Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
One day the Akatsuki will capture Naruto.
They will extract Kyubbi and somehow Naruto will survive.
Perhaps it's because they have worked so hard to make sure Kyubbi isn't destroyed when he is finally released. Or because the demon's chakra has bled into Naruto so much that he is something more than human. Or maybe it's just because Naruto is so damn stubborn that he won't die. But for whatever reason Naruto is still taking in shallow breaths as Kyubbi hovers in the air somewhere above him.
He won't remember much of the process; a haze of seemingly endless pain, followed by a purr of triumph as a burden he didn't know he had, is lifted off him and he feels so light he's sure he would float if he wasn't so damn tired.
And after the shock has worn off he will somehow manage to escape. And suddenly, surrounded by trees he will come back to himself without even knowing he was lost.
His feet will take him towards Konoha, and his thoughts have disintegrated into simple commands to keep placing one foot in front of the other because he knows that if he ever stops running they'll catch him and kill him.
And even though everything seems so impossible because these are Akatsuki and Akatsuki are S-class nin, Naruto doesn't care. He's always managed before. Has always come out on top so this time won't be different. Can't be different. Not when he will finally be a normal human being.
oo0O0oo
Naruto spends exactly two days in the hospital before he manages to escape the combined efforts of Tsunade, Sakura and Jiraiya. He waits one more before he demands another mission. Three days later, he is back in the Hokage's office and he hasn't washed the blood off. He is quiet at first and then,
"I don't have your necklace anymore." The Godaime blinks and reaches into her pocket.
"It fell off while we were healing you. I forgot to give it back to you." The fact that he didn't give her much time to remember goes unspoken along with the fact that he is unsmiling and covered in blood. At any other time she might have tried to coax his troubles out of him but tonight she simply waits and he doesn't disappoint her.
"I've never felt adrenaline. I thought I had because I don't always use the fox's chakra but I haven't. What I thought was adrenaline was just a watered down version of demonic chakra it had slipped into my veins so that its host wouldn't get killed. And it was so diluted that I was still in complete control but I was just a little bit faster, a little bit stronger and isn't that what adrenaline is?
But it's not, adrenaline is different. You can feel your heartbeat pounding inside your head like your own personal symphony and everything is perfectly clear for each second but after that second passes the memory fades and then it stops and you're left panting and y- and I can hardly remember killing those people. And it's like when I channel Kyubbi but then I could blame it on the fox for not remembering but now it's gone and it was me who killed them, me who slaughtered them and I didn't even pause to look at their faces as my kunai took their lives. The fox didn't kill them. I did. I killed them and I still can't remember their faces."
In the deep silence that stretches between them Tsunade can't help but wonder if Naruto was ever sent to the therapy sessions that are mandatory for all shinobi after their first kill.
"I'm human now and I still can't remember their faces"He finally says, clenching his fists. Someone else might have said that he has always been human. Tsunade smiles sadly and instead hands him another mission along with her necklace. By the time he reaches her door, she can already see the glimmer of emerald around his neck.
oo0O0oo
This time, a week passes before Tsunade picks her necklace out of another bloody corpse.