As the smoke and dust settled Naruto stood on the back of his lizard. His summon was a massive thing and almost as large as the one-tailed Tanuki. For all he was ready to fight, he was breathing hard. If it weren't for the mark sustaining him he'd have collapsed from exhaustion and chakra depletion, not to mention his injured shoulder. He lost a lot of blood, but he could continue fighting. It truly was a remarkable thing this mark, even though he went through a great deal because of it he begrudgingly appreciated it at the moment. Without it he wouldn't be able to protect everyone. 'I'm weak.' He grit his teeth.

"Yes! Yes!" The Tanuki screamed in excitement. "Keep fighting, show me why I'm alive!" The thing then sent a wind wave at the redhead's summon, but the lizard was too fast and agile. It easily avoided the attack and stormed the beast, ramming it with its head.

As the wind attack passed them it flew out of the ruined arena and into the village, leveling anything and everything in its path.

Naruto wasn't bothered by the destruction, he knew the people were most likely evacuated by now, his only worry was for his friends. He needed to make sure they wouldn't be swept away as a result of his battle.

As his lizard rammed the Tanuki it pushed it backwards and out of the arena and into the village. Buildings could be rebuilt.

As the bijuu wanted to swipe at the reptile with its claws Naruto called to it and the lizard immediately quit its move and with lightning speed turned around hitting its opponent with its massive tail, sending it crashing.

Picking himself up the transformed Gaara laughed madly. "That's what I was talking about!" He used his own massive tail to hit the ground and sent dust and debris everywhere, blinding the Uzumaki and his summon and then sent another wind wave at them, but this time hitting them with its full force.

Naruto held on with all his might just not to fall off. His summon groaned as it stood its ground together with its master, but it was clearly injured.

He grit his teeth. 'This is getting impossible.' How was he supposed to defeat the Suna boy in such a state? How do you defeat a whole bijuu?

"Is that all you got?" Demanded the Tanuki, then sending one wind wave after another at them, while laughing madly. All this time Naruto had to pay close attention where they were going and steer his lizard out of the way of the arena. One hit from the bijuu would destroy it immediately, killing everybody inside. He couldn't let that happen.

Sadly his summon was at a disadvantage here. It was agile, but it did not have any special attacks. It had venom, but it's teeth couldn't penetrate the Tanuki's thick hide. And even if it did he doubted it'd do anything against such a thing.

Then there was the fact that it could not grab his opponent either, whereas Gaara's beast had all the advantages of a bijuu.

'A bijuu.' Naruto though. 'A bijuu.' It took him a while, but then it hit him. "A bijuu!" He had his own bijuu, although he had no control over it, but that was not the point. If he lacked the necessary characteristics to fight this thing he had to change into something that could fight on par with it. At least a little more.

Then out the head of the Tanuki Gaara emerged. "Not bad, Uzumaki-Namikaze," it wasn't a compliment from the redhead, he was frustrated with him and annoyed that he lasted as long as he did. "But let's see what you do with this." He performed a hand seal and put himself into sleep. Then it happened, the Bijuu fully awoke and took control.

"I'm free! I'm finally free!" It screamed. "Woo!"

Naruto growled under his breath. This would make things only worse. Making his own hand sign he used his summon's chakra and transformed.

Out of the massive puff of smoke jumped the Nine-tailed Fox, extending its claws at the sand demon. Those that could see the battle between the two could only look on in awe and fear.

"Kurama?" The Tanuki stared at him wide-eyed. He recognised him? His bijuu actually had a name? And it was called Kurama? He did not expect that. He already knew they could speak from his own, but bijuu knew each other?

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind as he charged the monster and bit it, sinking his teeth and claws into it.

The sand demon screamed. "What are you doing, Kurama? It's me, Shukaku!" He screamed as the Fox's teeth sank deeper. "Don't you recognise me?"

With one swipe of his tail Shukaku forced Naruto to retreat and attempt a new attack.

"If that's how you want it, so be it!" Roared the sand demon and sent a wind bullet at him. Once again Naruto was forced to evade. And again and again. The bijuu sent one wind bullet after another.

Naruto wanted to get out of the way of another of the Tanuki's wind attacks, but he noticed the arena was right behind him. If he got out of the way of the projectile now everybody in the arena would be killed in this attack. He could not let that happen. He wouldn't let his friends down.

Gritting their teeth he and his reptile summon stood their ground, letting the wind hit them. When it did there was an explosion and dust covered the entire area, blocking the view for a few moments.

The attack was strong and Naruto and his summon friend suffered when it impacted, as did he, but they wouldn't let it stop them. They couldn't. They used the cover the explosion provided for them and once again jumped the beast.

Shukaku attempted to tear his opponent open with his claws, but was stopped by the fox's tails, which wrapped themselves around his torso, arms and tail, stopping his movements altogether.

"Why are you doing this, Kurama?" The demon choked, trying to break free. "Shouldn't we be helping each other?"

