I would say that this chapter is a revision, but I have to do this completely from scratch. Therefore, I hope that this chapter is as good as the rest of the story.
Chapter 9: Execution
"Truth be told, I always like the kid. I was just so damn worried about facial status, that I didn't do anything for him." Inoichi Yamanaka said, downing another cup of sake. His comrades, and best friends, Chouza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara sat on either side of him, both doing the same.
"Same here. Shikamaru always used to hang out with him when they were kids. I didn't say anything about it because no one seemed to really care. I just wished I had actually paid attention to him now." Shikaku repeated Inoichi's actions. Chouza remained silent, reflecting on everything. Out of the three, he had been the worst. Chouji had brought Naruto over one day, and asked if he could get some food since the Teuchi was closed for the day. Chouza was about to, until he saw glares coming from some of the other villagers. As if upon instinct, he pushed Naruto away.
"Yo, the bar'll be closing in ten minutes. Go sulk somewhere else." The bartender called, already beginning to finish up closing.
"Yeah, yeah." Shikaku muttered and stood, followed by his two companions. They walked out into the brisk wind of night. They walked towards the hokage's office, not much to be said. They were summoned almost an hour ago, but knowing their hokage, she would be easily persuaded. They didn't want to go, knowing full well that whatever she was summoning them for had something to do with the former they were just discussing.
"Hey, Inoichi, Shikaku…do you think Naruto would forgive us at least. I mean, we didn't really do much to him." Chouza asked, his own grieving starting to show.
"Honestly, I don't know anymore. If there was anyone in this village who I thought Naruto would forgive in a heartbeat, it would be Sakura. Heh, I'm surprised he didn't just try to kill us off after that." Shikaku responded glumly.
They remained silent until they reached the hokage's office then. The night had begun just as it remained now. Silent and tension filled. They knew what was happening to Naruto. They knew he was miles away from the village, probably already engaged in a fight with Sasuke Uchiha. They knew what was supposed to happen when he returned as well. Once they entered the Hokage's building, they made their way to Tsunade's office. When they entered, they got exactly what they expected.
"THE HELL? WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU THREE? I CALLED YOU HERE OVER AN HOUR AGO!" She screamed out. This would have been much more effective if her voice wasn't hoarse.
"Forgive us, lady Tsunade. We were on our way here, but thought about how we had never given anything when you became Hokage. We thought you might deserve something, so this is on our behalf."
"Don't think you can bribe me with…is that Konisawa sake?" She asked, eyes dazzled and lingering on the bottle that Shikaku held in front of her.
"Pure, freshly brewed." Chouza added.
With a speed that could have made Gai cry for joy, Tsunade leaped over the desk, and onto Shikaku, snatching the bottle in the process.
"YES! LEGENDARY DRINK OF THE GODS!" Tsunade shouted, crushing Shikaku. When the other two sweat dropped, Tsunade froze. She stood, dusted herself off, and cleared her throat.
"Well then, ehem. I guess this is somewhat justifiable for your tardiness." She returned to her seat as Shikaku coughed and stood up. "Now then. The reason I called you three here-"
"Is because of Naruto." Inoichi said looking down. Tsunade rose an eyebrow.
"Correct. He is currently away from the village as a nuke-nin."
"Hokage-sama, we know the details. Just get to it please." Shikaku called, just as dejectedly as Inoichi. Tsunade sighed. This wasn't easy for her either.
"When he returns, I want you three to be his escort to the execution sight." She said, trying to not strain on the last few words.
"What? Why would you put that type of burden on us?" Inoichi exclaimed.
"Burden? On the contraire. You are the fathers of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi. Last time I checked, they were three if the closes people to Naruto. You being their fathers are close to Naruto as well, but not to the criminally wrong point."
"Criminally wrong? What, are you suggesting that we might help Naruto escape?" Inoichi asked.
"No, I'm not. That's why I chose you three. I know you will protect him from the villagers when he returns, but you won't allow him to run away either. Besides, he would want you three, knowing that's what you would do." She rubbed her head, beginning to get a headache from just thinking of the situation.
'Damn it Jiraiya, where'd you go now.' She thought.
"That is your mission, be ready." She said without letting any of them speak more. "Inoichi, I would like to speak with you however." She dismissed Shikaku and Chouza, who decided to wait outside the tower anyway.
