A/N-

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DISCLAIMER- I OWN NOTHING AT ALL.

'ITALICS'- THOUGHTS

'BOLD'- POWERFUL BEING/JUTSU

'I never thought, after everything I did and all that I went through, that I would end up opening a ramen shop.' Were the thoughts of one Naruto Uzumaki as he closed up shop after yet another long day at Ichimaki ramen. His quaint little shop had gotten more and more famous as the years went by, known for welcoming everyone regardless of their race. It did cause some of the more strict bigots to stay away, and even go so far as to hassle him, but Naruto never did let opinions of others decide what he did. And in his view, this discrimination against Faunus was the most stupid thing he had seen, and he had seen some fairly stupid things in his life.

At least, when the villagers of Konoha treated him like crap, it was out of fear. Fear of what Kurama was, and fear of being in the vicinity of the Kyuubi, sealed or not.

That didn't justify their actions, but at least they had somewhat of a half-decent reason for them! But this? Discriminating against people just because of how they look, something that was out of their control? Unacceptable. Suffice to say that Naruto had beaten the snot out of some elitists for creating a scene and picking a fight with some of his Faunus customers.

But other than the occasional scuffle, the shop was mostly peaceful. Even some Huntsmen had shown up with their teams a couple of times, saying that the environment was a welcome change from the typical life and death situations they faced.

According to Naruto, though, one event was the most important, that truly highlighted his years working at the shop.

"Papa!"

He smiled as he heard that familiar chirpy voice, and turned around just in time to see a small green blur barrel into his chest. He gently wrapped his arms around the offender and ruffled her hair.

"Ah, there you are! Ready to go, sweetie?"

If anyone would've told Naruto ten years ago that he'd have a daughter by now, he would have laughed in their faces, his memories of the treatment he received in his homeworld fresh in his mind. How was supposed to know that he would finally have a family of his own? But that was precisely what she was. After he'd given her that first bowl of ramen, she had shown up again the next day. Then the day after that. And he always gave her as much ramen as she wanted. Along with other healthy foods, of course.

Until one day, in the second week of this routine, she hadn't come back. He had waited till closing and even kept the shop open an hour longer. When she didn't show, he'd gotten worried. Naruto wondered whether he should go and check or leave her be. She only came once a day, so that meant she had something else to eat during the day, right?

Right?

But however logically he tried to convince himself, he was still Naruto Uzumaki at heart. He loved helping and protecting his precious people, and little Emerald had fast rocketed to the very top of that list, as he didn't really know many other people in Vacuo.

So, he closed up shop and decided to go and check if she was alright. And he was glad he did.

FLASHBACK, 6 MONTHS AGO-

Naruto didn't just want to speed around the city looking for her, so he got into a meditative position, and stilled. A few seconds later, his eyes gained an orange pigmentation, a sign of his use of Senjutsu. He put out his feelers and looked for Emerald. He always found her by the color of her Aura, which was, ironically, green. He located her quite quickly, about a mile away from himself, in the poorer part of town. He released his Senjutsu and concentrated on the Hiraishin seal he had placed on her hand. He had given it to her and instructed her to channel some Aura into it if she were ever in danger. But Emerald was Emerald, and Naruto knew that she was too prideful to ask him for help, even if she trusted him not to hurt her anymore.

So, without wasting any more time, Naruto vanished in an orange flash, his own variation of the technique created by his father.

When he arrived, the sight made his blood boil. Emerald was hunched over next to a dumpster, curled up into a ball and sobbing her eyes out. She was crying so hard that her entire frame was shaking. He slowly inched over to her, so as not to spook her. Then he saw the state she was in. She was still wearing the mint green dress he had given her, which he had created using his Banbutsu Sōzō no Jutsu(Creation of All Things). It had been very easy for him, and he had convinced her to take it instead of the tattered rags she usually wore.

