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

"Is it true you are leaving the village?"

That was the first question Sasuke asked her when she finished unpacking her stuff. If it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke was right beside Hinata-chan, then she would have sit beside Hinata but her friend just had to corner her int o sitting beside him. Not that she had a huge problem with sitting beside him because he was her friend.

Although, his admirers glared at her for taking the seat beside him before they could even snatch the seat beside him. It should be a free seating arrangement.Naruto shook her head and flickered her eyes to the black-haired boy, whose eyes was still locked onto her. A scowl played on his lips and she lowered her head.

"I don't know," she admitted, cracking her knuckles. "Uncle Kenji hasn't told me if I'm going to leave Konoha."

He talked about them being a family and how they didn't leave each other behind. For him not to leave her behind, would either mean he and his family would stay here in the village or she would have to go to where they lived. Between those two options, well it would be nicer if she went to their home because maybe things would be different.

Though it would mean leaving Sasuke and Hinata, and that was not something she wanted to do either. They were her first friends, her first real friends in the village, and leaving them would be difficult for her. But I don't want to be alone either.For the first time in her life, there wasn't that constant hollowness in her heart.

"Do you want to move?" he asked quietly. There was a strange tone in his question, a tone that she could not put a name to because it was unfamiliar to her. Sasuke stared at her for the longest time, black eyes completely blank and Naruto forced herself to look away from him. She leaned her whole body forward and locked her eyes with Hinata.

The Hyuga Heiress had a tiny frown playing on her lips but her eyes weren't locked onto her. No, her eyes seemed lock onto Sasuke and there was a subtle understanding in her friend's eyes. Is there something that I'm missing? Tilting her head to the side, Naruto glanced at her best friend before looking at the other girls in the classroom.

Every single one of them glared at her and Naruto looked away from them.

"Uncle Kenji is family," she replied, rubbing her knuckles. "And he might be my only chance of experiencing a family life."

A strange emotion crossed her friend's expression, but he didn't make any comment. Naruto scratched her neck, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she looked down at her notebook. If it came between living in this place by herself or to live in a new place without any family then the decision was easy for her to make.

She didn't want to be alone in that apartment, not when she finally felt that warmth that she had always been dreaming of.

"You are apart of my family as well," Sasuke said evenly, turning his head away from her. Naruto smiled when she saw the corner of his lips turning down into a scowl. It was good to know that he had this belief about her relationship with his family. "You can't just leave m…my family and go with that man."

The scowl on his face deepened and Naruto stared at him for the longest time. That scowl was his annoyed scowl, the scowl he would give whenever she decided to be petty and not save him from his admirers. Except he wasn't annoyed with her for not saving him, but he was annoyed with her for actually considering the idea of leaving the village.

There was a tightened sensation around her throat, and Naruto curled her hands into a fist. It was so damn annoying that her best-friend would react like this. He should be happy for her. Something burned from behind her eyes, her throat clogged up even more, and she furiously rubbed her eyes before clearing her throat.

"Why can't I just leave?" she hissed, glaring at him. "You always had your family, didn't you? Why can't I experience having a family? Every day, you go back home to be greeted by Aunt Mikoto and Uncle Fugaku! I go back home to an empty apartment with no one greeting me, so why can't I have the chance of experiencing these things, Sasuke?"

She wanted to cry so badly because why couldn't he understand? She spent a whole two years living in that apartment by herself. For the past couple of years, she was forced to raise herself. Naruto took a deep breath, rubbed her eyes and sunk even deeper into her seat. It was just so stupid of her to be upset because she had already made her decision.

If Uncle Kenji wanted her to come with him then she was going to go with him.

"Naruto, it isn't that I don't want you to experience it, but I just don't want…"

The older boy trailed off and Naruto turned her head to look at her friend. Minutes passed and still her best friend did not finish his sentence, instead he shook his head at her. What don't you want then? This was Sasuke's problem. He would say something but not finished his sentence, allowing her to overthink of what he wanted from her.