"What is it now, Lady Hokage." Inoichi asked.
"It's about your daughter."
"Ino? Is everything alright? Nothing happened to her has it?"
"No, not at all. At least, not on a physical level."
Inoichi rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean Hokage-sama?"
"Ino…has fallen in love with Naruto."
"I see. So it's finally happened…" Inoichi said more to himself than to Tsunade.
"What do you mean it's finally happened?" Tsunade asked, now being the one confused herself.
"Ino and Naruto were really close before he left the village three years ago. I even caught her writing in her diary about how much fun she's had with him. Even when he first came back to the village, she kept saying that she needed to go see him."
"Did she?"
"No. She returned saying something about Naruto being with Sakura, so she didn't want to disturb them."
"Damn. I wish she would have. Maybe all of this could have been avoided." Tsunade stood and walked over to one of the windows.
"Lady Tsunade, where is my daughter right now? I haven't seen her in almost two days."
Tsunade frowned. "She is at the Hyuga compound."
'What? What would she be doing there?'
Hyuga Compound…
"Are you sure Ino-san? We could get into serious trouble for this." Hinata asked in a whisper.
"It's alright if you don't want to Hinata-san, but I'm doing it. I don't care what happens to me."
Silence filled the room. Ino and Hinata were in her room. Hinata had placed a silencing genjutsu on the room, so that no unwanted eavesdroppers would be able to hear anything. Hinata sat on her bed, her legs folded, while Ino was laying on the bed, her head on one of Hinata's thighs.
"I-I…I will. I will help you Ino-san. But…when did this happen?" Hinata said, a small blush on her cheeks.
Ino understood what she was talking about. "Three years ago. I'm sorry Hinata, but I'm telling you for both of our benefits."
Hinata nodded. "It's easy to love him." She blushed even harder after thinking about what she had just said.
"Maybe it'll work…" Ino said sitting up. "If we both agree on it." She held her pinky out towards the shy girl. Hinata took it in her own.
"You want to know something Ino." Hinata said as she began to let down the genjutsu.
"I always wanted some competition. The motivation really helps." She said with a smile. Ino smiled as well, a glint of respect for Hinata in her eyes. She left the compound, already knowing where her second destination was.
She thought about the look in his eyes when she saw him. It was complete, feral rage. He had gone insane, she knew it. But she had snapped him out of it. So maybe…if she and Hinata worked together, they could do much more. As for now, she had some planning to do. She entered the hospital.
"Excuse me miss, but all items must be left at the front desk now." The nurse at the front desk called to Ino as she prepared to go up the stairs.
"Huh? Why?"
"Precaution. Ever since Lady Hinata attacked Sakura Haruno, we've had to be sure that nothing is taken to harm her." The nurse said.
Ino cursed under her breath. Then she took the knife, the kunai, the five shuriken, and the vile of poison she was going to take to Sakura and put it on the desk. The nurse narrowed her eyes at Ino.
"What, these are the necessities for kunoichi. This is what I wanted to take to her." She held out a pink ribbon to the nurse. The nurse took it and studied it. She handed it back to Ino, seeing as it wasn't a weapon. Ino placed the ribbon back into a small, rectangular gift box. Then she headed up the stairs. When she entered Sakura's room, she immediately sat the gift box down next to Sakura' s bed. Then she looked at her. The doctors had put a neck brace on her. A breathing tube covered her mouth. She looked over towards Ino, and began to cry.
"This belongs to you. It's the ribbon you gave me when we were kids. You told me it was for your best friend, but I guess that was a lie." Sakura eyed the gift box and seemed to cry harder.
"You know…I want to apologize too. For what I did in Tsunade's office. I was so angry at what you had done. But now I realize, that you only did it because you felt it was right." She walked over to the other side of Sakura's bed, towards the window. Her finger traced the bed rail as she did. Sakura could do nothing but watch as Ino seemed to drift into her own world as she spoke.
"People do a lot of terrible things when they think they're right. I'm one of them." Ino stopped in front of the window. She drew a frowning face on the fog of the window. "So anything that's done is justified right? You felt that what you told and did to Naruto was alright since you thought it was okay right?" Ino didn't sound angry at all.
