Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: I would like to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.

"So I heard from one of my customers that someone thanked you for defending them."

Naruto put down the dirty dishes and swirled her head to look at her boss, who had a large smile playing on his lips as he placed his hands on his hips. Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was a kind man. When everyone else denied her the opportunity to work because of her age, he gave her the opportunity to earn money for herself. But if there was one thing she couldn't deny, the man liked to gossip.

She should just keep her mouth shut and pray for the man to let her do her work in peace.

"So what made you defend the kid?" Tsuyoshi asked, tilting his head. His black eyes stared deep into her eyes as if he was trying to figure out her strange actions. If a single look was enough for someone to figure out her reasons then that man would have known the cause of her pranks earlier.

She plastered on a smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Why wouldn't I? It was the right thing to do."

Black eyes regarded her, not looking one bit convinced by her comment, and Naruto smiled even wider. It wasn't a complete lie. What happened with Sawada was because injustice was shown right into her face. Perhaps if Sawada knew how to defend himself, she would just turn the other cheek.

Her boss hummed as he pulled out the knife from the drawer. "But helping someone like that…it isn't your usual style."

"He can't defend himself." She allowed cheerfulness and thoughtfulness to color her tone as Tsuyoshi regarded her. Seconds passed before the man bobbed his head, offering her a smile before looking back at his other workers. It was only one the middle-aged man looked away that the blond-haired girl relaxed her shoulders and picked up the dirty sushi plates.

Does he really believe I have another reason for my action? The thought almost made her want to snort but Naruto held herself back. Maybe it had been risky for her to help that boy. The plan of flying under the radar until university might be shaken a little bit because of her actions. For goodness sake, her name was already being gossiped about in her own workplace.

But I guess it isn't a big deal.

No one, except for Sawada and that gang, knew about the fact that she only punched them in the stomach. It wasn't like they were going to connect the dots with her actions. That gang was just too sexist to tell the story while Sawada didn't seem too bright. Everything was going to be fine.

No one was going to track her down.

"You know Naruto, I think you should try making friends with my son." Tsuyoshi let out a huge laugh and Naruto swirled her head at him. The middle-aged man rubbed his chin and stared at her bright blue eyes. "It will be nice for Takashi not to spend so much time playing baseball or hanging out with those terrible boys."

Naruto stared at the man for a good couple of seconds before letting out a snort. "If you want that to happen then tell your son to be less popular with the girls in our school. I don't want to kill any innocent people."

"Y'know if you say that with a serious expression, people might actually think that you are serious." Her boss pointed out to her with a loud laugh. He shrugged his shoulders while Naruto curled her lips into a smile and bobbed her head. I'm actually serious, Tsuyoshi. She grabbed hold of the knives and scrubbed the knives with all of her might.

"It is nearly the end of your shift, Naruto." Tsuyoshi sighed and darted his eyes to the window. The orange rays of the sun tickled through the windows, shining over the dirty plates that Naruto still hadn't finished cleaning. She grimaced and darted her eyes to the middle-aged man, who grimaced. "You should be careful on your way back home, Uzumaki. I heard that there have been people getting murdered left and right on the streets."

Naruto froze and steadied her arms as black eyes looked at her with concern. If only he knew the truth about me. She curled her lips into a smile and bobbed her head as those black eyes continued to stare at her. It was almost sweet how the man cared for her. But he shouldn't be concerned about someone attacking her.

He should be more concern about his business.

"You shouldn't worry about me," Naruto grinned as her blue eyes darted to her school bag. "I don't think that person is targeting innocent little girls like me."

Tsuyoshi doesn't smile at her comment, only pressing his lips into a frown as his dark eyes flickered to the windows. The blonde only stared at the man. Why was he so concern about her? She wasn't his child. She was only an employee that he took in out of pity. Maybe he wants to use me? She let out a little snort and shook her head.

He didn't know what she was or her capabilities.

"Dad, I'm back!" The loud, boisterous voice of Yamamoto made Naruto swirled her head away from the window. Right. This was not the time for her to question things. With her classmate back home, it was now definitely time for her to get out of the restaurant. Bobbing her head, the blonde removed the apron and glided her way to her bag in the corner.

Tsuyoshi glanced at her. "You could always stay a little bit longer, Naruto. My son won't bite you."

