The Dark Side of the Jinchuriki

Naruto could barely feel his eyelids fluttering open as he let out a silent groan. A small part of him wanted to fall back into unconsciousness because his head was throbbing, but it was too late now. His surroundings were already starting to blur into view so going back to sleep probably wasn't an option. What he really needed to do was figure out what the heck had happened. One moment he was minding his own business, the next he had been ambushed so hard he thought he might be dead.

Tiredly, he lifted his eyes to look out in front of him. His vision was still a little iffy, but he could see well enough to make out the dark greens of the forest. Overhead, tree leaves rustled softly, and on the ground, small bushes dotted the landscape. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he noticed that the whole forest had turned into a collage of blacks and whites again. Was it night already? The sound of crickets chirping in the distance let him know that it was.

Another groan escaped his lips as he tried to shift around where he was sitting. He found his movements were much more limited then he would have liked and when he looked down, he saw the reason why. A band of thicker than usual ropes had been fastened around his upper body and were strapping him to the tree behind him, and on top of that, they seemed to have some type of seal on them. Not good…

He turned his focus back to the area in front of him and noticed there was a small campfire a few feet away. The orange flames sent small embers his way and he could feel some of the heat radiating onto his body as it chased away the night chill. It was a small mercy from whoever had taken him captive.

"Finally awake, huh?"

Kurama's voice wasn't particularly nice on the ears, but Naruto couldn't deny being happy to hear it for once. "What the heck happened?" he groaned.

"We were ambushed."

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "I got that. Any idea who?"

"Maybe." Kurama mused. "Feels similar to those chakras from earlier, but I can't be sure. There's a group of them talking in the distance though."

Naruto looked ahead then squinted, making a concentrated effort to peer past the dancing flames. His vision was still blurring into focus, but he could see well enough to see that Kurama was right. Sure enough, as he looked past the fire, he could see four figures standing a distance away, veiled in shadows. Three guys and one girl from the looks of it. He could see their mouths moving but there was no way he'd be able to make out what they were saying from where he was.

He let out a silent grunt of frustration, but his moping was cut short when Kurama broke into his thoughts. "Always remember the resources you have at your disposal." Naruto squinted in confusion but caught on when he felt an imperceptible amount of chakra bubbling around his ears. Oh…now he got it.

"Good call," he replied, biting his lip while squinting at the group in question. All it took for him to listen in was a tilt of his head.

...

"We were making good time before." the girl said. "Now we're just wasting it. If we don't get Sasuke to Orochimaru in time, I am NOT going to be the one to explain this little detour."

"Look, we couldn't just ignore him." one of the guys replied. "You felt that chakra same as I did, he could've been a threat."

"We still didn't have to get involved!" she spat. "He was heading away from us!"

"Yeah, that's what we thought about those other guys, and we were wrong!"

...

Naruto's eavesdropping was cut short when he heard a familiar voice coming from above him.

"They're trying to figure out what to do with you."

Naruto's eyes widened. That voice, there was no way... Naruto looked up above and saw none other than Sasuke Uchiha sitting on a tree branch, lurking in the shadows.

"Sasuke?"

The boy in question was tossing a rock up and down carelessly and seemed unphased by the mention of his name. "We sensed you earlier," he said. "I didn't think it was you though, it didn't make sense. After all," He caught the rock one final time as he looked down. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

"What am I doing here?" Naruto half-growled. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I asked first."

Naruto tried staring back, but it was obvious Sasuke wasn't gonna budge, probably because he didn't have to, he wasn't the one tied to a tree after all. Naruto frowned. Those stupid pitch-black eyes never got any more fun to look at. With a grunt, he turned away and silently grumbled, "I left."

"What do you mean you left?"

"What are you deaf? I said I left."

"All on your own?"

"Well, yeah," Naruto mumbled, fidgeting in the ropes. "Sort of…"

"Hm," Sasuke said, pausing briefly as he took a moment to register the information. "Why?"

A moment passed before Naruto gave a small shrug. "I got tired of people always treating me like crap and looking down on me, so I decided I was gonna change that."

"By leaving?"

"Well, I'm not leaving so I can sit around and do nothing." Naruto droned. "I'm gonna train."

