HELLO! Welcome to my new story. I'm really happy to be doing this one, much different than my other story. This story is a modern AU, Naruhina and Sasusaku of course, so if that's not what you want to read about, buh-bye.

ANYWAY, I'll go ahead and warn you guys now, and one more time officially before the story starts. Because I just KNOW that people are gonna complain about some of the stuff in this story even though there will be constant warnings. This story has some dark elements, including death, mentions of suicide, and depression. There will also be a few lemons in this story. I'm warning you all right now.

IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING THEMES ARE A TRIGGER FOR YOU, PLEASE EXIT THIS STORY NOW: Mentions of death, mentions of suicide, kidnapping, depression, and anxiety. There WILL be elements of these in the story.

On a happier note, please keep in mind that no story I ever write will ever not have a happy ending. Just gotta roll with the punches to get there :)

Alright, that being said, here's my new story! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Naruto is owned by M. Kishimoto.


I gaze around the new clean space, soaking in my new surroundings. My brand new apartment, a nicer place than I ever thought I would be able to afford, but working two jobs throughout college plus a paid internship have made it possible. A big open living room with a flat screen, a couch that I actually got from a store and not on Craigslist, and a nice bookshelf to keep my giant collection of textbooks. The kitchen was nice too, although I can't imagine I'll be using the appliances much, I'm not much of a cook. Unless you count boiling water for instant ramen as cooking.

I take the the time to appreciate the pictures on the wall in the hallway as I make my way to my new bedroom. Hanging on the wall I see my parents, my dad with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as me, and my mother with bright red hair and indigo eyes, although my face is definitely hers. I don't remember much about my parents. They passed away when I was only two years old in a car accident. I only have one memory of them, and that was a fuzzy one. It was of my mom rocking me to sleep, while my dad hummed a song. I don't even know if it's a real memory to be honest, but it's all I have. Next to that picture is one of me and my godfather, Jiraiya. A man with long spiky white hair and a lecherous grin. He adopted me at the age of ten, raising me into the man I am today. He was an old pervert, but he was truly a father to me. In the picture he has his arm around me, both of us wearing wide smiles. He too, has passed on. He was struck by a drunk driver and killed instantly. My family has bad luck with driving, I suppose. I miss him a lot, but I know that he's always watching me, as are Mom and Dad. I smile at the pictures of them.

I reach for the handle on my new bedroom door, and turn the knob slowly. I'm slightly nervous to take in this new scenery, but I'm not sure why. I hear the click, signaling the door is open and I push it through. The carpets are a cream color, it feels nice on my toes. The walls are plain white, and my creative side imagines painting them a funky color, like bright orange. Yeah, that would be the perfect color, it is my favorite after all. I was able to finally afford to get a queen size bed, I know it's a bit big for one person, but I love to sprawl out when I sleep. It's got a decent size closet, and my own bathroom. I'm especially grateful for that. Sharing one bathroom all throughout college was a real pain in the ass. There's a large dresser and a nightstand, along with a desk at the window. I have my laptop there, along with various notebooks and textbooks. I'm still preparing for starting law school coming up, a new chapter in my life.

There aren't any pictures hanging up in my room. A poster that I've had since I was fourteen is the only thing adorning the walls. I chuckle to myself as my eyes land on it. It's a white poster with a steamy cup of instant ramen on it. In all caps it says "NO RAMEN NO LIFE". It's oddly enough one of my most treasured possessions. I do love ramen, but that's not the only reason the poster is special to me. It reminds me of a happier time in my life. No, not happier, but happiest. The happiest time in my life. Unfortunately, those days are over.

I shake my head to get the thoughts out. I won't go there right now. Silently, I walk over to the bed and sit down on the left side. I reach down to the drawer on the nightstand, and hesitantly pull it open. I don't know why I'm doing it, when I know what's inside. But it's like I can't help myself. The first thing I pull out is an old photo. It's a bit worn, and obviously old considering how I look in it. The photo is of me and my two best friends in junior high. I'm in the middle, my arms around each of them, smiling brightly. I haven't smiled like that in years, something I only recently realized. On the right is a boy with raven hair and pale skin with onyx eyes. He has his arms crossed and an expression that says that he's annoyed with me, but I know better. On the left is a girl with short indigo hair and pale lavender eyes. And, of course, the usual pink staining on her cheeks. We were only thirteen at the time. Life was so simple. We were all happy.

