A/N: For those who are complaining about my intro, its purpose was to explain what to expect out of this story. That way you know whether or not you really want to read it. But now the story begins. Oh and unless I say otherwise, assume everyone is dressed the same as in part 1. But at the end of each chapter with me and the cast, they are shippuden.

Disclamer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I'd be in it.

"normal speech"

"action" (example: "I hiccup have the hiccups.")

'thoughts'

"9-Tails"

'9-Tails thoughts'

Chapter 1: A Friend?

A small figure traveled through the shadows. Once the coast was clear, the blond boy moved into the light and headed home. For years, Naruto Uzumaki's life has been a living hell. With no family of his own he was raised in the orphanage. During his time there, the staff would glare at him and the other orphans would either push him around or avoid him like the plague. When adults came to adopt a child, they would always look at him like he was some kind of devil before adopting another child. The worst part was he never understood why. Finally, when he was 6 years old, the orphanage decided he was old to fend for himself and kicked him out. The Third Hokage heard about this and, being one of the few people who liked the boy, decided to get Naruto his own apartment as well as an allowance for food and other necessities.

Despite Sarutobi's kindness, things only got worse for Naruto. Most of the villagers looked at him with contempt and would call him names like "Demon brat" or "monster." Parent kept their kid away from him or encouarged them to hate him too. Many shopkeepers refused to do business with him or even allow him in their stores. People would even attack him when he was alone or in an alley. The Hokage had made it illegal to harm or kill the boy, but most of the shinobi sent to look after the young Uzumaki would simply look the other way and wait until the last second to save him. Strangely, though, Naruto was always left alone on his birthday, and sometimes he thought he saw a masked man with white hair watching over him. He always dismissed this as his imagination however.

All the constant hate and abuse took a toll on the poor Uzumaki's mind. His self-esteem deteriorated as a result and Naruto grew to fear people. Even after joining the academy, he did his best to kept his distance from the other kids. He never spoke unless he had to, and when he did, he would always stutter. In spite of his efforts, however, Naruto almost always found himself being chased or beaten. It was difficult to hide because of the orange outfit he was forced to wear. None of the clothing stores would sell him anything else. At the academy when he tried to separate himself from the other students, bullies would follow him and constantly make fun of his shy demeanour or repeat what they heard the adults say about him, though sometimes he managed to hide himself and avoid them.

Today, Naruto was returning home from the academy, hiding in the shadows, like he always did. It was his second year at the ninja academy. When he reached his home, he looked around to make sure no one was around. The streets looked empty, so he stepped out of the shadows. 'Maybe my luck is starting to turn around,' he though. He managed to get there from the academy without drawing unwanted attention.

He walked toward the door, but before he reached it villagers popped out of hiding and blocked the way to his house. Naruto turned around to run away, but found himself surrounded when more villagers appeared. As the his assailants approached, he noticed one of them had a Leaf headband signifying that he was a shinobi. Naruto looked into the ninja's eyes and instantly knew what was going to happen. He stumbled back and fell on his rump. He looked the shinobi and asked the same question he always ask his assaulters, "W-w-why?" Naruto never understood what he did to deserve such hate.

"Payback, demon," the ninja answered, just as everyone else did. That was all they ever said and Naruto never understood it. He had no recollection of ever wronging anyone. All he knew was that for as long as he could remember the villagers treated him with distain. It made no sense to him.

'What could I have done to him, to any of them?' was the question he constantly asked himself. 'Why do they consider me a demon.' Naruto's eyes filled with fear and terror as the villager prepared to strike.

Just then, the shinobi punched Naruto right in the face, sending him on his back. Before he could curl into a ball, the others started attacking with a barrage of punches and kicks, not letting up for a single moment. Naruto cried in pain as tears and blood ran from his face. He couldn't fight back, he couldn't blackout. All he could do was wait in agony until they were done with him.
-

Hinata Hyūga watched as shinobi covered in red and blue paint ran past her hiding spot. It took everything ounce of strength not to laugh as they passed her by. The Hyūga heiress had a reputation as the Pranking Queen of the Hidden Leaf. Of course, this often caused tension between her and her father along with the other elders from the main branch. They often found her actions to be inappropriate for a Hyūga, especially one of her stature. Still, she didn't care. She knew they couldn't do anything too extreme in fear that it would affect their reputation more than her pranks. Besides, she had one of the best scores in taijutsu, so she wasn't considered worthless. Also, though he would never admit it, Hinata was a lot like her mother and remined Hiashi of his late wife and even found some of her pranks humorous, though again, he'd never admit it.

