Quote the Speechless: Walks out on stage, hesitant steps, unsure where to begin "Uh... Hi, I'm 'Quote the Speechless' and uh... this is my Fic."

Ghost Wolf: "That's it? This is a Naruto fic. You can't be nervous about this Speechless. You need to be confidant like he is."

Quote the Speechless: "Uh... yea, probably, but I'm not like that."

Quote the Speechless: "For those of you out there, this is Ghost Wolf, he's my room mate at college, no, neither of us is Gay."

Ghost Wolf: "Moving on… This bonehead has been writing this story for the last… what… Two or three months?"

Quote the Speechless: "... Yea" he scratches the back of his head, embarrassed. "Something like that."

Ghost Wolf: "Anyway it is a good fic and he finally decided to do something with it besides show it to his friends." He looks at Quote the Speechless and throws a Textbook at him.

Quote the Speechless: Ducks under the Textbook. "WATCH IT!"

Ghost Wolf: "Now finish the intro."

Quote the Speechless: "Huh? Oh, right… This is an AU Naruto Fic. The main change is that Naruto has been broken at a young age. He is not the outgoing prankster that we all know. Other changes will be evident as the story continues."

Ghost Wolf: "Hope you all enjoy the story. I know I have."

Legal Stuff: I do not own the Series Naruto, nor do I have any affiliation with the makers of the Manga.

Chapter 1: Naruto

What was the man thinking? The boy had just been born. No name or family to speak of, no one was even sure where the child had come from. And no one who knew what he contained would have anything to do with him. The white haired balding man sitting behind the desk looked at the child asleep in the basket in front of him, the seal still visible on his belly. There had already been an attempt on his life, a nurse whose care he had been put in for a moment, after the news that the Yondiame had been found dead, with the child in his arms, in the middle of the battlefield littered with the bodies of the other Leaf Nin. Traces of the Kyuubi's energy were still swirling around the child so it was easy to guess what had happened.

He could force a family to take him, but resentment for the only survivor of the great tragedy was already spreading though the ranks and city. He wished he could keep the child with him, but he was already in a precarious position. He had retaken the position of Hokage because there was no one else at the time and it was necessary that they keep a strong face even after the great loss. He already had too much to deal with and this child sleeping in front of him, sucking on his thumb was the greatest of all. An adoption home was the only choice that the Hokage could think of. He had already ordered a list of them from his secretary. In the morning, he would find one, and make it law that the boy be treated as any other; anyone who stepped against the child would have to face the most powerful Nin in the city. He looked at the whisker marks on his cheeks, wondering if they would disappear or grow with time, knowing that they would be a reminder to any who looked on him as to who he was.

As he brushed a finger over the baby's cheek and the boy opened his eyes for a moment. Their eyes locked, his aged grey green eyes and the youthful brilliant blue. He presented the last thing he could ever give this child, because the law applied to him as well. "Uzumaki Naruto, they will never know how great a hero you actually are. You have quite a future ahead of you, don't disappoint me," he looked over at the other pictures of the previous Hokage. "Or him," as he looked at the most recent. Then he looked back at the baby and found that he had already gone back to sleep.

But the next few years were not filled with light and hope as the Hokage had desperately hoped for. More attempts were made on the boy's life until he had to assign two Anbu to guard over him in secret for anyone who would threaten his life. But the Anbu could only do so much, and they would watch on, as people slapped the boy out of their way, kicked him, verbally attacked him, there were stones and other things. The orphanage wasn't much better. He was always placed at the end of the line for food and was given the scrapings that were left. When he was picked on by the other children for his whisker marks the adults did nothing to step in, but if he tried to fight back against them he was punished until he didn't fight back at all, just taking the blows and bruises that healed by morning, something he couldn't explain. The children seeing the way he was treated by the adults did everything they could to make the boy's life miserable. He was allowed no personal belongings and anything he tried to keep was taken from him. He was dressed in old clothes that had been donated to the orphanage, he was forced to wear a set of bright orange clothes that no one had wanted, but he didn't care.

In short, the boy was broken, he took refuge in libraries, though he was never allowed to take the books out, he would find a corner and a book and start reading, for hours and hours, it was the only time the boy ever smiled. When he took on the life of a knight or mage or rurouni, but then when he had to put the book down, he remembered his life and every time he found his heart broke a little more.

No one looked out for him, only himself but he felt something inside him, something trying to break out. It was angry and strong. But it wasn't angry at him, it was angry at everyone else, at the ones who did this to him, the ones who broke his spirit so long ago.

