A/N: Well this is the second chapter of SWC. Please read and review. Again thank you for reading my story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did Kushina and Minato would still be alive :3 The OC is all mine, though.

Chapter 2: Who you really are

Part 1: back in heaven

"I'll explain it to you." The angel said, making the four others shift their attention to him.

"As you can see, the river of life is a place where you can watch over those you have left behind. You all have your own space, that's why both sides are shrouded in mist. The thing is that when two people meet as is their destiny, your paths will also cross. That's why the mist of your side let up when your daughter and son met each other."

Kazumi looked back at her friend. "But why haven't we met each other before then?"

The angel sighed deeply and sat down on the luscious green grass.

"People tend to forget that you can meet those who have died here too. There's a place outside of this river where you can meet, yet some people tend to stay here, watching the living, instead of going out and meeting with the others. Here you get your privacy and others can't see you or hear you." He explained.

"That's why you haven't met Kushina-san or Minato-san outside of this place; because they never left it… they've been here for four years watching over their son. Am I right?" He asked. Minato and Kushina just nodded. Kazumi bowed at the angel in front of her. "Thank you for the explanation, Angel-san."

He just smiled, got up and then left. The friends just stayed quiet for a while.

"So, Miu-chan was fated to meet Naruto?" Kushina asked with a small smile on her lips. Kazumi just nodded.

"She'll take good care of him. I'm sure of it." She added. Minato grinned at that.

"Guess, we can take time off from watching every now and again then right?" Hiroshi thumped his friend on the back and nodded at him.

"Yeah, she'll take good care of him… and by the looks of it, I think she realized it." He said, pointing at the river again. They all sat down for a while and watched with amused smiles as Miu created a clone somewhere behind naruto.

Part 2: Down on earth

She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it earlier. She had sent her clone to go and look up some pictures of Minato and Kushina that she had in a few of her albums. The day of the clan massacre, her father had converted the entire clan library into a single scroll. Thus almost everything had been saved. It was a bunch of old albums when the four of them still had the time to have been going out together. She remembered a few of those moments. And when the clone undid himself, Miu could with 100% certainty tell that Uzumaki Naruto was Kushina Uzumaki's and Namikaze Minato's child.

Judging from the way he had been acting earlier, she deduced that he had been an orphan and a badly treated one at that. And that's where other things began clicking into place.

The kyuubi.

How could she have forgotten the bastard fox? She had clearly felt him all the way to the capital. Seriously, she had been scared shitless. Well, who wouldn't? The fox had been giving off such a menacing and killer aura that it would have made even the strongest Jounin weak in the knees!

And that's why she had always wondered about the explanation that her parents had given her regarding the huge amount of materialized chakra that was the kyuubi. She had had millions of questions when she had been studying seals and chakra and she had seen right through her parents' lie. She just hadn't confronted them. And just now it totally made sense! A genius like Minato-san, could surely find a way to seal the kyuubi away. And it had to have been in a child that had just had its umbilical cord cut. An inanimate object couldn't have been used. The kyuubi's chakra was too big.

And then she had checked. She had patted Naruto's shoulder again, this time with a small amount of chakra on it that scanned his body. And there she had found it, right around his navel two four symbols seals, forming the Eight Trigrams Seal.

It would explain his emotional scars. She had studied a book on Jinchuuriki's and knew that they were treated like a monster wherever they were. But that would mean that all of the people knew. That would mean that the Hokage had told them. It made her wonder if the old man was finally going senile. He couldn't have had believed that the villagers would accept him even though he would have told them that the kyuubi was practically still alive in an orphan boy. Never mind the fact that he was safely sealed away and unable to influence naruto as it pleased. And how Miu saw it now, the kyuubi's conscious still wasn't there in Naruto. It was as if he was sleeping.

But the more and more she thought about it, the more she believed that the third would indeed do something like that. He was just too trusting sometimes. Humans could be monsters. To even turn to hurt a child as cute as naruto. But she was probably right as she assumed that naruto was probably hated by the villagers. Hate and fear making them blind to his cute face, to his beautiful blue eyes and his undeniable genius. They would only see the kyuubi. The beast that had killed their parents, brothers and sisters, friends, and their dear Hokage… not knowing that this kid was his only heir and legacy.

'Damn… Sarutobi-sama made one big mistake.' She thought. She was almost 100% sure that her assumption would be correct.

