Chapter 1

Decisions Made

The Tenth of October was a day of varying importance to the citizens of Konohagakure. Depending on who you were, it could go from a day of celebration and near worship of the Yondaime Hokage, the man who was able to, against all odds, defeat the seemingly invincible Kyuubi no Yoko as it nearly razed the village to the ground. Conversely, if you were one of the survivors of the attack or someone who had lost someone to the demon's fury, it was a day of mourning and remembrance. Many people simply tried to move on, though, and would partake in the festival commemorating the defeat of the beast and the sacrifice of their brave Ninja.

However, none of this applied to one young boy.

If you were to just take a glancing look at him as he ran past you on this day, you'd probably think nothing of it. Just another small child out for the festival, running around and enjoying himself. Upon closer inspection though, you'd begin to notice that a few things were off, to say the least. The first thing that you'd likely notice is that unlike the rest of the children out playing on this day, this child wasn't running around for joy, he wasn't sprinting as fast as his little 4 year old legs would carry him to play, despite how much it looked like he was about to keel over from exhaustion. If you were able to get a good look at his clothing, a simple gray t-shirt with a red swirl on the front, and some blue shorts, you'd notice that they were stained, tattered, and torn, and judging from the smell hadn't been washed in a while, either. His usually vibrant blonde hair was matted down around his face in many places, and there were splotches of both mud and dried blood in various places. Along either side of the young child's face, there were two distinct markings, which could almost be mistook for whiskers, in the right lighting. But the most distinct feature about the boy, were his electric blue eyes. Normally so full of life and promise, tonight, as he ran through the streets, they were filled with the most soul crushing fear a 4 year old could muster.

Why were they filled with this fear? This anguish that no child should ever have to bear? Well, because tonight, while for others was a night of recollection, of hope, of joy, and of sorrow, for this child it was a night of absolute terror for a reason he had no idea. You see, it was known to all of the adults in the village that this child held the very beast that had nearly destroyed their village. Due to a lack of understanding of the obscure art of Fuuinjutsu, it was mistaken that the boy was the demon fox itself, merely in a human form, instead of the boy containing the demon's raw power. Unfortunately, due to the inability to distinguish between the kunai and the scroll it is sealed in, the boy lived in constant fear, neglect, and near isolation, which was only amplified on this day, the anniversary of the attack.

Officially, under the Sandaime Hokage's ruling, no person who was under a specific age was allowed to speak of the burden one Uzumaki Naruto carried, with a severe penalty for those who trespassed against it. However, this did nothing to quell the hatred the boy had to deal with. And today, a day which should have seen him as a hero, he was viewed as an object of vengeance for nearly all who had lost so much in the attack 4 years ago.

As you can imagine, a 4 year old can only run so far, can only hide in so many places, and can only take so much before they slip up, and for one so young, it doesn't take much. It wasn't long into the night that young Naruto had already vacated his first three hideouts, and was one his way to his fourth, before he found himself cutoff from his escape, and routed into a small, back alley. As he realized his mistake and subsequent trapping, he spun to try and leave this dead end, only to find his only escape cut off by several of the more drunk, and violent, villagers. Armed with various weapons, and with all the liquid courage seeping through their veins, they had chased and pursued so child, until they had eventually cornered him. The apparent "leader" of the group, if you could call him that, advanced on the boy, who by now had backed up as far into the alley as he could, desperately searching for a way out, and finding none. With panic in his eyes, Naruto began to desperately plead with them, but it would prove to be to no avail, as the man hefted his makeshift club, and brought it down upon the child's arm that he had raised to defend himself, breaking it. Crumpling like a ball, Naruto closed his eyes, and waited for the sweet embrace and serenity of unconsciousness, as the beating from the man continued, and others moved to join in, intending to finish him off, and finally avenge their fallen comrades and family.

Luckily, or unluckily, if you happened to be a member of the mob beating the young boy, the next blow to strike the child's prone form was deftly caught, and its owner swiftly kicked in the chest and disarmed. All movement stopped as all members of the mob began to realize just who had stopped, in their eyes, their rightful vengeance. The new arrival's large frame slowly and deliberately turned around, and as his white hair parted, the members of the mob could only stand helplessly as they were met with the eyes of a man barely containing unbridled fury. The killing intent radiating from the newcomer was paralyzing, effectively neutralizing the untrained and unfit villagers and rooting them to their spots. One by one, the man glared a hole into everyone's eyes, before quickly and violently dropping his killing intent, but continuing to stand in between them and the fallen Naruto. The message was clear, and the mob quickly dispersed, nearly trampling their fallen comrade in the process. No matter how inebriated they may have been, everyone in the village knew who this legend was. After all, there was only one man in the world who wore a headband with the kanji for "Oil" on it, and he was not to be trifled with.

Jiraiya sighed to himself, and turned back to the matter at hand, namely, the beaten and unconscious child at his feet. Stooping low and cradling the child in his arms, he took to the rooftops, already headed in the direction of the hospital. He had heard throughout his travels of things like this happening to the young Naruto, but had always down played it in the back of his mind as exaggeration, for surely the Sandaime wouldn't allow something as cruel as this to happen. Jiraiya had trusted in his old Sensei, after the old man had refused the Toad Sage's request to take the boy with him at birth to travel the Elemental Nations. After tonight though, witnessing firsthand the dangers and suffering Naruto had to undertake, he made a decision. He was Naruto's Godfather, and dammit if he wasn't going to take care of him. Naruto was going to leave this village with him, and he wasn't taking "no" for an answer. As the hospital came into view, and Jiraiya began to slow his approach, he steeled himself for the backlash that he would soon be dealing with.

Tomorrow, Jiraiya would be having a chat with the Sandaime, and he didn't think Hiruzen was going to approve of his decision.

Author's Note:

Alright, so as you guys can probably tell by the writing, this is my first fic. I've read a lot of great work on this site, so I figured I'd try my hand at it. I've seen other works on here/authors that do really great work so hopefully I can live up to them. This chapter ended up being a bit shorter than I originally planned out, but that's fine because I think I accomplished all I needed to for an introduction. Quick shout out to Kenchi618 because it was while reading "The Sealed Kunai",that I came up with this idea. Guys, I plan on making this story rather epic in sheer terms of length, and I'll be trying to update as quick as I can, so I don't leave ya'll hanging.

That's all I got, Out.