A Naruto Fanfiction

Title: Acceptance

Genre: Action/Adventure/Angst

Rating: R

Summary: AU A murder attempt on Naruto when he was four left him scarred deeply, both mentally and physically. Meeting a deity who was taking a walk, he makes a decision to leave, hoping to find acceptance later.

Warnings: Naruto is OOC; Gore/Violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and gang. Just playin' with 'em ;P. Any OCs you see in the story are mine.

Notes: I'm not Japanese, so if there are any errors in the language, tell me so I can change it ). Enjoy!

Chapter One: Meeting of a God, a Spirit and a Kid.

Blood seeped out of his wounds. His eyelids slowly lifted, only to see a hazy silhouette of drifting snowflakes descending onto his broken body. The lazy sunlight peeked through the bare branches, illuminating the wispy flakes in a shimmering halo of orange light.

The sky was darkening, its orange hue slowly fading into an ominous grey. Night is coming, Naruto thought. Night. . .the time when monsters come out to play.

He shivered, causing a spasm of pain that wrecked through his body. Naruto exhaled slowly, biting his lower lip as his four-year-old mind desperately willed the pain to end.

"Monster. . ."

Slowly, as snow piled onto him, numbness enveloped him. The agony that ripped through him a few moments ago ebbed away, only leaving a dull ache around the area where the cross had. . .

. . .had branded him.

"Like a monster. . ." Naruto whispered softly, remembering the cruel words that were thrown at him.

A glistening tear slipped down his pale, shuddering cheek. His eyelids drooped, and then closed as he sank into an inky, black sea.

"Like. . .like me."

---

Naruto woke up, his body feeling surprisingly fresh. Testing his legs, he found them unbroken, without scars or any other knife-marks that. . .they. . .had inflicted. He then stared at his fingers stupidly, scanning each wrinkle, looking at the faint highlight of his nails that shifted across the pink, hard surface when he moved his hands.

Trembling, he bent his arms upwards, murmuring gibberish under his breath. His shaky fingers stretched slowly, before touching the hard folds of his ear.

Naruto chocked in happiness and glee. Tears sled down his face as he shut his eyes tightly, hugging his knees against his body for comfort.

The dark images flashed through his mind. The leering faces and hard eyes boring into him, laughing at him as they sawed his fingers away and ripped his ear out. He could remember the torture, the rush of white-hot pain that engulfed him, chocked him with his own blood. His throat was raw and bleeding, but he could not stop screaming. It was a loud, piercing shriek, filled with terror and agony.

His captors had laughed, cackling in delight as they danced to his screaming symphony. They smirked, trailing a gleaming kunai across his skin. The pressure wasn't heavy enough to cut, but it was enough for the boy to notice its presence.

He stifled his shrieks as he felt the blade upon his skin. A sudden numbness engulfed him, stopping the pain as terror rattled his bones. His eyes widened as he stared into the cold, beady eyes of his captor. Moonlight flowed across the man's savage grin.

The shinobi saw the fear in his eyes multiple tenfold as the boy realized what the man was about to do. He struggled futilely against the chains; he shook his tear-streaked face in a weak protest, but it was too late.

The wicked blade bit in deeply, leisurely slicing across his skin. Blood oozed out from long scratch, forming a small drop that barrelled down onto the cold wooden floor below.

The man laughed while his friends hurriedly joined the fun. The numbing shock that wrapped around his veins was torn apart as more kunai skipped across his flesh with the pale, silvery moonlight as a spectator.

Forcing a soldier pill down into his throat to prolong his life, the boy cried as the cold wood under him was softened and warmed by the flowing rivulets of blood.

---

"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!"

Sarutobi glanced up from his paperwork at the frantic screaming of Hiro, the chunnin he had assigned to watch over Naruto when he was out of town. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he pushed the paperwork aside and waited. In less those five seconds, Hiro rushed in, out of breath, clutching a bloodstained shuriken in his hands.

"Hiro! Wha---"

"Hokage-sama! I have terrible news! Naruto. . .Naruto's gone!"

The Hokage narrowed his eyes, and spoke quickly and quietly in a subtle and deathly whisper.

"The boy. . .is. . .what?!"

"I'm am truly sorry Hokage-sama, but my mother! She felt severely sick yesterday, and I was forced to leave early and go to the hospital. I never thought it would have ended up this way! I thought the kid was going to be alright! But today, when I had visited him to check up on him, I found his flat ransacked, with blood stai---"

"Blood?" the Hokage questioned, cutting off the panicked chunnin. "Blood?!"

