It had been one year now since the Uchiha Massacre, and Naruto and Sasuke were in their second year of the Academy. The two boys still lived together, they would spend their lunch breaks with Hinata, their free time training with each other, or sometimes both Hyuuga Academy Students would join in as well. After Naruto had beaten him, Neji had become a very pleasant person to be around, and Naruto was glad to call him a friend. Though of course his friendship with Sasuke was much more special.
On this particular day he was alone, Sasuke hadn't felt well and although Naruto had offered to stay home and look after the other boy, the Uchiha had told him to go to school. So here he was, sitting on one of the metal bars in the Academy staring at the sky. As he sat and stared he started whistling. Asura and Hashirama just listened. He was defiantly very good at singing and whistling. When he swung too far back, he simply hung their by his knees, continuing to whistle. Just then he heard a sound in the bushes nearby. Naruto reached up with his hands and grabbed the bar.
Quickly he flipped around and onto his feet, letting go of the bar as he did so. He stood up and looked at the bushes. About ten seconds later, four children appeared and stood around him. Naruto grinned slightly, he recognised these children. They were in his class at the Academy. One of them was Sakura Haruno, a girl with short pink hair and green eyes. The other three, as far as he knew had always been friends. Shikamaru Nara was the heir of the Nara Clan, and a true genius. Naruto knew that, despite the fact that he was too lazy to actually do any work, the boy was one of the smartest people in the village. Choji Akimichi was a- round boy who was very kind most of the time, and didn't like to hurt anyone, even during Academy spars. And the last member of the group was a girl with short Platinum blond hair and Aquamarine eyes, Ino Yamanaka, the Yamanaka heir.
"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked cheerfully. However his good mood dimmed when he saw the way they were looking at him. It was the same way most people always looked at him, especially Ino. The blond girl was the first to speak up, placing her hands on her hips in a bossy fashion, "alright Naruto, where is he?" she demanded. Naruto frowned, "where is who?" he asked. He really had no idea what she was talking about. "You know, Yota!" she exclaimed. The spiky-haired blond shook his head in confusion, "I don't know any Yota" he replied sincerely. Sakura spoke up then, talking to everyone else, "well we had better find him soon, he doesn't know his way around and could probably get lost pretty easily around here" she stated. Ino turned to the other girl, "yeah, if we don't find him soon, something bad might happen" she said worriedly.
Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked down, "so this Yota is an outsider then," he said softly. The other kids all turned to look at him. The Uzumaki clenched his fists in anger, before he looked up. "If he's an outsider, why do you care so much about him!?" he demanded, "why are you so worried about him, when you all still look at me like that!?" he yelled, before he stormed off. Asura and Hashirama tried to calm him down, but the blond boy was far too upset to listen. As he walked farther into the forest, Naruto began to calm down slowly. He sighed, he just wished that there would be more people that would accept him. Hell, he didn't even play pranks anymore, so why? The Uzumaki stopped beside a tree, before he noticed it beginning to rain. Asura looked around, "a sun shower?" as he stood their looking around also, Naruto heard the sound of someone crying.
When the blond followed the sound, wanting to know if someone was hurt or upset, he found a boy on a tree branch, sobbing. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked. The boy just continued crying. Naruto frowned, "what's your name?" he called, "it's Yota!" the boy called back. The blond gasped, "you're Yota? What're you doing up their?" he asked. Yota cried harder, "I'm lost!" he called, as the rain started getting stronger. Naruto gasped and jumped over to the tree trunk to try to keep from getting too wet. The Uzumaki looked around, "is this your jutsu?" he asked. Naruto looked down as he remembered the other children and their attitudes towards him, "everyone accepted you so easily, I wish it was like that for me," he narrowed his eyes in sadness, "most people look down on me and ignore me- all I want is for people to accept and like me for who I am, but it seems like I have to struggle for everything I have, whether it's attention, recognition, acceptance- anything-".
"Hey!" he jumped slightly when a voice called out from right behind him. Turning, Naruto saw Yota standing behind the tree he was leaning on, "I remember you, you were sitting on the metal pole before, going: fuu, fuu, fuuuu," he said, imitating whistling without being able to do it. Naruto nodded, not really understanding where the boy was going with this. Yota became excited, "so, so I want to learn how too to, when you whistled you weren't alone or sad, I want to be able to do that!" he exclaimed. Naruto shook his head. Even though he was never really alone anymore, it was still hard, "I wasn't really, I was just pretending that I wasn't alone by whistling" he replied solemnly. Yota nodded, "I want to be able to pretend as well, please teach me!" he begged. The blond smiled slightly, "alright, I'll teach you" he agreed.
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So the two sat and Naruto taught Yota how to whistle. After a while he got it and he was able to whistle fine by himself. As the boy whistled, Naruto noticed that the wind was blowing around them. 'I see, when you're happy the wind blows Yota' he thought to himself with a smile. Yota looked over at the blond, "hey Naruto," he said, as he placed his hand on the boys shoulder. The blond looked at the slightly younger boy as he whistled again, "you-are-my-friend" he said happily, grinning and giggling after he had said it. Naruto looked happy that someone willingly wanted to be his friend without any special circumstances.
