Chapter Two: preparations for an early start;
It had been nearly a year, at least so far as Kushina could tell. It had been nearly a year since she and her husband had sealed the demon inside their son and Kushina was furious. Kushina had not been idle this last year. If anything, you'd call her overworked. Between channeling chakra, and studying jutsu and training methods as preparation for Naruto in the library, Kushina spent all her time interacting with her son and controlling his body everyday to make sure he actually ate.
That's right, she had to take control of her own son's body and drag it to get food out of the refrigerator because the shinobi assigned to feed her kid and look after him willfully neglected his duty. 'I should have known when I entrusted his care to Hiruzen he'd pass it off to the first shinobi he could and wash his hands of the whole thing'
Not to be mistaken, there was more than one shinobi taking care of her son, It just so happens that this genin was assigned to her son as a punishment, specifically to care for him. The problem is, a Jinchuriki almost can't starve to death. They can get hungry, or even sick from it, but neither that hunger nor that sickness would lay them low so long as they actually did eat.
This genin hated her son, loathed him even, and had figured out long ago he could neglect his duty and watch Naruto squirm and cry out in hunger because to the outside world it would still look like he took care of the boy. Afterall, Naruto would just appear hungry to anyone that bothered to check up on him... which happened a grand total of once. The Anbu assigned to watch over and protect Naruto either weren't paying enough attention to realize it, or didn't care about it all together.
It had taken Kushina WEEKS to figure out how to control Naruto's body for him. In the end, she had to create a contract of sorts using her Fuinjutsu that gave her control over his body, in exchange for the restriction of only using it when Naruto approved of it. She didn't even know how she came up with it but she got the idea after giving up on performing genjutsu on Naruto from within his body. She just couldn't bring herself to wrench control from her own son without his permission.
Up until the moment she came to that solution she had been suppressing Naruto's hunger and circulating his chakra in a way that would preserve his strength so he wouldn't suffer any ill effects. That was just to speak of the ill effects of starving an infant of physical nutrition. 'What of the ill effects of starving my child of intellectual stimulation though!?' Seething with rage, Kushina would often think to herself when worrying about her son's development.
One of Kushina's biggest burdens was helping her son in his mental growth. Most parents achieved this with toys, stories, and puzzles, but Kushina couldn't directly talk to Naruto. She couldn't give him toys or puzzles either. Being able to crawl to and scale the fridge and counter for milk and baby food was already hard to achieve, there's just no way for her to go out to get some toys for little Naruto.
The most Kushina could do for Naruto was project images and sounds and feelings. If she put all her effort into it she could even sing for Naruto or talk to him... but only ever in his dreams. When he's awake, the most he could sense was her love. Of course, Kushina abused the hell out of her limited interaction with Naruto. She told him stories every night in his sleep and showed him images of all the cool and beautiful places she's been. She even told him about his father's personal life, like how when he came to rescue her once when she had been kidnapped, he tripped and fell at her feet and made her swear not to tell anyone.
Luckily it seemed Naruto would remember these dreams, he had even learned to speak a little somewhere around 9 months old. His first word was hungry, and when she saw him say it, it broke her heart because the only thing the genin did was snort and glare at him like he was dirt. It was that night that she told him she'd get him food and showed herself getting it, only, she showed herself as a fox.
He had memories of going to bed hungry and waking up full before, but now he seemed to realize it had been this fox feeding him. This fox that had told him it was his mother. That told him stories of his father and legendary shinobi and samurai of the past. Though he hadn't understood most of it, her voice was still very soothing and he liked to listen to her.
It didn't take long for Naruto to start focusing all his attention on the fox. When he was awake he'd think of the fox and when he was asleep he'd see her, only he couldn't directly talk to her. He wasn't lonely when he slept, but if he asked for something, to be hugged or told a story, he had to wait a while for her to catch up and do what he wanted.
Of course, Kushina would do her best to anticipate what Naruto would want, and every dream would start with a hug, but sometimes Naruto got curious and asked things like what a word meant or what it was because Kushina either hadn't given an image for that thing or Naruto hadn't realized that image was that thing; so Kushina came up with a rule that Naruto should wait until she was done with a story to ask all his questions or if it was a really important one he could ask her and they would focus on that once she could prepare her answer.
Naruto didn't like waiting for her answers because it meant less time with his mom. Unimportant questions, his mom could be ready for. She had prepared quick responses to things that could pop up in her stories. It wasn't perfect, mostly because she would sometimes take for granted that he had already learned something that had come up in stories before, but most of the time he wouldn't have to wait long for answers to things he had been wondering about in the stories.
