Disclaimer: I do not own naruto, Final Fantasy X, or Final Fantasy X-2.

"Ramen!" talking

"So strange" speaking Al Bhed (This will change when naruto can understand it.)

"Insolent human" Kyuubi speaking.

More ramen... Thinking.

WARNING: The first two chapters contain a fair amount of angst, so if you don't like angst, it will be gone at chapter 3. Just to tell you. You may continue reading.

Uzumaki Naruto was extremely depressed today. Everything was going wrong in his life. The ninja had no friends, not even in his own team 7. Sakura was constantly telling him how annoying he was, and Sasuke was being his usually broody self. Although he seems to space out quite often lately, and he seems to have caught the contagious 'hate Naruto' disease since that fight on the hospital roof.

"I knew I shouldn't have shown my true self..."

The truth was, Uzumaki Naruto wasn't the idiot he made himself out to be. He wasn't a genius in any sense of the word, but he was smarter than the average person or shinobi. Now back to the other quarter of team 7, his teacher, the infamous copy-nin Kakashi. Known in the 5 great shinobi countries as the man to have copied over 1000 jutsus, to never have taken off his mask, and to read an incredibly perverted book in public, and sometimes even on the battlefield.

Kakashi...he was beginning to hate that man. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if he was ignored or disliked by his teacher, Naruto would have simply shoved him into the category of 'people who hate Naruto'. However Kakashi had to rub salt in old wounds. Naruto believed that Kakashi had really truly cared, and the hyperactive ninja was beginning to see him as a father figure. But then... at the chuunin exams he had shown his true colors. Kakashi had never cared. All he wanted was to train the last Uchiha, Sasuke to be precise. And in the process had cast off the demon vessel to another teacher. In Hatake Kakashi's eyes, team 7 was comprised merely of the Uchiha genius and 2 extras. And that truth hit Naruto far worse than any punch ever could. It was even worse than the glares.

There they are again. Those glares... it is to difficult to stand. And it always gets worse the closer it gets to October 10. My birthday, and the defeat of the kyuubi. Wow, im 14 today. Birthdays are supposed to be happy, merry, and fun. Mine never are. The villagers begin to get particularly aggressive around this time. They stare at me in disgust, beat me, and ruin my apartment. I can't call it a home, it never was, and probably never will be. A home is a place where you are comfortable, and have family and friends. I have none of those things. The only real thing I have to my name is my orange jumpsuit and a furry demon fox sealed in my belly.

That's another problem in my life. The Kyuubi... I have long since forgiven him, uh, her, it, for attacking Konohagakure. Although I am pretty positive it is a he. However, even though I have forgiven him in my mind, my soul can not truly accept it. I have suffered so much because of him, that I can not just say, 'let's let bygones be bygones' and let it be. I have forgivin him, because Kyuubi had a good reason for attacking the village. He hasn't completely told me yet, but I know he is telling the truth. Because he is in my mind, I can tell if he has ill intentions. Nothing more nothing less.

Now I come to the biggest impact on my life... and most likely...the reason for my decision. Iruka-sensei. Heh, even after all thats happened I can't stop calling him sensei. It seems that Iruka-sensei was ordered to teach and help me. Sandaime could tell I was beginning to crack from the inside out, so he ordered Iruka, the only person that could even tolerate me, to keep me under control. I discovered this from a small and simple mind jutsu that Kyuubi showed me called the mind scan, which can read the surface thoughts of any person. I also used this to find out that Tsunade only liked me because I looked like Nawaki, her little brother. And ero-sennin could stand being with me only because I looked like the fourth. Anyway, I discovered that Iruka-sensei first agreed in order to find a believable way to kill me without anyone suspecting him. He was still caught up on his family's murder at the hands, excuse me, paws, of the nine-tailed demon fox. In the beginning, that was all it was. Over time though, he began to take a liking to me. It developed over the course of the academy, and grew to a climax when I saved his life from Mizuki, using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu I learned out of the forbidden scroll I read. Those were the happy times...but...

We all know those don't last.

Me and Iruka-sensei grew extremely close. We trained together, I helped him correct schoolwork, and he took me out for ramen. He was like the big brother I never had. He wasn't a father figure, I already had Kakashi to fill that role. It all changed the week after the chuunin exam finals.

Me and Iruka-sensei didn't see each other in that week, he was busy with the school after it was destroyed in the sand-sound attack, and I was with Jiraiya the ero-sennin looking for Tsunade-baachan. When I got back I discovered something was wrong. Iruka-sensei was pale, and looked like he hadn't slept at all in the time I was gone. Whenever I tried to find him he wasn't home or at the ruined academy. I also tried the graveyard, thinking he may have been mourning the Sandaime's death, or maybe the deaths of Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon who died trying to defend the school with barely any ninja training. Or perhaps even the death of his parents again. I found out much later that day, after midnight, where Iruka-sensei was. It was after I searched Konoha using the Kage Bunshin, I didn't bother asking for help, since no one would help the 'demon child', and Tsunade wouldn't know where he is since Iruka-sensei wouldn't take missions while rebuilding the school. I was on my way to the apartment, vowing that I would continue searching tomorrow, when I noticed my apartment door unlocked. I didn't find this unusual, after I considered how long I was gone and how often my apartment was trashed. I sighed as I walked through the door, prepared for a long night of cleaning, when I felt something was wrong. It was kind of like a sixth sense from having fox traits, and I learned to obey these instincts. I walked through the door, preparing to beat up whatever drunk thug thought he could take on the great Uzumaki Naruto.

As soon as I set foot inside the apartment, a kunai sailed through the air, pinning me to the door by my hand and shutting it in one fell swoop. Before I had a chance to think, another kunai in the hand of my attacker came down and impaled my other hand into the door also. I was shocked, and also angry, that I couldn't even defeat a common thug. However that thought, along with all others left my head as soon as I saw the face of my attacker. It was...

Iruka-sensei.

When I saw his face, my heart froze and I swear my soul turned to stone in that instant. He always looked so kind towards me before, but when I saw his face, it made me think that there was nothing of my old Iruka-sensei left. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was going to kill the demon child. He told me everything I am telling you now. When I asked him why he wanted to kill me, he said the only reason he didn't sooner was because he thought 'Naruto' and 'Kyuubi' were separate. But when he saw me fight in the Chuunin exams, and use Kyuubi's chakra, he knew he had to kill me. I was speechless. When Iruka-sensei raised one more kunai over his head to strike the finishing blow, I didn't try to stop him. Kyuubi however, did. He forced chakra through my tenketsus, burning most of them, but throwing Iruka-sensei to the floor. For a split second, Kyuubi was in control, so he snatched the kunais from his two hands, and stabbed Iruka-sensei with both before he could get away. One to the brain, the other through his heart. Iruka-sensei didn't feel any pain. There was no time to.

Uzumaki Naruto was extremely depressed today. Everything was going wrong with his life. So, when he heard that Sasuke had defected to the sound, and he, along with Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, and Chouji, were given a mission to retrieve him, he decided. That tomorrow, when he meets Sasuke, in the final battle...

He was going to end it all.