Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is a work of fanfiction for funsies.

"Hyōton: Ikkaku Hakugei!"

Kakashi's eyes widened as the large ice construct exploded from the water, knocking him back. The construct fell, breaking off a large portion of the iceberg. His could feel the knowledge of the jutsu become integrated into his mind.

"Well then...here's mine!" he shouted, forming his own hand seals. "Hyōton: Ikkaku Hakugei!"

He sent his chakra into the ice, feeling the ice form into the same construct as before. Nadare frowned and put his hands together in the familiar sequence.

"But with the same jutsu, we can't settle this!"

The two constructs broke through the ice, breaking the iceberg even further. Kakashi thought quickly and grabbed Sasuke and Sakura, the actress already back on the ship. He flung them into the vessel and looked back for Naruto only to see the boy locked in combat against the large shinobi.

He's too far away, Kakashi realized.

He grit his teeth and stalked onto the boat, shouting the order to the captain to leave. This gained him shocked looks from the two remaining genin who had seen Naruto. Sasuke glared at him.

"What about Naruto?!"

Kakashi sighed and hardened his heart to what he had to say. "He's too far away for us to retrieve successfully. The enemy would be on us faster than it would take. This mission is too important, and Naruto knew the risks."

"Knew the risks?!" Sakura shouted, surprising both him and Sasuke. "He's our teammate, our friend!"

"And a shinobi of Konoha," Kakashi countered. "We dance with death every day we are on a mission, and this was no different."

He turned and walked away, brooking no more argument from his students. He pulled down his hitai-ate and tried to ignore the tears coming from his Sharingan. The guilt would eat him later when Naruto's name was inscribed on the monument, and he would have another reason to be there.

Sasuke snarled and threw a fist into the metal wall, ignoring the pain that radiated from his hand. He glanced over and saw Sakura sitting on the floor, tears running down her face and her hands clutching at her hair. This surprised him. She had always been against Naruto from the day their team was formed, so why was she so upset now?

"Stop pulling your hair," he eventually said, gently pulling her hands away from her head. "Naruto will find us."

She looked at him with puffy red eyes. "He's dead, Sasuke! He's dead. There's no way he can beat those three. Even Kakashi-sensei couldn't beat one of them!"

Sasuke bowed his head, uncomfortable with these emotions that were welling in him. He sighed and stood, walking to his room. As he walked into the ship, he offered one last piece of advice. "We have to believe in him, just as he did us."

Sakura continued to sit there, sobbing and holding herself. She only looked up when Koyuki walked up to her and offered her a small smile.

"You care for your teammate, yes?" she asked softly.

"I...I don't know," the young girl said after a pause.

The actress nodded and walked into the ship. "Do believe in him. He is an exceptional young man."

Sakura looked back in the direction of the iceberg and frowned. I will believe in you, Naruto. Come back to us.

==0==

Naruto swore and dodged another kunai thrown at him from the kunoichi. He ducked under the left hook of the large shinobi and lashed out with his own kunai, catching him in the thigh. With a savage snarl, he dug the blade into the man's flesh and twisted.

The man screamed and fell to his knees, hot blood falling onto the snow in rivers. He glared at Naruto, but before he could strike again, Fubuki leaped over him and tried to kick at Naruto.

The blond leaned back only for Nadare to slam a closed fist into his stomach, slamming him into the snow.

"You're making this very annoying, boy," the shinobi snarled.

Fubuki smirked and drew another kunai. "Yeah, but at least his friends are gone. That means we can play with him before killing him."

Coughing, Naruto rolled over onto his stomach, his vision blurring as he felt exhaustion try to take hold. He shook his head and absently wondered where his teammates were. Then, the words of the kunoichi stabbed into his mind. His eyes widened, and he looked around frantically.

She saw this and chuckled. "Yeah, your dear friends went and abandoned you."

Naruto couldn't believe this. He couldn't. However, he saw no sign of the boat on the iceberg, and his heart sank. They really had left them. After all that time together, all that time being a team, they had abandoned him rather than fighting for him.

Kill them.

He shook his head to dispel the voice, but it spoke again.

They abandoned you to fight to your death. You fought with your every breath for them, but at the first sign of danger, they left you behind. They never cared about you. They will never care about you.

