Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto and I doubt I could keep it going as long as it has if I did.

Warnings: OCs, violence, swearing, and probably more….

*Line*

The town of Konoha was bustling with the normal daily activities of shinobi and citizens alike. Store owners were selling their wares and mothers were shopping for groceries. It was a peaceful scene. One kunoichi observed this as she walked down the streets. She had long dark brown hair that reached to the middle of her back and electric blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a black V-neck dress that reached mid-thigh. There were slits on the sides that went up to her hips and the sleeves that slanted passed her hands. She wore dark blue shorts that reached her knees and a matching ribbon tied around her waist. There were many hidden weapons concealed within her clothing and she wore her leaf headband proclaiming her a ninja on her head.

She had finished training a while ago and decided to explore the town before heading home. The rest of her teammates had gone home immediately after they finished up their D rank mission leaving her to train for a couple hours by herself before deciding to go eat something. Barely caring about her destination, she made her way into the more run down part of town. No one paid her any mind as she scanned the buildings. Civilians tended to recognize who were shinobi even if they wore civilian clothes and usually they left the shinobi alone. It didn't matter what rank they were they were able to be recognized and avoided. This was mostly because even a genin could take down a civilian and the civilians respected them. A ruckus in one of the alley ways caught her attention. Curiously she went to observe what was happening. What she saw caused her blood to boil.

A child around six or younger was being hit on by a couple of civilian teens. All of them were twice his size and sporting evil grins. The child had blond hair that was dirty, cerulean blue eyes, and six whisker marks on his face. He wore a baggy white shirt and faded orange shorts. The teens were cursing at him and making fun of him. They laughed as he whimpered and curled into himself. The kunoichi stalked up to them and lowered her voice into a dangerous growl and asked, "What is going on here?" Everyone froze at her tone including the blond child.

"Mind your own business girly," One of the braver teens snarled at her. Before she could comment one of his friends tugged at his sleeve.

"Dude she's a shinobi!" he exclaimed. The guy only rolled his eyes.

"So?"

"So she could tell someone what we were doing!"

"It's only the demon-child," the guy retorted. Before the guy finished his sentence, though, the kunoichi punched him in the gut.

"Don't ever say that again," she growled at him. The guy was winded and crouched over. His friends helped steady him. "Now get out of here before I report you to the hokage." The teens fled taking her threat seriously. It was well known that the hokage did not like it when the citizens hurt anyone especially each other without good cause. The kunoichi turned towards the child who looked at her warily. "Are you okay?" she asked her voice softer. The child nodded. "If you're sure…" Again the child nodded his head. "Okay, I'm just going to head home then." The child looked saddened. "Hey don't be like that! I'll see you around sometime! Next time we can play and do whatever you want, okay? What's your name anyways?"

"Naruto…" the boy replied shyly.

"That's a great name!" the kunoichi told him. "My name's Kaya. How about we do something fun next time?" Naruto nodded his head excitedly making Kaya smile fondly. She then ruffled his hair causing him to giggle. "Now run along I have to go home and start dinner. I'll look out for you tomorrow, okay?" Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "See ya squirt."

"Bye!" Naruto called out waving his hand excitedly. Kaya waved goodbye.

On her way home Kaya picked up a few groceries for a simple dinner. Tonight's dinner would be miso soup and smoked salmon with rice balls. It was usually her job to make dinner for the family and to buy the groceries. Kaya got into the habit of making a big dinner so in the morning everyone in her family could reheat it and eat that. It was a good system especially when members of her family were out working or with friends. It wasn't long before she arrived home. Setting the groceries in the refrigerator Kaya went into the living room and prayed in front of a picture. The picture was of a woman with light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was dressed in a simple light yellow civilian dress.

"Hello okaa-san," Kaya whispered to the picture. "As you can see I just got home. Kenishi has guard duty tonight so it's just Akira and I tonight. I hope you are doing well in heaven. So far nothing particularly interesting has happened today. I did meet some kid named Naruto today though. Some assholes were picking on the chidlin (1)! Other than that all I did was a few D rank missions that were really easy and trained by myself. My teammates were as annoying as usual and our sensei gave up scolding them once again. I still wish you were here even though it's been two years since you died…Anyways I better get started on dinner. Goodnight!"

