Hello everyone, SilentFang here doppin a new story on ya!

To by 100% honest, I kind of hate myself for writing this one. It's been in my head for several days and wouldn't leave me alone! Gah! It even kept me from working on Great Blaze (which is almost done by the way) and another crossover I was working on before this one. I just decided to pound this out so I could get back to work on my main projects. This is going to be a backburner story. Something I most likely won't update too frequently and probably won't ever finish, to be honest. I'll only really work on it when I need a break from my other ones.

Now as some of you have noticed by the title alone, this is definitely going to be a Kumagawa-like Naruto story, although with a few key differences. What they are, you'll have to find out on your own (well, either that or wait until I explain them lol).

Please Enjoy~!

In the perspective of others, Naruto Uzumaki has always been a strange child.

From the moment he was born, misfortune seemed to follow him around. Not one minute after leaving the womb, he was held hostage by a masked man who threatened to end his life.

Less hour after that, he was wrapped in the protective embrace of his parent's corpses after being made into the jinchuuriki of the strongest and most feared entity to ever walk the elemental nations.

Growing up, Naruto was severely ostracized, as many jinchuuriki are. While he was oblivious at first, as he became more aware of himself and others he noticed people treating him differently. There was always an overwhelming cloud of something that seemed to hang in the air whenever he was around. No matter where he went, while wandering the streets, there seemed to be this nagging feeling of negativity nibbling at the back of his skull.

And yet despite sensing all of this, Naruto smiled a small yet toothy grin.

At the age of five, Naruto experienced the sensation known as pain for the first time, during his tenure as a resident of one of Konoha's many orphanages opened in the aftermath of the Third Shinobi War. Being an abnormally clever child, Naruto regularly snuck out of the orphanage at night to wander around the village.

He just happened to do so the night a representative from Kumogakure was attempting to kidnap the Hyuuga heiress.

When crossing paths with said ninja, he was assaulted and quickly incapacitated, his worst injury luckily only being a kunai to the shoulder. When he was found and treated, he pondered on this new sensation called "pain". It fascinated him. It was like someone had taken the negativity he had been feeling from the villagers his whole life and turned it into bodily harm.

To him, it was the most interesting feeling in the world.

Once again, he observed all of this with a toothy smile on his face.

Several months later, he was made to feel "pain" once again. The matron of the orphanage was a woman in her late forties, who had never outright neglected Naruto, but never really went out of her way to make sure he felt welcome either. To her, the child was just there and she was entirely neutral. She may have been the tiniest bit bitter since had lost her mother (the previous matron) during the Kyuubi attack, but at the same time, her mother was in her eighties so her life was nearing its end anyway.

But one day, the matron's husband, a jounin level shinobi was suddenly admitted to the hospital one day after collapsing while on duty. He was one of the only surviving shinobi to have gotten within jutsu firing range of the Kyuubi without getting trampled… unfortunately this caused him to be in its direct vicinity when it gathered chakra for a bijudama. The high concentration of inhuman chakra ended up invading his system and acting as a very slow acting poison, and since he had a position within the village that required very little combat, he didn't notice his strength slowly dissipating until it was too late.

He died a month later.

Overwhelmed by the loss of her husband, the matron drowned her grief in alcohol, something she had never partaken in before then. Her intoxicated mind then made the final push, turning her mostly neutral mentality into one of extreme hatred and anger. By the time the night was finished, Naruto Uzumaki had been openly assaulted in front of the other orphans.

The matron was arrested of course, and the orphanage put under the management of another matron, with that being the only instance of Naruto being assaulted by an adult of Konohagakure.

Keyword being "Adult".

Seeing the normally nice matron assault Naruto while calling him things like "Demon" and "Monster" affected them in a very negative way. This was amplified when the women who had raised them was taken away by the village police who wore fan symbols on their backs. In their thought process, there was no way the kind matron who had never laid a hand on anyone before that day would do something as harsh as assault a child for no reason. So with that logic the fault had to lie with the one being beaten, right?

She called that boy a "Demon" and a "Monster", so that meant he must be one…

Right?

Children are cruel. It is an unfortunate fact of life that many people tend to overlook. They learn by observation. Assaulting Naruto while calling him such harsh names made the other children oust him as being different. Something bad. And so, the other orphans decided to take things into their own hands and continue the old matron's practice on her behalf.

