AN: Quick thing I wanted to say, some people mentioned that Chapter 1 had a few overused tropes in it, and after re-reading it once more, I realized that they were right and I ended up editing it. It gets hard sometimes to keep track of what is and what's not canon.

Thanks for reading!

I don't own Naruto.

Splash!

Hiruzen wondered how he had let things turn out the way they had.

Splash!

He was supposed to protect Naruto from a life or torment. Instead what had happened? Naruto was forced out of the orphanage and became homeless, having had to resort to stealing for survival. What a joke. How could he ever face Minato in the afterlife now?

Splash!

Though he supposed that was a moot point, considering Minato was in the belly of the Grim Reaper himself. But even the Yellow Flash didn't scare him as much as Kushina Uzumaki. Oh, that woman was a fierce one. There was a good reason why she was dubbed the "Red Hot Habanero" in the academy.

Splash!

Speaking of women, The Professor was shocked to discover what Kimi had done to Naruto. Kimi was someone that he once trusted with his life. He'd known her ever since the second shinobi war. She was a field medic, and once the war was over, she resigned as a ninja and opened an orphanage on the outskirts of the village. She took care of Asuma when he was little for god's sake! He didn't think she had it in her to hate an innocent boy.

Splash!

Kimi had lost her husband during the rampage of the nine tails. In hindsight, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to have her take care of Naruto. But still, she was a former ninja. He expected better from her. Ninja usually understood that when a tailed beast was properly sealed into a vessel, said vessel remained who they were and was in no way influenced by the demon within. They were two separate entities sharing the same space.

What a mess this has turned into.

Splash!

"Naruto."

Turning around, he looked at Naruto who had jumped into yet another puddle in mild irritation. For his part, Naruto silently stared back at Sarutobi. What? He wasn't allowed to have his fun now? That was kind of unfair.

Hiruzen sighed and turned back around, resuming his walk. He and Dog had found Naruto by himself near the food market. His first instinct, the one that raised children and taught students, was to make sure that Naruto was alright. But the young boy seemed adamant to remain out of reach. Surviving on his own for this long must have made the poor child wary of human contact.

Sarutobi had asked Naruto to follow him to the Hokage tower, which of course Naruto decided to ignore and make a run for it. After Dog had caught the elusive child once more, Hiruzen had to explain to him who he was. Naruto may have been a bit behind in his general history knowledge, but even he knew what a Hokage was. He was still staying well out of his reach, however. Dog had left after that, confirming that Naruto was safe once more. Which now brings us back to the present, with an old man walking through the rain and a child following several paces behind.

"How long have you been living on the street, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at the wizened Hokage. "I forget. How'd you know my name?"

"I've known you since you were a newborn. Now, do you happen to know why Kimi decided to throw you out?"

"'Cuz she sucks." A pause "Does that mean you know my parents?"

Hiruzen nearly tripped on his own footing. What a perceptive boy. "No Naruto, I don't know who your parents are."

"Oh." The young boy went back to kicking the pebble he'd found on the ground.

Hiruzen sighed once more. He supposed that was all he could get out of him for now.

It only took five more minutes for them to arrive to the Hokage tower and after making their way inside, Hiruzen noticed a change in Naruto's behavior. Fist clenched at his sides, eyes nervously darting this way and that, he looked like a cornered animal.

"What's the matter?"

"It's nothin'." It wasn't nothing. Months of staying outside had forced survival instincts into the blond boy. He did not like this place. The corridor leading to the office was an opened one-way area with no windows for emergency exits. And there were pictures hanging on the walls. God, why were there so many pictures!? He always hated those. He swore he saw a painting come to life once.

Sarutobi frowned but decided to let it go for now. He led the boy inside his office, closing the door behind them and choosing to ignore the way Naruto's eyes immediately darted to the closed window.

"Naruto, please take a seat. Some dry clothes will be brought in for you shortly."

Naruto turned towards the older man. "I don't want new clothes."

"You'll catch hypothermia if you keep those on."

The boy tilted his head. "Hyper-what?"

Hiruzen sighed. "You will catch a cold, Naruto"

"But these are my clothes."

"I know, and they will be returned to you. But for now, I don't want you to get my sofa wet."

Naruto didn't say anything and chose to stand next to the window.

"When was the last time you cut your hair?"

"I forget."

Hiruzen shook his head tiredly. He didn't know what he expected talking to a 5-year-old boy.

After fresh dry clothes had been brought in for Naruto and Hiruzen had used some quick fire manipulation to dry his clothes, the Hokage's secretary, Eri, poked her head inside the office. "Hokage-sama, Kimi is still in the waiting room. What should we do with her?"

