It was early afternoon in Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves, and a cool breeze was in the air. Many students of the ninja academy were on their lunch break and sitting outside the main campus; one, however, was not present. Under normal circumstances, no one would have noticed his absence, but his Sensei, Iruka, had just left the building looking to speak with him. Iruka was a tall man with dark skin and even darker brown hair; he had been a teacher there the entire time Naruto, his missing pupil, had attended the academy.

As he searched the grounds, he heard cries for the Lord Hokage, the village leader, and knew Naruto had to be involved. He was off in an instant, knowing that he of all people would be able to stop Naruto from whatever nonsense he had been planning this time. Naruto was constantly trying to get the attention of those around him, for his parents were both deceased. He lived in an apartment of his own and, while the Hokage may have considered him a charity case, he worked despite attending school.

Iruka followed the band of ninja to the Great Stone Hokage Faces, a tribute to the four Hokage that had led the village. From the left, the faces were lined it preceding order, from the first Hokage, whom had founded the village, to the fourth Hokage, whom had sacrificed his life to protect the world from a demon.

Sure enough, Naruto appeared to have snuck out of school and was causing more trouble. The faces had been vandalized and defaced; paint had been used to draw ridiculous markings on the faces of the village leaders. One in particular stood out to Iruka, the one of the present Hokage. Naruto had painted tears flowing from the eyes of the Third and blood flowing from both nostrils. As he looked to the Fourth, he noticed a swirl design such as that which was located on the back of Naruto's orange-red jacket.

Iruka walked onto a stone platform that was extended from the street. It was obvious that the extension was added for those who so desired to stare at the faces, which many people happened to do quite frequently. Iruka walked to the rail that was protecting people from falling off the ledge into the canyon and placed one foot on top of it. He looked to his left at the disapproving eyes of the Third and quickly stated, "I'm sorry, honorable Third Hokage, Naruto managed to sneak out of school while I wasn't looking."

The older man looked at Iruka: he must have been over seventy years old, but his energy was amazing. Even at his age, he was considered the strongest in the village, but at the same time, he considered everyone in the village as family to him. Iruka knew that the Third wasn't going to stop Naruto, that he had deliberately allowed him to do this stunt, waiting for one of his teachers to stop him. He also knew that this was Naruto's only real way of expressing how he felt.

Iruka looked up to the Great Stone Faces and the boy that was hovering by a rope in front of them. He was rather impressed that Naruto would go this far, but at the same time disappointed. He looked intently at the small orange figure that was holding the paint and took a deep breath.

"Naruto, you idiot!" he screamed.

Naruto jolted and turned around in horror. The boy was only twelve years old and about four feet tall, but he feared no one…that is, no one but Iruka-sensei. Naruto wouldn't admit it, but he saw Iruka-sensei as a sort of father figure, one of authority that would punish him for any wrong doings. The boy looked at Iruka for a moment, and it was obvious he was looking for the words to say.

"I-Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelped, surprised that he had noticed he was missing.

"Naruto! What do you think you're doing to the Hokage faces!?" Iruka bellowed back at him.

Nearly half an hour had passed, and both Iruka and Naruto were back at the ninja academy. The classroom they were in resembled that of a college classroom, with no separate desks and benches instead of separate chairs. There were only four rows of these benches, each a layer higher up and a foot or so back from the others. They were separated in the middle so as to create eight benches, each angled as to get a view of the Chuunin instructor in the front center of the room.

There were around twenty students in Iruka's class, including Naruto, and they had only been waiting a few moments before Iruka had returned with a bound Naruto. There were no gasps at the site, merely laughter from everybody in the classroom. Well, everybody, save one: a young girl by the name of Hyuuga Hinata.

Where Naruto was rather broad for his age, Hinata was thin and frail looking; where Naruto's hair was a vibrant blonde, Hinata's was a dark bluish black. In many aspects, they were complete opposites. He had darker skin and rough looking features while she was pale and was the epitome of what a Main Branch heiress should be, feminine. He had bright, cerulean blue eyes, while her eyes were a majestic opal, but being that she was a Hyuuga, she had no pupils. It was a bloodline trait called the Byakugan that caused this: a bloodline trait being a ninjutsu that was developed through the blood and genetics of a specific clan. Her specific bloodline trait had a perceptiveness that was uniquely astounding…it resembled X-ray vision, but had it beat entirely.

Naruto was carried to the front of the classroom, in front of all the laughing faces, and scolded.

"Naruto, don't you ever do something like that again!" Iruka screamed at him.

Naruto looked at Iruka and made a very sour face at him before turning to face another direction.

