The Dream (1/2)!

Naruto watched in shock and slight hurt that his newly passed team had just walked away, leaving him tied to a wooden stump. "Oi, hurry up and untie me!" The blonde-haired boy screamed; his voice reverberated in the distance in hopes that his team would hear him. This had to be some sort of poor tasting prank, right?

Naruto cursed as he struggled against the rope that bound him to the log. He had tried using the Rope Escape Technique to free himself, but he didn't remember it very well, and they weren't taught to untie anything past a chunin level rope anyways. He couldn't even create a shadow clone to unfasten him as his hands could barely make it past his midsection before getting blocked by his tight constraints.

In the end, the young genin stopped struggling and blankly stared at the floor. 'Jiji, you liar.' Naruto thought to himself in hurt. If there was one thing that he remembered from all of the speeches that the Third Hokage gave him, his first team wasn't just a team. It was supposed to be his family.

Naruto truly believed what the old man had told him, and it was one of the main driving forces that he had when he became a ninja. He would finally have a family that he could trust wholeheartedly, which wouldn't ignore his very existence when he graduated.

Yet the very moment that his… team… had finished their first exercise together, everything had gone back to the past. Kakashi left without a second thought, while Sakura followed Sasuke to whatever he was going to do. It was like Sasuke and Sakura, who were about to feed him, and Kakashi's speech was all fake, that they would only show such levels of comradery during a mission.

Naruto sunk into his thoughts, his exhaustion slowly creeping upon him as the hours went by. The fires of hope that he held to his chest that one of his team would realise their mistake and come back to help him slowly dimmed before they flickered out of existence. 'Why did I think anything would be different? In the end, I should only rely on myself.'

After Naruto had given up on waiting for someone to come help him, it was like there was an invisible weight lifted from his shoulders. The blonde-haired boy desperately thought of something that could help him; however, his hazy memories of his time at the academy, coupled with his poor ninja skills, vetoed any solution that he could think of.

Suddenly, something came to mind. It was a vague description of some of the techniques stored in the Scroll of Sealing he had read while he was looking for something he could learn. Most of the techniques he saw he couldn't understand, so after a brief skim of their contents and abilities, he moved past them before eventually finding the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

After thinking extremely hard about the Scroll of Seals and the forbidden techniques stored inside, he thought of one technique he saw inside. The Eight Inner Gates. Naruto couldn't remember much about the technique, but he was enamoured at its description, that it could temporarily increase someone's speed and strength until they surpass the Hokage. The only reason why he didn't attempt to learn this technique was that there was a warning that said the use of said technique could result in death.

Yet, in spite of this, Naruto very vaguely remembered how to open the first gate. Even after a week of not thinking about it, the blonde-haired boy remembered that there was a specific point in the left side of the brain which could be opened. 'If I were stronger, I would be able to just snap the ropes.' Naruto thought to himself, ready to attempt to open the first inner gate.

Naruto closed his eyes, envisioning the chakra pathway within his body. He could see streams of chakra that circulated through his body alongside several holes. Focusing on the left side of his brain, Naruto noticed something that looked like it should be a hole, but it was closed. 'This must be the first gate.' He couldn't remember much about how to open the gate except that chakra had to be sent to it.

Naruto knew he wasn't the brightest student out of everyone at the academy, but he wasn't stupid either. The blonde-haired boy knew that the brain was one of the most sensitive parts of the body, and any mistake could result in him turning into a vegetable. Whatever that was.

Hence Naruto focused as hard as he could, sending a small stream of chakra onto the closed point on the left side of the brain. He could faintly feel that he had reached a blockage, and he slowly pushed as little chakra as possible into the gate.

After hundreds of attempts of pushing the chakra into the closed gate, Naruto started getting a little impatient. However, the fear of harming himself after making a mistake scared him far more than staying tied to the post for longer.

Eventually, Naruto felt a small hole appear at the gate, which he pushed his potent chakra into. Slowly but surely, he sent more and more chakra into the gate, opening it wider and wider. Naruto figured that the absence of pain meant he wasn't doing anything wrong; however, at the same time, he wasn't feeling any more powerful.

After what felt like forever, the gate stopped expanding, with Naruto's chakra filling it completely. Opening his eyes, Naruto looked around, confused. 'Wasn't I supposed to get super strong and break through these restraints?'

All of a sudden, Naruto felt a surging pain originating from his brain that quickly rushed throughout his body. The young boy opened his mouth to scream, but all that left his mouth was a silent whine as tears started streaming down his face. 'I knew this wouldn't go right. Why would it? Nothing ever does with me.'