But his fangirls will. The words were on the tip of her tongue but Naruto swallowed the bitter words like a pill. If she made a comment like that then her mask would crack. So she did what was always expected of her: she smiled and nodded her head before darting her eyes to her watch.

"I know but I have homework to do."

The middle-aged man nodded and darted his eyes to the door. Naruto knitted her eyebrows together and followed his line of sight. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of her classmate standing in front of them with a large smile on his face. He does look a lot like Tsuyoshi-ojisan. With his black hair and black eyes, Naruto imagined that the middle-aged man beside her looked a lot like his son when he had been young.

Yamamoto smiled and flickered his eyes between her and Tsuyoshi. "Hey Dad, who is this?"

They might be father and son but Yamamoto isn't as happy as his Dad. Naruto fixated her eyes on Yamamoto, whose eyes was now fixated on the whisker marks on her cheeks. That smile might be large but it was fake. She couldn't feel any sincere warmth from that smile but then again she never felt any warmth whenever her classmate smiled.

It always felt fake to her.

"Takashi, haven't you met Uzumaki? She is in the same class as you."

The dark-haired teen blinked and stared at her for a good couple of seconds before snapping his fingers. Naruto blinked. Why did he do that? She knitted her eyebrows together as the teen smiled even wider at her. She only stared back at him with a large smile stuck on her face. No matter what she wanted to do, she must always keep the mask on.

"I remember her now," Yamamoto laughed and smiled as his black eyes locked onto her. "You are the girl that Dame-Tsuna thanked earlier."

Naruto smiled even tighter and forced herself not to clench her jaws. "And you are the best baseball player in our year or so I have heard from the girls in our class."

That smile on his face did not waver and if it weren't for the sharp pain and annoyance in his eyes, Naruto would almost believe the rumors about Yamamoto in their school. He isn't a happy go-lucky person as the rumors say he is. The thought made her smile even more as those black eyes flashed with tiredness and pain.

If she was any other person, she might ask him about his problems but Naruto only shrugged and walked away as two set of black eyes watched her.

Yamamoto might have his reasons for wearing a mask just like she did, but there was a difference between them. Her classmate only pretended to be someone he was not. She didn't just pretend to be something she was not but her whole body was just a disguise.

You are a monster inside a human's body! You were never human! You are the Kyuubi!

Mizuki-sensei's words echoed in her ear and Naruto let out a loud laugh. Those words confirmed the one thing she had always known about herself. That no matter how much she tried to be nice and kind, she was never really going to be accepted by those vile humans that only looked for their own gains.

But that was fine with her.

Only monsters could kill other monsters.

"H-Help!"

Four men against one tiny woman. Naruto curled her lips into a tiny smile as her hand reached out for the fox mask inside of her school bag. Slipping on the mask, the blond-haired girl placed her hands together and weaved through several hand seals. As long as someone screamed for help, he was going to come and be a pain in her ass again.

Letting out a little hum, the blonde tilted her head and regarded the six men chasing after the tiny woman. Those guys must come from the Tatsu gang. Those colorful dragon tattoos decorating their arms alongside the hungry desire in their eyes was the only indication of their affiliation to the gang. If she killed them, wouldn't their boss be after her?

It would be fun if she fought against the Yakuza Boss, maybe then someone could actually land a hit against her.

"Saving her it is." Naruto curled her lips into a smirk and pulled out her kunai from her pocket. She inhaled and exhaled as the wind around her whistled and howled, sweeping all of the paper away from the floor. Blowing a strand of her temporary red-hair, Naruto jumped down to the ground.

The men didn't react, only inching closer and closer to the crying woman. Tears streamed down her face as she continued to scambled backwards, black eyes looking frantically for someone to save her. You can never expect someone to save you. That was a fact of life but not many people knew it. No. They believed the world was filled with kindness.

She used to believe that too.

With another inhale, Naruto channeled her chakra into her legs and launched herself at the closest man. She tightened her grip on the kunai and slashed the man's throat. Blood splattered the clean roads, looking almost like a finger paint that a child had done. The woman screamed. The men stopped and looked around. Their eyes screamed of panic and the blonde curled her lips into a smile.

