WARNING! This particular drabble deals with especially asult content including rape. If you no likey, please don't read and then complain later. If you're ok with reading something dark, please continue on and let me know what you think.
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Autophobia
Naruto had never known what it was like to live in fear every waking moment. Despite the seal over his navel which served as a daily reminding of what exactly was living inside of him, he had never truly feared the Kyuubi and its powers or what would happen if the evil entity somehow broke free. He had always felt in control, had always managed to separate himself from the thing lurking inside him.
Until now.
Now Naruto found it impossible to forget that the Kyuubi resided within him, even for a moment, and even though Sakura continued to insist that he and the nine-tailed fox had nothing in common except for the body they shared, Naruto couldn't be so sure. He didn't know how she managed to look him in the eye and say those words. She had been a victim of the monstrosity after all.
He supposed he had led himself down this path the moment he had first tapped into the Kyuubi's endless chakra, opening the door to the prospect of their identities merging, if only briefly. Sakura was not the first to be injured by the beast inside him. Jiraiya had almost met his death because of his pupil's inability to keep both his emotions and the Kyuubi under control, and Sakura had already suffered an injury from his tainted form once before, her arm incapacitated by one scratch, but what happened after that was so loathsome, so horrific, that Naruto felt physically sick at the mere thought of what he had done.
He couldn't stand to look at himself in the mirror now, couldn't even stand to look down at his own hands, hands that has caused so much damage, mentally, physically and emotionally, he wondered if he'd ever be able to make amends, and wondered if he was even fit to try. The villagers had been right all along. He really was a monster and there were times when his self loathing was so intense that he longed to be put out of his misery.
If only it had been someone else, something else, anything but her, but perhaps that was why the Kyuubi had chosen her, Naruto's own interest piquing the fox's interest and lust, both from blood and for flesh.
It had started innocently enough as a late afternoon training session after Sakura had finished her medical studies for the day. The training grounds were deserted and quiet and they used the space to their advantage, their sparring match bounding all over the landscape until they were far from the village as they could get, some of their fighting taking place between the trees of the surrounding forest.
By the time they were too tired to continue, the shadows had grown long and the sun had started to dip beneath the horizon and they took a break beneath the leafy boughs of a large tree, unafraid of the encroaching darkness.
It was then Sakura had turned to him and asked him about Sasuke, about what had really happened the first time he had gone to bring him home. It was a subject he seldom talked of and never gave details about, but as a part of Team 7, she felt she had to know, had to understand why Sasuke had declared all bonds with them severed when they had ventured to bring him home a second time.
Naruto had been reluctant, but with a little probing, continued anyways, recounting just what had happened that day in the Valley of the End, how the person he had considered to be closer than a brother had turned his back on him and walked away.
Every time he recalled Sasuke's cool, confident smirk and the way he had looked at him disdainfully, the familiar rage he had felt that day returned unbidden. Why hadn't he been strong enough to bring him home? Why couldn't he have done more? What was the point in being a shinobi if he was too weak to save the people he cared about?
He felt angry, helpless, disgusted at himself for failing Sasuke not once but twice. Even though he tried to remain ever hopeful about returning the young Uchiha home, the last failure at Orochimaru's base had taken its toll on his moral.
He found himself wishing more than anything to have the strength to save his friend and felt the resulting anger well up inside of him at the thought of how painfully obvious it was that he was still too weak to be of any use.
And then he felt it, just like he always did, the tempting flood of immeasurable power just beyond his reach, sealed away where it couldn't harm…and couldn't help either.
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He was there, standing in front of those endlessly tall gates that were the entrance to a part of himself he didn't even fully understand, and behind them lurked the Kyuubi, beckoning him to draw on his endless power and set him free so that he may aid in accomplishing Naruto's goals.
The blonde knew the devil when he saw it, and after seeing how that power had wounded Sakura, he had vowed to never depend on the Kyuubi again, but even now, at just the memory of his loosing battle, he felt the helplessness and anger well up inside him once more and the tempting call of the Kyuubi to break the seal and let him out.
"No," Naruto said vehemently, his form small and insignificant before the towering gates. "I don't need your power anymore. I can do this on my own!"
