A/N: Hello reader, glad you took the time to look at my fic. Just to let you know, this is my first time writing one, and I hope you enjoy it. By the way, if it seems that this concept was ripped off from someone else, I apologize, but I had no idea that there were similar fics out there.

I'd like to thank all the AMAZING authors on this site for inspiring me to try my own story. You guys rock!

Also a big thank you to my beta reader, pain17ification! Go check his stories out, they're really good.

Disclaimer: All canonical characters, references, and abilities/techniques belong to their rightful owners.

Chapter 1 – Awakening of Power

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts'

"Biju/Biju-mode Jinchuriki speaking"

'Biju/Biju-mode Jinchuriki thoughts'

~ 8.45 pm, October 10, Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni ~

The ninja village of Konoha was surprisingly lively for this time of night as the village was celebrating an annual festival to commemorate the sacrifice of their Fourth Hokage when he defeated the greatest of the nine Biju, the Kyubi no Yoko, or Nine-tailed Demon Fox, in battle. The official story behind that was that the Kyubi had been killed, but in truth, the Biju had merely been sealed into a newborn infant, a Jinchuriki. This festival was a relatively recent development, having only started up about three years prior on the first anniversary of the Kyubi Incident, as the attack was called.

Being such an auspicious event, one would expect everyone in the village to be out and about, celebrating and partying to their heart's content. Indeed, most of the villagers were doing just that, the only exception being a small, four-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy dressed in the tattered remains of an orange bed sheet. Said boy was currently hiding in an alleyway as a particularly large group of villagers walked past, hoping that no one would notice him.

This boy is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, not that he knew about the Namikaze part, and this day just so happened to be his birthday. Ordinarily, a birthday would be a great celebration and a happy occasion for the child involved. But, most children are not the Jinchuriki of the Biju that nearly destroyed his home village. As a result of this particular trait, he was ostracized by nearly the entire civilian population of the village, the few who accepted him being the owner of a certain ramen stand and his daughter. Among the shinobi population, he was considered a nuisance at worst, though most of the chunin and genin, and even some of the jonin, seemed hell-bent on making him miserable.

After the crowd had passed, Naruto slowly snuck to the edge of the alley and looked out. Seeing no one around, he promptly bolted down the street, hoping to find a safe place to sleep for the night. Now, one might be wondering why such a young child would be wandering the streets alone at this time of night. As it turned out, just two months back, the caretaker of the orphanage that he used to live in decided that she had had enough of the "Demon Brat" sullying her establishment, and threw him out. Naruto had since learned to hide in the numerous alleys and sewers that stretched out across Konoha.

As he ran, Naruto did not notice a trio of chunin-level shinobi watching him from a nearby rooftop. Exchanging glances, the three chunin nodded to each other in agreement, vicious smiles creeping across their faces, before they began following Naruto along the rooftops. Stopping once Naruto had run into another alley to avoid another, bigger crowd, one of the chunin hopped off the roof right in front of the crowd.

"Hey, you lot!" barked the chunin, his eyes gleaming dangerously as the crowd turned to look at him, "Do you want to wail on a certain Demon?" The crowd seemed to perk up at his words, then a bulky man shoved his way to the front. "Tell us where it is and we'll gladly lay some hurt on it." The chunin looked up at his co-conspirators, who gave him thumbs up. Turning back to the crowd, the chunin pointed at the alley. "It's in there." he smiled sickly, "Beat it to a pulp for me will you?" The large man smiled back. "Gladly."

~ With Naruto ~

Naruto was huddled up against a dumpster, wondering why the crowd had yet to pass by. His curiosity momentarily overcoming his common sense, he snuck a peek to see what was going on. Unfortunately, this allowed several members of the crowd to see him. Immediately, shouts of, "There it is!" and "Kill the Demon!" rent the air as the crowd-turned-mob charged at the alley. Naruto paled and bolted down the street, the mob and the three shinobi hot on his heels.

~ Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower ~

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Third Hokage of Konoha, was tired. He had spent pretty much the entire day reading and signing papers, and, quite frankly, he was getting sick of it. Glancing up at the framed pictures of Konoha's kage mounted on the wall, he lamented to the picture of the Fourth, Namikaze Minato, "How did you do it Minato? How did you manage to finish all this paperwork?" The picture of the Fourth seemed to wink at him mockingly, eliciting an annoyed growl from the Third. "I'll figure it out one day. You'll see."

Shaking his head, he returned his attention to his paperwork, hoping to get some more done before his former student and member of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, sent in his monthly report via toad. As he got back into the monotony of his work, he felt a sudden chill run up his spine. Glancing out the window, he frowned in worry. 'That feeling… I hope Naruto's alright.'