Suddenly they heard small yips nearby, "hey, there you are!" a male voice called out angrily. Naruto looked to see the Inuzuka heir, Kiba and his Ninja Hound, a puppy named Akamaru running up. Both looked worse for wear. They were covered in marks and dirt and Kiba's clothes, usually not so tidy because the boy like to rough-house were even worse, torn in several places. Yota, seeing them jumped up, "no! no! I don't like dogs!" he yelled angrily. Suddenly purple lightning shot down from the sky and hit close to where Kiba and Akamaru were, sending dust everywhere and the ferrel looking boy and his partner went flying backwards. Soon bolts of lightning were going everywhere. Shikamaru, Choji, Ino and Sakura soon ran up, "Yota!" Sakura called, before they all had to duck as a bolt of lightning shot over their heads and shattered a boulder.
Soon everyone was running around frantically, desperately trying to avoid the lightning bolts and the subsequent debris that were everywhere, while Yota was huffing angrily.
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Naruto, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru and Yota were playing Kick The Can together. Asura and Hashirama were watching curiously, trying to figure out the mechanics of the game. It seemed to be a combination of various games, mainly: tag, hide and seek and capture the flag. As Kiba was it, everyone else went to hide. Yota ran to Naruto, "I wanna hide with Naruto!" he exclaimed, laughing happily. Naruto looked around frantically, "Yota! Not now, he'll find us!" he whispered harshly, as it began to snow slightly, indicating that the other boy was happy.
"No, go, shoo- go hide somewhere else!" he demanded, crouching behind a bush as the boy began to sob, the snow turning into a sun shower. Shortly after that Yota ran off, and Kiba found him. 'Damn it,' Naruto thought, walking towards the middle of the field, 'is there someone who'll kick the can to save me?' he wondered to himself. As the blond reached the ring with the can, all the others ran up to him. Naruto smiled, "you guys-" he said happily, while his two past lives also smiled, happy for the boy. Sakura looked around, "wait, where's Yota?" she asked. Everyone looked around and began calling for the boy. Suddenly, Ino gasped and pointed: "there!" she called.
All the children looked and saw a sun shower above some trees a short distance away, "Yota's crying!" Choji said, "let's hurry!" Naruto cried. Everyone nodded and began to run in the direction of the rain.
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When they reached the spot, they saw their friend hanging inside a net, with ANBU Shinobi pulling the net up. Yota was sobbing, unable to get free and swinging widely as the net moved. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!" Naruto called angrily. One of the ANBU who was on the ground turned to them, "this person is dangerous- we are taking him in for questioning" he replied in a monotone. Naruto growled, "Yota's not dangerous! Let him go!" he demanded, pointing at the man. The ANBU member grabbed the blonds arm, holding it in a tight grip that made the boy cringe and try to pull away. Everyone began yelling at once, trying to get the Shinobi to release their friends.
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Naruto lay on his bed in Sasuke's house. The young Uchiha was still sick, however he was getting better slowly. He'd had a bath and some medicine and was now sleeping. Naruto had checked on the other boy when he'd finally gotten home, and Indra had told them that his Transmigrant had a headache and they should try not to disturb him if they could. Naruto was thinking about Sasuke's condition, his other friends and Yota, when he heard a knock at his window. The Uzumaki turned to look and his eyes widened. There at his window were Kiba, Akamaru and Shikamaru.
The blond walked over to the window and opened it, "why are you guys here?" he asked. Shikamaru shook his head, "did you really think we would abandon you? No matter how much of a drag it is, we are all still friends" he smirked slightly, while gesturing to a point behind him. Looking further out the window, Naruto saw Ino, Sakura and Choji on the next roof over, "everyone" he said happily. Kiba grinned, "We're going to rescue Yota, all of us!" he declared, while Akamaru yapped in agreement. Suddenly something caught the Uzumaki's eye.
He pointed, "there's a sun shower over there," they all looked to where Naruto was pointing, "above the Hokage tower".
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Underneath the Hokage tower was a secret room used by the ANBU to interrogate people in. It was in this room that the captured Yota sat tied to a chair while several ANBU members stood around him. "Where are you from, what village?" one asked in a monotone. Yota looked up at them, his eyes filled with tears, but he tried to answer calmly, "I don't know this stuff, ask me easy questions". "Where are you from, what village?" the same operative repeated. The terrified boy started to sob, before he began to cry loudly. Suddenly all the ANBU froze as their bodies stopped responding to them.
Shikamaru slid open a panel in the wall, "Shadow Possession Jutsu a success" he said, climbing into the room, with everyone following behind him. Yota looked at them happily, "you all-" he said, though he seemed tired. Naruto ran up with Kiba, Akamaru, Choji, Ino, Sakura and Shikamaru and he began to work at the knots, "we came to rescue you Yota, we are all friends after all" he said, grinning happily. Suddenly bright lights came on above them, cancelling out Shikamaru Shadow. One of the ANBU hit Naruto in the back of the neck, paralyzing him. The Uzumaki fell to the ground, unable to move. All the children looked around worriedly as the ANBU operatives closed in around them.
