Chapter I
Hopelessness is what Naruto was feeling when she was sitting in her apartment alone.
Ever since she was born, she has been discriminated against, persecuted, and generally disliked by the entire village for something she can't even control. And she didn't even know what it is!
She sighed. She was fortunate enough to not be discriminated against to the point of her not being able to have food and shelter, but that was mostly thanks to Hiruzen, the third Hokage, taking things into his own hands. Naruto opened her cup of noodles, clapped her hands together with a silent "thank you for the food," and started to inhale her food. She had no parents, no one to take care of her. The only thing she could do to take her mind off of things and get some sort of attention from the civilians was to pull off pranks that were outrageous for her age of five years old. Her most recent stunt at the time was painting the faces of the Hokage on the mountain that overlooks the village.
Naruto had an appearance unlike anyone else; many comment on her looking almost alien. She had pale, snow white skin, long, glossy, white hair that went down to her waist in length, delicate, feminine features bordering on androgynous, and striking white eyes that made her look almost blind. Furthermore, on her left shoulder was a symbol in Kanji meaning "perseverance."
Fortunately, Naruto no longer had to occupy her time with things like pranking low-level shinobi and sulking in her apartment. Today was her first day of the Academy, where she can start on her journey of becoming the leader of Konohagakure; the Hokage. She dressed herself and went out, following her path to the Academy.
Once she arrived, it wasn't surprising that the campus was rife with kindergarten aged students with their parents accompanying them. Naruto's self esteem took a hit as she felt too out of place, so she decided to sit on the swing hanging from a tree behind the main academy building.
After some time, all of the children were left alone by their parents to be supervised by the academy instructors, who, for that year, were Iruka and Mizuki. Mizuki seemed to be almost bitter toward Naruto, while Iruka at least tried to be indifferent toward Naruto, although he was failing to do so. This same dynamic was in place with Naruto and the other students; some were indifferent toward her, while most disliked her and excluded and persecuted her.
Some things changed after a few years, though.