XxXxX

This world was a cruel place. This was the thought that continued to run through my head time and time again as I watched my father and twin sister practice jutsu in the back yard. Watched as they practiced the principle of what it meant to be a shinobi. Something that I could never do…

Our mother, Kushina Uzumaki, died giving birth to us during the Kyuubi crisis several years ago. Minato, our father, barely survived with his life and took us in with open arms, but during the short moments that we were brought into this life he had to make a choice. Who would obtain the nine tailed fox? Not having much time before he passed out, Minato chose Yui. This would later be the correct choice because of the makeup of my body. If he had decided to place the Kyuubi into me then I would have died instantly.

In terms of drawing the short straw, then I definitely drew the shortest one possible because I was born without the appropriate amount of chakra to form jutsu along with a birth defect that ensured that this would never be possible. I was just a normal… civilian. A person that cannot, will not, or ever be a shinobi. I was doomed to forever be another face in the crowd. Powerless to stop or protect others. I would never join the shinobi Academy, or become a Genin like my sister.

"You're doing great Yui! Keep at it and your accuracy will only improve!" Minato shouted in delight as Yui threw her last kunai at the target, hitting very close to bullseye. She had long blonde hair that was tied up into a ponytail. Wearing mostly orange and white clothing, a headband sat atop her head indicating that she had passed her test to becoming a Genin. She smile brightly at the praise, her bright blue eyes glowing in the afternoon sun. I was happy for her and the accomplishment that she made, but even still…

"You better watch out because one day I'm going to take the title of Hokage from you!" Yui exclaimed with a smile. I sighed as I looked back down at the text book on the kitchen table in front of me. Minato never said many encouraging words to me, even though I passed all my exams with flying colors. Looking over at Yui once more, a frown graced my features. My sister was the polar opposite of me. Happy, uplifting, always the center of attention, Yui could talk to anyone and make them believe in her. In a way, it was one of her special abilities. In contrast I was quiet, shy, and stayed away from people as much as possible. I was once asked by Yui why I was this way, but I could only respond with a fake smile that gave an answer she could live with. My fellow students at my school hated me. Hated me for who my father was, how smart I aspired to be, and how much the teachers liked me. It was a perfect mix that made me an easy target for bullies. Especially now since Yui graduated from the Academy, Minato has given me even less attention.

"I'm sure you will Yui." Minato said with a heartwarming smile. Closing the textbook, I placed the book into my backpack and walked to my room. It hurt me to watch them share something so perfect together. Something I could never hope to share with them. Stepping into my simple room that consists of a bed, closet, and desk, I dropped my bag down next to my desk and fell onto the bed. My eyes stared at the ceiling as I thought of what my life has been like up until this point. I was suffering… suffering because of something that was impossible for me to reach. To quiet this depression I threw myself into my studies in an attempt to distract myself from the problem that has built itself up over the last several years. My obsession continued until I learned as much as I could from the library and what the teachers could teach me.

My eyes began to close as my mind wandered. I wish I could be like my sister and her friends…

XxXxX

I awoke to a loud bang on my door. Shifting around in my bad, I leaned onto one of my arms and wiped the crust from my eyes with the other. "Naruto! You're going to be late for class if you keep sleeping!" It was Yui… why did she care if I was late for school? My own graduation was coming up soon, but even still that doesn't mean much in the eyes of a shinobi. Standing up, I realized I still had my school uniform on from the night before. Grabbing my bag, I walked to the door and opened it up to see Yui standing in the hall slightly annoyed.

"What?" I questioned at how annoyed she looked.

"One day you're going to wake up and realize that you're late for class. Then what will you do?" Yui asked as I slid by her and towards the kitchen.

"Don't know. You're going to be some high ranking kunoichi anyway. Why would you care?" I replied, making Yui frown.

"Because you're my brother, that's why!" Yui replied as she followed me into the kitchen. Grabbing an apple and a bottle of water, I took a bite of the fruit and went for the door, but was stopped when someone grabbed onto the sleeve of my black uniform. Looking over my shoulder I could see a somewhat worried expression on my sister's face. "Is everything going okay at school? You don't seem very happy lately."

