Thanks to all that reviewed, favorited, and followed.

Betrayal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden.

Chapter 3:

Last time

"Yeah, these idiotic villagers don't understand that without Naruto, there wouldn't even be a village. Minato would be ashamed of us right now" said Jiraiya as he closed his eyes, his mind running at unbelievable speeds at the prospect of the situation that had unfolded.

Tsunade put her free hand on Jiraiya's shoulder in a comforting gesture which he smiled at her for in thanks. The two continued to look after Naruto until suddenly, the boy let out feral scream of pain.

Now

Naruto's scream broke the two Kage level ninja out of their musings and immediately put them on alert.

"What's going on?!" exclaimed Jiraiya, adopting a panicked visage. His silver-white hair was matting down to his forehead as his tense muscles continued to contract and retract with impulse.

"I have no idea! His vitals were stable just a moment ago!" said an equally panicked Tsunade. Her full body Genjutsu was starting to waver as her concentration started flitting.

The two Sannin who faced thousands upon thousands of problems in their lives could do nothing but watch as the three year old boy was thrashing and screaming in pain. His eyes were shut tight and his hands were gripping his stomach in an effort to quell the pain but to no avail. He was hardly conscious and after experiencing his first near fatal injury, he was struck with unimaginable pain. It felt as if though his entire skin was being peeled off and his muscles were continuously doused in fire. The pain the undeserving blonde felt was like no other. His stamina seemed to vanish as the painful sensation became too much to even scream. His thrashing seemed to slow down and his breathing slowed.

His calming sight relieved the two Sannin as Tsunade quickly performed a diagnostic jutsu and placed her hand on Naruto's forehead. However, what Tsunade expected couldn't be farther from the truth.

"Jiraiya, he's not breathing!" screamed Tsunade as she slammed her palms repeatedly on Naruto's chest, right above his heart, frantically, desperately, trying to receive a heartbeat. When her attempts seemed to fail, Jiraiya quickly took action.

"Tsunade, move out of the way!" exclaimed Jiraiya, which made Tsunade look at him and see that he was going through hand seals. She quickly got out of his way and watched as he performed his jutsu. "Raiton: Shōgekiha" (Lightning Release: Shockwave) exclaimed Jiraiya as he controlled his chakra with such fine concentration in order to release just the right amount of force to stimulate Naruto's body. He slammed his palm down and let the lightning chakra travel into Naruto's nervous system and try to shock him back in to the world of the living. When his attempt, showed no result, he tried over and over again until Naruto's chest had some black markings along with his hand being burnt. Tsunade quickly stopped his ministrations and pressed her ear down to his chest trying to listen for a heartbeat.

When she got no response, she picked her head up and looked at Jiraiya with tears in her eyes. She saw the desperate look in his eyes, almost begging her to say that he was alright. She let the tears fall as she slowly shook her head.

Jiraiya's worst fears had come to fruition. All of his regrets in life flooded his mind as the powerful warrior, toughened by hundreds of battles, finally cried after years of promising himself not to. Minato face flashed in his mind and he clenched his teeth. The late blonde's bright smile, sparkling blue eyes, unruly hair, bellowing laugh all reverberated in the Toad Sage's mind. His prize student, the most feared shinobi the world has ever seen since the days of the Shodaime, the man he regarded as a son, the man who he couldn't protect, and the man who he had failed. Another face flashed in his mind. It was a red haired beauty whose temper matched her hair color. Her soft and caring smile, her mischievous personality, the most fun loving and spirited kunoichi to ever grace Konoha; she was Uzumaki Kushina, wife of the Yondaime Hokage. He regarded Minato and Kushina as his own. He watched them grow up, he trained them to be the damn fine ninja they turned out to be, and he was their father figure since both were orphans. Three more faces flashed through Jiraiya's mind. They were three young children with blue, orange, and red hair. They were his first ever students, all of whom were supposedly killed by Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzo of the Salamander). Jiraiya's distress continued to flood through him as his prize student's legacy had also perished under his protection and in front of his very eyes.

As Tsunade watched the myriad of emotions on the normally carefree Jiraiya's face, she couldn't help but feel turmoil for her oldest friend. She made her way over to him and wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly to show her that she would be there for him. Jiraiya's arms found Tsunade's waist and he embraced her just as tightly readily accepting her comfort in order to try and find some sort of solace in this dire situation.

