Chapter 2
This chapter is reedited
The next day…
With Naruto
Naruto woke up inside a tent, wondering how he even got there. Suddenly the memories of last night came to him like a flood.
His parents forgetting his birthday.
His friends coming to encourage him.
His best friend and brother at-length, Sasuke, dragging him out to the garden party in an attempt to cheer him up.
The announcement made by his father.
His eyes began to water again. He had desperately hoped that someone had placed him under some strange genjutsu that someone wanted to prank him into believing that his parents had completely forgotten his existence. He didn't have chakra, so he couldn't dispel the genjutsu on his own, but the pain in Naruto's heart felt way too real.
His family, the three people he loved and cherished above all else, had truly forgotten him.
The glass that shattered around Naruto's heart threatened to pierce it and kill him. How could they have forgotten his existence? How could they forget their only son? The fact that he didn't have any chakra inside of him automatically he didn't mean anything to them, if not as a ninja, then at least as a son? It hurt. It really hurt Naruto inside.
He also remembered running into something or someone built like a brick wall. With the recollection, he stopped crying and rubbing his head as he glanced around. He wanted to know, how did he get here in the first place? Did that brick wall man help him, or did someone else find him unconscious and drop him off here? He got up and went outside.
He heard birds and cicadas chirping. The giant trees, blocking the annoying sun from reaching Naruto's eyes confirmed his location, a jungle. The humidity of the dense Green land surrounding him made it a bit difficult for the forgotten child to breathe. He turned to his left and what he saw nearly made him fall unconscious again.
100 people with different kinds of masks, headbands, and clothing stood unconscious, restrained to a tree.
Naruto had no way of knowing who tied them up but any boy in his shoes would turn and run in fear for their life. However, again he bumped into the same man from last night. When he saw him, he gulped in nervousness.
The man stood, at least, at 5'11" tall. He had straight spiky black hair and a sky blue fighting gi. The man had quite the athletic build. Naruto saw many girls making these weird faces at saying these weird things to some of the ninjas in his villages who had those kinds of bodies. He still didn't know what they meant, but since they smiled, Naruto guessed they didn't have any mal intent.
The boy's train of thought came to a derailment when the strong man leaned down toward him with his hand out. Naruto looked at the stranger in despair and closed his eyes in fear, praying his end would come quickly. He had no family in the Hidden Leaf Village, but he did have plenty of friends who would miss him, but what could he do? He had virtually no power!
"This is it for me. No Hiashi-oji sama to save me this time."
Naruto's breath hitched in his throat when the man's hand came to rest on his head, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the strong looking stranger giving him a gentle, genuine smile, something only his friends would give him. The boy dared himself to relax, but couldn't help but feel his dread falling bit by bit.
"Are you ok, kid? Don't be scared, okay? What were you doing in this big jungle all by yourself?"
Naruto looked at the man with pain filled, ocean blue eyes. He leapt towards him and wrapped his arms around, desperate for a shoulder to cry on. The man remained stunned momentarily, but sighed and brought his arms around the abused, tortured soul, rubbing his back as the boy clenched his gi tightly. It took a while for Naruto to calm down, but the man apparently had quite a good amount of patience.
"Kid, what is your name?"
"…Naruto."
"Nice name you got there, 'Maelstrom.'" The two chuckled a bit at that remark, and then the man asked again, "What were you doing in the jungle alone?"
"My family abandoned me." The man looked at him in disbelief but understood what he meant, so his eyes filled with sympathy.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Naruto looked at the man who had genuine concern in his eyes and thought
'Even if I tell him, he won't be able to help me. It's not like he'll grow upset with my family and offer me training to become strong. Still, it probably wouldn't be that bad. At least I have someone else I can talk to about this.'
He then looked back at the man and started to tell his tale. After Naruto concluded his tale, the first part of what he said wouldn't happen come true. The man's smile dropped into a frown, and many angry thoughts went through his head.
'How could they do that to him? He is their son, not a damn street dog!'
"I just wanted to get acknowledged by my parents. All I wanted was their love. Now I know that I'll never have it. They don't want me anymore. In fact, they have even forgotten they have a son." Naruto sighed sadly.
"Tell me, Naruto, if you get the power, what would you do first?"