"I-It's that monster, isn't it?" One of the men whimpered, clenching his hands into a fist as his eyes flickered to the shadows.

Naruto snorted and curled her hands into a fist before launching her straight to the man in front of her. Her fist pierced through the man's stomach, ripping his stomach apart as blood dribbled down the ground.

"C'mon now, I'm having a bit of fun just like you guys!" She chirped, smiling ear to ear as the men paled at the sight of her. Their whole bodies trembled as their eyes took in her petite statue. They gulped as their eyes took in the blood staining her fist before looking at the kunai in her hands. Their teary faces made her pause in her steps as the woman behind her vomited out her food content.

The men took advantage of her pause.

"Please have mercy!" They cried as they walked towards her. Only once they were only a couple of inches away from her, did they fell down to their knees, their hands grabbing her legs. Naruto hummed as they tried to kiss the feet of her toes. This only made Naruto kicked the men.

"There won't be any mercy tonight."

With those words, Naruto slashed the two men's throats and watched with blank eyes as blood squirted from their throats. It is good thing I wore a mask. She could only imagine the questions the people in her neighbourhood would have if they saw her come back with blood decorating her face. But I will need to wash my hands. Naruto darted her eyes to her bloodied hand before looking at the woman.

"A-Are you also going to kill me?" The woman whimpered, shutting her eyes. Naruto only hummed as she kicked the fallen corpses off of her legs. She knelt down and tore off the sleeve of the corpse's shirt. If you can't have a hankerchief, make one. Humming a small tune, Naruto wiped off the blood from her fist. "W-Well are you?"

Naruto adjusted the straps of her mask and lowered the hood of her hoodie. "It would be no fun for me if I kill you."

"Fun!" The woman screeched and the blonde nodded as a scowl played on her lips. Some people just don't have any manners! Doesn't she know that some people have sensitive hearing? She tossed the ripped sleeve to the side of the road before looking back at the woman before her. Those dark eyes widened, looking at her like she was some kind of monster for saying those words.

Naruto grinned. "Y'know I can change my mind any minute now, lady. So if you value your life, I would run away before the killer changes her mind."

The woman squeaked and pushed herself off the ground before dashing off to the opposite corner. The only thing that now surrounded her were the bodies of the men she killed. Not for long. If that howl of a motorbike was of any indication, the asshole probably realized she was here in this very street.

She nibbled her bottom lip, put her kunai back into her pockets and nibbled her lips.

When is he going to get here?

How irritated is he going to be that I beat him to the punch?

Naruto could only ask herself those questions as she ripped the other sleeve from the corpse. There was a crunch in the background and she relaxed her shoulders. She wiped the blood off of the mask. Everything was going to be fine. The bastard was a lot of things but he still had something to gain from her. He wouldn't call the police on her.

Not when she knew he had done the same deeds.

"You disturb the peace again." A weary smile played on Naruto's lips as a black-haired teen stepped out of the shadows of the streets. Gray eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the corpses decorating the streets before looking back at her. As usual, there was not a single emotion flashing through his eyes except irritation.

"They started it first, Hibari," Cheerfulness colored her tone as she tossed the ripped sleeve to the other side. "They were going to hurt that poor woman after all."

"And that made you decide to steal my prey." Hibari growled. His gray eyes flickered to the corpse that stood only a couple of feet away from them, his grey eyes fixated on the hole in the man's stomach. Most men would have whimpered on the sight but her senior was anything but a coward. He is usually the cause of the scene.

The thought made her smile as the teen swirled his tonfa at her.

Naruto shrugged and grabbed the tonfa. She grimaced slightly at the burning sensation going through her left hand and stared up at those gray eyes that looked at her with annoyance. "That's because you are just a little bit slow, Hibari."

The teen pushed the tonfa even deeper against her hand, no doubt in an effort to make her cry out in pain. That was what Hibari always do with her. He would try a sneak attack and she would either dodge it or make an effort to remind him of who was the stronger one between them. From the way those gray eyes flared with irritation, she was doing an amazing job on the latter.

"And you always wear a mask like a herbivore," he growled. "I will break that mask off of your face."

The blonde hummed. "I would love to see you try, Hibari."

