A/N - Nothin to say, nothin to show, ill af cause but least I got mad barz though!

I feel so incredibly lame for just typing that. I'm serious I think that right there is an all time low... I'll just let you read on, kay.

Chapter Two - Hatred & History

It didn't take long to find the house with the help of the very unenthusiastic Hokage. Of course he basically had to drag the man to the place in tense silence but at least his occasional navigating skills were top notch. In little over twenty minutes he had made it to the driveway of the teachers' house where he let loose his first comment while walking towards the door with the Kage following behind. "To think, somebody who spends his day teaching kids can make this amount of dough."

It was true. Apparently this guy lived alone and here he was walking up his cobbled driveway to a large two story house surrounded in a huge garden, "Like come on. He's even got a damn fountain made of marble."

He increased his pace when walking up the granite stairs steps towards the large oak door only to be cut off by the Kage. "Naruto I think it's best if you let me handle this for now. You can take over after." He didn't show any sign of annoyance, instead just choosing to stand to the side.

"Whatever he has done must of really worked you up, huh?" He got no response. "I'll find out soon enough though?"

"Of course you will and when you find out you'll be madder than me." There was no uncertainty in his voice because he knew it was true.

He nodded his head before walking up to the door giving it a few firm knocks on the entrance that was at least double his height, probably more.

"Who is it?" The voice was warm and inviting.

"It's just me; I brought Naruto here as he wants to... resolve... a misunderstanding between us three. He seems to think that you have been unfair to him." He wasn't talking in any serious way or tone; in fact he was talking in a warm one, making it clear that nothing was wrong.

He really wasn't expecting this response.

"Hokage-sama, if you really think I'm going to let that de-, brat in my home..." He basically ground out the words making it all too clear what he thought of the azure eyed Uzumaki. He was well within his right too, the boy had been a bother and the Kage understood that?

His face turned grim, "I see, so that's the case." The man who owned this very prestigious house was a loyal Shinobi; he was a good Ninja and wanted the best for the kids he taught. That's why he wasn't expecting this result even after the loss of his family courtesy of the Kyuubi attack. "I thought you were a better man than that Kioshi?" He wasn't going to have this conversation. Not on his front door for all to see and hear and especially not with Naruto here.

Any pride he had over the village was reduced every time an incident like this came up. He had known Kioshi for years, fought with him in war and he had been the best of men. Kind hearted, strong and good natured were all viable words used to describe him but now he was like this. With the Kyuubi attack hatred was reaching for him, with Naruto coming along it had a grasp, after nearly a decade later he was a changed man.

Kioshi responded, tone nasty, "With all due respect sir. The boy is a curse! Nobody wants him and nobody ever will and for a good reason too. Everyone else hates him just as much as he hates himself-"

That last one really cut through Naruto. With a moment of rage he leaned back and put his fist right through the door causing it to unhinge and fall to the ground, "Say that again you bastard and I'll fed your wrinkly ass to my goldfish. There may not be many but I do have loved ones."

During the the last sentence his voice cracked, there was a lot of doubt in that topic and everyone knew it despite his effort of secrecy.

Kioshi rounded the corner coming face to face with the pair, face red out of anger, "Don't you get it boy," He screamed, "Nobody would ever love somebody like you."

It was clear that the elder Shinobi was going to keep going and to be quite frank, he had enough. He was just too slow.

"Kioshi," The name was said in nothing more than a calm monotone act of gaining the man's attention. He could never really picture Sarutobi as a Kage but now he would well believe it. His eyes were barely visible due to the traditional Kage hat blocking their view but the little that were seemed to pierce through everything in its path. The very ground where he stood was cracked and ragged, as if an immense invisible weight had been dropped in the spot he stood. Kioshi was reduced to haggard breaths, a heavy sweat visible on his face.

Voice still calm he continued in monotone, "I can stand your indiscipline towards me. This village seems to no longer give me the respect I once held and you are just another to join that group, but to mock Naruto in front of me is too put your very life at risk. Do I make myself clear?" He stopped briefly letting the words sink in and letting the man know he was telling the absolute truth.

