A/N: yada yada Naruto fic, blah blah done before, etc. etc. new, whatever. Let's get this thing underway.

EDIT: I noticed a few problems with the first chapter, so I've gone back to correct them. I'm currently working on the second chapter, but it's slow going. I'm trying to double the length of the first chapter. Also, I don't know if this is going to be a hetero story or not. I'm bi, and tend to write stories with at least bisexual characters. Just a trait of mine, but we'll see where it goes. Most of it depends on what I'm going to do with Haku (no bitching! I love Haku, dammit!).

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Any OC's or OC attitudes are mine.

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Naruto Uzumaki tensed. The ticking of the clock echoed in his mind. The moment was coming, but this time, he was ready. This time, he was prepared. Let the bitch try. Let hir fail.(1) This was the last time shi would be making a fool out of Naruto. And when shi sank into a dark little corner to sulk at hir first-ever defeat, Naruto would be there to stand over hir, filling hir ears with mocking laughter in the glow of his first-ever victory!

The moment passed. However, Naruto wasn't fooled. He had often been lulled into a false sense of security by this. At first it had become routine. Every day, at the exact same time. And then it had begun to randomize. Slightly before, slightly after. With the latter, to make him think he was safe, to make him think he was "home free" as they say. And then WHAM! There it was, and he'd be cringing (well, ok, not really, figure of speech) in pain once again, and the mocking laughter was in his ears. Not this time. Not today.

However, when ten minutes had passes, Naruto began to let his guard down. Perhaps shi was asleep? It was very possible, that, maybe, shi could have finally tired of hir little game. I mean, even shi couldn't keep interested in something that damn childish every. Single. Day. …right? Maybe now he was actually safe, and he could relax, and carry on his day without his daily dose of rage. Right?

No.

"GOOOOOOOOD MOOOOORNIIIIIIIIING, NAAAARUUUUUTOOOOOO!"

Naruto had to bite down on his tongue, hard, to keep from crying out in pain. The booming, ear-splitting, inhuman voice reverberated through his head, shaking his brain like it owed money and causing a massive headache (think the worst hangover you've EVER had) to spread to every inch of his head. Even his fucking jaw hurt!!

The voice, of course, came from the legendary Tailed Demon Lord, the Kyuubi no Yoko, or the Nine-Tailed Fox. The demon that had been sealed by the Fourth Hokage into a newborn on the day the demon had attacked the Village Hidden in the Leaves, or Konohagakure no Sato. And the newborn that the beast had been sealed into was Naruto Uzumaki himself.

The Jinchuuriki, or "Power of Human Sacrifice". Humans, or more precisely, shinobi, chosen to carry the souls and power of high-ranking demons and Demon Lords. Living weapons. Shinobi chosen for the duty of protecting their villages with this awesome power. In some cases, the demons were sealed into shinobi for the sake of military strength. For others, the reasons for the sealing were kept a secret, even from the Jinchuuriki. And for others, to save the village and make them a hero.

However, it can be agreed on that no Jinchuuriki has ever been looked on as a hero. All are cursed, in some way, to a life of loneliness, mockery, cruelty, and in a few rare cases, murder. This is because humans fear what they do not understand. That fear turns to hatred, that hatred to violence.

It had been the same for Naruto, although he didn't think, he knew he got it worse. He knew there were other Jinchuuriki, but did they suffer as he had? He highly doubted it. Oh, they may have gotten the occasional beating, maybe some unfair treatment, maybe banned from certain public places. But there was one instance in Naruto's mind that would always stand out. That had been the final straw; the event that showed him these people, and their ignorance, were beyond redemption. They deserved nothing but his undying hatred. And perhaps, one day, they would be made to understand just what that meant, coming from Naruto.

