This is the rewritten version. I hope people will still like and support it. Looking at the old chapters, I've realised that I seemed to always miss out the disclaimer. Eek… copyright cops are hot on my ass.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, plot, jutsu etc. by Kishimoto Masashi. I only own Yuki Hitsuka.

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Chapter two – Who's the Shrimp?

The two boys made their way slowly through the mildly busy street. It was just after noon so most people were still at home having lunch and away from the midday heat. They had made several stops along the way as the two three-year-old tired easily.

During one of their stops, which happened to be in front of a small restaurant, Hitsuka paused at his reflection, his eyes tracing the edges. 'Oh wow… I am a freakin' baby,' he thought, giving a dry laugh.

Oh, he was no mere three-year-old child. In fact, he was not even part of the Naruto World. Imagine his confusion when he was suddenly jostled awake in the middle of a busy, wearing a smaller version of his pyjamas which he did not notice until later. Bewildered, as he was sure he was at home sleeping after a long night of studying for the upcoming exams, he was pushed and shoved until his feet automatically followed the flow of the crowd.

The first thing that alerted him something was wrong was when he noticed how, overnight, the whole Japanese population had become giants and he had missed out on the announcement. Then he nearly fainted when a child skipped past him.

It was he who had shrunk.

After he had staggered into a family restaurant, earning himself a couple of weird looks from the waiters and customers, he quickly slipped into the toilet. Once he made sure the door was locked and a chunk of his top in his mouth, he silent screamed at his reflection, leaned unsteadily against the wall, and jumped up again to make sure he was not seeing things.

Nope, he was not. At least now he knew his eyes were working even after the intense kneading he did with his hand. Several slaps to the face later, he was also sure he was not dreaming, otherwise it was a very painful dream. Making up his mind to find out where he actually was, he wondered out into the street once again, ignoring the dirty look the restaurant manager was giving him. One thing he noticed was that everyone all dressed very differently and several people looked like they were in some kind of cosplay. They looked familiar, that was for sure.

Then he understood why, after all, the giant faces of four people he came to know very well in the last couple of months were practically in his face. The Hokage Monument. He was in bloody Naruto World.

Annoyed by the constant push and shove as that meant he could not concentrate on thinking, he squeezed his way into an alley and sat down in the patches of shadows, putting the backpack he had next to him. How was this even possible? Of course he was overjoyed by the fact he had achieved all fans' dream and could not wait to do some damage. But what if he was destroying the flow of time and dimension? Where in the timeline was he? Why the heck was he a kid? So many questions swam in his head until he wanted to find a drill and drilled a hole in his head to let them out.

It was then he heard running footsteps and someone in obvious distress. Looking further down the alleyway, he knuckled his eyes yet again lest he was hallucinating. There was no way Uzumaki Naruto was running towards him. The blond hair, blue eyes were common enough in the world. But the whisker marks were not. Holy… that explained his transformation into a kid as the main character of this World obviously was still one.

So this was how the two children had met.

Pulled back into reality by a small tug on his sleeve, Hitsuka looked down and smiled at the timid child by his side. How could anyone blame this cute child for what that demon had done, he could not understand. Mind boggled.

Readied to move on, Hitsuka was mildly annoyed when a lady blocked their path in the relatively empty street. Surely there was more space to walk. Never less, he automatically smiled, getting one in response.

"My dear, didn't your mummy or daddy told you not to go near that thing?" she asked kindly as if she was just wondering if he was lost. "Now come here, my dear. Leave that thing to us adults; we will take care of it." The glint in her eyes revealed her ultimate motive.

Hitsuka just stared dumbly at her, thinking that this could not be happening. Did the villagers here really get away with this kind of behaviour to Naruto? Especially since the boy himself was under the protection of the village leader, Hokage-sama. Humans were really ugly. Like Thomas Hobbes said, "Man is by nature solitary, poor, nasty and brutish." But he supposed there were always other factors but they did not make what they were doing right.

Sighing, he gave the trembling boy by his side a firm squeeze with his hand. With a bright smile on his face that temporary warded the crowding villagers off; he fumbled with one of the pockets on his backpack. Ohh… the villagers didn't know what hit them.

