A/N: Hi, I'm back with chapter four. Please don't kill me for taking too long (those of you who didn't reassure me that you were okay with my leave of absence). Please read the note at the end.

What Its Like Chapter Four

Just when he thought that he would never see another person again Naruto found himself being dragged none too nicely though a long, wide corridor. He let it happen, busy taking in the sights. Maybe he could find something useful on this little trip. He looked everywhere he could, only seeing doors, the floor and the ceiling. He had asked where he was being taken, but the person leading told him to shut his mouth and move, and when he hadn't, they'd begun to drag him. Now he was limply sweeping along the floor, the rough maroon carpet burning his heels, knees and calves. Then he saw the stairs. The long, winding, carpet-less, stone stairs. He let them take him to them.

He looked at his captors to make sure that they weren't anticipating anything. As they neared the staircase, one of the turned to him and said,

"You better start walking, brat. We're not supposed to abuse you, but we will take you where we have to take you, even if we have to drag down the stairs. And it will hurt."

Naruto merely stared at the floor, disinterested, hoping the man would hurry and get to the damn stairs. When he didn't move or talk, the medic-nin holding his arm painfully jerked him forward in frustration and they began their descent. Naruto didn't waste any time. Fortunately, medic-nin weren't very good ninja.

He snatched his arm out of the man's grip and flung himself forward, headfirst. There were shouts of alarm and he felt the satisfying crack of his skull against the stone steps. He smiled as his vision of the stairs blurred, his head hitting every step on the way down. The rush of feet faintly reached his ears and his hopes to reach the bottom were dashed as he was grabbed and pulled up roughly. Warmth trickled down his forehead as the dizziness turned to darkness and his neck went limp. The small smile never left his face.

"Well," Sandaime started, shuffling through a stack of papers, "I obviously should have let ninja escort him." There was the sound of a throat clearing in the otherwise quiet room, and he looked up, giving the man who reported the incident to him an expectant glare.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, we just hadn't expected---

"You didn't expect a suicidal boy to try and kill himself? Those stairs are every suicidal child's dream come true! And you took him right to them! Those elevators we have in that building aren't there for decoration!"

The man blanched fearfully. He stuttered as he tried to explain why they hadn't made use of the elevators.

"The elevators were on the other side of the quad, we just wanted to follow your orders as expedi---

"There is no place for sniveling here. You are to take 35 D-rank missions next week, and I expect all of them to be completed." Sarutobi turned in his seat and gave the man his back.

The man nodded, gritting his teeth and bowing stiffly, he left the room, clenching his jaw in anger. All because that little piece of shit he had to do all of those D-rank missions in just one week. He wanted to go and beat the brat to a bloody pulp but Naruto was in the ICU and he wouldn't get away with it anyway. And the little bitch would like it too much.

He'd been the only one punished because he had been dragging the boy. He was looking forward to pulling him down the stairs, but he certainly hadn't expected his detainee to jump.

He growled and stalked out of the building.

Fucking demon.

"No, Kakashi. It's orders straight from the Hokage, they're coming with me. And you can't accompany us." Ibiki sneered the last part, seeing the defiance in the copy-nin's eyes.

"Why not?"

Ibiki pushed Kakashi out of his way and went for the scared girl and the slightly alarmed Uchiha. He would take them by force if necessary, and Kakashi wasn't going to stop him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried as one of the interrogation specialist's strong burly hands descended on her.

"He's just going to ask you two some questions. You'll be fine." Kakashi tried to reassure them but knew by the look in her eyes that he'd failed. Ibiki gave him a smug look and he glared back.

Sasuke jumped out of the way and tried to shout a warning to Sakura but a sharp chop to the back of his neck thwarted him. Ibiki picked him up and threw the boy over his shoulder and grabbed Sakura and dragged her away kicking and screaming. Kakashi knew he could take Ibiki and stall him while they ran, but it was the Hokage's orders and if he wanted to be punished he would do that.

Ibiki was only questioning them, but he knew that the man stopped at nothing to get the information he wanted. His methods weren't meant for children. Kakashi was also a bit angry that the man hadn't wanted to question him. All that happened the last time was Ibiki sedated him and used a memory blockage jutsu to help him cope. It was like they thought it was the kids' fault that Naruto went insane. But it wasn't. It was his.

'They did say some things to him too. But he lost it after what I said. Could it have been a coincidence?' In a sick way, Kakashi hoped that it was just a coincidence. He didn't want to be at fault for what happened. Iruka's voice floated into his head and he closed his eyes briefly and sighed. The Chuunin was probably right. He was guilty. What must Minato think of him now?

