*Note from Nighty: I do not own any of the Naruto characters except for Uma Miri of the Hidden Star, and original character of mine made for this story. I hope you like this story of true love and silly moments!*

Chapter One: The Exchange Student

Uma Miri was alone, lost, confused and frightened all at once, walking to this new and strange village where no one knew her and her Jutsu was different from everyone else's. At the Hidden Star, everyone knew her name and all of the students used the same types of Jutsus, everything working in perfect order and everyone exactly the same. This exchange program had been a very, very bad idea, and she was beginning to regret saying yes.

She wondered about the Leaf Village Shinobi who was being sent to her village. He wasn't well known among his peers, as a matter of fact he didn't seem to be a very good ninja at all. Well, she hadn't mastered everything yet either. That was sort of the point of the program… for students who were falling behind to learn in a new environment.

How she missed her home.

Her long red hair was tied back in a tight pony tail on the top of her head, and the ends of her hair reached past her waist, brushing against her back as she walked slowly and carefully through the trees. Her eyes matched the color of the leaves, bright green and shining with both curiosity and fear. She pulled at her training dress nervously and looked down at herself. Same old Miri, she thought, whole new place.

The front gates of Kanoha loomed over her in the bright sunlight, stained green by the leaves between her and the sky, and she blinked up at them warily. She wanted to turn around, to go home. But before she could leave, the tall blonde woman she had spoken to earlier, Lady Tsunade Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, approached her.

"Uma Miri?" The Hokage asked, holding out a hand for her to shake. Miri stared at her hand, intimidated by the beautiful Kunoichi, and took it nervously. "I am Lady Tsunade, it's nice to talk to you again."

"Thank you," Miri said softly, pulling her hand away and rubbing it. "I think your village is very pretty, Lady Hokage."

"Miri, you are going to love it in the Hidden Leaf," Tsunade smiled. "Don't worry, no one is going to bite you. Why don't I find someone around here to help you? Show you around, take you to get something to eat."

"I guess so," Miri said, looking around as the two of them stepped through the gates and into the village. The place was bustling with Shinobi of every rank, young children and even normal people who were not ninja, going about their business as though this were a perfectly normal mining town. Miri stared in awe at the main street, lined with tea shops and book stores and everything she had ever imagined.

The Hidden Star definitely wasn't like this.

"Inuzuka," Lady Tsunade called suddenly, waving over a boy standing near a huge dog. "Inuzuka, come here. Are you busy?"

"No," The boy named Inuzuka called back, patting his dog and running over to them. "Is this her, the exchange student?"

"She's a Genin from the star village," Tsunade said. "Uma Miri, this is Inuzuka Kiba."

"Hi," Kiba said, holding out his hand. "I hope you enjoy your stay here."

The dog trotted over after he had finished sniffing flowers, sniffing Miri now with long, snuffing breaths. She squealed slightly and pushed at the dog's large snout, laughing shakily as she patted his ears with her free hand.

"Akamaru," Kiba said. "He's my partner. Akamaru, leave her alone…"

Akamaru barked noisily and sat down next to Kiba. Miri was already overwhelmed, staring at the boy and his huge dog, shaking in her shoes.

"Maybe you could show her around," Tsunade said. "Take her to Ichiraku's. She'll like it, and I think she would have a good chance to meet everyone there."

Kiba nodded. "Yes'm," he said, taking Miri's hand. "Come on Uma, Ichiraku's it is."

Miri waved goodbye fleetingly to the Hokage, squeaking a quiet goodbye as Inuzuka Kiba dragged her into the main part of town.

"And that was the best tea in town," Kiba was saying as he pushed the door to Ichiraku Ramen wide open for her. She stepped in, playing with a lock of her hair, as Kiba ordered Akamaru to sit and wait by the door. "Too bad they closed it down, you would have really loved it."

"I believe you," Miri said quietly, looking around at all the people. The first person was the blonde boy chatting loudly over his bow of Ramen with the owner of the store, a girl with pink hair sitting beside him. She glanced to the tables and directly to her right were two boys eating near the window, one very fat, and one half asleep. Kiba waved to the last two people in the restaurant, a rather nervous looking girl with long hair and a large sweater and a creepy-looking guy who covered his whole face with cloth and dark glasses.

"Hinata, Shino," he said, pulling her to the table and sitting her down. The creepy boy named Shino flinched as he glanced up, face contorting into a look of pain. She stared back curiously before Kiba stole her attention again. "This is Hyuga Hinata," he said. "Hinata, this is Uma Miri."

"It's nice to meet you," Hyuga Hinata said in a high-pitched, careful voice. "Miri?"

"Yes," Miri nodded, smiling. She liked this girl already. "Thank you, it's nice to meet you too, Hinata."

"And this is Aburame Shino," Kiba pointed at the creepy boy, who was now tapping the table furiously, eyebrows furrowed and his free hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Nice to meet yo—" Miri began, but Shino stood.

"I have to go," Shino said. "I promised Kurenai Sensei I would meet her…"

"Okay," Kiba said, but he was already walking quickly for the door. Everyone in the room jumped as he slammed the door shut.

"Have some respect for the shop," the blonde boy shouted angrily.

"Naruto, you're spilling Ramen on me," The pink haired girl said.

"What's up with him today?" Kiba leaned across the table to grab Shino's food. "Ew, and there are bugs in his Ramen."

"He was fine before you sat down," Hinata said quietly, fidgeting with her fingers. "I wonder what made him leave like that?"

"Maybe he's mad at me for beating him in the training exercise yesterday," Kiba said. "But he was fine when Kurenai Sensei took us to eat afterwards…"

"It was me," Miri spoke up, eyes filling with angry tears. "Wasn't it?"

Hinata giggled nervously. "Of course not," she said. "That's silly. Why would he leave because of you?"

"I don't know," Miri said. "Just a theory."

After they had been sitting and eating for a while, Miri noticed a definite pattern in Hinata's behavior. She would take a small bite of ramen, chew on it a little, then look up at the blonde boy called Naruto and stare, turning pinkish before returning her attention to her food. After a few cycles of this, Miri tapped her hand. "Who is he?"

"Oh, Naruto?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly as she squeaked. "Uzumaki Naruto, he's a Genin..."

"Isn't everyone in your class a Chunin by now?" Miri interrupted. "I mean, that's what the Hokage told me."

"Everyone but him," Kiba laughed. "Isn't that a riot?"

"He was gone for a while," Hinata finished. "He just got back a month or so ago. He hasn't had time to take the exam yet."

"Why do you keep looking at him?" Miri asked, smiling; she already knew the answer.

Hinata blushed scarlet and stumbled over her bite of ramen. "I… I don't… I'm not… I wasn't…"

"Hinata has a major crush on Naruto," Kiba said, patting her shoulder.

"I do not," Hinata whispered angrily.

"I think you do," Miri giggled. "I don't blame you either… I guess he's kind of cute from a certain angle. Why don't you go talk to him?"

Hinata gawked and put down her chopsticks. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"She just can't," Kiba said as Hinata opened her mouth to stutter some more. "Shino and I are trying to get her to tell him too, she just won't."

Miri scowled slightly at the mention of Shino.

"Don't worry about Shino," Hinata said softly. "If it's you he doesn't like, I'm sure he'll come around. You're nice."

"I hope so," Miri whispered. "Weirdo."

NEXT: Shino freaks out!!