Author Note: Greetings! As you probably noted from the tail-end of the first chapter there are going to be some interesting divergences, and not everything will be completely canon-compliant. I hope you'll still continue to give my story a chance and join me each week for an update!

I also wanted to thank all the kind and considerate individuals for showing me support! I really appreciate all the heartfelt reviews and encouragement!

As a reminder:

"Disembodied voices of higher beings."

"External Dialogue of Lesser Mortals."

'Structured Thoughts'

Now let's continue the story!

Setsuri

Chapter Two

"Value those that show you the utmost kindness."

Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably from where he sat on his swing watching the assembled students that were waiting excitedly that morning for the new school year to begin. Over the past month, they had been on break. During this time, the young boy had trained tirelessly in fear of falling behind. Naruto glanced up, feeling a swell of jealousy and longing eating at every fiber of his being from the display before him.

The sight of the children interacting with their parents and guardians was torture for the lonely orphan. His eyes, normally sky blue, were dark as the sea during a storm as the despondent Uzumaki returned his gaze down to the fresh spring grass beneath his feet. Situations like this were when Naruto would struggle the most. Being reminded just how alone he truly was.

On occasion, Naruto had tried to ask the Hokage about his family, but the old man had adamantly refused. The dead didn't matter, according to Hokage Jii-Chan, because dwelling on them wouldn't help the living, but if that was true why did they have to learn about all those dead shinobi and previous Hokage in school? Why was it important to know about old wars, but it wasn't important to know who his parents were? Had they been bad people? Is that why those adults constantly referred to him as that kid, or that monster, among other things?

Naruto knew better than to act up during these moments, so he just kept to himself. Things would be more comfortable after the adults left. They didn't like it when he tried to hang out with the other kids, and Naruto would usually suffer more for it. It always seemed the adults were bolder in showing their distaste for him when they were in groups anyway.

Soon Naruto was relieved to see the adults dispersing meaning it was time to head to class. His first year had been rough to put it kindly, so Naruto hoped that things would start turning around maybe Iruka-Sensei would finally give him praise for all the hard work he had put in during break? Or at the very least he could beat Sasuke at something! If Naruto could beat him the rest of the class would finally see how cool he could be!

Naruto had even gotten the hang of the Henge no Jutsu and was currently developing a new Jutsu based on it. He had found it interesting that men tended to get distracted by the image of a pretty lady. The innocent boy discovered this when he saw a group of them fawning over a weird magazine when going down to the bookstore to buy some scrolls.

Maybe if he got the new technique down Iruka-Sensei would ignore his lackluster Bunshin No Jutsu. Naruto had tried practicing the Bunshin a lot, he didn't attempt to make multiples anymore, so now at least he could make one the correct size, even if it still appeared half-dead upon creation.

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts as he found his favorite classmate. Even though he wasn't friends with Hinata the girl's presence made the classroom bearable. She had been pleasant company throughout the end of winter, and her presence had always been so warm and comforting.

The young boy smiled as he ran up to greet her, but upon his approach, Naruto slowed and his smile morphed into a frown, blue eyes filling with concern. The normally gentle soothing warmth that enveloped the girl was absent, replaced with one of cold heaviness. Not the same kind of heaviness he felt when he made eye contact with the villagers. This one gave Naruto the same tightness he had in his chest just earlier that day when he had been sitting on his swing, or when he felt like crying. What could have happened to make the sweet girl feel this way?

"Oi! Good morning, Hinata-Chan! Dattebayo!" Naruto greeted plastering on his best smile, he might as well greet her. Maybe then she'd be willing to tell him what was wrong on her own.

The shy girl jumped in surprise as Naruto brought her out of her thoughts, and the change was immediate as her large eyes locked onto him. Like the sunny skies after a rainy day. The heavy feeling that had been emanating from Hinata evaporated, replaced with that delicious comfortable warmth Naruto relished as he sat down turning to stare at her intently, leaning against the desk resting his head in his palm, propped up by his elbow.

"G-Good morning N-Naruto-Kun…" Hinata mumbled quietly as she shifted nervously hiding her face in her hooded vest.

Now that Naruto looked at her more closely he realized their outfits today were very similar, except for the colors, much to his amusement. With the season warming up Naruto had opted for a sleeveless hooded orange vest with a blue T-shirt underneath, featuring what he had learned from Hokage Jii-Chan to be his clan's insignia, the infamous Uzumaki Spiral. His bottoms were a simple pair of long green cargo shorts that cut-off mid-calf just above his blue shinobi-styled zō still wore his signature green goggles, they were essential for when he played his pranks after all.

Hinata's vest was a pale purple, just a couple shades darker than her pretty eyes. Her undershirt was a pale cream. Naruto couldn't see her bottoms from their position but thought the getup made Hinata seem a bit cuter than her winter outfit.

