Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of whoever it was that made it.

-o-o-

Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi sighed and took a long draw off his pipe, letting the intoxicating smoke fill his lungs before exhaling slowly. He watched the wisps drift out of his body and towards the ceiling with a bit of remorse, almost as if it had taken part of his soul with it as it left him. There was no easy way to do what he knew needed to be done. This was a decision that had been 6 years in the making, and he had foolishly put it off until the point he could no longer procrastinate. Within a few hours, the first day of a new Academic year would start in Konohagakure's ninja academy, and one Uzumaki Naruto was now old enough to attend. Whether or not he should be allowed to attend was the question that has haunted his thoughts ever since the Yondaime placed the boy in his arms just before dying from the aftereffects of his Jutsu.

'If only I knew what you wanted for the boy, Yondaime. But you died before you could tell me.' Sarutobi thought to himself, taking another long draw off his pipe. He could remember that day in crystal clarity, for it was easily the worst day of his life. The Kyuubi no Kitsune attack had decimated the village, killed hundreds of ninja and civilians alike, and even claimed the life of the Yondaime Hokage as he performed the sealing ritual to be rid of the Fox once and for all. And worst of all, the Kyuubi lived on in the body of a young boy, behind the Shinigami's seal the Yondaime sold his soul to create. That very same boy now wanted to attend the Ninja academy, he knew this for a fact. It was obvious just by looking at him that the Kyuubi held influence over the boy. How much, he didn't know, nor did he know if the Kyuubi could one day take over completely. If that were to happen, the last thing they needed would be for the demon to have years of Ninja training under its belt. It was hard enough to bring down the first time.

"You called for us, Hokage-sama?" an aged voice from behind him caused Sarutobi to turn towards the door, seeing his old teammates standing stoically at the entrance to his office. Sarutobi could only nod before turning back around, looking once again out the window towards the Hokage monument, again locking eyes with the stone sculpture of the Yondaime, as if he could gather some kind of answer to his questions from the mountain.

"Indeed I did. I assume you know why I called you?" Sarutobi responded, walking towards his desk and tapping a bit of ash out of the pipe into the tray he had for just such a purpose. Neither Homura nor Koharu said anything at first, walking further into the office towards Sarutobi's position.

"Today is the start of the academic year. Have you not yet decided whether Uzumaki should be allowed to attend?" Koharu asked, though she knew the answer already. Sarutobi didn't bother to answer the question itself, as he knew this as well.

"Do you think he should be allowed in?" He asked, sitting at his desk with a bit of a groan and setting aside his still lit pipe. Smoke rose slowly from the bowl as if it were incense, but with a much less pleasant scent.

"I know you want to honor the Yondaime's wishes, Hokage-sama, but the simple fact is that you do not know what they are. You need to forget your sentimentality for a moment and decide what is best for the village. Is it truly wise to allow a boy with such latent power to become a ninja? We don't know if the Kyuubi has polluted his mind. We can't be sure where his loyalties lie." Homura spoke with his usual candor, causing Sarutobi to sigh a bit. He had heard this same response from Homura every time the subject had been broached. He had always tried to disregard it in the past, but he knew he had no more time for deliberation. He had called on his former teammates for advice, despite already knowing what their answers would be.

"What loyalties? No one in the village has the courage to speak to the boy. The children don't even play with him, thanks to the way their parents act around him." Sarutobi responded. Frankly, he was surprised Naruto hadn't resorted to mischief yet, just to get the attention. The boy wasn't even allowed to have imaginary friends, as the paranoia of one particular villager caused a rather unpleasant reaction when he saw Naruto talking to himself. It had been the only time Sarutobi considered making a law to keep Naruto safe from the villagers that wished him harm, but he knew that would only make the boy even more ostracized than he already was. Luckily, that was the only time anyone had actually attacked Naruto, so such measures hadn't proved necessary.

"That is exactly the point, Hokage-sama. Though we have no one to blame but ourselves, the way Naruto has been treated would lead anyone to hate a village. If we give him the tools he needs to betray us, he could potentially bring down the village should he gain access to the Kyuubi's power." Homura insisted.

"But wouldn't preventing him from becoming a ninja only lead him to hate us more?" Koharu spoke up, causing a bit of surprise from both Sarutobi and Homura. In the past, Koharu had always stood with Homura against Sarutobi's decision to deliberate further. But now, it seemed she had changed her position.

"Are you suggesting that we allow Naruto to enter the academy?" Sarutobi asked, honestly surprised.

"You are not the only one who has been thinking about this issue over the years, Sarutobi-sama. Unlike Homura, my opinion on the matter has changed. However, I do not believe we should allow Uzumaki to enter the ninja academy." Koharu replied. Sarutobi blinked a few times before leaning back in his chair, looking at the aged woman for a few moments critically.

"That does not sound to me like your opinion has changed at all." Sarutobi pointed out, grabbing for his pipe in the process.

"Indeed. How, exactly, has your opinion changed on this matter, Koharu?" Homura asked, curious and skeptical of his former teammate.

"My decision has not changed, but my reasons have. I do not believe that the Yondaime Hokage would have wanted Uzumaki to be seen or used as a weapon. If he were to become a ninja, that is almost certainly how certain members of our council would begin to treat him. It would be best for the boy if he were encouraged to lead his life as a civilian. Hopefully, the hatred the people of Konohagakure feel for the boy will fade with time, and he'll be able to live a normal life." Koharu responded, causing a brief silence to fall on the room as the other two considered her words. Sarutobi took another long draw on his pipe and let the smoke slowly waft away from his mouth, rising towards the ceiling in a slow, almost sedated way.

"I must agree with Koharu, Hokage-sama. She makes a good point." Homura said finally, breaking the silence.

"Indeed," Sarutobi muttered, without even looking at the other two, "It seems it would be in Naruto's best interest if we were to prevent him from entering the Ninja Academy."

-o-o-

Naruto's Prologue

-o-o-

A young boy stirred slightly in his sleep, rolling away from the annoyingly loud sound that seemed to be coming from somewhere beyond the edge of his unconsciousness. His body desperately clung to sleep, his brain doing its best to ignore the repeated ribbit-like alarm emitting from the comically frog shaped clock sitting on a nearby nightstand. The young boy shifted further to the side, instinctively burying his face further into his lumpy pillow and pulling his blanket further up his head, trying to put as much material between his ears and the noise. It was futile, however. The boy had always been too hyper to be a deep sleeper, and had a stamina that most would consider inhuman. He could get by with so little rest, that he'd have surely driven any parental figures he may have had insane with his fickle sleep schedule. In that way, it may have been a good thing that he was an orphan.

"Unnn...Is it morning?" the young boy muttered tiredly, sitting up in his bed and reaching over for his clock. Though he stopped the alarm, it took his brain several moments to be able to comprehend the time listed on the face. 6:30 AM.

"Eh?" Naruto muttered, sitting up and looking across the room towards the calender on the far wall. several days were marked off with 'X's, with the remaining day being circled multiple times in red.

"It's today! First day of school, first day of school!" He shouted out happily, leaping from the bed and haphazardly tossing the alarm clock over his shoulder. In a flash, the 6 year old was in his closet, digging around for a pair of clothing that was actually clean. His orange footsie pajamas were hardly appropriate for going to school in.

"This'll do!" Naruto said with a happy grin, finding a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that didn't smell particularly horrifying. Naruto, despite his young age, had been forced to take care of every aspect of his life entirely on his own, as no one was really interested in helping him. This meant that he had to do everything that a parent would normally do for their child, from buying them clothes to providing them food. Now, no one has ever accused a six year old of being particularly good at either of these duties, which is why all of Naruto's clothing were either orange, black or white, and he lived almost entirely on a diet of Ramen and milk. The first was true because those were Naruto's favorite colors, and he saw no reason to buy anything else. The second was true, because it was the only thing that the 6 year old could afford that he knew how to prepare.

Thus it was that Naruto, dressed in a white T-shirt and some orange shorts, sat down to eat his breakfast of ramen and milk, as he did every morning. Unlike most mornings, though, he didn't quite have the patience to sit and eat. He was too eager. He had been waiting for this day ever since they let him live on his own (which had only been about a month ago.) Today would be his first day at the ninja academy, and his first step towards becoming a recognized Konoha Shinobi. Everyone in the village loved the ninjas. They were admired, and treated really well. So if he became a ninja, that'd mean they'd finally treat him good too!

"I better hurry. I don't want to be late." Naruto said to himself, finishing his ramen as quickly as he could and gulping down the rest of his milk. Naruto leapt out of his chair with a grin on his face, dashing towards his front door. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the entryway, making an exaggerated motion of looking around the room, as if searching for a hidden enemy. Naruto chuckled to himself as he pretended to dodge an invisible shuriken before rolling across the floor towards his front door, opening it and getting out as quickly as he could before closing it tightly behind him.

