Chapter 1
Hey guys! How's it goin'? Well, here it is! My newest chapter for Making Sweet Dumplings. I hope you enjoy it. This chapter was rather difficult to write. But it is finally done!
I'd like to thank my Beta's: EvilMoogleGirl and Chibiusa for doing such a wonderful job editing this chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Naruto. There he was...in the flesh.
I didn't know what to do. It was….I couldn't even begin to describe the emotions running through my head. It made my body shake. I looked over at Hinata, wondering how she was feeling. Her entire face was completely pink, and she was pressing her forefingers together, looking in her lap, as if it held all the answers to her life.
I shook my head at her and looked back towards the boy. He seemed lost; like he wanted to play, but was afraid to. The conflicting emotions on his face almost broke my heart. I stared at him, completely enraptured, but he was so frail. It was probably from malnourishment, but it also looked like he was just so broken.
I looked at Hinata, to see if she would do anything, which she I knew wouldn't. I sighed and jumped off my swing. I walked over towards the blond, who gave me a mistrusting look.
I smiled, trying to appear friendly. "Hi!"
He looked down, fiddling with the hem of shirt. He swallowed hard, trying to build up the courage to speak. "Hey…"
"I'm Ayaka. What's your name?" I said, holding out my hand to him.
Naruto looked at my hand, then up at me as if I had grown a second head.
"It's just a hand. Don'tcha know how to shake hands?" I smiled, trying to prompt Naruto to take my hand.
Naruto continued to stare at me with crazy wide eyes. He nodded, taking my hand. "I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. I'm gunna be the next Hokage!" He yelled, his excitement growing with each word. "I think being Hokage would be so cool! Besides, when I'm Hokage...people will have to be nice to me!" He said, puffing out his cheeks in a massive pout.
'I know, Naruto. I know.' I continued to smile at the boy, pleased with our introductions. "Ne, Naru-chan, do you wanna swing with my friend, Hinata-chan? She's over by the-" When I turned to point at the swings where I left the Hyuuga heiress, she had disappeared. "Maybe she had to go home." I said thoughtfully, though if I knew Hinata, she was probably hiding now. I turned back to the blond, who looked pretty confused.
"Wanna go play on the slide?" I offered, trying to extend the olive branch of friendship.
He stared at me with a bewildered expression, like all the gears were turning in his head.
"What is it, Naru-chan?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.
"Y-You called me 'Naru-chan.'" He whispered, trying to fight back tears.
"Is...that okay?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't want to scare him off after only knowing him for five minutes.
"Y-Yeah! It's great! No one's ever gave me a nickname before!" He exclaimed happily. He had a big, bright smile, practically ripping his face in half.
"Come on! Let's go play on the slide!" I shouted.
He nodded his head vigorously, and we raced to the slide. We spent a good portion of the afternoon playing with each other, sliding on slides, using the swings, and even playing on the teeter-totter. Naruto did most of the talking, spouting a lot of nonsense about being Hokage and about the Hokage. As the sun began to set, I could hear my mom calling my name.
I turned to her, seeing her waving me over. I turned back to Naruto, who looked suddenly very sad. "It's okay, Naru-chan. We can play together tomorrow. You'll be able to meet Chouji-niisan!" I exclaimed, trying to cheer up the small child.
His eyes went wide, surprised that I would want to play with him. "You'd play with me again?"
"Yeah! You're fun." I smiled, holding my hand out to him again.
He took it without hesitation, smiling back. "Ne...Ayaka, are we friends?"
I blinked, surprised by his question. I shouldn't have been though; he was a child deprived of affection and care. Of course he would latch onto any sort of positive feelings. I nodded at him. "Absolutely. I'll see you tomorrow, Naru-chan."
He nodded, waving to me as I ran towards my mother. I waved back, yelling my goodbyes. I reached my mother, taking her hand into my tiny one.
"Who was that, Aya-chan?" She asked. I knew she knew who he was. Everyone knew who he was.
"That was Naru-chan. He's my new friend!" I said happily, but quickly turned my happiness to concern.
"Is that okay, Kaa-san?" Even if she said no, I'd still be the blond's friend. He needed them; he needed precious people to protect and drive him. It was like a personal mission. I was going to fulfill my end of it, making sure he had the friends he needed to be strong.
I looked up at my mother, waiting for her answer.
"Did you have fun playing with him?" She asked, eying me.
