This is my first fanfic ever!

Please read and review! Reviews and critiques are MUCH appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If that wasn't obvious enough...

This was supposedly one of the happiest days of the year, for the citizens of Konoha. The cracks and bangs of firecrackers exploding quickly filled the village. The excited chatter and parties that the people threw kept spirits high.

Parents walked about with their toddlers strapped to their backs, with children following them, grins filling their faces as they took big chunks out of the various treats they held in their hands.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, sat atop the Hokage Tower, where he worked. He gazed downwards upon the village, watching with amusement, but a sense of sadness deep within.

It was October tenth. 6 years ago, on this exact day, the Kyuubi had struck, but for the last time. This day not only honored the defeat of the Kyuubi, but the sacrifice of Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage.

The night sky was dark, almost ominous. The stars shown brightly in a stark contrast to the darkness around them. Carved upon the mountainside surrounding Konoha, were the faces of all of the Hokages. This was their monument – a testament to their powerful rule that kept Konoha going in times of trouble. They were the saviors of the village.

Despite the combined efforts of the Hokages to make everyone as content as they possibly could, however, there was still a lone child, aging only 6 years old, perched atop the monument, with tears in his eyes as he too, like the Sandaime, watched the processions below from above.

His name, was Uzumaki Naruto. He wanted so badly to join the happiness, below, but he knew, alas, that was not to be. The beatings and the shunning he received throughout the year was bad enough. But it was on this day, his birthday, for god's sake, that everything got worse.

It was always the same. He would get his annual beating within an inch of his life after the festival. Afterwards, early in the morning, drunk civilians and shinobi would go over to his rundown apartment, break in, steal his possessions and then burn the place down.

And there was nothing anyone could do about this. Not like any of the citizens even cared to try and stop it, anyway. The ANBU Black Ops, who were allegedly assigned to Naruto as his guardians could never reach him nor his apartment in time to save both.

Naruto sighed deeply, obviously discontent, waiting for the mob to find him so he could get this day done and over with. In slight boredom, he hummed the tune 'Happy Birthday' to himself, trying to find some light in the situation.

Suddenly, he felt a presence near him. Naruto closed his blue eyes sadly, and he tensed up, awaiting the pain.

But none came. After minutes of just sitting there and bracing himself for what was not to come, he slowly opened his eyes.

There, staring at him with surprised, crimson eyes, was a woman. She was wearing a cute outfit that looked as though she was coming from a date. Her facial expression showed that she was surprised. She froze; she was just about to take a munch out of the bun that she had in one of her hands.

Naruto had this weird feeling as if he recognized her, but he couldn't quite remember where or how. The fact that she didn't appear drunk, the fact that she didn't appear to be carrying with her any weapons, the fact that she seemed surprised that he was there and didn't make a move, or a sound, made Naruto feel as though she was safe.

But 6 years of constant beatings, betrayals and shunning takes a toll on who and what you trust. He inched away slowly, knowing that anyone could be easily be tricking him into false trust – many had done so already; such as a man named Uchiha Itachi.

"Naruto, come here for a second.", the Sandaime said with a big grin on his face. Happiness was contagious. Naruto grinned back at him, and went with the old man.

"I've assigned this boy, Itachi, to watch over you and keep you safe."

Naruto looked to the Hokage's right, and saw a boy with distinctive lines coming from the top of his nose to the middle of his cheeks. He had a sense of superiority coming from him, but he too was grinning. His eyes were closed, and his head was tilted.

The 5 year old grinned. In his mind, he was dancing with glee. Another friend; another person he could trust! Another person who didn't call him demon or insult him and attempt to kill him.

…(time skip) ...

Naruto and Itachi got along well. They were in the middle of a sandbox. Naruto was building a sandcastle, but since he had no prior experience, it just ended up being a big lump of sand.

"Itachi, why don't you play with your brother Sasuke at all?", Naruto asked, eyes squinting as he tried to figure out a reason.

