Tyber Zahn & Quick-n-Popular: I appreciate the review and here is the next chapter. Enjoy it!

Once again, there isn't really anything to say other than, here comes the next refresher.

Worth Protecting

Chapter 4: Promise of A Lifetime

Naruto was walking along the streets of Konohagakure with a happy spring in his step, feeling content about everything that had been discussed during Yugito's meeting with the Hokage. First, not only was Yugito going to be allowed to stay here in Konohagakure, but she also liked him enough to want to stay in the same apartment. She was also going to be in the same class as him in the academy which increased the likelihood of them ending up in the same team once they graduated. Everything seemed to be going his way for a change and he was enjoying every second of it.

Naruto had been completely ignorant to his surroundings in his cheerfulness and would have continued to be oblivious, had it not been for Yugito's voice snapping him out of it, "Hey, Naruto. Don't you think it got really dark out?"

Naruto actually looked confused for a moment before he realized that everything around him was pretty much pitch-black. Looking up, expecting to see a starry sky or a bright moon, Naruto was only greeted by ebony storm clouds that allowed no light to pass through. Moving his vision back down, he noticed that the lights that illuminated the road at regular intervals were also on, but the brightness was blurred by what appeared to be fog. Just how late was it?

Naruto couldn't remember a time he had stayed out this late since he always went to sleep early in order to get an early start the next day. Still, even if Naruto hasn't been around towards the late hours of the night he knew that it was dangerous for people to be outside at these times. Not to mention the fact that it looked like it was about to rain cats and dogs and Yugito was lightly clothed.

Scanning his surroundings, Naruto felt that they were very unfamiliar to him, almost as if he was in some foreign village. It might have been because everything seemed so obscure in the poor lighting, or possibly that he had never been to this part of the village; Whatever it might be, Naruto still felt lost.

'Where the hell are we?' Naruto wondered to himself, his gaze falling on Yugito behind him. Although he could barely see her, Naruto was aware that she was waiting for him to get her home. Naruto felt like cursing loudly at that point since he honestly could barely see his hand in front of his face let alone the way to get them home. It was mid-autumn, but what were the chances of there being rain and fog at the same time?

Deciding to play it cool and not worry Yugito, Naruto spoke firmly, "Yeah, seems so. Let's get going home." Yugito nodded her head and followed Naruto whose pace had quickened by a certain degree.

While Yugito was waiting to see Naruto's apartment come into some view, Naruto was feeling more and more lost. Jumping to the top of a residential building, Naruto examined his surroundings for a familiar landmark, but unfortunately for the young blond, his keen eyesight felt blurred due to low hanging cloud. To not even be able to see the Hokage Monument or the Hokage Residence spoke wonders about just how bad it was.

"Yugito. Give me your hand. I don't want you to get separated from me," Naruto informed the blond girl, extending his hand behind him. Yugito blushed lightly and firmly grabbed his hand, noticing the low visibility. After feeling more than seeing her grab onto his hand, Naruto continued to make his way through the streets and occasionally jumping to the rooftop of a nearby establishment.

Yugito was beginning to get the idea that Naruto was lost soon enough, but decided to put her faith in him. If she said anything now, she'd probably just being stomping on his pride as a male. A minute more of moving around, Naruto saw a building where the lights were actually on.

To put it simply, Naruto wasn't a fan of asking directions since it made him feel incapable, but maybe he'd be able to figure out his location with the increased illumination. If worse came to worse, he'd suck up his pride and have Yugito ask for directions.

Naruto's stride quickened once more, Yugito followed close behind as they shortened the distance between them and the establishment. As the distance grew smaller, Naruto and Yugito were greeted by a bitter order and some sixth sense told Naruto that they weren't safe anymore. Yugito felt Naruto tense up slightly after seemingly noticing something that she had yet to.

'Shit! A bar,' Naruto exclaimed mentally, recalling how violent some people got when their minds were inhibited by all the alcohol they consumed. When under the influence, those drunkards could care less about any repercussions that would certainly come due to their actions. Those who were unlucky enough to fall prey to those binge drinkers had their lives in danger.

"We made a wrong turn, Yugito. Let's go back," Naruto's voice came out a little more shaken than he had wanted it to as he ushered Yugito back the way they came. Fate, however, had another idea as the door to the tavern slammed open and three men in casual wear walked out with a tankard of beer in hand.

