A/N: Hello Hello, 12Ookami12 here. Now this is where my re-write starts. I changed some of the dialogue in this chapter as well as changed a few scenes to try and bring it out more if that makes sense to you. Anyway I hope you enjoy. And review and tell me about my changes

The harem is still set at Fem Haku, Hinata and Sayumi Uchiha (Fem Sasuke) there will be no changes to this.

"Kyuubi Speaking"

'Kyuubi Thoughts'

"Normal Speech"

'Thoughts'

Flashbacks/Locations/Jutsu/Techniques

Disclaimer: All rights to Naruto are not owned by me.

Chapter 1

The village hidden the leaves Konohagakure, known as the strongest village in the elemental nations, known for its famous shinobi, near perfect environment, kind and friendly citizens who are all prospering under the rule of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. However it was not always like this; for nine years prior, catastrophe struck in the form of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It seemingly appeared out of nowhere and started laying waste to the village and it citizens. It was only due to the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze sacrificing his life to defeat the beast did the village survive.

A 12-year-old Naruto Uzumaki clad in his usual attire of his orange jumpsuit and blue sandals can be seen walking through the streets of Konoha with the villagers giving him a wide berth as if he were the plague taken human form. Shoulders sagged, hands in his pockets and a near dead look in his eyes, wondering to himself what he had done to be treated like this.

"Demon Scum."

"Monster."

"Freak."

"The Sandaime should have finished what the fourth started."

"Don't worry, our next play session will lift your sour mood."

"Why don't you just die and save us the trouble."

You see for as long as he had been able to remember, the villagers would always treat him like dirt. They would do any and everything in their power to make his life miserable. From refusing him service in shops, parents telling their kids to ignore him, and the glares and harsh words they would always throw his way. But that was just they did to break him emotionally. Whenever they felt like it they would form mobs and chase him, and whenever they caught him they would not go easy on him. Everything from stabbing, burning, beating, electrocuting, any and everything they could think of to hurt him they would do it, and because they wanted his life to be his own personal hell, they would always leave him right at death's door, never pushing him through knowing that he would heal so they can do it all over again.

His voice cracked as he asked, "Why… Why must my life be like this?" he whispered to himself, hoping to find an answer.

As he was walking by he failed to notice the person following him. Sayumi Uchiha, the heiress of the once feared but now near extinct Uchiha clan. During class at the academy that day she realized that something was off about the blonde. Now no-one else knew this but Sayumi was aware of how the villagers would shun and isolate the boy. She was curious as to why they would treat him this way but the fact that he always seemed to just shrug it off and smile, made her even more curious. 'Why would he behave as if everything was alright?' she asked herself this question many times before, but not once could she find an answer. So when she saw him today in such a downcast state, she knew she had to find out why he was like that, which led to her following him.

Not realizing where his feet had taken him, he looked up to see that he was at the top of the Hokage monument, without thinking he sat atop the Yondaime's head and let loose a torrent of tears that he had been holding back. Through teary eyes he saw the citizens of Konoha going about their lives without a care in the world; kids running around playing with friends, parents tending to their children, couples enjoying each other's company, all of this just served to deepen his depression.

"Why? Why can't I have that? To have someone that worries about me, cares about me, someone to love me. Why must I be…. alone?"

Just a little ways behind him in the trees was Sayumi. Tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes, for she heard everything he said. 'He really is alone. But why? Why is he left to fend for himself? Why hasn't anyone tried to help him or at least try to befriend him?' that is when she realized something 'Why haven't I done so?'

'Alone.' that word rang aloud in his mind. "Alone. Is that how I'm destined to live, unloved by no one?"

Flashback

He was sitting on a bench with his head down and his eyes closed, sobbing uncontrollably. He could hear people walking past and ignoring him as if he wasn't even there. One conversation he heard just made him cry even more.

"Mom, why is that boy over there alone and crying?" The child asks.

He could hear the mother snarl before giving her answer. "It is because he is a bad person and he is crying because he knows that he is."

"But why is he alone?" the child persisted.

"He is alone because bad people like him don't deserve to have people to care for them. The only thing people like him deserve is to be alone and unloved by anyone. And if I hear that you have interacted with that boy in anyway then you will be severely punished, do I make myself clear young lady. The mother finishes sternly.

