Summary - Third Hokage did not announce his status as a jinchuriki, Naruto will have to cope with it when it comes out without the help of third hokage. Having learned to survive on the streets, will Naruto actually believe lord third when he tries to help? World is not an eutopia and he will have to realize that nothing is given for free. A world where the Uzumaki clan lives in hiding and the massacres of Uchiha clan was not as successful as it was in cannon. Butterfly effect acts in full force but somethings never change. Constructive reviews are welcome.

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto. It belongs to it's rightful owners.

Chapter 1

Naruto Uzumaki. (pre Uchiha massacre)

Anonymity. In a world full of glorified assassins, thieves and many such psychopaths, being anonymous could help you live a long life and six years old Naruto knew that for a fact. He should have had many scars to prove that fact but somehow did not.

It was a common belief that orphans grow up faster than other children of the same age. He was forced to grow up at an even faster rate. Thrown out of the local orphanage at the ripe age of four, he was forced to live off the streets where people went out of their way to either shun him or outright ignore his existence as a whole.

People ignoring his existence was something that happened to him as sudden as lightning. As far as he could remember, he was treated as a normal child -as normal as an orphan child would be treated, and then one day it suddenly changed.

Initially, it was only mutterings among old cronies of the orphanage then came the stares and name calling. He would always remember how people forgot that they found his whisker-like marks cute and how the same people started comparing him to a fox.

Words like 'demon' and 'kyuubi brat' (Nine tailed fox's kid) were used. Though they were hushed whispers among the adults, his hearing was good enough to catch on it quickly.

He still asked himself about the true nature of the one who to him once was a kind old lady. Did it really matter that much if his birthmarks resembled to the whiskers of an animal? Probably to the adults, it did.

He faintly remembered the night when a drunk man decided that he was good enough to be the likes of Yondaime and in his drunken heroic valour decided that he would kill the demon child, who was rumoured to be the child of the one 'the greatest hero of the leaf' killed and unfortunately, for him that is, the demon child in the rumours was himself.

In the hindsight, he supposed that it was a good experience even with the pain that it brought. It brought home the cruelty of people around him. And the importance of not getting caught.

He had always seen how people that visited the orphanage were nice to children, somehow that didn't apply to him anymore. Believing their sweet honeyed words had led him to hours of physical torment.

And to top that off, a week later he was thrown out of the orphanage, where the matron didn't even let him collect his things; trivial as they were.

Thus, he began his year of scavenging through garbage and sneaking food from an odd unsuspecting vendor, which was as rare a basilisk in a village full of ninjas. Someone was always watching. Getting caught was not a pleasant experience and he would rather not experience that any more than he already had.

Unfortunately, that was not for him because learning how to steal without getting caught for a four-year old in a village like this was a nigh impossibility. The people of 'Uchiha military Police force' seemed to have an odd dislike for him.

They went out of their way to make sure he stayed in the prison for the minimum of a few days even for something as trivial as stealing some food. Were this people so heartless that they couldn't even watch a child filling his belly? Perhaps they were.

In the hindsight, at least he got a roof over his head for a few days. Winters in Konoha were unforgiving at times. It was hard enough to find shelter, finding warmth was next to impossible for the four-year old kid when people would not even let him come within the sneezing distance to them.

Though sometimes, he would notice that the Uchiha clan went out of their way to ensure that once he got in trouble, he stayed in trouble. Yet, at the same time one or two odd ones from their clan of 'red eyed nuisance' made sure to get him out and to treat him to some food.

Whenever he met these odd people, he would always get a surge of white-hot anger through his body when they would look at him with eyes full of pity and compassion.

Pity and compassion was something that he couldn't stand in those onyx eyes that turned to blood at a moment's notice. Couldn't they see that he didn't need their pity?

Especially from those that shared blood with people that went out of their ways to make him suffer. He couldn't understand why they would go out of their way to help some nameless orphan that their own blood was tormenting every chance they would get.

He was sure of one thing "No one did anything that didn't have their own best interests at heart." In his short life, little kindness was shown to him where he didn't suffer in return.

But he didn't know what they would want from someone whose worldly possessions consisted of some animal skins and a set of ragged clothes that he wore. Whatever they wanted didn't include his welfare, he decided. And thus, he went out of his way to stay away from the 'red-eyed freaks' as he used to call them.

Then again, there was always that problem of filling the empty pit he called stomach. So, when he found a rusty kunai he took to hunting as best as he could while following the voice in his head. And the forests surrounding Konoha were full of game, most of the times at least, when you actually knew what to look for.