"Well, Sakura, that has some problems too." She turned to Sakura and walked towards her. She removed one of the utensils that was connected to the wall from a wire. Then she removed Sakura's neck brace, making her cry out in soft pain. "Shh, it's all right. I'm sorry okay?" Ino said, rubbing her neck gently, soothing her.
"Like I said, that has some problems too. Not everything you do, just because you think it's right is right." She placed the utensil back on the wall, so that the cord was beneath Sakura's chin. The way it was placed seemed to rub her throat gently, in a massaging motion. "Some things you do are very wrong, and can hurt a lot of people, even if you think they won't."
Once again, Ino turned to the window and opened it. A strong gust of wind blew in, rattling various items all over the room. Then she got on her knees next to Sakura's bed.
"For example Sakura. What I'm about to do to you right now. I think it's right, that you deserve it. But no one else will feel the same way." Sakura heard a click, and felt the bed move slightly. Then Ino moved down some and there was another click. When she looked at Sakura, her eyes were wide with fear. "You're wondering what I just did? Oh, I unlocked the beds brakes on this side. The wind should help some too. Don't worry, Sakura. I think that this is the right thing to do. So doesn't that make it justified?" The false smile Ino had been holding finally disappeared.
"No, it doesn't Sakura. But this sure in the hell is going to make me happy." With that, Ino left the room.
Sakura began to breath heavily. The wind picked up again, and this time, the bed began to turn towards the window. The last two brakes clicked from the pressure of the bed moving in one direction. The chord from whatever utensil Ino had picked up began to dig into Sakura's throat. She began to gasp, unable to move much due to the numbing pills the doctors had given her. Her arms were barely able to reach up to the chord. When she got a grip, it was almost too late. He breath was drawing short again, and just like before, she found herself beginning to pass out from lack of oxygen.
Ino walked down the stairs briskly. As she made it to the exit, a siren began to go off at the nurse's desk. The nurse picked up a phone and called for a doctor, saying something about a patient going into cardiac arrest. Once she saw the name of the patient, her eyes widened. She looked up at Ino, who only smiled at her and left the hospital.
Western Fire Country…
"So…before we end this, I have some questions." Sasuke spoke to Naruto from across the platform.
"Go ahead." Naruto replied back. He was in no rush to finish this. At least, not while Sasuke was being sensible.
"What happened to you? Why have you come here seeking my life now? I would have thought that you would just want to bring me back, like you did three years ago." Sasuke said.
"Because of several things really. But I guess the main reason is because of you. You told me that you considered me your best friend. Even if it was only for a little bit, you still said you did. I saw the path you were walking down, and thought it was unfair. So I'm going to take that burden away from you Sasuke. I'll walk down that path, and let you rest."
Sasuke frowned. "You came here against the villages orders?" Naruto nodded.
"So you plan on taking my burden by killing me? That's almost as corrupt as what Itachi did. Well then Naruto. What about Sakura and your dream of becoming Hokage?"
"Sakura hates me, another reason why I'm here, and being Hokage was just a pipe dream." Naruto spoke to himself, as if reminding him that what he was doing was right.
"That's not like you. Why would you give up on your dream? You were the one who always said that we should never give up." Sasuke sounded different, as if he were remembering the old days.
"What do you care? You gave up on us, Sasuke, so don't go shooting what I said back at me." Naruto spoke loudly, a little angered at Sasuke's accusations. Sasuke closed his eyes.
"You're right Naruto. I chose a path that I can't turn back on now too. But just to let you know, I don't hate you."
"I don't hate you either. So, here." Naruto tossed Sasuke his old headband. It had been polished, but the slash remained. Sasuke caught it and stared at it for a few seconds.
"Hmph. You really did get that scratch on my forehead." He said as he tied it around his head again. Naruto took his and did the same. Sasuke saw the slash across Naruto's hitai-ate and sighed. Naruto was serious.
"No holding back this time, alright dobe." Sasuke said.
"You neither. No complaining when you die."
"You'll be the one who dies." Sasuke called back with a smirk. Both were sadistic nin. Both held respect for each other, and knew that one of them was going to die. Even if they didn't hate each other, it was just how the ninja world was. When there eyes met for a split second, both rushed forward attacking.