"…eh? Well I don't know. At first, I just wanted power to get acknowledged by my family, but I could care less about that now."The thoughts of the times he shared with his friends run through his mind.
He remembered how everyone looked down on Rock Lee because he couldn't use chakra properly. He remembered those three bullies who hurt Hinata because she didn't want to fight anyone. He then looked at the stranger with resolution.
"If I have the power, I will protect those who are precious to me and prove the world that even those who start off weak, like me, can become strong if they train and want it badly enough."
The man looked at Naruto in pleasant surprise.
'He may be small, but he's got a sharp head on his shoulders.' The man looked down at the child. "Well Naruto, you passed my test, would you like for me to train you?"
Naruto stood in surprise that both of what he said wouldn't happen actually ended up happening. "Well I-I did tell you that I wanted to become strong, but I can't use chakra."
The man chuckled at that and Naruto got annoyed.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
"Naruto, in this world, there are many sources of power. This kind of power is ki, also known as your life force. There are some similarities between ki and chakra, but ki is much more powerful than chakra. In fact, it's even harder to control than chakra."
Naruto stood, stunned that the man in front of him practically gave him a way for him to become strong enough to protect his friends and prove to the world how strong and important he could become. He looked the man in eyes with determination and bowed.
"I would be really honored to learn the arts of ki from you, Master eh…What was your name again?"
"It's Ryu, and no need to be that formal with me. I don't like formalities much, but you can call me master or sensei if you wish."
Naruto looked at Ryu, and then he realizes that Ryu hadn't told him about himself and about the people tied to the trees.
"Master Ryu, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, ask whatever you want."
"Well, can you tell me about the people are tied to the trees?"
Ryu looked at the trees and scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, about them…they're bandits who were trying to threaten the nearby town, so I knocked them out for the village. I don't like people who think they can do anything because they have power."
Naruto stood in awe of his new teacher. The man helped the people of the town nearby simply because he wanted to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.
"How did you defeat them, Master Ryu?"
"With my martial arts." Ryu replied simply. They both exchanged large grins. "Naruto, let's pack up the tent. In half an hour, we'll start moving."Naruto started to help Ryu with the tent and put the fire out. When they finished, they started to leave but Naruto wanted to know; how would they carry the bandits? His confusion stopped and his eyes went wide when Ryu lifted the trees with his bare hands and put them on his shoulder and started walking.
"Naruto, I will explain it later, just start walking in front of me. Don't worry, I will give you directions."
After close to 25 minutes of walking, Naruto and Ryu arrived at a deeply impoverished village. Ryu left the bandits near town and started to walk in the opposite direction. Naruto looked at Ryu with confusion.
"Master Ryu, why are you leaving them here? If you hand them to the people, they might give you a reward."
"Naruto, I know if I handed them to the village, I'd probably get a reward, but I love to travel to different places and help people without thinking of restitution. You should never need a reason to help someone." Ryu stopped for a bit and turned to Naruto with a serious gaze.
"Naruto, helping people without any expectation is not only the sign of true martial artist, but also the first step to becoming a true warrior. Remember it well."
Naruto just nodded, but he continued to stare at his new master in awe. He didn't want fame at all; he just wanted to help people without expecting anything in response. That made him the most honorable person in the world, even more so than his father, and with a big smile both of their faces, they left the village. Naruto walked forward with a new teacher, a new goal, and a new reason to fight.
Hidden Leaf Village, Park, One week later…
The village hidden in the leaves had entered a period of relaxation following their huge celebration next week. Many people believed that Natsumi would prove herself a worthy heir to the Uzumaki clan and the Namikaze clan.
However, some people of the Leaf had no immediate cause for celebration.
Naruto's friends stood around, waiting for him in the park for the past week on a daily basis so they could talk with him and comfort him about his parents. However, never once did he show up. They waited for him for hours and hours and end, but he would never come, so they'd leave for home at evening, except for two people; his best friend, Sasuke and his crush, Hinata.
Hinata sat on one of the park benches and cupped her hand towards her chest. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible had happened and they didn't know it yet. Sasuke stood quietly against a tree. He, like Hinata, felt apprehensive for their friend, but they waited for him until nightfall.
He never came.