First few months doing that had been considerably difficult for the child but soon he learned how to stay as still as a tree, when to strike, how to skin what he caught and how to dry the skin so that it can be used later on.

He saved the dried skin of animals to sell at the shop owners in Konoha but they didn't buy it from him saying that his goods were defected and yet when he showed them to merchants that were not from Konoha he got a good amount of circular metal coins for that.

He was not aware of what these 'things' were used for but he did observe people getting food and many other things in exchange of them from people of the buildings that he wasn't allowed to enter. So, he decided to save his metal coins and stick to cooked meat.

And what he actually meant by that was half uncooked bloody meat. Though not the best of diets it was still much better than what he was able to collect from trash.

His life would continue that way until one ANBU with a dog mask would find him in one of the many alleys of Konoha. Apparently, there had been a few ANBU assigned to watch over him and they were doing a good job of it by not reporting some crucial details, like his lodgings or whether or not he was safe or not, back to whoever assigned them though the child himself did not know about them.

Nor did he know the reasons for such an action. Hiruzen Sarutobi, he learned was the 'Hokage' of this village; whatever it meant, had decided to visit the orphanage where he lived a few years back to check up on the orphans.

This 'Hokage' person wanted something from him. The suspicious part of his brain warned. There were hundreds of children living there in the orphanage. Surely, this man didn't expect him to believe that this 'Hokage' actually noticed the disappearance of one child after over two years.

Even ninjas weren't that good. From what the ANBU was allowed to tell him; yes 'allowed', he knew the man was lying, he learned that he would be given a house to live by himself and a small amount of money as a stipend from the fund for orphans if he accepted to join the ninja academy. He had a feeling that that was not a choice.

Disappearance of orphaned children from the streets was not an uncommon thing in Konoha village. He had seen a few children like on the streets while searching for shelter. He hadn't seen them again yet.

Even those in the orphanage disappeared after reaching a certain age, though not all went to this 'Ninja academy' the ANBU spoke of. Where they disappeared was none of his business, he decided. Either way he looked at it, this was his best bet to get a roof above his head. That was his first priority after all.

As they started nearing the Hokage tower he started hearing murmurs of "that thing" or "it" or "demon brat". Now, these people didn't even want call him a human. As soon as his escort heard those he silenced them with a look and some kind of spiritual pressure that he would learn as killing intent.

The things he heard didn't hurt as much it usually did years ago. Even when he didn't understand that they intentionally trying to dehumanize him in their thoughts and encouraging their children to do the same in a roundabout way.

Those feelings stopped mattering to him as soon as he realised that these people were not worth his time. It may or may not have been influenced by the incident where he was tortured. But he had realised that he did not require them in his life to continue living.

Damn it, he had better things to worry about. Like finding food and shelter on a daily basis before he thought about pleasing others which admittedly, he never would.

And if it was up to him he had no plans of pleasing anyone, ever. So, he did what he did best, put his hands behind his head, eyes half closed and stupid grin plastered on his face, he ignored their existence just as they did to him for something that he wasn't even aware of. "Ignorance was truly a bliss", at least for matters like this.

The Hokage-tower was the tallest building in the whole village. Made from wood-release of Hashirama-Senju himself, it easily towered over every other structure. There was something written on the top of it that he would learn was the kanji for 'fire' when he learned how to read.

The interior of the building was quite simple for being the most important building of the village. There were no statues, no flower pots, no pictures that he could see. The corridor that he was led through was quite small as well.

He would call it plain if he had been allowed enter any buildings after he was thrown out of the orphanage to know about such things. But because this was his first time visiting any building he found everything very interesting.

Coming to stop in front of a door, his escort knocked and after a soft enter from the other side opened the door for him. "Hokage-sama, I have brought the child as asked." His escort said bending at his stomach in greeting. Looking up from the scrolls that the old man was working on, he decided to take a moment to moment to study Naruto.

The room smelled thick of tobacco and various other herbs and spices that he could not quite put his finger on. It was a relatively small room compared to the size of the building but it was quite cosy.

He could see burnt torches from the corner of his eyes. Stacks of scrolls were neatly placed on the shelves lining the walls. He could not see any paintings or statues in the room.

Standing still with his hands behind his head, eyes half closed and a goofy smile on face Naruto was acutely aware of the old man studying him as if deciding his worth but there was something different about it that he didn't like. That old man looked at him in the same way as those blood-eyed freaks did. Pity. He raged inside.

"Greetings, Naruto-kun. I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage of this village." He addressed the boy in front of him with a kind grandfatherly smile that Naruto actually found creepy. That smile reminded him too much of the warden back from his time at the orphanage.