I stared at her for a moment before nodding my head. "I'm fine. Just worry about not getting hurt on your D ranked missions okay?" I opened the door and took a step out into the spring sun. "Good luck, kunoichi." I closed the door and walked into the busy streets of Konoha. Class started in less than fifteen minutes, which meant I needed to make several… shortcuts if I wanted to make it there on time. Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I placed my water bottle in my bag and ran down the road towards my school. I weaved through the crowd and passed several stores where the people working them waved at me. Running into one restaurant, the man behind the register grinned and nodded his head. Smiling back, I dashed through the small building and the kitchen in the back, where two people were seen making breakfast dishes for the customers in the front. Glancing over at me, the chefs simply nodded their heads and went back to work. Running towards the door at the back of the building, I reappeared in a three way alleyway. One led to a dead end, another to a tall fence with barbwire strung on top, but the final direction had a tall fence as well minus the barbwire. Running to the fence without the wire, I quickly scaled the obstacle and landed onto my feet where I used my momentum to continue forward. Appearing onto the street, in front of me was a gate were several students, wearing the same uniform as myself, could be seen entering at a semi hastened pace. Sighing in relief, I crossed the street and entered the compound just as a student council member closed the gate behind us. Safe.

Unlike other people's uniforms, I had a jacket underneath my own with a hood that I would often place over the top of my head. I hated the feeling of people watching me, judging me behind my back, so this piece of clothing made me feel safe. Well… safer I suppose. This technically went against the schools dress code, but the teaching staff let me do as I please for several reasons. Having good grades, the way the students often treated me, and probably the most important reason, my father was the Hokage. Yes… the son of the Hokage was very popular at this school. 'The useless son of the most powerful shinobi in the village'.

"Hey! Dobe!" I frowned as I walked through the courtyard towards the entrance. "Dobe, I'm talking to you!" I felt a hand clasp onto my shoulder before I was shoved to the dirt below. Slowly lifting my body up a foot slammed into my side, forcing me to the ground once more. "Not so tough without your dear sister around are ya?" Looking up at the offender, the large boy grinned at the dominance he had over me. Two more kids stood behind him with looks that mirrored the large boy's in the center. The offender, the one that was hitting me, his name was Toshi and would often abuse me for whatever reason he could find. He had a sort of pot belly, but his arms were built just like a weight lifter. The two boys next to him were of similar stature, just shorter and not as strong.

"That's enough!" A voice exclaimed from near the gate. The three boys looked towards the source to see a fellow student walking towards us, except around his arm was a blue band. He had brown hair with deep green eyes. He was about my height, and was lean and handsome. "Toshi, go on to class or you'll be late."

"I was just teaching this useless wannabe his place, Akio. No harm in that." Toshi responded with a shrug.

"Toshi…" Akio looked to be getting rather frustrated.

"Alright already. Lets go boys." Toshi said as they walked into the entrance of the three story school. I groaned as I slowly stood up. Their beatings were becoming fiercer by the day.

"Why don't you fight back?" Akio asked as he helped me up. "I've seen what you can do in the Martial Arts club, and you're easily one of the best fighters in the school." I sighed as I brushed off the dirt from my black and gray uniform.

"Because fighting back only makes the problem worse." I replied as I moved to the entrance to exchange shoes for inside the school. "Thanks Akio, but please leave me be. I can handle myself."

"But-."

"Akio." I had stopped and looked at him over my shoulder from beneath my hood. Sometimes he was just too nice for his own good. I knew that Akio, the most popular kid in school, wanted to be friends with me, but I knew that it was just out of pity. He saw me as a puppy being beaten by the large dogs that roamed this school, and while I could easily defend myself, I knew that it would only make my situation worse in the long run. I would suffer until I graduated from this godforsaken school in a few months then it would be over. At least I hoped… "Thanks, but you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine." With that I entered the school, leaving behind a very aggravated Akio.

XxXxX

'Today couldn't be any more boring… At least it's over and I can go home.' I thought as I walked down the halls of my school. People glanced at me and began whispering, making me pull my hood further over my head. Two more months… just two more months of this then I'll be gone. "Well hey there Dobe." I frowned before I could even see Toshi. Looking up I saw a fist slam into my face, making me barrel backwards into one of the empty science rooms. Standing up while grabbing my eye, I turned towards the one that had attacked me in anger.

"I'm getting a sick and tired of your-!" I began to say, fully intent on fighting back this time, but then I saw it. The thing that made me freeze in my tracks.

"What were you about to say, Dobe?" Toshi said with a wicked grin on his face with the light from the hallway window shining into the room from behind him. His two friends, Ken and Michi, stood by his side. In his hand was a kunai, but besides that a piece of paper hung from the blade by a string. Another contraption was built into the kunai to activate the hanging paper if handled correctly, or incorrectly in this case. "Finally about to fight back this time?"

"T-Toshi. Relax. Think about what you're doing." I said as I took a step back.

