Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or Senran Kagura!

"Freak!"

"Look at her ugly eyes!"

"Her hair is gross too!"

The voices of young children filled the room as they stood around in a small circle. Cruelly, they would not allow the person inside to leave.

The kids within the orphanage, especially in the case of not being adopted after years of potential parent visits, tended to be harsh towards their fellow orphans. That was a huge problem for the eight year old in the middle of the circle.

Hikage stood in the center of the group, her gaze was blank while the insults were spewed her way. With her messy shoulder length green hair, sickly yellow eyes that contained a snake-like slit pupil and no emotion present on her face, she wasn't considered normal by any of the children. She always struggled with emotions and what she should be "feeling", sometimes believing she has none. She couldn't help but wonder why the orphans were doing this. Was she really that different?

"We don't need freaks like you with us! When the parents see kids like you, they won't want anybody!" A chubby black haired boy yelled right into her face. His disgusting spit flew everywhere, Hikage paid it no mind.

"Yeah! Look at her, she doesn't even care that we are yelling at her!" Another shout came from a short boy with unkempt brown hair.

"We should teach her a lesson!" Coming from the side of the boys, a group of girls stood together. Their leader was a tiny dark haired girl, she glared fiercely at the one she deemed as an oddity.

The matrons of the orphanage were so distracted with preparations for welcoming families to adopt that they had no time to check on the room where the kids were supposed to be playing.

Hikage heard every crude word, yet she had no idea how to react. She was used to being screamed at by others, though the slightly older children that approached caused her heart to start thumping wildly.

"Hey! Stop right now!" A loud yell from the doorway drew everyone's attention.

All of the kids, including Hikage, turned to who was intervening before they could "teach" her a lesson.

"Oh, it's the other weirdo..." The brown haired orphan muttered, scrunching his face up at the newcomer.

The child who stood in the doorway was a boy around the same height of Hikage, he looked to be her age as well. Bright blond hair framed his head in messy spikes and a pair of clear blue eyes stared at the scene before him with anger. The most peculiar thing about him was the whisker marks that adorned both sides of his face, three on each cheek.

"You guys better stop right now or I'll make you pay!" The blond boy pointed his fist in their direction.

"Ugh, he's really trying to help her?! These two are the reason we will never have parents." The leader of the girls spoke with a grimace, believing they were the cause of everyone's problems.

Hikage heard the insult to her appearance but she was obviously distracted by the bright figure in the doorway. She couldn't look away.

The whiskered boy on the other hand appeared to be even angrier after hearing his fellow orphans words about adoption.

"You...! That's it, I'm gonna kick all your asses! I'll do it for the pretty eyed girl! Remember my name when I do! I'm not some freak, my name is Naruto!" He rushed at the group of boys and girls, not caring what potential trouble he could be in with the matrons. With rage fueling his steps, he reached them in a flash.

The girls in the area widened their eyes and screamed, they all scrambled out of the way. The chubby boy and his partner in crime faced Naruto with smirks.

"Come on Takeshi, we gotta teach this one a lesson first." The thinner orphan called out to his friend. He was determined to put Naruto in his place.

"Right, Michio!" The chubby boy responded in an eager tone.

Once Naruto reached the duo, he threw out punches and kicks with no real technique. He merely hoped to show the two that him and the pretty girl weren't the issue.

Unfortunately, due to the size of the other boys, they quickly held Naruto down together and started to beat on him, punching and kicking almost as wildly as Naruto was beforehand. Flesh hit flesh, and Naruto truly gave it his all.

Hikage watched the brutal beatdown and her body screamed to move. She wasn't sure why, she's never felt anything like that before. Something about her savior being beaten to stop her abuse caused her chest to tighten painfully.

'What is this...?' Hikage couldn't label the sensation.

"Stay down you little idiot." Takeshi warmed him while Michio was doing his best to hold down the thrashing Naruto.

"You bastards are holding me down! What a cheap way to win!" Naruto roared out with various cuts on his face and a bloody lip. He stared up at his opponents with hatred.

Hikage didn't wish for him to get hurt anymore despite her uncaring attitude towards everything around her. Knowing that the adults were busy, she was about to jump in to help Naruto however possible.

However, before she could move again, another voice called out from the entrance. It effectively stopped all of the orphans in the room from either panicking or fighting. "You children will stop this right now!" An old woman screamed, she pierced the children's ears with her shrill voice.

'A matron.' Hikage thought, but she never cared enough to remember her name. These people meant nothing to her.

