Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The beginning of a journey

Uzumaki Naruto was a lonely girl. It wasn't something she liked to dwell on, she preferred being happy, and besides, she was gonna show them all. She was going to make everyone in the village of Konohagakure acknowledge her, believe it! She didn't yet know how, but she was only six, she had time to figure something out. Since she was already going to the Academy, becoming a famous ninja would be a good start. But she'd have to study…

Eh, she only had to pass the graduation exam. Who'd care about her grades when she was the most kickass kunoichi ever?

Hopping along the rooftops in the afternoon sun, she grinned to herself. It was a good plan. She'd study just enough to pass the exams and have fun the rest of the time, and when she got out of the Academy and showed everyone how awesome she was, they'd have no choice but to like her. She'd be famous and every one would want to be her friend. She'd never be lonely again.

Lost in daydreams, she arrived at her apartment. "I'm home, dattebayo!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as she entered. As usual, only silence greeted her and she smiled sadly, wistfully.

Her apartment was in one of the poorer parts of the village, at the top of an otherwise empty building. It wasn't a bad place, she could be as loud as she wanted. The space was small and rather dingy, but she'd lived in worse conditions at the orphanage, and she'd survived on the streets for two months after she was kicked out, until some masked guy had grabbed her and brought her to Old Man Hokage. She'd been scared to death, but he'd been nice and made her tea and they'd talked, and in the end he'd enrolled her into the Academy and given her the apartment. He didn't have much time for her, and she knew he was keeping things from her, like stuff about her parents, but she still liked him. He was one of three people who treated her like a real person, the others being the Old Man Ichiraku from the ramen stand and his daughter Ayame.

Speaking of ramen… her stomach growled.

"Alright!" she said to her stomach. "Let's go!"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

After her fifth bowl of ramen, she called it quits. She could have eaten more of the best food in the world, but the month was nearing its end which meant she was a little short on money, and besides, Old Man Ichiraku was always nice to her and gave her a discount, she didn't want to take advantage of his kindness. She hated not having enough money to pay him.

One day, when she was rich and famous, she'd pay him back.

"Everything alright, Naruto-chan?" he asked her with a kind smile.

Instantly, her mood brightened and she gave him a big grin. "Yep! Ramen are the best! And we learned about this 'chatra' stuff in the Academy today! I bet I'll learn all kinds of cool jutsu soon, dattebayo!"

The old man laughed. "That's great. I'm looking forward to hearing about it."

She nodded and slid off her stool, putting the money for her food on the table. "Thanks for the food! It was soooo yummy!" She beamed up at him.

He smiled at her and took the money, leaving a few bills. "You payed too much," he said kindly. "Go and buy yourself something nice."

She hesitated. She knew he wasn't taking enough to pay for her meal, she knew how to count. She should refuse.

But she really needed the money. She still needed to buy some food and one of her shirts got torn beyond saving so she needed a new one, and those things would cost a lot, if the guy at the store would even sell them to her. He didn't like her much. No one really did.

While she contemplated the problem, the flap of the ramen stand moved and a boy entered, his parents following behind. However, as soon as they saw her, they stopped short, only the boy climbing up on the a stool, grinning in anticipation.

Naruto clearly saw the coldness creep into the parents' eyes as they regarded her.

"Taiki, we're eating somewhere else," the woman snapped, glaring at her. Naruto flinched back.

"But I want ramen, Kaa-chan!" the kid protested.

"Listen to you mother!" the father ordered, grabbing the protesting boy's arm and dragging him away from the stand. Naruto stared after them, trembling.

It was all her fault.

"Naruto-chan, are you okay?" the old man asked.

She turned around and gave him a smile just a little too bright to be honest. "Of course! Heh, that was weird!"

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, and she almost started to cry when she saw the concern in his eyes, the warmth. But she'd given up on crying a long time ago. It never helped anything.

"I'm sure." She turned to leave. "See ya tomorrow, Jii-san!"

The money still lay on the table as she left.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Out on the streets, she slowly trudged the way to her apartment. Usually, she ignored the cold looks and whispers that seemed to follow her wherever she went, but today, she felt like she needed to be punished for making the old man losing his customers and ruining that little boy's evening.

'Monster', they hissed, each word slicing into her like ice cold needles. 'Demon!'

She stopped walking in the middle of the street, clenching her fists, forcing the burning in her eyes to go away.

It wasn't fair.

She shook her head and leapt up onto the rooftops and away from the cold eyes and whispers.

There was a place she could always go to in moments like this, a place where no one ever judged her, where she felt at home more than anywhere else in the village save perhaps Ichiraku's. Coming to a stop on the Yondaime Hokage's head on the Hokage Monument, she sat down cross-legged staring at the expanse of houses beneath her. Watching the tiny people so far beneath her, all her troubles seemed so small. She took a deep breath and let them go for the moment.

Konoha was a beautiful place. She loved it.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

It was much later that she returned to her apartment. The streets were almost empty now, so she didn't mind walking along them. Lost in thought, her head jerked up when someone – a kid - ran past her and hastily knocked on the door of a nearby house. The door was instantly ripped open, a young woman looking out, warm light spilling out from the corridor behind her.

"Where have you been?!" the woman yelled. "I was worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry, Kaa-chan, but-!"

The woman bent down and crushed the kid in a hug. "Don't do that again!" she whispered, then pulled the kid inside. The door slammed shut behind them and the warm light was gone.

Naruto had watched it all, frozen with longing. A part of her wanted nothing more than to run up there and join in with the family. The woman would hug her, too, scold her for being out so long and then make her wash up and sit her down at a set dinner table. She wouldn't get dessert since she'd made the woman worry, but it would be fine. She'd get sent to bed and be told goodnight and sweet dreams. She'd fall asleep and in the morning, she'd wake to the smell of breakfast.

Of course, it was all just a dream, far out of reach for her. She'd tried it before and all it did was get her shoved from doorsteps and doors slammed into her face.

This, too, wasn't fair. Why was she all alone? No one else was. Even at the orphanage, she'd been lonely while everyone else had friends. In a way, it had been better on the streets. She'd been hungry and dirty all the time, but at least she'd had an excuse for being alone.

She shook her head again, dragging her feet on her way to her apartment. She trudged up the stairs and moved along the corridor until she stood before her door. "I'm home," she called out. Silence answered her. There was never anyone waiting for her, no one to worry about her, no one to scold her for staying out late.

She kicked off her shoes and sat on her bed. She stared at her hands.

She shouldn't have to try so damn hard to make people love her.

It just wasn't fair.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

In the end, the decision wasn't made on that day or even the next one or the one after that. But regardless, she made it, on account of every injustice that had been dealt to her during her short lifespan of six years.

Shouldering the small backpack filled with her few belongings, Uzumaki Naruto leapt over the village's wall and disappeared into the forest looming behind it to begin the journey that would lead her across the continent and change the fate of the Elemental Nations.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

A/N: A new story! Yay! I hadn't exactly planned on publishing a new one while still writing Growing Strong, but this just came into my head and pretty much wrote itself. Updates for this won't be as frequent as they are for Growing Strong, though.

Please let me know what you think and if you want it to be continued!