Thanks for reviewing!:D TIPS: Hikari means Light in Japanese, and Kyoko means Mirror in Japanese. I'm sure you've already figured out why I used Hikari, later on you'll find out why I used Kyoko as her last name. Also, I'm going by the anime here, so that's why I use Leaf Village instead of Konoha. Hope you enjoy this!
~ Serenna
Ch. 2: Friendships Begin!
Hikari and Naruto grew up with each other, both finding out that their apartments weren't too far away from each other — they were practically neighbors! Both always played at the park, swinging, sliding down slides, and whatever else the park had to offer. The quiet little girl that Naruto had met was blossoming, becoming a fun girl who laughed a lot and smiled almost as much as he did, while still keeping her kind and pure spirit.
At the age of seven, both eagerly signed up for the Ninja Academy, ready for classes and hopefully make new friends who didn't misjudge them.
Hikari was currently putting on her black ninja sandals that went with the rest of her outfit — a black hoodie with white pants. It was simple, comfortable, and loose. Plus, it's not like she has much money to afford anything "fashionable" as most girls her age wore.
Naruto knocked on Hikari's apartment room door, both of them had already planned the day before that they would walk together to the academy. Since they only had each other and all . . .
Hikari opened the door to see a smiling Naruto — he changed his outfit since they're a year older and attending the academy now. He now wore a white t-shirt with his symbol on the front and the same knee-length shorts, only they were now navy blue along with his ninja sandals. His spiky blond hair was just as wild as always.
"Mornin' Hikari! Ready to start the day?" he said excitingly and she smiled.
"Yep! I'm all set, let's head to the academy!" she said, just as eager as her best friend. They've dreamed about this since they found out about it a few months ago.
So they ran there — far too eager and excited to walk.
When they came through the entrance and into the school yard, some kids and parents were already waiting. Upon their entrance, two adults who had been standing near the entrance turned to see who arrived. When they realized who the two children were, their gazes immediately turned into glares.
Hikari simply looked away out of dismay, she tended to go to her old way when people glared at her, far too soft-hearted and forgiving to do anything. But Naruto glared right back at the haughty strangers and even stuck his tongue out childishly.
"C'mon Hikari, let's go over here." Naruto growled in his raspy tone, softly taking Hikari's hand in his (something they always do when there were people like them around) and led them toward the group of children their age with the parents standing in the back.
Naruto let go of Hikari's hand once they were in the midst of children, though most of them saw. Iruka Umino was one of the few who saw, along with the Hokage, and they both smiled despite themselves.
Hikari looked around her timidly, she wasn't use to talking with other children her age besides Naruto. Suddenly, both Naruto and Hikari heard munching coming from beside them and they looked down to see a chubby boy sitting down with a big bag of potato chips in his lap, he was eating them in delight.
"Jeez, are you really eating again?" Came a lazy voice belonging to Shikamaru Nara, he was standing beside his friend who was munching out.
"Uhmmmm-hmmmmm . . ." Said the chubby boy with spiky red-brown hair who was Choji Akimichi, he was far too preoccupied with eating.
"Man, what a drag . . ." Said the lazy boy with dark hair pulled up in a spiky ponytail, scratching his head.
Hikari smiled, suddenly her timidness was gone and was replaced with her usual kindness and the confidence she's developed with the help of Naruto. She then crouched down beside Choji, her face friendly and kind.
"What flavor are you eating?" she asked, Naruto gazed at her with wonder at her open friendliness that she rarely showed to anyone besides him. Shikamaru gazed in surprise that a girl was actually talking to his friend voluntarily . . . most people just ignored him.
"Barbecue," Choji said in between munches, not even noticing that it was a girl talking to him and not his best friend beside him.
"Really? That's my favorite flavor! Can I have a chip?" Hikari asked him, eyes alight.
"Huh?" Choji questioned, realizing that it was a girl's voice talking to him and he looked up, curiosity stopping his munching down. He then saw the most prettiest girl he'd ever seen from up this close. With her long snow white hair, mist gray eyes, and porcelain white skin, she looked just like an angel! Especially with the sunlight dazzling her appearance even more. Choji found himself at a loss for words, just staring at her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.
