Chapter 1: Tuna Fish Sandwich

This is the best day ever! Naruto thought to himself. Both he and his grandfather are walking to a store. They just had a celebratory bowl of ramen at the Ichiraku Ramen stall. Naruto was talked down from his usual multiple bowls of the "dish from the gods" because they are on their way to a toy store.

Well, the man walking with Naruto isn't actually his grandfather. He is really the Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. He is in charge of the entire village and has been a part of Naruto's life for as long as he can remember. When Naruto first met Hiruzen, he called him 'Jiji' or 'Old man.' Despite the blatant disrespect for his position, Hiruzen didn't have the heart to correct the child. Naruto may get an irate eyebrow twitch from the other ninjas in the village but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the boy.

Everywhere he went, whispers followed him. In the store when he was buying groceries. In the park when he was on the swing. Walking throughout the village. People just loved to quiet their voice when he was close. A couple of hard glares or frightful eyes here and there, but nothing much.

Naruto cherished these moments with his jiji. He was a very lonely boy. He would play with children his age at the park. It was very fun. Running, laughing, playing tag. But the fun would eventually end as the sun set. Parents would pick up their sons or daughters. The adults would whisper something into the ear of the child and just like that, Naruto lost his friend.

But this time would be different. Right now, Naruto and the Hokage are heading to a toy shop. Naruto had been extra good this week, he hadn't made any disruptions in class. (Even though in his opinion he really oughta) He did better on his physical conditioning tests. As per the rules of the agreement, Jiji must take him to a toy shop where he can buy whatever toy he wanted.

As the pair walked though the shopping district, Naruto made up his mind. "Let's go into this one!" He exclaimed and darted off into the store. A slight chuckle from the old man and they entered the shop. It was a "Build-a-friend" stuffed animal shop. Quite simple really. On the wall was a variety of animals, ranging from dogs, cats, bears, and deer. You name it. They had it. For one reason or another, Naruto gravitated towards an orange fox. It had red eyes and long ears. As soon as Naruto saw it, he just knew it had to be it.

Hiruzen saw what happened too. Naruto was walking down the aisle looking at everything. Looking at each animal when he looked up and immediately stopped. Following his line of sight, Hiruzen spotted the fox too. Oh no. I need to talk him out of it. If the villagers start see him with a stuffed fox. Heaven knows what will happen.

Trying to divert his attention away. "What about this little brown pug Naruto?" I'm sure Kakashi would like it. It looks vaguely like that new summon dog pack of his.

"No. I want this one!" Naruto pointed back to the orange fox.

"But doesn't this remind you…."

"But ji-Jiiiii. You said whatever toy I wannnnnt. I want this one. Pleeeeeeaaaaase!" He pleaded and put in his cute face that he reserved for trying to bribe Old Man Ichiraku for another bowl of his delicious ramen.

Hiruzen still didn't want to. Naruto still had a semi reasonable life. He was ignored yes, but there weren't any witch hunts. Unable to come up with an excuse to placate Naruto, Hiruzen relented. "I did. And it is important that you keep your word. We made a deal; we have to stick to it." Hiruzen took the fox off the wall and took it to the owner.

A small conversation between the eyes of the two adults ensued.

Are you kidding me?

No.

You know exactly-

Just do it.

The man took the fox. He unzipped the back and put the tube in the back. The stuffing was applied and the fox started to take form. It was a lot smaller on the wall. Hiruzen mused. Indeed. The fox grew to almost the same height as the five-year-old Naruto. Not quite the same size, but it would be a trouble to carry around having a long length.

Taking his stuffed animal, Naruto exclaimed "It's so fluffy!" It was barely off the ground though as Naruto hugged it. To compensate, the purchase came with its very own back pack. Stuffed inside, Naruto unzipped the top to allow the head to come out.

"Have you thought of a name?" Broken from his own thoughts, Naruto looked up at the Hokage. In his hand was a paper. He couldn't make out all the wording, looking at it for just a second. He did notice a big red circle at the bottom of the page, with "Name."

"Hmmmm." Naruto went into a thinking pose. He started tapping his forehead, searching his brain for the right answer. "Ah! Kurama! His name is Kurama."

Hiruzen put the paper back on the desk. "All right, Naruto. Kurama it is. Ku-ra-ma." He said allowed as he wrote the name on the paper. He gave it to Naruto. "Now remember, with this paper you can come back here anytime you want." He handed the paper to Naruto and looked back at the shop keeper. "Show him this and you will not have any trouble getting Kurama re-stuffed, washed, and looking like brand new. Right?"

