Chapter 4: Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Komatsuzaki Homes, Konohagakure no Sato (1812 hours September 11, 7 AK)

"I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto introduced.

Naruto wore a white shirt with an orange spiral at the center. He wore orange jeans that went all the way to his lower calves. Unlike Suzu, he was wearing blue shinobi sandals, in spite of the fact that he was not yet a shinobi.

He was very nervous about meeting Suzu. Although she seemed like a polite and kind young girl, it could all be a rouse to try and hurt him. It's happened to him before; it may happen to him again.

But the look that Suzu gave him was devoid of any of the hatred he has seen withawe-struckother people. It was very warm and inviting, much like the gaze of the Sandaime Hokage. Naruto barely see such docile eyes like hers. It was definitely welcoming and Naruto felt like he could relax in her presence.

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Uzumaki-san." Suzu said with a deep bow.

"Likewise, Fujibayashi-chan." Naruto responded. Suzu blushed at the honorific. Other than the Sandaime Hokage, nobody has ever referred to her as "chan" before. It was definitely a positive start to their relationship.

And then the awkward silence kicked in. Suzu automatically ran out of topics to talk about. She never thought she would have gotten this far with the blonde boy, who she now knew as Naruto. She was always bad at keeping conversations going, and today was no exception.

Naruto was having a similar dilemma. The only people he has ever spoken to in more than two sentences were the Sandaime Hokage and the Ichiraku family. Everyone avoided him at all costs, and every futile attempt to make new friends backfired with him being chased away or the other party just walking away.

"Um…" They both said at the same time. Both of them blushed at the awkward situation they managed to get themselves into.

"I would like to get to know you a little better, if that's okay with you." They said simultaneously again. Both of them scratched the back of their heads, finding the situation to be steadily weirder.

"Yeah, it's okay with me." They both said yet again. Now both of them placed their hands on their hips in frustration at the stupidity of this moment.

"You first." Once again, concurrent remarks. Both of the kids stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak up. When the silence stretched on for longer than 2 minutes, Suzu, in a brilliant epiphany, raised her hand and pointed at herself. Naruto, who instantly got what she was trying to say, nodded his head in agreement.

"Let's find someplace better to be at. I'm sure you don't wanna hold the door forever, right?" Suzu asked.

"Uh…yeah…sure, okay." Naruto said, unsure of what to do at this point. It was nearing curfew and all the other kids needed to go back to their rooms at 1900 hours. They did not have much time left to spend with each other, and Naruto did not know where exactly to go. He did not hang out with friends often (because of obvious reasons) and he did not know any special meeting spot.

"Here." Suzu said, grabbing on Naruto's hands. "There's a big tree that has a nice shade near the dormitory. Maybe we could go there?"

"Yeah! Sure!" Naruto said excitedly. He let Suzu lead him down the 15 minute walk back to the dormitory. After walking for a few more minutes, they came across a huge elm tree that was almost as large as the dormitory itself. Suzu led Naruto to the base of the tree, finally letting go of his hands.

"This is my favorite spot in the whole orphanage!" She said before she began to climb the tree.

"B…Be careful!" Naruto shouted, worried about the excited young girl. She did not seem like she would be this energetic when they met only a few minutes ago. It was as if…as if…as if she was genuinely ecstatic about being Naruto's friend. The thought at first seemed implausible, considering the treatment he was receiving from everybody. But then he felt very warm, happy even that the girl was willing to accept him. He wanted a friend more than anything else in his life, and he never expected to get one so…so randomly.

The girl stopped climbing the tree, rested on the nearest branch and held her hand down. "C'mon Uzumaki-san!" She shouted. "It's not that bad!"

"I don't know Fujibayashi-chan." He said nervously. "It could be d-dangerous…"

"Aw c'mon!" She said disappointedly. "Or are you a big chicken?"

