Of Bonds Forged in Feelings
Konohagakure. The first ninja village, as well as the most powerful and respected one of the five great villages. It was thought to be the jewel of shinobi and citizens alike. A place where both could live free of judgment and live their lives how they saw fit. A place anyone could call home. Anyone except Naruto, that is. Naruto had a terrible secret about him, for inside this innocent child, a beast of death and rage resided: The Kyuubi. The boy had lived in the village his whole life, but he was never loved or cared for by anyone all because of his circumstances of his birth. Nearly everyone hated the boy from the richest down to the poorest. Nearly everyone except the Hokage.
Through the boy's first years of life, he was cared for by him. When he was five, the Hokage even presented him with his own apartment. But as the boy grew, so did the villager's animosity towards him. And when he was seven, it had come to a grisly head.
It was October 10th, Naruto's birthday. For a normal child this would mean that he would be surrounded by friends and family, but for Naruto it was a day filled with dread, fear and panic. Every year on this day, mobs would form in the street and and shinobi and civilians alike would come looking for "the demon child." He knew that this year would be no different but he didn't realize what would actually happen this time.
As Naruto was anticipating the mobs to form, he went where he usually went to hide, a clearing on the western outskirts of the village. As he entered the clearing, he felt as if something was off about the place.
"Maybe I'm just a bit jumpy," he mumbled incoherently to himself as he moved toward the makeshift campsite he had created in his spare time. He went to start a fire for the bitterly cold night when he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He became more alert now knowing something was wrong.
Naruto scanned the circular treeline, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He began hearing rustles all around the clearing as if some malicious predator was stalking him, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Then everything went quiet and he felt a overwhelming evil force fill the air. Naruto's stomach clenched in on itself in pure and feral fear. Just as he was going to make a mad dash for the forests, five shinobi appeared out of the tree line. They all looked to be chuunin or higher rank and they were all dressed for a fight.
"Wh-what do you want from me?" he asked being almost paralyzed by the KI these men were giving off.
"Don't act coy, monster, we're here to take your fucking life like you took those of our families!" came a response from one of the thugs.
There was an assent from the rest of the shinobi around who were looking more determined in their cause after the rallying speech given by the deranged shinobi. As the shinobi were closing in on the young boy another one stepped out of the tree line, this one feeling more powerful than the rest.
"Stop! This filth does not deserve the mercy of a quick death, we will make sure he suffers for what he has done to all of us."
The man speaking was tall with a thin but muscular frame. He had a standard jonin vest and attire on, but had the patch of the Konoha Police Force on his right arm. As he further stepped out of the shadows you could see his eyes blazing red with three tomoe in each of them: the Sharingan.
The five other shinobi simply nodded knowing they were not needed for know. The Uchiha bent down face to face with the terrified Naruto and slowly looked him straight in the eye, putting him under strong genjutsu.
"You are nothing but a scar upon this village, its time to get rid of you once and for all," the Uchiha said with pure hate and loathing in his voice.
As the Uchiha's words sunk into Naruto's mind he found himself in a Konoha he did not recognize. The trees around the village were burning fiercely and buildings were ruined. As he looked around there was destruction everywhere. As Naruto tried to take a step further he found himself in a different part of the village, and this time he felt a force so malicious that it brought him to his knees. In front of him was a giant fox with nine tails rampaging through the village. Naruto tried to close his eyes but it was no use he was forced to watch as the fox destroyed and massacred buildings and people alike. As he finally got the will power to look down he saw heaps of bloody and broken bodies surrounding him, while blood pooled all around. He was in hell.
"STOP, PLEASE STOP. MAKE IT END!" he cried out but the images kept getting more and more intense.
As the boy was writhing in the clearing, the other shinobi were smiling maniacally at the child being tortured, the Uchiha for his part was staring blanking at the lowly creature Naruto had become. He looked at the other shinobi and gave a slight nod, the signal to end it first shinobi came forth and stabbed Naruto in the shoulder, wanting to cause the boy more pain before they all finished him together. That stab was what triggered Naruto's path to the end of his life.
