It hasn't been that long since Teuchi has met Naruto—maybe two months at the very least. That's all the owner of Ichiraku Ramen can think as he watches the spiky-haired redhead demolish a large bowl of shio ramen with great gusto. He's smiling, because Naruto is enjoying herself so much—she always does, whenever she eats at his shop.

"Can I get another bowl-ttebayo?!" Naruto asks as she sets her empty bowl on the counter. She looks at Teuchi with such a wide smile on her chubby face.

Teuchi chuckles at her enthusiasm. "Sure you can—same as before?"

Naruto nods her head. "Uh-huh—the same size, too!"

It amazes Teuchi that someone so small could eat so much without getting sick. It's such a stark contrast to the children he's seen dining in with their parents, who struggle to even work through a medium-sized bowl. Even his eight-year-old daughter, Ayame, struggles to eat much more than that. But not Naruto—she always finishes what she orders.

Teuchi likes that aspect of Naruto. She reminds him of his most favorite customers. More specifically, she reminds him of those whom were no longer alive. He really can't ignore her red hair—he knows that distinctive shade. He knows it very well, alongside the name of Uzumaki. As Teuchi prepares Naruto's order, he remembers a family—a mother, a father, and twin daughters—that once ate together at his shop. They were refugees of Uzushiogakure, a village that now existed in ruins.

He remembers them well, because of how small the family had become in such a short period of time. He has come to expect this from those living the shinobi life. After all, he has had many customers who were shinobi. Sometimes, they never returned from a mission. That had happened more often than he was comfortable with, during the Second and Third Shinobi World War.

"Hey, hey—can I get an extra boiled egg this time-ttebayo?!" Naruto eagerly asks with sparkling eyes.

"Would you like extra naruto with that as well?" Teuchi half-jokingly adds. He knows how much Naruto likes that particular topping on her ramen. So he isn't that surprised when she nods her head rather vigorously. "Alright!"

Naruto is such an unpopular ramen topping that he appreciates anyone who shows a favorable attitude towards it. Teuchi feels that it is only appropriate that a child who shares her name with the topping considers it her most favorite. He feels the same way in regards to her preference for shio ramen.

"They are so much alike…" Teuchi smiles wistfully when he recalls the remaining member of that red-haired family. It has only been four years since Uzumaki Kushina has died, which is about how old Naruto is. Like the red hair, it's hard for Teuchi to ignore what's right in front of his face.

The same could be said about the identity of Naruto's father. Quite a number of people died on the day Naruto was born…but Teuchi knows better. The spiky hair might be easy to excuse, as it isn't an uncommon sight in Konoha. The eyes, however…are a completely different story—Teuchi knows those eyes. He's seen them on a blond-haired man with hair just as spiky as Naruto's and skin the same ochre color as hers.

It's also quite hard to forget the memory Teuchi has of a blushing, blond-haired man standing next to a heavily pregnant Kushina. Teuchi remembers it well, because a then four-year-old Ayame held her hand over Kushina's stomach, completely mesmerized by the kicking unborn baby. It's such a fond memory Teuchi has of Namikaze Minato, the late Yondaime Hokage.

"Is it ready yet?" Naruto excitedly asks as she bounces up and down in her seat. Her hands balled up into tiny, shaking fists.

Teuchi chuckles as he sets down the bowl in front of Naruto. Afterwards, he can't help but reach out and ruffle the spiky, red hair. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks for the food!" Naruto doesn't wait another second and digs into her bowl.

It truly amazes Teuchi with how quickly Naruto has improved. It's hard to believe that she once had issues speaking, fumbling over the simplest of words. It helps that Ayame took it upon herself to help Naruto when she unintentionally embarrassed the redhead for speaking such rough, short-worded sentences. Teuchi has helped out as well, in Ayame's absence while she was at school or just in general, when Ayame couldn't.

At the current moment, Ayame is absent from the shop. Teuchi had her fetch some of her old winter clothing from home. Winters in Konohagakure can get incredibly cold. Sometimes, though not very often, it snows and, from the looks of it, it's going to snow this year. Teuchi has lived long enough in Konoha to know the signs of a snowy winter.

