Naruto woke up, and the taste of metal hit his lips. He could barely see and immediately knew that life would be hard. He could see the stars and longed to reach them. After a while, many people surrounded him. Men, women, and children. All of them had evil written all over their faces. But he didn't make a sound. The only thought he had was to survive. Those who were of no use were discarded and killed. And in his case, uselessness caused his death. 'You are a fucking useless demon,' You are useless, nobody likes you,' words like this had taken a toll on him and moulded his philosophy.
Uselessness means worthlessness. And truthfully, being useful in this Ninja world means having great power. Steady thuds pelted his body as he took it with a smile. Soon it would end... With time, it would heal, and it would all be over. "OI," The hateful voice of the headmaster bounced across the walls of the halls and hit Naruto's eardrums. There was no good news to be found when the headmaster came walking. Naruto quickly ran into his room, covering the distance at a speed unknown to anyone there.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto would be pressed from all sides. His teachers and everyone who knew who he was would be after him, hoping he died. "I'll help him when I can," Kakashi said as he walked with Naruto to keep him in the orphanage, at least till he could fend for himself.
7 Years Later
Naruto knew pain for as long as he could remember. He didn't mind the cruel looks, the glares, and sometimes the actions of his so-called 'caretaker' didn't bother him. Today they were going to practice their aim on him by throwing rocks at him and seeing how many hit him. The reason for his indifference was one simple reason; he feared uselessness. Uselessness caused death. Those who were of no use were discarded and killed. And in his case, uselessness caused his death. 'You are a fucking useless demon,' You are useless, nobody likes you,' words like this had taken a toll on him and moulded his philosophy.
Uselessness means worthlessness. And truthfully, being useful in this Ninja world means having great power. Steady thuds pelted his body as he took it with a smile. Soon it would end... With time, it would heal, and it would all be over. "OI," The hateful voice of the headmaster bounced across the walls of the halls and hit Naruto's eardrums. There was no good news to be found when the headmaster came walking. Naruto quickly ran into his room, covering the distance at a speed unknown to anyone there.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" the headmaster shouted. There was no backing out now, 'What did I do now?' Naruto thought, 'Maybe I didn't clean all the floors right,' Naruto was overthinking every possible scenario. Soon he was standing in front of the headmaster. He was but a mere shadow compared to him.
He looked up at the giant man. "Y-y-yes Sir," Naruto blurted out. The headmaster looked at him, evil and pure malice in his eyes. "A man named Kakashi Hatake is here for you," the Headmaster grunted out. His arms were shaking with barely restrained rage as he tried to stop himself from judging the 'demon'.
Naruto's eyes twinkled as a smile marked his face, something he hadn't done in a long time. Naruto rushed into the reception at full speed. He was running at full speed when he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He had fallen. He saw the outstretched leg of one of the kids he knew. His name was Akane. He had always bullied Naruto, but he never cared. He got up and continued to run to the reception.
After being greeted by the hateful glare of the receptionist, he saw the silver hair of the man he assumed was his rare visitor. "Hi, my name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi instantly gave an eye-smile and nodded approvingly towards the door as they both walked out.
Yo, my name's Kakashi Hatake, and I'm just here to tell you... I'm gonna be your sensei soon. I know the next few years are going to be harder than all the former, but try to stay strong. " Kakashi said kindly as he embraced Naruto in a hug. Naruto didn't know what to feel. Someone had been kind to him for the very first time, and he didn't know what to say.
So he returned the hug.
After a short embrace, Kakashi led him back into the reception office and walked off quickly. It was a race against time. Would Naruto reach the age to leave before they break him? He didn't know.
2 Years Later
We find our protagonist sitting atop the head of the fourth Hokage. He was their saviour and what Naruto had strived for. Unfortunately, he had different plans. He had given up on being Hokage years ago. It was an impossible task and, as much as he didn't want to accept it, he had to drop the pointless goal. Why put yourself through so much suffering for those who would throw you away at the first sign of trouble?
He looked down at the village emotionlessly as his golden dull eyes pierced the night. The Hokage had said he would be allowed into the academy soon. Naruto was ecstatic, though he didn't show it. He wanted to meet new people. Surely they wouldn't hate him... he shook his head at his moment of naivety. Pain had caused him to develop. He would go in with an open mind and see where it went.
Naruto walked down to Hokage Rock. The sound of his sandals was all he could hear. The villagers still hated him, but they had gotten better at hiding it. The problem was, Naruto didn't give a shit. They were useless to him, their opinions held no value. He would often go out of his way to smile just to show his lack of care for their opinions, fueled by hatred.
