Author's Note:

Could it be that I actually have a new Naruto story? Yes and let me say that I'm pretty proud of myself considering I haven't written a new story after going on a mega long hiatus, ahaha... I been wanting to write a Naruto/OC for some time now, so I finally gotten around to writing one. So yes, this story is AU-ish!

Without further ado, onto the story :)

Chapter One
Chance Meetings

" There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be..."
― John Lennon

.I.

Trees swayed with the wind as a young girl walked down a dirt path. Planted on both sides of the walkway were rows of trees, their branches reaching over the path and intertwining with the opposite side. The canopy of branches helped those who walked underneath them, serving to both shield them from the sun's rays during summer while simultaneously offering a cool shade for those who choose to rest under one of the many trees. Dry, dark brown brittle leaves littered the path, shaken off from their branches due to the unusual windy October day.

With the exception of an elderly couple far up ahead, Amaya Saito had the whole road to herself. Had it been like any other day, the road would had been more populated than it was this late afternoon. Last she checked before she left home, it was already a quarter past five. People would had already left home to either claim an empty spot in Central Park or be amidst in the food and game stalls. The real event wouldn't take place until the sky turned dark so until then, people would mingle around and enjoy the festivities until the big event. For those who arrived much later, such as herself, they where more likely interested in the stalls and the sky event than sitting on the grass.

The six year old girl purposely stepped on each of the dead leaves, delighted by the sound of the crunch her feet made when she stomped upon them. Her friend's home wasn't far from where she lived if she stuck to the road she was walking on. In fact, it was on the opposite end from where she lived, so coming and going was fairly easy on Amaya. She was in no rush to reach her friend's home since she'll be spending the remainder of the day with them, so she took her sweet time between kicking up the dead leaves or stepping on them.

This had been the day Amaya had been looking forward to, the day she kept reminding her mother before she left for work early in the morning since last week. Not only had she reminded her about the festival itself, but asked her mother if she could stay with her instead of going to work on that day. It was the day that most of Konoha's citizens spent it in Central Park. While the park itself was a great place to meet up or spend time with family and friends, it also served as the center where the one-night festival took place. The outskirts of the park served as the location where food and game stalls were set up, while in the grassy area served as a location where people would picnic and wait until night came for the fireworks to begin, the big event that marked the end of this special day.

So while she had been looking forward to this event, she was disappointed that her mother wouldn't be able to join her. Even though she would be spending it with her good friend, Ichika, she would had preferred to have spent it with her mother instead. Just as much as Amaya had reminded her mother about the festival, she also kept asking her not to work on that day. She couldn't remember the last time she had spent a festival with her instead of working, so Amaya really hoped she would be able to this time around. Unfortunately, her mother gave her the bad news that she wouldn't be able to miss work since she had been assigned to work on this special day.

Amaya had hoped today would had been different and thought her mother had promised to make it up for it by spending it with her on her next day off, she knew it wouldn't be the same. She knew her mother worked a lot, only having a single day off from the week to spend it with her, and usually those were the days when her mother was busy with the house or an important task. Her father was nonexistent and she had no real family in the village other than her mother. Because of it, Amaya was mostly on her own. She tried to help with housework and whatever else she could, but mostly often than not, she was alone in the small apartment they lived in. Once in a while, her mother would bring dinner from the restaurant she worked at and at other times, she would had left food for her so all she had to do was reheat it.

Today had been no exception, she had left her breakfast and a note telling her to reheat last night's dinner for lunch. Along with it, as a consolidation, there was money left for her to spend on the festival. She knew her mother worked hard for it, so Amaya was grateful that she had left a little something for her to spend at the festival.

.II.

There was no way for Amaya to know what time it was, but she knew the time for the fireworks was coming. The crowds around the stalls were slowly thinning out, some taking their time stopping at one stall or another and others hurrying past them, surely trying to find a good spot that hasn't been claimed yet. Other kids she knew and didn't know ran past her, some of them being over rambunctious and others trailing after adults. Most often than not, she would catch whisks of different conversations. Ranging from the upcoming fireworks to whatever happened six years ago.

