An: Hello, welcome to my story - hopefully you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it! This story will follow Naruto Uzumaki on his path to becoming Hokage, Creating a Nindo, Achieving world peace, surpassing his parent, and most importantly - finding love and family in a life that has always been dark. what happens when one Uchiha girl claims she will help him achieve all of his dreams and more?

Side note: Naruto is 7 years older than in canon for this story, meaning the Kyūbi attack occurred 7 years earlier (This is a fanfic so the plot bunny has cleared up any problem this would cause by magically bending the story for the PLOT!)

This stories pairing is Naruto/fem!Itachi(Izumi)

Naruto is 10, Izumi is 12 (Rookie 9 is 3)

Naruto will be extremely strong but there will be a primary focus on the pairing for a while.

"Human speech"

"I'll make you proud Tou-san"

'Human thoughts'

'I don't understand this feeling in my heart'

"Bijuu/Summon speech"

"You insolent brat, this Uchiha will be the end of BOTH OF US!"

'Bijuu/Summon thoughts'

'Maybe this boy is the one you spoke of Tou-san'

"You'll NEVER catch me, The number one prankster king of Konoha!"

Many villagers looked up at the blonde with obvious disdain, the boy was none other than Naruto Uzumaki the pariah of the Village hidden in the leaves - by far the strongest Shinobi village in the elemental nations even after the Third great Shinobi world war,the Kyūbi attack that claimed the lives of thousands of Shinobi and even more civilians, and the loss of their Yondaime Hokage.

The villagers disliked the boy due to the Kyūbi attack all those years ago - it was revealed days later that the Yondaime Hokage sealed the Nine tailed demon fox into young Naruto and although almost no one hated him outright they did something far worse, they ignored his very existence and denied him the only thing he had ever wanted - Acknowledgement.

He became a notorious prankster and trouble maker for the village - some enjoyed his pranks and couldn't help but enjoy the boy's attitude toward life, but he was a living reminder to their pain so they continued to ignore his very existence.

The boy was currently running away from squads of Anbu after pulling off his greatest prank to date, he had snuck into the Anbu barracks next to the Jonin center and put chakra glue on the insides of their masks. Then he tricked them into believing he ran into the Hyūga clan compound where he had a trap set making an explosive paint seal he created trigger hitting all the Hyūga and Anbu in the compound.

'Heh - I can't believe they actually put on the masks! This is going to go down in some kind of record book, a 4th year academy student and I got into the Anbu lounge and Hyūga compound and tricked all of them!'

Looking over his shoulder he could see the Anbu gaining on him, so right before he jumped onto the next roof he slowed down, jumping into the wall of the building in front of him, by adding chakra to the bottom of his feet when he hit the wall he was able to push-off to the other side, quickly making his way down the sides of the building by jumping from side to side.

Once he was at the bottom he looked up and smirked, seeing Anbu jump right past his location not 30 seconds later, the smirk dropped when he saw at least one squad of 5 drop directly in front of him.

"Come with us Naruto-kun, we have to take you to speak with Hokage-sama." the Anbu wearing a dog mask spoke in an even tone.

"C'mon Inu-san, I don't want to go to the old man he's going to give me a long lecture on manners.." the blonde gave in a whiny voice making all the Anbu before him agree in their heads, the third Hokage's lectures could bore anyone to death.

"Be that as it may, I'm still going to have to ask you to come wi-" CRASH the boy had turned around and pushed a group of trash cans out of his way - spilling the trash everywhere "And he's going to run instead of making this easy.." the Anbu said while running his hand through his hair, 'Why does he always have to make it so hard on me…' the man though before running after the small boy with his squad.

'Ugh I can't believe they found me so quickly' Naruto thought before running around a corner - only to run into a fence. 'Oh fuck this can't be good' turning around he came face to mask with the Inu masked Anbu he knew all too well.. quickly looking around he saw a small hole in the wall of the building directly in between him and the Anbu, he knew this was going to be risky.

"Come on Naruto this is over now, if you come right now your punishment won't be nearly as-"

He was cut off as the boy lunged at the wall directly in between them, seeing the hole he was going for Inu grabbed the boy - who was already half way into the building, if he didn't get him now they wouldn't ever be able to find him, he was a legend in Anbu for being the hardest mission they could get in the village, much like Tora was for Genin, and much like Genin they usually had the new members try to find Naruto, but today the boy had directly challenged them - they had all of Anbu looking for him now, and if he let Naruto get away he would be the joke of Anbu for weeks.

