Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot.
"You little brat!"
Most passersby took no heed to the scene that was unfolding at the local food market. This occurrence happened so often, that it became regarded as the norm. Others took on an amused demeanor as they watched once again as the owner of the store tried to futilely catch up to a jet-black blur. He was no match for the blur however, as he quickly dropped his hands to his knees and panted heavily. The blur stopped running and turned around, sticking his tongue out and giving the shopkeeper a toothy grin before disappearing.
"You'll have to try harder than that if you want to catch me, ojisan!"
"I'll get that damned brat next time! I swear I'm going to teach him a lesson next time he steps foot near my store." He muttered in annoyance between heavy pants. Everyone knew though that secretly the old man took quite a bit of a liking to the dark-haired blur in question. The old man, a veteran of the Second Great Shinobi War, has easily kicked the ass of anyone who dared to steal from his store before. However, with the dark-haired blur, it was different.
The dark-haired blur in question was a young, pale, scrawny boy. His clothes, if you could even call them clothes, were torn and covered in so much dirt that the original black color of them was unrecognizable, becoming a dark brown color. His stomach sank in and his ribs protruded out of his chest. He was orphaned at birth without even a clue of his origins besides being delivered to the orphanage by the head of the Uchiha clan. The Uchihas however, didn't believe that someone like that could come from their clan, which was touted as the strongest in Konoha, and thus he was shunned by his own people. He didn't belong with the children at the orphanage either, often having the scraps that they were given as meals stolen from him by the older kids.
Despite his goofy act, the shopkeeper saw the loneliness present in the young boy's eyes in the brief moments that he saw him.
'No child should ever have to go through such loneliness, especially one as young as him.' He thought as a somber expression quickly spread across his facial features before reverting back. 'I've made up my mind on this.'
A few days past until the inevitable time of the young boy's return to the market. The shopkeeper knew the drill at this point. The young boy would sneak around the store until he was certain nobody was watching him, and then would take some food off the shelf and make a run for it. The shopkeeper let the raven-haired boy think that nobody was watching him, when in reality he kept a close eye on him the entire time. He was a highly skilled ex-shinobi after all. Just like predicted he would, the raven-haired child grabbed two loaves of bread off the shelf and made a mad dash out of the market. This time however the shopkeeper didn't chase after him, to the surprise of the young boy.
The dark-haired slowed down, confident that the shopkeeper wasn't coming after him this time. If he did, he would just outrun him once again. He gave one last glance back to where the shopkeeper was standing. Keyword: was. He suddenly felt like he bumped into a brick wall. He turned his head forward and looked up to meet the gaze of the owner of the store. Scared that the shopkeeper would punish him for stealing, he did what any other child his age would do when they are in trouble: cry.
"I'm not going to punish you, I just want to have a small chat." He said with a much kinder expression on his face. The young boy dried his eyes and agreed, seeing that it was his only option. The shopkeeper marched him back to the store and pulled up a small wooden stool for the raven-haired boy to sit on.
"Kid, didn't your parents ever teach you that stealing is a crime?"
"I... don't have any parents" The ever present smile on the young boy's face suddenly vanished as deep loneliness flashed in eyes.
"Then how about your other relatives? Aunt, Uncle, Brother, Sister, Grandparents?"
"I don't have any either. Or they just don't want me."
"Who do you live with then?" The shopkeeper for the first time observed him up-close, taking notice of the terrible condition of the rags he was wearing, as well as how thin he was.
"I live at the orphanage."
"They must feed you there, don't they?" Looking at the condition that the boy was in, he felt his anger bubbling towards how the orphanage treats the children who live there.
"They don't give us food. And when they do..." tears started forming in the raven-haired boy's eyes as he recalled how he was treated by the other children there and the pain in his stomach. "The other children...the other children always take mine. I don't wanna take food from you but I'm so hungry..."
The shopkeeper empathized the feeling of slowly starving to death. The torturous pain alone was unbearable for most adults, let alone a child barely who looks younger than five. He took his arm and put it around the kid's shoulder and wore a kinder demeanor on his face.
"It'll be okay. From now on, I'll give some food everyday so you don't have to steal it."
"R-really?" The young boy looked at the shopkeeper in shock. No one has ever shown even a little bit of kindness to him before.
"Of course. You look like you need to put on a few pounds anyways!" He lightly chuckled. Tears started filling the raven-haired boy's eyes, and suddenly the floodgates opened up. Two rivers flowed down his face as he began trying to form a sentence, hiccuping after every word.
"Ari-arigato go-gozaimasu!" The young raven-haired boy squeaked out between tears.
"Dry those tears kid, you're hungry aren't you? I know something that will go great with those loaves of bread! Wait right here." He went to the backroom and took out some ham from the fridge. He then picked up the loaves of bread and cut them in half, placing the meat between the two halves.
"Here, try this." He held out the sandwich to the raven-haired boy. The young boy immediately began devouring it.
"That was amazing! It tastes nothing like the food I get at the orphanage!" The raven-haired boy said with his mouth full was on cloud nine, for the first time in his life feeling satisfied with what he ate. The old man laughed in amusement at the jubilant expression on the raven-haired boy's face.
"I haven't had a laugh like that in quite a while. What's your name, kid?" The dark-haired boy stopped eating his sandwich and swallowed.
"My name is Masako... Masako Uchiha." He looked at his feet, prepared for the scorn or the laughter that always followed when he told people his name. No one believed that someone like him could belong to the Uchiha clan. They thought that he was just a good-for-nothing child who was just trying to leech off the Uchiha's famous name to get what he wanted. Or they just laughed in his face and brushed him off. He was shocked when he didn't hear any laughter or disgust directed towards him.
"The Uchiha, huh? Go figure." He thought aloud to himself. He isn't surprised that such a stuck-up clan would abandon someone who they thought were too weak to be a part of their clan. No, what makes him wonder is why a child this young was an orphan in the first place. What happened to his parents?
"Hey Ojiisan, how did you that thing where you disappeared earlier? That was so cool! Can you teach me how to do it?" The shopkeeper was snapped out of his thoughts and was met with stars in Masako's eyes.
"That was a Shunshin no Jutsu. It is a skill that you learn when you are a shinobi." The stars in the raven-haired boy's eyes shone even brighter.
"You were a shinobi, Ojiisan?! You're so cool!" The shopkeeper blushed from the praise.
"Of course. I was a shinobi for over 30 years before I retired!" Masako's demeanor suddenly filled with determination.
"Ojiisan, I've always wanted to be a shinobi. They are cool and strong and people treat them better. And also they get to wear those awesome shiny things on their foreheads! Can you train me please?!"
'I must admit, this kid's got spunk, asking me to train him to become a shinobi. He's not ready yet to start training, but maybe in a few years I might think about it. If I'm still alive by then that is!' The shopkeeper continued contemplating in his mind as Masako was assaulting him with a barrage of every variation of "please" out there.
"Say what gaki, I'll think about it. Right now however, you're too young and not in good enough shape to start. So first, think about eating right and getting healthier, then we'll talk about shinobi training."
'Okay! If that means you'll train me I'll do it!" He then suddenly became quiet and appeared to be deep in thought.
"What's up gaki?"
"Ojiisan, what is eating right?" A giant sweat drop formed on the shopkeeper's forehead.
'This is going to be a long road. Just what have I gotten myself into this time?'
A/N: Please leave a review with any feedback and criticism. It is greatly appreciated!
Jutsu List:
Shunshin no Jutsu: Body-flicker technique