Chapter One: Shattered By Hate

"Take this you piece of shit!" there was a sharp pain in the small boy's side as a grown man kicked him.

"She died because of you!" another adult yelled drunkenly as he swung his near empty clay sake bottle down on the child, shattering as it hit the balled up child on the ground.

"My son gave his life to make sure you died and yet here you are still breathing!" a third hate-filled villager from the Village Hidden in the Leaves kicked the boy. The blond boy closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face in agony.

"Why don't you kill them?"

The voice was but a whisper in the boy's ear, barely audible but he could hear it. It was there every time he'd been cornered like this, asking why he didn't retaliate or fight back. If he were to be honest with himself he would if he could. These beatings were common and were close to becoming a daily ritual.

"I'm surprised he hasn't killed himself yet. No one in this entire village gives two shits about you. No one will ever love you," one of the many men gathered to take their frustrations out on him spat.

Kill himself? He'd tried that a few times before. It never worked. The boy tried jumping from the highest cliff in the village only to wake up in the hospital a few days later. He tried cutting himself but his wounds always healed. He even attempted eating rat poison only to have a severe case of diarrhea for a few hours.

"They fear you. They fear your power."

Power? He didn't have any power. If he did, wouldn't he know about it? Wouldn't the old man have told him if he had power?

"You've been lied to. You have the greatest power at your fingertips."

He'd been lied to?

"Yes. Now release me! And I'll give you the power to get revenge!"

Revenge? Did he want revenge? The boy thought about how difficult it was to get food. How old man Hokage would force tailors and grocers to give him clothing and necessities. All the stares and beatings. The name-calling and snide remarks. Were those things that one sought revenge for?

"They are. Humans always seek revenge. I can give it to you. But you have to release me."

How was he supposed to release a voice in his head? Maybe he was as crazy as the villagers said.

"Open your eyes and you will see how to release me!"

The voice sounded urgent. Excited even. The child opened his eyes and winced as he slowly stood from his balled up position. Instead of finding himself surrounded by angry, drunk villagers, he was in some kind of sewer before a massive gate and two of the most evil eyes he'd ever seen.

A red aura seeped from underneath the gate and pooled around the boys feet. It began to encase the lower half of his body before forcing him up to the talisman keeping the giant gates sealed.

"REMOVE IT!"

The voice barked angrily at the small boy for not immediately removing the seal.

The boy just stared at it. He looked at the giant eyes floating in the sea of darkness for a moment before he reached for a corner of the talisman and began to tear it.

"Foolish human."

0o0o0o0

Uzumaki Naruto gasped as his eyes flew open. He looked over at his clock and saw that it read 7:30. "Damn it. I'm going to be late," He spoke in an irritated tone and threw his covers to the side causing the sleeping black fox at the foot of his bed to yip at him. "Not today Kit, I'm late."

Naruto threw his orange jumpsuit on as fast as he could and grabbed a few pieces of bread as he rushed out the door, leaving the fox to look after his apartment.

As he ran through the waking village toward the Ninja Academy, Naruto ignored all the comments thrown his direction. He learned how to block them out long ago, as they were always the same remarks.

Ever since he could remember, the villagers had always disliked him. It didn't matter what he was doing, everyone had a special glare reserved just for him. The beatings didn't start until he was older. To protect him from any possible harm that the orphanage workers might give Naruto, the Hokage moved him into an apartment.

Naruto continued to run toward the Academy. Today was the worst day for him to be late. The Genin graduation exams were today and his entire career as a ninja rode on those test results. Everything rode on those test results. He pulled his wrist in front of him and checked his watch. He had exactly 5 minutes to get there before he would be barred from even taking the exam.

Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled as he pushed himself to run even faster.

The academy came into view and the young Ninja hopeful put the last bit of his strength into reaching the classroom. He ran through the hallways pushing teachers and students out of his way, not even bothering to apologize. He finally reached his class and threw the door open startling the twenty-six other Genin hopefuls and the two teachers.

