Summary: A new enemy rose against Konoha. Tsunade was killed trying to save Naruto, who then lost control of Kyuubi killing all the enemies and destroying a part of Konoha in the process. Danzou seized his opportunity to became Rokudaime and put Naruto into prison hoping to turn him into a weapon. Meanwhile, Team Hawk is sent to Konoha to capture the nine-tails before Pein can get to it. But Sasuke has a plan of his own. What happens when he finds out about the new Konoha and Naruto? When faced with the man behind his nightmare, what will he choose to do? Eventually SasuNaru

Warning: Possible spoilers for current manga chapters if you're not keeping up.

Disclaimer: Obviously if I'm writing fanfiction, I do not own Naruto.

Author's note: I've decided to try my hand at revamping this entire story. When I reread it, I saw so many things that I think needed to be changed and fleshed out. And now's the time to do it. However, the major ideas for what will happen in this story will remain the same.

Seeking Vengeance and Finding Absolution

Chapter 1 - Losing It

(Edited 4/12/2011)

Naruto sat unmoving on his bed. His face was completely blank. Unfortunately, his mind was not as blank as his face looked to be. He wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come.

First he lost Ero-sennin…now baa-chan was taken from him as well. Two of his most precious people, the closest thing he had to family, were gone.

What did he do to deserve this? Was it his destiny to be alone, uncared for, unloved? It seemed that no matter how hard he tried to hold tight to the people he loved, they were wrestled from him anyway. His parents, whoever they were, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Tsunade... He clutched a hand to his chest in the vicinity of the persistent ache.

His heart couldn't take much more loss. To make matters worse, Tsunade died saving his life…again. Now he wished she'd let him die. Was he really worth giving one's life for? Maybe it would be better for everyone if he was dead. At least then the kyuubi would be gone forever. He would no longer endanger anyone because of the possibility of the seal breaking. Akatsuki would no longer bother Konoha.

It's not like he had anything to live for now anyway. Nothing had changed in Konoha. He was still hated by the village despite how many times he'd played their hero. He used to think he could force their thinking to change. It took years for him to finally realize that it was never going to happen. Their hatred ran so deep that Konoha was slowly rotting to the core. That hatred has already been passed on to their children. Then it will be passed on to their children's children. Tsunade's presence and authority was a cap. But now that the cap was gone, it was impossible to stop. He knew now...he would never be hokage. Tsunade was his biggest supporter, and now that she was gone, he didn't have a chance in hell. There would be a new hokage, but it wouldn't be him.

So where did that leave him?

Naruto flopped back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling without really seeing. He really wasn't sure what to do with himself now. He had a feeling the council wouldn't be too happy with him. He'd probably be getting a summons as soon as they were able to get things back in order. And he knew exactly why, even if he couldn't remember it happening. Those gaps in memory always happened when he lost control of the kyuubi.

For lack of anything else to do, he tried to fit the blank pieces together. He remembered being called to duty after an explosion destroyed the gate and being dispatched outside the village with his teammates. He recalled seeing Kabuto with Orochimaru-like features and doing battle with him while the rest of his team and others took out the zombies that he kept summoning. Then he made his mistake. Kabuto mentioned Sasuke and, like an idiot, he paused in the battle. That pause was all that Kabuto needed and he was able to slip through his defenses. He expected to die, but Tsunade jumped in front if him and took the blow that was meant for him. And that's when things get sketchy. He remembers nothing after that except anger and pain, until he woke up to see all the enemies around him dead and a huge chunk of Konoha completely wiped out. No one had to tell him, he knew he had done it. He still hadn't heard if anyone had been hurt.

Sakura or Shizune must have somehow gotten him back to his apartment and healed him because this is where he awakened.

His musings were interrupted by the front door being kicked off his hinges. He jumped into a battle stance as his room suddenly filled with masked men. He recognized them of course...ANBU.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you're under arrest."

Sadly, Naruto couldn't say he wasn't expecting that. He was figuring on being called to chambers after his latest loss of control. He had destroyed a whole section of the village after all. Still, he had to ask, "What for?"

Instead of getting an answer, he was roughly grabbed by two of them. He thought about fighting, but considering he had just been healed and was still much lower on chakra than he would've liked, he knew there was no way he'd win against an entire squadron of ANBU. He would have to bide his time. He was cuffed none too gently and pulled from his apartment.

They walked down the mostly deserted street. Naruto's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He knew the way to the Hokage Tower like the back of his hand. He could find his way there blind if he had to.

And this was not the way...not even close. "Hey, where are you taking me?"

"Quiet demon," one of them growled.

Naruto stopped, startled at the hostility in the voice. The ANBU weren't usually so hostile to him. In fact, during his young lifetime he could probably count on one hand the amount of ANBU that hated him. Most of them didn't bother him much. He knew they were around, sure. Had been since practically birth. He knew most of their chakra signatures now due to heavy exposure to it over the years. He was pushed in the back by one of the men and forced to keep moving. The wheels were turning in his mind and he watched his many escorts suspiciously. He knew quite a few of the ANBU because of various ones being assigned to watch him from his childhood on. After glancing at the masks of the ones surrounding him, he suddenly understood. This wasn't ANBU...This was Root.

Hell, this was bad...He needed to get away now. But how?

"Hell no! Not until I know where we're going." Naruto began to struggle against his captors.