"You see, my brother is quite annoying." Itachi answered with a smirk. "He's always trying to beat me – it's like I can't understand him anymore."

Naruto pondered for a moment, and then nodded in acknowledgement.

"I guess I understand. Do you hate him?"

Itachi paused for a moment.

"No. I don't. We're family, after all! Big brothers are always supposed to be there for each other… just like friends – friends like you and I." Itachi said, smiling genuinely.

Naruto smiled back at him. He felt safe and content under Itachi's care.

… (time skip) …

It was raining heavily. Naruto sat on his bed patiently, but with a little bit of restlessness. He couldn't wait until Itachi arrived. But he couldn't help but feel a little bit depressed as he watched the rain outside.

There was a knock on the door of his apartment. Naruto leapt forward with a yelp of happiness, and quickly threw open the door.

There in the door, was a panting Itachi. His head was hung, and he was breathing deeply. He looked up, making eye contact with Naruto. Naruto took a step back in surprise.

Itachi's eyes were red, with little symbols inside that Naruto couldn't understand, and Itachi was emitting a slight bit of killer intent.

"Itachi-kun, why are your eyes re-…" Naruto tried to say, but he was cut off.

MANGEKYO SHARINGAN!

Suddenly the whole world turned red and ominous as Naruto was suddenly inside the middle of the Uchiha compound, which Naruto recognized as he was there a couple times before. Itachi came out of the shadows. He looked on with an emotionless face. He drew a blade, and threw multiple kunai in Naruto's direction. Naruto cringed, waiting to get hit, but the kunai passed through him, as if he was a ghost. Naruto spun around to see where the kunai had gone, and saw as some of the Uchiha clan members were suddenly struck in the throat and in vital organs by the thrown kunais.

Naruto watched in pure terror and agony as he saw Uchiha member after Uchiha member getting slaughtered by their own prodigy, Itachi. He tried to close his eyes, but his ears were still vulnerable to the screams of the dying.

Suddenly he was transported back into reality. Itachi had pinned Naruto to the wall. A flare of killing intent made Naruto gulp in fear.

Itachi drew his blade, and slammed it straight into the stomach of Naruto, making Naruto vomit blood. Itachi withdrew his blade, sighed, gave Naruto an apologetic look, and then ran off into the rain, leaving Naruto twitching in pain as he blacked out.

Naruto later woke up, seeing white all around him. It was nearly blinding.

He moaned and rubbed his eyes. He looked down at his torso, which was covered in bandages. From the hall, he could hear the Sandaime and someone talking.

"I'm glad you came to his rescue again, Kurenai. Just in the nick of time, too – the doctors said that if he had lost any more blood, he probably would have died."

Naruto recognized this voice as the old man.

"I'm sure any shinobi would have done the same in my position.", a feminine voice replied quietly. Naruto wasn't sure why, but the voice seemed familiar to him…

"Kurenai, what's with the -…", another man had walked up behind the woman, and suddenly stopped in his tracks. The man seemed remarkably familiar as well. The newcomer started playing with his beard as he took out his cigarette and blew rings of smoke.

"Asuma… is this…?" the woman stared at Naruto, looking at him with a look of recognition. The voice rang inside Naruto's head. He suddenly had a feeling of déjà vu.

"Naruto?", the man said, with a slightly gruff voice. Naruto turned slightly at the sound of his name. They didn't seem like enemies, but then again, neither did Itachi… right?

The woman's facial expression changed from recognition to shock, as she realized what day it was. She looked down at the bun she had in her hand, untouched, that she was about to take a bite out of. She walked slowly up to Naruto, who was inching backwards in fear.

Kurenai kneeled down, and put out her hand, as if giving Naruto the bun. Naruto stared at her in shock. He was trembling as he accepted the bun. The woman smiled, and cheerily said, "Happy Birthday, Naruto!"

Naruto gazed at the bun in wonder and appreciation as the two people grinned and walked away in merriment back to the festival.

"…happy… birthday…?", he said in amazement. No one had ever said that phrase to him.