Chapter One

-Hi everyone, this is my first attempt at a story. For a while now I have been telling myself that I should write one, but never really got around to doing anything about it. I finally decided to give it a try, and see how it goes. This story is purely about hardship, the bonds of friendship, and a child that was hated by many, and how he won the love of his people.

Everyone in the shinobi nations knows the story. The Kyuubi, a beast of untold power and ferocity, mysteriously appeared in the outskirts of the hidden leaf village. Its tails along could cleave forests, and create valleys, and few could stand up to its might. Some of the veterans of the attack even go so far to claim that they say a glint in its eye every time a Shinobi desperately tried to scream as they were annihilated by the supreme power of a rampaging tailed beast. On that night, a man and his life had their names written in legend. The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, gave his life to destroy the beast once and for all. Or so it was written in the history books. In reality, something far more grave happened. A child, destined to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders was chosen as a host, a jinchuriki, and had the Kyuubi sealed into him. The world would change forever that night, and as one legend perished at the hands of a beast, another was born by the deeds of his father.

11 years after the nine tails attack

The wind rustled a young boy's golden hair as he stood atop the Hokage Monument. The great stone face of the Yondaime glared down on the village hidden in the leaves, as if daring another nation to try their luck in an attack.

Naruto sighed, staring out into the distance. His bright orange jumpsuit was disturbed by a sudden strong wind that blew through the leaf village. In a rare moment of peace and silence from the rambunctious 11 year old boy, Naruto simply sat and watched. Wondering. Thinking. Dreaming.

But like most good moment, it had to come to an end.

"NARUTO!" and angry voice cried from below, "Come down here this instant and clean up the mess you just made!"

With a great leap, the academy student bounded off the monument, cackling as he dashed away.

"You'll never catch me Iruka sensei!" Naruto yelled as he sprinted across rooftops, oblivious to the stares and remarks of the villagers below.

Naruto wasn't good at much, in fact, many would say that he was good at nothing at all. The people said it, the council said it, even Naruto's teachers claimed he was useless. No one could blame them, with below average taijutsu, almost non existent ninjutsu, and no genjutsu at all, Naruto was a dead last student, a dobe, a failure. And yet, no one saw his good qualities, his energy, massive chakra reserves, kindness, and devotion. For in the ninja world, it was common to summarize a person on a sheet of paper, and say that the facts written down was all there was to them.

There was one other thing Naruto was good at, running. And so he did. Naruto ran and ran, jumping over stalls, swerving in between people, cats, dogs, and the occasional summon, running across Konoha like his life depended on it.

This time he was sure he would be noticed, make a difference, be acknowledged, Naruto thought. Spraying the remains of the Uchiha compound bright pink would be sure to cause some talk, or at least a couple people to stare or chuckle.

Yet, deep down, Naruto knew that it would change nothing. He wouldn't stop being the dead last, the dobe, the failure. He would still be seen as "that boy", the "demon child" the "good for nothing loser."

However, this was all about to change. Tomorrow were the genin exams, and Naruto was sure he would pass! He just had to!

"NARUTO STOP RIGHT NOW!"

And stop he did, for in his thoughts, Naruto had run right into his instructor, Iruka.

Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but seeing as it was 12:00pm on an academy day, Naruto should have been in class.

"What am I going to do with you?" Iruka exasperatedly said, throwing his hands in the air.

Iruka was an average sized man with nothing that stood out for the most part. His light brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, which Naruto personally felt made him look silly, but didn't dare comment. His distinguishing feature was a broad scar on his nose, about three inches long, most likely from a combat mission gone wrong.

"You know that you should be learning right now," Iruka said, "How do you expect to improve if you never try at anything besides pranks?"

"But Iruka sensei-"

"NO Naruto, I don't want to hear any of your excuses this time, the genin exam is tomorrow, and you should be training to pass instead of fooling around." Iruka chided.

Naruto slumped over, defeated.

Iruka sighed, "Look Naruto, I'll cut you a deal. If you pass the exam, then we can both go get all the ramen you can eat!"

Instantly, Naruto perked up, excited by the prospect of his favorite food.

"YOU HAVE A DEAL SENSEI!" Naruto shouted.

"STOP YELLING, I'M RIGHT HERE!" came the angry retort of Iruka, but by the time he turned his back to head back to the academy, Naruto was already gone.

Naruto dashed back to his apartment with a grin on his face. Unlimited ramen! It was like a dream come true for him! He bounded up the steps to his flat, and quickly turned the key and rushed inside.

While it was by no means tiny, by all purposes, Naruto's place was, well, a dump. It looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in years, and it probably hadn't. Instant ramen cups were thrown all over the floor, which was covered in an impressive layer of dust. The kitchen was clean, but simply because Naruto only at instant ramen, and had no use for any appliances. Clothes were thrown all over the floor in a random pattern, and the windows hadn't been washed in years. Naruto sat on his bed and sighed. Sometimes he had dreams that he lived in a palace, that he was secretly a prince, and his real parents would take him away to a life of riches and excitement. But then he would always wake up. An orphan, with the only father figure in his life Jiji, the third Hokage. Even then, he had very little time to spend with Naruto, so the majority of Naruto's life was spent alone.

Flopping down on his bed, Naruto stared at the blank walls of his room and smiled.

"Soon," he thought, "All of these walls will be filled with pictures, pictures of people whose lives I have touched, pictures of people who will remember and acknowledge me."

And with that comforting thought, Naruto drifted slowly into unconsciousness, dreaming of glory and friendship.

Meanwhile, in the forests surrounding the hidden village,

"Are you ready Mizuki," a voice hissed in the darkness, "tomorrow is you biggest challenge yet. It would be such as shame for you to fail me, I've been needing more experimentsssss." The voice whispered.

Mizuki shivered as his master spoke. "Don't worry," Mizuki said, "everything will go according to plan. You will get your scroll, and the demon that murdered my family will be dead. Everyone wins. Except Naruto of course, you can have his body afterwards if you want. Just wait until I'm finished with him."

"Of course," the man hissed, "It has been a pleassssure doing buisnessss with you Mizuki."

The cold presence vanished from the forest and Mizuki let out the breath that he had been subconsciously been holding in. His face broke out into a wide grin. Eleven years of planning, and he could finally have his revenge tomorrow.

The sun started to peek over the horizon and Mizuki grinned.

"It's a new age Naruto, and you won't ever be a part of it. No one needs demons in this world, and it's my job to finish what my parents started."

With his parting statement to the air, Mizuki stalked off, counting down the hours until the exams began.

Well, that all I have so far, I hope that everyone who read it enjoyed it a little bit at least. I know, the plot isn't clear at all yet, but don't worry, I will make sure you guys know really soon what is different in this story. I don't think that anyone has explored my idea yet, but as a heads up, there is no immediate transformation into a super naruto, or a godlike character. Naruto will gain power and friends through hard work and determination, not a convenient bloodline or overpowered weapon. Well that's it for my first chapter, hope to see you next time.