AN: I'm totally going to screw with the entire story line of Naruto here, and I'm going to be skipping forward, sometimes years, into the future at times. Please just understand it's all to fit this character in. Other than that I may be changing a bit about how the characters act compared to canon, this is also so this character will fit. If you don't like it, please don't be a jack ass and flame.
That aside, I'm basically going to start right before everybody joins the academy and move up from there, if I skip a few years and seem to forget to specify, go ahead and shout it out in a PM, I will take care of it. With that, let's get down to business, shall we?
"Your name is?"
"Getsuubi."
"Your full name, if you please."
"Getsuubi. I don't know any other name."
"Meaning you don't have a last name?"
"Genma, leave the poor child alone. He's the one that was left at the gates right after..." The rest of the old mans sentence was lost upon the child as he leaned down to speak in the younger man, Genma's, ear.
Getsuubi studied both men currently in the same room as he was. Genma was probably a mid to late twenty somethings man, with shaggy mouse brown hair and seemingly ever half mast light brown eyes. He wore his forehead protector on the back of his head, and it covered all of the top of his head with a tie in front to keep it from falling. The older man, the Godaime Hokage, with his white and red colored robes and hat, lined face and curious smiling eyes, finally stood up and looked at him again.
Genma's eyes were wide as he studied the boy a little more closely, sure that this could not possibly be the same little urchin that had been left at the gates not long after the Kyuubi attack.
Getsuubi himself was an oddity in the village. He had extremely short sandy blonde hair. His nose and mouth were both a little smaller than what people would consider average, and he always seemed to be quiet when he was calm. His attire was rather simple, if even more strange than average. He wore black cargo pants that were rolled up at the ankles, black shinobi sandals, and a very curious netted shirt under a cut up white and sleeveless shirt. The netted material seemed to have little pouches or armholes down the sides, but they didn't seem to have a purpose, and the sleeveless shirt over the top looked as if someone had taken and cut the armholes until they stretched all the way down the side of his shirt. His arms from the shoulder down to just beneath his elbow were covered with wraps, but if you looked closely at any visible part of the blonde, you could tell that he was already developing muscles. Every time Getsuubi shifted under Genma's gaze the older man could see the muscles in his arms and legs ripple. The most stunning feature about the boy though, and this is what made him such an oddity among the people of Konoha, was his eyes. They were slanted upward at the outer edges, thin and angry, but even stranger was their color. The dark gray in his orbs often made people think of a cloudy sky just before a storm. Not exactly a bad analogy given the boys violent history among the village.
Before now, Genma had often heard of fights breaking out among younger children, and it seemed that always someone would come away with a broken bone or two if this child standing before him had been involved. Most of the time, no one worried about it. The boy just didn't know his own strength. After a while though, when it became clear these accidents weren't stopping, the boy was often ridiculed and forced to play on his own. Apparently this is what had led to the rumors that the demon child, Naruto, and Getsuubi, had started to hang out and play often. No one ever seemed to be able to confirm these stories except the children, for when any adult showed up it would appear that the two weren't even talking to each other.
Once again Genma opened his mouth and asked the question, "So you have no memory of having any name other than Getsuubi, correct?"
The boy nodded stoically once more. He was used to these questions. When he was younger, every person he talked to wanted to know the rest of his name. He didn't have another name, just Getsuubi. He wouldn't have even had that if the card left on his chest had blown away before he was found.
Genma wrote this information down on his sheet and added the photo of Getsuubi to it before once more taking a look at the boy. Those cold gray eyes drilled into the older man. They wouldn't allow him to escape, they wouldn't let him look away. This blonde child may be so many years younger than himself, but something about him made him have a power that most men only wield later in life. He could silence anyone with just a look, and he had silenced Genma in the same fashion.
The Hokage chuckled watching the two younger men. He finally decided that he had let Getsuubi scare the older man enough when he said, "You are dismissed, classes start in three days. Don't be late."
"I won't, Hokage-sama. You have my word." The boy averted his gaze, got up, and left.
