disclaimer: the title of the first president of the united states belongs to George Washington. in a way that is totally different from that, Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

author's notes: yeah, so this is yet another one of those alternate universe fics that everyone seems to love so much. it should be known that a LOT of things will end up different from the original storyline. and... yeah... stuff.

The Road of Life

prologue 01 - birth and death

Life had been pretty harsh for the fourteen-year-old boy. Besides the fact that he already had silver hair, despite his age, when it came right down to it, his life seriously sucked. His parents were gone, he witnessed his own best friend die before his very eyes, and now this. The freezing autumn rain pummeled upon him, and it was impossible to tell if he had shed any tears that cold, harsh night. That night was another of the 'Worst Days of My Life' that had become such a constant for the young Jounin. The pain, sorrow, and anguish he felt in his soul was too much, and he wanted to just cry out all his feelings right then and there. But he knew better. He knew the rules of the Shinobi. To never show emotion, and never shed tears... bah. Such bull. He was human too, and being a Shinobi didn't change that fact. Yet the ways of being a Shinobi had stuck to him like glue, and quite frankly, it pissed him off.

Hatake Kakashi, Jounin-Rank Shinobi of the village of Konoha, ANBU leader, and infamous genius tactionary, didn't move from his position. Just an hour or so ago, he'd witnessed the Yondaime Hokage, his teacher and mentor, seal the legendary Kyuubi, and his own fate. It was very painful for him to watch, and, despite all his training, Kakashi couldn't help but scream out in anguish as he saw his beloved father-figure fall into the eternal abyss of death. He cursed himself, even though he very well knew it was not his fault. After that, he didn't move from that spot for hours, just staring at the ground. Again he couldn't do anything. Again he was helpless. Again he was unable to save a loved one. He sickened himself.

Well, he had to move sometime. It's not like anything would change if he just stood there like that. However, the thought to move never really entered his mind until he heard the loud cries of an infant. The child, he remembered quickly. Not forgetting his woes, he still dashed towards the Hokage Tower, past the corpses, the sobbing masses, and... the angry mob. Damn it, he thought. Just outside the tower was a small army of villagers and Shinobi, armed with torches, kunai, and what have you, yelling angrily for something or other.

"Hokage-sama!!" they cried, "bring it out!!" They roared like wild animals, pounding on the tower gates. "Bring it out so we can finish it!!" When he heard this, anger boiled in Kakashi's veins. "We want the demon! Bring him out, Hokage-sama!!" Kakashi stared at the small mob with something which seemed remarkably like hatred. Demon!? he thought angrily. He couldn't stand for this any longer. He made a mad rush towards them, knocking out several of them, being just careful enough not to kill them. The mob glared angrily at Kakashi, who glared back with an aura so fearsome, it could have murdered the lot of them ten times over.

"Leave," he said in a calm, yet icy tone. The mob failed to comply. However, they didn't dare to attack. To attack Hatake Kakashi would only end up in death, and every one of them knew that. One of them stepped up.

"We want the demon out. We can finish it off now! Why do you get in the way!?" he cried, hatefully. Kakashi looked at the man coldly.

"There is no demon anymore," he replied simply. "The demon was sealed. What you are looking for is not here." Kakashi clenched his fists tightly, glaring at them, as if daring them to say anything else. "Leave," he said once again. The mob didn't budge. The man who spoke before spoke again.

"We can kill it now in its weakened state," he tried to reason. Kakashi growled inwardly, glaring menacingly at this foolish man. "Either bring it out or let us through!" Kakashi put his hands together to form a seal, and closed his eyes. The man grew apprehensive.

"There will be no more killing tonight," Kakashi said simply. "There has been enough casualties." He slowly opened his eyes, the expression behind his mask invisible to all. "Now leave," he said for the final time, "or I will kill you instead." At this, the crown slowly, but reluctantly scattered. Like hell if they were going to mess with a Jounin, and Kakashi of all people. Despite his age, he was well acknowledged as one of the most powerful Shinobi in Konoha. Sighing, the silver-haired Jounin turned around. "Hokage-sama!" he called calmly. "It is me, will you please allow me entrance?" He waited for a moment, and in answer, the gates swung open, and he walked in casually, as if nothing happened.

