Sorry for late upload, internet broke and I just got a new pair of powerline adapters

I plan to keep it on a weekly upload basis

Chapter 2

-Nine years later-

Naruto sighed for the fourth time; the orphanage matron had begun shouting again. It always happened, every Friday evening like clockwork.

After visiting hours had ended at around six o'clock or so, she would leave the building as quickly as possible and make a b-line straight to the nearest sake den.

But of course, not before giving the 'demon child' her remaining chores for the night.

He would scrub every floor in the house and polish every boot, sort every book in the on site library, you name it.

If she came back and he hadn't done them, he would get beaten black and blue.

'I wonder what she actually DOES do during the day...' Naruto wondered.

'Stupid lousy Matron' he thought 'why If I could speak...ugh who am I kidding nothing would change'.

Fifth sigh.

Naruto never could work it out but he never could speak. Try as he might, he stood there beside the other forty or so other children, watched them talk to each other and laugh more often than not at him. But he just couldn't, it was a mystery to him.

Another point of interest crossed his mind as well, the old man.

The Hokage hadn't come to visit him in some time, days passed into weeks, weeks into months. Naruto had actually scratched the days into his walls, along with his hopes.

'Three months sixteen days...where are you old man'

Naruto's eyes began to water and he quickly wiped them away, lest the others catch wind.

The other orphans would often use the Matrons distaste of him to get a few free hits in.

Naruto being an un-naturally fast healer meant that they could beat him ragged to vent their frustrations, after which they would then lock him in the store cupboard. By the time the Matron would let him out, the cuts and bruises would have healed and he would be in trouble for a number of mysteriously disappearing items.

'And now she returns, at least I was able to get the last room all done this time'.

Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow and slipped down the wall with the mop not far behind.

He could hear banging from the main entrance, she was shouting for him and Naruto wasn't so sure that he wanted to go to her.

'If I stay I'm screwed and if I go to her I am also screwed...great' sixth sigh 'I guess it's better if I get it over with now when the others aren't around or they'd join in'.

Naruto wobbled to his feet and took a deep breath before walking down the hallway to the front door where the matron had haphazardly hung her coat on the rack one peg too low leaving her pristine violet coat to lap up the dust he would inevitably missed.

"Demon!" she shouted as he approached her "have you done as I asked or have you been busy skiving as usual 'eh?".

Naruto's brow creased, he had never 'skived' he was always just taking a lunch break but apparently she didn't see it that way.

"Well then speak you rotten boy!" the matron then raised her eye brows and began hooting with laughter before slapping Naruto around the face hard

"Laugh boy, it's funny!" her face suddenly turned feral "Just like the irony of letting the monster that made all of the children inside this building orphans live among them".

She grasped him by the shirt and lifted him off the ground with Naruto flailing his arms around fruitlessly.

"You know what Demon?" she brought her arm back, the door still wide open "my rope has finally reached its end!" she threw him with all the strength her alcohol fuelled muscles could muster onto the street "The Hokage be damned Kyuubi brat if you ever show your face around here again, I will personally beat you and lock you in the cellar until people forget about you!"

She then proceeded to slam the door in his face and her loud laughs could still be heard by Naruto, now a crumpled mess on the other side of the door.

It hurt, it hurt badly.

He had landed on his arm at a strange angle and every time he moved it more tears would add to the already ample amount of tears pooling at his knees.

Every time he tried to stand the gravity pulling on his unsupported arm would make his arm feel like it was on fire.

He couldn't even call out for help, and everyone who passed either spat at him or walked straight on sending him an angry glare or curse.

'Damn it' he kept repeating in his mind 'damn it, damn it, damn it!'.

He grimaced again and supported his whole arm with the other before trying again.

'Gahhh...slightly...better'

He continued to ascend and lent against the buildings gateposts for added support, a thick sheen of sweat that rivalled the one he had on him not twenty minutes ago inside the compound.

'Why?' Naruto began to wonder 'Why does everyone hate me so much, what did I ever do?'.