I want to experience what he has.

That was the problem of being the only orphan in their friendship group because her best friend could never understand her desire to be apart of a family. Not that she wanted him to experience her pain, she didn't want that on anyone but it would be nice if he saw things through her lens. It would be nice if he just understood her desires and needs; if he knew just how hollow she felt when she was alone.

But he would never know.

There was a loud bang against the wall. Naruto jumped and turned her head around as the door flew opened to reveal a grim-faced Iruka walking straight through the door. He had a scowl on his face and there was irritation in his eyes. An irritation that was for the first time, not being directed towards her.

It was for the first time in her life, directed at Ami.

"Ami! Naruto! Both of you are going to the Principal's office," Iruka declared, closing the door behind him. Whispers broke out and several eyes looked at Ami with confusion before shifting their gaze at her. "Both of your guardians are waiting for you in the office."

Ami frowned and clenched her hands into a fist. "Why am I going to the office? Why did you call my parents in? I did nothing wrong."

Several people bobbed their heads in agreement. Naruto narrowed her eyes at her classmate, palm curled into a fist but she made no attempt in hurling her fist at the girl. Instead, she inhaled and glanced at Hinata. From her seat, her friend raised her hand and she knew that her best friend wanted to destroy the girl for her comment.

Sasuke must have sensed something was wrong because he scribbled something down on his note and handed the note to her friend. Hinata skimmed read through the note before tilting her head up. It seems like Sasuke must have written something to annoy her. They were her best friends but unfortunately, her two best-friends barely tolerated each other.

"Nothing wrong?" Iruka-sensei repeated, drawing Naruto's attention back on him. He had a funny look on his face. No, it wasn't a funny look but he had his furious expression on. The redness of his cheeks told her that he was furious. "Ami, I was informed by both Sasuke's Mother and Naruto's Aunt that you told Naruto that her parents abandoned her!"

Ami froze and swirled her head at Sasuke. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and did not look one bit bothered when their female classmate shot him a betrayed look. Delusional, I think that is the right word used to describe her behavior. Aunt Mikoto said that word once when she described one of her former classmates.

"So?" the girl cried, looking completely baffled. "Everyone knows that her parents abandoned her!"

'I know what she did was wrong and while I love the fact that you pummeled her, you need to use words because no one is going to believe the person that hits first.'

Kenji's words echoed in her ears and Naruto took several deep breaths. Her fingers itched to scratch the girl for her comment but she was going to control herself. She was going to be a good person and not scratch the girl for saying those words to her. What Ami said was not the truth because Kenji told her that her parents didn't abandon her.

"We do not say those things to your classmate especially when they are orphans," Iruka said quietly with a tone that screamed of irritation. Naruto stared at her teacher with blank eyes, never allowed it to show any emotion when the man directed his eyes at her. He had a strange look on his face. "And just for that you will be having a month of detention while the others, except for Sasuke, will have two weeks."

Protests erupted from the classroom. Several students stood up from their seats, not looking one bit happy for what happened, and Naruto tilted her head. Why were the others being punished? As far as she knew, none of them had done anything to deserve being punished. Well except for allowing Ami to say those hurtful words but Iruka-sensei wouldn't go that far.

"W-Why are we being punished?" Sakura asked from right behind her. Naruto turned to look at her pink-haired classmate, who trembled just a little bit before shifting closer to Ino. The two girls looked at her as if they hoped that she could explain what the hell was happening but she could only knit her eyebrows together.

It was just as baffling for her as it was for them.

Iruka exhaled and looked at them with heavy eyes. "None of you came forward to tell the truth about what happened between Ami and Naruto, Sakura and I'm very disappointed in all of you for allowing Ami to say these things to your classmate."

No one said a word. Not a single one of them tried to give excuses for what happened and Naruto could only stare at her teacher, who still couldn't look her in the eye. Why didn't you help me earlier? Why do you have to wait till I have family?The words wanted to come out but she chose to swallow it down and move away from her seat.

