Author's Note: The second of my two Bakugan Dan/Shun fics. This one will be updated as often as I can. The stories themselves are interconnected, but it's more like a series of connected oneshots than anything else.

If you aren't interested in the romantic aspect of their relationship, just stop at the chapter called "First Crush"!

Review if you feel like it.

Strangers

Shun Kazami was six years old when he started kindergarten, already a year behind his classmates. Yet, he was still two inches shorter than the rest. And, at six years old, two inches was a very, very big deal.

He stared through the gates of the playground at all the other students. Some were big. Some were small. Some looked very friendly; and some looked very, very mean. Shun swallowed hard and gripped his Naruto backpack strap tightly. Beside him, his mother patted his head.

"You'll be fine," she said, smiling down at him. "You're wonderful and very smart. I bet you'll make ten friends before the end of the week."

Shun looked up at his mother, then looked back at the playground. He didn't see anyone he wanted to be friends with. And in his traditional Japanese clothing, he looked very different from them. Shun swallowed hard and bit his lip.

"But what if they hate me?" asked Shun in a small voice.

His mother sighed and crouched down in front of him. She gripped his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "They won't hate you." She tucked a lock of his dark hair behind one ear. "Yes, Shun, you look different, but that's not a bad thing. You know a lot of things. You're good at sports. You know your alphabet and your numbers already. And you're very observant."

Shun cocked his head at the last word. What did observant mean? His mother smiled and shook her head.

"You'll make friends," she said, firmly. "It might take some time, but you will." She grinned. "Besides, you speak Japanese and can watch anime without subtitles, how many other kids can do that?"

Shun stared at his mom with a raised eyebrow. "Mom," he said, with the infinite wisdom only children had. "We live in Japan."

His mother blinked, then started chuckling quietly. "That is a fair point," she said. She tweaked his nose and stood up. "But we live in an English speaking part of Japan, buster. Don't you pretend you know everything." She waved him toward the gate. "Now go. Make friends. Learn things. Then you can tell me all about how much I don't know."

Shun took a deep breath and hugged his mom tightly around the waist. She hugged him back and bent to kiss the top of his head. Then, Shun stepped back, bowed to his mother like he'd been taught, and pushed open the gate to kindergarten.

The change was more instant than he'd thought it would be. He went from a relatively empty path with his mom to a yard full of children all slightly taller than he was. He took a deep breath, schooled his expression to one of polite interest, and walked across the yard.

The further in he went, the louder the noise got. Shouts and shrieks filled his ears, spiralling up into the air and surrounding the space like a thick fog. Several boys ran by in front of Shun. One was holding up an action figure of a ninja turtle – Shun thought it might have been Donatello – and the others were holding up toy cars or planes.

"Guys, come back!" shouted a boy. Shun turned just in time for the boy to smack into him. The two went tumbling into the ground. Shun's backpack got knocked off. His head hit the bag as he fell. The boy sprawled on top of him.

"Ow," said the boy, rubbing his head. Shun blinked up at him. He was a bit bigger than him, with spiky brown hair and bright brown eyes.

"Are you okay?" asked the boy, staring down at him. Shun nodded, rubbing his head. The boy stood up and held out a hand to Shun. Shun took it and let himself get pulled to his feet. Grinning, the boy cocked his head to one side at Shun. His gaze swept across Shun's hair and outfit. For a moment, he looked puzzled.

Then, "Hey, Dan, are you coming?" shouted the boy holding Donatello. Dan turned and grinned at the other boys, then took off running toward them.

Shun shook his head, picked up his backpack, and went to find a nice tree to sit under to read his Naruto manga.