Chapter 1: ch 1
A single change in fate can change everything. A 7 year old Naruto finds himself in this situation right now, for you see, Fate, the crazy bitch that she is, had it out for him this night.
"Gah this is so troublesome" we find our stubby hero, cursing his rotten luck. Only a month before the orphanage that had taken care of him all his life had kicked him out on the street, "Good riddance I say" Naruto huffed, not like he had many good memories of the place, all the adults there were always so mean to him, hell several times he even feared for his life after several severe beatings over very 'minor' things, though his pranks could hardly be called 'minor,' the flooding of the faculty bathroom being one of the more destructive things he's done, but in the end it never really did any lasting damage besides the place smelling funny for a few days as it aired out. However the bastards were a bit more resorceful in finding loopholes in their duty of taking in all the war orphans after the Kyuubi attack.
Naruto couldn't and wouldn't get into all the red tape, suffice it to say he was boned, royally. With that little loophole they were able to kick him out and there was nothing the third could do for him. So, emotionally hurt and hungry the yellow haired prankster had made his home on the streets, dodging the civilians that tried to beat him, Why? He had no fucking clue but like a certain pineapple haired Nara often said it was too 'troublesome' to try and sucker one of the civilians into telling him, even if he did muster up the nerve, He doubted that any of the bastards would have wasted their breath.
"Oh well." Naruto mused, "At least things can't get any worse..."
"There's the little demon brat! GET HIM!" a voice yelled from behind Naruto, he turned to look at a large mob of civilians and sweatdropped.
'Was that tempting fate?' he thought to himself, "Oh shit!" he took off running with the mob right behind him. Naruto was dodging random debris being thrown his way by the angry mob, including but not limited to; a beer can 'Great a mob of drunks.' A brick 'Oh ha ha, a brick joke.' A broom thrown like a javelin 'What am I, dirt to them? ... dont answer that...' A kitchen sink... 'Not even gonna ask...' The witty thoughts Naruto had in his head with each outlandish thing being tossed his way, while keeping his mind off of fear took away from his concentration and that came back to bite him in the ass as he took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end alley. "Shit!" Naruto cursed his luck turning back to see the crowd had barred the only exit, there was at least 10 of them, too many to fight and too many to fool. He wasn't getting away from this beating he realised. He backed against the wall as far as he could, fear and anxiety clouding his eyes, he slid down the wall to a sitting position. "No please" he whispered he noticed quite a few of the villagers were armed this time, unlike the times before they had just physically beaten him, most of these were carrying sharp tools and knives. 'Are they planning to kill me?' The thought caught in his throat, choking him. The mob was only a few yards away from him now, one of the people threw a glass bottle his way, the glass projectile barely missing his head and smashing into the wall beside him. He flinched slightly as a large piece of broken glass cut across his cheek creating a thin trail of blood.
Naruto reached up and touched the burning red trail, they had never left anything more than bruises and welts on him before, this group wasn't out to enjoy a beating, they were out for blood, a shocked expression crossed his face. He looked at the gathering, fear slowly giving way to terror induced anger as he lashed out at his agressors verbally "Why!" he yelled at them, "Why are you doing this?"
"Shut up demon!" one of them shouted.
"Why do you all think I'm a demon? Have I ever hurt any of you?" The boy cried, a few of the villagers looked at each other uncertain, his words rang with truth, the boy himself had never personally done anything to them, but the majority of the crowd just yelled back at him.
"You are a demon boy, you cannot fool us with you're petty trickery."
"But why?" he asked quietly, only one of the people caught that, an overly drunk, overly fat man who had a large scar across his face, spoke up in a slurred voice.
"I'll tell ya why, ya little demon fox!" the man hiccuped lightly drawing away from his angry appearance for a moment before a deep glare filled his face. "How old are you boy?"
Naruto's face scrunched in confusion, "I'm 7, why?"
The mans face grew dark, a menacing grin twitched across his face "Hehehe and your birthday?"
"October 10th?" he answered slowly, his mind racing about what this could mean, would he finally learn why he was hated...but the real question was, would he want to know?
