"Naruto!"-speech
'Naruto!'-thought
'Naruto!'-bijuu talking
'Naruto!'-talking to bijuu
{Previously}
"Don't make me laugh! Iruka has hated you since you killed his parents! He only wants to get the scroll back," Naruto turned away, plastering a look of betrayal on his face, he was about to run away when Mizuki called out to him,
"Look at that, the demon's afraid," Naruto was immediately pulled into a flashback.
Chapter 2: Flashbacks of the Past
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Flashback *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 7 years ago *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A 4-year-old Naruto was sitting under a tree, the sun was slowly sinking further into the horizon, tomorrow was his 5th birthday and the 2 year anniversary since he began living on the streets. That morning he had asked Kaka-nii if he could stay overnight until the Kyuubi festival was over as Naruto is often targeted by shinobi and villagers alike.
Kakashi or Kaka-nii as Naruto called him had taught him how to use chakra for simple tasks like walking on surfaces as well as telling him stories of his parent's achievements and how much they loved him.
Naruto sighed, and slowly started walking to Kakashi's apartment. He arrived within minutes, he was sat outside knowing Kakashi would either be asleep, at the Hokage's office or reading his perverted novels somewhere in town, his thoughts were when a loud rumble was heard. He blushed, knowing that his stomach was the culprit, he hadn't eaten in days and with little to no money and no one willing to sell you food Naruto was heavily malnourished.
He decided to have a nap on a branch of a nearby tree, using the tree climbing technique Kakashi had shown him, from his perch he could see civilians hanging lanterns and decorations for the Kyuubi festival. It seemed to be all fun and games but Naruto knew that it was a day full of torment to come. The villagers saw today as a day to kick, stab and punch Naruto as well as the occasional jutsu if shinobi get involved.
Another grumble came from his stomach, deciding he had enough he pulled out the small amount of money he had and walked towards the main shopping street, in search for someone willing to feed him.
He approached a new looking stall, hoping that the owners didn't know what he contained, noticing the 5 seats in front of the counter he jumped up to the middle seat. The old man standing behind the counter noticed Naruto, his eyes widening slightly after he realised who he was, but instead of them changing to looks of hate and hostility, his gaze softened to one of sympathy and respect when he inspected the boy's lithe form.
"What can I get for you?" Teuchi, the man running the stall asked, Naruto's gaze shifted to the menu in front of him. He looked up to the man, lifting the menu and pointing at the kanji littering the page, 'Miso ramen' was what he had pointed at.
Within minutes a fresh, steamy bowl of ramen sat in front of Naruto, he stared for a few moments before slowly reaching towards the bowl, attempting to eat with his hands, the hunger controlling his actions. Just as he was about to grab a handful he stopped and remembered to use the chopsticks provided.
He picked them up and started eating, albeit slowly as he wasn't used to eating with chopsticks. When he finished he emptied out his ripped pockets and put down the money, tilting his head as he did so as if asking 'How much?' Naruto had 15 yen spread in front of him, the man grimaced, so little money and it has to last the week.
Feeling pity for the boy, he charged 5 yen rather than the usual 30. As Naruto walked away, a small brown haired girl, Ayame came from the storage room in the back. She was Teuchi's 10-year-old daughter, coming to stand next to her father, she asked,
"That's him, isn't it?" He replied with slight hesitation,
"Yeah, that's him... Naruto Uzumaki"
The blond slowly approached Kakashi's doorstep, hoping he was there as a chunin was following not far behind. After knocking on the door multiple times and receiving no answer Naruto decided to visit the Hokage or as Naruto calls him Jiji. On the way to the Hokage Tower, Naruto's 'tenant' made himself known,
'We're being tailed, there's a chunin level ninja at 5 o'clock,' a growling voice said.
'...' Naruto gave no response, even though they met about 2 years ago they didn't talk much, only the Kyuubi's warnings and constant nagging reminded him of the other's presence.
Resuming his journey, Naruto noticed a slight rustle come from the nearby bushes on his right. When it suddenly stopped he continued walking, albeit cautiously, towards the tower. His pursuer seemed to decide that now was the prime opportunity to strike, and true to the Kyuubi's word a chunin level shinobi sped towards him.
Out of instinct, Naruto ran towards a small cave he had found yesterday morning. He swiftly arrived at the entrance only for a hand to grab his shirt's collar from behind, turning his head slightly he saw a tall, grey-haired man, probably near the end of his teens, wearing Konoha's chunin uniform, glaring down at him. KI (killer intent) was sent to him and although he wasn't fully affected he still began to shake. This only made the man smirk,
"Look at that the demon's afraid" he sneered and even though Naruto knew he wasn't a demon, but the container, it still hurt to be insulted and glared at. Using his left hand the ninja took a kunai from his weapons pouch and pointed it at Naruto,
"Now, how should I break you, destroy your voice, destroy your hearing or...hmm, I know I'll destroy your sight, stopping you from becoming a ninja. Honestly, you should thank me, I'm saving you from the evil in the world,"
Naruto started to panic after the mention of ruining his career as a ninja because his dream of surpassing the previous Hokage, especially his father, relies on the fact that he can become a ninja in the first place. As the kunai was plunged into his chest, Naruto screamed, his pleads for help echoing throughout the forest. Naruto struggled as the ninja removed his orange jacket as well as the black T-shirt underneath, he started to carve names such as 'demon' 'monster' and 'murderer' into his back.
