So yeah, I know. If you guys are following me, you probably weren't wanting another fanfic to come out and wanted me to finish one of my other ones first. Well, first, I'm not sure I can. I mean, UN: Armor Mode and Dark Annihilator were two stories that I started writing quite a while ago. Everything has changed since then, so I'm not even sure I would even know where my stories had left off or how to continue them. With Corrupted Justice, well, I think that was a bit of a fail at an attempt to recreate how I wrote, but bleh, it no work.

Secondly, I don't really want to. And, I know that sounds bad, but I just don't have the inspiration to write those stories anymore. The reason I wrote those stories was to release my imagination onto a community so that I would be able to exercise my mind in that way. But, I no longer needed to after a while, and it felt more like work than fun.

So, I'm changing it up. I don't want a fanfic that is just fun to read. I want my fanfic to be like the ones I love on the site, captivating. So, this fanfic may sound waaaay different than the ones that I have written so far, but if you don't like it, well, the x button is up there somewhere. And, it will follow the canon up to a certain point. If I feel like the characters in this fanfic universe want to lead it away from the canon plot, then I will do so.

One note: I will be skipping quite a bit in the first part of this story because, sometimes, the story follows the canon, and I just don't want to inaccurately and inadequately describe what people could watch or read in the Naruto anime/manga. So, if it says CANON BREAK, it means I'm skipping ahead in time due to it being similar to canon. Got it?

So, let's get started!

Distrust Chapter 1: START!

Don't trust anybody. Naruto learned that at a very young age. Even if they bring smiles and treats, do not trust them. Actually, those who bring smiles and treats are the most untrustworthy. Naruto preferred it when the villages came with pitchforks and knives, screaming at him. At least, there was no deception there.

The Hokage seems to be fine, but then again, that makes it worse. Naruto has pulled prank after prank, distracting the elder from his duties, but he still has not raised a hand against him or attempted to kill him in any way. Why? Why be patient with him? It makes no sense for anybody to have that much patience out of their nature alone. There must be a reason why the Hokage won't lay a hand on him. And why not kill him? The Hokage would get so much support from the same villagers trying to murder him and be really popular. It made no sense, but at the very least, he could rely on his possibly deceptive generosity until he could find out the reason.

Yes, he was a distrustful kid. He planted traps in his room, always made sure that he knew all the exits at all times, always stayed a foot away from everyone and avoided crowds, and he never tried to go buy or get anything by himself. He always came with the Hokage or an ANBU. His milk became spoiled frequently because they were busy, but it was better than being lynched.

So, why at the age of 8 is Naruto in a puddle of his own blood, lying in the shadows of the ones that caused him so much pain if he never trusted anyone? Well, trust isn't really a variable if the beast charges you of its own accord.

He sniffled, tears trickling into his nose. When he saw the shadows of the men disappear around a corner, he tried to get up, but it took all his energy to block all lethal hits. He was tired. So, he lay there.

And then, he began to think.

'Were my plans so flawed? What do I have to change to make sure it doesn't hurt anymore? Should I just stay in my house all the time? The Hokage should check up on me after a while. If he is actually nice, then he'll check because he's worried. If he isn't, he'll check to see if I'm dead. Either way, I could manage to have him buy everything. Right? And, the house always has those masked ninja… I think it was ANBU or something… watching, so it should be safe.'

'But… what if it's not? What if they attack me like they did today? What if they just get angry at me for no reason and the ANBU aren't there?...'

He started to cry out of frustration. The tears that were originally being held back mostly were flooding out. 'What should I do?', he thought, angry and sad that he was running out of options. As he pitied his situation, he heard a deep voice. He would have thought it was one of the villagers if it weren't for two things. One: it was in his head. Two: what he heard didn't seem like a villager.

'You disappear.'

"Who is that?", Naruto whispered, his voice sore from screaming earlier. Suddenly, he blacked out.

When he woke up, he found himself in a sewer, or at least, it looked like one. The water was extremely shallow for a sewer of Konoha, and he should know; he's been in one when he was running away.

"Did they dump me in a sewer in another village? … Would they even have the motivation to do that?", he wondered to himself.

