Burbon Street, apt. 9, top floor

6:00

*Beep beep beep*

Naruto Uzumaki rolled over and squinted at his alarm clock. How could it be time to get up already? It felt like he'd just blinked and it was morning.

He yawned. Like an idiot, he'd taken the late shift at the café, Á La Mode, where he worked six days a week. He knew he shouldn't complain, more hours meant more money and they could definitely use all the help they could get.

He lived with his Mom in a tiny two bedroom apartment in a shitty neighborhood. It wasn't the best but it was home.

Naruto rolled out of bed, his feet hitting the cold floor with a thud. He couldn't wait until it was the weekend. It was only Tuesday but he could already tell that this week was going to be rough.

He wondered if his Mom was back home yet. Sometimes she'd leave for work and wouldn't come back until the late afternoon the next day.

He stood up and stretched before walking out of his room. Another three steps and he was outside his mother's room. The hallway was so narrow he would sometimes end up in there if he wasn't careful.

He poked his head in and saw his Mom collapsed on the bed. She was so tired she hadn't even bothered to take off her work uniform. Naruto quietly walked in and gently covered her with her duvet that was neatly placed at the end of her bed. He paused, his mom really was beautiful, she actually looked her age when she was asleep.

Her fiery red hair gently curled into soft ringlets down her back and framed her heart shaped face like a soft caress. It contrasted heavily with her wide, emerald green eyes which stood out even more against her fair, alabaster skin. Her long eyelashes fluttered softly against her delicate cheek bones as she stirred restlessly in her sleep.

The continuous long hours of her job had etched stress and worry into her very being. It made him sad to know that he was the cause of this. He quietly stepped out of the room and headed to the kitchen to start making breakfast.

He had about 15 minutes before he had to start getting ready for school and he had to prepare their lunch for the day.

She was a nurse at the local hospital and the hours were brutal. Ever since his dad died things had been going downhill for them until he got a job to help pick up the slack but somehow it still wasn't enough. Sometimes the bills wouldn't even get paid until it was weeks overdue.

She was killing herself to put him through private school and provide for him. He'd begged her to send him to regular school figuring that it wouldn't be as hard on her if all of their money didn't go towards his education but she had vehemently said no and that his father had wanted this for him.

After that she wouldn't say another word about it and every time he brought it up she'd get this tight lipped expression on her face. She didn't know it but Naruto had secretly picked up another job as a waiter. Her letting him get his first one had been a struggle. He only got to work the minimal hours and worked on commission but every penny counted and if it eased the stress off of his mother he wasn't going to complain.

Naruto set the packed lunches on their small two seater table, checked his watch and cursed. He was running late again. Rushing to his room he quickly grabbed his clothes for the day and headed to the bathroom and hopped in the shower. He hoped he'd be on time to catch his ride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'

By the time he was ready to go his mom had gotten up, showered, and put on a new uniform. She leaned against the counter gingerly sipping her freshly made coffee as she watched her son flit around the kitchen grabbing ingredients to make his morning toast.

"Mom I might be a little late getting home tonight so don't wait up.'' She made a face but nodded nonetheless. She hated how her son had to pull late shifts. There was no sense in both of them being tired to the bone. Kushina eyed him. Today he was dressed in an open red and black flannel shirt with a solid black shirt underneath, loose pants that continuously slid down his slim hips and, a pair of faded, beat up, black converse that no matter how hard he scrubbed just would not let go of their dingy look.

Over the years Naruto took after his father more and more. The only thing he took from her was her facial structure and height. Other than that he was the spitting image of his father with shoulder length blond hair, skin that looked blessed by the gods, and wide, cobalt blue eyes that made him as easy to read as a book.

Kushina wished she could get her baby something new to wear but they barely had any money left over once their bills got payed. You'd think rent for their small apartment wouldn't cost so much but the owner of the building knew that most of his residence were having a hard time and raised the rent whenever the mood struck him just because he could.

He knew how much each of his residence made, where they worked, and when they got paid. The rent always seemed due whenever anyone got their paycheck. Kushina was startled out of her thoughts when Naruto suddenly leaned in and pecked her on the cheek before stuffing his jelly spread toast into his mouth and dashing out of the door, backpack in hand.

Things would get better for her baby. She'd make sure of it.

A/N:

Alright the summary has been changed and so has the story which means this is no longer a creature fic. Please let me know if I missed something and the first two chapters don't match with the third chapter. I've fixed the bit about his eyes changing color. Can you imagine that happening on on a regular 'ole human? That'd be cool in a freaky way. XD