A/N: I don't own anything of Kingdom Hearts, only this one shot, which takes place ten years before the events of KH1. Yuffie is six years old and Cloud's twelve. Yuffie meets Cloud for the first time. Let's see if you can recognize more people from KH in this chapter.

Thanks: SecretAgent99, my beta reader, for her awesome work! ^-^

~ She wondered what kind of parents named their child 'Cloud.' What would be the name of the next person she would met? Sunnyday? ~

It was a hot day in the beautiful city of Radiant Garden. The sun was often hidden behind the soft-looking, fluffy white clouds, though, almost as though it was playing Peek-A-Boo, or perhaps even Hide and Seek. Yuffie was playing outside with Kairi, her best friend. They were playing hide and seek, too, their "most favorite game," as they put it.

This time it was Kairi's turn to go and hide somewhere in the big city, while Yuffie tried her best to find her as soon as she could. They did this all over and over again and they still couldn't get enough of it, not even after hours of playing the very same game.

They both had to promise Kairi's grandmother that they would stay close to their house, so nothing serious could happen to them and even if it did, then she would be close enough to take measures immediately.

Currently, Yuffie was searching in the quieter area of Radiant Garden. The streets and alleys were much narrower here, but it didn't matter that much, for she was not afraid. She was someone who wanted to become a ninja as soon as her parents allowed her to. She wondered when that would finally happen. She shouldn't be afraid of such trivial and almost normal things as a narrow, dark and deserted alley, not even if it looked this creepy. She wasn't a child anymore, she had become a big girl!

"Kairi, are you here?" Yuffie asked with her high voice.

Obviously there was no answer (but she had to try it anyway, for you may never know), so Yuffie walked further into the dark alley. Her footsteps echoed through the alley. She had to admit that this was a pretty scary place in comparison with the rest of the city.

And why was it suddenly so dead quiet here? A shiver ran down her spine as she became aware of the silence. Ugh, this place was creepy! It gave that word a whole new meaning. Maybe she should sing a song in order to break the cold, all-pervading silence. Did anyone live here? Probably not. At least this way, she wouldn't bother anyone with her off-key singing. Not that she sang off-key. Nuh-huh!

Slowly and with lots of doubt, she began to sing the song "The Wheels of the Bus." It became louder and louder and she sounded more and more confident as she continued. She stopped singing when other thoughts popped up into her head.

Now that she thought about it, it really was a stupid song. It made no sense at all. Duh, of course the wheels of the bus go round and round. That was the intention, wasn't it? Was that not quite obvious? Jeez! Talk about common sense here. Which stupid idiot had invented those lyrics? It had to be a grown-up dude. And then that annoying music, it really was a disaster.

She noticed that it was a blind alley she was walking in. Oh, that was just great. She had done that walking and scaring herself all for nothing, because Kairi couldn't be here. She sighed wearily. Way to go, Yufs!

She turned back and saw that three big boys of fourteen, fifteen and sixteen years old were waiting for her. They were all grinning evilly. Yuffie swallowed. These guys clearly were up to no good. Their eyes were sparkling in a very strange, almost malicious way.

"Look who we have here. The spoiled and rich brat whose parents had given us a restraining order, because we would have gotten into their dear daughter's hair. Hmm, what shall we do with her now, boys?" asked the biggest and ugliest boy, who probably was the leader.

He also had the voice of an evil leader. He had bright blue eyes and short, bright blond hair, but a cap on his head hid his hair. A scar ran down his face and stopped right under one of his eyes. Yuffie wondered what those guys were talking about. Her parents hadn't told her anything about it.

"Uh, what exactly do you mean, Mister?" she asked with trembling voice.

The guys all started to laugh evilly.

"Now don't pretend not to know anything about it," the guy said again, now sounding a bit mad.

It was at moments like this that she felt very small and vulnerable. What would she be like against these ugly guys? It was three against one. Moreover, they were all much bigger than her and she was pretty sure that running under their legs couldn't be an option now. Not that she wanted to try it anyway.

"Oh, I know something. We should get all her Munny and shave off that beautiful long black hair. Her parents will love it for sure. Plus, in that case, we would really have gotten into their daughter's hair, as they had put it," the middle one of the group suggested.

He himself had silvery shoulder-length hair, icy blue eyes and a somewhat unctuous voice, which made her shiver once more.

"Yes, I think that's a good one. It fits our image, if you know what I mean," said the blonde-haired guy again and they all started to laugh.

Yuffie's dark eyes became as big as saucers from shock and disbelief. Were they being serious?

"Let's do it," said the smallest boy, who also had blond hair.

They walked slowly toward her, their grins never disappearing from their faces. Yuffie slowly stepped back, until she felt that her back was pressed against the cold brick wall. She was trapped. Trapped like a rat. That would cost her hair...or maybe even more.

"No, go away! Please! Leave me alone!" she cried out, scared.

Tears started to form in her eyes. She couldn't stop them, couldn't control them anymore. But the boys did not listen to her and slowly walked even closer, until a voice called them to stop.

"You've heard the girl. Now leave her alone!" a boy's voice said loud and clear.

The boys all turned at once to the direction of the sound. A boy of about twelve years stood there, all alone. He had blond spikes and his eyes were the bluest ones Yuffie had ever seen. He held a big, wooden sword in his hands. From the look on his face, everyone could tell that he wasn't making a joke. The boy with the silvery hair snorted contemptuously, as if he'd recognized him.

"Oh? And who will stop us?" the eldest asked.

"I will," was the simple answer.

"Hah! You? Sure. With which army?" the silver-hair guy asked mockingly, looking around as if expecting more people to show up.

