Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

So, minna-san, this is chapter 1~ Enjoy~

Chapter 1: Secrets and Discoveries

It was night October 10th, and the festival celebrating the defeat of the Kyūbi no Yōko was still going strong. Naruto, age 3, recently kicked out of the orphanage, was running like hellhounds was on his tail. Which was rather true. Behind him, a mob, about 20 people or more, civilians mixed with shinobis, were chasing after him. He was confused, scared, and hungry as hell. Hadn't eaten for 2 days, he only wanted to savage some food to ease his poor stomach. He should have known better, should have hide, but alas, the gnawing hunger got the better of him, so he foolishly stepped out from under the bridge (his rest place for the time being), his safe haven. Sneaking into the festival and stupidly, stupidly, stupidly, attempted to take some food (small ones, for he knew morals and would pay the store back when he had a chance, not that it was going to sell anyway) from the carriage while hoping not to get caught. But lady luck just liked to fuck with the boy, so here he was, running like his life depended on it. No wait. It was.

Naruto was confused and very, very scared. It was his birthday today, so he should be having fun, right? He should be happy and smiling and laughing like other kids on their birthdays, right? He should be eating and drinking properly and not hungry to the point of resorting to thief and not thirsty to the point of drinking from any and all water sources available, right? He shouldn't have to run for dear life on his very birthday, right? So many questions swirling inside his head, but he, despite not being taught at all in the orphanage (because conveniently whenever they taught something he was sent to his room for misdemeanors he didn't do) had enough sense to know that no one had to endure this on her birthday.

After what seemed like hours (which was really 15 minutes give or take, because damn he was malnourished and a fricking three-years-old), Naruto ran straight into an alleyway, scrambling to find a hiding spot. He had been caught once, just mere 5 minutes or so ago, beaten senselessly, before he managed to kawarimi out of there (thank god for his wise, wise, wise, decision of imitating some academy students at the training grounds a few months prior). The mob apparently didn't like it, at all, so they set on chasing after him with a vengeance. If he got caught again, he was pretty sure that his life would be forfeited, so he had to get the hell out of there. The wind screamed at him to runrunrunrun and that they are coming (since forever, he has always been able to hear the wind). There was no place to hide, he realized a tad bit too late, for his enhanced senses had picked up on the shouting and running. He had approximately 2 minutes before the end.

He pressed himself tightly against the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible, and he knew he was hyperventilating. 'Alright Naruto, now calm down, calm down, CALM THE FUCK DOWN GODDAMMIT!' He screamed internally, trying and failing spectacularly to ease his panic because hell, death was literally right around the corner, and he had no fucking place to hide. His breath hitched painfully in his throat, his heart threatened to leap out of his chest, all his nerves were going haywire, and his brain was overloaded with senses and thoughts, one worse than the other. 'I was going to die, I was going to die, I was going to die, Iwasgoingtodie, Iwasgoingtodie!'

He knew he was going into a full-blown hysteria (not that he could blame himself or do anything about it), all the while swiping his bloody hands blindly at the brick wall by his side, searching for something, anything, that could help him. When he was about to give up and give into an inevitable death, Fate decided to take pity on his poor soul (that was what he thought, though if Fate just fucked with him for her own humor, he would never know). His blood caught something, then there was a soft click, and suddenly all lights went out and he seemed to fall on his back. There was another click, and the wall closed in front of him just as the first shout came around the corner.

His brain short-circuited for a moment, and the adrenaline high he was on was making him actually hear his heart beating loudly in his chest (and here he thought it had given out already). The silence was deafening. (Wait, silence?! What about the screaming and screeching just seconds ago?!) Slowly, his brain recovered from the melt-down and he realized that maybe he had escaped (somehow), and maybe Kami really existed (though she might be a real bitch to mess him up that badly. He didn't think he could take another stunt like that without going into cardiac arrest).

He was in somewhere dark as hell, and somehow, behind the wall that he just leaned on for dear life (the sound of screaming was muffled, so dangerously close but also safely far). His mind was still wheeling on what the hell just happened, and his brain helpfully supplied 'A contraption. Must be one of some sort on the wall'. It then sparked another fear in him. Where the hell was he? (He couldn't hear the wind anymore) It was pitch black (hell, he couldn't even see his hands), with the only source of sound was resonating from the other side of the wall. 'Or maybe' he mused 'I am already dead and now I am a ghost hovering around'. The rough texture of the wall that his hands touched disproved of that, though. 'Maybe if I fumbling around a bit more something will happen?' he asked himself doubtfully, and somewhat fearfully.

