Naruto was eight now, and he couldn't sleep. Yesterday was his birthday. His Jiji had visited and given him a book, 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' and he was excited. Then he made the mistake of going outside. The villagers' hatred was more present than ever, and their words had been worse. He had run back home and stayed in his apartment for the rest of the day. He had put his book on top of the stack he keeps, and made some cup ramen for his dinner. When he went to bed, he had a fitful sleep and awoke feeling tired, yet he couldn't fall back asleep.

He had gone about his day as usual for weekends, henging into Himiko to go to his job, and then going to the market for fresh fruits to eat. When he got back home he had put away his supplies and got ready for bed, but found, no matter how tired he was, he just couldn't sleep.

He got up, grabbed a small coat he had bought as Hikari, and put on his blue sandals. He went outside and started to walk around the Red Light District where he lived. He had taken a few turns and ended up in an area where prostitutes worked. He knew what they were, and hated the men who took advantage of them. He saw it as wrong, but a way for the poor to make some money to survive, knowing he couldn't really do anything.

As he was passing by he saw a group of about five men making advancements on three girls, they looked very uncomfortable and scared. As a man went to grab one of them Naruto was already doing the hand sign for henge. He changed into a generic leaf shinobi, someone he had seen in passing, and walked up to the group.

"Excuse me," He began, changing his voice to an adult male,"What do you think you're doing?" He questions, raising one eyebrow as he chewed on the senbon in his mouth, his posture slouched as he remembered what the gut had acted like. The men startled and moved back.

"That's Shiranui Genma, a jonin. Let's go." One of them slurred out, grabbing one of his buddies and stumbling away. Once they were out of hearing distance he undid the henge, turning to the girls to make sure they were alright.

The girls were scarred, they didn't know much about self-defense and Akari knew she would need to do something. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the jinchuriki stop walking, but she was forced to focus again as one of the men reached for Nozomi. Akari made a move to lift her arm when a ninja walked up to them.

He was slouched, chewing on a needle as he talked. "Excuse me," His voice had a lazy drawl to it, "What do you think you're doing?" He questioned the men, raising an eyebrow as he chewed on the needle. The men startled and moved back, Akira let out a small sigh of relief and made the girls step back a bit with her in the front.

One of the men said something, grabbing one of his pals and stumbling off, she had stopped paying attention though. She had turned to their savior just in time to see him go up in a small cloud of smoke and the jinchuriki be in his place. She was understandably shocked at this. The rumors about this kid were terrible, and he had just saved them. He turned towards her and the girls and smiled up at them. It was very adorable, and her heart warmed slightly at the sight.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes were earnest, and he was genuinely worried about them. This was all she needed to make up her mind, after all she also knew rumors weren't always true. This kid was too adorable to do any of the terrible things they claimed he did. She smiled gently down at him, eyes going soft.

"We're fine sweetie. That was very brave, what you did. Thank you." She told him. She watched as his smile brightened and he grew a bit flustered.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and that was nothin! I'm gonna be a ninja, so I gotta be strong!" The kid, Naruto, exclaimed. He was beaming up at her, and she made up her mind right there that she was keeping him, rumors be damned.

"I'm Akira Maeda," She introduced herself, then turned towards the two girls behind her and gestured towards the one on her left, "This is Aina Ueno," Aina smiled at him as well and waved, then turning towards her right she finished the introductions, "And this one is Nozomi Harada." Nozomi smiled at him as well, giving a small wave like Aina did.

"Well, Naruto, what are you doing out here?" Aina questioned, as she stepped a bit closer, no longer behind Akira. She was curious, and thought Naruto was too cute to be alone. She knew about the kyuubi sealed inside him, they all did, but they also knew how a seal worked even though they weren't ninja. It was basic knowledge, and you heard a lot of things in their profession.

"I'm just walkin, I couldn't sleep and saw you guys bein harassed. I just knew I had to do somethin. Ya Know!" He was truly adorable, and talked like he lived in the Red Light District for a while. That was a bit worrying, this was no place for a child. Aina giggled a bit, holding her hand out for him to grab.