At the Uchiha compound,
Everyone sat worried for Sasuke. For a whole week, Sasuke returned late, but for Sasuke not to have come home at this point in time worried the Uchiha family greatly.
"Father, it's too late now. I think we should get Sasuke home. I think he is playing with Naruto, so I will bring both of them." Fangaku, the father of Itachi and Sasuke, the clan head of the Uchiha and head of Uchiha police force, nodded his head.
At the park,
Itachi vanished with a shunshin and appeared near the park. He saw Sasuke leaning against a tree, sleeping and also saw Hinata on the bench, sleeping. Itachi came towards Sasuke and woke him up when Sasuke woke up; he saw that night had fallen, which meant Naruto must've taken another rain check.
"What happened, Sasuke? Are you ok? Where is Naruto?"
When Sasuke heard Naruto's name, he hung his head, Itachi knew what happened so he wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and came towards Hinata. She lay crying in her sleep and mumbling desperately.
"Naruto, where are you? I need you now. I am scared."
When Itachi saw this, it made him very sad and then he heard footsteps. When he turned to the right, he saw Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father.
"What happened, Itachi? Can you tell me? Why is my daughter sleeping on the bench?"
Itachi looked towards Sasuke.
"We've been waiting for Naruto for a whole week but he still hasn't shown up yet."
'So that's the reason she always comes home late. I thought those bullies hadn't learned a lesson from Naruto and kept antagonizing her.' Hiashi thought.
"Do you remember the announcement, Sasuke? He must have been feeling betrayed because of that day."
"I've known Naruto since we were 3 and I know anything about him, I know that even if Naruto is hurt, he will never show it on his face and he will come here to talk to us, no matter how bad the situation is!" Yelled Sasuke, who had to force back tears.
Hiashi stood in surprise at that outburst, but he knew that Naruto could always talk to Sasuke and Hinata. Aside from the others, he knew the boy felt strongly about those two in particular so he understood their feelings.
'Now it's time to talk with Minato. I don't want to disregard how Naruto will feel, but the poor boy has been neglected enough.'
He carried Hinata in his arms, thanked both Sasuke and Itachi and all parties left for their respective homes.
Thanks for reading
Special thanks to MODdenial
Have a nice dayChapter 2
This chapter is reedited
The next day…
With Naruto
Naruto woke up inside a tent, wondering how he even got there. Suddenly the memories of last night came to him like a flood.
His parents forgetting his birthday.
His friends coming to encourage him.
His best friend and brother at-length, Sasuke, dragging him out to the garden party in an attempt to cheer him up.
The announcement made by his father.
His eyes began to water again. He had desperately hoped that someone had placed him under some strange genjutsu that someone wanted to prank him into believing that his parents had completely forgotten his existence. He didn't have chakra, so he couldn't dispel the genjutsu on his own, but the pain in Naruto's heart felt way too real.
His family, the three people he loved and cherished above all else, had truly forgotten him.
The glass that shattered around Naruto's heart threatened to pierce it and kill him. How could they have forgotten his existence? How could they forget their only son? The fact that he didn't have any chakra inside of him automatically he didn't mean anything to them, if not as a ninja, then at least as a son? It hurt. It really hurt Naruto inside.
He also remembered running into something or someone built like a brick wall. With the recollection, he stopped crying and rubbing his head as he glanced around. He wanted to know, how did he get here in the first place? Did that brick wall man help him, or did someone else find him unconscious and drop him off here? He got up and went outside.
He heard birds and cicadas chirping. The giant trees, blocking the annoying sun from reaching Naruto's eyes confirmed his location, a jungle. The humidity of the dense Green land surrounding him made it a bit difficult for the forgotten child to breathe. He turned to his left and what he saw nearly made him fall unconscious again.
100 people with different kinds of masks, headbands, and clothing stood unconscious, restrained to a tree.
Naruto had no way of knowing who tied them up but any boy in his shoes would turn and run in fear for their life. However, again he bumped into the same man from last night. When he saw him, he gulped in nervousness.
The man stood, at least, at 5'11" tall. He had straight spiky black hair and a sky blue fighting gi. The man had quite the athletic build. Naruto saw many girls making these weird faces at saying these weird things to some of the ninjas in his villages who had those kinds of bodies. He still didn't know what they meant, but since they smiled, Naruto guessed they didn't have any mal intent.