The Kyūbi no Yoko, or better known as the, "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" was always thought to be a mindless monster whose only objective was to kill for pleasure. It was one of the nine tailed beasts that were sealed in humans who are known as Jinchuuriki and are used as tools of war. The universe took its role and divided the nine beasts throughout the five great villages: Konohagakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure, along with Takigakure, the only village to possess a tailed beast that is not a great ninja village. However, the peoples' misconceptions about the Kyūbi were gravely mistaken. It was one the oldest beings in the world ever since the age of the Rikudō Sennin. It was a cunning creature with intelligence unmatched among all of the other Bijuu. After years of receiving negative treatment from humans, the beast's hostility and distrust grew for all humans alike. The hate had manifested to point where the fox had started calling itself the embodiment of hatred. After many centuries of receiving such treatment, the fox had isolated itself from the world and vowed never to trust another human. In doing so, its torment grew. Its power hungered many individuals, all of which perished trying to subdue the creature. However, one man prevailed. With the cursed eyes known as the Sharingan, Uchiha Madara, founder of the Uchiha clan, controlled the beast and used its power for his battle against Senju Hashirama, founder of the Senju clan. Hashirama's power proved to be too great with his use of the Mokuton (Wood Style) and both Madara and the Kyubi were subdued.

The Kyubi was sealed into Hashirama's wife, Uzumaki Mito, and the cycle continued to another Uzumaki, Uzumaki Kushina. The third and current holder of the Kyubi happened to be the three year old blonde boy who was going through changes not even the most seasoned Shinobi had ever seen, Uzumaki Naruto. Throughout the time the fox was sealed in each Uzumaki, it had never once spoken to its container. It rather spent its time sleeping or studying the seal entrapping it so that it may one day escape from its prison. However, there was never a time where the Jinchuuriki's mental state was in such a hazardous condition. After three years in a deep slumber, the great fox, the Kyubi no Yoko, has awoken.

Naruto found the unimaginable pain he was going through suddenly stop. When he opened his eyes, however, he did not see the village like he expected. Instead, he knee deep in a yellow-hued liquid substance that was definitely not water. He quickly got his hand out of the substance and rubbed it on his clothes disgusted by its stickiness.

Naruto looked around and couldn't recognize the area. Where the hell am I? Am I dead? Suddenly Naruto felt a great pressure in the area and it was to the point where he struggled to continue standing. What's going?! Where is the village? And what the hell is this feeling? Before Naruto's thoughts could continue to frazzle him, the pressure dissipated. But a red haze started to form in a directional way. It was coming from a hallway that had a much larger entrance than all the other openings around him.

Naruto took a few hesitant steps still feeling a bit dazed from the great pressure that was present not too long ago. When he was fully functional, the young blonde made his way to the hallway and started going through the passage. His surroundings were completely bare and pitch black with the exception of a small light protruding from the end of the tunnel. Wanting to get out of the suffocating darkness as quick as he could, Naruto as fast as he could to the end of the tunnel. When he got there, he did not expect anything he was seeing. In front of him was the biggest gate he's ever seen. It was definitely much larger than the main gate for the village. However, it was more of a cage than a gate. There was a large paper with intricate markings where the two doors for the gate met. And inside, it was pitch black. It might've looked as though nothing was in the area but Naruto knew better. He could tell that whatever caused that pressure earlier was definitely caused by whatever is behind those doors.

As soon as his thoughts were coming in about what could be behind the doors, two extremely large crimson eyes opened. The eyes were blood red and had black slitted pupils. There was an immense amount of hate that seemed to never deter in the creature's eyes. The eyes narrowed when it saw the small boy in front of it looking up in both amazement and fright. What irked the creature was the lack of effect it should've had on the boy. With one look into the creature's eyes, thousands of men fell to their knees before the legendary beast but this boy was still standing tall.

"So my container has graced me with his presence," spoke the creature in deep, octave voice but was sneering at the puny mortal. "I'm truly honored."

"What are you?" questioned the blonde out of his boyish curiosity.

"Perhaps its best to shed some light for this most glorious encounter" said the beast mockingly. As soon as it finished its sentence, the entire room was lit up and the full view of creature was bestowed to the unsuspecting blonde. The fearsome creature was a massive fox of incomparable size. It had red-orange fur that seemed to be glowing from its power and its crimson eyes were gleaming as if it was staring dead at its prey. Although it is a fox, it had the upper body of a human and its hands seemed to have thumbs rather than just claws. However, it's most noticeable feature were its nine tails that seemed to be never ending as they swayed to give a more ominous look. The red haze that Naruto had seen earlier came back and was emanating from the gigantic kitsune.

"I am the Kyubi no Yoko and unfortunately you are my container" spoke the fox in its deep voice that echoed around the large room.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto" replied Naruto after he got over his initial shock of seeing such a large creature.

