~With Narumi~

Narumi's first day here wasn't going as well as she wanted it to. She hoped that this would be a new start and that her…reputation wouldn't make it into the civilian schools. Her hopes were dashed, however, when she heard the whispers begin. It was always like this for her. First, it was the whispers, then came the pointed fingers, then the derogatory names, then the bullying. It happened in her first school, and she'd told her mother about her terrible experience there. Kushina saw fit to move her here…after a year or so of course. Her mother wasn't really present most days, not after the tragic events of her birth.

Narumi took what she could get, however, and she still had hope that this school wouldn't be just like the last. Back there, with the privileged clan members and all, they got away with most things that they did to her. A few were nice, don't get her wrong, but even they didn't go out of their way to be friends with her. They knew that doing so would put a target on their back aswell.

As such, Narumi was…lonely. She didn't have a single person she could confidently call a friend.

"It's that kyuubi girl," One guy whispered, "they say she's cursed."

"And look at those hideous whisker marks," another person said, a girl this time.

Narumi wanted to crawl up into a ball, but she'd learnt a long time ago that she should at least show them that the words didn't affect her. She was…prickly, like her hair. Some would even say that she was a delinquent, with all the pranks she pulled.

She stopped caring what people think. She was 8-years-old now!

"Yo!" A voice said, right to her side. Then, it was like everyone around stopped what they were doing. There was silence as everyone watched the interaction play out. Narumi felt her stomach churn in anxiety and she gulped before looking towards the one who called out to her.

It was a boy.

He had these weird…golden eyes—almost like they were glowing. He also had tanned skin and wavy black hair.

"What do you want?" Narumi said, being reflexively defensive. She immediately regretted the words coming out sounding that way, but the years of harassment had made her so.

"Hmm…" the person said…and he just stared at her for a couple of seconds, like some kind of creep!

Moreover, since it was the break between classes, no one else had anything to do other than wait for the teacher to come. Thus, everyone had nothing else to do other than watch this play out. They couldn't even pretend not to watch.

Then the boy smiled.

"I'm Jin! You want to be friends?" The boy asked.

"…eh?" Narumi could only respond.

~With Jin~

Narumi's response wasn't what Jin expected.

"If ya know what's good for ya, you'd best stay away from me!" She said.

To most, that would sound like a threat. That she would do something drastically terrible to anyone who might get close to her…and with the whispers that Jin had been hearing, people had reason to fear this blonde-haired girl.

But to Jin, it sounded like she was warning him. To stay away from her—not because she didn't want to be friends with him but more like…associating with her would cause him problems coming from elsewhere.

Yet, his 'Bob' senses were tingling and it told him that he needed to be friends with this strange, whisker-marked youth.

"That's awfully harsh for an introduction but if that's what you want, then okay," Jin replied gracefully.

Then he shrugged. "I thought you could use a buddy to show you around on your first day, is all. Just making the offer now so, if you want, you can find me to help you out."

Narumi looked shocked that he was still there, speaking to her. She stared at him for a minute.

A long minute.

Jin was starting to feel a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"I'll go back to my seat now," Jin continued, "don't be afraid to drop by!"

As Jin arrived back at his seat, he felt someone tugging on the sleeves of his arm. It was none other than his friend, Momo.

"Why did you talk to her?" Momo said, her expression a mixture of confusion and irritation.

"She looked like she was having an unpleasant time," Jin shrugged, "I only wanted to offer my help."

"Don't you know? She's—" Momo started but was interrupted as the door opened.

"Alright class, time to start!" the teacher said.

"We'll talk about this at lunchtime," Momo whispered.

Jin unwrapped his bento as he sat with Momo.

"You shouldn't hang out with her, Jin," Momo said, "no one likes her and she's going to ruin our social standing!"

Jin rolled his eyes. Momo had come out of her shell ever since the past year and had since made many friends along the way after he'd introduced her to some people. As such, whilst she still spends her time with Jin, she more often than not hung out with her new girlfriends. Jin was happy that she was getting along with others.

"I don't really care about social standing and all that," Jin said, waving her concerns off.

"Well, I do!" Momo retorted, "I've worked hard to make my new friends!"

Jin nodded. "And that's great…but Narumi doesn't have any friends yet. You remember our first days. It was nerve-wracking but at least everyone else was in the same shoes as us. It isn't like that for Narumi."

Momo shook her head and Jin could see that he wasn't getting through to her.

"Never mind that. Don't you even know what people are saying about her?" Momo asked.

"What?"

"That she's—," Momo glanced around before leaning in closer to whisper, "the Nine-tailed Fox."

Jin's mind immediately flashed back to silky auburn hair, golden eyes just like his, and then a cold, wet stone stuck in the ground. He remembered the destruction. The terror.

