Yo... My first original story.

Declaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Note: English is neither my first language nor my second, if you find any grammatical or spelling mistake, please point it out.

Pairings: I don't think there is gonna be any pairing at this stage. They are kids.


Chapter 1 : Here I come


It was a beautiful Monday morning, the sun was shining brightly, the birds chirping, and the air filled with the sweet aroma of okonomiyaki wafting from a few vendors lining the streets.

A few villagers were out going about their business.

On one of these streets, in a village surrounded by trees, was an unremarkable apartment. It was here that it all started.

Inside the two bedroom apartment was a boy deep in slumber. His face held six scars, three on either side, which combined with his sharp canines gave him a somewhat feral look. The peaceful silence was broken courtesy of a rather small alarm clock resting on the right side of a plain white futon.

I woke up at exactly six, just as I have for the past two years, readied the kettle for some tea, and got my morning chores done while I planned for the day.

Today was supposed to be my last day at academy. Typically it took a student four to six years in order to graduate. I did it in two. Some hailed me as a prodigy, while others condemned me. To them, I was nothing more than the bijū sealed inside me.

And well, you can't really blame the villagers. The track records of past jinchūriki are not exactly unblemished. Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage, is not helping the matter by going on rampages and ordering massacres. Of course they have a valid reason to show their distrust.

When all your instincts scream at you to run away, to hide, you don't question it. And unless you are brain-damaged or have severe suicidal tendencies you run, as fast as you can. Thousands of years of evolution gave us humans many gifts. Our brain is hardwired to survive as best as we can. You are afraid of a snake even before knowing if it is venomous or not.

Snakes have nothing on the aura we jinchūriki, as the holders of the very forces of nature, emit.

But it's alright. The constant stares which once burned my back doesn't affect me anymore. Human mind is weird like that. It craves normalcy. Those stares and those hushed whispers are now what I consider to be normal. I remember a time when I craved their attention.

Not anymore.

I learned and I understood. It's not as bad as it could have been. Compared to other jinchūriki, I have it pretty easy. People usually gave me a wide berth and even when confrontation became a necessity they tried to keep their demeanor as formal as they can.

In the aftermath of the bijū attack, Sandaime in all his wisdom, decided to rein the hysteria by comparing the bijū in my gut with a sealed kunai. The villagers were somewhat placated, after all no one has ever heard of a kunai, no matter how sharp, release itself from a sealed storage and so they left me alone. A few went as far as protecting me from others. They didn't do it out of the goodness of their heart, they did it because they feared what might happen if someone mistakenly released my seal.

Hilarious, we both knew.

A kunai when sealed in a paper does not turn the paper metallic, nor does it sharpens the paper, whereas. A jinchūriki is more than just chakra sealed in a human body, when a jinchūriki is created, we cease to be human.

We change... fundamentally.

Poisons which would kill an adult shinobi in minutes would only keep us down for a few hours. Our eyesight never dulls and our senses are enhanced. The change is not just biological. Anger fuels the blood lust of our inner demons and a broken heart is reason enough to annihilate a country. A jinchūriki's emotion is said to the source of its power.

Suffice to say, civilians are not really sharp but it kept them in control, and that was enough.

"Did the Hokage really lie? But, I thought, he was an honorable man!" Is that what you're thinking?

Of course he did... We are shinobi. Not samurai. Lying and murdering is what we do, it's how we earn money, its how we put food on our tables. And the best among us gets to be the Kage and lead us all.

But I digress. The villagers listened to their Hokage, and decided to put their faith in his wisdom. After all he was the "Professor". Not everyone believed him, but things managed to calm down, at least for the moment. Even after years no one ever abused me, nor did anyone ever tried harming me. Those that did, paid with their lives.

My tea is ready. Breakfast consisted of white rice and raw eggs. Anyways, where was I?

Oh, yes. The graduation day. The day I'd become a genin of leaf, receive the infamous headband and along with it the opportunity to get my name engraved on the memorial stone.

Ah yes, the memorial stone. The things we do to maintain our image. I'll be honest, no one remembers you after you die, except perhaps your teammates, or your parents; if you are lucky enough to have any.

They would tell you romantic tragedies of famous shinobi who died on missions, and encourage you to do the same, to protect the village at the cost of your life.

I call it brainwashing.

To be frank, dying sucks... no one wants to die, what they fail to mention about that everlasting glory is that the memorial stone gets replaced every few years and new names are etched except for a famous few, like that of Yondaime which are etched every time a new memorial is erected.

It should have been obvious, after all more than hundreds of shinobi die every year, and the memorial stone is not really that big. So, if you, a no-name ninja thinks that your name is going to stay beside Yondaime for an eternity just because you died protecting the village, think again.

But once again I'm getting off the topic, am I not? Finally I'm ready. After checking for any unlocked windows and locking the door I'm on my way to the academy.

Now, I know what you might be thinking.

"Even after knowing all this, why would you want to become a ninja?"

Let me tell you why.

The day I came to know of the ancient mass of chakra sealed inside me, was the day I decided to play it safe and stay as far away from shinobi business as possible, going civilian was tempting. The Hokage was shocked. He spent his entire day telling me tales about famous and powerful ninja of old. He told me of Senju Hashirama, the Shodai and his unmatched power. He even told me of his sensei Senju Tobirama, the Nanadaime Hokage, and his unparalleled brilliance trying to make me see how similar I was.

I was not impressed with his attempt at manipulating a four year old.

The Hokage then told me about my father.

And believe me, if someone told you that your progenitor was powerful enough to single-handedly raze an entire army, fierce enough to tear in half the mightiest of nine bijū, knowledgeable enough to summon a god and yet compassionate enough to sacrifice himself for his village?

It does something to you. It sparks a flame in your heart.

It was the day I promised myself that I would rise above the ordinary. I would become a living legend. I would surpass my father.

Thinking back, I'm impressed. That sneaky old pile of bones surely deserves his hat.

Not to mention the minor fact that all orphans become ninja.

I see gates in front of me, I'm at the academy.

Any action, even one as simple as going to the class can be considered as a form of physical training, when people around you are twice your age. I look around, and watch as kids taller than me are called one by one to show three randomly picked jutsu. I'm a bit apprehensive, after all there are almost fifty jutsu in our syllabus and a few of them are quite hard.

One by one I look at my future comrades, and I'm not impressed.

Someone is calling me.

I saw sensei staring at me, waiting for me to approach.

I stood up, ready to walk the path of shinobi just like my ancestors did before me. The only difference is that I'm going to become the most powerful ninja in all of history, and if a few died along the way, well... let's just say disposing a body is not really that hard.

By the way, I never quite introduced myself. Did I?

I am Namikaze Naruto, age six. I like ramen, jutsu, reading and I belong to Konohagakure no sato; weakest of the great five.


Its gonna be AU. If you didn't already get the hint.

Like it? Hate it? Send me a review…

Thanks to Lord of the Blue Star for proofreading my work.

Stay tuned.