It started out small. Taking away the toys he was playing with. Refusing to talk to him when he approached them. Stealing food off of his dinner plate. It never really bothered him much to be honest. The toys he played with always ended up breaking, he actually preferred being alone so it was actually a small improvement in that regard, and he always got the most overcooked or underdone portions of the food so he didn't really mind that either. It was a small surprise to him when he started to feel the same sensations of extreme negativity inside the orphanage that he felt outside, but it actually made him a bit more comfortable.

He was so used to feeling it during his walks that not feeling it at his place of residence was starting to get strange.

When the other children saw that their efforts were doing nothing, they decided to take a page out of the old matron's book. The bullying was taken a step further when the children started attacking him during their daily outside time in the backyard of the orphanage. A few boys even took it upon themselves to beat him up.

When they saw that even physical harm was doing nothing they redoubled their efforts, beating Naruto to the point where one day when he was six years old, he had to be hospitalized. The children were severely punished and Naruto was given his own small apartment on the other side of town.

The smile never left his face, even as he felt the satisfaction of the villagers as they watched his bandaged form walk down the streets.

After that incident, things once again calmed down for a while. For about a year, things were normal. Naruto would walk down the streets with his usual grin, with no real destination in mind, absentmindedly wondering on the nature of the sensation that he was constantly feeling. He would then stop by the park and watch the other children play then leave. One or two times some of the children from the old orphanage would be there and beat him up, but he just smiled his way through like always.

When a passing ninja brought this up to the Hokage, the leader of the village decided to confront Naruto about this. He asked the boy why he never defended himself. Why did he not fight back? Even though the hokage would prefer Naruto not fight at all, it was better than getting beaten to a bloody pulp. Naruto laughed and responded with a rather simple answer.

"I am used to it."

And it was true. Feeling pain and negativity had become a semi-constant in his life. So much so that he didn't even acknowledge it anymore. He had seen and felt it so many times that it no longer interested him. And so, he just let it happen.

That made the old hokage's heart clench in sadness, but in the end he could do nothing about it. There was after all no real way he could justify assigning an ANBU guard to a child that was willingly letting others bully him to the elder council. If it was adults assaulting him regularly then yes, but these were you children. He couldn't throw them in jail. And if he made a special case for one child being bullied he'd have to assign an ANBU guard to every child being bullied.

The hokage was forced to leave it at that. Albeit with great reluctance.

Two days later, as a group of boys a few years older than him him forced him to eat sand, a strange thought popped into Naruto's head. An idle inquiry that randomly pushed itself into his thought process. Yet for him, it carried a lot for weight.

'What would it feel like to win?'

It was a valid question. After all, he knew what losing felt like. He had lost each and every confrontation he had ever been in during his short life either through lack of trying or just being straight up outclassed. Winning never even crossed his mind. He innately knew he would always lose, so he never bothered to try to do anything about it. But now his mind was made up. Next time something like this happened, he would try his hardest to win. Sure enough, a few days later he was confronted by another group of kids, this time, ones the same age as him. As they dragged him into a back alley and started to gang up on him, Naruto, for the first time in his life, fought back.

He lost.

'Ah' Naruto thought. 'I really want to win this time.' Even though he constantly smiled, losing hurt. He had learned from the new matron of the orphanage before he moved out that the opposite of pain was pleasure. What would pleasure feel like? Would he feel pleasure if he won? He had figured out a short time ago that the sensation that constantly nibbled at the back of his mind when he walked through the village was their "negativity". What would "positivity" feel like? Would he feel "positivity" if he won?

The only way to find out was to "win".

And yet he couldn't "win" because he was a "loser".

Quite the conundrum, if he did say so himself. He was weak. Probably the weakest person in the world, and he knew that. So the only way for him to win was for them to be as weak as him.

And that was when it happened. He felt a strange sensation spring forth during his internal musings. He didn't know what it was exactly, but it allowed him to stand up, even though the other children had been stomping on his fallen body for several minutes already.

Looking at his hand, he clenched it into a fist as he curiously watched the scuffs and bruises on them disappeared. In fact, all of the pain in his body was disappearing. He looked to the children who were observing him and his miraculous healing in stunned disbelief, then flinch away as his usual small yet toothy grin came onto his face. As he lunged at them, he only had one thought running through his mind.

'I want to win.'

Even as his fists met flesh…

'I want to win!'