Then he blinked.

Before he could respond, he noticed that almost everyone in the cafeteria ceased their chattering and was all looking in one direction.

Narumi had just entered through the doorway. For a second, she looked like a deer caught in headlights. Then, she put on her mask of indifference and went to sit at a table right in the corner of the room.

A table that no one was sitting in due to the really creaky chairs.

It took a few moments before the rowdy cafeteria atmosphere returned but almost everyone around Jin was talking about the new subject of interest. Mainly about the blond-haired, whisker-marked girl sitting by herself.

"See?" Momo gestured as if that explained anything, "you don't want to be friends with an outcast, Jin. Trust me."

Jin nodded. Then, he quickly packed up his bento and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Momo asked, "I mean, I was going to eat with the girls anyway, but you don't have to move. They like you here."

"Maybe another time," Jin said absentmindedly. He was focused on something ahead of him.

"What are you—wait stop, why are you heading in that direction?" Momo spluttered.

For the second time that day, everyone in the cafeteria went silent as they observed a scene no one expected to see.

Someone was approaching the outcast.

Narumi was seated with her back away from everyone, facing the corner. It was as if she wanted to turn her back on the world around her, to ignore everyone and make her own Eden at that very table…however small it was.

Little did she know that a snake would slither in.

creaaak

It was the sound of the chair in front of her.

"Yo!"

Narumi froze. Her spoon was halfway from her plate to her mouth. She knew that voice. She looked up and saw that very same boy again from this morning.

"Mind if I join you?" Jin asked.

"…" Narumi stared at him once more.

…

Jin was uncomfortable under that gaze.

"We don't have to be friends or anything," Jin got out, "It just looked like you needed some company."

Narumi scowled at him. "Didn't I tell ya? If you know what's—"

"—good for me then I better scram. Yes yes, I remember," Jin interrupted, "…but are you saying that because you don't want me here or because you're afraid that everyone would ostracise me too?"

Narumi said nothing, looking taken aback.

Jin placed his bento down on the table, sat on the bench opposite her and began to eat.

"What are you—" Narumi began, incredulous.

"Eating," Jin said, "It is lunch. I'll munch on some food whilst you think it over.

And so, Jin ate. He bore the weight of not only Narumi's stare but the stare of every single student around him.

He found his lunch rather delicious that day for some reason.

~The next day~

"Yo!"

"Gah!" Narumi shouted, turning around.

Jin smiled at her. "Mind if I join you?"

"…you're gonna lose friends if you keep doing this," Narumi muttered, looking back to her plate.

Jin shrugged. "I've got a few friends but if they don't like me just because I'm hanging out with you, then they weren't really friends that matter too much, are they?"

Narumi looked downcast as she muddled his words.

"Do you have any friends?" Jin asked.

Narumi choked on her food.

~The next day~

"Yo!"

Narumi didn't react this time but her eyebrows twitched at Jin's greeting. She couldn't believe that he would go this far to annoy her! Did he have a death wish or something?

Even after sitting at her table for a few days, he was already being outcasted at school.

"So I talked to my friends the other day," Jin said as he unpacked his lunch, "…guess they weren't really my friends after all."

Narumi's shoulders slumped. "See? This is what I mean. You'd better stop hanging out here before it gets worse."

"…Perhaps," Jin said.

Jin almost missed it but he caught the look of…resignation? flicker in Narumi's face before it went away, almost like a ripple in a still pond.

"But I'd rather be friends with you," Jin finished.

"…what?" Narumi asked, eyes wide.

"I said I'd rather be friends with a girl who's sitting all by her lonesome every day, sulking in the corner and eating…" Jin glanced at her food, "Is that ramen?"

"Shut up! Ramen's the food of the gods! and I'm not sulking!" Narumi snapped.

"Well, if you weren't before, you are now." Jin grinned.

"Grrrr," Narumi growled, "Why are you here? What are you attempting to do? Lull me into trusting you and betraying me at the end? For what? Some dare you had with your friends?"

Jin's expression was one of empathy and he shook his head. "No dares. No tricks. Just…curiosity."

"…curiosity?" Narumi deadpanned.

"Yup!" Jin said cheerfully, "Who knows, maybe if I become friends with you, you would be less…"

Jin eyed her spiky blond pigtails and her twitching eyebrows.

"…prickly."

Narumi didn't say anything. She only glared scornfully at him.

"Tch," She finally said after Jin didn't wither in her glare, "Don't say I didn't warn ya."

"Great! We're friends then!" Jin cheered.

"I didn't say that!" Narumi screeched.

~The next day~

"Here," Jin said, offering up his bento.

"Hah?" Narumi said, looking up from her bowl of ramen.

