New story, yay. I hope I am actually able to finish this one before my muse decides to ditch me again. We'll only have time to tell…
Disclaimer – I do own Naruto in my mind… Otherwise, I don't own it.
This will be my second story where Kyuubi will actually be… a 'good guy' if you will, and actually speak to Naruto, if you're not into that, please, don't inform me and either leave, or read the story and see if it's in your category of good.
"Speaking"
Thinking
Kyuubi
XxXxXxXx
Life can sometimes suck. Everyone knew this; it was no secret to any human being in this world. Fortunately, for most people, their day can take a full rotation and end up becoming a good day in the end.
Notice the 'most people'.
Naruto did not fit into this category. He could hardly remember a single day where he wasn't alone, and afraid of being beaten. He was simply a seven-year-old child, just starting in the academy for Shinobi. Little children who would eventually become effective killing machines went there at a daily basis.
With Naruto going there, he seem to have to hide twice as much. People were wandering around the village looking for him, and he knew from the angry glares they showed, that they were out for blood. Naruto was a master at the art of being hidden, having doing it for so long, so it worked well in his favor.
After a few days of the routine of hiding, he came to the park where he saw all the children playing. Looking around his shoulders, then left and right, he decided to see if he could for once act like a child and not some criminal.
He began to walk towards two children on the playground, but quickly their parents called out to them and said something along the lines of they needed to go home.
Why does everyone hate me? Naruto was not an idiot; even he knew why the children were called back, simply because of him. He looked up once again, and the grounds where there were many children was reduced to just him. Why… He only wanted to play, but even that seemed impossible.
Being alone and having to avoid dangerous beatings had matured Naruto far beyond that of a child his age. Though he knew nothing of why he was hated, he had the intellect to figure that he must of done something horrible wrong, or his parents…
This life he had was a curse. Everyday was a fight for his life, and he was forced to grow up too soon. He just felt like crying himself to sleep and never waking up. That would be a gift from God… He sighed and walked over to the swing, being sure to mask his sadness as to not let the adults know that they were breaking him.
He sat on one of the swings and looked down at the gravel. He noticed the different colors of each pebble, and the different shape. No one was exactly the same. Yet they all stayed in the same place with each other. He picked up one and silently said, "You're lucky… Your friends never abandon you… They don't force you to try to survive each day, praying you'll eat at night…" He dropped it back down and watched as the other pebbles flew a bit at the impact of the fall.
He watched for a few more moments, as the pebble stayed motionless. Suddenly his anger flared. Nothing ever went his way, and all the small stones below him were mocking him, proving that they could live together, and do the same things!
He quickly shot down his anger. He knew he was being ridiculous now. Pebbles were not living beings, they had to stay together, no matter what… He looked up towards the sky and noted that it was reaching nightfall.
Right when he was about to get up off the swing he felt something push him from behind. In Fear he gripped the sides of the swing and twisted his head over his shoulder expecting a man coming to beat him while he was not aware of his surroundings.
What he saw surprised him.
"Who are you?" The little girl asked as he came back down. He noticed her pink hair that reached to her mid back, and her emerald green eyes. She wore a green sleeveless shirt, and blue shorts. He got off the swing and stood in front of her, examining her. To which she sort of backed off. "What are you doing?"
"Ah! Sorry. It's kind of a habit. I like to get a good image of the person in my head…" Before they leave me… He thought inwardly.
She looked at the strange boy in front of her. He had Blond hair that almost seemed yellow to her, and his eyes were the bluest blue she had ever seem. He wore a white shirt and tan shorts, and both of them were the same height. "I see…" She said, obviously showing outwardly that he was different. She then took notices of his whisker looking marks and made a different face for Naruto determine.
"Well…" Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "um, I am Uzumaki Naruto!" He said, a smile appearing on his face. "Who're you?"
"I'm Sakura, nice to meet you Naruto!" She held out her hand, obviously expecting Naruto to shake, meaning that they have formally met. He felt no need not to.
Once they were done introducing each other Naruto asked. "So…" He was dreading the answer, "Where are your parents…?"
Sakura looked down, "I don't have any…" Her once happy mood was now a bit depressed.