"Sasuke! Are you gonna run off again?"
The Uchiha slowly turned to face him, curse mark already over the left side of his face.
"So it's you. Pathetic little Naruto." He paused, looking Naruto dead in the eyes. "She sent you…"
"Like I already told Sakura. It's over, just leave me alone."
Naruto blocked several punches, throwing few where an opening was spotted. Sasuke smiled, and punched Naruto in his stomach. Naruto slid back, but held his ground. He ran forwards again, flashing through hand signs. Two clones appeared on both sides of him. Sasuke activated his sharingon, knowing not to underestimate Naruto again.
"Everything we did. Everything that happened on Team 7. Did all of that mean nothing to you Sasuke?"
"No. There was one thing that was a benefit. We became best friends."
One clone threw a punch, only to miss and be destroyed by a kick. The second clone was about to attack, only to be struck by another kick. Naruto was above Sasuke, coming down with a powerful hook. Sasuke caught Naruto's fist and twisted it, twirling him away. Naruto landed on his feet, and glared at Sasuke.
"Best friends? Then why are we fighting!"
"I just told you. We became best friends. So killing you will have more meaning."
Naruto stood up straight and wiped the small drip of blood from his lip. He removed both his shirts. After taking a deep breath, he ran forward once more. Sasuke waited, watching Naruto for any sudden movement. Naruto's right foot slowed for a split second. As soon as it hit the ground, Naruto jumped to the left, only to see Sasuke doing the same. Caught off guard, Naruto lost focus. Sasuke smirked and formed his own hand signs.
'Katon: Goukakyou no jutsu.' The flame soared at Naruto, faster than it had done the first time. With the sharingon activated, Sasuke could see everything Naruto was doing. Naruto crossed his arms over his face, seeming to block. However, he slung them forward, creating a gust of wind that blew the fireball from existence. The wind blew into Sasuke as well, pushing him back towards the edge of the platform.
"I'll bring you back to the village, even if I have to break every bone in your body!"
"Heh. You won't even get a scratch on my forhead."
Sasuke regained his balance. His sword had been blown away from the wind, and now lay somewhere at the bottom of the pit. He chuckled. A smile formed on Naruto's face as well. They were both enjoying it.
"Well, what do you say we push the envelope?" Sasuke said, curse mark already beginning to grow on his neck and face. He removed his shirt as well, showing that the mark covered his entire left side.
"If that's the way you want it." Naruto closed his eyes and took a standing meditation position. A strong wind began to blow all around, and soon, a small glow of red chakra surrounded Naruto, as well as a small glow of purple on Sasuke.
"What? No tails?" Sasuke teased.
"Not yet. Not until I see some wings." Naruto called back.
Both vanished colliding in the center of the platform. The echo from the hit shook the walls, and the platform even cracked. They began to strike each other, just as Naruto and Gai had done. Neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand, until Sasuke jumped back.
"Hope you know some new trick's Naruto." Sasuke said as he held his hand above his head. It began to spark with the chidori. Then he closed his fist, causing the sparks to form into a blade. He ran towards Naruto, slashing in every direction. The sparks from the lightning blade left a tingling sensation in the air, which meant even when Sasuke missed, if he got close enough he could still do damage.
Naruto dodged once more and created a clone in front of him. Sasuke slashed the clone, but didn't expect to see Naruto aiming a sparking fist at his chest. The blow landed, sending a electric charge through Sasuke's body. He flew back, the lightning blade dispelling as he hit the ground.
"What the hell was that?" He called coughing up blood.
"I can't do the chidori because lightning isn't one of my big elements. But I can use a close enough version of that raiton jutsu to replicate the movements."
Sasuke smiled, seeing that Naruto always had a new trick up his sleeves. They began to exchange blows again. With every powerful strike, the room would shake. Naruto jumped back when the curse mark on Sasuke began to spread, covering his entire body. His hair began to grow, turning bluish gray. Naruto sighed. Sasuke laughed again. With even more speed, he dashed at Naruto and slammed both his fist into his stomach. While Naruto was doubled over, he kneed him in the face, sending him into the air. Sasuke jumped up, flipped, and slammed his foot into Naruto. As soon as Naruto hit the platform, Sasuke performed a phoenix flower jutsu, spraying the entire platform in fire. A puff of smoke was seen through the flames and Sasuke gasped as he realized it was a clone.