"Chicken? Me? NO WAY!" He screamed and ran towards the tree. Running towards the tree gave him the momentum he needed to make a big leap towards the nearest sturdy branch he could find. He managed to get a good grip on the branch, and hoisted himself on top. From there he carefully found graspable branches and began climbing towards Suzu's branch. When he reached it, he took a sitting position right next to Suzu. It was hard to balance himself on the branch, but Suzu was doing it just fine, and he did not want to be outdone by a girl.

Suzu smiled at Naruto before standing up on the branch. The sudden shift of balance almost knocked Naruto over the branch, but he managed to hold on (just barely, to the giggling delight of Suzu). Suzu then began to climb even higher on the tree, trying to reach the highest sturdy branch she possibly could.

"Wait!" Naruto screamed. "We probably shouldn't do this…"

"C'mon Uzumaki-san!" Suzu said, almost pleadingly. "You made it this far! Don't stop!" She continued to climb higher on the tree.

Naruto was rather terrified. He was already pretty far up, so any minor trip or fall could do major damage to his developing body. But Suzu seemed so unconcerned with her own safety. He never thought his first "friend" would be so darn adventurous!

Naruto would not just sit idly by and watch as he got outdone by a girl. His pride as a 6 year old boy would be crushed! So Naruto strengthened his resolve and began his trek higher towards the canopy of the tree. His hands were beginning hurt from gripping the branches too hard, but Naruto paid no mind to the pain. There was only one thing going on his mind; he could not disappoint the girl.

After several minutes of climbing, the two reached the canopy of the tree. Naruto was awe-struck by the view he had from the height of the tree. Konoha was being blanketed by the twilight of the coming evening. The twilight gave the village a different vibe than the sunrise or the sunset. It was not yet evening, but the blackness of night intermingled with the receding colors of the sunset to make a wonderful blend of nightfall. The (potentially) dangerous trek to the canopy of the tree rewarded the two kids with such an amazing view. But that was not what Suzu had in mind when she climbed up here.

"You know, sparrows make their homes up in trees like this." Suzu said, closing her eyes and listening to the ambiance of evening.

"Really? I didn't know." Naruto replied. Naruto and Suzu were sitting in different branches, just so that their combined weight does not overwhelm and break them. Both of the kids were resting their backs on the trunk of the tree, looking at opposite directions. But they were paying full attention to the other. After all, they did have nobody but themselves to hang out with.

"Uh huh!" Suzu said. A gentle breeze blew passed the two kids on the tree. Suzu allowed her hair to be blown by the wind, each strand dancing beautifully as the wind passed. Suzu was not wearing her usual ponytail (since this was supposed to be a special occasion), so all of her long hair was being blown together. She did not mind it at all though. The only thought going through her mind was how pleasant this evening was going.

"Hey, Suzu-chan." Naruto said, surprising the little girl. Naruto noticed her surprise when he felt his branch shaking slightly. "Um…I could call you Suzu-chan…right?"

Suzu giggled. "Only if I can call you Naruto-kun!"

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Of course you can!" Naruto then turned his head towards the sky. The orange glow of the sunset was being engulfed by the blackness of the dusk, and the stars were creeping their way into the night sky. This truly was a wondrous sight that Naruto would not have known if he did not meet Suzu. Today made a strange turn to the better.

Naruto was very upset with the behavior of an arrogant Hyuuga today in the Academy. Hyuuga Neji was the leading Academy student for the year behind him. He hated how he was attracting so much attention on himself simply because of his skill, and Naruto (being the responsible sempai he was) wanted to prove otherwise to the brash Hyuuga. He was in for a rude awakening when he was systematically beaten by the Hyuuga prodigy. Naruto hated to admit it, but the Hyuuga was too damn good for someone his age. Following his humiliating defeat, all the children in the Academy began to laugh at him mockingly. He hid his own disappointment by laughing with them and smiling, but he lamented his own lack of ability.

It was not his fault. His teachers were unsupportive and refused to assist him with his problems. Whenever he raised his hands to ask questions on topics he had difficulty with, the teachers would scold him for his lack of knowledge. They never gave him pointers on his flaws and typically ignored him to focus on more talented students. He hated the lack of attention he was receiving so he turned to the only other alternative: pranks.

