Naruto

In the forty-eighth year of Konoha, a blond baby lay on a sealing platform somewhere in the village. Before him crouched the enormous shadow of a beast. It was the Nine-Tails, whose sharp claws were now piercing them both.

Kushina coughed up blood and spoke in a trembling voice:

"Naruto, don't be a picky eater. Eat well every day and grow up strong. Remember to take a hot bath every day..."

"Also, make friends. It doesn't matter if you don't have many. A few trustworthy companions are enough."

"Speaking of the Three Ninja Taboo, you should also be careful of Teacher Jiraiya..."

Minato watched quietly from behind. At that moment, Kushina said guiltily, "Sorry, Minato. I got carried away talking."

Minato shook his head. "No, it's all right."

Then he spoke to Naruto. "What your dad wants to say is the same as what your talkative mom said."

He began performing the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, sealing the chakra and consciousness of himself and Kushina deep within the Sealing Space, adding another lock to the Nine-Tails' seal.

Because of the sealing, Naruto, who had been wailing, fell asleep. The two of them gazed at him fondly before losing their lives and falling backward.

With their deaths, the barrier disappeared. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, led the ninjas who had been guarding the area toward the sealing platform. He picked up the sleeping Naruto, then looked at Minato and Kushina lying on the ground and sighed helplessly. "Leave a few people to take care of the bodies. Everyone else, hurry and help the villagers." Then he carried Naruto to the Hokage Office Building.

The three Konoha advisors—Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu—had already arrived at the Hokage Office Building. When Hiruzen Sarutobi came in carrying Naruto, Shimura Danzō stepped forward.

"Hiruzen, hand the child over to me. I'll train him into the ultimate weapon of war."

Although Danzō hadn't been present when the Nine-Tails was sealed, he had stationed Root operatives nearby, so he knew the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto. He didn't care whose son Naruto was. At that moment, all he could think about was the Hokage Position. The Fourth Hokage had died in battle. If Danzō claimed the Nine-Tails for himself, the position would be his.

"Impossible. This is the Fourth Hokage's son. Even if he is the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, we can't raise him as a weapon of war. He'll inherit the Will of Fire one day."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at Danzō, his voice cold.

As a fellow student of the Second Hokage, how could Hiruzen not know what Danzō was thinking? And Minato and his wife had only just died in battle. There was no way he would hand Naruto over to Danzō.

"Hmph. What if the Nine-Tails breaks through the seal again?" Danzō still refused to give up.

"That's none of your concern. If the Nine-Tails causes trouble again, I'll seal it myself." With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi carried Naruto into his office.

Watching Hiruzen Sarutobi's retreating back, Danzō's narrowed eyes glinted coldly. "Hiruzen, you'll regret this."

Then he headed for Root's headquarters. Back in the hall, Danzō summoned several masked ninjas.

"Spread word around the village that Naruto Uzumaki is the incarnation of the evil Nine-Tails, that he could lose control at any moment, and that another Nine-Tails' rampage is imminent." The ninjas, kneeling on one knee, answered, "Yes, Lord Danzō." Then they scattered and sped off into the village.

Hokage's Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi carefully examined the seal on Naruto. "So this is the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style? Sure enough, I can't sense even a trace of the Nine-Tails' presence." After confirming that the seal was intact, he took Naruto to Konoha Hospital.

"Take good care of him. Not a thing must happen to him." Without waiting for the nurse beside him to respond, he turned and left.

The nurse glanced at the sleeping Naruto and thought nothing of it, assuming he was an orphan left behind by the Nine-Tails' rampage. She placed him in a hospital bed and left the room.

A few days later, rumors that Naruto Uzumaki was the Nine-Tailed Fox grew more and more widespread, until nearly everyone in the village had heard them.

Hiruzen Sarutobi soon learned of the rumors. By then, he had taken up the position of Hokage again. The casualties from the Nine-Tails' rampage had been so severe that the villagers needed someone to blame. And Minato Namikaze had too many enemies. If they learned that he had a child who was still alive—and that the child had become the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki—Konoha might soon be dragged into another war. So Hiruzen didn't come forward to dispel the rumors. Instead, he chose to conceal the fact that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son. He merely assigned a few Anbu Ninjas to watch over Naruto.

At Konoha Hospital, someone shoved open the door to Naruto's room. A middle-aged woman with a stocky build, dressed in a nurse's uniform, strode toward the sleeping Naruto with a vicious look on her face. "You're the demon fox who killed my husband and son. You can die too!" As she spoke, she grabbed Naruto by the throat and lifted him from the bed.

The sleeping baby Naruto suddenly woke as someone grabbed his throat and began wailing. But the woman didn't let go at the sound of his cries. She only tightened her grip, and Naruto's cries grew fainter.

Just as Naruto's face turned purple and he was about to stop breathing, two masked ninjas leaped through the window and pried the woman's hands away. They put Naruto back on the bed and dragged her out of the room, but said nothing. After all, the Third Hokage had only told them to make sure the Jinchūriki didn't die.

A short while later, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the hospital. He glanced at the unconscious Naruto and said nothing, merely reminding the director that the Jinchūriki absolutely must not die.

With the Third Hokage turning a blind eye, Naruto endured more and more torment. People would sometimes prick him with needles while he slept. They fed him freshly made formula no matter how hot it was, as if the louder he cried, the happier they became. Three months later, Hiruzen Sarutobi took Naruto out of the hospital and sent him to an orphanage.

Naruto's situation didn't improve at the orphanage. He continued to be tormented; only the setting had changed.

As Naruto slowly grew up, no one helped him when he fell while learning to walk. Once he could eat, there were always bits of sand in his food, and the vegetables were always spoiled. No one wanted to play with him. Whenever he tried to join the other children, they told him to get lost and called him a demon fox. Whenever he saw the other children playing together, Naruto would sit nearby and watch them enviously.

Hiruzen Sarutobi occasionally went to see Naruto. Whenever Naruto asked why everyone bullied him and disliked him, Hiruzen would brainwash him, saying:

"Little Naruto, for certain reasons, everyone hates you. You have to work hard to earn their approval and make them all like you."

Perhaps because the Third Hokage had been brainwashing him like this all along, or perhaps because of the influence of the Asura chakra inside him, Naruto felt no resentment. His big blue eyes remained innocent. He simply thought that perhaps he really had done something wrong and didn't dwell on it any further.

When Naruto was three, he told the Third Hokage that he wanted to live on his own. Hiruzen didn't think much of it and agreed, arranging a house for Naruto and promising to give him a living allowance every month. From then on, Naruto began living alone.