There was no need for her to question things because Iruka-sensei proved what she had always known.

As long as she had a living clan to back her up, he could not turn a blind eye against her.

"Did you really have to say those things to her, Sasuke-kun?"

Hinata kept her expression completely blank despite the urge for her to flinch when Sasuke directed his black eyes at her. It wasn't that the boy terrified her because he had always been civil towards her. However, her heart would always tremble with nerves because she didn't enjoy having his gaze or any of his attention on her.

She took several deep breaths, relaxed her shoulders and let the disapproval to seep out of her eyes. Sasuke grunted, looked away from her and the Hyuga Heiress exhaled before flinching at the sight of several furious eyes being directed at her. How did Naruto-chan handle these girls' glares like it was nothing? She wasn't even that close to Sasuke and they looked at her like she was the enemy.

"Do you want her to leave, Hinata?" Sasuke asked, keeping his eyes focused on the window. Hinata blinked and thinned her lips while the boy rubbed his own knuckles. "We all know that without Naruto, you and me don't have any other friends."

It was not from a lack of trying if you asked her. Most of the girls were creeped out by her eyes, always teased her about how creepy her eyes were…but Naruto-chan was different. The girl saved her from their seniors, held her hand out and complimented her for her eyes. For the first time in her life, she found someone that accepted her.

Now her best-friend might move away and that knowledge was enough to make her heart ache.

She wanted to weep and plead for Naruto to stay here with her but…

"I don't want her to leave but I also want her to be happy too, Sasuke-kun," she admitted. "We both know that Naruto isn't happy here, especially not since Ami decided to snatch her homework and pretend that it was her work."

Sasuke scowled, tightened his jaw and glared at the door. Hinata sighed and shook her head, swallowing down the urge to sigh and pat the older boy on the back. It was so understandable why her male classmate was furious at the reminder because he told their teacher that Ami lied, but the man decided to ignore Sasuke and chose instead to believe the lie that Ami gave.

"It won't be the same without her," the boy commented with a quiet tone. You mean you can't watch her from a distance and pretend that you don't have a crush on her. Those words threatened to come out of her mouth but the sight of the girls watching her with hawk-like eyes, was enough for her to swallow down her comment.

The rumors about Sasuke's crush on Naruto was still going strong and if she just made that comment, then her best friend was going to get into a lot of trouble. The main reason that Ami kept picking on the whiskered girl was because of the attention that the boy showered on the blonde. If the rumors became a confirmed fact then Naruto's last days would be difficult.

There was only one thing she could say.

"You're more afraid of the idea that someone will swoop in and snatch her away from you," she whispered, keeping her gaze on the black-haired boy beside her. "You think she will go over to that place and will never want to come back here, or if she does come back…then it is too late for you."

Sasuke made a disgruntled noise and stared at her like he could not believe she would come to that conclusion. But why wouldn't she come to that conclusion? It had always been clear to her about who held his heart. From their very first day of school, she had seen just how much his eyes were drawn to the golden-haired girl that was their mutual friend.

Only a dense person or a person in denial would not want to acknowledge this fact.

"How did you—"

"—I have always known," she admitted reluctantly, poking her fingers together. She felt heat flooding her cheeks when she saw Kiba glancing at them with curious eyes and with great unwillingness, she forced herself to look the other way. "It is difficult not to notice it, not when you always try to monopolize her time."

The boy didn't dare deny the fact that he wanted most of Naruto's time. Why would he? She knew for Sasuke that Naruto was special because she never saw him as anything but a person. The same couldn't be said by the other students. All the other students had always seen the boy as nothing but a target to obtain, a target that they couldn't surpass and it was wrong.

After a couple of minutes, Sasuke cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter anymore, now that she is leaving the village."