"Well if it isn't the hell spawn," the first man spoke amusingly, his voice however was slurred as he spoke, making him nearly incomprehensible. Naruto gave Yugito's hand a squeeze while she looked shocked that he would call a sweet kid like Naruto a 'hell spawn'.

"Why don't you look at that? He's got a girl with him," the second drunk pointed out, speaking a lot more clearly, but it was obvious that he was just as inhibited as the first. Naruto felt his eyes widened as the three pairs of eyes settled on Yugito who looked shocked.

"Fuck it! Yugito, run!" Naruto order as he pushed Yugito in front of him, jumping away from rooftop to rooftop, trying to lose their pursuers. They were just ordinary citizens, and even if they were academy students, regular villagers had no chance of keeping up with a shinobi in terms of agility.

"Where do ya think your going?" the last man questioned in his inhibited speech, appearing in front of Yugito who immediately cut to the left and bolted away, Naruto following right behind with an expression of despair. Out of all the things those men could be, they just had to be shinobi, didn't they?

As Naruto and Yugito continued to run with the three shinobi right behind him, the two blond prey listened to the threats made on their lives by their predators. "Once I get my hands on you, little demon boy. I'm going to tear your arms off and beat you to death with them!" one of the hunters commented as the other two joined in, suggesting that they tied him to a tree and took turns throwing kunai at him or rather, set him on fire and watch him slowly burn to death. Naruto didn't have the time to think of which one was worse at the moment as he encouraged Yugito to move a little faster.

Naruto had an abundant amount of experience when it came to running away from other shinobi due to his incessant pranks. At this rate, Naruto would be able to keep this up for hours on end since they were only three in number. What Naruto was more worried about was whether Yugito had the stamina to keep on going? Yugito had stated that going from Kumo to Konoha was a long distance, so hopefully it would have been enough training. Then again, hitching a ride on caravans could get her pretty far.

After having gone through the options of what to do with Naruto, one of the drunks wondered out loud what they would do with Yugito once they captured her. "It'd be a waste to kill a piece of ass like that. We should just show her a good time," the second drinker suggested, a shiver going up Yugito's spine while Naruto's eyes narrowed at the despicable thought.

"Or we could sell her off. How much do you think somebody would pay to get in with her?" the last shinobi remarked, Naruto starting to cough in surprise as he wondered where the hell they even came up with these ideas while Yugito's pace picked up out of fear to the point where it became reckless for her.

Yugito was pushing herself to move far faster than she was able to and it proved to be more reckless than she first thought as she tripped, falling from the rooftop to the dirt ground below. Naruto gritted his teeth as he dove off the rooftop down the ground where Yugito was painfully rising off the ground.

In one swift movement, Naruto scooped Yugito up in his arms bridal style and began increasing his pace almost instantaneously. Yugito gripped onto his orange jumpsuit as she looked up at Naruto's focused face as he moved in front of him. Unfortunately for him, raw determination and focus were not going to make him run any faster and even though Yugito weighed practically nothing to him, he was still slowing down. That was all the opportunity those chasing them needed as they decreased the blond's distance from their immanent doom.

A deep frown appeared on Naruto's face as Yugito looked at him worriedly. Naruto looked down at her and than away as he threw her to her feet and turned away. "Get out of here, Yugito! This started because of me, you have no part here!" Naruto shouted her way as he watched the men close in.

Yugito opened her mouth to argue, but she wasn't allowed to speak before Naruto yelled once again, "No 'but'. Get the hell out of here! I won't forgive you if you get caught!" Naruto's words hit home as tears began to develop at the corner of Yugito's eyes as she turned around and dashed away, not looking back no matter how tempted she was.

The first brute, whose sole focus was grabbing Yugito, was completely left vulnerable to the spinning kick that sent him flying back into the ground. Naruto may still be a child, but his hits were so powerful they could barely be considered human. However, after completing the kick, Naruto was left vulnerable for an attack, the second man coming up to Yugito and smashing his glass tankard into Naruto face, shattering it.

"Ah," Naruto shouted as he felt the glass cut into his skin, drawing blood as he fell to the ground on his stomach. Naruto tried to jump to his feet, but he felt the weight of two men come crashing into his body, feeling two knees collide with his back and two arms holding each of his down.

Naruto coughed a little blood from the impact, but his own condition wasn't very high on his list of priorities. Naruto was more worried about Yugito since there were only two of the three holding him down. "Don't get caught, Yugito. Please don't get caught," Naruto muttered hopefully before his face was smashed into the dirt as he felt the two violent drunks kneeing him in the back while giving him no chance to scurry away.

