Some Words from the Author:

This is my very first story in Fanfiction Net. Well, I suddenly feel strongly inspired to start writing after having thought of some ideas, so I just did. I put in a lot of effort for this chapter, so hopefully you readers will like it. Okay, that will be all I want to say for now. Happy meeting you all, and enjoy your time reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters. It belongs rightfully to Masashi Kishimoto-sama. *bows*

Speech system in the story:

"Hello" - Normal speech

'Hello' - Thoughts

Chapter 1: Friends and Determination

Uzumaki Naruto – Nine Years Old

Huff... Huff... Huff..

The boy with a shock of spikily unkempt blond hair ran as fast as his exhausted legs could carry him. Those crazy villagers were at it again. Today's afternoon weather was just perfectly fine in Konohagakure no Sato – the village hidden in the leaves, and he was on his way back to his apartment when all this happened, mercilessly crushing his hope of having a normal day.

Without even bothering to find out how many pursuers were after him, one Uzumaki Naruto scampered down the street, hoping he could find a safe place to hide until the mob decided to give up on him.

From up-close, anyone could see that Naruto had lightly-tanned skin, and was rather short and thin for boys his age. His most prominent traits, however, were the whisker-like birthmarks, three stretching on each of his cheeks. Risking a quick peek over his shoulder, the boy's expressive, cerulean blue eyes widened in fear as he realized the villagers were gradually gaining pace on him.

"Stop the demon brat! Get him!"

'Why?'

"Monster!"

'What do you mean?'

"Let's finish what Yondaime-sama couldn't!"

'I.. what have I ever done to any of you?'

Those were the confused thoughts screaming inside the boy's mind as he veered sharply past the corner of a fruit stall, almost losing his footing as he did so.

Demon, Monster, and even it were some of the usual words used by most of the villagers to address the blond, who had absolutely no idea why he was their target of hatred. Last he checked his reflection in the mirror, he was just as normal-looking as any of them could be, so why? Maybe because of those odd birthmarks on his cheeks? Or his blue eyes perhaps? Or.. Naruto just did not know anymore.

'Gotta... shake 'em off.. somehow..'

Most, if not all shinobi he met on his way would just turn a blind eye to his plight. To them, it was as if Naruto were simply another part of the boring wall. Insignificant. Invisible. Though, every once in a while when he was lucky enough, a silver-haired Anbu wearing an Inu (Dog) mask or another with black hair donning a Karasu (Crow) mask would come to his rescue, if they happened to be patrolling in the area.

Today, however, clearly did not seem to be one of those lucky days.

Huff... Huff..

It was some distances away before he managed to lose the group for now, and he was currently hiding himself behind a dumpster to catch his breath. With one hand pressed against the wall for better support, Naruto rested his other palm over his small chest, which was heaving rapidly as he greedily refilled his lungs with the much needed oxygen. Rivers of sweat stung his eyes and his dirtied white shirt clung against him like a sticky layer of unwanted skin, but he ignored the uncomfortable feeling for the moment. Naruto knew he would need to get moving, and fast, knowing how persistent the villagers could be in making him their punching bag for the day.

As if on cue, his ears picked up the rapidly approaching footsteps of the said group. Naruto sighed tiredly, gritting his teeth as he willed his burning leg muscles to move, and took off running once again towards the nearest place with the best chance to lose the approaching villagers.

The Konoha park.

From a short distance away, a quick sweep of his surroundings told him there seemed to be no one occupying the place at the moment; which was good, as he did not have to worry about anyone giving away his location to the pursuers. From his nine-year-old standpoint, the big concrete pipes abandoned flat at one side of the park were his best bet to hide, and with a final burst of speed, his feet quickly carried him towards them, his expression hopeful.

As he got closer, however, all his hope vanished the moment he saw a young girl sitting beside the very concrete pipe he wanted to hide in.

Dressed in a simple cream-colored top and navy blue pants, the aforementioned girl was about his age, her cap of indigo, leveled cut-styled hair coming to stop just above her forehead with two chin-length strands framing her face. Though, what struck out the most to Naruto were her eyes — pale white, pupil-less with a soothing tinge of lavender in them. The spiky-haired blond quickly recognized her as one of his more timid classmates in the academy, but..

….but that was all he knew about her, as she was usually shy and did not talk much to anyone during classes. Cerulean blue met white for a moment, but before either of them could say anything, the sound of incoming footsteps quickly jolted Naruto back to his senses like a clap of thunder, and he dived frantically into one of the nearest concrete pipes, ignoring the look of clueless confusion on the girl's face.

Before long, the same group of villagers set foot into the park he was currently in. Naruto dared not breath. He could not afford to make any noise, knowing it would be a very bad idea. The blond's heart hammered rapidly against his ribcage like a wild drum as he heard their footsteps became clearer and louder, fully aware of the painful consequences if they manage to get their hands on him. Then, something he feared the most happened.

"Now where's the de- ah! Hyuga-sama, did you see a boy coming here just now? About this tall? With blond hair? And.." one of the villagers had asked the girl, in a deceptively sweet voice that made Naruto feel like hurling the contents of his stomach. Though, he now identified the girl as someone from the infamous Hyuga clan, one of the most powerful clans in the village. "... with these strange marks on his cheeks?"

'Don't tell 'em... Please don't tell 'em...' Naruto pleaded silently in his mind, his palms going sweaty as desperation gripped his thoughts. He was dead tired from the long chase they had given him, and had almost no energy left for any form of resistance if his current hiding place were to be given out. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, the nine-year-old waited for the worst to come.

"O-oh.. He—"

'Please... no! Don't!" Naruto was downright terrified now. He knew.. he knew this would happen! Just as he felt his heart would burst out of his chest..

"—went over t-that way to the bakery, I-I think," the Hyuga heiress finished with a shy voice, as she pointed to a totally different direction, away from where the blond was hiding. Inside the concrete pipe, Naruto's blue eyes widened in utter disbelief.

'W-Wha? She...?'

And just like that, the villagers immediately vacated the area after showering her with thanks, hot in pursuit on their elusive target like a swarm of angry wasps. The exodus of footsteps relieved Naruto somewhat, and he exhaled slowly, letting loose the long breath he had been holding. Though, that did not stop him from almost jumping out of his skin when the Hyuga knocked at the concrete pipe gently a moment later.

