Sorry for the late update! I had a hard time figuring out where I wanted this chapter to go (and it still went in a different direction then I was planning), and, well, I got really into My Hero Academia and watching that took over my time.

Thank you to all the reviews and follows! I appreciate all of you!

A Single Act of Kindness

To Go Home Too

When Iruka talked to Sakura about the incident in the classroom, she had told him through her tears that Naruto had spread an ugly rumor about her. So ugly in fact that it made Sasuke so mad that he went up and slapped her. She said that she knew that Sasuke didn't mean it, that he was just mad, but it was because of Naruto that all this had happened.

Iruka didn't really believe her, but knew that somehow that troublesome kid Naruto was involved. But, he knew he had to dig deeper to figure out what really happened.

When Iruka brought Sasuke into the office to talk to him, the Uchiha didn't really say much. There was a lot of grunting, mumbling, and rolling of the eyes. He had said he hit her because he felt like it. When he asked if it was because of a rumor Naruto started about Sakura, he shook his head, rolled his eyes, and commented about how idiotic that sounded. But no, it wasn't because of Naruto.

But Iruka knew that wasn't true either, even he had noticed Sasuke and Naruto relationship lately. It surprised him honestly; the two were so different after all. Sasuke was quiet, skilled, smart, and was instantly popular with everyone around him without any effort. Naruto on the other hand was loud, incompetent, dumb, and well... Unlikeable was the kinder word to use.

He didn't even like being in the same room with the boy, if he was being honest with himself.

Iruka still battled internally with himself on why he agreed to become Naruto's teacher in the first place. The Hokage was so sure that he was the right person for the job. He wasn't convinced of that at all. What could he do?

Iruka brought Naruto into the office to talk about what had happened between Sasuke and Sakura; and he was expecting a lot of yelling, complaining, denying, or even him spouting off about becoming Hokage. Naruto was very predictable in that way.

So when the kid walked into his office, his head down, fidgeting with his fingers, and hadn't said a word, Iruka was surprised.

"Naruto, tell me what happened today in class."

Silence.

"Sakura told me that you said some mean things about her to Sasuke, and that is why he hit her. Sasuke said that wasn't true. So, which one is it?"

Iruka swore he could hear the crickets outside.

"Normally I can't get you to shut up and now the one time I actually need you to say something all I get is the silent treatment?"

Naruto flinched at the remark and Iruka instantly wanted to smack his forehead. That comment had been a little rude, he knew, but damnit the boy just brought it out of him.

"It makes me think that you did start a nasty rumor about Sakura."

Naruto without looking up shook his head ever so slightly. Iruka narrowed his eyes. He had a class to teach, and sitting here dealing with this little fight between children was getting old. He wanted to yell at Naruto to get the boy to talk, but he kept himself calm. Ignore the troublesome kids and they will get the hint and stop being troublesome. That plan so far had worked with Naruto, and out of all the troublesome kids, Naruto was by far the worst.

"If you aren't going to give me an answer, I am going to give you two weeks of detention instead of one like I gave Sasuke and Sakura."

Naruto's hands balled into fists, but he kept his head down and he still said nothing. Iruka gave him a few more moments to answer, but when it was clear that he wasn't going to say anything, Iruka stood up, "Two weeks Naruto, go back to class."

Iruka could have sworn that he felt an icy glare from Naruto as he stood up and exited out of the office. Once Naruto was out of sight, Iruka couldn't help but to sigh in relief that he no longer had to be in front of the boy.

Iruka hated the fact that he had to look at the thing that had murdered his parents every single day. Yet, if he allowed himself to think about it... He knew somewhere in his heart that it wasn't Naruto that killed them... but...

Well, Iruka just didn't like thinking about it.

When the Hokage asked him to switch classrooms, he wished he had said no.

Naruto knew that no matter what answer he gave to Iruka-sensei; he was in a lose-lose situation.

If he had told Iruka-sensei the truth, and his sensei actually believed him, then it would get Sakura in more trouble then she already was. He couldn't picture her hating him more then she already did, but he knew that the situation would be so much worse if he had told him that Sasuke was just defending him. He really didn't want Sakura or the other girls to hate him; he didn't want anyone to hate him…

If he had told a lie, (which Naruto didn't like lying to begin with) and said that Sakura did nothing wrong… Well, that would just get Sasuke in trouble, and there was no way in hell that he would do anything to get Sasuke in trouble. He wouldn't care if he was hated for the rest of his life, he would never betray Sasuke like that.

