A streak of blond weaved in and out of bustling civilians. Eyes were on him as he moved swiftly around them, looking up and down the streets with an inquiring eye. The scornful watches had changed over the years, morphing into a look of disbelief or curiosity. Some still shouldered that overbearing look of disgust and hatred but there was a new, cold indifference directed towards him now. Not understanding why Naruto continued on without looking back.

He paused on the side of the road, glancing down at his red notebook. The boy flipped through a few pages, going over the to-do list he'd written down over a month ago, making sure that what he was looking for would be around here. Naruto had already spent nearly an hour on the streets aimlessly walking around trying to find a weapons shop that would sell things to him. So far, four shops had turned him down but that did not deter the eight-year-old boy in his wanderings. His eyes lit up at the sight of another shop upon turning the corner, pocketing his notebook in his backpack and dashing for it with an exuberance akin to a labrador.

The air-conditioned shop made the boy stop and sigh in content; summer was coming and, with that, more and more heatwaves were ensured. Naruto looked up and down the aisles slowly, finger tapping his chin in wonderment. Kunais, shurikens, staffs, katanas, tantos, and the likes litter the shelves against the walls. In the middle of the store were shelves upon shelves of storage scrolls, scrolls that held different kinds of jutsu, and others similar to it. While all of these different ninja equipment were definitely enticing, even if he had wanted to buy them, their price tags were too expensive to even consider it for a moment.

He wasn't here for that, though; maybe another time, but not today.

"Excuse me, did you need any…" A woman's voice came from behind him and, just as he turned to face her, she paused. The two stared at each other for a moment, Naruto eyeing her movements suspiciously.

"Ma'am?" He tried, gauging what kind of response he'd get from the employee.

"We don't serve your kind here." Her voice was venom in his ears, stern, and quiet as the words finally registered in his mind.

Naruto sneered openly, "What do you mean my kind?" It was the first time he'd heard that term before and, for some reason, it made his blood boil.

She bristled, physically shivering in his presence as she took a step back, "Nevermind that, boy. Get out of my shop."

"I just wanted to see if you had any medical revival practice scrolls." He grumbled heatedly, turning to head back outside.

"Ah, so the demon wants to undo all the pain and suffering he caused, huh? How noble… you're eight years too late. You can't gain our forgiveness back." The older woman snarled out, arms crossed over her chest defensively.

Naruto shook his head, a weird lump in his throat, "Ma'am, I don't even know what you're talking about… I didn't do anything."

"Feigning ignorance, huh? Of course." She scoffed, "Even if I wanted to tell you about all your wrongdoings to this village, I wouldn't even have the words. Disgusting, get out of my shop…" Her cold eyes looked away, arms hugging her mid-section closely. There were tears pricking her eyes when Naruto had glanced at her.

And he paused. Had he made her cry? But… he didn't even do anything.

The eight-year-old shook his head, opening the shop door and stepping through the doorway. He stopped momentarily, "Thank you for your time, ma'am…" She said nothing as he finally left the fifth store that day.

The heat struck him instantly, making Naruto stop to help adjust to it. His face felt hot as anger pooled in his gut. He was used to this, his mind reminded him. It's nothing he hasn't heard before. But the words that the woman said still lingered in the back of his mind. What was that supposed to mean? He was just as human as the rest of the people of Konohagakure.

Your kind…

Naruto shook his head as if he was trying to shake the thought out of his head. He did this often though, shaking his head like a wet down when there was a thought in his head that he didn't like. It's how he'd maintained any sort of positivity when villagers like her popped up in Konoha, shoving down this image of him doing something so horrible that it justified their hate for him. It was… confusing, to say the least, and not at all something that he wished upon anyone else.

No one should be subjected to the kind of ostracization he faced, no matter how much he hated someone.

Naruto persevered through these drowning thoughts, continuing his search through Konoha's ninja shopping district, intent on finding another shop. By the time he'd circled the district a second time, the sun was high in the sky - about noon or one in the afternoon, he supposed in disdain - and there hadn't been a sign of another weapons shop. The back of his mind uttered the words of disappointment Naruto was afraid of dwelling in while his soul kept encouraging him to keep at it. But it had been over two hours of searching with nothing to show.