'Wonder if they'll give me the chance to choose how I die. I think being used as target practice might be the least painful,' Naruto remarked to himself with a mental chuckle despite his situation, feeling completely resigned to his fate as he wasn't given a chance to fight it.

"How do you like that you little shit?" one of the two asked, knocking the poor kid onto his back and holding him down. The sadistic man placed his face near Naruto's as he drove his knee into the blond boy, taking joy in the pained expression on the blond's face. The second man looked content in just watching from that point on as he let his friend have his fun.

In response to the man's early question, Naruto smirked smugly as he spat on the man's face. "Go fuck yourself," Naruto told the man calmly, in a superior tone of voice, not caring for the situation he was in. Naruto wasn't one to speak too vulgarly because, before today, Naruto had never fought an enemy other than in a sparring match at the academy.

Naruto had pretty much declared that he wanted to die after that last action, but the thought of how much idiocy that must have taken to do something like that caused the defiled man's friend to chuckle. Hearing his friends laughter, the man who Naruto had spat on went redder than a tomato in rage. "You go fuck yourself, kid!" the enraged shinobi roared, once again beating on the poor kid who wouldn't let the ridiculing smirk leave his face.

Naruto's hands may have been restricted, but nothing would stop that mouth of his. "You punch like a girl," Naruto insulted even though he wasn't particularly sexist, getting a rise out of the attacker who continued his storm of punches.

"My bad. A baby hits harder," Naruto corrected himself as the punches came down that much more harder and faster, but they were getting sloppy and were beginning to hurt less and less. It wasn't Naruto's intention in the slightest; It was merely a bonus.

"I've seen prettier things looking at my toilet when I'm done using it," Naruto laughed at the man's face which only succeeded in pissing off the man till it almost looked like steam would begin shooting out of his ears.

"I would hit you, but from what I've learned. It's rude for men to hit women," Naruto shot off another one in between punches. Whether it was a good or bad thing that Naruto was on fire today was completely up to the spectator as Naruto had not intention of stopping.

For a moment, it had looked like Naruto was out of insults as the man cocked a punch back, waiting to hear what the bloodied boy had to say. "Straddling me like this makes me wonder what team you swing for." Everything went dead silent, almost as if the two shinobi were trying to process the meaning.

"Damn," the drunk on standby remarked in a prolonged fashion, letting off a long whistle in both praise and surprise with a hint of pity. It was obvious Naruto had resigned himself to the punishment and was going to heckle them until he died.

Naruto was about to make a comment about the man's birth being an accident, but as the young male opened his mouth, he heard something that made his heart falter. "Let go of me!" a feminine voice shrieked in pain, Naruto turning his head slowly to the side to see Naruto in the grasp of the man who had been sent to chase her.

The brute who had been punishing Naruto let out a mad laugh as he spoke to Naruto, "What's wrong brat? You were being such a wise ass be-." The amateur shinobi made the mistake of loosening his hold on Naruto and was greeted by an uppercut, knocking him off the short academy student.

"Naruto! Run!" Yugito commanded, tears in her eyes as she looked at her companion's bludgeoned face, wondering how he could keep a smirk on his face in his condition.

"Don't ever tell me to run! If I leave this place, it'll be with you!" Naruto told her, but sadly his sight was blurred from all the blood and couldn't do much to block the assault from the two elder shinobi, leading him to be held down the way they previously had him.

"Bastards! It's me you want! Leave Yugito alone!" Naruto roared at the two before his face met the dirt once again. Yugito at this point had tears falling from her eyes. It wasn't the fact that she was going to be violated by these three lecherous men, but the fact that Naruto was taking such a brutal beating to keep her safe even though they barely knew each other. Despite everything, Naruto was still completely hell-bent in keeping her out of harms way.

"Oh, so you care about this girl that much, shithead. How about we show you what she looks like when she gets the taste of a real man?" the failure of a shinobi holding Yugito remarked, as he began unzipping the struggling Yugito's over-shirt.

Naruto cursed as he futilely tried to gather his strength, only to find he didn't have much left. Naruto closed his eyes in his momentary anger at not only what was being done to Yugito, but he was angry at his own weakness.

'Like all jinchūriki, she was treated horribly in her village to the point where she would rather commit suicide rather than return.' The words of Inoichi Yamanaka that Naruto had overheard played in his head over and over again like broken record, Naruto looking up to see Yugito's over-shirt get taken off her.