"Oh really?" Naruto asked, slightly surprised, "Me too!" A smile was again on his face, maybe he could relate to this person in more than one way.
"So…" Sakura asked, "Do you want to play with me?" Naruto nodded his head in excitement.
That is how Naruto managed to make his first, and only friend. Out of luck that she was an orphan like him. If it went down any other way, history definitely would have been different. Of course, earning a friend doesn't stop the villagers looking for way to harm him, and he still had to hide from most people he saw.
In the Academy, he and Sakura sat together. The classes were so boring, to Naruto at least. Sakura seem to absorb all the information the sensei was teaching the students and told it to Naruto when they were working together so he could have a better understanding of the lesson. It is always easier for one child to tell the other child the lesson.
Naruto and Sakura met almost daily at the playground at nighttime so they could hang out with each other and catch up. They learned plentiful things of each other, but Naruto had always kept his life mostly a secret to her. Sure, she knew his favorite food, color, and even that he lived alone. He just didn't want her to leave him if he explained that the whole village was chasing him most of the time.
Life went like this for the both of them for over a year. On the day Naruto was turning ten however, is when his life was completely torn out of his normal routine…
"Happy birthday Naru-kun!" Sakura shouted, handing him a present.
Naruto and Sakura were once again at the playground they had always met in, Naruto sat on the swing and Sakura right in front of him, holding a large present for him. Naruto barely ever changed his attire, and Sakura on this day was wearing the same clothes the day she met him. It was almost symbolic.
Naruto looked at it with tears almost filling his vision. Besides the Third, this was the first person to ever give him something for his birthday. He accepted the present, and said a swift thank you to her and tore it open. Once the box was opened, he pulled out two goggles. One was slightly smaller than the other, which Sakura grabbed. His had a tint of blue, while hers had a tint of green on them.
"The bigger one is for you to wear around your head, and I'll wear this one." She explained, taking out the ribbon holding her hair together and replaced it quickly with the goggles. She had a huge grin on her face. "I matched the colors with our eyes!"
Naruto wasted no time in putting his on and hugging Sakura, "Thank you Sakura-chan…"
"Anything for a friend, right?" She simply replied and hugged him back.
Naruto nodded and let go of his friend. He adjusted the goggles on his head until they were perfect and grinned. "So, do I look good?"
Sakura nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah!"
The two continued to chat for a little bit, until Naruto said, "Well, you better go." He suddenly got a serious expression on his face. His birthday was the day that he was always hunted down the worst, sometimes even the Shinobi of the village joined in the hunt, he didn't want his only friend to be harmed.
He still kept his grin on, making sure Sakura did not get suspicious.
"Aw, why now? The rest of the orphanage is just wandering around town checking out the festival. It's always so boring at this time anyways… All the grown-ups are drinking by now, in fact… I think the rest of the children is probably back at home…"
Drunken people… I love that… Thought Naruto bitterly. His thoughts betrayed him and spread to his face, which showed his eyes glaring at nothingness.
"Naru-kun? Is anything wrong?" She asked, seeing his expression.
Naruto noticing his mistake quickly masked it up and smiled back at her, "Nah! I was just thinking what I would eat for breakfast tomorrow!"
"Why the bitter face then?" She asked, her eyebrow was raised in slight confusion.
"Ah, well you see, I am almost out of food, so I am going to have to go shopping tomorrow after I am done eating!" He explained, praying that she would buy it.
Sakura sighed, realizing she was not going to get a honest answer out of him. "Okay Naru-kun," She turned around and waved, "I need to go home! Happy birthday!" She ran the opposite direction, making sure to not let the orphanage know she was out so late.
Naruto waved back as well, "Thank you Sakura-chan! I can't wait to see you tomorrow!"
XxXxXxXx
Sarutobi tapped his finger on his desk as he spoke to the two men in front of him. Being Hokage was not what it was all cracked up to be. You never had any free time to see family, and you always had to appear to the public as a kind person. He found it hard to imagine his old student, Tsunade in the position.
What chaos that would be… He chuckled slightly, the two people in front of him noticed.
