Chapter Text
The night sky hung low over Konohagakure, shrouded beneath thick clouds that smothered the moon. A cold drizzle drifted through the darkness, gentle enough to seem harmless, yet persistent enough to soak the streets in a thin sheen of silver. It was as though the heavens themselves struggled to weep, restraining their grief beneath a curtain of rain.
October 10th. For the Hidden Leaf, it was a day etched into history. The village overflowed with celebration as lanterns bathed the streets in warm crimson and gold. Families gathered around food stalls while children laughed between games and fireworks crackled overhead, painting fleeting blossoms of color against the overcast sky. Music echoed through the avenues, carrying stories of sacrifice from one generation to the next. Every year, the people celebrated the Festival of the Crimson Dawn.
It commemorated the day the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, gave his life to save Konohagakure from the Nine-Tailed Fox. It honored the countless shinobi who had stood beside him against a calamity that had nearly erased the village from existence. To the citizens, it was a festival of remembrance, gratitude, and hope. A promise that the dawn born from bloodshed would never be forgotten, yet beneath the glow of lanterns and the warmth of celebration, another tradition endured.
One spoken of only in whispers, one that no official ceremony acknowledged. Far away from the laughter, a lone child sprinted through the rain-soaked streets, his ragged breaths swallowed by the storm. Small sandals slapped against wet stone as desperate blue eyes searched for somewhere, anywhere to hide.
Uzumaki Naruto, a child just ten years old born on the very night the Nine-Tails attacked. He had never known his parents. Never known why people looked at him with hatred before he had even learned to speak. All he knew was that every year, when the Festival of the Crimson Dawn arrived, the village became more dangerous than ever. Because while everyone celebrated the hero who had defeated the Nine-Tails... They remembered the monster they believed still walked among them.
The boy's bright orange shirt, once vibrant enough to catch every eye in the Academy, was now soaked a darker shade beneath the relentless rain. Dark shorts clung to trembling legs that had long since begun to tire. Mud splashed against scraped knees, and damp strands of blond hair stuck to a face far too young to carry so many bruises. Three whisker-like markings rested upon each cheek, and those marks were all they ever saw.
"He's over there!" The drunken shout echoed through the street behind him. Naruto didn't dare look back as he already knew who they were. A group of five. Some were civilians emboldened by alcohol and the safety of numbers. Others wore scratched forehead protectors that marked them as shinobi, Genin and Chūnin who should have known better, who should have remembered the oath that came with wearing Konoha's symbol.
Instead, they laughed. To them, this had become tradition for the past three years, ever since Naruto had entered the Academy at the age of seven and his identity as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki had quietly spread through whispers and hateful glances, October 10th had become his own annual nightmare. Some years he escaped with only insults while some years with broken ribs. Some years with scars that never truly faded.
"Run faster, monster!"
"You think you can escape justice?"
"Your father should've drowned you before you were born!"
Naruto's chest burned with every breath. His vision blurred as exhaustion crept into his limbs, each step becoming heavier than the last. He pushed himself, anyway, driven by instinct more than hope. There was no one to help him. He had gone to the Hokage before, more than once. The old man had listened and he had frowned. He had promised to look into it, yet every year, the attacks returned.
Naruto never hated Sarutobi Hiruzen for it. The old man was the Hokage, and the entire village rested upon his shoulders. There were missions, politics, shinobi deployments, civilian affairs, border disputes, and countless responsibilities that demanded his attention every day.
Naruto understood that, or at least he desperately tried to. That understanding, however, did little to ease the fear clawing at his chest as his strength finally abandoned him. His foot slipped against rain-slick stone as he stumbled. Strong hands seized a fistful of his blond hair before he could recover.
Pain exploded across his scalp as he was yanked backward. "No!" His plea dissolved into a cry as his small body was dragged across the soaked ground and thrown into the mouth of a narrow alleyway, hidden from the festival lights.
His back slammed into a brick wall with enough force to drive the breath from his lungs. A rough hand wrapped tighter around his hair before smashing his head against the stone, once, twice, three times. Stars burst across his vision.
"There you are." One of the men staggered forward, the stench of cheap alcohol thick on his breath. "So, this is where the demon hides."
Naruto raised shaking arms in front of his face. "P-Please..." The first punch struck his stomach, the second one caught his jaw and the third sent him sprawling onto the cold pavement. Boots followed as t6hey kicked his ribs, his back, his shoulders, his legs. Each impact rattled through his small frame until he could no longer tell where one injury ended and another began. Laughter echoed through the alley.
"You killed the Fourth!"
"My brother died because of you!"
"Monster!"
"Demon brat!"
Someone grabbed his shirt and hauled him halfway upright and a fist crashed into his swollen face, splitting his lip open. Warm blood spilled across his chin before the rain immediately carried it away. "I didn't..." Naruto whimpered, his voice barely audible beneath the storm. "I didn't do anything..."
The words earned another blow. "You lie just by breathing." A kunai flashed in the darkness as the steel scraped across the child's small chest, shallow enough to prolong suffering, deep enough to leave another permanent scar.
Naruto screamed, and another blade traced across his back as he instinctively curled inward, trying to make himself smaller. Fresh wounds joined countless older scars that already marked the young boy's body, silent evidence of years spent surviving what no child should have endured.
He covered his head with trembling arms, desperate to shield himself from blows that came from every direction. "Please..." His voice cracked. "I'm sorry..." He didn't even know what he was apologizing for anymore since the kicks never stopped and neither did the insults.
They cursed the parents he had never met. They spat on the family whose names he had never known, and every hateful word struck almost as deeply as their fists. Minutes passed, or perhaps only seconds, since time lost all meaning beneath pain. Eventually, Naruto's body stopped resisting. His arms fell limply to his sides and his breathing became shallow. His swollen blue eyes fluttered once before the world faded into darkness.
