Heya guys! Miss me? No? Oh well worth a try ^^ im back with another chappie! Woooo! Yea, u see? U like me now =P in this chapter, due to many people's comments, I have made it so that various questions are answered, like how he knows Iruka, and how Naruto is so smart and coherent as a 3 yr old and how the village can treat him so. You learn about Tsunade in later chapters and also more of Naruto's past. ^^ just a warning, this is still in flashback mode from the last chapter. Enjoy!

The first thing Naruto noticed was the smell. It was horrible. It was worse than his apartment on the weeks the villagers decided to cut off his power and water. The second thing was that he was lying in water. That's where the foul stench was coming from. Naruto got up slowly and took in his surroundings. "Well that explains the smell," he thought to himself. He was in what appeared to be a large underground room with sewer pipes running to and from it. When he took a closer look at the pipes he noticed a red glow flowing through them. It was neither solid, liquid nor gas but moved fluently and at a steady pace. "It's almost like when the villagers left me at the tip and wouldn't let me leave until the old-man Hokage found out and made them." He thought to himself. A thin layer of water covered the floor, making each step he took sound with a splash. As he walked the room he noticed the walls were cracking and in some places had crumbled away completely. When he looked beyond the wall all he saw was darkness, but somehow within that darkness he felt pain, suffering and sadness. He flinched away from the broken wall and walked to the end of the room where large, thick bars that ran from the ceiling to floor were positioned. As he walked up to these bars he noticed that they formed doors, and in the centre of these doors along the sealing where the two sides meet was a slip of paper that said the words "SEAL". "I wonder what this is" he asked himself and reached to touch the slip of paper.

"Don't touch that kit!" A voice roared. Naruto immediately cowered into a ball and covered his head with his hands, waiting for the pain that was sure to follow. When it didn't come he raised his head, and immediately wished he hadn't. A colossal face stared down at him with blood-red eyes and fur that was an even deeper red. Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the beast. Its gigantic, yet elegant body was gracefully curved in a lying down position that reminded him greatly of a cat. Its paws were neatly placed in front of it and lethal claws were attached. Behind him his fluffy tail swung back and forth, with another, and another.

"What?" he thought as he counted the creature's tails. "Nine... t-theres nine of them. That means h-he's..." He stared opened mouth at the animal that was undoubtedly the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox that had attacked and almost destroyed the Leaf village 3 years ago.

"Do you know who I am, boy?" the creature rumbled.

"Yes" said Naruto calmly. His astonishment was gone replaced only but calm acceptance. "You're the Nine-Tailed Fox that attacked the village."

"Then why are you not afraid?"

"Cause the worst you can do to me, is kill me. Even then it's better than my life right now." Kyuubi was stunned. Never before had a creature approached him, not fearing death. This boy must truly have no love of life, to accept death in this way. He growled with hatred at the Leaf village.

"And what of the woman who saved you?" he rumbled. "She did not hurt you, nor did she shun you like those other pathetic wretches that call themselves human" Naruto thought back to the busty blonde that had saved him from the hole in his stomach and had momentarily comforted him while he wept from his wounds and fear. He wondered what she would do if he were to die? He shivered as he remembered her reaction to him running away whilst still injured. He smiled at the thought that someone would notice and maybe care a little if he were to suddenly no longer exist on this earth. The Kyuubi smiled, as well as a fox could, at the boy's small happiness. But that smile quickly vanished as the boy's aura quickly darkened.

"She will hurt me when she finds out who I am, she will be like the rest of them" he muttered. Kyuubi frowned. He had suspected this too, but he was able to sense from the woman, a grudge against the Leaf village more developed than Naruto's. He also smelt faint traces of the one who put him in here, The Fourth Hokage. Knowing the reasons behind his sealing in the boy, the Kyuubi knew that he would shun the very village he led if he ever knew about the way the townsfolk treated the boy.

"You can trust her. She will make sure no harm comes to you," the giant fox rumbled, trying to sooth the boy who was slowly going into hysterics.

