A/N: I want to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows, as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.
Why aren't they looking at me?
It was a question Naruto asked after a year of living in the streets. A question that haunted her as she stared at the passing people. All of them ignored her. None of them bother to look away from the streets ahead and put even a simple coin in her jar. If they ever glanced at her then their eyes turned cold as ice and they ignored her.
Naruto didn't understand. She cradled her legs close to her body, tucked her head on the top of her knees and wished for some warmth. The box she used as shelter, was not warm enough for the winter ahead. It was pure luck that she survived the last winter. She does not even remember how she survived that cold winter.
"S-Some money! Just some money!" Naruto asked. She felt her fingers trembled as the cold wind nipped the bones of her finger. An old lady stopped and her hand reached down to her bag, pulling out a wallet. She perked up and thinks that maybe people were kind.
The lady froze at the sight of her and the warm smile faded from her face. The gentle features of her face turned sharp and hard as her eyes fixated on her whisker marks. Why are they giving me those looks? She forced herself to keep smile even after the lady turned her nose away.
Snow began to fall down, touching her face and it should have been a beautiful sight. But all Naruto could feel was fear. Am I going to survive the next winter? The trees won't be a nice place to feel warmth. She took a couple of deep breaths, prayed to God and began pleading again for some more money.
She knew she could always hunt but winter was coming and the waters would freeze. There would be no fishes for her to catch and Naruto knew the restaurants would never give her food without money. She saw them kicking a man out because he didn't have any money on him. Naruto didn't want that for herself.
A nice, young couple walks by and Naruto grabbed their clothes.
'S-Some money. Can I have some money?" She wanted them to help her. To give her some money so she could get some food. She wasn't asking them to give her food. She didn't want them to adopt her. All Naruto wanted was for them to treat her with some kindness and give her the money needed to eat.
The man pried her hands away from the woman's skirt. "We don't give money to beggers.'
She falls down and hits the hard ground. Blue eyes turned completely blank as the couple brushed away the dirt from her hands and whispered to each other. Why is she still alive? Naruto doesn't understand why those adults asked that question. She doesn't understand why no one wanted to be kind to her.
She wanted someone not to hate her.
Naruto looked up at the grey skies and the white clouds floating through. There had been someone nice to her. There had been a kind old lady who had been kind to her. She doesn't remember what her name was or what happened to her. But Naruto thinks she remembers the warmth that old lady gave her, the smiles given to her and the love in those eyes.
The image is blurry and Naruto hates how she was forgetting who that old lady was.
Maybe it was her imagination and maybe she was a monster. Monsters didn't get treated nicely. They were the bad guys. Bad guys hurt people and since they think she was a monster, then she could hurt them. She wants them to pay.
"What happened to you, child? What are you doing here in the streets?"
Naruto looked up and blinks at the sight of a sad, elderly man standing right in front of her. He looked kinda of funny in the eyes of the six-year-old. He wore long white robes and a strange hat. But what really stood out was the warmth and sadness shining through his eyes.
She eyed him, rubbed her scratched cheeks and darted her eyes to the robes. She thinks there were some words behind his robe but Naruto couldn't read yet. The one time she tried to teach herself how to read, the matron threw a fit and told her that she doesn't deserve how to read.
Naruto waited for him to leave but the man just continued to stare at her with horror.
'Why do you care, Old man?'
The man frowned and looked so sad by her words. No one ever looks at me like that. She fluttered her eyelashes and feels just a little bit of hope stirring at her.
"Because you are a child of Konoha."
It wasn't the exact words Naruto wanted to hear but it was better than nothing. When all those adults kept ignoring her existence or shooting her those hateful looks. The man stopped and showed her an emotion that made her feel warm.
She wanted to feel more of that warmth.
"Because you are a child of my village." The man repeats again and again. It surprised her when he knelt down and hugged her so tightly. It didn't give her the protection Naruto wanted from the winter, but the ache in her heart eased slightly. She breathed in his scent as the man repeated those words again and again to her.
It had been so long since someone called her a child.
She thinks that the last person to call her a child was the kind, old lady. The kind, old lady used to give her the name Naru-chan and called her, her little maelstorm. She wants that old lady back. The old lady left her all alone with those mean people in the orphanage.