Even as he reminisced about all the pain he went through in his life…

'I WANT TO WIN!'

And even as blood flew through the air, and splattered on the pavement, his thought process never changed.

'I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN!'

And so for the first time in his life, Naruto Uzumaki won.

And it felt absolutely euphoric.

Minutes later, one Inoichi Yamanaka, who had been searching for his daughter, found him standing above the bruised and battered bodies of six other children (including his own) that seemed to have giant slotted pan-head screws stabbed into them. The child's irises were a glowing sinister scarlet and had an animalistic slit running through the middle. The six usually thin whisker marks on his cheeks had thickened and grown into jagged rents that marred his face like scars. There were black rings surrounding his eyes and lips, fanged canines were shown in his small smile, and blood was running from his clawed hands and the similar looking giant screw clenched in one of them.

Naruto Uzumaki slowly turned towards the horrified parent as his features returned to normal and spread his arms to his sides "Don't blame me…" he started with an ecstatic look on his face "…because it's not my fault~!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi held back another sigh as he sat at the head of a rectangular table with several other individuals on either side. To his left, the Konoha elder council, consisting of the three elders, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzou Shimura to his right were the grieving parents of one Sakura Haruno and an outraged Tsume Inuzuka. While most of the children got away with only severe bruising and minor gashes—even though the report stated they were found with what appeared to be giant screw stabbed through their torsos—Sakura Haruno was found completely deceased with her entire face missing, having been ripped off and all evidence proving that Naruto Uzumaki was, beyond a reasonable doubt, the perpetrator.

It had all happened while young Naruto was drawing upon the Kyuubi's chakra seeing as Inoichi said he had witnessed the boys transformation recede, yet he also said that for the scant few seconds he did observe the transformation it appeared that the child was in complete control.

This brings up a problem. Whether or not Naruto was in control didn't really matter in the end. The problem was they have what could be a mentally unstable jinchuuriki on their hands, and that was a very big no-no. They would have to put him in a training program immediately. The only thing that would really change was the fact that if he was indeed in control, he would have to go through extensive therapy first to make sure he knew that was he did was indeed not normal nor was it acceptable. They would then have to get him adjusted to normal society before they could begin his training.

He knew the conversation he had with Naruto a few days ago set off several alarm bells in his head, and like a fool he chalked it up to grief and ignored them

Now little Sakura had paid the price.

"Tsume." The hokage addressed the Inuzuka matriarch "I know you are angry, but when it comes to the injuries your son suffered, I cannot do anything." He told her with a shake of his head. He could see the anger on her face but raised his hand to stop an outburst. "In the circumstance of your son Kiba-kun, Inoichi's daughter, and the two other children with them, Naruto's retaliation could clearly be filed as self-defense. There were several witnesses who observed those five children along with one Sakura Haruno dragging him into that alleyway before beating on him."

As Tsume left in a huff, the man turned to Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno who had been silently grieving until now, Mebuki quietly sobbing into her hands as a solemn Kizashi held on to her, although everyone present could see him shaking with suppressed tears as well. "And as for you Mr. and Mrs. Haruno, what happened to young Sakura-chan is indeed devastating and I give you my most heartfelt condolences... but I cannot execute young Naruto-kun nor can I instill any overly harsh punishment."

"So you're just going to let that little murderer run around freely?!" Kizashi screamed out as his wife's sobbing got louder. He was stopped from speaking further by the elder Koharu.

"While we would like nothing more than to see justice served for you and your family, this is a delicate situation. Naruto Uzumaki is Konohagakure's jinchuuriki and therefore he must be sent to the ninja academy next semester to begin his training so he may join our shinobi forces. We cannot sentence him so hastily."

"Indeed." Homura nodded. "We have not yet replenished our forces from the Kyuubi's attack seven years ago. And during that time we had just barely finished recovering our losses from the last war. If it were to get out that our jinchuuriki was untrained in the ninja arts and imprisoned or executed, it would make us seem weak and create an opportunity that the other great villages would not hesitate to take advantage of. Naruto Uzumaki is one of the key factors keeping Konohagakure safe today. Even when he was a toddler rival countries hesitated to attack us knowing that if worst came to worst, we could at least unseal the mightiest of the bijuu while it was pointed in their general direction before resealing it into a new host afterwards."

