Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A/N: I am really sorry for the horrible Japanese that I have used. But I will not be using it more than absolute necessary. So don't except -kun, -chan or the other suffixes. On with the story.
Huff..huff..huff.. One could see an average looking four year old boy panting as he caught his breath from the long run that he had done. He didn't understand why, but his caretaker at the orphanage didn't give him enough food. She even beat him some times. Almost all the children that were older than him picked up on him. He had also seen the matrons working there simply turning a blind eye in these cases while they would immediately help any other child that faced such problem. He didn't understand why, but he knew one thing for sure; he was not well liked here. He looked at the packet of bread that he had stolen from the kitchen of the orphanage. He quickly closed the door to his room and filled a glass of water. He tore open the packet and took out a few pieces of bread and dipped them in the water and began eating them.
He had always felt bad when he saw other students milling around; playing together. He wanted to be with them. Play like them. He had seen a few of the children getting picked up by their new parents. All the children were made aware of what parents are and their importance in life. As orphans, they didn't have the luxury to know it on their own. He hoped that he would also get picked by some nice parents.
Since the past six months, he had started to understand his surroundings better and better. In these six months he had understood that rarely, if ever he saw someone who didn't hate him in the first glance. But they would suddenly start hating him as soon as they saw his face clearly. When he went to the public park, he was met with harsh stares. Adults would pick their children and leave the place. It all made it very clear to him that he was going to be hated for some or the other reason. Till six months ago, he had cried himself to sleep many times, but not now. He had resolved to understand everything and change things for himself. He would find a home. But unfortunately for the blue eyed blond, his life was going to get messy soon...for he was Mataratsu Naruto.
(Konoha → village hidden in the leaves, shinobi council)
In a circular room, many people sat on the sides looking at the single person sitting at the front. He was Sandaime Hokage of Konoha; Sarutobi Hiruzen also known as the Professor through the great shinobi nations. Hokage was the highest authority in the village of Konoha. Just like any other village leader of the main hidden villages, he was a kage level shinobi. Kage was the highest considered level a ninja can reach, but not many can achieve it. Thus it was a very rare occasion that he was having an unnecessary headache due to the arguing of the councilmen. The people surrounding him were all important figures in his village. They were all clan heads and the elders i.e. the retired and veteran warriors of the older generation.
Hiashi Hayuga was sitting closest to his right hand side and was the head of Hayuga clan; Fugaku Uchiha sat opposite him and was the head of the Uchiha clan. Beside Fugaku sat a man who looked completely bored, like he would rather sleep than be here at the moment. And that might as well have been true. He was Shikaku Nara the head of Nara clan; also known for producing the laziest yet smartest people in the village. Beside him sat Shibi Aburame the head of the Aburame clan. This clan was known for producing logical people and their closeness to bugs. Aburame actually held colonies of their chosen bugs within their bodies. Beside Hiashi was sitting the current head of the Inuzuka clan, Tsume Inuzuka. This clan was known for their closeness with their nin-dogs. These dogs grew quiet in size and could even perform jutsus. Beside her sat Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Yamanaka clan. This was the clan of the mind readers. Inoichi was a very skilled individual when it came to his skills with his family jutsus. That is why he was the head of the interrogation department. He could literally rip out the necessary information out of his victims. Beside him sat his longtime friend, Chouza Akimichi clan head of the Akimichi clan. They were known for their physical strength. Ino-Shika-Cho was a team that earned great fame during last Great War. There were other clan heads as well from the lesser clans of Konoha. Right in front of the Hokage sat the elders of the council; Danzo and Koharu, his onetime team mates.
The reason for his current headache was simple, the blond boy that he had been trying to protect for so long. All the present members of the shinobi council knew what had happened almost 5 years ago. They were attacked by the lord of demons, Kyuubi no kitsune. It destroyed many lives then. Whatever they threw at it; it didn't even harm it. Even the sanin, greatest fighters after the Hokage failed to stop them even with their giant summons. They had a giant toad, a giant snake and a giant slug and the personal summon of the third Hokage monkey king Enma, a giant monkey. But nothing succeeded in holding it for long. As a final resort, their Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze sealed the demon in a newborn child.
