Orphanage food is little more than slop in my opinion.

In all reality it likely is.

Staring down at the mix of white with orange and green flecks the consistency of a paste that the matron insists is food I try to identify what it could possibly be made from for it to smell like old pork.

It's this or starvation, I dearly miss the frozen fruit slices my mother would feed me.

"It's bad at first but you get used to it."

A girl beside me seems to have taken up the responsibility of 'mothering' me as a new arrival.

I've been here two days now, the children are loud, the food is inedible and my assigned clothes are nowhere near close enough in thickness for a place that snows year round.

My stomach protesting loudly, I give in.

A moment's displeasure to stave away the pain.

I bring the plate to my mouth and shovel the goop in and swallow as quickly as possible.

It tastes like radishes and onions.

The girl next to me, her name Mika I think I have heard the others call her, is quiet. I assume she approves of my actions because she doesn't say much after.

—-

The orphanage is … a learning experience to say the least.

The closest thing I can compare it to is a life in school daycare.

You wake up in a room with nine other kids , eat breakfast, then you go to a lecture that is basically one of the caretakers telling us about the world around us. Then we go to play outside for a few hours, eat dinner, then sleep.

From the lectures I have learned that we live in a place in the Land of Frost

The Land of Frost. Well Whoever named it was spot flippin on.

It's always cold and it's only getting colder and I hate it.

But we are near the border of a place called the Land of Hot Water.

Touching the west border of The Land of Hot Water is the Sound Country and the Fire Country.

And to the far East of us is the Lighting Country.

There are five main countries in this world: Earth, Lightning , Water , Wind and Fire.

Each having their own Shinobi village and 'Kage' to lead it.

There are many smaller shinobi villages that are not recognised as Main world powers such as the village of the Sound.

(I am not sure of the accuracy on this)

Being in the land one must cross over to get to the Land of Lightning from the rest of the land bound countries it is a certainty to see a conflict.

They don't explain it too deeply, likely due to our age.

Half way through the lesson I noticed that the kids in the class are all ages one to five or six.

I assume that the other kids were also sorted by age and given age-appropriate lessons for world knowledge, and by the board look of the older kids of my class, the same lesson is repeated once it's done for the newer kids.

Being an adult in a toddler's body is rough on socialisation, a thing I did not have to worry about while I was living with my mother.

So after a kid a little older than me screamed when I didn't give him the toy I was chewing on- teething is rough okay. I quickly decided to avoid the others with a passion, at least until they aren't a bane for anyone who values their eardrums intact.

I for one definitively do not want to stay in this orphanage.

So I plot my escape.

Firstly I need knowledge.

Then I need power.

But it won't hurt to aim for both.

Sitting in the classes for the next few months I quickly get bored. After two months the curriculum seems to repeat and I decide to work on my chakra, as I have now learned I am definitively in the world of naruto. I have started calling it by its proper name.

Trying to move chakra around is like telling a river to flow backwards. The only thing it listens to is the seals my mother placed on me.

At the thought of my mother I get sad.

I am pretty sure she is dying, or at least struggling to survive, in the wild animals often get rid of their young if their own chances get slim but I can't help but feel hurt to be alone again.

I decided to not touch my chakra anymore, instead focusing on physical training. Running laps around the play area , throwing pebbles at the wall trying to improve my aim.

If clan trained shinobi can get their kids to genin by six then I can train myself somewhat as an adult minded toddler.

I remember a lot of concepts for training but without detailed instructions I am lost.

I could probably try the leaf exercise if there were any leaves around, once again stating how much I hate the cold, and I dare not attempt the tree walking exercise for risk of damaging the walls.

Thinking back, my mother sealed my hair for a reason, likely due to uzumaki bloodline abilities. And thinking back to the cannon of naruto there was a lot of bad stuff happening to bloodline users. I don't want to be captured by an evil snake or wiped out in a bloodline purge, or even sold on a blackmarket to Kumo.

—-

A few years have passed and I would say I am strong enough to leave, no sane adult would likely agree with me but I am not asking for their opinion. I am four now , Since it isn't likely for kids to know their own birthday when they are dropped at the doorstep, the matron assigns our age by the new year, gaining a number each time it passes, But my own estimated birthday is late october, early november.