She looked up from the medical seal she had been staring at to look at the kid in question, who was happily drawing a big house surrounded by a lot of trees. She should have a talk with him. She had taken a liking to him and she really didn't want to ask questions that would most probably hurt him, but she just had to know. She wanted to know if… if she could have a chance with him.

Even before she had realized it, she had taken a liking to him. She had felt a need to protect him. And it had been growing stronger and stronger the more time she spent with this kid.

When she was still a child, she had often been alone. The original founder of her clan had been a wind user, which would later turn out to be quite a rare element with their Kekkei Genkai. The others that did have the Kekkei Genkai all gravitated more towards water and earth. Because of that it had become a tradition to appoint the one that had the wind Kekkei Genkai as the new clan leader. Her parents had been very proud of course, but because of it, Miu had been slightly isolated from the rest of the clan and taken away to be trained and groomed as the future head of the clan. Normally the people that wanted to become a ninja, were sent to Konoha's ninja academy. She'd been kept at home instead, she had tutors teacher her one on one. Because she'd never gone to school she could never meet someone her own age. She had always wished for someone that would be her friend. And she had found that in Yukie, a cousin of hers. She'd been one of the only kids her own age, but she hadn't met her before because her parents travelled as merchants.

She'd treated her normally, not as a future clan head, but someone her own age and it had been so refreshing. She had made her drop some of her masks. Yukie had made her more human than she ever remembered she had been. That's how she could voice her opinion more loudly than before, that's how she could grow as a person and not be stuck as an unfeeling machine, as a tool that was to be used by the clan. Yukie made it possible for her to make friends with other people.

She knew that burning pain of loneliness when her parents got sent out on missions and she didn't know whether they would come back alive or not. Or that day the clan council told her Yukie had died, and it had almost broken her inside, but instead of reverting to the weapon she was supposed to be, she just grew to like her emotions, herself even more. It had made her determined to live the life Yukie had taught her to live.

Yukie had become a sister and when she died, it was as if a part of her heart had been taken away. She had begged for her parents to give her a sibling. She wanted someone that would be tied to her always. That would look up to her, someone she could care for with all her heart. She had wanted a little brother or sister.

And in this weird twist of fate, she had started to like this orphan boy in front of her. Hated by many, loved by a very few. She knew that he needed someone to be there for him and she was seriously thinking of just teleporting them to the Hokage's office and handling all the paper work, so he could just live here. With her. Though there were still many things holding her back. Would he like to be here? Maybe Naruto did have a friend in the orphanage somewhere. What would he do when she was gone on missions? She was really unsure and decided not to rush it.

"Naruto-kun. Can I ask you something?" she asked as she got up from her seat and took a place on the ground. "Sure, Tsukino-san." He answered and she smiled as he put down his crayons and looked at her with his big blue eyes. She had to keep it simple. He was still a four year old, after all…

"Do you have a family, Naruto-kun?" His eyes that had been happy first, dimmed and her heart squeezed painfully at his sad expression.

"Ah, I don't have a family. I was brought up in the orphanage." he said, proving she had been spot on. Her expression softened and she put her hand on his and gave it a squeeze.

"Did you know, Naruto-kun. I recently became an orphan too." He looked up, interested. She gave him a sad smile, wondering whether to tell this kid or not.

"My whole family died when I turned 12 years old." She gave him a bitter smile, when she saw his shocked expression.

"People were after me for my abilities and they killed them. Only my parents and I could escape." They couldn't save anyone. She remembered as her cousin was cut up in front of her eyes. That moment would forever be burned into her memory…

-Flashback-

Miu was kneeling down. Her uncle, the current clan head stood in front of her. The clan elders flanking his sides.

"Tsukino Miu, rise." He ordered.

She did as she was told and got up, looking up at her uncle. He smiled at her, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"As you were born with the wind Kekkei Genkai that come only once every few generations, the clan gifts you this special katana that was used by the clan members who had this power before you. As of today, you can participate in clan matters and we will slowly teach you in the ways of our clan and how to best lead it." Miu bowed again, before accepting the sword that was offered to her.

The first thing she noticed was that it was quite heavy in her hands. A responsibility of her own. It was a beautiful long sword. The blade was black, the handle had been wrapped with blue cord. The clan mark, a circle with a five pointed star inside of it, was carved in silver on the low part of the blade, the kanji for wind under it. The sheath of her sword was black too with beautiful carvings in midnight blue. She pushed a bit of chakra into the black sword, slightly lighting up the silver markings in the sword. At this all everyone in the crowd clapped and she felt happiness welling up inside of her. She felt proud to hold this sword like so many had before her.

