DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything from Naruto, nor any of its characters.

Ever since he could remember, they had all hated him.

He didn't know why. They all just hated him. He could see it in the way they looked at him. The way they looked at him like he didn't deserve to live. Whenever he went out to do something, even the nicest-sounding villagers would freeze in their conversations with their friends to stop and glare at him as he walked by. Some would even start shouting at him, blaming him for the near-destruction of the village. Blaming him for the deaths of all the shinobi. Blaming him for the death of their beloved Yondaime.

Whenever they shouted at him, he ran. He always ran. If he ran, he could be alone again. If he was alone again, he could be happy again. That was how it worked.

At least, that was how it had worked until his eighth birthday.

The night before, there had been a huge celebration to show remembrance to the brave act of the Yondaime, sacrificing himself to defeat the demon that had threatened their homes and loved ones. Thus it had been for the past six years, or at least as long as he could remember.

And, as always, he hadn't been allowed to join that celebration.

It was normal for him by now, so he didn't even try. Besides, if he wasn't there, they wouldn't get mad at him.

The next night, on that fateful anniversary of the deaths of the Yondaime and the demon, he just stayed in the nice apartment he had been told to stay in by the nice old man. He was the only person he knew that didn't stare at him like he shouldn't be alive. Well, he and the ramen shop owner and his daughter. The old man didn't see him very much, maybe once a month, but whenever he did visit him, he would always make him laugh and let him wear his big, red-and-white hat.

He was just about to fall asleep when the door was brutally smashed open. Startled, he sat up in his bed. After many loud thumps, a group of men came into his bedroom and roughly took hold of him. Screaming, he was dragged out of the apartment. Outside was a huge mob of people, holding torches.

The men dumped him on the ground. Shivering in his baby blue pyjama pants, he cowered as the men stared down at him angrily. One of them came forward and said, "You've lived long enough, demon! We've suffered your existence here for eight years, and we're not doing it any longer!"

The men then began to advance on him. He began to cry.

"No!" he had sobbed, "Leave me alone!"

But, of course, they wouldn't listen.

The men brandished kunai and clubs, and began to attack him. His screams weren't acknowledged by anyone in the crowd; no-one wanted to help a demon. They cut his pyjamas away and brutally pounded the clubs against his fragile body, breaking bones and leaving gigantic, violet bruises. Even worse were the knives. The cold metal cutting into his skin made him scream louder, cry harder, wanting desperately for them to leave him alone. What had he done to them? All he ever did was try to stay away from them.

After many hours of torment, the men finally sank back into the crowd. Then, the crowd left, all of them happy that the Demon had finally been killed.

The stupidity of such people is amazing, really.

He laid there on the ground, his broken body hurting so badly. He just wanted it all to end. He didn't want it to hurt anymore. The angry stares made him hurt already, but now this? He didn't want to do it anymore. Tears streamed down his face, his barely-functioning body shuddering with sobs as pain coursed through it. He just wanted it to end.

That was when he heard his voice for the first time.

"Don't think like that, kit..." soothed a gravelly, masculine voice, "You'll be fine."

At first, he was afraid of this new, deep voice, thinking it was someone else trying to hurt him. He cringed, whimpering loudly as pain shot through him from the motion. The gravelly voice chuckled.

"Don't be afraid. Just go to sleep, and everything will be all better."

For some reason, the way the voice was talking to him made him want to believe it. His cries started to become quieter, and his world began to fade. The pain faded, his vision went dark, and then the feeling of the cold, unforgiving ground he was lying on was replaced by softness and warmth. Two soft, red lights glowed high up above him, and the sight of them made him feel a little better. He heard a deep, rumbling hum, and the sound of it lulled him, making him tired. Within moments, he was asleep.

And after that day, he had found his first true friend.

Seven years later...

A fifteen-year-old Uzumaki Naruto, sitting on his bed with his legs drawn up tightly to his chest, was sick and tired. Since that horrible day on his eighth birthday when he had been cut and beaten within an inch of his life, things had not gotten much better. If it weren't for Kyuubi, comforting him when he was despondent, serving as a balm when he was angry, healing his injuries when the villagers came after him, and keeping him company in general, he was completely sure that he would have gone insane years ago. No matter how much the old man Sandaime had tried to keep the villagers in check, Naruto would always be badly hurt whenever his birthday rolled around. And now the old man was dead, and there was nothing stopping the villagers from going all out on him whenever they felt like it. After all, the new Hokage didn't even care about him. She hadn't even come to visit him for the past two years. Well, at least she didn't pretend to like him, like others had done. All she did care about was gambling and drinking, according to conversations he had overheard.

A single lit candle was on the night table beside the boy's bed. He had always liked fire, for some reason. He had been attracted to it ever since that horrible day seven years ago. It was just so beautiful; the way it danced and twisted through the air infinitely. Sometimes he would daydream while he was watching the roiling drop of flame, imagining that it was all around him, and that he could just watch it dance, without a care in the world. It was just so beautiful...

...Especially when he imagined that he could see the villagers, burning.

"Snap out of it, kit. You're having those thoughts again." Kyuubi sighed angrily. Naruto shook his head, clearing his mind. He looked away from the attractive, orange light.

"Ahh...sorry, Kyuubi...it's my birthday today, after all." He mumbled. Kyuubi sighed again.

"...Do you really want to stay here, kit? Are you sure you don't want to run away from this place?" Naruto stared emptily at his bedspread.

"Yeah, I'm sure. There's nowhere else for me to go, anyway. Besides; if I try to leave, the villagers will finally have an excuse to kill me, instead of settling for these beatings that the Hokage and her Council conveniently keep ignoring." He sighed angrily, "I just can't take it anymore, Kyuubi; I'm done trying to make people notice me and like me. I can't live like this anymore...I don't want to live like this anymore..."

He immediately felt the lash of anger he expected from the fox.

"Don't you dare talk like that, boy! I have not kept you alive for the last seven years just to see you die now! We're going to get through this together."

Naruto pounded his fist against the wall.

"No, Kyuubi, we're not going to get through this! Or, at the very least, I won't be! I can't even poke my head out of my own front door without getting yelled at by someone! If I even set foot out of this building during the day, I get chased by villagers! I have to get my clothes from a damn charity drive for pity's sake! What good is it to be alive when I can't live, huh?!"

Kyuubi didn't answer him. He couldn't.

Growling, Naruto stared back at the candle, wishing he could see the people he hated so much running around, screaming while they burned, and feeling as much pain as he had. He heard the fox in his mind again.

"...What happened to your dream of being Hokage?" Naruto laughed; a short, pained bark that made Kyuubi uneasy.

"Hokage? Hokage?! Screw being Hokage! The village hates me, and I hate them back! Why would I want to protect such a worthless town?!" Kyuubi sighed inside of his mind.

"......Kit...I remember a time when thoughts like these would never be in your mind. You used to love this village, with all your heart and soul. Even when those pathetic cowards beat you so that you were numb with pain, you still wanted to protect them. You still wanted them to accept you..." Naruto groaned angrily and laid back on his bed, his arms folded behind his head.

"Yeah, well, that was before I realized that they're never gonna accept me! I'm the Demon, remember?! Nobody wants to be friends with the Demon! NOBODY!!"

"...What about that girl you always liked, kit? She was nice to you..." Naruto shook his head.

"...No, she wasn't being nice, she was just fascinated by me! It was the same with all the other cadets; they didn't want to be my friends, they just thought I was interesting because I'm the only kid with a demon inside of him!! 'Hey, look at that kid. That's the boy with the Kyuubi in him! Maybe if we stare at him long enough, he'll do a trick!' Frankly, I'm sick and tired of people hopping on the 'Let's Screw Around with Naruto' bandwagon!! "

Kyuubi tried to soothe his host.

"Kit, you're getting too riled up. At this rate, you're going to lose control. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

Naruto paused for a minute, breathing hard and feeling really angry.

"Well, what's the use of pretending anyway?! Yeah, I do want to lose control! I want to hurt all of those people who hurt me! I'm sick and tired of just dealing with it!!"

"But if you attack someone, the Council will have someone kill you!" Naruto laughed again; another pained bark.

"Oh come on, Kyuubi. You know as well as I do that if I just decided I didn't want to take it anymore and snapped, nobody in this stupid little village could stop me. If I decided that I wanted to kill the lot of them, it wouldn't take much effort. Your chakra would make sure of that."

"Yes, but if you did that, the people of this village wouldn't be the only ones to hate you. Everyone in the entire world would eventually hear of what you'd done, kit, and they'd all fear and hate you."

"Well, isn't that how it feels right now for me? Everyone hating me? "

He heard a shout outside and noticed an orange glow suffusing the space around his window. Naruto sighed, sat up and drew his legs up tightly to his chest.

"And, right on cue, here come the villagers to make my life worse."

He could hear the echoes of their feet on the stairs now.

"Kyuubi,"

"Yes, kit?"

"...Don't heal me this time. I don't want to live through this anymore..."

They were on his floor.

"...Are you sure?"

"...Yeah...it's not like anyone's going to miss me anyways..."

The front door had been kicked down. They were in his apartment.

"......I'll miss you, kit..."

They were just outside his room now.

"...Thanks, Kyuubi...you've been a good friend through all of this..."

They were in his room now, standing over him, arms outstretched.

"...I'll miss you, too..."

He didn't resist as they dragged him out of his apartment. Naruto knew that if he did, they'd only make him suffer more. As he was pulled down the stairs, he could hear them discussing the different ways to hurt him, all of it in front of him. Despite his no longer wanting to live, he felt anger constrict his heart. He really hated these disgusting villagers, he really did.

As they dumped on the ground the same way they had done for the past seven years, he didn't cry out for help. He didn't struggle. He didn't sob. He just lied there, not making a sound. The lead villager, a white-haired man carrying two gigantic Fuhma shuriken on his back with a dark green bandanna on his head, stared down at him cruelly.

"What's wrong, Demon? You're awfully quiet this year. Shouldn't you be struggling to get away, like last year?"

There were collective snickers from the group as memories of what had happened last year resurfaced in their minds. Naruto finally let all his anger show in his expression. And then he spoke, the hatred showing clear in his voice.

"...No. I've finally realized that you aren't worth the effort, you worthless son of a bitch!"

The white-haired man's expression became enraged.

"...You're only making things worse for yourself, Demon." He said in a low voice.

"Really? I never would have guessed that. You must be some kind of genius or something!"

The villagers seemed, at the very least, mildly surprised. He had never talked back to them. It had always been either begging for them to leave him alone, or screaming that it hurt too much. But he had never actually talked back to them. The white-haired man pulled a pair of brass knuckles from the pouch on his waist.

