Author Note: OMG! Thank you for getting my story past 2k views! Your continued support really motivates me to keep this story going!

A mild warning for this chapter. Some mild violence incoming during this chapter, but an important divergence nonetheless! At least there's some fluff to buffer the feels! I promise!

Random Naruto Fact: On another note, I've been re-watching/reading the Naruto series and found a common mistake some fans make in fanfictions. I kept getting confused why Naruto's home was referred to as a house or home instead of an apartment canon, while fans always refer to it as an apartment.

Long story short, Naruto lives in a condo, not an apartment, and a pretty nice one for Konoha standards. If you're not familiar with the difference, you own a Condo, while you rent an apartment. It became clear to me that Naruto owned his home during the time skip between Part I & Part II (And watching some movies)

Secondary Fact: Originally the layout of his condo was different in the manga vs the anime, however, it seems Kishimoto liked the anime version's layout better. (At least from what I've seen when comparing scenes from the manga vs anime.)

"Disembodied voices of higher beings."

"External Dialogue of Lesser Mortals."

'Structured Thoughts'

Enjoy!

Setsuri

Chapter Four

"Allow me to share in your burdens."

Autumn had hit full swing in the land of fire. Most of the trees were ablaze with Naruto's favorite colors, bringing the now eight-year-old boy much delight as he walked down one of Konoha's more scenic roads that ran parallel to one of the few rivers cutting through the village. For the past few weeks since his birthday, Naruto had taken to walking down this path catching the familiar sight of a lone dark-haired morose youth sitting on the small dock overlooking the river. Sasuke always seemed to be there without fail every evening with a far-away look on his face.

The Uchiha had caught Naruto's interest since his presence became more tolerable. Why was he always alone? Yeah, he was now an orphan like Naruto, but unlike the Uzumaki, people seemed to pity Sasuke. He was popular in school, and yet kept everyone at arm's length. The only time his aura would change was when the youth was preoccupied asserting his dominance over Naruto, much to the blonde's annoyance.

It pissed him off a bit that Sasuke seemed to express joy calling him a useless loser all the time, making him eat dirt, or just generally putting Naruto down in some way. It was like Sasuke had set his sights on making sure Naruto wasn't allowed to show him up or just simply be allowed to stop being the dead last of their class.

In another life, Naruto probably would have let Sasuke be, but having to personally experience the amount of pain the Uchiha was in every day at the academy was hard to ignore. Once he was able to look past the hate and anger all that was left was a painful sensation. It was as if someone had stabbed him in the heart with an ice-cold kunai, slowly twisting it.

Naruto didn't understand how Sasuke could tolerate the feeling every day, it was personally driving him insane. Coming to his decision Naruto made his way down to the dock until he stood behind the focus of his current contemplation.

"Go away Usuratonkachi, I'm not in the mood," Sasuke stated calmly, never taking his gaze from the calm waters. Naruto's brow twitched in irritation as he felt the impulse to kick the asshole off the dock. No, he was better than that, taking a breath the blonde slowly regained control of his temper. Iruka had been trying to teach him to not react to goading so much as it could be a danger once out in the field.

"Too bad Temē, I need to talk to you."

"Oh? And what could you have to say that would be worth listening to, eh Dobe?"

'Okay Temē, I tried to go about it the nice way, you have no one to blame but yourself, Asshole… Sorry, Iruka-Sensei!' Naruto thought as a sadistic grin crept up his whisker-marked face. In one swift motion, he planted his foot at the base of Sasuke's back, shoving the unsuspecting boy with gusto into the river. He was rewarded with a spluttering aghast Uchiha who had quickly surfaced and looked ready to murder.

"What the hell?! What's your problem Dobe?!" Sasuke shouted as he scrambled to grab the edge of the dock.

"As I said, Temē, I need to talk to you," Naruto answered calmly, leaning down, holding his hand out to help the now drenched boy back up onto the dock.

"And as I said, I'm not in the mood Usuratonkachi!" Sasuke growled, grabbing Naruto by the wrist and yanking him into the river, simultaneously succeeding in pulling himself back onto the deck in the same fluid motion.

Naruto yelped and was thankful that the temperatures were still mild so the river wasn't as cold as it could have been. Twisting around in the water he kicked back up to the surface. Sputtering as he wiped the water from his eyes, Naruto glared at Sasuke, all the while struggling to try to climb back up on the dock, which he found difficult, especially with his waterlogged clothes.

