You know that stupid crap about, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but word can never hurt me." Yeah, if I had a child I would tell them that is a load of shit. Words hurt, a lot. I learned that this was a lie at a very young age. Since the day I was born, I was the target and scapegoat for all that has gone wrong in this damn village.
After getting kicked out of Miss KuroKokoro's Orphanage I learned what the real world was like. there was danger at every corner and darkness in most human hearts. Day after day I was starved, beaten, and abused.
The reason for this is simple, I am the leaf village's Jinjuriki.
14 years ago there was an attack on the Village hidden in the leaves. On the date of October 10th, the Nine-tailed fox had come into the village and started killing thousands of people at a time until the fourth Hokage came around and "Killed" the beast. The thing with that is, that's not possible. you can't kill something that is made of pure chakra, you can only store it in a vessel that is strong enough to handle such a beast. That vessel would be me, Naruto Uzumaki. You see- on the very night of the attack, I was born.
To save the village I was sacrificed to become said vessel to the Bijuu. The person who had sealed the fox in me was none-other than my father, the fourth Hokage. My mother died protecting my father, and my father died protecting me. Before they had passed, they said their goodbyes and sealed the fox into a seal written on my stomach.
Every day since then I have been subject to the villagers' rude comments and violent gestures. Though it is forbidden to tell the new generation of citizens about me being the Jinjurikin, this doesn't stop the villagers from telling their children to stay away because I am a "monster". Because of this, I live in fear of what tomorrow may bring on any given day.
I hated the fox and my father for the longest time until I turned to the tender age of 4.
Flashback: NARUTO'S 4TH BIRTHDAY (OCTOBER 10TH)
I need to hide before the sun comes up!
Today is October 10th. That means that today is the day for the village-wide fox hunt.
The village created the fox hunt when I turned 2 years old. What would happen is they would gather as many people as possible and hunt me down because I was the fox that they would be hunting.
I run down the streets until I hear a snicker from behind me.
Dangit!
I look behind me and I see three men with a kitchen knife, kunai, and rope. I look behind them to the street clock and see that it's 5 am. I tried to run away but it was too late and the men were too fast for me. Once they caught up they dragged me into the nearest alley. Once we were in the depth of the alley and hidden in the dark, they tied me up and said cruel words. Words like:
"Demon"
"Monster"
"Cursed freak"
After they were done ranting about how much of a monster I was, they started to use their weapons. Scraping and tearing through my skin, they laugh and snicker in glee. They carved words into my skin and into my thoughts. My wounds were bleeding profusely as the men gnashed and ground their sharp objects into my body. The pain was overwhelming and I was scared. So I started to cry out, "Please stop! Please... don't..don't do this. Why?! Why are you doing this to me?! I'm not a monster! I'm HUMAN!"
"Aww look," one of the men said almost laughing, "He's crying~. You wanna know why we do this? ~ Huh?!"
I nodded my head and another man continued, " Because~ YOU DESERVE IT! YOU DESERVE ALL OF IT AND MUCH MORE. YOU KILLED MY WIFE!"
The other man spoke up and said, "YOU KILLED MY CHILD!"
Then the third man screamed, "YOU MURDERER! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!"
Each man took their turn to yell out names, faces, and their title in their family;
"MY SON!"
"MY DAUGHTER!"
"MY FRIEND! MY STUDENT!"
But through this, all I could think of was, 'I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!'
At this point, my body rattled with pain and anguish. My vision soon became blurry as the voices started to fade, and as the sound faded to nothingness so did my vision.
When I woke up I was in a place that looked like a sewer and in front of me was a large silhouette. The silhouette grew larger and larger until the figure was seen in the light.
The nine-tailed fox!
The reason why I know it's the nine-tailed fox is because:
It was a giant fox, there is a seal on my body, and people called me the fox demon. So, somehow the Nine-tailed fox is inside of me.
Then the fox spoke,
"Hey kit. The men left and I'm trying to heal you right now but you're going to be in here for a while. so let's get to know each other."
I look up to him and say, "What's going on?"
"You were dying so I saved you. Right now we are in your mindscape, a place in your mind where I am carefully sealed away. And what you thought earlier, about how I'm sealed in you, you're right about that one. I'm impressed, your really smart for someone your age."
"You have to be smart if you want to survive. At least that's how it is for me."
