Present

Past

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, he would have been hugged more often when he was little.

Dear God

Hello?

A young, blonde boy slowly rubbed his eyes sleepily. It was a calm Sunday morning, and the sun's rays streamed through the window, covering the boy in a blanket of light. Looking around at his home for the last five years, little kid's eyes softened, until he heard some laughter nearby. Perking up, he quickly ran off in direction of the noise, only to find one of the ladies who took care of him and the other children that lived in the old building. When the caretaker noticed him, she stopped laughing, and her eyes narrowed. "What?" she asked curtly. Naruto, surprised at the change in attitude, quickly asked, "How come we don't got any parents, Hamasaki-san?" This question had been bothering for a while, when he noticed that other kids had a mother and father, but all of the children in the orphanage didn't. Waiting for an answer, he heard someone call for the woman, and she turned around to leave. Sighing, he turned around, not expecting her to answer him. "That," she called over her shoulder, "is because no one wants you." Naruto's eyes widened, as he turned around, but she was already gone. "Oh," was all the little boy could say, looking down at the ground with sad eyes.

Anybody there?

Naruto looked up at the street sign again. Looking around once more, the boy groaned. "Eh…I think I'm lost." The energetic boy thought, running around the area. Going up one alley, and down another street, the Kyuubi-vessel searched for a familiar sight. Finally, hours later, the boy sat down tired. "I'm really lost," he sighed, before he noticed a mother and her son walking nearby. DING DING DING, a little light bulb flashed over Naruto's head. "That's it, I'll ask them for help!" he thought, eyes flashing with hope. Quickly, he ran in front of the pair, and asked for directions. The mother, shocked at seeing the boy pop out of nowhere, quickly grabbed her son's hand and walked away as fast as possible. Naruto could only look on, as he was left alone, wondering why they wouldn't help him.

Someone to

Naruto woke up, blinking his eyes slowly. Rubbing his eyes in a sleepy manner, he recalled his dream last night. "I haven't thought about my past in a long time," he thought, slowly getting ready to go eat ramen. Changing his clothes, he recalled the rest of the dream.

Welcome me home?

Slowly trudging home after exhausting training, Naruto wiped the beads of sweat off his face. He was tired and hungry, thinking of his ramen. The light was quickly fading, as the sun set, and worried mothers yelled at their children to come home. Nearing his house, the golden-haired boy watched as children ran to their homes, opening the door to let Naruto catch a glimpse of warm lights, laughter, and good smells. Just as quickly, the doors closed and locked the boy out from the cozy world inside. Finally reaching his own home, he opened the door. Unlike the other homes, where family and sounds welcomed the children home, Naruto was greeted with silence, darkness, and the cold.

Share my secrets with?

Naruto looked back at the cave he was leaving, making sure he remembered the spot. Then, after covering the entrance, he rushed back to the village. "I have my own secret place!" he thought as he rushed through the streets. Seeing some kids playing together, Naruto was struck with an idea. "I can tell some of the other kids, and then have friends and we can play games in the cave, and eat ramen!" He quickly darted toward the playmates, eager to tell his secret. However, when the kids noticed him they backed away. Approaching the few that stayed, Naruto whispered in a secretive way, "I have a secret, wanna hear?" Surprised, the little boy and girl stared at the excited person in front of them, before they looked at each other and grinned. "Na-ru-to," they drawled, "Yes," Naruto's face lit up, "we want to leave." And with that, the siblings left, chuckling at the disappointed look on Naruto's face. Sighing, the lonely boy turned around and walked home. A secret place isn't as fun when you're the only person who knows.

Eat meals with?

Running off after training, the orange boy had only one thought on his mind: "Ramen-time!" Stomach growling, he headed to the Ichriku stand, only to stop when he saw Sakura. "Maybe she'll want to eat with me!" he thought, waving at her energetically. Ignoring the grimace on his crush's face, Naruto exclaimed, "SAKURA-CHAN!! Wanna eat lunch together?" "Why would I want to eat with you?" the girl rudely refused, and walked away, going to eat lunch with her friends. "Maybe next time," Naruto sighed, and went to the stand, eating alone as usual.

Celebrate birthdays with?

Naruto woke up excited. Rushing to get changed, he headed to the academy with a bigger smile than usual, if possible. As today was a special day, he didn't want to ruin it by getting in trouble. However, fate was against him, as there was a test on a new jutsu he didn't master yet. After failing (and getting humiliated), class was let out for the day, and people started to head home for lunch. Hoping that he would have something good happen today, the prankster ran off to his 'Sakura-chan', wanting to get a date. "Ne, Sakura-chan, want to go out on a date?" the blue-eyed boy smiled at his beautiful teammate. The pink-haired girl, surprised, suddenly saw her 'Sasuke-kun' walk by, and gave her blonde teammate a quick refusal, "Sorry, I'm busy." As she turned to chase her crush, Naruto muttered, "Sasuke isn't that great." Sakura, eyes twitching, furiously looked at the scared boy in front of her. "OUCH!!" he wailed, getting three bonks on the head, while Sakura said, "Don't insult Sasuke-kun, he's twice the ninja you could ever be!" and haughtily went off to stalk the blue-haired boy. Rubbing his head, Naruto looked around, hoping that he wouldn't be alone today. Running up to other people, he asked if they would want to eat with him. Just like Sakura, they all left him, with a look of disgust in their eyes. Soon, it was night, and Naruto went to eat ramen by himself. "Happy Birthday!" he yelled to himself, as if by making a lot of noise, it would make up for the lack of people.

