Faith

Chapter 1

"Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding." - Martin Luther King

Faith is a fickle thing. How is it that a person can believe in something they cannot possibly know, something that is not tangible, something that is beyond their comprehension? What is it that possesses a man that he, beyond all reasonable mind, can so blindly believe in that which cannot and may never be proven?

October 10th. Uzumaki Naruto gazed up at the ceiling of his apartment. It was that day again. His birthday. The day he dreaded the most, the day he wished never came. Naruto sat up on his bed and took a moment to get his bearings before clambering out of bed and stumbling out of the door into the bathroom. Gazing into the small mirror over the sink he examined himself for a moment. He was short he knew, although he would never admit it, and he looked rather wild and scruffy he'd concede, what with his unruly blond hair and the three odd birthmarks that adorned both of his cheeks, baring a fierce resemblance to whiskers. Yet, even taking all of that into account he could not understand. Why? Why him? Why today? Just… why?

In the village of Konoha, there was one building which towered imperiously over the rest, a sudden peak in her skyline. This was the Hokage Tower. Every village leader since the creation of Konohagakure had held his seat of power in the tower. Yet the current Hokage was slightly different to the others, and had done something that none of the others had. He had been in office twice, an unfortunate result of the untimely demise of his successor at the hands of the Nine Tailed Fox Demon.

Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed out of the window of his office, glancing over his village. Over the years Konoha had flourished, not even the setbacks of the Kyuubi's assault and the Uchiha massacre had been able to effectively curb the growth of the great village, and he knew that he, moreso than any other Hokage, was responsible for Konoha's growth. The Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages had laid a foundation which he had built on and fought for. The Yondaime had died too young to leave his mark on the village, all though his name would most likely be exalted far more than those of the other Fire Shadow, for he had been a shin obi without rival. Konoha was Sarutobi's legacy, his achievement, proof that over the years he ahd made the right decisions.

However, Sarutobi had many regrets also, too many to list. Normally he did not like to dwell on them, for it was a painful and fruitless action. In spite of that, he found that today he could not help but reminisce over his failures, for on this day, eight years ago, the Sandaime Hokage had made his biggest failure, one that he knew he could never correct, regardless of what he did or said.

For it was on this day eight years ago that Sarutobi Hiruzen had failed the dying wish of the Yondaime Hokage, and in doing so condemned Uzumaki Naruto, the young boy in whom the Yondaime had been forced to seal the Kyuubi into, to a life of hate and lies. It was on this day ten years ago he had failed the young baby who had gazed so trustingly and innocently into his eyes as he lay nestled in his arms. It was on this day that he stole Uzumaki Naruto's childhood.

A knock on the door to his office startled the Hokage out of his thoughts. Turning to face the door, he took a moment to wipe away a stray tear that ran down his cheek before calling out, "Come in."

A solitary figure entered the Hokage's office, quickly kneeling. "Hokage-sama, it has been arranged as you ordered. My squad is in place on the rooftops around the boys house. As per orders they have been instructed to shadow him from a distance, and make their presence known only if the situation requires it."

"Very good Dog," the Hokage said firmly, referring to the shinobi using his ANBU codename. "It is you job to ensure that the failure of three years ago does not happen again."

"Hai Hokage-sama!" Standing to attention, Dog swiftly saluted the Hokage before disappearing from his office in a swirl of leaves, almost as if he had never been there to start with.

The Hokage returned to gazing out of the window. He knew that Dog would be successful in the task given to him, that was why he had chosen him. The ANBU were the most resilient soldiers at his disposal, and were faithful and loyal to a fault. Their training allowed them to be efficient and deadly in the way they conducted their operations.

'Never. Never again. I promise you Naruto, I'll never again fail you like I did three years ago'

Naruto looked at himself one last time in the mirror, and drank in his appearance. He was dressed oddly… for him. Where he would ordinarily have gone for his vibrant, attention-grabbing orange jumpsuit, today he had opted to where a black jacket with a hood which he had drawn tightly over his face. Attention was the last thing he wanted. Not today at least. Reaching for the handle of the door, he opened it carefully and peered out into the hallway, and upon seeing nobody was outside, carefully left the room, locking the door behind him.

Trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Naruto left the apartment building, and began to make his way across town to where the Ichiraku Ramen stand was located. He could not help but notice that the village was in a particularly festive mood today. Stalls were decorated with new lanterns, and were advertising their wares at cut-throat prices. The people of Konoha flitted from one stall to another, trying the culinary delights offered tot hem and examining the amenities being sold. Posters with the picture of the Yondaime Hokage facing off against a pathetic looking fox demon were plastered all over the walls. The people of Konoha looked happy, laughing and chatting uncaringly.

