Disclaimer-This story idea or characters does not belong to me the story idea belongs to NXSE on fanfiction.net and the characters belong to KISHIMOTO the owner of Naruto.
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Konohagakure no sato
Hokage tower
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Sarutobi groaned.
This was going to be a long day...
(Timeskip 5 years)
Naruto sat in his room in the orphanage, gazing out the window with a fond smile. His private room had all the basic amenities a child his age could ask for : a comfortable bed, a desk, some bookshelves with picture books, and a closet full of clothes. He even lived a normal life just like any other orphan did, at least one who could pay for these luxuries should live like that is.
Hiruzen had threatened the orphanage owners to shut it down if they tried anything fishy, and have them arrested on grounds of treason to their Kage if it was proved in any which way that they were involved in hampering the child's growth in any manner - direct or indirect. Needless to say, the workers at the orphanage had treated him pretty fairly, but even then they kept their distance from him, and even kept all the children there away from him in fear of retribution from the orphanage's owners.
Naruto didn't know why, but they said that he was bad. Even though he couldn't remember what he had done so bad to hurt them. He had every single one of the basic amenities needed for a child his age, but he was still very lonely. They never even let him play outside in the park, always saying that it was dangerous for him to go out and that he should stay inside for his own good. Naruto wondered why it wasn't dangerous for the others to go outside, but nevertheless complied with his wardens wishes. He kept reading picture books after picture books, and ever since they started to teach his peers how to read and write properly, Naruto had the option of reading simple story books to pass his time. He still craved for friends, and something new to do outside the village would be pretty nice though.
Tomorrow was the Tenth of October - the day his idol, the Fourth Hokage, defeated the Kyūbi and killed it while sacrificing himself. Naruto had heard that story practically a thousand times, but he just couldn't get enough of it. The Fourth was so cool. The orphanage workers had once told them of the tale when the man had fought tooth and nail in the final battles of the third great shinobi war.
The man had stood tall and proud in front of a thousand shinobi - all alone - after his comrades were killed, and he had to defend the Kannabi bridge, or the Leaf would have lost the war after losing that front. At that moment, it was said, that the Fourth used his legendary Hiraishin no Jutsu and disappeared and reappeared all around the battlefield through the kunai's he had spread around beforehand, and had defeated one less than a thousand of his enemies all alone.
It was said that he had left one enemy alive on purpose, just so that he could go back and tell the enemies of their loss and how the Leaf could have won the war almost single-handedly at any given point. That battle had given him the name "Yellow Flash", and the man was given a SS class rating in Bingo Books. Naruto didn't know what that funky sounding book was, but it must have been just as cool, if not more. He was the Fourth Shinobi ever to reach a SS-ranking, after only Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha - the people who found his village. The Fourth was the only person ever to get a flee on sight order from his enemies in the history of the elemental nations. That meant that you won't make it back alive if he even caught a glimpse of you.
How cool was that!
His version of the Hiraishin no Jutsu was considered one of the deadliest jutsus in the world to this day. As Naruto had heard the tale, he had forged stars in his eyes and had made him his idol : his goal. He wanted to surpass the Fourth Hokage one day, and make everyone idolize him like that too. Tomorrow, the village was going to celebrate the defeat of the Kyūbi, the strongest of the demons, at the hands of his idol and he wanted to go see it. He was going to ask the people at the orphanage if he could go out tomorrow. Each year, he asked the kind old man who gave him various kinds of gifts to take him there, since every warden seemed to hear what he said with one ear and flick it out the next. But each time the old man told Naruto not to go to the festival, it was dangerous for him. Grr!~
When he had asked why it was dangerous for only him, the old man had told him that he would tell him later - when he ready. Naruto had begrudgingly agreed with the man, seeing as he was the one person who cared the most for him anyways. Why, Naruto didn't know, but the man did, and he was glad for it.
It was common sense not to look a gift horse in the mouth, after all.
Hiruzen was presently sitting in his office, clearing stacks upon stacks of paperwork due for the festival tomorrow, and he needed all his active shinobi inside the village - not on missions - to secure it from outside threats. Then, his thoughts turned to his favorite ball of sunshine.
