The Kyuubi's Heir
Chapter 1: Prologue
The sun had just disappeared behind the horizon, when a small boy, no older that 6, stumbled into an alley way. His bright, sunny, blond hair shot out of his scalp in a chaotic, yet adorable way, as crazy, untamable spikes. He looked up at the darkening sky, tears building up in his sad, yet sparkling eyes. As he cam to a stop, he rubbed his chubby cheeks with small, dirty fists, the grime from his hands smudging over the curious whisker-like scars that adorned his cheeks.
As he stared fearfully all around him, he shrunk into a wall hiding by a smelly dumpster. When he was settled on the hard, cold ground, choking sobs escaped his throat and fat tears rolled down his cheeks.
Now you may ask, what kind of parents would allow their young child to wander around alone so late at night. Well, this particular little boy had no parents. He lived in the orphanage, and was told that both his mother and father had died during the Kyuubi attack. But since he lived in the orphanage, why wasn't he there instead of wandering the streets?
Sadly, the young child had been kicked out. He had no idea why though. He had always been a good boy, never breaking the rules or acting out. He had learned quickly that that sort of behavior could get him beat. When he was thrown out of the orphanage, he had asked his caretaker why.
"Simple brat." the pudgy caretaker had said. "You are a demon. A blight in this village, and I'm tired of spending my days looking at such a monster like yourself. Now do me and the rest of this village a favor and piss off. If I ever see you again, me and a couple of my friends are gunna go on a little demon hunt. Understand?"
And with that, the caretaker had slammed the door to the orphanage shut, leaving the little boy to his own devices.
As the little boy leaned his head on the wall behind him, tears of bitter sadness rolled down his cheeks. The caretaker had not been the only person to refer to him harshly. Although the little boy was only at the tender age of four, he could see. He could see the hate filled glares directed at him. He could hear the villagers mutterings of demon, monster and the like. And worst of all, he could feel. His poor little heart felt the bitter loneliness and hatred. He could feel the sadness and misery clenching at his very soul, causing his small, malnourished frame to wrack with heavy sobs.
Crying himself to sleep, that last thoughts that flew through his head were those of giving up. This sad, four year old boy, honestly didn't care if he lived through the night.
When the little boy awoke in the morning, he felt an odd amount of warmth. The last thing he remembered, he was in a dank alley, sitting on the hard ground. But right now, he could tell he was laying on something soft and warm.
'Where am I…' He thought groggily
Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself staring up at a white ceiling. He continued to stare at the ceiling not looking away or moving.
"I see you have awoken Naruto." the boy, Naruto, tilted his head slowly towards the old, tired voice. His eyes landed on a wizened old man with a small, sad smile.
"Jiji…" Naruto said softly.
The Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, Sarutobi Hiruzen, looked at the boy. Almost as soon as he had awoken this morning, an ANBU member, code name Weasel, had rushed to the Hokage tower, carrying a sleeping, half dead Uzumaki Naruto. The boy had been immediately taken to the hospital, where he had been diagnosed with sever malnutrition, and signs of physical abuse.
"Tell me Naruto." the Sandaime said softly, "Why where you sleeping in an alley? Why didn't you go back to the orphanage?"
What had been a simple question, ended up bringing the painful memories of the previous night rushing back, causing more tears to leak from the boys shining azure eyes.
"Naruto?" Sarutobi asked a little more sternly, "What happened?"
With tears still running down his face, little Naruto shot off of the hospital bed and hugged the Hokage tightly.
"Jiji!" he cried "T-they k-k-kicked me o-out! T-they said t-that they didn't want to look at a d-demon any more! I-I'm sorry Jiji! I d-don't know w-what bad thing I d-did, but I'm s-so s-sorry!"
Sarutobi, momentarily stunned by the boys heaving sobs, and at his startling confession, could only hug the small child while he cried. Whispering soothingly and rubbing the boys back, Sarutobi waited until the sobs turned into sniffles and hiccups before speaking.
"Don't worry Naruto. You are not a demon and have done nothing wrong in the slightest. Jiji's going to fix this, alright? I'll get you your own apartment and makes sure that you are taken care of."
Naruto continued to hug the Hokage, temporarily relieved. Sarutobi lifted the scrawny boy off of his lap and laid him back of the hospital bed.
"Now you lay here and rest. I'm going to go get you some breakfast. You must be famished."
With a small smile in Naruto's direction, Sarutobi left the room. As soon as the Hokage left the room, his smile turned into a menacing growl. He turned to one of the nurses who was sneering at Naruto's door, and released his killing intent. The nurses scowl quickly turned into a look of fear as she witnessed the furious Hokage stalk towards her.
"I want that boy properly fed by the time I get back." he growled out. "If he isn't fed, or if he ends hurt or poisoned, it will be your head! Do you understand?"
The nurse nodded her head fearfully and scurried down the hallways to prepare Naruto's food. With a snap of his fingers, ANBU member Weasel, appeared by the Hokage's side.
"Weasel." the Hokage stated. "Stay in the shadows and watch out for Naruto. Now that he is on his own, the villagers will have a much easier time getting their hands on him. Consider this your mission until further notice. Now go. I have an orphanage to visit."
With a bow of his head, the ANBU member disappeared without a word. The Hokage sighed, his heart heavy with sadness, at the thought of all that the young Naruto had to bear on his small shoulders.
ANBU member Weasel, real name Itachi Uchiha, perched on a window outside of Naruto's room observing his new charge.
'So that is the Kyuubi host.' he thought. 'He certainly does not seem as monstrous as I have heard. It is quite curious how they see such a young child as such a dangerous foe. He looks about as threatening as Sasuke.'
Itachi had always found it quite curious how the adult villagers thought such a small child could be such a terrifying demon like the Kyuubi. He had not met the boy, but from his fellow ANBU comrades who had watched the boy before, he was simply a small, quiet child, who didn't understand what he had done wrong. The ones who had talked to him, said he was quite cheerful and kind once you gained a bit of his hard to earn trust.
His musings were cut short as the nurse that had been to fetch the child food came in and slammed the door shut. Startled by the noise, Naruto was pulled from his dreaming with a yelp. When Naruto looked towards the nurse she snarled at him.
"Don't you dare look at me you bastard demon!" Naruto lowered his head and stared at his fingers that were twisting nervously in his lap.
"I-I'm sorry." He said softly. When the words left his lips, the nurses eyes narrowed and she slapped the boy sharply.
"No one asked you to speak Demon brat!" Slamming down a tray of food on the table next to the hospital bed, she whirled around and promptly marched out of his room. Naruto held a small hand up to his reddening cheek, and whispered out a quiet thank you.
Itachi glared at the retreating nurses back. The Hokage would most definitely be hearing about that.
Itachi turned his attention back to Naruto who now had the tray of food on his lap. It consisted of a small bowl of soup and a dinner roll. It was scarcely enough for a meal, but by the look on the child's face, it could have been a large feast. Itachi watched curiously as the boy dug into the meager rations voraciously.
'By the way he eats, you would expect that he thought it would simply disappear. He looks as though he hasn't eaten in days! Well, the likelihood of that being the case are high. The orphanage probably made him fend for himself. Poor child.'
He continued to watch, even as the boy finished and began to sleep.