Notes : I am planning on a story that covers the entire canon of the manga. I have not watched the anime. This is my first ever attempt at a legit story, so I would appreciate constructive feedback. This is a "Team 7 meets early, bonds, and get strong together" fic. This was inspired by great stories such as Trip Down a Hill by Deferonz, which had a good beginning but deviated wildly from the canon towards the end; as well as Sable_Scribe's Of Harrowed Hearts.

And yeah, the title was inspired by that one Violet Evergarden soundtrack.

Naruto's dialogue is intentionally a bit off. He's not that smart yet.

If you have any suggestions, let me know. For now, I plan to only preserve the Japanese honorifics such as -kun, -san, -sama, etc. I'm not sure about teme, dobe, and other terms. As you can see, I used neither of those.

Disclaimer : I do not own any part of Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

Book I : Adamantine Dreams

Arc : Birth of the Dream

Naruto grimaced as he ran down the streets of Konohagakure. It was not a good day for him to be out in the open. Today was October tenth, the fateful day on which seven years ago, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village and killed the Yondaime. It was the fateful day that ended in the death of almost a quarter of the village's population. It was Naruto's birthday.

So yeah, needless to say, Naruto did not celebrate his birthday very often.

What's worse is that, for no apparent reason, the villagers seem to hate him! Every day, they would glare at him, refuse him entry to their shops, and just talk about him behind his back. Jiji and the father and daughter at the ramen stand were the only nice people.

Every year, on this day, October tenth, there would be a festival celebrating the defeat of the Kyuubi and mourning the loss of loved ones. And for some reason, every year on this day, the villagers would be even more hostile towards Naruto. In the past, there were certain incidents which landed Naruto in the hospital. Thus, Naruto was on full alert today, and did not want to attract any attention. Unfortunately, he could not use the Henge yet; it's taught next year in the academy. So, it didn't take long for people to notice the bright orange jumpsuit and spiky yellow hair.

His stomach grumbled, but Naruto simply ignored it. He'd gone for much longer without food anyways, and he knew he could scrounge up something later. But for now, he has to deal with the drunkards on his tail.

No matter how much energy and stamina Naruto had, and he knew he had a lot, a seven year old simply can't outrun fully grown men. As he ran, he suddenly turned corners, and ducked into what seemed to be an abandoned compound, decorated with red and white fans. Naruto quickly ducked behind one of the large doors, and let out a sigh of relief as his pursuers passed by.

" What are you doing here ? "

A familiar voice called out accusingly to Naruto. He snapped his head around, only to find Uchiha Sasuke standing there, arms crossed, and lips in a stoic scowl.

"Why do you care? It's not like you own this place or something!"

"... I actually do own this place."

"No way, you gotta be kidding! How come you own this whole place?"

"Do you really not know?"

Naruto scoffed, "Well, I wouldn't be asking if I did, ya know?"

Sasuke remained silent for a while, then whispered, "My entire clan was killed a month ago. I'm the only one left."

Naruto stopped breathing. An entire clan? He may not be very bright, but even he knew a clan was like a big family, and to have all of them die at the same time… it must feel horrible.

He was at a loss for words, "Um, ah, uuuhhh… sorry for bringing it up, I guess."

Sasuke stared. He didn't know what to think of Naruto. In the Academy, he was simply the dead last. The loud-mouthed idiot who loved pranking people and never paid attention. But now, Sasuke was seeing a different side of him. A side he never knew existed.

"Why were you running away from those people? Did you prank them or something, idiot?"

Naruto shook his head fervently. "No! They're just like that! Every year, on the day of the Kyuubi Festival, they just get violent and chase me around. I don't know why."

Sasuke frowned, and took a mental note of this information to look into later.

"... Do you ever get lonely here ? " Naruto asked.

Sasuke's head jerked up, face full of surprise. He had not been expecting such a question.

"I can't imagine living in such a big place without anybody here. How do you do it? "

Sasuke's eyes widened even more, but then frowned. Why would he care?

"Why do you care? It's not like we are friends or anything."

Naruto scowled, "I live alone too, ya know. I get lonely sometimes, and it makes me sad. So I want to know how you don't get sad."

Sasuke paused, then sighed, "I get sad too. I'm also lonely all the time, but most people just care about my family name, so their care is never genuine to me."

Now it was Naruto's turn to be surprised. "Wow, who woulda thought, the stuck up bastard has problems!"

"Shut up, dead last."

"Make me!"

Sasuke didn't know who threw the first punch, but after that, it just descended into mayhem. After both boys had released all of their pent up anger and frustration on their opponent through the medium of fist fighting, they both settled down and rested.

"Ya know, that was fun. We should do that more often." Naruto smiled at Sasuke.