"Kakashi... is the crowd gone?" asked a hopeful Hokage. The Sandaime Hokage, who was well past his prime, looked expectantly at Kakashi. The prodigy Ninja had to admit, he'd never seen him look so... old. Kakashi nodded in answer.

"Yes, Hokage-sama... it... took some convincing though..." He looked at the gates, which had closed as soon as he walked in. He then faced the Sandaime once again. "Hokage-sama... about the child... is he..." Sarutobi nodded before Kakashi could finish.

"The child is fine, and quite stable. However..." a look of sorrow and pity reached the old man's eyes. Kakashi, being the genius that he was, understood perfectly. The child would grow up alone, hated by the villagers. That part was evident by the earlier scene. Kakashi would have blanched in disgust, were it not for the fact that he was, as everyone including himself knew, Hatake Kakashi. Well, he wasted no time, and knew exactly what he wanted to do, even if it wasn't really such a major deal, technically.

"Hokage-sama... the child... can I..." Sarutobi knew exactly what the young Jounin wanted. He smiled.

"The child is in the lower chambers, and he hasn't stopped crying for quite a while," he said smiling sadly. Kakashi nodded, and bowed in respect. He then walked down the stairs to where the baby was supposed to be held. The old man took one last tired glance at the boy and walked up to his office. He had a lot to do, now that he was the Hokage once again.

The bawlings became louder and louder as Kakashi walked down to his destination. When he finally made it to the right room, he found a tall old man with long white hair, watching over a small bundle wrapped in blankets. The crying didn't seem like it would cease anytime soon, but Kakashi approached anyways.

"Jiraiya-sama," he greeted, as he bowed. Jiraiya smiled. He had always been fond of the boy, whose teacher had been his student. Jiraiya looked at the baby, and then back at Kakashi. He'd already suspected why he was here.

"Hey, brat..." the old man said. It was a tough night for all, and in all his thirty-eight year old life, he had never felt so old or tired. Not since the night that... that he left. Jiraiya picked up the screaming infant gently. "I couldn't get the crying to stop," he said simply, amidst the loud, almost unbearable bawling. "Maybe you'd have better luck?" He offered the infant to Kakashi, who awkwardly, yet gently accepted it. He was a cute little baby boy, newborn, and probably would have been cuter if he wasn't crying so much. Kakashi cradled the child gently in his arms. The crying suddenly stopped.

Kakashi and Jiraiya stared in amazement. No one was able to calm the poor child down, yet just be being held by and looking at Kakashi, the he stopped crying. Jiraiya chuckled to himself, almost not daring to believe it. The baby just looked up at Kakashi, his eyes full in inquisitiveness, so full of innocence. Kakashi's eyes softened, never blinking.

"What's his name?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the child. Jiraiya smiled.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto," he answered.

---
*yawn* ...so tired... i will attempt to update tomorrow...

prologue 02 - constants and rituals

Everyone has some sort of daily ritual they like to perform. A habitual event or action that takes place every day. A constant that takes place... well... constantly. The most common of the constants are breakfast, lunch, and dinner (though many of us may skip breakfast). A Shinobi is not much different. They too have daily rituals that they like to perform, just as we do. They too eat three (or two) meals a day, take showers, what have you.

Twenty-three year old Hatake Kakashi is no different. Sure, he is recognized as one of the strongest Shinobi in the village of Konoha, but really, he is not much different from the rest of us. He gets up, eats his meals, brushes his teeth, and so on. He has his own fair share of constants, like paperwork and his beloved Icha-Icha Paradise.

It had already been eight years since that Kyuubi incident, and Konoha had healed nicely. Kakashi himself had grown up to be a handsome, respectable young man (though not many could really tell with that mask in the way, much to the chagrin of much of the female population of Konoha), and was even more powerful than he was before. Many respected his name, while others feared it. He was truly a Shinobi to be reckoned with.

