A/N: Thanks to all for your compliments and support on this series. Due to the overwhelming response I've recieved, I'll be focusing in on this fic until it is finished. Don't worry, that will be at least another two or three chapters after this one. Oh, and I'm sorry about the chapter lengths, but the snapshot storytelling pretty much dictates that they be rather on the small side.
Chapter 3
"Shizune-sama! Something's going on!"
"What is it?"
"I… I don't know. I was scanning for Naruto, when I saw an absolutely massive blast of chakra. It came from the Northwest, and minor flares are still going on. It looks a little like a very one-sided fight."
"Good job, Hinata. We need to investigate this kind of thing, since Naruto is unlikely to have missed it. He'll be there before we get to the scene."
They dashed out of camp, headed to the northwest, not knowing or suspecting what they'd find there.
---
This guy… he ain't human. NOTHING is that strong, and he's attacking like he doesn't care about anything besides carnage. He doesn't care what happens to himself! I'm outta here, the Rain village isn't paying me enough to face THAT.
The ninja, forever to remain nameless in history, never thought another word. As he turned his back to flee, he found himself face-to face with the nightmare he was running from. In the time between that heartbeat and the next, there was not enough left to ever identify him.
---
Those eyes… he's just like the rest. All of them! All he can see in me is the power I contain. All that shows on his face is fear and hatred. Nobody sees me for who I am! Even Sakura, the one girl I've ever truly cared about, is now securely outside of my reach, by my own actions.
The images in Naruto's mind continued to torment him, driving him into the blind rage, fueling the instinct to drive the spies off, turning it into a blaze of hatred, a killing intent beyond the human.
Why does Sakura love him? Why can't I be known for the good I've done, all that I've suffered for the sake of my friends! WHY CAN'T SOMEONE SEE WHO I AM?
---
Deep inside of him, the power he forcefully drew on knew fear for perhaps the first time in its long, long life. Although the Kyuubi did not wish to give of his power to this raging bezerker his host had become, he found that his chakra, long a thing of rage and hate, was pulling itself towards the emanations of the host's own emotions, resonating with them, empowering them.
Immortal though he was, the Kyuubi knew pain. Even if he hadn't, those moments would have rapidly taught him the meaning of the word.
---
Less than five minutes later, Hinata and Shizune arrived on the scene. Nobody was there to greet them. Nobody living, in any case. The sight of the carnage, the bloody and mangled remains of what had been four mercenary shinobi , was too much for the delicate Hinata. She ran back out of the clearing, retching into the bushes nearby. She felt defiled by the very sight of it, not knowing what could have wreaked that kind of havoc.
Shizune, though much more stable emotionally, felt much the same way. However, unlike Hinata, Shizune had been alive and aware when the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha. The second major pulse of the battle, with her staring into its source, had a distinctive red glare. In addition, her training in the medical field gave her more information at a glance than Hinata could have retrieved from a full day wading in the blooded mud, assuming she could bring herself to do so. She knew the furious patterns of this fight, and knew exactly who had assaulted this camp. She knew that their mission had taken on a whole new light, one much more dire than watching out for the life of one young shinobi of the Leaf.
She, too, knew fear.
---
What… have I done? One moment, I'm on patrol, and the next I find myself knee-deep in that bloody mud. Did I kill those people?
Naruto, like Hinata and Shizune, felt defiled by the very thought of that battleground. The first thing he'd done after coming to himself was recoil in horror, and run to the nearest river. He jumped in, and tried desperately to scrub the signs of battle away. Not just the mud, the blood, the gore, but also the very memory of it ever occurring, of the scene he'd woken up to. He felt that he'd never be clean again, and a nagging part in the back of his mind was telling him exactly what he knew he could do under the influence of powerful emotions. The details lined up unfortunately well with that blood-soaked clearing.
---
"Sh-Shizune-sama… what was that? It was… horrible. I don't know how to describe it at all. I don't want to describe it."
"Hinata, I have to tell you something. Our mission just got a lot more dangerous, and there are a few… classified… things you're going to need to know about Naruto."