Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto


Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he rubbed his temples. He hadn't known becoming Hokage once again would be this stressful and nerve-wracking. It also didn't help that he was mourning the death of his wife, Biwako, who had died a week earlier during the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.The past week had forced him to use his full knowledge just to prevent an untimely war with Iwa and Kumo. It also didn't help that there was a growing distrust for the Uchiha clan, one of Konoha's founding clans. Then there was Naruto.

He had placed the boy in the care of the orphanage for now, hiding his lineage to the yondaime. His mind wandered back to that fateful night, wishing he could have been there for his wife in her final moments. It was no use to dwell on the past though. As a shinobi, it was normal to have regrets in your life when you lived as long as he did.

The door to his office suddenly swung open as his new secretary ran in, looking dishevelled already. She looked distressed, immediately gaining his full attention.

"Hikari-chan, is there something the matter?" he asked as he watched her try to gather enough air to speak.

"Hokage-sama! There's been an incident on the west side of the village that requires your knowledge. A fire..." she started.

A fire? That's what they were worried about. Seeing his skeptical glance, she continued quickly.

"The problem was not only the nature of the flames but the source as well, none of our suiton users were able to put it out," she finished as Hiruzen exhaled through his pipe and thought for a moment.

"Take me to the site of the incident," he finally said. Hopefully, this would not prove to be a waste of his time.


Upon arrival, he was not disappointed by what he saw. The whole area was scorched to the ground. There were still some of his shinobi trying to fix the problem but they were not making any progress. The black flames ate at everything they came across though they seemed to be dying down on their own.

He walked around as he examined the type of flames there. Upon close inspection, he decided that it was Enton.Enton was an extension of Katon just as Hyoton served as an extension of Suiton.

It was a bit of an odd sight for him to take in. He hadn't seen anything like this in ages. He was taken out of his musing by one of his shinobi.

"Hokage-sama, we've found the source," the anbu member bowed as he spoke. With a simple nod of his head, he instructed his subordinate to lead him to said source.

He hadn't been expecting what he saw when he got there. It was a child, new born most likely. She saw simply there in the middle of the abandoned building. The black flames danced around her enticingly, surprisingly not burning her. That only served to solidify what he knew.

"Parents?" he asked. The anbu member seemed to mule over his answer.

"No one else lives in this building," he answered. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the man next to him. He looked back at the child. A white tuft of hair could be seen atop the girl's heard. She appeared to be asleep at the moment as the flames surrounded her. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open.

Golden iris' stared back at him. Her eyes almost seemed to be boring into his soul but he was experienced with this. The child closed her eyes and went back to sleep as Hiruzen poised his next question.

"Her name?" he asked.

"Himika, the piece of clothing she has says so," the man with the dog mask said.

So she was potentially abandoned. Of course, the name tag thing was quite suspicious if you asked him.

"Take her to the orphanage, I'll be keeping tabs on her. There's something odd about this one," he also couldn't afford to lose track of the appearance of this rare kekkei genkai.


Eight year time skip

Himika didn't see herself as special. Rather, she viewed herself as an oddity amongst most of the population and not just in terms of her thought process. She was an odd child, intelligent at that as well. Growing up at an orphanage gave her a certain take on life. She didn't have parents or a guardian, just like all the other kids in there and so, she developed a sense of sarcasm to hide how she felt most of the time. It also helped with her paranoia. She always felt like she was being watched from afar and that creeped her out. She could practically sense it.

She craved love but at the moment, she wanted to be selfish about her emotions. She didn't want the person, she wanted the feeling of love itself. An odd way to function and a tad bit unhealthy.

She supposed most kids in the orphanage felt that way. Unloved and alone, craving attention and touch. These were things the caretakers didn't give. She looked up at the cresent moon above her head. She enjoyed the serenity of the roof top, no noise whatsoever.

She looked at the busy streets of Konoha, watching in fixation as the people went about their work. They smiled, attracting attention from others. She didn't get this aspect of people. Why they hid how they really felt. It bothered her a lot because she was prone to do the same thing subconsciously. Was it fear of being discriminated against by others? Fear was often a great motivater for the human race, her race. Humans were odd.

Himika sighed and lit up her pointer finger in a scarlet flame. It was all she could do really, one finger at a time. She supposed that meant she had great control but fire was meant to run wild with an intense passion. Was that why she had been named Himika?

She didn't dislike her name, on the contrary, she loved it. She just wished she knew who gave it to her. The wind blew a bit, forcing the flame to go sideways a tad bit. There was a certain celerity to it. A seductive dance perhaps. She was far too smart for her age.

Her golden eyes watched as a cloud covered up the moon, causing her to frown as she stood and began her trek back down inside. She doubted that the caretakers had noticed her absence, it was after-hours anyway, so they likely assumed all the kids were asleep. Lazy hags.

