Chap-8 Madness

He stared in shock right into the pair of deep red eyes burning with so much hatred and anger.

In that moment, he knew his death would be much more horrible and painful than he originally imagined.

Yet even as his final moments tickled by and he approached closer and closer to the rising form hidden in the dark shadows bubbling with a monstrous amount of negativity, something within him snapped.

You're the blood of the dragon.

He remembered his father's words to his older brothers whenever they encountered something impossible to accomplish. Those words had always excited Inabi and Yashiro, and made Izuna as well as Madara become more bolder.

But he had never understood the meaning behind those simple and silly words.

Yet as death came his way, it was those same simple and silly words that gave him strength.

A dragon never surrenders, A dragon never bows to anyone, A dragon fights and fights until he defeats his enemies.

Grabbing twin sharp kunai's from his pouch, he sent them flying towards the nearby rock walls but not before tying ninja wire on them. For once, he was thankful of Izuna's warnings to always be prepared even if he just went out for a stroll near their clan's borders.

As the weapons connected he gripped one end of the strings that made him fly straight towards the nearby rock. When his feet connected to the hard surface, he was ready and immediately channeled chakra that made him stick firmly to the surface.

He unleashed his tanto just in time as the creature beneath him growled angrily that sent tremors across the darkened valley.

His eyes widened when a massive tail rose from the shadows aimed right at him.

Determined to survive, he sprinted down the rock surface at speeds he never thought himself capable of. Massive chunks of rocks and debris flew over him as the tail shattered the spot where he was previously standing.

His enemy was more smart than he originally thought as it continued lashing out more and more giant tails in an effort to splatter his brains, but he had always been faster than all of his brothers. And despite his wish of seeing his dead brothers again, he now realized Madara would be heartbroken if he died.

His eldest brother was not bad, even if he had been distant all these years. And Madara had showed that he truly cared about him, and now he wanted to know his eldest and only living brother, to support him, to protect him just as Izuna had protected him.

And for that one wish he would not give up.

He would find a way to survive no matter who or what he would have to face.

Going back up was not possible for the creature was hell bent on stopping that possibility, so that left him only one choice.

As the ground neared to his relief, he made a quick jump narrowly avoiding being smashed to death courtesy of another tail.

He immediately adopted his battle stance and activated his prized dojutsu glaring out at the massive creature.

And what he saw both stunned and terrified him.

And it seemed he was not the only one to experience those feelings as the now revealed beast flinched as his terrifying red eyes saw its enemy.

"Those eyes..."

It's voice was even more heavy and rumbled across the empty valley as a battlecry. Despite the rising fear in his heart, Naruto gripped his tanto firmly glaring down at the massive Nine Tailed Fox standing in front of him.

"An Uchiha..."

If possible, the hate and anger in the monster's eyes increased ten fold as it snarled.

"Are you going to attack me again?" asked the boy in an unnervingly calm voice,

The fox momentarily paused staring at the little runt and was surprised when the brat had not tried to flee. Either he was foolish like most kids were, especially those of his mad clan, or he was more bold than Kurama had imagined.

"You're not afraid..."

It was just a statement from the fox but evoked not a single reaction from the stoic boy. When the monstrous animal glared harder at the insect before him, it was then the child spoke.

"I am a shinobi. I won't kill you if you let me go, but if you persist then I will fight you" answered the boy fiercely,

The beast laughed.

"What makes you think a stupid runt like you can even harm a scratch on me? I can crush you in a flash, brat" mocked the fox,

"Maybe. But I will still fight with all I've got..."

"Why?" asked the curious fox,

"Because I don't want to die"

The beast again laughed at the pitiful answer expected from every human, yet the boy's gaze unnerved him for he neither exploded in anger or even scowled. He stared back at the fox with the same determined gaze which made the fox curious, most people would have pissed themselves, fought back, or just tried to run away.

This little one had done none of that.

"You will die. Either by my hands or some other moron shinobi out there. Children like you don't survive long in this world, yet you still fight. Why?" asked the fox curiously, momentarily keeping his desire to crush the boy at bay if only to find his answer. It had been quite a while since another foolish human crossed his path or tried to attack him.

"My brother would be sad if I died. And I don't want him to be sad again. Not anymore" answered the boy quitely,

The fox became silent staring at the boy with a gaze the little Uchiha could not understand. Just when he thought the beast was about to attack again, it spoke.

