Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto

Chapter 1: Beginnings

It was a quiet day. The people of Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, were walking without a care in the world, amiably chatting to friends about normal things, like the weather. Then it happened. One of the stalls on the street fell over, and a boy stood there for a second before running. A little, 9-year old boy, with blond hair, black pants, blue sandals, and a dark grey shirt that had the sign of a flame on the front, was running, but what they didn't know was that the boy was running for his life. Nor, would they care if they did know, for no one really cared what happened to this particular boy.

"Got. . .to get. . .away!" He panted as he ran through alleyways, running between people, crawling under tables, jumping over stalls, trying his very best to lose his pursuers. Why was a little boy running, one might ask. The truth of the matter soon became apparent as the child ducked into an alleyway, only to find out it was a dead end. "Damn!" Knowing he had no time to get back out, he tried hiding in the darkest corner, hoping no one would find him. Of course, he had horrible luck. Because, just then, his pursuers showed at the alley entrance.

"Where is he!? Where's the demon?!" One man practically screamed. It was obvious who they were talking about, and blond held his breath as they approached.

"He can't have gotten far! He went in here, and unless he can use jutsu, he still is here!" Another one said, obviously female.

After ten seconds passed, they saw him curling up in the darkest corner, his shirt covering his head. "Think you can fool us, demon!?" another man said.

"Why. . .why me. . ." The 'demon' sniffled out as he held his head for cover from what he knew was coming. "Why do you call me a demon?! Why do you hurt me?! What did I do!?"

"You know full well what you did, Demon! My family is gone because of you!" The first man said.

"And you're also the reason my daughter is dead!" The woman said as she brandished a kitchen knife.

"And my sister!"

"My husband!"

"My brother!"

"My son!"

"The entire Uchiha Clan!"

They advanced with each sentence, ready to kill the cause of their suffering.

"B-b-but... I didn't do any of that!" The boy said, tears running down his eyes. How could these people think he killed all of those people? He was nowhere near strong enough to do that! And he hated the sight of blood! 'I didn't do it,' he thought to himself. 'I didn't!'

A man sneered. "Yeah, yeah, demon. Keep talking. We know what you did, and now... we're gonna make you PAY!" With that, the mob threw themselves at him, brutally hitting him, throwing him against the walls, and stabbing and slashing at him. The boy could do nothing but scream and cry as the pain wracked his body. He curled in on himself to lessen the damage that would be done to him, but it did nothing to help.

"Make him bleed!" The woman screamed gleefully as more villagers stabbed him.

"ENOUGH!" A voice roared out, ringing with anger and power.

The villagers backed up, and stared in horror upwards. "Shit!" One muttered, knowing their fun was uninterrupted by the one person who cared for their prey.

The boy looked, blue eyes wide in terror and relief. He saw a man with a white robe with red trimmings, and two people in all black armor, one with a dog-looking mask, and one with a bird-like mask. The masks were a relief, familiar to his young eyes. 'Tora,' he thought. 'Inu.' They were going to save him, he was going to be fine. Those were the last things he thought before he allowed himself to pass out from the agony of his beating, but not before feebly saying, "Please. . .h. . .help. . .me. . ."

A sewer came into view, and there was a giant cage that was all of a sudden filled with, a gigantic, glowing red eye, holding slit pupil. A deep, ominous voice that had once brought fear into the hearts of all men spoke to the young child that lay before it.

"What a shame. . . To live such a life. . ." It said in a somewhat bored tone that had just the slightest undertone of anger and discomfort, before closing it's eye again. The young boy gasped as darkness replaced his vision and he was swept away from the strange place he'd found himself in.

The boy woke up suddenly, but closed his eyes at the sudden pain that came from all over his small body. He eased them open to stare at the blinding white ceiling, with lights hanging above. "Where. . .am I?" He groggily as his body winced in pain.

Where. . .am I? Was his sole thought, before exhaustion claimed him again.

"Hey, wake up."

". . ." There was not even a twitch on the sleeping boys face.

"Wake up, lazy boy!" A man snapped humorously.

"Unh. . ." A yawn interrupted the response. Then he snapped awake, gazing at the man before him in alarm. "Where am I? And who are you?" He asked, his eyes darting around, searching for anyway to escape if necessary. This man was neither Tora nor Inu, and he did not recognize him.

"Inquisitive little fellow, aren't you? Ah well. . . My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, but you could call me the Hokage." He said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"The Sandaime Hokage?" The boy said wonderingly, then snapped as he realized the significance of having the village's most powerful and influential member standing in front of him. "Hai, Hokage-sama! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and -" He was interrupted by a laugh, and indignation took the place of respect. "Hey, why are you laughing!"

The man simply laughed harder. "Ah, child. You are too much!" He said. "You do not need to show such formality."

The now-named Naruto had a look of confusion. "But, Hokage-sama, I. . ."

"Child. Naruto. Please, do not call me 'Hokage-sama', just call me Hiruzen. I know of the hard life you face, and do not want you to be lonely."

