Title: The demons of Konoha

Category: Naruto

Genre: Drama/Angst

Summary: "No. I was never a demon and never will be one unless you people influence me to become one." Naruto spoke again. "It is not I who was the demon. It was you."

Author's Note: The first Naruto fanfic I'vewritten. Try not to flame me very hard please, I burn easily.

It was a normal day for 13 years old Uzumaki Naruto. It started just like any other day, woke up late, had for breakfast a bowl of Miso Ramen, washed, went outside to buy milk and returned back with a new carton and new swears from the villagers.

It was a usual day for Naruto. The boy already got used to the name calling and hateful glares from the villagers though it still hurt deep inside that he was unwanted. He found out about the sealing of the Kyuubi inside of him by the Fourth Hokage a while ago and now he was trying to harvest it's charka for his own use.

His new sensei, Jiraiya had taken quite a liking to him, in his odd twisted way, training him every now and then since Kakashi had started training Sasuke more and more, forgetting about him and Sakura.

It bothered him to see that Sakura still was after Sasuke's attention and was always praising him for the Genius that he was while Kakashi also taught Sasuke awesome jutsus. Naruto felt forgotten in these situations but what could he do? He was only grateful that Jiraiya made some time every now and then and trained him also. Pity he was a pervert but it made him funny.

It was good in a way. He and Kyuubi recently started to get along fare well, so to say, since the demon fox always made sarcastic remarks in his head whenever he had the occasion, making the boy grin all the time.

Today after long some boring training with his team, Naruto had to listen to Sakura and Kakashi's praising over something Sasuke managed to do and had a very painful feeling in his stomach when Kakashi told him, in an indirect way, how weak he was and that he should take an example after his team mate. Sakura wasn't so indirect though.

He stared at the ground for a moment as their eyes fell on him. Naruto looked at the ground to hide the tears that began to form in his azure eyes but quickly backed them away with his foxy grin and looked back at them. Once again, the trio would expect him to proclaim that he would beat Sasuke and that he would become hokage. Sakura was about to open her mouth to protest at this but Naruto cut her off. "I hate you." He said, simply, his smile never leaving his face, yet his sky blue eyes seemed, for the first time, cloudy.

The boy turned his back at them and left the training area towards his home. He could still hear his sensei calling him back to apologise but Naruto didn't even want to hear him. Kakashi didn't deserve the name sensei. The boy suddenly stopped when he saw the Jounin in front of him. "Naruto, what is the meaning of this." He asked, in a forceful tone, looking down at the orange dressed boy. Naruto could hear Sasuke and Sakura approach him from behind and listening quietly.

Deep in his mind, Naruto could hear Kyuubi's sarcastic remarks towards the copy nin and deep in his heard herealised that the all-knowing fox demon was right.

With tears in his eyes, Naruto turned to look up at his former sensei smiling. "Congratulations Kakashi, you just broke your own rule. Not completing a mission makes you trash, but forgetting about your team mates makes you lower then trash." Naruto spoke in an eerie voice that didn't seem to belong to him. Kakashi frowned under his mask as he looked down at his student to see the sudden change in his eyes. His once blue eyes were now red as blood. He knew those eyes. The same pair looked at him one night. The night he lost his last precious person.

"I was expecting you to learn from what happened to Obito…"

Kakashi's eyes widened as he looked at his student. Naruto suddenly snapped out of his trans and put a hand over his mouth before turning and running of as fast as he could.

"Kyuubi…what did…why…did you…?"Naruto thought to himself as he saw the village approach. He quickly entered the village and ran down the streets, trying to look away from the glares of the villagers.

"Please don't…hurt…me…" he stopped and looked around him. Their eyes were cold, filled with hate towards the boy. Naruto hadn't realized that he lost his mask. That tears started falling down his cheeks like rivers. He didn't realize the lost look that appeared in his azure eyes as he felt a strong emotion of pain through his body.

"Die demon!" a voice yelled from the small crowd that gathered around him.

The boy looked at the ground, trying to hide his tears away. A few villagers started to throw rocks at him but he didn't care. More insults and glares were thrown at him but he didn't care.

Nothing mattered anymore because nobody cared. Here was only one person who cared about him and he couldn't help him.

"Iruka-sensei…" Naruto muttered between small sobs.

"Kit, be strong…" Kyuubi's voice whispered.

The crowd started yelling at him more before the boy finally looked up from the ground at the villagers who suddenly stopped and looked at the boy. He wasn't grinning. His eyes were halfly opened as tears fell on the ground. His hair was messier then before, from all the running.