"A-ano, you can come out now.. They're gone."

The exhausted blond poked his head out, tentatively at first for a quick scan of his surroundings. It was only after he made doubly sure there were really no one else around did he fully get out of hiding, his tired blue eyes looking at the stuttering girl who had just saved him. Forming the sincerest expression he could manage in his current condition, Naruto gave a small bow of gratitude, panting slightly between each breath.

"That... that was really close... I don't know why you helped me, but thank you so much, um.."

"H-Hyuga Hinata."

"Uzumaki... Naruto, though I think.. you might have seen me before... since we're in the same class," the blond introduced himself with a sheepish smile despite the fatigue, his mood brightening up considerably.

Hinata nodded meekly. In fact, she herself had wanted to talk to the blond for a while now, ever since she first saw him in the academy class, but could not find the courage to do so. From her perspective, Naruto was always a hard worker and kind person in nature, despite how the villagers seemed to treat him like an outcast. On a few occasions, she even remembered seeing the boy breaking off little portions of his own food to feed a litter of homeless puppies during lunch time. Hinata just could not think of what a person like Naruto could have done to deserve such enmity from the vast majority of the village populace.

"Y-you're hurt!" the young Hyuga gasped, her white eyes taking in the rips on the blond's shirt and shorts, easily spotting some nasty-looking scrapes and bruises beneath the ruined cotton. "You should get t-those looked at by the m-medics."

"It's.. it's okay, I heal pretty fast," Naruto was inwardly taken aback by the concern in her tiny voice, but he kept up his sunny facade like usual despite the obvious pain. 'And I usually got worse than these.' He added in his thought with a grimace, but did not voice it out, of course. "These'll be all gone by tomorrow morning, so I'm not worried! Really!"

Hinata just nodded again. And Naruto knew it was the truth. By some inexplicable healing factor, he always recovered from physical wounds faster than anyone he knew. Cuts and bruises would usually heal overnight, and on the next day, his skin would show no scars or any signs at all that he was injured previously.

Though, that was not important now, as another thought ran rampant across Naruto's mind at the moment. The boy took some time in silence, before mustering up the courage to ask the one question that always got laughed at or shot down harshly by his other classmates. But should he risk hurting his own feelings again this time? Naruto swallowed a nervous gulp as he looked at the white-eyed girl. 'She doesn't seem to hate me.. I...I can do this. Just one.. just this one last time.'

"Hinata..right?" he fidgeted a little, but nevertheless inquired as politely as he could. "Uhm..say.. I.. c-can.. I mean.. can you.. canyoubemyfriend?"

There. He had said it, but Naruto felt like slamming his head into the closest concrete pipe. Repeatedly. He was meant to say it out nice and clearly, but ended up all tongue-tied and blurting it in a nervous mess. 'No.. my biggest chance to make a friend... and I screwed up...' the blond thought bitterly. It was not his fault, but a product of growing up without much interaction with people from his age group. No one had ever taught him how to approach and greet his peers properly. 'Now she'll call me a freak for sure, just like.. just like everyone else does..'

"E-Eh?" Hinata just blinked in confusion. Much like Naruto had anticipated, she obviously did not catch what he had just said, but that was it. She did not start calling him names or anything - no idiot, freak, or stupid. Nothing. This.. this meant he still had chance to make things right!

"I..I was saying... Hinata, can you be my f-f-friend? Please?" he worked up the courage to ask again, slower this time, but still swallowed hard at the second last word. The blond's few attempts to make friends in the academy were a big letdown, as most parents would tell their children to stay away from him simply because he was either 'bad influence' or 'dangerous'. Despite all his efforts to hide the feeling away from the world, it still hurt him quite deeply when he would think about it. After a few seconds of silence, Naruto began to lose hope, but nevertheless forced a grin. "It's okay if you don't want to.. haha.. I get it… I mean-"

"I-I'd like to."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Her voice was so low he had almost missed it, but he clearly had not, so the blond could not help but look dumbstruck. 'Did she.. did she just...?' A spark of hope bubbled inside his small chest. That was a definite first - he had not expected that at all. With the same expression, he could only look at the Hyuga heiress in disbelief as he try to comprehend the statement.

"Y-You mean it? Really?" Naruto almost mumbled, his tone shaky now. The boy seemed ready to break, his forced grin having vanished somewhere in the exchange.

A shy nod was Hinata's reply.

Feeling a lump rising in his throat, the blond swallowed thickly. "You don't think.. that I'm a m-monster or anything?"

"No!" the single word came out in her firmest tone yet, and Naruto was startled by the forwardness in her answer. In hindsight, it was louder that she intended, and Hinata's face heated up shyly at her own sudden outburst. Nevertheless, she quickly added, "I m-mean, I don't think you're anything like that, N-Naruto-kun."

She was still stuttering, but her tone alone was enough to tell him that she was being sincere. These were the very words he had longed for ever since he was much younger. He craved for them. Something inside the Uzumaki boy's chest felt warm, warmer than anything he had ever felt before as he tried to make sense of the emotions that were swirling inside him. The words caused what little control Naruto had over his emotions to break, the mask of forced cheerfulness he had worked so hard to maintain over the months cracked and crumbled into nothingness.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip. Drip.

"...Eh?" Naruto blinked, feeling something wet land on his hand.

'Is..it raining?' The boy wondered, his vision started getting blurry and warped. The sky was still as bright as it had been a minute ago, without the slightest bit of indication that it was going to rain any time soon. Even so, the wet sensation did not cease streaming out from the corners of his eyes and sliding silently down his cheeks, splattering on his hands and shirt.

Looking down, he finally realized they were tears. His tears. A single sob slipped out of Naruto's now quivering lips, followed by another, and another... until he was unable to hold back the emotional shudders racking his entire body. For the first time in a long while, Uzumaki Naruto cried tears of pure happiness, unable to contain this overwhelming feeling.

"I- Wha- Why am I crying? I should be smiling, damn it!" Naruto blubbered between sobs as he wiped his eyes quickly with one hand, but the wetness just kept trickling down his whiskered cheeks. Even so, regardless of his teary eyes and sob-racked voice, he flashed Hinata the biggest, real smile he could manage, "I.. Hinata.. this.. what you said earlier… they mean a whole...whole lot to me…." He added at the end, his voice wavering now. "Thank you... thank you.."

