Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.

Chapter Summary: In which Naruto tries to escape the orphanage and meets an emo in the local park

Chapter 2: Two Years Later

"We want to move out the orphanage."

The Hokage looked up from the mission reports to meet a pair of determined blue eyes. The boy in front of his desk folded his arms, meeting the old leader's gaze evenly.

Red hair had grown to his shoulders over the past two years and it was starting to straighten, much like his mother's had been. The twisted pink scar on his young face stretched from his left temple to his chin, scoring straight through his cheek and just missing his eye; it had healed well though it made him appear older than his meager five years.

An orange t-shirt accompanied black shorts and sandals, and the entirety of his left arm was tied up in bandages as it had been since the Kyūbi attack.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. How are you today? Where's Norio-chan?" Hiruzen greeted, placing down the papers and clasping his hands in front of him.

"Rio is outside the office talking the ears off the ANBU and I'm serious, Jiji, we want out." His gaze never wavered.

"Who is the 'we'? Norio-chan is barely two so I do not think it was his idea," Sarutobi pointed out.

He watched the boy shift slightly on his feet. Despite being smaller than the average five year old, Naruto had the presence of an older child. The years since his parents' death had taken a toll on the young boy. From the reports handed in by the shinobi watching them, Naruto barely left his brother's side and watched anyone that went near the younger Uzumaki carefully.

"The people at that place obviously don't like Rio or me, the kids have been told to stay away from us yet they keep taking our stuff," Naruto ranted, just barely stopping himself from stomping his foot, appearing to remember that he was supposed to be mature.

The Hokage looked at the boy.

"Rio doesn't really like it either. I know it," he added.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"You are five, Naruto. You cannot look after yourself and your brother," he said firmly.

The redhead sighed, groaning and sat himself down in one of the chairs opposite the desk.

"What if I became a genin? That would make me an adult and Kashi sort of keeps an eye on us anyway," Naruto compromised, looking at his grandfather figure.

Hiruzen sighed and glanced at Minato's picture on the wall. What would the man think about his son now? Gone was the bundle of energy from his infancy, replaced by an attitude far beyond his years. The boy had had to mature far too fast; he could hope that the younger son did not fall to the same fate. He had a feeling though that Naruto had grown up for Norio, to protect the only family he had left. Kakashi helped out however he could but he was caught up in his ANBU duties.

"Okay, you have a deal. You and Norio-chan can move out into an apartment when you become a genin. For now, though, you will stay at the orphanage and behave," Sarutobi nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"Can I join the academy, then? You keep saying no 'cause my arm has to heal, but it really is as good as it's gonna get," Naruto asked, rubbing the bandages.

The Hokage frowned, thinking about the risks. The rubble that hit Naruto that night had caused some serious damage, the flare of the fox's chakra disrupting the chakra network and tenketsu points. It was unlikely he would be able to channel chakra through his arm without pain and difficulty.

"Are you sure about this Naruto? You are always going to be at a disadvantage with that injury and there are other careers-" Hiruzen started.

"No, Jiji," Naruto interrupted. "I will be a ninja, just like Tou-san and Kaa-chan. I will protect Rio and I am going to be a shinobi doing it."

Hiruzen heaved a sigh, and got up from his desk. Moving over to one of the bookshelves he browsed before pulling a volume from the second shelf, checking the title before handing it over to Naruto. The boy took it and read the cover.

"Chakra for Novices," he read out, glancing up as Hiruzen retook his seat.

"I know your father was starting to teach you to read and Kakashi continued it. If you need any help, feel free to come to my office any time. It would be better if you understood chakra before using it so you can try avoiding channeling it through your left arm," the old man explained, smiling at the boy. "On that subject, how are your sensing abilities coming along?"

He had already had the report from the ANBU he had assigned to teach the boy the basics. Naruto had exceptional talent for his age in this area and if he did succeed with his path as a shinobi, he would be one of the few valuable sensors Konoha had.

Naruto giggled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"I can't really switch it off; but my range is way better now."

"Still, Naruto-kun, you need to give your brain a rest every so often. Neko has been giving you some instruction with using it but normally most do not learn to hone it until they are at least genin," reminded Sarutobi gently. "Either way, you start the academy two weeks tomorrow, when the new term starts."

Naruto ran his hand over the cover of his book and flipped through the pages, wonder lighting his eyes. He grinned as he looked up at his Jiji, tucking the book into his side.