-Six years prior-

Young Naruto's day had started off better than he could have hoped for. He was finally getting out of the orphanage. He had been given an allowance by an "anonymous benefactor" (although he knew it was the Hokage), which would allow him to pay for an apartment and purchase his own food. This was good, because the orphanage was hell. So he'd gone out to find an apartment.

This was where his day had gone down the shitter, before noon even hit. Let's go down the list, shall we?

The only apartment he could afford to pay for what in the slums of Konoha, which, itself, was under renovation. This was a place that couldn't be torn down or renovated, because the inhabitants (mostly drug addicts and small-time criminals) refused to move. He highly doubted that this was going to be the safest place for him, but there was nothing he could do about it. At least here he had a door to lock, and that might be enough to keep him safe for awhile. Again, he doubted it. But he didn't know, that soon, safety wasn't going to be an issue for him.

So he purchased the shit-heap room. It was moldy, it smelled awful, and there were even a few bloodstains on the mattress, which itself looked to be infested with insects feeding on dead rats. He opened a window, folded the thing up, and tossed it out into the street. Not like it mattered, the streets here were full of trash anyway. The bathroom was small, the light broken, and the facilities covered in green fungus, shit, and other unpleasant things. He thought only napalm could clean that shit up. And the kitchen was just as small, the stove was broken, the sink was cracked, the faucet dripping brown water, and the cupboards bare and falling apart. So let's add water bottles and carpenter's tools to the list of things needed.

He went out, and the first thing he needed to purchase next was food. He made a mental list of the beginning things he would need. Water bottles, meat, fruit, different types of vegetables, and milk, as a starter. And maybe candy. But he couldn't get frivolous, he still had a few other things he needed to buy. Now imagine his disappointment when, coming down the street, stall vendors began to wheel their carts away, and shop owners put 'Closed' signs up and locked their doors, hurrying away from the area. And each person looked at him with these awful, cold, evil eyes. He had met this attitude every day, from every person (except for the Hokage, someone named Iruko Umino, and these two cool ANBU with hyena and Jackal masks). He sighed, figuring that he would be eating at Ichiraku's Ramen every day (and only once a day; he couldn't afford it three times in one day).

Similarly, the shops for the tools he needed to fix his apartment, get a pillow and a blank for a start, and get some new clothes all boarded up as he neared them. And a few roaming Uchiha even had the nerve to tell him that he was banned from the district, and to remain confined to the slums. And that if they ever saw him at the Hokage's Tower, they would arrest him on sight and throw him in "The Cage" for a night, and see how he liked it.

That is, until a few ANBU he didn't know (including one with a tower of strange, spiky silver hair) told them to "shut the fuck up and get back to your compound, unless you want to be arrested for treason against a fellow Leaf citizen". And then they told Naruto to move along, and so he did. The day had been a bust, so he figured he'd get lunch at Ichiraku's, go home, and hope the vermin didn't consume him alive in his sleep.

The two people at Ichiraku's, run by a man named Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, had always been nice to Naruto, as had the Hokage, Iruka, and his ANBU friends. Ayame often squealed and hugged the bright-eyed little boy on sight, much to the embarrassment of both him and her father (both considered it to be unprofessional at the work place). They gave him discounts on ramen, but they couldn't give it away for free. And not even the discount was enough for Naruto to buy it more than once daily. He might even have to skip a few days this month.

After he finished eating, he decided to head to the park. On the way, he saw a man whispering to his daughter, who looked to be the same age as Naruto. She nodded, and skipped over to Naruto, smiling. He smiled back, thinking that she was actually going to be nice to him. Oh, how wrong he was.

As she neared him, he realized she was only pretending as her face contorted to rage. He slapped him in the face, and Naruto, stunned, raising a hand to his stinging cheek.

"You killed my sister, you monster!" shrieked the little girl, slapping him again, and then pushing him down.

Tears filled Naruto's eyes. This always happened. People would blame him for murders he never committed. They would spit on him, trip him, or outright hit him, and he would always be punished by pathetically weak Chunin or spiteful Jounin for "attacking a fellow Leaf citizen". And he was sick of it, sick of the cruelty, the unfair treatment, the utter bullshit.