Startled. "Of course, Hokage-sama!"


It was a warm summer day. Naruto and his stuffed animal Kurama were inseparable for the past week. Case in point. He is now in the supermarket shopping for his groceries. His backpack on his back and a plastic basket in his hand he is going to his favorite aisle of food. Instant noodles. On his way over he sees a bright orange sign in the section before the "second best dish from the gods." It was a sale on canned Tuna. "All right. Score!" With a small fist pump, Naruto put a few discounted cans of Tuna in the basket and then moved over to ramen section. After completely filling the plastic basket with instant ramen and a couple of cans of Tuna, Naruto headed over to the cashier. On the way he stopped by the discount table. An eight-piece pack of bread was sitting there with a half price sticker. Half PRICE!? I want it!

With a now overflowing basket, Naruto put it next to the cashier to ring the total. When told the total, it was too much. Naruto looked at the screen. "Oi, oi. I think your machine is broken."

"Nope." The cashier replied stressing the 'p.' "It works just fine."

Naruto then took out a small notepad and paper. "Jiji told me to carry this around with me." He then flipped to the latest page labelled 7/7. "Here. I have 15 instant noodle cups, three cans of tuna, and a half price bread. With tax, this is the total." Naruto showed the cashier and pointed to the last number.

"Listen kid. The machine is not broken. And I would rather trust this machine than some little brat's math. Now you can either-"

A throat clearing interrupted her. "Is there a problem?" It was a man with a mask and silver hair. A Konoha headband was covering one of his eyes.

"Oh, certainly not valued customer. It's just that—"

"Oh no problem then. Well, input the correct total then."

"I did and this is the-"

"The correct total please and we can all be on our day."

The cashier re-scanned all the items. It came out to the number that was on Naruto's notepad. A few plastic bags to help with the trip back to his apartment and Naruto moved over to the loading station. He noticed a small table was set up with some pencil and paper. Looking at it a bit more closely, he saw…

"Tanabata." Naruto turned around and it was the same man as before. Silver hair and masked face. "It's a festival where you write your wish and hang it from a tree. The higher you hang it, the more likely it will come true. Why don't you write one and I'll help you hang it up?"

"Really? Thanks a bunch!" Naruto set down his plastic bags and got busy thinking of what to write. It didn't take long. At the forefront of every wish is the same thing. Sure, he'd like to have questions answered. Why does everyone look at me funny? Who are my parents? Can you make me Hokage? He wrote down,

I wish for a real best friend.

After it was written, the duo walked up to the tree. It was very tall, about three stories high and already filled with wishes from other children. No low branches had space for his wish. "Here we go." Kakashi said as he picked Naruto up. He walked along the wall of the building.

"Whoaaaa. This is so cool! Can I do that when I become a ninja?!"

"Of course." He replied with his trademark eye smile. Up the building they went. Once near the top, Kakashi reached out to one of the branches to pull it closer. Naruto then tied his wish onto the tree and the pair made their way back down.

"Thanks for the help old man!" Then Naruto turned around and walked back to his apartment with his groceries. Kakashi was rooted to his spot.

"Old man?" Something within him broke. "But….I'm not even twenty…"


Naruto awoke in the middle of the night. He heard a sound from his kitchen. Now, most kids would just pretend to still be asleep. That's what parents would tell their children. No way can an adolescent defend their house and get away without being injured or worse. But, Naruto never had that lesson. He got up and grabbed a book from his floor. Now sufficiently armed in his own opinion, Naruto tip toed his way over to the kitchen. He saw the refrigerator light was on. Someone was going through his food! Wait. Just the light is on. Nobody blocking it. OH no! Naruto thought. He saw a figure on a stool. That's where my super special shrimp ramen is!

Feeling a burning fury in his stomach. He flipped on the lights and charged the figure on the stool. The figure turned around.

"Oh. I hope I didn't wake you up. I was just fixing myself a tuna sandwich. You want one?"

A piece of bread in one hand. A spreading knife in the other. On the counter was an open can of tuna and the half price loaf of bread.

"Wait. Kurama? What are you doing?" Naruto was confused. His stuffed animal was now moving around. Was interacting with objects. Talking.

With a shrug of his shoulders. "I was hungry. Tuna fish sandwiches are my favorite."

Add hungry to that list. Naruto thought.

"Foxes will do anything for a tuna sandwich. We're kind of stupid that way."