"You are already cursed enough to be born into that mad cult you call A Clan. What's worse you inherited these wretched eyes when I thought I would never see this power again in my life. You think they will make you powerful? All these eyes have ever brought to its wielder is misery and pain. It would actually be a mercy if I killed you here" said the fox frankly,

The boy didn't say a word and only pointed his tanto forward which made the beast scoff.

"Go. I spare your pitiful life" mocked the fox,

Naruto blinked in surprised knowing that he was probably given a once in a lifetime chance, something this beast would not have given to anyone else. Yet he didn't want to turn his back to the fox only to be stabbed from behind.

The creature must have recognized the look making it snarl.

"I am not showing you mercy, stupid boy. Anybody who has ever wielded The Sharingan before never met a good fate, they all die screaming in pain. A day will come when you will wish that I killed you here..." warned the fox,

"We'll see about that" replied Naruto sharply,

"Heh, you've got some balls. Pretty impressive for a shitty little brat..." said the amused fox,

"I will not tell anyone about this meeting or the fact that you live here so close to our borders. You have my word" said Naruto honestly, placing his weapon back in its sheath.

When he stared back at the fox, if possible it seemed even more disappointed than before.

"Not only do you belong from a mad clan, but you are an even bigger fool with that sense of loyalty and honor that you have towards your clan. Does that make you feel better?" snarled the fox, receiving an icy stare from the boy.

"Maybe my family is mad and I am too. But without my loyalty and honor, what is the difference between you and me? I will fight and die for my family no matter how bad you say they are, what do you fight for?" asked Naruto harshly,

The air around them grew thick with hatred and anger as the fox looked down at the ground hissing fiercely...

"Go. Before I decide to kill you..."

Naruto didn't need anymore warning as he jumped on the rock surface and instantly started running back towards the surface at great speed.

And as he continued to run away, he missed the fox staring back at his disappearing form with a heavy frown.

"Foolish boy"

He didn't stop running even when he climbed out of the dark valley, his legs refusing to stop as he sailed past trees at great speed. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest, and he was sweating profusely as he continued to remember just what he had encountered moments ago.

More importantly, he had survived by some truly awesome luck.

For there was no way in hell he could have defeated that monster, not even Madara, any other Uchiha, or even his own father could defeat that beast. He had felt that unending sea of vile chakra in that beast, felt its hate, the anger, the desire to murder.

Not even the entire Uchiha clan combined could defeat that monster.

It was the reason why he had promised not to tell the fox's location to anyone lest any idiots come out there to try to enslave the monster only to get themselves killed.

If things had turned out differently, he would have been forced to fight the fox.

And he would have died, there was no doubt about that.

But strangely, the beast had spared his life and his words...

What did he mean the Uchiha's were mad? Sure, his family was too uptight and arrogant but they couldn't be insane. He refused to believe that, no matter what that stupid fox said.

The Sharingan only brings pain and misery...

All he had ever heard from every single Uchiha was how great this power was, or how lucky Naruto was to awaken it. But if he could trade these eyes for his dead brothers, Naruto would do so in a heartbeat for the pain of losing them haunted him every moment over whatever power these eyes gave him.

It was not worth it.

And as he realized that fact, he knew there was some bitter truth in the fox's words.

And there was a hell of a lot of things Naruto didn't know about his dojutsu, his clan, or even what type of dangerous monsters lurked in the real and dangerous world.

All these years he had lived a sheltered and protected life under Izuna's watch, but now that veil was dropping very fast.

He had already seen the barbarism and murder humans were capable of inflicting on each other, the pain of losing your loved ones right before your very eyes, the power of hatred that could drive even the most noble or weakest man to momentary insanity, of men's unending desire for ever more power and greater ambition.

Finally, he stopped as he reached the clan settlement and the secret passage he had created for himself over the years.

His head was spinning from all these overbearing thoughts, but if one thing was certain was the fact that the Uchiha Clan was his family. The strange but caring Madara was his brother, attractive but strict Naori his aunt, and ambitious and cold Tajima his father.

Walking towards a nearby tree, the boy knelt and placed the edge of his tanto on the grass, eyes burning intensely with determination.

"Izuna...Yashiro...Inabi..."

He wished to see even a ghost reflection of his lost siblings but all he saw was the blank bark of the tree before him.

"I will protect them all, no matter what happens"

Taking a deep breath, he said the word on which he would live his life.

"I promise"