In the morning Naruto realized he had forgotten that today was the day they moved up a grade in school. No wonder Iruka Sensei had been so lenient on them the day before. There was no way they would've skipped school today even if they could. He met her on the road to school after she separated from Sasuke and arrived to school a short time later. He was seated in the back and she was seated in the front, but that didn't stop them from grinning at each other and making hand signs across the room. To Naruto's delight it seemed to miff off Sasuke. Bonus! After school they went straight to kunai practicing. "Yahoo!" Naruto exclaimed completely missing his mark. "We moved up a rank!"

"Yeah now we're Academy Students instead of New Academy Students," Lori said sarcastically checking around the tree.

"What're you doing?"

"Making sure you didn't hit some innocent animal with that kunai. Though most have probably realized it's best to run in terror when you come crashing through here." More grass throwing.

"I'm gonna show you!" He wildly pointed. "Just wait! When we both graduate as Genin in a few years I'm gonna get stronger and beat you in a sparring match then we'll see who has the last laugh!"

Lori smirked. "You willing to make a bet on that buddy?"

"Heck yeah I am, and when I win you're gonna admit I'm the greatest ninja out loud in public and you're gonna treat me to Ichiraku Ramen for a whole month!" His grin was so big as he made this declaration that Lori was surprised it hadn't fallen off his face.

She laughed. "Deal!"

"Wait you have to make a bet too just in case I lose."

"Oh? Just in case huh?" A just as equally big yet disturbing grin framed the girl's face. "Fine, then if I win you have to be my permanent sparring partner and I decide everything each time we go at it. That means the location, the weapons, and the audience." Naruto gulped. She could humiliate him very easily with those conditions. "F-f-fine," he managed. "Guess we'll just see in five years when we graduate then."

The rest of the day was another fun one. They played around in the woods, trained, went swimming, trained, ate ramen, trained some more, then finally laid on their backs watching the clouds before the sun disappeared again. Such trivial moments people would take for granted meant the world to these two children.

"You know you still haven't answered my question from yesterday," Naruto said.

"Hn?"

"Don't Hn me, answer the question. Why are you friends with me?"

"I told you. It's because you're special."

"What do you mean?"

Lori sighed and sat up. "You're…how do I say this… real," she said.

Naruto blinked. It was obvious he didn't understand.

So she continued. "You don't care about power much, even when you're sad you laugh it off like it's nothing, you stand up for people even when they don't like you, and you never ever give up talking about becoming Hokage and getting people to accept who you are. When people actually get to know you they take you into account and respect you like Iruka Sensei does. I'm jealous of you. You can be yourself and it's so easy for you."

"But it's just like you said yesterday," he yelled. "I'm clumsy, I make bad grades, half the people in this village hate me and I have no idea why. I'm just dreaming aren't I? I couldn't become Hokage. Not ever."

Before he knew it the raven-haired girl was in his face and pegged him in the forehead with her two fingers. "Yes you can." She said it confidently and evenly as she looked at her best friend. "And even if you beat me in that sparring match, I would still volunteer to be your sparring partner even if we're not on the same team when we graduate. We'll still be best friends for a long time." Naruto looked at her like she had given him a great gift. "Really? Then you'll always be my best friend no matter what? Even if we don't ever see each other a lot after graduation? Even if your family still hates me?"

Lori stood up, faced Naruto where he sat, looked him strait in the eyes, and with a quick sweet smile gave him a thumbs up and said, "It's the promise of a lifetime. Believe it!" The blonde grinned then frowned and yelled, "You could've been nicer! What'd you go and peg me in the head for?" Lori chuckled. "Habit I picked up from my brother."

The rest of the time they spent laughing and talking like they usually did. They boasted about how well they were going to do at the academy and occasionally talked about classmates they would like for team members when they graduated. There were more grass fights as well. When the day was almost gone they entwined their fingers in their usual farewell while the birds chirped their last tunes of the day. When she was a ways down the road Lori called back over her shoulder, "I'll be winning that bet buddy!" Naruto laughed and waved. The smile never left his face as he went home and snuggled in bed content just to know he had a best friend who would never leave and would always believe in him no matter how many people hated him.

When he woke up the next morning he couldn't wait to get through with school so he and Lori could train together. He was surprised when he didn't see her coming down the road they usually met on. "Huh," he thought. "Guess she slept late." He didn't start worrying till school was almost over and she had never shown up to class. Her twin wasn't there either. Apparently he was in the hospital. Maybe Iruka would know something. I waited until everyone left to ask.

"Hey Iruka Sensei!"

Iruka looked up from his papers. "Yes Naruto?"

"You know where Lori is? She wasn't here all day so I thought maybe she skipped and forgot to tell me y'know? I heard her bratty twin's in the hospital though. Did she skip to help take care of him? Heh bout time somebody bea…"

Iruka's expression made Naruto stop speaking. He stared at Naruto in horror for a moment and rubbed his face with his hands like he was exhausted.

"Iruka Sensei…"

"Oh Naruto I thought you knew. I thought surely someone would've told you."

"Told me what?" Naruto was torn between the urge to know and the urge to run, but he stood his ground.

Iruka Sensei looked tired. "Naruto…the whole Uchiha clan was massacred last night. Sasuke's in the hospital because he was the only survivor of the whole clan

"Oh. Oh," said Naruto. What else was there to say? He wanted scream. He wanted to trash the classroom. He wanted to go to her house and drag her here to show Iruka Sensei she was alive. A sound like glass cracking resonated through eight-year old Naruto's body. "Something broke," he told Iruka Sensei. Then he went home and just sat there in his room staring and not moving only God knows how long.