Chapter one
“How are you feeling about today?”Hiruzen, Naruto’s social worker questioned, looking at Naruto through the rearview mirror. “Excited? Anxious?”
Naruto just shrugged, he was in no real mood to chat right now. Why would he be excited anyway? He was being put into another new house with more new people, they would likely grow tired of him just as quickly as the last and send him off if he was lucky. There was always a chance he could end up in a foster home similar to his stay with Danzo. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
Naruto felt a familiar feeling building up in his chest, he was anxious. He forced himself to stare out the window, focusing on the moving landscape rather than worst-case scenarios. Grassy hills, endless trees, and winding rocky roads transformed into a concrete jungle of bustling sidewalks, convenience stores, and busy highways. The intriguing shift from rural to urban captivated his thoughts, offering a brief distraction from his apprehensions.
“Who am I going to be staying with this time?” Naruto questioned, looking to Hiruzen once more. The older man frowned, his brows furrowing, “I’ve already told you. You need to work on listening.” His tone was firm as he scolded the boy. “A man named Iruka Umino, he’s 24 years old and works as a teacher. He’s been a foster parent for about a year. Currently, no other fosters live with him, but that could always change.”
Naruto thought for a moment, completely disregarding Hiruzen’s scolding. “Is he married?”
Hiruzen shook his head.
“Why not?”
Hiruzen laughed, “I’m not sure, you know I’m not omnipotent, right?”
“What omnipotent?” Naruto began rocking back and forth, signaling he was getting impatient, tired of being in the car.
“It means all-knowing. Sit still, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Naruto’s face flushed a bit, mumbling an apology under his breath, forcing himself to stay still.
“This man is quite nice from what I hear, so behave yourself and things should go just fine.”
Naruto frowned slightly, he knew he wasn’t the best behaved but did he have to make it sound like past foster homes failing was entirely his fault?
“You think he’ll adopt me?” There was a beaten-down sadness to his voice, he asked the question knowing the answer. He was 8 years old, which already made foster homes less inclined to want him. On top of that, he suffered from mental illness, ADHD, autism, and learning disabilities. This made fosters parents treat him like he was stupid or some kind of animal incapable of human emotion. Most families found him too difficult, he was starting to believe they were right.
“I’m not sure. I don’t want to make you a promise that I can’t keep.”
Naruto hated this response, it was so robotic and his tone always lack empathy, Hiruzen could have at least reassured him somehow. Naruto decided he was done talking to the old man. He crossed his arms, looking out the window once more.
The landscape was much less urban than before, but it wasn’t as rural as before. He tried to recall what the in-between of urban and rural was, he had just learned this in class! He thought hard but couldn’t remember. He considered asking Hiruzen but he didn’t want to get scolded for not paying attention or get looked at like he was stupid, so he kept the question to himself.
“We’re nearly there,” Hiruzen announced, as he turned in Konoha Road. Naruto noted that they were really close to a school, he hated school grimacing slightly as he remember that the new foster parent was a teacher. He wondered if the man would treat him like all the other teachers did. He frowned slightly when they pulled onto his driveway. Three men were chatting on the driveway, one of them was assumedly Iruka Umino. One man was tall and lanky with silver hair, his hair kind of looked like he just rolled out of bed, he wore a surgical mask and his skin was pale. Naruto thought maybe he was a doctor, definitely not his new foster parent. The other man was also tall but muscly, he was tanner than the first man. He had pitch-black hair and a bowl cut, he looked like a superhero because of his muscle so he was definitely not a teacher either. The last man was the shortest, he also appeared lanky. His hair was long and brown and he wore it in a ponytail. He was the tannest out of all of them. He had a scar on the bridge of his nose, ‘Maybe he’s a ninja!’ Naruto thought. No, ninjas weren’t real. He looked the most like a teacher.
“Come on,” Hiruzen spoke, getting out of the car. He went over to greet the man and his friends? They seemed to be having a nice time chatting, Naruto didn’t get out knowing he’d somehow ruin their good time. So instead, he just sat there insecurely fiddling with his seat belt.
They were all suddenly looking at him, Naruto felt his cheeks grow hot. Hiruzen waved a hand, signaling for Naruto to come out of the car. Taking a deep breath he finally exited the vehicle.