However, just out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a Jonnin waving to someone inside the building which was conveniently tucked between a large shinobi-only bar and an equally large motel beside it. No wonder he'd missed the small hanging sign above the door reading 'Noboru's Used Weapons and Scrolls', however, underneath it was a FOR SALE sign. The whole store perplexed the academy student so much so that his feet found himself at the door before his mind had registered that he'd done so.

Naruto quietly opened the door, taking a moment to peek his head in before his body made its way into it. Had it not been for the Jonnin he'd seen exit the shop earlier, he would have almost believed that no one was inside. The atmosphere just screamed quiet abandonment; it had definitely seen better days. It seemed like either the air conditioner was broken or the owner didn't have one at all because, to the boy, it felt as hot inside as it did outside. Naruto wiped his forehead before browsing the aisles of old, worn scrolls; well, the sign did say used. Aisle after aisle, the eight-year-old boy searched for the scroll he desperately needed to further his medical training and so far, nothing.

"Excuse me?" A deep voice said from behind him. Naruto whirled around to face the man. "Sorry if I startled you." There was an easy smile on his scarred, olden face, "You seem to be a little frustrated. Did you need any assistance?"

The blond blinked in surprise from the kind voice speaking to him, standing up from his crouched position he took earlier to look at the contents on the bottom shelf. He gave the older man a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck, "Um, yes, thank you, sir. That would be awesome."

"Noboru, at your service, then." The man beamed, "So, kid, what're you looking for?" He questioned, looking the boy in the eye.

There was a pause before Naruto looked up, a determined plea seated on his face. "Medical revival practice scrolls." He stated clearly.

A curious look flashed minutely against the man's face before it was replaced with a somber sadness. He looked off, eyes darting around the shop. "Sorry, kid." He gruffed out, rubbing his neck, "I have sold one of those scrolls in years. Ever since Tsunade-sama left the village all those years ago, the number of people buying those types of scrolls are practically slim to none. It was so much so that even I had to stop purchasing those to stock the shelves as no one was buying them."

"What?" Naruto's face visibly fell in shock. Did he miss something in "The Slug Sannin: Tales of the Greatest Medic" or in the green book Iruka had gifted him? Was it hidden somewhere in between the lines praising Tsunade's work in medical jutsu that everyone's desire to help those in need as a medic died when she'd left the village? He felt his heart fall to his stomach, a deep sadness falling over him. After almost three hours, five shops, and an earful from a woman who hated him, he'd failed to acquire one thing. What would it be like for him if he continued with this new dream? Should he give up?

No!

Naruto lifted his head, "Sir, please, do you have anything left from all those years ago? Anything at all would work."

Noboru paused, taken aback by the fire in the boy's eyes. He thought back to his shop's stock but couldn't come up with anything. "I don't want to get your hopes up, kid, because I can tell how passionate about this you are. However, I have a feeling that there could be something in the back that I'd be willing to sell you." He waved a hand to a doorway with an old red curtain hanging over it.

"Really?!"

"I said don't get your hopes up, though." He raised his hands in defense, motioning for the eight-year-old to follow him to the back, "As I'm in the process of packing my stock up in hopes of selling this place, there could be boxes of old stuff I'd forgotten in the weapons recession that happened way before you were born."

Naruto followed like a lost puppy, weaving between dust-ridden shelves and weapons that could have been on display once. The words finally settled in his brain once the excitement had finally passed. He bowed once, "Thank you, sir, for going through the trouble!"

The older man waved off the words, a soft smile on his face as they finally reached a bunch of boxes stacked precariously on top of each other. He swiped away some of the dust obscuring some writing on the cardboard, taking a minute to read it. Noboru hummed, "These boxes were packed away over fourteen years old. Geez, I must be getting old if I don't even remember myself packing these away."

Naruto laughed at that, "I seriously can't thank you enough, sir."

"Well, you can put all that gratitude into helping me go through these boxes, kid." The man shook his head but looked thoroughly amused.

It took roughly about forty-five minutes to go through all the boxes littering the back of the shop but their efforts proved somewhat fruitful. Most of the scrolls were, surprisingly, blank. Noboru explained that around nine to fifteen years ago, there was a boom in people trying to learn how to seal. At the confused glance the owner had gotten, the older man explained that, due to the late Fourth Hokage's popularity, many of his fans wanted to imitate the prosperous sealing art he'd perfected and used during the height of his ninja career. However, after his passing, the sealing art popularity boom quickly died out.

