Prologue

"No! Come back, kitty!" six year-old Takara Mizushima yelled after the filthy feline as she ran after it into an alleyway.

"Takara!? Don't run away!" her grandmother shouted after her, weaving her way though the crowds of people in the street.

But little Takara kept running after the stray cat, oblivious of her grandmother that was getting farther and farther behind.

Kitty-cat, I wanna play! Don't go," she giggled, approaching the forest. She moved around ever tree, not letting her eyes off of that bushy orange tail.

Takara came to a halt when the cat stopped running and climbed up the a tree. She stopped at the base and look up, pouting.

"You're a mean kitty. I bet you have no friends." In return, the cat hissed at her.

She "hmphd" and marched back from where she came from, or so she thought. After a few times of returning under the hateful glare of the stray cat. she came to the realization that she was lost.

She wanted to cry. It was beginning to turn dark and she had no idea how to get home. It wasn't her fault though. Her parents rarely ever took her out of the clan's land. When she left, she was always with one of her parents of grandparents and they always made sure she made it back. She knew she shouldn't cry. From what her father had told her, you have to be calm and reasonable in a time like this. But she didn't care; she cried anyway.

Takara didn't know how lond she cried for, but by the time someone had found her, the moon was almost visible from above the trees.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked; a young one.

It took her by surprise, yet she still was able to stand and turn on the voice, a stick extended like a sword in less than a second. Her training was paying off.

She didn't say anything as she stared at the figure hidden by the trees' shadows.

"Weren't you crying? What's wrong?" The figure asked, stepping out of the shadows.

Thanks to the moonlight, she found that the voice belonged to a boy. He looked to be around Takara's age. He had almost neon-colored blond hair and stood in messy spikes. She has no idea how he managed his hair at all. The bluest eyes started back at her, filled with curiosity and concern. He had sun-kissed skin and three marks on either side of his face that, for some reason, reminded her of cat whiskers. Her eyes narrowed, thinking of the cat in the tree that got her into this mess.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Takara asked, defensively.

A bright smile came over his face and he pointed to himself. "I am Naruto Uzumaki and one day, I'm gonna be Hokage! Believe it!"

Hokage. That word was familar to her; that word was good. She dropped the stick. "Are you going to protect the village and its people? Because that's the Hokage's job."

His smile grew wider, if possible, and he gave her a thumbs-up. "You bet I am!"

She assessed Naruto, debating on whether or not she could trust him. But after seeing that smile again, she declared him harmless.

Taking Naruto by surprise, she ran right up in front of him and clasped her hands together. "Can you please help me find my way home then?"

He looked taken aback. "What? Are you lost? Who doesn't know their way home?"

Takara narrowed her eyes at his last question. "My parents never take me out this far. I lost my grandmother and can't find my way back now." She argued.

When he didn't say anything, she crossed her arms and added, "If you want to be Hokage, you have to help people out you know?"

That seemed to bring him back. "Okay, what direction did you come from?" he asked and when she shurgged, he grabbed her hand. "Well then lets just get out of the forest first."

When they got out of the canopy of trees and saw the familar lights of the village, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, what's your name?" Naruto asked as they walked through the empty streets of Konaha.

The girl smiled big. "I'm Takara Mizushima! I'm going to be the best ninja in my clan. No, the best ninja in this village one day! You watch!"

"I've never heard of the Mizushima Clan."

"It's pretty small," she explained, "but don't take any of us for granted! We're strong!"

"Oh ya? Well not as strong as me!"

"No way!" she argues back, "I''m going to-"

A man with a mask drops down infront of them, cutting off their conversation. Takara and Naruto narrow their eyes. "Who are you?" Naruto asks.

"I am a member of the ANBU blackops. I am her to retrieve Takara Mizushima by order of the third Hokage; her parents are very worried about her. They told me to give you this." He holds out a necklace. She recognized it immediately. Her father gave it to her last year for her birthday. She takes a step forward and grabs it.

"We need to go," The ANBU member says, holding out his hand.

She begins to reach for his outstretched hand when she hears a deflated voice. "You're leaving?"

Naruto stands behind her, a sad look on his face and his shoulders slouched.

She smiles,"Ya, it's way past my bedtime."

When he sighs and lowers his eyes she walks up and hugs him. She feels his body stiffen, but she just hugs him tighter.

"Thanks for helping me, Naruto. You're going to be a great Hokage," she says when she lets go.

"Takara...," he mumbles, his eyes wide.

"But remember, you may be Hokage, but I'll be the greatest ninja ever!"

He snapped out of it when she mentioned that. "In your dreams!" He smiled.

"We'll see who's the best ninja tomorrow! Meet me at the academy at noon. I bet I'll kick your butt!"

"Wh-what?"

"Aw, don't tell me your chickening out, Uzumaki?" she teased, a big smile on her face the whole time.

"No way. But...you want to hang out with me?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Of course I do. We're friends, right?"

"Friends?" He repeated, as if he's never heard of that word before in his life.

"Ya. And maybe we can even become best friends."

"Mizz Mizushima," the ANBU member said impatiently, "your parents are waiting."

"Right," she grabbed his hand and he scooped her up into his arms. She turned to Naruto. "See you tomorrow."

(SKIP)

"Argh!" The young boy let out a scream of frustration as he missed his intended target again.

"Calm down, boy. You will never get it right if you don't focus," his teacher instructed him.

"But I am focusing," he turned on him. "I've been training my entire life and I still can't do it! When will I be able to take my revenge!?"

"When you're stronger," his teacher answered, "You wouldn't even last thirty seconds. You're weak-"

"-I am not weak!" The boy snarled. "I will succeed and kill those two for what they did to me. I will not lose. I will become strong."

The teacher stared at his raging student and simply said one thing.

"Prove it."