Summary: Orphaned at birth then kicked out to the streets sat the tender age of four, nothing seems to be going right for young Naruto. That is, until, a winter storm comes, forcing Naruto to seek Shelter in one of the many training grounds. Just as Luck would have it, another man was also seeking refuge in the same training ground. What happens when that man finds an underweight, undersized, and over all pitiable looking five year old sleeping under a large oak tree? Will the two finally find happiness, or is it all just another façade?

Author Note: First might I say that I hate reading these just as much as I hate writing them, so don't expect to see a lot of them. Though if you do see one, please do read it, it might be important. Okay, now that I have that out of the way, may I welcome you to my very first Fanfic! Woo. And because it is my first, I would love to see some helpful pieces of advice if you have any for me. Thank you ^-^

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Naruto. Though I do own this plot line and my OC Ryuu…

The five year old child sat on top of his bed which was composed of grubby rags and pieces of fabrics that he came across over time. He sat with his knees pulled up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, his chin resting on top. A rather large rag that was once considered a blanket was wrapped around his shoulders for the small warmth it gave, though he still shook from the cold of the winter night.

His shirt was a worn orange, holes both small and large through out it. His shorts came to his knees, also worn, rips and mud covering them. His feet were bare, covered in cuts both new and old.

His stomach growled loudly, pleading for food, but all that it got was a sigh.

"I know, I know. You want food. Food that I don't have…" He trailed off, his eyes half closed.

If one were to pull up his 'shirt', they would find a slightly caved in stomach, his ribs clearly visible. His spine and shoulder blades were also agonizingly noticeable. In all, he could easily pass as a walking skeleton with skin, hair, and eyes.

The young child's all around appearance was no better.

His hair, face, and body were covered in filth and grime. It was to the point where people would not be able to tell what his hair color was, or the fact that he is, in fact, a boy because of his hair that reached his shoulder blades. One would barely be able to make out the three whisker-like tattoos on each of his cheeks. His ocean blue eyes looked glazed over, unfocused.

His home-made bed was lying against a wall, which did not make up his home, but instead the back wall of an abandoned building. The building itself was located in the 'not-so-nice' part of the village, the part where people tried usually to stay away from.

Off in the distance, a deep rumbling was heard, followed by a flash of lighting. Light rain began falling shortly after, causing the five-year old to look up at the star-less night and frown.

Mumbling some colorful words that he picked up from some of the villagers, he slowly stood. Readjusting his 'blanket' on his shoulder, he looked down at his 'bed'; he mentally debated on what to do with it.

After a few moments of going through the pros and cons, the once light rain began growing harder, making the rags grow damp.

Giving a light grunt and mumbling out a 'not worth it', the child slowly began walking out from behind the building and onto the streets, looking for a place to stay for the night out of the rain.

'I guess that there is one good thing about the rain though,' he silently mused, 'everyone stays indoors'. He tightened the already damp 'blanket' around his shoulders, letting a shiver racket through his body. Turning his eyes towards the ground, he went through his memories on possible places go head. His frown deepened at another flash of lighting.

He stopped walking once he realized that the ground changed from pavement to wet grass and mud. He looked up to find out where his feet led him. Looking at the trees that made up one of the many training area's, he once again debated with himself, though this time on wither or not to go into the 'forest' or turn around and go somewhere else.

At yet another flash of lighting, which was followed by thunder, he made another grunt and began walking past the many trees. He pushed out the thought that there might be ninja stupid enough to train in the middle of a thunder storm.

Avoiding low branches and fallen pieces of wood or any other thing that might trip him, the young child made his way through the trees. His eyes were constantly looking over his surroundings, searching for both potential threats and somewhere to stay.

After a few more minutes of wondering and not coming across anything or anyone, he stopped and walked over to a rather large tree. Placing a hand on the trunk, he looked up at the many branches. Because of the vast amount and their thickness, the rain was having a hard time coming through, giving a sense of shelter.

A light sigh passed through his lips, the only sign of his relief. Sitting down against a large root that was above the ground, he closed his eyes. Letting out a deep breath, he repositioned his 'blanket' to where it was covering his small body.