The party started again and several people approached her to congratulate her. She smiled as her cousin approached her with a big smile on his face. He had grown a lot since the last time she saw him 4 years ago. He had survived the war, and she was proud of him.

"Happy Birthday, Miu-hime!" her smile tightened a bit at the honorific. In front of the clan it was always –sama or –hime. It was like reminding her of her damn status all the time. And she hated it. She hadn't done anything to deserve such a title of respect. And to her it sounded more like an insult.

"Thank you, Satoshi-kun."

Suddenly she heard a scream behind her, just when she looked back, she felt someone move in on her. Her training kicking in she jumped and drew the katana, bringing it into a defensive stance. Her eyes widened as almost everyone lay there bleeding on the ground, there were a few of her clanmembers that had gotten the chance to draw their sword, but were vastly outnumbered. Various ninja's littered the room, katana's and tanto's drawn. She just stood there in shock as her cousin who she had been talking to just ten second ago, got slashed by a ninja's katana. He tried to get away, but was then stabbed before they turned to her.

What had just happened? How had it escalated so quickly? Had she been in a Genjutsu? Or was it just that they had been so fast that her eyes couldn't have followed. For what had she been training, if she couldn't even protect her own clansmen from enemy ninjas.

Miu deactivated her gravity seals and got to kill one of the enemies and injure another before they kicked into action. Her parents blocked a few attacks that would have felled her and got to kill a few, creating a distraction. Her mother took her hand and teleported her away from her clan home. Her father came back just a few minutes later.

"Mom, dad…" she began. But they both just shook their heads. And she knew, by the lack of chakra inside she could feel that everyone was already dead. She took a look at her bloodied hands and remembered the corpses of her clan members. She could feel the bile rise in her throat and quickly turned her back at her parents to empty her stomach.

Dead. All of them were dead. What had happened? Why? Who was it? She felt all these questions rush through her head as she started seeing black. Red. Everything was red… and that's when she had lost consciousness.

-Flashback end-

Naruto was staring at her with a shocked expression. But then his face scrunched up in anger.

"That's not fair!" he shouted. And she was a little surprised by his outburst. But then she sighed and smiled at him sadly.

"I know, Naruto-kun. Sometimes life isn't fair at all…" she looked at him pointedly and he looked down. She knew that he had been hurt after all. And then he turned to look up at her again.

"But what about your parents?" He asked, confused.

"Ah…. They died 6 months ago. We were ambushed on our way here and my parents protected me and sent me to Konoha while they fought all those ninja by themselves. They didn't survive." Her voice cracked.

"This house…. It was meant for the three of us to live in. But since they're gone…" She gave him a small smile. He got up suddenly. Surprising her. He walked up to her, sat down and gave her an awkward hug. Showing her that he hadn't done this before. She smiled and pulled him on her lap as he buried his face in her chest.

"Shh, it's okay." She told him. "You don't have to cry."

'Damn…' She tried to blink her tears away.

"But, but, that's just too sad." He whispered sadly. "You lost everything." She hugged him close.

"Kiddo, don't say things like that." She looked at him and smiled even though she had tears in her eyes.

"I'm very, very glad I got to know my parents. They loved me and taught me very much. I won't ever forget what they did for me and I hope that one day, I can be a good parent. Just like they were." She whipped away his tears and hesitantly gave him a kiss on his forehead. He closed his eyes in bliss, reveling in the warmth he was feeling.

He had decided that he wouldn't trust anyone again, after what had happened. And yet… He hadn't known why he had done it, but something about this woman made him trust her. And usually his instincts were right. And as he saw the tears in her eyes as she told him about her dead family his trust was cemented. This woman was good. He could trust her.

And thus he slowly walked up to her and hugged her, just like he had seen other kids hug their family members too. And he had been shocked when she had pulled him in her lap, but closed his eyes as she hugged him close. So this was what a hug felt like…. It was warm. Why was he feeling so safe already? Feeling as if a weight had been lifted of his tiny shoulders. For the first time in his life, he felt truly safe. It was a nice feeling.

He relished in the warmth of the hug, and before he knew it, he was crying. Crying for everything that had been done to him, ever since he could remember. He cried for his loneliness and his pain. He cried for the assassination attempt, the name-calling, the spitting, the beatings, the cold hospitals and the icy cold glares of the villagers. And he cried for that lonely feeling that overtook him every time he was alone in that small room in the orphanage.