Naruto spotted a mother and her child across the street. The woman had long flowing black hair, and wore a luxurious dress kimono. Her daughter looked to be around his own age, and was dressed similarly, and her hair was as dark as the woman's, although notably shorter. The mother looked down at her child and Naruto watched as her gaze seemed to soften, giving the young girl a look full of what was undeniably pure love and affection. A man came from around the corner of the street, and smiled at the two of them before lifting up the girl and placing her on his shoulders, causing her to giggle happily as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They were clearly a family, all of them had the same black hair, and the same pearly eyes, which Naruto noted must have been a rare feature, since he had seen nobody else with such eyes before. Watchign them, Naruto felt a pain in his chest as he felt something twist at his heart. Forcing himself to tear his eyes away, he continued on his way, head down.

He had barely been walking for two minutes when someone ran into him, knocking him to the ground. Looking around for the culprit, Naruto spotted a young blonde haired girl.

"Gomen, I was in such a hurry, I should have been looking where I was going! Sorry I'm so clumsy," the girl stated, looking down at him worriedly.

Looking up at her, Naruto gave her a small smile before carefully getting to his feet. "Don't worry, I'm completely fine see!" He assured her, causing her to smile back at him for a moment, before a shadow feel over the both of them.

"Hey kid, are you okay?" A voice questioned from behind Naruto, causing him to turn around and face them. It was an adult, Naruto noted, a man with brown hair and blue eyes. "Wait a minute!" The man looked at him squinting. "It's you! The demon kid!" He called out, sneering down at the boy, his loud voice attracting the attention of the crowd around them, who swiftly proceeded to form a tightly bound circle around the spectacle.

Naruto looked around nervously. Looking up at the man once more, he said, "Gomen, I'm fine. I have to go."

The man snorted derisively, "You think I care if you're alright? Ha, you filthy beast! You think anyone cares about how you feel?" The man questioned malevolently. "Why should we care about you after what you did? If we had our way you wouldn't even exist." He continued, pushing Naruto firmly, so that he once again ended up on the floor. Naruto gazed up into the hateful eyes of the man, before turning and looking around at the crown, many of whom had begun to shout their approval of the mans words, adding their own colourful insults to the abuse. Unable to help himself, Naruto began to tear up.

Slowly, but surely the crowd closed in on him, the young blonde girl remaining in her spot looking on in bewilderment, wondering why the adults were treating the young child in such a way. "It was my fault. I bumped into him! Please leave him alone," she called out to the man.

"Leave him alone? Ha! You wouldn't be telling me to do that if you knew what he was… what he did. What did he expect, showing his face today of all days. He's making a mockery of the Yondaime! He deserves everything he gets… he deserves worse," the man stated ominously. Reaching down he slapped Naruto across the face, cheered on by the ground.

THUD

Before the crowd knew what was happening they found the man flung back against a nearby stall, knocked unconscious upon contact. Five masked shinobi appeared between the crowd and Naruto. The crowd went deathly silent as they found themselves faced with the five ANBU.

"By order of the Hokage, this man will be incarcerated for an undecided amount of time for his crimes against another civilian of Konoha. Since the civilian in question is still a child, the punishment will be anything from six months in prison to five years locked away, depending on the mood of the Hokage. Would anybody else like to join him?" Inu challenged, gesturing at the downed man. "Anybody?" Silence.

"Not a single one of you? When you were so prepared to do so before?" Few members of the crowd would look him in the face. "Cowards, all of you! You would standby and allow a man to harm an innocent child. Hell, you urged him on. You don't deserve to live in Konoha. You don't deserve to celebrate the victory of the Yondaime. You who spit upon his dying wish, are filth."

Turning around Inu nodded to his comrades. They were gone in a swirl of leaves, gone with both Uzumaki Naruto and the offender. The only evidence they were ever there was the pensive crowd, many of whom were mulling over the words of the ANBU Captain, and a bewildered young girl.

"Kuso! Again?" Sarutobi raged as he was briefed on the situation by Inu. Shame filled his being. He had never thought his people capable of such cruelty to another human being. At least not until three years ago.

"Tell him to come in."

Wordlessly Inu bowed before turning and leaving the room. His departure was followed by the door being thrust open and the entrance of Naruto who smiled up at the aged Hokage. "Hey old man! How's it going? Finally realised you're too old to keep being Hokage? Are you ready to handover to me or what?" Naruto grinned up at him, and it sent a pang through his heart as he wondered what kind of man could harm such a wonderful child.

"Naruto." The Hokage's voice was solemn. "I'm sorry." The Hokage dropped to his knees before the child bowing his head. "I'm so sorry. I've failed you again. I was meant to protect you, and I failed again. Can you ever forgive this foolish old man?"

The Sandaime felt two arms wrap around his neck and lifted his head up in surprise. "Baka jiji. Silly old man, always blaming himself. It's not your fault! Besides, like I'd let something small like that get me down. I'm gonna be Hokage don'tcha know? Then I'll prove that they were all wrong about me!"