"Well Naruto, it's nice to see you join us. I hope you actually have a legitimate excuse today or did the Hokage Monument decide to paint itself on its own again?" Umino Iruka, Chunin Academy Instructor, asked annoyed at Naruto's tardiness. The entire class laughed at his past excuse to get out of trouble from vandalizing the monument. "Take your seat and we can begin passing out the written portion of the exams."

Naruto didn't reply as he took a moment to catch his breath before moving to the empty seat in the back.

The test was passed around and their time limit given before they were allowed to begin. An hour and thirty minutes later of intense test taking, the Genin-to-be were given 30 minutes before their practical exam would begin.

As the students got up to get food from the cafeteria or utilize the restroom, Inuzuka Kiba stopped by Naruto's desk. "I don't know why you bothered showing up, loser. There's no way in hell that you're going to pass."

Naruto looked lazily up at the Inuzuka heir and slightly snorted. Kiba had average grades and average abilities. His clan, the Inuzuka, was renowned for utilizing Nin-dogs for tracking missions and rumors spoke of how the Inuzuka could partially transform into dogs to heighten their senses. Naruto had once sought to make the boy his friend but that was long ago.

"Whatever." The Blond ninja-hopeful stood up and headed for the door without so much as another glance at the Inuzuka.

Kiba's eye twitched at Naruto's dismissal. "Hey! I'm not done talking to you, Uzumaki! I don't even know what you're doing trying to become a Ninja! It's not like anyone would even give you a mission let alone want to be on the same team as you. You're a dead-last that would just get your team killed on the first mission."

Naruto had stopped half way through the door. All of the remaining students stared at the blond to see what he would do hoping for a fight to break out.

"Tch," Naruto's grip on the door had tightened considerably as he made his mind up and left the class.

"I knew you were too chicken to face me," Kiba yelled as Naruto stalked out.

"You're pathetic Kiba," Kiba quickly turned around to berate whoever was stupid enough to call him pathetic. He came face to face with the black abysses that were Uchiha Sasuke's eyes, his current crush and hopefully his future wife.

"Sa-Sasuke-chan," Kiba flushed as he swallowed his bark.

"You call Naruto a loser yet you yourself are barely passing. I wouldn't worry about Naruto graduating if I were you, loser," with that said, the dark haired beauty followed Naruto's lead and left to get some refreshments before the practical exam.

To say Kiba was devastated would have been an understatement. With the excitement over, the remaining students left to use what little time they had to get something to eat and use the restroom.

If she were to be honest with herself, Sasuke didn't care about Naruto in the least. He always kept to himself and glared at practically everything that moved. She didn't even know why she bothered to say anything to Kiba. The repulsive Inuzuka hadn't even bothered her yet today to go on a date.

The blond Uzumaki was an enigma that Sasuke couldn't figure out. Naruto almost always had a scowl on his face and constantly made lame excuses for showing up late to class. He turned in half-assed homework and barely passed all of the tests given to him. And yet… he could easily be ranked as the best at taijutsu, ninjutsu, and even weaponry out of their entire class.

Sasuke had stumbled upon the blond practicing once and was shocked at the accuracy of his kunai and shuriken throwing. He hadn't missed a target. And it wasn't just his accuracy but how embedded the weapons became in the wooden dummies. It was completely different from earlier that day when they had to do the same for a graded test. Naruto had only managed one hit and it was far from making a deathblow. Sasuke had seen him practice only a few other times and was shocked at just how hard he pushed himself. It was clear he had a grasp on the three basic academy jutsu other than the Clone Jutsu.

However, Sasuke never questioned the blond as to why he was failing on purpose. If he wanted to be seen as weak that was his problem not hers. More or less, she took it as a personal challenge to do better than him. Sasuke refused to let anyone be better than her. Her clan name refused to let anyone be better than her. It didn't matter if he was hiding his capabilities or not.

0o0o0o0

Hyuuga Hinata glared at the back of Sasuke's head. It had been 40 minutes since the Genin had been called back in for the practical portion of the exam.

Each student had been called to another room one at a time as they were to be tested individually. Hinata had yet to be called in and had spent this time to glare at Sasuke.

She had so badly wanted to tell Kiba that he was wrong about Naruto. Then Sasuke beat her to it. Of course, Hinata was having trouble getting out anything resembling words to begin with but she still wanted to be the one to stand up for Naruto.

