Hey guys! sorry its been soooo long since I've updated! The evil overlords of the prison they call work and uni decided to make my life a living hell and i havent been able to write at all! T.T but heres another chappie and hopefully the next one will come along shortly! Enjoy! XD

Pa0lini

Naruto slowly woke from the dream he was having. It was the first good dream he's had in months. The last time was when Iruka, the only one of his "watchers" that actually did what the third asked of them, had taken him out for ramen and because he was there, he didn't get his usual beatings that night. As he returned to the land of wakefulness the first thing he noticed was that he was warm... and comfy... and he felt safe. He frowned in confusion, eyes still closed. He started fighting the force that was making him wake up. He wanted to stay like this, on the verge of unconsciousness, warm and safe. But he couldn't fight it anymore and his eyes sleepily blinked as he left the realm of dreams. He was lying in a bed. An actual bed. With a mattress, pillows, blankets and everything. Naruto sat up slowly and stared in wonder at the luxury he had never experienced before. His bed in the village consisted of a flattened cardboard box with his clothes serving as a pillow. He had taken down the curtain of the small apartment and used that as a quilt. He touched the soft blankets that covered him with cautious fingers, as if any quick movement would make them disappear. He marvelled at the smooth, soft texture of the fabrics that covered him. As he was reaching round to feel the feather soft pillow that was behind his head, he noticed that his arms were covered in bandages. Further inspection of his body revealed more of the cotton fabric was wrapped around his body. He frowned slightly, usually his wounds were gone by the time he noticed them after being injured. But for some reason, this time they weren't going away as quickly. He still could feel dull throbs of pain coming from his stomach, and blood had started to flow from the cuts that were torn open when he moved. He hissed in pain when he tried to see under the bandages.

"Cut that out, brat!" a familiar voice yelled at him. He turned to see the busty woman standing in the doorway of the room. She had a frown on her face that seemed like it was there often. "I just got that closed up! And now you're opening it again!" Naruto scooted to the far side of the bed, as far from the woman as possible. Fear coursed through his veins as he looked at his potential new tormenter. Tsunade frowned at his response. Sure she was scary to people, but this kid didn't know that, yet. He shouldn't have this kind of response to strangers. Plus those wounds he had, they weren't from an accidental fall. They were ninjutsu from a very well trained shinobi, full with the intent to kill this child. She immediately felt an immense hatred for whatever lowlife that did this to such a young boy. She shook her head, ridding it of all the psychotic thoughts that were playfully filling her mind, and put a smile on her face before turning to address the scared child again. It quickly disappeared though when she couldn't find the brat. "Oi! Where did you go?" she asked the seemingly empty room. As she started to search the room for the missing boy, he watched her with fear filled eyes though the doors of his hiding place, the closet. The minute her attention had deviated from him and to her thoughts he had hid. His body shook with the familiar tremors of fear as the woman got closer to discovering him. He knew that hiding would probably make the punishment worse but he couldn't help it. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that he was being stupid and can trust the woman, but his overwhelming fear and instinct for self-preservation squashed the voice quickly.

Tsunade noticed the doors to the closet shaking. As she neared them the shaking grew more intense and she knew she found her patient. She quickly thought of how to handle the boy who was obviously scared of her. As she pretended to continue to look for the boy, she pondered this predicament. She usually didn't really care about her patient's personal life, so why was she trying so hard with this kid? She questioned herself. She had learned the hard way that caring about people only led to pain. Tears came unbidden into her eyes as she thought of her lost brother and lover. She suddenly stopped as that one stray thought unleashed a torrent of memories in her head. The tears that she had been holding at bay on the edges of her eyes flowed freely down her face. She sat suddenly on the floor, her legs not having the strength to carry her anymore, as she let the tears and memories overtake her.

Naruto continued to watch the woman who was crying on the middle of the floor. An inkling of curiosity and sadness cut through his fear as her body was racked with the sobs that tore from her. She had suddenly stopped and her eyes filled with an immense sadness and loneliness that he was familiar with before suddenly collapsing on the floor and crying. Did he do something to make her like this? He asked himself. Was he to blame? He may not trust anyone and fear everyone, but he would never wish for him to be the cause of anyone's pain and tears. Her eyes looked so lost. Unknown to him, as he was lost in his thoughts, he had opened the door to the closet and had slowly crept towards the woman. He did not realise what he had done until one of the floorboards had creaked under his weight and Tsunade's head whipped up to face him. He face was stained with the tears that still ran free down her cheeks, her eyes were red and puffy, but what Naruto noticed the most were her eyes. Sadness, loneliness, guilt, anger and pain were swirling through the chocolate orbs that gazed at him. Naruto didn't think, he ran to the woman and hugged her, burying his face into her chest and wrapping his small arms around her. Tsunade stared down at the blond mass of spiky hair that was buried in her shirt with surprise and shock. Still thinking that he had made her cry Naruto started to speak, his voice muffled by her shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. My fault. I'm sorry." He kept repeating. Tsunade was confused as to why he was apologizing before realising how it must have looked from his point of view. A small smile graced her lips as she lifted her hand and patted his head. The moment her hand brushed Naruto's head, his eyes snapped open and he realized what he was doing. Instantly he scooted away from her until his back slammed against the wall, fear evident in his expression. Tsunade was at a loss. He had suddenly tried to comfort her and then ran away when she touched him. She studied the boy as he tried to melt into the wall. He was obviously very kind and caring, but must have had some horrible experiences to have developed this kind of reaction to strangers. He must think she was going to hurt him for some reason. But how to stop him from trying to make the wall a permanent part of himself? Thinking quickly, she turned to face the boy, hands on her lap in plain sight and stopped crying.

"Thank you," she said softly to the cowering child. Naruto's body jerked as if lightning had struck him. He stared at the woman thinking he misheard her. He had never been thanked before. He had dreamed of it, to make someone so happy that they thank him for it, that he could be of use to someone was his ultimate dream. And here this woman was, unintentionally making his dream come true. It had to be a mistake. Dreams are dreams because they don't come true. That's what he always thought.

Tsunade studied the conflict of emotions rushing across the child's face. Disbelief, incredible joy and happiness, sadness, caution, and finally doubt.

'He must think that he misheard me or something' she thought to herself. Thinking to qualm his doubts she said it again.

"Thank you for comforting me child." She said again, making sure her voice was clear but not overly loud as to startle the boy. She watched as his eyes widened to impossible size as he registered her words were not false. Warmth blossomed in his chest that he was unaccustomed to at her thanks. His cheeks hurt as he smiled, not used to the muscle movement. Tsunade's jaw almost dropped as recognition hit her like her fist usually does Jiraya. The blonde hair, blue eyes and now the enormous cheesy grin that was plastered on his face... Minato... He barely heard her whisper,

"Naruto...?"