Sasuke watched him struggle for a few minutes, seeming to enjoy the torment he'd inflicted on the smaller boy. Finally, the Uchiha rolled his dark eyes, grabbing the back of Naruto's jacket, and using his momentum, swung Naruto back onto the deck falling on his rear in the process. Naruto for his part rolled around on the ground whining in muffled pain, holding his face that he had the bad luck of landing on. After taking a moment for both boys to regain their composure they sat across from each other sporting matching glares and looking like a pair of half-drowned cats.

"...Well? I don't have all day Dobe, spit it out," Sasuke demanded impatiently, earning a more intense frown from Naruto who furrowed his brow.

"...I heard what happened to your clan, Temē." The blonde explained calmly after swallowing down his rising temper. The dark-eyes boy could be insufferable on his best days and appeared even more so right now.

"So? What's that got to do with you?" Sasuke growled his presence sharply gaining some weight causing Naruto to fight the urge to fidget. This conversation was quickly becoming uncomfortable before it even started.

"Well... If you haven't noticed, you're not the only orphan in town, 'ttebayo. I'm kind of your senpai in that department." Naruto retorted with a rueful snort, flashing the slightly older boy a wry smile hoping to diffuse some of the tension, but remaining unsuccessful.

"And? You're point?" Sasuke hissed narrowing his eyes the loathsome feeling he gave off permeating the air like a thick, choking, invisible miasma.

The hair on the back of Naruto's neck stood on end, the socially inept boy knew he was now entering dangerous territory, but retained his resolve. Naruto had to at least attempt to reach out to his fellow orphan, rubbing the back of his neck in a self-soothing motion to steel his nerves before the nervous boy continued.

"W-well, I just thought... It must get pretty boring hanging out down here all the time, dattebayo. And, well… I thought you might be lonely with your family no longer arou-" Naruto's words were swiftly interrupted as he was knocked flat on his back, Sasuke sitting on his chest pinning Naruto's arms under his knees.

That was all the subdued boy was able to register before the first blow came down leaving him dazed. It surprised Naruto how much power Sasuke put into his punch. It wasn't something he imagined a normal eight-year-old to be capable of. Then again, Sasuke wasn't a normal child, there was a reason he had the top grades of their class every semester after all.

"What? You saw we had some things in common?" Sasuke snarled before landing the second blow, whipping Naruto's face to the side from the force. Grunting the blue-eyed boy's vision became obscured by a sudden onset of stars.

"You thought we could be friends or something?!" the larger boy roared, knocking Naruto's face into the opposite direction. Naruto grit his teeth quickly understanding where the situation was headed.

'I messed up, shimatta.'

"Let me spell something out for you Dobe. I'll even make it simple enough for your small brain to understand. I- Am- Nothing- Like- You! I- Do- Not- Want- To- Be- Your- Friend!"

Much to Naruto's chagrin, Sasuke was right. He really did spell it out simple. With each word, the blonde had been rewarded with another blow to his face. He wasn't sure if Sasuke was still speaking or just decided to continue to beat him mercilessly with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

All the while Naruto just took it, only expressing the occasional grunt as he endured the onslaught. After all, he had been the presumptuous one. Naruto found his loneliness to be personally unbearable. Creating bonds had been helping him, so he thought companionship could help the other tortured boy as well.

It hadn't been his intent, but at least it seemed Sasuke's feelings of anguish were being alleviated with each punch. If the objective was accomplished did the method matter? Naruto couldn't hear anything except a dull ringing now, and his vision was starting to get blurry. His peripherals darkened around the edges. The punches were starting to hurt less, was his face going numb?

'...I wonder if he's getting tired yet.'

Suddenly the beat down stopped as Sasuke was pulled off of Naruto. The battered boy couldn't make out the adult in the evening light, but he saw splashes of faded black and green, the Konohagakure standard shinobi fatigues. The newcomer was at the very least a chūnin, if not a jōnin.

"Mā... I think he's had enough. Don't you?" came a man's voice in a lazy playful tone over the incoherent angry ramblings of a still irate, partially shrieking, Sasuke.

'This guy's presence feels familiar…' Naruto thought sluggishly as he strained his eyes, willing them to focus, only catching a flash of silver, of what he assumed to be hair, before finally blacking out.

'...Naruto... it's too late, nothing you can say will change me! I'm going to kill you and every last person in your beloved village! It's time to make your choice! Kill me and become a hero, or die at my hand and become another one of my victims!'