So, he knew the best thing to do was to not say anything at all.

It's not like Iruka-sensei would believe him either way.

He had hopped when the teachers changed that Iruka-sensei would be different then all the rest of them. He had hopped, and he should know by now that it was silly wish.

Everyone hated him. Why would Iruka-sensei be any different?

"So what happened?"

Naruto had been walking back to class with his head down deep in thought, and if Sasuke had not said anything he would have most likely ran into him. He looked up, seeing Sasuke leaning against the wall outside the classroom. He had been waiting for him.

Someone was actually waiting for him.

And although this notion by now was nothing new, Sasuke was always the first one to show up when they agreed to meet somewhere, the fact that he was there now, when the day had started off so wrong… It was reassuring.

There was actually someone who cared about him.

Naruto pulled himself together and gave the biggest grin he could possibly muster, despite the fact he rather just break down at that moment, "He just gave me detention, no big deal, its not like I have anyone to go home too anyway, ya know."

He had not meant to say that, but he pushed back his sorrows and shut his eyes, trying to grin even wider, "It means we have to adjust our time training together, that sucks, ya know. But, at least we can get all our homework done before training."

Naruto kept his eyes closed and although he knew he had control and knew he wouldn't cry, he still had this nervous feeling that Sasuke would leave. It was because of him that Sasuke got in trouble after all. So, he wouldn't blame him if he did, everyone said that he was trouble and they were right.

He felt it deep inside of him. That's why he never asked anyone why they hated him. There had to be something about him that made everyone hate him, right? Even if he couldn't really see it, it was there. Everyone knew it, so it had to be true, right?

"Let's get out of here." Naruto felt someone touch his shoulder; he glanced up to see Sasuke staring at him.

There was something about Sasuke's eyes as they stared back at him. Naruto still wasn't use to people looking at him like this.

He was use to glares, narrow eyes, and hate. When people looked at him, it was as if they were looking at something disgusting, and in turn it made him feel disgusting. He was use to being dirty, spending most of his days outside because he hated going to an empty home. He was use to the baggy clothes that hung a little too loosely on his body because he always had to make sure his clothes were a little too big so he keep them for as long as possible. He knew his hair was unkempt, rarely getting haircuts because every time he tried he'd get overcharged or kicked out of the shop, sometimes having to resort to cutting his own hair. He knew his whisker marks on his cheeks made him stand out, that sometimes he felt like wearing a mask so he could hid them. He had a feeling that if he did wear a mask, they would still be able to figure out it was him.

So he was use to people's glares, their narrow eyes and their hate that in his weakness moments it made him cower. In his strongest moments however, he'd remind them who he was, he was Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage!

It was true that there were a few people that when they looked at him they were actually looking at him like Hokage-jiji, Ayame-nee-chan, and Pops. He didn't know what he did to make these people look at him with kind eyes, but he absorbed it every chance he got.

Sasuke's look however, didn't look at Naruto like he was disgusting or with kind eyes. Sasuke looked at him as if there was a sort of understanding between them, as if Sasuke knew at least in some level, the same kind of pain he felt. Sasuke stared back at him, giving him the kind of strength that only someone who knew could. Who told him to keep fighting, that he had someone standing next to him that would flight along side him. The kind of eyes that did not waiver.

Naruto smiled, he couldn't help it; those eyes filled him with such warmth that he couldn't contain it, it felt real, "Won't we get in more trouble if we leave?"

Sasuke smiled back at him, it was a small smile, and Naruto could tell that Sasuke wasn't one who gave away his smiles so easily, "Who cares, we'll deal with it tomorrow."

Sasuke's hand released from Naruto's shoulder, and side-by-side they walked pass the classroom doors and away from the Academy.

Naruto felt his spirits lifting, today had started out horrible. Yet, in this moment, he couldn't contain his happiness.

His friend was truly his only source of light in a place filled with darkness.

And if he could, he'd walk next to that light forever.

"That guy, I can't believe he did this to me!" Sakura growled, biting into a piece of her sandwich, chewing it aggressively.

It wasn't that long ago that Sakura didn't get along with the girls in her class. Ino was always the more popular one, so when they have severed their ties after they both realized they liked Sasuke-kun, all the other girls sided with Ino.

