Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

I re-uploaded this story as I have had requests from people for me to do so; bad grammar, spelling errors, plot holes and all. This story is considered abandoned and up for adoption if anyone is interested. No need to ask for my permission to adopt it but do let me know if you do, I would love to see what you do with it.

-The Choice-

Sarutobi, the God of Shinobi, the Professor, looked out of his office window and over the village of Konoha having only just gotten back from a meeting with the Fire Daimyo. It was raining, appropriate it seemed, as he doweled in his memories. He had done many things in his life and had many regrets but only one was at the for front of his mind right now. Naruto, the Fourth Hokage's son, the container of the Kyuubi, and the most hated person in the village. Hiruzen felt his heart ach for the boy, if only he could make the hate go away, if only those fools would see that he isn't the Kyuubi but if onlys never helped anyone.

Hiruzen sighed sadly as he sat down in his chair and pulled out his pipe. Naruto was seven living in an orphanage. He got a report every month from ANBU and the caretaker of the orphanage the Naruto was doing well, he didn't believe them for second. He knew that Naruto wasn't having a great life, even a good one, but at least he had a roof over his head and a warm bed to sleep in.

-The Choice-

At the same time that Hiruzen was thinking about Naruto sleeping in a warm bed the truth couldn't be farther away. Naruto was currently walking through alleys heading to the only place he could call safe. Not a home, he may have only been seven but with all the things he had seen in his short life he had to mature fast and he knew that a home was were you felt loved, he didn't have a place like that. He had only one thing going for him right now and that was the fact that he had started the ninja academy last year. Because of the peace times that the Elemental Countries were experiencing, the Third Hokage and the Council had raised the graduation age of the academy to 15. Naruto tsk at that, it was only done because he had entered the academy and Naruto knew that they only did it because they wanted to keep a close watch on their container. Well, maybe not the Third but Naruto wasn't sure.

Naruto had found out he was the container of the Kyuubi during one of his beatings that the villagers gave him. When he had woken up in the hospital with the Third sitting close by. He had first been happy to see him but when he found out the reason the Third was there he became cold toward him, not knowing if he could trust him or not. The first thing he had done was tell him that the villagers were only calling him names and that he wasn't the container of the Kyuubi. Yeah, right. He may have been five at the time but even he knew that the Third was lieing. So, he put on his stupid smile and said that he knew that and that it was very mean for the villagers to say that.

Naruto shook his head, making water fly off his hair. The rain was getting harder and the temperature was dropping but he didn't care, not like he could get sick. He turned right and walked down an alley and was so lost in thought that he almost missed the sound of crying. He stopped abruptly and listened. It sounded weak, like the last desperate attempts of being noticed. Naruto followed the sound to a soaked news paper that was covering something. He pulled the new paper away and stared at what he found.

It was clearly a baby girl and he could tell that she was only a recent new born because of the umbilical cord that was still attached. It was clipped off with a paper clip. The baby was muddy, still bloody from the birthing process, and was lying on the cold-hard ground. Who ever put her here didn't even have the decency to put a blanket under her. She had a truf of white hair and her eyes were barely open showing her grey eyes.

That was when it hit him that he had a choice. He could leave this baby here and let it die or he could take her with him. Naruto may have hated the villagers but he didn't have anything against the baby but he was barely getting enough food for himself and he didn't even know how to take care of a baby.

Naruto took a step away an said, "Sorry kid, but I can't-" He was cut off when the baby started to cough. He immediately picked the baby up and made sure she was alright and then he growned. Now he had to keep her. He looked down at the baby girl and said, "Looks like you're coming with me."

He took off his ragged shirt, which revealed his malnourished body. He warped her up in the shirt and then sighed, looks like he would have to start finding more food. He carried the baby gently and hushed her softly so that she stopped crying. It took him ten more minutes to get to his destination. He walked up to the side of an ordinary apartment building and touched a specific part of the wall. It opened up for him and he stepped in quickly and closed the hidden door quickly. He walked down some stairs and looked down the hall that the stairs led to. On the right wall was a single door that led to a room that he kept all of the scrolls he had ever found when he was out searching for food. On the left was as a single door way that lead to another hall. In that hall their were five doors, two on each side, and a single door at the end it. Each of those led to a bedroom, each their own bathroom. The door that the hall ended at opened to the kitchen, dinning room, living room combo. He had found this place when he was running away from a mob of villagers.