The rest of the afternoon passed as a blur for Naruto, with him telling Hinata some of the best pranks he had managed to pull off on some mean shopkeepers, and the girl in question listening attentively as he described his stories with wide motion of his arms, chuckling as he got to the funny parts. It was his first time that he was actually talking normally to someone his age, but one thing for sure, it felt oddly... Well, the first word that came to Naruto's mind was 'nice', but that did not quite describe it. It was a warm feeling of acceptance.

As evening came, however, they had to split paths when Hinata's caretaker, one Hyuga Kō arrived at the area, looking panic-stricken.

"There you are, Hinata-sama! You're supposed to be back in the compound since an hour ago. Hiashi-sama is worried sick," the tall Hyuga said, his eyes widening slightly for a second when he noticed the blond boy next to his clan's heiress. Though, Naruto noticed it was different from the cold looks he had received from the villagers throughout his life so far. This one held no malice at all, but instead it felt like the man was giving off an aura of … sympathy?

"I-I'm so sorry, Kō-san," Hinata quickly apologized, her hand rising to her mouth as she took note of the time. "I think I lost track of t-time."

Kō's expression softened. "No matter, we must take our leave now. Come."

Hinata nodded in understanding and walked her way towards her caretaker, but not without sparing a last glance at Naruto, who smiled and waved her goodbye. Kō, surprising the blond, gave a curt but polite nod as well, which Naruto returned a little awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond. Watching as Hinata slowly leaving his field of vision, the spiky-haired blond grinned brightly at himself at today's surprising turn of events.

He would never forget what had happened today. He had finally made his very first friend, and vowed to repay her kindness for saving him from the villagers someday in the future. However, before he could do that, Naruto knew he would have to start improving himself. Yes, there would be lots and lots of hard work waiting ahead of him, but he would not let them daunt him in the slightest bit.

A new light shone brightly in his cerulean orbs as he headed back home, his face set in determination that he never knew he had in him. Something had changed within the blond ever since that day, and even if he did not know exactly what it was, he could feel it was for the better.

Uzumaki Naruto was sure of it.

From the next day onward in the academy, Naruto began to talk more to his newfound friend, whom he still found to be quite shy around him. Nevertheless, Naruto did not mind at all. Some of his classmates started finding it weird that the soft-spoken Hyuga was unusually talkative around the blond so suddenly, but they did not give it much thought. After all, why should they care about what the Uzumaki freak was doing?

Like usual, Naruto's academy sensei would ignore the blond's queries during lessons, but that did not trouble him as much as it used to be. Naruto would consult Hinata after classes whenever there were any concepts he could not grasp in the textbooks, and the girl in question would explain patiently in ways which he could understand better. Though, Hinata had clan practices in the afternoon so she could not stay for too long, but Naruto was immensely grateful for her company. Yes, it was a slow process of learning, but he was steadily improving.

Uzumaki Naruto – Ten years old

Now, our favorite blond was in his second year in the ninja academy. His new homeroom teacher, a chunin by the name of Umino Iruka was a fair and caring person, a complete opposite to the previous one who had taught him in his first year. The scarred chunin would always answer to Naruto's doubts when he asked, and treated him with equal attention like the rest of his classmates.

Sometimes, Iruka would even treat Naruto to some lunch at Ichiraku Ramen – one of the very few eatery places in Konoha that accepted him, so Naruto was quick to include him in his list of his precious people. Over the months, Naruto's small ring of friends had included a few of his classmates who got along with him just fine, namely one Nara Shikamaru, his friend Akimichi Chouji and the feral-looking Inuzuka Kiba along with his ninken Akamaru.

For second year academy students, they were taught how to perform handseals and mold their chakra, commonly known as a mixture of physical and spiritual energy within a person's body which was essential to even the most basic of jutsu. It was not long later when they were taught the E-ranked Henge no Jutsu, a basic technique to change one's appearance by transforming into other individuals, animals or even inanimate objects. Though, in order to maintain the changes in one's looks, it would be essential for the caster to constantly feed a certain amount of chakra into the jutsu, depending on the complexity of the transformation. A better Henge would require more chakra, to put in short.

It took Naruto quite a while to grasp the gist behind the technique, but he eventually got the jutsu down with Hinata's help as well as some tips from his sensei Iruka, and his life had been much easier around the village; he could now roam freely in the streets under the guise of a random academy student, and purchase daily needs such as fresh fruits, food and warm clothes without being cruelly overpriced. Not only that, some had even given him discounts for just being polite, too! It was simply amazing what a little disguise could do. He had been, for once, treated like a normal child his age. As of late, his choice of apparel consisted of a short-sleeved, black tee shirt emblazoned with a contrasting red swirl design on the front, complemented by a pair of matching, light gray sweatshorts.

Though, in Naruto's opinion, the best thing about using Henge no Jutsu was that it enabled him to borrow books from the local shinobi library without any trouble, and under Iruka's suggestion, the very first book Naruto took home with him was Basics in Chakra.

The hardworking blond would usually read during night time, going as far as devoting long hours to make sure he fully grasp the concepts discussed in the pages. Through reading itself, Naruto discovered that proper control of chakra would enable one to perform shinobi techniques more efficiently, and in Konoha, that particular skill could be honed through tree and water walking exercises. It particularly caught his interest when he read about the different types of chakra natures, and that Konoha was especially famous for its lead in fire related ninjutsu. Further reading told the blond that that each individual's elemental affinity could be revealed through the use of chakra papers, made from the tissues of chakra-sensitive trees bred specifically for that purpose alone.

Early in the mornings, about five o'clock when there were not much people around was Naruto's favorite time of day. The sun would be barely risen, still resting low on the horizon while he would busy himself with various physical exercises and taijutsu drills in Training Field Two – the furthest training ground away from the village center and thus usually left unoccupied. To be honest, Naruto doubted the vast majority of the village populace would even know of this secluded training ground.

The place itself was rather decently-sized, if not one of the largest among the other training fields scattered around the village. The grass here was kept comfortably short, with a few rock formations dotting here and there as well as some trees littering the area to give an impression of a real battle ground as much as possible. A small lake stretched at one edge of it, glittering under the sun. Fresh, moist air filled the place, still and crisp, the silence only broken by occasional birdsongs overhead.

