Jinchuriki? Not really

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto.

A/N : Review this story to give constructive feedback.

In his almost five years, young Naruto had gotten used to the way his caretakers mistreated him. Not that they harmed him, at least not directly, but no matter what he did people always seemed to blame him for something he did not do. No matter how hard he tried to please them, those eyes filled with hatred and fear kept staring down at him. He never got treated like the other kids. Never trusted. Never cared for. Never loved. He never once got a chance. And why?

Young Naruto did not know why. He had cried enough, and was sick of it. It didn't change anything about his life.

Today had been particularly frustrating. Today's caretaker took a sadistic pleasure from tormenting him with vicious insults not only about him but about his parents too. How they were some good for nothing drunks who killed themselves to be away from him. There were some more bad words about them that he did not understand. Fortunately Jiji is going to visit today. And finally, like all caretakers that he complained about, he would get rid of this one too.

There was even one caretaker earlier who taught him reading and writing wrong. Thankfully Jiji found out by chance when he visited and replaced her with someone who taught him correctly.

"JIJI!" Naruto ran towards the door and hugged Lord Third hard.

"Uff. You are getting big Naruto. How are you?"

When Naruto told him about the latest caretaker, Lord Third was angry but unsurprised. He sighed. He regretted every single mistake he made with Naruto. He remembered how he found Naruto after his parent's death. He could have handled the situation better but he was in too much grief when he found his wife Biwako too is no longer among the living. All that while dealing with his reinstatement as Hokage.

Danzo had been a thorn in Hiruzen's side for far too long. There had been a time when he had called the man his best friend and greatest rival but those days had ended long ago. He felt nothing but contempt for the man now. The only reason he hadn't had him assassinated was because of his ROOT program.

He allowed Danzo and his program because they were useful to the village. Sure, he had to occasionally turn a blind eye when they had technically committed treason a time or two, but that was because he knew that Danzo had Konoha's best interests in mind. He knew that Danzo would never betray Konoha and he was willing to do whatever it would take to defend it.

But Danzo went too far when he regardless of Hiruzen's orders spread the rumor of new Jinchuriki so that village would appear strong. And when Lord Hokage started caring for a nameless orphan that no one knew anything about, people assumed little Naruto to be new Jinchuriki. It is of course false because Minato successfully killed the Kyubi but no one is willing to accept the fact. Danzo's rumors proved to be too effective and more he denied it, more people accepted Naruto's Jinchuriki status as truth.

Hiruzen knew that he couldn't execute his one-time friend. Not only would he lose a devout ninja but he would also lose the program that dealt with the messier jobs that Konoha didn't want associated with them. Then there was the chance that ROOT might rebel or align themselves with an enemy village. That was something that could not be allowed to happen. But that is something for later.

Now what to do about this caretaker problem. After Danzo's rumor, it was impossible to leave Naruto in the orphanage. He could not afford to adopt him because that would be like painting a target on little baby and confirming every rumor as truth. When Jiraiya refused to take Naruto in, he could hardly ask a barely 14 year old Kakashi who was dealing with his own grief. So he bought a apartment for Naruto and appointed caretakers.

Who knew that finding a good caretaker who did not believe in false rumors could be so difficult. Barely a single caretaker stayed for a complete month. Some themselves quit after getting influenced by rumors, others have to be removed as they were actively harming Naruto. Maybe Naruto is now old enough to not need a caretaker. That is appearing to be best possible alternative.

Naruto of course happily agreed even if now he have to cook his own food, do his laundry, clean his apartment. He was given monthly stipend from which he has to buy clothes, groceries etc.

The first time Naruto left his apartment alone was a shocking experience. The few times Naruto had been out in public before, he had usually been with his caretaker, who always insisted on him covering his head and lower face with a scarf. She'd told him it was so that he wouldn't pick up any diseases, but now that he was exploring the streets of his village, he was beginning to have second thoughts.

Because wherever he went, inevitably, he was followed by an intense storm of heated whispering. They pointed him out with barely disguised grimaces, they ushered their children away from him, admonishing them for walking too close to him.

When he entered the nearest grocery shop, he was chased out.

Flashback

"You! How dare you enter my shop. Get out."

"But I just wanted to buy the milk and bread."

"We are out of stock. Leave."

"But its there on the shelf. Look."

"That's already sold. Now get out. And never enter here again."

Flashback end

This scared Naruto and he immediately went home. He was really scared and confused. Next day, he went to a different shop but experience was the same. He tried another one but there he was chased out even more badly.

"We don't serve your kind here. Get out monster. You can't trick me."

That experience shook Naruto to the core. He was scared but was starting to get angry. Why was he chased out and called a monster? He never even met the man before. And all those glares and whispering. What have he ever done to deserve this? He asked his Jiji about this.

"Jiji! Why does everyone hate me?"

