Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and let out a deep sigh. He saw Naruto running across rooftops in his crystal ball.
An ANBU fell from the ceiling.
"Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen gazed into the ANBU's tired eyes.
"Naruto may have gone a bit to far this time." Hiruzen furrowed his brows.
"Explain." And so the ANBU did.
"Naruto attempted to do another prank today. The prank did not go well, however. Naruto attempted to place a sealing tag full of paint underneath a Grocer's stool. Ordinarily the damage would've been a ruined pair of pants. Whoever gave him the tag however, over filled the tag, and added a pressure element to it. There are no injuries, but there is at least a few tens of thousands of ryo worth of damage." The Hokage sighed, exasperated.
The village could cover it quite readily. Have a few Genin on it and it will be fixed by tomorrow mourning.
"I see, get Naruto and bring him here. I need to give him a proper talking to." The ANBU eased slightly and nodded.
Not a moment later was a very fluster blond, covered in paint in the office.
"H-Hey old man-." Hiruzen slammed his hand on his desk, effectively silencing Naruto.
"Naruto." Hiruzen spoke in a angry tone, Naruto shrank into himself. "What did you think was going to happen?"
Naruto took a deep breath.
"I-I just wanted to play a little prank, cover his pants in paint. I was going to buy him a new pair, I-" Hiruzen shook his head slightly with a sigh.
"Naruto. You can't keep doing this. Your pranks were harmless at first, only casting a few hundred ryo to repair. A third of which always came from your money. That was fine, I could look the other way, but I can't now. If I put even an 8th of this debt onto you, you wouldn't have money at all for the next 4-7 months." Naruto paled, having underestimated the cost of the accident. "Your very lucky Naruto, since not all of the blame lies on you, only a portion, with the rest falling on whoever sold you that tag..." Hiruzen put a piece of paper down on his desk, looking at Naruto expectantly.
Naruto got up, and rote down a name and address, before sitting back down, looking into his hands.
Hiruzen sighed. He could simply leave with this, but it wouldn't dissuade Naruto forever.
He needed to get to the root of things.
He kneeled in front of Naruto, getting to his level, and leveled a concerned gaze onto him.
"Why do you do this Naruto? I know your lonely, but there's better ways to get attention-." Naruto shook his head rapidly.
"People don't like me, old man. I just... I just wanted to try to make a few laugh!" Naruto was crying, unable to contain himself. "That's it for the prank itself, and the reason I always run to try to learn! The teachers at the academy won't teach me how to do exercises like the other kids!"
Naruto was hyperventilating and Hiruzen was beginning to understand what was happening.
Naruto was having an emotional breakdown.
'Did- did I cause this?' Hiruzen thought in horror.
"I just wanted to learn like the other kids! All I want is to be normal!" Naruto couldn't form words anymore, every time he tried, he couldn't get air in.
Hiruzen picked up Naruto and looked out the window with the boy sobbing in his arms.
He gazed upon a child.
The child was running and playing with other children.
He began to play tag until his parents called him over for lunch.
'A normal child. One untouched by this shinobi world. I'm sorry I can't give you such a thing, Naruto. If I could I would, even if it would've meant my death.' He held Naruto as close as he could, channeling his chakra into the boy to attempt to calm him.
Naruto slowly began to breath properly, before stilling. He wasn't asleep, surprisingly. Just still.
"Naruto, I don't blame you for feeling the way you do. Everyone wants to fit in." Naruto looked up slowly.
"Than why can't I?" The Hokage looked out, contemplating telling Naruto about the Kyuubi, before nodding.
He needs to know. If the lack of normalcy is affecting him this much, than he needs to know.
"Naruto, I'm going to tell you something. It's a secret, but it's- it's why you don't fit in with some of the villagers." Naruto shot up, looking at the Hokage.
"Please tell me!" Naruto had a pleading look that the Hokage simply could leave alone.
"On the day you were born, Naruto. October 10th. The Kyuubi escaped form it's prison. It's Jinchuriki." Naruto furrowed his brow.
"The power of human sacrifice?" Hiruzen nodded.
"The Kyuubi was once sealed into a woman to keep it away from the other villages, as well as to use it's power as a weapon." Naruto nodded, slightly disturbed.
"The Kyuubi escaped. It caused a lot of damage, and killed a lot of people. I was able to get it out of the village with the help of a lot of brave men and women. The Kyuubi was too strong however, only the Yondaime could defeat it." Naruto nodded slowly.
"Yeah, everyone knows the Yondaime killed it." The Hokage shook his head.
"That not correct, Naruto. The Yondaime didn't kill it. He couldn't. You can't kill a Tailed Beast. A Bijuu."
Naruto's brow furrowed.
"Than they had to make another prison. Another Jinchuriki-..." Naruto slowed to a stop, thinking about the whispers of the villagers.
He's dangerous.
Why do they keep it near us?
Why do they leave it alone, what if it regains it's power?
"Oh my-." Naruto felt like he was about to vomit, cry and scream all at once. Hiruzen noticed that Naruto put together the pieces in his head.
"You are indeed a Jinchuriki, Naruto. Of the Nine tailed fox." Naruto began to shake slightly, he ran to a trash can and emptied what his stomach held.
'I really am like they say. I can never be normal-.' Hiruzen placed a hand on Naruto's back.
"But that doesn't mean your a monster or that your dangerous. It only means your different. There's still a place for you, it's just not among the civilians." Naruto gazed at Hiruzen with a glimmer of hope.
"I will help you, Naruto. I will help you join the community were your accepted. I will help you become a shinobi." Naruto finally calmed, showing a small exhausted smile.
"Don't bother going to academy tomorrow. You'll only be going for spars and for testing. Every other day you will come to my office, either myself or a clone will practice with you, and teach you things I find necessary along side the academy technique. It will be hard, Naruto. But when your done, you will truly be someone people can respect." Naruto a beaming smile on his face.
He had always wanted another way to feel normal, and now he had one.
He would be a normal Shinobi.
YOU ARE READING
Apprentice
FanfictionNaruto was always a trouble maker, playing pranks for attention. It was all he could do to get eyes of him. Angry eyes are better than no eyes. If there was another way for him to escape isolation for however brief, he would. And the most powerful m...