"I see. Then ..."
"The name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo!"
The beast then starts to tear up as he says, "Then naruto. I will train you to become a ninja. Once you become a powerful ninja you will be respected and you will no longer be harmed. Are you okay with me being your teacher?"
My eyes prickled with unshed tears of joy as I said, "Yes!"
Then I felt something start to pull me out of my mindscape and into reality. But before I regained consciousness, I asked, "What do I call you then? Sensei? Senpai? ... Master?"
The tailed beast chuckled then replied whole-heartedly, "You can call me Kurama."
End of Flashback
It's been 10 years since then, and my 14th birthday is coming up soon. Today is October 1st and I secretly requested an away mission to hopefully avoid my Birthday and be out of the village. when I asked lady Tsunade, she didn't question it and said that she'd bring it up with team seven later.)
FLASHBACK: YESTERDAY (SEPTEMBER 30)
"Hey, Ba-chan!" I yell as I crash in through her window, "I uh- kinda need a favor."
I calmly close the door in front of her desk and look back to Tsunade, who is looking back at me with a worried expression. Her voice rang out and said, "Yeah sure what do you need naruto?"
I rub the back of my neck nervously and give her one of my usual fake smiles. I make sure my smile reaches from ear to ear before I spoke out, "I was wondering if you can maybe give team 7 and I an away mission that can last... a little over a week?"
It took a while for ba-chan to process what I just said, but when she realized what I meant she looked at me sympathetically, "Yeah. Of course, I think I have just the mission so I'll tell Kakashi about it tomorrow. "
I smile one more time before saying, "Thanks Ba-chan! you're the BEST!"
I started to leave the room but before I did, I turned back to the Hokage and say, "Can you do one more thing for me?"
After Tsunade looks up to me and nods, I continue, "Can you not tell anyone about this request? It's just that I wanted to get away for a while and some fresh air would be nice."
'The air here is polluted with the villagers' poisonous words that waft around the place. I can't be here, especially on my birthday.'
She smiles and confirms that this will stay between us. I turned to walk out of the room and close the door behind me.
END OF FLASHBACK
I start to walk over to the third training ground to meet the rest of team 7 and get the day done. but the sinking feeling of helplessness won't go away no matter how hard I tried to get rid of it. so instead I mask these negative thoughts and feelings. I show everyone that I'm okay even though I may not be because if the villagers saw that I was weak, they would beat me to the ground more often than they already do.
Every day I am haunted by bad memories that seem to have plagued my dreams, now I can't get enough sleep. My depression and anxiety have caused me to get very bad insomnia. I'm so tired of fighting to keep up the act of the goofy- knuckleheaded ninja. Some people don't get that I get hurt. I get sad. I feel things just as they would. But they forget that I can harbor such negative emotions because I've been pretending to be okay.
The mask I had made is a blessing and a curse. This helps me protect my well being physically but it is mentally straining and is hard to maintain, especially when the villagers beat and scrutinize me. As I walk by all the shops, the people around me glare and throw pebbles, telling me to leave, and that I shouldn't come back. The villagers are so dumb that I pity them, they don't realize that the only thing that keeps the nine-tail's power contained is me.
I finally made it to the third training ground and saw Sakura and Sasuke there waiting for me. I smile as widely as I can and yell out, "Hey Sakura-chan," I glare over at Sasuke and continue, "Teme."
Sasuke reciprocates the feelings by maturely replying with, "Dobe."
Sakura then glares at me and hits me over the head while screaming, "BAKA! DON'T SPEAK TO MY SASUKE THAT WAY!"
I rub the spot where it hurt and say, "But, sakura-chan."
Then a man with Grey hair walked up to us and as per usual, sakura and I yelled out, "YOU'RE LATE!"
Kakashi sighs and says, "Maa Maa. Sorry about that. I had to go stand in line for a limited edition, signed, hardcover copy of the latest Icha Icha book."
In shock, I muttered out, "You're telling the truth?!"
"Well anyways," Kakashi says, "We have a new long term mission. This is meant to last for two weeks."
And on que, I jump and yell out, "YATTA!"
But the other two groan in annoyance and Sakura complains,"But Sensei! We're gonna miss the kyuubi festival! That's like... the best day to celebrate and party!"