On this particular Friday morning, everything started as usual. He woke up, washed his face, brushed his teeth, put on his usual attire (making sure his trademark mask was on right, and his forehead protector carefully hid his left eye) and walked out the door to the new day. After visiting a certain memorial tablet and staring at it for two to three hours, he makes his way to Hokage Tower to receive his mission. Ordinarily, this is where things start to get interesting... but not in this chapter. A simple A-Rank bodyguard job is all, and he comes back to his beloved village by around 5:00. And who should be the first person he sees but a certain green-clad bowl-cut haired man?

"Ah!! My 'Eternal Rival', Hatake Kakashi!!" he cries out in his loud, booming voice. Ah yes, Maito Gai. You could never find a more... interesting Shinobi, even if you searched the world ten times over. Dressed in a skintight green jumpsuit, his forehead protecter hanging on waist like a belt, and his Jounin vest over it all, the first thought to come up in your head would be 'this is a Shinobi!?' Nonetheless, Kakashi respects Gai, despite his... odd style. The silver-haired Jounin heaved a sigh. If only that man would stop spouting something about 'the flames of youth' every five minutes.

"Gai," he greeted back, with his usual nonchalant tone. Gai nearly facefaulted at that less-than-optimistic greeting. Quickly composing himself, he closed his eyes and chuckled silently. As expected of my Eternal Rival. So hip and cool, no one is more deserving of that title! You could clearly see the sparkles popping around the odd man's head. Kakashi, who knew exactly what Gai was thinking, sweatdropped.

"Yosh!" Gai suddenly exclaimed, with his trademark 'Good Guy Pose' which really consisted of nothing more than a large thumbs up and a large, nearly blinding grin. Kakashi sweatdropped even more. "Now that I have found you, my Eternal Rival, we shall dual, to see which of us is the strongest!! You know, of course, that we are still tied twelve to twelve?" Kakashi shook his head in disbelief. Not this again. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't really sure how this whole 'Eternal Rival' business started.

---

It was a beautiful Spring day, and a 20-year-old Kakashi strolled down the street, his left hand in its pocket, and his right hand holding the latest volume of Icha-Icha Paradise. He turned a corner, and suddenly heard a chuckling noise.

'I have finally found you... Hatake Kakashi!!' Kakashi's visible eye looked around lazily. It wasn't that he was frightened or anything. Anyone who chuckled while hidden, and yelled out 'I finally found you' would hardly be considered a threat. Deciding to ignore whatever idiot was apparently stalking him, he started walking again. Only to be stopped by a man who would later become a constant (or a total pain in the ass) for our favourite silver-haired Shinobi. Kakashi, who ignored the stupid-looking jumpsuit and hair, asked the first question that popped up in his head.

'Who are you?' he asked cooly and unfazed. Gai cried comedically, his fist clenched and shaking. Kakashi sweatdropped. What the heck was up with this goofball?

'Kkkhhhh!!! As expected of my Eternal Rival!!' he cried enthusiastically. Kakashi just blinked. 'Eternal Rival'? Since when did he have an 'Eternal Rival'. He then noted the forehead protector hanging from the odd man's waist. It was a Konoha forehead protector. Ordinarily, it would be odd to think that a man would not recognize one of his colleagues, but Kakashi didn't keep his eyes (or eye as it were) long enough to remember any faces or names.

'Are you going to answer or not?' Kakashi asked calmly. His question was answered with a large thumbs-up which nearly slammed into Kakashi's face. Our favourite Jounin sweatdropped even more.

'The Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai!!' the green-clad man cried enthusiastically. If Kakashi had any more space left on the back of his head, he would have sweatdropped even more now. Gai continued. 'You may be called a genius, my Eternal Rival Hatake Kakashi, but with the bright Flames of Youth by my side, I shall not lose!!' Kakashi, who was already back to reading Icha Icha Paradise, suddenly looked up again.