~ With Naruto ~

Unfortunately for our dear blond, he was most certainly not alright. He had lost the mob rather easily at first, until the trio of chunin decided to alert other clumps of people as to his whereabouts. Soon, Naruto was being hunted down by a mob of nearly two hundred civilians.

In Naruto's defence, he managed to lead both the mob and the chunin on a merry chase that lasted for just over two hours before he took a wrong turn and found himself in a dead end alleyway in the slums of Konoha. Slowly turning back around, Naruto found himself facing a wall of angry civilians. As the mob advanced, Naruto slowly backed up until he hit the end of the alley.

Staring up at their enraged expressions, Naruto dropped to his knees and whimpered, "D-don't hurt me. Please." The villagers within earshot promptly turned red, and the closest one snarled out, "Don't hurt you? Don't hurt you?! Do you have any idea what you've done to us, you Monster?" Then the villager kicked Naruto in the chest, an action that sparked off the rest of the mob as they closed in on the poor child with cries of, "Kill the Demon!" and "Punish the Monster for what it's done!"

As the mob descended on the hapless boy, all Naruto could do was curl into a ball and wait for the pain to end.

~ With the Third ~

Hiruzen was currently speaking with Jiraiya, in person, the latter having decided to swing by to see his sensei and his godson, as he did every year. Jiraiya had just finished giving his report on several goings on in the Elemental Continent, chief amongst those being the whereabouts and activities of the infamous missing-nin Orochimaru, a former member of the Legendary Sannin, and Jiraiya's ex-best friend.

"So," started Hiruzen, "Orochimaru has based himself in Rice Country has he?" Jiraiya nodded from where he was leaning against the wall of the office. "Yeah, but he's gotten better at covering his tracks. My spies couldn't find anything else other than that. I might actually have to go in there myself soon to see what's up." He grinned, "Maybe I'll be able to see old Snake-head face to face again." Hiruzen just shook his head in wry amusement, knowing that, while Jiraiya was many things, a fool he was not.

His face suddenly firming, Jiraiya asked, "So, where's my godson tonight?" Hiruzen looked up from his paper work, his face creased in thought, before he reached under his desk and pulled out his viewing orb. Setting the crystal sphere on the table, he flashed through a set of hand-signs before muttering, "Uzumaki Naruto". The sphere clouded over slightly before revealing a large mob wailing on an orange lump on the ground with fists, feet, and numerous makeshift weapons.

The two kage-level shinobi raised their eyebrows in confusion, until part of the orange cloth covering the lump shifted, revealing a head of spiky blond hair. The two men felt their hearts stop in horror. "No." Jiraiya whispered, his eyes wide in shock. "NO!" He roared before whirling around and leaping out the window, heading towards the slums at breakneck speed.

Hiruzen was not far behind his student, the old kage having summoned his personal ANBU team, Team Ro, which consisted of members Dog, Weasel, Cat, and Tiger, as back up. The five quickly caught up with the enraged Sannin and the six shinobi formed an arrowhead formation, with Hiruzen and Jiraiya at the front.

~ Back with Naruto ~

Naruto was barely conscious, his small body having gone through a level of abuse that even a shinobi would have difficulty tanking through. His whole body seemed to be aflame with agony, so much so that he could not tell what hurt the most, the cleaver imbedded halfway through his left femur, the pitchfork stuck through his right calf, his shattered ribs and punctured lung, his fractured skull, the knife in his right shoulder, or the shattered remains of his upper left arm. Despite all this, the villagers showed no signs of stopping, and Naruto felt his hope beginning to dwindle.

Just as he was about to pass out, the beating stopped. Weakly opening his right eye, his left one having long since swollen shut from the beating, he gazed up through blurry vision to see the trio of chunin from earlier standing between him and the crowd, smug smirks adorning their faces.

One of them strode forward and grabbed Naruto by his left arm, eliciting a scream of pain from the young child. Snorting in disgust, the chunin pulled out a few kunai and nailed Naruto to the wall of the alley through his wrists and ankles. Naruto let loose an inhuman shriek as the steel passed through the joints, his voice raw and hoarse from hours of screaming. Hearing the shriek, the six approaching shinobi increased speed, hoping to get there before it was too late.

The chunin stepped back and nodded to his colleagues, one of which began to weave hand-signs in preparation for a ninjutsu. Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and the ANBU arrived just as the chunin yelled, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" sending a ten-foot-wide sphere of fire at the crucified Jinchuriki.

Hiruzen was about to intervene when suddenly Naruto's good eye snapped open and he screamed, "NO!" Suddenly, as though in response to his desire to protect himself, sheets of metal were ripped from every building within a one block radius of the area and formed a wall of corrugated steel between Naruto and the fireball. The fireball struck the metal sheets and dissipated harmlessly.

