Naruto Uzumaki, the untold hero of Konoha and holder of the Kyuubi No Yoko (The Nine Tailed Fox). Fourteen years old and a damn fine ninja to boot, he had suffered the ridicule of the village he was suppose to call his home. From a young age, after he had been unceremoniously tossed out of the orphanage, Naruto was chased and beaten, cut and terrorized by other children, civilians and even ninjas he would later get to know as comrades.

Naruto assumed that he would not have to deal with it after he earned the rank of genin and became a ninja himself but that was not so. Tonight was just more proof of that. The civilians had not chased him, as it was out of their way now that he was a certified ninja (there was a law resulting in hefty fines and a draft of their children should they harm a ninja with the intent to injure). Now it was just his fellow ninja, namely some ANBU and unknown Chunin and Genin who had not passed the Chunin Exams some months ago.

He entered the front door of his rundown apartment, the rusty door handle creaking as it was twisted open, and the door remained shut tightly. He released an aggravated and tired sigh at this. Someone had cast a water jutsu on the internal innards of the door and caused it to swell and warm before a fire jutsu followed up and dried it off near instantly. He had known that by appearance and that it had happened whenever he was out on a mission for more than a day.

Bracing himself, Naruto stepped back and kicked the door in. His foot had collided with the area near the door handle, and sent it spilling inwards with a small shower of splinters being cast in the aged wood floors. They just joined the piles of dirty laundry and discarded gear he had no room to store in as he used all his best gear kept in storage scrolls.

Most of the items were broken or dulled down since he had found them during training or discarded in the trash of one of the several general stores or weapon shops. The weapons shops scarcely tossed anything, only if it contained imperfections, as happened when a training blacksmith would practice crafting the ninja tools.

Looking at the walls of the apartment, reading the blatant red paint sprawled across the aged wallpaper, the blonde haired genin let out a croak that sounded like a choked sob. The words spell out, 'Die Kyuubi Scum.' Normally this would have not been a huge issue but it was October 10th...his birthday. He had a mission out of town that put him getting back just at the evening around nine. This was news to many people, and then when he returned, the group meant to be considered a 'welcoming party' chased him and beat him when they caught him. That had been an hours time and he laid unconscious until just after two in the morning.

Going into the home, he undid the straps and buckles of his pouches and belt, allowing them to drop to the floor with a heavy thud. With each and every step he took another item was removed from his person; his sandals, pants, jacket, shirt and finally his orange fish cake print boxers were all removed until he was standing under the water of his shower. It was nothing but cold water cascading down onto his scarred and bruised form, causing him to hiss in pleasure and pain. For once a cold shower was much more welcome than a warm one. It was uncomfortable but he currently was not in the safest mind setting right now. It was beginning to get to be too much.

This is when he set his calloused hand against the tiled walls of his shower and began sobbing. He was fourteen years old now and he was alone, beaten and severely alone. His thought began to dwell on the worst things he could do. Naruto's eyes shifted toward the razor he had on the shower shelf, he didn't like having any of the facial hair he was beginning to grow since he was coming of that age so he kept if off as often as possible. Grabbing hold of the razor, he popped the plastic cover off and removed the thin razor sharp metal. Closing his eyes and releasing a sigh, he used one hand to run the razor across his wrists. It stung a lot, like a burning papercut but it was much deeper than that and it hurt more with each slice. The left wrist had received six thin but deep lines across it before he switched hands and did it to the right wrist. Both hands were firmly planted at the tiles now as the blood dripped from the cuts onto the tiled walls and floor of his shower. It was almost pleasing to watch the water run pinkish red, as if his troubles were flowing away with the blood and pain he inflicted onto himself.

He stayed like this for several hours until the water was shut off. He hadn't heard anyone enter the apartment or the bathroom but when he looked up he saw the sorrowful face of his girlfriend.

Naruto croaked out words as he saw her tear laiden eyes, even as she wrapped a towel around his form, not caring he was naked. She just wanted to get him dried off.

"Sasuke-chan? I….What are you doing here?"

His eyes were wide still, not expecting her to have wanted to see him after the events a few days prior. Perhaps she had come to apologize. It was then that he looked around his bedroom and noticed his bathroom had been tidied up rather greatly. Did she do this?

He held onto the towel that she had placed around his waist, choosing to do so as he knew it was likely embarrassing that she had to see him in the nude already. That was when he noticed the time, he had been in the shower from some time now and it was well near the morning when he was suppose to start his training regimen. Of course after the night he had...he may take the day off. Besides, he currently had a crying Sasuke looking at him and the damage he had done to his wrists.