His Secret (A Naruto Rewrite)

Chapter 1: The Perfect Opportunity

Naruto hopped onto a blue shingled rooftop, walking on top of the buildings of Konoha. It was 5:38 a.m. so the sun just barely peaked above the horizon, warm oranges bled into purple creating an interesting blend of colors in the early morning sky. He slowly walked towards the Hokage's office, putting one foot in front of the other, his hands resting in his pockets. Tsunade specifically requested him to be there by six o clock, used to the teen sleeping in past five by now, so he wasn't in any rush. It wasn't like he'd been sleeping anyways. Lately it's all he can do to get seven hours, and that's on a good night in the village. He hopped onto a different roof, the Academy already in sight.

Tired, he looked out onto the streets of the Hidden Leaf, admiring the peaceful, quiet atmosphere as a few villagers set up stalls, unlocked doors to their store, or water their plants. Most of them stayed in their own little world, not even noticing the soft footsteps of the blonde right above them, but others, more perceptive to their surroundings, gave him dirty looks as he passed by. He bit back a frown, looking straight ahead to avoid any trouble. He didn't have time to go home and cover up any bruises or cuts. Well, maybe that was over exaggeration. Normally the towns people would resort to griefing his house, carving words into his door and painting his walls and windows. All it really did was give him something extra to do as he already knew the words written upon his walls well, but he'd be damned to let any of his friends see those same words too. They have enough going on in their lives anyways, they shouldn't bother themselves with him any more than they already do.

Now you might be thinking, "how could that be possible? Why would anyone hate him since he saved the village?" Or at the very least, "what did he do to deserve this?" Or maybe you already know why. An image flashed through his mind, red painted words dripping down the beat up wooden door of his house. The same words that he scrubbed off his door only an hour or two ago. Monster. He touched his stomach lightly, try to push the image from his head. No, it didn't matter that he held the Nine-tailed fox within him to protect Konoha, only the fact that he was a Jinchuriki in the first place. They weren't stupid, they knew what would happen if the boy died so they made sure he stayed alive, but they weren't the brightest either. It's been drilled into his head countless times; since the Nine-tailed fox is inside of him, they'll hurt him, in turn hurting the beast. He tried telling them that wasn't how it works, but he's an "untrustworthy liar" as "the beast had already spoken to him and won him over." Which is ironic considering he never told anyone how the last part was technically true.

Though it clearly wasn't fine, Naruto always insisted it was. On the bright side, they only go after me once or twice a month. He thought, directing it towards Kurama as the fox stretched itself awake. You act as though that's good. He yawned back as he laid down once more, looking ready to go back to sleep. Compared to other Jinchuriki's it is. And that was all it took for the fox to go back to sleep with a grumble, mumbling something about it being too early to fight. Naruto briefly wondered when the inevitable torture would arrive this month, seeing as it was already well past the midway mark of September and he'd yet to receive more than a push or two. If he was honest, that was the worst torture of all; not knowing when they would strike or where. Sometimes it was a few people right after a long mission, other times it was a large group that would get him as he walked home from Ichiraku's Ramen shop. He's even had his landlord and a few of the landlord's friends break into his house to drag him out a couple times. The only consistency in their timing is on his birthday, the 10th of October and also the day of the kyuubi festival. Needless to say he always asks for an out-of-village mission near that time...

He jumped onto a smaller building with reddish brown shingles. Building a bit of momentum with speed, he propelled himself high into the air to hop onto the next building, which was much higher than the other. Upon his feet colliding with the wooden roof, he stood straighter and his hands went back into the pockets of the orange jumpsuit. He sighed. A lot of people hate the bright outfit, Sakura and Ino to name a few, but he honestly thought it was pretty neat. Sure, he wouldn't mind something in red- or even blue- but he couldn't complain when it was the only ninja attire not selling in stores, meaning it was the only thing they would sell him (overpriced nonetheless). He didn't care, despite its bold colors that were sure to reveal his position out in the world, it was durable, lightweight, flexible, and easy to fix too! Not to mention it fit his bright, colorful personality as well.