chapter 1

Hello readers! New story, so hope you all enjoy. This is just the beginning, and I hope you enjoy it all!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters.

He jumped over the buildings, searching, his red eyes scanning the alleyways, knowing that was were she would be. He heard the screaming then, the loud cries coming soon after. Following his ears, he sprinted over a few more roofs, before jumping of, landing swiftly on the ground, before shooting off in the direction of the slowly quieting whimpers. Stopping aruptly, he spun back around, took a few quick steps back and looked into the alleyway he had stopped in front of. Seeing what he was looking for, he dashed into the alleyway, using his activated sharingan to navigate the dark path. He found her quickly, shivering because of the cold, surrounded in shadows. He stooped down, bending his knees so he would be able to get a better look at her. She was all beaten up, bleeding everywhere. She had a scratch creating a ring just below her elbow on her left arm, as well as one running from her shoulder to her mid-forearm. She had bruises litterd all over her body, her hair was matted due to the blood covering most of it and her already nearly non-exsistant clothes were in tatters, great big rips in them and large chunks missing from both her shorts and t-shirt.
"Nari, can you get up?" he said, wondering if he would have to carry her. She shook her head, whimpering slightly as the
movement involved moving her neck. He frowned, not yet seeing any injury to her neck, but that might be due to the fact that her head was down and her hair was covering from the shoulders upwards, both covering up his view of her neck. He reached forward, tilting her chin up carefully with one hand and pushing her hair back at the same time with the other. What he saw almost made him gasp. There was a thick red line going across her throat and towards the back of her neck. He also saw the begginings of a bruise on either side of the line and a faint scar appearing in the middle of the red. He knew what had happened, it was pretty obvious - she had been strangled with rope, probably by the villagers, and then with ninja wire. He sighed, ashamed of his village. Standing up, but bending down from the middle, he placed his hands under her armpits and lifted, making sure to be gentle. Still being careful, he placed her on his hip, noting how her legs were the best of, with just a few bruises and a twisted ankle. " Ok Nari, just hold still and we'll get you looked at as soon as we can, ok?" He took her silence for a yes and looked around before carefully jumping onto the nearest roof, making sure to keep a firm but gentle grip on the girl.

He got to his destination in less then a minute. He knocked on the old wood door, entering as soon as he heard the murmured 'come in'. He opened the door with his spare hand, and walked briskly into the office, stopping before the man seated behind the desk.
"You found her then, Itachi?" The old man stated rather then asked. Itachi nodded.
"I found her in an alleyway near the main street, Hokage-sama" He would of bowed, but knew that it would of meant josteling the girl still on his hip, and in the process, hurting her. The hokage nodded, taking a few puffs of his pipe,
"I see. Do you have any idea as to what happened to her. "
"I think that she was ambushed, as you know how fast she is. She was, most probably, attacked by the villagers, and then ninja came along to help out. There are injuries that are caused by objects that you can probably find in most households, and there are injuries that look as if to be caused by kunai and shuriken. She also appears to have been strangled by rope, and then ninja wire - therefore leading me to the conclusion that villager attacked first and then ninja" Itachi said, rather quickly, as he knew that the girl on his hip needed medical attention, no matter what was inside her. Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded once more, thinking over the information the Uchiha prodigy just told him. He snapped his fingers less then a minute later, summoning two ANBU to his side. He looked at the one with the cat mask
"Go get Ookami and tell him that we found Nari" The Anbu nodded disapearing in a puff of smoke a second later. The hokage looked to the other Anbu, this one with the mask of a crow "Go and get healer Hatake" This one also nodded and disapeared in a puff of smoke. The third then looked over to Itachi, taking note of the way he was standing, as if he had been carrying the child his whole life - he looked uncharacteristically worried, which the third knew he never did. He was also holding her properly, the way an older brother would, and although the hokage knew he had a younger brother, he also knew that the older Uchiha almost never held the young Sasuke, and when he did looked most uncomfortable. They stood/sat there for two more minutes, until the both of them heard two sets of frantic feet coming down the hallway. Barley seconds after, the door was flung open by a hysterical Kakashi, looking just like the wolf his codename implied. Behind him was a woman, in her early twenties, with light brown hair and dark green eyes. Her eyes held the same amount of worry that was written all over her face. She saw Itachi standing there with a small girl with matted red hair and dulled blue eyes. They were both looking at her, The boy with slight relief and the girl with a scared glint in her eyes. The womans eyes softened for a second before they hardened again as she thought of the punishment she and her husband were going to inflict on the people who did this to the little girl.