None of this made the parents of the deceased girl any happier. "So that's that huh?" Kizashi muttered lowly in anger. "We're just supposed to bury our daughter while that boy gets to go free because he is more of an asset to you than my daughter was? And you want him to join the academy with other children my daughter's age?! Am I supposed to accept this?!"

The sound of a wooden cane slamming onto the floor stopped Kizashi in his tracks drawing everyone's attention to Danzou. "Yes. You are supposed to accept it. The jinchuuriki is more important than your daughter ever was or ever would be."

"Danzou!" Hiruzen shouted in anger "Stand down, now!"

"No Hiruzen, they need to hear this. And unlike you I will not sugarcoat it for them." He turned his singular eye back to the two Haruno "The fact of the matter is the Jinchuuriki is more important that you, your daughter, every civilian outside of this room, and every genin, chunin and a significant portion of jounin in this village. To endanger the jinchuuriki is to endanger Konohagakure, and any citizen who endangers Konohagakure is committing treason of the highest caliber. If I had it my way all of those children would have been punished severely for their actions. Then again, if I had my way the Kyuubi jinchuuriki would already be strong enough to kill most jounin."

"Danzou." The third hokage ground out warningly "You know that would have been impossible from the start. Your training is too harsh and dehumanizing. The ability to safely use a bijuu's power is based on emotional stability, especially with a seal like the one on Naruto which allows him to tap into the bijuu's chakra instead of containing it. Having an emotionless jinchuuriki is just as dangerous as having an unstable one. If you had gotten your way, we would currently been sitting on a ticking time bomb and you know it."

"Actually Oji-san," the attention in the room shifted once again as the object of conversation walked through the door, his usual grin back in place. The blood had been wiped off of him and he had on a new set of clothing, but everyone could still smell it's overwhelming stench still clinging to his person. Inoichi Yamanaka trailed in behind him, and although he hid it admirably the four other shinobi in the room could tell that he was a bit paler than usual and he was sweating slightly. "I wouldn't mind being taken in by Danzou-san at all."

While initially surprised by his abrupt entry, everybody soon recovered. "Are you sure Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked, not at all comfortable with releasing him into Danzou's custody. "You could wait a few months and join the ninja academy with the other children your age."

"No thanks Oji-san. I'd rather be with Danzou-san." He turned and started walking away. "It turns out, that even when I win, I still end up losing. But then again, losing is nothing new to me." Stopping momentarily, he turned back to the people occupying the room. "But now I have experienced how things are on the other side of the "Zero"… I want to feel that sensation again." And with that, the seven year old boy left.

The room was silent for a bit before Mebuki and Kizashi excused themselves knowing that with Inoichi present the conversation no longer involved them. As the door closed behind the two, the Hokage and his advisors then focused on the Yamanaka clan head.

"Please Inoichi, you may start your report at any time." The hokage stated as he tried to stem his growing headache. Nodding in response the blonde make began.

"Well Hokage-sama, I would first like to start off with Naruto-kun's psychiatric evaluation." Clearing his throat, he opened a folder he had been carrying underneath his arm. "Naruto-kun is definitely one of the more… interesting individuals I have ever interviewed. His view of the world is very… skewed I would say."

"How so?" Homura asked, leaning in with interest. Inoichi Yamanaka had given dozens if not hundreds of these evaluations, so if he said someone he interviewed was interesting, he damn well meant it.

"Naruto-kun believes himself to be a born loser. He can innately sense the negativity in himself and in others and truly believes that in comparison to them, he is predetermined to fail everything he has done and ever will do. From making friends to fighting an opponent, he believes he will fail so spectacularly that his entire life would become one big joke and he completely accepted that, and in some way still does. And yet, where anybody else would who noticed this would try to change themselves, Naruto had no intentions of improving at all."

"In fact," he turned a page in the folder and continued his report "He couldn't even fathom the thought of him winning something until just recently. According to him, today is the first victory he's ever had and even then he lost at winning."

"Yes, the boy mentioned that before…" Koharu muttered. "While he was leaving he said "Even when I win, I still end up losing." What does he mean by that?"

"When I asked he explained it like this. He won in his fight against the other children, yet he still believes he lost because he won "the wrong way" which I suspect was either tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra or… killing young Sakura-chan." He had to pause for a bit there. His own daughter Ino had made friends with Sakura not too long ago in order to help the pink haired girl gain some confidence.

