บท 12: Chapter 12

Sitting in his office rubbing his temples, Minato signed another document. The recent years weighing on his mind heavily. The stress of everyone everywhere begging him to do something about one thing or another was eating him alive. He didn't know who to listen to. The council was the worst as of recent. The latest tragedy of Itachi Uchiha's death was at the center of most of it, and consequently, so was his son.

They demanded his head. Even as Minato explained that Naruto's action was within law, as Itachi was essentially a nuke ninja, they refused to hear it. They wanted vengeance for the loss of Konoha's number one ninja. They wanted him to pay for his 'crime' which Minato adamantly refused. He would not kill his own son for something he would have done had he been the one to go. Minato knew for a fact he wouldn't have hesitated to end the young prodigy's life if Mito was in danger, or if he thought she was.

Sadly, most of the requests for a trial came from his close friend Fugaku. The entire Uchiha clan was stricken with grief and they demanded he pay for his crime. Minato actually feared the outcome of the end of all of it. There were only a few ways it was bound to end. With either Naruto getting killed, or the Uchiha clan packing up and leaving Konoha for good, weakening them considerably. As a father, he wanted to protect his son as best he could, but as a Kage, the village always came first. It broke his heart, but if a threat such as that were to be issued, he would have to try his best and get the sentence of death reduced to possibly prison or exile. Neither of which he wanted.

With Naruto racking up mission after mission as he had been the past few weeks, he'd possibly have something to argue his case of freedom for. Maybe they would see reasoning with the village's current lack of man power. He doubted it. The world was at a moment of stasis. Not peace, but a great lack of major conflict that could possibly incite a war. It was calm.

Hearing reports from both Captain Yosha and Inoichi gave him more to worry about. Now, he was finding out his son may not be stable. That was cause for concern as well. For a man as skilled as Naruto, being unstable could mean another Orochimaru case. A mad man running loose among the elemental nations. No, he wouldn't believe it. His son was fine, all he need was some sleep.

As he thought that, a ball flew in through the window, emitting a purple gas that left the ANBU in the room falling from their spots. Minato jumped to his feet with his kunai in hand, staring at the figure that jumped through the window. He had a hood covering his face as he charged the blonde Hokage. They engaged in a brief taijutsu match before another squad of ANBU burst through the door. The hooded figure kicked Minato away, gaining some distance before charging towards the window. He threw an explosive tag at the roof above before jumping out. When he did, he peeked back inside at the blonde Hokage who was surprised by the face beneath the cloak. It was his own son.

Unfortunately, the ANBU within the room saw as well and gave the order to others that 'Naruto Namikaze has attacked the Hokage.' With that, they pushed their way through the falling debris, intent on finding the blonde teen and arresting him. Minato was still shell shocked at the turn of events. There was no covering this one up. He just couldn't believe Naruto would attack him so carelessly. He could have easily caught him just then, but his shock wouldn't let him move. He couldn't understand what had happened. Or maybe he could, but he just refused to believe it.

Naruto remained staring at his ceiling, as he had done all day, when he suddenly heard someone quietly enter his home. As a trained ANBU operative, he heard it clearly and drew a kunai, readying it for whatever fool tried to attack him. He could hear multiple things in his house shifting or moving with someone's influence. Waiting around the corner, completely calm, he waited as whoever it was came rushing in, when they did, he ended their life with no hesitation until he saw that it was one of his own ANBU agents. A guy he knew, more specifically.

Instantly, he dropped the Kunai in his hands and fell to the ground spewing out a string of no's in urgency. "No, no, no, hey… Hayate, hey." He said putting pressure on the slash in his neck, trying to stop the blood from flowing out. His hand glowed green with medical chakra, but before he could heal the injury, he was tackled to the ground by a group of other ANBU agents. With his face pressed against the floor, he looked down to the end of the hall and perched in the window, staring back at him, was himself. His eyes grew considerably with the smirk he was given before the visage changed into some random civilian and jumped away.

A knee pushed his face down muffling his cries to go after the real perp. He struggled more and more, just to get to a position where he could at least talk, but as soon as he did, the ANBU on his back delivered a chop to the back of his neck, putting him to sleep, his head band was removed from around his neck.

