A/N: I ask myself, ah wtf am I doing? but it was begging to be written. It will probably end up being pretty lame.

It's english, except for some jutsu I suppose.

Prologue : The end at the beginning.

Itachi looked over to the small trio, all wearing a black cloak with a red cloud pattern, finished off with straw hat. They were men, and all seemed to be quite powerful individually. There was one he easily recognized, a ghostly pale individual, Orochimaru. Beside Itachi, his friend, and possibly the only one until the end of his days easily recognized him too.

It seemed they didn't have to look hard at all, it was always little difficult to find anything while trying to remain inconspicuous. Orochimaru being there was a clear sign that they had found them, whoever they were.

His comrade took his eyes off of them to look in his direction. Itachi raised a brow, and was responded with a roll of the eyes. He was always such a talker, so he let him converse for the time being. At least until possibly important matters came up that required more finesse. At least, he knew this himself.

He turned to the others."So what's up?" he asked bluntly, as always,. "Although I don't really care about the snake bastard"

Perhaps he had intervene even sooner than he thought.

Chapter 1: Honestly the beginning.

Weasel looked down below, sitting on a perch, a tactical viewpoint. Below was road, where a group of rogue shinobi had just finished raiding a merchant's shipment. The number of shinobi was higher than the ninja who had abandoned the village but he guessed that they had gotten busy training some other crooked individuals.

It was night, the clouds covering the dim light of the moon. Vision was impaired, but not so overly so. However, it wasn't a problem for him, the sharingan was a useful tool in the dusk of night. No, the night was of little concern to him, but perhaps a little larger for his only teammate assigned with him.

Weasel looked up, positioned higher than himself was Fox. Dressed in the common ANBU gear of a light weight grey flak jacket and black apparel, with the porcelain mask with the distinction of a fox's. He was slightly quivering at the sight of what was occurring below. Not in fear, or anticipation, but in concealed anger.

Itachi Uchiha, or Weasel per in assigned codename, glanced down below again. The owner had been killed moments prior to their arrival, the daughter, an young woman was on the verge of being violated.

He could see the reasoning behind his anger, and Weasel was certain that Fox was in control of himself. He was part of ANBU for specific reasons, and mostly partnered with him for those as well.

He a very faint clicking sound from above, hardly inaudible except for when you're specifically hearing for it. He raised his right hand to grip the standard issued blade on his shoulder, preparing for the coming fight.

A light tap was heard beside him, the sound of Fox's stepping on the branch beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

His sharingan had been already activated, and he could see the numerous shadow clones laying in wait on the other side of the road and closer too. He could see several of his as well, but the majority belonged the person standing beside him. All in wait for the moment to ambush them.

There was several guards stationed around the area, no doubt looking for any hint of them. Or rather specifically, hunter ninja. Their defensive setup might've been impressive to ordinary shinobi, but it was rendered useless by a specific skill that Fox possessed. Perhaps it might have been more difficult if they had possessed a sensory type,

He saw the blond beside raise a peculiar kunai, a tri pronged one. He could him take several inaudible deep breaths, his hand gripping tightly on his shoulder. "Sorry" He whispered a moment later, before focusing on the task at hand.

Their allotted mental time was nearly up, just seconds away. Another three seconds passed before a faint whizzing of fox's kunai being thrown at fast velocity. His sharingan tracked the movement, the details being scrutinized. It looked like it was gliding slowly through the air. It's destination was not aimed at a person. More specifically, between two rogue shinobi. Other special kunai joined in its flight by the shadow clones.

The dead of night was in their favor, several more diligent shinobi were already becoming aware of the slight noise of tools cutting through the air. The less experienced wouldn't be as prepared. It was all for naught however.

"Now" Weasel whispered. He hardly gotten through finishing the word before he felt the slight sense of vertigo of being transported closer in. If he wasn't so used to the feeling, he might've been a little disoriented by it.

His sharingan captured that he was in the blind spot of two nearby targets, with a reverse grip, he made a slash towards the nearest neck. Contact was made, cutting clean through the neck of one before he stabbed the other in the axilla or underarm to reach the heart.