'Nothing good' He thought dryly. Minato was probably somersaulting in his grave by then. He had made Kakashi promise with his last dying breath that he would protect his son and Kakashi failed spectacularly. He had agreed to the promise, and had shadowed Naruto for three years of his life, but the Third had told him that it was unnecessary for him to do so, as he was being well taken care of. Well what the hell did 'well taken care of' mean? Last time he'd heard, it meant something good, and nothing good was happening to Naruto. But he still should have kept his promise to his sensei. If he had, then Naruto wouldn't be losing his mind so young. He wouldn't have had to have gone through all he did, and Kakashi wouldn't have a murderous Chuunin plotting on him as he was sure Iruka was. And Naruto wouldn't want so desperately to die.

But he had failed Minato's wishes, failed his student, and failed his team.

"You fool…" he muttered angrily to himself. He knew he had no right to be upset, but he was. He hated himself for not paying attention to the student he should have been paying attention to the most. He felt even stupider for thinking that Naruto could stay happy when everybody hated him. He was just a child and children needed love and care more than anyone and Naruto had never gotten that. Obviously the Hokage and his lackies weren't providing it.

Kakashi had to fix this. Somehow, he had to rebuild Naruto's life and save him from himself. He had to do it, or die trying.

"And this isn't a threat to you, Hiruzen?"

Sarutobi shook his head once, stiffly, as he had been asked the question four times in four different ways. Homura and Koharu had been drilling him all afternoon about Naruto. He wanted to keep the boy's affairs out of the nosy council members' business but he should have known that it was impossible to do so when even a good portion of the civilians knew what had happened. They were telling him to either do something about the 'threat' or they would. He knew what they wanted him to do. They wanted him to kill Naruto. Kill him because he held the Kyuubi and if he was crazy then there was a good chance that he would lose control. Sandaime was well aware of the risks of keeping the child alive, but so far the seal was well intact and nothing involving the nine-tailed fox had been brought to his attention. But the council was convinced that he was hiding something from them because he had formed an attachment to the blonde container.

They were correct in their suspicions, but only hypothetically. If he knew something like that, he certainly wouldn't tell them about it. Koharu glared down her bony nose at him and he had the distinct urge to spit in her wrinkled old face.

"Well, we think that it is. You may be the Hokage, but we still make all informed decisions, especially pertaining to that boy. Valuable time and resources are being wasted on him, when at any moment he could---

"Are you saying that you doubt my methods, Homura? Are you implying that I would let the fox destroy Konoha again? I'm aware of what may happen, but the possibility would not be so large if not for the harsh treatment the village imposes on him. He is the demon container, he is the son of our late Hokage, and he is dangerous because of those things, but first and foremost, he is a human child. He has feelings and hopes and dreams and this village took all of that away from him. If what you fear comes to pass, then it will be no fault of his nor mine, but of---

"ENOUGH!"

"HIRUZEN!"

The Hokage sunk back into his padded chair and rubbed wearily at his temple. They wanted him to speak when he had nothing to say, and when he did have something to say, they refused to hear it. They had always been that way since childhood, Homura was the one that asked the annoying questions and always had something to imply, and Koharu was the one that always glared and flapped her lips, neither one of them wanted to hear what anyone else had to say, unless it was what they wanted to hear.

"Well you can't always get what you want," he muttered under his breath, not because he was afraid of what they might do, but because he was telling it to himself. No matter how bad he wanted to protect Naruto, leave the council room, take a stiff drink, spit in Koharu's face and get rid of his throbbing migraine, he couldn't just because he wanted to.

"What did you say, Sarutobi?" Koharu hissed. They called him by his last name or his first, never by his lordship, never as if they were speaking to a person of equal of better stature than they. But when they called him by his last name, they were most displeased.

For his own dry amusement, he repeated himself. "You can't always get what you want."

They were stricken with rage. Koharu stood quickly, nearly taking the peaceable tea table with her and pointed a gnarled finger between his eyes.

"You!" She spat, as if the word were a foul taste in her mouth. "Mind your words, Sarutobi!"

"Koharu…" Homura protested halfheartedly. He too wanted to strike the village leader for his insolence but had refrained from doing so with the thought of their intended plan in mind.

She stayed standing glaring at her former teammate with as much loathing as a glare could harbor. "I do not know where you get off putting the lives of our people in danger but I will not have it! I hereby declare a motion to have your lordship revoked under the pretenses of overtly and unreasonably endangering Konohagakure!"