He pushed himself to his feet, and with a cry of rage, launched himself at the little girl, punching every inch of her he could reach. She began to cry, and her father, outraged, stormed over, grabbing Naruto by his neck, and slamming the six-year-old boy into a fence. He punched him in the gut, and grabbed his hand, snapping it back and breaking it at the wrist. The punch had knocked the wind out of him, so he couldn't scream as he felt his bones breaking, only let out a weak, breathless hiss, tears streaming from his face. The man raised his fist again, but was caught by two masked Jounin.

They shook their heads, assuring they would "take it from here". One grabbed Naruto, and the other hit him around the head, knocking him into unconsciousness. When Naruto next awoke, he found himself in some crappy, little wooden hut, which he had seen a few times in a somewhat remote part of the building. His head hurt, he was groggy, and outside, he could hear shouting. He tried to move, and found that he was tied to a chair. His broken wrist throbbed horribly.

"So, demon, you're finally gonna get what's coming to ya."

"We're gonna make you pay for what you did to our village."

One voice was low and deep, the other high-pitched and nasally. Looking up, he saw two masked Jounin, one large, muscled, and bald, with bright yellow eyes, the other short, wiry, with a mop of messy black hair and cold gray eyes.

The big one leaned down, speaking in the deep voice. "We're gonna send you back to Hell, ya little shit."

The short one leaned in, snickering. "Yeah! But first, we're gonna treat you like the monster you are!"

The big one grabbed Naruto's jaw, hard, and held up a curved knife that was glowing slightly. "Now, don'tcha fuckin' move, ya little bastard, or I'll cut your tongue from your head." Naruto clenched his jaw, tears streaming down his face as the man began to cut into his forehead. He didn't cry out once during the whole thing, even as each slice put fresh pain into his forehead.

The big man let go, and stepped back. Carved with spiky letters into his forehead was a word "DEMON". Now, normally this would heal, but they were using a blessed knife. With the holy energies it held, the wounds would never fully heal, and he would be scarred forever. The big man took hold of Naruto head, and handed the knife to the little man, who could be seen grinning even through that mask. He was quicker and more artful than his counterpart, and when he was done, three whisker-like, bleeding scars were cut into Naruto's cheek.

"Now he looks more like the fox-monster he is!" crowed the little man, while the big one just laughed.

Naruto sat there, crying silently, blood pouring down his face. And as he sat there, he could hear noises outside. Voices, loud, excited, and angry. The big man grinned, grabbing Naruto's jaw, and beginning to slowly crush it under his massive strength.

"Hear that, demon? The people of the village are ready to exact their revenge for the lives you took, and the families broken because of your vile actions. Let them in."

One man, fat, bald, and ugly, came in, unzipping his pants. "Here's a taste of what every demon in Hell's gonna do to you, monster!" He proceeded to brutally rape Naruto's mouth, uncaring when the boy began to choke, and turn slightly blue in the face. He began to convulse, and it was a close call, but the man finally shot his load and pulled out, lumbering out of the hut with a chuckle, as Naruto began to vomit, gasping for breath.

A woman came in next, holding a knife. "This is for my father!" He shoved the knife deep into his belly, ripping the barbed instrument out again, and slapping Naruto across the face, shattering his cracked and weakened jaw.

More people came in, hitting, spitting on, and otherwise tormenting Naruto. As his injuries got worse, his vision began to swim, his blood pooling onto the floor. At one point someone gashed open his belly, his innards slowly pushing out of his body. Another person jammed a fork into his eye socket, pulling the optical orb out but not severing it. And yet another person took the arm with the broken wrist, and broke it at the elbow and shoulder. An Uchiha with a permanently-active Sharingan and lines on his face had come in, and subjected Naruto to a horrible Genjutsu that seemed to last for three straight days of non-stop cutting, slicing, and hacking, that never killed him. Naruto's mind had succumbed to the kekkei genkai and shattered, and his throat had ruptured and began to bleed after his hoarse screaming became too much. The two men who had started the whole thing stood to either side of the crying, bleeding, bruise-and-semen covered boy.

