DUN DUN DUN! The big moment! You may finally find out what Naruto's dark secret is! Thanks to all of the people that commented and put this on their favorites and EVEN added me as their favorite author :D I FEEL SO LOVED! :D Anyways, I hope you like it! I hope this shocks your pants off, and hopefully you won't cry like I... maybe... kinda did... :) Anyways,

Enjoy!

"I used to have a family. You know, a mom and dad. I was an only child, but I didn't care. I loved my parents. We used to go to this little park downtown… Before I came here, of course. We used to live in an actual house with a guest bed room and living room and everything. We still weren't exactly rich, but my parents didn't care, so neither did I. One day, my dad came into my room panicking. He kept on saying to himself, "Gone, got to get her, gone…" There was a mob gang that always hung out around where we lived, and one of their hang outs was the park we went to. I didn't know it at the time, but one of the mob gangsters had taken my mom and sent my dad a ransom note.

"Apparently they thought we were rich or something. I guess by the way we held ourselves and by how happy we acted, no one would guess we were living on the fringes between being middle class and poor. Well, my dad told me to stay there, that he was going somewhere important to get mommy back, and left. Of course, I wanted to help get her back, too, so instead of following directions I followed after him. I followed him to the park. For some reason, he walked instead of taking the car. I didn't know it then, but now I guess it was something he was told to do. When we got there he walked into a back alleyway. I stood behind the corner and watched him. From the shadows came about four men dressed in all black, one of them holding my mother. They negotiated for a while, and my dad told them the truth; that he didn't have the money they wanted. Finally they got mad and the guy holding my mom put a gun to her head. My dad tried to negotiate more with them, but they didn't like the terms, so… he pulled the trigger. He dropped my mom on the ground like she was nothing.

"I freaked out then. I ran from my hiding spot and went to my mother, trying to shake her awake. My dad called me back, but I didn't listen. All I could think of was the fact that my mom was dead. My dad tried to tell them not to hurt me, to take him instead along with all that he had, but when he took a step forward… They shot him. I watched my dad fall in front of my eyes, blood coming from the wound in his chest. I was young, but I knew he was dead before he hit the ground. The people… those gang members… For some reason they decided not to kill me. I think they decided it would be better to send me home, alone, with a reminder, a message of what they did. So, they took a knife and carved three long scars into both of my cheeks, calling me a kyuubi, telling me I killed my parents, that I was a monster, a beast.

"Then they left, leaving the gun and knife with me. I went to trial for the murder of my parents, and spent a few months in jail before they proved me innocent. Some people…. Most people, actually, still believed I had done it, that I really was a monster. And at that age… Even, sometimes now… I believed them. I went through a couple foster homes before I met Iruka.

"The first foster home had a drunk dad that liked to beat things when he got angry. Most of them were like that, and after a while I thought I would never find anyone. Then, I met Iruka. He was the nicest person I'd ever met. He actually... cared."

*flashback*

Young Naruto eyed the tall, tan man suspiciously.

"Naruto, this is your new father, Iruka." Iruka smiled down at him kindly, warmth in his eyes Naruto hadn't seen in a long time.

"Good to meet you, Naruto," Iruka said with true kindness in his voice, "I hope we can be good friends." Naruto shifted his bag of minimal items on his shoulders, taking a deep breath, and making sure to smother any kind of hope that reached his heart.

"This is your room, Naruto," Iruka told him when they arrive at the house, "It might be kind of small, but do you think it will do?" Naruto glanced around and nodded silently. Iruka smiled down at the boy and Naruto felt just the slight tug at the edge of his lips.

"It was him who taught me how to smile," Naruto continued, feeling his lips turn up again, fondness shining in his eyes. Hinata sniffled a bit and wiped the tears from her eyes. She smiled a bit at Naruto.

"W-Where is he n-now?" she asked, "W-Why aren't y-you living with h-him?" Naruto's smile faded and he ducked his head.