"Almost." Naruto's voice echoed. Sasuke looked around, but Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Sasuke felt a blow to his back, sending him into the platform. He landed on his hands and flipped onto his feet only to feel another blow to his side.
"How are you doing that?" Sasuke growled.
"It's a little technique called the Hiraishin." Naruto appeared in front of Sasuke and delivered another kick to his face. Sasuke hit a wall and began to fall down into the pit. Naruto jumped after him, stomping on him as they fell.
"Remember this Sasuke?" Naruto called madly as he stomped Sasuke one hard time, sending him flying towards the bottom of the pit. Sasuke regained his posture and moved towards a wall. He used chakra to slow his fall and stick to the wall, seeing Naruto do the same on the opposite wall.
"So, you've gotten way stronger since the last time." Sasuke called panting. He put his hand down, starting a chidori. Naruto began to form a rasengan. They leaped towards each other, colliding the attacks. The force of the attacks held them stationary in the air. Then both attacks exploded, sending them slamming into the same walls and falling again. Sasuke flew towards Naruto, only to feel a clone grab his leg. He kicked it, destroying it,but messing up by taking his eyes off of Naruto.
Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the throat and kneed him in the stomach. Then he began to spin before throwing Sasuke even faster into the bottom of the pit. Sasuke slammed down hard on the debris at the bottom. Naruto followed, his fist sparking like before. He slammed down on Sasuke's stomach, making a large crater beneath him, and cracking several of his ribs. Naruto began to punch Sasuke repeatedly in the face.
'Dammit! Where is this power coming from?' That's when he finally saw it. The tail of chakra floating behind Naruto. Sasuke caught one of Naruto's fist as he prepared to punch him again. He flipped Naruto off of him and stood up.
"So that's it. I thought you were going to wait to use that." Sasuke said wiping blood from his lip. Naruto smirked.
"I thought I'd see if I can get you to transform completely so we could finally end this." Naruto replied folding his arms. Sasuke cracked his neck.
"Suit yourself." Sasuke didn't say anything else. The talking would stop. It was time for it all to end. Sasuke powered up to the maximum form of the curse seal. The two hand like wings burst from his back. His entire body was pale.
'One attack.' Sasuke thought.
He flew towards Naruto, slamming one of his giant fists into him and pinning him to the wall. The second giant hand flew forward. It began to spark.
"Giant Chidori!" Sasuke called. The attack blew an enormous hole in the wall, and covered the bottom of the pit in dust. When it cleared, there was nothing left of Naruto.
"Naruto…thank you…" Sasuke said as he looked up.
"You honestly think that would do it?" Sasuke turned startled, to see five red blurs coming towards him. Even with the sharingon, he couldn't keep up. The blurs began to slash at him from all sides. Cuts were appearing on his skin until one blur knocked him forward. He heard the puff of shadow clones being dispelled and saw himself flying towards Naruto. Naruto had three tails flowing behind him now. Naruto's hand was drawn back. He could see him forming a rasengan. He tried to stop himself but couldn't.
'What…I'm paralyzed?" Sasuke thought, and instantly knew whatever the Naruto clones had been slicing him with had a neural poison on it.
Everything seemed to slow down. The rasengan in Naruto's hand turned from blue, to red, to silver, to rainbow, and finally to golden. Every form of the rasengan Naruto had ever performed combined into this one attack. His new ultimate technique: The perfect rasengan. The ground trembled, and dust and debris began to float into the air, spinning with the sheer pure power Naruto held in his hand. Then he thrust it forward. Silence filled the pit.
"Chidori!"
"Rasengan!"
Konoha…
Tsunade stood atop the Hokage's office building looking over the village. Seeing it for what she felt would be the last time as is. Once he was gone, it wouldn't be the same. Suddenly, she felt the ground shake.
"Wha-what? An earthquake?" She thought as she gripped the rail. Villagers began to scramble about, screaming. Then a giant gust of wind blew over the village, so strong Tsunade had to use chakra to keep herself from blowing away. Some of the other villagers weren't so lucky and began to slam into buildings. After several minutes the wind subsided. Tsunade's breath drew short. In the distance, but as clear as day, was a pillar of light, shooting right into the heavens.
