AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first time even writing a fanfiction so please be nice although I'm not averse to constructive criticism any kind of positive feed back is welcome and greatly appreciated.

To minimise confusion:

My own thoughts before or at the end of a chapter

"Kurama/Kyuubi dialogue inside Naruto's head" (this will come later)

"Naruto's own thoughts"

"Normal conversational dialogue"

(any necessary notes within the story)

Chapter 1

It was an average day in Konoha. Despite the usual humid tropical atmosphere the air was dry as a bone however the sun still maintained its bite which was all too familiar to the residence of the hidden leaf village, who chose to stay inside their homes during this heatwave.

All but one.

A lone boy sits idly on a swing in a ghetto-like park directly across from his run down apartment building.

The lone boy was a common sight around the village, wandering its streets aimlessly with no real purpose or motivation to be anywhere or do anything.

Whenever he neared fearful mothers coveted their children and averted their gaze's while the men of the village weren't subtle to say the least when shooting unrestricted glares of disdain in the young boy's direction.

This particular boy was easy to discern from a crowd with his spiky, blonde hair, three whisker marks on each cheek and eyes that were perpetually downcast with seemingly no hope of seeing any thing above his feet. Not making it easy for him to avoid the hateful comments spat at him by civilians he passed by

This boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki and he is 7 years old.

As the young boy sits motionless on the swing staring at the ground with dead eyes he can't help but be somewhat thankful for these cruelly bitter-sweet days when he can traverse the streets of Konoha without attracting the ire of every civilian he passes as there are none outside to bother him, leaving him to his thoughts.

His mind snaps to attention immediately upon hearing a cruel, sadistic laugh that he knows all too well, he knows what happens next from experience as his heart fills with dread and despair.

He glances up to see the source of the sickening laugh causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight up and cold goosebumps to spread all across his body.

The fat boy standing in front Naruto is called Yuu Iwasaki and is a few years older than the blonde boy. Aside from his weight he has no particularly eye-catching features with short brown hair and plain black eyes making him easy to lose in a crowd, to anyone except Naruto as dread filled his insides as he knew what comes next.

"Oi Naruto! Where's my 200 ryo" (About $20 USD)

Growled the plump boy as his two lackeys sneered evilly behind him

"Haha yeah pay up Naruto-kun"

one of the boys said with a cruel laugh.

"But I never borrowed any money off you!"

Cried Naruto defensively, knowing full well the fat boy was aware of this.

"Doesn't matter it's payment for me protecting you against all the other nasty bullies in this area, there are a lot around here you know and I'd hate to see you get hurt."

The older boy gave a smirk not bothering to hide his sarcasm in the slightest manner. The two sheep behind him nodded their heads in agreement

"And while you're at it why not gift my two friends here 150 ryo each as a token of your appreciation for their tireless efforts to keep you safe on these dangerous streets"

Yuu continued with a drawl finishing with a click, an obvious signal to the boys beside him who began moving towards Naruto

"Who the hell does this kid think he is some kind of Yakuza gangster or something?"

Queried Naruto before speaking

"There's no way I'm giving any money to any of you bastards so leave me the hell alone goddamit!"

He shouted instantly realising his mistake and attempting to turn and sprint away from the trio of bullies.

As his left foot left the ground beginning his escape he felt dread take him over as his foot was kicked behind his other leg mid-stride sending face first into the soft dirt of the playground.

He cried as a foot connected savagely with his stomach forcing him into a fetal position as he scrunched over with his arms protecting his head trying his best not to vomit from the brutal kick

"That is honestly too bad, because if you're not willing to pay up then we can't protect you any longer. It's not like we can just offer our services for free, I'm sure you understand."

Remarked the leader of the trio with menacing smirk as he followed up with a sharp kick to the back of Naruto's head slipping past his feeble defence.

This encouraged the other two boys to unleash their brutal assault on the younger, blonde boy mercilessly beating ever part of his body.

This was no surprise to Naruto as all his previous encounters with the boy and his 'gang' ended this way.

Naruto knew more than a few of his bones had been broken from the horrendous, throbbing aches in his numb limbs.

Another strong kick to his head caused the poor boy's vision to burst with bright sports before slowly darkening.

His weakening defense didn't discourage the bullies in the slightest as they continued to cruelly beat the 7 year old boy to within an inch of his life.

However, just as he was about to give in to the calm numbness enveloping his body he heard a deep yell obviously from an adult which stopped the boys in their tracks before the swiftly fled the seen.

Naruto's last sight before he completely blacked out was a long blonde ponytail...

Chapter 1 End

Well that's it for Chapter 1. Like I said this is my first story so I'm not really sure if it'll continue and I don't even think I formatted it right but I guess that's not too bad, at least the content is all there. I hope some of you are kind enough to review keep in mind if you sweet talk me into writing some more the chapter's will likely be much more in depth not to mention longer. Thank you for reading