[Bows] A thousand apologies, readers. I've been busy with other things and having to deal with a few new fic ideas, this one included, bouncing around in my head and refusing to leave. Due to this, those ones will be written and posted, along with the first chapter of a fic I adopted from a friend of mine on here, before the next update is posted so that brown phantom and I can actually concentrate on them. Speaking of which, I'm wondering if I should ask him to start adding in beta-reader notes into these. Again, a thousand apologies. Please enjoy this and the other new fics as a proper apology.

Smiling Masks Hide Tears

Chapter One: Spiraling into Despair

It was a dark day in Konoha, both literal and figurative but only for a few on the last one. The sky was covered from horizon to horizon with gray clouds that poured rain endlessly. One could swear they were really in Ame if they didn't know any better. Ninja guards were reduced or relocated to ensure the rain didn't obscure their vision and most people who didn't have to be outside weren't, not even for training.

A hospital in any city wasn't always the happiest place to be in. And, on a rainy day, things seemed to be a bit gloomier for people more than usual. But in one room of the Konoha Hospital, there was so much gloom in the air you'd swear it had replaced all the oxygen. On the bed, hooked up to life support, was a child.

And, in the room, were people praying he would recover. And if that wasn't heartbreaking enough, none of them were actually related to him. His family was elsewhere, and the visitors suspected they'd never be there. The person in the bed was Uzumaki Naruto, a blonde boy who wasn't exactly the most popular in town despite his relations.

In the room were the closest people to him in his life. Ichiraku Teuchi and Ayame, owner and waitress of his favorite ramen shop and closest confidants, Sarutobi Konohamaru, a boy four years younger than Naruto but his unofficial younger brother, and Hyūga Hinata, Naruto's best friend and, unknown to him, his greatest admirer. Outside the room were three boys, keeping an eye out for possible threats as well as the chance that the boy's family actually would show up. They were Akimichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, and Inuzuka Kiba.

Ayame and Hinata were in tears, while Konohamaru was trying not to be. Teuchi wasn't crying, but not because he didn't want to, he was simply too angry to cry. The memory of what brought them here was all too fresh to him.

Flashback

Teuchi was out in front of his shop setting up the exterior for the oncoming rain, when suddenly a small pug with a permanent scowl showed up.

"Come with me! Naruto's in serious, serious trouble!"

Teuchi would have asked what the dog meant but immediately decided the answer didn't matter. "Ayame! We're needed! Grab the first-aid kit! We might need it!"

Ayame looked out from in the back. "What's wrong?!"

"Naruto may be hurt really badly!"

Nothing else needed to be said. The young waitress came out with civilian-level medical supplies and the two shopkeepers followed the dog to the boy's home. Upon getting there, they saw a small yellow terrier come too, followed by a girl who they had seen around Naruto several times.

"Did you hear anything?" Hinata asked.

"Just that Naruto was hurt." Teuchi answered.

The door was unlocked and the three went in. Noises were coming from the kitchen and, when they went in, Hinata could only faint at what she saw. On the kitchen floor was Naruto, curled up, laying in a pool of blood that they hoped wasn't his but had no doubt it was. He looked in agony, but wasn't moving or even conscious, like he was having a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. Two dogs were trying to put him on the back of a large bulldog, and when they did, Ayame and Teuchi could see a kitchen knife sticking out of Naruto's stomach.

"Pull that thing out!" Ayame yelled, and rushed to do it but was stopped by Teuchi.

"No don't, doing so will only make him bleed more and damage his insides more. A professional needs to remove it."

One of the dogs nodded. "Yes, that's why we've been unable to heal him, just stem the flow of blood. Take him to a hospital."

Teuchi and Ayame rushed to Naruto's side, eager to help save his life. Teuchi held him in his arms, careful not to apply any pressure to the knife.

"Who did this?" Ayame asked, grabbing Hinata so she wouldn't be left behind.

"I don't know." Teuchi answered, not wanting to alarm his daughter. She hadn't noticed it in her shock, but he had seen one vital fact: There was no sign of a struggle anywhere in the kitchen. Meaning this wasn't an attack, this was self-inflicted.

Flashback End

'Dammit, I'm going to have the Hokage's ass for this! I told him he was making poor choices regarding Naruto, and he kept saying everything will work out. Well, how is this working out? Naruto almost died and I know you're responsible somehow!

'I don't care if I get beheaded for it! If Naruto dies, I swear the Hokage won't live to see the sun rise or set!' Teuchi clenched his fists tightly, his rage nearly getting the better of him for a moment.

Konohamaru looked up at Teuchi, tears in his eyes. "Wh... who did this to him...?" He had learned of the problem by seeing the ramen slingers rush to the hospital and got himself involved in the crisis.

"The Hokage, that's who." Teuchi muttered before he realized he had said it out loud.

Hinata and Ayame turned to the ramen chef. "The Hokage? You think he actually-"

"No, not directly. But he might as well have." Teuchi corrected, seeing he couldn't take back what he said, and didn't really want to anyway. "He put Naruto in a situation where he felt escape was better than enduring. It's like putting a poisoned meal in front of the starving, you're basically killing them yourself but making it look like their fault."

Hinata's heart broke more than it already had. "So... Naruto-kun felt... we weren't enough for him?"

"We can't always be there for him, Hinata. No matter how much we want to. Sometimes, we have our own responsibilities to focus on and, when Naruto's alone, well... sometimes even determined people want to take a break."

Ayame looked down, saddened. "Considering everything else that's happened, I'm surprised that he didn't hit his breaking point sooner."