"Naruto…"
Western Fire Country…
Sasuke lay in Naruto's arms, unmoving. His body was still warm, and probably would remain that way for a while.
"Hope it wasn't as bad as it looked." Naruto said. He placed Sasuke on his back, and lowered his chakra down to one tail. He had finally done it. Sasuke was dead. And now that he was, he felt empty.
'Is this how Sasuke would have felt if he killed Itachi?' Naruto wondered.
As he prepared to leave, something shiny caught the corner of his eye. It was Sasuke's katana.
Several hours later…
Naruto trudged forward, every step taking even more strength. He had used so much chakra already, and was now only able to sustain the kyuubi's chakra as an enhancement, instead of using the tails. His eyes flashed between red and blue. His body was having trouble keeping up the chakra flow, so when the kyuubi's chakra was gone, he would most likely pass out.
'Come on…gotta keep that promise.' He repeated in his mind.
"You can make it kit. Focus on the village, not the pain."
'Fox, you're not mad at me anymore?'
"Not really kit. The way you fought the Uchiha was most impressing."
Naruto smiled. The village came into view, and he sighed in relief. He picked up the pace just a bit.
'Heh. Sucks that I'm actually picking up the pace to die.' He thought.
Once he reached the village gates, the guards opened them. Waiting for him were Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza. Once they saw Sasuke's body, they moved to the side, allowing Naruto to enter the village.
"Hey Naruto." Chouza called. Naruto's only acknowledgement was a glance over is shoulder.
"Can you forgive us? For the way we treated you when you were a kid?"
"Don't sweat it. I never held a grudge against you guys." Naruto called looking forward again.
Several minutes into the village, and a crowd had formed, following Naruto. Those who tried to attack him were mainly Sasuke fan girls and people who believed he was a monster for killing Sasuke. Everyone else who followed him knew what was going to happen so kept there anger held in for just a little longer. They arrived at Sakura's house.
"One down." He said as he threw the katana down in front of the door.
"Where is Sakura anyway?" Naruto asked as he continued walking to the far back of the village.
"She's being hospitalized. Once you left, some of your friends decided that she deserved punishment for what she did to you. She's in a wheel chair now by the way." Inoichi answered. Naruto chuckled. Despite all that happened, he loved everyone of his friends.
"Can she see this?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah. Shikamaru made sure to put her right in front of the window for when you came back." Shikaku answered, smirking somewhat.
In the hospital, Sakura watched as Naruto paraded through the village with her beloved Sasuke-kun on his back. She couldn't believe that he was dead. All of it had to be dream, but the pain she was feeling was real. Everyone had made sure that she knew this was no bad dream. It was one hundred percent real. Trying to look away, her eyes landed on the gift box Ino had left her.
"Where are you going Naruto?" Inoichi asked.
"You'll see." Was his only reply.
Only a little later did they understand where they were going. Naruto stopped, right in front of the Third Hokage's grave. He placed Sasuke's body down, and took a praying position.
"His master took your life, now I've taken his. I told you they wouldn't get away with it old man."
"Alright Naruto. You know what it's time for." Shikaku said solemnly.
"Yeah. Tsunade chose you guys huh? She's smart."
"Thanks gaki." Tsunade's voice sung over the crowd of people. The crowd began to part, showing Tsunade, accompanied by all of Naruto's friends, and several ANBU. Tears were in her eyes. Naruto knew exactly what was next.
"Take him." Tsunade whispered. The ANBU flashed forward, binding Naruto by his neck, wrist, and ankles with chains. Tsunade bit her lip to prevent from crying. She had to ignore the shouts of applause coming from the crowd, and even the roar of questions coming from Naruto's friends.
"Naruto Uzamaki! You have broken your decry of banishment by returning to Konohagakure. As official Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, under the witness of the civilian council, and as due law, Leaf Village Code of Nuke Nin, you are hereby sentenced to death." Her voice cracked. She was on the verge of crying. All of Naruto's friends were now shouting at her, all swarming her. The cheers from the crowd were drowned out.
"How could you!" Ten-Ten.
"What the hell Hokage-sama!" Kiba.
