Hello everyone~! Although the idea is a bit strange, please give it a chance! (Sorry for the clutter, I tried to tidy it up)
Naruto peered around the corner from the dirty alleyway, checking to see if the merchant that sold dry foods was busy with a customer, and to his luck he was. Naruto quickly darted and grabbed a loaf of bread along with a few dried meats that would be his dinner tonight. After grabbing it without tipping the merchant off, he turned to run back to the alley but it seems that his luck had run dry.
A customer gasped when she saw Naruto and quickly spoke up,"It's that boy!"
The merchant turned around instantly and let out an angry yell "Stop! Stop you brat!"
Naruto urged his small legs to run faster but there was a limit to what a child could do, the merchant had caught up by now anyway. He grabbed Naruto's arm and roughly pulled him to a stop. The rough movement caused the foods to slip from his arms, his eyes widened as he saw them bounce onto the floor for a moment before resting. The merchant growled at the boy and raised his arm to beat the child. Realizing what was about to happen, Naruto winced and braced himself for the pain that never came.
The merchant let go of Naruto's arm which lead to Naruto falling on his butt. Curious, Naruto peaked in fear and instead saw a young woman with vivid red hair standing in front of him, her small hand holding the merchants wrist tightly, a look of anger on her face.
"I never thought I would see the day where a child would get beat by an adult man for a petty issue in this village." Her voice sounded calm but had a tone of steel to it.
The merchant spoke in a low voice, anger glistening in his eyes as he looked between her and Naruto, "This - This… thing stole from me and must be punished."
Her eyes narrowed as her grip on his wrist tightened, "I shall pay for what he has stolen. Do not let me catch you doing this again to this boy."
The merchant hissed out the amount as she released him and handed him it. He spun around and walked back to his stand, anger quite visible by his body movement. Naruto stared at this young woman who had saved him, and even paid for his dinner.
Why did she do this?
Naruto was grateful but it had not made sense to him. The girl turned around, her angry face now held a friendly look and she asked him, "Are you alright?"
Naruto nodded quickly and studied her appearance. The young girl had such vivid red hair that in a way it was sort of blinding, her jade eyes seemed to stand out as well. She wore a dark murky green dress that had a slit on the side to reveal her leg, which by the way had a slight green tint.
"That is good to hear," a sincere smile appeared on her face and she stuck her palm out towards Naruto."Need a hand?"
Naruto stared at her hand for a few moments before taking her hand. She gently pulled him to a stand and bent over to pick up Naruto's dinner. After accepting the food from her, Naruto watched as she turned around and started to walk away from him. Not wanting her to leave so suddenly, his arm shot out to grab her dress. Naruto could hear himself talking but didn't quite register what he said. She smiled and removed his tight grip from the dress and answered his question,
"I am Lillian Twine, and you are..?"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm going to become the next Hokage! Believe it!" Naruto felt strange when he heard Lillian chuckle, it wasn't a bad feeling but simply one he couldn't exactly describe.
"Well Naruto-san, I hope you try your best to keep that promise." It felt nice for someone to encourage his dream, even if it was not direct.
"You bet! Just wait Lillian-san; I'll be the best Hokage ever!" Lillian ruffled Naruto's hair and bid her farewells, promising to not forget him.
No matter how much Naruto would look in the village, he could never find Lillian. When Naruto was in danger though, she would come to save the day then shortly leave after.
After figuring this out, Naruto continued to cause trouble just to see her.
On one occasion she gave Naruto a small crystal that had a little flower inside of it.
"Naruto-kun I am going to be on a trip and won't be back for a long time. Take this and always keep it with you - think of it as a good luck charm." Naruto felt disappointment well up within himself.
"Lilly-chan I'll keep this safe… Do you really have to go?"
Lillian pulled him into a hug and held onto him, responding quietly. "I'm sorry Naruto but I have to. Make sure you keep training so that way when I return there will be a new leader named Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage known to be way too powerful for his age."
Naruto held Lillian at arm's length and looked her straight in the eyes, a serious look on his face. "I never go back on my word Lilly-chan, it's my ninja way, believe it!"
Hugging him quickly again, Lillian stood back up and replied honestly "I do believe it Naruto. Be safe…"
Naruto's vision blurred slightly with tears before shaking it off, No, he would try his best for Lilly-chan.
Opening his palm where the crystal was, he wondered what exactly it was. It was an amber tinted crystal that was shaped like a diamond. Inside was a small flower that had sprouted, the color of the flower hard to tell due to the amber. The crystal was small enough to fit into his hands but not large enough that it required both to carry.
