Naruto: The Great change

Ch - 23 : GOD ARC I : Naruto's past and Jin's origin

Let's get started. God will be introduced in this arc. One thing I wanted to discuss was how canon Sakura saved Naruto in manga but it was cut out. Example - When she was ready to give up on being a Chunin not caring for the fact that Sasuke would hate her or when she was about to die from Zabuza's sword, her first instinct was to save Naruto rather than Sasuke, etc.

Truly, she didn't deserve her canon treatment.
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8 years before,
Konohagakure orphanage,

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?

1 Years later,
Konohagakure Orphanage,

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 4),

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 Pokage? 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.