The big man laughed. "And now, you little shit, we're going to send your ass right to hell!"

The short man cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, "Let him have it, Wolf-san!"

Naruto glanced up, and through his blurry vision, saw a strange, blue-white, erratic light off in the distance.

The crowd let out a singular cry: "FOR THE YONDAIME!"

As the light began to rapidly surge closer, the blaring, extremely loud sound of a thousand chirping birds had finally pushed his hearing back into his ears, and suddenly, a single thought flashed through his mind:

'I'M GOING TO DIE!!!'

As the wolf-masked ANBU neared the cabin, Naruto's eyes snapped open, turning crimson with pure rage as his broken jaw opened wide, letting out a massive, keening, demonic roar. The blast-wave hit the ANBU just as he got to the door, running at massive speeds, canceling out his jutsu and knocking the hapless man back hundreds of yards to come to a painful stop into a tree. Foul, dark, crimson chakra began to leak from Naruto's body, blasting into the two Jounin and burning their skin from their bodies. The two screaming Jounin died brutally, as the chakra became scything blades that hacked their bodies into pieces. This same chakra began to push his innards back into his body, reeling his eye into his head, and forcing his wound shut and 'fusing' them together for the time being. It tired to heal his face repeatedly, but the scars would not heal over.

The mob outside screamed in terror as, suddenly, this chakra erupted from the cabin, forming itself into the head, shoulders, arms and clawed hands of a massive fox with burning red eyes and black markings around it's eyes and up into it's ears. The beast roared, swinging it's burning hands at the mob, searing the skin off of their bodies, and reversing the swing to hack them apart next, leaving the scene a heap of bloodied body parts. The fox slammed its hands into the ground and roared, before diving into the ground.

The Hokage had called ANBU to the scene as he felt the massive, demonic chakra in the village, his hands shaking on the desk. Of course, when they got there, they would find a half-healed, unconscious Naruto asleep and tied to the chair, with everyone else dead, save the wolf-masked ANBU, who had lesions, several broken bones, and was unconscious. The Hokage sat back in his chair, unable to even light his pipe.

'It's starting again…'

When Naruto next awakened, he found himself on a soft, surprisingly comfortable bed in a strange building. He was warm, although exhausted, and his body hurt like hell. There were curtains around his bed. He tried to get up, and found himself strapped to the bed.

"What the hell?!"

"Hey, shut up over there!" Huh…that voice was familiar.

Naruto found a small note on the bedside table, reading 'The Hokage told me you were spirited and stubborn. You're staying in that bed until you're fully healed.' The note didn't have a signature or anything.

Naruto sighed, and glanced down at his body. There was something odd. He couldn't quite feel his right arm. And then he saw the problem; it wasn't there anymore. The blanket where it should have been was deflated. And then he remembered; the night before. The torture, the pain, the horrible, bright light, coming for him…and then the darkness. That was all he remembered. He began to hyperventilate, and suddenly, his mind rang out, and his vision went black.

When he awoke, he was standing in a dark, dimly-lit corridor. It was dank, and he was standing about five inches of water. There was only one way he could go, and that was forward, and so he did. He walked on, for what felt like hours. Several times he wondered if there was even a point to it, and if he should go back and try to find another way out. But just as he was about to give up hope, he felt it.

It was a massive source of power, bigger than anything he'd ever felt. It was also malevolent, very evil. However, it intrigued him, so he walked on, seeing a brighter light at the end of the tunnel getting closer now. He sped up slightly, wanting to know what was at the end of the tunnel.

