Tip Of The Spear

Prologue

Two children are seen running down back streets and alleyways just ahead of a large drunken crowd. The male is getting worried as his female companion is nearing the end of her endurance. From the back are cries of murder as killing intent from shinobi fills the air. They had been at the Festival of The Fox's Defeat when they got separated from the girl's family. Taking a wrong turn the kids had found themselves in one of the streets that held a number of cheap bars. At that moment the road was full of drunken men and women who were trying to drown out the sorrow of lost friends and family from that long ago night. While the boy had stopped and was instantly wary of the mean looking people, the girl was a little braver as she walked up to a group of men and asked them if they could help her and her friend find her folks.

It only took a moment for one of them to recognize the two, a chunin that was past his prime glared at them before he realized that this was the brat that was rumored to hold the demon that killed his teammates inside. Now he wasn't stupid, he knew that there was no way a scroll became the kunai it held just as this child wasn't the Fox but his hatred for the creature had colored his mind regarding the boy. No matter how many times the Hokage lectured his forces about young Naruto not being the fox nor holding it some of the more traumatized men and women just could not see past their pain. It was one of these ninjas that began to yell at the two, pointing out the boy as the suspected container of the demon. The civilians, on the other hand, had no such understanding of how seals and sealing worked and the more ignorant and less reasonable only saw the boy as the Fox incarnate and his female companion as his 'demon whore' even though he was the son of their late beloved leader and they had been told so just a day after the tragedy. While they knew the girl was the daughter of a very powerful merchant. To them, they would always be seen as something evil, a curse on the village so it didn't take very much to turn the drunken mass into a mob with murder in their hearts at the chunin's yells. As one the mob turned their attention to the children and began the chase.

The boy reacted quickly and grabbed the girl's hand and began racing through the ill-lit streets of the outer districts. Ducking this way and that they rushed headlong into the dark trying desperately to lose the ever-growing mob that was calling for their blood. At one point the pair found themselves running through a section of the village that still bore the scars from that night a few years ago. A flare of light caught the boy's attention as the effigy of the Kyuubi No Kitsune erupted in flames that signified the beginning of the fireworks display. The boy turned sharply in that direction in a bid to find safety and protection from the masked people that always seemed to watch over him and his friend.

In his panic the boy takes a wrong turn and now finds his back to a dead end. Looking around for an escape route he doesn't see the rock sail from the back of the crowd hitting him in the face, splitting his cheek and knocking him to the ground. The girl is now screaming for help that she knows will arrive too late, the masked ninjas that shadow her and her companion are nowhere to be seen. Although they have been ignored, harassed and shunned by a few villagers in the past this is the first time they have become violent. "Why?" she asks, "Why are you doing this? Why do you hate us so much?"

"Why you ask?" comes a yell from the crowd, "Why? Because he's the one that killed our loved ones, destroyed our homes. And you, you wretched girl, since you care for him that's enough reason to hate you too."

"I...I never hurt anyone," the boy calls back trying to stand as he puts himself in front of the girl to shield her from the worst. He knows that if he can get them to focus on her she can make her escape so he begins to shout back, to stand up for himself and his friend, "I never killed anyone, it's you that are trying to kill us. It's you that ignore us or call us names. Why can't you leave us alone?" he screams as he balls his hands into fists.

"Enough!" a drunk calls out, "You're all alone now, that old fool of a Hokage and his ANBU can't protect you now. You two are all by yourselves, no one will ever know who did this so just die already!"

At that point a chunin in the crowd flings a kunai that catches the boy in the side, dropping him to the ground. The girl calls to him telling him to get up but it's too late. The crowd is on them, the girl is kicked and punched while much worse is done to the boy. The girl is thinking how can they be so mean to a pair of kids no older than six. As she begins to stand one of the drunker men grab at her, pulling her pants and underwear down. She struggles to get away as the man looks at her in a fog of lust, "Let's see how much the demon will love you now girly after I'm done with you," he says laughing in a crazed manner.