It still matter because Naruto might look at him. Her best friend would probably be flattered, maybe even happy at the knowledge that the boy had feelings for her but it was a long shot. Right now, the blond-haired girl was just focused on becoming a strong kunoichi. She also would have no understanding on why the boy would like her in that way.

Her best friend was smart in many areas but she was dense when it came to feelings.

She exhaled and smoothed her jacket. "If you ever want her to consider you as a choice in the future then you need to support her through all of her decisions, even if you don't like her decision. You…have to let her know that her happiness means more to you than anything in the world."

Because it should mean more to him then his own personal feelings. Hinata straightened her back, locked her eyes on the board, and listened quietly to the whispers of their classmates. Most of them seemed to be whispering about the shift in Iruka-sensei's behavior while a couple of the students talked about how it was time that Iruka-sensei talked about Ami's attitude.

"We couldn't go to Iruka-sensei about her behavior towards us because Naruto is like us," one of the boys whispered from behind her. Hinata did not need to turn around to know which one of the boys were talking about, because she knew that it was one of Naruto's fellow orphans. That would be the only connection to what that boy had with Naruto.

Other than that single connection, none of the boys had any connection with her best friend.

"You think I don't know that, Hyuga?" Sasuke barked, eyes flaring up with irritation, and Hinata jerked her head at the boy. He took several deep breaths and balled his hands into a fist before locking his eyes on her. "I want her to be happy and if going with her Uncle will make her happy then I'll support her but…"

He trailed off, looked almost pained to finish his sentence and Hinata shook her head. Typical Uchiha behavior. Despite being exposed to Naruto's behavior, the boy still had not learnt the importance of vocalizing all of his thoughts to them. The boy always seemed to forget that neither her nor Naruto could read his thoughts.

She could guess but the best person to pinpoint his thoughts had always been Naruto.

"I don't know what you want to say but we will see Naruto-chan again even if she doesn't live here," Hinata declared, kept her tone light and looked straight to the window. The mere idea of these few days being the last time she would ever see the blond-haired girl was just impossible in her mind. She wasn't going to allowthis to be their last meeting, not when Naruto was her only friend. "And when that time comes, then you can tell her your feelings."

Sasuke snorted and looked at the board with bitter eyes. "Tell her? By that time, some guy is going to sweep her off by her feet."

There was no need for her to try and reassure him, not when a sense of understanding crept into her. She wanted to snort and tell him that he could have done a better job of displaying his feelings but she kept it to herself. The boy still had time to tell her, still had a lot of time before that could happen but he would be in a disadvantage.

It probably would not help that anyone with a sense of understanding and brains, could see how much Naruto would grow when they became adults.

"You are really certain that someone might sweep her off by her feet," Hinata observed, shaking her head.

Sasuke nodded.

"Anyone with a brain can see that they should grab Naruto before someone else tries to take her away."

Hinata knew very well that the boy was sincere in his belief that Naruto would find someone else before they saw each other again. Not just because of how angelic and warm Naruto could be, but because of just how easy their friend made it to love her. Of course, it could be so many years before her best friend would find another person.

Still there was no need to mention that little fact to him.

"I called your parents in because it came to my attention that you decided to bully Naruto."

Naruto stared at the balding Principal before flickering her eyes to Kenji and his wife. When Iruka-sensei told her that the Principal wanted to see the both of them, this was not what she expected to hear. A demand for her to be the one to apologize was what she expected to happen but this was definitely not what she expected.

If the slacked jaw of Ami told her anything then it was the fact that she hadn't been expecting for this to happen. Not so nice being in the receiving end. The urge to smile was great but she kept her expression completely blank. A smile right now would get her glare from Ami's mother, who looked offended at the fact that Ami had to apologize.

The father, on the other hand, looked mildly disturbed at what had been said.

"Excuse me but who are these foreign people?" Ami's mother demanded. Her eyes narrowed at her Uncle and flickered to her quiet Aunt before looking at her. The desire to crawl under the table and to never come out was great but Naruto straightened her back. There was absolutely no chance in hell that she was going to let those cold eyes win.

