I stayed in bed. I was sick to my stomach and barely slept at all last night.

Prophecy...that damn prophecy. "Oh, sorry Naruto, can't spend time with you. I need to make sure that the child of prophecy gets strong and powerful. No one in the family can spare the time to be with you and I can't be bothered to get a teacher for you. I have important Hokage things to do don't you know." Go to fucking hell Minato.

I had dark spots under my eyes but the sun was up and it was a losing battle trying to sleep. I lethargically sat up from my sleeping position and promptly fell back down again. My whole body ached. I was just tired of everything. Bullshit from Minato, bullshit from Menma, and just, everything about Kushina. How can people from a ninja village be so blind?

It doesn't matter anymore. With renewed vigor I swung my legs out from underneath the covers and the rest of my body followed suit. The house was quiet, thankfully. I must have rubbed my eyes for a minute trying to get everything out. After another minute of yet another losing battle, I made my way to the bathroom sink.

Dear god. I looked in the mirror and shuddered. I don't ever want to be like this again. No. I refuse to be with these people anymore. I started brushing my teeth and went into the cupboard underneath the sink. Leaving the toothbrush hinged in my mouth, I retrieved the tooth brush protector, some tooth paste, and other toiletries. I continued brushing. What to do...what to do. Well, first things first, breakfast.

I finished brushing my teeth and made my way downstairs. There was a note on the counter. It was from Kushina. Menma didn't take it this time. This one must be a doozy.

I read it aloud in my mocking Kushina voice.

"As punishment for your behavior last night you are to complete the following tasks:

-Clean the dishes from last night's dinner."

I looked over to the sink. Dishes were piled up, must be at least two complete sets of meals.

"-Put the training equipment back in its place in the backyard.

-Prepare lunch for us when we get back from our morning training."

I stopped reading for a second. "Wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. They want me to be a servant basically? What's wrong with the one we've had?!"

I continued reading the note aloud, losing Kushina's mocking voice.

"Do these things and we will allow you to-what the fuck!-to continue living here!

Well that makes things sooo much easier. I guess I'm not allowed to live here anymore. Better make the most of my last day in this house."

My aches, pains, and sleep deprivation suddenly vanished. I started humming in a positive beat to myself as I waltzed over to the refrigerator, sliding in my socks towards the door. "Hmm hm hmmmmm, what should I eat, what should I eat. Oh! This looks delicious and important."

It was. It was left over ramen from last night. Had a "Do not EAT" note and everything.

"Oh well, good thing I can't read."

I could, but Menma's handwriting was honestly terrible. I pitied Iruka-sensei. Having to grade his handwriting for the past 5 years with no sign of improvement. Tragic. He even wanted to be a sealing master. It made me giggle inside.

I put the bowl in the microwave and found some chopsticks, one of the last clean pairs. Broke into a little dance routine.

Ding.

And the ramen is done heating up. Time to dig in. "Well, Kushina is at least good for something. She may have done well trying to copy the Ichiraku secret recipe but not good enough. Still, for reheated ramen it's good."

I quickly devoured the rest of the ramen. I had a lot to do today now that I was finally getting free from this mess. I made my way back to my room and retrieved my storage scrolls I made after studying Kushina's notes. It was time to seal away all my belongings and leave this God-forsaken household.

Everything I bought with my own money would be sealed first. I looked through my drawers. First clothes. I didn't have that much of a wardrobe. Kushina did buy us all matching outfits when it came to some of the festival clothing but those didn't fit me anymore. Plus, she might throw a hissy fit if I took something she bought. That probably means I shouldn't take anything from the training grounds or any of the sealing equipment supplies. Last thing I need is for her to raise a crusade against me for stealing clan secrets.

I finished with my measly sets of clothing and moved on to the ninja equipment. All in all, it was actually both shocking, at what little I had, but an accomplishment for how much an eleven-year-old kid bought with his own money. Half an hour later I was back in the kitchen getting some lunch for the day taking the note with me as a reminder.

I walked out the door. Backpack on with my scrolls in the back, bento box of leftovers, and all my belongings. As I walked out the front gate I turned around.

"Well, eleven years of my life were here. Not many happy memories but you were still a place I felt safe, well at least in my own room."

I closed the gate.

Well, I did it. I now had no place to go at the end of the day. I made my way to the training grounds Itachi and I frequently used. It was close to the Uchiha district with a nice wooded perimeter in a secluded area. It had a small stream running through it which was a nice way to cool down after a day of hard work. I set my backpack on the large stump in the middle of the small field in the center. The tree was one of the largest in all of Konoha, but the village needed rebuilding after the Nine tails attack. It must have been over a hundred years old judging by its massive diameter. There were a couple of training dummies near that were punctured by numerous holes from the kunai and shiruken that found their target.

