Naruto had a normal childhood, or at least as normal as it could be for an orphan in a shinobi village. Orphans were encouraged to join the shinobi academy and then the shinobi corps due to their lack of familial connections, making them harder to threaten with the murder of their loved ones. The encouragement came from the Sandaime who came to visit every now and then, bringing small gifts that looked like toys for the kids on the surface, but were really just small symbols to get the kids used to shinobi life. Plastic kunai littered the orphanage and although not actually deadly, could still bruise if thrown worth a damn.
Naruto hadn't taken to the ninja life. He was energetic, far too energetic, but he had no desire to become a fighter. He loved people and he couldn't think about hurting them, it didn't make sense to him. Even to the Kyuubi who he knew was to blame for the death of his parents, he felt at most a harsh regret. On his sixth birthday his attitude to the ninja changed, if only slightly.
The kids in the orphanage didn't use last names much. Naruto was Naruto, most of the time the name Uzumaki didn't exist to him as any more than a word written down in some record never to see the light of day again. Nobody wanted to adopt him and that was something he could understand, the matron of the orphanage complained about his mannerisms all the time, claiming he was too energetic and uncouth. He couldn't argue with those points and they did tend to turn potential parents off. If there were two things that the matron had taught him it was that when the Hokage walked in, Naruto bowed and when the Hokage addressed him he would answer back with a polite 'Lord Hokage'. Manners weren't a mystery to him, he just didn't see the point in putting on airs when it wasn't going to get him anything in return. However when it came to the Hokage, the professor of ninjutsu, he could muster up a little bit of respect even though it wasn't going to get him anything.
The Hokage visited on Naruto's birthday every year, while not actually his birthday it was the day that the attack took place and the Sandaime probably felt it was his responsibility to at least make sure they had a semblance of happy childhood. His sixth birthday was no exception and the Hokage came to make the rounds, getting his Anbu bodyguards to carry presents for all the orphans of that day while he strolled around casually, visiting each orphan in their room. When he arrived in Naruto's room he presented him with an oblong package that was much heavier than it appeared. At the Hokage's urging Naruto tore open the wrapping with the ferocity of a wolf, his face beaming with joy, right up until he saw what was inside. A wooden practice sword, short enough for someone of his height to use. He sighed audibly before remembering his manners and forcing his small.
"Thank you for the gracious gift Lord Hokage," he said, putting on a cheerful air.
The Hokage didn't buy into Naruto's fake joy. "You don't like it?" he asked concernedly.
"No no, I love it Lord Hokage. Thank you so much. I'll treasure it forever," Naruto said, the forced smile becoming more natural now.
The Hokage harrumphed, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Your matron mentioned this. You don't want to be a ninja?" he asked curiously.
Naruto grimaced. "I don't want to hurt anyone." he said quietly. Then brightened. "Can I ask about my parents?"
The Hokage nodded.
"I don't know anything about my parents. All I really want is something to connect to them with. Who were they? What did they do? What did they want me to be?" he asked slightly desperately. "I guess if they were ninja then that's what I want to be."
The Hokage tapped his chin in thought. "Perhaps I might be able to tell you something. Although I don't know if it will be satisfactory, but I will try to the best of my ability," he prompted, to which Naruto nodded eagerly in response. Sighing the Hokage continued. "You already know that we found you on the day of the kyuubi's attack with the Uzumaki crest wrapped around you. That's all the evidence we have, however there were very few Uzumaki in Konoha at the time and most of them were civilian refugees without anywhere to call home. If you want to get a good idea of what they were like then Kushina is probably the worst example but she is the only one I knew well. She was a fiery woman with hair red as blood and a temper to match. I think that no matter who your parents were, you probably embody her the most. Unfortunately she is the only one of the few refugees that I truly knew, the others were distant. The Uzumaki used to be one of the most powerful shinobi clans, renowned for their knowledge in fuuinjutsu, it was their pride. They were a very small clan though and their enemies took advantage of that, attacking the village and wiping out most of them. In fact I think you're the last Uzumaki if I'm not mistaken."
Naruto stared at him with a questioning gaze, trying to catch the unsaid words passing in between them. There was something being held back but he couldn't tell what. It had something to do with Kushina.
"It's not much sadly," the Hokage started, getting cut off by Naruto a moment later.
"What's fuuinjutsu?" Naruto asked, frowning in deep concentration.
"It's involves creating seal to contain things, such as weapons or even-," he paused for effect. "A tailed beast."
Naruto's brows furrowed. "They were the best?"
The Hokage nodded.
Naruto's eyes became more focused as he mulled the information over, coming to a decision quickly. "Where can I learn fuuinjutsu?" he asked determinedly.
The Hokage's somber face crinkled into a smile. "I know just the place."
