BASICALLY IN THIS STORY, THROUGH SEVERAL EXENTUOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, NARUTO ENDS UP BEING RAISED IN SUNA AND NOT KOHANA, AS A SUNA SHINOBI. THIS STORY WILL INCLUDE THE SAND SIBLINGS, JIRAYA, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE LESSER KNOWN SUNA NINJA. I WILL ALSO INCLUDE MY OWN OCS, BUT THEY WONT BE THE FOCUS. PLEASE ENJOY THE STORY AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW!
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On October 10th, five year old Naruto Uzumaki patiently waited by his front door for his Ji ji to come give him his birthday present. He had been waiting for a few hours at this point, suppressing his anxiety, knowing the Hokage would want him to focus on the good.
Ji ji is gonna give me a present. That's important. Not any of the mean things people always say on my birthday.
Usually people were fairly tame with the whispering and jeering when he went out in public, but on October 10th, the day of the Kyuubi attack, people seemed to get braver. They outwardly yelled and said rude things to him, even when he apologizes for whatever it was he did, and starts crying.
He remembers vividly, two years ago, when he was three, an old woman threw her heavy boot at him, hitting him in the back and sending him to the ground. Nobody helped him up.
When he looked back, the old woman was being taken away by the ANBU, and he never saw her again.
After that, none of the civilians did anything that drastic again.
Naruto heard a knock on the door and hastily snapped into attention. His smile split his face as he ran to the door with glee, not even thinking it could be anyone else but who he was expecting.
Thankfully, it was the Hokage. And the old man grinned widely as the little boy jumped into his arms.
"Oh woah, hold still Naruto, these old bones aren't what they used to be." Hiruzen laughed heartily, setting Naruto down softly.
"Thorry Ji Ji! But I'm just so happy to see you! Can you tell anything different about me? Huh? Can you? Its S's Ji Ji! I've almost got my S's down! Look see, ssssthhhhhhhseethhthse! Isn't that the most greatest thing EVER?!"
The Hokage nearly bent over laughing. "My oh my Naruto, that sure is impressive. So I assume you've been doing well?"
"I'm...I'm the greatest Ji Ji!"
Naruto hesitated for only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to send alarm bells ringing in his head.
Still, the wizened man gave Naruto a smile, though a pained one.
"Now, do you want to see your present?" He asked the child.
Naruto couldn't look more excited. He was bouncing up and down, nearly hitting the bent over Hokage in the chin with his forehead, spinning his arms around and around like a windmill.
"YETH YETH YETH YETH!" Naruto yelled with enthusiasm.
Hiruzen smirked, and extended his palm, and in a puff of smoke a book appeared in his hand.
Naruto immediately recoiled in disgust. "Ewww, you got me a book?" His Ji Ji shook his head.
"Not just any book, but The Guide To The Will of Fire, the code all Konoha shinobi follow. An you're gonna need it if you're gonna join the academy."
For once, Naruto was still. "Ac-ac-academy?" He was dumbfounded. He never thought, even after all his begging they would let him into the academy, to become a ninja.
Demons don't become ninjas. His mind traitorously told him. Even still, he was overcome with more happiness then he had ever felt in his life. So much so that he immediately began to cry like a baby, eyes flooded with tears and snot dripping down his nose.
He wiped his face with his raggedy shirt though, and smiled up at the Hokage with true happiness.
He threw wrapped around Hiruzen's legs with a hug. "Thank's Ji Ji! I'll make thure to become the betht ninja ever!"
The Hokage nodded with a smile. "I'm sure you will Naruto. I'm sure you will."
There was a moment of peaceful silence, a silence that could only accompany the best news of someone's life.
"Well I best be going Naruto, lots of work to be done. Have a lovely night."
And just as suddenly, all that happiness washed away like a beautiful sandy beach, smothered in cold crushing water.
"You're leaving?" Naruto said quietly, sadly.
Hiruzen gave the young Uzumaki a sad nod. "I have a lot of work to do, tonight especially. I'm sorry." He leaned down to give a quick hug, squeezing Naruto's small frame tightly, and left.