Suddenly Naruto's foot connected with Inu and he was let go of entirely, if he turned around he would have seen the Anbu laying on the ground clutching his groin.

Running in the dark building he seemed to be a storage room, based on all the containers and bookshelves around the room.

'Whew that was a little too close for comfort, I need to get away from here before they find a way in' beginning to look around he was surprised at all the stuff he found, 'Hmm a staircase, it might help me find somewhere to hide'

With that thought he began to stride up the staircase, coming upon the door at the top of the staircase he let out a breath of relief he pulled the door open - only to find a weasel masked Anbu waiting with arms crossed on the other side.

Naruto looked into the eyes of the Shinobi in front of him, the first thing he noticed was that this Anbu was a female, it was obvious from the long pure black hair that cascaded down to her back, she was wearing the normal Anbu attire but there was a small Uchiha symbol stitched into the vest, Naruto couldn't help but stare into her eyes, instead of normal eyes staring back into his, he was met with a Sharingan slowly spinning in a clockwise motion, he felt like he could stare into her eyes forever.

'I can't believe Naruto-kun gives Anbu so much trouble… he is very adept at stealth for one as young as him but he can never hide from me….'

For the first time in a long time she was inspecting the person in front of her with interest, it had been a long time since she had seen the boy in front of her and she couldn't help but crack a small smile at being so close to the boy she adored with all her heart.

The boy had pure Blue eyes that held a mischievous glint and a smirk that screamed trouble, along with that he had spiky sun kissed blonde hair, all-in-all she couldn't help but think that the young boy was very cute - he was wanted by Anbu and the Hyūga clan so she would normally have to take him to the Hokage, but she could finally introduce herself to him, she had been waiting to have an opportunity to introduce herself to him, and this was the perfect excuse to do so. But she needed his cooperation to escape from his would be captors.

'This might be easier if I introduce myself first' she thought with a sweat drop.

"Hello Naruto-kun, my name is Izumi Uchiha" pulling her Weasel mask off she leaned closer to the boy in question, making him blush and she reached her hand out offering to take his hand into hers "Come with me Naruto-kun I'm not going to take you to Hokage-sama."

"You promise?" The boy asked with a small voice.

"I promise Naruto-kun, we'll go my favorite training grounds.." she replied in a warm tone, with her hand still outstretched.

He quickly reached out and intertwined their fingers with a small blush "You're a lot nicer than any other Anbu members Izumi-chan! Since you're an Anbu and you're the only one who didn't fall for my prank you must be really strong like Jiji, right?!"

"I don't think I'm anywhere near as strong as Hokage-sama, but I think we're going to be great friends Naruto-kun."

The boy in front of her had always been someone she looked up to 'I may be a strong ninja but I'll never be as strong as Naruto-kun, to be able to love the village that's caused him so much pain - it's hard to believe such a pure soul exists'

Pulling him closer the girl performed a Shunshin, they appeared at training ground 17 - a private training ground in the Uchiha district, before she could speak she saw sapphire eyes staring into hers, full of amazement "Woah Izumi-Chan! That was amazing can you show me how to do that? Please please pretty pleaseee." normally she would deny him, considering that he was an academy student, she didn't want to push him like her father was planning on doing to her foolish little sister and had done to her, but he was Naruto and she could never deny Naruto, 'not because I have a crush on him, that would be preposterous.' at least in Izumi's mind.

"Well Naruto-kun what you just saw was a Shunshin, it's a low ranked Jutsu but it requires a good amount of Chakra control, which you don't have - so maybe we can another day." She offered with a sad look

"Plleassee Izu-chan." Naruto wasn't above begging to get a cool ninja technique even if he had to use the puppy eyes jutsu to do so!

Izumi could barely stop herself from crushing the boy in a hug, the jutsu was effective enough on normal children but his sapphire eyes nearly leaking tears was all it took for her to break.

"Alright Naruto-kun if you're going to learn this you need to improve your chakra control, I'm sure you've done the leaf sticking lesson by now." hearing a loud groan from Naruto she continued "What I'm about to show you is a far more advanced chakra control technique."

Upon hearing advanced technique his attention was instantly grabbed "Really Izumi-chan?! I'm gonna learn it really quick, Believe it!"

she couldn't help smile hearing his verbal tic, it reminded her of Kushina-sama, her mother's best friend that had died 9 years ago, Izumi could barely recall anything about her, she had been very young at the time - after joining Anbu she had found out about Naruto's parents and felt even worse for the blonde, that's why it was her job to be Naruto's family instead!