'Hm? Did you say something?'

---

Well that certainly had been one of Kakashi's weirder days. Since then, they had duals every now and then (Kakashi half-heartedly), and while it provided some amount of entertainment every now and then, Kakashi found it to be just a tad too troublesome. This time, however, was an eating contest (Gai paying, of course), and Kakashi, who incidently forgot to bring his wallet almost happily agreed.

"If I do not win, I shall run fifty laps around Konoha blindfolded!!" Gai roared enthusastically, a fire burning in his eyes. Kakashi sweatdropped.

Arriving at the Ichiraku Ramen, the two Jounin sat down and each ordered their ramen. Gai began eating at breakneck speed, determined to defeat his Eternal Rival. Kakashi, however, had already finished his ramen. The most fascinating thing about this was that no one had seen the mask come off. Well, that was mainly because Gai was attracting all the attention, so all the credit couldn't really go Kakashi. At this point, instead of asking for another and carry on with the contest, Kakashi merely put his chopsticks down.

"Haa... I'm full. Ma, Gai, you win today," he said nonchalantly, not really caring whether he won or lost. Gai saw this as a win over his adversary, whose 'flames of youth was dwindling'. Kakashi saw this as a free meal. Holding up his hand in farewell, he walked off.

---

It was already 7:00, and Kakashi decided to take a walk before heading up home. Passing by the Ninja Academy, his head was filled with old memories. Not that they were particularly happy memories. As a child, Kakashi was not particularly social, and spent most of his time alone, training to studying. He passed into Genin status as the age of five, and was given the title of Number-One Rookie. Kakashi never really cared much about titles or anything. He didn't really remember why he wanted to become a Shinobi in the first place. Well, at least it isn't boring.

Walking around the academy, reminiscing about the past, he suddenly heard a noise. Someone else was at that academy, though he couldn't imagine who would be there at this time of night. Thinking it may be a prankster or something, Kakashi decided to investigate. What he saw was not in the least bit what he expected. A boy, who looked no longer than eight, was continuously hitting a log, pounding it with everything he had. The Jounin noted that his hands were bleeding, as were his knees, and he was crying. He approached the boy.

---

A group of kids were playing 'Ninja' in the playground. They were all grinning happily and were having fun. A young blond ran up to them.

'Hey, can I play?' he asked hopefully. The kids looked at the boy in almost disgust. One of them pushed him back.

'No way! Can't you see we're having fun here!? Don't go ruining it!' He glared angrily at the blond, who, instead of getting angry or sad, just grinned at him, and walked away.

---

SLAM!

...why...?

SLAM!

Why?

SLAM!

Why!?

SLAM!

Why do they...

SLAM!

...why do they... hate me... so much...?

He raised his bloodied fist to hit the worn out log once again. But it wouldn't budge. Looking up, he found what had stopped him. A tall man with silver hair, a black mask, and his forehead protector tilted to hide his left eye. The boy wiped his tears away.

"Who are you?" he asked. Kakashi looked at the boy. He felt he knew him, somehow. He pulled out a hankerchief and began wiping the blood away from the hand he was holding. The child seemed surprised.

"Ma, no one in particular. My name is Hatake Kakashi." While he wiped the blood away, he noticed that the wound was already healing. Kakashi's eye widened. It can't be... He looked at the boy, tears still sliding down his face. "Who are you, and what are you doing here? Do your parents know that you're here?" Kakashi asked, calmly. The child shook a bit, but answered.

"I'm..."

---

"Uzumaki," he said softly. "Uzumaki Naruto."

---

"... Uzumaki Naruto," the boy answered. Kakashi froze. Naruto took no notice of this. "I was here training. And... I don't have any parents..." Kakashi regained his composure, and began cleaning the child's other hand.

"Hm... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked." Kakashi said softly. Naruto just shrugged.

"It's okay. It doesn't bother me anymore..." he replied. Kakashi decided he needed to change the subject.

