Author Note: So. This is my first creative work... pretty much ever I will have made. I would appreciate constructive feedback on what I am doing right or wrong.

Disclaimer: I, Dawnk41, do not own Naruto.

Naruto Uzumaki had always seen and heard the world in a different way than most. It had taken him several years to realize that not everyone could see the people that he saw, and hear their words.

He didn't know why, and he didn't know who these "extra" people were. He had never thought of himself as lucky, but he was very fortunate that not many people would listen to what he had to say, as it could have landed him in a mental institution if he had managed to spread the tale of the "rotting people" that followed nearly every person in Konoha.

As it was, he didn't have anyone that he would have cared to ask about the rotting ones in his life. In that way, he wasn't lucky at all.

The Sandaime Hokage had many regrets in his long life, and Naruto Uzumaki's situation was merely the most recent. He tried to do what he could for the boy, but it wasn't much. He began by creating a law which prevented the citizens of Konoha from telling anyone who didn't already know about his status as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

This didn't appear to have a marked positive influence on Naruto's life.

So he attempted to ensure that Naruto would be placed in an orphanage and cared for throughout his childhood.

After discovering that the orphanage workers did not act the same way around young Naruto as they did around the other orphans, he realized that perhaps it would be better for Naruto to have as little interaction with the villagers of Konoha as possible until he was old enough to weather their glares. So he arranged for Naruto to live by himself - at the tender age of 5.

Upon his first meeting with Naruto since he had placed him in the orphanage, Hiruzen was crushed to learn that Naruto was afraid of him. He wasn't sure why, as he had settled into his "Jolly old man" persona before allowing himself contact with the child. He didn't want to scare him, after all.

Naruto's demeanor did not help this situation overmuch. By all accounts, Naruto was skittish, paranoid, and slightly unhinged. More so than would be expected, even with his upbringing. Naruto had a disturbing tendency to glance around suddenly, before his gaze settled on something only he could see, while muttering under his breath fearful gibberish. He appeared to understand what was being said to him, but he said nothing himself. Merely stared - either at the speaker or at nothing at all - while shivering slightly.

Hiruzen sighed, wondering what had gone wrong.

Naruto didn't know why the old man had come to talk to him. He was afraid that this encounter with an adult would go the same as the others. The only time the caretakers ever talked to him was to order him to meals, or mutter spiteful comments under their breath. But the worst part was the ghastly line of the... rotting ones.

Most people had very few of the rotting ones following them. The caretakers each only had two or three, and those were very faint, shimmery outlines that whispered to him, some angry, some sad. But this old man, he had so many. More than ten, which meant far more than Naruto could count.

And they were almost as solid as normal people! Rotting ones like that were confusing, because Naruto almost mixed them up with real people. The only telling signs about this kind was that they occasional moved through objects, like doors, or tables. This old man's rotting ones were angry, and several were coherent, which is more than the most could ever hope to be.

The old man smiled down at him, and said, "Hello Naruto, my name is Hiruzen. How are you today?"

Naruto merely shivered, and hunched further down into his seat.

One of the rotting ones behind the old man, this one nearly as tall again as the old man was, and wearing the same robes and hat, barked out a short laugh, and said, "How do you think the poor boy is doing, Hiruzen? You should have hidden him from the citizens better. You should have known how civilians would treat a known Jinchuuriki - especially in these circumstances."

The old man appeared to ignore the rotting one and continued. "I'm doing quite well myself."

Another of the rotting ones 'hmphed' and grumbled, "Are you now. News to me, from how you've been acting all week."

Naruto scrunched his eyes shut. He didn't like these rotting ones, they looked pretty frightening, being that solid, and speaking so clearly. It was almost worse than the legions of them that merely floated around, jibbering.

Hiruzen frowned. This was not a good sign. Naruto wouldn't talk, and his expression was worrying. Had he heard anything that Hiruzen had said? He called over a caretaker. "Has he been eating? Is he sick?"

The caretaker had a strained expression, but said professionally: "He isn't sick as far as we can tell. He's been like this as long as we can remember. I can't recall him ever saying a word. He shivers like that all the time. He doesn't eat much, and he stares at the wall a lot. We can't help him."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. Can't, or won't? But he knew better than to accuse this woman in front of him without proof. She was the type to take any accusation as an insult, true or not, and all he would accomplish was to anger this establishment.

He sighed. It would appear that Naruto's stay at the orphanage was at an end. This did not appear to be a healthy environment for him.

Hiruzen would arrange for an apartment near the academy to be set up for Naruto, and would set up watchers to ensure his security.

It was all that he could do for Naruto, for now.

AN: Due to my Personal Unhappiness as to the size of the chapters I have put out, I'm combining the first two, and I'm going to do my best to make sure that future chapters are of a similar size or larger.

Uzumaki Naruto was unhappy. This was, sadly, the ordinary state of affairs.

Life had changed quite a bit for him recently, in that his stay at the orphanage had come to an end. He now had a small apartment of his own. The location was quite nice. The apartment complex was not extensive, and his neighbors did not appear to hate him, like most of the adults that he had known at the orphanage. That is not to say that the occupants of the other apartments were kind-they were not. In fact, they did not appear to show much emotion at all. When he encountered them in the hallways of the building, they would merely nod their heads at him and file on. He was glad for this, as he didn't like most of the rotting ones that followed them. All of his neighbors had extensive lines of the rotting ones filing after them, wherever they went.