"He's… in the hospital… He got jumped one day when coming home from picking something up at the store, and he's been in a coma ever since… People won't say it, but a lot of them blame me for it, so they took me out of his care.

" I didn't want to go back into the foster system, though, so I finally got a break from the headmaster of our school, Tsunade. She provides me with this apartment as long as I attend her school. Once I'm old enough, she says I have to start paying to live here for myself." It was dead silent, and Naruto felt sadness and worry eating away at his heart.

"I understand if you don't want to hang around with me any more," he said quietly. Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned as Hinata blindly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. His body froze. What was happening?

Hinata sobbed into his shoulder, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks, her heart aching. How bad had the world become? Naruto had started out with basically nothing; all he had had was a loving family, and then he was forced to watch as they were taken from him. Then he was forced to bear the markings his family's killers had put on him to remind him every day of what had happened. And then the one person who had cared for him… How could people be so cruel? Naruto, a boy who had nothing, was treated horribly just because of something he didn't do.

"I-It wasn't your fault, N-Naruto," she whispered confidently, "Y-You deserve a l-lot better than t-that." Naruto's eyes widened.

"H-Hinata…" Hinata's arms tightened around his neck instead of letting go like she usually would have.

"Y-You're an a-amazing person, N-Naruto," she told him, "I-I would n-never blame you for a-any of that." Naruto's eyes softened and he finally wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her neck.

"Are you sure, Hinata?" he whispered, "I followed my dad… if I hadn't been there, maybe…" Hinata shook her head.

"N-Nothing you could h-have done would have change those p-people's minds, N-Naruto," she told him, "Y-You were young, you didn't k-know what was h-happening. N-None of that was your fault, N-Naruto. I promise." Hinata's hand brushed against the side of his face and her fingers met with something wet. Her eyes widened as her fingers traced a tear track down his cheek.

"D-Don't cry, N-Naruto…" she whispered, "You deserve to be h-happy…" Naruto pulled back to look at her face. He was met by those snowy eyes, which had red rims and tear tracks running from them. Naruto placed a thumb on one of the lines and traced it down until he dipped a finger under her chin and tilted her head up towards his. He leaned in and paused just an inch away.

Hinata's breath hitched when she felt his warm breath fan her face from so close. She swallowed before speaking.

"A-Are you going to k-kiss me?" she asked. Naruto paused.

"Not if you don't want me to." Hinata hesitated only a second before nodding. Naruto steeled his nerves and leaned in to close the gap—Knock, knock, knock. Naruto halted and waited a moment before the person knocked again. Then he sighed and pulled away.

"I'm going to get the door, ok?" he told Hinata softly, who nodded, her eyes cast to the side. He reluctantly stood and walked over to the door, glancing back at Hinata once before pulling it open. Standing there was none other than Neji.

"Hello, Naruto," he greeted calmly, "Is my sister awake yet?" Naruto threw him a smile.

"Yeah, she woke up a few minutes ago. Come on in…" Neji entered the apartment, Naruto closing the door behind him.

"I'm back, Hinata," Neji greeted, setting a hand on his cousin's shoulder. Hinata gave him a small smile.

"H-Hello, brother…" Neji noticed her red eyes and glanced over at Naruto, who was avoiding looking at him. Automatically he knew what had happened; he told her. Neji coughed a bit.

"Well, we should go," he said, "Your father should be home soon, and Hanabi might be worried by now." Hinata nodded and stood. Naruto grabbed her walking stick and guided her hand to it.

"T-Thank you, N-Naruto," she whispered. Naruto's eyes softened.

"Don't mention it, Hinata." He walked both Hyuugas to the door and stood in the doorway as they both turned to him.

"Thank you for watching after Hinata, Naruto," Neji told him. Naruto smiled at him.

"No problem." Neji nodded and glanced at Hinata before turned and walking away. Hinata heard him go and felt her cheeks heat up.

