Disclaimer I do not own Naruto and company. Some information has been taken from the wikipedia website. Some parts of the story are inspired by many anime.

Warning I know I have a horrible grammar and that you can't start sentences with 'but' and 'and', but I like doing that. I can't help it. Anyway, this is a filler chapter of Naruto's past, not long after Itachi's betrayal. This chapter will show many essential details, so I hope you will be paying attention and not falling asleep!

Blood Mage

Chapter Three And all of them shall suffer

Naruto was wandering aimlessly, not caring where exactly he was heading. The frosty wind reminded the blond boy callously that it was winter and the harmless-looking snowflakes bit mercilessly into his unprotected skin. The nine-year-old boy gritted his teeth and tugged at the thin fabric of his jacket, wishing that he had stayed indoors instead. Not that it would have mattered though, since he did not own any heating devices or fireplaces in his pathetically tiny apartment, unless he had the death wish of lighting up a fire and risking burning the entire building down.

Now, that would be interesting to witness, but nevertheless, he would lose the only place he could call 'home'.

"Hey I got it! Yeah, guys! Now I can get my new kunai set!" a boy around seven-years-old exclaimed in ecstasy as the game stall owner grumbled about his bad luck and handed the kid a brand new set of kunai. His friends cheered him on and admired the prize given to the little boy. The voices had snapped Naruto out of his reverie, resulting the demon vessel to look in the direction of the many game stalls that were set up on the street.

The words 'Nail the FOX!' were stamped on the game stall's board in red. Basically, one had to use the kunai provided by the stall owner to hit the many intimidating foxes on a wooden board. Apparently, prizes would be given out if a person nail at least ten of the foxes.

Naruto entertained the thought of himself on the board with the entire flock of villagers aiming their kunai on him. 'As pleasant as that may be, I doubt my prize would be a mere kunai set. Hell! They would probably provide the entire ninja accessories, including exotic swords and rare scrolls if they managed to nail me down! And ensure that I stay dead, of course.'

The blond chuckled to himself bitterly as he remembered that it was his birthday. It was a wonder that nobody had managed to attempt that… yet. He knew that the villagers were getting more creative with each passing year, trying all sorts of methods to kill the accursed demon vessel. Of course, that included the traditional way of simply stabbing, kicking and punching.

Sadly, in the boy's opinion, he had survived every single assault that the villagers had managed to pull off. He had wished to die in those countless times of attacks but he was unlucky (lucky?) enough as he would always recover due to the curse (blessing?) bestowed upon him.

Carefully, masking his own chakra and pulling the hood lower so that it would cover most of his hair and face, Naruto was prepared to walk off when suddenly—

"HEY YOU!" the same boy that had won in the game shouted out to Naruto, addressing him directly. His friends looked at him, confused at his loud display. Naruto, however, kept silent as he observed the boy's reaction.

"I challenge you to duel with me in that game!" the boy yelled, despite Naruto standing only a foot away. The boy pointed towards a game stall with the words 'Slice a Demon!' on the board. There was a counter with assorted fruits that had weird-looking, demonic faces on them—apples with sharp teeth, bananas with red eyes, and so on.

Naruto had never openly participated in such a game before since he would usually have his 'fun' with those infuriated villagers. He would always stay at home and wait for the villagers to get him. He would expect no less today once he reached home but… To hell with that! Hopefully, he would be able to get some fun before his birthday ending at midnight.

Naruto gave a single nod, accepting the boy's challenge. He walked towards the game stall as the stall owner handed the two boys five shuriken each. The game stall owner and a few bystanders eyed the mysterious hooded boy with curiosity. Both boys picked up the provided shuriken and got ready as more onlookers surrounded the stall, interested in the duel between a small kid and the hooded boy.

"Ready? GO!" The game stall owner bellowed and the two boys started to fling the shuriken towards the 'demonic fruits'.

The small boy began attacking the fruits furiously and misaimed once as the shuriken fell to the ground with a 'clang' onto the floorboard. He picked up another shuriken and started again. This time, he scored an odd-looking pear that was sliced neatly into two pieces.

Naruto had thrown his shuriken almost idly and he was already on his third fruit. The two before were cut into thin slices as the shuriken he held acted like a boomerang. He was still on his first shuriken, with the other four untouched. Obviously, Itachi's training had paid off, as he would usually torture the blond with endless hours of… NO! He would not go to that. The memories were unwanted, repulsive even. The burning image of the Mangekyo Sharingan was still engraved in his mind, even though the event had happened almost a year ago.