Now Sakura was dead, and Ino was devastated.

"Speaking of what he was talking about earlier…" Sarutobi started while scratching his goatee "Do you have any idea what he meant by "The other side of the Zero?"

"The easiest way to explain that would be to picture a number line." Setting a spare piece of paper on the table for the elders to see, Inoichi quickly drew a double sided arrow with notches on the line. Underneath the left arrowhead he drew a big negative symbol while he made a positive symbol underneath the right one. In between the two was a big number zero.

"You see Hokage-sama; according to Naruto-kun everybody in the world would be considered a 'Plus'." He pointed to the half of the line on the right side of the Zero "They are normal people, ones who experience ups and downs during life; wins and losses; happiness and sadness; positivity and negativity. The further away from the zero you are the happier your life is, and yet no matter who they are, what they experience, or how bad their life becomes, they could never cross that zero."

He then brought his finger to the left half of the zero "On the opposite side of the spectrum we have a person who is constantly negative and will continue to be so until they die. This is what Naruto-kun perceives himself to be. His own words were "I am someone who will lose to everyone at everything. A loser born under a dim star that flickered out the second I was born. The day I came into this world, my parents left it. I was given no love and no recognition while the children around me gained surplus. I have lost every game I have ever played and failed in every activity I have ever attempted. A true 'Minus' in every sense of the word, and this shall go on until I die uselessly in a ditch on the side of an unknown road that nobody ever travels. I am the weakest person in the world.". And even though he still believes this, today he has discovered victory for the first time. Even if it was a quote unquote "losing victory", this is the first truly positive outcome to any attempt he's ever made at anything, and thus he felt what it meant to be a 'plus' on the opposite side of the 'zero' that he is on. "

The room turned silent once again before Koharu broke it. "What an incredibly… dim view on the world that child has."

"Indeed." Surprisingly it was Danzou that agreed with her, idly tapping his finger on the handle of his cane. "I've seen veteran shinobi who have lost all four of their limbs in a battle that killed all of their comrades that have a more positive outlook that the jinchuuriki." He received a round on nods in return.

"And to think, he still goes around with that smile on his face. I can't even tell if it's a fake one or not." The old man heaved a sigh before getting back to business. "And what of the results of the mind walk? Was he in control during the time he pulled on the Kyuubi's chakra, or was he acting on instinct alone?"

"Ah see, about that…" Inoichi hesitated for half a second. "I-It seemed he was going on pure instinct at the time of the incident. He wasn't even conscious when the takeover started you see. Those children were actually very close to putting him in critical condition. The Kyuubi must have sensed that and taken advantage of his incapacitated state to get rid of all of the threats to its host before returning control."

"What about these so called "giant screws" you mentioned in your report?" Homura asked. "You mentioned that all the children had them stabbed into their bodies, yet the medical reports show no such injuries."

Inoichi nodded. "Yes, when I came upon the scene there were indeed screws impaled into each child. I immediately panicked and went to remove them so I could apply basic first aid before transporting them to the hospital, but when I pulled one out, there was no wound."

"How is that possible?" Homura asked.

"Well, I actually have a theory about that. I was doubtful at first, but my recent interview with Naruto-kun made it a lot more plausible."

"And would you mind explaining what this theory is?" Hiruzen asked.

"No, of course not Hokage-sama." Clearing his throat, the blonde man launched into an explanation. "After removing the first screw I moved to help another child… Tsume-san's son, in fact. I decided to wake him up before removing the weapon to see what would happen, which I admit was quite reckless of me, and well… he immediately started spouting how bleak his life is and how weak he was. I noticed his hair had gone white as well, yet when I pulled the screw out his appearance went back to normal and we fell unconscious. When I asked him about it while he was being treated, he told me he felt like there was a constant oppressive weight on his mind. That nothing mattered because he was just going to die in the end anyway, so everything he did would be useless. He told me he felt like…" Inoichi took a deep breath here.

"He told me he felt like he had become the weakest person in the world."

And suddenly it clicked in the elder's minds. The Yamanaka clan head could tell they had gotten the point he was trying to make and nodded to them.

"So you believe that those... screws Naruto-kun had impaled into those children left mental wounds instead of physical ones." Hiruzen guessed correctly. "If what you're saying is true, then they most likely carry the ability to make other people as negative as Naruto-kun."