"T-Thank you for helping me, N-Naruto," she told him, "A-And thank you for telling m-me." Naruto smiled a genuine smile at her.

"You're amazing, Hinata." Hinata felt her cheeks burn and a small smile appeared on her lips. Naruo slipped a finger under her chin and placed a small, chastise kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks, Hinata," he muttered. Hinata's face was burning now, but her smile widened.

"Y-Your welcome, N-Naruto," she murmured, "I-I'll see you t-tomorrow…" Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow, Hinata." Neji saw the small exchanged between Naruto and his cousin from the car, but felt a tug at his lips instead of getting mad. He could tell Naruto was a good guy, whether he thought it of himself or not. Hinata soon joined her and they pulled away, driving towards their house.

"He told you, didn't he?" he asked. Hinata nodded, fiddling with her fingers.

"Y-Yes…"

"And? Is he as horrible as he seems to think he is?" Hinata shook her head.

"N-No… He's n-not horrible at all…" Neji knew Hinata wouldn't tell him what Naruto's past was unless Naruto himself said she could, so he didn't bother trying to push the subject further. After a while they reached the house and Hinata went straight up to her room to contemplate her newest discovery about Naruto Uzamaki.

Sakura and Sasuke walked down the street slowly. They had talked a while, but now resided in sweet silence. It wasn't a date; well, that's what Sakura kept telling herself. She had simply run into Sasuke on her way from visiting Ino and he had invited her on his walk. Sakura glanced at Sasuke.

"Are you going to try saying sorry to Naruto?" she asked. Sasuke sighed. He knew she was going to ask him this eventually.

"I guess," he answered with a shrug, "I mean, I don't know what his deal is, but he obviously lost something or someone in the past, so it'd be stupid not to apologize." Sakura raised an eyebrow at him.

"Does vengeful, angry Sasuke actually care about someone?" she mocked, and laughed when he rolled his eyes, "I guess I'm making more discoveries about you every day." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah? And what about you?" he asked, "What's your secret?" Sakura sighed.

"Well, the only real secret I have isn't really mine to tell," she said, shrugging. Sasuke observed her.

"It has something to do with Ino," he guessed.

Sakura looked away. Sasuke dug his hands into his pockets and it was silent again. He knew she wouldn't tell him what the deal was with Ino unless Ino herself said it was ok, so he decided to let the subject rest. Just then they both heard a bark and looked up to see two guys around their age walking towards them, a dog leading them.

"Hey!" one of them greeted loudly, one with light brown hair and matching eyes. The other hard dark black hair, black shades, and wore the collar of his jacket over the bottom half of his face.

"Uh, hi," Sakura greeted back while Sasuke stayed silent.

"Do you guys go to the leaf?" he asked. Sakura glanced at Sasuke before nodded.

"Yeah, why?" The guy grinned.

"We're starting there tomorrow!" he exclaimed, and then held out a hand, "I'm Kiba! My dog here is Akamaru! The creepy quiet dude is Shino." They all shook hands, Shino slightly glaring at Kiba from behind his shades at his comment.

"So, are you two together or something?" Kiba asked, "We're not interrupting some kind of date, are we?" He almost laughed out loud when Sakura and Sasuke both blushed slightly and glared at him.

"No," Sakura snapped, "We're just friends." Kiba raised an eyebrow and then grinned.

"Well, alright then, whatever you say!" he said, "We should go. Bye!" Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru walked off, and Sakura shook her head after they were gone.

"What weirdos," she stated, "But it looks like we have more people sitting with us tomorrow." Sasuke nodded, and they walked on in silence.

There we go :) Well, we finally know Naruto's secret! :O What do you think? Is Naruto a monster? Do you think it was his fault? We also know where he got the scars from... And we added new people, Kiba (one of my favorites :D) and Shino! Oh, and Akamaru, of course! What will this mean? Find out next time! Review and shtuffs! BYE!