AU: I don't own Naruto ;_;

CHAPTER 6

Naruto woke up tired and scared like she always did after a nightmare/memory of her past. She looked at her recently repaired clock; it read that it was 3 am. She still had an hour and a half before she would meet up with Gai and his team. She made her way to the bathroom un-henging in the process, she walked past the mirror and tried to not look at herself but saw a glimpse of her reflection anyway. She involuntarily flinched as she saw her scared soft skin, which always proved as a reminder to her past, a past she would sooner burry away for as long as she lived. Memories of her latest therapy session came to mind, that day she let her tears join the flow of cold water that cascaded down her body.

Contrary to what everyone thought Naruto was smart and didn't get distracted easily unless she wanted to. Naruto just didn't like to think because it brought out horrible feelings, thoughts and questions. But for whatever reason today Naruto thought about her life so far and about her future. The village had assured her that she would not be able to find someone to love her, they kept her apart from those her year, and they made her hide her gender and herself. They made her afraid of having another family, to the point where she had begged the old man to refuse any that wanted to adopt her. And finally they had damaged her body to ensure that she would find it hard to have a love life if she so chose to have one. All Naruto could think about when she considered her future was to become chunin so she could get her children back, beyond that she didn't know or want to think about.

After getting dressed and placing her transformation henge back on she went out and walked around Kohona. This early in the morning Kohona was quiet and still asleep, the streets were bare and it was just the way Naruto liked it. Here she could walk without any worry, and now she could leave her mask off as she walked in few precious moments of true peace that Naruto hardly ever got. She began to hum to herself, her voice echoing making it seem as if the village itself was joining her. Naruto wandered for 10 minutes before walking towards her private garden. There she tended to her crops and flowers, telling the insects and flowers about her day and how peaceful she found the village when everyone was still asleep. After tending to her garden she went to the training ground and decided to try one of the jutsu listed in her bloodline scrolls. The technique was called elemental harmony, it allows a person with the Elemental release bloodline to become one with the element(s) they would have control over.

Naruto sat down in a lotus position and began to meditate as she did the correct hand signs, at the end she let her chakra flare and waited for her element to come to her. This technique also increases the casters chakra control as the caster is focusing on the bits of their chakra that make up the element(s) they can control and forcing it to the surface.

As Naruto sighed she became the centre of a mini-whirlwind she could even hear the sound of wind sighing through leaves as the wind twirled around her. Soon after the gentle blowing wind was replaced by a sensation of a miniature earthquake that subsided to the feeling of soft grass, the sound of spring and the smell hay and flower fragrances.

Soon after her personal training she was greeted by Gai and his team in an enthusiastic manner. She spent the next three hours talking, training and sparing with them. She then had to leave to have another quick shower and something to eat, before she went on her way to the academy.

As Naruto entered the academy she was assaulted by Sakura who smiled at her. This unnerved the blond to no end.

"May I help you Sakura?" asked Naruto as she put on her fake smile.

"Yep. Here this is from my mum she wants you and me to be friends. I don't know why but it's what my mum wants so if it's okay with you can we be friends?" asked Sakura in reply as she handed over a bento box and a letter. All Naruto could do was dumbly nod as she went to her seat trying to process what had just happened. She shook her head and pocketed the food and letter she decided to look at it during the lunch break.

Throughout the day Naruto was getting letters and gifts from many of the civilian academy students and even a few from the children of minor ninja clans. By the time the lunch break came Naruto was confused, she rushed to her normal spot by her swing with a buddle of letters and gifts. Although she was confused (as were the other children who were now being told off for bulling Naruto when before they had been praised for it), Naruto was also happy this was the first time in her life that she was getting presents from those that she didn't see as her makeshift family.

Naruto sorted the bundle in her arm in to two different piles, one for letters the others for gifts and food. After sorting the bundle Naruto began to read the letters. Most of them went along the lines of:

Dear Naruto,

I am so terribly sorry for all the suffering that I and my family have caused you. I know it may not mean much after 11 years of me and my family's wrong doing but I have seen the error of my ways and am going to make it up to you. My son (others have daughter) will no longer be allowed to bully you. I know I am asking for a lot but please can you forgive me and my family? I don't have any idea of how to show you how sorry that I am. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask, because there is nothing that I can say and do to take away all the pain that I have put you through.

So again please forgive me and this village for our ignorance. I have come to see that you are no demon for the demon has been me and this village all along. I just wish I had seen it sooner.

The ones that came from ninja mostly went along the lines of:

Dear Naruto,

I am a disgrace to the village and the head band that I wear. I and my clan have dishonoured the wish of the fourth and have thrown basic ninja teachings out of the window. We of the ... clan are forever sorry and are in your debt. There is not much we can do to show how sorry we are.

Me and my clan will give you sanctuary and teachers whenever you need all you have to do is ask. Please forgive our clan for our sin. Hopefully in time we can redeem ourselves to you and the hokage. We hope you can forgive us but even we know that is too much to ask of one that we have made suffer for so long.

For the whole break Naruto read and reread all the letters. She sealed all the gifts and most of the food. She ate some of the food during the break, and for the first time in a long time Naruto smiled a true smile, while crying tears of joy. Her dream was coming true slowly but happening all the same. It brought a smile to her face to know that there was some hope to being accepted in to the village she so desperately wants to call a home. For Naruto a home is not somewhere where you sleep or get food from, a home to Naruto is where there are people that think about her and care for her. A home to Naruto is a place where you are comfortable and above all else loved and where you would be missed.

For the next few months Naruto went around to all the people that sent her letters and gave her gifts. She gave all those people a thanks and a present as well as telling them that seeing her as herself was enough to earn her forgiveness. Her visits always left her confused, for the villagers would just breakdown crying every time she said that she forgave them and didn't want anything from them or every time she gave them the bundles of flowers from her private garden. Some of the visits became more visits as she would be invited to have dinner with the family or be asked to visit them more often.

The months that she spent visiting people, made Naruto happy and to the few that could see her mask, saw that she was generally happy for those months. During those months she still practiced with Gai and his team and had become close friends with them all except for Neji who was still a jerk, in Naruto's opinion. She had also started practicing elemental manipulation and chakra control techniques. When doing the elemental manipulation techniques she excelled in using her wind and earth elemental chakra and was doing steadily in manipulating water and fire, the only one she was having trouble with was lightning due to its unstable form, it wasn't like earth it didn't have a defined shape or feel and this made it hard for Naruto. In those months Naruto had become close friends with Sakura, and a few of the other civilian family academy students, all thanks to the visits that Naruto was doing.

What Naruto didn't know was that the change in the village would bring her good tidings as well as bad. What these tidings were Naruto wouldn't know until later that year.

AU: Thank you to all those that are folloeing this story. Again sorry for any grammar mistakes there may be now or in the future. And thanks to those that have taken part in the poll that is open on my profile. So far Shino is in the lead to be paired with Naruto, please can all that read this rtory review and/or take part in the poll I need input in order to make this story happen. Thanks again to everyone for reading my story. the next update may be this week or next week at the latest. So untill then chow.