At that moment Naruto let their combined transformation drop and jumped out of the smoke it created, targeting the Suna redhead that was sticking out of the beast's head.

The sudden transformation surprised Shukaku enough to be frozen in place as he watched a boy fly out of the smoke, not realising the tails constricting him vanished and he could move freely.

Landing in front of the enemy genin he delivered a strong right hook to the boy, waking him up.

"No!" Shukaku screamed. "I was finally free!" His eyes lost its colour and the demon was once again imprisoned.

Gaara wished to retaliate, but before he could get the chance Naruto delivered a hard knee to his nose, breaking it and stunning the boy. It all happened way too fast for him to react.

This did it. The sand demon slowly fell apart into a massive pile of sand. Once this was done his own summon disappeared as well and the two genin fell to the ground.

Unable to move Gaara was defeated. Blood poured out of his nose as well as his mouth. The last hit did it for him. He lost. It'd take a while for him to recover.

Naruto's mark slowly receded and he was left completely drained, lying helplessly on the ground, his breathing laboured.

"Why?" Managed the Suna redhead. "Why are you so strong?"

"Be….because I….fi-fight….for….f-for others, n-n-not….just my-myself." Naruto managed before he fell unconscious.

Gaara stared at the unconscious Uzumaki. 'Fighting for others, and having connections with other people.' That was a foreign concept to the Suna boy, but his defeat showed him that, perhaps, his way wasn't the right one. That maybe he ought to rethink his life. He was all alone. Nobody would come to his rescue now.

But then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Angling his head as much as he could he saw Temari looking down at him with a gentle smile playing on her lips. "We lost. Let's go, Gaara."

Then Kankuro too was by his side and both of his siblings pulled him up and put his arms around their shoulders. Maybe he wasn't as alone as he believed. Clearly the Uzumaki was right when he spoke about his siblings caring for him no matter what he became. They loved him because he was their little brother. And as their family he was someone important to them.

This whole concept was very new to him, as he, up till now, lived only for himself, and so he did not really understand why they still cared for him, considering how he treated them, even if he was their brother. It made no sense to him. Yet, they cared. He certainly had a lot to think about.

The Konoha and Taki jonin surrounded the young genin. During the battle, several more Konoha students joined them after they were released from the genjutsu. Now all of the children were all exhausted fighting enemy forces and protecting the civilians and each other. Kimiko was exhausted healing those around her.

Their teachers were immensely proud of them. They outgrew themselves in this battle, and it warmed their hearts how they did not care by whose side they stood.

And as the jonin protected them they could see the barrier, that held Orochimaru and the village leaders, disappear and Anbu units swarm the area. When that happened the enemy nins suddenly retreated, the battle was over.

Both sides breathed a sigh of relief, their leader's would be safe now.

Looking the other way they saw Naruto's battle come to end as well, with both beasts disappearing. They were all stunned when they saw the Nine-tailed Fox jump out of the smoke and attack the Tanuki, even if they could tell it was a mere transformation jutsu.

They were even more stunned to see the boy protect them with his own body and moments later defeat an actual bijuu.

Konoha would owe him a depth of gratitude they could never repay. With his actions he saved hundreds of their people.

The Taki children all grinned and cheered loudly. "He did it!" Kimiko wiped tears from her eyes. She was so happy the fight was over and her brother safe.

"Let's go get him!" Fu jumped to her feet. To their surprise Sakura and a few other Konoha genin stood as well and followed them.

Together the group jumped into the ruined arena and then through the hole in a wall and into the village and where Naruto lay.

They could see the Sand siblings as well, the three of them made no move to harm their friend, they just seemed interested in getting their brother.

Looking up the three waited what would happen to them. Would they be attacked and taken prisoner, or worse?

"Go." It was Sakura who spoke up, stunning her companions. "Leave here!" They did not understand what would bring her to do this, even less so what possessed Sakura to be so bold and decide something like this.

At this the three nodded and vanished, with Gaara stealing a last glance at the unconscious redhead.

Before anybody could ask what this was about and why she let them go, considering all their crimes against their village and people, a hail of kunai forced them to evade and separated them from their friend and saviour.

"What's this!" Their teachers arrived behind the children and saw what happened.

Then as the group watched a dozen Anbu descended around the redhead and before they could do anything they let loose smoke bombs. Once the smoke cleared they were all gone and Naruto with them.

"Naruto!" Screamed Fu. Their friend was gone, taken prisoner by Konoha.

Hiruzen and Shibuki were both taken to an emergency field hospital, once they were retrieved by the Anbu Black Ops. Right now both of them were being treated, Sarutobi taking priority as their own leader and having the heaviest injuries of the two, while Shibuki was treated for chakra exhaustion.

Sadly for the Hokage the healers soon determined that his arm could not be reattached. The wounds inflicted by the Kusanagi were too serious.

Although crestfallen after such news Hiruzen knew this was his own fault. He let the sannin get to him and he attacked in blind rage. Were it not for Shibuki he'd be dead.