I nodded, smiling up at her. "He was so nice, Kaa-san! We took turns pushing each other on the swings, and we played on the slide and teeter-totter."
"That's wonderful, Aya-chan. I'm sure he's a nice boy." She said, looking down at me. I wasn't sure how to decipher her facial expression. It seemed like she wanted to be happy for me...but looked nervous.
"Ne, Kaa-san?" I said, gently tugging on her hand.
"Mm? What is it, Aya-chan?" She said, looking down at me.
"Can Naru-chan come over? He looked really sad, and his stomach was growling when we were playing." I said, trying to hint to my mom that Naruto was starved. Quite literally.
She looked at me, shocked at my question; like I grew a second head. "Please, Kaa-san? He's really nice!"
She looked at me, sighing at my request. "I would love to have him over, Aya-chan. But you'll have to ask Chouza. He's the one who has to say yes."
I shrugged. It made sense; we ate dinner as a clan. The Clan Head would have to approve of any guest that would be joining us. I nodded, smiling up at my mom. "Okay. I'll ask Chouza-jiji tonight."
My mom smiled at me, but I could sense a lot of hesitation from her. The Akimichi Clan didn't really have anything against Naruto, I knew that. But it didn't stop them from being wary of him. But that had to change; I needed to be the one to change that.
When we got home, I immediately ran to the dining room, where I knew my uncle would be.
"Chouza-jiji! Chouza-jiji!" I shouted, getting his attention immediately.
Chouza, who was looking down at some sort of paperwork, looked up and smiled brightly. "Hello Aya-chan! How's my favorite niece?"
I smirked at the man. "I better be your favorite. I'm your only niece." He let out a bellowing laugh, pinching my cheek. I grunted and groaned when he stretched my cheek out. He let go, and I pouted, rubbing the sore spot.
"Ne, Chouza-jiji. Can my new friend come over sometime?" I asked, still rubbing my aching cheek.
"Of course, my little Aya-chan. Who's your new friend?" He asked, placing an affectionate hand on my head. His hand palmed my head, like a basketball. He ruffled my hair, making it even messier than it was.
I pouted again, unimpressed by the show of affection.
"Uzumaki Naruto. I met him at the park." I beamed. Seeing his face go from a rather care-free, joyous expression to a blank one, made my stomach flip nervously.
"You became friends with Uzumaki Naruto?" I saw him looking up at my mom for assurance. I turned to her, seeing her nod.
"Please Chouza-jiji? He's really nice." I pleaded, giving him my biggest, saddest eyes I could muster.
Chouza sighed and ruffled my hair slowly, as if trying to comfort me.
"Alright. Next time you see him, invite him for dinner." At that exact moment, my uncle looked very, very tired. It seemed the topic of that particular blond was a heavy one. I could only imagine what the councils talked about when it came to him.
I nodded, smiling brightly. "Thank you, Chouza-jiji!"
Chouza chuckled and pinched my cheek. I grumbled at the pinch. His grip was strong and it hurt.
"Ne, where'th Chouhi-niithan?" I lisped through my pinched cheek.
"In his room. Will you go get him and tell him it's dinner time?" He asked, ruffling my hair again.
I nodded, bounding away from him and leaving the room.
I heard the door of the dining room shut behind me. I guessed my mom and Chouza were going to discuss my most recent request. I stayed behind, wanting to eavesdrop on the conversation. I leaned in and pressed my ear on the door, trying to catch every word.
"What are we going to do, Chouza? I wasn't prepared for this." I heard my mother say.
"I already agreed for him to come to dinner, Chouko. One night won't kill us. Besides, the boy isn't dangerous. He isn't the bijuu itself. We need to remember that." He said with a soft groan. "Listen...it might be good for him. In some of the council meetings, there are mixed reports; he's either completely healthy and taken care of, or he's being beaten day in and day out. The least we can do is give him a proper meal."
"Alright. I'm going to get the others for dinner."
I bolted from the door. I raced through the halls until I reached Chouji's room. I took a couple of moments to catch my breath before I knocked. "Chouji-niisan! Dinner ti-"
The door flew open before I could finish my sentence.
"DINNER!" My cousin yelled enthusiastically in my face. He looked at me, and instantly regretted yellowing. "Oh….s-sorry Aya-chan." He said softly.
I sighed, looking at him. I wiped my face with my sleeve, wiping the bits of spittle on my face.
"It's okay, Nii-san. Come on! i'll race you to dinner!"
I barely got the words out and we took off, racing back to the dining room.