Silence settled over the alley. One of the attackers nudged the unconscious child with the tip of his boot. "...Is he dead?"
Another crouched beside Naruto, placing trembling fingers beneath the boy's nose and felt a faint breath, barely there. "He'll live." The relief in the man's voice carried no remorse, only fear. "If he dies, ANBU will hang every one of us."
The group exchanged uneasy glances and without another word, they scattered into the night, disappearing back toward the lights and music of the festival as though nothing had happened. Only the rain remained. It fell harder now, drumming against rooftops and stone alike.
Water washed over Naruto's battered body, carrying thin streams of crimson along the cracks in the pavement. Blood disappeared into the gutters as though the village itself wished to erase all evidence that the child had ever been there.
The lanterns continued to glow in the distance as fireworks blossomed overhead. The Festival of the Crimson Dawn carried on, and alone in the darkness of a forgotten alley, beneath a sky that finally seemed unable to hold back its tears, Uzumaki Naruto lay motionless, abandoned by the village he still dreamed of protecting.
Darkness, not the comforting darkness of sleep, or the peaceful darkness that came after closing one's eyes. This darkness felt... alive. It pressed against Naruto from every direction before slowly receding, as though the world itself had decided he had suffered enough to awaken.
His eyelids fluttered, and the first thing he noticed was the smell. It hit him with crushing force. Rot, decay and stagnant water with rusting metal. Something sour lingered beneath it all, old enough that it had become part of the air itself. Naruto lurched onto his hands and knees as bile surged up his throat. "Blegh...!"
He retched violently, emptying the contents of his stomach into the filthy water beneath him. His small body shook with every heave, tears springing to his eyes as the nauseating stench refused to leave his nose as his breathing came in uneven gasps.
Even after the vomiting stopped, his stomach continued to twist painfully. "W-Where...?" His voice echoed strangely. Only then did he force himself to look around. This wasn't the alley. There were no rain-soaked walls, lantern light or any sight of a festival.
Instead, an endless network of massive tunnels stretched into the darkness. Shallow streams of murky water flowed sluggishly through channels beneath his feet, carrying floating debris whose origins Naruto didn't want to imagine. Rust stained enormous pipes that disappeared into the ceiling, while thick steel supports vanished into shadows beyond his vision.
Everything felt impossibly large. The ceiling alone towered dozens of meters overhead as every sound lingered. "W-Where am I...?" His voice sounded impossibly small.
Naruto hugged himself, trembling. His clothes were gone and the bruises across his body remained, aching with every movement, but somehow, he no longer felt the cold rain, but only the damp chill of this underground place. "Hello?" Nothing. He swallowed. "H-Hello!" His voice carried farther this time, bouncing from wall to wall before fading into silence. The stillness that followed was somehow worse.
Naruto clenched his fists. "H-HEY!" His shout echoed through the endless tunnels. "Is anyone here?!" For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, GRAAAAHHH... A low, guttural growl rolled through the corridors like distant thunder, and the entire tunnel vibrated. Metal groaned somewhere ahead.
CLANG! The sound of steel slamming against steel reverberated through the darkness with enough force to shake droplets of filthy water from the ceiling. Naruto flinched violently and his instincts screamed at him to run, but... Run where? He didn't even know where he was or where he'd run to.
The growl came again, but this time, slightly lower and closer. His legs trembled as he took a hesitant step toward the sound, then another. Each footstep splashed softly through the shallow sewage. The further he walked, the heavier the air became.
Something... No, someone was there, watching him. Every instinct he possessed urged him to turn around, yet curiosity, fear, and the desperate hope of finding another living soul pushed him onward. The tunnel eventually widened.
Naruto slowed down as he almost reached the source of the sound and his breath caught. Before him stood an enormous gate. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Towering steel bars stretched high into the darkness, thick enough that several grown men couldn't have wrapped their arms around a single one. Ancient rivets held the structure together, while rust crept along its edges like dried blood.
At its center rested a massive paper seal. Its ink remained pristine despite the impossible age of everything surrounding it.
Naruto stared. "A prison?" He whispered the words without understanding why. Who could possibly be imprisoned behind something this large? His small feet carried him closer with one careful step at a time. The silence was absolute.
He reached the bars. "Hello?" Nothing. Naruto tilted his head slightly. Maybe, there wasn't anyone- BOOM!! Two colossal orange paws slammed against the steel bars, and the impact exploded through the chamber. The ground shook violently beneath Naruto's feet while the bars screamed beneath unimaginable force. A pressure unlike anything Naruto had ever experienced crashed over him.
It wasn't physical, and neither was its chakra. It was something older, something primal, something that whispered one undeniable truth into every instinct he possessed. A predator. Naruto's body froze for almost the tenth time here, as his muscles refused to obey him. His heartbeat stopped for a fraction of a second before pounding so violently he thought his chest would burst open.
Very slowly, a pair of enormous crimson eyes opened within the darkness. Their pupils narrowed into slits as they stared directly at him. There was no warmth within them, but only endless hatred. Hatred so ancient that it seemed woven into the creature's very existence.
Naruto's vision blurred as his breathing became shallow. He couldn't move, couldn't scream and couldn't even blink. His knees buckled beneath him as he collapsed backward into the foul sewage with a splash, filthy water soaking his clothes as tears poured freely down his face.
"N-No..." His voice came out as a broken whisper. The darkness behind the gate shifted as a gigantic silhouette rose. The child saw tails, nine of them, each swaying slowly behind an enormous vulpine form whose mere presence filled the chamber. Burnt-orange fur, towering ears with fangs longer than Naruto's forearm. It possessed eyes that carried centuries of fury.
