This chapter is in response and dedicated to my favourite and most animated reviewer; NarutoRyomaCub. Your reviews constantly make me laugh and I am deeply humbled by how much you like my story. I thank you very much ^^ so as you requested, this chapter is out as soon as I could write it ^^ amazing isn't it? :P

Naruto eyed the people gathered, his face a cold mask that hid the torrent of feelings that raged within. The foremost being fear and rage. Kakashi had a kunai in his hand still and his eyes were locked onto Naruto with an unwavering gaze. Images ran rampant in his head from the sight of seeing him and kunai together; he could almost feel the searing pain as the cruel metal tasted his flesh. But the tsunami of terror was nothing compared to the rage he felt when he saw the three most hate full gazes he had ever seen of his top three enemies. Homura, Koharu and Danzo had been shocked when Naruto sat up, but that was quickly replaced by their hate and anger. As he gazed at the three, his eyes the only indicator of his rage as they were slightly tinged with red, memories flooded his head from when he learned of their hand in his early years.

Flashback

A 7-year old, blonde youth ran through the busy market place, a baby fox at his heels. Many screams and yells could be heard behind him.

"Come back here you brat!" a voice yelled out. A man with spiky white hair who looked to be in his late 40's was running after him, and running after the man was a horde of angry, half-naked women, many only covering themselves with towels as they had not been able to get clothes in their haste to beat the living daylights out of the man.

"No way, you perv! You should know better!" laughed the youth. The fox at his heels yipped in agreement and amusement. The man was slowly gaining on the boy, and he noticed it.

'Uh-oh' he thought, 'though I hate an unfair fight, I'd better bust out some ninja skills or I'm gonna be a bloody pulp!' The fox laughed at the term 'ninja skills' but continued running with the boy. The child quickly did a hand sign and leapt onto the roof of a nearby building. Waving towards the man staring at him in shock, he dashed off with his chakra enhanced speed. Unknown to the boy, the man grinned. Not even using a hand sign, he jumped after the boy. The women running behind them stopped and stared as the pair jumped from building to building. Grumbling about injustice they marched back to where they came from, the women's baths, all except one blonde one who had her hands clenched into fists and was shaking with rage.

...

The wind whistled past the boy's hair and ruffled his blonde locks and he soared above the ground. Landing lightly on the ground after leaping from the roof of a building, he walked towards a near-by tree and sat down under it. The little fox came and looked up at his friend and master. The boy smiled at it and patted its head before closing his eyes for a nap. All that excitement took it out of him. Just as he was about to doze off, he heard a warning growl come from the fox. Snapping his eyes open he stared at the white haired man who was mere steps away and was grinning madly with an evil glint in his eyes.

"So, you know some ninja skills huh?" he asked, a mocking tone in his voice. The fox sweat dropped. What is it with these people and calling them 'ninja skills?' it thought. The boy just stared open mouthed at the man who had managed to catch up with him.

'He's good. Not even Shizune can catch me when I'm running,' he was thinking as he got to his feet. He took a closer look at the white haired pervert he'd caught peeking on the woman's baths. He was wearing forest green pants and shirt with fish-nets at the ends so the baggy clothes didn't get in the way when using his hands or legs. His outrageously spiky hair was held back by a headband with the symbol for Oil on it. Over his clothes he had a red coat and a large scroll was hanging down his back. He had red lines on his face which ran down from his eyes till they disappeared from his face, almost like he's crying blood, thought the boy. Altogether... he looked ridiculous. He couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. The man looked at him in surprise as he clutched his stomach and tears leaked from his eyes.

"What's so funny brat?" the man asked indignantly, a slight suspicion told him that it was himself.

"Y-you! Ha ha! Y-you look s-so stupid! Ha ha ha! W-what are you wearing?" he managed to gasp out in between giggles. The man frowned; he was right about what he was laughing at. Deciding to humour the child, he introduced himself.

"I, my boy, am the hope that shines from the sky! The man every woman wants to meet! The hero that every evil-doer quakes at the sound of my name! I am the handsome, the magnificent, the incredible, the Toad-Sage Jiraiya!" he stated grandly, finishing in an odd pose with his leg raised and a hand out in front and out behind him. The boy just stared before bursting into laughter all over again. A vein throbbed on Jiraiya's temple as he watched the child roll around on the floor, unable to breathe from laughing to hard. Even the stoic fox by his side was chuckling. Controlling himself with difficulty, he managed to ask a question.