"If you want to kill me, despise me, hate me, and live in an unsightly way … Run, and cling to life, and then someday, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me."

Sasuke scowled at the memory, and unconsciously moved further from Naruto. "Emotions and bonds are useless. I don't need friends, I need power."

"To avenge your clan?"

Sasuke pursed his lips, refusing to answer.

"How did they die anyway? You don't seem weak, so your clan must've been strong. How did all of them die?"

"... We were attacked by one of our own. A prodigy like no other. He killed everyone at night."

"How did you live? No offense, I'm glad you did, but why would he leave you alive?"

"If you want to kill me, despise me, hate me, and live in an unsightly way … Run, and cling to life, and then someday, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me."

"Shut UP!"

Naruto jumped, surprised by Sasuke's outburst. "Ok, geez, I said I meant no offense …"

Sasuke scowled, "Leave."

"Hey, I'm just curious, I'm trying to be nice, ya know!"

"LEAVE."

Naruto scowled, and stomped away. "So he's just like the others. I'll show him who's better next time we spar! Hmph. Thinks he's so great, coming from a clan and all."

As Naruto slept that night, he felt something odd pulling at him from the back of his mind. It almost felt like something was whispering to him, and tugging at his consciousness.

"You wish to put the Uchiha in his place? Come then, I can show you how."

Naruto felt the tugging sensation again, and this time, he went along with it, allowing it to tug him into wherever it was coming from.

"So, my jailor finally comes before me."

Naruto jumped, and the unmoving pair of bright red followed his every move.

"W-who are you? Why are you in a sewer? Am I dreaming? "

"I assure you, this is not a dream. And as for who I am, that is easy enough. Come closer, tear that paper off, and I will show myself."

Naruto gulped. He had a very bad feeling about this. "Uh, I'm not sure about that. Can you at least tell me your name?"

The eyes widened, then closed. Opening one eye, it said, "Kurama."

"What?"

"Kurama. That is my name. Now leave."

Suddenly, Naruto was shoved out of the sewer thingy, and back in his bed. Well, that was weird! He should probably tell Jiji about it tomorrow.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was getting old.

Of course, he had known for a long time. He did appoint a successor and stepped down nearly a decade ago already.

However, the longer he does this, the more he questions whether or not he's gone senile already. Wasn't Minato's seal meant to block out Kyuubi's influences? If so, then how did the fox communicate with Naruto?

The aged Hokage groaned. "I'm getting too old for this."

"Well, Naruto, it seems I can't hide this from you any longer. I had wanted to wait until you were at least a genin to reveal this, but circumstance demands otherwise."

"Hide what, old man? Do you know somethin' about the thing in the sewer?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun, I do.

"On the day of your birth, the Kyuubi attacked the village. You know of this, yes? Well, the Kyuubi is a being made of chakra -"

"Catra? What's that ? "

Hiruzen sighed. Honestly, at times it felt as if Naruto has never even been to the academy.

"If you had paid attention in your classes, chakra, is the combination of physical and spiritual energies in one's body that allows us shinobi to perform our jutsu.

"Now, as I was saying, the Kyuubi is an entity made of chakra, not flesh and bone. And thus, it can't truly be killed. The only way to defeat it is to seal it away."

Hiruzen stopped, and lifted up Naruto's shirt, exposing the complex matrix on his stomach.

"And that is where the Kyuubi now resides. Sealed inside you."

Naruto's eyes widened at the revelation. This explains so much! "Jiji, i-is this why the people glare at me all the time, and why they hate me so much?"

"Unfortunately, this is why."

"Th-then, are they right? Am I a demon, a monster?"

At this point, Naruto was freely crying. The Sandaime's heart cracked at this sight; no one, much less a seven year old child, should bear this much hatred.

"What if he cracks? The number of people who care for him can be counted on one hand, and I can't always be there for him. Maybe…"

Hiruzen steeled his resolve, and let out a long breath. "Naruto, do you want to know who your parents are?"

Naruto felt as if he was struck by a bolt of thunder. Jiji knew? He knew this whole time?

"You knew who they were and you didn't tell me?"

The tone directly reflected Naruto's feelings. Hiruzen could hear and see how hurt he was by this fact.

"I wanted to tell you, but, Naruto, you were simply too young to keep a secret. Both of your parents were feared shinobi, known across the Elemental Nations, and if word got out of your identity," Hiruzen's gaze shifted to Naruto. "You might very well be dead, or captured by the enemy.

"Even now, I can only tell you of your mother. I promise, I will tell you everything. Just not now. However, for now, do you want to know about your mother?"

Naruto's heart raced. This was the moment he had been waiting for for years! " 'Course I do! You don't even need to ask Jiji!"

That night, Naruto dreamt of a beautiful red-haired kunoichi named Uzumaki Kushina.