There was a moment of silence.

"Tell me, please…tell me…" Naruto whispered, his lifeless gaze falling from one of the villagers to another. "Tell me…look at me…and tell me…do I…by any chance have…a tail?"

The villagers were a bit surprised by the last word before a few laughed at the statement. They were expecting something else.

"No? Then tell me…" Naruto's lifeless gaze looked at them again. "Do I have nine tails by any chance?"

They frowned at this. He knew.

"Tell me…" he began again: "...do I have claws? Or fangs? Or fur? Or pointy fox ears? Are my eyes red? Are my emotions inexistent? Is my heart cold? ARE MY TEARS FAKE?" Naruto yelled the last sentence, as the villagers backed away slightly.

"Tell me…people of Konoha…would a demon cry if the people he loved hated him for who he was ment to be? For what he was even thought he didn't have a word in this? Would a demon defend a village that hates him from another of his kind? Another that was hated for what he became even though he didn't have a saying in it?"

The people around Naruto looked at each other, slightly unsure if it was a trick or if the boy was speaking the truth.

"Tell me, good villagers, would you think that if you made me suffer this much in my childhood, I wouldn't have let Kyuubi destroy you?"

The people present there frowned as their eyes widened at the boy.

"I can control him and his powers. But do any of you know why I didn't let him destroy you?" the boy spoke clearly and loudly, enough for everybody present to hear. The small crowd attracted more people, even a few chuunins and jounins.

"Because I loved this village. Because it was my only home. Because I understood that you were afraid of me…but that does not mean that you had to hate me for something I didn't do."

He was silent for a moment, breathing deeply a few times, trying to organize his thoughts as his azure eyes scanned the small crowd he attracted. He wasn't afraid anymore. His eyes didn't glitter happily the way they used to everyday. They were sad, almost disappointed about this.

But the only way out was to speak clear. It was the only way they would understand him. And if not…well…he'd think about that later. There are always many other villages around…

"Tell me…" he broke the deadly silence. They were staring at him. The looks weren't the same. In their eyes, he could see anger for what they did, sadness, maybe even…pity?

"Tell me…do I still am a demon to you now?"

Silence.

"Yes, you are and always will be one!" somebody yelled from the back of the crowd, as the villagers looked surprised at the statement.

"No. I was never a demon and never will be one unless you people influence me to become one." Naruto spoke again. "It is not I who was the demon. It was you."

Silence again.

"You people were the true demons. You didn't have to look like one, smell like one, eat like one or have the power of one. The way you treated me, an orphan, without any guardians, living on the streets in his childhood, the only thing I received from you was hate. I never wanted food. I never wanted water. I didn't even ask for help. All I wanted was to be acknowledged for somebody I was and still am, Uzumaki Naruto, not for the demon I am vessel to, Kyuubi no Yoko.

But none of you even looked at me. None of you bothered. You are the demons of Konoha, not I. I am merely the one to blame for your losses or anger, for something I didn't commit. And yet, you still hate me, wished I wasn't here. Am I really that unwanted?" he finished speaking before walking from the center of the little circle that became quite big towards the right.

The people in his way made room for him to pass. Looking back he could notice a few women from the village who started crying. The men looked at the ground ashamed while holding their wives who were shocked and were almost in tears. The children looked at him in sorrow, like trying to say sorry. They didn't need to open their mouths to say it. Their eyes told Naruto what they felt. And he understood.

He could see, up on the rooftop, his team looking down at him sadly. Sakura didn't dare to look at him, but was silently sobbing while Sasuke was tring to confort her. Kakashi wasn't even reading his book. He was looking at Naruto in a sad way. It was like time passed over the poor man making him feel defeated. On another rooftop, he noticed Gai and Kurenai's team, also looking somewhat uneasy with the news. Hinata was sobbing while Tenten and Neji tried to calm her down. Lee looked sadly down at his friend, for the first time ever, youth wouldn't help him. Kiba and Akamaru were doing the same thing as Lee. Trying to apologies, in a silent way.

Asuma's team was among the crowd. He recognized Ino's blonde hair and saw that the girl was crying while her team mates tried to calm her down.

Naruto sighed deeply, looking back at the crowd one more time, wanting to say his last words before he would be gone. He caught their attentions. The blonde looked at the Hokage Mountain, the place he once aspired to join. Among the best hokages Konoha ever had.

"I can forgive but never forget. But there is something I will never understand. I will never understand why they sacrificed their lives for demons like you."

And with that he was gone.