"Don't worry Jiji. I am going to made you and Rio and my parents proud, dattebayo!"

"Now that is settled, you can bring Norio-chan into the office," Sarutobi smiled, watching as the redhead opened the door, beckoning a small blond child into the room.

The Hokage could have sworn he heard the ANBU at his door let out a sigh of relief as the boisterous Uzumaki bade them goodbye and followed his brother into the office. Norio had the short, uncontrollable spikes of blond that Naruto had had at his age, but he inherited the violet eyes and round cheeks from his mother.

He wore a green t-shirt with black shorts and sandals, gripping a brown toy dog in his small arms. Inu-chan - a gift from his godfather, Kakashi, for his first birthday.

"Hi Jiji!" Norio chirped, lunging into the arms Hiruzen had opened for him.

Sarutobi hugged the young boy, turning him to sit on his lap when he let go.

"Hello Norio-chan, what have you been up to today?" He grinned at the sight of violet eyes sparkling at him. He had no biological grandchildren yet, but he considered these two family in all but blood.

"We had breakfast and was icky then Nii-san added red stuff, think was fruit, then was nice and then we go to the park and I play on the swings and I got really high and then I coloured lots of pictures while Nii-san read boring stuff, then see you," the young boy gushed, barely pausing to take a breath during his account.

Sarutobi glanced up at the other boy, spotting the fond gaze that he directed at his brother.

"C'mon Sunshine, let's leave Jiji to finish his work. We can go find something to eat with the money Kashi gave us before he left." Naruto held out a hand for the toddler.

Norio bobbed his head and gave Hiruzen another quick hug before bouncing off his lap and bounding over to Naruto, taking his hand. The pair headed over to the door, the younger waving while Naruto adjusted the book under his arm.

"Bye Jiji," chorused the boys, closing the door behind them.

An interesting nickname for the blonde child, beyond his already shortened name; it fit well.

Hiruzen shook his head good naturedly, bringing his pipe out from a drawer in his desk. Lighting it he took a few puffs while spinning his chair to gaze out the window behind him, gazing up at the stone face of his old successor.

Those two would certainly be interesting as they grew up.

The duo walked down the main street, the younger of the two pointing out everything that caught his eye. Naruto nodded as Rio pointed out a particularly bright flyer as he scanned the crowd, glaring fiercely at the odd villager that gave Rio a dirty look.

Naruto stopped and looked behind him, trying to spot the man to match the chakra signature. Rio glanced up at the redhead, his young face scrunching up in confusion.

"Nii-san?" he asked, tugging on his brother's hand.

Naruto grinned as he spotted the silver hair through the crowd. He crouched beside the toddler, pointing out the masked man walking towards them.

"Look who's home," Naruto whispered, watching Rio's face light up as he spotted his godfather.

"Kashi!" the blond screamed, launching himself at the approaching teenager.

Kakashi laughed as he caught the squealing toddler, settling him into the crook of his arm. Though the masked covered the lower part of his face, Naruto could not only see the twinkle in his sole grey eye but he could almost sense the happiness coming from the teen.

"Hey Rio, did you miss me?" Kakashi asked, arranging the dog toy so the little boy couldn't accidently drop it.

"Yeah, loads and loads. It's way more fun when you are home, are you going to show me new ninja stuff?" Rio blurted out, adoring eyes trained on him.

Kakashi ruffled the blond mess, looking at the older brother in front of him. Naruto had grown so much since Minato-sensei died and not in the way Sensei would have wanted. The younger Uzumaki reminded him so much of how Naruto used to be, inheriting their mother's boisterous energy. The elder now reminded him of Minato-sensei, with a calm demeanor and piercing gaze.

"Now, Rio, I am sure it is just as fun with your Nii-san as it is with me."

"Nii-san is the best, but he's boring. He doesn't do any of the cool tricks," Rio replied, his innocence shielding him from spotting the downcast look on his brother's face.

Kakashi saw it however and looked down at the redhead, watching him absently rub the bandages on his arm.

"What do you say we go get some dinner? I know the best place in the whole of Konoha," Kakashi grinned, chuckling as he got the same bright expression from both the boys.

"C'mon."

Kakashi led the way down the street, holding Rio in his arms as Naruto walked beside him. He nodded along to Rio as he glanced at Naruto, noting the boy glaring at certain villagers as they walked by. They reached their destination and Kakashi sat on one of the stools, placing Rio on the one on his right. Naruto climbed onto a seat of his own beside his brother.