Looking over he could see the young lord wasn't doing too bad. He had no serious injuries, he was just exhausted, laying on his bed barely conscious and unable to move.

Looking around the hospital when they were brought in he was horrified at how many people ended up in the hospital with them and just how many died in the attack, but were not for the quick responses if his shinobi, and to the same extent, the Takigakure shinobi, even the children, many more could have come to harm. That is not to mention the debt they now owed to the young Uzumaki, who defeated a fully transformed jinchuriki. And he was deeply grateful for all of that.

Looking at his missing arm he felt regret. Not for his lost appendage, but for what it represented. Orochimaru has taken his grandson and two of his closest friends. It now symbolised his failure to protect them.

Thankfully though, his people got his grandson from the snake's clutches alive and relatively well. He was traumatized from the death of his two friends, and Hiruzen himself felt deeply saddened by it, but they had to look to the future and try make their fallen proud. They had to build a better future where this would never happen again. No child should face death so early on, or at all.

Closing his eyes he was ready to doze off when somebody barged into their room.

"Where is he?!" Somebody demanded furiously.

It made him frown. What was going on now? He just wanted to rest.

"You can't go in there!" Somebody else insisted.

Sarutobi unwillingly opened his eyes and saw Naruto's sensei, Yashamaru Abumi, followed by the other jonin and genin. "Where the hell is he?!" She seemed beside herself with rage.

When her eyes found him they blazed. "What have you done to him, you old bastard!" She sneered. Sarutobi was taken aback by this, he did not understand. Why did she seem so angry with him? She looked ready to take him by the collar and choke the life out of him.

"Wh-what….?" He stuttered.

"Don't play innocent!" The blonde glared. "You took him!" She barely held herself with fury.

"Where is he?" "What have you done to him?" "Give him back!" The children demanded, adding to the aged Kage's confusion.

"What is it?" Shibuki inquired from his bed.

"Naruto was taken by Anbu! His Anbu!" She pointed at him.

When he heard this the young lord tried to get out of his bed, only to have a nurse push him back. "You can't leave, Lord Shibuki!" The nurse insisted.

All the colour he had left drained from Hiruzen's face when he heard this. It couldn't be.

"He saved your hides and this is how you thank him?!" Yashamaru yelled at the injured Kage. "What are you playing at? Getting your 'weapon' back?" She took a step forward, but was restrained by her colleagues.

Getting over his shock he addressed her. "I'm sorry." He said weakly.

"You're sorry?!" She forced through gritted teeth, her eye twitching.

"Yashamaru!" Shibuki attempted to stop her.

"Those Anbu did not act on my orders. I'd never give such a command." He told them all. "No, that command came from elsewhere."

"And where would that be?" Demanded Hanae. She too looked furious. Something out of character for the usually calm and cheerful woman.

The last two jonin in their party too were enraged, while the children looked worried.

"Danzo." Hiruzen closed his eyes. He knew his friend was more than capable of this, but he hoped he wouldn't do this.

This surprised the assembly. Danzo Shimura was well known in the shinobi world.

"What of him?" Shinobu questioned curtly, losing his patience.

"Danzo has his own Anbu organisation called the Root. They answer only to him and are fanatically loyal to him." The old Kage revealed.

"And you let him have it?!" The blonde jonin felt like punching the old man.

Sarutobi looked ashamed. "I hoped it'd keep him in line. It was either that or him doing it anyway in secret."

"What kind of ruler are you?" Shinobu fired at the man in disgust. Kenzo actually had to hold his friend back.

"You'll help us get him back, do you understand?!" Commanded Yashamaru. "And if anything happens to him in the meantime you will regret it!" And they all knew she would make good on her promise.

Slowly Naruto came to. He felt weak and was hurting all over. When he tried to move his arms he found he couldn't. Actually he couldn't move at all, and he wasn't lying as he expected. Opening his eyes he found he was bound in a chair, the restraints cutting into his flesh, making him bleed.

Looking around he could barely see anything, the room was too dim. Shifting his attention to his shoulder he saw he was given basic treatment.

"You're finally awake." Somebody in the room spoke up. He tried to see who it was, but to no avail. "You've done well defeating the other jinchuriki."

The Uzumaki's heart was pounding hard in his chest. He was afraid. Last thing he remembered was the battlefield and Gaara, and now he was a prisoner.

"But it ends here." The voice continued. "A weapon cannot leave its masters." Naruto gritted his teeth. They meant things as a jinchuuriki. It was Konoha, he was certain. Konoha must have taken him when he was out wishing to take their weapon back. He was nothing more than a thing to them.

"You'll do as we say, or I'll have the fox extracted from you." The voice came closer and the boy could see it was Danzo who spoke. "Extraction will, however, mean….death for you." Naruto paled at those words.

Danzo spoke casually as if it was an everyday thing to murder people for their demons. The redhead could now see the true nature of Danzo, just like Kabuto had said.