He could hear the thumping of his heart hasten as he thought about the best possible way to answer the powerful figure that would get him out of that room as soon as possible. Preferably with all limbs attached.

For some reason, he knew there were more people than him, the old man and his escort present in that closed room. Or was it because of the voice in his head said so?

When he didn't respond for some time the old man spoke again, a bit of irritation present in his voice. "As you have undoubtably been informed, it has come to my attention about the situation that you have found yourself in."

He sighed and shuffled the papers he was working on and started reading them. "I wish to rectify it as soon as possible. It pains my old heart to see someone as young as yourself living in conditions such as yourself." The old glanced at him again and Naruto had half a mind to call him out on the bullshit that he was saying.

Did he actually think that Naruto was unware that this was not done for every child that wound up in the alleys of this village? But the voice in his head warned him against such a course of action and so he stayed silent and nodded his head once.

"Your escort here" he said motioning towards the man beside him with his head. "will take you to your lodgings. In a few months you will be joining the ninja academy where you will be given proper guidance so that you will be able to join the village force as it's ninja when the time comes. You will be provided money every month for your expenses."

When Naruto nodded the old man told him to come to him if he ever needed anything with a kind smile that creeped Naruto out once more as his escort took him by his shoulder and guided him out of the room.

He breathed a small sigh of relief as soon as he was out of the immediate presence of the old man and inconspicuously tried to get his hands to stop shaking.

The walk to his new lodgings or it can be said that his first proper lodging arrangement was spent in silence as Naruto wondered what exactly did that old-man want from him? From the looks of it, the voice inside his head was also upset but he didn't know what had it upset.

Sometime along the way he noticed where the path they were on lead to and he didn't like the conclusion he came to. The slums. The Slums! That old wanted him to live in place like that! A place he considered to be more dangerous to his health then spending a night in the large forests that surrounded the village.

He wondered if the man actually knew his situation. Probably not if this was his idea of 'safe home'.

The house or hut, as many would call, was a small one storey building. Two storey building were rare in Konoha, most of which were owned by councillors or reserved for foreign dignitaries and by the more influential clans that resided in this village.

The tallest infrastructure in the village would be the 'Hokage tower'. How high was it? He didn't know. The location of the house however picked his curiosity. The slums themselves were on the outskirts of the village, the hut itself was on the edge of that. He wondered about the motives behind it but his head started to hurt when he couldn't come up with anything.

The hut was just as small on the inside as it was on the outside. Not that he hoped for anything much when he became aware about the location of his new 'house'. Barely furnished as it was, the hut didn't feel like home. Probably because he never had one.

Or was it the feeling of being watched even after his grey-haired escort had left? Many times, he felt that he was not alone or that he was stalked by someone with intentions that he didn't like. It didn't help that the voice inside his head urged him to hide when he clearly couldn't.

He just didn't have the skills to hide completely from them anyways. If he did, those Uchiha won't ever find him. Well, at least now he had a roof above his head.

When he went to sleep on the clearly 'handed-down' futon, he was sure to lock both the windows and door. He knew that if someone actually wanted to enter his house, he would know about them when and if they wanted him to know.

He was not naïve enough to think that the thin wooden doors could actually stop a ninja, whom he saw could breathe fire from their mouths. He did it anyways.

Waking up he didn't expect his house to magically grow in size nor did he think that it would all disappear and he would wake in his old place sleeping on dried skin of animals covered by leaves. However, he sure as hell didn't expect to wake up half drowned in some strange liquid surround by walls that had more pipes than even the whole of the drainage system of Konoha did. Yes, he had been in the sewers too. Not a pleasant experience that one. What really creeped him out was what flowed inside those pipes.

Blood and water flowed through the innumerable pipes that surrounded him. Blood flowed slowly in large veins of pipes invisible to him while clear blue water rushed through smaller pipes.

Now, he was not unfamiliar with blood, having gotten used to cutting up animals for food, but this terrified him. There were even some pipes where both of them were present. However, they didn't mix.

They swirled around each other fighting for dominance. One felt hot another felt cold, one felt like it was burning on fire other was as serene as water, one was rage another was calmness. And yet after a while they mixed with each other turning in to a purple fluid that glowed eerily in the dimly lit room that he was in.

There were many passages that could take him out of that room and yet every single one of them gave him a sense of foreboding. Something dreadful was at the end of these pathways and it waited for him.

He wondered, yet again, if all this was just a dream and he would wake up in the dark alley once again. But when that didn't happen he tried to gather his courage.

He never considered himself a coward nor did he think of himself to be particularly brave. He was just a child and just like everyone he too feared a great many things. Randomly choosing a passage, he decided to see for himself whether he was brave or just a foolish delusional child who was stupid enough to walk to his death.

