Chapter Three

Standing in the middle of the room, morning daylight streaming through one little window space available, Naruto could feel the effects of not having slept for the last eighteen hours. Murmurs rippled around him as his chakra cuffs irritated his wrists. They had to make sure he was fully immobilized because of his power.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you stand here before the council and elders on the charge of the attempted murder not only of the Fifth Hokage but also of her attendant, Shizune. What do you have to say of this?" Koharu Utatane asked.

Clenching his teeth, Naruto held himself back from snapping at the old woman. "I'm telling you, I didn't do it! I was framed or something! I was at home the whole time while everything happened!"

Remaining indifferent, Homura Mitokado merely waved off the information as if it were an annoying fly buzzing in his face. "Well it would be possible for someone as yourself, Uzumaki, to be able to pull off a feat such as this." The room became silent. "You had stolen the Forbidden Jutsu scroll years before and learned the Kage bunshin no Jutsu. So how is it not possible for you to have created a shadow clone of yourself and kept him in the shadows until your original body left? From there the clone could freely enter the vicinity and walk through the halls without question, allowing you access to not only attack the Hokage but also allow accomplices into the building."

This made him freeze. It wasn't just a single person disguised as him that hurt Granny Tsunade but more people. The guy had a team working on this for who knows how long and who knows for what purpose. "I didn't do it." He repeated. "Why would I hurt Granny Tsunade? There's no reason for me to do that. All that happened between me, her, and Shizune is that we talked for a couple hours. When I realized that it was getting really late out and the storm wasn't slowing down, I decided to go home and eat some ramen."

"Then why was it reported that you were found washing your clothes? Trying to get rid of the evidence of blood?"

"No! I…"

"You what?" The rest of the council leaned in closer to hear his answer.

Swallowing back his pride, Naruto grudgingly answered. "I haven't done laundry in a couple of weeks…" His voice was a whisper, embarrassment painting red across his cheeks as he refused to make eye contact with anyone in fear of being laughed at. Sometimes being a ninja took too much time to allow one to wash their clothes.

A struggled cough escaped the mouth of Kakashi, standing in the corner of the room alongside Gai. Neither could hide the internal battle of holding back the laughs that so badly wanted to escape.

Koharu and Homura didn't find the situation the least bit funny and shot a glare in the direction of the two laughing Jounin, shutting them up. Another wave of silence passed over the group before Koharu cleared her throat. "The decision has been unanimously named." Of course, the trial was only a farce. The decision had been made long before Naruto reached his holding cells last night.

Naruto held his breath, Kakashi and Gai held their breaths, and even the air in the room seemed to still. "Naruto Uzumaki, we the council, find you… guilty."

The shock froze his body as Naruto was carried off by Anbu out the door back into Level 5 holding, back into the cemented and steel barred cell. He said nothing, only walking with the guided hands of people who found him as an enemy… an enemy that would face execution.

Kakashi sat with his face in his hands. "Dear god." He whispered mainly to himself. Sitting in the office of the main holding cell building, everything that had just happened swirled in his head like a tornado. How could Naruto do this? Didn't he respect Lady Tsunade? What had gone wrong?

Gai stood at the back of the couch, watching his friend slowly sink into sadness and disappointment and guilt. This was hard for him, he knew. One student lost to Orochimaru for revenge and now another for a reason still unknown to them all. How could he help fix this situation? "Kakashi, buck up. This is the youth of our lives we are spending away. We just need to find a way to clear Naruto's name, from there things will get better." He flashed his signature twinkling white smile but was failed to be seen.

The silver haired man shook his head from behind his hands. "No, the evidence is clear, Gai. Naruto did it." The evidence proved everything, it was him. It was Naruto of all the people possible. "How else could Lady Tsunade have been attacked so suddenly? And the last person to see her or Shizune last night was Naruto. Only Naruto could have been able to attack them out of nowhere and knock them unconscious, to put them both in a coma. There's no other possible suspect but him." Gai stayed silent to that. It's true, a bitter sort of truth.

"It could have only been Naruto, the clone, the strength, the chakra. All of it could only be Naruto."

"Get up, traitor!"

It wasn't the loud voice that jolted him awake, it was the word used against him. 'Traitor'. An ugly word that Naruto never thought he would be called. Where did things start to go wrong for him?

"I said get up!" The man yelled again. Ibiki Morino stood tall, the two scars across his face more pronounced than before. Being the leader of the Torture and Interrogation Force, there were no laugh lines visible. "Today's the day when a traitor dies." His voice remained leveled but the eyes showed the hatred and disgust churning inside. Naruto flinched.

"No, not those eyes, anything but those eyes, please."

A smirk appeared before disappearing as Ibiki made a sign for the Anbu to take Naruto away, to take him to the death that awaits all those branded with the name of traitor.

Naruto's POV

I couldn't help it when my hands started to shake like a leaf. Not only was I going to die but I was going to die as a traitor and those eyes… those eyes being the last thing I remember. My eyes looked up to see the faces of the past kages, especially my dad, and they had those same eyes as Morino. The hatred and disgust made me shudder even though the afternoon was pretty warm. Where did things go wrong?