"With who?"

"What's it to you?" Naruto retorted, voice coming out a bit louder than intended.

Sasuke looked down at Naruto but said nothing else, instead choosing to return to his rock tossing. "I doubt you'll get very far, but whatever." he finally said. A moment later, he added, "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised you left though, especially since I did the same thing."

Naruto could feel the blood drain from his face after hearing those words. "You did what?"

Sasuke kept tossing his rock and said no more.

"You left Konoha?" Naruto asked, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Now you're the deaf one," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"But why?" Naruto asked, wriggling around in the ropes.

"It's actually quite simple," Sasuke replied, lips set in a grim line. "There's something I need, and I can't get it in Konoha."

Naruto could feel a chill run through his body as Sakura's words came flooding back to his mind. Curse mark. Anger. Power. Orochimaru... He could feel his throat go dry as he looked up towards the shadows. "This is what Sakura was talking about," he whispered. "You're going to Orochimaru aren't you?"

Sasuke tightened his grip on the rock. "Yes."

"You can't be serious," Naruto said, eyes already turning frantic. "You're already strong Sasuke, you don't need to go to that freaky snake guy to get stronger."

"It doesn't matter how strong I am unless I'm stronger than Itachi, and right now, I'm not. If Orochimaru is the only way that can happen, then my path is clear."

"But why can't you stay in Konoha and get stronger?!"

"Don't act stupid, Naruto." Sasuke snapped. "You were there when it happened. I gave it everything I had and Itachi tossed me across the room like I was a piece of garbage. All of my training was useless and the only thing I learned that day was that I was still nothing compared to him." His eyes narrowed as he continued. "I haven't been doing enough…but that's gonna change." he finished, simultaneously returning to his rock tossing.

"Come on, Sasuke." Naruto pleaded. "There's gotta be another way."

"There actually is," Sasuke replied. "at least according to Itachi."

"Well, then you've gotta take it." Naruto urged.

"The other way is to kill you."

With that one statement came a silence that made the chill of the night feel even colder.

Into the awkward silence, Sasuke whispered, "Not so enthusiastic now, are you…"

Naruto swallowed a bit before snapping himself out of it. "Kill me?"

"Don't worry," Sasuke said. "As you can see, I've chosen the former. I don't like the idea of getting strong enough to kill my brother by becoming him." He finally tossed the rock to the ground and finished, "Which is why I'm gonna let you go."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Let me go?"

Sasuke swung his feet over the tree branch and let them dangle haphazardly. "I've already weakened the ropes tying you and tampered with the seal. If you were to break out, it would look like whoever tied you up did a bad job. This is your only chance, take it, or leave it."

...

Kurama wasted no time in making his opinion known. "One word of advice kid - Run."

"And just leave Sasuke to go to some freaky snake guy?!"

"Aren't you leaving too?" Kurama retorted. "He made his choice, now stop being a hypocrite and get outta here!"

"But I'm not going to a freaky snake guy!"

...

"I'm running out of patience," Sasuke said, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts. "I'm giving you a chance to escape, don't lose it by being stupid."

"Hear that?" Kurama said. "Don't be stupid. You can't beat them five on one."

"But I can't just leave him here," Naruto replied.

"That's exactly what you're gonna do," Kurama growled. "And where does this misplaced sense of duty come from? You were ready to abandon this idiot two seconds ago."

"I was leaving him in Konoha, not with some freaky snake guy."

Kurama chuckled in disbelief. "Listen, kid. If you fight them, what do you think is gonna happen? This isn't gonna be like one of those cool fights where you magically take them all on. In a fight like this, there's no jinchuriki. There's the ninja who lives and the ninja who dies. Fighting should be your last resort here."

"But aren't you supposed to be this overpowered creature or something?"

"It doesn't matter," Kurama stated. "We don't know how strong these guys are and you're not trained enough when it comes to using my powers. Sasuke alone would be a problem with his Sharingan."

...

"What's it gonna be, Naruto?" Sasuke's voice was cold but demanding as usual. His body remained hunched over on the tree branch as he finished, "I'm tired of waiting."

"Look," Naruto said, a stubborn pout on his face. "Let's just fight them together and go back."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed through the shadows. "You would go back so soon after leaving?"

