A New Life

"Naruto...", Hayato looked at his brother tiredly. He tried to force a smile, but it fell through when he saw his brother's expression.

"This is where we're living now!?", Naruto shrieked. "It's worse than the orphanage!"

Hayato clipped him round the back of the head. "It's the only thing we can get at this moment, you idiot!"

Naruto scowled, his face pulled in ugly forms as he surveyed the room. His short little body moved quickly as he checked every nook and cranny.

Hayato looked around too, growing angrier at the state of their new 'home'. The windows were cracked, dust plagued every inch of the walls, and doors looked to be faulty.

Begrudgingly, he went to the front of the door and locked it with the key Lord Third had given them.

"Haya nii-chan!", Naruto called from some area of the apartment that Hayato hadn't checked yet.

"What?", Hayato responded.

"There's only one room!", His brother ran out of the room angrily. "I'm going to Gramps, I can't stay in this dump!!"

"No." Hayato grabbed him by the collar, "We're not asking him for any more. Grow up, Naruto - you really wanna go crying to him again? We're already at the age where we can go to the Academy!"

Naruto pursed his lips angrily, his cheeks turned red as he thought of a retort. Suddenly, he turned his gaze away. "Fine. But, I'm not sleeping on the floor!"

Hayato sighed, "Sure, if that will stop your crying."

"I wasn't crying!"

Hayato then went to the bathroom. It was in a state just as bad as the rest of the house.

He turned the tap handle, before clicking his tongue in annoyance. 'No hot water.'

Defeated, he rinsed his hands under the cold tap, before washing his face. He glanced up at the mirror in front of him, his face was covered with his long red hair. It fell over his forehead and even the back had reached neck length.

Hayato brushed the hair away from his forehead, revealing dark violet eyes that bordered on grey. He shook his head as he looked at himself, before walking away. Sometimes, he wondered if Naruto and he were truly twins.

"Naruto, you're eating ramen already?", He smiled tiredly as he looked at his brother gorging on a packet. "We only just got here!"

"HMHPsfemadsiwp!"

"Swallow first," Hayato said, deadpan.

"I said!", He looked at Hayato resolutely. "Ramen time is all the time!"

Naruto and Hayato looked at each other for a while, before they broke off into laughter. "Throw me a packet, you dolt."

He settled beside Naruto, and together they ate in silence.

Later on that night, Hayato and Naruto slept on the same bed. Apparently, a couple of noises had emerged in the dead of night, alarming Naruto. For 'both of their safety', he had commanded Hayato to sleep with him.

Hayato obliged, despite knowing his brother was just scared of the dark. Not that he blamed him, many things had happened to the both of them - it was a wonder they weren't scared of more things.

The matron of the last orphanage used to beat them for simple things, like not finishing their chores and getting their homework wrong. Although, the latter one seemed to be Naruto's most common 'fault'.

Hayato normally did both of their chores, but still, he would get beat by the matron. When he questioned her, she would mutter under her breath. "You deserve this. You foul demon. That will tell you to not listen to me." - seemed to be the most common of her sayings.

Naruto suffered less, but suffer he did. It was no wonder that they were both moved from that place.

Though, that didn't mean the treatment they faced outside of the orphanage was any better. Children ostracized both of them. 'The Demon Twins', they called them.

Parents would usher their children out of the park when they entered, and shopkeepers would stand guardingly whenever they went window-shopping. They hadn't the money to buy anything, Lord Third's allowance was barely enough for food.

Regardless, Hayato and Naruto had come to the conclusion that their money wouldn't have been desired even if they could pay.

Even the clothes on their back were from Lord Third's pockets. But now that Hayato and Naruto were entering the Academy, two years earlier at their behest, they would at least be on their way to making more money.

Although Lord Third had increased their allowance, they now had to buy their own food - as opposed to before, when the food was provided for them by the orphanage. So most of their new founded 'wealth', was eaten away - quite literally.

With a sigh, Hayato rolled over to the side. 'I'll make sure to graduate quickly, Naruto. I won't let you live like this any longer.'

Night drowned away all of his worries, and with the passing of day, his pain had lessened, and his motivation increased.

---

"There we go!", Hayato yelled triumphantly. "Cleaner than ever!"

He had woken up early to start the day off with a complete revitalisation of the decrepit house they lived in. With sweat, tears, and surprisingly no blood, he had managed to clean the living room, entrance, and bathroom.

"Naruto, are you done in there?!", Hayato cried out before making his way over to the bedroom.

He opened the door to find Naruto still asleep, the duvet of the bed was falling off the bed as he remained sprawled out in an eagle sleeping position.

"You...Idiot!", Hayato jumped on his back, his small feet digging into Naruto as he pushed all his weight down.

"AGH!", Naruto woke up in a panic, "WHAT THE HELL?"

He spun around to see his brother's stony expression. His red hair stood up slightly, and his eyes became extremely dark as he looked down at Naruto.

"H-Hayato...!", he began sweating. "Ah! The room. You see, I was about to do it, I promise! I just-"

"If this room is not clean by the time I get back, you're not eating ramen for two weeks."

Naruto's eyes flashed with anger, "You can't do that!"

"Hmph." Hayato scoffed. "Yes, I can."

Twins looked at each other, their gazes locked at a standstill.

"We're the same age, why do you get to make the rules!", Naruto scowled, but he got up nonetheless.

