Response to reviews:

Irony: I understand your point of view. Really, I do. I'm not gonna' say much 'cause I don't wanna' start any shit on here. You're right, I didn't show how Sakura resolved the child abuse. But I am going to ask kindly if you could just stick to the story for a while longer. There's a reason as to why I did what I did. Just hold on a little bit longer.

mrgirmjaw: That's an interesting idea, however, I feel it's too overused and unnecessary for this plot. Any more ideas you have, throw 'em at me, though, I love to hear what you guys think about it.

Xsd: Thanks for reviewing. You're right, sadly, Naruto is a little bit more mistreated than Sakura. I don't like Hinata all that much, and that's probably why I'm having a little problem developing her character but I'm trying my best. I'm also trying out to build up their past and experiences instead of having them in flashbacks like I'm planning on doing with my other stories. I'm taking it slow this time, and their relationship won't advance as fast as the other stories.

To everyone else, thank you for reading and reviewing/placing this in alerts/favourites. I'll try not to let you down.

Konohagakure Alleyway- October 10

Naruto stared up at the Uchiha, fear and confusion evident on his face. He stood up, taking a few steps back when he caught a glance of the kunai in the man's hand. The man grinned at this as he stalked closer to the kid. Naruto flinched and stepped back. His back hit a wall and he frowned.

The Uchiha chuckled sinisterly, his Sharingan blazing. "You killed my wife, demon." He raised his blade and Naruto's eyes widened. "Now, I'm gonna' kill you." The Uchiha swung his arm back, preparing to launch the weapon. Naruto watched as the kunai was thrown then he ducked at the last minute. Using the stunned expression on the ninja's face, Naruto pushed himself from the wall, running in between the man's open legs and out of the alley.

"Hey, get back here!"

Naruto grinned at his momentary victory. He looked back, sticking his tongue out at the Uchiha. He turned back forward, only to bump against the leg of someone else. He fell down on his backside, grunting as he pushed himself up on his elbow. The blonde looked up, only briefly seeing a blue mask and silver, gravity-defying hair before tensing up at the Uchiha's enraged voice behind him. "Sorry, pops!" The now seven-year-old yelled out to the silver-haired man as he stood up and ran around him.

Hatake Kakashi hummed as he watched the Uchiha run by him, chasing after the fleeing boy. He sighed. 'What did you do now, Naruto? And what are you doing in this part of Konoha?' Kakashi turned around, jumping over to the rooftops to have a good view of the scuffle.

Naruto kept running, occasionally looking over his shoulder at the ninja. The blonde looked forward, silently thanking the Anbu and other Jonin (1). His eyes brightened when he saw a fence up ahead. Though doubtful, maybe that'll delay the ninja. Picking up his space, he measured his speed and distance accordingly. Once he was in a certain spot, he launched himself into the air, barely grazing the face with his shin and landed roughly on his knees at the other side of the fence.

"Ha! Take that, you-" Naruto was cut off when he saw the ninja easily jump over the fence and land in front of him. He stood up on his feet and looked around, searching for an escape.

The blonde looked back at the Uchiha when he started talking. "You're faster than I thought," He panted out then grinned menacingly. "It won't matter. There's nowhere for you to run, little brat. I'll just beat you to a pulp here and be done with you."

Naruto gulped in fear but he stood his ground. He pointed comically at the ninja, hoping the act would somehow through him off so he could have enough time to escape. "Oh, yeah? You and what army!"

The Uchiha grinned even more as he stretched his arms out. "This army,"

Naruto looked around, fear filling his every nerve. Multiple men came out from the shadows, each of them wearing a grin that promised pain. All of their eyes were red, with those three comas around the pupil. Hope of escape quickly left him, instead being filled with regret. 'I should've never jumped that fence. It was all a trap!'

An Uchiha stepped up, interrupting the kid's thoughts. "You reduced out clan by over twenty-five per cent when you attacked. You shall pay for what you did." Chants started going around, all asking for the same thing.

His life.