(2 Months later)

His body slumped over on his knees in the middle of the room filled with people who hated him, and his father's saddened gaze upon him, Naruto stared blankly at the ground beneath his knees. The room sat in silence awaiting the verdict they had all arrived to at long last. For the past two months, Naruto was being held in the ANBU prison as he made his own case to defend himself when he was called before the council.

He explained every assumption he arrived at, even re-explaining the situation involving Itachi's death. The council was split in their thinking. Most of the civilians were undeterred by his story. But, the clan heads and higher ups seemingly understood, if even a little. Understanding and forgiving were different things as explained by Fugaku.

When he explained what he believed happened the night he was being charged for, he told them of seeing 'hundred transformation' Kazan fleeing the scene while he was being detained. The one thing he couldn't explain was the man's motive. The only possible answer he had was that the man was possibly intent on ruining his life.

The council would not accept such a runaround excuse, so his only possible explanation was seen as unreliable. Now, they just waited for the inevitable sentencing. Minato stood to his feet, no attempt at masking the pain of his duty. "Naruto Namikaze… for the crime of attempted murder against your Kage… and the murder of a fellow Konoha Shinobi… you have been sentenced to life in prison…" his voice grew softer and softer as he spoke. Even when all was said and done, the room remained completely silent. "I am… so sorry son…"

The only sound now was the clanking of Naruto's shackles as he was being hauled off by two of the ANBU guards. This time, to the real prison.

(One month later)

One month… one hellish month that fell into a new cycle that was far less than favorable. It couldn't have been helped however as the prison was run by his biggest fans, the Uchiha clan. With the testament of what happened the day of Itachi's death directly to Fugaku's face, he had hoped it would be enough to at least make peace, but the past few weeks told him otherwise.

His first night there was the loneliest he had ever been. He wasn't placed with the other prisoners immediately. Instead, he was taken to one of the abandoned divisions in the lower levels. It was there that the guards felt he needed to be taught a lesson. Sure, he could have fought back and probably killed them, but he figured there was no point. It would do him no good anyways.

They beat him severely for the first few days, taking turns venting their frustrations out and getting revenge for their fallen clan prodigy. His daily torture was only accented by the lack of proper treatment and bare essentials. He was given one, very unfavorable meal a day, water twice a day and a shower that could not be used. That was his cycle for the time being.

When the guards had finished having their fun with the blonde, he was at last moved up to the regular prison levels. His first cell mate was a man who had a grudge against his father for his sentencing, as did more than a few others. In other words, after Naruto endured the beatings from the guards, he had thought they would stop. Of course, life had more jokes for him. His permanent fate of enduring more beating being one of them. They had their fun with him whenever they felt as though they wanted to hit something, and when staring at a wall was your main activity, you always wanted to hit something.

The guards always turned a blind eye to the events, whether they be in the courtyard, the cafeteria, or the hallway. They would always stand aside and watch until his attacker got tired before bringing back order. For those who really hated him, they gave the prisoners the lower floor for the purpose of having fun for as long as they wished. It was down there that they attempted to kill him. It was down there that Naruto Namikaze finally lost it.

While down there, one of the attackers got the idea to drown him in the water from the shower, knowing full well the issue that made the lower levels inaccessible. There was a reason the lower levels were no longer used. They ran on the same pipelines that were used by the old lab of the snake Sanin. Pipes that he used to dump his toxic chemicals before he fled. That day, there were hundreds of prisoners that died because of it.

Sadly for Naruto, that wasn't the case for him. His Uzumaki blood seemed to allow him to fend off the internal effects it caused. But, it did well in changing his appearance. Not to an extreme level, but it did dye the hair on his body blood red. In a stroke of Irony, he looked as though he were born with the color just as his mother and sister. It was just another part in the series of bad events, this one finally broke him.

While the men stood around his broken form, watching him throw the blackened liquid off his body, they laughed. Thinking back to his favorite book that he was no longer able to read, he realized something. The book was completely right. Everything it said made perfect sense. The world around him was laughing at him. It was kicking dirt in his face and laughing its ass off. Everyone around him was intent on assisting. They were quick to notice him when he did something bad, but when he tried to play the hero and just be a morally correct person, he was forgotten about. No matter what he did, he was overlooked as if he belonged in nonexistence.