On the back of the chunin's uniform, a name could be seen 'Mizuki'. Meanwhile, the Kyuubi had seen all the torture Naruto had experienced. Normally Kurama would have started to heal Naruto if not for the boys pleads for him to keep the chakra in order to save his eyes. He may not show it but he cares deeply for the boy, almost as if he was his own kit.
Feeling an intense amount of excitement radiating from the silver-haired nin, Kyuubi clamped his huge claws over his ears, trying to block out the incoming shrieks of pain from his Kit.
The newly named Mizuki started to feel excited as he was about to end Naruto's career as a shinobi before it began. As slowly as humanly possible he dragged the kunai across Naruto's eyes, making him shout, scream and beg as much as he could until he lost his voice. Mizuki quickly found himself bored and decided to run away, grinning to himself. Once the chunin was out of sight Kurama started to release as much chakra as possible without harming him further.
The wounds littering Naruto's torso slowly began to heal but instead of disappearing they became scars, and with the fox's attention on saving his eyes they would become a permanent reminder. The evil yet calming chakra of the Kyuubi receded back into the depths of his mind, Naruto opened his damaged eyes expecting to see the blue sky and surrounding forest but he only saw pitch black.
'Kyuubi, why can't I see?' he whispered fearfully to the demon,
'I'm sorry kit, the kunai was poisoned and your body can't handle any more of my chakra, you would die if I tried.' For once the beast felt an emotion other than wrath and hatred,
'It's okay, you tried,' and with that thought in mind, Naruto shakily stood, closing his useless eyes. He couldn't stop the tears from falling as he stumbled towards the cave. After tripping a few times he gave up trying and sat down next to a nearby tree. Feeling sorry for the now blind 5-year-old Kurama brought Naruto into his mindscape.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Naruto's mindscape *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Open your eyes kit,' the gruff voice called out,
'Why? I can't see there's no point' a meek voice called out,
'Because I said so,' the Kyuubi said gleefully, a smirk adorning his feral features,
'He thinks this is funny!' Naruto thought as his tears increased, the only person he was condemned to be with forever found his suffering amusing. He slowly opened his eyes, deciding to humour the Kyuubi. What he saw was beyond amazing. But that was just it, he could see. He looked up, locking eyes with his prisoner, he barely stuttered,
'How?'
Kurama's smirk slowly faded, 'When you wake up you won't be able to see, but as long as you're in here you can,' Naruto's frown returned.
'Oh...'
'The villagers and the council will take advantage of your blindness, they could end your ninja career before it had a chance to begin,' he glanced at the boy, his eyes closed, hand under his chin and brows furrowed,
'Maybe a genjutsu? Kaka-nii has been teaching me chakra control,'
'Heh, good idea brat...' he paused and a small 'I'm not a brat!' was heard before he continued,
'Do you want me to hide the other scars as well?'
'If Hokage-Jiji, Kaka-nii or someone close to me was to look then hide them, but other than that I don't care,'
'You're hiding them from the scarecrow? (1),' Kurama asked,
'I'll tell him when the time is right,' he responded, there was a brief silence,
'Hey, Kyuubi?'
'Yes kit'
'What's your name?' That one question was the start of their friendship,
'Kurama, it's Kurama'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Outside his mindscape ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A tall, lean figure rapidly approached a sleeping Naruto, stepping into the light he was revealed to be none other than Kakashi himself. As he spotted the small blonde his 'mother' senses kicked in and he was kneeling next to his 'brother' in no time.
Reaching out a gloved hand to touch the boy, he was surprised to see a tanned hand on his, looking up he stared into Naruto's, now opened, sapphire blue eyes. Instantly recognising Kakashi's welcoming chakra tears started to gather at the corner of his useless eyes.
The genjutsu for both his eyes and scars was active but he was still covered in his own blood, knowing Naruto needed comfort, Kakashi swiftly enveloped him into a hug, whispering words of comfort to the young boy he saw as a younger brother.
Once they returned to Kakashi's small apartment Naruto went instantly to bed, almost collapsing from exhaustion, leaving Kakashi to clean and change him. Before Kakashi stripped Naruto in order to bathe him Kurama decided Kakashi should see at least half of the truth and released the genjutsu hiding the scars on Naruto's back.
Kakashi had been expecting to see some wounds from the obvious torture the boy had endured but he hadn't expected to see words carved into the young child's skin. After that day Kakashi had vowed to protect Naruto with his life and teach him how to defend himself.
Even though he was still on the streets Naruto trained with Kakashi non-stop for the next year, he mastered 3 types of taijutsu, Demonic Rush (his mother's style), Wolf Fang Rising Fist (Kakashi and his father's style) and of course the basic academy style, taught to anyone who has ever entered the academy. Using special chakra paper Naruto now knows of his 3 affinities wind, water and lightning, although he can use all 3 to some degree he mainly uses wind style.
When he turned 6 Kakashi decided to tell the Hokage about Naruto's skills and to say he was impressed was an understatement, he was then tested and given the rank of ANBU, his codename was Fox, ranked SS in the bingo book with flee-on-sight, his nickname: The blue-eyed fox. At 7 he was given an apartment by the (still) oblivious Hokage and at the age of 8 he retired as ANBU and joined the academy, bringing us to present day.
(1)- Kakashi means Scarecrow
Word count- 2111
Next Chapter will be at present day.