It was a good spot, with majority of the harsh sunlight being blocked out by the back of the gargantuan Hokage Monument, which conveniently happened to be located some distances ahead from this place. However, the most important thing that mattered to Naruto was that he could go about training to his heart's content without the villagers bothering him, and the scenic nature was just an added bonus to it. The blond could truly feel at ease here; this place was his sanctuary.

By a stroke of fate, this was also where Naruto had made another new friend, an older boy by the name of Rock Lee as he ran past the area during one of his early morning laps. Below his mop of black hair which vaguely resembled an overturned bowl of sorts, and sitting above round black eyes had to be the thickest pair of eyebrows Naruto had ever seen in his life. The boy in question easily stood half a head taller than Naruto, usually seen in a beige martial arts top with a v-neck opening in front as well as matching brown pants. From what the blond had found out, Lee was one year older than him in the academy, and was frequently looked down by his peers since he was unable to mold chakra due to a birth defect, and as a result could not perform even the simplest of ninjutsu.

"So be it! With enough guts and hard work, I'll definitely prove to everyone that even a failure like me can become a great shinobi! That's everything to me!" was what Lee told him when they had first become friends, and Naruto really respected him for his determination. Having devoted all his time into hand-to-hand combat skills, the bowl-cut boy was easily the best taijutsu user Naruto had ever met, the latter briefly wondering how someone of such skill could even be labelled a failure. One morning, when the blond had sincerely sought Lee out for some pointers in an attempt to improve his katas, the older boy had replied exuberantly with a big thumbs-up and sparkling teeth grin, much to his delight.

Ever since then, Naruto had, without fail, made it part of his routine to practice with Lee every morning. The two would usually kick off with a light sprint, followed closely by a series of push-ups, sit-ups and the like before they would work on taijutsu katas. The boys got along pretty well, and Naruto considered himself really, really lucky to have met Lee then, often viewing him like a big brother of sorts. The older boy would patiently move around him and help correcting the mistakes in his flawed stances until he got them right, while throwing in some words of encouragement in the process. They would also spar sometimes, and although Naruto never stood a chance of winning so far, he kept working harder, never complaining or giving up.

"Yosh! For this one, you'll need to move your feet closer together, for more balance. Yes, that's better. Now hold your right fist up a little higher, and keep it firm, like this. Not too tight. Good, keep it that way. You're doing great, Naruto-kun!"Lee coached during one of their morning practices. When Naruto had first shown him all the academy katas he had learned during his first year, the taijutsu-oriented youth quickly pointed out that there were tons of glaring holes in his stances, and it was only then the blond realized his instructor at that time must have taught him the moves wrongly on purpose; he was pretty sure of that fact now, because the more mistakes he corrected under Lee's guidance, the more natural the katas felt to him.

Just to be on the safe side, the blond had requested Lee to keep his presence here a secret, not wanting anyone else, especially not the villagers to find out where he was. Much to his relief, Lee agreed without any questions, both trusting and respecting Naruto's privacy on the matter. As weeks went by, Naruto's taijutsu skills had really grown remarkably with Lee's help, evident when the blond nearly ended in a draw during a friendly spar with Uchiha Sasuke, the top student of his class. Though thrilled by this development, Naruto did not stop there, instead redoubling his efforts to improve himself further.

It was also under Lee's suggestion that Naruto decided to pay the local ninja equipment store a visit, which was what he was doing right now.

'It should be around here... Ah, found it!'

Naruto looked up from the small piece of paper with Lee's written directions on it, his feet coming to a stop before this humble-looking building with two floors. A large sign above him proudly proclaimed 'Tagarashi's Shinobi Gears' in big silver letters, the place as a whole looking just as normal as the rest of the shophouses in the area. And Naruto, under his Henge of a random white-haired male academy student, took a readying breath before pushing through the double wooden doors as politely as he could.

"Welcome! How may I help you?"

The blond was greeted almost immediately the moment a small bell tinkled overhead as he stepped into the store. The friendly-sounding voice belonged to a young girl behind the counter who looked no older than Lee, her midnight black hair tied up neatly in twin buns. Attire-wise, she clothed herself in a sleeveless, pink Chinese-styled top, ended with dark blue pants below the clothing. At a first sight's glance, Naruto was pretty sure he had seen the girl somewhere in the academy, but he just could not remember when.

"Uhm," Naruto put up a smile, trying his best to be as polite as possible. "I'm looking for some training weights, do you sell them here?"

"Training weights? Wow! It's been a while since we have anyone wanting those," the girl's expression lit up almost instantly, looking very intrigued at Naruto's request. Perhaps a little too excited, in the boy's opinion. "May I know what kind of weights are you looking for? And the size? Oh, and also.."

Other words were spoken, but Naruto did not really catch them. Instead, he gave her a nervous look; Lee had only told him to get himself some training weights, but did not specify which kind of it. 'Uh, maybe he wants me to decide for myself.' Naruto mused, not really knowing what to think.

"Oi Tenten, don't scare the customer," a new voice interrupted from behind the girl now identified as Tenten, and this one belonged obviously to a man as he walked in from the back room, carrying a wooden crate of goods in his arms. From what Naruto could see, this individual was rather tall, most probably in his late thirties, wearing a simple white top and looking quite muscular. Scars, jagged-looking and likely gotten from combat decorated his right cheek, and with one look Naruto could easily guess that the man was probably Tenten's father, since they both shared the same hair color and hazel brown eyes. Turning to their spiky-haired customer, he grinned.

"Hello, name's Tagarashi Tetsuka, owner of this humble store. And she's my daughter, Tagarashi Tenten," he turned to her, while placing the load in his arms onto the counter table. "Tenten, show our customer around so he'll have a better idea what he's looking for, alright?"

"Leave it to me!" the girl bobbed her head in acknowledgement, before looking forward to face Naruto. "Come on, I'll lead the way." With an eager nod and hoping everything would go smoothly for him, Naruto was just about to follow after her, but not the girl's father chose this moment to interrupt him.

"Ah, yes, before that, please kindly drop the Henge," the man gave Naruto a expectant look, his eyes studying him knowingly. "It's always my policy here to know exactly who I'm selling my goods to."

'What? But.. how…?' Naruto, who clearly did not expect that, was rooted on the spot. He had been so sure there were absolutely no mistakes in his disguised form before he made his way inside, so how..? This was not supposed to happen... no way..