"Did you have a good break Hinata-Chan? You seemed kind of sad just a minute ago," Naruto asked quietly, making his concern evident as he gazed at her intently. The image of how the girl looked when they ran into each other during winter playing in his mind, motivating him to take the initiative. 'I don't want to see her cry…'

The young Hyūga's nervous movements stilled as she looked down, hiding her eyes behind her bangs. That strange sensation seeped out of her once more, masking the warmth again with that painfully cold feeling. Naruto frowned, if he didn't know what was making her so sad, how would he be able to help her out?

It was bad enough trying to handle the academy while dealing with that suffocating sensation he felt off of the rest of class, and the adults. Hinata's presence had become a blessing that Naruto had become reliant on, like a spoiled child's favorite blanket. Her comforting aura was like hot ramen on a rainy day. The blonde was desperate to get it back. For now, he'd have to be patient and see if Hinata would talk to him. Getting her to talk was always so difficult, like trying to get a bird to land in your hand without scaring it away.

"...I...I'm a burden to my clan. I'm weak, useless, and get in the way, and F-Father has been becoming very disappointed in my lack of talent since starting the Academy…I'm just a waste of space." Hinata relented with a quiet and shaky breath after a long pause. Naruto could tell she was on the brink of tears with how shaky her words had been, and had to strain to hear her words that seemed quieter than even a whisper like she was afraid to say such painful things aloud.

Humming in thought the perplexed boy scrunched up his face, closing his eyes while formulating his thoughts on the matter before deciding to speak, "I don't think you're a waste of space Hinata-Chan, and I definitely don't find you to be useless. Dattebayo, I mean if it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't bother showing up to class as often." Naruto finally said looking away as a blush crept up his face.

It was embarrassing to disclose such things, but to Naruto they were true, and anyone that thought Hinata-Chan was useless was an idiot in his book. With his admission, Naruto built up his nerve and stole a glance to see the girl blushing far more vibrantly than he was himself. The warmth came back, now with an additional tingling sensation, like butterflies in his stomach, this felt nice. The Uzumaki patted himself on the back as class started, he had accomplished his mission now back to business as usual.

Most of the day was spent reviewing what they had learned the previous year, at least until near the end of class. Naruto stared down at the blank paper in front of him twirling his pencil absent-mindedly, smirking when he heard another student make a witty comeback at Iruka-Sensei's explanation of the assignment.

'Hm… If the world was to end tomorrow, who would you want to spend your last day on Earth with? This is stupid! The world isn't going to end, dattebayo...'

Normally Naruto would be running a blank, get frustrated, and probably cause a scene. Giving the girl next to him a side-long glance the orange-clad boy decided to take a different approach. Quickly Naruto wrote down his answer before resting on the desk preparing for a nap, and conveniently hiding his paper until Iruka-Sensei was ready to gather up the assignments.

'Sitting next to Hinata-Chan always feels so nice…'

As spring progressed, Naruto's days at the academy continued along in a similar routine. Outside of classroom assignments they practiced different Jutsu such as their aim and proper handling with Shurikenjutsu, daily kata, and form practice with Taijutsu, where they sparred with each other at least once a week. Naruto was beyond irritated that he still ritualistically got his ass kicked by almost everyone. It was like his mind wanted to do one thing and his body wanted to do another, making him mess up in front of everyone, repeatedly.

With Ninjutsu they were in the process of practicing the Bunshin no Jutsu, something that Naruto still couldn't get down to save his life. This ironically, is what it was meant for. It was frustrating and made him somewhat angry when the other students made fun of him during evaluations for not being able to get it down. Naruto always tried to laugh it off, but it still stung nonetheless. At least it seemed he had some talent with the Henge no Jutsu. He had heard that after summer break they were supposed to start learning the basics of the Kawarimi no Jutsu.

Summer break, just the thought of it put knots into his stomach. Naruto would be alone again, it wasn't like he didn't feel that way right now, but at least school distracted him most days. Naruto would still ditch class from time to time, or cut class early when he was frustrated or overwhelmed, but usually regretted it by the end of the day. Besides the comfortable silence and short conversations before class he received from Hinata, Naruto wasn't having much luck with his other classmates. They usually treated him with disdain or ignored him outright.

It was starting to become unbearable. Naruto was desperate to make some friends. Lately, he had been trying to hang out with a group of boys led by one of his classmates, named Hibachi, which loitered around the playground after class, but they generally tried to chase him off or would run off themselves. Sure, Hibachi had been a major jerk to him in class today getting their other classmates to gang-up on him and pretty much calling him a plague. This in turn led Iruka-Sensei into instructing them to ignore him, as if they didn't already do that.

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts as he coincidentally noticed the group of boys discussing something. Interacting with Hinata had caused the young blonde to learn that sometimes it paid to be quiet and listen. You never knew just what you could learn by being silent. What Naruto had learned, and others tended to underestimate about him, among other things, was that when he wanted to he could have a knack for stealth. If he didn't, he wouldn't get away with the pranks he played on the villagers.