She took a step forward, pushing her husband out of the way, before rushing over to the little girl, trying to make it obvious in her body language and facial expresions that she wasn't going to hurt her. Itachi walked over to the hokage's desk and set Nari on the desk after the man had cleared a space. The healer, Midori Kode-Hatake then kneeled infront of Nari and cheked her injuries, healing them as they went along. It would seem her tennant had used to much chakra healing her as the villagers beat her, and couldn't heal her. She healed her sprained ankle and most of the bruises on her legs, but she couldn't waste her limited chakra on things that would go in a week or so. Midori then moved onto Nari's torso, lifting up the sorry excuse for a shirt as she went along. She half-healed the slash - that was made by a sword - across her stomach, leaving a scar, as she moved onto the large bruise just below her heart. After healing that, she healed the bruises on her arms, but as her chakra supply was dwindling, she moved onto the one that needed the most attention - Nari's neck. Using as little chakra as possible, she healed some of the bruises around her kneck, but couldn't do much for the scar the ninja wire left. Using the very last of her chakra, she lessened the pain the young girl would no doubt be feeling. When she was done, the three males in the room sighed, relived that the little girl was looking better. Nari looked up then, her eyes seeking the one comfort she had always known - her precious people. She looked right at Itachi then, slowly lifting her arms, silently saying she wanted to be held. The young boy walked forward straight away, once again putting his hands under her armpits and lifted her up, immediately putting her on his hip. Nari looked around the room once more before snuggling her head in Itachi shoulder sighing tiredly. She fell asleep soon after, and after thinking that she'd be more comfortable on the couch that was situated at the back of the room, Itachi started walking over to the dark blue furniture. He glanced at her when he was halfway across the room and saw how cute and peaceful she looked, and decided against putting her down - she must be comfortable enough if she was looking like that. Sighing, Itachi looked over the other three occupants of the room. The hokage looked tired, but you could tell by the look in his eyes that he was ashamed of his village, the one he, and many before and him, had protected with their lives, and they were hurting the one of the people who saved them four years ago. Kakashi and his wife, Midori, looked about ready to go out and kill anyone who had an invovment in this - whether they were the ones beating her or watching, or someone who just walked past the alleyway Itachi found her in, ignoring the strangled screams and whimpers coming from the shadows. The ten year old Jonin sighed once again, wondering what they were going to do. It had seemed that the hokage had read his mind as he started talking then.
" We need to find a way to stop this" The sandaime began "The only way I can think of is dress her as boy. I know it may seem ridiculous, but for some reason, people seem to think that girls are easier to beat. If she dresses as a boy, maybe the beatings will die down." He felt worried. He was pretty sure that the physical abuse would die down, but not the verbal, or the shunning that she would most likely go through growing up. " I'm not sure if it would help much, but you could all still see her, and to make sure, we can have you three, and some other trustworthy people train her." The sandaime countinued.
" Who though, apart from us three?" Kakashi asked, gesturing to himself, Midori and Itachi with a sweep of his hand. The hokage, as well as the others though for a second then Itachi spoke up
" How about Anko? She's proven herself to be trustworthy? And maybe Ibiki? I know they can both be scary, but we need to prepare her for the real world, don't we?" The Hatake's looked at him as if he was crazy, and then glared at the hokage as if daring him to agree. They were all shocked when they saw him contemplating it. He then nodded, seemingly agreeing to Itachi's questions.
" Yes, I think you three plus Anko Mitarashi and Ibiki Morino will train Nari to her very best. We will dress her as a boy, only a select few knowing she is really a girl. The others will soon forget about her. She will also be taken out of the village on training missions, with one person, or a group of you, to see the outside world and meet new people. Now, Midori, will you go and wash Nari up, and then we can call Anko and Ibiki in here and discuss her training?" The hokage replied to Itachi, ending with a question to Midori. Midori nodded, carefully took Nari out of Itachi's arms and walked out of the door muttering a quiet 'bye' on her way out. The occupants left in the room looked at one another, before the two standing sat down heavily on the spare chairs, sighing. The hokage sighed once more before snapping his fingers and summoning the same two ANBU members as last time. They both bowed to Itachi and Kakashi, before turning to face their hokage. Looking at the one with a crow mask (now named crow) he said
" Bring me Anko Mitarashi immediately. He nodded, leaving in a puff of smoke. Turning to the one with a cat mask (now named cat) the third said " Bring me Ibiki Morino now" Cat also nodded, leaving in the same fashion as crow. They both appereared three minutes later and once there, after being told to sit down, the Sandaime hokage told them what they had all agreed on and what was going to happen, telling them their part in it.
Once all the explanations were done and the two Jonin had agreed, they heard two sets of footsteps coming down the hall, one much lighter then the other, so they deduced that it was Midori and Nari coming back. When the door opened they saw a laughing Midori and a smiling Nari, her long red hair clean and falling down to the top of her thighs and her sky blue eyes sparkling happily. Once they stepped into the room, Nari instantly spotted Itachi and ran over to him, jumping on his lap and getting comfortable. Once she was still, Itachi wrapped his arms around her stomach, bringing her closer to him. The other laughed when she ran over to him, and seeing the protective gleam in his eyes, laughed even more, knowing for a fact that no one will ever be able to touch her with harmful intent ever again.