Naruto growled and tried to stand only for Nadare to stomp onto his back with a sadistic grin. He tried to move, to rise so that he could fight, but he knew it would be useless. On his own, he couldn't fight all three of them.

Use my power, the voice offered. Use my power and kill them all. Kill them for the years of torment you suffered at the hands of the villagers, for the years of neglect and suffering. Kill them. Kill them! KILL THEM!

Something snapped in him, and he roared, "Fuck you!"

The three shinobi were thrown back by the sudden explosion of chakra and looked back to see red chakra bubbling up from the boy's form. After a moment, the chakra turned into the outline of a fox with three tails. The whisker marks on his cheeks darkened and became more prominent as his eyes became blood-red.

He turned to them, his face twisted into a visage of pure fury. "I'll kill you all!"

With that roar, he flew towards them, catching them off guard with his sheer speed. Naruto slammed into Mizore, tearing into his chest with a red shower. The man screamed and fell back, dead before he hit the snow.

Fubuki screamed in horror, backpedaling away from him as quickly as she could. She threw kunai after kunai only for them to bounce off the chakra cloak.

"Just die!" Naruto snarled as he turned to her.

Nadare swore and flashed through hand seals. "Hyōton: Haryū Mōko!"

The giant ice tiger leaped at the blond-haired boy. He screamed as it pierced through his cloak and took his arm with it. His blood spilled onto the ground, giving the two remaining shinobi renewed confidence.

"Not so tough, are y-" Fubuki stopped as indescribable pain flooded her senses. She looked down and saw the hand shoved into her chest. Her eyes followed the hand to the boy who snarled at her as she fell.

Naruto turned to Nadare and gave a savage grin of his own. "I don't know why I didn't do this years ago."

Fear overcame Nadare and he ran, screaming all the while. Naruto's form blurred and appeared behind him, his hand raised up to claw into the man's back. Quicker than he thought possible, Nadare drew an explosive tag and slammed it into Naruto's side just as the hand tore through his spine.

"What the fuck did you-" Naruto screamed as fire engulfed his form, sending him flying away.

Pain filled his mind as he landed, eliciting another scream. He tried to move, the chakra cloak dissipating. When he looked down, his remaining eye widened in horror. His remaining arm and a leg were gone. His skin was burned on most of his body, and blood caked what remained.

His head fell back onto the snow, all his strength leaving him in an instant. He barely had enough strength to breath, let alone shout for help, even though he knew none would come.

So, this is how it ends, he thought grimly.

To his surprise, the air next to him began to shift. A man appeared as if he had been there all along. The odd thing to Naruto's oxygen-deprived mind, was the man's mask, an orange swirl with a hole over the right eye.

"How the mighty have fallen," the man casually said.

Naruto wanted to retort smartly, but his strength once more failed him. He settled for glaring at the man with his remaining eye.

"You have two choices now, Naruto Uzumaki," the man said, ignoring Naruto's shocked look. "You can either lie here and die, abandoned by those who you once fought to protect, or you can come with me and get your vengeance. Pick wisely, young Uzumaki."

They abandoned me after all I did for them, Naruto thought angrily. He wasn't sure if he wanted vengeance, but the voice once more returned to his mind.

How can you not want to return this pain onto them? They could have fought with you, yet here you lie on your deathbed.

Naruto knew what his decision was and nodded weakly.

Tobi smiled behind his mask. "Very wise, Uzumaki. Now, sleep."

The man didn't even have to use a genjutsu as Naruto surrendered to the blissful darkness of oblivion.

A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome to my first fanfiction, Broken Bonds. Did you like it? Feel free to leave a review if you did or have constructive criticism. I've had this idea on my mind for a while, and I finally decided to put it on paper, figuratively speaking. Please leave a like if you enjoyed the prologue! Thanks!

A/N2: I do not know who made this artwork, so if someone knows please PM me so I can give full credit to the artist.

UPDATE:

Hey guys!

I wanted to notify you guys that I am, in fact, alive and well. I apologize for the lack of uploads; it has been a tough time in the family. My cousin passed away last week, and I have been dealing with that.

The second thing I wanted to notify you of is the rewrite of Broken Bonds. I liked the beginning, but it was not the proper setup for the way I wanted the story to go. If someone would like to use this as a beginning to their story, all I ask is credit where it's due.

Thanks,

TwoManBlue