"Suzu-chan." Naruto said seriously. "I just wanted to say…thanks. Thanks for wanting to be my friend."

Suzu was thinking of what to say in this predicament. 'No problem!' Suzu first thought. But she felt that the phrase wasn't good enough. 'What are friends for?' She thought again. But she thought that was too clichéd. She racked her mind trying to find the best words for this moment. Then she found one. She found the one phrase that would hopefully deepen their developing bond and make Naruto sympathetic.

"You know…" She began, looking up to the stars that littered the skies. She never ever considered looking at the sky when she was up at this tree. She felt that it was ironic, since her greatest wish was to be able to fly. This, she thought, was truly the moment that she sought for so long, since her departure from the hospital. "…you aren't the only one that was in need of a friend."

Naruto turned his head around to try and see Suzu, but she was right behind the trunk he was leaning on so he could not see her. He found it unbelievable that a girl like her would not have any friends. She was, he had to admit, rather cute, with such alluring sepia eyes and long sepia hair. She was also very adventurous from all the little time they spent with each other. She was such an amazing girl, so Naruto assumed she would have lots of friends. But to learn that she was as lonely as he was really depressed him. He was really fortunate to have met the girl. He was sure that she shared the same sentiments.

"Hey Suzu-chan," Naruto said. "I think it's time for us to go. It's getting pretty late."

"Yeah." Suzu said in a sad tone. "Are you gonna be busy at school? Am I gonna see you again?"

"Nah, I'm not gonna be busy at school." Naruto answered honestly. He always went straight home from the Academy either to try (and fail) to do his homework or plan his next great prank. "And yeah, I'd like to see you again."

Suzu was so happy that she practically jumped out of the tree. The sudden movements forced Naruto to hold tightly on the trunk for his dear life.

"Dammit Suzu-chan, are you trying to get me killed?" Naruto asked. Gods be damned, if he ever became this reckless and dangerous…

Komatsuzaki Homes, Konohagakure no Sato (2013 hours September 21, 7 AK, Autumn Equinox Begins)

Suzu and Naruto were hanging out in her room (since Naruto's shack was not big enough to accommodate both of them), laughing at the latest prank Naruto pulled out. He filled a milk carton with flour and air and placed it inside the refrigerator for some unsuspecting kid to try and drink. It exploded on his face, covering him in a layer of white. Both of the kids ran as fast as they could to avoid any and all trouble they may have gotten themselves into. Of course, everyone was going to blame Naruto for the prank, since they knew him as the "Prankster King from Hell." But Naruto did not want to bring Suzu into his mischievous acts. Naruto and Suzu kept their growing friendship secret from other children (rather, because of Suzu's asocial attitude for life she did not bother to tell others, and Naruto was hated by everyone in the orphanage, so nobody would care), so if the kids find out that Suzu was friends with Naruto, they would shun her due to her association.

Suzu has repeatedly told Naruto that she did not care about what they thought of her. They had been gradually distancing themselves from her, and Suzu had never bothered to close the gap. She was never the conversationalist type, so she had trouble talking to them in the first place. But something was different about Naruto. He had the air that he wanted to get to know you, despite your flaws. He did not care whether or not you were good or evil, brash or shy, talkative or quiet. Naruto still wanted to be your friend. It was a wonder for Suzu how come the blonde was not surrounded by a circle of close friends.

Not that Suzu wanted that. She was bad around groups of people. She once tried to fit in with a group of girls at the beginning of her stay in the orphanage, but she hated how they talked about bland and trifling topics. It was one reason why she hated being a girl: for some reason, they had nothing better to talk about.

She'd much rather prefer to hang out with Naruto. The blonde was unpredictable and a load of fun. His pranks were always funny and ingenious, and the getaways were some of the most thrilling chases of her life. She was earnestly surprised how they both managed to escape pursuit: Naruto wore bright orange pants, and she wore bright red pants. It should be relatively easy to locate them from their attire, but they were so good at stealth that they nullified their disadvantage almost completely.

