I was heading straight for the target of assassination, escorted by my dad, mom, and big sis, when I noticed a red flow in the distance. I'd seen its mushroom shape a thousand times and instantly figured it was an explosion bigger than anything I'd ever seen. As soon as we approached the residential area, I saw and took my chance to escape: when I was told to observe and learn from the assassination process. While all eyes and concentration were in the victim, I bolted, using tree branches to increase my elevation so that I could get a better look at the place. I'd seen he red glow originate. To my great surprise, there were eight more near the same area. The thorns scratching my thighs and the branches cutting my cheeks suddenly seemed to stop hurting as I realized. I need to hurry. It was probably a two and a half kilometers away. A distance I could close in approximately 40 seconds. I went up to max speed, hoping that I could get there in time and stop whatever was causing it. The flying body that landed right next to me didn't help to ease my anxiety either.

ooo

It was utter carnage. Extremities, bones, and heads lay scattered and displaced around the ruins of what used to be a village. I'd long since desensitized myself to death(of everything except humans), but the utter gore of this situation caused me to vomit. After hurling for who know how the hell long, I rushed to the site of the next explosion. What awaited me was something I couldn't expect. A giant fox fighting a bunch of bloodied people who resembled the lesser ninja my dad taught me about. I know I'm not supposed to help them but dammit they're dying out there! Steeling myself, I rushed out and took a guy who was just about to eat the swipe of a claw twice his size.

"Thanks, who are you? Those clothes... You don't look like you're from here..." He asked.

"No time to explain. This looks like quite the crisis, I'm going to support the old man swinging his giant sheathe-looking thing around."

"Sorry, but kids shouldn't be involved." The nerve of this man...

"I'm not just a kid!" I flicked him lightly and he went flying 12 feet before he landed into my arms. The utter shock on his face told me that he believed me, but I still felt the need to ask.

"Do you see that I'm not going to be just a ball-and-chain?" He nodded vigorously.

"Ok, in that case, you take a rest while I introduce my fists to this animal's face." I leapt out to do exactly as I said before he got a chance to respond. As soon as I saw the elderly man swing his... thing at the fox's face, I followed up with a surprise axe kick to the feline's already reeling head. I could tell by his growl and the fact that his head moved down a little that it had some effect. Using the kicking foot, I pushed off of the angry beast before he could claw swipe me, landing right next to the old man. To say he was surprised was an understatement but the look on his face quickly went back to one of seriousness as he went back to giving orders. Knowing our enemy was about to recover, I approached him.

"Old man! Could you get him to attempt another claw swipe again? I think I could use the opening to kick out his supporting paw while he does and get him to fall down. Then, we could all mount a joint attack to his head." He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Who are you and what're you-" Seriously, these people ask too many questions.

"-Just a passerby who wants to help- it's not important. Just... Are you down with the plan?" I was really getting aggravated at how these people doubted me because. I was young. Deciding not to continue as the fox was charging up a beam of whatever it's made of, I bolted down and hit his lower jaw with a rising knee. His mouth shut and the ball exploded in his mouth. Even though it was closed, the impact from inside of his pie hole sent my skidding back a few feet. Damn, that would've been a nasty blow. I guess that convinced him as he swung his weapon yet again and got the beast to claw swipe at all of us in an upwards diagonal manner. I dodged it and kicked the weak-point where his paw and wrist connected. It howled in pain as the limb was forced to the side and it faceplanted into the ground. The old man and his comrades were probably going to need some time to prepare the finishing blow. Time that I would need to buy. Immediately after he faceplanted, I circled around his head, punching anywhere from his lower neck to his head like Pacquiao. Luckily, he kept using his front paws to try to cut me up, keeping him on the ground in the perfect position. For something a hundred times my size, it was certainly fast. I had a hard time dodging the swings and suffered a few grazes here and there. Luckily, it seemed like it had been fighting for quite some time, so it's movements began to slow after a couple minutes of frantic swinging. After poking out its eye with a well-placed elbow, I looked back to check on the progress of the final attack's preparation. The old man used sign language to tell me to take cover, so I used every bit of strength I had to push off of the ground away from the beast. With how many people he had lined up, in knew it was gonna be big. Giving him a thumbs-up from whatever broken down building I landed on, I watched the epic finisher unfold.

It was amazing.