Red eyes glowing with menace stared back at him through the murky darkness behind the thick bars, the throaty growl practically shaking the ground beneath the blonde man's feet.
"You claim your own power is adequate, but where are the results of all your effort. Your friend who you say means so much to you, still has not returned home. It seems that little has changed since you refuse to use my power."
"Shut up!" Naruto screamed, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "What do you know?!"
Dark lips curled into a snarling smile, revealing teeth longer than Naruto was tall.
"I know that you are helpless to bring home one teammate and lack the courage to confess to another."
The shinobi took a step backwards as if he had been physically struck. What business was it of the Kyuubi's that he had secretly pined after his pink haired friend long after he had stopped actively pursuing her? He knew deep down that what he felt for her was more than the love of close teammates but he would never bring himself to say anything and be rejected by her again. She only had eyes for Sasuke, that much was clear.
The fox saw Naruto's shock and chuckled darkly.
"Oh yes, I know of your adoration for the female," he mocked. "I can feel every emotion in your heart, even the foolish ones. There is nothing you can keep from me. You care deeply for her and yet you're too afraid to tell her. Do you need additional power even for such a trivial thing?"
"Stop it! Leave her out of it!" Naruto growled threateningly, his body quietly trembling as his anger only grew.
"Perhaps, you are afraid that you cannot show her what a true male is, cannot protect her," the fox grinning maliciously.
"Shut up!"
"Cannot…pleasure her."
"I said SHUT UP!" Naruto screamed, so enraged by the Kyuubi's taunts that he didn't see the haze of read fog that was seeping out under the gate and swirling around him or feel the physical changes taking place inside of him that moments ago, he had affirmed he would never allow again.
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"Naruto!" Sakura gasped in horror as she felt the shift in his chakra, his signature becoming increasingly more powerful but more malevolent as well.
The blonde man growled, a sound that was more animal than human and held his head in his hands, shaking violently for a moment as if he were fighting an internal battle against an unseen adversary. But as she watched his fingernails lengthen into claws and his teeth distend to fangs, she knew exactly who he was fighting…and that Naruto was losing the battle.
"Hey, get a grip!" she yelled in concern, placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking him roughly, hoping to snap him back to his true form, but instead he lashed out with a clawed hand and shoved her away, his sharpened fingernails tearing a large hold in her red top right below her collar bone.
"N-Naruto," she gasped, surprised and shaken but otherwise unharmed as she lay on the ground.
His shudders seemed to have stopped and he lowered his hands from his head, but when he lifted his eyes to meet hers, she found them to be a frightening orange-red and his slim whisker marks had deepened and grown thicker. He was looking at her the way a hungry dog eyed its prey and she knew that Naruto was no longer in control of himself.
"Naruto, please, calm down," she said, trying to keep her voice gentle and get through to the man she knew was inside somewhere amid the ego of the beast.
"I'm perfectly calm Sakura," the creature said, smiling humorlessly to bear sharpened fangs that sent a chill down the kunoichi's spine.
Sakura swallowed hard, not sure how to handle this situation, but as her team mate began to advance, she picked herself up off the ground and assumed a fighting stand, preparing to defend herself if need be.
"Naruto, stop this. I don't want to hurt you," she warned, summoning chakra into her right fist.
Her words seemed to do nothing to subdue him.
"You won't," he said simply, red eyes flashing with what could have been amusement.
Praying that her punch wouldn't do more than what she could heal, she swung at him, hoping to knock him out so the Kyuubi's deadly charka would dissipate. Her fist would have connected if he had stayed still but he dodged in a flash of orange and black, slipping behind her and grabbing her wrist tightly. With one fluid move, he yanked her full forced to the ground, sending her flying onto her back amidst the moss and ferns of the forest.
The impact knocked the wind right out of her and she hadn't even caught her breath before he was upon her, straddling her hips and leering into her face.
"What's the matter Sakura-chan?" Naruto sail, his voice raspy and rougher than usual. "Can't put up a good fight when I use my true power?"
"Naruto, we both know the Kyuubi's power isn't really yours," Sakura panted, trying to force air into her lungs. "You don't need held from that monster."
Before she could react, a clawed hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of her hair, hauling her up so he was nose to nose with her.
