Chapter 1: Divergence

Anger. That was the most succinct way of describing Iruka's mood. Upon hearing the news of Naruto's absconding with the forbidden scroll, he had combed the entire village in desperate search for the young boy. While upset when he first found Naruto, Iruka had no idea how much worse things would become. Naruto had been deceived by one of his academy instructors, Mizuki. The man had promised the boy that he would graduate if he stole the scroll and learned one technique from it. To say things went awry after Naruto revealed this to Iruka would be an understatement.

Mizuki attacked Naruto, and if not for Iruka, the boy may very well have died. Not being satisfied with his initial assassination attempt, Mizuki told Naruto of his tenant, the nine-tailed demon fox. This was forbidden by law, of course. Not that Mizuki cared, if his plan went accordingly he'd be out of the village with nobody for the village to blame except Naruto. Thankfully, Iruka and the young blonde put up some resistance. If Mizuki was going to get the scroll, he'd have to kill them first.

"You really don't think the demon fox has run off with that scroll? He and I are alike in that way… we both crave power. And neither of us care who we have to step on to achieve that power!"

Iruka had his back to a tree, and was panting heavily. His body was littered with cuts and bruises from his earlier skirmish with Mizuki. He looked up to the traitorous chūnin and smirked.

"Yeah, you're right… the demon fox would do that…"

This comment caught the attention of a certain eavesdropping blonde. Hiding behind a tree, Naruto was carefully guarding the scroll. 'I see… so that's how he really feels.' He strengthened his grip on the scroll. Tears threatened to escape, but he stubbornly refused to release them. He would not cry. Not again. The boy's ears twitched as he heard Iruka continue.

"But Naruto is different. He's one of my precious students. He may be clumsy, he may be a slacker… but that pain of being alone, he and I both understand it."

Iruka hardened his glare and continued. "He is not the demon fox, he is Naruto Uzumaki, a proud member of the Leaf Village."

Sniffle. Sniffle. 'Dammit, dammit. I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't…' Naruto's thoughts betrayed him as tears streamed down his face. After all these years of being ignored, ostracized, picked on… he had finally been acknowledged.

Mizuki's lips twisted into a sneer. "You've said enough." The silver haired chūnin grabbed a large shuriken he had been carrying on his back. "Just hurry up and die already!"

Naruto's thoughts quickly shifted from relief to fear for Iruka. He sprung to his feet and dashed to protect his teacher. If he could help it, he wouldn't let Mizuki lay a finger on Iruka.

In what seemed like an instant, Naruto darted out of his hiding spot to protect his teacher. A wave of dread overcame him as he realized not only had he not intercepted anything, Mizuki was currently empty handed.

"N-no…"

He slowly turned back, and his eyes widened in horror. There was Iruka, his head slumped over and a large shuriken jutting out of his stomach. Naruto turned again to face Mizuki. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists. His knuckles were ghost white, and blood dripped from his palms as his nails dug into his skin.

"Looks like you were too late, fox." Mizuki chuckled maliciously as he extended his right hand to Naruto. "Now give me the scroll, or I'll kill you too."

Mizuki's smugness quickly disappeared as he noticed a red shroud enveloping the young blonde. The boy's ocean blue eyes had turned blood red. His normally circular pupils were now slits. Naruto released a wave of intense killing intent, enough to bring Mizuki to his knees out of sheer terror.

"You? Kill me?"


In the Hokage's office, the elderly third Hokage quietly observed his crystal ball. The magical device had shown him the events as they unfolded. His face solemn, he brought his right hand to his pipe, and removed it to exhale some smoke. 'The fox's power is leaking. Please Naruto, don't lose control.' The old Hokage, known as Hiruzen Sarutobi, thought to himself.

As the shroud that enveloped Naruto strengthened, cracks began to form on the crystal ball. 'What's this?' All the elderly Hokage could see was a burst of red chakra before the ball shattered.

The sound of a pipe clashing against wooden floor could be heard, followed by a bang as Hiruzen's fist slammed onto his desk. He was unsure of what could happen now. Would the fox take over? Would the village be in danger? There were no nearby shinobi, as most were searching the village for Naruto. Hiruzen had to find the boy himself, and hoped dearly that he would still be the same Naruto.