As if seeing the words forming on Naruto's lips, Tetsuka decided to answer the unasked question, "I was a jounin before I decided to retire, for your information."

'...of course. Why didn't I think of that before..?' The young Uzumaki bit his lips nervously, mentally berating himself for his lack of forethought in the matter. It was totally possible for someone who was running a shinobi equipment store to be one of them as well, or at least used to be one, in this case. The logic had been so obvious, and yet it had never crossed his mind until he got caught in his current predicament. 'Guess it doesn't really matter now.'

A former jounin... If what the man had said about once having that particular rank was really the truth, then Naruto saw absolutely no point of hiding behind his disguise any longer. Sighing, the boy's shoulders slumped in a defeated fashion, cancelling the transformation technique and revealing his real self - blond hair, whiskers-marked cheeks and everything. His blue eyes watched as Tenten's father looked taken aback for a brief second, and the boy felt his hope sinking to the deepest pits of his stomach.

Having fully expecting himself to get thrown out, Naruto chose to do it himself, his face downcast as he was about to turn around towards the exit. However, what he saw out of the corners of his eyes in the next second was something he had expected the least - the man smiled. Naruto was shocked, and he looked up to make sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him.

The man had actually smiled! He really did!

And it was different from those fake smiles he had seen from the other shopkeepers, too! Different from those who would overprice even the smallest thing he wanted to purchase. This one felt so sincere and kind, and the only other adults he had seen giving him these kinds of smiles were his teacher Iruka, the Sandaime, the ramen chef Teuchi and his daughter Ayame who worked at Ichiraku, his favourite eatery stall. Somehow, Naruto felt some of the nervousness from earlier evaporated into thin air, and he started to calm down.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Tetsuka's voice brought Naruto's mind back to the present, as the blond turned his attention to the man and nodded, albeit still a bit timidly and looking somewhat perplexed. Tetsuka continued smiling, and even Tenten, too, showed only the slightest bit of curiosity as of why he had to disguise himself inside their store, but was still smiling as amicably as she was before. Naruto swallowed hard, not really knowing what to say... or think for that matter. Thankfully, the shop owner helped him by changing the topic.

"Now, I believe you're here for some training weights?"

"Eh? O-oh," Naruto nodded again, firmer this time as the rush of warm feeling began to thaw his nervousness.

"Then come this way, please. Follow me," Tenten beckoned with a wave of her hand for the boy to come, and he did, though he still had that disbelieving expression from earlier plastered on his face. 'They actually let me in here?'

It was Naruto's first time inside a shinobi store, so he grabbed the chance to really take a good look around the place, pausing for a moment whenever his blue eyes caught sight of anything interesting. In all honestly, the blond found every single thing here interesting; he couldn't help but watch in wonder as Tenten led him past a great collection of shiny new kunais, shurikens and other pointy stuff along the way, as well as some of the longer weapons like katanas, ninjatos and bo staffs all lined up neatly in polished glass cases. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes one could ever think of, and that, in Naruto's opinion, certainly made everything look twice as fascinating.

'This place is so cool!'

Other ninja tools such as smoke pellets and what seemed to be exploding tags —from what Naruto could recall from one of the pictures in his academy textbooks— were stacked neatly in more durable containers, while ninja armors as well as protective vests of all kinds occupied the opposite wall of the shop, each of them very sturdy-looking and awesome... okay, maybe save for that one at the corner which sported a rather spooky design, to Naruto's eyes at least. Though, it was then he remembered that he had forgotten to do something rather important.

"Oh! Uhm… I'm Naruto, by the way. Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto pointed at himself as Tenten continued leading the way around the store, the boy not wanting to be rude since the shop owners had already introduced themselves earlier. A rather guilty tone weighed down his voice as he continued, "And sorry about the Henge earlier.. well..I.. it's just that…" he swallowed hard, "I mean… most of the people doesn't like me much, so.."

"I.. see. Then it's alright, I don't mind," Tenten nodded, feeling quite sympathetic about the younger boy's plight. Although a part of her was really dying to ask why, she did not attempt to prod the touchy issue any further, having been taught to respect a customer and all. But even if she did, Naruto wouldn't have an answer ready; he had been mulling over the same question again and again ever since he was much younger, but no one would tell him the answer. Turning around, Tenten placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze, "Well, here is different. So make yourself comfortable, ne? Relax."

"Thanks," Naruto allowed a grin to rise slowly on his face. He was starting to like this place. It was already hard enough to believe he had met a shopkeeper who actually accepted his presence, not to mention said person was friendly towards him. Feeling a change in the conversation topic would be nice, Naruto decided to do just that.

"Tenten-san, are you in the ninja academy? I think I might have seen you before."

"'Tenten-san'?" she blinked, pausing in her steps for a brief moment, and Naruto wondered if he had accidentally offended her or anything. Though, before the blond could say anything on the matter, said girl just looked sheepishly at him. "Eh... you're being over polite, but really, just call me Tenten," the bun-haired girl added with a smile. "And yes, I'm currently in my third year."

'Oh, she's in the same year as Lee!' Naruto noted quickly. 'One of his classmates, probably.'

"Naruto, was it?" when she received an affirmative nod in return, she went on. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you into training weights?" She quickly added. "Not that I'm trying to pry or anything, just kinda curious. It's really been a while since we have customers looking for those, you know."

"Ah, that.. actually.." Naruto grinned, looking as if he was thinking of how to put his reason into words before he began to explain rather enthusiastically, "I'm just taking a suggestion from a good friend. Says they'll do me good for my speed and stamina in the long run."

Tenten nodded in approval. It was quite rare to see someone younger than her taking physical training this seriously, but it was not unheard of. And finally, after walking past a myriad of weapons, shinobi vests and more weapons along the way, they stopped before a large metal rack on which Naruto believed to be laden with training weights.

"Well, here we are! Feel free to try any of them if you want, but please be careful," Tenten turned to the various objects on the rack with a sweeping gesture. "Some are really, really heavy."

Naruto allowed his eyes to roam through the assortments of equipment, one at a time. He first started checking on the dumb bells as well as some bulky-looking straps, and even noticed the same weight rods Lee was using in his training, but decided those were not what he thought would suit him. And so, he kept searching.