Teuchi has no idea if Naruto has any clothes for the winter. She's dressed somewhat warmly right now, with a long-sleeved shirt underneath her t-shirt. Although, she could do much better if she wore a pair of pants and shoes, instead of shorts and sandals. He can at least tell that she doesn't buy her clothes—they're not new enough to warrant such an assumption.

It saddens Teuchi to know of the lonely life Naruto lives. She only has him and Ayame, when she's so isolated from everyone else. Teuchi has considered adopting her, but his life is busy enough as is, being a single parent caring for his only daughter while running Ichiraku Ramen with minimal to no help.

The most he can do now is provide Naruto service with a warm smile, when everyone else ignores her. It's not much, but to Naruto…it goes a long way to keeping that smile on her face.

…

…

Some days, Naruto has difficulty getting out of bed. Today is no different, when she wakes up from a dream where she is pretty sure someone was telling her, "I love you."

"What…the hell?" Naruto yawns loudly as she stretches her arms. There is a chill in the air that she notices almost instantly. She shudders and after a few sniffs, she sneezes. "Freaking hell!"

Naruto dives down under her blankets and curls up into a little ball. She gets comfortable far too easily. She's already rejected the idea of ever getting out of bed, because it's fucking cold, the floor is probably freezing, and she is not at all dressed for this sort of temperature. Leave it to her shitty apartment's heating to crap out on her when it's most inconvenient to her…

"The old man's gonna be hearing from me…" That is assuming Naruto doesn't forget to pay the Sandaime Hokage a visit, because she has a very shoddy memory (courtesy of her lovely ADHD). She also has little to no interest in going out today, because her bed is far too comfortable (and warm) to leave.

Growl.

"You wanna fucking go, hunger?!" Naruto can do this all day! Because all it takes for her to ignore her own hunger, is just to fall asleep…too bad she can't go back to sleep. "Murr…"

It takes less than half an hour before Naruto finally caves in to her growling stomach and leaves the warmth and comfort of her own bed. Her bare feet last only a few seconds against the cold floorboards, to which Naruto completely nopes the fuck back into her bed, because fuck that.

"Why is it so cold?!" Naruto wraps herself quite tightly with her blankets, shivering as she tries to regain her lost warmth. She doesn't recall it ever being this cold last winter… Then again, she is living on her own now and not at the orphanage…

She also doesn't recall it ever fucking snowing either, as she finally notices what's been in front of her face the entire time (in a way), through her window.

"The fuck is this shit?!" Naruto is not used to seeing snow in real life. Living a past life in a small town in southern California, where it rarely ever snows, can do that to a person. It only snowed once in that small town, when she was four years old…like she is now. "Okay, that's a bit too coincidental for my tastes…did I forget to close the blinds?"

Well…that explains why the room is much colder than usual… In hindsight, maybe she should have closed her blinds before she crashed for the night…

"Whatever…" Naruto decides she's going back to sleep, because she feels that it's too early to deal with anything right now.

Growl.

Too bad her growling stomach reminds her of the current problem at hand. Muttering a few swears under her breath, Naruto gets out of bed for a second time and makes a mad dash for the kitchen. She swears loudly at no one, using words she had learned in the short amount of time she has been alive. If anyone is to blame for this, it's the people that Naruto has been around, because she sure as hell didn't know it on her own, because Japanese (which is the language spoken in this world) wasn't part of the languages she knew from her past life.

It does not help that she picks up on swears quite easily, because growing up with a Mexican mother does that to a person. So many swears…it's no wonder Naruto barely has a filter on her own language.

Not that it even matters…

Naruto is polite when she wants to be, which she usually is, whenever she interacts with Teuchi and Ayame. Everyone else can go take a hike (including a certain pair of Uchiha brothers…), because Naruto does not have time for them. She's living the life of a broke-ass college student, eating nothing but instant ramen (and whatever cheap, instant food she could obtain). The irony is not lost on her, because Naruto did not live this sort of life in the past, for she was still living with her parents (it's not as if she had anywhere else to go, with the university being only half an hour away from home).

