Hello again! I'm back for day 5 (and day 23, because they ended up going together). I read so many amazing stories for whiskers that were set in the canon universe that I didn't feel I had anything worthwhile to add. So instead, I decided to go for an AU. I wanted Naruto to feel similarly about his whiskers in this universe as I think he would feel at times in the canon universe so I'm curious to see what you guys think.

Day Five: Whiskers/Day Twenty-three: Scars

Naruto was not having a good day. First, he'd woken up to his giant orange cat, Kurama, attempting to shove him out of the bed in an attempt to get breakfast. Apparently the blond had drifted so far over to the side during the night that the damned cat actually succeeded and he fell on the freezing, hard wooden floor with a thud.

Then, once his cat was fed and he was dressed, his car wouldn't start because of the cold weather. He loved his classic orange and white VW van even if he was the only one who thought it was a classic and not a piece of junk. On days like this, however, he started to wish he'd spent part of his latest book bonus on a newer, more reliable car.

So, he'd made the trip to his favorite coffee shop on foot which the cold made seem like twenty blocks instead of three. When he'd arrived, however, there was a sign on the door saying there had been a sewage rupture due to the early freeze and the place would be closed until the city fixed it.

Cursing, Naruto debated just going back home, but he knew he wouldn't get any writing done there and Jiraiya would kill him if he didn't have his draft finished in a couple of weeks. He pulled out his phone to search for the next closest coffee shop - determined not to have to walk any further than he had to - and found a place he'd never heard of before called the Silver Leaf.

It was a short walk, but luckily far enough away that the sewage rupture hadn't affected it, and he practically threw himself inside the door upon arrival to get out of the biting cold. He'd walked up to the counter where two girls, one with long blonde hair and one with short pink hair, were arguing.

He rang the bell once to get their attention, receiving two frustrated looks before they realized he was a customer - apparently the first in a while considering the place was deserted - and plastered wide grins on their faces. Instead of appearing welcoming, their sudden attitude shifts seemed a little scary, but he was cold and he really didn't want to go back outside. He'd ordered a latte and cinnamon roll, hoping both would help him warm up from the inside out, and went to set up his laptop and wait on his order.

In a couple of minutes he heard a gasp over the quiet, mellow music and looked toward the counter in curiosity. All he could see were the blonde and pink haired women clustered at the kitchen door which was slightly cracked open. They were whispering loud enough for him to hear their consonants across the room and gesticulating wildly, but he shrugged when nothing further happened for a minute and figured they were just excitable people.

Naruto had just settled in to write when a third young woman appeared before him with his coffee and pastry. She had long indigo hair and expressive lavender eyes. He would have thought her pretty cute if not for the fact that she was just standing and staring at him. After a minute of looking between her strange expression and his food in her hands he spoke up.

"Uh, is that mine?"

It was a stupid question, considering he was the only one here, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Oh!" she said, looking even more flustered. How that was possible he didn't know. "Um, s-sorry. I just - uh - hereyougoIhopeyoulikeit!" she blurted out and practically ran back to the counter where he heard the kitchen door close.

Well. That was weird. But his coffee smelled good and the cinnamon roll was the best he'd ever tasted so he just shook it off and got to work.

Thirty minutes later he was typing angrily before hammering on his backspace key in order to erase the crap that had just appeared on the page in front of him. He'd tried to write this particular conversation three times now and it was just not working. Suddenly he noticed that same girl with the long hair standing beside him, fresh latte in hand.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows until he glanced at his cup and realized it was empty. He nodded at her to set the new cup down, still running through the scene in his head trying to make sense of how he wanted it to go.

The young woman set down his new cup and picked up the empty one, but didn't leave immediately. Frustrated with his work, he sat there typing out a line and erasing it a few times over before he looked back up and saw her still standing there, staring at his face.

He frowned.

"Do I have icing on my face or something?" he said gruffly, wiping at his mouth to see if any of the gooey substance had stuck while he was eating his cinnamon roll.