His red eyes bored into hers and he seemed to be studying her intently and Sakura couldn't help but feel it wasn't Naruto's eyes looking at her but those of the monster sealed within him.
"Sakura, why do you keep rejecting me?"
Out of all the things Naruto could have said, that was one of the last things she had expected.
"Naruto, what do you—"
"Is it because I'm not strong enough? Not cool enough?" Naruto interrupted. "Not dark and handsome like Sasuke?"
There seemed to be genuine hurt in his voice and Sakura couldn't be sure whether she was hearing the words of her teammate or the Kyuubi.
"Naruto I—"
"You know I've always loved you, and I've never once betrayed you. Sasuke has never showed you affection or kindness and keeps walking away from both of us and yet you still choose him over me?"
Sakura didn't know what to say. Those ruby eyes held pain and sadness in their depths along with the anger and rage. These emotions were genuine and she had a feeling the Kyuubi hadn't produced them but was merely feeding off them, egging Naruto on into an emotional frenzy. Even if he never would have voiced these thoughts himself without the fox's prompting, they still resided in him all the same.
"I'll make you see Sakura," he growled, his words sounding more like a threat than anything else. "I'll make you feel things Sasuke could never make you feel."
Without releasing his grip on her hair, Naruto crushed his mouth to hers in a smothering kiss, his tongue parting her lips forcefully and ravaging her mouth. The kunoichi squeaked in surprise and tried to wretch her mouth away but his hand in her hair held her fast.
This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening! Naruto was kind and gentle and bumbling when it came to girls but his movements held none of that. They were forceful and strong and confident, proving that Naruto wasn't the one kissing her; the Kyuubi was and he was merely using Naruto's body to do so.
He plundering her mouth until her lungs were screaming. The shock had worn off and Sakura wasn't about to sit by idly while this happened. She pressed her palms to his chest and tried to shove him off, using enough power to send him flying. She couldn't damage the Kyuubi substantially without wounding her friend and so she hoped she could land a successful hit that would knock him out until she could get him back to Tsunade and they could figure out what the hell was wrong with him.
Unfortunately, she hadn't even gotten to her feet before he was back on her, pinning her arms above her head viciously in one broad hand.
"So you wanna play rough Sakura?" he asked, a malevolent grin on his lips.
"Naruto, stop this! I don't—"
Sakura found herself silenced by the sound of tearing cloth as Naruto grabbed a fistful of her red shirt and tore it away, leaving behind scarlet shreds and her bindings underneath.
She began to struggle anew, thrashing and kicking beneath him but nothing she did could throw him off.
"The more you fight, the rougher I'll be," the blonde warned, an excited glint shining in his eyes, his vertical pupils dilated to narrow slits as he watched for her reaction.
"Get the hell off me!" she yelled, not being calmed by him for a moment.
Instead of heeding her request, he dipped his head to her wrapped bosom and took the top edge of her bindings in his teeth. With one violent tug, he had ripped them away as well and Sakura cringed at how much the motion resembled a dog tearing at a chunk of meat.
Her chest was exposed to him now and his eyes roved over her hungrily in an expression she had never seen Naruto wear before. She may have been inexperienced when it came to things like this, but she knew lust when she saw it, and the emotion burning in those red eyes was exactly that in its most primal and frightening form.
"Naruto, you don't want to do this. Fight against the Kyuubi!" she cried, struggling futilely in his seemingly unbreakable grip.
He drew his eyes from her breasts to her face, studying her a moment before his face split in a demonic grin.
"Oh, you're wrong Sakura-chan," he growled. "I've been wanting to do this for as long as I can remember."
Sakura watched in horror as he lowered his head to take one of her nipples into his mouth and the kunoichi gasped at the hot, wet sensation after feeling the cool air on her skin.
"No…don't," she whimpered as he began to suck hungrily, his free hand cupping her other breast and fondling it roughly. He squeezed and kneaded the delicate flesh and Sakura couldn't help but wince every time his sharp nails scratched at her.
Naruto merely chuckled at her pitiful sounds and caught her nipple between his and tugged it hard, causing her to cry out. He let his tongue slide over the silky curve of her breasts, nipping at her with sharp teeth that left red marks on her flawless skin.
