Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters should pray for their good fortune.

Title: I Will Protect You

Summary: Naruto is attacked by the villagers who wish to make the fox pay for the attack on the village years earlier. Jiraiya comes looking for Naruto when he doesn't show up for training the next day, and finally gets a glimpse into what Naruto's life is really like.

I have wanted to write this story for a long time, and I finally decided to do it. I hope you enjoy it.

Naruto's POV

It had been a long day of training for Naruto, who was exhausted. He had been training with pervy sage all day, trying out new summoning techniques, and working with new toads. He had tried to get along with the new ones he encountered, but some of them were just annoying. He took a mental note of which ones they were to try to avoid calling them in the future.

He was currently in his bed looking up at the ceiling, trying to dispel the stress from his body. He was still tense from the long day of training, and the relaxing breathing techniques were only doing so much to help his aching body. He sighed when he realized that he would have to get up again tomorrow and continue the training, even though he was happy that pervy sage was finally taking his training seriously.

He was just starting to nod off when he heard commotion outside his door. His ears caught the noise and he panicked slightly, afraid of what might be going on. It was unusual for people in his apartment complex to be awake at this hour, he thought, wondering what the noise could mean. The noise grew louder and voices could be heard, though they were barely above a whisper. He began to grow uneasy at this, and started to get up to ensure that his door was bolted, so that no one could enter the apartment. As he was getting out of bed the people outside began kicking the door. His breath caught in his throat, and he knew that the people outside were not coming for a friendly visit. He ran toward the door hoping to reach it before they got in, thinking that if only he could reach the door he could prevent his attackers from getting to him. However, to his disappointment, he was too late, and the door lock was broken along with several hinges.

His panic reached a whole new level as his mind recalled the various times people entered his apartment, armed and out for blood. He tried to quell his unease and focus on a solution, yet the horrible memories continued to fly in. However, his memories were all incomplete, as his body seemed to go into an involuntary form of shock, which always resulted in amnesia of the terrible event. He could never remember anything past a certain point, and he didn't know if that was better or worse for his troubled mind. He truly felt that tonight would be no different, and was at a loss for how to circumvent the situation at hand. He bitterly thought about how no one else his age had these problems to deal with, but sucked it up knowing that such thoughts were of no use to his current situation. He would sulk later, but now he needed to focus on what was happening around him.

Five people entered the apartment with weapons of all kinds. Naruto stood frozen as they circled around him, attempting to figure out what to do. He was afraid of them, and the people seemed to be able to sense that they had the upper hand. It was clear that these people were villagers and not trained shinobi. He could probably easily defeat them if he tried, but that was never the problem. The counsel was the real problem, and if he was caught fighting back against the villagers the counsel would surely react badly, and depending on the outcome of the fight they might decide to banish or kill him. The last time he fought back the third Hokage had a horrible time convincing the counsel to let him go unharmed. He shivered at the memory, and was always grateful that the old man had taken his side. He felt a pang of sadness then, knowing that the third Hokage wasn't around to provide protection anymore.

He had accepted that he couldn't do anything, aside from protect himself the best he could. The fear was still present, and he started backing up looking for an escape route, when he was grabbed from behind. His arms were pulled harshly behind his back, and he was struck harshly across the forehead. His world went dark after that.

Naruto's POV

Naruto woke up dizzy and in pain, not knowing where he was at the moment. It took time for his surroundings to stop spinning, and his mind to regain focus. After his eyes adjusted to the dark he looked around, and the first thing he noticed was the puddle of blood that was around him. He groaned when the night's events came back to him, and he decided that he would assess the damage to himself, and his apartment in the morning. He was too upset to dwell on the feeling of betrayal that came with each attack, and sleep felt like the best option to distance himself from reality at the moment. He still felt tired, but managed to pull himself up and stumble to his bed. He grit his teeth as he moved slowly, and cursed his aching limbs. He checked himself over to ensure that the bleeding had stopped, and when he was sure it had he laid down to go back to sleep. He would reflect on what happened later, now he was just too tired and emotionally drained for that kind of thought.

He was not asleep for more than a few hours when he heard more pounding on the door. This time he awoke with a start, and almost fell off the bed. He heard pervy sage shouting the next moment, and lay back down to calm himself and think of what to do. His mind was foggy, and he didn't feel right, like he was stuck in a dream. First he looked at his alarm, and realized he was two hours late for training. He was unsure of how to proceed, but knew that he couldn't let pervy sage into his apartment. He groaned wishing he would just be left alone to rest and recover, while brooding over the villagers' senseless attack. Why couldn't he just have some semblance of peace, surely that wasn't too much to ask the universe for right? Now however, he had to get up and get rid of his teacher.

With the decision made, he got up slowly out of bed, cringing in the process and grabbed his jacket from the end of the bed. He put it on as he walked to the door, hoping it would conceal his injuries from pervy sage, and was horrified when he noticed the word demon written in his own blood on the wall nearby. Leaning on the wall he fought the nausea that rose with the sight. He slid down the wall, repeating that everything would be okay over and over to himself. After a minute the pounding and yelling intensified, and Naruto assumed his teacher had heard him get out of bed. He took a breath and got up to walk toward the door.

