Dream Team (NaruHina)

#1 Beating

A four year old blonde boy could be seen running through the dark alleys of Konohagakure. As he ran, he often looked back to see if anyone was following him before turning into a dark alley, where he hid behind a garbage can. He was out of breath, as if he had been running for a while now. At the end of the blind alley the light started to move, as a large group of people turned around the corner, armed with torches, kitchen knives and all sorts of improvised weaponry.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!", a man at the front of the mob shouted. It was obvious that they knew, that the boy was hiding there, but they liked playing with him. The child cowered behind his shelter and closed his eyes, as he heard the people closing in on him. He suddenly was yanked out of his spot and into the group, who hurled insults his way, as he stumbled and fell to the ground, making himself as small as he possibly could. Still with closed eyes he cried out as he felt someone kick him in the ribs. They didn't stop there however and continued kicking and hitting him, until they started to cut his arms and legs with the knives they had brought with them. The cries of the boy had become quiet and the only sounds that came from him were small shrieks whenever a new knife was dragged across his body. The crowd was very disappointed with this and they started to outright stab the boy in his legs, pushing their knives deeper with each stab. This got the desired reaction as the cries of the boy rang out through the alley. The crowd cheered as they further tortured the four year old and blood began to pool under him.

"Let's end this hunt for good.", one of the ring leaders of the group said as he stepped forward a large sword in hand. He obviously had some kind of training in the arts of shinobi. He raised the sword and was about to bring it down when he stopped.

"Naruto!", came a shout as an Anbu jumped down in front of the boy, sharingan spinning. The crowd was shocked and frozen, until they realized that this person was about to kill them as punishment for torturing a child. They fell over each other as they ran out of the alley as fast as they could. The Anbu had no intention of killing them, since his main concern was for the boy that lay behind him. He quickly lifted the boy, known as Naruto, up and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

In the office of the third hokage the Anbu in the shadows readied themselves as they noticed a chakra signature building up in the middle of the room. Once it had built up completely they relaxed however and watched as their comrade crow came into view. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage himself looked up from his paperwork and immediately jumped off his seat when he saw the beaten boy in the arms of the Anbu.

"What happened?", he asked as he took the boy from Inu's arms and laid him down on the couch at the side of the room.

"I came from my mission and I came across a mob beating Naruto in an alley. I managed to save his life but the mob ran away, as soon as they saw me.", the Anbu said, while his hands began to shine green, as he hovered them over the small child.

"That's unfortunate. How did your mission go by the way, Itachi?", the third Hokage asked the Uchiha.

"It went alright, the target was eliminated.", the black haired shinobi said, without taking his eyes off of Naruto.

"So, what is going to happen now? I mean we can't let this continue.", Crow said, as he finished healing the boy, who was now sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"I will put more Anbu on protection detail. But in the meantime I have a mission for you..."

Naruto woke up standing in a dark space. He looked around and realized that he was in some sort of sewer system. Noticing a light in one direction he followed it and eventually came into a giant room, with nothing but a massive cage. The cage seemed empty at first but then there was movement and a giant flaming fox came into view, terrifying the little boy.

"It seems you have finally come to greet me."

Naruto didn't know what to say. He was frozen in fear, looking at the giant creature that towered over him, separated only by a few metal bars.

"Wh-who are you?", the blonde boy stuttered, taking a step back.

"I am the reason, you are hunted and despised by your people." The fox said, while his nine tails slowly flailed behind him.

"I don't know, why they hate me." The small boy looked down as he searched his memories to find a reason, like he had already done so often in his short life. "I only know, that I am some sort of monster and that they think, that I killed many people. But I have never hurt anyone.", the boy said after he was silent for a few moments.

"You are not a monster. You just contain one. Have you never noticed the giant painting that you have on your stomach, that disappears when you don't concentrate on it? That is a storage seal. It can contain huge amounts of chakra. That chakra that is stored in you is the reason, people hate you so much. You see, there are beings, entirely made out of chakra called the bijuu. These creatures used to live like any other animal in the wild, until shinobi discovered that they could imprison them and draw on their chakra whenever they wanted. They transformed them into weapons and used them to fight massive wars against each other. I was used in the same way. Being captured a few generations ago, I was imprisoned in two people before you. One of them being your mother." That was when Naruto, who was silently listening up until this point, perked up. The fox, noticing this, stopped his speech for a moment. "You know my mom? Can you tell me about her?", he asked with excitement in his voice.

"I will tell you about her later. But for now you have to go.", the fox said as he felt his host waking up. "Wait, what is your name?", the boy quickly asked as his silhouette started to fade. The fox was take aback by this and took a second to answer. "Kurama", he whispered as the boy faded away and left him alone in his sewer like prison.