The elder hurried towards the group of fighting boys before pulling them apart and forcing them to stand away from each other. Naruto did his best to pull out of her grip and go back for round two.

"You boys will tell me what happened! The nerve of you all! On adoption day to do something like this, how could you?!" She scolded the three children.

"They started it! They wouldn't leave the girl with pretty eyes alone. They were going to hit her." Naruto defended his actions. He knew what he did was against the orphanage rules, but he had to do it!

"He's lying! He always starts trouble around here. He ran towards us when we were playing and started attacking us..." Michio put on his best sad sounding voice to trick the old woman.

Takeshi nodded his head pitifully, agreeing with his partner. He also feigned a look of sadness to the matron.

The matron didn't know who to believe and turned to Hikage and the other girls. Just as Hikage was going to say something in Naruto's defense, the other girls beat her to it.

"It was her fault too! She was telling him to do it." The ringleader of the girls smiled devilishly at Hikage.

Hikage snapped her dead eyes over to the orphan, making her shiver. Turning back to the matron, the cruel child let the waterworks begin to trick the elder. There was no way they were going to let Hikage get out of this easily.

The matron knew Naruto was prone to trouble and Hikage was generally considered abnormal among the staff ever since her arrival. She let bias cloud her decision and declared them both as the ones to blame. She was too busy today to take time settling it reasonably. None of the staff seemed too keen on helping either Naruto or Hikage with much besides the essentials.

"That's it! You two are in trouble. Hikage, you take Naruto and help him get cleaned up. Once the parents leave, you both will be properly punished." The now strict sounding voice of the woman said.

Naruto, not one to give up easily, was about to shout back when Hikage snapped her eyes to him next. Whatever words he wanted to yell out died in his throat as she studied his bruised face and busted lip. She proceeded to grab his hand and leave through the large door of the playroom.

The other children gave hidden smirks to each other when seeing the two freaks leave. It was a good day for them, and the only way it could get better is if they were adopted.

The matron shook her head and let out a big sigh as the problem children left. She hurriedly made her way out to the family room where many families were waiting to meet the children. That was infinitely more important in her mind.

"Stupid old hag... stupid Michio... stupid Takeshi... stupid orphanage." Naruto grumbled while he was dragged slowly through the hallways of the now quiet end of the orphanage. They were headed towards a bathroom to clean the blood from his face.

Hikage heard his mumbles and remained quiet. Her head was filled with so many thoughts that she couldn't respond to him. She wasn't entirely sure what compelled her to grab his hand in the first place.

"Oi, pretty eyes. We are at the bathroom, you can let go of me." His voice called out and she looked up to see Naruto's annoyed face.

"Why?" Hikage questioned him flatly.

"Eh?"

"Why did you help me?" She had to ask.

"Oh. Well those assholes were gonna hurt you and I couldn't allow that. They always pick on me too, but you saw I can take care of them with my strength, ya know!" Naruto responded proudly. Despite all of his injuries and the fact that he didn't win the little fight, he was still cocky.

"Why?" Hikage repeated it again.

"Hebi-chan, you ask a lot of questions..."

"Hebi-chan? Pretty eyes? Why call me that?" Hikage continued to ask him, not understanding his nicknames. She wasn't used to interacting with others. Most of her time was spent in her bedroom where she slept the days away.

"I mean you do have pretty eyes. I like the color a lot and they look so cool! Just like a badass snake would! Even your hair color is awesome, I wish I had a cooler hair color, like orange or red... yeah that'd be great." He nodded his head in a pleased fashion as he finished.

Never having received a compliment for as long as she could remember, Hikage could only stare at him in surprise.

"You think you can help me with all of this blood from my lip? It kinda hurts, ya know." Naruto was embarrassed to admit that. His tough act was failing.

"Hikage."

"What?"

"My name is Hikage." She told him slowly, he seemed a bit stupid to her.

"I already knew that. The hag said it before we left the room." He explained to her with a careless shrug.

"But you won't call me Hikage. Why?"

"Dunno, you're Hebi-chan from now on." Naruto gave her a grin that left her speechless.

Entering the bathroom to get towels and use the tap water to clean up Naruto's face, Hikage continued to study him like he was a huge mystery. She held a damp towel in her limp hands, refusing to move.

"Hebi-chan, can I get a little help please? I know I'm super strong, but my arms are sore." Naruto's face held a tiny blush.

Hikage gave a small "Ah" in response to Naruto before helping him clean up the mess that was his supposed victory. The entire time Naruto was being cleaned, he didn't stop smiling. He was happy that a pretty girl was hanging out with him for once instead of those losers like Takeshi and the others who made his life hell.