He took a long time to heal— that was for sure. Naruto was given false hope again and again and he had thought that Itachi would be different. Different from those villagers that offered kind words but gave him poisoned sweets. Different from the people who adopted him while he was in the orphanage and gave him hope, but later on trampled on it heartlessly by ill-treating him to the extent that he nearly died. Different from those academy teachers that proposed to him tuition carried out in secluded classrooms but tried to molest him on many occasions.

And then he realized that Itachi was just the same as the villagers, same as all of them.

And it hurt. It hurt so much.

Naruto was vaguely aware of himself slicing the last two fruits and the shuriken returned to his hand. The crowd cheered at his accomplishment as the game stall owner shook his head at the expensive prize he would be giving away. His adversary pouted in disappointment as he had lost, but was amazed at the stranger's shuriken-throwing and aiming skills.

Naruto was still oblivious to his surroundings as he recalled the incident when the third Hokage had tried to comfort him after he had woken up from the Mangekyo Sharingan induced nightmare in the hospital.

"Naruto. I know that Itachi had hurt you deeply… But you must know that he is a boy who has great ambitions and evil intentions. And even though you may think that you are all alone now, just remember that you have me. This old man here… Will always be here to listen," the Hokage gave the blond boy a pat on the head and was glad that Naruto did not push him away.

Instead, Naruto turned to him and smiled. He smiled like nothing had happened. "All of you must be happy to see me in such a state, am I right?"

"That's not true—" the third Hokage protested but Naruto silenced him with a glance. It was so empty, so devoid of emotions that it disturbed the old man deeply.

"Don't worry about me," Naruto turned away and sighed. "I will stand up again like always, even though I will fall again. I will look forward to the future even if it is bleak. And I will continue fighting not because I'm strong…" Naruto paused and grasped the white blanket of the hospital bed tightly until his knuckles turned white.

"But because I'm weak."

Naruto was only brought back to his senses when he realized many pairs of eyes glaring at him with so much rage, so much hatred. That was when he discovered that his hood had been lowered accidentally, due to the strong wind that had picked up seconds ago. Beside him, the boy that had challenged him regarded the whole scene with bemusement. He had no idea whatsoever why the villagers were directing so much anger and hatred towards his opponent. After all, Naruto had won the duel. It was only fair that he received cheers and the prize he well deserved.

"It is the grotesque demon-boy!" Someone screeched and abruptly, all hell broke loose.

Many parents held their children in hand and led them out of the celebration ground. Those without parents accompanying them had adults guiding them back to where they came from. Those who did not want to be involved in the perilous situation hastily fled the scene. Windows and doors of houses and shops alike were shut close. Fire torches and weapons appeared from nowhere.

It seemed like the villagers were preparing a war. However, their opponent was not a huge army of shinobi but a small boy of nine.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, amused at the villagers' unusual tactics. 'Wow, this year is new… They have never tried confronting me outdoors before…'

Silence reigned supreme until—

"GET HIM!" one of the villagers yelled and they charged at him.

Thinking that he was facing mere brainless villagers, Naruto was prepared to leap away to the roofs when two masked men suddenly grabbed him. Struggling futilely against the astoundingly strong arms, he quickly came to a nasty conclusion.

'These guys… The ANBU force! They are helping the villagers… Why?' Naruto thought as a chill went up his spine. 'What will they try to do to me?' He realized they were going to play real. There would be no more punching and things like that. Naruto was going to die for real.

The blond boy smirked. 'They are finally going to end my life, eh? Good riddance to this vile village I guess.'

He closed his eyes, waiting for somebody to finally hit him with a kunai or something and kill him. He waited for a while but nothing came. However, there was a cold rush of wind whipping at his face as Naruto could feel himself being dragged against the snow-covered ground and he opened his eyes.

The sight of a stake, ropes, straws and a swarm of livid villagers greeted him. All of a sudden, the horrifying epiphany of what was going on hit him like a chakra-enhanced punch.

'I'm going to be burnt alive!' Naruto thought frantically, trying to break free from the ANBU men's painful grip. Even though he was prodigy-in-the-making trained by Itachi himself, he was only nine years old and he had no hope against highly skilled, adult ninjas! One might be fine, but there was a whole bunch of them there awaiting his death!

'I'm fine with dying… But this! I don't want this! I don't want to die this way!'