Naruto found himself in pain, struggling to breathe. Everything was in shades of red, his chest hurt so much. He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth. What was that noise? It was like a thousand birds screaming.

Reaching up to find the source of his pain Naruto felt something warm and wet. Looking down he saw an object protruding from his rib cage where his heart should be. What was going on?! Was that someone's arm?! Was he going to die?! Naruto struggled to focus, trying to scream only to choke on more blood.

He heard someone's laugh, a dark demented sort of laugh. Looking up Naruto struggled to make out the face of his would-be executioner, only to start to fall into a body of water. All Naruto could see was varying shades of crimson, he couldn't move. He was going to drown! Naruto struggled to try to swim for the surface, he needed air!

Bolting up, Naruto found himself awake, breathing heavily, the nightmare still fresh on his mind. Frantically the panic-stricken boy checked his person to find he was still in one piece. Breathing out a sigh of relief Naruto flopped back down to look up ...at a ceiling?

The last the blonde remembered he'd been outside, and at the mercy of a very pissed Sasuke. Naruto shuddered, not wanting to experience anything like that anytime soon. Looking around the confused youth realized he was in his bedroom, but how did he get here?

"Oh? So, you're awake. That's a relief."

Naruto strained his neck to locate the source of the voice, finding a man he didn't recognize sitting at his chabudai, reading a book. Naruto wasn't sure if it was the familiar presence the man gave off or the repeated blows to his head, but strangely, the injured boy didn't feel alarmed seeing a stranger in his home. Never mind relaxing comfortably in Naruto's bedroom, as if he lived there. The man in question was dressed in classic faded black Konoha shinobi fatigues with a green flak vest signifying he was of chūnin rank or higher. Naruto couldn't see his face because of the book the man had been reading, but he spotted gravity-defying silver hair.

"Anou...who are you, Occhan?" Naruto asked sleepily with a hint of curiosity while attempting to sit up, only to be gently forced back down. The young boy blinked in surprise and confusion. Hadn't the old guy just been leisurely resting on the floor?

'So fast!'

"Mā, mā… You need to stay right where you are. Don't try to move just yet. You took quite a serious beating." The senior shinobi explained softly with a smile, or what Naruto assumed to be a smile from what little he could see of the adult's concealed face.

The strange man wore a skin-tight black face-covering that ended mid-way up the bridge of his nose and had obscured his left eye with a hitai-ate. With how close the man was, Naruto could get a better feel of his aura and scent. He seemed happy, a little sad, and had an undercurrent of… anger? He also smelled familiar for some reason, but Naruto couldn't place the scent anywhere off the top of his head. Not that he could think straight at the moment anyway.

With a defeated huff Naruto retook his position getting a bit more comfortable in his bed, glowering up at the strange man, "You know… You still haven't told me your name, Occhan! Dattebayo!" he loudly complained impatiently, before wincing as the motion caused pain to sear through his jaw.

Quickly Naruto snapped up his hands, grabbing his tenderly swollen face to find it concealed behind some bandages. As he took a moment to take notice of his current condition the gentle scent of an herbal compress reached his nose. It would seem the stranger had taken care of him while he was out. Upon this realization, Naruto slowly reopened his eyes to study the newcomer with surprise and gratitude.

"No... No, I haven't." The man responded with a chuckle, heading into the kitchen before soon returning to Naruto's side with a glass of water. The perplexing individual held the water out with what looked to be some medicine. "Here, take this. It'll help you feel better."

The bewildered boy nodded, taking the items into his hands then proceeding to carefully wash down the medicinal packet, assessing the throbbing pain in his jaw muscles, cheek, and jaw bone, around his eyes, basically his skull in general. Naruto didn't know why, the man seemed a bit more patient and easy-going than Iruka-Sensei, but instead of arguing the boy felt more compelled to follow the adult's instructions as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He felt like the mere thought of acting up was unthinkable. Naruto did however never take his eyes off the man, though more out of general curiosity than real caution.

Once the one-eyed shinobi was satisfied with Naruto's compliance he took the glass back, setting it on the nearby table before squatting down to eye level, his expression taking a more serious tone, "Now, do you mind telling me why you allowed that boy to hit you without ever lifting a finger? Why didn't you try to defend yourself?"

Naruto looked away guiltily. Normally he'd argue, or act up, to distract from being put on the spot, but oddly continued to behave. It didn't help that the man seemed so familiar that it was driving Naruto crazy, like grasping for a word on the tip of one's tongue. The injured youth could swear he knew this man but had never seen or heard anyone like him before.