The Nine-Tailed Fox. The Kyūbi. The beast leaned closer to the bars, its breath washing over Naruto like a furnace despite the cold surroundings, and when it spoke, the voice seemed to emerge from every wall at once. It was deep and filled with bitterness so profound that it made the chamber itself feel heavier.
"So..." The word rumbled through the prison as its crimson gaze narrowed further. "You finally show your pathetic existence, my little jailer."
Naruto stared in horror and his entire body shook uncontrollably. "I-I..." His throat tightened as he scrambled backward through the sewage until his back struck the stone wall behind him. "D-Don't..." Fresh tears streamed down his bruised cheeks. "P-Please. D-Don't kill me!"
The fox's lips peeled back, revealing rows of monstrous fangs seeing Naruto, beg him while burying his face in his trembling hands. His voice cracked into a sob. "I-I don't want to die! I didn't do anything! P-Please... I-I'm sorry...!" The words tumbled from his mouth in broken fragments, the desperate pleas of a frightened ten-year-old who had spent his life begging others for mercy.
He wasn't thinking about monsters or sealed beasts. He was simply terrified. The Kyūbi watched him in silence. Its hatred had expected many things, defiance, arrogance and fear, perhaps, but not this. Not a bruised child curled into himself, shaking so violently he could barely breathe. Not swollen cheeks stained with fresh tears. Not trembling hands instinctively shielding a body already covered in healing cuts and faded scars.
The beast's enormous ears twitched as its crimson gaze lingered on the bruises blooming across the boy's exposed skin. The split lip and the fresh claw-like cuts across his chest. There were far too many. The silence settled heavily between ancient beast and frightened child since the Nine-Tails found itself genuinely taken aback.
The Nine-Tailed Fox's ears flattened ever so slightly before its expression twisted back into one of contempt. "Enough." The single word crashed through the chamber like a clap of thunder. "Stop that pitiful crying!"
Naruto's sobs caught in his throat as his entire body still trembled uncontrollably, but the sheer force behind the beast's voice made him instinctively try to obey. He wiped at his swollen eyes with shaking hands, though fresh tears continued to spill down bruised cheeks.
The fox's crimson eyes narrowed. "So pathetic."
Naruto swallowed painfully, his throat felt dry despite the filthy water surrounding him. "W-Who..." His voice cracked before he gathered enough courage to continue. "W-Who are you?"
For a brief moment, silence returned to the enormous chamber, then the beast laughed. It was not a laugh born from amusement. It was cold and filled with bitterness that seemed to have accumulated over centuries.
The sound echoed endlessly through the sewer, vibrating against the steel bars until even the stagnant water rippled. "You ask who I am?" The fox leaned forward, its gigantic face filling Naruto's vision. "I am hatred." Its crimson eyes gleamed and its tails slowly swayed behind it, each movement carrying an oppressive weight. "I am the calamity your kind has feared for generations. I am a monster imprisoned within you by the Fourth Hokage."
The fox's lips curled into a cruel smile when he saw that his words struck the child harder than any fist ever had. Naruto stared blankly. "W-Within... me...?"
The beast's killing intent surged as invisible pressure crashed into the boy from every direction. His lungs refused to expand, and his heartbeat pounded painfully against his ribs. Sweat poured from his body despite the cold surroundings. "I was the one who slaughtered your father, the Fourth Hokage." Naruto's pupils shrank. "And your mother, Kushina Uzumaki."
"M-My..." His lips trembled. "Parents?" The Fourth Hokage, the greatest hero in the village, the man Naruto admired more than anyone else... "...was..." His voice barely existed. "...my father...?"
The Nine-Tails erupted into laughter once more. "You truly are an idiot." Its tails lashed behind it, rattling the prison bars. "Your precious village never even told you who your parents were." The fox's eyes gleamed with mocking amusement. "You worshipped the very man who sealed me into you, and still you never realized."
Naruto lowered his gaze as his mind struggled to process everything at once. His father was the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. His heart swelled with pride and joy on knowing who his father was, and how awesome he was, but also dark thoughts began to creep, as if on why the fourth Hoka- his father sealed a beast inside him.
Questions flooded his mind faster than he could comprehend them. Why had no one told him? Why was he alone? Why had everyone lied? Why...
The fox's growl shattered his thoughts. "Do not mistake my words for sympathy. I care nothing for your ignorance." The immense beast glared at him through the bars. "You are merely another prison of mine who I will leave eventually, just like your mother." Its enormous claws scraped against the stone floor as another pulse of killing intent exploded outward. "I want nothing more than to tear you apart." The fox's voice descended into a low, murderous rumble.
Naruto's chest rose only slightly before the invisible pressure forced the air back out. His muscles ignored every desperate command his mind sent them as fear consumed him completely. Then, slowly, he forced himself onto his knees. His forehead touched the filthy stone beneath him. "I-I'm-I'm sorry..." His voice shook uncontrollably. "I-I never knew..." His shoulders trembled violently. "I swear... I didn't know... P-Please..." He pressed his forehead harder against the cold floor. "Please don't kill me! I'm sorry. If I'd known... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
The apologies came one after another, not because he understood what he had done, but because apologizing had become instinct. It was the only thing he knew to do whenever someone wanted to hurt him. The Nine-Tails fell silent, but its expression remained cold. Its hatred remained unchanged. Yet... Something about the sight before it felt wrong.
For years, it had watched through the seal. It watched villagers spit on the child, shopkeepers drive him away and drunken mobs beat him until his body could no longer stand. Every scar covering the boy's small frame had formed while the fox observed from this prison.