Naruto looked around frantically. 'Attacked? I've never even seen these guys before in my life!' His thoughts were interrupted when everyone drew out multiple weapons; really sharp weapons. Naruto slumped in defeat, turning his head away. 'Worst birthday ever…'

The first Uchiha that had been chasing him chuckled and raised his newly drawn kunai. "You die today, demon! Uchiha! Open fire!"

The sound of metal slicing through the air was all that was heard at that moment.

…..!

"Hakkeshou Kaiten…!"

A blue orb appeared around Naruto, deflecting all of the weapons thrown at him. Naruto looked up, seeing the back of an older man with long brunette hair. "It's a good thing I called you, Hizashi. Naruto here could've died today." Naruto looked around the Hyuga, easily recognizing the blue mask and spiky silver hair. Kakashi smiled at him through the mask, raising his left hand in a greeting. "Yo,"

Naruto sighed in relief when he saw that Kakashi's right hand was holding a kunai to the leader's throat. He looked up at the man that had saved him when he spoke. "It was a pleasure, Kakashi. You were the first one at the scene when that Kumo incident happened last year. It's only fair that I return the favour." Naruto frowned in confusion but then looked at the ground in astonishment at all the weapons the Hyuga had deflected.

Just then, three squads of Anbu arrived and began to arrest the Uchiha. Hyuga Hizashi turned to Naruto and smiled down at him. "Are you alright, son?" Hizashi asked, and Naruto grinned, nodding. Hizashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and guided him over to Kakashi, who was talking with an Anbu captain with a weasel mask. The Anbu saw Hizashi, bowed down, and went to help his squad.

Kakashi turned to Naruto and ruffled his hair. "You're Okay, kid?"

Naruto nodded, grinning. "Yeah! Thanks a lot, mister! Thanks to you both!" He sent Hizashi a grin before turning to Kakashi again.

Kakashi ruffled his hair again, smiling down at him.

"What happened here?" The three males turned to the voice. Hizashi smiled at Yugao in a greeting while Kakashi waved. Yugao walked over, looking around the place before her eyes landed on Naruto. The blonde cowered at her hard gaze but relaxed when she smiled at him.

Hizashi turned to the scene in front of him. "The Uchiha clan ambushed Naruto just a few moments ago. I assume you know why." His eyes hardened as he looked over to Yugao.

Yugao scoffed and crossed her arms. "The Uchiha clan is beginning to cause a lot of trouble. They'll be the end of themselves (2)." Her eyes landed on the Anbu captain with the weasel mask. "Itachi seems like the only 'normal' one, and even now I still question his sanity."

Hizashi looked over and sighed, rubbing his temples. "He's the only Uchiha completely loyal to Konoha. His sanity may be questioned but his loyalty is second to only a few." The other two Jonin nodded at his words before Kakashi turned to Yugao.

"Where's your brat?"

Yugao's eye twitched. "She's in bed. And she has a name, Kakashi. Use it." Yugao glared at him, and Naruto chuckled slightly as the man started waving his hands in fear.

"Yes, yes. Uzumaki Sakura. I get it." Kakashi chuckled nervously while Hizashi smiled at them. Yugao rolled her eyes in annoyance but the smile on her face gave her away.

She knew Kakashi was just playing. He's formally met Sakura a few times – as have all of her Jonin friends – and everyone gets along with her nicely. She's a bit shy at first but once you get her out of her shell, she's quite an intelligent and cunning child. She's even helped Yugao plan several clever pranks to pull on Maito Gai when the Jonin is being a little too intolerable.

'Uzumaki Sakura? Is she related to me?' Naruto looked up at the Jonin in confusion before shaking his head. 'No, Jiji-san would've told me if I had any relatives. She probably just has the same last name I do.'

"In any case, I better get Naruto home. We don't need another incident like this." Kakashi waved the subject away before placing a hand firmly onto Naruto's shoulder. "Come on, kid, we should go."