"If it meant saving your sorry butt, yeah!"

Sasuke huffed. "You lack conviction, I don't. Now, take my offer or leave it. I'm not gonna tell you again."

Naruto could feel his teeth grinding against each other as he weighed his options. True, five on one odds weren't all that great, but Sasuke was about to go to freakin' Orochimaru! There was no way he could just stand by and let that happen, especially not when Sakura had warned him about this craziness. He'd have to try something and hope to beat the odds like he usually did. He always found a way, right? Maybe a few shadow clones would even out the odds, or even better, tip them in his favor. That sounded like a neat idea, especially if Kurama was gonna just sit back and be useless. Yeah, it would just all work itself out…he hoped.

From the confines of his chamber, Kurama shook his head disapprovingly. "Kid just leave. Don't do this…"

It was pointless, however, seeing as Naruto's mind had already been made up. "I'm going for it."

"Idiot."

A faint creaking sound was heard for a split second before a loud snap resonated through the forest. The weakened seal exploded in a flash of smoke and soot and, in the chaos, Naruto made his move. He quickly lifted both hands to form the sign for his shadow clones, but his fingers never met, for his arms had long been knocked away by a kick from Sasuke, who was now firmly planted on the ground. His Sharingan had already spun into action and even through the clouds of smoke, the blood-red dojutsu flared with life. "That…" he sighed. "was a mistake."

Naruto scowled as he dropped back a few steps. Sasuke always was a stubborn bastard. He quickly stretched out his right hand and within seconds the billowing smoke started swirling around it. It wasn't long before he had a swirling ball of blue, brown, and white rotating in his palm. Sasuke looked at the attack with mild intrigue but made no movement, although a faint trace of electricity could be seen flickering around his hand.

"Fine," Naruto thought. "If you're gonna give me a shot, I'm taking it."

He launched himself into a sprint, preparing to launch his attack, but before he could take two steps, he felt three stakes jam themselves into his forearm in rapid succession. "Argh!" he grunted, Rasengan spinning out of control and dispersing into the night. Pain racked his arm as he turned it over to see blood oozing from three golden stakes that were inches deep into his arm. He grimaced in pain as the stakes seemed to harden even more lodging themselves further into his arm. Dammit! That meant the other fighters were already getting involved. He started spinning around to face his new attacker, but before he could even prepare himself, he felt his knee bend in a direction that he knew no knee should ever bend in.

CRACK!

"AAAHHH!" His body fell to the ground with a thud and if how he gripped at his knee was any indication, he was in a world of pain.

"What the hell, Jirobo?!" the girl yelled. "You didn't tie him up right!"

The heavyset nin simply looked on cluelessly.

"You should know never to trust Jirobo." one man purred from the midst of the group. "I'm surprised he didn't eat the ropes…"

"Shut up, Sakon." the girl snapped. "Jeez...Can't trust anyone but myself out here." She walked over to Naruto's curled-up body then pulled a face and said, "Looks like you're a fighter, huh?"

"I'll say," one eight-limbed guy said, walking up casually. "He had some type of spinning ball in his right hand. Looked pretty nasty."

"Hm," the girl mused. "If that's the case, maybe he'd be useful to Orochimaru."

The eight-limbed man shrugged, crossing all six arms. "Maybe you're onto something…"

Naruto could feel the world spinning as the conversation blurred into the background. The lightheaded sensation was back in full force now, and it felt even worse than before if that was possible. With each passing second, the words grew fainter, slowly fading towards nothingness. With a grunt, he shut his eyes, resolving himself to do something before the words could disappear completely.

Drip.

The familiar sound let Naruto know he had indeed succeeded in his goal, even if only by the skin of his teeth. He was in front of the gate to Kurama's chamber once more. Despite the pain, he tried to offer up some form of coherent thought. His attempts were largely unsuccessful though, and, in the end, the only thing to escape his lips was a pained groan.

"I tried to warn you." Kurama drawled.

There was no reply on Naruto's end.

"Now you're stuck writhing in pain with a broken leg and a messed-up arm…Sucks, doesn't it?"

"I had to try…" Naruto rasped in between shaky breaths.

"No, you didn't."

