The Red in Orange and Purple

by SanDemonMax

Boy saves girl from bullies. Boy's scarf suffers, but girl saves it. With physical proof of their meeting, Naruto asserts himself as Hinata's friend, and when she fixes the scarf, she becomes someone precious to him. Even one person to well and truly fight for can make a world of difference. T for language and safety.

1. Introduction

Disclaimer: I'm gonna own a Mustang, soon. Does it count if I call it Naruto?

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Bleary blue eyes opened up at the incessant beeping invading his dreams. He glared at the offender and noted the time to be 8:00, one hour before school, before slamming the alarm's off button. He then sat up in bed and stretched big, yawning. A quick glance at the calendar woke him up the rest of the way.

"Aw, crap! Team assignments are today, dammit! Iruka-sensei'll chew my ass if I'm late for this, y'know!"

Naruto jumped out of bed and grabbed his jumpsuit before rushing to the bathroom to shower. Just as the clock struck 8:15, Naruto, fully dressed and drying his head, stepped back out and strapped his shuriken holster to his leg.

That done, he headed for the kitchen and pulled out an oatmeal bar (courtesy of Iruka-sensei helping him shop) before moving to the front door and smiling as he took off the last piece of cloth hanging on the hook and wrapping his neck.

Ready to go, he left his apartment and locked up, before jumping the guard rail to the ground and running towards school even as he ate, red scarf whipping in the wind behind him.

Starting today, I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage! I'll prove my worth to everyone, y'know. Lord Fourth, old man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, Hinata…watch me!

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How's THAT for a prologue! … Way too short for my taste, actually. Did I mention the writer's block? I'm gonna see if doing another story can distract me from worrying too much about Ripples of a Pebble as I slowly – SLOWLY – make notes for the first Zabuza fight.

Bleh.

This story is gonna follow Naruto. The difference is his scarf mostly surviving the fight with those bullies that ganged on the two; Hinata, having some materials, did a quick patch job of major holes.

With the scarf being a tangible proof of his meeting Hinata, Naruto made an effort to be friends, as I plan to explain in flashbacks. So how's this going to affect him? Fuck if I know; give me a week to flesh this out.

Don't be too worried about RoaP, I'm not abandoning it. My brain is abandoning me.

Thanks for reading!