He had been acting different lately. Their was no mistaking it. He had noticed this pattern in the young boy's behavior, but he had faith in the boy that he would perservere through all challenges and rise with the Will of Fire. But he was wrong... 'Could this be Kyuubi's doing?' He doubted it, secret check-ups on the seal had been done, not too regularly as to avoid suspicion from the boy, but frequently enough that the seal wouldn't just malfunction without anyone knowing. But, he couldn't rule out any possibilities after this.

What were the signs that led up to this? The boy had been much less enthusiastic compared to a few years ago, less smiles, no pranks and he heard the boy had even snapped at 2 gossiping ladies on the street that usually badmouth him. Maybe too much was entrusted to the boy upon his birth... It was obviously wishful thinking on his and Jiraiya's part that the boy would grow to be a great shinobi that would bear the Will of Fire, while they handled Konoha's everlong rebuilding proccess due to the Kyuubi attack. Not to mention he was the one with the Kyuubi sealed within him.

Sarutobi felt old. Old and stupid. But now was not the time to be weak, he thought as he stood over the 3 dead chuunin puffing tobacco from his pipe. He recognized one as one of Asuma's good friends from the Academy, and sighed. The bodies were a few days old, all died from blunt force trauma and broken bones, he knew his son would never forgive the boy despite the fact that it may not have been the boy's fault. It was sad, Asuma could've very well been his Sensei one day.

Sarutobi's mind began to focus on more important things like the headstart the skillful prankster already had, and what to do about repercussions. They would have to be severe... And the unknown power level an enraged Jinchuuriki of the most powerful bijuu could posess was worrisome. The old leader began pondering which Hunter-nin squad he should send to recover Konoha's weapon, when an old, faint yet authoritative voice called out to him.

"Hiruzen..." Said a man of about the same age as Sarutobi who almost seemed as if he had just materialized in the spot where he stood in the small moonlit courtyard. The area wasn't to far away from the Shinobi Academy and was surrounded by trees and shrubbery held back by a tall wooden fence with a pathway leading to a shop and the business hub of Konoha. He wore similar robes to Sarutobi, and his head was almost fully bandaged except for his left eye and a portion of his steely, almost perpetually grim face.

"You know this could've been avoided-"

"I am aware. I really have nothing to say right now on the matter..." Sarutobi still had yet to even turn around to greet this man who had arrived at the scene of the chuunin's deaths. The other apparent village elder, with his arms crossed behind his back, sighed and closed his eyes and prepared to speak again.

"I know you are feeling despair, more than you have felt in sometime my old friend. But at this state in time it is more important than ever that your mind is clear and you do what you can to rectify the decisions of your past..." The man reopened his eye to the crack it usually was, wrinkles coiling back into place. He turned that same sharp eye on the village leader's back.

"When we have retrieved him, will you entrust Naruto to my corps?"

"..."

Sarutobi puffed on his pipe slowly, regretfully, mulling the request over in his mind. He exhaled smoke loudly, finally turning to face his colleague and old friend, resting a calculating eye of his own on the man.

"If we retrieve him, I fear I will have no choice Danzo."

XxX

A 9 year old boy awoke surrounded on all sides by a dreary looking forest with mist permeating the air, and rain falling in a light downpour. His orange tee was bloodied and torn and the same could be said for his capri-like, navy blue slacks and his Shinobi trainee sandals were extremely worn. There was dried blood that was moistening in the rain going down his left arm, but from the way he lifted it to wipe the tiredness out of his eye, you could tell whatever wound was there did not bother him in the slightest. He slowly lifted himself off of the muddy ground and began to survey his surroundings.

"How did I get here?" He whispered, he couldn't remember much about the journey or why he even took it. It was all just a red haze... kind of. Some things were popping up in his head, like the fact that he had been running... for 3 days. In the beginning it felt incredible, to go so fast for so long, he didn't know why or how but his chakra was literally on fire and he could run endlessly. But after awhile his body grew extremely sore, but he couldn't stop? For some reason he felt he just had to keep running. 'Why was I running? Because I could? That's dumb, I don't even remember! Konoha must be really far from here too! And why is there all this... blood... on me?'

His internal tirade came to an abrupt end when he noticed the peculiarity on his person. He finally noticed that his shirt was hanging about him limply, after a moment of bewilderment he took it off to examine it closer. 'What the!? It looks like I was slashed! But I don't feel hurt,' He threw the shirt into a bush nonchalantly, then checked behind him on his shoulder and back. 'And there's not even a mark! What the heck is going on!' He punched a nearby tree in his quick moment of rage. He didn't notice the web of cracks left in the tree bark as he went back into his thoughts.

'It was probably those stupid villagers! They finally got the nerve to attack me... Why!? Why me, I was going to start focusing this year in class! I stopped pulling pranks! Why!? Why!?' He took another infuriated swing at the tree.

"Why!" The young boy shouted.

