Chapter 1: Orphaned in a Cruel World
At 8 years old, Yuri watched her world burn.
Her whole village, small as it was. Invaded by people with clouds on their robes. Seeing everyone in her family fighting. They never fought, Yuri didn't know that her family could fight. She was told that everyone in the family was special, it's why they never lived in a hidden village and trained themselves. They made deals with a Leaf to keep them safe, she had just started to learn about her family, but unless she was touching them, nothing happened. They explained as they trained it would come easier.
Would that happen now that everything, her whole world, was being attacked?
In the air was blood, so much blood.
From her hiding spot, Yuri can see so much. All the adults told the children to hide, she was with her cousins, all older than her and had only just started their training. All telling her they would protect her since she is the chief's daughter, someone who held all the secrets of the family together.
A man with what looks to be a pale complexion and long hair bust open the hiding spot. She didn't know how he found it, until she saw a family member on the floor. Yuri cannot help but freeze in her spot. But all her cousins get in front of her and get into a stance.
Yuri had no choice, she needed to run away from the fighting. Which she does. She needed to be away from her cousins. She was only 8… what was she going to do? Yuri knew she was fast, but not fast enough.
Only, a man stopped in front of her. Red eyes glowed back at her. Even she can tell his chakra is a lot… and Yuri doesn't know what else to do. She was caught… and Yuri might die here. She knows that. But the red eyes only look at her.
"Child, so innocent."
The man scared her. She took a step back. She didn't know how to fight. The man grabbed her. Moving away from the village, from her family as she cries out for her family, seeing the pale man taking out the last of her cousins. Only for the red eyed man to drop her after some time. Landing on her backside she looks up to him.
"Run."
Before the word had finished, Yuri began to run away from the scary man. She ran until another person found her.
Leaf Village
Yuri had been in the Leaf for a few, and no one told her anything. Yuri knew nothing about her family. She had caught a few things, and knew that it was probably bad, seeing as she saw her cousins being cut down in front of her. The people of the village kept her at arm's length, which she was fine with. They had been testing her skills and where she was at, but there were lots of people talking around her and not to her. That was what annoyed her the most.
She plays with her lilac silver hair. Swinging her legs as she waited for an old man. She believes they called him the… Kage? Something Kage. She had been told to wait at a park, she was given an apartment next to a boy with raven hair, and an older woman. Someone she thought was his mother. The woman looked familiar though. Yuri couldn't place why though… every time she saw the woman she thought about it.
"There you are." The voice said. Yuri looked to her side to see the old man coming up to her. She tilted her head when she saw a blond, looking annoyed coming to them. "Yuri, I want you to meet Naruto."
The boy smiles and rushes up to her. "I'm going to be Hokage! Just you wait!"
Yuri, taken back by this, looks at the boy with wide eyes. "What does that mean?" She asked, a small tilt of her head as she looked at the old man.
The blond, Naruto, huffs and stomps his foot. "It means I'm going to be the most powerful person in the village believe it! And everyone will have to respect me!"
The little girl still didn't understand. She liked his energy though! It reminded her of one of her cousins. They were always energetic and claimed they would be her main protector. It would always make her smile.
"I am sorry Naruto… I still don't understand."
The boy looks at the older man. "What is this? I thought she knew all about these things!"
"Naruto, she is not from the village, we are doing a favor to some… allies of ours." The old man puffs out some smoke. Causing two sets of blue eyes to look over to him. "The Hokage Yuri is what I am. The leader of this village. Think of it like your mother back home." The man pauses and lets Yuri think.
"But… is he your child?" She asked.
"WHAT?" Naruto looks back at her and shakes his head. "I am NOT the old man's son!"
"But… mommy was passing leadership to me, her daughter. Is that not how it works?" Yuri looks between the two of them.
The interaction got a chuckle out of the old man. "No Yuri. It is for the strongest shinobi in the village. Naruto wants to be the strongest so he can take over, though he has a long way to go." The older man gives the blond a pointed look. "The point is, I wanted to introduce you to a few classmates of yours before you start school with them. Help you adjust."
Looking between the old man and the boy, she wonders about school. She was being taught by her mother, that was how it was working in her family. Parents taught the child, but she didn't know if her mother was able to teach her any longer.
"School?" The girl presses her lips together.