"That's it, Demon. I'm going to teach you a lesson this year that you're never going to forget!"

First, they cut away his clothes. That's what they always did, every single year. They wanted to get rid of any dignity he had before making him suffer; it put them in a position of power. Then, the white-haired man circled him, making feints to try and get him to flinch. Naruto didn't flinch. He was accustomed to pain by now, and it didn't scare him anymore.

Finally, the white-haired man made his first move. He darted forwards, hitting Naruto directly on the side of his face. The boy spun through the air, landing on the ground on his stomach. Then, he felt one of the man's brass knuckles brutally attack his back. His body flinched as it always did, but he swallowed the cry of pain and remained silent. He wouldn't give them that satisfaction, at least.

For the next thirty minutes, he endured horrible pain that any normal person would have succumbed to long ago. And still he remained silent; even when some of the other men started to join in, he didn't cry out in pain. Even when some of his bones had broken, he still didn't cry out.

It wasn't until one of the torches was touched to his back that he did.

He screamed, loud and raw, as the fire he so often daydreamed about burned his flesh. The smell of burning meat began to crawl through the air, and some of the men began to laugh. More torches were touched to his skin and he continued to scream; one long, loud, continuous scream that echoed through the village. Someone kicked him, hard, so that he rolled onto his back and they began to burn the skin on his front. The pain was unendurable now. Not even he had expected something like this. He just kept on screaming, wishing it to end, wishing for the pain to just stop.

Wishing to just die...

Then, a loud bellow cut over his screams.

"WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!"

All of his tormentors suddenly stopped attacking him. His scream lessened into a loud moan of pain, which eventually lessened to soft groans and whimpers, tears streaming down his face. The loud female voice sounded again.

"How dare you?! How could all of you take out your frustrations on a defenceless child?! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!"

The voice of the white-haired man responded.

"B-but...Lady Hokage, he's the Demon!"

"Shut up, Mizuki, before I have the Anbu throw you in prison for the next five years! I'm sure Ibiki will have a lot of fun doing to you what you've done to this boy!"

"Lady Hokage, with all due respect, this boy is the Demon!" another shouted.

"Really?! All I see is a badly hurt child! Now all of you leave this place now or you'll be finding yourselves in Ibiki's interrogation room!"

For some reason, the name Ibiki seemed to inspire fear in Naruto's tormentors, and they quickly fled the square, leaving the place in darkness, save for the light of the moon and stars. A woman entered Naruto's rapidly fading vision. She had fierce – yet somehow tender – brown eyes; blonde hair in twin ponytails that cascaded down each of her shoulders; was wearing a cream-coloured tunic, a large green robe of some kind, and dark blue pants; and – most noticeably – had very large breasts. Naruto looked up at his saviour with pain-glazed eyes.

"Who..." he croaked, his voice raw from his prolonged scream, "who...are...?" the woman shook her head, taking off her green robe.

"Don't talk; you're badly hurt. I'm going to bring you somewhere safe. In the meantime, just sleep. Everything's going to be fine."

She gently wrapped his broken, naked body in her large green robe and picked him up carefully, like he would break at the first rough touch he received. Actually, it was how he was feeling right then, physically. Mentally, however, was an entirely different story.

Why...is someone...helping me? Doesn't everyone...hate me...?

Kyuubi's voice echoed in his mind.

"Do you still want me not to heal you, kit?" Naruto could barely stay awake now.

"...Kyuubi......I'm...sorry for asking...for that..."

And with that, Naruto's world was replaced by darkness.

As red chakra emanated from the boy's body and his wounds healed over without any trace of scarring, Tsunade marvelled at the boy she was holding in her arms.

"Remarkable," she murmured, concentrating on the boy's features, "You really are a remarkable boy. You'll have to tell me your name when you wake up."

The boy had moderately tanned skin; wild, spiky blond hair; and three thin, black, perfectly symmetrical, equally spaced lines on each cheek. On his stomach was a black seal tattoo, the very center of the spiral starting at his navel. Already it was beginning to fade again. Tsunade smiled sadly.

"Yes...you'll have to tell me your name...I've always wanted to know the name of the Kyuubi's jailer."

Naruto sat bolt upright where he was lying and cried out, breathing heavily and sweating bullets. Then, he realized that he wasn't in danger, and relaxed somewhat. He fell back on whatever he was lying on, covering his face with a hand and moaning, trying to master his emotions.

"You don't look well, kid. Care to tell me what's wrong?"

Naruto quickly sat up and turned to face this new voice. His eyes fell on a woman, wearing a cream-coloured tunic and dark blue pants. Her face looked oddly familiar. He struggled for a moment.

"You..." he struggled, frowning, "...you...you're the...you're the one who...helped me...right...?"

The woman nodded smiling.

"Yes," she said, "I am Tsunade, expert medical ninja, one of the three Sannin, gambler extraordinaire, the Queen of Slugs and Elixirs, and the Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves," her face darkened, "And what a village it is, attacking a poor child. The nerve of those people, really!"

At the mention of more than two titles, Naruto scowled. He didn't know what a Sannin was, but the all other titles made him feel smaller than he really was, even if some of them were completely ridiculous. And being called kid by this woman...

Great... he thought; another pompous windbag to deal with...

"Modest, too." He said angrily. Then, his brain recognized the last title.

"Wait..." he stared at her with rapidly increasing disbelief, "...you're...you're the Hokage?!"

Tsunade smiled.

"I see you have a brain in that head of yours. Let's not put it to waste, shall we?"

Naruto felt anger build up in his chest. This was the Hokage? This was supposed to be the protector of the village? This was the person who hadn't even visited him for the past two years, and yet helped him now for no apparent reason? This busty, gambling, blonde drunk?!

"Okay then, grandma, if you're the Hokage, then tell me why you haven't even said one word to me for the past two years when you're supposed to be looking after me!"

Apparently, being called an old lady did not make Tsunade happy.

"First of all," she shouted, actually causing Naruto to flinch, "don't call me old! And secondly, I didn't even know you existed until tonight, so you should be at least a little grateful that I've helped you now!"

Naruto was now puzzled.

"What? What do you mean you didn't know I existed? You're the Hokage! You're supposed to know!" Tsunade sighed.

"Well, when I took office, the Council didn't inform me of you. They simply told me that the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune had died long ago, and that the fox had died with it."

Naruto felt anger again.

"They told you I was dead? And you didn't think that it was maybe a little suspicious that the villagers kept gathering near the apartment building where I 'lived' every October 10th?!" Tsunade sighed again.

"Actually, I did find that suspicious, but the Council kept telling me that it was just a very solemn occasion for the villagers and that they were taking part in a remembrance ceremony of the Yondaime. Of course," she added, catching Naruto's angry expression and open mouth, "I didn't believe them. However, there was nothing I could do about it. I would always be, conveniently enough, swamped with very important duties every October." Naruto stared at her angrily for a moment, and then sighed, staring down at the rough blanket concealing his body.

"So..." he murmured, looking up at Tsunade through his bangs, "how did you find out about me tonight?" Tsunade smiled.

"I'll show you." She turned around, looking to the young woman dressed in a purple robe that was standing by the door, "Shizune, let them in."

The girl nodded, and then opened the door. Into the room walked four people; two teenagers and two adults. One of the adults Naruto didn't recognize; he had silver hair and wore a mask on his face that concealed everything but his right eye. The second adult had been one of his teachers at the Ninja Academy, before he dropped out after his third consecutive failing.

But the two teenagers...

"You!" Naruto exclaimed angrily, "What are you doing here?!"

Standing beside the adults were the two teenagers. One of them he recognized as one of the cadets from his Academy days; the silent, raven-haired heartthrob that all the girls had been swooning after. He hadn't really talked to him, so he didn't know what he was like. But the person he was yelling at was the pink-haired girl in the red skirt; the girl who was looking very uncomfortable being in the room. Naruto, very angry now, turned to Tsunade.

"What is she doing here?!" Tsunade smiled.

"...She was the one who told me about what was happening to you."

Naruto's eyes widened and he stared back at the pinkette in utter disbelief.

"...She...you...she did what?!" he asked incredulously, "But she hated me! They all hated me! I'm the Demon! They were just interested in me because I-!"

"I didn't hate you, Naruto."

Naruto's gaze again flicked back to the pink-haired girl.

"You......what did you say?"

Sakura stared at him with tear-filled eyes.

"I never hated you, Naruto." She mumbled, "You were so nice, all the time. No matter how much everyone laughed at you, you never stopped being nice. You only did all those pranks just to get the attention. All the adults hated you, and they didn't tell us why." Tears were actually streaming down the girl's face, now. Naruto stared at her, feeling as if his world had just been turned upside down. Sakura continued.

"When...when it was your eleventh birthday, I decided to go over to your house that night and come and see you, since nobody else wanted to. And that's when...that's when I saw what the villagers were doing to you..."

She was talking quickly now, her words spilling out in a jumble.

"I couldn't do anything! I just watched while they did those horrible things to you! Watching was the only thing I could do! I saw my father in that crowd! I didn't know what to do! After that, every time your birthday came around, I'd watch them and see if they did anything to you that you couldn't survive...your wounds just healed after they left, and then you'd get up a few hours later and go back into your apartment. And then the next day at school, you'd be all happy, and it made me hurt inside! You shouldn't have to fake being happy after going through something like that, Naruto!! You shouldn't even have to go through something like that in the first place! So that's why I started avoiding you, Naruto! I couldn't be around you anymore; seeing you pretending to be happy when you went through those horrible things! It tore me up inside!" she finished, sobbing.

Naruto was completely and utterly stunned. Hadn't Sakura hated him? Wasn't that the reason why she had started avoiding him? Hadn't she only been acting nice to him in the first place because she wanted to see him do something interesting?

"So..." Sakura continued, after calming down somewhat, "Tonight, when my father said he was going out late with some friends, I couldn't just sit here anymore. I knew that he was going to do those horrible things to you, and I didn't want you to go through that anymore...so I told Tsunade about it as soon as I could get away from my mother."

Naruto just stared at her. Sakura stood there for a while, tears streaming down her face. When he didn't respond, she looked down.

"Well...if you don't want to forgive me..." she mumbled, "...I understand...I should have helped you sooner..."

She turned around and slowly walked to the door. When she was halfway to it, Naruto spoke.

"Sakura...wait..."

The girl froze and looked up at him, something familiarly like hope shining in her eyes.

"...I......I......" he struggled. Sakura's hopeful expression quickly faded, and she began to turn around again. Finally, the words formed in Naruto's mouth.

"I forgive you!" he blurted. Sakura's eyes shot up to him.

"...You...?" she asked softly, tears still shining in her eyes.