I can't bring myself to look at the other items in the drawer. I toss the photo back in and bite my lip to force back the tears that have welled up in my eyes. Dammit, why am I still letting this affect me so much? Mercifully, I am brought out of my thoughts by knocking at the door. I quickly wipe my eyes and stand up from the bed.

"What?" I ask.

The door creaks open, and in walks the guy with raven hair from the photo. Only now, he's much taller and much more mature looking. His hair is a bit longer, and part of it droops over his left eye. He's wearing a dark blue sweater with black jeans. Dark colors, as usual. He smirks.

"Are you going to stay in here brooding all day, or are you going to come with me to meet Sakura for coffee?" He questions me.

That's right, we had made plans to get coffee once we were all moved in. Well, anything is better than sulking in my bedroom, "Alright, alright, let's go Sasuke."

I follow him to the front door, before grabbing my bright orange jacket and throwing it on. Orange jacket, black t-shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers. My usual outfit. I pretty much wear the same thing every day. I get an earful from Sakura over it all the time, but it does her no good. I'm a simple guy with simple tastes. I like to be comfy and I like the color orange. My wardrobe reflects that.

We make our way down the busy city streets towards the coffee shop we've been to a couple of times now since we got off the plane the other day. It's within walking distance for Sasuke and myself, and not too far for Sakura either, so we decided we would continue to meet up here to hang out. It's called the Sunshine Cafe, and boy do they have some awesome coffee. They have great cinnamon rolls too. I never used to be much of a fan of sweets, but I've had a weakness for cinnamon rolls for a few years now.

As we come up on the cafe, my pink-haired friend comes into view. She's enthusiastically waving us down as she always does. Or maybe she's just waving at Sasuke, I can never really tell. She's dressed in mostly pink as usual. A dark pink jacket with fur along the hood, light pink pants, pink gloves, and black boots. I assume she's wearing a pink top under her jacket too. She smiles warmly at us.

"Hey guys! All settled in now?" She questions us.

"Yep! I got the last of my stuff put away today." I reply.

"Hmph, he could have had everything done sooner, but once he had the XBOX hooked up he got a bit… distracted." Sasuke chimes in.

I glare at him, "Shut up! It's not my fault that gaming is so addicting, ya know! Besides, once you get started on a task it's impossible for you to stop until it's done. No way I can keep up with that." It's true. Sasuke has always been that way with any kind of job or assignment, as opposed to me, who likes to take a lot of breaks and put things off. I like to consider myself an expert procrastinator.

Sakura giggles at our antics. This is our dynamic, Sasuke and I pick on each other back and forth, and Sakura laughs at us and chimes in every now and then. Of course she will usually take Sasuke's side in our little fake arguments. Understandable, they are dating after all.

We make our way inside the cafe to get out of the cold air. Sasuke and Sakura both order some ginger tea, while I, as always, order a black coffee and a cinnamon roll. I don't really consider ordering anything else. We find ourselves sitting in the same corner booth as the other times we've been here.

"So, did you manage to find a roommate?" Sasuke asks her. Sakura moved here to the city when we did. She says it's because this is where she wanted to go to medical school, but I'm pretty sure that Sasuke is mainly the cause. They've been together for two years now, so it would make sense that she would follow him out here. She's just a little too prideful to admit it. Whatever the reason, I'm glad. I can't have Sasuke sulking all the time, that's my job.

She perks up immediately at his question, "Yes! I was just about to tell you! A girl our age answered the ad this morning! I met up with her and we really hit it off, and she agreed to move in! She's actually moving in her stuff right now. I asked her if she needed my help but she insisted that I go and hang out with my friends. She really is a sweet girl. Anyway, I was wondering if you guys wanted to come over tonight and meet her! Who knows, we may have a new member of the group on our hands!" She exclaimed.

I suspect that the main reason she's excited about this new girl is because she's wanting to set me up with her. Like I'd ever agree to that. Both of them have been trying to set me up with girls for a few years now, especially Sakura. It's nothing but a waste of time, to be honest. None of these girls will ever hold any interest for me.

"So, this new girl, what's her name?" Sasuke asks her.

"Uhhhhh…. I forgot…"

"Sakura! You just said you hit it off with this girl and yet you don't know her name?" I tease her.

