I would like to begin by giving my gratitude to WickWack9, jose madujano, King of Konoha and Draaxe12 for their encouraging review on the first chapter of this story; It really does means a lot for me and i hope that i can improve my writing to levels that would please you even more.

With that being said, i will let you enjoy this new chapter.

I do not own Naruto.

Chapter two: Spark of Life

"Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears."
― John Lennon

Grey…Oh how much he despised that colour, hell, as far as he knew, it is not even considered to be one, and how could it be? how could something so dull, so devoid of life and meaning even begin to compare with the serenity of lavender, the passion of purple, the intensity of blue , and the wilderness of yellow, even the fury of red made him feel something, why can't they just repaint this god-forsaken ceiling with a bright and cheerful orange instead ? perhaps they wanted it to remind us of our boring and hollow lives… but after a moment and with lips slightly curving upward, he finally thought that it probably was just a question of managing costs, after all, it was still an orphanage.

Sitting on his bed as he glances at the window, the first rays of sunlight had yet to grace the earth," soon…" he whispers; Thinking back of his existence so far, he couldn't remember of anything noticeable, it was all the same, every day, he would wake up in this gloomy communal sleeping room, sometimes new faces came, sometimes old faces left, it was as if time was slowly passing by, and he was but an unanimated witness from outside.

He would then be spending the remainder of the day reading story-books as nobody seemed to want to spend time with him after that time the caretakers separated him from the group of kids he was trying to interact with, spitting that "a demon child should not play with human ones", at first he was hurt and confused, but after some time and consideration he came to accept that he was different, after all, what else could he do about it but accept it? At least he now felt it was natural to spend time alone.

He had read about all of those fictional heroes that would explore the world and fight against all odds to save those they loved, they were strong and just, but to him, it just seemed too good to be true, "as if something like this could really exist" he thought while snickering, raising his head to watch his surrounding he added "'The world' huh, and what would that exactly mean?" for all he could think of, the orphanage was his world, and the only thing it made him want to do is disappear; But he should not kid himself, he saw how big he was compared to every other child here, he knew that there was probably no one out there that would be willing to call him family, and so he had no way of vanishing from this place, but maybe one day, when he becomes too big and problematic, they would throw him out, like a dysfunctional product, yes…all he had to do was wait a few more years.

Walking by the communal sleeping room's window, he couldn't help but stop in his track and admire the view he had in front of him; The sun was drowning the green pine trees with its warm light as the brown forest seemed to go on forever just to be toppled by a majestic glowing white mountain crowned by the clear blue sky, "there…I knew it would be magnificent" he utters with hypnotized eyes as he slowly tries to reach out to this view until his hand was met with the cold texture of glass, "but it is not my world" he finally whispers with a dejected expression, gazing at the view for a few more minutes before suddenly biting his lower lip, and with eyes that showed more resolve than they ever did he courageously said to no one in particular, "And why exactly would it not be ?" boldly opening the window, he glanced one last time at the room he spent most of his life in, there was nobody, "as always" he ironically thought before jumping into what he hoped was his salvation.

The moment his feet felt the pressure of this new kind of ground, he sensed an immense urge to start running, and running he did, for at first his face had a small grin, then a smile that matched the brightness of the beaming sun, and after a few minutes, he could not stop himself from laughing like he had never laughed before, he didn't know how far he had gone, but he didn't want this feeling to die out, so he kept moving, finally coming to a stop when his legs gave out, and with teary eyes, he started rolling on the green ground, feeling the wet grass brush his euphoric face , after that, he climbed the highest tree he could find and was momentarily struck by the sheer vastness of the world he could see, taking a few moments to catch his breath on the tree branch, he pondered "so this is what being alive really is like…", feeling tired after all the energy he had burned earlier from moving so much, his eyelids became heavier by the second, until he finally fell into blissful slumber as gentle breezes of wind caressed his limp body.