Dry my tears?

Narrowing his eyes, the boy stared at a point in the distance. With what his sensei told him, "Ninja's have to be fast," running through his head, the boy got out a watch, and checked the time. 3:00pm the watch read, and the boy shot off. A blur in the streets, Naruto headed towards the water tower. "If I make it there in five minutes, I'll be faster than anyone!" he thought, dodging people and market stalls. The water tower loomed into sight, and Naruto relaxed a little, thinking he might make it. Getting closer, he almost reached the goal when he tripped over a rock. "OH N O!!" he thought as he flew through the air. Landing on the ground, he cut his knees and elbows. As his joints sent little jolts of pain through his body when he tried to get up, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. Hearing people whisper around him, about him, he only let two teardrops fall before wiping them away. If he wanted to cry, he would have to do it when no one was near.

Laugh at my jokes?

Taking out an open paint can, the paint brush was carefully dipped into the red pigment. Slowly, the brush swirled and stroked across the rough surface. Again, and yet again, the action was repeated, but with different colors, and on different spots. Finally, after working on it for hours, the brush was put down, and the artist took a step back to admire his handiwork. Laughing, he turned around to run off when he bumped into a solid wall. "oof" quietly came out of his mouth as he fell to the floor. Rubbing his head, he looked up to see a ninja in front of him, a frown on her face. "Naruto, why have you disrespected the Hokages before you, yet again?" She gestured at the faces in front of her. One had an eye-patch, with a grizzly beard, while the other three had parrot faces. "Isn't it funny?" Naruto asked, eyes shining bright, hoping to get a chuckle from the female shinobi in front of him. Ignoring him, she grabbed Naruto around his waist and then quickly hauled him off and took him to her superior. Once again, he was punished, forced to clean up the mess, as well as do some other tasks. As he started to clean up the rock in front of him, he grimaced to himself, as well as wondered, "Why is it that nobody else likes my jokes? Nobody laughs at them like they do everyone else's jokes…"

Play with?

Running into a playground, a little blonde boy looked around for kids to play with. A few moments ago, he had rushed into the middle of group of giggling children. Now the kids were gone, and Naruto looked around, wondering why he is alone. He was standing in the middle of a playground, with everyone staying a certain distance away from him. Running to a slide, he waved to the kids sliding, asking in a silent way if he could join them. The little boys, however, quickly slid down and ran off, leaving Naruto all alone again. A surprised look in his eyes, the blonde boy ran off to the other parts of the playground, hoping to play with someone. But no one wanted to come near the confused, sad little boy.

Congratulate me?

Staring at the target, his eyes narrowed and he quickly swung his arm. THWACK! The kunai just managed to miss the bull's eye, and instead hit a tree. Slowly walking off retrieve the weapon, the blue-eyed boy sighed. Today was definitely not a good day for him. After working for two hours on his aim, he still missed the target. The only way he improved was that he was able to actually throw the metal object in the general area of the target. After he retrieved his kunai, he turned around and watched the other people practicing. Looking around, he noticed that some people were managing to hit the target, and some even got bull's eye. Staring enviously at those few students, he noticed that when they hit the target, people cheered and congratulated them. "Maybe if I hit the target, people will do that for me!" Naruto thought, as he ran back to his spot, and got into position. Closing his eyes, he focused on the target, and threw it. It sailed through the air, and…missed. Disappointed, the blonde boy got ready to throw the weapon again. Several tries later, he managed to hit the target, and looked around excitedly, wondering who would cheer him on. Looking right and left, he waited impatiently for someone to notice, but no one came. A commotion was heard behind him, people yelling in joy as someone hit their target, but still no one noticed Naruto's success, instead ignoring him.

Fix my mistakes?

Putting one foot in front of another, Naruto carefully positioned his arms in an x-shape in front of his face. He quietly counted to ten, slowly in his mind, before he leaped into the air, throwing the small daggers in his hand through the air. Then, in the blink of an eye, he flipped through the air, and tried to do through two more daggers. However, he instead hit a tree, and bounced to the ground. THUD! "OWWW!" Naruto yelled out, as he rubbed his head, and slowly got up. "Not again! I nearly got it too!" Turning around, he quickly ran to his weapons and picked them up, ready to try again. "Concentrate," He thought, before getting into position again. Going through the exercise again, he nearly finished it before he fell to the ground again. "KUSO!!" he yelled in his mind, as he got up again. Turning around, he noticed his teachers were watching him, and they then called out to the disgruntled boy. "OI! You're doing it wrong, try to be more like you're classmate, the Uchiha boy, he's doing it right!" They yelled out to him, before going back to watch their other pupils practicing. Noticing that one of the girls had an incorrect stance, the teachers went and assisted them, showing the correct form. Yet again, the Kyuubi-vessel was left to try and correct his mistakes by himself, to try and figure out what went wrong and how to fix it with no one's help.