Amongst the majorly blank scrolls were four medical revival scrolls, although they were tattered and worn with age. Noboru had gone over the scrolls and identified that they were roughly over twenty years old - probably around Tsunade Senju's golden age, he'd mentioned. The other ones that the duo had found were either too torn up beyond repair or smeared on the inside from water damage the store had sustained during some monsoon seasons, making them useless for practicing medical ninjutsu.

Naruto carefully ran his fingers over every weathered fold of the scroll, eyes soft and happy. He looked up at the older man, "May I purchase all of them, sir?"

Noboru shook his head, sighing heavily, "I can't, in good conscience, sell something that is that beaten and torn up to a customer. So, just take them, kid. I doubt that anyone is going to be looking for a medical revival scroll."

"I-" The blond paused, eyes wide and hands shaking around the scrolls he held in his arms, "I can't just take them, sir."

"'Course you can." Noboru smiled softly, "You just walk out the door with them and, if anyone asks me, I'll just tell them that you bargained with me and paid me something small."

Sky-blue eyes welled up with tears but wouldn't fall. Naruto glanced up with grateful eyes and laughed, "Thank you… Thank you so much, sir."

"It's nothing, kid." The shop owner waved a hand, dismissing the small gesture, "However, I was wondering something."

"Hm?"

"What's a kid like you doing trying to learn medical ninjutsu of all things? It's not that I have anything against it, I was simply curious. Most kids your age are still chasing after crushes and doing hooligan things or if they're actually serious about becoming a ninja, they're still stuck on flashy jutsu and learning how to throw punches." Noboru explained, pulling out a cigarette before pausing, "Mind if I smoke, kid?"

"Um, not at all." Naruto shook his head, waiting for him to continue.

The man drew a long breath from the cancer stick before starting again, "In my time, I have only ever met twelve medics. Of those twelve, Tsunade-sama and two others are still around." The blond-haired academy student let the words settle in, stiffening up at the thought. "They had only gotten up to Chunin level before they died in action saving someone off a battlefield or killed themselves from the trauma of not being able to save everyone." Noboru let the cigarette smoke drag across his tongue, suddenly looking much older than he was, "And, kid? It takes years and years of hard work to even be considered adept by the higher-ups. So, why? What is so special about medical ninjutsu to you?" There was no bite to his words, just an honest curiosity and a slap with a reality check.

"I want… I just want to be acknowledged by the village." Naruto stated shyly, looking away, clutching the scrolls in his arms tightly, "My teacher, Iruka-sensei, said in one of our lessons at the academy that people who master medical ninjutsu are praised for saving the lives of others. I just want people to look at me with hope rather than…"

"Than hate." Noboru finished.

Blue eyes met olden ones. He took a deep breath, "Sir, do you know why they hate me so much?" The pause in the air was all the confirmation the blond needed. "Why won't anyone tell me?" The words were more for himself than the other man, but he'd heard.

"It's against the law, kid." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "If it bothers you that much, go speak with the Hokage but, if you want to have a better focus on your dreams, then I would suggest leaving it for when you're older."

"Why?"

"Because, what if you don't like the answer and you no longer want to help people?" Noboru questioned, "The boy I see before me is passionate and kind with a soul of pure innocent need to help people. I haven't seen someone that kind in so long. And maybe it's selfish of me to want you to succeed in your dreams but, I believe that Konoha needs kids like you, kids that want the best of the world so that old geezers like me can go into retirement happy as a fiddle knowing that our village is safe with kids like you."

Naruto's eyes welled with tears for a second time that afternoon, this time, a hand came to swipe at them as he maintained eye-contact with the older man. "No one… has ever said something like that to me." He sniffled, "Well, Iruka-sensei says he believes I can do anything I set my mind to and Hokage-Jiji just tells me he's proud of me, but… you… We don't even know each other so why would you tell me something like that?"

"Because I believe that you could be a pretty damn good medic." Noboru gave the kid an earnest smile, "The dream you hold is a wonderful dream and I hope to see it prosper in front of you. And, yeah, we don't know each other, but just take this moment as an old geezer trying to give his wisdom before he kicks the bucket, alright? Not all things are going to make sense when you're this young but you'll remember this moment when you're older."