At last, his eyes were drawn to a set of black-colored bands, which outwardly looked no different like those ordinary ones made from normal fabric. Two wristbands and ankle bands, to be exact. Carefully taking one of the wristbands, Naruto fully expected it to be heavy, but much to his surprise, it weighed exactly as light as what a normal fabric band could be. Unsure of what to think, he furrowed his brows, looking at it in confusion. This was supposed to be a training weight, right?

"Chakra weights, one of our very best," Tetsuka said suddenly and appeared behind Tenten, startling both of the youngsters as they jumped slightly. Tenten crossed her arms and huffed, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'What happened to not scaring the customer?'. Laughing heartily at the sight, Tetsuka turned to Naruto, who was snickering a little at this and waiting eagerly for him to elaborate more. Unknowingly, the blond was beginning to feel at ease around those two.

"These are waterproof, and made out of very durable threads. The mesh coverings along the surface would allow more comfort and let your skin breathe," the shop owner went through the details of his product expertly, going into what Tenten dubbed as 'business mode'. "And what makes them special is that unlike our other training weights that held a fixed amount on them, these are adjustable; they have weight seals placed inside by an expert seal master. Following so far?"

The ten-year-old nodded that he understood the most part, taking a better look at the one he was currently holding. Sealing arts, based on what Naruto had heard, were notoriously known for the sheer difficulties to gain complete mastery over them; the blond had come across little tiny bits of introductory parts about seals in his studies, but that was all. That did not mean he was uninterested, however, as he was eager to find out how to activate the weight seals at the moment.

"Now, all you need to do," the man began again, slowly so that Naruto can understand, "Is to push some chakra into it for roughly three seconds, and depending on how much you've put in, it will have an increase of weight accordingly. Am I safe to assume that you know the basics of chakra channeling?"

At this, Naruto nodded again, now with an big grin adorning his whiskered face. The very skill was what required to maintain Henge no Jutsu properly, after all.

"Good, then please go ahead," Tetsuka returned with a smile of his own, inwardly noting how much his customer's contagious grin seemed to have affected him as well. It certainly reminded him of a person he once knew very well. "Go on, give it a try."

And Naruto did, as he strapped one wristband around his right wrist, before pushing from his center what he thought to be a small amount of chakra, and directed the warm feeling into it. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but suddenly he found himself stumbling a little when he felt his right arm began sagging downwards due to the increase in weight - evidently he had poured a little too much chakra into it.

"W-woah.." Naruto muttered, amazed at how much effort he needed to just simply lift his right hand back up. "Uh.. How do I return it to normal?"

"Ah, it's easy. You simply have focus on it like what you did before, but instead pushing chakra, try to feel as if you're trying to pull the chakra out of it instead. The seals will do the rest, they're designed to work that way."

Naruto mouthed an 'oh' in understanding, and quickly decided to give it a go. Doing exactly just like what he was told, the boy tried imagining himself calling the warm energy he had just supplied into the wristband back to him. A second or two passed, he was not sure, and…

"Wow," Naruto waved his right arm and looked in wonder at the black weight band once again, now feeling as light as it was before. It was simply astounding what seals could do, and whoever designed this must be nothing short of a genius, in the boy's opinion. "I did it! All right!"

Tetsuka took a second to glance at of the pure, sparkling interest in Naruto's eyes, and based on what his past experiences and gut feeling told him, he smiled inwardly; it would seem that a really hard worker had stumbled into their store, and he was pretty damn sure of it. The shopkeeper's attention was brought back to to the present again, however, when he saw Naruto's mouth opened to say something.

"This is awesome!" the blond grinned widely as he repeated the whole process for a few more times, before his shoulders visibly drooped as a sudden thought began to sink in. "But… I'm guessing they're really expensive?"

"It'll be four thousand ryou, for the whole set. And these are the last ones we have at the moment, as the materials and sealing expertise needed to make them are pretty difficult to come by these days."

Four thousand ryou. Upon hearing the amount, Naruto swallowed hard. That amount of money would mean almost two-third of his overall savings from the monthly allowances, given to him by the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Though, taking notice of Naruto's increasingly troubled look, Tetsuka felt a part of him grew softer, "Though I think I could give you a small discount, for being our first customer of the day."

That said, Naruto perked up immediately with a hopeful expression. He could not believe what he had just heard! Even Tenten shared a similar expression, her mouth gaping and perfectly imitating a fish. No way, that did not just happen! She had never seen her father giving discounts to anyone! Not even the Sandaime Hokage himself!

Ignoring their shocked looks, Tetsuka reached forward and placed his hand on Naruto's untamed, blond spikes of hair, patting them fondly. "Well, that and it's been quite a while since I've seen someone your age taking training this seriously. So how does three thousand and five hundred ryou sound?"

A slight frown marred Naruto's face as he contemplated the pros and cons of his two available choices. Buying normal, non-adjustable weights like the weight rods would definitely be cheaper, no question about it, but he would need to replace them with heavier ones when he got used to their weights. Moreover, wearing normal weights would put him in a disadvantageous position; he would have no choice but to stop and remove them if he ever need a speed boost in sticky situations such as, say, escaping from the village mob or in the middle of a fight.

On the other hand, these adjustable chakra weight bands were way different! He could wear them anywhere he go, and he just had to pour in more chakra to increase their weights when he got used to the current ones. The material used to make them was very elastic too, so he would have no problem to continue using them even as he grew physically. To add icing to the cake, he could return them to their original lightweights anytime without having to take them off, which would give him tremendous advantage in situations where he could surprise his foes with a sudden increase in speed. That thought, above all else, sealed Naruto's decision to pick the latter choice for all its advantages in the long run.

"Sure! I'm buying the chakra weight bands then, Tetsuka-san."

"That'll be three thousand and five hundred ryou total," the shop owner told him, nodding. "And is there anything else you might need?"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, and he grinned, "I guess I'll take some chakra papers, too."

After paying for his purchase as well as bidding the father and daughter goodbye, Naruto made a beeline back to his apartment, feeling glad that there were only a few people in the streets since it was still early. Some of them gave him the usual, cold look, but the boy ignored them; he was far too excited for anyone to spoil his good mood today.

Once Naruto was out of earshot, Tenten turned to her father, with a confused, questioning look in her hazel brown eyes. Okay, something strange was definitely going on here. Her father giving discounts was one thing, but there was another issue that troubled her mind right now, and she really needed some answers. It wasn't like her father was one to make such obvious mistake, right?