He entered a large area, and in front of him were the bars of a massive cage. He could see the ends, nor the top, as the ceiling was so high. There was no door, either; just a piece of paper on the bars that said 'Seal'. However, as he neared the cage, two large, slitted red eyes opened, and then a fanged maw snarled at him.

"Who dares disturb the resting place of the great Kyuubi no Yo…k…oh, it's you."The great beast gave a snort, it's eyes focusing on Naruto with rage. The voice was deep, powerful, carrying a ring of authority. It was also extremely hard to tell whether it was male or not. "It's my 'container'. Great. The fuck doyouwant?"

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. For some reason, he felt no fear for this demon. "Interesting. Was all of that supposed to intimidate me? Cuz, you know…it's didn't work."

Kyuubi's brown twitched. What was this human doing insulting the greatest of the Tailed Demon Lord. 'This'll show the little shit,'the demon thought, and in a flash of bright light, the Kyuubi was illuminated in all of hir glory, with a loud, ground-shaking roar. "Nobody insults me, puny mortal! I'm going to-what the?"

The kid had disappeared. Suddenly, Kyuubi felt hands on the underside of its belly. The demon looked under its body, to find Naruto scratching its stomach. "Hehehe, fuzzy."

The Kyuubi arched a brow, giving off this perfect expression of 'what the fuck'. Kyuubi was so confused at this point. The demon reached under, grabbed Naruto, and lifted him into the air, narrowing hir eyes. "Aren't you scared of me?! I'm the Kyuubi no Yoko! The most powerful of the Demon Lords!"

Naruto shrugged. "Not especially. I know you're a part of me. I guess I always knew, if I didn't realize it. So I'm sure that if I die, you die."

The Kyuuni blinked. 'Huh, I suppose the kid isn't a retard after all.'

Naruto looked at the demon, and sighed. "So you're the reason they call me 'demon' and treat me like I'm vermin."

The demon smirked. "Yep. Whatcha gonna do? Cry about it?"

His answer surprised Kyuubi. "Nope. Nothing I can do about it, I suppose. I'm sure they'll kill me eventually, so does it really matter?"

That actually brought a twinge of pity to the ancient demon's heart. The Kyuubi sighed, laying down and placing Naruto on the ground in front of hir. "Why not learn to defend yourself from them?"

Naruto looked up at the Kyuubi. "How? I'm just a weak kid. There's nothing special about me. I could become a shinobi, but…I would never be anything else than average, if even that."

The Kyuubi sighed. That was true…the Kyuubi knew more about the kid's parentage than ever, and in the terms of inherited power, he got fucked over hard. But then, Kyuubi had an idea. "What if I make you a hanyou?"

Naruto blinked. "Say again?"

"Hanyou…means half-demon."

"I know that. How, exactly, would you do that, and why?"

"It would mean merging myself to you partially. My essence, placed into yours, will overtake your human blood and transform you into a hanyou. You'll become much stronger and have the potential for ridiculous amounts of power, even for a shinobi."

Naruto nodded. "Sounds good…why would you do this for me, again? I don't fall into traps, and I know about you Kitsune."

The Kyuubi snorted. "Because I refuse to be sealed away into such a weak body. So, how about it,human?"

"Well, I-"

"Decide quickly."

"I mean, if it works for both of us-"

"I mean it, I'm impatient."

"Don't really see a downsi-"

"FUCKING CHOOSE!"

"Ok, ok, deal!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he felt the most intense pain of his entire life. Nothing else could ever come close to this feel. It felt like his blood was boiling, and trying to slither towards his orifices as his body slowly died. He was burning from the inside out, the flames searing and cooking meat, organ, joint and tissue. His eyes boiled and melted out of the sockets, and he finally screamed out in pain for just a second before his throat seized up.