Naruto wasn't an idiot either, he figured out how to separate the things that might not be easy to answer to save for later. Naruto had figured out how to quickly memorize the things he wanted to ask and as long as he repeated his questions when he woke up, his mom would start off the next dream going into what he had been curious about. It might have helped that Kushina could see him scrunch up his face in the cutest forced concentration expression every time his eyes shined in a part of her story.
In this way, mother and son fell into a routine that revolved around stories, exercise, stealing food, and studying. Yes, Kushina had Naruto study. He would learn about all kinds of things that any young child might with a tutor. From the existence of chakra to how to tell when food has gone bad and even how to read and write.
While any time spent with his mom was fun, Naruto especially liked when she led him on wild chases in his dreams where he saw many things, animals and even people as they went about their daily lives. He learned about many things like money and how certain foods tasted like and how to collect certain wild mushrooms and fruit and how to cook them so they would be delicious. She would sometimes have him practice different fighting moves in preparation for the day he could be a superhero. She did warn him though that he would need to practice them while awake to actually learn them, she was just showing him how.
Naruto learned about camping and fishing because when he asked for a way to make sure he could always eat his mom promised him that when he's older he could get all the food he wanted that way just by going and getting it himself. What Naruto didn't like for sure however, was seals. The most boring subject in the world, and he couldn't even use them yet, he was just learning basic theory.
No, Naruto's favorite pastime now while awake was exercising and practicing his fighting forms. As well as a toddler could anyway. He fell more often than he'd achieved anything but he always got back up. Naruto hadn't known yet that he had nearly infinite stamina, nor that other kids couldn't move around as much as he could. This brought no small amount of disgust from his caretaker however, as he looked at Naruto as less and less of a human being as time went on. Of course the man had asked Naruto what he was doing and where he learned that but Naruto had already found out this man was never going to be nice to him or treat him any differently, so with a mischievous grin on his face he said:
"Well I was watching you mister and decided you weren't very cool, so I'd figured I could just train and one day show you how cool a top level fighter can be! Afterall, My goal is to be the strongest Hokage, but there's nothing stopping me from showing you a thing or two along the way. Believe it!"
The blood vessel bursting on the ninja's forehead that day was only bested by the laughter of the strange man in the mask that fell out of a tree in surprise. Naruto liked that man, he was funny the way he always wore that goofy outfit and climbed stuff all the time. Of course the genin couldn't do anything to really reprimand a toddler but an Idea did come into his mind to help him get rid of the brat sooner rather than later.
It was this change that led to him feeding Naruto the last three weeks and even tutoring him in math and teaching home upkeep. He figured, this way, Naruto would be able to live on his own within half a year. He had gotten the idea when he realized Naruto had developed a lot and could talk way better than he should be able to. Since his punishment was just until Naruto could live on his own, he figured after making him self sufficient there'd be nothing left for him to do, since the groceries could just be delivered anyway and he was sure the Hokage would eventually let him just hand the brat an allowance to go buy it all himself.
It was this time of study that appeased Kushina. Though the way the man looked at her son irritated her to no end, she too couldn't wait for Naruto's independence. As soon as the man had left Naruto's vicinity she would be able to awaken his chakra and help him in sensing and controlling it. There was a reason Uzumaki focused on Fuinjutsu, such vast amounts of chakra made precise control very hard to achieve, a control that just isn't necessary for creating seals and using Fuinjutsu based abilities. With her there to personally train him, he'd get the benefit of learning precise control from a Jonin who could show him exactly how to do it using his own chakra.
Perhaps the reason why Naruto studied so seriously and progressed that fast is that she had taught him the same stuff and explained to him the man's plan, albeit in a more positive way, and plus she told him that she'd be able to start really training him how to do some cool stuff once the man was gone. Of course she could tell Naruto was bummed even though he knew the guy hadn't suddenly changed his mind about him, he just couldn't help enjoying the somewhat positive attention he was finally receiving.
Kushina had plans she could now put forward. She would finally get to train Naruto in basic chakra control, and in fighting off the nine-tails chakra still sealed within him. By introducing him to it more and more, little by little, she was sure she could get him completely adept at it before the Beasts Yin chakra could regenerate and tear away from her control. In fact, Kushina could tell she had at most 8 years before she lost control of that connection to her son, and he would have to face the demon on his own.
Kushina would capitalize on that time, and teach him how to enter his mindscape and access the library within....
(8 months later)
Naruto was laying on his bed. It was spring now and Naruto had gone out for the first time today. He didn't understand it. When his mom told him that the man had been punished when he was made to take care of him, Naruto thought that was why the man hated him. 'So why were they all looking at me like that?'
