Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

Mikan was a little worried.

Call her stupid for it, but the typhoon hit early and now there was a LOT of rain falling down from the sky all across Japan. There was no way that her family didn't get caught up in it, and even though she was sure her father and Naruto would be safe, she was actually worried about Rito and if something would happen to him that could cause the others to need to do something stupid to save him.

The roads were dangerous as well.

"The school trip..." Lala pouted as she looked out the window.

She would have tried to use her inventions to stop the typhoon, but Naruto wasn't here at the moment to tell her which direction she needed to fly in. She would have needed him to guide her in the air to where the typhoon was coming from, and without him or Rito, she had been forced to stay home while the school trip coming up would no doubt be cancelled.

"Aren't you worried about the boys?" Mikan asked Lala.

Lala just tilted her head.

"Isn't Naruto there though?" Lala asked as if it was the obvious question. With Naruto there, didn't that mean that Rito was going to be safe for sure, and the father of the family seemed like a capable guy. Naruto was really strong for a human, even more than that, he was strong by the standards of most alien species. There was no way he would let anything bad happen to his family while he was around. "... do you think the school trip is going to stay cancelled?" Lala pouted as she asked Mikan the question.

Mikan nodded her head.

"School has been cancelled for at least 2 days, maybe 3 if the storm doesn't stop by then. Look on the bright side, Naruto will be happy. He hates school trips." Mikan had to grin to herself at that.

There were two girls in Naruto's school year that always harassed him on school trips, according to what Naruto told her, and it made him hate trips with a passion. The two most perverted girls at the school that Naruto made it a point to try to avoid whenever he possibly could, unless he so happened to prank one of them.

Lala's tail was droopy.

"But... I wanted to go with Naruto..." Lala was an adorable person by nature.

Even Mikan had to admit that.

"We can always play majong to pass the time, I never beat Naruto at anything involving gambling, but with the two of us the game can be pretty fair." Mikan was bored, and a game sounded like the thing to pass the time and take her mind off of worrying.

"Naruto gambles?"

"Naruto doesn't gamble, he wins... I have had to play more than 1000 rounds of different games against him, and I've never won. He is blessed by the divine or something, because he never loses anything involving ANY kind of luck... and to make up for it life likes to kick him in the butt." Mikan stated as she reached under the couch and pulled out Majong. "I would say he cheats, but he doesn't, and I hate it." Mikan beat Rito all the time in games, but she just did not beat Naruto at anything that was not a video game.

He wasn't so great at those for some reason.

Lala sat down across Mikan.

"... Is Naruto mad at me for something?" Lala asked Mikan after a moment. "I get the feeling he's mad at me. Did I do something wrong?" Lala had felt that there was a little tension coming from Naruto, and it was directed at her. She didn't understand it, and sometimes his eyes just seemed so hurt and conflicted.

She wasn't sure if it was anger though, that was just her first guess.

"He's not mad at you." Mikan stated.

Lala sighed in relief.

"So it is just my imagination then that makes me happy to know he's not mad at me! Hey, I've been wondering something... you're Mikan Yuuki, and Rito is Rito Yuuki... but why is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki... aren't you all siblings?" Lala asked a question that would have been extremely rude if she asked it while Naruto was there. She had wondered it, but now was the first time it was really registering in her head that Naruto's last name was different.

Mikan thought about if she should even answer that.

"We're family, but Naruto isn't a Yuuki. We all share the same mother and father, but Naruto has different biological parents and Rito and I." Mikan would rather Lala not ask Naruto this. It wasn't a good subject to bring up to him, and as MUCH as she would like for Lala to be insensitive and get Naruto to dislike her, she didn't want Naruto to get his feelings hurt. "They aren't around anymore."

"Where are... oh..." Lala realized after a moment, not even finishing her question. "... Oh... I'm sorry." Lala apologized to Mikan. She looked over the rules on the box that Mikan had passed to her, and she near instantly memorized them as she started to play the game with Mikan. Her eyes were visibly saddened by the knowledge that she had gained.

Even Lala could tell that somebody's parents being dead was a subject you didn't just jump into casually.

"Naruto has a very strange relationship with them, he idolizes his parents because of the stories our parents have told him growing up. Rito says he thinks Naruto feels guilty, but I think that Naruto feels pride for how they died. Every day he strives to be the kind of man that would make his parents proud, and live his life carrying their lives on his back. He will never turn away a person in need, and he will never abandon somebody he loves... he strives to help strangers, and he protects people who can't protect themselves. Girls fall for him everywhere he goes, but they don't know who he is on the inside, what drives him." Mikan complained to Lala.

It pissed her off.

None of the girls who had chased after Naruto, all of which she had chased off, could appreciate just the struggle he went through. Naruto was a beacon for others to follow, but nobody could see the shadow in the his light when they only focused on the good parts of him. None of them knew the darker bits of Naruto's personality, the stuff that he masked away from people. Things that he didn't even let them see anymore.