"It was my fault, 'ttebayo. I said something carelessly. He felt better when hitting me, so why not let him?" Naruto remarked with a shrug, earning a strained look from the intriguing man.

"I see... and what would you have done if I hadn't stepped in?"

"I dunno, wait for Temē to get tired... or bored, I guess?" Naruto answered with another shrug. This earned the foolish boy a soft chuckle from his older guest, followed by an exasperated, long, drawn-out sigh.

"I see… So you honestly felt you deserved to be hit until he got tired, hm? Just what could you have said to deserve something so extreme?"

"I told him we were the same! -ttebayo! Then… Temē decided to teach me that I was mistaken..."

"Well, after his… lesson, do you find yourself agreeing with him?"

Naruto thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head, "No, we're both alone after school, with no one waiting for us at home. We're both orphans without any family around. We're both training to become shinobi-"

The stranger lifted his hand, signaling Naruto to stop, so he could have a chance to interject, "However, are you aware that there is a difference between starting with nothing, and having a chance to gain something, versus having something, only to end up having nothing?"

Naruto just stared at him blankly. No, he couldn't relate to that. For as long as Naruto could remember he never had anything like that in his life. No one was waiting for him to return home at night. No one was there to celebrate holidays with him. No one was usually there to provide care and comfort when he was sick or in pain. For most of Naruto's short life, he'd been denied basic human contact and interactions. At least, until this past year, it was hard at the start, but people were slowly opening up to him. Was Sasuke's pain that different from his? Was trying to be Sasuke's friend a mistake?

"That other boy, Sasuke, he's in the process of grieving."

"Grieving? What's that?"

"Hm… Imagine if Ichiraku's suddenly closed and would never open again."

"What?! No way! That'll never happen, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed following up with a small whine of pain that shifted into a whimper, massaging his throbbing jaw gingerly as he waited for the sensation to pass.

"...You never know. Now, imagine that feeling of losing something so important in your life that you can't think of living without it, but the pain is a hundred times worse." The silver-haired man explained giving Naruto a pointed look to drive the point home.

The injured boy reflected on the scenario for a moment looking down as he mulled over the stranger's words, awkwardly playing with the blanket resting across his lap. Naruto tried to imagine losing the few precious people that had become a crucial part of his life. Awkwardly giving the lecturing adult a sideways glance, throughout his lesson, the man's presence had never changed. He exuded a consistent level of sadness that the young sense continued to find vaguely familiar. Maybe it was that feeling that caused the child to remain for the most part contemplative and respectful?

"Is... is it like that feeling in your chest that never seems to go away?" Naruto finally asked, quietly pointing towards the man's heart, earning a hesitant nod from the masked shinobi. Naruto hummed in thought looking up at the ceiling.

"So that's what that feeling was… Will he be like that forever?"

"No, however, everyone handles grief differently, and some take longer to heal than others. Some never recover at all. It's a very complicated thing."

"Is there a way to make him better?"

"Only time will tell. Until then, try to give him some space. You may want to volunteer as his punching bag, but that won't help either of you in the long run."

"...So, Occhan, you gonna tell me your name yet?" Naruto asked after a pause with a yawn, feeling a bit drowsy as the medicine started taking effect.

"Not today." Was the only reply Naruto received as the shinobi returned to the kitchen, the now groggy child turned his head to watch the adult leave with a mixture of curiosity and irritation, soon after the man returned with a steaming bowl of something.

The tall lanky man sat down on the edge of the bed, being careful not to sit on the small boy. From his position, Naruto was able to look down into the bowl, its mystery contents seemed to be some type of rice porridge.

"Here, you're too banged up to eat your usual dinner choice. Careful, it might still be a little hot. "The stubbornly anonymous man warned, patiently waiting for Naruto to resituate himself to eat his meal.

The duo sat in silence as Naruto hesitantly sipped the brothy substance, nursing his aching jaw. The blonde hoped he healed enough overnight. Naruto didn't want to admit it, but the stranger had made a point with his shared wisdom earlier. What was he going to do if it continued to hurt too much to eat? It's not like he usually had anyone over to cook for him. It appeared this year was just full of life lessons being learned in the hard and often painful way.

After Naruto finished his meal the mystery man took his bowl to the kitchen while the boy made himself more comfortable in his bed. He tried to fight off the drowsiness but soon lost the battle entering into a dreamless slumber. Naruto was so out of it he didn't even stir he was tucked in more securely.