He signed, letting the directed killing intent drop, "I expected better from you. You know exactly how it works yet even you are blinded by hate."

Again there was a few seconds of silence before the Kage called his name making him jump.

"Truthfully, what did you do today at the academy?"

He took a few seconds to think, trying to steady his nerves under what he had just witnessed. "I...I ran away during class to... clear my head when I should of been at the toilet. Apart from that and flipping him off that was it." His voice was low and mellow, he was remembering a recent memory that he wasn't too fond of.

'Clearing your head huh, exactly like your mother. You'll bottle everything up and release it when nobody is looking.' He was about to respond when Kioshi interrupted.

"Liar; I saw you knock out the Hyuga heiress." He had his fist raised showing that he was struggling to keep his emotions at bay.

The elder Sarutobi solved the matter instantly before the blonde at topic could give a response, his voice abrupt a cruel. "Anyone with half a brain would notice how she reacts to him. Ever since she was young she's always had a thing for the boy." He spared a glance to Naruto to see his reaction and it surprised him. It was clear he already knew.

He suspected as much, it was all a lie. A feeble attempt by an old worn out man to hassle somebody in the hopes of settling a grudge, original right?

Stuttering as things clearly weren't going his way he fell back onto his last stand, and a terrible one at that. "Well he was being disturbing in class. He would answer other people's questions and generally be the nuisance he is." Every slight mention of Naruto was said with distaste, something that was yet again testing the Kage's patience.

Naruto finally got a chance to bite back so he was gonah make sure he took a large chunk. "The only reason I answered the questions was because I was the only one that knew them. Better yet, you didn't direct them at anybody; I would put up my hand and give an answer that you would ignore before moving onto another. As for being a nuisance, I assume you're referring to conversation. I sat beside Sasuke and the occasional time I did talk was when everyone else was yet you only shouted at me."

He could tell Naruto wasn't lying and he had heard enough.

Walking forward with narrowed eyes and ignoring Kioshi's retort he stopped at touching distance before whispering so that only he could hear, "There was a few times tonight were you nearly slipped the secret." The presence he was giving off was something only a Kage could do. "If It ever does get out you better run; run pray and cling to your life because unless I have certain proof that it was somebody else, you're getting the blame for your actions towards my grandson. You do know what that means don't you."

He let the threat hang in the air before walking away only to stop at the door, "And Kioshi, don't come back to the academy, ever." With that he emptied a full blow of killing intent directly at Kioshi causing the ground between them to crack and the man to fall to his knees. His conscious had faded before he hit the ground...

Outwardly he was calm and composed but inwardly he was ecstatic. It had been years since he had done something like that. 'It feels good to be back.' What he had just done would no doubt cause him a lot of trouble, but he wasn't going to back down. Not anymore. It was time to put the council in their place

Naruto simply stared, wide eyed at the display. "Wow old man, you're not half bad."

He face faulted, "What do I have to do to earn your respect?"

The silent walk back to his apartment was awkward to say the least. Although he appreciated the geezer for doing what he did, he still didn't feel right for allowing it.

He knew the seriousness of what just occurred.

What the Kage had technically done was attack one of his own Shinobi for no reason. Well that's how the council would see it and they would make sure to call him up on it. The Kage had put his neck on the line for him and he knew he should be more thankful. That being said, he was still angry, angry at himself for getting into the situation in the first place. 'Maybe if I acted better then it wouldn't of happened?' He knew that wasn't true though. No matter how nice he ever was or how pleasant he tried to be he got treated the same. Like the nuisance he was.

That and he liked to do things himself. His problems were his. He would win his own battles.

The Kage had apologised profusely about his treatment on the first day and insured it would improve but he didn't have his hopes up. Everybody treated him like that and for no damn reason either. 'One of these days I'm gonah lose it, there's only so much I can take.'

He was sitting on his couch looking down at the floor between his legs. Arms resting on his side he was rigid and tense, clenched fists displaying his anger.

"Calm down Naruto. There's nothing you can do, what's done is done."