Naruto snapped out of the genjutsu, and suddenly the clearing was filled with chakra so dark and hateful that a couple of the shinobi fell to their feet, unable to stand the onslaught of it.
"WHY, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME! WHAT DID I DO?" the roared at them, his voice filled with hurt and rage.
Naruto stood up and removed the sword still embedded in his shoulder and in a blind rage fueled by orange chakra charged the shinobi closet to him. He stuck his sword deep in the first man's chest, killing him instantly, and then before anyone could react he went on a killing fury until only two people were left. The first was a man with light brown hair tied into a short ponytail with a scar over his nose bridge. The second was the cold-eyed Uchiha whose expression had not changed since he had entered the clearing.
"Iruka, go. Now. I will handle this."
"Shinto, we should take this bastard on together ourselves!"
"No, as it is only one of us in leaving alive and it will be you."
"But-"
"GO! That's an order. You have a life ahead of you, I do not." The Uchiha was firmly fixed upon the boy's eyes.
Iruka nodded his head solemnly and headed away, back toward the village.
"This boy, he is not what I thought him to be, he has hurt in his eyes, he has eyes like my own." Shinto thought as he looked upon the boy who now had a two tomoe sharingan in each eye.
Naruto, still flowing his murderous chakra charged the man and with all his might. Subconsciously he expected the man to fight back, but he did not. Naruto stabbed the man in the abdomen fully intent on hurting him as much as possible when he saw a single tear fall down the dying man's face. Seeing this confused Naruto and he reflexively took a couple steps back before finally realizing what he had done.
"Why, why do people hate me? Why do I even live if this is all I get out out it?" the boy whispered.
The Uchiha now looked at the boy. He was only seven yet he held pain in him that a thousand man would not feel in a thousand lifetimes. He was a husk of a boy filled with pain and suffering. He again looked at his blazing sharingan and Shinto's own father's words came to him.
"Shinto, this world is unfair and cruel. Tough and unforgiving. It will swallow you up if you let it and spit you out as a fiend of hatred and cruelness. That is what the sharigan often is: a product of this world, and those who do not see through those eyes of suffering are the lucky ones."
Shinto paused a moment as he felt his life blood slipping away and his consciousness fade. He finally understood what his father had meant all those years ago.
"This world is cruel, kid. Its not fair and it destroys a lot of people. You are a product of that, a being made to hate. But hate often comes from a deep rooted since of love. Kid, whatever you do now, don't let this world get to you or it will destroy you from the inside out. Beware those eyes of yours."
As the last words left the man's mouth, so too did his life leave his body. Naruto sat there for awhile looking down at the mans body and his own blood stained hands. He was unsure what anything he said meant. Then, finally a wave a realization hit him and he began crying an deep and guttural cry. He had taken a life and he wanted nothing more to die right then and there. And as if the very Sky was answering his cries, it started to rain. Naruto looked up and began at last to scream into the night air.
" WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? WHY AM I HERE? "
"You, you are here to suffer. To be beaten by the world that created you until you are nothing but dust in the wind."
A deep voice snarled these words at him, but from where he did not know. He looked across the bloodstained clearing and saw nothing but bodies and death.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" as he said the words something drew him into himself and he found himself standing in front of a large industrialized cage.
"You are pathetic. Nothing but a piece of filth thrown away by your 'great village'."
This time Naruto could tell it was coming from whatever was on the other side of that cage. He walked a few steps forward until he felt an evil chakra, one that was both familiar and alien to him.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked shakily, fear evident in his voice.
"I am a demon, a harbinger of destruction, and a manifestation of hatred. You shinobi call me the 'Demon Fox' but I prefer the name Kyuubi."
As the Kyuubi said this, he walked forward revealing himself in all of his terrible glory. His eyes glowed red with hate as he looked down on Naruto.
"Your Yondaime Hokage put me here. He put me here to make you suffer, to make you loath life itself."
"No-no he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't, he wouldn't, he wouldn't! The Yondaime was a true hero, he would never do anything like that!"
"HAHAHAHA! He saw weakness in you even as an infant. He saw nothing but a failure fit for being an entire village's punching bag!"