The old man looks at her. "Yes, school. You will learn about our village and how to be a shinobi. You will have instructors and your classmates to help you out. If needed I can help you out. We are seeing if we can find anything that will help you teach yourself your clan's abilities."
"Oh…" The girl mumbled.
"Oh. Well come on! Lets get some Ramen! I know a place. Say old man can we?" The boy exclaims.
She blinked at him. Loud is what he is. But still, a reminder of her cousin, always having something to say. But the old man doesn't get a chance to answer Naruto. He grabs her hand and she has a strange moment. A taste entered her mouth as she let the boy pull her. Beginning to run with her in a direction she doesn't know.
"Naruto!"
But a strange taste formed… like cotton candy! She liked it. But the longer he held onto her hand, there was a strange aftertaste… like metal. Once they reach the shop, the boy lets go and ducks in. Yuri tastes the metal some more and follows him. Not understanding the sensation. Yuri sees two people behind the counter. Only for the old man… the Hokage to appear next to her. Startling her.
She didn't think he would keep up with two kids… something that the elders in her family weren't able to do. But she looks up to him and stares, the fact he appeared didn't seem to phase Naruto.
"Ah, yes three bowls. This is Yuri. I am treating these two today."
The other man nods as the blond shouts some things about extra things in his food. Yuri winces. Mother hated people who did that, but one of her cousins always would ask for a lot of food. So he would get some, but other times he made it himself.
And she misses her mother, she doesn't know if she is going to ever see her family again. They won't tell her anything! She wants her mother, the place she is living is cold and she feels so alone with everything going on around her. Maybe she wasn't having fun being on her own. Something she dreamed about. But she wanted her mother…
"Old man… why is she crying?"
Yuri looks up to Naruto. She didn't realize she was crying… at least not that much. Moving a hand to her face, Yuri attempts to move the water from her face.
Only for the Hokage to speak. "She has been through something hard. I was hoping you would be able to cheer her up, Naruto. And she would help you not pull as many pranks."
Naruto and Yuri stare at the old man for a moment. Neither of them speak, and Yuri thinks. Why?
Why introduce her to someone? Couldn't she be alone? But… she didn't like this feeling of being alone. And the old man said he was going to introduce her to some other people that she would be going to school with.
"Okay old man." Naruto says before turning back to Yuri, who looks back at Naruto. "Friends it is then! Make it two bowls of ramen for each of us!"
"Don't push it."
The Academy, three days later.
With a fidget in her finger, Yuri begins to play with her hair. She was told they found scrolls hidden in the ruins of her village, and that she was to have them. They were hidden and they guessed it was more about her clan. She had never heard them be called a clan before. But here it seemed like something normal for them to be called. While she was happy for the scrolls, she didn't know what they would hold, seeing as she had barely started her training. Mommy said she would eventually be told secrets that only she was allowed to know.
Over the last few days she was introduced to the person she lived next to, Saskue. He lived with his mother, and there were some… weird emotions coming from him. Yuri wanted to ask, but she didn't talk to them much. He was always rushing off and leaving Yuri to look after him. Only for the mother to follow her son with what looked to be a small child on her back.
She was introduced to another kid… what was his name? Nara. That was the clan name. He seemed nice, but all he did was yawn and complain when they were together. Even going so far as staring at the sky, which… Yuri didn't mind too much. The Nara always hung out with a boy who ate more than Naruto. Something that even surprised her, since she always saw Naruto eating nonstop.
And she had dinner with Naruto all the time at that point. It was nice since they would meet up or she tried her limited cooking. Which ended up with Naruto pulling out instant noodles and they would eat that. He really did act like her cousin, which brought her comfort.
They also introduced her to Hinata. She liked her. They both were quiet and didn't speak much, but Yuri preferred it. Hinata hadn't said more than two words to her, and Yuri was okay with it. She liked the silence Hinata had. It was calming.
"Class, we have a new student. Yuri Chibana." With that Yuri poked her head in and stumbled over her feet as she made her way to Iruka Sensi. Her head low as she mumbled a hello. "Lets welcome her to the class, Yuri you can sit with Shikamaru and Hinata." With that she nodded and scurried off.
At break she remained seated. There were a lot of things that she didn't know about it, and it was all so much for her to take in. All the theories and it all was so much. Even holding a weapon? Her family said that was for later. Overwhelmed by the amount of people. She looks at Hinata and doesn't say anything. She was glad to have Hinata next to her. Maybe she should sit with Naruto, but she looks around and doesn't see him. With a pout in her lip she looks back to her desk. Until she hears a yawn next to her.