She had to admit, it was a little lonely without Ino-pig around, but it wasn't something she would actually say out loud. Now, for the first time in a long time, she was having lunch with Ino, Ami, Kasumi, and Fuki.

They all had a common goal now.

"We gotta bring that guy down a peg or two. It's not fair that he's been taking all of Sasuke-kun's attention!"

"Right!" All the girls agreed.

"So, what do we do?" Fuki asked.

"We gotta find out more about them," Ino stood up, hands on her hips, "We got to figure out what they do together, gather information, and we can go from there."

"That's a great idea Ino," Ami chimed in, "That way we can see what Sasuke-kun likes, and know more about him! Then, we can push that good for nothing guy out of the way!"

"So it's agreed, we will all work together…" Sakura put her hand out, and all together the girls placed their hands on top of one another, "… To bring down that stupid Naruto!"

They gave out a cheer, throwing their hands into the air.

A lot of people didn't think this of him, but Naruto Uzumaki was observant. It was never a trait he realized about himself, but it was natural for him to survey a room every time he entered, without thinking he'd count how many people were there, memorized what they were wearing, how they were acting, and all escape routes.

The classroom hand a range to fifteen to twenty five people, given the day. Most of the time it was a full class, but due to students being sick, ditching, or just for some other reason not present. There were always more boys then girls. Most girls hung around each other, up until recently Sakura didn't really hang out with anyone. Hinata kept away from the other girls, though Naruto never knew why. He didn't bother thinking about it. The boys paired off in their own little groups. Shikamaru and Choji were always together, and sometimes they would be with Ino as well. Kiba bounced around from group to group but he always seem to end up near Hinata on most days. Shino kept to himself in the same way Sasuke use too, no one really had bothered to bug user and he seemed content with that, but every once in a while he would talk to Hinata. Most of the other boys were civilian children and not clan children, and had formed their own friendships in other ways. Apart from the students present there would be the teacher, mainly Iruka-sensei, and that would fill up their classroom.

There were nine escape routes, the door being one, seven windows, and one vent in the ceiling. Naruto had escaped through that vent when he would prank the classroom. One time, he had snuck into the school late at night and painted the walls orange. Everyone was shocked the next day to see his signature color all over the walls. He had to stay after school and repaint the walls back to its original color, and Hokage-jiji was not happy with him at all. He was the only one that laughed at the end but that was just fine with him, Naruto Uzumaki knew that prank was a good one, he'd be damn if anyone had told him otherwise.

Naruto had always been observant, and it went deeper then his own surroundings, the blonde was always able to pick up how people felt around him.

So when he walked into the classroom the next day, and the six girls and eleven boys turned their attention to the door when he entered, he felt their icy glares hit him like daggers. Their stares felt a lot like the ones on the streets in the days leading up to his birthday (for some reason the week before his birthday and the week after his birthday were the most intense. It felt like as if the villagers knew it was his birthday and they all hated him for it).

Sasuke had waited for Naruto like every morning, and his dark haired friend had walked in before him and up towards his seat like nothing was happening. How could Sasuke not see these icy glares? He paused for a moment, almost afraid to go in, but deciding to push past them, the blonde followed his friend inside.

When he looked closely, he noticed that their expressions changed when Sasuke was around them. Their glares turned into admiration, especially the girls, who would smile and wave hello at him as he walked by.

Then, when their eyes connected with his, they would narrow, darken, and Naruto had to turn away to not get caught into the overwhelming amount of hate that poured out of them. Especially with Sakura, he almost wanted to burst into tears at the way she was looking at him. Naruto had always liked her. He had always thought her pink hair was pretty, that her green eyes reminded him of grass, that her scent was faintly like wet rain, which was one of his favorite smells. When she did smile—which was never towards him—it reminded him of flowers. Flowers were one of his favorite things after all, so it was natural that someone that reminded him so much of nature would be one of his favorite people.

Now he had the feeling that she would never acknowledge him, never look at him like he was a real life person. He was a person…

…Wasn't he?

Naruto bumped into Sasuke, not paying attention to where he was walking when the boy had stopped abruptly. Naruto looked up to apologize, but realized that the boy's attention was not on him.

"Hey," The Uchiha sneered, "You're in my seat."

Naruto could feel the tension rise around him, but for once, it wasn't directed towards him.

Sasuke and Naruto had just left Iruka's office right before coming to class, both had been yelled at for skipping class the day before, rewarding them in an extra week of detention. Sasuke had never been in trouble before, and now here he was, getting a bad rep because of the blonde before him.