Suddenly there was light, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, then all he saw was dark (again). He fainted dead away (He knew he couldn't take another stunt).

When he came to, he was on a platform with a staircase leading downwards. He assumed (hopefully) that this was the place where he blacked out (he refused to say faint, because faint just sounded girlish and un-Naruto-like, somehow). He peered down the black abyss at the bottom of the stair. 'Wow', he thought, faintly amuse,' lucky I didn't panic and jumped around. If I lost my footing…' He cut out his thought, shuddering.

He looked around; quickly spotting the neatly lit torches (how could he miss them at first glance?) perched upon the nearby wall. He looked down at the staircase, to the torches, to the wall right behind him where he supposedly had phased through (though now it looked to the world as if it had never moved in the first place), and back to the staircase. Then, as calmly as possible, he shrugged. 'No coming back', he glanced at the sturdy wall, 'not that I want to anyway. Unless I have a death wish, and I don't, so yea' He assured himself, looking back at the stair again. He shrugged once more 'Meh, what's the worst that could happen? I mean, I could be dead either way, just that one way was a sure death, and the other…not so sure'. He grabbed one of the torches and flew down the stair before he could change his mind. 'There goes nothing' and he braced himself for surprise.

And surprised he was. Down the endless stairs, a dimly lit hallway stretched long into the darkness. Wide enough to travel by pairs, but not enough to fit more than 3 people a time, with occasional blobs of light illuminating the way, the place looked decidedly suspicious, and all the more dangerous (at least to him, for his was still fucking 3 years old. If there was a trap somewhere, he was as good as gone). Squiggling lines (which he later discovered as sealing matrixes) covered the wall, some connected to the lights, some reached the floor and ceiling and some just stood awkwardly alone. Then he came to a realization.

'So I must have activated some kind of seals to let me in and lit the place up. But how?' and his hand twitched and he took in the blood, now dried, and he came to a horrifying conclusion. 'It was certainly not impossible' his mind reasoned 'I have heard about a type of blood seal before (Jii-chan knows best after all). But then that means…' his heart thumped erratically inside his chest, practically begging to leap out 'I have relatives?!' He went into panic, then depression (then the mean matrons were right? That I was abandoned? That no one wanted me? That I was a monster?)

After a while, Naruto calmed down his wildly beating heart, finally taking in the dust-covered state of the hallway. 'So that might explained why I was in the orphanage (that hellhole, where you either get starved or get food that even pigs wouldn't, couldn't, eat, where you live in the rooms not even suitable for animals, let alone human. Frankly, he was glad that he was kicked out, for he was plotting to break out of there). My relatives were likely dead' he sadly concluded. If only he knew who that relative of his was….

The blonde tip toed, hung the torch on a nearby perch (he didn't need it anyway, and it was too heavy to carry), and boldly marched on (because maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that he could find out who his relatives were, and maybe there was a chance that something, anything was waiting for him, and dammit but he was curious and he needed this). He pried off the caked blood so that his wound would bleed (it hurt as hell), and tried to swipe at the squiggling lines again, waiting for something to happen. It didn't. So the coast was clear (he hoped, didn't want to be dead without knowing why), and he cautiously inched forward in the dusty hallway.

After what seemed like forever, the boy finally spotted a giant staircase at the end of the hallway. All the stress was getting to him, and the fact that there were at least a dozen of more staircases didn't help one bit. This one, however, was much bigger than the others, so he decided to try this first. He climbed tediously up, and met with a door (it looked normal, but the intricate seals on it begged otherwise). He pried off the caked blood on his wounds (again. Goddammit why the hell did he heal so fast?), and pressed his palms to the door. It immediately swung open, welcoming him to a nice and cozy room, albeit dusty. He spotted the queen-sized bed in the middle, and practically flew there (fuck the dust, who cares). He was asleep before his head hit the pillow (too physically and emotionally drained to care).

When Naruto came to, he had a brief panic attack (the last time it happened, he barely came out alive and sane), until the events from the night before flooded his brain. After he was sure that his brain was functioning properly again, he took in his surroundings.

