This is my first attempt at a fan fiction, so please try to take it easy

"Speaking"

"Jutsu"

"Thinking"

"Kyuubi speaking"

"Kyuubi thinking"


Stones were flying through the air, pelting the form of a small blond boy who was running as fast as his little five-year old legs could carry him. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he ran, hurt thoughts whirling around his mind. "Why? Why are they doing this to me?? What did I do!?"

"Kill! Kill the demon! The time to avenge our village and our Yondaime-Hokage is now!!" This was voiced by several people in the mob chasing the innocent child. The crown started shouting in unison with the war cry.

"Kill it!"

"Beat it!"

"Leave it in the forest to die!!"

The young child tripped, his body flying forward before landing with a terrible thud. The mob was on him like wolves to the slaughter. The screams of young Naruto were barely audible as he was buried within the writhing mass of people. He was beaten, his bones broken, his nose bloodied. Yet as the crowd was upon him, Naruto was growing quieter. To him, the pain was dulling down, the scene being pulled away. His eyes drooped down. "What's going on? I am so sleepy…am I dying…?" The child closed his eyes, succumbing to the fog that brought easy, painless sleep.

"Kukukuku….here so early? What a pleasant surprise…"

Naruto's eyes snapped open upon hearing the voice. It was terrifying, yet…strangely, Naruto wanted to go to it and let it wrap around him like a blanket. He got up slowly, wondering where all the people had gone. "They don't normally leave so early…where am I?" He was standing in what appeared to be some sort of underground pipeline, like a sewer. There was a shallow amount of water everywhere, and his tatty clothing was soaked where he had been laying down. There was a huge gate, seeming to Naruto to be as big as the village gates. From those gates came the alluring voice. He walked forward slowly, wondering what was on the other side. "Is it one of the village people…? Why is he locked up?"

From the shadows of the gate stepped a fox, about the size of a Great Dane. It's fur was reddish-orange, save for the patches of black it had around it's blood red eyes. Nine Magnificent tails flowed through the air behind it, giving the appearance of long, flowing robes.

"Greetings, kit. I am Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-tailed Fox, ruler of demons and the greatest of the Bijuu."

Naruto could do nothing but stare at the large fox. Finally he managed to find his voice. "I-I am U-uzumaki—"

The fox waved away the stammered introduction. "I know who you are, kit. But it would seem that you do not know who you are."

Naruto looked at the fox, confusion in his eyes. The fox continued, sitting as close to the gate as possible. "I have to make this convincing if I ever want the brat to remove this seal…" The fox gave the child one of his kindest looks, trying to hide the cunning behind his eyes. "You are not Uzumaki Naruto. You are Namikaze Naruto, the first born son of the late Yondaime Hokage, who is the one who sealed me in you."

Naruto did not really understand all of this. "You mean…my dad was—"

"Yes. And I, regrettably, am the reason the villagers were beating you in the physical world."

Naruto pondered this for a moment. His mind was full of questions. "Kyuubi…? Where are we?"

Kyuubi bided his time, deciding to answer these useless questions. "We are in you mindscape, a mental area created by the site of sealing to hold whatever was sealed."

Naruto looked down. "You are why everyone is so mean to me…? Why? What did you do!?"

"I attacked the village. I tried to destroy it" Replied Kyuubi simply. He was trying to think of a good way to lie of his true reason for attacking. "The village…killed my mate. I was devastated. I did the only thing I could think of doing - get revenge."

Naruto glared at the floor of the mindscape. "He is why I am treated like dirt, and he was only trying to save his family. The villagers are…so mean!" He looked back at the fox, who had grown to his full size now that he had seen that the boy would not be scared by it.

"I am sorry, kit. If I were not here, your life would be so much easier." Kyuubi maneuvered one of his tails through the bars of the gate, wrapping it around Naruto in a makeshift hug. "If you want, you can get rid of me and stop the villagers from ever hurting you again."

Naruto looked up, sadness brimming in his eyes. "You want to leave…? But…you're the first person who's ever been nice to me…you're my first friend…I-I don't want you to go!"

Kyuubi was taken aback, first by being called a person and the second by having the mortal call him a friend. Quickly he tried to regain his composure. "I promise, kit, that if you let me go I will visit you every so often. I might even treat you to lunch!"

Naruto looked happier after hearing that Kyuubi would visit, and started walking forward to remove the seal. His hand stopped in midair, hovering uncertainly.

"What is the matter, kit? I said that I would visit! Let me out!"

Naruto looked up. "You promise??"

"I promise…" Kyuubi's watchful eyes flickered toward the seal that the young boy's hand was moving towards, a malicious grin plastered on his face.


At that moment Naruto was torn out of the mindscape with a horrific burst of pain as he was picked up and thrown over a Jounin's shoulder. Naruto howled bloody murder, his face contorted with pain. The dull-eyed ANBU winced, he was only saving the demon on the Hokage's order, and now he had to listen to it screeching in his ear?? They arrived at the hospital a few moments later, being only a few blocks away from the site of the beating. The Sandaime Hokage himself was waiting outside the hospital, to make sure that none of the surgeons refused to treat the small boy. Even with the Hokage's presence, it was with much reluctance that the doctors got to treating the boy. Only one doctor went without grumbling, and it was with much shock that she greeted the young boy. There was not a spot on his small body that wasn't bruised, bleeding, or broken, and under the fresh wounds were terrible scars from past beatings. She looked at the Hokage, tears brimming in her eyes. "Who did this??"

"Various village people, who are currently being investigated by Ibiki, Anko, and Inoichi." The Hokage sighed wearily.

"How long has this been going on?"

"A rather long time, I'm afraid. Judging by those scars, I'd say he's had beatings before, but none as severe as this. I believe they really were trying to kill him this time around. I just wish I had found out about this sooner…"


Meanwhile Naruto had been put under sedative, being drawn into his mindscape once more. He had decided to talk to the Kyuubi some more, who, eager for his freedom, answered all of the boy's questions truthfully and pretended to be interested in what the child was saying. After all, it's not like the boy would survive after Kyuubi got out!

"Why do people call me Uzumaki if my real name is Namikaze?"

"It was done for your own protection. If people knew you were the Hokage's son, who knows what vile, filthy thing they would do to you!"

"So I guess…I can't tell anybody about my name?"

"No, kit, you cannot. It would just make life harder for you."

"Kyuubi?"

"Mmm?"

"Can you stay a little while after you get out of the gate?"

"I suppose it can't do any harm…" Kyuubi was getting frustrated. The boy's physical body was going to die soon. The beating was too severe. The mindscape was slowly flooding as the young boy's struggles for life grew weaker. "But right now, I must focus on healing your body. You are too hurt for me to leave just yet. At the same time, you must leave the mindscape now so that I may work in peace."


In the physical world, the doctors were in shock as the boy's injuries began to heal and the bleeding stopped. The surgery was aborted for fear of the boy's skin and muscle tissue healing around their surgical tools. He was immediately removed to the recovery ward, where he was left alone to heal on his own. Meanwhile the Hokage pondered what was going on. "It must be the fox. He's healing the boy's injuries because he knows that if the boy dies, he does too."

Meanwhile the boy slept, and in his sleep he dreamed that he was the best ninja in the world, and everyone honored his power, with not a single thought to the fact that he once had a demon inside him.


Author's Note: Well that's it for now. Please review and tell me if you like what you see. I'll try to submit chapter two soon.