Looking over to her companion she sees that he's been beaten until he's one mass of bruises and is beginning to bleed out because of all the cuts and stab wounds that the crowd has inflicted on him. As she sees this the girl realizes that this time there is no rescue, the ANBU and Hokage will be too late and she and her friend will be dead, "Goodbye Naruto, I really do love you," was her last thought before darkness clouded her mind.

Looking over at his friend Naruto is heartbroken, 'She's going to die because of me', is what he begins to think as he calls out to her, "Sakura, Sakura, I'm sorry that I got you hurt. Sakura, I love yo..." the last word is cut off by a hard kick to the face that breaks Naruto's jaw and knock's him out.

Just as the boy loses conscious a cloud of red chakra begins to leak from his small form. As it grows it begins to envelop the two downed children in a protective coat as a figure begins to form, the man assaulting Sakura screams in pain as the chakra burns his hands and any other body part in contact with the girl The figure, a being of pure chakra takes on a human form as a male voice cuts through the air, causing him to drop her unconscious and near nude form on the ground.

"So, its come to this has it? Fools the lot of you! Trying to kill these children because you can't or won't see the truth of your last leaders words. It's because of you that I am free, it's because of you that I will now take your lives because you dare hurt these two kits, my host and his mate!" roared the voice of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Fox as he laughed evilly into the night, "HAAAA! I'M FREE! You fools! Just think, the last thing that you will ever know is that because of you, your village will die tonight. That child you hate so much was the only thing that kept me from getting to all of you. Just think of the irony, by thinking that you were finishing what Minato started you're actually finishing what to Sharingan user started when he took control of me and ripped out of my last host!"

As the mob heard the fox's words the began to feel sick as they took in the sight before them. The boy was on the ground bleeding out not transformed into the beast they hated, that being was in his own form its face full of teeth with a pair of eyes that bored into their collective souls promising a slow and painful death. As they began to turn on the chunin that rallied them against the youngsters in the first place the fox laughed louder as it extended two of its tails as if they were pincers from each side of the alley with the intent to slowly envelop this quivering mob and let them feel the corrosive burn of his chakra.

Just as he was ready to strike a voice called to him to stop as he was surrounded by masked ninja of the villages ANBU forces. "What is the meaning of this? How did you get loose?" called the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi as he prepared to summon his partner Enma.

"So, the leading idiot of this village of idiots makes his presence known," the Fox growled out, "tell me again why it was such a good idea to tell everyone about the Kit, who he held for example?"

"I didn't, a hysterical kunoichi told anyone that would listen to her that Naruto had been killed by you and Minato used a sealing technique to change you into the form of his dead son. We did all we could to contain the leak and we had done all we could but the seeds of doubt had been planted and the leaks continue. The Fourth, Minato, he wished that young Naruto be seen as a hero for what was done to him", came the reply, " I made sure that it was known that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage, honestly, I did but others leaked out the lie that he was you incarnate. People we still have yet to identify."

"Ah yes, I can see how the village honors the wishes of it's dying leader and treats its young hero, his son and the one chosen to lead this wretched place" spat the Fox as he brushed his tails over the two children, "and I can see that they accept his friends the same way."

Walking up to the village leader the Fox placed his hands to the old man's head watching him reel as his mind took in the events of the last few hours. As he stepped back the man signaled his troops to take the shinobi involved into custody and to execute those remaining, the would-be rapist was to be sent to Anko first before he was given a very slow and painful death in public. The man was in a state between shock and disgust as the images he had just seen were still seared in his mind, "I...I swear to you I didn't know that it was this bad. How can I make it up to them?" he asked looking down in shame.

The Fox narrowed his eyes at him while in deep thought before answering him, "I will take them from here to a place where they will train. If it was his fathers wish to be seen as the hero then he shall learn to be a hero. But not in this world, I shall take them to a place that will push them to their limits, where chakra and ninja don't exist. When they are at their best they will return, do you understand?" the Fox asked the man who could only nod his head.