"You're an academy student, are you?" he asked. Naruto nodded. "You should know then, Naruto, that training until your hands are all bloody is not the best idea in the world." Naruto shrugged again.

"No one cares anyways... and I've always been a fast healer," he said almost nonchalantly. Kakashi took his word for it. After all, the boy WAS the living cage for that Kyuubi. The silver-haired Jounin looked at the child sadly. He remembered that night, when he witness the Kyuubi attack Konoha, the Yondaime Hokage sacrifice his life to seal it, and...

Kakashi sighed. He knew the boy wouldn't have a normal childhood. But to grow up without a single friend in the world... that was too cruel. Furthermore, everyone in the village hated him. Even though the law was passed so that those in the know would never tell the younger generation about that incident, the hatred obviously passed from the parents to the children. It was inevitable. Kakashi felt a tang of guilt within his heart. He hadn't even looked at the boy since that night, for eight long years. After wiping away the blood on the small child's hands and knees, he got up.

"Hmm... hey, are you hungry?"

---

...saa... sorry about the grotesque lack of updates... school has been a pain, and i have simply been too lazy to actually get up and update. and i recently got Xenosaga episode I and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.

ma, anyways, i deleted the second chapter and replaced it with this. the prologue is divided into three parts, and the next one will be the last. afterwards, the story will finally begin.

When you go (or used to go, if the case may be) to school (especially primary school), do (or did) you see that one kid? The one who is always alone, and, despite having done nothing wrong, is continuously picked on, just because he or she happened to be different in some way? Chances are, you picked on that kid too, right? Or at least ignored him or her? Did anyone, besides the teacher, ever defend that poor, innocent child, who did nothing wrong, yet was prejudiced against just for small, insignificant "oddities" that, now that you think about it, weren't really odd at all?

When he first started going to the academy, he was full of hope, happy, that maybe, he'd finally be able to make friends. After spending eight years full of pain and misery all alone, he hoped it would end then. And then, his hopes came crashing down like an anvil from a ten story building. The kids all picked on him, and if they didn't they just ignored him. And though at first, he was excited about becoming a Ninja, the disappointment and sorrow proved too great, and he lost all motivation in life. He didn't pay any attention to his studies, and, try as he might, he couldn't make a single friend. The teacher, Iruka, was nice and all, but he was busy all the time and couldn't focus on one student.

Despite all that, he managed to keep a smile plastered on his face. He showed no weaknesses, and tried hard not to let anything get him down. It was difficult, especially for an eight-year-old, but he managed. No matter what happened, he had a smile on his face. Of course, the children, who didn't understand, did the only thing they could. They continued to hurt him, with all the prejudice they had, just because he was different, and, in their view, weird. They hit him, made fun of him, did anything and everything they could to make him absolutely miserable. And he still had that smile on his face.

Well, it wasn't as if he could hold all of that in to himself. He had to vent, just as every other human would need to. At night, he would go to one of the school's student training facilities, and train, until all the frustration and stress left him. It usually ended up with very bloody hands and legs, but he didn't really pay attention to them. After all, loneliness is said to be the worst kind of pain. It hurt so much more than a few scratches and scrapes, that they could be ignored completely. And when it hurts so much that you can't feel any real physical pain...

He cried. The blood he lost was nothing compared to the amount of tears. And the worst part was, there was no one there to console him, to comfort him. He had no shoulder to cry into, as he had no family or friends. He was completely, desperately, utterly alone. It was slowly killing him inside.

And then...

"Hey... are you hungry?"

Ramen had become his favourite food in the world.

---

Iruka had noticed a sudden change in Naruto. The boy's smiled was a lot less... forced, today. He didn't quite know what happened to him, but was thankful for whatever it was. Iruka hated the see the child so depressed all the time, and, even with all his experience with children, didn't quite know what to do with the situation. What could one possibly do for a boy with a fox demon who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds sealed in his stomach?

