Okay, so I'm reposting this as one single chapter. I know it's kinda stupid and pointless, but I figured why not. Just getting started on the next chapter after this long, so I decided to commemorate it with this! So, without further ado, on with the story!

Oh, and I don't own Naruto (no matter how many times I cry myself to sleep at night).

Running. It was all he could remember. Running for hours, but it felt like days.

Every corner he turned, there would be more of them. More people waiting to slit his throat. Some had already, but he didn't die. He never did.

They didn't know, didn't understand what it was like to be him. The boy they all hated, but the boy that loved them all. No matter what they did to him, he would always protect the villagers. His villagers.

The villagers of Konohagakure.

He could remember every waking moment of his life. Every insult hurled at him, every stone thrown at him, and each glare cast his way. But as much as he loved them, he always wondered why. Why would they do this to him? Why was it that every day, of every year they would hound him? He didn't know why. Most of them didn't even know why. It was a tradition at this point. But this was no ordinary day.

It was his birthday.

But to the village, it was the annual Fox Hunting Day. It was like they reveled in his pain, his misery. There were more things that happened to him on this day though. Stranger things, if there could be such a thing.

The voice got louder, stronger and more hateful.

He turned another corner, where he slammed into a big, middle-aged man and fell down.

The man gave a sadistic smirk, and looked at the boy with so much malice he could feel it in his bones.

With a quick flick of his wrist, the boy pulled out a kunai and tried to look menacing. In response to this, the man gave a hateful, almost insane, laugh and punched the boy in the head, cracking his skull and knocking him unconscious.

When he came to, he was tied to a post and, while this was nothing new, he became afraid. He was afraid that he would never get to realize his dream of becoming Hokage. To him, this thought was new, and it was terrifying. But it also brought up a lot of sadness in him. Sadness not for himself, but for his Jiji, and for the owner of the ramen stand where he felt truly at home.

That was when he noticed it. The real reason he was afraid.

Teuchi was tied beside him, along with his daughter Ayame.

He closed his eyes and cried. Cried as much as he ever had in his life, and as much as he ever would. The people he loved, the people who treated him like family, were being beaten and tortured like he was.

He forced his eyes open, and looked at the crowd with teary eyes that were full of hatred. He stared at the crowd as a man ripped open Ayame's shirt, and started groping her. He stared at the crowd as a Shinobi pulled out a kunai and slid it across Teuchi's neck. He stared at the crowd as the man forced himself upon Ayame. And he stared at the crowd as he strangled her to death.

With each passing moment, he felt hatred bubbling up from somewhere deep inside him. He focused all of this hatred into his glare, which had become blood red instead of his usual cerulean blue.

He kept staring until his eyes started to hurt. Then they started to burn. Then they felt like they were on fire, and he started to scream. He screamed so loudly that birds flew out of the trees. He kept getting louder and higher, until he could barely be heard, yet the crowd knew he was still screaming. Their ears started to bleed, and that was when the boy formed the first words any of them had heard aside from the typical shout of "I'm going to be Hokage one day, believe it!"

"Shinra Tensei!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, and the world around him exploded.

"Shinra Tensei!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, and the world around him exploded.

People were flung everywhere, Teuchi and Ayame among them.

And with that, the boy passed out.

After about ten minutes, the boy regained consciousness. Sitting up, he realized that his bonds were broken, and he could move freely again.

A sharp pain lanced through his eyes, and this brought back the memories of the death of his foster-family.

He started to cry again, but this time it was slower. It wasn't for the loss of his family, it was for the loss of his village. After the death he caused, he knew he could never return. He had killed the villagers he promised to protect. He was a murderer, and a monster like they always said.

"Kukuku." A deep, dark voice chuckled in his head. "It seems like you've really done it this time."

"Shut up!" He shouted in defiance, clutching his head.

"You know better than to command me, whelp! Now kneel, and worship a being far greater than you could ever hope to become!"

"No, I'll never listen to you! If I do, I'll be no better than they say I am. I'll be a worthless waste of space."

"Boy, what you've done here just serves to prove that you already are."

"I'm not. I'm not I'm not I'm NOT!"

An explosion of malice, in the form of chakra burst forth from the boy.

From his office, the Sandaime Hokage could feel the wave of tainted chakra, right before he felt the shockwave.

People all around the village felt it. First, a wave of dark energy, then a shockwave that shattered windows and threw people to the ground.

At the center of this burst, a young boy lay curled in the fetal position, surrounded by bodies.

Slowly sitting up, the boy's breaths were laboured. It was as if he had gone through every Fox Hunt at once, and then some.

Looking around, he finally registered the bodies, and recalled what he did and his brief encounter with his own personal demon.

Standing up, he wondered what he would do. Should he stay in the village and stand trial, or should he flee and live until the ANBU Shinobi catch him and kill him?

Deciding on the latter, he started making his way through the mass of corpses, when a hand grabbed his leg.

"What… What are you?" The dying man asked.

"I'm… Naruto Uzumaki."

With that, the hand dropped and the boy started running.

It was like before, but this time he had a destination. Away. Far, far away where he couldn't hurt anyone ever again.

It took him about twenty minutes, but he finally reached the north gates. They were open, and the guards were missing for some reason. Putting two and two together, he realized that they were looking for the source of the chakra explosion.

But as the saying goes, he chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and ran through the gates as fast as he could.