"Tou-san, the actual price of the training weights just now... it was not four thousand ryou, but forty thousand, am I right? But, you... why?"

'Huh. I knew she'd ask that.'

Sighing internally, Tetsuka understood that he could not tell his daughter the complicated truth; only Naruto could, that was, if he ever find out in his life. Instead, the man decided to respond with the closest answer he could manage, his eyes still gazing at the path outside their store where Naruto had been seconds ago. Just now, for even the slightest moment, he could have sworn he saw the image of a certain spiky-haired, blond Hokage grinning proudly behind the boy as he disappeared into the distance.

'Seriously, take away the whisker marks and you'll have an exact carbon copy of the Yondaime. How come none of the villagers is smart enough to see that?'

"Maa.. just doing a favor for an old friend of mine," Tetsuka smiled enigmatically, revealing nothing else. Tenten just pouted at the vague reply, causing the man to laugh heartily at her. Before the girl could question further, however, the timely arrival of a new customer quickly distracted her out of her thoughts.

"Welcome!"

Back in Naruto's apartment room..

The walls here were painted a cheery shade of baby blue as far as Naruto could remember, and his home was really simple — a moderate space equipped with an all-purpose room at the front which served as both his living as well as bedroom, followed by a small kitchen at the back, and finally a washroom where he would normally clean himself up every day. This place had a strategic sense of being located within direct sight of the Sandaime from his office atop the Hokage tower — something which Naruto was extremely grateful for, as the fear of angering the powerful man kept the villagers from vandalizing it.

The modest living area where Naruto currently found himself in was clean but pretty bare for the most part. Atop a wooden wardrobe at the side where he kept all his clothes stood a desk calendar as well as an alarm clock, accompanied by a full length mirror hanging on the wall next to it. Small pots of leafy green plants could be seen around the corners and hanging from the ceiling, all well taken care of with a few of them bearing flowers. A simple, single-layered bed lay just a couple of steps away from a ramen poster by the glass windows, with a blue swirl-patterned blanket folded neatly on top of it.

All in all, it was not much, but it was home.

Back to the situation at hand, Naruto was rather eager to try out his new training weights; he quickly put on the black bands, strapping the correct pair snugly around his wrists and ankles. Channeling different amounts of chakra into one of them, the boy experimented with the increase in weights before he finally decided on a suitable amount of resistance to start with. He did the same with the other three by channeling roughly the same amount of chakra he had fed into the first one, of course.

"This feels.. rather... awkward," Naruto said to no one in particular as he tried moving his limbs; he could still move them, but it was much slower than usual due to the added weight. Then, a determined look spread across his demeanor; he was never one to back down from a challenge. "But heh, I gotta start from somewhere, right? I could get used to this."

He engrossed himself with the newly bought training weights for a little longer, before making his way over to the blue futon where he had left his other purchase, slowly as his body was still adjusting to the new weight. Naruto proceeded to peel a single piece of the chakra paper and hold it in his hand, studying it intently. Just as the books had described it, the card-sized paper looked no different than ordinary ones at all.

'Let's see.. if my chakra nature is fire, the paper will burn, if water, it gets damp, lightning, it crinkles, wind, it gets cut up, and earth, it crumbles to dust.' Naruto recited inside his mind exactly what he had read from the book. Now, if he just flow a little amount of chakra through the paper, he would find out the nature of his chakra.

The boy swallowed hard, eyeing the thin object intently for a little longer. His hands were shaking slightly in excitement as he did exactly what he should – channeling the smallest amount of chakra he could into the small piece of paper. He closed his eyes… and waited. When his cerulean orbs greeted the results a second later, his mouth opened in realization.

The entire piece of paper had become damp, and there was a small cut at the end of it.

"Water… and wind," Naruto breathed in disbelief, his smile quickly replaced by a grin. He had natural affinity towards two types of chakra! Just to make sure it was not a mistake, he peeled off another piece of the special paper from the small stack he had purchased and did the same procedure again, but it still produce similar results. He grinned widely; according to the book, it was usually known only for jounin level shinobi to possess two chakra natures, and it was still a pretty rare chance for it to happen. Knowing this, it was impossible for him to not be in his good mood at his latest discovery.

Since water was his main affinity, Naruto figured he should borrow some more books to get better understanding on it, before attempting to learn any of the lower rank Suiton jutsus from the scrolls available in the Konoha library. Oh, and borrowing a jutsu scroll itself should not be that big of a problem, since all he needed to do was to Henge into a Konoha Genin to access.. well, the Genin's corner of course. Also, it was the very same civilian librarian on the Academy section who was responsible for that particular corner, so this would be a piece of cake to him. No problem.

A few days later, in the Konoha Local Library…

Naruto could be seen busying himself at the Genin's ninjutsu section, under his usual disguise of course. Since it was near noon, there were not much people around in the library, so the boy had most of the space for himself as he feasted his eyes to the moderately-sized rack, packed with D-rank to at most low C-rank ninjutsu scrolls. During his search, Naruto discovered that there were not much scrolls on water-related techniques, so his options were pretty limited. Getting into a thinking pose, he mused over the most suitable one to start with.

'Hmm? This one should be good.'

Naruto's nodded to no one in particular as his eyes skimmed thoughtfully over the content of a blue Suiton ninjutsu scroll he was currently reading. Though it was stated as a low C-rank, Naruto could recall the jutsu's name somewhere inside one of the best books he had read by far, and this jutsu was greatly recommended by the author for beginners. Who was the author again? Naruto was pretty sure it was someone named Senju Tobirama or something like that, and though the name now did sound vaguely familiar, he did not remember when he had come across it. Naruto decided let that thought slip his mind.

"Alright, then it's decided," Naruto whispered under his breath, his excitement barely containable inside his mind. "I'll give this one a shot!"

Three and a half months later…

"Suiton…"

Naruto inhaled deeply as he did the necessary handseals in a fluid motion, three in total for the very same low C-rank water ninjutsu he had been learning from the borrowed scroll. Lee had left some time ago, so the boy was left to his own devices, currently facing the lake at the end of his favorite training field.

It got plenty hot during this time of the month, and knowing from his first day experience that practicing water ninjutsu would mean getting himself wet quite often, Naruto had shucked his black tee shirt for better comfort. That left him in only his usual pair of gray drawstring shorts which went a little past his knees, followed by blue shinobi sandals. Worn snugly around his wrists and ankles were, of course, the chakra weight bands that he had purchased not long ago; Naruto had been wearing them to everywhere he went, steadily increasing their weights by a little after every week.

