Chapter 1: Prologue

Author's note: Hey guys, Mash here. So, some of you who enjoyed my Warcraft story may not be pleased to see the posting of this story. Don't fret. I've had this story bubbling madly in my brain, and I couldn't focus on Changes at all. Once I get some writing done some writing on this story, I should be able to focus on Changes some more.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" asked the orange-haired man standing in front of the Hokage's desk.

The Sandaime exhaled a puff of smoke, a sigh mixed in with it, "Yes. He needs to be watched. My ANBU squads have fended off three separate attempts on his life, but times are tough. I need them on missions full-time."

The man sighed, "Fine, I accept. However, you know that my brother and sister-in-law aren't going to be pleased. They don't want their daughter being exposed to him."

Hiruzen chuckled, smoke escaping his old lips in short puffs, "Well, it's about time they learned that Naruto-kun is not some plague to be caught. He is the number one reason that they, and their daughter, are alive."

The red-head chuckled as well, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I suppose that is true. When does my mission officially start?"

The Sandaime stood up, taking off his hat, "Haruno Kaiza, your full-time mission to watch over, and guide Uzumaki Naruto, begins now. Despite your rank of Chuunin, you are not to take any orders concerning this mission, unless they come directly from me."

Kaiza saluted, looking expectantly at his superior.

"Do your best, Kaiza-kun. Dismissed."

A young boy, no older than five, sat on a small swing in the local park, watching the younger kids play around him. His bright blonde hair rustled slightly as a breeze passed by, revealing his equally bright blue eyes.

He pushed at the ground with his foot, setting the swing into motion slightly, his eyes fixated on a young girl with pink hair. The boy grinned, his face lighting up brilliantly as he hopped off the swing and trotted quickly in the direction of the pinkette.

"Oy! Sakura-chan!" the boy yelled, calling out to his friend. The girl in question jumped, startled.

"N-Naruto?" she asked, looking behind her.

Naruto grinned at her, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry, Sakura-chan. Hey! I was wondering…would you like to play ninja?" he asked, his eyes lighting up.

Sakura huffed, looking at the blonde, "Naruto no baka! You know that I don't like that game. Go play it with Sasuke."

Naruto slumped, dejected, "But Sakura-chan…you know how Sasuke is. He only likes playing with his brother. Besides, he's too good at-"

Naruto was interrupted by a sharp voice from behind him, "Sakura."

Sakura gulped, looking at the orange-haired man who was now standing behind Naruto. Naruto jumped and whipped around, landing flat on his ass, looking up at the imposing figure.

"It's time to go home." The man said; his voice sharp. His eyes never left Naruto.

"H-hai, tou-chan" Sakura mumbled, jumping up.

Naruto was frozen, staring into the hateful man's eyes, "W-why?" He managed to squeak out. "Why does everyone look at me like that!" he yelled, his voice rising in pitch.

The man's nostrils flared, his eyes widening; "Why? You dare ask why, you little de-"

"Aniki" said a voice from behind the orange-haired man, as a hand clapped him on the shoulder. A new figure appeared, walking around the first man, the two looked similar in regards to hair color. The only major difference was the obvious age gap between the two.

"K-Kaiza…" The first man managed to say, looking at his double.

Kaiza smiled and patted him on the shoulder again, "Go ahead and take Sakura-kun home, Kaigo." Kaigo glanced back at Naruto, hate filtering into his eyes again. Kaiza stepped in front of his older brother, blocking his line of sight. "I'm in charge of Naruto now. As his guardian, I am respectfully asking you to stop glaring at him."

Kaigo's mouth went slack, looking at his younger brother. "Y-you…why? After what he's done…" the man sputtered; his eyes full of betrayal.

"He's done nothing, Kaigo. Take Sakura-kun home." Kaiza stated, his eyes resolute.

Sakura stared at her father and uncle, not fully understanding what was occurring. "T-tou-chan…" she said, tugging on her father's jacket.