"Well then" the fat man grinned wider "What happened 7 years ago on October 10th?" he laughed a dark laugh, his eyes focusing on the boy, causing Naruto to break out in a cold sweat.
Naruto thought for a moment 'What DID happen 7 years ago? The only thing I can think of is...no...no it can't...' His face turned from confusion to shock as he stared at the fat man only a dozen feet from him, turning an irovy shade of white as he paled in front of the crowd of angry drunks. "No...it..." he finally said at length
"Oh but it can Demon boy" the man spat out, venom and malice in his voice "That night The fourth Hokage killed the Nine tailed demon fox, you were born not moments after. YOU boy, are the nine tailed fox reincarnated!"
"It can't be..." Naruto looked horrified. A sudden surge of power rushed through him, as a tingling ran through his arms.
"Those whisker marks and that wound thats healed on your cheek are proof enough of the demon inside of you!" the man said with finality, Naruto felt for the wound again and in horror he realized it was gone, healed almost instantly, he knew he had a healing factor and that alone wasn't really normal, but this was just too much for him.
"...No...just...why?" his voice squeaked lightly , this time no one heard him as he hung his head in shame, 'I'm the fox?' he thought quietly before he was broken out of his self pity by a loud roar, he looked up sharply and saw the thugs rushing him.
Naruto raised his hands in defense and time seemed to slow down for him. Naruto looked at the men approaching, the tingling he felt moments before turned into a bitter cold with a sharp wind flowing around him, the men charging stopped quickly looking at the boy in front of them. Around Naruto was a raging gale of wind and the moisture in the air had frozen, Ice began forming around him, freezing the blades of the weapons the men carried before they shattered into pieces, most of the men looked at the boy in shock and fear, but the fat man from before had a look of utter rage on his face "See, he IS a demon" the man spat, pulling out a large wooden club, he rushed forward preparing to crush the boy's skull, Naruto raised his hand in defense and the ice around him rose to meet the challenge, unfortunately the man did not feel the pain, drunk as he was as the ice speared him in the stomach, with a look of shock he brought the club down on Naruto's skull and a splitting pain ran through Naruto's head before everything went dark.
-ooo-
Naruto sat up and looked around, he was in a sewer with dark corridors leading away from him. In front of him was a large room, the steam and heat from the room causing a sticky feeling to break out on his skin. The only thing that seemed out of place in the dank pipe filled chamber was a large gate like thing in front of him. There was a small piece of paper on the gate with the Kanji for 'Seal' written on it, Naruto felt strangly sick in the place, like an evil prescence was watching him. "W-where am I?" he spoke softly, not expecting a reply.
"You are inside your mind foolish human" a deep reverberating voice rumbled around him causing Naruto to jump several inches in the air in shock, Naruto watched as a pair of deep red eyes appeared from behind the cage.
Naruto backed up from the cage, hands shaking and face torn with terror "Who...who are you?" he asked quickly falling back against the pipe covered wall
"Stupid boy, that man earlier told you didn't he? I am the Nine tailed demon fox 'Kyubi!'" The beast roared the last bit and an evil smile spread in the darkness, the glittering teeth of its mouth shining behind the bars of the gate.
A look of hurt crossed Naruto's face "So it's true then? I am a demon?" The fox however laughed heartily, the exhaled air shaking the room.
"YOU? A DEMON? HA, DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH." The beast chuckled, "The only thing demonic about you is me foolish human, that fleshy sack of meat you killed was as big a fool as you. You are no demon, you're not worthy of that title human." The fox grinned again.
"Then what am I?" The blonde asked, fearful of what the beast would tell him
"Well seeing as you're asking nicely" the creature mused "And I like that look of fear in your eyes, I'll tell you. 7 years ago, when I attacked this village, your father the fourth Hokage..." The fox started but Naruto interrupted it in shock.
"The fourth Hokage was my dad!" Naruto's breath caught in his throat, Old man third had told him he was an orphan, if that was a lie, why didn't the third tell him, before he could ask the beast more he was pulled from his thoughts.
