Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the associated characters, locations, jutsu, etc. The only thing I own is the plot of the story. If there is any plagiarism of any form it was completely unintentional.

"Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike."

J.K. Rowling

Konohagakure, 16 years ago.

*Knock, Knock, Knock1*

"Come in!" A firm yet calm voice called out. The handle turned in a small clatter as the door opened ajar through which a robed man walked in. He made his way over to the large desk in front of him with slow an steady steps. When he stopped he raised his hand and dropped two sealed envelopes on top of the desk.

"Here is the information you requested. Whatever it is you are doing, I hope it was worth it. The ROOT does not take it kindly when they find someone searching through their documents."

"I know, Kakashi, and you can remove the mask now, the room is secure." The man in question raised both hands to remove his hood and then his ANBU mask, revealing a single steely eye, as the other one was still covered by a black mask.

"Pardon my distrust, Hokage-sama, but Danzo has eyes everywhere."

"Yeah well, not here." Said Minato as he opened the first envelope and skimmed through its contents.

"What are you looking for?"

"Proof."

"Of what?" Minato dropped the handful of papers before he picked up the second envelope and once again began reading.

"I received a letter, through some rather mysterious means, that contained some disturbing information, regarding not only the massacre of the Uchiha, but also the attack of the Kyuubi, and the deaths of Obito and Rin."

"How can you trust someone who claims to know something about that?"

"I have my reasons, by the way the Third was looking for you a while ago. Didn't tell me why, he just said it was important."

"Very well then, I'll be on my way." And with a quick hand sign he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Something's not right here. Minato thought as he read over the documents that lay across the desk. All of the reports, every last one of them was written a member of the ROOT.

"DAAAAD!" Came a voice that echoed through the halls. Minato sighed and as he carefully collected the scrambled papers and put them all inside one of his desk drawers, which he then locked. Just as he did it the door to his office slammed open revealing a small boy with his same sky blue eyes and golden hair. "Dad! You promised to train with me remember? Ero-sennin went off after some weird women and he left me all alone!"

"Did he now? Well let's go find him, didn't he promise to help me teach you the rasengan?" Minato said with a smile as he took his son's and walked out the door.

"Yeah, dattebayo! Can you also teach me how to teleport like you do?"

"Sure thing, but only of if your mom says it's okay?" After hearing this Naruto whined which made Minato laugh.

"My lord, don't you think it's time to interfere. The Hokage is getting far too curious."

"Not at all, don't you see? He is looking in all the wrong places. HAHAHA!"

9 Years Later

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Said a now older Naruto as he took of his shoes and walked through his house. When he heard no answer he slowly looked around the rooms, with a slight feeling of worry. "Mom, Dad?" He looked for them in every room in the house, and as the seconds pass his fear grew. "Mom, Dad!" As he barged through the last room in the house he stopped dead in his tracks. Even in the cold darkness of the night he could see two figures laying on the ground, surrounded by a crimson red pool of blood. "M-mom? Dad?" He said with a shaky voice as he took equally shaky steps. With every one he got closer he started to recognize the two people that lay dead on the ground but the thing that struck him the most was their hair; the woman had vibrant red hair while the man had clear golden locks. When he was mere centimeters away he fell to his knees with a heartbreaking scream as the tears started to pour out from his eyes.

He was found the next day in the same position he had fallen asleep the day before, lying down next to his parents. When they tried to take them away he started screaming and punching anyone that got too close. He didn't stop until his mentor and godfather Jiraiya came and talked to him. No one saw him for several days, and when he finally came back he spoke to no one. If he had few friends before, he had even less now. The only people that approached him were Jiraiya, Sakura, and Hinata, and yet no one had any luck in getting him to speak. Eventually rumors started going around that he was the one that killed his parents, but no one dared say anything. Several months passed before he started speaking again, even if it were just a couple of words at first, it was something. After a year he was just as loud as he had been before, but those who truly knew him could see that he had changed. The spark in his eyes was gone, replaced with the empty void that was pain. It didn't help that the people around him were talking behind his back. Everywhere he went the whispering would start, some didn't even have the decency of speaking quietly, they would blurt it out without looking at him, but knowing that he could hear everything they said. And as the rumors spread, the people got bolder, he would sometimes be hit with pebbles or marbles, sometimes they spat at him, but every-time he turned around everyone would just look away, as if they believed nothing had happened. He did his best to ignore them, but saying it didn't hurt would be a lie, because every single hit hurt, every single one of them hurt like a stab to the chest, because every hit was a reminder that he was now alone.

One day, he was walking late at night, when a group of shinobi surrounded him, all holding knives or swords.

"You, you were the one who took our Hokage away from us, and now you're gonna pay." It was not the first time he had been threatened, it would not be the last, but now he didn't feel like fighting back.

"Go ahead then, kill me." He saw the man who had spoken walk towards him as he raised a sword over his head. Naruto closed his eyes as he waited for the pain, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see a man standing between him and the others, holding the sword back with his own hand.

"Leave the boy be, or else." The man said as he pushed the other shinobi back.

"Or else what? You'll kill me?" He asked mockingly.

"I very much dislike fighting but if I must I will." The other shinobi laughed while they all charged forward. However the man swiftly countered each attack and pushed them all back. He delivered several kicks and punches with great precision and skill, and with every strike one by one the attackers were all knocked down to the ground unconscious. When the last shinobi fell, the man slowly relaxed his stance as he turned to look at Naruto.

"Don't be so foolish as to throw your life away like that, your parents would be disappointed in you." The man said.

"What the hell makes you think you have the right to speak about my parents?" He responded angrily.

"Because I knew them both, Minato and Kushina, they were good and honest people who fought hard to keep you safe. I know your godfather as well... Dammit, Jiraiya would strangle me if he found out you died in his absence." This shocked Naruto, making him look at the man straight in the eyes, not recognizing his face from anywhere before.

"Who are you?"

"I am... A friend. But that doesn't matter. You are not safe here."

"No kidding." Naurto said with a scoff.

"You don't understand, you are not safe here. Someone is looking for evidence to blame you of your parent's murder. I'll do my best to stall them but you need to get out of here."

"Okay umm... thanks for helping me but I gotta go." Naruto said as was about to walk off when the man grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"You have to listen to me."

"No, you listen to me. I don't know who you are but if you don't let go of me I'll-"

"N-Naruto-kun?" He heard a soft voice say as he turned to look at a small figure that approached him. "N-Naruto-kun! A-are you okay?" The girl said when she noticed all of the passed out shinobi that lay around him.

"Yeah, I'm fine Hinata, this weird guy popped out of nowhere to help me, he-" Naruto turned around to show her who he was talking about, but the man was nowhere to be seen. "Where the hell did he go? He was here a minute ago."

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"What? Oh, don't worry about it, I'm fine. You head on home, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"O-okay. G-goodbye, Naruto-kun." She said with a small blush as she did a small wave and walked away.

"Bye, see you tomorrow, Hinata!" Naruto said as he waved back with a smile.

"She seems like a a very nice girl, I understand why you don't want to leave." Naruto jumped back in surprise when he heard the man who had disappeared speak right next to him.

"What the hell do you mean?"

"I can give you one year at most. But I'm afraid that, the longer you wait the more it will hurt. And the higher the risk that she will follow after you."

"Wait, what are you-?" Naruto tried to say but a large cloud of smoke forced him to shield his face, and by the time it dissipated the man was gone. He looked around for the man but it seemed that he had disappeared. Naruto decided to let it go and walked away, but deep in his mind he knew, that whatever was going on was just beginning.