The Last Namikaze

Prologue:

A time comes when even the strong and hardy need to sit back and relax. When they just want to return home after a long day of working to a loving family and a warm home-made dinner. Yet, it would seem that those two things aren't what everyone returns to at the end of the day. Some come home to an empty, dark, and lonely place where there is no one to greet them, offer them comfort, and a hot plate. For Naruto Uzumaki, the latter is his life every single day since he could remember. He never knew the difference and perhaps he never would, but he vowed his life would not remain as it did for much longer...

Naruto wasn't your average ninja boy in training, in fact, one couldn't even say he was completely human. You see there was this dark hidden secret, so secret that the holder of this secret didn't even know it.

For as long as he could remember, he was the cause of whispers and hate filled glares. Everywhere he went people would stare at him as if they wished he would simply disappear from their sight. He suffered all this alone and no one was at his side to comfort him or give him reason for the stares and harsh comments.

Where could he turn to for no one in the village truly cared about him. All he had was the old man, the Sandaime... The Lord Third Hokage was the only one who truly sought out his company and he would never answer his questions honestly about it.

Well that wasn't entirely true... There was one more person, but Naruto had never actually had a conversation with him besides it being entirely one sided. He had been his shadow when he was a small child. All he knew about him was the mask he wore and the fact that he had silver hair. He was a member of the Elite Corp. ANBU. He was Dog.

Dog had been his faithful companion for quite some time, however, there came a most unfortunate day where his loyal shadow had disappeared seemingly forever. It had been a day like any other and Naruto, as the small child that he was, saw no harm in going to the park by himself.

Dog had never told him he couldn't go outside by himself. In fact, Dog didn't say anything besides his name or instructions. A four year old, Naruto hobbled down the stone side walk towards the nearby park. A mere five minute walk from his little apartment complex that the Sandaime had said was his home until he chose to move to a bigger one or get himself a house when he was older.

As he passed large houses and buildings, one building caught his attention or rather the large gate at the entrance did. It had a funny looking symbol engraved on top. It looked like a mushroom-balloon-thing with blue, white, and red coloring. He saw numerous people with that same symbol on their clothing walk in and out of the large gate. In his opinion, they all had a similar look to them and were most likely related in someway to each other.

Like pieces in a puzzle, the young boy tried to figure out this mystery, but soon he realized that the people with the dark eyes and hair were starting to stare at him in that all too familiar fashion. Gulping nervously, Naruto walked hastily away from the glares and headed towards his previous destination.

The park was a small refuge from the stares that he received from the older people. A lot of the kids didn't look at him like that, but for some reason they never approached him either. One time he heard a parent tell their kid that they shouldn't get near him because he was like a disease that would never go away if they let their guard down.

Why did people say those things? Was he annoying or something?

As he arrived at the park, Naruto headed for the one place he knew that there wouldn't be many people nearby. The lone solitary willow tree that sat in a far corner of the park. There he could sit in the high branches and watch the clouds float away and no one would be the wiser.

Only Dog knew about his favorite spot and for now Dog wasn't around. Up in the tallest branch he could see almost the entire block and it gave him a sense of freedom that he only felt when he was up so high that the rest of the world looked so small.

How peaceful the white fluffy clouds looked as they drifted away far from anyone's reach. A small breeze carried the smell of a thousand flowers and a scent that could only be described as the essence of nature. Inhaling deeply, Naruto closed his eyes as the last thing he saw was a cloud shaped like a frog which brought a small smile to his tiny lips. How he loved the smell of flowers...

"Wah..." Naruto exclaimed as he felt his body about to fall off the branch he had been resting on.

Confused, he looked up to see a star filled sky and the breeze from earlier had gotten much stronger. Now it had a bitter sting to it as it blew harshly across the earth.

Shivering violently, Naruto realized he had fallen asleep and now who knew how late it was. With a frown, the four year old climbed down and hurried home. If there was one thing he had learned from being by himself was that if people saw him during the night then they would more than likely try and hurt him. It had happened once before and he definitely did not want that to be repeated, especially since Dog wasn't around to save him this time.

Sticking close to the shadows, Naruto thought he was home free when he saw his apartment complex come into view, but then it happened.

An angry yell from behind and a forceful punch to his small torso had him falling forward and had barely enough time to place his arms infront of him to lessen the impact with the concrete ground.

"Ugh." The tiny boy groaned as he struggled to pick himself up.

"You dirty little monster. It was your fault it all happen. You're the reason they all died! Now you're going to pay for all that I have suffered!" The drunkard man exclaimed as he lunged forward once again and back-handed Naruto into a nearby trash can.

Now sporting a busted lip, Naruto scrambled to pick himself up and run towards his home, his refuge, his salvation...

However, the enraged drunkard grabbed a hold of his beige T-shirt and picked him up to where they were eye to eye.

"Monster. Now you die!"

Pulling out a deadly sharp knife from his back pocket, the man was an inch away from striking the terrified boy when he suddenly heard what seemed to be a hundred birds and then he felt the searing all encasing pain and then nothing...