"Bring her in please. Naruto, wait outside for a few minutes if you will. And do not run off. Eri, keep an eye on him."

Eri nodded as Naruto begrudgingly made his way back into the 'hallway from hell'

5 minutes later…

Naruto glanced up from his spot in the hallway and saw the orphanage matron coming out of the office, hands bound behind her back with an ANBU escorting her. He followed her retreating back with his eyes for a few seconds before entering the office once more when he heard his name being called.

"Where is the matron going?"

"She will be charged for her crime. Expelling a child out of an orphanage without the Hokage's jurisdiction is a serious offence."

Naruto frowned. He didn't understand half of those words, but as long as she was far away from him then he didn't care.

"Naruto." The young boy looked up at the old man again.

"Kimi told me that she expelled you 4 months ago, coming on 5 months now. Why did you stay out for so long? Why didn't you come here to the Hokage tower?"

He blinked in confusion. "I didn't know what that was."

"You could've asked someone. I know the villagers aren't very friendly, but the patrolling shinobi would have helped you."

Naruto frowned at that. "I can't tell who's good or bad. I just avoided everyone and stayed hidden."

Hiruzen sighed. "I will arrange to have a home set up for you." He grabbed a stack of paper from his desk and began sorting through them. "It will most likely be ready by tomorrow morning. So until then, you may stay here."

The Jinchuriki's eyes widened. "A…A house?" He asked, surprised. "Where?"

"That depends entirely on what is available, my boy."

He was getting a house? Just like that? He could hardly believe it. The old man was the Hokage, so he supposed it shouldn't be too hard for him to arrange something like that. But still, he doubted that this old man would just do that without expecting anything in return. Another thought crossed his mind as he sat down on the sofa.

"Don't people that live in houses have to pay for things? Like food and stuff?"

"Don't you worry about that; I will come by every now and then to give you a monthly stipend until you are old enough to enroll as a Shinobi." He gave a pointed look at Naruto. "You do want to become a ninja, do you not?"

"I, uh…I think so."

"Splendid." The third Hokage stood up and picked up the pillow and blanket that Eri had left. "It's getting pretty late, so why don't you go ahead and get some rest?" He placed the blanket and pillow next to the blond boy and went back to his desk. "Tomorrow morning, we'll proceed with moving you into your new home."

Naruto stared at the pillow for a few second. He'd never had one of those before. The orphanage didn't give him one. "Okay…" Laying down on the couch, the Jinchuriki rested his head on the pillow and pulled the blanket over his head.

It didn't take him long to fall asleep.

When Hiruzen came back into his office at 6am, he found the boy already awake, perched on his windowsill that overlooked the village and enjoying the morning sun. "Naruto, get down from there. You'll fall off."

Said boy glanced back at the old man and hopped off, closing the window behind him. "Are we going to the new house now?"

The Hokage couldn't help but smile at the boy's eagerness. "The papers are almost finished, so please, be patient for a few more minutes." He chuckled lightly at the boy's despondent look and walked over to his desk, already getting started on the stack of paperwork.

15 minutes later, the aged kage noticed Naruto's head suddenly turning towards the door and staring at in intently. After a few seconds, the door opened and Eri popped her head in. "Hokage-sama, the paperwork from last night is done."

'Interesting,' The old monkey summoner thought to himself as he observed Naruto. "Thank you Eri. Naruto, we are leaving now. Follow me." The little boy hopped off the couch and quickly fell into step behind the Hokage.

Coincidentally, Naruto's new house wasn't too far away from the back-alley he used to sleep in. It was quite a modest thing. One small bedroom, a kitchen and living room combo and a bathroom with a stand-up shower. It wasn't much, but it was still a drastic improvement from his former living conditions.

As Naruto was busy exploring his new living area -there were windows in every room, thank god- Hiruzen placed a small envelope on the kitchen counter. "Naruto."

Naruto came running out of his bedroom. "Yeah, old man?"

"I had a Genin team furnish your house this morning, you'll find everything you need. I trust you know how to use an oven? Good. This here" He gestured towards the envelope "Is your monthly allowance, use it to buy yourself food and pay your bills every week. Those will only come around once a month, so make sure you don't spend your money on unnecessary things. If you have any questions or you need anything, then you can find me in the Hokage tower, where we were this morning."

Naruto looked over at the envelope before looking over at the living room. A couch was there, as was a dinner table and a few chairs. The bedroom had a bed and a nightstand as well as a cupboard. The kitchen was already full with plates, glasses and silverware. There was a note on the kitchen cabinet that had a list of meats and vegetables he should buy. Even the bathroom already had a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.