Leaving the blade engorged in a foe, he dug his hand into his tool pouch. He quickly turned his attention behind him to scan the battle quickly. His back was already being covered of what he assumed to a clone, several enemy ninja were confused by the attack. Taking advantage of darkness, he threw several shuriken embedding them in their vital points located around their faces and neck.

Their preemptive strike over, but the vast number of shinobi had already been taken down. There was now only two remaining targets, stationed further back near their earlier captive. One of them appeared to be a wind style user, shifting through hand signs. Predicting his movements, Weasel could tell that he would perform the Great Breakthrough technique, uncaring if he would cause potential harm to his fellow shinobi.

"Got the girl" Hearing the voice of the Fox by his side. He shifted through hand signs faster than his opponent. Just as his fired his wind style attack, he was able to retaliate with his clan's signature fire style technique.

Fire beats wind. The large fireball became a massive whirling torrent of destruction as it made contact with the attack. Weasel continued to pour chakra as the giant wall of fire covered the entirety of the road. The bright fire lighting up the darkness of the forest surrounding them.

He felt a burst of wind beside him, a shadow clone of Fox aiding with his own wind affinity. His own fire empowered by his comrade beside him, the inferno shot faster than anyone could react. Blazing through the battlefield and passing by where the last two treacherous duo stood.

He swept his gaze through the battlefield to confirm if there was any danger present. there was only one survivor from the band of rogues. Being bounded by a yet another shadow clone. Their brief skirmish, lasting only minute, left a trail of mayhem. Ash, fresh blood, embers and bodies littered the ground. The small flames slightly illuminating the surroundings.

He looked down the road behind him, seeing the silhouette of his teammate with the girl. Normally, the mission came first, saving civilians were secondary. Not that Fox would ever accept that. He could only assume that he recovered the girl before the fire reached her.

He approached the duo, still being very aware of his surroundings as a precaution in case reinforcements arrived. Fox had apparently taken off his mask in a attempt to comfort the sobbing young woman. Who appeared to be at least seventeen years of age.

"You're not supposed to have taken off your mask" Weasel said to the unmasked shinobi.

He looked up, a smirk appearing on his face whiskered face. "You know me, Itachi"

Sighing, Itachi took off his own mask. "Too well, Naruto. But the order is especially for you, I don't need to explain it, and then there's my name as well"

"Except you just said mine too"

"I did say I know you, you likely already said your name to her" He frowned. Mumbling a confirmation, the girl seemed to have quieted down a little. Nonetheless, the young woman would likely be traumatized by tonight's events.

"Let me check for wounds" Itachi suggested.

"Just some bruises..." But he let him check anyways.

It wasn't exactly his intention, he made sure the woman looked in his eyes, who made sure to voice her appreciation but was still otherwise frightened. When he finished, the girl visibly calmed down. Satisfied with his task, he took a few steps back once more. "Thank you..." She said quietly. Naruto was a little curious as to what he had done but decided not to comment on it and turned to the girl again.

"Well, I'll make sure that you get to the next town, is anyone there waiting for you?" He asked softly.

"My mom..." Seeming to be taking strides to not look at the carnage behind himself.

"I'll make sure you'll get there safely" He replied, creating a shadow clone to carry her off.

Itachi placed his mask back to where it belonged, facing down the road where their prisoner was being held. Walking towards him, he was immediately joined by Fox, now wearing his mask.

"So what did you do?" The blond asked.

"I just created a genjutsu to make her a little more calm and make her think she heard different names, just as a precaution" He replied, and he guessed that he slightly frowned from his answer.

"Oh, that's nice" Fox commented. He always liked his name being said.

Making their way to their prisoner, who was sprawled out on the ground. Some of the smaller fires lit up his form. He was bounded, eyes widened in fear as he watched the immediate destruction of the bodies surrounding him. So that any secrets that may have carried wouldn't be exploited by neighboring countries.

"That was...Flying Raijin... You can't be the 4th Hokage... He was..."He seemed to have recovered, only to beg a moment later. "L-let me go, please, I'll go back to the village!" He shouted deliriously.