The others couldn't argue with that. For someone just short of eleven-years-old, Naruto had had to deal with quite a bit.

Hinata looked at the boy in the bed, feeling like her heart was struggling to beat as much as his was. "I knew he had it rougher than he was willing to tell us, always trying to be brave while showing us his vulnerable side, too. But, somehow, I always felt that as long as we were there for him, he'd never give in. He'd be above it all."

"He's not invincible, Hinata. He's just as likely to give into pressure as we all are. I know you want to help him, but you can't if you only see him as some sort of infallible figure who's not supposed to have weakness." Ayame advised.

"I don't, I don't blame him for what he did. I blame myself for not considering he might do it. If I had known..."

"What could you have done?" Teuchi asked. "You can't be there for him twenty-four/seven, and you can't just tell him hurting himself isn't an option. This is not something you can blame on yourself. All you can do is let him know how happy you are he's still alive."

Hinata sighed. She knew they were right. But... part of her couldn't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, something she could have said or done could have prevented this.

A nurse came into the room to check his vitals. "He's stable, that's a good sign. He needs more blood more to replace what he lost, but-"

"If you need any, I'll offer some of mine." Hinata was quick to say. "We have the same type."

"Thanks, but, first, we should check his family for more direct matches." The nurse stated.

Konohamaru loudly scoffed. "Those people? They wouldn't even give him the time of day, why would they give him blood?"

"Speaking of which, since you aren't his family, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave until he's cleared for visitors." The nurse added, only to receive four very harsh looks.

"We are his family! We're the only real family this boy has! The only way you're getting us out of this room is if you have the Anbu drag us out!" Teuchi all but threatened.

The nurse was surprised to hear this. But, having heard bits and pieces of what the poor boy had to go through day after day, it did her heart good to hear that they cared about him. "Alright, I'll let you stay. Just don't tell anyone I did."

Ayame nodded. "Don't worry, our lips are sealed."

The nurse left the room, and not too long after that two more people entered. These were Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Mikoto, the only other people in the village who could be considered true family to the hurt Uzumaki.

"We came as fast as we heard. What happened?" Mikoto asked.

Teuchi sighed. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Not waiting to hear an explanation, Sasuke rushed to the side of his closest friend, clear worry for the blond Uzumaki replacing his normally calm demeanor. "How is he? Is Naruto okay?"

For the early part of his life, Sasuke hadn't thought much of Naruto. His mother had tried to make them friends, but his father Uchiha Fugaku thought otherwise. Of course, years ago, Fugaku had totally embarrassed and disgraced himself in front of the clan and the entire village, causing Sasuke to lose a lot of respect for the man because of it. But, with that loss, he actually found some common ground with Naruto and, since then, he could say that Naruto was the only person who truly understood him.

"He's holding for now, but I'm worried about what he'll do once he wakes up." Ayame said.

"Who did this to him?" Mikoto asked, barely able to handle the sight of her best friend's child in such a condition.

"That's the thing I'm afraid to admit. He... he's the one that did it."

Sasuke was confused, but Mikoto went white. "Please tell me you mean this was just an accident." She got no response and collapsed to her knees, covering her mouth with her hands while tears were brewing. "No, it can't be. Someone would have been there to stop him."

Teuchi sighed. "That's the thing. He was already doing it when Kakashi's ninken showed up to look after him on Kakashi's orders. He'd already stabbed himself three times and was going for a fourth before they stopped him. At least the medics say he stabbed himself three times."

"This... this can't be happening. She would have stopped it." Mikoto said, still in denial.

"If you mean who I think you do, she wasn't there." Hinata corrected. "None of them were. None of them ever are."

"What do you mean?" Both Uchiha asked.

There was some commotion in the hall, that none of them could hear too well. But before they could see for themselves, the door opened, and in walked two people. They were of the Uzumaki, Kushina and her daughter Kirie.

Kushina silently gasped when she saw Naruto. "Dear Kami! What happened to him?"

Ayame glared at Kushina. "Oh, so now you care, huh?!"

Kushina jerked as if stabbed, then got enraged. "You think I don't care about my own child?!"

"That one, maybe." Ayame said, pointing to Kirie. "Naruto on the other hand, I've got reason to say otherwise."

Kushina looked about ready to murder Ayame. And she would have tried to if she hadn't noticed Hinata glaring at her as well.

"Kushina... where were you when this happened?" Mikoto asked, both trying to keep Kushina from lashing out and genuinely curious.

"Yes, where were you?" Hinata asked in a tone Kushina did not like.

Kushina sighed. "We were getting some things ready for their birthday. Kirie asked if we could try making the party a bit more about Naruto this year, since he's been acting distant lately."

"What do you mean 'more about Naruto'?" Mikoto asked, then gasped. "You mean that Naruto can't even enjoy his own birthday anymore?"

"That's not what I meant! These days, we make one half of their birthday about Kirie and one half about Naruto. Didn't you ever wonder why we had the birthday parties always start so early?"

"You mean so early that few even really bother to go?" Hinata asked.

Kushina glared at Hinata. "Watch your mouth, girl! Just because your the daughter of a clan head doesn't mean I won't slap the disrespect out of your mouth!"

"And just because you're the Hokage's wife doesn't mean I won't do the same to you!"

"Same here." Ayame agreed.

"Will someone please just tell me what happened to my son already?!" Kushina yelled, having had enough of not knowing.

"You really want to know?" Ayame asked. "The short and dirty version is that you and the rest of your family have made Naruto feel completely unwelcome in his own home."

Kushina was mad enough that her hair was beginning to take on its famous nine-tailed formation. "How dare you accuse us of such a thing! We are a loving family!"

