Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

He was different. Everyone thought him a loud-mouthed, hyperactive, annoying little determined blond Hokage-wannabe. The villagers thought him a demon, a monster, and were only just starting to think of him as human, ninja, protector of the village, future Hokage. And, while in a sense he was, he was far more then that. And while they were only just now starting to understand that, there were portions that no one would ever learn. Things they didn't deserve to learn. Because you see, Naruto is much stronger then they thought.

…They never thought about how close they came to creating the demon they always called him….

In the beginning he hated them. They taught him to hate them, by calling him names, by selling him old and expired food, by beating him, by hating him… He only knew hate, and so he lived in it. But then he noticed that not everyone attacked him. That no everyone threw rotten food at him... That not everyone drove him from his or her store… That not everyone hated him... It was because of them, that he did not become the monster the villagers called him. He was angry still, but he understood. And he became their better because he forgave them. He forgave them, because they were weak, and he was strong. He forgave them because they had family and friends, and he had no one. He forgave them, because they lost people, and he had no one to lose. And he didn't become the demon inside of him, because he turned his back, and smiled.

…I hated them you know. I loathed them, feared them, and wanted them to die so I might live… It was only when I realized that no one cared, that I decided to make someone care… It was that only that saved the fools…

…They never thought that he knew that he was a human sacrifice…

He knew he was different even when he was a toddler. He knew he was different, because he was all alone, and everyone else had either a friend or a family to love them. He knew he was different, because while all the other sick orphans were hugged, told hold special they were, and told to get better, he was given a slap, and told that he was worthless and should die. He knew that he was different, because while it took everyone else days for a scratch to disappear, it took only minutes for a stab wound through his stomach to painlessly vanish. He knew he was different when he was the only orphan called a demon, a monster. And he knew he was different, when on his fourth birthday, a drunkard tried to kill him, telling him how he was a monsters who killed the man's wife and children. He knew he was different when he was summoned to the sewer of his mind, to stand before the Kyuubi, on deaths threshold. He knew he was different, when he saw the fox and realized…

…I am the jailer. I am the protector. I was given this task, because I was strong enough, and they are not… I was trusted with this task, the only thing someone has trusted me to do… And for them, and only them, I must complete it…

…They never thought that he didn't hate the Kyuubi…

He knew that it was the fox's fault that so many ninja were dead. He knew it was the fox's fault that he was sealed in a baby. He knew it was the fox's fault that he was hated by everyone since before he could remember. He knew it was the fox's fault that Sasuke left to seek power. But it was alright. He forgave the demon inside his belly. He forgave the demon that destroyed his life, and killed so many. Because you see…

…It was the fox's fault, that he had the power to drag Sasuke back home…

…They never thought that they were torturing the son of the Yondaime…

Oh sure, they had noticed the similarities between the two, but the Yondaime had no wife, and as such could not have had a baby. That Anbu got pregnant because her pills failed on a mission, and she had to seduce a daimyo to be able to get the necessary information. The Yondaime only visited her often because he had to look out for his ninja, and he had to help a pregnant woman that had no one and needed help. It was such a pity that she died on the same battlefield minutes after giving birth, which her Hokage died on sealing the fox into her son. It was amazing, but no father would seal such a monster into his son. Besides. No demon could be the son of such a great man.

…But I knew, because you see… I remember the Yondaime's face, telling me to forgive him for being such an errant father for what he was about to do…

…They never thought to ask him for the real reason that Itachi slaughtered his clan…

Who would ask a little boy? Especially the demon fox. But he was smart, and he was fast. He had to be, to be able to avoid the Anbu patrols who chased him after his pranks, or the villagers and the scattered ninja who tried to kill him. Who would think that a boy who pranked, and hid, and ran so well, would be able to hide from an Anbu captain? Who would think that the demon brat could hide from the mobs, and would hear the Uchiha talking with another as he left the village. Later in his life, during the Jounin meetings that he was forced to attend, whenever asked about what he thought, about why Itachi slaughtered his clan, he would always smile and say, Look underneath the underneath… They never understood his meaning. Even farther then that, they never understood why he was the only one to bow his head, and give respect for the dead Itachi, the one murdered by his younger brother…

…I heard him tell his best friend before murdering him for the Mangekyou, that the clan had been plotting against Konoha. It would have fallen. Because I knew this, and I respected his decision to leave, I was the only one to feel pity and respect him, when his brother killed him.