The Uzumaki hung back and eavesdropped on the boys' conversation curiously. Listening intently, Naruto heard mention of a test of courage they were arranging tonight at the cemetery. Normally he would have demanded to be included, but now a different idea came to mind. Smirking to himself he started to formulate a plan involving the mask he had recently acquired from a less than kind shopkeeper. Not only could he get Hibachi back for what happened in class, but maybe they'd want to be his friends if he could show them up proving that he wasn't some useless loser.

Quickly Naruto headed home to set his scheme into motion. 'I'll need that fox mask, maybe a sheet, it'd be easier than trying to keep up a Henge. Hmm… I'll also need to get there early enough that I can catch them off guard, but not early enough to be caught by some adult. What else…'

The mischievous Uzumaki became completely absorbed into his thoughts as he started to put his plan in motion. Running around his apartment gathering supplies Naruto put together his costume practicing in front of the mirror until he was satisfied with his act. The young ninja cadet actually took his pranks very seriously. Mostly because failed pranks usually ended with him either in pain or being forced to do extra work under the supervision of trained shinobi.

By late evening the now disguised boy was waiting patiently in his hiding spot atop the memorial monument that overlooked the cemetery. Naruto glanced up at the sky. It was currently on the cusp of twilight, so the other kids would be here soon. The boys arrived about half an hour later and started the process of lighting their lanterns while going over the rules of their challenge.

Soon Naruto's first victim made their ascent, losing their nerve before they even got a third of the way through the cemetery, much to his disappointment. The second boy made it two-thirds of the way, so Naruto rewarded him by throwing his voice.

"Gurururu…Gurururu..." He called, earning a yell of surprise from the terrified boy. Naruto had to stifle his laughter to not give away his hiding spot. Looking down from where he hid the trouble-maker watched the boys bickering with one another until his targeted victim finally decided to make his way up the path. Naruto watched as Hibachi made it to just below the monument.

"Gurururu… Gurururu… a child! A delicious child!" Naruto shouted before jumping down mere centimeters from the petrified boy. After a long pause Hibachi let out a high-pitch scream, throwing up his lantern and running away continuing to scream hysterically about a monster fox that wanted to eat him.

Naruto couldn't control himself any longer, laughing to the point of tears. The prankster was so distracted by his reverie that he didn't notice another presence until they were about a meter away. This new figure gave off a scary aura, making the hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stand on end.

'Uh oh, I might have made one of the adults a bit too mad with my joke, this could be bad.' Gathering himself up, Naruto looked up to get a better look at the person in front of him. In relief, he realized it was just Iruka-Sensei. Quickly he removed his mask plastering on his best foxy grin hoping to defuse the situation.

"Ha! Ha! Iruka-Sensei did you see their faces! Hehehe! Better run away or I'll eat you all up! Bunch of babies! That was the best prank ever! Serves them right!"

"Naruto!" Iruka snapped sharply, getting Naruto's attention. The said boy stopped laughing realizing he was going to be in trouble, maybe a lot of trouble.

"...Do you realize what you're doing?" The adult asked in a cold tone. Now that Naruto was focusing more he realized that the heaviness had not dissipated even though he had revealed himself. Looking up he saw iciness in Iruka's gaze. It was that look again. The look that said he was a nuisance, unwanted, unneeded, a plague on the village, a monster better off dead, the reason the Yondaime had died. Naruto couldn't stand it anymore were his only choices to be hated or ignored? Why him?

"...Why?! Why does everyone- even my own teacher...Why do you all look at me like that?! I'm not a nuisance! I'm not some kind of disease! Dattebayo! I'm... I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Chikushou! I'm sick of this! I'll never return to the academy again! What's the point?!" With tears burning in his eyes Naruto pushed past Iruka and ran off towards home ignoring Iruka as the man called after him.

Once safely in his apartment Naruto slammed the door behind him and sunk to the floor sobbing in frustration. Naruto didn't cry often, but this feeling was too overwhelming. Why did everyone hate him? Why did they make rules to exclude him? Why was he so alone? Why did everyone go out of their way to ignore him? What had he done to deserve this? Then having it forced into his face every day at the Academy, screw that!

'The academy... That's the only place I see Hinata-Chan... Oh well, she'll probably forget about me after a while… It isn't like we're friends or anything anyway…' Naruto thought bitterly, making his way towards his bedroom, haphazardly tossed articles of clothing around and put on his pajamas before climbing into bed. Naruto didn't feel like eating so he turned in early for the night drained by the feeling of loss and defeat.

'I'll miss her though… She was nice to talk to...'

In the recesses of his mind, sad scarlet eyes gazed up into his memories. Kurama couldn't prevent all of Naruto's pain, because in some instances the sacrifices led to exponential gains. The weary kitsune only vaguely remembered this trial from the original timeline but understood that his interference was not needed. Instead, Kurama turned away from the gates that barred him from his young container to instead gaze down at the Hoshi no Tama held hidden in his many tails. Inside the large golden glowing orb rested a very familiar man sealed into stasis.

