Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Prologue

She walked in silence as she tried to block out the sound of crying coming from behind her. She knew who the source of the crying was but she made no attempt in trying to remedy it. She wanted to talk but she didn't trust her voice because the word "goodbye" kept looming over her head. She felt that she could prolong time with her silence. Making her way slowly to the gate of her village as the crying behind her started to ring much louder than before, she couldn't help but feel her own reserve cracking with every step she made. All her emotions were now nearly impossible to bottle up.

Reaching her final destination, she finally stopped. Turning around she turned to see a blonde haired boy with the saddest blue eyes she has ever seen. His face was wet, both his hand and clothes soaked with tears he badly tried to wipe away.

She dropped her head at the sight of him, because her heart ached to see her friend in such way. In the past despite all their hardships they had to go through, she has never seen him this broken before. But she felt empathy for the boy for she herself understood his distress very well. Behind her fierce face, she was also internally breaking just as much as him. Though she felt tears starting to form behind her eyes, she forcefully stopped herself again. No. She couldn't break down here. At least not right now. Someone had to be strong for the sake of the other.

Mustering up the little strength she had, she took the face of her crying friend with both hands. His once bright blue eyes were glossy and sad. His whole face was flushed with red from the crying. Dark blue eyes met dark brown. One filled with utter sadness and hopelessness, the other filled with the same sadness but with another quality: determination.

The boy seeing such brown eyes filled with passion stopping crying for that brief second.

The girl couldn't help but find strength and most importantly her voice while staring into the blue helpless eyes of her friend.

Holding the boys face up to hers, the girl yelled "I want you to listen to be closely cause I'll only say this once okay!"

Not seeing any reaction from the boy she continued.

"This is the kind of face I never want to see from you okay! We've been to bigger stupider shits then these, and I don't want you to shed your pitiful tears to something as shitty as this okay! Why the heck are you crying for me anyways? This is the main reason why I'm leaving you in the first place. So you better grow up and learn to stand up on your own if you want to see me again! Okay!You're Uzumaki Naruto and I know you're much stronger than this. This ain't a goodbye so stop crying yo' eye balls out like some pansy! When I come back you better be a strong ninja! And I better see your face next to the statues when I come back! GOT it!" the smaller girl yelled while furiously shaking the boy's face.

Caught by surprise, the boy nodded frantically.

Feeling tears starting to form more forcefully in the back of eyes, she abruptly let go of the boy and started to walk quickly of the gate. But she felt something grab her arm forcefully into a hug. She also embraced the sudden warmth.

It was as if time had momentarily stopped.

But just as all typical departures, the girl found herself grabbing the hands of her new guardian walking towards the sunset. As she began stepping farther and farther away from her once home, she turned around to see the same boy struggling with his emotions.

"You made a promise with me, Naruto! Stay strong and never give up! Keep that smile on your face because I'll be seeing you soon!" she cried out in her loudest voice since it'll be last time she'll be there for him for awhile.

"You better believe it! I promise to be the best ninja in Konoha! You better come back so that you can see me when I'm Hokage! Don't forget me!" The boy shouted in an equally loud voice. Wiping his last tears, the boy watched as the two figures all into the sunset with a bright smile on his face, his eyes reflecting a much brighter blue with newly found determination.

AN: This is my first attempt in writing a story, so I'm honestly kind of embarrassed to even post this;;
Please be nice and review? critique? :D