"Safe!" He shouted, having successfully avoided whatever imaginary foe had been after him. He laughed to himself again and headed down the steps and out of his apartment building, all the way trying to think of what cool ninja moves they'd be showing him how to do today. He'd once seen a ninja disappear into a cloud of smoke. He wondered how that worked? If they taught him that, he could have so much fun! He'd be much better at playing ninja than he could now, that was for sure.

"Or maybe, they'll give us some shuriken and show us how to throw it. That'd be so cool!" Naruto said to himself, grinning all the way as he ran down the street towards the ninja academy. A nice old man from the orphanage had shown him how to make pretend shuriken out of folded paper when he was younger, and he'd been throwing those around ever since. But a real, metal shuriken with the sharp bits and everything would be so much cooler, in Naruto's mind.

Naruto skid to a stop suddenly and pulled a paper shuriken out of his pocket as he spotted a cat lounging in the sun on a nearby porch. He pointed at it dramatically, holding the paper throwing star at the ready.

"A monster!" He exclaimed, causing the cat to raise its head and stare at him in that unblinking way only a cat can do. "I, Ninja Master Uzumaki Naruto will defeat you!"

With those words, Naruto threw the shuriken with all his might. Which essentially meant it flew forward a meter or so and fluttered pathetically to the ground, as it was not only made of paper, but Naruto was hardly an expert at throwing projectiles. However, the cat seemed to be annoyed enough by the antics of the hyperactive child that it got up and walked away, which counted as a victory over a vanquished monster in Naruto's book.

"Hey, what are you doing on my porch!" An angry looking woman shouted, emerging from the hous and waving her broom menacingly.

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto shouted out before hightailing it back in the direction he was going. A brief chill ran down his spine as he thought about the cold stare the woman had given him. He didn't like thinking about it, but everyone in the village seemed to have something against him. He couldn't remember ever doing anything to them, but they all would give him such a cold stare. It made him feel worthless, unwanted.

'But that'll change soon,' Naruto thought to himself, his good mood returning with a vengeance. 'I'm going to become a great ninja, and then they'll all acknowledge me.'

As Naruto rounded another corner, he couldn't help but grin as he saw the ninja academy come into view. He was here, he was really here! He had come here before and just sat on the swing in front to stare at the building, wondering what amazing things went on inside. But now, he'd finally be able to go in. He'd finally be able to experience those amazing things for himself. As he approached the building, the front door suddenly opened, revealing a tall man that Naruto immediately recognized as being a ninja. Probably one of the teachers, in fact.

"Eh?" Iruka muttered, looking down to spot the short, blonde haired boy that was looking up at him in what he could only assume was awe. What a weird kid. He was hardly the most impressive ninja around. Hell, he was just a school teacher. There was an awkward silence that hung over the area for a few moments, as Iruka could only stand there in confusion while the weird kid just kept looking at him like that. He had been told to wait out in front of the academy for some kid the Hokage didn't think should be allowed to become a ninja to show up, he hadn't been expecting for some weird little...

'Wait a minute,' Iruka thought to himself, suddenly connecting the dots in his head. "You wouldn't happen to be Uzumaki Naruto, would you?"

Naruto blinked, completely not expecting that. How'd this guy know his name? Was it customary for the teachers to greet the new students like this or something? Oh! Maybe ninjas could read minds! That'd be so cool!

"Yeah I am. Are you my sensei?" Naruto asked, hopeful. It'd be great if this scar guy was his sensei. Maybe he could teach him that mind reading trick.

Iruka sighed to himself. Great, that made this much easier. He had been expecting to be standing out here for hours, but the kid showed up almost immediately. What luck! That meant he'd have time to prepare the lesson plan a little more, maybe even get some work done on planning the demonstration they'd be giving at the end of the week on proper shuriken and kunai safety.

"I am Iruka-sensei, yes. But I'm afraid I won't be your teacher. You've been barred from entering the Ninja Academy. I was sent out here to make sure you were informed before you went inside." Iruka explained. Naruto's face fell in an instant.

"...huh?" Naruto muttered, not understanding. He must have heard that wrong. That couldn't mean what he thought it meant.

"I'm sorry, but you can't become a student here." Iruka responded, simplifying his language a bit. Naruto stared up at him in shock, his mouth slightly agape. He didn't know what to say. He didn't even know how to react to that. His earlier fantasy of Ninja Master Uzumaki Naruto seemed to be crumbling to pieces in front of his eyes too fast for him to put it back together again. For once, Naruto simply didn't feel like smiling.

"But...why?" It was the only rational thought that came to him, and he immediately verbalized it. Why would they not let him join? What had he done wrong? Was he being punished for something? He couldn't remember doing anything bad. Why would they do this to him? Why did everyone always seem to single out him?

"I don't know why. I got a message from the Hokage himself that it'd be best if you weren't allowed to be a student. I don't question those kinds of orders." Iruka responded with a shrug, but he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the boy. Whatever this kid must of done to get that kind of punishment had to be steep. He had heard some punk kid had vandalized part of the Hokage tower. Maybe this was the culprit?

'He's only a little kid. He couldn't have managed that himself.' Iruka thought, dashing that possibility. He could think of at least three students of his that could have done it though. That kind of thing was right up their alley.

Naruto's eyes felt wet. He shut them tightly to try and hold in the tears, but that only served to squeeze a few out. A shudder crawled across his back before he could stifle it and he barely caught a sob before it escaped his throat. Why did the Hokage not want him to be a ninja? Wasn't he the one who had been giving him the money to buy food and clothes since he started living on his own? Naruto had thought he was the one person who actually cared about him. He had even sent him a letter once to cheer him up after that baker beat him up a year ago. Naruto couldn't read very well, but he had understood most of it. He had always thought the Hokage was a really nice man, so why would he say Naruto couldn't be a ninja? Why did he deserve that?

Why did everything bad always have to happen to him?

"O..oh..." Naruto muttered, trying hard to keep from sobbing between words and keep his tears from spilling out. "I'm s...sorry I bothered you..." He muttered, dropping his head and walking slowly away, towards a small swing hanging from the tree in front of the academy. It took most of Iruka's will power to keep himself from consoling the boy.

'Control yourself, Iruka! A ninja is not supposed to show his emotions. Whatever reason Hokage-sama has for keeping him from being a ninja must be a good one. There's nothing you can do about it.' Iruka thought to himself, but he still couldn't help but stare at the boy's back in sympathy as he slowly sat on the small piece of wood hanging from the tree and halfheartedly swung back and forth. With a final grunt of determination, Iruka turned away and went back into the academy building. He had work to do, damn it. He was better off just forgetting about the boy.

Naruto wasn't sure how long he sat on that swing, going back and forth, but he must have been there for a good half hour or so before other children, just as young as he was, began to show up and gather towards the academy building. Naruto couldn't help but look up and watch them from his position on the swing, hidden in the shadow of the tree. He watched them laugh and chat amongst themselves, he watched them playing ninja in front of the building before heading inside, he watched them go inside without incident. He saw no other teachers come out to take a particular student aside, nor did he see any of the students sent back outside shortly after entering. No one was singled out, no one was excluded. All were welcome.

Except him. Only him. He was always on the sidelines, always on the outside looking in, always alone. Nobody wanted him. Nobody cared.

This time, Naruto couldn't help but cry.

-o-o-

The next morning came as it always did before, but there was a distinct absence of something that made this morning different than all the others. It was quiet. Absolutely quiet. No ribbiting alarm clock sounded the rise of the sun, nor did a hyperactive blonde eagerly awaken to seize the day. Naruto merely laid in his bed, absolutely motionless. Aside from the rise and fall of his chest, and the occasional blink, he barely even twitched. His eyes were red and puffy, and his pillow was covered with the telltale signs of dampness from shed tears. He still wore the same white shirt and orange shorts he had been wearing the day before, having never bothered to change when he returned home. Scattered across the floor around the bed were thousands of scraps of torn up paper, almost looking like the confetti from a great festival. But there was no celebration the night before, only a sadness that had turned to a violent rage. If one were to look closely, they'd see that the torn scraps of paper had come from a great number of folded paper shuriken that had obviously been shredded.

Naruto slowly sat up, his desire to move and his hunger finally combining forces to get him to get out of bed. With a groan, he slipped out of bed and made his way towards his small kitchenette, figuring he'd just eat some ramen so his stomach would stop rumbling and then just try to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, his plans were thwarted. He was out of food. And since the grumbling in his stomach was only getting louder, that meant he'd have to go out and buy himself something. Naruto grudgingly closed his cabinets before searching around his room for his wallet, not entirely sure where he had stashed it the last time he went for supplies.