He pocketed the crystal and went to train what he could.
It had been years since he had seen Lillian.
Naruto hoped that she was doing well and that soon she would come back to see his progress.
He was not a Hokage yet, however he did recently become a was on Team 7 which consisted of Sasuke Uchiha, his bastard of a rival, Sakura Haruno, his amazing childhood crush, and of course himself. His sensei was Kakashi Hatake, a lazy masked pervert.
They were actually on a mission right now, and to add to it, it wasn't the usual stupid D-rank one. Naruto felt giddy as they were leaving Konoha, however it was just to check the surround forests for something. It didn't matter to him though, this was still better than weeding or painting fences.
The team continued to jump through the trees, scanning the forest floor for a specific item. The mission request mentioned that they were looking for a small statue of a female fairy that was about 4-5 IN tall. The requester named Roku claimed to have seen a small fairy that appeared red and green. He was too far to see any details on the fairy, but when he ran forward to confirm what he actually saw, the fairy was gone. He searched the surround area for a few days and come to the conclusion that perhaps the fairy had either run away or that she had passed away. He hired ninja since they could produce clones and had sharper vision compared to a civilian.
Naruto being as impatient as ever spoke up, "Kakashi-sensei why is this taking so long? I can make my shadow clones and find it in no time! Believe it!"
Kakashi landed on a branch and looked over his shoulder at Naruto. "We are almost at the exact spot where Roku-san had seen the fairy, be patient."
Naruto grumbled and was ready to issue a challenge to the Uchiha when he called him a "Dobe." Sakura cut in though and told Naruto to "Just shut up." Kakashi sighed and wondered if there will ever be a day that they can get along.
After a few minutes they reached the path and were ready to start the search. Kakashi decided to rest on a tree branch to read and told his students that it was a mission for them, not himself. Sour with their sensei, they then split up and looked well in their designated areas, making clones to help themselves. After what seemed like forever, a Naruto clone yelled out an "Aha!"
The statue was hidden near a few overgrown plants that hid it very well. After removing the statue from the foliage, Naruto noted that it looked like the small fairy had curled up to sleep but instead turned to stone. Clones that had heard this Naruto clone shout went to go see if he had indeed found the statue, and dispelled once they figured that they were not needed. Returning to the clearing, the clone handed Kakashi the statue gently before dispelling himself.
After Kakashi's team all came together, they started heading back to Konoha to deliver the statue to Roku. Before they could get very far though, Naruto's crystal that he turned into a necklace, started to glow a soft yellow. Confused Naruto removed the crystal and tried to figure out what was going on. None of them expected what happened next. The crystal suddenly shattered in Naruto's grasp, turning into small bits of golden dust that fluttered towards Kakashi to land onto the statue. After a few moments the statue started to gain color and eventually started to breathe. Recognizing the vivid hair and the murky clothes, Naruto called out "Lilly-chan?" The girl opened her tired eyes and looked at Naruto, a small smile tinting her face before she fell unconscious again. Kakashi held the small girl a bit more gently and tried to figure out what to do now.
Naruto clenched his fist, his knuckles turning a slightly white before releasing an unsteady breath of air he didn't realize he was holding. Kakashi found this interesting and decided to look into it when they got back, that is after he finished the chapter was in currently in Icha Icha. Reminding his students that they were currently on a mission, they went back to tree hopping to get back to Konoha. As the small girl named Lillian slept, Naruto informed his teammate about who she was and how they knew each other.
Roku was surprised when Team 7 came back so quickly and showed him their find. Since Roku simply just wanted to see the fairy again, he paid for the successful mission and thanked Team 7 for their quick work. While Kakashi reported their mission to the Hokage and the chunnin in the room, Naruto watched over Lillian. The third Hokage dismissed them and said that they had the rest of the day off.
Kakashi being the busy man he was, decided to leave his students to figure out what to do with Lillian.
"What should we do with her…?" Sakura voiced the question they all thought. Sasuke 'Hn'ed and walked off, deciding that he would rather spend the extra time to train instead of babysitting a sleeping woman. Sakura seemed a bit torn but wished Naruto good luck on deciding and raced to catch up with Sasuke. Naruto seemed a bit distraught that his teammates would leave him like this, but at least now his friend Lilly-chan was back.
Naruto felt his stomach rumble and decided to head to Ichiraku's for a meal. Teuchi greeted Naruto and started to make his usual. Ayame happened to be in the front cleaning a few bowls and made small talk with Naruto.
