Naruto threw a leaf into the water, and watched the ripples spread around it. "That's me. Disturbing the natural order of things, causing unwelcome ripples in the water of life." He sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why." He looked up at the moonlit sky. The stars twinkled in welcome. He smiled softly. "I wonder why everything in nature accepts me as I am, when my own kind doesn't. I'm nothing, really."

A branch cracked. Naruto instantly vanished, reappearing seconds later in his home in Konoha, leaving a rabbit looking sadly at the place where he had once been. 'Poor thing. He's so afraid.' She thought sadly, wishing that it wasn't so.

Naruto closed his eyes, and tried to relax. He had learned the Shunshin last week. Kakashi had given him a quick lesson. He had been busy, but had still stopped by to see him. Naruto hoped that he would be his Jōnin instructor, but Asuma or Kurenai wouldn't be bad either. Thinking of Jōnin instructors, Naruto remembered that it was the day before graduation. Tomorrow, he would get assigned to a team, and given a Jōnin instructor. Naruto was scared. Nobody in his age group did any more than tolerate him, except for Hinata, who had always acted weird around him. However, he knew that Kiba had a crush on her, and that they were being put in the same team. He wanted them to get together. They'd be good for each other.

But then Naruto heard the telltale sound of a mob. They attacked at least twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. Naruto had given up on even trying to hide anymore. It always hurt more when they found him. Instead, he just laid down on his bed, waiting.

The mob was brutal. They started by pinning him to the wall, using a knife in each wrist and ankle. They then twisted them cruelly, making Naruto cry out. Then they yanked out most of his hair by the roots, handfuls at a time, and left it scattered around the house in bloody piles. Then one of them cut off his testicles. "Demons shouldn't be able to reproduce!" She snarled gleefully. Several of the women took turns raping him, each one taking their time. Afterwards, when Naruto was left, exhausted, against the wall, the rest of them moved in. They stabbed him through every single organ he had, a few doctors directing where to hit, before taking part along with the nurses. Naruto coughed up blood. The tiny house was covered in blood, painted floor to ceiling with it. A few people took paintbrushes, stuck them in Naruto, and began to actually paint the room. Naruto grew weaker. He couldn't even move. Of course, all of the doctors knew all of the killing spots, and hit him in all of them.

Naruto was dying. His heart slowed, coming nearly to a stop, and he almost stopped breathing. His vision blurred at the edges, but he fought to hold on. He needed to stay awake, needed to live. Tomorrow he was going to become a Genin! He couldn't die now... His body slumped as he finally gave in to the lure of sleep.

The mob finished painting the inside of his house, and moved on to the outside, before leaving, all of them feeling a glow of pride that they had helped to destroy the Kyūbi no Kitsune. None of them cared what would happen to them, because they had just saved their families.

Naruto woke up in a sewer. The walls were covered with intricate designs painted in blood. The roof and walls were one big arch, made of a seamless silver material that shone and glistened like the moon. The water was flowing very slowly, and he had no trouble going with the flow. He didn't know why he was there, and he didn't know where he was, but he felt a... a... presence, for no better word of it, downstream. He kept on walking, trying not to trip on the chunks of excrement that cluttered the floor.

Naruto suddenly stumbled and fell, clutching his chest. A sudden pain had ripped through him, tearing him apart from the inside out. But, despite the pain, he gritted his teeth and carried on, determined to reach this presence that was looming over the entire sewer.

After a while, Naruto stumbled into a cage. It was a large cage, big enough that Naruto was sure the Kyūbi no Kitsune would have fit in there. A small chuckle ran out. "Interesting." Naruto blinked. "I am the Kyūbi no Kitsune. I wish to make you a deal." The Kyūbi moved his head down to where Naruto was. "You are dying. I cannot save you through the usual means. There is only one way that I can save you." Naruto moved to interrupt, but the Kyūbi continued undeterred "This method involves a promise from you, and an ancient spell. If you promise me that you shall obey every word I say, whether you want to or not, and let me cast the spell on you, then I can save your life. The spell binds us together, and since I can't die, you can't either. You'll also get all of the benefits of being intricately bound to a Bjuu. What do you say?" Naruto was no fool. He knew that if he died, the Kyūbi would be released. So why offer to save him? Yet, Naruto wanted to live, to become a Genin and overcome the hatred of the village.

