A/N: Hi, guys! Thank you all so, so much for all the reviews/favs/follows, my gorgeous readers! You are the best! This time I tried to write a bit more, so here we go! Also, I wanted to explain about the currency. It's said that one ryō is about 10 yen. So 300 ryō is 3000 yen, which is (count in that I was checking with the nowadays currency exchange rate) about 30 dollars. It might seem even a bit too much, but it's a post-war hidden village, meaning that the prices are higher (at least in my AU). 30 dollars is like 3 goes to a cafe, not more. And the kids need to buy clothes, equipment and stuff (only basic equipment is provided).

Thanks again and hope you like it!

See the end of the chapter for translations. *

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto.

Warnings: Language.

Childhood Arc: Home

There is a very simple secret to being happy. Just let go of your demand on this moment. - Adyashanti

The walk to the orphanage was rather silent. Shinju would occasionally fill the silence with stories about the Will of Fire, the brave ninja and all the shit. She'd tell about the Yondaime as well. Turns out he grew up in that orphanage, with her knowing him. She's rather strange, but kind. I'd have participated in the conversation, but I had a lot on my mind. Well, not all that much, but no big difference. What mattered was that the thing on my mind was Danzō, or how to avoid him.

I know that he liked to pick up orphans. That, most likely, didn't change. And he dreamt of collecting prodigies. I can already see him drooling when I use chakra at the age of two. That means no showing off.

I have to stay low till I enter the academy. After that the Hokage and the shinobi will protect me, I hope. I also need to befriend people, the more the better. I need to make sure that others will realize if I disappear. And it better be people closer to Sandaime, meaning Chūnin/Jōnin level shinobi plus Naruto. And about Naruto… was he living at the orphanage? Or maybe at the Sarutobi estate? Who knows. I guess that I'll find out sooner or later. Him living at the orphanage makes more sense; it'd bring too much attention to him if he lived with the Hokage. But maybe he lived with a caretaker. Plus his jinchūriki status… how didn't the foreign villages find out? I can't believe that they had no spies in Konoha. By the way he was treated it was clear that he was the vessel. Maybe they tried, but his ANBU guards protected him. It makes sense. And he had an apartment at twelve. Maybe a caretaker used to look after him, or even ANBU, but with time they stopped. Or Sandaime taught Naruto how to care for himself.

I have too many questions a too little answers! Ugh!

While I was going through my mental breakdown, we arrived at the orphanage. It looked rather old, reminding me of a wooden church. It was located in nowhere, but it remained whole, even though a bit scratched like it survived through a rather small earthquake. There were a few kids around, all of them cleaning something. The surrounding area was green, a small paying field with a sling and… nothing else. Guess shinobi kids prefer physical games in the forest… Ew. Moving. Still have a hard time grasping the fact that I can no longer laze around. Well, better prevent all the shit in this world sooner so I can become a vegetable once again.

I was placed on the floor and my bag was given back to me. I looked at Shinju, expecting orders. Or food.

"This," she began, "is our orphanage. It consists of one building. Inside you have everything, beginning with the cafeteria and ending wit accommodations. You'll be shown everything. There are three levels, two above the ground and an underground one. It's made for storage, library and art supplies. We share everything here, so you must always ask before doing something. There is a schedule for everything. You'll be given daily chores. The older kids will help you. The day starts at five am with showering and tidying the room, breakfast at six, chores till nine, break till noon with an opportunity to leave the orphanage's area with a kid assigned to you. At half past twelve you have lunch. From one pm till four pm you're supposed to have educating time with a caretaker and a group your age, but you seem smarter than others so I guess we'll assign you an older group. From four till six you have more chores and at half past six you have dinner. From seven till eight you have a break. From eight till nine you need to get ready to bed and at a quarter past nine you must be sleeping in your bed. Don't spend your allowance on silly stuff; don't argue with anyone; don't be dirty; don't eat too much or ask for more; don't get into fights; don't be rude; don't do anything on your own; don't take anything that isn't yours without asking for permission; don't be a problem; you don't ever steal food, nor take it without asking; if you miss a meal you will wait for the next one patiently; always try your best; the matron is always right; keep your stuff tidy in your bag. That's it for the rules. You break a rule – you get punished. It doesn't matter what rule you break – you get sent to the chamber on the underground level for four hours. You won't be allowed food or water. Am I making myself clear?" By the time she finished the lecture I decided to run. It's a prison! Argh, how did the Sandaime permit this? Is it even legal? No wonder Danzō likes the fucking place. And they already have eyes on me. Fucking great, guess I'll need to be twice as careful.

