Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto as Masashi Kishimoto owns the series

How the times change:

"You fail. Bring in Yudokuna Hana."

He was frozen, staring at Yoba-sensei in disbelief. How could he not, after all, he performed everything to a degree nearing perfection and he knew it. He had studied day in and day out, practiced everything over and over until he had them ingrained into his very being, and even then he continued to practice and study just to make sure. He did all of this to avoid this very outcome, to finally escape this prison and gain access to the freedom and knowledge that he had dreamed of for years. This was too much for him, and as he began to break down into tears, Naruto started to raise his voice as he talked.

"But… Why…? I know I did everything right, so why? Why do I fail!"

"Because, brat, I said so. Now go get Hana and sit down."

"That doesn't answer why I failed! What did I do to make me fail!"

"Let me tell you a little secret. No matter how well, or how poorly you did, I wouldn't have passed you. In fact, I doubt any sensei in this building would have passed you. You're better off just quitting the Academy altogether for all you're worth. You won't ever become a shinobi, so you should just forget about trying anymore, because I promise you this, you will always fail. This conversation is and get Hana."

Dumbstruck into complete silence, all Naruto could do was slowly turn around and head back to the class, barely being able to remember to mumble out Hana's name to go in next. To him, the rest of the day was just a blur, and as they were dismissed and told to come back tomorrow for team placements, he realized that this very well may be the last time he would stand in this building. His body began to move on instinct and filed out the classroom with the rest of the students, and while everyone else ran to their parents to show them their brand new headbands, Naruto started heading towards the library, too shocked to care or even notice how everyone was looking at him and jeering.

When he finally arrived and made delved deep into his own little sanctuary of books and quiet, he started to think.

'What do I do now… I can't… No. I won't go through another year at the Academy. But what else is there for me. What is there left for me here? I… I just wanted to know more… But… I… I want to leave… But where can I go? What can I possibly do outside of this village? I don't have any other real skills. But… It would be better than staying here, right? Right. But how… How do I escape this place? It's not like anyone in this village cares about me enough to help me out.'

As he mentally debated his situation, he was flipping through his books, and as his eyes skimmed over a word, he stopped dead in his tracks and focused in on it.

'Caravan… Caravan! The traders! I can go to the traders! But would they accept someone like me?'

He shook his head and sighed.

'It's better than nothing. I have to try. This is my best shot. My only chance to escape.'

Content with this new plan in mind, Naruto went back to reading, his spirits lifted for the time being.

A week had passed since the day of the graduation, and Naruto couldn't be more anxious. It was today that he was going to talk to the caravaneers about him joining them. He had all of his meager belongings packed, and was ready to get up and move in a second. All that was left was for him to get the okay from the head of the caravan. The problem was, he didn't know who the head of the caravan was in the first place. To solve this, he went with the most logical approach to finding out who he had to talk to. He went and asked one of the traders.

"Excuse me… Do you know where I can find the head of this caravan…?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean Shurui-san? Follow me, I can take you to him."

"Thank you mister…?"

"My names Tsuyoi. What's your's gaki?"

"Thank you Tsuyoi-san. I'm Naruto."

"Well Naruto-kun, why are you looking for Shurui-san? Do your parents need something specific? Or is it something else?"

"Actually, I was wondering if… If I could j-join the caravan."

"Eh? Join the caravan? I don't think that would be the best of ideas. Do you know how worried your family and friends would be if you just up and disappeared?"

"I'm… I'm an orphan. And I don't have anyone that really cares for me. Besides, I… I really want to see the world and learn more. This is my best, and maybe my only chance."

"Oh… Well… Uh… Hm. I don't know what to say Naruto-kun. I never did know what to say in these situations. I suppose I should leave this to Shurui-san. Just so you know, as long as you are following your heart in this decision, you won't regret it. Or at least I hope that's the case. Either way, here we are."

As Tsuyoi stated that, they stopped in front of a cart of miscellaneous items, with a relatively old man dressed in a sky blue baggy attire standing behind it. At seeing Tsuyoi, he raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly.

"Oh? What's this Tsuyoi? Another little gaki that complained about one thing or another? Or is this one of the troublemaker kinds?"