Naruto sighs loudly as she waits for the water to boil in her electric kettle (certain technology either exists or it doesn't—Naruto is completely fine with keeping it at that). She rests her head on the table, her gaze focused on the cup of ramen that's in front of her. She might have once laughed at her blond canon counterpart's introduction in the anime and manga, regarding his dislike for the amount of time it takes to make a cup of ramen. She regrets ever doing so, because this is now her life. It's an absolute pain in the ass and there's not much she can do about it. "It sucks being four…"

One of these days, she is going to try and make herself some actual food. Today is just not that day, because Naruto can't find the motivation to even try. It takes Naruto a few hours to even find the motivation to change out of her pajamas. Unlike the previous days, she changes into the winter clothes that Ayame had given her the other day. She is very much pleased to see that they fit her (her face isn't the only part of her body that's chubby).

"Awesome-ttebayo!" Naruto grins widely as she adjusts the red scarf that came along with the outfit she now wears. She is no longer cold and feels pleasantly warm. She likes this feeling… "It's nice!"

Naruto laughs for a few seconds and then stops when an idea crosses her mind. Her gaze is focused on her window. She has yet to close the blinds, so she can see that snowflakes are falling. Her cheeks heat up with a light blush as a wide grin crosses her face. She nods her head and runs out of her room. She's going outside, she decides, so that she can play in the snow. She's always wanted to make a snowman…because she never got a chance to, in her past life.

Snowflakes falling on your face,

A cold wind blows away.

Naruto's giggling when she leaves the apartment building. She is smiling so widely, her cheeks are beginning to hurt. There is so much snow…it's been far too long for her. So she runs—she runs as fast as she can, despite how much she hates running. She wants to see as much as she can of Konoha, while it's covered in snow.

The laughter from this treasured place,

But in our memories it stays.

Some weeks pass, and the snow continues to stay. Naruto has figured out her favorite locations to play. She is, of course, alone, since most of the children avoid her. She doesn't mind, though. She's having too much fun on her own…or so she thinks, until she catches sight of groups of children interacting with each other just outside of the Academy building.

There sure are a lot of children today…

Naruto is used to seeing the Academy empty during this time of year. It's winter break for current Academy students. Or so she has heard, from the looks of it. She shrugs and decides not to think much about it. It's not as if she could anything about it, either. She's too distinctive to blend in, with her red hair and whiskered cheeks. She's also far too anxious of how their parents would react to her presence…

"Don't feel like getting yelled at today, thank you very much…" Naruto nods her head as she decides to play out of sight while she waits for everyone to leave. It shouldn't take too long, anyways…hopefully.

…

…

"Hey Hyuuga girl, show us your Byakugan!"

Hyuuga Hinata had never meant to drift so far away from her cousin, Neji.

"If you can't, then just get lost!"

She just wanted to play in the snow…that's all. Today is the first time in nearly a year that she has left the Hyuuga clan compound.

"Your eyes are creepy…"

It is also enrollment day at the Academy, where she'll be attending come this spring.

"Yeah, a Byakugan monster!"

But it seems that today, nothing wants to go right for Hyuuga Hinata. Neji still refuses to talk to her. Everyone is still so cautious around her at the compound, because she hasn't spoken in almost a year. And right now, she's being picked on by a group of boys who have nothing better to do, than make fun of her clan's distinctive white eyes. She can't even find the courage to stand up for herself…

"Because I'm so weak," she thinks as tears weld up in her eyes. "I should have just stayed with Neji-nii-sama…"

If she hadn't wandered off, then maybe she wouldn't be in this situation…

"Aww, is the Byakugan monster crying?" mocks one of the boys. A harsh tug at her scarf comes from him. "Hey—I'm talking to you!"

If she was a little stronger, then maybe she could stand up for herself.

"Say something, you monster!" the same boy yells at her. He tugs even harder at her scarf and manages to pull it off.

Hinata sniffs and rubs at her eyes. She wants to say something—how badly she wants her scarf back, because her mother knitted it for her. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.

"Hey, I don't think she can talk!" Hinata finds herself getting shoved to the ground by another of the boys, who does it in order to prove his point. And he does, because she continues to stay silent, despite how hurt and afraid she is.

"As if she wasn't creepy enough already!" the last of the boys exclaims before he starts an impromptu game of tug of war, using Hinata's scarf, with the boy who's holding onto it. "Hey, if you don't want us to ruin your scarf, all you gotta do is say something!"

