DISCLAIMER: Naruto is property of Kishimoto, I'm just using the characters for my own personal entertainment and the entertainment of others.

Xxx

"Get back here, demon!" How many times had he conjured up this situation in his mind? Too many times. He had gone over said situation so many times, ever since he had been "removed" from the orphanage and he started to pick pocket, it was always a huge fear of his. To be caught. Luckily for him though, the civilians seemed to be too stupid to notice they were having their pockets picked. But the shinobi... Kami, he never had meant to try to steal from a shinobi!

"Thief!"

But unfortunately, he had.

And now Naruto was being chased down by said shinobi.

Damn it, weren't shinobi suppose to be in uniform?

How was he suppose to know they were a ninja if they didn't wear their headband!

Screwing his eyes shut, the little boy began to speed up, leaping over fallen trashcans and avoiding civilians with the grace only a clumsy seven year old could possess. Giving a sideways glance back over his shoulder, the blond haired child drew in a shaky breath as the ninja continued to run after him at an alarming speed. "I said I was sorry ninja-san!"

He had just wanted a one or two ryo so he could buy some flowers for his mother's grave, but he didn't have any of his own money so he had attempted to grab something from the pockets of an older boy.

Attempted, being the keyword.

The boy had grabbed his wrist mid-snatch and well, here he was.

Life really wasn't fair.

"I'm really, really sorr-!"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by two small hands, one firmly placed over his mouth, silencing him and the other one grasping his wrist while pulling him behind a corner store. Eyes widening Naruto began to struggle against his captor, his pleas to be released muffled by the tanned hand over his mouth. "Shut up! You don't want to be caught, do you?"

Well.. that wasn't something he was expecting.

Numbly nodding to the feminine voice whom had asked the question, the boy glanced upwards, frowning as he noticed he wasn't able to make out his captor's face in the shadows of the building. "Where'd that damned brat go?" The blond's breath hitched, his eyes traveling to the side of the building, where he could see the boy from earlier glancing around the area like a lost child. Oh no, what if he sees me? His captor seemed to be thinking the same thoughts, because she pulled herself up against the building's brick wall, pressing the little boy's body to her own.

When the shinobi finally continued on the hand against Naruto's mouth moved and the little boy released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in. "Gee, are you stupid or something?" Blinking in confusion Naruto turned around to face his previous captor and the girl who had yelled at him. In the light, Naruto could finally make out the features of the one the one had snatched him off the street and was rather surprised to find it was a girl maybe a year older then himself. She had tanned skin (not too tan, like she was from Suna but like she spent a lot of time outside), brown eyes, and scruffy brown hair that was barely long enough to pull into two measly buns on the top of her head. In fact, she would have looked rather plain if it wasn't for the dirt coating her skin and clothes.

So much dirt it made Naruto wonder if she stayed on the street, like he did. "Hey! Kid, are you listening to me? I swear! Not only is he stupid but he's deaf too! Great!" Finally being shaken back into reality, the little blond's jaw squared in anger as the older girl continued to rant and rave about how stupid he was. Hearing enough insults about himself, the boy clenched his hands into fists and glared at the brown haired girl. "Hey! I'm not stupid or deaf!"

She gave him an incredulous look before rolling her eyes, placing her two dainty hands on the side of her hips. "Coulda fooled me! Trying to steal from a shinobi! You're just lucky he was a stupid genin! A chuunin woulda gotten you lickety split!" The little boy's lips pursed, eyes narrowing at the older girl as he spoke. "Well, what do you care for anyway! I don't even know you!" The girl rolled her eyes and leaned forward, her chocolate brown eyes scrutinizing over Naruto's dirty appearance. "If you had gotten caught, you woulda made a bad name for all of us!" As if to empathize her words, she gestured at her chest with a jerk of her thumb, glaring at the younger boy. Her eyes softened for a moment however and the girl leaned back, smiling. "'Sides, you gotta help those like yourself that need help. That's one of the main rules."

Naruto cocked his head at the strange girl, she, was really odd. First she had gone and captured him (true, she was actually hiding him from the genin), then she went and insulted and ranted at him, and now she was acting all buddy-buddy? Was she crazy? And us...? What had she meant by that? "...Us?" Questioned the boy as he looked the older child over. She beamed. "Of course! You didn't think you were the only one, didja?" "...Only what?" The older girl let out a sharp laugh, one that may have been scary if the child's innocent and high pitched voice had smother the scary-ness. "Kid left homeless and orphaned because of the war! Gee, you really are new at this, aren'tcha?" Laughing, the girl shook her head, grasping Naruto's thin wrist with her hand. "C'mon c'mon, I'll show ya. It isn't right to leave a naïve kid like you all by yourself on the streets. Mari'd kill me!"

Naruto cocked his head once more, being dragged along the back alleys of Konoha by some odd girl that kept insulting him. "Hey! I'm not nai-nia- I'm not whatever!" The girl just laughed once more and continued to drag Naruto along. "Sure you're not. I'm Tenten, by the way. What's your name kid?" "Don't call me kid! You're not that much older then me! And my name's Uzumaki Naruto, remember it!"

His only reply was Tenten's laughter as it echoed across the empty alley-ways.

Xxx

AN: Personally, I'm rather angry at myself that I couldn't lengenth this chapter up more but, I promise I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Anyway, in this chapter we meet Tenten (yay) who's a scruffy little street-rat, basically. She's only 8 and a year older then Naruto like in canon.

Okay so everyone, I seriously need help deciding whom Naruto ends up with later on. So far, Tenten, Tayuya, Yugito, and Temari are the ones I'm thinking about. So if you could, I dunno, vote, whom you want Naruto to end up with out of those girls, it'd really help me out. (:

Just to let you know though, if you vote Tayuya because you want Tenten to end up with Neji and Temari to end up with Shikamaru, you're going to be dissapointed. I am a fan of crack couples sooo... there is your warning. So yeah, reviews make me happy, fyi.

Until the next chapter or story or whatever,

Syd.