Naruto, waking up to the bright early sun, turned away from the brightness and tried to go back to sleep. He wrapped himself in a cocoon within the blankets, covering his head. A knock was then heard, making the blonde groan. He tried to ignore it and pretended that he wasn't home. But, unfortunately, the knocking wouldn't go away.

Having enough of the annoying sound, Naruto got out of bed and stomped to the door, grumbling. When he got there, he unlocked it and angrily open the door, "What?!"

"Well good morning to you too, Naruto."

Recognizing the voice, the blonde's anger disappeared in an instant. He looked up to see Kai Namikaze looking down at him with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile. Feeling embarrassed, he rubs the back of his head, "Sorry Kai." He took a step away for her to enter. She did so with the invitation.

Following her into his home, they walked into the kitchen. Naruto hadn't noticed the bag that Kai was carrying until she put it on the table. Confused, he asked, "What's in the bag Kai?"

She smiled, "It's a secret."

He pouted, "Aw come on! You can tell me!"

She chuckled, "Nope."

Still pouting, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and turned away from her. Chuckling, Kai walked up to him and ruffle his hair, "Anyways, go and get ready. You don't want to keep being in your pajamas do you?" He looked down at his attire and rubs the back of his head, chuckling, "I guess not." Naruto then left Kai alone after her shooing him to go and get ready.

Once he was ready for the day; wearing his no sleeve orange hoodie with a blue short sleeve shirt, green pants, and wristbands, he smiles to himself in the mirror before running down the hall back to the kitchen. He almost tripped if it wasn't for Kai, who suddenly appeared from the kitchen door, and caught him. "Whoa, what's the hurry Naruto?" asked Kai, helping him to stand on his feet.

Getting his footing, the hyperactive blonde smiles up at her, "Nothing! Just wanted to get ready before you had left. Believe it!" Chuckling, she puts a hand on his head, "Don't worry Naruto. I won't be going anywhere today. I'll be going back on missions in two days." Excited, he exclaims, "Alright! So that means you're free today right?" She gave him a nervous smile, "Uh, actually. I'm quite busy today Naruto. Sorry."

His heart deflated in disappointment at her answer, "What? What else are you busy with?" Rubbing the back of her neck, she apologetically smiles, "I can't say. Sorry, Naruto." He glumly looks downcast before smiling up at her, "Nah, it's fine Kai. You're a full-fledged ninja! Ninja's are always busy even when they're not on missions. So it's alright if you can't hang with me today. We can still hang tomorrow or the day after that."

She smiled at his big heart and hugged him. He hugged back, tightly wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into her chest. Letting go of each other, Kai ruffles his hair, "Now go outside and have fun." Grinning, he nods, "Alright!" Taking off to the front door, he put his sandals on and opens the door, "I'm off!"

"Have a great day!"

Smiling at the response, Naruto shut the door behind him and ran down the stairs. He was happy. Happy that someone finally responds to him when he goes out. Kai never usually do it often since it was almost always him telling her to be safe when she goes on her missions. It was during those times when he doesn't see her that he would always feel lonely. So to finally be able to hear her tell him to have a great day, it made him really happy.

Just as quickly as his smile appeared, it soon disappeared. Looking around at his surrounding, he noticed that he was about a block away from the markets. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know what to do today. He couldn't go to the markets. Not after the display of what happened the last time he tried to touch a mask from one of the vendors. There was definitely no way was he going to do that again.

With everyone staring at him with those eyes. Eyes filled with anger, hate, and fear. He hated seeing those. So he tried to keep his distance away from the villagers. Yet, he couldn't. He really wants to make some friends… or at least a friend. Well, other than beside Kai since she was more to him than a friend. Shaking his head from his thoughts, Naruto turned into another street. One that didn't lead to the markets.

Putting his arms behind his head, he starts to wonder what he should do today. There really wasn't much for him to do. The only thing that he usually does is either go and relax on the Fourth Hokage's Head, to the park where kids his age are always at, or to the forest where he always plays in. Thinking about the forest, Naruto forgot that non-ninja's were forbidden to go. Apparently, they were still scavenging and cleaning up the place. Making sure that no enemy ninja's make their way inside the village.

He frowned, "Well, the forest is off limits and I really don't feel like going to the Hokage Monument." Rejecting the two off his list, the only thing that was left was the park. Shrugging, he decided to go there and hope that maybe he could finally have some friends.

The walk there didn't take him long. The distance from his home to the park was about ten minutes long. When he arrived there, he could hear kids shouting and laughing. Taking a deep breath, he slowly walked up the steps and stood himself at the entrance. Some of the children's shout and laughter died down when they saw him.

