It's was a beautiful day in the village hidden in the leaves, Konohagure, as the sun shined down on the pleasant market streets filled with people. The Hokage monument towered over the village in a silent vigil. In these peaceful times, the citizens of the great village moved about in relative tranquility. What a pleasant day: the birds sung, the children played, the adults … yelled.
"Get back here you brat!" one merchant yelled.
"You won't get away you little demon!" another screeched out.
More voices joined the ensuing mob as everyone sought to make their exclamations heard. They chased fruitlessly after our young hero. The blonde-haired wonder ran through the streets, keeping ahead of the dwindling mob. They'd never catch him on his turf, his streets.
"You should feel honored, to be pranked by the future Hokage!" he shouted out behind him, turning his head to pull down one eyelid and stick out his tongue.
The chase was over nearly as fast as it had begun, a duck down a dark alley, and a few quick turns and he was home free. Those fat merchants would never out speed him; he was the future Hokage after all. He stopped for a moment to relish his escape before a deep gurgling sensation rippled through his innards. He put on a sour face as he rubbed his stomach in an effort to sooth it.
"Even the future Hokage gets hungry after a hard days pranking!" he exclaimed as he reached into the back pocket of his green shorts to retrieve his frog shaped wallet "Gama-chan".
His expression faltered as he opened the cute cash carrier to a resounding puff of dust and a very empty pouch.
"Ah, that's right, I spent the last of it on all that paint!" he groaned out in disappointment. He wouldn't get his next stipend until the end of the week. He could always swing by Ichiraku's and see if they'd give him a bowl of ramen on tab. He shook his head at the thought, the ramen chef and his daughter were always so nice to him it felt a little guilty to always take advantage of that kindness.
The sun started to set, casting the pink and yellow hues across the sky. The young boy continued his walk down the alley, trying his best not to think about the growling in his guts as he came to a fork as the alley branched left or right. Either way would get him home really, he knew the streets of his home by heart, so which way to go then. It was a simple choice really, left or right, the decision completely unaffecting of his life. If only he knew how important his simple choice really was, for in an infinite many lives he went right and yet in this world by some twist of fate he turned to the left and began to walk. This is where his story truly began.
Our hero continued his walk home along the alleyways and side streets, not wanting to have a run in with any of today's prank victims before they have a few days to vent. The sound of random chatter and the wafting smell of food confirmed his arrival along the back alley of one of the streets dedicated to food stalls and restaurants. A grumbling noise made him reconsider taking this way home; these smells were driving him crazy.
In his state of hunger, it was no surprise when the sight of an open window in the back alley and an unguarded plate full of dango resting on the counter within caught his eye. His growing hunger begged him to investigate and he complied. Moving closer to the window, he spied the insides of a kitchen, the back of one of the food stalls. The rapidly more delicious plate of dango sat unaccompanied on a counter at the window completely within reach. Nobody would miss a single plate of dango right?
With all the stealth he could muster, the boy crept up to the window and tooka quick glance around to ensure his solitude. With a quick gathering of courage, he reached in and snagged the plate.
"Success!" he intoned as he moved to bring the plate out of the window and make off with his catch before a sudden hand swiped in and caught him by the wrist, scaring him into a panic.
"gaahh!" with a startled yell the young boy tried to run but an iron grip on his wrist kept him in place, jerking him back to face his captor. The young boy met eyes with an old man, hair white as snow and a neatly kept beard down to his chest with two green eyes piercing into his own blue orbs.
"I thought I heard a rat trying to sneak into my kitchen but I did not expect it to be so big." The old man's gravelly voice doled out monotone.
"Hey I'm not a rat you old geezer I'm the future Hokage!" the young boy shouted out in agitation, attempting in vain to pull against the man's strong grip.
"So the future Hokage is a thief who steals from old men is he?" the old man stared accusingly.
"So the Hokage just walks about and takes what he likes like a rat?" the old man tightened his grip on the boys wrist.
