Staring into the colorful sunset, the 5-year-old Naruto sat atop a roof top. The sounds of the village still audible. The sound of Naruto's stomach broke the small silence around the blonde. Naruto sighed heavily; this was his third day without food and now the gnawing pain in his stomach was shortening his last nerve. Silently climbing down the roof top, Naruto spotted a plump man gathering his unsold bread to sell tomorrow for a lower price. Placing the basket just outside the back door, he wiped his heavily sweated brow and returned into the small bakery.

Naruto carefully made his way to the basket of bread, avoiding leaves and twigs that might alert the baker of stepped on. As he neared the basket, Naruto heard footsteps coming from the door, quickly grabbing 2 of the bread sticks, Naruto dashed towards one of the alleyways, snapping several twigs in his escape.

"Wah- Hey get back here you demon! Quick, someone catch him, he stole 2 of my bread sticks!!!" The man exclaimed, catching the attention of a group of drunks.

"Shey fellas, let's go catsh us a demon." One of the said, getting nods of agreement from the group of five.

"Get back here you demon!" one of the villagers shouted, he was one of the many who joined the drunks in the pursuit of the blonde. The group of five grew to a group of fifty, all carrying a weapon of some sort.

The bread sticks gave the blonde little energy, but it did stop the gnawing pain in his stomach. A sickening sound of metal hitting flesh echoed off the walls of the alleyway. A kunai buried itself deep in the back of Naruto's leg, causing him a stumble and fall to the ground. He refused to yelp in pain as he ripped the kunai out, blood now gushing freely from the wound. With the mob now only 10 feet away, the five year old attempted to scramble to his feet. Only to have 3 more kunai bury themselves in the young boy's shoulders, and left leg. Now with both legs injured and both shoulders impaled, panic began to set in the blonde's mind. He refused, however, to play along destiny and got back to his feet. While this was happening, a fox within the boy's stomach watched in disgust.

"This boy is no younger than 5 years old, yet he has to put up with this kind of treatment. They call us demons, monsters, cold killers. But looking in the mirror, they cannot see that a monster is staring right at them. Pathetic humans, we are demons, but what are they?" The Kyuubi inquired, feeling slight sympathy for the boy.

"Might as well save him, I'm not ready to die now… If only Minato could see what his son has to put up with day in and day out…"

"It is time to do what the forth hokage couldn't…KILL YOU!!!" The lead villager exclaimed, lunging forward to lop the head off the boy. He stood there, uncaring, a tear slid down his cheek. He wasn't frozen in fear, hate, loving, or despise. He stood brave, accepting the fate that he wanted, to leave this world and find anew.

He had enough time in life to wonder what it is about. Enough time sitting on the roof top, staring at the children with smiles in the market place, observing the guards checking wagons and allowing them to pass, staring at the face that looked so much like his. Five years of staring, observing, wondering… about the world, life, and its reason. There he stood, time slowed down to a snail's pace, the knife inched closer and closer to the blonde's throat. A sad smile appeared on the boy's face, for the thought of leaving hell amused him, no pity, no gain, no happiness, just a big, empty feeling in his heart, waiting to be occupied by someone, something, and some time soon... But Kyuubi wasn't ready for it to end here. He forced his chakra into the blonde, causing him to transport, the boy combusted into a pillar of purple and black flames. It engulfed the rocks around him, turning them into small lumps of molten lava. All the villagers stood frozen in time, mouths a gap as the kunai melted in the man's hand, causing third-degree burns to blister and char the man's hand. He howled in pain, clutching his now pitch black hand, the fingers still twitching. The mob quickly dispersed as ANBU began to appear at the scene.

{Hokage Tower}

"Man, the council is getting more and more demanding." Sarutobi said, massaging his temples to numb the pain of his headache.

"Sarutobi, friend of Minato Arashi Namikaze, I ask in your presence for permission to leave the village for 7 years to train Naruto Uzumaki/ Namikaze." Kyuubi stated through Naruto's voice, kneeling at the door of the room.

The Hokage took a few seconds to process to information. Everything clicked in place, Minato had apologized on his death bed to an unknown thing. At the time, he had thou8ght that he was apologizing to Naruto for sealing the Kyuubi into him, but in reality, he was apologizing to both. He only trusted his own son to contain his best friend. He thought of the times that Minato would sit in the office, staring out the window. He seem like he was waiting for something, expecting an event. There were still some pieces of the puzzle that were missing, but at the time given right now, he didn't care.

"I allow you permission of hermit status for 7 years; I believe good things are going to come from this trip are they not?" Sarutobi said, gesturing for the boy to stand up. Their eyes made contact, the weary eyes of the aging hokage peered into the broken ones of the boy. No longer blue, they were shattered pieces of blood red fragments of his soul.

The contact didn't break until Naruto nodded and shushined out the room. A note went flying through the air and landed on the hokage's desk. It read:

"Yo, Old man, just before I die, do the paperwork with Kage Bushin, saves you a lot of time. From- Minito Namikaze."

"This is where your new life begins kit." Kyuubi said, taking a step out the gates and faded into the darkness of the night.