"You must be joking!" Neji.
"You can't!" Rock Lee.
"Stop this Hokage-sama, it isn't funny." Shino.
"You aren't really, are you?" Chouji.
"Don't do this Hokage-sama!" Shikamaru.
She turned from them all and began walking. The ANBU led Naruto away, bound like an animal. The crowd followed too, and so did Naruto's friends. He was led to an open field, near the Northeastern entrance of the village, and right along a path that led to the Hokage monument. The Uchiha compound stood lingering in the peripheral of Naruto's vision. The ANBU tied him to the pillar, and blind folded him. Afterwards they stood in a straight line, side by side facing Naruto.
Naruto's friends watched. All of them having their own thoughts now. Even Gaara had protested against Temari and Kankorou to come see Naruto. In all of their minds, they began to think of their relationship with the blonde haired jinchuriki.
Ten-Ten. She was crying. Harder than she ever had before. Even though she didn't know Naruto as close as most of the others, she knew how much he influenced everyone around him. When he had treated her to ramen that one time, and they talked. She knew that he was someone special, and that he would affect the ninja world entirely. Most of all, she was grateful to him for changing Neji.
Neji. The one and only time he would ever shed tears in public. He cursed the world for this. Fate had dictated his life for so long, and then this boy had come into his life. He changed Neji, and made him look forward to the future, the way he would make it. But now, what was he going to do when fate was going to kill that same person.
Rock-Lee. He clenched his teeth as tears continued to flow. The one person whose flames of youth burned brighter than his own. At least, used to. Now they were gone, and soon, so would be his spark of life. All Lee could do was cry, seeing as his most valued friend was going to be killed, and with him, all of Lee's morale.
Shino. Beneath his shades, tears loomed in his eyes. He wanted to cry, but the bugs in him prevented him. They were already agitated with the events, and having their carrier even more upset would be bad. He settled for groaning. Naruto was and would always be the only person who could make Shino laugh.
Kiba. He stroked Akamaru's head as it whimpered. He cried, trying not to look Naruto in the eyes. Naruto was the one person in the entire leaf village who Kiba thought he could associate with. He knew they had much in common, both being underdogs, and knowing how to have fun. Looking at this, Kiba felt that his connection with Naruto was as strong as his bond with Akamaru, and knew that once Naruto was dead, a piece of him would die as well.
Chouji. All the times they had hung out when they were kids replayed in his mind. All the times kids used to make fun of him for being fat, and Naruto would come to stand up for him. All those times struck Chouji's heart. Naruto, the nicest person in the village, no, the world, was about to killed right in front of him.
Kankurou. He didn't know Naruto on a friend basis, but he knew enough about him to have respect for him. As much as the blonde had done for the village in the past, and this is how they were repaying him. It made him sick to his stomach. Besides, anyone who could make Gaara sane had to be good.
Gaara. His eyes were glossed with tears. He couldn't hold his stoic nature in for this. Naruto was truly just like him. He had let those he thought were close to him tear him apart. Gaara thought about himself. How fate had chose to be cruel to him. Not only did he have to see his aunt die, but now he had to watch his brother die as well.
Temari. She looked at the ground, crying, as she couldn't process what was happening. The boy who had protected the village from Gaara, and had even tried to retrieve a runaway from Orochimaru, was about to be executed by the village he dedicated his life to protecting. It was too much for her, and even knowing of how much all of Naruto's friends felt for him. She turned to Shikamaru for the answers.
Shikamaru. Holding Temari in his arms, it was the first time in his life where he didn't have an answer. He cried into Temari's hair, trying to stay strong for them both and failing. Naruto Uzamaki, the number one hyperactive knuckle head ninja, the sunshine of Konoha, was going to be executed. All he saw was the fact that he was losing a best friend.
"On your orders Lord Hokage." The ANBU captain called.
Tsunade reframed from looking at the remainder of the Konoha 12. She saw Naruto nod, giving her the finalization.
'Forgive me Naruto…' She bit her lip.
"ANBU, ready!" She called. The ANBU turned to the side.
"Aim!" They all drew kunai and held it to their chest in a throwing motion.
"F-fire!" The kunai flew. Silence filled the air as everyone watched.