Ultimately, the pain in his head reached the point where he couldn't handle it anymore, and he fell unconscious. While unconscious, Naruto had a long dream.

First memory (Age 0)

Naruto could hear sounds of destruction resounding from all around, yet he could see nothing but darkness, which scared him. However, he felt a comforting feeling as his whole body was enveloped in warmth as he was swayed from side to side, which made all the fear vanish. All of a sudden, all sounds started to die down as he lost himself in the warm feeling with all noise drifting away. Had he fallen asleep?

Naruto didn't know how long he was in this state. Why was he here? Why couldn't he move? He was broken from his thoughts and fears by the warm sound of a young woman whose voice was intermittently cut off with painful groans.

"Naruto…" 'Me?' "Don't be a fussy eater… Eat lots and grow healthy and strong. Make sure that you bathe every day and stay warm. Also… Don't stay up late… You need lots of sleep… And make friends… You don't need a lot of friends… Just a few… Ones that you can really, really trust.

"I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practise your ninjutsu hard… Remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses… So don't get too depressed if you can't do something well… Respect your teachers and upperclassmen at the Academy…

"Oh, and this is important… It's about the Three Prohibitions for a shinobi… Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money… Put your mission wages into your savings account… No alcohol until you're twenty… Too much can ruin your health, so drink in moderation…

"Another Prohibition is women… I'm a woman, so I don't know too much about this, but… All you need to remember is that the world is made up of men and women. So it's only natural to take an interest in girls. But just don't get hooked on bad women… Find someone just like me.

"Speaking of the Three Prohibitions, be wary of Jiraiya-sensei, you know… Naruto, from now on, you're going to face lots of pain and hardship… Be true to yourself… Have a dream and have the confidence to make that dream come true… There's so much… Oh, so much more that I want to pass on to you… I wish I could stay with you longer… I love you."

Naruto was in shock as he listened to the woman's heartfelt words. Who was she, and why was she talking to him like that? He had never met someone that sounded like that in his life, and certainly not someone who cared as much as it seemed like she did.

The woman seemed to whisper to someone nearby before a man's voice, just as pained as the woman's, yet just as warm, spoke. "I am sorry I won't be there for you as a father, Naruto. Your life is going to be difficult and full of hardships, but I believe in you.

"Listen to your mother, between us, she was always the smarter one. Always try to do what you believe is best and I am sure you will grow into a fine young man I will be proud of. I love you, my son."

Involuntarily, Naruto opened his bright blue eyes to see a red-headed woman and a blonde-haired man standing in front of him, being impaled by the claws of the Kyuubi. They seemed to both mutter something before the Kyuubi quickly shrunk before fusing into his body.

'Mom…? Dad…?' Was Naruto's last coherent thought before he lost himself to the tide of memories that overwhelmed him.

4 Years later, Konohagakure orphanage (Age 4)

Naruto was curled up in his bed. It was what he determined to be his only safe space in this cold, harsh world. The young boy had always wondered why he was treated differently from others. He looked through the window to see multiple children ranging from 3 to 8 years old playing. Yet despite knowing they were having so much fun, he couldn't bring himself to join them, knowing that all he would receive were mean words and cold stares.

"Children, come down for your lesson!" A voice resounded throughout the orphanage that Naruto recognised to be the Matron's. The sounds of playing and laughter died down as the children split into their respective age groups entering different rooms. In the room that Naruto walked in were 7 or 8 other boys and girls who fidgeted while waiting for the caretaker to start teaching.

"Today, we are going to learn the alphabet!" The caretaker cheered with a happy smile on her face, exciting the children. Naruto also looked forward to learning; he had always wanted to be like those people he saw jumping from roof to roof and had overheard that you needed to read and write to do that.

The young blonde-haired boy listened intently as the caretaker passed out a pencil and sheet of paper to each child while explaining today's lesson. However, when the caretaker reached him, she simply passed him without acknowledging his existence. "Miss caretaker, what about me?" Naruto asked, slightly raising his hand to catch her attention.

As if she didn't hear the boy, the caretaker continued to talk about the basics of the alphabet without a pause. Naruto looked down intently at his table as if he felt judging stares from the children around him and didn't bother asking again. So what if he didn't have a pencil and paper? If he put enough effort in, he could learn too, right?