Iruka's temper exploded. He looked up at everyone in the classroom and said, "Fine, if you're going to be that way, everyone line up, we're going over the basics of the Transformation Jutsu!"

"Aw, man!" several of the students let out with exasperation.

As they lined up, many of the students shot cold glances at Naruto, but this never really bothered him…he was used to it by now. No one had ever praised him or complemented him, only scolded and insulted him. Eventually, he got good at showing a façade that appeared as though he didn't care, but every time he was shot one of those cold glances, he was pushed farther and farther, being forced to the edge or pure hatred. And why shouldn't he be? Everywhere he went, people gave him disgusted glances, as if wanting him to drop dead, right there in the street…as if trying to deny him the right to even exist.

No matter how he tried, there was no growing used to the loneliness. He longed for companionship, for someone that would be there for him. He had never had any family, nor had he any friends…only enemies…only those that wish to deny him happiness.

The first up to perform the transformation jutsu was a girl that Naruto had come to find quite attractive, one Haruno Sakura. She was slightly taller than Naruto and had pink hair that ran half way down her back. She wasn't the most feminine of women and none of her feminine traits had yet developed, but Naruto found her quite attractive, nonetheless. There was only one problem…she was 'in love' with the class ace, Uchiha Sasuke.

But, as he was taking his place in line, he noticed someone he had never really seen before. He was stunned at the fact that she had evaded his gaze thus far, and took a second to recover from his trance. She was absolutely beautiful, even compared to Sakura. Her pale skin and opal eyes completely contrasted her dark hair, which made her look even more radiant.

"Geez, this is a pain," Shikamaru, a boy with a fishnet shirt and hair similar to that of Iruka-sensei's commented towards Naruto, "Why'd you have to go and mess up? It's not fair that we all have to pay for this, thanks a lot Naruto!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Naruto coldly responded.

"Next up, Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka stated clearly.

Naruto looked forward and took his place in front of Iruka.

"Now, the objective is to create an illusion of me," Iruka said while making some marks on a sheet of paper attached to his clipboard.

"Fine!" Naruto gloated confidently, "Transform!"

A figure stood in front of Iruka, but it wasn't a copy of him, rather, it was a beautiful young woman surrounded with mist. She was completely nude, but it was pretty easy to tell it was just and illusion, because she still had lines on her cheeks, lines that resembled whiskers; and her hair was the same color as Naruto's. But that didn't change a thing; there was a nude woman in front of Iruka! His nose immediately started bleeding and he fell backward.

Naruto changed back to himself and stated proudly, "That's my Sexy Jutsu!"

He was immediately knocked upside the head by Iruka, who had plugged his nose with tissue paper. "Stop creating these stupid Jutsu!" he screamed.

"If it's so stupid, then why did it work on you?" Naruto responded.

"That's it, class dismissed, except for you Naruto!"

Everyone was laughing when they left the room, except for Hinata, who had stayed in her seat until everyone else had left. As the last person left the room, Iruka looked at Hinata, "Is there anything I can help you with Lady Hinata?" he questioned.

"N-no…" she practically whispered as she gathered her things.

Her face had turned a bright red at Iruka's question, but it wasn't because Iruka had addressed her in such a manner, she was used to it, but because at the same time, Naruto had turned his head to look at her. She paused for a moment and looked him in the eyes, but she quickly averted her gaze and her face turned slightly pink.

Naruto was now perplexed. He had noticed her blush, but didn't know what to make of it. He watched her intently, but as she made to leave the room, he averted his gaze. She paused for a second at the doorway, but noticed Naruto had turned his eyes to Iruka, and they were now talking. She considered waiting for him; she wanted to wait for him, to tell him how she felt about him, but knew she wouldn't. She didn't have the confidence she wished she did, but for some reason, when she was around him, she felt she could do anything. She once again considered waiting for him, but when she heard Iruka mention that Naruto was going to have to clean the Hokage's faces of the graffiti, she knew that wouldn't be possible, so she quickly and quietly made her leave.

She headed out of the compound and made her way down the street, glancing back only once to see if Naruto and Iruka were headed to the Great Stone Faces. She returned her gaze forward, but instead of hurrying home like everyone else, she took her time. There were people waiting for her back at the Hyuuga Main Branch's Manor, but none of them really cared about what happened to her. She remembered when a Kunoichi, a female ninja, had arrived at the manor during one of her father's training sessions with her younger sister. The kunoichi told her father that she, Hinata, would be put in constant danger if allowed into the Ninja Academy, that she would be promoted through the ranks eventually and that she would face life and death on a regular basis.