Kaigo looked down at her and smiled, ignoring his brother. He gently took Sakura's hand in his, "Come on, Sakura. Let's head home; I bet your kaa-chan has dinner ready." Sakura's eyes lit up at these words, and she wrapped her arms around her father.

Kaigo led her away from the park, sending one last look at his brother before fully disappearing from sight.

Kaiza rubbed the back of his head. "Geez, Aniki. Why do you always have to make things difficult?" Turning around, his eyes fell on the spot where Naruto was…or at least, where he should have been.

"Naruto?" the man called out, looking around him. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly felt his back pocket, and came to the conclusion… that his wallet was missing. He had just gotten pick-pocketed by a five year old.

"Itadakimasu!" the blonde prankster yelled as he happily dug into a steaming bowl of ramen, the wallet in question sitting on the table next to it.

An elderly old man leaned on the counter, watching the young miscreant. "Naruto…why do I get the uncanny feeling that, that isn't your wallet?"

Naruto giggled and continued slurping down ramen, "I just jacked it off some guy when I was playing with Sakura-chan! I think he might have been a ninja, but I don't know."

Teuchi raised an eyebrow at the blonde, "You stole a wallet off of a ninja? That's a serious offense, you know."

Naruto just laughed more, setting down the empty bowl, "Old man, a decent ninja would never let his wallet get stolen, right?"

The elder man laughed, "Ah, I suppose that is true. Would you like another bowl, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled, but glanced outside the ramen stand, noting how dark it was getting. "Maybe next time, old man. I'll just pay for the meal and head out," Naruto said, grabbing at the wallet, "it's getting late any-" Naruto paused, his mouth gaping as he clutched at the wallet-sized rock that was occupying the spot where the wallet had just been. "Wha… how… where… " the boy sputtered, scrambling around the stand, searching for the wallet.

Teuchi looked down at the blonde, "Naruto… I believe we discussed what I do with non-paying customers, right?"

Naruto gulped as the ramen stand owner's shadow washed over him.

(Two hours later)

Naruto groaned as he pulled off the rubber gloves, the last of the dishes finally washed. Teuchi grinned at him, "You did a fine job, Naruto. Let's both hope that you can pay next time, okay?"

The blonde just groaned and trudged around the barstools, before ducking under the entrance-flaps. A chuckle echoed above him as he turned towards his apartment, "Karma is a wicked witch, isn't it?" Glancing up, Naruto caught sight of a figure sitting on top of the ramen stand, his feet dangling off the side. The figure smiled and held up a small object in his hand.

Naruto's eyes widened as he identified the item as the wallet he had stolen. "What the hell! That's my wallet!" Naruto yelled, infuriated.

The mysterious figure cocked his head. "Your wallet, you say? Quite to the contrary, this is MY wallet. You stole it from me earlier."

Naruto squinted, his eyes identifying the distinctly orange hair of the man who had defended him earlier. "Yeah? Well so what if it is! I took it from you. That makes it mine!" Naruto stated, stomping his foot in irritation.

The man chuckled, "Well, ignoring the fact that you use very poor logic… then the fact that I've taken it back makes it mine again, correct?"

Naruto sputtered, his brows furrowing as he glared at the orange haired man. "N-… Well no! You're a ninja! You're cheating by using ninja skills to take the wallet back!" Naruto declared, grinning smugly and folding his arms over his chest.

The man chuckled again, hopping down to the ground. "There's no such thing as cheating in the ninja world, Naruto-kun." He ruffled the boy's hair, causing Naruto to flinch and reel backwards, almost falling over.

Naruto quickly recovered, fixing his hair and shooting the man a hot glare. "Well fine! Keep your stupid wallet! I'll just steal another one off someone else!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Naruto-kun." The mysterious man said, blocking the youngster's path.

The blonde squinted, "You can't stop me! I have to become a ninja! The only way I can do that is to practice being stealthy!" Naruto grinned and hopped backwards, striking a pose. "Nobody's going to stop me! I'm going to become Hokage, dattebayo!"