Today was the beginning of the autumn equinox. Suzu and Naruto decided that they would publicize their friendship. Naruto tried to argue against Suzu's idea, but Suzu was adamant and impetuous, a combo that made her stubborn beyond comprehension. Naruto, although worried about her status, had no other choice but to comply. The girl simply could not listen to reason.

"So…" Suzu began. "How was school?"

"Oh, ya know." Naruto said. "The usual."

"Neji-teme beat your butt again?" Suzu asked. It's happened so often in the last 10 days that Suzu guessed that was "the usual."

"No…maybe…" Naruto said. "But that's not what I mean! Ya know, with the teachers and stuff…"

"Oh…" Suzu said, looking down to her bed. "Why do they even do that, anyways?"

"Beats me." Naruto said. He turned his body from his laying position on the floor before throwing all his limbs in the air. "Gosh, it's so unfair! Why does that gotta happen to me?!"

"I don't know…" Suzu said. She honestly did not though. Naruto was an alright kid. He should not be getting shunned like he does. "C'mon Naruto-kun. It's time!"

"Ok…" Naruto said reluctantly. He was having doubts about this, but there was no turning back at this point. Naruto gathered everything he brought to Suzu's room and placed them all in his book bag. He and Suzu shared one glance before nodding their heads in an unspoken agreement. At this point, Naruto and Suzu did not need to actually convey their feelings into words to direct their message to the other. It seemed ridiculous that they could get so far into their friendship in less than ten days, but when both of them were desperately searching for that one true friend, they were more than willing to open up completely.

Suzu already told Naruto about her amnesia. She told him that the doctors suspected she received her amnesia as a result of the traumatic (whatever that word meant) experience of losing her family. She talked about her awkwardness when it came to social situations and how she preferred to avoid people instead of making friends. Of course, she elaborated how Naruto was completely different from everyone else, and she was glad that she met him.

Likewise, Naruto told Suzu all about the bullying he received from the residents of the orphanage. About how they would try to spike his food with dirt or dead insects, or how they pushed him to the mud whenever it was raining. All that bullying did not bother Naruto though. He told Suzu how much he hated the glares, however. The bullying was rare and did not happen often. But the glares of disdain were suffocating. It was like everyone hoped that by glaring daggers at him, he would probably die.

With the nod, Suzu and Naruto held hands, as if they were a couple, and valiantly walked out of the room. Naruto was hesitant and nervous, keeping his head down at all times, hoping that nobody would recognize him in spite of his distinguishable features. Suzu, on the other hand, was confident and brave, keeping her head up like she held no regrets.

As they walked down the halls, they were met with various glances and stares. Many of them were glares of hatred, aimed primarily at Naruto. Some of the kids were even glaring at Suzu, as if she was just as horrific as Naruto was. Some kids had expressions of remorseless pity. They looked as though Suzu and Naruto were going to hell and nobody could help them for what they were worth. Some of the girls were looking at them with envy in their eyes. The way Naruto and Suzu held hands suggested that they were a couple. That was what Suzu wanted people to think, but that was not the case. She knew that she was too young to worry about romance, and even if she wanted to, she found the topic mundane and slightly revolting. It was also a waste of time for Suzu, preferring to better spend her time doing productive activities, like volunteering at the Hokage's office. Still, the girls were jealous of Suzu having something that they could not, even if it was with Naruto.

They travelled all the way to the first floor and walked into the cafeteria. The moment they stepped foot, hand in hand, it was as time froze for all the kids eating dinner. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Suzu and Naruto holding hands. Many of the kids thought it was impossible for Naruto have made a friend. But some of them actually thought it was eventually going to happen. After all, Suzu was a freaky loner who did not talk to anyone. Besides, there were the rumors circulating around her. Rumors about what she had done in the past. Rumors about why she was in the orphanage in the first place. Those kids thought it was fitting for the two outcasts to be with each other, so they stopped paying them any mind.