"...I......I forgive you..." Naruto repeated hesitantly.

Sakura stared at him for a moment, almost disbelieving, and then ran forward, arms outstretched. She wrapped them around his body tightly, nearly knocking him over with the force behind her tackle-hug.

"...Thank you..." she whispered.

Just then, a peculiar feeling arose in Naruto's chest. It was warmth of some kind. Not uncomfortable warmth; a nice, soothing one. The feeling was completely new to him.

What...is this? He wondered. Kyuubi chuckled in his mind.

"It's love, kit. You're feeling love for someone other than yourself for the first time."

Naruto, slowly and awkwardly, wrapped his own arms around Sakura to return the hug.

...Love?

After a couple minutes, Sakura pulled away and, smiling at him shyly and blushing; walked back over to stand by Tsunade. Naruto smiled uncertainly, also blushing a little bit. It was the first time he had smiled in years, and his face tingled as the muscles moved unfamiliarly. Then, the smile dropped from his face and he looked to the raven-haired boy.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not nearly as hostile as before. Sasuke scowled.

"Don't ask me, baka. She," he said, tilting his head in Sakura's direction, "wouldn't stop nagging me until I agreed to go with her." Naruto felt anger and was about to open his mouth to say something back when Sakura did before him.

"You liar!" she accused, "As soon as I told you, you got all angry and said you were going to kill those villagers! Don't lie just because you don't want people to think you're a good person after all!"

Sasuke's scowl tightened, but his eyes told the real story.

Naruto smiled a second time, and he moved his gaze onto Iruka.

"And you're here...?" he asked. Iruka nodded.

"When Sakura told me, I agreed immediately. When you were in the Academy, I knew you were going through a lot of pain, then, even if you didn't let it show on the outside. I never knew it went to this extent, though..." he said, shaking his head angrily. Naruto finally turned his gaze on the mysterious silver-haired man.

"...And who're you?" he asked. The man sighed.

"The name, Naruto, is Kakashi Hatake. I was informed of you by Iruka when you had failed the Genin exam for the third time in a row. If you hadn't dropped out of the Academy, he would have told you that I was offering a more physically-oriented exam that you might have been able to pass in place of the regular exam. If you had passed, you would have become a genin, and would have been on a three-man cell with Sakura and Sasuke."

Naruto stared at the silver-haired jounin in awe.

"So...if I hadn't dropped out...I still could have become a genin?" he asked. Kakashi's eye crinkled, hinting at a smile.

"You still can. You have all the qualifications to take the test; I just haven't been able to track you down."

Naruto gaped. He could still become a ninja. He could still do all the things he had wanted to do. He could still have a dream.

He could still have a life...

Just then, a flustered-looking Shizune came forward.

"Lady Tsunade, there's someone to see you at the door." Tsunade frowned.

"Tell them to come back tomorrow; I'm busy."

"It's Lord Hyuuga Hiashi. He says it's urgent." Tsunade stiffened.

"...A member of the Council?" she asked herself. She looked to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, get Naruto out of here, quickly!" she said.

"It's too late for that..." a voice issued from the shadow in the corner of the room. Every head looked in the direction. Tsunade grimaced.

"...What are you here for, Hiashi?" she asked. The Hyuuga clan patriarch stepped into the light, a grave expression on his face.

"The Council has been alerted to your actions by Mizuki. They are on their way here as we speak. They are convinced that Uzumaki has turned you to treason...and they are coming to punish him for it."

Everyone in the room, except for Naruto, gasped, even Kakashi.

"We have to get him away from here, then!" Tsunade said. Hiashi sighed.

"It's not that simple. The Council has taken steps to prevent the boy's escape. They have ordered the Barrier Squad to erect a field around Konoha to stop Uzumaki from leaving. The farthest you can bring him is the city gates. All of you in this room are free to escape, except for Uzumaki."

"No!" Sakura protested, "There has to be a way! We can't just let them punish him; he hasn't even done anything! He's done nothing to you people and you've been treating him like this since the day he was born!!" Hiashi sighed a second time.

"There is no way for Uzumaki to escape Konoha. Instead of putting your own lives at risk, I suggest that you hand him over to the Council without complaint." Tsunade scowled.

"No! I will not let the Council do this. I'm the Hokage, dammit!"

"...but Tsunade, dear, I don't think the people will be very willing to listen to a traitor."

Heads whipped around. Shizune was on the ground by the door, unconscious. An old man, the one who had spoken, flanked by an old woman, both of them dressed in immaculate white robes, stood behind her form. Behind the pair of elders were all of the clan heads, excepting that of Haruno and Uchiha. Tsunade stared angrily at the two elders.

"...Chairman Homura...Vice-chairwoman Koharu..." she said curtly, nodding at both of them with an angry expression on her face. Homura regarded Tsunade with a cold expression.

"...It appears that the Kyuubi's vessel has convinced you that we are to blame for the situation here." He said in a soft, sugary voice. Naruto shivered at the sound; it made him want to retch. Tsunade glared at the old man.

"...Actually, he hasn't done any convincing around here. We've come to our own conclusions, Chairman." She spat, her eyes narrowing at the last word. The old man chuckled. It was an awful sound.

"The wrong conclusions, apparently, my dear Tsunade. You should have stayed in your office tonight, doing your paperwork, instead of poking your nose where it doesn't belong." Tsunade growled, and was about to say something in response, but Sakura beat her to the punch.

"Shut up! How can you treat a fellow human this way?! Naruto hasn't done anything to you people, and you treat him like an animal! No; you treat him worse than you would an animal!! What right do you have?!"

Homura's sickening smile was replaced by a snarl.

"Be silent, impudent girl! You were a mere infant when the Kyuubi was sealed, so you couldn't possibly know of the destruction it caused!" Homura calmed down slightly, scowling at Naruto, "...Now it seems that the Kyuubi has taken over the container, deceiving you into believing that we are the ones who are evil. The only evil thing in this room that I see is that wretched thing you call a fellow human, sitting over there!" he gestured at Naruto, "Look at its face! Those markings look exactly like a fox's whiskers! And I really don't believe that that is mere coincidence!" He paused, scanning the room. His expression changed to one of disbelief when he glimpsed the Hyuuga patriarch.

"Hiashi?! What are you doing here with these...?!" Hiashi stared at Homura angrily.

"...I came to warn them of your coming, Chairman Homura. I won't allow you to harm this boy." He said in a low voice. Homura frowned.

"Hiashi, the Kyuubi's container is quite unstable. These are necessary precautions to prevent it from-"

"Why are you referring to him like he is an object?" Hiashi cut him off. Homura's frown deepened.

"...Hiashi, it seems you have been affected by the Kyuubi's lies also, but they are pure fiction, nothing more. Please, come back to the Council; all can be forgiven."

For some reason, these words made Hiashi angrier.

"No, Homura, all cannot be forgiven! Your treatment of this child has been inexcusable! Those beatings that the men of Konoha inflict on him every year have sickened me, and yet you choose to ignore them!"

"Hiashi, you forget your position." Homura said in a dangerously low voice, "You don't want your daughters to be...endangered by your actions, do you?" Hiashi stiffened, completely enraged.

"...The same way Hizashi was endangered when Kumogakure asked for my corpse?"

Homura sighed, putting a hand over his face. When he removed it, his eyes were cold and emotionless.

"Shikaku, immobilize Lord Hyuuga and Lady Tsunade. Chouza, Asuma; you two deal with Kakashi and Iruka. Tsume, you can take care of the two genin. Inoichi, enter the container's mind and force it to come with us."

Not one of the clan heads moved.

"Well? What are you all standing around for?!"

Inoichi was the first to speak.

"...With all due respect, Chairman Homura...can't we just bring the boy back to his apartment and set guards there? I mean, he's just a kid. Surely we can't punish him so harshly for telling a couple of lies..."

Homura sighed pityingly.

"Well, when you put it that way, Inoichi, it doesn't really sound as bad as turning others to treason, now does it?" he said.

Inoichi couldn't think of anything to say to this. However, Tsume made sure that he didn't have to.

"I'm sorry, Homura, but I make it a point not to attack children. I may give my own son a beating now and then when he's done something wrong, but I won't hurt a child in cold blood. It's inhuman." She said. Homura turned to her, looking very annoyed.

"You seem to think that the Kyuubi's vessel is a human being, Tsume. You're wrong. The Sandaime confided in me – rest his soul – that if the Kyuubi had been sealed into an adult human, they would have immediately been driven insane by the Kyuubi's influences. What's to say that the same hasn't happened to the Kyuubi's vessel, albeit at a slower rate? Its conscience has been destroyed by the Kyuubi, Tsume, absolutely destroyed. That is how it is able to lie like this to these trusting fools." He said. Tsume curled her lip and actually growled at the old man.

"He doesn't look very insane to me, Homura. In fact, he looks as normal and as angry as my own son would be if you were referring to him like an object."

Homura stared at each of the clan heads in turn, his emotionless eyes.

"...so you all refuse to obey my orders?" he asked, not seeming to expect an answer.

None of them spoke. They didn't have to. Homura sighed pityingly.

"...Tsume, how old is your son?"

Tsume looked mildly surprised at the question, but answered all the same.

"He's sixteen. Why?"

Homura smiled a smile that sent shivers down the spines of every single person in the room, excepting Koharu.

"...I wonder what would happen," he said lightly: examining his sleeve for a non-existent speck of dirt, "If he was on his way home one day, and he had a...fatal...unfortunate accident..." Tsume's eyes popped wide and she snarled at the councilman.

"If you lay even one finger on Kiba I will rip you to pieces!" she screamed. Homura chuckled coldly, and held up his left wrist. Wrapped around it was a wireless communications device.

"I don't think you'll be able to before I give the order to have the jounin stationed outside of your house move in." He said emotionlessly.

Tsume froze; the angry expression on her face replaced by shock.

"You...you...what?" she mumbled. Homura sighed.

"The same is for the rest of you. If you don't comply with my orders, the lives of your children are forfeit. And Asuma," he added, "don't think I don't know about your beloved nephew...or Kurenai."

All of the clan heads, defeated, stared at Homura with seething hate. The council chairman smiled.

"Excellent. Now, let's-"

"You're a monster!!"

All heads turned to look at Naruto. He was standing, the blanket wrapped around his unclothed body like a robe from the hips down. The expression on his face could only be interpreted as rage.

"You're a monster!!" he repeated, "What right do you have to threaten innocent children?! How can you sleep at night, doing these things?!!"

Naruto stared at Homura, passionate rage burning in his eyes. He hated the man, with every fibre of his being.

And why was it getting so hot?

Suddenly, everyone in the room excepting Kakashi and Homura gasped and stared at Naruto with looks of fear on their faces; even Sasuke. Homura chuckled mirthlessly.

