Ten years ago on the fateful day of October tenth, Konohagakure was suddenly attacked by Kyuubi on Kitsune. The great beast was capable of causing tsunamis and earthquakes by a single swing of one of its tails. It was feared that this would be the end of the village hidden in the leaves until the intervention of the Fourth Hokage and who made both himself and the Kyuubi vanish in a brilliant flash. The previous raging, screaming and panicking was replaced by silence, undercut by the scream of a single child born on that day, Uzumaki Naruto.

Konoha, October 11th, Uzumaki Residence

The local scene was dreary to say the least. The sky twisted a blueish- gray as the pitter-patter of falling water from the sky made foot sized ponds. The apartment was nothing special: a living room with a kitchenette, mid mid-sized bedroom, with a small bathroom attached. He stared up from his bed, his muted blonde hair matted and flattened against his head, its color reflecting the dull mood of both outside and of the blonde himself.

"It was my birthday yesterday…" That one statement left him hollow as the words echoed through his empty shell. He truly hadn't even realized it and seemed neither did anybody else. Many seemed to underestimate the weight of being alone, entirely alone. Humans are social creatures, we need community, family, connection, friendship, love. Lack of interaction is devastating to the human mind. How much worse could it be if this interaction should be possible, but still lacking completely? It's the same as dying of dehydration in the ocean. A laughable tragedy to tell the story of a lonely boy with no friends, no family, no reason to live. As much as he would like to deny it, the fact that he only remembered his own birthday the day after gave proof. If he couldn't remember the most significant day of his own life then what reason did he have to live it? He pondered the futility of his own life and perhaps the validity of ending it, until a knock rapped against his door. Shooting straight up his disheveled hair fell loose around his face and his sloppy clothes hung loose off his body he stumbled out of bed and opened his door.

"I-Iruka-sensei..?" He admitted he probably looked really rough. His clothes were messy and stained, his hair was uncombed, his eyes were probably red, and his voice sounded rough and unfamiliar even to him. Iruka looked at him with a mix of curiosity and worry.

"Naruto..? You're, um, late…" Iruka looked away from the depressing sight that was a 10-year-old Naruto Uzumaki. Iruka had a complicated relationship with the young kid. Looking at him was painful, it always reminded him of what he lost, but at the same time he couldn't help but to see himself. A lonely kid with no one to depend on and no one left to love him. If Iruka ever looked at Naruto too long the guilt would start to eat him alive, so as usually did, Iruka looked away. As for Naruto, he looked around and realized the rain had stopped, looking at the time on his clock, it probably stopped hours ago. Before it was 6, the time was now 9:23.

"Just how lost in thought was I?" Naruto shook his head and nodded, stepping out of the apartment and simply closing the door. Anything that actually had any real value he kept on him in some way at all times.

"You're going like that?" Iruka looked ludicrously at him.

"Yeah, does it matter?" Naruto looked at him with surprisingly dead eyes. Iruka shook his head and he took off to the academy Naruto following behind.

Konoha, Shinobi Academy

The class was quietly abuzz with the soft murmur among the students as they waited for their exasperated sensei to drag the absent blonde back to class. A small girl, with a short cut and lavender eyes sat towards the back looking down at the desk, occasionally stealing worried glances at the door to the classroom while waiting for a certain blond to be dragged inside. She knew from her occasional stal-observing, that for whatever reason Naruto was particularly down yesterday and when that happened it usually meant someone, or multiple someones, would find themselves on the wrong side of one of pranks. Except there were absolutely mentions of any pranks on anyone anywhere around the village. That was worrisome. The rest of students didn't particularly care about Naruto or whether he showed up, except that they did not want to join in whatever punishment might be lying in wait due the rowdy blonde. Then the door creeped open, to everyone's surprise, rather calmly.

As they came into the classroom everyone expected to see a bright orange tied up ball of blonde idiocy with a stark-raving, mad-dog sensei dragging him along. Instead, they both walked in rather calmly and Naruto was not wearing any orange. Well mainly, there was the orange spiral on his t-shirt, but that was a far cry from the neon orange jumpsuit he had been wearing more often. Iruka quietly instructed the boy to take a seat, many in the room expected this to be the turning point, he'd shout or make a fuss or do something to attract attention to himself. He didn't. He silently and calmly walked to a seat and dropped down. Hinata was worried, she was so very, very worried. They were shinobi they taught to see and evaluate others' emotions, it would be critical to some missions in their future. Hinata wasn't very good at it. Admittedly, that was because she spent so much time looking at the ground that she wasn't even able to see the expressions that people made. With the exception of one person. Most of the time stated confidence, however misplaced. Sometimes he shouted, noticed me, acknowledge me: those times made her sad. But, right now, she was worried and honestly? Scared. Because he was screaming, screaming, 'Help me!' and she didn't know how. Every other kid in the did also notice that Naruto was…not himself. It put them on edge. The chin on his hand, the thousand-yard stare, that almost scowl on his face. It looked fine on Sasuke, even though why it was there was horrible, it at least suited him, but Naruto with his blonde hair and blue eyes… It felt like the world was imbalance. They assumed, though, that soon he would just be just as loud as usual. They assumed wrong. The entire lesson he sat silent. His thoughts swam and spun in his head, never settling or slowing down. He thought about the futility of his existence. What purpose does living serve if he only can live for himself, where was his great reason, his life goal? Why should he live if no one wants him alive? Maybe it would be better if- His thoughts were snapped short by the calling of his name.

"S-sorry Iruka-sensei could you repeat that?" Naruto said somewhat sheepishly. Iruka sighed and shook his head, though the worried feeling in his gut still stuck with him. The whole day Naruto had just sat, looking as darkly pensive as Sasuke. Still, he continued on, "I said, 'What does the Hokage do for the village?', Naruto."

"I don't know, he's the strongest so I guess he orders around the shinobi under him, right?" Naruto stated. He had never really thought much about the Hokage or what he did. He had seen the old man a few times, but never truly gotten to know him. He figured the old Kage hated him, much like everyone else. Iruka sighed, seeing subtle nods of approval at Naruto's over simplified answer. He supposed that this is what teachers do, teach what would not be known otherwise.

"Yes, but it's more than that. The Hokage is the symbol of the village. He is the hope of the people and their will. He leads them not only to battle, but also through peace. He is the root of the Will of Fire." Iruka looked at the class at the end of his short monologue. While everyone nodded and clapped, Naruto stared. The hope of the people? The root of the Will of Fire? The Hokage sounded important, and even loved. Would he be loved if he became Hokage? Naruto's face lit up for the first time as his imagination started to work. He could see himself draped in that hat robe walking through the village waving and smiling as the people did the same to him. A small gust blew over the dying flame in his soul and the fire was suddenly revitalized. Iruka looked up at Naruto and for the first time today saw him start to bubble with the excitable energy he was known for and smiled to himself. Hinata had also looked over to Naruto and smiled, finally seeing return to his usual self. It was a relief to see.

"The Hokage… If I become the Hokage then everyone might see me for me instead of…whatever else they see." Naruto grinned as he finally found a dream, a goal to aspire to, to give him hope. It was a ridiculous thought. Simply being the head of the village wouldn't make him loved. Leaders, the ones in power, are usually some of the most hated as the people cast any and all problems they have on them. Even still Iruka's words had lit a fire that wouldn't die after all, the human mind will hold on to any reason to exist, no matter how outlandish. So, in this way a lonely boy dreamed of becoming Hokage.