Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I won't ever own Naruto. This is just for fun. Please don't sue me.

Author's Note: Alright, I got bored of reading them so I decided to write one. Please give me some reviews. Especially ideas for a title, as I can't ever come up with a good one. If you want to contact me, my AIM is AmpedArchetype. It'll say I'm signed off, but usually I'm really not.

Anyway, on to the story!

Note: XXXXXXXXXXXXX scene change


Chapter One: To Leave the Leaf

It was a beautiful afternoon in Konoha. However, it wasn't any normal afternoon, it was a festival. Families joyfully walk down the street, talking to people or buying things from merchants. Everyone is in such a good and happy mood. After all, who wouldn't like celebrating the fourth anniversary of the death of the biggest threat to their village in years, the Kyubi.

Sitting all alone on a swing, some distance away from the festivities, is a small, blonde-haired boy. This was no ordinary boy though. Oh no, this is the boy whom the Yondaime Hokage sealed the great demon Kyubi in; Uzumaki Naruto.

He sat there crying by himself. Today was a very hard day for him. He had tried to go to the festival now that Sarutobi-Ojiisan said it was alright. He was overjoyed that he was going to finally get to go to a festival.

Of course, his joy didn't last long. As soon as he had arrived, people glared at him with 'those' eyes. He couldn't understand why they did this. When one particularly dangerous man growled at him for trying to buy some food, Naruto had attempted to back away from the man. In doing so, he walked right into the legs of an older pink haired woman.

"Get out of here you demon!" she screamed, kicking him into the ground.

He tried to get up, only to get kicked in his stomach, doubling him over. One after another, people came to where he was to shout at him and hit him. Demon! And Monster! They shouted. After being kicked for the hundredth time and after being hit with the hundredth rock, a man broke through the crowd and picked up the bloody and beaten Naruto. Naruto had never felt so grateful than when that man picked him up from the ground. It was not to last though, as the man reached into Naruto's pocket and pulled out his wallet, he threw Naruto back to the ground.

"I hope you've learned your lesson today, demon. Stay away from us and our families!" the man sneered.

Naruto could only whimper. He had fled as soon as he saw an opening in the crowd. He ran and didn't stop until he got to the swing, which is where he is now, crying his eyes out. Not only was he beaten up and shunned from the festival, but everyone also ignored the fact that it was his 4th birthday today. The only person that seemed to remember was , Sarutobi-Ojiisan, who gave him an orange jumpsuit and some spending money. Now even those gifts were gone, as his jumpsuit was now torn and covered in blood, and all of his money had been stolen.

For the life of him he couldn't figure out why the village hated him so much. So he did the only thing he knew how.

He cried.

"Naruto-kun" a soft voice said from in front of Naruto. His electric blue eyes rose to see the old man Hokage himself. "Naruto-kun what happened?" Sarutobi said, a little shocked that the boy was covered in blood and his clothes were torn. Of course, no injuries were seen anywhere. Such was the great healing power of the Kyubi.

"They wouldn't let me into the festival, and then they took my money and started beating me." Naruto said between sobs. Sarutobi was disgusted. How can the village do this to the poor boy. Isnt it enough that he has the damned Kyubi eternally sealed to him?

"Why are they so mean to me, Ojiisan?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes radiating confusion and pain. "What did I do to them?" His question combined with his tone and face made Sarutobi almost break down and cry right there.

"It's nothing you've done, Naruto-kun. You don't deserve anything they do to you." Naruto hugged him when he said that. "Now come on, how about some ramen? My treat." The Hokage looked down at Naruto, catching a glimpse of pain and hurt in his eyes that disappeared quickly. Naruto gave him a very large grin. "Okay Ojiisan! But it better be good!' Naruto laughed and skipped towards the ramen stand while the Hokage followed. 'He's so young and yet he's already covering up his emotions. Hopefully he'll learn to control his emotions rather than covering them up before it affects his mental health.'

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After their ramen, the Hokage took Naruto back to his apartment and dropped him off.

"Now Naruto-kun, if you feel any pain anywhere be sure to tell your caretaker immediately." Sarutobi instructed the child.

"Caretaker?" Naruto looked confused. "I don't have a caretaker." He told the Hokage.

Hmm, he thought. "Naruto-kun, what happened to the woman that came here last week?"

At this, Naruto's smile faulted and he looked towards the floor. "She locked me in the closet and told me never to come out. I had to climb through the vents to get out." The Hokage looked very angry. Naruto saw this and started trying to apologize. "I-I I'm sor- sorry Ojiisan. I sh-shouldn't have c-come out of the closet. I-I'll go b-back now." Naruto said, sobbing.

The anger on the Hokage's face changed into a look of sadness. "I'm sorry. I wasn't angry at you. Come on now, let's go to bed." And with that, the Hokage put Naruto into bed and left him, determined to find someone to care for him.

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Heat, thought the young blonde boy. What is this heat? It almost feels like I'm on fire. He felt like he was getting warmer every second. Finally the heat became unbearable.

The boy woke to a scene that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Bound and gagged, Naruto looked around his room. The whole thing was on fire. Orange flames licked everything in sight and were sneaking up to his bed. He screamed as loud as he could, only to hear a muffled whimper come out. Panicking, he tried everything he could to move. He struggled to breathe. The smoke was filling his lungs. He knew that if the fire didn't kill him, the smoke would. He closed his eyes and curled up, hoping this was all a dream. The smoke became too thick to breathe. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard someone shout "JUST WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What's going on? Naruto thought as he regained consciousness. He tried to move but found he couldn't. I can't even open my eyes.