The calm and grandfatherly voice was not what he needed to hear right now, add on the realisation of just what is day to day life was and he cracked. "There is nothing to be calm about! My life is one big clusterfuck and when one shitstorm passes another one starts. You know what that feels like? Forget about all the crap that happened at the academy. Today I was told to go home and practise Kunai and Shuriken throwing for tomorrow. I wasn't given any and didn't have any money to buy them so how am I meant to get good at the one thing I want to do. Everything! I mean everything I do is at a disadvantage to others. When they play, I worry. When they train I'm collecting resources and that's even if there's a way to do so. Most shops won't let me enter and others charge double or more...WHAT THE HELL AM I MEANT TO DO." His head snapped up at the last sentence, exposing blood red slit eyes before it feebly fell back down. He was worn out.

There was silence for a few minutes. Naruto simply glared at his feet while the elder Kage was considering his next words. A slow pitter patter of rain ricocheting off the old roof was their only sound that the dead night of Konoha no Sato provided.

He spoke in a careful tone, mindful not to set the boy off, "What is it you want, Naruto?"

"I don't know." His voice was dead.

He opted not to comment on that instead he walked over to the kettle and filled it from the tap before asking another question, "Do you have a dream Naruto?"

"Dreams are for dead men and people with a chance at life. I don't have a dream." Unknowingly he drew blood from his hand, clenching them too tight.

'What's the point if you know it'll never happen.' A little part of him died when he admitted that but he was a realist. How was some backwash orphan meant to make anything with their life in a Ninja village, if he lived in a small town with normal people; maybe, a Ninja village; no way?

Eighty percent of Ninja were from a clan or family with Shinobi backgrounds. Civilian kids that managed to become Ninja were lucky to make it to Chunin, never higher. They simply didn't have the genes to do so. By the time a Uchiha or Yamanaka reached double figures there chakra pool already dwarfed an adult civilians, so how was he, an orphan boy with no funds, help or anyone willing to guide him meant to make something of his life. Academy he could do, but what then?

Seeing his question have a negative effect on the blonde he again backed off. Seeing the kettle marker indicate that it was full he turned off the tap before walking back to the kettle base. Setting it on he flicked the switch only for it to not work, this caused a grimace. He then walked over to the oven before placing it onto the hob; it didn't work either, 'Looks like we're doing this without tea.'

He set the kettle down before walking over to the couch, despite the dirty look he sat down next to the blonde, ignoring the fact that he immediately got up and moved to the wall. 'I guess this is going to be harder than the first time.'

He had to start somewhere though. "Naruto, what do you know about the founders of our village?"

The boy at question gave him a look that clearly said he wasn't welcome in his home anymore before answering. "What is this, twenty questions? Why would I care about the founders of this nightmare?" If anyone had a right to think that, it was him.

He again ignored the disrespect. He was more concerned about the boy's words. "You have no reason to think that Naruto..." It was a bold statement, one that made him lock eyes with the demon in his gut rather than the boy. Before he was interrupted he continued. "Do you really think you're the only one to be treated like this? I'll admit. You've had it bad, very bad. But it could always be worse. Be thankful for what you have and find something to cherish." He had now gained the boys attention. "If that ever happens and you lose it all. Then you can complain; you can lounge around and be depressed like others, but until you've experienced the pain I won't allow you to continue like you are." It was tough love that fixed Kushina. Hopefully it would work on Naruto too.

He gave the boy a stern look that caused no reaction, nor did he react to the words in anyway. That didn't mean the boy wasn't listening, in fact he seemed to be interested in the words. It only took a few moments to receive a response.

"You think you know everything." The voice was low and hollow making the hair on his neck stand on edge. "In reality. You don't know what you're talking about." It wasn't the first time he and the Kage had talked about his attitude, however it usually ended there. The Kage didn't normally pressure him like he was about to.