Knowing she would be scolded for her tomfoolery, she decided to take the scenic route home. As she walked she saw a group of people gathered around something. It looked like they were attacking someone, an intruder perhaps. She stopped and was about to activate her byakugan when the crowd dispersed. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw they had beaten a child. The boy was battered and brusied with a gash in his left arm. His blond hair was covered in dirt and blood ran from his nose down the whisker marks on his face.

'Wait a minute. I recognize this boy. His name is Naruto.' Hinata had seen him in her classes at the academy. She remembered him being shy all the time, but never paid much attencion to him and didn't know him that well. She was always either planning her pranks, running from her victims (usually her instructors), placing the blame on others like Kiba, or training. Even so, Hinata couldn't think of any reason why anyone would want to hurt him.

She watched, unable to move from the shock. The idea that the villagers would be so ruthless to a kid was appalling. She snapped out of it when she saw Naruto pick up a kunai left behind by one of his assailants. When he brought it to his chest, a terrible thought ran through her head. 'Is he going to... NO he wouldn't! Would he?' Hinata rushed to the boy. She had to stop him. She had to save him.
-

The villager finally got bored of beating on the Uzumaki boy. They left him there, broken and in pain. It was the worst beating of his life. He was caked in dirt. Hot tears and warm blood ran down his battered face. His nose was broken, as were quite a few of his bones. The shinobi had taken out his kunai and cut his left arm. He laid there, not noticing the girl nearby, wanting the pain to stop, wanting it all to stop. He opened his eyes, as he had closed them during the assault, and saw the kunai the ninja used. He looked at it and saw an exit from his suffering. With the remainder of his strength, he grabbed the weapon and placed it over his heart. 'Maybe now I can meet my parents, whoever they were. Maybe it won't be so bad in the afterlife.'

Naruto got ready to deliver the killing blow to himself. He had no doubts. But before he could plunge the kunai into his heart, he heard someone shout "STOP!"
-

Hinata shouted at the top of her lungs, "STOP!" before she knocked the kunai out of his hands. Naruto's eyes shot up. When he saw her, fear crept into him as he tried to back away. His body was too damaged and was unable to respond.

Hinata looked into Naruto's blue eyes and saw they were filled with fear. 'Is he...afraid of me? He must think I'm going to hurt him like those villagers did.' She tried to calm him down. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you like those villagers did," she said in a soothing voice.

Naruto was surprised and skeptical at first. But then he saw no malice or hate in her eyes like he did in others. What he saw was foreign to him. 'Could she be...concerned about me?' Naruto relaxed a bit but kept his guard up in case this was a trick.

Hinata could tell he didn't fully trust her, but noticed he calmed down a bit. Finally she asked him, "Why did you do that?"

"W-what?"

"You heard me. Why did you try to kill yourself? What were you thinking? I know you just went through something horrible but this is a little extreme. Didn't you consider how your friends would react to this, or your family for that matter?" she said. Cleary she didn't pay much attencion what people said about him.

Naruto lowered his head. "M-my f-family is dead," he stuttered in a low voice. "I, I l-live alone t-there," he pointed to he apartment behind him. "As, as for f-f-friends, I..." he didn't finish his sentense. He was too damaged to stay conscious. His body went limp and collapsed on the ground.

"NARUTO!" She was worried about him. His injuries looked serious. She had to get him to a hospital. Carefully, she pick him up and rushed to the hospital. As she traveled, she thought about what he said. Although he collapsed before finishing his sentense, his sad tone of voice was all the answer she needed.