But then again, it had felt nothing bad about it or felt bad for the kid. Why should it? Humans had imprisoned it for generations. One child's suffering could never outweigh centuries of captivity, but yet, this boy, the weakest jailer it had ever been forced to endure, was not begging to be spared because he wished to protect the village. He was begging because somewhere along the way, he had been taught that every act of violence against him was somehow his own fault.
The realization lingered only for an instant as the fox crushed it beneath centuries of resentment. 'Tch. Pathetic.' Whether the child deserved it or not changed nothing, he was still a prison. Another human, another cage fashioned from flesh. The fox had endured being sealed inside one human after another for longer than this child could comprehend. Its patience had long since rotted into hatred. If this frail little jailer was all it had been given, then it would break him piece by piece until eventually, the seal itself would fail.
Whatever happened after that no longer mattered. The Nine-Tails' crimson eyes glowed brighter as a small portion of its chakra seeped through the bars. The crimson energy wrapped itself around Naruto before disappearing beneath his skin. The boy gasped as warmth spread throughout his battered body. Bruises remained. Fresh cuts still stung. Nothing was healed completely, but somewhere beyond this strange place, his dying body would continue to breathe.
The fox turned away. "I refuse to let my prison perish so easily, not until I am finished with it." Its deep voice echoed through the chamber and the gigantic tails disappeared into the darkness one by one. The oppressive killing intent receded just enough for Naruto to breathe again.
One final growl rolled through the sewer. "Begone..." The fox's crimson eyes slowly vanished into shadow. "...insect."
The world around Naruto dissolved as the tunnels blurred. The filthy water beneath him faded into darkness as his consciousness was violently pulled away from the ancient prison, leaving the Nine-Tails alone once more behind the massive gate, its hatred undiminished, while the broken child was cast back toward the waking world.
Outside the confines of the seal, the rain continued its relentless descent upon Konohagakure, and the narrow alley remained empty, hidden from the festival's laughter and brilliant lanterns. Only the steady rhythm of raindrops striking stone disturbed the silence that had settled over the battered child lying motionless against the cold ground.
For a brief moment, a faint veil of crimson-orange chakra flickered across Uzumaki Naruto's broken body.
It was thin, almost translucent, appearing for only an instant before fading back beneath his skin. The foreign chakra seeped into torn flesh and bruised muscles, slowing the blood loss and knitting together the more superficial wounds that covered his small frame. The deeper damage, however, remained. Bruised organs, cracked ribs and fractured forearm. Hairline fractures along one leg.
The chakra simply wasn't enough. Naruto's eyelids fluttered weakly as a ragged breath escaped his swollen lips as consciousness returned for the briefest of moments. "S-so cold..." His voice was barely audible beneath the rain.
The icy droplets striking his face felt strangely comforting after the suffocating pressure of the underground prison. Every breath sent sharp pain through his chest, while every heartbeat reminded him of the beating he had endured.
His blurred vision caught nothing more than dark clouds overhead. No people and no celebration, just the rain. His body shivered uncontrollably as the warmth granted by the mysterious chakra faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. "Mom..." The word slipped from his lips unconsciously. "...Dad..." He had only just learned those words had meaning.
Before another thought could form, darkness reclaimed him, his breathing grew shallow once more and the alley fell silent.
Several streets away, the atmosphere could not have been more different. The Festival of the Crimson Dawn remained in full swing. Children laughed as fireworks blossomed overhead, merchants eagerly called out to passing customers, and the scent of grilled meat mixed with freshly prepared sweets drifted through the lively streets.
Walking among the crowd with an easy confidence was a woman dressed in a tan trench coat over mesh armor, her long dark-purple hair tied back loosely behind her. Mitarashi Anko, a Special Jōnin. Interrogation and Torture specialist. To most people, she was eccentric, loud, and impossible to predict. Many shinobi privately wondered how someone who smiled so often could work in T&I without losing her sanity.
The answer was simple, she enjoyed making dangerous criminals regret their choices. Children, however, were another matter entirely.
Anko bit into another stick of dango with visible satisfaction. "Still the best," she muttered around the sweet rice dumpling before swallowing. "Maybe I should grab another-" She stopped mid-step as her smile vanished. She felt something, a chakra pulse. Her instincts sharpened immediately. "That chakra..." It lasted less than a heartbeat before disappearing completely.
Most people wouldn't have noticed, but Anko had. Years under Orochimaru had taught her to recognize malicious chakra almost instinctively. Without another word, she changed direction, her body blurred across the rooftops before dropping soundlessly into the alley where she had sensed it. The smell reached her first. Blood, rain and alcohol.
Then, she saw him. A small blond child lay crumpled against the wall, his orange shirt soaked so thoroughly with rain and blood that it had darkened almost to brown. Cuts covered his chest and back while his face was swollen beyond what any child should ever endure. One arm rested at an unnatural angle. Fresh bruises overlapped dozens of older scars that should never have existed on someone so young.
Anko's eyes narrowed. "W-What happened here..." She recognized the boy immediately immediately. The jinchūriki. The loud Academy student who always seemed desperate for someone, anyone, to acknowledge him. The child stirred weakly but failed to open his eyes.
Anko slowly crouched beside him and her expression remained unreadable. "Whoever did this..." she murmured quietly, "...should consider themselves lucky I wasn't here." Despite her reputation throughout the village, Anko had never taken pleasure in hurting children. Interrogating enemy shinobi and breaking hardened criminals who endangered Konoha was one thing, but a child... Especially one this defenseless... Should never become someone's outlet for hatred.
Her hands formed a familiar seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A puff of smoke appeared beside her.
The clone understood immediately. "Hokage's office?"
Anko nodded once. "Tell the old man exactly what you see. Don't leave anything out." The clone disappeared onto the rooftops without another word.