"What happened Naruto?"

"I went to buy a few groceries but was chased out. I was called a monster and everyone was glaring at me. What is wrong with me?" Naruto sniffed lightly

"Oh Naruto. Come here give me a hug."

"Those are some stupid people who believed in some silly rumors. There is absolutely nothing wrong about you. Don't you worry about anything. As for groceries, you won't have go shopping for them again. I will have someone deliver it."

"But why does everyone hate me?"

"They don't hate you Naruto. They just don't know you because if they did, they will love you. Now how about some Ramen?"

After 1 year

With time Naruto realized that Jiji lied and he is indeed hated by the villagers. Most act like he did not exist and ignore him but some are actively antagonistic towards him. In the park, forget about playing, no one was even willing to talk to him. He was refused service in most of the shops (except Ichiroku's) and if not, then overcharged for almost trash. At least they can't harm him physically. He realized that world is not fair. A single year on his own forced him to mature in a way he never thought possible. He recognized his earlier naivety and hope that if he is good, he won't be hated anymore.

But all his efforts resulted in nothing. For every bit of politeness and kindness he was given nothing but scorn and hatred in return. Eventually he become apathetic to abuse he was forced to endure. He decided to ignore everything which caused them to be even more riled up. Curiously, whenever someone tried to physically harm him, a masked shinobi would appear and took them away. No doubt this was done on Jiji's order. But the speed at which shinobi appeared, forced him to conclude he was observed and tracked at all times. He was not really happy about this but eventually decided it was for the best.

One day when he woke up in the morning, he found something hard on his chest. It was a Book.

'Huh. How did it get here. I am sure I have never seen it before.' Naruto thought.

When he opened the curious Yellow and Orange covered book, he felt a prick on the finger and a letter fell out of it. When he read the letter he was shocked.

Dear Naruto

My name is Minato Namikaze and I am your father. I am so sorry my son that you will only be reading this letter if the worst happened and your mother and me are dead. Your mother's name is Kushina Uzumaki. Your mother is an incredible woman Naruto. She is caring, kind, and the most beautiful woman I had ever met. My dear son you are not yet born but we still love you so much. There is a chance if the worst happened, your heritage will be hidden to protect you from our enemies. Your mother and I made a lot of enemies in the war so be very careful to whom you tell the truth about us. Now I am writing this letter because I have a feeling that something could go wrong. Your mother does not know about this but if she did, she will whack me on the head and tell me to 'stop being negative'. But I have come to trust my feelings for they have saved my life quite a few times.

Your mother is a Jinchuriki of Nine tails. To understand what it means, you need to know about Tailed Beasts. Tailed Beasts are the nine titanic living forms of chakra. They are differentiated by the number of tails they have, ranging from one to nine. Jinchuriki are humans that have a tailed beast sealed within them. The bad feeling I got is from the fact that the seal holding back the tailed beast is weakest when a female Jinchuriki gave birth. I fear that despite all the precautions that we are taking, your mother's seal could be sabotaged at the moment.

Due to this I am writing this letter and preparing a contingency so that even if the worst happened, you will not be the next Jinchuriki. The life of a Jinchuriki is not a easy life and they are often treated as if they were monsters themselves. Fortunately Your mother being a Jinchuriki is a very well kept secret that very few knew but I fear how you would be treated if you are the next to bear this burden. Because of this I am going to make sure that you are not going to be next Jinchuriki of Kyubi no matter what.

I have prepared this Book of Scrolls for you which would appear to you near your sixth birthday. It is stored in a seal and will appear in your hand as soon as you wish for it and disappear back into seal when it's not in your hand. It is a guide on how to become a ninja along with some Uzumaki scrolls. I have taken every precaution to make sure that this book cannot be stolen from you but even then, just to be safe, you should keep it a secret. I hope you follow the given instructions and use it well. Be strong my son and live a long happy life.

With Love

Your Father

Minato Namikaze

Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato

Naruto found he have tears in the eyes that have no intention of stopping.

'My parents loved me. My father was the Fourth Hokage.' were two of the most prominent thoughts revolving in Naruto's head. After some time he calmed down and read the letter again. And again. And again with some help from a dictionary to understand a few words that he did not understand.

'Did he fail? Am I the Jinchuriki too? Is that why everyone hate me?' Naruto questioned himself. Till yesterday, he did not even know his last name and now this. Should he ask Jiji about this? He must know the truth. But he never even told him his last name much less about his parents even after bringing it up many times. He is the Hokage. Why did he never stop the villagers. The most powerful man in the village surely knows about the treatment he received from the villagers. And would he try to take the book if he knew about it? Would he already know about it? Where are the masked shinobi? Suddenly this continuous observation did not feel like such a good idea.