Hinata's eyes are wide as she watches the boys stretch the cream-colored fabric of her scarf. She opens her mouth to say something—anything—but still, nothing comes out. The boys are starting to enjoy themselves much more than Hinata thinks they should as they continue to stretch out her scarf as far as it can go. They're doing whatever they can to her scarf, and here she is, doing nothing…

Her eyes are burning with hot tears. She feels so frustrated, so conflicted, so…angry. She's angry with herself for not being strong enough. Because…because…because—most of her problems wouldn't exist, if she wasn't so weak.

"If I was stronger…" Hinata sniffs. "Hizashi-sama would still be alive."

And maybe then, Neji would talk to her. Maybe then…she wouldn't be so quiet, as she is now.

"I deserve this," she starts to think as she wipes away her tears. "It's all my fault…"

Hinata only has herself to blame, as she watches the boys damage her scarf beyond repair. She is seconds away from fully accepting that fact…when a chubby, spiky-haired girl her age dashes in and punches the leader of the group—the boy with the red cap, who had taken her scarf from her—right in the face. Blood spurts out of his nose and he's sent to the ground, where another of the boys quickly joins him after getting a switch kick to the crotch. The last of the boys, much larger in size than the other two, barely has time to react before a harsh blow to the stomach sends him back, landing on both of his friends.

Hinata is absolutely stunned, as she watches the spiky-haired girl take advantage of the boys' currently helpless state. Her eyes quickly key in on the girl's red hair—she's never seen such a color before. She's used to seeing differing shades of dark hair at her home, in the Hyuuga compound. She notices that the girl's hair matches the scarf she's wearing…

"Red…" Like the color of blood that covers her fists… "S-Strong…"

A small gasp leaves Hinata's mouth when she realizes that, for the first time in almost a year, sound has left her mouth.

"You think it's funny to pick on someone like her, dattebayo?!" the spiky-haired redhead growls. She looks so mad, pulling off the scarves from the boys' necks. Unlike them, she doesn't do anything to damage their scarves—instead, she uses them to tie their legs together, so that they struggle to move away from her when they finally come to. She does this after wiping off the blood on her hands with one of the scarves, of course.

The boys stumble over their tied up legs as they tried to get as far away as possible from the red-haired girl, who looks down at them as if they were mere ants. She snorts when they call her a monster. She scowls when one of them refers to her as a tomato.

"I'll show you who's a tomato if you don't get out of my sight-ttebayo!" Her threat is enough to send the boys scampering off the instant they untie the scarves wrapped around their legs. As soon as they are completely out of sight, she turns to Hinata, looking at her with a much softer expression. "Hey—are you okay?"

Hinata blinks and opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out—not because she can't, but because she doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know what to say to the red-haired girl with gentle tan skin and whisker-kissed cheeks. The girl's violet eyes remind Hinata of the flowers she presses. They're even prettier than flowers, Hinata thinks.

"You don't have to say anything…" the girl reassures Hinata. "Here—let me help you."

Hinata blinks again and just nods her head. She accepts the hand that's outstretched to her. It's so warm against hers, so solid and safe… Soon enough, Hinata is off the ground, finding discomfort in how much colder her hand is when she releases the girl's hand. She takes a moment to wipe off the snow on herself before looking at the red-haired girl who defended her. "Th-Thank you…"

"It's no problem-ttebayo!" The red-haired girl smiles widely at her. "Sorry about your scarf, though…"

"Oh…" is all Hinata can say she when she looks down to see what remains of her scarf. While still in one piece, it has certainly seen better days and she doubts that her mother will be able to fix it… "It's f-fine…"

"No it isn't!" the red-haired girl insists. "What they did to you isn't right-ttebayo!"

Hinata almost wants to protest, but the red-haired girl holds up a hand and she stops almost instantly. She's rather confused, furrowing her brows when she sees the red-haired girl removing her red scarf. "Wh-What are you…?"

"Here!" The red-haired girl wraps her scarf around Hinata's neck. She grins widely afterwards and happily exclaims, "Now we match-ttebayo!"

Hinata feels her face heating up with a blush that colors her pale skin red. She feels her heart skipping a beat when she hears the girl start to laugh, saying that they match even more now. And she's right, Hinata thinks as she looks at the girl's red hair.

"She's so pretty…" The girl is more like a flower than a tomato… "U-Um…"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" the girl introduces herself. "And you?"

