A/N: What is up, people? Thanks to all who have reviewed so far, and if you're reading this fic and not reviewing thanks anyway! I'm just kinda surprised that anyone is actually reading something I wrote anyway. Now, I know I've been kinda shady with details so far, but rest assured that I'll get started on answering some of your questions this chapter (at least, that's what I hope). Now grab a cool beverage, kick back, and enjoy!

Hell Is What You Make It

By: Black Dragon of the Bayou

Chapter Two

A young boy (barely six years old), happy and free, ran down the side of a grassy hill. He didn't have a care in the world. The sky was sunny and blue, the birds were singing, and the water on the river nearby was crystal clear. As the boy approached the place that he called home, he noticed that something was different. Something was wrong. His mother wasn't hanging out their family laundry on the side of the house. His father wasn't carrying home fish that he caught from the river. He looked over at the little house that they lived in (a pretty crude structure that was built with dried grass, wood and mud) and notice that it was in flames. "Mama?" He called for his mother, but got nothing for a reply. The boy, his spiky blond hair covered with a cap that his mother had just finished for him that day, felt tears welling up in his ocean blue eyes. "Papa?" They weren't responding. He looked for them for hours, trying to locate them in the countryside near his house, but he found nothing. Even after the fire that had consumed his house finally went out, he couldn't find a signof them there. That night, Naruto Uzumaki, cried himself to sleep. He was cold, hungry and alone...

"He's waking up."

Naruto was starting to come to. The last thing that he remembered was laying in the street being pelted by rain...then that dream. He was so exhausted, so near death, that he wasn't sure whether or not he was still alive or was in some new world. He raised his hands to rub his blurry blue eyes.

"How is he?"

Naruto looked around, searching for the owners of the two voices. One seemed to be that of a girl, a rather timid one at that; the othervoice seemed tobelong toa soft-spoken man. He found no sign of them. He was in a pretty run-down building with cinderblock walls, a simple window built into the side of the wall, anda concrete floor. He saw a desk, table and drawer on the other side of the room, all which appeared to be made of the same type of wood (he guessed pine).

"He looks like he'll be okay...the wounds on his legs were pretty bad, though."

Naruto looked down at his legs underneath the large blanket that he was wrapped in. My feet...somebody bandaged them! He reached down to touch them, and besides a few sore spots they appeared to be fine. When he tried to stand up however, he felt a burning sensation in his legs and immediately fell back into the futon he had been resting so peacefully on. Damn! It hurts to even move them!

As Naruto mentally cursed the pain running through his legs, he heard the chatter again.

"Sir...how long do you think he will not be able to walk?"

"I'm not a doctor, but I think about two or three weeks. That's just a guess knowing the extent of his injuries. He could be back up in a day, for all I know. Then again, he could never walk again."

"I see."

There was a pause in the conversation for a moment, then the man spoke again.

"Why don't you go in and introduce yourself? Our new friend would probably be happy to find out who it was who helped him make it through such terrible injuries?"

"M-m-me? No, s-sir. I..."

"It's alright, Hinata. I'll go in myself. You run along now, classes will probably be starting up again soon."

"Yes, sir."

Naruto heardfootsteps as one of the two people, probably the girl, walked away. A myriad of questions began to wander through his mind. Where was he? Was he safe? Where would he go when he could gain his strenghth to walk again? Would these people let him leave? He heard the door open slowly, and saw the man he had heard outside stepping through it. The man was lean and a little lanky, standing near six feet tall. Naruto couldn't guess with any certainty how old the man was mainly because he could hardly see any of his face. It was covered so that only about a third of it was visible, including a black eye that seemed calm and steady. His hair was grey and spiky mess and he wore a sort of black body suit with a hunter green vest.

"Good morning, child. My name is Hatake Kakashi. Welcome to Hell City."

Naruto stared at the man as if he had told him he was on the third moon of Jupiter. Hell City? What is this guy babbling about? This is supposed to be Violet City (A/N 1)...

"You look confused."

"Well...I had traveled pretty far here, from the west...and I was told that this place was called Violet City."

Kakashi cocked his head. "Actually, the city's official name is Violet City. Anyone who knows any better calls it Hell City, though."

Naruto curled up on the bed as best as he could (the pain in his legs wasn't as bad as earlier, but it still hurt like hell)and shot his benefactor a suspicious scowl. "Why is it called 'Hell City', anyway?"

Naruto could almost see the smile on the man's face. "You really don't wanna know, kid. Anyway, the building that your standing,or shouldI say sitting,in is a safe haven for children, called the Lost Star. It's a place for children who have nowhere else to go...or who want to escape some of the brutal neighborhoods. Some of them are orphans, others weresimply abandoned by their parents. Many of them have been abused and beaten. My colleagues and I run the entire place ourselves, from the education of the children to enforcement of rules."

Naruto started to let his guard down a little. For some reason, he felt like he could actually trust this man. Also the idea of children around him who were a lot like him piqued his interest.

"You are welcome to stay with us, if you wish."

Next time: Naruto gives Kakashi his answer and runs into some of the "Lost Star" orphans. Most of them are friendly enough, but others are no where near as friendly.

A/N 1: Violet City is the city that Naruto collapsed in during Chapter One. I had realized that the city (which will be the main setting for most of the story) didn't have a name yet and decided to go the "Pokemon-Color-A-City" route.

I am extremely sorry that I could not update sooner. However, with a full-time job and full-time course load in college, it's been a drag to update. Now that I have a few weeks off from school, I should be able to not only update this story, but also stories in other sections or even another Naruto story. Hope you enjoyed, and criticism (as long as it is constructive) is welcome. Until I update again...

GOOD NIGHT NOW!