"Anything wrong Hokage-sama?" The man asked. He wore a headband covering his left eye, and his silver hair leaned towards the left as well. A mask covered half of his face, making it hard to tell what he was thinking half of the time.
"No, Nothing, Kakashi." He said, coughing, "Now, as I was saying. You and Yamato her are to guard Naruto. I have been able to gather from him that he is always beaten on the day of his birth for some damn reason." The Hokage sighed, "I'm sure you two know why."
"Yes." Both replied at once.
"But Hokage-sama, is it wise just to have a jounin and an ex-ANBU member to keep people off the child, what if there are Shinobi that will try to harm the kid?" Yamato asked.
"If my Shinobi do that, they will have their rank striped from them for a time, if they dare break my rules for the child." Sarutobi growled out.
Kakashi nodded, "Ok Hokage-sama, we'll be right on it."
Both Shinobi disappeared right out of the room just as the first fireworks began to be fired behind him. He looked over his shoulders and turned around fully after a little time. He watched as his people cheered as each explosion hit the sky and lit up the whole village.
Why can't you people understand…? He wondered to himself as he continued to watch the display.
XxXxXxXx
It was after dark, and this was the time when Naruto had to be as stealthy as possible in the village. Anywhere that was light and he was clearly visible definitely meant danger for him. To make it worse, the fireworks continued to light up the whole village besides a few selected spots every few seconds or so.
God, is it so wrong to hate this day? He wondered to himself.
When the firework went down he quickly dashed to another corner where the fireworks did not display the public when they went off. He continued to do this until he got to his apartment. He walked up the steps to his room, and noticed that his door was still attached to the hinges. Thank god…
He grabbed his keys and slowly opened the door, doing his best to not make a single sound at all. Once he achieved this goal, he slowly walked in and locked the door behind him. He walked into his room to his dresser and began to change when a knock came from his door. Put his shirt back on, he slowly walked over to it.
"Open up! Damn brat!" A tough sounding man said from the other side.
Shit… Naruto thought, and quickly grabbed a chair from his kitchen area of the apartment and blocked the door with it. "GO AWAY!" He shouted as loud as he could. That might of not been the smartest idea…
"So you are there!" The same man said. "Bring her over here…" He said to someone else, who replied with a quickly yes. Naruto heard some struggling outside then…
"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.
Naruto felt his heart drop, his breath was caught, and his mind was racing with the same thing over and over again. Shit… Shit… Shit…
"Sakura…?" He questioned, making sure it was really her.
"Now get out here, or we may have to hurt her!" The man said, laughing. Naruto looked at the door in despair, he did not want to have a full marathon of being beaten, but if he didn't comply, then…
POW! He heard from outside, and a scream came from Sakura. Tears slid from Narutos eyes as he quickly tore the chair away from the door and unlocked and ran right into the man.
"PLEASE! Don't hurt her!" He got on his knees in front of the man. He looked up slightly and recognized the man, he was one of the people who always seem to be there to hurt Naruto each moment, He wore a tight shirt, showing off his muscles, and one of his eyes was torn out where a huge scar lined up horizontally on his face. He had many sharpened yellow teeth as he gave Naruto an evil grin.
To make thing worse, the smell of Alcohol was thick in the air.
"Please… Stop…" Naruto said once more in his position. He glanced at Sakura and saw some blood coming out from her mouth; she was writhing in pain from the blow she had received in the stomach, and still conscious. One of the many people in the mob was forcing her to stay standing.
The man began to laugh, "Heh, out of all the times I have been around to do this to you, I have never seen the fear in your eyes than you do now that your little friend is involved…" He turned to her and said, "Do you want to know what that little brat really is…?"
She looked up slightly, tears were pouring out of her eyes, but curiosity was still present.
"Well…" He turned to Naruto, "I am an ex-ANBU, exactly ten years ago, a demon called Kyuubi attacked our beloved village here… I was one of the men holding it off until the Fourth could arrive to save the village. When he did, he sacrificed his life to get rid of it..." Sakura and Naruto listened intently, wondering what this had to do with Naruto, "Or so, that's what he claims… What he really did, was reincarnate the demon, he sealed it… In you!" He pointed at Naruto, anger blazing in his eyes.