But now, this dress was torn as well. Emerald had lost the bag of coins Naruto had also created for her. (He was a generally nice guy, sue him) Honestly, the only reason he hadn't outright adopted the little munchkin was that she had refused, saying that she 'didn't need anybody to help her'. Well a fat lot of good that did, he mused.

Getting even closer and crouching next to her, he reached out to touch her shoulder. Just had he made contact, she flinched violently, and stared at him with wide, unfocused and teary eyes.

She tried to get away, but she was already in a corner. So she curled up into herself even more than before. Naruto picked up her faint mutterings due to his highly trained ears.

"Please don't hurt me, I don't have anything left to take, please please please..."

Naruto's heart shattered into pieces as he heard her broken rambling, and he started having flashbacks of his own past. A faint pulse of soothing of Chakra from his tenants snapped him out of his thoughts, and he mentally thanked them.

'She doesn't recognize who I am, she's retreated into herself.'

'Okay, enough is enough, I'm taking her with me if it's the last thing I do.'

Naruto knew that there was only one way of making her realize who he was and that he meant no harm. Closing his eyes, he was bathed in the familiar golden cloak of his Ashura form. His warm and comforting presence exuded outwards, calming the environment and making the trees in the area gain a bit more liveliness and color.

It had an effect on Emerald as well; her sobs were lessening, and she was starting to calm down. Reaching down, he gently patted her head. She flinched again but slowly looked up as if instinctively recognizing him. Red eyes regarded him for a brief moment, and her voice followed in a meek whimper-

"Mr. Naruto?"

The hope in her eyes made his heart break all over again. Which led him to a series of questions; What happened to her? Why didn't she call him? Who did this to her? But now was not the time, he had a child to comfort. He raised two fingers in front of her face.

"Yes, it's me, Em-chan, can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked in a soft voice. From his days as a shinobi, he knew the way to snap someone out of a panic attack was to ask random questions in quick succession. It seemed to be working, as Emerald's breathing was calming some more.

She shook her head and squinted a bit before replying in a small voice,

"Two. Yes, I heard you, Mr. Naruto. What are you doing here?"

"You didn't show up for dinner, so I got worried. You would never have called me if it were up to you, so I came to check myself." The blonde levelled her with a stern glare, "And clearly I was right!" he admonished.

Emerald seemed to shrink further in on herself, which made his eyes soften a tad. He was still mad at her for worrying her, though, but he would argue with her when she was feeling better.

"Sorry, Mr. Naruto, but I didn't want to trouble you. You already do so much for me, and I didn't want to burden you more." she murmured.

Sighing in exasperation, Naruto reached down and started stroking her scalp. She snuggled up into his side and leaned into his hand and closed her eyes in exhaustion. Naruto wanted to make sure Emerald knew exactly how much she meant to him before he took her in for good.

"You silly girl, of course, I would worry about you." he soothed while continuing his ministrations. "You are the most precious person in my life Em-chan, I have no one else but you." she looked up at him, and he continued "I know I just met you a few weeks ago, but I feel a kinship towards you, ya know?"

Emerald looked at him, she looked long and hard. She scanned his face, his eyes, his soul, for any sign of deceit. After finding none, the girl looked down. The walls she had built up around her fragile heart for years of loneliness came crashing down around her. Em teared up, before hiccupping and smashing her face into his side. She started shaking, and Naruto realized that she was sobbing again. He gently embraced her and rubbed her back soothingly, all the while comforting her by whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

After about five minutes, she calmed down enough to speak again.

"..." She mumbled into his side.

Gently pulling her away from himself and facing her, he asked: "Can you repeat that for me, Em-chan?"

She looked away as if thinking over his offer. She was fighting a war with herself. Her years of growing up alone had taught her one thing; that she could trust no one. The moment she let her guard down, someone would stab her in the back, and steal whatever food and possessions she had on her. Hell, she had done it herself many times. So by all accounts, she shouldn't trust this man. Surely he was waiting, waiting to strike the moment she started to trust him, just to prove that all people were evil, that his daily ramen treat was just a trap— a trap to bring her hopes up and watch sadistically as they all came crashing down.