He continued to walk across the streets of Konoha as villagers went silent as he passed by, the occasional bottle being thrown towards his head, which he had learned to dodge. Soon he will get to the red-light district of Konoha. His journey was almost over. The red light district contained many 'peculiar people' if that was the word to describe them. Anbu rarely visited this area as the crime was too much to handle. Instead of causing a civil war, they gave them free rein to do whatever they wanted, excluding murder, torture, and rape.
Naruto lived in the very centre of the red light district. He loved it here. The place had taught him to fight and fend for himself and have his guard up. The red-light district, or as Naruto called it, tough love incarnate, walked across the streets towards his home. They had let him out at the age of nine with nowhere to go till he stumbled into the abandoned house. One man's trash is another's treasure. That was his reason for taking it.
On his way home, a giant shadow covered his whole body. It was Ginbe again. He was a thug who always loved to steal from Naruto, especially if he learned of the location of Naruto's home, which Naruto wanted to avoid at all costs. Naruto knew he would lose an all-out brawl with Ginbe, so instead, he improvised. He sent a kick to Ginbe's balls and ran. Taken off guard by the blow, Ginbe crawled up into a ball before releasing a primal scream of pain that sounded like a wounded horse.
In this world, the concept of fairness and unfairness was obsolete a long time ago.
Naruto ran home at full speed, staying in the shadows. Ginbe used to work as an animal hunter till he was run out of business by the Nara clans for selling and herding deer. Because of this, his tracking skills were impeccable, giving Naruto the need to hide in the shadows and run across roofs. Finally making it home, Naruto looked at the building up and down.
The building had grey paint on it. Some had chipped off due to the passing of time. The roof had missing tiles, allowing some rain and sunlight to slightly break through the ceiling. The door, if you could even call it that, was merely a sofa turned on its side to fill the gap. Naruto shoved the sofa out of the way and entered his home, looking at his house hoping for no sign of breaking and entry. There was a wooden chair that Naruto would sometimes sit on and ponder himself on, and a fridge full of ramen.
'At least the Ramen's still here,' Naruto thought while taking one out and warming it on the dumpster fire he used for warmth. He walked up to his stairs with his head down. The wood had turned green due to moss and had become weak. He lightly trod across the floor, being careful not to cause the stairs to collapse. After reaching the upstairs, he collapsed and fell asleep. Tomorrow is his first day at the academy. There was no time to stay up late.
Morning
Naruto slipped his usual clothes on as he ran out of his home. He darted around corners and slammed into people, but he never slowed till he reached the academy. He knew where it was as he had visited everywhere in Konoha. Being an orphan left you with lots of time and he was determined not to be late. After reaching the doors of the Academy, he pushed them open and flung his hoodie over his head. If the parents didn't know he existed, then they wouldn't have had the chance to spread their hate, as that had happened to many potential friends of his.
Naruto walked into his assigned class and found a seat at the very front. Things have been going well for him so far. There wasn't any hate and nobody was yelling at him. Next to him sat a mysterious boy named Uchiha Sasuke. He had heard of the massacre and, frankly, he didn't care about those dirty words. The Uchihas had been one of his chief tormentors, but while they had done him wrong in the past, he reserved his judgement for Uchiha till he bore signs of malice.
Naruto sat at the far end of his row and soon his ears were assaulted by a high-pitched scream, two to be exact, as they came towards his direction at breakneck speeds. Soon, in front of him were Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. The two stood over him with evil in their eyes. "GET OUT OF HERE, I WANT TO SIT WITH SASUKE-KUN," they screamed. Naruto looked them dead in the eyes and immediately shut their mouths. This one couldn't be shrieked into submission.
Before long, Iruka came into the class and began scanning the room. Soon, his eyes landed on Naruto. A scowl rested on his face as he barely restrained his killing intent. After taking a second to calm himself down, he began to take the register. Naruto droned out after some time, till he heard his name being called "Dem-Uzumaki Naruto!" he shouted. Naruto jumped up slightly and shouted "HAI" as he was disorientated by the sudden shout.
'It's going to be a long day at the academy,' Naruto thought. As he shifted in his seat to get comfortable, Iruka started to drone on and on about Konoha's history.