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head as he closed Naruto's bedroom door. It had taken all the self-control the jōnin could muster not to harm the Uchiha brat. How dare he do that to his sensei's son?! If Naruto didn't possess an accelerated healing factor Kakashi would most likely have given in to his impulses.

The now ex-ANBU was still shaking with anger remembering the sight of Naruto's bruised and bloodied face. The Hokage for his part disappointed Kakashi, choosing to only give Sasuke a slap on the wrist for the assault, his reasoning? Of course, Naruto's healing factor, and the petulant brat's grief surrounding the loss of his clan.

The jōnin knew he couldn't retaliate, what concerned him even more so was that Naruto allowed himself to be beaten so harshly. Was Minato's son so desperate for companionship that he'd subject himself to mistreatment? Kakashi remembered the last incident he helped rescue Naruto from, involving some kid named Hibachi according to Iruka. Hadn't his former subordinate informed him that Naruto was making normal friends now?

Kakashi would need to have some words with Iruka. He'd be damned if his sensei's legacy became the village whipping post. It was one thing to be irrationally neglectful, quite another to go after the boy with the intent of physical harm. However, a small part of Kakashi was grateful that at least the kyūbi hadn't felt compelled to intervene. It would be difficult to protect Naruto from the village's ire if he inadvertently killed another child.

There was also the concerning news of Naruto's sensor abilities. From what little the Hokage and Iruka divulged, Naruto was able to sense others' emotions, maybe even individual chakra signatures. It was as if he inherited a balanced blend of his parents' abilities. Granted, they weren't fine-tuned just yet. Naruto was after all still a naive, innocent, and adorable cadet. Iruka was trying his best to prepare Naruto for the life of a shinobi, but Kakashi could already predict some issues that would require a more deft hand.

Glancing back at the doorway leading to the broken shinobi's last semblance of a family, he gripped his shaking fists to quell his rising anger once more. Dog bites caused by ninken weren't easy to track back to their owners were they? Kakashi would have to discuss it with Pakkun. With that last thought in mind, the silver-haired shinobi quickly cleaned up his young charge's kitchen, exiting the apartment while absently formulating his plan. Kakashi was after all a very patient man.

The next morning Naruto awoke to feel his pain greatly reduced. Hesitantly, he manipulated his jaw, relieved to find it didn't hurt anymore. The young Uzumaki let out a happy sigh thanking his ancestors for the healing factor he'd inherited before heading to the bathroom to inspect the leftover damage. After the sun-kissed blonde removed the badges and washed away remnants of his herbal compress all that was left was a pair of already fading black eyes.

Naruto wasn't too concerned, from previous experience he knew they'd be back to normal before lunchtime, if not sooner. Grinning cheekily he went to work preparing for school, getting himself breakfast before heading out the door.

Once in class, Naruto ignored the side-glances he got from his classmates quickly heading up the steps to his seat where a concerned Hinata watched him with shock and worry.

"N-Naruto-Kun! A-anou, what happened to you?!" She asked fretfully, earning a nonchalant shrug from Naruto.

"Eh, I had a disagreement with Sasuke yesterday."

"O-oh… I-if you don't mind, what kind of d-disagreement?"

And so Naruto explained to Hinata what had happened. Albeit, glossing over some details, such as how badly Sasuke had actually beaten him, having to be rescued from the said beatdown, and his sensor abilities. Throughout his story, Hinata seemed pensive, yet completely tuned in to his words.

"...And so, that's what happened. What do you think, Hinata-Chan?" Naruto asked watching her dig into her bag to pull out a small jar that she then passed to him.

"H-here Naruto-Kun, this cream should help to reduce the swelling. It's my clan's special healing ointment." She offered. Naruto nodded in understanding and appreciation as he unsecured the lid to begin applying the mixture to his face.

"As for w-what I think. A-anou, I think I can understand both N-Naruto-Kun's intent and Sasuke-san's feelings. A-at least a little. N-Naruto-Kun was just trying to help someone you saw in pain. As for Sasuke-San, grief can make people do strange things." Hinata paused shuffling nervously before noticing Naruto was finished with her ointment so she returned it to her pack.

"F-for instance, I'm currently the heiress to the Hyūga Clan. Just after my third birthday, I had been k-kidnapped by a ninja from Kumo. As a result, my uncle was k-killed. Since then my f-father has been more strict in my training, a-and my cousin, in his g-grief, has blamed me for the incident ever since."