"I had…no…choice." Naruto heaved.

"You could've chosen to listen to me," Kurama said. "But you didn't, and now you're gonna pay for it."

Naruto heaved a few more heavy breaths before saying, "Come on, stop messing around and help me like you usually do."

"Oh," Kurama grinned. "So, you didn't listen to me, but now you want my help."

"Well, you wouldn't listen to me first," Naruto retorted. "so I had to try by myself…"

Kurama huffed, shaking his head disapprovingly. "And you still haven't learned... I'm not helping you."

"What do you mean you're not helping me?" Naruto replied, breaths coming in shorter spurts.

Kurama's red eyes narrowed through the dark as he spoke. "You ignored my advice and got yourself in this mess, get yourself out of it." With that, he turned away, returning to his usual position with his head on his paws.

"Kurama," Naruto called, wincing in pain. There was no answer. "Kurama!" he yelled. "You gotta help me."

"No, I actually don't."

"Sooo…" the eight-limbed man said. "we're taking him back to Orochimaru's then?"

"What do you think, doofus?"

"Tayuya, do you really always have to be such a tool?"

"Grow a spine, Kidō. And Fatso, pick up the trash. It's your fault he escaped anyway."

"Whatever," Jirobo said.

"And don't let him escape again," Kidōmaru said. "I don't know what that thing he had in his hand was, but it didn't look like good news."

"Yeah," Tayuya echoed. "I don't care what you do, just make sure he's actually secure this time."

"Well, what should I do?" Jirobo questioned. "Break his legs or something?"

Tayuya deadpanned. "I just said I don't care, you moron. We're low on time and we've gotta get moving." She pointed a thumb at Sasuke and said, "He should've had his Mind Awakening Pill hours ago. We've been running into too many interruptions."

"Alright, alright," Jirobo said, resigning himself and turning towards his assignment.

Naruto lay on the ground, struggling to maintain consciousness as the giant Jirobo stepped closer and closer, every step shaking the ground more than the one before it. Naruto could feel his breath catch in his throat as each step sounded louder and louder. Did he say he was gonna break his legs? What, one bum leg wasn't bad enough?

"Kurama," he pleaded. "you gotta help me."

"I already told you I'm not helping you. Now stop talking to me."

"But you have to." Naruto croaked, grimacing in pain. "You're all I've got."

Kurama shifted slightly, watching his reflection as it danced in the ripples. He couldn't deny a small part of him feeling…something. Where it came from, he had no idea, but he didn't much care. A larger part of him felt indifferent, so he figured he'd just roll with that. Why should he help the stupid kid anyway? He was an idiot who always thought he knew best, now he just knew what it felt like to pay for it. He didn't owe him anything.

By now, Jirobo loomed over Naruto, casting a shadow twice his size, and just as menacing. "I've gotta make sure you don't escape again," he said. "It's nothing personal."

Sweat racked Naruto's body as he looked up at the orange-haired giant, preparing himself for the worst. He closed his eyes, anticipating the pain, but it never came. He chanced another glance at the mohawk clad giant only to see him gently pulling a candy bar out of his clothing and hiding it from the others using his body.

"A little snack first," he whispered.

"Come on," Naruto said, voice coming out shaky. "I need you to help me…"

Kurama lay unresponsive, his lazy frame moving up and down with each breath.

"Look," Naruto yelled, squeezing his eyes shut to blink away beads of moisture. "I know I'm an idiot sometimes, and I know I can be annoying, but you can't give up on me yet! We're supposed to be in this together!"

"Except for when you want to do things your way!" Kurama snapped back, spinning around in his cage.

At those words, Naruto froze, eventually looking away in shame.

"You say we're in this together," Kurama continued. "But that's only when it's convenient for you. Where was all of your team spirit when I told you we should just leave?"

Naruto sat where he was and didn't respond, instead opting to keep his head bowed and remain silent.

"That's what I thought," Kurama said, turning away and returning to his prior position with his tails curled around his body. There was a brief span of silence before Naruto spoke again.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you…"

Kurama's body made no movement, but there was a slight twitch in his ears.

"I was wrong," Naruto said, eyes glued to the water. "And next time," he continued. "Things will be different...but Kurama, if you don't help me now, there's not gonna be a next time, and this adventure is gonna be over before it even starts..."