2 years later,
"So, the final exam's finally here," Naruto asked, "Yeah, you think you'll pass?" Shikamaru answered. They had become friends midway through the school year and he was one of Naruto's only friends. He had a green jacket on top of a mesh suit and brown shorts. His hair was bunched up into a pineapple shape and, in common with the Nara clan, he was incredibly lazy but had a high IQ.
"I finally got the clone jutsu down!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, he had gotten it down, but with some consequences. His chakra was so dense and large, the clones didn't disperse upon getting hit once and were able to take several blows from the enemy. He didn't know about the written exam as he wasn't very good at remembering the 'History of Konoha's forests'.
Naruto had become a rival with Uchiha Sasuke as they would constantly spar and try to best each other, but when they worked together like a well-oiled machine guarding each other's backs during outside activities, "Yo Naruto," Sasuke said as they both greeted each other with a high five.
Soon, Iruka walked into the class and began handing out the test papers for the exams. Mizuki, his assistant, also began to hand some out. Naruto always thought there was something shady about Mizuki, but he could never quite put his finger on it. Naruto soon received his tests from Mizuki. As he saw the genjutsu on it, he whispered 'Kai' to disperse it.
Naruto looked out the window and began to ponder his life. Sasuke and Shikamaru were useful allies to have, and while he did have attachments to them, he had steeled himself to get rid of them if they were to get in the way of his goals. But till that time came, he would spend all the time he had with them. He continued to ponder what he wanted his goal to be until he finally found something. He wasn't sure if he could stay convicted of the goal, but he really wanted to free the Bijuu. He had read about them in books and folk tales, and as much as they depicted them as evil, all he could feel was intense pity.
Even though they were of no use to him, they still deserved freedom.
They have been used as beings of mass destruction and as nukes, completely ignoring the fact that they may have had personalities. He would be sure to continue reading up on them later. "Begin" he heard Iruka shout. Naruto put pen to paper and began to write:
• Where did Madara and Hashirama fight? 'The Valley of the End'
• Who is the strongest Hokage? 'Hashirama Senju'
While it could be argued that Hiruzen was the strongest, nobody really had any knowledge of Hiruzen in his prime and he didn't have any notable feats other than in the war, which was fighting unknown shinobi. He didn't believe that fighting and killing many weaklings had any meaning.
• Who captured the Bijuu? 'Hashirama Senju'
• Who killed the Uchiha clan? 'Uchiha Itachi' he wrote down. He heard Sasuke release a low grunt of anger. That question really hit a nerve that most people would never dare to go.
And so he continued to answer the questions, each getting harder and harder as time went by. Soon after an hour, Iruka signalled for the written portion of the exam to end. After this, they went to the physical section. Each of them had to fight Mizuki for a span of 15 minutes and if you were able to knock him out, you moved to the final section of the exams. Ino went first and she was quickly knocked out. Though she didn't beat him, her written answers would carry her to the final section. Sakura and many others met the same fate as Ino.
Soon it was Naruto's turn to fight. Mizuki had an evil smirk on his face. Finally, he would be able to punish the demon, or so he thought. "Begin!" Shouted Iruka, Mizuki rushed at Naruto, but Naruto jumped sideways to dodge the blow. He responded by putting his hands in his pockets and sending two kicks to Mizuki's ribs. He would play around for a little while. Mizuki sent a punch to Naruto's face, which he caught and responded with two punches to his nose, shattering it completely. The Chuunin was sent flying backwards as blood flew from his nose.
He was out cold.
Naruto had just beaten a Chuunin, relatively easily at that. Due to the Chuunin being knocked out, the remaining members who had not taken the exam had been given an automatic pass. "Great way to show off Dobe!" Sasuke smirked. Naruto shrugged his shoulders in response. He didn't know what to say because he expected a Chuunin to be much stronger, but he guessed people couldn't get what they wanted all the time.
Soon they had all filed back into the class. It was time for the final portion of the exam. The Jutsu section. Most people pass this with ease, and Naruto was expected to do the same. Good wasn't enough for him. Only the best made him smile. He was called to the front of the class and immediately, without command, did all three Jutsu. He wasn't here for the semantics, rather he wanted to meet his sensei. He still vaguely remembered a guy with silver hair, but who could it be? Iruka gave him his pass as he walked back to his seat.
After the rest of the class had finished, it was time for Iruka to announce who the rookie of the year was. "And this year's number one rookies are, surprisingly, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto." They both shouted in joy as they gave each other high fives once more. Tomorrow they will meet their Jonin sensei and finally be able to go on missions, they were ecstatic.