"You know, my mother wanted to invite you over. I thought it would be too bothersome." Yuri looks at the Nara boy. His spikey ponytail and with his head down and facing away from her. "Mom insisted though. And you can come over after lessons and she wanted me to help you study more. Troublesome if you ask me."
She looks around wondering if he is talking to someone else in the room. She looks in front of him and sees nothing. With a frown she looks around again before her eyes land on the boy again. She even glanced at where Hinata was sitting, but she was also gone.
Yuri looks around and back to him. "Are… are you speaking to me?"
Finally the Nara boy looks at her. "Yes."
Yuri pouts her lip. She hadn't eaten with a family in a while… and it sounds nice. Maybe she could… but that would leave Naruto alone. Plus… he was always with her outside of school, and not when she was meeting anyone else. She enjoyed having him around. He was fun and loud, which kept her from thinking about her family.
"Could… Could Naruto come? We normally have dinner together…" She allows her voice to trail off.
The boy pauses and lifts his head off the table. A look coming across his face as she regrets asking the boy. She wanted Naruto around her though, nothing was going to change that. Naruto was a comfort to her, he always had a smile for her and didn't ask her a lot of questions about where she came from before, especially after she cried when they first met. She still cried by herself though.
"You want Naruto to come with you?" Slowly Yuri nods her head. "Why?"
"He was the first person Lord Hokage introduced me to. And he is alone most of the time. Lord Hokage told me to keep Naruto in line yesterday."
Shikamaru sighs. "Fine. He can come."
Nara's Property.
"Come on! No one in this village likes me!"
Yuri covers her ears. Why the Hokage paired her with him, Yuri would never know. He was always loud, but he kept away the tears most of the time. And she remembered the taste of cotton candy. She liked that about him. So Yuri wasn't going to tell him to back away.
And she felt like Naruto needed this just as much as she did. Someone to be around and talk to. The Hokage hadn't come to check on them yet, but she noticed he was waiting for her after school. Only to find out he ditched the second half of the day, claiming it was boring.
"We always eat dinner together. And I got nervous… come on."
Neither child noticed the deers looking at them. While Yuri liked the deer, she thought they just roamed the forest. She tugs at Naruto and continues to walk. She didn't meet Shikamaru right after lessons as Naruto swept her away to get ramen, until she got it through his head they had dinner plans.
"Come on Yuri! I mentioned all the adults give me a look, a lot of their kids treat me the same!"
Yuri pauses in her step and looks at Naruto, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, I need you, Naruto. And I don't know what the adults think and I don't care. I'm alone in the village minus you. And you seem to also be alone minus me. I want you here and you are the closest thing to family I have."
With a huff, Naruto begins to march. A sigh comes from Yuri as she chases after him. Unknowingly, Naruto was only leading them deeper into the forest. They walked for a moment before they stopped.
"You got us lost… didn't you?" Yuri asked, looking around.
"I did not!"
Only for a man, like a copy of Shikamaru, to appear in front of them. Causing Yuri to step back when she noticed his scars and Naruto to fall on his butt. Beginning to tug on her hair, Yuri presses her lips together. How did he find them?
"Can I help you two?"
Yuri looks between the man and Naruto. "Um… Shika… Shikamaru invited me over… and I wanted Naruto to come…" She manages. She looks down and tugs on her hair some more.
Would they be welcomed to the home? Yuri didn't know. Maybe it was a prank… her cousins would pull this on each other, though never on her. It upset her a little that she was so worried. But she also didn't find him after school… and she should have. No way was this going to go over well. Yuri glances up at the man when he doesn't answer her right away.
"Did he? Well, come with me. He might have gone straight to sleep."
Sleep? But he was sleeping through most of school today! She didn't understand why he was asleep already. The copy begins to walk and doesn't pause for them. Yuri grabs Naruto's hand and tugs on him. He falls in step with her.
"Listen… most of the adults give me a look… and the only person who doesn't treat me like they do is Shikamaru. Are you sure his parents aren't going to give me the stink eye?"
Looking back at Naruto, Yuri shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know Naruto. Shikamaru seemed alright… maybe annoyed at me asking to bring you. But you and I hang out a lot."