When Kurama had forced himself back into the past he was able to hold onto what had remained of that Naruto's chakra, the mature Naruto's memories, and a copy of the key to his seal that Kurama only accessed in what the Kyūbi considered true emergencies. Kurama tried his best to keep the previous incarnation's memories sealed, only allowing glimmers to methodically leak out when he felt it benefitted the struggling youth. If the fox had still been his old hateful self he would have used the opportunity to escape, but the old fox had made a promise he intended to keep. He was after all very fond of his container, even if the boy wasn't aware of it just yet.

'Just bear with it Kit, I promise this time will be better...'

For the next few days, Naruto found himself in a listless routine. Without the academy occupying his time, the despondent youth was mostly miserable and bored out of his mind walking around the village aimlessly. That was until the evening when he'd try to play with kids at the park and temporarily forget about his problems. Granted, parents always admonished their children for playing with him or would hiss curses about him.

Sometimes Naruto could swear he sensed Iruka-Sensei but was quick to leave the area when that was the case. That was until one morning when he was abruptly woken up by the sound of someone ringing his doorbell. Naruto struggled in his tangled sheet falling out of bed with a groan. After disentangling himself he groggily made his way to the door peering through the peephole.

"Eh?! Iruka-Sensei? What is he doing here?!"

Quickly Naruto scrambled to find some decently clean clothes around his bedroom, shedding his pajamas at the same time before making his escape off the balcony, running over a couple of rooftops until finally deciding he'd made it a safe enough distance to get fully dressed. Why had Iruka-Sensei shown up at his apartment? What did he want? Shouldn't the man be happy that Naruto wasn't going to be bothering his class anymore? The still groggy boy couldn't wrap his head around the situation and decided to put it off until he got some breakfast.

Leaping back down onto the road Naruto started to leisurely make his way to Ichiraku's, or at least that had been the plan until he was halfway there and cornered by three familiar faces.

"What do you guys want?" Naruto asked, feeling a bit on guard. He didn't like the look in their eyes or being surrounded from all sides.

"Hey Naruto, we decided you can join our group!" Hibachi announced smiling, earning a confused look from the other two boys accompanying him.

"Huh?! Are you serious?!" Naruto asked excitedly, his previous suspicion was replaced with joy and suspense, ignoring a small tug at his senses that started to stir.

"Yeah, but to be one of us, there's a condition..." Hibachi continued waving his finger to emphasize his point, earning a knowing grin from his friends.

At that Naruto frowned and struggled with an internal conflict. Something in his gut was telling him not to trust these guys, but at the same time, this was a chance for him to finally get some friends. Even if he had to pay a small price of ridicule or embarrassment he figured it'd be worth it in the end.

"...What is it?"

"Yesterday my dad's patrol unit fought with an enemy ninja in the back hills. He said they left the corpse out there. Find the corpse and bring back its belongings. If you do, you can join us." Hibachi calmly explained though Naruto was experiencing a very nauseating feeling radiating off the other boy, something he hadn't experienced before, it made him feel ill.

"Is that it? For real? No tricks?" Naruto asked cautiously, he wanted to make sure there was nothing else. The challenge was a bit morbid, but if it got him some friends then he could just take a long bath later. Sure, he was getting bad vibes, but could put them out of his mind. The reward was too good to pass up.

"Yeah!" Hibachi reassured with another smile nodding in assurance.

"All right then! I'll bring back something for sure! Dattebayo! You can bet on it!" Naruto proclaimed as he ran off with his new destination in mind. He was going to finally have friends! People that would want to hang out with him! He wasn't going to be alone anymore! This was going to be awesome!

...At least that had been what Naruto initially thought. Naruto groaned as he desperately continued to look around for what seemed to be at least over an hour, this was taking way longer than he thought, "Ughh...the corpse...the corpse...Hmm...Where is it? Dattebayo...I know this area well since I always play here, but maybe I should have asked the guys for a more exact location…" he grumbled to himself as he ended up empty-handed yet again after looking through some more bushes.

"Naruto!"

Naruto jerked up, twisted himself to look into the eaves of a nearby tree to see a very unhappy-looking Iruka, "Eh? Sensei?!" he shouted in shock.

"What are you doing?! Get back to the academy, now!" Iruka ordered sternly as he leapt down and approached Naruto pointing back towards the village to strengthen his command.

Naruto frowned as he bunched up his fists, stomping the ground in defiance. Sure, he'd been miserable and lonely all week but the desperate child couldn't pass this chance by! It wasn't like people were lining up to be friends with him, "I don't want to! I'm not going to the academy anymore! Dattebayo!" he reaffirmed stubbornly, giving the adult a hard glare.

Iruka gave him a reproachfully hard stare of his own before calmly warning in a serious tone, "There are still dangerous people here."