"There you are Gama-chan." Naruto muttered halfheartedly, pulling out the toad wallet from his nightstand drawer and taking a look inside. It was almost empty. He had enough for food today, but tomorrow he'd go hungry without more money.

'I'll worry about that tomorrow.' Naruto thought, not in the mood to do much of anything. Instead, he just grabbed the last couple coins from the wallet and headed out the door.

-o-o-

Iruka couldn't understand it. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Uzumaki Naruto ever since the day before, and his work had suffered a bit from it. Thus, he had decided to look through the records on the boy to try and figure out a reason for his being banned from the academy. Surely, if he could discover the reason, his guilt would subside.

But for the life of him, Iruka couldn't find a reason. For one thing, the boy's records were pathetically sparse. No complaints or criminal reports or anything of the like had ever been filed on him. In fact, he was an orphan, and there wasn't a record of who his parents were, so it didn't seem reasonable that the Hokage might have kept him out because of his lineage. In fact, besides for the weird way almost everyone he spoke to about the boy seemed to act, there was nothing even remotely interesting in his history. Iruka could only conclude that the bizarre feelings most of the more elder citizens held for the boy was the key behind his exclusion from the school.

'But why the hell would anyone feel ill will towards him? He's just a boy, what could he have possibly done?' Iruka wondered, walking down the street towards the academy building as he thought to himself.

'There must be something about his past that has caused this reaction to the boy. Something so secret, they wouldn't even keep a record of it, and yet a good portion of the citizens over a certain age know about anyway. Something that I'm apparently not privileged enough to know about.' Iruka stopped in the middle of the road at that thought before dropping his head and chuckling to himself.

'Now I'm coming up with conspiracy theories. I really have put too much thought into this. He's probably just a hell raiser that hasn't done anything bad enough to report, but he still annoys the crap out of his neighbors. It's the most likely scenario. The Hokage probably just thinks he isn't mature enough to be a ninja because of it. He'll probably be allowed in next year.' Iruka reasoned to himself before looking up again. He was about to go on his way, but a short figure caught his eye as he moved his way down the street with a small grocery bag in one hand, looking like it barely contained enough for a single meal. Iruka allowed himself to smile a bit as he looked at the boy, his decision made.

"Still sulking?" Iruka asked, causing Naruto to jump a bit in surprise. The blonde looked up at the scarred ninja for a moment, unsure of what he wanted.

"No..." Naruto muttered, though it was obvious from his tone that he was hardly cheery. Iruka chuckled a little, leaning over to muss up Naruto's hair.

"Don't worry, there's always next year." Iruka said, before standing up and going on his way. He felt much better all of a sudden. He figured a little encouragement couldn't hurt, and it certainly helped him feel less guilty after effectively destroying the boy's hopes and dreams the day before. Maybe now he could actually get some work done.

Naruto stood in the middle of the street, absolutely stunned by the encounter. What was that? Next year? Did that mean...did that mean he could still be a ninja? Yeah, he could still be a ninja. He just had to wait a little longer. He could do that! He was great at waiting! Yeah, one more year. One more year! He could handle another year. A year was nothing!

Naruto couldn't help but grin suddenly, his mood much better. He gently placed his hand on his head where Iruka had ruffled his hair, remembering the warmth he felt from his hand. And that look in his eyes, it had been completely unlike anything Naruto had ever experienced before. No one had ever looked at him like that. It was...warm. Kind. It was like the look he could see on the faces of a parent when they looked at their kids. It wasn't quite the same, but...it was similar. And it was leaps and bounds beyond anything Naruto had ever gotten from anyone before. At that moment, Naruto probably would have given damn near anything for someone to look at him like that again.

Iruka stopped suddenly and turned around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary in the street behind him. That's funny, he could have sworn someone was following him. He turned back around and kept going again, when that feeling struck him once more. Someone was definitely following him. Iruka didn't turn around this time, instead walking along as if everything was normal before rounding a corner towards the academy. As soon as he was around the bend, however, he quickly vanished from sight.

Naruto rounded the corner, careful to make sure that Iruka didn't notice that he was following him. However, as soon as he was on the next street, he couldn't see Iruka anywhere. Weird, where did he go? It was just then that an explosion of smoke behind Naruto caused the six year old to jump and turn around, seeing a figure emerging from the cloud.

"Ah!" Iruka called out, emerging from the cloud of smoke towards his stalker with a kunai drawn, "Ha?" however, upon seeing that the person following him was a 6 year old blonde kid, he faltered, and stopped his attack before it began. What was this kid, a lost puppy? Why was he following him around?

"Ah! That was so cool!" Naruto cried out, looking at Iruka in awe. He just got to see a ninja trick up close and personal.

"Hey sensei, lets play ninja, okay?" Naruto suddenly asked, still looking at Iruka with that hero worship in his gaze. Iruka didn't know what to think. He didn't expect this boy to be so desperate for companionship. He knew he lived alone, and that most of his neighbors didn't like him, but this...all he had done was mussed up his hair! And now, Iruka couldn't help but feel like the boy was clinging to him like a log in the ocean. How bad could his life possibly have been to warrant this kind of a reaction?

'This boy...for one so young, he's probably had more than enough rejection in his life. And to be orphaned so young, he's obviously incredibly lonely. What kind of hypocrite would I be if I turned him down? He only wants to play.' Iruka thought. It seemed rational, but he couldn't help but feel like he somehow wasn't supposed to be indulging the boy. The bizarre circumstances around why the Hokage refused to let him into the academy were still nagging at him, and he still couldn't come up with a good reason why he'd do that.

"I can't play with you, I've got a class to teach!" Iruka said, trying to reason with the boy. Maybe, just maybe, he could get out of this guilt free. Surely he'd see that he couldn't skip work.

"Well, after class then! Can we play ninja then?" Naruto asked, practically pleading as he looked up at Iruka. His resolve shattered. What the hell, what could it hurt to play around with the boy?

"Alright, after school, I'll play with you. But I have to get to the academy now." Iruka said, and couldn't help but smile at the way Naruto seemed to explode with joy at the idea. Yeah, it wouldn't be so bad playing with the boy for a little while. He seemed like a perfectly ordinary kid to him, which only made the fact he was banned from the academy even stranger.

'I should just ask Hokage-sama myself. That should clear things up.' Iruka thought.

-o-o-

Naruto waited impatiently on the swing outside the academy for Iruka, too happy and too eager to do anything else but sit there and wait until the day was over. Naruto had never been happier. Finally, he had found someone who didn't stare at him coldly. He was kind to him, he was nice. He even agreed to play ninjas with him! The blonde couldn't wait to play ninja with a real ninja. He was sure it was going to be the greatest thing ever! Iruka was his friend. Naruto finally had a friend.

Despite his impatience, the time seemed to fly by quickly. Before Naruto knew it, kids started filing out of the front door of the academy on their way home. Eager to meet up with Iruka, Naruto quickly got off his swing and headed towards the gathered students.

"Hey, didja see that Henge no Jutsu Mizuki-sensei showed us?" Naruto overheard one of the students say. His curiosity got the better of him and he stopped to listen in. Henge no Jutsu sounded like some kind of awesome ninja trick.

"Yeah! That was so cool. He transformed into the Hokage! It was amazing! I can't wait until we learn that. Too bad you change back if you get hit though." Another student responded, having been who the first one was addressing. These kids had Naruto's undivided attention. Henge no Jutsu? Transform into the Hokage? That sounded awesome!

"Heh, my dad's already taught me the Henge. You guys are slow." Another student added in, looking proud of himself.

"Nuh uh!" The first boy said.

"Prove it!" the second added.

"Fine then, I will!" The third boy shouted, determined. Naruto's eyes were glued to the boy as he formed a seal with his hands and started concentrating. Suddenly, with a cry of 'Henge!' the boy exploded in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, he appeared to have transformed into a poor caricature of an adult. The two other boys started laughing in response.

"That doesn't look anything like Mizuki-sensei!" The first one said between his giggles.

"You suck." The second one added.

"Hey, I'd like to see you guys do better!" The third boy shouted out indignantly, having changed back in the process.

"I can do that!" Naruto suddenly shouted out. He immediately regretted it as the three boys turned towards Naruto, looking at him skeptically.

"Huh? Who're you?" The first one asked.

"I think he's that kid my mom's always yelling at." The second one added.

