Disclaimer: ~I don't own Naruto~
AN: Sorry about any grammar or spelling mistakes (I hate commas and they hate me!). Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated (like telling me if I should continue with this story or if this story sucks and I should just stop). I'll also try to work on making the chapters longer because I know that I write short chapters.
Chapter One: My Name
As days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, the Village of Konoha had started to put the Kyuubi incident behind them. Architects were putting the finishing touches on building that needed to be reconstructed after facing the attack of the nine-tailed demon. Missions were being completed and the confidence and happiness of the village was coming back after suffering the losses that occurred on October 10th.
One couple, however, wasn't doing as well. After keeping the search up for their son months after he disappeared, Minato and Kushina accepted that their son, Naruto, wasn't coming home. Minato called off the search for his son, allowing the ninjas who were searching to go back to doing other missions. Both Kushina and Minato kept an eye out for him, but they knew that finding him now, months after he disappeared, was next to impossible. They didn't want to think about it, but their son was probably dead.
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~About Seven Years After The Kyuubi Attack~
"You think you're tough. Don't ya, Whiskers? Maybe if ya just learned to listen to us, we wouldn't have to knock some sense into ya," said a boy that looked to be around the age of nine, as he pushed down the kid in front of him. Behind the boy were some other kids around the same age, cheering on the boy who was talking. Any other children in the area were ignoring what was going on because they didn't want to be next in line for the bullies to pick on. The kid on the ground looked up with anger at the one who pushed him down.
"Come in if you want your supper brats," called one of the caretakers at the orphanage.
Almost all of the children began to rush towards the doors to get inside; the only exception was the kid who was pushed down to the ground. As the boy slowly got to his feet he was thinking, 'I'm tired of being made fun of. I'm tired of eating gruel or that mystery meat. I'm tired of being ignored. I want to leave this place. Heh… I don't think anyone would even notice I'm gone. If they did they probably wouldn't care. It would just be one less mouth to feed…. I'm gonna leave. I'll make it on my own.'
The child began walking away from the orphanage and decided to walk in the direction he thought the park would be in. 'I'll find somewhere to sleep at in the park, then tomorrow morning, I'll figure out what I'm going to do.'
If someone were in the park they would have seen a small boy, roughly around the age of six or possibly seven looking around the playground equipment. The small boy had blue eyes with a black bandana on his head that was covering his short, blond hair. On his each of his cheeks were three black lines that looked like whisker marks. He was wearing a plain white shirt that was visibly dirty and dark gray, knee-length shorts.
The boy finally settled down on a bench that was between two trees. When he lay down on the bench, he saw the last rays of the sun disappearing and the stars were beginning to come out. As he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, his stomach growled. 'Oh man, I skipped dinner and now I'm really hungry! I have no food, no home, no money, and no clothes except the ones I have on right now… Wait no food, no home, no money… that means I'm a like hobo now. I know I tend to act without thinking about the consequences, but, damn, I really didn't think this through. I guess I could always go back, but I really don't want to go back there. Oh well, I think about it more tomorrow.'
And with that last thought in mind, the young boy fell into an uneasy sleep.
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It was around eight in the morning and many businesses were already up and running. People were out shopping and getting breakfast. There were a few ninjas jumping on the rooftops to get to where they needed to be without getting caught in the crowds of civilians.
One civilian was just beginning to open his ramen stand for the day, like he usually does. He ran the stand with the help of his daughter, Ayame, who was fourteen. His daughter would take orders and get the drinks while he made the ramen. His daughter had started helping him this past year. He use to run the stand with his wife but, because of complication during childbirth, she died. The first few years after his wife died were hard. He had to keep the stand running while taking care of his young daughter by himself. He enjoyed the past year so far, running the stand with his daughter, even though his daughter works part-time.