The boy's train of thought came to a derailment when the strong man leaned down toward him with his hand out. Naruto looked at the stranger in despair and closed his eyes in fear, praying his end would come quickly. He had no family in the Hidden Leaf Village, but he did have plenty of friends who would miss him, but what could he do? He had virtually no power!
"This is it for me. No Hiashi-oji sama to save me this time."
Naruto's breath hitched in his throat when the man's hand came to rest on his head, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the strong looking stranger giving him a gentle, genuine smile, something only his friends would give him. The boy dared himself to relax, but couldn't help but feel his dread falling bit by bit.
"Are you ok, kid? Don't be scared, okay? What were you doing in this big jungle all by yourself?"
Naruto looked at the man with pain filled, ocean blue eyes. He leapt towards him and wrapped his arms around, desperate for a shoulder to cry on. The man remained stunned momentarily, but sighed and brought his arms around the abused, tortured soul, rubbing his back as the boy clenched his gi tightly. It took a while for Naruto to calm down, but the man apparently had quite a good amount of patience.
"Kid, what is your name?"
"…Naruto."
"Nice name you got there, 'Maelstrom.'" The two chuckled a bit at that remark, and then the man asked again, "What were you doing in the jungle alone?"
"My family abandoned me." The man looked at him in disbelief but understood what he meant, so his eyes filled with sympathy.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Naruto looked at the man who had genuine concern in his eyes and thought
'Even if I tell him, he won't be able to help me. It's not like he'll grow upset with my family and offer me training to become strong. Still, it probably wouldn't be that bad. At least I have someone else I can talk to about this.'
He then looked back at the man and started to tell his tale. After Naruto concluded his tale, the first part of what he said wouldn't happen come true. The man's smile dropped into a frown, and many angry thoughts went through his head.
'How could they do that to him? He is their son, not a damn street dog!'
"I just wanted to get acknowledged by my parents. All I wanted was their love. Now I know that I'll never have it. They don't want me anymore. In fact, they have even forgotten they have a son." Naruto sighed sadly.
"Tell me, Naruto, if you get the power, what would you do first?"
"…eh? Well I don't know. At first, I just wanted power to get acknowledged by my family, but I could care less about that now."The thoughts of the times he shared with his friends run through his mind.
He remembered how everyone looked down on Rock Lee because he couldn't use chakra properly. He remembered those three bullies who hurt Hinata because she didn't want to fight anyone. He then looked at the stranger with resolution.
"If I have the power, I will protect those who are precious to me and prove the world that even those who start off weak, like me, can become strong if they train and want it badly enough."
The man looked at Naruto in pleasant surprise.
'He may be small, but he's got a sharp head on his shoulders.' The man looked down at the child. "Well Naruto, you passed my test, would you like for me to train you?"
Naruto stood in surprise that both of what he said wouldn't happen actually ended up happening. "Well I-I did tell you that I wanted to become strong, but I can't use chakra."
The man chuckled at that and Naruto got annoyed.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
"Naruto, in this world, there are many sources of power. This kind of power is ki, also known as your life force. There are some similarities between ki and chakra, but ki is much more powerful than chakra. In fact, it's even harder to control than chakra."
Naruto stood, stunned that the man in front of him practically gave him a way for him to become strong enough to protect his friends and prove to the world how strong and important he could become. He looked the man in eyes with determination and bowed.
"I would be really honored to learn the arts of ki from you, Master eh…What was your name again?"
"It's Ryu, and no need to be that formal with me. I don't like formalities much, but you can call me master or sensei if you wish."
Naruto looked at Ryu, and then he realizes that Ryu hadn't told him about himself and about the people tied to the trees.
"Master Ryu, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, ask whatever you want."
"Well, can you tell me about the people are tied to the trees?"
Ryu looked at the trees and scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, about them…they're bandits who were trying to threaten the nearby town, so I knocked them out for the village. I don't like people who think they can do anything because they have power."
Naruto stood in awe of his new teacher. The man helped the people of the town nearby simply because he wanted to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.
"How did you defeat them, Master Ryu?"