"I'm the monster? Obviously you haven't taken a good look at yourself, lately." He turned to Tsume, "Now do you see what I mean, Tsume? The Kyuubi has taken full control of this boy. That is the reason why-"

"You're all fools."

Homura turned and looked to Kakashi, annoyance in his look once again.

"What was that, Kakashi?" he asked. The silver-haired jounin sighed, shaking his head and resting his hand on the left side of his face.

"All of you are fools," he repeated, gazing at Homura with his one unconcealed eye, "Minato wanted the boy to be remembered as a hero for having to harbour this demon inside of him, not as a monster. But all you people see," he continued, "is the demon standing behind him. Not the boy. And that's all you want to see, Homura. You want to pin the blame on someone other than yourself for his death, because even though you were a jounin, like me, you decided to stay away from the battle to save your own sorry skin."

Homura stiffened and began to advance on Kakashi.

"How dare you?!" he said, "How dare you sully the Yondaime's name with your breath?!"

He pulled something from his sleeve, faster than even the jounin's eye could catch. But before he could use whatever he had pulled out, he stopped, his eyes widening, and everyone in the room gasped.

Naruto had jumped in front of Kakashi, grabbing the councilman's wrist with one hand, and driving his other straight through the man's chest, right where his heart was. Even he had a look of surprise on his face. Homura stared down at him, a look of triumph forming on his face.

"S-See?" he gasped, blood trickling from the side of his mouth, "He i-is a monster...j-just like I...told......you..."

And then he slumped to the ground, dead.

All of the clan heads stared at Naruto, struck with awe and fear. Naruto just stared down at his hands, breathing quickly through his mouth and a look of despair forming on his face. Finally, Inoichi spoke up.

"I...I-I think that we should take the boy into custody now..." he said finally. Naruto's gaze snapped up to him, desperation clear on his face.

"W-Wait, I...I didn't mean to..." he protested weakly, "I...I didn't mean to kill him. It...It wasn't m-my fault, I-"

"Save it, kid," Tsume said, "It doesn't matter whether you meant to or not; murder is murder. You're a killer now, face it; no-one's going to want to help you now."

Naruto's face twisted into anguish, tears beginning to stream down his face as he began to back away.

"But I didn't mean to kill him!" he cried, "I...I just...he was going to kill Kakashi-sensei, and-"

"There isn't any proof of that." Inoichi said; him and the others beginning to advance, except for Asuma and Shikaku. Naruto fell to his back, scrabbling away from them desperately.

"But...But I lose control sometimes!" he sobbed, "I didn't want to kill him! I didn't know what I was doing!"

"That's all the more reason to take you into custody," Chouza said, "If you can't control your actions, then you have to be restrained."

Naruto felt his back hit the wall. The clan heads loomed over him, staring down at him with looks of fear mixed with anger and disgust.

It was the kind of look the villagers had always given him.

Terrified, Naruto pushed against the wall futilely, the clan heads reaching down for him.

"No!" he cried, cowering, "Stay away from me!!"

"Leave him alone!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he looked up. Sakura was standing in front of him, her arms spread in a protective manner.

"You heard what he said!" she shouted, "He didn't mean to kill him! And the chairman was trying to kill Kakashi-sensei! There's a kunai in his hand right now!"

Tsume growled at her.

"Obstruction of justice is a crime, girl." She said. Sakura stared at her unflinchingly, refusing to move. Inoichi sighed, and prepared to move her aside.

Suddenly, all the clan heads standing in front of Naruto froze, and simultaneously performed a single handsign, staying frozen in the position. Confused, Sakura's arms lowered slightly. Inoichi's eyes slowly flicked to the side.

"Sh-Shikaku..." he grunted, "...Wh-What are...you doing...?" he asked. The Nara clan head sighed.

"I'm sorry, Inoichi, but the girl is right. The Chairman did try to kill Kakashi. Even if he killed to do it, the Uzumaki boy prevented the death of one of Konoha's best jounin." Shikaku sighed a second time, and his eyes flicked to Tsunade.

"It's troublesome, Lady Hokage, but I'll hold these three for as long as I can while you try and find a way for Uzumaki to escape. Asuma's gone to try and convince several of his jounin acquaintances to help him raid the Barrier Squad and try to get the field holding Uzumaki within the city down."

Tsunade stared at the Nara clan head for a moment; then smiled grimly and nodded.

"Understood, Shikaku...thank you..." Shikaku rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, okay, thank me later," he snapped, "Go, now!"

Tsunade sighed and turned to Hiashi.

"Lord Hyuuga, I have a feeling Mizuki is going to attack us along the way to the gates. I need you to use your Byakugan to see where they are." Hiashi nodded, and then closed his eyes, veins popping out on either side of his head. While he was occupied, Naruto looked up to Sakura.

"Uh...Sakura-chan...?"

The girl looked down at him, surprised, yet pleased that he had used the affectionate honorific he had used in their Academy days.

"What, Naruto?" Naruto blushed slightly.

"Umm...you wouldn't happen to have a pair of shorts in that bag of yours, would you?"

Sakura blushed heavily, and shook her head. Then, something white flew through the air and hit Naruto's face. He flailed around for a moment, and then managed to pull the thing off of him and looked at Sasuke in annoyance.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked petulantly. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Take a good look, teme. It's pair of shorts. Weren't you just asking for one?" Naruto frowned.

"But...these are your shorts..." he said slowly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"So? Got a problem with it?" he asked, daring him to talk back. Naruto frowned deeper.

"...But...what are you going to wear, then?" he asked. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Well, I actually wear underwear, baka." He said; pointing to the pair of black boxers he was wearing. Naruto frowned at him for a minute; then shrugged and pulled the shorts on. As he was doing this, Hiashi opened his eyes and turned to Tsunade.

"...They have the building surrounded. There is no way we can escape detection if we try to leave..." Tsunade gave the Hyuuga clan patriarch an "oh really?" look.

"Well, we'll just have to run faster than they do." She said. Hiashi smiled slightly.

"...Very well, Lady Tsunade." He said, nodding. Tsunade looked to the rest of the group.

"Are you all ready?" she asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Good," she said. She turned to Kakashi, "I trust you to look after Naruto. If anything goes wrong, your first priority is to get him and everyone else who's still alive out of the village, all right?" The silver-haired jounin nodded. Tsunade looked to the rest of them.

"Okay, everyone, get ready." They all nodded, and Tsunade turned towards the window. Naruto turned to Sakura one last time.

"Sakura?" he asked. The pink-haired girl turned.

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you...for everything..." he murmured. Sakura stared at him for a moment; then blushed and smiled.

"...Thank you, Naruto..." she responded, turning back to the window. Tsunade's voice sounded.

"Okay, let's go!" she cried, jumping forward. As soon as she did, so did everyone else. As soon as they were in the air, there was a cry from below, and the sound of plastic slapping on stone as the shinobi below them followed. Everyone in the group immediately took up positions in a ring around Naruto, the reason being that they could defend him better if there were less open spots.

Almost immediately, the shower of kunai began. There was the resounding clang of metal on metal as Kakashi and Iruka took their own kunai and blocked those incoming. Tsunade shouted over the racket.

"Okay, we have to split up soon! Kakashi, Lord Hyuuga, Iruka and I will stall for time. Sakura, Sasuke; get Naruto out of the village!" she yelled. Sakura and Sasuke nodded, as did Naruto. Tsunade waited for a moment, and then shouted;

"Okay, split up!"

Immediately, Tsunade, Hiashi, Kakashi and Iruka stopped and turned to face the onslaught of chuunin and jounin. As he and the others jumped away from them, Naruto faintly heard the voice of the Hyuuga patriarch.

"Rotation!"

They jumped away from the fray, keeping to the rooftops and setting their eyes on the gates.

A small time later, village gates were almost in sight. Naruto allowed a small hope to flare in his chest.

We're going to make it! He thought.

Suddenly, Sasuke stiffened beside him and, pulling several shuriken out of the holster on his right leg, stopped jumping and slid across the next roof until he stopped. Naruto stopped beside him.

"What are you doing?! We have to get out of here!" he insisted. Sasuke shook his head.

"No. We're being followed. I'll stay here and hold them off. You and Sakura have to get to the gates."

"No! I won't-"

"Shut up, teme!" he shouted, shoving him backwards, "You need to get out of here while the barrier's down!"

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a while, frowning. Eventually, he turned away and made to start running again.

"...Thanks," he mumbled before running after Sakura. Sasuke shook his head, looking around for the enemy.

"No problem..." he muttered to himself.

They were almost to the gates now. Naruto and Sakura raced beside each other, running as fast as they possibly could to escape the village. The gates were wide open. Hope sparked in Naruto's chest once again.

We can make it...we can make it... he repeated the thought in a mantra-type fashion, hoping against hope that no-one would cut them off.

Of course, it was a short-lived hope.

There was a blur in front of the gates, and a group of several ninja, led by Mizuki, appeared. Naruto and Sakura screeched to a halt. The white-haired chuunin stared at Naruto triumphantly.

"Thought you could escape, Demon?" he shouted across the open space, sneering, "Well, let that thought leave your head right now, because you're not leaving this place alive!"

Hate flared to life in Naruto's chest as he stared down Mizuki.

"Naruto," Sakura whispered behind him, "I'll distract them. You have to get out of the village."

Naruto shook his head.

"No, Sakura-chan! We're getting out of here together, or not at all."

"No! If you die here, this will all have been in vain!"

"...Sakura, we're getting out of here together. No questions; no objections."

"But-"

"No,"

Sakura didn't reply. After a few moments, she finally nodded. Naruto nodded as well, and tensed. Mizuki sneered at him, and got into a battle stance. Then, the chuunin began to sprint towards the pair, his arms flailing on either side of him. Naruto waited until the chuunin was almost to them, and then jumped forward with blinding speed, sailing over Mizuki's head and then speeding towards the group of shinobi. Sakura was off to the side, opting to go around the group. The shinobi ran towards Naruto, shouting things like 'Demon' and 'Kill him!' and wielding various weapons.

As the first shinobi came to him and swung the kunai towards him, Naruto ducked under the swing and weaved past the man. Zigzagging between the others, Naruto successfully avoided every attack and ran directly through the group of shinobi. Sakura was some distance ahead, almost to the gate. Then, Naruto heard Mizuki shout alarmingly close;

"Die!"

His head swivelled around and he raised his arms to shield himself. But then, he saw the gigantic Fuhma shuriken speeding past him, and he realized where its path was leading it.

No! He thought, turning and sprinting towards Sakura.