"Alright!" Naruto grinned brightly, emitting chuckles from the Jonin around. When they turned their backs to him, his grin faltered until a frown was clearly visible on his facial features. He looked over his shoulder at the scene behind him, eyes taking in the multiple clansmen being tied and arrested. 'Why would they do that? I'd understand the pranks but I've never seen them before in my short life – and I always remember who I prank. Do they really hate me so much – for a reason unknown to me – to corner and ambush me? What did I ever do to them?'

The boy narrowed his eyes at the fact that they were all of the same clan. He frowned, realizing that, although most of the people in the village seem to hate him, no one's ever tried a thing when it came down to getting physical. This is the first time he's had to run away for his life – excluding the successful pranks he's played on civilians and Anbu just happen to be standing by.

'I'm not one to hold a grudge but,' Naruto faced forward; silently following the three Jonin into the village's populated area. 'Isn't ambushing a defenceless seven-year-old going a little too far?'

Konohagakure Hokage Tower- October 11

The Sandaime Hokage sighed, dismissing the Anbu in front of him with a wave of the hand. He leaned forward, rubbing his temples in hopes of soothing the upcoming headache.

Tonight is probably the most troublesome night since the Hyuga-Kumo incident last year and Orochimaru's defection four years before that. First, there was a robbery in the Market Street. Anbu took care of that. Then, there was a scuffle between two Chunin over a lover. Again, Anbu took care of that. Now, most of the men in the Uchiha clan trapped and ambushed Uzumaki Naruto, a defenceless child that had done nothing to them. That little stunt is not only going against a law he had passed down on October 11 exactly seven years ago about not harming any of the Jinchuuriki in Konoha, but it can also be considered child abuse.

This stunt also did nothing to quell the conflict arising between the council and the Uchiha clan. If anything, it was like fanning the flames. It only made it worse. The council demanded him that he do something as soon as they found out about it. So, he had asked Uchiha Fugaku, the head of the clan, to meet with him.

Fugaku had shown no signs of going against the act his men had done. Hell, it even seemed as if he had encouraged it. Knowing how the Uchiha clan thinks and behaves, Sarutobi wouldn't need an extensive spy network to suspect that Fugaku somehow had a hand in this. The Uchiha clan is power-hungry. It's unfortunate that out of the hundreds of clan members, only two of them seem to be completely loyal to Konoha. Knowing the clan, they probably had a good enough reason – at least for them – to attack Naruto.

'It was probably because of power,' Sarutobi thought, knowing that he couldn't be too far from the truth. 'The Uchiha want the highest power and rank in the village, which just happens to be the council and the Kage position. The civilian half of the village – along with a certain amount of Shinobi – wants Naruto's head. If the Uchiha clan get away with killing Naruto, they'd have over half of the village on their side. There's also the fact that the Uzumaki seat on the council – which has been closed since Mito's time – could be eliminated permanently. They'd gain more power because of this.'

Hiruzen looked down at the two solitary files on his desk with a grimace. 'If that were to happen, the entire pressure of being a Jinchuuriki would come down on Sakura's shoulder. I don't think she can handle anything else. With that Kumo incident last year and her only friend her age avoiding her like the plague, she's bound to break at any moment. Not to mention that her seal is extremely weak. Any more unnecessary strain on it could deal permanent damage to her chakra network.'

The Hokage sighed, rubbing his temples and thinking back to the week following the Kumo-Hyuga incident.

Hiruzen paced in front of the hospital room, his head down in thought. Where was that perverted Sannin? He was supposed to be here over and hour ago. Yugao and Sakura are inside that hospital room, waiting on him. The Hokage stopped his pacing and sighed, hanging his shoulders.

"Relax, old man, you'll get more wrinkles than necessary."

The Hokage grumbled under his breath as he looked up to greet his once-pupil. "You try having to deal with dozens upon dozens of meetings and paperwork in less than a week."

Jiraiya chuckled good-heartedly. "No, thank you. That's why I avoid this place like the plague." Hiruzen smiled at his joyous student. The man's jokes were a really good change of attitude. This week has been kind of dull, he thought as he led the Sannin into the hospital room.