Kenji cleared his throat and stood up from his seat. Bowing his head down, the man lifted his head and offered a thin smile to Ami's mother and father. "My name is Uzumaki Kenji and this is my wife, Kumiko. As for who I am, I'm Naruto's Uncle as well as the Head of the Uzumaki Clan."

Pride flashed through those hazel eyes and it made Naruto stare at her Uncle with wonder. How could he have so much pride? Their clan was powerful as Kenji explained to her, Akane and Kiko last night. It was a clan that had help the First Hokage to build this village but she had never seen it as something as they should utter with pride.

Not once did the Academy mention how important her clan had been to this place.

"U-Uzumaki clan?" Ami's father stuttered, quivering as if that name brought a sense of horror to him. He cleared his throat, tugged on his collar and stared at Kenji with wide eyes. "Are you related to Uzumaki Kushina? She was my classmate in school and I remembered that she was the granddaughter of the previous head."

You knew my mother? It was hard to believe and judging from the way Kenji eyed the man, he didn't believe it either. Naruto glanced at her Aunt, head tilted to the side while she waited for the woman to vocalize her opinion. The woman always had an opinion and unlike Kenji, the woman always seemed to have a rational opinion.

"Kushina was my cousin and Naruto here is her daughter," Kenji ruffled her hair and the man paled before shooting a look of irritation to Ami. Her Uncle kept his expression blank and darted his eyes to Ami's mother, whose face was slowly turning purple from what she could only presume was anger. "And judging from your wife's expression, were you the one that tried to woo Kushina away from Minato?"

The man reddened but did not dare to deny her Uncle's accusation. He only looked away from his wife, who looked even angrier if that was possible if you asked her. She looked ready to claw her husband, although Ami's father looked at his wife like she was a huge hypocrite for being furious with him. It was strange that they were furious about something in the past.

"All of us can recall your cousin and her relationship with F…Minato," the Principal said, shooting a warning look at the couple and her Uncle. He flickered his eyes to her and there was a strange look on his face. Disappointment and wonder were the best words to use to describe the expression on his face. "But we are here so that Ami apologize to Naruto for saying those hurtful words to her."

"Why should Ami be the only one to apologize?" Ami's mother spat, jumping onto her feet. She quivered with rage, directed her eyes filled with fury towards her before looking at Kenji with even more rage. "Your niece isn't innocent in any of this! She ruined my daughter's face!"

A deep breath inhaled, Kumiko stood up from her seat. She placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders. Her grip was loose on her as if she was trying to reassure her that she was going to be fine. That everything was going to be okay despite the fact that Ami's mother looked like she wanted her blood for ruining her child's face.

"My niece isn't innocent but from what we have been told by her godmother and her son, it seems like your child was led to believe that she doesn't have to owe up for her behavior," Kumiko explained with a calm tone. Naruto tilted her head up, felt her breath caught up in her throat at the sight of the complete coldness in her Aunt's eyes. "Your daughter instigated every single one of their fights because you didn't teach your child some manners."

The woman looked offended at those words. "Ami does have some—"

"Sweetheart, Ami needs to apologize to Naruto," Ami's father locked his gaze on his wife and shifted his eyes to the quiet Ami. The purple-haired girl opened her mouth to protest but the man threw a warning look to his daughter. "There are witnesses to our daughter's behavior and it is hard to argue against evidence. Our daughter has to apologize to Naruto here."

Ami's mother clenched her jaw. "You're only saying that because you were hopelessly in love—"

"—We're back to this again? I chose you, didn't I?" the man demanded, throwing his hands up in the air. "I work hard for this family so that I can provide for your frivolous spending!"

Well it sounded like this meeting went from being about her to being a rather heated, private argument between Ami's parents. Did they always fight? She glanced at Ami. Her classmate did not look one bit surprised, only looked resigned over the fact that her parents were arguing in front of them. If she had to infer from her reaction, then she would have to say that it was normal.