Heading into the kitchen Kaya began to make dinner. Her mother had taught her how to before she died so she could do the basics, and every now and then she would ask the mothers in the neighborhood for other recipes. There weren't a lot of people she could test them on so she wasn't sure if they were the greatest meals. Usually her two older brothers, Akira and Kenishi, would just eat and not give any comments. Considering they would eat anything when they were hungry she figured they weren't reliable sources and she knew her own opinion would be bias. After a while dinner was made. Kaya set the table for herself and left room for Akira. She knew he would be back soon since his mission was completed and he had signed into the log book. One of the gate guards told her so when she asked. Usually he would be back while she was just finishing her meal.

"Anything good?" a voice asked as she was in the middle of her meal. Kaya turned to look at her brother Akira. He was the oldest at nineteen and a recently promoted jounin. Akira had the same dark brown hair as Kaya that was short and spiky but instead of electric blue he had green eyes with hints of grey.

"Just some smoked salmon and miso soup. I was training late," Kaya replied.

"That's fine," he told her. It became silent as he sat down to eat. No conversation continued between them but it was a comfortable silence. Soon Kaya was finished with her meal. Picking up her plates she took them to the sink and began doing dishes. Once Akira was done with his meal he brought over his plates for her to wash. Nodding her head at him she did his dishes. Looking at the clock she noticed it was around nine in the evening. 'Better go to bed,' Kaya thought. Quickly Kaya changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and went to bed. It wasn't long before she was fast asleep dreaming of going on more dangerous missions and becoming one of the top ninja.

In the morning Kaya woke up groggy and didn't want to get out of bed. She resisted the temptation of her warm, inviting bed though and got up. Kaya had disciplined herself enough to get up on time no matter how tired she was. Pinching her thighs and arms she slowly became more aware. Picking out her clothes for the day Kaya headed for the only shower in the house and got ready to start another day. Her outfit was similar to the one she wore the day before except she had silver shorts and ribbon. Each day was a different color ribbon and shorts. Quickly she washed herself in lukewarm water and brushed her teeth. When she finished in the bathroom the clock turned five in the morning. Reheating her dinner from last night Kaya dug into her breakfast before she was out the door.

She ran to the training fields eager to start training before her teammates showed up and they had to go spar or do whatever else their sensei wanted them to do. Kaya stuck to a strict schedule in order to get better quicker. She wanted to contribute more to the village than a few D rank missions every other day. Her dream was to be one of the top ninja preferably an ANBU operative. First she practiced with throwing kunai at the target while she moved. Then she worked a bit on stretching and then strengthening her body with push-ups and sit ups. Around eight the rest of her team made it to the training grounds as she finished practicing her ninjutsu. Their sensei was the last to arrive.

Her teammates consisted of two boys named Suzuki Masao and Watanabe Eiji. Masao was fairly tall with short, spiky red hair and light brown eyes. He was the most muscular one in their group, although he wasn't bulging with muscles they still showed. He usually wore a green t-shirt with tan pants. Eiji was only a couple inches taller than Kaya. He had medium length blond hair that was usually held back by a black bandana. Usually he wore a black hoodie with a white tank top underneath and dark red shorts. His eyes were a forest green that held golden specks. They worked fairly well together. If one of them had a weakness the other two would cover it creating a well-rounded team.

"Alright kids today we will be working on water walking and if you master that quickly we'll move on to Taijutsu training," their sensei announced. One of her teammates groaned and the other sighed. Kaya kept her mouth shut and didn't complain like the other two did. She knew that it was a fundamental technique that they had to learn before moving on to stronger jutsus. They all stumbled at first however Kaya was the first one to get it. She understood the basic principles which made it a lot easier. Masao was able to perform it shortly after her. The only one to struggle with it was Eiji who kept falling into the water instead of walking on top of it. Thankfully they had all rolled up their pants and taken off their shoes and socks. After two hours with no results from Eiji their sensei told Kaya and Masao to spar while Eiji continued practicing. Kaya gave some pointers before going off to spar with Masao.