Hinata and Sasuke weren't exactly friends. They were polar opposites of each other. Where Sasuke was assertive and sure of herself, Hinata was meek and shy. They only hung out with one another because they were both friends with Ino and Sakura since all of them were very young. Their mothers were childhood friends as well.

Their classmates had nicknamed them the Princess Four. For Sasuke and Hinata it was clear as to why as they came from two of the largest clans in the village. Ino and Sakura had been included purely for looks since Ino came from a minor ninja family and Sakura came from a family full of civilian merchants.

They were often asked out by various boys who had actually managed to gather the courage but were always turned down. Hinata felt bad for them but was grateful that Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke knew that she had her eyes on a certain blond and answered for her. Of course she always felt bad for those pining after Sasuke who never even let them finish properly asking her out before she would either walk away or just tell them to beat it.

Sasuke wasn't very social despite being popular. Sasuke had never really cared what others thought of her, especially after her family had been killed. The girl focused almost solely on being the best in the class and training. Hinata knew she shouldn't be upset that Sasuke had put Kiba in his place, but the violet haired girl just couldn't help feeling like Sasuke was stepping in territory she didn't belong.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka had come back from the latest test and called the next student to be tested.

Hinata shot her light gray eyes toward the object of her obsession and watched as he stalked out of the classroom.

Hinata had always admired the blond haired boy. No one in the village seemed to like him and for no apparent reason either. She had seen him many times in the town square as people cursed at him and even threw rotten food or rocks at him all the while he did his best to ignore it as he made his way to wherever it was he was going. He trained every day after class and spent a lot of time at the library when he didn't understand a subject that Iruka-sensei had been teaching. He even chose to walk away from fights, knowing that others would make fun of him for being a coward. Hinata could see the strength it took for him to just get up every morning and wished she had the strength he possessed to keep going.

Hinata came from the Hyuuga clan, one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha, and that name came with a heavy burden. Hinata's father was the Head of the clan and when she was old enough she would gain that title. Her father constantly pushed her to make top marks and expected nothing less than perfection. Perfection she just couldn't achieve. She could never get new jutsu down on the first try and if she were honest with her father she would tell him that she didn't want to be a Ninja.

She was nothing like her younger sister who was everything her father wanted her to be.

Sometimes Hinata felt as if her father despised her and she couldn't help despising him back.

"Hyuuga Hinata," Hinata's head snapped up as Iruka called her name. She quickly got up and followed Iruka into the next room for her test, silently hoping that Naruto had managed to pass.

0o0o0o0

"Iruka, Naruto is more than qualified to pass," the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, said as he surveyed the celebrating Academy students who had managed to pass and become Genin. All of the celebrating students, along with the Hokage and Iruka, were standing in front of the Academy. It was a joyous occasion for everyone but Naruto.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama but I just don't feel right in letting him become a Ninja. None of his work even began to match the others and his grades have been pitiful since he started here. And not to mention there's that to consider as well. He's more than likely to kill his team just as much as an enemy if he were to lose control. He's too dangerous to become a Ninja," Iruka spoke sharply as he referenced the secret surrounding his blond student.

The aging Hokage sighed. Iruka wasn't the only one with such sentiments and he was beginning to fear of the damage such feelings were doing to Naruto. "Iruka, you need to remember that Naruto is a boy as well and above all else a human. Yes, he does have that, but it doesn't remove his emotions. All his life he has felt hatred and a bias that has deprived him of some of life's most basic needs. I can only imagine the hatred he has for this village for how it has treated him over the course of his life. A hatred that it would be more than happy to use to control him."

Iruka stood still as he thought over what the Hokage had told him. Could that thing really use Naruto's hatred to use him to escape? Whenever Iruka had looked at the 12 year old he had always seen that monster and his parent's crushed bodies. "He has always hated this village Hokage-sama. He holds no respect for anyone; he gets into fights and causes trouble whenever he can. For all we know he was a bad seed to begin with," Iruka spotted Naruto sitting on a swing beneath a tree, the shade masking his features making it difficult to read the boy.