As the shadows receded, he got woken up by rays of sunlight striking his eyes, noticing the change in the sun's position, he felt as if a few hours had passed since he took on his journey, feeling his back ache from sleeping on such a rough surface, he got down from the tree pondering "and now what? I don't have any food or water, nor a place to safely stay at night…and I don't know anything about surviving in the wilderness" sitting against the tree trunk, he buried his head between his legs "should I come back…?" he chased those thoughts almost as fast as they came to be, feeling some guilt about his doubts he harshly thought to himself "No, I will never return to that life; I would rather die trying to be free than lose myself in despair in that place" with a new-found resolve, He began searching for a sharp-looking stick or tree branch, once he found one, he started looking for a river that might contain some fish, after dozens of minutes searching, he finally found what he was looking for, he was nearly hypnotized by the crystalline water, and the beauty of the fish swiftly swimming underneath, remembering his objective, he quickly pulled his pants up to his knees and stood in the middle of the stream; try as he might, he couldn't get anything despite his numerous attempts, yet he decided to press on, determined to survive.

"You are doing it all wrong, young one" a gruffy voice came from the left bank of the river.

Tensing up, he turned toward the voice while lifting his pseudo-spear into a defensive position as he tried to mask the fear in his eyes, what he found was a confused looking old man with balding grey hair and wrinkles spread across his faces sitting in a relaxed position; Suddenly, the old man burst into laughter while repeatedly hitting the ground next to him "don't worry, boy, I wouldn't dare to fight such a fearsome looking warrior"

unexpectedly starting to feel self-conscious, the kid lowered his stick while feeling quite embarrassed "Shut up…who are you anyway?" he said trying to regain some dignity

"Oh me? I'm just a poor-old man passing by" he answered in a light tone

"and you happen to enjoy watching people having a hard time?" teased the boy with a smirk

"well, I have to admit it was quite the humouring sight, how do you say I teach you how to catch fish in order to pay you back for helping an old man get a small giggle?"

His face turning to surprise in a fraction of time, as the boy immediately shouted "Really?! You would do that for me ojiichan? "

"that and hopefully much more…" the old man thought while slowly nodding with a cheerful smile.

Sitting side by side across the small fire-camp they had made, the old man and the boy were gazing at the distance; It seemed as, whether the first time or one of many, watching the sky turn red as the sun slowly disappeared under the distant horizon was always an experience one would cherish.

"So, tell me young one, what is your name?" said the man without averting his eyes from the breath-taking view in front of him.

With a stoic face, the boy answered, "People always called me 'Demon child', but I think my real name is…" he pondered for a moment as if trying to remember something important "Naruto…yes, Uzumaki Naruto"

On the outside, the only reaction from the elderly-man was the squinting of his eyes, yet internally, he felt an ache that nearly shred his elderly heart to pieces "I hope you won't mind me just calling you Naruto"

shaking his head, it was the blonds turn to ask, "How about you, jii-chan?"

Hesitating for a moment, the old man finally decided to answer truthfully "I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, but you can keep calling me Grandpa if you want" furtively turning his eyes toward the blond boy to try and analyse his reaction, he didn't know whether to feel relieved that he didn't have to explain why someone like Him was here or saddened that the youngster didn't seem know what his name carried.

"you bet I will, ojii-san!" retorted an enthusiastic looking Naruto

They sat in their comfortable silence for a while before hearing a rumbling sound coming from both their stomach, looking at each other with an embarrassed expression, the old man and the boy started wholeheartedly laughing at each other's expense, calming down, Hiruzen asked "Maybe we should eat the fruits of your hard labour before they turn into charcoal, shouldn't we, Naruto? "

"Yeah, let's hurry before your stomach start sucking me inside like a vortex, I wouldn't want to end up in an old man's belly" joked Naruto with a smirk

As they both ate their fish in a jovial atmosphere, the stars started filling the nocturnal sky, and Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the mesmerising sight above him.

