Disclaimer: Blacknbluesiren does not own Naruto. The characters are being used purely for entertainment purposes and I am not making any money off it.

AN: don't faint--I updated again.

I am actually finally writing about NARUTO! Exciting, no? I had a lot of people going "but where is Naruto in all this? You've covered everyone but him!" And I had. I avoided doing naruto until now because, honestly, of all the characters in the show, Naruto is the most complex. I wanted to do justice to his character, not stereotype him. In the end, I decided that Naruto, rather than being like all his friends (parents of crazy children, that is :P) I realized he would always be different, but still integral to the family dynamic of the Konoha nin. He is family to them all, and loves them all like a father (or doting uncle :)) would. I wanted to give him the same big heart that I see in the show--the heart of someone who saw the whole village as his family, and all the kids as his children. It is a heart fitting for a Hokage, in my opinion :). So there it is, my very best attempt at writing out one of the show's most complex and loved characters. I hope I did him justice.

The Synonym for Family is Love

What was the first thing you desired most in the world?

If you asked Naruto this question, he would say what he always said: he wanted to be Hokage. Not just any Hokage, but THE Hokage, the best Hokage Konoha had ever seen.

However, if you got him to slow down enough to think, really think about the question, he would respond differently.

The first thing Naruto ever desired in his life was a family.

It was understandable, really. The infant without a mother to hold him, the toddler without a father to play with him, the child who had no siblings to defend him from the cruelty of others, wanted a family so desperately it made it hard to breathe. A family, a real one to call his own, was the very first thing Naruto ever, ever wanted.

He had grown now, mature in mind even if he still behaved like an adolescent, and he knew that he got that first desire. He had a family. It wasn't a very orthodox family, as they were all from different clans and different backgrounds, but they were his family, and he loved them fiercely.

He once heard the Sandaime Hokage describe all of Konoha as his family, and Naruto figured that was probably what made the Sandaime such a great Hokage. He saw all of the village as people to be loved and cared about, because they were not just citizens, but siblings. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles.

Naruto thinks he feels the same way.

It was still very early—that much was apparent by the dove gray of the sky, and the fact that his alarm was not set to go off for another three hours—but Naruto found himself sitting on his windowsill, looking out over Konoha while it still slept. Early morning was always his favorite time, though he often slept through it. It was his time to quietly watch the village that he would one day protect as Hokage. His gaze swept over the sleeping houses, when a flicker of movement caught his eye. He trained his gaze on one of the rooftops, and a smile flickered across his face.

Akimichi Nora was standing over something on the roof, her arms crossed and a look of fond exasperation on her pretty, round face. Her red gold ponytail glinted in the early morning light, and Naruto could see her teeth flash every so often as she spoke quietly with…whoever was lying on the roof. Naruto would bet money he knew who it was. The figure sat, up, shaking dark hair out of a pale face, and Naruto grinned, his suspicions confirmed. He got to his feet and leaped lightly over the rooftops, until he made it to his destination.

"Did you hide out here all night again, 'Kabi?"

The Nara girl, as prone to staring at the sky as her father, rolled her eyes and flopped back on the quilt she had been lying on all night. She yawned theatrically and rolled herself up, tortilla-style, clearly intending to go back to sleep.



"Oh no you don't," Nora grumbled, grabbing the blanket's edge and pulling. "You—urgh—have to come--stupid blanket—home. We have—gah—school! Uncle Naruto, help me!"

Naruto chuckled quietly, bent down, and slung the bundle over his shoulder, earning a rare, muffled yelp of surprise from the child inside. Nora sighed, smiled, and followed him off the roof.

"Thanks, Uncle Naruto."

They hurried through the quiet streets, Nora skipping ahead gaily and Naruto following with Shikabi on his shoulders, where she had taken up residence once she had freed herself from her blanket prison. As they walked, Naruto thought about what Nora had so fondly called him.

Uncle Naruto.

That was his general title with all of them. From the time they could walk, most of the children of Konoha called him "Uncle", and treated him as such. He knew his reputation with them: Uncle Naruto was the one you went to when you needed extra help with training (especially replication techniques, which everyone needed to know to pass the genin exam), if you needed someone to give you advice that your parents wouldn't give, or if you just needed someone to talk to; because no one else understood the holes in the heart left by fights with friends or deaths better than Uncle Naruto.

It was a pretty tall order, but Naruto was having a grand time making sure he lived up to it. He really wasn't sure what was funnier: that these children really thought so highly of him, or that their parents let them not just think, but act upon those thoughts. It was bizarre, really.

They reached the Nara and Akimichi shared household, and Naruto set Shikabi on the ground. The girl turned to him with a smile, patted his cheek fondly, and darted inside. Nora rolled her eyes at her friend, gave Naruto a cheery thumbs-up and said, "thanks again, Uncle Naruto. Is it okay if I stop by after Academy to work on some sparring with you?" Her face crumpled slightly. "I lost again yesterday."

Naruto sighed and braced his hands behind his head.

"Did you start retreating again?" Nora was notoriously gun-shy, and had a problem with hand-to-hand fighting. Nora scrunched up her nose and nodded.

"I tried not to, but you know Nariko—she's terrifying!! She moves so quickly and she NEVER misses!"

