AN: I don't own Naruto

In the dying embers of a forest aflame lay a dead man. He was once known as the Yondaime, possibly the greatest ninja of his generation. Now he was an empty corpse, barely a shadow of what he used to be. Next to his corpse lay a bundle that was struggling and crying. Save for the noise of the bundle and the occasional popping of embers there was no noise.

An Anbu operative with a depiction of a dog on his mask soon appeared, moving almost as fast as the Yondaime had once been able to do and fell to his knees beside the corpse, reaching out with two fingers to feel for a pulse. After a few minutes he slowly removed his fingers and let his head droop. The first sound to come from the Anbu operative left his mouth in the form of a deep moan that rose from the lowest part of his stomach and fought its way up to his throat. It was a moan he had released only twice before.

Collecting himself the Anbu rose and moved to secure the area while he waited for any of the active ninjas that were still alive to show up. That is until he noticed the bundle. He hadn't noticed it at first but now that he did it was odd that he didn't, after all, the bundle was crying at the top of its lungs.

He considered the situation. There was a dead body, a suspiciously lacking Kyuubi and a baby. This wasn't something that he should take initiative on, he should wait for backup. He moved to walk away but at the last second turned back and cautiously lifted the bundle, unwrapping it slightly to reveal a baby with its eyes scrunched up and tear marks leading down its face. Letting his eyes drift down he observed blonde hair and to his surprise three horizontal grooves in each of his cheeks. He had seen something like this before and he didn't like it. Apparently initiative was needed.

Sighing he looked once more at the Yondaime's body, stifled another moan and leapt away, carrying the bundle with him.

When the main ninja forces minus one arrived they were met with an empty clearing and the body of their leader, the kyuubi having left no trace and assumedly dead for at least a few years. At least that was all they could hope for. Until then they would need to prepare and prepare they would. They would make sure that the Yondaime hadn't sacrificed himself in vein. They would make sure that a tailed beast would never be able to threaten their village again.

A boy named Naruto Uzumaki was entered into the village orphanage a few days after the attack. To exactly two people he was the host for the nine tailed demon, to the rest of the village he was an unfortunate victim and orphan of circumstance.

The two that knew the truth knew that to give the truth over could destroy not just one life but many and so they lied. The Sandaime, having originally retired, took back his position amidst the chaos, calling for a delay on the mourning so as to reinforce the defenses of the village. It wouldn't do to have another village get cocky and choose to attack in Konoha's current state of weakness.

The Sandaime lied to his friends and colleagues. To Danzo Shimura, his close friend of old he ordered that Root be re-established but for the sole purpose of turning them into a force to fight tailed beasts, forcing him to throw out his old methods and establish new methods that focused less on subterfuge and more on absolute destructive force. However a little ignorance was sometimes shown by the Sandaime such as when a general of an approaching army suspiciously suffered a stroke in the middle of the night, forcing the army to return after an internal conflict rose between the ranks. He lied to Danzo and told him that they would need Root for whenever the Kyuubi returned. In so doing he crushed Root and made it his own in one movement.

The Sandaime lied to the other hidden villages, broadcasting that they had the nine tails safely under wraps, yet at the same time he let slip to an informant, who thought his cover hadn't been blown, that they didn't in fact have the nine tails and had no idea when it would be reforming.

The Anbu that found the small bundle next to the Yondaime's corpse told the truth only to the Sandaime, to everyone else he lied. He lied to his friends and teammates about experiencing chakra exhaustion in the midst of the battle and only having woken the next day.

When Reparations for the village were finally complete the lies were twisted far beyond comprehension. Some rumors claimed that the Yondaime had in fact survived the attack and was the new jinchuriki, others claimed that the kyuubi attack had been a feint to encourage Konoha's enemies to attack, allowing them to be blown away by Konoha's sheer military might when push came to shove. Other rumors claimed that that the Sandaime, Jiraiya of the Sannin or Kakashi being the sole surviving student of the Yondaime were the hosts for the kyuubi. Some rumors even claimed that they were all hosting it at the same time. While the lies didn't necessarily guarantee that other nations would be afraid of them, the truth would have probably guaranteed less. So it was that nobody suspected that the loud orphan with strange scars on his face was in fact the host for the kyuubi.

This was only the beginning.