"Oh but I do. I don't claim to know everything, but I know what you're going through, or at least have an idea. Many years ago I was having this very same conversation with a kid around your age. She was similar to you in fact in that she had no friends, no family and no money. Do you want to know what she did?" He got no response but could tell he was waiting on his next sentence, eager for some advice on fixing his life. "What she did was remarkable and something little could comprehend let alone do. She did nothing." His eyes widened causing a smile to break on his aged face.

"Instead of complaining, instead of letting her responsibilities take hold of her, she lived. She didn't hide her feelings like you, she took one day at a time, step by step until eventually she had friends, had those she cared for and of course had money to do as she pleased. You know what else, the village loved her." Naruto was listening to his every word, each one getting his utmost attention until he stopped.

He was captivated by the story, the sheer excitement and enthrallment it shot through him was like a firework but that was the problem, fireworks died out and so did his excitement once reality knocked him back into place... It was a story, a fairytale story that happened to somebody else, not him. "What was this girls name then? Who was she?"

He just had to ask that question, didn't he? "I cannot tell you Naruto, but I will when you're older." All his work was reverted back to nothing as the hopeful eyes returned to their cold as ice state.

With that response the whiskered blonde tiredly moved his head to look at the ceiling as he slowly slid his back down the wall putting him in a sitting position. Again he glared at the ground before letting out a short, dry laugh. "You're such a foul old man... It's always the same... Remember when I used to ask you who my parents were." This time it was the Kage's turn to be silent. "You always said the same thing; I cannot tell you Naruto, but I will when you're older."

This time the silence lingered. One was trying to find the right words to say, the other was basking in self doubt. It was a while before Naruto asked the inevitable question. "Why am I treated so poorly by the people?"

The Kage could only hang his head in shame. "You know the answer to that question. I cannot tell you." He didn't bother lifting his head at the sound of a fist smashing against one of the flimsy walls.

He pulled his small fist out of the hole before again sitting down; ignoring the scrapes and cuts he got for his effort. He knew it wasn't the Kage's fault. He knew none of it was, but he couldn't stop himself from getting angry. He cracked a small smile, 'Hitting something always did make me feel a little better.' It was part of the reason he had trained so much before entering the academy.

He refused to be just another person, another Ninja that would only ever amount to cannon fodder because he would make something with his life. He would be different, not the cookie-cutter design ninja that did the job for income and nothing more. He understood that maybe he was being too ambitious, just maybe he should be thankful for what he got in life but that was the thing, he wanted more.

Not in a greedy way, not at all.

He had a great interest in history, he loved it. The events fascinated him and the people intrigued him but if history ever taught him anything, it was that this world, his life, no matter how bad always had something to offer, something to aim for.

Thinking these thoughts calmed him, maybe that was one of the reasons he enjoyed history so much. Looking at everything in hindsight was always so much more enjoyable. It was then he remembered the original question before his ongoing argument with the Kage resurfaced.

Clearing his throat he thought over his actions. Like always the Kage would talk to him or have a word a couple of times a year, and like always he would try and help him because that's the thing. The old man cared for him. It was then that the routine changed. He had enough of the kind words and the secrets and he snapped. He snapped at somebody who only wanted the best for him. This time it was his turn to lower his head in shame, he cleared his throat, "I know you're only trying to help me but it's frustrating." He lightened the tense mood the only way he knew how, "You think it's that time of the month."

The Hokage was nodding his head up until the last sentence until a small patch of red spread across his face. "Where'd you learn about the birds and the bees?"

Naruto shrugged, a small smile creeping onto his face as he let go off his problems, there would be time to think about them later. Plenty of it.

"The red light district is only two blocks down and you know what I'm like. Exploring is pretty fun when you head that way." He has a knowing grin. In reality he had never been in the red light district but he did know everything about the so called talk. 'Bless my young innocent mind.'

Before the Kage could say anything more he rose to his feet before walking over to the fridge and getting an instant ramen. He took the kettle and popped it into the main segment of the oven. It was unorthodox and took a lot longer but it worked. While doing so he spoke, "Now, before things got depressing and self harming I believe we were playing twenty questions. I think I'll take you up on that last one. My history fetish needs satisfied because as his pupil you can tell me way more than any book can." The childish smile he wore while speaking that sentence would unnerve anybody.

