It was a bright and sunny day in the village of Konohagakure. Men, women, and children all running around laughing, smiling, and having a generally great time. Except for one that is. 

That one being a bleach blonde boy with dark tan skin, both features that hinted at the five year old boy spending far too much time in the sun. The boy was 4' 2" tall which was quite tall for his age. The youngster had two sets of three whisker marks a few inches under each of his eyes. He had two bright beautiful eyes that could of put the widest of grins on even the most heartless of killers faces. That handsome young boy was of course Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. 

Naruto was walking along the hard dirt road wearing a faded old shirt that hugged his malnourished frame, he also had on too long pants that were ripped around the ankles showing that he was barefoot. Naruto was walking along the road with a depressed gait. 

Now, one might wonder how a five year old boy could be so depressed that his eyes that usually shined so brightly could be dimmer than the soul of a pedophile. And one could get the answer to their question by simply observing Naruto's interactions with the public. 

Naruto, despite walking around in a busy street with his unique features was completely ignored by everybody. Men, women, young and old. Nobody paid the slightest bit of attention to him. It'd been like that for as long as Naruto could remember, and before then as well. 

When he was suckling from his mother's teat Kushina ( his mother ) would put him down the instant one of her other children would cry. Then she would forget about him until the next time Naruto would cry, even then that wouldn't last very long. 

It went on like that for years, and each and every day Naruto would fall farther and farther into the abyss. His eyes would grow dimmer every time his mother or father would choose one of his sister's suggestion for dinner over his. Every time one of his Godparents ( Tsunade and Jiraiya ) would give Mana or Mito a gift and forget him, Naruto would sink deeper into a depression. Those two at least didn't have an obligation to look after Naruto, they weren't his parent after all. Though it did hurt when they would intentionally glance over him the few times they'd seen him, not that that happened often either; Naruto was a smart boy, he knew when he wasn't wanted. 

No matter the reason though Naruto fell deeper and deeper until that day, the day he decided to kill himself which just so happened to be, the best day of his life.

---

Naruto was walking through his area of choice to commit suicide. Training ground 44 also known as the Forest of Death. 

Training ground 44 was the most dangerous area in the village of Konoha. It had 9 separate sections, sections 9 - 1, section 9 being the easiest with strong civilians being able to survive it. While section 1 would give S-class/ Kage level ninja quite a bit of trouble. Naruto decided to kill himself by going into section 1 and antagonizing one of the creatures there. He figured it would not only be an interesting and hip way to die, it would also be a fun way to die. A fight to the death against an enemy even his father Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, would have trouble with. Of course Naruto held no hope to being able to hurt let alone kill such a powerful enemy. 

' I wonder if they'll be able to recover my body. Naw probably not, I'll probably wind up as an annoyance in between the teeth of a tiger or something. '

Naruto had such thoughts while going through section 9. The easiest area of training ground 44 was pretty average looking, tall, light colored trees, thin enough that an average adult could wrap their arms around them. Apart from the trees impregnating the forest one could also see plenty of vines and tall bushes, occasionally one could catch sight of a rodent or some tiny animal, surprisingly there weren't many flowers. 

' Maybe they'll shed a tear or two for me. . . Hah, as if they would waste that much energy for me. Hehe. '

Naruto had such a disturbing thought when he reached section 8 of the Forest of Death. 

" Odd. " ' I'd read that the forest was pretty exaggerated with its sections, but I didn't expect this. '

Naruto was surprised because the difference in setting from section 9 to 8 was huge. Section 9 was average and boring, but section 8 was dark and eerie. It had short, dark colored trees with such thick crowns that barely any light got through. What little did get through raised tall dark green bushes that could easily hide a monster that just wanted to jump out and eat a little boy like Naruto. 