The ANBU men tied Naruto firmly to the wooden stake and one even remembered to trod on his toes that were barely covered by his battered shoes and spat out, "Good riddance, demon."

Naruto felt bile rising from his throat, wanting to throw up. There was no way he could use his bloodline without letting himself bleed. Although the ropes were biting into his skin, they were merely leaving red marks on his arms but not enough to make him bleed.

"No… Don't burn me… Please…" the blond vessel pleaded softly as tears made their way down his face, forming salty tracks on his cheeks. "Just kill me…"

"And what? Give you the easy way out? Hey, look here demon, nine years ago, my parents begged you not to kill them but you still did! And I had to see you eat them alive! My parents!" The other ANBU, who had been keeping his silence, barked. He had nightmares for years! And the demon still haunted him even when he tried forgetting the past!

The ANBU left Naruto on the stake, kicking wildly, as a young man he recognized as one of the disgusting academy teachers held a fire torch, making his way leisurely to the tied up demon vessel. Images of class teasing him and teachers mocking him harassed his mind, bringing up memories that he always tried to overlook.

The academy teacher neared him, until his mouth was merely inches away from Naruto's ear. "Useless demon… You should have thought twice before attacking our village. You should have thought twice before being the nuisance that you are… You don't belong here… Go back to where you belong… Hell." The man smirked and lowered the fire torch to the pile of straw below the platform where Naruto's feet were.

The blond gasped in quiet horror, his brain trying to process the terrifying event that was happening to him. Who knows, he might really die this time.

The fire was spreading slowly and was reaching Naruto's legs.

The flames licked at his pale skin and Naruto bit his lower lip to prevent himself screaming in agony.

The blazing inferno was engulfing Naruto whole and the spectators were applauding, crying out in joy. Several villagers even cried tears of delight and some even danced to show their elation.

'I hate all of you!'

Something in Naruto's mind broke.

'And I will even curse all of you in death…'

And Naruto screamed.

'I HATE ALL OF YOU!'

So much hatred, so much anger, so much fear and so much disappointment.

The villagers and shinobi alike who were blatantly enjoying the show suddenly felt afraid like they had never felt before these nine years. They could feel the intensity of the raw tendrils of chakra being emitted by the demon vessel, as the fire was about to consume him.

The audience looked in horror as the fire spread outwards and not towards the intended target.

The ropes tying Naruto down snapped as the raw crimson chakra smoldered them. Naruto's normal blue eyes were replaced with dark, baleful rubies as he gradually approached the petrified mob.

"I hate all of you…" Naruto's clothes were just barely hanging from his small frame; the fire had destroyed parts of the garments.

"Hate…" Burns covered most of his body but the Kyuubi's chakra was healing Naruto's form steadily, leaving flawless fair skin.

Some courageous armed ninjas threw kunai and shuriken at the blond boy and several villagers even managed to nick his body with small sharp stones. One shuriken was able to cut just below Naruto's eye, allowing scarlet liquid to flow down his cheek.

Naruto looked as if he was crying blood.

And with those grazes that were inflicted upon his healing body, blood began to leave Naruto's body as he activated his bloodline. He could hear people shouting in a distance but he was not sure. He could hear the roaring fires and… the sound of blood gushing out…

"Restrain the child!" Someone shrieked in terror.

It was snowing. But he did not feel the cold. The fires were still spreading, but he did not feel the heat. He could only feel the emptiness in his heart and mind that was gripping his body.

And it started raining red needles.

"Father, why are we not allowed to join the other children in this sacred festival tonight?" a pale girl no older than eight years old challenged her father defiantly. Her older sister waved her hands frantically behind her father's back, signalling to the other not to infuriate their father. Her hands unconsciously smoothen the wrinkles of the beautiful kimono she had chosen to wear for the night. She had probably gotten those creases while sitting and making tea moments ago.

"You are an honourable Hyuuga. You should understand that we should not be joining this foolish celebration when we are supposed to pay tribute to the people we've lost in the war nine years ago," Hiashi's eyes flashed dangerously as the sounds of fireworks reached his ears. "Or have you forgotten that your godfather had lost his life in the war as well?"

"I do understand, father. However, making us sit there and mourn would not bring him back to life! Godfather would want us to be happy! And right now, I think letting us join in the celebration and play will make us happy!" Hanabi whined and crossed her arms on her chest. It seemed so selfish of her father not to consider their feelings. Annually, both of them had to endure constant teasing in class about not being about to join the other children in the special celebration. Godfather had already passed away in the war! Using his death anniversary as an excuse not to go out and play seemed rather pathetic to her immature mind.