Take me places?

"My Dad took me to the beach! There were waves, and sand, and fish that were thiiisss big!" exclaimed an excited boy, putting his arms out in an exaggerated way. "No way!" another boy shouted, disbelievingly. "He did, and we did see that fish!" The other boy yelled back, and the two boys preceded to argue on who was right. Watching them from a distance, Naruto wondered, "Water and sand, and lots of fish…what makes a beach so fun?" Then he heard some other girls talk about visiting relatives, and going to a waterfall. Yet another group of people were talking about visiting other villages. Sighing, Naruto took a seat, dreading the question that was sure to be asked when the teacher arrived. Sure enough, when the teacher opened the door ten minutes later, the first thing she asked them was, "What did you do during the break?" "We went to the beach" "We went to a mountain!" "We saw our relatives!" were shouted back to the teacher, as the kids tried to drown out the other students' voices with their own, to be heard and congratulated. Eventually, after organizing the students, the teacher asked each student what they did during the golden week, eventually reaching Naruto. "I went…nowhere." He reluctantly admitted. "Hahaha…He went NOWHERE!" the children jeered at him. "No one was able to take me anywhere, I have no one to ask, you guys have people to go with!" he protested in his mind, but made no notion that he was thinking that. After all, this happened for years already, and no one listened to him anyways.

A friend?

Making his way to his favorite place to eat, Naruto yawned a bit, thinking he had lots of time, before meeting his team at the bridge. Ordering three bowls of his favorite flavor, he started to chow down, like a starved man. "After all, Kakashi-sensei will be late," he reasoned with himself as he started to eat his 7th bowl.

Please?

Gulping down his ramen, Naruto yelled when he noticed the time. "I'm late!" he shouted, "KUSO!" as he tripped over a stray cat that popped out of nowhere. Finally getting to his feet, he ran off, hoping that he would make it in time.

I wouldn't mind

Running down the path, he recalled his dream, yet again, and sighed. His past really was filled with sad events, and the odd happy moment. Looking around as he rushed through the streets, he noticed how people gave him dirty looks as he passed them.

Even if it is just

Years might have passed, but still the village had yet to accept him. The mothers hid their children behind them as he passed, and customers whispered to each other, pointing at the blonde boy.

One person, for one instance

Smiling a sad smile, Naruto ignored the people around him, as he approached the bridge that he was to meet his team. The teme (Naruto made a disgusted look when he saw him) and Sakura-chan (Naruto smiled blissfully as he noticed her) were already there, waiting for him.

Thank you, God

All his life, he wondered what a family would be like, having a father, a mother, and some brothers and sisters. All his life he wondered what it would be like to fight, joke, and play with other people, who didn't shrink away from him.

Now,

He stopped wondering.

I'm not alone any more

"HEY, SAAAAAAKKUURRAA-CHAAAAAAN!" Naruto yelled out as he saw the two figures watch him. "TEME!" Naruto shouted, as he glared at his rival. He winced when the girl bonked him on the head, and his best friend glared back at him. Naruto just kept smiling though.

"Thanks for being there"

Were the silent words not spoken, but thought.

After all, everyone has their own little secret.

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A/N This story is a lot like my one on Hinata, except that one was better…maybe I should have posted this first, and that second so it would look like I improved?

….I am such a dummy. Thinking of that now….

Anyways, I had finished that earlier, it is just that it has such poor quality (and I know you think it too, and are wondering, why did I just waste your time making you read it and are preparing to boil me alive (reminds me reading Oliver Twist…that is one boring book, and what sort of orphaned kid thinks that when he is feed, he is being fattened up to be killed?), and turn me into rabbit stew—sorry Bugs Bunny, I think I just stole your trademark food). I decided to only post it when I had finished Hinata's Epic Quest for Naruto (note, this is not the name I just felt like writing that cause it was an epic quest). Actually it is called Hinata's Present, and the first chapter's up! Anyways, it is supposed to be funny, with an opera-singing cook, bug sitting with Shino, shopping with Sakura and Ino, and trying to survive other run-ins with the shinobi…

Sigh…I think I just scared you off….

Now, see that oh so lonely button below?

Good, now press it, to make it feel better, and to make me feel better.

I don't care if all you write in it was "It sucks" or "It's good" or even "Hn"

Actually, don't write "Hn" unless you liked it…

So press the button, don't let it be sad!