This is AU, and this is also a prologue. Naruto currently was born three years before than he actually was in canon. There was a war between Konoha and Kumo from when he was 7-10. Nobody knows what happened to the 9 tails, most assume that the Yondaime took the Nine tails down with him. And enjoy!
9 years before Chapter One:
The thing is when they tried to kidnap the Hyuuga girl, Naruto was eating ramen.
He had just finished a mission, forced himself to shower and now he was hungry. So naturally to celebrate the end of the mission he took himself out for ramen. Everybody else on his team was probably already in bed, but he just went out for ramen anyways. Even though his muscles screamed on the way, he went for ramen.
It was a ritual he did every time he got back from a long mission. Even though it was a fairly straightforward C-rank, and somehow it managed to turn into a exhausting C-rank that required back-up, he went out for ramen.
As he chewed the lovely noodles, he absently noticed his scars on his wrists. Naruto pulled the sleeves of his jacket over them so he wouldn't see them. Then he went back to chewing and slurping his meal.
The emergency call for arms about a week later had him waking up, trying to dress in his clothes and eat breakfast at the same time. Naruto was only genin, but he was summoned, probably because he worked in the medic department sometimes. When you worked in the medic department, they usually ended up passing you through teams, whenever an empty spot was available so that the team would at least have a medic.
Naruto waited for his orders. Even though he was only 7 and looked like he was 5 or 6, he knew what to do. He was a shinobi. What to do had been drilled repeatedly into his head over the short period of time he became one.
There was shouting as he went into the blank bare room waiting for his orders. Arguing, gambling, debating. It was a noisy slightly crowded room that he was uncomfortable in. He didn't see anyone he was particularly friendly with, just a few he knew.
Whispers. Everyone was talking about the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga girl. Apparently the heiress was three years younger than him and quiet. The type of girl who should've been born to a civilian family.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
He got up and went to receive his orders, noticing that he was the only one called. Strange, but maybe not too strange, after all he was only a genin.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
The Sandaime Hokage had seen many things in his life. And the boy standing in front of him wouldn't be exceptional in anyway on the outside to a total complete stranger, except for his age and the blank look on his face as if confused.
Uzumaki Naruto was exceptional in many ways. He was 7 and yet a genin, his kekkai genkai was as powerful as his mother's was before she died.
And now he was standing in front of the Sandaime waiting for his orders. The Sandaime could see the resemblance to another young blond shinobi with spiky hair. He shook his head and returned to giving the genin his order
Blood. .
It was dripping down his hands. Wait, was he breathing. Oh, now he was. The kunai in his hand was broken and unusable but he put it into one of his pockets anyways.
"Don't 't leave. Don't leave me!Please!"
Tears dripped down his cheeks. He rubbed them away. He forced his chakra into her wounds.
"Damn it."
He was swearing. Things that his sensei would have disapproved of. He didn't care. Naruto needed her to live.
"Heal! Come on heal!"
He was yelling at the wound now. It wouldn't do anything but give him a sore throat but he did it anyways.
"Naruto...don't waste your...chakra." She managed to rasp.
Naruto ignored what she said and continued trying to heal her.
It was raining. He placed the flowers down at the tomb. It was a thing that he did quite often.
No matter what, rain or shine he took her favourite flowers to her tomb.
And he could imagine her smiling.
Without blood.
Without scars or wounds.
Surrounded by a halo of light.
Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.
He was hacking blood. Itachi certainly had good aim.
He pressed the light seal on his wrist and waited for the darkness. It wasn't the end. Naruto knew that. But it was a just a break from consciousness.
Screaming was coming from the rest of the houses, but he blackness had already claimed him.
7 years before Chapter 1:
His mindscape was covered in mirrors and glass. Except for the occasional blooming cherry blossom tree.
He didn't like to look at himself in the mirrors.
Why should he?
Pain.
Light?
Wait...light?
Light, blinding white light shone into his eyes. Naruto could feel himself open his eyes. He knew this sensation, the feeling of being knocked out.
"How long was I out." He asked when he finally managed to speak.