She had never seen her godfather, besides knowing that he was in the same genin team as her father. Paying respects to a complete stranger had always made her feel really odd somehow.

There was a shocking silence when her father slapped Hanabi across her cheek, really hard. Hanabi gasped in disbelief as the realisation of her father actually hitting her was registered in her mind. Her father had never land a blow on either her sister or her before, unless one counted the times when he did in training sessions.

Hinata dashed to her sister's side and decided to speak up for her sister as she saw the anger in their father's eyes. "F-Father, H-Hanabi-chan—"

"Don't speak for your sister, Hinata. She is in wrong and I expect her to apologise to me," Hiashi interrupted her elder daughter and she lowered her head in despair. Hanabi had only wanted to join the celebration for years. Why would father hit her younger sister just because she had just stated her childish desires?

Hanabi's tiny frame trembled in rage as she thought of the strict discipline that their father had brought them up with. When would their father give them a break? Perhaps, until one of them broke down and cry then he would realise that they were mere children?

"I will not apologise to you, father, for I have not committed any mistakes," Hanabi seethed and proceeded to glare at her father. "You may be our father, but we are your daughters. Does it ever cross your mind that you should give us a little freedom?"

Hiashi sighed and looked away, pinching the bridge of his nose in a un-Hyuuga-clan-head-like way. How could a child be so immature and mature at the same time? Was it even possible to have a child of eight to be in the rebellious stage now?

While he was thinking that he had bred a monster in his house, Hiashi only responded with, "Go back to your room and stay there until you realise that you are in the wrong. I will not have you apologise to me anymore but I will not tolerate you speaking of your godfather in this manner. You are not going to have dinner until you reflect on what you've said just now." He then left the room without listening to her younger daughter's protests.

"Hanabi-chan," Hinata comforted in a light, gentle tone as she saw her sister's crestfallen expression. She knew that her sister had that obstinate attitude, and that Hanabi would keep trying to stop their father exhausting them so much with his strict upbringing. They would always try to live up to his expectation and would ultimately fail because he kept setting his standards too high.

Hinata knew that what Hanabi did was for her sake. Hanabi could take a training session easily with a few grumbles but Hinata knew that her own body was still too fragile to take the damage and strain all the time.

And it was Hinata who had suggested going to the celebration without their father's consent. It was all her fault.

Sensing her older sister's distress, Hanabi punched her shoulder playfully. "Hey, it's not all your fault all the time! You can't snatch the limelight from me this time round!"

"Hanabi-chan, I'm sorry," Hinata smiled weakly at Hanabi's futile attempt of looking cheerful. She then enveloped her sister into a warm hug and Hanabi cried into her sleeve.

"I-I've always t-tried so h-hard… Not only m-me, but also Hinata-chan t-too… Why can't f-father see that w-we are not h-happy at all?" Hanabi whispered in between hiccups. Hinata smiled and stroked her sister's hair soothingly.

"It will be fine, I promise, Hanabi-chan."

The Hokage lit his smoking pipe and pulled his straw hat lower as he surveyed the damage that had been done to his village. He sighed as he crimson liquid stained the pure white snow and gradually reached his slippers, successfully dirtying them. "Ah… There goes a perfectly fine pair of slippers," he commented lightly as he stepped away from the corpse beside him.

Bodies were littered across the snow-covered street and those who had survived were trembling and mumbling to themselves, a possible sign of mental trauma. Blood coated every inch of the snow and the debris of the leftover celebration showed every plausible indication that a war had taken place.

However, the one who had dealt all these damage was a mere boy of nine.

Many ANBU members, including some of the jounin were gathered at the awful scene. Some were inspecting the destruction and others looking out for survivors. Some, on the other hand, were surrounding the seemingly harmless and dishevelled blond, poised in a stance that suggested that they were ready to fight.

The Hokage, however, merely waved his hand in a dismissive way and the shinobi under him looked at him, wide-eyed. They parted eventually and allowed the elder to enter the ring that they had formed moments ago. Sarutobi advanced towards the boy with his trained body disallowing him to make any sound on the snow. However, he had thought that Naruto would be able to recognise his chakra signature. Instead, Naruto seemed very engrossed in his thought, or rather, his mantra.