The young girl stood next to the entrance in one of the many food stall as she continuously watched people walk by. Her hands grasping the two metals poles that made the entrance to the stall. She knew the time was coming where she would have to take a leave if she did not want to miss the fireworks. She was not worried about finding a spot since she excused herself from Ichika's family, who already had a good spot, to pay her mother a quick visit. Looking over her shoulder, she looked at her mother wearing a dark blue robe, her sleeves folded and wearing a white apron tied around her neck. Though her hair was pinned up high in her head, she still wore a white bandana over it. She could tell her mother was preparing an order of dango for a customer who was standing on the opposite side of the counter.

There were plenty of stalls around her, a combination of food and games; most of them came from outside of the village, nearby villagers wanting to share their wares or food. Then there were the locals which her mother was part of — preparing dango's and other popular foods for the festival. Normally, she would had been working in one of the restaurants on the other side of the village, so it was expected she would be working as an extension to the original restaurant.

"Ah, little ladybird, you're still here?!" A familiar hoarse voiced called out.

Amaya turned to the one who called her by a familiar nickname, Mr. Sato. He was much older than her mother, his gray hair almost covering his whole head, even so, he still worked alongside her much younger mother. "You should go, you'll miss the show!"

The young girl knew Mr. Sato was correct. If she were to stay here, she would not be able to see the fireworks clearly from here.

"Amaya, wait, come here," her mother soft voice called to her with a wave.

The young girl walked into the stall, followed by Mr. Sato who patted her head as he walked past her. "Why don't you let Mr. Sato stay here and come watch it with me?" Amaya said matter of factly since she knew Mr Sato just came from his break.

Both her mother and Mr Sato chuckled at her suggestion — whether by the suggestion itself or something else entirely she did not know, but she did not like being left out of a joke.

"If I could, I would but knowing Mr. Han, he would likely stroll by..." her mother trailed as she worked over something on the counter. "Remember, we'll have tomorrow for ourselves."

Amaya pursed her lips in the same instant her mother looked over her shoulder, giving her one of those smiles that Amaya loved seeing from her mother. While her mother was all about love, these smiles of hers were the best. They alleviated her feelings and she gave her a curt nod at her mother's response.

"Little ladybird, you must get going or you'll miss the fun," Mr Sato commented as he started rolling up his blue sleeves.

"Before you go, take these with you," her mother asked as she turned around holding a small plate with two freshly made skewered dango's. The amber colored glazed syrup still spreading across the five small white doughy balls. "It's my treat! You can share one with Ichika."

"Oh? Really? Aww!" Amaya exclaimed excitedly as she reached out to pick up the container her mother was handing over. "Thank you, mama!"

"Of course, now go run and join Ichika so you don't miss the show!" Her mother rushed as she led her daughter out from the stall. "I'lll see you when I get home, okay?"

Amaya quickly turned and gave her mother a side hug with her free arm around her legs, careful as not to drop her plate of dango's. "I'll wait up until you get home!"

Her mother smiled and gave her a curt nod.

As much as Amaya enjoyed spending her time with her mother, she also enjoyed spending it with Ichika's family. One day out of the week she would have dinner with them, approved by her mother of course, and if there was an opportunity where she could spend her day with, she would join along. Unlike her, Ichika had both parents and an older brother but the differences didn't end there. Ichika's mother didn't work and her father was a Shinobi. The only similarity she had with her friend was that she was also a girl of the same age, so both girls saw themselves as not only best friends but sisters as well. Where one went, the other came along and that was usually Amaya who did the following.

Because of this, she was also joining the Academy next month.

Ichika was taking after her father and brother — one who was already a respected ninja and the other who was already a Genin. As far as Amaya knew, none of her ancestors were shinobi, so she wanted to prove and honor them by becoming the first one in her line of family.

.III.

Amaya was certain the park itself wasn't called Central Park, but it did made sense to call it so considering where it was located. The large green, field was the largest of the parks that were located within the village . With trees surrounding it and different roads connecting from it to the rest of the village, you could literally go to any district from the center. From it, you could also see the Hokage rock, the four stone faces carved out from the side mountains that shielded a side of the Leaf Village. From somewhere behind it, the fireworks were set off to shoot into the skies illuminating everything underneath it but to get the best view, Central Park was your best choice.

Surrounding the green clearing where the many stalls that were set up for this festival, so while it was easy to move around them to reach the center, there was the question of avoiding the crowds that were coming and going. Then there was that obvious fact that the field was also crowded with people, lounging and waiting for the fireworks to begin. Had she not been with Ichika, Amaya would had a hard time finding her and her family amongst the crowd. Even so, she still needed to walk amongst the throngs of people to get to their location. To avoid the crowds, she decided to walk through the trees that formed around the open clearing. It was sparse with people who opted to stand amongst the trees instead of searching for an open spot to sit on. While not a preferential location to see the fireworks due to the tree branches shielding the skies, this fact did not stop people from standing underneath them.