For a few minutes Kaya and Masao stared at each other neither of them daring to move. A slight twitch of Masao's fingers was the only indication that he was about to throw his kunai. Kaya saw this and jumped back. She made a clone of herself. In sync Kaya and the clone threw shurikens at Masao who deflected them with another of his kunai. They rushed him with Kaya heading towards his right and the clone going in towards the left. Masao threw a kunai at Kaya thinking she was the clone and then went to face off with the clone. Kaya dispersed her clone and kicked Masao in the lower back. That caused him to lurch forward before he caught his balance and punched at Kaya. She blocked with her arm and went to punch him in the gut. It hit him but there wasn't enough force to knock the wind out of him.

They kept using Taijutsu against each other until Kaya jumped back and made the hand signs needed to produce a small gust of air. The wind knocked Masao back momentarily however he recovered quickly and threw a fireball back. Neither one of them could gain an advantage over the other long enough to win. Scratches and bruises multiplied but they kept fighting. At two in the afternoon their sensei finally told them to stop sparring. The match ended in a draw which neither of them were happy about. Kaya had wanted to win a match against Masao for once instead of it always ending up in a draw. It made her think that she was weak and that all the training she put herself through wasn't good enough.

"Okay, listen up," their sensei said gruffly. "You all have a long way to go until I permit any C-rank missions. You guys are definitely not chunin level yet. Eiji work on your chakra control and keep practicing. I better see some improvement by the end of the week. Otherwise you'll get the most difficult workout of your life. Masao you keep relying on your brute strength and big flashy jutsus. Try to at least build up endurance if you cannot find more tactile maneuvers. Also be more aware of your surroundings. Kaya quit trying to show off. Also work on your genjutsu it needs a lot of work. Dismissed." Their sensei was harsh and never told them how to improve nor praised them for what they did well on. He left immediately after criticizing them.

"So do either of you want to hang out?" Eiji inquired once their sensei was gone. Kaya shook her head in response. Masao just walked away without replying.

"Sorry I have something else to do," Kaya told him apologetically.

"What do you have to do?" Eiji asked. "Maybe I can help."

"I have to meet with a friend of mine and I don't want to be late. Maybe some other time we can do something. I promised them that I would see them today though and I don't go back on my word."

"Sure! That's fine I understand."

Kaya waved goodbye and headed towards the last place she saw Naruto. He seemed like a nice kid and she wanted to check up on him and make sure no one else was picking on him. A few civilians were walking around the area when she arrived. That didn't put her off, as she searched for Naruto. Some people glared at her when she asked where he was and some cursed at her. She disregarded what they said with ease. Their opinions didn't matter to her as long as she could find out the information she wanted. Eventually Kaya found Naruto sitting in the park by himself. All the other children avoided him if they even noticed his presence. Kaya walked over and squatted next to him. "So squirt, how's it going?" Kaya casually asked. Naruto jumped up at her sudden entrance.

"It's great!" Naruto said closing his eyes. Kaya knew he was lying but decided not to call him out on it.

"Is there anything you want to do?" Kaya asked. "I have plenty of time to hang out today. Besides I promised that we could do something together after all."

"Really? You would play with me?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Of course! Now what do you want to do?" Kaya replied cheerfully.

"Can you push me on the swings?" Naruto inquired. Kaya noticed there was no one over there.

"Sure," Kaya told him. Naruto jumped up happily and sprinted to the swings. Kaya chuckled at his actions and followed at a slower more sedate pace. Naruto was practically vibrating in his seat. "Make sure you have a good grip," Kaya reminded him. He nodded his head in understanding. Kaya then began pushing him high into the air. Naruto felt the wind on his face as he laughed joyously. This lasted until the sun started to set. Slowly Kaya stopped pushing Naruto. "You should probably get home soon," Kaya commented. Naruto nodded sadly then his stomach growled. He blushed. "How about I buy you dinner first?" Naruto brightened immediately. He didn't want Kaya to leave yet and the prospect of food was doubly tempting.

"Ramen!" Naruto exclaimed immediately. Kaya ruffled his hair.

"Sure, do you have a favorite restaurant?"

"Ichiruka's," Naruto replied.

"Well lead the way. I'll follow right behind you."