"Kakashi," Naruto heard the Hokage say. "thank you for saving him and bringing him here."

"It wasn't a problem Hokage-sama." Naruto heard another voice, which he assumed was this new person, Kakashi. "I'm only sorry I didn't get there sooner to find out who started it."

"I guess there's only one thing we can do for him now. We'll have to take him from the village." The Hokage remorsefully said.

Finally, Naruto managed to open his eyes. He looked around the sterile white room and saw two figures. One was the Hokage and the other one was a tall, silver haired man with a mask and his forehead protector pulled over one eye. He could only guess that this man was Kakashi.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. It's good to see you awake." The Hokage said cheerfully.

"Ano, Ojiisan? What happened?" Naruto asked, still shaken from the events.

A sad look passed over the Hokage's face. Just as he was about to speak, another voice interrupted. "The villagers tried to kill you, Naruto-kun. They tied you up and set your apartment on fire. I found you, put the fire out, and brought you here, to the hospital." Kakashi said.

"Naruto-kun," the Hokage started, "because of my fear for your safety, you will be taken from the village." Naruto tried to argue, proclaiming that he cant leave or he'll never become Hokage.

"Don't worry about becoming a strong ninja. You will be taken out of the village to train, and will come back to the village when I think it's appropriate. I fear that you will need to be very strong in the future." The Hokage said with a finality ringing in his voice.

"Ano, Ojiisan, who will take me?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage turned to Kakashi. "I was thinking about calling in Jiraiya to come and take him, but I don't think Jiraiya would agree to it. My next choice would be Tsunade, but no one knows where she is. I don't really know who to get to take him." He said.

"Hokage-sama, if it is alright with you, I will take him." Kakashi told him. The Hokage looked taken aback. "Why will I take him? Because I know a little of what it's like." He said. "Also, I feel like I owe it to his father to raise him to be strong." He added in a near-silent whisper only the Hokage could hear.

"Alright then. Naruto-kun, this is Hatake Kakashi. You will spend the next few years training with him outside of our village. He is one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha." The Hokage told him.

"Yo." Kakashi said, a smile apparent from the curve on his one viewable eye.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted. "Now I'll definitely become Hokage!"

"Yes, that's right Naruto-kun. I'll help you become much stronger than this old man. Personally I think he's passed his prime." Kakashi told him while the Hokage was quickly becoming irritated. "Naruto-kun," the Hokage said, "why don't you get some more rest. Kakashi-san and I have some things to talk about before you leave."

Naruto didn't need to be told again. He immediately into a (thankfully) dreamless sleep, happy that someone was finally recognizing him as being worth their time.

Seeing Naruto fall asleep, the Hokage started talking again. "Kakashi, I want you to train him with everything you have. Make him ready for the threats that will come when people find out who his father was. Teach him strategy, history, taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Leave nothing out. Also," the Hokage reached into his robes and pulled out a mid-sized summoning scroll "when you think he is ready, start giving him these. They are the scrolls his father left him. I believe you know what they do." Kakashi nodded. "Good. Take him away from this village as soon as he wakes up. I will get in touch with you every 3 months to check up on him and give you payment for this mission."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied.

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Kakashi left the hospital with blinding speed. He knew he needed to get his things and be back before Naruto awoke. He reached his house, packed quickly, and ran out the door; but not without first grabbing the small orange book that he had purchased from the store the day before.

He made it back just in time. As soon as he opened the door, Naruto woke up.

"Yo, Naruto, we're leaving. From now on, I'm your sensei." Kakashi said through his mask.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, overjoyed someone was being nice to him.

Kakashi walked out the door with Naruto on his heels. They were almost to the gate out of town when a green blur flew by them and stopped right in front of them, revealing a man with thick eyebrows, a big bowl cut, and nothing but green all over. This man, of course, is none other than Konoha's beautiful green beast, Maito Gai.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival, is it true that you are leaving the village?" Gai shouted towards Kakashi.

"Yes Gai, I'm leaving to train the Uzumaki boy. And, no, I don't have time for a challenge. We need to get out of here immediately." Kakashi responded, with a deadly serious voice that broke Gai out of his pose.

"Understood Kakashi. Will you be training him in taijutsu?" Kakashi nodded. "Well then, when you decide that you need me to teach him, because you've reached your limit," at this, Kakashi pulled out his book. "then tell me. I would be glad to give the boy real taijutsu training." Gai laugned.

"Hmm? Did you say something Gai?" Kakashi responded, looking up from the book.

Gai just nodded. "Very well Kakashi, you should be off. I do not want to delay you any more than I already have. Take care my friend. And you," he looked towards Naruto, "listen and do exactly as he says. He knew more about battle when he was fourteen than many of our jounins do today." And with that, Gai vanished.

"Ano, Kakashi-sensei, what did he mean when he said 'reached your limit'?" Naruto asked.

"Gai is a taijutsu master. He's better than I am and ever will be at it. He expects you to grow much stronger than me in taijutsu and basically just offered to teach it to you once I'm not suitable to anymore. For Gai to compliment you like that should mean a lot to you." Kakashi responded, a little surprised Naruto had been paying attention to the whole conversation. "Anyway, we need to get going."

And with that, they left.


Author's Note: Alright! First chapter done! I know it's short, but I just wanted to get it up here.

Please give me some feedback and someone help me decide on a good title!

My AIM is at the beginning of the chapter.