Chapter Text
Naruto is a pretty capable 7-year-old, far as he’s concerned. After all, he lives on his own, and that’s not something that others his age can claim. Of course, others his age aren’t kicked out of the orphanage, and given an apartment in an empty, abandoned building, either. The building wasn’t abandoned when he moved in, mind you. Everyone only left after Naruto moved in. For some reason unknown to Naruto, everyone in the village other than Jiji and Shikamaru hate him. And even they only speak with Naruto every now and then.
So it is to Naruto’s surprise when he walks out of his apartment, only to find Jiji standing in the hallway with a green-haired kid his age. And instead of being here to see Naruto, Jiji is helping the green-haired kid move into the apartment right next to Naruto. This, of course, is new. It is a mystery that needs to be solved, and there is nothing Naruto loves more than a mystery. Other than maybe ramen. And the view from the Hokage mountain. And the orange juice that Jiji brings him some time. And…okay, so maybe there’s a lot that Naruto loves more than a mystery, but he’ll still solve this one, or his name isn’t Naruto, ttebayo.
“Jiji! Who’s he? What’re you doing here, ttebayo?”
The old man turns to look at Naruto and gives him a kind smile. “Ah, Naruto. It’s good to see you! This young man is Midoriya Izuku. He’s going to be staying here, considering that the orphanages are full.”
Naruto tilts his head. “Was he also kicked out?”
The green-haired kid-Izuku-suddenly looked up from whatever he was doing. “Wait, we can get kicked out? What do I need to do to stay?”
Noticing that this Izuku guy is acting weird, Naruto walks up to him, takes him by the shoulders, and shakes him. “You’re acting weird, dattebayo.”
Pointing a thumb at himself, Naruto introduces himself. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto, ttebayo. I’m gonna become a super cool ninja, and then the best Hokage the village has seen!”
Izu-guy blinks up at him. “I’m Midoriya Izuku! It’s nice to meet you! What’s a ninja?”
Naruto’s mouth falls open. How could he not know what a ninja is?! That’s unforgivable. It should be a crime!
Well, maybe not a crime. Not everyone can be as cool as him, after all. But if this guy doesn’t know what ramen is, then Naruto will definitely call the ANBU people on him.
“They’re these super cool people who go out and protect the village, and they can like, breathe fire, and walk on walls, and stuff.”
Mido-guy wrinkles his nose. “So I can’t become a ninja then?”
“What? Why not?”
“You…you just said they need to have a quirk.”
This time, it’s Naruto’s turn to get confused. “What’s a quirk?”
“The cool stuff people can do, like breathe fire or walk on walls, like you just said. My daddy could breathe fire, and my mom and make stuff come to her when waved her arms like this” The Mido guy waves his arms around in an enthusiastic demonstration.
“But I can’t do those stuff either. We learn to do that stuff at the ninja academy though, right Jiji?” Naruto directs that last bit towards the Hokage, who chuckles, and nods.
“These ninjas…are they like heroes?” Midoriya tentatively asks.
Naruto nods enthusiastically, because of course ninjas are heroes! They’re all so cool, and respected, and they go out to fight and keep everyone in the village safe.
“They are! The Yondaime Hokage is the coolest though. He’s like, the fastest ninja to ever exist, and apparently, he beat the Kyuubi.”
Midoriya, despite not fully understanding what Naruto just said, has stars in his eyes. “Woah! I think I wanna become a Ninja too! I can’t wait to breathe fire just like my dad used to!”
“Wait, really?” Naruto doesn’t really know any kids his age that want to become Ninja. Well, he doesn’t know many kids his age, period, but that’s beside the point.
“Do you want to become Ninja together, then?” Naruto is bouncing on the balls of his feet when he asks that, and Midoriya is excited enough to have joined him.
“Yeah! We’ll be the coolest Ninjas ever and we'll save everyone!”