"Yes stupid mortal, interrupt me again and I'll rend you soul to pieces." The threat was an idle one seeing as the seal would keep it from killing the boy, but Naruto didn't know that now did he? "As I was saying, the Fourth fought me outside your village and in one of the most insulting things any human has ever done to me, he summoned the shinigami and sealed my soul and powers into you boy, his son. the foxes face screwed up in a frown, "He then sealed my body and the source of half my might into him and the shinigami ate my body and his soul, to forever be trapped in his gullet!" The fox growled deeply at the spawn of its most hated enemy. "To answer your earlier question, you boy, are the bearer of a demon. In the words of your weak language you are known as a Jinchuriki, a human sacrifice meant to hold back the powers of a demon, and as much as I loathe the fact, you are also the only thing keeping me alive, this seal here binds us together, if you die, I die, its as simple as that."
Naruto was silent a moment, he finally looked up at the evil presence that now had a shape and name "So what now? what do I do now that I know all this?" He was at a loss, even asking the demon itself what he should do, no boy should feel that lost in his existence. The fox however answered predictably.
"Why not release me boy?" the fox grinned, "Remove the seal and let me free to kill the villagers that have wronged you for so long!"
Naruto thought for a moment before shaking his head "But I don't want them to die, and even if I did, I don't want you to attack and kill the people I care about, and since you're a demon I can't trust your word that you wont kill them."
The fox let loose a laugh louder than all the rest. "HAHAHAHAHAHA, maybe you aren't so foolish after all puny human, yes, I admit it all, I would crush the bones of all your loved ones, suck out the marrow and blood from their bodies, and leave you a twisted lump of flesh to grovel at my feet, that and all of the above" The fox licked its lips hungrily before letting that evil smile cross its face again.
An angry look crossed Naruto's face, the way he blatantly said he'd destroy everything he held dear was infuriating. "You bastard, the villagers were right, "YOU are a demon, I hope you rot in this cell for the rest of my life you fucking bastard." The foxes face screwed up slightly going from that deep smile to an odd frown.
"Stupid boy, do you think this seal will hold me forever, simply by being here, talking with me already shows the seal is weakening, it is only a matter of time before I feast on your bones!" The fox growled at him, but Naruto wasn't fazed as he stared the fox down and surprisingly the fox frowned and backed down a bit "No matter, I am only telling you this now, because you will find out soon enough anyway, after you killed that villager, the other weaklings are taking advantage and surrounding your unconscious body. Now if it were up to me, I'd have just let them kill you, but seeing as my health is directly connected to you still breathing I'll give you my aid this once." the red beast grunted once before it forced its crimson chakra through the gaps of the bars, surrounding Naruto in a vile cloak.
"What are you doing to me!" Naruto yelled.
"Unless you wish to die from those pathetic villagers you'll let my power in, even if you don't believe me, I promise not to hurt you this once, I need you alive and blood pumping to eat you, I don't particularly like rotten meat!" the fox grunted once again and Naruto felt reality tug him back.
With a shock his eyes opened wide, to see a dozen or more weapons coming down on him, With a rush of energy a dark red chakra rose up pushing the men away. Naruto stood up as the red chakra formed around him, "Get back you worthless bastards!" He yelled, raising his hands in an attempt to do as he did earlier with the ice powers, he felt the familiar biting wind and cold in his arms, before something else filled him, a deep foreboding, suddenly time seemed to stop. Naruto looked down at his arms, where what looked like green and blue energy were forming around his hands, they mixed with the red fox chakra forming dark violets and dark browns, before the three colors mixed together violently, in shock both naruto and Kuubi's voices said at once, naruto vocally, kyuubi subconsciously.
"What?" before all sound disappeared in a flash of white light.