"Yeah, right! Loving to Kirie, maybe, but not Naruto-kun! We're the ones that love him!" Hinata countered.

Sasuke glared up at Kushina, visibly upset at the idea of his mother's best friend causing his best friend, her own son, to feel unwelcome in his own home. Not only that, but, unbeknownst to the others, Minato was on his way. Kakashi had shown up in his office and told him that something had happened to Naruto and that Naruto was in the hospital. Due to this, he dashed right out of the room. Because of his concern, he completely forgot that he could just use the Hiraishin to transport himself to the nearest tag and run the rest of the way there.

"You think I don't love my own son?" Kushina asked, offended.

"Have you really done much to make him feel loved?" Teuchi shot back.

"We're his family." Kirie answered.

"And?"

Kirie looked confused. "And? And what?"

"We asked what you guys have done. Not who you are, what you've done. So tell us, what have you done to make Naruto feel loved?" Teuchi demanded.

Kushina started to answer, but, after thinking for a bit, realized that they hadn't really done much. At this, the door swung open, the knob hitting the wall with a crack, revealing to everyone that Minato had arrived.

"By all the kami, what happened to him?!" The Yondaime asked once he saw the condition his son was in.

"It was your negligence that did this. You made this happen." Ayame stated, not caring what the Hokage did about it.

Minato glared at the teenage girl. "You think I'm responsible for this? That I wanted this?"

"Do you really care about Naruto?" Ayame asked.

"Of course I do! He's my son!"

"Then why haven't you or your wife asked who did this to him?" Ayame tested.

Minato glared more. "Maybe we were more concerned about what happened and why! Did you ever think about that?!"

Hinata scoffed. "You never have before, so why would we now?"

"What did you just say?" Minato asked immediately, feeling highly offended.

"I said you don't care about him. What, did you think Naruto never noticed how you slowly had less and less time for him until he had none left? Or when you did have time you always had an excuse to be busy with something else? You honestly thought he never noticed?

"Or that he never talks to anyone about it? Well he did, and he talks to us about him. We give him attention, we give him love. We are the ones who actually tell him we're glad he was born, while you... you make him feel like he was an accident and Kirie is the one you actually wanted."

Minato and Kushina both flinched a bit at that. They hadn't really realized what they'd been doing to their son.

Speaking of which, alarms started sounding on his life support system and his body started convulsing.

"What's going on?" Konohamaru asked.

Hinata activated her Byakugan. "I... I don't know, but it looks like his chakra is... changing?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, worried for his friend, and turned towards the Hyūga heiress. "Changing?! What do you mean chang-"

Sasuke was cut off as Naruto began screaming. However, the voice making the screams didn't sound like Naruto's. No, it was too low pitched and, dare Sasuke say it, inhuman-sounding to be Naruto's voice. Not only that, but, when he started screaming, some sort of mask began forming seemingly from out of nowhere over his face.

"What the heck's going on?" Kiba asked from the hall, the three boys staying out of the situation for now until it got physical.

Without explanation, the straps restraining Naruto broke, as if something cut through them. Similar cuts were appearing on the sheets, pillow, and IV cords. Acting on instinct, Kushina made some spikeless chains made of chakra appear and wrapped them around Naruto to keep him in place so he wouldn't hurt himself.

When Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji saw this, they were beyond surprised. And everyone nearly jumped in fright when Naruto looked up at them from where he was restrained on the bed. The mask was still forming on his face, now covering his left eye, and Naruto's eyes, one his normal cerulean blue eye with the other now being yellow with black sclera, were staring back at them as he continued screaming.

"What's happening to him?!" Chouji cried out, worried about his blond friend.

Scene change – Naruto's Inner World

Unknown to the others, Naruto hadn't been simply unconscious. That would have been marginally preferable compared to what he truly was experiencing, if they had a choice in the matter. You see, he'd actually been dragged into a place commonly known as a mindscape or "inner world". His resembled Konoha. Only half of it was bright, like being out and about during the day, and the other was hidden in the darkness. It was like the sky couldn't tell if it was day or night.

"Where am I?" He asked himself.

"Can you hear me Naruto?" Some unknown voice called out.

Naruto looked around in every direction, but saw no one. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here." The voice said, sounding incredibly calm as if it hadn't been attempting to hide whatsoever. Beyond that, it sounded friendly, but not entirely mature. Almost like a teen that wasn't really an adult yet, or an adult that never truly gave up everything they loved as a child.

Naruto kept looking around. "Where? I can't see you. And, for that matter, who are you?"

"If you can't see me, then you are afraid. You can hear me, but you do not wish to see me. Do you see me as a threat?"

"I don't even know who you are!" Naruto stated.

"I would think you would know me. But then again you are a victim of circumstances, few of which are your own." The voice said, and it was hard to tell if it was speaking to him or itself. "You fear being left alone, you fear becoming more invisible then you already are, and thus you have projected that fear onto me."

"Who are you already?"

"My name is-"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. He didn't hear the guy's name. "I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't catch that last part!"

The voiced sighed, and Naruto could practically hear the disappointment in it's voice. "I was afraid of that. It looks like you're not ready to hear my name yet."

"Is there a point to this or do you just enjoy tormenting me?"

"Would you prefer I stick a knife in your gut? Is that the kind of torment you prefer?" The voice asked back.

Naruto flinched at that. "H-how-"

"Do I know about that? Because I've seen everything, Naruto. I've seen everything that you've gone through. Do you see the half of this place cloaked in darkness?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Naruto asked.