I started with my warm ups. A nice little training session to clear my mind, then refocus and prioritize. I started with my stretching. Beginning with my arms and making my way down to my legs. Then began a light set of sit ups, pushups, and squats. Afterwards, I walked to the middle of the five training dummies. I reached for the top head and removed it. Inside were the practice kunai.

I began my routine. I started at ten paces away, then worked my way all the way up twenty-five paces. I needed to get three bullseyes before moving on to the next exercise, running. Running and maintaining accuracy was easy enough for me. I had to thank my previous life in sports. Sure, throwing a ball was quite different than throwing a kunai, but darts wasn't. No, the hard part was the next exercise and one that I was trying to copy Itachi on. Throwing kunai at multiple targets simultaneously. Using bursts of chakra to help the kunai leave my hands at a sufficient speed while maintaining accuracy was difficult, but crucial. I can't have a massive wind up all the time. Too much energy wasted.

"Damnit." First run, almost good. Two of the targets had bullseyes, the two outer ones. The inner one, was a little bit high. I ran back up to the targets and went at it again.

"Shit." This time it was too low. I ran back up to the targets. Retrieved my kunai and tried again.

Come on, come on, come on. I figured the kunai between my fingers as I walked back to my throwing line. I put the kunai back into their pouch and calmly walked back to the line.

I imagined walking on a trail on a mission. In the brush I heard something move. I took a step pass the throwing line, I quickly turned around. As I turned, I reached back into my pouch and secured three kunai in between my fingers. I looked over my shoulder and focused on the three targets. Bringing my hand from the pouch I brought my arm across my chest and flung it out towards the three enemies. Three hits. All in the red circle.

"Yes! Money!" I exclaimed as I rubbed both my thumbs across my index and middle fingers. I hurried over to the training dummies to inspect my awesomeness. Three kunai, all in the red circle. The middle one was not perfectly in the center, still a little high. But good enough. Now, to repeat twice in a row for each arm and then I can move onto food. Kunai practice was tiring.

Lunch was a quiet affair with a light breeze through the training ground. My feet were in the small stream relaxing in the cool water. I was eating a meat kabob with a small bowl of rice. Compliments to Kushina once again. Maybe I should have left some money with a thank you note for the last meal. No, that was petty, why do petty when you can go all out.

That did bring me back to reality. I had no home to sleep in. I didn't particularly want to sleep in the streets, that was a bit much. Going from living in the Hokage residence to sleeping on a sidewalk. No, that was out of the question. Sleeping in a hotel was as well, I do have some money but I need to prioritize things to spend on, and with the warm weather, camping in the wilderness was looking more appealing. Problem was that spring was here. Animals were out and about and even though my food is sealed away, animals are curious creatures. Don't want to wake up in the morning and find my scrolls taken away by some animal thinking it was food.

The main problem is that there was still a year of schooling left. I had a feeling that Naruko and Menma were going to be insufferable. Which then meant that the entire class would be insufferable. Maybe I should have learned the shadow clone jutsu, even if I die from chakra exhaustion, that might just be worth it. No more school! The dream of every pre-teen.

Suddenly my neck was really cold and I found it a bit more difficult to breath.

"Really Naruto-kun, you should know better."

Ah, that's why. There was a kunai on my neck and the voice of Itachi close behind me.

"Well sooorrryyy. But some of us aren't in Anbu."

"Hmm, that makes two of us then."

"Wait, what? You're not in Anbu anymore?" I replied in a shocked voice.

"Correct Naruto." He removed the kunai from my neck. "I completed my assignment and although I was sufficient, the Hokage determined he wanted my to help train the next generation." Itachi stated with his monotone voice as usual.

Sufficient my ass. He was one of the best and youngest Anbu operatives. Was probably just his pacifist nature coming up and requested to be a jonin sensei to us.

"Next generation hmm, Sasuke will be glad. Gets to spend time with his older brother."

"True. I do wonder however, what are you doing here. You are usually studying in the library."

I sighed. Well not like I can hide it forever. I handed him the note Kushina wrote for me this morning.

Itachi looked at it and sighed.

"Yup. As you can probably tell that it is now past lunch time that I decided to go with the punishment of leaving the house."

"You know this punishment was probably so absurd that your mom thought you were never going to choose it."

"They're better off without me." I whispered. Even though Itachi knew what I thought of them, it still is hard to actually say it. To feel unwanted by your own family. Not an easy feeling.