Some people turned giant and began pummeling the fox, a huge group of ninjas sent a salvo of volley balls, another sent huge rocks hurdling towards its face, the list just keeps going on. It all went straight for the pour thing's head. I'm an extravagant explosion of fire, rock, shadows, beat downs(which I helped with), and more, the fox was seemingly out cold. We all knew that wouldn't be enough to kill it, but I could see from the smug look on the old man's face that there was some sort of plan. Man, if dad could see this.

...

Oh crap. I forgot about them. Well, I guess they've saved me the trouble of looking for them. I can see them coming full speed ahead right... now... Well shit.

"Old man! Those guys up there are from the same clan I am and have a thing against ninjas like you! Run!" He stated at me incredulously before looking to where I was pointing. He then turned back to me.

"Well, I can't leave the Kyuubi unattended, so I guess I'll have to defeat them."

"No. No, no, no, no, NO! You don't understand! The leader can take on hundreds of me without breaking a sweat!" He noticeably stiffened at that.

"He knows I've been associating with you, he'll kill, me, and then you all!" I wasn't bluffing either. The sacred law of the shinobi came above everything, including family. I've broken several laws. I've abandoned a mission, punishable by death. I've associated with lesser ninjas, punishable by death. I've also helped to preserve the life of lesser ninjas, punishable by death. I did all three in one fell swoop, punishable by two weeks of torture followed by death.

"If he finds out... They'll... They'll torture and kill me! I can't... I-I-I-I..."

"Then he won't know."

"...Huh?"

"I'll keep it a secret. Let you stay in hiding with us."

"You.. You'd do that for me?" He nodded with a silly grin typical of the elderly. Soon after that, the fox stirred.

"Better get ready." I said.

"No need to tell us." They all had the weapons holstered already. Just then, a yellow flash appeared in front of me and a tall man sporting blond spiky hair appeared, accompanied by a short woman with red-brownish hair. Ignoring my stupor, he prepared some symbol on both his hand and a baby whom I just noticed was in the girl's arms. Before he did anything else, he shared a silent ear-to-ear whispering conversation with the old man, glancing down at me a couple of times during it. He then got down on one knee and began to talk.

"I heard you helped us out quite a bit during the battle young lady. Might I ask your identity."

"Eruna Kaguro, age 4," they all fell over anime style, "member of a nameless clan of ninjas. The traditional, unchanged remnants of he original ninjas." I finished with that concise explanation, figuring he'd heard the situation from the old man. The man then stiffened his smiling expression into one of complete seriousness.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, anything for a friend of someone who's saving me from weeks of torture and death." I stated with a hint of sarcasm. But I meant it.

"Could you look after this child? His mom and I are going to be gone after tonight, and he won't have anyone to turn to. And this old geezer," the old man's vein near his temple visibly popped out, "is probably too busy to take care of him. We're going to seal the Kyuubi inside of him, which means he'll need support against the prejudice he'll be stuck with. Can you provide that for him?" I bit my lip in thought. Could I handle raising this kid? And protecting him from the future prejudices of this village? I'm too young to get a job...

"Will we be provided any finances?"

"Of course."

"I'll do it. I can handle it if money isn't a problem."

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us."

"Likewise." He had no idea.

"Anyway, I have to hide, lest we all be killed before the fox gets a chance to try again." He simply nodded and pointed to a nearby house that was still intact. Taking the baby in hand, I sprinted over to the building. Oh wait...

"What's his name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Understood, I'll take good care of him!" He smiled before nodding and changing his expression to one of overall seriousness. After hiding under the bed with the now asleep Naruto, my adrenaline wore off and a wave of two things hit me like a truck: fatigue and pain. Every tiny scratch burned as the sweat seeped into the cuts, every muscle in my body ached from wear n' tear, and I could barely keep my eyes open due to exertion. Soon, despite myself, all I could see was black...

ooo

I awakened to the sound of construction. Planks getting picked up and dropped, the streets bustling with people trying to rebuild their lost homes. I got up to see I was no longer under the bed, but in a different place entirely. White. Everything was white. A hospital room?I turned side to side to see the old man in a chair over to my left, reading a... porn magazine? The blush on his face and the eerie grin on his face confirmed my suspicions. So I gathered all the air in my lungs and...

"HENTAI! GET AWAY FROM ME!" I was wounded and vulnerable, seriously fearing for my safety. He bolted through the window at speeds I never thought were possible. My screaming was interrupted by a weak cry. Turning to the source of the noise, I noticed a whiskered infant sobbing his heart out. Feeling sorry for disturbing him, I scooped the little guy off of the side of my bed and cuddled him until he drifted back to sleep.

"Good morning, Naruto."