She flicks me on the head playfully, "Shut up Naruto! You know I'm bad with names! Ugh it took me like two weeks to remember yours!"

I laugh at the memory, "Yeah of course I know that! I'll never forgot the next day after we met, you called me Natsu."

Her cheeks puff up and her face turns red. She's so easy to fluster, "Shut the hell up!"

Sasuke simply sits there smirking, as always. He's pretty good at hiding it, but I know he loves it when she gets riled up. Those two are polar opposites when it comes to showing emotion, but somehow they just go well together.

"Anyway," She starts, trying to change the subject back, "I would really love it you guys came over tonight. Sasuke-kun doesn't start his new job for a few days, and Naruto and I won't start school until next week. We have some time to have fun!"

"Well, I'm on board. What about you Sasuke-kun?" I ask him in a mocking tone.

He rolls his eyes at me. I can't help but tease them about their relationship. It's too easy, "Hmph, sure. We'll be there. What time Sakura?"

She jumps up from her seat, "Oh, yay! Tonight at 7:30! That'll give us some time to get all of her stuff in the new place. I'm going back after this to help her. She says she won't need it, but I'm gonna do it anyway."

I finish off my cinnamon roll and say bye to Sakura, as does Sasuke, although his goodbye always seems to take a bit longer. We walk back to the apartment, trying to ignore the chilling winds blowing around.


I decide to pass the time catching up on my reading. I'm starting law school next week, and I want to be as prepared as possible. Sure, I'd rather spend my free time playing on my XBOX, but getting off to a good start in law school is too important to me. My goal is to become a great lawyer, so I can represent cases like mine when I was a child. My parents died when I was two, so until I was ten I was passed around from foster home to foster home. In most of them I was either abused, neglected, or both. So many of these people are just in it for the perks when they become foster parents, but I'm going to change all that. I'm going to bring these people to the light, and defend the kids that don't have a voice.

I was lucky in a way. Most kids don't get out of the system until they turn eighteen, or get emancipated at sixteen. I was adopted by Jiraiya when I was ten, and he treated me like I was his own child. Technically, I was his godson. I remember being mad at first when I found out. I thought he didn't care enough about to me to come get me right away. However, I later learned that Jiraiya had been homeless and poor when I first lost my parents. He had been kind of like a nomad, sleeping on a different couch every night. They wouldn't let him take me. So, he turned his life around. He got a job, saved up enough money, bought a home in a good neighborhood and cleaned up any bad habits he had. He did it all so he could take me home. It made me really happy. Finally, I felt like I truly belonged.

Most kids in the system don't get so lucky, and that's why I'll be there to make sure their voices are heard, to make sure they get some justice.

I read my textbook until about 6:30 before I finally decide to get ready for dinner at Sakura's.

I make my way into the bathroom and hang a towel on the rack. I hop into the shower and quickly wash my body and hair. I'm grateful that I cut it shorter recently, it's a lot easier to tame. I get out of the shower and grab the towel off of the rack, drying myself off.

I walk into my bedroom and open the closet, and I grab a pair of blue jeans and my same orange jacket. I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of blue boxers and a black t-shirt. Different day, same outfit. I'm sure Sakura is going to throw a fit, but it is what it is. I have no one to impress, and I want to be comfortable. I take one last look in the mirror, satisfied with my plain appearance. I walk into the living room and see Sasuke sitting there, waiting on me. He looks quite a bit more dressed up than I do, wearing a black button up shirt, with a grey vest on top and a pair of black jeans. He quirks an eyebrow at me upon taking in my appearance.

"You're gonna get it from Sakura, you know that right?" He asks me.

"Yeah, yeah, what else is new? She's been on me for dressing like this since we first met. I'm not changing my mind."

He just shrugs his shoulders, "Fine, fine. Let's go."

He gets up and we exit the apartment, locking the door behind us. It's only about a 10 minute walk to Sakura's so we don't bother calling a cab. On the way there, Sasuke can't help but spoil my good mood. He has a knack for doing that it seems.

"So this roommate, I wonder what she's like." He says.

I shrug my shoulders, "I dunno, Sakura seems to like her."

He averts his eyes from mine, "Maybe… maybe Sakura won't be the only one to like her."

I groan in annoyance. Here we go.