Naruto and Suzu walked confidently (or partly confident, in Naruto's case) through the cafeteria to get to their seats. As they walked, children grabbed their trays and tried to get out of their way. Suzu paid them no mind, but Naruto was highly conscientious about their harsh behavior. Why did they have to be ostracized for? How could Suzu possibly not let this affect her? It was all unfair to Naruto, but he did not want to leave Suzu's side. Her presence was comforting, and her bravado inspiring. Naruto thought that his audacity to pull of pranks against higher authorities was special, but Suzu's ability to stare prejudice directly in the eyes without breaking was a gift he was not sure he'll ever have in himself.

Suzu and Naruto grabbed their dinners, which was udon noodles, and made their way to the most detached, isolated table in the cafeteria. Suzu knew that nobody would want to sit next to Naruto, so might as well not try to force it. In any case, she managed to get her point across. Now everybody that cared knows that Naruto, the most hated kid in the orphanage, was friends with Suzu, the most distant girl in her age group.

The udon noodles were sloppy and undercooked. It was as if the kitchen staff deliberately made a different batch of noodle slob, just to serve to Naruto. When Naruto picked up the noodles with his chopsticks, they literally disintegrated into nothingness. It was enough to make even Naruto want to vomit.

Naruto usually ate dinner outside of the orphanage. The whole sabotage of his food has been occurring since he first arrived years ago. He'd preferred to eat at Ichiraku's Ramen, where the noodles were of amazing quality, and the patrons (Ichiraku Teuchi and Ichiraku Ayame) were the kindest souls in Konoha. He usually saved up his orphan stipend just so he could purchase meals at Ichiraku's. It was one of the few things he had to look forward to after the end of the Academy.

Suzu laughed as the noodles turned to mush. Despite the fact that they both had horrible food, she still had a good time with Naruto. Naruto, who listened to Suzu laughing, joined in on her laughter. Suzu somehow always made his upsets into joyous occasions.

"Hey, what's so funny?" A large, cheeky boy asked. He had such a mischievous grin on his face, and Suzu knew that he was not here on friendly terms. The boy was surrounded by four other boys, who seemed to be in his clique. They all giggled impishly, as if they were expecting something to go down.

"Well," Suzu said, in her politest tone. "We found it funny that Naruto-kun's noodles turned into slop." She guessed that they were not trying to be sociable, but she decided to be nice anyways. Maybe they would actually change their minds…

The boy slapped the bowl of noodles off of Naruto's hands, and it landed all over his pants. Half of the cafeteria, who stopped eating their foods to watch the interesting developments, began to laugh hysterically. Even some of the staff joined in on the laughter. All of them decided that it was not in their interest to interfere.

"HEY!" Suzu screamed, surprising Naruto. He'd never heard her raise her voice before. It was a little frightening. "What'd you do that for?"

"Aw look at that!" The lead bully said. "The damned murderer is defending the godforsaken demon!"

Suzu and Naruto were silent at the name Suzu was given. 'Murderer?' She thought in confusion. 'No, that's not true. I've never killed anyone before…have I?' She wanted to believe that she never killed anyone before, but the span of her memory is that of a few weeks. Maybe she did once before she lost her memories. But she's only a little girl! No little girl could possible kill anyone. Moreover, it was a bully that had said that. Maybe he was trying to get into her head, like he did when he called Naruto a 'demon.'

Naruto maybe a prankster, but he was the sweetest boy that Suzu's ever known (considering she only really knew about 2 people). He was the last person she would think be a demon.

"Guys, could you leave us alone?" Naruto asked, his tone of voice betraying a hint of nervousness. "We're tr-"

"SHUT UP THING!" The bully said. "Nobody was talking to you."

Naruto flinched at being called a thing. These guys really did not think he was a human…

Suzu was beginning to be irritated. She bit her lip hard, accidently releasing blood that dripped down her mouth. The group of boys noticed the blood and began making snide remarks.

"Aww, the widdle girly girl bit her lip." The lead bully mocked. "Someone get her a tissue."

One of the boys pulled out a tissue from…inside his pants…and offered it to Suzu. She was about to accept it (because her knowledge of grotesque behavior was severely limited) when the boy spat mucus filled saliva on the tissue. From there, three-quarters of the cafeteria broke into uncontrolled laughter.