Naruto began to move slowly and began the long trudge to where he remembered the Hokage's tower to be.

Hiruzen Sarutobi the third Hokage stood once more on his hourly five minute break to stretch his old back.

The Fourths death had shook him, and he had quickly been forced back into the seat of Hokage, even though there was many other Ninja, younger Ninja that would have maybe fulfilled the role better-he had to take the seat again.

The council had said that his experience would be able to stabilise the nation after its time of tragedy surrounding the death of Minato and his wife Kushina as well as the re-sealing of the Kyuubi after its attack against the leaf.

"Oh Minato" he wondered aloud "You left me in a world of troubles my friend, and I was just about ready to retire" he sighed heavily and turned ready to sit his aging behind back down on the remarkably good looking, and yet strangely uncomfortable seat, to resume the completion of a Hokage's greatest enemy: paperwork.

Naruto had just reached the doors to the Hokage tower, when he realised that he had to actually talk to someone before getting to see the Hokage, and the look on the secretary's face said anything but 'go right in'.

She hated his presence there, and that was all there was to it.

He blinked at her sudden change of mood as soon as someone else came in; she was all smiles and bubbly with them, politely asking them to 'take a seat please' before sending a message to the Hokage telling him that they had arrived. She had done no such thing for him.

"Sit down brat, he will see you when he see's you and if you don't like that you can just leave can't you?" she had said before shoving him roughly towards the musty chair round the corner so she wouldn't have to look at him.

Tears had threatened to fall once again, but he managed the keep the flood gates in check, but for how much longer he wondered.

A group of men numbering around fifteen or so came through the door asking for the Hokage.

Naruto noticed a couple of them, there were the three heads of the partner clans; the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka as well as a couple of other members of the more influential clans such as the Hyuuga and the Uchiha.

'They must be here to visit the old man' Naruto thought, his eyes beginning to water again 'well I guess I'll be waiting here even longer'.

They had finished signing in and began to make a move towards his corner to take the stairs up to the Hokages office when Inoichi and Shikaku stopped to look at Naruto who had since turned around to look at the floor.

"Hey there kid, what you doing here?" asked Inoichi.

"Yeah shouldn't you still be back at the orphanage, it's pretty damn late you know?" said Shikaku.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore and he hunched lower, grasping his throbbing arm and his tears began to drip rhythmically onto the floor.

Shikaku and Inoichi were taken back by this and the latter glared at the former whilst shaking his head strongly.

"Shikaku why did you have to go and say that you idiot?".

"Hey I didn't mean anything by it, I'm sorry kid real-".

It was then that the two noticed Naruto's hand on his arm and the two crouched down beside him, the others suddenly becoming aware that the two where no longer with them and crowded around him, some with looks of malcontent and others with looks of worry.

"Naruto" began Inoichi "let me have a look at that okay? I won't hurt you I promise I'm just going to see if you are all right?".

Naruto sniffed and slowly lifted his hand off of his arm and allowed him to inspect it.

In the back of the group, the Hyuuga head Hiashi Hyuuga and Fugaku Uchiha where bickering as usual, but certainly not over the usual things.

"Look at the demon, pathetic. We should have just killed it the moment Sarutobi came back" said Fugaku with a shake of his head, the Hyuuga head did not look too pleased with his train of thought

"I see Fugaku, then if it where your son the fox was sealed in, should we have killed him straight out as well?" asked Hiashi with his brow raised, the lack of answer from the Uchiha head pointed his loss on this argument.

"Fine" said Fugaku finally "I still have no idea why the boy is being so pathetic, why doesn't he just show him his arm properly rather than keep trying to pull away?".

Hiashi simply looked at him shocked before sighing heavily.

"However did you become a father Fugaku?" he said, and rather that waiting for an answer he nodded at Naruto.

"Even without my Byakugan I can tell a dislocated elbow when I see one, and you don't just dislocate that by accident. No, he was clearly attacked today and if he is not in the orphanage it obviously means it was someone there and now he refuses to go back there" he shook his head before carrying on "I mean look at him Fugaku the boy is clearly terrified, he thinks that Inoichi is trying to hurt him".