Something about an eight year old saying those sorts of things with an innocent smile just didn't seem right. Add on the fast paced bouncing on his feet due to excitement only instant ramen could provide... yeah. It looked creepy.

He dully noted how Naruto had did a one eighty in terms of personality, the boy was oppressing his feelings something that was both a skill and a bomb waiting to reach its limit. It would have to be fixed but with previous events happening that night it would have to be ignored until a later date.

The aged man tried to ignore the boy's habits. With a look that clearly said he was thinking he eventually answered, "Hmm, how much do you know about the founders?"

"Let me think," He gave a thoughtful pause, "Nothing." The Kage face faulted. "What! Getting information on the First World War was hard enough as it is. Trying to find actual descriptions or information about a single person is like trying to find a shit in a sewer. By the time you get there it's watered down and mixed in with everything else, impossible to find, or in this case impossible to differentiate."

The Kage was going to ask how the blonde knew that information before thinking against it. His mind would do better not knowing. However, as unpleasant as his simile was, it was true. There weren't many books about the warring clan error or the First World War. The little there were tended to be based on actual events or battles rather than information about specific people, no matter how famous they were. 'I suppose that mystery is what makes people consider their power legendary.'

The elder Sarutobi closed his eyes, something about reminiscing and thinking about these distinct yet fond memories made him feel young and free again, not tired and stressed like the majority of his life had been, "Listen close young one, your about to hear the story of living legends."

The Kage folded his legs trying to get comfortable. "Listen well young one; these people are important figures as to why the world is the way it is today. We'll start with Hashirama Senju as I know more about him. Hashirama was a great man, a powerful one two. Through the use of his special Mokuton bloodline he was able to mix water and earth together, thus creating wood as hard as steel and warm to the touch. Hashirama stood for peace and prosperity; it was his dream that brought together the clans and ended the warring clan error thus he became our first Hokage. Out of them we know the most about him as he was the most open and inviting. Now onto Madara-"

"Wait! That's it!"

He looked up to see Naruto hanging on to his every word, like every fact he memorised was worth a splendid price.

Waving his arms angrily Naruto shouted, "That can't be it old man, I need more!"

History really was Naruto's drug... or as he put it, his fetish. He chuckled and shook his head, "Don't worry. I'm just giving you an overview of them before I get into the good stuff." The boy's face changed from outraged to smiling warmly, eyes in an upside down U in a split second.

He decided to promptly continue fearing for his safety if he took too long. "Madara Uchiha was Hashirama's equal in terms of power. Although cold and intimidating it was said that he truly cared for the village, this was proven in the first Shinobi world war when he single handily lay siege to Suna for three days and three nights, effectively taking them out of the war.

Naruto had his mouth open in shock, "How can somebody be that powerful. He took on an entire village by himself, and won."

The Kage continued without missing a beat, "He was the owner to the legendary bloodline of the Uchiha: The Sharingan. This Dojutsu grants immense power but most of it is unknown as not very many ever manage to unlock it. Even without this Dojutsu he was still one of the strongest this world has ever seen. Similarly to Hashirama he wanted peace and prosperity; It was his dream that led to the creation of Konoha thus he was the one that named it. It was said he treated Hashirama like a bother however after the death of Zuko he slowly detached himself from the village. Ultimately he defected before being killed by Hashirama at the Valley of the end. It's said that not a few hours later and Hashirama succumbed to his injuries also.

Naruto was at awe about the information when something confused him. "Wait, wasn't Zuko the third founder of the village. I thought nobody knew anything about him." Everybody knew his name and his relatives, but that was about it. Like Hashirama and Madara he was recognised as legendary. Everybody considered those three to be simply better than anyone else and that was all most knew. He included.

"That is true, but there's a reason I'm telling you this isn't there? I met the man and I can tell you, he was special," The way he carried himself, the way he looked and the way he acted...It reminded him eerily of the boy.

'That couldn't be coincidence, could it? No, it wasn't. He didn't have it.