Naruto's angry grew at an exponentially rate as Inoichi words stung Naruto's very being. Unknown to Naruto, his hair began to stand up on end. The rapist was now tearing away at Yugito's shirt, revealing the black bra underneath and her toned stomach.

'Even if she doesn't want to tell me, I'm not just gonna sit by and pretend that I didn't hear anything. I'm gonna make sure that she has such a great time here that she forgets all about Kumogakure.' Naruto's own words came back to haunt him as they echoed in chorus with Inoichi's. Naruto clenched his fists sharply, drawing blood as his canines grew, gritting his teeth in rage and frustration.

'Was this how I was going to make sure she had a great time!' Naruto cursed himself as he felt his wrath build up to its peak, a sensation of raw power running through his veins, filling his entire body.

Naruto watched as Yugito went unconscious from shock, her body going limp in her attackers arms. That was the last straw as Naruto eyes went from a beautiful blue to blood red and slitted. A burning red aura came off Naruto's body, completely unnoticed by the blond as he let off an incredible, bestial roar.

Naruto had snapped at this point and that fact caused a feeling of fear and despair to settle into the hearts of the three men. Naruto removed his arm from the thug's restrictive grip as he smashed his elbow into one of their faces. A sickening crunch was heard and the first man was sent sprawling on the ground with his face seemingly caved in.

Standing up slowly and demonically, Naruto set his eyes on Yugito and, more specifically, the dirty man holding her. Foolishly enough, the second man that had been binding Naruto thought he could manage a sneak attack, so he was shocked when Naruto caught it by the wrist.

Naruto turned to the man who watched in shock as all the cuts and bruises on Naruto's face healed at a rapid pace. The dead man let off a scream of horror which was only follow by another as Naruto tore the brute's arm right off his torso before quite literally, batting him away with it. The second man was left lying in a pool of his own blood, missing an arming, and no doubtingly had a hole in his ribs.

The blood from his two victim's stained Naruto hair, face, clothing and hands as he tossed the severed arm away. Looking over at the perverse male holding Yugito, the final victim was paralyzed in fear and was not even given the chance to turn around, let alone run away. Naruto was already upon him, grabbing the man by the face and slamming it into the ground, creating a small crater.

Naruto, at the same time, had taken Yugito from the final drunks hands and now was placing his foot on the man's face. Without the slightest bit of remorse, Naruto put pressure on his foot and put the man's head into the ground.

Looking away, Naruto moved Yugito so he was carrying her bridal style and walked away from the scene of carnage. The sensation of power that had surged through him abruptly ended and Naruto fell to his knees, clutching Yugito to his chest so he wouldn't drop her.

Blinking as if waking up from a dream, Naruto looked around at the bloody scene around him. The three men around him were either dead, or unrepairable. Naruto followed to look up at the amount of blood that had fallen on his hair before looking down at the dark liquid that soaked his clothing and the palms of his hands. Naruto did not need to see the amount of blood that was on his face to know there was a lot there, but he couldn't seem to find the strength to wipe it off. What the hell had just come over him? Where did that strength come from?

'Where did all that anger come from?' Naruto contemplated, thinking back to all the rage that had seemed to suffocate his very being. Sure, Naruto was enraged at the fact that Yugito was about to be raped, but what he did could only be described as 'over the top'. Beating the three men, maybe killing them was justified, but Naruto had left each of them in a bloody, mangled heap.

Naruto had accepted the fact that shinobi were meant to kill, that much was taught at the academy. Academy students weren't even allowed to graduate unless their proctors felt their students would be able to get the job done. Naruto would get the job done when it was necessary, but that didn't mean he would like any second of it.

'The lives that I took belonged to people with family, friends, likes, dislikes, dreams and fears, just like any other person,' Naruto thought to himself sadly as he began to understand the weight, the value of a single person's life. Only those that understood this burden could become a respectable shinobi, while those who do not understand and just take lives, were only despicable human beings.

"It's heavy," Naruto mumbled, looking down at Yugito, who almost looked peaceful in her unconsciousness. The rain that had built up in the clouds above finally came down harshly, almost amplifying the depressing atmosphere around the young blond haired boy.

At the start of the rainfall, four ANBU operatives finally arrived at the scene in time to see Naruto place his orange jacket around the resting Yugito. In order to keep Yugito both warm and decent, Naruto followed to fully zip the jacket. That left the young blond boy in a light black t-shirt that was already soaked, leaving him with little warmth, but that didn't matter to him as he was only worried about Yugito.