With a nervous smile, he waves to them, "Hey! Can I play with you guys?" They smiled and was about to say yes until their parents, who were watching them, came and pulled them farther away.

"What are doing? I told you to never talk to him."

Dejected, Naruto slowly dropped his hand back to his side and turned around to leave. He mumbled, "I should've chosen to go to the Monument." Feeling the anger and sadness welling up inside him, he took off running, his bangs hiding his eyes.

'Why? Why is it always only me?'

The sky was clear. With some clouds here and there. They were passing by as the day went. Or they were probably being pushed by the wind.

Sighing, Naruto sat up from his laying position on top of the Fourth's Head. He pulled his knees up to wrap his arms around them. With downcast eyes, he softly mumbles, "Happy Birthday… to me." He then buries his head into his knees.

Today was the loneliest day of all for him. He didn't want to admit it when he saw Kai this morning. But he couldn't believe that she had forgotten that today was his birthday. Not once has she forgotten. He didn't know if he should feel sad… Sad that she had forgotten and left him alone on his birthday. Or angry that of all days for her to be busy just had to be today. But as he thought about it, he knew he shouldn't feel that way about her.

She was busy. A ninja who has dedicated her life to protect the Hokage and the Village. And yet… he still couldn't help but feel that she was slipping away from him. Going somewhere far and leaving him behind.

He didn't know when his tears have started to fall. His sight was blurry from the tears as it cascades down his face. Feeling stupid for thinking these negative thoughts, he sniffled as he quickly wiped the tears away with his arms.

Once he felt that there were no more tears, he brought his hands up and slaps himself on his cheeks. He flinched a bit at the sting but snapped himself out from his depression. Standing up, he brought his arms up and shouted, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to become Hokage! There will never be anything to bring me down! Believe it!"

"Is that right?"

Surprised by the voice, Naruto jumped at least a foot into the air and almost fell off. Quickly getting his footing, he turns around to the owner of the voice just to see a man with messy brown hair, green eyes, and a scar on his mouth. Naruto pointed at him and shouted, "Who are you?" The man smirked, "That's really none of your business kid." Irked, Naruto was about to shout at him again until the man said something that caught his attention.

"So this is the brat. Man, this mission is too easy."

"Mission?" Naruto asked, confused on what he meant. Something then caught his eyes. Seeing a glinting light coming from the man's shoulder, Naruto could see that it was a ninja headband. But what was wrong about the headband was that it didn't have the Hidden Leaf symbol. No, it instead held the symbol of the Hidden Waterfall.

His eyes widen and backed away from the enemy ninja. 'He's from the same village as those three girls that tried to kill me those days ago!' Naruto frighteningly thought.

The man chuckled, snapping Naruto out from his thoughts. Slowly backing away, the young Uzumaki quickly tried to make a jump for it. But he was stopped by a kunai being thrown in front of his feet. He flinched at how close it was to his toes.

"Now, now. You aren't going anywhere."

Turning back around to look at the enemy ninja, Naruto asked, "What is it that you want from me? It's not like I haven't done anything wrong! Believe it!"

The man chuckles, "Oh I know you didn't do anything, boy. It's just that capturing you is my mission."

Before he could ask what he meant by that, the man instantly disappeared from his sight. Scared of where he might be, Naruto wasn't able to find where the enemy was until something hard hit the back of his neck. He then blacked out.

Groggily opening his eyes, Naruto tried to sit up. But feeling his arms and legs bound, he fully snapped his eyes open and looked down at his situation. He was bounded by ropes in the middle of the forest. The blue sky was starting to turn orange, telling the young blonde that it was close to sunset.

Afraid of where the man might've taken him, he quickly struggled to try and set himself free. He froze when the man spoke, "It's futile to resist. You're going to die once the sun sets." Scared, Naruto looked at him, "Why are you trying to kill me? It's not like I did anything to you! Or those girls who were your comrades."

He chuckles, "Oh I know. It was thanks to the leaf ninja's getting in the way that they didn't accomplish their mission. They deserved to be executed for being nothing but a pathetic excuse of a ninja."

Angered by his words, Naruto was about to shout at him until he started walking towards him. The man held a weapon on one hand when he made a grab for the boy. Afraid again, Naruto started to squirm and shout, "No! Stay away from me!" He tried to caterpillar himself away but it was futile when he saw the enemy's feet appeared in front of his face. Looking up at him, the man was looking down at him with a smirk, "Don't worry kid. Like I said, I'll be killing you when the sun sets. Right now it just barely is. So you still get to live for a little while longer."