Naruto watched her in awestruck silence. It was rare for Hinata to mention her family life, at all, but to share something so personal and tragic just ate at the boy. He could tell through her story how much it hurt her to bring up the memories, let alone speak about her strained familial relationships. Without really thinking about it he leaned forward embracing Hinata in a firm hug earning him a startled gasp in surprise from the shy girl.

"N-Naruto-Kun?!"

After a short pause, Naruto let go of the now red-faced Hinata, flashing a bright and cocky smile, "I think I understand better! -ttebayo! Thanks, Hinata-Chan. Though, I guess if you're some sort of heiress maybe I should be calling you Hime-Sama?" He snickered playfully, enjoying how her blush seemed to bloom and darken, turning almost purple before Hinata proceeded to slump in her seat having fainted.

"Eh? Hinata-Chan?!" Naruto cried out in surprise and shock.

'Oh Kami! Shimatta! I killed her!'

Several weeks had passed since Naruto's confrontation with Sasuke. At school, he gave the Uchiha a wide berth unless they were partnered for joint exercises. After school, Naruto no longer saw the dark-haired boy sitting despondently at the dock in the evenings, but he wasn't sure if the change in the seasons was more to blame than anything else. Naruto had heard a rumor that shortly before winter the Uchiha had been attacked by a feral dog or something.

As it were, both boys seemed to have an unspoken agreement, pretending the incident never occurred, and none were the wiser. Naruto had been considering giving the other boy a Rinne present in the form of a prank before their week-long break. However, that could wait. Currently, the Rinne Festival itself was at the forefront of Naruto's mind, or at least what followed it, Hinata's birthday.

Ever since Hinata had gone out of her way to get Naruto such a thoughtful gift for his birthday he was hell-bent on paying her back. Iruka had told him when her birthday took place, and Naruto had been agonizing over ideas ever since. He didn't have much money, so the orphan couldn't get a gift as awesome as the one Hinata had gotten him. Naruto hoped that by cutting back on meals at Ichiraku's, except when Iruka-Sensei treated him of course, he'd be able to scrounge some funds for something.

The fretting boy's second issue was what to get her. It wasn't like Hinata needed anything. She came from an esteemed family. He didn't want to get her flowers again since all the wild ones were dormant during this time of year, and it was too embarrassing to go buy some from the Yamanaka's store, especially with how nosy Ino could be.

Naruto was at a loss. He thrashed about in his bed, voicing out his frustrations with a yell before looking at his clock. It was late. He needed to get some sleep. The subdued boy crawled underneath the covers, hugging his pillow close to his body, slowly starting to drift to sleep.

'Wait… That's it!'

Attempting to jump out of bed, Naruto ended up tangled in his bedding face-planting on the hard floor. He remained undeterred, scrambling upright, switching the light on then grabbing a pencil and some paper, making some rough sketches so he wouldn't forget his idea in the morning. Once Naruto was satisfied he clambered back into bed to drift happily to sleep.

'...Heh, don't say I never helped you with anything Kit…'

Over the next two weeks, Naruto worked meticulously on the secret gift. He'd managed to acquire scrap materials at the local craft store for a discount. Of course, Naruto found that his henge had come in handy for these excursions. It had become a good training exercise.

On the final day before they'd be released for the week of the festival, Naruto examined the following touches on his creations. He couldn't place the inspiration for the initial choice but was still proud of what he accomplished. Naruto managed to create two plush spheres decorated with features and attributes to make any girl squeal with delight, or at least that was the reaction he was aiming for.

The first was a smiling light orange fox with whisker marks, reminiscent of his own, and reddish-orange accents. The second was a blue almost black rabbit with a sleepy face sewn using shimmery silver thread to pop against the dark fabric. On the bottom of both, Naruto had sewn matching Uzumaki swirl clan patches. The fox received the classic red, while the rabbit possessed the less common, more formal, white. Naruto didn't know why he felt like adding his clan insignia, but at the time thought it seemed right.

Inspecting the plush creatures one last time, Naruto nodded in satisfaction, deciding to grab the strange scroll Iruka helped him obtain. Since Naruto didn't have the money to afford something like that Iruka worked out a deal with him, where he'd promise to show up to class consistently, at least for the rest of the year. It was a small sacrifice to pay, Iruka even let him get a similarly designed scroll to the one Hinata had given him for his birthday, though this one was lined with lavender and paired with a gold cord.

Carefully Naruto put the gifts in place, adding his handwritten card. Reading over the instructions Iruka had written him once more, he proceeded to seal the items. After finishing, the giddy boy put the scroll in his bag and got ready to leave for school.

