AN: Thanks for the review, Thomas Drovin! Also, thanks for the follows and favorites, it means a lot. I don't own Naruto. Also, more reviews push me to write cooler chapters, so don't be afraid to review! I love reviews. Some say I thrive off them. Actually, people don't say that, I was just being weird.

TO OTHER WRITERS: Don't worry if you don't have a lot of reviews! Just focus on writing your awesome story! Look at me, 60-something reviews and I'm still writing. I know this story isn't a bomb one, but I know it may not hit 10k on reviews or 3k on favorites and follows. Just remember, keep writing and upload whenever you want! Don't be rushed. Take your time! It's your story and that means it's your schedule! Write the story that inspires others! Do whatever you want! Yee-Haw!

Tobi's P.O.V.

And now I was stuck with Temou for the rest of the day. After he'd dismissed his team, he insisted on taking me out for barbecue, for some weird reason. I wasn't his son, and he certainly wasn't my dad.

"So, Tobi-san, how're you liking Konoha?" Temou asked cheerfully, mouth half-full with food. Despite my protests, he also insisted on paying for me as well.

"I miss Nana," I stated, pushing the luke-warm meat around on my plate, not hungry. Temou swallowed his food, followed by a sip of water, and then stared at me intently.

"Do you mind if I asked what happened to her?"

"Yes."

Silence.

.

.

.

"You know, Tobi, the girl I'm searching for is a missing-nin," he commented, leaving Nana's subject alone for now, "Her name's Ono Kabucha. I don't suppose you know anything about-"

"I do." Temou's wondering eyes snapped to mine, doubt clear in his eyes.

"I don't appreciate liars, Tobi-san." The sharp tone of his voice was as clear as day, but I didn't really take notice to it. I'd said something about a missing-nin and he doubted me, simple as that.

"Did you know her?" I asked, laying my chopsticks on my plate, done with the meal.

"Yes, in fact, I did, and I don't appreciate you joking about it," he said quietly, not a smile to be seen on his face, and not that I was expecting one.

"If I were joking, then how do I know about her stories?"

"What stories?" He tutted, looking out the window, watching the chaos that was Konoha.

"The ones about skyscrapers and going to the moon." Now, I had his attention.

"How do you-?"

"She showed up at my farm and started teaching me ninja stuff." Then, I told Temou everything: the farm, Kabucha, her singing, her teaching, her leaving, that weird guy she left with, etc. It took about all afternoon, and when I was done, he got up, paid, and left, giving me a brief goodbye. Weird, huh?

And now, I was chewing on a rat-on-a-stick, courtesy of the Suna vendor that was in town for a few weeks before returning to his home town. The village was bustling with people, as always, and I was walking around in the hot sun, looking for something to do. I'd never really played with kids my age because there hadn't ever been kids my age around the farm. My entire life had been farming and counting finances and learning to read. I didn't know how to interact with others my age, it seemed awkward.

"Who're you?" A girl's voice asked from behind me. Turning around, I caught sight of a girl with long, brown hair and white eyes. She was wearing a black tank top and long, black pants. She also wore those weird, black sandals that the shinobi wore. With her being a few inches shorter than me, I was relived to at least be taller than her because she had way more muscles than I did. Her arms were thin, but I could definitely see wiry muscles running up and down them.

"A kid enjoying a rat-on-a-stick. You?"

"Answer the question," she demanded, taking a step between my legs, invading my personal space. Without a second thought, I shoved her away, taking her by surprise to say the least. Nana had raised me to be courteous, but to treat others the way they treated you. I'm pretty sure it was the other way around, but Nana's teachings were Nana's teachings.

"Who do you think you are? Let me enjoy my rat-on-a-stick," I declared, not caring in the slightest that she was sprawled out on the ground and giving me the nastiest glare I'd seen in a while. I wasn't aiming to make friends or girlfriends.

"How dare you push Hyuuga Hanabi to the ground, jerk!" She yelled, scrambling up to save a bit of her pride.

"You always refer to yourself in third person?" I asked, glad that Nana had taught me the different types of point of views.

"Do you realize what you've just done?" She hissed, glaring through hateful eyes.