"Sakura, watch out!" he cried, sprinting as fast as he could towards the pinkette. The distance between them rapidly closed, and he was almost to her. But the giant shuriken was faster.

Too late she turned and realized her danger. Too late she saw the shuriken bearing down on her. It was far too late to dodge or duck, so she squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the painful death she knew was about to strike her.

At least Naruto will get out of here safely! She thought.

But the pain never came. All she heard was Mizuki shout;

"Yeah, I got him!"

Him...? She thought ...oh no...oh, please, god no...

She opened her eyes, and a scream escaped her mouth.

Naruto was standing in front of her, his arms spread protectively, and the Fuhma shuriken buried in his chest. He fell to his knees, and screaming a second time, Sakura knelt down beside him. She lowered him onto his back, tears streaming from her eyes.

"Why?!" she cried, "Why didn't you get away?!"

Despite his wounds, Naruto smiled up at her; his breathing growing ragged and a trickle of blood escaping from his mouth.

"I..." he croaked, "I...couldn't just...let you die, Sakura..." he coughed, more blood coming from his mouth. Groaning in pain, he gripped the Fuhma shuriken's handle. After a moment of inactivity, he tore the shuriken from his chest and, screaming in agony, threw it away. Then, he collapsed back, breathing raggedly. Sakura just stared at him with eyes filmed over with tears.

"...But...you could have gotten away..." she mumbled. Naruto groaned in pain again and it was getting hard to breathe.

"B-But...I told you..." he gasped, "...w-we were getting out of here t-together...or n-n-not at all..." Sakura covered her mouth, trying not to sob.

"...But...why do you have to die? You could have gotten away while Mizuki was occupied with me..." Naruto groaned.

"Ugh...S-Sakura...I...can't live without you...I...I never told you this...but..." Sakura stroked his cheek caringly.

"But what?" she asked. Naruto smiled weakly at her.

"...I...love you..." he murmured. Sakura gasped, and he went on, "I've...always...loved you..."

Sakura covered her mouth, the urge to sob stronger than ever.

"You can't die, then, Naruto!" she cried, shaking him gently, "Please, don't go like this! We...we can wait for Tsunade! We can-!"

"Sakura..." he mumbled. Stopping mid sentence, the pinkette leaned forward so that she could hear his faint voice. Naruto's eyes had glazed over, and his expression had become hauntingly vacant.

"...Don't...cry..." he breathed, "...too......much........."

And at that moment, the boy known as Uzumaki Naruto ceased to exist.

Sakura, tears streaming down her face, shook the teen gently.

"...Naruto?" she murmured.

The boy didn't respond. Sakura shook him harder.

"Naruto? Naruto!" she cried, roughly shaking his inanimate, stone-cold body. He still didn't respond.

Sobbing, she collapsed onto him, beating on his chest with her frail hands.

"Naruto!" she sobbed, "Come back! Please come back!"

Mizuki and the other shinobi stood there silently, gazing at the girl and the corpse coldly. Other people began to flock to the place to see that the Demon had finally been killed.

Tsunade and all the others finally arrived at the gate, most of them carrying wounds of some sort. They saw all the ninja and civilians and, fearing the worst, Tsunade pushed past them. When she finally reached the front, she saw Sakura, sobbing into Naruto's torn-up chest. A kind of frost entered her heart.

"No," she whispered, "...we were too late..."

When the others made it to her, they emanated shock and sadness and stood quietly while Sakura mourned the loss of her friend.

Then, two people entered the circle and began to walk briskly towards the girl.

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see who it was. A dark-haired man stared down at her angrily while a pink-haired woman stood behind him, looking at her concernedly. Sakura recognized the pair as her parents. Angered, she turned back to Naruto, hugging his corpse as if he were still alive. She felt the hand pull on her slightly, and she tried to shoulder it off.

"No..." she moaned. The hand pulled more forcefully, and she heard her father's voice.

"We're going home, Sakura. Let go of him."

Sickened by the sound of her father's voice, she whirled around and stared at the man with such hate that he actually flinched.

"No!" she shrieked deafeningly, "I'm not going home! I'm sick and tired of you telling me what's best for me when you go out and torture Naruto just because he has a monster inside of him!!"

The man looked angry and was about to respond when he froze and the colour drained from his face. His wife gasped and got even further behind him. Sakura, confused, turned and saw the reason of their fear and shock.

A red glow had suffused itself around Naruto's corpse. Even as she looked at it, it twisted and writhed through the air as if it were alive. It left Naruto's body and took on a shape that seemed to be proportionate to a humanoid figure. Then, there was a bright flash of red light, and Sakura threw an arm in front of her face to shield her vision. When the light had dimmed somewhat, she lowered her arm and gasped in shock.

Standing over Naruto was a man, his expression one of profound sorrow. Like Naruto, he had six identical whisker marks on his face, but other than that, he looked nothing like the boy. His hair and eyes were both a deep crimson. Two furry fox ears stuck out of his wild red hair, down slightly to match his mood. Nine red tails hung down behind him, dragging on the ground. He was garbed in a strange, red tunic, burgundy cloth pants, and black leather shoes. Sakura stared at the imposing figure with awe and shock.

"Who...?" she asked. The man looked at her, sighed, and spoke. His voice was slow and deep, and boomed across the plaza, even though it felt like this wasn't his intent.

"I? ...I am the being who was sealed inside of this boy..."

Sakura gasped.

"Then...you're?!" The man nodded.

"Yes...I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune that nearly destroyed this village fifteen years ago."

The crowd cried out in surprise. Several people began to shout 'Monster!' and 'Animal!' and 'You killed my husband!' A vein pulsed in Kyuubi's temple and his eyes brightened in fury.

"SILENCE!!" he roared.

Of course, the plaza became silent immediately. Kyuubi stared angrily at the villagers and shinobi.

"You call me an animal?! You accuse me of being a monster?!!" he bellowed, the villagers flinching at every word, "I'M THE MONSTER, AND YET YOU ATTACK AN INNOCENT CHILD?!!"

Some of the villagers looked down guiltily at his words, but others looked outraged. However, none of them spoke. Kyuubi continued.

"You call yourselves 'right' and 'just' human beings! And yet you find the nerve to do something as atrocious as this?! I SHOULD KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU FOR TREATING HIM THIS WAY!!"

Somehow, Sakura's father found the strength to talk back to Kyuubi.

"You can't just kill indiscriminately! That is evil!"

Kyuubi turned on the man, his eyes glowing an angry red.

"And yet what you have done is not?!!" he bellowed.

The man shrank back, paling. Kyuubi continued.

"You say killing is evil, but I say that what you humans have done is worse! You mourned the deaths of your shinobi, and yet you didn't fight yourselves! So, you blame their deaths on an innocent child. He has suffered your hate for his entire life, and tonight, he didn't want to live through it again! He told me not to heal him, because he didn't want to bear the pain anymore!!"

Some of the women gasped, Sakura's mother among them. Kyuubi continued on his rant.

"And now, this very night, he had made friends for the first time, and actually realized that he loved someone! AND YOU TOOK ALL OF THAT AWAY!!"

It was at this moment that Tsunade, who had come up to Kyuubi and Sakura, decided to speak.

"You can't group all of us together, Kyuubi-sama!" she protested, "Some of us tried to help Naruto!" The kitsune nodded.

"I realize this. That is part of the reason why I am considering sparing this pitiful village." He paused, bent over, and picked up Naruto's corpse, cradling it as if it were about to break at the slightest touch. Tsunade started forward.

"What are you doing?" Kyuubi gazed down at his former host sadly for a moment, and then looked up.

"...I am going to bring him back to life."

The crowd gasped, and Sakura stood up.

"Is that even possible? Doesn't life transference call for the death of the user?" Kyuubi nodded.

"In most cases, yes. However, a being of my power is able to reanimate someone at the cost of a monumental amount of chakra, the loss of which is permanent. Also, as I reanimate him, I will destroy each and every one of his memories while regressing his age to zero. However, I will merely suppress his current personality so that he will still be the same person as he ages. That way, I shall be able to raise him to manhood as the same person in a more caring environment than the one this village has given him."

Some of the villagers seemed unnerved. Tsunade came forward again.

"But...Kyuubi-sama, you can't just take him away. I mean-"

"Don't presume that you have the right to tell me what is right from wrong." Kyuubi said in a dangerously low voice. Tsunade looked like she was about to talk back, but then stayed silent and stepped away. Kyuubi stared at the crowd for a moment, down back at Naruto's corpse, and then back up at the crowd again.

"However, I don't really feel that I should give up a portion of myself to reanimate him after it was all of you," he said, his eyes flashing with anger, "who killed him. Therefore, I say that one of you should sacrifice your life to supply me with the energy to bring him back to life."

The entire plaza was silent. Then, the crowd screamed in an uproar.

"You are a monster!" one of the villagers cried over the din, "Only a monster could ask something like that." A vein pulsed in Kyuubi's temple again.

"BE QUIET!!"

Again, the villagers and shinobi fell completely silence, even if they were feeling enraged. Kyuubi stared angrily at them for a moment, and then resumed speaking.

"So...who will be the first?"

For a long while, no-one answered. Then, a small voice did.

"...I'll do it."

Both of Sakura's parents looked down at her with shock. The pinkette stared up at Kyuubi with sad eyes.

"I'll give my life for Naruto's. If it brings him back...I guess he can-"

"No," Kyuubi cut in, "I won't accept your life. He would never forgive me if it was you who died for him to live."

Sakura stared at him pleadingly for a moment; then sighed and stared at the ground. Kyuubi sighed, and resumed speaking.

"Is there anyone else who will accept this burden?"

There was another long pause.

"I will." Sasuke said, suddenly appearing beside Sakura. Kyuubi shook his head.

"No. You were one of the few people he looked up to when he was in pain. Also, you are the last of your clan. I will not accept your life."

There was a third pause. Then, Tsunade spoke up.

"I'll-"

"No," Kyuubi said, "You are the leader of this village. You are the only thing that is preventing these...people," he spat the word, "...from becoming completely corrupt."

Another pause. Then;

"...I don't suppose you'll let me...?" Kakashi asked. Kyuubi shook his head again.

"No. You and Iruka were his two, most respected sensei. I won't take either of your lives."

A fifth time, there was a pause. This one lasted very long.

Then, something odd happened.

"...Take my life." Sakura's mother said. Both Sakura and her father looked at the older pinkette in shock.

"...If it's true that my little girl loves the..." she paused, "...that boy, then I would give myself many times over to see her happy. Take my life."

Kyuubi simply regarded the woman with something that looked like a mix of curiosity and surprise. Then, Sakura's father spoke.

"No...Take my life instead." He said.

At this point, other villagers in the crowd began to speak up.