Naruto had grown up to be such a nice boy. The innocence in those bright baby blue eyes was intoxicating. The way they sparkled with mischief, and his goofy foxy grin was so much like Minato that it wasn't even funny. One of his wardens had even commented as such, causing Sarutobi to nearly have a seizure, before scoffing the very idea off, much to the shaking Hokage's relief. He was smart like his father too, since, apparently, he had obtained his intelligence as well as his looks from his father. Hiruzen had kept his promise to Minato, and had tried to give him the best of what life had to possibly offer for an orphan child. He gave him all the material things that the boy could ask for, but knew Naruto yearned for one thing in particular, and didn't care about those physical things like other kids around him did.
Friends.
Hiruzen had tried to talk to him about it, but he always said he was fine. His trained eyes always caught that pang of loneliness flash through Naruto's eyes which made his heart ache in anguish, the boy was as transparent as a glass pane for his eyes gave him away nearly every time Naruto tried to hide something. He hadn't seen the horrors like Minato had to come to conceal his emotions, but money and power could only buy a child so much - except friends.
Hiruzen couldn't force people to like Naruto, but he was saddened that they disrespected their hero's last wishes. Hiruzen had yet to hear a word from Kushina, but he had gotten several letters from the Daimyo saying they were living well and were very happy. His student, Jiraiya, had apparently also been in constant contact with Kushina and his daughters, and was now like a grandfather to them - Hiruzen had nearly rolled his eyes at that. Ever since he was evicted from the toad summoning contract, Jiraiya had toned down on his spying, and come to see how much he had relied on the toads for infiltration, and was now concentrating on training the twins to nurture the 'child of prophecy'.
That wasn't the only disappointment life had to offer for Sarutobi, however.
Tsunade too had gone to the fire capital to the Senju property, and was currently gambling, and drowning the Senju fortune in sake and debts. Apparently, Jiraiya had returned to the Konoha hospital, black and blue, two-three times after the beatings Tsunade and Kushina gave him for his corrupt ways. Evidently, the twins too had come to inherit Kushina's special, dense chakra, further solidifying Jiraiya's beliefs in them being the children of prophecy. Hiruzen sighed, each one of his students had failed him in one way or another, but Hiruzen was resolved not to repeat that same mistakes with Naruto.
He would show the boy the true path of a shinobi, just like Minato had entrusted him to. He would pass on his will of fire to the boy. Tomorrow was his birthday, Hiruzen mused with a smile, and he had already bought Naruto's gifts', knowing full well that he would be ecstatic seeing them. But then, there was the matter of the Kumo delegation coming tomorrow, and he knew he wouldn't be free until much later in the night.
Hiruzen looked at his forearm to see a tracking and alerting seal branded on his flesh. He had placed one on Naruto, and it would stay with him until the boy could handle himself. He had placed it on him when he was three, and it would burn on his forearm if the boy was in a life threatening danger.
At that moment, Hiruzen didn't know how little time he had to test his seal.
Next Day
Naruto woke up bright and early, since, tonight, he was going to go to the festival and celebrate with the others. He would finally see the festival in honor of his hero. He had even been saving some money for this day, and would make sure to enjoy himself to the fullest, and maybe even make some friends out there if he was lucky. He walked out to the mess, and had breakfast, and then a light lunch as the evening came by.
Naruto walked up to the orphanage workers, and decided to ask them if he could go out.
Maybe they'd say yes, if he was lucky?
Who knew...?
They looked at him questionably though when he began speaking up, "Can I go to the festival tonight, please?" Naruto asked. Shyly shuffling on his feet, Naruto tried to contain his anxiety as best as possibly. Just as an orphanage worker was about to refuse, another kept a firm hand over his shoulder and gave him a sly smile.
The first one returned the smile, "Of course you can, kid," they grinned in unison. "Go on and enjoy yourself. Maybe you can try and make some friends out there too while you're at it." they offered kindly.
"Really?!" Naruto chirped.
"Of course," they nudged him out the door to further bait the blonde, who looked at them happily with a grin and proceeded to run out of the orphanage with a hop to his feet.
The lot of them cackled excitedly, "Tonight the village will definitely be rid of the demon."