Looking back I was likely already a bit past one year old when I was dropped off at the orphanage. My mother likely couldn't celebrate my birthday in poverty, or maybe taking me out to the town that day was her version of celebrating.

A few months ago I got impatient and attempted to treewalk on the fence behind a dead tree in the play area. Thinking back, maybe if I used to tree, the punishment wouldn't have been so harsh, but I hardly trust the tree to hold, how long must it been have dead for it to have been once growing in a land of permafrost, It would have to had been before this miniature ice age started.

I ended up blowing a hole in the fence and the matron made me hold my hands above my head in the snow for an hour a day.. For a week.

Luckily she didn't think I was using chakra, she thought i just kicked the fence, pretty useless fence if it gets broken with just a kick in my opinion.

Last month the girl who tried to 'mother' all the new kids got adopted.

Well I say adopted in a rough sense because no one in their right mind would adopt a kid in this kind of poverty, and the matron's expressions were grim for a few days after she left.

Mika was only eight but by the fact that all the kids got new shoes the following week made my heart sink at the realisation that the matron had to get money from somewhere.

I wasn't attached to Mika per say but I myself am four now and also female I don't wish to suffer a similar fate to whatever made the stone hearted matron sad.

I need to escape to someplace hopefully warmer, maybe live in the wilderness if push comes to shove.

So when the matron made a comment to one of the helpers that there was a large merchant caravan moving through heading west I internally jumped in glee.

I packed my stuff and hatched my plan. Rolling my spare shoes and the bread I saved from last night's dinner into my thin blanket I tied my blanket around my waist like a belt and snuck through the conveniently new hole in the fence during the beginning of playtime knowing I had five hours max before they noticed my absence.

I ran to the town ; that was only a short distance of ten minutes of toddler legs away. Gasping for air I see the merchant's caravan packing, I try to approach without being seen.

Sneaking around the back of the wagon I try to lift a small crate and stack it onto the higher crate next to it so I can shimmy behind and hide.

" Hey kid! Help me with these tent stakes!" A man calls out looking at me.

Ohnoohnoohno

I've been caught.

He is asking for help, maybe since it's such a large caravan they don't know everyone.

Okay Enkai you know the old saying

Improvise . Adapt. Overcome.

"A-Alright!"

I shout weakly as I finish hefting the small crate atop the others.

I run up to the man and help by untangling the chain around the stake in the ground.

The man places the stake in my arms before placing the next three stakes that he pulled from the ground into my arms.

" Alright kid, just put those in the back of the wagon and let's head to dinner."

I followed the man without saying a word, afraid I would give myself away.

—-

" So boy , what's your name?"

The man says while scoping soup from the quickly cooling pot of soup.

I have to give a name , everyone has one, refusing would be suspicious.

"Enkai." I say quietly filled with panic.

Why did I just give out my REAL name? I could have given a fake one, why you idiot why?

" Name's Reku, remember it!" Says the newly dubbed caravan worker"

I continue to follow the man until he gets in the driving spot of one of the backmost wagons.

I hop into the back of the wagon before it starts moving, barely getting my short legs up in time before it does.

The sky started turning darker and I am filled with exhaustion from the daring escape I just made.

All I can hear is my heart beating, they think I am a boy. I should keep it that way, for once I am grateful for my boyish name.

I didn't even realise I had closed my eyes as all I could focus on is the sound of my heart beating and the horses hooves clapping.

AN: 3 chapters in 3 days, I hope I am not rushing this too much…. I wanna give this a good start. I am a naruto fan myself ( as you may have guessed) but I still am not 100% on the dates and war timeframes and such.

I struggle to remember real world history and geography already haha..

Anyways If you spot any inaccuracies that are wrong geographically or about the naruto political climate please do tell me as I like to cover my bases.

Speaking of bases, how would one find out about the building structure of houses and roads in the land of boiling water? I kinda assume it is stone because it sounds like that one place that is a national park with the boiling water and pine trees… and wood would age fast in humid temperatures making it prone to mould and collapse..I'll probably just wing it!

Secondary note: thank you to yochan123 for the help with the incorrect grammar as well as giving info on buildings , I have fixed it now to be a bit more grammatically correct. :) I also applied to ao3 a few days ago and haven't goten an invite so far, I should within the next few days considering the 5 day que It had. I hope to post there soon. Unless I get writers block I should do new chapters every sat sun and wed.