"Well, little ninja, why don't you walk us home, keep the creeps away huh?" Aina playfully said, he grinned up at her and grabbed her outstretched hand. Akari held a hand over her mouth as she chuckled in amusement, it seemed she wasn't the only one who wanted to keep him. Nozomi moved to his other side and held her hand out as well, smiling gently down at him as he took it. He looked positively happy, beaming like the sun at the positive attention.

Akari took point and started walking in the direction of their apartment building, all three girls living in the same one. They resumed the conversation, switching between topics as Naruto led the conversation. It was cute, and he was actually quite smart for his age, being only eight and living on his own.

"So, Naruto, where do you live?" Nozomi asked as they arrived at their building. He didn't answer, just looked up ahead and pointed at a very rundown apartment complex about 30 ft away.

"I live there. Hokage-jiji gave it to me when I turned five and enrolled in the Academy." He excitedly told them. "It's a lot nicer inside though, so I fixed it up." He puffed his chest up proudly as he said this. The girls shared a look, unanimously agreeing to take care of him, even if they don't live in the same place.

"Well, Naruto, why don't I come over to your place tomorrow and we can hang out. Maybe you could come over to one of our places for a sleepover as well? How does that sound?" Akari questioned, she wanted to make sure his place was at least decent, and see what he knew about taking care of himself.

"So we're friends now!" Naruto said he was clearly very excited at the thought of having friends, and this made all of the girls feel a bit sad about his situation.
"Of course we are, you saved us, didn't you?" Aina told him. He positively lit up at this, and he nodded excitedly at Akari.

"My apartment is on the top floor, the only door with a number on it. Ya know." He told them, his verbal tic seemed to display itself when he was excited so far.

"Alright then, we'll see you tomorrow little one. Sweet dreams." Akari said, bending down a bit to ruffle his hair. The other two followed suit, and he left them to go home beaming and giddy with excitement.

The girls walked into their apartment and took the stairs, the elevator was out, to their floor. They went to Nozomi's place, taking off their jackets to reveal short dresses, designed to gain attention and show off their looks. Setting their jackets on the back of the couch they sat down.

"So, I think we can all agree on the fact we're keeping him, yes?" Aina looked at both of them, nodding to herself when she saw them both nod. "Good, cause he was too damn cute to be a so-called 'Demon'." Aina shook her head, thinking of the villagers' stupidity.

Nozomi got up, moving towards her kitchen to boil some water, intending to make tea. "What type of tea would yall like? I have chamomile, honey lavender, and green tea?" She questioned.

"Honey lavender please." Aina and Akari said, looking at each other and sharing a bit of laughter. Nozomi giggled at them as she started to make the tea. She placed the cups on a tray and put some crackers on it as well, a small snack for them as they talked. Bringing the tray back, she set it on her little coffee table. Sitting back down, she brought up the next topic.

"So, how are we going to do this? We can't take him to live with one of us, the Hokage would know and we don't know what would happen then. We could visit him, and take turns teaching him what he needs to know." Nozomi looked thoughtful as she spoke. Grabbing a cup of tea, she took a sip.

"I think that should work. We'll need to work around our schedules though. We usually work in the evenings after all." Aina stated, grabbing her cup of tea to sip as well.

Akari grabbed her tea and sipped it as she thought of her answer. Then, she realized that Naruto would need some kind of steady income to support himself as well, and they would need to know it to better help him.

"Alright ladies. We are going to have to rotate nights, two go out and one stays back to help Naruto. We can all split the money each day and divide it evenly so we can pay our bills. We should make enough to do that at the least. We'll also have to talk to Naruto about his income, and find ways to help him financially if he needs. Does this sound okay?" Akari questioned, she was slightly anxious about this, as they all needed the income from their less than desirable job.

Aina and Nozomi both gave it some thought, eventually coming to the decision that it was the best course of action so far, and agreeing. As they finished their drinks, they split up to their own places to get some sleep, as it had been a long night for them all.

They would never know that in one life, they would have never met Naruto, and been attacked by those men, leading to Nozomi's death.