"Oh I've been thinking a long time about this dobe, and let me tell you this is all I could think about." Toshi took a menacing step towards me, making my eyes widen in fear. "Your father is the hero of the village. The one that saved us from the Kyuubi attack thirteen years ago, and your sister is the hero that cages that beast within her." Taking another step towards me, his eyes grew darker. "But here you are, a parasite that latches itself onto an otherwise perfect family."

"I-I…"

"Why do you even exist? Why were you ever born into this world if you can't contribute anything to it?!" Toshi exclaimed as he continued to mess with the kunai in his hand, making me sweat. A lot of people felt very protective of our Hokage and his prodigy daughter, so this wasn't something that I haven't seen before, but this… This is madness!

"Toshi… please… relax. I know I'm-." I tried to reply in a calm manner, but it was too late.

"I stole this from my stepfather. Took it from his wardrobe while he was at work this morning." Toshi said as he admired the blade in his hands and how he felt so powerful with it.

"…" I could only watch as his gaze finally landed on me. Was he actually going to attack me with it, or just threaten me?

"I don't know about this man… maybe we shouldn't-." Michi went to say.

"Shut up! We're in this together!" Toshi shouted before returning his crazed gaze to me. "Don't worry… I won't kill him. Just make him remember that he's just a leech that doesn't belong here." With that the boy dashed towards me. Adrenalin rushed into my veins as I saw him raise the blade into the air and without thinking I went to counter. Grabbing his wrist, I stopped the oncoming blow and sent a swift punch to his gut. He staggered back somewhat, but as I went to disarm him Ken was to my right. His forearm smashed into my shoulder, making me stagger away as well. My arm that held Toshi was released roughly, but before I could counter Ken I saw Michi charge towards me. I went to parry Michi, but everyone froze when we heard a noise coming from Toshi. Everyone turned and on Toshi's stomach was the paper, its seal burning at a quick pace. Toshi looked stunned, while Michi, Ken, and I all stared at him in complete shock.

"I-." Toshi went to say, but without thinking I dashed towards him and kicked him as hard as I could in the chest. He shot backwards, out the door and into the hallway were he burst through the third story hallway window. We watched as he fell past the crest in the window, and then a massive explosion shook the building. The rest of the windows in the hallway broke as screams could be heard from the hallway beyond.

Ken turned to me, mouth agape as he thought of what had just happened. "D-Did you…?" I knew what he was about to ask. Did I activate the device that triggered the explosive tag?

"E-Everything h-happened so f-fast… I…" I stuttered as we continued watching the window. Students could be heard running away in terror at what had just occurred.

"Toshi!" Michi shouted as he ran to the window. Ken and I soon followed suit and we looked out the side, but there was nothing but a red spray across the ground and side of the building. Toshi was… "No!"

"You!" Ken shouted as he turned and punched me as hard as he could in the face making me stumble backwards into the wall. "You killed him!"

"…" Did I really kill him? I didn't want to… I was just defending myself. Because fighting back only makes the problem worse.

"I'll kill you!" Ken shouted as he dashed towards me, but he was quickly stopped when five people appeared in the hallway with blades drawn. All five people wore white masks that had a different animal imprinted onto them. ANBU…

"Halt, or we will put an end to your life." The one in the center said. One of the people stood to my side with his sword to my neck. Another stood next to Michi, but he was crying and rolling to and fro in despair. Two of the ANBU were restraining Ken, who was still glaring daggers at me, while the last stood calmly between us all. "I'm going to assume that you three were the cause of the explosion, and the reason the entire west wing of the school is covered in blood?"

"This… MONSTER killed our friend!" Ken shouted, but the blade that was near his neck moved a little closer when he spoke.

"So that's a yes. Take them to the T&I HQ were Ibiki can ask them some questions." The obvious commander said, gaining a nod from the other four members. "I'll get a team out here to clean up this mess."

"Yes sir!" The four ANBU said in unison before disappearing with us in tow. The commander sighed and looked at the blood and gore splattered across the side of the school.

"At least it wasn't an inside op by a foreign village…"

XxXxX

"What's going on here? I got a message that said I needed to come to the Torture and Interrogation Headquarters as quickly as possible from Ibiki himself." Minato said as he entered the building were several high level Chunin could be seen going about their separate tasks. Ibiki then peeked his head through a set of double doors near the back of the room.

"Hokage-sama, please follow me. It's important." Ibiki said, making Minato furrow his brows. Once the powerful shinobi walked through the doors, the scarred man gave him a grim frown that meant he was going to say something he didn't want to hear.