Kaiza quirked an eyebrow, that eyebrow rising slightly as he felt a small amount of chakra being formed within the developing chakra coils of the five year old. Where had he learned to form chakra?

"Now you'll bow to my ninja skills! Henge!" Naruto declared, grinning as he pulled off his trick, crushing the smoke pellet in his hand.

A cloud of smoke enveloped the blonde, and Kaiza glared through the screen intently, anxious to see the work of possibly one of the earliest-performed jutsu he had ever seen.

The cloud of smoke slowly dissipated; a bit slower than was normal, Kaiza noted. His eyebrow twitched madly as an empty patch of ground awaited him. Kaiza wasn't a Chuunin for nothing, however. The slight tug on his back pocket caused him to whip around, his hand clamping down on the wrist of the mischievous blonde kid. Kaiza smirked as he noticed his wallet clutched firmly in Naruto's hand again.

"Hey! What gives! Let my hand go, you cheater!" Naruto yelled, trying to pry his wrist free.

"Cheater? I'm defending my property, you little brat." Kaiza said, grinning. Although Naruto was still unable to use jutsu properly, his ability to deceive someone of Kaiza's skill level(Even if he'd had his guard down) was very impressive. "I must admit that I'm impressed, Naruto-kun. Had I been a Genin, you would have pulled the wool over my eyes."

Naruto growled and tugged on his arm harder, his face becoming desperate. "Let me go! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

Kaiza blinked, confused by Naruto's desperate pleas. "Naruto-kun, I'm not going to hurt you. I just-" Kaiza paused, a gleam of something metallic in Naruto's free hand glinting in the moonlight.

Before he could identify the item, Naruto's hand whipped out, the metal object in his hand being carefully guided towards Kaiza's hand that was currently holding Naruto's arm. Kaiza's eyes widened as he noticed the shape and style of a standard Konoha kunai in the young blonde's grasp.

Kaiza glared and released Naruto's arm, his own hand retracting quickly to maneuver around the knife. "Okay Naruto-kun. That's far enough. Hand over the kunai." Kaiza urged, holding out his hand. "Please."

Naruto grinned at him, spinning the knife around his finger. "You want it? Here!" He shouted, whipping his arm back and launching the metal object towards the Chuunin. Naruto smiled and dug into his pocket, grabbing another smoke pellet. "Smell ya later, jerk!"

Kaiza swiftly snatched the kunai out of the air, blinking slightly as he realized that it weighed only a fraction of what it should. A loud 'poof' sounded again as the smoke expanded outward rapidly. Kaiza was hardly surprised to see that Naruto was gone when the smoke disappeared.

Fingering the kunai, Kaiza face palmed as he realized that it was a dummy knife. The inside was hollow, allowing for the tip of the blade to fold into itself when it was pressed up against something solid. This was something found at a joke shop.

"You let him get you with the whole fake-kunai routine?" a feminine voice from the roof next to him inquired.

He jerked around, nearly snapping his neck as he faced the new voice. He breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted the white mask that was customary for all ANBU to wear. This particular mask reminded him vaguely of a cat.

"I was under the impression I was to watch a five year old child, ANBU-san" Kaiza said, quirking an eyebrow, "Not someone border-line academy level, if not higher; I wasn't properly briefed for this mission." Kaiza said, shrugging.

If the ANBU's expression changed, he couldn't tell. "Not every mission goes to plan, Haruno-san. That's a lesson you should have learned by now." The ANBU's head tilted slightly, "Now, your kid lives about five blocks from here. The apartment he lives in looks like it's about to tip over. If you go now, you can beat him there." The ANBU stated, standing up from her crouching position.

Kaiza sighed as the ANBU disappeared, the ninja seamlessly melting into the nearby shadows. At least he had some occasional help with the boy. Although he was sure that he wouldn't be able to rely on constant ANBU surveillance.

Kaiza glanced down the road that Naruto had disappeared along, seeing an apartment complex in the distance. Kaiza's eyes narrowed; this was the bad part of the village.

