Beforehand: From the mind that brought you the highly acclaimed story The Sound of The Leaf comes a new action packed fic starring Naruto. This is like an alternate reality thing sort of. The same people from the series but they are raised differently…

Summary Completed: War has torn the country apart. Bloodlines are severed. Familes feud. Brothers kill each other. These are daark times. The war stems from before the Kyuubi crisis. Since it began, academies have opened in every village to take every young child and put them through hell on earth so that the battlefield will become their heaven. Those who survive traqining will become the elite ninja with hopes of ending the war. However, things aren't as black and white as everyone thinks...

Chapter One: The Nameless

The Forest of Death. It was silent. The wind was still. Birds didn't chirp. Nothing dared stir in this incredibly tense environment. Any noise could give away position. Every heartbeat was like a drum pounding to its owner. An unwanted drum. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, two kunai clashed together. Two young ninjas fought in close quarters combat. They held nothing back. Their aim was to kill each other for the sake of their mission. Their eyes held no emotion. No fury, malice, or ill intention towards the other. They were almost zombie-like.

The ninjas jumped back from each other. They both made hand signs unnaturally quick. One ninja wore blue torn jeans and a t-shirt. He had blond hair and marks on his cheeks resembling whiskers. The other ninja was wrapped in black clothing. The casually dressed ninja created 20 shadow clones quickly. The other ninja's fist began to glow. The cloned ninja analyzed the situation, then suddenly all his comrades began running around the black ninja. The black ninja realized he couldn't possibly hit the right one on his own.

The black ninja created 20 shadow clones of his own. The casual dress ninja stopped running. The clones and originals stared each other straight in the eyes. The black ninja made the first move. All 20 of his clones jumped toward an enemy. The casual ninja stood fast. When he felt the heat of the attack on the tip of his nose, the original and all of his clones simultaneously grabbed the glowing fist of their contenders. Several clones broke the wrists of their enemies, but all proved to be clones. The original black ninja found his wrist caught in the hand of his opponent. His eyes shot open. The blond ninja made a wicked smile. His clones destroyed the fakes. The blond ninja then broke the wrist of his opponent.

"Aaauuuughh!!" his opponent screamed in agony as the blond kicked him in the chest around the circle of clones. The black ninja was bounced from hit to hit. Finally, he was kicked in his ribbed, cracking at least three. The black ninja flew into the air, blood leaking from his mouth. He had failed his mission. His game was over.

The blond ninja and his clones pulled out kunai. They watched their defeated opponent reach the top of his flight. No, he was nearly defeated. The millisecond he reached the top of his flight, all 21 ninja threw kunai to pierce his body. The kunai stabbed, cut, and slashed away at the skin of their target. The black ninja fell to the ground. The blond ninja walked up to his opponent. He eyeballed him curiously. The enemy wasn't moving. He had been blasted. His body contained many holes, cuts, and scratches. The blond ninja checked his nails. They were sharp. Razor sharp. He kicked his opponent over onto his back. Then, before the black ninja realized what happened, the blond ninja dug into the flesh of his opponent. He dug deep. Finally, he grabbed, and pulled. The black ninja's pulsating heart was ripped from his body. The ninja screamed as his blood vessels burst and were ripped from him. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell back. No more movement.

"That's enough boy," a voice said. The blond ninja, heart still pulsating in his hand, stopped moving. Two men walked into the area where the blond ninja stood still.

"Congratulations boy," the older man said. It wasn't an emotional congrats, just so the boy knew he had done well. "You understand the basics of war. Destroy your opponent thoroughly." The boy didn't respond. The old man smiled.

"Back to the barracks soldier, your test is over." the younger man said. They turned their back on him. The blond ninja stared at the heart still in his hands. He hated it. Despite the fact that he had killed its host, it continued to beat. Why would it beat so futilely? It didn't know it had lost. He had to put it in its place. He squeezed as hard as he could. The heart gave on last series of strong beats and the burst into a mess of blood, splattering onto the boy's shirt and hand. He turned towards the forest exit, and took off. The two men remained.

"Hokage-sama," the younger man said to the elder. The elder man shook his head.