"Good," he said as he smiled, "Very good, now then, old man, I plan on them knowing everything," seeing the look on his face he continued, "Yes, I know that he was told of his parents and the marriage contract, but I want him to know everything else, including his family, his titles, position in this world. While the children know about their betrothal he has yet to be informed of his parent's clans and his father's wish that he lead this wretched village. I shall ensure Minato's agent tells them, they need to know what is expected of them, especially the kit when they return. Naruto will be taught his mother's style of combat and sword work, I was with her long enough to know how she fought. The little vixen's parents, they took the boy in, loved him and gave him a loving home, you will tell them that the time for their training has begun. I know who Minato's agent is, I will take them there. Be advised, there will be a time difference between worlds, they could return a little older looking than you will be expecting them to be. That's something I can't do anything about. Any questions?"

"Yes," came the reply from a ninja in a dogs mask, "Who will train them if they are not in this world as you say?"

"Inu-san," the Fox replied with a small amount of respect. He knew this one, his last container treated him like he was her own kit while he took his job of looking out for Naruto seriously, "I will take them to Minato's agent in the other world, he will take them under his wing and I will help him teach them. The children will be trained to their fullest, sent to the best schools and taught to be the warriors and leaders Minato and Kushina want them to be. By the time they return they will be full-blooded and trained ninjas that will carry their people to a new age."

"I only ask this of you and the old man, ensure that this will not happen after their return, should Naruto be killed I will be released as I can't be killed. Should Sakura be injured or killed I'm afraid that the boy would release me in vengeance and despair, something I would willingly do for him. You will find the ones that leak the boy's status to those that will listen among those that were removed from power the night your Fire Lord cleaned house. There are three of them that were past their prime when they fought Minato's appointment, two that hated my former host because she wasn't a proper Konoha woman and not fit to birth the Hokage. The last is a cripple with delusions of grandeur and a silk tongue as well as a thirst for power."

As the Fox finished speaking his chakra began to glow while taking shape of a swirling ball. As the ball grew in size and it's spinning picked up the two children began to lift from the ground. After raising another two feet the ball of chakra began to glow until it flashed out of sight with the sound of a thunderclap.

In the alley, the Hokage and his ANBU stood dumbly staring at the last place they had seen the blonde and pink haired children. Inu, at last, spoke, breaking the silence, "When do you think they'll be back?"

"I don't know," the aged leader replied before continuing, "but I know this, it's time to clean the village and remove those the fox pointed the finger at."

"You believe it?" asked the man with the dog mask.

"Yes, what I saw when the Fox held my head makes me sick, take your best men and investigate the former council and elders. Inform the Harunos of what happened and tell them that the children's training is starting early. I also want his ANBU detail interrogated as to how they lost track of the two most important children in the village. Find out if they underwent T&I's vetting process, let Anko have a chat with them. Seeing as how she views Naruto and Sakura as her little brother and sister she'll be willing to get to the bottom of this."

Pointing to the crowd the ANBU were holding the village leader spoke to his trusted agent, "There is one man in that group that is to be killed by me and me alone, he's the shop owner that constantly complains about Naruto and Sakura. He is to be held, I will personally execute him," the Hokage ordered.

"If you do that you may lose the support of the new council, he's done nothing wrong but complain about those kids," Inu told his leader.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Inu, he was trying to rape Sakura. I doubt the council will have a problem with my order, considering the Haruno guild controls the majority of the civilian seats. I will not have the owner of a toy store alive in my village that would do that to a child, take him to Anko-chan," the old man said, "He was way too willing to commit that act, let's see who else he's harmed."

"And the others?" the dog masked man inquired.

"Charge the ninjas in the group with treason, they forget that Naruto is their Hokage in waiting and they have tried to kill their leader and execute them. As for the rest of these drunks...take them to T&I, find out who they've been listening to and then lock them up for a year, as for the repeat offenders, see that the Fire Lord gets an addition to his annual tithe this year. We have too many people in this village with too much time on their hands and no visible means of support. I suppose we can lose a few criminals to our Lord's farms, many hands make light work as you know and he is expecting a larger than normal crop this year."

Turning to one of the other ANBU agents he began to issue orders, "Notify Jiraiya and Tsunade they are to return at once. Tell them that their grandson was attacked and for his safety, it was decided to begin his training now. They can take a second honeymoon after he and Sakura have returned."