"You aren't even in our class!" The third shouted. Naruto gulped. He hadn't been sure why he said it. He just suddenly had the urge to show off to the three, even though he didn't know the first thing about using ninja skills.

"So what? I can still do a henge! It's easy!" Naruto responded. It was too late to back down now, so he figured he might as well roll with his bluff. The three looked at him skeptically again before shrugging and looking at the blonde intently.

"Okay, do it then."

"Yeah, prove it!"

"I'll show you!" Naruto said triumphantly before standing straight up and getting in position. He tried putting his hands into the same position as that other boy did, pointing his middle finger and pointer finger up on both hands, and clasping one within the other. Then, he closed his eyes and concentrated on changing into Iruka. He had no idea what else to do, so he just tried to imagine himself transforming.

"Come on, we haven't got all day." The first one said impatiently.

"Yeah, do something already!" The second added in. Naruto just kept his hands in the seal and kept concentrating, trying to do something, anything, at this point. He didn't care if it was Henge, but it was far too embarrassing to just stand there and do nothing.

"Eh? What's that?" Naruto heard the third one ask, but he didn't know what he was referring to as his eyes were tightly closed and he was concentrating with all his might. Little did he know that a spiral seal had suddenly formed on his abdomen beneath his clothes as he subconsciously began to tug at his chakra, trying to drag it to the surface. However, Naruto was only 6, and had never gone through the necessary training to start building up his chakra, or even to properly mix it and draw on it. Thus, he was essentially reaching for something that his body simply couldn't give him yet. The only thing it could give, was a very different energy.

Naruto didn't notice when that energy began to seep out of his body and spin around him like a miniature cyclone, nor did he notice the fearful looks the three boys and the rest of the gathered students were giving him as this happened. Instead, he just kept concentrating, drawing more and more of that evil red chakra out as it swirled and twisted about his body in a malevolent whirlwind of terror. The sound of screaming drew Naruto out of his concentration, causing the red chakra to dissipate as he opened his eyes, just in time to see the students fleeing from him in horror.

"Huh? What's wrong? Where are you going!" Naruto called out, but none of the students felt it was necessary to respond. Instead, they just kept running.

Iruka stood in a dumbfounded stupor. What in...What in the hell was that? A kid Naruto's age, especially one with no chakra training at all, simply should not have been able to produce a reaction even a 10th as potent as that. And that chakra...it had felt downright evil. It just shouldn't have been possible for a 6 year old to produce such an effect. He didn't even know of seasoned ninjas that could instill such a sense of hatred and fear into their chakra. It simply wasn't possible.

'What the hell is this boy?' Iruka thought to himself. Perhaps he should visit the Hokage a little sooner than he had intended. In an instant, Iruka vanished, just in time for Naruto to turn around and see an empty doorway. With nothing better to do, he returned to his swing, intent on waiting for Iruka.

-o-o-

Sarutobi sighed a bit as he took another long draw on his pipe. He found he had been smoking an awful lot lately, and he knew it couldn't be good for his health. He was an old man, after all. He should have probably been treating his body a bit better. However, as they say, old habits die hard. In the same vein, he figured it was a given that the older the habit was, the harder it was to die. And smoking? He must have started that when he was 16. He couldn't imagine he'd be quiting anytime soon.

"What is it, Iruka?" Sarutobi asked without turning around, taking another draw on his pipe. Iruka didn't bother to act surprised. This was the Hokage, after all. He wasn't egotistical enough to believe he could actually sneak up on the man.

"I want to know why you prevented Uzumaki Naruto from entering the ninja academy." Iruka asked in a determined tone. Sarutobi turned and looked at the man, briefly wondering why he suddenly broached this subject. He had been expecting to receive that question shortly after giving Iruka the order, but instead he accepted it without question. But to become curious now, after a day had passed, was a bit odd.

"I have my reasons. Why are you interested?" Sarutobi asked, figuring he may as well get straight to the point.

"Preventing a child from becoming a student isn't exactly common practice, Hokage-sama. Not only that, I can't see a good reason for it, considering Naruto has done nothing wrong in the past to warrant any kind of punishment, let alone one so severe." Iruka responded. He hoped the Hokage would have just come out and say his part, give a concise reason and be done with it. The fact he seemed evasive only made Iruka's suspicions deepen.

"It's not a punishment. I merely feel its in Naruto's best interest not to become a ninja." Sarutobi replied. That didn't seem to be the answer Iruka was expecting.

"Naruto's best interest? What's that supposed to mean? Wouldn't his best interest be what makes him happy? Does this have anything to do with the way the villagers treat him, or that strange evil chakra he has?" Iruka asked. Sarutobi sat up in an instant at the mention of the evil chakra, suddenly becoming very serious. Iruka only gulped. He knew something was going on. Hopefully, he could get the Hokage to tell him exactly what that was.

"Evil chakra? What do you mean?" Sarutobi asked, cautiously. He seemed on edge all of a sudden. That certainly got his attention, Iruka figured.

"After classes let out, Naruto was trying to show off to some of the students and manifested an incredibly evil feeling chakra. Even the students could feel its malevolence. They ran away screaming shortly after he started." Iruka explained. Sarutobi slumped into his chair, seemingly becoming much more fragile in that instant. If Iruka didn't know any better, he would have sworn the Hokage had aged considerably.

"This...does not bode well..." The Hokage said, his pipe forgotten for a moment. He glanced at Iruka suddenly, debating with himself the merits of either telling him the truth or keeping it secret. With a sigh, he figured Iruka might as well know.

"What I am about to tell you must not leave this room. Do you understand?" Sarutobi insisted, sounding exactly like the authoritative leader he was. Iruka didn't even consider for a second disobeying the order.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." He replied obediently.

"6 years ago, as I'm sure you are aware, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked our village." Sarutobi began. He saw Iruka's confusion, but did not allow any interruption before continuing.

"That night, after the battle, I made a new law just after the Yondaime passed, and made every ninja present at the time swear to never disobey it. It was a secret law, and only the Jounin, Chuunin and civilians that were present during the Kyuubi attack should have known about it, and what it involved. You were only a boy at the time, not even a genin, so its understandable that you wouldn't know about it. However, considering the number of people who seem to know about it now, I can only suspect that someone has broken this rule, and the knowledge I wanted kept secret has spread to almost every adult in Konohagakure, even those that were too young or not present during the attack. I'm honestly surprised you haven't caught wind of it yet. That was fortunate, I think." Sarutobi said. Iruka could only look even more confused than before. He saw that Sarutobi had taken a brief pause to smoke his pipe, and felt the urge to speak up.

"But, what does this have to do with Naruto?" Iruka asked. Sarutobi glanced at him and he quickly shut up, but felt his question was valid regardless.

"It has everything to do with Naruto. That law I made, was to forbid anyone from revealing the true fate of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Yondaime did not successfully kill it, as I led the village to believe." Iruka sucked in some air suddenly, already connecting the dots in his mind and wishing them to be false. It couldn't be. It just...wasn't possible.

"The Yondaime was only able to seal the Kyuubi into the body of an infant, and died shortly thereafter." Sarutobi finished. Iruka clenched his fists, not wanting to believe what he was hearing. That...that monster was still alive? The damn demon that had killed his parents and destroyed half the village, was allowed to live?

"Naruto..." Iruka muttered, but trailed off. Naruto is the demon fox? As much as he didn't want to believe it, it made sense.

"Indeed. Naruto was that infant. In order to protect him, and prevent a panic in the village, I forbade anyone from revealing what really happened to the fox or that he was within Naruto, as well as telling the village that the Yondaime had died in battle to deliver a death blow to the fox. However, it seems someone saw fit to disobey me, and now Naruto has become completely ostracized because of it." Sarutobi finished. Iruka could only nod, still feeling oddly numb after absorbing that information. He didn't know what to think, or what to feel.

"I...see." He managed to say, but he still didn't quite comprehend it.

"So you see, I prevented Naruto from becoming a ninja for his own benefit. If we were to train him as a Shinobi, people would undoubtedly want to use the power of the nine tailed fox as a weapon against our enemies, and that is not a fate I want for him, nor would I condone such hubris as to believe we could control such power. Its better if he learns to accept life as a civilian, and he must never learn the truth of his past." Sarutobi sat back and took another drag on his pipe, savoring the taste of it as it filled his lungs. Iruka was still standing like a frozen statue in the middle of his office, clearly lost in thought.

"Do you understand, Iruka?" He asked, breaking the chunin from his inner turmoil. Iruka merely nodded and quickly left. He had a lot of thinking to do.

