Author's Notes:

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Naruto joins Ne early on. NaruIno.

Prologue

Inoichi Yamanaka's princess, Ino, had just turned four, and he'd be damned if he wouldn't throw the tot the best fucking birthday party ever conceived of. He'd been planning for weeks, gotten the best kids restaurant in the village, and invited everyone he knew. The Naras were coming, as were the Akimichis, naturally. But this minor birthday turned into a rather large shinobi reunion with everyone and their mother (and their kids) coming over.

There was only one, small, problem. The kid was seen hanging around there, earlier that day. Inoichi was passing by when he saw a blonde toddler wearing orange shorts and a black shirt staring at the park from outside the fence.

Inoichi knew what they said about him. Was he scared? Psh! It wasn't like he was actually cursed... right? He shook his head. No, no. He had already planned for months. It would be too late to cancel now. Still, it was rather... creepy.

The kid just wouldn't look elsewhere. The hollow eyes sliced through the distance and kept their malevolent gaze on him at all times. It was fine, honestly. His wife was right. It's not like a four year old could get past a fence. They'd all be safe. He was just over-thinking things... probably.

Besides, what a ridiculous notion. That touching the demon child could kill someone. In all his years he'd never heard of such a jutsu. Well, save a couple, but it's not like a four year old demon could have enough... chakra.

His imagination terrified him. Then, the worst thing possible happened. Ino's mother had let her down for half a second, when she started walking toward him.

Inoichi shunshined there in heartbeat. "Ino," his hear beating faster than during the Jounin Exams, "you must never go near that boy. Promise me."

"Yes, daddy..."

"And YOU!" He turned to yell at the boy, but he was gone.

...

"They all hate you. Detest your existence. Do you know why?"

A young blonde boy shook his head innocently. The man exuded a strange smell. He'd never smelled it before. After being beaten for years, the boy had developed an unnaturally keen sense of smells and auras. This man, wrapped in bandages, somehow seemed the most dangerous of them all.

He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do. But somewhere inside, the boy knew he'd be helpless against any assault. Something about the man reeked power. A power hidden, waiting to emerge.

"Do you want them to stop hating you?"

The boy nodded.

The bandaged man smirked. The boy had to be, what, four? Maybe five? Yet, the most natural talent of his generation. The last remaining heir to the Uzumaki clan. He chuckled to himself. The streets had already ingrained into him a sense of zanshin, an awareness of the enemy and of the body. His body naturally fit the taijutsu style of the Shodai. The lineage was strong.

"Wear this for a day, and meet me here tomorrow. You'll see – people will treat you differently." The man dropped a white mask with red paint. It seemed to resemble a fox. "You see, Naruto, in this village, people respect one thing: strength. The Hokages. Do you know why they are so respected? Adored? Loved by all? They were the strongest shinobi in the village. Risking their lives on a daily basis."

The boy called Naruto nodded, understandingly.

"But there is a group even more vital to the village than the Hokage."

If Naruto was surprised, he didn't react. Honestly, he didn't even really know what the hokage was... or what a ninja was. He thought he had a decent idea – usually the people who wore green vests for some reason. Those were ninja, right? That meant that the Hokage was the strongest of the ninja?

Naruto's brows furrowed as he tried to connect the dots. So the old man that visited him so often was... hokage? He certainly didn't look strong. Maybe the village had multiple hokages? Surely the jiji wasn't – but his thoughts were interrupted, as the elder continued.

"The Hokage is merely the tree that towers above, as a beacon of hope that all can look to. He does not perform the vital function. No, it's the roots that support the tree. Do you know, Naruto-kun, that the roots extend deeper into the soil than the tree is tall? Even more impressive, they branch out in almost any direction. It is the roots that are responsible for the stability and endurance trees are prided for."

He paused here, for emphasis. "Without a strong root system, the tree falls apart."

Naruto didn't really know what to say. What did roots and trees have to do with the village? Or him? Still, the old man was scary enough that Naruto kept his mouth shut.

"Do you know what makes up Konoha's root system?"

Naruto's blonde locks shook.

"Sacrifices. That's why people respect certain shinobi more than others. The ANBU Black Ops team is the Hokage's elite ninja. Strong, well trained, amazing people. But there is one group even more crucial to the village. Always hidden, always on the go. They perform the crucial duties that keep the village running. Duties even the Hokage cannot know about."

Wow. That sounded cool.

"We are called Ne. And we are respected above all. Why don't you try seeing if this Ne mask fits you. Wear it for a day. See how people treat you. Meet me here tomorrow, if you're interested in joining us."

Naruto approached the mask hesitantly. Suddenly, the man vanished in a whirlwind, leaving a swirl of leaves behind. The young boy touched the mask. Nothing seemed to happen. Visibly. It had fox like ears with three whiskers on each side, and at the bottom, there was a small piece of paper with a strange Kanji on it. Nothing like he'd ever seen before.

He stared at it, for what seemed like hours. He couldn't quite explain it... It was almost as if... If he stared quite hard enough, he could see... A blue flickering? He tried to stare deeper. His eyes started to water, but he didn't want to look away. It was so curious – such a strange contraption. Nothing like he'd ever seen before.

There! There it was – a blue flickering, just like he'd seen before. His mind wasn't making this up, he was sure of it. What was that? He wondered what would happen if he touched it.

His eyes pierced the whiteness, focusing. Focusing harder still. Then, a blinding migraine seemed to split his head open. He squinted, trying to open his eyes, but he could only see blue everywhere. And deep inside himself, a strange redness. Tears streaked down his face; an unbearable, unimaginable pain seared through his body. God, he wanted it to go away. All of it! It hurt so bad... Just... 'GO... AWAY!'

And the mask flew onto his face, binding itself to his body as a blackness engulfed him.

That's it for the prologue! Future chapters will be longer, I promise.