Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

A/N: Well... this is my rewritten version. I sincerely hope that this will be at least slightly better than the last one. Enjoy!

Edit 26/05/2020: I would just like to say something to those of you reading this for the first time: if you're really into this fanfic idea and want to give it a shot, please bear with the writing at first. Even though this is the rewritten version (and in comparison, the original truly was awful) it still doesn't reflect what my abilities are like now (not that I'm an amazing writer or anything, but in my opinion my writing has come a long way since starting this rewrite). I can understand reading the first few chapters and going 'meh' (I probably would too) but if you're liking the plot, give this a chance, at least until the Chūnin Exams arc where my writing has become noticeably better.

In addition to that, if you notice some plot lines feeling 'incomplete', it's most likely on purpose. Part 1 of MtHtS (the equivalent of 'Naruto') is mainly just to set the stage for part 2 (the equivalent of 'Naruto: Shippuden'), that's where these plot lines will tie up and answers to questions that are being asked now will finally be revealed (trust me, I've planned very far ahead).

"Talking."
'Thinking.'
"Kyuubi/Jutsu."

Chapter 1: Change

Within the Village Hidden in the Leaves, October the tenth was a day for celebration and remembrance. Twelve years ago, a giant beast attacked the village and very nearly destroyed it under its nine powerful tails. Namikaze Minato, the Hokage at the time, thankfully stopped the beast by sealing it into a baby that was barely an hour old, sacrificing himself during the process. That same child is still in the village to this day, but she was not celebrating with everyone else. For you see, she was a bit too busy for that.

One of the traditions that many of the villagers participated in was the 'Annual Fox Hunt'. Despite its name, those involved did not hunt real foxes. They hunted a demon, and everyone knew that the best way to kill a demon was to kill its container.

Uzumaki Naruto was a twelve year old girl that had a dream of becoming Hokage one day. Her favourite colour was orange and her favourite food was ramen. Miso ramen, to be exact. She was an academy student that had failed her exam three times, however she was determined to pass the fourth one that was merely a couple of days from now. She was known to be an annoying, bubbly, stupid girl that only cared about playing jokes on others. She was best friends with Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba, although she and the Inuzuka often fought like cat and dog.

She was hated by everyone in Konoha except a handful of people, and they were Mitarashi Anko, Morino Ibiki, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Teuchi and Ayame. She met the first two people when she was five years old.

Flashback

Like every year, she was being chased by a group of people with weapons, and luckily for her, she had run by a small dango shop where Anko was. The shouting from the angry mob had disturbed the Tokubetsu Jonin, and everyone knew that you should never disturb Mitarashi Anko.

Just as the mob was about to pass the little shop, the Snake Mistress made them pause. She stood in front of them with one hand on her hip while her other hand twirled a dango stick.

"Get out of our way!" ordered a middle-aged man.

"Why?" Anko asked innocently.

"We're trying to kill that demon brat!" claimed another man.

"Oh?"

"Yeah! Now get out of our way or we'll kill you too, you damn snake!"

The purple haired Jonin smirked.

A few minutes later, Anko was admiring her work. Once she had broken the first man's arm with ease, a lot of the mob had tried to run away. Those that hadn't were currently on the ground in immense pain with cuts and shattered bones. Turning around, the kunoichi had the intention of returning to her seat, however a small blonde girl was in her way. Anko frowned and tried to sidestep away from her, but the girl just moved in front of her again. The older female tried it a few more times before finally giving up.

"Alright gaki, what the hell do you want?"

The child didn't say anything, instead, she looked up at the woman with her big, bright blue eyes.

"Are ya mute or something? Answer me."

Still nothing.

"Well if you don't want anything, move."

Nope.

"Oh for fuc-... fudge sake," she corrected. "You're one annoying kid, ya know that?"

Naruto grinned and said, "Dattebayo!"

After that meeting, Naruto stuck to Anko like glue. In fact, the kunoichi wondered how the hell the girl was able to track her down so easily. The Jinchūriki soon met Ibiki when she followed Anko into Konoha's Torture and Interrogation department. The two Tokubetsu Jōnin eventually got used to having the young girl around, and even taught her a few tricks.

Teuchi and Ayame, despite their business suffering from it, have never hesitated to feed Naruto. Even though ramen wasn't the healthiest food in the world, it became the blonde girl's favourite, so she ended up visiting the little shop everyday to spend the money the Sandaime gave her.

Ever since the Uzumaki could remember, the Sandaime had always been there for her. He would visit her in the orphanage, and when she was eventually kicked out of that, he visited her in her little apartment. He would buy her clothes and food until she was able to go into the markets herself, and he would provide her with money. He was like a grandfather to her, so she called him Jiji.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to help her this time.

