Chapter 1
The Kyuubi attack was a devastating night, leaving the whole village hidden in the leaves to suffer with grief. So much had to be done on such a short notice, all the destruction, the funerals, everyone was occupied.
That day, a small boy was cursed for the sin of being born, and as the chaos continued he was swept aside, for no one had time for him. The Hokage passed a law to leave the boy alone, only allowing an orphanage to raise the new life.
But just two years later, on a harsh winter day the grownups, filled with blind anger towards the tailed beast, threw the boy out. He could barely walk by the time, let alone be able to survive.
Yet he did, he fought his was through life with teeth and nails, never learning a loving touch of family, only the hateful hands and mouths of those around.
Seven years passed since the attack on the village. The people never learning to separate the beast from its holder, and Naruto being forced to find ways out again and again. With no money to spend, he had to learn to get whatever he could, whether from thievery, trash, or by making things himself.
Yet, on one of those nights of going scavenging, the boy’s life will change.
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Shikamaru was trying to get away from all the bothers that came with starting the academy by strolling through the different shortcuts of the village. That was nothing unusual for the Nara, as getting away from all the noise has been his priority for practically all his so far short life.
His walk was perfect and quiet, but that was cut short as Shikamaru heard some rumbling from a trash bin he was about to pass.
“Did an animal get stuck? Ts, troublesome”, he muttered as he strolled over to see if a critter needed some help getting out.
What the clan heir did not expect was to be jumped on by another young child. They were dirty and tiny, with bared teeth that held a piece of thrown out and halfway rotting meat. Their eyes met, and the tiny child got off of Shikamaru quickly, favoring the idea of running away.
Shikamaru stayed laying on the dirty ground of the alleyway. The meeting was confusing and getting up felt like too much trouble. In fact, all of this was too much trouble for the seven year old.
Who was that child? Why were they running on all fours? Why did they jump on him? There were a lot of questions, and the young boy hated mysteries.
His father found him an hour later, lazily getting his son up and back to the clan-grounds, and the questions were not asked, nor were they answered. Shikamaru needed to first try and get the answers himself, so he settled for observing and trying to catch the redhead again.
As the week passes on, Shikamaru starts sneaking out food and go on more walks before and after school, taking as long of a way home as possible. Of course, his parents noticed the sudden change, but decided to not push through.
But a week of no progress got Shikamaru to reveal his worries over a dinner.
“What happens when a child is left with no parents?”
Shikaku looked up from his food, not expecting such a question.
“Well, they’re either taken by other relatives or the orphanage. Why?”
“Are they ever left to the streets? Met a child a time ago, they were going through the garbage bins”
“Do you want to help them?”
“I do not want the workload” … “But,”
“Never mind, forget what I said”
Shikamaru went back to eating, trying but failing to hide his frustration with the whole ordeal.
Yet, as he was about to stand up, his father’s voice started up again
“If you think something is wrong, don’t swipe it away. A child shouldn’t live without a house”
The two Nara’s stared at each other, until Yoshino got fed up and stood up,
“You will tell us all of the details that you know of whoever this child is, and we we’ll help them, stop with the hesitation”
And so, Shikamaru folded.