By this point Naruto had forgotten all about the kettle boiling. The loud bubbling however reminded him. Taking the kettle out he poured it into his instant ramen before making his way back over to the wall where he again sat down, "So if this guy Zuko was so good why don't we know anything about him? He wouldn't of been as strong as Hashirama and Madara though, am I right?"

The Kage gave a genuine smile; he couldn't hold the excitement out of his voice. "No matter how you perceive the word strong, Zuko fulfilled it. He could go toe to toe with the other two and was said to have a genius mind." Just talking about this was like reliving memories with the three, it was amazing.

Again the Uzumaki's mouth was agape; shaking his head at near breakneck speed, literally, he knocked himself out of his daze before shouting, "Well, what are you waiting for old man! Gimme the rundown! The ultra cool Shinobi file! Mush!" He all but screamed the last word.

He knew he wasn't going to get very far without getting interrupted. Naruto knew the least about Zuko and if he knew the blonde, Zuko would be his favourite. "The third founder of the village was known as Zuko Namikaze." He glanced over at Naruto to see his expression similar to that of a fish. He also seemed to have temporarily inhibit one's brain too as his open shaking hand that had once held ramen now didn't. It had fell and was slowly spreading over the worn wooden floor, not that he paid it any attention.

He let off a low chuckle, 'That's a miracle in itself,' before continuing. "Unlike his two friends, Zuko didn't come from a clan. Back then the Namikaze name wasn't recognised like the Uchiha or Senju. To anyone that had not heard of him he was just another person, however he was equal with the other two. He was the owner of his very own Dojutsu, known as the Gatrogan and is the only person known to ever have it. And before you ask, we know nothing other than that he was born with it."

He ignored the boy's loud sigh, "The only people that ever saw it's true power are dead and nothing was ever recorded. Although Madara did state that it had similarities with the Sharingan, it is unclear which was more powerful. Unlike the other two though, Zuko did not strive towards peace. He wanted it, but believed that it could not be done until a later date because wars were fresh in the mind of nations. He had a slightly more distant relationship with the village too. Hashirama told me that originally Zuko was to become first Hokage under his and Madara's recommendation but he refused it. Once the village had been set up he tended to take long term solo missions, leaving for months at a time and sometimes up to a year. Towards the end of his life he was the bridge between Hashirama's and Madara's relationship but when he died, so did their connection. Madara no longer had reason to stay as his clan turned away from him so he left which led to their fated death battle." His tone ended on a sad note.

Naruto was astonished at what he heard, not only at the fact this guy was a Namikaze but that he had his very own Dojutsu. The Fourth Hokage was always his favourite and in a way he looked up to the man, so naturally he knew all about him. He had a few questions regarding the Namikaze but for now he would focus on Zuko; his brain was craving more knowledge. "So we know absolutely nothing about the Dojutsu?" He got a nod, "Well then, how did the guy die. I thought you said he was as strong as Madara and Hashirama. The only people that could take them down were one another."

The Hokage pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch. It was well past midnight now but he would answer a few questions for the blonde. After all he did have a trying day. "He died in the climax of the first Shinobi war known as the Battle of Red Watter, the battle that ended the war and probably the bloodiest in history. Suna had already been defeated by Madara earlier in the year so with one force down Konoha could focus on the others; back then there were no alliances. It was every village for themselves and they all met for a final decisive battle on the edge of Water country. Kirigakure was on its last legs so they had fallen back and as you might expect, this caused the other nations to push forward to stop them."

Putting this useless knowledge to good use brought I smile to his face, the fact that a future shinobi of the leaf was this interested in it was great, "If the Kiri troops managed to make it to their village they would slow down the progression of the war for each village; they could lengthen it and rebuild behind their walls as the other three continued battling, wearing themselves down. The hidden stone pushed forward to stop this, as did Kumo but Hashirama wanted to stop the bloodshed; although Konoha were winning, if only slightly, Hashirama and Madara were grieved by the losses of their people. They decided to go forward themselves and face the remnants of the war planning to end it in one swift strike."