"Well actually Shurui-san, Naruto-kun here has something to ask you."

Seeing this as his cue talk, Naruto stepped up and bowed at Shurui.

"Please let me join your caravan!"

For a few moments Shurui could only stare at Naruto. After getting in his share of staring, he leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"And why exactly do you want to join our caravan? On top of that, have you thought about how your parents would react to finding their little boy gone? We could get accused of kidnapping you, and that would ruin our caravan. I'm sorry bu-"

"I don't have any parents, I don't have any friends, I don't have anyone close to me. Everyday, I'm ignored or insulted, and everyone here would be happier if I just disappeared forever. I just want to see the world, and learn. But… I can't do that here. I can't live here. Please! I don't have much to contribute, and I hardly have any money to offer, but please, at least take me to another village or town. Please!"

That threw Shurui for a loop, and as he started to look around while thinking on Naruto's words, he noticed something. It was hidden, but every once in a while, someone passing by would glance at Naruto with contempt. As far as he could tell, and from what Naruto just told him, the boy in front of him couldn't have done anything to this number of people. That only meant that something out of his control had caused this to happen, and from the looks of it, only the people of this village felt that way. His heart couldn't help but go out to the blonde, and after a small mental debate, he relented.

"Very well gaki. We'll take you with us. But you better carry your own weight, or else. I'm sure that a few of the others could find a thing or two to teach you as well. Hm. Well, we are leaving in two days. Get your things ready, and meet me here at six to days from now. Got it gaki?"

Eyes wide and on the brink of crying in joy, Naruto only nodded his head rapidly. Bowing once again to Shurui, he turned and bowed to Tsuyoi then rushed away. After watching Naruto disappear into the distance Tsuyoi turned to Shurui.

"So, why did you let him come Shurui-san? Not that I'm against him coming with us, but still."

"That boy… Deserves a life of his own, a life where he decides how to live. Besides, when have I ever stopped someone from joining the caravan as long as they were willing to work? I can tell that boy is going to be an asset, just from his willingness to work. Naruto… It's a name I'm willing to remember."

Two days later, Naruto stood in front of Shurui with a backpack filled with his belongings.

"So I see you were able to make it. Well, get in the wagon and we'll be heading out. Oh and, be sure to greet the others, got it gaki?"

Nodding quickly, Naruto scurried into the back of the wagon and then began to survey his surroundings. Around him he found a few boxes filled with what he could assume to be goods. Along with that he saw a few other people towards the back of the wagon. There was two women and a man. One woman was dressed in a purple dress that sparkled ever so slightly. She was a brunette and looked to be in her early twenties. The other woman had orange hair and seemed slightly older, nearing her mid to late twenties, and was dressed in what could be described as gray mechanic overalls. The man seemed to be around the same age as the second woman, and was dressed similar to Shurui, except his attire was a forest green that matched his hair. The first one to notice Naruto was the woman in the overalls, and as she saw him she let out a little squeal at him.

"Oh would you look at him! He's the cutest little thing! Looking all nervous and serious at the same time! Look at him Suta-chan! You too Taiyo! Just look at him!"

As the woman continued to squeal the woman in the dress, now known as Suta, sighed and finally turned towards Naruto. Seeing him, she tilted her head to one side, then back to the other side.

"Hm… You're right Mira. He does seem like a cute little gaki."

Off to the side, the man known as Taiyo just sighed at the two as he continued to lean back against the wall of the wagon.

"You two are going to scare him off before we even leave. Calm it down would ya?"

Turning towards Naruto, he smiled at the blonde and motioned him to sit next to him.

"Hey there. The name's Kagayaku Taiyo. The woman in the dress over there is our fashion maniac, and my sister, Kagayaku Suta. The woman in the overalls that squeals at anything relatively cute is Katai Mira. She's what you could call an inventor. Though mainly she just fixes up the things that break around here. What's your name?"

Bowing slightly towards the three Naruto responded.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to meet you all."