As he wandered out of the building, he wondered what he was going to do the rest of the day. Naruto said that he was going to Ichiraku's for dinner, and had offered to pay for him if he wanted to come. He decided that since it was getting late and his sole friend expected him to show up, it would be impolite to do anything else. He started walking along the streets toward one of the few places he truly felt welcome in.
When he got there, he wasn't surprised to hear a very loud blonde in and orange jumpsuit yell at him, "Getsuubi! Oi, Getsuubi! Where the heck have you been? I'm nearly done over here."
"I had to go take care of my stuff for joining the academy Naruto." A small smile graced the gray eyed face as he entered the ramen stand. "You know that. I was standing there when you left."
The foxy grin flashed onto Naruto's face before he slurped down another mouthful of noodles. As he finished swallowing he said, "Yeah, I know. You were the last one there. Took you long enough though. Oi, Ayame-Neechan, guess who decided to show his face again?"
The young woman smiled as she realized that Naruto's friend had once again joined him for dinner.
"Shall I assume you would like your usual, Getsuubi-kun?" She asked, already beginning to prepare it.
"You know it. Thank you, Ayame-chan." Getsuubi blushed as he spoke. He really hated anyone who put that suffix on his name, but it seemed that when the either of the Ichiraku's said it, he didn't really mind. He knew they really were close to being his friends, but he really wasn't sure if they were just trying to make him feel accepted or if they respected him that much. He never felt that it mattered enough to answer.
As his order was set in front of him, he thanked her and Teuchi once again before digging in. Naruto one the other hand, was just finishing his fifth bowl and was starting on his sixth. The short haired blonde just shook his head as he enjoyed slowly devouring the meal before him. He knew that the boy next to him rarely ever ate less than seven or eight bowls when he came here, but was still surprised each time he saw the feat in progress.
"Naruto, do you ever actually slow down and enjoy the taste as you eat this?" He asked, holding up his chopsticks with a bunch of ramen between them.
"I don't need to slow down to enjoy it. This is the food of the gods, and I'm going to eat as much as I can and enjoy every single bite of it." Naruto proudly stated as he once again picked up his bowl and slurped the remaining contents from it.
Again Getsuubi shook his head. His friend never seemed to stop amazing him, and he was rather glad that fate had pushed them together.
As he finished his own bowl, and realized that Naruto was done as well, he looked at his friend. "You know, you really don't have to pay every time you bring me here."
"Yeah I do, I know it's the only time you're actually going to eat a decent meal, and I know that lady that you help garden doesn't pay you more than needed to get you by." Naruto replied as he took out Gama-chan, his wallet, and paid Ayame. He stood up and followed a very embarrassed gray eyed boy. "Hey, sorry I said that in front of them." the blonde boy stated. "I keep forgetting you don't like everybody knowing about your situation."
Getsuubi patted Naruto on the back as he spoke, "It's not too big of a deal, Naruto. I just don't want people to pity me. That's all."
"You're still going to refuse to stay at my place, aren't you?" Naruto queried.
"I'm afraid so. I know what I have may not be the best place-" He was interrupted as his blue eyed friend all but yelled.
"Getsuubi! Staying in a freaking bar because the owners is an aquaintence of yours and lays a mat out for you after hours is a hell of a lot worse than, 'not the best place'." Naruto frowned. "You know I really hate it when you stay there. You don't even have anything to call your own."
Getsuubi frowned. "That's not quite true, Naruto. I do have a few things that are mine." He patted the bag that he kept on his back. "You know as well as I do that I keep everything that belongs to me in here."
Naruto smiled a little sheepishly as he replied, "Yeah, and that consists of two changes of clothes that almost exactly matches what you have on, plus a storage scroll that you've never opened. You know how to do that. Hell, Jiji-san freaking taught you so that you could! Even before you entered the academy!"
"I know, Naruto, but I also know that Hokage-sama told me that it was my choice when I opened it, but whoever left it with me asked that I only do so after my first year in the academy." Getsuubi eyed his only friend as the news sank in.
A stunned look was Naruto's only reply. He hadn't known that piece of information until just now. "So you're going to wait until after this year?" He asked.