"But before we get to taking you," he spoke as if Naruto was a mere beast, "you'll tell us everything you know about Takigakure, its people, ninjas and defences. Those wretches are a bigger threat than we believed them to be." This in turn made the redhead growl. "And you'll tell us who the other jinchuriki they possess is. We can't have them possess a single of these things."

'He wants to take Fu as well.' Naruto realised, gritting his teeth.

"Speak, or you'll regret this." Danzo's voice became sharp.

"And I'm suppose to believe that should I do it you'll just let me live?" Naruto fired back.

"You have my word." The older man nodded.

Naruto looked at the ground and as the dark-haired man watched he could see the boy start to shake. Did he cry? But then Naruto's head shot up and he barked out a laugh.

Danzo's eye twitched watching him. This was not the response he was waiting for.

After he calmed down the redhead gave him a hard glare. "Not even for a second do I believe that you'd hold your word, Danzo. I know all about you by now."

"From Orochimaru." The village elder confirmed. "I know all about your little meeting with the traitor Kabuto." If he did, then why did he never stop it, Naruto wondered. "I didn't want to take this route, but you gave me no choice."

"Abduction or complete manipulation, it's all the same to me." Sneered the redhead.

"I can't let anybody else have our weapon, least of all that man." Danzo rationalized.

"Then you don't know me." Naruto told him.

"I'm not going to risk everything in something so superficial such as that." Scoffed the politician. "Trust let's you be blindsided."

"People like you is exactly why I left!" Naruto's anger and hatred were boiling.

"A jinchuriki can never leave its village. What do you think you are? You have a binding responsibility towards our home." The older man lectured.

"Maybe I would feel differently were I treated better." The redhead countered. "What of your responsibility towards me?"

"You are a jinchuriki, a weapon, not a person." Danzo walked in circles around him. "It was all meant to shape you to our needs."

"It was you!" Naruto realised. "You told everybody I harboured the fox!"

"Like I said, it was meant to shape you. Make you what you were meant to be." He once more came into view of the boy and continued to walk around him.

"You'll regret that!" His eyes changed colour to red with hatred.

"Empty threats." Danzo dismisses his threat. "Now you'll tell me everything I want to know, or I'll force you!" He stopped in front of the boy.

"And doom one of my friends?" He leaned back in his chair. "I'll never do that." He shook his head.

"Stubborn, just like your father." The old man sounded almost regretful. "Too bad you had to tell everybody you were their son, and worse, the old fool admitting it." He shook his head once more. "It's a shame the snake failed to kill him, I'd be Hokage now."

"So you're bitter you never became Hokage?" Taunted the redhead. "And so you undermine everything he does. Pathetic." This seemed to anger Danzo.

"That's enough of your insolence!" The man growled. "You'll give me what I want or we will get the information out of you by force." He smirked internally as he saw the boy swallow hard, but the he also remained silent.

"So be it." The Root leader said to himself and called for Fu Yamanaka, one of his faithful soldiers.

The man in question stepped forward. He was a young man with auburn coloured hair and yellow eyes. He wore a usual Root uniform with a tanto on his back. His expression was void of any kind of emotion as he looked at the young boy tied in a chair, as if such a sight did not bother him in the slightest.

"Do it." Danzo bid him.

"Of course." Fu nodded and stepped closer to the boy, placing a hand on his head. Naruto tried to fight, but thanks to the restrains he couldn't do anything. And before he knew it he felt something assault his mind. The pressure it put on his mind was unimaginable. The young redhead tried to fight it, he didn't wish to give them the information they wanted, to endanger Fu. He didn't want her to go through what he had to. He wanted to protect his friend.

The young Uzumaki screamed as the man tore through his mental barriers and forced his way into his mind. Such a violation was a terrible feeling. Was this how women felt when they were raped?

The Yamanaka descended deeper and deeper into his victim's mental plane, but before he could get all his master needed he found himself in a strange looking sewer. There was water everywhere and the walls were all damp and beaten looking. Proceeding forward he found the place had countless corridors, all ending in more junctions and corridors. He never experienced anything like this. Each time he got into somebody's mind he always got what he came for after a short while, but not here. What was going on?

His answer came when he finally found his way through the endless passageways and deeper into the boy's psyche and found himself in a massive room, presumably the centre of Naruto's being. Walking in he found himself before a massive gate. A gate about as high as the Konoha cliff itself. And it was sealed for some reason? Was it here that he had to pass through?

Slowly he walked closer to the gates and as he did so he found something was behind them.

As he crossed the room and got as close as possible his breath hitched in his throat. There from behind the gates two massive, red eyes were watching him. The eyes of the Nine-tailed Fox.

He knew the boy was a jinchuriki, that was the reason they captured him, but to be able to penetrate so deep he could meet his inner demon? That was unheard of.

He heard stories of the beast, but none of them came ever close in describing the thing itself and the horror it evoked in him. It was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen in his life. He could barely face it imprisoned, he could never face it without the barrier. Just what kind of monster was it?

