"Alright children, today during lunch you'll get to hear about the exciting life of a shinobi." Mrs. Knushi forced a smile. I could always tell she hated children, especially me.

"Hello. My name is Iruka. I'll be telling you about the life of a Chunin. It can range from teaching, to going on dangerous mission..." Iruka began to explain the life of a shinobi.

I began to day dream as I ate, sitting far from everyone else. I could still hear Iruka, I just wasn't right in front of him. I day dreamed about being a shinobi, and winning Miyu's heart by rescuing her from some... Well I wasn't sure who exactly, just that I was saving her.

"...I'll take questions now. Yes you." I had day-dreamed through the entire thing!

"Can I be a shinobi one day?" It was Budi.

"If you can get enough money to go to the academy, then yes of course. But you have to work hard. Who knows, maybe one of you in here will one day be Hokage." Hokage! I could be Hokage one day? Every one would like me then, I wouldn't have to be good at a game, or anything. They'd love me because I was so great!

After a minute of dreaming of what it would be like to have my head up on that mountain, I came to realization...

I would never have the money. My dreams were crushed by one word, money.

I ate my lunch in silence, when I finished I saw that Iruka was still here. He wasn't answering questions out loud anymore, but I got up to ask something.

"Iruka?"

"Yes?"

"Are there any scholarships to get into the academy without paying?"

"Well, there aren't any that pay for everything, but there are some that pay for most of it. I think there's one for orphans." Hope! I had hope again. "But you'll have to wait until you're 9. Even then it's hard to get in."

"Is there any way to get in early?"

"Not with a scholarship, but you can. There's a shinobi who graduated at 5!"

5! Some one graduated 2 years younger than me, and I hadn't even gotten in yet.

"Well, if there aren't anymore questions, I'll be going now." Iruka gave everyone a smile. It wasn't a fake smile. It was his, no one else's, just his.

We went back outside, played another game of 'ninja' this time I was a ninja. It took a while to get used to throwing the shuriken, but I got a hold of it. We had to go inside for our "basic knowledge lessons", things that every villager needed to know. We went to sleep after that.

When I woke up everyone was gone, but no one had set my alarm clock forward. I guess they just got up early. I stood up, got dressed and went to breakfast.

"Where is everyone?" Mrs. Knushi was the only person there.

"They were so excited about become real shinobi, they went out to do chores for the villagers living around here, so they could get into the ninja academy." Mrs. Knushi was reading a book.

Not even Miyu was still here. I ate my breakfast, then went out to see if any one had chores I could do. Not a single person had a chore, the other orphans had taken them all.

Over the next few weeks my body began to get thicker. No one was taking my food, and I had begun working out to get strong.

I looked at my calender one morning after I woke up. My birthday would in two days. That morning no one had left for their chores, because some one was here to adopt.

"Line up children." Mrs. Knushi directed us into a line, in front of the couple. They were young, about 20 I thought.

They began whispering things to one another, as I realized that they were both shinobi.

Finally, this could be my ticket to become a shinobi, and have a family.

Who was I kidding, no one ever chose to adopt me. It was like everyone hated me.

The man, wearing ANBU clothes, had his headband over his left eye, and a black mask over his face. His hair was a grayish silver. The woman wore a pinkish red robe, her headband was in a normal position, keeping her brown hair from falling over her eyes. The most notable feature of her face, other than her dark brown eyes, were the two purple lines on her cheeks.

I saw the man look at me through the corner of his eye, and at the same time the woman did the same. They continued whispering for another minute or so.

"We'll have to think it over, sorry if we were a bother." The man's voice had a certain tone to it, you could tell it was a little monotoned, but it had emotion.

"Oh, no problem at all. Come back when your ready." Mrs. Knushi made her fake smile again.

The couple left, leaving me wondering if they were thinking about adopting me. Everyone ate their breakfast, then went to do their chores, leaving me to work out.

The next morning I woke up hoping that the couple had come back, but they hadn't. I got dressed and went to eat. Something was different. Daiki wasn't there. I didn't bother to ask why, no need to mess with a good thing. Everyone left to do their chores, came back for lunch, left to finish their chores, then came back for supper.

The next morning I found out what happened to Daiki.

"Naruto, yesterday the village elders lowered the age in which an orphan is independent. That's why Daiki wasn't here yesterday, that's why its time for you to say goodbye. We aren't responsible for you anymore." Mrs. Knushi seemed so ready to kick me out the door.

I left, not knowing where to go. After wandering around I found the section of Konoha known as The Slums. It was filled with bums, unemployed singles, and drunks. I found an alley that no one was in and spent the next month in there, wondering what to do, begging, and praying.


Thank you for reviewing! Naruto Age 8 is next.