Naruto was afraid for some time but eventually calmed down as nothing happened. No masked shinobi appeared to take the book. He hoped that this means, he is only observed outside the apartment. Once he was calm enough, he opened the book.

Chakra

Chakra is the life energy that is possessed by every living thing in the world. It is made up of two parts, Physical and Spiritual. Physical energy is collected from each of the body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, and exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience. These two energies becoming more powerful will in turn make the created chakra more powerful. Chakra is essential to even the most basic jutsu. Through various methods, the most common of which is hand seals, chakra can be controlled and manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise.

Tenketsu are nodes from which chakra can be released. The human body has 361 tenketsu, each of which is located along the chakra pathway system. To unlock the chakra, meditation is necessary. To meditate, you have to clear your mind of all thoughts. This can be done by focusing on nothing or something specific. After successfully clearing the mind, focus inwards to the point in the middle of chest near the heart. This is the largest tenketsu point in the human body (see chapter 1). Chakra can be sensed easily here because of the large concentration on this point. Chakra is different for everyone. Some experience chakra as light and heat, others feel it as cold and dark and everything in between. There are eight major tenketsu that control the flow of chakra in human body known as eight gates (see chapter 2). Once you have successfully felt the chakra for the first time, feel the chakra individually in each of the eight gates and observe the flow of chakra between them. The third and final step in unlocking the chakra is to feel, observe and manipulate the chakra in all 361 tenketsu points with open eyes while moving (see chapter 3-6).

When your chakra is fully unlocked, focus outwards to sense others chakra. Everything living has chakra, even plants. Learn to observe and recognize different chakra. Memorize and understand the different feeling chakra for it is chakra signature (see chapter 7-10). Next step is to start chakra control exercises (see chapter 11-15). After completing the exercise, learn 12 basic and 5 elemental hand seals and understand their effect on each tenketsu in your body (see chapter 16-32). Other chapters include Physical Enhancement, Jutsu creation, Elemental Manipulation, Yin-Yang manipulation (see chapter 33-100).

Naruto was shocked to learn how complex and difficult this training is. He noticed that book is divided in many parts. First is Chakra, other parts include Fuinjutsu (Art of Seals), Iryoninjutsu, Genjutsu, Senjutsu. Also only first chapter of each part was visible and not even that for Senjutsu. On the last page was written 'JUTSU SCROLLS' along with S,A,B,C,D,E. When he touched E, a scroll with E ranked Jutsu appeared. He was worrying about how to hide it but calmed down when he read the instructions on how to store it back given below. He was surprised how a library worth of knowledge is stored inside a single book, but assumed the answer is seals.

That day changed his life.

Now he was no longer worried about how others treated him. He even stopped leaving his apartment because if no one is willing to talk to him then why bother. He completely focused on the book and was determined to master everything inside it. When Jiji visited he asked for a last time about his parents and why everyone hated him. On receiving the same response and change of topic, he was heartbroken. Yes it may be dangerous to reveal the knowledge about his parents to public but its not like if he was told the truth, he was going to scream it from rooftop. Did Jiji not trust him even that much. As for his Jinchuriki status, Jiji always claimed that hate is because of false rumors. Did that mean he is not a Jinchuriki? He is not sure but decided that answer does not matter. Everyone hates him already and its not like anyone is gonna believe him if he said he did not have Kyubi inside him.

Shinobi Academy starts at age 8. When he asked Jiji for early admission, he was refused. It did not hurt that much because he almost expected it. Jiji may care for him but clearly not enough. At least he was given a book for physical exercises. He decided to start training and also focused on first part of the Book : Chakra

When he started meditating, it was remarkably easy for him to sense chakra near his heart. He could not define it in words properly but the closest two words would be Bright and Dense. He could so easily feel chakra that now he could not ignore it even if he wish to. Other 7 gates were similar but difficulty emerged in sensing all the other tenketsu. He kept getting confused and mixing them with each other. But still it barely took him three months to recognize all 361 tenketsu. Another three months to lightly manipulate the chakra between each of them and to do it without meditating.

Focusing outwards and sensing others chakra was difficult but not that difficult. After six months, he could recognize the masked shinobi tailing him even if they are somehow reducing their chakra signature. And then, it was time for chakra control exercises. The most difficult part for the first exercise was to find the leaves sneakily which was not very difficult. Leaf sticking exercise was easy at first but it become very difficult to do it with 361 leaves at the same time. It took him 6 months that he could do all 361 leaves. But he could not do it for more than 5 minutes before exhausting.

After doing this, tree climbing exercise or wall climbing in this case is ridiculously easy. Of course, real challenge is doing it along with leaves. Another 6 months and he could do it for 10 minutes before exhausting.

Two year has passed and it was now time for the academy.

In these two years, Jiji really reduced his visits. His last visit was about 3 months ago. But he was supposed to visit today.