"What's going on Ibiki?"

"It involves your son."

"Naruto?"

"Yes. I assume you haven't received the news yet?" Ibiki asked as he began walking down the hallway with Minato in close pursuit.

"No, I haven't. I've been in a rather… important meeting for the last couple of hours. What happened that involves my son?" Minato asked, getting more and more anxious with each step they took.

"There was a bombing at the school that your son attends." Ibiki said, making the Hokage stop in his tracks.

"A-A bombing?" Minato said, worry covering his face. "Is he-?!"

"Your son his fine, but someone else wasn't as lucky." Ibiki said as he opened the door to a room. In it there were several chairs that were full of people taking notes. In front of them was a window into a room with a table with two chairs, and a single light. In one of the seats was his son, Naruto.

"Naruto! Why is he in the interrogation…" Minato's eyes widened when he realized the ramifications of what was going on. His son's eyes were planted squarely on the metal table in front of him.

"A child named Toshi Ando was killed by way of explosive tag just two hours ago." Ibiki stated as he read off a file that was given to him by one of the Chunin in the room. "Witnesses to his death are three children: Michi Idane, Ken Ogyu, and… Naruto Namikaze." He slapped the file shut before returning his gaze to his commander. "At the moment we are still trying to learn exactly what happened. Michi is currently unconscious because of the shock, while Ken continuously blames your son for Toshi's death."

"My son would never-!" Minato went to say, but Ibiki raised his hand to silence the father.

"We don't have all the details yet as we have yet to properly get Naruto's side of the story."

"And you wanted me here to listen in…" Minato breathed in, and then out as he thought of what was going on.

"Yes… now please have a seat Hokage-sama. I personally don't believe that your son would do this either, but we need to get the entire story."

"… Alright, but make this quick. I can't stand seeing my son in there all alone."

"Yes sir." Ibiki said as he walked towards the door, but as he opened said door he peered over his shoulder towards the leader of the village. "You know that this situation may be taken further… right? Your son isn't a shinobi, which means…" Minato could only look at his son with distress in his eyes. Not getting an answer Ibiki exited the observation room.

XxXxX

My eyes stayed fixated to the table in front of me with a thousand different things running through my head. Could I have really…? The door creaked open, making me glance up to see a scarred man enter the room. He was carrying a tray with two empty glasses and a pitcher of water on it. I knew this man. He has been by our house a couple of times to talk to my father.

"Hello Naruto." Ibiki said as he set the trey onto the table. "I brought you something to-." He then saw my eyes, which looked as if they had seen a ghost. "Right…" It was the first time I've seen someone killed, or seen so much blood from a body across the ground. He poured himself a glass of water and took a sip of the clear liquid. "It's the first time you've seen someone killed, isn't it?" I slowly nodded my head as I stared at the pitcher of water. I may be the son of the Hokage, but that doesn't mean I've seen people killed before. "So… who was Toshi? A friend?"

"… No." I stared at the pitcher as anger shot through my body. "No he wasn't." Ibiki raised a brow at this.

"Then who was he to you?"

"Just a… person that didn't like me very much. Nothing more."

"Hmm…" Ibiki took another sip of water as he continued to stare me down. "The explosion. Do you know what caused it?"

"An explosive tag strapped to a kunai."

"If that's true than how did it go off?"

"A devise was attached to the handle. I'm not sure how it works, but…"

"A trigger mechanism? Haven't heard of those used within the village in a while, but they are normally used when setting traps." Ibiki was finally filling in the blanks of how the explosion occurred. To his surprise, however, Naruto was keeping a rather level head for a kid who just witnessed his first death. The commander sighed and leaned back into his chair. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"…" I stared at the pitcher as I tried to think of what to say. "It all happened so fast. I…" I squinted my eyes shut, trying my best to forget the way the blood was sprayed across the building.

"Take your time. There's no rush." I sighed and nodded my head in appreciation.

"I was walking towards the stairs to go home, but then I was shoved into an empty classroom."

"By who?" Ibiki saw my black eye and determined it was a little more than a simple 'shove'.

"Toshi. When I stood back up I saw a weapon his hand. A kunai with the explosive tag hanging from the ring." I said as I trembled somewhat, but quickly gained control over my body.

"Was Michi and Ken there as well?" I nodded my head.

"Yes, but Michi was unsure about everything." Sighing, I remembered the words that Toshi said to me. "Toshi attacked me, but I defended myself. When Ken attacked me as well I was shoved away from Toshi and…" I closed my eyes and remember the look of terror on Toshi's face when the explosive tag was counting down.