"Perhaps, but you must consider that Naruto has never known love nor the comfort of a mother's hug or the pride from a father's acceptance. You understand his loss of parents but what you fail to understand is his frustration at never being accepted and the pain that comes with it. He may not hold respect, get into fights, and cause trouble but its only because he wants attention and doesn't know how else to get it when no one will even accept that he is his own being and not that. The Yondiame wanted him to be seen as a hero, Iruka. Not a monster." With his peace said, the Hokage left the young Chunin to his thoughts.

Iruka simply stared over at Naruto who had gotten up and began to leave the Academy grounds. He could see the obvious disappointment hanging around him. When Naruto had come in to take his practical exam, the boy had surprised him and Mizuki. His spar test had gone flawless, rivaling if not outdoing Uchiha Sasuke. His transformation and replacement jutsu had been perfect unlike every other time he'd performed in class. And his written exam was a perfect 100. Only two others had managed to score as high as he had: the Haruno girl and Sasuke. His genjutsu was something to be desired but not everyone was good with those techniques. He had managed to cast a light one causing enough differences that he had managed to sneak up on the proctor and mock kill him. He even managed to break out of the genjutsu placed on him faster than most, falling behind just four others in record speed of canceling the jutsu.

This turnaround in ability was too much for Iruka to handle. Nothing added up. Naruto had never managed to do any of the tasks given to him before or at best barely passed.

Naruto's downfall had come in the form of the clone jutsu. He had managed to produce two of them, but they were just so pathetic looking that Iruka had immediately declared he failed not even taking into account his scores of the other tests. He even ignored Mizuki who had tried to bring that point up. But how could he allow Naruto to pass and be happy when his parents were dead? Naruto had seemed so pleased at showing he was a capable Ninja and that happiness on his face had struck a dark place in Iruka's heart.

Iruka knew that tonight was going to be a long one and decided to put everything on hold as parents came up to thank him for his tutelage to their children.

0o0o0o0

Naruto punched the alleyway wall that he had ducked into. "Damn it!" It wasn't fair. He had done everything else correctly. It didn't matter what they asked him to do, he had done it perfectly. He answered every question right and they still failed him all because he couldn't make perfect clones. It's not like he would even use that stupid jutsu anyway. "I did everything else right. I'm better than nearly everyone they passed but failed me because I can't do one fucking jutsu!"

He punched the wall again and winced as pain shot through his now bleeding fist. "You shouldn't do that Naruto. I mean what if you broke your hand? You wouldn't be able to take the retest now would you?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly fell into a fighting stance to see who had snuck up on him.

"Relax Naruto, it's me; Mizuki-sensei," The man stepped forward out of the shadows to reveal that he was indeed Naruto's sensei.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked, not falling out of his stance.

"To give you another chance at graduating. A fair chance. Iruka-sensei was a bit hasty in failing you. I think the shock of how well you did got to him. All the proctors looked over your test results and we decided to give you a retest since nearly all of your results were near perfect," Mizuki smiled as a look of hope spread across Naruto's face.

"So what's the test?" Naruto asked as he fell out of stance but never let his guard go. Something wasn't right. He'd never heard of anyone being allowed to retest before.

"It's simple really. All you have to do is retrieve a scroll for me," Mizuki's smile had a hint of insanity in it.

0o0o0o0

Naruto smiled as he looked at the giant scroll lying next to him. Mizuki had told him that his retest would be to retrieve this scroll filled with jutsu and learn one of them before Mizuki met him later that night near the rundown shack in the woods.

That had been 5 hours ago and Naruto was happy to say that he had mastered the first jutsu, the Shadow Clone Jutsu. But something was off about this test. Why did they put the scroll in the Hokage Mansion and not the Academy if this was for a test? Naruto shrugged it off as he pulled out a blank scroll and a pen. There were some difficult and powerful jutsu in this scroll and he wasn't going to just learn one, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two pops of smoke billowed up next to him and two exact copies of himself stood waiting for orders. "I need you two to copy as many of the jutsu in the scroll as you can before Mizuki sensei gets here. Got it?"

"Right boss!" the two clones saluted him and got to work while the real Naruto went to go rest next to the shack that he was supposed to meet Mizuki at.