"HEY!" Naruto screamed, having enough of this idle wait. "LEAVE SUZU ALONE!"

"Hahaha! The thing wants to protect its girlfriend!" The bully mocked again. "Isn't this romantic? The demon and the murdering freak is so much in love!"

Naruto had enough of the kids' hurtful jokes. He himself could stand it for a while, but Suzu was his friend. He wanted to protect her with everything he had, and now was the right time to show his stuff.

Naruto tried to punch the lead bully in the face, but the bully sidestepped easily and landed a solid blow on Naruto's face, knocking him down to the ground.

Suzu snapped.

She was holding in all of her violent urges to attack the boy in favor of a more peaceable approach, like the Hokage always told her. But seeing Naruto hurt on the ground like that awakened something within her. Something she was subconsciously suppressing for the last couple of weeks; her desire to fight.

She pounced on the bully with a fully body charge, knocking him down to the ground. She pounded his face viciously with hook after hook as the boy tried to defend himself futilely with his forearms. The other boys were stunned at the pure rage Suzu had unleashed.

After growing tired of punching his cheeks repeatedly, Suzu punched the boy directly in the eye. As the boy reached his hands out to hold his now aching eye, Suzu thrust her palm at the boy's throat. She clenched tightly, her long, uncut nails digging deep into the bully's flesh. Blood was flowing down from his throat as he weakly grabbed onto Suzu's shoulders, trying to release the grip of the bloodthirsty maniac. Suzu responded by tightening her grip on the boy's throat.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT NARUTO-KUN!" She screamed in a squeaky high pitched tone. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH NARUTO-KUN!"

As the bully felt his life leaving him, the grip on his throat suddenly loosened. One of the boys in the clique finally gained some courage to attack Suzu, who was trying to kill the head bully. He kicked Suzu on the face, knocking her down harshly on the ground and removing her from on top of the bully's body. The bully began to cough horrendously, trying to get the air back into his lungs. He pointed at Suzu's body on the ground, and all the boys nodded their heads simultaneously.

Together, all of the boys began to stomp on Suzu's downed body. She receded into fetal position to defend herself from all the kicks and stomps, but the boys were attacking her head and stomach for as much damage as they could.

Naruto, who had been downed after that punch, was rubbing his nose when he saw the other boys' gang up on Suzu. He grew incredibly angry at how they were beating Suzu down unfairly. Never mind the fact that Suzu had been attempting to strangle a boy to death, Naruto wasn't going to allow his first friend to get hurt anymore. In a burst of speed and power that all were too preoccupied to notice, Naruto brutally tackled the closest boy to the ground and began pounding on him in the same way Suzu did with the lead bully. Each punch, unlike Suzu's however, was laced with a steadily increasing flow of chakra, enhancing the explosive power. The more he punched, the more intense pain the boy felt. Eventually, he was punching so hard, the boy's teeth began to chip and damage.

Taking advantage of Naruto's momentary distraction, Suzu grabbed the wooden chopstick that fell on the floor after the bully spilled Naruto's dinner and viciously stabbed one of the boy's legs. The stab was so powerful, the wood managed to penetrate deep into the boy's flesh. The boy let out a bloodcurdling scream as he reached to try and pull out the chopstick from his leg. Suzu swept his leg and forced him into the ground face front. Fighting the pain she felt from the barrage of kicks and stomps, Suzu went on top of the boy.

This time she was not thinking about strangling her new victim. No. She wanted to hear him squirm. A sadistic grin was plastered into her face as she plunged her thumb into the boy's right eye. If the prior bloodcurdling scream was horrible enough to make some of the kids in the cafeteria vomit, this scream was so ungodly grotesque that the kids began to run out uncontrollably just to get away, stampeding over each other hurriedly. The boys that originally ganged up on Suzu began to back away. Even Naruto stopped his assault to watch in horror as Suzu plunge her thumb deeper into the boy's eye socket.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT NARUTO-KUN?!" She shouted repeatedly. Her grin was still on her face, but her eyes no longer contained its gleam. She stared blankly at her poor victim, who could do nothing to release the girl from the top of his body. She cared less as his remaining eye started to tear up at the sheer hopelessness of his situation.

