Naruto was, of course, overjoyed when I gave him his gift. It spurred him into a long story about how in the Academy kids would always steal his lunch money out of his pockets and then he'd get punished by the teachers for 'losing' his allowance.

"After that I started keeping my money in my goggles so it didn't happen anymore but then I got my super awesome leaf headband and I had to keep my money in my pockets again but now that I have Gama-chan I can fill him up with coins and it'll be way easier to tell if someone is trying to pull him out of my pocket to steal from me!" Naruto enthused. "Man, if I had this back at the Academy I'd never have had to worry about that stupid finder's keepers rule at all!"

"That wasn't a rule back when I went to the academy." I regretted my words as soon as I said them. I hoped the kid wouldn't hear, too caught up in his story to tell that I had said anything. But apparently the novelty of my speaking at all during one of his rants was enough to catch his attention.

"Huh? You went to the academy?" Naruto eagerly asked. "But you're a civilian!"

I sighed, more annoyed at myself than him. I brought this on myself after all. "I went for a while. But then my immediate family got killed in the third war and I was finally allowed to drop out and go to civilian school." I explained. I looked up at Naruto's unusual silence after that to see him with a soft look on his face.

"...What were they like?" He asked timidly.

I felt a sad smile work its way onto my lips. "My family? Well…" I hesitated but in the end decided to tell him. In a way, we're both orphans after all. "I was an only child. Mother didn't seem so keen on having children. It was my father who really adored me, even if he couldn't be around very often. I was such a spoiled little brat back then. I got everything I wanted and could do whatever I pleased, but it was never enough because my father wasn't around when I wanted him to." I chuckled softly. "It feels like a lifetime ago. I loved my parents and I realize now that they loved me, but in the end I still left them. I mean they left me." I corrected myself hastily. "I thought I knew the meaning of sacrifice. I didn't know how lucky I was back then, didn't understand that some parents abuse their children and some children don't have parents at all. I guess… I don't really regret… it. There was no way I could have known, nothing else I could have done."

I suspect that incident is what led to Naruto making good on his promise to bring his teammates to the shop. Unfortunately for my sanity it happened on one of the worst possible days.


Notes:

Hi guys, I baaaack~! I just started posting another Naruto fic called 'Welcome to the M.A.D. House'. It's about how I think Konoha would deal with disabling conditions, injuries and diseases, and a girl from the my invention; Medical Anomalies Division (M.A.D.) who got onto team 7. So leave a review here and go check that story out on my profile. And have a great day!