"I'm beating you, Aya-chan!" He exclaimed, looking back at me as he ran.
"I'll beat you for sure, Chouji-niisan!" I cried, trying to catch up.
I lost the race, but it didn't matter; we were getting fed after all.
The next day I went back to the park after my training session, Chouji accompanying me. My mother was escorting us, looking pretty anxious. I really wanted to tell her to take a chill pill, but I bit my tongue. As we reached the park, I noticed a group of children huddled around something.
"Ne Ayaka-chan. What do you think is going on?" Chouji asked, looking at the group.
"I don't know, Chouji-niisan. Let's go look." I smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the group.
Once we got to the group, we got a good look of what was going on; the kids were harassing Naruto. He was laying on the ground, glaring up at the children. He was covered in dirt, and had several scrapes on his hands and knees. He was fighting back tears, though he wasn't doing a good job of it.
"Naruto…" I whispered, shocked to see him that way.
"Who's Naruto?" Chouji asked, looking at the boy in wonder.
As I watched the blond glare at the crowd, my legs carried me over to him. I kneeled down, holding my hand out to the blond, who looked up with startled, but accepting eyes. He reached out to me, grasping my hand. I pulled him to his feet, and he smiled at me. I looked around the group, glaring at them; Naruto doing to same thing.
As we tried to move through the crowd of bullies, we were harassed.
We were pushed and shoved around. More than once we were tripped, falling to the ground, getting covered in dirt and dust.
After many pushes, shoves, and trips, we finally made out of the crowd, a little worse for wear.
"Are you alright?" Chouji asked, approaching us with concern.
"Yeah...I'm okay." Naruto mumbled. "Those guys are jerks."
I nodded. "Chouji-niisan, this is my friend Naruto. Naruto, this is my cousin, Chouji." I introduced.
They both said hello to each other as we all walked away from the mean children. We walked towards the teeter-totter, where no other children were. I let Chouji and Naruto have the first turn on the teeter-totter, wanting the two children to get to know each other. Though...Naruto and Chouji-niisan's teeter-totter experience was rather comical.
Naruto tried to push off from the ground, but he was too weak. He ended up looking rather constipated whenever he tried to push himself off the ground.
I ended up having to sit behind Naruto to help balance things out.
"Ne, Naru-chan?" I said, behind the blond. "Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? I think Okaa-san is making curry!" I said excitedly. Curry was one of my favorite meals; even before I wound up in the Naruto-verse.
Naruto stopped pushing off the ground, staring at me as if I grew a second head. "Y-You….you'll let me come over?"
I nodded, smiling warmly at the young blond. "Of course. You're my friend. Okaa-san said it was okay. Chouza-jiji said it was okay, too." I beamed.
Chouji blinked, a little unsure of what was happening. But he was a kind soul, nodding his head and welcoming Naruto to join us for dinner.
Naruto's face scrunch up, and he sniffled as he covered his eyes with his arm, tears trickling down his cheek, dripping off his chin. "Y-Yes...Yes!" He shouted. "I-I'd love to come to dinner!" He sniffled.
I smiled again. "I'm so glad you can come! It will be fun to have a friend over for dinner."
Naruto nodded and wiped his tears away with his arm. "Thank you, Ayaka-Chan! I'm so happy!"
I felt my heart break a little; so starved for love and attention, crying when shown any sort of kindness. I hoped Naruto would be happy with our extension of the olive branch.
Naruto, Chouji, and I moved away from the play structures and towards the lawn, where we played ninja all afternoon. It made me happy that the two boys got along so well. I was excited for dinner tonight. My family would see Naruto as he was; an excitable, four year old boy.
I heard my mom call us over, yelling that it was time to go home. I turned to Naruto with a bright smile.
"Come on, Naru-Chan! Let's go!" I watched Naruto jump up and shout his excitement. I raced to my mother, Chouji and Naruto next to me.
We reached my mother, all three of us bouncing on our toes. She smiled down at us, kneeling down to our level.
"Hello." She said to Naruto. "You must be Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ayaka's mother, Chouko."
Naruto smiled brightly, scratching the tip of his nose. "Hi! Thank you soooooo much for letting me come to dinner! I'm so excited!" He said, stretching his arms out for emphasis.
My mom smiled and gently placed a hand on the blond's head. "Well, then we better get you to the dinner table." She said, straightening up.
Naruto, Chouji, and I ran ahead of mom, though we still stayed close so we wouldn't lose her. As we got closer to home, I could hear Naruto's stomach growling.