"Sasuke, where are you going with this?"

He sighs, "Look, you've got to give someone a chance, get back out there. It's been four years-"

"So what?!" I cut him off, "Four years or four hundred years, it makes no difference to me! Why should I get back out there huh? Any relationship I could have would just be a disappointment in comparison to what I had." I'm really trying not to get emotional. Damn that Sasuke, why is he doing this?

He looks at me with concern, which I hate. I don't want anyone's pity, "Naruto, I'm worried okay? I don't want you to end up alone, and eventually Sakura and I will get married and have kids. What about you, huh?"

"What about me? I already told you a long time ago not to set me up with anyone. And I meant don't do it EVER. I don't have any love left to give someone. Just thinking about going out with a girl makes me angry. I don't want it, Sasuke, I just don't. Please… just drop it." I'm practically begging him to shut up about it. I really don't want to show up at Sakura's with red puffy eyes.

He frowns, "Fine. I don't want you to get all emotional so I'll leave it alone. For now."

Yes, I know it's only for now. He always brings it back up, Sakura too. Why can't they understand? I don't want to go out looking for something I already had. Something I already lost. I just can't.

We walk the rest of the way in silence, and I'm trying my best to think about something else. Eventually I begin to think about Sakura's cooking. Then I chuckle to myself, hoping maybe her new roommate is a better cook than her. I eat Sakura's food just so she won't fuss about it, but it's not good at all. I feel bad for Sasuke.

We march up the flight of stairs up to the third floor, my burning calf muscles protesting along the way. When did I get so out of shape? As we near the door, I can hear the faint sound of pots and pans clanging around and Sakura's ipod playing Halo. Ha, typical Sakura.

Sasuke knocks his knuckles against the door, and we hear the sound of footsteps approaching rapidly. Sakura's never very good at hiding her excitement where Sasuke is involved. The handle on the door jiggles and then the door opens, leaving us face to face with a smiling Sakura. She's wearing the same outfit from earlier today, without the jacket of course, only now her hair is tied back and she's wearing an apron.

"Hey guys! Glad you're here!" She says as she reaches up and hugs me, then turns to kiss Sasuke on the cheek. She then turns her stare back to me and crosses her arms. Here we go.

"Naruto! Do you have to always wear the same thing all the time?!"

I groan, "Hey, what can I say? I like orange and I like being comfy. This outfit meets both of my strict requirements. If it ain't broke don't fix it right?" I joke.

She rolls her eyes, "Whatever. Sasuke-kun gets it, he's all dressed up and looking sooo handsome!" She winks and he actually blushes. A rare phenomenon that I can't help but laugh at.

"Alright, alright. Come on in guys, meet the new roomie. She's helping me cook in the kitchen!" She says as she stands aside and waves us in.

We enter the apartment and right away it practically screams Sakura Haruno. Pink everywhere, the scent of cherry blossoms from candles, and medical textbooks lying around. But, there's a few other things I notice too. A textbook on child psychology on the coffee table and a purple fuzzy pillow on the couch. Those must belong to the roommate. Out of the corner of my eye, something else catches my interest. Hanging on the wall is what looks like a painting. I halt my walk towards the kitchen to take a closer look. I inspect the details inside the wooden frame.

Inside is definitely a painting of bright yellow sunflowers, but in the background of the flowers are two hands holding each other tightly. The way it looks, what it's saying, it stirs a strong emotion within me. It's beautiful, the most amazing painting I've seen since…

Wow. Did… did her roommate paint that? It's absolutely incredible. Maybe this girl could be part of our group after all.

I still refuse to be set up with her though.

"Hey! Come on!" I'm brought out of my trance by Sakura, who is motioning me to follow her.

Sakura guides us into the kitchen, where I can smell the distinct scent of stir fry, which immediately perks me up because that's the one thing Sakura is actually decent at making.

I hear a woman's voice singing in the kitchen, and I can only assume it's her roommate. Something about her voice is soothing to me, almost familiar. I can't put my finger on why, but it just makes me feel… at ease. Weird. The three of us step into the kitchen, and I see Sakura's new roommate chopping up some vegetables. It takes me a second to place her, but when I do…

Fuck.

That's why I liked her voice. That's why I liked the painting.