The room was big, but not overly so, with yellow and red two dominant colors. Red flame licked the lower part of the white wall, with a yellow layer covering the tips of the flame. The queen-size bed he was on was flanked by a wooden night stand and a low book shelf, with various books filled up. Directly in front of it was a double door, red in color and framed with yellow. There was a big wardrobe covered a whole wall, and on the opposite wall there was a giant portrait of two people. Under the portrait there was a cupboard, displayed a long katana. A strange looking kunai hanged low from the ceiling by a string. The sunlight shone through the windows on the wall the bed was leaning on, casting the whole room in a golden layer. All in all, the room was beautiful and quite spacious, albeit dusty. And he couldn't find the way he came in. (because he was pretty sure he came from the side)

He sat up, immediately froze by the sound of paper crinkling, and practically flew out of the bed. How could he not feel that he was lying on a paper?! 'Oh right' his mind supplied 'he was too tired to care'. Cautiously, he approached the bed, all the while looking around for any booby traps (though if there was one, he would be long dead). The light suddenly shifted, and the portrait caught his eyes. The two people that were previously too fuzzy to see suddenly cleared up, and gave him a heart attack.

Bright spiky blonde hair, deep warm sea blue eyes, and a happy smile (It was his hair, his eyes). Long silky red hair, twinkling royal violet eyes, and a large enthusiastic grin (oh god, his grin). From the old portrait, the Yondaime Hokage and a woman (his wife, definitely) smiled back at him. He felt the earth shaken, and his knees gave out, eyes still staring at the portrait of his parents (It was impossible, his heart screamed at him; the resemblance was uncanny, his mind argued, there were no other excuses…)

His mouth was wide open, and his brain was overload with questions of hows and whys (How could I be their son? How could no one know? Why did no one know? Why wasn't I told? Why was I treated like that if I was their son?). His eyes poured up, and he started crying uncontrollably; between his broken sobs were half formed questions and muted screams.

As the daylight lessen and eased into afternoon, he stopped (because he didn't think there was any tear left). Scrambling onto his feet (when did he fall down?), he approached the bed (the paper must be a note, it must be)

There, in the middle of the bed, a wrinkle note laid motionlessly. Paper yellow with age shone out distinctively against the deep red color of the comforter.

With shaky hands, Naruto reached out.

Naruto-kun,

Our dear sochi, if you are reading this letter, then by all means we are dead. We hope the old monkey (or whoever is in charge of the village, really) told you about us. If not, while we would be very much vindictive, we couldn't do anything, sans telling you about us ourselves.

Your father, Naruto-kun, was the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, the so-called Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō, Minato Namikaze. Your Kaa-san was the Akai Chishio no Habanero, Kushina Uzumaki, formerly from Uzushiogakure no Sato. You have the face of your mother and the color from father, sochi, and the cute whisker marks, and we (it means your kaa-san) were very adamant that you would inherit both our intellect, our determination and your kaa-san characteristics.

Sochi, your kaa-san was the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko. It means that she had the fox sealed in her gut. During your birth, the seal went unstable, and an orange swirly masked man with the ability to phase through things took advantage of the situation and released the fox. Naruto-kun, Kyūbi is a being of chakra; it can never be killed, so your tou-san could only do the next best thing: making you its third jinchūriki.

Do not for a moment doubt our love in you. Your kaa-san was already dying; having the fox forcefully ripped out of her body should have killed her outright, but her Uzumaki lineage held on. Tou-san could not re-seal Kyūbi inside her; your kaa-san's inevitable death would only cause the beast to reform nine years later. The masked bastard had the mutated sharingan that controlled the beast; nine years later the bastard would use it again to destroy Konoha, to kill you, and tou-san wouldn't be there to save you again.

Our dear baby, we would trade anything just to stay besides you, to raise you, to just be there for you, to watch you grow up to be a great ninja we knew you would be. Alas, our time had run out. We were very sorry to have placed such a heavy burden on you, but we believe in you, son! May our love reached you and stayed with you all your life.

Your tou-san last wish was for you to be treated as a hero, but knowing the human nature, we doubt it could be true. Sochi, forgive them and forget the misdoings; they were grieving and hurting and broken all too much. The pain was raw and sudden, so they would react badly to you. Never give into hate, Naruto-kun, for that would lead you down the dark path. Learn to forgive and forget; use love and empathy to cure the curse of hatred.