She wants to find her again but Naruto can't remember what the old lady looks like.
'Do you want to come with me to get clean up? The winters here are going to be cold and I will take you to a nice place.' The man pushed himself up and offered a wrinkled hand to her, encouragement shining through those eyes.
Naruto hesitates. "I don't wanna go back to the mean, old lady and those mean kids'
Black eyes turned cold but it was gone, replaced with warmth that was for once directed at her.
'I will find you a better place to live but you need to take my hand. You need to take a shower, Naru-chan.'
That was the day Naruto took the Hokage's hand.
She never questioned how he knew his name, only caring at the fact that someone acknowledged her as a human being.
That was also the first and last time an adult offered a hand to her.
"How was the second day of school? Did you make any friends?"
Shouto pulled down his shoes and looked at his smiling sister. A hopeful smile played on her lips as she darted her eyes around the corridor. What do you think of your classmates? That would have been his father's question if he knew he returned back home. The fact he didn't hear the question told Shouto that his father was still out.
"Fine." His sister sighed and slumped her shoulders down. Shouto paused, almost feeling uncertain on what to say to Fuyumi. How did he go about asking about Natsuo? Did he just spring it on her? Or did he ease her into it? He was never the type to do things gently.
"Fuyumi, where is Natsuo?"
Grey eyes widened and Fuyumi just stared at him before pinching herself. He frowned. Was he not supposed to ask his question like that? Shouto knew he was not the type to ask about his older brother. The two of them had never been close despite the three-year age gap between them.
Endeavour never allowed him to get close to either Natsuo or Touya when he was a child, and Shouto didn't even know how to talk to his brothers.
"Natsuo is finally out on a date from some girl that he met in his university," Fuyumi paused. "But why are you asking about Natsuo?"
They walked into the living room, taking seats on their respective seats and Shouto glanced again at the study room. If Endeavour knows about his concerns for a classmate then he might throw a fit. There is no time for distractions, Shouto. Those were the harsh words Endeavour would say whenever he wanted to go out to play.
Time was spent on training and friends were nothing but a distraction.
"I want to ask him about what to do with a classmate."
His sister perked up and leaned forward, grey eyes twinkling with joy at his words. Shouto knitted his eyebrows and tilted his head. Why does she look like that? He might just go to his room and start doing some of his homework. He would just wait till nightime and ask Natsuo about it.
"Is your classmate a girl?"
Todoroki blinked and nodded. "How did you know?"
Fuyumi ignored his question and just stared at him with wide grey eyes. Why did she look at me like that? He raised his eyebrow but chose not to say anything. The less he say, maybe the more his sister could act just a little bit more like her normal self.
"Is she pretty?"
Shouto blinked and looked out at the window-door leading out to the gardens. The skies had been blue when he left the school, reminding him of his classmate's eyes. It was probably one of her prettier features and a couple of the boys in their class did find Uzumaki to be very attractive.
Mineta made it a point to tell the boys that Uzumaki was also terrifying.
"She is."
His sister hummed and pressed her hand against his forehead. A teasing glint shone through those grey eyes "She must be really pretty for you to notice her or maybe you must be sick."
"I am fine." He knew in an objective sense that Uzumaki was one of the prettier girls in their class. Bright blue eyes and blond hair that must have been what sunshine would look like if it was an actual item. But it was the fake smile and her words that brought him, his attention.
He knew Uzumaki was suffering from something like his mother had been.
"So what about her?" His sister questioned, leaning forward slightly. "I think I can help you better than Natsuo. He struggled a long time to get his date to notice him…"
Shouto shook his head. "She reminds me of Mum."
The smile dropped and Shouto rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding those concern grey eyes belonging to his sister. He focused his attention on the green grass of their garden. Whenever his siblings had been too busy playing games with each other, Shouto would either train or cling to their mother's skirt.
'I am okay, Shouto.'
Their mother had never been okay. She flinched whenever her eyes locked on the fire side of his body. His turquoise eye made her flinch and Shouto knew how ugly that side of him was. He hated how much the mere sight of him brought her that kind of pain.
"I want to help her."
