Disclaimer: Naruto and all the characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Only Risa belongs to me.
On a long hill, at the edge of the village hidden in the leaves, stood a small house. It had huge cracks running up and down its plain, gray walls. Anyone who walked past the house thought it had been abandoned ages ago.
Early in the morning each day, a small, orange haired girl left the house. She quickly tied a leaf village head band around her neck and locked the door. She wore a large, dirty, tan t-shirt and tan leggings. Blue ninja sandals were on her feet. She looked up at the sky, whispered a small prayer, and walked away from the house to find her squad for missions.
Her mother was deathly ill. She was trying everything in her power to help her mother, but what can a simple gennin do? And her father, a medical ninja, was always busy. He tried to do everything the he could, but it just wasn't often enough. The hospital was not an option because there would be no way the family could pay for the bill.
She was Risa Hikaru, a small, quiet girl from a poor family. She was a flower on the edge of blooming. She had the heart of an angel. Why did she deserve this?
The small girl walked to the place that her sensei had told them to meet. Of course, she hadn't expected to see him, but she saw the rest of her team. The witty and smart Sakura Haruno was yelling at the hyper-active Naruto Uzumaki and the mysterious Sasuke Uchiha was leaning against a building wall, trying to ignore the rest of his team.
"Hey, Naruto-kun," smiled the girl, happy to see her teammate. She sat down next to where Sasuke was and waited for her sensei.
A few hours later, a white haired ninja approached the group, late as usual. "'morning!" he said.
"YOU'RE LATE!!" yelled Sakura and Naruto, even though him being late was normal.
"G-good morning, Kakashi-senei," said Risa.
--
It was starting to get dark as Kakashi Hatake dismissed the team. Sasuke had quickly left before his obsessed fangirl, Sakura, could catch up to him.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! If you can't find Sasuke, you can always go on a date with me!" said Naruto, grinning.
"Shut up, Naruto! Sasuke-kun has to be somewhere around here!" snapped Sakura. The blond haired boy walked away, chestfallen.
"Hi, Naruto-kun," said a voice behind him. He turned around to face Risa.
"Oh, hey, Risa-chan," said Naruto.
"You were really great today! Amazing!" smiled Risa.
"You really think so?" asked Naruto.
"Of course! I love watching you during missions. You always look...so cool. I always wish I could be like that," whispered Risa, a light blush creeping onto her face.
"Hey, Risa-chan, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for ramen with me?" asked Naruto, grinning.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I can't," answered the orange haired girl, shaking her head.
"Shot down by two girls in one day, eh? Bummer!" mumbled Naruto and walked away.
"Wait, Naruto-kun!" yelled Risa, grabbing his arm, "It's not that I don't want to! I love spending time with you, but my parents are probably getting worried. Maybe another time."
"Oh, okay. How about I walk you home, then?" asked Naruto, turning his head to look at Risa with a huge grin on his face.
A small smile appeared on Risa's face as she let go of Naruto's arm. "Of course! I'd love it if you did!"
The two gennin left the team seven meeting place and headed in the direction of Risa's house. Kakashi's gaze trailed off after them.
"It seems like the flower of Konoha only blooms once, but when she does, it will be prettier than anything," mumbled Kakashi under his breath.
"What did you say, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, turning to face the older ninja.
"Oh, nothing, Sakura," said Kakashi.
--
"So, Risa-chan, what kind of place do you live it?" asked Naruto.
"I live in a small house with one room and an attic. It's not much, but it has always kept me and my family happy...until..." said Risa, her voice trailing off.
"Until what?" asked Naruto.
The orange haired girl shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing. And there's my house," she said, pointing to a small hut standing in a hill. "Bye, Naruto-kun," she said and ran up the hill. When she got to the door, she waved to Naruto. When he waved back, she opened the door, and walked inside.
"Konichiwa, mother," said Risa, greeting the woman lying on the bed, sleeping, "Gomen Nasai. I was gone a long time, wasn't I?" she grabbed a rag that was next to the sink an drenched it with water. Risa walked back to her mother and draped the rag on the woman's forehead.
(Gomen Nasai I'm sorry)
Risa clutched her mother's hand and said, "I hope you can get well soon, mother. Daddy and I really don't like seeing you like this."
--
Naruto Uzumaki walked down the streets of Konoha, wondering about something. Normally at this time, he would be sitting at the ramen bar, chugging down bowls of the good stuff, but something kept him back. He was wondering what Risa had meant. Did something happen? Naruto wanted to know.
"Hey, Naruto-kun! Do you want some ramen? You usually love this stuff!" the man who owned the ramen bar called out to Naruto.
"Yeah! I always do! But not tonight, old man!" Naruto called back.
The man frowned, looking offended.
Naruto made his way home, seeing as there wasn't really anywhere else he wanted to go. He kicked off his shoes and sat down on his bed, wondering what was going on with Risa.
The next day, Risa had not shown up for missions. The team waited for awhile, but she never came and they had no choice but to start the missions without her. It was different, not having the ray of sunshine with them.
After the missions where over, Naruto climbed the long hill up to Risa's house. He knocked on the door and it was ripped open. There stood a tear-stained Risa.
"Naruto-kun!" she sobbed, jumping into his unexpected arms.
"R-Risa-chan...! What happened?" asked Naruto, surprised.
"My Mother is dead!" cried the girl.
--
Naruto stood in the pouring rain, three days later. He had never really known Risa's mother, but he felt he had to be there for Risa or else the frail girl could've broken. He stood hand in hand with Risa, the small girl sobbing into his shoulder.
He wrapped his free hand around Risa's body and whispered, "Don't cry! You can get through this!"
"How do you know? Mother is dead. DEAD!" sobbed Risa.
Naruto pushed a escaped lock of hair behind the girl's ear. "Your mother will live within you. Your memories with her will always be there."
Risa looked up at the blond haired boy. "Really? Is it true?"
"Heh. At least that's what Iruka-sensei said or something like that," grinned Naruto, sheepishly.
Risa wiped away her tears and smiled. "Oh, Naruto-kun," she said. She leaned forward and placed her lips on Naruto's. He was surprised for a moment, but then welcomed it.
And in that moment, the flower of Konoha had bloomed, more beautiful than anything.
THE END
A/N: This was originally posted on quizilla on my username Moonshadow12. It was supposed to be a HinataXNaruto story, but I couldn't think of a story with Hinata and Naruto so I came up with Risa Hikaru and made it NarutoXOC.