The tree slowly toppled over, creating a loud cacophony of rustling leaves and cracking branches and twigs, the tree had caught in another nearby tree's branches so there wasn't a loud crash. Naruto was extremely astonished, the tree wasn't as tall or nearly as thick as the ones in Konoha but it was a decent sized tree in Naruto's opinion. It was also his opinion, that he shouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to break a tree with a punch, just what the heck happened in Konoha three days ago? But this didn't stop his anger, it just made him want to break more trees.

"Hey! That shit came from over here!"

He wasn't startled by the voices. It was just now that Naruto noticed the smell of a burning fire and burnt meat and he heard loud footsteps running toward him. A few moments later, two men came running through the thick bushes dressed in farmers clothing that looked appropriate for the weather and terrain. One of them appeared to have some makeshift battle-armor on and was weilding a decently conditioned and sized Zanbatou with no hilt or sheathe, while the other had a dented katana in his sash that was also sheatheless. They stopped a few meters away from him, there was a few trees and plenty of bushes and mud seperating them.

'Nice... sword.' Naruto slowly thought, as he stared at it. He narrowed his eyes at the other farmer with the rusty sword who began to speak.

"What the? A little shit like you did this!? My ass! Where are the demons brat!?" Naruto looked directly into the man's eyes, and could see how paranoid and frightened he really was... He could almost smell the fear on him... Which was strange, because with the way the rain was picking up his nose shouldn't have been able to catch any scent, let alone something as obscure as the smell of fear. But young Naruto noticed none of this in his hyper-sensitive state.

The frantic farmer drew his katana and pointed at Naruto.

"As a matter of fact, I don't like the way this punk looks at me with those red eyes! Are you one of those Bloodline fucks!? Huh!" His question went unanswered. Naruto stopped looking at him and directed his gaze back at the Zanbatou thinking about how cool it would be to have one. The man who spoke was unnerved by the boy's actions and it showed on his face, but the other man's facial expression was concealed by the crudely modified samurai's helmet he wore.

'I like that sword.'

"Then take it."

Naruto was surprised by the response to his thought from an unknown source. So surprised was he, that he didn't even realize he had spoke his mind, literally. The farmer holding the aforementioned sword waved it in the air slightly while tilting his head at the boy.

"Oh, this old thing. Yeah it's well kept... Depending how you answer my friends question... I'll let you see how it feels."

Naruto could hear the cruel tone of his voice through the increasing downpour of rain falling. Something within him at that moment snapped, for some reason... In this strange situation... In this remote location... With this hot, primal feeling in his gut to fight that was oddly familiar.

"...I was supposed to learn about bloodlines this week." Naruto spoke with a faraway look in his red, slit eyes. The man glared at him through his helm with an unreadable look.

"I..." It looked like he readied himself, as he clutched the zanbatou with both hands.

"Don't like that answer... HAAAAH!" The crudely armored man charged, followed by his cohort, who also added to the battle cry, in an all out assault of death and murder. All directed at a young boy who they suspected of having a bloodline. If there was one thing Naruto learned that day, it was that this world was cruel.

It was mid-charge, that these men realized they had made a grave mistake in starting this altercation. The boy's brow furrowed furiosly, and his eyes widened dangerously, seemingly glowing red through the rain. His knees bent tensely and his mouth closed tightly as he glared at his attackers. None of this could have been seen by the men's untrained eyes through the rain and mist, it was not this that made them realize their mistake.

It was when the boy charged directly at them and covered twice as much distance as they had in the same time that they realized it. He met the man in the armor first, he showed no caution whatsoever for the large blade the man wielded, completely disregarding defense. Somehow instinctively he knew it was too big for the poorly skilled man to hit him fatally, any other wounds he knew he could handle... He didn't know how he knew and he didn't much care at the moment, he just wanted to fight. Naruto jumped up at the taller opponent, aiming a strike with all his might at the man's chest.

Just like his instincts told him, his fist reached the man's chestplate many seconds before he could get his overhead slash over his head. The results were devastating. The mans entire chestplate was dented badly at the point of impact, which didn't tell a good story about the internal damage the man suffered from the single blow. The zanbatou fell to the ground as the man soared for a few meters until he came to a violent collision with a tree. He coughed up blood and groaned for a moment before going completely still in the rain.

Naruto bent down and picked up the zanbatou with one hand easily, it was suitable for the man but was way taller than Naruto himself, almost six feet. Yet he didn't struggle holding it at all, he would need to test it out soon to see how it cut. He turned towards the more vocal of the two men, who was frightened considerably, looking back and forth from his dead partner and the boy who effortlessly killed him. Naruto smiled, and rested the zanbatou on his shoulder as he stalked towards the armed, yet helpless man. The man's eyes widened, and he began to shiver uncontrollably as he backed away from the boy. Naruto's smile turned into a full blown grin, unknowingly showing his canines, as he noticed every detail. The man pointed a shaky katana at Naruto, holding it with both hands.

"STAY BACK! You killed him, YOU KILLED GON! YOU FUCKING DEMON!"

Naruto completely stopped in his advance, eyes widening considerably almost glazing over, he nearly lost grip of his new weapon. He now remembered why he ran from Konoha...