One night, when he was ten, Naruto was walking back from a bookstore, he had finally gathered up enough money to get something he had always wanted, a book of his own. It wasn't very big, just a small fantasy about a ninja that never gave up, and never went back on his word, protecting the people of his village with everything he had because they were his precious people. He wanted to be like the man, he wanted to be strong and for people to at least smile at him once. It was then that he walked into a man and fell down, the book falling out of his hands. He was grabbed roughly and lifted into the air.

"Watch where you're going RUNT," the man was drunk, and took a moment to recognize the child he was holding up. The Fox Brat, the man smiled wickedly and punched the boy in the stomach, he was going to enjoy this.

Naruto on the other hand just wanted to be left alone as he was dropped and crumpled to the ground, holding his belly, tears forming in his eyes. He looked over and saw the book on the ground, he reaches over with a trembling hand to get the book, keep it safe, that was all he wanted. But the man didn't let him, he stepped on the boy's wrist increasing the pressure until Naruto was whimpering in pain, but he refused to cry out, he knew that only meant more pain, but the man didn't stop there. He reaches down and picked up the book.

"What is this? Did you STEAL THIS!" The man didn't care, so long as it gave him another reason to punish the boy. He looked and the title and was furious. What Naruto had thought was a fantasy book was not it was "The Young Life of the Yondaime." In his fury the man stopped down on the wrist and smiled at the satisfying snapping of bone and whimpering. "I might have gone easier on you, but not now, you KILLED this man."

Naruto didn't understand, he just wanted to be left alone, he wanted to go back to the orphanage that hated him, and read the book by the moonlight. He was in so much pain, his wrist was broken he was sure of it, he knew it would heal, but it didn't stop it from hurting so much. It wasn't the first time, he had been pushed down the stares a few months ago and had ended up with a broken leg, it took two days to heal, but it did. The man was talking and kicking him in the stomach, but Naruto was fading out, he felt like he as falling, his eyes glazed over when he realized that no one was going to save him.

"Pitiful, to think that I'm trapped within such a weak body." Naruto heard the words but he didn't understand, he opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of a large cage, he looked around confused. "In here boy." Came the voice, from the other side of the bars, a light shone and Naruto stepped back in shock. It was HUGE, larger than anything alive Naruto had ever seen before. The Massive fox lay there, surrounded by his nine tails, its head by the cage watching the boy with its red eyes.

"Am I dead?" It was the only thing that he could think to explain this. He was standing shin deep in dirty water, dripping from rusted pipes that came out from the walls. The air was humid and the smell was bad and only just tolerable.

"No, and I plan to make sure that you don't end up that way." The voice was powerful and Naruto felt it shake him to his very core. "I am the Kuubi, sealed within your body because of the Fourth Hokage's actions Ten years ago." Pictures flashed around Naruto showing him fragments of the great Fox's memories, including one of a man riding a great toad into battle surrounded by ninja, all wearing the head protector of Leaf. "We will talk later, but for now you have a book to recover." There was a little amusement in the voice as red Chakra slipped under the bars of the cage and swilled up around Naruto.

Naruto felt a sharp pain in his belly as he opened his eyes and was kicked back into an ally wall. He was bruised and beaten, his leg felt like it might be fractured, and he had several broken ribs. The man was still angry but he was a little worn out from just beating this kid around, but he wasn't going to stop any time soon. Naruto coughed and spit up some blood he started to struggle to his feet.

"So, you still want more huh? Stupid Brat!" The man rushed at Naruto who was leaning against the wall, his right wrist still broken, in quite a lot of pain, but as the man approached Naruto felt something inside of him, Power. As the man's fist came towards him Naruto reaches up and caught it, he had done it in reaction, his small fingers grabbing the man's fist and not letting go. The man pulled back in an attempt to pull his hand from the boy's grip but found his fist and the boy quite immovable. Naruto was surprised, the red energy was flowing through him, his ribs, leg, and wrist, healed very quickly and he felt the new power and strength that he had inside him. He knew what he had to do, he had to get his book back. He squeezed and pulled, the man's finger's broke under the pressure and he cried out in pain, but as he was pulled forward he saw a red glow coming from the boy's other hand and his eyes grew wide in shock. Naruto's arm shot out when the man was in range and his fist slammed into the middle of the man's chest as he let go of his other hand.

The man was thrown back against the opposite wall of the alleyway. He coughed and tasted blood in his mouth, but he was in pain, several of his ribs had cracked under the blow and he was having a very hard time breathing. Then he looked up and saw the small demon child walking towards him, he shook with fear at the look in his eyes.