The ANBU had obviously not seen what had exactly transpired, but they were able to get a good grasp just by viewing the aftermath. That, in addition to the outburst of the Kyūbi's chakra would be enough to give the Hokage a full report after they finished the clean-up. If everything wasn't cleared up by the morning, it would cause a panic among the civilians.

Naruto finally stood up in the rain, clutching Yugito defensively to his chest as he looked up at the downpour. Looking back down, Naruto noticed that the rain had dissipated the fog, leaving him with a clearer view. At this point, Naruto would be able to find his way back home. If only it had begun to rain sooner rather than later on in the night.

One of the ANBU agents slowly began approaching Naruto who calmly waited for the shinobi to speak. The ANBU was a woman, judging from the figure and she had long straight purple-hair and wore a porcelain mask that hid her face. It resembled a cat, having three red stripes, one going horizontally across each cheek and one going vertically down from the forehead. She wore the standard ANBU uniform, consisting of black and gray armor and arm guards. The woman had a katana strapped to her back with the signature ANBU tattoo on her right shoulder.

"Are you two alright?" the lady behind the mask asked with somewhat of a worried tone. Naruto found this somewhat new and refreshing as most of the ANBU he had ever spoken to were always so emotionless.

Naruto had a solemn look on his face as his eyes went across the scene around him and then back at his bloody hand. "Yeah. We just... lost our way home," Naruto told the purple-haired woman with a sigh. Naruto didn't have to even look at the ANBU agent behind him to know that she had a look of sadness on her face.

'Is it wrong that I feel like the greatest loss today was this boy's innocence?' the mask wearing woman mused before asking the short blond kid if he needed any help getting home. Naruto only shook his head, jumping onto the nearby roof and dashing off out of sight.

Naruto walked into his home with Yugito in his arms, closing the door behind him with the back of his foot. Moving over to the bed, Naruto sat Yugito up on it before removing the bloody orange jacket off her person. Ignoring the fact that Yugito was practically naked from the waist up, Naruto followed to place her under the covers comfortably.

Viewing Yugito's peaceful face, Naruto picked up the drenched orange jacket and moved to the dining table. Throwing the jacket onto one of the chairs, Naruto picked up the seat and moved it in front of his bed where Yugito was sleeping. Slumping down on the chair, Naruto had no attention of drying himself, changing clothes, or cleaning the blood out of his hair or off his face.

Naruto remained completely silent as he watched Yugito as she slept while listening to rhythm of the rain as it hit the windows and the rooftop. It was a chorus of noises that weren't particularly loud, but lulled the exhausted blond boy. Naruto remained so unmoving that if somebody was to look at the scene, it would look more like a portrait than reality.

Naruto's body may have been exhausted, but his mind was still at work. His thoughts were still concentrated on the events that had occurred just a few minutes ago. Naruto wasn't mulling over the fact that he had killed three people. Naruto found peace with himself about that already.

'Where did all the anger come from?' Naruto mused once again, remembering how his rage seemed to completely envelope him, burying his sense of reasoning and even his humanity. Naruto could hazily remember going through with the killing. It gave Naruto the feeling of waking up from a vivid dream, but having no recollection of every doing it.

Even so, this was not what was vexing Naruto most. That power that came with all that anger had ended up helping him save Yugito, but what if he ended up hurting Yugito the next time something like this happened. Naruto was not a mellow person and got angry rather frequently, sometimes over the most menial of things. Naruto's judgment and reasoning could be clouded at any moment and what was to say that he wouldn't end up hurting everyone around him instead of just the enemy?

Naruto's eyes, which had not left Yugito, finally looked down. What would Yugito think about him when she found out about him killing those three shinobi? Would she fear and hate him like all the villagers already did? This was what was bothering Naruto and he had no intention of concealing the truth that he had killed three people for her. Yugito deserved to know what had ensued after she went unconscious.

That last deliberation caused Naruto to think back to the fate that had nearly befallen Yugito. In the end, no matter how you looked at it, if Yugito had not been around him, than the three drunks would have never targeted her. Maybe it would be better for Yugito's safety if she just stayed away from him.

Despite the fact that Yugito was a close friend and Naruto didn't want her to leave him, he also didn't want to put Yugito's safety in jeopardy 'It was nice while it lasted,' Naruto sighed to himself, bowing his head and supporting it in the palms of his hands.

