Disclaimer: I do not own the franchise Naruto

AN: Looking for a Beta!

… … …

Six months later.

"Naruto-kun. How are you feeling today? It's your birthday, isn't it." The Sandaime Hokage smiled at the five year old boy, even as sadness wormed its way into his heart.

The boy shrugged, smiling a little. "I dunno. It..." He hesitated. "It gimme fire a coupla weeks ago. And... it keeps talkin ta me. I- I guess I'm okay..." Sarutobi felt another pang of guilt at this news. The boy saw his conflicted expression, and in response his sunny smile faltered. "I'm fine, really, Jiji... I just wish I had some'ne ta play with, is all."

Sarutobi hummed thoughtfully. "Naruto-kun, how do you feel about Konoha?" The boy looked visibly startled at the change in direction.

"K-konoha? Um, I... It's, uh... it's my home, and... and I like trees..." He trailed off, nervously looking at the Hokage's face. "Some people're not so nice, though. I... I don' like 'em at all..." Sarutobi sighed.

"Naruto-kun, remember what Jiraiya told you after the incident? You are the protector of this village now." Naruto looked uncertain. He tried again. "When the fourth chose you as the jinchuuriki, he made you into the guardian of this village. It's your job now to keep it safe from harm. Both from the Kyuubi, and from everyone else. Each and every person in this village is under your protection." The blonde five year old looked at him with wide eyes.

"My... protection?" Sarutobi smiled.

"Yes Naruto-kun, that's correct. It's your job to keep them healthy and alive, just like it is any other ninja of Konoha."

Naruto looked at his Hokage, the one person that had always smiled at him, and made a decision. "Jiji, I promise you! I'll protect my home... whatever it takes." Hiruzen smiled, placing his hand on the boy's head, and guilt weighed on his heart at how easily the child followed his manipulation.

'Minato... I'm sorry. I have failed. I have failed.'

... ... ...

It was his first day at the Academy.

Naruto wasn't sure if he was supposed to be excited or nervous. It had been two years since the day he broke the seal. Jiraiya's temporary patches had faded, though his permanent ones were still strong. The first to break had been the one prohibiting the Kyuubi from accessing Naruto's mind. That was when the nightmares started, and the taunting, tempting voice had begun to toy with his mind. The rest fell in quick succession, and now it was a daily struggle to contain the beast.

It was strange, however. The fox demon had a pattern to its attempts at dominance. For every hour it thrashed and struggled, pushing the limits of Naruto's will, it spent three as a presence that only pulsated gently against the boundaries of its cage. No matter how it was acting, though, Naruto could always hear its voice. He could always feel its power.

Usually, the fox would space out its 'visits.' It'd spend one day tormenting the boy, then three dormant. Or a week, then three. The most it had ever left Naruto alone was three months, though the long peace had not been worth the month he had been forced to endure after.

It was a relief that it was dormant on his first day at the ninja academy. Naruto looked out from the tree he was hiding behind at the children lining up to hear the Hokage's speech. He had decided to wait until the last moment to reveal himself to his future classmates. He wanted to spare himself the pain of seeing those eyes for just a few minutes more.

It had surprised him the first time a kid his age had acted the same as most of the adults. Usually, they were fine until their parents dragged them away. It had been a week or so after the incident, and he had gone to the park to play. As soon as he made an appearance, all of the children ran to their parents screaming.

He stood alone in the playground for a while before he turned and left.

The next time he approached a park, when he was almost five, people chased him away with sticks. A couple of them tried to beat him, but blue flames simmered on his skin the second their skin touched his. He was terrified of this new power, certain it was a tainted gift from his tenant, a new way for the monster to break free and destroy his home. But his control over flame never left after that incident, and when he was afraid or angry it was hard to control.

So he stayed away from parks and people. The forest was a much kinder place, and the animals had no ill-will towards a little boy. Still... it was lonely. Naruto didn't like being lonely.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto stepped out from behind the tree. Surely, surely there would be someone here who didn't hate him because of the demon. He had given up on going to parks... but there must be someone, at least at the academy. He held on to the hope Jiji had given him when he told Naruto that a new opportunity meant new friends. He held onto that hope like he held onto his promise to protect, the promise that kept him from breaking when it hurt the worst.

