Prologue: Nine Years Ago

"Kaede nee-chan!" the little four year old boy cried out in fear.

"Don't worry; we'll get away from them!" The slightly older girl replied as she hugged the little boy protectively.

When they had first met they had easily bonded together since both came from orphanages and were treated as outcasts and hated by many. The two children had found safety with each other as well as understanding and they had quickly formed a powerful bond together.

They had been walking together happily down the road earlier that day when they had been ambushed by men that carried strange new weapons that made loud noises and fired small pieces of metal that hurt a lot. The small boy could only watch in amazement as his companion stopped the bullets in mid air before letting them drop to the ground. The two young children had been on the run since then but had easily been cornered near a wall.

"How can you do that?" the boy asked fearfully.

She stroked his hair to reassure him as she glared as the masked men that had their guns pointed at her. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you. And I'm a magician remember?"

The little boy smiled at up at her before a glint in a nearby building caught his eye. Looking to his only friend he quickly realized that she had not seen the danger.

Not realizing what came over him, the little boy pushed his friend out of the way and not a moment too soon he screamed as a burning pain shot through his body. He brought his hands to his shoulders and barely registered that there was blood, a lot of it. The boy felt his head spin before collapsing to the ground.

"No!" The girl screamed hysterically. She could not lose this boy. She mentally screamed at herself for not being able to protect him just like she had promised. Her blood ran cold when she saw the bullet pierce his shoulder. And he had done that for her. "No!" She screamed again as she rushed towards his downed form, tears falling freely.

"Hold your fire!" the man in the suit ordered as he raised his hand. Almost instantly, the firing stopped and everything was quiet again save for the weeping of the girl. Her pink hair fell freely over her face as she cradled his head on her lap gently.

"R-run." The little boy coughed out.

"No! I'll protect you!"

"Please, don't let them take you. I'll find you later." The little boy pleaded desperately.

The man in the suit spoke coldly. "You know that he is going to die without any medical treatment. If you come with us now then we will bring him to a hospital to save his life."

The little girl's head snapped up. "Y-you will?"

The man gave a slight nod to show prove his point.

The pink haired girl looked back and forth between the bleeding boy in her arms and the man that had been trying to kill her. Her decision wasn't very hard to make. "I'll go." She said quietly, wiping her tears as she stood up slowly.

The boy tried to catch her hand to stop her. "No, don't go nee-chan!"

The pink haired girl took her place next to the man in the suit before turning back to the boy who's vision was already turning hazy.

What she said next was barely audible, but the boy heard it clear as day, "I'm sorry. Goodbye… Naruto-kun…"

The blonde-haired boy watched his first friend slowly turn around to leave before his vision blacked out, her small smile burned into his memory.

AN: Well there we go, short prologue but very important in deciding Naruto's future personality.