-Forest of death, an hour later-
Naruto awoke, yet again, in a place he didn't recognize
'At least it isn't a sewer this time' Naruto thought dryly. He was laying in a meter deep crater where it appeared as though he had hit rather hard, he looked down at his tattered clothing, held together by the seams "Well there goes my wardrobe" he chuckled absently, shaking on his feet, whatever the hell had happened had drained him badly of chakra. Naruto looked around, he appeared to be in a forest of some kind, the trees above him were busted, showing he had crashed through from above, apparently whatever that light had been it had launched him far into the air. 'Then how am I alive?' he wondered for a moment before he palmed his face 'Fox chakra, duh' one of the few times from this point on he would admit the fox being sealed inside him was a good thing "Ok I'm not dead and I'm not hurt, now where the hell am I?" Naruto mused looking around the dense forest again, the meager light coming from the setting sun didn't give him much hope of finding his way and it would be dark soon, so he'd be even more screwed. His hopes for shelter were put on hold as a voice rang out answering his earlier question.
"You my dear dumbass are in my home sweet home, The Forest of Death." the voice seemed to be coming from all around him, to his surprise it sounded like a woman.
"Lovely name, let me guess? It's a forest and its filled with death?" Naruto replied sarcastically.
Not missing a beat the voice replied "How did you know? Maybe you aren't such a dumbass after all" the sarcasm was evident in her voice. Sure enough a woman appeared in front of him, leaning against a nearby tree. She had light purple hair done up in a fan style while her pale brown eyes added a nice contrast to the spiky bangs covering her face. Her clothing...was some of the sluttiest ninja gear he had ever seen, what was visible beneath the tan trench coat she wore was a skin tight mesh body suit that was cut off on the legs and arms half way out, on top of that she had a very short dark brown miniskirt that left little to the imagination there was also a fang necklace on her neck but other than that was just standard ninja gear on her legs and waist. "So dumbass what's a brat like you doing out here in my neck of the woods?"
"Where exactly IS here? Are we still in Konoha?"
"Yep, Gaki, this is one of our training grounds, number 44 to be exact, The Forest of Death!" Her attitude was bubbly to say the least, it definitely fit her wardrobe. "So I ask you again." Suddenly naruto was suspended upside down in the air by his legs, he looked up and saw a large snake coiled around the limbs "What are you doing here?" she finished with a glare, The blonde gulped noticeably at the large python constricting his legs.
"I don't know honestly, first I'm getting chased down by some people, next I'm cornered and attacked, then some wierd blue and green chakra surrounds me and some crazy ice forms, then some red chakra mixes with that and then everything went white and here I am..." Naruto blurted roughly though his explanation tactfully leaving out his knowledge of the fox. He didn't know the woman, she was clearly a Konoha nin judging by her headband, but he still didn't trust anyone but maybe old man hokage with the truth of his meeting with the fox.
Anko looked at the boy, his appearance showing her more skin than necessary with all the rips in his clothing and the several burns on the cloth. It was possible that the foxes chakra had taken over the boy and had caused the explosion, but what concerned Anko most was those other two chakra the boy spoke of 'Damn this isn't good, If what he says is true those people who cornered him are probably dead, not like they deserve any sympathy for attacking a child but damn this kid is out of luck if the council gets ahold of him, better take him to Sarutobi, he'll know what to do.' anko walked over to him "We're going to meet the Hokage gaki, try to cover yourself a bit wontcha?" she gave him a dirty little grin that made Naruto blush a little. before the both of them disappeared in a shushin.
-ooo-
In the office of Sarutobi Hiruzen aka the Sandaime Hokage, the old man was working on a stack of papers, his old age keeping him here late into the night with his duties to the village and its people. It was at this time that a swirl of leaves signaled a shushin into the thirds office, He looked up quickly to see Anko, behind her was Naruto hanging by his legs from one of Anko's snake familiars. He relaxed visibly when he realized who it was and leaned back into his chair "What can I do for you Anko? And why do you have Naruto tied up like that?"
"Well sir..." she glanced meaningfully at Naruto
"This has something to do with that explosion earlier doesn't it?" Anko nodded and the third sighed, "I'm assuming it was Naruto right?" The Third shot Naruto a serious look. Naruto gulped.
