HELLO NARUTO

A/N: I do not own Naruto or the song Hello by Evanescence. This is the lyric free version. For the version with the lyrics, please see my Deviantart account. IMPORTANT: This story takes place before Naruto met Iruka.

A bell rang out, signaling the children of the Konohagakure Shinobi Daycare that it was now time for recess; time to go outside and play. Laughing, the young children, ranging from ages two and a half to five raced out the back door into the playground, each child heading toward their favorite piece of play equipment. Within a minute, all the children were laughing and shrieking as they played together. All but one child.

Three year old Naruto Uzumaki was alone, tucked away in a shadowed corner as far away from the other kids as he could get. He sat against the daycare's wooden fence, tracing circle-like designs in the dirt with his finger. It may have been a bright sunny morning, but for Naruto, the day was as gloomy and depressing as any rainy day.

It wasn't that Naruto didn't want to play with the other kids, he really did, he just wasn't allowed to. Every time he tried to the teachers would rush over and yell at him before pulling him away. So he would spend every recess alone in his corner. At least then none of the adults yelled at him.

Inside time was worse though; he couldn't escape from the hateful glares of the teachers and the frightened stares of the other children. At snack time he was always left out – either they'd run out of snacks right before they finished handing them out (Naruto was always the last one served) or they'd 'accidentally' drop his on the floor (which of course meant it would have to be thrown away because germs got on it. But unlike when the other children dropped their snacks, Naruto was never given a replacement). At least he wasn't mistreated during recess; he was simply ignored.

Day in and day out Kurama, the Kyuubi, watched as his little host passed his recesses away in silence and solitude. He had long ago decided he would never willingly make contact with the human brat, least he become (Heaven forbid) attached to the detestable kit, but after watching the poor kid suffer day after day Kurama began to feel pity for him. And it was this pity which led to Kurama's next action. Taking a deep breath, the fox closed his eyes and reached out to the toddler's mind. "Hello Naruto."

Naruto jumped, startled, before twisting his head from side to side, trying to find the owner of the voice he just heard. "H-hello?" he asked in a shaky voice, "W-who's t-t-there?" Kurama allowed his face to morph into a gentle smile, even though he knew Naruto wasn't able to see it. "My name is Kurama. And you need not be afraid of me little kit, I will not harm you." "Oh." said Naruto as he visibly calmed down a little. He continued, however, to turn his head this way and that in an attempt to locate Kurama. "Where are you?"

Kurama let out a small chuckle, "You can't see me Naruto." "Why not?" asked the blonde toddler as his face fell into an adorable pout. "Because..." Kurama paused briefly as he thought of a way to explain to the young child why he could not see the Kyuubi without revealing the truth to him. "Because," the fox finally said, "I am in your head." "My head?" Naruto wondered, before reaching out to grasp his head gently with his small hands. "Well can't you come out?" "No kit, I cannot."

"Does that mean your imagi-, imaga-, ima-" "Imaginary?" "Yah, that." Kurama smiled to himself at Naruto's stumbling over the word as well as the kit's question. "No little Naruto, I am not imaginary. I'm as real as you and your classmates." "But!" Naruto jumped up unexpectedly, his hands once again clutching his head, albeit tighter than before. "Does that mean I'm insane?!" Naruto started panicking, his breathing quickened and his eyes grew wide. "What?! No you're not insane kit!" Kurama was startled by his young host's sudden outburst. "Plenty of humans have beings like me in their heads!" the fox stated, referring to, of course, the Jinchuriki that existed.

"B-but," Naruto sniffled, starting to tear up, "I once heard one of the big kids say that his uncle heard voices in his head and that his uncle said the voices were real and the big kid said that's why his uncle was insane and had to be locked up!" Mentally Kurama sighed. He remembered the incident Naruto was referring to; the 'big kid' was only seven years old. Doing his best to remain calm (his host was a child after all), the nine-tailed fox responded to his near hysteric host's statement, "Kit, this may come as a shock, but just because someone's older than you doesn't mean they're smarter than you; That big kid didn't know what he was talking about." "A-are you s-s-sure?" Naruto tearfully asked, sniffling a little. "Positive." "Oh." Naruto slowly let his arms fall back down to his sides before smiling brightly "So I'm not insane? I don't have to go to that special hospital where they lock you up all alone in a windowless room like the big kid's uncle had to?" "No kit," Kurama chuckled, "You're not and you don't."