"What…?" Naruto muttered, "No… It's not true!" He shouted, trying to reassure himself.
"Why do you think no one wants you? Why we all want you dead? It's because you're the beast that killed so many of our people!" He laughed at the new look of horror and despair on Narutos face.
"I'm… the Kyuubi…" He muttered, fresh tears dripping out of his eyes.
Sakura was silent the whole time; she stopped sniffling to process the information. "What…" She quietly said… "Naruto…"
The man turned to her, "So you see, you can go run home now and tell your mommy and daddy that we will be killing a beast tonight!"
"What!" Her head shot up, "You're calling him a monster when he has done absolutely nothing to you people! If anything, you all are the monsters!" She shouted to the whole crowd.
"Sakura…" Naruto muttered, a smile appeared on his face.
The man however, had a look of disgust on his face. "WHAT! You dare say that! When that boy had killed so many of us! He killed off our families, friends! The man's face twisted into one of pain, "My beloved wife… They're all dead! ALL BECAUSE OF HIM!"
"No!" Sakura shouted, but was stopped when the man punched her straight across the face.
"SAKURA!" Naruto shouted and got up from the ground, but two men held him from moving to help her. "No! Hurt me! Not her! She has done nothing wrong!"
The man turned to him, "You seem to show more pain when I hurt her…" He picked her up off the ground where she looked, "Now I'll show you how I felt ten years ago!" He slammed her against the ground, and blood suddenly shot out of her mouth.
He punched her, stomped on her, and blood flew everywhere.
Naruto watched in horror, screaming on the top of his lungs as he continued to hurt her. She lost consciousness halfway through, but the man continued to beat on her battered body anyways. At last he stopped, and held her over the railing of the building.
"Say good bye…" He said to Naruto, as he dropped the nearly dead girl to a fall that would pretty much insure her death.
"NOOOOOOO!" Naruto shouted, then suddenly time seem to stop for him. He looked around and quickly wiped the tears away from his eyes. He easily got out of the non-existence grip the men were holding on his and looked over the rail, where Sakura was just about to hit the pavement.
"What is this…" He asked, he was glad it happened, but he had no idea what HAD happened.
Suddenly a powerful growl came from behind him, and a fox-like figure walked over to him. He saw nine tails and all the details of it, and quickly realized what it was.
"Kyuubi…" He said neutrally.
"You're smarter than you look, boy…" he said and sat in front of Naruto's vision.
"I had little time to not be smart…" He replied back.
"True, child." Kyuubi said, "I have watched your whole life from your body, and seen the horrors that you have had to face… I am willing to offer you the power to save the one you love, and destroy these men…"
Naruto turned towards the demon, "What's the catch…"
"You really are smarter than normal children… The catch, is to destroy these men and anyone else who dare comes across your path who wants to hurt you, and save your love… And…" He said an evil look came across his face, "You have to release me right before you die…"
"No!" Naruto shouted, "I am not letting you out to destroy the world!"
"Fair enough." Kyuubi said, and time slowly began again, to Naruto's horror.
"STOP! Ok, I accept your deal demon! Just tell me how to when the time comes!" Naruto said, in fact, almost literally making a pact with the devil.
"Good…" Kyuubi began to laugh, "There is nothing to sign boy, just know, if you take back your word, I will do all in my power to destroy you from within and escape myself before you die, making you suffer in an eternal hell…"
Naruto nodded, and suddenly felt himself being almost dragged back to the position he was in. He was yet again in the two men's grasp, and he could see the laugh on the huge mans face.
"Die… Bitch!" He shouted, just then time came back and a shockwave of red chakra shot out and cut all the people around Naruto in half, after that he jumped off the rail with insane speed and caught Sakura milliseconds before she hit the ground, and he ran.
"I am not living in this damn village anymore!" He shouted, the Kyuubi chakra he was feeding on seem to glow brighter and helped him speed out of the place. Any person who got in his way met instant death, and didn't live long enough to feel any of the pain.