He summoned the death god himself to do the deed. But the death god needed payment, so he took Minato's soul as the payment. That is when Sarutobi was once more elected back to his old job as the Hokage. Only two people were aware of the child's lineage, Sarutobi and his student, Jiriya of the sanin who was Minato's teacher. Naruto's Father was none other than Minato himself and his mother was Kushina Uzumaki. She was head of the Uzumaki clan and known as the red death of Konoha. She died during child birth as she was already bed ridden with disease halfway through the pregnancy and couldn't make it to the end. But for safety of the child, Hiruzen and Jiriya changed his last name. Both his parents had acquired a great many enemies in their life time. If the news of their child had gotten out of the village, then the poor kid would have had to face assassination attempts since he wouldn't even remember. But that didn't change the fact that people knew what he held. They had seen it happening in front of them and many were deeply wounded by the losses they had suffered at the hands of the fox. And they wanted an outlet for their anger and frustration. 'At least the kid hadn't been beaten, yet.' Hiruzen thought sadly.
To keep Naruto's lineage hidden, his name was changed to Mataratsu Naruto. It saved him from the external attacks on him. But he was still scorned by the village. People wanted to see him dead while the shinobi knew better. Due to the death god's seal, the demon within Naruto wouldn't break free on its own. But now they considered him to be a weapon of Konoha. That was partially true. With the power of the strongest of bijuu, he could literally escalate Konoha to best standing status. As of now, the strongest shinobi village was Kumogakure no Sato or also known as Kumo. They were the only force that lasted against Konoha in last Great War. They were equals in the battle field. With the 3 sanin, Sarutobi, Minato and Kushina as Konoha's greatest assets while Kumo had their Sandaime Raikage (Hokage equivalent) A , his brother B also known as Killer bee, the eight tailed jinchuriki (human sacrifice or demon container) and the now deceased jinchuriki of two tailed demon Nibi no Nekometa. With the power of two tailed beasts, Kumo was more than enough to give Konoha a run for their money. If it hadn't been for Minato holding the speed freak of a taijutsu user A, it would have been devastating. A was just as much feared as was Minato for his speed. Those two had the power to literally destroy armies on their own. While Minato had his prized creation, flying thunder god; A was able to match him with pure speed. It was said that he had mastered lightning manipulation to such a degree, that he could literally transform into a lightning bolt.
But as of now, no village was in any condition to attack others. The only one with the power to destroy Konoha had lost their retired Nedaime Raikage who died sealing the two tailed beast in a new host as the old one was dying of old age. Thus the new Container was not up to the task of participating in an open war yet. And even though Konoha lost a lot of forces in Kyuubi attack, they only lost their Hokage of the time, Minato. All other main power houses were still alive and good. So it would take all the nations time to prepare for war as they had taken the biggest beatings in the war with the exception of Konoha and Kumo. Thus they had time to get back to their strength. And Naruto would be the easiest way to get their power back. All councilmen were here for the exact reason. All of them wanted Naruto to be trained and made into a weapon that would destroy Konoha's enemies.
Finally with a sigh, Sarutobi rose from his seat. He raised his hand and the noise immediately dropped down to barely whispers.
"If that is the will of the council, then so be it. Naruto Mataratsu would be raised to be a weapon of Konoha when he turns of age 6." with that he left the room in a sunshin. When he got back to his home, he collapsed on his bed and held his face in his hands. 'Forgive me Minato, Kushina and Naruto. I couldn't do more than what I have. Forgive me.'
