***Prologue***

Sad blue eyes looked out over the barren terrain with tears streaming down his face. The small thirteen year old had done it again. He had done as ordered but, this time it was different. This time the enemy didn't threaten him. This time they didn't have weapons. This time they were just some people, women and children of the men they fought and defeated just a few days ago.

He looked at his hands, the right one still on fire, glowing white from the intensity, and still shaking. Shaking, his whole body trembled as he realized what he had done.

"Good job kid. You really are a prodigy. Hell, you might be better than Princess Azula from what I hear about her." One of the older men said as he clapped the young man on the back before walking over to the other soldiers for a quick bite and a drink.

The boy just stood there, staring at the ground as his body shook and tears continued to flow. A shadow appeared, completely engulfing the young man and causing him to look up. He saw the face of his commanding officer.

The man was tall, standing at almost 6'3", wearing the Fire Nation General's uniform, the only difference from the regular being there was a small cape on the back and on the forehead of the helmet was a yellow Fire Nation insignia. His name was Yon, widely considered the cruelest of the Fire Nation's Generals. Rumor had it, he had killed one of his own sons in an Agni Kai just because he refused to invade a known Earth Kingdom fort because there were children inside.

"Why are you crying boy? You have won us another battle with your abilities, and the Glory of the Fire Nation will be spread even further." His voice was gruff, almost like he had scarring in his throat.

"I…I.." The boy stumbled over his words. For the first time he didn't know what to say, which surprised the General as the boy was known to be a real smart ass.

"Quit your whining!" The man said as he smacked the boy across the face, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Why did you have me kill them? They didn't have weapons. They were defenseless." The boy stated as he got to his knees.

"What other reason do you need besides the fact that I ordered it."

"But…but." The boy started but was again smacked and knocked to the ground.

"I do not allow weakness in my battalion. And for showing disrespect, I challenge you to an Agni Kai at dawn." With that the man turned and walked to his now set up tent.

The boy sat there, stunned, that he had been challenged to an Agni Kai. And by his commander. The man who had taken him into his battalion even though no one else would. The man who gave him a purpose, even if it was to kill others. It was still better than living where he used to.

"Naruto, why are you down there crying?" A feminine voice said behind him. He turned to see his only 'friend' in the battalion. Though, friend was used loosely, very loosely, as she wasn't really his friend, he knew that, but she was assigned to keep him under control, almost like a mother.

She had long brown hair that was in a high ponytail with black eyes that, even though she smiled, showed she hated taking care of him. She had already changed out of her uniform and into a crimson T-shirt, and a pair of black capris, with a black vest and the Fire Nation insignia on the back in bright orange. Her name was Yonna.

"G-General Yon, challenged me t-to an A-Agni K-K-Kai for d-disrespecting him." He stumbled out.

"Well, I told you your mouth would get you into trouble. Now, let's clean you up alright?" She said, donning that fake smile of hers again, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet before leading him to 'their' tent.

Once inside Yonna sat him on a cot and gently removed the special armor made just to fit him, as he was quite a bit shorter than the rest of the soldiers, standing at 4'7" tall. Once the armor was removed the bruises from the battle could be seen, and from the looks of it his upper left shoulder may have been fractured, yet he held in the pain and didn't let anyone know. Hell, today was the first time she had ever seen him cry, and it wasn't from pain.

She mentally shook the thought from her head as she got back to what she was ordered to do and keep him out of trouble and make sure he's healthy enough to fight. She pulled out a healing salve and began rubbing it on the many bruises on his body. Once done with that she wrapped him in bandages before handing him a shirt.

"Are you hungry Naruto?" She asked as she took a better look at him. He was, as stated earlier, only 4'7", with wild unruly blond hair, with the bluest eyes she had ever seen. He also had three, distinct whisker marks on each cheek, apparently evidence of some kind of spirit touching him. Which is also thought to be why he has white flames. It was odd, however, his blond hair. The color was extremely rare in the world, even more so in the Fire Nation.