She notices our arrival and peers up at us through her bangs. Her pale lavender eyes meet mine, and time stops. Both of us are frozen in our spots, not breathing. No way. No fucking way. This isn't happening.

I chance a glance over at Sasuke, and see that his expression is about the same as mine. Shock. Except with me there's a little more than shock. There's sadness too. Undeniably so.

Sakura doesn't seem to notice the tense atmosphere as she smiles at us, "Guys, this is my new roommate, Hinata Hyuga."

I can't speak. I want to reply, but the words die on my tongue. So, I'm not hallucinating. It's really her.

"Er-uh… y-yeah… we've met before…" Sasuke manages to get out.

"Huh? Really? What are the odds?" Sakura asks, still unaware of what's going on.

My eyes continue to bore into Hinata. I'm sure she doesn't like it, but I can't stop. Then again, she's doing the same thing to me. I can see the different conflicting emotions in her eyes. Oh man, her eyes. I've always been able to read them so well. I guess time doesn't change that.

She shakes her head, as if to break some kind of spell, "U-uh, S-Sakura, I'm sorry!" She shouts and shoots past me before I can react. She runs down the hall to what I assume is her bedroom and I can hear the sound of a door slamming echo in my mind.

I'm still glued to the spot. I can't believe it. She's here. Hina… my heart begins to beat way too fast in my chest, and suddenly I notice how labored my breathing is. It's getting more difficult to draw a breath every second. My throat is closing up, what's happening? I have to get out of here.

"Naruto? Are you okay? What's going on?" Sakura asks me with a concerned expression.

I don't answer her. My response is to sprint out of the kitchen and out the front door. I have to get the hell out of here. I can't do this right now, I'm not ready. How is she here? Why is she here? I don't understand. I can vaguely here Sasuke yelling after me, telling me to stop but I don't listen. I can't talk to him about it right now. I won't let anyone see me break down. Not again.

I run the entire way home, functioning purely on adrenaline. My heart is slamming in my chest so hard I'm sure it will explode any second. I run up the stairs to our door, unlock it quickly, and get inside as fast as I can. I know Sasuke is still chasing after me. I stomp back to my bedroom and slam the door shut, locking it.

I sit on the bed, just looking down at my feet. Dammit, I'm not sure what to do. Hinata… she's back… back in my life again. But she was clearly not happy to see me. It was like my already damaged heart shattered into pieces seeing her reaction to me. Why? Why Hinata?

Knock knock knock

"Naruto! Open up!"

No way in hell am I opening that door. Nope.

Knock knock knock

"I know you're in there! Talk to me!"

I don't reply. I'm not talking to anyone right now. How will that help? I get to vocalize how fucking horrible I feel? No thanks.

I continue to ignore my friend as I open up the drawer from the nightstand earlier. But this time, I don't reach for the old photo. I reach for something very specific. Something that I can hardly bear to look at most of the time, yet I can't bring myself to sell or get rid of. I just can't.

I rummage around until my hand feels a small box. I pull it out, and sure enough, I can see the little black box in the moonlight. I trace my fingers along the edge, as if I need to memorize its details. Then, taking in a shaky breath, I open it.

Inside, sparkling under the light of the full moon, is a diamond ring. The band is silver, one large lavender stone in the middle, and two smaller blue ones on the sides. I saved up for months to buy this a long time ago. I was ecstatic when I could finally afford it. I see my reflection in the middle diamond, and wow do I look like shit. I turn the band so I can see the engraving on the inside.

My Hina, I love you.

I can't take it anymore. The sorrow in my heart breaks free, and I clutch my chest as the anguished cries explode from within me. Violent sobs wrack my entire body, I can't stop shaking. I know Sasuke can hear it, but I don't care anymore. He knows more than anyone what I feel, and how damn hard it is for me to hide it day after day.

It's been four years since I last saw her. She's still as beautiful as the first day I met her. Her eyes still mesmerize me. I see them in my dreams, haunting me. I hear her voice calling out to me. I see her deep blush against the contrast of her pale porcelain skin. And even though it's a dream, I always somehow feel the soft outline of her body and smell the faint scent of lilacs. Every night, without fail, she's the star of my dreams. Sometimes they come in the form of a memory, and sometimes they're just scenarios I come up with. Like me finding her and getting her back.