His dreams were shattered when he tried to step into line. The other kids leapt away from him, creating a wide half circle of distance. He stood, heartbroken, then backed away. They didn't resume their placing until he was ten feet from where the lines had been.

Naruto decided then that he didn't need friends.

... ... ...

Year three of the academy.

Naruto sat in the front, right in the center. None of the kids would let him sit behind them. No one would sit next to him. The whispers of his classmates were easily audible... but they were nothing compared to the whispers of the demon in his head.

He was used to spacing out in class. Sometimes, the pain of Kyuubi's chakra pushing at the gate would be too much to bear, and he would leave deep gouges in his desk.

The first time the Kyuubi had pushed that hard, when he was almost five and it had begun to exercise its freedom, he had cried from the pain. It hurt to have his teeth grow, pushing through his gums, long and sharp and biting into his tongue and cheeks. His nails, also, hurt when they became sharp. It hurt more when his stomach muscles cramped and he clenched his fists, nails piercing skin. It hurt the most when his chakra pathways burned with the boiling red of Kyuubi and everything felt like it was on fire.

Now he just grit his teeth at the pain. It wasn't horrible, when it was just pain.

When it was really bad, he would lose control of his fire, and things would burn.

When it was the worst, he would lose control of himself, and the ANBU would appear.

They were always there, waiting for him to misstep. Then they'd slap paper containment seals on him, or wrap him in thick wood that sprouted from the ground, or entangle him in heavy steel chains with seals plastered all over them. He'd wake up in a dark room underground with seals everywhere. (God, was he sick of seals.) He'd be blindfolded and knocked out and taken back to his apartment. He'd be left alone until he lost control again.

He got good at keeping control. He just had to remember his promise to the Hokage. The first time he had hurt a person in Konoha, a little pink haired girl had sat a little too close to him. Her parents were immigrants, and had not yet warned her about him. When the Kyuubi slammed through him, in a routine attempt to break free, he accidentally let his fire flare.

As he watched her get taken to the hospital, he felt pure anguish.

When he began to spar with the other kids in taijutsu, he was surprised and dismayed at how easily they broke. They were fragile, like twigs. He tried to be careful, but he kept hurting them.

It took a while before he realized that he couldn't stop himself from causing pain.

Protecting anything was a foolish dream for a monster, anyway. How could he protect them from the Kyuubi if he couldn't protect them from himself?

He still felt possessive though.

Konoha was his. And the people in it were his to protect, no matter what.

He didn't like it when he hurt Mizuki-sensei, in that second of lost control, so he tried to find ways to be better and keep the cage closed tighter. He realized that chakra control was good. He realized that staying silent helped him focus.

Naruto also found that the attacks were weaker when he didn't eat. More of the Kyuubi's chakra would be routed towards keeping him alive from starvation, and less would be available to pound at the gates of its cage. It was hard to build up muscle, but he was strong and fast from the enhancements of Kyuubi's chakra so it didn't matter anyway.

He was thin. Thick, black whisker marks dominated his face. His pupils were slightly slit, canines pointed, nails sharp. His eyes would flash red when he got emotional. He felt angry a lot.

His chuunin teacher, Umino Iruka, was terrified of him. Everyone was, but this man's fear was the easiest to see.

Once, when Naruto wavered in his control, let his eyes bleed red and snarled, Iruka-sensei almost had a nervous breakdown. He hated the way his classmates looked at him, after that.

He hated the way they walked around him.

Sometimes, he couldn't shut out the voice in his head. Sometimes, he hurt people.

Sometimes, he liked causing pain.

He hoped it was the fox controlling him. He hoped it was the nightmares and whispers affecting him. He hoped that he didn't really want to hurt those people.

But sometimes the fox would make him see and feel things that weren't there, so that he lashed out at nothing in fear, thought he was drowning when he was on dry land, thought he was in the dark when it was daytime. It would whisper tantalizing things. It would tell him to die. It would tell him to let it go. It would taunt him with freedom from this life. It would ask him why he cared so much about keeping them safe. It would tell him that it knew he wanted to destroy and kill. It would tell him he was a monster.