The Root Anbu were trained not ever to fear anything, but this was way out of their league. There was no way he could bypass this thing.

The massive fox glared at the man before him. "Human." The beast startled him. It could speak? He always thoughts it was a mindless beast, not something sentient. How could it be possible to control something like this. "You have quite the nerve." The demon continued. It had a deep voice, that boomed all across the giant chamber. "To harm my container and wish to enslave me." It waited for an answer, but none came. "Speak!" It commanded.

Fu jumped at the demon's demand. "I came here for information." He spoke hurriedly.

"The information on the boy's life, friends and the wish to make him your own weapon, and with it, me." The fox scowled.

The Root agent had no idea how to answer this. The fox was right in everything it said, that was exactly what they wanted, but he couldn't admit that.

"Human." The fox stopped the man before he could speak again. "There is no sense in denying it, I can sense your intent, no matter how hard you try to conceal it from me." The power of the demon started leaking out from behind the gates and towards the Anbu agent, and soon it enveloped him, strangling him. "You'll never claim ownership over him." It spoke before casting the man out violently.

Danzo watched both of them, his subordinate and the Uzumaki. And as he did so he could see the boy was resisting at first, but his loyal soldier broke through in the end. Nobody could resist the Yamanaka mind techniques. Once it was done the boy went completely limp and was like a ragdoll. Fu on the other hand soon start to tremble and sweat profusely. It was as if the man was afraid of something, but what was it? After all, the training he put his soldiers through stripped them of their emotions and any kind of individuality. Any soldier capable of free thought and emotion was a hazard in his book.

Fu Yamanaka suddenly found himself back in the real world and he found himself lying on the ground and was covered in sweat. That was the most horrifying experience he ever went through, and that was saying something.

Slowly he got to his knees and looked up at his lord and master. "What happened, Fu?" The older man asked.

"I-I sa-saw it!" Fu stuttered. "I-I s-saw th-the fox." He managed to get out, taking deep breaths to calm himself, his heart hammering in his chest.

"How?" Was all that Danzo asked.

"I-I don't know." He shook his head. "I think it wanted to stop me from learning anything about the boy." He slowly got up after those several moments, although he still shook badly.

"Tried to stop you?" Inquired the elder.

The yellow-eyed man nodded. "Yes, it was like it intercepted me, wishing to protect its host. It didn't want to be used." Danzo arched an eyebrow at this. "It's sentient and can speak." Fu revealed. "It spoke to me before casting me out."

The fox cast Fu out? This was troubling news as he wanted to use the man to control the boy and the beast with him. The Yamanaka jutsu was very powerful and could be used for countless things.

"The Fox knew of our intentions with it and protected itself and the host as well." He looked at the boy who was still slumped in his chair.

All the while they spoke Naruto was listening to their conversation, although he pretended to be passed out. Everything he learned about the Fox interested him. He knew that it was sentient already. It must have been after seeing Gaara's bijuu, and that one was sentient as well and could speak. It also had a name, Shukaku. And his own demon too had a name as well, Kurama. But why did Kurama protect him? From what he knew the Fox hated humans. It hated everything. It was like he was the personification of hatred itself. Thinking about it it kind of made sense. 'We are very similar.' The redhead thought. 'We both hate people.' Was Kurama hurt in the past as he himself was as well?

When he looked up he could see Danzo was deciding on how to continue on with him. It would appear he did not expect such an outcome. "I hoped we could avoid this." Danzo spoke up at last. "I wanted you to join us of your free will, hence why I gave you the photograph of your dead parents." This angered the boy. "I wanted you to come to me for more." Was everybody out to trick and control him? It made him furious, it was always the same song. "A jinchuriki is a weapon belonging to the village. To be used as needed, but you….you are a rogue element. Unpredictable and dangerous. It must stem from your mother, she was the same - stubborn, wild and unpredictable." He described her. "If only I could have gotten my hands on her." He shook his head in disgust, infuriating Naruto with his words. "Prepare the extraction of the demon, we will use one of ours as the new host." He instructed the Yamanaka.

Fu bowed, but before he could leave somebody else arrived. "Lord Danzo!" The new arrival bowed to his leader. "We are under attack from Anbu! We are being overrun." He reported.

"They must be coming for the boy." Fu pointed out.

"Hold them at bay for as long as you can." Commanded the old man. "I'll put him under my control. Once that happens they are powerless."

"Yes, sir!" The two Root soldiers bowed before disappearing, off to lay down their lives for their lord if needed be.

"They are useful pawns." Danzo told the redhead, as he prepared his next step.

"They are dying for you!" Did the man ever care only for himself?

"As they should!" Danzo scowled. "You're too young to understand, but a soldier that isn't prepared to die for his lord at any given moment is a useless tool. I cannot use anybody like that." He truly had no moral integrity. "And you'll join me whether you like it or not."
"I'll die rather than do that!" Sneered Naruto.

"You won't have a chance." The organisation leader slowly removed the bandages from his head, revealing his eye. There was no scar that would suggest the eye was unusable.