Kurama let his eyes roam back to the water beneath him as he pondered what had been said. For all intents and purposes, the boy was right. This would probably mark the end of their journey if they were captured, especially if Orochimaru found out he had stumbled onto a jinchuriki of all things. There was no telling what might happen then. Still, that didn't mean he should automatically bail the kid out. After all, he still had his pride to think about. He had been flat out ignored and he was the Nine-Tailed Fox for goodness sake! But at least the kid could admit he was wrong, and he did say it wouldn't happen again…

"Come on," Naruto begged. "Be my friend..."

Kurama looked away with his tails absentmindedly flipping in the background. One brief pause and an annoyed growl later, he let his eyes fall shut with a sigh. "You're an idiot, you know that right?"

"Yeah…" Naruto said, grinning through the pain. "But you'll help me?"

"I want full control," Kurama said. "We're doing this my way…"

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto replied, nodding. "Whatever you say."

"Then let's do this."

A moment later, Naruto let out a cry of agony, gripping both hands to a sharp pain stinging his abdomen. He lifted his shirt to see his spiral tattoo glowing as the symbols started burning a dark reddish color. "The seal," he croaked.

"You gotta let go of some of your control."

Naruto shut both eyes, clenching one fist as his breathing started to steady. Slowly, the water in the chamber started rising, the waves increasing in size and ferocity as the offending symbol on Naruto's stomach started to fade.

"That's it, kid. Let go…"

"Stop stuffing your face and take care of him already!" Tayuya yelled, picking up the last of their camping materials.

"It was just a little snack for the road," Jirobo mumbled, wiping his mouth and tossing the wrinkled candy bar wrapper to the floor. After wiping his hands, he reached down to grab Naruto but stopped short of touching him, instead hovering his hand a few inches over his body.

Both of Tayuya's hands fell to her sides. "What is it now, Fatso? We've gotta get moving."

He looked towards her cluelessly. "The kid's burning up."

Tayuya stood blank-faced with her lips set in a grim line. She soon walked over angrily and muttered, "I swear I have to do everything myself…"

She reached down to grab Naruto, but when she touched him, all the group heard was a sharp sizzling sound. "Ah!" she yelled, jerking her hand back quickly. "What the hell?"

Slowly, red bubbles started popping out of every pore of Naruto's body.

"It's that chakra we sensed before," Kidomaru said. "It was him…"

"What the heck is up with this kid?" Tayuya asked, shaking her burnt finger.

Sasuke stood with his Sharingan activated, watching intently.

All at once, the red chakra took over Naruto's body, covering every visible inch and then some.

"This is not normal," Kidomaru said.

A distorted laugh could be heard leaving Naruto's lips as he growled, "How right you are."

In an instant, the whiskers lining his face deepened and sharp fangs could be seen growing from the sides of his mouth. Before long, his body was shaking with feral anger and inhuman groans could be heard echoing through the forest. The red chakra bubbled and bubbled until it finally reached its boiling point, completing its transformation into something darker and much more ominous. Something unrestrained and bred in chaos; and from that chaos emerged a different being. A being much more sinister...

"Jirobo, get away from him!" Tayuya yelled, taking out two kunai. "Kidomaru, Sakon, get ready!"

Jirobo did as he was told while Kidomaru took a step back with all six arms taking a defensive position.

There was one final burst of chakra energy before the erratic chakra shifting stopped, followed by a sudden calm. In the absence of the red chakra, the forest grew darker. The burning campfire had long gone out and now the only other source of light had disappeared as well. Despite the darkness, there was one part of Naruto still visible, a part of him that seemed to glow through the dark.

Tayuya tightened her grip on her kunai as the blood-red eyes turned to her, the thin slits narrowing into focus. "Watch yourselves," she said, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her face.

The group watched on as Naruto's broken body somehow found the strength to stand. His leg still looked bent out of shape, but he didn't look the least bit bothered. He just stood there, unfeeling. Eventually, his breathing slowed, and when it did, he looked down at the disjointed knee and gave it a forceful tug.

SNAP!

"Ahhh." he sighed. "Now that's better..."