Pink smoke burst out from where the two boys stood, causing tears to spring out from the onlookers' eyes with its acidic fume. They spluttered and cried, pushing and bumping into each other as they try to escape from the smoke. But soon, they started to scream as horrifying hallucinations flashed in front of their eyes. "No! Not Hokage-sama in a thong!" they cried, welcoming the darkness when they fainted. For those with tougher minds, they were rewarded with Maito Gai in nothing but a loin cloth.

Ninja came to investigate but quickly backed away when more were fallen to the evil pink smoke. They had no choice but cut the entire street off and put the persisting smoke under watch, too afraid to blow it apart with any jutsu. Eventually, it faded to nothing, leaving its victims with skins and hair of the same colour. When everyone woke up, they were horrified that they now shared the same physical appearances as the Haruno family.

Somewhere in the Hokage Tower, an old man could be seen wheezing, clutching his side as tears ran down his wrinkled face due to the fact he laughed too hard in front of his glass sphere. It was the funniest thing he had seen in ages and he was glad that something had lightened up the tense atmosphere of the village.

After he was sure that no one was terribly deformed, he switched his chakra to link to that of Naruto's. When he first noticed the disturbance in the street, he had immediately monitored the situation through his crystal ball and discovered the two children in the heart of it. With a lurch of his heart, he was sad to see one of them was Naruto and that, once again, the villagers had decided to go against his law.

For a moment he was afraid that the seemingly innocent white-haired child was just another bully and was about to send one of his ninja over. But when he saw how careful the boy had treated Naruto and that the source of pink smoke – that had acted as a diversion, he suddenly realised – was from him, he relaxed slightly. For the moment, he decided, he would just keep an eye on the two, especially the unknown boy.

With Naruto and Hitsuka

Hitsuka laughed quietly as he remembered the effects of his smoke bomb. 'I can't believe it had really worked! Ironically enough, it was inspired by Haruno Sakura,' he thought with amusement. But his good mood quickly dispersed when he saw yet another glare sent their way again. Frowning in annoyance, he rummaged through his backpack and found what he was hoping to find.

"Here," he said, pulling the loose hoodie over Naruto's head. Slightly shocked, the blond child looked up in confusion. "You looked slightly cold," Hitsuka explained, tugging the hood down further, casting shadows on the child's face that shone with delight. Rarely anyone would pay attention to him and now there was someone who was actually worried about him.

They had soon arrived at Naruto's apartment with no extra troubles and Naruto quickly unlocked the door to let them in.

It was the smell that hit him first like a very physical fist. Blinking the tears away, Hitsuka was shocked to see the mess the small apartment was in. "Naruto, who's taking care of you?" he asked quietly.

Naruto looked deep in concentration. "Lady below," he said slowly, looking for the words he wanted. "She doesn't come many time."

With a sigh, which he was quick to assure it was not directed at Naruto, he urged the blond child towards the bathroom, intending on running a bath for him.

While he was washing the grime and blood off from Naruto, he had once again noticed that all the cuts and bruises had faded and disappeared, leaving the skin clear and mismatched to the rips on the discarded clothing. "Close your eyes," he cautioned, bringing the showerhead over the blond head to rinse the suds off.

Immediately squeezing his eyes shut so that his whole face was scrunched up, Naruto felt a hand moving over his head and he leaned into the comfortable touch. He began to wonder about Hitsuka, thinking just how lucky he was to be found by him today. While he was still shy towards the white-haired boy, he had started to trust him with his heart.

"Thank you," he mumbled, a blush instantly coloured his cheeks.

With a soft smile that Naruto could not see, Hitsuka gave the small head a pat. "Don't mention it."

After making sure Naruto was clean, the white-haired boy quickly wrapped him in the cleanest towel he could find, drying him. 'While I doubt this kid could get sick, there's no reason to continuously relying on Kyuubi's power,' he thought and quickly steadied a wobbly Naruto. "Off to bed with you," he ordered jokingly with a wide smile in case the child misunderstood him.

Naruto squealed happily and ran off to hide under the duvet.

Another one done! Once again, I haven't changed much in terms of plot. I only moved a couple of things and add a bit more to improve the storyline.

I hope you like this new version and please review.

If you don't, well, please review to let me know.