When the man opened his eye the redhead could see the Sharingan. Somehow Danzo got his hands on the dojutsu of the Uchiha and taken it for himself.

"How?" Naruto didn't understand how he could have it. Kakashi got it from his friend, but what about Danzo?

"I took it, what else?" Of course, why did he believe otherwise? The man would simply steal anything that he wanted, even if it was a body-part. It disgusted Naruto to no end.

Danzo couldn't care less what the boy thought to him. To him a true leader did anything necessary to protect his home, even if it meant doing morally ambiguous, or, what others considered, outright evil, things. Whatever a situation called for.

"This is the end of your little rebellion." Danzo threw the bandages away, ready to do what he believed to be the right thing.

Naruto refused to look into the man's eye and closed his own. He wouldn't let himself be fooled like that.

"That won't help you." Danzo was merciless and pried his eyes open with his hands.

A young Naruto, of about five years of age, was running through the streets of Konoha. The soft breeze ruffled his short, crimson hair, his eyes full of happiness.

"Slow down, Naruto!" Came Mizuki's call, a silly grin plastered on the man's face.

Naruto stopped and looked around grinning as well. "Hurry up, Mizuki!" He called.

The white-haired man laughed as he caught up to him. "Don't be so hasty, Naruto." He patted his head. The two then proceeded to their destination - Teuchi's Ramen stand.

As the arrived the Mizuki lifted the young Naruto up onto a seat, then took his place beside him.

"Welcome, what can I get you?" The cook asked, smiling at both of them.

"Two bowls of pork ramen, please." Mizuki ordered for both of them. "Now you'll taste the food of gods!" The white-haired man grinned at the redhead next to him, and little Naruto grinned back. It felt so good to have a friend. Especially to have a friend like Mizuki.

He sat there swinging his legs as he waited for the food to arrive. The owner was nice to him, unlike others in the village. It was a whole new experience for him. It felt great and made him grin.

Usually he was served as quickly as possible and hushed away, or, more commonly, not served at all and either not allowed in or thrown out with insults flying his way from left and right. It also wasn't uncommon for people to beat him. That's also why he appreciated his friendship with Mizuki so much. Each day with the man was a reward in and of itself.

After a few minutes Teuchi sat a large bowl before both of them with a large smile on his lips. "Bon appetit you two." He was curious how his creation would satisfy the young boy.

Tucking in the young redhead slurped his noodles. He had high expectation form what his friend had told him and so he felt guilty when he wasn't impressed by the food at all. If anything it was an average noodle soup. It was rather underwhelming.

"Well? What do you think?" Mizuki asked excited.

"Umm, it's great!" Naruto grinned, hesitant. He couldn't tell him the truth.

"Awesome!" His friend exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. "I knew you would like it!" He grinned as well before downing the rest of his food with astonishing speed.

Naruto was disappointed. Not because of the ramen, or his friend, but because of himself. Was it possible that he was a poor friend, since he didn't really like it? Even though Mizuki was so good to him?

Getting the rest of his ramen down he lowered his bowl back on the counter. It felt good to have a full tummy of warmth, but at the same time it made his sad.

Not letting any of this show, or at least hoping so, he spent several hours at the stand with the chunin, chatting away and eating another bowl of the noodle soup.

"Aww man, I completely forgot about the time!" Exclaimed Mizuki after sneaking a peak at his watch. "I'm really sorry, Naruto, but I'll have to go." He gave the boy a guilty look.

"It's okay, I understand." The redhead have a small smile. He did understand, but he still didn't want for his friend to leave again. He deeply wished to spend more time with him. Actually, he might have even liked to live with him.

"I'm sorry." He patted Naruto's head gently. "I promise we will do this again soon." He paid for both meals and then stood up and started to walk away.

The five-year-old Naruto followed Mizuki through the streets of Konohagakure, wishing to know what his friend was doing.

Thanks to his extensive experience of hiding and avoiding the villagers he had a lot of training when it came to stealth, even though he wasn't an actual ninja yet.

And so using all his experience he followed his friend discreetly. He knew this probably wasn't the right thing to do. It was a breach of trust, but for some reason he felt very curious today. He wanted to know what Mizuki did.

Continuing on with his pursuer of his friend he followed him into darker parts of the village. Looking around the young boy didn't recognise that part of the village. He had never ventured into such dark-looking parts. He did once before when he was running from an angry mob, it didn't end well. And so, being in another such part made him apprehensive, but some invisible power continued to draw him after his friend.

Watching as Mizuki entered a strange building he went after him a comfortable distance away from him.

Inside it was rather dark, darker than he expected it to be, and for a while he lost sight of his friend, but thankfully the sound of footsteps lead him in the right direction. He could have easily gotten lost inside here.

Hurrying deeper he found Mizuki stopped in the middle of what looked like a bridge inside the building. Standing there for a moment he could see a second person join the silver-haired chunin.