Sakura was the first one to look up from the scroll she was reading. She was sitting on the hospital bed, her legs crossed. She was holding Kitsune-chan lightly. Yugao rolled up the scroll and stood up, placing the scroll in one of the pockets of her newly acquired Jonin vest. She bowed down to the Hokage then nodded at the Sannin.

Sakura beamed up at the old man that has been helping her this entire week. "Good morning, Hokage-sama!"

Sarutobi smiled lightly at her. "Good morning, Sakura. How are you feeling today?"

"Great! Nee-chan was just reading to me about the Hokage!"

Sarutobi raised a brow at Yugao, who looked away in embarrassment. "She seems really interested in being a ninja. I thought she'd like to know more about our past and present heroes." Yugao explained, smiling down at the girl she considered family.

"Really, now?"

Sakura nodded at the Hokage's question. A frown took place on her face, changing the innocent atmosphere in the room. "I'm gonna' show everyone I'm not worthless, that I'm more than a demon or monster." Her eyes flicked momentarily up to the Hokage. "I'm gonna' be Hokage one day, and no one is going to stop me (3)."

Sarutobi blinked several times at her sudden declaration before a small smile broke out on his face. He nodded and reached over to ruffle her hair. "That's an amazing dream, Sakura. I'm sure you can do it." Sakura beamed at his words, ignoring the fact that her hair was probably a big mess right now.

Jiraiya hummed, and instantly all eyes in the room were on him. He looked down at Sakura and grinned. "That would make you the first female to ever become Hokage."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, an indication that she was thinking those words over. She quickly glanced at the Hokage's hat before looking over at the pocket Yugao had placed the scroll in. What Yugao was just teaching her began rolling around in her head, searching for any clue to give that all the Hokage had been males up to now. When she found no trace of a woman being mentioned, Sakura looked up at Jiraiya and nodded warily. "Yeah, you're right."

Jiraiya grinned at her, making the girl narrow her eyes at him. She looked up at his headband with a frown. Jiraiya noticed this and chuckled, walking over to the bed. "You're pretty bright, kid. I haven't seen this much intellect since Tsunade. How old is she?" The last question was sent towards Hiruzen.

"She's turning seven on March 28."

"I see…" Jiraiya studied her with a hand on his chin, his eyes taking in every small detail about her. "Have you told her, yet?"

"No, I was hoping we wouldn't have to."

"That's impossible, old man." Jiraiya turned to the Hokage with a frown. "If her chakra network was strained, she'd have to know the reason as to why and how to prevent from damaging it any further. She just said it herself, she wants to be Hokage. She could use its power to her will if she wanted to." Jiraiya walked over to Sakura, asking her to lie down and pull up her shirt. Sakura glanced over to Yugao for permission. Yugao nodded with a small smile. Sakura did as told and pulled up her shirt to show off her stomach.

Jiraiya focused chakra to the tip of his fingers. He placed his cool fingers against her warmer stomach then pulled back. A seal appeared on her stomach. Sakura's eyes widened when she looked down at it. She looked up at everyone in the room. "What is this? It was never there."

Jiraiya looked over at the Hokage sharply. Hiruzen swathe look his student was giving him and sighed, nodding his head slowly. Jiraiya turned back to Sakura. "What I'm about to tell you, Uzumaki Sakura, is top secret information. You have to pay attention, alright?" At her nod and curious gaze, Jiraiya continued. "Six years ago, on October tenth, a terrible thing happened. A giant, nine tailed fox appeared and started wreaking havoc on Konoha. With a swing of one of its tails, it could level mountains and cause tsunamis. No one could defeat the mighty beast. No one but the Yondaime Hokage."