If it had actually been Naruto's fault and not his own, he would have been more upset with the boy. Instead, he was just pissed off at the situation. When he had confronted Naruto and found out the blonde had already had an extra week before ditching class, it just boiled his blood even more. What the hell was going on, why was Naruto targeted like this? It didn't make sense. Even their own teacher went out of his way to make the Naruto's life more difficult.

Naruto didn't respond when he had asked him why he got a harsher punishment for literally doing nothing, and that was even more annoying.

So when Sasuke walked up to his usual seat and saw no other then the Nara boy sitting in his seat, it rattled him. He could feel his fist tightening at his side, and mental images of punching the brat entered his mind.

Nara looked up at him as if he didn't know what he was talking about, a half open, sleepy eye glancing up at him. Nara had the gauge to yawn as he answered, "Our class, ahh- doesn't have assigned seats."

"Shikamaru," the fat one, Choji whispered, who was sitting in Naruto's usual spot as he leaned into the other boy's ear, "I told you this was a bad idea…"

"Naruto," the Nara kid peered his head forward, purposely looking past Sasuke, "Come sit with us today."

"Um, w-wha.. I um… What?" Naruto mumbled behind him, caught off guard by the invite.

"Go find yourself another seat," Sasuke took a step forward, making himself tower over the Nara boy who had the nerve to ignore him, "I'm the one to sit here."

Nara's sleepy eyes glared up at him, almost challenging him to make him move. Sasuke hissed under his breath, fighting off every urge in his body to just push the boy and force him to move. He didn't want to get in any more trouble, and that was the only reason that he kept his body in check.

"Shikamaru, let's just move," Choji stood up, reaching for his friends arm, "I really don't think it's a good idea to make him mad."

"Listen to your friend," Sasuke warned.

"Sasuke," now it was Naruto at his side, "They were here first, lets just go somewhere else..."

"No," Sasuke didn't wavier his attention as he stared down at the Nara.

A tug from the Nara's arm caused him to look away first, the fat one practically yanking at him to stand up.

"What a drag," the Nara mumbled, yet, before he was able to physically get up, the door in the front of the classroom opened, and Iruka walked in.

"Alright everyone, in your seats."

No one's eyes were directed towards their sensei however, it appeared that every student was glancing up at the four of them, and Sasuke didn't have to look around to feel their eyes on them.

"Guys," Iruka put some authority to his voice this time, "Sit down."

"Sasuke," he felt Naruto's hand on his arm, "Let's go sit somewhere else before Iruka-sensei gets mad."

Sasuke yanked his arm out of Naruto's grasp, and turned around to find another seat. He moved one row up, near the window, sitting next to the white eyed girl, Hinata.

"Naruto, I said sit down," Iruka shook his head, "I don't have time for you today."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the teacher, before looking down at the blonde who was trying to follow him up the next row of chairs, but froze at the sound of his name, and quickly took the empty seat next to the fat one.

He didn't know what the Nara was trying to pull, but he didn't like it.

He didn't like it one bit.

Despite their growing friendship, Naruto and Sasuke did not spend their lunch breaks together. Naruto assumed that Sasuke didn't want him to hang around him all the time, and to be honest he was okay with that.

It was true that Naruto really appreciated Sasuke's new friendship, and he'd do anything for the boy, but, the blonde still was not use to being around someone as often as he was around Sasuke.

He figured Sasuke was the same way.

So, they went their separate ways at lunch. Sasuke normally stayed inside the classroom with everyone else, either reading or studying as he ate. Naruto spent his lunch break outside.

He couldn't be around everyone as they ate their food. It just reminded him that he was hungry. He really didn't want Sasuke to realize that he never ate during lunch either, it was just an embarrassing thing to admit that he simply couldn't afford to eat.

His stomach growled, and instinctively he put his arms over his stomach. He didn't eat this morning; he had over slept and had to rush out of his house before he had a chance to eat. He had spent the whole night before worrying about the kind of trouble he would get in for skipping class.

He'd not only get in trouble with Iruka-sensei, but it would also get reported to Hokage-jiji. He didn't want to let the old man down; since it was only because of him that he had a roof over his head. Hokage-jiji was the first person to ever be kind of him, and although he was really busy being the Hokage, he still tried to make time for him the best he could.

Hokage-jiji always looked out for everyone in the village, including him, and it inspired him.