"The darkness is the manifestation of your attempted death. By trying to kill yourself, you shrouded this world with growing darkness, and it's only because of the few people that care about you that the light still remains."

Naruto flinched. He had no idea that his attempted death would cause something like that.

"Or rather, your attempted death caused it to manifest. There was always darkness beneath the surface of this world. Hidden pockets of it that made up the shadows. Those hidden pockets of darkness represented all of the dark thoughts and emotions you tried to hide from others, even from yourself. Now, thanks to your attempted death, they've come to the surface and begun to cover this world."

"What is this world, anyway?" Naruto asked, seeing this clearly was not the Konoha he knew. If anything, it was more like a background created for a movie.

"This world is your inner mind. It is a representation of all your thoughts, beliefs, and moods. When you're happy, it is calm. When you're sad, it rains. When you're angry, it quakes. And with you dying, it is fading away into darkness, and you will fade with it."

Naruto sighed. "Then at least it will all be over."

"What will be over?" The voice challenged.

"All my loneliness. I'll be free."

"Free of what? Have you forgotten the people who don't ignore you?"

"But I-" Naruto started.

"I am aware of your home-life Naruto. I know it as well as you do." The voice interjected. "If that place is what you want to escape, then why take your life? Why not just leave and continue living?"

"You think they'd let me?" Naruto asked, angry.

"You think they'd stop you?" The voice asked back, unafraid.

Naruto glared around, hoping to direct it at the source of the voice. "If I try to leave, they'd just try to stop me! Don't you get it, there's no other way to escape them!"

"Then find another way!" The voice roared, shutting Naruto up. "You're not the type of person to just give up and accept things as they are, Naruto! Despite how bad things got, you never gave up before! You always kept searching for your own happiness, trying to find your own path in life!"

Naruto was speechless. For once... he couldn't offer a rebuttal.

"Besides... didn't you stop to think how you attempting to kill yourself would affect the people you care about? After all, if you really meant so little to them... then explain this!"

There was a brief silence, then a loud booming voice that sounded like it was coming from all directions at once, even underground somehow. The first voice was unrecognizable, but undeniably female, saying something about his blood. The next voice however was a female voice he did recognize.

"If you need any, I'll offer some of mine. We have the same type."

"Hinata-chan? Wait, is she offering blood for me?" Naruto asked.

"Thanks, but first we should check his family for more direct matches." The unknown female voice said.

"Those people? They wouldn't even give him the time of day, why would they give him blood?"

"Konohamaru too? What's this?" Naruto asked.

"This is what's going on outside your body." The voice that had been talking to Naruto this whole time said to the blonde.

"We are his family! We're the only real family this boy has! The only way you're getting us out of this room is if you have the Anbu drag us out!" The voice of Teuchi said now.

"Teuchi-jiisan...?" Naruto asked, feeling himself start to get teary-eyed.

"Still think no one would care if you died?" The voice asked.

Naruto wiped his tears away and sighed. "Okay... you were right. I guess.. I dunno... I guess I was just so desperate to not go through another day like that, much less another birthday, that I just looked for the easiest way to make it all stop."

"One thing that you need to learn, Naruto, is that there's an easy way and there's a right way. Which one you want to choose depends on you and you alone."

"But how is dealing with it all the right way? I mean, is what my family doing right? My tōsan hasn't trained me in anything outside of the bare basic and, every time I asked, he kept procrastinating. My kāsan enabled him saying I should just do as he says, and Kirie... every birthday, it becomes more and more about her.

"She gets the time of day where people are glad to do anything about it. Last year I wasn't even home during the evening and when I got home, no one even seemed aware I was gone. You'd think me not being there for the cake or presents would draw their attention, but it didn't."

The voice seemed to sigh. "Like I said, it's not easy. But if what half of the people who seem to know them have said about them is true, they'll come around eventually. They just need a good wake-up call to exactly what they've been doing."

"And what can I do about it?" Naruto asked.

"Well for starters, they can't fix anything if you're dead." The voice told him plain and simply.

Naruto sighed. He had to admit that the voice had a point. And just when things started to look brighter for him, they actually got literally darker instead. Above him, the darkness in the sky was encroaching on the light side. The world was fading fast.

Naruto whipped his head around as he looked at his surroundings. "What's going on?!"

"No...! I thought I'd managed to fully suppress him!" The voice called out, worry coloring it's tone.

"Think again, fucker!" Another, different voice called out. This one was lower-pitched and full of madness.

"Wait, there's someone else here?" Naruto asked as the darkness completely covered the sky.

"Yessss, and soon it will be just me and me alone!" The new voice hissed.

To Naruto's horror, a white hand pale enough to glow in this darkness shot out of literally nothing and rushed at him, with claws that would shame an Inuzuka. But, before it could reach him, a silver blur shoot out from of nowhere and go in between Naruto and the hand. The large hand was knocked away, loosing a pained cry from the madness-filled second voice.

"That hurt, you silver bastard!" The second voice yelled, clearly angered.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked the silver blur, which looked out of focus but vaguely human.

"You are getting braver, but you're still not confident enough to see me. Therefore, you cannot hear my name or use my strength. I cannot help you if you don't believe you can help yourself." The blur said, it's voice one that Naruto recognized as the first voice that had been talking to him this entire time, while keeping the white hand from proceeding.

The silver blur looked towards Naruto. "Do you want to return home? Or do you want to cease to exist and let him be in control?"

The second voice rang out again. "Please choose the second option! It's been far too long since I got to have a good, old-fashion rampage!"

Naruto frowned and stood firm in place. "My life may not have much value to others, but there's no way in hell I'm letting some kind of monster like you decide who gets to live or die!"