"H-Hyuuga Hinata…" It's been a while since Hinata has said her own name. It feels so weird, coming from her own mouth… "Thank you again, U-Uzumaki-san…"

"Just Naruto is fine—if it's alright if I can call you Hinata, that is?" Naruto twiddles her fingers quite nervously.

Hinata blinks a few times and then smiles. It's nice to see that she and this red-haired girl share some similarities. "It's f-fine…Naruto-chan."

"Heehee!" A light blush heats up Naruto's cheeks. "You're so cute!"

Hinata bites her lip when her face turns an even darker shade of red. Beads of sweat are rolling down the sides of her face and she swears that if her heart beats any faster, it'll explode within her chest. She feels a little dizzy, but mostly—she feels so happy.

"Hinata-sama!" a voice calls out to her.

"O-Oh…" Hinata realizes that it's her cousin, who has probably now noticed her absence from his side. "I…have to…"

"I understand!" Naruto gives Hinata a thumbs-up.

"C-Can we…can we m-meet again?" Hinata doesn't want this to be the last time she talks to Naruto.

Naruto nods her head. "Of course, dattebayo!"

Hinata gives Naruto one last smile before running off to join Neji, who asks about her whereabouts while she was gone. He's talking to her again, she notices, as he looks her over for any abnormalities.

"What's that?" he asks, his eyes focused on the red scarf around her neck.

Hinata finds herself placing a hand on her scarf. It's so soft and comfortable—with a scent that she feels best represents the embodiment of sunshine and summer (and maybe even ramen). "A g-gift?"

"A gift—Hinata-sama, you're!" It takes Neji a moment, but he's rather quick to realize his cousin is talking again. He has no idea what to make of this, since he's still confused about the red scarf that has replace the one Hinata was wearing previously. After all, her mother had knitted it for her as a birthday present for her fourth birthday, which was a few days ago. "You're…"

"I'm t-talking again?" Hinata can't help but smile as she says this. "I g-guess I am…"

The stutter in her voice is rather new, but she's not complaining—neither is Neji, who seems a bit relieved. Despite how often Neji has shown his dislike for her presence, Hinata can tell that, deep down, he cares for her. He's still hurting, though…so it'll take time for him to heal. She's still healing, too.

"And that's fine…" she thinks.

Hinata laughs when Neji stiffens, seconds after her hand grabs onto his. His hand is warm, too…but she finds herself thinking about Naruto. She wants to meet up with her soon…so that they can talk again. So that Hinata can learn more about Naruto. What she likes, dislikes, loves—Hinata wants to know everything.

For now, she is content with the scarf that is wrapped around her neck. Today is a good day, she thinks, despite how bad it had gotten when those boys had picked on her. She has Naruto to thank for that…

On the way back to the Hyuuga clan compound, Neji finds himself listening to Hinata go on and on about the girl who had given her the red scarf. He finds out what happened to the scarf Himawari (Hinata's mother) had knitted—about the boys who had picked on Hinata. But mostly, he, as well as Hiashi, who is listening quite intently because his daughter is talking again, hears of the red-haired girl by the name of Uzumaki Naruto.

Hyuuga Hiashi thinks nothing of the child his daughter mentions, despite how uncomfortable his nephew looks. Neji is uncomfortable, because Uzumaki Naruto is the child everyone avoids…everyone, but Hinata, from the looks of it, from how enchanted she is with the girl's existence. He's been told to avoid Naruto as well, so he feels nervous towards what punishment he'll receive for allowing Hinata to wander off.

"You did nothing wrong," Hiashi reassures his nephew. "Just be more careful next time."

"Y-Yes, Hiashi-sama…" Neji nods stiffly. He tries not to show it, but he is just so relieved. His face turns a brilliant shade of red when Hinata lightly prods him in the side and tells him to smile. She's a bit too talkative for his comfort (he's still so used to her being so silent), despite her stutter…

Hiashi welcomes the stutter, because at the very least, his daughter is talking again. "Himawari will be pleased…"

"Otou-sama, c-can I invite Naruto-chan over?" Hinata suddenly asks.

Hiashi thinks for a moment. He knows his word has more power over anyone's at the compound. Whatever he says goes…and when he sees the wide smile on his daughter's face (so happy, so…hopeful), he finds himself unable to say no. "You may."