"What happened next?" Ibiki hated seeing Naruto like this. No child should have to see the things he's seen, but he needed a clear picture of what happened and Naruto was the only one with a clear enough mind to do it.

"When we looked over at Toshi the explosive tag had been activated and it was stuck to his stomach. The three of us just stood there in shock. The look of fear on his face…" Tears welled up in my eyes and I remember each millisecond that passed by.

Ibiki frowned as he watched the boy in front of him break down, but there was one thing that still didn't make sense. How did the explosion happen outside if the tag was activated inside? For now he could only watch as the thirteen year old leaked tears from his eyes. "I know this may be hard, but there is one last thing I need to ask you." I nodded my head as a rubbed the tears from my eyes. "How did the explosion happen outside?" Staring at the pitcher of water, I thought back to the look of betrayal Toshi gave me when my foot smashed into his chest.

"I didn't know what to do… I…" I looked down at my hands as they shook. "I kicked him as hard as I could towards the window in the hallway." My hands trembled even more as I saw the look Toshi gave us as he fell from the broken window. "I… killed him…"

"That's enough." Ibiki said.

"I killed him, didn't I? When I was struggling to stop Toshi I activated the explosive tag." My eyes were wide as I finally realized what happened. "It's all my fault…"

"Naruto!" Ibiki shouted, knocking me out of my trance. "You didn't kill him."

"But I-."

"Listen to me. If what you say is true than all you did was defend yourself. The activation of the explosive tag was an accident that happened amidst a struggle to not get hurt. If anything your subconscious protected Ken and Michi." Ibiki explained. I only stared back at the man, clearly unsure of his words. Not exactly sure what to say himself, the scarred man stood and moved to the door. "Come on, lets get you out of here."

Something in my head, however, continued to say something else. I killed Toshi, and nothing was going to change that. Even if it was in self-defense, or an accident, the fact remains that I killed him. It was then that something disappeared. Like a barrier had been opened to something I couldn't explain.

I walked into the hall and was immediately enveloped into a hug. Shocked, I looked up and saw my father. "Da-?"

"Don't you ever make me worry like that again." Minato said as he pressed me even harder against him. Pulling me away somewhat he looked into my eyes to see something that saddened him greatly inside. Looking back at him were the cold eyes of someone who's seen something they were not prepared for. "Come on. Lets go home."

"We'll be in touch." Ibiki said as the Hokage nodded and disappeared in a flash.

XxXxX

We appeared in the kitchen of our home mere seconds later in the same flash as we disappeared in. Minato immediately turned to me with a frown on his face. "Naruto, I-." But before he finish anything I was slowly walking towards my room.

"I'm fine. Just need some time to think." I replied in a near whisper as I opened my door, but before I entered a hand landed onto my shoulder.

"I understand, but if you need anything then let me know." I couldn't look him in the eye because I knew that he didn't understand. Sure, he could understand the feeling of knowing what his first kill was like, but that wasn't the only thing. This was something the most powerful ninja in the village could never understand. The feeling of being so hopeless, no matter what you did, when faced with a world that was so far out of reach it made you feel small when next to someone like Minato.

"…" I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. Slowly looking around the room, I moved towards my bed and fell into its comforting sheets. All I wanted to do, at this very moment, was disappear.

XxXxX

A/N: So this is a little side project that I've been working on recently. In truth it's a way to help myself get out of my writers block for some of my other stories, but it's certainly fun to theory craft stories like these.

Now, as many of the people that read my stories know, I don't like writing stories where the main character is extremely powerful when compared to the other characters in the story, and in this one I get to write on an aspect that many forget about in the Naruto universe. The aspect of stealth, secrets, and most importantly information plays a massive part in how this Naruto is portrayed as 'powerful'. I wanted to write a story where Naruto has to use his limited abilities to overcome obstacles/people that are stronger than he is.

Pairings for this story are currently unknown, but I'm open to no pairings, a single pairing, or two pairings. I can't bring myself to go above two, and even having two would be tough. Normally I write my main characters without a pairing, but with this story I'm open to suggestions.

Beyond that I'd like to say here that there are a few gender swaps. They aren't swapped for pairing purposes, but for symmetry reasons really. I don't know, but you'll have to see in future chapters.

Anyway I hope you all enjoy it! I may continue writing it, but as of right now I'm 9 chapters deep. If you all come back saying it's complete trash then I'll stop… I guess… ;_;