Naruto who was fairly mature for his age couldn't help but get spooked in a way that was normal for a child his age. After all he was only human, and basic human fears still worked on him easily. However, Naruto clenched his butt and started light footing through the forest. Naruto was genin level in some of his ninja skills thanks to months of replicating what his parents and godparents taught his little sisters. He was able to not only copy all their lessons but thanks to countless hours spent reading in the public and family library he was able to advance quite far and fast on his own. The the subjects Naruto was best in were stealth, chakra manipulation, and pure physical ability, Naruto was proud that he had strength and stamina far beyond even some teenagers. Naruto's favorite subject that he had learned was stealth, he felt that it came to him naturally and he always enjoyed sneaking into various buildings and places to spy on people. Chakra manipulation was the skill Naruto put the most effort and time into, he didn't know why, but when he had started out he'd had an atrocious time trying to subdue and control his wild and powerful chakra. Surprisingly Naruto put the least effort into building his strength and stamina, only dedicating a couple hours to it per day, despite that, his physical strength and stamina were absolutely freakish.

---

It took Naruto around two hours to make it to section 1. It naturally should of taken him more time, but after section 9 Naruto saw hide nor hair of any living animals or people. He saw a few tracks that lead to some dens, but even then he found nothing. At one point somewhere in section 4 Naruto even started yelling out for monsters to come kill him, but none ever came. 

So Naruto huffed and puffed all broody like all the way to section 1 where he was once again surprised. Not by the lack of animals, but by the seemingly pure paradise that was section 1. It was a beautiful setting completely the opposite of the dreary and scary previous sections. 

Section 1 was full of tall beautiful trees, all of them unique and seemingly unrelated. Naruto saw dozens of willows, baobabs, bamboo, and plenty of species that Naruto knew nothing about. 

' It's a shame I'm killing myself or I would definitely start hanging around here. I'd also start studying trees. '

" So pretty. . .Well, time to die. "

For someone about to commit suicide Naruto was fairly chill about it. Hatred of one's personal existence will do that. 

" Let's get to it! "

Naruto, since he finally reached section 1 didn't do anything to be subtle or sneaky. He outright searched for tracks or anything that could hint to any predators. 

' Let's see, there are rodents around here so maybe that'll be a good way to find some predators. '

Naruto decided to search for areas with plenty of resources for the rodent population. He figured that a predator would set up home in an area with plenty of fresh food. So he first found the area with the most edible plants. After that Naruto went around an area searching for any hints of anything that could maul him to death. 

Unfortunately that didn't work, so Naruto decided to try the complete opposite logic. He instead searched for an area that lacked any cute little rodents. His logic was that the tiny woodland creatures would avoid any areas that contained a dangerous predator. Even if only on pure instinct. So Naruto looked around almost all of section 1, sadly enough he didn't find any signs of an area like that, even less he didn't find any signs of anything that could kill him. 

' Fuck it, I'll just return and jump off of the Hokage Monument, it's not as interesting a death but it'll do. '

Like that Naruto gave up and started to walk away. Even though he had amazing patience compared to other children his age Naruto wasn't able to continue hunting for hours upon hours on end. He wasn't like a mature hunter who had experience, no he was a young boy who wanted to finally end his miserable existence.

Before he could get far though a voice rang out. The voice was that of a mature female, sweet like caramel, yet warm enough to melt ice. That didn't hide he Voice's powere as it rang out through out the entirety of section 1 and yet such a seemingly loud voice caused absolutely nothing to move about or rumble. Instead the voice moved unhindered through the forest, everything kept still as though scared of even slightly disturbing the sound waves. The female voice said. 

" Young child, move deeper into the forest. Come to me, tell me your goal. "

' Totally not suspicious, but whatever. '

Naruto after finishing his sarcastic thought moved deeper into section 1, he moved in the direction the voice seemed to originate. It took no time for him to reach the depths of section 1, it seemed to not follow the rule that the sections before it followed, instead of increasing in size it was smaller than section 8 and about the same size as section 9. 

Eventually Naruto reached the origin of the voice he found a mystical spot that seemed to be the peak of simplicity and yet was as complicated as the seal holding the Kyuubi chakra inside of Mito and Mana. The spot was a circular bamboo patch that had one small break that would allow Naruto inside of it. Once inside Naruto found a small circular moat that surrounded a large flat rock that seemed to be carved so perfectly there wasn't even the slightest scratch on it. It was on this rock, in this moat, in this bamboo patch, in this section of this forest that Naruto found the origin of that enchanting voice. 

The origin of the voice was a large quadrupedal blue and black stag. It had eight large antlers, four on either side of it's head, the antlers were a pure black with a charcoal looking texture. The stag's head is blue with two horns on either side of its head, and the root of its horns mark its face, just below the eye and over the nose. Its eyes are a soul sucking black, and its pupils are X-shaped. The blue portion of its body ends at the chest area where the "fur" juts outward to the side, similar to the black horns on its face. On its breast is an inverted V-shape that is also pale gold. The inside of the V-shape is black and extends into its lower body. The rest of its body is black with a blue stripe running along its spine. ( Look up the pokemon Xerneas, it's basically that. Also thanks to bulbapedia, I got most of the description from there. )

" Hello child, it's nice to finally meet you, I have been watching you since you entered the forest and am the reason you haven't been attacked yet. "

" Why did you do that‽­ I wanted to be attacked. "

The large creature was clearly surprised, something hinted at by the slight recoil of it's head. Of course, most beings would be surprised to hear a young child speak with such self loathing. The beautiful deer took only a second to regain it's bearings. 

" Why would you want to be attacked, you seem a little young, and weak, to want to try and test yourself in battle. Though it is admirable for one so young, and weak, to want to try and prove yourself, stupid as well. "

" I didn't want to test myself in battle nor did I want to prove myself, I wanted to die. "

The stag cutely nodded it's head to the side like a confused child. It was once again surprised to hear such a young being speak in a method not dissimilar to an old man who lived a life of regret. 

" Why do you want to die? You seem a little young to be so depressed, or is it for some noble reason. "

" There is no noble reason, I just hate my worthless existence and want to die. "

" Why do you think you existence is worthless? "

" Everybody else does, nobody loves me, everybody ignores me. What's the point in my existence? "

" . . . Do you mind if I read through your memories? It won't hurt or damage you. "

" Do what you want, I don't care. "

The stag then leaned it's head down, touching its antlers to Naruto's head. Naruto who had been standing in front of the rock right before the moat was impressed by the size of stag. He hadn't noticed before, but the creature was absolutely massive, especially it's horns which seemed to be as tall as Naruto while he stood on his tip-toes. 

All of a sudden Naruto lied down on the ground and went to sleep, as though he he had had just back from a long work day and wanted to rest. 

" Sorry child, but even I will take some time to go through five years worth of memories. In the mean time sleep, you deserve it. "

Of course Naruto heard none of that, he was as happy as he could be, which wasn't very happy, inside of a dream forced upon him by the stag. The stag had used a genjutsu that used it's enemies biggest wish to keep them asleep. . . Naruto dreamed of a long and fulfilled life where he had friends his own age and a family who loved him dearly. It was thanks to that that Naruto knew it was a dream, after all, in the real world nobody would love him. 

---

It took about three hours for the stag to go through all of Naruto's memories. It saw all of the nights that a three year old boy would cry himself to sleep, that was after staying up for hours late into the night trying to think of ways to get his parents acknowledgement. The stag also saw how every time Naruto would enact those plans he would brushed aside instantly. It saw how when Naruto was three and a half he started to have to cook his own meals since his mother would forget to cook him a portion. It saw every single cut and burn that the young boy got using tools too big for himself. The stag saw how when he was four Naruto was unintentionally kicked out of his family compound. It watched as Naruto curled up inside of a box in an alleyway right next to the compound where his little sisters were tucked in and kissed good night. It watched as Naruto was finally able to gain access a week later only for nobody to have realized he was gone. The stag watched every single time Naruto contemplated when and how to kill himself. It also watched during Naruto's breaking point where he finally decided to kill himself. 

---

( Flashback. These are fairly common in Naruto fanfics and I figured I should try to work at least one in. Sort of like it's tradition. )

---

Naruto woke up on his stiff wooden feeling bed, the same bed that he had used since he first got his room at 2 years of age, the same bed that he had long out grown. After stretching Naruto glanced around at the " wall paper " covering his room. The wall paper was literally paper torn out of a sketch pad and glued onto his wall. Naruto decided to hang them up one day when he realized that he hated the orange color his father had decided on for all of the bedrooms. Naruto had used a charcoal stick to make gorgeous wave like designs that all connected like some intricate maze, and truthfully he did a damn good job at the drawing. He had taken up the project not long after he he'd heard of something called fuinjutsu, and he had to admit that he did an amazing job. It should be noted that Naruto had found the sketch pads in the trash dump, likely thrown out by some spoiled brat. 