"Kakashi, it's been a while, and who are these fine boys you have with you?" The old ramen chef came over to lean on the counter.

Teuchi recognized the silver-haired youth from when Minato and Kushina had dragged him in for meals. He smiled sadly at the memories of the happy young couple who were always laughing and smiling when they came into the stall. Their young son took after them, but the whole family had died during the Kyūbi attack.

He watched the younger boy trying to take everything in, his head turning all over the place. The shade of his hair reminded him of Minato and young Naruto. The redhead beside him opened the book he carried with him and began to read.

"They are Uzumaki Naruto and his brother, Norio. I have a feeling they are going to become excellent customers of yours," Kakashi said.

The ramen chef looked sharply at the shinobi.

"Naruto?" he asked, looking the young blond boy. The hair was right but the whiskers and blue eyes were absent.

Kakashi pointed to the redhead who had glanced up at Teuchi, a frown on his young face. Teuchi was taken aback at the sight of the thick, shining scar running down the boy's face.

"That's Naruto. I think the name became more popular since the Fourth Hokage's late son… well…" he trailed off, looking down at the counter in front of him.

Teuchi's expression softened, nodding in understanding. It must be hard for the teen to lose his sensei, though those two young boys looked like they were helping the boy work through it. He could see Kakashi's mood lifting as he was distracted by the toddler pulling his sleeve.

"Kashi, I smell ramen," Rio pouted, looking up at his godfather.

"That's because this place sells the best ramen in all of Konoha," Kakashi eye-smiled, the look on the toddler's face reminding him of Kushina.

He looked at the older boy next to him and frowned as he watched the boy read. Kakashi remembered when his parents had taken him here for the first time; Kushina had managed to drag Minato-sensei out of his office and they decided on ramen for lunch. The boy had been beyond delighted when he found out where his parents had taken him, inheriting the obsession with ramen his parents shared.

Now though, he didn't even greet the old ramen chef nor look up from his book. Naruto was nothing like the boy before the attack. It helped to keep the village from realizing it wasn't just his name he had in common with the late Hokage's son; even when they looked at him, they just saw the scar and the red hair. Everyone assumed that the redhead had adopted the young blond in the orphanage, though the fact that Rio shared some features with the Yondaime's 'late' son did not help matters.

"So what do you guys want? I'll have a beef ramen," Kakashi said.

"Miso ramen please!" Rio chirped, bouncing in his seat.

"Miso, thanks," Naruto added, not looking up from his book.

"One beef and two miso. Coming right up," Teuchi announced, gathering the ingredients and starting to chop the vegetables.

Soon the stand was filled with the sounds and smells of cooking ramen and Rio chattered on, curious about what the chef was doing. Kakashi looked over the blond head to look at Naruto, who merely turned a page.

"So what you got there, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at the teen, his blue eyes slightly unfocussed.

"A book on chakra; Jiji gave to me today when he agreed to let me join the academy," Naruto answered, smiling softly as his grip on the book tightened.

Kakashi grinned, knowing how much the boy wanted to start his shinobi training. He had been reading and preparing but he could only so far on his own. He had been trying to help the boy but with his ANBU duties he was only available to see the boys for a short time once every few months. He couldn't help but feel a pang of worry as he glanced at Naruto's arm. There had been a lot of damage done; the boy could further injure the limb.

"Kashi, I'll be fine. I know my arm better than anyone and I know I can handle this."

Kakashi looked at Naruto's eyes, his blue gaze firm. He reached over and ruffled the red hair, chuckling as Naruto shot him a dirty look while smoothing it back down.

"I know, and if you need any help I will find a way to give it," Kakashi promised.

Naruto finally smiled a true smile and Kakashi returned it as best he could. Ever since Minato and Kushina had died the trio had stuck together, although Kakashi knew that those long months away would eventually take a toll on the young boys. It had already started with Naruto, the redhead already distant, but Kakashi hoped that it could change.

"Here we go; one beef and two miso," Teuchi announced, sliding the bowls towards their respective customer.

Rio leaned over and grabbed his bowl, his violet eyes sparkling.

"Thanks, old man," he chirped, immediately digging into it.

Kakashi smirked; even Naruto had quickly put down his book to eat. Thankfully, not all things had changed.