'Assholes don't seem to give shit about other people.'
Those words echoed in his mind, never letting him forget about what he might look like to other people. Those blue eyes looked at him with resentment like he was one of those people. It bothered him. It made him want to question whether or not he was one, because Shouto was just too focus on not being Endeavour.
He didn't think what people saw when they look at him.
"You blame yourself for what happened to Mum?"
Shouto kept quiet and the only sound between them was the sound of the bird singing their songs. It was his fault their mother became that way. If his father had never been so focused on his training then their mother would never be like this. If that fire side never existed then their mother would be here with them.
He resented that side of him.
That side of him that made him like his father.
Fuyumi wavered and then ultimately decided to go over to him. He tensed up when his sister wrapped her arms around him, trying so hard to give him comfort. No matter how much Fuyumi hugged him, the discomfort Shouto feels never faded.
He stopped liking physical comfort after the incident and Fuyumi's hugs didn't offer any comfort.
"Maybe you should talk to your homeroom teacher about your concerns," his sister let go of him and offered him a tiny smile. "They have a better knowledge of what to do when it comes to your classmate and know how to approach her about her problems…you might just scare her off. Natsuo might be studying to be a counsellor but he won't know what to do just yet."
Shouto nodded. "But how do I get her to see that I am not like the person that hurt her?"
His sister offered him a smile.
"Just prove to her that you do care about her— your actions can speak a lot louder than words, Shouto."
It was the end of her shift and Naruto could only feel a numb pain in her cheeks. It had been a terrible idea for her to keep smiling for so long but she wanted more money to pay for some items for school. The money in her bank account was enough for now. It would be enough to pay for the items, but there was no such thing as too much money.
Money made the world go round was a saying that Naruto heard one of the tourist saying to her boss.
She tried to use the excuse on her boss to extend her working hours, but the woman did not laugh one bit. The older woman puffed her cheeks, folded her arms against her chest and told her that she needed to stop working so much.
'You will never get a boyfriend if you work this late.'
Naruto knows she would never get a boyfriend. Time was valuable and precious. Love was for people with no ambitions or who had all the time in the world. Every minute she thinks of falling in love or finding a boyfriend was a minute wasted on making something for herself. It might not be her plans to become a Hero but she would make something out of herself.
She would be someone, god damn it.
Naruto blinked when she felt a small body collided against her. Blue eyes grew slightly wide at the sight of a little girl falling down on the ground with a gasp.
"Are you okay?" Naruto knelt down and looked at the girl. At first glance, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary but something nagged at her to keep looking for wounds. She paused when red eyes grew large at the sight of her, fear shining through those eyes.
Naruto knew the girl was scared of her and was about to go her own way, when her eyes caught sight of the lack of shoes and the bandages wrapped around her hands and legs. She fixated her eyes on the bandages and flickered her eyes to the girl.
Something was not right.
"Is everything okay?" She asked.
The little girl blinked and those red eyes stared at her with uncertainty and fear. Naruto wavered and sucked her breath. I really am an idiot for asking a stupid question. Nothing about the girl screamed she was okay. Bandages on her body, fear shining through her eyes and the way she wanted to run made it clear that the girl was hurt.
"Eri, there you are! You should stop just stop running!"
Naruto looked up and narrowed her eyes at the sight of a tall, muscular man in a suit, wearing some kind of beak-shaped mask over his face. Nothing about that man screams warmth. She hugged the girl and dropped all smiles at the sight of the man.
The man clenched his hand just a little and Naruto could feel the waves of irritation pouring off of him. "Sorry if my daughter bumped into you but we need to get going. Come on…"
Naruto felt the trembles of the young girl. She is terrified. She knew what a young girl being terrified to go near an adult meant. Terrify meant beatings for things that was never their fault. To be scared of an adult meant constant ridicule and insults and to feel like you were never good enough.
'You are a child of Konoha.'
She never wanted the Hokage to say those words to her. She didn't know what she wanted the Third to tell her but Naruto knew she didn't want to hear that explanation. Naruto took a deep breath and forced herself to smile widely at the adult.
"Well then you are a shitty father because fathers don't hurt their kids!"