Having shut his eyes, Naruto shed salty, terrified tears as he awaited the end, but it never came. All of a sudden the hold on his shirt went slack and gravity pulled him towards the ground once more. Yet, before he hit it a pair of strong arms caught him and held him to a firm chest. Shocked, he looked to his captor and never before had he been more relieved to see the familiar white and red dog mask of his faithful shadow. Dog saved his life just in the nick of time... again...

The fear having been all consuming left the four year old with pent up emotion and he dispersed it as only a child knew how. He clung to the gray armor of his rescuer and sobbed in relief that he would live to see another sunrise.

"T-Thank you, Dog!" Naruto managed to whimper out in between sobs. His small body couldn't take the fright it had just been forced through and before long Naruto was out cold.

Dog chuckled lightly as he carried the sleeping boy to his apartment. He had just returned to check up on the boy after his assignment when he realized that he wasn't in the room and the sounds of a struggle lead him outside to where he witness the one thing that made his anger boil to its peak.

Without a moment to lose, Dog had formed his signature move and had impaled the drunk fool through his chest. A second longer and the attacker would have fatally wounded the tiny blond child.

How anyone could even think of harming the young boy was beyond him. The Kyuubi had been dealt with and the boy had no choice in being chosen as the jailer for that accursed beast.

As he laid him down on the small bed, Dog took the time to assess his wounds and with a grimace he saw the ugly purple and yellow bruises already forming on his torso from where the bastard had probably kicked him. He had a busted lip and a dark blue bruise just below his left eye. That bastard had managed to do a number on him and now his quick death seemed lacking for what he had made his tiny charge suffer through.

With a deep sigh of regret, Dog removed his mask and gazed sadly at the small boy. He had failed this boy by not being there quick enough to prevent such injuries from happening. Now that his mask was no longer obscuring his face, the young man turned out to have a dark mask underneath, but you could still partly make out of his face structure and his mismatched eye's held such a hard look in their gaze. Dog was a young man of about sixteen and with the eyes of a cold killer.

Slowly rising from the miniature bed, Dog looked once more at the blond boy and couldn't help, but feel remorseful for tonight's events. His sensei was surely turning in his grave for what had befallen his one and only son. Well biologically speaking, on more than one occasion his sensei had told him how he saw in Dog a son who he wished to have alongside the one who was to be born to help guide him and be a brother whenever he needed it.

In memory of his sensei, Dog looked after Naruto whenever he could since the day he had been brought to this apartment. In the beginning, the regular shinobi had been taking turns in watching over the boy, but it turned out that many still held bitter grudges and for his safety the ANBU corps had relieved the regulars of all contact with the child.

With that in mind, Someone should have been watching over Naruto since he had been called away on assignment. Doning on his mask once again, Dog poofed out of the room and reappeared on the Ninja Ops roof building before taking off toward the Hokage Tower. Someone was going to pay for each and every wound that Naruto received that night.

"Dog. Enter." The elderly voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, could be heard from the other side of the door as Dog stepped into the room. Once the door had been closed, the Sandaime took a long deep smoke from his pipe before setting tired, worn eyes on the young shinobi.

"There has been quite the commotion tonight. Nearby Naruto's apartment complex. Care to explain."

Nodding, Dog took off his mask and sat down in the chair in front of the Sandaime. This was going to take a while.

"I see... Do you know what this could bring about if the villagers find out what truly happened? Even if the villagers do not ask for retribution for the death of the man, many will still hold Naruto responsible because none will go after an ANBU. I know what the boy means to you, but I think it will be for the best if you stay away from him."

Alarmed, Dog rose from his chair with a panicked look in his eyes'.

"You can not ask of me to do that Lord Hokage sir! It is my duty to Sensei to watch over Naruto."

"Calm yourself and listen, Naruto is young and will surely not remember much about you as he grows older. I will have whoever you trust to watch over him and I will find out and punish whoever did not watch over the boy this evening. But you can have no contact with Naruto as of right now. That is an order from your Hokage. It must be this way if peace is to be restored. As well, Dog will no longer be in commission as a member of the ANBU."

"What?" Dog exclaimed in shock.

"The people will want a killer and I must supply one. So as of now Dog was convicted and eliminated. However, Kakashi Hatake is returning from a long mission in approximately one year from now. Kakashi, Upon your return you will be re-instated in the position of a Jonin and will resume duties alongside your fellow Shinobi. Is this clear?" Sarutobi asked calmly as he narrowed his sage like eyes at the young man before him.

After absorbing all that was said, Dog understood what the Sandaime was implying. Look underneath the underneath.

Dog could no longer be close to Naruto, but Kakashi Hatake could. With a smirk, Kakashi stood and handed the Hokage his mask. It would seem he would no longer be needing it.

"Crystal, Lord Third Hokage."

A/N: I hope this was able to spark some interest in my story!

I've read several different stories and I believe the one that I plan to write hasn't been written before and if by any chance it has I hope to make it a well thought-out and entertaining story. Until next time!