"Ugh" replied Fugaku "Your so soft Hyuuga, my heart bleeds for the boy" He shook his head "Well you lot can flutter around this brat as much as you please but I am going upstairs for the reason we came here" he began to make his way to the stairs, a few of the bunch began to join him.

Hiashi waited until they had gone "Stuck up prick" he muttered under his breath "I wonder how far behind him I was until I found Hana" he sighed lightly and the others remaining chuckled at what they heard.

Inoichi was frowning however "Naruto, I am afraid that your arm is dislocated at the elbow, and to put it back it will hurt a lot, okay?" Naruto's lip wobbled and he nodded slightly

Hiashi approached Naruto and knelt down beside him with a small smile on his face.

Naruto recoiled a little bit which made him wince in pain and Hiashi put a single hand on Naruto's knee to comfort him.

"It is okay Naruto, my name is Hiashi" he continued "I can help you out in this regard, I can use the gentle fist of the Hyuuga to painlessly disable the chakra points n your arm okay? This will numb the pain a little bit, but not completely. Do you want to me to try?".

Naruto nodded shallowly and bowed his head to him in respect.

Hiashi smiled at this and patted his knee again "No need for that boy".

He raised his hand and poked his arm in random intervals along his arm.

Naruto had noticed that while he did this his eyes looked frightening and the veins around his eyes stood out from his skin.

'What is that?' Naruto wondered 'is he sick?'.

Hiashi finished up and stood back.

'wow' thought Naruto 'my arm is like...all tingly'.

"Okay Naruto" said Inoichi "This is still going to hurt, are you ready?".

Naruto nodded fiercely and gritted his teeth hard.

Inoichi then grabbed his arm and pushed it back into its socket forcefully.

The pain was terrible Naruto shuddered and fresh tears dripped onto his knees as he hunched over, but he didn't cry out, how could he?.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had just finished his last stack of paperwork for the evening, he had thought at first that the rest of the night would be peaceful and quiet, how wrong he was.

The entire villages' clan heads had congregated in his office, well half of them anyway.

"Lord Hokage" started Fugaku Uchiha "let us start the meeting without them, they are all down their fussing over nothing, and we can inform them later anyhow let us not waste any more time on this" he stated, his foot tapping an impatient rhythm into the floorboards.

The Hokages eyebrow creased with intrigue.

"What may I ask is this 'nothing' you left them fussing over Fugaku, surely it is not merely nothing to warrant almost half of the clan heads delaying their appointment with the Hokage over such important matters as 'clan politics'" he said with a tinge of amusement.

The Uchiha head frowned but refused to say anything, which got the Hokage looking around the room for the answer.

"Well, will anyone tell me or do I have to bloody well threaten you with light counts of treason and hurting my good mood?" the Hokage smirked at them.

"Hah" Fugaku snorted "Fine, its Uzumaki okay?" Fugaku shook his head as the Hokage gained a confused look on his.

"Naruto?" he stood "Is he okay, why is he out of the orphanage at this time?".

Fugaku could offer nothing but a shrug and a sneer.

"Beats me, perhaps he ran away. Or perhaps he finally cracked, who knows?" Fugaku ended with a hollow chuckle.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood and gave the Uchiha head a glare which bored into his skull, which Fugaku happily returned, their lack of agreement on any matter concerning the boy evident.

This meeting is postponed until further notice, while you are busy jerking me around trying to get this pointless meeting with me I have to run a damn village and watch as this villages greatest prodigy gets his legacy smeared into the dirt by the likes of you Fugaku, so it is time for me to return the favour" he turned to the other clan heads assembled in the room "I apologise but it seems that I do not as of yet have the drive or the patience for a full evening of pointless squabbling so until that time please return home, I will notify you when I will be ready for such an undertaking thank you".