"I guess that's why I love him so much, he's pretty awesome right?" Lala stated with a wide grin. "I should tell him I love him even more, so he never has to feel bad!" Lala point blank spoke those words in front of Mikan.

Mikan didn't know what to respond with sarcastically.

"... Yeah-"

"I should protect him too, so that he doesn't have to work as hard! He's going to really hurt himself if he keeps doing this... he's on the news?" Lala asked when she glanced over at the TV that was playing as background noise for them over the sounds of the rain outside. She, for a second, had seen a closeup of familiar whisker marked cheeks.

Mikan turned her head.

"Dad and Rito?" Mikan could see her family there.

"There has been a collapse at the bridge, and as rescue teams are getting people to safety, some cars are still trapped as the bridge slowly collaps-"

-At the Scene-

"Everyone, follow Rito to safety!" Saibai called out as loud as he could, careful of his footing as parts of the bridge collapsed into the rising waves below. He watched as Naruto went into people's cars, and carried those who were knocked out towards safety. Those who could walk by themselves followed Rito.

"Here." Naruto passed two knocked out men to Saibai, and he went back to go help more people.

Saibai watched as Naruto ran towards the same car that hung over the edge of part of the broken bridge. He carried the men towards the rescue teams, and he made sure never to lose the grin from his face that could inspire confidence in others.

They had just crossed the bridge when it collapsed, and at Naruto's demands they stopped so they could help. They had already helped half of the cars before the news or the rescue teams had arrived to help out. The rescue teams were doing a lot of work to help out now, and they would be able to leave at any point.

Naruto refused to leave until everyone in the cars were brought to safety.

"How many more people are left?" Rito came back from leading a group of children to safety with the rescue teams, who were taking them and their parents to the hospital to get checked out. He hated the yearly hunting trip so much, because bad things always happened. It was stressful no matter what year they took the trip, and this year they were getting themselves involved with a collapsed bridge.

He might not be doing that dangerous part of the help like Naruto was, but he was still really worried about what was going to happen to all of them if a rough tide washed over the bridge, or if even more of the bridge collapsed.

"Damnit!"

Naruto jumped over part of the bridge holding onto one of the few remaining people as the bridge collapsed behind him. The car that he just escaped from went into the water, and though it was floating, quickly started to get washed away by the strong current. He didn't drop the person he was holding, but the other person was in the car still that went over the edge.

"They're too far away, you shouldn't even try Naruto. Focus on the people that you can still save." Saibai could see that look in Naruto's eyes as he stood back up. The car was already a great distance away from the bridge now, and soon it would sink making it nearly impossible to keep track of.

Naruto's feet started to move already.

Saibai wasn't fast enough to stop Naruto as he sprinted across the bridge and grabbed the rope from the truck, releasing all of the deer they caught onto the bridge. Naruto started to run, and he jumped over the side of the bridge and landed on the land next to the bridge itself.

"Naruto!?" Rito shouted after Naruto as he watched his brother run next to the water and chase after the car.

Naruto was fast.

Naruto was faster than the car was moving down the river, and he kept the car in his sights out of the corner of his eye. The car was picking up speed though as the currents started to rage more and more. A rescue car started to drive on the street, following after Naruto nearby, but saw his target coming up.

Naruto took a deep breath and jumped.

In midair, he tied the rope around his waist, before he landed on top of the car as it began the process of sinking. He had waited until the car came close enough to the side of the river to make the jump, but he still had to be prepared for if he didn't make the jump and landed in the water. He released his breath and slid towards the front of the car, and looked to see the knocked out man still in the driver's seat. Naruto had saved the women and children first in any car that he helped out.

Naruto's fist shattered the windshield as Naruto grabbed the man by the front of the shirt, and he used his other hand to rip shards of glass out of the windshield to make a hole big enough to yank the man out. Naruto put the man on his shoulder, before he ripped the steering wheel out of the car and put it down on the roof of the vehicle. Tying the other end of the rope around the wheel, Naruto tightened it until he was satisfied.

He threw the rope with the steering wheel and it got caught on the railing of a different bridge that they were getting close to passing under.

Naruto used one hand and his feet to climb the rope, his other arm keeping a hold of the man he was rescuing. A stinging pain in his hands from the force he needed to use in order to not let the glass cuts make him lose his grip.

"Young man, pass him up here!"

The rescue team that had been following him arrived at the bridge and extended their hands over the side, and took the man from Naruto. Naruto looked down as he was helped over the edge of the bridge, and he saw all the deer that they had caught on their hunting trip were being washed away in the tide as well.

"... Ah..." Naruto counted them. "Not all of the deer... just most of them... damn... damnit." Naruto hated that so much. They put in a bunch of effort into hunting, and now that effort was flushed straight into the ocean. "... Still... hope Mikan isn't watching the news right now, she's going to be so pissed off when she sees this." Naruto muttered to himself as he saw Saibai and Rito driving towards him.

It would seem everyone on the other bridge was safe.

That was good at least.

He was NOT going to tell Mikan about any of this.

Chapter End!
Please Leave Me Lots of Nice Long Reviews, But No Flames Please!