Sakura continued to fight against him, although it was becoming apparent she had little chance of escaping him. She had no idea how strong he truly was in this form but chances were that even if she did manage to break free, he would be on her again in an instant and overpower her easily.
His touches were rough, too rough to really be called caresses. His movements were hungry and primal, as if he meant to devour her, and from the way he switched breasts and bit at her nipple, it certainly seemed he would, and yet, despite his harsh treatment, Sakura could feel her body reacting to it all the same. The little pink nubs crowning her breasts had distended into hard pebbles that Naruto licked and sucked eagerly and she felt an unusual warmth pooling in her lower abdomen. Her cheeks flushed pink ay the fact that she could be aroused by such a thing but she tried to convince herself that it was only her body's natural response and it didn't necessarily mean she was enjoying this.
One clawed hand raked across her breast painfully, leaving four parallel scratches that began to ooze blood a moment later. Naruto lapped at the scarlet droplets eagerly, his warm tongue soothing the pain of the wound.
The taste of blood seemed to work the fox man into an even greater frenzy, for he began suckling and biting at her with renewed fervor, causing his prey to gasp and shudder at the sensations that were bouncing between pleasure and pain.
Sakura shut her eyes, trying to block out the image of Naruto violating her, but it did nothing to dull the feeling of his tongue rolling against her nipple or his fangs grazing the underside of her breast. She did her best to keep quiet but whimpers and murmurs kept escaping her lips and she found that the sounds she made only served to drive him on, his breath coming in ragged pants like an animal that had just run a long distance.
He sucked until her skin felt raw and only then did he mercifully pull away, his tongue slithering down to nip the taunt skin just above her shorts and medic apron.
The sound of his throaty voice made her open her eyes and she saw that her breasts were swollen and red, criss-crossed with shallow scratches and puncture wounds from his fangs that continued to slowly seep blood.
"You like what I'm doing Sakura-chan," he growled wickedly against her skin. "I can smell you. You're getting wet for me."
Sakura opened her mouth to protest but the words were lost as he easily tore away the pink garment and then grabbed a handful of her shorts, his sharp claws easily ripping through the fabric.
"Naruto! No!" she cried, flailing anew in his grip as he tore away the last of her clothes, leaving her in nothing but her sandals and shin guards.
"So this is what you've been hiding from me Sakura-chan?" the blonde smiled, his eyes roving her naked form shamelessly and fixing on the small patch of downy pink hair between her legs. "It's rather nice."
Sakura drew back he knee in preparation to kick him but he dodged, using the hand not pinning her down to guide her leg over his shoulder and held it there, using her own momentum from the kick while he used his body weight to keep the other pinned to the ground. The new position spread her thighs and gave him a good view of the pink folds within and Naruto licked his lips as if she were the most delicious thing he had ever seen.
"You're aroused," he growled mockingly, as he lowered is nose to nuzzle the curls covering her sex before letting his fangs graze the flesh just above them, making the muscles in her lower abdomen jump wildly.
"No, you're wrong!" Sakura cried, frantically wriggling as she felt his tongue circle her navel, trailing a strange heat over her skin that made her body tingle.
"Don't lie to me." Naruto rasped, giving her tummy a nip that nearly drew blood. "You smell like a bitch in heat."
Those were words she knew Naruto would never use, and it was even more clear that the Kyuubi was in control of this situation. She wondered if Naruto was aware of what was happening at all.
Before she had a chance to ponder the thought further, she felt his breath ghost over her most intimate place and she squealed at the sensation, green eyes going wide as she watched his head nestle between her legs.
"No…don't…not there!" she pleaded.
The shinobi paid her no mind and instead let his tongue slide over moist pink folds, finding her musky taste and scent to be intoxicating. One lick sent Sakura squirming and he immediately buried her face in her, thrusting his tongue into her tight opening that had never before been touched like this.
She couldn't help but throw her head back in surprise, her back arching of its own accord as a cry left her lips. His claws were digging into her thigh and wrist where he held her but all that was muted by what he was doing with his tongue. The alien heat that had been creeping into her abdomen suddenly flared into a molten fire, frightening her with its intensity and the fact that it was the Kyuubi was making her feel it.