"I hate all of you… I hate all of you… All of you shall die with me…"

The Hokage suddenly looked every year of his age at that moment as he examined Naruto's wrecked state. The demon vessel did not seem to be more injured than any healthy being even though the blood that were on him suggested that he had been injured seriously previously.

He knew that something like that would have happened. Sarutobi regretted deeply never doing anything to stop this from happening.

"Naruto-kun," the Hokage called out softly, fearing that Naruto's mind had retreated into the dark recesses of his mind without being able to function normally anymore. It would be his entire fault that he had disappointed so many people, especially Naruto himself… So many lives were lost because of his foolish ignorance that he had because he wanted to trust the villagers not doing anything silly. This was the result of his blatant unawareness of the villagers' pain of losing their loved ones.

If only he had explained clearly and perhaps, revealing Naruto's heritage…

Sarutobi was almost horrified when Naruto started to chuckle. It was such a sinister, deep and sorrowful one that he had never thought a child would be capable of. Just listening to it made his heart clench at the knowledge of Naruto's childhood and the betrayals that had always threatened to let pain swallow the blond whole. The bystanders cringed at the sound the demon vessel was emitting.

Abruptly, Naruto stopped his laughter and turned to address the crowd. "I will kill all of you… All of you thought of me as a demon and I shall be one just for the village's sake… I will destroy this entire village and I shall perish with it too." With one streak of red beneath his right eye, he looked like a vengeful devil indeed.

"Naruto-kun…" The Hokage felt his heart shatter at the tone that was promising revenge. The little boy had been hiding his pain and suppressing it all these years that the villagers had taken it too far. Naruto might have been broken now and it was all up to him to fix the pieces himself.

To his utmost surprise, a tear made its way down Naruto's left cheek. "I will kill all of you then kill myself…"

"I hate all of you… I will kill all of you then kill myself…"

Tears began to flow down his cheeks in rivulets and falling onto the snow-covered ground. "Why am I hated so much?" Naruto fell to his knees and cried even more.

It was the second time he have seen Naruto so heartbroken, besides after Itachi's betrayal. Naruto looked so forlorn and in pain, that Sarutobi nearly forgotten that this boy had actually been happy once, when he was in Itachi's care. Hell, he had even witnessed the boy laughing!

Oh, how he wished that time could return and let him see this little boy laugh again.

The Hokage knelt down beside the crying blond, to everyone's surprise. Naruto took no heed as the old man wrapped his arms and hugged Naruto tightly to his chest. At this moment, all the surrounding ANBU and jounin gasped and one even had the guts to shout, "But sir! He had killed the—" There was a slight 'crunch' sound as if somebody's jaws had been punched and the Hokage looked back tiredly to see a familiar jounin with his forehead protector covering one of his eye waving back at him gleefully.

Sarutobi smiled tightly and nodded his thanks as he continued to comfort the crying little boy as if Naruto had only scrapped his knee. "It's okay, Naruto-kun. I promise you that nobody will hurt you anymore…" The little boy nodded as he rubbed his eyes sleepily and questioned in a child-like manner, "Promise?"

The Hokage gave a slight nod and smiled. "Promise." The little boy yawned and nodded with a wistful smile, as if what the old man had told him would only happen in his dreams, that they would never come true. The third frowned and as the blond fell into a deep slumber after the exhausting events, Sarutobi whispered, "If anybody is deserving of love and acceptance, it is you, Naruto-kun." Just after he said that, an ANBU walked up to him and saluted. The Hokage nodded and gave Naruto to Kakashi, who would return the boy to his apartment.

"Yuugao-chan, is anything the matter?"

"Sir! The council wants to have a meeting with you and the other clan heads immediately. I am afraid it has something to do with the events tonight," the kunoichi with purple hair and an ANBU mask reported, her body bent in a respectful bow.

"Thank you, Yuugao-chan. I shall be there immediately, as requested," Sarutobi replied grimly, fully aware of the events that shall follow. He was afraid of this happening. The whole council would want to persecute Naruto and would probably condemn him to death. He had to stop that from happening.

xoxox

"Uzuki-san, please report the casualties," Sarutobi ordered as people flooded into the meeting room, filling the chairs. The purple-haired ANBU nodded firmly and immediately gave a quick recount to the old Hokage. "There was a total amount of twelve reported dead and forty-three injured. Of the forty-three who were injured, eleven were seriously injured and had been treated. However, one was reported to die of severe blood loss in the hospital twenty minutes ago."