"SUZU-CHAN!" Naruto screamed, snapping her out of her apathy. "Please…Suzu-chan, no more…"

Suzu turned to look at Naruto. She saw his luminous cerulean eyes dripping with tears. This was all too much for him to bear. He was only 6 years old, and the idea of death was too frightening for him. Even if they hated him, he did not want to see anyone die.

"No…more…"He sniffled.

Suzu looked around. The entire cafeteria was empty. The only ones who remained were Suzu, Naruto, the boy that Suzu was trying to torture, and some of the orphanage staff, who were stunned silent at the violent display of the quiet, passive little girl. She turned back to Naruto. Releasing her thumb from the now unconscious boy (who fainted from shock), she placed her blood soaked hands on Naruto's face, wiping his tears. Naruto did not flinch when she used the hand that was just inside the boy's hand. No, he cared far too much for his only real friend to let something like that turn him away.

As she wiped the tears away from Naruto's face, droplets of blood from her hand dripped down Naruto's face. It looked as though the blonde was crying tears of blood. She held her hand on his cheeks, trying to comfort Naruto. Naruto saw a single tear roll down from Suzu's eye, dripping off the very bottom of her chin.

"Don't cry, Naruto-kun. Shinobi can't cry. Shinobi…endure…"

Hey Y'all!

Okay, I thoroughly enjoyed writing that scene. It was a scene that I wrote knowing that I was limited to the roughhousing of 6 year old children. It wasn't a battle scene between two equal shinobi, but at the same time it wasn't a scene between normal children. Naruto and Suzu are far from normal. Naruto is the Jinchuuriki of Kurama, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and Suzu is...Suzu is...special?

About Naruto's brief scuffle. He was accessing very minute amounts of the Kyuubi's chakra for each punch. We know how his emotions affect the amount of chakra the Kyuubi. It's a proportional ratio: The more powerful his negative emotion, the higher the concentration of chakra the Kyuubi gives to Naruto. Now, Naruto isn't immediately going to go 4 tails because a bunch of bullies are mean to him and Suzu, but this will be the first time he (subconsciously) accessed the Kyuubi's chakra. Think of it as a similar situation to the first chapter of Naruto, with Iruka and Mizuki. Except that Suzu wasn't completely on the receiving end of the punishment.

Suzu's sociopathic urges have finally found an outlet following her memory erasure. The girl sure loves to beat the shit out of things...will this affect her friendship with Naruto? What's going to happen now that she nearly killed two kids?

I also hope you guys enjoyed that tree scene. Suzu's love for sparrows will soon intertwine with her personality.

By the way, I am releasing all of my stories in my deviantart account. Check it out!

I'd like to thank Kukun Charge for being my first reviewer! There's absolutely no pressure for you to review, since I'm going to do this story anyways, but the reviews do brighten up my days. This will be my first (and only) request for reviews. I don't usually do it, though, so don't expect one next chapter.

Update 3 stats: 1 Review, 2 Favorites, 4 Followers, and 134 Views! Thanks a lot everybody for your support for this story.

No questions for this week.

Alrighty then! See y'all all in August for the next chapter! And make sure you stay tune next Thursday for the release of True Paths to Power, and the end of the month for Release from Pain.

-Blackrazgriz 7/20/2013 4:12PM EST

Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Tales of Phantasia is owned by Namco Bandai Games Inc. Blackrazgriz does not reserve any rights to the characters and stories of the respective franchises.

NOTE (7/20/2013 4:22PM EST): I forgot to mention that I beat my previous time in Tales of Graces f. My new time is 6 hours, 52 minutes, and 25 seconds. I beat Lambda Angelus in one go, but Kurt and Emeraude can go suck multiple penises.

NOTE (3/19/2014 10:20PM EST): Updated entire chapter, replacing errors and mistakes.

NOTE (3/24/2014 4:53PM EST): Replaced the word "awestricken" with "awe-struck."