The original Anko carefully slid one arm beneath Naruto's shoulders and another beneath his legs, even the slightest movement earned a faint whimper from the unconscious boy. "Easy." It was spoken more to herself than to him. His body felt alarmingly light, far lighter than a healthy ten-year-old's should. Without wasting another second, she vanished toward Konoha Hospital.
The emergency ward became noticeably quieter the moment Anko entered. Rainwater dripped steadily from her coat onto the polished floor. Several nurses looked up as recognition flashed across their faces. Then their eyes shifted toward the unconscious blond child in her arms and the atmosphere changed.
One nurse hesitated, another quietly looked away. A doctor frowned. "Place him over there," one of them said half-heartedly. No one moved.
Anko's amber eyes swept across the room. "What are you waiting for?"
Silence.
Someone muttered just loudly enough to be heard. "The demon should've died this time..."
Another voice answered in agreement. "...Would've saved everyone the trouble."
The room suddenly grew several degrees colder as Anko slowly turned her head toward the speakers. Her smile returned. It was not a pleasant smile. "So..." She set Naruto gently onto a nearby bed before cracking her knuckles. "...Would either of you like to repeat that?" Neither answered. "I work in Torture and Interrogation." Her voice remained conversational.
"I know exactly how many joints the human body has, and exactly how many ways there are to dislocate every single one without causing permanent damage." The doctor who had spoken earlier visibly paled. "If I find out that this child receives anything less than proper treatment because of your personal feelings..." Her smile widened just enough to reveal her teeth. "...I'll volunteer to demonstrate my professional expertise."
No one questioned her, and within seconds, the emergency ward erupted into activity. Bandages, medical chakra, splints and pain medication. Every available medic suddenly remembered how to do their job. Anko watched silently from the corner and only after she was satisfied that Naruto was finally receiving genuine treatment did, she relax slightly.
Nearly half an hour later, the doors opened once more, Sarutobi Hiruzen entered with hurried steps, still wearing his ceremonial robes from the festival. His gaze immediately found the small figure lying unconscious in the hospital bed.
Bandages wrapped around Naruto's torso and head while his one arm rested in a cast. His breathing had stabilized, though every visible inch of skin bore evidence of repeated abuse. The old Hokage stood motionless for several long moments. October 10th, today, was Naruto's birthday. A day that should have been filled with smiles. Instead, the boy had spent it in a hospital bed after being beaten nearly to death.
Hiruzen's hands slowly curled into fists as his nails dug into weathered palms until thin streams of blood escaped between his fingers. He barely noticed. "Again..." The word escaped him as little more than a whisper.
Usually, Hatake Kakashi kept discreet watch over Naruto whenever the festival approached. The former ANBU captain never revealed himself, but Hiruzen had long relied upon him to quietly intervene if things escalated beyond what the boy could escape alone.
This year, however, Kakashi had been deployed on a series of high-priority missions near the Fire Country's borders. The assignments had left him unavailable for nearly a week. An unfortunate coincidence and one that had almost cost a child his life.
Behind him, Anko stretched lazily. "Well," she said, breaking the silence, "the brat's alive."
Hiruzen looked toward her. "You have my gratitude, Anko."
She shrugged as though the matter held little importance. "I didn't bring him here because I like him." Her hands slipped into her coat pockets. "I just don't tolerate grown adults beating children until they stop moving." There was no anger in her voice, only quiet disgust. She glanced once more toward Naruto before turning toward the door. "The medics have him stabilized. Whether he wakes up without complications is their problem now."
With that, Mitarashi Anko waved casually over one shoulder and left the room without looking back. The door clicked shut behind her. Hiruzen watched it for a moment before a weary sigh escaped him. Despite everything, a small, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
She claimed she didn't care, yet if she truly hadn't, she would have walked past that alley without a second glance. Turning back toward Naruto, the Third Hokage pulled a chair beside the hospital bed and quietly took his seat. Outside, the festival continued beneath the rain while inside, an old man remained beside a sleeping child, burdened by the weight of promises he was beginning to realize he had failed to keep.
Morning arrived quietly over Konohagakure. The rain had long since stopped, leaving behind clear skies and damp rooftops glistening beneath the autumn sun. The festival lanterns had already been taken down, the streets swept clean, and life had resumed its ordinary rhythm as though nothing unusual had happened.
Within one of Konoha Hospital's private rooms, however, time seemed to move far more slowly, a faint groan escaped Uzumaki Naruto as consciousness gradually returned. His eyelids felt unbearably heavy as every muscle in his body ached. His chest burned whenever he inhaled too deeply, while a dull throb pulsed relentlessly through his arm and ribs.
His eyes slowly opened and he saw a white ceiling greeted him. Not the damp stone walls of the alley, and not the endless sewer with the giant prison, just an unfamiliar hospital room. For several long seconds, Naruto simply stared upward, trying to remember where he was.
Then the memories returned, the festival, the chase, the beating, the Nine-Tails. His breathing became uneven, and almost instinctively, he tried to sit up, pain immediately shot through his torso. "Ah..." A small gasp escaped him as he collapsed back against the pillow.
Bandages wrapped around most of his upper body, while his left forearm rested securely inside a cast. Even beneath the medication, every movement reminded him just how thoroughly his body had been broken. He remained perfectly still after that.
Somewhere beyond the walls, footsteps echoed through the corridor, and the sound alone caused his shoulders to tense. Hidden within the shadows near the ceiling, an ANBU operative silently observed the room. The masked shinobi had remained there throughout the night under the Hokage's orders.
The moment Naruto's eyes opened, the operative vanished without making the slightest sound. A single mission. Inform the Hokage that the child had awakened.
