It had all started at the Valley of the End, where the 1st and 2nd Hokage of Konohagakure had once fought many years ago; as the cold rain began to fall two boys were near the river feeding into the mighty waterfall. One of the boys was lying on his back, a hole clean through his chest as his spiked blonde hair fanned around him, his face grace with three whisker mark upon each tan cheek as he lie unconscious. The boy above him was staring down at the tan boy with an emotionless glare, his onyx eyes and raven hair making his pale skin look even whiter. As the raven looked over the blonde as he bled out onto the ground he had decided not to leave it to chance that he would live beyond those final moments, he gripped the boy's legs and drug him to the edge of the river. The blonde gave a faint groan unable to move then opened his eyes faintly; he could just make out the face of the raven as he glared down at him. The roaring of the river told the blonde just how close he was before he tried to move but found the strength to do little more than mutter then name of the raven.

"Sasuke…" The blonde murmured before the raven growled and stomped on the blonde's chest.

The blonde cried out in agony before Sasuke gave a dark smirk.

"You're a dead last, Uzumaki Naruto. You'll always be a dead last." Sasuke smirked before he looked over the waterfall.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke with a broken heart in his eyes as the raven sat down with a smug look on his face. Sasuke enjoyed having power over the usually hyperactive blonde before him; he liked having the power to decide his fate for him as he stood with his foot on the blonde's chest. At one time he might've coddled the blonde close and told him that things would be alright, but no longer would he be held back by that single bond of weakness. He was ready to end the final thing that kept his heart tied to Konohagakure, Naruto had been his rock for as long as he was afraid to swim away but he was no longer afraid. Naruto was at one time his closest friend and maybe more to him, but he was never one for emotional ties and had accepted the blonde's silent feelings but never returned them anymore then holding him at night when he would cry. He hated when Naruto cried, but he was going to have to grow up without the raven in his life from then on.

"Is it worth it, Uchiha Sasuke?" Naruto weakly growled before the raven stomped his chest once more.

Sasuke glared down at Naruto before he rolled the blonde onto his side letting him stare into the river, Naruto could see how pitiful he looked as Sasuke put his foot on his side.

"Your love was what held me back, after this I am free of Konoha and free totake my revenge." Sasuke grinned, rocking Naruto from side to side.

Naruto's eyes welled up with tears hearing those words from Sasuke's own mouth, he had tried so hard to keep the raven where he was but it was never good enough. The raven always wanted more than the blonde could give; Sasuke's only true ambition was to kill someone who had wronged him so many years when they killed his entire clan. The man had been his own older brother but since that day Sasuke was damaged and bound to pursue his older brother and kill him no matter who it hurt. Naruto let his hand drop into the water as if to signal his defeat before Sasuke smirked and kicked the blonde into the water, his face was scrapped by a sharp rock leaving a cut over his left eye and on his right cheek leaving a faint trial of blood in the water. Sasuke watched as the blonde was tossed among the rough waters, his smirk widening as he watched the blonde vanish into the waterfall with satisfaction. With a sigh of great relief the raven slowly began to make his way to Otogakure and the power that was so precious to him, Naruto quickly began little more than a memory to him with each step that he took.

'He wasn't worth the effort.' Sasuke thought giving a final glance behind him before vanishing into the trees.

Little did the raven know that when Naruto had been sent over the waterfall a veil of red chakra had form over the blonde to protect him from any more harm as it healed the cuts on his face. Though they left no scars, the betrayal left scars far deeper in his heart. A dark chuckle spun through the blonde's mind. The chakra had vanished after 3 miles of river to be picked up by an albino wearing the most unlikely of clothing; the man gave a scowl but threw the blonde onto the bank anyways and looked him over. The cloak he wore was black with red clouds on it letting the world know whom he was with but what made him stand out the most was what people didn't see.

"Oi, wake the fuck up Gaki." The man growled jabbing Naruto with the bottom of his three bladed scythe.