It felt like it was hours since he had run through the gates of Konoha, when in reality it was only an hour and a half.

He soon came upon a fork in the road, where a sign pointed to two villages. Kou (Happiness) and Shinru (Truth).

Never having heard of the villages, he almost took the road to Kou, figuring it was an omen, but he suddenly felt compelled to go down the road to Shinru. It was like a light was shining, but just at the point where it wasn't visible.

Shuddering from sudden excitement, he took a step down the path to Shinru Village, and abruptly passed out from chakra exhaustion.

He soon came to, once again, in a soft warm bed. The area around him smelled like some kind of stew, and there was a sense of rightness.

Curling deeper into the bed, he slowly came into contact with someone.

Figuring all was as it should be, Naruto groggily wrapped an arm around the person next to him.

After a few moments like this, his eyes shot open and he dove out of the bed.

Looking around him, Naruto noticed that he was in a rather small, albeit cozy, house. There were two adults at the table, and a person in the bed. A girl, about his age, with dark red hair and sparkling purple eyes.

Eyes that were full of rage.

The air in the room suddenly got colder, and it was as if the Shinigami appeared behind the angry girl.

The adults were between the two children within moments, desperately trying to keep the girl from tearing out Naruto's throat.

"Get that monster away from-" He said before cutting off.

All of the others stopped, as he sat down, curled up, and started to weep.

"What's wrong?" The girl asked him. "I'm sorry, I was just surprised! I didn't mean to scare you."

"I-It's not that." He said slowly forcing the words between sobs.

"Then what is it?" The man, obviously the girl's father if his red hair was anything to go by, asked.

"It's just that… I'm the monster. Not her." He said in a vulnerable voice.

The girl teared up at that. "It's alright, I don't really mind. You didn't do anything wrong, I swear!"

After calming Naruto down, the family sat down to eat, but Naruto just decided to lay down, and try and sleep. After the parents had gone to their beds, the girl with fiery hair crawled into the bed with Naruto.

"Hey." She said, simply.

"Hi." Naruto mumbled.

"What's your name?" She asked curiously.

"Naruto. You?"

"I'm Shizuna," She said brightly, "and we'll be sharing a bed!"

"Oh. Okay. Well goodnight, I guess."

"Okay, I'll bite." She said. "What's your deal?"

"My deal?"

"Yeah, you know. What's your problem? Why are you so depressing?"

"Because… I'm a monster." He whispered sadly. "And it's not safe to be near me."

"You don't look like a monster to me. You look like any other person." She said, trying to cheer him up without knowing how.

Turning to face her, he stared deep into her eyes.

"You'll never understand" He said, after a few moments of gazing.

"Hmph. Try me." She said defiantly.

"I'm.." His voice stuck in his throat.

"What is it?"

"I'm a murderer."

She gasped, and backed out of the bed, only to thump onto the floor.

"Wh-What do you mean a murderer? You're only a kid, you couldn't kill someone!"

"You're right, I didn't kill one person. I killed a lot."

"Mom, dad! Wake up!" She shouted, scrambling towards her parent's bed.

"Hm? What is it hunny?" Her mother asked.

"He-He's a killer! He said so himself!"

"Now now child, don't fall for such stupid stories. He was probably trying to seem cool, or mysterious, or something to impress you."

"No, it's true ma'am. I am a killer."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're taking the lie too far now. You've scared my daughter, and you're worrying me! Hush yourself and sleep. We'll talk about this in the morning." The father said, sitting up.

"A-Alright sir. I'm sorry. You go to bed Shizuna, I need to go for a walk."

He quietly slipped out of the house, and saw that he was in a village.

"Hm, must be Shinru." He thought to himself.

He soon found a path that lead to a small clearing, where he sat down and meditated just like his Jiji had taught him.

He could feel the world around him. He could hear the trees, smell the night flowers, and practically taste the woodsmoke that was thick in the air.

At that thought, his eyes shot open, and he realized that he had been like that for a few hours, since it was almost dawn.

He could see the smoke starting to rise thickly into the air, and he began to hear screams and cries for mercy.

He stood up, and began to run to Shizuna's house.

Only he was too late.

Bandits threw her and her family onto the ground outside, and mercilessly cut her father's throat.

They then began to stab her mother, who was crying to all the gods to save her daughter.

Running as fast as he could, Naruto soon stood behind the bandit holding Shizuna.

Picking up a stray kunai from the ground, he aimed it at the man holding her.

He threw the kunai for all he was worth, and was rewarded by a wet, sickening crunch as the man fell limp, the knife sticking out of the back of his head.

Shizuna crashed to the ground, and turned to look at Naruto.

Running to him, she grabbed on to his shirt and sobbed.

"Shizuna," He said softly, "now is not the time for tears. Be strong for them, and we can make it through this.

He raised his arm, and a dark orange rod protruded from the palm of his hand.

"Banshou Ten'in." He said, and the man stabbing Shizuna's mother came flying towards them at an alarming rate, and became impaled upon the chakra rod.

So, this was the compiled two chapters. How'd you guys like it? Let me know in reviews, or PM me ideas and stuff. Anything and everything is welcome and taken into consideration, so just give 'er.

Anyway, like I said I'm starting the next chapter (now the second one), so it should be up in a few hours. I'm gonna try and dedicate my time and energy to writing, yay!

Soooo yeah. Until next time, this has been Rahvin's Cage ^_^ And now I bid you adieu.