When I got pushed onto the platform, I saw that there was a crowd. So this is how I am going to go? I was going to be mocked first in front of all these people staring at me with accusatory eyes. I didn't hurt Granny Tsunade but no one here believed me, not even my own sensei. Then it suddenly hit me like the punch Morino gave me to knock me out.

No matter how many good things I do, no matter how many lives I save, and no matter how true to myself I am, isolation would be the only thing waiting for me in the end. After all these years when I thought everyone had gotten over the fact that I am the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox there was still that same anger, same disgust, same hatred. They had lied to themselves and lied to me. Nothing has changed. The only thing that changed is the fact that everyone could hide those emotions under layers of smiles and compliments. Was I really appreciated and wanted by this village than?

Talking died down when Morino stood next to me and Anbu flanked all sides of me. "Today," His voice carried out. "We rid ourselves of a traitor. Today, we put the man who dared to harm our Hokage in his place. Death is the only retribution." Cheers erupted. There really was no mercy for anyone, especially a person like me.

I clenched my fists and looked down at my feet. Tears threatened to start but I fought them back. I would not cry because I know that I am innocent. I am.

"Kill him! He doesn't deserve to live!"

"You damn fox bastard! You should have died a long time ago!"

"I knew you were a curse on this village!"

"No one wants you here! You traitor!"

"You're no worse than that damned Sasuke Uchiha!

"You deserve to rot in hell alongside Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, you devil child!"

Insults kept flying and the crowd only grew more in size. Looking up, I suddenly saw the sad eyes of Sakura and the cold eyes of Sai. When I tried to call out to them, they only turned around and were swallowed up by the crowd. They looked so disappointed in me.

"You're a freak, a loser, and unwanted child!" The crowd began to chant it loud. "Not even your parents would want you. You're a disgrace to them and a disgrace to this village." And that's when it happened. Something in me snapped. The last string of calmness I had left to keep me going broke. I breathed faster and faster, heart racing, and the world started to blur around the edges. Disgrace. Freak. Traitor. Curse. Demon. My teeth elongated and sharpened into daggers, claws formed, and I felt my temperature rise.

I broke free of my cuffs and growled, jumping back onto the face of my father on the side of the mountain. Everything seemed so far away from my conscious now. The crowd hushed though. No one made a move and my eyes scanned each face. I knew all of them, saw them walking around the village smiling at me. Some of the faces belonged to my friends but were they even that anymore? There were the faces of the other team's senseis that held up weapons ready to defend the defenseless public. Why? Why do you defend them when I'm the victim?! That's what I wanted to scream out to them but it would only be a pointless waste of air.

With a roar, I launched myself over the group and into the forest with pursuers not far behind me. A shuriken hit me on my back; at least five more followed the first one. The last managed to make me lose balance on the tree branch and fall into a field. It was a field with lush green grass, some giant rocks and a single tree standing lonely in the middle. I rolled down and got back onto my feet after hitting the base of the tree. The shuriken continued to dig into my back after rolling over them a couple of times.

Hissing through the pain, I staggered back a little as Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Shikimaru's dad, and a couple Anbu stood poised to take me down.

"That's enough, Naruto. There is no point in running. This only further proves your guilt at the crime you committed." Ibiki spoke out when he came walking out from behind a tree. How it hid his massive body remains a mystery. "Just calm down and face your punishment like a man. Only a guilty coward runs."

I growled at him. "I am no coward and I am no traitor. I didn't do it; I didn't hurt Granny Tsunade or Shizune."

Ibiki tensed. "Do not disrespect Lady Tsunade. You dare to call her in such a friendly matter when not too long ago, you attempted to kill her in cold blood." His muscles coiled, I could see it. He was prepared to kill me right now. I need to escape; I need to get out of here, before I die.

I took another step back but the shurikens made me feel stiff. Damn it, I need to get these things out of me. I'm losing blood. "I'm not going back. Not until I find the real guy who did this, the guy who framed me. And even when I do find the guy and bring him back, I'm not staying around here anymore."

Kakashi stared at me; I could feel his eyes on me, watching my every move. But I don't care. Someone out there hurt Granny Tsunade but they also exposed how the villagers and even how my own team felt about me. I wanted justice, not just for myself. Who knows, they could always come back and repeat this process all over again. There's nothing stopping them from doing just that.

"I know now how this village feels about me now, how you all feel about me." No one spoke out at me. No one tried to even defend themselves on the views I pointed out. "I am a reminder of a past they want to forget, I am the reminder of the lives lost and bloodshed. You all see only the past when you look at me, even before all of this happened. None of you saw me for me." I didn't even need to ask them the truth of that accusation because I could see it in their eyes, even Iruka-sensei. All those words of kindness and support were fake, lies to make me stay because I was a Jinchuriki, a weapon who would gratefully serve them because I was naïve enough to believe them. How could I have been so blind?

"Be happy then, you won't have to see me, think of me as being as good as dead. But I am not going to die, not until I bring in the real guy who hurt the Hokage and kill him myself. I'm going to make sure I enjoy killing him because it doesn't matter anymore what happens to me. I'm a monster." And as they lowered their arms, I turned around and started to escape but I looked back one more time. "And I'll live up to that name. That, I can promise you all."