A growl came from Naruto that wasn't human as red chakra formed behind him taking the form of a small yet dangerous looking Kitsune, the man backed up as its nine tails flared out. The man gave a growl to the Kitsune before he folded his arms over his chest as if to dare the creature to try something, the Kitsune growled and curled around the blonde as it began to heal the internal wounds to Naruto's organs. The albino was ready to turn around when he gave a closer look to the blonde and stopped dead in his tracks, he had seen the blonde before when he was younger.

He vividly remembered saving him from a group of villagers when he was in a village that was covered in trees, it pissed him off so much that he had forgotten the name of the village but he knew that they were getting over a run-in with a demon Kitsune that had killed their Kage before a previous Kage took the dead man's place. With a glare the man sat down with his scythe in man trying to think of the name of the blonde but no name would come to mind, with a growl he gave the Kitsune the finger and stood. At that moment he had to be the bravest man alive, he picked up the boy from the scruff of the neck and looked him over carefully.

"Oi, Gaki!" The man yelled shaking Naruto, "Wake the fuck up!" He growled as Naruto opened his eyes part way.

The first thing that Naruto noticed was the lavender eyes and snowy white hair, the next thing was the unmistakable scowl on his face. His eyes widened further upon seeing the pendant of a Jashinist, the encircled triangle that was around the neck of the same man who had saved him 8 years ago; Naruto was only 4 at the time but he would never forget the man before him. The Kitsune behind Naruto growled but sat down sensing that Naruto didn't view the man as a threat but seemed curious about the man and Naruto as it watched with careful eyes.

"You…" Naruto said quietly, he noticed the cloak of his own bane.

"You joined Akatsuki?" Naruto asked with a dead tone, the man raised a brow.

"How the fuck do you know about Akatsuki, Gaki?" The man growled; he didn't seem happy to hear the word come from Naruto.

Naruto gave a deep sigh and hung his head; his body was still weak from his fight with Sasuke. The albino stared at the blonde as if demanding an answer before he ran out of patience, which was a lot longer than he had remembered. It only took Naruto a few moments longer before he spit out his whole story, from Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame trying to kidnap him to the last memories he had of Uchiha Sasuke before he was kicked into the river.

The albino gave a grunt before he set the blonde on his feet; he crossed his arms before he took off his cloak and wrapped it around the shivering blonde. Naruto was shocked when he felt the warmth of the cloak around him; he stared up at the albino before the man put a hand on the blonde's head with a faint smirk. The Kitsune huffed from behind the two before it returned to its chakra form and retired inside of the seal over Naruto's navel, with a careful hand the albino lead the blonde away from the river and to a camp fire where another man had sat. The man's face was hidden by a strange looking cap and mask but his neon green eyes stood out as he looked over the blonde, Naruto didn't like the feeling he got from the man and hid behind the albino before the man growled.

"Another sacrifice already, Hidan?" The man said in a gruff voice, Hidan glared darkly.

Naruto gave a faint gulp before he covered his ears.

"What the fuck does that mean, you dick?!" Hidan growled at the man, his eyes narrowed.

"You've been doing those ridiculous rituals all damn day." The man responded, his eyes returning to the stack of money in his hands.

"You're a fucking Atheist! Eat a fucking dick Kakuzu, preferably mine." He growled darkly before Naruto peeked out from behind Hidan.

For a moment he was actually both amused and relieved to see the albino once more, how long the feeling would last was anyone's guess as Kakuzu rose and walked up to Hidan. Naruto shrank back behind the taller immortal as he curled up more into the cloak Hidan had given him for warmth, he was so lost in why he felt safe with Hidan when he was in the Akatsuki but it wasn't the first time Hidan had protected him.