Naruto sprinted full-throttle down the street, nimbly diving between the legs of the villagers around him. Had he not been in such a desperate situation, he would never have taken to the streets; they were a more direct path than the alleyways, however.

Naruto hated this part of the village, particularly at night. This was Konoha's red-light district, an area infamous for its bars, brothels, and cheap living quarters.

The blonde yelped and ducked, narrowly avoiding a bottle that had come hurtling from one of the local bars. Naruto burst back into a sprint, twisting around the foot of a drunk civilian who had aimed a kick at him. "Jackass!" Naruto called back, laughing to himself. "Work on your aim you fat, dru- Oof!"

Naruto's sentence was interrupted as he ran head first… into the ass of a scantily clad girl. "Hey! Why don't you move your fat ass!" Naruto yelled, looking up at the obstacle.

His throat ran dry as he locked eyes with the most notorious kunoichi of the red-light district.

Sixteen year old Mitarashi Anko smirked to herself as her eyes locked with the bright-blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto. "My, my, Uzumaki-chan. Such a mouth on you…" Anko purred as she hoisted him up by his collar, fingering a kunai in front of his face. "Now… how many cuts am I going to have to give you for calling me fat?"

"A-ah…" Naruto sputtered, his face as white as a ghost.

"Poor Uzumaki-chan… I promise I won't make the cuts too deep…" Anko continued, lightly tracing Naruto's whisker marks with the tip of the kunai, drawing a thin line of blood.

Naruto squeaked, leaned over and began feverishly gnawing at his upper arm like a trapped animal.

Anko quirked an eyebrow, "Uzumaki, you realize that only works when your arm is trapped, correct?"

But Naruto didn't seem to register her words, only seeming to work harder, making Anko fidget. "S-Stop that, brat. You're going to end up hurting yourself…" Anko said, her face paling slightly.

As Naruto began whimpering in pain around the arm he was chewing on, Anko whipped her hand out, gripping his jaw and pulling his face away from his arm, making their noses touch.

Anko blinked as she spotted the small grey pellet in between Naruto's teeth. Before she could react, Naruto crushed the pellet, causing a violent smokescreen to rapidly expand outwards, causing her to cough violently and release the kid, rubbing at her tear-streaked eyes. "Th- that little b-brat…" Anko swore violently and coughed more, waving the smoke away from her face and leaping out of the smoke cloud.

Anko growled as she whipped around, scanning for the annoying blonde brat. The troublesome kid had vanished.

No matter, she preferred a chase.

Naruto was gasping painfully as he slammed his door behind him, ignoring the groan of protest the slab of wood gave him as he quickly slid the bolt lock into place.

The blonde coughed hoarsely as he slid down, resting his exhausted body against the door. Pissing off two mid-to-high rank ninja in one day… he must be losing his mind.

He giggled to himself, remembering the day's antics. "Oh well. They were both idiots." Naruto mumbled, glancing over to his room where his warm bed awaited him.

Naruto groaned and stood up, stretching slightly and hobbling over to his room. He didn't even bother turning the lights on to throw his clothes off as he tumbled onto his bed. He shifted slightly, realizing that there was a lump on his bed that was most certainly not his mattress, and something soft his head was resting against that was most definitely not his pillow.

"Why hello, Uzumaki-chan." Purred an all-too familiar voice.

Naruto screamed, and he screamed loudly.

The young boy bolted backwards, flying off the bed and soaring towards the opposite wall. His back slammed against the wall painfully, his fingers clawing for the door handle. His eyes flicked back and forth frantically, trying to see through the darkness.

He heard the lock on his door slide into place, freezing his heart.

"Poor little Uzumaki… trapped like the little rat he is…" Anko taunted, her voice seeming to come from all directions. He heard a distinct slithering sound, and a slight hiss. "My little friend here just loves to play with rats…"

Naruto whimpered, his hands clawing at the door painfully. He shrieked as a forked tongue flicked his cheek.

"Are you afraid of the dark, Uzumaki?" Anko said, trailing a finger over Naruto's cheek. "Poor thing… so helpless… so trapped in the darkness…"

Naruto heard the bone-rattling sound of a kunai sliding out of its holster.