Naruto turned a page in his book as he kept part of his mind on sensing his brother, who was playing in one of the sandboxes in the park. It was a habit more than anything now; to sense everything in his immediate area with a focus on Rio. It was draining, but he had come a long way in two years; he couldn't really switch it off anymore, he couldn't handle not knowing where Rio was or if there was anyone nearby.

Kashi had had to finish his mission report but he left the stand with a promise that he would swing round to the orphanage the next morning to pick them up to spend the day together before he was sent away again. Rio was ecstatic, with Kakashi being one of his favourite adults in the village. The limited days that Kakashi managed to see them were amazing, but they were far and few between nowadays, with the teen being sent on longer missions.

The book Jiji had given him captured the rest of his attention; the notes on how to control his chakra peaking his interest. The better his control was, the better he would be able to handle the jutsu at the academy; or at least that's what he hoped.

First step though would be the leaf exercise and he could start that soon; tomorrow he would ask Kashi to go through some of this book with him since there were words and phrases he didn't understand.

His head popped up and he closed his book, tucking it under his arm as he darted towards his brother, sensing something wrong from the toddler. He had noticed the glares that most of the villagers directed at Rio whenever they were in the village; sure, his brother housed the fox but he was no more influenced than their Kaa-chan had been. By extension, he was hated too since he was related, but Naruto refused to let it get to him.

Naruto noted the small chakra signature next to his brother and the genin-sized one close to them. He matched them up to the two figures he spotted next to the blond; both dark-haired with a fan symbol scattered throughout their clothes. He walked up to his brother, noting the glares the two young boys were directing towards each other.

"Everything okay, Sunshine?" Naruto spoke up, glancing at the Uchiha as he walked up to the group.

The older boy had a blank expression on his face, his dark eyes unreadable. Two long vertical troughs ran beneath his eyes and his black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. His chakra was calm and larger than Naruto normally sensed from the other kids.

"The pair of them knocked heads while playing in the sandbox. I think they are more annoyed than anything," the Uchiha explained.

Naruto spotted the hitae-ate on his forehead.

"You're a shinobi? You can't be that much older than me," Naruto frowned.

"I just recently graduated. My name is Uchiha Itachi and this is my brother, Sasuke. You are aiming to become a shinobi?" Itachi inquired, nodding his head toward at the book tucked underneath Naruto's arm.

"Yeah, I start the academy in a couple weeks. I'm Uzumaki Naruto and this is Rio, my brother," Naruto replied.

He watched at the Uchiha's eyes flickered between them, probably joining the villagers in the thoughts that the pair had met in the early days following the Kyūbi attack, rather than being blood-related. It made sense, since the pair looked nothing alike but Naruto didn't really care. All that mattered was that Rio knew they were brothers by blood.

He knelt down next to Rio and turned the toddler's head towards him, looking at the red mark on his forehead.

"It hurts, Nii-san," Rio whimpered, shooting another glare at the boy with a matching mark.

"It was an accident, Rio, he didn't mean it," Naruto softly chided, hugging him.

Naruto pulled back, smiling at his brother.

"Now, let's make up with Sasuke and go and get ready for bed. The matron will be wondering where we are by now," He didn't think that the matron would really be that bothered, but it was close to Rio's bedtime anyway.

Rio shot his brother a betrayed look, glancing at the other boy.

"Rio."

The young boy frowned and turned towards Sasuke, sticking out his hand. Sasuke looked down at the hand and glanced back at Itachi. The older boy merely raised an eyebrow, giving his brother a look. The smaller ravenette sighed and grabbed Rio's hand with his own shaking it once and immediately letting go.

"It was nice meeting you guys. We might see you around," Naruto grinned, standing and holding on to one of Rio's hands.

"Yes, Uzumaki-san. I wish you luck with the academy," Itachi replied, watching the pair turn to leave. He looked down at Sasuke and started to lead him back to their compound.

Naruto glanced down at Rio to see him stick his tongue out at Sasuke the group separated. He had seen the Uchiha clan patrolling the village as part of the police force, but there was something different about Itachi. There was a feeling of 'something more' about him.

Anyway, he had to get back to the orphanage before they locked them out. He had figured out ways to get back in ages ago but the matron was never pleased to see them in their beds when she knew they weren't there for lights out. At the thought Naruto only grew more determined to become a genin as soon as possible and it all began with the academy.

Thanks for reading!