With her finger still lit, she jumped through the kitchen window and landed gracefully. The red how produced by her light flame was a stark contrast to the dark void of night. Suddenly, her ear twitched as a loud cluttering was heard from the fridge.

She tensed with a slight pause in her step. Someone was in the kitchen with her. It couldn't have been one of the adults otherwise the light would have been on. So it had to be a kid but who was rambactious enough to be out this late...besides her of course.

She let the tiny fire grow as she advanced albeit hesitantly. She paused by the side of the fridge as a tuft of blonde hair popped out and looked at her. She released the flame from her use.

It was Naruto, she realized with an indifferent expression. While she had seen and heard about him, she had never actually spoken to the blonde boy. It had never really been on her list of priorities but the chance meeting was welcome...in an odd way. She had no intention of going to bed early tonight.

She tilted her head to the side in question. It was clear that he was eating which likely meant he was hungry but hadn't he eaten like the rest of them. She wanted to understand, as she did with most things. She liked to think she had things under control most of the time.

"Naruto," she started and she would admit she wasn't the best when it came to socializing with others her age. Infact, she most likely socially inept.

"Hey, uh..." she watched as he struggled to remember her name. She wasn't really peeved by it. "Hima...no, uh...Himi..."

"Himika," she offered up helpfully. She was surprised he even knew that much of her name to begin with.

"Oh, you're that loner girl that stares at the moon all the time!" he exclamated loudly at her. She gave a deadpan expression as she studied him. How did he even know that. It couldn't have been that he was watching her too. His chakra stood out like a beacon. Still, it was best to make sure.

"Have you been watching me?" she delivered flatly as he swallowed another piece of narutomaki...how ironic, she thought.

"Not all the time," he said and then he realised how creepy that must have sounded to her. He flailed his arms up as he spoke rapidly.

"Not that l make it a hobby, watchin' you l mean," he took a step back as she eyed him blankly.

"I see," she noted without any real hint of emotion though she supposed she was amused by his blunt nature. He didn't mince his words and she could get behind that. She would make a note to see where he sat in class at the academy.

"You're up pretty late," she said.

"l could say the same thing," he looked at her suspiciously before going back to his food. It was odd to think that she was peeved at the food for being able to hold his attention that easily though it was to be expected from him.

"Like you said, the moon," she said slowly as she looked into the fridge. It was empty now.

"Ya hungry?" he asked. He probably noticed how she was looking into the fridge and mistook it for her hunger.

She opened her mouth to say no when her stomach loudly protested against her. She blushed. Himika supposed that was a reaction most women had, so she let it slide this time around.

"Sure," she grabbed a ramen cup from him and ate in silence, not feeling the best to speak. She was used to it anyway. The perks of being a loner. Naruto however, was different. He craved attention and unlike her, he wasn't afraid to go for it.

"That was pretty cool," he said as they ate in the darkness of night. She raised an eyebrow though she was sure he couldn't see it at the moment.

"What was?" she answered after an eternity.

"That fire thing with your finger, really cool," he told.

"I don't think fire was meant to be cool," she deadpanned in her usual manner as the blonde laughed a bit at her.

"You're as straight as they come, aren't you," he said and it didn't sound like a question to her. Was he asking about her sexual preference or her personality. She wasn't really sure at the moment but she didn't think it mattered either way.

"Yes," she agreed, letting him make his own assumptions. She could practically feel him scowl at her in the dark, so she lit her finger just to be sure. Ah, there it was.

"Ya don't gotta be so uptight, ya know," he told her as she tilted her head to the side but didn't answer. She watched as his eyes skimmed over to the small fire. She swayed her finger as his eyes followed like a cat to a laser light though she felt he looked more like a fox all things considered.

"It's how l was raised," she said.

"Raised, is that what the old hags teach you. Guess l'm glad they didn't raise me," he said as he turbo shovelled food down his throat. She placed her own empty bowl on her crossed legs. She knew the blonde wasn't very well liked by the general population of Konoha. She wasn't sure why but the topic was probably a secret. She could tell that the number of people outside watching her had doubled since they started the impromptu meal. It was as if his own faction of watchers had joined with hers.

She hadn't been lying when she said it was how she was raised. She only neglected to mention the fact that she had essentially raised herself like he had.

"Ahh, now that hit the spot," Naruto said as he sighed. Himika realized that she had neglected to ask why he was eating again this late but she wouldn't pry. Not this time.

"Thanks for the food," she said as she turned her back and let the flame fizzle out. He white hair was still visibly on display though. She felt oddly full and not in terms of her stomach.

Naruto watched her leave. She had been odd but she didn't judge him, even when he said he had technically watched her sometimes. That was how Naruto met Himika but it wouldn't be the last time something like this happened.