Hikari remained oblivious, Naruto snickered because he knew the bizarre effects Hikari unknowingly had on people. It was like a strange glow emanated from around her, a dazzling light, and Shikamaru seemed to have the same effect as Choji though he was more discreet, his eyes only being slightly wider.
Choji visibly gulped before plastering a huge smile on his face. "Sure!" he said, offering her a chip that she began to eat.
Naruto smiled, pleased that these kids seemed to not be scared of him and Hikari like the rest and he bent down. "Hey, can I have a chip too?"
"Get your own!" Choji snapped with anime angry circle eyes as he snappily crunched down on a chip.
"But you just gave her one Mister Snappy," Naruto muttered, his eyes narrowed, and Shikamaru smiled.
"Don't mind him, Choji rarely ever shares. By the way, I'm Shikamaru."
Hikari looked up at them with bright eyes. "Hikari," she introduced, standing up.
"And I'm Choji," he said while also standing up, still munching.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto said proudly and Shikamaru rubbed his ear.
"Are you always this loud?" he asked in an annoyed tone.
Suddenly there was a bark! and they looked in time to see a small white puppy run up and hop straight into Hikari's surprised arms.
"Akamaru!" Came a young boy's voice as a brown-haired boy with canine-like features ran up to the small group.
The puppy, who Hikari summarized as being "Akamaru," barked in acknowledgment of his master but cuddled up close to Hikari and she smiled and slowly pet the sweet pup.
The boy, Kiba Inuzuka, looked up and became momentarily stunned by the girl before regaining his composure.
And here I thought dog boy here was about to start drooling, jeez! Naruto thought, his eye twitching in anger.
"Sorry about that, Akamaru just sniffed the air and suddenly took off — as happy as can be!" Kiba said lightly with a smile, scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.
Hikari smiled. "It's okay, he's a good pup, aren't you?" she cooed to the pup, scratching his ear and he barked in agreement.
Kiba smiled. "Thanks, and I'm Kiba!" he said, pointing to himself with his thumb and a toothy grin on his tanned face. Akamaru barked and then hopped into Kiba's arms.
"I'm Hikari," she said, smiling sweetly.
"Naruto!" he yelled, standing beside Hikari.
"Shikamaru," He gave a half-wave, his expression bored.
"Choji," he mumbled in between munches.
"Alright! It's time to begin!" Iruka shouted to everyone and they all looked up to the front. Everyone was grouped into two separate groups, the adults aligned in rows in the back while the children were in the front, all of them in orderly rows as well.
Parent-less, Naruto and Hikari were at the very end. The Third Hokage stepped up, gathering everyone's attention.
"I welcome you all to the Leaf Village's Ninja Academy! May these new tiny buds grow and blossom into fine shinobi," The old man began, and everyone listened intently to his speech before Iruka called all of the children in. They all filed into the room, Naruto snagging two seats in the back of the classroom for him and Hikari.
"Alright, well first I want everyone to come up and introduce themselves to your classmates," Iruka started, ignoring the few groans that sounded. "For instance, my name is Iruka Umino, and I'm pleased to be your instructor." He gave them a smile.
One-by-one students walked to the front and introduced themselves. Naruto and Hikari watched with smiles as Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba all introduced themselves. Next came a boy wearing darkened glasses and a tall hood which concealed half his face, his name was Shino Aburame. Then a pink-haired girl went up, a bit timidly like how Hikari tended to be, and her name was Sakura Haruno. After her was a dark headed boy who introduced himself as Sasuke Uchiha. Then there was a girl with light blond hair by the name of Ino Yamanaka and then a very shy and petite girl who was Hinata Hyuga.
More students went up and introduced themselves before it was finally Hikari's turn. She gulped and instinctively looked over at Naruto for back-up.
He gave her his beaming grin that always managed to calm her nerves."You'll do great," he whispered encouragingly, and she became determined and nodded.