Naruto looked at the man in front of him. His senses had suddenly and greatly improved. He could see the look in the man's eyes, and he could smell it in his sweat, fear. As he stepped forward towards them man he realized that it was not just hate that had been projected at him by the people of the village, it was also fear.

"D… do… don't hurt me." The man stuttered out, cradling his broken hand. He had never been so afraid in his life before now. Feeling the power that the small boy generated, nothing should have that much power, it shouldn't be allowed to exist. "Please…. Don't hurt me…"

Naruto looked at the man, standing right in front of him. He leaned down and took the book that had fallen from his hand. He stood and looked up at the building, having sensed something watching them. But in truth he didn't care, he took his book and headed back to the orphanage, knowing that somehow, his life had just changed a great deal.

One of the two Anbu who had been watching Naruto raced over the buildings towards the offices of the Hokage. He had to be told, the boy had used the Kyuubi's power, something that shouldn't be possible.

Things started to change immediately. After Naruto got back to the orphanage he ran up to his room and sat down with his book in his favorite reading corner. Unfortunately it wasn't long before some of the older bullies that picked on Naruto saw him with the book and decided to go have some fun. Kariudo, the largest of the bullies stood in front of Naruto who was totally absorbed in the book and apparently hadn't noticed any of them.

"Oy, Shrimp, give me the book." He held out one beefy hand demanding the book, but he didn't get it. In fact, Naruto didn't even move, except to turn the page, his eyes intently on the page. Kariudo was mad, no one ignored him, and he reached and snatched the book from Naruto.

Naruto watched helplessly and Kariudo took his book and tossed it to another of the bullies who looked at it and threw it to another.

"My book, give me back my book." Naruto said in a small voice, he just wanted to sit and read, why had they come and bothered him?

"Oh look, it talks." Said Tsutomu, another of the bullies, holding the book up in front of Naruto, just out of his reach. They were surprised by how fast Naruto's hand snaked out to grab the book, but it was still out of his grasp and he couldn't get it. "Jump Shrimp, if you want the book." Tsutomu held the book as high as he could over Naruto's head, well out of his usual jumping range, but Naruto wasn't usual today. He jumped clear over the boy's head, grabbing the book as he went past, landing on the other side he ran up to his bed, wondering to himself what just happened. Naruto took out the book and looked at it, he then started to read again, forgetting about the bullies and instead reading about the Yondaime, who was now becoming his hero.

When Naruto fell asleep some hours later he found himself back in front of the cage once again. He stood and bowed to the Kyuubi. "Thank you, because of you I'm alive, I didn't think I was going to be." He was surprised when he heard the chuckle from the Great Fox.

"Don't thank me yet. That man was just a drunk, a nobody, he wasn't even a shinobi. But you've now awakened to the power inside you, and things will change. And I will not have a weakling as my container, so you're going to learn, and get stronger." The tone of voice said that he was very serious, and at the same time, a little amused.

"Thank you Kyuubi-sensei, but how will you teach me?" He wasn't afraid of the great beast at all, but he admired him, his strength, his power, his confidence.

"Don't mock me boy. I will teach you with my memories and instruct you on how to control your chakra. I will also give you skills that I had at the height of my power. You will become the greatest shiobi in the world." There was no doubt in Kyuubi's voice that he could do what he said.

"Even as good as the Yondaime?" His eyes were wide and hopeful, he had never had anything to look forward to before, and now he was told he was going to become a shinobi. Hope lit a fire in his heart, for the first time in a long time he smiled and nearly broke down in tears he was so happy.

"Better than the Yondaime, he learned from humans and had human power, you're learning from me and you've got my power. It will take a long time, your body can't even handle a fraction of my power, but in time you will be able to hold and control it." He smirked, he was going to enjoy this, Naruto was going to become great and when all was ready he would let loose Naruto to get the revenge that he had not been able to get due to his blind rage at the time, but he would get it, when Naruto was ready.

"When do I start?" asked an excited Naruto.

"Now, you're too young for a technique yet, so we'll just work on gathering your chakra in your body and focusing it into your hands." And so it started, Naruto's sleeping form smiled as he learned.

The next day brought even more changes. Naruto walked down to breakfast to find that everyone was keeping away from him. Apparently rumors were spreading about him. It hurt him to see that the people were afraid of him. But he brushed it off, now he has a friend and a sensei, someone cared about him, and that's all that mattered to him. But one last piece of advice that Kyuubi had given him was that he should never ever tell what he was doing, and that he should never give away the skills that he has learned unless necessary. "The best trick is the one they don't expect." And Naruto was forced to agree.