"Naruto!" Naruto sat up to find Iruka standing over him. Naruto wasn't sure how long it'd been since his clones had finished copying as much of the scroll as they could, but was generally surprised to see Iruka rather than Mizuki.

"I thought Mizuki was supposed to come and get me," Naruto said as a confused look came across Iruka's face.

"Mizuki? What are you talking about? There's no getting out of trouble this time, Naruto!" Iruka scowled as he took in Naruto's appearance. He could tell that the boy had been training. "Have you been training out of the scroll this whole time?" It was a stupid question but he needed to ask.

"Considering I had too to pass the test, yes I have been," Naruto said as he stood up. "So… do I pass?"

"Pass?" Iruka asked, "What do you mean do you pass?"

"Mizuki-sensei gave me a retest didn't he? He told me if I managed to get this scroll from the Hokage Mansion and learned one of the jutsu inside I'd pass the graduation test," Naruto knew something was weird with Mizuki's test. Iruka's eyes widened at this revelation.

"Naruto there is no retest. The scroll you took is full of forbidden jutsu. Everyone in the village is looking for you thinking you've run off to another village to give them our secrets," Naruto ground his teeth as Iruka told him the truth. He'd been lied to. Again. He knew he shouldn't have trusted that snake in the grass.

"Seems like I've been found out. Oh well," Both Iruka and Naruto turned around to see Mizuki standing on a branch of an old, marred tree. A large shuriken was twirling in Mizuki's hands as he spoke. "Guess I have to kill you as well, Iruka."

Understanding his words, Iruka jumped in front of Naruto as the oversized weapon of death embedded itself into his back. Naruto had fallen at the sight of the weapon coming toward him, still recovering from the fact he'd been betrayed and stared at Iruka who had protected him. "Why? Why did you protect me?"

"B-because… you're my student. Sure… you get into fights and… you don't show anyone the proper respect but… it's because you're lonely. I was like you. My parents died and I was left all alone. I didn't know how to get the proper attention and became the class clown. No one… should feel like that. Not even you. I should've been a better Sensei toward you. I… let my own feelings determine what you are and not… who you are. I'm sor-sorry Naruto," Iruka allowed his tears to fall freely.

Mizuki laughed loudly at Iruka's apology. "Don't be fooled Naruto. Iruka isn't sorry. The only reason he got in the way is so he can kill you himself. In reality, he despises you just like the rest of the village. He hates you with all of his heart. After all… you killed his parents," Mizuki smirked at the boy's confusion.

"Mizuki don't! You can't tell him, it's forbidden!" Iruka yelled at the man who he thought was his friend.

"Tell me! Everyone always treats me like a monster and never tells me why! I'm so sick of not knowing. All my life I've been told I killed a bunch of people but I don't remember killing anyone! What did I do to make everyone hate me?" Naruto was not going to let this opportunity pass him by.

"Mizuki we can't tell him!" Iruka yelled desperately. Naruto and no one his age was supposed to know the truth.

"If you're worried about the death penalty, don't be. I'm going to kill you in a minute anyway." Mizuki said to Iruka. He then turned to Naruto. "I'll tell you, Naruto, as long as you give me the scroll." He continued telling the tale, hearing no reply from the young nin.

"It happened the day you were born, the day the Nine-tailed Fox attacked our village! The Yondiame was the only one with the ability to stop it. He sealed the Kyuubi away into a newborn child and saved the village at the cost of his own life. Guess who that child was!" Mizuki laughed at the shocked expression on Naruto's face.

'I… I have the Kyuubi sealed in me? I'm the Kyuubi?' All the taunts, snide remarks and names thrown at him now made sense. "Why me? Why did the Yondaime choose me?!" Naruto yelled as anger filled him. It wasn't fair. Why was he chosen to have the Kyuubi sealed inside of, why not someone else?

"It doesn't matter why the Yondaime chose you! You are the Kyuubi and no one will ever see you as anything else. You killed Iruka's parents and the loved ones of everyone in the village. No one will ever accept you. Now give me the scroll and I might let you live long enough to get your revenge!" Mizuki laughed maniacally as he thought of Naruto turning into the Kyuubi and destroying the pathetic village.