Hibari yanked his tonfa off of her hands and surveyed the scene before them. His grey eyes darted from her to the corpse before looking at the tossed sleeves. With another grunt, the black-haired teen shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. This only made Naruto tilt her head at the man. What was he planning to do now? She hoped he wasn't going to call the police on her.

Jail wouldn't be enough protection for her.

"Are you going to call the police on me?" She tiptoed and tried to watch over the boy's shoulder, only for the teen to raise his phone even higher. Why couldn't I have been born tall? She puffed her cheeks and Hibari lowered his head to look at her with blank eyes.

He only raised a single eyebrow at her. "You are my prey."

"I understand now," she grinned. "You won't inform anyone of my actions until you can actually beat me in a fight, right?"

The teen stared at her for a good couple of seconds before offering her a small smirk. Never going to happen. She straightened her shoulders and lowered the hood of her jacket as grey eyes fixated on the redness of her hair. If I didn't know he was trying to figure out my identity, I would keep my hair blond. She let out a sigh and looked at the corpses surrounding them.

"So what are you actually planning to do?"

"Getting a member of the disciplinary committee to hide the corpses." Hibari scoffed. "You always do a terrible job when it comes to hiding the body."

Naruto only bobbed her head and waved her hand before dashing away from the teen. If she stayed any longer then Hibari might just change his mind and attack her. I really do have homework to do. She undid the ponytail from her hair and looked up at the night sky.

If there was one thing she could count on from Hibari, it was for him to hide the corpses for her.

"Have you heard? A masked girl managed to kill four members of the Tatsu gang with her bare hands!"

Her classmates whispers echoed throughout the classroom, their eyes gleaming with excitement and fear as they took their seats. Naruto only flipped through the page of her storybook, eyebrows knitted together into one thin line as her classmates discussed about the actions of the mysterious girl.

Maybe I should have cut her tongue out. Naruto curled her lips into a grimace as her blue eyes darted to the window. She just wanted to fight the head of that gang and have that piece of information spread. But having her classmates talked about her actions wasn't something she wanted to hear in the morning.

But it did benefit her in a way.

Now she might have a chance of fighting someone stronger and see whether or not if that man was right about her. You are the Kyuubi. Her hand wandered to her whiskered cheeks and a frown played on her lips. No matter what she did, she could never recall or summon the so-called powers of the Kyuubi. Not even a single tail.

But she had to be the monster or why else would he say those words to her.

"U-Uzumaki-san!"

It was Tsuna's voice that snapped her out of her musings. Bright brown eyes looked at her with so much hesitance that the blonde eyed the boy. Had it been right for her to help him? He thanked her already. They could go back to their non-existent relationship of being classmates and nothing else.

His gratitude for her behavior had already been noted and received, so why was he persisting with her?

"N-Naru-chan, I'm always going to follow you…because w-we are best friends!"

She relaxed her shoulders as the words from the past echoed in her ear. Taking in a deep breath, Naruto plastered on a bright smile and lowered her book. Tsuna smiled at her, looking so much like a scared little cub that it almost made her laugh. He does remind me of her. The same kind of meekness that hid a hidden strength.

But that was where their similarities ended.

"Sawada." The whispers in the classroom died as everyone swirled their heads to look at them. Boys blinked and stared at her golden hair before looking down to her whisker cheeks while the girls blinked as if only realizing that she was there. Only Yamamoto didn't look surprised. No, that classmate just stared at them with a bright smile.

Even in the early morning, her popular classmate could muster such a fake smile.

"Isn't she the girl that Dame-Tsuna thanked yesterday? Looking at her up close, she looks way too pretty to be associated with a loser like him."

Looks could be deceiving.

"I wish she smiled at me like she smiled at Dame-Tsuna."

Sure, she could play the idiot card for them if they wanted.

"Why haven't we notice her till now?"

Because she worked hard not to draw any attention to her.

Naruto tightened her grip on her book and threw a glare at her classmates. They paled, gulped and swirled their heads away from her. Only Yamamoto offered her a smile and a laugh. I don't know whether he is an idiot or if he wants a death wish. She forced a smile to play on her lips before looking back at Tsuna.

"Y-You don't have to talk to me," Tsuna hunched his shoulders as he took his seat right beside her. "You a-aren't going to make much friends if we continued to talk to each other."

She slumped and curled her lips into a smile. "Do I want to make friends?"

