Six years before. Est.

Meeting Naruto is not the event Shoko had expected it to be. She remembers in those quiet moments after they all found each other, how Sakura would talk about the obnoxious blonde and how much she missed his incessant yelling and cries. No, the Naruto that Shoko meets is not the one she had prepared herself for.

She's out on one of her daily walks enjoying the summer breeze when she hears it, the cries and sniffles of a little boy hiding behind the trees at the children's park. She frowns, reaching her chakra outwards until she finds him, and makes her way along the treeline and 'accidentally' trips on his feet.

"Hey!" He cries, furiously brushing tears from his face.

"Oh! I'm sorry little one, there isn't anyone here normally."

He gets to his feet to no doubt glower up at her.

"What are you? Blind!?"

She smiles "Yes."

He stops, staring up at her and taking note of the milky whiteness of her eyes. He scuffs his feet on the floor feeling abashed. She doesn't care, he's not the first person to ask that question only to realise that yes, yes she is blind. It's really funny.

"Are you alright?" She asks him, settling herself onto the ground by the tree with her walking stick across her legs.

He shrugs, but then realises she can't see it. That he knows anyway.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I have been sad, and it's always better shared."

It takes a little coaxing but he sits on the ground beside her, talking quietly to her about the kids at school and how cruel they can be. How cruel the adults can be. She realises that Naruto is just terribly, horrifically sad. It makes her blood boil and her heart break, her wonderful Sensei gave everything for her little boy and this was how the Hokage treated him? Let others treat him?

"Have you eaten tonight, Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh, not yet…I've got some instant ramen at home."

She scowls "Hm, I think tonight we can do better than that."

She stands up and offers her hands out to him, confusing him further but there's a warmth inside her when he accepts her offer. He natters excitedly all the way to her little apartment, about his ninja training and how one day he's going to be the next Hokage.

"You'll make a splendid Hokage," She told him as she puttered around her little kitchen to make him a nice dinner "You'll make sure nobody is nasty anymore and won't it be a wonderful place then."

"Yeah! And everyone can be kind and happy!"

She smiled at him, he really liked Miss Shoko. No adults had ever stopped to help him before, not after they got a good look at him. They always left him crying; sometimes it made him feel like he had a strange sickness that scared everyone away. He wondered if Miss Shoko didn't realise because she was blind, that he was a sick child.

"Miss Shoko?"

"Yes Naruto?"

She placed the plate in front of him, chicken and vegetables and some rice too. It smelled really good and whatever sauce she put on it made his stomach growl in appreciated. It had been ages since he'd had a cooked meal he hadn't had to pay for.

"Do you know why everyone is mean to me?"

She sat beside him, her own plate of food just as nice smelling as his was and she handed him his cutlery. She'd also found him some juice to drink and made herself a nice hot cup of tea.

"Sometimes people are mean when they don't understand, and I think people don't understand you Naruto."

When he was a bit older, when he found out the truth for himself, she would help him more. For now, being a friend was about the best she could do for the little boy she'd found crying by the park. No doubt he'd been bullied by the kids or even the adults that had seen him there that day.

"I don't know how to make them understand." He muttered, and she reached over and fluffed his hair to earn a grin from him.

"When people are ready, they'll make the effort to understand you, for now, let's enjoy our dinner alright?"

Naruto forget, if only for an evening how nasty everyone could be to him. She was satisfied when he went home that night with a box of food he could heat up in the microwave and an open invitation to come over for dinner whenever he wanted to. Naruto was so happy he felt like he could burst, nobody had ever been so nice to him! Except maybe Iruka sensei. Boy would he be happy Naruto had made a friend like he wanted!

Shoko went to bed that night feeling lighter than she had in a very, very long time.

It's less than a week later when Umino Iruka comes knocking on Shoko's door, she'd just sat down to enjoy her tea and study up on a new technique Kurinai had been helping her learn when knuckles rapped on her door. She sighed, seeking the chakra out and frowning when she did not recognise it.

She opens the door with a scowl, as is her normal when strangers come knocking on her door.

"Hello?"

"Are you Shoko Hyuuga?"