"You've had your chances" Fox began. "The moment you helped in killing innocents, civilians belonging to the Land of Fire..." He trailed off, anger seeping off of him in waves. He worked on attempted to control his anger as Weasel interrupted.

"You can't escape your fate, but perhaps the Forth will forgive you for what you all have done if you give us the location of your hideout"

The man looked apprehensive, his eyes darting to the blond and him back and forth. Some tears forming in his eyes, no doubt wondering if he should accept his fate.

"We will get that information, it doesn't matter how you tell us" Fox added.

That seemed to have urged him to spill out his secrets, telling the location and other number of other shinobi present at their hideout. Once he was finished, he started to sob and beg for forgiveness for his betrayal over the village. His life ended with a quick death.

"This guys don't have any loyalty at all do they?" Fox commented as they ran along to finished their assigned mission.

"After all of this... Does it really feel that we're making a difference" Naruto asked, his mask off once more. Midday was already upon them, as the hot sun bore down on them. Their surrounding of the lush green forest and they sped through to return to their village with their mission finished.

Itachi sighed, following regulations was never Naruto's forte, but he took off his as well. Associating the mask with more grueling tasks was pretty standard, as a way to cope with more harsher missions. Dehumanizing your opponents was also another way. You'll never be referred to your actual name as you wore it. Except, with Naruto, he wanted his name known.

"We're still quite young, do you think not? Perhaps when I inherit the Uchiha clan and when you're-"

"When I'm brought back from the dead you mean?" He replied. Naruto took out a orange band, a symbol of the leaf present in the middle. He carefully tied it around his forehead, the lack of the metal brace made it fit for wearing under the mask. The blond carried it at all times, only taking it off at night time excursions.

He had an odd obsession with color orange, always having the color with him at all times. At least he wasn't covered from head to toe in it. The fabric around his forehead was also apparently special to him in some manner.

"Yes, those past events and trials ahead help define us who we are, we learn and it may help us when we it's finally time to achieve our dreams." Itachi replied to him. "We need experience..."

"That's what the old man said, as well as the old pervert" Sweeping his hand through his hair in veiled frustration. "Although... I'm not even sure I'm ready, when the truth is revealed..." A small silence permutated between them.

"I don't understand what you're going through, and I hope I never do"

He chuckled then. "You're my friend Itachi, one of the very few who even knows my name, even for that I'm thankful for, Naruto Namikaze, and a shitty big brother..." He shook his head, sighing loudly.

"You're not just waiting, or sitting back, you're actively trying to overcome that burden"

"It's just...Hard y'know?" He said.

"I don't" Another hearty chuckle escaped from him from his tendencies to finish his sentences.

"Alright, let's get back and get you to your mommy you little kid" Naruto replied.

"You're a year older than I am " Itachi replied.

"You're thirteen, and I'm about to turn fifteen" Acting like that ended the discussion, he held up the fox mask in his hands. "Always thought this mask was a little funny in a way..."

"I should've known you'd think that way" Itachi chuckled. Before both brought their masks on.

The Hidden Leaf Village wasn't too far off when they equipped their masks, reaching edge of the village, they inputted the jutsu required to bypass the barrier without triggering the alarm.

Naruto looked wistfully at the surrounding buildings on his way to visit the Hokage. He remembered seeing the carnage when the Nine-tails had attacked the village, bodies and rubble littered the streets. The destruction was horrifying, made worse by where it came from.

Shaking those thoughts away, he made his way towards the Hokage mansion.

Since that day, he was listed as killed within the chaos, along with his father and mother. He wasn't a fully fledged Ninja at that time. As such, he was unable to protect himself if his father's enemies made any attempt on his life.

His brother was given his mother's maiden name, spoken as a orphan. Naruto himself kept his father's name, Namikaze. Since he had been seen numerous times with his own parents and would recognized on the streets. So he was pulled and crafted into one of the Hokage's personal ANBU guards. Not without years of intense training of course.

In his musings, he found himself in front of the Hokage's mansion. Disregarding on wasting his time on going inside and taking the long way, he walled walked up to the window where the old man office resided.