Indigo tresses moved as she shook her head, and she opened her mouth to say something before closing it again. She was still staring at his face and his frown grew deeper as he figured out what she was staring at: his whiskers.

Naruto hated his whiskers. He'd been raised in an orphanage when he was younger. It was in a rough part of town and the school they were bused to wasn't much better, but he'd had an amazing caretaker named Iruka who'd really watched out for him and made his life bearable.

When he was in first grade, however, they'd had to hire a new driver for the van that took them to and from school. On the driver's first day, he hadn't counted how many kids were in the van before heading back to the orphanage. He hadn't realized that a little Naruto was stuck in the bathroom trying to fasten pants that the button had just fallen off of.

By the time he got out of the bathroom, most of the lights were out in the school and he couldn't see anybody. Scared, he had gone to the front of the school where the vans always picked kids up for the various daycares and after school centers. When he saw no one left, he'd started shaking. They'd abandoned him. He'd been abandoned again.

The tiny blond boy had cried for a while before deciding that if Iruka was going to abandon him then he would have to tell him why to his face. He started to walk toward the orphanage, going the route he usually watched outside the van window. He wasn't sure if he was taking all the right turns, but he was sure he'd get there eventually. There was no way they could get rid of him that easily.

Unfortunately, he'd run into some older kids, really bad ones who'd seen his puffy eyes and the state of his clothes and pegged him as an easy target.

It had started out with the usual - jeers and taunts that made his heart hurt. After that, however, one of the kids had taken it a step further and pushed him to the ground. The fear in Naruto's eyes at the sudden physical turn of events had apparently made the kid feel pretty good about himself and he started to hit Naruto in between calling him unwanted and a stray. Initially a little freaked out, the violent kid's friends eventually started cheering him on.

That's when things got really bad. The older kid had pulled out a knife and held it to Naruto's cheek. Naruto had begun to hyperventilate, thinking he was going to die. He tried to run, but two of the boys blocked his path and shoved him back down. The one with the knife had dragged the knife across the six year old's cheek. Then he did it two more times. He mirrored his actions on the other cheek, telling Naruto he was going to have whiskers just like all the other strays.

The little boy was in pain, so much pain. His salty tears stung his wounds even further and when he tried to touch his face it hurt so bad he passed out.

Apparently the boys had left when they realized their fun was over because he woke up some time later in a hospital bed with Iruka crying in a chair next to him. He'd tried to say something, but moving his mouth even a little had hurt terribly. He'd put his hand up to his face which no longer felt wet with tears or blood, instead it felt kind of stiff.

Iruka had seen the motion and jumped out of his chair, tears running down his face when he told Naruto how scared he had been when he hadn't seen him get off the bus. How he'd driven to the school to look for him and when he hadn't found him there, had driven around looking as hard as he could. Iruka had called the police when he didn't see him and they called him back within minutes about a boy matching Naruto's description who had been admitted to the ER. Iruka had gone straightaway and sat there while they stitched up his face.

Needless to say, it was a dark day for Naruto. It was a very traumatic experience and every time he looked in a mirror he was reminded of it. When he got his first book deal, he'd convinced Jiraiya to have them photoshop the whiskers off his cheeks. He had some concealer he wore when he did readings and signings, but he hadn't worn any today because he'd just been planning to go to his usual coffee shop. Apparently fate had had other cruel plans and now here he was with someone just staring at those damnable scars on his face.

If he'd been in a better mood he'd probably have noticed the slight blush on the woman's face, but his day had been shit so far and all he noticed were wide lavender eyes fixated rather pointedly on the scars on his face that looked like whiskers.

"What?" he said rather gruffly. "What do you want?"

The woman looked taken aback again, eyes getting impossibly wider, but he wasn't having it this time.

"Don't act all innocent. You've been staring for who knows how long. Just ask what you want to ask or leave."