"She will be like the rest, she will hurt me too, she'll try to kill me, she'll call me a monster, she'll want me to die" Naruto was crouching on the floor of the sewer, ignoring the fox. His eyes were wide, and he was muttering to himself the same types of things over and over. He started to shake violently. Kyuubi noticed the already deteriorated walls of the sewer; break down even more as the boys mind started to break. Alarmed for the safety of the kit, he sent out his chakra to try and calm the child. The minuter the red glow touched the boy, his eyes widened even further. "You're the one who heals me....." he realized as he felt the familiar, warm and comforting presence.

"I am," the fox admitted to the child with as much regal dignity as he could muster. Thinking this would calm the boy and make him realise he could trust the fox, Kyuubi started to relax, thinking the danger was over.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?" the child screamed at him, Kyuubi's ears lay flat against his head as the boy's anger was directed at him. 'WHY WOULDN'T YOU LET ME DIE? I WANTED TO DIE, EACH AND EVERY TIME THEY TOUCHED ME!" The sewer started to shake as the boys anger grew with each breath. The walls and roof cracked and crumbled as Naruto's mind was starting to break. He hadn't felt this angry at the world since the masked men the third sent to make sure he was safe from the villagers, his 'watchers", decided to get drunk and play spin the bottle. Though it wasn't kisses they were giving to each other, it was slowly and painfully taking turns to satisfy their sexual desires and sadistic pleasures with him. He was 14 months old, he remembered, although he looked like he was 4. That was another thing the villagers held against him. His strange way of maturing in both body and mind at an exceptionally fast rate. Right now he was 3 years old, but looked like he was 7. It's probably why the villagers never felt like they were doing wrong in beating a baby, because he was never a baby for long, the way his life was he lost any and all innocence he possessed and matured as fast as possible. "Then it's also YOU who made me grow-up so fast!" he screamed at the fox. Kyuubi nodded quickly, unsure of where the direction of this conversation was taking them. As Naruto remembered the villagers and his life for the past 3 years of his young life, he lost it.

He screamed and roared at the same time. His blood curling cry of pain, rage and hatred echoed in every corner of the room. The Kyuubi was genuinely scared for the boy, his own regard for life paled in comparison to the need he felt to protect the child. His mind scrambled to think of a way to stop the child from destroying himself, from the inside out. He thought back to the question that was screamed at him before the blonde started to mentally breakdown.

"Because your father asked me to protect you," he didn't shout, he didn't yell, he didn't raise his voice at all but it cut though Naruto's traumatized screams and dominated the sound in the room. Naruto's screams stopped as his mind processed what the fox had said. His father. His father. His father. Naruto brought his bright blue eyes up to meet the intense blood-red eyes that stared down at him. He did not know how he knew, but he did. The fox was not lying to him. The blood-red eyes looking down at him filled with relief as he realized the boy had stopped destroying himself. "Your father sealed me within you and before he passed on he asked me to look after you as he couldn't. I respected your father greatly and was the only that had gained my favour. Though we were forced into combat against my will, I know he did the only thing he could think of to protect you and keep you safe." Kyuubi explained to the stunned child. Naruto was trying to sort his thoughts as his brain was barraged with this new information. His father loved him. His father died for him. His father wanted to protect him. He wasn't abandoned. His father loved him. This one thought brought immense happiness to him. He started to wonder what man his father was like. He was obviously very kind and caring by the way the Kyuubi sounded. Wait... the Kyuubi. He said his father had sealed him into Naruto. But the only one who ever fought the Nine-tailed fox was...

'The Fourth Hokage..." he whispered. Kyuubi grinned with pride at the boy when he figured out who his old man was mere minutes after he talked to him. 'My father was the Forth Hokage. The freaking Yondaime? Are you serious? Why didn't anyone tell me? Why did they beat the crap outta me when I'm the son of the fucking Hokage?" Naruto yelled. "How could he do this to his own son?" the Kyuubi flinched and frowned when he heard the child swearing. 'No doubt the result of all of them villagers yelling at him every day,' he thought to himself. His unhappiness at the childs language however was quickly forgotten when the boy continued on with his rant. "Here I thought he was a decent person from what you told me! How could he put me through that hell? Why would he let them do the things they did to me? WHY?"