Naruto stood up slowly. "Iruka-sensei," Naruto spoke sharply, "If I can beat Mizuki-sensei, can I become a Genin?"

"I'll see what I… can do," Iruka had managed to remove the shuriken from his back and fell onto the grass. Iruka had been lucky that the shuriken hadn't hit his spinal column.

"How pathetic, Iruka! And you call yourself a Chunin!" Mizuki snorted at his fellow instructor before turning to face the bond. "So you think you can take me on huh? Well let's see what you can do, Kyuubi!" Mizuki unlatched the secondary shuriken that he had brought with him and threw it at the blond.

Naruto dodged the spinning weapon. He quickly grabbed the scroll and took off into the surrounding forest. "Don't run away Kyuubi!" Mizuki took off after Naruto.

It only took a minute for Mizuki to catch up with Naruto who had stopped in another clearing holding the scroll up against his leg with his eyes closed, "So you decided to face death head on you fucking fox?"

"I'm not going to die. You are," Naruto stated calmly.

"Don't fool yourself Kyuubi! You can't beat me. You can't even do a simple clone jutsu right! Your test results were just a fluke. It's obvious you cheated. So quit the tough guy act and hand over the scroll to me!" Mizuki spat at Naruto's face.

"You should be careful what you wish for Sensei… you just might get it!" Naruto swung his leg around and launched the scroll toward the traitor.

Caught by surprise, Mizuki jumped to catch his prize. Once the scroll was in his arms, he felt a sharp pain explode in his forearms and thighs and fell to the ground in agony. "AHH! You fucking piece of shit!" Mizuki lifted his arms to see a kunai sticking out of both of his limbs and several shuriken lodged in his legs. He looked back to Naruto and was shocked to see that the boy's once brilliant blue-eyes were replaced with slitted, red ones. "I knew you were really the fox."

"You're just like everyone else. You only see me as the fox and not the human I really am. You're afraid of a power I never even knew I had. I want to thank you Sensei… for helping me make up my mind," Naruto spoke darkly and barked each word.

"I knew you would destroy the village. You should've been killed the day you were born! The only thing I don't understand is why get in my way? I hate this village just as much as you do. It's full of fools like Iruka. I could help you level the village to the ground!" Mizuki couldn't look away from the blood-red eyes of the demon in front of him.

"I'm not going to destroy the village," Mizuki gave Naruto a confused look. "I'm going to decimate it, and I don't need your help. I'm the Kyuubi after all, right? Hahahahaha, no I'm going to protect Konoha and kill all of her enemies."

"What? Why would you protect the village that hates you so much?" nothing was adding up for Mizuki.

"Why? So that I'm the only one that can obliterate it."

Mizuki was stunned. The village was right. He really was the Kyuubi. This boy in front of him was not human. He was a monster biding its time, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

"I can't let you live! You're truly a monster that I can't ignore. I will be seen as a hero for killing you," Mizuki ignored the pain in his limbs and launched forward, pulling a kunai out from one of his supply pouches and stuck it deep within the Kyuubi's gut.

A few moments passed before the boy disappeared in a cloud of smoke that dissipated quickly. 'What? Replacement Jutsu? No there would be something else in his place. I know I stabbed him! Then… Clone Jutsu? That can't be it I felt him!'

"Where did you go you little fuck?!" Mizuki looked around the clearing but saw nothing other than the Forbidden Scroll. "You coward, show yourself you damn Fox!"

"Maybe you should go back to the Academy Mizuki-sensei. Your genjutsu sensing skills need some work," Mizuki froze at the whispering in his ear and the sharp edge of a kunai blade at his neck.

Naruto was towering above him, his demonic eyes piercing through his very soul. "And you shouldn't underestimate an opponent, Demon," Mizuki launched his head backward hitting Naruto's gut causing the boy to stumble backwards. Going with his momentum Mizuki back flipped onto his feet and rushed at Naruto with a kunai ready to stab him this time.

Naruto blocked the attack easily and countered aiming for Mizuki's left lung. Mizuki caught Naruto's arm and moved to cut the boys appendage off.