"I'm offering you some food," Jin said, "It's not healthy to eat ramen all the time. It's mainly just carbs and a ton of sodium."

"Carbs? Sodi-what?—Are you making fun of my meal?" Narumi eyed him suspiciously.

"No," Jin shook his head, "I'm saying that you need to eat healthier."

"I'm eating just fine!" Narumi said, turning her head away from him.

Jin used his chopsticks to pick up one of his baby tomatoes and placed it in her ramen. "Eat this, it's good for you."

"…you're not my mom," Narumi muttered.

"But I'm your friend, aren't I?" Jin responded immediately.

Narumi was speechless, looking at him wide-eyed.

"Hora," Jin said, placing a fish ball in her ramen, "Protein is good for building muscles. You said you wanted to be the best ninja ever, right?"

Narumi couldn't respond as Jin kept placing more and more food into her bowl. It was as if he'd planned this from the beginning.

"…fine…Jin-baka," Narumi said.

Jin froze in the middle of placing yet another fish ball into Narumi's bowl. "Oh? We're close enough for nicknames already? My, how presumptuous, Rumi-san."

"Sh-Shut up, Jin-baka!"

~The next day~

"Want to hang out this weekend?" Jin asked nonchalantly as he ate his chicken salad.

Narumi spat out her ramen.

"You know, when I suggested we hang out, I didn't mean it like this…" Jin muttered disapprovingly.

"You told me to do whatever!" Narumi bit back.

"Yeah, by 'whatever' I meant things like going to the park or even playing board games at home," Jin said, glancing up at Narumi who was held up by a rope.

"…Not desecrating the Hokage monument," Jin finished sullenly.

"This is what I do with my free time!" Narumi shouted both with emotion and necessity as a strong gust of wind almost carried her off the side of the cliff face.

"This is…dangerous…" Jin shook his head. "How did the Anbu not find us yet? Aren't they supposed to be the Hokage's elite guards?"

"Eh, they're alright. But I'm the greatest ninja in the world! so they stand no chance of catching me!"

Something told Jin that wasn't exactly the case. Perhaps due to some odd reason, the Anbu were kept on a leash in regard to dealing with Narumi and her…pranks. Perhaps the Hokage allowed it for reasons he couldn't understand. There were better ways to spend one's time than making more work for others.

"All done!" Narumi called out.

…Jin felt sorry for whoever had to clean this up.

Jin really did feel sorry for the people who had to clean this up…

…mainly because it was he and Narumi who was doing it.

"Two full potentially productive days, gone. Just like that," Jin scowled.

"Hey! You're the one who agreed to help me!" Narumi said from beside him.

"Next time, I'll decide where we'll go," Jin snapped back.

Jin continued to scrub off the paint with his brush when he heard a faint sniffing sound from behind him.

Jin looked at Narumi, shocked. She was…tearing up.

"Oi, if cleaning up makes you this sad, why did you paint the Hokage monument in the first place?" Jin panicked.

Narumi turned her head away from him. "It's not that…"

Then, she sniffed, rubbing her nose with her sleeves and trying to hide her face from him. "Do you really mean it?"

Jin tilted his head in confusion. "Mean what?"

"That you'll hang out with me again even after…" She gestured to the painted-up monument, "this disaster?"

Jin barked a laugh. "Of course, Narumi."

He gestured to the monument. "Sure, it wasn't what I expected to be doing on my weekends, but it was…a unique experience."

"I thought pranks would be fun and exciting for boys so I went all in," Narumi muttered, her voice shaking a bit, "but you didn't look like you had fun."

"It was fun," Jin said, "…but it's just not something I normally do and since it was my first time pranking, I was kinda…sorta…nervous. Too nervous to enjoy it to it's fullest potential."

Narumi looked downcast.

"Hey," Jin tapped her shoulder, making her look at him "You tried really hard to make an impression on me didn't you?"

Narumi bit her lip, trying to hold in a sob, "And I ruined it, didn't it?"

"No," Jin poked her nose, much to her surprise, "but you tried, and that's what really matters in the end. Tell you what, if you promise to hang out with me on the weekends doing…well, anything, then I'll help you out with your pranks from time to time."

"…really?" Narumi looked overwhelmed. She fully expected to lose a…friend? today. It was the first one she made, and was petrified when he asked to hang out with her on the weekends. She'd thought she'd show him how cool she was by being able to paint up the entire Hokage monument without getting caught. Little did she realise that, normally, the aftermath of pulling such a prank would be so…monotonous, and boring, and probably going to make Jin hate her.

Plus, they got scolded by the third Hokage.

It was bad—especially for an aspiring shinobi who wanted to make a good first impression on him.

…and yet, here he was. Helping her. He didn't have to—he could've just left her to clean up her own mess. But…he didn't, and he even wanted to hang out with her again.