Naruto had been running for a good ten minutes now, and in that time she had dodged weapons of all kinds. A few had even managed to graze her. The girl was trying to get to a crowded place, but every time she was about to turn a corner towards the middle of the village, she was cut off by more of the angry mob. The closest she had come was running past a small group of people that were headed to the festival, but they either didn't see her, or they didn't care. Among that group of people were a few of her classmates: Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. The two girls had seen the mob chasing Naruto, but they thought they were just annoyed at a prank she had pulled on them. They probably would have thought differently if they had seen the weapons they were carrying or the Uzumaki's tear stained face.

When Shino saw the Jinchūriki, he immediately suspected that something was wrong. He began to follow her, but before he could take a second step, Kiba grabbed his arm. "Whoa there, buddy. Where do you think you're going? The festival is the other way."

"Yes, but Naruto..."

"Relax, dude, Naruto's fine. I bet she just went overboard with a prank and they're pissed. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? They're just civilians. Now come on."

Seeing the boy's point, Shino reluctantly agreed. The Aburame looked back over his shoulder as he walked away, but the mob was gone.

A few streets later, the Uzumaki was almost at the Hokage's office. She knew that if she was able to reach Sarutobi Hiruzen, or any of his ANBU, she would be safe. Speaking of the Anbu, where the hell were they? Surely they could easily hear the violent people behind her. Turning another corner, Naruto instantly regretted her decision.

"We got her now, boys!" someone from the crowd shouted. As they approached her, she back up until she touched the brick wall behind her. "There's no escape for you now, demon. This is payback for all those years ago."

They attacked.

Shuriken after shuriken. Kunai after kunai. Senbon after senbon. She knew how they acquired the weapons when a fairly young looking man with a headband approached her. He had short, dark green hair and a eye-patch over his left eye.

'Green?' she asked herself.

"You know what they say: 'an eye for an eye'," that was the last thing she heard before her vision went dark.

When Naruto awoke, the smell of anaesthetic invaded her nose. When she opened her eyes, she only saw the colour white. Realising where she was, the girl sat up, slowly due to her damaged body, and looked around. The hospital room she was in wasn't special; it looked just like all the rest, except for the various items that decorated the bedside table. The Jinchūriki picked up the cards and read what was inside them. All of them had encouraging messages from her friends. The next thing she looked at was the flowers that stood up in a small glass vase. They were red-orange tulips, her favourite kind of flower. No card came with it, so she had no idea who had sent them, but they made her smile.

The door to the room opened and the Hokage walked in, carrying a small package. "Hello there, Naruto-chan. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. What happened?"

"You were injured. Badly," he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Naruto, there's something I need to tell you," he gestured to the left side of her face. Lifting her hand up, the girl was confused when she felt rough material cover her eye. She reached around her head and untied the knot that kept the bandages together. Slowly, she unwrapped the white material and let it fall onto her lap.

Hiruzen picked up a mirror, but before he gave it to his surrogate granddaughter, he said something to her, "Naruto... the man that attack you cut your face, and it was deep, deep enough to leave a mark. We tried to save your eyesight, but I'm afraid that the damage was too severe."

The blonde female used the mirror to look at the damage, and she gasped at the sight. The scar was slightly pink in colour, and it started a little bit below her hairline and ended just under her cheekbone. It also cut through her eyebrow, leaving a very small patch without hair. When she opened her eye, she was thankful that whatever had cut her, hadn't touched it.

"Even though the blade never marked your eye, it was coated in something that Konoha has never seen. Not even Anko, our poison expert, was able to recognise it. I can't imagine you wanting to walk around with a large scar on your face, so I got you something," the Sandaime handed the girl the package he came in with.

Naruto shakily opened it, still not over the shock of everything that transpired in the last five minutes. Inside the package was a plain white half-mask. It had an outline of an eye carved into it but that was the only decoration it had.

"I know you'll want to buy another one at some point, so this is only temporary."

Naruto was allowed to leave the hospital the next day so that she could recover by herself and train for the academy exam that was merely a few days away. She sat on top of a building with her chin resting on her hands. She sighed as she looked down at the people hurrying about below her in the marketplace.

'Why do they always want to hurt me? Sure, I play pranks a lot, but it doesn't hurt anyone. Well, maybe it hurts their pride, but I don't deserve to be treated this way all the time. And what's with them hunting me every year? It's always on my birthday...' Naruto sniffed and rubbed around her right eye when she felt tears gathering there. The soon-to-be kunoichi looked up at the Hokage mountain, specifically at the Yondaime. 'What would you do if you were in my shoes?' she asked.

She didn't get a reply from him, but she knew what he would say anyway. He would tell her to be brave and grow up into a strong ninja so that she could show them all what she could truly do, but what if Naruto didn't want that? What if she didn't want to take their bullshit anymore? All she has ever wanted to do was be acknowledged by them, and what does it get her? A scar on her face.

The Uzumaki stood up and clenched her fists, almost drawing blood. 'I'm so sick of this place. Ever since I was born, everyone has hated me for who I was. The lady at the orphanage never lifted a finger to stop the other kids from beating me up, in fact, I'm sure she rewarded them for it, and when I finally fought back... she kicked me out! Of course, I have met some people that were nice to me: Jiji, Anko, Ibiki, Teuchi, Ayame... those two...' Naruto growled and kicked a small stone off of the roof. 'Those two... I fucking hate them. They took me in, made me their friend, hugged me when I was sad, held my hand when I was lonely... UGH!'