He's young, that much she can discern from his voice. His chakra is sharp but not anything special, just a dull hew buzzing in front of her.

"I am, and you are?" Her voice is as hostile as his chakra, she can tell his muscles are stiff with stress.

Whoever this person is they are here for a fight. Judging by their chakra however, she can tell even with her obvious disadvantage that she could win or at least put enough distance between them that she could escape.

"I am Umino Iruka, Naruto's Sensei at the Academy, may I come in?"

"That depends on whether or not I'm going to like this conversation."

She doesn't want a stranger in her home, she's not foolish, she knows out here in the open she's got more chance of aid should something go wrong. She can't recall Umino Iruka from any past conversations, she didn't study at the academy herself and Sakura never mentioned him nor did anyone else she knew at the end. He obviously wasn't an important enough player.

"I want to know what you want with Naruto."

Now it's her turn to be hostile.

"I don't think that's any of your concern now, is it?"

He's a genin, he must be. He doesn't have enough chakra to be a jonin even at a low level. Hence why he worked in the school, nobody with potential lowered themselves to the academy or teaching.

"It is my concern. Naruto isn't a toy or a weapon and I won't have anyone take advantage of him."

He's sincere. His chakra doesn't waver and if anything it gets stronger with the statement. She tilts her head, milky unseeing eyes reappraising him and making him feel uncomfortable. Something about Shoko Hyuuga seemed to unnerve the whole village but Iruka couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Nonetheless, Naruto was a good kid and he didn't deserve to be hurt.

"Perhaps you should come in, Umino Iruka."

He's not ready for the invitation in but he steps inside after her and gently closes the door, she sits up at a dinner table and he takes the only other chair available next to her.

"I have no interest in hurting Naruto," She told him sternly "Kushina was my sensei, I was part of team twelve."

She wished she could see the dawning on his face that she imagined was there, but the silence was more than enough tell for her. People liked to stop and think, and silences were often as telling as an expression could be.

"You're that Shoko?"

She smirked.

"The one and only."

Iruka has heard of the Shoko Hyuuga. The girl that came back from the ninetails attack broken and different in the worst way. He had heard the rumours around the village of a girl unhinged, who then disappeared on a mission, supposedly died and then came back blind. Close friends with several Anbu, including the infamous Kakashi Hatake. Despite himself, Iruka didn't think he wanted an enemy of that man.

"Kushina was a good woman," She continued, smiling a sad smile "she was so excited to be pregnant."

He had never met either of Naruto's parents; he had only heard the tails of them both. It was interesting to meet someone who had been so much a part of their lives in a way Naruto never could.

"The Hokage wants him to be raised in squalor, less he become spoiled," She spat the word like venom "But I refuse to allow him to be unloved."

She sounded sincere. She sounded angry. Iruka didn't believe the Hokage could be aware of Naruto's living conditions, there must have been some mistake and maybe Shoko was blaming him because it was easier that way. It was easier to blame the power at the top than the indiscretions at the bottom.

"I doubt the Hokage knows about Naruto's home."

She scoffed "The old coot picked the apartment building himself, scuzzy neighbourhood and all."

Iruka decided not to address that, there was no way, not with how much the Hokage cared about Naruto. Shoko had gotten her information from a bad source, probably somebody working with Danzo. But Shoko, she seemed truthful and from what Naruto had told him she hadn't asked him anything intrusive and had merely offered him a hot meal a couple times a week.

And was that really such a bad thing for him?

"If it eases your nerves, come over with him for dinner. I am happy to feed an extra mouth."

"I won't intrude on you like that," He assured her "I just needed to make sure."

She softened, so many people had been telling her to stay away from Naruto for the last year now, and she forgot that people did in fact care about him. It was actually quite nice to know someone else was out there keeping an eye on her sensei's son.

"You're his teacher, correct?"

"I am."

"Who attends his one-to-one meetings?"

"Nobody."

"Would you agree it would be…helpful, for Naruto to have a concerned adult to attend these meetings?"

He smiled "I think it would be good for him."

Shoko grinned.

"Would you like some tea?"