Her attention drawn, Sakura gave him her full attention. Jiraiya smiled sadly at her. "The fox, named the Kyuubi no Yokô, was a being made out of chakra. It was impossible for it to be killed. So, the Yondaime Hokage came up with another solution to defeat it. He sealed half of it inside a new-born baby and the other half into a six-month-old baby. The Yondaime died after sealing the Kyuubi." Jiraiya paused, not really knowing how to break the news to her. Yugao bit her lip, looking away from them. Sarutobi took a deep breath then let it out, his gaze falling onto the floor.

Sakura watched all of their reactions silently and quickly, analysing the situation and the scenario in which Jiraiya just explained to her. He said the date was October tenth six years ago. Where was she six years ago? She was just a child but she wasn't a new-born. Her birthday is on March 28. Let's see, after March comes April, May, June, July, August, September then October. That's one, two, four…'Six, I was still a six-month-old baby. That means that I…'

Sakura snapped her head up so fast everyone in the room heard a small crack. She looked at Jiraiya pointedly. "I was the older baby. The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside of me." It wasn't a question but a statement, one that shocked the three adults in the room.

Jiraiya's gaze softened. 'She's smarter than I thought.' He nodded at her. "Yes, you're one of the jailors of the Kyuubi no Yokô. You're one of Konoha's Jinchuuriki."

Sakura looked down at her hands, the wheels in her head turning wildly. So, that's why everyone hated her. It wasn't her they hated, it was the demon sealed inside of her. Because of it, they portrayed her as the demon itself. And if they treated her this bad, she could only guess about the other Jinchuuriki. That said, who was the other one? And why them? Why didn't the Yondaime pick someone else?

"Who's the other Jinchuuriki?" Sakura asked, looking up at the Hokage.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry but I cannot tell you. If you two were to meet, it could cause a chain reaction. It's especially dangerous now because we don't know the status of your seal."

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean?"

Hiruzen sat down on the chair nearest to the bed and looked at her in the eyes. "Your chakra coils are just developing. It was safe for you two to be together the few weeks following the attack. However, because you were older, your chakra coils started developing first. We were afraid that it could cause a chain reaction because the Bijou had different hosts. It had never been done before, the same Bijou having two different hosts at the same time." Sakura frowned at this.

"Aside from that, though," Hiruzen continued, "We were wary because we didn't know if someone other than an Uzumaki could hold in the Kyuubi."

Sakura furrowed her brows. "What do you mean? My surname is Uzumaki."

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but I can't tell you about that at the moment. Maybe when you're older."

Sakura frowned and looked away, a pout forming on her lips. The Hokage smiled, watching in amusement as she reverted back to being an innocent kid instead of an intelligent child.

Jiraiya interrupted. "Anyway, I'm here to inspect the seal. Anbu had interrogated that man Aio from Kumogakure," Sakura flinched and grimaced at the mention of the village. "And Aio said that he saw a red, chakra cloak surround you and kill Shiro. We're going to take some precautions and check the seal. We don't need little ol' Kyuubi coming out, now don't we?" Jiraiya asked jokingly as he moved to examine the seal.

"No, we don't. That reminds me. Who are you?"

Hiruzen smiled as he thought back to Jiraiya's bewildered expression before he realized that he had never introduced himself to the girl. Jiraiya then had proceeded to make his infamous introduction of himself, which made the other two adults in the room sweat drop and Sakura look at him as if he had grown a second.

After Jiraiya had inspected the seal, he had confirmed that it had, in fact, weakened severely because the Kyuubi had forced its chakra through her underdeveloped chakra coils. Because of this, it was going to be quite hard for her to expand her coils as she grows older and practices more jutsu. That's why Jiraiya had promised to come over every time he could to check the seal. It was also obvious he had taken a liking to the girl. She seemed to surprise him at every chance she got.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. The Hokage told the person outside of the door to come in. Kakashi opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind him. "You called, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen leaned forward, nodding. "Yes, Kakashi. I just want to thank you for saving Naruto."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "It was no problem. I think of Naruto as a younger brother I have to protect. He's sensei's legacy and I see it as my job to protect him as well as he protects us."

The Hokage smiled. "I'm glad you said that, Kakashi, because I have to ask a favour of you."