It was at that moment, as he kneeled on the floor with his skin burning, and black liquid still pouring out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. He pushed his hands through his newly red hair, still covered in the murky black liquid, holding his hair to his head… and he laughed. He cackled like a man possessed, freezing the surrounding men almost instantly. They watched him laugh at absolute silence.

One of them who felt brave enough from kicking his ass all day, stepped up with the plan of delivering another kick to his face. When his leg came within range, Naruto grabbed his ankle in an iron grip, clamping down harder and harder. He was no longer laughing. With a violent jerk of his wrist, he broke the man's leg. The man's screaming is all that broke the silence of the barren prison chamber.

The four remaining men got into fighting stances seeing that he was finally planning on fighting back. Only one of them was smiling as he was an ANBU agent himself and felt that he could take him. The others weren't so sure, two of them barely reaching the rank of Chunin and one of them barely making Genin.

Naruto stood up with his back to the group, not effected in the slightest by the man screaming bloody murder next to him, trying to crawl away. He was still casually wiping the black water off his body. Pulling a strand of hair down, he examined how blood red it was. "huh…" he admired. "That is… uncanny… hehuhhahaha!" he said with a gassed out chuckle that did little to settle their nerves.

The former ANBU commander was tired of the anticipation. Now was his best chance to attack. He leaped forward intent on delivering a kick to his back. Naruto side stepped the attack and grabbed the off balanced man in a choke hold. Without a moment's hesitation, he snapped his neck with a nauseating cracking sound. When he dropped the body to the ground, the other two lost faith in their chances of defeating him. Their only chance was to make a run for the door to get the attention of a guard. When they took off running, Naruto slowly turned around and began walking their way.

Passing by the whimpering man with the freshly broken leg, he stepped on his injured appendage, inciting another hell curdling scream from him. "Don't go too far now. I'll be right back… Hehahahah!"

The two men made it to the metal door and began beating on it repeatedly, begging for someone to open the door. The guard that was usually at the top of the stairs wasn't there this time. Turning around, they saw the red haired teen, still partially covered in the black water, casually strolling their way. In urgency they began hitting it harder and harder, trying to break the door down.

Naruto strolled towards the two in apparent amusement. A small grin plastered on his lips and an intense look in his eyes. Watching the two men fight for their lives was amusing him in some sick way. Even more so when they turned to face him. Resolve in their eyes and a will to live, they charged, one after the other, and died in the same order.

With those two handled, he casually walked back to the last man standing… well, crawling. The man was still on the floor with his head tucked against his forearms and his body trembling. Naruto grabbed the man by his broken leg and swung him around until his body crashed into one of the cell doors. His fit of screaming tuned up to another level completely. Naruto squatted down to gaze into his eyes.

In doing so, the man tried to throw a swing at him. Naruto caught his fist with his left hand and with his right, jabbed him in the bicep. When that appendage dropped lifeless, the man pulled the shank he was hiding up his left sleeve and slashed at him. Naruto easily disarmed him, disabling that arm as well. The man regretted his actions almost immediately as he watched the blonde twirl it in his hands, examining its quality. "Huh… you brought me a toy…" he said taking the blade in his hand.

When he suddenly stopped, the man looked him in the eye with more fear than he was expecting. Naruto's visage became softer, almost sincere. "What's wrong? You were laughing at me just a moment ago." He said. "You don't look good with a frown… let me fix that. Heh-hahahah!" Grabbing the man by his hair, he stuck the blade in his mouth and gave him a partial Glasgow smile. "There, now even in your grave, you'll be smiling." With that, he slit his throat and watched the blood pour out in a steady stream.

Then, he sat there in the middle of his heinous crime and waited patiently for the guards to return to five dead prisoners and a new man, laughing at the ironic turn of events. Marking this day as the day he finally lost his mind, and lost himself. The day he simply laughed back. There was no longer a Naruto Namikaze. That boy was gone. Now, all that remained was no one.