Chapter One
What is left?
Blue eyes watched, hidden in the ally-way, shredded papers rustling around his feet, grime clung to his small arms and face. What was once, a long while ago for certain, a beautiful head of golden locks, was dulled pale and stained rust in areas. His white shirt hung off the gaunt form of the boy, sketchy whiskers stretched as the boy grinned, sticking out his tongue as he ran out from the opposite side of the ally-way. It would take more than that to slow him down!
Grinning broadly, he bit into the loaf of bread, the warmth flooding from his mouth and throughout his body. His tongue burned, and he still wasn't satisfied. The loaf in hand was carefully wrapped up in one of the cleaner papers, for he knew that he could easily starve if he did not ration his intakes. This boy was Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina, and Namikaze Minato. But unfortunately enough, the boy had not a clue that he was related to two of Konoha's well renowned heroes. He never would until he came of age, and was able to protect himself.
Tucking the loaf into his small bag, Naruto hummed a little tune walking alongside the buildings, hidden in the shadows. He would be in the academy soon, he knew he would be great! He could outsmart and outrun even the masked shinobi, though the dog-masked one always seemed to find him. Sighing he looked around, maybe he could clean up a bit and go to the old man Hokage to et his money early? He didn't want to show up his first day like…..well like how he was.
Deciding to do just that, he ran out to the forests, laughing joyously as he barged through new piles of green leaves, his bare feet skidding in the grass. Most people feared going in the forests alone, let alone barefoot and without weaponry. But for some strange reason, the creatures never bothered the young Uzumaki. Having jumped into the cold rushing waters of the river, he quickly cleaned himself, and his clothes, grinning when he saw the shock of golden blond over his head again.
His smile vanished almost instantly however, seeing that a fox, dark auburn in color had begun rummaging through his bag. Before poking its head back out, dark, intelligent brown eyes seemed to laugh at him, before darting off, taking his only food with him. Naruto swore, the five year old child knew it was pointless to chase after the creature. He was long gone by now.
Dressing quickly, he waited for the sun to dry him and his clothes. The warmth had him smiling, falling onto his back as he closed his eyes. His peace did not last long however, a sharp pain brought him back with a sharp cry, tears budding in his blue eyes. He could not see, a cloth have been wrapped around the top of his face, leaving only his cheeks, mouth and chin exposed.
Mocking voices began to speak up, and Naruto froze, sheer terror overtaking him. They had never hurt him, maybe chased him, yelled at him, but they never hurt him. They wouldn't. They were not that cruel, were they? They didn't hate him that much, did they? His answer came in the form of something glass clashing with the top of his skull, this normally would've killed a boy his age, however, because of who he was, it did not.
This only encouraged the onslaught.
He could smell alcohol, a sharp burning sensation to the young Uzumaki's nose. It stung and the tears flooded his eyes, rolling down his face as they began, the alcohol burning his head from where he had first been struck. He was roughly kicked in the stomach, thrust back into a tree, before a kunai, Iruka had taught him how to hold one once, was buried into his shoulder. Ripping and tearing through muscle, pinning him into place.
Cruel laughter, by faceless, drunken people. Shurikan thrown as if he were the target, broken bones and his hands annihilated. It was when he felt heat, a burning, agonizing heat that he begun to scream. He wailed and kicked, only for more kunai to be thrown. His shirt was lifted, and all went black.
A warm hand was covering his face, soft, teary whispers were being said, and Naruto could swear he felt light. Weightless even.
"Hokage-Sama…we're lucky the seal did not come undone." That was the name of the dog-masked shinobi, where had he been? He always helped him if things got too rough! Where had he been? The thought upset him all over again, his body was sore, it hurt and his entire torso just burned. It burned and stretched and stung.
"Naruto….."
The attackers had all been killed. A ruthless, merciless, bloody death.
That day was the worst day he had ever had gone through. He had missed his first day of his second year at the academy, worried Iruka, and he knew, knew he had killed those had also gained a permanent burn scar over his entire torso. It was pale now, and silvery against his tanned skin. Being six now, he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to fight for what he thought. Not when he had been hurt so badly. Words, accusations and venomous, poisonous insults hurled behind his back and to his face he could handle.
But he had almost been killed.
He had almost been killed for a reason he had yet to know. He still did not know, despite his pleadings and cries to the Hokage. He knew it was something of a seal, and that was all. It was over his torso somewhere, where he had been burned. But no matter where he looked, nothing was there. Just heavily scarred skin, and white licks of invisible, ghostly flames.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka called, and he stepped forward, taking the Shurikan and hurling them towards the target. Mimicking the so called genius, and failing in the process. His ears pricked, hearing the ever soft whisper of his name. Yet not quite sure from whom had spoken it.
Iruka's face turned a very interesting shade of purple, and Naruto had to keep from snickering and asking if this was really what they thought he was capable of. Something did snicker though, and he ignored it, as he was custom to doing. The voice he heard in the back of his skull, it was nothing new, Naruto had heard it ever since the attack.
He told no one.
Because then he would be labeled all over again, and he'd rather be known as more troublesome, annoying, unorthodox, joke of a prankster then anything else. It hurt less. Once released, he left, ignoring anyone's voices which were, if they were, linked to his name with sour, slimy whispers. He ignored it all, as Naruto had always done.
His apartment door was a polished white oak, probably the only good thing about it, when it wasn't a mess that was. Sighing Naruto knew it was time to clean up when he heard the buzz of a fly near his ear, placing his hands together in a well known seal, he created his shadow clones. Or, at least to anyone else, they were shadow clones.
For some reason, his clones were real. His clones bled, ate, drank and even died like a normal human being, unless they were dispersed by his own hand. The Uzumaki dubbed them blood clones, because they bled, where other clones only bled if they were to be used for destruction. Like self-destruction.
Sitting on the bed, which had new, clean sheets now, he closed his eyes. Focusing on that strange, hollow feeling in the back of his mind like he had done so many times before. He never expected any results, but this time, this time he felt as though he had been plunged underwater from his bed.
Naruto was dropped into a sewer, cold water up to his knees, dripping, leaking pipes and several winding halls. The strangest piece of information however, was the red, misty chakra which floated with ease throughout the place. It befuddled him, because chakra was always blue, or emerald green. Red was a far cry from either of those.
"Hello?" he shouted, his hands cupped over his mouth, the sound echoed, and echoed.
"Hello?"
"Hello?"
Before a strong gust of wind was thrust towards him, surrounding him, smothering him. He couldn't breathe, his throat felt too tight, the red mist was covering him like a red blanket. Nothing relented and his body was forced forward because of the 'wind' and its insistent tugging and thrashing. He felt as though his body were being mangled, crushed and stretched far too thin.
Naruto landed face first into cold, clear water, iron bars merely feet from his hands. Black claws nudged him, and his blue eyes grew wide with fear, stumbling back, shaking wildly. A dark orange furry paw was lifted above his head, and he wailed, dark, murderous red eyes and-
A roar. Lashing nine tails, grinning, feral white teeth. The Kyuubi-no-Kitsune. Kurama. Had finally made his appearance.
Author's note: Challenge accepted from Zero the Winter God