Kakashi tilted his head to the side slightly, a questioning look in his only eye. Sarutobi smiled even more, thinking of his proposition.

"I want you to take Naruto in."

Uchiha Clan Compound- October 11

Uchiha Fugaku stormed into his house, his usual calm façade overpowered by an angry scowl. He walked into the kitchen, where he found his wife Mikoto doing the dishes. "Where's Itachi?"

Mikoto narrowed her eyes at him before turning her back to him. "Outside with Sasuke." She stopped washing the dishes and turned to him with a glare. "Why did you do it, Fugaku? He was just a child!"

Fugaku glared back. "I have no interest in speaking to you at the moment. You should know by now how important this is to the Uchiha clan!"

Mikoto slammed her hands down on the counter, leaning forward to intensify her glare. "It doesn't mean you have to take a child's life! A child that had no control over what happened! If anything, he saved us all!"

Fugaku glowered at her, grabbing her roughly by the arms. Her glared never lessened, though she did tense up at the rough contact. "You're still with that idiotic thinking? That child is a demon! He wiped out over one-fourths of our clan seven years ago! How could you side with him?"

"I'm not siding with him. I'm just saying that killing Naruto won't solve anything. It'll only get you into more trouble." Mikoto calmly explained. Fugaku scowled and let go of her. He turned to the sliding door when it opened. Uchiha Itachi and his younger brother Sasuke were standing there, the latter looking quite worried while Itachi maintained a passive face.

Fugaku turned to Itachi with a glare. Sasuke flinched back at the stare. He had never seen his father look so angry. "Why did you help the Anbu, Itachi? You could've assisted us!"

Itachi frowned. "I'm not interested in these little reckless and foolish actions the Uchiha is taking part in. Harming a child is against the law but harming a Jinchuuriki is even worse." Itachi turned away, deciding that leaving the house was an immediate alternative.

Fugaku glared at his back as he left then looked down at Sasuke, who flinched again. An idea suddenly popped into his head and he started grinning like a mad man. Sasuke took a step back, slightly wary of the crazed look in his father's eyes.

"Tou-san…?"

"Come, Sasuke, we shall begin your training immediately." Fugaku composed himself and started walking out the way he came in.

Sasuke looked on after his father with a confused gaze. He glanced at his mother, who had gone back to doing the dishes, then started following his father. It didn't matter what was going on. He was going to try his best to impress his father and surpass Itachi in any way possible.

(Ah, done. There's nothing big to say on this chapter so I'll just leave you with the little clue thingys I did. Also, the next chapter is mostly about Naruto. Sakura and Sasuke might be mentioned here and there but nothing big. It's all about Naruto next time.

1) Naruto ran from Anbu, Jonin and Chunin whenever he pulled on pranks so I thought, "Shouldn't he be faster than the normal average seven-year-old because of this?" It's also a little foreshadowing for some of his strengths.

2) Kind of a little foreshadowing of the Uchiha Massacre. Nothing big, just that.

3) This one is of more importance. In the canon, Naruto's dream at the beginning is to become Hokage to be acknowledged by everyone in the village. As the story progresses, his idea of becoming Hokage expands and now, instead of just being acknowledged by everyone, he wants to protect them 'till his very dying breath. Sakura's situation in the canon is kinda' similar to his. Her character was one of the lot that had a HUGE change in development throughout the hardships and years. At first, she just wanted to be acknowledged by Sasuke and prove to Ino that she was not the same girl as before. After the Chunin Exams, she wanted to prove to everyone that she was not worthless. After the time skip and throughout the Shippuden Era, Sakura strived to not only prove that she wasn't worthless but to protect those dear to her.

In this, the Kumo Shinobi's words drove her to have a longing for proving herself. She thinks that becoming Hokage will show everyone just how helpful she could be. Don't worry, Naruto will still want to be Hokage. I just thought it'd be interesting to see a repeat of Minato and Kushina's situation when they had entered the Academy.

Nothing else to say but thanks for reading!

7th Creature)