"Hello Jiji" Naruto greeted politely

"Hello Naruto. How are you?"

"I am good. Would you like something."

"No no, I am good. Look how big you are getting. Anyway, earlier you have displayed interest to join the Shinobi Academy. Is that still the case?"

"Yes Jiji. I want to be a ninja."

"Naruto, to be a ninja is not a small commitment. Its a major life changing decision. Being a ninja is not a child's game. Its difficult and dangerous. So are sure?"

Naruto was silent for a few moments but then replied.

"Yes Jiji I am sure. I want to be a ninja."

"But why do you want to be a ninja?"

"Because I don't want to be weak. You know how I was attacked many times and was protected by those masked guys. I want to be strong enough to protect myself Jiji."

"Those masked guys as you said are ANBU. Anyways, to be a ninja does not only mean to be strong. Yes ninjas are strong but being a ninja means to be a protector. As a ninja, you will be required to take dangerous missions to kill others and may even have to sacrifice your very life for your village and loved ones. So answer me for a last time Naruto. Are you ready? Do you want to be a ninja?"

"Yes Jiji. I am ready and I want to be a ninja." Naruto answered seriously.

"Very well. Here's the admission form. Fill it and from tomorrow, you start at the Konoha Shinobi Academy."

If he expected Academy to be different, he would have been disappointed. Thankfully, he is too jaded to expect something like that for he is treated same here as anywhere in the village i.e. with thinly veiled contempt and disgust. Teachers did everything to sabotage his education. From outright expelling him from the class whenever anything chakra related was taught to punishing him for every imagined offence possible. It was really difficult to control his anger sometimes. Then he decided that if he is going to be punished anyways, then he might as well commit the imagined offence in reality and earn the punishment.

He started viciously pranking the teachers and even some students too who thought just because he remains silent, he is easy target to taunt and bully. He was never caught but was always punished. That did not stop and his pranks too escalated. Soon enough, he was transferred from one class to another whenever a teacher had enough of his retaliation in the form of pranks. This stopped when he was transferred to the class of one Iruka Umino who did not punish him unjustly and just ignored him. Naruto returned the favor and did not prank him. Of course his assistant Mizuki who has never hidden his contempt for Naruto was not excluded from pranks but still, Naruto kept them at minimum.

One day Naruto was returning from academy when he witnessed a trio of boys surrounding a girl his age. The girl had short dark blue hair and very pale eyes. She was on the verge of tears. At first, he wanted to ignore this but he remembered how when he was cornered he wanted someone to save him. Of course no one did, because bullying and abuses was just verbal so ANBU never interfered.

"Behold the mighty Hyuga, the white eyed princess, but you are not mighty, are you? You are just a freak." one of the boys said.

The girl couldn't take it anymore, and fell on her knees, crying. Enough was enough.

"Stop!" Naruto commanded as he rushed towards them.

"Uh, what do you want, dork?" one of the boys asked.

"Hey, I know this guy! He's the Demon boy!" another kid said.

"Of course, the Demon Boy would defend the Demon Girl, right?" teased the first kid.

"I'm not a demon, and neither is she! Leave her alone."

"You know, my parents said to stay away from you, that you're dangerous. But now that I see you, you don't look that dangerous. In fact, you look like a wimp!"

"Come on, let's teach this demon brat not to mess with much stronger people!" the first kid said as he reared his fist back.

The blue haired girl gasped when the kid's fist was about to connect with Naruto's face and he dodged. Suddenly all 3 bullies felt pain from a punch, a knee and a headbutt before they could even process the fact that Naruto dodged.

Hinata was shocked at the speed.

"Now is there going to be a problem?" Naruto asked in a whisper.

Bullies were terrified and quickly left them alone. When he was sure that bullies were gone.

Naruto walked towards said girl, who didn't move from her spot since the fight broke out.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Y-yes...thank you..." the blue haired girl said.

"Well, I gotta go! See ya!" Naruto said.

'Those kids called him the "Demon boy". Does that mean that he was the same blond kid she was warned about? She remembered some of the clan grownups telling her that if she ever crossed paths with him, to avoid him at all costs, that he was dangerous, and a monster. But he defended her from not one but three bullies. Even in class he remains quiet and minded his own business. How can somebody so kind and selfless could be dangerous or a monster?' thought Hinata

"W-wait...!" Hinata said as she saw him leaving.

Naruto stopped and turned around. "What?" He asked her curiously.

"W-What's your name?" Hinata asked

"Naruto. And yours?"

"I am Hinata Hyuga. I think we are in same class. M-may be we can sit together sometime?" She asked shyly.

Naruto smiled brightly "Of course."

'Huh. Maybe I made a friend' thought Naruto in wonder. At least the physical exercises he is doing for two years are good for something.

A/N : I need someone to edit my stories. If someone is interested please pm me.