Naruto looks like he is about to protest when the older man looks back at the two. Causing them to get closer together. Maybe she should have declined altogether. She and Naruto would have been fine making themselves dinner. And it would have been less scary. She looks and sees there are a lot more deer now. But she also sees a house.
"My wife might not be too thrilled to cook for more people, but it should be fine."
Yuri looks at Naruto. She always gives him half of her food since she can't eat everything. She likes to snack throughout the day. It worked better for her. She even ate some snacks before heading over here. She was nervous and worried about this whole thing. But the Hokage introduced her to Shikamaru, and she needed to be polite.
They make it to the house and enter, taking off their shoes they see Shikamaru coming out of a room and looks at them. Yuri looks between Shikamaru and the man she thinks is his father. Noticing how alike they look. Yuri wonders if she and her own mother had the same looks.
"Glad you made it." Shikamaru yawns.
But there is a woman coming up from behind him. A confused look on her face seeing the two. She remembers meeting Shikamaru at a park, and maybe the father was there. But Shikamaru was alone, until his other friend came along. The old man had been long gone though, something about doing other things.
"Shikaku… why is Naruto here? And who is she?" The woman asks. She looks between the three, Yuri grabs Narutos hand and scootes closer to him.
The man, Shikaku, looks at her and Naruto. "It seems our son decided to invite over some friends from school. Remember what Hiruzen told us? This is Yuri, the new girl he mentioned."
She looks between them and looks at Shikamaru, an annoyed look crosses his face as Yuri looks at Naruto. Who… she guess looks scared? She didn't know what it was about. No one says anything for a moment, until she puts a hand on Shikamaurs head. Causing the younger Nara to freeze.
"You didn't mention they were coming over Shikamaru."
Everyone looks to the mother before Shikaku steps in. "Yoshino, we can talk about this with Shikamaru later. For now, we have guests that aren't Choji. Let's eat and be nice, huh?"
Yuri looks to the mother. Wide eyed as she sees her smile and turn back to the kitchen, with Shikaku in tow. Leaving the three together.
"Great… that troublesome woman." Shikamaru turns back to Yuri and Naruto. "Either of you play games?"
Naruto for once is silent on the situation at hand. But Yuri wasn't going to let that bother her.
"You play games? You don't seem like the type."
Shikamaru snickers a little as that seemed to get Naruto to snap out of whatever was holding him to keep his mouth shut. With an eruption of laughter, Naruto pulls both their attention to him.
"Shikamaru, the laziest person in our class? Games? Too much energy, or as he loves to say, too troublesome." Naruto basically shouts in the hall. Causing Shikamaru to glare at him, and Yuri to turn and hide her laughter.
Finally looking back at Shikamaru, he was only staring at Naruto. Pressing her lips together, Yuri feels it's better to watch how this plays out than to jump in and help one or the other. She heard whispers of Shikamaru being smart as hell, but she wanted to see if he could get around Naruto being illogical. Yuri hadn't been able to do so yet. It was something she was working on, but she always fell for Narutos tricks and set ups.
Now, Naruto was smarter than people thought.
Slowly a smile comes across Shikamaru's face as Naruto continues to laugh. "Alright Naruto. Let's play a game before dinner. Hide and seek? I bet I can find you before our new student does."
Yuri widens her eyes and looks between the two. She had played hide and seek with her cousins… but they didn't like to play too long with Yuri as she had other things to do, as they did as well.
"Not even the Jonin can catch me!"
Yuri feels a flash of confusion come across her face. Little did she know that Shikamaru caught it. But he still smiled.
"Fine. Go hide in the woods around my house. You cannot leave it and hide however you would like. First one of us to find you… how about a bet?"
"YAY! What do you want Nara? I'll beat both of you! I win… Shikamaru has to come train with me for a week! And Yuri…" When Naruto looks at her he pauses and puts a hand to his chin. Thinking about what he would want to wager. "Oh! You have to train with Shikamaru and I! No! You have to pull a prank with me!"
Shikamaru turns his attention to Yuri and looks between her and Naruto. "Fine. When I win, you have to attend class for a week straight taking my notes for me. And Yuri you come cloud watching with me."
Both boys turn to Yuri. She looks between them. She hadn't made bets with people outside of her family before. She didn't know what to ask…
"Um… if I win… Naruto you.. Have to have a tea party with me? And Shikamaru…" Yuri pauses. She doesn't know. He is lazy, so maybe doing something like that. "Um… running 5 laps at the academy?"
