My first fanfic…meh

"Come back you red fur ball. I didn't finishing skinning you."

"Why are you running now? Let's see you fierce teeth now."

"Hahaha."

Naruto, age four, was running down the alleyway. He was ambushed again out in the streets. This time, however, was a lot more severe than the previous beatings – this one had knives. Suffering several slashes on his right arm, Naruto ran away as fast as his legs allowed him. Even though he was only four, his stamina proved to be an incredible asset to the young boy.

Naruto had caught his pursuers by surprise as he resisted when he had been caught. Because of this, Naruto had somewhat of a head start. Naruto ran and stopped in a "T" section of a road. He looked to his left and right. There were men drunk on their sake but still made a determined face to hurt the young boy as much as they could. Footsteps behind Naruto were getting louder by the second. Naruto looked in front of him as the last resource. It was an abandoned clan house. In the front laid a sealed door. Naruto who had little choice decided to tackle the door not knowing what seals were capable. Naruto's arm burned in agony as it absorbed impact from the hit. Not knowing what to do next, he pounded his arm onto the door, hoping that there was some poor stranger on the other side ready to help him.

Footsteps were getting closer and Naruto's luck was running dry. Taking one look at the seal placed on the door, Naruto attempted to rip off the tag. The tag, unfortunately, was refused to budge as Naruto accidently smeared blood onto it.

A flash of blinding light suddenly filled the air. Naruto saw the door crack open a tiny bit before quickly stepping into the clan house as the door behind him closed. The blood that was once on the tag had been absorbed and resealed.

The thugs outside banged against the door, swearing as loud as they could. But even with the combined strength of several dozen civilians was not enough to break down the small seal.

Naruto took several moments to take a deep breath and to observe his surroundings. The place has been abandoned for years.

"No one would know I'm here. And if they catch me, I'll just think of an excuse. Besides, I can't do anything worse to make the villagers hate me more," thought Naruto.

So Naruto decided to explore the complex around the clan estate. There was a dried up swimming pool, a dozen bedrooms at least, and a library filled with scrolls. But best of all, there was at least a few years' worth of supplies of instant ramen. Grinning at his newly found treasure grove, Naruto decided to make frequent visits for a while until the ramen runs out.

During the next few months, Naruto had developed a regular routine. From Monday to Saturday, he would get up and cook his three-minute ramen at his apartment. Being the village prankster, escaping the notice of many higher ranking ninja did not prove to be a hassle. On the contrary, no one really paid close attention to Naruto. So Naruto was able to sneak into what he called his "secret base". It was the mansion – the unknown clan estate – that Naruto had first found during his bloody encounter with the thugs.

At first, Naruto was not able to open the gates. It made him mad, frustrated, and above all curious.

What had allowed Naruto open the door in the first place? It wasn't until two days later after endless knocking that drew blood from his hands and allowed him inside again.

Inside the mansion, there was no one to disturb his peace. And because no one had come to kick Naruto out, he saw fit to continue to arrive at the clan house daily.

But Naruto was still the jinchuuriki of the nine tailed fox. Therefore, the Hokage made frequent visits to Naruto's apartment every Sunday – when his paperwork wasn't too overwhelming.

Naruto didn't spend his time doing nothing in the mansion however. In fact, Naruto felt lonely – lonely enough to go into the enormous library and started to read.

And that's when Naruto decided he wanted to become a ninja. The book Naruto picked up was the "The guide to being a ninja". It was an old book with dust almost an inch thick. Naruto, being an active person, never got past the first page. And so, the only thing Naruto kept in his head from the book was, "Rule one: a ninja's greatest weapon is the art of deception". That rule was going to be implanted into Naruto's head for this entire life.

Naruto also read other books which taught him chakra manipulation. These ones were more appealing to Naruto as he found more success to get to the end of the book than the first book he read. To find a remedy for Naruto's loneliness, he learned the shadow clone jutsu from an ancient scroll. Making several clones, Naruto enjoyed playing tag and sparring with 'himself'.

There were always exceptions to when Naruto would visit his secret hiding place. It was usually when Naruto was extremely bored and wanted to test his skills on certain 'test subjects'.

And so, there would be at least one victim every month who found themselves stuck on a toilet seat.

Naruto, age five, awoke one morning to find the residents of Konoha weeping. The Uchiha Clan had been massacred and only three members of the clan survived. The attacker however was yet to be found.

Walking across the streets, he found more hateful glares directed at him as if the whole event that happened the previous night was his fault.

Turning around the corner, Naruto continued walking down the alleyway when he found himself surrounded by a group of civilians each holding either a bat or metal rod.

A year ago, Naruto would have run. A year ago, Naruto would have cowered. A year ago, Naruto would have just cried his way out. But that was a year ago and the Naruto that day was one born anew.

Naruto knew he had the power to beat these guys. He knew he could probably cause some internal damage as well. But he also knew if he were to fight, he would not leave the scene unscathed. So he used a shadow clone that appeared on the roof of one the buildings and used a Kawarimi with his clone.

The thugs, who still thought the same Naruto was there, began taunting him. They mocked Naruto for ten minutes until one of them threw a stone at 'Naruto'. 'Naruto' instinctively dodged the attack. And then, hell broke loose from the bandits as they rushed in to attack 'Naruto' from all angles. A lot of confusion then took place. The thugs did not understand where the smoke had come from and pondered if Naruto was smart enough to throw a smoke bomb in the mist of all the action. Then again, they could not find Naruto.

Unable to locate Naruto, the thugs left with their heads held high, refusing to believe a five year old kid had outwitted them.

Meanwhile, Naruto was inside the mansion which he learned from a book it had belonged to a clan known as the "Namikaze". They had died off during the Third Shinobi War. The name was not really significant to Naruto so he continued his self-studies.

Naruto learned Shunshin no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Henge no Jutsu. Naruto, however, was not able to make a regular Bunshin no matter how hard he practiced. So he just gave in to the Kage Bunshin since it was many more times effective.

Using these four jutsus, Naruto was able to accomplish prank after prank hidden and unnoticed. Those who despised and overcharged Naruto at stores were the usual victims as Naruto felt little pity for them.

And that's the end of Ch.1

Don't know if I should continue though. Not the best grammar in the world, but I hope it's sufficient.