He trusted her and that was why he decided to tell her.

Still in their hug, Naruto spoke up.

"I ran away from the orphanage…" He started, gaining all of Miu's attention again. she pulled back a bit, making naruto whine for the loss of warmth. Miu was looking at him and so he continued, still a bit hesitant.

"I dropped a plate this morning… and I got beaten up because of it…" He said while looking in her eyes. He got a bit scared when her eyes widened and filled with anger and when her grip on him tightened a bit.

"You got beaten like that because you dropped a plate?!" she practically hissed. "How dare they! What are those people even thinking!" Naruto was glad that she wasn't angry at him, but for him.

She took a few deep breaths and sighed.

"Sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to scare you." She added in a whisper. She slowly brushed a hands through his blond locks.

"Has this ever happened before?" she asked him in a soft voice. Naruto nodded against her shoulder, reveling in the soft caress.

"They beat me all the time for things like that. I'm not supposed to talk when I'm not asked to and they only give me bad food, the other kids are never allowed to play with me. Sometimes they even lock me up in a dark room, and I get really scared. When Ojii-san with the weird hat comes to visit once a month, I can't tell him that anything is wrong or else they said they would hurt the other kids too and they said that I would get no food and that…that they would…" Naruto stopped talking, as a sob made its way out.

"Why is it only me that they hate so much?" he asked, a question he had asked himself so many times before. "Why is it only me that they treat this way and look at like I'm some kind of monster? Ne, Did I do something wrong?" he asked again, pouring his heart out to this stranger that he had strangely started to trust. And it felt so good to get everything off his chest. He had never told anyone about this.

"No." she whispered after a while. And it broke Naruto out of his daze. He had almost fallen asleep, all that crying had made him sleepy. She hugged him a bit tighter.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, Naruto-kun. It's these people that see you as something you're not. They've all treated you so badly and it makes me very, very angry." Naruto felt so reassured by her words. It felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He smiled a bit, until something wet seemed to hit his shoulder. 'Huh?' he thought.

"Tsukino-san?" He called. When he got no answer, he lifted his head and was speechless by what he saw.

"Tsukino-san are you crying?" Suddenly Naruto panicked. Had he said too much? Should he have kept quiet? He was such an idiot! Why did he have to go and make this kind person cry. Out of frustration his own eyes filled with tears again. "Tsukino-san, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry!"

Tsukino-san just shook her head, and gave him a watery smile. "No, sorry, that's not it… I'm just so sorry, Naruto-kun." She told him with an unsteady voice, as she whipped her tears away. He just looked at her, confusion written all over his face. "Sorry for what Tsukino-san?" he whispered.

"For not noticing earlier. If only I had known earlier, I would've taken you out of that place. I would have done something to spare you these experiences. I'm so ashamed of Konoha for doing this to you." She said, anger and sadness in her voice. It wasn't her fault at all! But her words were making Naruto feel so warm inside.

"But Tsukino-san…" Naruto began before he was interrupted by her. She just shook her head.

"But… even though I couldn't do anything about it before, I sure will do something about it right now. And I'm not going to let you go back to the orphanage, Naruto-kun." Naruto just blinked a few times, not really understanding what she was saying anymore.

"But… but that's the only place I have! I have nowhere else to go. Even if I don't want to, I have no other choice but to go back to the orphanage." Even though he had lived on the streets a few times, he couldn't in this season! It was getting colder and he would freeze to death…

"You're wrong." She said. Gaining all of his attention again. "You do have another place to go to."

Naruto's eyes widened as he racked his brain for where this other place could be.

"You have a place in this house." She started slowly. Making Naruto's eyes widen in realization.

"You have a place here with me. Stay for a week and decide then. Decide then whether you want to stay or go back okay?"

Naruto was just in a state of shock as he kept gaping at the smiling woman in front of him. Had she just… given him a place to stay in her home? Him? Who was hated by everyone in the village?

"Why?" He wondered.

"Because I want you to be happy. I don't want them to hurt you anymore. I want you to have a home to return to. But… it's because I need someone like you in my life too. This house is kind of big, if it's only me, you know?" She told him with a smile on her face. Naruto's head was just racing with what he had heard. She wanted him to be happy, he was needed! And his eyes filled with tears again.