He didn't want to be a monster.

He didn't want to be, but he was.

He was good at keeping the cage shut, (for Konoha, he reminded himself. don't go back on your word) , but sometimes he wondered if he should be in it.

... ... ...

Umino Iruka shuddered as he looked at the demon-boy sitting in the front row. When the Hokage had assigned him Uzumaki Naruto, he had feared the worst. He hadn't feared enough. The child was a monster. He would have fits of rage from simple, childish insults, breaking desks and doors or burning his classmates. Other times, he would visibly struggle with his anger. Mostly, he would sit silently, staring out the window. It was always a relief when he didn't come to class.

One day, in the fourth year, when the class had been learning chakra control, the beast had approached Iruka at his desk, with a question about chakra control. Iruka must have hesitated, because the boy had continued, saying, "I only wanted to know because it helps to control it."

Iruka gave him every volume on the subject instantly. He was too afraid to teach the demon-boy personally, but the hidden threat in the blonde ten-year old's words was too great to ignore.

Iruka cleared his throat, shaking off the memory of his only one-on-one conversation with Uzumaki. "Class! Pay attention please. This day marks the beginning of the second semester of your sixth year at the Konoha Ninja Academy. It is also your final semester at this school."

Here Iruka paused to smile at his students, catching each of their eyes, only faltering for a moment when he accidentally caught the gaze of the jinchuuriki.

"The test at the end of this semester will determine if you become a genin of Konohagakure or if you become a civilian! I believe that each and every single one of you has the potential to become a great ninja someday. With that said, I will now explain what we will be covering in our final four and a half months together."

As Iruka continued to speak, he watched the thin boy warily out of the corner of his eyes. The menace was currently pulsing sparks of fire from his fingers, staring at the flames as if in a trance. The students, no one closer than three desks, scooted slightly farther away. It had been horrible when the gentle pink-haired civilian girl, Sakura, had gotten badly burnt and hospitalized after she sat a little too close to the jinchuuriki during one of his tantrums. She never returned, and it was rumored that her family left Konoha shortly after she recovered.

Iruka finished his speech with a bright, "Now, let's go outside for some taijutsu practice! After that we will do some work with weapons, and then break for lunch!" The kids cheered when he said they were to go outside, and even the demon seemed to smile a little as he stood up.

Naruto wasn't allowed to do taijutsu against any of the other kids. He had broken other students bones before and stared sullenly, uncaring as his opponent was taken to the hospital. Once, he had even laughed, though Iruka had later seen him staring at his hands with what seemed to be a pained expression. When they fought with dulled kunai, he would superheat the metal and cause the other children to drop their weapons before they were burnt. His permanent sparring partner was the other teacher, Mizuki, until he nearly dislocated the chuunin's shoulder in a sudden rage. It wasn't that he was particularly skilled, it was that blows seemed to hardly affect him and he was unnaturally strong for his size and speed. Mizuki beat him easily when he was calm, but when the rage overtook him and his eyes flashed red... Iruka shuddered.

The boy sparred with a post now.

He had absolutely no aim with projectiles, at all, possibly because he didn't care or try to get better. During class practice he would stare darkly at the sky, as if daring one of his sensei to force him to practice. Neither Iruka or Mizuki ever tried.

Iruka's attention was drawn to his class when one of his students asked him a question. "Sorry, Ino-chan, I didn't quite catch that. What was it you wanted?"

"Sensei, I asked if you could be my sparring partner today. Since I won the tournament last class, I was hoping you could help me a little more today." The Yamanaka heiress chirped, pushing a loose strand from her short bob behind her ear. After Sakura's incident, she had lost all interest in playing around and started to take her training very seriously. She had a deep seated hatred for the other blonde in the class, one that Iruka silently encouraged. Her determination had spurred the other future kunoichi to better themselves, which had in turn forced the boys in their year to work twice as hard.

Iruka chuckled to himself. No one could ever say Ino wasn't a trend-setter. She was the best girl in her class, second only in the overall standings to Sasuke, a boy she had once had a huge crush on.