The sound of metal hitting metal echoed over the clearing as a demon windmill shuriken soared, knocking all of the kunai out of the way, and landing on the back of the pillar, destroying the bonds that held Naruto. Once free, Naruto removed his blindfold. He didn't know what was going on, but he wouldn't past up this chance either. The crowd gasped and murmured as Naruto darted from the clearing and towards an exit in the village. The ANBU prepared to run after him, but suddenly, thousands upon thousands of kunai began to rain down all around them.
"What is this?" One of them called. Then they heard a sizzling. Exploding tags were attached to all of the kunai. The ANBU were trapped. But then all the kunai disappeared.
"Sorry! I was practicing a genjutsu!" The voice of Hinata Hyuga called out as she landed in the clearing.
"The prisoner is escaping!" Someone in the crowd yelled. "Go catch hi-" He was cut short, but no one knew why. When they looked back, the man was on the ground dead, holding his neck as if he had been strangled. Only several of Naruto's friends saw Shikamaru stand up from his squatting position.
Naruto darted as fast as his legs would carry him. Someone dropped down next to him and ran with him.
"You know you could get put in prison for a long time for helping me." Naruto said, turning to Ino, who only smiled at him.
"So? I was going to be exiled or put to death anyway." She said.
"What? Why?"
"Because me and you have something in common Naruto."
They slowed when an explosion rocked the ground somewhere to the right. The top floor of the hospital was issuing large amounts of smoke and fire.
"We both killed our childhood best friends." Ino called with a smirk.
Naruto gaped at her. "Exploding tag?"
"In a gift box."
"You know, I love you so much." Naruto said as they reached the exit of the village. "You do know that we can't come back here without having to fight for our lives right?" Naruto asked.
"Oh yes we can. I have a little help here."
As they spoke the ANBU had been gaining. Once they exited the village, a large wall of sand formed behind them.
"Lord Kazekage? Are you aiding the convict?" The captain of the ANBU asked.
Gaara turned and glared at the man. "You're accusing me, the Kazekage, of such an obscene crime?"
"Uh…w-well…"
"Lord Kazekage! Forgive my men, they don't know that you are supposed to be fixing the wall with us today. A nuke nin from our village just ran out, you didn't see him did you?" Tsunade asked, not knowing what was going on, but playing along anyway.
"No I did not. Forgive me, if I would have saw him, I would have tried to stop him." The small flash of a smirk that formed on his lips was enough for Tsunade, and as she turned, she saw the same smirk on all of Naruto's friends.
Naruto turned and looked at the sand. Through it, Temari and Kankurou ran towards them. Naruto took a fighting position until Ino put a hand on his shoulder.
"So, you two ready to go?" Temari asked.
"What? Okay, what's going on here?" Naruto asked.
"What does it look like. You two are gonna live in Suna with us until Gaara can work something with Tsunade to make you two permanent residents." Kankurou answered.
"That way, you won't be Nuke nins and will be able to politically enter the leaf village." Temari finished. "Ino didn't miss a thing when she came to us."
"Wait, you set this all up?" Naruto asked astonished.
"Yep. You need to give me more credit."
Kankurou chuckled. "You know, I guess blonde's aren't so stupid."
Which promptly earned him a beat down by all three blondes.
Hokage Mountain...
"Well, there goes the only genin to take on the system and live." Jiraiya chuckled.
"Amazing...he technically betrays the village, kills dozens of our ninja along with allies, and escapes an execution. What type of fucked up system have we been working with anyway?" Anko asked handing the toad sannin a hand full of money. She made a note to never bet against Naruto Uzumaki ever again.
"The Konoha system, my dear lady. The Konoha system. Besides, the way I see it, he went to drastic lengths to do it, but he did get rid of one of the biggest threats to this village. If only he would have taken out Orochimaru too."
"As strong as Naruto-kun is, I doubt he can take on hebi-teme." Anko growled thinking of her former sensei.
"Naruto-kun?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk.
"Save it you old pervert!" Anko replied with a blush. "Besides, he's betrayed us...in a way. Even if everyone else does, I won't completely forgive him for this."
Jiraiya nodded. "But you've got to admire that kid. It must have been hard on him, to lose everything. That just goes to show, to gain what you want, you might have to choose a Dark Destiny."