Getting back to the world of living, I hastily nod my head while saying: "Yes, Rei-sama! I won't disappoint you!" Jeez, no need to get on her bad side, that's for sure. I just hope I won't cause too much havoc, hehehe…

So while I was planning the future demise of the orphanage, we headed towards the entrance. As we got closer I could see the old wooden structure better. It was pretty huge, but that doesn't surprise me. In a shinobi village orphans are common. The kids outside looked older than me, about eight or nine. They were carrying the fallen logs away from the orphanage. There were quiet a few to pick up. I could feel their chakra rise a bit, giving them a power boost. I couldn't see their faces all too well, but the opportunity will come later on. There was a sign near the door, saying "Konoha's Orphanage". Creative…

We entered through the doors and were presented with a long hall. To the right there were a bunch of shoes. Following the routine, I got them off and carefully set them aside. I had simple slip-on shoes, nothing fancy. The hall was rather quiet. I turned to ask a question, but I was beat to it.

"It's already two pm. Most of the kids have lessons. Usually older ones are at school or academy, but both have gone through the attack and need to have major repairs. This is why they were working outside and not studying like the others."

I nodded, accepting the answer. She patted my head and pushed me into the corridor. I could hear voices coming out of the numerous doors. The corridor was beige, on the traditional side. It was quite plain and pretty clean. There were stairs in the middle, leading both up and down. As we passed them, I could make out a clattering noise and a smell of… porridge? EW.

"What we just passed were the classrooms and the matron's office. Right now you'll be presented with the showers and toilets. After them you have the dining room. You always come here on time, okay?" We continued walking as she was pointing out the rooms. "After the dining room we have the kitchen and the head office. You also have a playroom, the auditorium and the medical wing. Most of the time there are shinobi asking for out services as iryō-nins, the way for us to earn money. Some of the kids are taught in the art as well. But in order to do it you'll need to accesses special energy called chakra." We almost came to the end of the hall. There were some of the bigger doors that led to the dining room and auditorium. Each door in this part of the building was labeled, saving me the trouble of getting lost a thousand times. I already forgot half of the stuff she said. I hate my short memory!

Turning around, I asked her a question: "Am I going to be helped by an older person, Rei-sama? I forgot almost everything, but I can read a little."

She looked at me, amusement in her eyes. "Indeed you will, Isamu-kun. A boy from your room will help you get used to everything here. There're 12 people per room of all ages. Due to the recent events we don't have enough available beds. You'd be fine with a futon? I wasn't told that you have any restrictions."

"I'll be fine, I guess. I wanted to ask about my old place: is the house fine? I have some stuff there that I'd have loved to pick up." I ask as we head towards the stairs.

She turns to look down on me, her gaze a bit… strict? "The house is mostly fine. You can take some stuff, but all of your toys, books and art supplies will be available to everyone. You can only have 4 sets of clothes, 2 pairs of shoes, one coat and one hat. Everything else will be given to other kids. All of the hygienic stuff must be kept. If there is any food left it will be divided between all the kids. You can also keep a mug, a spoon and two tea types. If more are found they're going be taken to the kitchen. You can eat outside on your allowance.

Well, that's it for the first level! Let's go upstairs to the accommodations." With that she turned to the stairs and waited. I'm only two. Of course I'm slow. Pff.

As we got upstairs, she showed me the female and male wings (the right one was female and the left was male). She showed me around the rooms. There were no kids inside the rooms. All of them were tidy. Each futon had a pretty stuffed bag near it. The few beds had sections underneath the mattress. When I asked about the infants she said that they live in the caretakers'' wing. There were a total of fourteen rooms with twelve beds/futons. Holy shit, that's almost 170 beds! I'm doomed (my antisocial side is burning).

"This is going to be your room. You'll be the youngest one here. The oldest boy is eleven years old, while the youngest one except you is five. You'll meet the boy that was assigned to help you during the dinner. As for now, put you stuff here," she gestures towards the futon near the window, "and go get a shower. I won't allow you to walk as filthily! Come with me for the change of clothes." She waves for me to come, and I obey.