Naruto was left standing alone in his doorway for many minutes, not even crying. Not feeling anything quite yet. He only had one person in his life, and that was Ji Ji. And he only saw him maybe four times a year, if he was lucky. Before this, it had been months since he had spoken to anybody that long. And on the night he feels most lonely? The worst night of the year? He only talked to him for ten minutes.
Naruto looked at his open door.
He never even came inside. He thought.
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Across the street, perched on of a rooftop, sat a certain white haired Sannin, watching the entire event take place through narutos open window. And he was pissed.
Jiraya crumpled his hand into a fist in pure rage. Sarutobi had promised me. Swore on his life that my godson would be taken care of. Yet everytime I come here his situation is worse and worse. I have to do something.
Now, in most universes, he would more or less suck it up. In some he would go to his sensei and demand once again a better life for Naruto, for him to be treated with the love he deserves and more so. But in most realities he simply went to a bar, got drunk, and left the village that very same night, leaving Naruto alone.
But there was something different about this universe. Maybe Jiraya had been reading too many heroic stories, maybe he had been reminiscing about Kushina and Minato a little bit too much, or maybe this Jiraya was just a little braver, but whatever the case, in this reality he really did do something.
He couldn't very well take him on his own though, he still needed to run a spy network, and Sarutobi would never let him. But he could have someone else take care of him.
Casting a camouflage jutsu, he jumped quietly to Naruto's building, slipping inside his floor through the fire exit. He stealthy sneaked up behind him, carefully placing a dab of low dose of painless sleeping gel on his neck. Instantly, the boy collapsed in his arms, and the Sannin quickly closed the door.
Unfortunately. Jiraiya thought. For this plan to work nobody can know he's the Kyuubi Jinjuriki. So I'm gonna have to make some adjustments to his seal.
And so, with guilt and fear in his heart, the man worked the next two hours tweaking the seal on Naruto's stomach so there was no way Naruto could draw upon the demons chakra, intentionally or otherwise. Because if he was able too, then he becomes a risk to the village in someone else's hands.
He was able, using the same technique, remove the whisker marks along the boys cheeks, so he looked like any other little blonde boy.
When he was done, he wrapped the still unconscious boy in chakra encased cloth, so not even the Byakugan could see inside and grabbed the book Sarutobi gave him, before leaving the small apartment, intentionally leaving the window open as he did.
He left the village not 10 minutes later, slipping past all defenses.
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About a mile outside of Konoha, he met with his contact, who he had messaged using summons.
The old ninja, Jiraiya couldn't remember his name, was on high alert as he met with the man. He seemed like any small noise could send him into fight or flight mode. Even when all he did was land next to him he jumped, startled.
The man, who looked to be in his fifties, breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank god Jiraiya-sama. I thought you were ANBU."
Jiraya shook his head. "Not likely, pal."
He laughed nervously. "Now whats this package you wanted out of the village?"
Jiraya unwrapped Naruto, to the shock of the greying shinobi.
"I need this boy transferred to a woman named Shina in the Land of Rivers, tell her he is in her care now, and remind her she owes me several favors. And I need it done by the time he wakes up." The blond child didn't even make a sound, he hardly breathed, to the man, he looked dead.
He looked like he wanted to ask questions, but knew his duty. He carefully took the boy into his arms and nodded, turning to run as fast as he could. But his shoulder was roughly grabbed by Jiraya. His head swivel back, and Jiraya was tucking a small book, newly bought it looked like, into the folds of the blonds shirt.
Jiraya leaned in close to the shinobi's ear, and whispered.
"If any harm comes to this boy, I will find you, and I won't only kill you, I'll make sure you're remembered as the dishonourable cretin who caused it."
The man nodded, a bead of sweat going down his neck.
And just like that, he disappeared into the night.
The fear in Jiraiya's gut built up. He didn't trust that man, would rather make the trip himself, but if he was seen with him he would be hunted down like a missing nin, and this guy was the best Jiraiya could do on such short notice.
At around that same time, just as the festival in celebration of the defeat of the Kyuubi was dying down, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled into his pipe, because from his perspective, nothing had changed. And he was in fact planning on visiting Naruto again soon for a trip to Ichirakus.
Yes. He thought. That should fix his disappointment from tonight.
