Konoha, 7 years after the Nine-Tails' attack
A young boy raced through the streets, running as fast as he could. As he ran, he heard voices screaming and yelling behind him. "Run, demon brat!" "You stupid demon! You deserve to die!" "We're gonna kill you!" The men running behind him started to throw things at him, grabbing whatever they could find. Eventually, Naruto ran into an alley, and escaped the men.
As he hit the ground with a sigh of relief, he was surprised to hear a voice near him. A young girl, about his age, was looking at him. Naruto was stunned, especially by her eyes, which were a pale lavender. He asked her, "What are you doing here?" The girl told him, "I saw you running from these men. Why were you running?" "Well", replied Naruto, "I just walked into a store to buy some food, but the person at the counter refused to give me any, so I. . . . stole some. I. . . . . I know it was wrong, but I needed to eat! I haven't eaten for 3 days!" The girl looked like she wanted to speak, but he asked her, "May I finish telling you what happened?" The girl, who had been standing the whole time, sat down and nodded. "Well, I took the food, but I left some money on the counter. I had earned the money, I swear! Anyway, those men saw me, and started to chase me, so I ran."
The girl, curious, asked him, "Why did they call you those names? You didn't do anything other than try to survive." Naruto looked up, shocked. 'Someone actually believed me! Someone actually listened to me!', he thought. "Well", he admitted, "I don't really know. It started when I was 4. I was just walking down the street and people started throwing stones and other things at me, and called me 'demon'. I don't know why they did that. Apparently, I did something bad. But, the Third always protected me! One time", he said excitedly, "I was doing basic taijutsu at a training ground, and these guys with red eyes and things that looked like commas in their eyes just appeared. They did something weird with their eyes, and their eyes. . . . . well, changed."
The girl asked him, "What do you mean, they changed?" "Well," Naruto replied, "You know how I said that they had things that looked like commas in their eyes?" The girl nodded. "Well", continued Naruto, "They merged. One of them became this weird shuriken, that was curved. The other became something weird. I don't know what it was." The girl's eyes widened, and she asked Naruto if he had seen any symbol anywhere on them. Naruto replied "Yes. They had an uchiwa fan on the back of their shirts. The top half was red, the middle was blank, and the bottom half and handle were white."
The girl stood up. "Well, I have to go now. Kaa-san and tou-san were expecting me back by now. They'll probably be worried. Thanks for talking to me. What's your name?" Naruto replied, "My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." "Naruto Uzumaki, huh? My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I guess I'll see you later." As she walked off, she turned around, "Are you going to the Academy?" "The Academy?" "You know, where people train to become ninja? Tou-san will be sending me and my little sister Hanabi there, once we're old enough." Naruto, crestfallen, answered glumly, "Probably not. I mean, everyone hates me, so why should I go? I'd just be laughed at, or worse." The girl, who had a shocked look on her face, walked over to him and sat down beside him. Bending over so that she had her mouth at his ear, she asked him, "Do you really think that?" "You saw those men in the street today.", said Naruto. "I'm sure that there are plenty of others." The girl smiled, and said, "Well, at least you know that I'm not among those 'others'. Well, see you." And with that, she left.
Naruto sat there, watching her leave. As he sat there, he thought to himself. "Hinata. . . . . . . . . .hmm. Sunny place." He smiled. "I like that name. Sunny place. Maybe I'll see you at the Academy after all." He then put on a big, cheesy grin, and skipped off, not knowing that what he said could not have been more true. . . . . . . .