Sandaime could only sigh as he tried to relax into his chair, feeling that perhaps things could only get easier from here. Had he known how terribly Iruka had misunderstood what he had said, he probably would have been much more worried than he was. He probably would have been able to prevent what was about to happen as well.

Instead, he simply picked up a nearby book, and began to read.

-o-o-

Iruka wandered the streets of Konohagakure in a daze, barely paying attention to where he was going. He was lost in his thoughts, which weren't getting any more coherent as he went. He didn't know what he should do, didn't know if what he felt he had to do was what he should do.

That demon...that damn demon had caused nothing but pain and suffering for everyone in the village, and the Hokage was allowing him to live on as a 6 year old boy. What was he thinking? What would happen when Naruto came of age? He clearly already had some level of demonic power, if that demonstration from earlier was any sign. But...Naruto was so innocent, so childlike. It was completely different from how he would expect the demon fox to act after being trapped in the body of a boy. But...foxes are tricksters by nature. Was it all a ruse? Was he merely acting like a harmless, ordinary boy to lower the guard of those around him, and earn sympathy? Iruka didn't know. He couldn't know.

But he had to find out.

It wasn't long before he found himself in front of the ninja academy, and Naruto was upon him almost immediately. Iruka almost jumped out of his skin as Naruto approached him, but he quickly chided himself for that reaction. He couldn't let the boy suspect anything! He couldn't risk him getting suspicious.

"What's wrong, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, seeing Iruka acting oddly edgy around him. For a brief moment, he could have sworn he saw that cold look everyone else gives him enter Iruka's eyes, but he discarded that notion immediately. Iruka was his friend, he was the only one that cared about him. He wouldn't give him a cold look.

"Nothing is wrong, Naruto. Nothing at all." Iruka muttered, but he certainly didn't feel confident in his words. Naruto accepted them immediately though, without a hint of suspicion. 'Is he really the demon fox?'

"Say, Naruto. Didn't I agree to play Ninja with you earlier? Why don't we go out into the forest right now and play some." Iruka suggested, causing Naruto's face to light up suddenly.

"Yeah! That's a great idea, lets go!" Naruto shouted out, practically vibrating in place. He certainly was hyper...

"How about you lead the way? We want to find a good place, far away from the village, so that we can play all we want. If you find a real good place, I'll even let you play with one of my shuriken." Iruka said. Naruto accepted the idea without hesitation and immediately headed off towards the edge of the village, urging Iruka to follow him. Idly, slowly, Iruka drew a single Kunai from his leg pouch as he followed behind the hyperactive boy. He needed to be quick, painless. Even if it was the demon fox, Iruka couldn't bring himself to cause such a young child to suffer. Besides, if he didn't kill it with the first blow, there was no guarantee that the fox wouldn't recover and retaliate.

'But...I don't even know if he's truly the fox. The Hokage said so, but...can I really kill such an innocent child?' Iruka thought, following after the young boy with the Kunai loosely held in his hand.

'I need to be sure. I need to get him to reveal his true nature. Only then can I kill him without the guilt, without mercy. But how...?' Iruka slipped the Kunai back into the pouch as he considered that, following Naruto closer and closer to the edge of the village. Pretty soon, they'd be coming up on the village wall. He couldn't risk being seen with Naruto by the gate guards. Besides, there were more than enough secluded sections of forest within the walls of Konohagakure to kill the fox without potentially endangering others. Luckily, Naruto seemed to be leading him to just such a spot.

'I know. I'll just come at him with killing intent. If he's truly putting up a ruse to trick me, he should drop it when he sees I'm trying to kill him, and fight back. If he doesn't...then I could always say it was just an act. We're playing ninja, after all. I could claim I got carried away. I'll apologize, and we can go onto a different activity. No harm done.' Iruka thought, pulling the Kunai out of his side pouch again.

'But if he is the demon fox...' Iruka didn't finish that thought, instead clenching his fist around the handle of his Kunai and holding it at the ready.

"Ne ne, how's this Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked happily, spinning around to look at his elder, only to have the smile fall from his face in an instant. Iruka had a kunai in his hand and was standing rigid, giving him a look far colder than any Naruto had ever received. The closest thing he had ever seen was from that baker a year ago, who had beat him up for talking to his imaginary friend. But this look...it was so much worse than that. It filled Naruto's mind with fear. He could feel his legs shake as he looked into Iruka's eyes, not wanting to see those horrible eyes but being unable to look away. Every instinct Naruto had told him to run away. His body was certain that Iruka intended to kill him. His mind wanted to disagree.

"I...Iruka?" Naruto asked cautiously, fearfully. He took a step back despite himself, shaking like a leaf under the intense gaze of the chuunin. He couldn't believe it. Why...why would Iruka look at him like that?

"Die." Iruka said it in a tone that harbored no response. It wasn't a suggestion, nor an order. It was a statement, an absolute truth that could not be second guessed. Iruka was moving and Naruto could barely comprehend it, didn't know how to react, didn't know what to do. He could only close his eyes, throw up his hands, and scream.

"NO!" Naruto cried out, his voice carrying far more power and force than a six year old should be able to apply. Iruka stopped in his tracks as a wave of malevolent energy smashed against his body like a tsunami against a shoreline. He had practically felt an impact from it, and dropped his kunai in surprise. Naruto's body was surrounded in a brilliant crimson energy, the like of which Iruka had only felt twice before. Once had been earlier that day, when Naruto had released it around the school children. The other had been six years prior, on the day his parents died.

'He is the demon fox!' Iruka thought, overcoming the wave of terror Naruto was putting out and drawing another Kunai from his pouch. His cause was suddenly justified, his guilt gone, taking any ounce of mercy he had with it. Iruka would hold nothing back. For the good of the entire village, he had every intention of ending the Demon Fox where he stood, regardless of the body it wore.

"Die!" Iruka cried out. This time it was an order, as if Iruka intended to force his enemy to fall simply because he commanded it. He wasted no time charging headlong into the storm of chakra Naruto was putting out, his Kunai ready and willing to spill blood.

Naruto opened his eyes, only to see Iruka charging with even more intensity than before. He didn't have time to think or plan, even if he could have through the overwhelming fear. Instead, he reacted on instincts he didn't know he had, instincts that didn't even feel like they were his.

Iruka struck with as much force as he could muster, his eyes widening in surprise as his blow failed to connect. Naruto wasn't even within arm's reach by the time he brought his blade down, having ducked and leapt to the side almost before Iruka started his attack.

The boy had clearly changed. The whisker marks on his face had darkened and become more pronounced, and his eyes had taken on an unmistakably vulpine appearance, becoming dark red orbs with slit pupils that seemed to ooze the same malice that polluted his chakra. Despite this, his face was still a mask of fear, as if the body and the eyes were experiencing separate reactions.

'I can't afford to be so sloppy. He's just a boy. He's not as strong as he was 6 years ago. I can kill him! I have to kill him!' Iruka recovered from his failed attack with a fist full of shuriken he let fly towards the nimble boy. Again, he dodged in a way that seemed like he wasn't even trying, But that attack had only been a distraction.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto had to stop at the shout, his eyes widening in surprise as the forest became filled with copies of Iruka, each one holding a Kunai at the ready. Naruto nearly wet himself as his body went into overdrive, dodging and weaving from the waves of ninja coming at him from every direction. But Naruto proved too quick, even for a field of clones, always narrowly avoiding their attacks by a hair's width.

Finally, apparently tired of chasing him down, all of the clones threw their weapons simultaneously towards the crouching boy. Knowing he couldn't possibly dodge so many projectiles, Naruto simply leapt, surprising himself with how high he managed to go.

It was then that another Kunai came flying out of the tree line straight for Naruto's chest. Unable to change his direction in mid air, he quickly lifted his hands to protect himself, taking the blade in the forearm.

"Aaah!" Naruto cried out in pain as the blade pierced his arm completely, spraying his blood onto his shirt as the tip emerged through the other side of his arm. He landed awkwardly on top of one of the Iruka clones, passing through it like it wasn't even there. Immediately afterward, they all faded away like smoke in the wind as the real Iruka leapt down from a nearby tree.

'They were...they were illusions?' Naruto thought, not believing it. They had looked so real. He could have sworn...but it was all a trick. Iruka had tricked him into jumping, so that he could get him while he was stuck in mid air. If he wasn't so filled with fear, Naruto would have been impressed.

"Why...Why do you want to kill me?" Naruto asked, pulling the kunai out of his arm with a grunt of pain and dropping it to the ground like it was on fire. He stared up at Iruka as he approached, another Kunai in hand. He couldn't understand it. Iruka had been so friendly before.

"Don't play dumb, you damn demon. You destroyed half the village 6 years ago and killed my parents. This...This is vengeance!" Iruka shouted, rushing forward and taking another swing at the boy, which he deftly ducked.