Narumi felt like she was in a dream.

Jin went back to squeezing the paint out of his rag when he heard more sniffling, then outright sobs. Of course, being a trained gentleman, the sound of a damsel in distress sent chills down his spine.

He looked to Narumi, wide-eyed.

"Are…you alright?" He cautiously asked, "Did I say something to upset you?"

"N-no." Narumi turned away from him, trying to regain her composure. She started wiping the paint off another part of the wall, away from Jin.

This, of course, sent alarm bells in Jin's mind but he understood that normally such a gesture meant that Narumi needed some space. He'd oblige, of course, but he made a mental note to resolve any lingering issues as soon as he could.

"If it was something I said," Jin stated, "then I'm sorry."

It took until evening for them to finish up the paint.

In the end, it was when they were ready to head back home that Narumi spoke up.

"Jin?" Narumi probed.

"Hm?" Jin responded.

"Sorry about today," Narumi said, "and thanks for hanging out with me yesterday, too."

"It's not a problem," Jin smiled, "next time, we'll do something even better!"

"You…really want to keep hanging out with me?" Narumi asked, dejected, "even after today?"

"Of course, I do!" Jin laughed, then he lowered his voice and leaned in close, "besides painting up the Hokage monument was surprisingly funny."

Narumi looked as if someone had told her that she'd won the lottery. "Right?! and did you see Hokage-jiji's face afterwards?"

They both laughed.

"But how about we take it easier next weekend, yeah?" Jin said.

Then, as if thinking of the brightest idea yet, he looked at her, tilting his head as if seeing her for the first time. "Say…do you train taijutsu?"

~Next Weekend~

"How?!" Narumi shrieked, "I've never seen anyone last longer than me in terms of stamina!"

Jin smirked and shook his head. "It's because you're inefficient. Honestly, I thought you'd collapse from exhaustion within the first hour. For you to last even this long…it's impressive."

Narumi panted and beads of sweat ran down her face.

"That was…intense," Narumi said between her breaths, "You train like this every weekend?"

"No…" Jin responded.

"Thank Kami!" Narumi said.

"…I train like this every day," Jin finished.

There was silence as Narumi looked at him as if he'd grown a second head from his shoulder.

"…you're crazy," Narumi accused.

"I'm determined," Jin admitted at the same time.

They looked at each other.

Then Narumi let out a giggle, then she was trying to contain herself, then she laughed outright.

Jin just stared at her, unimpressed, with a deadpan on his face.

"You know…" Jin said as Narumi collected herself, "I thought you said you wanted to be the strongest ninja ever."

This, for some reason, immediately snapped Narumi out of her glee.

"…what?" Narumi said.

"I said, I thought you wanted to be the strongest Ninja ever," Jin responded.

"Yeah, I will!" Narumi said as she stood up, "You don't believe me?!"

"I do."

"I thought so, I knew things were too good to be true, you just appear out of nowhere wanting to be friends with me of all people, I knew you were just indulging me out of pity—." Then Jin's words registered in her brain.

"—wait, you believe me?!" Narumi exclaimed.

"Of course," Jin said, "I believe that anyone can achieve their goals if they set their mind to it. I think you're going to be even stronger than you ever thought you could be, Narumi. All you have to do is train and put effort into it!"

Jin's inspiring speech finished with him giving a goofy smile, standing in a superhero pose, and giving Narumi a thumbs-up that left any semblance of being cool and wise out of the imagination.

Narumi's expression morphed from shock into…that expression again.

It was the one where she looked like she was about to cry.

Jin reeled, trying to backstep in his conversation.

"That's not to say that I think you don't train hard or anything!" Jin panicked, "It's just a matter of circumstance. Some people don't have a teacher or don't know where to start, some don't even have access to ninja taijutsu theory at all."

Narumi let out a sob.

"Please don't cry," Jin pleaded, "Sayuri is going to kill me when she gets home and saw that I made a girl cry."

Narumi rushed him.

Jin honestly thought that she was going to punch him. He remembered a conversation he had with Sayuri about the intricacies of a woman's logical mind. He didn't think much of it at the time. Now, he wished he paid more attention.

Of all the things Jin expected, whether it was a punch to the face or a drop kick to the gut, he'd tensed and prepared for the oncoming onslaught. He didn't know if he deserved it, but a gentleman will take the blame for the lady if needs be.

He didn't expect her to give him a bone-crushing hug.

Narumi sobbed into his shirt, which was already wet from his sweaty workout. She didn't look like she cared one bit.

"Jin!" A voice called from behind him.

Jin froze.

"Did you make her cry?" Sayuri said, her voice as cold as the iciest frost on a mountain peak.

"…No?"