The next morning, as Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office talking to the dog-faced ANBU about last night's events a small red fox popped into existence. Jumping onto his desk the animal made several magician's sleight of hand movements before handing him a scroll.

"Hokage-sama, I am Makoto and the personal messenger of Lord Kurama," the animal explained in a voice, unlike a child, "This scroll will explain my Lord's wishes for the children. They are in a time stasis so he can lay the foundations for their training. But they are in fine shape as our healers treated the girl as Lord Kurama healed his host. I am told that I am to wait for your compliance with my Lord's wishes and that I am to answer any questions regarding the kit and his vixen."

Sarutobi took the scroll and looked it over, "If I say no to handing over his clan's library what will the nine tails do?" he asked.

"He will send foxes into the village repeatedly until the library is located and we will transfer it without your knowledge or permission. This is just a courtesy request, Lord Kurama has also sent envoys to the Toads to inform them of the status of the Fourth's son. They...are not happy," the little fox answered.

"I see, and the release of 20 million Ryo from his inheritance to be converted into gold?"

"It is to be used as a nest egg, we daemons can travel from world to world and back and forth in time. Our Lord has ordered the Fox clan to assist. We will start things moving about 150 years before the time the children will arrive. Lord Naruto and Lady Sakura will be financially well off by then and their family history established," the fox explained, "If worse comes to worst they will stay where they are at and live long and happy lives."

Sarutobi looked at the scroll again thoughtfully, reading further down he saw childish scrawlings, messages from the two children that they were fine and happy and looked forward to their new life and prospect of training. Naruto's only complaint was that he's had no ramen and no relief was in sight. The old man smiled at that and made his decision.

"Makoto, I agree and will have the money requested in a week if that's okay with the nine tails. I only ask one thing, that I and the ones that love and care for them be updated on a regular basis."

"That...can be arranged Hokage-sama, I believe that the kits would be more motivated if they knew you were still interested and thinking of them. Until next week then," at that, the fox popped out of the office in a small cloud of smoke.

"Can we trust the word of the nine tails sir?" the masked man asked.

" I think we can Kakashi, the nine tails trusts us to a high degree, if not he would not have allowed its messenger to say his name. As you know, names have power and we now know the names of two, Kurama, the nine tails and Makoto, his messenger," taking a drag from his pipe the old man continued, "You will let leak that the children are in exile until called for. Make sure that everyone knows that the village has spent the last six years shunning Minato's son as well as his chosen successor. Although that was announced to the village during the remembrance ceremony it seems that a large part of our population needs a reminder. I'm sure that the Harunos will agree."

"Yeah, I remember Minato-sensei telling us that as he was dying. Lord Hokage, Naruto's regular detail reported to me that while in their first year of schooling the teachers pretty much ignored Naruto's questions regarding what he was being taught. Normally that could be put down to just being too busy to hear the question but if Sakura or another child asked the same thing the teachers wouldn't hesitate to answer. I'm thinking that whoever has been talking to the shopkeepers and public, in general, has also been talking to the teachers as well." Kakashi stated to his leader.

"Minato's last words to me, I was to keep his status as the keeper of the fox a secret and train him to take over from me," the old man explained, "I did just that yet his status as the Foxes keeper still gets leaked to people that have access to the boy. What are we going to do? Should the Nine-tails find out that we have not found and stopped the leak I'm afraid that Naruto and Sakura will be kept from returning to us. Have we found out why his protection detail lost him yet?"

"Yes, they were taking a break as the kids were taking their time in Ichiraku Ramen," Kakashi said.

"I see, were any Uzuki clan members on that detail?"

"No, Yugau said that she was never informed of a new squad taking over, especially taking over last night. That's the night we always have trouble with the drunks having too much and getting a little too brave. I wish that Naruto would just once have a birthday where he didn't have to hide or have an armed ANBU section watch over him. You know, it has to suck knowing that the day you were born was also the day your parents died and then have to deal with a bunch of drunk fools that can't tell the difference between a scroll and a kunai. Say, you don't think your old friend is involved do you?"