"Does it look like I care? You invaded my personal space, so I removed you, simple as that," I explained, taking a bite out of the rat. It was quite delicious and the vendor that'd sold me it had said he'd put a little wine in it to 'spice' it up. What a genius.

"Name?" She asked again, though with slightly less aggression than when she'd first asked.

"Tobi."

"No surname?"

"What's that again?"

"Last name."

"Oh, yeah, no. I'm an orphan, you see, Hyuuga Hanabi."

"You're good with words for being an orphan."

"Thank you...?"

"Anyways, you're going to pay, Tobi. I'm telling my clan about this."

"You tattle a lot?" I questioned, raising a blond eyebrow. All I'd done was shove her away from me. Plus, I was just trying to enjoy my rat-on-a-stick. What was so wrong with that?

"You're going to pay," she proclaimed, smirking at my confused face.

With that, she huffed, snapped her body around, and walked away. I'm not sure if I was seeing things correctly, but was she swaying her hips? Did women always walk like that? It was so weird. If she were older, she'd probably dislocate her hip that way; I only knew that because Nana had decided to act like a model for some reason and she dislocated her hip once. It'd taken forever to run to Rosenglade, the closest town to the farm, while half-carrying, half-dragging Nana.

Shaking my head, I carried on my merry way, finally deciding to lie out on a desolated rock and tan for a while. I'd replaced my bandages around my hands, like Sakura had told me and applied the ointment to my palms last night, having to see by the dim-lighting in the orphanage's bathrooms. The clothes I'd been given were a green shirt and green shorts, along with the same black sandals as Hanabi.

The hardest thing about living in the orphanage was the caretaker. No matter how many times I'd tried to sneak out after dark, he'd always catch me. My suspicions had been confirmed when I'd peeked in his office and seen a green vest hanging on the wall, proudly displayed for only him to see; he was a retired shinobi.

But in the day, it wasn't so bad. I got to explore and with a small allowance, I was given freedoms I hadn't had before, like buying what I could afford.

By the end of the week, I'd become paranoid. Let me explain. You see, ever since my encounter with the Hyuuga Heiress, I'd been seeing her everywhere: marketplace, my favorite tanning spot, in front of the civilians' school, etc. Now, this was a problem because I could not lie out to enjoy the sun knowing she was somewhere near. I'd tried avoiding her, but somehow, she figured out where I was going to be, strange, right?

"Knock it off," I demanded, voice cutting through the silence. I sat up on the rock, making sure to keep my fingertips off the scorching stone. My palms were protected by the bandages.

"I know you're there, Hyuuga Hanabi," I declared, looking to the bush that had rustled 30 seconds ago. When I lied in silence, I heard everything that happened around me, including a rustling bush on a windless day.

"What's it gonna take to get you to leave me alone?" I asked the silence, still confident that she was there.

"Why do you keep calling me by my full name?" She asked, just as a shadow appeared in front of my face. Opening my eyes, I realized she was standing next to me, casting her shadow.

"How'd you get here so fast? I thought you were in that bush." I pointed to the said bush.

"I'm in the last year at the Academy. If you heard me, then I probably wanted you to," she declared, putting her hands on her hips. If I squinted, I could make out a smirk on her face.

"Probably," I repeated, making it clear that she wasn't perfect. "So, what do ya want?"

"I want to repay you for what you did to me on Monday."

"You're still on about that?" I questioned, unsure if this was what Nana had called a 'grudge.'

"Yes, but I must know," she started, ignoring me repeat, 'must know,' "why do you keep calling me by my full name?" Shrugging, I tried to think up a great reason on the spot.

"You introduced yourself as Hyuuga Hanabi, didn't you? So, that's what I decided to call you." It wasn't perfect, but the girl caught me by surprise.

"Oh... Well, call me Hyuuga-san, if you want." This caught my attention, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

'If I want?'

Warning flags went off in my head, and I'm not sure if I was being paranoid or not, but I think Hanabi liked me. I'd started being cautious about people ever since I'd arrived in the village and now wasn't an exception.

"Look, Hyuuga-san, I'm sorry about what I did on Monday. It wasn't right and I wasn't thinking," I blurted out, trying to get out of the situation.

"Thanks for the apology, but I'm afraid I had something else in mind."

"Wha-?" Before I knew what happened, someone hoisted me up and we disappeared in a blur.