He had run down the alley and when he realized that it was dead end he simple gave up and put his hand against the wall. He watched in awe as a seal light up at his touch adn the door opened, causing him to fall in. The door shut behind him before any one had seen what happened. This was the one place he felt safe, his sanctuary.

He got startled when the baby started crying softly and he hurried to his room, the room that the hall ended at. He ran into the bath room and turned on the hot water. He grabbed several towels and made a quick bed for her and, after setting her in it, he grabbed a rag and started to clean her.

It took him a while to fully clean the baby and after he was done he ran into a problem, what was she going to wear? He sighed as he picked her up ad walked into his bedroom. He grabbed the softest blanket he had and wrapped her tightly in it. Right now he was going by what he had seen new parents doing to their babies as they left the hospital. The cleaning was obvious, she had been filthy.

Naruto walked over to a dresser and pulled it open. It held a large amount of clothing, all of it was to large for him, and he grabbed a black shirt. Carrying the black shirt in one hand and the baby cradled in his other arm, he exited his room and went to the kitchen. The kitchen was one of his favorite rooms in his 'home.' It was large and when someone first entered it they would have to notice the left of the room first. The flooring was a dark wood and on the wall he had counter space, a sink, a stove, and a fridge. The counter made a sort of U with two sides against the wall and the last was coming out of the wall to make a bar like table. To the right the floor was a black carpet and had black leather furniture situated around a fireplace that was in the far corner. Mounted above the fireplace was a flat screen TV, which was always on just for the noise it brought.

He sat down at the bar and managed to place the baby on the counter comfortably. He placed the shirt down and went over to the fridge. He opened it and he mind hit a brick wall, what do babies eat? He went to grab for the milk, thinking why the hell not when he heard something on the TV. "You should never feed a newborn water or cow milk. Serious and fatal conditions can arise from doing both."

"Then what do I feed her, smart ass?"

As if the women on the TV hear him she said, "You should only feed newborns breast milk or formula."

Naruto got a tick mark on him forehead and about swore when he saw the container the women held up. He remembered grabbing a container looking just like that last week. When he had opened it it had tasted like crap so he had thrown it out. he rushed ove to his trash can and after a few minutes of digging he grinned in triumph but frowned when he was present with another problem, how did he feed it to her.

"This is how you prepare formula..."

Naruto glared at the TV and said, "I don't know if I should hate you or be thanking you."

He watched and memorized how to make formula and was ready to yell his thanks to Kami when he remember that one of the rooms had a bottle in it. He picked up the baby and moved as quickly as he dared to the room. After grabbing the bottle and setting the baby back on the counter he went about cleaning the bottle and then preparing the formula exactly like the TV had told him. When it was finally at a proper temperature, he cradled the baby and, after a slight bit of hesitation, he stuck it into the baby's mouth who immediately started to suck.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief and waited patiently until the baby was done and was about to set her back down when the TV said, "And remember parents, always burp your baby after you feed them."

Naruto turned his head slowly toward the TV and, after shooting it the bird, he grabbed a rag, placed it over his shoulder, and proceeded to burp the baby. It only took a few pats before she let out a small burp. She went to sleep after words and Naruto set her down on the counter once again. He listened to the TV as he worked on the shirt. He grabbed one of the kunai he had on him, he had found it after he woke up from a beating, and he cut the shirt. He had to go get two more shirts but after two hours of cutting and sewing he managed to make two shirts, two pants, and four cloth dippers for the baby.

He dressed the baby carefully and after watching the rest of the show that had helped him so much, he went into his bedroom and laid down with the baby nestled between him and his right arm. He leaned over and said, "You need a name." He thought for a few seconds before smiling and saying, "I always liked that name Akara."

-The Choice-

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night in a fliry of motion. He calmed down immidiatly when he noticed that it was Akara crying. That was when he remembered from the TV that babies needed to be feed regularly. After getting formula made and settling down on the leather sofa he thought about how much formula he had left. Only about three more days worth, he would have to find someplace to get some but he already had a place in mind.

His eyes widened when he finally realized that he wouldn't be able to bring Akara to the academy. Not only because he just couldn't but also because if anyone saw hr with him they would most likely try to kill her. He groaned, the only thing he had going for him was the academy and now he didn't have even that. He looked down at Akara and sighed. Then his head flick up with the thought, I have scrolls in my scroll room, maybe one can help me.