The passage was larger than the corridor of the Hokage-tower and unlike the tower it was dark and dank. Deciding to go through with his decision after glancing back mournfully, he started walking. He did take a note of his trembling legs.

The passage lit up when he stepped in, though he could only see a few feet in front of him. Shadows swallowed the light behind him. He passed many passages that branched away from the one he was walking on.

Each and every one of them were just as compelling for him to walk on, as the one he was currently walking on. He did not want to walk on the one he did. He didn't even want to be there.

After hours and hours of walking he reached a giant room, bigger than the one he had just been in or any of the rooms he had been in his whole life. Was it a room or a hall?

The large cage at the end suggested a prison. He had been on the other side of those bars before and he didn't want be there again. Nor did he want be anywhere near a prison that big.

He could feel the tremors created by whatever the cage contained. That didn't make him anymore brave than he felt. He decided to make a run for it while still had the chance to do so. Turning around he was just about to run as fast as his small malnourished body would be able to when a voice froze him in his tracks.

"I didn't bring you here just so you could run away, child." The voice itself was sweet as it always was inside his head. Two bleeding moons towered above him glowing as bright as a sun on a summer day would, stared from the shadows of the prison.

A terrifyingly beautiful sight. He realised he had fallen on his back when the sound of roaring laughter came from the dark depths of the cage along with tremors that would have made waves of the liquid if there was enough of it in the room.

Whatever was inside the cage found his fear to be a funny thing. He must have been a pitiful site for someone who could shake the earth just by laughing. He was just glad that there was a cage between him and whatever it was inside the cage.

"Tell me child, do you actually understand what to you agreed to do for the old man in return of the pitiful place he gave you to live?" He didn't think he had actually given much thought to what he was giving in return at that time.

Apparently, he was wrong in some way. "Who are you?" Naruto willed himself to ask. His voice came out squeaky and high pitched. He could feel his hands getting sweaty.

Once again tremors came as the source of the voice laughed. A haughty sound to hear. "You know exactly who I am? After all, you are called by my name by many people." The voice laughed once again.

"Kyuubi." He whispered. His eyes wide with terror as he once again looked at the blood eyes that stared at him from the cage. His trembling body seemed to be making the beast even more amused.

Naruto had heard the stories of a thousand feet titan fox with nine tails that could destroy mountains and bring tsunamis with just a flick of a single tail. Said Nine-tailed beast had almost destroyed the village he lived in when it suddenly appeared in the middle of the village six years ago. The village has yet to recover from that attack.

"What do you want from me? Where am I? How can I see you? Weren't you killed?" And soon Naruto started bumbling questions after questions all the while shaking like a leaf. A big gust of wind knocked Naruto on his back again as the titan sized fox sighed.

Naruto looked up to see the red globes of terror disappear, leaving eternal darkness behind in the cage. Sound of walking were heard from the depths of the cage however no tremors were produced this time.

Out of the shadows came a young, beautiful woman. Blood red hair and eyes with pale skin that glowed in the darkness, dressed in a black elaborate kimono that had golden patterns in shapes that he couldn't recognize.

The beast turned woman looked like the goddess of Death herself. She walked up to the bars of the cage and then right through them. Nothing would ever terrify Naruto more than that knowledge did in his whole life.

"Stop that pitiful behaviour at once!" The beast in human form demanded. Her voice did not lose its melodic quality despite the harshness of her words. That seemed to work on the child as he stopped at once and gazed fearfully in her eyes but stayed silent.

"Now, as you know, I am 'Kyuubi-no-Youko', 'The great Nine-tailed demon fox', 'The bringer of death and destruction'" Her voice was proud and steady that turned sly and mischievous when she continued. "'Konoha's bane', it's 'darkest secret' and your curse, dear warden." She seemed quite a bit amused by the last bit that she added to her introduction.

The child, however, was too confused and scared to think properly at this stage. Seeing this, the beast in human skin decided to take matters in her hands. Literally.

The blood like liquid that Naruto had seen flowing through the pipes was now swirling around her fingertips. She reached out and touched his forehead despite his flinch. The touch seemed to burn his skin and the air filled with the smell of charred flesh.

With a startled scream, the child stopped hyperventilating and touched his forehead. When instead of finding the rough charred skin and feeling nothing but his smooth skin he blinked and looked up at the beast with wide curious eyes. She seemed to find it all the more amusing.