AN: Well, I decided that I would churn out another chapter just after this one as to keep my flow going. Going by one, and possibly only, review that I got in this in between period I finally decided that I simply cannot write the monotonous life that Naruto lives for any longer, as I just can't bring myself to care. From my point of view, I clearly painted how the four years he went through would be like from just the first few chapters, so I decided that if anything else was needed I would just use flashbacks and other such things. Looking at my previous chapters, it seems like I'm going about this in a snapshot sort of fashion, with some snippets from each part of his life to create an overall picture. To me, this was the only way for me to actually progress the story without letting this fic die miserably, so I hope everyone that wanted to read the Academy years forgives me.

Just a note, I decided to end it at this as a possibility for a time skip next chapter depending on if I get any reviews about what people may want to see. Besides, I kinda like ending it on that note. Gives me time to think and such.

Anyway, review time.

Kronus96: First off, let me say thank you so much for your support and kind words. Onto the content of your review. Yes, it could have been simple for me to simply skip to Naruto's life instead of dedicate a chapter to the events of his birth and how he had the Yin part of Kurama sealed in him instead of the Yang, but I just wanted to write it out. And yes, I tend to go in depth about a lot of my thoughts of how many things work in the Naruto universe in the AN. Thank you for bothering to read that by the way.

You make good points, but let's look at it this way. Sure, you are a military leader of a village, and you have a young boy with a literal demon of hatred stuck in his gut. Of course, you would want him to be as happy as possible correct? Then why in the canon, did Naruto live in a shitty apartment, and not have the top class treatment that he should have gotten to keep him happy and loyal?

There are way too many responses to that question of mine and for good reason. Let's follow the train of thought of a military leader though. At this point in time, you just got out of a large war, your war hero, who just so happened to single handedly end the war, just died to seal a demon into his only son, and his wife happened to die as well. You're village is weaker than ever, and you need to put up a strong front. Logic dictates that you must send all your elites out to take more missions than before to put on the show that you are stronger than ever. As well as that, you can't reveal that you have a ticking time bomb hidden in the middle of your village in the form of a little child.

Thus, you distance yourself from the time bomb as much as you can, only nudging him in the direction you want him to go every once in a while. Now, this village also happens to have over 95% of the population that hates the little child's guts. And part of that percentage is people who have a lot of authority, and even the ones who don't have a lot of authority can do things. So they make the already busy leader even busier with complaints and requests among other things.

And while yes, there is the eventuality of Sarutobi finding out that something is happening to Naruto, that's if people actually bothered to report it, let alone someone seeing it happen. And one thing to make clear is, I never said he got beaten often. Often would dangerous, and quite out there. This isn't the kind of story where a mob of people chase after him and try to beat his skull in. That is noticeable. What isn't noticeable is that a very small group of people pull him aside and rough him up. And even then, I will state now, in the ten years that he has lived in the village, I guarantee that it would have happened no more than 10 times. And even that would be pushing it.

Also, about Yami Naruto, I can't really respond to that. I could always respond "It was too traumatic, so he never brought it up", or "Well, this is a fairly censored series at times", or even "Maybe he just forgot". I won't though. After all, what happened in the manga and show don't follow human nature at times. Thus, in the canon, no matter what I may think, there are many ways you can argue that he was never beaten and thus Yami Naruto never brought it up. There is no proper answer or rebuttal for such a statement because it leaves way too much up to interpretation. One thing to realize though is that, and please note I am not making fun of or making light of anyone, people who are abused by their own family are able to hide it for years on end from their friends and people around them, people who actually care and interact with them on a daily basis. Compare them to Naruto who is ignored and rarely beaten. If they are able to hide it, then in comparison, to everyone but Naruto who experienced it, it may as well have never happened.

Anyway, you are also the reason I decided to make this chapter the way it was. I could not have been able to write at least three more chapters the same way as last one, so I decided to fuck it and just go ahead at this. And lo and behold, I was able to write this in a single day, and believe me, this chapter flowed right out for me. Anyway thanks again and I hope you enjoyed the chapters.

That's all folks. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, feel free to follow, favorite, review. And seriously, if you have any ideas or hopes for a direction for this story to go, review. I need a few more ideas other than what I have in mind. Anyway, I'll hopefully post another chapter soonish. Ciao now.