The man narrowed his eyes at her. "Mind your own business. Eri, come with me. Boss won't like it if…"
Eri froze at those words and Naruto felt the girl sucked in a deep breath, hunched her back and tried to inch towards the man. She held the girl, not allowing her to go near the terrible man right in front of them. It would be wrong for her to let such a young girl go near the person that hurt her. Naruto didn't want to see the little girl suffer.
She wanted to protect the little girl.
"You are getting on my nerves." The man growled.
Naruto hugged the girl tighter and narrowed her eyes. I am not going to stand by and let a kid get hurt. She might not know which parts of her was real and which parts of her was fake, but Naruto knew one thing about herself. She could never let someone suffer. People always needed to be saved from their suffering.
It was a belief that Naruto had for as long as she could remember.
He raised his hand at her and flames danced around his fingertips. "Give the girl back to me and I will forget about you."
Naruto put her fingers together in a familiar hand-seal and summoned a clone. Smoke enveloped the area and the blue-eyed girl handed Eri to her clone. Red eyes stared at her with confusion and hope, but the blonde focused all of her attention on the furious man shooting flames in random directions.
"Take Eri-chan a safe distance away!" Naruto barked at her clone. "And wait with her till I come back! If anyone asks what happens then tell them that we were playing a game of tag."
She knows that the adults of this part of the world should be told the truth, but people were cruel. Orphanages were even worse. Kids betrayed each other. Matrons acted like cold-hearted women and a child-like Eri didn't deserve it.
The clone nodded and dashed away, keeping Eri close to her chest as Naruto launched herself at the man. She ducked as balls of fire shot towards her. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as a the man held both hands up to form a huge fireball. She squatted and jumped. The soles of her shoes singed a little, coming just in close contact with the fire.
"Your Quirk can make you jump high! Well I can…"
Naruto smiled tightly when her feet touch the ground. She channelled her chakra to her legs and launched herself at the man. No chakra was gathered for her next attack. There was no need because the man was not even worth it. She smashed his cheeks, blue eyes glowing with fury as the man was launched a couple of feet away.
He crashed into the next building. Slabs of concrete broke and crashed hard onto the man's body, drilling him down to the ground and piercing him through the abdomen. He can't survive an attack like that. Naruto knows she should call the ambulance and let the man get healed.
It would be the right thing to do; the heroic thing to do.
But Naruto was no saint and she could never forgive anyone that hurts a child. People like them deserve to die. It might be childish of her and maybe she should act in a more moral high ground, because Heroes don't do these things.
Naruto was also a kunoichi and things like morals were discarded when it came to people like them.
She walked through the streets, blue eyes darting for any signs of Eri and her clone. A relieved smile lit up her face when Naruto caught sight of her clone sitting on the hard, cold ground and trying to play with Eri. Hands trying to touch each other but Eri was not smiling, only looking around like she was afraid.
"Boss is here!" Her clone declared.
Eri looked up and stared wide-eyed at her. Naruto smiled, not one of the fake smiles that she gave to her classmates and co-workers but an honest smile. Her clone waved and popped itself out of existence as Naruto took her place right in front of Eri.
She knelt down again and offered her a hand. "Everything is going to be okay now, Eri-chan. I took care of that bad guy and I promise to take care of you."
The little girl stared at her hand and softly asked. "Why did you help me?"
'Why do you care, Old Man?"
"Because you are a child of Konoha."
Naruto never wanted the Third to say those words to her. She knew even at that time that those were never the words she wanted to hear. It was not the words that a child like Eri or her deserved to hear. She hugged the girl and took a couple of deep breaths.
A realization dawn on her as she realized what she wanted the Third to say to her.
"Because you are a little girl that deserves to know people do care about you."
She wanted so badly to have the Third say those words to her.
Naruto knew she should take Eri to the police and have her questioned about the abuse. But the police would never know how to properly take care of her. They never actually cared about the children that went through hell. No one ever actually cared about them. They don't know the hell that each day of living meant.
She was going to give Eri a chance to live the life that Naruto wished someone would have given her.
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter. What do you think of the introduction to Eri? And of the rewrite so far? I know that the changes made are making it different from the original plot but the parts of the original Nirvana are being split up to develop the characters better.