Glad that he wasn't about to die yet, Naruto tried to grab for the kunai that was in his pocket. He was happy that he had never once left the house without it. Ever since that incident within the forest with Iruka, Kai had given him one of her special made kunai. She had told him that if he was ever to be in a bind, like now, he was to use it and she'll come in a flash to save him.

Feeling the metal handle of the kunai, he was almost able to grab it out of his pocket. That is until the ninja saw what he was doing and grabbed it out for him. Naruto shouted, "Hey! Give that back!" Inspecting the weapon in his hand, the man glinted it up from above, "Now why in the world would a kid like you have something like this?" He then scoffs, "This weapon looks pathetic."

Naruto became angry at his words, "Well if it's pathetic than give it back to me! Kai gave that to me. So give it back!"

The man raised an eyebrow, "Kai?" he then squats down to be eye level with the blonde, Naruto glaring at him. Putting the kunai in eyesight, he asked, "Say, kid. When you said, Kai… Do you mean Kai Namikaze?" The young blonde's glare faltered and hesitatingly asked, "Why do you ask?" With an evil grin, the man chuckles darkly. Instead of answering the boy's question, he asked another question, "So this kunai belonged to Kai Namikaze. Right?"

Not liking where this was going, Naruto stuttered, "Y-yeah."

Chuckling, the man threw his head back and laughed, "This is amazing!" Looking back at the blonde, the man smiled with a sinister look on his face, "Looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone!"

"W-what do you mean? What are you talking about?"

Turning the special kunai in his hand, the man answered him, "You see. Kai Namikaze, who is also known as 'The Yellow Flash Prodigy', his father made my father give this scar to me." He touched the scar on his mouth. Not understanding, Naruto asked, "But what does Kai have anything to do with it?"

"Everything!" the man shouted, swinging his arm, that held the kunai, around. He angrily looks at the boy, "It's because of his father making mine unable to continue as a Shinobi, my father had wasted himself away. Abusing me, taking his anger out on me!" Panting, the man took a deep breath to calm himself. Once he was calmed, he slowly exhales, "My father was so abusive that he had killed my mother." Lifting his hand, he grips it into a tight fist, "That was when something snapped in me and I killed my very own father. It was then, that I realized that if the Fourth Hokage hadn't made my father retire from being a Shinobi, my life would have been that much different."

Confused and angry, Naruto shouted, "But that has nothing to do with Kai! I mean, sure his dad made your dad unable to be a ninja anymore. But that doesn't mean that he did it."

The man pointed the kunai at him, "But he is the Fourth's son. Since the man who had made my father a miserable man is dead, the next best thing to get revenge is to kill the kin."

Naruto didn't like where this was going one bit. He started squirming again. The male chuckle darkly, "There's no use in trying to get out." Naruto stopped struggling when the man walked to stand in front of him. With a kick to his stomach, the young Uzumaki coughed at the pain. The man turned the boy onto his back with his feet and inspected the weapon, "You know. I have a better idea."

Roughly breathing, Naruto looked up at the enemy when he looked down at him, "I should kill you with this kunai. That way, when I kill Namikaze, it'll look like he killed you instead." He then looks up at the sky and saw that night has fallen. Grinning, the man looks down at him, "Sorry kid. If you want to blame anyone for getting you killed. Blame the Fourth and his kin." Naruto's eyes widen as he watched the man raise the kunai that Kai had given him and tightly shut his eye for the painful death. But nothing happened until he heard a clang.

Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto shouted in happiness, "Kai!"

Kai had stopped the assassination with one of her kunai in hand. The two were battling each other out by putting strength into their arms. The man glared at her, "Kai Namikaze!" She glared back, "I don't know who you are. But I don't appreciate anyone trying to kill Naruto or anyone else who is precious to me."

Jumping away, the male gritted his teeth, "How did you know where to find us? I made sure my tracks were well hidden."

Gripping onto her kunai, she prepared herself for battle, "You hid them well. But the only thing you couldn't hide well was hiding Naruto away from me."

Confused by what she meant, he narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"

"I marked him with a special seal. One that is permanently marked onto him even after I die."

She then shouts for someone behind her, "Kakashi! Free Naruto and get out of here!"

Naruto jumped in surprise when he saw the silver-haired Jounin. He had cut him loose of the ropes and helped him up to stand. Kakashi turned his attention to her, "I'm not leaving you, Kai. This man is an enemy who has infiltrated the Village."

She nodded, "I know. I was already planning on bringing him back to the T&I squad for questioning."

The man gritted his teeth and quickly did hand signs, "I don't think so! Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spears!"

