Chapter 2: Awake(2)

Naruto was silent for a moment, too angry to even move his body. He had felt the unknown man when he arrived and he now knew his intentions. He was taking what was not his to take. He was condemning an innocent and – what he now knew – gentlest girl he'd ever felt to a life of servitude and abuse.

He knew the man thought of her as nothing more than a pawn, a means of reproducing powerful and, if her eyes were anything to go by, special shinobi. Naruto truly despised this man; he was the scum of this earth.

Something inside Naruto clicked. He knew what he had to do. He could now feel and understand himself.

He knew what he was now.

The dark-skinned shinobi vaulted over the child in front of him, knowing that time was against him. He had no time to deal with someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He kept running, making decent distance, until he was stopped once more. Again, the blond-haired boy suddenly flashed in front of him, almost too fast for him to react to. In the back of his mind, he was worried just how strange it was for someone so young to be so fast.

He snarled, and went to grab a kunai from his pouch to dispense with the nuisance. That's when he felt it…

Naruto's hand raised into the air, ignoring the man's attempt to bring out a weapon, and began to do the impossible. The world – which was the only way he could describe it – began to twist and turn, producing the same energy that was currently occupying his body. However, now it was different, more refined, sharper, and tangible. From the very air itself, bright golden – the same color as his eyes – particles began to appear, floating in the sky above him.

With the flick of his wrist, the particles stirred, slowly rotating, grinding itself in a circular motion, enthusiastically obeying its master's whims. The grizzled man's eyes widened, he didn't exactly know what was happening, but he was able to understand that it wasn't all that good for his health.

It was supposed to be dark out, being well past sundown, but with the golden matter that was flying around, the sky was ablaze in a molten gold fury. It briefly passed through the Head Ninja's mind that, for a moment, it had looked like the heavens themselves opened up to bring forth their wrath on him.

It was the most terrifyingly beautiful thing the seasoned jonin had ever seen.

Naruto's hand shot open, spreading his fingers in the air. That's when the particles took form, mimicking his right arm, the spread fingers and all, just in a much larger proportion. It looked like it was the right hand of god more than a small child's anger.

Naruto gave one more soul piercing glare at the man, their eyes meeting for mere seconds. In those chaste moments, the Head Ninja had thought the boy could actually see his soul for what it was; tainted.

He had never felt sheer terror like this before.

So why was it so serene?

For a moment, the Kumo-nin wondered why he wasn't moving, why he wasn't cutting this strange child's throat and vanishing into the night. And then he knew, with a strange, detached realization that he couldn't.

Whatever the thing in the sky was, it demanded all his attention. Not even the fear of being caught by the Konoha shinobi could spur him.

The Uzumaki could feel the familiar presence of who he guessed was the girl's father. Familiar as in he had felt the man before; he had by now memorized all of Konoha's citizens. He nodded at the man, and the older Hyuuga wasted no time to leap forward and scoop his daughter in his arms. Once he leapt back out of the way, Naruto had no reason to wait anymore.

In the back of his head he knew he was being watched, he could recognize Hokage-jiji's presence anywhere, and he was always with members of the zoo, so they too he was very familiar with. Especially the lazy feeling one, he was the blond's favorite.

That didn't matter now though. All that mattered at this very moment was to rid the world of this disgusting man.

Like an enraged god bringing down his divine judgment, Naruto clenched his hand in a fist while slamming it down into the ground at his feet, cracking a large portion of it.

He unleashed all his anger with a monstrous shout, something that sounded more animal than human.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

In a blink of an eye, the gold hand-like structure fell to the earth right above the would-be kidnapper from Kumo with earth shattering might.

All the shinobi present actually had a hard time withstanding the blast, using a large amount of chakra just to stay in place and upright. The power behind the attack had to be equivalent to twenty or thirty explosive tags going off at once.

It was a terrifying sight.

When the incredible golden light finally faded away, all that was left was a deep scar in the earth. A very deep scar.

Naruto stood from his prone form, letting his fist unclench as he did so. No one said a word, no one moved a muscle, and everyone tried to hold their breath.

Silence reigned supreme in the now very large street as everyone just stared at the boy in disbelief. Not only did the "Demon Child" completely and utterly overpower and decimate the Head Ninja of Kumogakure no Sato, but he did it with ease, without the help of his charge, and for the sake of another Konoha citizen.

It was incredible, it was amazing, and it was unbelievable.

Everyone tensed as the village pariah moved forward, towards the Hyuuga Clan Head and Heiress. When he was standing right next to the man, Naruto gave him a gentle and warm smile, already able to feel the man's gratitude and unafraid feelings. That made Naruto happy, someone appreciated him.

"Is she okay, Mister?" Naruto asked softly, his gentle smile never leaving his face. Hyuuga Hiashi gave a smile himself, something not many were privileged to see – ever – and nodded.

"It would seem so. I have you to thank for that, Naruto-san," the Hyuuga man replied, still holding his first born. "I am forever in your debt."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm just glad she's okay."

Hiashi nodded. "As am I."

Sarutobi Hiruzen landed next to Naruto and gave the boy a questioning look. "We need to talk, Naruto-kun," were the only words that left the aged Hokage's mouth before he Shunshined (Body Flickered) away, taking the blond with him.

As Naruto sat in the chair across the Hokage in the man's office, he felt no fear. He already knew what the man was going to ask.

And he was going to answer with a smile, because he knew he had done the right thing. He had saved an innocent, and was proud of it.

That made him a hero.

He had taken another's life, and enjoyed it.

That made him a monster.

Whatever others saw him as didn't matter now though. He had found a way to feel. He felt alive. He felt free.

He was finally awake.