"I believe you will Naruto-kun, after all I'm going to show you how to climb trees." giving an indignant cry he puffed out his cheeks cutely "Aww Izumi-chan I already know how to climb trees I'm not 5, Ya know?" he briefly wondered if she was just messing with him before he was completely shocked as she began walking up the tree without using her hands once she reached the top she turned around and looked directly into his eyes with a smirk causing him to avert his eyes with a blush she jumped down and landed a few feet in front of him "Can you climb a tree like that Naruto-kun?"

The boy's face was full of obvious wonder and amazement because of what she had just done before he launched at her stomach tackling her to the ground. Her eyes widened in shock, she looked up at him before she sat up, he straddled her waist and was only inches from her face "That was AMAZING Izumi-chan! You're soooo cool! Will you teach me please?"

Her face quickly turned red, she felt like she was on fire 'well it's obvious that Naruto-kun has no clue what personal space means - not that I'll complain about it' she finished her thought with a smile before thinking about his question 'Well if I teach him I'll be able to spend a lot more time with him, maybe Hokage-sama can give me time off to teach him' her lips twitched and became a grin, she leaned forward until her lips were inches away from his ear and began to speak in a sultry tone "Of course I'll train you Naruto-kun, I'd do anything for you.."

The boy's face quickly heated up and he realized his closeness to the raven haired girl, he decided it would be a good idea to change the subject quickly "Does that mean I'll learn how to climb the tree like you just did?" he did think it was awesome after all.

"Of course Naruto-kun I'll show it to you now, but you're going to have to get off me before I can." he quickly jumped up, it seemed like he had forgotten he was sitting in her lap 'He's cute when he's flustered' she thought, a grin still present on her face - if anyone else had seen it they would be in shock, many claimed that she was emotionless, she had a worse reputation than the Ice Queen of Konoha, even at her young age many men sought the hand of the future Matriarch of the powerful Uchiha clan, whether it be for her good looks or the power they would obtain it was widely known that she had many men after her, but she had never once even replied to the advances she was given, 'little to they all know I already have my future husband selected..' she had been protecting Naruto for the last 3 years, and over time she had fallen for the boy.

Flashback

It was an average July day in Konoha, Izumi was still working on the month long introductory A rank mission assigned to the newest members of Anbu, protecting one 'Naruto Uzumaki' 'I still don't get what the big deal about this kid is, he hasn't really done anything other than a few harmless pranks..' she of course knew about the Kyūbi being sealed in him, she was told by her parents when she was younger, the law put into place didn't affect her since she was alive when the Kyūbi attacked the village, letting out a sigh she continued to follow the boy as he entered a small grocery store.

Not even 5 minutes later a commotion began inside the store, the store manager had grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt and held him up, then opened the doors to the store and threw him to the floor and started yelling at the child "GET OUT AND STAY OUT YOU BRAT!" the boy in question looked back at the man with tears in his eyes "Please sir I just want to buy something to eat, I have nothing at all…" in her opinion the boy lived a very sad life, something she didn't think was fair.

"I SAID LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK!" seeing that the man wasn't going to be swayed the boy got up and ran as fast as his small legs could carry him right to the outskirts of Konoha, into the woods and training grounds, Izumi quickly followed him and stayed hidden above in the trees when he suddenly stopped in the middle of a clearing with 3 wooden posts, he rapidly approached them and began attacking one of the posts, punching and kicking the post in a standard academy form until his knuckles began to bleed before he dropped to the ground with tears dripping from his eyes.

After a minute or so he got up and resumed attacking the pole and began speaking to himself "I'll show them all! I'll become Hokage and protect everyone! Then they're going to regret hurting me like that!."

It was in that moment Izumi knew that there was a lot more to Naruto than anyone knew, and it was something she wanted to see for herself, because the person before her was someone she knew would become a great leader. Only the greatest of people could dedicate their entire lives to protecting the people who scorned their very existence, and Naruto was one of those people, she was going to be keeping an eye on him in the future 'I guess I'll be taking this mission again, it's not so bad, after all - it will be interesting to see what kind of person you become Naruto...kun.

Flashback end

Izumi didn't realize it at that time, but that day was the beginning of her, admiration, crush, and obsession with one Naruto Uzumaki, she had accepted it eventually but it wasn't always so easy for her.