"Take my life!"

"No, take mine!"

"Mine!"

All at once, almost all of the villagers were shouting at Kyuubi to take their lives for Naruto's. The heartfelt love Sakura's mother had shown for her, and that which her father had shown for his wife, had inspired a sense of camaraderie in the villagers and shinobi. They all wanted Naruto to be brought back to life at the cost of theirs. Kyuubi looked at the crowd for a moment, and then actually smiled.

"Enough," he said. The villagers quickly quietened, even though Kyuubi was no longer screaming at them. The kitsune sighed, and looked up at the sky.

"...It seems that humans really can redeem themselves for evil acts..." he murmured. He brought his gaze back to ground level.

"Very well...most of you have shown the goodwill that I have so longed to see from this village. Therefore...I will take no-one's life."

The plaza was shocked into silence. Kyuubi continued.

"Now...I will be going...so that I can raise Naruto in the environment that he has longed for..."

The fox began to turn away. Before he could disappear, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned, raising his eyebrows. Sakura looked up at him despairingly.

"Please..." she mumbled, "...take me with you."

Both of Sakura's parents gasped, and even Kyuubi seemed mildly surprised.

"Are you certain? It will mean giving up your life as you know it, girl."

And then, she did the strangest thing, something that confused even Kyuubi.

She smiled.

"I know..." she murmured, "...but I still want to be with Naruto. If you do the same thing to me as you're going to do to him, then we'll still be together, won't we?"

Kyuubi stared at her for a moment. Then, finally, he smiled and nodded.

"...Very well."

He heaved Naruto's corpse over his left shoulder, and then raised his right hand, holding it in front of Sakura's face. The girl stiffened, and then her eyes glazed. She fell forward into Kyuubi's arms, after which he hoisted her over his right shoulder. He turned, back to leave again, but paused.

"...Tsunade-san," he said, "...take good care of this village. Keep these people on the path of good. Do not waver, even for a moment; for it will mean your destruction." Tsunade nodded.

"Yes...I will..." Kyuubi nodded, and crouched. Tsunade said one last thing.

"Will we ever see them again, Kyuubi-sama?" Kyuubi froze, and paused for a long while. Finally, after some time, he responded.

"...No...I am sorry..."

He sprang upwards and forwards, disappearing into the trees. Tsunade stared at the spot where Kyuubi had been standing for a long time after he had left. Then, sighing, she turned and addressed the crowd.

"...All right, everyone, listen up! For fifteen years, this village has disgraced its name by attacking one of its own, when it was the last wish of the Yondaime that he was to be remembered as a hero."

The crowd was completely silent.

"Therefore, I feel that it is only right that we honour the name of that hero. He saved our village from destruction fifteen years ago, and he did it once again today...in exchange for his life."

Still, silence.

"So, in honour of the boy Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato; the Yondaime..."

The crowd gasped in surprise.

"...I am officially declaring this day; the day of Uzumaki Naruto's birth and death, a festival day for the village. From this point on, October the tenth will always be known as the Day of the Fox."

The crowd was completely silent once again, shocked into it by the fact that the person they had hated for his entire life was the son of their Yondaime.

Then, slowly at first, but quickly gaining momentum, people began to clap. In moments the entire plaza was ringing the deafening applause.

After it had died down, Tsunade closed her eyes.

"Let us put this first Day of the Fox into motion by having a period of silence for Uzumaki Naruto. We will always remember him for his courage, refusal to give up, and...for the pain he had to live through..."

She bowed her head. One by one, the villagers and shinobi bowed their heads also until nearly everyone was completely silent, honouring the boy. Tsunade heard Kakashi's voice in her ear.

"...You do realize that this will require copious amounts of paperwork?" he asked. Tsunade smirked, but kept her eyes closed.

"Shut up Kakashi, I'm trying to be a good person." She murmured. The silver-haired jounin chuckled softly and backed away.

At least fifteen minutes later, the silence was interrupted by the frantic yells of a jounin.

"Lady Hokage, Lady Hokage!!" he shouted, pushing his way through the crowd and sprinting towards the woman. He stopped right in front of her, gasping for breath. Tsunade looked at him concernedly.

"What is it, jounin?" she asked. The jounin gasped and wheezed for a couple moments, and then stood up, looking almost hysterical.

"A...A man dressed in red with fox ears and tails...he...he broke into the vault of the Hokage...he...he stole the coffins of the Yondaime and his wife!"

Immediately, the villagers and shinobi in the crowd cried out in outrage. They talked amongst each other, disrupting the mood of solemnity and remembrance with one of anger and questioning.

Then, a deep voice sounded from the very air.

"Please, do not question my motives." Kyuubi's voice said. The villagers were all immediately silent.

"The only reason I have done this is because Naruto has never known the love of his mother or father. I don't want him growing up like that a second time. I am sorry."

The voice faded into the air, and Tsunade smiled to herself as the villagers looked around, not knowing what to think.

Naruto... she thought sadly ...Even when you're dead, you still have a flair for making uproar.

Kyuubi dropped the coffins on the ground and then laid Naruto and Sakura's inanimate bodies on the ground. Then, he kicked open the coffin lids. The grinning skulls of Kushina and Minato stared up at him through empty eye sockets, their skeletons still dressed in moth-eaten funeral regalia. Kyuubi felt a twinge of nausea in his stomach.

Disgusting... he thought ...Cremation is so much easier and better than this vile form of preservation. However, I wouldn't be able to bring them back if I didn't have some sort of medium to channel the restoration chakra into, and ash is not one of them. I should consider myself lucky that humans prefer...ugh...burials...

He sighed and walked first to Naruto's corpse. He knelt down beside it, and then, closing his eyes at the same time, rested his palms on the boy's chest. Then, he concentrated his chakra.

"Forbidden Art...Mortal Coil; Restoration of Innocence; Embodiment of Purity."

Kyuubi immediately stiffened as he felt the massive drain of chakra on his system. He remained silent as he felt his energy be channelled into Naruto. The gaping hole in the boy's chest was already healing, and by now was no bigger than a wound from a kunai. Kyuubi gritted his teeth as he felt his strength dwindle.

...It seems...bringing people back to life...is more difficult than I first thought... he thought.

Naruto's body was once again whole, and his face was starting to become more childlike. In fact, his entire body was beginning to shrink. Within minutes he had become an infant with no memories. As he had already said, Kyuubi suppressed Naruto's personality within the boy so that he wouldn't lose it as he grew.

As soon as he finished, Kyuubi took his hands from the sleeping baby on the ground. Then, he pulled off his red tunic and wrapped the cloth around the infant. After setting him back down on the ground, he went over to Sakura and placed his hands likewise on her chest.

"...Forbidden Art...Restoration of Innocence; Embodiment of Purity..."

The pinkette immediately began to shrink. In seconds, she was in an infant state as well. He tore another strip from his tunic and wrapped her likewise. Kyuubi suppressed her personality as well, and tried to stand. It was then that he noticed that he was trembling.

...What?...I was expecting some energy loss, but not this much! He thought. Concerned, he looked behind himself as he stood.

Four of his tails were gone.

Of course... he realized ...the amount of chakra needed to bring a human back to life is massive...usually, another human life suffices...but the chakra equivalent of a human life appears to be two of my tails...

Kyuubi shook his head and walked over to the skeletons of the Yondaime and his wife. He knelt between the two caskets and placed his hands on each skull.

"Forbidden Art......Mortal...Coil..." he gasped. He groaned loudly and gritted his teeth as fatigue swamped him. As his chakra flowed into the skeletons, their muscles and flesh began to reform. Within a few seconds, they were completely whole, and were merely sleeping.

Kyuubi gasped as his limbs suddenly felt like ice. He dropped to his front between the coffins, shivering.

Nnhh...dammit...I...can't move... he thought ...damn these...stupid humans...damn this...stupid sentimentality...of mine...ngh...why do I have to...be so damn...soft? ...

These were the last thoughts in his head before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Minato's eyelids fluttered and opened. Groaning, he sat up.

"Ugh...Kushina...Kushina, where are you?" he murmured.

"...Mmh?"

Minato looked in the direction of the voice. The redheaded woman had sat up. She smiled weakly.

"Morning...Minato..." she mumbled. Minato smiled as well, and moved to kiss her, and it was then that he noticed that he was sitting in a box. He frowned tiredly.

"...Why am I in a coffin?" he asked himself, starting to stand. He looked down at himself.

"...And why am I in funeral robes?" he asked. Kushina was standing beside him now, rubbing his shoulder. Minato turned to her.

"...That last thing I remember is...performing a jutsu to seal the Kyuubi into..." he paused.

"I can answer your questions." A voice stated.

Minato and Kushina's heads snapped to the direction where the voice had come from. A man dressed in a pair of red pants and a half-torn, foreign red shirt, possessing fox ears and a single tail was sitting under the tree, holding two bundles of red cloth. Minato's gaze hardened.

"I don't know who you are, demon, but you better explain yourself quickly." He growled. The man sighed.

"I...am the Kyuubi no Kitsune who attacked this village fifteen years ago..."

As soon as Minato heard the name, his eyes flashed with anger.

"Get back, Kushina!" he shouted, holding out his hand. Chakra began to swirl into the shape of a sphere.

Just then, a baby's crying rang loudly through the clearing. Confused, Minato stopped concentrating, and the half-formed Rasengan dissipated.

"...Where is that coming from?" he asked. Kyuubi shook his head.

"Oh look; you woke him up. Some father you are..." he muttered.

Minato was utterly bewildered at this point, but Kushina ran past him to Kyuubi.

"Oh my god, Minato, he's holding Naruto!" she cried. The kitsune relinquished one of the bundles to the red-haired woman. Kushina gazed down at whatever was wrapped in the bundle tenderly. The baby's crying had suddenly become a gurgle of delight. Minato, still confused, stepped over to Kushina. As soon as he saw his son wrapped in the red cloth, he understood. He looked back up to Kyuubi.

"You...were taking care of him for us?" he asked. Kyuubi nodded.

"For much longer than you know, Namikaze Minato." He said. Minato frowned, but sat down across from the kitsune.

"What happened to us? The last thing I remember was...hearing that you had killed Kushina, and I had brought Naruto to the battlefield to seal you inside of him." Kyuubi nodded.

"Well, unfortunately, the seal was a complete success. And so, for the last fifteen-or-so years, your son has been shunned by the village you had sworn to protect." Minato, shocked, objected.

"But-?!"

"How is that possible? The answer is simple, Namikaze Minato...you and your wife have been dead for fifteen years."

Minato was speechless.

"It is true. I brought the both of you back from the afterlife to care for your son."