"Yay!" Naruto pumped his little fist in the air in celebration, much to Kurama's amusement. The kitsune waited for the young Jinchuriki to calm down. He was surprised however, when Naruto suddenly became unusually quiet and still. Looking down, Naruto's mouth formed a small, sad smile. "This is a nice dream," the little boy quietly uttered, "I'll be really sad when I wake up." Kurama was slightly shocked by his host's statement. "Kit," he softly asked, "what makes you think this is a dream?" "You're being nice to me."

The Kyuubi felt a stab of pity shoot through his heart. "Are you saying no one in the waking world is kind to you?" "Waking?" Naruto's nose scrunched up in confusion. "It means the real world, the one you're in when you're not sleeping." Kurama clarified for his young host. "Oh. Well, the Hokage is nice to me, but so what? He's the Hokage," the blonde emphasized, "he's nice to everyone. He has to be, it's his job." Kurama allowed himself a moment to savor the child's simplistic view of life before asking "And is he the only one?" Naruto placed his hand on his chin and spent a few seconds in deep thought. "No…the old man who runs the ramen stand is kind to me. So's his daughter, the pretty older girl with the brown hair. Sometimes," Naruto looked around franticly to make sure no one was listening to their conversation before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Sometimes they let me have a bowl of ramen for free!" "Is that so?" the Kyuubi asked smiling. "Yah!" Naruto nodded happily, smiling, before his face fell back into its usual sad look. "But, I'm not allowed to hang around there too much; The old man says it's bad for bus-, bis-, busi-" "Business?" Kurama volunteered. "Uh huh. And the pretty older girl can't play with me 'cause her friends said they won't be her friends no more if she does."

"But they're still nice to you, even when you're awake, right kit?" "Yeah, I guess so." Naruto said with a shrug, "So what?" "Well," began the nine-tailed kitsune, the infamous sly smile of his species forming on his lips, "That proves people CAN be nice to you outside of your dreams." Kurama paused for a moment to allow what he just said to sink in. "So kit, are you still convinced you're dreaming right now?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "So I'm not dreaming? You're really here, talking to me, caring about me?" the little blonde child said in whispered awe. "Yes Naruto, I'm really here. And I'll always be here." "You promise?" Naruto asked in a soft dare-I-even-maybe-actually-hope voice. "Yes kit," Kurama answered, "I promise."

For the rest of the year, Naruto spent his recesses quietly talking to Kurama. The fox taught him many things, like how to smile when the villagers looked at him with hate and how to ignore and disregard the hateful things that were said to him daily.

By the end of the year, it had become second nature for Naruto to automatically put on the false persona of a smiling, positive, idiot prankster the minute he stepped out of the safe place that was the four walls of his tiny apartment.

By the end of the year, Kurama stopped talking to Naruto. But that was okay, Naruto didn't need him anymore. The young blonde no longer spent his recesses tucked away in a corner of the playground.

It wasn't until a few years later, after Naruto's disastrous attempt to keep Sasuke from leaving the village, that Kurama once again reached out to his host. It was the first night Naruto would be spending in his own bed, instead of a hospital one, since the fight. It was also his last night in the village before he left to train with his godfather.

It was late, sometime after eleven. Naruto was sitting by his window, silently looking up at the vast multitude of stars, lost within his sadness and his own depressing thoughts. It was then that Kurama took a deep breath, and tenderly reached out to the lonely boy's mind, just like he did all those years ago. "Hello Naruto."

And Naruto, upon hearing the kind, concerned voice in his head, the same voice he heard back when he was all alone in a playground full of children all those years ago….smiled.

Ending A/N: Naruto doesn't remember talking with Kurama when he was little until the end of the fic when Kurama once again reaches out to him. This is because Naruto was so young the first time they talked to each other.