"You're really going to buy me dinner?" Naruto asked. Kaya nodded her head. It saddened her to see him so suspicious of her because she knew that meant someone had tricked him before.

"Don't worry I'll pay for your dinner. I got my money this week so it's all good."

"Yay! Ichiruka's ramen is the best! The old man who runs it is really nice to! Sometimes he gives me a bit extra if I'm really good."

"That's nice of him. He sounds like a good man."

"He is!"

They chatted all the way to Ichiruka's. Kaya learned that Naruto's favorite color was orange and he absolutely adored ramen. He also planned to be Hokage when he got older in order to protect the village. Naruto in turn learned that Kaya's favorite color was red and she loved any flavor of pocky or sushi. Also he learned of her desire to be one of the best ninjas ever. Naruto told her that when he was Hokage she could be his top guard if she wanted. Kaya smiled and told him she would gladly accept. It was a nice chat and Naruto became even more talkative as he began to trust Kaya more. She would listen attentively and give her own advice during certain intervals or lulls in the conversation. They only paused their conversation when they reached Ichiruka's.

Ichiruka's was a small ramen stand that was on one of the side roads that was used most often. It gave off a warm atmosphere which Kaya appreciated. There were a few tables that could fit about six people and a counter with seven stools. They headed towards the counter. The old man Naruto talked about greeted them with a smile. "How can I help you?" he asked once they sat down. Naruto and Kaya both thought about their orders for a while before answering.

"I would like a big bowl of beef ramen with extra vegetables please," Kaya told him politely.

"One large miso ramen for me!" Naruto told him. The old man chuckled.

"Alright your orders will be done in a few minutes," he told them. Naruto fidgeted in his stool impatiently. He couldn't wait to taste his ramen.

"I take it you come here often to eat?" Kaya casually asked.

"Of course! He's one of the few people who allow me into their restaurant," Naruto replied. He didn't notice his slip but Kaya did. She froze in her seat after hearing that.

"Really now?"

"Yup, for some reason the other villagers don't like me…I don't know why either!"

"They're just jealous of your adorable looks," Kaya told him playfully. "They all wish their children were as cute as you are." Naruto pouted at her which made her laugh internally.

"I am not adorable," he stated.

"So you say. I, however, have a different opinion and think you're very adorable."

Before they could continue bantering Teuchi, the owner, brought out their ramen. "Enjoy," he told them before going back to work in the back and giving them some privacy. Naruto immediately dug in with much gusto. He slurped up the noodles very quickly and Kaya wondered if he could taste anything a at all. She ate at a more sedate pace taking her time to savor the flavor. When Naruto was done with his first bowl he asked Kaya if he could have another one. She told him he could have up to three bowls of ramen. Naruto cheered and demanded another bowl.

After they were done eating Kaya offered to take Naruto home. He seemed reluctant but allowed her to do so after she told him she would follow him anyways to make sure he was safe. They walked in silence neither of them wanting to break the quiet serenity of the night. Eventually they reached an old, run-down apartment that needed a lot of repairs. The paint was peeling and trash was thrown all around the building. Kaya was surprised that people lived in such a place. It reminded her of her brother Kenishi's room after a week of no cleaning. Naruto led her to one of the apartment doors and opened it, shocking Kaya. She knew this place wasn't fit for a child.

Naruto's apartment was small and bare. He had the minimum amount of furniture possible. Trash was scattered around everywhere. There were no pictures or anything of sentimental value around. Kaya wondered how he could live like this. She didn't think anyone should live the way Naruto seemed to be living. "Where are your parents?" Kaya asked after a while. She had not heard him mention any nor did she see signs of any in this small apartment. Naruto looked dejected.

"I don't have any," he told her. Kaya was shocked but at the same time it made sense. She didn't mean to bring up bad memories for him. Looking around the room she made up her mind.

"How about I be your mother?"

*Line*

TBC!

Okay so this is all I have so far. I don't think it's a bad start. I'm not sure how far this will go but I plan to at the least skim until Naruto becomes a gennin. Hope you like it! (Btw I plan to have Kaya date someone in the future preferably someone older like Iruka, Kakashi, or so forth give me ideas!)

(1)- This is just something I call children all the time. It's a habit I got from my mother.