'I didn't do anything, I just bumped into that girl and her dad glared at me with those eyes. Those same eyes that man had. He called me a pest and spat on the ground. He wiped the girl down like just touching me had somehow made her dirty. I'm not dirty!'
"Don't go near that boy"
"Dad, why not?" - "He's a bad influence. Just remember to stay away, Let's go"
'I had apologized and just when I thought I was going crazy when he said that, I looked around for help and the only people that were looking at me had that same look in their eyes. Why do they look at me like that? And why was everyone else avoiding me!?'
Naruto had probably spent an hour like that tormenting himself before his stomach growled. He didn't even feel like getting up but he had promised his mom to always eat the three meals of the day. Hopping off the bed, he made it to the kitchen where he made himself a meal out of some leftover rice and milk. He'd fry some vegetables for breakfast tomorrow.
What followed was a night of dreams where his mother explained to him that people weren't always nice and that even otherwise good people could hurt you out of ignorance just by watching and copying what the people around them were doing.
When Naruto asked why they had to be mean to him, the answer had shocked him. They didn't; there was nothing he had done to make them angry with him or want to hurt him. His mother explained to him that there was nothing wrong with him. Some people were just afraid or full of hatred, and didn't know where to direct that hatred, so even though they might know what they were doing was wrong, they'd still do it anyways, and the people in control of themselves would just avoid him as the better alternative to punishing him for something they logically knew he hadn't even done and wasn't responsible for.
Of course this wasn't the full answer but Kushina also told him that most of those people probably avoided him so they could avoid confrontation with those unreasonable people that hurt him. It had brought small comfort to him as he remembered the nice old lady at the shop that offered him a candy that morning.
(A/N: For anyone that may be wondering, I don't think most civilians had any opinion about Naruto until they started hearing about him vandalizing things and sneaking into the women's bath. Their thoughts were probably, 'poor kid', since unlike the shinobi and their relatives, the regular civilians didn't have some family member's death to blame on the boy. The mask shop guy was definitely shinobi affiliated.)
Naruto decided with his mom that he could still look forward to making friends, but he should avoid unreasonable people who would blame him for things he never did. It never even crossed his mind why they would blame him, he had always been blamed, except by his mom, but when it was pointed out that some people didn't feel that way about him at all he did become a bit curious.
The next day Naruto woke up and did his early morning chores. He ate breakfast, swept the floor, and took out the trash. He had been living alone for a couple of months now, but since he had been forced to wait for warmer weather before his mom said it was ok to go outside, he decided he would start his exploration again and find some places to have fun.
Unlike yesterday, Naruto didn't get quite so distracted with everything around him from the birds to small bugs and the laughing children he'd caught glimpses of pointing butterflies and flowers out to their parents while they praised them. Naruto was a little more interested in the stores and had already planned to go to the park later that day to meet children his age and hopefully get to play with them.
Of course there were the ninja training grounds where people would throw kunai at targets and beat up dummies or spar each other, but his mother had warned him that the people that were unreasonably mean to him were probably ninjas so he should avoid them. Naruto was jealous of the kids that could stick around and just watch them openly but his mom was already showing him how he would need to train in the future so he didn't need to watch some genin train to learn anything.
Naruto paid close attention not to bump into anyone today and he noticed that his mom was right, not everyone was avoiding him and the ones that glared at him only did so if they noticed him. The same guy from yesterday hadn't even seen him today and left him alone when he walked by on the other side of the street.
On the less crowded streets people avoided him more often but it still wasn't that often so Naruto decided he would stick to the busier streets for now. It still bothered him but if there were nice people in this world like that old granny, Naruto would rather be one of them instead of care about a bunch of idiots.
Unfortunately Naruto couldn't buy anything in the shops he visited. He could only look through the merchandise. Some of the shopkeepers got angry about it, even throwing him out. The comic book shop keeper got angry when he started reading in store and threw him out with a broom yelling, "THIS ISN'T A LIBRARY!".
Some kid chuckled at him after seeing him get thrown out, "Why don't you just ask your mom to by it for you? Are you stupid or something?".
"She can't... I don't understand why he cares though, it's not like I ripped any of the pages!" Naruto kicked a rock in frustration.
"Well it's his shop, he's gotta make money somehow, doesn't he?"
"I suppose... But I don't have any money, how can I buy comics from him? Do you think If I explain myself he'll understand and let me read them?"
"Might be worth trying, I don't really know though." With that, the kid that looked at least a year older than him waved at him and ran off to join his mother who was calling him to meet her friends.
Naruto suppressed his jealousy before reflecting on the conversation. 'That kid was nice, if a bit rude... Well, here goes'
"Hey mister, do you think I could read any of your comics please? I promise to be careful, It's just I don't have any money to buy them..."
