Becoming

Part 1

            The young blonde boy trudged down the street. He was without money or a home, and the whole world was against him. Why? Let me tell you. He was special. He had something inside of him that most others do not. In fact, it was something rather unusual and extremely rare. He held a being inside of him. This being, was none other than a monster that destroyed the town years ago. The reason for all the hate directed at this eight year old. He, Naruto, was none other than the holder of the nine tailed fox.
The citizens of the Hidden Leaf had an irrational hate for him. But he was not deterred by their awful comments. No, they often made him mad, and want to prove he could do and be something.
On this day, it was like any other. It was raining hard and as he looked up at the sky, a young family passed him.
"Mama, Papa, look at that boy!" the little girl yelled, much louder than she needed. Her voice traveled to Naruto and beyond, warning the other passersby's of his presence.
"Shh. Don't look at him!" the mother hissed and picked the girl up, then hurried away. Naruto didn't care. It was normal, but yes, it did make him mad. What right did they have to judge him from the nine tails? He wasn't the nine tails, nor did he have any intention to be.
But Naruto had long since stopped yelling. Ever since he met them. They had accepted him into their group. Why, Naruto didn't know. They just came up to him one day and asked if they could hang out with him. This group included a dark haired boy named Sasuke, a pinkette named Sakura, a blondie named Ino, a lazy guy named Shikamaru, a fat guy named Choji, dog lover Kiba, sweet and shy Hinata, and seemingly emotionless Neji.
They were in fact the ones he was heading to meet now. And, they were the only people he trusted. Naruto had once trusted his teacher, Iruka, but after finding out it was just to observe him, Naruto had stopped talking to him completely.
Naruto rounded the corner and caught a glimpse of Sasuke. Had they changed the meeting place then? Naruto crept closer and saw all of them. He was about to yell and wave when Sasuke spoke.
"How annoying. Why do we have to hang out with the monster? We should have just ignored the hokage's request!"
"Yeah. It's too troublesome," Shikamaru said in agreement. Naruto quickly stepped into the shadows. He wanted to hear everything.
"He scares me. He has such a monster in him! And if he gets mad, he may kill us! I don't know why our parents agreed to us keeping an eye on it." Sakura said, and began clinging to Sasuke.

"Naruto annoys me. We should just stop. We aren't being forced to do this," Kiba said, pointing out the one detail nobody had actually voiced. Simply because the answer was obvious.
"Who else would watch him though? He's dangerous and he won't talk to Iruka anymore." Shikamaru, the ever smart kid, stated.
"Whatever. It's almost time for the meeting with it so let's hurry. He might be there already," Ino said and began walking.
Naruto couldn't help but notice that Neji, Choji and Hinata had said nothing. They had listened quietly, Neji and Hinata not moving, but Naruto had seen Choji nod. What were they thinking? But then, it really didn't matter.
Naruto ran back the way he had come, letting the angry tears stream down his face. He stopped at a bridge and jumped up. Nobody would care if he died. No, they would be happy.
In a rare moment of calm, Naruto smiled. No, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of killing himself. He knew what he would do. And it would be so fun to see their faces.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and without looking, Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs; "I will become Hokage!!! I swear I will, and I will prove to you all I am better than you!"
As he'd expected, laughter could be heard behind him. Then footsteps approached and he whirled as a hand rested on his back. There, now in front of him, were five or so people laughing. But directly in front of him, was a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a black cape and had a oh so similar red and white ANBU mask around his neck. His smile was kind as he knelt to Naruto's level.
"Yes, you will. I believe you will," his voice was masculine and kind, and felt so much like it could be the father Naruto never knew, that the boy cried. He'd never felt accepted like this. Not even by his false group of friends.
"I'm going to help you become Hokage, alright? I'll show you who to go to." And with that, the man picked Naruto up, and carried him outside the gate of the Hidden Leaf and beyond, to places Naruto never dreamed of going.
And that was the last the Hidden Leaf ever saw of Naruto, at least for many, many years.