Naruto beginning to slowly doze as the minutes went by, when Yugito suddenly sat up and began shouting as she gripped the covers around her and began struggling against some sort of invisible force. "No! No! No! Get off of me! Let me go!" Yugito shrieked, completely unaware of her surroundings as he mind was still stuck in the past.

Naruto did his best to calm her down as he tried to stop her pointless struggling only to take a punch to the stomach and the jaw. Naruto ignored the pain, offhandedly noticing that Yugito's punches were heavy, as he continued shushing the hectic blonde.

Yugito soon began to settled down as Naruto out a breath of relief, falling back into his chair. Yugito took a moment to realize that she was back in Naruto's bed before spotting Naruto sitting in a chair to her right. Yugito's eyes first landed on his blood drenched pants before moving up to his black shirt that had a red hue. Continuing upward, Yugito's eyes stopped when they saw the amount of blood that was in his hair and the few droplets on his face. Most of the blood had been washed away by the rain on the way to the apartment which was probably a good thing as Yugito was already as worried as could be.

"Are you okay? You're covered in blood!" Yugito inquired fearfully as she scanned his body for wounds, but wondered why she was having trouble finding any.

"It's not mine." Naruto's reply was emotionless and his face was void of any childish happiness, adopting an expression of utmost seriousness. Yugito's eyes widened in shock as she lightly enclosed her fist and put it against her chest. Yugito's heart was beating increasingly faster her eyes scanned over all the blood that covered Naruto's person. Having used those words in that tone of voice, Naruto had made it completely obvious that he had drawn all that blood.

"What happened?" Yugito asked after a moment of silence, finally having decided that she wanted hear Naruto's response. She apprehensive about the response due to all the blood, but she felt that she had to know.

"Nothing happened to you and that's all the matters," Naruto remarked, giving her a solemn smile. Naruto didn't see any need to tell Yugito since she already knew, but was hoping that it wasn't so.

"So you are the one who saved me," Yugito pointed out, being completely sure that it was Naruto at this point. At first, she wasn't sure due to having lost consciousness, but everything she was hearing and seeing added up to the conclusion that Naruto had done everything

Naruto nodded in response as a frown appeared on his face. "You wouldn't have been in any danger in the first place if you weren't around me. What happened made me realize that it was a mistake for you to decide to stay here with me."

"It's not your fault," Yugito began to reassure the blond boy, but was immediately silence by Naruto who put his hand over her mouth. Naruto had an expression of maturity on his face like he did on the Fourth Hokage's head that one night.

"Please don't tell me it's not my fault," Naruto began, making firm eye contact with Yugito to make sure he got his point across before proceeding, "If you had been walking with anybody but me, they would have simply ignored you. The only reason they bothered noticing you was because they saw me first. Don't you see that as long as you stay around me, you'll be in danger!"

Naruto took a brief pause, removing his hand from her mouth before abruptly standing up and looking off to the side. "Tomorrow, I want you to go back to Jii-chan, take his offer in finding an apartment and forget about me. I don't want you getting hurt because of me ever again. I wish you happy life with your new start," Naruto told her, the last sentence coming out strained since this was hard for him too. Yugito was one of the few who actually acknowledged him as a person and now he was telling her to forget about him. Tears actually threatened to fall from his eyes, but his resolve did not waver.

Naruto was then suddenly enveloped in a hug, feeling Yugito wrapping her arms around his waist and placing her head on his left shoulder since he was looking away to his right. Naruto was shocked at the sudden act, but remained inflexible.

Yugito was making this a lot harder than it had to be, but he needed to sever these ties so she could be safe. "It would have been better if somebody else had found you that day," Naruto finalized in a bitter tone, feeling Yugito shake slightly.

"Please stop," Yugito's voice coming out shaken as a tear fell from her eyes and onto him. It was a single tear that fell, but the fact that more would soon follow caused pain to grip Naruto's heart. Naruto felt paralyzed since he had never wanted to see her cry, but here he was, being the one that caused it.

"Why do you have to talk like that?" Yugito began, tightening the hug a little bit before continuing, "You talk as if it would be easy for me to just forget about you! Since I came to Konoha, all I can remember is having a great time with you. It seems now, that whenever I think of the word 'Konoha', an image of your smiling face always comes up... I never said that I blamed you. If anything, I'm really happy that you would go so far for me. So please. Stop acting like you're somebody unimportant!"