Naruto actually listened to Iruka's lecture that day, took notes, and did everything that a good student basically should. Not that Naruto was a particularly bad student, that is. He just had no motivation, though Iruka understood perfectly. What sort of motivation could he have if no one gave him any real motivation? Iruka tried to comfort him as much as he could, but he was just completely stuck.

Things had been going well that way. Sure the kids still picked on the blond, but it wasn't so bad. Well... that is until he remembered that day was the last day of school. Afterwards, he would have two months of utter loneliness, until school started again. It wasn't as if school was all that much better, but at least it had Iruka. He actually talked to Naruto, and didn't insult him or hurt him in any way. Naruto decided to at least catch up on his studies during the long break, at least to please his teacher. It would still be lonely, but he figured it might be worth it in the end.

The other students didn't pick on Naruto as much that day, something he was very thankful for. They were all busy happily anticipating their summer vacation. Naruto envied them. He wanted to look forward to his break as well, but that was just something he couldn't do. It is one of the worst things for a child to not have anything to be happy for. He couldn't look forward to going home because there was no one there waiting for him. He couldn't look forward to going out because no one would go out with him.

That was exactly why he hated that particular part of the day the most. The end of school. When all the kids would happily walk home with their parents, and all he could do is watch. He was jealous. Utterly jealous. He didn't care about material possessions or anything. All he wanted was a warm family. Everyone else had them, but he didn't. It wasn't fair, and he knew it. But he also knew he couldn't do anything about it. It was all he could do to not shed any tears while watching his peers walk off with their mothers and fathers.

Naruto sighed, sitting on his favourite swing. Well, it wasn't actually his favourite swing. It was just old and unused because none of the other kids used it. He stared at his fellow students, laughing and smiling. How he longed to be like them. A lone tear made his way down his face, which surprised even him. Rubbing it away hastily, he got up and started making his way home.

"Yo."

"...huh?" Naruto quickly turned around... only to find no one there. The question mark signs were practically visible above his head. He looked around, looking for the one who called, only to find no one. He sighed, knowing he was being stupid. Who in the world would call him?

"Oi, up here."

Naruto looked up, and what he saw surprised him. Sitting on the treebranch which suspended the swing which he was just sitting on, was a silver-haired Shinobi. The same man from the night before!! Naruto just gaped at him, while the man just smiled (though it was difficult to tell with that mask in the way). An awkward silence followed.

. . . . . .

And then, Naruto decided to break said silence.

"Aa... Kakashi... san...?" he asked dumbly. The silver-haired Jounin nodded and jumped down.

"Ya, you remember my name," he replied. "Ma, sorry I'm late. I got lost." Naruto was utterly dumbfounded.

"Um... late...?" he asked, not understanding what was going on. Kakashi merely nodded. "Um... never mind that, what are you doing here?"

"Ma, I came to pick you up," he replied, as if it were an everyday occurance. This took a while to register in Naruto's mind.

"...you... came.... to.... what...?" he asked. It was odd. All his life, he had waited for something like this to happen in his life, and now that it had finally happened, he had no clue as of what to do. Strange, but understandable. After all, such an event had never happened in his eight years of life, and he certainly never really expected it to happen. And just when he finally gave up all hope of it, it happens. Obviously, the fates had odd senses of humour.

But Naruto didn't complain.

"Ma," Kakashi said, as if in reply, "you'll have to lead the way since I don't know where you live." Naruto snapped out of his trance and looked up at Kakashi. Kakashi so obviously smiled, that it was even apparent with his mask on. "Saa... it's getting late though... want to go eat first?"

There was silence. Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes, but he didn't bother to stop them. He nodded.

"...yeah... okay..." was all he said.

That night, the one before this, they went to Ichiraku. They had ramen.

And ramen was his most favourite food in the world.

---
...yeah. oh, and if you know a kid like the one mentioned in the first chapter, please do not be mean to that person, okay?

...saa... anyways, the prologues are complete, and the actual story shall soon begin. thank you for your patience, and happy thanksgiving. peace out yo.