A silence washed over the two of us. I went back to munching on my chicken kabob, lost in my own thoughts. Itachi could relate. A prodigy amongst the strongest of the Konoha clans. He was denied a childhood. Even stumbled upon a battlefield at the ripe age of four, took his first kill shortly after offering a wounded Iwa shinobi a thirst from the Uchiha's canteen. The nameless Iwa shinobi tried to swipe at Itachi with a discarded kunai but Itachi reacted instinctively. Before realizing it, he killed the man.

His father, Fugaku Uchiha, pushed Itachi harder and harder. Genin by six years old, unlocking the sharingan after witnessing his genin team being slaughtered by a masked shinobi. Chunin at ten. Only reason for that gap was because the chunin exams had to cycle back to Konoha. After the incident with his genin team it was decided he would stay close to the village. He was promoted to Anbu only two years later, captaining a squad within a year. Now at eighteen, he was out of Anbu. No doubt because Mikoto Uchiha wanted her son back and a little pressure through Kushina to talk to Minato about the topic.

We both had our childhoods robbed from us. Him because his family pressured him too hard, mine because there was no pressure in the first place. He sat down next to me, his shinobi footwear were beside him and he put his feet in the water. His face was scrunched up making his facial lines more prominent. Must be thinking of about a dozen different solutions to this situation.

He still had the note in his hand. He gave it back to me. I returned the note to my backpack and continued relaxing.

"You've started the tree walking exercise, how has that progressed?"

When in doubt, talk about training. "It is going decently. I don't have to consciously think about it but I cannot do fighting motions while maintaining control."

That was the final step before you can move on to water walking. Being able to effortless walk up a tree or building was the first step towards mastery of this chakra exercise. Running up and down the wall was next. Being able to continue in the same motion while not having any part of your body attached to the tree was difficult.

Now combine that with all the body movements of fighting stances. Increasing chakra strength with one leg while staying balanced and getting everything to be just as normal as fighting on the ground took a bit more finesse. It was the last step before attempting water walking. Rightfully so, because water moving around so much you were constantly changing your chakra control to match the water slipping and sliding all over the place.

Such a simple exercise was such a tricky one. Itachi must have noticed my semi frustrated face, "Anything interesting you've cooked lately?"

And there was the other topic, food. "Why yes, yes I have. I've been shopping with Ayame lately..."

"... it was delicious."

And just like that the sun was going down. "Why don't you come and have dinner with our family tonight. Mother is always happy to see you."

Truth is, I like them all too. Mikoto was always cheerful, Fugaku although distant was always there at least, and Sasuke was nice. We had a bit of a rivalry going on. I wasn't at the point where I would ask them if I could stay with them. Afterall, it would put a lot of pressure on them. I don't really want to do that.

"Sure."

We made our way to the Uchiha district. The walls surrounding the clan grounds were smaller than I had remembered but there was still a distinct difference. We arrived at the clan head's house and slid open the door.

"Welcome back Itachi." I heard from the kitchen. "Could you set the table please."

"Yes mother. I brought a friend over."

"Who?" Her head poked around the doorway. "Ahh Naruto, how nice of you to join us. Please come in and make yourself at home. I'll cook some more pork katsu for you."

I reached behind my head and did a nervous half smile. "Ahh t-thank you Auntie Mikoto."

"Don't mention it, it's all fine. We love having you here. Right dear?"

"Hmmm?" Fugaku was in the corner watching the television with Sasuke.

"We have company dear."

He turned his head and looked at me. "I see that now. Joining us for dinner again Naruto?"

Thwak.

"What was that again?"

"Nothing, nothing." Fugaku spoke quickly. "You are welcome to eat with us Naruto."

"Of course he is." Mikoto followed up. Fugaku was really loosened up. He usually wasn't like this. Ah, he has a half glass of beer next to him. Must have been a lengthy meeting today. Minato would sometimes unwind with a bottle of Myoboku Sake.

"Naruto dear." I turned to look at Mikoto, "Can you help me with the rice bowls."

I made my way into the kitchen and moved to get the stool. As I placed it down and was about to get on it to get the bowls from the above counter cupboard, "I had an afternoon tea with your mother today."

I paused for a second...afternoon. Oh no.

"It was lovely. She talked about the dinner she had the last night with her children and how she is close to replicating the Ichiraku recipe. You are there often, have you been helping her?"

"N-no. No. I haven't."

"Oh? Well she seems pretty confident. I wonder if she even will try to because she loves going there so much. Don't want to take her favorite restaurant out of business."

