DISCLAIMER- I don't own Naruto!

''Thanks old man!'' The barely four year old shouted in delight as he skipped away from the Ramen stand, Ichiraku. He immensely enjoyed the evenings with the Sandaime Hokage but even he knew that the 'old man' had work to do. The one thing that he hated after eating out, was the trek back to the orphanage. Not to mention the place itself!

His bright blond hair was like a shining beacon for drunks and the suicidal; those were the only people who dared to close in on the small child while the Hokage was still in the area. They were like moths to a flame; but they just hadn't gotten close enough yet to get burnt, always pulling away before that. That didn't mean that just those people did their 'justified' part of the psychological abuse of the four year old. Glares followed each movement, killing intent pressed down from all sides on the small child.

But the child just smiled and let the feelings and gestures of the people around slide down, like from a invisible barrier. That is exactly what he always imagined, after that time when one of the masked ANBU left him a note about it on his bed after taking pity on the kid.

Whispers followed him where ever he went and even reached beyond him. The bright eyed blond kept on smiling even though his throat felt constricted and a pressure behind his eyes kept him from thinking clearly. He only repeated one mantra in his head;

'Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling.'

He paid no heed to the gathering crowds in the street behind him and hurriedly climbed the steps towards the dark, almost black, doors of the orphanage. Small hands that seemed a bit too slim restlessly knocked on the door closest to him. No answer. The crowd behind him kept coming closed and the blond kept getting more nervous. The child counted up his possible escape routes and mentally shouted in despair when he noticed that there was no way out. Except- He shook his head and declared it impossible. He wasn't allowed to do that, the matron of the orphanage had forbidden.

He turned around to meet the blood chilling gazes of the people behind him. At that instance, he knew that we was most probably not going to survive that night. Their eyes were filled with blood lust and a different kind of lust than normally seen; lust after his death. Normally lively blue eyes turned dull and the child wanted to cry out at them.

'WHY? I haven't done anything! What did I do?'

He broke down in sobs and collapsed onto the floor. The crowd descended on him like a starving pack of wolves and started ripping him apart figuratively. Even though weapons bit into skins, his bones broke, the child did not lash out towards the attackers.

Deep in his mind, a fierce force broke out of the chains holding him in his slumber. Large Amber eyes snapped open and narrowed as he remembered his situation. He inspected the cage he was contained in and focused on the paper on the lock. 'Seal ,eh?' He tuned into his host's feelings and growled as he felt the despair and utter hopelessness the blond showed. A red mist-like substance seeped through the bars and flowed towards the exit.

Kyuubi took in the escaping chakra and grinned maliciously.

No one would dare attack his host after this. After all, Naruto was now under his protection.

Outside

A shinobi sat on the orphanage's roof and watched in morbid fascination as the villagers tortured the blond jinchuriki. He watched as they took delight in it. He wanted no part in it, but was not opposed to the idea of them killing the brat. But then again, he thought, they were taking it a bit to far. He was just about to jump down and either stop them, or tell them to get a move on, when the red chakra started covering the downed boy and burning all those close to him.

His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly backtracked, not wanting to get caught up in the soon to come problems. Luckily he did so, since a few moments after he dashed behind the chimney, the red chakra exploded in all directions, instantly killing the crowd. The closest ones disintegrated and the rest were blown into smithereens. The buildings were barely standing and some had even collapsed, perhaps injuring those inside. The front of the orphanage was completely open and a bunch of scared and dirty children loomed out.

Naruto sat between all of it and was staring at everything in a dumbfounded way. The unknown shinobi jumped down and cautiously approached the four year old. ''I'm gonna take you to the Hokage, kid. Is that okay with you?'' He decided to suppress his dislike for now, just enough to get the kid to the Hokage.

The blue eyed child looked up at the shinobi and took in his slightly weathered appearance. He didn't look threatening. He nodded and tried to speak, but couldn't. He reached for his throat and made hysterical movements toward it. The shinobi quickly calmed him down with the words ''It's only shock. It'll go away soon.'' Naruto was comforted by those words and clung to the shinobi's back when he was put there. Silently, he broke into sobs.

The shinobi's face softened for a moment and then look soon disappeared. He couldn't afford to stop and comfort the kid. He jumped up, towards the closest, stable roof and sprinted towards the Hokage tower at high-chunin speed. He didn't bother going through the doors and instantly pumped his chakra to his legs while crouching. In one large leap, he stood by the Hokage's window and impatiently kicked to window.

That drew the Sandaime's attention from paper work towards the Konoha chunin at his window. Hiruzen's face twisted in confusion and he then only noticed the quivering lump on the chunin's back. ''Naruto?'' He hastily opened the window and grabbed the child from the shinobi's back. Sarutobi cradled the little boy in his arms while sitting down. The boy shivered and clung to him but soon slipped into a fitful sleep.

''Konoha chunin, Genta, report.''

The chunin did as ordered and winced at the expression on the Sandaime's face. ''So, you only then brought him to me?'' Genta nodded slowly and watched as the older man's age showed as Sarutobi sighed. ''Six months of D-rank missions, Genta, and I hope you never make this mistake again. The boy is a container.'' He paused and then directed his full attention at the chunin.

''Let me ask you something. When you drink a glass of water, do you drink the water inside or the glass itself? The boy is the glass, not the water. Think about it.'' Sarutobi said while waving his hand in a shoo-ing motion, effectively dismissing him.

Just as Genta left the office, Sarutobi's battle-honed senses went on full alert. He stood up fluidly and sat the sleeping Naruto down. ''ANBU, stand alert.'' As he stated the sentence, 5 masked shinobi appeared from various places. Inu, Cat, Bear, Frog and Snake, all stood around the Hokage in a defensive position.

A sudden sneer brought their attention to the man standing behind them with the small jinchuriki in his arms. ''You protect the battle hardened Hokage, but not the defenseless child? I'm disappointed. Well, thank you for locating Kyuubi-sama for us and watching his new protégé. Good bye.'' With that, the man sunk into the shadows and disappeared.

Sarutobi Hiruzen broke down in shock and quietly sat down on his large 'Hokage' chair. How often had he joked about this chair with Naruto? How often had Naruto said he would sit upon this chair and be Hokage?

Now, Sandaime thought, he would probably never, unless somebody retrieved him.

''Send out the best of the best, Inu.'' Sandaime sighed.

''Mission objective?''

''Retrieve Uzumaki Naruto.''