'Yeah right, Iruka-Sensei's just trying to trick me into returning to the academy! Adults always lie.'

"I won't go back! Even if you beg me to!" Naruto doubled down waving his arms in a crossways motion to strengthen his point, all the while taking a few hesitant steps back away from the shinobi towering over him.

"Do as I say, I am your instructor!" Iruka commanded in a no-nonsense authoritative tone.

At that remark the blood started to rush to Naruto's head as he went into a full-blown tantrum that only an undisciplined seven-year-old could manifest, "Shut up! Why do you only act like a teacher at times like this?! Dattebayo!" he shouted in frustration, earning him a look of guilt from Iruka.

The blonde's anger quickly transitioned to sadness remembering what had led to his current predicament, casting his large blue eye away from the current object of his inner turmoil, "Sensei, you don't understand my feelings. Even if I go back to the Academy, things won't be any different! I'm always alone... I'm always left out…" Naruto paused, feeling the anger returning, memories flooding his mind of being ostracized, the bullying, the neglect, the overwhelming loneliness.

"...Nobody gives a damn about me!" the distraught orphan screamed glaring back up at the man that just a few days ago could have cared less about him and his existence. Hadn't Iruka personally instructed the other kids to ignore him? Hadn't this man been treating him with indifference most of the year? Iruka in the current moment seemed to be struggling to articulate his thoughts, wanting to say something, but Naruto continued before he got a chance.

"...But this time, it'll be different! If I bring back some items, everyone will accept me as their friend! If I do that, I won't be alone anymore! I won't have to experience that feeling ever again!" Naruto didn't know if he completely believed that to be true, given the sensations he had been getting off of Hibachi earlier, but he hopelessly wanted to believe he finally had a chance. What else did he have to lose?

"That's why I'm going to find and bring back an item! Dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed earnestly, no longer glaring at Iruka, but silently daring him to interfere.

Iruka seemed to hesitate once more, too shocked by Naruto's speech, pausing to gather his thoughts before he finally spoke, "Please try to understand. No matter what your reasons may be, as your teacher, I cannot allow you to go into such a dangerous area!"

Naruto frowned, looking down in defeat. Of course, Iruka would continue to brush his needs to the side. Why would he expect any different? "You really don't understand my feelings…" he mumbled feeling close to tears for a moment, before realizing this was a great opportunity since now Iruka's guard was down, and Naruto still hadn't had a chance to show off the new jutsu he'd been working on since they started learning the Henge no Jutsu. Smirking mischievously the defiant child put his plan into motion, quickly bringing his hands together into the ram hand sign.

"Killer attack! Oiroke no Jutsu!"

With a pop and a bloom of smoke, the almost eight-year-old boy was replaced with a young attractive woman clad only in her underwear, her long blonde hair tied up into high pigtails. The boy-turned-woman struck a provocative pose winking suggestively. The reaction was instantaneous as Iruka-Sensei keeled over blood spilling from his nose from the sudden increase of blood pressure.

'Oh! This attack is stronger than I thought, sweet!' Taking this as his chance to escape, Naruto dropped the transformation running off deeper into the woods, ignoring Iruka's desperate pleas for him to stop.

"Honestly... Adults are so easy to trick! Dattebayo!" Naruto snickered once he was confident that Iruka was no longer on his tail.

The youth ran until he found himself in a clearing that had been recently disturbed. The new site didn't seem to belong in the tranquil forest and got the boy to skid to a halt as he took in his surroundings. Weapons and used paper tags were scattered about the wrecked foliage showing the marks of a recent battle.

"This has to be it, which means the corpse should be nearby…" Naruto murmured to himself before carefully surveying the undergrowth. He didn't want to miss the body, or an unused explosive tag by mistake, the latter more for his own health. The young blue-eyed troublemaker circled the area thoroughly, before plopping down in defeat.

Naruto hadn't found anything of unique interest, and he was getting weary. As if reading his mind the exhausted boy's stomach growled pitifully, he hadn't eaten yet that day and it was getting close to noon by now, or at least Naruto assumed so. It was hard to tell with all the trees around.

"Well, I guess I can find a snack really fast before I continue looking…" The weakened child reasoned to himself, looking around the nearby trees Naruto quickly found what he was looking for, a bird's nest. Chuckling to himself, the delighted boy carefully climbed up the tree with plans of grabbing some eggs, only to find something shiny glinting back at him. Confused, Naruto dug through the nesting material pulling out a strange pronged kunai.

"Oh? What's this? I've never seen one shaped like this before!"

Naruto carefully leaped back down keeping a careful grasp on his prize examining the strange blade in the sunlight. It wasn't like the Konohagakure issued Kunai. This one had two thin blades that branched up in the same direction, one of the blades stopping short of the other. The hilt was also weird with a folded paper ribbon attached to it.