"Ino-chan, I was actually hoping to pair you up with Shikamaru-kun again today. You're the only one that can get him motivated to actually spar." Ino gaped at him, then narrowed her eyes.

"No! Sensei, please! That loser just drags me down all the time. I'm always stuck with him! He doesn't even fight, he just dodges until I get tired and then forfeits! It's not fair!" Ino clutched his chuunin vest and stared up at him, tears in her eyes. "Pleeeaaase, sensei, don't do this to meeeee." Iruka smiled at the girl as she continued to bemoan her fate until a quiet voice broke into the moment.

"If you want a real fight, I'll spar with you, Yamanaka-san." Iruka whirled around to see the jinchuuriki leaning against the wall behind them. Upon hearing his voice, Ino immediately tensed, eyes filling with hatred.

"Uzumaki, you bastard! I'll take you on any day," Ino snarled at him, and Iruka thought he saw a flash of hurt in the boy's eyes. She ran towards him, pulling her fist back to punch him in the face. He was shorter than her by a full inch, but Iruka felt fear pool in his stomach when he remembered the way the demon had tried to rip off Mizuki's arm.

"Ino, no!" He yelled, and grabbed her by the arm. Pulling her back towards him, he couldn't help but glare at the jinchuuriki. God, what a little monster, provoking his students into fighting so that he could hurt them. He turned, leading her away, and in his haste didn't notice the sadness in the bright blue eyes of Konoha's sacrifice.

The day continued without incident. Ino sulked in the back row, Shikamaru slept, Kiba pulled pranks and Uzumaki sat silently at his desk, staring out the window. When they tested jutsu, he failed the bunshin, and when they took a history exam he accidentally burned his test. Iruka, feeling vindictive from the escapade earlier, pretended not to notice and did not give him a new sheet.

He was approximately thirteen spaces from the bottom of the class rankings.

Iruka knew that even if he bombed everything on the genin test, he would be passed.

No one wanted the monster around children any longer than necessary.

... ... ...

Naruto swayed in the top branches of the tree, fingering his new hitai-ite. He ignored the murmurs in his head and walked down the trunk, using one of the chakra-control exercises he had learned to do so smoothly.

He headed towards the academy, a place he had once hoped to find friends in, and felt anger tighten his chest.

It had been eight years since the seal broke, and he promised to protect Konoha forever.

Six years since he had started on the path to becoming a ninja.

Four years since he realized that he was a monster.

Two years since he realized that no one would ever love him.

He cried, sometimes, when it was dark and he was alone and he was alone he was alone he was alone.

He felt despair when he realized that even though he could control the kyuubi, it could control him, and make him hate, and make him hurt them.

He reached the door and hesitated for just a moment before he pushed it open.

It was time to meet his team, and his sensei.

He had stopped hoping that they'd be different.

They always disappointed him.

... ... ...

AN:

Hope you like this chapter!

It's kinda depressing, sorry. It'll get better eventually, I hope.

Poor Naru-kun.

You may have noticed how bad I am at using dialogue! I really need a beta! Yeah! I just kinda interally monologue and flashback a lot. Hopefully that will change now that I'm done with this chapter.

I know Naruto seems kinda overpowered. He's actually not at all. Remember, he has no aim throwing projectiles, he has mediocre taijutsu, he can't do any form of bunshin, his transformation is shabby, his kawarimi is average, and though his chakra control is good it's not anywhere near even genjutsu levels yet.

He's just kinda got a weird fire thing, strength, speed, and the kyuubi.

Any high-level chuunin or above could take him easily, (sans kyuubi, 'course,) and someone like Kakashi could take him with their eyes closed.

He's also insane. Can't control his emotions, can't control his actions or words, can barely control the kyuubi...

Yeah. Naruto-kun has a loooooong way to go.

Oh! Some people are saying that this is too angsty, and I just want to let you know that this story is tagged under ANGST for a reason. Do you want me to put a warning at the top of each chapter? I will if it'll stop the flames.

Oh well. Moving on... any OC I make for this fic will probably die quickly, but there will be an uneven number for the rookie nine... *cackles* have fun guessing who his teammates will be! I'll try to update soon. But highschool, so... who knows?

Still need a beta!

Peace, Avvi