Hey guys! This a slightly longer chapter. I'm still trying to decide what direction to take the story in, so let me know what you think.

As expected…things didn't go well at the Mochi shop at all. Currently, Misaki was locked up in her room of her Aunt Shoko's apartment, and stated to Naruto that she was in her undergarments and he couldn't come him. As much of pervert a lot of Konoha women thought him to be, Naruto, in no situatuation, unless if life and death was involved, would barge in on Misaki like that. He always made sure to knock on her door or ask Shoko if she was in the bath. So now he was stuck in sitting in the hallway outside of her room, with a trusty kunai in hand. Sighing, Naruto knew he went overboard at the mochi shop, but he couldn't help it. He excused himself to go to the bathroom, and he couldn't have been gone for more than five minutes, and when he came back, the rest of his tolerance washed away. How could he have been calm? Not when he saw Oujiro (is that his correct name??), wiping mochi off of Misaki's face, and then forced her into his lap. As a result, the orange-clad ninja knocked the living daylights out of him, in front of the whole shop, and it left a group of shocked Angelic Layer fans. He remembered Misaki's look, she looked down at her feet, and before Naruto could say anything, she dashed out of the shop. He was about to take off after her, but Kotaro stopped him, and told him to allow Tomoe to escort her home. And that he wasn't the only one who cared about Misaki.

As much as Naruto hated to admit it, Kotaro's statement couldn't have been more true. It wasn't like he didn't acknowledge their exsistence, for they took care of Misaki when he was away. But he also felt that, they weren;t doing a good enough job. Both Tomoe and Kotaro knew he hated Oujiro, but they were to busy arguing about their feelings to notice that Oujiro had taken his seat next to Misaki, failed to notice when Misaki felt scared, and failed to noticed when Oujiro put his filthy hands on her waist, and put her right above his groin in his lap. Kyuubi sensed arousal from the older boy very easily, which made the demon fox angry, as it did Naruto. But how is it, that her two best friends, and little Hatoko (who had tried to ease the tension), didn't notice just how scared she was? How could he trust two immature immbaciles with his best friend?

"Naruto-chan." Startled to hear her voice from behind her room, and relieved that she had used the suffix, he responded.

"Yes?"

"I changed into my pajamas now, but I want to take a bath. I feel pretty weak after all that running, could you carry me?" She asked tiredly.

"Yeah. No problem." Slowly opening the door, Naruto saw Misaki turned away from him, in her pajamas, clutching Hikaru to her chest. Walking up to her, he placed a hand on her should to let the girl know he was there. Turning to face him, Misaki looked at him with passive eyes, and held out her arms. Naruto picked her up without hesitation. They walked in silence to the bathroom, and once they got there, Naruto hesitated. "Do you want to wait for Ms. Shoko to get home, so she can stay in here with you?"

"I'm strong enough to take a bath on my own, Naruto." Misaki replied, slightly glaring at the boy. "I'm also smart enough to know what Oujiro-san was trying, and I'm also smart enough to know, that if you hadn't been there, pretty terrible things would've happened." At this point, tears were pouring out of her eyes, Naruto immediately pulled her to him, but to his surprise, Misaki lashed out. "Stop it!! I'm sick of it!! Sick of it!!" She exclaimed. She then started sobbing loudly, and then crashed into Naruto's chest. "I'm sick of being weak Naruto…I'm sick of it."

Tightening his grip on her, he asked. "What makes you think you're weak? Oujiro-"

"It's not just what happened in the Mochi shop. It's all the time, Naruto. Even when I was running home, I collapsed part way through, and Tomoe panicked and almost called an ambulance. And during the Angelic Layer tournament, I almost fainted three times in one match. I had a fever that day. Ever since we were little, I've never been strong enough to help or protect you. That's why I was so mad. It wasn't what you did, it was just what you reminded me of…" She confessed.

"Misaki, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked, still holding her. Feeling her nod against him, he continued. "Where do you think I'd be right now, if not for you?"

"…Back in Konoha, miserable, alone, and probably dying." She almost started crying from the thought of that.

"That's right. Do you even remember the day I told you about Kyuubi?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah…I remember. It was the day, we were on that field trip in Tokyo. Even though you weren't enrolled in the school, you scared the teachers into letting you be my buddy. But then, the earthquake happened…" Even to this day, the memory shook the both of them.

