Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

??? Mind

"After I was born, my family was immediately slaughtered upon discovery, deeming them as 'infidels' to some religion or sort. Anyways, I was rescued by a kind aunt who soon left me in the care of a village far away from my clan."

"As I grew older, I grew stronger. My life energy soared through my body as I grew. It was later deemed me fit for the life of a ninja, a truly difficult but rewarding experience. I trained from day to night when I was just 3. My sensei was my uncle who taught me the basics of everything a ninja should know."

"It was then the fateful day descended upon us that would forever be etched into my memory. That snake bastard, Orochimaru, appeared. He came in and just grabbed me from my uncle and aunt. I was dragged by some girl, a bit older than me I remember. These two people will forever be burned into my mind."

"It was only a year that I spent with him, the snake bastard. Already I knew my life was hell. That bastard experimented on me and my mind, playing and toying with my inner subconscious and trying to open something. It was then he left, leaving me for dead in the desert somewhere. The girl only dropped me down and left me, a 4 year old, to brave the desert sands."

"I traveled for many days, exhausted from lack of water and food. I dragged my feet through the harsh sandstorms, my mind burning with a determination to live. It was then I came upon a village. I thought of only safety, but I would meet someone there I would never forget. His name was Gaara."

"For some reason, no one dare come near the boy. Those bold enough to even look his direction ran away as soon as he turned to face them. I was the only one, the only child even daring enough to walk up to him. His face showed signs of pain, his eyes showed the years of hate, anger, and fear thrust at him. He was just 3! Yet his smile seemed to hide all that, he was just happy for actual social acknowledgement!"

"I treated him as a person, treated him as an equal. No one spoke to me or even dared look at me, I didn't mind. My past ambitions for food, water, and safety ebbed away. I had no idea why Gaara was hated, but still, that wouldn't stop me. I became the boy's second friend, someone he could play with. I always wanted to ask this boy about the giant gourd on his back, but he wouldn't address the question. It was at times why I saw the village despise him. The sand, the accursed sand was both a weapon and shield for him."

"Many men tried to kill him, but I would protect him. I suffered wounds, injuries that would kill even a skilled fighter. Still, if it meant the safety of my friend, so be it. Those who did get past me met a worse fate. I still ponder why the sand protects him, and then attacks the enemies. I asked Gaara about it and all he could say was something about his mother's will and then nothing more."

"I spent 4 months in the Village hidden in the Sand as they call it, learning more and more about Gaara's plight. I spent countless nights trying to find a reason to fix this boy's problems, but in turn, I was chased out. The ENTIRE damn village full of Nin came at me, throwing stars and kunai knives, yelling and hissing at me to leave, hell I wasn't even surprised to see a few earth jutsu hurled at me."

"I never managed to say good bye to Gaara, but I hope he's alright. It was three days ago, that I finally came out of the desert and into a forest. This is where I currently stand, searching for the Village hidden in the Leaves. I never thought ancient scrolls and books at that sand library would be so helpful!"

Outside the gates of Konoha

There was a little boy who was limping his way to the giant gates, taking a brief moment to marvel at the scenery. His arm was crudely bandaged with some type of hide. The boy's torso was covered in cuts, slashes, wounds, and scratches. He didn't mind though as he stealthily eyed the guards positioned at the gates. Waiting for the right moment, he rushed past them, using a distraction by tossing rocks at them, annoying them to inspect the bushes. Dodging and weaving away from the gate, the boy zoomed through and out the streets, climbing and running through the area.

The boy rested against a building, overlooking an alleyway as he could see shadows. The boy watched as 3 taller teenagers, ganged up on a smaller boy, the latter covering his face and head as best as he could. A deep anger arose in the boy who witnessed the fight, an eerie grin forming on his lips.

Now in a stupor, the boy hopped off from his perch, landing silently and gracefully as would a cat. Being unnoticed, the boy quickly looked at the bleak surroundings of the alleyway and surveyed what would be a good weapon. Grinning like a manic, he picked up a sharp and rusted metal object, intent on giving one of the teens a mark to remember him by.

Creeping up on the closest teen, fragments of the conversation drifted to the boy's ears, angering him more on what he heard.

"Hurry up and kill the bastard! The police around here already hate us enough!" The apparent leader of the group said as he held a sturdy piece of wood in his hands.

"Hey, this little punk won't stop squirming! Gah! The little brat bit my hand!" A teen with dark hair and blue eyes yelled as he grabbed his injured hand.

"Die you little demon brat! Why can't you just die already?!" The shortest of the trio shouted as he stomped on the smaller boy again.

The last remark caused a sudden anger to arise in the hidden boy. Hearing that the smallest boy being beaten and hurt was enough to throw caution to the wind and charge in. Swinging wildly, the rusty metal managed to nick the tallest teen in the back, eliciting a loud scream from him as his flesh was cleanly tore off.

The shortest boy first's reaction was to vomit from the sight of the blood while the dark haired teen punched the hidden one in the gut. Feeling the wind get knocked out of his chest, the metal dropped from his hand and in front of the beaten boy. His blue eyes darted to the weapon and then to the dark haired teen who was starting to choke his savior.

Not wasting any time, the blonde boy grabbed the weapon and drove it into the teen's back, splashing blood onto his face as the rusty weapon entered through the soft skin and back out on the other side. As he screamed in pain, the shortest boy ran off, crying for help.

"Are you okay?" The blonde boy asked as he helped the other one up.

"I'm fine, thank you for stopping that guy from choking me." He said as he rose to his feet.

"I should be thanking you…if you hadn't shown up; I would have been dead by now!"

As the injured boy started to speak, he had stopped short as he could see something flying straight for the blond boy's head. Acting on impulse, he shoved the shorter boy out of the way and grimaced as the feeling of pain washed over him. Looking down, he could see that a knife had lodged itself into his stomach.

Clutching the wound, he looked up to see a gang of older teens, all with headbands bearing the Hidden Leaf symbol, approach them.

"Heh, looks like Henichi was telling the truth about finding the demon brat. C'mon! We have to kill him and his little friend before the police show!"

Charging forward while wielding bats and knives, the blond boy shivered where he stood before charging at them head on. The injured one pulled out the knife lodged in his stomach and threw it at one of the older boys, also rushing at them. Matching stride with the blond boy, the injured one made sure to act as a shield to him.

When both groups met, hell broke loose. The last thing the injured boy saw before blacking out from his wound was a red aura, followed by immense killer intent. The older boys never got the chance to react as the blonde boy tore into them, drawing screams of complete horror as blood flew everywhere.

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