The second voice let out a mad, roaring laugh. "Well, well! Look who finally grew some backbone and a set! Too bad it's too little, too late!"

At this, a second hand appeared from the darkness and headed towards Naruto. Knowing the silver blur couldn't save him, Naruto had to save himself. Acting on instinct like he was accustomed to doing in practice, he dived under the hand and came back up for the arm, grabbing it and attempting to break it. The arm began to rise into the air and attempt to shake Naruto off.

"What the heck is this thing?" Naruto asked.

"I have no name." The second voice said, as if to tease him.

"What does that mean? I asked what you are, not who you are. For that matter, I wasn't talking to you, but the other guy." Naruto responded.

Naruto could practically feel the voice's smirk. That was when he realized that it was messing with him. "It doesn't matter what you wanted! Soon, you won't exist, and this body, this mind, will be mine and mine alone!"

"Not if I can stop you!" Naruto declared.

"And how do you plan to stop me?" The second voice taunted.

Naruto glared. He had finally had enough. "You obviously don't know me at all!" He said. Then, with all his might, Naruto twisted the arm until he heard a very painful snap.

The voice screamed in agony and tried to use it's other hand to crush Naruto. However, it had forgotten that the silver blur had a hold of that hand. The silver blur took advantage of that lapse and snapped all the clawed fingers on the other hand.

"Come with me Naruto." The blur said before heading off away from the hands, ignoring the other voices agonized screams and violent cursing.

Naruto followed as best he could. "Wait, who are you and what are these things?"

"If you still can't see me, you can't learn either of these." The blur said, keeping ahead but not so much the boy couldn't follow. "Just because you want to learn something doesn't mean you're ready to handle it."

"When will I be ready?" Naruto asked.

"When you feel you have more purpose alive than dead."

Naruto was confused by the words the silver blur was telling him, but decided to let it go for now. Eventually, they stopped at a spot that was very familiar to Naruto. Especially since it was where he spent all of his time with his friends when he wasn't training, in the academy, or at Ichiraku's. This place was Training Ground Ten, an open field in the forest with a river filled with beautiful, clear water nearby and a perfect view of the sky. Except for now, when the sky was just pitch black like ink. Even so, just being here and remembering the times he had been there with Hinata, Sasuke, Mikoto, Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru made him feel better.

"There is something here waiting for you, waiting for when you are ready for the responsibility." The blur told him. "Finding it is not enough, you must be ready for what you find. If you are not, you could tear this place apart piece by piece and find nothing."

"Just what is it I'm supposed to look for? And how would I know I'm ready if I don't know what I'm supposed to be ready for?" Naruto asked, fed up with the endless vague directions.

"Naruto, I've been saying a lot in my time. However, you can only hear so much of it. What you hear is only what you can handle. Everything you're not worthy of hearing or ready to hear is just silence to you."

"That doesn't answer my question! Just give me a straight answer!" Naruto demanded.

"I'm saying I can't. It doesn't work that way here."

"And who decided that?" Naruto demanded, completely out of patience.

The blur sighed. "That's something that even I don't know. But what I do know is that, if you want to save this world and go home, you have to find it."

"Save this world from what?" Naruto asked, and, unfortunately he got his answer.

The ground underneath him started cracking like an earthquake, but there were no tremors. And the cracks weren't limited to the ground, the trees began to split and break too, with each piece separating from the others and hovering aloof, as if there was no gravity anymore. From the ground, strange boxes the sizes of his TV back home started to come out like bubbles.

"These boxes contain what you need to get started on getting your answers. But only one of them has it. You need find it, before this world fades and you die with it." The silver blur warned.

"How do I do that?!" Naruto asked, starting to panic. There had to be hundreds, maybe even thousands of boxes! How was he supposed to find the one box that had what he was looking for?

"Look for the one box that's not like the others. The box with one, almost unnoticeable difference." The blur told him

Before Naruto could contemplate the blurred figure's words, white ribbons began to come off of each box. Naruto began to look at all of them, trying to find some kind of difference. But, no matter what he observed about them, they all looked exactly the same. That's when he saw it. For a moment, to his right, Naruto thought he saw a quick flash of red.

"That has to be it!" He said then started jumping from one box to the next, using them as stepping stones. He already lost sight of the red, but he knew what direction it was in, and was sure he could find it again.

"There!" He said to himself again, seeing it to his left. "It's moving around, like a balloon on the breeze!"

There, right where he was looking, was a box with a red ribbon attached to it. The one box different from the others, a single bit of red among a sea of white. Grabbing onto the red ribbon, Naruto yanked it as hard as he could, forcing the box to open.

All of a sudden, the darkness around the box faded, replaced by a white light that spread from the box like a star. This light showed the box hadn't been empty, and what Naruto saw inside it surprised him. There was a sword, a simple katana just waiting for him to grab it. Having no reason not to, Naruto reached out and grabbed the handle.

"Great work, Naruto! You found it!" The silver blur's voice told him. Naruto had to smile a bit at that, but nearly jumped when he heard the blur snap. "Well, what're you waiting for?! Pull me out now, before it's to late!"

Not pausing to think about the "me" part of that comment or even make a biting retort, Naruto pulled as hard as he could. And, with that, the sword was freed from within the box. Suddenly everything around him was gone, just an endless white void without even a ground yet somehow Naruto felt like he was standing.

"I don't know what just happened, but now maybe, just maybe, I can finally prove to my family that I'm not a lost cause."

"Oh, Naruto... don't you understand by now? If you only focus on gaining their approval, it's just going to hurt you in the long run."