Amaya continued walking down the main path until she came upon a building that signaled she should start a new path amongst the trees, this would then open to what would normally been an open field. Still firmly holding her plate of dango's, she stepped into the grassy area that would soon lead her towards Ichika's family. It was as she was nearing the last trees before stepping into the field that she saw a boy standing between two trees. A soft orange glow surrounded the boy as he stood underneath one of the many sparsely lit lampposts that surrounded the park.

She couldn't tell who the boy was since he had his back towards her, clearly overlooking into the crowd of people who were seated in the field. Amaya could only guess he had lost the sight of his family if he was standing there without going forward. Keeping an eye on him, she made her way forward. It was as she got closer that she picked out his blonde hair and shabby looking clothes that made her stop on her tracks. She was close enough to realize who he was and when she realized this, the young boy turned to look at her seeming to sense her presence and her eyes widen in surprised.

Amaya only knew him as The Boy as that's how he was referred to whenever she had seen him around. She was pretty sure that wasn't his real name and she didn't quite understand why people didn't call him by his real one. Not only did the adults seem to avoid calling him by his name, but they also seemed to not want to be around him either. The little she had seen, they acted as if he was some walking plague that was scorn at or avoided in general. But this didn't only apply to the adults because Ichika and most of the kids also avoided him. She had remembered asking her once why and her only response mimic other kid's answers "he's weird."

Now that she stood across from him, he didn't look as strange as everyone made him out to be. In fact, any time she seen him, he was always by himself. Either overlooking the rest of the kids playing or standing on the side in a populated area, either being ignored or steered away from. She found that particularly sad.

"What's your name?" Amaya asked him as she carefully stepped closer.

The blonde haired boy blinked, "you don't know?"

The young girl shook her head, "I know you can't be just 'The Boy'."

"No, it's Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

The name was rather bland, nothing peculiar to cause the adults to avoid calling him by his name. "I'm Amaya. Saito Amaya."

The boy known as Naruto opened his mouth as if he were to speak but quickly closed it only to quickly blurt out a greeting. It was Amaya's turned to blink, her mouth formed into an *oh*. He was pretty normal to her, why did people avoided him? Instead of asking the question, she asked the obvious one. "You'll barely see the fireworks from here,"

"It's okay," the boy said quietly as he looked out into the crowded field. "I'll see it fine here."

"No you won't," Amaya pointed as she walked up to his side, she could see the crowded field better from here. Looking up, she could see part of the sky. "You don't like fireworks?"

"What? I do," Naruto responded as he joined her looking up to the partially covered sky. "I like it because it's like an early birthday present." Amaya looked at him, he turned to look back at her with what appeared to be a small smile, "not everyone gets to have fireworks, nehh?"

"Oh, you're right," she answered thoughtfully as she turned to her plate of dango's. "Well, in that case..." she put out the plate towards him. Naruto looked down at the treat before he looked to her, his right eyebrow raised in question. "Happy early Birthday, Naruto. Take one!" Amaya said with a broad smile.

While she had no idea why everyone treated him the way they did, Amaya was happy to do something good for the lonesome boy. While she intentionally meant the second dango for Ichika, she could easily give her share to her friend.

Naruto looked a bit taken a back, his eyes widen in surprised "a-are you sure?"

Amaya gave him a sharp nod, "of course, or why would I be giving one to you?"

The boy relaxed a bit in front of her before he gave her a smile of his own, "thank you!"

Amaya smiled as she watched him pick out a skewered dango from her plate.

The Boy in the end had a name and he was nothing like everyone made him out to be.

Author's Note:

Not gonna lie, I found it a bit hard going back to writing In 3rd person after focusing on POVs fics, but writing this was quite refreshing! Definitely gives me more leeway to writing a story! As you have noticed, this chapter was divided into what I like to consider as 'mini chapters' — dedicated to different scenes. This is how my story will be written for the next nine chapters. Yes, I've written out the whole outline for this story and what each chapter will consist of. Heck, there's even a potential sequel for it but I don't really want to get ahead of myself just yet x)

Thank you for reading!