"The enemy ninja must have used this kunai during the battle yesterday. I found an item I can bring back! Dattebayo!" Naruto excitedly cheered aloud. He'd successfully found something! And he didn't have to pilfer a gross corpse to get it! Proud of himself for accomplishing his goal Naruto turned to make his way back to Konoha.

After not much time had passed Naruto started to notice signs that he was close to the village, "Now I'll be able to make some friends!" He exclaimed with a laugh unable to contain his overflowing happiness.

That is, before said feelings of joy quickly evaporated. Three shinobi had suddenly appeared blocking his path and they gave off bad vibes, very bad vibes that made his hair stand on end and his muscles tremble.

"Hey, kid-" The shinobi in the lead position started.

"W-what the?! Who the hell are all of you?!" Naruto interrupted with a growl of bewilderment. He didn't recognize these ninja, and their headbands weren't Konoha's signature leaf insignia.

"Hand over the kunai, nice and easy." The de facto leader commanded in a calm steady voice, laced with venom, ignoring Naruto's outburst.

Naruto glanced down at the kunai in his hand, why the heck would they want this? Stubbornly he quickly hid it behind his back desperate to keep his prize, "N-No way! I can't hand this over! Dattebayo!" This was his only ticket to getting friends. He needed it more than these weird ninja that was for sure!

"I see… It looks like we'll have to take it by force!" The ringleader mused before all three shinobi drew Ninjatōfrom holsters on their backs.

"Huh?! What?! W-wait a second!" Naruto started before finding himself cross-eyed staring down the length of a razor-sharp blade.

'Shi-shimatta, what have I gotten myself into?!' He thought anxiously before letting out a frightened scream, turning to run for his life. It didn't seem the enemy ninja appreciated this however as Naruto had to continually dodge shuriken while trying to shake his pursuers. Never before had he been so happy to have his body's weird auto-pilot mode until now. The frightened boy didn't fight it and just focused on the direction he was aiming for.

At one point Naruto tried to use his new Jutsu on the trio, learning a very valuable lesson. First, Oiroke no Jutsu didn't seem to work on women, it only made them mad, and second, the shinobi who were chasing after him were kunoichi. Today was just not his day.

Naruto continued onward trying to set off as many hunter traps as he could to slow the interlopers down. This was the only thing he could manage to keep himself alive at the moment, Naruto was in the woods, alone, and had a very realistic expectation of his ability to outrun trained, serious, and angry ninja that could care less about his well being. The foolish boy was in serious trouble.

"Naruto!"

"Sensei?!" Naruto whispered to himself as he registered the voice thanking all the Kami above, he wasn't alone! Never had the endangered boy been happier to hear Iruka-Sensei's voice, "I'm over here! Dattebayo!" he shouted, looking around the treetops as he ran.

Unfortunately, his bad luck seemed not to have turned just yet as Naruto caught his foot in a tree root, launching himself head over heels down a steep hill. Losing control as he tumbled end over end through the forest undergrowth. Naruto screamed realizing he'd been unable to stop himself from somersaulting off the edge of a sheer drop-off.

'This is it! This is the end!' He thought fearfully watching the ground getting closer and closer to his face, and then his whole world went dark.

'...I don't want to see her cry anymore...'

'...I'm tired of being alone...'

'...It's my fault…'

'...I'm sorry, Kurama…'

"...Hey! Are you alright?!" A familiar voice called out to him.

"Oi! Pull yourself together! Are you hurt?!" The voice asked more firmly as Naruto felt a strong pair of hands pick him up gingerly. Naruto grunted painfully in response as he forced his eyes open looking around in a confused daze until Iruka's concerned face came into focus.

"Oh thank goodness, you've regained consciousness!" the young scar-faced man exclaimed with relief. Naruto felt like he wanted to vomit and his head pounded painfully. What were those dreams? Who was Kurama? What was going on?

"S-Sensei…" he mumbled trying to gather his thoughts, but everything was a garbled mess that Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of.

"Come on. Let's head back to the academy!" Iruka-Sensei gently insisted as he helped Naruto carefully sit up. The concussed boy was still unsteady. There was something bad he needed to speak up about, what had he been doing? Naruto needed to warn Sensei, but what about? Iruka's attention was suddenly brought up to where Naruto had fallen from, up on the ridge stood three very angry-looking kunoichi.

'Oh, right. That. Kuso…'

"Th-those guys!" Naruto tried to articulate weakly as he felt another wave of nausea wrap through his body.

Iruka frowned warily at the kunoichi, "What are you outsiders doing sneaking around Konoha?!" he barked threateningly only to earn an unimpressed scoff in return.

"Who are you?! Leave the brat with us, and don't put up a fight!" The unofficial leader of the trio demanded earning a hard glare from Iruka in return.

"Oi, I'm in charge of this child, I can't do that!" The Konoha Chūnin stated firmly, normally Naruto would have felt impressed, but currently, he was trying to get his world to stop spinning.

"So you're a teacher?" Another one of the women mused.

"It must be tough having such a bad student, because of that you're going to die." The last snickered.