There were a few instances of hushed whispering but they quickly stopped as the congregation filed out of the Hokages office.

Fugaku however remained until last, all the while locked in a fierce eye battle with the Hokage before ushering a massively pretentious line.

"Your getting on old man, perhaps it is time to hand that hat down to someone a little more suited to the job hmm? Perhaps someone who will not die in the first few months, I mean if your skill is the same as your judge of charic-" he was cut off suddenly when a gargantuan fist slammed into his chest sending him into the far fall of the office, after which he found he could not move to defend himself.

"You dare say another word about lord forth Uchiha and I will paint the walls with you scumbag!" an un-natural feeling of anger had overtaken the Akimichi head as he walked through the door to see his equivalent in the Uchiha clan badmouthing the greatest Shinobi the leaf and ever produced.

"Choza calm yourself, please. Mister Nara, would you kindly release Fugaku so that he may scramble from my office if you please?".

"Of course Lord Hokage" the pair ground through their teeth and did as he said.

Fugaku slid down the wall a little before pushing off and hobbling towards the door with all haste, stopping at the door to send one final glare at everyone in the room before departing.

The Hokage let out a breath he did not realise he was holding and gestures for them to come over to him.

"I apologise Lord Hokage" started Shikaku "Just to see him badmouth Minato that way makes me frankly more than a little bit pissed off" he shook his head

"I'm afraid I cannot say the same Sarutobi" Choza shook his large head "He needed to be put in his place, his ego is getting ever bigger and honestly seems to think he has a shot at Hokage with that attitude" Choza sighed and scratched his head with one meaty paw.

Sarutobi sighed and drummed a little tune into the desk before sitting up straighter "At least he left without a fuss after all of that or 'more paperwork hoe!'" this brought a chuckle from the two heads and he placed his hands together on the desk as he face took on a more serious tone.

"Now then, where is Naruto boy?".

Inoichi nodded slightly and went back outside the room for a second before returning with Naruto, the boy looked indeed horrible, his skin was paler than usual and his arm was in a make-shift sling that was made from what seemed to be the curtain material from the hallway.

Naruto approached the Hokage with his head down.

'Odd...' thought Sarutobi 'He would usually be bouncing now, regardless of the injury'.

As Naruto reached the desk the Hokage brought a hand to his shoulder of his un-injured arm and spoke to him in a fatherly tone.

"Naruto my boy, what happened to you" his eyes soothing Naruto's nerves while he handed over to him a slip of paper and a small pencil, the ability to write being the first thing that he had taught the boy, being the only way he could properly communicate he had thought it prudent to at least sat the boy up with some way of 'talking'.

Naruto sniffed and his eyes began to water while he picked up the pen and wrote down the single thing that had been bothering him, more than even his arm, for the last few months.

'Where have you been?' it simply read.

Sarutobi closed his eyes before he took a single deep breath.

"I'm afraid my boy that I have no good answer for you that I can give at this moment" he opened his eyes "But I do want you to know, that it was all to benefit you. Please understand that I never thought that it would take quite so long to do what I had to, but in the end it may have been worth it. Only time will tell however, so we will just have to bide our time" he smiled warmly at Naruto.

The others in the room looked at each other for a minute before all shrugging in unison.

"Now then, are you going to tell me what happened?".

Naruto sniffed again and began to write.

'The old woman at the Orphanage came home drunk again after setting me all of her days jobs around the building' everyone in the rooms brows drew together at the mention of what was essentially slave labour.

'She threw me out after calling me koobi something and when I hit the floor I hurt my arm and made my way to you, but I wasn't sure you would want to see me...'

Sarutobi and the others in the room got a very worried look on each of their faces and Sarutobi made a mental note to send Anbu at a later date to arrest the women for breaking his little law pertaining the Kyuubi and Naruto.

"Hmm..." breathed the old Hokage as he carefully inspected Naruto's slinged arm more closely, after which he nodded at Inoichi with a smile.

"Thank you Inoichi, your random little skills still surprise me my friend".