We go downstairs, to the storage. There she gives me the clothes and ushers me towards the showers. There I spent about half an hour on everything, and finally I don't feel like I'm gonna itch to death.

As soon as I walked through the door an adult woman crouched next to me. She was very tall, slim; she had long, blond hair in a high ponytail, tan skin and hazel eyes. And, of course, she wore the black and white robes. She reached her hand for me, brushing her knuckles across my cheek. This is officially the creepiest caretaker ever!

"Hi, Isamu-kun. My name is Umeko. I'm your age group's teacher. You got here today, right?" I nod slightly, still a bit shocked after, well, her. "I see. You're lucky: a few kids from an older group finished their chores early so they can show you around. Let me take you to them." She finishes, her voice so smooth… abort the mission! I have a gut feeling that she's Pennywise! What should-

That's when I hear giggles and screaming. Well, shit. Even Pennywise is better than that.

Well, I need to make friends. Unfortunately. Or find a Jōnin to adopt me… wait a minute.

Hell, this is a perfect Plan B. All I gotta do is find a Jōnin, befriend him and make him want to adopt me.

Easier said than done.

So, for now, I'll try to befriend some kids and befriend a Jōnin. I just need to actually find a Jōnin.

Back to the present. I see three kids coming closer to me. One has brown hair, other spiky dark-blonde hair and the last one has long black hair. They seem around four years and are very loud.

"Zaji! Let's stay here and rest, you baka!" Screamed the girl with black hair. She has a green dress on.

"Come on, Haruki! We have free time, let's go and play outside! It'll be fun, I promise!" Countered the boy with blond hair. He's dressed in grey shirt and blue shorts.

"Shut up, Saisu! You don't understand! I want to rest very much, I don't have your energy!" The girl growled at the blonde.

The brown haired boy 'tsk'ed and turned to the girl: "Haruki, we don't get breaks like that every day. Let's enjoy this before they make us do more-"

And he was cut off because somebody erupted with laugher.

"Oh kami! I love working here!" Umeko turned to the tense kids, "Hey, children. It's perfect timing! We have a new boy and I'd like for you to keep him busy till dinner. Can do?" The three kids started nodding hastily. This woman is a demon incarnate…

"Great! Come back a bit earlier, like five minutes or so. He's yet to meet anyone from his age group. Ja ne!" And with that the caretaker *cough* crazy lady *cough* left me all alone with three loud and vigorous kids. Crap.

"Hi?" I say in a questioning tone. I hate this stuff. "I'm Amachi Isamu. Yoroshiku." I finish, looking around a bit. They're staring at me. Why?

Then the blonde points at me and yells, making me grimace. "Yo! New kid! I'm Kamano Saisu, and I'm gonna be the best ninja ever!" He gestures at the brown haired boy, saying: "This amazing guy is Zaji. He can know where people are without looking! He's almost as cool as me!" Saisu earn a "HEY!" for that statement, but he seemingly doesn't care. After that he point at the girl boringly and continues: "And this one is Haruki. She's boring as hell and lazy. Say, you wanna play with us?" He yells the last part. Better safe than sorry, I guess. Plus friends like that won't be too bad.

"Yeah, sure. What are we going to play?" I say. The girl looks like she's on verge of tears, but stays quiet.

Zaji throws his fist into the air, grinning widely while saying: "Yay! I like you already, Isamu. So where do you come from? Got any hobbies? Why are your eyes strange?" Oh, the ranting began. I just couldn't evade it.

"I'm from Konoha, Zaji-san." I avoid talking about Oba-chan, answering the next question: "I like reading, drawing, creating stuff and sleeping. My eyes look different because tou-san used to have blue eyes and kaa-san had red ones." At least I think so. I never had the chance to ask. "What about you? Do you have any hobbies? What are your dreams?" I ask. It'll keep him busy for a while.

"Sugoi! You sound fun, if a bit lazy. I like…" I tuned him out for a while. While he talks I can observe them. The blond seems familiar. I guess he might have been a minor character before. The brunette is very distantly familiar. An even more minor character, I guess. The girl is someone I can't recognize, but I have a very bad memory, so who knows. They seem fine, all planning on entering the academy. So I'd rather befriend them. Or at least try to.

They kept talking till we exited the building. That's when Haruki turned to face me, looking slightly shy. Her voice was barely audible, "Isamu-kun, do you want to be a shinobi too? Or are you," she paused for a moment, as if choosing her words, "aren't you afraid?" She finished, her ears red.