3 Years later, Konohagakure Orphanage (Age 7)

It turns out he was wrong. Even though he paid attention to every word the caretaker said while repeating everything he heard inside his head, he quickly fell behind in his studies. Although the caretakers changed from each year to the next as he moved classrooms, his treatment was the same. He was ignored whenever he asked a question, and he was never handed a pencil or paper.

Several weeks later (Age 7)

Naruto was ecstatic. While he was on one of his regular camping trips to escape the presence of everyone who just looked straight through him at the orphanage, he ran into an old man in the forest.

Initially, he had thought that the old man was lost, but it turns out he was the hohkage? Hokage? Whoever he was, he was the leader of the village. But most importantly, he spoke to him, didn't ignore his very existence with the blank stare that he so often received, but instead had a warm smile. The old man even laughed when talking with him.

He could remember what the old man said like it was yesterday. "People don't like you, you say? Well, why don't you become a ninja? They are loved and respected by virtually everybody in the village as they are our protectors."

Naruto was surprised when he had heard this; if he became a ninja, people would like him? The blonde-haired boy was undoubtedly even more surprised to find out that the 'ninja' that the old man talked about were those cool people who jumped from roof to roof.

"Really? I wanna become a ninja then!" Naruto cheered before slumping. "But how do I become a ninja? I don't know if anybody would teach me…."

The old man looked thoughtful, "Well, I could use my power to enrol you as a student at the Academy. However, you must train really hard to become a ninja."

"I'll do it! I will try my best, and maybe I will become Hokage like you one day!"

"I would love to see that day, Naruto-kun."

2 Years Later, Konoha Ninja Academy (Age 9)

Naruto looked at the barely passing grade marked on his exam paper. It turned out that becoming a ninja was much harder than he thought.

The young child remembered his first couple of days at the Academy, trying his best to make a good impression on the teachers. But it seemed like they knew the people from the orphanage because they treated him in almost the exact same way.

Thankfully, they weren't completely the same, as these teachers had given him books just like everybody else. But that was the extent of their help. Whenever he raised his hand to ask a question, it would always stay in the air until his arm got tired.

Every test or assignment handed back only contained the overall marks, unlike other students who received detailed corrections on their mistakes.

In the end, Naruto decided that he would impress them by studying hard and becoming the top student in the class. They couldn't ignore him if he was the number one student, right?

Naruto soon found out that becoming the number one student without any helpful guidance was near impossible. It didn't help that the books he was given contained many words that he hadn't learned or couldn't remember from learning the basics at the orphanage.

He was slowly learning the words he missed out or had forgotten with the help of a discarded book that he found in the trash. But as a result, he was spending less time on his ninja studies and fell even further behind.

'At least I am not the worst student in the class.' Naruto thought to himself in a vain attempt to muster some form of pride. Yet as he looked toward the student who scored the lowest marks, he could only feel envy. Even though that student received the worst grade in the class, he didn't seem to care. In fact, he was happily chatting with his friends, seemingly without a care in the world.

'Friends?' It had been a while since he had attempted to make friends since everyone at the orphanage ignored him. He didn't even try to talk to anyone when he first arrived at class because he was scared he would receive the same treatment.

However, they seemed like friendly people. And since there was no point in studying anymore, as he learnt that high grades didn't exactly equal many friends,

'They seem like nice people.' Naruto thought, blankly watching the interactions between everyone in the class. 'There's no point in studying if I am so far behind. It's not like high grades equal many friends anyways….'

Naruto glanced toward the class's top student, who blankly stared out the window, ignoring everybody else. 'Sasuke Uchiha…' The blonde-haired boy didn't know why Sasuke was like that, but he was slightly envious of the treatment the boy received from others in the class.

Even though the boy ignored everyone around him, he still had people surrounding him. The blonde-haired girl, 'Ino Yawa… Yamo… Yamanaka?' and the pink-haired girl, 'Sakura Haruno' both seemed to gravitate towards the boy.

'Maybe I should try making some friends.' Naruto thought. Hopefully, it would make that weird feeling he felt when he saw other people talk and smile at each other go away.

End of Chapter 1

Authors Notes: Figured I would add this here, just in case someone reads too far into this. I will label everything that is fanon, canon and my personal headcanon.

For example, we don't know if the caretakers in the orphanage ignored Naruto and his reading and writing studies failed as a result. However, I prefer the idea that this small sabotage resulted in his education falling behind the rest, (Naruto struggled to read some words on the form handed to them before the Chunin exams is my reasoning behind that).