He looked the beast in the eye. "I accept your offer, Kyūbi no Kitsune, and I promise to do whatever you say, whether I want to do it or not." The Kyūbi grinned. "Good. Then let's begin." Suddenly, he lashed out, catching Naruto across his whisker marks, which opened and begun to bleed. "از هم اکنون تا پایان زمان من ادعا ناروتو اوزوماکی Namikaze به عنوان برده من به اطاعت از همه دستورات من به کمال از توانایی های خود را. من او را به من متصل با زنجیره نشکن و رندر آزادی باطل. او باید به من هر کلمه، به تبعیت از من خواست هر مجبور. این من در زندگی من قسم می خورم." Naruto gasped as he felt a sudden pain on his wrists and ankles. Glancing down, he saw glowing purplish-red tattoos around each wrist and ankle.

The Kyūbi bit his lip until it bled, and then lunged forwards and bit Naruto on his shoulder. Naruto cried out in fear, blood spraying into the Kyūbi's mouth, which he swallowed greedily, before letting the small Jinchūriki go, and retreating back into his cage. He watched as a tattoo of nine tails in the shape of a crown appeared where he had bitten. He grinned. Now you are mine." Naruto gasped, panting. "Now sleep, Jinchūriki. You have a big day tomorrow." Naruto grinned. "Yes, master!" He began to fade away. "Before I go, what's your name?" The Kyūbi grinned. "I'm called Kurama." Naruto grinned just as he vanished from his mindscape. "Thank you, Kurama."

Naruto woke up in pain. He was lying on the ground, the knives that had been used to hold him to the wall lying right in front of him. There were no marks on his body, but he could barely move, and he was very cold. Everything had grown back, and everything had been fixed. But he was very cold, and he couldn't stop shaking. He had to force himself to get up and move over to his bed, and then his limbs moved on their own, forcing him to sleep.

But while he slept, a change came over him. He grew to the proper height for his age, as well as the proper weight, his hair grew long, down past his shoulders, his whisker marks grew slightly deeper, and his skin tanned slightly. He was rather handsome, in the exact opposite way that Sasuke was. Sasuke was handsome in a dark way, while Naruto was handsome in a light way. In fact, you might describe him as beautiful. But Naruto knew none of this, and slept as deeply as anyone.

Naruto woke up in the morning refreshed. He dressed in his famous orange jumpsuit, put Iruka's old headband on, and headed for the Academy. He got a few curious glances along the way, but ignored them. He was always looked at. He had stopped noticing it a while ago. These stares felt slightly different than usual, though. They weren't as hateful, and more... curious.

Naruto finally reached his classroom, on time for once, and smiled at his teacher. "Konichiwa, Iruka-sensei!" Iruka looked up, startled. "Naruto? What are you doing here so early?" Naruto shrugged. "I woke up early, and figured that it would be better to get here before everyone else starts showing up. That's smart, right?" He looked and sounded so hopeful that Iruka found himself grinning. "Yes, Naruto, that was smart. Now sit down." Naruto grinned back. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei." Then he danced over to a seat in the back of the room, plunked down, and pretended to fall asleep. Iruka smiled softly. He knew that the young Jinchūriki only slept in front of people he trusted. Sadly, he could count those people on one hand. There was Kakashi, the Hokage, Ayame, Teuchi, and Iruka himself.

Sighing softly, he covered Naruto with an orange blanket that he kept under his desk for him. He knew that he was being put under Kakashi, per a combination of good luck and willpower. Naruto was the dead last, and as such was paired with the Rookie and Kunoichi of the Year, which so happened to be Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, and since Sasuke had the ability to unlock the Sharingan, he was put on Kakashi's team, and since Naruto was on Sasuke's team, he by default would be put on Kakashi's team as well.

Iruka wondered what the chances were that Naruto would be Jōnin before any of his classmates. In fact, he doubted that some of them, such as Sakura, could even become Chūnin. After all, Sakura had so little chakra that she'd always had perfect chakra control, and she'd barely become Genin. He believed that Naruto would just skip Chūnin, and just go straight from Genin to Jōnin. He knew that Naruto might even skip Jōnin, and become a Jōnin Commander. But he also knew that it was just a possibility for his favorite student.

Iruka settled down, and began to grade some tests from the day before. He would give it back to them before the exam.

He lingered over Naruto's, going over every answer again and again, until he was sure that there were no more points that he could give the child. He always did that for Naruto, the little sun of the class.

He looked up at the poor little blond boy. He'd been different today, not as skinny or short, not as pale, no dark circles under his eyes. His hair was longer, going past his shoulders, and his whisker marks looked fresher. Iruka wondered at the change. He hadn't looked like that last night.

He knew it was wrong, but he shrugged it off. Naruto had things happen to him all the time, and this was a good change.

Right?

He pulled the orange blanket off Naruto gently, folding it up and hiding it beneath his desk. The other students would bully him for it if they saw it. They had never liked the boy.

Right.