"It's the bad ones you get attached to. Besides, you won't be able to defeat me that easily!" Iruka retorted in confidence.

'Wow, I didn't realize Iruka-Sensei could be so cool…' Naruto thought wearily as his world faded into darkness once more.

Naruto awoke sometime later with a concerned Iruka peering down at him. He didn't feel as delirious as the first time he'd awoken but his head still hurt like no other. From the way the light illuminated his surroundings it looked like it was early evening at the moment.

"Hey, you're up! How are you feeling Naruto?" the weary teacher asked while handing the blonde a canteen and onigiri, helping him to sit up from where he'd been resting on the grass. Naruto noticed that Iruka was pretty banged up, why had the teacher bothered to risk so much for a drop-out like him? Didn't he hate Naruto like everyone else?

"...Like the whole class used me for target practice before dropping a boulder on my head...dattebayo…" Naruto grumbled weakly, absently sipping his water and taking note of his surroundings. They were back in the village, more specifically the courtyard in front of the academy.

Iruka chuckled in response to Naruto's creative assessment as he carefully studied the boy, "Do you think you'll be fine out here by yourself while I take care of some business with Sandaime-Sama? I need to urgently report to him what went on, if not you're welcome to come with."

Naruto thought about it for a moment, nibbling his rice ball as he weighed his choices. Normally it'd be fun to go hang out with Jii-Chan since he didn't get to see him often, but in all honesty, the exhausted boy just wanted to get some more rest.

"I...I think I'll be fine out here, Iruka-Sensei… I promise not to run away again. I've done enough running today…" Naruto yawned, shuffling until he could comfortably slump against the nearby tree mindlessly working on his light snack, watching Iruka head towards the Hokage's office.

After about an hour or so Naruto was feeling much better and decided to check his pockets for the pronged kunai he had acquired, only to find it was missing. All that work down the toilet! Just as Naruto started to feel at a loss he noticed Iruka making his way back, so Naruto stood up to meet him, his childlike rationality taking over once more, "Sensei! How could you lose the precious item I found! Dattebayo!" The frustrated boy whined accusingly unaware of the adult's growing loss of patience.

"You IDIOT!" Iruka finally shouted at him, causing Naruto to shrink back, yelping in surprise. Was this really Iruka-Sensei?! The same Iruka-Sensei who didn't bat an eye when he greased the classroom entryway? The same Iruka-Sensei that never made a peep when he was disrupting the class? Why was Iruka-Sensei so mad now?!

"You almost lost your life today!" The adult growled sternly, not even remotely bothered by Naruto's fear-filled outburst.

'Oh… so that's why he's mad…' Naruto thought as comprehension dawned on him, guiltily the scolded boy looked away in shame. Iruka had been worried about his well-being. It had never occurred to Naruto that someone would be afraid for him.

"...That's true, but…" Naruto trailed off considering his actions, had it been worth almost dying just for a chance to be friends with Hibachi of all people? He was starting to feel awkward as the man's demeanor made him reflect on his choices that day. Was this what it must feel like to have a parent?

"Hm? You're awfully quiet today." Iruka remarked curiously, having finally calmed down from his tirade.

"That's...because this is the first time you've yelled at me. I'm surprised, -ttebayo..." Naruto admitted nervously fidgeting, giving the man a sidelong glance. In reality, no one ever really yelled at Naruto, at least not out of concern for him. To curse his existence was one thing, but this felt different. It made Naruto feel sheepish and ashamed of his behavior.

Iruka chuckled at the admittance, "Ah, I see. That's right. I've decided to be more upfront with you as your teacher. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be more strict with you!" he promised confidently as he smiled down at humbled youth, thus earning another shocked look of disbelief from the expressive blonde, his mouth agape disbelievingly.

"Eeeh?! That makes me want to come back to the academy even less! Dattebayo!" Naruto whined dejectedly. This new Iruka-Sensei was throwing him for a loop. He didn't know if he'd be able to handle a stricter teacher, or worse, be able to meet his expectations.

"Naruto… do you have the will of fire in you?" asked Iruka, pulling Naruto from his childish thoughts.

"Will of fire? What's that?" Naruto questioned curiously, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"It's the strong will to protect the village. If you have it, you can become as strong as the Hokage."

"The Hokage? The Hokage is really that strong?!" Naruto asked excitedly, his interest peaked.

"Yeah, he's not just strong either. Everyone respects the Hokage. He is our leader. The Yondaime for instance is the hero who protected the village from the Bakegitsune."

"A hero?" Naruto echoed in awe, seeming lost in thought for a moment before grinning.

"Okay, I think I've made up my mind! I'm going to become a Hokage who is stronger than the Yondaime! I'm going to make everyone acknowledge my strength! -ttebayo!"

Iruka smiled at the boy's proclamation, pulling out a kunai the instructor stepped forward scoring a line into the trunk of the tree Naruto was standing in front of, "You might be able to become Hokage by the time you're this tall."

