"Ah, how can I help you, Uzumaki-san?" asked L, his tone polite and gentle despite how annoyed he was from being distracted from his work. But this was a kid, a very... how would he name it... sad kid. He saw into the boy's eyes and could see the grief, the sorrow, the lonliness. So he refrained.
"Well, I was seeing how you are always alone and so am I, so why not we do something together?" Naruto asked, shy but yet grinning like the energetic idiot he is.
"Well, why are you alone, Uzumaki-san?" asked L. Then he saw the sudden change of mood, the boy's eyes that had a slight glint of hope, that his loneliness will wash away, got overshadowed by grief.
"I don't know. Even all the matrons here give me an evil look. They call me a monster, treat me roughly. Jiji told me that it was nothing, but I doubt it. Even those village people look at me with those looks. Like I have done something wrong. But I haven't! These kids have also seemed to have be like them, I just wanna be friends!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wet, on the verge of tearing up.
" Jiji? " asked L, curious. This boy seemed to have a grandfather or some familiar figure, yet he was here in the orphanage.
" Hai, Hokage-jiji. He is one of the only people kind to me" Naruto answered his question, with something kin to adoration in his eyes.
Meanwhile, L's eyes widened from the inside. Was this boy related to the hokage? But he was an Uzumaki, while the current hokage, Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, is well... a Sarutobi. That could either mean that this boy was related to the Sandaime Hokage's famous pupil, Tsunade Senju, as the Senju clan was said to be related to the Uzumaki one. And Tsunade had no living relatives, the Senju clan being wiped out along with the Uzumaki clan. Coming to think of it, Naruto looked eerily familiar. He just couldn't think of it. The resemblance, to the... The Yondaime Hokage! And if not mistaken, the sole Uzumaki survivor excluding Mito Uzumaki, the Shodaime Hokage's wife, Kushina Uzumaki was said to be romantically involved with him. He remembered the entry in the encyclopedia -
"All that was known of his next of kin was that Yondaime-sama was an orphan. He was romantically involved with Kushina Uzumaki, but before it could blossom, they faced an untimely death at the hands of the Kyuubi"It made sense. Everything clicked into place. Naruto was the Yondaime's son. It made sense how it was hidden, as the Yondaime had made many enemies during the Third Shinobi War. But that doesn't explain why the villagers hated him. Especially the elders. But his thoughts were interrupted by one cheerful knucklehead.
"Um, Ryuzaki, are you okay? You just went quiet and stared into the distance"
Ah, of course, being stared at with those dull, panda eyes must be creepy.
"Oh, yes, I am fine. As for playing with you, I am sorry Uzumaki-san, I am a weak person and wouldn't be able to do many physical activities"
The truth was far from that. He was the only one here among the children, who could mold his chakra, meditated and trained daily, and was adept at Taijutsu, thanks to learning Capoeira in his previous life. But he saw a pattern on how children vanished when they showed signs of being a prodigy or a genius. He wasn't taking that chance. He already had shown his smarts, so maybe until the time comes, he'll have to act physically weak to cover himself up. He just wasn't in the mood to.
"Oh, ok" replied Naruto, a little dejected, and suddenly turned his attention on the book which Ryuzaki was reading. "Oh wow, what are ya reading there? Shi... Shinobi... His.."
"Shinobi history. This kanji here is..."
And like this L and even Naruto made his first friend in this world. It might be just an acquaintanceship to L, but Naruto was happy someone even talked to him.One year later...The Sandaime Hokage had come here. He gave a speech on how the Will of Fire was a bond to be cherished, how they would grow up to protect the village and all that stuff. But L saw it all. In the end, it was just taking the vulnerable minds at the orphanage and twisting them to be the tools of the village. But he shouldn't be saying, he did something similar when it came to Nate and Mihael. He wondered... did they catch Light? But at least he didn't sugarcoat his words so much, that you could get all the children in this orphanage to be sugar high for days. L gave the hokage an analyzing look at the hokage, studying him. The man gave out a grandfatherly aura, yet behind was loads of wisdom, kindness and experience. A powerhouse, a monster ready to kill, destructive force hidden, waiting to be unleashed when his duty to protect comes. He truly respected the hokage. He, after all, was like him, was a monster. A lying monster. He recognized the look in the old man's eyes. One of heavy decisions, that held outcomes to change the entire world. The look where you lied to people, not liking it, but did it because you needed to. The look which showed you strongly believed in what you that was right, just and give it equally to all. However, that seemed to have been softened in the hokage's eyes. Maybe his heart was soft and not able to provide the consequences of injustice to those close to him. When the Hokage looked back at him, he smiled. Of course the Hokage smiled, he did recognize him from 3 years ago. From that dammed Hyuuga Incident.