Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters, or objects pertaining to the series. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Shadowedge
Prologue: Protector from the Shadows
Konohagakure no Sato: October 10th, 6 years after the Kyuubi attack.
"I'm out of here!" yelled a strange man.
"Damn! He got away." said a shadowy, dark-blond haired man. "Hmm? What's that noise?"
The man raced towards the noise and is repulsed by what he sees. A large mob has cornered a small boy, no older than six years. They are viciously beating the boy while shouting things such as, "Die demon!" "This is for our families, you damn fox brat!" The child is crying and saying, "Why are you hitting me? I didn't hurt anyone."
The man yells for them to stop as he jumps in between the child and the mob. "Why are you beating this child?" he asks. One of the mob yells, "He is a demon. He killed our families!"
The man raises his right eyebrow and asked, "If he was a demon, do you honestly believe he would be crying and cowering? If he was a demon, he would be killing the lot of you. Also, when did the boy allegedly kill your families?"
The mob murmurs over what he said. The loud mouth from before yells, "The demon brat killed them six years ago, today!"
The man starts leaking killing intent and, in an icy tone, replies, "Fools. You honestly expect me to believe a newly born infant was capable of crawling out of its crib and single-handedly massacred your families? Well, if you don't get out of here this instant, you will be seeing your families again. That's because… I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU!"
With that, the mob scatters, and the man turns to the boy and, in a soothing voice, says, "I'm sorry about what happened. I wish I could be here to protect you but…" Realization spreads across the man's face.
"Kid, I am going to seal myself into you. Eventually, what that means is that you will be able to use my power. However, you will permanently forget the past half hour."
The man rapidly forms hand seals and slaps the boy's left shoulder. A black flash, and the man is gone. The boy falls unconscious to the ground, a design on his left shoulder quickly fading.
Three minutes later, 3 ANBU and a purple-haired woman in a tan trench coat jump onto the scene. The Dog-masked ANBU swears, "Kuso! Naruto! Come on guys, we need to get him to the hospital."