"Yeah! I'm gonna work really hard to become Hokage! Dattebayo!" Naruto cheered, happily dancing around in front of the amused instructor.

"But, you know Naruto, you can't become Hokage with just power alone, you'll need the support of people willing to follow you as well."

At this admission Naruto hung his head depressed, "So I can't get acknowledged unless people already acknowledge me? What kind of crap is that?!"

"Naruto, I don't think you're as alone as you think. Here, come with me back to the classroom. I have something I want to show you." Iruka explained, turning to head into the academy. The blonde became confused but hopeful upon hearing Iruka's statement and dutifully trailed closely behind.

"Naruto, you need to know I would never have found out, or had any idea you were in danger if it hadn't been for Shikamaru," Iruka explained as they walked down the hall heading to the classroom. Naruto was shocked to hear this. Shikamaru never really spoke or hung out with him, but sometimes he caught the dark-haired boy staring at him intently, like trying to solve a puzzle.

"Yes, since I hadn't been able to get in contact with you the past couple of days I decided to ask your peers if they'd seen you. He was very brave to speak up about what Hibachi had done," Iruka continued, sliding the classroom door open, taking a glance down at Naruto who'd started to sniffle, trying to hold back tears. No one had ever stood up for him before. From now on Shikamaru was definitely on his 'Do Not Prank' list.

"Oh, and he's not the only one looking out for you, Naruto. Here, take a seat while I find what I want to show you," the Chūnin directed as he began digging through a filing cabinet behind his desk. Quietly, Naruto sat in a chair usually reserved for the assistant teacher Mizuki, waiting patiently with his mind too much of a blur to do much else. Not that he had to wait long.

"Ah, here we are! Now, Naruto, do you remember the assignment I had you do at the beginning of the year? The one about who'd you want to spend your last day on earth with?" Iruka asked, turning to Naruto with two papers held in his hand. After a pause, Naruto nodded recalling the seemingly unimportant lesson.

"Do you remember who you chose?"

Naruto thought about it for a second before blushing and looking at his feet, which earned a laugh from his teacher.

'Where is Iruka-Sensei going with this?'

"Well, I have something very interesting to show you. You see, I think you'll be surprised to learn that there are people that care about you and would miss you if you weren't around. Take a look for yourself!" Iruka explained with a smile, revealing the answers on the two papers to Naruto. The first he instantly recognized as his own, the other…

"Really?! She'd w-want to? B-But why me? K-kuso..." Naruto stammered his voice cracking as he fought against tears now falling freely down his striped cheeks. The emotionally moved child vigorously rubbed the drops away as he handed the papers back to Iruka. Naruto didn't want to cry and didn't understand why he couldn't stop. The feeling of relief was so overwhelming. He felt stupid, happy, embarrassed, angry, relieved. Naruto felt too many things, and could only express the whirlwind of sensations by breaking down.

His sensei took the papers back, placing them absently on his desk to deal with later. For now, it seemed that these revelations were too much for Naruto, and Iruka had a child to console. Hesitantly the young instructor gently rested his hand on the boy's head, rubbing his soft disheveled blonde locks. Naruto flinched from the foreign contact before raising his large watery eyes to face the reassuring smile of Iruka.

"That's something you'll just have to ask Hinata-Chan, Naruto. And, you know, it's okay to cry when you're happy."

Author Note: Ah, the feels… I've always loved Naruto's relationship with Iruka. In this chapter, I decided to have the teacher take a more proactive role in young Naruto's loneliness issue. It never made sense to me why he wouldn't have. Who knows, maybe Kakashi said something to him off-screen? And Kurama reveals a smidgeon of the subplot once more! Huehuehue...

See you again next week! I thrive on feedback, so positive comments are greatly appreciated!

Keywords:

Henge no Jutsu - Transformation Technique

Bunshin no Jutsu - Clone Technique, Art of the Doppelgänger

Bunshin - Doppelgänger

Zōri- Japanese style of sandals, they're extremely stylized in the Naruto universe.

Shurikenjutsu - Concealed Hand Blade Techniques, the Art of handling Shuriken, Kunai, and Senbon.

Kawarimi no Jutsu - Replacement Technique, Art of Substitution

Chikushou - What the fuck?! Look at that shit! (Pretty much-expressing revolt over a circumstance.), can also be used to generally mean Dammit!/Fuck!/Shit!

Hoshi no Tama - Star Ball (Marble), Jewel of Stars, an artifact Kitsune are known for possessing in Japanese Mythology.

Oiroke no Jutsu - Sexy Technique, or Art of the Centerfold

Hitai-ate - Forehead Protector

Ninjatō - Short sword allegedly used by Shinobi, unlike the Katana or Wakizashi they were known to be straight, and were slightly shorter than even the Wakizashi.

Kuso - Dammit! /Fuck! /Shit! (Used like when you stub your toe)