"I said shut up demon!" One kicked out at him, but missed the blond, who jumped away. He took one look back at them, then he ran. Sure it wasn't the most honorable thing...he hated running from a fight. But in this case, he was hoping that somehow he'd lose them. Unfortunately, with the cuffs limiting his hand movement, there wasn't much hope of him getting way. Still, he made his way through the dark alleys he knew so well due to his experience running away from villagers. But it was to no avail. Even with his penchant for stealth, it wasn't long before he was caught. He struggled futilely with the many hands and arms that tried to grasp him. Finally, one of the men had enough. He hit a couple of pressure points to incapacitate the blond. Naruto eyes went wide for one short moment before he saw black.

x x x

In the hokage's office sat a man wrapped in bandages so only part of his face was seen. A cane was next to his seat. At first glance, the man seemed too weak and frail to lead a village so well know for their powerful hokages. But he seemed quite comfortable in his spot at the top.

In a swirl of leaves an ANBU appeared in his office and knelt in submission before his leader. The hokage looked and stared at him for a moment before waving him to his feet so as to give his report.

"It has been done, just as you commanded."

"So he is here?"

"Yes."

An almost wicked gleam appeared in the man's eye. "Good."

x x x

Naruto woke up with a groan. He sat up, which only made him feel slightly ill when the dark room started spinning. After the room finally stopped spinning, he began to examine his surroundings. It didn't take much to figure out he was in a cell. It was damp and there were no windows. He walked up to the bars tentatively reaching out a hand only to receive a shock.

"Ow!" He glared at the bars in annoyance. It didn't look like he was going anywhere soon. "Oi! Is there anybody out there!" he yelled.

All he heard was silence.

He grumbled and sat on the stone slab that seemed to serve as the bed. With a sigh he leaned his head back against the wall. Despite what everyone thought, he wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly why he was here. There was no other possible explanation. For the umpteenth time, he cursed his tenant. He brought his hand to his face, intending to rub it, but suddenly noticed a bracelet on his wrist.

"What the hell?" he muttered. He scrunched his face slightly in thought as he saw the same bracelet on his other wrist. "Well damn."

Though he knew there wasn't much chance of it working, he tried a small jutsu anyway, without success. "Great...just great." He knew he was screwed now. Not only was he in a cell that most likely prohibited the use of chakra, he was also wearing chakra draining bracelets. Whoever stuck him in here took every precaution to make sure he wouldn't be able to use his or Kyuubi's chakra. At this rate, there was not much chance of him getting out on his own.

An evil growl sounded. His stomach would pick now to complain of hunger.

"Oi! Can I at least get food here?"

Silence again.

His sigh echoed through the cell and he laid back on the concrete slab and figured he'd try to sleep.

The next day was more of the same. The only difference being the food that had been left in the cell. Well, that is if the slop he couldn't even recognize and attempted to keep down could be called that. No one had come to the cell yet, at least not when he was awake. And all of the yelling in the world didn't bring anyone to his cell. By the third day, he was so bored that he decided to train. There wasn't much he could do besides taijutsu, situps and pushups. But it was better than sitting around and doing nothing.

So he trained.

And trained...

And trained...

For the first couple of weeks it kept him busy.

By week three he was too tired. Whatever little bit of food he was given, which only came once a day, was not enough to give him the energy to do much.

By week four he didn't do much but lay there.

By week five he had stopped counting the days.

By week six it seemed like he'd been in prison forever.

...and still he hadn't seen a face.

Week seven came.

For the first time, he heard footsteps. Slow footsteps. And a cane.

He sat up, wincing slightly as his muscles protested from lack of movement. In the weak lighting he saw a man approaching. He was bandaged almost from head to toe. Naruto growled. He should've known. Only those bastard elders would do something like this. And this one was the worst of them all.

The elder stood in front of the cell. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Danzou." He almost spat. "I should've known this was your doing."

"You are sadly mistaken...This is your own doing. It was you who lost control of the beast." Naruto glared, but didn't say anything to that. He knew at least that much was true.

"What do you want from me? You can't keep me in here forever."

"Actually, I can. You see, I am now the Rokudaime Hokage. And no one on the council will oppose me."

Naruto couldn't completely hide his shock. Danzou noticed and chuckled.

"Surprised? Did you really think it would be you?"

Naruto glared with as much power as he could muster. If that man was hokage, he was seriously screwed. Danzou smirked...not at all intimidated by the glare.

"As for what I want from you? I want the same thing I've always wanted from you. And I will get it. Tsunade and Sarutobi got in my way too many times and prevented me from being able to touch you. But now, no one will stand in the way of my plans. You will become mine to control."

"No one controls me."

"We shall see my little fox. We shall see..."

And then Danzou turned and walked away. Naruto glared at his back until his line of vision was blocked by three Root members. Two restrained him while the other whispered a few words and did some hand signs then touched Naruto's forehead. Before he could blink the three had disappeared and he was alone.

A few minutes later, he wished he wasn't. For a moment, he seemed to black out. And then it began. He was assaulted with visions. They washed over him again and again, with no reprieve.

Except they weren't visions.

They were memories.

Horrible memories that he had somehow learned to block away at a young age, lest he go insane. They were memories that even a being as sadistic as the Kyuubi didn't bring up. There were the worst memories of his life.

Angry villagers.

Drunken assaults

Fists thrown, Weapons flung.

He was too young to protect himself.

Hatred flowed like his blood.

The scent of blood and sex...

The pain...the horrible pain of invasion...

Naruto screamed.