"Thank you, Tsukino-san!" He cried into her chest. "Thank you so much!" Miu just smiled at him gently and softly brushed through his blond looks with her fingers.

"No, thank you, Naruto-kun… and please, just call me Miu, okay?" He looked up at her and she softly brushed away his tears.

"Miu-san?" he asked her questioningly. And she just nodded.

"That should be fine for now." She told him. He just nodded, not really getting what she really meant. I'm not gonna let you call me –san anymore, if I'm gonna adopt you. She thought, grinning like an idiot. She was so happy! And Naruto noticed.

"Miu-san what's wrong." But she just kept on grinning.

"Nothing! I'm just glad you're here!" She told him with a big smile, making him smile too.

"I'm really glad too, Miu-san."

"Then, to celebrate our first day together, let's make a cake!" She told him, happily.

"Eh? A cake?" She just nodded and picked him up with him. "Yeah, a cake! What about chocolate? Or do you wanna make a strawberry one?" He just blinked a few times.

"Uhm, I haven't really eaten a cake before." He told her, making Miu freeze for a second, hurt spreading in her heart, but she quickly covered it up with a smile.

"Then, let's eat a chocolate cake today and make a strawberry one tomorrow! How does that sound?" He nodded with a smile on his face. "Sounds great, Miu-san!" He told her enthusiastically. And so they both started to make a cake.

Naruto helped her with mixing the batter, while Miu melted the chocolate.

"Naruto-kun? When's your birthday?" She asked him. He blinked at that. His birthday?

"October 10th." He replied a little unsure.

He had only bad memories of that day. People beating him up, him hiding away, that dark, dark room.

Miu suddenly froze, her eyes comically widened and she suddenly pointed the spatula at him, making him jump in shock.

"But, but… that's in a few days already!" She said with a panicked look on her face. It was already the fourth! "Ah! I have to make preparations for a cake and find you an amazing birthday present. I'll give you a party, but it'll be pretty boring with just the two of us! Agh, what do I do!" She asked as she dramatically raised her hands to the heavens.

"Pff…" Miu looked back at Naruto who was hiding his giggles behind his hand. She looked so shocked that he just started laughing harder.

"Oi, why are you laughing?! Do you think my misery is funny, you little brat!" She said playfully before she snatched him of the chair and started tickling him. "Aaaah!" He shouted and tried to get away from her tickling hands, laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face. "P-please s-stop, Miu-saaan~~~" He said between laughing. She just grinned at him and momentarily let him catch his breath.

"Miu-san… Your face was just too funny!" he said before he got another giggle fit and this time she just started to laugh with him.

When they both calmed down, Naruto turned to her. "Miu-san are you really going to celebrate my birthday?" He asked her, a little hope in his voice that didn't go unnoticed by her. Why would she do that? She had only known him for a few hours. Why was she doing this for him? He just didn't understand.

"Why not Naruto-kun? Every birthday is something to celebrate. It's the day you were born, of course I would want to celebrate it!" She told him, but Naruto just shook his head.

"But so many people died on my birthday! Isn't that one of the reasons why so many people hate me?" He asked her. Ah… Of course he would think that. If people only treated him worse on the days around his birthday, of course he would come to the conclusion that his birthday was one that shouldn't be celebrated' And Miu felt a strange sense of understanding. The clan massacre had happened on her 12th birthday after all. When her parents and her had been training and travelling around those four years after, she hadn't wanted to celebrate it either.

"You know, Naruto-kun. Even if I may have known you for only a few hours, I really like you. You're really cute and nice and I am really glad that I met you. When people are glad that you're here, they'll celebrate your birthday. Even if others died on your birthday. I want to thank your parents and Kami that I was able to meet you. It's a very, very happy occasion."

"You really think so, Miu-san?" He asked her with hopeful eyes. She nodded. "Yeah, and I want to celebrate it together with you. You won't be alone this birthday, I promise." She told him as she took his hand in her. "If you're staying from now on, then we'll always celebrate your birthday together." His eyes lit up at that. Seriously this kid was so cute and his baby blue eyes looked so thankful and at ease, so lonely, that she just couldn't help herself and gave him a peck on his forehead. Just like her parents had done to her. "You okay, kiddo?" For a moment he looked bewildered and then he smiled at her. It was such a sunny and bright smile that it warmed her heart and she smiled back. "I'm fine, Miu-san." She nodded.

