A/N: I've taken a break from my other story due to writers block and my friends keep telling me I should post this one because they think this is a better story. I'll try to update both as often as possible but don't expect more than one update a month.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A five year old Naruto Uzumaki ran down the streets of Konoha with a small group of people chasing after him. The group was made of mostly civilians but there were a few shinobi present as well. Kunai, shuriken and other projectiles were thrown at him but somehow he dodged them. The little boy ran into an alley and followed it until he reached a dead end, before he could go back the group of villagers surrounded him. The jinchūriki backed away slowly until his back met the wall, the villagers grinned knowing he couldn't escape.

"What did I ever do to you?" the five year old asked with fear evident in his voice. A man walked up to him and punched him in the face causing him to fall to the floor with a broken nose and blood seeping out of his nostrils.

"You killed our families you demon!" one of them shouted.

"You're nothing more than the spawn of a devil!" another shouted. The man who had punched him was slowly walking towards him with the rest of the mob.

"What are you doing to that child?" a commanding voice asked from behind the villagers. They turned to see a tall man wearing a black cloak that hid every part of his body, except his black shinobi sandals, and a hood that also obscured his face from view. "Did I stutter? I asked what you were doing to that kid."

"This 'kid' is responsible for the death of our families and the Fourth Hokage so we were gonna teach it a lesson," someone said.

"I heard the Fourth died fighting the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and if what you say is true then that means that boy is either a giant fox or he's a jinchūriki," the cloaked man said.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the leader of them asked angrily.

"I'm Tsuyoshi Ryū also known as the Dragon Sage," he said. The villagers visibly flinched at the name. Tsuyoshi was known around the world for being a master of nearly every jutsu and, while many people asked, he has never taken on an apprentice. He was also known for being the guardian of the Dragon Summoning Scroll and was the only person to ever sign it.

"Lord Tsuyoshi please forgive us for our rudeness," they all said while bowing.

"Get out of here now and you'll be forgiven," Tsuyoshi replied. The ninja jumped up onto the roofs of nearby buildings while the civilians ran away as fast as their feet could carry them. Once they were all gone Tsuyoshi walked up to the jinchūriki and spoke with a soothing voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Naruto said so quietly the Sage almost couldn't hear him. Tsuyoshi took out his hand, which was glowing green, from underneath his cloak and touched his nose. "What are you doing?"

"I just thought that you wouldn't want a broken nose," he replied while smiling, though Naruto couldn't see it because of his hood. "What's your name kid?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," he said, his voice was getting louder as he became more comfortable around the Sage.

"Naruto would you like to travel with me? I travel all around the world so that I can find new jutsu to learn and help people if they need it. So would you like to come with me?"

"Yeah," Naruto said enthusiastically, but after a second his face dropped. "But what about my ninja training? The old man said that I could start my ninja training in a few months."

"If you stay here it is unlikely that you'd ever be properly trained as a ninja but if you were to come with me you'd learn how to become a proper shinobi," he said. "Besides it's not like you're gonna leave forever, you can return here once you're training's completed."

"Alright let's go now sensei!" the blonde shouted while trying to drag the man towards the gates, the Sage chuckled at the young boy's futile attempts to get him to move.

"Hang on Naruto. Shouldn't we tell your parents where you're going," the Dragon Sage said, Naruto's eyes filled with sadness though he kept smiling but his smile seemed more forced and fake.

"I don't have any parents and the orphanage kicked me out a month ago. They said that my real parents hated me because I was evil and that if my real parents didn't want me then who would."

"I'm sorry Naruto I didn't know," Tsuyoshi said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it I've already proved them wrong because I know that the girl at the ramen stand and her father like me and you like me as well right?"

"Of course Naruto."

"See as long as at least one person likes me then I don't care if everyone else hates me," Naruto said.

"Come on if we leave now we can get to Tanzaku Town by morning," he said as he started walking towards the gate with Naruto following behind him.

The next day

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office using his Crystal Ball Jutsu to search for Naruto. Earlier that day he's sent an ANBU to collect him but when he the ANBU returned he reported that he couldn't find a trace of him anywhere. At first the Third thought that he'd eventually turn up at Ichiraku's Ramen for lunch like always but he hadn't. He'd been searching for the jinchūriki for over two hours using the crystal ball jutsu but it seemed as though Naruto had vanished.

He was disrupted from his search by someone knocking on the door to which he allowed them in. Eight of the chūnin that had been ordered to find Naruto walked in and reported that they couldn't find him anywhere within a five mile radius of the village.

"Maybe we should be happy that he's gone," said a chūnin with pale blue hair. "He was the incarnation of Kyūbi after all."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Mizuki," Iruka Umino said. "He's a good kid and I'm sure the reason he's gone is to escape this village. I know I would if I had to live through what happens to him every day."

"Either way what do we do about him Lord Hokage?" asked another chūnin.

"We don't do anything," he said shocking the shinobi because they know how much he cares for the blonde. "I also revoke the law and people can talk freely about what really happened five years ago. However should Naruto ever come back he shall be under the protection of ANBU at all times. You're dismissed."

"Yes Lord Hokage," the ninja said then left the room.

'Naruto where ever you are I hope nothing's happened to you,' Hiruzen thought while pulling out a small bottle of sake from his hidden stash.