"...Ugh,"
Naruto struggled to stand up. Having woken up from an abyssal nightmare, his body was incredibly weak.
Ever since a few days ago, his memories had been blurry. The world seemed much darker than usual. The sun no longer shone brightly, and any shadows felt like the limbs of the abyss.
For some reason, he had grown even more sensitive to other people's gazes. Their foul emotions erupted whenever he approached or fell into their line of sight.
[Ah, it's that monster fox again.]
Mountains upon mountains of negative emotions were all directed towards him.
Naruto could feel himself going insane.
Every step of the way, he could feel their boiling hatred. Like the haunting of omnipresent phantoms, his mind never found silence.
Naruto couldn't even hear their words. Everything they said was a dull buzzing in his ears.
Instead, he felt as if he was surrounded by a thousand malicious eyes. Ghostly, bone-chilling gazes bore down upon him, weighing down his shoulders.
"I feel... dizzy..."
Looking at the floor, Naruto barely came up with a coherent thought. The silence of his apartment was a luxury.
At first, the loneliness had been insufferable. He always wanted people to recognize him, even if their recognition was filled with words of annoyance.
Now, however...
'I think I prefer being alone...'
Tears began forming at the corners of Naruto's eyes. His vision grew blurrier with each passing second. Someone was grasping his heart from the outside.
The grasp was sharp, brutal, and chilly. It was very much like a frozen metal gauntlet.
Naruto wanted to ask for help. However, he had no one. From the immense emotions he felt every single day, he had begun to lose hope in the goodness of people's hearts.
For a moment, Naruto doubted his desire to become Hokage.
The grudge he had for Konohagakure's villagers and shinobi had grown into barbed spears, piercing straight through his heart.
He could still hear their words.
[What an eyesore!]
[Why is he allowed to walk the streets?]
[Can someone kick him out of the village already?]
Demons.
All of them.
Naruto fell to the floor, clutching his head. His nails dug deep enough to draw blood. Their voices multiplied, turning into hate-filled ramblings. Wailing souls screamed straight into his mind.
[Damn monster!]
He was losing himself.
***
"Oi, idiot Naruto."
A voice rang out in Naruto's ear, pulling him out of his thoughts. It was deadpan and arrogant. However, it was a breath of fresh air.
The immense hatred contained in that voice didn't seem directed at him. Instead, it seemed like a reflection of his own hatred for the villagers.
"Sasuke..." Naruto looked up with dead fish eyes.
Right.
Naruto recalled that there were still a few people in the world who did not hate him. A good example of that was Uchiha Sasuke before him. The sword of loathing that Sasuke wielded was being sharpened to fight a different foe.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto sluggishly got up.
Noticing the trembling of Naruto's body, Sasuke couldn't help but frown. Naruto wasn't supposed to be such an emotionless guy. He was a loser, an idiot, and an annoying fly... But this wasn't him.
Sasuke could tell that something was off.
"You didn't go to class. Iruka-sensei told us to look for you." Sasuke answered, "Seeing as you're just slacking off at home, I don't have to do anything else."
Turning around, Sasuke waved goodbye.
"I still have to go train. See ya,"
Naruto watched blankly as Sasuke walked away. Gritting his teeth, Naruto realized something just then.
'Revenge...'
Ominous chakra began to bleed into Naruto's body and his eyes flickered red. The disdain, the mockery, and the poison-coated words... He recalled the faces behind all of those emotions.
His self-pity began condensing into a cloud of rage.
'I want to beat them up!'
And for that...
'...I need to learn powerful jutsu.'
***
In Sunagakure, Suguru was oblivious to the not-so-subtle changes in Naruto's psyche.
As usual, he devoted his time to research, caring only about the measurements, theories, and possibilities of everything he had access to. Furthermore, Suguru spent a lot of idle time annoying Shukaku and using gambling techniques to get some chakra out of him.
Now, Suguru could create around fifty stable Shadow Clones despite not having consumed that many villages.
Unfortunately, Suguru could feel his body changing a little. Although the process of devouring had purified Shukaku's chakra, there was still a small percentage that was affecting his body in the same way a jinchuriki was.
'My theories were correct,' Suguru confirmed it at that moment. 'The immortality of the Tailed Beasts likely have something to do with the incompatibility of my devouring.'
If he consumed too much of a single Tailed Beast, it was likely that they would revive within him should they die in the future.
With his future plans in mind, Suguru had no desire to become a jinchuriki.
'Luckily, my estimates were on point this time...'
A certain pair of sisters had completed Amai's requirements. The latter was now sure of his decision to sell them a Sharingan each. All that was left was whether or not they had something worth Suguru's time.
'I wonder what they got for me?'
A little bit of Suguru's excitement leaked out of Amai's façade.
***
Kaori and Nao were kneeling in front of Rasa, awaiting their orders. The latter was scrutinizing the empty vial in front of him.
"Had I known that the blood I spill would be the only price I had to pay for my village to obtain a Sharingan..." Rasa's mutters were soft yet audible to the two kunoichi.
Looking upon the two, Rasa nodded to himself.
"The two of you are lucky. I hope your friendship with Amai-san will prove to be even more of a blessing for Sunagakure."
In the next moment, a small golden blade cut through Rasa's hand. Blood dripped down from his fingers and poured into the vial.
Once the vial was full, Rasa placed the stopper and gently placed it in a box. Contained in the box was another vial — the price for another Sharingan.
"Haaa," Rasa sighed.
Obtaining Gaara's blood was an awful experience.
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