"What do you mean? I don't understand." Naruto muttered, dashing away from Iruka and jumping into a nearby tree to avoid another barrage of shuriken.

"Don't act like you don't remember! 6 years ago, the Yondaime Hokage died in order to seal you into that body. You're the Kyuubi no Kitsune that attacked Konohagakure!" Iruka shouted. Naruto froze in place, not believing what he heard. He...He was the demon fox? Was that why everyone looked at him with such cold eyes, why everyone hated him? Why wouldn't they, if he had decimated the village six years ago? He...it was all his fault. All those people, all those villagers. He had killed them? His entire life, everything he could remember for the past 6 years, that was his punishment?

Naruto grunted suddenly, feeling something cold and hard plunge into his body, followed by a sharp pain from his abdomen and a warm wetness that spread across him, soaking into his shirt and shorts. He had become lost in thought, and that had cost him. Iruka was now kneeling before him, still gripping the kunai he had just stabbed Naruto with tightly in his hand.

"Die..." Iruka muttered, a few tears making their way into his eyes despite himself. "Just die!" Iruka pushed forward with the Kunai, forcing Naruto to stumble backwards until his back came into contact with a tree trunk. Still, Iruka pushed. He pushed until he felt the familiar resistance of his Kunai biting into wood before he let go.

Iruka stumbled back, looking at the boy literally nailed to the tree with surprisingly little remorse. However, there was something about what he was seeing that didn't seem right. Naruto's face had changed. His face was no longer a mask of fear, but rather a more neutral indifference, while his eyes still held as much malice as before. An odd sizzling sound caught his attention and Iruka glanced to the wound he had put in Naruto's arm, horrified to see that it was rapidly healing.

"You..." Naruto muttered, causing Iruka to turn his attention away from the boy's arm. Shouldn't he be dead? A wound that big on a body so small, how could he still speak?

"You aren't Iruka." Naruto suddenly said, before taking a step forward. Despite being pinned to the tree behind him, he seemed to have no qualms with just letting the kunai stay behind as he pulled himself off it. Much to Iruka's horror, that wound, too, began to close.

"W..What!" Iruka muttered, not understanding what the boy was talking about, nor particularly liking how ineffective his apparent death blow had been.

"You aren't Iruka! Iruka was kind to me! Iruka was my friend! He wouldn't say something so horrible! You're just using Henge! It must be Henge!" Naruto suddenly dashed forward, a look of determination on his face as he picked up one of Iruka's fallen kunai in mid run. Iruka was too shocked to react, not that there was much he could do against the raw speed Naruto clearly gained from the Kyuubi. He'd been one step behind the boy during the entire fight. He had no chance of avoiding the blow that followed.

Naruto leapt and impacted Iruka's torso with the force of a cannonball, burying the kunai into the man's chest in the process. He had heard what those kids said earlier. Henge let you change into other people, but if you got injured it disappeared. He was determined to see the face of this impostor, determined to see who would want to hurt him with such lies.

But Iruka simply hit the ground with a grunt of pain, Naruto crouched on his abdomen with his hand firmly around the handle of the Kunai knife embedded in Iruka's left lung. The fallen ninja coughed up some blood, but he failed to transform.

"It...it's henge..." Naruto muttered, suddenly uncertain. "It's Henge!" With this, he pulled the knife from Iruka's body and plunged it in once more, earning another cry of pain but no transformation. "It's Henge! It's Henge! It's Henge! It has to be Henge! Henge!" Naruto cried out, over and over, each time pulling out the blade only to plunge it into the man's chest again and again in a barely controlled frenzy. Soon, Iruka lay still, his entire chest bloodied, but his body never changed. Naruto could only slump back and stare in horror at this. It...it really was Iruka. Iruka had said all those things. He had killed Iruka.

He...killed...Iruka!

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Naruto cried out, back peddling away from the body as quickly as he could. He didn't know how to react. He didn't know what to do. His mind was in absolute turmoil. He was the demon fox? How could he be the demon fox? But he just killed Iruka. A normal boy wouldn't kill someone, especially not his only friend. He must have been the demon fox. Naruto curled up into a ball as his mind began to race, unsure of what conclusion to come to. That was when he saw it, the strange spiral seal on his abdomen. The seal! That must be the seal Iruka had mentioned, the one Yondaime used to seal the Kyuubi.

"If I really am the Kyuubi..." Naruto muttered, grabbing one of Iruka's discarded kunai off the ground, "...Then I should go back to being a fox!" Naruto took the Kunai and pressed it hard against his flesh before dragging it across the seal, cutting open his abdomen and spilling his blood in the process.

"And if I'm just a boy, then I don't wanna live with this stupid fox anymore!" Naruto continued, dragging the kunai across his belly again. It was worthless, though. The Kyuubi had no desire to die, and was sending Naruto's regeneration into overdrive to keep his wounds healing almost as fast as Naruto was opening them. As well, the cuts across the seal had absolutely no effect on how well it held. Despite this, Naruto continued to attack himself with the Kunai, desperate to somehow cut the damn fox out of him if he could.

"Get out!" Naruto cried out, shutting his eyes tightly as he impaled himself on the knife. He opened his eyes again, only to find himself kneeling in a pool of foul smelling water, in what he could only assume was a sewer.

"Foolish boy, do you truly want to die?" Naruto spun around and quickly turned his gaze upward, trying to take in the immensity of the cage before him. He couldn't see anything beyond it, but he was certain that is where the voice came from.

"You're the fox, aren't you!" Naruto accused the darkness, earning only a low chuckle in response. It was still incredibly deep, and seemed to cause the floor beneath him to rumble. The beast beyond the cage had a remarkably powerful voice.

"And what if I am?" The voice asked. Despite how loud and clear it was, Naruto felt that the fox was barely speaking above a whisper.

"You ruined my life. You made Iruka hate me. I want you out of my body!" Naruto cried out, pointing accusingly at the cage again. The voice once again chuckled its deep, amused chuckle, and Naruto couldn't help but feel that the cage seemed to be stretching, getting bigger, surrounding him.

"I would want nothing more than to do just that, little boy. But I'm afraid I'm a bit too attached to this place, as it were." The voice replied, as the cage only seemed to continue to surround Naruto. Soon, it truly was completely around him, bars in every direction. It almost made him wonder which one of them was truly caged, the fox, or Naruto.

"You and I, we are of one body. Besides, why would you want me to leave? I make you strong, I make you powerful. I've protected you since you were an infant. What have they done for you?" The voice said, causing the cage to vibrate with the power of its voice. Naruto dropped his head at that, not sure how to respond.

"They hate you. Despise you. They wish you were never born. Why would you want to be with them?" The voice came from Naruto's right this time, causing the boy to turn towards it to give his response.

"They only hate me because of you! They'd all care about me if you weren't around! They'd acknowledge me if it weren't for you!" Naruto shouted. Everything was the fox's fault. Everything would have been fine if it weren't for him.

"Are you sure?" The voice replied from Naruto's left. Naruto turned to it, but the voice seemed intent to address him from the side.

"How do you know they would treat you any better? If I were to disappear right now, what difference would it make?" He asked, from Naruto's right.

"Would they love you? Acknowledge you? What would make them change? Could you really convince them that I was gone?" This time the voice came from the left.

"They hate me, fear me, distrust me. And because of that, they feel the same for you. If you approached them, telling them I was gone forever, would they have any reason to believe you? Would they truly accept you with open arms?" The voice asked from directly in front of Naruto. The six year old had to admit, that didn't sound likely. They'd just call him a liar and chase him off again. Nothing would change.

"But...if you were never around, they wouldn't have a reason to hate me." Naruto weakly argued.

"What's done is done. The past cannot be changed. You can only move forward." This response came from behind, but Naruto didn't bother to turn towards it. If the fox wanted to move around so much, Naruto didn't feel the need to turn to face the voice.

"You cannot make them like you, they will always hate you, always." The voice said, now coming from all around as he seemed to circle around Naruto as he spoke. "But I, I am different. I have always been there for you. When they reject you, I accept you. When they hurt you, I protect you. No one will ever love you, no one will ever care about you, fight for you, or wish you well. Only I care about you. Only I will protect you. Only I love you."

Naruto looked up, trying to see through the bars to the thing that was beyond it. Was it truly a monster? It's words were so kind, and they rang true in Naruto's mind. If it weren't for that weird power he felt from the fox, Iruka would have killed him. It was the fox that had protected him. Could it really be so bad?