2 years later

Six year old Naruto Uzumaki sat at the back of the classroom on the first day of the acadamy. On his right side, he was next to a blue haired girl who had the famous eyes of the Hyuuga clan. On his left was wierd looking boy with black hair in a poytail, that stuck up at the back like a pinapple. He was leaning forward on his arms and had his eyes closed, snoring quietly. When the teacher walked in, slamming the door behind him as to wake up anyone who was asleep or daydreaming - and there were quite a few of those - the boy woke up, sat up straight, and then looked as if he never woke up. As the teacher introduced himself as 'Iruka-sensei' he looked around, taking note of some of the students he would be teaching for the next six years or so. He saw Sasuke Uchiha sitting in a corner, surronded by giggling girls, a blonde haired blue eyed girl sitting next to a pink haired green eyed girl, the Nara genius, the heiress to the Hyuuga clan and Naruto Uzumaki. He sighed - he had a weird batch this year.

It was a week later the hatefull villagers saw three people walking down the street. They were talking animatedly - well, two of them were. Hinata Hyuuga was talking with one of her new best friends, Naruto Uzumaki, whilst her other friend, Shikamaru Nara walked on the other side of her, his hands behind his head, adding in a few comments every now and then. Over the past week, after the first day, they had become the best of friends, one hardly seen without the other two. Naruto was thinking of telling them his secret, but wasn't sure if the hokage would agree. He would ask first, then tell them. He would, they were his first freinds his age. He would beg if he had to.

It took a month, but here they were, all standing there in the hokage's office. Not only were there the three friends, but Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Midori Hatake, Anko Mitarashi, Ibiki Morino and, of course the sandaime hokage. Hinata and Shikamaru were slightly scared, as they had never seen most of these people before. Once everyone was comfortable, some standing, such as Kakashi, Midori and Shikamaru, the others sitting - as there was only two seats, Naruto was sat on Itachi's lap - the acadamy students couldn't help but think it looked a little weird. The hokage started then, telling the acadamy students a story of a little girl with something in her, who was beaten because she was thought of as a villain, but in fact, was a hero. Hinata and Shikamaru were so intruged, they didn't see the sad faces on the other people in the room. The hokage then went on to explain how they came up with a plan to protect her from the villagers, and how they got four Jonin and a med-nin to train her in all the ways they could. Shikamaru was slowly putting the pieces together, whilst Hinata sat there wondering how this was going to end. The hokage sighed, knowing this was the moment of truth.
" This girl, Nari Namikaze, you all know, but as someone else. And you know her as Naruto Uzumaki, and she is the Kyuubi vessel." Hinata and Shikamaru then watched as Naruto was engulfed by a cloud of smoke, and in his place was a girl with long red hair in a high ponytail and slightly paler blue eyes then Naruto. The people who already knew sat there wondering what was going to happen. Knowing that Nari was worried, Itachi wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her closer to him so that when she leaned her head back her it rested against his chest. He was going to protect her, no matter what happend to him.

This is the new, updtaed version - I've re-written all three chapters so it makes more sense. Hope it worked! Incase your wondering, Nari is Naruto - their the same person.

It's going to end up Itanaru, with a few other pairings on the side.

R&R