Naruto looked back over towards the Hokage, who was patiently waiting for Naruto to take everything in before finally voicing the question that's been niggling at his mind since the previous night.

"Why?"

Hiruzen stared at Naruto. "Why what?"

"Why are you doing all this? The house, the fur-nee-shers-"

"Furnitures." Hiruzen corrected.

"-Furnitures." Naruto frowned once more. "You're even giving me money, and I know that's not normal. So why?"

The Hokage sighed and closed his eyes. "Because Naruto, you are an orphan that's living in the street. It's not healthy, nor is it ethical."

"There are other orphans that don't have a place to live. What about them?"

"You are a special case."

Naruto squinted slightly. "Does it have to do with why everyone hates me?"

"That's enough, Naruto." Hiruzen turned away and made his way towards the front door. "I will be back later with some groceries that you'll need in the future. For now, focus on getting settled in and exploring the rest of your house." And with that, the Third Hokage was gone.

Naruto frowned at the door and looked around his new place. Walking into his new bedroom, he reached inside his pocket and smiled when he looked at his little wooden drum. He walked over to his bed and kneeled down, hiding his toy under the mattress. He'd have to find a better hiding spot for it later on.

And thus, began Naruto's new life.

"I am so sick of vegetables!"

Naruto glared at the inside of his fridge in distaste. Lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots. And that god-awful celery. He recently found out that he hated celery.

It's been 3 months since he moved in to his new place. And while he was glad he didn't have to steal food anymore; he was tired of feeling like cattle.

"I think I have some money left in my allowance…" Opening his new frog wallet, gama-chan, he peered inside and smiled in satisfaction once he saw what he had saved up. Turns out it was a good call after all, now he could go out and splurge a little bit.

Quickly throwing on his orange jacket that old-man-Hokage got for him, the young Jinchuriki opened his window and hopped out, shivering slightly when the cool night air hit his face. He loved this time of day. Despite the cold, the streets of Konoha were bustling with activity. The lights from street lamps and restaurants that were common after dusk gave night-time a mystical feel, which was only enhanced with the faces of the previous Hokages staring down at the village like silent guardians.

Speaking of Hokage, he didn't know what his opinion of the old monkey was. It definitely was a good one, though. He gave him food and shelter, and money to survive. He had stopped by several times to drop off groceries or to make sure he was alright, he was always nice to Naruto and gave him words of encouragement, he smiled at him instead of glaring at him. His constant presence made him a little more used to human interaction.

Even though he was sure there was a deeper reason as to why the third Hokage was so nice to him, he couldn't really bring himself to care. Sometimes he wondered if-

Wait…What was that smell?

That delicious smell of meat being fried, eggs being cooked, dough being stretched and kneaded and cut into perfection, creating this heavenly aroma of perfectly blended ingredients?

Following his nose, Naruto made his way to an unassuming little stand. He could see a man with greying hair and kind eyes working away and making delicious looking bowls of something with a little brunette following him around and attempting to help where she could.

He watched in amazement as the cook expertly placed the meat and narutomaki on top of noodles and broth along with some herbs and garnish before sliding the bowl on the counter and serving a drooling customer. He was so amazed in fact that he almost missed when the cook waved at him.

'Crap!' Quickly turning around, he was about to run for it when he heard him call out to him.

"Hey, it's alright!"

Leaning back, he peeked inside the stand again and saw the noodle chef grin at him while waving him over. "Ya hungry kid?"

That had never happened before. Usually, merchants and cooks chased him out, not invited him in. This could still be a trap, he had to be careful. Naruto cautiously made his way over to the table and stood on his tippy-toes to be able to see over the counter.

The noodle guy gave him a kind smile. "Have a seat! What flavor would you like to try? We've got pork, miso, tonkatsu, vegetab-"

"Miso please!" Naruto quickly interrupted as he climbed up onto the stool. The cook grinned at him and went to work. "Miso it is!"

The young blond watched the chef get started on a new bowl. Placing the meat on the grill, he began stirring the broth that was boiling away in a pot and dropped an egg into a second pot. It was amazing, no movements were wasted; each action were made with the sole purpose of completing the task as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Daddy I wanna help too!" Naruto looked over as the same brunette from before rushed in and tugged on the hem of the older man's shirt.

The cook chuckled and patted her head. "Sure Ayame, why don't you chop some peppers for me?" The little girl Ayame cheered and rushed to get the task completed. "Be careful with the knife!" He added quickly.

Naruto smiled slightly at the sight. Is this what having a parent was like? It looked...Nice

It only took five more minutes for the bowl to be ready. "Here we are, one bowl of miso Ramen for the little mister!" The cook said jovially as he placed the bowl in front of Naruto.