"Yes sir but I think it had to do with 'that' sir." Anko explained. The Thirds face became solemn as he pondered what to do next. What he wasn't prepared for was naruto somehow slipping out of Anko's grasp and confronting him.
"Jiji..." Naruto sighed as he sat down in the chair opposite of him, Naruto looked up and stared straight into Sarutobi's eyes, the dead look in Naruto's sky blue eyes made Sarutobi visibly flinch. "I know about Kyuubi old man, I met it tonight, and there are some things we need to talk about." Naruto's voice was dead serious, if it wasn't for the way he looked you'd forget you were talking to a 7 year old child. At the mention of the fox a shocked expression crossed the Thirds face, but he hid it quickly, after a second to recompose himself he coughed.
"Naruto, I want you to understand my reasons for hiding these things from you. First, the Yondaime Hokage, Minato, asked me to keep these things hidden from you that you could possibly have a normal life, I have watched over you with my crystal ball for the last 7 years, particularly this last month and I can see now that that isn't an option and for that I am sorry." the third looked silently at Naruto, the boy's face was a mixture of anger and hurt, the fact Sarutobi would hide something as important as that from him left a bad taste in his mouth. "Second" the third spoke up "Minato also asked me to tell you these things when you turned 16 or became a chuunin so that you'd be able to handle the stress those in your position have to handle daily, this too has become a moot point seeing as you already know, and from that look in your eyes I can also see you are not taking it very well..." The third took off his hat and placed it on the table "Did the fox say anything else?"
"I know who dad is..."
The Third sighed sadly "Then this becomes a bit easier to explain, at the very least I would have told you who he was anyway after I explained things better." The third trailed off for a few moments before he began again "Tell me Naruto what would you have done in the Yandaime's position if you were forced to make the choices he made?" Naruto looked at him strangely.
"Let me put that another way. Would you have put the burden that you now carry on the shoulders of someone else? Would you force that fate on someone else's child when you yourself were not willing to make that sacrifice?" Naruto face went pale as he thought about that, would he have done that, really? Sarutobi continued "That, Naruto, is what we Hokage must do. We make the hard choices. We send ninja out everyday to their deaths and when the time comes we ourselves must face down the biggest threats to the village. Even at the cost of our lives...do you understand?"
Naruto thought for a long time on the third words letting several minutes pass by, he answered honestly "Yeah old man I understand and no I would have taken the fox to my grave if I had to, but I still don't like it, I hate this, what I really am..."
"Then you understand more than I had hoped what my position is on this situation. You don't have to like it, but its the situation I was forced into to ensure that the village didn't tear itself apart over this. Most civilians don't know the fox was sealed within you, they just assume that since you were the only child born that day along with the whiskers on your face that you are the fox reincarnated in human form, it didn't help much that you were in my office when the council convened that night after the fox's defeat, the council assumed you were the monster sealed in human form or at the very least what most of the more intelligent ninja already knew, that you were a jinchuriki. Many of them called for your immediate death, but I did all I could to halt their intentions. Sadly the only thing I could do was put you in the orphanage and pass a law that made it illegal to speak of the fox to any of the newer generation, and for 7 years that law has held peoples hatred for you down under pain of death. But know this Naruto, I'm not a god, I can't devote all my time to watching you, and that mistake has lead us to this"
The third sighed and grabbed a single sheet of paper "Out of the ten people that confronted you, none of them lived, they were torn apart by whatever it was that you did. I don't hold it against you, in fact there is really nothing that can be done to you since you acted in self defense, but know now that your life is going to be much harder, already there are rumors of your involvement and the council will probably try to do everything in their power to limit, hinder or otherwise try and outright kill you to end the threat they feel you pose."
Naruto looked crestfallen, seeing how hard his life had been now, it would only get worse...he couldn't take it anymore, as hot tears fell down his cheeks, and soft whimpers echoed around the room.
Anko was looking at the boy sadly, feeling a very similar pain that he was feeling, "He's in the same boat as me" She thought quietly, ever since that bastard Orochimaru had abandoned her she had been ostracized by the village, only keeping her position and pedigree by hard work and menial labor since Orochimaru left the village, and she could only see herself in Naruto "Sir, if I may?" she asked at length
"Go ahead." he waved for her to speak, Naruto looked up at her two long streams of tears staining his cheeks.