Naruto was glad that he had no rotting ones following him. He didn't know if he would be able to bear the constant stares. As it was, he always had the option of running to his apartment and hiding under the covers of his bed.

This was where he happened to be right now, having run from a man in his building. This particular neighbor was followed by a ghastly apparition of a rotting one. The neighbor in question had black hair, red eyes, and lines on his face. He was actually the least dismissive of Naruto as his neighbors went. This man at least softened his gaze when it landed on him. However, the most prominent rotting one that followed him was horrifying. His form wavered and flickered, like some of the faint ones that he had seen in the past, except far more substantial. Almost more so than real people. He could not bear to look at him for long, but he couldn't help but notice that the right eye of the rotting one was missing, but in a manner that appeared to be devouring the essence surrounding it, creating the appearance of a black hole covering the right side of its face.

Naruto shuddered at the mere memory of it, but his gasping and wheezing subsided, now that he was safe from the haunting gaze of the lone eye in its face.

He sat there for a while, trying to suppress the memory, and finally fell asleep.

[TIME SKIP-TWO YEARS]

Naruto started awake to a knocking at his apartment door.

He rubbed at his eyes and yawned before climbing out of his bed. He glared at his apartment door. Who had come to bother him now? He would be the first to admit that he was a bit of a loner. He didn't like the company of other people. They assumed that this was because he didn't like to be around people. In truth, it was because he didn't like to be around their followers.

At the age of six, Naruto didn't like ghosts, as he had learned they were called. This would be fairly common for a child to dislike. However, in Naruto's case, he saw them everywhere he went, and they never truly went away.

He trudged out of his bedroom and up to the door to his apartment, and suspiciously peered through the eye-hole. On the other side, stood a figure in white robes, with a wide-brimmed hat.

Naruto brightened up a bit. "Jiji!"

Naruto enjoyed the presence of but one man, and here he was, on the other side of his door. He quickly undid the latch and opened the door, letting in his pseudo-grandfather.

"Well hello there, Naruto-kun. How are you today." Hiruzen said warmly.

Naruto yawned before replying. "I'm fine Jiji. What did you come here for?" Normally, when Naruto wanted to see him, he had to brave the outdoors, skulking from alleyway to alleyway, until he reached the Hokage tower, where the Chunin on duty at the front doors would quickly escort him up to the Hokage office. He didn't make the trip often, only when he was truly desperate for Hiruzen's attention.

Naruto had grown used to the two ghosts that flanked Hiruzen everywhere he went. They stood there, in matching attire, on either side of his grandfather's shoulders, where they glanced at Naruto impassively. Naruto avoided their eyes. They were at least much better than the shapeless mob of ghosts that stood slightly further behind Hiruzen, filling the hallways of the apartment building. Their appearance was so blurry and faded that Naruto couldn't even tell if they were human anymore.

"Well Naruto-kun, today I came to inform you that you get to go the ninja academy next week. Won't that be exciting?" Hiruzen said, attempting to get Naruto into the spirit of anticipation.

Naruto seized up in alarm. What? He would have to go to the academy, with lots of other people? No! This was the stuff of his nightmares! He often had a dream where he would be walking, and he would suddenly find himself in the middle of a large crowd. He would attempt to escape, but there would always be someone in his way, either a person or a ghost, staring at him, until he would spin in a circle to see hordes of unblinking eyes, looking at him, until he finally awoke in a daze, covered in sweat, and tangled in sheets in a pile beside his bed. After a dream like that, he would have to check his entire apartment, to ensure that there was nobody watching him.

Naruto started breathing heavily, taking in huge lungfuls of air. Hiruzen looked at him worriedly. "What's wrong Naruto-kun? Is everything alright?" Hiruzen put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, attempting to turn Naruto's head to look towards him.

"What do you think is wrong with the child, Hiruzen? He obviously hasn't had the best experience with people in general, and you want to shove him into a class with thirty other kids? Does this really strike you as the best idea?" One of the ghosts at his side said. The other ghost replied to this, "Well, he has to get the child acclimated to others somehow, the academy is probably the best thing for that. Still, I agree that this won't be pleasant either way for Naruto."

"Please Naruto-kun, tell me what's wrong. Let me help you." Hiruzen pleaded. He wanted to assuage Naruto's fears so that he would agree to go to the academy. Hiruzen was desperate to get Naruto some friends and end his self-imposed isolation.

"I-I don't want to go somewhere with lots of people Jiji. They'll be mean to me, like they used to be." Naruto quavered. He had never really recovered from his younger years at the orphanage. It never took much to force him to recall a youth devoid of pleasant human contact.

Hiruzen sighed, and stated, "Naruto-kun, I promise you this. Your time at the academy will not be like your time at the orphanage. You will get to interact with others your age, you'll be able to learn how to be a ninja with them, and you will be able to make friends. Please, let me help you, come to the academy." Hiruzen was mentally crossing his fingers. He might have to talk to some of the clan heads that he knew would be having children in the class with Naruto, but he had to help Naruto make some friends.

Naruto shivered, but in the end, he nodded his head. "Okay Jiji, but you promised."