On her way she looked at the civilians she passed. They all had strange looks on them that felt familiar. That's when it hit her. The look Neji gave her whenever they saw one another. She couldn't believe it! It was the very same look, and it was being directed at Naruto! To say she was pissed would be a major understatment. She may not know Naruto very well, but she could tell he was not a bad person. All Hyūga are skilled at reading others. It made lying to her father pretty much impossible. Alone, no friends, no family, and hated by all. No one deserved that, least of all Naruto. "Don't worry Naruto, I'm going to change that!" she whispered to the unconscious boy. "Just hang in there."
-

Iruka had finally finished grading paper from the quiz he gave. He must of his students got a B- or C on it. Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyūga, two of his top students, both scored a B+. Surprisingly, one student got an A+, Naruto Uzumaki. Though not his best student, Iruka believed Naruto did have great potential. The boy would listen in class and take notes. However, his low self-esteem badly hurt his taijutsu and ninjutsu skills. As for shuriken and kunai skills, they were pretty average.

Iruka wished he could do more for Naruto. He too grew up alone without a family, so he knew some of Naruto's pain. He decided to go and pay Naruto visit that night when suddenly he saw Hinata running toward him with something on her back. It was Naruto! And he didn't look good!

"Hinata, what happen?!" Iruka yelled with concern.

"Iruka-sensei, I was passing by when I saw a bunch of villagers attack Naruto in front of his apartment. He's in really bad shape!" Hinata quickly said. She decided it was best to leave out the attempted suicide.

"Could you identify any of them?"

"No, but I know one was a shinobi, probably a jonin."

"Alright, hurry to the hospital! I'll alert the Hokage." And with that, Iruka rushed off to the Hokage Mansion. 'Please be alright Naruto.'
-

"... and that's the mission report."

"Good work Kakashi. You should go home and get some rest," said the Hokage. It was going to be another long night of paperwork for him so he figured he might as well start now. He took his pipe and inhaled deeply.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," replied Kakashi as he pull out a certain book written by a certain Sanin.

Just then, Iruka burst though the door, followed by a guard who tried to stop him. "Lord Third! Naruto was attacked and is being brought to the hospital!"

"WHAT?" The Hokage dropped pipe at the same time Kakashi dropped his book. "What happened?!"

"According to Hinata, Naruto was attacked by some villagers in front of his apartment. Apparently one of the assailants was a jonin. As we speak Hinata is bringing Naruto to the hospital."

The Hokage's anger was clearly visible on his face. There weren't any ANBU he trusted available today, so he sent a jonin to look after the boy. He turn to the guard. "Get the shinobi who was responsible for watching Naruto. Take him to Ibiki and tell Ibiki the situation. I want the fucking bastards who attack Naruto against the law I laid PUNISHED."

Everyone stared at the Hokage. It was rare for the Hokage to be this mad, but it was even rarer to hear him curse. Recovering from the shock, the guard rushed to follow his order. The jonin was about to have a REALLY bad day. Ibiki's method were a nightmare on his good days, and he was a good friend of Minato.

The Hokage calmed down a bit. "Kakashi, I know you just came back from a mission, but..."

"Don't worry Lord Third. I'll protect Naruto." With that, Kakashi disappeared, moving toward the hospital.

"Damn it. If only that fox had never come," said the Hokage.

Iruka knew what he meant. The day of Naruto's birth, the 9-Tailed Fox attacked. Many shinobi and civilians alike were killed that day, including Iruka's parents as well as Naruto's mother, Kushina. In order to stop the tailed beast, fourth Hokage Minato used a forbidden sealing jutsu that sealed the 9-Tails in his son, Naruto, at the cost of his life. This meant Naruto was the only thing keeping the Hidden Leaf Village safe from the tailed beast. However, the villagers were filled with anger and rage at the loss of many friends and loved ones, and so that anger was directed at Naruto himself. Iruka still habored hatred toward the fox, but never at Naruto. He knew Naruto was just as much a victim of the fox as anyone. To protect Naruto, the Hokage made it illegal to talk about the fox, in order to kept the younger generation from treating him like an outcast. It worked, to some degree. The youths had no idea Naruto was a Jinchūriki, not even Naruto himself. However, most parents have done all they can to keep their children from associating with the young Jinchūriki. As a result, some avoided him and some bullied him.