He began walking in one direction, wanting to get out. But, as he walked, he realized that the sewer he was in was definitely odd. There were rooms that the water lead into, which shouldn't exist. And, there were tons of them. It was more of a prison than a sewer.

"… Did that old man finally show his true nature? I'm surprised. I would have thought the Hokage would kill me once he stopped pretending. Why a prison? And, why am I not in a cell? … Maybe it's a weird prison?", he kept talking to himself. He was saying all these things, but deep down, he was just afraid that he didn't have any of his exit routes here with him. This was unfamiliar territory. What would he do if he was attacked?

He ignored all the rooms and kept walking forward. It was safer to walk in a straight path. If he walked into each room, he might starve or, worse, get lost. But, after a couple minutes, he came across a room that was different from the others. It had this… feel to it. It wanted him in there. He wanted to go in there. It was just so attractive. Not only that, but a dim red light reflected against the water streaked out of the room. No other room so far had a light source that he could see. Maybe this was the way out.

He walked in. It didn't take him long to see a huge cage towering over him. The cage was made out of a wood painted red, shut by a little piece of paper with some kanji or something on it. Besides that, nothing else seemed to close the door. Naruto, although curious, was very distrustful of the cage and decided to ignore it and go back to the hallway. But as he started walking out, he heard:

"Where are you going? Back into that shitty reality?"

He stopped in his tracks. It was that voice again, and it seemed to be coming from inside the cage. Although everything that he learned told him to keep distrusting the voice, he walked towards the cage. "Who are you?", he asked.

Two big red eyes and a demonic smile appeared, glowing out of the darkness. Out of fear, Naruto fell back into the water and attempted to crawl away. But then, a red ethereal hand shot out and grabbed Naruto by the ankle. Naruto began to panic and started to thrash, trying to get away.

Then, he woke up. He was back in that puddle, the blood staining his clothes. He breathed out a sigh of relief, but he felt a burning feeling at his ankle. Looking down, a red energy encased his foot and began spreading up. And, before Naruto can react, it suddenly covered his entire body.

Naruto couldn't move. The energy burned. "This sucks." Naruto stopped moving, accepting his fate to die.

Death was much different than he thought. He always thought it felt painful and then a sudden darkness. Everything should be quiet. His body should be going numb. He should be…

Naruto opened his eyes…. "Oh", Naruto said to himself, "I'm still alive".

'Of course, you idiot. I was healing you', the voice said again.

"… What do you mean?", Naruto said.

'Hehehe, well, if you die, I die.'

"What? Why?", Naruto responded.

'Let's just say that I'm someone you can trust. Our lives are linked. So, I want to help', the voice started to give him a headache. It's not every day you hear another person in your head.

"I don't trust anyone", Naruto stated. "Even if you are nice."

'Well, that's fine with me. You use that Hokage to your own advantage, even though you don't trust him, right? Do the same for me. I don't really care if you trust me or not'.

"… Alright. Fine. What did you mean by disappear?"

'Straight to the point, I see. Well, the reason you get beat up is very simple.'

"You know why the villagers hate me?"

'Maybe, maybe not. You don't trust me, so I see no reason to tell you.'

Naruto growled. The voice only laughed in response.

'I mean, there is a way to avoid being beaten.'

"So, disappear? You mean run away?", Naruto asked.

'No, that would put your life in more danger. Look, how good are those ANBU at making sure no one detects them'

"Pretty good. I mean, if they are trying to hide from me too, they suck cause I've seen them a few times, but no one else seems to notice them."

'Well, first, they appear to make sure everyone knows that you are being protected. If they were never seen, you'd get a lot more hostile knocks on your door.'

"Oh."

'And secondly, that's what I mean. Disappear. Make your presence undetectable. Become a ninja… And specialize in disappearing.'

"Ninja?... And what do you mean specialize?"

''sigh' Well, go ask your Hokage in becoming a ninja. Specializing can come later. If you can't do the basics that a ninja can do, there will be no point.'

"… How do I know you aren't just leading me into a trap? You seem to know about the Hokage. Maybe asking about being a ninja is a keyword or something."