She jumped down from the roof and continued her inner rant. 'And then they just turned around one day and abandoned me! Why?! What did I do?!'

The Uzumaki paced up and down a small alleyway just next to the markets. If she couldn't get the village's approval, then maybe she should get them to acknowledge her in a different way. That is the logical thing to do, right? Looking down at her clothes, she realised that an orange jumpsuit that screamed 'I'm here! Kill me!' wasn't exactly the most appropriate outfit for a ninja. The girl used a henge to turn into a twenty year old looking woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She also wore a plain green dress and black flats, and no mask or scar was present. Naruto was thankful that the Hokage gave some her money before she left the hospital.

The Jinchuriki walked around the marketplace until she found a suitable clothing shop for ninjas. Inside, she found a plain short sleeved black t-shirt, black cargo trousers, navy blue fingerless gloves that ended at her elbows and navy blue ninja shoes.

She walked around the markets for a little longer until she came across a stall that sold different kinds of masks. There were lots of different designs, and one in particular caught Naruto's attention. It looked kind of like a skull, except it was big enough to cover your entire face. On one side, it was plain white, and on the other it had dark red stripes. (Just think of Ichigo's hollow mask)

The blonde picked up the mask, placed it over her face and looked into a nearby mirror. She liked the design, except it was too flimsy.

"Hello, sir," she greeted the man behind the counter. "I was wondering if you had this mask's design with a more durable material? And I was also wondering if you could cut it in half?"

When Naruto returned to her apartment, she undid her henge and placed the new clothes she bought on her desk in her room, as well as her new half-mask, ready for tomorrow. The medic ninja that has treated her injuries had told her to get as much sleep as possible, so that meant an early night for her. When it was around eight o'clock, Naruto changed into her pyjamas which consisted of a white t-shirt with an Uzumaki spiral on the back and orange shorts.

As she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, she swore she could feel someone watching her. It wasn't like they were in her home, or even outside... it was more like they were watching her, from inside of her body. Naruto turned onto her side and closed eyes, trying as best she could to ignore the strange feeling and get a good night's sleep.

The Kyuubi Jinchuriki groaned when she woke up, the sun hitting her directly in the face and her good eye. She got up and read the time on the clock.

'Half past seven. All right.'

Once she had taken a shower the young girl put on her new clothes and mask, which stayed in place due to seals that had been carved into the material. Naruto tied up her hair in a pony tail and left her house, heading for the academy. When she arrived at the ninja school, there was a couple of minutes left until their sensei was supposed to arrive. When she walked through the door, a paper airplane almost hit her.

"Oh shit, sorr- what the fuck?" asked Kiba when he saw his classmate. "Trying out a new look, Uzumaki? Or-" before he could finish his sentence, a hand pushed him away from the blonde and the Hyuuga heiress took his place.

"Naruto-chan! Are you alright? I heard about what happened from my father. Do you feel okay? Why are you wearing a mask? Who did it? I'll use my status to-" Naruto placed a hand over the slightly shorter girl's mouth. When Hinata appeared in front of Naruto, the blonde had to lean back so that the Hyuuga didn't accidently head-butt her.

"I'm fine. I'm wearing a mask because, why not? I don't remember who did it. There's no need for that, I'm fine," only when she finished speaking did Naruto remove her hand.

"What do ya think happened?" Shikamaru asked Choji, who was munching on a packet of crisps. The two boys were sitting at the back of the classroom.

"I dunno, but that mask creeps me out."

"Well obviously it's there for a reason, and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Naruto being in an.. 'accident'."

"You think she was attacked by someone?"

"Hinata certainly seems to think so."

"Maybe she's just assuming things."

"Hm," the Nara wasn't totally convinced, but he didn't dwell on the subject, believing it to be too troublesome.

As soon as Umino Iruka walked into the room full of students, he frowned. Naruto stood not too far away from him with her back facing him, however he could still see the edge of her mask. When the attack happened, he ran over to the hospital as fast as his feet could take him and demanded to see his student, however he was told that no one was allowed access to her room until the Hokage got there. When he did see her, his heart broke at the sight of her bandaged body lying on the hospital bed. Iruka cleared his throat and told the students to sit down.

"As you all know, today is the day you all take your exam to see if you're able to become Genin. Mizuki and I will be testing you on ninja tools, taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu. Follow me outside, and we will begin your first test."

A/N: All right, the first chapter has been completed. As you may have noticed, I have changed a few things around and added a flashback to when Naruto and Anko met. I felt that it was a mistake to not squeeze that event in the first version.

I have also changed around how she got her mask and her thought process that ended with her hating the village. Another thing I changed is the relationship between Naruto and Kurama. Naruto hasn't met Kurama yet, but she will in the next chapter.

I look forward to any reviews I get from you. Until next time!