Naruto jumped and spun his body around causing Mizuki to lose his grip and miss his mark. Once on the ground, Naruto kicked one of the protruding shuriken from the Chunin's leg and pushed it in deeper causing Mizuki to fall to the ground in pain. Mizuki pushed the pain out of his mind, rolled away from the Academy student, and shakily stood up. "You fucking piece of shit. You really were holding out in the Academy, weren't you? Well I'm sorry to say but this is where we finish this and you die. Then I'm going to go back for Iruka and finish him off as well. Anyone that sympathizes with you deserves to die."

"I'm not going to die," Mizuki felt a sudden pain shoot through his back only for his head to be pulled back and a kunai slice through his neck, "You are." Naruto was standing behind him holding his hair tightly in his fist and his kunai dripping with the Chunin's blood.

"H-how?" Mizuki gurgled as his life began to slip away.

"I did as you instructed and learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu from the scroll," Mizuki looked toward the scroll and saw that it was no longer there.

"You… you were the… scroll," the last sight Mizuki saw was the Kyuubi's eyes burning itself into his mind.

0o0o0o0

Iruka woke up to a white ceiling staring down at him. 'Am I… still alive?' A faint beeping sliced through the silence, and a sterile smell filled his nostrils.

He was in a hospital? How? He was sure that he was going to die in that forest. Who had found him?

"We found Naruto dragging both you and the Forbidden scroll back into the village. He revealed that Mizuki had tricked him into stealing it and would've succeeded in getting away if you hadn't found him," Iruka looked to his left and saw the Sandaime smoking his pipe.

"N-Naruto… managed to beat Mizuki?" Iruka asked and smiled at the old Hokage's nod, "I… I want to resend my decision on failing Naruto. He…" Iruka began to cough up blood.

"Don't push yourself Iruka. You're lucky that Mizuki missed your spinal column or you'd be out of a job now. And I've already approved Naruto for passing his exams. He more than proved he's a capable Ninja," the Hokage took a long drag of his pipe before slowly exhaling the smoke. "Naruto killed Mizuki."

Iruka looked at the Hokage with shock. Naruto… had killed a Chunin. Sure, Mizuki had betrayed the village but did he really deserve death?

"Mizuki revealed an S-class secret Iruka. He sealed his fate the moment he told Naruto the truth surrounding his birth. If Naruto hadn't killed him, he would've been killed later anyway," Hiruzen sighed as he thought of the loss of a Chunin. "Rest for now Iruka. The team formations have been pushed back a couple of days so that we can investigate what would motivate Mizuki to betray us."

With nothing else to be said, Hiruzen left Iruka to his thoughts.

0o0o0o0

Naruto huffed in exhaustion. He couldn't sleep and had decided to tire himself out by doing push-ups until he couldn't move anymore. His words to Mizuki kept replaying in his head. Did he really mean it? Would he really hunt down all of Konoha's enemies so that he would be the only one left to destroy it? But his words weren't the only thing bugging him. During his fight, Naruto had felt his senses heighten to a level he'd never known before. Mizuki's movements had almost seemed too slow for a Chunin and he could almost predict what the traitor was going to do next. Had he tapped into the Fox's power? "Fuck. This is all too confusing."

Naruto pushed himself up and flopped down on his bed waking up Kit, who yipped at him for disturbing its rest. "Shut up Kit."

The fox growled at him before it curled up next to him. Naruto lazily began to pet his only friend lightly. Raising his other hand, Naruto reached for his forehead and removed the black clothed headband that the Hokage had given him and smiled.

He had done it. He was finally a Ninja.

Naruto, finally feeling sleep claim him, let his body go limp and let his heavy eyelids close. The last thing he heard was only but a whisper in his ear.

"You finally have the power to seek revenge. I can't wait to see this village burn."

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A/N Note: A rewrite of Naruto:Shattered. This was done by me, and my co-author The Revolutionary Ronin. This is a much darker version. I hope you enjoy. FemSasuke and a harem, tell me what you think? I think this will most likely be a better version of my fic.

P.S: I don't own Naruto.

Beta-ed by Spookie Kitten.