Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did the story would have turned out differently.

Edited 2/10/11

The sky was an angry blackened grey, seething and boiling as streaks of blue lightning ghosted across the sky accompanied by thunderous cracks that rumbled in the wake of each strike. The night air was uncomfortably warm, as the crushing stillness was suddenly broken by a lone figure sprinting down the street, fear evident in his bright blue eyes. The heavy footfalls crashed behind him, pushing the small form to move even faster, painful gasps coming forth from his slightly parted lips. His tan skin clammy with cold sweat and body quivering in terror he quickly turned the corner, preying he would find a place to hide. His eyes took in the new area quickly and noting the small opening in the fence to the left, the little blonde boy changed course diving through the opening and out towards the trees. A masculine voice called out, "You can run, but you can't hide demon!" as one of the chasers leaped the fence followed closely by four others, the lightning showing the metal hitai-ate adorning their foreheads.

The boy began to slow, his legs and body no longer able to keep up his pace anymore. He could hear the foot falls growing closer as he tried to stay ahead, but his frantic efforts were in vain. A hand clamped down on his shoulder yanking him back towards the five men, a terrified yelp forced its way out of the boy. The man closest to him grinned, his voice coming out in a whisper as he pulled out a kunai, "Demon… you cannot posses the body of the innocent boy Naruto no longer! We will free his body from your filth!"

The kunai glinted as he brought it down into the blonde boy, Naruto's, shoulder and slowly began to drag the blade through the child's body. The other men held him still as the weapon was removed and again stabbed into Naruto, this time into his stomach and then into his chest, near the boys heart. Tears poured down Naruto's tan cheeks, his small body shaking in pain as his blood oozed forth from the three long, deep gashes. His ears rang with the harsh sounds of the five's laughter as they proceeded to tie the boy to a tree so he had no hope of getting help, even if he could manage to move and gagged him so he could not scream. They ripped open the remains of his shirt and a different man took the bloody kunai and began carving letters into his skin just underneath his collarbone…..D-E-M-O-N. Naruto sobbed heavily as the pain he was feeling intensified as a fresh wave of blood poured down his chest, helping to turn the top of his tan short a rusty color. The man then through the kunai into the woods as the three who had yet to harm him pulled out three senbon each. Each targeting a different area on the young boys body, his neck, legs and other shoulder. Naruto cried out as the thin metal pierced his body, his cries muffled by the gag. The boy saw them turn their backs on him as his vision went black.

The five men began walking away leaving him bloody, bleeding and wracked in pain. "Serves the demon right." the original speaker said, nodding his head satisfied with he and the four other's work; they wanted his death to be slow and painful. The group parted ways as they slipped back into the inner part of the village, none feeling guilty over what they had just done.

A man in ANBU garb, black hair pulled back into a very low pony tail and a weasel mask hiding his identity, was racing through the forest heading for the inner part of the village when the cloying metallic scent of blood hit him full on. Weasel made headed for the source of the scent eyes flashing in anger as his hand strayed for the katana he carried, prepared to attack if needed. Catching sight of the child tied to the tree Weasel leapt gracefully to the ground, senses on high alert searching for the people who made the small blonde before him into a victim. Weasel stopped next to the boy, and sliced through the ropes taking in the many wounds marring the tan flesh, his eyes stopping to rest on the whisker like marks on the boy's cheeks. "Uzumaki Naruto" the masked figure whispered as he pressed gloved fingers Naruto's neck feeling for a pulse.

The one he found was weak and barely hanging on the shuddering, like butterflies wings, was too fast and every third beat two were skipped. Naruto's small body was failing fast. Swearing heavily, Weasel scooped the limp form into his arms leaping back into the trees intent on getting the boy the help he needed, feeling a strange sense of comradery. He got closer to the hospital and spotted one of his comrades calling out to the man wearing the wolf mask, "Get the Hokage… tell him the boy is hurt."

Wolf gave a small nod shooting across the roof tops towards the tower to do as he was commanded. Weasel bolted quickly into the hospital stopping in front of the front desk telling the women stationed there that he demanded medical attention for the boy. The women took one look at the whiskered cheeks and her eyes lost all of the concern they had previously held, " He will have to wait, we have more urgent cases than taking care of that."

Weasel gave an uncharacteristic show of emotion by twitching and releasing a small amount of killing intent before regaining control and speaking in a voice that turned the women's blood to ice in her veins, "You will look at him now or when the Hokage gets here you can explain to him why the boy has yet to receive treatment."

The women paled considerably hearing what the ANBU before her said; she pressed a button and called out orders resigned to having to take care of the demon. Several men came and took him away, as Weasel went to lean against the wall to wait for the Hokage.

Wolf burst into the tower and did not stop until he was standing in front of the old man sitting behind the worn desk, tiredly signing papers. Glancing up, he softly asked the ANBU why he insisted on bursting into the office. In reply the silver haired man hurriedly spit out what Weasel had told him. The Sandaime's eyes widened as he stood in a flurry of the traditional robes. He took off towards the hospital, Wolf following incase this got ugly. He knew how the hospital staff was towards the boy Weasel was carrying. They arrived at the hospital to see Weasel leaning against the wall waiting calmly. Sandaime approached the desk and asked for information on how Naruto was doing, the women disguised her dislike and said he was currently getting his wounds bandaged and they would be able to see him in a moment. Nodding, Sandaime and Wolf went to stand next to Weasel to wait.

The seconds ticked by until finally the women motioned for the trio to follow the nurse to the room where Naruto was. The walk seemed to take hours, each man wondering what exactly had happened to the boy, one having more of an idea than the other two. Once they entered the room, Sandaime gave the small figure the once over finding his bandaging to be satisfactory. Giving a pointed look to Weasel he moved over near the window. "What exactly happened to him in your opinion on seeing his initial wounds?"

"Hokage- sama, I would assume the boy was tortured and left to die. His wounds were deadly and he had passed out from blood loss. The most notable of all the wounds would be the presence of the word demon carved into the skin below his collar bone."

Sandaime sighed, suddenly feeling very old, "This is the fifth time there has been an incident concerning Naruto. His caretakers abandon him and often harm him, he finds himself running from the members of the village who should protect him. Weasel… why did you bring him back? Do you know who the boy is?"

Weasel inclined his head answering softly, "Yes, I am aware of what he carries; however, I do not see him as that. To me, he is simply a young child."

'Weasel is too young and his father would not approve', thinking about this, the old man motioned for Wolf to join them, "And you Wolf? I am sure you overheard what I asked Weasel."

Wolf remained silent for a moment, "I…I do not see him as the demon either Hokage-sama."

The Hokage grinned softly a plan forming in his head, "Oh good. Welcome to fatherhood Wolf."

A/N: I have finals and then I go home from college for a month, the next few chapters should hopefully be out in that time period it all depends on if I have the time between everything I have going on in that lovely thing known as life.