"What do you mean? How can making my family proud hurt me?" Naruto asked.

"A goal can easily become an obsession when you let it dominate you, Naruto. You can try to make them proud of what you do, but, if each and every move you make is some way a part of a plan that screams 'Am I good enough yet?', then you will only become only one of two things. You will either find yourself taken advantage of by them and unaware of the fact they use your desperation to their advantage... or you will snap and kill them all saying, if they won't acknowledge you, then you won't ever need them again."

Naruto gasped, then frowned. "I would never do that!"

"Never say never, Naruto. You can't guarantee the future any better than your friends can. You don't know what you'll become when you're older."

"Neither do you!" Naruto called out.

"True, but I do know what possibilities lay before you. And if you fixate on making your family regret ignoring you, if the only reason you fight is to make them say 'Naruto I'm proud of you', then, inevitably, you will find yourself unhappy because you will have nothing in life for you to be proud of."

Naruto thought about it for a moment, then sighed. He had to admit, he couldn't really argue with what the silver blur was saying. "What am I supposed to do then? Just give up on them? Give up on family? That's not the Uzumaki way."

"Then why did they give up on you?"

Naruto flinched. Again, he couldn't argue with that logic.

"Treat them the way they treat you. Show them that they need your approval too, not just you needing theirs." The silver blur told him. "Show them how strong you are without them, make them regret leaving you behind. And, when they do offer to take you back, reject it the first time. That way, if they try again, you will know they're being sincere. And, if they don't try again, then they have truly abandoned you and will never give you what you want."

Naruto took in everything the silver blur told him. He could see the wisdom behind that. Nodding, Naruto made his decision as he noticed that the silver blur began to become a little easier to make out. "Sounds like a plan! Alright, I'll do it!"

Scene change – Naruto's Hospital Room

Back in the hospital room, Kushina was restraining a thrashing Naruto and the unusual mask had almost fully formed over his face. It looked like a mask depicting a normal white skull, except there were red rings around the eye sockets and the left cheek bones and forehead had blue streaks that looked like something had scratched the side of the face. But what was worse was that Naruto's pupils were a sickly yellow with the former whites now a hot angry red instead of the black they had started to become when the mask was first forming.

Naruto was unleashing a lot of energy similar to killing intent. Because of this, the room was literally rumbling.

"Naruto-kun, please come back to us as you were!" Hinata pleaded.

The boy's body stiffened and cracks started appearing on the incomplete mask, wisps of some kind of energy evaporating from them. Soon that same energy began pouring out of and pooling around Naruto as the rumbling increased violently.

"What's going on?" Kirie asked.

"I don't know, but it's bound to be bad!" Kushina said, shooting out more chains to essentially create a barrier around Naruto to contain whatever was brewing. 'Please be safe, my son.'

"This isn't enough! I need to get him out of this village before he endangers anyone!" Minato planned, bringing out a tri-kunai.

Kushina turned and glared at her husband, still keeping the barrier up. "Just shut up and try to help reinforce my damn barrier before it's too late! You are not taking my son away from me at a time like this!"

"If I don't we all might die! Do you want that?" He argued.

"We sacrificed him more than enough already, apparently in ways we didn't even know we were doing! We are not sacrificing him again just because it's the easy thing to do!" Kushina stated.

Minato sighed. He could tell that Kushina wouldn't budge on this. Besides, she was right and he knew it. His face twisting up in resolve, Minato began the arduous task of helping Kushina reinforce the barrier she'd created. The tremors started to get worse, as if the building was getting shaken off its foundation. Minato was tempted to say 'to hell with' Kushina's demand, but her temper would be worse than this.

"It looks like he's going to explode!" Minato did say.

Hinata could feel her blood start to freeze at those words. "No, you can't die like this Naruto-kun! You can't leave us!"

Soon, a powerful explosion erupted from Naruto inside the barrier. The barrier strained to hold it in, with Minato and Kushina struggling to keep it up. The room itself shook with the force of the explosion. Because of this, Kushina was thankful that she'd had the forethought to make the barrier protect the floor as well, since a lot of people below them could have been harmed from how powerful the explosion of energy was.

But what both Kushina and Minato found confusing was that no blood spattered onto the barrier. If their son had exploded, dying in the process... wouldn't there be blood all over the inside of the barrier? Smoke was abundant, that much was clear. But, with a strong chakra barrier up in place, even Hinata couldn't see what exactly had happened to Naruto inside there. But, with no where to go, the smoke couldn't fade away to let them see.

"I think it's over." Kushina said, dropping the barrier and allowing the smoke to leave. There was no residual blast waiting to harm them, so all they had to do was see what had become of Naruto.

The bed was totaled, gone beyond recognition. Naruto, however, was not, and was in fact standing atop the remains. He stood as if he was listening to someone else, but, in place of the hospital gown he'd had on or his usual orange and blue jumpsuit he usually wore so his parents would have a harder time not noticing him at home, was a jumpsuit that looked like a black and white version of his normal one. In his right hand was a sheathed katana, the mask on his face complete now.

"Naruto?" Many asked, fearful of what had happened to him.

The now-masked Naruto lifted the sheathed katana and smashed the end of the hilt into the mask. This cracked the mask a bit more. Lifting his other hand up to it, Naruto grabbed the bottom of the mask and began to slowly lift it up. More of those wisps of energy steamed out, but it looked harmless by comparison to how it used to look. And, in no time, the mask was off and Naruto's face was shown, unchanged.

"Owww! Just like pulling off a band-aid!" Naruto commented while the mask crumbled in his hands.