The Uzumaki boy nodded proudly, staring at the scrolls again, "Is it really okay for me to have these for free?"

"If you ask me again, I'll take them back." Noboru laughed at the possessive look he got.

"No, I… I won't ask again." Naruto mumbled out, the owner walking the boy out of the back and into the main part of the shop. They paused at the door. "Thank you, for everything." He smiled.

"Anytime, kid." He leaned against the wall, watching the boy's hand reach for the doorknob, "Oh, and Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever seem to find yourself in the need of something, come back here and I'll see what I can fix you up with." Noboru grinned, "I'll remember you when you become a medic."

"Thank you, sir!" Naruto bowed before dashing out of the store, four scrolls clutched in his arms. He ran all the way back home, not even stopping to apologize when he accidentally ran into a shop vendor as he passed through the civilian shopping district. As he approached his apartment, he paused, mind thinking back to the shop owner's last words.

"I didn't tell him my name…" Were the only words that escaped his mouth. The blond glanced back at the direction he'd come from as if Noboru would be standing behind him. "How did he know my name?" He whispered, looking down at the scrolls a final time before making his way into his apartment.

The following morning, Naruto found himself back in town but, this time, simply aimlessly walking. The heatwave from yesterday had subsided, a nice breeze blowing this time. The blond had popped another hard candy in his mouth, knowing not to bite down or else his teeth could chip, crack, or even break. He'd learned this from a pamphlet about dentists he had picked up from a trash can on his way home from school.

In his aimless walking, Naruto found himself with one of his notebooks in his hand, eyes running over the pages he was rereading in quick succession. The notes he was going over again were about written in his red notebook - the idea book, the to-do list, the 'something for later' book; whatever you wanted to call it - had questions and small notations about the idea of healing oneself without the use of any hand signs. So far, the only accounts of it being possible were that of Hashirama Senju - the First Hokage - and his granddaughter and slug Sannin, Tsunade Senju.

In Jiraiya's book "The Slug Sannin: Tales of the Greatest Medic", he'd gone over multiple eye-witness accounts of his teammate learning and utilizing the method over the years before her disappearance from the Leaf Village. There, Naruto had read about how both Tsunade and her late grandfather - which he read about in one of the books he'd nabbed from the library when Massan was on duty - would be in the midst of battle looking absolutely beaten and broken. Then, when all hope was lost, the two would simply stand up without an injury littering their bodies. No one could figure out how or why they were able to do this without some form of hand sign. Naruto had even gone to the Third Hokage with questions for the man to answer but even he couldn't give the academy student anything useful about his old teacher.

He still has no idea how either Hashirama or Tsunade do it.

"Naruto!" A familiar voice called from him.

The eight-year-old raised his head from his notebook, blinking in surprise to see Kiba – one of his classmates – and his dog running towards him. Naruto smiled brightly, waving excitedly at the two, "Kiba, Akamaru! Hey!"

Akamaru barked, running circles around the boy's legs as Kiba finally approached him. The dog left Naruto's side to stand beside his Inuzuka owner, "Yo, Naruto, how are you?"

"I'm doing alright, I suppose. Just trying to get some studying in, you know?" The blond beamed, waving at his notebook that he pushed back into his backpack, all attention on the duo before him.

"Ah, so the whole medical stuff wasn't actually a joke then." The brunette slapped his forehead, Akamaru barking his agreement as well.

He cocked his head to the side in question, eyebrows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Rumors have been going around the school that you'd picked up medic stuff and I didn't believe it because you're the number one troublemaker around here!" Kiba barked out a laugh, clutching his sides as he collected himself, "But I guess it makes sense. You haven't made one of those cool, flashy pranks in like months!" His hands waved wildly around, "It's like you vanished!"

Naruto laughed awkwardly, scratching at his cheek sheepishly, "Yeah, um, sorry about that, I guess. I've just been preoccupied for a while. I don't have much time anymore for pranking." In actuality, he hadn't thought to make any kind of prank whatsoever since he got involved with medical ninjutsu. It just didn't appeal to him anymore. Maybe that's what those odd looks he got yesterday morning were about, he mused to himself.