Naruto hugged the blanket tightly against himself. His blue eyes moved nervously around the room, lingering on every corner, every doorway, every window. Hospitals, he didn't particularly like them. People came here because they were hurt and he had been here enough times to know that.
The door clicked open and Naruto's body visibly flinched. A nurse in her early twenties stepped inside carrying a tray containing fresh bandages, antiseptic, and medical supplies. The instant her eyes met the boy's, her expression tightened. It was brief and barely more than a heartbeat. A subconscious wrinkle of discomfort crossed her face. 'The jinchūriki...'
The thought came almost automatically. Then she noticed the way the child reacted. Naruto instinctively shrank backward against the headboard despite clearly being unable to escape, his uninjured arm immediately crossed over his chest, protecting his throat and stomach and his breathing quickened. His shoulders trembled as he wouldn't even meet her eyes.
He simply waited as though expecting the first blow. The nurse stopped walking and the expression she'd worn disappeared completely. In its place came something she hadn't expected to feel. Confusion. The village called this child a monster, yet the so-called monster looked utterly terrified of a woman carrying nothing more threatening than clean bandages. He couldn't have been more than ten.
For a brief moment, she found herself wondering how many times had someone entered a room only to hurt him? The thought lingered only briefly before she pushed it aside as professionalism came first. Without a word, she placed the tray beside the bed. "I'm going to change your bandages." Her voice remained calm.
Naruto gave the smallest nod imaginable. "Okay." He braced himself. The nurse carefully began unwrapping the old bandages. As layer after layer came away, the full extent of his injuries became visible once more. Dark bruises stretched across his ribs with fresh cuts crossed older scars. His swollen face had improved slightly overnight, though traces of purple and yellow still marked his cheeks.
The nurse quietly applied fresh antiseptic making Naruto wince. "Sorry," she said softly before continuing a little more gently. He blinked at that as there was no insult, no muttered complaint and no irritated sigh, only quiet concentration as she worked.
When she finished replacing the final bandage, she stepped back to examine her work. "There." Naruto looked down at the clean wrappings, then back at her. His fingers tightened around the blanket.
He hesitated. "Um..." The nurse looked back. Naruto lowered his gaze. "...Thank you." The words came out so quietly they were almost lost.
The nurse remained silent for a moment, then she simply gave a small nod. "You're welcome." She collected the old bandages before quietly leaving the room shutting the door behind her.
Nearly twenty minutes later, the door opened once again. Sarutobi Hiruzen entered the room. Without his ceremonial robes, he appeared older and more tired than usual. The lines beneath his eyes had deepened noticeably over the past day. "Naruto." The old man's voice remained gentle. "It's good to see you're awake, my boy."
Naruto didn't answer, his gaze remained fixed on the blanket covering his legs. Hiruzen slowly walked to the chair beside the bed before sitting down as silence settled between them. Normally... Naruto would have greeted him enthusiastically. He would have smiled, asked for ramen, complained about the hospital food. Today... The silence felt heavier than any accusation.
"...How are you feeling?" Hiruzen finally asked.
Naruto took several seconds before answering. "Alive." The single word carried no warmth or excitement, but only exhaustion.
Hiruzen closed his eyes briefly. "I am sorry this happened."
Still... Naruto said nothing. Inside his mind, emotions churned violently. 'Sorry?' He remembered every visit to the Hokage's office, every time he'd nervously admitted that people chased him, that adults hit him. That someone had thrown bottles at him. The old man had listened and had comforted him. He had promised to look into it, yet it happened again and again.
His small hands slowly clenched the blanket. The image of the Nine-Tails' crimson eyes flashed through his thoughts.
"I killed your father, the Fourth Hokage and your mother, Kushina Uzumaki."
Naruto's throat tightened. 'You knew... You knew who they were, but you never told me.' His breathing remained steady only through sheer effort. 'You knew what was inside of me.' The questions refused to stop. 'Why? Why didn't you tell me? I asked you why everyone hate me! Why was I always alone! Did you ever really see me jiji?'
Very slowly, Naruto lifted his eyes toward the old man sitting beside his bed. For the first time in years, he didn't see the kind grandfather who occasionally treated him to ramen. He saw the Hokage, the man who governed the village, the man who had known the truth all along, and the man who, despite all his power and authority, had failed to stop the nightmare from repeating.
"Why?" The question was barely above a whisper. Hiruzen looked up, but Naruto still wasn't looking at him. His blue eyes remained fixed upon the blanket covering his legs. "Why wasn't I told?" The Hokage's heart skipped a beat. The boy slowly lifted his head. Those familiar azure eyes no longer carried childish curiosity, but only confusion, pain, and something Hiruzen had dreaded seeing. Distrust. "Why wasn't I told what I am?"
The old man remained silent. Naruto's voice trembled. "What kind of monster am I?!"
Hiruzen's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Monster?! Who told you that my boy?"
Naruto laughed. It wasn't his usual loud, infectious laugh. This one was hollow and bitter. "The fox." he spat. and the room fell silent once more. "I-I saw him." The boy swallowed. "He said he was the Nine-Tailed Fox." His fingers tightened around the blanket until his knuckles turned white. "He said..." His voice faltered. "...he was sealed inside me. He called me..." The words tasted like poison. "...his jailer."
Hiruzen slowly closed his eyes. Naruto had met the Kyūbi and much earlier than he had ever anticipated.
When the old man opened his eyes again, Naruto was staring directly at him. "You knew. You always knew!cI asked you before. I asked why everyone hated me!" The boy's lips trembled. "You said... that people feared things they didn't understand, and I foolishly believed you, like an idiot!" Tears sprung from his face, as they flowed like water in a river.