After arrogantly admiring his work Naruto threw on his faded shirt and pants and exited his room. His room was at the end of the hallway, furthest away from his sister's and parent's room, it was also the furthest away from the steps. It was far enough away in fact that his family didn't even do any upkeep on his end of the hallway, letting light bulbs die and paint chip, it made for quite the contrast when compared to the rest of the hallway. But Naruto ignored all of that, he was already long used to it, instead Naruto headed towards the steps. He was planning another day doing physical training in one of the public training grounds. At least that was his plan until he saw the banner hung at the bottom of the stairs. The banner read.

[ HAPPY BIRTHDAY MITO & MANA! ! ! ]

Naruto could admit that it stung ever so slightly to be forgotten once again on his birthday. But it was yet another occurrence that Naruto was used to. Though he did surprise even himself by forgetting his own birthday, it seemed even he himself rejected his existence. 

Naruto chuckled a little at that thought and then quickly walked to the kitchen, planning to cook himself some breakfast. Unfortunately enough the kitchen was occupied by the rest of his so called family, sisters, father, mother, and god parents. And before any of them could react to Naruto's presence, not that they would, Naruto had already backed up and was halfway out of the house. Already he decided where to eat out a.k.a finding an alleyway to scrounge food from. 

While Naruto was leaving, something else happened in the kitchen, all of the ninja, meaning everybody except Mito and Mana had reacted to the kitchen door suddenly being opened. They all had basically the same thought. 

' Must of been the wind. ' One person however had a little extra thought. ' Maybe it was Naruto . . . I haven't seen him in a while maybe I should try to make some time for me and my little ball of sunshine. I could use a little love power from my little baby boy!'

But, that thought was soon snuffed out when Mana laughed at Jiraiya who had a noodle over his lip like a long mustache. What Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze didn't know was that she would come to regret not doing her best to hang onto what could of been her last chance at having her " little ball of sunshine " again. 

Back with Naruto however, he had decided to not scrounge for food in that alleyway, instead opting to leave it for the truly homeless who could use that food a lot more than he could. Instead he decided to head straight to training ground C-37. C for civilian, 37 to represent the number of the training ground. 

Training ground C-37 was an old abandoned training ground used by nobody except Naruto. The training ground itself was nothing special except for the fact that it was optimal for training the body. It had an extremely deep hole filled water. Water Hole Training was one of the most classic body training methods in the elemental nations. Besides the watering hole there was also a rock climbing wall the was great for a brand new way of training started up by one of the most powerful taijutsu users in Konoha. The training method was that one would climb up and down the rock wall in a bunch of special ways. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, up side down, side to side, it was a great way to work difficult to reach muscles. Muscles that were usually used for battle and aren't able to be worked through normal exercises. 

" Welp, let's get to it. "

Naruto first worked up a sweat with the rock climbing exercise. He started off easy with regular vertical climbing before moving onto the more difficult climbing variants. After a couple hours of hard work under the sun Naruto moved onto the watering hole as he called it. Naruto grabbed an extremely long bamboo pole that he could use to breathe, stripped and then slowly sank his way down. After that he spent another hour or so meditating in the watering hole. Naruto liked to meditate because it allowed him to connect with nature and pretend that he wasn't himself. It allowed him to disconnect from his own existence and feel he was actually worth something.

After he was done at the watering hole Naruto started walking back to the Uzumaki-Namikaze compound. He was absolutely starving and he knew exactly what he wanted to cook. So with the peppiest step he could perform Naruto moved along to the clan compound area. 

---

It took less than 20 minutes for Naruto to reach the place legally considered his home. Technically he considered it his home as well since it was the place he slept and ate. 

So he walked through the gate, luckily he was keyed in to the seal formation. When he walked in he stopped and stared in slight surprise. He was surprised because of all of the special decorations surrounding the front of the house. Long story short it was a bunch of fancy streamers and banners with fancy fonts. The banners read. 