'Fuck, you're distrustful. Well, if things do go bad, you could just jump out the window. I mean, that's one of your escape route, right?'

"… How do you know about that?"

'Does it matter? You don't trust me anyways, so anything I say could be lies, right?'

"… Fine." Naruto stood up out of the puddle. He began to limp to the Hokage tower. He might get some actual medical attention there anyways.

The Hokage sat at his desk, filling out paperwork as usual. He cursed his work. It kept him from his sake, his… completely appropriate books, and Naruto. He sighed. Maybe Naruto will visit him today and give him a chance to rest.

"-no, you demon brat! I said you can't enter the Hokage's office! Especially when you that blood on you! What, did you finally snap and kill someone, you demon?!" A voice screeched from outside.

The Hokage sighed and smiled. Only one person would get that type of response, but it also means that he has to fire another secretary.

"I said to let me in. Unless you want your ass fired, you bitch", Naruto said.

The secretary was furious. "You piece of shit, you really think I'll be fired? I'll be praised for keeping you demon from getting in. Now, GET OUT!", she screamed.

"That's an excellent idea", the Hokage said behind the secretary. "Get out."

The secretary was surprised, but she was overjoyed that the Hokage was agreeing with her… Until she turns to face the Hokage and saw the leader glowering at her in anger. She, in complete fear from the killer intent coming from the Hokage, ran out immediately.

The Hokage watched her back until she left. Then, he sighed. He has to fill out the paper work to fire her and hire a new secretary now. But, right now, Naruto was here. That was the most important part, right now.

"Hey, Naruto", the Hokage said. He attempted to ruffle Naruto's head, but the kid dodged his head and stood at a distance.

'It seems that Naruto is still distrustful of everyone. He really needs to hang out with people his age and begin to trust other people', the Hokage thought. "So, did you really need to cuss out the secretary?"

Naruto shrugged. "Would you have let me get hurt?"

"Of course not."

"Then why not? She was a bitch."

The Hokage shook his head, but inside, he was smiling a bit. Naruto was rebellious, but at least, he wasn't broken. Far from it if he could still insult other people. "So what do you want today, Naruto? Besides medical attention. Don't worry. I've called my personal doctor already", asked the Hokage.

Naruto paused and took in a deep breath. He let himself calm down before looking at the Hokage directly at his eyes. The Hokage was almost taken aback at how serious Naruto.

"I want to be a ninja, old man."

(CANON BREAK)

5 Years Later

Naruto sat on the rope swing, sitting and watching the other kids in jealousy. He had failed his Genin exam. "If it wasn't for that stupid Bunshin jutsu, I would have been fine", he whispered to himself. He might have to take the class again, but truthfully, he couldn't understand why he couldn't do the Bunshin jutsu, so it might be a waste of time.

As he thought this, one of the teachers walked up to him. "Hey, Naruto", said Mizuki.

"What do you want?", Naruto replied harshly. After learning about how to throw kunais and shurikens, learn basic camouflage, and learned the Henge jutsu, Naruto barely got into any beatings. He knew how to deceive his beaters and even misdirect him. Doing so over the years made him more confident. He wasn't afraid to show his distrust with anybody, not just the Hokage.

Mizuki held his hands up. "Whoa, I don't mean any harm. I just wanted to see if you wanted to pass with your class or not."

Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What do you mean? I failed the Genin exam."

Mizuki smiled. "No, you failed the normal Genin exam. There is another one you could do. See, if you manage to steal the scroll in the Hokage Tower and learn a jutsu before you get caught, you can pass that way as well."

'What a load of bullshit', thought Naruto. It was clearly a trap.

'Well, wait, kit. You might want to do what he says', the beast inside him said. Naruto still doesn't know anything about him except that what he said about wanting to help seemed genuine. It may not be because he cared about Naruto, but Naruto could rely on that help for now.

'Why? Even if I did steal it, he'll probably try to steal it from me or frame me.'

'True. But, that scroll he is talking about sounds interesting. From what I've seen, if a scroll is in the Hokage Tower, then it must be a very useful and dangerous scroll. A scroll that you could learn from.'