"Close, but not quite hokage-sama." Inoichi interjected "Kiba-kun said that after he had been impaled he felt weak both mentally and physically. I personally believe that instead of making others as negative as him… it brings them down to his "level" per say. As long as they have that screw in them, it would turn a 'plus' into 'minus', both mentally and physically."

"… What a fearsome ability." Koharu murmured. "If what you say is true, then in theory even Kage level shinobi would become no stronger than a seven year old boy."

"Do you think this is an ability he gained from the Kyuubi?" Danzou asked.

"There is no way of knowing to be honest." Hiruzen replied. "Unlike the other bijuu the Kyuubi has never given its host the same ability twice." He exhaled loudly "As we all know, in her prime, Mito-sama was hailed as the strongest Kunoichi on the continent. This was partially due to the fact that even before becoming a jinchuuriki, all five of her senses were well above average. After she sealed the Kyuubi into herself, she could make all five of her senses skyrocket to superhuman levels by applying chakra, to the point it would make a full grown Inuzuka look like a newborn pup wandering around with a wet paper bag full of manure trapped on it's head."

"Similarly, Kushina inherited the incredibly rare chakra of the Uzumaki clan that allowed her to use her Adamantine Sealing Chains. This chakra actually added to the strong life force that the Uzumaki were known for making her vitality incredibly potent, even amongst her other clan members. When the Kyuubi was sealed inside of her after Mito-sama's passing, Kushina gained a truly monstrous healing factor, more on par with regeneration than an actual healing ability. All she had to do was focus chakra on her wonld and it would heal within the hour."

"It seems that instead of giving a single uniform ability to each of its jinchuuriki, Kyuubi prefers to take its container's most dominant trait and supplement it." Hiruzen finished.

"So what you're saying is, the Kyuubi tends to boost its container's most outstanding trait and turn it into an ability of some kind?" Inoichi asked. "But wouldn't that mean Naruto-kun's most outstanding trait would be-"

"His negativity." Hiruzen finished for him. "It is a long shot, but still not entirely impossible. Of course it could just be that he too has inherited his clan's special chakra as well. Over the course of history it has never manifested in the same way, yet always had the ability to "Seal" something. Mito-sama's father Ashina Uzumaki manifested his chakra as ghostly arms that made the opponent feel weaker, thus "Sealing" their physical strength as long as they were in contact. Kushina's chains cut off her opponent's chakra as long as she had them restrained, thus "Sealing" their chakra." Everyone in the room was silent as they watched the man known as the "Professor" speak before them. It was a rare sight nowadays and they wanted him to finish "Naruto-kun's screws may very well be "Sealing" his opponent's positivity, with the side effect of 'imposing his negativity on others' really just being a forced depression experienced after losing all of their power so rapidly and without warning."

It was quiet for a bit as the hokage tapped his finger on the table, pondering the events of this discussion before turning to Inoichi. "You're dismissed. The elders and I must discuss this in private. Thank you for your hard work."

"O-of course Hokage-sama. Glad to have been of assistance." Inoichi bowed at the waist and made for the door, but the Hokage's voice made him freeze as soon as he grabbed the handle.

"Before you go… are you feeling alright, Inoichi?" Hiruzen asked "You've been hesitating a bit since we've started talking about Kyuubi, and you were a bit pale when you came in."

"A-ah, yes I'm fine. As you know my brother died in the attack seven years ago and I guess I just wasn't as over it as I thought. Then there's the talk I've got to have with my daughter about Sakura-chan, and all…"

Nodding the Hokage waved his hand. "I completely understand. You may have the next three days off to be with your family Inoichi. Thank you again."

"It was no trouble Hokage-sama." And with that Inoichi left. After exiting the room, the Yamanaka clan head immediately used the Shunshin (Body Flicker) technique to travel to his own house, where he immediately went up to his room and slammed the door shut, locking it afterwards. He then leaned back against it while sliding to the floor, his face pale and his skin clammy.

He just couldn't believe it. That boy Naruto… there was just something so wrong about him. Like his existence was an affront to nature itself. He never really had a grudge against Naruto, but speaking with him… learning how he viewed the world and what made him tick almost drove him insane. Yes, Inoichi had repeated portions of it to the Hokage and his advisors, but there was something in the way he said it that just… made him feel the negativity as well…

And then there's what happened during the mind walk.