Then why?

Why did she trust him?

Could she even trust him? She thought. He hadn't led her astray yet, and no one had waited this long to betray her before.

'But he will' A malicious voice whispered in her head, 'Everyone always does. No one cares about you, he has to have some sick plan in his head'.

Yes! There had to be something, she reasoned. She just couldn't wrap her tiny little head around the fact that Naruto, anyone! Could be nice to her just for the sake of being nice. With new defiance and denial in her eyes, she glared weakly at him.

"Why do you care so much!" her voice began in a whisper, but gradually turned into a shout. "What's in it for you! No one is nice to me! No one cares about me! But you seem to, you gave me food, this dress and even some money. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" she finished, with all her emotion in that last shout. She was crying openly again now.

Naruto, to his credit, took the outburst with a calm face. He could relate so much to this girl that it was frightening. He looked at her with a gaze of complete understanding.

'Is this what I would've turned into if I didn't have the Old man Hokage?' He thought inwardly. He realized that the girl was lying to herself. She wouldn't listen to reason as she was right now, and if he just took her with him despite her complaints, it would accomplish nothing. She'd just run away at the first chance she got.

So he decided not to use any words at all. It was time to try out if his ancestor Hagoromo and sensei Jiraiya were really right in their worldview. It was time to use the most prominent power he had, the ability to connect hearts and minds—the power of complete understanding among two people.

The power of Ninshu.

This was a massive step for him, he mused. Ninshu was a soul bond of the highest, most profound level. It bared your entire being to the other person and connected you at your core. It required a lot of trust in each other. He wasn't going to go around giving people Chakra, but even then he was hesitant to form such a close bond with someone. Reluctant to form bonds again, afraid of what people would think of him.

But looking at the angry crying girl sitting in his lap, he made his choice. She needed this. He needed this. This would do them good. For her to trust him, he had to do the same for her. They both needed someone to accept them wholeheartedly, flaws and all.

Trust was a two-way street, after all.

Wordlessly, he raised his fist and held it out to Emerald. The fact that she didn't recoil at the action gave him a measure of satisfaction. She looked at the outstretched hand quizzically, not knowing what to do. Naruto looked at her. His fist. Her hand. Back at her. He wiggled his fist, all the while remaining silent.

A look of realization dawned in those teary red eyes. Naruto wanted to bump fists, she thought. She couldn't understand why but raised her own fist to meet his anyway. Just to prove herself right, she defended. Any moment now, he would catch her fist and turn on her, any moment.

Expecting the worst, she bumped his fist with her own tiny hand.

And then she understood.

Understood everything. Everything about Naruto, from his birth to his departure from his homeworld and his arrival on Remnant. She never would've believed him if he'd told her straight up. And somehow she knew that he understood her as well. She was speechless, as words were not necessary for their conversation.

Retracting his fist from hers, Naruto moved over and picked up the frail girl in his arms.

"Let's go Em-chan, I'll take care of you."

Em could only nod, silently hoping that her life would take a turn for the better. Only time would tell how right she was.

FLASHBACK END

After taking her home, he had fed her and let her heal. Apparently, some older kids had stolen her stuff and made off with it. He made a mental note to find those brats and give them a piece of his mind. Due to their new bond, Em had not run away, and instead taken to calling him 'Papa'. How his heart fluttered whenever he heard that word...

"Papa! Papa! Papa~"

His daughter's sing-songy voice snapped him out of his musing. Looking down, she was glaring at him while poking his cheek.

"Yes, Em-chan?" he asked, ruffling her hair.

"What were you thinking about?" She tilted her head cutely, which made Naruto resist the urge to squeeze the poor dear to death.

"Nothing Em, just remembering some stuff. Lets, go home, shall we?"

"Kay."

Naruto finally had a family now, he had a lovely daughter. And he would protect her with his life.

A/N- Review pls.