'I'll rest here for the night. Wait out the storm then I'll… I guess I'll figure it out when that point in time comes'

Finally letting sleep over come him, the young child slept.

The middle aged man watched from his seat higher up in a tree as the small child slowly walked into his field of vision. His long brown hair stuck to his face, black shirt and pants clinging to his body. He had his own cloak wrapped around his body, keeping him some-what dry, though not much. An elegant eyebrow was raised when he noticed that the child stopped walking for a short amount of time, then went over to a large oak tree, placing a small hand on the tree's trunk. The child's heat tilted upwards for a moment. The man's own head tilted to the side as he only just heard the light sigh that came from the kid.

Watching as the young child sit down, leaning against both the tree's trunk and an exposed tree root, slight worry went through the man.

'The child can't seriously be thinking of sleeping out here! There's a storm going on for gods' sake! Where are his parents?' Rage soon joined his worry at that though. 'No good parents would make their kid sleep outside in the middle of a damn storm. Either the child has no parents, or his parents just don't care for him, and if I find out that it's the latter…' His eye brows knitted together, a deep frown setting on his face

The possibility quickly passed through his mind, before he shook his head and focused back on the now sleeping child.

He tried to fight the urge, really he did, but it won out in the end.

Glancing out around the surrounding area, the man un-wrapped his cloak from his body and jumped down to the young child. Landing next to him, he took in the child's form and condition, frowning even deeper, if that was possible. The child was so filthy that the man could not even tell if the young child was a boy or girl, though the long hair didn't help either.

Looking at the thin and torn material that the child was using as blanket, he resisted the urge to storm into the village and up to their leader and tell him off. Maybe hit a few things as well….

Instead, the man carefully placed his own cloak around the child's sleeping form before picking the child up and clutching the child to his chest, its head resting between the man's neck and shoulder. Making his cloak more secure around the child so it wouldn't fly off, he made his way deeper into the training ground, getting closer to the villages giant walls.

'Come on, I know I saw it around here some where…' The man was frantically looking over his surrounding as he lightly jogged passed the trees.

He was about to just give up when he spotted what he was looking for. 'Finally!'

The man made his way into the cave that was hidden by the thick trees and brush. He himself would not have noticed it if it weren't for the fact that he stumbled upon it the day before. Walking towards the back he placed the shivering child down upon the floor, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. Deciding that he needing to get a fire going for the kid and himself, he looked around the cave, hoping beyond hope that there would be dry wood in here, or else they would have to go fireless.

Thankfully, luck was on their side. In the very corner of the cave, there sat a decent pile of dry wood.

Quickly getting up and grabbing an arms full worth, he went back to the small child. Placing the wood at a space where it wouldn't hurt the child, he began his attempt at starting the fire.

A few tries, curses, and one kick of frustration later, a roaring fire was going.

'Damn wood, not starting for me…' Sitting on the opposite side of the child, his back to the cave's entrance, he gazed into the flickering flames, loosing himself in his thoughts.

Some time passed when the man was brought from his mind by the movement of fabric. Looking through the fire at the young child (still not knowing its gender), he watched as the child began waking. The man made no sudden movements, not wanting to scare the child.

Finally, the child opened its eyes, blinking a few times before slowly sitting up, the man's cloak now covering his lap. Blinking a few more times, the child looked around the cave in wonder before the child's blue eyes landed on him.

The man saw the child tense, a brief flash of fear pass through its eyes, before they went blank. Simply blank. Though its body was still tense, everything else about the child showed nothing of its emotions.

He tried to smile kindly at the kid, though sorrow and rage were the two overpowering emotions he was feeling. Sorrow that a child so young knew how to hide his own emotions so well, and rage towards the ones that made him learn how to.

"Hey there. My names Ryuu. Hope you don't mind me moving you…" The man, Ryuu, spoke softly.

The child just stared at him, blinking its eyes owlishly.

Ryuu coughed, not know what to say. "So… if you want to, you can wait out the storm here with me then go back to the village afterwards. I'm not forcing you to stay here."

The child's face scrunched up at the thought of returning to the village, and Ryuu caught the meaning behind the look as well.