"Ok. That's enough of that." Sakon said, walking up in stride. "I'll take care of this trash."

"Will you now?" Kurama grinned.

In a flash of red, a massive chakra arm swung towards the group. The tidal wave of wind that followed shook the trees, the grass, and everything in between. Sasuke only dodged because of his Sharingan, Tayuya tried to block the swipe and largely failed, Jirobo's massive size protected him from any serious damage, Kidomaru's numerous arms shielded him, and Sakon was left with a pile of blood oozing from the three claw marks in his chest.

"Have fun taking care of that," Kurama said, a wicked grin stretched from one side of his face to the other. With inhuman speed, he leapt up to a tree branch and darted off into the forest. Sasuke was the only one with eyes fast enough to see him leave.

...

Under a pile of rubble and soot, a band of six arms emerged trying to free the body caught beneath; from the bottom of a tree trunk, a giant tried to rise only to stumble over again; and from a puddle of mud, a girl struggled to rise to her feet as her arm shook uncontrollably.

Tayuya looked at the gash running down her arm then gripped at it to try to stop the bleeding. She heaved heavy breath after heavy breath as she turned to Sasuke. "Where is he?" she asked.

"Gone," Sasuke said simply. "And if we don't do something, he will be too."

Tayuya looked to where Sasuke had nodded and saw Sakon bleeding from three claw marks deep in his chest, his face contorted into a picture of pain and horror.

After getting over the shock of the sight, she knelt beside him and reached into her pouch, taking out some gauze and trying to find some way to cover all three of the wounds. It was no use though. Blood poured out of his body like water and her formerly white gauzes turned blood-red within seconds. In the end, she looked away with tear-filled eyes and even bloodier hands. "Cocky bastard…" she whispered, realizing his pulse was fading.

Jiraiya had been following the toads lead quite well, and he was content to do so until he had caught up to Naruto, but that was before he felt it… A rage as potent as sunshine, shining like a beacon from miles away. His movements halted immediately and even from where he was, the dark chakra sent a chill down his spine. With each passing second, the chakra grew, moving at a speed he had rarely encountered in his many years as a shinobi.

"Boss," the frog leader croaked. "You still need us?"

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction the chakra was coming from. Just what the heck was going on? He pondered it for a bit then snapped himself out of it. "Try to get in contact with any toads we may have in the area that chakra is coming from and tap into my spy network as well. I want to know the moment he stops and where."

"You got it."

"And be discreet," Jiraiya added. "If he thinks something is up, he'll run harder and with how fast he's moving, we could lose him."

"Sure thing Boss."

As the band of toads dispersed, Jiraiya took to the trees, his legs almost leaving each branch quicker than they could land. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to reach Naruto from where he was, especially since the kid was moving pretty fast, but it would be a good idea to at least close the gap a bit while he was easy to sense. Not that it mattered all that much anyway. It was only a matter of time before the toads and his spy network gave him a concrete location. With his resources, it was impossible for Naruto to hide forever, try as he might. His only concern was what might actually be happening at that moment. What type of situation could result in the dark flow of chakra he was feeling now? He had absolutely no idea, and that was what scared him. Really scared him… But he had to press on, even if the unknown steadily chipped away at his thoughts.

As the full moon faintly illuminated the dirt streets of Konoha, a man appeared at the gates, almost blending in with the darkness of the night.

Draped around his body was a black trench coat that stretched down to his knees, and where his black coat ended, his black strapped boots began, perfectly laced all the way down to the bottom. The coat seemed to fit him perfectly, and his build was about average for a shinobi, although he was slightly taller than most. The final touch was a black porkpie hat with a normal-sized brim. It didn't tilt to the left or to the right, but rather forward, casting a shadow over the top of his face. Below the shadow was a short trimmed blond beard, obviously well shaved and taken care of.

As he approached the gate, he turned around, briefly looking out into the forest with mild intrigue. "Hm." he mused after a moment's pause, scratching his chin a bit. Eventually, he turned away, completing his trek to the gate official. He took off his hat revealing slicked-back blond hair that stopped just below his ears before reaching into his coat and pulling out a tied-up scroll. "I've been summoned," he said, voice oily and low.

Author's Note

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