A Different Path

Pain Begets Hate

Naruto's POV

No.. He.. He actually did it.
Naruto didn't feel any anger. Nor sadness. Maybe guilt, but just a tiny bit, deep inside the very pit of his soul. Fear? Of course not. He just didn't know how to take it all in. Especially the giant crater around him, hoisting and twirling his thoughts inside his head, just like a child playing with a lollipop. Except the aching sour-like sweetness never came over Naruto's tongue, leaving only a bitter taste in his mouth. Almost somewhat metallic. And salty. Blood.

"Stop biting your lip, Naruto. You're hurting yourself." Kurama breathed out as if he was choking. His nose was no longer damp, unlike what it should've been. His fur was tangled in distress and despite all of that, he didn't move an inch towards his Jinchuriki. It seemed like he was afraid to pull him out of the trance, trying to protect him. The same as suddenly waking up a peaceful sleepwalker. But peaceful was all Naruto was not.

Kurama sighed softly as his red, piercing eyes moved across the emptiness in front of the fading safety provided by the barely-standing tree's branch Naruto was laying on, at the border between the obvious desert and mountains of debris and corpses that had once formed the Hidden Leaf.
He was too late. He had no idea whether Itachi's plan had worked or not. He could no longer sense Sasuke's chakra signature. He had no clue about the raven's state. And to him, it hurt like hell.

Then he heard it.

A voice. An angry yell, that could only mean one thing, coming from the middle of the destruction where a few vivid outlines were visible. And that was when an ominous hatred swelled up inside Naruto, ready to lash out at any moment. But he was no stranger to that feeling.
"I am the Fifth Hokage!" Tsunade huffed out a few shaky breaths before she swallowed up all of the tremble threatening to leak into her strong voice. An ANBU had run up to her side, ready to protect her with the cost of his life. "How dare you trample upon the jewel.. The dreams of my predecessors? I will never forgive you!" She narrowed her tired eyes. "I'll settle this now as Hokage!" The woman clenched her fists, a spark popping in her now determined gaze.

Naruto's back stiffened as soon as, using his chakra-infused hearing, he heard his calm voice, bringing him on the edge of losing control.
"It appears you understand a little about pain. However, I have no need of you right now, but the one I seek-"
"Is me!" Naruto crashed a powerful Rasengan into the bald head lined with black spikes of the Pain whose sharp blade had been a centimeter away from Tsunade's worry-wrinkled forehead, effectively breaking him to metallic pieces and mashed insides. The Six Paths of Pain had all assembled, now minus one. Naruto had had a feeling Pain would use the Rinnegan to bring his puppets back to life, torturing the villagers minds some more.
Once the dust had cleared away, the women gasped, bringing a hand up to her mouth.

"Naruto?" The relief in her voice was able to soothe the blond's mind, pushing his fears away.
"There is no need for the Leaf's Hokage to bother herself with the likes of them." Facing his redheaded enemy, he raised his face slowly as he got up to his feet after he had crouched down on his victim's back, still resting his weight on top of the body beneath him. He turned his head to a side to glance at the shinobi next to the Hokage, looking at the masked man with the corner of his left, narrowed eye. "Get her to safety." Naruto's voice was blank, void of any kind of emotion, be it hate or serenity. "Now."

"Understood." The ANBU nodded his head as he placed a hand on Tsunade shoulder, disappearing into a flash of black. Naruto could feel the stares of Sakura and the others, drilling holes into the back of his head. Up near the edges of the crater, they seemed to be.. In one piece, at least. But he didn't turn around to meet their gazes with his. Instead, Naruto moved his blue eyes to meet Pain's dead ones. If he were a more compassionate man, the blond would have said that Pain might have actually felt remorse. But he knew there was no such thing in the redhead's heart.
"I can't believe you." Naruto rasped out, clenching his jaw forcefully to the point where it might break.
"You cannot believe the fact that I killed Jiraiya sensei or the fact that I have destroyed your place of birth?" Pain blinked twice.
"Neither." The Jinchuriki closed his eyes to sigh heavily, loosening his fists. "You planned all of this, didn't you? Getting me blinded by anger only to see the village in pieces. You wanted to weaken me."