"…" He didn't verbally answer, but he did nod. He hadn't eaten since midday and it was almost dark.

"Alright, you stay here and rest. I'll be back in a minute with something for you." She said exiting the tent.

"…Thanks." He mumbled, even though she was already gone. He stared at his hands again. He didn't know how many he had killed since he came here. But, but they had always been armed men. He knew he would have to kill, no that's not what he had a problem with. He had been taught during training that if you were willing to fight you were willing to die. But, the people he had just killed were defenseless.

"Here you go Naruto." Yonna said as she entered carrying a trey of meat and soup as well as tea. She laid out some of it on a table for Naruto and sat on her cot with the rest.

Naruto didn't eat much, compared to normal, and mostly just nibbled his food. After an hour of nibbling Yonna took his food away saying it was time for him to go to sleep. Unlike usual, he complied and crawled into his cot, pulling the blanket up, before turning away from Yonna.

*Several hours later: Apx 2 Hours before dawn.*

A shadow made its way from one tent to another, one teeming with food. It quickly grabbed as much as it could stuff in the bag it had. Hearing the guards near the tent for patrol and ducked out just before they entered. It ran as fast as it could to get out of the camp.

In the moonlight the shadow became visible and revealed to be Naruto. As he neared a hill he looked back to see that the alarm had been sounded and the soldiers were scrambling to find who had snuck into their camp. In the distance he could hear Yonna yelling for him. She sounded distressed, but he knew it wasn't for him, she was just worried about what General Yon would do when he found out she hadn't kept an eye on him like she was supposed to. With one final glance he took off into the night.

***Prologue End***

A young girl around fourteen and standing at about 4'10" wearing a light green kimono with a pink carnation design across her chest and a pink carnation headband that kept her hair in a tight knot. Next to her were two men, dressed exactly the same with a standard Earth Kingdom military uniform. The girl had convinced (blackmailed) them to take her on a walk outside her families' garden.

They were walking on a road that had a little shrubbery and a tree here and there. The guards tensed when they saw something in the road just up ahead.

"Mistress Toph, please stay here. There's something I want to check out." The guard on the left said to the young girl. "Watch her." He whispered to the other one as he walked toward the figure.

The figure was human, though, and judging by body structure, he was covered in dirt and grime. He wore a faded brown traveling cloak that was tattered around the hem and had several holes in it. The guard bent down and turned him over. Once done he notice the boy couldn't be more than fourteen years old, yet he looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks if the sunken cheeks and visible ribs were any indication.

"Poor kid; died of starvation." The guard whispered. "Let's go back home Mistress Toph, I'm sure your parents are worried by now." He said as he turned around to face the other guard and his charge. Little did he know, the boy was still alive and as soon as he turned his back the boy spun himself on his back before kicking out the guards legs and shooting towards the girl.

The other guard was immediately on the offensive. He stomped on the ground, causing Toph to scream in fear, and shot several boulders at the boy, while pushing his Mistress behind him to protect her. The boulders crashed around the boy as he dodged them and used the last one to propel himself into the air. The guard took that chance to make an earth pillar and struck the young man in the stomach, causing him to fall onto his back and knocking the air out of him.

The guard watched as the boy struggled to stand, to catch his breath. He looked back over to the other guard and saw he was standing up, ready to fight the boy if he tried to attack again.

"W-What's going on?"Toph innocently asked as she grabbed her guards pants.

"It's alright Mistress Toph, it was just an assailant. We took care of him."

"What did he want?"

"Food probably. It doesn't look like he's eaten in a while."

"Can we just give him some food then? We have plenty."

"Mistress, you can't be serious. This boy attacked us."

"Please, I just want some food." The boy croaked, still trying to stand.

"See, he's just hungry." Toph said as she stepped forward, much to the guards protest. She knelt next to him and 'looked' at his face. "Would you like some food?"