Her father, Hyuuga Hiashi, merely looked at the kunoichi and clearly stated, "You see this young girl before you? This is Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi…five years her junior, and she is still more adept than Hinata! Hinata is superfluous to us as a clan, do with her what you will!"

"Very well then, Lord Hyuuga, I bid you my leave," the kunoichi calmly stated.

But no one had known she was listening to the conversation. Deep in her heart, she hurt horribly. The boy she cared so much for, Uzumaki Naruto, hardly knew she even existed, and her own father told a complete stranger that he didn't care about what happened to her. She didn't want to go home. There were only those that despised her waiting her return.

Before she knew it, she had been walking home for hours, and was standing in front of the Great Stone Faces. It only took half an hour to get home from the Ninja Academy, but she didn't desire to go home, so she had inadvertently led herself to where she knew Naruto would be…but he wasn't there. The paint on the Hokage's faces was now gone and there was no sign of Iruka or Naruto. She walked to the rail and sat her bag down. She looked over the edge, into the canyon, and began to cry. There were so many thoughts coursing through her mind, but most of all, she was lonely. She only wanted to be where Naruto was; she wanted him to hold her in his arms and tell her everything would be alright. She fell to the ground in a slump, her brown jacket covering her petit figure, tears flowing from her eyes and landing on the ground in front of her. She was trying so hard to hold them back, but they just kept coming and coming.

The next thing she knew, she was holding her face in her hands and the tears were rolling down her arms. She didn't want this loneliness to continue, all she wanted was to be in the arms of the person she loved the most.

She felt someone beside her. Whoever it was, they were kneeling and she felt an arm cross her shoulder. No words were spoken, and she didn't even bother opening her eyes; she just wrapped her arms around whoever it was and thrust her head into their chest. The person got down on both knees and got in front of her, holding her in a close embrace. She just continued crying, wailing into the night, but for some reason, the person never asked her what was wrong, and neither of them said a word. She never looked to see who it was…she didn't care, she just felt secure in their arms.

The day was done; the sun was setting, and she had been crying in this person's arms for several minutes. A cool breeze permeated the air and she slowly began to stop crying. She turned her head to lay it sideways on the person's chest, still without opening her eyes. She began to wonder who this person was, but still didn't care. She knew it was a man, probably someone from their school, judging on how small the man's body was, and the fact that he was muscular. She gripped his sides and held on tighter, not wanting to let go, imagining it was Naruto.

Her eyes were puffy from all the crying she had done, and she noticed the man's shirt was soaked from her tears.

"I…" she began in a coarse voice, "I don't want to go home…"

The man wrapped his arms around her and for once, she felt protected…still imagining it to be the man she loved. "Please…" she said as she drifted off from exhaustion, "I just want…him…"

"I wonder who she was talking about…" Naruto thought out loud as he picked Hinata up in his arms, bridal style, "But…I know how it is…"

He slowly began to walk in the direction of the Hyuuga compound, but remember that she said she didn't want to go home; it would be unwise to carry her there, being that more than most of the village hated him anyway. They would probably claim that he attacked her and would have him punished.

"I'm sorry, Hinata, but you'll have to stay at my place tonight…I'd prefer not to be punished for something else that I didn't do…it's risky either way," Naruto whispered to the sleeping Hinata, "Forgive me if this upsets you…"

He turned about and headed back to his apartment, exhaustion slowly overtaking him, but he managed to get there and inside with Hinata in hand. He walked her into his room and laid her out on his bed. He then removed her jacket and her shoes and placed them on the floor beside her. He was about to grab a blanket to throw ever her, but noticed she was trying to grab for someone and, remembering that she had fallen asleep holding him, he grabbed a stuffed frog out of his closet and put it in her arms.

She immediately latched onto it and pulled it close to her and lay there with the frog in her arms, in a fetal position. Naruto looked at her gloomily…he was wondering how bad she'd react when she woke up in his apartment. He was worried that she would say that he kidnapped her. He looked at her once again and removed the thought from his mind. Even if she did, he was sure he could convince the Third Hokage that he would never do such a thing. He grabbed the comforter that he had pulled off the bed and laid it on top of her. He then walked into the den and made his bed on the couch but, before he laid down to sleep, he walked up to his room, and looked at Hinata sadly…knowing that he could never have someone like her; something that hurt more than the constant hatred around him. He slowly closed the door as to refrain from waking her and, as the door finished it's 'click' to assure that it was closed, Hinata grasped the stuffed frog even more tightly and whispered the word, "Naruto…"