"Pitiful human, you are merely an insect compared to me and yet you give me your name?" sneered the fox.

"Well, I need to say something, right?" countered Naruto, while turning his head a little to the side as to why he'd be scrutinized for introducing himself. The fox looked taken aback by the audacity of the young fool who has merely three years old yet was conversing with entity that was eons old. Outraged by the child's insolence, the fox roared. Its crimson eyes seemed to glow with anger and hate and its maw was frothing. The many rows of razor sharp teeth ready to devour anything and everything in sight. The sheer killing intent and power in the roar sent Naruto flying and the all the liquid substance around them to be turned into something of a storm. Once the roar ceased, the liquid was still falling and Naruto was breathing heavily from the amount of power the fox just showcased.

"Do not test my patience, human." The fox said, still looking quite angry. "Do you know why you are here?" The fox looked Naruto directly in eye making him feel squeamish inside.

Naruto shook his head in the negative and opted to not speak so wouldn't enrage the gigantic beast in front of him.

"It is because I was sealed inside you 3 years ago by your Yondaime Hokage. And of course I get the container who gets himself near the brink of death before even becoming a Shinobi" said the fox while shaking its massive head but to most it would probably look like it was about to charge at its prey. "Now I have to save your sorry ass because if you die then so do I. Enjoy this human because if it was any other case, I would simply let you die."

As soon as the fox finished its sentence, it looked directly into Naruto's eyes. Naruto couldn't even register all the things the gigantic fox just said but as soon as he snapped back to reality he saw that the fox had stretched its claw out of the cage and pointed at him. The red haze that Naruto saw before all rushed toward him and entered his body through his mouth and eyes. Naruto thrashed about thinking it was attacking him but soon he fell to the ground and stop resisting and closed his eyes. The young blonde thought he was going to die because he assumed the red haze was the nine tails using its powers to kill him but it was just the opposite.

Outside of Naruto's mind, Jiraiya still held Tsunade as tightly as he could while Tsunade was giving him all the comfort he needs. Jiraiya's body was shaking with the amount of emotion he was feeling. Tears continued to stream down his face. Words could not describe the blow he took when he thought his godson had died. Tsunade too was feeling a surge of emotion if anything could be said from her tears. Minato and Kushina were also like her kids. Strange to say but she and Jiraiya were sort of their surrogate parents. She liked that thought more than she cared to admit but would never say it out loud. As they continued to comfort each other the door to Naruto's room opened.

However, Jiraiya and Tsunade were too deep in their emotions and struggling to find comfort in each other to notice that someone had made their way into the room. The Third Hokage was a wise man and was able to anticipate many things in and off the battlefield but this was not a sight he thought he would ever witness. His two former students, Jiraiya and Tsunade were wrapped in a very intimate hug and it looked like it went both ways. However, Sarutobi did not see their faces or else he would've known why they were so unaware.

"Jiraiya-kun, Tsunade-chan, it seems you have finally admitted your love for each other," said the old man in a light hearted tone with a kind, grandfatherly smile on his face.

The two sannin looked up at their former sensei and said sensei immediately was on guard. He saw their tear filled faces along with their bloodshot eyes. The Sandaime had never seen Jiraiya cry and hasn't seen Tsunade cry ever since the loss of her brother, Nawaki, and her ex-lover, Dan.

"What's the matter?" he asked them frantically, his eyes flitting between the two of them. The two in question then turned and looked the patient in the bed and Hiruzen understood everything. He moved at speeds unbecoming of his age and was at Naruto's side immediately.

"Naruto…" said the old man. Why must I always fail?! This thought reverberated inside Hiruzen's mind as he closed his eyes struggling to keep his emotions at bay. Rage and anger clouded his mind at the sheer idiocy his village displayed. How could such people exist who cannot even tell the difference between one entity and another? The bijuu was sealed into Naruto not reanimated into him. Sadness seeped its way into Hiruzen's mind. Naruto was a grandson to him in everything but blood. Minato and Kushina must be rolling in their graves because of my failure. This pained thought burned itself into Sarutobi's mind and would remain till the day he died.

Jiraiya and Tsunade made their way to their sensei and stood on either side of him and put a hand on his shoulder. Sarutobi opened his eyes and saw that his students' tears had still not ceased but they were putting up a front for his sake. He looked back down to Naruto and saw that his normally tan skin had been reduced to a pale shade much lighter than Tsunade's. His normal golden blonde hair was matted down to his forehead with the large amount of sweat all over his body. His wounds still looked severe even after Tsunade's iryo ninjutsu (medical ninjutsu). The deep gashes on his face and chest especially stood out. They were so deep that two of his ribs were visible and the bones were scathed.