"And what do you want with me pervy-sage?" he asked, still chuckling slightly. He bristled at the nickname he had just be christened.

"It's Jiraiya! And you interrupted my research! Now I won't be able to finish my book" he said angrily.

"Research?"

"Yes"

"At the women's baths?"

"Yes"

"For a book?"

"Yes"

"You need to peek on naked women for your book?"

"Yes"

"Now I regret saving your life" Naruto stated. Jiraiya looked at him in confusion.

"When did you save my life?" he asked

"Hmm? Oh, my kaa-san was taking a bath in there when you were perving. If she caught you, you would be dead, in hell and still feel the effect of her punch." He said shrugging.

"But if I was just a normal perv who wasn't writing a book about naked women, you wouldn't regret saving my life?" he asked baffled.

"Yeah, 'cause people who do that are usually sad, lonely and sooooo desperate it's the only thing they have." He explained. Jiraiya felt as though each of his words were a slap to the face.

"HA HA HA! Desperate! Yes, they are, aren't they?" he said loudly. The boy could see the nervous sweat on his forehead and sweat dropped. 'You're one of those guys!' he thought shaking his head.

"Anyway, kid, I'm looking for a special woman in particular. She has blonde hair, and really rally nice boobs" he said with a lecherous grin. The boy looked at him in disgust and was about to send the guy on his way when a screech interrupted them.

"PERVET!" Tsunade screamed at the top of her voice, running towards them. The man in question chuckled to himself.

"Speak of the devil and he shall arrive." He muttered under his breath, quiet enough that the boy didn't hear him. He looked at the boy to see him backing away to a safe distance.

"Don't blame me! I warned you! Look out for her right hook!" He yelled, giving himself the best view point of the fight. He laughed when he saw the man pale as Tsunade stopped right in front of him. Jiraiya managed a small "h-hey," before a fist connected to his face and sent him flying into the tree that the boy was leaning against minutes ago. The boy chuckled under his breath and said to himself,

"I warned him about that right hook." The fox beside him grinned. He watched as Tsunade walked up to the pile at the bottom of the tree that was Jiraiya. And was about to hit him again until she heard him speak.

"Haven't lost your touch Tsunade." His voice holing a small amount of amusement, it was drowned out however by the amount of pain that was zipping through his veins and centring at his face where the punch had connected. Tsunade looked at him closely.

"Jiraiya?" she asked in disbelief. At his vantage point, the boy frowned. This wasn't going the way he expected. Tsunade had just stopped. Did he do something to her? He panicked. Thinking nothing of himself and everything about the woman, he ran towards her.

"Kaa-san! Are you ok?" he yelled. Jiraiya looked up in surprise at the boy running towards him then towards Tsunade; who had also looked towards the blonde child running at them, full speed.

"I'm fine Naruto," she smiled. Jiraiya's mouth almost fell off his face. Tsunade? A mum? The child couldn't be older than 7 or 8! And he had seen her roughly 5 years ago. There was no way. Then the name sunk in. He turned his head to look at the child and studied his every feature. His blond hair, cheeky grin, bright blue eyes, how was it possible?

"Naruto?" he breathed. Tsunade flinched at her slip. Of course he would connect the dots, she cursed to herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Naruto's worry over his mother was gone when Jiraiya uttered his name, replaced by fear. He knew. He knew that the man knew who he was, where he was from and what was in him. It was in his voice. The disbelief, the recognition, everything that other people had when they learned his name. He was frozen to the spot, wild panic clear in his large blue eyes. He was going to get hurt again. Memories of past encounters of people who knew of the demon flashed through his head. The beatings, the pain, the unending suffering, he started to shake; the fox at his feet growled and whined at the same time, trying to comfort the boy and warn the stranger at the same time, it fell upon deaf ears as Naruto's mind raced. He wanted to cry and scream his pain until his voice was raw and throat was bloody, but he had made a promise to himself a long time ago that he would never vocalize his despair. After all, crying out is a survival technique used to seek help; there was no point in it if no one was there to listen. No one wanted to help the demon, only hurt him. Naruto turned and was about to run off, but a pair of arms encircled his torso and stopped him. The familiar warmth and scent of his mother penetrated the fear induced haze of his mind and slowly calmed him as she put herself between him and the new potential threat. Oh, he had a mother now, he forgot. He had someone who would help, to listen, to love him. He clutched to her like a lifeline as he tried not to drown in his fear and terror. He heard a soothing sound, it was a while before he realised it was Tsunade talking to him, repeating the same few words over and over.