"If things are going to get harder for Naruto, then he needs someone to take care of him, someone willing and able sir." Naruto just stared but the Third sighed his agreement.
"You are right Anko, but who here would take care of the boy? the council will ruin the reputation of anyone trying to help the boy and none of the other ninja besides Kakashi would take the boy in...And I for one don't think Kakashi would be the best choice to take care of a child..." the third trailed off leaving the idea hanging.
Anko snorted at that thought, Kakashi was good guy, but the man read so much porn and was tardy for every meeting he was ever called to, he'd be nothing but a bad influence on the boy. Not that her idea was much better but seeing the same look in the boy's eye that stared back at her every morning in the mirror just hit too close to home for her. "What about me sir?" Anko asked timidly, Naruto's head spun around so fast you'd think his neck snapped. he stared at her wide eyed, breath caught in his throat.
"You know my situation Sarutobi, me and him are in more or less the same boat, the council won't touch either of us due to our situation and its better to have someone to lean on then stand alone am I right?" Anko smiled sadly.
The third sighed. he was getting too old for this shit.
"I don't know if I can trust you with this one Anko this is a very serious..." The Third was about to continue when Anko cut him off
"Trust!" Anko shouted in outrage "Trust is something I've had to work tooth and nail to get after that snake bastard left the village, I have sweat blood and tears to get to where I am, who else than me to take care of the boy? Someone who has shared his pain and has come out of that darkness at least somewhat sane." she glared daggers at Sarutobi, who sighed again, he WAS getting to old for this shit.
"Very well Anko, I leave him in your...capable hands, But I have a few more things to say to Naruto"
"What is it Old man?" Naruto asked, his joy at finally having someone take care of him tempered by the serious way The Third addressed him.
"First of all, eye witnesses said that they saw several oddities about the chakra explosion that happened earlier, first that it wasn't just the foxes red chakra, but a green and blue chakra as well, can you tell me what you felt when these things were going on?"
"Well, all I know is that before the explosion those two odd color chakras made some weird kind of ice around me and protected me from the villagers, but other than that I don't know..."
"I see...Naruto come here for a moment" The third reached into his drawer and pulled out a stack of paper, he pulled one out and handed it to Naruto. "I assume you at least know how to channel chakra right Naruto? The orphanage said that you were able to copy the invisibility illusion, and I've seen you use it several times to escape from the villagers
"Yes sir" Naruto focused his chakra, it wasn't much but it was enough, the paper at first did nothing but then it seemed to split down the middle, before one of the corners of the paper became wet, Naruto dropped the paper in shock. "What happened?"
"It seems you may have tapped into a latent Kekkei Genkai, maybe something on your mothers side? Whatever it is we..." The Third was cut off by a gasp from Anko
"Sir!" she pointed to the paper on the floor, sure enough, on the floor the piece of chakra paper had split again, across the original cut creating four equal slices and oddly enough, each of the slices were doing something different; one was still soaking wet, one was burning to ash, another was crumpled into a little ball and the last was nothing but a pinch of dust on the floor.
"Kami..." Sarutobi was speechless.
"All elemental affinities!" Anko finished for him.
"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked, curious about their shocked expressions.
"Naruto do you know what this means?" Anko asked him, when he shook his head Sarutobi spoke up.
"This means something unprecedented, Naruto, having all elemental affinities is all but impossible, sure most people have one major affinity, most Jonnin after years of practice can have one or two minor affinities as well, but Naruto, not only do you have a MAJOR affinity with wind, shown by how the paper split not once but twice, but ALL FOUR other elements as major affinities, and those affinities are extremely powerful, I've never seen chakra paper affected so powerfully by an element. Naruto, the reason this is unprecedented is the fact the last person to have an affinity to all five elements was the Rikudou Sennin himself!" The third let that bit of information hang grimly in the air as the three of them stared blankly at what was left of the paper.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone