Hello! This is a short little set of one-shots that were requested by a couple of readers. I'm hoping to write an Itachi x Reader, Naruto x Reader and a Sasuke x Reader. The first one is the Naruto x Reader... enjoy!

Uzumaki Naruto- Redemption of the vine.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura happily greeted her saddened friend.

The only response to her cheerfulness was a simple nod. "Come on, you've been sulking for a week now, it wasn't that bad," she continued with less enthusiasm.

"I know, I know, but after two and a half years of training I'm still the same old, pathetic Naruto," he said finally.

Both of them were silent for a while until Sakura frowned and said, "Naruto! Look at yourself, now you really are weak and pathetic! Where is the Naruto who swore he would protect Konoha and bring Sasuke back?"

Instantly, Naruto yelled, "Hey! I will bring Sasuke back, you just wait and see!"

Sakura smiled and said, "Really? Well, is sitting here and sulking going to do that?"

Naruto didn't reply but instead he got up from his seat on the bench and then began running toward the forest; he had to go train.

He continued to run without stopping for a while until he began to wonder what exactly he was going to do. Was he going to run laps? Do push-ups? Train his jutsu?

As he kept running and thinking he didn't notice when it started to rain and when he did, it was too late and he was completely soaked.

"Ah, great, now I can't train!" Naruto complained and tried to cover himself from the rain.

All the trees around him had no leaves on them; it was early spring, so they could not shield him from the rain and the drenched ninja had no where to go.

He continued to trudge through the woods slowly; maybe there was a cave or something around.

For the longest time he kept walking until he came upon a large field with one ancient looking oak tree in the middle.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, but Naruto didn't care as he ran to his shelter from the rain.

Suddenly, the sky lit up and everything in Naruto's sight went white before abruptly turning black. That was a close call; the lightning had almost hit him.

Thanking the gods for his luck, he ninja continued his run to the oak.

Finally, he made it and he tiredly sat under the protection of the tree. How good it felt to sit somewhere dry and safe from the rain.

Yawning, Naruto decided to wait the storm out and then he closed his eyes. He had enough time for a short nap.

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Screaming... someone was screaming.

Naruto woke from his small nap with a start, who was causing all the racket?

That's when he saw her, a small female lying on the ground. An enormous bang of thunder echoed through the field and for a second Naruto thought maybe this stranger had been hit by the lightning that caused the bang.

Throwing caution into the wind, Naruto ran away from the tree and to the limp figure on the ground.

She was unconscious and Naruto was relieved to see she was not dead.

After that, he picked up her body and moved it under the oak tree; at least she would be safe from the rain.

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What was this place? You slowly opened your eyes and saw you were lying under a large tree. This wasn't where you remembered being; you had been in a field and then suddenly something hit you... were you dead?

Looking around you saw there was a boy leaning against the trunk of the tree. Who was he?

You tried to stand up and the noise seemed to stir the boy from his rest. He opened his large light blue eyes and looked into yours happily.

"You're awake!" he said as he got up and walked over to you.

He helped you stand up and then he continued with, "Do you feel okay? You did get hit by lightning after all."

Your eyes widened and you blurted, "Lightning? What... what happened?"

He shrugged and said, "I don't know, when I woke up you were on the ground unconscious, why were you in the field?"

You laughed nervously, "I was trying to get to Konoha and I thought I could save some time by travelling at night."

Naruto's eyes lit up with recognition and he announced, "I'm from Konoha! We could go together!"

Smiling, you nodded and the two of you began walking to the large capital of Fire Country. As you walked, Naruto told you as much as he could about Konoha and what you could do there. He also told you his name was Naruto and you replied your name was Liana.

When he was done he casually asked you, "So, what brings you to Konoha?" For a second you stiffened, was it really safe to tell this stranger why? No, it wasn't. You couldn't trust anyone right now so you said, "Oh, just for a bit of a visit I guess."

He didn't seem to pick up on your lie so he began talking about all the great places you could stay. You just smiled and nodded, fully knowing you wouldn't be able to afford any of the places he was talking about because you had no money.

He never gave you any money.

By noon you and Naruto were at the gates of Konoha. You stifled a gasp, the village was even more beautiful than you had ever imagined.

When he had talked about Konoha all he said was bad things, he had never said anything about the beautiful buildings, smiling people, and neat streets.

You and your new companion walked down the streets calmly, you were trying to soak up everything you were seeing. Naruto grinned when he saw your bewildered face and he led you to more wonderful and stunning parts of Konoha.

Finally, you got hungry but you didn't know if you should say anything or not.

If you told him you were hungry he would punish you and not give you any food. So, you had learned not to say anything and never to ask.

Naruto looked at your face, which looked slightly starved, and said, "Hey, Liana are you hungry?"

You hesitated for a second but then you nodded slightly. Naruto grinned again and said, "You're going to love where I'm taking you! It's called Ichiraku Ramen and they have the best ramen in all of Konoha!"

He quickly led you to the ramen place and ordered two of his favourite bowls. You ate quietly and Naruto kept talking about how great Konoha was. Not that he needed to, you were completely convinced Konoha was the heaven that could save you from your hell.

When you were done your tour of Konoha continued and by evening you were sure you had seen everything you needed to see. This was going to be your new home.

However, with the darkness came the hard to answer questions. "So, have you decided where you are going to stay?" "Where did you come from?" "Are you a ninja?"

You stuttered, "I... no... I'm sorry I can't answer any of those questions."

Naruto didn't look disappointed and he continued with, "That's okay, your past doesn't matter in Konoha and if you don't have a place to stay... I guess you can stay with me."

Even though it was dark, you could see he was blushing a bit. You smiled a bit and said, "I would like that."

After that was settled, you would stay at Naruto's place for the night and tomorrow you would decide what to do for long term, you and Naruto began walking to Naruto's home.

When you got to Naruto's small apartment you were bombarded by the smell of ramen. He showed you his little kitchen, the couch, the bed, the bedroom and all of his ninja gear.

"You live alone?" you asked curiously. Naruto nodded and said, "Yeah! It's great, no one bosses me around and I get to eat whatever I want."

"That does sound great," you agreed. Then you agreed on the sleeping arrangements, you would sleep in the twin sized bed and he would sleep on the couch.

You quickly finished brushing your teeth and went to bed, you were so glad to be able to sleep in a bed.

He made you sleep on the cold, hard floor.

Naruto was done soon after you and he quietly wished you a good night and went to sleep.

To your surprise, sleep came very easily and you were soon submerged in the world of dreams. This night your dreams were filled with happiness and hope instead of the usual fear and despair.

Konoha was your new beginning, you were leaving your past behind.

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Naruto woke up early that morning; he had so much more to show Liana. He quickly made breakfast for the two of them, but then he saw Liana was still asleep.

Naruto went to go wake her, but he stopped when he saw she had dark, almost black bruises going up and down her arms. He hadn't seen them yesterday because she was wearing a long sleeved shirt and now he did he had no idea what to do.

He sighed, he had no business prying into her life so he just covered her arms with his blanket and let her sleep. Although he was curious he knew if he asked she could get mad and he might loose his new friend.

She seemed very nice and he wasn't willing to sacrifice a possibly very strong friendship just for some information.

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You woke up slowly. The sun was shining in through the window and you realized you had overslept.

At first panic over took you, he never let you sleep in late. Then you remembered you were at Naruto's place. Sighing contently, you got up from the bed and you smiled when you saw Naruto was already up, eating breakfast.

You were about to walk over to him, but then you stopped when you remembered about your arms. They were horribly bruised from your last encounter with him.

Naruto saw your arms and looked down while you sat back on the bed and closed your eyes.

The tiny apartment was silent for a while until you said, "Please don't ask."

Naruto looked up at you and said, "Like I said yesterday, your past doesn't matter in Konoha, I would never ask."

You let a small smile play on your lips and you whispered, "Thank you Naruto, thank you."

He smiled back and then he gestured for you to come eat, which you gladly did. Later you both decided to keep walking around Konoha to see anything you had missed yesterday. You also decided to look for a job so you could start earning money and eventually get your own place.

The day began great, you visited some parks and gardens and then Naruto guided you to a large red building where he said he wanted you to meet someone.

When you entered you were met by many guards, who let you pass without a care. It seemed Naruto was a frequent visitor here.

You walked up a large flight of stairs and then you were standing in front of a large door that read 'Hokage's Office'. Why did Naruto want you to meet the Hokage?

Naruto carelessly walked into the large room and he was met by the glare of a big breasted woman, who you assumed was the Hokage.

After glaring at Naruto, her eyes shifted over to you and she said, "Who are you?"

Naruto introduced you, "This is Liana, she is new here and I was wondering if you could get her a job."

The Hokage twitched slightly and then she said, "Liana, I am Tsunade, the Hokage of Fire Country, I am glad you have come to live here but I am sure you can understand I can only give jobs to ninja, are you a ninja?"

Throwing caution into the wind, you nodded and said, "Yes, I am a ninja from Rain Country, but I wish to relocate here."

Tsunade kept staring at you and she said, "What rank are you?"

"I was never in any exams, but my master told me I was almost a Jounin level," was your smooth reply.

Beside you, Naruto looked surprised and he said, "Wow! You must be strong!" (Naruto is technically still a Genin, but if you looked at all his skills and abilities he is almost at a Kage level. I didn't want Liana to be stronger than Naruto, of course.)

You shook your head and said, "Almost a Jounin, but not quite."

Tsunade looked a lot more interested now and she said, "Alright, what are your skills?"

"Mostly weapons skills, but I do know some water jutsu," you said carefully. You wanted to impress Tsunade so she would get you a job.

The Hokage seems pleased with what you knew and she said finally, "This evening I will set up a match between you and one of my Jounin, if you are able to do well in the fight you will become a Konoha Shinobi. However, since you claim to be almost a Jounin, you don't need to defeat him, just stand your ground."

You nodded and then you and Naruto left the building to warm up a bit. You hadn't fought in a while and you wanted to make sure you weren't completely rusty.

Naruto led you strait to the training grounds, where you immediately began running laps. You wanted to get your blood pumping before you tried any combat.

Soon after you were all warmed up, Naruto came back with a sword, kunai, and shuriken. You gratefully took the sword, but hesitated when you saw Naruto get into a battle stance.

"What are you doing?" you asked. The reply was cheerful, "Getting ready to train of course! You need a partner don't you?"

You nodded and also got into a battle stance. Naruto ran straight at you with his kunai and you blocked his blows. He was a pretty hard hitter, but he was still nothing compared to him.

For a long time you continued to exchange blows and you were glad to see Naruto was a very good sparring partner.

When it was almost time to go see Tsunade, you and Naruto decided to get a quick bite to eat and rest.

That passed by even quicker than you thought it would and now you were standing in the inside training arena facing someone that looked familiar. This was the Jounin you were supposed to fight.

You had no idea who he was, but something in your gut was telling you that you knew him from somewhere.

Tsunade quickly began the match and you didn't have to wait long before the Jounin came at you. He was very fast and you had a hard time keeping up with him, but you were not easily beat.

You needed to stand your ground, you needed to get a job in Konoha, and you needed to be able to stay with Naruto longer. He was the perfect friend and even though you had only known each other for a few days it felt like it had been years.

Suddenly, your opponent did some very complicated hand signs and now there was an awfully large snake sitting in the arena. Wait... it looked familiar... this snake.

On the sidelines, Tsunade and Naruto were shocked by seeing an animal summon, that was not part of the battle.

Tsunade was about to yell at the Jounin to stop and get rid of the monster but she was beat to it when Naruto yelled, "You bastard! What the hell are you doing here Orochimaru!"

You stopped dead in your tracks. How had you not seen it? It was him.

The time you were using to ponder this was cut short when the Jounin spoke, "My, my the Kyuubi brat has gotten sharp, eh Liana?"

You looked up to glare at your former captor, how had he found you, and what did he want?

Knowing he was much stronger than you, the only thing you could do was simple: run.

You ran out of the arena as fast as you possibly could, but it was not fast enough because the snake was instantly behind you with Orochimaru, now looking less and less like the Jounin you had begun to fight, right on it's head.

As we was getting closer and closer, panic exploded in your head and you tripped, much to your terror.

You were going to get up to keep running but suddenly you felt Orochimaru's warm breath behind you and everything went black.

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"Hey Naruto," Sakura quietly greeted her now rather depressed friend.

She got no response so she continued with, "Naruto, you know there was nothing you could have done to stop it."

Still no response, "Naruto, look at me, you did nothing wrong, Orochimaru came out of no where and even Tsunade didn't have a chance to react."

Finally Naruto said, "I should have known, I might have been able to save her if I just jumped in front of that snake and Orochimaru, she might be here right now."

Sakura sighed. "She was able to get away one time right? Then who's to say she won't do it again?"

Naruto looked Sakura in the eyes, she was right, you could still be alive somewhere and maybe you could escape again.

With determination filled eyes, Naruto said, "I'm going to find her and bring her back, just like Sasuke! Orochimaru won't get away with taking two people away from me!"

That said, he got up from his now nicknamed 'Sulking Bench' and ran into the forest. The first time he had seen you, you were coming north east to the field and you had said you were from Rain Country so Naruto knew which direction to head into.

He was going to save you, believe it!

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You opened your eyes. He was gone and you were once again alone in your old cell.

You winced when you saw all the blood on the ground, it was your blood.

It took you forever to crawl over to the wall and lean against it. He had broken both of your legs. "Don't want you running around anymore," was what he said while smiling and holding that damned metal pipe.

You closed your eyes; you didn't want to see any of this. You just wanted to be back in Konoha, back with Naruto... your friend.

Sighing, you let yourself drift into unconsciousness and to dream about those two days you had been in heaven.

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This was so ridiculous! No one was saying anything, and it was pissing him off to no end.

Naruto clenched his fists when for the hundredth time that day he heard the words 'I'm sorry, I don't know who Orochimaru is.'

He leaned against the wall; someone in Rain Country's capital had to know who Orochimaru was.

Naruto went to go find himself a place to stay for the night; he was not going to give up any time soon.

After finding himself a suitable little hotel room, Naruto collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. He would continue his search tomorrow.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Naruto was rudely awakened by being shoved off his bed. When he opened his eyes he saw a woman with blue hair and a white paper rose in her hair. (Guess who?)

"You are looking for Orochimaru," she stated blankly and Naruto instantly forced himself completely awake to nod and say, "Yes, yes, do you know where he is?"

The woman nodded and said, "I do. His lab is in the western part of the city, the entrance is hidden inside the largest tree you will find there."

After that she turned to leave but Naruto asked, "Hey, wait! Why are you helping me?"

The reply was simple, "Orochimaru is a nuisance, I want you to get rid of him."

Then in an instant, she turned into a million little pieces of paper and disappeared.

Naruto quickly got dressed, he had no idea who the woman had been but she had given him the location of Orochimaru's hideout and that was all he needed to know.

He jumped out the window and ran as fast as he could toward the place mentioned earlier. He would find you even if it was the last thing he did.

Friends protected friends and you were definitely a friend.

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You woke with a start. You had just had the craziest dream; Naruto was running down the street and toward the hideout.

You let out a small groan; even your dreams were mocking you. There was no way Naruto would find you.

The sound of a door opening could be heard and for one agonizingly slow second you thought it would actually be Naruto.

But it wasn't.

It was just Orochimaru, but now instead of a metal pipe he was holding a whip. This day was just getting better and better.

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Naruto stared in awe at the large tree in front of him. When that woman had told him to find the largest tree he thought it was going to be harder than this.

This tree was just so colossally huge it made Naruto feel like a little speck of dust standing at its roots.

Now came the hard part, finding the secret entrance. He looked up, down, sideways and at any other angle imaginable.

After finding nothing for more than twenty minutes, Naruto sighed and made two clones. He needed to do Rasen-Shuriken in order to force the entrance to reveal itself.

One of his clones sat in silence for a minute in order to get the natural energy stabilized and then both clones created the monstrously powerful Rasengan in Naruto's palm.

He ran at the tree without hesitation and he watched with mild satisfaction as the trunk practically dematerialized before his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled forward when he came upon an empty space in the trunk. The jutsu disappeared and Naruto was standing in front of a flight of stairs that was leading underground.

Relief washed over him, it was real and he had not been lied to.

Naruto ran down the stairs as fast as he could; the sooner her got to you the better he would feel.

No one should be around Orochimaru that long, especially you.

When he was at the bottom he saw there were three tunnels he could go down. He closed his eyes and tried to find your chakra. It was weak but it was there and it seemed like the best way to get to you was using the right tunnel.

He ran down the tunnel and closer to you, he had to hurry because he felt Orochimaru's chakra very close to yours.

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Snap.

You crawled to the side as the whip cracked on the wall a few inches beside you.

Orochimaru had a very insane looking grin on his face as he continued to try and whip you. He had been unsuccessful for the most part, but you still got a bit clipped in the arm, making crawling much harder, plus you still couldn't walk because of your broken legs.

Snap.

This time it was closer and you barely dodged. You had no idea how much longer you could keep this up, but you knew Orochimaru could keep this up for much more time than you.

Snap.

You fell to the ground to avoid another very close blow. Panicking, you tried to get up but you were too slow because Orochimaru was already standing right in front of you.

There was no need to look up in order to know he was smiling and enjoying every moment of this.

You closed your eyes; maybe if you tried hard enough you would be able to make yourself go into unconsciousness and escape the pain.

Snap.

Pain erupted on your back and then blossomed in your brain, rendering you unable to move or think. The pain was much more than you had expected and you guessed Orochimaru was trying extra hard to bring you pain.

Your vision was now going a little blurry and you heard Orochimaru curse suddenly. Then you heard yelling, but it was getting fainter and fainter until everything went black.

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"Liana!" Naruto yelled when he saw your unconscious body lying on the floor with blood all around.

He turned to look at Orochimaru, who was still holding that whip and frowning.

"What are you doing here?" Orochimaru demanded when he saw Naruto walking toward him.

"Why do you think!" he yelled and charged at Orochimaru. His blows were easily blocked, but Naruto was not deterred. He was going to save you and that was final.

He threw some shuriken at Orochimaru and he expected him to dodge them and go closer to the door, where he had some clones waiting to grab him.

However, Orochimaru let the shuriken hit him before he promptly swelled and blew up all over the room.

At first Naruto was really disgusted, but then he got worried when the glop began burning his skin. It was acid!

He quickly rushed over to you and picked you up; he needed to get out of here. Luckily, the exit was not blocked and Naruto was able to make it outside safely.

Then he ran around the town like a maniac in search of water, he had to get the acid off or you could be seriously hurt.

He finally found a river and he threw himself and you into the river to wash off.

The contact with the cold, freezing water instantly woke you up and you gasped for air in fear of drowning.

Orochimaru had tried to drown you once and ever since you had a habit of trying to stay away from water that was not in a shower, sink or drink.

Your wide eyes scanned the water for any sign of danger, but you felt your heart skip a beat when you saw Naruto smiling at you.

"What... what are you doing here? Where am I?" you asked as calmly as you could.

Naruto grinned before saying, "You're safe, and that's all that matters!"

You smiled back and tried climbing out of the water. However, you stopped when you felt the piercing pain of your broken legs and whip injuries some back to make themselves known.

Naruto's grin instantly disappeared when he saw your eyes roll back a bit and you began to sink in the water.

He quickly swam over to you, picked you up and took you out of the water. He still had no idea about the extent of your injuries.

When he saw your feet turned in the wrong direction he knew you had broken legs and he needed to get you help right away.

Luckily, he had planned ahead and packed a teleportation scroll with him. It would take him right into the middle of the Hokage's office.

He held you in one arm and with the other he opened up the scroll. Then he bit down on his thumb and spread the blood on the markings of the scroll.

It disappeared and all of a sudden he was standing in front of Tsunade's very large desk.

When she saw you and Naruto she ran over and began trying to get information out of Naruto, who just snapped at her to heal you.

She dropped the subject and began doing what she could at the moment, which was setting your broken bones back into place.

After that, you were taken to the hospital to recuperate and Naruto stayed by your bed every step of the way.

Finally, it was morning and you had begun to stir. Naruto looked at you expectedly and he grinned when you looked at him.

"Good morning!" he said.

You looked around the room and realized you were in the hospital back in Konoha.

Your curious gaze made it to Naruto and you asked, "Why... why did you come for me?"

Naruto's grin widened and he said, "You're my friend! I'll do anything to protect you."

Your featured relaxed and you said, "Thank you Naruto... you're a very good friend."

You leaned up from your bed to give him a small kiss on the cheek and he blushed in response.

Were you really always going to be friends?

Yes! My first one-shot of the story is done! It was much longer than I originally expected, but that's okay... I hope you all liked it! Reviews?

Oh and one last thing,

Title Explanation: I named this one-shot 'Redemption of the Vine' because when Naruto saves Liana it is like redemption because even though he was unable to save Sasuke he was able to save Liana and the 'vine' part comes in because Liana literally means 'vine'.