Hey guys! This is only my second story, but thanks for reading it anyway! Oh, and it would be really great if you could review this story after you've read it. Honestly, reviews MAKE MY DAY! Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (obviously)

"Thinking"

"Talking"

"Demon talking"

"WHAT?!" The horrified shriek of a single shinobi echoed throughout Konoha. It was the only sound that could be heard; everything else was as quiet as death. No birds even dared to chirp.

Inside of a building, a sixteen year old blonde ninja was standing before Konoha's council of elders with a look of pure disbelief on his face. Shock was visible in the depths of his impossibly blue eyes. He started to shake his head defiantly. "No…no this can't be true. You can't do this! You're lying!"

The impassive elders seated before him looked on with uncaring eyes. They felt no regret for what was happening. This child was an abomination, and shouldn't even be allowed to live. They would have done this earlier, had they been given the chance.

A dark-haired man with white eyes that seemed to hold a tinge of victory sneered, "Naruto Uzumaki, the council has reached a decision and you shall abide by it regardless of your personal feelings. You have failed to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha from Orochimaru, and therefore you have failed the village. Demon-child, you are hereby banished from the Hidden Leaf."

Naruto dropped to his knees, and tears filled his cerulean eyes. 'This…this can't be! Baa-chan wouldn't allow this? Why is this happening? It's…it's not fair!'

But, apparently the man was not done. "You are to leave immediately. If you have not left the vicinity of Konoha within one hour, you shall be executed on sight. Oh, and we also must take back that headband, as it is property of the village." When Naruto didn't move, he motioned for one of the ANBU present to approach the boy. The ANBU appeared in front of him, and in one swift motion, pulled the headband off of Naruto's forehead.

It was in that moment that something snapped inside of the blonde. The thing that he treasured most, his village, was being taken from him. And with the village, went his friends. All of his precious people would be gone. He was alone. He was empty. It was just like when he was younger: he was the demon-child and no one cared about him. Naruto got up, silently, and took a step towards the head council member. His bangs hid his eyes from view and immersed them in shadow. Hiashi Hyuuga, sensing a change in the atmosphere, looked towards the banished boy.

And then, something unexpected happened. Something none of the elders could have predicted. This boy, after all, had loved the village, no matter what they threw at him. No matter how badly they treated him. They didn't expect it to change even now. Unfortunately for them, it did.

Naruto suddenly looked up at the Hyuuga clan head, meeting his gaze with a fierce glare. The normally indifferent man gasped. He was no longer looking into the eyes of Naruto Uzumaki. He was now looking at the cruel, blood red eyes of a demon. Intakes of breath could be heard all around the room. The boy's pupils were slitted, and only anger was visible within his eyes. The boy's face began to take on a more feral appearance, as his canines sharpened and the strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks darkened. An evil aura began to overtake the room. And then he spoke.

"You have just made a horrible mistake." The council could hardly believe that such a demonic voice could come from the blonde that stood in front of them. A few elders shook in their seats from the sheer power of the killing intent. The voice echoed around the room, like a scene right out of a horror movie.

"I will make you bastards regret this day. I will make you regret the moment you decided to banish me from this village. I hope you realize what you've just done. You have made a powerful enemy. By banishing me, you have sealed the fate of yourselves and your village." Naruto shook with fury, and hatred was visible in his red eyes. He spat on the ground, and then growled. A wave of flames originated from where he stood, spreading out and licking everything around it like a wildfire. And then he was gone.

That day changed Naruto Uzumaki forever.

It was an hour later, and a pink-haired kunoichi could be seen running through Konoha. Her face was red from exertion as she raced to the village gates. She wore a red dress with black knee-length shorts under it.

"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade!" she cried. A blonde women who looked to be in her early twenties greeted the girl with a wave. At first lit looked like a normal greeting, but the woman's sharp eyes picked up on an undercurrent of panic from the girl.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" she asked, concerned visible in her hazel-colored eyes. 'It takes a lot to get Sakura worked up like this.'

"It's Naruto-kun! I can't find him anywhere. Ever since we got back from our last attempt to rescue Sasuke, he's been missing! Some injured shinobi came to the hospital this morning from a mission, and I was healing them all day so I didn't notice sooner!" Sakura babbled on and on, another sigh of her worry.

"Naruto-kun?" Tsunade said, "I'm sure he's fine. If anyone can take care of themselves, it's that boy."

However, Sakura didn't look quite satisfied. "I mean we're a team…a-and we're friends and I should know where he is, right? What if he's in danger or half-dead from training so hard? That's what he usually does when we come back from a failed mission! H-he hasn't even fully healed from that battle with Sasuke."

The Godaime frowned at the mention of that traitor. He had once been part of Naruto and Sakura's genin team, and they had been close friends. But he had betrayed the village and gone to Orochimaru for training. She hated to think of how much that had hurt Naruto.

"Sakura, I just got back from Suna, so I have a lot of work to do. However, I'll see what I can do, maybe ask around." 'I hope that corrupted council hasn't tried to pull anything….'

Sakura nodded. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

"Come on, why don't you accompany me to my office? That way I don't need to send anyone to go find you if I stumble across that baka."

They set off towards the center of Konoha, where the Hokage's residence was located.

Tsunade opened the door to her office, only to find Hiashi Hyuuga, the head of the council of elders, waiting for her. Her detail-oriented senses noticed a gleam of satisfaction in his eye, as if he had accomplished something award-worthy. However, being probably the best medic-nin alive, the Godaime picked up small things like his breathing, posture, and increased heart rate. This revealed an undercurrent of… fear?