Itachi followed him, but Naruto thought he was a little reluctant on that. Although they had done this plenty of times before.

"What's up old man?" As he jumped inside the room, landing in the middle of it, Itachi surfacing beside him later. The Hokage was seated behind his desk, smoking as he looked over a few files.

"Ah, Fox and Weasel, I assume your mission is complete?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked

"Yes" Itachi replied. Retrieving the scratched surfaces of the Headbands and placing it on the table.

The Hokage gave a somber smile as he took the tied headbands, placing it in a nearby drawer. They talked a little on their mission, giving some details. Itachi had said they he will write the report for a deeper analysis.

Seeing as they finished with their talk. As well as there was no one else in the room, he pulled aside his mask and placed on the side of his head.

"So, where's my money Old Man? I want to get some ramen before I go to sleep"

A hearty chuckle escaped from him as he pulled aside an envelope and threw it towards him. Easily catching it, he stashed it in his back pocket. His funds weren't transferred to a bank like the other shinobi and ANBU, he got it straight after a mission.

They put a lot of effort in making sure the general population was aware that he was deceased. Really, the amount of people that knew his name was pathetically low, he could probably count them on his fingers. Not counting any animals or amphibians.

"Naruto" Hiruzen started. "You will be on watch for your little brother for the next few day, starting tomorrow..."

Naruto felt himself stiffen, an action that was easily caught by the other two in the room with him. "Yeah, sure" He replied just as he felt.

"I hope that one day you can forgive me for taking of what should have been your childhood" The Hokage added.

"I don't blame you old man... I understand, but my childhood died a while ago, Really, all I can do now is keep moving forward" Naruto smirked at the the Hokage's expression, which was a little sullen. "Taking your hat, and trying to become a better brother is all I'm going for right now"

Even if it feels impossible... He felt that last part was better left unsaid. No matter, the Old Man's face brightened up a little, a smile as he continued to smoke his pipe.

"Be sure to continue warming up seat will ya"As he slipped out the window. Itachi followed closely as they reached the ground. They courtyard they were in was bare, no trace of anyone else nearby.

"My mother wants to invite you over for dinner sometime" The Uchiha said.

"Really? That's awesome!" Naruto replied eagerly, he was already excited at the prospect. Another occasion when he didn't have to wear his mask, those were far and between. At least amongst others.

"Seeing as you're occupied though, it will after your mission" Itachi added.

"Ah, Alright" Slightly disappointed at that information. Nonetheless, it was something to look forward too.

"Shisui is also coming" He added.

"Now that sounds like a pretty cool time" Naruto replied jovially. Now he just needed to get past the next few days. "I'll see ya later Itachi, unless you want to come along for some ramen"

"I'll pass on for now, I'm not feeling ramen today"

"That's crazy, but it's your lost man"

"Hn, You'll somehow convince me to pay, and that won't do" As turned towards the direction of the Uchiha compound.

Naruto chuckled as he saw a gesture of goodbye from Itachi. "Alright then, see ya" Waving as he put on his mask to go through the gates out of the courtyard.

He strutted through the village, some shinobi and civilians nodding to him as he passed by, but otherwise they ignored him, like they do for most ANBU. As they always had some sort of mission to complete, or something like that.

He didn't like wearing the mask he had on, sure it was funny in a way, but not when he was merely strolling around the village. Plenty of people knew him as the son of the fourth. His whiskers and likeness was a tell tale sign of that.

He wasn't the only blond, or the only spiky haired individual. That would be crazy, so with the mask he was otherwise unidentifiable. His most prominent features were his whiskers, and briefly contemplated on whether some people made that connection with his brother. Who also had whiskers, but not without the blond hair. Like him, their mother gave birth in secret...

Naruto found himself at Ichiraku, the ramen stand. Sighing, he made his way inside, sweeping the flaps out of the way. There was three other people in here, the cook Teuchi, his daughter, and another customer.

"Oh! N!" Ayame called out loudly. Wearing her apron and her brown hair tied up into a bun.

He felt himself smile, something that she obviously missed. He was found out sometime after he was assumed dead. It probably had something to do with how frequent he was over here, or perhaps he had something to do with a little.