Naruto, this is your kaa-san….Don't be picky. Eat lots and grow strong. Make sure that you bathe every day and stay warm. Also, don't stay up late, you need lots of sleep. And make friends. You don't need a lot of friends, just a few, ones you can really, really trust. I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practice your ninjutsu hard. Remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so don't get too depressed if you can't do something well. Respect your teachers and upperclassmen at the Academy. Oh, and this is important. It's about the Three Prohibitions for a shinobi. Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money. Put your mission wages into your savings account. No alcohols until you're twenty. Too much can ruin your health, so drink in moderation. Another Prohibition is women. I'm a woman, so I don't know too much about this, but, all you need to remember is that this world is made up of men and women. So it's only natural to take an interest in girls. But just don't get hooked on bad women. Find someone just like me. Speaking of the Three Prohibitions, be wary of Jiraiya Sensei, you know. Naruto, from now on, you're going to face lots of pain and hardship. Be true to yourself. Have a dream and have the confidence to make that dream come true. There's so much. Oh, so much more that I want to pass on to you... I wish I could stay with you longer. I love you.

Naruto, my words to you as your father are… I guess they're the same as your kaa-san's. Listen to your motor-mouth mother, and make us proud, our dear sochi.

Love you till the very end

Your Tou-san and Kaa-san

Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki

With that, Naruto reverently put the letter back on the bed, and promptly broke down into hysteria.

Naruto stared blankly at the portrait of his parents. He was torn between the happiness, the feeling of utter love surging inside him and the hurt, the pain from the letter. So he was the Kyūbi's jinchūriki, huh? So he was supposed to be the hero, huh? But then he was used as the scapegoat of the village?! What the hell?

The blonde boy shouted angrily at the face of the Yondaime: "There was no fucking other way?! Used your own son then left him to the prejudiced village? You were the fucking Hokage; surely you could find some other way! You could just order someone… else…oh…Oh" he faltered. Looking up "So that was why, wasn't it? You could never will yourself to ask for other parents' child, could you? Jii-chan told tell me that a Hokage sacrifice his everything for the village, for his precious people. You exchanged your life for mine and the village's, didn't you?"

He adopted a thoughtful look "I guess that makes sense then. I would have done the same if I were you." He gritted his teeth "That doesn't mean I'm going to like it though. I'm still royally pissed at you. If I ever had a chance, I would punch you in the stomach." Then his features soften "And hug you tightly for believing in me so much like that. No one has ever done that, ya know?" "Well, except for Jii-chan, but he doesn't count" He added as an afterthought.

He looked at his parents, eyes moisture (again. Goddammit too much tears in one day) "Heh, at least I know that I'm loved. Hah, those mean ladies were wrong, I knew it!" He exclaimed excitedly. Then he deflated "But why Jii-chan never told me anything about you guys?! Like, you were soooo cool, ya know? Tou-chan decimated the entire Iwa army, and Kaa-chan Kumo. So why… Oh. Right. Sure. I was a kid who couldn't possibly keep such a secret, and you guys made wayyy too much enemies for me not to be assassinated right away"

"Hmph" The little blonde crossed his arms "Uzumaki Naruto always keeps his words. Tou-chan, Kaa-chan, I promise to never disclose this knowledge to outsider without supervisor from trustees, not even under pain from torture!" He nodded, grinning proudly to himself "And I would stick by your words, kaa-chan!"

And his stomach grumbled. Loudly.

"Right. Food first. Food first." He sighed, deflated, and proceeded out of the room, in search for much needed food.

Naruto was incredibly lucky to find that his parents' house wasn't that big (because Jii-chan's house was humongous). He was also lucky that the house was well-preserved (if those squiggly lines hidden carefully on the wall were any indication. Dammit, he was determined to learn seals now)

Before long, he found the kitchen, opened the cupboard and received a shock for life (too many already, he inwardly grumbled). There were lots and lots of instant cup ramen. The stash here was probably enough for him to survive another two months (And that was saying something, because he eats a lot).

He pulled a dozen of them out and laid them on the table. He opened them and quickly boiled the water (surprise surprise, the water is actually running). Pouring it in, he waited patiently for 3 minutes to pass, all the while trying his damn hardest not to look at the expired date (He won't get stomach ache, he reasoned, the fox was there, right?)