Noticing his companion's dreamy gaze Hiruzen declared with a serene smile "You know Naruto, each one of those stars are like our world's sun, but being so far away, they only appear as specks in the dark night sky"

"Really jii-chan ?! but there are so many of them!" exclaimed a totally awe-struck Naruto

"Yes, Naruto…the world is vast and boundless" added Hiruzen while raising his arm as if to prove his points

Admiring his counterpart's knowledge Naruto complimented "Woah, you sure know a lot Jii-chan" to before a sad smile adorned his young features

"…since the world is so big…" the old man turned toward the boy with a questioning expression "…Do you think that there is someone out there that will accept me as their family?" finished the now teary-eyed child with a sorrowful tone; If Hiruzen was trying to hide his emotion before, then he had just failed that as his face now deformed into a painful expression , reaching out with his arms to enclose the boy's smaller frame, he pulled him into the first hug the boy has ever experienced; Not knowing how to react, Naruto just kept sobbing on his grandfather figure's chest.

After a moment of trying to sooth the distressed child, Hiruzen declared "you're breaking my heart Naruto; Did you already get bored of your poor old grandpa?" Hiruzen sputtered with a sad laugh

Astonished, Naruto raised his head to the old man, showing him his messy face moments before it was adorned with one of the brightest smiles Hiruzen had seen in his long life "Not yet, Jii-chan!"

They stayed in that position, until they both calmed down, after which they just sat across each other while being noticeably more comfortable with each other's presence than before "Ne, jii-chan, since you know so much about the world, why don't you tell me a story!" requested the blue-eyed child

Adopting a thinking position with a hand on his chin "A story huh…" Hiruzen thought for a moment before continuing "How about the story of the man that saved his village from a demon-fox?"

Pouting a bit, the blond-haired orphan whined "Jii-chaaaaan, I've read way too many books about fictional heroes, I want a story from the real world!"

Grinning at his grand-son's figure antics, the man retorted "Oh but this story is real, and it's not even that old! It actually happened not long before your birth"

Immediately gaining Naruto's full attention the old man continued "It's a story about a very fine young man that had golden hair just like yours…"

Hiruzen went on and recounted the story of Namikaze Minato and his great feats leading to him becoming the fourth hokage of Konohagakure.

"What's an hogake jiji?" asked a confused Naruto

Correcting the youngster with a small chuckle "The Hokage is the person that protects the village and all of it's inhabitant as if they were his own family"

Lighting a bulb above Naruto's head, the blonde interjects "So, if I become Hokage, I can have all of the village as my family?" asked Naruto with eyes full of hope

Taking a moment to acknowledge his companion's words, Hiruzen then answers "well of course you can, but if you want to become hokage you're going to have to be ready to help, love and forgive everyone in the village"

"Just as a father would" Naruto nodded seemingly understanding his grandfather's words

"Just as a father would" repeated Hiruzen with a warm smile

"Ne Ne, what happens to the fourth hokage next jii-chan?"

As Sarutobi then continued with the attack of the kyuubi on Konoha Naruto again interrupted the old man with a question

"But why did the kyuubi attack Konoha in the first place jii-chan?"

Hiruzen seemed taken aback by this question and tried to casually respond "well the kyuubi is a demon, an evil creature that take pleasure off of people's suffering, it can only be expected that it may attack a village"

not convinced by his answer the blond kept arguing with a sceptical expression"if that's the case then why was the village so unprepared to defend itself? Was it the first time a demon attacked a town? Maybe there was a reason behind the demon's action"

now lost for words, the old man could only form one coherent thought "this kid is smart"

unknown to both, Naruto's questions formed a very toothy grin on a certain fox's face.

trying to regain his composure, he weakly admitted while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment "well Naruto, you're asking a poor old man some very difficult questions"

with a toothy smile, Naruto didn't mind as he enthusiastically asked his grand-father figure for more stories

"Well, there was this one time, the first hokage defeated all of the tailed beasts, and then proceeded to send them to all of the great villages as equally as possible" the old man narrated

"What?! Why didn't he keep them all for himself and his village? "queried a confused Naruto

"Imagine you are playing with your friends and you get to have all of the toys, how do you think they would feel?" Hiruzen asked, waiting to hear the blonde's answer

Pondering for a moment, not wanting to admit that he didn't have any friends, Naruto then answered hesitantly "wouldn't they feel envious of me? They could maybe even stop wanting to be my friends and hate me…" realisation struck him as he looked as his jiji's with wide eyes, noticing he was displaying a noticeable amount of pride on his wrinkled face.