"I don't need an army to stop cowards like you, Sephiroth. Three against one, eh? And it's against an innocent little girl, too? Feeling brave today? I bet you're all too scared to fight with someone your own size."

He had pronounced Sephiroth's name with a disgusted look on his first calm face.

"I would fight someone my own size with pleasure," said the eldest.

The three of them then rushed forwards together, to teach the brave confident boy with the big mouth a lesson he would never forget. The boy also rushed toward them with full speed. Yuffie watched them nervously, seeing how the handsome blond boy beat the three bad guys single-handedly, even though he took a couple of blows. After a few minutes the boys finally seemed to realize that they could not win from him this time.

"Come on, let's get going," the leader of the small group grumbled. The others followed their leader, who added hastily, "We're not done yet! You'll pay for this, Strife!"

"We'll see about that."

Once the bullies were gone, he went to Yuffie. Yuffie looked at him. She had once seen a picture of an angel in one of Aerith's books and she still remembered what he had looked like. Cloud actually looked exactly like that angel, with his blond hair, bright baby blue eyes and pale soft creamy skin. Only the earring didn't really fit this picture.

The boy - or maybe he really was that very same angel - then kneeled down, so he could be on eyelevel with the little girl. "You okay?" he asked, frowning lightly.

Whoa, he looked only more handsome from this close. Yuffie forced herself with great difficulty to look into his mesmerizing eyes and replied, "Yeah, thanks! But I think that looks like it will become a black eye."

She pointed to his left eye.

He shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Oh, that's nothing. It's really cool. It's just so annoying that I'll get more girls after me as soon as they notice the black eye."

He sighed deeply and went with his hand through his spiky hair.

"Excuse me?" Yuffie asked indignantly.

So he was a woman hater? That immediately made him much less cool.

"I have nothing against you, though. I was actually talking about the girls that are older than eleven. They're so stupid! The only thing they do is giggle like an idiot and gossip all day long. And what's with all the colors that they smear on their face, calling it make up? Incomprehensible. Okay, sometimes it looks okay, but most of the time it's just too much! But I have to admit that the skirts and high heels are kinda...nice, sometimes, I guess. It looks painful to me, though."

"Okay..."

As if she wanted to know what the guy thought of skirts! He really was strange. No, more like bizarre.

"So uh, what's your name?" he asked curiously.

"It's Yuffie."

"Hi Yuffie, I'm Cloud."

Yuffie looked surprised at him. "Cloud? As in those white soft puffy, fluffy, cottony things in the sky?"

Cloud smiled a little at that, being used to that kind of reaction. "Yes, that's exactly what it means."

"Haha. Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

Cloud stared at her for a moment, a rather confused look appearing on his angel-like face. "But it's true. My name is Cloud."

She gave him a suspicious look for a moment, her chocolate-colored eyes boring into his electric blue ones, but then deflated. "Oh. Okay. If you say so."

She wondered what kind of parents named their child 'Cloud.' What would be the name of the next person she would met? Sunnyday?

"Yeah, I know. My parents are the one to blame here."

Yuffie giggled at that. Parents. She knew everything about them. Poor Cloud.

"Can I call you Cloudy?"

"Ehm...sure. I have no idea why you would want to do that, though."

Her mouth fell open, when she received his answer. She hadn't expected that.

She closed her mouth again, realizing that she must look stupid. "Thanks for saving me from those jerks! You did some pretty cool moves when you were fighting with them! Where did you learn that?"

He smiled a small smile, looking flattered. "Uh, thanks! I train often with Squall, one of my friends. Do you know him? His surname's Leonhart."

Yuffie shook her head. "Nope. Never heard of. Wish I could kick their butts the way you do, but I have a long way to go. I want to become a ninja!"

Cloud chuckled. A ninja. He should have seen that coming.

"Oh really? I wish you good luck then. It's pretty hard to become one, but-"

Yuffie interrupted him, suddenly shrieking, "You're injured!"

Cloud followed her gaze and looked at his hand. It was bleeding, but just a little. He hadn't noticed the wound himself so far, but now that she mentioned it, it really started stinging. He shrugged it off again, like it was nothing to worry about. For him, it really was nothing.

"Oh, that. I'll be okay, don't worry. You on the other way, should be more careful. I can't imagine what could have happened, if I hadn't been just in time."

Yuffie swallowed.

He was right; she had almost lost her long, beautiful hair. "Well, then I guess you should hang around with me some more. You know, to protect me, until I've become a great ninja," she suggested. "I could use a little help."

As her own guardian.

Cloud nodded sternly. "Seems like a good idea to me."

Yuffie considered something and then quickly gave Cloud a kiss on his cheek.

The blond boy gave her a baffled look, his eyes widening in surprise. "Wha-"

"That was for saving me. Thank you!" She smiled sweetly.

Cloud's eyes then widened some more. "Oh no, you're one of them! One of those girls. Why is it always me?" he said, quasi-shocked and terrified.

He sighed wearily.

Yuffie laughed and started to run away from him, for she still had to find Kairi. "Bye Cloudie!" she waved.

He waved back, hesitantly at first. She didn't see how a small smile graced Cloud's lips, as he got up and also walked away. Some people here in Radiant Garden still managed to surprise him. He wondered what other surprises life would bring him.

A/N: Phew, this chapter is done. Thanks for reading this! =) I Hope you've enjoyed it. ^_^ Let me know what you think of this one-shot. It was just another idea of mine to show that Cloud was different before he had left Hollow Bastion. Besides, he still was a kid here. I wanted to show you that people can change over the years. Aerith still likes him, because she knows how he was in his past and she still sees that into him. But that's just my vision.

Next chapter: Yuffie meets Squall Leonhart for the first time, a stoic swordsman...who likes ice cream?