This time Naruto wasn't awed or amazed - he was angry. "What were those idiots thinking? They couldn't take on three armies at once, nobody could."

A dry chuckle escaped the elder Sarutobi's mouth, "That's where you're wrong Naruto. They could. The two of them were monsters, both had a retreat on sight order and when working together they were unstoppable, a true force of nature...sadly luck wasn't in their favour that day."

He stopped, making sure his memory was correct and he got this next bit right. "As you know Zuko preferred to stay away from the village, he was on an Intel mission behind enemy lines gathering information at the time and found something of great importance; this being that Iwa and the Hidden cloud had formed an alliance. They both knew Konoha was going to win the war so they came together to beat them, it would have worked too if it weren't for the Namikaze."

Naruto gave a confused look, "What difference does that make?" This was confusing on so many levels.

By this point he was expecting an interrupting question, his answer already prepared, "Kumo and Iwa could coordinate their attack, with two nations working together they could control the flow of the battle. Kiri had been reduced to five thousand men, Iwa sent in eight thousand and Kumo nine thousand...Konoha sent in two. Now answer me this Naruto. If you were on the battlefield and you saw entire platoons being taken out by two men, who do you think would be the main priority to get rid off?"

The sun kissed blonde could only widen his eyes on realisation, "Fuck...Madara and Hashirama had to go up against twenty two thousand Shinobi. They didn't stand a hope."

The Hokage corrected him, "Twenty two thousand Shinobi and three Kage."

He gave the blonde a moment to think of the sheer scale of what had happened, "So Zuko rushed back to try and save them?"

The Hokage could only marvel at how the eight year olds mind was taking all this in, "Zuko came back to see Madara and Hashirama on their last legs. Not much is known from then on though, Hashirama didn't like to talk about it and Madara outright refused. What I do know however is that he bought time for them to retreat."

Again the Kage stopped talking. Even he had a hard time believing what happened next, the thing is, it was fact. That sort of thing didn't just happen for any reason.

The room was in a tense silence, the sound of rain pattering against the roof had died, instead replaced by an eerie silence.

"When they came back with an army, they found twenty two thousand dead, men and women alike along with the three Kage."

Nobody knew how many Madara and Hasirama had beaten before the Namikaze's arrival, what they did know was that there were no survivors.

He lay in his bed, bloodshot eyes wide open.

Hiruzen had left a few hours ago and he assumed it was nearly morning but he couldn't get to sleep. It wasn't like he was scared either. Fear left him a long time ago; the constant threat of being attacked and his creaking doors hammered that out.

To be honest he didn't know why this happened but it wasn't like he was completely out of the picture, this exact scenario would happen maybe three or four times a year. It wasn't very often but damn it was annoying.

"Come on, I have to be up for the academy tomorrow." He rolled over to lie on his side giving his eyes a slight rub.

For some reason, his eyes always got sore on these sleepless nights. Sore, tight and itchy.

A/N - and boom, Introduction completed. Now we got character development upon development upon converging plot lines upon kick ass fights to look forward too.

DONT THINK OF THIS AS INSANE OC GODLINESS. The history provided in this chapter is world building, it sets aside the differences in my fanfic to cannon. It's like Canon's opening in a sense only instead of getting the rundown of a nine tailed demon fox shoved in some kid's gut we get a look at the base of my story, where and how it differs.

This probably won't be brought up or even mentioned until I see fit, I just had to explain myself due to the ponders of a reader and rightly so. With all the OP godliness that this website contains regarding protagonists and OCs you couldn't blame him.

Anyways now that Ive given you the rundown...sorta, kinda... please feel free to PM me regarding any questions, constructive criticism that you have or if you wanna just have a simple chat. I'm always down for that especially since I suck at explanations.

You didn't really get to see much of Naruto in this, that's too be expected. It's the prologue. And yes, he looks like Cloud only he has slightly more tanned skin, red tips of his hair and the standard whisker marks.

Please review if you have the time and Adios.

P.S - This story will be epic length. If ya don't like that, just leave now.