Having seen nothing but horror after horror that night Naruto was beginning to break. He started doubting why he was here. He started wondering if the fox was right. He was starting to question if his life had any meaning at all. As he was on the verge of being broken he remembered his assailant's final words.
" This world is cruel. Its not fair and it destroys a lot of people. You are a product of that, a being made to hate. But hate often comes from a deep rooted since of love. Kid, whatever you do now, don't let this world get to you or it will destroy you from the inside out."
Remembering those final words of wisdom was enough for Naruto to resolve himself. Even if he was hated by all in this village, that didn't mean that he would be hated by all of the world. As these things raced through the boys head he asked the Kyuubi a question he had never been asked.
"Why? Why do you hate so much, why do you cause so much pain?"
The Kyuubi was taken aback by this question, for as long as he had lived only one other person had asked him questions such as this.
"I am the Kyuubi, I am hate incarnate. I don't need a reason to hate. I. AM. HATE."
Naruto looked up at the kyuubi with his crimson eyes but instead of anger and rage, there was instead pure sadness with a single tear streaming down from his right eye. A sadness that grew from a lifetime of being hated and a tear of terrible circumstance.
"This child, he is much like me. He is full of hurt, full of sadness, and yet he does not fill it with hate. Jiji, is this what you meant? Was I wrong all along?"
Naruto looked on as he saw the hate in the fox's eyes turn to misty sadness. He wondered what this creature had gone through and resolved to find out before his own life came to an end.
"Kyuubi, what is your name?"
To Naruto this question seemed trivial. To the Bijuu, however it meant more than he could put into words in a thousand lifetimes.
"I am called Kurama, Bijuu of Nine Tails."
Naruto dropped to his knees in front of Kurama's cage and kneeled in prostration.
"I know that look in your eyes, Kurama, one of pain and sadness. I do not pretend to know what you have gone through, but I can at least understand some of what you are going through. I am still young and foolish so I might even be able to grasp your pain, but I will do all I can to come to understand you!"
As Naruto kneeled before him, he could not help but hear the Jiji's thoughts run through his head:
"Eventually a time shall come when you will become one… And each carry a name… And with a different shape than you had up to now. There you will be shown a righteous path, different from the time you spent inside of me. And there you will learn what true power is."
"Perhaps this is what you meant, Jiji. Perhaps this is the beginning of that path."
"Naruto, you have shown me respect I have not received in a thousand years. Stand tall for you no longer have any reason to prove yourself to me. Show me your conviction through action and I in turn will strive to earn your respect as well."
Naruto stood up to look at Kurama and a look of mutual respect passed between them. Naruto nodded his head slightly and Kurama nodded his in return. A bond had been forged there, one that unbeknownst to them would last until the end.
"This boy is Uchiha but I sense no evil in those eyes of his, they are are like the opposites of Madara. It will be interesting to see what path he will go down."
"I will be watching your back Naruto, and I have a feeling it will be interesting to watch."
As Kurama had said his goodbyes, the link to his inner mindscape was cut off. Even as he was processing what had happened he heard distant shouting, and before he could think he started running. He ran as fast as his legs could take him, he heard shouts as well as whistles and knew they were tracking him. Naruto pushed his body further and further, determined to put as much distance between himself and his tormentors as he could. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours as he ran as fast as he could, he would not let the demons catch him.
Finally Naruto could go no further, but he could still hear his pursuers behind him. In front of him was a vast wooded area and desperately he crawled his way into the wood determined to escape. He crawled and crawled until he found himself near a stream. As he crawled toward it, he saw his reflection for the first time time and what he saw shook him. His face and hands were covered in blood and it finally sunk in just what he had done to his attackers. He had known before that there was no going back and this further drove the point that Konoha was no longer his home.
After he had drank from the stream enough to sustain himself, he continued running east until finally he could hear the sound of his pursuers no more. He continued slowly on foot until he found himself in a large clearing. The moon was full and as he gazed upon it he saw something slowly fall to the earth. Snow. It was snowing in October he remarked how strange that was until finally his body gave out and he collapsed, his consciousness gone in a matter of seconds.