As he watched a man in traditional clothing, bandaged right eye and right arm in a sling came out of the shadows, Danzo.

The moment he saw him Mizuki fell on one knee, bowing before him.

"Have you befriended the boy as ordered?" The older man questioned.

"Yes, Lord Danzo." The white-haired chunin kept his gaze downcast, a display of subservience.

"And?" The warhawk probed.

"Just now I took him to that ramen stand of the man Teuchi and his daughter." He reported. "He seems rather attached to me already."

Naruto couldn't see his friend's face, only his back, as he stood behind him, but if he could he would see Mizuki showcased no emotion whatsoever. His monotone, robot-like tone of voice he spoke in was bad enough already though.

"At the same time I spread around word that he's the container of the monster fox." Mizuki continued.

"Very good." Danzo approved. "The villagers will take it from here." The corners of his lips rose in a minute smile, which made the boy shiver. "Do the same with the shinobi, especially Umino Iruka."

"As you wish, Lord Danzo." The white-haired man

Little Naruto was in shock and on the verge of tears. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine anything like this. He thought he finally found a real friend, somebody who cared about him.

Suddenly he could hear them. It was faint at first, but soon they grew in volume and he could understand them clearly. "Monster!" A voice shouted. "Demon!" Yelled another. "Murderer!" Soon they became a chorus, and as they slowly did the darkness around him began to to surround him, suffocating him. "Demon child!" "Beast!" "Devil!" "Fiend!" "Freak!" "Abomination!" "Fox Brat!" "MONSTER!" The voices screamed from all sides over, and over again. He tried clasping his hands over his ears, but it was for naught, as he still could hear them clearly.

Then, slowly, the voices faded, and for a moment Naruto thought that perhaps his torment was over, but one voice stayed and grew stronger. Opening his eyes he could see a redhead with long, flowing hair, fair skin and steel coloured eyes. His eyes.

It was his mother, he knew and he smiled as he heard her say his name. He wanted to go to her, hug her, but her expression stopped him. It was full of hatred and disgust. And worse, it was directed at him. "Demon!" He recoiled at the word. "I could have never given birth to such monster like you!" She snarled.

By now the boy was in tears. It was horrible having all those voices assault him, calling him all those names. He was especially sensitive to 'monster.' But coming from his mother, his most precious person, was crushing.

"You are a fiend!" Came more terrible words, screamed directly into his face. "You're nothing more than a beast!" She pushed him. "Things like you don't deserve to live!" Another push. "You deserve to die!" His mother pushed him again and he fell, but got up again. "Monster!" More pushing. "Monster!" His mother repeated and shoved him once more. "Monster!" She continued repeating over and over again, until Naruto snapped and tackled her to the ground, his twelve-year-old hands around her throat and he squeezed, his eyes shut, tears streaming down his cheeks.

The body beneath him struggled and clawed at his hands, forcing him to tighten his grip. Keeping his eyes shut, teeth grit, he squeezed as hard as he could. He just wanted her to be quiet. He didn't want to be hurt any more than he already was.

Beneath him the person struggled, clawing at his arms and face more frantically, trying to pry his hands off in any way they could. Anything for him to let go.

After about a minute the person beneath him stopped struggling, but he continued to squeeze as hard as he could, and only after several minutes did he relaxed his grip

Panting heavily he remained bend over over the form beneath him. His hands ached from the strain, but he paid them no mind as he wept. Why? Why were the people doing this to him? Why did his mother do this to him?

Slowly opening his eyes he looked at the person underneath him and froze.

Right there beneath him was no Kushina. He had his hands around the throat of an unmoving Fu, her orange eyes wide open and unseeing.

His brain could not process this. He was frozen in place, staring at his first, and closest friend from his home, his true home. How could this have happened?

More tears came without him noticing, silently falling, staining Fu's white kimono. He stared, transfixed, at his dead friend.

Suddenly he recoiled and jumped off of her as if he was burned. "No." He shook his head. "Please, no." He covered his mouth with his hand as tears flew, his legs barely supporting him. What had he done?

The voices then came back. "You killed her!" "Murderer!" "Fiend!" "Monster!" They all shouted.

"No." The boy shook his head. "I didn't want to. Not this!"

"Monster!" The word repeated over and over.

"You always hated her." A voice from behind him said. "Ever since your first meeting."

Turning around he was met face to face with Mizuki, Danzo at his side, with the silver-haired man's emotionless eyes boring into his own.

"You hated her for the attention she got." Mizuki continued. "You hated her for her cheerfulness. Hated her for her happy go lucky attitude."

Naruto slowly shook his head as he stared at the chin in, his mouth hanging open, his expression that of despair and more tears coming.

"You hated her from the start." Mizuki repeated. "Be honest, you wanted her dead."

A soft 'no' was the only answer he was capable of.

"I told you, no weapon can disobey it's masters." Danzo told him. "This will be you punishment."

Mizuki made a single hand gesture and chakra strings shot out of his fingertips and attached themselves to Naruto.

