Author's Note: This is a WIP, with a number of directions I could take it floating in my mind. Not much is set in stone yet, so any comments, reviews and constructive criticism or suggestions would be welcomed. Please no flames, though; this is my first story.
Ninja. The word was whispered among the children of the village. Every boy wanted to be a hero; every girl, a savior. Shinobi. Kunoichi. Almost every youth applied to the Konohagakure Ninja Academy, and most were turned away in droves. The academy could only seat so many students, of course; and of those precious few seats available, over half were claimed by prestigious ninja clans of the village for their children, reserved since birth. But even of those few villagers deemed acceptable to join the academy, there were many who never attended. The children were told they were not worthy; in truth, their parents, jaded and wise to the ways of the world, covertly stopped their attendance. Shinobi, Kunoichi, the children whispered; but to their parents, they were ninja. Assassins. And so it was that a sunny-eyed blonde boy, innocent and with no parents to refuse his attendance, was accepted into the Konoha Academy.
His name was Naruto, and Kami, he was only six. He did not know, and until attending would not know, the first rule of the Konoha Ninja Academy: Drop out and get out. Banned. Exiled. A student could not leave the Academy without being labeled a missing nin and being removed – forcibly – from the city proper. Konoha's Ninja Academy had one of the most rigorous training regimes for students out of all of the elemental nations. Every aspect of life from day one was focused on making quality ninja's – and it worked. Konoha had and still has the highest success ratio for missions, and its ninja are fabled worldwide… so long as they survive the academy.
The sun shined through the grimy windows, dancing across the still-closed eyes of a golden haired child. Yawning, Uzumaki Naruto sat up in bed, shedding his worn covers.
Eyes widening as he spied the clock on the far wall which read 7:37, he cursed under his breath and hurried to get dressed. Today was the day. He was supposed to report to the Ninja Academy for initiation that morning at nine, but his bare apartment was easily a half-hour away from the academy proper. Pulling on a faded black T-shirt and an old pair of shorts, he forlornly spied the cup of ramen he had left out the night before, as a special breakfast to congratulate himself.
Stupid alarm… he thought, cursing it again. No time for that now. Gotta run if I'm gonna get there on time!
Sprinting down the streets of Konoha as quickly as his young body could manage, he barely avoided running headfirst into a produce wagon as he rounded the corner.
"Hey, watch it Gaki!" the irate owner shouted, but Naruto simply giggled and ran right on by. Today he would start learning how to be a ninja, and how to blow fireballs and all the fun things ninja's did. Life was good.
The ANBU tailing him, assigned to his protection from angry villagers as the child roamed the streets, felt only pity however.
The poor boy was in for a nasty surprise.