Naruto was running out the streets in joy. He came up to several stalls, played games, and ate several delicious things. The merchants were from different villages, so they didn't throw him out, or even talk to him rudely for that matter. Many of the villagers were glaring coldly at him, but the boy was too happy to notice. He was walking through the crowd when he was suddenly pushed into an alley, and Naruto looked up to see three men with strange white eyes looking at him - probably blind - while Naruto got up and dusted himself off.
"Can I help you, mister?" he asked him politely, though the man grew furious.
"Yes. You can die for me, demon." he yelled. They ran towards the blonde with a kunai, and Naruto took off in fright. They chased him as he weaved, ducked and ran through alleys, and then saw a fence in front of him. He jumped on a wooden box, then on a big closed dumpster, and then over the fence. Naruto turned to see the men and how far they were, but watched in horror when they threw a slew of ten kunai knives at him, and Naruto felt fear clutch his chest.
How was he supposed to dodge them mid-air?
Naruto's heart rate accelerated, blood pressure increased, and he unconsciously channeled a huge pulse chakra to the veins behind his eyes. As soon as his eyes were flooded with enough chakra, the world around him grew sharper. He could even make out the wings of insects flying in the air, and saw that the kunai knives that were too fast for him to decipher, now appeared to be moving towards him in slow motion. Confused, Naruto grabbed onto one of them in mid-air, and started deflecting the rest of them. He managed to deflect seven of them, but wasn't able to finish the last two even though he could argue that they were a lot slower than he was; one of which lodged itself in his right shoulder, the other in his left thigh.
Naruto howled in pain, and fell down.
He crawled back into the corner of the dead-end to the alley and brought his knees to his chest defensively. He curled up into a ball, knowing he couldn't escape now. Naruto whimpered, and waited for the pain to come just as they started kicking his small body, and his cries for help were drowned in the loud music adorning the festival behind this hell.
"Did you see his eyes?" one of them exclaimed as he launched another kick.
"Yes, seems as if he has the Sharingan. Is he an Uchiha?!" the other one asked.
"No one has activated the Sharingan at so young an age. The demon must have stolen them from a corpse. Serves him right that we are here to witness it's true colors," the third one devised, and they started kicking him even more viciously. Naruto could do nothing but take it all. It hurt so much, but why were they hitting him? He wasn't a demon, was he?
His mind closed in on itself as he numbed out from the pain, and fell unconscious. But they continued beating him, not bothered by his poor state in the slightest. They wanted to kill him slowly, and woefully become the silent heroes of the village that avenged their savior on the night of his noble sacrifice.
The village would surely hail them come dawn, for sure.
A few minutes prior
The Hokage Tower
Council Chambers
Hiruzen was sitting in his office, talking with the Kumo delegation who were making illegible demands for the treaty. It looked as if they weren't even interested in the treaty, but were here for something else entirely. What it was, he couldn't figure out, but damn did he want to get out of her right now knowing that Naruto would be eagerly waiting for him in the orphanage.
These idiots were wasting precious time on his grandson's birthday, damn it!
Then, he suddenly felt a burning sensation light up on his forearm, and his eyes widened in abject horror seeing the tracking and danger seal of Naruto glow a bright, and dreadful red. Hiruzen stood up abruptly, throwing back his chair in the process, and the room fell silent when Hiruzen disappeared in a torrent of flames with only one thought coursing through his mind.
Naruto, hold on, I'm coming...
Back in the alleyway
Naruto was currently drifting in and out of consciousness. The pain wouldn't let him fall unconscious even though he was starting to feel completely numb. His heart, right now, was just accepting death, even with a happy beat on thinking that he might get to see his parents now. There was a serene, innocent smile on his blood stained face. Suddenly, a massive killing intent flooded the alleyway, and the three felons stopped their ministrations and turned around in fright. They made the mistake of gazing into the furious eyes of the "Professor", and two of them fell to their knees from fright while the third one managed to squeak through gasps.
"W-Welcome, Hokage-sama." he stuttered in greeting. "My Lord, we were just about to finish what the Fourth started. You are just in the nick of time." he offered, and felt a sudden pain rock his arms and legs. His mind went blank in horror seeing two kunai embedded in each of his limbs to the hilt, bracing him tightly against the wall as if he were being crucified.