Everyone watching was staring at the floating metal sheets with dumbfounded expressions, and then Naruto finally passed out, the strain of his injuries combined with what he had just done proving to be too much for his body. As he went limp, the metal sheets collapsed to the ground, giving the three chunin a clear shot at Naruto. However, before the chunin could capitalize on this development, the entire mob found themselves staring at the enraged forms of one kage, one Sannin, and four ANBU.

"What, exactly, do you think you're doing?" Snarled the Third, his killing intent spiking as he slowly advanced on the terrified mob. "WELL?!" Ignoring his furious sensei, Jiraiya hurried over to Naruto and hurriedly yanked the kunai and other weapons from his limbs, absently noting that Naruto's more severe injuries were already beginning to heal. 'Must be the fox.' Thought Jiraiya as he turned back to his sensei, who was now surrounded by another fifty ANBU members.

Hiruzen began barking orders to the assembled ANBU. "ANBU! Bring these… useless excuses for human beings to the T&I Centre." His gaze turned cold, "Tell Ibiki and Anko to go all out." "Hai, Hokage-sama!" Chorused the ANBU before effortlessly rounding up the mob and carting them away. Satisfied that the mob was taken care of, he glanced over to Team Ro as Jiraiya walked up with Naruto cradled in his arms. "You four, follow Jiraiya and I to the hospital. Let's move!"

As the six shinobi sprinted off, Hiruzen glanced over at his student's distraught face. "Jiraiya… how is he?" The Sannin glanced over at the Hokage, noting that Team Ro had also drawn closer to listen in. He sighed, "He's… he's not looking good, sensei. If it weren't for the Kyubi, Naruto would be dead. Heck, if I was the one injured like this, I'd have passed out and died hours ago." Hiruzen frowned thunderously as he looked forward once more, feeling a deep sense of shame well up within him at the knowledge of what his village had done to a child.

~ Konoha General Hospital ~

The six shinobi charged into the main reception area like a battering ram, marching right up to the main desk. Jiraiya looked at the receptionist, who was scribbling something onto a clipboard, and said, "We need a medic-nin. Now." The receptionist glanced up curiously, about to direct them to one of the free medics, when she caught sight of Naruto. Immediately, her expression shifted to disgust. Turning up her nose she said, "I'm sorry sir, but all the doctors are currently occupied, but if you would like to wait-" She was cut off by Hiruzen slamming his hand down on the table so hard it snapped in half.

She jumped in fright. "H-hokage-sama!" "Shut it!" barked the kage, "Find me a doctor now, or so help me, I'll send you to Ibiki as well." The receptionist paled and immediately rung up the hospital's head of medical staff, a medic-nin named Hiroto. Ironically, Hiroto was one of the few medical staff that actually liked Naruto, a fact that was well known to the six shinobi present.

Upon hearing that both the Hokage and one of the Sannin were waiting for him, he rushed into the reception area. Upon seeing Naruto's beaten and broken body, he hissed out a curse and hurried them to an empty room. Once inside, he began trying his level best to repair the damage done.

As Hiroto worked, the other six shinobi took up various guard positions within the room, their senses on high alert in case of an attempted attack on Naruto. As they waited, Jiraiya turned to Hiruzen and said, "Sensei, I know you told me that the villagers hated him, but to do this!" Hiruzen sighed, seeming to age several decades. "I know Jiraiya, I know. Believe you me, I've tried everything I could to keep Naruto safe, but the civilian council keeps stonewalling me with bureaucracy and red tape. Even among the shinobi council, most of the clan heads are apathetic regarding the boy. The only ones that seem to care anything are Inuzuka Tsume, and Uchiha Fugaku."

Jiraiya started in surprise. "Fugaku? Are you serious?" Hiruzen nodded. "Yes. Though I believe Mikoto has something to do with that. She and Kushina were always close." Jiraiya nodded, a nostalgic smile on his face. Hiroto falling back into a chair with an exhausted sigh interrupted his unvoiced reply.

Looking around, Hiroto said, "Well, I can safely say that I've never been more grateful to the Kyubi in my entire life. Its chakra was accelerating Naruto's healing long before you brought him to me." He smiled in exhaustion. "He'll be alright. Still, his injuries were severe, so I'd recommend he stay here for the night." "Thank you, Hiroto." Said Hiruzen, earning a smile from the medic-nin. "No need to thank me, Hokage-sama. I'm just doing my duty. But I must ask, what happened to him?"

Hiruzen sighed and sat down. "Well, most of the details will probably come from the chunin being interrogated by Anko and Ibiki, but what we do know is…"

As Hiruzen related the details based on what he had seen, deep within Naruto's body a pair of crimson, slit-pupiled eyes snapped open from behind a set of gigantic gates. "Hmm." Rumbled the figure as it sent a stream of crimson chakra out from between the bars. "I think it's time my… jailor and I had a little… chat."

A/N: Just a head's up, updates may be sporadic depending on how free I am. I apologize in advance.