Sakura was responding, just like he knew she would and her little cries and choked moans were making his cock ache in his pants. He twisted and swirled his tongue in her, lapping up her juices which were starting to flow until she was no longer struggling in attempts to escape, but writhing under him in fearful pleasure as he penetrated her with his tongue.
Confident resistance was beyond her capabilities now, he released her hands and slung her other leg over his shoulder before leaning forward and bending her almost double as his hands came under her to cup her rear and support her hips. The new position put her own pelvis much closer to her face and as her eyes opened in surprise, she found she could watch ever detail of her teammate spreading her folding once more and burring her tongue inside her.
This time her moan was inarguably one of pleasure as he lapped at her violently, his teeth scraping her every now and then which sent a sharp sensation through her that she couldn't exactly identify as pleasurable or painful. Her freed hands found purchase in his hair, gripping at the golden strands blindly as she tried to catch her breath a clear her head, a task made impossible by what he was doing to her. She was mortified that she was enjoying this, humiliated that the beast that had devastated her village so long ago was making her act so wanton. Inside she was loathing it, hating it, the tears forming at the corners of her eyes and the whimpering pleas for him to stop proof of it but her untouched body reacted to both the pleasure and pain, making her muscles so weak and her thoughts so unclear, that even all her strength and chakra control was useless against the sexual onslaught.
She watched the man she had thought was her friend, red, wild eyes glazed over with lust as he ravaged her. She didn't blame him, or Naruto himself had nothing to do with this, but nonetheless, she wondered if she would ever be able to trust him again after he lost control like this.
And this his tongue did something sinful inside of her and eyes rolled back a the sensation, cutting her thought short.
Naruto growled heatedly against her flesh, his licking and sucking making wet noises against her skin as he tasted her body frantically. He was so aroused by the pheromones she was unconsciously secreting and her taste and smell that he had abandoned reason long ago, acting on his most primal instincts to make her convulse and shiver under her. She was so responsive, growing wetter for him by the second, filling the air with scents of lust and sex and fear. It was the fear that he savored, the smell that told him he had control over this usually powerful woman. Naruto had never craved power, but now, under the Kyuubi's influence, he found he was drunk on it.
Sakura's body jolted as his teeth scraped her again, and then her whole body shook madly as she felt him abandon thrusting his tongue into her and hungrily engulfed the throbbing button above her entrance. She practically wailed, hands tightening painfully in his hair and hips bucking feverishly against his mouth as something burst inside her. Even as she fell apart beneath him, he didn't slow down for a moment, sucking at her so hard that it crossed into pain and still her orgasm didn't cease, inner muscles contracting and spasming until the feeling was nearly excruciating and Sakura was sobbing, tears cutting wet paths down her cheeks.
Naruto was painfully aroused by the way her thighs were trembling against his shoulders and the shrill scream of her release. He was so hard that it hurt and he knew he couldn't wait anymore.
Tearing his mouth away from her, he rolled her onto her stomach and jerked her hips up into the air while he slid the zipper of his orange pants down, allowing his rigid member to spring free.
She had barely come down from her high before she felt something stiff and hot at her entrance. Propping herself up on wobbly hands, she looked over her shoulder to find Naruto kneeling behind her, his swollen cock in his hand as he guided it to her opening. His expression was one of pure lust and she was frightened by the intensity of it, how his eyes looked at her, how he smiled cruelly and bared pointed canines.
"No, don't do this," she panted breathlessly, trying to crawl away but he easily grabbed her by the hips and dragged her back with an animalistic growl. His claws left fresh scratches but she hardly felt them through the fear and adrenaline.
Naruto was going to rape her. Oh god…
She felt the tip of him find its mark and shuddered as her body opened up to the mushroom-shaped head. She couldn't tell if the pulsing sensation inside her was his member or her own blood pumping through her.
"Naruto…" she whimpered, praying her voice would get through to him but her plea was futile as he thrust his hips forward in one hard stroke, burying himself to the hilt in her virgin passage, extracting a pained scream as her body struggled to adjust to the intrusion.