"Next," Iruka called, and Hikari came to stand in the front.
Her determination melted away as soon as she faced the entire class, and stage fright took over as her more timid side began to show. All of the words she was just about to say had left her mind as if someone purposefully stole them away . . .
Suddenly, Akamaru barked as if encouraging her, and Hikari came out of her shyness as if in response to the kind pup.
She shot them all a beaming smile.
"Hello, my name is Hikari Kyoko," she said in a pure and angelic voice, holding everyone's attention with her vivid mist gray eyes.
Iruka appeared shocked, silently thinking to himself, so she's the village's . . .
"Alright," he cleared his voice, making everyone jump since it had gotten so quiet. "You can take your seat, Hikari." He told her sweetly with a smile, which she returned and quickly ran up to her seat just as Iruka called for the next student.
Naruto ran down so fast that he lost his footing on a step and tripped before landing roughly on his butt right in front of Iruka.
The majority of the kids laughed while Hikari put a hand over her heart in a concerned habit for her friend, preparing to rush down there and help him. Then, Naruto got up with a huge grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed habit. He was actually slightly pleased at making everyone laugh and with his blue eyes ever bright, he punched the air in front of him.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Don't you guys forget it!" he said enthusiastically, shocking Iruka by his boldness.
With a few remarks from some kids, Naruto was told to go to his seat. Iruka saw how he sat right beside Hikari and began chatting away excitingly, Hikari throwing in words with a huge smile on her face. So, they're both here . . . and seem to be fairly close . . . I better tell Lord Hokage about this later. Iruka thought to himself with a began the lesson and both Naruto and Hikari listened intently since this was a new experience for the two orphans. It was mainly telling of the basics of what a ninja was all about, and that they were enrolling to become the future generation of shinobi.
Once their "ear had been talked off" as Naruto said, they were dismissed to hang out in the school yard. Getting to know one another better and having contact with people your age, especially if they were to be your future teammates, was ideal for a ninja — though most kids didn't really listen to Iruka-sensei on that part.
Naruto and Hikari entered the school yard where all of the other kids were and began looking around at all of the children who were running around and playing — not running away from them with fear in their eyes that the two still didn't understand. Hikari had been tempted to ask Iruka-sensei about it earlier since he seemed to be the only adult who had been kind to her, but she chickened out in the end, not wanting to ruin anything for her and Naruto — so she kept quiet.
The pair were soon joined by familiar faces — Kiba and Akamaru.
"Hey, that was quite an unexpected entrance there clumsy," Kiba teased at Naruto who instantly became angry at his earlier humiliation.
"Why you! Well at least I didn't bring some snot-nosed puppy to school!" Naruto shot back and soon, Kiba and Naruto were head-to-head in insults while Hikari sweat-dropped and left the two alone since she wouldn't be able to calm the two hot-heads down for some time.
She stepped away and began looking around, noticing Shikamaru laying down in the grass, staring up at the clouds with Choji beside him eating a bag of potato chips. She smiled, and continued looking around for anyone to possibly talk to. She then spotted the Shino boy standing off to himself — or were the other kids . . . avoiding him?
She shrugged, smile still on her face, and walked toward him.
Shino was well aware of the fact that all of the other kids found him weird since he had bugs and avoided him, so he knew he wouldn't be able to make any friends besides his bugs. But then the girl called Hikari walked up with an open, friendly smile on her face, not a grimace that came on a person's face when they approached.
"Hi, why are you over here by yourself?" she asked him, curious and also concerned slightly — she didn't know why she had this automatic care-for-any-living-thing response, it's just always been apart of her. And since she's really close to Naruto, she gets concerned about him pretty easily.
Shino looked over at her in surprise, was she really talking to him? He wordlessly held out his hand which had some tiny insects resting on his pale fingers. That should have sent her away like all the rest, but she stayed still. Observing his tiny insects that had become a part of him with curious eyes.
"Wow . . ." she murmured in awe, wonder entrancing her at seeing how close the bugs were attached to him.