"Ramen?" Naruto asked curiously, deeply inhaling the smell of the heavenly dish.

The ramen cook suddenly turned back around, startling the young boy. "You mean to tell me you've never had ramen before!?" At the blond's head-shake, the cook smiled at Naruto once more. "What's your name kid?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki!"

The cook chuckled. "Uzumaki, eh?" Naruto nodded. "Interesting name." The blond looked up at him curiously. "Well Naruto, you can call me Teuchi. And this over here is my daughter, Ayame." He gestured behind him at the little girl that was putting some of the pots away. "And as celebration for letting me serve you your first bowl of ramen, this one's on the house!"

"Really? Thanks, Teshi!" Teuchi's eyebrow twitched as Naruto mispronounced his name and watched him break his chopsticks apart. "Thank you for the meal!"

The hungry blond picked up a few strings of noodles with his chopsticks and quickly slurped them up. "Woah…This ramen stuff is amazing!" Teuchi smiled proudly as Naruto began shoveling the ramen in his mouth like a starving man. 'He's just like Kushina…' he thought to himself fondly.

"Hey daddy, I can't find the spatula!" Ayame rushed up to Teuchi and noticed the young customer.

"Oh my gosh, your whiskers are so cute!" The 9-year-old exclaimed.

Naruto paused, an indignant look appearing on his face as his cheeks reddened slightly in embarrassment. "They're not whiskers, they're birthmarks…I think." He mumbled that last part to himself.

"Whatever, your whiskers are still cute mister Whiskers!" The whiskered boy groaned as he went back to his ramen.

Teuchi, who was watching the interaction chuckled to himself. "Naruto," he called out getting the blond's attention. The chef smiled at him. "You will always be welcome here."

A warm, alien feeling bloomed in his stomach and he could feel his eyes begin to sting a little. "T-Thank you, Teuchi-san…" He quickly brought the bowl to his lips and pretended to drink from it to hide his moistening eyes.

Maybe things weren't so bad after all…

"So…You're guarding the Uzumaki kid now eh? What'd you do to get stuck with that, Uzuki?" A man with a bandana queried playfully as he chewed on the senbon in his mouth.

"Genma…" chided a woman with red eyes and curly black hair.

"It's alright Kurenai." 'Uzuki' Replied and smiled at Genma. "I requested to."

"You requested to!?" Another man wearing shades asked in surprise. "I thought you 'only lived for the missions' and all that stuff, what happened?"

"Her last mission went south." Hayate, answered Aoba's question. Yugao who was holding his hand in hers squeezed it a little too tight, making Hayate wince slightly.

"It did not." Yugao said in a warning tone to her boyfriend. "I just needed a change of scenery. Taking mission after mission is having it's toll on me." A man with a heavily scarred face laughed at that making accusing eyes turn to him. "Don't even get me started on you, mister I-opted-out-of-a-mission-because-I-had-a-stomach-ache."

Raido's laugh abruptly stopped. "I did!" he shouted indignantly making Yugao roll her eyes.

"Still…" Said Kurenai. "Don't you think it's a bit…boring? I know that Naruto boy isn't exactly like the other kids, but he IS still one."

"It's not that bad." Said the purple haired swordsman as she took a sip from her drink. "It's interesting to see him interact with people. He's a good kid. A bit jumpy, and a bit of a troublemaker, but he's definitely not how people paint him out to be."

The gathered table of Jonin was silent for a few seconds. "Wait, does he even know he's being guarded?" Genma asked suddenly.

Yugao shook her head. "No, we are under strict orders to stay hidden. Unless he notices us, which is unlikely, we cannot directly interact with him."

"Hmm." Genma hummed thoughtfully before turning towards Raido. "So, any idea where the others are?"

"Asuma and Anko are out on a mission." The scarred man began. "And last I heard, Gai got a mini-me…" He finished with a shudder.

"A mini-me?"

"Yeah," He sighed and downed the rest of his sake. "An apprentice. He's making him wear the same horrid stuff as well."

"And Kakashi?"

"Yo." Everyone turned around to see a familiar masked face.

"Kakashi!" Aoba greeted. "Did you hear that Yugao is babysitting kids now? Ow!" The jonin wearing shades yelped as he received a kick in the shin under the table.

Kakashi's eye curled up into a smile. "Oh, I know. She's my partner."

"…" Everyone stared at Kakashi in surprise, save for Yugao who laughed quietly to herself.

"You mean to tell me that the Hokage saw fit to assign one of our best ANBU to a babysitting job?" Kakashi nodded. "Why!?"