Naruto only saw blurred lights, and the fireworks that were above his head seem to blur into all the other lights in his vision. He shook his head and focused on escaping with Sakura.
Finally he reached the village gate and flew right pass it, he jumped on a tree branch and began to jump from branch to branch like he had done it all his life. He landed in the middle of the forest of Konoha, and put Sakura against a tree.
Finally when he figured he was far enough from the village he landed on the ground to check out Sakura's pulse.
"No!" He shouted in horror, the beat was very faint, and was growing worse every second he sat there on the forest ground. The damn demon lied! He said I could save her! But… now… He could feel more tears coming to his eyes… Damn it demon! I will do anything in my power to make sure-!
SHUT UP BRAT! Kyuubi spoke up from within Naruto, I will continue to 'honor' our deal here, all you need to do is put your hand over where her heart is located, and I may do the rest.
Naruto quickly complied, not caring if this would cost him the rest of his life at this point. He just didn't want to lose his first friend ever.
"Please…" He said as he put his hand where Kyuubi required it, "Don't die Sakura-chan…"
Suddenly red chakra came from his hand and began to enter the girls' body. All her bruises and wounds slowly began to heal up and her breath pattern went normal once again. Naruto watched the whole process, and smiled… I never thought I would have to thank a demon…
Don't. He simply replied. This will cost your love something as well though…
What?! Naruto thought back to the beast, what is the price she'll have to pay?
She'll be the second person to… keep me within them, since she is going to be sharing the seal of me with you… Naruto could almost sense the grin spreading on the beasts face, She'll be able to feed off of my power like you, and hear me as well… As for physical changes…
Naruto turned his head back at Sakura and noticed that her hair had turned from it's bubblegum pink color to light red color, almost like that of the demon foxes fur, and it extended to almost her feet. On the sides of her face the same marks Naruto had were appearing. She suddenly opened her eyes, and they were a much darker green color, but still looked as emerald as before.
"Naru…to…?" She coughed a little and looked around the place. Finally she turned her head to him and asked, "Are you alright?"
Naruto smiled and hugged her tightly, "Yeah Sakura-chan…" He was going to ask her the same question, but rather not bother her with needless questions. I hope she's okay as well.
"I'm fine … Thank you for caring Naru-kun…" Sakura said, she looked into his eyes that showed simply confusion. "Is there something the matter?"
"I never said anything…"
"Oh really?" Sakura sighed, "I heard you clear as day, you said, "I hope she's okay as well."
"Correction…" Naruto said, "I thought that…"
"What?" Sakura asked, now her turn to be the confused one.
Naruto looked around the woods and noted a small stream nearby them. "Well, it's a really long story… As you can see, we're not in Konoha anymore… Also, you nearly died… but I was able to save you with some help… It cost you some things though… Look into your reflection."
She got up and complied with what he said. She looked in and just stared at what she saw, "What did you do?" She finally asked, taking a look at her hair, which was now much longer than before.
"Kyuubi… he saved both of us…" Naruto said, not wanting to explain anymore than was needed.
"You got help from a demon?!" Sakura shouted at him, "That's idiotic! What if he did something bad?!"
Naruto raised his hand up, a sign telling her to stop talking, "Sakura, I didn't want to lose you! You seriously would have died if it weren't for him! I couldn't live on without you… if you died there, the guilt I would have to live with would be too much… Unbearable"
"Naruto…" She whispered, "It was awfully kind of a demon…"
Actually, there were a few things he needed to honor… Kyuubi said in both of their minds.
"What the?!" Sakura shouted, nearly falling into the stream. Naruto though, helped her back up.
He looked nervous and said, "Um, Sakura… meet Kyuubi. Kyuubi meet Sakura…"
XxXxXxXx
The Hokage was, for lack of better words, devastated. Last night, Kakashi and Yamato reported a mob forming at Naruto's house, he took the time to form a small force of ANBU to take them out, but he must of taken too long.
