Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but wish I did.

Thanks to Kray-kun for looking this over and helping with the idea, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter enough to review!

Shattered Demon I: Oni Seppa

Chapter 2: Scars

A young teenager walked down a long, twisted path. Behind him was a small group of kids. Each of them seemed to be following in the teenagers footsteps. After a moment, they veered off the path, and towards a shining lake.

The little kids peeked around curiously, as though they didn't know what to do. The teenager laughed, and waved his hand towards the lake. Several of the little kids squealed, as they hurried down towards the lake. A few of the other kids stayed behind, playing 'lifeguard' for the little kids. The tall teen glanced over, and noticed one of the smaller kids sitting off to the side, crying.

He quickly walked towards the young boy. As he got closer, the little boy noticed him, and tried to quickly dry his eyes. The teen laughed. "What's the problem?"

The little boy tried to cover his knee, but failed as the wound was bleeding through his hands. The teen sighed, and placed his hand on the wound. After another moment, he removed his hand from his knee, reveling that the wound was no longer there. The little boy smiled. "You're so cool Nii-san!"

The teen looked a little shocked, but softened as he leaned closer to the boy. "And you will one day grow truly strong… Naruto, Naruto wake up."

Naruto stirred in his sleep. The dream was far to real to be just a dream, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Deciding that he'd have to figure it out later, he quickly pushed himself from sleep.

As his eyes opened, he silently wished he hadn't. The light seemed much brighter than it normally was, and the smell of blood seemed to be lingering all around. Naruto slowly sat up, wincing as he felt several little pains in his chest. He slowly glanced around at his surroundings. He could tell that he was in a hospital simply by the smell. He liked the smell of cleanliness, but there was a clashing smell against it.

Naruto glanced over to the side, seeing Sarutobi, sitting in a chair, smoking a pipe. He seemed to be in deep thought, as his hat was shadowing his eyes. There was a long silence, and Naruto eventually decided that he couldn't take it anymore. "Smoking is bad for the patients Hokage-jiji."

Sarutobi nearly jumped up. He hadn't notice Naruto wake up, and was pleased to see how much Naruto seemed to have recovered. Of course, he was going to have to do something about his eye problem. Any bright person could easily figure out what might be going on. It didn't help that, after he'd slept a little, the whisker-marks on the left side of his face were a lot darker.

"Um Hokage-jiji, how long have I been out?" Naruto asked, cocking his head from side to side.

Sarutobi hung his head. Should I really tell him? I mean, it might shock him at how long he's been out. Plus, I have to tell him about the Kyuubi…him and all of Konoha. Well, won't that be fun.

"Hokage-jiji? Hello, is anyone there?" Naruto said, waving his hand in front of Sarutobi's face, snapping him out of his trance. Sarutobi smiled for a moment, but quickly lost it at the thought of what he was going to expose Naruto to.

"Naruto, what I'm going to tell you, will probably change your life." Naruto leaned forward, somewhat eager to hear what Sarutobi had say. "First of all, you had the Kyuubi sealed within you."

Naruto stared blankly at Sarutobi as a long silence ensued. Naruto finally got bored with the silence. "Um Hokage-jiji, are you trying to avoid the question?"

Sarutobi nearly face-vaulted. You could take any other kid, and tell them that, and get them screaming to high heaven. But then you get Naruto, who simply brushes it off. After reorienting himself, he his attention back to Naruto. "Um, Naruto? Why are you so, calm? I just told you that the Kyuubi was sealed within you, and you're taking it rather well."

Naruto shrugged. "I've made a living off getting around people by listening to what they say and using it against them. You're speaking in past tense, so it was sealed within me. So that means that something else must've happened."

Sarutobi smiled. "You're sharp Naruto. Yes, it was sealed within you. But some people believe that it somehow got out."

"WHAT?!" Naruto cried out. Now, he was freaked out. "What do you mean the Kyuubi got out?"

Sarutobi waited for his ears to stop ringing before he continued on. "I said it's a theory. The other, is that it fused with you. That would mean that you and the Kyuubi are one entity, with you in control. Of course, that would explain your face."

"What's wrong with my face?" Naruto asked, cocking his head. Before Sarutobi could do anything, Naruto jumped off the bed and ran to the nearest mirror. After a moment of looking over his darker whiskers, and slitted red eye, he glanced back at Sarutobi. "Um, this is weird."

Sarutobi nodded. "Yes, it is. Now, I'm going to have to tell all of Konoha, and make sure that they believe that you are completely in control."

Naruto shook his head, feeling a spike of pain shoot through it. "You should tell my version. It might make more sense."

Sarutobi cocked his head from side to side. "Um, what do you mean?"

Naruto glanced up at Sarutobi. "I'm talking about what I saw in Tsukuyomi. The Kyuubi was split in half. One half got out, while the other part fused with me."

Sarutobi blinked. It made a little sense, like how they were all still alive after hearing the Kyuubi's roar. It would also explain why half of his face had changed, instead of the full thing. And, on an even brighter note, it would mean that not only would he be able to keep Naruto from confinement for looking like the Kyuubi. There was no way the council could get him for this.

Naruto cocked his head. With the way Sarutobi was grinning, he could only assume that there was something good going to happen. Slowly, a small smile reached his face. He just hoped that Sarutobi was right.

But then, another thought crashed through his mind. "Hokage-jiji, when are you going to tell me how long I was out?"