'I guess. Is it worth the risk though?'

'Yeah. And I told you that we would start specializing once you learned the skills of a ninja.'

'But, I didn't learn the Bunshin jutsu.'

'You won't need it. It does deceive, but it's only an illusion. Not that useful once it's found out. To me, you have learned all you can from this place. So, we need to start some special training.'

'… Alright.' "Fine, Mizuki-sensei. Which scroll do I need to steal?", Naruto said to his teacher. Mizuki smiled.

Naruto sat on the ground and unfurled the scroll. Stealing it was much easier than he had thought. 'I guess anybody who steals it could be easily tracked. But, old man, you're a bit too confident if you think the scroll doesn't need more guarding because you think you can always find it', Naruto thought.

'Kit, unfurl it all the way. Let me read everything with you. And, you brought some paper and a writing utensil, right?'

'Weren't you watching me from inside when I did?'

'You really think I want to watch your daily life all the time? I rather sleep.' Naruto rolled his eyes and began to read.

"Hmm, let's see. First jutsu is… Kage Bunshin no Jutsu… Fuck." Naruto scratched his head in frustration. "I'll just skip that one."

'Wait, kit. Look at the description. A fully solid clone that requires a ton of chakra. That sounds useful, unlike the normal Bunshin jutsu.'

'But, I suck at it.', Naruto thought.

'Trust me. This'll work.'

'… Do you know why I can't do the Bunshin jutsu?'

'Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Just copy the fucking jutsu down.'

Naruto hated the fact that the beast seemed to know so much but gave so little. At the very least, Naruto could trust the beast of not tricking him… at least, not tricking him so obviously.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu… there, written. Next is… nah…. Nope… Hmm, maybe? Hey beast, what about this one?", Naruto said.

'Bunshin Daibakuha? Making a Kage Bunshin explode? That does sound useful, though, it's not really suited for our specialization. Write it down, but write a note next to it saying that it's optional. But, actually, the one next to that: Kyoka no Kenshutsu by the Inuzaku Clan. A jutsu that enhances one's sense. That might be necessary in order to deceive others by always knowing where they are. Write that down'

Through this process, they had picked out multiple jutsus of other clans and people: Kiri no Chakra (Charka Mist: A jutsu that disperses a huge amount of charka, making the user invisible to the Byakugan, Sharingan, and can make one's presence undetectable by other ninja, requires large amounts of charka.), Choujo no Giso (Superior Camouflage: A genjutsu that replicates any texture and color of any object in contact, can be used in combination with the Henge justu), and Kaze Bunsan (Wind Dispersion: Not an actual wind jutsu, it replicates the effects of it. It releases chakra in a way that pushes wind around, messing up scents and other tracks in the wind. If more chakra is added, it can become a powerful force).

"Alright, I think we're running out of time. Last one… Kage jutsus… Does that mean the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?", Naruto asked.

'… No… Kage Bunshins are just a clever name like the Kaze Bunsan. They only replicate something… But… what is that?'

"You don't know? Well, let's read the description. Uhhh… Jutsus of the Shadow Style. What's a Shadow Style, beast?"

'Shadow Style? That's impossible. There are only 5 styles that jutsus can be: Katon (Fire Style), Suiton (Water Style), Douton (Earth Style), Raiton (Lightning Style), and Futon (Wind Style). What is Intou (Shadow Style)?'

"I don't know. Why are you asking me?", Naruto shrugged and looked at the jutsus on the list below the heading. "Intou: Kageken, Intou: Kage Tsume, Intou: Sessuru, Intou: Tsukisasu… Why do all these jutsus have the word Intou in front of them? Hey, beast?"

'It's the jutsu type. The jutsus you have learned so far and written down are jutsus that require only basic chakra, but many jutsus that shinobi use have some type of element. I was going to see if you could find yours later, but this presents an interesting opportunity. Kit, use the first jutsu if you can.'

"First one? So, the Intou: Kageken? Alright." Naruto read the hand signs and followed the instructions to do the jutsu. It had a few new signs like Oni, Ryuu, Kaijuu, but it also had detailed explanations of each hand sign. Soon enough, Naruto performed the signs and said, "Intou: Kageken!"