"I can't just have you in here standing around and loitering like that even if you are careful. Plus what if other kids see me giving you special treatment huh? they'll all want free comics."
"I don't really want them for free, is there anything I can do for you then? I'll take out your trash or sweep your shop."
The man behind the counter looked him up and down. 'Looks like an orphan then, obviously no ones taking care of him judging by his outfit but why isn't he in the orphanage?'
"Look kid, you're too small to work. Still, sometimes I get damaged goods and I can't exactly sell them. I throw most of them out, but the ones that are just missing a cover or come just a little crumpled or torn, I give away to the orphanage. If you come by on Fridays, and deliver them for me, I'll let you borrow three comics every week, but you must take care of them, and you have to return them."
'Maybe they'll see him and realize he needs help. Obviously he isn't starving, but no one lets their kid that's barely old enough to walk explore Konoha alone. The kid can barely tie his shoes, and he needs a haircut! Hopefully she will set him straight'
"Yes! I promise sir, my name's Naruto by the way." - "...Dairoku, now get out of here brat, I don't want to see you till Friday"
"Yes Dairoku-san, see you Friday then!" Naruto gave a full bow before running out of the shop, beaming.
'So precious! I'll have to save this memory in my album!' Kushina squealed to herself seeing her son grin from ear to ear. She was honestly relieved seeing her son smile that way. Up until now he had only smiled like that for her, so seeing him honestly happy interacting with people gave her justification to hope everything was going to be alright.
Naruto hadn't seen the man smile or anything, but he had a feeling the man was actually really nice. 'I wonder what mom thinks of my new friend?'
Naruto quickly decided that was a question for later as he walked down the street and spotted his target. There was the mask shop his mom told him about. The one that sold those funny masks that guy in the weird outfit wore when he came to his house, and when he fell out of that tree that one time.
The weird thing was, he changed his mask from time to time between a bear and a wolf, and always just stayed out of view climbing things and wearing his hood even on hot days, but Naruto just figured he was getting a better spot to search for villains and spies that might terrorize the neighborhood. 'I wonder what his secret identity is. Must be hard being a superhero...'
Shaking the distractions out of his head Naruto went inside the shop and picked up a fox shaped mask. "Hey mister! Anything I can do for you to buy this mask? I don't have any money but I'll work it off or save up to pay you back"
As Naruto gave his biggest smile, he was firmly pushed out the door and the mask was ripped out of his hands and thrown at his feet. "You want the mask? Fine, take it! But a pest like you better not show your face here again you hear me? Scram!"
"What's going on there?"-"I heard that's the boy that got the Fourth Hokage killed."
"Wasn't he an infant at the time? How could he-"-"It's a big secret, we aren't supposed to talk about it. Hell, I'm not even supposed to know, but apparently he's that..."
It was then that an officer from the Konoha police force showed up, but he didn't intervene. All he did was glare at the gossips and the crowd dispersed on its own. The man was an Uchiha and his indifferent, and distrusting glance at Naruto was all he needed to see that even the police wasn't on his side.
Naruto didn't know what they were mumbling about but he didn't like that look on their faces. They didn't look like they hated him, but they obviously thought he'd done something.
"Fine, who would want to come to a shop where the owner likes to push children around anyways!" A bitter look on Naruto's face, he picked up the mask and left with those words. He wouldn't be returning here just to get pushed around for no reason. The couple of glares that followed him as he said that were more than enough of a deterrent.
Kicking rocks on the way, Naruto gave up on window shopping for the day. Instead he went to the park his mom told him about. The one the civilian children used. He spent the rest of the day playing in the sand box or playing tag until the other kids had to go home and he was left alone on the swing set. Naruto could play with the older kids and even wore them out from all the running. He was fast for his age, and hard to catch.
'Ah, Naruto. I'm sorry I sent you to get that mask but I need it to teach you that seal. I'm glad you had fun with those kids though' As Kushina planned to guide him in the seal's creation tonight, she figured it would take a few weeks for him to be able to complete it. It had already been several months since she started training him to sense his chakra, so with her help making sure he didn't stop the flow of chakra into the seal prematurely, all it would take is for him to practice the calligraphy, and learn the meaning of the runes.
Naruto's walk home was lonely, and his dinner was cold, but he decided the day was a good day. He had a warm bath when he stopped at the community bathhouse on his way back, which he thought was an interesting experience. In just a few days he would get his comics, but tonight he would find out what the mask was for.
If only he knew it was Fuinjutsu practice, he wouldn't be looking forward to it at all...