Naruto wanted to be a Hokage that looked out for everyone too. He wanted to make sure that the whole village felt like a family. He wanted to be a Hokage that made sure that no one felt the way he felt, that everyone could live peacefully and smile as he, Naruto Uzumaki, was the one to protect them.

"Hey," a voice called from behind him.

Clearing his thoughts, Naruto turned around to see Shikamaru and Choji walking up to him. Shikamaru seemed to walk towards him with no hesitation, but Choji trailed slightly behind, not as confident as he ate a bag of chips.

"H-H-Hello," Naruto had never really talked to the pair before, a few times at the park when they were younger, but once Choji's Dad picked them up from the playground one day, they had avoided him too.

"Mind if we sit down?" Shikamaru asked, but before Naruto could respond sat down across from him, opening his packed lunch, "I've notice you've always come out here during break. I figured you and Sasuke would eat together."

"Oh, no… We…" Naruto thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain that sometimes he felt a little overwhelmed inside the classroom during lunch, "… Sometimes I like to work out during lunch, ya know." It sounded normal enough, and when both boys nodded at his answer, and Choji finally sat down next to Shikamaru, Naruto asked glancing between the two, "So… Did you guys need something?"

"No," Shikamaru opened up his lunch box, and Naruto wanted to drool at the rice balls that with neatly stacked inside, "We'd just figured we join you for lunch since you seemed kind of alone."

"Chip?" Choji asked, offering him the bag.

No one had ever offered Naruto food before, he felt himself drool at the sight of food, his stomach instantly growling, loudly. His cheeks flustered, wrapping both of his arms around his stomach. Before he could say something, his stomach growled once again. He felt his cheeks grow hotter by the second. He felt the silence between them after his stomach screamed in hunger. Once he found the courage to look up, his eyes glanced up at two very shocked boys, blinking at him, before they both started to laugh.

Naruto nervously laughed along with them, a part of himself finding it funny, but another part of him a little hurt that they laughed at his hunger. He was really hungry, but, its not like they knew his problems when it came to buying food or that he skipped breakfast this morning, so he decided to just relax. Shikamaru or Choji never really talked to him before, but he knew that they weren't bad guys… They just followed the leads by all the adults around them and left him alone.

Or, at least they use too.

"Man Naruto, you sound really hungry," Shikamaru smiled, reaching into his lunch box and handing him one of the delicious looking rice balls, "Do you want one?"

"Are you sure that's okay?" Naruto wasn't sure if it was right to take food away from someone. What if they got hungry afterwards and blamed him for taking the food? What if their parents found out they were hanging around him? Would they get mad? What if Iruka-sensei thought he was stealing and he got in even more trouble?

Instinctively Naruto looked around, making sure no one was near them.

"Yeah, its totally cool. My Mom makes too many, she always knows that I share with Choji, its such a drag to carry all this extra food."

"Hey," Choji nudged his friend playfully; "You just said your Mom makes them for me."

"It's still a bother, your Mom makes you food everyday, so I don't understand why my Mom has to make you food too."

"Your mom's nice that's why."

"Yeah, maybe to you. She's such a drag a home."

"She's always nice to me, you're too hard on her."

"Try living with her, she is such a pain. I don't understand why my Dad married such a bossy woman..."

Naruto tried to pay attention to their conversation, but instead did his best to drown out their words once they started talking about their Mothers. He pulled his body back from them, head slightly lowered. He had never had a Mother, and didn't know what it was like to have one. Still, to talk ill-willed about someone who prepared lunch for your everyday just felt wrong to him.

He bet that she even waked him up this morning so he wouldn't be late for school.

The blonde decided that he didn't want to be around them anymore. He didn't know why Shikamaru or Choji wanted to sit next to him today. He should have been grateful to have people who were trying to get to know him. For once, people were actually trying to talk to him, and he should be happy.

Hearing about their Moms made him anything but happy.

"Hey Naruto! Where are you going?" He heard Shikamaru yelling from behind him.

Naruto didn't realize that he was running away from them until he heard the faint voices of the pair behind him.

He just wanted to be alone, and he didn't know why he craved that at this moment when he spent his whole life alone.

He was always alone...

Naruto knew he just blew his chance at forming more friendships, and running away felt stupid and childish. Yet, he couldn't help what he felt, and when he knew he was by himself and far away from the boys who had families, he allowed himself to cry, for just a little bit.

He wish he had a Mother to go home too.