…They never thought that what they saw was a mask…

They never thought that the smiling sunny fool was simply a mask… They never would have thought that the attention-starved waif hated skin contact, because they reminded them because of the beatings he suffered at the hands of Konoha. They never would have thought, that he didn't like to speak, because when he spoke, the villagers would see him and would call him names like demon, monster… Mistake… They never thought that the happy-go-lucky determined child, was, inside his heart, a sad child that wanted to give up, and refused to, because to do so would mean that he would die. And you see, he didn't want to die…

…I wore a mask you see… If I didn't and the villagers saw how smart I was, and how strong I was able to get, I would have been dead before my fifth birthday…

…They never thought that he was a genius…

He was smart, almost as smart as Shikamaru. But the difference between the two was that Shikamaru was too lazy to harness his genius, and he didn't know how. He wasn't even correctly taught the basics needed for the basics. The teachers, aside from Iruka, had always incorrectly taught him things, hoping that he would die on his first real mission. Because he was a genius, he forgave, knowing that through their pain, they couldn't tell that he wasn't the Kyuubi….

…I have to be smart. If I wasn't, I would have died long ago; murdered by the village my father swore to protect…

…They never thought that he saw Sasuke as closer then a brother, because Sasuke is like what he almost became…

After their first real mission, everyone knew that the two boys were closer then ever. Some of the oddballs in the town, started dreaming about how the two were having a tragic, secret love affair. Needless to say, when the two boys heard about it, the few never saw the light of day again. After Sasuke left, and was brought back for the final time, it was a well-known fact that Sasuke respected the other boy for his power, his determination, and his friendship. Few ever thought about the boys thought on Sasuke. They never knew that in the beginning, he was interested in the Uchiha's attitude. There were few that managed to understand this, but even fewer understand that the boy was once like that himself. No one realized that had the boy not forgiven the village, he would be like the current Sasuke, and the current Sasuke and the village, as a whole would not exist. Few realized how close they came to death. The few ninja like Ibiki, Sarutobi, Itachi and Tsunami did, and blessed their forefathers, thankful that the boy changed and forgave. They knew that they would not have survived had he not.

…I was closer to Sasuke then the rest, because I see in Sasuke, what I would have been had I not forgiven the villagers. The only difference between us, is that had I been like him, he, and all of Konoha, would have been razed to the ground far before the Uchiha clan was slaughtered… And then you see I wouldn't have been like Sasuke, because Sasuke would have been dead, and he would be happy like before his brother slaughtered the clan… Are not such things an amazingly large oxymoron?

…They never thought that he was wasn't oblivious because he didn't realize that Hinata and his fangirls liked him…

He never had a family, you know. He was an orphan, and the only one who liked him was always busy with the village's paperwork. Sandaime genuinely wanted to help him, and he cared for him… But he couldn't help the boy, and take care of the village at once. He had to stay Hokage, because whoever took his place could end up hating the boy, and would sentence him to death. Do he did the best thing he could. He gave him money, a small dingy apartment, strategically placed so that the villagers didn't realize that he was given the most protection in the most of unlikely of places. Iruka soon learned to care for him, and so he learned what having a brother felt like. Kakashi and his team soon felt like family, and he was happy, because the boy had someone who cared. But people never realized that he wasn't oblivious to the attentions of the Hyuuga girl, and the others. He knew they liked him, like how Sakura like Sasuke, but he didn't want to ruin their lives with the villagers' comments. All of them eventually gave up. All but one at least. One, white-eyed gentle Hyuuga healer, heir to the family, and strongest of them all.

…I never realized that Hinata-chan and my fangirls truly liked me, because I never expected to be loved. I knew who I was, but others did not. With the way they were raised, why would they want to love a demon?

…They never thought he'd make it past his sixth birthday, must less to Hokage…

He was once a boy. Then he became a teenager. Then he became a man. He was strong, and all were amazed. The villagers were crushed, because at one point they had all expected, nay, wanted him to die before his sixth birthday. And now, the boy was Hokage. He was the strongest of them all. He soon even surpassed the Yondaime and the Godaime, his father and the one he called his grandmother. He was Naruto Uzumaki, the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure in Hi no Sato. He was the son of the Yondaime, and he was the savior, the scapegoat, the light of Konoha. He was the Jinchurriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He was Naruto, husband of Hinata Hyuuga, and father of a daughter and a son, and two more yet unborn twins.

…I am who I am. I was once the bane of this village, and now I am it's head. I was once an orphan, now I am a father. I am the Rokudaime Hokage, and you are now my people. I swear, just as strongly as when I swore to be Hokage, that I will protect you all, and I will guide you, and I will lead you to a brighter future. Because you are my precious people, and that's what every Hokage must do. I swear it as my duty. I am the Rokudaime, and you are my family. You are who you are, and I am who I am, and if I had not suffered like I did when I was a child, I would not be who I am. I am a father, a brother, a husband, a grandson, a teacher, a leader, and a friend. Look to the future Konoha, because I am the Rokudaime, and I intend to protect you with my life, and the life of the Kyuubi sealed within me!

KYAAAAAAAAA!!! I finished it! My first oneshot! Please, don't be angry that I finished this before I really started on the meat of the next chapter of Ikazuchi, but once you get something in your head, it won't leave you alone till it's written! Review, and put it in your Favorites, and your C2's! And don't forget to check out Ikazuchi! grins You guys rock!
ElemenTalia