Naruto struggled to move, as Hashirama and Asura began channeling their Chakra through the blond in an attempt to reverse the nerve paralysis. "All of you will be arrested for interfering in the protection of this village," the ANBU captain said, looking specifically down at Naruto. The Uzumaki glared up at him, still unable to move, "interfering in the protection of the village? What the hell are you talking about? We're just trying to save our friend!" the blond said. Yota meanwhile stared down at the blond boy with wide eyes filled with wonder and horror at the thought of what these people would do to those he'd come to care so much about- with him having no-one else, these children were his only friends. "Friend- that's right, Naruto is- my friend!" he yelled, using his lightning on all of the ANBU at once.
However, using his jutsu on such a large number of people at once, and having to create that lightning out of his own Chakra, since they weren't outside drained him considerably. The boy sat panting and gasping as sweat dripped down his face from the exertion. Asura and Hashirama were at that moment finally able to override the paralysis and Naruto jumped up. He turned to everyone, "let's get out of here!" he cried. Everyone nodded and raced to untie Yota.
ŚŅŸThe group of children ran through the forest, an exhausted Yota being carried on Naruto's back. When they made it to the river, everyone looked at it, "if we can cross the river, we'll be safe" Kiba said, Akamaru barked in agreement. Naruto nodded, "right, let's go somewhere Yota can be free" he proclaimed, then all six children plus one dog plunged into the water, wanting to get their friend to safety. "Naruto-Kun, be careful, the current is strong" Hashirama warned. Naruto nodded, as they slowly and carefully made their way through the water of the river, the others holding him up and making sure Yota didn't fall off.
Suddenly, Naruto's foot slipped down into a hole, and he fell under the water's surface. "Naruto!" Ino cried, but just as quickly the blond-haired boy resurfaced, "I'm okay!" he said, gasping for air. Suddenly they hit a rapid and the force of the water caused all of them to lose their balance and sink into the river. Naruto however was swept further away than the rest. Yota opened his eyes under the water. The Uzumaki boy was being dragged further downstream. With a sudden surge of Chakra stemming from his desire to save his friend, the boy used his control over water to shoot over to the Uzumaki, grab him and push him to the shore. Naruto gasped when he surfaced on the other side of the river, coughing and spluttering. "Naruto! Yota!" the screams of his friends drew his attention behind him.
Turning, that was when Naruto saw Yota face down in the water, being carried away by the stream. Scrambling to his feet, the Uzumaki ran after his seemingly unconscious friend. As both parties drew nearer to the shallows, they saw the form of Yota's small body laying face up and un-moving. Everyone crowded around the boy, calling out to him, trying to wake their friend up. Yota slowly opened his eyes, "Naruto, everyone- you're okay" he said weakly. Naruto lent over the boy "hey, you're going to be okay Yota, you will" he said, trying to convince everyone of that.
The other boy smiled sadly, "it's- okay, I know I'm dying- but you should all forget about me, otherwise- it'll be painful" he said raggedly, holding up his hand. Naruto grabbed it and squeezed it, "we could never forget you, you are our friend!" he exclaimed, as everyone also grabbed the boys hand and squeezed it comfortingly. Yota closed his eyes, "friends- this is the first time I've had friends before, but I don't want you to have to suffer because of me," a blue glow emanated from the boys hand, "thank you all, I'm truly happy to have been able to have met you- but now it's time for me to go" Yota erased everyone's memories of him and all the time they spent together.
All the children collapsed to the ground, except for Naruto. He still sat upright and held onto his friends hand, "Y-Yota" he whispered, before he too collapsed to the ground unconscious.
ŚŅŸNaruto sat in the Academy's playground, eating lunch with Sasuke and Hinata. The Uchiha had recovered from his fever and was back in school. As the three sat, Sasuke noticed that his best friend looked depressed and sad. He placed his chopsticks down, "hey, what's wrong Naruto?" he asked. The blond looked up at the sound of the Uchiha's voice. When he'd registered the question, Naruto looked down, "it's nothing Sasuke, nothing at all" he replied, hiding his sadness. Looking up he saw Shikamaru, Ino, Choji and Sakura sitting and eating together in another part of the school yard.
Kiba was running around with Akamaru. They had all gone back to their own lives. Yota had erased their memories of him and the fact that they were all friends from their minds. But because of Asura and Hashirama's interference, the blond had been able to keep his memories. However in some ways this was more painful, because he was the only one of them that remembered that they had all been friends, and it hurt that everyone else had forgotten him again- it felt like his bond with his other friends had been broken. "It wasn't broken, because you still remember- you were able to become friends with them once before, who's to say you can't do it again?" Hashirama asked. Asura nodded, 'bonds are more than just physical, as long as one person remembers and still considers the bond precious to them, it can never truly break Naruto" the Otsutsuki said, placing his hand on his Transmigrants shoulder, even though it couldn't really be felt.
Naruto nodded, 'you're right, and there's no reason why we can't become friends again- even if they've forgotten, I still remember and we will be friends again one day' he thought back. Naruto turned to face Sasuke and smiled. They would all be friends again. All of them.
To Be Continued