The little girl gulped and answered shakily, "H-hai K-kaa-san. I promise that I won't."

"Good. Now let's go and leave him to his misery." After that he could hear them walking away.

End Flashback

Fully sobbing now and in a shaky voice he spoke, "Why? Please someone tell me why am I unloved, why don't I have parents, friends, anyone to care about me, why must I go through life alone?"

In a sewer like mindscape, a rather large and imposing figure shut its eyes tightly with a few tears escaping, "I truly am sorry, kit."

Tears were now streaming down the ravenette's face. 'He seems to have had it way worse than I have, but no more. I won't let him live like this anymore.' She wiped her tears away and was about to make herself known when his next word stopped her.

"Life." He gave a mirthless chuckle and stood up, his face stained with tear streaks. He took another look at the village. "What's the point of living if I'm just going to wake up to my own personal hell every day."

"Why don't you just die and save us the trouble."

A small mirthless smile came to his face, 'Might as well, at least I won't have to live like this anymore.' With that last thought he took what would be his final steps until he reached the edge of the Yondaime's head. With one last look at the setting sun and one final thought, 'Goodbye, and I am sorry Ayame-neechan, Teuchi-jiji" recalling the father-daughter duo who were at least kind to him. The wind picked up and blew his hair backward while carrying away some of his tears, 'Old man, I'm sorry but I won't be taking that hat from you.' With that final thought he let himself fall over the edge.

But instead of feeling himself descend to his death, he felt a tug at his jacket as someone had caught him.

Flashback "A few seconds earlier"

Hearing his words, she started to fear for his life once she realized where this may be going. Her fears were proven once she saw him making his way to the edge of the mountain. Seeing this, her heartrate sped up and she quickly jumped out of the tree and ran up to him. Just as he leaned over the edge and began to descend, she managed to grab onto his jacket, saving his life.

End Flashback

With some effort she managed to pull him from over the cliff and to safety. She then sat on the ground panting as her rush of adrenaline began to subside.

She heard the sound of sniffles and looked up to see him on his knees, he was shaking as fresh tears streamed down his already tear stained face.

"Why?" he said through his sobs.

Slowly going over to him, Sayumi asked, "Why what? Naruto"

"W-why can't I f-find some peace? I'm t-tormented day in d-day out. T-told that I'm a b-bad p-person even t-though I've done n-nothing wrong. They c-call me a d-demon, the devil, s-scum, e-even though I-I don't d-do a-anything t-to a-anybody." He said in between sniffles.

Sayumi sat there listening to him and couldn't believe that the villagers would actually do that to a child.

"Whenever t-they feel l-like it they h-hunt me d-down and t-torture m-me for hours on e-end. T-they do any and e-everthing they can t-to hurt m-me, and they a-always leave me w-within an inch of my life because t-they know that I w-will heal so t-they can do it o-over and over again. And t-the worst part is, is t-that I don't e-even know why t-they do it. W-whenever I ask them w-why, they j-just say that I am a demon and, and, and…" he then gripped his head and screamed, "AAAAAAAAAAH! I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. I COULDN'T GO ON LIVING LIKE THIS. SO I DECIDED THAT I WOULD END IT AND FINALLY HAVE SOME PEACE. AND WHEN I DO TRY TO END IT, I GET STOPPED. IT SEEMS LIFE ITSELF WISHES TO SEE ME SUFFER."

He then wrapped his arms around himself tightly, as if trying to find some measure of comfort before he spoke in a small, vulnerable tone. "I just want it to end. I just want the pain to go away. Please…. please make it go away." He pleadingly finished.

Sayumi was stunned by what she just learned. 'They would really do those things to him? And for something he doesn't even know about. I can't believe they would be so heartless as to drive him to suicide.' Deciding to leave these questions for later with the goal in mind to find out why the villagers would treat him like that.

She slowly approached him and gently rested her hand on his shoulder, making the boy flinch from the contact. She watched as he slowly raised his head and looked at her with bloodshot eyes.

The ravenette then put on a kind smile before she spoke in a soft tone. "I….I don't know why you have been treated in such a way, and I am sorry for not doing something to help you earlier. But if will you allow me, I can be that person to care for you, to worry about you, to love you. I can make it so you won't have to be alone anymore."

"Yo-you p-promise." He meekly asked.