The pain in my chest that I have been ignoring comes back and hits me like a bus as sakura kept on saying the reasons why we should stay for the damn kyuubi festival.
Oh, it's fun. The best day to party because everyone goes! Well, it's not fun for me, it's just... painful.
When I was done with my thoughts, I realized that I was making a sad face so I looked back up, smiled, and scratched the nape of my neck in nervousness. Then Kakashi says worriedly, "Are you okay naruto?"
I look to him and say, " Sorry I was just thinking-"
But then I get cut off by Sasuke, "Oh no, Dobe's thinking. Something is very wrong here."
Sakura laughs and Kakashi sighs at the snarky comment.
You know what Teme, your right. Something is wrong, but I can't tell anyone. I can't trust anyone with this secret. Not after last time. I won't let that happen again, I'll only get hurt.
Kakashi then clears his throat and continues to speak, "Well then we can celebrate together. All the rookie nine and their sensei are coming along with us on this mission."
Fear settles in, I thought only my te and I were going not the whole rookie 9!
People outside my team are smarter than they may seem. Shikamaru is already starting to question my facade. It will be harder to be with him around. I wouldn't be able to let my guard down.
So, I called out to Kakashi and asked, "Why are they coming?! The mission can't be that hard!"
Kakashi then eye smiles at me then says, "Remember your friend, Gaara?"
I nod my head and he continues, "Well, Gaara is becoming appointed as the sand village's fifth Kazekage and has formally asked for Naruto to attend. And since it was a celebration nonetheless, Tsunade got permission for all of us to go as part of building a stronger bond between our forces."
Sakura then mutters, "Well I guess it makes sense since freaks attract other freaks."
I mean, she's not wrong.
I see a certain black haired Nara roll his eyes, looking annoyed with Sakura's rude comment while Sasuke just starts to walk my way. To be honest, when the two of us are alone he becomes friendlier. He is a nice guy but since he's an Uchiha, he tends to pretend that he's angry and brooding. But I know better since now he's my friend. But I'll never admit that in front of anyone.
All of us get dismissed to go get packed for the mission but on the way back home I got surrounded by villagers. A man grabbed my hair and pulled me into an alley while others followed with weapons in hand.
I tried to wiggle free out of their grasp but that only tightened their grip. After we were swallowed by darkness, they started taking turns to taunt and torture. The usual went on, carving words onto my skin, cursing me out, telling me to kill myself, being used as a punching bag, even standing me in my limbs so I can't move.
I was used to this but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I cried, screamed, and croaked; only to be silenced by their words. Helplessness was something that I've grown accustomed to. At this point, I would usually faint from all the pain but they drugged me so I won't fall unconscious.
Sick bastards. Just leave me be.
This went on for another hour until I went into my mindscape to talk to Kurama and stopped making noice. After the villagers left, Kurama healed my wounds and I headed home.
Shit! I'm late!
I start to run to my apartment to get packed and change out of my torn and bloodied clothes. All of the small cuts and bruises have already healed but the bigger one on my side is thinly closed and tender. By the time I got to the gates, all of rookie nine was waiting. Sakura ran up to me and yelled, "YOU'RE LATE!" She then hit my head and kept on nagging on about how stupid I was.
Soon we set off to the sand village. As we walked out of Konoha my chest filled with fresh air as relief passed through my body in waves. Still, I don't dare let my guard down, especially with Shikamaru and Asuma around.
After a few hours of travel, the sun went down and we started setting up camp. Each team was assigned a task for the night; Kurenai's team set up tents, Kakashi's team goes out to get some fish at the nearby river, and Asuma's team gets the fire up and running.
But while fishing I turned the wrong way too fast and I felt the large wound on my side open. The pain was blinding so I yelped but I played it off as forgetting to pack ramen for the trip. By the time we got to camp, blood started showing through my jacket on my right side.
Shit!
I started to panic when Hinata looked my way and saw the dot of blood on me. She said out loud, "N-naruto? Are you okay? Your b-bleeding."
Everyone turned my way and I just said, "Oh! I uh..."
Kit.
Kura-nii, what do I do?!
I'm healing it now. Try to change the subject.
But how do I explain the bloodstain?
Say that it belongs to the fish or something.
I continue to finish my sentence, "Where?!"
Hinata looks at me worriedly and says, "On your side."