Christmas, a time for laughter and cheer, presents and joy, family and togetherness; all barred and forbidden from one lonely boy in Konohagakure. While Konoha was just tropical enough to avoid natural snowfall, that didn't mean that they didn't celebrate in style.
Garland and ribbons hung from every roof and alley. Lights sparkled and flashed in seemingly random, but cohesive, patterns. A wreath adorned nearly every door or shop entrance, and everything, from toys to ninja gear, was on of this made the slightest bit of difference to the boy walking the streets, head down, dark hair shadowing his eyes.
Life for Naruto...has never been easy, to say the least, and though he has never suffered too horrible a beating from mobs, angry drunks or otherwise as he has in other dimensions, he has never truly lived a happy existence.
Always ignored, never acknowledged, all the same as other lives, but this one held a special twist for the unlucky boy. During the sealing, a few key seals were botched. Now, anyone even remotely aware of how precise seals have to be can tell you that ONE botched seal was devastating, but several on a seal this complex? Luckily they nearly canceled out each other...nearly.
Naruto's chakra pathways were severely burned, almost to the point where it killed him. Luckily, the Kyuubi's chakra was just active enough to save them both from destruction, in effect cauterizing the burns. Cauterizing, as you'll soon learn, does stop bleeding, urns, etc. with one major drawback. Once it's been cauterized, nothing can ever grow where it used to be. In essence, it leaves a scar that never heals.
What does this have to do with Naruto you say? We'll the major point is he could never become a ninja. He had enough chakra to keep him alive, but techniques? Forget about it.
After his sixth birthday, Kenji Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, withdrew Naruto from the orphanage he was staying at and gave him his own apartment. Naruto wasn't all that sad to leave. He had never made any real close friends during his time there.
After that he started running errands, little things mostly: Running a delivery from Ichiraku's to a customer's house, buying groceries, selling newspapers, etc. He did that and worked his way around before he started being hired by small convenience stores and shops around the market. That was where he picked up his first true vice: smoking.
Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I believe in any way that it is "Hip and Youthful" as a deranged green maniac would say, more that it became a habit out of necessity.
Imagine this, a young boy, age ten or eleven, minding the shop front when a group of rough looking thugs come in and start roughhousing. They break bottles and smash stands, and cause general havoc with their idiocy. Well they see the small boy behind the counter and start to steal things in plain sight; after all, what can a kid do? Well, it turns out a lot when his livelihood, by which I mean his job, is threatened by a couple punks.
Naruto stands on the stool given to him and starts shouting at them to put the stuff back.
The thugs studiously ignore him and continue to line their pockets. When he mentions that he'll call the ANBU, they listen... and they don't like it.
One of the goons grabs him by his shirt and hauls him over the counter, restraining his arms and covers his mouth. Fearing for his life and paycheck, Naruto grabs a knife that he hid in his back pocket for emergencies and stabbed the goon in the gut.
The man doesn't expect this and falls to the ground with a screech. The others look over to the two and notice a boy holding a bloodied knife over their screaming friend. Still afraid, Naruto slits the man's throat, trying to silence him, but he ends up choking and gurgling on his own blood. This sends the goons running.
When they find Naruto fifteen minutes later in a back storage room, he's huddled in a corner, a pack of cigarettes from the front opened and lying splayed out on the ground before him. Half of them are burnt to the stub with a pile of ash the size of a small rubber ball of to the boy's left. His eyes are glazed over, staring at a cardboard box across from him. His hands are trembling as he holds a lighter in his left, a half gone cigarette in the other.
So you see, do not blame a man for retreating into a nicotine daze, it is not easy to watch a life end, even harder when it's so brutal and gruesome, especially when it was you who caused it. Naruto stayed in the hospital for a long while after that, he eventually got through it, but not without liberal use of nicotine and morphine (another addiction).
After that, he bought a new wardrobe, consisting of civilian clothes mainly. T shirts, jeans, cargo pants, shoes, etc. All in one of three colors: Black, Dark Gray, or Navy Blue.
He also dyed his hair black originally, but didn't renew it, leaving it in its half-blond, half-black state that looked half-repulsive, half-alluring.
He resumed his nomadic progression of jobs, even working up to "Clan" shops, such as Yamanaka Flowers or Akimichi BBQ Grill. He rarely talked to people his own age, mainly sticking to the drunks and gamblers that populated the Red Light district. Yes, it's true; our little Naruto isn't a virgin.
Despite these changes, or perhaps because of it, he caught the eye of several women and girls among both the Shinobi and Civilian families. Chief among these were the Ichiraku, the Aburame, the Kin, and the Yamanaka.
GASP! OCs and Shino's a girl! That's why they call it an AU. But back to the story, each "Clan", as we'll call them each wanted the boy for a separate reason.
The Ichiraku Clan should be a given, but for the dimmer viewer, let me help you along. Naruto has been working there since age seven. In all that time he has proven himself to be a hard-worker, a fast delivery man, and an all around pleasure to be around. Not to mention Ayame has always had a crush on the younger boy.
The Aburame Clan wanted him for a... unique reason. You see, a Demon container emits special pheromones that insects and animals are attracted to. While this might have also had the Inuzuka Clan, it was actually counter-intuitive because of its strength. It actually drove off animals, but didn't have an adverse effect on insects. Along with Shina's (Female Shino, leave me alone) natural curiosity, it lead to some interesting discoveries which will be explained in Shina's chapter.
The Kin (Money/Gold), as their name implies, is a Clan of merchants, prospectors, business men, lawyers and thieves, all synonymous really. During one of their "Crunch Weeks" where they had to gather reports from all of their holdings, only the store that Naruto was managing made a noticeable profit increase. When grilled over the Clan's special "Lawyer Interrogation" techniques, it turned out that many of the managers had skimmed profits for several years. The others were either managed poorly or were just in an undesirable location. Needless to say, they were astounded that a fourteen year old boy was able to do what they themselves couldn't. In return, Naruto was invited over to the Kin compound more often for dinners, socials, and meetings. This also led to a friendship with the youngest daughter Ame, and the third child Tsune.
The Yamanaka didn't have the greatest hopes for Naruto; really all they wanted him for at the beginning was to lure Ino away from Sasuke. They could see where that road would eventually head. Nevertheless, he wormed his way into the elder Yamanaka's hearts... and wallets. He was the highest paid when he worked for either the Yamanaka or the Kin over anyone else. Ino's first reaction to him was distant and cold; after all, who was he, nothing more then just another hired hand, not anyone that could ever replace Sasuke. After a while though, Ino started talking to the mysterious boy on a regular basis. They grew quite close before the accident...but that is for another chapter.
So now, he walks, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he trudges through the crowds of holiday shoppers. Happy bloody Holidays, yeah, right. Naruto sighed out a cloud of smoke as he took another drag from the death stick. He really had no one to celebrate with, apart from his buddies at the "Drunken Fighter" or the girls at the "Pink Kitty", but they weren't really the one to exchange gifts with... well, at least not his drinking buddies if you catch his drift.
"The day before bloody Christmas and I have nowhere to go, Ichiraku has closed down early, and all the other stores have freakin' Genin helping out with the rush. Damn it this sucks!" Naruto sighed out a thicker cloud of smoke as he finished his cigarette, flicking the stub into an alley. What he wouldn't give for a morphine drip right now. But no, those were only for One, special occasions, or Two, medical emergencies.
He stopped in the heart of Konoha market; indeed, Konoha Village itself. From the Hub, as it was called, Naruto could make up his mind. Shaking his head, he set off.