He got up and walked toward the scroll room. He wasn't a fool and knew that he would have to get his chakra control up before he would get to even try a jutsu but he decided to look for a jutsu first anyway. He had all of the scrolls organized by element, control exercises, and other. He went through all of the elemental jutsu scroll he had but none of the names sounded like they might help him. He went over to the other section and stopped when he saw scroll labeled, Shadow Clone Jutsu.

He pulled it out and looked at how old it was. The paper was nearly brown and it had ripes and tares in it everywhere. He sat down at a desk he had in the room and set Akara, who had finished her bottle while he was looking and was now asleep, on his lap. When he was sure she was comfortable he opened the scroll and began to read, something he had to teach himself how to do.

The shadow clone jutsu is a jutsu that creates a perfect clone of the user. The clone is solid, unlike the lower level clone jutsu. To preform this jutsu simple make ram seals with both hands and cross them. This jutsu takes a large amount of chakra, use with caution.

Naruto smiled when he saw that this was what he was looking for and was about to roll it back up when he noticed that there was some writing on the still rolled area of the scroll. He unrolled it and found that the writing was by some one else. The other writing was ridged and difficult to read but this was flowing and easily made out.

To the reader of this scroll, there are somethings that this doesn't tell you, so I have taken it upon myself to explain some things about this technique. The first being, any thing the clone learns the creator learns as well. This is incredibly useful for training, house work, and anything else that you could use an extra set of hands for. The creator will not get any physical advantage from the clone, that must be done by the creator themselves.

The second thing is the forming of the clone. This jutsu does take a bit of chakra but not as much as most believe. When people try this jutsu they preform it with the goal of making a bushin solid. This is a terrible approach to mastering and even using this jutsu. When preforming this jutsu it is easiest to envision yourself in two places and then force it to happen. This sounds confusing, I know, but when you finally preform the jutsu for the first time you'll understand.

I'm writing this part as a chakra control exersise program that anyone, even Genin, can do it eventually get to the control needed for the shadow clone jutsu.

Leaf stick

Tree walking

Ceiling walking

Water walking

At this point, when you can water walk easily, you should be ready for the shadow clone jutsu. Always remember, true strength comes from the will to protect the ones you hold dear.

V.T.

Naruto rolled the scroll back up slowly and wrote down the exersises that V.T. had said to do. He checked to see if he had any scrolls on the exersises that were listed and found that he had one on the leaf stick and tree walking. The other three he would have to find or work out himself.

The next thing he thought of was that if he would eventually need money, but now one would hire him. Maybe there was a jutsu that he could learn that would make him look different. He went to the other section and found a scroll that was labeled, Henge. After reading it he smiled, somehow it looked like things were looking up.

-The Choice-

(One Month Later)

Iruka was worried sick. Naruto hadn't been to class in a month and he had never missed a single day since he stared the academy. Sure Iruka had hated the boy but that changed when he saw under the boys heavy shirt. No demon would let themselves starve and now that he thought about it Naruto never did had a lunch with him.

Iruka had told the Third who also shared his worry and was there, checking to see if the boy showed up to class.

"Do you think he's-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Sarutobi cut Iruka off. "If he's not here today I'll have a talk with him."

"You know where he is?"

"Yes, I have ANBU watching him at all times. The orphanage is taking good care of him last I heard."

Iruka nodded and turned to the door as it slid open. He smiled as his class came in and his eyes widened when he saw Naruto walk in as the last one in. "Naruto, come over here, please."

Naruto walked over scratching the back of his head and said, "Sorry about not being here. I had somethings to take care of."

"What things?" Sarutobi asked.

"You know, Jiji, things," Naruto said with a big grin and his eyes squinted.

"Well, tell me next time you plan on taking such a long break," Iruka said.

"You got it!" In the back of Naruto's head he was thinking, The creator owes me for this big time.

-The Choice-

Naruto smiled as he got up from doing the last of his push ups and walked over to the clone that was holding Akara. Even with his young age he had grown to view her as his kid.

The shadow clones had been a life saver and even now he had some in the scroll room reading, memorizing, and understanding the lower level jutsu scrolls. He would have to practise with them to be able to use the jutsu effectively but this way he didn't have to read the scrolls one at a time. Besides that the clones also made it so that he could get money. A simple Henge and the clones would go out to find any and all odd jobs that they could and then come back with the money on them. He had a nice savings at the moment but he knew that if he ever did buy something as himself the price would be rediculously increased, believe him he tried once. His comfort came form the fact that he now had a steady supply of food and baby formula. He looked as Akara and smiled, he would get stronger for her.