Sarutobi was not surprised but had the decency to protest. "You want to kill a child! The child of our late---

"I don't CARE whose brat he is! I want our village to be as safe as possible and harboring that demonic little thing and giving it a chance to fester it's evil plans und---

"Naruto is not an it! He did not choose to be the container of a demon! He did not want any of this, nobody did! It's people like you and the absent-minded villagers you've corrupted that make monsters out of people! What do you want?! First, you thought he would make the perfect weapon and now he's a threat! How can he not want to die when you're letting people do all sorts of unspeakable acts to him! People think I'm letting this happen, but it is YOU! He's not a monster, YOU are! You cannot fathom what it must be like to be him, to have to defend this village of people who hate and hurt him with his own life and not have a choice in the matter! If he wanted to let Kyuubi free to slaughter us all I would hope that you have enough humanity in you to feel guilty!"

Homura lost his temper and stood to attack the Hokage. Sandaime flipped over the back of the chair and put his arms up in time to block the punch. Koharu must have been equally incensed because she sprang forward with a kick aimed for his head. He deftly deflected both hits and propelled his body backward, simultaneously divesting himself of his robes. Koharu and Homura did the same and both of them blurred through the hand signs of a combination jutsu. He recognized the jutsu right away.

"Katon: Gamayo Emudan!" Koharu spit the oil and Homura spit the fire. The entire room's contents erupted in flames and Sarutobi moved to the farthest end of the room away from them to counter.

"Suiton: Suijin Heki!" Water erupted from the floor, where the main pipe ran underground and formed a wall between him and the fire, effectively wiping it out.

Koharu frowned. If that old coot thought that he would hide amongst the smoky mists of their de-flamed attack then he had better think again. She poised one foot in front of her and the other behind the first, and nodded to her partner. Homura took a few steps back. Sarutobi, in the mist, couldn't see her, but he could feel one of them draw back on a considerable amount of chakra.

"Fuuton: Kaze Jyuuken!" She spun around until she was a blur and began to move toward Sandaime, dispelling the clouds of mist shrouding him from view. The Hokage sucked his teeth juvenilely and raised his hands for another jutsu, but Koharu was in front of him and all he could do was put his hands up to defend himself. Her spinning body was like a spinning blade, reinforced by molded chakra and if he wasn't wrong, kunai. Just as he had begun to wonder what Homura was doing there was a brief flash of pain in his left side. The older man stabbed him in the torso repeatedly. If he were to take his arms down, Koharu would rip into him, and with his back again chakra infused walls, he had nowhere to go. He didn't want to do what he was going to do next, but he had to. He spiked his chakra as high as he could, affording him minimal protection against Koharu's jutsu. His hands and arms were shredded almost to the bone then and the other one was still stabbing him, unable to get close enough for a fatal shot with Koharu's jutsu blowing him away.

Homura held fast to Sandaime's arm, using all of his anger and strength to propel his arm forward despite the force of the wind his partner was creating with the justu. Sarutobi grit his teeth and growled in pain. The jutsu wouldn't last much longer and he was sure he could hold out until it did. Where the hell were his ANBU?! Without them the chakra around the wall could not be broken by anybody else except him, but with his current problem he wasn't going to be able to. Even when Koharu's jutsu did finish, he might lose the use of his arms and a lot of blood.

Homura allowed himself to be pushed away by the wind and hopped back several paces as the jutsu began to slow down. A few moments later, she had stopped and was panting raggedly. The jutsu was powerful, but like all powerful jutsu, it had its price. She would not be able to use anything but taijutsu for a while, but even then she would need a moment to rest. That was where he came in.

"I don't suppose you want to change your mind about the boy?" He asked his former teammate.

"You've supposed right." Sandaime had called for his ANBU over a minute ago, there was no reason for them not to respond. It was time for him to use that jutsu.

Ibiki had his weapons drawn the instant he got up the stairs and to the floor the Hokage's rooms were located. Something wasn't right. Where was everybody? He scanned the area quickly and muttered 'kai' five times under his breath. When nothing happened, he began to quickly look for traps. He found none. Standing in front of the door, he felt that the protective barrier was still around it, so the Hokage was either safe, or in danger and judging by the looks of things, Ibiki was certain it was the latter. He knew the Hokage had already called for the ANBU if he was in trouble, but he did it again anyway.

"Cat, Tiger, Monkey and Bear, bring three reinforcements to the tower. Look out for traps on the way here and make sure to keep the other three backups several meters behind you. I want a protect, detect, and reflect formation at the highest, lowest, and middle-most positions in the village facing the tower from the east, west and south. You will follow my orders and they will follow yours." He didn't wait for a response because one wasn't coming.