Naruto… Please forgive me…"Hokage-sama!" A jounin from the investigation squad burst into the room. "From what we could gather, Naruto's anger must of triggered the beast within him, it immediately killed the people around him, and when he was racing out of the village, he took down at least fourteen people in his rampage…
"What do you think pushed Naruto over the edge?" Sarutobi asked, "The child had a strong will…"
The Jounin sighed and said, "From what we could gather, several of the dead were Shinobi, so Naruto must of gone insane and they were there to try and stop him, but in his insanity, he must of not hesitated to kill them all within seconds. However, some of the dead bodies had grins on their faces, meaning that death must of hit them at the same time they were hit, giving them no time to react to the damage.
"What do you think happened?" Sarutobi asked.
"Well, I believe that the people there provoked Naruto into attacking… We found a blood sample that belonged to none of the dead bodies there, or Naruto's. When we tested it, it was from a girl whose name in Sakura. She was an orphan, and doesn't have a last name so to speak because of it."
"Sakura?" Sarutobi asked, "I remember… Naruto was telling me of a friend he had named Sakura… When I went to visit him…"
The jounin nodded, "Yes, it is confirmed that she was indeed, his friend. So the blood of her I found in the area, and no body suggest that she was harmed before the disaster began. Since she was Naruto's good friend, that leads me to believe that the people there were torturing her to get a reaction out of Naruto, and make him suffer."
"And it backfired…." The Hokage sighed, "He killed them and left the village with Sakura."
"Correct, Hokage-sama." He said, "But, we cannot publish this story, Hokage, with so many dead, people will believe you are only trying to protect the child."
Sarutobi sighed, showing the Shinobi in front of him no weaknesses whatsoever. "What's the total amount dead that you've gathered?"
"At least thirty four, and about a quarter of them were Shinobi of our village." He replied.
Suddenly, the doors to the office flew open, and a battle-scarred man entered the office with two members of ANBU following him. "Sarutobi, I believe you have heard of what has happened?"
"Yes Danzo…" He replied, "I have gotten the full report."
"From what I have gathered, he killed all those people with little to no effort, without remorse even. For this, we cannot forgive him. He must be put in the bingo book now!" Danzo explained.
Sarutobi stood, "No! He's just a child!"
"Don't forgot Sarutobi, Itachi was but a mere child when he was added as well. Why didn't you oppose him being added?"
"That was different!" Sarutobi shouted.
Danzo smiled, "In what way, Hokage-sama?"
Sarutobi then realized that he could never gain the support needed to not add the child. Propaganda of him would begin spread though the village, and his position would be ruined. He looked on in despair. "No…" Danzo was about to say something else until Sarutobi tossed him his hat, "Welcome to my job…"
"HOKAGE-SAMA!" The jounin shouted, "You can't do this! The village needs you!"
"The village lost my respect, and the right for me to protect them. I am going to take my leave." He walked out of the office without another word to be spoken.
Danzo picked up the hat of the Hokage and grinned, "And so, a new era for this village begins." He look towards the jounin, "You! I need two names added to the bingo book, Sarutobi, and Naruto… Both S ranked criminals."
The jounin threw his headband on the ground and spat on it, "Find someone else." He walked out after the Hokage."
XxXxXxXx
Sarutobi looked up and the village gate and sighed, "I am going to be added to the bingo book for this…" He looked out to the wilderness, "Naruto, I'm coming for you…"
The Jounin came out from behind him and shouted, "Hokage-sama! Wait for me!"
"Aoba…" The Hokage sighed, "You need to stay here. Make sure that Danzo doesn't destroy this peaceful village for me." Aoba looked shocked.
"Please Hokage-sama, you're making a mistake…" Aoba replied.
"That's Sarutobi to you." He smiled, "Please, don't worry about me." He gave the man a pat on the back, "I'll be back with Naruto eventually, please, take care."
In an instant the great Hokage was gone. Leaving Aoba alone.
"I will respect your wishes… Sarutobi…"
Chapter one END.
Ok, that's it for that chapter, I have so many ideas for this, and lets pray that I can fit them all in this! With summer right around the corner I'll have plenty of time to work on this after exams!
Chapter two will be up soon! See you all later!
P.S. The part with Sakura being beaten was inspired by Elfin lied, when the dog was being beaten in front of the girl and she killed all the children because of it. If you haven't seen the anime, you should, it's awesome.