"I requested to." He answered, and was rewarded with the stupefied faces of his friends.

Ah, he really did love messing with them.

Naruto had made up his mind.

He was going to become a ninja!

He'd thought long and hard about that ever since the old man Hokage asked him 5 months ago. On one hand, being a ninja was probably super, SUPER dangerous. They played with sharp stuff and spat out fireballs. But on the other hand…They played with sharp stuff and spat out fireballs! How cool was that!?

Of course, that wasn't his only reason. He wanted to become strong. Strong enough to protect those he cared about. Strong enough to protect himself. Stronger than anyone! He wanted to be just like his idol, the fourth Hokage. Now HE was a true hero in his eyes. He died protecting what was important to him, he fought against a natural disaster and killed it!

"-I'm telling you Taji, I got my nii-san to show me how to unlock Chakra!"

The whiskered boy stopped in his tracks and peeked behind a tree. He was at a random training ground right now, hoping to maybe find stray weapons he could start practicing with. But this sounded much too interesting to ignore.

"Eh? No way, I don't believe you."

"It's true!" The first kid that looked about 10 years old exclaimed. "You wanna see?"

A girl with blue-ish hair looked uncertainly between her two friends. "I don't know, Isao…Maybe we should wait until we have an adult with us. It doesn't seem safe…"

Isao just grinned at her confidently. "Don't worry Yui, it'll be fine!" He sat down and crossed his legs. "I think he said you have to meditate like this and look deep within yourself, then you'll feel it."

Taji looked skeptic. "And then…?"

"Then you just…Pull it out?" The girl looked as unconvinced as Taji. "Is it really that easy?"

"Must be! Nii-san wouldn't lie to me!" There was a slight rustle next to them behind the tree and three sets of heads turned towards the noise. "What was that?" Taji asked and quickly ran behind the tree to take a look.

"Huh? There's no one there." The shortest of the three kids looked towards his friends, who just shrugged in similar confusion.

'Look deep within yourself…' Naruto thought to himself as he sprinted his way back to his home. 'All I have to do is close my eyes and look for it.' He grinned. How hard could it be?

The answer is, pretty hard.

Naruto had been trying to meditate and look for that damn feeling for the past 20 minutes and he still couldn't 'feel' anything. He was beginning to think that the kid from the training ground had lied.

But Uzumaki Naruto was nothing if not stubborn. He never gave up! He never had so far and he never will! So once more, he sat down with his legs crossed and concentrated.

"Come on you bastard…" The blond muttered to himself. He squeezed his eyes shut as his face scrunched up in concentration. "Show yourself dammit…"

Gah, still nothing! Maybe he should- Wait! Was that it? He could definitely feel something warm in the pit of his belly now. That must be it! Now all he had to do was grab it and pull it out. He attempted to do just that, reaching for it and pulling hard.

He didn't expect it to pull back, however. What was happening? The feeling felt hot now, too hot. It was painful, like acid boiling in his stomach. He didn't like that; he must have done something wrong. He tried letting go of it but it was too late, the burning feeling seemed to consume him and the acid began to spread through his body. He tried to scream, call out for help, but it seemed his voice had left him as well. All he could do was squirm in agonizing pain.

And just like that, the pain was gone. Gasping, he took in big gulps of air as he caught his breath. Where was he? He definitely wasn't in his room anymore. He was somewhere wet, and dark and cold. Wherever he was, he didn't like it. And what was up with that giant metal cage in front of him!?

A single red eye opened in the dark. But it was big, way too big to be a person or an animal. And it looked very angry too. A sudden pressure crashed onto his shoulders, forcing him to his knees, but nothing was touching him. This was much worse than before. He couldn't breathe, his thoughts were reduced to unintelligible garbles. He saw flashes in his minds of the infinite possible ways he could die right now.

But even through all of that, he heard it. A voice so deep and loud he could feel it reverberate everywhere in this strange place and echo inside his head, like a recording of metal meeting gravel cranked up to a thousand.

"You are not welcome here, warden."

The shivering blond felt himself being forced out of wherever the hell this was, and he suddenly found himself on the floor of his apartment once more, with sweat drenching his clothes and eyes unfocused. He gasped for air as he sat up into a sitting position, trying his best not to throw up his lunch.

What. The. Fuck. Was. That?

AN: I know I know, things are pretty slow right now, but I'm just setting the tone for the story! Things will pick up soon, I promise!

By the way for those curious, Naruto's toy is that toy that Minato buys him in the Storm 4 cutscene videogame. I don't think it's anywhere in the manga or anime though. If you want to see it, just look up then watch the cutscenes that happen during the Naruto vs Kyuubi fight