The Sandaime's eyes widened, once again struck by how pure and forgiving the child was, before he too wrapped his arms around Naruto and returned the haphazard embrace. Slowly drawing away from one another, the Sandaime got back to his feet, before reaching down and scuffing Naruto's hair playfully.

"Baka jiji! Get off! Get off! Grrrr - you're just jealous cause you haven't got any hair left!" Naruto ranted.

"Naruto, there's something I have to tell you," the Hokage told the child, gravity once again returning to his voice, catching the young child's attention. "I wasn't planning to tell you about this until you were older, but after everything that has happened, maybe it's time you knew…"

The Hokage proceeded to tell Naruto the tale of the Yondaime Hokage's battle with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and how that ultimately lead to the sealing of the great demon into the belly of the young child before him. As the tale progressed, the Hokage's voice grew more strained, as he struggled to find the courage within himself to explain to the child why he had been ostracized and hated from birth. Struggled to tell him of how it was his fault that Naruto did not have the childhood he deserved.

Naruto looked up at him, an unreadable expression on his face, as the story came to a close. Suddenly he broke into a huge smile. "Arigatou jiji! Now I get it! I know why the villagers don't like me now, so I can fix it. This will make becoming Hokage so much easier. You always say 'you need to know how to get to a place before you leave to go there' right? I think I get what you mean now. Now that I know why they treat me differently, I can get the villagers to like me easier!"

"Naruto, don't you understand? It's my fault that you were alone all these years. It's my fault that you were beaten half to death when you were five. It's my fault that you had to go through that today. You should hate me, you should stay away from me. All I seem to do is hurt you and ruin your life! And the villagers! After all they've done to you, how can you not feel any hatred for them?"

Naruto laughed. He actually laughed. Sarutobi looked on confused, did the boy not understand? "Hate you? How could I ever hate you old man? You're my most precious person. Even if you're all wrinkly and old, you're still the coolest person I know," Naruto assured, grinning widely at the Sandaime. "And the villagers? How can I hate them? I've watched them jiji. When they don't know I'm there. I've seen how they talk to each other, help each other… how they look at each other. They're all amazing, they're so nice. It's just me they don't like, and now I know why. They thought I was the fox, so I just have to prove that I'm not! Besides some of them love Konoha almost as much as me. How could I hate them? I love Konoha, they love Konoha, so I love them. See? Simple? It's all about faith jiji. Faith that one day they'll be able to accept me and love me like I love them."

For a long while, Sarutobi just stared into the oung boys eyes in shock and awe.

'We don't deserve you Naruto. You're so… good.'

The door to prison cell 506 opened with a squeak of his hinges.

"Takeshi Himeto, get out, leave and don't come back. If you do, you won't be leaving anytime soon," Inu called out hollowly.

The brown haired man who had slapped Naruto looked up in shock. "You're letting me go? Ha! I knew Hokage-sama would see things my way. That demon deserves everything it-"

Takeshi stopped what he was saying as he felt the honed edge of a kunai pressed against his throat. "I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you," Inu threatened. "Actually Hokage-sama sentenced you to five years in this cell."

Takeshi's eyes widened. "Wha-? Then… how? Who?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. He told the Hokage to let you go. He didn't have it in him to let you rot in here, however much you deserve it. A despicable person like you doesn't deserve the grace of a boy like him."

'All this time... I was wrong about him. Oh god, what have I done? What have I become?'

Yes, Faith is fickle thing. It's inconsistent, unreliable, often misplaced. Faith is a complete and utter fraud half the time. She whispers falsehoods to us, she makes us believe we can be more than we can, we can achieve more than we can, only to abandon us when we fall short.

Yet, for some of us, Faith is what keeps us going through feelings of pain and despair, it's what allows us to carry on walking forwards. You see, Faith goes hand in hand with hope, the one things everyone, from the snobbish aristocrats to the downtrodden beggars, have in common. The hope that tomorrow will bring something new, something exciting, something more; that somewhere over the horizon there is something better, just waiting for us to stumble across it. Faith is what saves some of us from the deepest, darkest moments in our lives, she reaches a part of us that no other can. So, yes, half the time Faith is a fraud, but the other half? Well the other half… Faith's a hero…

END Chapter 1

So there it is! As promised this is the first chapter of the new story I'll be writing for the foreseeable future. It's actually been ready for four or five days, but I just hadn't found the time to publish it until now, sorry! I hope everyone enjoyed it, it's really just a prelude, but I tihnk it sets a precedent for what the rest of the fic will be like.

Please read and review, I'm always interested in what you guys have to say. Constructive criticism is appreciated, just as appreciation for thie story is.

'Til next time

SR