"Sadly, yes. Remember what the fox said the other night, the last one is power hungry and speaks with a silk tongue. That fits Dazo to a tee, the only reason I've allowed him to operate his ROOT program is that Minato and I recognized the need for a deniable resource for certain...unsavory actions. Danzo has the one thing others don't that make him perfect to take these missions, a moral compass. I would actually be surprised if he wasn't involved. What have we found out about Naruto's ANBU detail? Why did they lose track of the children?"

"They were taken to T&I as ordered, it seems that they were a new detail that was assigned to Naruto by the elders."

"Were they properly vetted? And was a Uzuki clan member with them?"

"No, according to our records they had failed the vetting process at some point, the most common reason was the fact that they bought into the rumor that Naruto was the Fox incarnate. In fact, the leader's record is flagged that he's not permitted on any mission that deals with the boy. It seems that he believes completely in that rumor and nothing said to him will change that."

"I see, he give a reason for not shadowing Naruto and Sakura?"

"Yes, it seems that Koharu stopped them and requested an escort to her house, I find that in itself suspicious seeing as she's one of the most respected people in the village as well as still capable of taking care of herself. When we pointed that out and that he could've left at least one member of his team to watch the pair the excuse got even better. It seems that they all work better as a team and that losing one person would decrease their combat capability."

"I see. Kakashi, I want that team jailed and tried for treason, they're a disgrace to Konoha and the ANBU. At the same time, I want a full investigation into my old teammates. If there's one high spot in this is that the Fire Lord granted Minato's request and dissolved the old council. I hate to think of how badly Naruto would've been treated with those people still in office."

"If I recall, they had already voted themselves powers that overstepped their bounds in the two days between losing Minato and their being removed from power. Had they not been removed I fear that your hands would've been tied and Naruto's life a living hell. We found a law pending your signature in that first stack of paperwork that was intended to block Naruto's adoption by anyone. The second thing we found was an order to the headmasters of all schools, civilian and ninja academy included to see that Naruto is given substandard or incorrect teaching. They really wanted him to be ill-prepared for life when he was out of school."

Hiruzen hung his head at the mention of those unpassed laws, there were several more but these would've been the most damaging. In another life, he would've compounded the boy's life by thoughtlessly proclaiming his jinchuriki status. As it was, he had come close but he remembered Minato ordering that part of Naruto's life is kept a secret. It was bad enough that there were a few foolish villagers and shinobi that bought into the belief that Naruto was actually the Fox and while his life had been relatively safe and free from harm there was a few that would insult the boy from time to time and others that would try to overcharge his caretakers for goods and services nothing dangerous happened. That is not until the other night, now it seemed that there was a conspiracy to harm the next Hokage that involved three people Sarutobi Hiruzen had trusted all his life.

There would be an investigation of course, but the aftermath was foregone. Three of Konoha's most trusted and respected shinobi would die and an unknown number of former council members would soon join them.

TBC

A/N:

So, this is the first chapter of the Tip Of The Spear reboot. I have changed things around a bit mostly for the better. The first thing you may have noticed is that Sakura's parents are raising Naruto and are involved in his life. The second is that the older corrupted council is already gone and the current one is made up of people that realize Naruto isn't the Fox and that the boy's heritage is already known to the village. That still doesn't change the fact that there are still people that see the boy as the Fox and are willing to harm him at any chance that they get.

The last major change is that this is the only beating that Naruto and Sakura have to suffer from. I'm trying to get away from the Naruto gets beaten almost everyday trope as well as some other tired ones such as being homeless and being sold only rotten or nearly rotten food, substandard clothing, and being overcharged where ever he goes aside from Ichiraku Ramen. The assault on Sakura and Naruto was left in as the catalyst for Kurama's appearance. Over the course of this rewrite, I was stunned to see just how many errors I had made in each chapter. To give you an idea, the chapter that follows this one contained 137 errors. And this was after I had read and reread it several times as well as it being read who knows how many thousands of time by guests and members.

I hope to post the next chapter in the next week or so but please bear with me, my mother had a stroke a few days ago and is still in the hospital so my mind is not exactly on my stories. Aside from that I hope you enjoy this reboot and Happy New Year.