"I - um…" she seemed to be at a loss for words. She looked afflicted, like she was debating what to say or whether to say anything at all.

Finally, after an uncomfortable silence during which her face began to turn red, she blurted out, "I really like cats."

Um, what? Naruto was caught off guard. He had no idea what that even meant, let alone how he was supposed to respond. She looked absolutely horrified and bolted away again, not stopping until she was in the kitchen.

That was by far the strangest thing that had happened to him in a while. Was she upset? She'd looked a little upset before she'd left, but he really had no idea how to process the situation or how he was supposed to react so he figured he would just finish his fresh latte and head back home. He definitely wasn't going to get anything more done after that interaction.

Naruto was re-reading what he'd written, trying to get his mind back to where it had been earlier, but he was interrupted by the two temperamental women who had taken his order storming up to his table.

"What the fuck did you say to Hinata you jerk?!" the blonde one yelled - or shrieked, rather.

Naruto just looked confused. He didn't even know who Hinata was.

"Don't play dumb with us," the pink one interjected, pointing her finger rather threateningly at him. The employees here were obviously crazy. "She was all excited to meet her favorite author and when she comes back from bringing you your free latte she breaks down in tears!"

"Not the happy kind!" the blonde said, needing to make that clear.

Favorite author? Oh. Naruto started to connect the dots.

"Was Hinata the girl with the long dark hair?"

"Yes! Can't you read? It says on our nametags."

Somehow he had missed the silver leaf-shaped name tags. Apparently the women who were currently berating him were named Ino and Sakura.

"Anyway, you made Hinata cry. And no one is mean to Hinata and gets away with it. I have half a mind to call our owner and have him ban you for life!"

As if he'd want to come here after this spectacle. But they kept talking about this Hinata crying. She was crying?

Naruto sighed. He hated it when girls cried. Call him old fashioned but if he saw a girl in tears he would do just about anything to make them stop. Knowing that that strange girl was crying because of him - even if he didn't know why - made his stomach twist with guilt.

"Look, do you think you can get her back out here? I think there's been a misunderstanding."

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. Ino's icy blue eyes were narrowed as she said, "What misunderstanding? Since you got here all she's been doing is freaking out about how her favorite author is here and how excited she is to meet you and that she can't believe you have whiskers because she thinks they're adorable and cats are her favorite animal so it's like you're all of her favorite things. Or whatever.

"So you must have said something mean to her to take her from being that excited to being in tears and I don't care if you are some bigshot writer but no one messes with Hinata and gets away with it."

Hinata had said all that? It was still a little weird, but he realized he had misinterpreted her stare and started to feel even worse about his reaction. He hadn't meant to take his bad day out on someone, and certainly not someone who actually liked what he created. Shit.

"Like I said, there's been a misunderstanding. All she did was stare at my face and then tell me she liked cats. If you can get her out here, I can make it better."

Two sets of eyes widened upon hearing his side of the story and they looked sideways at one another, trying to determine where to go from there.

"Fine. But just know you have to make her happy again. We don't care what it takes," Sakura said before they both turned and headed towards the back.

Naruto debated making a run for it, but his gut screamed at him to stay and make the strange girl feel better. He knew if he left things like this he'd have terrible heartburn for a week.

He heard some heated whispering again and knew they were trying to convince Hinata to come out. He kind of felt for her. He be embarrassed if he'd acted like that, too. Finally the shorter woman came out of the kitchen door, obviously being shoved by two sets of arms. She looked over at his table and he'd done his best to give her a disarming smile and a wave. When her face flared red again he wasn't sure if it had worked or not, but she made her way over slowly - painfully slowly - and was eventually standing in front of him again.

"You want to have a seat, Hinata?" he gestured to the chair across from him. At the sound of her name coming from his mouth she looked ready to dart to the kitchen again, but the blonde and pinkette were now guarding the door and shaking their heads.