"Yeah. That's the plan anyway." Getsuubi looked up and stopped walking. "I'll see you Naruto. Might be tomorrow or might be when we get to the academy. See you around."
Naruto watched as his friend walked up to a bar and pushed the door open. If he had been any other child, Naruto included, the boy would have immediately been thrown right back out on his ear. He sighed. Getsuubi was too proud to accept help from Naruto, he never wanted to be a burden.
Inside the bar, a familiar scene met Getsuubi's eyes. The owner sweeping under the tables and cleaning up any glasses left behind by his customers. Even though the bar was closed, he always left the door open late in case the strange boy needed a place to spend the night. Tonight, as had happened for a few years now, was no different.
"Hello, Getsuubi. Mind helping me finish washing up the dishes? I'm a little behind today." The owner said.
"No big deal Keshai-san. I'm happy to help." It was the same every day. Getsuubi would come in, and Keshai would ask for a little help cleaning up before he retired to the apartment upstairs. The older man had offered on several occasions for the boy to stay on the couch, but each time he had been gently refused. Getsuubi would always just ask for a mat and a sleeping bag to be laid out near the front of the store, and he would sleep there every night. Tonight his bag and mat were already there.
As soon as the sweeping was done, Keshai went to check on what he considered his tenant. Ever since the boy started leaving a few ryo every morning, he'd began to call him that in his mind. He simply couldn't tell the boy that he had to stop paying for a place to sleep because the time that he had, Getsuubi had simply told him that he owed him, and would not accept any returns. Seeing that the dishes were once again spotlessly clean and put away in the proper places on the shelves Keshai decided that he should surprise the blonde.
"You may want to hurry up and check up front, Little man, I left something for you." He said as he smiled and turned to walk up the stairs.
Seeing the look on the owners face, Getsuubi picked up his pack and paced to the front of the store cautiously. He'd never been given anything by anyone other than Naruto before, and that had been free meals at Ichiraku's.
As he neared the sleeping bag, he saw a lump halfway down inside it. Gently pulling it open, he saw a brown package as big as his chest with a small piece of paper on top of it. The paper read, "I know you're going to be starting at the academy this year. I really hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of picking up a few things that I figured you might need.
Signed,
Keshai
P.S. Don't you dare think of paying me more for this, I did this as a gift for you. I don't want to see any more than normal sitting on that counter in the morning, you got that Little man?"
Getsuubi smiled at little at the last part and turned to the package. He carefully pulled at the paper it was wrapped in until he had everything spread out on it, at which point the boy gazed in awe at what the shop owner had gotten for him.
A set of kunai and shuriken sat before him, each polished to pristine condition. There was also a kunai holster and another small pouch that he could attach to his belt for anything else he might need. There was also a small emergency medical kit, ninja wire, and a new set of wrapping that he realized was to replace the tattered ones around his arms. As he collected everything and began putting it away, he realized that there was one more thing that he had missed sitting underneath his kunai holster. It was a simple woven light green bracelet of some sort with a small pendant attached. It was wrapped around yet another small note, which read, "The Hokage stopped by today and gave me this, asking that I pass it on to you. I'm not sure if he found it somewhere for you or if it is part of your inheritance. Either way, he explained that it is an arm band. It is meant to be worn around your bicep. The symbol on the pendant just means warrior. I thought it was pretty appropriate when he told me. Hope you liked your present Little man. Sleep well tonight.
Signed,
Keshai
P.S. I'm probably going to forget to tell you in the other note I plan on writing, so I'll tell you now. Hirashi asked me to tell you that she would like your help again tomorrow. I'll get you up tomorrow.
Getsuubi placed the note down as he once again picked up the arm band. He slid it up his arm until it was around his bicep before tightening it so it would not slide down. He organized the rest of his belongings in his pack and cleaned up the wrapping paper before contentedly laying down in his sleeping bag.
His last thoughts before he fell asleep were that he was going to have to thank Keshai a lot for the gift. He hadn't even thought of what he would need to become a shinobi yet.