After quickly devoured 8 cups of ramen (it has been sooo longgg), promptly doubled over in pain (Goddammit, I ate too fast) and recovered, Naruto decided that he had regained enough energy to go exploring. And what he found amazed him.

The two-storey house was not big, but it was well-organized. It was a bit dusty, but it's nothing he couldn't handle (though his three-year-old body was hard to reach the door knobs). There weren't that many rooms, but he found the bathroom (which he ignored, because suddenly he didn't want anyone to find out about the house yet), the living room (so cool, a TV!), the storage room, the library (so many books), and what looked like the study room (too many squiggly lines, he deemed it safer to stay away from the door).

After his little adventure, he returned to his parents' room on the second floor, and suddenly located a room right next (how could he miss it the first time around?). He opened the baby blur door, and teared up. It was a nursery, with toys and plushies and baby books and a small crib in the corner, with a rocking chair right next. He could see the careful decoration and consideration his parents had put into this room. 'This was where I was supposed to grow up' he thought, and quickly left the room, not wanting to be sentimental again.

Returning to his parents' room, he scrambled to find a way back into the tunnel that led him here (Jii-chan would be worried sick! And Teuchi-jiijii and Ayame-chan too!). He quickly spotted two books lying on the nightstand, a yellow one with red spine, and a deep red one with sea blue spine (What the?) Curiosity took over him, and he picked them up, only to nearly drop them in shock (Oh god…). There were names on those two, names he had just found out, names that connected intimately with him. There, on the yellow cover, "Minato"¸ and on the red one, "Kushina". These were his parents' journals.

He wiped away a stray tear at the corner of his eye, and put both of the journals inside his clothes, and felt warmer (At least he could take these, it would seem like they were there with him).

Naruto went over to the bookcase, then stared hard at it (this must be the way out, he could feel it). And he was rewarded. There, infinitesimal lines on the second shelf. He quickly bit his thumb, swiped it over the seal, and made his way out.

The three-year-old just came around the corner and nearly had a heart attack when an ANBU (he called them the Zoo people though) dropped down in front of him. He was grabbed by the shoulder before he even managed to utter a word, and immediately felt dizzy and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was staring at the worried face of his Jii-chan (weird, he could have sworn that was just a couple of seconds though. Must be some cool ninja skills)

"Naruto-chan," the old man began as he hugged the boy "thank god you're safe. How are you? Where have you been?"

Naruto hugged the Hokage back "Jii-chan~ I'm fine, hungry though" at this he got a chuckle from the elder. "I was so hungry back then Jii-chan" he felt the old man stiffened "so I just had to get something to eat. And…and… I promised that I would pay him back when I had money! I promised! Jii-chan, I'd never go back on my word! But he didn't trust me, and… and…" He teared up, and fell into the warm, soothing embrace of his surrogate grandfather.

"There, there. Naruto-chan, daijobu" The wizened man whispered. Naruto stifled and leaned back, looking up at the old man. The Hokage smiled, albeit sadly "What happened next Naruto-chan?"

Naruto ducked his head down, torn with decisions (Somehow, I didn't want Jii-chan to know, yet. But he's Jii-chan! He could be told) And the trusting wind suddenly whispered 'Not yet'. In the end, he force himself to lie to the man he saw as his grandfather.

"There was a sewer, Jii-chan. Nobody came there anymore, so I thought it would be safe…" He trailed off, staring at the floor as if it was the most interesting in the world.

The Hokage looked at the boy's battered appearance, and then nodded his head in acceptance, releasing a sad sigh all the while. He pulled the boy closer.

"Naruto-chan, do you want to have an apartment?" The said boy perked up "On my own?" The Hokage chuckled softly "Yes, on your own, Naruto-chan"

Naruto started bouncing up and down in excitement "Yes, yes ,yes please Jii-chan" The old man nodded, smiled, held the boy's hand, and walked slowly out of the door. The boy held his books tightly to his chest, repeated his promises to his deceased parents, and walked out of the door as well, into a new day.

So, chapter 1 is done! What do you guys think of it? Did this Naruto more childish than the prologue one? Remember, this Naruto is only three, and hasn't been abused yet, unlike the other Naruto who has endured for a year.

Sooooo~ Please review~