Ok, ladies and gents, welcome to my very first work of fanfiction. As a result, I fully expect this to be a horrific disaster in terms of canon characterisation and consistency, but hopefully my plotlines and storytelling are engaging. Let me know if you disagree, please. I won't be specifically bashing any character, nor will I be intending at the outset to pair anyone together, though it may just end up writing itself that way.

Reviews that don't consist of 'AMAGAD UR STORY BADZ' are always helpful, even if you're an ass about it. Please, R&R, and remember, while I appreciate people reading this story and helping to improve my writing, if you don't like it, kindly remember it IS free, and above all, nobody is forcing you to read it.

This story will be most likely M, containing some coarse language, and probably a great deal of horrific deaths and brutal violence, though most of it will be alluded to rather than explicitly described, as that's just the way I prefer to write. Lemons... eh, maybe. Very maybe. I honestly don't see it, for this story, but they might come along.

If you're a nitpicker about spelling, grammar, or anything else, let me know via PM or review, I'll try and fix it. Sometimes, speech 'sounds' better when it's written with a few grammar errors.

This is posted at the beginning of both the Prologue and Chapter One.

Story premise is thus;

At age 8, the villagers of Konoha finally cross the line, and try to kill Naruto. They succeed. Only... his body is still moving. There's more than one mind and soul in his body, and they only killed one. The other one didn't go with just screams and pain.


Prologue: Aftermath...

The old man looked down at his desk, sadness and wariness clouding his wrinkled features.

"You know they deserved it, human... Torturing a child. Despicable. This, this is why humans are the lowest of the low, the scum we will never acknowledge, no matter how powerful or how skilled you become."

The old man raised his head, aged countenance meeting the crimson gaze of an eight year old boy. Even as he watched, the gashes and burns, punctures and strips of flayed flesh, hanging from his torn body, were repairing themselves. Looking on, he noted skin and muscle knitting together, the child's blackened skin shifting and flaking in ways that nauseated the masked squad behind him, despite their experience. Bones crunched and crackled as they realigned, the unnatural bends in his body smoothing out and disappearing, but the boy... the boy didn't even blink as his body healed, though it must have been torturous. His fiery gaze and oppressive, dark energy filled the room, invoking a small spark of sheer terror and apprehension in the powerful man before him before he ruthlessly squashed it. The old man suppressed a sigh. He was too old for this a decade ago, let alone now.

"Maybe so, but that does not give you the right to murder them," he countered, apparently calm and collected.

"I HAD EVERY RIGHT, YOU DAMNABLE MORTAL!" The boy roared, voice far too deep for an eight year old. It was still disturbing the old man. The 'child' calmed himself immediately. Loss of control here would only make things worse. "And MURDER? Hardly. It was a perfectly legal execution, by your own laws, human. Justified, if ever I have seen it. And believe me, I have." The old man couldn't suppress the sigh this time.

"Regardless, what's done is done. The real question is, what am I supposed to do about YOU? It's only going to get worse, now. You know that."

"You're the so-called God of Shinobi. You're probably the most respected individual in the Elemental Nations, even more so than your damned successor. USE that power, instead of letting it waste away. The pathetic weaklings outside only have their power because YOU allow them to have it. And what do they do with it? They stir trouble, and nothing but. Wake up, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and DEAL with your problems, or step down and appoint someone who can and will."

"Perhaps, but neither I nor anyone I appoint can take away their opinions, nor change human nature. And neither of my choices for the next Hokage will take the job."

"True enough, but you could have done a damn sight better policing it." The boy growled in frustration, then sighed. "Damnable creatures," he muttered.

"What about... Naruto? What happened to him? And how are you out of the seal?"

"I don't know. From what I've worked out in the last eight years, the seal only allows communication if both parties will it, or the so-called 'dominant' one of us, is asleep. I could send him messages when he was asleep, but I'm not even sure if he ever got them, let alone tried to reply. As for me, the seal is out of alignment, probably a result of the burning and stabbing around the inking of the seal itself." The boy's brow furrowed in concentration, his crimson eyes and blood-stained features adopting a vacant, far-off look. After several minutes of searching, examining what was left of the boy's mind and power, he came to a conclusion: he would have to lie. And he HATED lying, hated it beyond measure. Not only that, he would owe this human a debt. A powerful one, for this deception.... But there was no other way. Not if his vengeance was to be completed.

"Naruto... I can sense him, faintly, but he won't talk." Shaking his head, he continued. "In all likelihood, with his reticence, and my extended presence here, there will be significant evidence of my presence once the seal realigns." He tapped his claws and temple, indicating his slitted pupils and blood-red irises. "Your law will fail. It is inevitable now, you may as well repeal it... But. Tell the pathetic CREATURES outside, that if there is a repeat of tonight, I will not hesitate to raze this cursed village to the ground, and obliterate everything in it." He growled, voice laced with scorn.

"Their fear is that you will do that anyway," came the reply.

" For now, I have no reason to. My... imprisonment... was a result of my own blind rage. Hardly something I can blame you mortals for, you were simply defending your home." He shook his head, muttering something under his breath, before continuing. "However, if your people prove themselves to be so blind and idiotic again, I will have no compunctions against scouring this place and all the fools in it from the face of the earth. Even demons take care of their young, but you creatures..." The boy trailed off as the old man sighed again.

"I understand. I can hardly say I am content with the situation, but I understand. It is interesting, to find the creature we feared for so long to be a rational, thinking being. But I must know, why did you attack us? What reason could you have to attack a place that has never done anything to you?"

"Your statement, to the best of your knowledge is true. But it is wrong, nonetheless. The masses are still responsible for the actions of one individual. Think about this conversation, and you may understand my rage. Maybe. For now, I am going back to the trash heap that the kid lives in to rest. I suggest you make the announcement tomorrow." And with a flash of crimson, he was gone.

The old man looked up at the pictures on the wall of his office, eyes tired and weary, but resigned. Looking at the picture of the Fourth, he sighed again.

"I'm so sorry, Minato, that this happened to your legacy." Pulling out a paper and pen, he scrawled off a quick letter before rolling it up and snapping his fingers. One of the ANBU behind him stepped forward and took the scroll. "To Jiraiya, with all possible haste."

"Hokage-sama," the ANBU acknowledged before vanishing to the aviary. Sarutobi rubbed his eyes tiredly, before picking up his pen once again, beginning the paperwork that would complete the conclusion of the lives of two hundred and twelve citizens, and thirty three shinobi of the leaf. 'Maybe... Just maybe, he will help Naruto... Gods know the boy needs a friend...'


And so it begins.

Yes, I'm characterising the Kyuubi as relatively honourable and rational, rather than a deranged killing machine. I find writing one-dimensional characters like that dull and painful (Gaara being a prime example, I'll be doing SOMETHING with him later, though I'm still not sure what).