Konoha's New Number One....Baby?!

"Mama!"

Adults rule the world. They make the decisions. They wrote the books, opened the shops, sold the food, made the clothes, and taught the children.

Naruto knew this through watching, for he had no parents. No one taught him to read the books, or how to dress, or to brush his teeth before he went to bed.

He watched and adapted, for the adults of this world were cruel beings.

They yelled at him and hit him. Told him horrible things and pulled their kids away from him.

He knew they did not like him, so he learned to read his own books, put on his own clothes, tie his shoes, and tidy his hair.

He had to learn how to eat properly from the ninja with animal masks. They at least were not mean to him, but they did not speak.

He messed up, made mistakes, but he learned.

And for all that he did not know, he knew this. The louder you were, the fewer people noticed you.

So that's what he went with, he wasn't a secret genius, but he did notice that he was treated better when he got into more trouble.

The adults were happy to see him publicly humiliated by the ninja who caught him, so he let him.

But that did not mean he was useless.

He picked up things in secret from the slums, for that is where he lived; where he was safest.

Sakura did not know, for he had not told her.

Sasuke did not know, for he would have been ridiculed.

He was useless, a demon, a dead-last, an orphan.

But he was Naruto Uzumaki, and he would become the Hokage, even if it killed him.

______________________________________________________________________________

Being outside of the village was the biggest shock of Naruto's young life.

He had shouldered the disdain of the adults, knowing why they would hate him for what he housed, but not understanding how any of them could hate him.

He wasn't the one to kill their families or friends, it was the Kyuubi.

He wasn't even fully born yet when it was unleashed; he was told.

But what could he do against an entire village? How could he convince the unconvinced?

He did not know.

But he did know that no one outside of the village knew about his secret.

They treated him like the other children, like Sakura and Sasuke.

And so he relaxed, reaching out with new fingers to hold onto whatever this was.

He met people, made friends, had rivals, and saw the world one village at a time.

Naruto wondered what his team would have thought if they could see him. Would they have taken his friends away?

Did they know about his secret? Would they tell?

Too scared to ask and find out, he hid away.

Too selfish to risk what he achieved on his own, he kept it a secret.

Maybe Kakashi-sensei knew, yet he never asked where he went, and even covered for him when Sakura got a little too angry at him.

She wouldn't understand. She never did.

No one ever understood him back at home.

But out here? He was the 'polite young man, the 'handsome boy', the 'funny friend', the 'nice person'.

Outside he was somebody, he was treated like the adult he was, the adult that he wanted to be.

He may have been young, not even sixteen yet, but he had blood on his hands.

They treated him as such. He tried alcohol. They taught him to gamble and play poker. They let him try cigars and such, though he did not like the smell.

He even fell in love, or at least close enough to it.

Outside he was somebody.

Outside he was Naruto Uzumaki.

______________________________________________________________________________

Naruto wondered how he always ended up in these situations.

Sure he got into trouble a lot, through no fault of his own, but this was ridiculous.

It was a mission. Just a regular old mission. How did it go so wrong?

He remembers the day like it was yesterday. Hokage Tsunade had called them in for a mission, a B-rank.

He got a little too excited at the thought of leaving the village and ran ahead. The receptionist had yelled, and his teammates had told him to slow down, but how could he?

He ran, stopping short when he didn't see Tsunade.

"Where's the Hokage?" he questioned.

"Oh great, you guys are here," Jiraiya-sensei had said, standing up from his seat. "Tsu-chan had to step away real quick, but she should be back soon."

"Do you know why?" Sakura chimed in.

"Afraid not, do you Shizune?"

"No," she shook her head. "You know how she can be sometimes," Shizune sighed.

Jiraiya laughed. "That I do. Anyway, how has everything been Team 7? I know you guys have been given more missions lately."

Sakura perked up, "Well you see...."

Their conversation lasts well over five minutes before the Hokage shows up. Team seven stands and salutes, Jiraiya gets out of her chair, and Shizune bows.

"Greetings Hokage-sama," Kakashi started. "Team seven reporting for mission briefing."

"Yes, yes," she says distractedly, sitting down and rifling through her drawers. "The mission briefing..."

Naruto remembers the look on her face then. A little sour as she pondered something.

He remembers her looking at the door, and then back down to where she was searching, and then back up, this time at them.

"Ah yes, the mission," she had said. "Crow, please bring in the client."

The client had turned out to be a baby.

A baby with the tiniest of hands and the prettiest of eyes.

Naruto remembered Jiraiya cackling at the sour look on Sasuke's face.

He remembered Kakashi shifting away at Sakura's excitement.

He even remembered when the client had turned her little head from person to person and landed on him.

She had smiled at him, all gums and small teeth, and he melted. He loved children; though he never told anyone.

"Mama!"

Shizune had looked at Kakashi, who looked at Naruto, who looked at Sakura, and Sasuke, who looked at Tsunade, who looked at him.

"......What?" they had all parroted. 

Naruto also remembers that this was the turning point, for he had forgotten that he too was considered an adult.

And adults ruled the world.