"But...why is he still a baby?" Kyuubi sighed sorrowfully, and Minato was shocked to see such an emotion in the eye of a demon.

"...The truth is...your son Naruto died tonight..."

"What?!"

"Yes...I brought him back to life as an infant, so that he could grow up in a more loving environment than the one he has suffered through for the past fifteen years."

Minato was silent for a long while. Finally, after a long pause, he addressed Kyuubi again.

"...Are you really the Kyuubi no Kitsune?" he asked. Kyuubi sighed.

"I understand your confusion, Namikaze Minato. Why would I, a demon, be showing such remorse for humans? Well...as I have said, your seal was a success. I was inside of your son for the fifteen years that he suffered here. I saw everything through his eyes. I felt all the pain that he felt. No-one should have to go through that kind of torture; to be beaten and shunned until they are broken, until they no longer have the will to live. It was my fault that life was difficult for him...and also the fault of those ignorant fools in that village. I feel obligated to help him, and any of those who are close to him."

Minato paused again.

"Please...tell me everything..." he said, "...please..."

Kyuubi nodded.

At least two hours later, Kyuubi had summarized everything that had happened to Naruto up until that night. When he finished, Minato's eyes were glazed with sorrow.

"I..." he breathed, "...I can't believe...that they would do that...to a child," Kyuubi nodded.

"Nor could I, at first. Only a few people truly cared for him, but they weren't enough to stop him from losing his innocence. Those people who attacked him with the intent to kill, I wanted to tear them apart. But Naruto would always convince me not to. Until recently, he was always the voice of reason. When he didn't want to take it anymore, we switched places. I became the voice telling him not to retaliate, and he was the one who wanted to rip the aggressors apart."

Minato sat there, staring at the ground numbly. His fists clenched, and then unclenched.

"...I'm surprised I'm not down there right now, ripping them apart myself." He growled. Kyuubi shook his head.

"No. Do not stain your hands with their unworthy blood. Your name is far too great to be sullied by those infidels." Minato's breathing began to speed up.

"Don't make me laugh!" he exclaimed, "It already has! I protected them! I protected those evil people for years!"

"Yes, you did." Kyuubi growled, "But you did for the right reasons."

Minato looked like he was about to respond, but then hung his head and sighed. Kyuubi was silent for a moment, and then spoke again.

"There is another matter that I must bring to your attention." He said. Minato looked up.

"What?"

Kyuubi held up the bundle in his arms, and Minato craned his neck to get a good look at what was inside.

It was a sleeping baby.

"What? ...I don't understand..."

"This girl, in her former life, was the only person who truly loved Naruto. She begged me to take her with me, so I did. I did the same thing to her as I did to Naruto, so they will inevitably fall in love once they're old enough to realize their feelings." He paused, "...I want you to take care of her."

Minato accepted the bundle, still staring at the sleeping girl.

"...I'll raise her as if she were my own." He murmured. Kyuubi nodded, and stood. Minato looked up.

"What is it?"

"I will leave you now," he said, "You and Kushina are very well off without my help. Thus, I feel I am no longer needed. I need to regain my strength anyways; going from nine tails to one is going to be a bit hard to remedy." He turned and started to leave, but Minato stood, took two steps forward, and placed his hand on the kitsune's shoulder.

"Who said you get to up and leave?" he asked. The fox turned.

"Excuse me?"

"That's right," Minato said, smiling, "I don't know if you've realized this, but my son will need an excellent teacher if he's going to be half the shinobi I am...was...anyway, what I'm saying is that I want you to be my son's sensei, once he is old enough. What do you say?"

Kyuubi stared at him, looking shocked. However, he recovered quickly.

"...Of course..." he murmured, "...I...I would be honoured..." Minato shook his head.

"The honour is mine...friend..." he replied. He turned, and went to Kushina to explain things. Kyuubi stared at the back of Minato's head for a little while; then smiled.

"...Remarkable creatures, humans..." he murmured to himself.

Some time later, when they were close to departing from Konoha, Minato approached Kyuubi.

"...Kyuubi?"

"Yes, Minato?"

"...Why did you attack the village fifteen years ago?"

The kitsune flinched. Then, he turned his face away.

"...I would rather not talk about it." He muttered. Minato placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Please, Kyuubi, I need to know." He said. The fox was silent for a while. Then;

"...A week before October the tenth...my mate had given birth to our first kit...I was...happy...so very happy..."

Minato knew by the kitsune's tone that things were about to go downhill.

"A day before I attacked the village...I had gone out that night to fight with a lesser demon who had been encroaching on my territory...and when I came back..."

Kyuubi's shoulders tightened.

"...When I came back...the den was in ruins...everything had been razed to the ground...everything was burning. I couldn't get into the den in my natural demon form, so I took a human shape and got inside. When I made it through the rubble...I saw...they..."

Tears began to drip down the kitsune's face. Minato was shocked to see such a thing.

"...I saw my mate and my kit...lying on the floor of the den...dead..."

Minato instantly felt remorse.

"...I'm sorry." He murmured.

"That's not the end of it." Kyuubi said, his voice beginning to waver, "I found a headband that had been dropped on the ground outside of the den...it carried the symbol of Konohagakure..."

"What?!"

"For the rest of the night and all through the next day, I had mourned the loss of my mate and kit...and then, that night, I turned my rage on the village. The rest is, as you call it, history."

Minato's hand dropped from Kyuubi's shoulder.

"...Those bastards..." he muttered, "...I am never going back to that village as long as I live! They called my son a Demon, but they were the ones who caused you to attack them in the first place! I will die before I go back there!"

Kyuubi nodded, wiping his eyes.

"A worthy endeavour..." he said, his voice regaining its natural apathy, "...However, I believe that Tsunade will keep them in line well enough."

"...Wait, do you mean the Sannin Tsunade?!"

"Indeed."

Minato stared at him in shock. Then, suddenly, he laughed.

"Oh yes, she'll more than keep them in line!" he exclaimed, "If you ever met my sensei Jiraya, you'd know that Tsunade has a certain way of making people do what she wants!"

Kyuubi smiled slightly.

"I'll take your word for it."

Minato paused for a moment, becoming serious.

"...Where will we be going?" he asked. Kyuubi shrugged.

"I was thinking that we should simply drift around the Elemental Countries. It would be good for Naruto to learn the cultures and ways of the different lands." Minato looked at him for a moment. Then, he smiled.

"...Then that's what we'll do." He said, "We'll go from country to country, visiting the different villages. If Naruto grows up to be the kind of boy you told me he was, then he'll love it." Kyuubi nodded.

"Indeed he will." Minato nodded as well. Then, he turned, and walked to Kushina to tell her the news. Kyuubi looked up at the sky.

"Indeed he will..."

Epilogue

Roughly Fifteen Years Later...

"Happy Birthday, Naruto!"

Naruto grinned as the three people sat down at the table. After they were seated, the innkeeper's wife brought out a birthday cake, set it down on the table, and then bustled away. Naruto's grin widened.

"Thanks everyone!" he exclaimed, raising his fork into the air. Someone grabbed his hand.

"Did you wash your hands, Naruto?" she asked. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Mom," he said, pouting, "Can I have my cake now?"

Kushina laughed.

"Yes, Naruto, you can have your cake." Naruto grinned and cut himself nearly a quarter of the cake, dropping it on his plate before beginning to attack it with his fork. Kushina smiled, and cut herself a much smaller piece, and then cut two more for Minato and Sakura. Just as the other three were about to start eating, the door to the inn opened, and a man dressed in a red tunic, burgundy cloth pants, and black shoes came inside. Two fox ears stuck out from the top of his head, and a single tail swished through the air behind him. Naruto grinned, and swallowed the cake in his mouth.

"Kyuu-sensei!" he cried. Kyuubi tilted his head, smiling, and sat down at the table. Kushina looked at the kitsune.

"Cake, Kyuubi?" she asked. Kyuubi shook his head.

"No thank you, Kushina. I have always found such foods too rich for my tastes." He responded, smiling again. Naruto smirked.

"Oh come on, Kyuu-sensei, you're not gonna get out of shape from one piece of cake!" he joked. Kyuubi seemed to consider for a moment.

"...Well, maybe one slice won't hurt..." he said finally, cutting himself an inch-wide piece and setting it on the empty plate Kushina had saved for him. Minato swallowed the cake in his mouth and spoke up.

"Speaking of being in shape, Naruto, how is your training going?" he asked. Naruto grinned.

"Awethom!" he said with a mouth full of cake, pausing at a warning glance from his mother. He swallowed, and continued to speak.

"Awesome!" he repeated, "But Kyuu-sensei doesn't hold back! Whenever I spar with him, I feel like my arms and legs are gonna fall off by the time we're done!" Minato shot a glance at Kyuubi.

"You're not pushing him too hard, I hope?" he said. Kyuubi chuckled.

"Trust me, Minato; it's nothing he can't handle. He's been getting a lot stronger these past few months. Any stronger and even you will have trouble handling him in battle." Kyuubi shrugged, "I can barely defeat him as it is. However..." he said, casting a sly gaze at Sakura, "I think that the only reason he hasn't passed beyond me already is because of the...ahem...little distraction."

Sakura blushed, and Naruto did as well.

"Oh, come on, Kyuu-sensei!" he protested, "Sakura isn't a distraction! She helps me study!" Kyuubi rolled his eyes.

"Sure. If studying involves...heh...the contact of certain facial and oral muscles, then yes, I'd say she would." He said, raising an eyebrow. Naruto went completely red at this point and lowered his head, eating his cake in silence. Minato laughed.

"Don't be too hard on him, Kyuubi. It's only natural that he wants a girlfriend at this age." Naruto sat up, pouting again.

"Yeah, that's right! It's only natural!" he said, mimicking his father's tone perfectly. Sakura beside him giggled, and Kushina laughed loudly, making some of the other customers at the inn turn and stare. Kyuubi shrugged again.

"Well, I suppose you're right, Minato. However," he added, seeing Naruto's triumphant grin, "if certain trainees aren't able to keep up their training regimens, then I will have to find a way to separate them from their...study partners."

Naruto pouted at Kyuubi for a moment, trying to make him ease up slightly. When this had no effect, he sighed and gave Sakura a quick kiss on the cheek, wrapping his arms around her.

"No way, Kyuu-sensei!" he said, sticking out his tongue, "She's mine! You can't have her!" Kyuubi raised his eyebrows.

"E-Excuse me?" he stammered. Naruto grinned slyly.

"That's right. You can't have Sakura, sensei; she's my woman!" he said. Sakura giggled and wrapped her own arms around Naruto. Minato studied Kyuubi's face, suddenly looking interested.

