Author's Notes:
Since this particular story came to me in the oddest of ways, I thought I would share this odd little story with you. Once, when I was about five, or six, I decided to randomly drop in on a good friend of mine who lived down the street. At five in the morning. I walk there, sit on the porch for awhile, wondering why I came out there in the first place. Then my parents rolled up, they must have noticed I was gone. For the longest time that is how I remembered it. Then, a few nights ago, I dream of that incident. Most realistic dream I've ever had. However, instead of my parents coming to get me, I look up, and see a really bright green light. Then I wake up. Seriously, I need to stop watching The Twilight Zone and The X-Files.
The Truth is Out There
Prologue:
Abduction
A lively six-year old boy ran down the streets of the bustling village of Konoha with several masked ANBU in pursuit. Stealing the Hokage's outfit was not something to be taken lightly, unless of course you were the thief in question, in this case, Uzumaki Naruto. He ran, the ceremonial hat adorning his head, and the robe tucked under his arm, laughing hysterically. He checked behind him to see if how many of the ANBU were still bothering to chase him.
"Hah!" He exclaimed triumphantly, for he could no longer see any of his pursuers. His victory was short lived, however, when he was abruptly stopped by the leg of an ANBU in a wolf mask. He picked Naruto up by his jacket, and took the hat from his head.
"You are nothing but trouble…c'mon kid, you know people don't take well to this stuff…you can't just make our lives a little easier, and…oh, I don't know, steal something from an adult book store? So the Uchiha can deal with it?" The ANBU asked in a monotone, bored voice.
"Ero!" Naruto said, pointing an accusing finger, and then continuing to laugh hysterically. The ANBU sighed, and set the bow down, after snatching the robe from his grip. He sent the young Naruto on his way to perpetrate whatever other acts of mischief the boy had planned.
"That kid…he's going to land himself in serious trouble, something I won't be able to get him out of…" The ANBU said to himself before setting off to the Hokage tower to deliver the outfit.
Later that night, after Naruto had finished his list of ill deeds for the day, he found himself running through the rain to get home. Outside his apartment were a few men. Naruto was experienced enough in his lot in life to know they were drunk, and to know exactly what they had planned. Still, he had to get in his home one way or another.
"Well…lookey heresh fellash… hic… If it isn't the fosh boy…" The biggest of them said. The others laughed. Naruto was sure they were pretty hammered. He hadn't bothered to think about the name they had given him, he had heard it before, and assumed it was given to him because of his uncanny ability to escape most bad situations, "Most" being the operative word.
"What do you want?" Naruto said.
"Little vegeansh maybe…" one of them said. Naruto was fairly certain something he had done that day had pissed these men off. He didn't want a beating. A Chu-nin was patrolling the area at the time, and happened to wander by. Naruto was silently thanking the gods.
"Well, what do we have here…little trouble tonight, boys?" The shinobi asked, calmly.
"No shir…just thought we'd pay little vishit to the demon boy …hic" The biggest one said again. The Chu-nin smiled.
"I think there's enough of him to go around…I have a personal vendetta with the damn thing…you remember them, fox? My parents?" Naruto was scarred now. He was visibly shaking.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about…please, just leave me alone." He said.
"Well, you didn't leave us alone did you? No, you came here and razed this village to the ground… and you killed a lot of good people to do it…"
"I'm telling you, I don't know what you're talking about!" Naruto yelled in desperation.
"Oh c'mon… don't play dumb with us." The Chu-nin said.
"Yea… freakin Nine Tailsh thinksh it can fools ush." Another said. The only two understandable words were Nine Tails, and they hit home. Even Naruto, who was admittedly a little slow, was able to put the pieces together.
"As if you don't know damn well why everyone hates your guts, save those few idiots who haven't quite figured out that you are the damn demon."
"What are you saying…" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Ah shut it, demon fox. I'm good and ready to kill you now." The Chu-nin said. The drunks were one on side, the Chu-nin on the other. Naruto could either take the beating for awhile, and hope to be rescued, or he could try to run for his life. All other thoughts were put aside for that moment save that basic urge to survive. Naruto ran.
Through the rain he ran as fast as he could, not bothering to look back. As the adrenaline died off, he fuel became his anger, and his grief. Without the need to survive in him, he was able to think back on why he was running in the first place. On what those men had said. He was able to slowly figure out that what those men were saying was not some false story to rile him up, it was, on some level true. People must see him as a demon, otherwise, why would they treat him so? Why did he suffer taunts, beatings, robberies, and generally cruelty, when other children had only to deal with their parents berating them for some small wrongdoing?
Naruto ran for as long as these thoughts swam in his mind, not bothering to notice where he was, or where he was going. The storm raging around him was pathetic compared to the one within him. When Naruto finally stopped running, he found himself alone, in the forest of Konoha. He sat down in a forest and cried, wondering why no one had ever told him what he was.
That night should have been a burden that Uzumaki Naruto would have to carry for the rest of his life, or at least, until someone told him the exact nature of his curse. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how one sees the thing, Naruto would never have to remember the events that took place that night. He would remember nothing of the drunken men, or the Chu-nin, or of his realization that he was a demon in human form.
He would remember only one thing of that night. A memory so powerful, it could not be wiped. The only part of his dreadful night that Uzumaki Naruto would remember is looking up into the sky, asking the gods to take his soul. He would remember begging them to relieve him of all his pain, all of his sorrow, and to simply let him leave the cruel world he lived in. Uzumaki Naruto would remember a star that seemed to move, as if in response to his cries. The last thing Uzumaki Naruto would remember would be a bright green light and the sensation of weightlessness coming over him.
The only signs of him were his soaked clothes, left in the center of a circle. The dirt that formed its lines had turned white, like snow. No one would see Uzumaki Naruto for four years.