Naruto was surprised when he was called to the office of the head of the orphanage. He walked into the office a bit hesitantly. Nothing good had ever come from that office. He opened the door and peaked around the bend. Mister Chikyuu the head of the orphanage was behind his desk, a folder on his desk.

"Uzumaki Naruto, since the beginning, you have been nothing but trouble since you got here, and now, thankfully, I can get rid of you." He moved the file over and pushed it off the desk and right into the trash can. "It seems that someone is willing to put you up in an apartment, I have no idea who it is and I say they are wrong in their judgment. I would toss you out on the street, but it seems I can't get everything. But there will be someone to show you away today at noon. You are dismissed."

Now Naruto knew that he had never caused trouble, but he was always blamed for whatever wrong that seemed to happen around him. But now he was being kicked out from the only place he could call home. But he had never been accepted, he had been the outcast, now he was going to have his own place, but he was still unsure. He just stood there in front of the desk. Chikyuu looked up at him angrily.

"Get out of my office boy, you're not my problem any more." And that was it, Naruto was out, he walked out and sat on one of the benches outside the orphanage. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the book he opened it and started reading. As the hours passed no one bothered the boy absorbed in his book as he was. If he had looked he would have seen that no one came within several feet of him, at one point a mother had snatched up a child who had started to ask him what he was reading and hurried her away, her pail lavender eyes watching the boy over her mother's shoulder as she was rushed away. But Naruto noticed nothing of this.

Around noon a voice interrupted him. He looked up to see a woman with the head protector symbolizing she is a shinobi of Leaf. "I asked, are you Uzumaki Naruto?" He nodded as he put the book inside his jacket. "I've been hired to escort you to an apartment and present you with this key." She held out a key for him, he hesitated for a moment before reaching out and taking the key from her. "Alright lets get this over with, I've got things to do." Then she muttered, "Like staying away from demon freaks." He started walking away through the crowd, he got up and followed her depressed by her words but following just the same, almost having to run to keep up with her brisk pace.

They got to the apartment building and the female Nin pointed to it. "There you go kid, second floor, I'm leaving now." And without a second glance back she walked away. Naruto looked at the building and after reaching with one hand to feel the reassuring weight of the book inside his jacket he walked up inside and to the second floor. He looked around for some sort of indication that one of the rooms was supposed to be his. He found it. A door with an envelope attached to it, his name on the envelope, he pulled down the envelope waiting till he was inside to open it.

The inside of the apartment wasn't that bad, the furniture was all second hand, but not bad condition. He looked around carefully, just incase it was an ambush, but there was no one at all. He sat down on the couch that was against one wall and opened the envelope.

Dear Naruto

I am sorry that I cannot be there to congratulate you on awakening your shinobi abilities, but I have other duties that I must attend to. Let this apartment be a congratulatory gift. You do not have to worry about the rent that has already been taken care of. As for money for food and other expenses you will receive a letter once a week with enough money for your needs. The kitchen has already been stalked with food and you will find some money in your dresser drawer to start you out, get some clothes of your own.

In two weeks a new semester at the ninja academy starts and you have already been enrolled. It is my wish that you go there, and learn, become the greatest person you can become. Don't let me down.

Your Friend

Naruto sat there and cried. Now there were two people who believed in him. Granted one was a demon that no one could know about, and the other was a person that Naruto didn't know, but still, he held the proof of this person in his hands and looked around him at the apartment, and he smiled. His life was for the first time, changing for the better. He got up and walked into his own room for the first time and opened the drawer of the dresser and there was the money, a nice sized role of bills. Naruto cheered and grabbing the money he ran out, not forgetting to lock the door before running down, he looked back at the building and at his location before running away down towards the shopping district.

Ghost Wolf: "Such a sad life. All he needs now is a sad theme song. Good job on the writing kid."

Quote the Speechless: "Thanks... HEY! What do you mean 'Kid'?"

Ghost Wolf: "I am older than you. Anyway what happens next?"

Quote the Speechless: "You think I'm going to give that away? Sorry, you have to stick around and read it for yourself."He gives a shy smile.

Ghost Wolf: "Why you..."he grumbles. He turns to the audience. "Well I guess we all have to wait."

Quote the Speechless: "See you all next time." He walks off the stage.

Brief explanations:

What has happened is that Kyuubi's power running through Naruto has awoken the latent power that all shinobi have. This includes increased speed, agility, strength and other things.

The person who gave Naruto the apartment is of course the Hokage. He can't do anything outright, because it would violate the law. But he will at least try and help Naruto.


All reviews are welcome. When I say 'all' I mean ALL! Tell me your likes, dislikes, questions, flames, or praise. Whatever comes to your mind, I want to hear about it.