It's been fourteen years since I laid eyes on her for the first time. Fourteen years since I first spotted the young girl with indigo hair and pale lavender eyes that remind me of a full moon. Fourteen years since I saw her beautiful pale skin and pink blush up close for the first time. And fourteen years since I first heard her call me 'Naruto-kun'.

It's a long story, but I honestly feel as though my life began when I was nine years old, and ended when I was nineteen, no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise. Because when she left my life, she took my heart and soul with her. From the moment she first kissed me, they didn't belong to me anymore. She had them and she still does. I don't think I'll ever be able to get them back from her.

I lie on the bed and my relentless sobbing finally subsides after a few hours. I've actually exhausted myself from crying, something that hasn't happened in while. Damn. I allow my eyes to close, and my mind to drift into sleep. As I always do, I dream of pale lavender eyes and silky indigo hair. I dream of a time when we were happy. A time when our future looked so bright, and a time when she was mine.


Flashback

I gaze up at the ginormous building in front of me, and boy is it scary. People entering with their children, kids running around playing on the playground off to the side, and big yellow buses all over the place. I'm wearing my usual green goggles, an orange jacket, a gray t-shirt, black pants, and sneakers. Oh, and my lucky red scarf of course. I clutch it tightly and rub it against my frozen cheeks.

I gulp, rubbing the back of my head nervously. I feel a bead of sweat run down my neck. Can I do this?

"What's wrong kid? Nervous?" My Godfather, Jiraiya, asks me.

"Yeah… is that okay?"

He laughs openly at my question, "Of course it is! I'd be surprised if you weren't. You've been homeschooled for so long it's a brand new experience for you. But I know you'll do just fine."

My eyes light up, "Really, you think so?"

He smiles warmly at me, "Of course, kid. You've got guts, determination, and a good heart. That's the perfect combo for a good grades and making great friends. I believe in you."

I smile so hard it almost splits my face. I love it when he tells me he believes in me. Nobody ever used to say that to me.

He pats me on the back, "Now go on inside. You've got all your books and I packed you a peanut butter sandwich and an apple for lunch. Behave yourself alright?"

I walk to the entrance and turn back to him to wave, "Bye pervy old man!" I yell as I run inside. In the distance I can vaguely hear him screaming at me to 'Never call him that again,' and I chuckle to myself.

Inside the building looks even bigger than the outside did. So this is Konoha Elementary School, huh? I try to make my way to the main office, but it's proving to be difficult. I keep bumping into other kids, and the halls seem so big. Finally I see a door that says 'Main Office' And I practically sprint to it.

Inside, I see a desk that I can barely see over, and a secretary with short black hair smiles at me and waves me over. I look at her name tag, and see that her name is Shizune.

"Hello young man, how can I help you?"

I like her, she seems nice, "I'm new here, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. Can you tell me what room I need to go to?"

She pulls open a drawer at her desk and begins to look through it, "Let's see… Uzumaki… Uzumaki… Uzu- aha! Here we are! Naruto Uzumaki!" She now has a file in her hand with my name on it, and opens it up, "Let's see here, Naruto you have homeroom with Ms. Mitarashi it seems. Room 105. Do you need directions?"

I flash her a big smile, "No thanks! I got it! Thanks Miss Shizune!"

I walk along and soon enough I see room 105 on the left. I put my hand on the handle and take a deep breath before pushing the door open.

I'm a bit early from the looks of things. There are only a few students here. Trying to be as discreet as possible, I place my backpack in the cubby with the few others and take a seat in the back of the class, just waiting for the day to start.


I thank my lucky stars when it's time for recess. I need to run around a let loose a little. At the beginning of class, Ms. Mitarashi announced me as the new student. I didn't mind so much until one kid, I think her name was Karin, pointed out how 'stupid' and 'weird-looking' my whiskers were. Now everyone is making fun of them. The kids keep saying they're fake, or that I must be part cat. I know for a fact that I am all human boy!

I can handle this little setback though. Some kids bullying me is nothing compared to getting beaten by my foster parents, or being forced to sleep on the damp basement floor because there's no room in the house. Even though there actually is. These kids can't really hurt me like they think they can. I'm too tough.

Well, since none of the kids want to play with me, I decide to take a spot on the rope swing hanging on the tree by the water fountain. Maybe one of the kids over there will want to push me or something. Maybe.

