Wounded

And standing there, kunai in gut, another teammate betraying her, Sakura could only wonder 'why?'

Naruto regretted it soon after he did it, but this was the only way, right? She was going to take it from him, what he was always meant to have! And she would ruin things, ruin it all.

And Sakura, like with Sasuke, only regretted what had happened, regretted not seeing what was happening with Sasuke, not stopping him. And regretted saying what she just did to Naruto. She didn't want to be Hokage! She wanted to settle down with a good-looking husband and have a great career as a strong kunoichi like Tsunade, wanted to make people's lives better, not command people and lead them, force them to go and fight in her name.

Naruto didn't know what he would have done in those next few moments, wherever he would have apologised and tried to help, or continue attacking her, but he couldn't because his arm simply wouldn't move.

"Naruto! What the hell are you doing!" The furious voice of Shikamaru rung out, confusion and anger evident in his yell. He had always questioned why these two couldn't get together, and now things were even worse.

"Let me go Shika. Let me go and I won't have to kill her."

The shadow under him kept strong though.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, first Sasuke, now you? I thought you were-"

And then Naruto, driven by fury broke free, turning towards his fellow leaf ninja in anger, not noticing Sakura beginning to reel her fist back.

It slammed into his left cheek with a resounding thud, the force so strong Naruto was propelled by his head through the air, through one of the apartment walls in fact, the cracking of concrete and explosion from his impact reverberating against Sakura's ear drums even when the dust obscured his form. Then she looked down, and saw her arm red, bleeding from the chakra she had put into it. She wasn't ready yet, it seemed. Tsunade's technique was still out of her reach

"You alright? That's a lot of blood."

Sakura didn't hesitate to use her healing palm, biting back gasps of pain to repair the cuts on her arm.

She responded to him, adrenaline running through her system, filling her with energy despite the kunai in her stomach. "We need to chase after him, we need to stop him Shika-"

"You need to get to a hospital idiot. Let him run away, don't let him have killed you because you neglected yourself."

And his eyes were so angry, almost as angry as hers, but she could tell he didn't want to lose another friend.

So she nodded, and he helped her limp away to get help, and alert someone. Someone strong, Shikamaru thought.

…

Naruto was panicking.

He was thinking, half a million possibilities running through his mind, thinking how the hell he was going to escape. Another half a million were doubting himself.

They wouldn't understand, they couldn't. He did what was necessary, of course he did, but they wouldn't have seen it that way. How much he needed, to protect them. From her… incompetency, foolishness, desire. Everything he hated about her would ruin people. That was what he told himself, what he needed to tell himself.

He could go back and kill her, but then their pursuit would be closer and more imbued with fervour. He didn't want to really, he had lost his composure. Made a damned mistake. Did she really have a chance in the first place? Couldn't he have just beat her normally?

He was fucked. He had made a mistake and now he was going to be captured, have the 9 tails inside him ripped out, and executed. That was if they caught him though.

The moment he was out of the rubble he spawned around 100 clones and they dashed away in all directions. Some went nowhere, but most went to the main exits to the village or back to his apartment, where they would expect him to hide away. He himself was going elsewhere, to a little exit, must have been old ANBU, that let someone escape the village just by crawling into it. He found it when he was a child and had nothing better to do than dive into every nook and cranny he could find. Must have been hidden by genjutsu, but it never affected him strong enough because of his fuzzy furred prisoner.

He entered it without conflict, nursing the cut on his face from his former teammate, the wound steadily healing with a small wisp of steam emanating from it. It was dark and damp, but he made his way through it fine, turning and twisting through the small concrete walls. Finally, he was out, the refreshing glow of sunlight on his face.

Then he had to sidestep, dodging a kunai thrown right at his foot. The perpetrator was an ANBU, but with a blank mask, the only ink on it being "ne". He had auburn hair, and looked to be between 16-18. Couldn't have been any older, too short and the bare skin on his arms looked too young.

"If I am correct, you, Uzumaki Naruto, are trying to flee the village. I'll have to ask you to return please. It would do the Leaf no good to have an asset like you gone."

Naruto didn't answer, didn't care to. He had to escape, just had to, and this guy rubbed him the wrong way. Sure he was a fellow leaf nin, but what if he was like Mizuki? A traitor, and he probably would sell him out, and being ANBU he would have the skills to catch him.

He body-flickered into the man, a jab at his solar plexus blocked by both arms crossed. Naruto followed up with a flurry of blows hooks left and right blocked each time, but his arms were getting battered bit by bit. Eventually he began weaving in and out the blows, letting his guard rest, yes, but also making his openings more obvious, eventually allowing Naruto to launch a high kick into his ribs, stunning his where a hook could slam into his face, forcing him to stumble away.