Flashback

Izumi was laying in her bed after a long week, she had taken an S-rank mission to investigate an attack on a village in the Land of Hot Water, Konoha received an urgent message from the leader of the village, it was under attack from a group of Iwa ninja and they wanted Konoha's help, the Hokage accepted the mission and sent Izumi along with her squad, Inu, Neko, Kuma, and Raion. It had been a tough mission, they had to wipe out 17 missing nin from Iwa, all Chūnin level and up. They ended up getting out with few injuries and none had to go to the hospital, but their captain still gave them 3 days off to recover and relax.

She had a few things that she wanted to do, 'Hm I'll go see Naruto-kun first, then I'll go the the hot springs.. then I'll go see Naruto-kun again..' the girl spent a lot of her free time following Naruto as his Anbu escort or training, she didn't know why but seeing the blonde happy, sad, lonely, or just unhappy made her heart rise or sink and she didn't know why, placing her hand on her chest, looking up at the ceiling, she bit her bottom lip, her heart began beating faster due to thinking about Naruto.

'I don't understand this feeling in my heart..'

Flashback end

Love.

Izumi knew this emotion now, she understood this emotion now, she knew she loved Naruto Uzumaki, and he would know too - soon enough he would know that there was someone who cared for him like he always wanted. 'I guess this is the best I can do for now, if I tell him now I'll risk scaring him off, I need to let him get to know me better first, I.. I… I can't risk h-him not returning my feelings' she looked into the boys Sapphire blue eyes that she couldn't get enough of and called him over; in a few seconds Naruto was in front of her, before he could speak she had pulled him into a warm embrace, a hug, it was a simple thing to most people but to him it was what something he always wanted.

The hug was recognition, the person hugging him was someone he'd never met until today 'She is really pretty though and she's really strong too! I can tell she is, Believe it!' he shakily reached his arms around her back and looked up into Izumi's eyes tears pooling in the corners of his own, she was looking down into his eyes with a bright smile that made him feel safe, he felt safe in her embrace, but the words she said next and the conversation that followed changed his entire life..

"I'll always be here for you Naruto-kun, I'll never leave you alone." she instantly felt a small weight lift off her shoulders 'It's not much, but now he knows he's not alone, I know it means the world to him.' looking down into his eyes she felt her heart flutter, the tears in his eyes slowly falling down his cheeks, she couldn't tell if they were from sadness or happiness.

He felt happier than he had ever felt before! On Cloud 9 even! But he couldn't help biting his lip before speaking.

"Why? Why are you saying stuff like that? No one would say something like that to me without wanting something in return!" he had grown up on the streets of Konoha, he had to grow up extremely fast, he could tell this person was hiding something - he felt safe with her, he felt like he was floating on a cloud since he had met her, lowering his head he began wondering if this was just an elaborate trap, 'Please don't be tricking me' "Please just tell me why.."

Hearing his words and seeing a cloud of depression seemingly to form out of nowhere, she realized that she made a mistake 'Of course he wouldn't expect a random person to say something like that! I know him so well but he doesn't know anything about me… I don't know what else to do, I'll have to tell him the truth.'

She reached down and used his chin to force eye contact, slightly bending down so she was on an even level with the shorter boy; she leaned in and allowed their foreheads to touch before she spoke in a warm tone.

"This might be hard for you to believe Naruto-kun, but what I said was true; I'll always be here for you! I've spent the last few years as an Anbu member, I've accepted mission after mission to protect you, at first it was because I wanted to see how you grew as a person Naruto-kun, but then it became more selfish - I enjoyed spending my time watching you, spending time with you, even if you didn't know I was there, I always felt better just being close to you." her face was heating up slowly, she hadn't expected to pour her heart and soul out the boy but she couldn't help it, it felt great to finally admit her feelings to him.

"What I'm trying to say is." she momentarily paused then pushed forward, connecting their lips - she instantly felt the boy lean into the connection until she pulled back, a string of saliva still connecting their lips, she finished the life changing sentence.

"I love you, Naruto-kun."

Chapter End

AN: Well that's a wrap for that chapter, I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter, I know the characters feel like they're moving fast, my only explanation for this is the fact that Izumi has been following and creating a one sided bond with Naruto, who himself has been starved of recognition his entire life, I can't say much more about Izumi, she's not a normal person - she does everything for a reason - especially when it comes to Naruto (She's extremely possessive of Naruto.)

However if you do have problems with the story's pace or the story in general, I'm sorry for the disappointment - feel free to send me a PM or leave a flame or whatever you want to do.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review it's really an inspiration to continue writing!

Can anyone guess what the title is refering to? send me a pm if you think you do, one internet cookie to whoever guesses first!