She got up again, putting Naruto on his chair again. "Here, you can fill up the baking form, but be careful, alright?" He nodded, his face serious. She helped him a bit, and then she put the cake into the oven. "When it's done and cooled down, we'll decorate it, okay?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically at that. He couldn't wait!

Miu got out the ingredients for the icing and started mixing them together.

"Ne, Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked up from the bowl he was cleaning. This batter was seriously delicious!

"Yeah?"

"What's your favorite color?" She asked him with a grin. Making Naruto silent for a second. That was the first time anyone asked him that.

"I like blue. But I like orange too." He told her. "And you, Miu-san?"

"I love blue too. But I like green. You know Naruto-kun, my whole clan had green eyes." She told him, surprising Naruto.

"Really? Then why are your eyes blue, Miu-san?"

"It's because of the special powers I have. It's called a Kekkei Genkai or bloodline limit. You know, like those people with the white eyes for example, or the ones with black hair and eyes that can turn red." Naruto's eyes widened at that.

"Ah! I know who you're talking about! But they're all kind of scary, Miu-san." She just nodded. And motioned for him to get closer.

"I think so too!" She secretly stage whispered into his ear. "But don't tell them that!"

She had a silly grin on her face making Naruto giggle with joy. "I won't!" he whispered back at her. And they both had to laugh.

They both went to the living room, and talked while their cake was baking. She got out some paper for them to draw on and Naruto happily started drawing a cat that looked strangely like a fox. Huh.

"Have you been to the park before, Naruto-kun?" She asked him while drawing a portrait of the small boy in front of her. Naruto paused with his drawing to answer her. "I have, but I always went alone." He told her, a bit of sadness in his voice.

"Then we'll go tomorrow! How does that sound? Ah, and we'll go shopping for you too. I have to get you some pajama's, a few pair of new clothes, some new shoes, a toothbrush…" She told him, while she mentally made a list. Naruto was just staring at her in shock. She was going to buy him something! That had never happened before too! And then he realized that since meeting this woman, so many things happened and he had already taken a liking to her. He felt like grinning and shouting to the world that he was getting new clothes tomorrow, but then he suddenly remembered and his face fell.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Miu-san…" He told her softly. "People always glare at me and they always kick me out of their store, even if I would want to buy something."

Miu narrowed her eyes at this. Were those people serious? Not letting him into their store? She calmed herself down and gave him a gentle smile.

"You don't have to worry about that, Naruto-kun. When you're with me, no one will say anything to you and remember you're not going out alone tomorrow. I'll protect you and I'll be there with you. So let's have some fun tomorrow too, okay?" She told them, while patting him on his head.

Would she really do that? He looked her in the eyes and saw the sincerity. She cares… He nodded shyly before giving her a foxy grin. "Thank you, Miu-san!" She just grinned back at him. "No problem, Naruto-kun!"

She turned her drawing to Naruto, who gasped. "Wow! Is that us, Miu-san?" He asked her with a twinkle in his eyes. "You can draw so good! It's so pretty!" He took the drawing from her, it looked like a picture. On it were Naruto and Miu, they were eating cake together. They were both smiling and looking like they were having a lot of fun. "You can have it, you know. I made it for you!" his eyes widened at that. "Really? For me?" And when she nodded. He grinned at her "Thank you so much, Miu-san! I love it!"

"That's good!" She grinned back at him. And just at that moment the timer for the cake went off. They both went into the kitchen and both their mouths started to water at the smell of chocolate. She put the cake on a cooling rack and turned to Naruto. "Let it cool down first and then we'll decorate it, okay?" Naruto's shoulders slumped at that. "Aww, but I wanna decorate it now!" She just smiled at him behaving like the kid he was supposed to be and picked him up from the ground. "No, Naruto-kun, we have to wait, or else the decorations will melt you know? And then the whole cake would be ruined! So let's wait for a bit okay?" Naruto just nodded with a pout. "Okay, Miu-san." He didn't want the cake to be ruined after all!

Miu looked at the kid looking longingly at the cake. Maybe she should tell him now, better get it done sooner than later. "Ne, Naruto-kun." Naruto turned to look at her and she went to sit down with him on the couch. "I wanted to tell you something." Would he still want to stay after this? Was he prepared to really stay alone?

"You know, I'm a ninja. I help protecting the village and the villagers." His eyes widened at this and a grin spread on his face.