That last sentence hit Naruto pretty hard because he didn't want to go back to being somebody practically nonexistent. Before Yugito had arrived, nobody had ever acknowledged, but now, here was Yugito, telling him that he actually is somebody important. A warm feeling washed over Naruto as he returned Yugito's embrace.

"I can't change your mind, so at least hear this," Naruto began, speaking as he placed his head on Yugito's left shoulder, "From this point on, I promise that I will protect you from any harm."

Yugito had not heard the word 'till' and that was what she found completely shocking. Naruto was not only promising the he would protect, but, without saying till, meant that he would protect her for as long as he drew breath.

"Are you sure? Do you really mean that?" Yugito asked, seeing this promise as Naruto signing a pact to be her guardian angel. Was Naruto really going to put himself through all that?

"It's a promise of a lifetime." Naruto wasn't one to ever go back on his promises and with those six words, Naruto had assured her that he would always be there for her.

A moment of silence washed over them as Naruto's words settled in Yugito's mind while they were already imprinted in Naruto's. Lightly pulling away from her, Naruto pushed Yugito back on the bed. "Get some rest. We have to wake up early tomorrow," Naruto advised her, Yugito having completely forgotten about the academy after everything that had happened.

"Good night, Naruto."

"Sweet dreams, Yugito."

Naruto slowly walked away from the bed and back to his futon. The mere sight of his bed seemed to drain him of the last of his energy as he collapsed on the soft material. Naruto knew that he would end up dirtying the futon if he didn't clean all the blood off, but he could barely move a finger. Whatever that power he felt was, it had taken quite a toll. As soon as Naruto closed his eyes, he instantly fell asleep for some much deserved rest.

Naruto's eyes slowly opened to the sound of a knocking at his door. Naruto knew that it was way too early for him to be waking up due to internal alarm clock and was considering ignoring it. If Naruto had still been living alone he would have disregarded the knocking, but with the knowledge that Yugito was sleeping, Naruto jumped to his feet.

Naruto walked over to the door, getting ready to answer it when he remembered that his appearance was barely presentable. "Who is it?" Naruto asked through the door, deciding it was for the best and hoping that one on the other end wouldn't be too offended.

This visitor happened to be an ANBU agent who didn't seem to be phased in the slightest that Naruto wasn't planning on opening the door. The ANBU man's job was to get a message across; It didn't matter how he went about doing it. "The Hokage demands a meeting with Naruto Uzumaki. If you are him, I suggest you get ready and leave promptly."

Upon carrying out his mission, the masked man instantly turned around and disappeared, going back to his commanding officer. Naruto remained behind the door for a moment longer, a serious expression etched on his face. It was obvious that the old man wanted to talk to Naruto about the events of last night, so it was fortunate for Naruto that he was fully prepared for such an incident.

Turning around to make his way to the bathroom, Naruto's eyes looked outside the window to see that the sun was actually just barely beginning to come over the horizon. Naruto's face went into comical shock as he ran to the window, pressing his face against the glass. If the sun was just fuckin' rising, why the hell was the old man asking for a meeting?

Naruto began grumbling incoherently, his attitude for the day having gone completely sour. Naruto quickly stripped off everything but his boxers and threw them into the hamper in the bathroom before going into his room, which technically became Yugito's, and grabbing a new set of clothing out of the closet. Hastily, but quietly as not wake up Yugito, Naruto got dressed and went into the bathroom where he washed the blood out of his hair and off his face before brushing his teeth.

Being completely ready, Naruto slapped his cheeks, removing his grumpy face and attitude as he took a deep breath. Exiting the bathroom, Naruto took one last look at the sleeping Yugito before leaving the apartment.

Naruto arrived at the Hokage's door in a matter of minutes after leaving his apartment. The fact that the receptionist had not even been at her desk when Naruto arrived was a testament to how early it truly was. Naruto decided that knocking was pointless as he opened the door while announcing his arrival, "I'm here, Jii-chan."

Naruto entered to find the Hokage in his usual seat, facing the window with his favorite pipe in hand as he let out a puff of smoke. The elderly Hokage looked so much at peace and relaxed, having no work since it was before business hours. Slowly turning in his chair, the Sandaime Hokage responded, "I've been expecting you, Naruto."

Naruto had an idea of what this meeting was going to be about, so Naruto decided to just ask what was already in his mind. "How are the three from yesterday?" Naruto found himself asking, surprising Hiruzen who didn't think Naruto would go straight to the point let alone ask a question like that.