"Feel no remorse, young Iruka," he said. "What we are doing is a good thing. I know you have your doubts, but you must see that the ends we hope to achieve justify the means.

"But Hokage-sama," the young man pressed on. "Those two have been friends for five years. Then you pit them against each other in a life or death fight?"

"They were comrades, not friends," the old man said firmly. In this war there is no room for friendship. There is no room for emotions at all. That's why we've taken these kids at such a young age. So they realize, friends will die in war, sometimes by the enemy, and sometimes by your own hand. That's why true ninja don't have friends. They only have comrades." The young man went silent. The older man took a puff on a long, wooden pipe he carried. Together, they walked over to the corpse of the fallen ninja. Five years, they had trained this boy to be the best he could be. A pity. However, even pitiful ninja had their uses. Flushing out the ones with potential. And that boy, the Kyuubi no Yoki boy had potential.

"Poor Samuel," Iruka muttered. The Hokage said nothing. He picked up a stone and threw it through the forest.

"Why must we train them this way Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked. The Hokage smiled. He picked up and threw another stone. This one hit a tree and stuck in the bark.

"These children are like stones my boy," the Hokage began. He picked another stone up. "If you don't excert enough force onto them, you don't get results. The Hokage threw the stone lightly, and it feebly bounced off the tree. He picked up another stone and handed it to Iruka. He gestured for the man to throw it at the tree. Iruka did. His stone bore deeper than the Hokage's last. The Hokage smiled and picked up yet another stone.

"The harder you push the better results you'll get. So imagine if you were to push it to an unlimited extent. The result would be incredible. But we can't do that with human beings. They can take only so much. So we just want to push these kids to their limits at an early age, so that perhaps they can redefine these limits later on in their lives. The Hokage suddenly threw his last stone. The stone crashed through the tree and left a clear hole. Iruka drew breath. The Hokage smiled.

"Push to the limit and your result will be greater than you could ever imagine my boy." The Hokage walked toward the exit of the forest. Iruka studied the stones on the forest floor while thinking about what the Hokage said. It made no sense to him. These weren't stones they were talking about. They were children of 10 years old that had just given their all to kill a fellow ninja. He decided not to dwell on it too much. The Hokage was much more wise than he. Perhaps he would understand someday. Just not today.

The blond ninja returned to the Hidden Village of the Leaf. The quiet town made a sense of comfort arise within him. However, it did nothing to kill the tense feeling he always kept with him. Closing his eyes, he consulted his inner conscience.

"Boy, why do you summon me?" a monstrous voice asked.

"Kyuubi, we killed…again," the blond ninja told the beast.

"Yeah so?" Kyuubi asked. "It was part of your mission was it not? Even if we were aquainted with the little rat, was there really anything you could do?" The blond ninja opened his eyes. The monster inside of him was wise. For a demonic entity, he could impart information that would ease him all of the time. It eased him when they took away his life. Then his identity. He had no name. Some people called him Kyuubi, some called him Boy, but only amongst his comrades in times of rest would his real name slip through the lips of people.

Uzumaki Naruto

He had no need for a name. A name was nothing more than a decoration. He didn't need a name to be a soldier. When he died, they didn't have to use his name on the tombstone. He wouldn't mind either way.

Shaking his head, he headed toward the large academy that took up half of the village. It was an academy for children. Every child went for training upon reaching the age of three. They gave a heartfelt goodbye to their parents. Some would see them again. Many wouldn't. Naruto Uzumaki defiantly wouldn't. He was raised in the academy from day one. It didn't make him the best, but he had no memories of parents, nor feeling affection toward any living creature.

In fact, the closest person to his heart wasn't even a person. It was a demon sealed within his body upon his birth. It was the closest thing he had to a father. He also had comrades. Not friends. Comrades. People he worked with.

Naruto landed in front of the large building. Two guards nodded their head towards the ten year old boy and allowed him to pass through the doors. Naruto made his way down the long corridor. He passed several children who didn't give him a second glance. He didn't desire a first glance. He wanted to sleep. He was extremely tired. And he could use a nap before the dinner siren.

Afterword: Yeah, you know probably I don't do well with beginnings but I try you know? Well anyways, if you read, review please and thank you.