Upon reaching the door Naruto realized that he would not be able to open it all the way, because then pervy sage would see the blood and damage everywhere. Opening the door would be tricky though, because of the broken hinges that made it lean unsteadily as it was. He had no idea how the pounding hadn't knocked it over already. He took a deep breath, and put on one of his fake smiles, knowing that if he let any of his emotions slip he would never succeed in getting his teacher to leave. Finally, when he steeled himself, he slipped outside after opening the door a crack.

He realized that it wasn't going to be easy to get rid of pervy sage the second the door opened. His teacher glared at him, and appeared to be barely controlling his temper. Naruto took a step back, in case pervy sage tried to grab him, and spoke before Jiraiya could.

"Sorry, I must have overslept, but I can't train today, so can we just meet tomorrow." He half laughed while he spoke, hoping that pervy sage would just let the fact that he was willingly asking to take a break from training slip. He was talking too fast, and feared that he would start to ramble soon. He was already stressed enough without adding this in, and his anxiety over what happened was still elevated and barely in control. He realized the shock must still be present, and causing the hazy feeling that consumed him. At the moment he felt like he was going to break down, and he would rather do that without his teacher there to criticize him.

Unfortunately, the look Jiraiya gave him was priceless. The anger faded into suspicion and possible concern quickly. Pervy sage cocked his head, and bent down slightly so their faces were closer, which made Naruto shiver slightly from fear. "Why?" was all Jiraiya said in response, while continuing to stare at him intensely.

The close proximity was making Naruto feel nervous, and he leaned more into the wall behind him while edging closer to the door. "Um, I'm not really feeling well today and…" He looked toward the door as he trailed off. His teacher had stood back up, and eyed the door suspiciously. Naruto was really at a loss now, and his panic at having Jiraiya near, and so close to bursting through the door was only making it harder to concentrate.

Jiraiya looked between him and the door a few times, and a bad feeling crept up Naruto's spine. Suddenly, pervy sage lurched forward and Naruto screamed "No!", but it was too late.

"What are you hiding in here?" Jiraiya muttered as he swung open the door, nearly knocking it the rest of the way off the hinges as he entered the apartment.

It was a complete disaster after that, as Naruto ran in trying to prevent his teacher from seeing the inside of the apartment, and the look of horror clearly written across Jiraiya's face. Everything seemed to come to a halt for a terrifying second, and Naruto felt a flash of panic when nothing happened. He didn't know what he was expecting, but silence was not it, and the pause just made everything more intense. He could feel his heart beating, felt it in his throat as he waited with baited breath for a reaction. However, his thoughts were diverted as the door started creaking, and the last hinge broke. The door started falling toward him, so he put his hands up to protect himself, flinching involuntarily as he did, but it never hit him. He looked up and saw pervy sage holding the door, preventing it from falling on him, and then readjusting it so it didn't fall.

Naruto sighed in relief at that, and felt the adrenaline start to drain from his body. The soreness was beginning to creep back in, and he leaned against a wall for support. The quick movements had irritated his wounds, and he had a headache building. He was just beginning to relax and forget about the current situation, when he was suddenly picked up. This caused a new spike of panic and he struggled against the hold. Whatever feelings of relaxation he had were discarded as he was overcome with memories of pain and torment.

Jiraiya tightened his grip however, and whispered "Shh. It's alright just try and relax." This caused Naruto's body to go limp with fear and resignation, and that seemed to worry pervy sage more. Jiraiya's face showed concern and hints of fear. Naruto allowed his head to loll against Jiraiya's chest as he observed the man's face, and took in the emotions it conveyed. It was strange to be treated this way, especially after such abuse. Calming his mind proved more difficult, and he couldn't find the will to move his body. He was thoroughly worn and overcome, leading him to shut down and allow pervy sage to take over.

When they reached his bed Jiraiya put him down gently, so that he was sitting on the edge, and then sat next to him. Pervy sage began to remove his jacket, and he panicked again flinching away. He really didn't want Jiraiya to see the wounds inflicted upon him, and wondered why the universe had to humiliate him in this way. "What happened?" Jiraiya asked gently, leaning close and examining the wounds on his arms. The question only caused Naruto to scoot back some and curl into himself, looking at his teacher with fear written across his face. He couldn't tell him the truth, didn't want to reveal his secrets that he kept hidden so well, and he just stayed silent.

After a moment of staring at each other, Jiraiya finally moved and summoned a toad. He gave the toad explicit instructions to find Tsunade, and tell her to come to Naruto's apartment with her medical kit. After that he turned back to Naruto, telling him to lay down and rest, and at that moment Naruto had no problem complying with that request.

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, and remember to review. I intend to continue the story, though I imagine that it will only reach five chapters at the most. I am still working it out, and any thoughts are appreciated. I am attempting to make the relationship a fatherly relationship, so I will not be including any slash. However, I might include some fluff between the two sages, so read, review, and stay tuned for the next installment.