I thought about it for a moment before answering. "I am scared, but that won't stop me. I want to help so there will be fewer orphans like us. My ba-chan told me that my name means courage, so I must live up to my name in order to make my ba-chan proud."

The three looked at me, puzzled looks on their faces. Oops, said too much?

"You're weird," said Saisu and his grin turned feral, "I like it. Come, let's play ninja!" And with that he took off to the trees.

Let me explain the basics of the game to you. It's a bit like tag and a bit like hide and seek, but with sticks for kunai, kicking and punching allowed and hopping on branches. A lot of hopping. At first I couldn't do it, but it seems like kids in this world use chakra subconscious level. At least Zaji said that I need to use "colorful energy" in order to do it.

I was always the first one to lose, but it's okay. I'll treat it as training. It's good for speed, agility and tracking.

We had a lot of fun. I'd chase after them, they'd hop like bunnies (so cute!), and I'd try to catch them. Once I almost tripped when jumping, but the leaf exercise paid off: I was able to stick to the bark of a tree for almost five seconds and I didn't even feel it take a toll on me! Hooray!

In the end, when it was getting dusky, we arrived to orphanage, sweaty, smelly and happy. Even if they're kids, that doesn't mean they're bad people. Or boring. They're rather funny, and they have their own ideas, even if naïve.

This is how we ended up in the dining room at six twenty five, laughing and fooling around. I spotted Shinju eyeing me in an odd manner, smiling slyly. That should ring bells, but I'm too happy to be a skeptical nerd now, so I decided to toss her a smile. Let's hope I don't find mummies running after me.

Crazy lady came up to us, smiling in her creepy manner. "Hey, kids. You had fun, I see. That's great, I'm glad that Isamu-kun made friends. But I need to introduce him to his age group and other kids too. We have a few newbies today, so you better pay attention." She finished in her overly smooth voice and pushed me towards the table with many small kids. They were messing around, bantering, eating messily. Ew. Can I go back to older kids?

Shinju walked towards the middle of the dining room, tapping on a glass to get attention. "Everyone! Today we have two new kids! One is two, other is seven. Welcome Amachi Isamu," They start clapping at my name, while I try to shrink into the chair. Too much attention. "And Minoji!" they clap again, but at the brown haired boy with some strange marks hear his eyes. They make him look kind of like a lizard. He's a bit reserved, but otherwise he looks normal.

I turn to Umeko with a silent question. She smiles at me before saying: "You can choose where to sit on your own, it's just that most prefer to sit with their age group, but you seem a bit different. Introverted?"

Ha, like I'd fall for that. No two-year-old kid knows what introversion means, so I'll play along. "What's that?"

Her face turns a bit irritated. "You don't like people?" She asked. And she looks after kids, for real?

"Not very much, Umeko-sama. I like silence." I answer in an embarrassed manner, looking at the floor. Gotta keep the act up!

She frowns a bit, but says nothing, leaving me to fend for myself. Picking up the porridge, I find an empty table and sit there. Porridge. After two years of mochi, dango, pies, cookies, tea and sushi I'm to eat porridge. Goodbye, chubby looks.

While I was playing with my meal, a girl came up to me. I looked up to her and my mind stopped.

In front of me was a doll. Long mint hair, tanned skin, light blue eyes. She had a small nose, rosy cheeks and pink lips. She. Was. Adorable!

Getting out of my stupor, I ask her: "Hi. Can I help you?"

She smiles at me, tilting her head a bit. Her green locks falling onto her other side. "Konnichiwa. My name's Kazumi. I'm six. You seem quitter than others, which is great. I can't stand all the noise. Can I sit with you?" She finishes with a question. She seems fine. She wears a blue shirt and green shorts.

"Sure, sit. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. I'm Isamu and I'm two, but you already know that, I guess." I say. I'm bad at communicating. I really hope she talks. Or stays silent.

Going for the second option, it seems. After saying "yoroshiku onegaishimasu", she stayed silent during the whole meal. At the end, she bowed to me end left.

Little did I know that it was how I met my best friend.

After the meal I decided to go to my room. I hoped it'd be empty there, but luck wasn't on my side. As I entered the room, seven boys from six till ten were there. One of them was on the floor, crying.

Fucking great. I've bullies as roommates.