As I'm swinging back and forth, I can vaguely hear someone, it sounds like a girl, and… is she crying? I stand up from my spot and turn around.

There, sitting on the ground with her face in her hands is a girl with short indigo hair and pale skin. And I was right, she's crying. She's surrounded by three boys.

"Your eyes are ugly! Don't even look at us!"

"Yeah, you must be some kind of monster!"

"Yeah monster!"

Those boys are bullying her because of her eyes? Just like me with my whiskers! I gotta do something!

My body moves on its own as I run up to the bullies, "Hey, knock it off!"

They turn to face me, and the girl briefly opens her eyes to look at me. Her eyes are a pale lavender and appear to have no pupils. Her eyes are really unique, but I think they're stunning. Even though right now they're kind of red and puffy.

One of the bullies sneers at me, "Hey look, it's that new kid. That kid with the whiskers. That kid that no one likes."

That riles me up. For so many years I never really had an identity. I hate it when people don't use my name.

"Hey! I'm not 'that kid'! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Don't forget it!" I'm breathing pretty hard now, I'm really mad.

"Look kid, run along or we'll make you." One of them threatens me.

"Oh yeah?" I don't give them time to respond as I immediately jump on one of them and land a single punch right on his nose. My small victory is short lived, however, when the other two boys pull me off and start kicking and punching me. Then, I feel my scarf leave my neck and hear them making fun of it, although thanks to a bump on the head I'm barely conscious so I can't see it. I can barely hear a high pitch voice yelling.

"Stop it! Please stop!"

It must be that girl with the pretty eyes. Oh yeah, she could still be in danger, I should try to get up. My body jolts up to take another crack at those boys, but they're gone. Only the girl remains, and I frown when I see what she's holding.

It's my scarf.

She runs up to me, "A-are you okay?"

I dust myself off, "Yeah, don't worry I'm used to it." Sad but true.

"Those boys… t-they ruined your s-scarf…" she tries to hold it up to me, but I wave her off.

"That's okay, you keep it. It's ruined now anyway. Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Y-Yes. I'm fine. I-I just want to say… thank you very much!" She tells me as she bows her head. This girl is really shy!

I chuckle, "Don't mention it! What's your name?"

She smiles at me and I can see her awesome lavender eyes again, "H-Hinata. Hinata Hyuga."

"Well Hinata Hyuga, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet ya!"

She giggles softly and smiles up at me again, "Nice to meet you too."

"So those guys we're making fun of your eyes?" I ask her.

Her smile fades and she looks down at the ground, "Yeah, everyone in my family has weird eyes. People make fun of them a lot."

Seeing her sad really bothers me, "Well I don't know why! They look really cool to me. They're totally beautiful, ya know?"

Her head snaps back up to me and her eyes widen. She then averts her gaze and I see a tinge of pink dust her cheeks, "Y-you really think so?"

I flash her the biggest smile I can muster, "Totally! They're awesome!"

"Thank you." She says as her cheeks turn from pink to crimson,"I think your whiskers are cool too."

Now it's my turn to blush. I feel a warmth on my cheeks as I rub the back of my head sheepishly, "Thanks, ya know? We're both unique, which makes us cool! We should be friends!" I exclaim.

She smiles shyly at me, her blush never disappearing, "Y-Yes, I would like that very much Naruto-kun."

Naruto-kun, huh? I think that's the first time I've heard that honorific with my name. I like it.

"Yeah! Alright! Want me to push you on the swing?" I ask her as I point to the swing on the tree.

"Y-Yes. That sounds fun, N-Naruto-kun."

We spend the rest of recess taking turns pushing each other on the swing. Hinata is shy, but she's totally awesome and super nice! Not to mention her eyes are really pretty. I stare at them a lot, and I hope I don't creep her out because of it, but she doesn't seem to mind.

I go home that day really happy, because I know I have a friend. Finally.

It's about time!


Author's Note!

Chapter 1 complete! I hope you guys like the beginning. And I hope I have you guys wondering what in the hell happened between those two. It's a mystery for now! Anyway, the story is in first person obviously, but next chapter will be from Hinata's point of view. I'll switch back and forth a lot between her and Naruto.

Don't forget to check out my other story, What's Best for Everyone if you haven't already done so. I'll be updating both of these stories at least once a week!

See you next chapter!