sakura.

Kakashi walked over to the curled up Naruto and tried to pick him up but Naruto wouldn't have that. He kept struggling every time Kakashi had a grip on him making him fall back down to the ground. Having enough of the struggling Kakashi pinched a nerve on Naruto's neck. Naruto fell unconscious and Kakashi put him over his shoulder.

"We'll question him when he wakes up. He's tired right now, that's all. Come on lets hurry to the Mist Village." said Kakashi.

"But sensei shouldn't we bring Naruto back to the village? He could be hurt!" said an anxious Sakura.

"No. We are still on a mission. Besides, it would take longer to get back to the village then to the Mist Village." stated Kakashi.

He turned to the old man. "This isn't a C ranked mission. I would say this is a B, maybe A mission. You have anything to say?" Kakashi asked.

The man looked down then looked back up. " I didn't have enough money to pay for those kind of missions so I paid for a C mission." said the old man.

"B, maybe A mission! We aren't experienced enough for those kind of mission sensei! We have to go back!" yelled a scared Sakura.

"You go back. I want to stay. I can finally test my strength." said Sasuke with a smirk.

Sakura looked at Sasuke embarrassed for saying something different then him.

"We're going to the Mist Village. They are the closet and we need to get Naruto some help." said Kakashi while walking ahead.