"Don't you want friends?" Tsuna tilted his head and knitted his eyebrows together into a thin line. His brown eyes shone with so much confusion that it reminded her of a pouting puppy. She poked her tongue against her cheek and slipped her book underneath her desk.

"I have friends." She leaned her body against her chair and looked up at the ceiling. "But I don't want to be friends with anyone in our class. They aren't loyal to anyone but themselves. If they sensed that there is a way out for them to get into trouble then they will throw their so-called friend over the bus."

Tsuna frowned and darted his eyes to their classmates before looking back at her. "T-They aren't all like that."

"Most of them are," Naruto darted her eyes to the boys that surrounded Yamamoto's tables before going to the girls that kept chatting to each other without a single care in the world. "It's human nature after all to toss someone away, the moment they stopped being useful to you."

The brown-haired boy frowned. "F-Friendship isn't about usefulness."

"Maybe when you are a little kid, friendship is because you enjoy being around a person." Naruto straightened her back and regarded the teen before her. He frowned. "But then when you make friends with someone as you get older, they don't view friendship in the same view as you did when you are a child. They see friendship as an investment. They want something in exchange."

Tsuna knitted his eyebrows. "Then why did you help me? I-I have nothing to offer you."

"I don't like seeing injustice." Naruto shrugged. "I didn't do it because I wanted to be your friend. I just did it because I don't like bullies, nothing more and nothing less."

Tsuna regarded her with brown eyes that did not seem to waver or believe in her words. It almost made her bristled. Why did he look at her like that? She told him the truth. Did he truly believe she did it because she was a good person? The idea made her want to laugh but she held back the bubbles of laughter.

The brown-haired teen shook his head. "A-Anyways, you heard about the murders, didn't you? That g-girl killed four members of a gang in cold blood."

"And?" Naruto flipped through the pages of the book as the boy gazed at her with curious brown eyes. "What's so interesting about that? People have been murdered before."

Tsuna squeaked and turned green at the comment, earning a frown from the blonde. He really does have a weak stomach. The thought made her roll her eyes and Naruto shut her book. She placed the book in the corner of her desk as those brown eyes looked at her with horror.

"B-But it is terrifying that she is our age and she was able to kill four members of the Yakuza like it was nothing!" Tsuna whimpered and shuddered as his brown eyes darted to the doors. Well they were weaklings. Of course she could never tell him that. She rather not deal with Hibari attacking her in the middle of school.

Of course there was the police to worry about but Naruto could escape from prison.

"So do you think she deserves to die?" She asked, tilting her head. It would be curious for her to see what this little boy would think. People always had mixed thoughts about it. Some people would say she deserved to die for her actions while others believed she deserved jail.

Was this boy capable of being fierce?

The brown-haired boy shook his head. "Why would she deserve to die? N-No one deserves to die."

Now that was interesting.

"Do you really believe that?" She leaned her body forward and stared at her classmate. "If I tell you that someone betrayed your trust and manipulated you to do a crime, would you say that person deserved to live? If you were a child who had been abused, do you think their abusers deserved to live?"

Tsuna gulped and his whole body trembled as her blue eyes observed him. Only one of the questions fitted her. The other question was one that she always regretted. There was a time she thought just like him. But Mizuki-sensei changed her. He showed her what she really was and for that she would always be grateful for him.

"But there is a reason we have jail," Tsuna frowned. "If a person have the evidence then the right person could go to jail and abusers…well they will go to jail too if someone reported them. A person should never kill even for those reasons."

And that is where we are different.

"There are people who have killed for less," Naruto shrugged her shoulders and pulled out her book. "You know one of the characters in this book killed her sister because of jealously. That is an even worse reason, don't you think? I think that jealous sister should just die for her actions but do you still think she deserve to live?"

Tsuna nodded. "Nothing will ever change my mind."

What a boring way to think. Naruto nodded her head and slipped her book into her desk before flickering her eyes to the window. Blue eyes widened at the sight of a toddler watching them with a notebook on hand and a pair of binocular in another hand. His black eyes seemed focused on them and there was a smirk playing on his lips.

Only one thought ran through Naruto's mind:

Who was the toddler observing?

A/N: Drop a comment if you feel like it and do tell me who you think might be a good choice for Naruto.