Hiding his shock, Hiruzen kept a rather indifferent look on his features as he let off another puff of smoke from his pipe before speaking, "They are in the hospital in critical condition. What will happen to them is uncertain at this point." Naruto was actually expecting that the three had died, so hearing they were merely hospitalized was astonishing. Although it didn't sound like they would be drawing breath much longer with the way Hiruzen made it sound.

The Sandaime remained silent for a moment as the thought of telling Naruto about his status as a jinchūriki came to mind, but after a moments contemplation, he decided against it. It would be best if he waited until somebody with expertise in fūinjutsu arrived in the village before he did something like that.

Since the elder was keeping quiet this long, Naruto decided that he might as well speak. "If you're going to punish me, Jii-chan, just go head and do it already," Naruto winged it, deciding to take any discipline that the Hokage was waiting to give him.

To Naruto's bewilderment, Hiruzen actually let out a hearty laugh as he responded, "You misunderstand, Naruto. I can't punish you for something that you did in self-defense and in the defense of others." Truthfully, the Sandaime Hokage felt proud of Naruto for fighting to save Yugito, but refrained from vocalizing his belief.

"I was given a detailed report of what happened yesterday, so I know what you did and why you did it. The reason I called you here was just to ask you one simple question," the 'God of Shinobi' added leaving Naruto with an indeterminable expression on his face.

Much to Naruto's interest, an austere expression fell on Hiruzen's face as he asked his question, "In all honesty and seriousness, how do you feel about what you did last night?" Hiruzen felt he had the responsibility to discover what path Naruto's loss of innocence put him on. Was Naruto going to be a shinobi who liked killing others? Was he going to become a pacifist? Did him killing three people leave him mentally unstable?

Hiruzen had lived a long, long time and had seen much in all his years, so he was worried about what would become of the boy he thought of as his own grandchild. In turn, Naruto hadn't anticipated such a question coming up, but looked away and closed his eyes for a few seconds as he took a deep breath. It was technique a lot of people used to gather their thoughts. In this case, Naruto was using it to remember what he had come to terms with last night.

Opening his eyes with a solemn expression on his face, something Hiruzen rarely ever saw, Naruto answered the elderly man's inquiry, "To be honest, Jii-chan. Yesterday, I don't remember what happened exactly or how I did it, but I killed three people. I felt... bitter yet I felt a sense of duty in doing what I did. If it could have been avoided, then I wouldn't have done it, but I had to save Yugito. If it came down to it, I'll what I did yesterday, but there's nothing enjoyable in doing it." Hiruzen had gotten the response he wanted to hear, but Naruto had gone far beyond his expectations. Naruto's words sounded like that of an experienced individual rather than an eleven year old boy. Those words, were the words of a shinobi that did what was necessary for his family, friends and village.

Hiruzen, however, was left speechless as Naruto proceeded after a moments pause, "Did you know, Jii-chan? That the burden... it's heavy." Now that was just profound and something that most adults never grew to understand, let alone a boy Naruto's age. This confirmed Hiruzen's suspicions; Naruto was a lot more mature and intellectual than most people gave credit.

Naruto was far too young, but he gave off the feeling of a wise old man in a way. Hiruzen felt the urge to see what Naruto would be like when he grew up. Hopefully, Hiruzen would be around long enough to pass on the title of Hokage to this boy one day. "Thank you, Naruto-chan. You do an old man's heart good. Keep Yugito safe," the elderly man thanked Naruto with a grandfatherly smile.

Naruto put a genuine happy smile on, rather than the ordinary one he usually walked around with. Naruto turned his back to the Sandaime and strolled towards the door, putting a hand on the knob. "Thanks for everything, Jii-chan and I plan on doing anything to keep Yugito safe. It was a promise," Naruto thanked the old man back. Opening the door, Naruto gave the Hokage a happy good-bye before exiting into the hallway.

'Maybe I should visit Jii-chan more often,' Naruto thought to himself, actually having enjoyed his little talk with his grandfather-figure. Jii-chan was the first one to treat him like a person and thanks to him, he now had Yugito waiting for him back at home.

Exiting the Hokage Residence, Naruto looked up where the Hokage's office was with his hands in his pocket. 'Just watch, Jii-chan. I'm going to get really strong and I'll protect Yugito no matter what.'

So until the tomorrow when I send you guys chapter 5...

-Reprise