"I am your friend, young one. Your only friend. The only friend you will ever have. I can make you strong, I can make you powerful, and I can make them acknowledge you." Naruto looked up sharply at that, desperately trying to see the Kyuubi through the bars.

"R...Really?" He asked. Another chuckle from the voice was his response, and Naruto smiled a little despite himself.

"Oh yes. I can make the entire village acknowledge you. I can make the Hokage let you become a ninja. With my help, you can become the Hokage yourself. All you must do, is a little favor for me." The voice responded as Naruto hung on every word.

Him...Hokage? The Hokage was the leader of the the entire village. Everyone would acknowledge him then, even people from other countries!

"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked, eagerly.

"Simply walk through the bars, my boy. Just come through the bars." Naruto could almost hear the smirk in the way the voice spoke, but he had no reason to disbelieve the words, or distrust them. With barely a moment of hesitation, Naruto walked towards the bars. Slowly, carefully, he slipped through, looking around in the darkness for his friend.

"Hahahahaha!" Naruto jumped with fear from the sound of the roaring laughter. The fox hadn't held back its full voice that time, causing the entire room to shake as if from an earthquake from the power of its laugh. Naruto could see it now, in all its horror. The fox stood before him as a true monolith, a gargantuan form rising far above him. He doubted he was any larger than one of its teeth as it hunched over him, looking down at him with a mischievous smirk and a diabolical look in its eyes. Naruto would have wet himself were he capable of such a thing in this plane, as he was completely shaken with fear down to his very core. All the sweet words spoken moments before were forgotten in an instant as Naruto truly and completely regretted his decision to listen to the fox.

"Foolish boy. So trusting, so gullible. You don't even know what you've done." The rumbling voice of the fox rang out across the cage like thunder as Naruto cowered before it. Oh yes, the fox would give him power. He would make everyone acknowledge him. But he severely doubted that the boy would achieve it in the way he originally thought, nor that he'd be in any condition to enjoy it. As his smirk of victory widened, The fox lifted a paw and brought it down towards the trembling boy, the very representation of Naruto's Psyche. Now the true fun began.

Back in the forest, crouched over a puddle of his own blood, Naruto suddenly jerked upright, the Kunai falling from his fingers as he fell on his back. Power surged through his body. He could feel it, hear it, taste it, see it. It pulsed within him and flowed freely from his form, quickly surrounding him in a cloud of red chakra. It felt amazing, exhilarating. It was unlike anything Naruto had experienced before. However, there was a fine line between pleasure and pain, and as the power continued to build and build, it pushed past that line and kept going. Naruto was no longer enjoying the build of power as the tingling that spread across his body went from pleasant to irritating to burning, and it was only getting worse and worse. The boy opened his mouth to let out a cry of pain as the power continued to build within him, his mind fraying at the edges from the intensity of this overwhelming power. His body couldn't take it, it was like trying to shove the ocean into a thimble. As the power continued to build, Naruto couldn't help but feel as if he was going to explode at any moment. It was too much! He, quite literally, couldn't contain it.

And then, the flames began. The spark of power seemed to race across the aura of chakra that had enveloped his body before the entire thing just burst into flames. Naruto let out a wail of absolute agony as he began to thrash about, desperately wanting to put himself out. But these flames would not be stifled, they could not be. While an ordinary flame burns brightly, rising towards the sky as if reaching out for more oxygen to burn and consume, this flame had no need for oxygen. It only wanted chakra, and it consumed it with the same vigor. Naruto was a bonfire that not even water would quench as he thrashed and rolled and screamed and screamed. The pain was unbearable, it was beyond anything Naruto could imagine. He could practically feel his mind breaking under the strain of the unbearable pain of the insatiable flames, and there was nothing he could do to dull it. His only choice was to sit, and to burn. It was beyond what a human should be able to experience and survive, but Naruto was unfortunate enough to be capable of complete regeneration. No matter how much he burned, he simply regenerated, and burned again.

He did not know how long he had been there before the pain seemed to go away. But, is that really what happened? Perhaps, he had just become accustomed to it? He was still burning, there was no doubt about that, but it didn't seem to hurt like it had. In fact, it was oddly pleasant. Naruto sat up and looked down at his hand, watching in an odd fascination as his skin cracked, peeled away and incinerated only to grow back almost immediately, just to repeat the process again. He found it oddly hypnotic, and briefly wondered what else looked so interesting as it burned.

It was then that he spotted Iruka's body. No, that wasn't Iruka. It was a fake. Iruka was his friend. But the fox was his only friend. Maybe Iruka was the fox? Yes. That made sense. With a grin, Naruto lifted his hand towards the body of the faux-Iruka and concentrated for a moment, willing it to burn.

Instantly, obediently, the body complied, slowly smoldering at first before it simply burst into flame and burned. A low, amused chuckled escaped Naruto's throat as he watched the body burn. The hair vanished almost immediately, followed rather quickly by the skin. But the flesh, that took a little longer, as well as his clothing. But still, both eventually succumbed to the flames, consumed irrevocably. The last to go were his bones, but even they were not impervious to Naruto's flames. As he watched, the embers burned lines across the bone before it simply crumbled away. Soon, the fire died, having nothing left to consume. There was only ash now, and that was being carried away by the wind.

"He burned rather well, Iruka-sensei." Naruto muttered with a grin, getting to his feet as the flames that had bathed his body finally seemed to recede, returning Naruto to some semblance of his normal appearance. However, he was unmistakably changed. No one would ever notice, as no one had bothered to pay enough attention to the boy to truly recognize him, but that youthful vitality that he used to beam almost constantly was gone, replaced by something else, something darker, something mischievous. His eyes no longer held the innocence they once did either, now holding a glimmer that could only be described as crazed, as if he weren't entirely sound of mind.

Naruto, briefly, entertained the idea of setting fire to a tree, just to watch it burn, before he remembered something more important. He wanted to join the ninja academy, didn't he? Yeah...he wanted...he wanted to become Hokage. But...didn't the Hokage say he couldn't be a ninja? Perhaps he should visit him. Yes, that sounded like a good idea. With that, Naruto stood and started down towards the Hokage tower, briefly wondering how a Shadow would look when it burned.

-o-o-

A chill ran down the Hokage's spine suddenly, inexplicably. He felt as if there was some profound wrongness with the world, a horrific taint on the very fabric of his reality as he knew it. And worst of all, he felt as if the source of that feeling just walked on his grave. It was a bad omen unlike any he had felt before, a chill that sent cold shocks through his bones, directly into his soul. Something...Something terrible had happened.

Needless to say, Sandaime was on edge as he turned towards the doors of his office, almost expecting them to burst open in that instant while simultaneously thinking that was the last thing that would happen. He wasn't thinking straight. His eyes darted across the room, towards a crystal ball that lay atop a simple pillow. He needed to consult the ball, discover the source of his ill feelings.

The sound of footsteps halted that process of thought before he continued it. Someone was, in fact, coming towards his door. Someone small, as the foot steps held little weight to them. Sarutobi turned and faced his doors, fully expecting whoever it was to shed some light onto the omen he had just felt.

He had not been expecting a small, blonde six year old to come through that door. And the presence of this particular boy made Sarutobi's blood run cold and breath seize in his chest. Anything, anything involving this boy that could have given him such a premonition, could only spell absolute disaster.

"What are you doing here, Naruto? It's late, shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Sarutobi said simply, masking his suspicions and apprehension behind a facade of grandfatherly kindness. He could only hope, and pray, that his doubts were unfounded.

"I'm going to be a ninja." Naruto stated. It was simple, it was to the point. It sounded absolutely wrong coming from the throat of the young boy. Nothing Naruto had ever uttered had been said in such a cruel, straight forward and harsh tone. Barely above a monotone, he spoke as if he were presenting a cold, indisputable fact to someone he found incredibly distasteful. Naruto was a vibrant boy, ever cheerful, always loud, always extravagant. He was never quiet, never distant, and certainly never spoke in a threatening tone. Sarutobi was almost tempted to believe that someone had simply transformed into the boy and was doing an incredibly poor job of pretending to be him, but that arguably made less sense.

"You're going to make me a ninja." Naruto added, in the same tone as before. He had the slightest hint of a smirk on his face that seemed to fluctuate as he slowly entered the room. It was almost as if he was trying not to smile, as if he was privy to some great joke Sarutobi wasn't intelligent enough to understand, and he didn't want to have to explain it.

"Naruto, I kept you from entering the Ninja Academy for your own good. Its in your best interest that you do not become a-"

"SHUT UP!" Naruto interrupted the Hokage before he could finish, his face suddenly contorting into a look of such rage that Sarutobi actually had to resist the urge to flinch at the sight of it. It was gone in an instant though, replaced by that oddly empty expression he wore when he entered the room. Sarutobi knew something was definitely wrong now. This was not Naruto, of that he was certain. Something had happened to the boy. Something had changed him.