~8 years ago~

He was only 4 years old at the time but from an early age Uzumaki Naruto knew that he was different from other people, Konohagakure made him choke on the fact daily. He was always shunned by the villagers when he would go to them for even a small amount of food, to outsiders he was just a homeless boy but to the villagers he was a curse. Sealed inside of him was the Kyuubi No Kitsune, a mighty demon that nearly devastated the village before the 4th Hokage chose to seal the Yokai inside of Naruto the day he was born.

From that day on Sarutobi Hiruzen had resumed his role as the Hokage even in his old age, he had decreed that the young blonde would not be harmed and that attacks on him should be reported directly to the old Hokage. Sadly such reports were rarely made unless those truly loyal to the 3rd Hokage reported what they had seen, even then the villagers would shrug off their punishment and return to tormenting him the moment it was over. To the entire village the 4 year old boy was just as dangerous as the Kyuubi, some went as far as to call him the Kyuubi and rally together a yearly hunt to try and kill the boy.

"Time to hunt the beast, let this be the year we end it!" A man yelled as he ran through the streets with a kunai in his hand.

Villagers emerged from their homes as the sun began to set; some held torches while others held katana and shuriken as they followed the man. They were those who had lost the most during the Kyuubi attack and swore revenge against the innocent boy who didn't even know his own curse. They crept through the shadows like vermin searching for a meal, their fury burning in their eyes as they looked for the frightened boy. Naruto had learned to hide at night when the villagers were awake; he was surprised that he had not been killed yet by the numerous times he was stabbed by the villagers. He remembered on occasion where a kunai had been thrown into his left lung as well as his ribcage and left thigh, the villager had left him for dead but he had found the will to live and pulled out the kunai before watching his wounds heal. Certain wounds took longer for him to heal from but he hated the feeling a healing wound to one of his internal organs, it was a burning itch that he couldn't help but rub or scratch at.

'Why do they hate me?' The young boy thought as he hid under an old oak tree, he watched as 20 or more people walked past the small den he had made before he decided to leave it.

He quickly chose to run into an alley way but had gotten startled by a stray cat that had yowled and ran by him, knocking over a nearby trash can alerting the villagers to his location. Naruto ran as fast as his little legs could take him but he knew that he could never outrun them, he was proven right as a kunai sailed through the air and clipped his left leg making him trip over his own feet. The villagers cheered on those with poor aim hurled shuriken and kunai at him, the boy was nicked and scrapped by the misaimed weapons as he tried to crawl away.

A voice inside of him told him to keep moving before he heard a gruff laugh as a man walked up to him, Naruto whimpered in fear as he looked towards the gate of the village. It had been the only thing he was able to see each year as a different man placed his foot on boy's body to stop him from moving, this year however Naruto could see what looked like a man in white robes walking towards the village. He wasn't the only one to notice as the man whose foot was on his back had stopped laughing to stare at the stranger, he was an albino man whom held a scythe with three blades on it. The villagers who caught up to the boy ripped him out from under the man then threw him against the ground, the stranger didn't seem amused.

"What the fuck are you heathens doing?" The man growled; his eyes narrowed as the man stepped on the boy again.

"This thing is a demon in disguise; we're going to kill it." The man grinned grinding Naruto's face into the dirt.

The albino ground his teeth and swung his scythe, the sharp blades finding their way into the man's body with a loud squishing sound. Naruto looked up at the man while he pulled out his scythe, the man's blood spattering the snow white skin of his savior. Two Chuunin ranked Shinobi didn't take kindly to the killing of their leader in the mob and charged at the man before they too suffered the wrath of his scythe; their heads were severed and rolled next to the boy. Naruto's eyes widened as he stared into the lifeless yet still furious eyes of the villagers, their expression haunting him even beyond their death. The albino stared down at the boy before he pulled out a bible and began to read, the villagers turning and running in fear as the man read. Naruto couldn't understand the fear induced by reading from a book by a stranger; he stared up at the man before he finished his reading and closed his bible. Calm violet eyes met fearful and confused cerulean before the man vanished into the night, little did the boy know that in his most dire time of need the man would appear again to save him from his own demise.