Naruto dropped the scroll and disappeared in a flash, only to reappear in front of Mizuki to deliver a fierce swipe to his chest. The silver haired man let out an anguished howl as he keeled over. The blonde did not let up on his assault as he proceeded to pummel Mizuki's face. With each hit, Naruto roared in despair.

Minutes passed before Naruto's rage subsided. The red shroud disappeared, and his features returned to normal. He grimaced when he realized the full extent of the damage he had inflicted on Mizuki. The man's head was completely unrecognizable. All that remained was a pile of red mush, hair and a bloodied bandana with the symbol of the Leaf Village.

Naruto looked to Iruka, then covered his eyes with his goggles as he started to sob again. 'Why am I so weak? Why couldn't I make it in time? I'm sorry Iruka… I'm so sorry.' The boy screamed and punched a nearby tree, leaving an impressive dent.

'I can't go back. Iruka's dead, Mizuki's dead, and I'm the only one who knows what happened… Why would anybody believe me? I'm the demon fox… right?'

Naruto adjusted his goggles then wiped the tears from his face. There was no turning back. He couldn't return to the village. After saying a silent prayer for Iruka, he leapt into the treetops. In a rare moment of insight, the boy realized what would happen when the village discovered his disappearance.

'They'll track me down. They'll think I killed Iruka and Mizuki and fled to save my own skin.' He brought his index fingers together in a familiar sign, and summoned 40 clones.

"I don't know where I'm going, but I can't risk anyone finding me. For my sake and the village's," Naruto explained to his clones. "We have to throw them off, so everyone split up and run in different directions!" With that, 41 orange clad boys dashed off into the unknown.

'I'm sorry Iruka, old man Hokage.'


Sometime later, Hiruzen, accompanied by two ANBU arrived at a clearing in the forest. The bodies of two men were discovered, one of Iruka Umino, who was slumped against a tree, a large shuriken protruding from his stomach. The other, Mizuki, sprawled out on the ground, his head mangled beyond recognition.

The elderly Hokage approached Iruka, and brought his index and middle fingers to the boy's neck. He sighed in relief. "His heart beat is slow, but he's still alive. Thank God." He motioned to the two ANBU. "You two, take him to the hospital and monitor his status."

"Yes, Lord Hokage." The two ANBU replied in unison. One removed a scroll from his hind pouch and opened it, summoning a medical carrier. The other carefully removed the shuriken from Iruka's stomach and placed his palms on the wound. His hands glowed green as he applied medical ninjutsu. After a few moments, the two gently placed Iruka on the carrier, and hastily returned to the village.

Hiruzen noticed that the scroll had been left behind. However, there was no sign of Naruto. He jumped onto a thick branch of a nearby tree, then leapt across various other trees. After observing the branches, he quickly came to a realization.

'The number of footprints… He used shadow clones to cover his tracks!'

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He was relieved that the boy was unharmed. He couldn't sense a trace of the fox's chakra, so Naruto must have come to his senses. "I hope you know what you're doing, Naruto," Hiruzen muttered to himself. 'And please, please stay safe,' he silently added.


The last thing Naruto remembered was the faint impression of a small village. After running through treetops all night and most of the morning, he had succumbed to exhaustion. With only a matter of steps before reaching the entry gate of the village, the combination of hunger, thirst and fatigue had finally taken its toll.

The boy stirred slightly, still half-asleep. He could feel something warm over him and something soft beneath him. 'Am I in a bed?' The whistle of a tea kettle brought Naruto to full attention. He shot up, eyes wide, eager to investigate his surroundings. His jacket and goggles were laying on a small table adjacent to the bed. His sandals were neatly placed at the side of the bed.

"Oh, so you're finally awake?"

Naruto's head jerked in the direction of the voice. She was a kindly looking woman. The woman had long brown hair and brown eyes. Slight bags were visible beneath her eyes and if one squinted, they would notice some light crow's feet. If Naruto had to guess, he would say this woman was in her mid-40s.

"So, uh… Where am I?" The blonde asked cautiously.

The woman poured water from the kettle into a teacup before answering. "You're in a village called Taeru. You must have traveled quite a distance, because you looked downright ragged when I found you." She dropped a teabag into the cup and continued. "My name is Naoko Shindo, would you mind telling me yours? If you don't feel comfortable telling me, that's okay."