Kakashi, who had grabbed Naruto, and Kai jumped away from the jutsu. Seeing that she was now in the air, the enemy did quick hand signs, "Fire Style: Flame Whirlwind!" Naruto cried out as he tried to reach for her, "Kai!" But it was too late. She was engulfed by the flames.

He struggled within the older Jounins hold, "Let me go! Kai!" Kakashi held a firm grip on the boy, "It's alright! She's fine!" The young blonde glared at him, "How would you know?!" Sighing, he gestured his head to the enemy, "Look. Over there."

Looking to where he had gestured, Naruto's eyes brightened when he saw that Kai was alright. She even had the enemy bound in ropes. He exclaimed, "Whoa! How did she do that so fast? She was so far away from him, but now she's right next to him! Believe it!" Putting a hand on his head, Kakashi smiled, "She isn't a Jounin for nothing, you know." All he got was a nod.

The man grunted as he struggles within his imprisonment, "How did you get to me so quickly? You were still in mid-air! So how could you have gotten me?"

She held her special kunai that he held in her hand, "This. This kunai was also embedded with my seal. I think you can guess the rest."

Understanding, the man grunted. Kakashi and Naruto walked up to her, "I'll take him to the T&I squad. You go ahead and spend the time with Naruto," said Kakashi, smiling. With a smile, she nodded, "Thanks, Kakashi." He nodded and took the bound up male with him, poofing out of sight.

Naruto looked up at her when he heard her sigh. He nervously spoke, "Kai." She looked down at him and softly smile, "Come on Naruto. It's late. You should be home." Disappointed on not wanting to hear what he wanted, he sadly nodded, "Okay." She crouched down and without any hesitation, Naruto accepted the piggyback ride.

As she was jumping from one branch to another, she broke the silence, "You didn't get hurt… Did you Naruto?" He laid his head on her shoulder, "No. He just kicked me in the stomach but other than that, I'm fine." Her grip tightened on his leg when he mentioned that he got kicked in the stomach. But relaxed when nothing else happened.

With a sigh, she softly spoke, "I'm sorry you got hurt, Naruto. I promised that I will protect you better from now on."

He frowned, "It's okay, Kai. I know you won't always be there to save me. So I'll become stronger. That way, you don't have to worry about me." He then chuckles, "Of course, I'll become stronger than you that way I can protect you myself! Believe it!"

Chuckling, she sighs, "Alright."

He grinned.

When they have finally arrived back into the Village, Naruto got off of Kai's back and walked next to her to go back to his place. Kai had asked him what else had happened while he was kidnapped and he had explained everything to her.

Humming, Kai put her hands into her pockets, "So, he's bitter because of what my father did huh?" He nodded, "Yeah. He seems to have some kind of a screw loose." She put a hand on his head, "You're wrong Naruto. Those who are hurt tend to lead their anger onto someone else. For him, I guess he had wanted to blame someone for a very long time. Especially with the abuse that he had to grow up with." Naruto walked in silence as he contemplated her words.

It wasn't long before the two finally arrived at his apartment. Taking a key out, Kai unlocked his door and smiled, "Welcome home Naruto." He stared at her before smiling, "I'm home!"

When they walked inside, Naruto had already taken his shoe off before Kai did and walked to turn on the lights. The darkness of the room was soon quickly filled with bright lights. He jumped and screamed when three birthday poppers popped, "Happy Birthday Naruto!" Falling on his arse, he looked up to see a smiling Iruka and an annoyed Uchiha holding poppers in their hands. Wondering where the third came from, he looked behind him to see Kai standing there with a smile, holding a birthday popper as well.

Getting off from the ground, he questioningly looked at them, "What's all this?"

Iruka walked up to the blonde, "It's a birthday party of course. Your birthday to be exact."

Grinning, Kai ruffles his hair, "You didn't think I would forget about your birthday now did you?"

He looked over at the brooding Uchiha. Sasuke noticed him looking at him and looks away, "I only came because Kai made me." Face splitting into a giant smile, Naruto started to hug both Iruka and Kai, "Thank you so much!"

The two smiled when they saw tears of joy flowing down his face. Sasuke saw this as well and irritatedly said, "You're such a loser if you're going to cry on your birthday." Irked by his words, Naruto shouted, "You would be too if it was yours, Sasuke!" Iruka sweatdropped and tried to get the two to stop fighting and enjoy the food and cake that Kai had prepared.

That night, was the best night and birthday that Naruto had ever gotten. He would always remember the very birthday where it wasn't just him or Kai anymore. Instead, it was with two more others.

Happy Birthday, Naruto Uzumaki! And to those whose birthdays are also October 10th!