"With my martial arts." Ryu replied simply. They both exchanged large grins. "Naruto, let's pack up the tent. In half an hour, we'll start moving."Naruto started to help Ryu with the tent and put the fire out. When they finished, they started to leave but Naruto wanted to know; how would they carry the bandits? His confusion stopped and his eyes went wide when Ryu lifted the trees with his bare hands and put them on his shoulder and started walking.
"Naruto, I will explain it later, just start walking in front of me. Don't worry, I will give you directions."
After close to 25 minutes of walking, Naruto and Ryu arrived at a deeply impoverished village. Ryu left the bandits near town and started to walk in the opposite direction. Naruto looked at Ryu with confusion.
"Master Ryu, why are you leaving them here? If you hand them to the people, they might give you a reward."
"Naruto, I know if I handed them to the village, I'd probably get a reward, but I love to travel to different places and help people without thinking of restitution. You should never need a reason to help someone." Ryu stopped for a bit and turned to Naruto with a serious gaze.
"Naruto, helping people without any expectation is not only the sign of true martial artist, but also the first step to becoming a true warrior. Remember it well."
Naruto just nodded, but he continued to stare at his new master in awe. He didn't want fame at all; he just wanted to help people without expecting anything in response. That made him the most honorable person in the world, even more so than his father, and with a big smile both of their faces, they left the village. Naruto walked forward with a new teacher, a new goal, and a new reason to fight.
Hidden Leaf Village, Park, One week later…
The village hidden in the leaves had entered a period of relaxation following their huge celebration next week. Many people believed that Natsumi would prove herself a worthy heir to the Uzumaki clan and the Namikaze clan.
However, some people of the Leaf had no immediate cause for celebration.
Naruto's friends stood around, waiting for him in the park for the past week on a daily basis so they could talk with him and comfort him about his parents. However, never once did he show up. They waited for him for hours and hours and end, but he would never come, so they'd leave for home at evening, except for two people; his best friend, Sasuke and his crush, Hinata.
Hinata sat on one of the park benches and cupped her hand towards her chest. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible had happened and they didn't know it yet. Sasuke stood quietly against a tree. He, like Hinata, felt apprehensive for their friend, but they waited for him until nightfall.
He never came.
At the Uchiha compound,
Everyone sat worried for Sasuke. For a whole week, Sasuke returned late, but for Sasuke not to have come home at this point in time worried the Uchiha family greatly.
"Father, it's too late now. I think we should get Sasuke home. I think he is playing with Naruto, so I will bring both of them." Fangaku, the father of Itachi and Sasuke, the clan head of the Uchiha and head of Uchiha police force, nodded his head.
At the park,
Itachi vanished with a shunshin and appeared near the park. He saw Sasuke leaning against a tree, sleeping and also saw Hinata on the bench, sleeping. Itachi came towards Sasuke and woke him up when Sasuke woke up; he saw that night had fallen, which meant Naruto must've taken another rain check.
"What happened, Sasuke? Are you ok? Where is Naruto?"
When Sasuke heard Naruto's name, he hung his head, Itachi knew what happened so he wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and came towards Hinata. She lay crying in her sleep and mumbling desperately.
"Naruto, where are you? I need you now. I am scared."
When Itachi saw this, it made him very sad and then he heard footsteps. When he turned to the right, he saw Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father.
"What happened, Itachi? Can you tell me? Why is my daughter sleeping on the bench?"
Itachi looked towards Sasuke.
"We've been waiting for Naruto for a whole week but he still hasn't shown up yet."
'So that's the reason she always comes home late. I thought those bullies hadn't learned a lesson from Naruto and kept antagonizing her.' Hiashi thought.
"Do you remember the announcement, Sasuke? He must have been feeling betrayed because of that day."
"I've known Naruto since we were 3 and I know anything about him, I know that even if Naruto is hurt, he will never show it on his face and he will come here to talk to us, no matter how bad the situation is!" Yelled Sasuke, who had to force back tears.
Hiashi stood in surprise at that outburst, but he knew that Naruto could always talk to Sasuke and Hinata. Aside from the others, he knew the boy felt strongly about those two in particular so he understood their feelings.
'Now it's time to talk with Minato. I don't want to disregard how Naruto will feel, but the poor boy has been neglected enough.'
He carried Hinata in his arms, thanked both Sasuke and Itachi and all parties left for their respective homes.
Thanks for reading
Special thanks to MODdenial
Have a nice day