Ch 1: Shattered Illusions

In an alley, a blond-haired boy was searching through a bin. It had been three days since he had been kicked out of the orphanage. Just then, he heard someone.

"What are you doing here?"

"Who are you, and why do you care?" Naruto retorted as he looked behind him, spotting a boy with a weasel mask standing in the alley. Naruto quickly scanned the area to see if there was a potential escape route, but unfortunately, there didn't seem to be one. He knew he would be in trouble if the boy decided to attack him.

'He seems cautious,' the boy thought before saying, "You should be at the orphanage. How did you end up here?"

"I was kicked out." Feeling uncertain about what to do, the blond decided to simply answer him.

The boy remained still for a moment, seemingly taken aback. 'Who would throw out a 3-year-old kid?' he wondered. "Why were you kicked out?" he asked.

"She said I was old enough to live on my own and didn't want to take care of a demon."

If the weasel-masked boy wasn't angry before, he definitely was now. He calmed himself and said, "Let's get you out of here," extending his arm.

Naruto seemed to hesitate at first, but he didn't sense any malicious intent from him, so he decided to follow him.

******

Hiruzen was sitting at his desk, buried in paperwork, when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said. He saw his trusted anbu with a blond kid who appeared to be a beggar. Hiruzen recognized immediately who the boy was, Naruto Uzumaki.

"Lord Hokage, Naruto was kicked out by the caretaker."

"She did WHAT!?" The Hokage's anger was palpable. Then he turned his attention to Naruto and felt immense guilt. "Do you remember me, Naruto?" he said softly.

"Yeah, you were the one who left me at the orphanage."

Hiruzen's heart ached at this response. He had failed to take care of Minato's son. He had failed Naruto. Determined to amend this, he promised himself that he would spend more time with Naruto. He said, "Let's get you cleaned up and some rest first, Naomi," as he called for his assistant.

The assistant entered and bowed respectfully. "You called, Lord Hokage."

"Yes, could you get Naruto cleaned up and make sure he gets some rest?" Hiruzen said, indicating Naruto.

"As you wish, Lord Hokage," she replied before leaving with Naruto.

"Itachi, there were supposed to be anbu watching over Naruto. Where were they?"

"I didn't see them, Lord Hokage. That suggests they knowingly let Naruto be in this situation."

"Lion! Go and find the anbu who were responsible for watching Naruto, as well as the caretaker, and bring them here for execution," Hiruzen ordered in a fit of anger.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," responded a Lion-masked anbu member who had just emerged from his hiding place.

"Itachi, what do you think we should do?"

"I suggest finding someone in a position of power to adopt him. As Lord Fifth's son, there should be capable individuals who could take care of him, like Master Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya can't, due to his with the spy network. He's always on the move."

"Surely, a life on the move might still be better than a life filled with hatred."

"Yes, but he's not equipped to care for a child." Hiruzen thought to himself, 'If Naruto stays with him, he might end up emulating Jiraiya, and I don't want that.' Aloud, he said, "Let's arrange for an apartment and assign trusted ANBU to handle his daily needs. Bring Kakashi here."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

******

A few moments later, Itachi entered, accompanied by Kakashi.

"Itachi told me what happened, Lord Hokage, can you let me adopt Naruto." Kakashi spoke, his voice carrying a hint of pleading.

"No, Kakashi, you are still too young, and you're a valuable member of the anbu."

"I can quit being an anbu. Please, Lord Hokage, I can't stand by and watch him suffer."

"The council wouldn't allow it, Kakashi. It was decided that Naruto can't be adopted by anyone due to him being a Jinchūriki. I'm sorry," the Hokage replied, his thoughts reflecting his discontent with the council's power. 'The council has taken too much power from me. I need to change that.' "I'm going to provide Naruto with an apartment and assign some trusted anbu to take care of him. Will you assist me with that?"

"Alright, Lord Hokage," Kakashi conceded, his frustration evident.

"Thank you. You two are free to leave. I need to have a conversation with Naruto about this," Hiruzen said, and the two ANBU members shunshined away.

******

In his room, Naruto had just finished eating and thought, 'Why do the villagers call me the demon fox? Everyone keeps calling me that, so there must be a reason behind it. And more importantly, what's going to happen to me? Where am I going to live?'* While pondering these questions, he heard a knock on the door.

"Naruto, it's me, the Hokage. Can you open the door?"

Naruto went ahead and opened the door, saying, "Please come in, Lord Hokage."

"You don't need to call me that, Naruto. Just call me gramps," he said, taking a seat in an empty chair and gesturing for Naruto to do the same. "How are you feeling, my boy?"

"Okay, I guess. Thank you, gramps, for feeding me."

Hiruzen's heart sank upon hearing this. 'It seems like they didn't even properly feed him in the orphanage. And the way he talks, it's as if he was forced to mature early.'* "You don't need to thank me, Naruto. I just did what I should."

"Gramps, can you please not send me back to the orphanage? I don't want to live there."

"No, I won't, Naruto. I was thinking about giving you an apartment. What do you think?" Hiruzen said, his guilt evident for suggesting that Naruto live alone.

"Thank you, gramps." Naruto managed a weak smile and then asked, "Can I ask you something?" 'He's the Hokage; surely he must know about it.'

"Of course, you can ask me anything."

"Why do the villagers hate me and call me demon fox? And do you know who my parents were?"

Hiruzen froze for a moment and then said, "They fear what they don't understand, Naruto, and what they say isn't true. You are NOT a monster. As for your parents, I only know that they were killed in the Kyuubi attack while protecting the village."

'Seems like they didn't abandon me at least, and he's hiding some things from me. What's there to understand about a child? There must be a reason for them to call me a monster, but he doesn't want to tell me.'

"You should get some rest, Naruto. I have some matters to attend to," Hiruzen said, walking out of the room.

Taking the advice, Naruto went to sleep.

******

Author Notes:

Please let me know what did you think about this chapter, criticism is also welcomed.

Also, English not my first language. Let me know if I made some mistakes.