"Bird,Weasel," Hiruzen barked to the ANBU behind him. "Take them back to Ibiki and Anko for interrogation, and tell those two to execute these bastards as soon as they are finished telling the details, I don't even care if they are Hyuga's or Uchiha's. Then, call Hiashi to my office, first thing tomorrow morning, or tell him there won't be a main branch of the Hyuga at sunset anymore. Those are orders from their Hokage, am I making myself clear?!" he roared, and the ANBU knelled behind him dutifully.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" both yelled in unison, and disappeared with the prisoners. Hiruzen knelled beside the curled up blonde, who was covered head to toe in blood, slickly pulled out knives from his little body, and gasped at seeing his active Sharingan visible through his half-lidded eyes.
Naruto had activated it, at only five?!
Preposterous!
Not even Madara, or Itachi had done it at that young an age!
Hiruzen was horrified though, when he saw Naruto smiling a serene smile.
Why the fuck was he smiling?!
"Naruto-kun, please," Hiruzen gently murmured. "You must wake up. Do not fall asleep, child." he said, shaking him up as Naruto's eyes opened a bit.
Still smiling, he spoke, "Jiji? Is that you *cough*...*cough*..." he coughed. Hiruzen's eyes clouded in a haze, but he held back his tears.
"Yes, it's me, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen croaked. "Hold on, little one." he said, hoisting Naruto in his arms as Hiruzen took to the roofs, and started zigzagging through them to the hospital.
"Jiji, am I going to meet tou-chan now...?" Naruto whispered dizzily. The dam that Hiruzen was holding back broke free, and he increased his pace manifolds. The child's body wasn't even in the condition to handle a Shunshin no Jutsu! The boy was smiling, because he was sure that was going to die - that he was about to meet his father! Naruto had constantly nagged him about his parent's identities, but he had always dodged it saying his father was a hero of the village, and that one day, when he was old enough, Hiruzen would tell him about it. His innocent mind wasn't even registering the pain, Naruto was instead happy to have a chance to meet his father.
"No, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen sniffled. "Not yet, you still have a lot of things to do before you meet him, child." he whispered through tears, as his feet reached the hospital. Hiruzen rushed in through the doors, and stood in the middle of the waiting area.
"MEDICS!" Hiruzen yelled as a team of doctors surrounded him, and took the bloodied boy from his arms, rushing to his treatment.
The doctors only saw him as the patient, as were their rules, thankfully.
No emotions with the patients, they were taught.
Hiruzen had to wait outside the Emergency Room while they treated him for almost three hours before one of them came out.
Hiruzen stood up and rushed near him in a frenzy. "How is he, doctor?!"
"He is safe now." The doctor tried to ease his worries. "We have treated, and stitched all his injuries as well as plastered his fractures. He is healing at an unnatural rate though, and will probably wake up by tomorrow afternoon." was all he said before going off, and Hiruzen sighed in relief. He fell back in his chair. To think his grandson wrapped in bandages on his birthday - silent tears rolled down Hiruzen's eyes. Suddenly, his eyes hardened and his throat constricted.
"Inu, Weasel!" Hiruzen barked, with the two ANBU appeared behind him, kneeling.
"Go to Naruto's orphanage staff. Arrest everyone there, and take them to Ibiki for questioning. After interrogation is done, those found even with the slightest hand in this incident will be executed. No questions asked. Is that clear?!" he asked them, and both nodded.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" both yelled in unison, and disappeared in smokeless Shunshins.
"I'm so sorry, Minato. I have failed you this time. You must be ashamed at seeing the village treat your son like this. But this was the last time I slipped up, I promise." Hiruzen wondered in agony. "He has activated his Sharingan, and it will raise a lot of questions. Most people will not have trouble joining two and two. I must seal his kekkei genkai for the time being, or else people might reveal his identity, and see him as even more of a threat than he already is. I'm sorry, forgive me for this Naruto, but one day I'll reveal everything to you - I promise - and I'll protect you from now on. No matter what!" Hiruzen couldn't have been more wrong in making his promise.
As elders used to say, don't make promises you can't keep.
~~~END~~~
AN- I am once again telling you that this story idea or characters does not belong to me the story idea belongs to NXSE on fanfiction.net and the characters belong to KISHIMOTO the owner of Naruto.
SENJU OUT