"It's ok Naru. Mummy's here. It's ok. Calm down. I'm here, mummy's here..." she repeated soothingly. Jiraiya watched with fascination and confusion. He wisely decided to stay silent until the boy was calmed down.

"Jiraiya." Tsunade said without looking at him. "Let's get Naruto home. Then we can talk." And she walked off, not looking back to see if he was following, all her attention on the bundle clutching to her chest that she carried off in the opposite direction. Naruto didn't notice her pick him up, or the fact that they were moving. He did notice that his fox had jumped up and settled on his stomach and was purring comfortingly. The soothing words and calming purring soon opened the gated of sleep and he slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

...

As Naruto returned to wakefulness, he heard voices coming from the room down the hall. He sat up slowly, trying not to make a sound, and took in his surroundings. He was back in his house, his room to be precise, and the voices sounded familiar. He slowly got out of bed. As soon as his feet hit the floor, a small red furball barrelled into his chest, almost knocking him back down. He looked down, and blood red eyes stared back. Naruto smiled and put a finger to his lips. The fox nodded in understanding and softly leapt down from his arms and padded to the. Naruto trailed after. Pushing himself up against the wall, he crept to the kitchen, where he could hear the voices coming from. Pausing at the edge of the doorway, he stopped and listened.

"They all think he's dead! How is he still alive?" Jiraiya demanded of Tsunade. She was holding a cup of coffee and staring back at him defiantly.

"I found him 4 years ago outside the village with a giant hole through his chest! He had scores of other injuries but they were already healing. I saved him and took him with me. It took him months to trust me and talk to me when he figured out I knew who he was. I don't know what he went through in that village but I swear if I ever find out who did this I will come after them personally and make them wish to go to hell!" she scream whispered, trying not to wake Naruto, who was listening in.

"I know who did it, but I know it wasn't his fault and I know who was behind his hell of a life before you." Jiraiya spat. Naruto froze, straining to heat the names of the bastards who made him suffer. "It's the reason I was looking for you. The Third has lost all power within the village. He is no more than a figure-head now. He thinks he is running the village but is sorely mistaken. The night of the Kyuubi attack I and the heads of the ninja clans were gathered to decide what to do with the boy. I told them he was the container, sealing the fox, a hero, but the others saw this as a way to torture the fox while he was weakened. The head council members, I think their names are Homura and Koharu, and Danzo, the guy who fought with the third for the seat of Hokage, were the ones that fuelled this belief. They saw him as a monster when he showed his growing and healing abilities. Homura and Koharu wanted to kill him right there but Danzo said to make him suffer every night and break him, then he could be used as a weapon for the village. I protested to this and in the end they kicked me out. I told the third and he sent Anbu to protect him, unfortunately, Danzo controls the Anbu and they just added to the torture.

On the night of his supposed death, I discovered that Koharu gave special soldier pills to a ninja cell, they were modified to send the recipient into a murderous rampage. They made sure the group returned from their mission at a place where Naruto frequents and it was one Kakashi Hatake who pierced though his body, he must have run afterwards and then you discovered him."

Naruto shivered as memories of his last night in the village swamped his mind, the lightning, the sound of thousands of birds chirping, the light, the pain, he peeled himself off the wall and crept back to his room, ignoring the rest of the conversation and brushing of the distinct sound of a fist smashing through a wall. He collapsed on his bed, mind running through this new information as sleep claimed him once again.

End Flashback

It was all their fault that his dreams were plagued with nightmares, that he had to constantly look over his shoulder in case someone decided he had lived long enough. His glare grew more hate-filled as he eyed the people in front of him. They were all pathetic; he was the strong one here. If he could come out alive for the first three years of his life with having most of the shinobi in the village out for his blood, then he didn't have to question his own strength. He was stronger than them and their hate; they could harm his body but not his soul. They were the weak ones, not him. They called him a monster, but they were monsters too. They were just monsters of a different kind. They would torture babies if it made them more powerful, they would step over and on cripples, woman and children if it meant that their pathetic necks were saved, and they would do all whilst smiling and drinking a cup of tea. It made him sick.

"Naruto, why are you here?" the Sandaime's voice broke through his thoughts. Naruto turned and looked at him. He was old and frail, no wonder the others had found it so easy to wrest control off him without him noticing. Pushing these thoughts aside he spoke to the people assembled in the room.

"I want to change gennin squads." He said clearly.