What happened next scared Naruto, at first. His shadow and the shadows of the nearby trees and shades elongated, stretching to his hand. When it reached palm, it detached itself from any surface and became a blade that didn't touch his palm, but it was very close. "Whoa… That's pretty cool."

'And effective. I've never seen this style before, but it seems like as long as there is darkness, you can use the jutsus. Kit, write down every single one of them down. Then, start doing the first one, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. You need to get that weakness eliminated.'

"Aww, dammit. Fiiine, doing the lamer jutsu first."

(CANON BREAK)

"And the reason the villagers hate you is because you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!", shouted Mizuki. He had come to kill Naruto and steal the scroll, but Iruka had interfered. Mizuki, trying to shock Naruto, told him the reason why he was beaten so much. Iruka stood in shock, looking at Naruto, waiting to see his reaction.

Naruto grabbed his head and started screaming. Mizuki smiled. This was exactly what he wanted. Now, he could make a deal and say that he would "help" the demon brat. Things were going perfectl-.

"Which is what I would have done if I was a normal person", Naruto said, giving Mizuki a bored look. "But, I'm not. And truthfully, that information was actually really good. Thanks, sensei, you managed to teach me something after all."

Mizuki and Iruka stared at Naruto in disbelief. He was fine? Mizuki growled. "Well, if that failed, only one option", he said, grabbing the Fuma Shuriken on his back. Naruto saw this and got ready to dodge. Mizuki threw the huge shuriken at Naruto.

Naruto was then pushed down by Iruka, the shuriken embedding into his back. Iruka, gritted his teeth in pain and blood trickled out of his mouth. Naruto, this time, was in disbelief. "Iruka-sensei… why did you save me?"

"Hehe… Because you are one of my students, Naruto", Iruka responded weakly. Naruto's eyes widened. "Truthfully, I used to hate you. I really did. The Kyuubi killed my parents, and when I saw you, I thought you were just the Kyuubi in disguise." Iruka smiled. "But you're not. Naruto, got it? You're not the Kyuubi. You're one of my students, and as long as that is true, it's my responsibility to protect you."

Mizuki laughed. "Ha! Protecting the demon, Iruka? Even after he killed your parents? Well, whatever, both of you can join your parents in the afterlife!" Taking out another Fuma Shuriken, he threw the shuriken at the pair. Iruka closed his eyes, waiting for the end, but then, Naruto suddenly pushed Iruka out of the way with surprising force and moved both of them out of the way. Then, Naruto ran into the forest.

"See, Iruka?! The demon abandoned you. He ran so fast and left you behind." Mizuki grinned triumphantly, until he saw a glimpse of orange. Naruto was jumping directly at Mizuki. "Stupid kid, you should've have run!" He threw kunai at Naruto. Naruto, being in the air, couldn't dodge and was hit directly by the weapons.

"Naruto!", Iruka shouted. But then, Naruto went poof. His eyes widened in surprise. Mizuki, realizing he was tricked, began to comb the forest with his eyes, looking for Naruto.

"Where are you looking at, sensei?", he heard behind him. Before he could react, two Naruto's had grabbed onto his limbs, holding him down. The real Naruto stood behind him, making hand signs.

'Shadow Clones?!', Iruka and Mizuki both thought. Naruto finished his hand signs and said, "I can deal with you hurting me. I can deal with you tricking me. But, you hurt someone who genuinely put his life on the line for me. That's unforgiveable." Mizuki's shadow elongated to Naruto's hand and created a blade. Neither Iruka nor Mizuki could see because Naruto was hidden behind Mizuki's back.

"For your corruption, I will kill you with your corruption. Darkness represents chaos; chaos represents corruption", Naruto began almost chanting.

"W-What? What are you saying, demon?!", Mizuki said, terrified.

"I'm saying", said Naruto,

"I'm killing you with your own shadow."

AND THAT'S IT! Hopefully, this was a good intro to what I want to do for this story. I will write the second chapter right after this one is uploaded, so you guys should see the next one soon… hopefully.

Thanks for reading! And, remember to review, even if it is just a comment.