"She could still use a bit of work." I responded. I don't know if Kushina told her that I have no chosen to not live there. And I did have some of that ramen...just this morning instead of last night. I patted down the rice bowls and moved them onto a try. I carried them into the tatami mat room and placed them on the table that Itachi just finished setting.

"Dear, Sasuke. Dinner is ready, come to the table."

Dinner was delicious. Conversation was light and family talk blended. It was quite like how I remembered how family dinners should be. I felt included and participated in the conversations. Before I knew it, it was night time and usually around this time I go. As I looked outside, I heard the sound of rain hitting the stone walkways. Well, first night with it being rainy. Sleeping outside will suck.

I heard Mikoto speak up when she noticed I looked out the window. "Oh heavens, look how hard it is raining. Naruto, why don't you spend the night. I wouldn't want you to walk all the way back to the Hokage residence in weather like that. Itachi, could you prepare the guest room?"

Itachi brought his food dish back to the kitchen and then went down the hallway.

"Auntie Mikoto, you don't have to. When I become a ninja I will-"

"Exactly that, you're not a ninja yet."

"But my parents must—"

"No buts, I'm sure your mom will understand." She interrupted me again. I tried to play up the game of still going back to my house but I am glad that Auntie is doing this for me.

"If you insist."

"Excellent. Now, let's bring your backpack up to the spare room. Itachi should be close to done preparing it."

It was a small room that I have slept in a couple of times previously. Mostly when training had been hard on me and Auntie Mikoto had insisted those times I stay here.

Sleep that night came easily. My exhaustion finally caught up to me. I was out as soon as the door had closed.

I woke up early that morning. Fugaku was likely already at the police station, Sasuke was still in bed, Itachi was probably the only one I would run into if I left early. I didn't want to make any trouble for them. I'll just leave them a note and make sure to return the favor for the meal.

"Going somewhere?" I froze. Ah crap. Auntie is up.

"I figured you would leave in the morning. You were the topic of my afternoon tea with your mother yesterday. It is interesting. Truly, she thinks you are a completely different person. Not the boy who comes in tired after training with oldest and certainly not one as determined as you are. I tried to convince her, but she's built up this image of you and it seems like it won't be coming down."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Yeah..."

"She...it's strange. She is a completely different person when it comes to you. I can't explain it. She does care for you. I know she does. She just...doesn't know how."

It's okay. I gave up on how to make sense of it all.

"Judging from it all and how dead on your feet you were last night, I bet things came to a head the other night. An ultimatum was cast. When you looked out the window last night, I had a feeling it wasn't because you were dreading the walk home, it was because you were dreading the night sleeping in it."

I nodded. I must have really been really tired. She handed me an envelope.

"I would say it was from Kushina, but I have reason to doubt you would think so. This is a key with some money. The Konoha Police Force has some extra cash on hand. The key is for a safe house on the edge of the village near Training Ground Five. It is a modest building hidden in a genjutsu. Doesn't have that much of a use right now but you can use it until you graduate. It has heat, a stove, shower, and everything you'd need."

I am speechless with my mouth hanging open a little bit. Just like that all my problems were solved.

She walked me to the safe house too. It was in the middle of the woods close to the entrance of my favorite training ground. There was a green rod sticking out of the ground near our feet.

"This is a chakra rod. Press it with your foot and it will deactivate the genjutsu for you. It can still be dispelled regularly but remember this is a visual genjutsu only. Sound comes through just as it normally does."

A good bit of information to use. Doesn't matter too much though, I'm usually quiet at home.

After hitting the pole with my foot, the house shimmered into existence. It was still natural colors and blended into the forest. A nice small little shack really, has all the vitals you need and is more like glorified camping. But a roof over your head and a bed.

"Come over anytime you want, please. Don't stay out here by yourself. You don't want to find out what happens when you do." She said that last sentence a bit lower.

"Uh-huh, I understand. Perfectly clear!"

"Oh good. Bye bye."

God she can be scary sometimes. But she is right. Even though I am secluded all the way over here, being by myself was never something I enjoyed. I liked being around people. That wouldn't change. Though I am getting butterflies about tomorrow. The last year of school is going to start. I am currently not last in the rankings. Ami currently is, mainly because although I purposely lose to everyone...never to her. I will never stoop to that level. That will be changing though. None of this "Remove the mask" and become the smartest in the class. No, that's dumb. No, I will start to enact my personal vendetta. No. Menma's days of being "Rookie of the Year" are going to come to an end. I am going to do everything in my power to do so. He won't know what hit him.