Hey Everyone. This is my first Fanfiction, so please be gentle with me. I would really appreciate it if you R&R. Constructive criticism is always welcomed. I'm also looking for a beta reader, for I can't spell for my life. There will be some spoilers, you have been warned. Also some of the story won't match up will the manga or anime, so please excuse that. I will update when I can but I am a full time collage student, so sometimes it might take me a while. I know the story progress is slow but I like it slow. Now enjoy!

Thank You Gabyy3, HjLostDreams, Mitobu, Scarlet Clown, SinfulOne, Trucina, lildevil95 for following/favorting this story. It means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Chapter 3

As she opened the door, her smile morphed into a real one. The image before was just so familiar it warmed her heart. Jiji was sitting in his desk, surrounded by paperwork. He looked exactly the same as she remembered him, with all of his wrinkles still there. As he looked up from what he was doing, he gave her a big smile. Seeing it made her practically glow from within. He was back and this time she would do everything she could to keep him alive, she vowed to herself.

"Naruto I was beginning to worry about you. The weeks been quite without your pranks." Jiji said chuckling. He pushed aside his paperwork and motioned for her to sit. Naruto couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"Don't worry, Jiji. I'm planning an epic prank soon." She couldn't help boasting.

Hiruzen tried his best to stop his laugh, "Oh dear, why oh why did I bring that up? There's no telling what you will do. I'll warn the ANBU and jonin ahead of time."

"I don't know why you bother, they can never catch me anyway." Naruto bragged immensely enjoying her talk with her Jiji.

Hiruzen grumbled, "How is it possible that the elite of the elite can't catch a five year old girl?" He decided that he had to up their training. Naruto wouldn't find this out for years later, but she was one of the reasons why the ANBU and jonin of Konoha were so elite. Every time they failed to catch her, their training got tougher, and trying to catch her was training in itself. The ANBU and jonin named chasing her the greatest stealth and speed training of all time. It was now an initiation for the new shinobi joining their ranks to try and catch her.

Hiruzen decided to let the topic drop when he noticed what she was wearing. "New cloths, Naruto? I must say that they fit a future shinobi quite well."

"Thank Jiji, I couldn't find my regular jumpsuit and picked this one instead." Hiruzen kept his laugh to himself. It was a good thing he banned the store from selling those jumpsuits. Now he didn't have to worry about her getting herself killed, for sticking out like a sour thump in the middle of the forest. But if she ever found out what he did, he knew she might kill him, Hokage or not.

Suddenly Hiruzen took a closer look at her face. He wasn't Hokage for nothing, Hiruzen was an extremely smart and perspective man. Not even old age could change that. 'There was something different about Naruto', he thought as his eyes roamed her face. She was still a baby faced gaki, but he knew something was different. Suddenly he noticed it. It was her eyes. Naruto's eyes didn't reflect back on him eyes that a five year old had, this was usual for Naruto for she had lived a hard childhood. But today, impractically, her eyes were that of a much older individual. Someone who contained much wisdom and was world weary. They were the eyes of someone who had seen and faced death countless times. He often saw these eyes on veterans who returned from the wars, but he never thought that little Naruto would ever have these eyes. It scared him. Naruto was not meant to have those eyes for as long as possible. He wasn't dumb, he knew that Naruto would eventually be a fine shinobi and would face more hardships. But Naruto would always be little Naruto to him, the knucklehead gaki who was always getting into trouble.

Something was wrong, no five year old could have that look, least of all Naruto. Hiruzen immediately felt suspicion. But before he went any further, he suddenly saw a hint of fear in her eyes. When Naruto had first walked in she practically glowed with happiness that he hadn't seen on her in a long time, now her face was getting apprehensive. No matter what his suspicions were he hated the look on her face, it was the same face she had whenever she feared rejection by someone. That look was a punch to Hiruzen's gut. For now he would have to push his suspicions aside if only to get that look off her face.

Naruto was worried. Jiji had been staring at her face for a while now, and she could tell that he didn't like what he saw. First his eyes widened, and than his face became closed off. She didn't know what to do. 'Did he figure her out? Is he mad at me? Will he believe me? Will he let me stay?' Naruto was panicking. She may be eighteen mentally, and had seen some horrific things but she was still a kid in a lot of way. If the one person she could count on in this time-period rejected her, she didn't know if she could take it.

Suddenly Jiji face broke out in a smile, and Naruto couldn't help but feel relieved. If he was smiling at her, it meant her fears weren't true right? Her fears were completely alleviated with his next words. "Lets go get some Ramen, Gaki. I need a break from my paperwork."

Naruto practically beamed up at him and nodded her head. They went to Ichiraku's Ramen. Even at a young age, Naruto could eat multiple bowls of the stuff without ever feeling full. Jiji smiled at her antics. They had been talking about various topics for a while now and then Jiji started talking about the academy. He told her what she would be learning, and lectured her to be on her best behavior. Naruto couldn't help but tune him out then. For one thing she had already been to the academy and seen everything it had to offer. Plus Naruto on her best behavior, ha Naruto didn't have a best behavior. Her eyes practically gleamed of what she could do tomorrow. She knew exactly how she was going to prank those teachers who had purposefully failed her. 'This was going to be fun' she thought with glee.

Seeing as he was preaching to a deaf audience, Hiruzen let Naruto go. When she waved goodbye and turned around to head home, Hiruzen couldn't help but frown a little. Naruto was still Naruto. It was obvious that she was still a gaki But certain times during his conversations with her, she seemed much more mature than he had ever seen her being. He decided to keep a closer eye on her, but for now he wouldn't interfere with her. He only hoped he was making the right decision.

On her way to her apartment, Naruto began to feel people starting to approach her. She groaned she couldn't believe she forgot to henge.

"Hey look its the Demon brat." One of them said.

'Really couldn't they think of something original for once?' Naruto thought, getting ready to run.

"Lets see how tough she is now, why don't we?" Another two started started to approach her.

"That demon brat killed my family. Lets make her pay." Four more surrounded her. Naruto tensed. This unfortunately wasn't an unfamiliar scene to her. The villagers would often do this to her, and sadly she couldn't run away most of the time. She was often beat up, but luckily because of Kurama she healed by the next day. But the beating still hurt. She was often saved by the ANBU, but they couldn't save her until it was clear she was in danger. If they did the citizen council would complain against the Hokage, saying that the ninja attacked them unnecessary. Not many would come to her defense and the few protectioms she had would disappear. Naruto knew that the Hokages hands were tied and she didn't blame him, he did for her as much as he could against a village that was out for her blood.

She had actually gotten close to some of her ANBU protectors, though she never found out who they were. They would save her the second they felt her life was in jeopardy, take her home and than bandaging her up. Suddenly a light bulb went on in her head. She knew who some of them were. The leader of the ANBU had white hair that defied gravity and a dog mask. There could only be one person like that, Kakashi sensei. Her heart warmed at the thought that he had been protecting her all this time, even if he was a lazy pervert.

Naruto continued to dodge the fists coming at her as best she could with her small body. Her attackers were becoming confused for they couldn't land a solid hit on her and were beginning to tire. Naruto decide that enough was enough and she was tired of them. When the next punch was thrown at her, she jumped on top of the attackers hand and used it as a spring to get onto roof. She jumped from roof to roof and finally reached her apartment. She collapsed unto her bed and fell asleep.