(Naruto – Age 4)

"Come on jiji! Let me be a ninja already!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage massaged his temples as he looked down at the little blonde boy who had a determined look on his face. He had been visiting the boy in order to give him a monthly allowance and help him shop for groceries as he lived alone. It might be odd that a little boy like this lives alone, instead of with his parents or in an orphanage, but the little boy held within him a massive little deterrent that kept most from wanting to care for him.

Naruto Uzumaki held within him the ultimate biju, the Kyuubi no Yoko. The same demon that had attacked and nearly annihilated Konohagakure no Sato, the village in which this story takes place.

"Naruto I can't let you enter the academy."

Naruto's face scrunched up, trying to decipher why, "But jiji, you told me other kids ninja as young as me training as ninja, why can't I?"

Hiruzen did have to admit to that nugget of truth. Clans in Konoha such as the Uchiha and the Hyuuga trained their children from around the time they could walk to become shinobi. Kakashi Hatake had graduated from the academy at the age of 5 and even been promoted to chunin at the age of 6, same for other prodigious ninja such as Itachi Uchiha. Hiruzen knew it was somewhat hypocritical of him to deny Naruto the same chance that they received.

But the people of Konoha would never accept the 'demon spawn' training in the ninja arts right in front of them, this was more for Naruto's safety. The worst thing to him was that he couldn't even tell Naruto why he couldn't allow him to join. That the irrational fear the village as a whole had of him being the Kyuubi reincarnated wouldn't allow them to see him as just a little boy that wanted to prove himself to them all.

Hiruzen patted Naruto's head and looked down at him patronizingly, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun. Maybe one day soon I can let you join, but not now." Naruto watched the old man walk towards his door and shut it on his way out.

XxX

Naruto walked aimlessly around Konoha, trying to ignore the looks that he wasn't getting. He didn't get why jiji didn't want him to be a ninja. He knew he would be the best ninja ever, that was all he would settle for, no matter how hard he had to work.

There was something he wasn't getting, and trying to think about it made his head hurt. Eventually, by the time he had stopped pondering all of the absurd reasons that he wouldn't be allowed into the academy (He even came up with a strange conspiracy that there was some sort of demi-god stuck inside of him and everybody knew but him… crazy right?) he found himself atop his favorite place in the village, Hokage Mountain.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

Naruto whipped around suddenly to see a man with his head and one eye in bandages, and his right arm in a sling, also wrapped up. Naruto couldn't feel any real malicious intent from the man so he allowed him to come closer. He stopped next to Naruto and looked out at the view from the top of the mountain, "Truly being a ninja to protect this village is something that I've always felt is well worth the sacrifice."

Naruto's eyes widened, but then he looked away sadly, "Jiji won't let me be a ninja. I don't know why though… I mean I'll work hard, and I know I'd be good at it."

The man made a noise as if he was thinking of Naruto's words, "You would really work hard? You would do whatever you had to in order to become the greatest ninja you could be?"

Naruto grinned widely at the man, "Not just the best ninja I can be, the best ninja ever, dattebayo!"

The man had a small smirk upon his lips, "Well then, I think I'd like to take a hand in training the greatest ninja ever. How would you like to be a ninja for me?"

Naruto's grin could have split his face as he latched onto the man excitedly, "Thank you, thank you! I can really be a ninja?"

The man held Naruto off of him, "Little boy, the first thing a ninja should know is to never show emotion. I can understand your excitement, but when we begin training I do not want to see that from you. Do you understand?"

Naruto cowed himself and nodded, "Ano, um I don't even know your name…"

The man turned and motioned Naruto to follow, "You may call me Danzo…"