[ Welcome to the 5th birthday party of Mito and Mana Uzumaki-Namikaze. ]

And once again one that read.

[ Happy belated 5th birthday Mana and Mito.  ]

Naruto simply sighed and moved inside the compound where there were even more party decorations. The young blonde ignored them and moved straight to the kitchen. He also ignored his parents and godparents who were playing with his slightly younger sisters in the back yard. He didn't see them, but he could hear the laughing and giggling.

Instead of thinking about it Naruto made some simple eggs and rice with some pieces of leftover chicken on it.

After he finished cooking his food Naruto cleaned everything up spick and span to make it like he was never there. He then grabbed up the plate of food he made and moved onto his room. Mere minutes after he left upstairs Kushina walked into the kitchen to cook some food for her family. She sniffed the air in surprise because she smelled some extremely tasty food. She of course wanted to know who cooked it, but she over wrote her ninja instincts and ignored it. She knew that few could break into the house that she and her husband had reinforced; none of those who could, would cook themselves dinner and then hide, they would of likely bombed the place to high heavens. So, she ignored it and used the pans that had been used mere seconds ago by her son. 

Upstairs Naruto was sitting on his extremely stiff bed and following the lines of his " wallpaper " with his eyes. He was of course eating as well. Once he was done eating Naruto lied on his bed and put his hands in the air. 

All of a sudden wind started blowing around his room, along with that a ball of wind manifested itself in between his hands. Naruto was practicing elemental manipulation. 

Suddenly a zipping sound joined the whooshing sounds of wind. He was doing his best to add his lightning element to his wind element. As far as Naruto knew nobody had ever used just wind and lightning chakra to make a secondary element chakra; Naruto hoped to be the first person to ever combine the two elements. It was like that Naruto practiced for a few hours until he started hearing some loud noises down stairs. ( ¹I know that there is a storm element in the story but that is wind, lightning, and water as far as I know. )

He knew that all the commotion was because of the birthday party for his younger sisters. Naruto knew he shouldn't, but he in his infinite attention seeking ways decided to go down stairs. See if anybody would give him a gift or not. 

Instead of having his hoped fulfilled however Naruto came down at the perfect time to hear the news he dreaded most. He heard his father say. 

" And so, we have decided to name Mana Uzumaki-Namikaze the heir to the Uzumaki clan and Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze shall be named the heir to the Namikaze clan. "

All of a sudden all of the guests cheered out. They were all grinning with Mito, Mana, Kushina, Minato, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. Matter of fact the only person not smiling was Naruto, who realized that they had truly abandoned him. The people that he thought he could potentially rely on even despite all of their faults had once and for all truly abandoned him. 

You see, when a clan names a child the heir over the oldest born rightful heir they essentially kick the oldest born out. Legally Naruto is no longer the child of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.  

So through all of the cheering people Naruto walked through the front door of the clan compound. He walked calmly and elegantly all the way to the his favorite spot to sleep when he was forced to stay outside of the clan. Once there he went to sleep, when he woke up Naruto decided once and for all to commit suicide. 

---

Naruto woke up an hour or two after the stag finished going through his memories. He woke up groggily with a moan, it seems that Naruto who can usually wake right up can't handle forced sleep. 

' Feels like I did one of those cruddy two hour naps in the middle of a summer heatwave on a leather couch. '

" Glad to see you awake sleepy head. "

It took a few minutes for Naruto to realize where he was. 

" . . . Umm, not nice to be awake I guess. "

" Yeah, about that, I get you want to commit suicide, but I have a deal for you. "

" What deal and why? "

"  I see potential in you and honestly I pity you. I went through your memories and I know you have you own hopes and dreams. No matter how much you say you want to die I know you want to make your own family and I know that just like every child you want to become a legendary ninja. So I'm giving you the offer. "

Even though Naruto would likely never admit it he did indeed have the childish dream of being one of the strongest ninja. 

" What's the deal? "

" A little backstory first. "

Naruto sat up in the criss cross applesauce position and hunkered himself down. He was fully prepared to enjoy the story that the stag would tell him. Hopefully about it's identity. Not like he had anything better to do after all, besides, he almost felt a compulsion to listen to the beautiful creature.