"Thank you, Uzuki-san. You may leave." Yuugao nodded again and bowed politely at the Hokage before disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves. The Hokage settled himself in an armchair in a position in which he could address everyone in the room. He cleared his throat twice at the whispering crowd and they quietened down instantaneously. It was decided that the villagers' leader should speak: "Today, we've lost a good number of citizens and I feel that I am responsible for this fateful event."

The council and the other clan heads began to talk among themselves, contradicting the Hokage's solemn speech. After all, most of them agreed that it was the so-called demon's doing that so many innocents had paid their lives that day. At the people's distraction, the Hokage cleared his throat again in order to catch their attention. The people averted their attention back to the Hokage, some even looked at him with faces as pale as paper. The Hokage knew what they were thinking about: the demon had finally taken over its vessel.

It was time to clear up that nonsensical belief.

"I can assure you, that the village is not in danger for now. However, if the villagers continue this act of treason of disobeying my law and outwardly show violence to Uzumaki Naruto, then I shall punish them accordingly. Today, Uzumaki Naruto had only wished to defend himself, thus resulting in retaliation by his part."

"I don't believe this! The demon vessel had murdered so many people with the demon's chakra and you're still standing up for him?-!" a wizened woman from the council yelled, pointing her shaky index finger at the third Hokage. "Do you even realise the extent of destruction he had done?"

"He is a demon for gods' sake! I don't understand why we can't issue a declaration and give him a death sentence already!" another shouted, enraged at the cool exterior the third was showing.

To everyone's surprise, especially to Sarutobi, someone came to his and Naruto's defence. "This is so troublesome… You old geezers should know that Naruto isn't the demon by now… He is just a child who has a huge burden placed on him…" Nara Shikaku, the Nara clan head spoke up, leaning against a wall lazily.

"How dare you…" a stubborn old man sputtered, and then said, "That demon had used its chakra to kill everyone just now! All of us felt it!"

"And this is where I shall bring in a witness to deny this. Please come in, Haruka-kun," the third Hokage smiled as a little boy of seven walked in. He had found the little boy cowering behind a ruined game stall when they knew of the carnage two hours ago. The boy had been so terrified, but he was determined to help Naruto. Haruka had said something like, "Naruto nii-chan did not win anything just now and all of them became very angry suddenly! I figured it is selfish of me if I don't share my prize!"

However, the third did not want Haruka to share his prize. He merely wanted the little boy's statement.

"Okay, Haruka-kun, you don't need to be afraid. Just say what you had been doing and where you were at around seven in the evening," the Hokage instructed kindly and put a hand on the little boy's shoulder, reassuring him that nothing bad would happen.

"Erm… I was at the game stalls at around that time… I won this kunai set and I was so happy… I thought my throwing skills were very good so I challenged Naruto nii-chan—" many people of the council raised their eyebrows at this. "—to another game… He won it but a lot of the grown ups just grew angry when his hood fell… I didn't think he was a baddie but everybody gave him the evil eye… That was when they drag him away and came with fires on sticks! I was so afraid and that was why I hid behind the game stall just in case they decided to burn me as well…"

"So, you did witness Naruto murdering the villagers?" Hiashi pressed urgently. Being a clan head and a rational Hyuuga, Hiashi knew that he should not blame a little boy for something he did not do. However, all these years he came thinking of his best friend's foolish method of sealing the demon into the boy that cost his best friend's life. He did not want a repeat like nine years ago and if what the people of the council had said were true, then perhaps the Kyuubi did break the seal and control the little boy. After all, one cannot be sure that a mere boy of nine can contain the centuries-old demon. It was not that he did not trust his best friend's skills over seals, though.

"Yes! It was so cool… The baddies—uh—I mean, the villagers wanted Naruto nii-chan to be burned alive and suddenly Naruto nii-chan seemed angry all of a sudden… And erm… When someone cut him with a kunai, I think he activated a bloodline or something—my daddy told me of those—and he made it rain blood!" Haruka said everything in one go, excited and slightly breathless. Who can blame a child for being excited? After all, he had witnessed a rare bloodline that had been dormant for hundreds of years.