Since his scarf had gotten ruined the previous winter the Sandaime gave Naruto his New Year bonus early, allowing the boy to get a proper coat. It was cool too. It was his favorite shade of orange, blue across the shoulders and waistband, with a broad creamy white collar. Naruto made sure to buy it a little bigger than his current size so that he'd have room to grow into it. He wanted to keep the jacket as long as possible. Naruto was planning to add some custom touches, but so far all he managed to add was the default red Uzumaki clan patch on the back.

Once Naruto was properly dressed he hurried out into the winter weather racing to school. After he was situated in the classroom he fidgeted restlessly with barely contained excitement. Would Hinata enjoy his gift? Would she find it too girly for a boy to make such things? Would she think he was weird? Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by the subject herself taking a seat next to him.

"Hehe... Good morning, Hinata-Chan!" the giddy boy greeted in a sing-song voice. The girl in turn blushed, returning the greeting with a soft murmur.

Quickly glancing around the room to make sure they didn't have a gawking audience, Naruto stealthily pulled out the scroll. Looking away innocently, he handed it to the now taken aback Hinata.

"F-for your birthday. Since, well you know…" Naruto trailed off with a blush, becoming shy from the situation himself. After he felt Hinata lift the scroll from his outstretched hand Naruto stole a glance over to the heiress.

She was blushing but held a small delicate smile on her face. Naruto had felt the warmth from her aura so much that he had grown accustomed to it, but the actual smile was still a rarity expressed by the shy girl. He was awestruck and made a promise to himself to try to earn that smile more often.

"Th-Thank you, Naruto-Kun…You shouldn't have."

"Hehe, it was no trouble, Hinata-Chan!" Naruto proclaimed with a broad toothy grin as he kicked back in his seat, "I hope you enjoy it, I worked really hard. I heard homemade gifts make the best gifts, dattebayo!"

"If Naruto-Kun made it, I'm sure it will be perfect…" Hinata mumbled quietly, hugging the scroll close to herself. Naruto watched her as his face felt more heated, he wasn't sure if she meant to say that out loud or more to herself. It gave him a tingly feeling in his chest and made him feel a little light-headed. After a long pause, Naruto scratched the back of his head, nodding awkwardly. The rest of their morning was spent in comfortable silence. Naruto decided that day that it was indeed worth it to be in class more consistently. At least if it meant he got more time with Hinata, that is.

As winter turned into spring the young ninja-in-training continued their time at the academy. Naruto found himself enjoying his time with Hinata every day, especially the mornings, where they could catch up with each other. They rarely socialized with each other during lunch, and never saw each other outside of class. Naruto had attempted, but Hinata's caretaker, Kō, would always just pull her along, admonishing her for associating with, as he put it, 'That delinquent Uzumaki', it was a rather polite way to refer to Naruto, all things considered. All in all their mornings were a precious time for the energetic boy.

After school, Naruto's extra lessons with Iruka-Sensei continued. He was now able to recognize basic emotions easily, and even some of the more complex ones. Naruto still struggled with the bookwork aspect of the training but was determined to push himself.

Unfortunately, he still wasn't able to figure out how to turn off the ability. So, instead, Naruto had been practicing the skill of separating the emotions from himself. This made it easier to focus. Naruto even found an additional use for the newly acquired skill, separating his own emotions when his classmates or the villagers were being particularly hurtful. It was easier to smile when he was able to lock the bad thoughts away and move on with the rest of his day.

Oddly, Hinata still always seemed to be able to tell when something was off with him. Sometimes he'd feel guilty when she seemed to be sad when Naruto was forcing a smile, or when he chose to laugh along when others made fun of him. Naruto hoped that she'd understand where he was coming from at some point, but didn't hold it against her. It just made things simple for Naruto to smile and laugh instead of being angry or sad. It also made it easier for others to approach him, even if it was just to laugh at his expense.

Since Naruto was spending a lot more time being prioritized by Iruka, and getting help with Hinata in the classroom his grades improved slightly. Granted, he was still 'Dead Last', since as soon as his fellow students caught wind of his improvements they started to apply themselves more, even Shikamaru!

Naruto still held a failing grade in Genjutsu and found he still couldn't create a Bunshin. At least he could consistently keep it the same size and shape, but as the Nara heir described it, the poor clone always looked like it had been fried. Even with his additional chakra control exercises, Naruto was still overloading the jutsu. The conundrum kept his grade low in Ninjutsu, but at least Naruto wasn't completely failing that subject anymore.