Noticing the lady's kind smile, Naruto smiled back. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it because I'm gonna be the greatest Ho-" he stopped himself there. 'That incident with Mizuki and Iruka. I abandoned the village! I haven't even graduated! Is it… is it even possible anymore?'

"Uh, ho-home designer! That's right, I'm gonna be the greatest home designer this world has ever seen!" Naruto grimaced. 'That was a lame save.'

Naoko giggled at the boy's enthusiasm. "Well, that's certainly an interesting goal you have there. So, If I'm right and you did travel a long way to get here, where are your belongings?" A worrying thought struck her, and she suddenly panicked. "Oh dear, please don't tell me bandits had taken them before I found you!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, that's not it. Due to something… unfortunate, I had to leave my home and I didn't have time to pack. I'm sorry, but this isn't something I feel comfortable talking about." Naoko gave him a look of sympathy and nodded.

"What about your family? Won't they be worried about you?"

Naruto flinched and looked down. Noticing his apprehension, she placed a hand gently on his shoulder. He looked up at her with a somber smile. "I really don't know… I've never met my parents, and I don't have any siblings. I don't know if they're dead or if they just abandoned me."

Naoko frowned at this. Surely his parents didn't abandon him, right? She couldn't imagine any parent doing such a reprehensible thing. "I'm sorry for bringing it up! I was just concerned..."

"It's really no problem. I'm not gonna say it doesn't hurt, that loneliness hurts like hell. But I learned a long time ago that acting all miserable about it doesn't make things better." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "So, I just try to focus on more positive things, y'know?"

Still looking concerned, she glanced back and remembered the food she had prepared for him. On a nearby table was a tray with a cup of freshly made tea and moderately sized meal. She removed her hand from the boy's shoulder and picked up the tray.

"I nearly forgot! You must be famished and dehydrated. I prepared this for you, I hope it's to your liking." The boy looked down at her offering as he felt tears welling up. It was a simple gesture, but for Naruto, this was unheard of. A perfect stranger not only letting him sleep in her house, but offering him food and drink? The act of kindness left him flabbergasted.

"Th-thank you, Naoko. This r-really means a lot to me." After giving his thanks, he dug in. Naoko was amazed at how quickly he consumed the meal. Within a minute Naruto had already finished eating the food, and only a small amount of tea remained. The boy rubbed his belly in satisfaction and smiled at the woman.

"Heh, heh, that really hit the spot. Thanks again!"

"Think nothing of it. Here in Taeru we look out for one another. We're small and somewhat poor, without our solidarity this village probably would have crumbled years ago."

"I still really appreciate it. You gotta let me make it up to you! I Insist!"

Naoko put a finger to her chin, adopting a thoughtful pose. "Well, if you insist... I run a general goods store downstairs. It's closed right now, but I could use an assistant. Someone to tidy up, keep the shelves stocked etc. That isn't too much to ask is it? If it is, I can find someone else."

Naruto shook his head and grinned. "Nope, that ain't too much. I'll be the best assistant ever!" He hopped out of bed. After slipping into his sandals, he grabbed his jacket and goggles and glanced at a clock hanging from one of the walls.

"WHAT! It's not 10:30 at night is it?"

Naoko yawned as she nodded. "I'm going to bed soon. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You were out for quite some time."

"So, what am I supposed to do now?" The boy whined.

"Well, you can continue to rest, or you could wander around the village. Normally I'd advise a young boy like you to stay inside this late, but you seem to be independent enough. I think you can handle yourself."

Naruto nodded. "Okay, I think I'll check out the village. There probably won't be much to do this late, but It's something, right? When do I need to get back to help you with your shop?"

"We open at 8:30. I'd advise you get some rest before coming in. And I must thank you for volunteering. I'm very grateful."

Naruto shook his head again and chuckled. "The only one here who should be thanked is you. After what you did for me, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't help out in some way." Naruto reached the staircase and began his descent. "Well, I'm off! See you at 8:30!"

Naoko let out another yawn and smiled softly. 'You sure are an interesting boy, Naruto Uzumaki.'