The boy's throat tightened, but he wasn't finished as his voice rose. "I told you!" His breathing became ragged. "I came to your office, and I told you they hurt me! Those people, villagers always hate me!"
Hiruzen lowered his gaze in shame, looking at the broken child in bandages, feeling the will of fire inside the boy, which was beginning to flicker away. His hands slowly reached him, as if to caress his crying, yet swollen cheek. "I know, and i am sorr-"
"No!" Naruto's voice cracked. "You don't know! If you knew..." Fresh tears gathered in his eyes. "...then why didn't it stop?! You're the Hokage, aren't you supposed to protect everyone?! Or was I excluded because I am a 'Jailer'?!"
The old man remained silent, guilt and shame building in him, regretting on not placing harsher punishments on the abusers.
Naruto's breathing became uneven once again. "The fox..." His voice dropped to a whisper. "...said the Fourth Hokage was my father, and that my mother was a woman named Kushina Uzumaki." The boy's eyes searched the old man's face. "Was he lying?"
Silence filled the room, and that silence itself became the answer as Naruto's shoulders slowly slumped. "So, he wasn't." His voice became distant. "The greatest hero in the village, was my father." Another breath. "And my mother was Kushina Uzumaki." He laughed quietly. "I didn't even know her name."
His smile disappeared almost instantly. "You knew just like you knew everything, didn't you, Jiji."
Hiruzen spoke carefully. "I made a promise." The old man hesitated. "It was done to protect you, and one of the only ways to do that was to keep your family remain hidden, at least until you became a shinobi."
Naruto stared at him. "Protect me?" His voice rose once more. "Protect me from what? They already hated me! They beat me, spat on me and called me demon! They told me I should've died!" His fists struck the mattress. "How was I protected?!"
The room felt unbearably heavy, his voice losing its anger, asked. "I have one last question." The Third Hokage nodded. Naruto met his eyes. "When I came to you crying because people were hurting me, when I told you I was scared... did you ever see me as Uzumaki Naruto?" His voice was barely audible. "...Or did you only see the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen remained seated in silence as Naruto's final question continued to echo inside his mind. Did you ever see me as Uzumaki Naruto...? The old man had faced battlefields littered with the dead. He had watched comrades fall, he had stood before enemies that threatened the very existence of the Hidden Leaf, but none of those moments had left him feeling as powerless as this one.
Before him sat a ten-year-old child whose trust had been built over years, only to be shattered in a single afternoon. "Naruto." The old man's voice cracked. "I..." He stopped. There was no explanation capable of erasing ten years of loneliness. No apology capable of healing scars that had formed long before they ever reached the skin.
Slowly, Hiruzen rose from his chair and walked to the bedside until only a single step separated them, then he wrapped both arms around the boy. Naruto stiffened instantly as every muscle in his small body locked. For several heartbeats, he didn't know what to do, then he felt it. Warmth. Hiruzen's embrace was gentle, careful not to aggravate the child's injuries. "I'm sorry..." The old man's voice trembled against Naruto's hair. "So very sorry." Tears slowly escaped beneath his closed eyelids. "I truly wanted to protect you. I believed..." His grip tightened ever so slightly. "I believed I was doing what was best."
"I failed." The admission came quietly. "I failed your parents, and..." His voice nearly broke. "I failed you."
Naruto remained motionless for just a brief moment, then he allowed himself to lean into the embrace. It felt... Safe. The same feeling he used to experience whenever the old man treated him to ramen after a difficult day. For an instant, he wanted to forget everything and to believe things could simply return to the way they had been, but they couldn't. Not anymore.
Slowly, Naruto raised his uninjured hand and gently pushed against Hiruzen's robes and the old man understood immediately. He loosened his embrace as Naruto withdrew completely. His expression remained calm, though his eyes still carried the redness of recent tears.
"If..." He hesitated before continuing. "If you really wanted to protect me, then help me protect myself." The old man frowned slightly. Naruto drew a careful breath. "I want everything that belonged to my parents. My father's techniques and mother's techniques." He met Hiruzen's gaze directly. "I want to know about the Uzumaki Clan."
Silence settled between them and Hiruzen's expression became conflicted. "Naruto..."
"Please don't tell me I'm too young." The interruption wasn't disrespectful, it was pleading. "The children of shinobi clans start learning their clan's history when they're little." His voice remained steady despite the emotion beneath it.
"They grow up knowing who they are." A bitter smile touched his lips. "I didn't even know my mother's name until yesterday." The words struck Hiruzen like a physical blow, but Naruto continued. "I was born an Uzumaki, yet I know nothing about my clan. I was the son of the Fourth Hokage, and I don't even know what kind of person he was." His fingers unconsciously tightened around the hospital blanket. "You say you wanted to protect me, and I believe you." There was no accusation in his voice. "But protecting me..." He looked down at the cast around his arm. "...didn't stop this." His gaze drifted over the bandages wrapped around his chest. "It didn't stop any of it."
The room fell silent once more as Naruto slowly looked back toward the old man. "I don't know if..." His voice became noticeably quieter. "...I'll survive the next time." Hiruzen's pupils contracted. ""I don't want revenge, and I don't want to hurt anyone." He shook his head. "I just..." A long pause followed. "...I just want to be strong enough to come home alive."
Those final words hung heavily in the room. Just the simple wish of a frightened ten-year-old boy who no longer believed he would live to see adulthood unless something changed.
Hiruzen closed his eyes. He had intended to wait to reveal Naruto's heritage when he was older. To preserve Minato's techniques until the boy possessed the maturity to wield them responsibly and to protect him from burdens, he believed no child should carry. Now, standing before a child who had nearly been beaten to death on his own birthday...