"It's your fault, all your fault. Everything's your fault." Naruto suddenly said, still walking closer. Ever slowly, ever deliberately crossing the room a step at a time.

"You didn't want me to be a ninja. You sent that fake Iruka after me. It's your fault he tried to hurt me. It's your fault he said all those mean things." Naruto said, accusingly. Sarutobi wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that, but it certainly didn't sound good.

"Fake Iruka? What do you mean by that? What did he say to you?" Sarutobi asked, but he had a feeling he knew what 'mean things' Naruto meant. This was bad. The boy had clearly learned of the Kyuubi, and from the looks of it that information had caused him to snap.

"The real Iruka is my friend! The real Iruka is my only friend. He didn't let that fake Iruka hurt me. He protected me. Iruka loves me. He makes me strong..." Naruto completely ignored the Hokage's question, raising his head and standing up straight for the first time as his face cracked into a full, mischievous grin. "...He makes me burn."

This time, Sarutobi did take a step back. The sight of a six year old boy suddenly bursting into crimson flames was not the kind of thing even a hardened Shinobi like himself could easily ignore. He could see, with crystal clarity, the way Naruto's body burned from the intense flames. Embers rose from his flesh by the thousands, vanishing a few inches above his body as they completely burnt themselves out. Sarutobi knew them to be pieces of Naruto's skin, despite the fact the boy seemed to be regrowing what burnt away at an alarmingly accelerated rate. Oddly enough, his hair did not burn, nor did his clothing. Only his body seemed to be effected. Only his flesh was on fire.

The room was quickly filled with the scent of burnt skin and flesh. There was no doubt that Naruto was truly, honestly on fire at that very moment. Despite it all, he did not scream. He didn't even appear to be in discomfort. In fact, he was still grinning. The grin is what made it the most disturbing.

"W...What is this?" Sarutobi muttered in shock and fascination. He could only assume that this was some kind of representation of the Kyuubi's power. He could remember, with distinct clarity, the fires the Kyuubi brought forth six years ago. The deep, crimson flames that covered its enormous body. It was not something he would soon forget. The fact that Naruto could access it, could call it forth with such ease, and seemed perfectly content to bathe himself in it was a frightening idea indeed.

"I'm gonna be a ninja. I'm gonna grow up big and strong, and become a great ninja. And one day, I'll take your job. I'll be Hokage, and you won't stop me." Naruto said simply, still bathed in flame. He started walking forward again, resuming his slow approach towards the Hokage.

"And what if I do stop you?" Sarutobi asked, fairly certain he knew the answer already.

"I'll make you burn. I'll make you burn, Just like that fake Iruka!" Naruto shouted, the flames seeming to jump in intensity in response to his emotions. Sarutobi's heart sank at that. It seemed Iruka was now dead, and Naruto had apparently convinced himself that the Kyuubi was, in fact, Iruka, and the other was somehow a fake. If he had already taken a life, then he had to tread carefully from here. It was obvious Naruto was hardly in a stable condition. Who knew the level of damage he could do to the village if he were to try.

"I'll make you burn. I'll make you all burn. Iruka won't let you stop me. I'll make anyone that wants to stop me burn and burn! I will be a ninja! I will be Hokage! You can't stop me." Naruto's tone was becoming crazed, his eyes wild. They were still his normal azure eyes, but they were distant, unfocused. "No one can stop me." He added, almost in a whisper.

"Do you know what a Hokage is, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked. It was obvious to the aged ninja that he only had two real options here: He could either reason with the boy and try to calm him down, or kill him where he stood. He'd rather not have to resort to that, but if need be, he would be willing to take Naruto out for the sake of the village. Hopefully, Sarutobi could talk some sense into him. He prayed the boy would listen.

"The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village. I'm strong! I can be Hokage. I will be Hokage." Naruto insisted. He seemed to be in thought for a moment before he chuckled to himself, "Hokage. I bet they have to burn really well."

"I'll acknowledge you as a potential Hokage, and allow you to become a Ninja, but on one condition." Sarutobi said. He saw he had Naruto's undivided attention at that. Good, it seemed that despite the boy's animosity towards him, he was still capable of listening.

"A Hokage must be a protector of his people. He has to put the villagers before himself. Only when you can protect others before yourself can you become Hokage. And only when you promise never to attack a citizen of the leaf, will I let you become a ninja." Sarutobi said. Naruto looked at the man curiously for a moment, his flames dying down until they disappeared. Protect others before yourself? That didn't make sense.

"Why would I want to protect them? They all hate me, none of them care about me. I only need to be strong to be Hokage, and I'm plenty strong." Naruto insisted. What good would protecting others do him? He didn't need any of them. He'd just burn them all anyway, then they wouldn't need protecting.

"No matter how powerful you become, you would never be strong with that mindset, Naruto. When you want to protect something important to you, more important than your life, and you're willing to fight to protect that important thing, only then can you truly be strong." Sarutobi stated. Naruto actually took a step back at that, as if struck. That...that made no sense! He was plenty strong! Iruka made him strong. He didn't need to protect anything. Iruka made him strong!

Sarutobi watched Naruto's reaction with great sadness and disappointment. It was obvious the boy wouldn't be able to understand such a lesson. No one had ever cared about him, nor had he been able to form an attachment with anything else. He couldn't expect him to comprehend the intense desire to protect something you cared about.

"You may think you are strong, but do you think you can beat me?" Sarutobi asked, surprising the young boy and drawing him out of his inner thoughts.

"I am little more than an old man, far from my prime, and you have the power of the greatest demon the world has ever known. Despite that, if you fight me, you will lose." Sarutobi stated simply, trying to gauge Naruto's reaction to that. Before the boy could respond, he continued.

"There isn't a single jutsu or technique I know that can compare to the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, but even so, I would defeat you if you were to fight me. Do you know why, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked. He saw the boy shake his head in the negative.

"It is because of my love for this village, and all who live in it. I would be willing to sacrifice my life to protect every last one of them, and that makes me strong. While you, you have nothing. You don't even have a reason to fight. It was the same six years ago, when the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village. With all its power, all its immense ability, it was still defeated by a single man, who had the desire to protect his village above all else." Sarutobi stated. Naruto seemed to grow angry at the thought of it, but he didn't say anything.

"I am willing to sacrifice my life to protect this village, and that makes me strong. It is why I am Hokage. Unless you learn to feel that, you can never become Hokage." Sarutobi stated. That was ridiculous! Iruka made him strong, Iruka said he could make him Hokage. He didn't need to protect anyone. Once he became a ninja, Iruka would be able to make him Hokage. That's all he needed. He'd become a great ninja, and become Hokage.

"That's a lie!" Naruto suddenly shouted, his flame returning. "I can become Hokage on my own. I don't need to protect anyone. Once I become a ninja, I can become Hokage!"

"You can't become a ninja without my consent, Naruto. And I cannot give you my consent unless I know you won't harm anyone of this village." Sarutobi stated. Naruto grunted in annoyance and crossed his arms, looking away from the elder.

"I don't wanna." He said simply, childishly. It was the closest thing Sarutobi had seen yet that resembled the real Naruto. Perhaps, there was still a shred of that boy underneath whatever it was the Fox had done to him. It was a small glimmer of hope, at least.

"Promise me that you will not bring harm of any kind to anyone from this village, or fight me here and now. Those are your only options, Naruto. I will do whatever it takes to protect the people of this village. If you do not agree, I'll have no choice but to fight you." Sarutobi replied. Naruto turned his back on the man and stared at the opposite wall. He thought about it, weighing the pros and cons of it. On the one hand, he could just burn the old man into ash, but he really didn't want to do that. He didn't know why, but Naruto didn't want to cross the old man. It wasn't fear, it was something else. Respect, maybe? No, that wasn't it. There was something about him that made Naruto feel edgy, like any fight he could get in with the old man would be worthless. Futile. Oh well, he might as well cooperate. As long as nobody tried to hurt him, he didn't see a reason why he couldn't let them go unburned.

"Alright. I promise not to hurt anybody from Konoha unless they try to hurt me first." Naruto said, turning back around to see the look on Sarutobi's face. He didn't seem convinced.

"And I promise not to kill anybody from Konoha unless they try to kill me first." At that Sarutobi nodded.

"That's acceptable." Sarutobi said, kneeling down and offering his hand to the young boy. Naruto grinned again and took it, sealing the deal in a firm handshake.

-o-o-

To be Continued

Ryo-Wolf