Hayato's angry expression fell, and a small smile began to pull at his lips. "Because, if it were up to you - this whole house would be in shambles."

"Would not!"

The redheaded twin ignored him and said, "I'm going to Lord Third, I need to ask him about the Academy."

"What?!", Naruto dropped a pillow he had been gathering during his impromptu cleaning session. "Why do you get to go alone?! We were both supposed to go!"

Hayato shrugged. "You should have thought of that before going back to sleep, idiot."

"ARGH!", Naruto threw the pillow at Hayato, but it was too late. Hayato had closed the door behind him already.

Chuckling as he walked out the door, Hayato prepared himself for the regular Konoha experience.

The sun was blazing hot, but there was ample shade as he walked outside.

Konoha was famous for its trees and leaves - as its namesake was derived from the foundation that the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju created it under. With his powerful Kekkei Genkai, he created the village. The esteemed Mokuton ability.

Sometimes, Hayato wished he was from a powerful clan. He wouldn't have to live in an orphanage, nor a run-down apartment. He would have had many family members who he could hang around. He probably would have been taught Ninjutsu and Taijutsu earlier - instead of having to wait until the Academy.

In fact, that was the reason Hayato wanted to go to the Hokage. He was sick of envying others, and besides. It's not like they could continue their education at the orphanage they had been evicted from. The civilian school was also not necessary, since Hayato and Naruto had already decided they wanted to be shinobi.

Apart from waiting a year or so to enter the Academy, they had nothing to do. They couldn't even train. Where else were they supposed to learn the introduction topics to being a shinobi? It wasn't given out to civilians.

Hayato frowned, he felt a sensation flare through him. It was the same sensation he would always feel when he walked around at times. It was a small buzzing sensation, or the hairs on the back of his neck would stand up.

And whenever he looked around to discern what was causing it, he would just be met with the exact same thing. The guarded and disgusted expressions of people walking by.

'What is their problem...' he scowled as he finally reached the Hokage's office.

Tentatively, he entered inside. Again, reproachful stares or even the outright neglect of his existence was targeted at him.

"I need to see Hokage-sama," Hayato said to the receptionist. "He told me to come here, before you say anything."

And indeed, the woman did look prosed to tell him to go back. No doubt, she thought him a nuisance who was disturbing her day. So, Hayato lied. Not that Old man Sarutobi would have cared.

She raised her glasses and stared at him searchingly before she threw her head to the side reluctantly.

Hayato turned in the direction she pointed him to and made his way in. Despite the fact that two shinobi were stationed outside the door.

"Old man!", he yelled as he burst through the door. "I've got a serious issue!"

The Third Hokage was a stern-looking man. His wrinkles caused his frown lines to be accentuated, and his general countenance depicted a man who had been through many lifetimes. Though still, when he saw Hayato - he dropped his paperwork and offered him his attention.

"Hayato..." he began. "Where are your manners, you brat! You think this is your home?"

He waved the two shinobi away, they had made their way toward Hayato to escort him out but stopped once the Hokage had shown his hand.

Hayato walked closer to the Hokage's desk as he gritted out, "Speaking of homes! What gives? You gave us a total dump!"

The Hokage raised his eyebrow disappointedly, "Would you rather I return you back to the orphanage?"

The red-haired child shook his head after a second of evaluation. "No, but what are we supposed to do now?"

Hiruzen placed his palm on his head as he responded. "Just as you've been doing. Honestly, Hayato - I expected this from Naruto, not you."

Hayato bit his lip in faux sadness. Just to sell it home, he even shuffled on his feet.

"What is it?"

He looked up at Hiruzen with big eyes. "We don't wanna go to normal school. We wanna be shinobi! Let us go to the Academy, please!-"

"No." The Hokage waved him off. "You're too young."

"Nuh-uh!", Hayato doubled down. "Loads of people have joined the Academy early!"

Sarutobi shook his head. "They were exceptions. Extremely talented individuals who had already received guidance from their families. It's a no, Hayato!"

He looked at the old man in betrayal. "Well, what do you want us to do?! Go and hang out with the civilian kids - because even if we wanted to do that, it's not like we can!"

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"They avoid us! And their parents say mean things about us when we're walking past! There's not a single person in this village who will even talk to us except you! At least some shinobi completely ignore us, but being glared at for doing nothing is really annoying, ya'know?!"

At the end of his rant, Hayato's chest puffed up and down. The culmination of all the anger that had festered inside him for a while was released in an instant.

Defiantly, he locked his gaze with the Hokage, whose expression had softened. Only in his eyes, the rest of his face remained deadpan.

"...I will let you join the Academy." The old man acquiesced. "But, If I find out it's too difficult, and you're struggling, I will pull you out until you hit the normal age for entry."

"So, make sure Naruto doesn't fall behind." Hayato broke out into a grin. "Thank you, gramps! I promise you won't regret this!"

He bowed, but Hiruzen simply murmured. "Yeah, yeah, you stinky brat. Leave my office alone now, I have paperwork."

Hayato ran out of the room, and out of the Administrative area of the Hokage's office. As he ran back home to tell Naruto the news, he couldn't help the silly grin plastered on his face.

The glares, the murmurs, and annoyed looks - didn't phase him. There wasn't a thing anyone could do to ruin this moment for him.