The one that looked like he was the oldest turned to look at me, disdain clear in his gaze. "What da ya want, shrimp?" he asked, lifting his nose even higher.

Well, it's not like I haven't dealt with bullies before. "I live here. I have a futon assigned to me. I'll keep quiet, you do what you want, okay?" I asked. I would've done something to help the dude, but I'm still two. But as soon as I get stronger I'll shove a stick up the bastard's ass.

"Let me see… how about you give me your allowance and I don't beat you? You also do my chores for-"

Oh, you little motherfucker, I'll not wait to fucking grow up. He doesn't even know what he's gotten onto his head now, the son of a bitch.

"How about not? If you as much as try to touch me, then I'll make your like hell. And you'll keep away this guy," I gesture at the little boy on the ground, "and his stuff too. Cross my pass – learn what a real demon means." I say before going into the room. But before I'd even cross half of it, the bastard tried to attack me.

Jumping to the side, I did the only thing I could think of: I started using chakra to run faster and hit harder. It seems like all those hours of training finally pay off. Even though I couldn't beat them, I still managed to punch every single one of them before a voice rang through the room.

"What the hell, Takeshi? Can't pick someone your size already?" I turned to the owner of the voice and tensed. I know him. I've seen him in my previous life in the anime. Silvery-lavender hair, black eyes, tanned skin, around four years…

The older boy seemed to tense to. Hell, he looked horrified. Turning his head, Takeshi spoke: "Sh-shin, how are you, brother? We were just playing with the new guy-"

Not on my watch, you son of a bitch.

I stood straighter, saying: "He's lying. They were bulling the other boy before I came in. After that I asked them not to touch me if I stay quiet, but Takeshi, right?" The older one snickers, but nods. "Takeshi told me that I's also need to give him my allowance and do his chores. I disagreed and he started to beat me up. Thankfully, you came before they turned me into an omelet." I finished. Shin, Shin… who is he?

Turning from me to the older boy, Shin growled: "He's under my wing. Touch him – deal with me. Understood?" They all nodded. Whoever the dude is, I like him.

Turning back to me, Shin asked with a smile: "Hi. I'm Shin, as you could already tell. You're Isamu, right? Saw you at dinner. You got a futon near the window?" I nodded and his smile only seemed to grow at that. "Great. Mine's next to yours. These guys," he gestured at the bullies, "are nothing to worry about. A bit training and they won't dare touch you. Heck, I'm four and even I'm better than them." He smiled and offered a hand. "You seem like a nice person. Do you want to be my friend?"

Wow, is this like my Prince Charming? He's a very sweet person. No need to be a fortuneteller, we'll get along just fine. And, hopefully, I'll remember just who he is. Grinning at him, I shook his hand.

He grinned back before saying: "We have 12 people here. Those six are jerks, but nothing to worry about. The one on the floor," he gestured to the blond haired boy, "is Shibire. He's fine, but very shy. You'll get used to him. Others are newbies like you, but they came in earlier. You got wounded?" I nod and gesture at my leg. All the running didn't do it any good. "I see. Anyways, you know me already. Iruka is in a bad mood now, so try not to hurt him or anything." Gosh, the fucking odds. I share a room with the Umino Iruka! Cool! "Sora is a lazy head, but he's fine. Kojimaru is pretty active, but kind. And Kenta is very clumsy and energetic, so stay away from him, hehe. That's it. For the time being I'll be helping you get used to the place. Make yourself at home!" With that he giggles and I feel a lot lighter.

Maybe making friends is actually gonna be a lot funnier.

* Yoroshiku onegaishimasu – in this context it means "nice to meet you". Kinda.

Oba-chan – aunt

Sandaime – Third Hokage

Yondaime – Fourth Hokage

-sama – honorific that stands for lord and the likes.

A/N: Aaaaand done! Yay, longer chapters! I really wanted to make this one. Of course i won't spend all the time on this arc, we'll move on. But it plays a major part. Isamu forgot who Shin is and he forgot to write about him too. So yeah, that's gonna hit. Also, Kabuto is already in Ne. Sorry, but i'd be too much. Iruka won't play a big role, but he's gonna show up now and then. Also, half of the characters are canon. Only the caretakers, girls, Takeshi, Sora, Kenta and Kojimaru are OCs. So yeah, that's it, I guess. We're getting closer to training, meeting more canon characters and stuff.

Thank you very much once again and please review!