"I. . .hai," the chunnin regretfully confirmed his question in a quaking whisper.

In a blink, Sandaime was out of his chair, all fatigue forgotten as he sped towards Naruto's apartment.

My friend. . .I pray I have not failed you.

Yet in his mind, a dull persistent nag told him otherwise.

---

"Oi kid, you alright?"

Naruto looked up from his sniffling, flinching as the stranger touched his shoulder.

A pair of golden eyes stared back at him. They belonged to a handsome face, with black, spiky hair that ruffled in the slight breeze. He raised an eyebrow when Naruto just remained silent.

"Look, I know I'm awesome and really dashing and all but you are, after all, a boy and just so that you know, I don't swing that way."

Not understanding what the teen just said, Naruto just shrugged the words off and blurted out the two most pressing questions in his mind.

"Who are you? Am I dead?"

---

The Third looked on sadly at the mess of the apartment. Whoever did this was very good in covering their tracks. The clue they had left was that shuriken, and unfortunately, that was not enough to pinpoint who the killer was.

Sarutobi closed his eyes, unwilling to see the long, dry trails of blood leading from the kitchen to the shattered window.

Arashi. . .

---

"No, you're not dead kid. As for who I am, well, take a guess!" the golden-eyed stranger chuckled.

Naruto's eyes widened a little when he was told that he was alive. But. . .but my hands! That's impossible!

"Liar!" the boy yelled. "My fingers. . .and my ears! They were. . .wer---"

"Yes, yes, that was ripped off in a most grotesque manner. Then again, I am a god, so that wasn't a problem," the deity smiled as he took out a cup of instant ramen from his coat. "Anyway, you must be hungry. Ramen?"

Naruto glanced warily as he looked at the man. Ordinarily, he would have agreed to ramen no matter who it was, but that night had obviously caused him to gain much distrust in strangers, even if they are gods.

The deity rolled his eyes when he noticed the boy's obvious suspicion of the ramen cup.. "Kid, if I want to poison or kill or torture you in the most painful way ever I would have given you to my cousin. Now eat. You were asleep for almost a week, and even with that fox spirit in you, it is still unhealthy, especially for a young mortal like you."

Naruto reached out for the cup, jerking his hands back and forth as he neared the offered food. He was guarded, ready to take off and a moments notice if the strange man attacked. As he peeled away the cover, the steaming aroma of ramen drifted into his nose. Naruto breathed in deeply, admiring the sweet, spicy smell. Giving a small grin, he happily picked up a pair of chopsticks, split them, before tucking into his favourite food.

After halfway through his 7th bowl, the blond curiously looked up at the deity (who was reading a book), as quietly asked his question.

"Are. . .are you really a god?"

At first, no answer was forthcoming. Naruto thought he had somehow offended the man and tried to apologize. Stammering, he said, "Ashikarazu (trans: I'm sorry"), I was jus---"

The deity lowered his book. His golden eyes wandered to Naruto.

"Hai, hai, whatever. There's no need to apologize. Yes, I'm a deity. Iikagen's my name. I'm the God of Anything Goes. If you laugh, I will slit your throat."

Naruto, being Naruto, disregarded the warning as he chocked on his noodles.

"God of Anything Goes? What kind stupid title is that!" croaked the blond before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

Iikagen narrowed his eyes at the boy. Hmm, he is still able to laugh even after that night. Well, that's good I guess, but no one laughs at my expense.

Clutching his stomach, Naruto stopped for a breath. Opening his eyes, he met a furious pair of golden orbs. A low whisper drifted to his ears.

"Unless you want blood gushing out of your throat, stop laughing."

Almost immediately, Naruto leapt away, backing into a corner of the cabin before stammering, "I'm. . .so-sorry. . .do-don't hur-hurt me."

Damnit. I forgot he still hasn't got over it yet. Ah well. . .

Sighing, Iikagen sighed. Standing up, he said, "Just joking kid. C'mon. Obviously you can't return to your human home. I guess you'd just have to follow me."

Cautiously, Naruto stood up, his legs slightly shaky. Realizing that it was just a joke and that he wouldn't need to return to that place, the youngling hurried up to the strange deity as he walked out of the creaking cabin.

"Where. . .where are we going Iikagen-sama?"

"A warmer place perhaps. A better place to start your training."

"Training?"

"Yeah. You don't actually expect me take care of you for your whole life right?"

"Ah. . .hai Iikagen-sama."

"Iikagen would do kid."

"Hai."

Their voices slowly faded in a flurry of snow.