Behind The Veil

Chapter One

   

 Naruto Uzumaki hated being alone. The absence of anyone else left room for distaction, which left room for his thoughts to seep through his mind. It wasn't like it was such a bad thing but it always seemed to dull his mood.

He stared up at his ceiling, a sigh falling from his lips. It was a often occurence for him to be up all night. His dreams were plagued by his demon's past. He couldn't bear to see those memories. They haunted his very being.

At times like this his mind questioned what life would be like for him if he was different. If he never had this monster shoved into him. It was a futlile thought process, because now without his demon he would die.

He trained relentlessly. Pushed himself into exhaustion. All for the respect of the people who despised his very existence. Yet he told himself if he was strong for them, they may come to trust him. Maybe even respect them. He wondered what life would be like without the heartbreaking glares. The hushed whispers. Without the occasional stone cast his way.

A gut wrenching shatter echoed through his small home, interupting his wishful thoughts. He didn't have to guess what it was, he knew. He could only afford so many windows. He forced himself out of bed and struggled into the kitchen. His gaze fell to the sparkling shards that decorated his kitchen floor.

The sight was like a stab to his heart, he'd just replaced that window last week, he fought back his anger as he retrieved a cardboard cutout to seal the entrance. The cold winter air could very well kill him if he wasn't careful. Maybe thats what the villagers are aiming for. Naruto sometimes wished for the kiss of death, never recieving the gift.

Death by the cold would be way better than the regular beatings by the villagers. One wrong turn in an alley way and he could very well meet his demise. Many times he begged for the kiss of feath, yet he always woke up alone in the stone cold alley, clothes torn, body bruised and bloodied.

He carefully swept the sharp glass onto a thin peice of paper and dropped it all into the trash, good money well wasted.

He wobbled back onto the bed, his exhaustion becoming too much to deal with. He threw his thin blanket over him, silently praying for a dreamless sleep he somehow knew he'd never receive.

***

So many terrified screams. There's fire blazing all around the village. Deep red tails slashed around destroying everything in its path. It's a blood bath. Kurama, the nine tails , threwhis head back and begun to concentrate his chakra into a ball.

Naruto jerked upright, wiping the sweat from his brow. His chest heaved as he scrambled for breath. He glanced out the window, morning light streamed in through a gap in the sheet blocking his window. He realized he only got a few hours of sleep.

"Better than nothing", he muttered to himself as he reached for the blanket he had kicked off the bed in his bout of thrashing. A loud knock on the door shocked him, nobody usually came to his dump of a house.

He struggled to the door, slowly cracking it open just in case it was an unwanted visitor. He yanked it the rest of the way open when he saw his lazy eyed teacher standing in the path mid yawn.

"Naruto," He started, "We have a mission."

He scratched his head, plastering a smile onto his face to hide the embaressment of his living conditions. He didn't like to uncomfortable stretch too much, "This early?"

Kakashi merely gave a small nod. Naruto giggled as he reached for the backpack he kept ready. He shoved past Kakashi with a loud obnoxious 'okay', coming from his lips.