"No matter, Uzumaki-chan… I'll end your suffering…" the woman purred, her voice sinister.

Naruto whimpered as he heard the kunai slice through the air, creating a gentle whistling sound. "Please… no…"

The sound of metal clashing against metal, and a sudden flash of light caused Naruto's eyes to widen, taking in the scene in front of him.

Anko had an annoyed look in her eye as she leaned over the frightened blonde boy, the kunai in her hand being held at bay by an identical knife, held by none other than the orange-haired man from before.

A large, purple serpent was wrapped around Kaiza's arm, its fangs poised dangerously by his neck. Naruto could see a trail of sweat traveling down his cheek.

Despite that fact, he spoke with unhindered authority, "Mitarashi-san, Uzumaki Naruto is under my protection. By harming him, you will cause me to fail the mission given to me by the Sandaime himself."

Anko just quirked an eyebrow before snapping her fingers, causing the serpent to explode in a cloud of smoke, which quickly dissipated. "You didn't really think I was going to hurt the kid, did you?" Anko asked, smirking.

Kaiza glanced down and pointed at the quickly-healing scab on Naruto's cheek, causing Anko to giggle sheepishly. "Okay, well I wouldn't have hurt him permanently!" she said, defending herself.

Kaiza just looked at her with a blank expression, "Irrelevant. My orders are to not let harm come to him."

The woman just rolled her eyes, glancing at the quaking child. "My apologies, Uzumaki-chan. I just wanted to have a little fun. You know the feeling…" Anko purred.

Naruto sputtered, "I- I forgive y-you! Please j-just get out of m-my apartment…"

Kaiza smirked, watching the scowl form across Mitarashi's face. "Yeah whatever, brat. Most guys would have been overjoyed to have me in their bed. Not little Uzumaki." She said, pouting as she walked out the door to his room. "Nooooo… Uzumaki-chan is too good for Anko. He'd rather have some high-class bitch like Yuuhi…" her voice trailed off as she left their range of hearing.

Naruto's legs gave out on his as he collapsed, his hand gripping the spot over his heart frantically.

Kaiza chuckled as he watched the young blonde have a nervous breakdown. "Messing with Mitarashi Anko is not a healthy habit to practice, Naruto-kun."

Naruto had calmed down a bit, his eyes still flicking around the room in a paranoid manner. Kaiza briefly wondered if the boy was traumatized. "D-did Jiji really s-send you?" the boy asked, stuttering slightly.

"Hai, Naruto-kun. Sandaime-sama wanted to make sure that you were protected at all times." Kaiza said, smiling at the young boy.

Naruto looked confused, squinting at the older man, "Why… after all the stuff I said and did…" Naruto asked again, his eyes lowering in shame.

Kaiza glanced around, looking at the torn-down apartment. His eyes flicked over various hate messages that were scribbled over his walls. Clearly people had tormented this boy for some time. "Naruto-kun, I understand why you did the things you did. I'm not going to hold it against you." Kaiza stated, smiling in assurance.

Naruto still looked doubtful, but he looked like he was about to collapse at any minute. "W-will you stay here? In case she comes back?" The boy clearly didn't trust Kaiza, but Anko was the bigger threat in his mind.

The Haruno smiled and nodded again, opening the door to Naruto's room. "Sleep well, Naruto-kun. If you need anything, I'll be on the other side of this door." The man closed the flimsy door behind him, leaving Naruto to his brief thoughts before he collapsed on his bed and promptly passed out.

Kaiza smiled as he heard the young boy hit the bed. Standing up to Mitarashi Anko was something that only madmen attempted. However, he felt that it would be worth it for this kid. Despite the kid's goofy and childish exterior, Naruto showed extraordinary potential.

Kaiza would do all he could to extract that potential.

I hope you liked the introduction to this story. I fully intend it to be a very emotionally-destructive story. Naruto won't be making any life-changing decisions because he stubbed his toe. He's going to have his entire world tossed upside down.