Behind the Waterfall

#0 Prologue

A six years old blonde ran through the quiet streets of Konoha. Rounding a corner the eyes of the boy widened as he realized that he had maneuvered himself into a dead end. Turning around he saw the light of the torches as he panted, quickly running deeper into the alley, hoping that the villagers had not seen him turn into it.

He hid behind a pile of rubble as he tried to control his breathing to not give away his position. Closing his eyes he tried to calm down when he heard the noise of the mob come closer to his hiding spot.

He was almost happy when he heard the mob stop in front of the alley, as if they were searching for him. Not moving a muscle for fear of them hearing it, the boy closed his eyes, sending silent prayers to whoever might be listening.

His prayers were not answered however as a small gust of wind came up and shifted the layer of rubble he was hiding behind, exposing his orange sleeve to the mob. He heard the shouts before he even realized what had happened. When he realized it he cursed under his breath and backed away from the slowly approaching villagers.

"Looks like we finally caught you." A man snarled as he raised his torch, illuminating the blonde boy further, as he covered down, his back pushing against the wall.

"We can finally finish what the fourth started." A woman stated, a sick smile on her face as she raised the kunai in her hand.

Closing in on him Naruto could do nothing as every route of escape was being blocked by either walls or the wall of people. Sinking down even further he closed his eyes, hoping that this nightmare would end. Unfortunately for him, the nightmare had just begun as he felt his arms being grabbed. He cried out as he felt the blade pierce his skin, his eyes flying open, staring at the slash on his left wrist. Looking up, his eyes landed on the blonde woman who was still holding the kunai. His eyes widened even more when he saw his fellow blonde clean the blood off of the blade and come forward again. Seeing her muscles tense he shut his eyes again, expecting another slash.

"Oh, now you want to close your eyes?" He heard a man ask, before he felt the slap.

"Open your eyes!" He heard the woman in front of him scream. He opened them, hoping to lessen his suffering by complying but closed them again quickly, when he saw her stab his right arm. He refused to open his eyes after that.

"Miss Haruno, you have had your fun, can we have him now?" A man asked, after Naruto had felt another stab on his right arm.

"You can have him." He heard the woman's voice. There was a loud cry of joy from the mob behind her, that made the boy shiver in fear.

There were a few moments of nothing, as he heard the shuffling of feet, before he screamed as he felt his body being stabbed multiple times.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he thought about the short life he had had. He was convinced he would die right there, as he stopped screaming, his body beginning to numb.

He felt himself being rolled onto his stomach and his jacket being ripped away from him, exposing his back. When the blade made contact he screamed again, as it was dragged across his skin. He briefly wondered why this blade hurt so much more, than the ones before, but couldn't form a coherent answer before the pain was too much and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Opening his eyes Naruto felt nothing, no pain, no bleeding, no fear. He was confused, as he stood up looking around finding his jacket still intact. He felt the water at his feet as he realized he was in some kind of giant pipe. Deciding to not worry about how he got there he started running, hoping to find a way out.

A few turns and twists later the blonde saw a small light at the end of the pipe. Smiling he ran towards it, quickly ripping the door open and going through without looking what laid behind it. As the door fell back into its lock, Naruto looked up and forgot how to breathe.

In front of him stood a giant metal cage, but that was not what took the air out of his lungs. Behind the metal bars stood a giant red fox, his red eyes, the size of a human, staring right into the azure blue of the blonde. Nine tails slowly swayed behind the fox, each thicker than Naruto's whole body.

"What do you want here?" The deep booming voice caught Naruto by surprise as he had not expected the large animal to speak.

"I am just looking for the exit." He stammered, taking a few steps back.

"There is no exit." Came the reply, as the fox's eyes narrowed, before he burst out laughing.

"You don't even know where we are." It was a statement as the red beast continued laughing. Naruto's eyes widened at the realization that he was trapped in this place.

"But, how did I get here?" Naruto asked again, still stuttering as he looked up to the giant grinning face.

"I don't know." The fox replied, shrugging his massive shoulders. Naruto didn't know how to reply to that, as he looked around the room, only finding the door he had come in through.

Thinking back he didn't remember any point where he could have taken a different route, meaning that he had to find an exit here, since it was the only possibility for the villagers to have put him where he had woken up.

"Again, what do you want?" Naruto heard the fox ask, looking at the blonde with annoyed eyes.

"I don't know, okay? I don't even know where I am!" Naruto shouted back, his brash side getting the better of him. He immediately regretted his outburst when he saw the Fox stand up to his full height, towering over the boy, as he growled.

"I don't care what you know. If you don't want anything to do with me, leave me alone." He finished with another growl, causing Naruto to slowly back away towards the only door in the room.

Quickly slipping through he walked back towards the position where he woke up when he started feeling sleepy. Sitting down he felt his eyes close, as the darkness overcame him once again.

"What do you mean, the villagers did this?" The voice of the Hokage was the first thing Naruto heard. Opening his eyes he looked around, finding himself on a small couch. The small room he was in had no windows and only the couch and some shelves on the walls. Everything on them looked old and dusty as Naruto slowly sat up feeling his whole body ache.

"I found them beating on him in an alleyway. I quickly scared them away, but he was already unconscious." Naruto heard another voice. He concluded that the voices had to come from the room on the other side of the door leading out of his room, so he knew that he was probably in a small room adjacent to the Hokage's office. Slowly standing up he made his way over to the door, stopping in his tracks as one of the floorboards creaked loudly under his weight. The two people in the next room stopped talking, as Naruto again didn't dare to move a muscle.

"Naruto, you can come out." The blonde heard the voice of the Hokage, slowly making his way towards the door. Opening the door Naruto was greeted by the Hokage sitting behind his desk and an Anbu standing in front of him.

"Thank you for saving me Anbu-san." Naruto said, smiling weakly as he limped his way towards the Hokage.

"It was no problem, Naruto." The white haired man answered, giving him a thumbs up.

"Alright, Dog. That is all, you may leave." Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered as he stood helping Naruto to sit down on the couch next to his desk. The Anbu nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Now, Naruto, how are you feeling?" The old man asked, sitting down next to the boy.

"I've been better." Naruto answered honestly.

"Can you tell me what happend?"