PAST~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"Alright children, stick together, buddy system!" The teacher yelled feebily. Naruto partially felt bad for the teacher, there were 50 rowdy 6yr olds. But, considering, the fact that Misaki was having trouble breathing at the moment due to the overcrowded train, as well as motion-sickness, and the teacher ignored Misaki's welfare completely, Naruto's sympathy was shot. Turning to his friend, he noticed she was turning slightly red. Panicking slightly, Naruto picked Misaki up(bridal-style), and scared a couple of teenagers out of their seats, so they could sit down. With her head in his lap, Naruto relaxed slightly, but it didn't ease his tension. Naruto never liked overcrowded places, espcialy ones as tight-packed as this. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes and ears sharpened. His eyes were starting to turn red, and he could feel Kyuubi's claws coming out of his nails.

'Kyuubi-san, what's wrong?' He asked.

'There's an earthquake coming kit, and this train's right in the center of it!' Kyuubi warned. Naruto's eyes widened, if Kyuubi was right, they were screwed. Thinking quickly, Naruto took off his jacket and placed it on Misaki as a blanket. Jumping through an open window, he glued himself ontop of the train. Taking in his surroundings, they were in a deserted mountain area, with no phone service, and the rail was on the edge of a very deep crater. Deciding that getting the train to their destination would be the wisest option, and not stop the train in the middle of the crater, he started doing handsigns.

"TORA NO KAZE!!" As soon as the words were chanted, a giant gust of wind came in and blue the train right towards the destination which was on main land. But unfortunately, NAruto was two seconds too late. Naruto felt the earthquake, just as soon as the train stopped, and people were in a panic to get. Spotting Misaki's class, Naruto immediately noticed, Misaki wasn't among them. Horror struck the boy as one last powerful aftershock struck, knocking the train off the tracks.

Naruto's mind went blank. He grabbed a boulder and jumped off the cliff he had been standing on, and fell after the train. Noticing that he wasn't fast enough, he growled and started to exhaust chakra to make him go faster. Still no fast enough, the ground was coming closer. A picture of a smiling Misaki went into his mind, he screeched. Red chakra flared out of his body, as well as one of Kyuubi's tails. Using his new speed, Naruto rushed in, grabbed a partially concisous Misaki, and got out. Landing on a ledge on the crater wall, Naruto pulled Misaki close to him, almost merging her with himself, and breathed hard. Both kids winced when they heard the train crash, only a few seconds later.

Opening her eyes, Misaki pulled her face out of Naruto's chest to look at him. While Naruto was doing his best to make sure his head was turned away, Misaki just turned his face towards her. Due to the fact that they were so young, and so traumatized, neither noticed how close their faces were. Misaki was amazed. She had no idea how her friend did that, but he made himself look more beautiful, and had the most beautiful ruby-red eyes she had ever seen. His fingernails were now claws, and his whisker marks were more defined. Was it possible for her friend to become anymore beautiful. Hesitantly, she called… "Naruto…?"

"…Yes. It's me." He answered softly, fearfully.

"What happened? You look different." She said stroking his face. As her hands stroke his cheek, the red chakra disappeared, and Naruto turned back to normal. Grabbing the hand on his cheek, he grasped it tightly.

"Are you afraid of me now?" He asked, fearing the worst.

"No. Of course not. You saved my life, thank you!" She hugged him. Naruto's eyes widened at the hug, and he slowly brought his hands up to her back, to deepen the hug. He decided that if this didn't scare her off, then nothing would.

"Actually, Misaki…it wasn't just me who saved you." Misaki cocked her head in confusion. Smiling her cuteness, he replied. "I couldn't have done it with out Kyuubi."

________________________________________________________________

"To say I was surprised would be an understatement, but in no way, was I scared Naruto." Misaki sighed at the memories.

"That's just it, Misaki. Anyone else would've been scared! They would've abandoned me! They would've reported with me! No matter what baggage I bring with me from Konoha, you always accept it with a smile, and no matter how many times I overreact, you tolerate me!" Naruto exclaimed. Quieting down, Naruto stroked her hair. "And that's why you're strong Misaki, you stand on your own all the time. It's me who needs you."

"Naruto-chan." Misaki spoke.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"I don't want to take a bath alone, but I don't want Shoko in here either. So if you could…" The girl had to be as red as tomato by now.

"My back will be turned the entire time." He reassured her. "But, are you sure you don't want to' wait for your Aunt?"

Smiling, Misaki said, "Nope. We haven't bathed together for years!!"

Sighing, Naruto pulled the girl away from him slightly to look at her. "Why aren't you back to normal? I'll stay in here, but I'm not getting in the tub. I don't trust myself with Kyuubi, and I refuse to betray your family's trust."

Pouting, Misaki nodded. "Fine." Releasing his grip on her. Naruto turned his back to her, walked to the furthest corner away from Misaki, sat down, and started to meditate. He suddenly hoped her aunt wouldn't be home for a few hours.