"You are sure it was a bloodline and not some red chakra?" the head of the Inuzuka clan inquired. It seemed proper to always get the facts right. He had never witnessed this bloodline, except for learning them from books. It was rumoured that the Namikaze clan, the ancestors of the fourth Hokage, had once possessed this bloodline. However, because owners of the bloodline married other ordinary women, the bloodline weakened and completely died out a few hundreds ago. It would not be possible for a little boy, also the container of the Kyuubi, to suddenly possess this bloodline…

"Nope! It was a bloodline, I'm sure of it! Unless Naruto nii-chan knew a technique to make blood fly around… Then maybe my dad haven't tell me of those techniques yet… But he always would! After all, my daddy is an academy teacher," Haruka grinned and puffed his chest, proud of his father.

"But if it's a bloodline… Then… It is the kekkei genkai called Chihiwaza and is feared by many… But if he owns this bloodline… It means…" Hiashi spluttered, linking all the clues together. 'That couldn't be! It means that he is related to…'

"Yes, you guess correctly, Hyuuga-san," Sarutobi announced solemnly and everyone looked at him, baffled. "Uzumaki Naruto is the son of the fourth Hokage. Even though the Namikaze clan's kekkei genkai had laid dormant for hundreds of years, it had surprisingly chose Naruto as its next successor. "

Everyone looked at him, wide-eyed, until—

"No! That can't be! He—he!" the old woman who had shouted previously was reduced to a stammering mess. Everyone was also shaking his or her heads in unison, denying the fact that it was conceivable that Naruto was the son of the renowned fourth Hokage. After all, why would he seal the great demon lord in his own son? And everyone had an answer to this: how can he ask others to give up their own children to contain the demon? The fourth had to sacrifice his own son and condemn him to a pitiful life in the village.

While everybody were still flabbergasted at the unexpected revelation, the Hokage declared in a clear and forceful tone, "After all of you knew of Naruto's heritage, I do hope that nobody let this information leak out of this place. If anyone does, then the punishment is a death penalty, understood?" Everyone in the room nodded at this. After all, if too many people knew of Naruto's background, then people from other countries might kidnap him for either his bloodline or the possible fortune that he could inherit.

"Thank you for your cooperation. However, I do hope that no problems concerning Naruto-kun shall arise. Everything that had happened today will be covered up as an accident that has occur at one of the game stalls," Sarutobi stated quietly, before leaving the place with no room for discussion.

After their father leaving the Hyuuga compound hurriedly, Hinata had sneaked food into Hanabi's room without anyone catching them. After all, she was well trained for a child at nine-years-old. Hanabi had smiled at her sister with gratitude before starting on her meal. The last time she had ate something was early in the morning and for the whole day, she had abstained from food in order to go and pay her respects to her godfather.

"Hanabi-chan, I think I shall go now. I am afraid that our father has probably returned home from his urgent meeting," Hinata announced quietly and cleared up hastily. Hanabi helped with cleaning up and gulped down her tea before handing the cup to her sister. "Thanks, Hinata-chan! I was so hungry before you came…"

"Don't mention it, Hanabi-chan. Just don't anger father again like this morning… He was pretty upset… I know both of us didn't know much of our godfather, but I can tell that he was father's really good friend when he was alive…" Hinata mumbled the last part, as she remembered the many days that their father would just sit by the small pond in the Hyuuga compound and stare at the Hokage monument not very far away.

"Well, he is the one who defeated the demon Kyuubi right? He sounds so cool!" Hanabi spoke animatedly with hands waving about to emphasize her story. Then, she indicated her sister to go closer as Hanabi whispered, "And did you hear all the screaming just now, sister? It sounds so horrible!"

Hinata nodded as she remembered the shrieks that were filled with so much fear, and one particular one had made her feel so much pain, anger, disappointment and hatred. It had sounded like a little boy. "Well, I shall leave you and return the dishes, then. See you tomorrow morning, Hanabi-chan," Hinata balanced the plates and cups on her hand while Hanabi slid open the sliding door for her sister. "See you tomorrow," Hanabi replied cheerfully.

After her sister's departure, Hanabi felt extremely bored as she laid on her futon and waited sleep to take her. When she waited for half an hour, she decided sleep was disobedient and made her way to sewing kit. She had always wanted to make doll for her sister.

She cut the outline for the doll carefully and pinched the sides together as she stitched them together with needle and thread. When she was about to finish sewing up the doll but also leaving an opening to stuff wool inside, the needle pricked her in her index finger and blood began to seep through.

"Ow!" Hanabi threw the needle back into her kit like it was some accursed item. She glared at it for a few moments before deciding against giving the needle a good scolding.

Blood flowed from the cut and dripped upon the doll, where the heart was supposed to be.