"But if you don't want me to be lonely, why haven't you come before? Why haven't you helped me before?" He asked, tears threatening to come out.

"Naruto-kun. . ." the Hokage said with more than just a hint of sadness. "The Hokage I may be, but even I have limited control over what goes on in this village."

"Then..." Naruto began uncertainly. He was confused about the Hokage. How could the man chosen to lead the village not have the power to do as he saw fit. Naruto wanted to share his opinion with the Hokage, but was afraid. No-one in the village listened to him, and if they did, they responded with fear and hate. He took a deep breath, and took the plunge. "Hokage. . . umm, jiji. . . I was wondering, if you were the Hokage, and most powerful person in this village, couldn't you. . . force them to do what you want?"

". . ." Silence reigned. The Hokage began to open his mouth, but then shut it. He continued doing this, giving him the look of a fish. 'I can't believe I didn't see that. Me, the Professor, God of Shinobi! I really am getting too old for this.' He thought, embarrassed a little.

Naruto laughed at the Hokage's face, before looking concerned at the strange sounds coming out of the Hokage's mouth.. "Umm... jiji, are you gonna pass out? You're hyperventilating."

Hiruzen regained his focus as he looked at Naruto with a smile. "Sorry about that, I lost my train of thought there for a moment. You know, that is actually a really good idea, Naruto-kun."

"Really!?" Naruto asked in a surprised tone.

"Of course Naruto, why would that be surprising?"

At this Naruto's face became one of sadness, pain, and loneliness. "Well... no one ever listens to me. Ever. And if they do, they just yell at me for trying to 'corrupt their minds' or something. Then they beat me." He added with a shudder.

Hiruzen was heartbroken. The villagers that Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, who he had saved by sacrificing himself to save the village by sealing the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside his own son, was harshly being treated when he should've been treated as a hero.

'How could they? Minato only wanted his son to be treated like a hero because of the fact that Naruto was the only thing holding back the Kyuubi. . . Makes me wonder sometimes if it's worth still protecting them. . .' He thought sadly as he looked at the boy.

"Hey, Kit." a deep voice rumbled in Naruto's head. His eyes widened before they started to get heavy, and he fell unconscious in front of a startled Hiruzen. . .

'Where... am I?' He thought. Then, he heard... no, he felt, a quaking around him. Then, all of a sudden, the place where he was standing was lit up. He shut his eyes tightly, for the light was very bright. When he opened his eyes to let them adjust, they automatically widened in shock. He was standing in. . . a sewer. The entire place was huge, and he was only in a hallway-like thing. "W-What is this!?" Naruto said in a panic, remembering that he was with the Third Hokage. He observed more of his surroundings. There were large flames floating in the air. As he looked at them, they started to shift colors and move. Reds, greens, blues. . . all of the colors of the rainbow were showing. As the light show finished, Naruto found himself staring at a string of flames that kept a straight line. "Well, I suppose I'll follow them. . .'" He thought to himself. As he walked, he quickly became bored of his surroundings, until he started to hear growling Despite his instinct telling him to run, he went towards the source of the growl, until he fell.

At first, he was shocked. Then, fear set in, until he realised: he wasn't falling. At least, not fall-and-break-your-neck falling, but it felt more like a controlled glide. Except, he wasn't controlling it. As he fell/glided, he saw, in the imperceptible darkness, a room. As he slowly but surely went towards it, it kept getting bigger. And bigger. And it got so big, that he was seriously starting to worry about what could possibly need that much space. Soon enough, Naruto finally arrived to a massive gate where the growling had come from. "W-What is this?" He muttered under his breath as he looked at the gates in front of him, hearing the growling coming from the other side. "H-Hello?" He called out beyond the gate. "Is anyone there? Can you tell me where I am?"

A/N:

S-98: HELLOOOOOOOO PEOPLE!

JG: What's up everyone!

MM: Hullo! How's it going?

S-98: This is Shinobi-98, and I would like to say "Thank you" to both JGresidentevil...

JG: No problem, I was happy to help!

S-98: And Mistery Maiden!

MM: I really didn't do much but look for this chapter, but I was happy to help with what I could!

S-98: This is my first collaborative project with two other people, and I am pleased to say that I see a bright future for this story!

JG: Let me tell you people, this is gonna be one crazy story, filled with drama, action, adventure, romance and everything else everyone love!

MM: That pretty much sums it up!

S-98: As an added bonus... I, Shinobi-98 Productions, hereby bequeath "The Uzumaki Tales" to both JG and Mistery"! This story is as much yours as it is mine!

JG: Thanks, I appreciate it!

MM: Arigato!

S-98: No problem. Anything else to add?

JG: Nope, nothing really. Just happy to help a fellow writer. :) Ok

MM: Not really, just a plea for the public not to kill me for not working on "Sightless Eyes". Why are you lot so vicious?! I'm working on the next chapter! Really I am! I'm just also helping out with this one! *hides behind wall* Thanks all, really.