"I think I understand" he then added while hitting his fist on his open palm while nodding.

They spent the remainder of the evening following this pattern, as Hiruzen recounted a story, Naruto would flood him with thoughtful questions and weird declarations that never failed to surprise and sometimes even impress the elderly man.

After a while, Hiruzen started noticing the fatigue in the youngster's voice so he decided to haul him onto his back and started heading towards Konoha

"Where are we going jii-chan?" weakly asked the blonde

"Your new home" simply replied the old man

And that one word was enough to plant a smile on Naruto's face for the rest of the ride

Upon reaching Konoha Naruto felt awe at the sheer number of buildings grouped in one place as they passed through the gates and into the empty streets of Konoha

Realising that they were heading to the biggest building in the village Naruto asked with a confused tone "Is this where you live jii-chan? you must be pretty important around"

The only answer he would get from the old man was a grin

After receiving a nod from the receptionist, Hiruzen then headed towards his office, wondering how long it would take for Naruto to notice.

"Welcome back hokage-sama" said the secretary that was seated on a desk not far from the hokage's office door to the elderly man that was carrying him

Forgetting all his exhaustion for the time being, Naruto couldn't help but turn towards the old man and scream "YOU ARE THE HOKAGE ?!"

Wincing from the pain in his ears the sandaime calmly reprimanded "shhh Naruto, you're going to wake the whole land of fire if you scream that loud" before adding with a grin "you didn't think your grandpa was this awesome, did you?"

Now, Naruto couldn't contain his excitation "So jiji is the hokage, and the hokage is jiji, so now you are hokage-jiji!"

The old Hokage laughed as he entered the roam with Naruto still on his back, that's when he softly laid him onto the couch while he sat at the desk

"you can rest for now Naruto; I'm just going to finalise the paperwork concerning your new situation"

All forms of excitement slowly disappearing Naruto started relaxing into this new-found comfort, looking at the white ceiling, Naruto couldn't help but giggle softly as he thought while fading into unconsciousness "it's not orange…but I definitely don't mind white".

Hiruzen sighed as he heard soft breathing sounds coming from the peaceful looking child that was sleeping on his office couch "yeah just let the older generation do all the work while you nap all day, those youngsters, I swear to kami"

As he was finishing the paperwork needed for the transfer of Naruto from the orphanage to the village , he started considering his options; He thought about adopting Naruto as his grandson but that would bring too much unwanted attention and with that, too many problems, similarly , asking another clan to adopt him would be too complicated on the administrative level with all the silly clan laws, shaking his head in defeat he resigned himself to letting Naruto live alone, heh, a twelve year old orphan living on his own, as if it was possible…he knew he had to assign someone to look after him, someone preferably in the ninja force, as the majority of the civilian population despised him, it also had to be someone that had the ability to feel empathy towards him and somehow relate to his situation, someone that didn't have too many responsibilities to attend to, because god knows if he wasn't hokage, Naruto would already be sleeping in the Sarutobi clan compound; as he was studying the profiles of the newly formed genins, his eyes fell on one particular Kurenaï Yuhi; Orphaned, Kind, and the best kunoichi of her promotion, known incident includes her getting into fights protecting younger students from bullying, with a grin forming onto his face, Sarutobi thought "I might have just found the perfect candidate" .

Looking up towards his surrogate grandson, he couldn't help but be surprised at how the day turned out to be, what started as a vitally important mission to locate and retrieve konoha's jinchuriki after he ran out of his orphanage, resulted in this strong kinship that he developed with the boy, was their relation less honest because their encounter couldn't be less random? Did he run from the orphanage because he was depressed? Should I have talked to him when I visited the orphanage? Did he already inflict innumerable suffering upon him? Had he failed him?

shaking his head Sarutobi decided to burry those thoughts as he got up to watch over his grandson's sleeping form.

"it doesn't matter now, for this time, I will make it right; I promise you Naruto, with all my power, I will protect this spark of life"

I would be grateful for any kind of review or critique, do not hesitate to be harsh and picky if need be.