Gin Shita no Naruto

In one of Konoha's large bars a large group of shinobi gathered to remember comrades.

"I propose a toast, to all those who perished against the Kyuubi and especially the great Yondaime," slurred out a Jounin.

"TO THE FALLEN," screamed the assembled shinobi.

Later on in the party 4 chunin slipped out and began to stumble home. As they rounded a corner they came across a small blonde haired boy mumbling to himself.

"Stupid geezer, locking me out of my apartment on my birthday. I'll show him, I'll show everyone. They'll have to respect me when I become Hokage."

"It's the demon brat," one of the chunin whispered. "This is our chance lets teach it a lesson."

He spoke quietly but not quietly enough because as he spoke the "demon brat" bolted.

"Get him!"

He took off as fast as his six year old legs could go. Barely faster than the drunken run of the chunin chasing him.

Twenty minutes later after several unsuccessful attempts to elude pursuit in alleys Naruto finally collapsed.

The four Chunin moved in and began to assault the exhausted child. Naruto curled up and protected his body as best he could. After about a quarter hour of this the drunks got bored and stumble their way out of the alley. Naruto had screamed himself hoarse before falling into blissful unconsciousness.

After they left Naruto just lays there slowly dying in a pool of his own blood. Shortly thereafter a Konoha ninja on patrol silently jumped into the alley. Now many would have just left the boy there so great was their hatred but Uchiha Itachi was different.

As a young child he had idolized the Yondaime Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina even more so than his own father, much to his father's displeasure. He had near religiously obeyed his final wish that Naruto be seen as a hero and had foiled several assassination and kidnapping attempts. He was one of the few that the Sandaime Hokage trusted around the boy and was part of his guard despite only being a chunin.

Now Itachi was not a medic but most ninja know first aid and basic medical jutsu for use in the field. He began healing the worst of Naruto's injuries because he knew the hospital would refuse to help him. A red glow caught his attention.

"What the hell." Needless to say Itachi never swore. So this was monumental.

Naruto's wounds were healing before his eyes. Needless to say Itachi was floored. A healing ability like this would be a great asset to the boy in his shinobi career.

"Let's get you somewhere safe." He scooped the boy in his arms and was surprised at how light he was. Itachi took off over the rooftops toward his private retreat.

When he arrived at the retreat he deposited Naruto gently on the bed and began to make some food.

Naruto began to stir on the couch and Itachi was by his side in an instant.

His eyes fluttered open and seeing someone leaning over him he curled up and began to whimper.

Itachi backed off a few steps, "its okay I'm not going to hurt you." He kept his voice soft and had a small smile on his face.

Naruto gave on last whimper and croaked out, "people have pretended to help before and then hurt me."

Itachi sighed and decided to do something drastic, "I thought as much. I know why the rest of the village hates you, and I also know it is not your fault."

With this Naruto was across the room in a flash and grabbed onto Itachi's leg. "Please, please, please tell me. Not even Ji-Ji will tell me."

Itachi sighed again; he seemed to be doing that a lot today. "I can't tell you." Naruto's face fell. "The reason I can't tell you is that it is an S-Class secret that can't be revealed under punishment of death." He thought for a moment. "I can't tell you but I can show you."

In an instant a blinding smile was back on Naruto's face. "How, how, how."

"Look into my eyes." Naruto looked and got a glimpse of red eyes before everything went dark.

The darkness lifted and Naruto found himself standing in a dark room filled with pipes. Itachi stood nearby. He was franticly looking around, and couldn't contain himself, "where are we."

Without looking at him Itachi responded, "We are in your mind, now come," and he began to walk toward a flickering red light in the distance.

They walked in silence until they came upon a large gate with a tag with the Kanji for seal on it. Itachi halted a fair distance away and just stood there.

Without the sound of their footsteps they could hear a swishing noise and some soft breathing. Gradually a gigantic white fox came into view its tails fanned out behind it. It was probably the single most majestic sight the young boy had ever seen, as well as the single most terrifying. Despite Naruto's performance in the academy he was not an idiot. He saw how much the glares intensified whenever he asked a question or got an answer correct and had decided to hide his intelligence. He counted the tales and could only stutter out a weak, "K..k..k..uubi."

"Hmm, so the ningen is not as dumb as he pretends to be. " The Kyuubi's voice came out as a low growl. He finally notices Itachi. "And who might you be and how did you get in…… Uchiha. What does one of Madara's descendants want with me?"

"Me? I'm merely helping the boy to understand his burden."

Naruto could no longer contain his questions. "Where are we? I thought the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi? How did we get here? What's that seal?"

The Kyuubi gave a low chuckle. "Ah the inquisitiveness of a kit, truly remarkable. Perhaps this would be easier if I was in a smaller form." A large cloud of smoke appeared. When the smoke cleared Itachi's eyes widened in surprise, "It can't be, she died." He began forming hand seals at an astounding rate.

Naruto was surprised by Itachi's hostility, "who is she?"

"She has taken the form of……"

Cliffhanger

Artur Paendrag Tanreall