The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, hurried as fast as he could through the streets of his village. Only seconds before he had felt a large burst of chakra from somewhere ahead of him. Worry and fear bubbled in the pit of his stomach, for that chakra had felt eerily familiar, and he desperately hoped that his thinking on what had just happened was wrong. As he rapidly flew around a corner into an alleyway, he stopped dead as a horrific sight met his eyes.

Bodies, limbs, and blood were everywhere, along with some makeshift weapons crafted from garden tools and whatnot, and also there were real weapons, such and kunai and shuriken littered about.

Standing in front of the mess was a small figure. It was in a slight crouch, arms splayed wide, and fingers hooked as if they were claws. The stance seemed almost like a predator, and it was noticed that the figure was breathing slightly heavily, a small snarl erupting with each exhale. His blonde hair seemed more wild and unruly than usual, accenting the first impression that this was a wild animal and not a human standing in front of him. And he was as coated with blood as the street. Hiruzen's eyes captured all of the details of the scene in a brief flicker before he stepped forward.

"Naruto?" He asked softly. The figure in front of him tensed before slowly turning around. As his face came into view, the first thing noticeable was that his bright blue eyes had been replaced by blood red irises with slits for pupils. The birthmarks on his cheeks, three black lines that resembled feline whiskers, seemed to stand out more than normal, and, with his teeth bared as they were his canines seems prominent. The boy gazed at the Hokage for several seconds before straightening from his crouch with a slight snort that sounded disdainful and relaxed into a stance that seemed guarded, but not as overtly threatening as his previous one had been.

"You're late old man." He snapped. Hiruzen picked the best words he could think of to try and calm the young orphan down.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. Are you alright?"

"Uninjured, no thanks to you," Naruto growled. Hiruzen sighed slightly.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"What the bloody hell does it look like happened you old fart?" Naruto yelled.

"I understand that you were attacked, but I'm not sure what happened after that."

"I couldn't count on your stinking ANBU to help until we required hospitalization, so I took matters into my own hands." Hiruzen's eyes widened.

"You did all this?"

"That's what I said you moronic old fart." The hokage gulped.

"How?" He whispered. The boy's ruby irises gleamed and an aura of bloodlust not felt in twelve years settled on the old man in front of him.

"You know how, don't you?" He whispered. Fear coursed through the hokage's body. His worst fears were true then.

"Kyuubi!" He breathed. In response, the fox demon in front of him grinned sadistically, highlighting his extended canine teeth.

"I told you. You're late. Too late."

Hiruzen managed to get control over his emotions. "How did you break the seal?"

"I didn't. But I don't feel like explaining things in the middle of the street. You've got privacy seals in your office, right? Let's go there," Kyuubi replied boredly. Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.

"What's your agenda?"

"I said I'll explain things once we're in private. I don't really feel like fending off more waves of morons who can't tell me apart from my container tonight." Hiruzen frowned.

"I'm watching you. If you make any moves I'll take you down."

"Don't make me tear apart one of the few people my container has any affection for," Kyuubi returned seeming unimpressed with the threat. Hiruzen turned and made his way back to his office, and the demon fox followed him. Despite the powerful attitude he seemed to be trying to give off, the Hokage noticed that his eyes flickered around to the nearby houses and streets they crossed, with just the very faintest hint of tenseness in the set of his shoulders. As soon as they were in his office, he erected the privacy barriers and looked expectantly at the figure in front of him. Kyuubi glanced around before settling his eyes on the old man in front of him.

"The crowd formed and began chasing the kit. Some shinobi in the group helped corner him in the ally, and provided lethal weapons with which to kill him. They attacked. In the midst of being carved open, the kid screamed for help. I was the only one who answered. About fifteen seconds later, it was over. And you arrived then," he growled lowly. "From then until now he's been hiding in the back of our mind, letting me take charge of the body. He's still terrified out of his wits and barely paying attention to what's going on outside. The only thing he knows at this point is that I've saved his life, and he's begged me already to keep him from being hurt again. It's too bad, but I think this one was the last straw. He doesn't even want to face the world anymore. If I forced him to resume control of his body he'd probably try to kill himself."

The Hokage looked devastated by this news. "So I failed. Completely."

"Pretty much, yeah," The Kyuubi replied with a dark smirk. The Hokage looked down and a tear slipped from his eye.

"Then perhaps I should let you destroy this village."

"Maybe. Or we can try and salvage the situation," Kyuubi replied boredly. The Hokage glanced up.

"How?"

"Look, for me to destroy the village, I'd need my full power. Power that would kill this kid. I'd rather not do that, and I don't think he's ready to destroy this village either. So for now, let me take over his life, let me train him, and let me make him stronger and hopefully he'll find his desire to live again at some point. If that doesn't happen, then I will destroy the village," Kyuubi replied thoughtfully. The Hokage blinked at him.

"I would've thought you'd want to destroy the village no matter the cost to Naruto or anyone else." The Kyuubi seemed mildly uncomfortable.

"Look. This kid impresses me. He held faith in humanity for so long. I don't want to see his belief be for nothing," He said quietly. The Hokage smiled a bit.

"Alright then. Then do what you want. I'll make sure the council stays out of your way. And if civilians try you again, you can kill them, it'll save me the trouble of doing it anyway. If there's anything else I can do, let me know." The Kyuubi chuckled.

"I can think of one thing right now: I need a replacement for the Bunshin no Jutsu." The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"Why is that?"

"Because my chakra levels are way too large. I can't control the minute amount needed for a normal clone perfectly enough to make use of the technique. I need a higher level substitute, or Naruto will never be able to pass the academy exam," Kyuubi explained. The Hokage nodded.

"I think I know just the thing. The Kage Bunshin no jutsu. It's a forbidden technique because it requires large amounts of chakra, and people have killed themselves attempting it."

The Kyubii smiled darkly. "Chakra will not be an issue. It sounds perfect."

"Good. Then this is how it works…"