Still smiling, "Yes Naruto, I promise." she nearly toppled over when Naruto slammed into her wrapping his hands around her mid-section and burying his head in her chest. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Not minding where he had his head, she patted his back and said "You're welcome, Naruto." A few minutes later she heard a faint snore coming from him. 'He fell asleep' she mused. But she was broken out of her musing by an approaching figure.

"It seems that this ordeal has finally taken its toll on him." The figure said before it was revealed to be the Sandaime.

"Sandaime-sama!" The girl asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

A small frown appeared on the aged leader's face. "I am here because I saw what happened. And…..and I am extremely ashamed that I let things get this far gone." Hanging his head in shame as he said that.

"You know why he is treated like this?" she asked in an incredulous tone.

His only response was a small nod.

Shifting a bit so Naruto's head was on her lap, "Then why haven't you done something to help him? If I hadn't been following him you would be scraping him off the ground tomorrow, having killed himself because he couldn't deal with the shit the villagers put him through. Don't you care that a child has been tortured by the villagers repeatedly for something he doesn't know about?" She finished rather heatedly.

Despite the fact that she was speaking to her village leader in such a tone, he couldn't help but smile inwardly at how she is already ready to defend Naruto.

"Yes I do care for him, very much so, and it kills me to see what this village has done to him. I have no excuse as to why I haven't been able to properly help him other than my responsibilities as kage have taken a huge chunk of my time, but I seek to fix my errors." Raising his head and looking at the girl, "So after he wakes up and calms down, could you bring him to the Hokage tower tomorrow? It is high time he learns of his secret and for amends to be made."

The girl nodded in response, "Sure. I'll stay with him tonight."

The aged leader's face then took on a crestfallen expression, "I am sorry to inform you, but his residence has been burned down." He told her in a grim tone.

"What!" she exclaimed nearly waking the sleeping boy.

"Some of the 'blinder' residents of this village saw it fit to burn his apartment and have him live on the streets." 'Likely so he'd be an easier target.' "It is sad to say but until I am able to find a proper residence for him, he is for the time-being, homeless."

No he isn't." she retorted. "I have plenty of space where I live and I am more than willing to have him live with me." She tells him in a tone that bartered no argument.

Hiruzen raised a brow at this, "Are you sure about that? If the villagers learn of this they may turn their prejudice to you as well."

"I don't care!" she heatedly replied, "I may not know him well, but I know that no-one deserves to go through life alone." She ran her hand through his spiky but surprisingly soft hair before speaking in a softer tone. "He doesn't deserve to go through life alone."

Her reply put a smile on the aged leader's face, he then discreetly signaled for the hidden agent to come out. In less than a second, an Anbu with gravity defying silver hair was kneeling in front of the Sandaime, "You called Hokage-Sama."

"Yes Inu. Naruto will be staying with Sayumi here from now on, so I want you to take them to the Uchiha mansion. After doing so, you are tasked with finding those responsible for the destruction of the boy's apartment, after apprehending the culprits, you are to bring them to Ibiki. Is that understood?"

"Hai Hokage-sama. It will be done." He said before turning to the pair. Upon seeing the boy asleep in the girl's lap, he couldn't help but feel guilty. 'We really failed him, didn't we.' Pushing his negative feelings to the side, he took the boy from the girl and put him on his shoulder before using his free to hold the girl's hand. "Hold on now." Getting a nod from the girl, he then disappeared in a tornado of leaves.

Now alone the Sandaime looked at the spot where Naruto jumped from before frowning 'I let things go too far. Minato, I'm sure you and Kushina are rolling in your graves for what this village has done to your son.' He then turned and started to leave, as he did so he felt a surge of determination flow though his body and unknown to him, his next thoughts almost mirrored another being's in the village.

'I promise starting tomorrow, that I will make right by you Naruto/ I promise kit, I'll fix the damage I've done.'

A/N: Since it has been decided by the poll, I have increased the ages of Naruto and co. So going forward the ages are:

Naruto: 12

Hinata: 12

Sayumi: 13

Rookies: 12

And since my writing skills are improving, I decided to go over and refine this chapter while I am making the necessary adjustments to better compensate the increased ages. So you can look for those little tweaks and fixes like those in the other chapters as well since I'll be going over those too.