The other two men said their goodbyes and began to head off. Naruto worried he had somehow ruined their conversation. He was right though about who was Iruka. It was the short tan man.
“Hello! I’m Iruka, you must be Naruto.” The man smiled at Naruto, briefly he was taken aback. The man’s smile was so warm and kind. No one ever smiled at him like that before, not even Hiruzen. Iruka crouched down to be at a similar height to Naruto, he may have been short in comparison to the other two men but he towered over Naruto. “I’m very glad to have you stay with me, why don’t we go inside and get everything settled, hm?”
Naruto looked to Hiruzen for reassurance, but the old man provided none, he wasn’t even looking at Naruto. Curious he looked over to where Hiruzen had been looking. It was the men before, they were outside. They must have stopped to talk to Iruka, now they were back to working on their garden. Naruto noticed that there were kids that looked to be around his age hanging out in front of the house. They were stealing glances in his direction every now and again. Iruka, too, looked over to where their eyes were.
“Hm, oh! Those are our neighbors.” He smiled, “They're very nice people.”
“All of them?” Naruto questioned, looking back to Iruka in shock. The neighborhoods he was usually in were filled to the brim with old people. Iruka chuckled nodding his head, “The two men I was chatting with, they also foster kids. So some of those kids are fosters and some of them they adopted.” He explained, “They’re actually the people that helped me start fostering! Their wonderful, all of them, I’m sure you’ll get along great when you meet them.”
Naruto wanted to protest, citing that most people didn’t like him especially after they got to know him, but Hiruzen interrupted.
“I see.” Naruto saw him smile, but he knew that he was only pretending. Naruto knew his fake smile pretty well by now. “Iruka’s right, let’s go in and get everything settled.”
“Oh, okay…” Naruto knew by the way he was acting it was probably close to five when Hiruzen is off for the day. That or Hiruzen had grown tired of Naruto’s company. Both possible outcomes filled him with sorrow, either he didn’t matter to Hiruzen and he was just a job or he was so annoying the one person that kinda liked him couldn’t stand his presence for more than a few hours. The three of them enter Iruka’s home, “I have some books and puzzles, I also think I put a few games that you can play by yourself on the table out in the living room.” Iruka pointed to the room a few feet from his Genkan. “Just so you don’t have to sit through all the boring stuff, but you are welcome to sit out here if you’d like.”
Naruto had no interest, he’s sat through the process so many times he was pretty sure he could do it himself, so instead he opted for the games and puzzles. He wasn’t good at reading, so he didn’t pay the books any mind. The two men went off into the kitchen to discuss him and all the boring official stuff.
Naruto got bored after twenty minutes, at least he wouldn’t get scolded for fidgeting. He realized suddenly he had to use the bathroom, he wondered how much longer it would take them. He didn’t know where the bathroom was, if there were multiple, or if he was only meant to use a certain one. He sat there fidgeting half out of boredom, half out of the need to go. He was too scared of the consequence if he got up and interrupted them for something so silly.
But time passed slowly, and Naruto grew increasingly bored, the urge to use the bathroom adding to his discomfort. Finally, when he couldn't bear it any longer, Naruto entered the kitchen meekly, he approached Iruka and Hiruzen, his discomfort evident. Iruka's concern eased Naruto's anxieties and embarrassment slightly, he mumbled about needing the bathroom.
“The bathroom? Here, I’ll take you”, Iruka smiled, exiting the kitchen with the boy directing him to the bathroom. He was much kinder and understanding than Naruto was use to. It was such a stark contrast to his previous experiences.
The two adults had finished by the time he reemerged, Naruto attempted to draw out the goodbyes, wanting to hold onto the familiarity of Hiruzen a little longer. Iruka seemed nice enough but plenty of people seemed nice enough at firs, then they were horrible. Hiruzen's hastiness was evident, though, causing a pang of disappointment in Naruto's heart. It left him wondering if he truly mattered to anyone.
As Hiruzen's car pulled away, Naruto's heart pounded in his chest. The weight of loneliness and the unknown bore down on him, leaving him feeling vulnerable and apprehensive as he stood alone, again, with a stranger.