The shinobi didn't even pause, pulling back to push forward again with equal intensity, uttering a guttural growl as her insides immediately clenched around him, suctioning him back inside when he tried to withdraw. She was tight and unbelievably hot and he could think of nothing else but pounding into her again and again, her sobs and cries only making him throb more inside her quivering body.
Sakura's arms gave out, unable to hold herself up against the violent thrusts and she collapsed, her cheek dragging along the cool earth as her hands fisted in the ground, uprooting handfuls of moss. She could feel blood seeping from where his claws held her at the waist, the nails sinking into her flesh as he pulled her back against him to meet every push of his hips. He was still stretching her but the pain had ebbed away a little, replaced by stinging pleasure every time he slammed into her with a bone jarring thrust.
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sobbed into the dirt, her cries mixing with he sounds of flesh slapping against flesh. This was supposed to be just a simple training session. How had things escalated into this so quickly? How had Naruto transformed so completely?
A clawed hand left her hip to rake painfully down her back, tearing bloody gashes in her skin which Naruto immediately began to lick at, the coppery taste as arousing as much as the feminine nectar he has been drinking before had. His chin was smeared with a mixture of her blood and residual juices and his jacket and pants were spotted with red as well. Her body was covered with scratches and gashes, and though none of the were life threatening, her skin was slick with her own blood and sweat as he pounded into her harder, concerned only with reaching his own release.
She was beautiful, absolutely beautiful, all covered in blood and tears, radiating fear and desire. Even her pretty pink hair was matted with blood and he found himself on the edge just by realizing that the woman who could shatter boulders with one punch, was bent over before him and submitting helplessly. She was crying for him, trembling for him, and as he licked up the blood from her back, savoring it as if it were a fine wine, he felt a deep satisfaction that despite the fact that she had always loved Sasuke, it was Naruto who had become her first lover.
Feeling himself reach the brink, he hauled her up onto her knees, still thrusting into her wildly. She felt his breath on the back of her neck and tried to squirm away but froze when she felt his fangs graze the size of her throat.
His hands gripped her hips as he pushed into her once more before bliss overtook him but he remained alert enough to let his primal instincts take over. With one swift bite, he pierced the skin of her neck, marking her as his with the dual puncture wounds.
Sakura let out a frightened cry and for a moment, she was sure he was going to tear her throat out, but instead, he shivered against her violently for a moment, flooding her womb with his seed before extracting his teeth.
She wasn't sure what to expect now and jumped when his whispered words ghosted over the nape of her neck.
"See, I told you I would show you Sakura."
And with that, red eyes faded back to blue before heavy lids drifted shut and Naruto sunk to the ground. The Kyuubi's lust sated, it had relinquished control, leaving the shinobi blissfully unconscious.
For a moment, Sakura just looked at him in silence. His face was so serene despite the blood all over it, so totally out of place with what had just occurred. How could he be so peaceful when he had just done something so devastating?
Her breathing finally slowed and the adrenaline began to wear off and she was suddenly conscious of the searing pain covering her body. She had so many cuts that it was hard to tell exactly where they were under the blood that covered her. Hesitantly, she let her eyes drift down her form to assess the damage. Her breasts were now a network of bloody streaks and her stomach hadn't faired much better. She didn't even want to imagine what her back looked like.
But as her eyes looked lower to evaluate her legs, she noticed a sticky trail of white that cut through the mass of red, a trail that led from swollen, bruised vaginal lips.
The image was both revolting and overwhelming, increasing the impact ten fold of what had just happened.
Having no more strength to hold back, she collapsed to the ground, her whole body wracked with sobs as she cried hysterically, the pain not physical this time but mental and emotional and she knew such scars were not so easy to heal.
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Naruto awoke feeling strangely relaxed, more so that he had been in quite some time. He realized from the moss beneath him that he had been sleeping in the woods. Strange, he didn't remember falling asleep out here.
His senses told him something was wrong and he looked around. The sigh that greeted him made his eyes grow wide in horror. There sat Sakura, her skin rusty brown with dried blood and some of the larger wounds were still seeping scarlet. She was naked, her clothes laying inn tatters around her ad her face was streaked with tears. What was the most disturbing however was her eyes, her vacant, unseeing eyes. She was alive and breathing but her eyes seemed glazed, dull, lacking the spark of life that was usually in their green depths.