All the signs of amusement faded away as she got to business. "Let's do this again, shall we?" She gave an extravagant gesture with her hand. "I am 'The Great Kyuubi no kitsune' and you are Naruto Uzumaki. Why am I talking to you? It's simple because I want to. How are you seeing me? Because I want you to. Where are you? We are in a completely different time-scape than yours. What do I want from you? Many things. But at the moment you are unable to provide me with any of those. Anything I missed?"

Naruto felt his mouth go dry when he realized that the beast could bring him here, to this time-space, whatever that meant, but decided to freak out about it later. He wanted answers and the being in front of him didn't seem to be patient.

"How are you able to talk to me? You said that we are in a different place so how did you bring me here?" Naruto asked as his mind started to work out this situation he found himself in. There was a glint of approval in her eyes as she answered.

"Good. At least you are not dumb. As you may have guessed, I am not killed. Your predecessors did not and cannot kill me. Instead I was sealed in a different dimension with you as my anchor to the plane of existence." Naruto could see what she was speaking flying above his head literally. But didn't think of questioning further in fear of angering her.

He didn't want to be that target of the rage. It seemed the beast was in a tolerating mood as she decided to elaborate in simple terms. "In simple terms or from what your species understands about sealing I am inside you." That seemed to terrify Naruto even more.

"There is no need for you worry, child. I have use for you. If you are not dead with my cakra being poured inside your body and mixed with your own then you must be a special child. But I will explain all that later when you have some understanding of what chakra is and some of the basic concepts of Ninja-arts. Right now, we have more important things to discuss. But first let's make ourselves a bit more comfortable." With that, she waved her hand and sitting arrangements were made for them.

A carpet floated on the water without getting wet. Cushions were formed for them at the two ends to it. A small table blinked into existence between them. All the while Naruto wondered what this being thought was more important than his possible and imminent death. It was not like his life mattered to her.

Lounging lazily on a cushion that, somehow, she made look like a throne she began. "Let's get to why I called you here tonight. Are you actually aware of what you have agreed to give to that old man in exchange for the one room hut that he gave you?"

When Naruto nodded and explained what he thought was the offer of training and education in exchange for his services to him and the village, she started laughing. It was tinkling sound. That confused Naruto but he didn't say anything. He knew that this being was superior to him in many ways.

Age, experience, knowledge, power, anything and everything. He wasn't not going to provoke a being to whom he could be just an ant. "No, no. My foolish, naïve child. No." She disagreed with him, her head shaking with disappointment as if he had somehow failed her.

Clearly, she was more aware of what was actually given by him than he himself knew. "You agreed to a life time of servitude in exchange for a roof. In addition to that you gave the old man total power over the properties as well as knowledge and techniques left to you by your parents. At least until you are of age."

Naruto perked up at the mention of his parents. He had always wanted to know who they were, if they were alive or dead. More importantly he wanted to know if they loved him. Most likely not. If they did, he would not be left in an orphanage to be manipulated by old leaders of this village. A bitter and disappointing truth of his life.

The beast seemed to notice his turmoil, having access to his thoughts, but payed no heed to it and continued. "He promised you that you will be guided by those people that are called academy instructors when you join the ninja academy."

"But how will they do that when you don't even know how to read and write? And that is assuming that they even agree to it. You are aware that before I decided to bring you here the whole village knew of your condition, yes?" Her question was answered with a sad grudging nod.

"Your, ah, condition, let's say, has become common knowledge from the looks of it." The beast paused waiting for her words to sink in. When she was sure that he understood the glaring reality of things she continued.

"And even if by some miracle someone decides to take pity on you and that is a big 'if', the things they will teach will most likely be a common knowledge to your peers from your village and all over the world too."

"Ask yourself this, why would anyone go around sharing family secrets to someone who will most likely be trained wrongly to a degree that he will die in his first fight he will have. That is assuming they even let you graduate from the academy." After explaining that she waited for the inevitable question.

She knew the boy would ask her for advice after all she just made it clear to him that the villagers and their leaders were not to be trusted. "What do you suggest I do, Kyuubi?" The boy asked after considering his options which were none.

"For the time being, nothing." When he looked at her in shock she sighed and explained further. "Did you expect me to tell you to leave the village? How foolish do you think I am?" When a red-faced Naruto looked away from her in shame, she knew what he was thinking.

"Foolish child." She tutted. "Do you think that the village would allow their 'weapon of mass destruction' to just leave them? There will be half of the village forces after you before even get a few miles away from the gates."

"And if by some miracle you managed that feat and the word got out of you, a weapon without any protection, roaming freely in this world without any skills to back up then the whole world will be after you for the power they think that you contain. Now be gone. We will start your training tomorrow morning." With that she waved her hand and Naruto was forced out of the time-space and into his body.