Those decisions suddenly felt far less certain. For the first time in many years, the Professor found himself wondering whether protecting Naruto from the truth had, in the end, left him defenseless against reality. Naruto watched the Third Hokage in silence as the room remained quiet after his request.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood beside the bed, his weathered face unreadable as he weighed countless promises against the frightened child before him and finally, he nodded. "Very well." Naruto looked up. "I cannot simply hand everything to you today," Hiruzen said. "Some of your parents' techniques are dangerous, and others require a foundation you have yet to build." The old man took a slow breath. "But..." His expression softened. "They are your birthright." Naruto's eyes widened ever so slightly. "I will arrange everything properly."
Some of the tension left Naruto's shoulders. "Thank you." Hiruzen gave a small nod before turning toward the door, his hand had already reached the handle when a voice, barely louder than a whisper, stopped him. "Sorry for yelling, Jiji." The old Hokage paused. The boy lowered his head. "I shouldn't have shouted at you."
Hiruzen closed his eyes. 'No, Naruto... You had every right to.' Without turning around, he quietly opened the door and stepped into the corridor. He offered no reply, not because he hadn't heard, but because he didn't believe he deserved an apology from the child he had failed.
A day had passed as the Hokage Tower stood far quieter than it had during yesterday's festival. Morning reports covered the old man's desk, yet Hiruzen ignored every single one. Instead, he walked toward a cabinet tucked away behind a hidden bookshelf, only a handful of people knew it existed. Removing several seals, he unlocked the compartment before carefully reaching inside. His fingers rested upon an aged scroll wrapped in deep crimson cloth.
Slowly... He lifted it into the light. Across its cover, written in elegant black calligraphy, were four familiar characters. Namikaze – Uzumaki. Hiruzen ran a thumb across the worn fabric. Minato had entrusted this collection to him shortly before Naruto's birth. Inside were preserved records of the Uzumaki Clan, Kushina's personal notes, family history, chakra exercises, sealing theory, and those techniques she believed their child should someday inherit.
Alongside them rested Minato's own writings, training journals, foundational principles, observations. The beginnings of techniques he had hoped to teach his son himself. Hiruzen had intended to keep the scroll sealed until Naruto became a genin, until he was older. Until the world seemed just a little less cruel. Yesterday had proven that the world would not wait.
"...It's time," the old man murmured quietly. He placed the scroll upon his desk before forming a familiar hand seal. An ANBU appeared before him, kneeling down. "Call Mitarashi Anko here." The ANBU nodded and vanished.
A few minutes later, a figure appeared in a swirl of leaves. Mitarashi Anko straightened immediately. "You called for me, Lord Hokage?"
Hiruzen gestured toward the chair opposite his desk. "Sit, Anko. We have to talk about your future."
Anko raised an eyebrow but complied. "You've been keeping an eye on my recommendation? I've completed every assignment on schedule." The corner of her mouth curled upward.
"I know." Hiruzen folded his hands together. "I've also been considering approving your application for the Jōnin Promotion Examination."
The grin on Anko's face widened. "I knew you'd finally—"
"But." The single word erased her smile. Hiruzen met her gaze evenly. "I have another assignment."
Anko sighed theatrically. "What is it, Old man?"
"It concerns Uzumaki Naruto." The room became noticeably quieter.
"The jinchuriki kid? I already delivered him to the hospital."
"This is something else." Hiruzen leaned forward slightly. "I want you to teach him how to survive."
Anko blinked. "Teach him?" The Special Jōnin stared for a moments before shaking her head. "No. I'm not Academy material and I don't teach children. I interrogate enemy shino, break spie and hunt missing-nin." She folded her arms. "The brat needs a proper instructor."
"He needs someone willing to keep him alive," Hiruzen replied.
"I'm not volunteering."
"You aren't volunteering." The Hokage's tone remained calm. "You would be accepting a mission." Anko frowned, but Hiruzen continued. "You and Naruto are almost same. Both of you know what it is like to be judged before anyone bothers to know who you are."
The mention was subtle. There was no need to say Orochimaru's name as both of them understood. "You rebuilt your place within this village despite carrying another person's shadow." He paused. "Naruto has never been given that chance."
Anko looked away as her fingers tapped lightly against her sleeve. "That doesn't mean I'm qualified."
"No." Hiruzen nodded. "It means you understand something many instructors never will."
Silence settled between them.
Finally, Anko sighed. "...You really don't let things go, Old Man."
Hiruzen almost smiled. "I am assigning this as an A-rank mission."
Anko's eyes widened. "You're serious."
"Completely. Your objective is not to make him stronger than his peers or to turn him into an assassin. It is to ensure that the next time someone corners Uzumaki Naruto..." The old man's expression hardened. "...he has the skills to survive long enough to reach safety. If you decline, I will not force you. But understand this, the village is considering candidates for the next Jōnin Promotion Examination." He folded his hands once more. "I cannot recommend someone unwilling to undertake a difficult assignment simply because it falls outside their preference."
The implication was unmistakable as Anko groaned loudly before dropping her head onto the desk. "That's low."
Hiruzen said nothing, and after nearly a minute, she pushed herself upright. "I hate teaching. I especially hate teaching loud Academy brats."
"I know. I hate paperwork just as much, but do you see me whining about it?" The Kage asked as he pointed to the enormous stack of paperwork on his desk.
Anko let out one final, exaggerated sigh. "...Fine." She shook her head, muttering under her breath as she walked toward the door. "You'd better appreciate this, brat..." The office door closed behind her and Hiruzen's gaze drifted back toward the crimson scroll resting on his desk, then his gaze diverted to Minato's Hokage portrait on the wall. He sighed, 'I am truly sorry, Minato. I should've done better.' He said as he went back to his paperwork.