"Sakura!" he cried, running to her side, stripping off his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. "What happened Sakura? Who did this to you?"
The kunoichi flinched at his touch, her body tense like she was going to run but she remained still. Slowly, her eyes moved to meet his face as he crouched beside her.
"You really don't remember?" she whispered brokenly.
Naruto was confused. Nothing was making any sense. They were just outside the training grounds and were still in Fire Country. Nothing should have attacked them on their home turf, at least nothing Sakura couldn't take care of, and why was she expecting him to know what happened? The last thing he remembered was talking with her about Sasuke.
Sakura saw his bewildered look and knew it was no good. Naruto had no idea what he had done. Then again, perhaps that was for the better. The memories would almost certainly plague him if he had retained them.
"Naruto," she said softly. "These scratches…they were…"
She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Instead she bared a pale arm from under the jacket and took his hand, fighting the urge to run. She was scared of him even now, even though she shouldn't be. Naruto hadn't hurt her. Naruto was her friend, but the thing inside him…
The blonde's eyes widened as he saw that the scratches in her skin matched the space between his fingers exactly. Did that mean that he had…
He jerked his hand away as if he had been burned, and risked looking at his hand a little closer. His stomach knotted in nausea when he saw there was blood under his fingernails. He suddenly was aware of so much more. There was blood on his clothes, red drops and smears that had dried to brown and as his hand gingerly touched his face, he realized his whole chin was crusted with the same substance.
No, this couldn't be…how did he…
"The Kyuubi," Sakura whispered, her voice trembling as she fought to stay calm. "Naruto, the Kyuubi…he took over you."
The rising nausea made him dizzy and weak. He had sworn never to use the demon fox's powers again for the very reason that when he did, it often resulted in someone he cared about getting hurt. Somehow, the monster inside him had still taken control, still managed to inflict pain.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice hardly louder than a murmur. He didn't want to know the answer, didn't want to know why Sakura was naked and covered in blood, but deep down, her already knew, he just needed to hear it from her mouth.
"Naruto, you…we…the Kyuubi forced himself on me."
The blonde shinobi closed his eyes as an unbearable pain pieced his heart. Rape was one of the worst things a man could do to a woman and he had done it to Sakura, the very woman he cherished and respected. He risked opening his eyes and looked down to see the front of his pants was spotted red with streaks of a dried white substance. It didn't matter whether it belonged to himself or to her. It was still proof of the crime he had committed.
He could no longer fight down the overwhelming feeling of sickness and doubled over on the grass, retching as he emptied the contents of his stomach. Tears streaked down his cheeks, cutting through the blood and the dirt as the realization dawned on him that he indeed was no better than a monster. He could try and change, to put on a good face, but that didn't change what was lurking inside of him. Try as he might, he would never shake the demon within.
Somewhere behind him, he heard Sakura begin to cry.
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Sakura didn't utter a word of what had happened to anyone. She had healed herself in the woods and bathed in a nearby stream to wash away the blood and Naruto had done the same. She had promptly teleported home since she had nothing but Naruto's jacket to wear and wasn't about to walk through the streets of Konoha in a shirt covered in her own blood.
Naruto had wanted to see her home safely and perhaps talk this out, to apologize, to find a way to redeem himself, but she understandably wanted little to do with him, that night and the following weeks after that. Their relationship had fundamentally changed. She didn't trust him, didn't want to be around him. She was always jumpy and nervous in his presence, even if it was nearly imperceptible, Naruto noticed and was overwhelmed with grief every time she flinched at his touch or avoided his gaze.
Life continued as usual but every day was a curse rather than a gift for the usual sunny shinobi. Every day he wondered if this would be the day the Kyuubi would break free once more and harm somebody else. When he looked at his own hands, he only thought of the damage they could do when controlled by another. He was afraid of his of his own strength and abilities, wondering if they could be turned against the people he loved.
Looking in the mirror evoked nightmares. His own face plagued him as he wondered just when his blue eyes would once again turn red.
Being the Hokage was out of the question now and even if people didn't know the truth yet, it was only a matter of time before they did.
How could he hope to protect others when he was terrified of himself?