" First things first, my name is Diantha, my title is Goddess of Forest. You see, there are dozens of wandering Gods who as I said wander around the planet enjoying themselves doing what ever they want. I am the Goddess of Forest and I move around visiting various places, occasionally I'll settle down in a forest and watch over it's inhabitants. I also will sometimes bless a creature, or in your case human. "

" . . . Alright I really want to hear about the deal you're offering, but I gotta ask, what's the difference between wandering Gods and those Gods I that everybody preaches about? You know, Kami, Yami, and Shinigami. "

" Kami, Yami, and Shinigami are what is known as Creation Gods, they were basically the original Gods. The wandering Gods are humans or animals or any living being that reached the power level of a God. We despite having the level of power to rival Kami, Yami, and Shinigami don't have the same kind of authority. "

" That's so cool! Does that mean you were once a legendary beast known throughout the world? "

" Hehe no, sorry Naruto, but not all of the wandering Gods were some well known legends who swept through man and creature alike. "

When Diantha saw Naruto's excited face drop back into an impassive one she couldn't help but to have her heart throb a little. Diantha, despite being an ancient Goddess had never felt the need for an heir, so she had never felt these kinds of maternal instincts. One of those emotions being love. So she decided to do something that most mothers enjoy doing, telling their children stories. 

" But I can tell you about some of the ones who were legends in their time. "

Naruto instantly perked up hearing what Diantha said. Naruto could instinctively feel the warmth radiating from Diantha's words. He who had never felt such a type of love, or any type of love for that matter, so when he felt the love from Daintha, Naruto felt something making him relax. But, that also made him nervous, he naturally couldn't trust something that made him relax so easily. 

" I guess I'll start with one of the most well known among ninja, his name was Hagoromo Otsutsuki also known as The Sage of Six Paths. He was quite the talented young chap, his mom was a bitch though, anyway he was talented, very talented. He was quite the revolutionary in chakra usage, he truly refined chakra usage for humanity and even us Gods. He and I were great friends, unfortunately he died a few hundred years ago in a battle against a few rival Gods. He took down four of them though. "

Naruto was awestruck hearing about one of his idols from when he was a child. One of the few gifts he was ever given was a book about Hagoromo Otsutsuki and the supposed start beginning of chakra, though apparently it wasn't true. Fun fact, the book was given to Mana who later gave it to Naruto since she thought it was boring. 

" I guess next should be my best friend Khutulun and her brother Cu Chulain. " ²( I know that Cu Chulain didn't exist, or at least I don't think he did. But they were both legendary warriors and I figured they would be a pretty good match. Keep in mind that I am not a historian so I will likely mess up some facts. )

" They were both legendary warriors who lived during the same time, though they lived on opposite sides of the elemental nations. You see both of them were born at exactly the same time, day, year, month, minute, and even second. They were also extremely talented fighters, Khutulun in hand to hand and Cu Chulain with his spear. Anyway one day the fought each 0ther on the battle field with neither being able to get the upper hand. From that day on they became eternal rivals. They fought for decades, sometimes on the battlefield, other times they would simply run into each other. Anyway eventually I got tired of hearing about it all one day since Khutulun would never shut up about it. So I decided to get them together to discuss everything, one thing lead to another and they ended up adopting each other as siblings. "

Naruto spent a few hours listening to Diantha tell stories of various legendary warriors who reached God-hood. Eventually though story time had to come to and end. 

" Anyway, I suppose it's time I make you that deal. I will offer you a certain technique that I call the Beast God Technique. The BGT for short will allow you to absorb certain characteristics of any beasts that you kill. Now you can choose to keep those characteristics visible or hide them until you are in battle, so no worries about them getting uncovered. You can also keep them hidden with a genjutsu. Along with the making you personally powerful the BGT can allow you to contract three different summoning clans. "

" . . . What's in it for you? "

" I want you to become a God, and when you finally reach there I want you to become a member of my family. Whether it be through adoption or through marrying in, I don't care I just want a loving boy like you to spend eternity with me. "

" Well you have yourself a deal, honestly though I think you're getting the short end of the stick. "

Diantha smiled as well as is possible for a stag. 

" Then follow me, I shall bestow upon you the Beast God's Authority. "