Naruto's best improvements had been in Cooperation and Classroom attitude. Even with him still acting up when paired with Sasuke, invoking retribution from the female portion of the class. The guys simply looked at him with indifference, but some were slowly warming up to his antics and pranks. Well, most of the guys except Sasuke. The jerk still passively went out of his way to put Naruto down at any given opportunity, throw insults his way, or blatantly ignoring him. It was Sasuke after all who got his title of 'Dead Last', or 'Dobe', to stick, something Naruto vehemently hated him for.

Naruto was happy Hinata didn't decide to become one of his fangirls. They just seemed to get worse with every passing year. Especially Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, those two girls were the worst. Sure, they were pretty, but they were also violent, mean, loud, and scary. Sakura in particular was always quick to throw punches if she felt irritated by Naruto's antics. The pink-haired kijo didn't see the humor in Naruto's pranks. It wasn't his fault she always just so happened to be within close vicinity of his primary target at the academy, or that she usually became the unintended victim of said pranks.

By the time Naruto's ninth birthday rolled around, the year had become mostly routine, becoming much less turbulent than the previous year. Unfortunately, it became harder during semester breaks. Fortunately, however, Iruka took notice of Naruto's anxiety around this time of the year, making an effort to randomly show up at the boy's home. Sometimes to take him out to Ichiraku's, or just checking in to make sure he wasn't falling behind on his studies and training.

Naruto of course answered one time by showing off the improvements he made with his Oiroke no Jutsu with hilarious results. The mischievous youth had been able to make vast improvements to the distraction-aimed jutsu after he was able to produce a passable henge, sneaking into the women's side of the hot spring to study the kunoichi for reference. Naruto was careful not to do this too often though, because the women tended to beat him mercilessly the few times his disguise broke, or when a particularly skilled kunoichi noticed his henge. The Uzumaki brat remembered one particularly painful experience with a stern older woman that left him black and blue for a whole day.

Naruto's pranks had also vastly improved, aiding his ability to avoid capture. On a good day, he was able to outmaneuver even the odd ANBU. Iruka-Sensei was always able to get him though, much to Naruto's frustration. He was going to figure out the man's secrets one day! Until then it was just fun making him faint and calling him 'Hanaji-Sensei'.

Naruto was quickly making a name for himself in the village, forcing his existence to be somewhat acknowledged, even if it was for less than positive reasons. He could live with that for the time being. Naruto would worry about his reputation later, for now, he was enjoying his fun.

Author Note: Yes, so many important divergences in this chapter. Our poor socially awkward Naruto tried his best, unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't amused. I think my favorite part of writing this chapter was having Kakashi troll Naruto. I apologize to any Sasuke/Sakura-Fans! There will not be any true Sasuke or Sakura bashing, but their roles will diverge from Canon.

As a side note, I wanted to let some of my readers understand that some of the words I use sound, and are spelled in romaji the same as other Japanese words that may have a different meaning. This is due to the limitation of the modern Latin/western alphabet, we use letters only in a phonetic sense. In Japanese, they generally use Kanji to represent words and convey ideas. A single Kanji can have multiple meanings depending on the context it is used. When I list my keywords, the definitions I describe are the intent of how I am using the word. I'll explain the differences between Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana in a future chapter.

Keywords:

Dobe - Dunce, Idiot, Dead Last (on a test), Dumbass

Senpai - More experienced superior, such as an upperclassman. The opposite in that relationship dynamic would be a Kohai.

Mā - Now now, Come now, Well Well, Hey now (It has many meanings, this is the context I'm using it)

Chabudai - Short-legged table meant to be sat at by multiple people. Not to be mistaken for a Kotatsu which is a short table combined with a futon or blanket, and a hidden heat source, traditionally used during winter.

Jōnin - High Ninja, Elite Ninja, Top-Level Ninja

Ninken - Ninja Dogs

Rinne - Reincarnation, from the Buddist Samsara dealing with the Cycle of Death and Rebirth

Rinne Festival - A Holiday in the Naruto Universe that mirrors Christmas. Pretty much your run-of-the-mill holiday to give loved ones presents and enjoy the winter season. (Referenced from "The Last: Naruto the Movie")

Kijo - Female Oni, can also be called Hannya, which are a more specific type of Kijo seen portrayed in Noh theatre

Hanaji - Nosebleed, in this case referring to the anime/manga trope of getting a nosebleed when stimulated/aroused.