Of course, this was merely what it felt like, not what happened. His eyes became slitted, with small flecks of crimson around the pupil. His missing right arm regrew itself, to the corrected length and width, only his forearm was covered in red-orange fur, his fingers thinner, although the fingers of both hands were tipped with sharp, iron-hard claws. His canines, upper and lower, grew in his mouth. At no point did he pass out; he was awake for all of it, struggling, twisting his body and trying to break the straps as his blue chakra began to leak around his body and turn black and purple. And finally, it all died down, and he lie in the bed, breathing hard in pain.

A man wearing a white coat came into the room. He was old. Dirt-old. His skin hang from his body, papery and wrinkled, his milk eyes fixed on the clipboard held in bony hands that might have belonged to a skeleton. He looked alarmed, having no doubt felt the demonic chakra coming from the room. Strangely, the man who had been in the bed next to Naruto's was gone at the moment, and a young, raven-haired, busty nurse came in with the old man, who looked relieved to see all was well.

"Good morning, Naruto. I am Doctor Ryuhara, I'm the one assigned to your care. This is my assistant, Nurse Jun." The female waved, smiling cheerfully. The old man looked over Naruto, and gave a shout of surprise, clutching his heart. "I-but-you-wha…your arm! What happened to your arm, it was missing! The bl-er, the knife the men used on you cut in off in the, ah…in the confusion!"

The nurse was called off to something else, and left the room. Naruto looked at the doctor, and put on the perfect expression of innocent confusion. "Hmm? No it didn't, my arm's been here the entire time. Maybe you're seeing things?"

He tried to hide his arm, but the doctor wasn't stupid. He grabbed Naruto's arm, running his hand over the fur. The fur of the Kyuubi no Yoko. He looked at Naruto. "Now, Naruto…let's not lie to ourselves. I'm sure this must be very confusing for you, but-"

"No, Doctor, I already know about the Kyuubi."

WHAT?! YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FO-"

Suddenly, two ANBU rushed into the room, grabbing hold of the doctor, one holding a katana to his neck. It was Hyena and Jackal, Naruto friends.

"Shut the hell up, Old Man! Do you want us to have to kill you?!" hissed Hyena.

"Hey, Naruto!" greeted Jackal.

He nodded. "Hello Sora-san, Hyakkumaru-san."

The Jackal groaned. "Ah, don't call me that, Naruto. Just, 'Ku-san' is fine."

Naruto shrugged. "If you like. But please, don't break my doctor, he's actually nice to me."

As they released him, the old man huffed. "Idiots. Naruto, I see you know these two. They brought you here last night." The two ANBU nodded. "Apparently, he knows about the Kyuubi."

Naruto nodded. "I just got done talking to Kyuubi."

"You talk to the Kyu-" Sora smacked Ku in the face, who raised a hand to the back of his head, chuckling sheepishly. "Heh, sorry."

Sora shook her head. "Fucking idiot."

Ryuhara facepalmed. "You're both goddamn retards. I put a sound seal on the door after you two bursted in here, but please, continue to try to shout through it."

"Sorry," said both ANBU. Naruto just chuckled.

"Well, glad to see you're ok, Naruto. I'm off to bang that Jun chick! Pea-ack!" Ku didn't get far, as Sora grabbed him around the throat.

"Thank you," said Ryuhara. "Both of you, outside the room, please."

Sora dragged a choking Ku out of the room, and released him as the door was closed. "What is his condition?" she asked.

The doctor looked at his clipboard. "Physically, he's fine. I don't know how he grew that arm back, but you both know it was gone!"

They nodded.

"And those eyes…I think these are signs of dark times to come, but for now, let's give the poor boy the benefit of the doubt."

Ku nodded. "And his mind?"

Ryuhara sighed. "Shattered. Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan broke his mind to pieces."

Sora inched closer. "So, he's mentally and emotionally de-"

"No," interrupted Ryuhara, shaking his head. "I know what you're thinking. But no, he isn't a robot. A bit of Naruto is still in there, but he can still feel the entire range of emotions. Honestly, he'd have been better off without them."