Reluctantly, she had a seat and started playing with her hair in what he figured was a nervous habit. Now that he looked, however, he found her hair to be very unique and rather pretty. Should he tell her that? Girls like it when you complimented them, right?

"I like your hair," he said.

He sighed, starting to regret that he hadn't run when he'd had the chance.

"Look. I'm sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot and I was having a bad day and I took it out on you and that wasn't right and I'm sorry. Really, I am."

"It's okay," she said meekly, not meeting his eyes. He could tell she was still not okay.

"No, no it's really not. I thought you were staring at my scars and I just - they bring back really bad memories and I don't like them and I thought you thought I was a freak or something and I just got upset. But it wasn't cool so I'm going to make it up to you." He didn't know why he told her about how the scars made him feel - maybe he was trying to excuse his behavior - but he somehow didn't think she'd judge him for it.

"Oh! No, um, I didn't think you were a freak. It's just your jacket photo doesn't have them so I was surprised and I think they're really cute and I just didn't know what to say and then you seemed so angry and…" she trailed off as she realized she was rambling.

Cute? That was a first. His whiskers always reminded him of a time when he felt unloved and unwanted. He'd definitely never thought of them as anything other than a painful memento of his past.

"Thanks? You're certainly different."

She flinched and he realized she probably took it the wrong way. For all his skill with words on the page he was terrible at talking to the opposite sex.

"Not bad different. Just different. Like, intriguing kind of different."

She perked up again and he sighed in relief. This was really hard. He wished he had some kind of ace he could use to - oh, right.

"So, I hear you like my books?"

Hinata bit her lip, but she smiled at the mention of his work and it completely transformed her face. She was definitely pretty.

"Yes. I think they're wonderful. I had to study business in college, but literature was always my passion. I've attended a book club with some people from my university for years now and we read your first book when it came out. I loved the plot, the characters, the subtle themes you incorporated and how you use both metaphorical and literal imagery to paint a picture. I've purchased all of your other books, as well."

She seemed like a completely different person when talking like this.

"Well, that's always nice to hear, Hinata. Thank you."

"No, thank you! Your writing inspired me. The way the characters always face their obstacles head on, despite whatever has happened to them, made me want to do the same. Without you I would be miserable working under my father and probably living with him, as well. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do yet, but I know whatever I decide will be for myself and it makes me happy."

Wow. Hearing that she liked his stories was one thing, but the fact that they had helped her change her life was another entirely. He hardly knew how to respond. So he started to ask for specifics about what she had read that inspired her and they began discussing his books in depth. He was shocked at how well she knew his writing. She brought up little details he'd added that he didn't think anyone would notice and her interpretations of certain motifs were spot on. She just got him.

A bell jingled and both of them jolted in their seats as another person finally came to the door. Naruto realized they had been there for a while and he was starting to get hungry again. He looked at the woman across from him, her lavender eyes suddenly seeming very appealing instead of intrusive. Perhaps he could buy her lunch and they could talk a little more.

"I'm actually getting kind of hungry. Would you like to get some lunch with me?"

A blush bloomed on her cheeks and Naruto felt a surge of pride that his offer caused her to react that way.

"R-really?"

"Yeah! I really like people like you," he said honestly, smiling when her blush intensified. "And besides, I still need to make it up to you for making you cry. So actually, I'm going to insist you come to lunch with me."

Hinata licked her lips and glanced to the counter where her friends were both flashing a thumbs up and a huge smile.

She nodded and told him to wait while she grabbed her things. He packed up his computer and stood next to the door, holding it open for her when she was ready and following her out. As he noticed a book in her purse by his favorite author he smiled to himself. He had a really good feeling about this.

There you have it! Did you like what I did with the backstory? How did you feel about their interaction? I am a little more used to writing in Hinata's point of view so I forced myself to do something a little different this time. Do you like how it turned out? I like this little world, actually, and have a few ideas for it so maybe it'll show up again sometime.