Faded (SasuNaru) - Rewritten Version

Prologue

Disclaimer: As expected, I do not own any of the characters involved in this book, nor any places. The only thing I own is the plotline.

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He knew he had to run, escape, do anything to just get out of there.

They were chasing him down, hunting him like an animal, relentlessly chasing him through the streets. He heaved out a forceful breath as he thought about how he'd gotten here, with so many people from the village chasing after him and clamoring for his death.

His thin orange jumpsuit could barely protect him from wind or rain on the bad days, let alone whatever they would throw at him, jutsu or weapon as the one he'd modified had been destroyed a few days prior.

That was when he'd brought back Sasuke. Only a few days before his birthday and the Kyuubi Festival, just as he'd promised Sakura.

He and Sasuke were both beaten up, with Naruto having a Chidori to his stomach and Sasuke with a side grazed by a Rasengan, Sasuke having less damage as Naruto tried not to hurt him as he was his friend and it wasn't his fault he was consumed by hatred. He could never hurt his best friend. It had taken a long time but finally, Naruto and Sasuke had been so tired that they'd collapsed beside each other and spoken for hours, airing their grievances and then Sasuke finally agreed to return for Naruto.

On the way back to the village, Sasuke had passed out from chakra exhaustion and blood loss, Naruto not because he had the Kyuubi's aid and his family's boosted healing, and he had carried him back. When they reached the gate, Sasuke was immediately taken from him and hospitalized, the villagers believing that the blood covering them was all Sasuke's. They called him a monster telling him that he had hurt their hero and that he should leave before he hurt any of them.

Which lead him to the situation he was in. Both citizen and ninja following him with kunai, shurikens, pitchforks, firey torches, anything people could get their hands on as well as jutsu. He ran into an alleyway, hearing a shout of 'Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)' behind him, feeling flames licking the back of his clothes as he turned another corner in an attempt to find a route that would allow him to shake off the crowd.

Then he hit a dead end. A smooth wall surrounded by piles of overflowing trash; the perfect place to be beaten to death by an angry mob who thought he had done something that he hadn't. He reached the end, beginning to turn around to face the crowd when a kunai was thrown through his right hand pinning it to the wall as causing him to grunt in pain. Naruto's face smashed against the wall, paint flaking away onto him from the force. Another kunai ripped through his left hand, pinning it to the wall as the villagers descended onto his body.

He could feel a kunai scraping up his backbone as the crowd moved in, the heat of their bodies pressing in on him. Kunai stabbed and slashed at him, jutsu assaulting him as they pushed closer until there was no room for him to move or attempt to escape. Naruto could hear Kurama in his head, screaming at him to "MOVE!" and "JUST GET OUT KIT, TSUNADE WILL UNDERSTAND IF YOU ATTACK THEM IN SELF-DEFENSE SO YOU DON'T DIE!".

For a moment he thought of it but if he did that, everyone else who wasn't there would believe that he really was a monster, and all those screamed insults would become the truth. A fresh wave of pain brought him back to reality as he felt his body be tossed to the ground, the kunai in his hands harshly ripped out as many legs stamped on his stomach and limbs. The fresh wound in his back stung as the dirt and garbage on the ground seeped into his bloodstream.

His breath was forced out of his body as feet kicked at his sides, cracking his ribs and puncturing his lung as the blood bubbled up his throat from the internal damage caused. A leg smashed down onto his head, jolting his neck to the side as his vision blurred into darkness.

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Date Published: 06/04/20

Word Count: 704