"Something wrong, Kyuubi? You appear to be blushing..." he said, keeping his voice perfectly level despite the smile growing on his face. Kyuubi rearranged his face so that it looked completely unembarrassed.

"Preposterous," he said, pointing his nose into the air, "I do not blush. I am not a hormonal teenager...Naruto."

Naruto smiled despite the jibe.

"Oh, my sides are bursting." He said sarcastically.

After the cake had been completely eaten, Minato smiled, stretching in his chair.

"Well," he said, leaning back to stretch, "I think now would be a good time to get presents."

Naruto grinned.

"Presents?" he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "Now why would I get presents on my birthday? I mean; it's such a strange idea that-"

"Happy Birthday, Naruto." Minato said, holding a strangely-shaped black object in his hand. Curious, Naruto stopped talking and took the gift, examining it in his hands.

"Hmm...what is it, Dad?" he asked, looking up. Minato smiled.

"It's a very special kunai, Naruto. I made it myself for the use of an original technique I developed a while back. I'm going to teach it to you in a few days." Naruto's face lit up with glee.

"Whoa, really?!" he cried, looking at the kunai with new interest. He looked up at his father again, "Thanks, Dad!"

Kushina smiled, bringing out a rectangular present.

"My turn!" she sang. Naruto took the gift and tore the wrapping paper off of it. When he saw it was a book, he squinted and read the cover.

"The Five Elements: A Guide to Affinities and Techniques...what's this about?" he asked. Kushina smiled.

"Well, it's a book to help you find out what element of techniques you specialize in. It saves you a lot of trouble, because it's a real pain to figure out what element affinity you have on your own." Naruto frowned for a moment, trying to figure it out. Then, he figured it out and grinned.

"Thanks, Mom!" he exclaimed. Kushina smiled, and Kyuubi cleared his throat.

"My gift isn't something physical." He said, "Because you've advanced so quickly through training, I've asked Minato to teach you his signature technique." Naruto's face brightened.

"Your signature move?!" Minato nodded.

"Yes," he said, "It's called the Rasengan. It was one of the other moves I developed a while back, but I never completed it." He raised his eyebrows, "Maybe you can help me finish it, Naruto."

Naruto's jaw dropped and an expression of wonder crossed his face.

"M-Me?" he said, "You want me to help you finish the technique?!" Minato nodded.

"Yep. Who knows; you might even make it more powerful, what with that monumental chakra of yours."

Naruto grinned hugely.

"Awesome!! Thanks, Kyuu-sensei!!" he cried. Kyuubi inclined his head.

"The pleasure is all mine." He stated. Finally, Naruto turned to Sakura.

"...What's your gift, Sakura?" he asked. The pinkette smiled nervously.

"Uh...I could show you if we go up to your room..." she murmured. Naruto blinked twice, and then blushed heavily.

"Uhh...s-sure!" he stammered, taking her hand. Minato laughed, but Kushina actually looked angry.

"Naruto," she said warningly, "If that girl ends up pregnant, I am personally going to kill you!"

Naruto flinched at her voice, and Minato laughed harder.

"Oh come on, Kushina!" he managed to say through his raucous laughter, "You're way too serious!" Kushina rounded on Minato.

"And you don't take enough of a serious attitude with this, Minato!" she insisted, "I am not going to have Naruto giving himself away when he isn't even sure he's in love!" Naruto stopped cringing and straightened, frowning.

"Hey!" he cried, "I do so know if I'm in love or not!" he argued. Kushina turned back to him.

"You're too young to know!" she said. Minato chuckled.

"Oh don't be such a hypocrite, Kushina!" he chuckled, "We were fifteen or sixteen when we fell in love." He looked up, suddenly thoughtful, "Although, we did wait until we were nineteen or twenty to have Naruto..." Naruto pouted at his father.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" he whined. Minato shrugged.

"Well, you're mother does have a point, Naruto." He said, folding his arms, "No sex until next year. And," he added, seeing the spark of mischief in his son's eye, "condoms until you're nineteen."

Naruto frowned.

"Aww...fine..." he finally conceded. He stood up, still holding Sakura's hand, "Can we go now?" Minato chuckled.

"Yes, you can go, but remember, if Sakura gets pregnant, your mother will kill you."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Fine, fine, I get it already; pregnancy equals death wish!" he exclaimed, turning around and running up the stairs to his room, practically dragging Sakura with him. Minato chuckled to himself, and Kushina poked him in the ribs with her elbow.

"He's just like you, Minato." She said, smiling, "I remember you were just as eager for making love as Naruto is now when we were teenagers." Minato chuckled again.

"Yeah, well, you know what they say; like father like son." He said, placing an arm over Kushina's shoulders. Kyuubi rolled his eyes, arms folded and shaking his head.

"I've never understood humans and the rules they impose on their young about mating with each other." He said, "When I was growing up, I could mate as soon as I reached sexual maturity, no questions asked. Now that I think about it, I think the human equivalent of that age would be...around eleven or twelve." Kushina rolled her eyes.

"Well, Kyuubi, Naruto doesn't go chasing after females of his kind every spring like you do." Kyuubi blushed, despite his earlier misgivings.

"...You're lucky I don't take offense to your mentioning of that, Kushina." He said simply. Kushina smiled slyly.

"Well, would you perhaps take offense if I mentioned that, these days; you transform yourself into an ordinary fox each spring and go around-?"

"Yes, I would, Kushina." Kyuubi quickly cut in, attempting to save himself from a rather large embarrassment. Minato chuckled to himself.

"Well, in any case, I think it might be time to go to bed." He said, standing up. Kushina stood also. Kyuubi was the last to stand. Minato looked at Kyuubi.

"Are you going to be sleeping in the room I booked for you, Kyuubi?" Minato asked. Kyuubi raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.

"You know I prefer to sleep outside, Minato." He said. Minato smiled also.

"And you know that I always book you a room, no matter what you say, Kyuubi." He replied, chuckling. He turned and began to go up to his room with Kushina, but Kyuubi spoke.

"Minato...before you go to your room, just one thing."

"What?" he asked. Kyuubi smiled.

"...Naruto has grown into a fine young man...he shows a great deal of promise...it has been my honour to train him."

So saying, Kyuubi bowed to Minato. Surprised, the blond man paused for a minute.

"Kyuubi...there's no need to bow...you're the most powerful being in the world...it's my honour to have you train Naruto." Kyuubi straightened, smiling knowingly.

"That was once upon a time, Minato...before I revived your family, perhaps I was the most powerful being under the stars...but now, even you could defeat me in battle. As I said, it has been an honour training your son." Minato smiled.

"...Thank you, Kyuubi. It has been an honour having you teach him." He said. Kyuubi smiled as well, and turned to leave the inn and sleep outside. Minato continued up to his room with Kushina. As they passed Naruto's room, Minato heard stifled giggling and Naruto's loud, boisterous laugh. Minato let go of Kushina and moved over to the door, knocking on it. Silence immediately ensued. Then, there was the thump of footsteps, and the door was wrenched open by Naruto. He stared at his father with annoyance.

"What is it now, Dad?" he hissed. Minato then noticed that his son was only wearing a pair of bright orange boxers.

"Uh...you better make sure that those stay on tonight, Naruto..." he said, pointing at the pair of shorts. Naruto blushed slightly, but frowned.

"Yeah, okay, you told me already!" he growled, "Can I have some alone time with my girl now?!"

Minato smiled.

"Yes, yes, you can have your alone time, Naruto." He said. Naruto rolled his eyes and slammed the door. Minato heard a muffled "Finally!" come from behind the thick oak door, and he backed away from it, frowning.

"...Was I really that obnoxious when I was his age?" he asked. Kushina laughed, and kissed him on the cheek.

"No," she replied, "you were much more obnoxious than he is." Minato's frown deepened, and Kushina giggled. Then, Minato sighed and smiled.

"Well, he's a lot like you, too." He said, once again holding her and continuing to walk to their room, "If I remember correctly, you were a frantic ball of energy when we were dating...and you were the one who loved ramen so much." Kushina laughed.

"Well, I'm the one he came out of." She said, kissing Minato on the lips, "But he's more like you than me. You two are so much alike it's almost scary." Minato chuckled and moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her front.

"...Well, maybe our second child will be more like you." He murmured, rubbing her stomach. Kushina turned slightly to see Minato's face.

"When do you think we should tell Naruto?" she asked. Minato chuckled.

"...Not tonight, that's for sure. Sakura's probably keeping him occupied as it is."

Kushina made a face.

"And if she gets pregnant, Naruto's going to get an earful." She muttered. Minato laughed, and reached forward to open the door. The couple moved inside, and Minato shut the door behind them.

Kyuubi sighed as he leaned back in the tree, folding his arms behind his head. He could see Naruto clearly from the position he was in. He and Sakura were bashing each other over the head with pillows, both of them laughing. Kyuubi smiled and shook his head.

"Heh," he said to himself, "he's just like he used to be..."

He looked up to the stars. After a few moments, he found himself marvelling at the sight.

...Things have changed so much in my lifetime... he thought ...and yet...the stars remain fixed in the positions they have always been in. Humans and demons alike have been born, fought, lived, loved, and died under these stars...but they still haven't changed...and maybe they won't...

He sighed, and settled back in the crook of the tree. His one tail swished over him, somewhat staying the cold.

"I may have given up eight of my tails," he murmured, "...but it was all worth it, Naruto. Everything I have sacrificed was for you...and I would do it all again gladly......" his smile flickered, "...I wonder if he's anything like you..." A single tear dripped down Kyuubi's cheek, "...the kit I never had the chance to raise......but I guess I'll never know...you've replaced him, Naruto...you became my kit..."

Kyuubi adjusted himself slightly and closed his eyes.

"......and I'll always watch over you..."

Naruto collapsed back onto the bed, laughing loudly while Sakura continued to tickle him.

"S-Sakura, s-stop it!" he gasped through his laughter, "th-th-that tickles!!" Sakura giggled and continued to brush her fingers across his body for a few moments, before stopping and leaning back. Naruto continued to laugh even after she stopped tickling him, until it degenerated into breathless giggling. He slowly sat up and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Hoo...that was fun, Sakura..." he said, grinning. Sakura giggled a second time, and pushed him back onto the bed, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Have a good birthday, Naruto?" she asked. Naruto's grin widened.

"Yep!" he exclaimed, "One of the best!" he moved forward and kissed Sakura passionately open-mouth. Then, he pulled away, smiling warmly. Sakura giggled, wrapped her arms around him, and closed her eyes. Naruto sighed through his nose, and turned onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. Then, after a moment, he closed his eyes as well.

Kyuubi smiled slightly as his mind drifted into sleep.

Yes...I'll always watch over you...

...all of you...

......always.........