"Man, that must suck!" Kiba whined, crossing his arms over his chest before his eyes widened and he smirked, "Why do you help me prank my older sister today?! Hana's been an ass to me for a few days for some reason and I really want revenge! Want to help me?" His eyes were wide, puppy dog eyes shining brightly at him.

"Kiba, I really can't, sorry. I've got a lot of stuff I have to get done." The blond-haired boy said sadly, "Maybe some other time?" He offered with a crooked grin.

The other boy grinned brightly, "Yeah, of course! Just don't back out of it when I ask again!"

"I won't." Naruto chuckled, watching as the boy and his dog left with a run.

"What's this? You haven't pranked anyone in months?" A sarcastic voice questioned from behind him.

The boy swiveled around, a large smile spreading on his face, "Iruka-sensei!" He bounded forward, giving his teacher a big hug.

The brunette shook his head in exasperation, patting the boy's back as he was released from the hug, "I'm guessing it's because of that book I gave you, right?"

Naruto nodded proudly, "Yeah, that and I've been trying to branch out a bit and find different books and scrolls to help me out. Thank you, again, for letting me use your book."

Iruka waved him off, "Well, I should have done that years ago if I would have known that it would stop your pranking."

"Hey! I'm not stopping my pranks... I'm just... waiting? Yeah, that's what I'm doing. Waiting for the right time to strike." The eight-year-old academy student gave his teacher an evil smirk, waggling his fingers in front of his face.

Iruka rolled his eyes, "Sure you were."

"I was!" He countered.

"Whatever the case may be, would you perhaps like to get some ramen with me?" The older man asked, pointing in the direction of Ichiraku's Ramen.

Naruto's eyes shone brightly as he nodded quickly, "Yes, please!"

On the way there and even after the two had ordered their food, the blond-haired boy could not help but talk his teacher's ear off. At first, it had started by Iruka asking what all his student had learned so far about medical ninjutsu. As he did, in fact, read through "Introduction to Medical Ninjutsu" when he'd first purchased the book, Iruka would say he had a good grasp on the things the blond could potentially bring up.

To Naruto's immediate surprise, his teacher was an avid listener to the boy's intellectual analysis of several aspects and concepts of medical techniques and the likes of. They had gone back and forth, talking in great detail about the basis of medical ninjutsu until Iruka could no longer provide any input as that was the extent of what he'd learned. It wasn't disheartening though as the man still latched onto every word the boy said in between bowl after bowl of ramen. Between the blond's incessant slurping sound and Naruto's rather loud and passionate voice, Iruka was almost positive that other customers weren't too happy about their presence.

The old man who ran Ichiraku's Ramen and his daughter listened intently, smiling brightly at their favorite customer who continued to go on and on about 'doctor stuff' as they put it. After he'd exhausted his knowledge earlier into their conversation, Iruka bets that he didn't even get a word in while Naruto talked his ear off about all the cool and fascinating things that a medic ninja or doctor could do or some odd poison/treatment he'd never heard of.

Iruka smiled slightly, finishing off his food as Naruto kept talking. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder, halting him from speaking. The eight-year-old blinked in surprise before his cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. He gave a sheepish grin. "Naruto, I'm so proud of you." Iruka returned the grin back full force, "Keep up the great work."

Naruto's eyes couldn't have shined any brighter at that moment.

A/N - Yo, been a hot while hasn't it? I had a lot of personal stuff going on and could not spare a moment for this story so I picked it up whenever I felt like it. So, we're now at a point where Liam has now turned into Noboru and has more character than Liam ever did. I had a lot of plans for Liam in the original story that I never got to because I feared what everyone would say about his name and whatnot or generally not liking his character. I aged him up quite a lot - I would probably say he's roughly fifty or so. I hope you like his rewrite because I genuinely enjoyed writing Noboru. Plus, the little shop having 'scrolls in the back' makes so much more sense now than it did. Oh, and there's now lore! My favorite!

Other than that, I really do hope to keep writing these chapters every couple of weeks because it was enjoyable to do so and put me in a world where my problems don't exist. Maybe I'll post another chapter on my birthday - it's only ten days from now as its currently March 1st at 12:55 AM :D

Have a great rest of your day everyone, I'll see you soon! (Oh, and I'll be actively responding to comments/messages this time around if you'd like to chat a little).