"Hungry, Naru-chan?" I teased.
Naruto blushed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "A little. I haven't eaten all day."
My eyes widened. "Why not?" I was almost afraid of the answer.
"Hm? Well...they ran out of breakfast at the orphanage where I live, so I didn't get any." He said nonchalantly.
"Did any other children not have breakfast?" Chouji asked curiously.
Naruto thought for a moment, putting a forefinger to his lips. "No, I was the only one." He shrugged, as if it was a normal occurrence. "It's okay! I'm gunna get an awesome dinner now!" Naruto cheered, rushing ahead.
Chouji and I looked at each other for a moment, feeling guilty for the poor blond; he wasn't getting fed regularly, and here we were eating dinner like royalty every night.
Chouji and I caught up to our friend and walked the rest of the way to the compound with cheery conversation. Naruto asked us multiple time what was for dinner, and each time we told him he'd have to wait and see.
He would cross his arms over his chest and pout, but would immediately cheer up and talk about something else.
When we finally made it back to the compound, Naruto was wilder than ever. He was running in circles, screaming about how excited and how delicious it was going to taste. We all walked inside the compound and Chouji and I took off running towards the dining room, Naruto close behind.
We reached the dining room and flung the door open to see a table piled high with food.
"Woah…." Naruto whispered in awe. Naruto rushed to the table, hopping into a chair and began to pile food onto his plate.
"Hey, Naruto! You can't do that!" Chouji cried, rushing to his own seat at the table.
Naruto blinked at Chouji, staring at him with a sad face. "I...I can't eat the food?" He looked devastated, like we got his hopes up just to crush them.
"Oh no no, Naruto." My mom said, trying to comfort him. "You can eat, but you have to wait for everyone to get to the table. First you have to wash up for dinner, then we must wait for the head of the Akimichi Clan to seat himself at the table before we can begin eating." She said softly, moving to Naruto's side.
"Ooooooooooh." Naruto said with realization, taking his hands away from the food. He jumped down from his seat, smiling up at my mom. "Where can I wash my hands?" He asked with a toothy grin.
"I'll show you! Come on Chouji-niisan!" I said jogging out of the room, Naruto and my cousin following me.
We made it to a washroom, where all three of us proceeded to fight over the sink. We all tried to scrub our hands furiously and as quickly as possible so we could race back to the dining room.
Once we were back in the dining room, we all got into our seats, eagerly waiting for dinner to start. I looked over towards the door, hearing my uncle come in. He smiled at each of us, his eyes resting on Naruto.
"Ah, so this must be the new friend Ayaka-chan was talking about. What's your name, son?" Chouza said in his deep voice.
Naruto smiled, looking up at my large uncle. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Thank you soooooo much for letting me come to dinner! I'm so excited!"
Chouza chuckled and took his seat. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto-kun. I am Akimichi Chouza, Head of the Akimichi Clan. I would like to personally welcome you into our home."
Naruto smiled, but blushed when he heard his stomach roar with hunger.
Uncle laughed. "Hahaha! Sounds like someone's hungry. Come, let's eat!"
Chouza sat down, and everyone began to serve themselves dinner; Naruto serving himself more quickly than others. The adults talked about their day and what was going on within the businesses. Owning many of the restaurants, or being partners with them was a very busy and time consuming business. If any of the clan members weren't shinobi, they were restauranteurs. Some even doubled as both.
I turned to Naruto to ask how he liked the food, and I saw him nearly choke on a dumpling. I slapped him on the back a couple of times, seeing him swallow the dumpling.
"Thanks, Ayaka-Chan."
"Eat a little slower next time. It's not going anywhere." I smiled.
He smiled back and went back to eating, less vigorously this time.
"So...Naruto-kun," Chouza started. "What do you think?"
"Oh my gosh, Chouza-san! This is the best meal I've ever had! The orphanage should take cooking lessons from you!" Naruto cried out in between bites.
Chouza chuckled. "I'm glad you enjoy the food, Naruto-kun. Some of the clan's best chef's made this dinner. You may eat as much as you like."
Naruto cheered and continued to eat his meal with fervor.
I continued to eat as well, though I didn't particularly participate in the idle chatter. As I continued to feed myself, I let my brain wander to what Naruto's life had been up until now. Or rather...what I could do to help him. Leaving him at the orphanage was necessary; the Akimichi family couldn't adopt him. That would show favoritism, and despite our noble status, it would still be heavily frowned upon.