The Yamanaka heir chuckled slightly.

He had always been known to take up odd practices from time to time, running his own florists was the latest, and it was going quite successfully as well.

"Naruto" started the Hokage "Would you like to stay with me tonight, and tomorrow we can figure out some accomidation" he paused when he saw the look on his face he placed his hand comfortingly on his shoulder again "Far away from anyone like the matron my boy, do not worry, I will not make that mistake again I promise you that".

Naruto's expression seemed to soften a bit but did not entirely dissolve.

"I think I can help with that" said a voice from the door, everyone looked towards the entrance and there stood Hiashi Hyuuga in all his robed glory "I applogise from having to disappear earlier Inoichi, but I had to inform the elders of the meetings postponement before I could come with you".

Inoichi just waved it off "No problem Hiashi, but what is this you are talking about. How can you help?" he asked intrigued

"Well" he started "I believe that I can offer the young Uzumaki residence by the Hyuuga compound, it would be paid for by until he was to get a job or wage of his own. Think of it as paying off a debt I owed" he stated, a small smile grew on all of the faces present but Naruto, who was sporting an even bigger one.

"Indeed" replied the Hokage "Looks like that much is sorted now, we can talk of the specifics come tomorrow".

The Hyuuga head nodded his agreement.

"Now then Naruto, why don't you try and get some sleep on the chair over there in the corner, it is a mighty comfy piece of furniture and I think you could really use it with what has happened to you this evening" said the Hokage, worry creasing his brow.

Naruto winced at the mention of sleep and paused before walking to the Hokage's desk and picking up the pen once more.

'I still can't sleep old man; I've still not been able to get more than a few minutes each time'.

The Hokage waited on more as it looked like Naruto was going to continue but when he didn't, he did not press for anymore.

"Trouble sleeping Naruto?" asked Inoichi "I could try and help you with tha-"

"Absolutely not" said the Hokage in a stern voice.

Both Naruto and the others in the room looked shocked at the Hokage who continued.

"He will get over it in time, it is just a thing that happens when you are young my boy" he said before turning with the others, shooting them a glance that said 'I'll slap you' if they pressed the issue any more.

"Now then Naruto" said the Hokage while standing "I will leave you here in my office for some peace and quiet while I deal with matters considering your housing okay?".

Naruto paused for a second before nodding his acknowledgement.

'No way that the only reason the old man won't let old man Yamanaka help me' he thought with a frown before making a straight for the chair, which surprisingly was just as comfy as the old man had had said.

Sarutobi made a hasty exit from the room with the others and made good his promise on allowing Naruto some quiet time.

Once outside the building the Hokage turned to those assembled and began to pack his pipe that he had brought with him from his office.

"Inoichi" he began "you will regrettably have to refrain from offering such help to Naruto in the foreseeable future" he looked about them "We all know what happened with the boy upon his birth, and of the burden his holds" they all seemed to breath out at that point.

"Well then, you should know how risky it is for you to attempt to jump into a body that also houses a second consciousness. Anything could happen, worst case scenario is that it could kill you while you are in there, we both know that your Jutsu has its flaws when the user knows how to combat it, and what he holds has had a damn long-time working out ways of combating Ninja" he took a drag on his newly lit pipe and blew a stream of smoke between them all, eyeing them all each for a time before speaking again.

"Anyway on to lighter topics, Naruto will be starting the Ninja academy in just under a years time, as he has expressed a large desire to do so and I find nothing wrong with that at all. I assume there is no disagreement here?".

Everyone shook their heads.

"Good, well then. My wife will be angry that I am hours late for our meal once again, but I guess needs must as Kami drives".

A chuckle sounded from the heads as Sarutobi tipped his hat to them before turning around to head home.

"Good evening gentlemen" and with that they all set off on their separate ways to their clan compounds.

Meanwhile the toad Sanin Jiraiya and the slug princess Tsunade stood on the same street, unaware of each other's presence, watching the exchange of the heads and thought about what they had in store for their little god son in the near future.