When Naruto was four, a vengeful chunin drunk on sake attacked her for being 'the demon which destroyed his family.' With no formal training yet, she was unable to do much to defend herself until someone else managed to step in and save her.

Knocked out and unconscious, she was rushed to the hospital while the chunin, despite getting some of the resentment out of his system, only began to understand the sheer and utter stupidity of what he had done.

In other words: he was totally fucked.

Fortunately for Naruto, there was no lasting damage, but the Hokage was understandably furious when Naruto didn't immediately wake up after being treated.

He immediately ordered for the chunin to get the most special treatment possible from T&I. When it was determined that he didn't have any external ties to forces outside of the village, or any knowledge of why Naruto hadn't woken up immediately, Sarutobi Hiruzen decided to make an example out of him and show just exactly what would happen if you directly harmed Naruto Uzumaki.

Hatake Kakashi took great pleasure in executing the chunin with his Chidori by order of the Hokage.

But he also felt immense anger, fear, and guilt about what had happened to his sensei's daughter.

Minato-sensei and Kushina's daughter should've been treated with the respect she deserved, not like the ostracized child she was. He'd watched countless times as she cried when the other children rejected her, or when the civillains would turn their noses up at the sight of her.

Kakashi ached to actually do something for her, to try and atone for his actions when she woke up.

But alas, he was first and foremost a loyal shinobi of Konohagakure. Kakashi knew what his orders were, and was unable to interfere from outside of the shadows.

What would Obito think of him?

When he got those thoughts, Kakashi simply suppressed them, like the good, mentally fucked ANBU he was. There wasn't much he could accomplish by dwelling on what-ifs aimlessly.

—

When Naruto woke up for the first time, her vision was hazy and blurry. She tried to sit up, but most of her body felt like lead weight. But when she'd opened her eyes, the nurse had dropped her blankets on top of her.

She winced at the scream the women let out. Did she really have to be so loud?

A couple of minutes later, an old man had entered the room and had taken a seat next to her. By then, Naruto's vision had mostly cleared up for the most part.

"Ah, Naruto," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, looking at her fondly. It was a relief for him that whatever had happened to Naruto, it wasn't permanent. "It's nice to see that you're awake."

…Naruto?

Had she heard that right? Was she still dreaming?

Naruto?

She looked up at Hiruzen, without any response. The loud, boisterous girl he knew was nowhere to be present in the way she'd looked at him.

Naruto brought her child-like hands up to her face, staring at her fingers, dumbfounded.

By now, Hiruzen was concerned.

N̴̢̛̦̙̗͔̠̬̤̾͑̓̋͋̒̂̈̔̎͂͜͜͠͝a̷̧̯̬̹̝͔̥͔̻̜͕̺͒̃̈͐͛͒̇͜͜͜ȓ̵͇̼͔͔̞̰̭͇̈́u̸̞̤̎̇̈́̈̒t̸̢̛̠͓̳̖͈͇͔̱̹̍͛̈́̏̏͋̈́̈̚̚͘͜͠ŏ̷̞̝͌͋̇͗͂͊͘̚?̴̛̦̖̻͎̫̣̄́͗͊̑͛́̑̄͋͠

She screamed.

—

She'd kept screaming and screaming, and the Hokage immediately summoned a med-nin. They'd pumped her full of drugs just so that she'd fall back asleep.

None of the med-nins understood why she was screaming.

Nobody could have ever known about what exactly had happened to Naruto on that day with the chunin. Somehow, something had awoken in her.

Something from another world.

—

"Good to hear you're feeling better, Naruto," Hiruzen chuckled, as he sat in the wooden chair in her new apartment.

"Thanks, old man," she said, quietly. Hiruzen frowned.

The quick psychological assessment done by a Yamanaka suggested that the incident and irrevocably changed her. Naruto still retained parts of her original self, but she was a lot more subdued and quiet then before.

On one hand, this personality change would make her an excellent shinobi. On the other hand, Hiruzen found himself sorely missing Naruto's previous brightness.

Naruto found herself feeling so goddamn itchy with the Sandaime in her apartment.

Would he figure her out?

Could he tell that she absolutely, completed loathed Konoha? Detested the way they'd treated an orphan girl, saddled with a burden with no fault of her own?

How could someone live and die for this place? Do things even worse for the sake of the 'village'?

She'd remembered everything that Naruto had, the subpar reading education she'd received, the way there had been almost no intervention in the way she'd been treated until now.

And Naruto, now a changed girl with the memories and knowledge she'd received.

Of a world where they actually gave a damn about people like her.

She wondered, briefly, how much the Sandaime checked up on her was because of her status as a jinchuuriki, or because he actually cared about her.

She doubted that the man knew himself.

But Naruto knew that she was trapped in this world, all alone as her status as the main character and the jinchuuriki.

But she knew what would happen to the dissenters.

The Hokage, or even Danzo, would be the Earth King inviting her to Lake Laogai.

And that was something that Naruto couldn't allow to happen.

"Well, if everything's fine, I'll be taking my leave now, Naruto," Hiruzen said, moving to get up.

"Wait—" she blurted out, before he could leave. It might as well be now. "Can I ask you something, jiji?"

Hiruzen made an exaggerated sigh to try and humor her. (Another method of manipulation?) "Just before I leave? Well, ask away, Naruto."

"Can I go to the academy? I know the rules, but you're like, the most powerful ninja. You can do something and let me in, right?"

"Oh," Hiruzen said, intrigued. "And why should I let you do that?"

This was the part she'd have to make realistic.

"Because, old man!" she said, letting her emotions power her voice, "I want to prove to the villagers that I'm more than what they think of me. I'll protect all of them until they can't deny it, and then they'll have to acknowledge me as the best ninja, dattebayo!" she said, and tried to pretend that she was holding back her tears so that she could 'pretend' to appear strong to the Hokage.

Children didn't typically like showing their vulnerabilities. Then again, neither did adults.

"Well Naruto," Hiruzen mused, "I don't think I can deny you this. Well, I'll put you in for the fall term in about a month. Are you sure you can handle it? Everyone in your class is going to be older than you."

She clenched her hands into fists, but not for the reasons Hiruzen might have thought of.

Naruto was willingly subjecting herself to go to an academy where she'd be learning how to kill. Going to a school where they'd fill up kids' heads with propaganda and bullshit which they'd keep passing down.

She doubted that anyone would ever understand her perspective without knowing the democracy that had been present in her old world. It was likely that the mere mention of a democracy here would lead to something… unpleasant happening.

For now, Naruto would play along. She'd further herself, but not too much that she'd graduate early.

Just enough so that she'd take her first out of the village at the furthest possible time— when she'd be the most prepared.

"Of course, dattebayo," she said, letting a bit more cheer into her tone. "They'll never see me coming."