Physique-wise, Naruto was no longer the skinny boy he once was during his earlier childhood, now looking more filled up ever since he had gained easier access to more nutritious food using his Henge no Jutsu. He still loved ramen nevertheless, but he tried to have a more balanced diet whenever he could.

Faint lines of boyish muscles were beginning to show on his young body, particularly on his biceps, chest and abdominal as a result of his regular physical workouts with Lee — a testament to all the hard work he had been through. Naruto had gained a little but noticeable amount of height as compared to his first year in the academy, too.

"…Mizurappa!"

Pushing the estimated amount of chakra to his mouth, the boy puffed his cheeks and expelled a strong jet spray of water, which spread out like a cone of swirling wave towards the lake. The end result was a semi loud explosion as the pressurized blast collided violently against the serene lake surface, sending splashes to its surroundings.

This was his twelfth repetition for the morning, and Naruto grinned in satisfaction as he watched the jutsu ended; it had taken him a little more than five weeks to be able to perform the jutsu correctly, which was pretty incredible, considering the fact that he was still only an academy student and had worked it out all by himself through a long process of trials and errors.

During Naruto's first few dozen of attempts, all he could do was tiny, feeble squirt of water. Though, looking at what he could do with the jutsu now, he was really glad he had not given up trying back then. As soon as he could perform it right, he had been practicing the technique over and over again, like what he was doing just then; if there was one thing Naruto had unconsciously picked up from Lee, it was that practice made perfect.

According to an illustrated book by that same Tobirama person, Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Violent Water Wave) was one of the commonly-used jutsu for shinobi to create their own supply of water for more devastating Suiton ninjutsus, and depending on the amount of chakra he fed into the technique, its strength was also varied. 'A pretty neat one.' Naruto admitted.

Salty beads of sweat rolled down his face, intermingling with the droplets of water that had splashed onto his skin from earlier practices and tracing down the rest of his uncovered skin. Brushing away a sweat-drenched spike of blond hair plastering against his forehead, Naruto grabbed a towel he had brought along with him and quickly cleaned himself up, noting that he still had a good half an hour left before the academy class would start on that morning.

With a content sigh, Naruto plopped backwards and stretched out in a comfortable sprawl, the stalks of dewy grass as well as light breeze coming as a cool relief to his skin. The blond grinned when a bird fluttered down to perch on his shoulder, chirped at him cheerily, and then flew off to the distance; for some reason, smaller animals always seemed to be rather attached to him. Watching serenely as a few leaves floated gently to the ground to join several more of them on the sea of green, he savored the peace a little longer, before finally springing back to his feet once he decided he should probably get going.

'Wouldn't want to be late,' Naruto told himself as he picked off a few leaves that got stuck to his back and hair. The preteen promptly reached down and collected his shirt from where he had left it on the grass, before pulling the garment over his head. It had been a good day so far - his training was coming along great, and his morning was shaping up just nicely….

Until now.

Just as his head popped out from the top opening of the soft cotton, Naruto's smile faded when he caught a sliver of movement on the periphery of his senses, which was followed by a strange, unnatural rustling noise coming from a thick distant bush outside the training field.

Alarmed, the blond jerked towards the direction and suspected a large animal, probably a deer, but his gut feeling told him otherwise; throughout all the times he had trained in this area, he had never seen any animals bigger than birds around here. 'What was that just now?' It made him uneasy, somehow. With curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto hastily finished getting dressed and decided to take a look.

Something fishy was definitely going on, he just knew it.

Naruto approached as noiselessly as he could along the way, pausing a few times to look around in uncertainty as he moved onward. It did not take him long before he took a careful peek behind the bush, and what he saw, however, shocked him. There, lying on the grassy ground was a girl with her arms and legs tied up and her mouth gagged with a fistful of cloth, and what surprised him more was the fact that she was someone he had known too well.

'No way... It can't be...'

"Hinata?" the boy gasped, shock evident on his face. The girl's head snapped up almost immediately at the mention of her name, her expression morphed into a hopeful one as she looked at her familiar blond-haired friend, her pale white eyes welling with unshed tears. From his position, Naruto noticed she had no wounds on her person, and that calmed him down a little. But what the heck was going on here?

"What happened?" Naruto asked in genuine concern, as he quickly approached the girl. "Who did this to you?"

He could tell Hinata was trying to say something, but whatever that came out of her throat were muffled by the gag in her mouth. The first course of action Naruto had instinctively decided in his mind, naturally, was to free the girl of her restraints. He was only halfway in his steps, however, when he saw her pearly white eyes widened in shock. Hinata's hair whipped back and forth as she shook her head frantically in alarm, as if warning him about some unforeseen danger lurking around the area. It was then a new presence decided to make himself known.

"Ho... And I was hoping none of you stupid tree-huggers would find this place…"

The ten-year-old blond felt his blood freeze over as an unfamiliar voice drawled from behind him. It was unmistakably a man's, the tone coming relaxed and unmotivated, but Naruto felt otherwise as a sense of foreboding began washing over his senses. Whoever it was was definitely unfriendly, and his previous speech hinted the blond that this man did not, by any chance, belong to Konoha.

"But it turns out to be just some random brat.. oh well.."

Just as the last syllable reached Naruto's ears, his eyes widened just in time to catch a glimpse of a gleaming silver metal — a kunai in the stranger's hold, its sharp tip heading straight towards his neck without warning. There was no time for anything else, and every instinct inside of him screamed only a single word. He had to—

'MOVE!'

Time seemed to stand stock still at the moment; Naruto willed his body to move out of harm's way, Hinata's eyes widened even further as she saw the kunai descended in slow motion at her spiky-haired friend, and the mysterious assailant had a strangely sadistic grin on his face. There was a metallic flash of cold steel, a rustle of leaves, and the sickening noise of kunai greeting flesh echoed in the still morning air.

~End chapter 1~

Tadah, a cliffhanger! *grins evilly at the readers*. And yes, a Suiton-chakra Naruto. So how was it? Good? Bad? Any suggestions? Feel free to throw in some reviews so I can know what you guys think about this chapter.

See you next time! And Chapter 2 will be more action-packed, so be sure to look forward to it.

Ja ne~