"Tell me kid, do you want to return?"

The child looked away from Ryuu, A far away look in its eyes. After a few moments wait, the child shook its small head 'no'.

Once again, rage filled Ryuu, wanting to know what the village could have done to make a child not want to live in it.

"Do you have any parents there?"

Another 'no' head shake.

"Family?"

And another.

"Friends…?" Ryuu almost asked in a disheartened voice.

Yet another head shake, indicting that he had no one in the village. Ryuu wanted to go over and hug the poor kid, though he resisted in fear of scaring the child.

His mouth opened and the words came out before he could stop them. "Then would you like to stay with me?"

Ryuu wanted to hit his head against the cave wall until he saw a flash of slight hope go through the kid's eyes, before it was quickly replaced with weariness.

Quickly going through his mind on what he could say to make the kid trust him and travel with him, the thought hit him.

"Before you answer, how about I tell you more about myself?" Catching the slight nod, Ryuu continued. "Well, you know my name is Ryuu. Just Ryuu. I'm 23 years old, and considered a Jonin from my old village. I'm now a missing-nin. Now before you freak, let me explain why I'm considered so." At another small nod, he once again continued. "I was born and raised in the Land of Wind inside the village Sunagakure; also know as Suna for short. Now, the reason that I left was because of the current Kazekage.

"You see, the Kazekage has three children, a daughter and two sons, his daughter being his eldest. The thing is, with his youngest son, the Kazekage decided to seal the One-tailed beast while the child was still inside its mother's stomach." Ryuu watched as he child's eyes widened at this. "That's right. The child's own father demanded to have a demon sealed with in his own son. Now as one would guess, because of the One-tailed being sealed with in the baby while still being inside its mother's womb, the wife of the Kazekage died while giving birth to their youngest son." At this point, Ryuu looked into the fire, his eyes unfocused.

"Over the first year, nothing showed of the baby having the demon sealed within, except for his black rimmed eyes and the sand that would automatically protect him from harm. At the age of two, his father started training him as the perfect weapon. This went on for the next three years, until he turned five. At this point, his father, the Kazekage, deemed his own son a failure and started to send his ninja after his son, wanting them to take his life." Ryuu tightened his hands into fists. "And guess who he asked first?" A sorrow filled his smile. "Me. Can you believe it? He asked me to kill his five year old son just because he's not turning out how he wanted him to!"

A look of horror could be found on the young child's face. Just the thought of a father wishing his youngest son dead made the child's heart wrench.

Ryuu continued on, not noticing the child's painful look.

"At first, I was in shock. I'm not sure how long I just stood there looking at the man before I finally snapped out of it. Anger and rage began replacing the feeling of shock, and I wanted nothing more to do then kill him instead. But, instead of giving into my desire, I gave him the coldest glare that I could muster, and simply said, 'No. I would rather take my own life before I take that of a child's. If you wish for your youngest sons death so much, then you can find someone else to do it. I refuse.' Then, I left.

"Though I will admit, before I left, I went to see Temari, the Kazekage's oldest, and warned her of what her father wished to happen to her youngest brother. I have never seen her so angry. She promised me that she would gladly look after her youngest brother, keeping him safe from what she could even though she was only a few years older them him. Then, I packed my thing and left. As soon as the Kazekage caught wind of it, he marked me as an S Class Missing-Nin. The point of the matter is, I could never hurt a child."

Ryuu finally lifted his gaze from the crackling fire and looked at the child's face. A soft smile was on his face, his eyes soften. Now Ryuu really could see the hope in the child's eyes. Hope of being taken away from the village that it hated so, hope for a chance of finally finding someone to look after him, for hopefully being able to try out that whole 'family' thing that so many kids his age had. Finally, someone to start over new with. Someone who won't curse him or attempt to chase after him to try to beat him. He could just be him. He smiled.

Finally, for the first time that night, the young child spoke. Though softly, he spoke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ryuu. My name it Naruto. Just Naruto. And I would like to stay with you if you will let me.

Ryuu gladly returned the smile. "I wouldn't want it any other way Naruto."

And that is how the story, the true story, of Naruto began.