"He did it to save you!" the Kyuubi roared, raising his voice for the first time, effectively quietening the boy who look up at him with a hint of fear at the volume and tone of his voice. "He knew that going out to face me would end his life! He knew that if he died you would be all alone! You mother died in child-birth due to not having any medics around when you were born! They were all off healing the fucking ninjas that were torturing you! He knew that once you were born the council and the heads of the clans would try to take you in and corrupt you so they could gain even more power! This was the only way he could protect you! He knew. He sealed me in you so you would have enough power to protect yourself and to one day follow in his footsteps, become Hokage and protect the wretches of that miserable village! He wanted you to be strong enough to face your enemies. The only thing the fool didn't know was that your enemies were the ones he was protecting." Kyuubi ended his grand lecture scoffing at the Fourth's mindless trust in people. Naruto was shocked. His mother didn't hate him and leave him either. She gave her life so he could live his. He was loved. His father did all of that, for him. He gave him power that many couldn't dream of. He wanted him to follow in his footsteps and... Naruto frowned. The happiness that had been growing in him soon dissipated. 'If that is all true, then why do the villagers hate me so?'

"Because they do not know." The Kyuubi answered his unasked question. Being inside of him had its perks, like reading his mind. "Your father hoped that they would see you as the hero of the village, the one who holds back the demon, the one who stops me from running wild and murdering them all. But all they know is that you are the vessel of the Demon Lord Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox. But they do not see you as the jailer; they see you as if you were the prisoner that you hold; a demon and fear you because of it. They hate you because they know the Fourth lost his life in sealing me in you and therefore blame you for his death. He was a well loved and brave man and many were devastated when he passed. This fear and hatred bred the life that you live now. They are ignorant, pathetic excuses for life-forms and should suffer a thousand deaths for what they put you through," the Kyuubi's voice slowly grew more and more menacing and blood-thirsty as he neared the end of his speech, although it slightly softened when it spoke of the Fourth. Naruto simply stared. His life was the way it was because of ignorance? They did not know anything?

"Why? Why did it get covered up? Why didn't anyone find out? Surely there was something left so that my father's last wishes were done!" Naruto asked the fox who looked at him sadly. Oh, he knew why. He could see everything that had happened after his battle from inside the boy. He knew of the man with the cross shaped scar on his chin, that commanded none of the incident ever escaped. He wanted Naruto to be used as a weapon but if that failed, he wanted him dead. No-one else was allowed to have this power but him. The image of that man standing over the Fourth's body and kicking it was still burned into Kyuubi's mind. His forehead and right eye were covered in bandages. His right arm was hidden beneath his clothes whilst the other clutched a cane. As Kyuubi was thinking of the thousands of possible ways to eat this man Naruto was still staring up at him waiting for an answer.

"Oi! Furball! Answer me!" He demanded. This brought the fox out of his fantasies. He looked at the blonde incredulously.

"WHAT did you call me?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side and grinned impishly up at him. "I called you furball. And you still haven't answered my question!" The fox couldn't take it. He laughed. Naruto stared at the fox, uncertain whether or not it had lost its sanity.

"You are the first person I've ever met that has had the nerve to call me by such a name!" Kyuubi gasped out when he had gained some control over his laughter. "You are strong brat. I am glad I was sealed in someone like you. At least things will be interesting, especially now when you are able to hear me. Unfortunately our time is up and you must sleep."

Naruto was startled to hear this, his previous question long forgotten. "Do I have to leave? Can't I stay here? It doesn't hurt and you're nice to me," he whimpered, sounded every bit the 3 year he was. "I don't wanna go back. The nightmares will come again and when I wake up that lady will hurt me when she finds out and then I'll have to run and I have nowhere to go." Kyuubi smiled sadly down at the boy.

"You don't realize do you?" he asked softly. Naruto looked back at him in confusion. "We are in your own mind. This is your subconscious. I will always be here. I will never leave kit. I will always be listening and watching out for you. Whenever you need me, I will be there. The nightmares will not come tonight." Rumbled the fox as kindly it was possible to rumble. Naruto smiled as warmth flooded him. Unaware to him, the walls of the sewer started to mend themselves as the Kyuubi spoke. Cracks and holes still littered the room, but it was definitely better than before. Naruto started to fade from the dim room as he slowly made his way into the realm of unconsciousness. Before he opened his eyes he heard the fox growl something else.

"The woman will not hurt you kit"