"Really?! That's so cool, Miu-san! you're probably reaaaaaally strong! I want to become a ninja too!" She smiled at that.

"Ah, I'm not that strong, you know. And that's awesome Naruto-kun! I can teach you a lot of things, if you want. I'll make sure that you become a great ninja!" And he grinned. "Yay! Thank you Miu-san!"

"But, Naruto, I'm going to tell you some bad points about living with me. Just listen to me." She said before he could interrupt her. "I'm an active shinobi, so that means that I go on missions. I'm only Chuunin rank, and I had been thinking about taking the Jounin exams, but I'm going to wait until you join the academy. My missions are mostly out of the village and could range from two days to almost three weeks. For that time, you'll be living here alone. You can go out to play in the park and I really hope that when I'm here, you can make friends with other kids your age. I can get my friends to bring you dinner and I'll teach you how to make simple things like rice with curry and omelets and onigiri." She looked at him and saw him taking everything in. "Do you understand, Naruto-kun?" After a few minutes of silence, she was about to ask him again when he asked her.

"Why are you taking the Jounin exams when I'm in the academy?"

"I'm not taking the Jounin exams now because I would get a lot more difficult missions and they would be a lot longer. So I won't be with you as much as I would like to. When you're in the academy the time you spend alone will be much less and you'll be busy with homework. One good thing about being Chuunin though, is that you can take a job in the village too. So I'm hoping that the Hokage will let me work in the hospital or give me guard duty or something." She sighed.

"So… you still want to stay?" He closed his eyes in thought and she felt herself getting a little scared. Her heart squeezed tightly at the thought of living alone again. With him around it felt less empty. It really felt like a home. But when he opened his eyes and grinned at her, all her worries melted away.

"If you're gone on a mission Miu-san, I'll take care of the house and I'll wait for you to come home. Because when I get to be a ninja, you'll wait for me too, right?" She smiled, feeling stupid for getting scared, after all this kid was not one to easily let go.

"Thanks, kiddo. And of course I'll wait for you." And they both grinned at each other. It looks like they both wanted him to stay, not even thinking that he could leave anymore. But Miu would still wait a week before making it official.

When the cake was done, they decorated it together. The two of them were enjoying themselves greatly. And when they were finally done they sat down on the dining table. Miu had made a cup of tea for herself and poured a glass of milk for Naruto-kun. They both shouted an 'Itadakimasu' before digging in. "This is so yummy!" Naruto cried with a blissful look on his face. Miu just nodded. "Yummy, indeed. Ah, I love chocolate!"

When they were done eating, they both went upstairs. Miu went and tucked Naruto into his bed.

"Ah, I almost forgot to tell you. I always wake up really early for a morning run, but I'll probably be back before you even wake up. And after breakfast a good friend of mine is coming over. We're going to spar together for a bit and then we'll go out together, okay?" Naruto looked a bit scared at the mention of someone else coming over. But Miu thought the contact would be good for him. He had to see that there were people he could trust. That not everybody hated him. Anko had been an outcast too, since Orochimaru had defected from the village. The villagers and even some of the ninjas thought that she had always been an accomplice and they treated her like a traitor. That dango shop was the only one that served her food without making a fuss about it. Of course their other friends, Kurenai, Genma, Hayato, Ibiki, Yugao and many of the other ninjas knew that she wasn't and accepted her like she was. She was a crazy bitch, but she got lonely easily, she was a very good listener, and she was the type that said things right to your face. She liked that about Anko. She wouldn't look at Naruto like how the others did. She had experienced the same after all.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun, She's a very nice person. Someone that's won't hurt you, okay?" And Naruto nodded. He decided to trust Miu-san, so if she thought that person was good, then she had to be. "Okay, Miu-san."

"My room is just across this one, if you need something come to me anytime, okay?" He just nodded. She kissed him on his forehead and gently combed through his hair with her fingers. "Good night, Naruto-kun. Sweet dreams." He smiled at her tiredly.

"Goodnight, Miu-san…" He closed his eyes and just like that, he was already asleep.

Miu slowly walked out of the room and gently closed the door behind her. With a small smile on her face, she went to her own room and sat down on her desk. Damn it! She still hadn't finished that seal!

It was a medical seal, she had been working on. It had been designed to stop the blood flow from a wound, so that doctors could heal them before patients bled out. She had come up with the idea when a woman she was helping deliver almost died of blood loss. Should she have been just a little bit slower in taking action that time, both the mother and the baby would have been lost.