"By the way, Lord Hokage, I apologize for barging in." said Iruka.

"It's alright Iruka, I just hope Naruto will be alright."
-

Hinata arrived at the hospital and got to work looking for a doctor. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she finally managed to corner one. "Hey, this guy needs medical attention."

Alright, let me just..." the doctor stopped when he saw Naruto. "Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm too busy right now to treat him," he said with a tone of disgust.

Hinata grabbed the doctor by his coat and pulls him down to look him in the eye. "Now look here Doc, just a second ago you were ready to help him, then you see who he is and NOW YOU BUSY?! You listen to me! Either you help him or YOU'LL need a doctor!" She lets him go.

The doctor just stood there for a few seconds, then quickly and reluctantly took the boy to one of the room. Hinata followed, smiling triumphantly. Had she activated her Byakugan or looked behind her, she would have seen a white-haired jonin with his kunai drawn.
-

The next day Naruto woke up. He was still a little sore, but felt much better than he did yesterday. He always healed faster than others, though he never knew why.

"Hey, your finally awake."

Naruto turned and was surprised to find the girl from yesterday. She was grinning at him.

"How are you feeling?"

"B-better. Um, h-how did I g-get h-here?"

"I brought you here, duh."

"Y-you did? T-thanks."

"No problem Naruto." 'Looks like he has a big stuttering problem. I'll have to help him with that at some point.'

Naruto looked a bit surprised. "Y-you know who I, I am?" He figured the reason she was so nice to him was because she didn't know who he was.

"Of course, we're in the same class. Or do you not recognize me?" she teased.

He didn't get it. "N-no, no I r-remember!" He did in fact know exactly who she was. "You, your L-lady Hinata of the H-hyūga Clan."

"Relax, Naruto, I was joking. And anyway we're friend so you don't have to be so formal. Just Hinata will do."

'Friends, did she say friends.' Naruto pinched himself under the covers to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Hinata suppressed a laugh. She could tell his mind was trying to process the idea of friendship. "That's right Naruto, we're friends starting today."

A smile creeped on the young boy's face. 'A friend. Finally, I have a friend.'
-

Kakashi stood hidden outside the room. He overheard the whole conversation between Naruto and Hinata. 'Sensei, forgive me for not being able to take better care of your son, but now he has a friend who will do a better job of taking care of him then I ever could.'
-

Alpha: Finally, Chapter 1 complete. That was painful.

Naruto: Your telling me! Did you have make me suffer like that?

Alpha: Unfortunatly, yes. I may have gone a wee bit overboard though. This is my first fanfic. It's not suppose to be perfect, but you can't deny it's good.

Naruto: Yeah I guess. (stomach rumbles) Guess I'm getting hungry. TO ICHIRAKU. (leaves)

Kakashi: So you turned me into some guardian angel.

Alpha: Sort of. You've only done it on his birthdays, and once at the hospital here. But now that Hinata is Naruto's friend, you won't have to defend him.

Kakashi: Why?

Alpha: Hinata is going to stay close to Naruto, walking with him to school, then back to his house. No one is going risk attacking Naruto because Hinata would defend him. And they know even if they somehow beat her, they'll have to deal with the rest of the Hyūga Clan.

Kakashi: Makes sense. More time for reading, so that's no problem. So the two are crushing on each other.

Alpha: Oh no. Right now Naruto is too busy adjusting to having a friend to deal with a crush.

Shino: (appears right next to Alpha) Why wasn't I in this chapter?

Alpha: Gah! Shino, don't pop up so close to me.

Shino: You haven't answered my question.

Kakashi: I'll let you deal with this (disappears).

Alpha: sarcastically Gee thanks Kakashi. normal I needed to focus more on setting up Naruto as shy and Hinata as confident.

Shino: ...

Alpha: Would it make you feel better if I put you in the next chapter.

Shino: Yes it would, thank you. (leaves)

Alpha: Ok now how to start chapter 2.

A/N: Ok I've had to resubmit this chapter multiple times in a row because something is leaving out thing I wrote.