"Naruto?" Kushina asked.

The boy looked and saw all the people in the room. "Hi, everyone." He said awkwardly, not sure what else to say.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata all but yelled, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

Naruto let out a brief wheeze as Hinata slammed into him, trying to keep them both standing. Part of Naruto was happy to know that Hinata was worried about him. But, once he felt how wet his now black and white jumpsuit was becoming and realized she was crying, he began to feel guilty for making her worry, even if he had no control over what had happened.

'Well, to be fair, I did start all this. It was only the aftermath I couldn't control. Sorry, Hinata-chan, I thought in time you'd get over me dying, so I believed I'd only be missed temporarily.'

"Dobe, what happened to you?" Sasuke asked, using a friendly nickname he had for the blond. Naruto wasn't the dead last in the class, but it was a private joke between them and he took no offense to it, like how Sasuke took no offense at Naruto's term for him, 'teme'.

"Well, I guess I had a near-death experience." Naruto answered.

"A near-death experience?" Ayame repeated, like she couldn't believe she had heard him say that. "Naruto, this was attempted suicide!"

Kushina almost fainted at that, hearing that her son had almost killed himself. And, for the life of her, she couldn't imagine why he'd want to. He was only ten, about to turn eleven next week. What would make anyone that young crave death?

Kiba narrowed his eyes a bit. "That doesn't explain that weird-ass mask that appeared on your face!"

"Or the temporary change in your voice, the explosion, or the new look and the sword." Chouji added.

"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto... after your vitals shot up, you started screaming in a voice that obviously wasn't yours. Not only that, but that mask that you took off your face started appearing and your eyes started changing color completely as more and more of the mask covered your face."

"Wow..." Naruto said after a long pause.

"Wow? That's all you have to say?" Chouji asked.

"Somehow, I think saying 'Oh my Kami' might not be much better." The blonde claimed.

"Naruto, why did you hurt yourself?" Ayame asked.

Naruto was hesitant to answer, especially with his family right there, but part of him thought maybe they needed to hear this to realize how much they had hurt him. "This morning I heard kāsan talking to Kirie about the upcoming birthday party and how this year it was going to be the biggest one they've ever thrown, and she wanted to make sure it was perfect. I just... I couldn't take it. I could not spend one more birthday that had nothing to do with me."

"Nothing to do with you?" Minato and Kushina asked, horrified to learn that their son thought his own birthday was meaningless.

"Yeah. When people come over, it's for Kirie. The party is set up for her, the cake and ice cream are always her favorite flavors, and the games are what she wants to do. Last year, I wasn't even home for the party or presents, and you guys never even acted like you noticed when I came back. The next day, it hit me. You didn't notice I was gone."

Minato and Kushina both flinched at this. Internally, they were both kicking themselves for how they'd treated their own son. And they hadn't even realized they'd been doing it.

Kirie stepped forward, her hands clasped together in front of her. "Naruto, when kāsan was talking about making this year the biggest one ever, she was talking about you. I thought about how the party does keep getting more about me, and I wanted it to be made for you this time."

"Why?" Naruto said, surprised that all this today might have been over a misunderstanding, but he wasn't going to just take their word for it.

Kirie sighed. "I felt bad about always being the center of attention since, as the oldest, you deserve the spotlight, too."

The weird thing is, despite the fact that this was supposed to be what he wanted, what he had been willing to kill himself over, Naruto found himself apathetic to it. Like now, after his near-death experience, it seemed so insignificant an issue, one he had clearly overreacted to. "Keep your spotlight."

"What?"

"I don't want pity. After ten years, that's all I can get anymore from this family."

Kirie looked a bit hurt about that. "B-but it's not-"

"That's exactly what it is, Kirie. You only decided to give me the party because you feel sorry for having all of them to yourself. Kāsan's only agreeing because you asked her to, and tōsan... I haven't heard what his role is, not even sure he's a part of this at all."

The rest of the Uzumaki family couldn't help but feel ashamed of themselves because of what Naruto was saying.

"Naruto, what do you want from us? What can we do to show you we're sorry?" Kushina asked, a little afraid of his answer.

Naruto himself was hesitant to give her an answer, only because he wasn't sure what answer to give. He looked at his friends and close ones for a moment, and Hinata, who was still holding onto him like he'd vanish if she left go, and thought of something to say.

"The sad truth is, right now, there is nothing you can do. If you want a quick-fix, such a solution is impossible. And, to be honest, that would make me lose what respect I have left for you. Wanting to solve our dilemma quickly just tells me you think I can be bribed, and that you don't really want to fix the rift between us. You just want to stop feeling guilty over creating it. There were years you all made me feel like I shouldn't be there, so this cannot be fixed overnight."

"I understand, but we can still do something to start." Kushina insisted.

Naruto took a moment to think it over, and sighed. "Well, I hope you have ideas, but I don't. I'll probably need a few days just to be ready to give you a chance to try."

"In that case, once Naruto's out of the hospital, heading back to his home would not be a wise choice." Mikoto added.

"Excuse me?" Minato and Kushina asked, finding it hard to believe their close friend would actually suggest their son not come home.

"Obviously, his home life is stressing him out and he feels more comfortable away from it. Forcing him back into it might trigger a relapse and make him feel pressured to forgive you just to avoid walking on eggshells. But forcing himself to forgive anything will only make him suppress his anger and grief until it explodes again in an act like today. In fact, I suspect that's the real reason he did what he did today. He simply couldn't force himself to forgive you anymore and was not in the right state of mind to know what he was doing."