"Hey! Don't you talk about gramps that way he's nothing like a rat!" the boy retorted with a wince.
"If you proclaim to be his successor then surly you are trying to imitate him, hmm. Why would the future Hokage act in such a lowly manner?" The old man's gaze bored into the boy.
"Because I…" in a fit of anger, the boy started to yell out but the loud rumbling of his stomach interrupted him. Slowly in embarrassment, his hung his head in shame.
"Because I'm hungry and spent all my money like a dummy." The boy groaned out, it was all he could do not to cry at the situation, he promised himself he wouldn't cry anymore.
The old man relaxed his hold on the boy's wrist as his gaze softened.
"There is no shame in being honest, what is your name boy?" he inquired, not that he needed an answer. In all of Konoha there is no mistaking the blonde-haired blue-eyes boy with whisker markings upon his cheeks. The boy raised his gaze to the man's own, tears threatening to break through but held back defiantly.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Of course, the prankster king of Konoha himself, Naruto. A child cursed at birth to be hated and despised by others that would not try to understand him. The villagers called him a demon but the old man knew better, he knew the fear and sadness in that boy's life.
"How old are you Uzumaki?" the old man asked in a far less frightening tone.
"I'm seven this year." Naruto replied, reserved to the fact that he was caught and couldn't get away.
The old man contemplated for a moment, had it already been seven years since that fateful night, when a demon in the shape of a fox with nine tails nearly destroyed the entire village.
"If you're going to be Hokage that means you want to be a ninja." The old man baited.
"Yeah that's right, I'm going to be the best ninja ever and become Hokage. I'm even enrolling two years early and starting this fall; I'll be the best in no time!" Naruto tried to muster his usual bravado but it didn't quite sound the same.
"Why do you want to be Hokage?" the old man questioned, this boy intrigued him, there was something there that he could see, a drive, potential.
"The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village who protects everyone, when I'm Hokage all the villagers will have to recognize me!" Naruto replied with a little more of his bravado this time, inspired by his own dream once more.
"I see, remember this Uzumaki. Even the Hokage is just one man; he can't do everything on his own strength so he must also rely on the strength of his comrades." The old man slowly let go of Naruto's wrist and pushed his arm gently towards him.
"Even a Hokage needs help sometimes, take the dango. A future Hokage can't grow on an empty stomach." The old man motioned with his hand for Naruto to go.
Naruto stared blankly at the man for a moment, unable to grasp the meaning of the words until they sunk in. he couldn't believe he could just take the dango, this old man was kinder than he thought.
"Thank you!" Naruto enthusiastically shouted as he turned to run off to his home, stopping a few mere steps away as a strange urge hit him, remembering what gramps Hokage taught him about manners. Normally he didn't give a crap about social standing and etiquette, but this old man had done him a big favor, so in an out of character moment he turned back to the window.
"I never got your name gramps." he let out in his usual Narutoish way.
"It's Ikazuchi." The man replied more softly.
"Thank you very much Ikazuchi-ji!" Naruto exclaimed, as he clumsily bowed before turning and sprinting off into the night, munching on his dango.
Old man Ikazuchi watched him go with a slight tug of his lip in a small smirk. He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled a wooden pipe to his lips, lighting it with a match, he breathed in deep and let out a slow stream of smoke.
"Uzumaki Naruto, huh? I wonder if you could be the one to take it up, the rumbling thunder heralding the storm of change." Ikazuchi stood there a while in thought before his musings were interrupted by an irate woman's voice back at the storefront.
"You break a hip in there old man? What's taking so long?" Ikazuchi closed his eyes at the sound, he put up with her cause she was his best customer. He let out a snort; she could be so impatient when it came to dango.
"It'll be out in a few minutes, the last batch came out bad, consider it on the house!" he called out in that old man voice of his.
"whoohoo! Free dango!" the yell rung throughout the street.