He couldn't really breathe, the wind had been knocked out of him. He was on the ground clutching his stomach from whatever blow had just hit him. He remembered walking to the ramen shop after class, then just when he had entered the shop he kind of just appeared in this courtyard... Like his entire walk had been an illusion or his imagination or something... And then he was struck swiftly and brutally in the stomach, he couldn't even tell if it was a punch or a kick.

He looked up to catch a glance at his attacker, to find it was a single ninja dressed in the full uniform of the higher-ups. He had a tan sash around his waist with some kanji on it, but that was the only real detail he could make out about him. He was in too much pain... That was until he noticed the man pull out a shiny looking Kunai, that definitely wasn't blunted, that got his attention. Naruto had never been attacked within the village, atleast physically, so he panicked. Shivering uncontrollably, he slowly backed away from the shinobi. Seeing him take a purposefully slow step forward he turned frantically despite the pain in his stomach. He saw the exit to the courtyard that was darkening as dusk settled in. He made a mad break for it...

He didn't even make it a full step before he felt a terribly sharp pain bite into the left side of his back, and he fell flat on his face, blood streaming from his wound. He felt agony and hopelessness, as he lay there waiting for the finishing blow. He looked up one last time at the exit to see what could have been had he been faster. His eyes widened, there were two shinobi there dressed in a similar uniform to his attacker minus the sash standing at the exit to the courtyard with their backs turned to them. Naruto didn't even feel an ounce of hope, they certainly weren't there to help him or the other ninja, they were probably just on lookout for attacker.

It made him mad, so mad, that he was helpless and so weak to these people. Why did they have to pick on him, his classmates, the villagers, and now even the ninja are hostile to him. He couldn't take it anymore, fuck everything.

And at that moment something within the boy awoke, something terrible. Why? Because he needed it too. Put in this miserable situation... Inside of his own village... With this new, primal feeling in his gut to fight... He would fight with everything!

He turned his body slowly, feeling less and less in pain. Finally he turned upward to stare his attacker directly in his eye. He saw him standing over him looking somewhat hesitant and undecided about what to do, but then the ninja's eyes widened with fear and his entire frame seized up for an unknown reason. Naruto had no way of knowing that his eyes had changed into that of the very eyes that haunted this mans dreams for many years prior to this. The ninja's features quickly became extremely hateful and his hesitation was nonexistent. Naruto decided now he would ask his question.

"Why? I haven't done anything."

"Haven't done anything? You killed her... YOU KILLED MY SETSU-CHAN! YOU FUCKING DEMON!"

"GRAAAGHH" The farmer was in range with his katana taking an emotion filled swing at his face. Naruto didn't even have time to feel surpised or scared, he could only raise his hand up infront of his face out of instinct...

And the farmer's sword broke over his arm, much to the surprise of the enraged farmer. Even Naruto was surprised at the outcome of the man's attack, but he made a much more important realization then...

He had killed those shinobi, he didn't know how or where he got the strength needed... But it made him feel good. He was strong, certainly much stronger than this man. And Naruto realized another thing... Better yet he decided it. If this world was cruel, then he would be crueler.

He grinned savagely at the man who began quivering, Naruto gripped the zanbatou in his right hand and with a nonchalant swing... He severed the man's torso from his lower half cleanly. It was a testament to how much power this young boy had to cut cleanly through a man with a single arm. The farmer's face was locked in a silent scream as blood began spurting from both halves of the him, but soon his face became expressionless. Naruto turned away from the scene not wishing to gather all the details of the mess.

He would certainly need to get used to the messes he would leave with this weapon if he continued getting into altercations. He began to walk away from the corpse, weaving through the trees and bushes in his way. The farmer he took the zanbatou from didn't have a holster for the blade, so he had to rest the cold blade on his bare shoulders since he had ditched his ripped shirt. As he walked through the light mist and cold rain he began thinking to himself, allowing the rain to cleanse him of the old and dry blood on his person.

Naruto wouldn't go back to Konoha, he knew he couldn't atleast not until he was strong enough that they would hear his side of the story. And they could believe him... Or not. For now he would find himself in these lands. He would make his own path here, wherever it was, and carve it all the way back to Konoha.

Walking he came upon the farmer he killed first, minus the dent in his chestplate he almost looked like he was resting peacefully in the rain. His helmet wasn't on him any more, and his features were as rough as the sword and makeshift armor he owned. With black, matted hair and a bent-looking nose and a scar coming from his scalp down to his chin on the left side of his face, he certainly looked the part of a farmer turned... whatever. Naruto couldn't exactly place what the men were, and he didn't much care anymore and he continued walking.

But before he was all the way past the man, he lifted the zanbatou from his shoulders and with both hands... He cleaved the armored man and tree in one powerful swing. And then he continued walking into the forest, not even stopping to watch as the tree toppled over onto the man's halves, to messy.

The shirtless 9 year old Naruto advanced into the mist with no regrets and only a Zanbatou at his side and his chakra that he himself didn't even completely understand yet.

AN: Any questions about the story just ask them in the reviews and I'll try and answer them in the reviews.

Casualties of Naruto this Chapter: 3 Chuunin, 2 Farmers, 2 trees, and one Aburame beetle you probably didn't see