Her Aunt leaned closer to her Uncle and whispered, "Seems like they need marriage counselling."

"They won't find that here," Kenji muttered. "And not like she looks ready to talk about what she did wrong or do you remember when you tried to convince him to do it but he was too much of a coward to get some fucking marriage counselling before it was too late."

Who are you talking about? The question wanted to come out like a bullet but she didn't allow it to shoot, not when she had a feeling that they wouldn't be happy about her eavesdropping in on their conversation. Kumiko and Kenji did not like the fact whenever one of them listened in on their conversation, especially Akane.

Apparently her cousin had a habit of eavesdropping on every private conversation inside the house or so Eisuke would say.

"…Oh just admit that if I never had Ami that you wouldn't be with me!"

Naruto jerked her head and slacked her jaw before looking at the Principal. The man looked torn between stopping the argument between Ami's parents or just bringing a snack for everyone to eat. It was a huge dilemma because it definitely felt like a scene from one of those dramas that Mikoto loved to watch during dinner.

After a couple of minutes, Kenji stood up from his seat once more and made his way to the two arguing couple. Naruto blinked when the man grabbed Ami parents by their heads and smacked their heads together. The parents yelped, rubbed their heads and flinched at the sight of Kenji's irritated hazel eyes being directed at them.

"As much as I love to see the both of you argue, the two of you are grown-adults that made your decisions," Kenji pushed the couple onto their chairs and the Principal bobbed their heads. "You two can talk about your martial problems at home because right now, I want to hear an apology from your daughter for hurting a child of my clan because my patience is wearing thin and I've a meeting with the Hokage soon."

Ami's parents exchanged glances and looked at the quiet purple-haired girl. For a brief moment, Naruto almost felt sorry for her classmate because her classmate always made it seem like her parents had a wonderful marriage. It seems like her parents are forced to be together. It seemed like not everything was what she believed.

Maybe her classmate's frustration with her parents, were taken out on her and the others because of this.

"Ami, just apologize to your classmate so your father and I can go back home!" Ami's mother barked. Naruto stared at the woman and noticed for the first time, just how much the woman's eyes reminded her of the Matron. Except that was not the scary thing about the woman, what was terrifying was how her mother directed her eyes to her daughter.

Ami flinched and looked almost petrified but there seemed to be resignation. Naruto stared at Ami for the longest time, heart pounding against her chest while Kenji looked at them with blank eyes. Her Aunt looked almost horrified as if she knew what was happening, and she had to wonder if she wanted to hear the apology.

It wasn't worth it anymore.

"Naruto, I'm so—"

"I don't need to hear it," Naruto declared. Everyone blinked and jerked their heads at her but she kept her gaze focused on Ami, who seemed to be trembling like there was no tomorrow. "I'm fine because I…got my Uncle now and my life seems a lot better than Ami."

Her classmate just stared at her while the Principal had a strange look on his face. Kenji snorted but did not look one bit pleased by what she had to say. Kumiko looked at her like she was strange and maybe she was strange, but something told her that she should be the bigger person. Something inside of her felt like an apology from her bully wouldn't mean anything to her.

'You know why your Granny won't let those people bother her? Because I know that they are in pain and Naru-chan, you should always try and forgive when people are in pain.'

She didn't know why that voice rung in her ears but Naruto guessed that was probably the reason that she didn't want to hear the apology.

(That voice was what prevented her from allowing Ami to apologize to her, because she couldn't see her classmate as some kind of monster with no problems. Years passed and when she did come back to Konoha for a visit, Ami gave her a sincere apology and that so much more sweeter if you asked her…because no one forced out an apology).

A/N: Please do let me know about your thoughts about this chapter and the interactions between the characters. For the part between Sasuke and Hinata about him defending Naruto, this was a change made in the Nirvana in AO3 and so I hope that explain things.