No matter what he did he could not move, less of all free himself from his friend's control. Mizuki held him firmly and forced him to turn back to Fu and face his actions. However, as he did so he could see a row of men, all in a non-descriptive Anbu uniform, by his friend's side. All of them sporting cruel smirks.

As he watched he saw one of the men step forward and get on top of Fu, slowly undoing her kimono.

"Stop!" Naruto screamed as he watched, but there was nothing he could do, his body was no longer his own, no matter how hard he fought it.

He wanted to stop it with all of his soul, but couldn't and was forced to watch as the man started to touch the girl's breasts. At least he wanted to look away, but even this was not allowed to him. And so he watched as the man unzipped his pants, taking out his erected penis, and spreading Fu's legs he inserted himself into her, thrusting his hips more and more.

"No! Stop it!" The redhead screamed at the top of his lungs. "STOP!" Once more tears were running down his already tear-stained cheeks.

When he man was done with Fu he zipped himself up and with a spat left her there all exposed. However, then another man took his place, his pants already open, and he too raped Fu's cooling corpse.

One by one the men took turns on the orange-eyes girl's body, while Naruto was made to watch all of it. The entire time he cried and pleaded with them to stop, to leave her alone. All for naught. Nobody listened to him, only laughed and mocked him, and striking silly poses while raping her.

It was all too much for him and he started to break, but then he felt a tug at the strings and felt his body response, taking a step forward, towards the body. And then another step, and before he knew it he stood before her. Then with a snap of Mizuki's finger his hands flew to the zipper of his pants.

'No!' He thought as he unwillingly unzipped his pants, exposing himself to all present.

He resisted with all in his soul. This couldn't be. He couldn't! But his body didn't respond to him, and he lowered himself on top of Fu, stroking himself as he did so.

Why? Why did his body respond to this? He felt himself go hard, and as he did so he inserted himself into her. Mizuki then made him molest her body like the other men did before.

This was the last straw and he snapped, screaming his lungs out. It was an animalistic sound of somebody broken.

Danzo smoked to himself. 'Finally.'

His world fell apart. The lie he made up for himself exposed and the horrific truth coming to the surface, shattering him into a thousand pieces.

Suspending the genjutsu he closed his eye. Now for the last step. It would require the last of his chakra and he wouldn't be able to use his Sharingan at least for another day, but it would cement his victory. All he had to do now was to reconstruct the boy in his image.

"Let go of him!" Somebody from behind him yelled, and turning around he had to deflect several kunai with his cane. Looking at the new arrivals he could see Kakashi Hatake, Maito Gai, Yashamaru Abumi, Hanae Kikui, Kenzo Kuga, Shinobu Hayami, and other jonin, all ready to fight him.

Turning around he wanted to make an escape only to find he was surrounded from all sides by jonin and Anbu. He was heavily outnumbered.

"It's over, Danzo!" Turning around he saw Sarutobi walking towards him with the support of others. And next to him Shibuki who was in a wheelchair, as he was too weak to walk himself, even with help. "All of your people are defeated, give up." The old Hokage bid him.
"That might very well be, but this is not the end of me. I still have the boy." Danzo was determined to make it out unharmed. After all, he was Konoha's protector and saviour. He always protected the village with everything he had, and today was no different. These ignorant fools just didn't understand what he was truly doing. They never understood this was a war, and in a war everything was allowed. Especially when it came to protecting the village. Lord Second would have understood.

He was about to make a move when somebody stabbed him from behind. Looking around he saw the Uzumaki, holding a kunai in his hand, and his eyes filled with nothing but absolute hatred. How did he get from the chair?
Shifting his gaze he could see that one of the restrains holding the boy in place was cut. It was one of the kunai that missed him harmlessly. Or so he thought.

When the kunai hit Naruto found one of his hands freed. Taking the chance he took the weapon and cut himself free, then decided to attack the disgusting man.

Pulling the kunai free he slashed Danzo across the face, destroying the Sharingan eye the man had, unwittingly robbing him of the last means of escape.

The Root leader stumbled back, but before anybody could make a move Naruto attacked once more, stabbing the man again and again.

Especially the jonin and village leaders stood frozen, watching the boy murder his captor in cold blood. Stabbing the man to death.

Naruto knew he had won when he robbed Danzo of his dojutsu, but that wasn't enough for him, he wanted to end the man once and for all. He wanted to make sure he could never again hurt and manipulate anybody else. He'd make sure this monster was gone once and for all. He wanted to destroy him.

When he was finished he stared at the dead body for a long time before dropping his weapon and turning to the group of his supposed friends and teachers.

The Taki shinobi winced when they saw the cold and merciless look in Naruto's eyes. It was as if the boy they knew died right in front of their eyes and was reborn at the same time, everything childlike about him gone.

Hey guys. I can't say I'm exactly back, I'm still no in a good place. But I try. This is an update of this chapter and some major changes. Hope you like it. Just wanted to post it to let you know I'm stil here.