That morning, as he opened the stand, he thought he heard a noise in the alleyway so he turned to check it out. He thought it was a cat or maybe a dog scrounging for some scraps near the dumpsters and he would shoo it away. He didn't need something that could have rabies or something near his daughter or his ramen stand. Slouched down on the ground in the alleyway was the last thing Teuchi expected to see. It was obviously a child, but what would a child be doing sitting down in an alleyway. Deciding to see what the kid was doing in the alleyway instead of being with his parents or at home, Teuchi stepped towards the child. 'Maybe the kid is lost?' As he began to walk toward the child he stepped on some type of wrapper that made a crinkling noise, alerting the child to his presence.
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When the child with the whisker marks woke up on the bench the previous morning, he looked around and saw that he hadn't been discovered. The first thing on his mind was exploring the rest of Konoha to find something to eat. He knew that stealing was wrong, but as the day wore on, the child decided to get some fruit from one of the stands when no one was looking. At least, he thought no one was looking. When he got caught and was asked to pay for the fruit, he hightailed it out of there. The same thing kept happening for the rest of the day. 'I guess I was lucky that no ninja or police were around whenever I got caught. I'm also lucky that people underestimate how fast I can run. I still haven't gotten anything to eat and the sun is already setting. I guess I'll just head back to the park. If I can remember the way, that is.'
It was the next day and the sun had already risen. The blue-eyed child was already trying to get himself some food. He was really, really hungry. He thought that the adults would be tired or slower in the morning and they wouldn't see him sneaking the food. Well he found out that he thought wrong. They were alert and they somehow managed to see him. He ran for a while and decided to take a break to think of a plan to get food without anyone seeing him. The child saw an alleyway to his left and decided to sit down in there. So far none of his plans to get food had worked and he was getting angry and frustrated. He picked up a rock and chucked it at the wall in front of him to release some of his pent up anger. He realized that throwing rocks at walls wouldn't get him anywhere and he might get caught and taken back to the orphanage. Just as he was about to get up and go somewhere else he heard someone coming closer to him. He looked up and saw it was a man wearing a cook's outfit. He was getting ready to run when the man began to speak.
"Hey, what's you're name?" the man asked. When he saw that the child wasn't going to answer he decided to say something else. It seemed that the child was on edge for some reason.
"Well, my name's Teuchi. Are you lost? Where are your parents?"
The child hesitated, debating whether to answer the question or run. After a few moments, he decided to answer, seeing that the man, Teuchi, meant no harm.
"I know where I am and I don't have any parents. And no! I won't go back to the orphanage. I'm doing fine all by myself," the child declared before his stomach gave a loud rumble. The child then gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, while chuckling nervously when Teuchi raised an eyebrow.
'Poor kid' "Why don't you come with me to my ramen stand and I'll get you something to eat."
"I don't have any money mister."
"I'll give you the meal for free. I can tell you need a good meal, so come on kid, let's get you something to eat," Teuchi said while gesturing towards his ramen stand. The child smiled and nodded his head while standing up. As the kid walked beside Teuchi toward the ramen stand, Teuchi said, "By the way, I never got your name and I can't just call you kid."
"I was called Whiskers at the orphanage but I don't like it. You can call me kid. I don't mind."
'Whiskers?' Teuchi thought. 'Well, I guess those lines on his face do look like whiskers. But seriously, calling a kid Whiskers?'
"How about we find a name you do like while you eat your ramen. Okay kid?" Teuchi asked.
"Sure. Sounds fine to me," the child said while shrugging his shoulders.
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"Hey old man! What are these? They're really good," the boy said while pointing to something in the ramen bowl.
'I'm not that old!' "It's called naruto, it's a type of fishcake," Teuchi said while preparing more ramen
"Well, I like it!"
"Why don't we call you Naruto?" Teuchi suggested.
"FISHCAKE?! You seriously expect me to want to be named after A FISHCAKE?!" the small boy exclaimed.
"Now, now… it also means maelstrom. Besides you've turned down all the other names I've suggested."
"Maelstrom…I guess that's pretty cool. And naruto is really good… Hey old man! You can call me Naruto for now," the blue-eyed boy said with a smile on his face.
"All right. So, Naruto, do you want one more bowl?" Teuchi asked.
"Yeah!"
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AN: Review Please! Tell me what you think.