The smile she kept seeing while cleaning his face woke something up in Hikage that she would become familiar with in the coming years. For now, it was foreign.

Just from the one interaction with Naruto, Hikage's life changed forever.

Having spent some time helping Naruto, Hikage returned to her small room at the end of a dark hallway to wait for whatever "punishment" the matron talked about before. Hikage was hungry and tired, but she really didn't care about much right now since her mind was too occupied by Naruto.

The orphanage made Hikage uncomfortable. The laughter behind her back, the insults, and the adults looking at her strangely. She didn't understand it when she was younger, though now she knew it wasn't a safe space. When Naruto jumped in to save her, despite him getting his butt kicked, she wanted to help him. She wanted to tell the old lady that it wasn't his fault. Every time she closed her eyes, the image of Naruto grinning while she attempted to clean his face remained.

'Why am I still thinking about him? We just met…'

A series of fast knocks on the door broke Hikage out of her internal questioning. She figured it was the matron, and she'd rather get it over with so she could either eat or sleep.

When she opened the door, Hikage was surprised at the source of the knocks. It was Naruto. The boy changed into a clean black shirt and orange shorts, he smiled happily at her from the hallway.

"Yo, Hebi-chan. I knocked on every door in the hallway until I found your room! It took a while but I wanted to thank you again for helping me." Naruto didn't tell her about how many kids roughly shoved him away from their doors.

"Ah, but you helped me." Hikage tilted her head at him, not understanding his gratitude.

"I only did what was right. You helped me get cleaned up and you were gonna stick up for me, that's more than what anyone's done for me in this crappy place." Naruto told her with a grimace.

"Oh." Hikage didn't know what to respond to that either. She looked down at the floor and her long bangs covered her eyes.

"Can I come in? I mean you don't have to say yes. I just want to... uh, you know talk or whatever." Naruto asked while rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"That's okay... I guess." Hikage moved to the side to allow him to enter. It was the most she's talked with a person in her short eight years of living.

Naruto entered the room and narrowed his eyes at the state of it. His own bedroom wasn't exactly packed with stuff, consisting mostly of whatever he stole or collected. Hikage's room had basically nothing but a bed, closet and a light. How could she stay in her small room doing nothing all day?

While Naruto inspected her room, Hikage watched him closely. She wondered what he really wanted and why his smile made her think she was under a big warm blanket.

"Hebi-chan, I have an idea..." Naruto trailed off as he sat on her small and lumpy mattress.

"An idea..."

"I don't like this place. I'm sick of all the crap they put me through, and I saw what those jerks did to you. I feel like... I don't know, can we just leave? Without parents." Naruto questioned, staring at the blank ceiling. "I never had parents, ya know. They told me I was found on the doorstep of the orphanage and it looks like I'll never have them at this rate." He revealed sadly.

Hikage did relate a lot with Naruto. She knew that she didn't like the orphanage and would rather leave. Nobody seemed to want her due to various reasons and she didn't know anything about where she came from, only knowing her birthday. However, they were eight year old kids, where would they go if they ran away?

"How can we leave? We have nothing... and we are only eight." She was curious about his answer.

"We don't have to worry about money for now. I'm actually really sneaky! I already stole from those old ladies... but you're right we are young. I feel like we can do better for ourselves if we get outta here." He stuck his hand out to her, a gesture she's never been offered before.

It was a dumb idea, something that two children at such an age shouldn't even attempt to do. Living on the streets and surviving was foolish, but for some reason Naruto's grin made Hikage believe. Believe that life could be better for them out on the unforgiving streets.

"What do you say Hebi-chan, you in?"

Staring into his blue eyes, Hikage grabbed his hand. For a moment, Hikage could have sworn her own mouth twitched to mirror his smile.

Luckily for them, they couldn't have picked a better time to try and leave the orphanage. The ladies that took care of the children were far too busy managing the parents coming and going to watch everyone. The kids were told to either wait in their rooms or the playroom until they were hopefully adopted.

Sneaking around happened to be Naruto's specialty. He always felt like he knew what he was doing when trying to steal or move around silently. His body basically moved on autopilot. He had the money he swiped off the old ladies and even visiting parents stuffed in his pockets. They all had no idea either. He was that good.

"Why are you doing this?"

The almost bored sounding voice broke him out of his boasting and he turned his head to look over his shoulder. Blues eyes came into contact with yellow.

"Doing what? We are getting out of here."

"Why am I on your back?"

That's right. He almost forgot about her. Hikage was so light and he was too busy inside of his own head thinking about what window or back entrance they could leave through.