Naruto groans and shakes his head. "We have to work on your bets. A tea party? Really?"
Shikamaru doesn't say anything. "Fine. Naruto, you have 3 minutes to hide. Then we will come looking for you. If we can't find you by dinner time, you win and I'll say game."
Naruto smiles and dashes off. Leaving Yuri and Shikamaru alone. She blinks. Did she make a poor bet? She didn't know. But she looks at Shikamaru.
"We have about 7 minutes before we have to leave to find him. You looked confused by something."
Blinking, she tilts her head. Trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. She was trying to think back. Then she remembered Naruto mentioning someone. She didn't remember who though. "Um… the people Naruto was boasting about being able to hide from?"
"Jonin." Shikamaru says without a pause. "In the village we have levels of ninja. We are academy students. Once we graduate, we become genin. After another set of tests, Chunin. Jonin is over them and then we have the Hokage and some other special ranks." Shikamaru pauses. "Jonin usually have a team they mentor, they are usually genin."
Yuri tilts her head and takes in the information that Shikamaru just told her. Different levels, normally in her family it was just who was strongest. And her branch was the best of all families, sure people could challenge.
"Why did you take the bet?" Yuri didn't know why, but Shikamaru didn't seem like the type to take a bet. Especially with how annoyed he was with Naruto when she asked if Naruto could come.
Usually her cousins made bets… but she never knew why. They all said she was too young to know why. Or what they were about.
Slowly another smile comes across his face. "I know I can find him right away. I know the wood."
"Home advantage?" Yuri asks quickly.
"Correct." Shikamaru just looks at Yuri for a moment. "You know. It might be fun messing with Naruto. Strange you and him are friendly. Many people don't like him though."
Yuri slowly nods her head. "He mentioned that. Said all the adults give him this look. He never explained, just that it's a look."
Both of them stand in silence for a moment before a sigh pulls their attention. She looks and sees Shikamaru's father. He walks over to the two and sits on the floor. Shikaku doesn't speak for a moment, leaving Yuri to glance at Shikamaru. Who she guesses doesn't mind? But she shuffles on her feet a little.
"People give him a look for things out of his control. Which is unfair in some aspects." Shikaku pauses and looks at the two kids. "Naruto will be welcomed here, along with you Yuri. Plus, it gives Shikamaru a chance to make friends outside of Choji. Seeing as his mother can't seem to scare him into making friends."
Shikamaru rolls his eyes and grabs Yuri's arm, tugging her outside. "Come on, let's see who can find Naruto first."
But the weird sensation happens again… only… Yuri doesn't kinow how to describe it. It's like… mature and ripe. Words from her mother come back to her.
"We have something special. It could start showing itself more, but right now, if someone touches you something strange could happen. You might feel like you are eating something, but it isn't that."
While she doesn't say anything, she only looks at the back of Shikamaru's head. She didn't tell Naruto about the cotton candy. Though, she is unsure if she likes this taste more. It is very different though. For now she likes Narutos taste more, it's fun.
"Good luck." Shikamaru walks off and leaves Yuri confused.
He walks off leaving her in confusion. Blinking for a moment she shakes her head and goes off to find Naruto. She can't let Naruto win the game! She doesn not want to pull a prank with him.
Even though Shikamaru won the bet they made… they even ended up playing three more times. One time Yuri hid, another time Shikamaru hid… but he was at the house and Yuri had found him. Naruto wanted a rematch, so Yuri let Shikamaru find him. Shikamaru won three out of four games. After a few games, and much yelling from Naruto, Yuri finds herself sitting across from Shikamaru, with a smile? But not quite a smile on his face and Naruto demanding yet another game while Shikaku and Yoshino peacefully eating their dinner. Such as Yuri is doing. Mother told her to always have manners at the table.
"Geez, give it up Naruto. If I had known you would have been this sore of a loser I wouldn't have suggested the game." Shikamaru mumbles as he continues to eat.
"I wouldn't have to, if Yuri had found me once! How the hell did you find me?" Yuri looks at Naruto and has to agree with him a little. It is strange that Shikamaru was able to win everytime.
She looks at Shikaku, a small smile on his face. With a tilt of her head she wants to ask something when Shikamaru sighs. "You're such a drag!"
Note: Hello! I had to delete the other story... people were leaving comments on there that I don't want to reflect on the story. Sorry. I am going to republish all 6 chapters, so please enjoy.