Flashback

The first thing Inoichi saw when he opened his eyes was a large silver gate with ornate bars being held closed by a slip of paper with the kanji for 'seal' written on it. Looking around, he almost panicked seeing as he didn't see the Kyuubi behind the gate, but calmed down when he noticed he could still sense it's rather oppressive presence. That meant it was probably just further inside the cage where he couldn't see it.

Alright the seal was still holding strong. That was good at least.

Looking around he noticed that he was inside a dilapidated dungeon-like sewer that hap pipes running all over the cracked walls and ceiling. There was a dim yellow light coming from both everywhere and nowhere, and the floor was covered in ankle length water.

And there, standing behind him was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

His spiky blonde hair, dark blue eyes and whisker marks were the same as ever, as was his slightly pale skin. He was wearing the same dark orange high collared sports jacket, black pants and black shoes he was outside his mindscape and even had on the same smile as he looked around the room that the two of them were in.

Wait a minute.

People weren't supposed to be able to come here with him while he was doing a mind walk. He could only guess that Naruto's mind being connected to the seal was what dragged the boy down here with him. And thus another problem comes into play.

How does he keep a seven year old boy from finding out that he was the container of the largest and most powerful sentient mass of destruction on the planet?

"O-oh, Naruto-kun! How did you get here? I-it's very rare for the person who's mind I'm in to be there with me, hahaha. H-how did you get here?" He laughed nervously, trying to make conversation to avoid explaining what that gate was.

Unfortunately, the blonde boy completely ignored him and strolled up to the gate while observing it from top to bottom before letting out a small laugh. "How interesting… so this is the seal that holds back the Kyuubi."

Inoichi's blood ran cold. "Y-you know?!"

"Of course I did Inoichi-san. It wasn't hard to figure out. The villagers aren't exactly quiet." He smiled as he turned around. "Although today was my first time using its power."

"S-so earlier, when you retaliated against those children…"

"I was in complete control of course!"

"Then when you killed Sakura…"

"Ah, that was her name? Sakura chan, huh?" Naruto nodded to himself a few times. "I liked her. She was really cute."

Inoichi gulped. For some reason he felt like he was going to regret asking this next question. "Why did you kill her if you liked her?"

Naruto didn't move a muscle yet to Inoichi it felt as if that eternal smile just became a lot more sinister "Ah, you see the first time I saw Sakura-chan I was captivated instantly. It was love at first sight haha~! Yet I started thinking to myself "How can I love her if I've never met her? Am I such a despicable person that I would fall in love with someone just because they are attractive?" So I decided to test it out by getting rid of what attracted me to her. If I was wrong, I'd surely regret my actions, right?"

"A-and so you ripped her face off?" Inoichi was close to hyperventilating now. A repugnant aura of just plain… wrongness permeated the entire room they were in as he started his explanation. It even started overtaking the Kyuubi's own oppressive presence.

And it was all coming from the boy in front of him.

"S-so tell me Naruto-kun. Do you regret your actions?"

"Nope, of course not Inoichi-san!" the ease of which the blonde boy answered almost made the Yamanaka sick. "Don't be silly. How could I love someone without knowing them at all? It turns out, I was just captivated by a cute face." Naruto placed his index finger on his chin and tilted his head "Although I suppose it's gone now." He giggled a bit. "Ah, I made a joke. Isn't that funny Inoichi-san?"

Said man had to take several deep breaths in order to calm himself down and figure out a reply. "Naruto-kun" he started slowly "You know I'm going to have to report this to the hokage… right?"

"Ah, please don't do that." Naruto asked politely.

"Why not?" Inoichi replied with a bit of trepidation.

"Why not?" Naruto repeated with a tilt of the head. "Because I asked you nicely of course~!"

Well that was unexpected. "Sorry Naruto-kun… I have to do my job."

"Aw~ too bad." Naruto's voice seemed to be genuinely disappointed, even though he was still smiling. "You're really mean Inoichi-san."

Inoichi chuckled nervously once more before ending the technique. The two of them opened their eyes to reveal that they were once more in a private sealed off room in the Hokage Tower.

"Hey Inoichi-san, I have a question."

"Um… What is it Naruto-kun?"

"Is the Ninja Academy fun?" Naruto asked

For some reason Inoichi's heart seemed to pund in his chest. "W-why do you wish to know Naruto-kun?"