While Naruto was still cooped up in his room, he looked at his eyes again in the half broken mirror. They had changed color six months ago from their light blue to dark blue that they were now. He could see a very thin silver ring surrounding his pupils as well. He wasn't sure what had happened, but understood that they have changed. You had to look very carefully to actually see the ring. He also knew why he was getting more mature by the minute. The change in his eyes had somehow made him understand, know the world a bit better. His perception has increased on the basic most level. He only hoped that no-one would notice it. He took a deep breath and decided to visit the library. At least there he may get some valuable information. No one got out of their way to make his life miserable there. He knew that there must have been a number of shinobi close-by. The general knowledge about the shinobi was available in the library.
He mused back at the last few months. He had luckily taught himself to read and right. Most of the teachers didn't pay much attention to him but he learned from watching others. He paid the utmost attention to the lectures. He had tried to gain their attention by trying to answer their questions, but they never gave him a chance. With time, he relented. He simply decided to learn and not pay attention to anything else. All the children were admitted to reading and writing lectures. It was for students from age 4-7. At 7 they were given option to join shinobi academy or normal school in the village. He had decided to be a shinobi as it had always caught his attention. Doing those cool things like spewing fire from his mouth or breaking trees with punches. But in these last months he had seen the shinobi practicing. He had seen a green spandex wearing man running across the village borders several times. Then he saw the man punching a boulder repeatedly until it cracked and fell in multiple pieces. After that he immediately went for the next boulder. He understood that he would have to go through such rigorous training if he wanted to be a shinobi of great caliber.
He came out of his musings and entered the library. He went to the shinobi section of the library and started to browse through the different section. He picked up a book on Konoha history and one on basics of shinobi training. He spent a few hours there. By the time he stepped out, it was already evening. He stated his walk back towards the orphanage. When he got back, he lowered his head and walked back into his room. He hadn't wanted to see everyone's hate-filled gaze on him. When he closed the door to his room, he finally relaxed and let loose a long breath.
He reflected on what he had learned about Konoha. He came to know the three sanin, their current and past Hokage. About the will of fire that was Konoha's motto. He also read about the well-known abilities of all the Hokages and a few of the well-known shinobi. He read about the first Hokage – Hashirama Senju and his ability to create wood. Second Hokage – Tobirama Senju and his ability to create water out of nothing. He learned about the Uchiha legend, Madara Uchiha. He was the only known Uchiha to ever activate the second level of Sharingan, the Uchiha clan Dojutsu also known as the Mangekyo Sharingan. He read about the known abilities of the said Dojutsu. It could create an eternal being around the user as an ultimate defense. He could also spew the eternal flames of Ameterasu from his left eye. It also increased the basic advantages of the Dojutsu. Naruto also saw a vague picture of the Mangekyo in the book; it was like a three bladed shuriken. The normal Sharingan was also shown beside it. It was a picture of an eye without pupil. Instead of the pupil it had three tomoes in the eye. It was said to be the fully matured Sharingan. It also said that at the time of activation, it had only one tomoe. He also read about the famed user of the Bykugan Dojutsu, Nibaru Hayuga. The Dojutsu gave its user 360 degree vision. They could also see the tenketsu points of a person. With simple taps of finger they could beat their opponents. The Dojutsu was a pupil less white eye. When activated, the veins connected to the eye bulged. One could easily activate it by sending a constant flow of chakra to the eye. He also read about many other noteworthy characters from Konoha and their abilities. He also read about the summons that had been in Konoha and who they were used by.
He had also done a little reading on his basics of shinobi book. Here he got to know about chakra. He understood that it was part spiritual and part physical. He understood that it took a long time to actually access the chakra. That is why the shinobi academy took four years to complete and yet only a few jutsu were taught. Most children from clans started to study for their shinobi careers earlier than the children of civilians. They were home taught by the age of six in accessing chakra. It was actually easy, in theory at least. They had to meditate and use one of the basic hand seals, the ram seal and try to search for that feeling of chakra. It was different for everyone so they had to find it on their own. So Naruto decided to start it as soon as he could. That would be tomorrow. He also decided to start training his body. He was really average and that was NOT good for a shinobi. He had to be better, he had to be best. Thus with the thoughts of getting better and finding a home for him, he drifted off to sleep early.