Sarutobi stopped grinning and turned to Naruto. "Naruto…you were in a coma for two weeks."

Naruto was silent. Two weeks. He'd been in a coma, for two weeks. There were only two words to sum up his situation. "Oh shit."

"Yes, oh shit would sum up your situation very well." Sarutobi said, looking at the star-struck boy. After a moment's pause, he figured telling him the next bit of information wouldn't be as bad, as he was in his own world. "Naruto, you nearly died several times during your coma. I had to have ANBU watch over the doctors to make sure they didn't try to pull the plug on you."

While it wasn't obvious, Naruto felt his heart plummet. They hated him. In some corner of his mind, he could tell that they were wrong, but the pain blocked that part out. The only thing that went through his mind was that he'd been vulnerable, and if Sarutobi hated him, he would've been dead long ago.

He turned over to Sarutobi. He was looking on with compassion, and with curiosity. Naruto gave him a small smile. Then, without warning, he got up and walked towards the door. Sarutobi got up as well, but didn't pursue him. He knew that he needed time to be alone, to think things over.

As he exited the room, Naruto sighed. "Thank you…Hokage-jiji."

Even though he knew his words wouldn't reach him, Sarutobi smiled. "No problem…and Naruto, grow strong."

x X x

"And that is what really happened."

Sarutobi looked over the crowd. He could tell from the amount of talking that he'd hit a cord with them. While he'd wanted Naruto to live a normal life, it wasn't going to go over well now. While people might let up on him a little, it wasn't likely.

It had been two days since Sarutobi had told Naruto, and he hadn't been seen throughout the entire village. Even when a giant mob ransacked his home, he was nowhere in sight. Sarutobi was beginning to get a little worried, but was confident that everything would be alright.

Naruto was actually still in the village, just not where everyone thought he might be. He was sitting in the middle of an abandoned dojo, sitting just on the outskirts of Konoha. There was all sorts of different training equipment scattered throughout the dojo, and Naruto had been working non-stop.

When he'd first arrived, the place was a disaster area. Dirt had collected, and the equipment had been scattered everywhere, as if someone had left in a hurry. Naruto, feeling the need to do something, got to work. He'd completely cleaned all the dust up, and put everything back to their normal places. When he looked in the back, Naruto found there was a few shipments of different weapons, scrolls on different training methods, and training clothing. Naruto had put this into the back of his mind as he'd organized them.

Now though, Naruto was beginning to realize, he had way too much time on his hands. He was walking on the roof, polishing and scrubbing it till it. He didn't know why he should do it, he'd just gotten bored.

But there was something else that was bothering him. That dream he'd had two days ago, had come back the past two nights, and several times during the day. They'd all cut out at the same spot, and no matter what he did, he couldn't remember who the teen was talking to.

Sighing, Naruto hopped down from the roof. "I'm going into town. Maybe I'll be able to find some way to have fun." He said, to no one in particular as he walked away.

Naruto was quickly within the city, and barely noticed the sudden change in events. Some people had loathing looks in their eyes, as though they were thinking about doing very mean things to him. While others, mostly the younger generation, seemed to be simply curios about his new situation. It didn't help that his eye now looked very similar to the Kyuubi's.

After a couple of moments, a man bumped into him. Naruto shrugged it off, and continued on, but the man didn't seem to have that sort of opinion.

"Hey you, watch where you're going!" He yelled as he grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt. Once they were eye level, Naruto could see the evil grin he seemed to be hiding. "If you don't respect your elders, then it's no wonder you're trash!"

Naruto felt something within him stir. His prankster self seemed to be taking an interest in this man, as he yelled at him about demons, and trash. Finally, Naruto felt something click in his mind, bringing a large smile to his face. When the man noticed, he glared at him. "What are you smiling at, demon?"

"You're going to be the first." Naruto said, his grin widening. Everyone in the plaza seemed to freeze at these words, and the man looked dumbstruck.

"W-What did you say?"

"You're going to be the first." Naruto said plainly, staring at his face for a moment.

"I've decided that I'm not going to take crap like this. But the punishment will be of my choosing. And that will be in the form of…" he trailed off, giving the man a menacing look.

Everyone suddenly backed away, some people even ran home. They remembered the pure killing intent that had come when the Kyuubi attacked and could feel something similar welling up.

"Some kind of prank."

Everyone in the plaza sweat dropped. That was his evil plan? The man let out a loud laugh, and soon other people joined in. Naruto just smirked as he saw a rat by the man's foot.

The man laughed for another minute, before wiping his eye. "You're something kid. What are you going to do? Prank us to death?"

Naruto smile widened. "Eat this!"

Before anyone could react, Naruto had slipped from the man's grip, and grabbed the rat. Seeing that his fly was open, Naruto shoved the rat down his pants. The man was dancing around for several minutes, trying to get the rat out. By the time he did, Naruto had left, and the poor man's reputation had been destroyed.

When Sarutobi later heard of this, he laughed and said that he wasn't sure whether to call it a prank, or sweet revenge.

x X x

Naruto glanced around the dojo. The dojo had all sorts of different stuff, but it was in a horrible location. He glanced back toward the Hokage Mountain with a small smile. After a moment, he closed his eyes. "I know you can't hear me, Hokage-jiji. But I promise, I'll become a strong ninja. I'll become the strongest Hokage ever."

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