Any other kind of solution to this problem would cause problems. If I continued to stay Naruto's friend, it would be seriously looked down on by many of the villagers. Mostly civilians, but I didn't really care about them. The shinobi population might take it better, though many of them still hated the poor boy.
I guess it couldn't really be helped. I was going to help this little blond dork, no matter what.
Once dinner was done, Naruto sat back in his chair, patting his stomach. "Ah!~ That was the best meal I ever had." He hummed.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Naruto-kun." Chouza smiled. He looked at the clock, nodding to himself. "It appears to be getting late. My sister, Chouko, will take you back to the orphanage, Naruto-kun."
Naruto nodded and got down from the chair. He walked over to Chouza and smiled. "Thank you so much! Everything was so awesome!" he exclaimed, straightening up from the bow.
"You are more than welcome Naruto. You are also welcome into our home. Please, visit us when you can." Chouza said with a nod of his head.
Naruto stood in front of my uncle with a gleaming, and joyous smile. "Thank you, Chouza-san. I'll see you later." He waved and moved to my side.
I smiled and started walking with Naruto and my mom out of the dining room, and out of the compound all together.
The walk to the orphanage was filled with Naruto profusely thanking my mom and me for dinner, and was hoping he could eat dinner with us again, which of course my mother agreed.
Once at the orphanage, Naruto started to look a little tense: his shoulders were slightly taugh, his jaw was clenched, as were his fists.
"I'll see you at the park, Naru-chan." I smiled, placing my hand on his back reassuringly.
Naruto turned to me, and nodded his head. "Yeah. Bye Ayaka-chan! Thank you, Chouko-san! Dinner was really good!"
Mom nodded and placed a gentle hand on his head. "You are more than welcome, Naruto-kun. Have a good night."
The blond nodded and ran up the orphanage steps and opened the door. He turned back and waved goodbye to us, to which I waved back.
I watched him disappear into the building, closing the door behind him. I looked up at my mother, who had a saddened expression. "You okay, Kaa-san?" I asked, pulling on her shirt sleeve.
She looked down at me, giving me a sad smile. "Yes, Ayaka-chan. I'm okay. Come, let's head home." She took my hand and led me back to the compound.
The days continued and Naruto came to dinner at the compound several nights a week. As he ate with us, Chouza-Jisan took it upon himself to teach Naruto basic manners and social etiquette. While Naruto probably wasn't going to be invited to any big social gathering, he would understand how to be polite.
Days turned into weeks, which turned to months and Naruto and I were seen everywhere. Most times Chouji-niisan would be with us, sometimes Shika-kun would join us. We would go everywhere together: the park, the Akimichi family restaurants. Whenever Naru-chan was with us, he was accepted in without too much prejudice. If they offended a member or a friend of one of the noble clans, well...it would be bad business.
But our little adventures and play dates didn't go unnoticed by the village; manycivilians were quite...unhappy with me and my family for befriending Naruto. I remember hearing, or rather eavesdropping on Chouza-jisan, Kaa-san, and other members of the family council talking about it on several occasions.
The Akimichi restaurants honored Chouza-jisan's word, stating that Naru-chan was a friend of the Akimichi clan. Civilian stores, stalls, stands, and restaurants completely isolated Naruto; saying he was a demon that wasn't to be trusted. The Akimichi clan, along with the Nara clan were also singled out on several occasions because of our associations with, what they called, a "demon."
While these events didn't bother us, it was obvious they bothered Naruto. He said he was used to being called names and being banned from places, but it truly upset him when his friends were turned away. It shamed him, to be called a monster and have his friends bare witness to the atrocity.
But I had had enough. I was tired of seeing this poor child treated so terribly only out of fear. But there was only so much a five-year old could do. I would glare at people and shout at them, calling them many names. I even bit a citizen when then tried to kick Naruto away from their shop.
Naruto told us he was grateful for such "amazing friends," but I could still see the sadness.
I could only hope when the Academy started-the Academy! Of course! I'm such an idiot. In a few weeks we would all be starting classes at the Academy.
I had my basis. I would start at the Academy; show the world who Uzumaki Naruto truly was.
And maybe a bit of myself in the process.
~End Chapter
So? What did you guys think? Next chapter, the Academy and officially meeting more characters. Alright guys, please review and check out my other story Change is Good, Right?
Thank you!
~Lu Lu-chan25
