(A/N: This fic contains swearing, violence, references to drug use, adult situations, and in general everything else that make a fic rated M.

So far I'm not sure what the pairings will be…

Vote on my profile for parings for the characters, or leave me a message via PM.

I do not own Naruto.)

Summary:

Alright, so we all know Naruto had a crappy childhood right? But what if he and another orphan decided to look out for each other in a cruel world? Basically, this story is my take on how Naruto's life could have been different. Otherwise, almost all facts follow canon, but its important to remember that Naruto won't be obsessed hung up on Sasuke's dick. No Yaoi.

11/24/09


Chapter 1: The Beginning

Seven years after the Kyuubi incident…

A tall woman shooed children away from a certain… thing. She would be damned if she let any of her children be near that thing.

"Stay away from him…"

"Demon child…"

A small blonde was in the corner of the orphanage, his back facing everyone. No one could see the tears that streamed down his face, down the six curious lines on his face. No one could see the sadness in his blue eyes. No one would play with him.

Why won't anyone play with me?


A short boy glared at his captors, um escorts with dark brown eyes. He had been caught a few days ago rummaging through the trash looking for things to eat when someone had found him. One thing led to the next, and here he was on the way to an orphanage. He hated authority. He would rather be starving but free on his own, able to make his own decisions, rather than be under the care of some… people.

His stomach growled. The boy ran his hand through his short black hair and scowled. (This is not Sasuke. This is my OC.)

It's for the food.

The two adults rather unceremoniously brought him inside the orphanage, dropped him on the ground, gave some papers to the orphanage's headmistress, and left, showing the typical amount of care from so-called 'public servants'.

The little boy scowled again, then stopped himself. He was bored already. At least life on the streets never got boring. There was always something to do. At the very least, there was one thing you were always doing: surviving.

He looked around the orphanage, seeing curious faces. He gave them all a blank look. They were like little animals, running towards an unknown with no regard for the consequences. Like pigs running to the slaughter. A street rat would never run near a stranger just to get a look. To steal a purse or a wallet, sure. But not for just a look.

I have to stop thinking like that. I guess I just don't live on the streets anymore. I suppose I should make some… friends. But with these children? The boy ignored the fact that he was essentially the same age, or even younger than some of the other orphans.

He saw a patch of spiky blond hair. He walked over to the blonde, and saw his shoulders were shaking. He was crying.

"Why are you crying?" The black haired boy asked.

"No one will play with me." The blonde responded.

"I'll play with you. (A/N: Nuh uh, not like that) What do you want to play?"

"Not Hide-and-Seek, that's no fun to play with only two people. Not Tag either, same thing." The blonde frowned. Two seconds later his face split with a huge grin. "I got it! Let's play Ninja!"

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Dunno. I don't remember my parents, and I've never been really close to anyone. Aha! I know!" He looked side to side, scared that someone else would hear. "Before now, I fed myself by stealing food or wallet. When people think they're alone, they often talk to themselves, and usually whenever I stole a guy's wallet, he'd say something like, 'Oh, I must have dropped in somewhere in the shadows.' So call me Kage!" (Literally means shadow, pronounced Ka-Gei, as in Kage Bushin [Shadow Clone] or Hokage. Not as in Cage)

"Cool! That's a great name! My name's Naruto…" As soon as he said that, he smirked. "It means fish patty…"

They both laughed at that. Unknown to either of them, their friendship would last for years and years, and they would both grow to depend on each other.


A few hours later…

The two boys both looked up when they heard a metal clanking sound. Dinner time!

Kage and Naruto both rushed to get in line for food. But because they were somewhat far away playing Ninja, they were in the very back of the line.

Mizune frowned as she saw the two boys. She would have to have a talking with the new one. Could have her newest charge being influence by the demon boy, now could she?

As each child reached the front of the line, she scooped a single bowlful of rice onto their dirty plates. Typically, when Naruto came up she only gave him about half a bowlful. Naruto, being completely used to it, didn't complain. If he did, she would just take it away completely. He walked off.

Kage was the very last child in line. Mizune smiled what she considered to be a motherly smile at the boy.

"Well it looks like I made a little bit more rice that usual this time. I hope you don't mind if I give you the extra?"

Kage's stomach growled again. The fat woman laughed again.

"Of course you don't. Here you go." She scooped him the equivalent of nearly three bowls of rice.