"What do you mean," asked Ku.

"He won't show the signs yet, but eventually Naruto will become a deranged, paranoid-delusional schizophrenic with involuntary narcissistic rage."

"What." Deadpanned both ANBU.

The doctor sighed. "He's a psychopath. His personality will be subject to intense shifts in behavior and thinking patterns. One moment, he might be nice as you please, the next, he'll tear your fucking balls off."

Ku cringed, holding his balls in phantom pain.

Sora nodded. "Come, Ku. Let's report to Hokage-sama." The male nodded, and both looked to Naruto, and then disappeared.

Ryuhara sighed, and went to fetch the other patient, wheeling him into the space next to Naruto's bed. Naruto wouldn't know, for a good six years, who the man in the next bed was. However, Ryuhara knew, and restrained with great difficulty, from killing him, that the man was Kakashi Hatake, creator of the Raikiri, or Lightning Blade.

The man who tried last night to kill Naruto.

-Side note-

This would become the basis for the way Naruto is today; why he is always wearing a black headband, made of a special demon material (which he got from Kyuubi) with the Leaf Village symbol in orange, and a facemask (similar to that of Kakashi Hatake, although black), both of which hide the scars that never healed.

-Present-

'I am so going to beat the ever-loving shit out of you!!'

He heard the Kyuubi snicker. "Uh-huh, sure. You couldn't beat me before, and you can't beat me now. Enjoy your headache, I'm going to sleep. Bye, Naru-kuuun!"

Grumbling, Naruto looked up as Iruka-sensei called his name. "Yes?"

Iruka looked irritated. "Since you weren't paying attention, I'll assume you already know the lesson. So tell me, what are the five Kages?"

Naruto sighed. "Hokage: Fire Shadow, lord of Konohagakure no Sato, or the Village Hidden in the Leaves, in the Land of Fire. We have had four Hokages. Kazekage: Wind Shadow, lord of Sunagakure no Sato, or the Village Hidden in the Sand, in the Land of Wind. There have been four Kazekages at present. Mizukage: Water Shadow, lord of Kirigakure no Sato, or the Village Hidden in the Rain, in the Land of Water. There have been four Mizukages. Raikage: Lightning Shadow, in Kumogakure no Sato, or the Village hidden in the Clouds, in the Land of Lightning. There have been four Raikages. And Tsuchikage: Earth Shadow, lord of Iwagakure no Sato, or the Village Hidden in the Rocks, in the Land of Earth. At present, there have been two Tsuchikages, the current one older than our Sandaime Hokage. And then there is the sixth, unofficial kage, the Hoshikage: Star Shadow, lord of Hoshigakure no Sato, or the Village Hidden in the Stars, in the Land of Bears. They have had four Hoshikages at present.(2) Is that a sufficient answer?"

Iruka blinked. "Um…yes." The bell rang. Ok, everyone, I'll see you tomorrow for the Final Exam. Goodbye."

As Naruto rose from his chair, he turned for the exit, taking care to bash his shoulder into a black-haired emo prick on the way out, which earned him glares from two silly girls, one with pink hair, one with blonde.

"Get out of my way, emo."

--

A/N: And done! What do you think for the first chapter? I thought the blessed knife would be a good twist for Naruto's almost-obsession with headbands, and a new reason for his whisker markings. This is just a small glimpse of what's to come. Yes, I know, short chapter. But as always, the subsequent chapters will get better. I decided to integrate the numbered hints I've seen in another fanfic to explain some things.

1. I really didn't want to give this away yet, but the Kyuubi is androgynous. No gender. The Kyuubi can have a gender, but the fox is actually, truly genderless. Words like 'shi' and 'hir' are generally used for hermaphrodites, but I figured, why not something androgynous as well?

2. For those who don't know, yes, this is actually cannon. I didn't make it up.

Til next time, peace!