He put a hand on the wall and concentrated with his eyes closed. A jolt of activity went through his pulses and he pulled his hand away. There was frantic heated movement beyond the wall, which could only mean one thing. But with who and how without alerting the guards? Movement from his peripheral signaled the arrival of the four ANBU he had requested. They nodded to him and put their hands on the wall to drop the barrier. Once it was dropped, they all formed seven shadow clones and rushed the room. Had it been any other enemy, they would have been prepared to kill, but they were stopped short by the site of their council fighting with their Hokage.

"W-what the hell is going on here, sir?" Bear cried out in surprise. Sandaime, who was on his knees in a kunai struggle with Homura, didn't answer them. Koharu was laid out near the window, unconscious. Both he and Homura were now covered in blood and most of it looked to be coming from Sandaime.

"Hokage-sama!" Cat rushed forward and drew his katana, ready to cut down Homura.

"Tenzou, no!" Sandaime yelled at him and he stopped, torn between ignoring the direct order and protecting his leader or watching him get hurt, possibly even die.

Ibiki watched, only slightly perturbed. The council and the Hokage had never been on fair and equal terms and he knew that it was only a matter of time before the rift between them led to something violent. He also knew better than to disobey his head commander's orders unless it directly endangered the village. But since it was just those two, he told his ANBU officers to stand down. Cat didn't move from where he was, ready to kill at a moments notice and Ibiki let him stay there for precautionary reasons if the Hokage asked.

"You know," Homura gritted through his teeth, "I have all the incentive they need to betray you."

Sandaime glared at him silently, feeling his remaining strength slipping away, but he refused to give up.

"They all know what a danger it would be to keep that thing alive. You have trained them to serve Konoha well. Save yourself some dignity and back down now. You will not win this. No one will agree with you to wager the lives of all of our people for one boy, especially not this one you are fighting so hard to save. If you stop now, you may even keep your title of Hokage."

"I am fighting for Konoha as much as you, Homura. You don't even know what killing him would do. It would break the seal, and then what? You would have to perform another sealing ritual, and who can do it but me? I refuse to. It is you who should relent. We have a much better chance keeping him alive and detained rather than risking everything on the foolishness you're basing this very fight on. I don't plan on losing, and my ANBU will not disobey me. They share my logic and as you've said, I've trained them well. If anyone will fall here, it will be you."

Homura's rage returned and for a split moment he forgot where he was and what he doing. His left arm had been broken by Koharu's body being flung into his by an unexpected attack and with his right arm he swung to punch Sarutobi. However, it the was same arm protecting him from the other man's kunai and the instant he pulled back, he knew he'd made a mistake. Sarutobi's eyes widened as his body fell forward with the force he was exerting to hold Homura's knife back and his own weapon sunk into his former teammate's neck. Homura's gasp was cut off by the kunai penetrating his jugular.

"Hokage-sama!" Someone called, but he didn't know who. He could only watch his council's eyes waver in his skull, then roll back as blood was wheezed out and around his damage larynx and through his mouth to pour down his bearded chin in large red rivulets. Homura's body fell backward, the weight pulling the kunai from Sandaime's startled hand and he was dead before he hit the floor. The room went silent in shock. They all watched their leader's horrified expression as he killed one of the most important people in the village. Cat's katana clattered to the floor.

Sarutobi's arm dropped limply to his side. A hand was on his shoulder and someone kneeled in front of him, their mouth moving rapidly, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. Ibiki stared at Homura, then looked at Koharu. They couldn't let her wake up.

He threw a brief glance at Monkey and the ANBU nodded, walked over to the old woman, knelt down, and calmly slit her throat.

Sarutobi let out a shaky sigh. "Naruto…"

TBC…

I'm so sorry, guys! I'm so busy with school and all that I don't really have time to write anything. I said that I would have a gift for you guys, but that will come later because finishing this chapter was impromptu. I am working on those gifts, though they all exceed 20 pages so it's not easy finishing them all at the same time because I want them to be oneshots so you all won't have to wait. Anyhow, this should hold you until I get through these next three weeks, then I might be able to update depending on what happens between now and then. I hope you haven't all lost interest and I promise that I won't forget about this story or those gifts. So please, once again, bear with me, and I'll update as soon as I can. While time passes, I will be typing some of the next chapter as I get little bits of time but since they have to be a certain length, I have to have enough time to achieve it. I love you all, thanks so much for reviewing!

P.S: Don't be concerned with what that jutsu is. It does not matter. And no, I didn't create name for it. It wasn't relevant enough for the transition between scenes.

Ja'Ne!