The ANBU was back right up though, his mask slightly cracked, blood leaking from under it. He zig-zagged, dashing left and right like a rabid animal, before reaching the jinjuriki. The boy responded by kicking horizontally across, which his enemy ducked under, grabbing the outstretched limb with one arm, pushing his body down with the other, in a textbook takedown.

Both now on the floor, the ANBU tried to follow up by slamming his elbow into Naruto's face, which he dodged by jerking his head to the left, then leveraging his strength, pushed his assailant into a reversal, his own elbow slamming into the ANBU instead. They were hurt, yes, but in that pain they snaked their legs up to the Uzumaki's chest, pushing him off and into the air, forcing him to flip mid air, then greeting him with a few shuriken, Naruto using his clone as a platform to avoid the fan.

When he looked back though, the ANBU was gone. Creepy.

Then every muscle in his body told him to jump over a swipe, the blade barely passing underneath. He twisted mid-air, unleashing a kick across the ANBU's arm, sending his tanto scattering away, across the dew blessed grass. He landed, as the auburn haired adversary rushed into him, an elbow strike across his face, turning it to the side with its power, followed by a few punches, none of which landed, then a head kick, feigned into a grapple, the ANBU tossing Naruto through the air, into a tree, then smashing his skull with his knee after body flicking into it.

And then Naruto burst into smoke.

The real Naruto, having spawned a clone and dodged out the way, grabbed onto the stunned foe's waist, suplexing him from behind into the floor with a resounding strength, forcing the ANBU to roll across the floor, his body skipping once, twice like a rock across a pond, hard thuds and upturned dust and dirt marking him.

He struggled to get up, but he still did, eventually, whilst Naruto studied him. Though he was the optimal distance, the ANBU didn't even think to do hand signs, to cast an offensive jutsu. That didn't make sense to Naruro. He knew why he didn't do it himself, it was too loud. Everyone would figure out where he was but the ANBU hadn't even thought to call for help, didn't want to use jutsus, because he didn't want to be discovered either?

Naruto gambled. He rushed towards the ANBU again, leaping into the air as both their legs slammed into each other, him flipping overhead after, and releasing an explosive note from his grasp to the side. As if possessed, the ANBU rushed over to turn it off, managing to release the disarming sequence of chakra, but it was too late.

The Uzumaki used the distraction to his advantage, palming a kunai and slashing at his enemy's legs, then cutting across his now dropped body, slicing under his ribs and chest, until stabbing at his throat. At the last second though, the man caught the kunai with his hand, the blade running through his fingers, piercing his neck but barely enough to sever it.

"T-traitor."

Then something happened. Naruto could feel a pulse of chakra run through his arm, into his brain, and suddenly he was inside his mindscape, with the enemy in front of him. Behind the bars of the kyubii's cell

He removed his mask (weird), and opened his mouth to speak.

"I am Yamanaka Fu, and you have betrayed the village. I want you to know, scum, that we will never stop chasing you, not until we rip the soul out of you and put your beast inside someone else! You hear me-"

And then a roar came bellowing out as the kyubii clasped his jaws around the ANBU, killing him instantly, the fox chewing and swallowing before proclaiming:

"Pitiful as he is, no mere mortal shall be allowed to trespass on my container's mind. Now begone human."

Then the beast retreated to the back of his cell, into the shadows once more.

And Naruto awoke to Fu, because that was his name apparently, dead, his eyes distance and far away, his nose running with a waterfall of blood, eyes crying red tears, ears full with a scarlet liquid.

It was gruesome. And Naruto felt deserved.

He wasted no time sprinting at top speed again.

He needed to head west. To Suna. Then, he would be safe.

…

Tsunade rushed down (she would have been sprinting if it wouldn't make her look manic), Shizune by her side, hospital corridors seeming a blur as her mind rushed with a million different things.

She almost smashed the door open, and she saw Sakura, a medic nin seeing to her wound. She looked pale, but still conscious, and strong. She pushed the medic nin to the side, who was grateful for the break, letting Tsunade work on Sakura herself.

"Sakura, you're going to be alright."

"I know." She said, nearly lethargic, but with determination.

"… Who did this to you?" She knew of course, but she wanted Sakura to say.

Instead though, a voice from behind answered "Naruto did it."

She turned to look at Shikamaru. Anger, rage was her first thought, but then confusion and analysis. "Why the hell would he even think of that?"

"I don't know, but he and Sakura had been fighting a lot. Maybe he just got pissed."

Then her eyes opened, realisation hitting her like a truck.

"The 9 tails, feeding into his anger! After this long, with the seal weakened, it could have changed his personality. He-He got corrupted somehow."

The wound was repaired. Tsunade walked out. To let Sakura recover. And get a drink. She had lost someone else it seems.

…

A/N: Second part of the last chapter. I am going in an interesting direction with the story. Also note, this chapter might have changed based on the reception to the last chapter