Shino was becoming slightly nervous and uncomfortable at her close proximity. Especially when she looked up at him and smiled, a strange glow stunning him briefly.
"Can I hold one?" she asked innocently to the shocked Shino.
"Uh, sure . . ." he muttered, sending one of his beetles flying toward her and it landed lightly on her slender finger.
She giggled as it tickled her skin.
"May I ask you something?" Shino said abruptly and Hikari looked up from her playing with the tiny insect. "The other children do not take too fondly to my insects, so why is it that you don't as well?"
So that's why he was all alone over here, they don't like his bugs . . . Hikari thought to herself before answering Shino. "I love all creatures, and I don't really feel any hate or dislike to any of them, even the tiniest ones. I adore these small critters," she said with a giggling smile as the tiny bug continued to tickle her.
Shino's eyes widened, though no one could see. He was both grateful for the girl's understanding and puzzled by what she said. Did that mean she's never felt hate before?
"And I know what it's like to be all alone," she whispered, growing serious before shooting him a comforting grin. "So you can always come and hang out with me and Naruto — we won't mind! I'm sure Naruto will eventually get use to your bugs."
Shino found himself beseeched. Never once has any of the other children offered him to hang out with them.
"Hikari," he mumbled in a low tone, finding himself in slight gratitude. "Thank you." He told her.
"Your welcome Shino," she said, and shock filled him once again. She actually remembered his name from class, and didn't call him by his nickname of "bug boy."
She put the tiny beetle softly back on Shino's hand. "Well, I'd better go see what Naruto is up to, see ya later Shino!" She gave him a wave, which he silently returned but would always remember the girl's encouraging words.
He looked down at his insect and noticed that it seemed to like Hikari, something about her made it almost reluctant to leave her . . . Strange, Shino thought to himself.
Hikari mainly hung around with Naruto for the rest of the day — both leaving when parents came to pick up their children. Naruto and Hikari found themselves telling about their eventful day while sitting on the same swings where they first became friends, both knowing that they would always have each other.
"So how was school?" Kiba's mother, Tsume Inuzuka, asked her son who was sitting at the table eating supper.
"It was good. Akamaru and I learned a lot, though most of it was stuff you already told us about," he said, eating a bowl of rice. "And you'll never believe what Akamaru did this morning!"
"What's that?" she asked, only mildly curious.
"He sniffed the air and went crazy! I swear I've never seen'em that excited and happy about anything! He went straight to a girl and hopped right into her arms like he's known her forever!" Kiba exclaimed.
She laughed, "Oh, really? What was the girl's name?"
Kiba smiled. "Hikari Kyoko, and she's really nice and has this sort of . . . light around her that makes her extra pretty," Kiba flushed slightly at admitting that to his mom, but she paid it no mind as she was stuck by the first thing he said.
She was shocked, even stopping what she was doing — washing dishes — and Kiba looked at her back, puzzled.
"Mom?" he asked, noticing how she looked frozen before she continued what she was doing.
"Hurry up and eat so you can get ready for school tomorrow," she ordered, but her mind was preoccupied and her partner, Kuromaru, noticed this.
So, the Angel of the Leaf is going to be a ninja, huh? she thought with a wry smile.
"Reporting, sir!" Iruka said as he appeared before the Hokage.
"Yes, Iruka? What is it that you wished to speak to me about?"
"Lord Hokage, as you know, both Naruto Uzumaki and Hikari Kyoko have signed up for the Ninja Academy. I was watching them today and it seems they've known each other long before the academy. They both seem to be really close to one another, sir." Iruka told him and the Hokage rose from his seat to gaze out the wall-sized window behind him.
"I see . . . Good," he muttered before turning to look at Iruka once more. "Just keep an eye on them." He softly ordered, and Iruka bowed before disappearing.
The Third sighed, looking up at the darkening sky. Hikari is the light that Naruto will need to quell the demon sealed inside him. After all, only an angel can give off the light strong enough to pierce the thickest darkness . . . The Angel and Demon of the Leaf . . . You will need each other far more than you will ever know. He thought both strongly, and sadly.