"Ah, so she outmaneuvered you," Naruto nodded sagely and put an arm around the stocky girl. "Let me tell you something, Nora. Hyuugas are fast—it's what their techniques are based on, speed—and even though Nariko isn't the fastest in her clan, she's speedy compared to the rest of you, and she is very efficient. But!" Naruto winked at her and leaned in conspiratorially, "Nariko is not invincible. The trick to beating a fast-mover is to land one, good, powerful hit on them. Stop them in their tracks. You have the hardest damn punch of any nin in your class, you just have to get up the guts to land it. You remember what happened the last time you used those fists of yours in a sparring match?"

Nora grinned widely at him. She had knocked Kento clear across the sparring ring. It was a major feat, especially considering he was a power-hitter like herself, but was also blindingly fast. Naruto grinned back at her and tugged on her ponytail.

"Come on by after Academy. We'll see what we can do."

She threw her arms around him, practically crushing his ribcage, and then bounded up the stairs and into the house. Naruto chuckled and turned to go, but instead found himself face-to-chest-plate with Nora's father. Naruto craned his head up to look at the Akimichi man and saluted casually.

"Hi Chouji."

"Hey, Naruto!" As always, Chouji gave him a warm smile and a one-armed hug. "By some chance are you here because you found my wayward daughter and the stargazer?"

"Yep," Naruto jerked his thumb towards the house. "They just went inside. I think Shikabi picks a different roof each night, to see if Nora can track her. They were right outside my building."

"Ah, I hope they didn't wake you up."

"Nah."

Chouji nodded, and then gestured to the house with a fond smile.

"By the way, thanks for helping Nora with her sparring. Her confidence has really improved, and Chouzi says the others aren't making much fun of her anymore." The two men shared dark looks—they both knew how vicious children could be to each other.

"Tell her to just sock the next kid who makes fun of her," Naruto said with a wry smile. "That'll shut them up."

"Apparently, she already did that," Chouji was smiling again. "Only they weren't mocking her."

Naruto straightened slightly.

"God damn, they didn't--"

"Yep. You'd think by now people would know better than to tease her, but because she doesn't speak much, she's a bit of a target."

"So Nora clocked them?"

"That she did. You don't push Shikabi around when Nora is in earshot—it's her one rule, I think," Chouji said proudly. Naruto grinned.

"Good for her. Now if she could just put that in the sparring ring!" Naruto shook his head and waved to Chouji. "I'll talk to you later, Chou. Say hi to Ino and Shikamaru for me, will ya?"

"Will do. Bye, Naruto."

As he wandered back to his apartment, Naruto looked around his awakening village, and felt warmth suffuse his being as he did. Everywhere he looked, he saw faces smiling, voices greeting each other. He saw Iori, Tenten's boy, darting through the throngs of people, heading to Academy. He waved at Naruto as he passed, shooting him a grin. Hot on his trail was Rock Kento and the speed demon herself. Nariko had clearly given up on getting through the streets and was now leaping from roof to stall roof, her little feet barely touching the tin and wood.

"Hi Uncle Naruto!" She sang as she sailed over his head. "Iori, get back here!"

Naruto shook his head and shaded his eyes to watch her progress. As he did, he saw three more figures, walking at a more sedate pace, along the rooftops while two smaller figures—puppies, if the sound of barking was any indication—bounced around them. He raised a hand in greeting and the three—Tory, Teulah, and Hiro if his vision served him correctly—waved energetically back.

"Uncle Naruto Sensei!" Teulah shouted, and Naruto rolled his eyes at the combined title and term of endearment, "do we have training after Academy today? Because if we do, Tory an' I are going to be late! We have to take the pups to the vet!" Tory, standing next to his pseudo-sibling, cringed away from her volume. Hiro just laughed.

Naruto laughed too, quietly to himself, but as their team leader, he felt obligated to give them a hard time.

"One hundred laps around the village for every hour you two are late!" He bellowed back, biting his tongue against mirth as the Inuzuka and the Aburame shared petrified looks. "So make it a snappy appointment, you two!"

"Yes sir!" Ah, they looked positively gray in the face now. His duty had been fulfilled. He winked at Hiro, knowing the all-seeing Hyuuga eyes would catch his joke—he had no intention of doing that to either of his students-- and the boy covered his mouth to hide his smile. Naruto watched as they hurried on to Academy and finally laughed aloud.

"Something funny, Naruto?" He turned and grinned at Tsunade, bracing his hands against his head as he fell in step with the Fifth Hokage.

"Eh, Tsunade-baa, I'm just in a good mood today," his eyes twinkled. "Terrifying my students and all—Kakaishi-sensei taught me well!"

The woman looked at him with knowing eyes and smiled a smile that looked far too old on her forever-young face.

"You're happy, Naruto. I'm glad. You, of all people in this village, deserve it."

Naruto's step faltered a moment, before resuming with the same levity as he absorbed his leader's words. He had a family—a giant, village-sized family—and he could say with confidence that never in his life had he been so happy.

"But what is this about you terrifying your students?"

He glanced at Tsunade, caught her amused smirk, the laughter in her eyes, and laughed aloud for the second time that day.

He had a family, people who looked up to him, trusted him, admired him. Loved him.

Life was good.