Bringing her head down, she whispered to the black haired boy.

"Stay away from the blond."

"Why?"

"Because he is a demon."

"Why?"

Mizune frowned. She could tell the boy… and risk execution for violating the Third Hokage's law. She decided it wasn't worth it. Children were not exactly skilled at keeping secrets.

"Because I said so."

"Why?" Kage asked again.

"Just do it! You will do it!" She hissed.

Kage stared at the woman like she was mentally retarded. Or maybe just plain stupid. (Oh wow, this kid is smart.)

"That's not a good reason." He promptly walked off towards Naruto.

Kage sat down next to Naruto. He looked over at Naruto's pitiful serving, then looked down at his own. Kage's stomach growled as he pondered this moral dilemma. Feed a boy he just met, or feed himself. He scowled. The Fat Lady, as he had already taken to calling her, probably never gave Naruto much food.

Kage unceremoniously dumped about half his plate into Naruto's, then started eating voraciously. He completely missed Naruto's wide-eyed look of shock. No one ever gave him their food before. His shock quickly turned to happiness as he, too, began eating his food. Within minutes both were finished.

"Kage…"

"Yeah…"

"We're friends, right?"

"Yeah, and…?"

"…nothing. Thank you, though."

"Don't worry about it. Friends gotta look out for each other, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Their brief moment of sentimental maturity was soon over. After all, they were only seven.

"Let's play Ninja some more!"

"YEAH!"


Three years later…

"…AND NEVER COME BACK!" Mizune screamed. Throwing Naruto out onto the street, Mizune stormed back into the orphanage.

Naruto stood up and brushed himself off. The last few years had not been easy for the orphanage's manager. He had made sure of that. He and Kage had played plenty of pranks to make Mizune's life hell. From cutting holes in her pants so everyone could see her fat ass, to painting her face while she was asleep, no prank was too childish to play on the evil woman. She deserved it, ten times over.

"…AND TAKE YOUR MINION WITH YOU!" Mizune added, throwing Kage outside for good measure.

Kage also stood up and brushed himself off.

"Minion?" he asked rhetorically. "I'm insulted. Most of our pranks were my idea. If anything you are my minion."

Naruto smiled. For a moment, he was afraid Kage would hate him for getting them both thrown out of their home, no, the orphanage. A home was a place to be happy in, and that definitely wasn't it. His smile quickly vanished, though. They had nowhere to go, no way to get food.

But why is Kage smiling? He usually would have realized this by now. He should be ranting by now. But he's smiling like we just pulled the best prank.

"I know that look on your face. What did you do?" The blonde asked, filled with trepidation.

"Did you ever wonder why the other thing Mizune ever gave us children to eat was rice or occasionally ramen? Especially when orphanages are funded directly by the city?"

Naruto blinked at the non sequitur.

Mmmmmmmnnnn ramen… wait what?

His mind raced at the implications. Contrary to what he let most people believe, Naruto was not stupid, far from it. First of all, Naruto often played dumb just so people would underestimate him and see him as less of a threat. Second, he just preferred not to think when it wasn't necessary.

"She… laundered money?"

Kage's smile dropped a bit. "Yeah, the money that was supposed to go to feeding us, keeping the building in good shape, getting us toys, all that stuff. That bitch stole the money and used some of it on herself. In fact, most of it she didn't even use. It's like she stole it just to have the money, not even to use it."

"Buuuuuuut…" He continued, "If she's not using it, she's not gonna miss is, is she?"

Naruto's grin almost split his face. "You didn't…"

"Oh yeah." Kage unzipped his jacket, showing fat bags of ryo hidden in his jacket. "I guess she never really paid any attention to us if she didn't notice when I gained twenty pounds or so. In the end, we got the last laugh."

"How much?"

"Enough for us to eat for... oh, say, five or six years…. In addition to getting a house."

"NO WAY!"

"Yep. Maybe not a house, though, but at least a decent sized apartment."

"What'll we do when the money runs out?" Naruto asked.

Kage smile as a wave of nostalgia washed over him. "Remember the first game we ever played? We're gonna become the best Kami-damned shinobi Konoha has ever seen. Friends 'til the end?"

Naruto slowly shook his head.

"No… We stopped being friends a long time ago…brother."

They both smiled.


(A/N: I just had fried rice for dinner right before I wrote this, so I just had to use it in the food scene.)

How's that for an epic start?