"What's up Ayame? Old Man Teuchi?"

"Good, good, come on in" As he opened up the little barrier to on inside.

"Thanks" As he went on inside and into the back room. Feeling grateful, he quickly placed the fox mask on the small table in the cramped backroom. It was mostly used to store a near endless supply of ramen and fresh ingredients So it was basically heaven for him.

Perhaps if it was left to him in his younger years, he probably would have ramen as his main diet. His own parents- mostly his mother- as well as the Perverted sage had ingrained into him that it was unhealthy to eat it so often. He made a point to have at least have few bowls in a week.

Ayame came in a moment later. "What do you need N?" She asked.

He didn't want to be called Fox, and he couldn't be called Naruto just like that. He didn't know any other people with his name. She settled on calling him N, some little nickname. It was significantly better than Fox.

Naruto smiled at her. "Just two bowls of beef ramen" She giggled for some reason, it made him a little confused as to why. He said nothing that he considered funny in any way.

"Okay, I'll get it quickly" As she disappeared through the blocked doorway to the kitchen. He shrugged as he pulled out the exact money for the bowls and placed it on the table and began to wait.

Perhaps he could've used his father's jutsu to quickly travel around the village, but he liked wondering around with his feet. There was several traces of the marks around, like one on top his the bust of his father.

Ayame came bursting in with his bowls and he began to feast on his favorite meal. Ayame began to converse with him as he ate, mostly small talk. It seemed small, but he was greatly appreciative of such a gesture. It was just...normal.

He didn't have a mask on, or merely just talk of missions and all that jazz. He was just merely enjoying a bowl of ramen while talking with friend who knew his name. It was a nice thing to end his day with, or at least until he had some rest.

"So 'N'?" She started. Finishing his first bowl, he mentioned for her to continue. "When do you think you'll be really back?"

"Hmm...I still need to become a better shinobi" There was other things, but it wasn't something that she was aware of, or needed too. It was his problem. "Then I know for sure, my brother and I will be a family..."

"Aww...That's sweet" She said rather affectionately, for some reason.

'Girls...'He thought, as he disregarded that. Ayame was a year younger than himself, she wasn't always like this. It started a year ago, so he guessed it was something that all girls went through.

He contemplated that perhaps that he should ask the perverted sage...or not. Knowing the individual's tendencies to be especially perverse. Kushina had continually warned him about him, at least to be wary about him.

"Oh hey! Teuchi, I want some ramen okay!" He heard the childish voice, one that he easily recognized. Ayame turned towards the voice, luckily missing him seize and drop his chopsticks.

Looking down at his bowl, he found that he was nearly finished. His appetite was nearly gone. The boy on the other side shared his appreciation for ramen, salt ramen. His mother's favorite.

Getting up, he put the fox mask on his face. Being noticed by Ayame, he saw that she bore a rather sad look. Likely for another reason that she thought it was.

"See ya later" He replied in a faux cheerful voice.

Feeling the effects of the Flying Raijin as he felt his feet come into contact with the floor. He appeared in a small clearing, a kunai being held on a thread as he looked behind him.

His apartment was lit by the light of the sun through the curtain. His dwelling wouldn't be described as luxurious by any means. It wasn't huge or tiny, it was ordinary, filled with some of his parent's belongings and photos of the past.

It didn't take long to prepare himself for bed, tired by his mission, which he had gotten no sleep over the night. He merely laid down, waiting for sleep to take him.

He loved his little brother, he truly did. He could it feel within him. He just...hated at what he had caused. It was something that was out of his control, and that took a tremendous time to understand. Now, he just had to forgive him...somehow. What he knew though, was that he going to accomplish that. Naruto believed in that.

A/N: Probably the only crappy fight scene in the whole story.

This story will have a sequel. This story won't be as giant as my other stories have the potential to be.

I'll use Canon elements that I see fit, and discard others. This story is mostly on the life of Naruto before...well you know, what happens in the prologue.

I have no fucking clue as to who to call Naruto's little brother. I'm unimaginative when it comes to names. I'm thinking Hashirama.