During all of this, Lillian felt herself floating in darkness, Naruto's voice echoing loudly but dully in the void. His voice made her calm and relaxed, as if it was just a dream.
After his meal, Naruto went to train a bit before returning home to sleep, placing Lillian on the bed stand with a few unused tissues to be a blanket for her. Before drifting off he thought about how surreal this was, about how Lilly-chan was now here and he was going to make sure she couldn't leave for so long again.
Naruto woke up to a bright light stinging his vision and the smell of freshly made ramen teasing him. Grumbling tiredly, he turned to his side and covered his face with the blanket. A feminine sigh sounded in the room startling Naruto. He quickly sat up and was against the wall ready to run if necessary. Before him stood a full sized Lillian that looked very stiff as if she was scared that if she moved he would bolt.
Naruto stared wide-eyed at her before muttering to himself, "It's just a dream"
Her hand rose to cover her mouth, her body had slight movements that indicated that she was chuckling.
Naruto shook his head, maybe this was actually real?
"Naruto-kun, is that how you greet me after so long? I even went through the trouble of setting up a little bit of breakfast." Lillian reached out palm up, hinting at Naruto to take her hand to get up.
It finally hit home, Lilly was back and well.
Naruto felt his eyes tingle and decided to pounce the girl, hugging her closely. Lillian didn't expect this and they both tumbled to the floor, her laugh echoing in the quiet room before returning the hug. "I'm happy to know I was not the only one missing the other." Lillian quietly spoke on Naruto's shoulder, his grip tightening slightly before releasing her with a huge smile on his face.
Laughing while rubbing his head, Naruto replied "I would never forget you Lilly-chan! I'm not Hokage yet but don't worry I'm almost there! Believe it!"
The rumbling of Naruto's stomach reminded him that Lillian had made breakfast. Quickly standing up and reaching to help Lillian, Naruto grinned sheepishly and went to go get the food. Lillian shook her head and sat down waiting for Naruto. During their meal they had a vague chat about things that had happened during her time away, and about his teammates.
Eventually they had to wrap it up as Naruto noticed what time it was and had to rush to get ready to meet his teammates at their meeting spot.
After cleaning the dishes they used, Lillian reverted back to her small form and waited for Naruto to finish. When Naruto came back from dressing, he looked panicked when he didn't see her and called out to Lillian, fear in his voice.
"Naruto-kun, I am right here." Her calm voice came from behind him as she was sitting on his counter. He quickly turned around and expected to see the large Lillian but instead saw her small form.
Startled Naruto asked "What happened Lilly-chan?"
"I figured I should join you Naruto-kun. If it bothers you I can go back to my previous size, it is just that this is more mobile for me." Lillian replied and stood up, small wings made of yellow dust appearing on her back.
"O-oh… No its fine Lilly-chan. Oh! That's right I can show you how strong I am when I beat up that teme!" A determined look passed over his face as he held up his fist in a flexed manner.
Using her wings to gently fly up towards Naruto, she landed in his hair and grabbed onto his blonde locks.
"Lilly-chan?" Naruto asked confused, trying to look up to see her but failing miserably.
"Lead away Naruto-kun, I want a good seat for the main event." She replied playfully which caused Naruto to break out into his big grin.
"I'll make it super great, believe it!" Opening the door, Naruto went to go meet his teammates, once again making small talk with Lillian.
Before they got to the bridge though, Lillian told Naruto to hush up that she was there. Confused, Naruto agreed but later found out why.
Edit: 1/26 I spaced the story apart to help readers. Fixed a few spelling mistakes, added a little more detail to the mission
It was finally rewritten (Once a god, now a statue) =] Man I really liked the idea from before but I absolutely hated how I wrote it. Instead here is a rewrite that sort of elaborates a bit. Lillian is a character I created for a story I am personally writing and designing, but originally she was thought up as a drawing idea and then as a character insert into Naruto. I hope the transitions were a bit smooth and overall the story was readable. I had a slight issue trying to put Naruto's emotions down for when he saw Lillian again, but basically Naruto was so shocked that he couldn't quite react properly until the next day came to prove to him that yes, she wasn't a dream. Lillian will not be a ninja; instead she is literally a fairy that uses her powers with the dust. I'll explain it in the next chapter when she properly introduces herself to Team 7. Reviews are greatly appreciated; just keep in mind that I am still a beginner writer and that my forte is drawing instead of writing.