I do not own Naruto.

OK so this idea just hit me and I wanted to see how far it goes. Keep in mind that this might not flow with the story now.

Chapter 1

I hated this place. The villagers can't stand me for being the jailor to the Nine-Tailed Fox even though all they see is the demon when they look at me. My team and my friends think I'm an idiot or that I'm not worthy to even spit on. Sometimes I wonder why I try so hard for these people when all they want is rid of me.

My team has been the worst out of them all. Sakura can't stand me in the slightest, and Sasuke has been PMSing ever since I beat Haku, but do I get any credit? No. None. Kakashi thinks I am not worth the effort to teach, so all he tells me to work on is the basic leaf exercises with my chakra.

At this point, I can stand upside down on a tree limb and levitate leaves all over my arms all day. I think that even if he saw me do this, Kakashi-sensei will still find a reason not to train me.

I walk to the bridge to meet my team everyday. Sakura and Duck Ass are already there. I just sigh and sit down in front of a tree as we wait for our ever-tardy teacher. The peace and quite that embraced me did not last long.

"Naruto! Where have you been? You were supposed to be here over two hours ago!" Let the shrieking begin. I just smile up at Sakura as she makes her way over to me. Here we go, another day another headache.

"Well, Sakura, I got lost on the road of life." I gave her my most idiotic grin. I felt like slapping her as she looked at me like I wasn't worth the dirt on her shoes. Sakura just eye rolled at my response. "You know that Kakashi-sensei used that one two days ago."

I just gave her my most cheesy smile. Sakura just threw her hands in the air and walked over to pester Sasuke. I could hear them from the other side of the bridge, but I choose to ignore it. Her pathetic attempts to gain Sasuke's attention only push him farther away from her, but she chooses not to see it.

I closed my eyes and thought about how my life has been. I don't know why, but I've been doing this a lot.

As we wait for the last member of our team to grace us with his existence, my mind wonders. Every day I have to deal with things other people don't. It is starting to make me feel empty inside. Even my mask is starting to show signs of wear, but no one notices or seems to care that I am put down on a daily basis.

People glare, sneer, throw things at me, overcharge item, and basically make my life a living hell. There have been times when I need help, so I went to Kakashi-sensei, but before I can finish explaining, all he says is "Look Naruto, I'm very busy right now. Why don't you go and ask someone else?" Then he poofs away.

Now I would love to ask someone else if there was someone who cared about my well-being. I have gone to Iruka so many times that the villagers are starting to be unfair to him as well. My team would only look further down on me then before.

Now that I think about it, all of this brooding might be due to my dreams. In my dreams, I am just standing in front of the villagers. I can hear all of the hate full words.

"It's the demon brat."

"Don't look at him!"

"He never should have existed!"

All I can do is try to muffle the sobs as the words get louder and harsher. Just when I feel like the villagers are going to attack me, they vanish as a pair of slender, yet muscular arms pull me into a warm embrace.

I look up at my protector, but I can never see his face. I can tell he has long ebony hair that is tied into a pony tail, but that is all I could distinguish from him. My protector holds me so close to his body as the rest of the world fades away.

"It's okay. They're gone now. I won't let anything happen to you. You will be safe as long as I am here." Those words calm me down into a blanket of comfort. He would never let anything happen to me. The male picks me up and I snuggle into his chest.

As my dream fades away, I catch a glint of crimson eyes.

As empty as I feel, this person makes me feel safe when he is near me, but I think he left a few years back. There was a time when I could sleep and not think about people attacking me in my own home, but one day, the safety was gone.

I don't feel safe anywhere in this village. Every night I think about leaving this hell hole, but the Old Man, the ramen stand owners, and Iruka keep me from leaving. It never fails that as soon as I start packing, those sad faces keep me from leaving.

I lean my head against a tree as my thoughts shift back to my protector. Why did he leave? Did he get tried of me? Did I do something wrong? I sighed. He might be dead for all I know. I guess I should be grateful that he was there at all.

I wonder who he was. All I ever saw of him was his long, ebony hair and swirling crimson eyes…

Wait! Swirling eyes? Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei had the same eyes when they were using their Sharingan. Did that mean he was an Uchiha? I guess he is dead. All the Uchiha were slaughtered.

I felt like curling into a ball now. I would never get to thank him now. Sasuke was the only Uchiha in the village. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I heard a poof and looked over to see my sensei had finally arrived.

Well it was a nice dream while it lasted.