But she was wondering how to put everything together, there were too many things that she was applying at the same time. But there should be a way to balance them… and then her eyes lit up with realization. That was it! She should just put the seals around each other, locking them that way and then putting a containment barrier around it.

She carefully applied some quick strokes to the scroll in front of her and put down her brush to look at it. It looked like a sun inside of a spikey planet. She checked if all the functions balanced out well and when they did, she smiled at her work. This could save the lives of a lot of people. Civilians and ninjas alike. She had been working on it for weeks now, designing each part carefully. She really wanted to have it finished tonight. She would tell the Hokage about it tomorrow. For now though, she went to take a shower and then went downstairs, opening the back door to her beautiful back yard. It was a training area on one side, but a garden on the other. And even though it was already fall, a lot of flowers were still in full bloom…

Now that she thought about it, she could have shown Naruto this place. Oh well, she'd show him tomorrow. Miu walked up to one of the stumps on the left side of her training field. She easily jumped on top of it and sat down to meditate. She had been doing this kind of exercise for years. To hone her sensory abilities, she went into a meditative stance and tried to sense the chakra around her.

As she closed her eyes, her body went into a trance as she could feel everything in the air. First there was the flowers, her home, the barrier around it. When she reached out further, she found animals in the woods around her, people on the streets. She became one with the wind, using her wind affinity to sense every leaf, every insect, every house, every person, she carried herself further and further until she could almost sense the whole of Konoha.

It was then that it got difficult. She had to filter the sounds, the feel of everything. She searched around cafes and bars, and there. She found her. A triumphant smile covered her face as she found the familiar chakra of her friends. By sensing like this, she could feel they were enjoying themselves. Filtering out the rest, she could hear their heartbeats, smell the sake they were drinking, see their smiling faces. She gently let her chakra caress their faces, only feelings of warmth making it through.

In Shushuya a group of friends sat drinking and talking together. They were all enjoying the Yakitori when they suddenly felt a soft breeze playfully ruffling their hair and clothes, gently caressing their faces. "That's Miu-chan, isn't it?" Yugao asked, and she felt as if the wind was patting her on her head. "I guessed right. And she can even hear us." She told them. Anko just grinned at the wind. "Oi, Miu! If you're done with working, get your ass in here." The wind seemed to laugh as it all playfully ruffled their hair again. And just as soon as it came, it was gone. Leaving a smile on their faces.

Miu smiled, but didn't take them up on their invitation. She instead went to another part of the village. The apartment of the person she had been waiting for was still empty. She wanted to see him. She wanted to see him so bad… 'When are you coming home?' She asked him in her mind.

A little slower than before, she let her senses travel to the office of the village leader. She entered through the window, the Sandaime was still working. From reading his chakra, she could sense that he was bored. That's why she decided to annoy him a bit. With a grin on her face, she ruffled the Sandaime's clothes, letting his hat fly away through the room. She touched the ANBU hiding in the shadows. The Sandaime's chakra brightened up a bit as he smiled. "Miu… Good to see you got home safe. I hope I'll get that mission report tomorrow." She flew his hat in front of his, and gave a nod with it, before placing it pack on top of his head. The wind whispered a good night to him, before disappearing from the window.

She directed the wind to her own house and to the room where Naruto was sleeping. She gently caressed him too. His chakra was peaceful, indicating that he was having a good dream. She gently brushed his hair, before opening her eyes with a smile.

It was unbelievable what she could do with her wind affinity. This had been a technique that she had been developing for eight years. Her clan and her parents never knew about it. Only a handful in the village knew. She could use it for information gathering, but she could also use it for killing a big group of enemy ninjas. she herself could choose how sharp her wind was. This had been one of the abilities granted to her by her Kekkei Genkai. An ability to control the wind, up to the point of mastering it. She jumped of the log, she had been standing on and summoned her katana from the seal on her wrist. She unsheathed it, and starting going through her kata's slowly, gradually adding more speed, until she was a blur.

When she was done, she was breathing slightly harder. Her skin slightly damp from the sweat. She sighed and let herself fall onto the luscious grass, looking up at the beautiful night sky. There were a lot of starts tonight. She smiled as she watched them, feeling a peacefulness engulf her.

After what seemed like an eternity she got up, took a shower and went straight to bed. Looking forward to tomorrow.

A/N: Tell me what you think, people! I'll try to update as soon as I have time! ^_^