"Hello, Hokage-sama. I see that you are back from your meeting in Suna," Hiashi's white eyes rose up to meet hers. Sakura looked at the man, feeling like he was hiding something. Tsunade's gaze hardened into a glare.

"What is this about, Hiashi-san? If you are trying to pull one of your evil schemes then I can assure you that whatever you threaten me with will have absolutely no effect." Sakura glared at the man with her emerald eyes, silently agreeing with her sensei.

"I only wish to speak with you, that's all," and then he looked over at the pink-haired kunoichi, and added "Alone."

Frustrated, Tsunade hissed, "Whatever you are going to say can be said in front of my apprentice. Spit it out, Hyuuga." She really did not like this man.

"As you wish. I merely wanted to inform you that I have taken care of a great problem in our village. Children, adults, shinobi and civilians alike are much safer now that a certain… dangerous person is out of the way. He was simply a time-bomb waiting to explode."

Tsunade paled. 'No… he doesn't mean….'

"HOW DARE YOU!!!!" she snarled as comprehension dawned on her face. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Sakura was shocked by the Hokage's sudden outburst. She was clueless- what did the Hyuuga mean by that?

"This was a long time in the making, Tsunade-sama," Hiashi said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he added the suffix. "Everyone will thank me for getting rid of that-"

His voice was cut off by a hand at his throat. The Hyuuga clan leader found himself pressed up against the wall, struggling for breath. However, it was not Tsunade's famous temper that had flared up. Sakura beat her to it.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Sakura hissed, her voice as cold as death. Tsunade stood next to her, shaking with rage. Hiashi suddenly reconsidered coming here, but it was too late now.

"The council banished that demon brat! We'll never see his face again! Naruto Uzumaki is finally out of this village and out of our lives," Hiashi sneered.

Suddenly, the world seemed to freeze. A deadly silence descended upon the room. For all they knew, it could have been the world.

And then, "…what are you- AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" screamed a very upset Hyuuga as he was thrown through a wall. Someone down below on the street screamed at the sight of the dignified Hyuuga flying over their head. A crowd gathered below as a very pissed off Hokage flew out of the hole behind him, her eyes glued to the doomed clan head with murder as their intent. Not a second later, a pink blur raced up and punched the Hyuuga in the face with enough force to bring down a building.

Shrieks of "YOU BASTARD!!!" from Sakura and "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" from Tsunade could be heard as they pummeled the helpless man.

Kakashi heard the screaming and ran to the source of the noise. 'Is the Hokage under attack?' he thought. A huge wave of killing intent washed over him. He sprinted faster, now flanked with roughly a dozen ANBU. 'What is going on? Didn't Tsunade-sama just get back from a meeting in Suna?'

And then he saw it. Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks. "H.o.l.y. S.h.-" his words were cut off by more enraged screams. His eyes were met with the sight of the Godaime Hokage and Sakura Haruno beating the crap out of the Hyuuga clan head in the sky. He winced as a chakra-fueled fist slammed into Hiashi Hyuuga's gut. Apparently the clan leader really wasn't that great of a fighter as everyone thought. 'What could he possibly have done for Tsunade-sama to risk her status as Hokage and publicly fight him? And not only her, but Sakura too!'

Kakashi knew he had to stop this. He and the ANBU launched themselves into the air. It took seven ANBU to restrain Tsunade for the few moments they needed. One formed a hand sign, and the all disappeared. Four more ANBU went to Sakura and did the same, vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi leaped towards Hiashi, placed a hand on the man's shoulder, and disappeared as well. The onlookers blinked, wondered what had happened, shrugged, and then walked off and resumed their daily business. Obviously, they had a very simple thought process.

Tsunade, Sakura, Kakashi, Hiashi, and multiple ANBU were now in a large interrogation cell deep within the ANBU headquarters. Tsunade was still screeching like a madwoman and Sakura looked like she was ready to murder someone. Hiashi refused to be looked down upon and held his head high, despite the circumstances.

Tsunade's voice, which suddenly turned eerily calm, broke the awkward silence. "With my power as the Hokage, I vote for the execution of Hiashi Hyuuga- immediately." Her voice cut through the air like a dagger.

Kakashi's one visible eye widened. Some of the ANBU looked shocked as well, except for a few that looked down at the floor guiltily. "W-what could he have possibly done to deserve THAT, Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi didn't think he had ever seen the Godaime this livid before, even when Jiraiya had been caught peeping, and that was saying something.

"He manipulated the council into thinking that I had given them an order. He went behind my back, and performed actions without my consent, a-and h-he…" Tsunade's voice broke at the end. Kakashi stared in disbelief as tears formed into the legendary Sannin's eyes.

Sakura finished for her. "Kakashi-sensei, he banished Naruto-kun. They banished him for not bringing back Sasuke, and he thought it was an order from the Hokage! He left this morning! Kakashi…Naruto-kun's gone!"

This time it was Kakashi who had to be restrained.

And just like that, a 'misunderstanding' caused all hell to break loose. But no, no one would know that for a while. They didn't know what they'd done to him. They didn't know just how hard he would take it, how it would create a hole in his heart that couldn't be healed. What a mistake that was. And the worst part is that they have no idea how far he'll go. And soon, they wouldn't know what hit them.

Naruto's hair blew around him, wild and unruly since there was nothing on his forehead to hold it back. His eyes, instead of being dulled with pain, were strangely sharp and intense, almost icy. His hand balled into fists, and his eyes flashed.

And then, he took a step towards the Akatsuki base. A step towards destiny.

Well, there's the first chapter. Intense, right? Just to give you a heads up, the next chapter will take place roughly 5 years later. It is gonna be good xD. I hope you liked Chapter 1! Oh, and like I said before, PLEASE REVIEW! I practically live for feedback =)