The medic-nin attending to him glanced at each other, warily and unsure of how to tell
him.
"How should I put this? You were in a coma for a year..."Began the first medic nin.
"So..." He murmured to that, the implications of the fact clear in his head.
"The thing is, you haven't changed. By changed I mean aged. You are still the same age you were when you went into the coma."
Naruto eyes were wide with what the medic nin had said.
"I'm sorry."
To a passer-by, it would've looked very stupid. A young boy apologizing to a tombstone underneath a rain of cherry blossom petals.
It made perfect sense to Naruto and the girl who was buried six feet under.
And they were fine with that.
"Live. Please, live." He whispered.
Naruto's wish was granted.
His sensei lived.
In the hospital.
In a coma.
"In the end, we're just tools to be used." He muttered to the air
6 years before Chapter One:
The Raiton jutsu hurt like hell.
Naruto was lucky to be alive, he thought he was a goner for a second. His teammate was panicking because he was having problems with breathing. Naruto already knew he was healing. He could feel it.
"Sorry..." He told his teammate.
His teammate looked at him oddly, "What do you mean?"
"For being such a bother."
"You're not a bother Naruto, besides sensei told me to look after you, we're the last remains of our original genin team."
Naruto realised that was true. She and sensei were gone. Naruto and his teammates were all alone in the big dark world.
Naruto wanted to cry but he didn't. He was a shinobi now and shinobi couldn't cry.
No matter what.
Panting he stopped and checked his shoulder strap. The stolen scroll was still there. Good. The had it, and the mission from hell was almost done.
"Shiro where are..." and then saw the corpse with three kunais beside him. It wasn't the smell or the sight of it that sickened him, but himself. Uzumaki Naruto had become so used to corpses that they didn't sicken him anymore.
What have I become?
"
Hi! My name is Akahana Yuki! I'm your new teammate!" The smiling girl in front of him reminded him of her. She was happy, optimistic.
A new sun entered Uzumaki Naruto's life that day.
5 years before Chapter One:
"Eat Naruto! Eat! Come on, just eat it already!"
He raised an eyebrow at her, "Why should I?" Naruto asked.
"Because."
"Why?"
"Just because."
And he laughed, and she laughed too. The rest of their team was already laughing.
"We are here today for the funeral of..."
Naruto's hair was dripping, full of rain. In the end he couldn't save him. He was useless.
Shinobi didn't cry. It was only the rain dripping down his face.
Just the rain.
Not tears.
Not tears.
Denial isn't a river in Egypt.
4 years before Chapter One:
His hair was an interesting thing.
When he was younger, it had been full of life. As more and more of his friends got injured and died, it started to slightly droop. It began to die and lose its happiness.
Now it didn't have a spark of life anymore.
Not anymore.
He still smiled. But he realised one day it was becoming fake.
"No...not again!"
"Naruto...just do it."
"But..."
"Please."
"Alright."
He activated the seal, it was burning, burning...
Itachi had betrayed him again.
He guessed that this time, it wouldn't be like before.
He didn't care so much anymore.
3 years before Chapter One:
The room was empty except for a bed, some machines and a boy who was 12 looking like he was asleep on the bed.
The boy was in a coma.
That was obvious.
He hadn't aged.
Not since he went into it.
2 years before Chapter One:
Nothing had changed.
Nothing.
Nobody except for a few people visited the boy because most of the boy's precious people were dead or unable to.
1 year before Chapter One:
Naruto Uzumaki had woken up. He didn't remember much of his life. He remembered jutsu, skills and various bits of useless ancient history. But his past he didn't remember.
Apparently he had a kekkai genkai but he didn't remember how to use it.
So they sent him off to the Academy.
Uzumaki Naruto found the Academy boring but he didn't want to stand out. Standing out was a thing he didn't want to do. He knew that. It was something he faintly remembered.
So he stayed invisible.
Note July 30, 2012: I didn't like having my prologues like they were before, so i ended up changing this. Sorry.
Jan 20, 2013: Shit, just discovered instead of 9, I put 6 at the top. Sorry for confusing people...heh, heh...*sweatdrop* Slightly edited format too