"Well the newest semester starts soon and I've been wondering if Oji-san would let me join."

"A-ah. I see."

"Well we should probably go see Oji-san now, right? You have to give him your report." Naruto started walking towards the door as Inoichi watched him. But before the boy opened the door, he suddenly turned around with a large grin on his face. To anyone else it would have seemed like the type of grin normally found on any excited child's face, but to him…

It looked absolutely horrifying

"Hey Inoichi-san… your daughter will be attending the academy next semester too right? If I apologize for beating her up I'm sure we could become great friends. She is quite cute as well. Just like Sakura-chan."

Inoichi widened his eyes in horror. He couldn't believe this! "A-are you threating me?" he asked flabbergasted. He watched as Naruto took several steps towards him, and for some reason the older man couldn't help but take several steps back. He backed away from the… thing approaching him until he hit the wall and couldn't retreat any further.

"Please don't make such outrageous accusations Inoichi-san! I'm not threatening you!" Inoichi blinked and suddenly saw several screws impaled into the wall on both sides of his head. "I'm simply giving you an option! You can keep quiet and not talk about our conversation in the seal to the Hokage, or I can become best friends with Ino-chan~!"

Naruto's face seemed to become shrouded in darkness, the only distinguishable features being two large white dots that replaced his eyes, and an overly large toothless Cheshire grin spread across his face.

"So what will it be Inoichi-san? Will you become a shitty ninja who commits treason by lying to the Hokage in order to protect your daughter? Or will you become a shitty father who sacrifices their child to give the hokage some information?"

Needless to say, with everything Naruto was threatening, the choice was quite clear.

Flashback End

Inoichi felt like the biggest piece of scum on the planet. He lied to the hokage to protect his daughter, but at the cost of letting that thing run around and do as he pleases. He felt sick. He wanted to puke his guts up and die.

Even without being pierced by those screws…

at the moment, Inoichi Yamanaka truly felt like the weakest person in the world.

Naruto Uzumaki grinned as he walked down the road to his apartment. Even as every villager glared at him and cursed his existence, he was grinning as usual.

Yet unbeknownst to them, ever since he had awakened his power earlier, something fundamental changed in his expression.

Yes… as he walked about the village, thriving in the negativity thrown his way, the blonde boys' small smile carried a much more malicious meaning. Whereas before it was meant to show his acceptance and indifference to the way they treated him, now it was more akin to the look of a demon biding its' time within the shadows, waiting to devour their souls.

And yet, Naruto Uzumaki was not a demon. Nor was he a villain, monster, or even remotely evil.

All he wanted was to make everyone as miserable as him. He, who was submerged in the darkness of humanity and absorbed constantly all of the negative aspects of the people around him.

His intentions were as clear as a river in the summer sun.

A born loser in every sense of the word.

I can already tell I'm going to get a lot of flak for killing off Sakura so I'm going to address some stuff right now.

I do not hate Sakura. I honestly don't have that much of a problem with her. In fact, i'm neutral to her character entirely. She could have done whatever the hell she wanted throughout the series and I probably wouldn't care. The reason I killed her off was because I wanted to add so some development for several characters later, as well as show those of you who don't know much about the character I'm trying to emulate how Naruto's thought process will most likely work from now on. This was in no way a purposefully malicious act by me, nor am I slamming, bashing, or flaming her character. It's not something I enjoy doing.

*casually sweeps the total train wreck known as Uzumaki Naruto: Stitch Demon under the rug*

Anyway, there will be some fundamental changes in the Narutoverse for this story, but they will be relatively small and unimportant in the long run. The biggest one most likely being that Naruto has the Yin half of the Kyuubi sealed inside of him instead of the Yang half, and that the Kyuubi is in fact a female.

Unfortunately for some of you they most likely won't be paired together (I'm leaning towards bringing in Anshin'in for the pairing) since im leaning more towards Naruto and Kurama sharing a kind of distant familial relationship. Also there is a reason why Kyuubi is a female which will probably be explained in the next chapter, whenever I decide to write it.

*Ahem* Now that that's out of the way I would like your opinions on this. As I said this is something I only wrote just to get it out of my head since it was interfering with my other works. I wrote all of this in one day so it probably isn't as great as I think it is. Please tell me what you think via review or PM, I'll be glad to hear you all out as always.

~SilentFang