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It was nine hours later, after the shinobi assagined the transport mission had been running none stop in effort of his orders, when the two settled down by the mouth of a cave, at this point he was on the border between the Land of Fire, and The Land of Rivers, having decided for a quick break.
The man gulped down his water bottle with vigor, desperately exhausted. He glanced at the child, who he had safely hidden away in a bush, with a minor genjutsu to conceal him for extra protection.
He wondered what was so important about this boy that Jiraya-sama demanded this mission so quickly. Was he his son? No impossible. They look nothing alike.
Could it be, that Jiraya-sama was kidnapping him? Even the thought seemed ridiculous, but he could think of no other reason for the circumstances.
He mused on that thought for a little while, closing his eyes as he did.
A snap of a twig snapped them open quickly.
Before he could react, a rusty, civilian knife was being thrust into his face, through his mouth, and into his skull, killing him instantly.
He never even had time to think.
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Six hours later, when it was mid day, after the bandits had long since left, taking the body of the shinobi to be sold on the blackmarket, along with all his items, Naruto finally woke up in a bush, very confused, and well rested.
Naruto wondered down the trail aimlessly looking around his surroundings. For no particular reason, he took a right when he came across a fork in the road, not left, meaning he was headed to Wind Country, not River Country.
Naruto wondered for hours, into the windy climate of Wind Country, and although it was very hot and not cold at all, Naruto shook like it was freezing. The fear of being alone, even more alone, was crushing him. All he had left of what he remembered was the book Ji Ji had given him, which he clutched tightly in his hands,
This is all my fault. Naruto sniffled. If I wasn't such a brat this wouldn't have happened.
Eventually, he long after he had crossed into the desert, he saw a small camp in the distance, with people.
But he didn't walk over, instead, he simply watched them. Too afraid of rejection, like he had faced his entire life, he watched them smile and laugh in the distance. He wanted more than anything to go over there, talk to them. But he knew, he knew they would hate him like everyone else.
"Hey kid, you ok?"
Naruto jumped a foot in the air, and spun around to see a man in a green flak jacket, with deeply browned skin and black, fuzzy hair, to look down at him.
Naruto gaped at him for a second, then spun around to see the same man still laughing and grinning across the desert with the other people. He spun around again, and the man was still there.
"Theres two of you!" Naruto shouted, astonished. The man nodded a little, with a kind smile.
"Yeah, sorry I'm just a water clone. But are you ok? Why are you out here all alone?"
Naruto finally realized. "You're a shinobi!" He shouted again, not even registering the question.
"Yeah I am. Now why are you here, and more importantly, Are. You. Ok?" The man put more emphasis on the words this time.
Naruto blinked. "Oh, uhhh. I guess. I woke up in a bush all alone all the way over there." Naruto pointed west. But then quickly reconsidered.
"Or maybe it was that way?" He pointed again in a completely opposite direction. "Or that way? I really don't know. I'm sorry."
The man smiled a little. "Hey no need to be sorry. Do you know where you came from? Originally?"
Naruto tried very very hard to think of the name of his village, it definitely started with a K.
Ko-ko-Koleslaw? No that starts with a C. Naruto thought.
"Hehe, I'm really sorry, but I have no idea. But it wath definitely, that way!"
The man knelt down next to him. "You sure?"
Naruto's finger drooped, "No…"
The man laughed then, kind and warm. It reminded him of Ji Ji's laugh.
"Here." He said. "You want some food?"
Naruto lit up like a christmas tree. "Oh yeah! I can't remember the last time I ate!"
That seemed to put some concern on the dark skinned mans face, but he moved on.
"Come on, why don't I introduce you to my friends? They've got food. And while I'm at it, you can tell me your name."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" The boy yelled, grabbing his hand and running his little legs in the direction of his friends.
"Haha! Nice to meet you Naruto, I'm Togashi Sanetomo."
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NARUTO IS IN WIND COUNTRY! WHOOO! A LOT OF THINGS ARE HAPPENING NEXT CHAPTER, SO BUCKLE UP! AND MAKE SURE TO REVIEW! IT MOTIVATES ME TO WRITE MORE.