Hiashi regrets nothing when Hinata, in her moment of happiness, wraps her arms around his legs (she's so small…) and nearly trips him.

…

…

…

A/N Hey guys, have another chapter from me, because I have no idea why, but this fic is all I have on my mind and before you guys ask, YES, Hinata does in fact have a crush on Naruto. She's not confused and if you think of it that way, then you're in for a bad time because I ain't getting rid of a canon crush just because Naruto happens to be a girl in this fic.

Made this chapter extremely gay for a reason (had help from writing comrade kurobook), so as to drive in the point that Hinata's got a crush and Hiashi is completely fine with it, too (he can tell it's a crush, btw).

MOVING ON, like…I don't know about you, but when it comes to Hinata, considering the fact that she was involved in an incident with Kumogakure when they tried to kidnap her…I pretty much doubt that she left that incident without any sort of trauma on her. Which is why she hasn't spoken in almost a year, because of the trauma. Alongside that, she also blames herself for the fact that Neji's father had to die. The stutter is a side effect to her now that she has regain her ability to speak.

As an FYI, this is pretty much how Hinata was in Butterfly Child as well, prior to meeting Chōko…because as I said before, my fics character and world building are connected, minus the SI OCs themselves (one SI OC per fic). And by the by, I suggest you guys go check out Butterfly Child because I have edited and expanded on the first sixteen chapters, so some new stuff has been added and whatnot.

Also, if you guys are wondering about the Uzumaki family with twin daughters…if you've read Metamorphosis, you guys would know about Kushinada, who is Kushina's older twin sister…yeah, she's part of the bunch of OCs that I made to exist in this world. Really hope you don't take her too personally, as a reviewer had with her and the other of my OCs in Metamorphosis. Like…I have a lot of OCs, you're gonna have to get used to this because sometimes, it's hard to get away without using any in a Naruto fic.

And if you haven't picked up on it, Naruto HAS had some issues speaking Japanese, as a result of her being isolated from others. This is pretty much something that could potentially happen to an SI!Naruto. Thankfully, this Naruto has Teuchi and Ayame. Do keep in mind some of the issues Naruto has had in Butterfly Child, because chances are, it'll apply to this Naruto.

I'm kinda sad that no one hasn't explored the possibilities that can come out with a red-haired Naruto. And with QSS!Naruto (this Naruto), who has a different appearance than her canon counterpart, she takes after her father more, with her mother's distinct hair and eye coloration making her parentage stand out even more. Canon!Naruto inherited his mother's face, with his father's eye color and spiky, blond hair. QSS!Naruto (this Naruto) has her father's face (just with her mother's childhood chubbiness), as well as his spiky hair and skin tone (btw, that's the skin tone I headcanon Naruto and Minato with after seeing awesome fan art of Naruto—so they're not fair-skinned like Kushina).

The result of this gives you Teuchi being very much aware of who Naruto's parents are, especially if you've seen ending 34 of Naruto Shippuden that focuses on Ichiraku Ramen. Like, seriously—there is a scene with Minato and Kushina and just…it's better if you look it up and see it for yourself. And it doesn't help that this Naruto, due to being a self-insert, has a preference for shio ramen (because I like shio ramen—it's great), which she shares with Kushina, whose favorite food is shio ramen.

A MAJOR SHOUT OUT TO LYRICALJELLY FOR MAKING AWESOME FANART OF QSS!NARUTO NOT EVEN 24 HOURS AFTER I PUBLISHED THE FIC! You guys can check it out on the links of my profile, but because they are STILL not working, go to my tumblr at klonoadreams, under Fanfiction Stuff, to check out the links.

This is about all I have for now, and just to bring mention of the shipping games…Sasuke/Naruto and Itachi/Naruto HAVE been suggested. And because I am noticing an interesting trend in the Butterfly Child shipping poll results…might I suggest the harem option (because that IS an option on the Butterfly Child shipping poll, as a result of popular demand) just for the hell of it? It's just a suggestion, because I'm gonna say it right now, I have no set pairing for this fic, so it's gonna be a long and wacky journey.

Please do review if you have anything to say, especially if you want to get involved in the shipping games. It's how you show your support, because Butterfly Child kinda takes priority with the shipping poll on my profile.

So until next time, everyone! KD out! XD