"I don't like this. He should be home where we can monitor him." Minato said.

"So that's my choice from you?" Naruto asked. "Either ignored or treated like a threat?"

Mikoto crossed her arms. "What's more important, Minato? That Naruto can feel comfortable around you again, or that Naruto obeys you?"

Minato sighed. He could see the logic in that. He did want Naruto to listen to him, but, more than anything, he wanted Naruto to feel comfortable around him and the rest of their family again. "Alright... I'll go along with it."

"But only for a couple of days." Kushina insisted. "And I will visit him each one of those days."

"Kushina, how is that any different than making him go home right away?" Mikoto asked.

"You expect me to just avoid my baby?" Kushina asked.

"You've been doing it more and more for the past nine years. It should be easy for you by now." Naruto claimed, hurting Kushina more.

"I'll take Naruto into my house for as long as he needs it." Mikoto offered, then looked to the ramen chef and waitress and Konohamaru. She didn't have to look at Hinata because what she was going to say was obvious enough the Hyūga girl didn't need to be told it. "If you all wish to check up on him, my door will always be open."

"Thanks, ma'am." Konohamaru said.

Mikoto then looked back to the two Uzumaki adults. "However, I must insist that, for at least the first day, maybe more if you can help it, you do not visit us."

"Now see here, Mikoto-" Minato started.

"You want Naruto to be healthy, right?" The black-haired woman cut him off. "Right now, your son needs distance, not excuses or pressure. And you both need time to realize just how much you've hurt him and what you can do to make it up to him. And I can tell you right now that suddenly trying to force yourself into his life is not an act of help, but an act of compensation. And help is what he needs."

"I am the Hokage here! You do not give me orders!"

Mikoto frowned and subconsciously activated her Sharingan. "Are you thinking as a Hokage or a father Minato?"

Minato glared at Mikoto and was about to retort. But, surprisingly, Kushina diffused the situation by putting an arm on Minato's shoulder and holding her husband back. "Minato... she's right. As much as I hate to admit it... she's right."

"Are you saying that, after we've had our asses chewed out for ignoring our son, we're supposed to knowingly keep doing it?" He asked in disbelief.

Kushina shook her head, and only then did Minato see the tears in his red-headed wife's eyes. "No. We're supposed to give him the space he needs and the time we need to figure out just how deeply we've hurt him. That way, the healing can begin."

Minato tried to interrupt her, but Kushina held up her hand to silence him. "I don't like this anymore than you do. But, if you're really the genius that so many people have said you are, then you know as well as I do that this is for the best."

Minato couldn't say he was convinced, but he did know know not to argue. "Alright then, Mikoto. I entrust you with him. And please keep us informed."

"I will." She said with a bow.

'I can still have Kakashi monitor them to ensure this isn't some kind of ploy.' Minato told himself, thinking that there had to be more to this than Naruto simply wanting attention. And if his son's change ended up resulting in new abilities, he wasn't going to let anyone keep that information from him.

A thud was heard, and everyone looked to see Naruto was lying on what remained of the hospital bed passed out. But, this time, he looked completely at rest. Hinata was still holding onto him tightly, and, with her face hidden, it was difficult to tell if she had fallen asleep, too.

"I'll call in for a new bed and equipment." Minato offered.

Kiba walked forward slightly and nudged the unconscious Naruto with his foot, trying to check just how out of it his blond friend and running buddy was. But, before anyone could reprimand him about his actions, the bottom of Hinata's fist slammed down onto Kiba's toes like a gavel. Thankfully, just before the Kiba could scream out in pain, Sasuke managed to come up behind the young Inuzuka and covered his mouth with both of his hands, muffling the sound enough to avoid waking Naruto.

"Just let them be." Sasuke told the dog-nin, who nodded him understanding. With that, Sasuke removed his hands from Kiba's mouth as Kiba lifted his foot up and held it gently with bot hands while hopping on one foot, swearing lightly.

After a while, the new bed and IV was in place and Naruto was resting comfortably with Hinata finally being forced to let him go. But that didn't mean she left. She had every intention of staying there until her blond crush woke up, and it was only thanks to Kushina speaking to some nurses that she was allowed to.

Hiashi might not like it when he inevitably would find out, but he wasn't there. So nothing short of the hospital catching fire would make her leave. With that, Hinata pulled up a chair and sat by Naruto's bed side, one of her hands holding his own as she kept watch of Naruto while he slept peacefully. As she did so, the others slowly filed out one-by-one until only Kushina was left.

Kushina looked on at the sight of her son and his friend in the position they were in. She couldn't help but find it adorable. And the new clothes Naruto was in suited him better than the orange jumpsuit he usually wore. She still didn't understand how his hospital gown got replaced with them or where the katana came from, but she was sure that, if Naruto knew anything about the how behind it, he'd tell them when he felt comfortable with it.

Right now, Kushina was mainly wishing two things. One was that she had a camera to snap a picture of the sight and preserve it forever. The second, and more important to her at the moment, was hoping that whatever wounds Naruto had hadn't reopened because of what had happened. Directing a quick smile at her son and the girl who obviously had a crush on him, Kushina left the hospital room and began to catch up to the others. She may not have known the Hyūga heiress very well, but, just by seeing the obvious care she had for Naruto, the Uzumaki matriarch could tell that Hinata would make sure that Naruto didn't do anything reckless after he woke up as long as he was still recovering.

To Be Continued...

Well, there it is! One of the several new ideas I've had that wouldn't leave me alone! Hope you enjoyed it. The others will be up pretty soon over the next few days, then it's back to updates. Shaka and peace-out, readahs!