"I figured we would make less noise if only one of us was walking on the floor... so a piggyback ride seemed okay for you."

"Piggyback?" Hikage simply asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Yeah, that's what it's called. I saw it in a manga! A guy was saving a rich princess and carried her the same way."

"Ah..." The small noise from Hikage told Naruto that she understood.

"I can put you down if you don't like it..."

Not getting a response back, Naruto peeked over his shoulder again to look at Hikage. Her yellow eyes were closed at the moment until she breathed in deeply.

"You smell good." Hikage muttered loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Uh..." Hikage was weird. She was very pretty, but weird. "Anyway Hebi-chan, once we get to the room where they hold the trash, we can get out that window. I tried leaving before with the door, but they lock it."

"Mhm." Hikage seemed content to lounge around on Naruto's back and let him go through with his own plan.

Naruto began to feel excited as he rounded the corner to the trash room. This was it, freedom at last. He didn't know what it was, but he honestly felt like he didn't belong. Maybe it was the orphanage or the town, he wasn't sure. He felt so out of place and uncomfortable with these people. Hebi-chan was an exception. They may have just met and she was... different, but he felt a connection already.

"That window?" Hikage pointed a finger at the window in the top right of the room. The biggest window was only one drop away from leaving them in an alleyway connected to the large building.

"Yup! Alright, let's get outta here."

Almost bouncing with excitement Naruto stopped to put Hikage down. He expected her to get the message and release her hold on his neck.

"Huh?" Her little noise told him she was clueless.

"I can't climb up to the window with you on my back, ya know."

Hikage paused to think it over and soon figured that he was right. It's not like he could walk up walls.

"Ah... alright." She slid off his back with no real rush.

"Okay. I'm going to get up there and pull you up. We have to be quick so nobody comes to check on us."

As if they had divine luck, the people in the orphanage were not interested in taking trash out at that exact time and everything was going smoothly.

A jump onto the windowsill was easy from the furniture in the room. Naruto dropped his arm over the side of the windowsill and extended his hand. Hikage thankfully got the message without explanation and grasped Naruto's hand with her own.

One pull up was all Naruto needed, Hikage was too light. It really goes to show what the orphanage was feeding them. The window thankfully wasn't locked either, making their breakout anticlimactic.

"I expected this to be harder." Naruto whispered as he was opening the window.

"Do you want it to be?"

"I don't know... maybe? I thought it would seem like one of those cool escape scenes in movies!"

"Ah." Hikage nodded to herself.

"Hebi-chan, what're you doing?" Just as he was about to get the window open, Hikage decided to use her legs that dangled from the windowsill to kick a hanging cabinet with all her strength, resulting in a loud sound that echoed throughout the room and carried into the halls.

"Hebi-chan, why?!" Naruto was nervous now, he didn't want anyone knowing they left until they could get farther away from the orphanage

"Cool escape scene." Hikage answered, raising her fingers in a 'peace sign' with her deadpan face.

"... Let's just get out please."

Naruto tugged on Hikage's hand again to help her through the window and they were able to jump down onto the ground of the alleyway easily.

"It smells like actual crap." Naruto's nose crinkled at the vile scent.

"You smell better."

"Thank you?"

It would be a long time before Naruto would become used to Hikage's unique way of complimenting him.

"Where do we go now?" Hikage's flat voice whispered softly in the alleyway. The outside noise from the city was loud but the kids were in their own little world.

"We can live on the streets. It's not like anyone was gonna take us in for adoption anyway... but let's do this! Hebi-chan, it's us against the world! We have some money to buy food and stuff!" Naruto seemed almost excited to be homeless and without help. Deep down they both knew they had no other options. Even at the age of eight they were simply unwanted by the people both in the orphanage and outside of it.

"Yay." The lack of emotion in her response really showed her enthusiasm.

"We can work on your way of celebrating, Hebi-chan."

In another life, Hikage made the escape from the orphanage on her own. She roamed the cruel streets by herself. Now, she had someone who she could rely on through thick and thin.

'Why does he smell so good to me though?'

"Hebi-chan, we really gotta go! Stop smelling me!"

Hikage didn't plan to ever stop.

AN - So this is the first time I've ever written fanfiction, hopefully it goes well. I have read a ton of stories from various authors on this site over the course of a couple years, but a Senran Kagura and Naruto crossover is rare. I do have ideas for the future of this story if everything works out, and if you're familiar with the Senran Kagura series, you obviously know Hikage is best girl. I'm willing to fight any of you on that. Thanks for reading.