The old warrior was once again struggling to contain himself. The sheer amount of damage done on to the poor boy was unfathomable. This was the type of injury front line shinobi received in battles and wars. The unresponsive blonde's head injury stretched from his right temple all the way down to the bottom of the right side of his mouth. There was so much dried blood that covered the boy's face and chest that it was hard to keep looking upon him.

'This is all my fucking fault. If I just continued to look at him through that damned crystal ball I could've prevented this.' Thought Sarutobi despondently.

"Sensei…I'm sorry," said Jiraiya in a raspy voice. Both Tsunade and Sarutobi snapped their heads towards confused at the fact that Jiraiya's voice held a somber emotion rather than his always happy-go-lucky attitude and why he would say such a thing.

"Jiraiya–" tried Tsunade but was interrupted by said man.

"No, Tsunade, let me say this. This is all my fault. I'm the kid's godfather. I was in this village for the last two weeks but I haven't once checked up on the kid. Minato and Kushina entrusted him to me should anything happy. And no, old man, don't say this is your fault. You're the goddamn Hokage you can't break away from your desk whenever you want to. Naruto was my responsibility and I let him die. It's all my fucking fault! I should've killed those bastards who did this to him!" screamed Jiraiya, which caused his true power to showcase. Jiraiya's killing intent flooded the whole proximity and caused a plethora of cracks to appear where he stood. His eyes were closed but by the crease of eyebrows anyone could tell he would kill anything that tested him at that moment. Tsunade and Sarutobi couldn't believe the amount of power that Jiraiya was putting off. They were both Kage level ninja, one actually being a Kage, yet Jiraiya's power made both of them struggle to keep standing. Tsunade was looking at her former team mate in awe. She had always assumed that she, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were about roughly the same in prowess but now she definitely diminished that thought. Jiraiya looked to be as powerful if not more as Hanzo when the Sannin fought him in his prime.

"Jiraiya please stop! You're going to tear this whole place down if you keep going!" shouted Sarutobi. Tsunade heard the desperation in his voice and immediately took action.

The last member of the Senju clan used her perfect chakra control to quickly tackle Jiraiya to the floor and try and restrain him.

"Jiraiya! Listen to me! I know you loved Naruto but please stop! You're only making things worse…" Tsunade's voice died down when all the killing intent in the room suddenly all vanished. She looked down and saw that he had immediately calmed down but still had an angry looked on his face with her being the catalyst. Inwardly, she grinned at this. Ever since they were kids, she was always able to get him to do what she wanted.

"Jiraiya, Tsunade get up. This is no time to be angry. We need to honor Naruto's memory and find a place to bury him near Minato and Kushina's graves." spoke Sarutobi. The Kami no Shinobi of the current era made his way over to the bedside of the young blonde. "Naruto-kun I am so sorry. Your death is my fault. You would've been a splendid shinobi someday. I was looking forward to the day you might take the hat from me." The old man finished with a humorless chuckle and bowed his head down. Jiraiya and Tsunade moved themselves over to the hospital bed and stood on the other side. They too bowed their heads in remorse for loss of such a young life.

However, the three revered shinobi did not keep their eyes closed for long. The entire room seemed to be basked in an ethereal crimson light. The three were immediately on guard and were in distress because the light was coming from the supposedly dead form of Naruto Uzumaki. The light seemed to cascade down everything it touched. The two Sannin and their teacher felt the heat that was coming from the light but surprisingly it wasn't painful. The heat was comforting and warm rather than unbearable. It seemed to wrap around the three who bore witness and calm their minds. As soon as it came, the light disappeared however the warmth seemed to remain until it gradually start to fade. Looking down at Naruto, the three were once again utterly shocked at what they saw.

Naruto's eyes were half-lidded but they were open. The thing that truly appalled the by standing shinobi were Naruto eyes. His normal cerulean eyes were now crimson red with a slitted pupil flitting between the three of them.

With a raspy voice, the previously thought dead boy spoke, "I'm not gonna die yet jiji."

Jutsu List:

Raiton: Shōgekiha (Lightning Release: Shockwave) B-rank ninjutsu, offensive. Releases a concentrated blast of static energy that is determined by the amount of chakra used. In battle, it can paralyze the opponent for a substantial amount of time depending of there was direct contact. Can be used as a substitute for a defibrillator, as Jiraiya used in this chapter.

AN: Yeah, haven't updated in like three months. Sorry about that, but you know school had to attack me with AP tests and finals and other useless things like that.

Review?