There is no greater love than that of a mother for her child.
A father's love comes at a very close second.
Mix in an obsessive primordial, a deal made, an asshole fox, a not all the way dead mother, and you have the perfect Maelstrom.
Tobi is not...
Everything was quiet in Konohagakure no Sato, or the Village Hidden in the Leaves. After all, it was the dead of night. Villagers and shinobi alike were sleeping soundly, save for the few ANBU who patrolled the village. Yes, it was all quiet, except for one boy screaming into the night.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The boy was five-year-old Uzumaki Naruto, who was currently running for his life. Once again, for an unknown reason, a small mob of Konoha residents decided to take their anger out on him. He would have made it out fine, had it not been for the few shinobi who joined them.
Naruto winced as several shuriken imbedded themselves in his back and legs. He merely tore them out and kept running. A few shuriken would be the least of his problems if he allowed himself to be caught.
"DEMON!" A voice screamed from the crowd. Others joined him, calling the boy a "devil" or "demon spawn." Finally, an old lady's voice called out. "Die you fucking MONSTER!"
Naruto felt rocks begin to pelt him, as the few shinobi had run out of shuriken to bombard him with. 'Ah,' Naruto thought bitterly, 'there's my favorite name. Idiots, why can't they leave me alone?'
The boy continued running, turning into an alley. Much to his misfortune, a chunin in the mob blurred through hand seals.
"Doton: Doryuheki!" The small boy didn't see as mud flew out of the chunin's mouth, flowing rapidly past him and forming a wall of earth that created a dead end. Naruto ran to the newly-formed obstacle and started pounding on it in vain, praying it would break.
"Come on you stupid wall, you're gonna get me killed," the boy yelled, pounding on the hardened mud wall. Naruto jumped as he felt something massive brush by his head, missing his left ear by inches. He stepped back and saw a fuma shuriken.
Naruto looked at the mob not 20 feet from him. "What is wrong with you people," he yelled angrily.
Some people in the crowd had the nerve to laugh. Their laughs were hollow and evil, doing nothing to quell his fear. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with us, demon. You see, you've been allowed to live for far too long. We've stabbed you, burned you, bludgeoned you, and even poisoned you. But you keep living."
A man with a butcher's smock and large knife stepped up. "You've managed to survive us this long, monster. Now you're gonna die. I don't think even a demon can live without his head!"
Several chunin threw their remaining shuriken at him. The bloodied and cut boy knew he would survive them, until they formed a cross-shaped seal. "Kage shuriken no jutsu!"
Naruto could only watch as the few shuriken became hundreds, filling any empty space in the alley. He was as good as a human dartboard. The Uzumaki crouched down, bringing his knees to his chest and shielding his head with his forearms.
